How are The Church Of Interfaith Christians, USA and the Universal Interfaith Christian Church, Nigeria different from all other mainstream Christian denominations?
Returning to an ancient faith, as it was originally presented, would be an "old" faith. But, because it is counter to every manmade ideal and dogma held by all of mainstream Christendom, this is a "new" faith.
Had I sat on the mount, listened to His message and followed Him, I would have intuitively known that I was following the Son of God, not God. I would have understood that this Son spoke for the Creator, the Father of my ancestors who led Moses and my people through the wilderness to the promised land. And, I would have taken it for granted that the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, that armor that would protect me from all evil and guide me in all matters would be the voice from God, not God.
If you believe in the Holy Trinity and the idea that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are all part of the same being, then you are of the mainstream and not of this "new" faith. You are locked into the idea that the God of Abraham, the I AM THAT I AM, is not the God of Islam, is not the God of the American Indian, is not the God of the ancient tribes of Africa, is not the God of the Hindu faith, and certainly not the Be All of the Universe for the Buddhist. But, if you say they are of the "same" in the same manner one is of his or her parents and ancestors, and can separate their status, then you can become one with this "new" faith.
In this new faith, I follow the Christ and reveal His message to all, yet at the same time I honor the faith of others, knowing from the Holy Spirit that their power derives directly from the Father and none other, that their good works are of the Father and none other and ultimately, their vision of Him is only a reflection of the history of that people and their nation. In this, I do not deny the authority of Christ over all of creation, nor the authority of the Father in all matters, in all lands and in all circumstances.
By the same token, the Holy Spirit is given to all, of all faiths or no faith, and is the engine which allows our Father in Heaven to know the heart of every being, their past, their present and all possible futures. How much greater could a God be than that, and as the Father is mighty, so too is the Son and the authority of His message of salvation.
In this "new" faith, no other religion need fear my presence within their midst, fore I make no slave of any one nor do I require them to turn away from the faiths of their father's. I only reveal to them the truth of the Christ and how that truth effects them and their faith, all for the purpose of uplifting God's people.
I take my strength from "Knowledge", "Faith" and "Works", works being the final measure of who is and is not to be saved at the Final Judgment. My knowledge comes not only from the Holy Scriptures, but also those works which were left out by the early Church Fathers and the many works by other faiths and scholars which prove again and again the validity and authority of Christ's message of truth. In these, my faith is solidified and proves the Scriptural Proverb that "No man is saved in ignorance." Faith without a basis of knowledge and that which bears no fruit by works is a filthy thing that is an abomination in the sight of God, and His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the "meat" of all the Scriptures on the subject.
In the eyes of Christ and in the face of all His teachings, I am a Christian. And, because I readily accept those who are Christian/Wicca, Christian/Pagan, Christian/Shaman, Christian/Muslim, Christian/Hindu, Christian/Buddhist, Christian/whatever, in the eyes of the rest of Christendom, I am Satan, or at the very least, one of Satan's messengers. It is something all who follow this faith will have to learn to live with, until those who have "...blasphemed against the Holy Ghost..." once again HEAR and UNDERSTAND the Master's true voice.
Rev. Ernest A. Steadman, D.D. (Founder, Interfaith Christians)
http://interfaithchristian.org
