Thursday Theology

I've decided to move on from the scheduled lectionary reading for now and share some other thoughts on faith, religion, church, etc. 

I have posted about my frustration with churches and religion and have been thinking about that and how it all affects my own faith. I do have to acknowledge that my faith and beliefs were formed in church -- first the Roman Catholic Church, and then in evangelical churches. And while none of those churches fit well into my current understanding of God, Jesus, the Bible, heaven and hell, etc. -- they were foundational in establishing a baseline for my current thoughts and religious philosophies. 

I believe in a Creator and call this Creator God.
While I acknowledge that God is not a physical being and is without gender, I also realize that God is often humanized and given a male gender. I do make an effort to keep from referring to God with male pronouns, but sometimes miss correcting my old habits.
I have a difficult time comprehending the idea that God would chose to become human and dwell among us in the person of Jesus, but also believe that if I can understand the motives and thoughts of a being, then that being is certainly not worthy of being called God.
As such, I do believe that Jesus is God in human flesh and I study and try to understand and follow his teachings.
I believe that religions around the world are largely corrupted by mankind and used to control and manipulate their adherents without regard to actual divine inspiration.
With nearly 50,000 different Christian denominations in the world today and many non-denominational Christian churches, maybe I should just start my own Christian denomination.

It seems to me that the Jewish leaders of Jesus' day were much like the religious leaders of today and used religion as a tool to control the people. Jesus (God) repeatedly told them that they misunderstood God. He often said -- You've heard it said ____, but that's not what that means.

Honestly, I'm still trying to figure it all out. I don't think I'd be a very good religious leader because I am too unwilling to tell anyone that I have all the answers and can speak for God about how we are all to behave. 

The commands of Jesus are simple -- Love God. Love your neighbor.
Simple commands, difficult behaviors.

I have questions.
I'll share them in future Thursday morning posts.
Maybe some of you have the answers I'm looking for.

John