Who Are We To Believe?

 Hi everyone. I've started reading The Universal Christ by Richard Rohr. The very first sentence says there are over 30,000 varieties of Christianity. I checked it out, and it turns out there are probably more. No wonder people are so confused about what to believe. 

Check out the post here,

https://nitereflections.substack.com/p/who-are-we-to-believe?r=7321tp

The (Double) Standard of Living

There is something else I wonder. Why are members of a church congregation held to a higher standard of living than the church leaders? Are leaders of the church different than "PAID" leaders of the church? I heard it said too often "Well, he is a paid leader of the church." What does that mean? Shouldn't the leaders of the church be held accountable according to the same criteria. Does God classify one sin as worse than another? I was always taught not. Where do you draw the line between a white lie and a black lie? Doesn't God judge a lie as a lie, not according to the severity of the lie? Ok, so getting to the point, and hopefully after this we can move on from the whole divorce thing. The other night I coined the phrase "House of Gossip" when talking to someone. Which is mistakenly refered to as the "House of Worship" sometimes. What really bugs me is for someone to ask "How are things going? How can we pray for you?" I've found that for the most part they are just looking for gossip fuel. Notice how fast a fire spreads when an excellerant is used. Then for that fire to reach the "PAID" leaders of the church and to have them in turn remove someone from a volunteer leadership role because of family/divorce issues would be acceptible if the leaders themselves didn't have a similar history. I would think they would be a little more sympathetic. Maybe require that person to come in for awhile for counseling, while allowing them to hold their position. Especially when a person has volunteered for a few years and it is well known where their heart is. The hard part to swallow here is, to know that the leaders are just as prone to spreading the fuel as everyone else. So, what is worse? The divorce, the gossip? Look up 1Tim 3. Leadership guidelines, and wives of leaders. "Are not to take part in malicious gossip." Don't sin in the name of Jesus. Don't tell people you are concerned about them, then turn around and go email your address book and tell everyone their business in the name of your prayer chain. I'm not trying to say leaders even "PAID" leaders need to be superhuman. I mean look at the televangelists that have fallen. All I'm saying is, if leaders are concerned about what is being taught, and they should be, then don't expect people to ask for help, require they get it. It is after all your church and you make the policy. And reread James, it says the tongue cannot be tamed, but teachers will be judged with greater strictness. So, maybe all leaders need to take a break to reevaluate their Biblical standards and not put that pious pedestal so high their double standard of living is undermining true genuine Love.
Thanks for bearing with me while we pull on that tug-o-war, Paul

2Corinthians 5:8 Revealed

Well, let's start this off with something that has been bugging me for a few months now. Someone had told me they were having a conversation with others about death, afterlife, reincarnation etc., and could I shed a little light on it. So, having been in some form of "christian" church all of my 50 years, with the exception of a few years here and there. I quoted, "To be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord." But, I wasn't sure where to find it. I went to look it up, and the only thing I found was 2 Corinthians 5:8. Well, to my surprise it doesn't say that at all. Paul is saying, "I would rather be absent from the body, and to be home with the Lord." Well, I think that probably applies to most of us. But he isn't saying that is what definitely happens. Up in verse 6 it does say that when we are at home in this body, we are absent from the Lord. Another no brainer. But, it could lead one to believe that the opposite would happen. Still, it is not concrete enough for me to use this for an afterlife debate. I mean this isn't just one fluke church that missed it. I have heard this from church, T.V., radio, you name it. So naturally, I took this as truth. Well needless to say, I was pretty irritated when I discovered this for myself, not just because of this, but it just gets one to wondering what else is being used to deceive and try to manipulate people. So we should never take things we hear as gospel truth, until we search them out for ourselves. If you know where I may find a similar verse, please let me know, because I couldn't find one.