"The Brethren Tag"

In my school days, the school authorities used to take "census" of students' religious leanings and backgrounds. A majority of the so-called "Christian" students in my class belonged to the main groups, the Catholics and the Orthodox. As a non-denominational Christian, I used to be the loner in the class and, in my sheer ignorance then, I considered and chose to identify myself as a "Brethren" in a denominational connotation. I have come across with many from the so-called brethren assembly backgrounds consider, and freely use, the term brethren with a denominational connotation.

An article by John Scarsbrook entitled, "Fellowship in the local church" comes to my mind in this connectin:

"There are those who would readily claim association with ‘the Brethren’ or ‘the Brethren Church’, as compared with the Baptist, Methodist or Pentecostal Church. Such thinking only serves to add a denominational tag, which finds no authority in Scripture. Praise God! We are brethren and sisters, linked together in Christ by salvation, with many other brethren who own a variety of denominational names. Yet we cannot condone nor support the position they adopt nor, in some cases, the practices they allow. assembly, 1 Cor. 3. 16, 17. In both the Lord should have full authority.

Every time we pray, speak or act in His name, we are acknowledging submission to His authority. The whole concept of a local church or assembly is in essence based upon New Testament teaching."

Prayer: Lord, help me always to identify with You, who redeemed my life from destruction. Amen.