"The Connection"

 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." (John 14:12 KJV)

  "Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all. However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. That is why the Scriptures say, "When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people."" (Ephesians 4:3-8 NLT)

 Not that we are changing the subject, because this is the strengthening of what was previously said; as we are strengthened in numbers, as in, the body of Christ coming together as one! The divisions that we are placing between us, they become less important when we draw closer and closer to Christ. This is the way we find a connection, that we are tied together in Christ, not in our own disciplines and beliefs. 

 I heard a message the last weekend that I didn't really agree with, at least not as far as the church body is structured. The speaker talked about the, "three rings of unity," which depict a similarity of beliefs, as the top ring has the most important beliefs, and then the ring on the right has the secondary beliefs, while the ring on the left has the lesser beliefs; all of which constitute unity and strength within the body.

 The way I see it, that is the goal of the leadership, those that might be overseeing the particular church; but as far as the body of believers, unless they are part of the elders or teachers, they are not held accountable to all; like the pre-rapture doctrine, which is debated among the body of believers. I heard that several well-known Apologetic's were post-rapture believer's, as it is said that Walter Matin was a Post-Toastee, a well respected defender of the Faith. 

 He has gone to be with the Lord, so I am sure he knows what's what now! I still have his most famous book, The Cults Reference Bible, which I used over and over to share about those who are really off base. The biggest and most important part of our belief, is that of who Jesus was, is, and always will be! We must believe who Christ Jesus is! Only then can we truly understand the Trinity of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

 Other than that, we must also believe that Christ came, born of a virgin, to be crucified for our sins; and that He rose to life again, that we too could have eternal life; where we will soon join with Him in heaven, where He is seated at the right hand of the Father. After that, everything else is technically the things we debate about, but will come to agree upon shortly! Just as Dr. Chuck and Dr. Walter have now agreement in heaven, and are of one mind...

"Noice that it says "he ascended." This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. And the same who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself. Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love." (Ephesians 4:9-16 NLT)