On Protestants and Denominations

...And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians- Acts 11:26 ESV

As Protestants, we came out of the Church.  The Church, at the time when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses upon the door's of the house of God, was the Roman Catholic Church.  Maybe its the linguist in me, but it seems that protestants have the root word of "protest" in the name. 

Is it any wonder that those who broke away from the Church also had others break away from them? Anabaptists, the forefathers of our modern Baptist denomination, argued against infant baptist still practiced by Lutherans and their leader in the Reformation's early days.  Yet, the Church of God In Christ and the Church of God were both birthed by Baptist preachers who felt a different leading by the Holy Spirit.  Imagine that! Did John Calvin actually come up with the TULIP of "five point Calvinism?"

Are Wesleyans more Methodist than Methodists since they bear the name of the founder of the Methodists?

Read The Trail of Blood and discover how many other Christians were martyred and murdered for their faith, whether at the hands of governments and monarchs or the holy hands of archbishops, papacy and other so-called reformers.  Look at the sacrifices of those who have stood up and spoken out for their faith as "Jesus Freaks." 

I truly believe that we will learn that our real challenge isn't simply learning to love our neighbors and serve the Lord with gladness as we work out our salvation with fearand trembling.  I believe our greatest errors come out of how we process the Word and what we seem to create based upon our individual interpretations and ideas.  I pray that we don't get into a new heaven and new earth, seeking out the section for our particular denominational preference. I believe what we should discover is that there is one Lord, one baptism, one God, and truly one faith.  Truly, the rest is division.

4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. - Ephesians 4:4-6 (ESV)

That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.- 1 Corinthians 12:25 (KJV)