Mamie the Apprentice Wonder Puppy and I had a little adventure yesterday. The Preacher and The Preacher's Dog had come to work a few hours on the farm. The Wonder Girls and I had gone for a walk, not realizing they were there. Mamie, in her cute little puppy-ness, was running along beside me. I stopped to talk with The Preacher, and Maggie and Mamie stopped to visit with The Preacher's Dog.
I'm not sure what happened, but I believe the Preacher's Dog wanted to play chase. Mamie did not like this game. She took out running as fast as lightning, Preacher's Dog right behind her.
Mamie was yelping like crazy. "Help! Help! I'm about to be killed! Come quick, Mama!"
As you can imagine, I came quick. I shouted for Jesus and started running, yelling "No" over and over again. I thought Mamie was about to be killed, too. My heart was pounding, but I was sprinting at top speed.
Jesus helped me and, somehow, I managed to get between Mamie and The Preacher's Dog and rescue Mamie. (I know Jesus helped me because there is no way I could run that fast on my own.) She was terrified, trembling all over and whimpering, but she snuggled into my arms and finally settled down.
The Preacher's Dog had to go to the truck for time-out.
For some reason, Mamie was confused about who chased her. When I put her down, she walked up to Ole Lou, stopped, and growled at him. She gave him her meanest look and backed away.
"Mamie, it wasn't Lou."
She didn't care what I said. She was mad at Lou and any dog that looked like Lou. (Preacher's Dog and Lou are both black, but...)
Afterward, I had Mamie in my arms and The Preacher was leaned against his truck, watching His Dog. Mamie looked at The Preacher's Dog and growled every once in a while. She wasn't through with her mad.
"You can tell she's a Baptist dog," he said.
"Why's that?"
"She's mad and not letting go." (That might not have been what he said. I can't remember exactly what he did say, but it was similar.)
"Well, you're a Baptist preacher. You ought to know."
"Yeah. My dog is non-denominational."
I can't remember why his dog was non-denominational, but I kinda expected a preacher would do a better job of converting his dog. (If that kind of thing happened. Which it does not.)
Anyway, that started a discussion about denominations and non-denominations.
"You know there won't be any Baptists in heaven, right?" I told The Preacher.
"There won't be any Methodists in heaven, either." He knows I've always been a Baptist, but I like the Methodists a lot, too.
We were both right. As far as I can tell, we'll all be non-denominational in heaven. The Revelation tells us that there won't even be a church building there because heaven is, in a way, one giant church and we all belong to it.
That's right. Every single person in heaven belongs to the same church because heaven is "church".
"And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple." Revelation 21:22 nasb
As disciples of Christ, we are the church. It has nothing to do with church buildings, the signs in front of them, or the names on the signs.
We, the disciples of Christ, are the body of Christ, and He only has one body.
If you want to know which church I belong to, I'll tell you. I belong to the Body of Christ Church. I'm equally a part of the Body of Christ that meets together all over the world, because we all belong to Jesus.
It doesn't matter which "church" group I currently attend, because I'm a "member" everywhere. People who keep the roll books may not see it that way, but I'm pretty sure Jesus does. I have "family" everywhere, and so do you.
One of the last things Jesus prayed for his followers was unity so that the world would get a picture of God through us.
"That they may all be one, even as Thou, Father, are in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me. John 17:21 nasb
The only way we can present a picture of the unity of God is by being unified. We may meet in different buildings, but we're all kin, and it's important that we act like it.
If the disciples of Jesus work together, we can change the world. That's what the first century disciples did, and we can, too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday Night Friends has a terrific guest blogger tonight. 6 pm. You don't want to miss it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In case you missed one of the past week's posts, here are the links: Friday Night with Friends: Sara Foust, Hand Washing and Heart Cleansing, The Wonder Dogs Run In Circles, Cutting Edge Prayer: The Power of Fasting, Changing the World: The Example of Kid President, The View from the Inversion Table: When Christ Upends Your Life, and A Royal Priesthood: Preparing to Serve
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~#Therewon'tbebaptistsormethodistsinheaven #LinesfromLeanna #LeannaHollis #bodyofchrist
No comments:
Post a Comment