"Tetelastai - The Only Word We Will Ever Need" Series

The Ultimate DecisionTetelestaiItIsFinished.gif

July 21, 2014

“Coming Home” has many different emotions to all people. But the root of the idea of coming home brings a sense of contentment. In some way we think that by coming home we can reset the chaos of our lives and ease our burdens. Home is where a lot of us had a joyful life. That is before all the earthy chaos set in for our adult lives. But as you and I both know we can never truly go home. Things will never be the way they were and “Going Home” is always an illusion that things were perfect back then.

This brings me to the point of the last lesson the Lord had men write about “It’s Time For Just The Cross”.The Lord had me write this and now my heart more than ever is being encouraged by the Lord to proclaim to all of us that we need to get back to the basics - Christ Crucified and Risen. I have spent this past weekend compiling at least 50 pages of notes on Church History and I have just scratched the surface. Most of us go to a denomination because

1. It is close to our house

2. It is how we were brought up

3. The church seems to be thriving

Many of you may know this but I thought the Salvation Army was volunteers that just dressed up to collect money to help the poor. I did not realize

"The Salvation Army is a Christian denominational church and international charitable organization structured in a quasi-military fashion. The organization reports worldwide membership of over 1.5 million,consisting of soldiers, officers and adherents known as Salvationists. Its founders Catherine and William Booth sought to bring salvation to the poor, destitute and hungry by meeting both their "physical and spiritual needs". The theology of the Salvation Army is mainstream Methodist although it is distinctive in government and practice. The Army's doctrine follows mainstream Christian beliefs, and its articles of faith emphasize God's "saving purposes". Its objects are "the advancement of the Christian religion… of education, the relief of poverty, and other charitable objects beneficial to society or the community of mankind as a whole."The Army was founded in 1865 in London by one-time Methodist minister William Booth. Originally known as the East London Christian Mission, in 1878 Booth reorganized the mission, becoming its first General and introducing the military structure which has been retained to the present day.” The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.Wikipedia and The Salvation Army.org

For some reason when I see the Salvation Army I only see smiling faces ringing a bell with a kettle. It never occurred to me that they are an army for the Salvation of peoples souls. In another denomination

“Historians trace the earliest church labeled "Baptist" back to 1609 in Amsterdam, with English Separatist John Smyth as its pastor. In accordance with his reading of the New Testament, he rejected baptism of infants and instituted baptism only of believing adults.” Wikipedia and Church History Christianity Today

Some churches still sprinkle today for infant Baptism but the Baptist church was started to discount this practice and they only believe in full immersion. Of course they have another mainstream doctrines but the point I am making is that after “The Cross” different people started denominations based upon things that they did not like about other denominations and felt that they could do it better or it was “More Biblical” in THEIR interpretation.

Even so with the translation of the Bible from Greek - The New Testament was originally in Greek or Aramaic. Christians translated both Testaments into Coptic, Ethiopian, Gothic, and Latin. St. Jerome's Latin Vulgate was the standard Christian translation for 1,000 years. New learning in the 15th-16th century generated new translations. Martin Luther translated the entire Bible into German (1522-34). The first complete English translation, credited to John Wycliffe, appeared in 1382, but it was the King James version (1611) that became the standard for more than three centuries.

Some people will not go to a church that does not read out of the King James Bible. Some have said The New International Version or NIV was written from the King James but no it was created using the ancient Hebrew and Aramaic texts. https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-International-Version-NIV-Bible/ What I am getting to is this. Many peoples ”OPINIONS” over the years have formed new denominations, NOT BY REVELATION from God but just because people interpreted the Bible differently. The more I look into all the denominations, doctrines, rituals and on and I see more chaos than unity of the Christian brethren. So in essence we even have divisions among churches on what Bible to read.