tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9026097285076389378.post188832029836679785..comments2013-11-20T11:22:53.127-08:00Comments on erin inspired...: Update 5 cont.- A little taste of Malibayerin inspired...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05018624119744554550noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9026097285076389378.post-33306501639198085492011-03-22T16:53:39.854-07:002011-03-22T16:53:39.854-07:00I want to preface by saying that it's great to...I want to preface by saying that it's great to see what is happening with the kids in the Philippines. It is encouraging to hear they are given love and introduced to new opportunities as a result of you being there. It is my prayer that these kids will experience the full love our Messiah and the beautiful freedom that is found in worshiping him.<br /><br />With that said, I move on to address the other topic of Catholic good that you spoke of. I love discussions on these topics because I feel I have so much more to understand in the difference of what good we seek from God that He graciously delivers and what good the church is either holding back or amplifying.<br /><br />When people view truth as a feeling (or simply a person's best intention), then they will always find a way to understand their experiences and gut feeling as right. Unfortunately, there is not a single story or command in all of Scripture that backs up that point of view. In fact, Scripture goes out of it's way to time and time again to show that even 99% "good" in the eyes of man is still empty in the sight of YHWH. The Pharisees followed laws extremely well, but it was the laws of tradition that they thought important to apply while they put aside the more important practices that Messiah pointed out. Their corruption was not in their ability to be disciplined, but instead it was their own formulation of laws and their desire to speak on the Father's behalf to rest of us.<br /><br />Keeping people uneducated and enslaved to pointless traditions is not the liberation our Messiah spoke of. The church itself was set up as a body of people helping each other to stay free specifically because a hierarchy of rule already existed both through the Jewish leaders and Rome in the first century.<br /><br />It's not too hard to find good things happening in a generally corrupt institution and compare it to the horror stories that other people publicize. When put in that perspective, a few good things make everything else seem overdramatized and false. Because we can find instances of church hierarchy that aren't oppressive in major ways does not mean that the made up traditions of these institutions are good. If we're looking to isolate what is good, we can find plenty of that in communism for instance, though I know very few people suggesting that as the system of deception they want their children to grow up under.<br /><br />On the other hand, many people simply complain about the institutional church today and move away from being religious in an sense as a result. I am in no way suggesting that. I simply want to take the institutional part out of church and give it back to the people so they can be educated by discussions about who is truly the Cornerstone of church.<br /><br />From an artistic standpoint, there is beauty in things that are not perfect or what some people call "the humanity" of art. From a moral standpoint, the slow infusion of corrupted pagan customs into the body of believers (or church) is a slippery slop. The Creator goes out of His way in scripture to make himself unique. How many ancient superstitions can we add and still tell people they are worshipping God in the unique way that he has commanded us to revere Him in?timlambesishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17378800794338681505noreply@blogger.com