'These are the ones who have been made to feel their helpless spiritual depravity and who have called upon the Lord for mercy and deliverance - this is where true love & mercy is experienced by the believer' (AJC)

AJC,
I do not doubt this. It is the first step in the doctrine of Christ, but we need to go on to maturity in love. This love has breadth, and length and depth. I did not take advantage of this as the years passed. Oh, I studied and had all my t's crossed and my i's dotted, but there was something missing, that next step that is so vital if we want to really be salt. Drawing near to Jesus and really knowing this love that makes it all worthwhile. I found though that a lot of the dogmatic idea I had melted in His presense and I did indeed find Him to be meek and lowly of heart, and giving us great rest. To share this love has a price attatched to it, one is going to find that firstly it is not always explained in the creeds though they are cleverly thought out and dare I say some seem to think they are inspired writ. (Not just R.C's have this problem, it is a biggie in the Reformed camp with a push, push, push...SOLA SCRIPTURA..and yet they spend more time reading commentaries, that exposing their minds and hearts to the truth.) Repenting and acknowledging the truth is a good start, but moving on to maturity and being willing to cast off every weight, and the sin that so easily besets us, is another tale all together. So much about what I have learned from theological papers reeks of preconception, and one really wonders if they knew God or just knew a lot about Him. To know about God, is very different from being known by Him. A shocking reality check for some when they put the dogma aside and go down humbly and ask to be taught by the Master. It is hard sometime to jump right back up when you have to face the mirror of His glory. To often I hear the Bible line used as a whipping post to avoid exposure to the heart of what matters. Christ. Obviously, this is not all. But when there is this continual rejection of just about everyone that does not agree with said dogma, something inside of me just dies over and over again. How many times should I say 70x7 before it is apparent that my voice has gone hoarse.

When I shared like this I was called a Mystic and given reams of sermons to read, I read BB Warfield and though it was good, he had so much bitterness towards certain Christians that his argument went sour in my mouth. So what if I am a Christian Mystic who loves Jesus, and sure for this I will be made to sit on the bench or find myself another place to share my thoughts. I appreciate this and this thread is my last. I am not alone, for it seems there are many, many theologians including Watchman Nee and Andrew Murray who have been given the cold shoulder, it is sad that all this forum seems to do is find ways to hurt those who gave so much to this world in the form of love and tenderness. No wonder Jesus is taking so long to return. The need to accept I know is in my desire too, I want to love these cranky old dogmaholics, or Clarkaholics, but what do I do they do not want to be nice and every time I mention something that blesses me I am given a list of people I have to read. Reading them just confuses me more and more and more, until eventually I am ready to pop.

I woke up one morning after reading all these creeds and each one was different, so very very very different...I was confused and I just layed it before GOD, I felt a little like Joseph Smith and said, "God which one is the right one?" I got a most strange reply from Him. "If you have not the Spirit of Christ you are none of His." I wondered around thinking about what God had said, looked at the passage and for the first time everything snapped into place then verses just came like a stream all about I and the Father are One etc. I understood what God was saying, and I no longer felt any desire to read a creed again. Oh, bless the Lord for His wisdom in helping me to find rest to my soul and it was in Jesus Christ. I only hope that this statement will not bring further flame but I strongly doubt it.

Sincerely,