Heretic Steve wrote:I can't say that I feel anything.
For me, there has not been much of a "feeling" regarding a relationship, but there have been "feelings".
To whit:
1) The Theology of the Three Doors has been liberating. The sadistic, capricious, Christian God has been replaced with the loving, rational and just god of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. As a combat veteran, this has had a huge impact upon my worldview.
b) The confusing mental and linguistic gymnastics required by Protestant-neoCalvinistic-Trinitarian-Reformed-Evangelical-borderlineCharismatic-Bapstiterian-ism have been replaced by a "simple" (yet at the same time deep) formula for just doing what YHWH asks those who love Him to do. No need to ignore the "Old Testament" and explain it away with Paul's letters. Just read it, think about it and do what it says, as best you can.
III) My family and I now attend Messianic Synagogue's
(Easy, there, Richard and Walt! They are not perfect, but these congregations are at least trying to get it right. Some are better than others!) I often weep when we pray the same prayers that MessiYah and the disciples prayed, when we affirm (whilst pointing to the scroll) that "this is the Torah that You gave to Moses..", and when the scrolls are marched around the auditorium each month, when the Aaronic blessing is given, when the children are blessed, when we celebrate the feasts, etc, etc, etc. These are awe-full feelings.
The congregation that we attend in Atlanta is the most racial/ethnically diverse group of people I have
ever seen,
anywhere.
"Red and Yellow, Black and White, They are precious in His sight" Praise Yah! My buddy and I were wisecracking after Shabbat services that at the first part of the program (prayers and Torah reading) the body movement of the congregation is forwards and backwards (lotsa Jews doing the traditional bobbing ), then during the singing part, the body movement switches over to side-to-side (lotsa black folks, they get the rest of us 'swaying').
D) I often ask for forgiveness for the 40 years of attempting to serve Him in the Christo-Pagan way that I was taught. I know He has forgiven me, but I still feel "bad" about it, sometimes.
So, it seems that there are some "feelings" surrounding this relationship after all!