chibwike:
MizMyColi hw was church service today

See Setup

Lolest Dear.
Church was fine

MizMyColi:



See Setup

Lolest Dear.
Church was fine

That's not what this thread is about

chibwike:
wat and wat did you learn from todays preachings...even if its just one thing

MizMyColi:
That's not what this thread is about

Elantracey:
Feeling condemned and guilty is certainly not of God , its the devil that constantly condemns us and we often times mistake it for God .

sonOfLucifer:
Op, I really really like you.

Waow! I'm thrilled.
Thanks

ihedinobi2:
I quit church for a while. Got away from the God talk too. Hung out with the not-crazy-about-God crowd too. It wasn't guilt that took me back from all that, it was a sense of emptiness like I was missing something. It was a sense nobody else in that crowd shared. But why would they? They had to have seen what I had seen to miss it too.

If the bible is true, those who get away from Christianity and find a fit with the outsiders never belonged in the first place. I can attest that there is something intangible that comes with becoming a Christian that makes it impossible to rest easy away from other believers and the "God talk".

Xcapist:


Hi bro. Just wondering... What took you out of the church in the first place?

MizMyColi:

I first shared with my buddies on here, few days ago.
I thought to share here, hoping that it might resonate with a few (at least) and help them know that they're never really alone.


As people shed religion and walk in freedom, they can
feel guilt about the changes they are going through.
Thinking about this I identified 5 things not to feel
guilty about on your spiritual journey.


1. You may discontinue your active involvement in a
church or religious organization. This doesn’t
necessarily have to be some sort of judgment
or condemnation against the church or organization
you were part of, but a choice you make because your
involvement no longer relates to or supports where
you are on the journey, or may be an obstacle and
hindrance to it.


2. You may grow weary of incessant God talk. It’s
possible there will be times when you grow sick of the
constant theological discussion and debate, and the
never-ending wheel of new and improved concepts,
beliefs, understandings, teachings, etc. At some point
it all might sound like, “Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah…”

You might fall dead to the need to be constantly
figuring out things with your mind or in your head.
One day you might wake up and say, “Okay, I’m done!”
Don’t feel bad about this. It actually may be a very
important milestone in your spiritual journey. In my
view, theology is not even the best way by which God
and spiritual truth is known. It may be that subject of
“God” as a whole feels a bit overdone and boring, but
this is only because you were taught to equate God
with all that blah blah blah stuff.


3. You may find that the very people your religion
judged and condemned are the people you find the
most interesting and enjoyable.
[Ditto: Apatheist, Xcapist, Goofyone Phillip ]

Once you come out
from under the judgmental labels, views and
stereotypes you learned through religion, you start
realizing how much you truly like and enjoy the
people you were taught to hate. This is a good and
liberating aspect of shedding religion. For too long
you were shut yourself off from a lot of beautiful and
extraordinary people in this world to enjoy and learn
from.


4. You may find and express a rebellious or defiant
part of you that has been dormant. Don’t feel bad
about this. Too often religion turns people into nice,
compliant, repressed, timid, inhibited, mannerly,
obedient, fearful, amiable, submissive people. By the
way, I would not use any of these words to describe
Jesus. Here’s the deal, you can be a loving,
compassionate, respectful and kind person AND be a
rebellious, defiant, passionate, disobedient,
subversive, nonconformist, mischievous, self-willed,
fully expressed, freethinker, heretic, and free spirit
human being.


5. You may find less fulfillment in religious things, and
more satisfaction in human things. It’s okay and good
to be human, and to enjoy each moment of your
human journey. Religion caused many people to
create a false division between “sacred” things and
“secular” things. There is no such line. All of life is
sacred, spiritual, and divine. There’s no need to
defend, theologize, or spiritualize your human
experience. Just live it! That is enough. Life is made
complete by you living each moment. There’s no need
to maintain a running commentary about how God is
part of it. God IS part of it. Life and God are
inseparable. End of story. It’s okay to enjoy life,
experience delight and pleasure, do the things you
enjoy doing, and that breathe life into you, whatever
those things may be.

Have Fun.

Jim's blog

ihedinobi2:


I felt stifled.

Elantracey:
Feeling condemned and guilty is certainly not of God , its the devil that constantly condemns us and we often times mistake it for God .


Ma'am am so glad you used religion because religion bring people away from God these days instead of closer , religion makes you always see your faults .



drops pen , I think am beginning to get confusing

Xcapist:


Then you came back because you felt empty, is that right?

ihedinobi2:

Yup.

Xcapist:


My brother. Fellowship with the brethren is an awesome thing. I remember when I was still there, back in school, they were more than a family to me...talk about love and support. The fellowship was my identity, and really one of the best thing that has happened to me. And Yes, they also tried to control me like a family would...things I'm allowed to wear or not to wear, places I shouldn't be seen hanging around, activities I shouldn't partake in. These things weren't necessarily sinful but they still placed a kind of restriction, not always clearly stated but in a kind of unspoken condemning way. I think that's the stifling part of it that you were talking about, am I right?

A series of events led to my leaving, and I missed the church. I didn't miss the sermons, or the bible study, I missed the people, the love, the sense of community, belonging and identity. That common bond, that admiration by the sisters and respect by the 'younger' brothers. You see its very normal for any person to miss a close knit community that he was once an active part of, which provided him with a sense of community, belonging and identity. The said community could be a team, a clique, a band, a club, with that defining attributes, it doesn't have to be a church. And the emptiness may be a result of this feeling of lost. Lost of friendship, community and identity. So in my experience I found the religiosity sickening but the I still loved and missed the people. What is your own experience?

Xcapist:


My brother. Fellowship with the brethren is an awesome thing. I remember when I was still there, back in school, they were more than a family to me...talk about love and support. The fellowship was my identity, and really one of the best thing that has happened to me. And Yes, they also tried to control me like a family would...things I'm allowed to wear or not to wear, places I shouldn't be seen hanging around, activities I shouldn't partake in. These things weren't necessarily sinful but they still placed a kind of restriction, not always clearly stated but in a kind of unspoken condemning way. I think that's the stifling part of it that you were talking about, am I right?

A series of events led to my leaving, and I missed the church. I didn't miss the sermons, or the bible study, I missed the people, the love, the sense of community, belonging and identity. That common bond, that admiration by the sisters and respect by the 'younger' brothers. You see its very normal for any person to miss a close knit community that he was once an active part of, which provided him with a sense of community, belonging and identity. The said community could be a team, a clique, a band, a club, with that defining attributes, it doesn't have to be a church. And the emptiness may be a result of this feeling of loss. Lost of friendship, community and identity. So in my experience I found the religiosity sickening but then I still loved and missed the people. What is your own experience?

ihedinobi2:



No, you're not.

I've been a loner all my life. In my family, I've always been a bit apart. To become part of a community took deliberate effort from me. Loneness is normal to me.

In fellowship I tended to be a thorn in other believers' sides. I was too tasking, too demanding. I did not cut corners in following Christ. I took the Christian Walk very seriously and hated seeing the Bible and the Faith handled frivolously.

I felt held back generally by the Christianese, so to speak, and the posturing that didn't appear to have much reality in it. So I struck out. To learn to walk closely with God, to learn Who He was for myself and be true to my conscience.

During that time, I did my best, if you like, to reinvestigate everything that was taught in Church. I made friends outside the Church and played like the "liberated".

I grew very strong. Learned a great deal and figured out that I couldn't take it all alone. So I started to learn to accept Christians with their flaws and everything and to appreciate my own weakness and need for them to cover me too.

That was never me before.

I should tell you that I'm still very much a loner. I'm still learning to let other people help me. And to accept that it's ok to want other people to like me, to want me around them, to miss me. It's still quite alien to me, I assure you.

Xcapist:


Ok. Good for you then.

ihedinobi2:
I quit church for a while. Got away from the God talk too. Hung out with the not-crazy-about-God crowd too. It wasn't guilt that took me back from all that, it was a sense of emptiness like I was missing something. It was a sense nobody else in that crowd shared. But why would they? They had to have seen what I had seen to miss it too.
If the bible is true, those who get away from Christianity and find a fit with the outsiders never belonged in the first place. I can attest that there is something intangible that comes with becoming a Christian that makes it impossible to rest easy away from other believers and the "God talk".