Re: That's still the complete opposite of what Scripture says.

i very much love you and respect what you say.

you see, i do believe jesus is the christ. it is what makes him the christ and what that means that we do part ways, for now.

there is something quite telling in your observation of all the different denominations. they all are, fundamentally, catholic(except for the greek orthodox, of course). i find the catholic church to be fundamentally flawed in their justification for being, yet they still bear the word of god and that cannot be denied. i love my catholic friends and accept rosaries and christopher blessed by bishops and such with gratitude, because i know their intent is kindness toward me.

more important than gods name is the taking of his name as a mark of service. that should not be done vainly, but with true service and obedience.

you made this comment: " Ultimately though, it is not our individual experiences that are the defining criteria for what is gospel truth, it is the gospel itself." this is where we differ most of all. it is only within the individual experience that a person can conform to the truth, be transformed, and then ascend beyond that to a state of being that only be described as love.

there is so little, really, that god asks of us in order to enter the kingdom. once that is done, a person gets their orders directly from god. the only time we need an intermediary is to get to that point. the intermediary is jesus. follow him and you will go where he went, and become as he is. thats what the bible says. jesus is the tree of life. eat of him, and one will live forever.