dear Terry...
you said: "I just can't see how a person can occupy their consciousness with a myriad of tribal fetish notions and O.C.D. rules of conduct in order to appease a celestial deity as though they were living in a cave shivering at Thor's thunderbolts"...
tribal fetish?...I'm talking about WHO God IS and worshipping Him. When you know who God is it isn't about tribal fetish notions, it's about worshipping Him in spirit and TRUTH. the fact is that it is the cults that seem to have to prove they have the truth by nursing fetishes and they occupy thier consciousness with trying to disprove the historically stated theology of God with defense of their own notions about who God is. Jesus revealed who God is and said He had "started a fire" on the earth by means of the Holy Spirit through the visible *churchHe established. I think these scriptures imply that taking "strange fire" when worshipping God is akin to NOT worshipping THE God but doing your own thing.
the *church has as her defense..."there is no salvation outside the *church"...as the *churchis the body of Christ...there is no salvation outside the body of Christ...one has to be IN Christ, in the TRUTH. matthew 7:15-19 says beware of false prophets[teaching] because that same false teaching bears bad fruit and john 15:3-4, 8-10 says that one must remain in the word of Jesus to bear good fruit. God commanded exclusive worship, to do your own thing was to spurn Him in the OT. Jesus also commanded exclusive worship of God as stated in the great commission...(to do otherwise is to spurn Him the TRUTH and His salvation).
Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied[taught] in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" matthew 7:21-23 AGAIN..."And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers! 'For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother." matthew 12:49-50
you said: "God's so-called priorities of what OFFENDS Him turns my stomach!"...I hope their plight isn't about YOUR stomach
...because man doesn't remove himself from causing "offense" toward others, Jesus has promised that He will return and put an end to all things that cause offense, that He doesn't follow man's schedule, is reason enough to believe that there are still men who are about to do His will. Until He sees that all men that will be saved, are saved, we wait on His schedule. to put it another way...this isn't His kingdom it is man's and until He steps in to take it, things will remain as they are (rev 22:11-15).
*church...Jesus, having all authority in heaven and on earth, gave the great commission over to the teaching authority of the church...matthew 16:18-19
love michelle