stepping out in faith

so, we don't have as much money on hand as we were hoping...
and South Dakota had 6 feet of snow this week...
about 18oo miles, at $3.00 a gallon for gas...
but, we believe that it is important for us to touch bases with our denomination, and to share with our Open Bible brothers and sisters the vision we have for a Ministry...and to rest and listen and worship and focus...to seek first the Kingdom!
So we're going...

Seven of Nine

Nine Theses on Scripture
#7 The saints of the Church provide guidance in how to interpret and perform Scripture.

Perform? Some Churches are big on performing in church, but what is this performing Scripture? Interesting phrasing there I think.

By the way, if any of you dear readers, who are not on my email list, are interested in the possible future ministry of Gateway of the Rock, link to the site for the lastest vision...

Sixth

Faithful interpretation ofScripture invites and presupposes participaton in the community brought into being by God's redemptive action - the Church

Just what role is the church supposed to play in the spiritual development of an individual?
What is the responsiblility of the fellowship of believers to the saved, and the unsaved for that matter? I suppose, in this day and age it is possible to find a church that at least pretends to be Christian, that believes almost anything...And I know there are people who call themselves Christian who will not step inside a church because of past hurts.

Back to the Scripture Project

I left off at number 4 -
5. The four canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus.

This is an interesting one in view of the latest buzz about the Gospel of Judus and the DiVincie Code. What did Jesus do when he was a child in Egypt? Did he really bring clay birds to life?
Did he turn Pharasies into pigs? Did he go hunting? Is Judus a villian or a hero or a puppet playing a role set for him before the beginning of time? Was Jesus married?
I'll trust that the early church fathers and the Holy Spirit gave us the truth about Jesus. The truth we need to know. Just like today you get all sorts of theological studies and spiritual books that are not True, but rather perversions of the truth...I think the early christians, yeah the Roman Catholics of the third and fourth century had a lot of untruth to sort through. Eye witness reports and spectulations. We tried doing it again with the Jesus project a few years back. That was wrong.
Afterall, we were over 1900 years away from the actual events, we didn't have the original documents, and the main purpose of the whole project seemed to be an attempt to clean up some hard sayings of Jesus, and justify some popular sins that Jesus seemed to be against.
And even now, among some sincere, Bible believing Christians, you'll hear statements like "well, what Jesus really meant is..." and "it doesn't really matter if this really happened..." and "it's actually meant to be metephorical not literal."

Yeah, I would say I agree with this fifth of the Nine Theses on the Interpretation ofScripture
100% (as if it mattered if I agree or not)
The Four Canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus!

As I See It (as if that mattered)

this is way long...but here goes

As I see it, as the Living Word of God reveals it, in the beginning God created.
He is first and above all the Creator. Many religions acknowledge at least that much. The Great Spirit! The Big Bang! But some religions teach that after God completed His creation, he put it in the charge of lesser beings and sort of went to sleep. Some religions hold that the creator is female, since apparently it is the woman that creates life. That made sense until medical science discovered, oh about 10 thousand years ago or so, that woman did not do it alone. So do we have a male and female godhead, co-creating?
The Bible does use the expression “let us…” Who’s the us? Jumping ahead
a few thousand years, a prolific writer, famous for long sentences and
a brilliant mind, proclaims the following. “Rom 1:19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
Rom 1:20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. ..
And what does nature show?
Trinity.
Shell, Yolk, Egg. Skin, Fruit, Seed. Nucleus, Proton, Neutron, Body, Mind, Soul.
Father, Son, Spirit. Holy - Holy - Holy
At least, that’s the way the Bible puts it…that’s the way Jesus put it.
“Mat 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Mat 28:20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Ok, back to the beginning. There is a part of the story that isn’t really clear. It affects the human condition. But the purpose of the Bible seems to be explaining God’s relationship with human kind, and this particular piece of the picture is a bit vague. The angels. In considering the angels, the whys and wheres and whens are not that specific. Information is sort of given on a need to know basis, and some of the narratives are subject to interpretation?
I would like to discuss Lucifer. His name is sort of like Pearl Harbor. I mean, Pearl Harbor sounds like a beautiful place, except that it is a place of war, tragedy, attack…and so no one thinks, Pearl Harbor - that sounds lovely. So we have Lucifer - which means light. Piece together some verses and we find out he was in fact the most beautiful creature God created - up to the time He made man that is. But few people say “Lucifer” isn’t that a lovely name.
So we know there was some kind of war in heaven. A falling out. One third of the angels followed Lucifer. Two thirds stayed faithful. And there are a lot of them. Legions upon legions.
Was this battle planned? The concept is hard for me to grasp. But as I see it, and this piece is all about how I see it, because of jealousy and a lust for power, we have thousand of spiritual beings who were driven from their heavenly home, with no hope of redemption. Which is ultimately why Lucifer and his legions so hate mankind. God created people with a plan for redemption in mind. Mankind can be redeemed. Mankind can be forgiven.
I guess it is common belief among those who believe the Bible is true, that Lucifer’s main sin was that he wanted to be worshiped like God. And the promise he made Woman in the garden was that if she ate the forbidden fruit, she too would be like God, knowing good and evil. Sounds a little like yin and yang to me. How can we know good if we don’t know evil? How can we know light if we don’t know darkness? How can we know love if we don’t know hate? In C.S. Lewis’ space trilogy, the devil explains to The Woman on an other world, that because her “sister” Eve dared to disobey God, God Himself came to earth to set things right. Eve had merely played her part to bring about ultimate redemption to all her children.
But listen to the interchange between Cain and his Maker.
Gen 4:6 The LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?
Gen 4:7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."
Gen 4:8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
Gen 4:9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?"
Gen 4:10 And the LORD said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.
God tells Cain sin was crouching at the door. He urges him to rule over it. But Cain fails. What did God expect?
And this from Genesis 6.
Gen 6:5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen 6:6 And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
Gen 6:7 So the LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them."
Gen 6:8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
Many theologians teach that God was not surprised that all the choices this creature made, to whom was given free choice, were evil. He was not really sorry that He had created man. We do not take these verses literally because of course God knows all things and nothing ever surprises Him and He never changes His mind. But I think that we must take seriously the fact that mankind’s evil behavior grieved God to His heart. That is pretty serious language. Our behavior hurts God still.
Ok, so now we have Noah, and the flood. And the eight people from which all tongues and nations descend. Be fruitful and multiply. What do they know about God? He is the creator. He is powerful. He punishes the wicked but protects those who follow His directions. Mankind were created in His image, murder was forbidden (Genesis 9:6) He promised never to destroy the world with a flood again. But that flood was pretty intense. Many cultures around the globe have a flood story. Perhaps, just to ensure safety, a very tall tower could be built. And so the LORD confused their language and scattered them over the face of the earth. At that point in time, everyone had the story up to Genesis 11.
Here the Bible is vague again. We aren’t told a lot about what happened to
all those other people. Focus narrows in on Abraham and the “chosen”
people. But that same, afore mentioned prolific writer tells us
Act 17:26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,
Act 17:27 that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,
Act 17:28 for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.'
Act 17:29 Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.
God had not just sent them on their merry way. He had a purpose
for them, all of them. But enter good old Lucifer again. God had a
plan. Lucifer had a grudge. We see the way the seed of Abraham had
to deal with temptation and evil. We see how Lucifer and his legion
sought to destroy the race from which was destined to come the
redeemer. Remember, the “devils” had no hope of redemption. No
hope for forgiveness.
We can follow the covenant story, the redemption story in the Bible.
What of the people who were scattered? There stories vary; their
religions vary. Some it seems almost had it right. Some holy men,
prophets and priests did seem to get messages from God. But
many were deceived by devils, longing still, as did their dark master,
to be worshiped as gods.
As I see it, all the false religions of the world, have behind them a
devil, an evil spirit, presenting him or herself as a god. A jealous spirit
who would prefer that mankind never find this redemption that is
planned for them. Who take the truth and distort it. Who through
fear, or false promises keep the people they have trapped looking to
the shadows instead of turning around and facing the light. Who
would want their followers to believe that forgiveness doesn’t
matter.
Yet the truth is there for any who seeks it. It always has been there.
And there have been hundreds of wise men, priests and prophets,
who, upon hearing the “whole story”, cried a resounding “Amen!’
I am not willing to concede that all the people, the millions and
millions of people in the world, who died before hearing the
Christian Gospel, who still die without hearing, are damned to the
devil’s hell. But I know that God is good, and just, and merciful. So I
will simply trust that His plan for them lovingly reflects His true,
Divine Nature.
As I see it, the most important thing here, on this Easter Morning, is
Jesus. It can not be denied that Jesus existed in time and history.
It is a fact that he lived in Israel, and that he died on a Roman cross.
It is a fact that his teachings and his followers changed the world.
The way we number our days according to his birth, he broke time in half. Before Christ and after.
Was He God? Born of a virgin? Fulfiller of the Jewish prophecies? Savior and Redeemer? The only Truth. The only Way? The Once and For All sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin?
That, I suppose is a matter of faith!
But there was a Jesus. I believe there is still and always Jesus. And He is unique.
There is the Bible. The oldest book in existence, the first book ever printed. A book forbidden in some places where darkness prevails. A book people have died for. It is not as important as Jesus, but it is all about Jesus. From cover to cover. From “in the beginning” to “it is finished” and beyond. There is no other such book. Not even the Koran, though wars are being fought over it as well. Not the book of Mormon, though many of the followers of that book are very nice people who claim the name of Jesus - while teaching a false concept of Christ.
Consider the name of Jesus. Used as a curse. Who curses in the name of
Allah, Mohammad, or Isis?
Consider the cross of Jesus. Why? Why this bloody display?
The crucifixion of Jesus is unique. Every drop of His innocent blood shed. God’s divine plan of redemption. What man would think that one up on his own? Why the cross? To demonstrate the extent of Divine Love? And this is love!
To say forgiveness doesn’t matter. To say to forgive means we must judge and judgment is wrong somehow. To deny the fact that the Divine forgives and in turn requires His children forgive. To neglect the words of Jesus at His crucifixion - Father, forgive them…
Who would want people to deny or neglect such things?
One who hates people because they can be forgiven.
One more verse and one more comment, then I am done with this and will head off to church on this glorious Easter Morning.
Joh 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.
Joh 12:32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."
Joh 12:33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.
It is Easter Sunday - Resurrection Sunday some are calling it these
days, because of the pagan root of the word Easter. New clothes and
candy and egg hunts. But the event in History that we remember this
day, the one that is a matter of faith although there is some good
evidence that it actually did occur. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the grave, this is the true deciding factor.
Jesus rose from the dead to ultimately prove that all He said was true.
There is no other…there is no other way. We can discuss Calvinism,
Lutherism, Catholicism. We can divide over the concepts of Free Will
and Divine Election. We can waste time and energy arguing doctrine,
tradition, styles and methods. But the thing is Jesus. He is the
defining factor. Some people ask questions and get blasted for asking.
Some people grab hold of one piece of the puzzle and
refuse to admit there are other pieces that are every bit as much as of
the big picture as theirs. But the thing is Jesus. Horrible things have
been done in His precious name. Some of His so called followers have
done great damage to others. Yet this is not His fault. And He is ever
there to forgive, and restore. He is alive! He has risen! He has risen
indeed!

Why Would You Take This Personally?

Several months ago I read a blog post written by a personal aquaintence that affected me and our relationship profoundly. I was not mentioned personally and there was absolutely no indication whatsoever that he had anyone specifically in mind when he wrote it. But he knew me, at least I thought he did. He knew I often read what he wrote, and in this particular post there was a rather harsh statement made about people who believed as I do. I took it personally. I am worried that I am about to do the same thing to a friend of mine, if I write what my heart is telling me to write. It is somehting I must prayerfully consider.
Today is Good Friday. I am off from work. I have homework to do, and house work, and I am hoping to go see The Passion Play tonight. I'm going into town. I'm going to walk along the river, maybe have lunch with the LORD. But first I will have another cup of coffee and visit my blog friends...blessings

Forgive and Forget

apology accepted?
debt paid in full?
on my posting about remembering the woman somehow the concept of forgiveness has come up,
and the conversation is pretty interesting. i'm deleting some personal junk from the comments there and suggesting that any futher discussion on forgiveness be posted here...
"He suffered and endured great pain for us, but we thought his suffering was punishment from God. He was wounded and crushed because of our sins; by taking our punishment he made us completely well...the Lord gave him the punishment we deserved" Isaiah 53
Then there is Matthew 9 - "your sins are forgiven you..." And Jesus' haunting words from the cross - "Father forgive them, they know not what they do" Luke 23:34-35
And back to Matthew for one more word, before I head to church..."If you forgive others for the worngs they do to you, your Father in heaven will forgive you, but if you don't forgive others, you Father will not forgive your sins..."
I will attempt to show how savy I am at this computer blogging business by putting the last two comments from the Remember the Woman post here...and pose the question
Just how important is this whole Forgiveness question?

A Sheltered Life

I am the product of what is now called a dysfuntional home. In the place and time that I was a child, very few children did NOT live with both parents. I lived with my paternal grandparents and was raised and educated in the Catholic tradition although my grandfather was a self proclaimed "heathen" and only went to church for weddings (of which there were very few) and funerals (of which there were many).
I was always very spiritually minded, and I always felt closest to God when I was outside although Churches reminded me of God's sovereignty and mystery. I loved reading Bible stories and was thrilled when in eighth grade I was given my first Bible. I loved talking about heaven and hell and the lives of the saints. I belonged to the "Folk Group" at our local Church and loved to worship in the "Folk Mass" setting. I graduated from my all girl catholic high school with an award for excellence in Theology.
Fast forward 10 years. I'm not going to talk about the down ward spiral, the sins and the darkness, or the multi- faceted quest I embarked upon to find enlightenment.
Now, 10 years later - 27 years ago - I was "born again", and looking for a church. Couldn't go Catholic - my husband hated catholics. That has changed by the way. Didn't want to go main line - we really didn't trust people much, and there were a lot of people in those churches. Couldn't we just read our Bibles, listen to Chuck Swindol and Chuck Smith on the radio, sing along with Keith Green and Don Francisco, and give our tithes to the Salvation Army?
We tried a nondenominational church recommended by a friend who was thrilled that I had found the Light. It was an evening service and the pastor's son was preaching. All I remember about the sermon was that he made the statement that you could tell by the name of the church (and he proceded to name made up churches like St. So and So, Holy Family this, and United that and First that) that the pastor inside was a "liberal, unsaved heretic". Boy, did I have a knee jerk reaction to that. How could anyone, in Love with Jesus, and responsible for the Spritiual growth and welfare of a flock, make such a condemning statement from the pulpit?
My dad was going to a United Methodist church. That church had joined with 5 other main line churches in town to have a lenten supper outreach. Pot Lucks followed by some little program.
A film, a youth group's skit, a choral presentation - you get the picture. We were pretty poor back then, and for a free meal, we'd give it a try. We ended up staying at Dad's UM church. Grace.
And it was there we lived the Sheltered Life I was thinking about this morning.
You know how some people never really get over their "first love"? Well, it's kind of that way with me and Grace Church. I know no Church is perfect. But it was certainly the perfect Church for me and my family. It was a huge, old Church with a pipe organ and balcony, working stage, industrial kitchen, lots and lots of class rooms, library, spooky bell tower (but no bell). But ofcourse none of that matters. It was the people. An old time preacher - who after 20+ years in the ministry had recently gone through a "born again" experience at a Good News Conference.
He couldn't really preach all that well, but as a pastor to his flock he couldn't be beat. His gentle love and sincere faith was like a healing breath of fresh air. And there were Grace and Ed, who had just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary by sailing down the Nile River. They were Christian Charity in human form. To borrow a phrase from a Bob Dylan song, in our poverty, they taught us to give. And David and Ruth - he was a giant of a man, who had, as a college student been stricken with polio and confined to an iron lung. That was usually a life sentence, but through the power of prayer he had been healed enough to get around on canes. He was frail, but when he was given the opportunity to preach, his words had such strength and life...We sat under his tutalige and learned volumns about prayer...even about praying in tongues - you usually don't get that in a UM church. It was an intergenerational church, lots of children the same age as ours, lots of grandmas and grandpas to go around. Old saints and converted hippies. Single moms, people of all races, disabilities, economic status. We made life long friends there...carol, chris, al, diane, sis, ruth...It was a church family. Its where our kids grew up. Our life revolved around the church. We fed on the word, we learned to teach, to serve, to reach out, to forgive. It was in that place that Art heard the call to ministry, and encouraged by the pastor and the elders of the Church, he answered that call. But it was at that time that the denomination was becoming more and more liberal. The higher ups kept sending our pastor young seminarians with liberal ideas as assistants. None of them stayed very long. But the pastor and my husband's mentor warned him that he may have to make some compromises to continue in the ordination process...Could he say what the ordination board wanted to hear without really meaning it? Could he continue on the educational path they wanted him to follow, although the teachings would be unbiblical? No. Everyone involved understood. The Bible was the thing. The Truth was the Truth. No compromise there. The pastor was moved on, semi-retirement. After 6 months as Assistant to the Pastor of another UM church in the area, we moved on too.
Before I left that Church I had an idealistic view of Christians. For the 10 years there, I lived a sheltered life of fellowship and trust and charity and acceptance. There were a few problems. But like one remembering her first love...the flaws don't seem to have mattered that much. Conflicts were handled with grace. I didn't realize that there were pastors out there that manipulated truth, misused their authority, and demonized anyone who didn't agree with their take on Christianity. I didn't realize that there were churches out there that seemed to hate the sinner as much as the sin. I didn't expect lies, unforgiveness, petty arguements. I was shocked to find doctrines within churches that divided the body. I was shocked to see how frequently the word Heresy was used. How severly Christians judge other Christians. It is no wonder that some new believers are turned off and wander away.
It is no wonder that some people leave wounded, never to step inside a church again.
Now, before I really get blasted, let me make some qualifying statements.
The last four churches I have been part of, although not perfect, since there are no such things as perfect churches, and if there was a perfect church as soon as we started going there, the perfection would be lost....those last four churches have been very good, solid, Bible believing churches, with sound teaching, godly leadership, and a heart for the LORD. Dedicated as it were to Kingdom Business. That includes the Church we are currently attending, and the Church that my dear Pastor Art pastored 3 years ago. And for seven years we have been part of a united ministry, The Passion Play of the Four Corners. Where, for 12 weeks, for the sake of the message of the Cross, people from many different denominations pray together, worship together, and work together. No one cares if you speak in tongues at your church, or if you have icons in your church, or if you have guitars, drums, or no instruments at all. Do you worship on Friday, Saturday, Sunday??? Who cares? The message is Jesus.
And we are blessed to be part of Open Bible Standard Churches, a little denomination dedicated to the Jesus of the Bible. Unity, Partnership, and Acceptance of Differences in style and methods, The Message is Jesus.
Are any of these things perfect? No, but Jesus is. Do Christians sometimes hurt other Christians? Sure. Is forgiveness always the rule, and charity? Well, it doesn't always seem that way, but it should be. Are mature Christians responsible for the feeding and leading of younger Christians? Always. Are Christians brothers and sisters expected to reach out and help each other in times of need? Always. Do mature Christians sometimes fall, or fail, and need gentle but firm help being restored, absolutely. Is more expected of Teachers and Prophets, yes.
If you need to know where it says that in the Word, ask me.
Am I perfect? Oh so far from it. But I will admit that I think I'm sort of a nice person, and I get really surprised when people don't like me. As I say in my profile, I am first and far most a Christian. That is more or less the defining factor in my life, and when I do or say something that would make people doubt that about me, I really do some serious soul searching. I can look back and see a lot of mistakes I've made. Bad choices and silly errors of judgement and careless statements. I really should know better. I would never consciously, delibertly do harm to another. Niether would my beloved Pastor Art. Not too long ago, it was brought to our attention that we were the cause of some problems, confusion, at the Church we were attending. We had offended some it seems, although we were not told exactly who or how. Our personal lives were in turmoil, which was not causing the problems I don't think, we were keeping that personal, but it did affect our ability to deal with the situation at Church. We didn't want to make a big deal out of it. We didn't want to continue to hurt the ministry of the Church we saw as important, we were not in leadership, except that I did Childrens Church a couple time a month. And this situation made me question my ablility to teach there. We decided it was best to quietly leave.
If this situation is anyone's fault, I will put the blame on myself (is menopause a valid excuse?)
I started blogging because of one our friends at this church. He made it sound interesting.
And I got hooked. It's become a sort of electronic prayer journal, diary...an outlet for thoughts.
A place to make observations and solicite opinions from people who I would have never known otherwise. I like blogging. I reconnected with some friends from Grace church via a very unlikely source, and I also reconnected with my baby sister. But I got into a real mess with that friend of mine. Even at times, on cites (or is it sites) where I try to make vague allusions to situations that happend at that church, not to condemn, but rather to illustrate a point - he shows up and makes it personal. Even though I have never named him or the Church, he accuses me of giving the church a bad rap (?). So now, once and for all I will make it personal.
I am sorry that my emotional ramblings here have offended or angered him. I am sorry that our differences in doctrine have become an embarassing public verbal brawl. I'm sorry that my big, loud, outspoken husband offended or confused some people in the Church. I'm sorry that I joined in some discussions and activities that added to that offense and confusion. I am sorry that, in our wounded emotional state, we acted immaturely. We know better. We were taught better. We are embassadors for Christ, and we should behave as such. I had a sheltered life when I was a baby Christian. I had a good upbringing. I should have known better. I should have behaved better. But I still believe what I believe, especially after pouring through the Word for wisdom. The main thing is Jesus. The deciding factor is the Cross, which is what I've been trying to write about for the past couple of weeks. I am not a Christian because of my experiences at any Church. I am a Christian because of Jesus. He is my true shelter, my fortress, and my strength. Amen and Amen!

4th of 9

Texts of Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent of the orgininal author. In accourd with Jewish and Christian traditions, we affirm that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author of the whole drama.

ahh, there is that word - tradition,
hummm...God, the author of the whole drama.

back to the nine theses

3. Faithful interpretation of Scripture requires an engagement with the entire narrative: the New Testament cannot be rightly understood apart from the Old, nor can the Old be rightly understood apart from the New.

I also think knowing the time and circumstance of the particular narrative is important in the faithful interpretation of Scripture.

Prayer Request

Missing in Action
I can't go into details, confidentiality matters...
but if you would lift up a young man named abner in prayer...thanx

Traditions?

poor Tavia, in the Fiddler on the Roof, as his daughters systematically went against the traditions of the faith. just watched Yental again, another case of going against Tradition!
I don't recall mentioning tradition in the last post I made, but it was brought up in a comment, so I did a quick check on Bible Gateway. Most of the mentions of tradition in the New Testament were negitive...don't let tradition get in the way of the Word. The only positive mention seems to be in 2Thes. 2:15 where the church is told to hold fast to the traditions. There are a few positive mentions of tradition in the Old Testament. But even there we are warned not to let traditions get in the way of what God really wants...the heart of the matter seems always to be the heart.
I mentioned "rule of faith". I'm not exactly sure that is the same as tradition. The Nicene creed is said as a declaration of faith in Catholic, and Protestant churches alike. Baptist and Methodist.
and I've always said that the answer to the question "Who do you say Jesus is?" "What do you say about Jesus" is the deciding factor in whether or not a person is actually a Christian. My personal "rule of faith". Yet in many cases that does not seem to be enough.

Number Two

of the Nine Theses on the Interpretation of Scripture

"Scripture is rightly understood in the light of the church's rule of faith as a coherent dramatic narrative."

the problem I see here is that different churches seem to have different "rules of faith".
methodist churches seem more concerned with free will, holiness, and the social gospel,
charasmatic churches seem to think its all about Holy Spirit and talking in tongues,
roman catholics are blasted for teaching salvation through works or rituals, although in my 19 years as a catholic I never heard such teaching...
no church or denomination is perfect, so trusting the church's rule of faith to help interpret scripture might not be such a good thing

The Scripture Project (?)

Nine Theses on the Interpretation of Scripture

1. Scripture truthfully tells the story of God's action of creating, judging, and saving the world.
(added by the speaker: this is not fiction, it is the true story, and we are a living part of that story)

to be continued...