LRC, Houston - the weekends-free church in Houston, Texas

We now enter that long extended time frame where the church ruled. Historians like to say that the church really was IN CHARGE and RULED for 1,000 years, which also is the time frame called the DARK AGES. What a sad commentary, eh? This period is roughly from 325 to 1500 or thereabouts. Again, don’t get caught up in an exact beginning or end, just recognize the paradigm that existed and what defined it. I call this period the Ecclesiastical Christian Era. Unfortunately!

When the church got the backing of Constantine, organized as many Bishops as they could (with threats if need be), offered set prayers, religious patterns, issued several Creeds (Nicene), and finalized several Councils (Chalcedon-Athanasian) the game was ON!

Follow the one and only Catholic church or be killed!

Well, not for everyone. If you were just meekly and mildly anti the Pope you’d just be excommunicated! Where in the hell (metaphor only) is grace and mercy in all this?

Submission became the order of the day- to maintain control and order. And just so you KNEW that you HAD to obey the church, the head man (can you say Pope) was deemed INFALLIBLE and the sole voice of and for God. And just when you felt that the Catholic church was being a bit more “Christian?” and comprehending Vatican II, Joseph Alois Ratzinger (otherwise known as Benedict XVI) takes the church back into antiquity with his proclamation two weeks ago that there is STILL only ONE church, and of course it’s HIS!

How cool and convenient for him, eh?

And sacramental grace is now the property of the Catholic church where men wearing dresses would offer a wafer or a listening ear in a confessional booth. Surely we can see this has NOTHING to do with the preaching of Jesus, the Christ!

There’s no need to defer the “Kingdom“, pretending that all the religious systems of the then church (and numerous denominations now) can keep us safe until! Until when? Until I die?

Repent church, for the Kingdom of God HAS COME! IS!