Mark 9;38-41
 
38. &nbsp;John said to him, “Teacher, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us.
39. &nbsp;But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him; for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon after to speak evil of me.
40. &nbsp;For he that is not against us is for us.
41. &nbsp;For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose his reward.
 
Because this unknown man (who was using Jesus’ name to cast out demons) was not one of the twelve Called disciples, (to&nbsp;whom Jesus had given authority for healing, preaching, and casting out demons), the disciples forbade him to continue. &nbsp;He was not part of ‘their’ following.&nbsp;
 
Such exclusive&nbsp;fraternalism&nbsp;is the genesis of denominationalism in the worst sense.
 
Instead of examining the good works which&nbsp;the man was doing in Jesus’ name,&nbsp;and realizing that he was on the ‘same team’ so to speak; the disciples instead thought pridefully, even arrogantly, “”This man does not belong to our group, therefore he has no part in ‘our work’ or right to use the name of Jesus.”
 
The work of the Church, is God’s work, in and through us, not ‘our work’. &nbsp;
 
We refer to the Universal&nbsp;Church of all Believers in Christ, as&nbsp;the ‘Una Sancta’ (which is Latin for ‘One Holy’).
The Body of Christ, the Church is not divided. &nbsp;
 
The apostle Paul spoke against Believers saying they ‘belonged to Paul, or to Apollos, or to Peter (see, 1 Corinthians 1;12). &nbsp;Instead, we all belong to Christ, and in Him we are One.
 
It is not wrong to affiliate yourself with a particular denomination and call yourself a Lutheran, Catholic, Methodist, or Baptist. &nbsp;But, it is very wrong to say, “If you don’t belong to my denomination, you are not ‘in Christ’.” &nbsp;Or&nbsp;say, ‘Because you do not belong to my denomination, your good works are not pleasing to the Father.’ &nbsp;Both are wrong. &nbsp;The gift of saving faith comes&nbsp;through the hearing of the Word, the&nbsp;preaching of Christ. &nbsp;(see,&nbsp;Romans 10;17) &nbsp;“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all.” &nbsp;(Ephesians 4;4-6)
 
Having said that, it is imperative that we do not&nbsp;say, therefore doctrinal differences do not matter, they do. &nbsp;There are not two Truths, or many Truths, there is only One&nbsp;Truth, founded upon holy Scripture. &nbsp;For example: &nbsp;Either the Bible says that in the Church,&nbsp;women are not to exercise authority over men, (1 Timothy 2;12)&nbsp;or it doesn’t, and therefore women may be pastors, ministers, and priests. &nbsp;Either Holy Communion is the true&nbsp;Body and Blood of Jesus or it is a symbolic representation, it cannot be both. &nbsp;Either infants can have the gift of&nbsp;true saving faith, (Matthew 18;6),&nbsp;or they must gain some unknown&nbsp;amount of intellectual maturity in order to have saving faith in Jesus. &nbsp;It can not be both. &nbsp;Either faith itself is a gift of God, (Ephesians 2;8&amp;9), (which God can put into the hearts of infants by the power of His Word and Spirit), or, faith is a ‘decision’ to be believe in Jesus and&nbsp;invite Jesus into your heart, (which is&nbsp;a work of man).
 
True Believers can be truly&nbsp;wrong on many points of doctrine, and yet truly be forgiven children&nbsp;of God,&nbsp;believing&nbsp;that Jesus alone is their hope for forgiveness and eternal life. &nbsp;It is not our perfect&nbsp;knowledge of pure&nbsp;doctrine which saves us, but the God given gifts of repentance and faith which the Spirit and the Word have put into our hearts, this is what&nbsp;saves us.
 
The important thing is not ‘who’ is preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or ‘who’ is doing the good works, but that the preaching of Christ and the doing of good works is being&nbsp;done!
 
Remember, “Faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” &nbsp;(James 2;17)
 
Prayer: &nbsp;O Most Merciful Father in heaven, we praise you for the power of Your living Word and Spirit which breathes live and salvation into us through the preaching of Christ. &nbsp;Bless us to love the good works done in faith by other Christians, even though they may be in error in some points of doctrine. &nbsp;Bless us to truly love them and know we are still one in Christ. &nbsp;In Jesus we pray, Amen.
 
Love,
Dad/Baba/Eric
Grandpa Pickle Pastor
“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word. &nbsp;God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”

Mark 9;38-41

38.  John said to him, “Teacher, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us.
39.  But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him; for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon after to speak evil of me.
40.  For he that is not against us is for us.
41.  For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose his reward.

Because this unknown man (who was using Jesus’ name to cast out demons) was not one of the twelve Called disciples, (to whom Jesus had given authority for healing, preaching, and casting out demons), the disciples forbade him to continue.  He was not part of ‘their’ following. 

Such exclusive fraternalism is the genesis of denominationalism in the worst sense.

Instead of examining the good works which the man was doing in Jesus’ name, and realizing that he was on the ‘same team’ so to speak; the disciples instead thought pridefully, even arrogantly, “”This man does not belong to our group, therefore he has no part in ‘our work’ or right to use the name of Jesus.”

The work of the Church, is God’s work, in and through us, not ‘our work’.  

We refer to the Universal Church of all Believers in Christ, as the ‘Una Sancta’ (which is Latin for ‘One Holy’).
The Body of Christ, the Church is not divided.  

The apostle Paul spoke against Believers saying they ‘belonged to Paul, or to Apollos, or to Peter (see, 1 Corinthians 1;12).  Instead, we all belong to Christ, and in Him we are One.

It is not wrong to affiliate yourself with a particular denomination and call yourself a Lutheran, Catholic, Methodist, or Baptist.  But, it is very wrong to say, “If you don’t belong to my denomination, you are not ‘in Christ’.”  Or say, ‘Because you do not belong to my denomination, your good works are not pleasing to the Father.’  Both are wrong.  The gift of saving faith comes through the hearing of the Word, the preaching of Christ.  (see, Romans 10;17)  “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all.”  (Ephesians 4;4-6)

Having said that, it is imperative that we do not say, therefore doctrinal differences do not matter, they do.  There are not two Truths, or many Truths, there is only One Truth, founded upon holy Scripture.  For example:  Either the Bible says that in the Church, women are not to exercise authority over men, (1 Timothy 2;12) or it doesn’t, and therefore women may be pastors, ministers, and priests.  Either Holy Communion is the true Body and Blood of Jesus or it is a symbolic representation, it cannot be both.  Either infants can have the gift of true saving faith, (Matthew 18;6), or they must gain some unknown amount of intellectual maturity in order to have saving faith in Jesus.  It can not be both.  Either faith itself is a gift of God, (Ephesians 2;8&9), (which God can put into the hearts of infants by the power of His Word and Spirit), or, faith is a ‘decision’ to be believe in Jesus and invite Jesus into your heart, (which is a work of man).

True Believers can be truly wrong on many points of doctrine, and yet truly be forgiven children of God, believing that Jesus alone is their hope for forgiveness and eternal life.  It is not our perfect knowledge of pure doctrine which saves us, but the God given gifts of repentance and faith which the Spirit and the Word have put into our hearts, this is what saves us.

The important thing is not ‘who’ is preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or ‘who’ is doing the good works, but that the preaching of Christ and the doing of good works is being done!

Remember, “Faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”  (James 2;17)

Prayer:  O Most Merciful Father in heaven, we praise you for the power of Your living Word and Spirit which breathes live and salvation into us through the preaching of Christ.  Bless us to love the good works done in faith by other Christians, even though they may be in error in some points of doctrine.  Bless us to truly love them and know we are still one in Christ.  In Jesus we pray, Amen.

Love,
Dad/Baba/Eric
Grandpa Pickle Pastor
“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.  God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”