My Church

DEC. 19, 1980, 5:44 AM
CROW CANYON, DINING TABLE

Your paining leg brought you to this time of writing today, o son. Today you did permit the pain and discomfort to lead you back to Me… and it is about time. True, the situation was far from ideal at Michael’s, but I have missed these teaching sessions, and, I know you have, too. Continue to have faith in the healing process, and spend as little time as possible feeling sorry for yourself. I still affirm that there is spiritual value in what is happening to you physically. You are not as aware nor as appreciative of this as you should be.

The title, which I projected to you even before you were out of bed, is My Church, and it is concerned with this diverse, living Body of Mine and the parts of it you have encountered and experienced since Our last meditation together. The order of the encounters is not important. Don’t bother with chronological order.

You learned more about the Evangelical Orthodox Church, and you caught the zeal of My servant Peter Gillquist. You also felt the pride and dedication in your son, Michael; know that this is the most important criterion in assessing any portion of My Body… what difference does it make in the lives of those who are part of it? When you discern that lives are enriched, emboldened, and directed, in positive, healthy ways, then you can conclude that the Church that energizes is a part of Me. Oh, certainly, other organization and groups can create like appearances in disciples and followers, so you must do the assessing with spiritual eyes and a heart linked to Mine. It is only as you are true to Me can you accurately discern. There is no objective, other way.

I have a special warm feeling for orthodoxy. I would not say to you that it is necessary for credibility as My Body, but I certainly said this directly to Peter and his fellow organizers… and I continue the message to those who make that church function and serve. It is right for them to hold this as true and seek to maintain it. Hear again that hard fundamental – that which is truth is not necessarily consistent with other that is truth. It all fits together in My Mind, but My Mind is absolutely universal, and try as you may, your thinking patterns are too formulated in Western terms. You just cannot limit Me to your thought patterns, even your best and most open ones. I do want certain things which seem contradictory to one another. Zeal for Me comes in many forms, and this pleases Me.

My special servant Sheryl gave your heart a different picture of My Church in life and action. She ministers with some of My sheep who are quite different from those who praise me at Maraga or in Menlo Park. For some of these in Mexico the orthodoxy that the EOC prizes, may be comfortable, but it is a stumbling block to spiritual growth of the most important kind – growth in relation to Me. So there is spontaneity and a seeking for words and actions that communicate, “Lo, I am with you always”.

One is not right and the other wrong. The hand is not like the eye, and neither is like the liver, and yet these, and many more diverse “parts” make up the healthy, well-functioning body… and Body.