by Jim Gordon
If you have grown up in the organized church system and later change your views, what do you do with all your all friends who are still in the system?
Sometimes the first thought is to separate from them. They no longer understand you so why be a part of them?
To this I say that the bible says to forsake not the assembling of yourselves together. I do not believe that means we need to stay a part of an organized church and attend their meetings. I feel it means we still need our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is not done through a Christian organization on a certain day of the week. How much fellowship can we really have sitting in an organized service listening to one person do all the talking?
We need a daily interaction with believers for encouragement, strength, prayer support, helping others and sharing the love of God to lift one another up. We need communion with other believers, and not necessarily always about spiritual things. Just good old fellowship and communication on a number of topics: spiritual, our various concerns and needs, funny things and basic conversation.
I honestly feel we should not separate ourselves from those who think differently from us, but sometimes it cannot be helped because they will cut us off. They tend to think we have lost our faith or have fallen under the lies of the devil.
When my wife and I left the organized church, we did not leave God. We still believe in Jesus, in loving God and loving others. We love our brothers and sisters who are still in the organization and believe we still need each other.
We do need to get past the us versus them mentality and accept one another whether we attend a religious organization or not.
If they feel we have lost our faith or walked away from God, it does not mean they are our enemy. We are still to love them and do our best to get along and support them. If they choose to stay away from us, there is nothing we can do about that, but we cannot write them off and forget them. We still love them, pray for them, and go on with our lives sharing the love of God with them any everyone we meet.
Done with Religion 
So true. Thank you.
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[…] Right now reveals just how crazy things seem to get day by day. COVID-19 and quarantines or lockdowns are a reality for the holidays. People are bracing for a day of family tradition with limited numbers and loads of restrictions. It’s truly driving some folks COVID crazy. The Devotional Guy posts to what he calls the COVID-19 Devotionals. Think about those who truly serve as a support system to you and who encourages you when you need it. Be thankful for that system and those individuals. Write a list of them. Read their names aloud as you remember them in your prayers. Keep them showered with prayers for strength and endurance, praising God for how much they mean to you. Never forget how we are called to support one another with encouragement day after day. […]
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Hi Carol, thank you for commenting. I really believe reaching out to people, checking on them and just ‘catching up’ is more fellowship than many get in a typical organized church. Whether we go to a building or not, we still need to assemble together, which can be done in many ways such as what you mentioned. Thanks for your kind words.
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I agree 100%. We need one another even more so during these times we are experiencing. So many are not able to have their normal church services and maybe some see that the Building is not what counts. I have reached out to people during this Pandemic that I haven’t spoken to in quite a while. They were very receptive and glad to hear from me and I them. To me this has been a Shakening and Awakening…. a time of Reflection… on LIFE. Enjoyed your post Jim. I can always relate to you. God Bless.
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Been there, done that … .
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