True Church?  Do You Belong?

This Sabbath, January 16, 2009 --- Tevet 20, (year) 5769 

www.yahshuaservant.com

Peace to you and yours and greetings in His Name, YaHshua.  Dear brothers and sister It is my desire for all to understand the Word of our God as the "Word of our God".  It cannot be said too often, "let every man be a liar but God be true" (Romans 3:4). But there are times we need to look outside of the Holy Scriptures to see what the Scriptures are saying, or of whom the Scripture is speaking -- to fine tune our understanding. 

We should start with defining what the "Church" is and is not.  What it is in not is a building but that is the definition used by most today.  The question, "What Church do you go to", is common and the meaning understood to be a location or building where a group of people meet.  The orginal "church" was not a building, not a location, but a collective body of people.   

Church Defined

The term "church" can be found in Strong's Greek Dictionary #1577, a compound of #1537 and #2564, masking a connection with the understanding of "being called out".  This difinition reads as "ecclessia",  to mean -- assembly, members, or community.  It would not be wrong to call these "members" a "group", or an "assembly".  Church is merely the word that is most often used as this is the term the translators picked, they could have just as easily used one of the other definitions.  A "body" of people fall into these same difinitions.  We are told in Matthew 16:18 He, our Savior, would build His "Chruch", and the gates of hell would not prevail against it, or, He would build His "members", or even His body which has many "Members".

(Rom 12:4-5) For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:  So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

  The term "Church" can apply to any membership, or group of people, even a community but that does not mean they are a part of that "Body", the Body our Savior on earth.  The question becomes, how do we determine the correct body or membership of the Messiah, or, how do you determine which "group" or 'community" should you stay away from, or come out of? 

  Before we identity of the Church, the Body of the Messiah, with its many parts (members), we need first identify a work present on this world we are warned to not be a part of, or to come out of.  It is an understanding we need, I believe, so we do not become complacent in our own spirtual journey ignoring the threat closing in upon this world, a threat the world has seen before and appears to be heading to a repeat.  there is a religious deception far greater than the pagan religions found in far off places of the earth, many found in the countries of the East -- depraved third world countries with religions of demons that have been suppressed them for centuries -- no, the deception I speak of is much more hidden, actually hidden in plain sight, called Christian and claims the Holy bible as their book -- pretending to be something it is not, claiming to be somehting it is not. 

Hidden in Plain Sight

If we can identify this religious deception we will see a threat the true body of the Christ will have to deal with and has had to suffer under in the past -- they say history repeats itself and this seem to be true just as true as the saying, "those that ignore history are doomed to repeat it".  We are given a heads up by the writings of John, which we will look at later, but for now lte's continue with the uncovering of this great deception, hidden in the open.  This religious deception concerns an organization calling itself Christian but preaching a different gospel and a different Christ, and has been visible and active throughout the world in politics of nations as well as the "politics of religion".  It is from this organization virtually all Christian religious organizations obtained their religious doctrine in the West.  At this point we will not concern ourselves with the "body" of eastern religions, as any fool can see the demon connection with them, and they will always be what they are, pagan, and easily identifiable.  We have, on the other hand, a real deception posing as somthing it is not, claiming to be the "Body of the Messiah".

  First we hav the Roman Catholic Church, followed by her daughters the Protestant Churches, having come out of the Roman Church -- called Protestant as those "protesting ones" -- protesting against the Roman Chruch over authority -- a falling out over the infallibility of the POPE.  Certianly there were other issues but this was and still is the primary reason for the various groups to tear themselves from the influence of the Roman Chruch, a Church that dominated the politics of the European nations so throughly Kings needed the Pope's blessing in order to rule.  There are even those of the Protestant community, and of the Evangelical community, identifying this false Church for what she is but still follow her teachings concerning the false Christ.  As time stretches the memory of the Roman Church's atrocities fade and the false doctrines of this Mother Church become accepted as religious truth the power of the Pope grows in the hearts of men.

 In some ways the teachings coming from the Evangelical Churches concerning the Rapture and Imminent Return cloud the doctrines of devils and demons inherited from this Mother Church of the Protestant Chruches.  The Evangelical Churches pride themselves on being independant followers of the word, but this is aruguable as we see the Evangelicals following and promoting doctrines and tradtions having their roots deep within the Roman Chruch all the way back to that original Great City, Babylon on the shores of the Euphrates river.  This false system of worship and tradition is hidden in plain sight for all to see.  Great men of the past and of various parts of the Messiah's Body protested and came out of her paying with their lives for their stand against this blood thirsty Chruch of Rome.

Government Approved

Imagine, if you can, the United States President standing up and declaring a particular Church as the State religion that all must become a part of under penalty of death.  You laugh but this is exactly what happened in placing the Roman Church in the drivers seat of world politics and she wants to take that seat again.  After all, the Pope is god on earth -- well, that is the claim of the Chruch -- believe it or not -- again, this is not hidden information.  Something else needs to be recognized, without the people, without the membership, the Church leadership would have no power.  Not all Kings of the past believed the Pope to be Christ on earth (Vicar of Christ -- in Christ's place) but for fear of the membership, their loyal subjects in revolt would mean their fall, if, however, the Pope gave his blessing the people then would accept the King as god ordained, and who can argue with that? 

  The Roman Church became the State Church (government approved) of the Roman Empire, from there the power of the Pope and the Vatican ruled supreme over Europe and spread out into most, if not all, of the world.  She ruled for approximately 1260 years until Napoleon ordered seizer of the Pope, around 1798 AD.  This began the reduction of the power of the Church to a small area located within the other Great City, Rome, known to us today as the Vatican City, the Papal State (the First Great City being identified as Babylon).  Papal authority has been attempting to break out of this confinment ever since, but as an independant state it has enjoyed a certain privacy and respect, it has its own ambassadors to the nations of the world and is involved, in one degree or another, in major decisions made by world leaders.  Do not for get, the Roman Church has a billion members all over the world, wshe sits on many coast lands and countries. While, believe it or not, active membership in Europe has declined her membership in the rest of the world is increasing -- Europeans claim 90% securlar, just the opposite in the United States. With this shift why should the powers of the Chruch remain in Rome?  I personally believe she may move either to Jerusalem, under the right circumstances, or back to her true beginnings on the river Euphrates, Babylon -- this is speculation, of course, but changes are coming, big changes. (see Great Quake).  Even today every world leader bows before the Pope and more and more religious organizations are accepting the Roman Churches idealology -- after all, they already accept her teachings concerning the false Messiah, and the practice of her tradtions as their own, not all but enough. 

No appology Needed 

 I cannot appologize for past history and neither can you, it is what it is, and if someone reminds you of events concerning the bloody past of a murderer why be offended?  Some are and it is understandable, no one wants to told they are making friends with a murderer.  The Roman Catholic Church, a Church that has never repented of having murdered millions in the name of their god Iesus, has, however, made small attempts at reconciling with the Jews, even to the point of calling for an end to the use of the God of Israel's name (Catholic Church orders the Sacred Name banned) .  Certainly they see a political advantage, after all wouldn't the Roman Church like to take possession of the other Great City Jerusalem?  But really, the apology to the Jews for her sins against them was seen as pretty lame, too little too laste, by many commentators.  How can such an organization claim to be true followers of the Messiah and claim the Holy bible as their book and have the Christian community at large accept this when it is so obvious her tradtions are based on pagan festivals dating back to Nimrod of Babylonian fame?  That the Roman Chruch is built upon pagan tradtions orginating from the Babylonian Empire, doctrines of the Middle East, is not hard to prove it is only hard to hear.       

Overcoming the Weakness 

This study is hard for some but if taken in context can be of great value in understanding the weakness we see in brothers and sisters of the Christian Community -- even in ourselves.  Yes, I believe we have brothers and sister in the Body of the Messiah sprinkled throughout these misguided Chruches, why else would a call go out to come out of her (Rev 18:4)?  If all other bodies contain only the deceived this call to "come out of her" would be meaningless, so the Boby of the Messiah is much more flexible than some think.  If the membership of a misguided group were to correct and repent of their error would they not become a complet body in the Christ?

  The crippling weakness of the Christian community is the number of false teachers within that body, even well meaning ministers in their error giving a pass to the Roman Chuuch and embracing her false Christ.    Even the Presidents of the United States pay homage to the Pope -- special visits and considerations -- incredible, considering the United States was basically populated early on by those escaping the tyranny of the Roman Church.  The power of the Roman Church, over life and death, came to an end around 1798.  You need only read the history laid down in Fox's Book of Martyrs to discover the horrors the Roman Catholics prepetrated against anyone not confessing the "Catholic" faith.  I say Roman Catholics -- the "body" of the Roman Church -- composed of her members filling Her cup with the blood of the Saints.  This could not have happened without the approval and participation of the "body", that is the members of that Church, this is where the power is.  The weakness is found among the membership in the natural man giving pwoer to other men preforming evil in the name of their god. 

  Outside of the Roman Church there are those claiming the Holy Bible as theirs, like the Roman Church, they preach a false Christ, a different Christ (messiah), just as the Roman Church, in fact their Messiah is in the same image and name as that of the Roman Church.  It is also more and more evident among the religious community, as a whole, in the acceptance of the verneration of Mary. But why be amazed at this, after all, the religious community continue in the tradtions, and the chains of doctrine and tradtions accepted from the Roman Church, the originator of Christianities religious doctrines.  It is by these 'tradtions" the leaders use to bind their followers to themselves -- a system approved by Satan himself.  These ministers deliberately avoid worship of the true Living God by their "tradtions", calling on a name not His.  This is a threat to those seeking the truth and can lead to a blindness concerning the teaching of this "other gospel" -- we must take our stand not to let this deception (the lie) cloud our judgement in our conduct toward the Holy Bible, the written words of our God and Savior, YaHshua. There is a connection these false teachers and prophets share going all the way back to the beginning of man's abandonment of true worship at the Tower of Babylon located within that orginal Great City, Babylon, a city raised after the flood, in defiance of their Creator.  

The Plea to Come Out of Her

If this were not so then why would there be the plea to come out of her (Rev 18:4), not to be a part of her sins?  The Woman is a religious order and a great city, both are identified.  The Woman can be identified as a world wide Chruch claiming to be Christian, cliaming the Holy bible as their book and having influence of a huge population of people throughout the world.  This Woman is associated with a great city, called Babylon.  When John wrote of these things in Revelation 17 the only city he knew of to fit this diescription was Rome.  Rome, in that period, had taken to itself the methods of the orginal Babylon, with its building programs and religion.  There could not have been a more religious people than the Romans.  They had become very tolerant toward all religions and types of worship so long as civil unrest did not result and this was the big problem they had with the Jews.  While the religion of Babylon had become part of the Roman system the Jewish system did not and this continued to be a thorn in the side of Rome. While the Romans were happy to allow other religions pratice and even rule themselves this did not appeal to the Israelites (Jews) of that day.  While a people under the authority of Roman rule they had a rebellious nature and saw the Romans as unclean gentiles whom their god was going to crush.  You might say, they were their own worst enemy.  Rome would put up with their rebellious nature for only so long.

 Eventually the Jews were crushed and taken into another type of captivity and slavery.  During a three year period ending 70 AD Jerusalem was take and the Temple destroyed.  Around 70 years later, 140 AD, the Romans returned to put a final solution on the Jewish problem destroying the whole city taking it down to the ground and carrying every last person off into slavery.  This is the Rome, the Babylon, John told us about and told the Christians coming after him to come out of.  Remember, these words of John are not really His, but the words of our Savior, YaHshua and this being the case the words and the thoughts go on past John and into the future. 

  All of the great cities of the earth are after the pattern of Babylon, financial trade centers filled with people of every type following the desire of their own hearts in presuit of wealth for the most part. Even the poor of the great cities are in this pursuit, few being content with less and fewer still seeking out the Creator God.  When we read the warning in Revelation 18 is seems very specific and may well mean a resurrected Babylon.  There is the possibility Babylon will rise again as a world trade center.  There is something that is going to happen as sure as the Word of God is true and that is the coming Greak Quake of the 6th Seal of Revelation 6:12.  This will be a world changing event and recovering from this event may lead to the resurrection of the orginal Babylon -- time will tell.  It does seem form the wording that the Great City Babylon will be in the time our Savior Returns.  Let this be a warning to any that may be around to witnesses this future time in history.  Today, however, we see Babylon everywhere.  In religion especailly and some have identified the Roman Catholic Church as this "Great City".  If this is so then the simple answer would be to leave the Catholic Chruch.  If then the Catholic Church then others should get out of the Protestant Chruches, after all they are the duaghters of the Roman Church.

  While many of us have separated from them, for various reasons, peace of mind, for one, many within the Christian fold are kin, in a spiritual sense, but, the command stands, "Come out of Babylon my people".  This "Babylon" is a religious order, or system that has been in motion from the beginning, all the way back when that system was an Empire unto itself and religion dominated the whold of society, not just the worship of gods but in trade and finance, it was a religious commercial, even military union.  The term Babylon refers to a specific place, a place we can locate historically, it can also be expanded to mean a complete commercial system, as mentioned, as well as a religious system.  

  Babylon, a city, Babylon an empire, Babyon a religious order or system, and a commercial power -- combined, a single unit, united not only with themselves but against the Creator God.  Remember, the Beast leader and the False Prophet will preform miracles (false) and blaspheme the Creator.

(Rev 13:6) And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

USA and Babylon ?

Some have tried to say the punishment coming on this Babylon is really talking about a particular country, like the United States, or, even, the Babyon of Iraq.  the problem with this view is the fact the scriptures plainly state this Babylon of Revelation is a "city", a particular "city", a city within which the the prophets and the saints blood is found -- and that is not all -- the blood of "all who have been killed upon the earth" (Rev 18:24).  

 A full Chapter is given to the destruction of the "great city of Babylon" and reading this, verse by verse, it is easy to see how often merchants of the sea are mentioned and it becomes plain this is a city, a great city of shipping, trading in every thing of value.  It's destiny is to become a habitate of "every unclean bird" and other detestible things but never a habitation of men -- that is its future.  Read Jeremiah 51:6-10 for an interesting parallel concerning Babylon.  In fact, read all of Jeremiah 51 and you see Babylon mentioned as a land and a city in detail upon detail of its destruction.  There is another similarity to the proclaimation found in Revelation found in verse 45 of Jeremiah 51, "Come out of her, my people!  Run for your lives!  run from the fierce anger of YHWH" .  Now let's read Revelation 18:4 "...'Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins' "  (NIV).  We need to recognize this Babylon, to understand if it is just a city, a country, a system of the world, or a particular location.  As mentioned earlier, some say it is ancient Babyon itself, the Babylon of Iraq.  The problem is the call to "come out of her", but listen to whom this warning, this instruction, is addressed, "my people".  

(Rev 18:23-24) ... Your merchants were the world's great men. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray. In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth."

So, what do we know?  It is a city system, a commercial system, and the blood of the prophets and the saints is found in her.  Nations are led astray by her, "By your magic spell", this is done.  This commercial, city system has something of a hipnotic influence on the nations and is able to lead them "astray".  We see many historical and current cities of commerce and as financial centers fitting this discription, save one very important point.  Which of these cities fitting the discription, past and or present is also the "blood of the Saints", and the "blood of the Prophets"?

(Rev 16:6) ..for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve."

Who is the "they" of this verse?  It is the world, the whole earth, as the context of Revelation 16 demonstrates.  Here we can see the expanded view, from city, to country, to the whole earth.  Look, I don't pretend to have all the answers and if I knew just what city to avoid,m or to come out of I would tell you, but I don't.  What I see here is it may very well have to do with "coming out of the world" and its system under the sway or spell of the Beast system.  Now there may be a singular city and I think Rome, Italy would be a good canidate.  Not Jerusalem, however as we know form other prophetic writings concerning Jerusalem it will not be abandoned forever, just the opposite.  Ancient Babylon may have the blood of the prophets found in her but the Saints?  No doubt Rome followed the Babylonian system adopting much of the religious symbolisim and tradtions of Ancient Babylon, and she did kill the Saints by the thousands.  Between the two of them they would qualify.  Ancient Babylon has a direct prophetic proclaimation against her, not unlike that found in Book of Revelation and to attempt any type of rebuilding of Babylon, as Saddam Hussein had been in the process of doing, would end in disaster.  That area is going to be a place desolation, the originator of the Babylonian system (called by many other names) just as the end-time Babylonian system of the Beast and false Prophet and that ultimate end of the City that will represent this world system.  This is not finished, people live in the area of Ancient Babylon once again and may, briefly, return to past glory.  We have yet to firmly identify the singular City system called Babylon.  But, at this point I believe we have seen what it cannot be and all of the points to the prophetic words must fit.  As a world wide system we, as believers, unable to leave this planet, may be pushed into a corner, a corner as discribed in Revelation 13.  If you refuse the "mark" this may well be your move, you dicision to come out of her.  This would be the world view and it may also include a City view -- you may have to literally leave the center of trade, the commercial center of the Babylonian system (by whatever name) if you happen to live there -- where ever it may be.

One writer of porphecy claims to have received spiritual guidence in identifying this Babylon as the United states and New York as the City.  Do we have evidence of the "blood of the Saints and the blood of the Prophets" found in New York?  No, we do not, so where ever this prophetic writer received his information it was not from scripture and not from our Heavenly Father.  He makes som interesting observation and bases his understanding on receiving "revealed" information.  He is not alone in such visions of error.  note: Set the Trumpet To Thy Mouth, by David Wilkerson is a good exampleof this false style of teaching. He and others have been writing long enough to know if what they saw as "holy revelation" is correct or not.  They have had plenty of time to print retractions, or apologiies but all fail to do this, continuing in their error.  Hal Lindsay is another as well as Tim LaHaye, and many others continue to grind out prophetic truth and error.  These men do not call themselves 'prophets" but rather teachers of prophecy.  There is one modern day, self-declared prophet, you should all be aware of, a "false Prophet" if the first class, Ronald Weinland.  He too is not alone, but I will not get into name all of the wolves, there are just too many.

Seven Churches

Remember, in the Book of Revelation 3 we have three of the seven Churches acknowledging the use of the Sacred Names of our Savior and our Heavenly Father.  The first Church in Ephesus, the third Church in Pergamum, and the sixth Church in Philadelphia.  Each is given credit for maintaining His Holy Name.  Can anyone say these three Churches are the only true Churches, the only true Congregations, the only true body of the Christ because they are the only groups recognized as using His Name?  Of course not, it is not even an argument.  Still, today, we have those in our number that would reject those called to the body of the Messiah on the mistaken idea that anyone that does not have the truth of His identity are not His. 

Does anyone deny these seven Churches (Congregations, Assemblies, Ekklesia, ecclesia, group or body) are identified as part of the Body of the Messiah?  We must notice the "imperfect" descriptions concerning these seven church personalities, see the faults in their work.  Keeping this in mind we should see the very human nature of this collection of humanity, called the Body of the Christ. 

Don't misunderstand, please, I recognize, as you do, that there is a pagan element in much of the various groups claiming to be Christian, at the very least, those that claim the Word of the Living God as their authority but fall into following the Babylon system of religion embalzened across the face of the earth in the form of the Roman Church and her Portestant daughters (this would be the first group I would "come out of"). 

The primary group (church), however, at the top of the list for pagan worship and for relegating the Holy Bible to the trash heep in favor of Church Traditions, is the Roman Catholic Church.  Are we to say, then, that all Roman Catholics are going to the Lake of Fire?  We do not come to the same truth at the same time, and believe it or not, the Roman Church does recognize our Saviors Birth Name, YaHshua, and also the Name of the God of Israel, Yahweh -- these names are used in many of their songs.  They are also full of the blood of the saints and history proves this.  An intersting thing is happening, however, in this knowledge -- the Roman Church has decided to eject this knowledge from their material. (More on this rejection, click here)     By her power she ruled the kings of the earth in the past.  Is she to do it again?  Or is somthing esle going to rise up?  Time will tell and we will be able to use scripture to identify this system as it takes shape.  We will see as witnesses holding to the tesimony of our Savior and not denying His Name.

Seven Churches -- Seven Ages

Reading about the seven Churches and you will see what we should all see.  These seven are an image of the Body of the Messiah down through the ages.  The personality of each is easy to see and can be identified by the trait that distinguishes them one from another.  There are remnants of these seven Churches today, but the main thing is that you can look around and see the personalities of all seven in the Christian Community.  The elements of these original seven can be seen sprinkled here and there and as one might expect, throughout the Christian Community.  Yes, there are those of us that are going to Church on Sunday and some on Saturday (the original Sabbath).  And there are some even "claiming to be Jews", attempting to restore that which YaHshua tore down for our sakes, but still, they are part of the whole. Look at the three hasving not denied His Name, however, see their connection with His Identity and how it played, and is to playing, a part in their makeup -- see how the Name is found among them, how it sets them apart.  One could include the Roman Church in this group but she has drifted further and further from this truth as we approach the end of man's rule.  Let us take a quick look at the three supporters of the Holy Identity.

First there is the first church, Ephesus (Rev 2:3), how they suffered as the "first" members to the Body of the Christ.  Many of them saw the fall of the Temple and endured many hardships clinging to His Name.  Not only were the Jews upset with this cult of YaHshua but they cringed every time His name was mentioned, as this Name rang out defining a Savior from the Heavenly Father.  Not long the Romans and other gentiles took to persecuting those that believed in YaHshua as Messiah, but the followers of Yahshua persevered and hung on to the end of their lives, but you will notice, they were not perfect.

Second there is the third church, Pergamum (Rev 2:13), under great stress they "remained true to His Name".  These members lived in an environment that constantly put pressure on them to renounce the Messiah to give up on Him but they remained "true to His Name".

Third there is the sixth church, Philadelphia (Rev 3:8), These members "have not denied His Name", they are not willing to go along with the crowd.  They also are known for keeping His word.  Some think this means to keep the Old Testament Laws, every dot and jot, but notice verse 9, and ask yourself, Just who is it that are claiming to be Jews and are not?  Do you get it?  To those that have kept His Word, that is the Word of YaHshua, the Bible.  It is not talking about keeping the laws of Moses.  Those that would have us be Jews, in this manner of speaking, are going to be turned over to Satan. We are His Testimony and not of any other do we testify.   

 Those individuals attempting to be Jews, or Israelites and to practice the Laws of Moses are on a path that leads away from YaHshua.  There is no problem with honoring the Creator and the Life Giver by honoring certain days, the problem enters when the individuals attempt to keep the Law of death and claim death to all that don't do as they do. The "Restoration" is in the hands of our Father, not men -- He and the Son are going to restore Israel and they are going to bring the Kingdom in, salvation is through and by them, not the Law.   Attempting a restoration of the Law is to crucify the Messian again    

With that said I would like to begin a study into something that should be a benefit to anyone that has been caught up in the "spirit movement".  There are a lot of names and variation on this theme and they all have a name but I will refer to it as the "spirit movement" blending them all into the same dish -- as they are all of the same.

YaHshua becomes the source of "salvation" and a Priest after the order of Melchizedek.  You see, my friends, the Laws of Moses and the Levititcal priesthood had not yet been introduced during the period the High Priest Melchizedek ruled at Jerusalem.  Melchizedek is the priest of YHWH to whom Abraham paid tribute.  The mentioning of YaHshua being made priest after the order of Melchizedek is like saying the better priesthood was without rules.  Certainly Abraham gave the High Priest Melchizedek a tenth of his spoils, a tithe, if you wish, but no where was it commanded, it was totally voluntary on Abraham's part (Genesis 14:18).  The point being made is that YaHshua is of a better, a higher, order of Priesthood and one that came before the Writing of the Laws (Hebrew 5:6).   Are the Laws done away?  Absolutely not but they have no power over the Body of the Messiah.  The Law brings death, YaHshua brings life, which do you want? 

Look at the trouble Paul (Saul) is having with the Hebrew branch of the Body in his day.  Read how he chastised them calling them babies when they should be mature adults.  What is it they were doing, these Hebrews, so soon after and so close to the crucification of the Savior, YaHshua.  Let's read:

"After He had finished His work, He became the source of eternal salvation for everyone who obeys Him. God appointed him chief priest in the way Melchizedek was a priest. We have a lot to explain about this. But since you have become too lazy to pay attention, explaining it to you is hard. By now you should be teachers. Instead, you still need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word. You need milk, not solid food. All those who live on milk lack the experience to talk about what is right. They are still babies. However, solid food is for mature people, whose minds are trained by practice to know the difference between good and evil". (Heb 5:9-14 GW)

This message is for us today also as we see this infant attitude throughout the Christian Community and this is one of the main reasons many you have separated from these groups -- they like being children and don't want to grow-up, you do not, you want to grow in knowledge of our Heavenly Father.  The funny thing is, they, those babies,  want you to be just like them, sucking on the bottle, getting plenty of milk with little substance and calling it "strong drink".  We should be teachers, or at least have the ability to explain to any that might ask about our Faith, about the hope we have.  We should know and understand the "elementary truths", and that is just what Paul is saying and continues to say to us today.  Let us continue with Paul's words to the Hebrews: