The Princess and the Dragon

Once upon a Sunday eve, a prince and princess were reclining in their boudoir, watching a moving picture and enjoying a restful time together. In the dim light of the room, the princess noticed a slight movement high up on the wall they were facing. The lighting of the lamp revealed what she dreaded -- a small dragon (aka, cockroach) crawling along at a rapid pace. Moving picture was forgotten, lamps were lit, and the prince took off for his weapon as the quaking princess kept her eyes on the creature. Suddenly, it burst into flight! With a shriek, she dove under the linens, and her prince rushed back to wage battle with the creature. He bravely urged her to stay where she was as he dealt with it.

Time passed as she listened to scuffling and then silence. She felt the prince step upon the bed where she cowered. At this point her confidence plummeted. "Did you get it?" she quietly asked. "No," he said."I thought I did, but it fell behind the bed." Not pleased with this news, the princess ventured to remove the linen, and help in his search for the disappearing dragon.

Doors were closed, linens and pillows were moved to the hall, furniture was ransacked, every article was removed from underneath the bed, and still no dragon appeared. Was he dead or alive? The prince and princess tipped up the large mattress of the bed and dropped it back. The shock was too much for the dragon, which came scuttling out from under the bed on the very side where the princess was standing! Up the wall he went as the princess retreated to the hallway and the prince smashed it to death. You see, as much as the princess hates dragons and arachnids, she also hates having to personally kill something which crunches or squishes. So, with great thankfulness of heart, she kissed her valiant prince and praised her protector for his great bravery and perseverance! And they spent the rest of that evening in peace (after putting the boudoir back to rights.)

The End.

Who's Right?

During the course of my life, I've interacted with many Christians of various persuasions. There have been the "conservative" and the "liberal" and anywhere inbetween. I'd say that a great percentage of the Christians I know believe in the Bible as God's Word and hold to basic orthodix beliefs about God the Trinity, the atonement, the second coming, the final judgment, etc. BUT I have become increasingly aware of the great differences in other areas, small or great.

Let's take group A. They love God, they love the Bible, and they study it diligently that they may apply it to their lives. They are probably also influenced by other sources, such as denominational precedents, books, teachers, the culture, etc.

Let's take group B. They love God, they love the Bible, and they study it diligently that they may apply it to their lives. They are probably also influenced by other sources, such as denominational precedents, books, teachers, the culture, etc.

Looks like they should be in unity, right? Wrong. Between groups A and B (and even individuals within those groups) you can be sure to find differences of belief in areas such as:
-Eternal security
-Women's attire (including pants, jewelry, and head coverings)
-Women's role in society and the church
-Music
-Dancing
-Sabbath keeping
-When the Tribulation will be
-Alcohol consumption
-Courtship/dating
-Education
-Food
-"Family planning"
-Probably more that I can't think of at present

Some may be neutral on one subject because they really don't consider it important or it doesn't affect them, while others will strongly argue their position one way or the other, even giving Scriptures to support it. On either side of an argument, you can find someone who is dogmatic and carnal, and you can find someone who is loving and spiritual.

I wonder what a new believer thinks when they start seeing all this division in the church. Granted, even in New Testament times there appear to have been disagreements about certain subjects (like eating meat offered to idols). But I wonder if there is more dichotomy now than ever. Of course I don't know. Is it a reflection of the end times or that the world has crept so much into the church? Has the culture affected the church more than the church has affected the culture? Can we always know the exact right or wrong on an issue? Does what I believe as right make every opposing view wrong? Unlikely.

Just throwing out some food for thought. I guess the best way to know the truth is to keep connected with the Source of Truth, Jesus. Thank God for the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, Who is there to show us the way one step at a time! This morning I read this:

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strenghtened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Eph. 3:14-19