New Year | Done with Religion

Posts Tagged ‘New Year’

Last Post for 2022

Posted in Acceptance, Acceptance of Others, christian living, Love of God, tagged acceptance, christian living, Christianity, Love of God, New Year, religion, spirituality on December 30, 2022|

by Jim Gordon

Here we are at the end of another year. It can be a time of sadness in some cases, but usually it is a time of excitement and anticipation for a new beginning.

The past happenings of the year are either remembered as sad occurrences or as happy memories. Either way I think they help shape us into the person we are becoming.

Each new year seems to give us a sense of renewed purpose and goals of doing better, whatever that may mean to each of us. For some it is going to the gym, others want to read more or volunteer more. Many want to get closer to God while others want to distance themselves further from religious ways.

We are all different. We all have different ideas on life yet we are so similar in many ways. We all want to be loved and accepted. We all want to be happy and successful in life. We want to have a purpose and fulfill a meaning that is suited for us. My belief is we accept one another the way we are. We are not all going to agree or condone some of the actions of others, but we can still respect and treat each other kindly. We can be friends and still be as different as night and day.

No matter how hard we try, none of us have it all figured out. None of us have it all together and none of us have the right to force others to live, act or believe a certain way just because we think we are right. We are responsible for ourselves, and those of us who are Christians are to let the love of God flow out to all people no matter if they agree with us or not. We are only asked to love God and love one another.

As this is the last post of the year, I wanted to take a minute and thank each of you who take the time to read our articles. There are many different views and thoughts on life among our readers and I know not all agree with what we say…and that is OK. We do not try to force our views on others. We write about how we feel and how we see things at this period of time. Each of us has our own views and opinions and we should be able to share those views and still be accepting of others.

We also want to make sure that no matter who you are, what you believe, no matter what religion, race, sex, gender or nationality, we consider you friends and are glad you take the time to read our articles.

So, until next year, we here at Done with Religion hope each of you have a good holiday season. We are hopeful you will continue to visit our site and find encouragement, acceptance and friendship throughout the new year.

Jim Gordon and his wife left the institutional church after spending over fifty years within the system. Jim wanted a way to express his thoughts and concerns about the religious system and why he and his wife decided to leave the institution but not their faith in God. Jim can be contacted by email at: jimgordon731@gmail.com

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Welcome to a new year

Posted in christian living, Jesus follower, Love of God, The church, tagged christian living, Christianity, church, Love of God, New Year, religion, spirituality on January 5, 2022|

by Jim Gordon

It is so hard to believe how fast time flies by. For my wife and I, as 2021 came to an end our participation with the organized church finished its ninth year.

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. After nine years, we still believe we made the right choice.

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

Now let me say, neither of us think there is anything wrong with participating in the church system. 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 as followers of Christ. It is a way of life 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.

Happy new year 2022 2927225 Vector Art at Vecteezy

Looking to the new year, we see it as a time of new beginnings with our walk with God. Another year to share the love of God with people we meet each day. We see this as a new start away from old covenant, law-based, man led religion. It is continuing to walk 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 and loving the people 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 do not 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. It is learning to live by grace, and grace alone and not by adding law and works.

After so many years of ‘going to church’ each Sunday, we are still learning where this path will lead us, but we know that we both feel closer to God. We feel a new dependency on fellowship with God and with our fellow believers. We also feel a renewed sense of excitement now that we are out of the box of organized religion.

We continually 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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Which Day is the Lord’s Day?

Posted in christian living, institutional church, Jesus follower, Love of God, religion, The church, tagged christian living, Holy Spirit, Lord's Day, New Covenant, New Year, Old Covenant, sabbath on December 30, 2020| 8 Comments »

by Jim Gordon

For those of us who had anything to do with church, we always knew exactly what it meant when we heard someone say it is the Lords’ day. We knew that was the day we considered the sabbath and the day we went to church.

We would think of Sunday as a special holy day, a new beginning for the week. It was the day we worshipped and fellowshipped with our brothers and sisters in Christ. It was a day to relax, do nothing and prepare for the week ahead.

Referring to the Lord’s day as Sunday, or whichever day you believe is the sabbath, is an old covenant way of thinking. The old covenant is now complete. Jesus fulfilled the old covenant, brought it to an end and began a new and better covenant. It is a covenant of grace and love without the rules and religious laws.

Actually, Sunday is the Lord’s day, as is Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Each day is the day that the Lord has made and we can rejoice and be glad in each day.

As we approach the beginning of a new year, we can see that the Lord’s day(s) are similar to New Year’s Day in one sense. We always look to the new year as a time for new beginnings. A time to make changes to better ourselves in one way or another.

When we realize that the Lord’s day is every day, we can also see that each and every day of the year is a new beginning.

As we are ready to celebrate a new year, let us remember that we do not have to wait a whole year to start fresh. Every morning of each day can be a new beginning. Let us seek the guidance of the Spirit who lives within us, show the love of God to everyone and enjoy each day the Lord has made.

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HAPPY NEW YEAR — A Day of New Beginnings

Posted in christian living, Love of God, Scoop.it, tagged change, New Year, resolutions on January 1, 2019| Leave a Comment »

by Jim Gordon

We are at that time again when many of us have the hope of new beginnings. We make resolutions to do things that we want to accomplish during the new year.

When a new year begins, we tend to focus on making positive changes, start new things and forget the mistakes of the past.

It is never a bad time to be ready for positive changes and to make a new start in your life. Fact is we can do this every day. Each new morning brings a brand-new day and a fresh start.

As we start off another new year, focus on what you want to change in your life for the better. What new projects do you want to start or what would you like to accomplish in the new year.

Do not get discouraged and give up. That is the easiest thing to do and many of us do just that within a month or two into the new year. I have talked with people who made a bad choice or a stupid mistake and get all upset and discouraged. I always tell them you are at the threshold of a new beginning. Today is a new day, start again and do not give up.

Remember that we do not have to focus on sticking with whatever it is for the whole year. Focus on each day being a fresh start and a brand-new day to live and accomplish those things you have always wanted to do.

Happy New Year to each of you and may each new day be a fresh start for positive change during the year.

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New Year, New Beginnings

Posted in Acceptance of Others, christian living, Community, Lifestyles, Love of God, Scoop.it, tagged acceptance, Bible, fellowship, Holy Spirit, Jesus, New Covenant, New Year, resolutions on January 3, 2018| 4 Comments »

by Jim Gordon

Here we are into a new year already. This is the time many of us have a sense of excitement for new beginnings. We make resolutions to do better at various things in life, whether it is exercise, our spiritual life, eating or treating people better.

Resolutions

My wife and I have stopped making resolutions since we usually, like many, forget about them within the month.

On the other hand, we would like to continue on our walk outside the walls of religion and the many religious rules it puts upon us.

We are going to continue making new friends and get to know people who we were told to stay away from when we were in the organization. We were supposed to associate with people who believed in God and people who mostly believed like the denomination we were part of at the time.

We feel that Jesus came to show us that God loves people. Jesus associated with all kinds of people from all walks of life. They were not all godly people or people the religious leaders of the day would even dream of being seen spending time.

What we have found over the last few years is that people are basically the same. We all have our own beliefs, interests and ways of life. Yet behind the labels that are placed on us we are all human beings in need of love, acceptance, fellowship with others and a fulfilled life.

We all go about finding those things in different ways. Just because we see things differently is no reason to separate ourselves from one another. There is no reason we cannot respect one another, accept one another and treat each other as equals.

Many christian people think this view is very wrong and we should only associate with other believers. They feel christians should judge and condemn those who do not believe as they do and stay away from them until they come to Christ. They seem to think that if we accept people as they are we are condoning what the other person is doing.

My wife and I just do not see things that way. Obviously none of us are going to agree or condone everything other people do, yet we can accept others as human beings, treat them with respect and enjoy time talking and learning about their views. We believe we are all loved by God just as we are, and we believe we are to show that same love to others.

BeKindtoOneAnother

Many times we read in the bible how God treats the righteous and unrighteous equally. We read how God loves all people whether they love him or hate him. We are told to love our enemies and do good to those who treat us bad.

In the New Testament we are told to love God and love our neighbor. Of course our neighbor is not just the person who lives next door but any and all that we come in contact with during the day.

So, we are anxious each day to meet another one of God’s creation. Maybe it will be someone that believes like us, maybe it will be someone who is completely opposite from our views. We just pray that no matter who we meet or what they believe, we will be guided by the Holy Spirit to show love and acceptance, and to enjoy our time together.

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Happy New Year 2018

Posted in Acceptance of Others, christian living, Love of God, Scoop.it, tagged acceptance, labels, new beginning, New Year on December 31, 2017| 4 Comments »

Just a note wishing you all a very Happy New Year.

Thanks to each of you who have supported my writings during the past year. I hope you will continue do so in the new year.

I hope we can continue to look past the labels we place on one another and see the human being, learning to love and accept each other even in our differences.

As I said in my Christmas Memories article, enjoy the memories of 2017 and enjoy making new memories during this holiday season.

As we look forward to what lies ahead, I pray 2018 will be a year of good things for all of us.

Happy New Year!!

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Last Post for 2017

Posted in Acceptance of Others, christian living, Love of God, Scoop.it, tagged acceptance, christian living, new beginning, New Year on December 27, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Well here we are at the end of another year. It can be a time of sadness in some cases, but usually it is a time of excitement and anticipation for a new beginning.

The past happenings of the year are either remembered as sad occurrences or as happy memories. Either way I think they help shape us into the person we are becoming.

HappyNewYear2018

We are all different. We all have different ideas on life yet we are so similar in many ways. We all want to be loved and accepted. We all want to be happy and successful in life. We want to have a purpose and fulfill a meaning that is suited for us. My belief is we accept one another the way we are. We do not all agree or condone the actions of others, but we can still respect and treat each other kindly. We can be friends and still be as different as night is from day.

No matter how hard many of us christian people try, none of us have it all figured out. None of us have it all together and none of us have the right to force others to live, act or believe a certain way just because we think we are right. We are responsible for ourselves and as christians we are to let the love of God flow out to all people no matter if they agree with us or not. God said the Holy Spirit will draw people to the Father and will convict of sin where that is necessary. He only asks us to love God and love one another.

LoveThyNeighbor

As this is the last post of the year I wanted to take a minute and thank each of you who take the time to read my articles. There are many different views and thoughts on life among my readers and I know not all agree with what I say and that is OK. I am not trying to force my views on others, I am just writing about how I feel and how I personally see things at this period of time. Each of us have our own views and opinions and we should be able to follow and share those views, and yet be accepting of others.

I also want to make sure that no matter who you are, what you believe, no matter what religion, race, sex, nationality, I consider you a friend and you are more than welcome to visit, read and post on this site.

I enjoy reading your posts and hearing different thoughts and ideas, but I do not get into debates. I see debates as trying to force my view on you or yours on me and I see no reason to try to force others to agree on things. I do encourage friendly discussion anytime.

So, until next year I hope each of you have a good holiday season. I am hopeful you will continue to visit my site and find encouragement, acceptance and friendship throughout the new year.

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Welcome to a New Year

Posted in christian living, tagged grace, Love of God, New Year, resolutions on January 2, 2017| 4 Comments »

Wow, it has been a year since first posting this article. So hard to believe we are into another new year already. I wanted to take the time to again thank those of you that follow this site and read the postings. I certainly appreciate each of you for taking the time to do so. If you agree with what I write or not I am glad you are here. I feel we are each entitled to make our own choices without someone condemning us or trying to force a particular view on us.

At this time of year a lot of people take time to reflect and make new year’s resolutions, wanting to make changes and do things better. The new year is like a fresh start, a new beginning

2017-goals For me, I stopped making resolutions. First and mainly because I never keep them. Like most of us making a resolution to do better makes sense. We want to better ourselves and do better in our life, yet like most people a few days into the new year and the resolutions have been forgotten.

Usually that makes people feel a little guilty. We want to do better yet we so quickly fall flat on our face with our resolutions.

As I thought about this I realized that trying to better ourselves in one sense is not a bad thing. When we want to spend more time with family, be better parents, be a better friend and treat people better, that is not a bad thing at all.

Spiritually speaking from a christian viewpoint new year’s resolutions are not needed. Christ made all things new when he fulfilled the law at his death. When he arose a New Covenant went into effect, a covenant of grace.

We no longer need to try to do better, to do more for him, to be better christians. He did everything that was needed to make us new creatures in Him. Because of his work we are holy and righteous, we are kings and priests, our old sin nature was crucified with him and we no longer need to make resolutions to do better.

In one sense each day is a new beginning for us, and his mercies are new every morning. Yet as far as our life in Him goes, each day is a day living in the Kingdom of God. Each day is a continuation of the previous day living as one with God. We as God’s house are now one with Him just as Christ prayed, that we might be one as he and the Father are one.

So spiritually speaking, let’s not get caught up in the guilty feelings we have with new year’s resolutions and trying to do better for him. Nothing wrong with doing good works out of love for God and by the power of the Spirit, yet remember to rest in him knowing he has done all the work and all that is necessary for us to live pleasing to him. Let’s enjoy each new day as a day the Lord has made and rejoice and be glad in it. Live each day in the power of the Holy Spirit, showing God’s love and acceptance to all we meet during the day.

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Welcome to a New Year

Posted in Acceptance, christian living, Kingdom of God, tagged grace guilt, Kingdom of God, mercy, New Year, resolutions on January 4, 2016| 9 Comments »

Believe it or not, here we are into a new year already. For those of you that follow this site and read the posting, I just want to thank you for taking the time to do so. I appreciate each one of you, whether you agree with what I write or not. I feel we are each entitled to make our own choices without someone condemning us or trying to force a particular view on us.

At this time of year, a lot of people take time to reflect and make new year’s resolutions, wanting to make changes and do things better. The new year is like a fresh start, a new beginning.

For me, I stopped making resolutions. First and mainly because I never keep them. Like most of us, making a resolution to do better makes sense. We want to better ourselves and do better in our life, yet like most people, a few days into the new year and the resolution has been forgotten.

Usually that makes people feel a little guilty. We want to do better, yet we fall flat on our face with our resolutions so fast.

I got to thinking about this and realized that trying to better ourselves in one sense is not a bad thing. When we want to spend more time with family, be better parents, be a better friend and treat people better, that is not a bad thing at all.

Spiritually speaking from a christian viewpoint, new year’s resolutions are something that is not needed. In Christ, he made all things new when he fulfilled the law at his death. When he arose, a New Covenant went into effect, a covenant of grace.

We no longer need to try to do better, to do more for him, to be better christians. He did everything that was needed to make us new creatures in Him. Because of his work, we are holy and righteous, we are kings and priests, our old sin nature was crucified with him and we no longer need to make resolutions to do better.

In one sense, each day is a new beginning for us, and his mercies are new every morning. Yet as far as our life in Him, each day is a day living in the Kingdom of God. Each day is a continuation of the previous day living as one with God, we, as God’s house, are now one with Him just as Christ prayed, that we might be one as he and the Father are one.

So, spiritually speaking, let’s not get caught up in the guilty feelings we have with new year’s resolutions and trying to do better for him. Let’s rest in him, knowing he has done all the work and all that is necessary for us to live pleasing to him. Let’s enjoy each new day as a day the Lord has made, and rejoice and be glad in it. Let’s live each day in the power of the Holy Spirit, showing God’s love and acceptance to all we meet during the day.