Go to A New Church
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- Go to Comfort in Church
I really can't believe that the shepherd was ever evil. I've seen only
good intentions in what they try to do. But they are human, and it is easy to try to blame them for everything. When a person desires to do good, and bad things happen anyway, it is mature to understand that we don't always know what we are doing, even when we try our best.
I always remind myself that one teacher in particular led with all of his heart and soul, and even though he was tempted to believe that evil was my chosen way, he could not see that evil had taken hold of me and had not yet let go. If we can believe that other people sometimes sleep through situations, not able to control the outcome for lack of wisdom, then we can react with the kind of virtue that I believe all sincere Christians seek as their constant behavior.
posted by
TARZANA
on January 24, 2004 at 2:40 PM
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correction... we do not gratify the desires of the flesh (our sinful nature)...
posted by
cmoe
on January 24, 2004 at 2:25 PM
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correction... we do not gratify the desires of the flesh (our sinful nature)...
posted by
cmoe
on January 24, 2004 at 2:24 PM
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It is the Holy Spirit's job not to make people feel bad and "just leave them there"... He reveals our hearts and leads us to the life giving foot of the cross where we are ushered into the prescence of God... because he is God and if we are open to Jesus, we will be open to the Holy Spirit to fill our spirits... we can't just be a Christian in our own strength and might... we walk in the spirit and do not gratify the desires of our hearts... I Co. 12 and Romans 8...Don't ever rely on church leadership to be responsible for your walk with God... and REMEMBER... there are WOLVES DISGUISED AS SHEEP in the church... some of the most evil people on earth... look at the Lutherans of Nazi Germany... what the hell were they thinking?... MONEY, MONEY, MONEY and they BLINDLY followed like STUPID sheep following a VERY EVIL Shepherd.
posted by
cmoe
on January 24, 2004 at 2:22 PM
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Well, it's true, freerain, that I do not see spirituality as a way of dying
The only thing I ever got out of church was praising God and learning from the scriptures, which were always edifying to me. To be told that I was a sinner made me uncomfortable, because I was abused by a Christian man as a teenager. Of course, it must be seen that way since he was of age and I wasn't, and he was the youth councelor. So, even though I was in love with him, it was abuse for him to allow it and not even marry me. So, as you can see, the father of my son was not the first Christian man who did this to me, nor was he the second, nor was he the third! I was always rejected in the church by the men. I was only able to escape the constant torture by marrying my current husband who is a non-Christian.
I think they can feel my spirit in the church, and it makes them so uncomfortable that they can't stand me there. I literally have been forced out every time.
posted by
TARZANA
on January 24, 2004 at 10:29 AM
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Spiritual uncertainty
is a good feeling-- it means that you are still able to feel your own sense of self and also that what is being offered as "spirituality" might be less than true. I've read recently some ideas about God, that he has two qualities--he cannot lie and that he cannot go against his nature. If we are to be "like" God, I think we should first understand our true nature, our human nature, not what priests and congregation and bible try and tell us our nature is. Most of the time they will tell you your nature is corrupt and full of sin, but I think this is to keep you seeking something that is unattainable--the perfectness of God. Keeping you in strife with your own nature keeps you bound up to the Church and all its rituals and perversions of reality. If we first get to know and own our nature, like God does for himself, than there would be no need to lie. The first lie we are given is that we are unacceptable to God in our nature and that we must die to our flesh. That is absurd, since God made us in his image and breathed his life (nature) into us and he made our flesh. I hope you keep searching for your spiritual self, and keep your heart and mind open to the truths that will come to you when you do.
FR
posted by
freerain
on January 24, 2004 at 10:00 AM
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Don't give up . . . .
Churches are a lot like people. There are good ones, bad ones and some that are neither, just somehere between good and bad. Perhaps just joining friends when they go to worship would introduce you to churches taht appeal to people you like. Also, don't close the door to some non-Christian places of worship. I wish you the best in your new marriage!
posted by
archiew
on January 24, 2004 at 9:40 AM
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Now my husband is not a Christian. He is the new head of my family.
posted by
TARZANA
on January 24, 2004 at 9:35 AM
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Well, I'll tell ya... Church was a very comfortable place for me, until a
recently divorced man snatched me up and married me too soon after a tragedy. His ex-wife was a Christian, more devout than him, and they had two daughters. I was made mother to his son and then thrown out. The rest is a long story, and as long as I was far away from him, church was still my favorite place to be, but then I was driven out of the church. How can I be in a place where the man is supposed to be the head, and he uses you and throws you out? Then I married a non-Christian, because the Christian man had married someone else. But his only son is mine! I guess the only explanation to the whole thing is, that the head of the church was crucified. Now it seems gruesome to me. I miss the nice people. I lost things that I've had all my life. But I was the reject.
posted by
TARZANA
on January 24, 2004 at 9:33 AM
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