[Mrs. Don-o]

Christ built His Church, made her his Bride, and entrusted her with his power and his promises. Our personal relationship with Him is "OUR" personal relationship with Him, since (to use another precious truth we learned from Paul) we are all members of His Body. The eye can’t say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”. And it certainly does not serve Christ to cut His head off from His body and then say "I love you" to the disembodied head!

I don't see why a person would want to reject Mater Ecclesia, the Mother of the Faithful. Look in the last two verses of Revelation 12 to see who she is, and whom she is opposing.

[FourtySeven]

Good post. A personal relationship with Jesus is just that. If it’s not the same as one’s personal relationship with friends and family here on earth, on that same level of intimacy and reality, it’s just a nice idea at best and deception from the devil at worst.

It’s absolutely true every human being needs a personal relationship with Jesus. I don’t think some have any idea what that means though; to some it appears to only mean simply believing in his existence, “calling him Lord”, saying the sinner’s prayer and going to church when you feel like it.

It’s not, it’s more than that (or it better be), it better be as real a relationship as one has with anyone here on earth or else it’s just a fantasy, and a dangerous one at that.

[Oratam]

My thoughts exactly. The Mystical Body of Christ vs. a loose collection of atomized “believers.” I’ll stick with Scripture.