Why Religion will never work-set yourself FREE!

 

For those of you who have been asking me questions on FB on why my family has left “the system/the box” and have no plans on ever returning to the most UNbiblical place there is, that being the CHRUCH. Here you go!

This explains why church, is not  a place a Christian should be. And yes, it does fall back on follow the money chain, follow the motives chain ect. That, and you won’t find GOD at a church….You will be scared into becoming saved though. Will it be from the heart though? Probably not I’m afraid.

Of course being around hyprocrites and pharisees, is also not a place I want to be. It is so sad how many of us  have been teaching our kids that if they want to “find” God, then they should go to the box=church. Why are we teaching our children this? What kind of mixed warped message are we sending our children? Of course we should be teaching our children about christ at home. I do, and this is why I have had so many frustrated Sunday school teachers mention to me that my daughters should be teaching the class, and that they can not seem to find a story that my kids don’t know. *grin* But this has always been  ok with me. It means I am doing my job.

It took my family 4 years of looking, yearning, and feeling in limbo…before the Lord had to do the drastic, to get our attention.

We were being called out of the church. We did not understand what was happening. We thought we were the only ones too, until finding over 500+ other families that have also left  corporate worship. Many people will never be ready, or called. They have a sense of belonging and feeling needed in the system, and this is ok.

I was led to believe that we were all created equal. That if you are a REAL christian, then you would look a certain way and act a certain way etc. This is Religion at its worst.

Christ never meant for Christianity to become a Religion! Man has made it one and it is the main reason why so many unbelievers mock christians. We should not be the ones trying to change people folks, to get them to conform to OUR ways! This is the holy spirits job, NOT ours. We can pray, that is where it should stop. To do more by using guilt, or withholding our love, is not having faith in Christ to move mountains in peoples lives. Think about this for a minute. Why must we desire to carbon-copy everyone? This will only frustrate,

If you ever  get to the point that you have questions and you find yourself  thinking, is this all there is?  Same old mundane church services week after week.  Hearing the salvation message 100 times a year… No real relationships forming within the church family, collecting money for a dozen different things, but never seeing any fruit…Waking up and dreading that you need to go, “put in your time”.  The list is endless…

  Sounds awful right? It should! Yet, thousands upon thousands of Christians every Sunday morning are just going through the motions in order to please there congragation. Thinking that it is pleasing to Christ doing so. Feeling obligated!

I am speaking from some serious  experience. In the past, we have had one pastor tell us that he is not there to be our friend, only to pastor us! Wow! We have also been told that they would pray for our salvation, because if we leave the church, then we are not “really” saved.

And my personal favorite observation…

You think you have a whole slew of friends that love on you each Sunday morning with hugs and kisses?  Do you think you have REAL genuine fellowship with other believers  at your church? Do you think these folks are praying for you in real  authentic love?

Well, just tell them one morning that you will not be coming back to the church. Tell them that you have been praying and fasting, and God is calling you OUT of the church! Any chruch!

Then this is where the real fun begins…

Will they still call and check up on you?

When you invite them for lunch, will they show up?

Afterall, you have done dozen upon dozens of pot lucks with them, you broke bread with them, you laught and cried with them, you shared your heart with them, you opened your home to them, and really loved them!!!

BUT: There was never a REAL relationship formed. Only casual friendship. You see, there is a big huge difference between relationship and friendship. I have found out the hard way  because I wear my heart on my sleeve. I have gotten burned in real life, and even the net.

It boils down to this:

Just because you spend time with a person, pour your heart out, pray with them etc. These things do not mean that you have a  real relationship with them. Don’t be fooled!

Friendship, does not = relationship. Most folks that you will meet in this life will have their own agenda. At chruch it is, what can you do for us agenda.? It may not look like that on the surface, but just watch a couple of the 2 minute church clips below on the family room link I posted. Your eyes will be open!!!

I am reading the most awesome book right now, called “So you don’t want to go to church anymore” By Jake Colsen”  It is not for the casual Christian. It is alot to take in at once. It will make you laugh and cry at the same time. You will see how NOT alone you are and how God does not want  for us, what we think  he wants from us. That  being,”Trapped in Religion” It really is a death trap!

Part 1

http://www.thegodjourney.com/audio/2006/0901h.mp3

Part 2

http://www.thegodjourney.com/audio/2008/0208h.mp3

Part 1 http://www.thegodjourney.com/audio/2008/0418h.mp3

Part2

 http://www.thegodjourney.com/audio/2008/0425h.mp3

And, for a little die hard humor, that will make you spill our coffee all over your keyboard….Theses  church clips are only 2 minutes each, and will really make you see what YOUR church is all about! ENJOY!

http://www.familyroommedia.com/Videoclips.html

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Good God, Mean God

Let me tell you about a great book!

“He Loves Me” By: Wayne Jacobsen

This has been the best book I have ever read in my life! I can not say enough about it.

 It really makes you realize how far today’s churches have let go of the main purpose of the NT church. Churches today are soooo UN-biblical. Yes, you read that right!  UN-biblical

 It has really been liberating to push, kick, and yes SPEW, on Religion! Christianity was never meant to be a RELIGION folks, it is and forever will be about having a relationship with Jesus. That is it!  We do not go to Hell because we are sinners! (something churches have been spewing for generations, with their yada-yada messages.) We go to HELL because we CHOOSE not to have a relationship with the father. Plain and simple!

 We have been brain washed as Christians, (just follow the money & pride) to think otherwise. It is time to be set free by Gods mercy and grace….
It is all about GRACE! It is all about LOVE and allowing God to transform us to his image! It has nothing to do with SELF-EFFORT.

 Once you realize that you are not serving a mean God. The God that you THINK, is sitting on his throne just waiting for you to mess up, so he can hit you over the head with a baseball bat and call you a “mess-up who is UN-worthy of his love.)  Today, right now, start realizing just how much God loves you…Everything else will naturally fall into place in due time.  Don’t try to change anything about your life. Let God be the one to transform you. You will NOT be able to do anything by “self effort”.

Believe me when I say, You can strip away everything that you THINK God wants you to strip away..But in the end, Yes, there will be an end. You will still be longing for more. It will be like a ladder you will spend the rest of your life climbing, only to find that there is no top.  A never ending ladder, like a salmon who swims upstream. You will continue each day trying to make God love you more. You will look at other Christians around you and think that they know something that you do not know. You will see there outer exterior, but not their heart. You will think that they are so much more holier then you are.  That they have “arrived” . You will want to emulate them, so that you to can feel like you too have arrived.  This will not work  for very long, and will be nothing more then a worthless pile of rubbish in the end. Ask me how I know?

Jesus himself said, I NO LONGER call you servants, I call you friends! John 15:15   Amen!

We do not, I repeat, DO NOT have to do anything to win or earn Gods Favor!  If you know some place in the bible that says that we do..PLEASE, I urge you..send it to me at once!

God can not possibly love you any more then he already does! Churches teach that we DO need to earn it. That some how, God will love us MORE if we only serve more, if we only give more, if we only (fill in the blank.) Churches would be shut down if they taught otherwise.

 Who would ever want to call someone father if there were so many restrictions involved. Would you love your children MORE if they repeatedly spent days at end doing things for you? If they were in a constant battle to earn and win your love? DO you love them any less when they make a mistake or mess something up? Think about it!!! You will love them regardless!

 God loves you regardless of what you do, or do not do. Is this reason to sin away? No, but let GOD, and God alone, be the one to convict you. Do not try to change yourself on your own, because you will be miserable in the process. God will lay certain convictions on your heart. It will have nothing to do with..Susie down the street, or ONLINE, trying to tell you that you really should do this, this and that, so that God can REALLY love you and BLESS you. This is rubbish!

If we try to change ourselves and use other Christians as our examples of self righteousness, it will fail us. If you begin to think that you need to strip all things away from your life to become more holy in Gods eyes, that then God will love you MORE, or accept you more some how. This my friends, is called Religious bondage.

 I have talked to many people this year who had no idea that they were even in Religious bondage, until they saw it all laid out in front of them. They have been saved for 20+ years and have been very content and happy, “playing the game“. Never missing a service, having no TV in their home, covering their heads etc. I was one of these people for years. I started off doing things to earn Gods favor. I was miserable inside.

Thankfully God did transform me in HIS timing.  I don’t do or wear certain things that God has spoken to me about, or watch certain things that God has spoken directly to me about. Does this mean that I am more self righteous then another sister or brother that God has not spoken to such things about? No! It only means that God will work out things in each of our lives in HIS timing, in order to individually teach us things that we need to be taught. I hope this is making sense to you.

 

All YOU need to know is how much He loves you! If you do not know, then Ask him..Ask God to reveal his Love to you. I promise, from experience..he will!! His word will not come back Void. His words are sharper then a two edge sword. He will show you just how much he loves loving on you!!!!
In Conclusion:

 If you have ever found yourself trying to earn Gods favor by being in church 2-3x a week, volunteering for every single ministry available to you,dressing and acting a certain way, striping all forms of entertainment out of your life. Whether it be a TV, radio, hobbies and the alike…trying to save the world while putting your kids on the back burner. Listening and OBEYING every little thing your preacher tells you, as if HE is God!

If there have been times that you have been made to feel guilty for not giving your 10% (which BTW is an OT command), but non the less, churches are notorious for making us feel soooo guilty for not hopping on the band wagon, giving and TESTING God, by giving all you have..all you’ve got. Some churchs like to use the Widows mite tied onto the tithing preaching, to justify their bullying. They preach tithing even more so around the Holidays, asking you to only TRUST God more, and give, so that he will BLESS you more. Ugh! I once went to a church where they passed the plate 3x in ONE service! Just in case….The bible says that God loves  a cheerful giver. This my friends is in life. There are many ways to give. If you find that you are giving with no cheer in your heart, thinking about which bill is not going to get paid, just so you can give. Or which items in the grocery store you will not be able to buy this Monday, Because of your Sunday giving…This is Spiritul Abuse.  How about when you see Susie in the row next to you, glancing at you, as to say..MAKE SURE YOU GIVE TOO MISSY!  Maybe the preacher JUST so happens to make eye contact with your family, just as the plate comes to you, take out all the cash in your wallet and drop it in the plate.  This is Bullying by the brethren! Making you feel guilty and Unworthy.

  If you have taken certain things out of your life, thinking it will earn you points and rightousness with God. YOU are suffering from religious bondage and this is not the life God has planned for you.
How about making you feel guilty for not having any ministry at all within the church? Making you feel like you should be doing more, and more, and more! Until you fall into your bed each night, emotionally, phisically drained. Still feeling like you could have done just a bit more. This does not only fall under the church either. This can be a picture of YOUR life. Perhaps with volunteer work or even your day job, if you have one.

How many times have we taken a ministery on, to have other people praise our name? Where is Gods glory in that? Often times we get in tuned with our fleshy desires. What might have started off as good intentions, quickly turns into Pride with a capital P.  We have all been guilty of it at one time or the other.  What about the lady at your church who is the “do gooder” She is at EVERY single church gathering, and is the first to raise her hand when so and so just had surgery and needs some cards and meals brought their way. She is the one who volunteers cheerfully when a Sunday school teacher calls in sick or a nursery worker is absent, or a no-show. She appears to have everyone elses best interest at heart, getting loads of praise from the preacher, and the brethren…She is the top notch SAINT at your church!
But….
IF you look at her home, no one sees that her husband is misrable, wanting and yearning for a wife he can call his helper. Wishing that his wife gave him the time and energy that she gives the church and the brethren. Her kids are wretchid and always getting into trouble in school and at home. She has no control OR influence in her home at all…Her home and house is in utter casous…

But, the church uses her as the role model of the Good Christian..Hmmmmm.

Does any one find anything wrong with this picture?
Once again, why on Gods green earth are we doing stuff to earn points with God? Why is it so important to be called a saint by the brethren? Where does your loyalty lay?

Please, take the time to think about, if you too, can be caught up in Religious, OR Spiritual bondage?

You are not serving a mean God. He can not love you any more then he already does. If you are doing any of the above things mentioned, thinking that it will get you brownie points with God, you are mistaken. If you are doing things to earn the acceptence of others around you. You need to be liberated and set free!!

It is about YOU and God! The relationship that you have with the father. The Holy Spirit will work out the details, that is HIS job, not ours!!

SO? DO you call Jesus your friend? He says we are no longer his servants..we are to be his friends…Is he the first one you think of when thinking about the best of friends? The most loving father who will never leave nor forsake you?

OR, is he the last person you want to go to when you mess up, or have a problem?

If he is the last person you want to talk with, then perhaps, you are seeing him as the mean God that so many other people see him as. A God who is up their with a baseball bat..just waiting for you to mess up…A God that no one would want to joyfully serve and call a friend.

Think about it!