“One in a Million” study: Week 3 notes

“One in a Million: Journey to Your Promised Land” by Priscilla Shirer

WEEK 3 ~ Notes:

* God is predictable in His character, but He is complete unpredictable in His activity.

* Our God is good and kind.

* It may seem impossible, but God has already guaranteed your victory in Scripture.

* It causes you to walk through the wilderness a little differently when you know your victory is sure.

* Moses gave the Israelites 4 instructions:

1) Be FEARLESS ~ by the Holy Spirit’s power in you, you do not have to fear!
2) Be STILL ~ don’t sit down, or you’ll fall asleep on the job! Engage your will, and have a firm resolve.
3) Be WATCHFUL ~ we’re often too busy looking forward to the next season of life that we miss what God is trying to do for us right now! Don’t wait for the problem to go away — open your eyes to God’s blessings today!
4) Be SILENT ~ train yourself to be quiet and to stop complaining about your circumstances.

* If we really believed that there was Someone out there who is in complete control, we wouldn’t get so flustered and stressed when life got chaotic.

* Two of the greatest sicknesses plaguing Christians today are in the “IF” family:

1) What If…?
2) If Only…

* Ask God for a continual awareness of His activity in your life.

* What concerns you, concerns God. He cares about the little things as much as the big things.

* Abundant life, promised land living, is not for tomorrow — it’s for today! Watch for it.

((…to be continued…))

“One in a Million” study, Week 2 notes

“One in a Million: Journey to Your Promised Land” by Priscilla Shirer

WEEK 2 ~ Notes:

* God CHOSE the wilderness for the Israelites… it was no accident!

* When we get eye-to-eye with a challenge, it calls out the potential in us.

* Wilderness times help us to see God (and ourselves) in a new light.

* Isn’t it just like God to NOT do things the way we think He should?

* The best way to learn to be disciplined is to be in a situation where you have to exercise self-control.

* God wants to develop us, and He uses the wilderness to do it.

:: What seemed, to the Hebrews, like the best path to freedom, would have caused trials that they were not ready to face. (Proverbs 16:25)

:: The road God chooses for us is often not the road we might expect. He often chooses a wilderness journey for us to give us an opportunity to experience Him in a way that we might miss in a place of ease & convenience… His goal is to make us more dependent on Him.

:: Only wholehearted devotion would ensure their entry into the promised land.

:: You can be certain that God is looking out for your greater good…

:: God sees the end result.

:: God doesn’t mind our questions, but we must never allow our questions to overshadow the fact that God has all the answers.

:: God wanted their allegiance, their loyalty in the face of difficulty, and their thoughts focused not on the big, threatening enemy but on Him as Provider and Protector.

:: Freedom from Pharaoh was to set the people’s hearts on the complete service and worship of God… to acheive intimacy with Him.

:: We must synchronize our primary purposes with God’s… we can neither accomplish abundant life with God nor overcome the enemy’s advances without the Lord’s help… He wants us to lay aside our determination to do life our way and follow Him.

:: God is ALWAYS in control.

:: Never forget that God is the source of all good things.

:: The key to taking full possession of the land God promised was obedience, but the key to finding full appreciation of it was found in remembering God’s goodness and protection through their extended years in the wilderness.

:: The true test of our commitment is best seen when there is no refreshment in sight, just plain after plain of dry wasteland.

:: God still chooses to display Himself to people today when, for reasons we’ll never know, He orchestrates nature or circumstances to dramatically show His presence… He still wants to make Himself fully known to us and does so by working through what He’s created.

:: God gave the weary, thirsty Hebrews exactly what they needed to suit their precise circumstances… God knows exactly what is needed to refresh you, too!

:: Our Father will remain mindful of us, knowing our needs and caring for us in the midst of our journeys.

:: Reminding ourselves of God’s love for us in the wildnerness is always of utmost importance.

:: The Lord will abundantly supply all of your needs. (Philippians 4:19)

:: God strategically places “Elims” (oases) in our paths that will refresh us when we think we can stand no more.

:: Keep your head up and your feet moving forward as you travel on your life’s journey. God loves you and has not forgotten you… Press On!

“One in a Million” study: Week 1 notes

Our ladies’ Bible study group is now working their way through Priscilla Shirer’s study, “One in a Million: Journey to Your Promised Land“.

For the next couple of posts, I’m going to share the notes I’ve taken from the study. Enjoy!

WEEK ONE (notes):

* Our God is a God of abundance.

* we want the pew to hit the pavement — for what we learn in church on Sunday to be applicable to our day-to-day lives.

* John 10:10 ~ “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (“life” = milk | “abundantly” = honey)

* God wants us to have a life with a little sweetness on top.

* There must be deliverance to even begin the journey.

* Just like Israel, we need to be delivered from (1) a person, and (2) a place.

* for every good gift God gives, Satan is right there to offer a counterfeit.

* a lot of believers are free from the person [Satan], but are still living in the places [bad books / raunchy TV or movies / sinful relationships, etc] owned by the enemy.

* Are we still hanging out in the places where the enemy reigns? –> in places/with things that hinder what God wants to do in our lives. (Hebrews 12:1)

* Galatians 5:1 ~ “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”

:: To me, the elephant seemed to long for freedom. If only he knew that his little fence was nothing compared to his innate strength… if only he realized that he could break that shackle with one powerful move and be free.

:: Before God’s chosen people could hope to ender the land promised to them, the shackle had to break. It held them back from finding the abundance God planned for them.

:: …all those who refuse to pursue freedom from the curse of sin forfeit the place of “milk & honey” — fulfillment, freedom, satisfaction, contentment, and overwhelming joy.

:: …only One instrument can unshackle us from the cuse and consequences of original sin…God’s ultimate deliverer, Jesus Christ.

:: We must continually turn our backs on the temptation to rebel against God.

:: Since our tendency as humans is to err in a direction away from God, we must retrain ourselves to walk in the ways of freedom …daily living in that freedom takes work as we cooperate with God’s Spirit.

:: The enemy of our souls knows our strengths and weaknesses, and he has the goal of contriving ways to keep us under his thumb… He encourages us to keep returning to the very sins from which Christ freed us.

:: Sin is progressive. What once satisfied us loses its power. Before we know it, we are more and more entangled in a web that is slowly taking the life out of us.

:: Far too many Christians turn away from the narrow road of abundant living to temporarily enjoy the Enemy’s worldly variety.

:: The simplicity and singleness of the manna in the wilderness symbolized the Christ who was to come. (John 6:35 ~ “I am the bread of life.”)

:: To start living like free men and women, His people have to start eating like them.

:: Like Daniel, we must adapt a strong resolve and a firm stand against Satan’s attempts to serve us food from his table.

:: See God outside of the box.

:: Expect to see God’s power in supernatural ways, anticipate miracles in your everyday existence, and hear His voice with startling clarity.

:: A narrow view of God creates a boundary that limits our experience of Him.

The future…revealed!

Lately, I’ve been very interested in the fact that God seems to reveal the future to His people. And, because of said interest, I’ve been trying to write down every reference to this that I’m finding through my reading of the Bible.

I’m going to use this post as a sort of record of what I’ve found (or am finding). I’ll add to it as I find more.

But, I’m curious, too — do you think that God still reveals the future to His people? Do you think He still tells them of what’s to come in order to prepare them? Why, or why not?

Here’s the evidence I’ve found, so far, from the Word — incidences where God told His people of what their future would hold:

Genesis 25:23 ~ “And the Lord told her [Rebekah], ‘The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals…your older son will serve your younger son.“

Genesis 41:25 ~ “…God is telling Pharaoh in advance what He is about to do.” [Joseph speaking to Pharaoh]

Genesis 46:4 ~ “I [God] will go with you [Jacob] down to Egypt, and I will bring you back again. You will die in Egypt, but Joseph will be with you to close your eyes.”

Exodus 3:16-22 ~ (God tells Moses how He’s going to free the Israelites from Egypt, and about how Pharaoh is going to get hard-hearted and argue).

Matthew 17:22-23 ~ “…Jesus told them, ‘The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of His enemies. He will be killed, but on the third day He will be raised from the dead.’ And the disciples were filled with grief.”

Matthew 23:34 ~ “Therefore, I [Jesus] am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law. But you will kill some by crucifixion, and you will flog others with whips in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city.“

John 16:13 ~ “He [the Holy Spirit] will tell you about the future.”

More thoughts on Leaving “church”…

 Recently, in my ladies’ Bible study group, one of the ladies brought up the fact that she had read Wayne Jacobsen’s book, “So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore” — the same book I just recently purchased, myself, but haven’t yet gotten around to reading… a book I’ve been very much looking forward to reading!

Well, this lady mentioned how she believed the book was very “dangerous”, and basically said it was full of “heresy” — that it was leading people away from what God intended.

Then another lady piped up and said that she had some friends who’d read the book, and they started their own “home church”. These friends took the idea a little too far, though, and secluded themselves, not having anything to do with anyone who didn’t belong to their home “church” (more like a cult, if you ask me). And, yet, this woman believed, now, that all home churches are bad, and that they are all cultish, and wrong.

Then, my pastor’s wife — who leads that particular morning study (I usually go to an evening study, led by a different woman from our church — same study, just different time, place & leader) — spoke up, and said that she and her husband (my pastor) had read Wayne Jacobsen’s book, and they, too, believe it is a book full of untruths, and that it’s leading people of God astray.

Through it all, I sat quietly by, and just listened, fully interested in this conversation. Having just read other books on the topic of home churches and the like, I was very excited, thinking I’d found an amazing freedom from the legalism and such that I’d grown up with. But now I’m curious… was I so ready to believe a lie?

Don’t get me wrong… I’m still thinking that the revelations I received about this whole “church” thing were true, and that they still might be worthwhile. But, I’m definitely going to have to read that Wayne Jacobsen book sooner –rather than later– so that I can form my own opinion. And, I’m definitely going to have to pray for a spirit of discernment before (and while) I read it. Afterward, I may just go to my pastor and ask him about his thoughts on the book — I trust his opinion, and I’m curious why they think this is all “dangerous thinking”.

I can see how, if you take it too far, it can be dangerous — like that group that started a home church and then secluded themselves. That isn’t the point. When you start a home church, it’s not so that you can pull yourselves away from the community of believers, or so that you can be the ONLY believers that are “right”… it’s so that you can go back to the way things were done in the beginning, and almost “purify” the concept of church, taking out the legalism and hypocrisy that’s become so rampant this day & age. You still should engage the world around you, including other believers, even if some (or most) of those other believers still believe in doing church by going to a building and listening to a pastor give a sermon on Sunday morning.

To me, the point of going back to a “home church” style, or pulling away from going to a building and listening to a sermon, is to focus more on God, and to get away from what church isn’t supposed to be.

Stay tuned… I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts on this in the near future.

Beth Moore’s “Esther“: Weeks 5-9

Here are the notes I took from weeks 5-9 of the Beth Moore “Esther” study:

WEEK FIVE:

* In a book with no blatant mention of God, one of the biggest and most important concepts of providence in the book of Esther is TIME.

* Sometimes our emotions are not going to precede our actions.

* we’ll never fulfill our God-ordained destinies as long as we’re still straddling the fence — we need to put away the things of our old (pagan) life and follow Christ completely.

Question: Can others see the difference that Christ makes in your life???

* there’s a power that comes with wisdom & wait

* women are not powerless! We’ve been given the gift of INFLUENCE.

* our strength will be depleted if we’re waiting on the thing… but it will be renewed when we wait on God (see Isaiah 40:31).

* God is deeply attentive to our most secret hurts, concerns, and hopes.

* God cannot break His promises (see 2 Timothy 2:13).

* we learn as much from Scripture about what we don’t want to be as what we do.

WEEK SIX:

* a REVERSAL OF DESTINY is where what appeared to be the future is suddenly changed by an intervention that can only be divine.

* “Chiastic Structure“: a reversal of structures to emphasize an overarching point…

For example: “We don’t live to eat, we eat to live.“

A = live
B = eat

A                   B

 X

B                   A

* “Peripety“: a sudden turn of events that reverses the expected or intended outcome… the hinge on which our reversal of destiny turns.

* Esther was called to obedience, not to figure out how it was all going to go down.

–> we, too, are not responsible for how this thing works out… we’re just called to be obedient, moment by moment.

* perfectionism would’ve paralyzed Esther…if she’d given way to it.

WEEK SEVEN:

* Every turn-around begins with a single step.

* God KNOWS how to rescue me! (see 2 Peter 2:9)

* when your prayer request waits, you are waiting — but so is the Lord… there is something that the wait is for (it accomplishes something).

* God waits for our trust

* God’s patience always involves His passion (see Revelation 1:9, The Message)

* there’s a God in Heaven who can take where your life is headed, pick you up, and point you in a new direction.

* sometimes God wants to show us what we can do, rather than let us find someone who can do it for us.

* God reversed every negative of His threatened people into a positive.

* God, alone, is the author of reversals.

WEEK EIGHT:

* we can’t know victory unless we’ve gone through something difficult enough –> you have to know what it’s like to come up against fierce opposition.

* God’s grace is sufficient according to our true needs… not according to our imagined fears (sometimes we fear things we just made up).

* Every time you’re in a tight fist of fear, remember that you’re in something much tighter!

Isaiah 49:16 — “See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands…“

((to “engrave” something on the palm of your hand, you’d have to be holding it fairly tightly — God holds us in His hand tight enough that we’re “engraved” there!))

* YOU can make principalities cower!

* want the upper hand? Get your hands up in the air, raising your troubles to God!

* God fights for me! (His son even died for me, already!)

* know, above all else, that your God LOVES YOU!

* we rarely take the time to rest, reflect, and celebrate after a victory… we need to go out of our way to remember the wonderful works that God has done.

* Esther shows that ordinary events are NEVER coincidental in the lives of God’s people.

* [God] will be faithful to you… do not fret. When you least expect it, God can turn it all around.

* every time in the Bible where there’s war & bloodshed, there is first a warning — a chance to repent and walk away. Everyone gets a chance to start fresh.

WEEK NINE:

* when God’s done something good for you, you have permission to PARTY & celebrate!

* we are complete in Christ, but we’ll not fulfill our destinies without our “along-withs” –> there are some things we need to do with others, as a partnership. We’re not meant to do it all alone.

* you can’t tell, as  it’s going along, that everything is going according to plan — things can seem dark, gray, and uncertain. Hindsight, though, reveals God’s master plan, and how it was accomplished.

* we women are in bondage to the way we view men… we’re obsessed with them

–> save your obsessions & the deepest needs of your soul for Christ, alone.

* take all of your insecurities to Christ as He (unlike humans/men) is never overwhelmed by you, or your neediness.

* if I’m in God’s shadow, then He is going before me, and He is standing between me & my enemies.

Read ‘n Respond: “Pagan Christianity?” by Frank Viola & George Barna

I’m currently reading a book called “Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices” by Frank Viola & George Barna. And, while it’s a really interesting book, with a lot of good points, I’m a bit disturbed by some of the things they’re saying. My internal warning bells are going off, big time.

For example…

On page 116, the authors write, “The non-New Testament concept of sacerdotalism — the belief that there exists a divinely appointed person to mediate between God and the people — originated with Cyprian [of Carthage].“

But, I beg to differ! In the Old Testament, God did appoint mediators… He gave the Israelites the high priests that were the go-betweens between God & His people. They were the ones who entered the Holy of Holies at specific times to make atonement for the peoples’ sins (see Leviticus 16:1-34). Moses was also a mediator between God and His people. He was the only one allowed to go up the mountain to meet with God, and receive instruction (see Exodus 19).

Originally, I also had issue with the fact that the authors were claiming that the church building was something we shouldn’t have. I thought, “But we’re to meet together with other believers (Heb.10:25), so we need a place to gather“. But, then they clarified that the church’s architecture is made to elicit a response… it teaches us “what the church is, and how it functions” (p.37).

And, their talk about how a pastor is a hinderance also got up my ire. They claim that there’s no mention of a pastor in the Bible. And, I thought, “But it does talk about shepherding God’s people, and leadership. (see 1 Timothy 3 and Ezekiel 34:1-10).” But, then I realized that, even though it talks about shepherds leading God’s people, that also could mean anyone in the church who is gifted with leadership. And the authors then clarified that “shepherds” refers to people who have a natural talent for nurturing and caring for God’s people.

So, I don’t know… I’m still reading this book with a spirit of discernment, and I’m taking it with a grain of salt. I’m thinking that I will take what I love from this book, and then just disregard the rest.

There’s a lot of it that I do agree with, mind you. Like how the authors say that our fixed pews and our stage make it seem like we church-goers are passive spectators on Sunday mornings, and the pastor is providing the “entertainment”. They talk about how –in an organic/home-church– the members would all be able to contribute to the sharing of God’s Word. Whoever feels led to share a word they’ve received could do so. And, everyone would be able to look their fellow members in the eyes easily… not having to strain around to see behind them in a pew.

I also agree that the word “church” should refer not to a building, but to all of God’s people. That’s how it’s meant in the Bible, after all. The Greek word is “ekklesia“, meaning “a gathering of believers“.

More thoughts to come as I continue reading…

Beth Moore’s “Esther“: Weeks 1-4

 My church’s ladies’ Bible study group has been working their way through Beth Moore’s study of the book of “Esther“, subtitled “It’s Tough Being a Woman“. And, man, is it ever good! I’m learning so much!

So, I thought I’d give you a little bit of a taste of what I’ve been learning! Here are the quotes I’ve gotten from weeks 1-4, plus the introduction…

INTRODUCTION

“Providence” = nothing happens by chance

- What God’s Word says is TRUE… what I’m feeling is not necessarily true. For example: If I feel that God isn’t present with me, that’s a LIE! God’s Word says that God will “never leave me or forsake me”.

I found it interesting that… Esther marries a PAGAN king and then stays (and lives) in a PAGAN nation –> this makes me think of my own life, married to an unbeliever, and having a good number of unbelieving family members.

- it’s not so much our story as it is God’s story ~ and it becomes ours as He writes us into it.

- the Bible is full of stories where it seems like everything is hopeless, but then God saves the day so that His glory can be revealed (eg. Abraham sacrificing Isaac; Moses’ entire life!; Joseph being sold into slavery; Shadrach/Meshach/Abednego being thrown into the furnace; Jesus’ death on the cross; etc).

- the most freeing thing we can ever do is to abdicate the thrown of our own miniature kingdoms

- we have a sovereign God who reigns over all and is threatened by NONE

WEEK ONE

* “You cannot amputate your history from your destiny“

- don’t ever forget what God dragged you out of!

- repetition in Scripture usually means that God is making a point

- every time a Biblical character is mentioned for the first time, you can be sure there’s something important to learn

- I found it interesting… that Esther grew up without her dad being present… like me!

- God sometimes allows our confusion to coax us into further study of the entire Word. Only by measuring actions by other Scripture can we clarify right and wrong in certain morally ambiguous narratives.

- …some events remain gray to us regardless of our search through other Scriptures, leaving us without definitive ways to measure them. At those times, we might assume that God means to teach us a historical or spiritual lesson more than an ethical or moral one.

- that’s why God is busy conforming us into the likeness of Christ alone. None of the rest of us can bear the burden of constancy.

- we, too, can become so steeped in our culture that we are almost indistinguishable from the world. We, too, can lose our sense of identity and forget who we are.

- we who comprise the His bride will make ourselves ready for the King through nothing less than the soul-healing pursuit of purity.

WEEK TWO

* “Insecurity is at the heart of every rivalry.”

- there’s nothing meaner than a coward

- you’ll never be more prone to the enemy’s attack than when God has set you free from some sort of captivity, but you’re still on the raod to your ‘promised land’ (when you’re weary and frazzled from the journey).

- meanness ALWAYS has a history –> it doesn’t just come out of nowhere

- 2 Corinthians 10:12 says that comparing ourselves to others is foolish … comparing leads us to feel threatened, in some way, which brings out our inner “mean girl”

- we need to learn to identify the threat, and then let God deal with it!

WEEK THREE

- sackcloth & ashes symbolized not only the Jews’ povery of spirit before the Lord, but their complete deadness without Him

- an in-depth approach to Scripture changes so much! The Holy Spirit ends up unearthing hidden treasures and shedding light on details that make a narrative spring to life in a way that casual reading can’t.

- …strength comes from muscle, and muscle develops with a workout. This is as true spiritually as physically. What we don’t use, we lose!

- when our old priorities don’t go with our new life, we either return to our old life, or adopt new priorities.

- priests of the Tabernacle would fast for 3 days to get ready to receive the Holy Spirit before entering the Holy of Holies… perhaps this is why Esther called for a 3-day fast with all of the Jews before approaching King Xerxes with her request.

WEEK FOUR

- the most frequent command, given by God, in the Bible is… DON’T BE AFRAID!!!

- you can be brave!

- we can be one decision away from completely changing our outcome

- my current choices may have an impact on my destiny

- we’ll never know the abundant life (John 10:10) until we’re free from the grip of fear

- “COURAGE” comes from the Latin word, “cor“, meaning “heart“

- Christ offers us the courage of His presence… make sure you take it! (“Take heart…”, He says)

- Proverbs 31:10 – “A wife of noble character, who can find?“… term “noble character” is the same as the Greek word, translated “valor“, meaning “BRAVE“. Therefore, a “brave” woman is “more precious than rubies“.

 

Leaving Organized Religion, Part 2

In my last post, I talked about how I feel God has shown me that I don’t need to go to church… it’s not a Biblical mandate. The Bible only says that we aren’t to neglect meeting together with other believers (Heb.10:25).

Well, I don’t want to give you the wrong impression… I might leave the church — meaning the Sunday morning services, or a specific congregation — but I won’t be leaving the faith. I am just tired of trying to live up to the man-made rules of religion.

Wayne Jacobsen (author of “So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Any More“), in this article, puts it this way:

Many people giving up on local institutions are not doing so because they’ve rejected Jesus, but finding that the culture of Christianity is actually diminishing their faith not enhancing it.

I’ve always felt really guilty for not keeping up with the “spiritual disciplines”: prayer, fasting, Scripture reading, etc. I do read my Bible from time-to-time (though, not as consistently as I should), and my prayer life is fairly active… I pray off and on throughout every day, little prayers sent up about this or that. But I don’t sit down do have “quiet time” with God, normally, and that makes me feel like a “bad Christian”.

While I realize that the spiritual disciplines are important, I also now realize that I was trying to make them into a “law”, more than a loving, grace-based action. If it doesn’t flow naturally from my love for God, then it’s law, IMHO. We should be so in love with our Lord that we naturally want to spend time with Him, and learn from Him, and grow towards being more like Him. Or, at least, that’s how I see it.

For me, I feel pressured by other Christians to always be striving in my faith. But, faith isn’t supposed to be about striving. It’s supposed to be about relationship; about letting Christ live out His purposes through us. Unfortunately, I never feel “good enough” when I’m around other Christians. I always feel like they are looking down on me because I don’t make it to church every Sunday, or don’t participate in church events, or don’t serve in some way at the church. I don’t DO enough. But, again, it’s not supposed to be about trying to please others.

As I said above, if you’re in a relationship with God, and He’s given the freedom to live out His purposes through you, then you’re going to be serving, or acting out the other disciplines of the Christian faith… they’ll just flow naturally from that relationship. It won’t be forced.

In the same article mentioned above, Wayne Jacobsen says this:

We were promised a relationship with God but were handed a religion of doctrines we had to believe, rituals we had to observe, obligations we had to meet and a standard of morality to adopt. While most of those were true enough, many found that their attempts to follow them did not produce either the life of Jesus it promised, nor the reality of true, caring communities of faith.

And, again, this is where I relate. I don’t feel like I’m growing in my faith — only being stunted by the “rules of the game”, and by the condemnation received from those around me. To quote Rob Bell, in his “Sunday” NOOMA video, “God doesn’t want the meaningless rituals… God wants our hearts“.

“The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen
those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” ~ 2 Chronicles 16:9a

So, I’m not going to let those things condemn me any more… I am going to live in the freedom Christ is showing me, knowing I don’t have to follow man-made traditions. I can continue to meet with other believers, both at Bible study, and in one-on-one visits with Christian friends. And, I can continue to pursue a loving relationship with my Lord… just apart from “organized religion”.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then,
and do not let yourselves be burdened again by
a yoke of slavery.~ Galatians 5:1, NIV

Leaving Organized Religion?

Lately, God seems to be showing me –through different sources– that it’s okay not to go to church. Before you get all offended and think I’m leaving the faith, hear me out…

I’ve had issues with “church” (or, as some prefer to call it, ‘organized religion’) for many, many years. I have encountered way too much hypocrisy & legalism, and have never felt comfortable going to church every Sunday morning. I was practically forced to go to youth group as a teen, and then had issues at 2 of the 3 different churches I’ve attended in the last 20 years… issues that couldn’t just be overlooked, and so I left. My current church is definitely better than the other two were, but it still makes me uncomfortable, to an extent.

Just recently, while browsing in a bookstore, I came across a book called “Pagan Christianity” by George Barna & Frank Viola. I didn’t buy it, but just picked it up and skimmed through it. And, it piqued my curiosity. Here’s the description (from Amazon):

Have you ever wondered why we Christians do what we do for church every Sunday morning? Why do we “dress up” for church? Why does the pastor preach a sermon each week? Why do we have pews, steeples, choirs, and seminaries? This volume reveals the startling truth: most of what Christians do in present-day churches is not rooted in the New Testament, but in pagan culture and rituals developed long after the death of the apostles. Coauthors Frank Viola and George Barna support their thesis with compelling historical evidence in the first-ever book to document the full story of modern Christian church practices.

The book has gotten me intrigued, and I fully intend to read it as soon as I get a chance (probably late November, or December of this year).

Then I picked up a book from the local library that I originally had no intention of reading: “The Year of Living Biblically” by A. J. Jacobs. An online friend reviewed it, and that review prompted me to give the book a try, and see what I thought. Well, I thought it was a fantastic book, and it got me thinking even more! What really got me, though, was the revelation I took away from that: Nowhere in the Bible does it say we have to attend church (in a building) every week!

People have always loved to quote me Hebrews 10:25, saying this was the mandate that we are to never stop going to church. Well, guess what? This verse does NOT say you have to “go to church”… it just says you aren’t to neglect meeting with other believers…

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” ~ Hebrews 10:25, NIV

“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” ~ Hebrews 10:25, KJV

“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” ~ Hebrews 10:25, NLT

See? Even in the King James Version (which is thought to be one of the most reliable — closest to what was originally written), it says not to neglect meeting together with other believers. But it does NOT say you have to meet in a church building.

Then, while online the other day, I came across yet another book: “So You Don’t Want to Go To Church Any More?” by Wayne Jacobsen. And, by Googling the author, I came across his website, LifeStream.org, where you can read a multitude of articles on why he no longer is a fan of “organized religion”, and about how he believes “church” means something different than what we have always believed it to be…

Mr. Jacobsen says “Church is not somewhere you go; it’s something that you are“. We, the followers of Christ, are His ‘church’, His bride. Wherever we are to be found, that’s where “church” exists.

And I really like this concept!

I’ve been reading some of the articles on this LifeStream website, and apparently this is a growing trend… people are leaving the church building — the Sunday morning gatherings — and they are seeking out other believers that they can learn from and grow with, believers who share their same belief that you can’t limit God to man-made traditions.

Personally, when I realized that the Bible doesn’t even say you have to “go to church”, but only that you have to continue meeting with other believers, I was so relieved! No longer do I have to give in to the guilt that’s heaped upon me when people ask me if I’m going to church regularly, and I have to say ‘no’. No longer do I have to accept the shame they try to instill in me for not going. Instead, I can relax, knowing that I make my weekly Bible study meetings a priority, and am thereby obeying the Biblical command to continue meeting together with other believers.

I’ve purchased a copy of “So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Any More?“, so stay tuned, as I’ll be posting my thoughts on what the book has to say!