Labels: A Useful Tool in Searching This Blog

 When you you read one of the posts in this blog, there are several tools to enhance the usefulness of the post. The Labels tool is one of these. 

The current blog text which you are reading is in a white box. To the right of the blog text is a light-green box. Scroll down to the small white box which is below the light-green box. This white box is Pages. The listed pages are Home, About this Blog, Statement of Faith, and Statistics. Clicking on the name of one of the listed pages will take you to that page.

Home: At the end of the current posting which you are reading, there is a light green box with the name of Labels. These labels concern the subjects related to the current post at hand. An example of a label is "animals." Click on "animals" and the Labels tool will call up blog postings which list "animals" as one of their labels. You can use this tool to search for any subject, such as "sports," "trinity," "baptism," "book comment," or random things such as "chainsaw" or "dog poop." At the extreme bottom of the Home page is a full listing of every label which has been used on this blog, listed alphabetically. It is extensive but you can search it by scrolling down the page.

About this Blog: A statement of the philosophy of this blog and things which you may expect to see here.

Statement of Faith: I have seminary training but would not attempt to tell you what to think: I'm interested in challenging you to actually think. Many people, possibly most, don't. Read your Bible and let the Holy Spirit perform his teaching ministry.

There are three types of Christian doctrine: absolutes, convictions, and opinions. Only absolute doctrines are "fighting words." They are doctrines which must not be compromised even if they lead to heated arguments, splits, and expulsions. 

Demonstrating an absolute (salvation by faith and not by works), Paul publicly rebuked Peter (Galatians 2:11-19) over whether Gentiles had to adopt Jewish practices to become Christians.  

An interesting discussion of the ranking of doctrines: read especially the comments of PRMan99. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Christianity/comments/58iiy5/doctrine_fundamental_secondary_tertiary/?rdt=41393

Statistics: This page lists the current historical number of page views for this blog and the countries from which this blog has been viewed.

The New Testament Church

"The primitive Church had no new Testament, no thought-out theology, no stereotyped traditions.  The men who took Christianity to the Gentile world had no special training, only a great experience - in which "all maxims and philosophies were reduced to the simple task of walking in the light since the light had come."  Burnett Hillman Streeter (1847-1937), British biblical scholar and textual critic, educator, educational administrator.  He wrote on religious philosophy and comparative religion.

Other Sheep

There are multiple suggestions floating around as to the identity of the "other sheep" mentioned in John 10:16.

"And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd"John 10:16

1. The other sheep are the Gentiles who will be grafted into the Vine.
2. Some, who deny the exclusivity of Christianity, say that the other sheep are righteous followers of other religions.
3. Reverend Jeremiah Wright of Chicago has implied that the "other sheep" are Muslims.
4. The possibility exists that the reference is to extraterrestrial life forms.
5. The Mormons say that the "other sheep" are the descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel, ie: polynesians, Native Americans, etc,)
6. The Jehovah's Witnesses declare the "other sheep" to be an earthly class of Christians numbering 144,000.
7. Other Sheep is an ecumenical organization which advocates for the inclusion in the Church of LGBT people (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transsexual).

Answer number 1 is the traditional and most likely meaning of the reference.

"Wherefore remember, that ye [being] in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition [between us]; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, [even] the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, [so] making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." Ephesians 2: 11-18.