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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nMatthew 16: 13b-18 \u201cWhom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After having studied the various beliefs of several Christian denominations, It appears to me denominations were inspired by God to keep us discussing the scriptures; or perhaps they are a product of Satan to keep Christians divided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regardless of the purpose or origin, Christians agree on the fundamental belief of Bible based salvation. Our eternal destination is qualified by the faith based belief that Christ Jesus was crucified (bled and died) for the remission of sin and resurrected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because of this fundamental fact and belief of the Gospel of Jesus and His admonition to Simon Peter (leading scripture), there is only one church and that is HIS church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several years ago a local church provided a once a year meal for a student group at a nearby college. The menu was the same every year and one item on the menu was green beans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A ladies mission group was the organizer of the project. The leader of that group directed the project and was in the church kitchen when all the pots, bowls and other food containers were brought in to be delivered to the college. Names are not used to protect the guilty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The mission director has passed on at this point but her descendants might well recognize her modus operandi. She was a very sweet lady but may have been the inspiration for \u201cI did it my way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ladies assigned to provide green beans prepared their own special recipes. Adding their own special bacon grease, herbs and spices to their individual works of art, they took tremendous pride in their years of experience, research and testing to produce their masterpiece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The green bean specialists delivered their exceptional blends of the product to the church and stayed a few minutes to hear the latest news; then went on their way to pursue their schedules. Usually the assigned time to make their delivery was ten in the morning and the church van left for the college around eleven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once all the deliveries were made only one or two key people were alone with only the food. All the green beans were collected and dumped into a large pot. Then using a very large commercial kitchen spoon, the beans were stirred together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The world famous cooks of all the world famous green bean recipes at the church were not aware and retained their self-respect in the annals of green bean recipe history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can you visualize walking up to the gates into Heaven and being asked, \u201cDo you believe Christ Jesus suffered, bled and died for the remission of sin and was resurrected from the dead?\u201d If you answer \u201cYes,\u201d you will hear a resounding \u201cCome on in!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can you imagine, however, being asked, \u201cOf what church denomination were you a member?\u201d The sign over the door or in front of the church is not an indicator of the belief in one\u2019s heart and mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Romans 10: 9-10 \u201cThat if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Isn\u2019t it interesting how the scriptures connect human emotion\/feelings to the human heart? Some scientists and doctors tell us the heart is only a muscle, an important muscle, but a muscle just the same. But isn\u2019t it interesting to note the heart rate speeds up when we become excited, emotional or afraid? Isn\u2019t it interesting how my heart speeds up when seeing Margie after being gone for a while? She\u2019ll laugh out loud if she reads this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I personally believe the scientists will someday announce, they\u2019ve discovered a direct connection from the brain to the heart and confess the Bible was not exaggerating at all. Evidence is already starting to emerge to reinforce this belief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Paul wrote in Romans 10: 10 \u201cwith the heart man believes unto salvation,\u201d he was conveying the mind of God to us and that is not to be taken lightly. Our belief in Christ Jesus is not only a faith based belief; it is also an emotional belief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Biblical usage of the word \u201cheart\u201d possibly refers to the innermost of the person. A spiritual connection may exist in this scenario and in my thoughts, certainly does. The writers of the Bible saw the heart as a blood pumper and the most essential part of all life\u2019s functions. These included the emotional aspects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It doesn\u2019t really matter what anyone believes about the other issues. The only matter of importance is what one believes (and feels) about Jesus. People of several denominations believe theirs is the only one going to Heaven. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As indicated in the leading scripture form Matthew 16, Jesus said \u201cOn this rock (Peter) I will build my church.\u201d HE did not say \u201cBuild my churches (or denominations). There is only one church and that is His church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No one will be in Heaven because of the church they attended. Church attendance is perceived as important and valuable to most but certainly is not a requirement for salvation. The term \u201cchurch\u201d as in Matthew 16: 18, refers to all believer-followers of the Lord Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Christians in Heaven will be like those dishes of green beans. We\u2019ll be in that one big pot called Heaven and stirred together. Won\u2019t it be wonderful to put aside (forget) all those petty differences that divide us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several of various denominations may resent this line of thinking. Well, that\u2019s sad because they don\u2019t realize Christ died for all mankind that all might be saved (1 Timothy 2: 3-4). Many still believe those of their particular church will be the only ones in Heaven. That is also sad because eternal security is not based on a name of a church or denomination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One is a member of a church on paper and that\u2019s it! So, jump on in that pot of green beans and enjoy your new freedom. The narrowmindedness of believing \u201conly those that believe those secondary details \u201cexactly like I do\u201d are going to Heaven is certainly not a Bible teaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your eternity is based on what you believe about Jesus. John 3: 17 \u201cFor God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.\u201d The belief that Christ Jesus was crucified for the remission of sin and resurrected IS the only salvation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Van Yandell Matthew 16: 13b-18 \u201cWhom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias;… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":55749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2651],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59186"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59186"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59187,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59186\/revisions\/59187"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}