What’s in a name?
By f.martin
I grew up in New Jersey. As a young fellow I was taken to Ebenezer Baptist Church in Englewood NJ for spiritual worship and fellowship. When you are young and part of the family I was in, there was not an option when the family went to church. You went happily and without complaint.
This church was where I saw other children sing church hymn’s along with me in the basement Sunday school. It was where I used the fan that I found in the pews to move the pages of an unused bible for fun. It’s where I saw my cousins sing in the choir and I felt such pride in them. They belonged to me fully as my family elders. They sang and moved in unison with the church as I watched in amazement not understanding why I felt so good about it.
The Pastor, Reverend Flowers, knew my name and asked about my welfare and engaged easily with my family. Being young I was encouraged to do well both in and out of school. The Sunday school message was constant inasmuch as it emphasized the honor given to parents, elders and older siblings. I followed along happily because I loved being part of my family.
This study begins in an endearing fashion because my inquiry to the Holy Spirit is where did the simple things of God go? Did they depart with my maturity? Is believing as that child did still important?
If you are a parent and have children I would like you to consider a scenario to open this study. Your children arrive home to proclaim that they have decided to change their given name to one they have chosen. Your first response would be to laugh expecting concerted laughter. When it is not reciprocated then you will ask incredibly,” what are you talking about?” You see the change would affect who and what your children are and how they are perceived. From that point forward if the change is allowed, they will physically still be the same offspring, but recognized outside of your home as unrelated to you. There would have to be an explanation constantly to overcome the differences in names within the family structure.
This is the nature of this study. I believe mankind has taken the purity of Christianity and compartmentalized, boxed, labeled and diluted its essence. We as believers derive from one pure act of love. My Lord allowed Roman and Jewish authorities to apprehend Him. Mercilessly beat Him through the day and night. Finally culminating in an excruciating crucifixion that took His human form and dismantled the physical aspect of it. He did all this to allow the purity of grace to reign upon those who would believe on Him. He did this to erase the sin of all men that had presently believed upon Him, and for those future generations to benefit from a clean slate.
What transpired in the coming centuries after His death was mankind jockeying for the position Christ through God planned to hold forever. Due to free will, man was given the opportunity and freedom to pursue this end without hindrance. This is the true nature of love. That which you love you allow to live and breathe on its own hoping that a reciprocal love is the direction it will take. That mutual direction and will would parallel creating the joy that love brings.
In the centuries that followed the Lord’s sacrifice, man has searched aimlessly for the key that would open the door and allow man himself to sit upon the throne of truth and righteousness. This is the initial sin that began the fall of Lucifer and ultimately the fall of mankind. To raise himself higher than his created stature and stand side by side with the almighty. At the very least, there is a constant attempt to rise above and lay claim to the highest form of mankind available through religious leadership. This is the vanity and the ego that has plagued us for all time. Let us look at the ways man has done this over the years. Keep in mind, the study speaks of changing the purity through reinvention, name changing, and doctrine tinkering.
Protestant
The word Protestant is derived from the Latin protestatio meaning declaration which refers to the letter of protestation by Lutheran princes against the decision of the Diet of Speyer in 1529, which reaffirmed the edict of the Diet of Worms against the Reformation. Since that time, the term Protestantism has been used in many different senses, often as a general term to refer to "Western Christianity that is not subject to papal authority."
Firstly, to separate from papal authority (which is a good thing) there was an establishment through protest and a change in doctrine that was accepted at the time. Yet again would it have not suited those in protest to simply state,” we are Christians only, and our doctrine is to be Christ like and to live as He lived, and love one another.” Let’s keep looking at the changing faith filled landscape. Offshoots of offshoots.
Baptist
In the early Protestant Reformation time this particular group of Christians made baptism on a profession of faith a condition of church membership. This rejection of infant baptism and this insistence on believers’ baptism were so distinctive of these Christians that they were stigmatized with the pejorative "Baptists."
Now the authority of Christ is further devalued by restricting membership due to the ritual of Baptism. Has there been a mandate of this sort by our Lord? In Matthew He says’”
Matthew 20
But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
Later in the chapter His actions speak the loudest;
They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.
Is this not the essence of our walk? So that we may see Him as He is.
1 John 3
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
Sometimes the world wants something familiar to them to act as a go between. A mediator of sorts for their faith that bridge a spiritual gap and fill the void left from the lack of faith. Oftentimes we see this as religions are patterned after the ideology of an earthly man. The temporal belief changes of eternal foundations.
Lutheran
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestant Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the sixteenth-century German reformer Martin Luther. Luther’s efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Church launched the Protestant Reformation and, though it was not his intention, left Western Christianity divided.
Are we to believe Martin Luther looked for a group of people to replace the name Christianity with his own?
Episcopalian
The Episcopal Church is the official name of the Province of the Anglican Communion in the United States. The Church was organized shortly after the American Revolution when it was forced to break with the Church of England on penalty of treason and became the first autonomous Anglican province outside the British Isles. Today it is divided into nine provinces and has extra-territorial dioceses in Taiwan, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Europe. The Episcopal Church considers itself a via media, or middle way, between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.
Can you see the replication of the Roman government? Being the most powerful entity in the world at the onset of Christianity, it would be difficult to completely sever its tenets for the truth. It is not in our nature to do so. We are an assimilating and reactionary species with self at the forefront. It is why selfless morally valuable people are very recognizable and have been known to move mankind with moral power.
Methodist
Methodism is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity. The Methodist movement traces its origin to the evangelistic teaching of John Wesley. It originated in 18th century Britain, and through vigorous missionary activity, spread throughout the British Empire, the United States, and beyond. Originally it appealed especially to workers, agricultural workers, and slaves. Theologically most Methodists are Arminian or sometimes moderately Calvinist, emphasizing that Christ accomplished salvation for every human being, and that humans must exercise an act of the will to be saved (as opposed to the traditional Calvinist doctrine of monergism); Monergism in Christian theology is the theory that the Holy Spirit alone can act to bring about the conversion of people.
This is indeed a break from the Christ like endeavors to pursue the beliefs that forged commonality. It is a normal behavior for most if you consider the mass amount of clubs, orders, and organizations we look to belong to. This occurs even within the body of Christ. We latch on to things of interest and then look to curtail memberships based on man-made particulars.
Pentecostal
Oneness Pentecostalism holds to a conservative Jewish monotheistic view of God and stress Jesus Christ is the visible manifestation of God in the New Testament (the Father in the Son). God was known by several names and titles in the Old Testament, but with the New Covenant He has revealed His name as Jesus. It rejects all concepts of a polytheism, trinity, or other doctrines they see as representing multiple and separate Gods.
Apostolic
The Apostolic Church is a Pentecostal Christian denomination which can trace its origins back to the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival. Despite the relatively recent origin of the denomination, the church seeks to stand for first century Christianity in its faith, practices, and government.
Non-denominational
In Christianity, the term non-denominational refers to those churches which have not formally aligned themselves with an established denomination, or remain otherwise officially autonomous. This, however, does not preclude an identifiable standard among such congregations. Non-denominational congregations may establish a functional denomination by means of mutual recognition of or accountability to other congregations and leaders with commonly held doctrine, policy and worship without formalizing external direction or oversight in such matters. Some non-denominational churches explicitly reject the idea of a formalized denominational structure as a matter of principle, holding that each congregation must be autonomous. Members of non-denominational churches often consider themselves simply "Christians", yet the acceptance of any particular stance on a doctrine or practice (for example, on baptism) about which there is not general unanimity among churches or professing Christians, establishes a de facto creedal identity. In essence, it can be said that each non-denominational church forms its own unofficial "denomination" with a specific set of tenets as defined by the beliefs and practices of their own congregation.
Matthew 18
“And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”
We must lay down the seriousness of adulthood and revert back to the simplicity of childhood. I miss my days of minimal worry and maximum joy. The scales are now tipped in the favor of worry and disdain. The sunset of my joy is upon me as far as my age has brought a curtain over the act of childhood. I have refused to leave that stage fully, and I still laugh aloud to stir my childish joy.
You may ask any child you have a personal relationship with this one question; is it fun to have a father who has not lost his joy in being a child? Many children will exclaim it is heaven to engage with an adult who can appreciate the joy of youth at an advanced age. It is poignant evidence of a timeless God who can administer timeless joy. A reflection of the perpetual fountain of youth which springs from the equally timeless fountain of faith.
“A tulip doesn’t strive to impress anyone. It doesn’t struggle to be different than a rose. It doesn’t have to. It is different. And there’s room in the garden for every flower. You didn’t have to struggle to make your face different than anyone else’s on earth. It just is. You are unique because you were created that way. Look at little children in kindergarten. They’re all different without trying to be. As long as they’re unselfconsciously being themselves, they can’t help but shine. It’s only later, when children are taught to compete, to strive to be better than others, that their natural light becomes distorted.” Marianne Williamson
"Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven."
Henry Ward Beecher, reverend and social activist
"If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children." Mohandas Ghandi, political and spiritual leader in India
“ Blessed be childhood, which brings down something of heaven into the midst of our rough earthliness. ” Henri Frederic Amiel
"A child is a beam of sunlight from the Infinite and Eternal, with possibilities of virtue and vice- but as yet unstained."Abbott, Lyman
Just a brother sharing………..
