The Gospel of a Prodigal Son: Revised Edition

This effort of mine - now as a revised edition - is offered as an open, person to person down-to-earth laymen's testimony of sorts of my struggles and frustrations, the pain and agony of feeling lost and unfulfilled both as a dedicated believer and a wandering prodigal son. Why is it that the Spirit and trust that lead someone to God, to church could be lost while inside? Why are the true teachings of Jesus, so plain and so simple, buried behind so many doctrines, so many 'isms, so...
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This effort of mine - now as a revised edition - is offered as an open, person to person down-to-earth laymen's testimony of sorts of my struggles and frustrations, the pain and agony of feeling lost and unfulfilled both as a dedicated believer and a wandering prodigal son. Why is it that the Spirit and trust that lead someone to God, to church could be lost while inside? Why are the true teachings of Jesus, so plain and so simple, buried behind so many doctrines, so many 'isms, so many other issues when his simple command was to 'Love one another as I have loved you'? The greatest two commands he gave were condensed down to that one and both of them began with the word - love. Love...so simple, yet so profound in its power to persuade, to heal, to comfort, to be a sign of strength and commitment, the power behind Creation, the bond that unites family and friend, the acknowledgment of discovering the uniqueness of one another. Why have we abandoned it for rules, theology, rituals and not let it transform us and in turn transform the world as we were meant to do long ago? Instead we argue over those same rules, doctrine, and theology. We bicker over the rituals, over ceremonies, over why one denomination is 'true' and another is false. We grab our Bibles and proclaim our faith is the only true faith, and we are the chosen few and some of us gladly tell anyone who doesn't believe that an eternity of punishment awaits them. 'Blessed are... the meek, the poor in spirit, the peacemakers' has been turned into flag waving rallies promoting war, slogans advocating hatred, and holier-than-thou rhetoric even Christian to Christian. Are we really 'Christ-like'? Are we following the prophet anointed of God and his teachings or those of someone else, some other authority and if so why and why have we not made the effort to change? I propose to you to take a hard critical look at our church body as a whole today and search out the distorted history and facts, find out who the heretics were that were murdered and tortured, who killed them and why. Compare the spirit and teachings of Jesus - the real teachings - to what we're told and have been told for centuries now. A disciple follows the teachings of a master in a particular discipline to achieve mastery him/her self. Do you believe Jesus and what he said and taught or are you being held back and limited by the 'isms, doctrines, and teachings of church traditions?The truth is out there and it awaits those who seek it. I don't have all the answers and I'm not the captain in command, but I can tell you the real one will get you to the kingdom of God safely if you trust Him.