What is the Restoration Fellowship Assembly?
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Asked May 08 2014
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Lesley Clark
For follow-up discussion and general commentary on the topic. Comments are sorted chronologically.
J.M. Roebke
Jesus asked his disciples, 'Who do you say that I am?'
Mark 8: 27-29
With tens of thousands of differing denominations (divisions) in the Church (41,000 according to Wikipedia's "List of Christian Denominations" article), it is not hard to tell that men who hunger for power, and control, will twist scriptures to their own ends.
God's Word is unchanging, God Himself is unchanging (Malachi 3:6) but men are constantly changing, and this is why doctrine, and denomination is so prevalent today. There is only ONE doctrine, and there is only ONE Body of Christ.
When the Body of Christ was described as 'Having many parts, with many different functions', (Romans 12:4-5) it was not indicating different interpretations or understandings of what God's Word means, thereby creating the plethora of denominations we have today for which to create one body. No! A church body serves many purposes within the same body; to serve, to minister, to bring hope and love to the hopeless and hated, to encourage, and above all else, to be a beacon of God's unfailing love to a dark, and dying world. The Pastor is the Head of the Church, the Worship Team leads the congregation to the Throne of God, the Ministries minister to the children and youth, the homeless and the incarcerated, the battered and batterers alike, etc. Etc. It has nothing to do with denomination or separate doctrinal disciplines.
Trust only in the unchanging Words of God, and less on what men say those words mean. After all, the hearts of men are corruptible, and this is where we see Satan poking at human weakness.
The most tragic part of denomination, is that it leaves a very lost world confused, and untrusting of God's People. By allowing the Holy Spirit to guide our words, and our ways, we are not upholding any denomination; rather, we are fully trusting in God alone to minister to us, and thereby preparing us to minister to a dying world, apart from denomination and their laws and restrictions. Through the hands of ordinary men, filled with the Holy Spirit, God wrote the Bible. Nowhere in it's contents did God say, 'My Word is open for interpretation.' (2 Peter 1:20)