Body or Temple worship?

[Pophead]

Having stomped around this globe for nearly a half a century, I have pretty much tried every variation of temple worship. I even went to a meeting hosted by the devotees of Guru Maharaji. I have sampled Catholic, Anglican, Baptist, Pentecostal varieties (too many to mention), Rhema Bible Church, Methodist, Presbyterian, and with the help of the internet, I have been able to make up the distance by communing with numerous souls on either side of the divide. By that I mean Atheist, Agnostic, Satanic, Witchcraft, Wiccan, and any number of Wizards…and of course, just your run of the mill, every day happy go luck evangelicals. Yet it has become increasingly clearer to me as the Grim Reaper begins to sharpen his sythe, or the creeking of the oars on the ferry, or the flutter of fairies wings announce that it is soon my time to cross over to the land of milk and honey or as others call it the burning lake of fire, that there is a big difference between Body worship and Temple worship.

One incident cleared that up for me years ago. It was the time when Jesus slowly and carefully knotted a small whip and the strode up to the industrious folks doing what I call ‘temple worship’ … you know doing trade in the name of God. Making a quick buck from the name and having as much association with it as a Moth, Mason, or local rugby club might…don’t get me wrong some folks are slaves to that rhythm. Some folks just love the cobwebs at the top ends of the stain glass windows, the smell of antique furniture, the statues of retired saints and Holy beings, who they only knows by name and not in person. Then Jesus does something really weird, he begins to beat them with His whip, and kick over their industry. The money system is going to definitely take a severe ding when along comes the King. (excuse me)…So Jesus then chases these temple worshippers out with some pretty startling words…

My Fathers house…obviously He does mean something others than these temple worshipping money changers…and He adds something that is the one thing that most object to when we are winning the wars and beating down the enemies of the state … of man… (excuse me, yet another off beat thought)…

My Father’s house is a house of …

Now that word is the only word that means anything to me. Why? cause one thing for sure, though a temple worshipper can work up a good old self righteous praise to his own greatness, real prayer … is something as far removed as the furtherest planet in our sola system is from that black old sun.

Body worship, is what a spiritually awakened soul relates to as being the nectar of their lives…it is everything…

Look on a memory of the two men in the synagogue (physical building)…and how fine some are…but there are two worshippers…yes, the two above…one praises himself…and the other is filled with godly sorrow as he pounds upon His breast, chest…and only he is the one who is truely worshipping God, only he is enjoying body (of Christ) worship…

So let’s see who is a temple worshipper…‘I am a good Christian, I got to temple four times a week, I sing in the choir, I am a devout believer, I am, I am…I am not.’ or is there something else… a true body worshipper…

So what’s it to be…

TEMPLE WORSHIPPER…
or,
BODY WORSHIPPER…(that could be misunderstood as surfer boy, and surfer girl, searching for an endless summer…but no, it is something more like what I wrote above…ummm…doh…simpsonian fever doth intrude…

So, what is are you…a TEMPLE worshipper, or a BODY worshipper ?

 

[davidv]

Neither. We are to worship God and God alone.

 

[Pophead]

Neither. We are to worship God and God alone.

Ummmm ? … …that is what I mean by a ‘body’ worshipper. One who worships the Father in spirit and truth as oppossed to one who worships in the temple of their own spirituality.

:harp:

I do find the word, ‘God’ impersonal…that is why Jesus taught the early disciples to pray after this manner…‘Our Father, …’.

 

[Pophead]

God and God alone.

Hey David,

I had to rush off … lunch-time drive and while I was out, I kept thinking about your reply.

If one uses the term God; I might be inclined to ask…which one ?

Islam, Judaism and Christianity all claim that they worship God, but which one ?

The God of Islam is Allah.
The God of Judaism is an unpronoucable name, but they use Adonai.
The God of Christianity is one substance in three persons, and each has a name.

And what sort of worship would one have for an unknown God ? I was thinking it might be sort of like worship of the eternal spirit of the universe, or the Great Spirit of the Indian religion…isn’t the idea of God a little cold, and impersonal…not really the same sort of idea that Jesus has when he said, ‘No man comes to the Father but by me.’

One might then say, Christianity has a God (techinical term Trinity or Quadity, or Plurality…but the unknown chose to make Himself known, in the personal way of Jesus Christ… rather than the impersonal, He is expressed clearly in Jesus…)

Add to that the question Philip asked Jesus, ‘Show us the Father.’

Is this the God you are talking about ?

 

[mainusch]

Hey David,

If one uses the term God; I might be inclined to ask…which one ?

There is only one God.

Islam, Judaism and Christianity all claim that they worship God, but which one ?

The God of Islam is Allah.
The God of Judaism is an unpronoucable name, but they use Adonai.
The God of Christianity is one substance in three persons, and each has a name.

Some say the God of Islam is purely fictitious, or worse, a devil. Others say Allah is the same as Adonai, but that they have very wrong ideas about Him. Either way, there really is only one God.

The God of Judaism and the God of Christianity are one and the same.

 

[Pophead]

There is only one God.

Yes, one substance. Jesus calls God, Spirit. Jesus also agrees with the Shema. The Lord is one. Yet, there is more to this one substance than simply ‘one God’.

The God of Judaism and the God of Christianity are one and the same.

Well, I am not sure you will get many in Judaism to agree with that. Christians generally acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, the third person of the Godhead. Not many Jews will agree with that, they are strict Monotheists…well, most of the one’s I have spoken to.

Islam, is not strictly Monotheistic. It has some really wierd origins that have evolved into what it is now. I would not really go as far as to call Allah a demon, for they do acknowlege a Creator God, but they just really cannot get to where Christians are with a Saviour God. Jesus Christ, the best is to call Jesus a prophet.

Christians have a kinda difficult one to explain. God the Spirit within, and God the Son at the right hand of God the Father. Most people come out with the idea that Christians then have three Gods. Some say the idea of the trinity is antiquated, but I am happy with understanding God as one substance and three persons but the way to this God is through God the Son alone, ( though some say it is also through the Sun… )

 

[johnshelby]

there are many gods… that’s why we are called to have
no other god than Him… the one true God…

i think, and i might be wrong… that what this thread is
concerning is, worship of God vs. worship of worship…

something Catholics have been accused of ever since
i can remember… and i know, cause i was protestant,
and accused them of it also… ( in my defense, i was
totally ignorant, but am now Catholic, so while still
ignorant, not quite so much as i was )

i maybe be wrong, but this is how the opening of this
thread sounded to me…

and i can say, there are surely some who worship for
the sake of worship… but… that is not limited to any
belief or any particular church… it’s something that
can be found in any belief system…

that is something that is inside each person… and
a question only they can answer…

bless all…

 

[Pophead]

there are many gods… that’s why we are called to have
no other god than Him… the one true God…

Actually, according to the Scriptures there is only one, but man has been pretty inventive, some cultures inventing a god for every season, and every second of the years etc.

i think, and i might be wrong… that what this thread is
concerning is, worship of God vs. worship of worship…

No the division I was thinking of was the same as the example I gave in my opening post. Worship of God, and worship of one’s self proclaimed spirituality.

something Catholics have been accused of ever since
i can remember… and i know, cause i was protestant,
and accused them of it also… ( in my defense, i was
totally ignorant, but am now Catholic, so while still
ignorant, not quite so much as i was )

I am not sure what you mean…about worship of worship. I am niether Protestant or Catholic, but I have a nice collection of Pslams by Father John Michael Talbot, called Come to the Quiet…and I listened to some done by a Protestant…pretty awesome. They are quite big on doing the Pslams. I composed a blues piece based on a passage from the book of Isaiah. It is wonderful to sing back to the Lord what He has sung to us.

i maybe be wrong, but this is how the opening of this
thread sounded to me…

Yes, it was quite complicated for me to express at first, but eventually I got my mind around the idea. It is simply an exploration of the difference between body of Christ (the true temple) worship, and temple worship…that is more the religious type…‘O Lord, I give to the poor’, ‘O Lord, I am such a kind person, make me kinder,’ ‘O Lord, me, me, I, I,…you know that awful stuff that is all about ones spirituality, and one’s great achievements…’…contrasted with the true body of Christ worship, which is from a heart that is tender towards God.

Of course. That is exactly the sort of idea.

that is something that is inside each person… and
a question only they can answer…

Well, it is not to difficult to figure out which variety you are. It is a reality check. Listen to your heart and what are you praying right now…Lord, what a good man am I, or is it God centred worship that come from being baptised in the body of Christ.

How did you become a Protestant ?

[/QUOTE]

 

[mainusch]

Pophead:

Not many Jews will agree with that, they are strict Monotheists…well, most of the one’s I have spoken to.

I too am a strict monotheist.

To the end I will vehemently argue that there is, has only ever been, and will only ever be one God: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One.