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This is a sincere area of concern for me. I am deeply drawn to the life and teachings and beauty of Jesus. I am just as deeply offended by most Christian churches and Christian religion. I just can't join a church that preaches so much judgement and fear and hatred, when the essence of Jesus' teaching is love and acceptance and peace, that we are all one.
So it appears to me that the teachings of Jesus and the relationship with Jesus is available to anyone anywhere regardless of church membership or whether they call themselves a Christian. I have an ongoing, personal, deeply nurturing relationship with the Christ, but I do not call myself a Christian. How do Christians see people like me who say yes to Jesus, but no to the Christian religion?
This is a sincere desire to understand, not trying to attack or fight, just make sense of this topic. Thank you and blessings to all.
This is a sincere area of concern for me. I am deeply drawn to the life and teachings and beauty of Jesus. I am just as deeply offended by most Christian churches and Christian religion. I just can't join a church that preaches so much judgement and fear and hatred, when the essence of Jesus' teaching is love and acceptance and peace, that we are all one.
So it appears to me that the teachings of Jesus and the relationship with Jesus is available to anyone anywhere regardless of church membership or whether they call themselves a Christian. I have an ongoing, personal, deeply nurturing relationship with the Christ, but I do not call myself a Christian. How do Christians see people like me who say yes to Jesus, but no to the Christian religion?
This is a sincere desire to understand, not trying to attack or fight, just make sense of this topic. Thank you and blessings to all.
I believe what you are saying is that you believe in Christ but you are not into organized religion, and you are uncomfortable w/ some of the tenets and dogma of various denominations.
Many people are finding themselves in your same position . . . and have turned to mega churches, wh/ are non-denominational. Joel Osteen's church, Lakewood, I believe is the largest of these non-denominational churches in America.
If you should feel you would like to join in w/ a group of believers and worship in a service and be part of a fellowship of believers, then you may find that a mega-church is a good church home for you.
Osteen makes it clear that he is preaching the Gospel, or "Good News" and his messages inspire many people as he addresses issues that everyone can relate to . . . and encourages people to walk in Jesus' path.
So in my opinion, you just have not found a Christian denomination that fits you . . .
You are right . . . God loves us all. For many, spirituality is not dependent on church attedance: conversely, for many, the path to spiritual enlightenment is found through being part of a church family.
Location: Comunistafornia, and working to get out ASAP!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DiamondD
This is a sincere area of concern for me. I am deeply drawn to the life and teachings and beauty of Jesus. I am just as deeply offended by most Christian churches and Christian religion.
Offended by most churches I can see, but the Christian faith? It is imposable to have Jesus and not be apart of the Christian Faith--He is the essence of the Faith.
Quote:
I just can't join a church that preaches so much judgement and fear and hatred, when the essence of Jesus' teaching is love and acceptance and peace, that we are all one.
The fear of God is not a bad thing neither is hatred of sin. "the essence of Jesus' teaching is love and acceptance and peace, that we are all one." Hum? We are one if we are in the body of Christ, or we are one as far as the human race is concerned.
Quote:
So it appears to me that the teachings of Jesus and the relationship with Jesus is available to anyone anywhere regardless of church membership or whether they call themselves a Christian. I have an ongoing, personal, deeply nurturing relationship with the Christ, but I do not call myself a Christian. How do Christians see people like me who say yes to Jesus, but no to the Christian religion?
You can't really. If you are truly born again and have the Spirit of God then you are rightly related to God, but you can not divorce yourself from the faith. Be careful here.
This is a sincere area of concern for me. I am deeply drawn to the life and teachings and beauty of Jesus. I am just as deeply offended by most Christian churches and Christian religion. I just can't join a church that preaches so much judgement and fear and hatred, when the essence of Jesus' teaching is love and acceptance and peace, that we are all one.
Hi, the Christian scriptures teach that Jesus is our Savior. Do you believe Him to be your Savior and do you submit to Him as Lord and Savior? Jesus did preach love, acceptance, and peace but He also preached about sin, the consequences of sin, and the fact that His people are to be separate from the world (not meaning that we go out of the world ) He accepts people but He does not accept sin because He died to set us free from sin. Do you believe this? Like Marks shared, we are one in the body of Christ. All are not followers of Christ so how can they be one with Him? Jesus did teach about judgment and the consequences of sin so we can't divorce these teachings from Him. I may not agree with how some Christians present the judgments of God, but maybe you might want to study this out in the scriptures and pray for guidance. I don't see where hatred for people is supported in the Christian scriptures and although some may teach this, many in organized Christianity do not. I don't believe that all in organized Christianity are wrong about everything. That's why we must listen, study, and pray for guidance.
Quote:
So it appears to me that the teachings of Jesus and the relationship with Jesus is available to anyone anywhere regardless of church membership or whether they call themselves a Christian. I have an ongoing, personal, deeply nurturing relationship with the Christ, but I do not call myself a Christian. How do Christians see people like me who say yes to Jesus, but no to the Christian religion?
Well, I agree with Marks, that the Christian faith is based on Jesus. I don't agree with many of the things that organized or orthodox Christianity teaches and I know that many don't accept me because of my beliefs but it doesn't matter to me. What matters is what God sees and knows and my goal is to be a follower of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, with the help of God. So if your goal is to be a follower of Christ in all things, I would surrender this to God and trust Him to lead and guide you in your walk with Jesus - Lord, what would you have me to be and what would you have me to do? I wouldn't worry about how others see you. God bless you.
Last edited by ShanaBrown; 12-31-2007 at 07:33 PM..
Reason: additions
This is a sincere area of concern for me. I am deeply drawn to the life and teachings and beauty of Jesus. I am just as deeply offended by most Christian churches and Christian religion. I just can't join a church that preaches so much judgement and fear and hatred, when the essence of Jesus' teaching is love and acceptance and peace, that we are all one.
So it appears to me that the teachings of Jesus and the relationship with Jesus is available to anyone anywhere regardless of church membership or whether they call themselves a Christian. I have an ongoing, personal, deeply nurturing relationship with the Christ, but I do not call myself a Christian. How do Christians see people like me who say yes to Jesus, but no to the Christian religion?
This is a sincere desire to understand, not trying to attack or fight, just make sense of this topic. Thank you and blessings to all.
You say that you believe in Christ. Do you believe that he was the only Son of God? Do you believe that salvation is a gift, paid for by the death of Christ, and by accepting this gift you are saved? Do you follow his words? Do you show love for your fellow man? Do you follow the golden rule "do unto others as you want them to do unto you"? If you answered yes to these questions you are of the Christian faith, and are one in the body, or Church in the original text,...God Bless!
I understand your stance on religion and faith. Faith is what I tell you I believe in, religion is what I tell you to believe in!
This is a sincere area of concern for me. I am deeply drawn to the life and teachings and beauty of Jesus. I am just as deeply offended by most Christian churches and Christian religion. I just can't join a church that preaches so much judgement and fear and hatred, when the essence of Jesus' teaching is love and acceptance and peace, that we are all one.
So it appears to me that the teachings of Jesus and the relationship with Jesus is available to anyone anywhere regardless of church membership or whether they call themselves a Christian. I have an ongoing, personal, deeply nurturing relationship with the Christ, but I do not call myself a Christian. How do Christians see people like me who say yes to Jesus, but no to the Christian religion?
This is a sincere desire to understand, not trying to attack or fight, just make sense of this topic. Thank you and blessings to all.
What first question would be what have done about Jesus? Have you asked Him to be your Savior and forgive you of your sins?
"He accepts people but He does not accept sin because He died to set us free from sin. Do you believe this? Like Marks shared, we are one in the body of Christ. All are not followers of Christ so how can they be one with Him? Jesus did teach about judgment and the consequences of sin so we can't divorce these teachings from Him."
Jesus came for sinners and the sick.. that's all us.
Many people I know in my life are more a reflection of Jesus than my "Christian" friends so....
when you talk about judgement two things:
....Jesus ALWAYS looks upon the heart first and foremost; outward appearances and "proclamations" are deceiving.
... Jesus is given the keys (by the Father) to final judgement... not me! not you!... when I do judge in areas of the heart and soul I always.. ALWAYS! ... find myself on a path that leads away from Christ. Discernment is one thing... Judgement is a whole other ball of wax.
Why do I say this: simple...... as a Roman Catholic disciple of Christ I am unendingly judged by born-again, fundamentalist "Christians"... where is the love and mercy of Jesus in that?? lol
This is a sincere area of concern for me. I am deeply drawn to the life and teachings and beauty of Jesus. I am just as deeply offended by most Christian churches and Christian religion. I just can't join a church that preaches so much judgement and fear and hatred, when the essence of Jesus' teaching is love and acceptance and peace, that we are all one.
So it appears to me that the teachings of Jesus and the relationship with Jesus is available to anyone anywhere regardless of church membership or whether they call themselves a Christian. I have an ongoing, personal, deeply nurturing relationship with the Christ, but I do not call myself a Christian. How do Christians see people like me who say yes to Jesus, but no to the Christian religion?
This is a sincere desire to understand, not trying to attack or fight, just make sense of this topic. Thank you and blessings to all.
This isn't strange at all. I'm not a Buddhist, but I find beauty, understanding, and logic in many things that Buddha taught.
"He accepts people but He does not accept sin because He died to set us free from sin. Do you believe this? Like Marks shared, we are one in the body of Christ. All are not followers of Christ so how can they be one with Him? Jesus did teach about judgment and the consequences of sin so we can't divorce these teachings from Him."
Jesus came for sinners and the sick.. that's all us.
when you talk about judgement two things:
....Jesus ALWAYS looks upon the heart first and foremost; outward appearances and "proclamations" are deceiving.
... Jesus is given the keys (by the Father) to final judgement... not me! not you!... when I do judge in areas of the heart and soul I always.. ALWAYS! ... find myself on a path that leads away from Christ. Discernment is one thing... Judgement is a whole other ball of wax.
Why do I say this: simple...... as a Roman Catholic disciple of Christ I am unendingly judged by born-again, fundamentalist "Christians"... where is the love and mercy of Jesus in that?? lol
Hi, yes Jesus did come for sinners and the sick but all sinners and sick are not following Him, so how can all be one with Him? Maybe I should have asked Diamond was meant in saying we are one. When I said that Jesus spoke about judgment and the consequences of sin I am not judging anyone but sharing that judgment is a part of the teachings of Jesus. God bless.
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