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A new year, a new beginning

Posted in christian living, tagged , , on January 21, 2014| 19 Comments »

As 2013 came to an end, my wife and my participation with the organized church also came to an end.

After so many years of feeling dissatisfied with organized religion, we decided to make a break from the traditions, rules, regulations and doctrines we each grew up learning.

It can be a scary decision to stop attending something that has been part of your life since you can remember. So many friends don’t understand why we made this decision. So many people who feel we are wrong and have fallen from grace.

Now let me say, neither of us think there is anything wrong with participating in organized fellowship. We do think we need to call it as it is, church is not a building or place we meet God. The Church is made up of each of us followers of Christ and it is a life-style that goes on day by day, anywhere, anytime.

God says we are now His temple and He lives within us, not a building made by hands.

Looking to the new year, we see it as a time of new beginnings with our walk with God.

We see this as a new start away from law-living and following man-made religion. It’s beginning a path walking with Jesus as our friend and partner in the grace and freedom He provided.

It is a walk consisting of loving God and loving others. Accepting all those we come in contact with each day. It is not a set of rules to follow, or things we need to do to be a better Christian.

It is coming to realize that what we do or don’t do, does not make a difference in our relationship to God. It is letting Christ live through us and letting His love touch people. It is knowing that Christ paid the price for our salvation and learning to live by grace, and grace alone, not by adding law and works.

After so many years of ‘going to church’ each Sunday, we don’t know for sure where the path will lead us in this new walk, but we know that we both feel closer to God. We feel a new dependency on fellowship with our Father and with fellow believers. We also feel a renewed sense of excitement now that we are out of the box of organized religion.

We look forward to see where God takes us and how He will touch people with His love as we walk with Him day by day.

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We are starting the year off with the theme of ‘New Beginnings’.  Here is the list of links for this month:

Jen Bradbury – Enough

Abbie Watters – New Beginnings

Cara Strickland – Bursting

Carol Kuniholm – Acorns, King, Beloved Community

Done With Religion – A New Year, A New Beginning

Kelly Stanley – A Blank Canvas

Glenn Hager – Overcoming The Biggest Obstacle To Reaching Your Goals

Dave Criddle – Get Some New Thinking

David Derbyshire – Changed Priorities Ahead

J A Carter – The Year of Reading Scripture for the First Time

Damon – New Beginnings: Consider These 5 Questions Before Tying The Knot

Jeffrey Kranz – Where To Start Reading The Bible

Joanna990 – On survival – my one word for 2014

K W Leslie – Atonement

Happy – my One Word 365 surprise

Michelle Moseley – Ends and Beginnings

Matthew Bryant – A New Creation

Liz Dyer – It’s a new year and time to make some new mistakes

Edwin Pastor Fedex Aldrich – Foreclosed: The beginning of a new dream

Jennifer Clark Tinker – Starting a New Year Presently

Loveday Anyim – New Year New Resolutions

Loveday Anyim – New Year Resolution Dreamers

Loveday Anyim – New Year Resolution Specialists

Loveday Anyin – New Year Resolution Planners and Achievers

Jeremy Myers – Publish Your Book with Redeeming Press

Amy Hetland – New Beginnings

Phil Lancaster – New Beginnings

Mallory Pickering – Something Old, Something New

Margaret Boelman – The Other Side of Grief

Kathy Escobar – One Image

Sarah Quezada – Which Comes First: The Beginning Or The End

Doreen Mannion – When It’s Over It’s Just The Beginning

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Simple Truths from Outside the Walls

Posted in christian living, Community, The church, tagged , , , , , , , on August 23, 2013| 2 Comments »

I’ve read many articles about church abuse. Seems many Christians have been through bad times in the organized church and they have become angry and frustrated with the system. Certainly understandable.

For me, I can’t say I went through anything I would call abuse in the system. I grew up in church and was very active over the years. I truly felt I was doing what was pleasing to God and I earnestly was trying to learn and do what He would want me to do.

churchasbusescandal

So when I hear all the abuse stories and all the troubling times in organized religion, I don’t always understand. I know there are many people in the modern, organized church that truly love God and are trying to please him. I also realize there are many people who were unduly abused in various ways during their church life, and that is very sad.

For me, after several years of being unsatisfied with the system and feeling there certainly had to be more to it than what I had been part of, I dropped out of traditional church. Obviously this has to be something you feel is right for you, and I don’t think it is a good thing to tell people they should do the same. This is a choice that each believer has to make for themselves. I came to this conclusion after many years of seeing things, questioning things, reading things and just being completely frustrated with the system of organized religion.

I have no regrets in leaving, although I have no regrets for being a part of it for so many years either. I did learn a lot and made a lot of good friends. Of course because of the years involved, there are many beliefs and ideas I need to detox from now.

For now, feeling the system is wrong, I have decided to walk with God outside the walls of the organized church. Not that anyone is intentionally trying to do what is wrong but the whole modern-day organized church is off base. Granted, the system is the only thing we know. It’s been this way for years and we grew up with it and thought it was the way it should be.

We have it engrained in us that to assemble ourselves together is to go to church on Sunday morning and sit through a scheduled program. No where does scripture tell us that assembling together has to be done in a particular way, at a special time or in a set place.

We are told that the pastor is the spiritual head and he is who we learn from and come under authority and guidance. Of course God tells us that Jesus is the head of the church, which is his body, and the Holy Spirit is our teacher and we need no one to teach us other than him.

We are taught that we are saved by grace, but we need to live by the law to be pleasing to God. Reading through Paul’s teachings, it is easy to see that we live by grace, and trying to live under law is a curse (Galatians 3:10-13). Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant and the Law for us because we couldn’t. Jesus did the work, Jesus died and ended the Old Covenant. Upon his resurrection, the New Covenant began and we now live by grace. The New Covenant commands are to love God with all our heart and love others.

The Law was a tutor to show us that we were completely incapable of keeping the law and living a perfect life. Only Jesus was able to live a perfect life. For us Christians, a tutor is no longer needed because we have come to Christ and depend on his work and grace.

We are taught that the Bible is the true, living, inerrant word of God. John 1:1 tells us that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. To me that says that Jesus is the living Word. The Bible is the inspired words of God, but we are not to look to the Bible as the all-powerful, inerrant source of what God has to say. We should look to Jesus who is our all in all, our very life.

We are taught to tithe, although that is not taught under the New Covenant. Giving as we see a need and as we feel lead is now done out of love, not tithing to the church as a requirement. I personally feel the church today is more of a big business than it is a religious organization. Tithing is pushed because the organization needs to have the bills and the salaries paid.

We are told we are poor sinners saved by grace and that we are weak, unrighteous worms who are unworthy of God’s love. Now apart from God, we are nothing. We can’t live a perfect life and we were not worthy to be in God’s presence. BUT, because of Christ and the work he has done, we were given the gift of righteousness. Apart from Christ, yes, we were poor sinners, but through Christ the sin nature was crucified and we were raised up with him as new creatures. We are now the house of God, and we are holy and righteous in his sight because of Christ.

People want to put themselves under the authority of a pastor or the elders of the church, but God says we are all kings and priests and Jesus is the head. We all have something to say when we come together to build one another up. There are no levels of authority among believers. We are all equal parts of his body and have equal parts to play in encouraging and building one another up.

I think an important fact for us to remember today is that no matter if you are ‘in church’ or outside the walls, we should be looking to each other in love and not fight and argue amongst ourselves. Whether you are going to church, you are going for the Lord, or if you don’t go to church, you are doing so for the Lord. Accept each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, pray for one another, encourage one another, and stop looking down on people who see things differently than you.

Even those outside of Christianity need our love, not our condemnation. Jesus loved those who the ‘religious leaders’ of his day didn’t want to have association. We want our Christian church, Christian schools, Christian dating sites, Christian this, Christian that, whatever we can do to be separate and apart from the non-Christians, yet we were told to go into all the world. That certainly doesn’t mean we are to act like the world, but we do need to love all those that are around us.

LovelikeJesus

I truly feel that being a person in Christ is a daily lifestyle. Being the church is a 24/7 way of life, not a Sunday only thing. God said that He is building His church and that He no longer lives in buildings made with hands. We are the church, we are God’s house. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We are the body of Christ. We function together as equal parts of the body under the headship of Jesus. We may be the only Jesus a lot of people will ever know.

We need to adjust our way of thinking and realize that church and Christianity are not a religion. It is a lifestyle we live day by day. Jesus is our life, it should be no longer us trying and doing, but resting in what Christ has done for us. We are in Christ and it is him living in us day by day that makes the difference.

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We are holy

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , on July 31, 2013| 2 Comments »

1 Corinthians 3:16,17 – Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.

The Old Covenant days of the temple are over. According to the New Covenant, we are God’s house, His Spirit lives within us. So many people say the organized church is where God lives, but this verse tells us that God is more personal than that. God can no longer be contained within a building. We are His dwelling place.

Each one of us who are saved by grace are now the temple of God. It’s so hard to get away from the thought that God is up there somewhere, or that we have to go to church and wait for God to show up. This kind of thinking is now obsolete.

These verses point out that the temple of God is holy, and that is what we are. We are His temple, and that makes us holy. Not by any works we have done or can do, but by the work that Christ has done. It’s hard for us to accept the fact that in Christ, we are holy and righteous. We are kings and priests. We were sinners, but the old sin nature was crucified with Christ on the cross. It is now dead and we are new creatures in Him.

We need to stop being so negative and depressed because we feel like we’ve let God down and unable to live a holy life. Actually, you can’t live a holy life, but God, through the grace of Christ, makes us holy. We are the righteousness of God. It is Him, Jesus our all in all, living through us.

Our spirit is now holy and righteous in God’s sight. Our mind is still being transformed and our body is still a work in progress, but thanks be to God, our spirit has been made perfect in His eyes.

Let’s start focusing on the fact that God is right here within us through His Spirit. We don’t have to go somewhere looking for Him, we don’t have to wait for Him to show up. Right now we are in His presence. He is the vine, we are the branches. Just rest in Him and allow Him to live through you to touch those around you each day.

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The Body

Posted in christian living, Community, Ekklesia, tagged , , , , , on July 23, 2013| 1 Comment »

Ephesians 1:22,23 — And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

What stands out most to me is the description of what true church is, which is His body. It is not a building. It is not someplace we go. Christ is the head of all of us who are saved by grace. We are the church.

I don’t see separation in this statement. I don’t see denominations, buildings and formal services trying to get people to come to us. I don’t see places based on doctrine.

I see a living, active group of people going out into the world day by day in the love and strength of God. I see a united effort seeking to show the love of God to all we meet each day.

I see people looking to Jesus and the Holy Spirit for truth and guidance. No more looking to a man/woman or a group of elders for teaching and guidance. Christ is our head and the Spirit is our teacher.

This leads me to think it is time to stop arguing over doctrine and interpretations. It’s time to stop looking to other brothers and sisters whom we elevate into a higher position and realize we are all kings and priests and able to teach and give a word to uplift one another. We need to allow God to live through us daily as we go out into the world and show His love to people who are hurting.

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To Who Do We Talk

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , , on April 15, 2013| 1 Comment »

What would it be like to sit down and have a one-on-one talk with your favorite pastor or evangelist? How would you feel having some time of personal fellowship with Billy Graham or any one of thousands of leaders you could think of who you feel is really on fire and in touch with God.

First off, this is never going to happen. These big name pastors and teachers are so unapproachable that most people will never even speak to them. The thought of having true fellowship is basically an impossibility. By true fellowship, I’m not talking about sitting in their service for an hour looking at the back of someone’s head and listening to what this person is telling you they think God is saying. No, I mean actually spending time together, talking together, discussing, and getting to know one another.

I guess the main point is why do we Christians think like this? Why do we think it would be so great if we could talk to these religious superstars.

Jesus is building His Church out of living stones, namely us, who are saved by His grace. We are His Church, and we are told we are all kings and priests. There is no one who should be over us other than Christ, who is the Head of the body, His Church.

Why is it we think so much about talking with people who are really no different than us, no higher in the Kingdom, no better in God’s eyes, when we can talk directly to our Father Himself. Anytime, anywhere, we can speak to and have fellowship with our Father.

Why is it we are more impressed talking with another human being when we can talk with Him?

Obviously, we need fellowship with one another, and fellowship is talking and spending time getting to know one another, caring for one another and encouraging one another. But we need to get past this idea of looking up to fellow believers. We need to look to Christ, who is our head. Don’t look so much to people when we can go directly to our Father.

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Going to church or Being the Church

Posted in christian living, Community, Ekklesia, tagged , , , , , , on November 29, 2012| 5 Comments »

As a person that has grown up in organized religion, I can honestly say that today’s church has fallen way off course. What we call church today many times seems more like a large corporation.

We seem to be more focused on our programs, building bigger buildings, having a bigger and better worship band, getting on radio or TV and being a step ahead of the church down the street.

Our churches today are so divided by denominations that it makes me think of Heinz 57 Varieties…..and that’s just the Baptist! It seems like there is a church building every mile or two from each other, yet our world seems to get worse and worse.

We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, yet we divide ourselves and fight and argue amongst ourselves. I’m sure it makes God want to turn us over his knee and spank us all.

It amazes me how upset and defensive people can get when you mention that going to church is not a requirement. They seem to forget that the church is not a building and is not a place we go to, but the Church is the body of believers. Usually the first verse that is quoted when we talk about not going to church is Hebrews 10:25 – not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

No where does this verse say that we have to assemble in a building on a certain day at a certain time. No where does it say we have to have a pastor to teach us, or a worship band to lead us in praise and worship.

I feel that sometimes we Christians want to be entertained and told what to believe, then go home feeling satisfied that we have fulfilled our duty until next Sunday. We have become lazy and don’t want to spend the time with God, reading His words, letting the Holy Spirit teach us. As 1 John 2:23 states – as for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you (the Holy Spirit), and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.

Jesus said where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them. That can be in a restaurant, in a home, in a park etc. To many people put more emphasis on where we meet and not enough emphasis on spending time with the one we love. Why is it we feel the need to go to a building anyway, God said we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. God told us that He is always with us, so why is it people say they are going to the house of God to meet with Him. We are the house of God, and He is always with us.

Going to an organized religious building is not wrong, but let’s start calling it what it is. The Church are those of us who are saved through faith in Christ. The building that people go to on Sunday morning is a place where the members of the Church get together. We do hear the word of God in most places, and we are together with other believers, but how much true fellowship happens during an organized service.

How many times do people get more involved with the things about Christ, the services, the meetings, the up-keep of a building and the money to keep the bills paid, that we lose sight of our first love. Jesus is the head, He is to have the preeminence. We need to put our focus on Christ, loving Him with all our heart, soul, strength and mind, and loving others as ourselves. Stop the arguing over different interpretations and denominational doctrines, and start loving others no matter what. It is then that the world will know we are His disciples and see a difference in the way we live as Christians.

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Finding Church – New Book

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , on November 16, 2012| 1 Comment »

What happens when people begin to question church? Millions of people are “leaving church” each year as they begin to question the deeper meanings and structures of gathering together. They’re asking a fundamental question of, “What does it mean to participate in church and what would happen if we did something different?” They are not abandoning God, ignoring Scripture, or giving up on Jesus. While a few do leave for such reasons, the vast majority report that they leave church to better follow Jesus, obey God, and live out their faith in meaningful and relational ways. They stop attending church to pursue something more intimate and personal. Finding Church explores these stories of people leaving, switching, and even reforming their basic understanding of church. It will open your eyes to a growing trend in culture for people to take responsibility for their faith.

List of Contributors
Lew Ayotte, Carey Crawford, Michael Donahoe, Glenn Hager, Wayne Hobson, Judith Huang, Mike Keffer, Travis Klassen, Tyson Phillips, Tara Pohlkotte, Will Rochow, Brian Swan, Genevieve Thul, Shannon Brisco, Jessica Bowman, Lauren LaRue, Kellen Freeman, Eric Hatfield, Wayne Hobson, Kimberly Parker, Felisa Reed, Sam Riviera, Cara Sexton, Alan Brisco, Kris Camealy, Daniel Darling, Melody Harrison Hanson, Dan King, Alan Knox, Sonny Lemmons, Travis Mamone, Mary C. M. Phillips, Bill Reichart, Aubry Smith, John Walker, and Markus Watson.

Available for Presale – Publishes December 1, 2012 from Civitas Press
http://store.civitaspress.com/books/377

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Love Each Other

Posted in Acceptance of Others, christian living, Community, The church, tagged , , , , , , , on June 29, 2012| 1 Comment »

Do you read many Christian forums these days, or Christian blogs and all the comments made on the article?

If you are like me you may find them all very disheartening. In fact, I have about come to the decision to stop reading comments or forums at all.

When I read that in Bible times Christians were known by the love they had for one another, and then read all the arguments, disagreements, disrespectful comments on these sites it just depresses me.

LoveEachOther

I know we are not going to agree on all things. We all have our own interpretations and beliefs, but I thought we should be able to look past all those and still love one another and respect each other.

Here in the USA we have grown up in religious freedom and in a land of plenty and we Christians, me included, sometimes seem more like a bunch of spoiled brats.

I love the freedoms we have here and I love the freedom of religion, but sometimes I think the only way we are going to have close fellowship with God and true love for our brothers and sisters in Christ is when this country is under some non-Christian dictatorship. When we can not get a Bible, can not go to church, when we are afraid of being put in jail for our beliefs or worse yet being put to death because we proclaim Christ, it is then that we will forget all our differences in interpretation and doctrine and will come to have real love for other Christians.

I do not want to see it come to that. I wish that all of us Christians, no matter what denomination, what doctrine we hold to, whether we are a part of the institutional church or if we do not attend a church at all we can come together because of our love for the Father and love for one another.

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Proper Mindset

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , on February 23, 2012|

Several times I’ve talked about modern day church and the way it is way off base from what it should be.

It is not that I am against church, but it is a matter of being clear on the proper meaning of the word. Not that we have to be politically correct in description, but I feel we need to be clear on the matter in regard to our mindset.

Normally when the word church is mentioned, we all think of a building we go to on Sunday to learn about God. We also think in terms of how much we go to church as being a guide to how spiritual we are, or how close we are to God. We think of the doctrines, rules and regulations placed on us by the church as ways to make us better Christians.

We need to reset our thinking. The Church is not a building. The Church is the bride of Christ, all of us who are saved by grace. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. The building is just a place where we can meet and conduct spiritual meetings and Christian social events.

Just as the mindset we have when we talk about the word of God. We first think of the Bible. The Bible actually are the words of God, but the true living Word of God is Jesus. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Jesus is the Word of God. There is certainly nothing wrong with reading the words of God, but we need to focus on the fact that the Word of God is alive and living within each of us as born again people.

Although sometimes it may seem unimportant of how we think of church or the Bible, it is very important that we understand what is really meant. The old mindset of a building and a book need to be replaced with the fact that the Church are those of us who are redeemed through the blood of Christ and the Word of God is Christ Himself, alive and living within us.

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Be Careful How You Act

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on December 21, 2011|

Have you ever come across someone who calls themself a Christian, yet the way they act says something different?

I remember an experience my wife had recently. She returned a couple books to what used to be a library. She did not realize the library had closed and a church was now there. A few days later she realized that the library was no longer at this site and went back to the church to get the books.

She said she will never forget the look and condescending attitude of the guy she talked to…who turned out to be the pastor.

My wife assumed that this pastor didn’t agree with women wearing makeup or knee-length dresses. Now I know there are groups that don’t believe in women wearing make-up, and I feel that is up to them how they interpret the Bible and what they feel is right and wrong, but my wife does not in any way over do her make-up, so I did not see any reason why anyone would even think to question the way she looked. Obviously this guy had a different thought on this. He was not nice to her, it was obvious that he didn’t want to talk to her and felt she shouldn’t be in his so-called ‘house of God’. What rubbish.

This whole incident made me think of Jesus when he was with some of the religious leaders of His day and made the statement, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness”.

First off, that building wasn’t the house of God. People tend to forget God doesn’t live in buildings. He lives in people who are saved by grace.

Second, what kind of witness was that to her. This guy did not know if she was a Christian or not. The way he treated her could have been the final straw for her wanting to know God.

We Christians need to stop and think about how we act in the world. We are God’s witnesses to the world. We may be the only witness they see, and if we aren’t living under the guidance of the Spirit of God, we can make a very negative impact of those we come in contact each day.

We need to be careful not to have a religious spirit. Let God’s love for others flow through you. Remember God told us to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. Don’t be a stumbling block to someone by the way you act and treat others.

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