The Kingdom of Heaven is inside you, my brother in buying stocks. No building, name / denomination, pulpit, procedural doctrine or ritual purification can hold a candle to the Water of Life, given freely by our Lord Jesus Christ, to all who ask! "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." Friend, did you know that Jacob's name was changed to Israel, after wrestling with a Man all night before crossing the Jordan? "Israel, one who wrestles with man and God, and prevails" THIS IS THE CHURCH you angry mouse! Not some building with a funny phraze on the sign out front.
LOL This church you talk about, the bride of christ that's full of weirdos. Jesus sure picked a ugly bride, she can hardly agree upon anything except she's thankful that gummint is on her side for tax payer dollar relief.
It's also said that Jesus is the "lamb" (which is sacrificed) but also the "high priest" (which executes the sacrifice?). Of the "sheep" and the "bride" it also calls them "priests". Doesn't make much sense till you consider this is all what i call "priest craft", which is the control of the largest number of people with the smallest police force. This is accomplished through thought leaders in combination with thought police. Sheep can be made to police their own thoughts if they can be made to fear a god which is reading each and every thought into a database to later be judged good or bad. The thought leaders are the priests themselves. Modern governments also employ ancient priest craft, except the police force is generally larger because there is generally no fear of a god which is reading each and every thought into a database to later be judged good or bad to be rewarded or punished. The closest to this is a kind of secret police which monitors communications, and maybe even stores them into a database for potential judgment with consequences.
This was a challenge to re-evaluate who or what you are. It's more popular to keep the same old evaluation and try to fill it with "new wine" so-to-speak. But that is actually narcissistic, with the kind of negative results you would expect when you put new wine into old wine skins. It's more challenging, and unpopular, to greatly expand the notion of what and/or who you are...like Jesus did. This, ironically, is the humblest and least narcissistic evaluation you can have of yourself.
More religious bollicks. Can a zebra regret its stripes or an elephant its trunk. Likewise why should humans repent their sin when born in it? Should they repent, they'll just continue in sin anyway.
We, who intend to serve the LORD, realize our flawed state which has fallen out of its intended role, as sons of God, and seek reconciliation to the Perfect One, since we love Him and He loves Us. No son worthy of his heritage wants his father to be disappointed in him. We inherit the Kingdom of God, once reconciled to the Father in heaven! Not only are we the Bride of Christ, and sheep, but we're also likened to oxen in a yoke who must bear a light burden for the Lord, and plow a straight furrow. Can you handle it?