Why I Quit Going to Church

More of the truth…enjoy

Intermission

During the past few years, Sharon and I have visited numerous churches. We were counting just the other day and realized we have been to at least two each of Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, Assembly of God, Catholic, and non-denominational, in addition to countless Baptist churches. However, for the last two years, more often than not, most weeks find us not attending any church.

It is correct to say that we have quit going to church.

To be honest, I never thought I would make such a statement. I have been in church from the beginning. Somewhere in the Bible, it says, “In the beginning God created church and Terry was there.”

My father was a pastor, so our family life was centered on church. As I grew up, unlike many “preacher’s kids,” I never rebelled and left the church. I stayed with it—through high school, college, and my earliest working…

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Verseless New Testament: 1 Corinthians (Part 2)

Also, brothers, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual men, but as fleshy, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not food, for you were not able to eat it. But now you are still not able to eat, for you are still fleshy. For whereas among you there is jealousy and strife, are you not fleshy and walk according to man? For whenever anyone says “I am of Paul,” or another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not men? Who (or what) therefore is Apollos? Who (or what) is Paul? Ministers through whom you believed even as to each one the Lord gave. I planted, Apollos watered, but God made the growth, so that neither the one planting is anything, nor the one watering, but the one making you grow is God. So the one planting and the one watering are one and each one has his own reward he will receive according to his own labor.

For we are fellow workers of God; among a tillage of God; (and) you are (also) a building of God. According to the grace of God given to me  as a wise master builder, I laid on a foundation, but another builds on it. But let each one look how he builds on it. For no foundation besides the one being built on is able to be built on, that is, on Jesus Christ,. Now if anyone builds on a foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or stubble, each one will become manifest, for the day will declare it because by fire it is revealed…and the work of each one, it is the fire that will prove it. If of anyone the work remains which he builds on, he will receive a reward. If the work of anyone will be consumed, he will suffer loss, but he will be saved, yet so as through the fire. Know you not that you are a temple (shrine) of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple (shrine) of God, God will defile this man, for the temple of God is holy, which you are.

Let no one deceive himself; if anyone thinks he is wise among you in this age, let him become foolish, in order that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it has been written: The wise are caught in their craftiness…and again…the Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are in vain.

So let no one boast in man, for all things are yours, whether Paul, Apollos, or Peter, or the world, life, or death, or the word or things present, or things coming, all things are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ of God.

So let a man reckon us as attendants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. And among stewards it is sought that they be found faithful. To me it is a very little thing that I be judged by you or by the day of human judgement. But I do not judge myself, for against myself I know nothing- but not by this have I been justified, for the one judging me is The Lord. So, you, do not judge anything before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both shed light on the hidden things of darkness and will manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then the praise will be given to each one from God.

Now these things, brothers, I adapted to myself and Apollos because of you, in order that among us, you may learn not to (go/think) above what things have been written, lest you are puffed up against one another on behalf of one. For who distinguishes you? And what have you that you did not receive? And if you did receive, why do you boast as if not receiving? Now you are full (glutted); now you have become rich. You reigned without us. And it is an advantage that you reigned, in order that we might reign with you.

For God showed forth the last apostles as doomed to death, for we became a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools because of Christ, but you are prudent in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we are not honored. Until the present hour, we hunger, thirst, are naked, are attacked, and unsettled, working labor with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless. Being persecuted, we endure. Being defamed, we beseech. We have become as refuse of the world, the scum of all things, until now.

I write these things not to shame you, but as admonishing my beloved children. For if you have ten thousand trainers in Christ, yet not many are fathers, for in Christ Jesus through the gospel I begat (gave birth to) you. I urge you, therefore, become imitators of me. Because of this very thing I sent to you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who will remind you of my way in Christ Jesus, as I teach in every gathering (or assembly/church).

Now when I did not come to you, some were puffed up. But I will come shortly to you, if the Lord wills, and I will not know the speech of the ones having been puffed up, but the power. For the Kingdom of God is not in speech but in power.

 

 

Verseless New Testament: 1 Corinthians (Part 1)

This is a translation from the Greek. It is not meant to be a “new translation,” but to encourage those who have chosen to live as disciples of Jesus Christ, that they will also study the text, and do their own “translations” from studying the text in the Koine Greek. I can testify that reading and studying the New Testament in the “original language” can make a huge difference in understanding how to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

To the church (the gathered, assembled) of God existing in Corinth, having been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, with the ones calling on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, from them, and from us: Grace to you and peace from God our father and Lord Jesus Christ.

I have given thanks to God for the grace God gives to you in Christ Jesus, because you were enriched in Him in everything, in all speech and all knowledge, as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so you were not wanting in any gift, awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who also will confirm you blameless till the end in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom you were called to the fellowship of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now I beseech you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, in order that you all say the same thing and do not have divisions among you, that you having been joined together in the same mind and same opinion. For it was shown to me concerning you, my brothers, by the ones of Chloe, that there are strifes among you. I say this to you because each one of you says: Indeed, I am of Paul, but I am of Apollos, but I am of Cephas, but I am of Christ. Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified on your behalf, or in the name of Paul were you baptized? I, Paul, give thanks that not one of you did I baptize except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that in my name you were baptized. But I also baptized the Stephanus household- for the rest I do not know if I baptized any other. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to evangelize, not in wisdom of speech, lest the cross of Christ be made vain.

For the word of the cross- on the one hand- is foolish to the ones dying- one the other hand- to the ones being saved it is the power of God. For it has been written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise ones, and I will set aside the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise man? Where is the writer? Where is the one debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since the world, through its wisdom, did not know God, God thought well through the folly of the proclamation (of the gospel) to save the ones believing. Seeing that Jews ask for signs, and Greeks seek wisdom, yet we proclaim Christ, having been crucified- to the Jews on the one hand an offense, and to the nations on the other, a folly- but to the called ones (Jews and Greeks), Christ, the power and wisdom of God. Because the foolish thing of God is wiser than men, and the weak thing of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brothers- that not many of you were wise men according to the flesh, not many powerful, not many well born- but God chose the foolish things of the world in order that He might shame the strong things, and God chose the base things of the world, and the things being despised, the things not being in order that the things being he might abolish, so all flesh will not boast before God. And of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God, both righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, in order that, as it has been written- The one boasting, let him boast in The Lord.

Coming to you, brothers, I did not come to you according to excellence of speech, or of wisdom, announcing to you the testimony of God. For I decided to not know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and Him being crucified. In weakness, fear, and much trembling I was with you, and my speech and proclamation was not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of spirit and power, in order that your faith not be in the wisdom of me, but in the power of God.

But we speak wisdom among the perfect ones (the righteous), but not the wisdom of this age, nor of the leaders of this age who are being brought to nothing. But we speak of a wisdom of God in a mystery, having been hidden, which God foreordained before the ages for our glory, which not one of  the leaders of this age has known. For if they knew, the Lord of Glory would not have been crucified. But as it is written: Things which the eye saw not, and the ear heard not, and the heart of man did not come up with…how many God prepared for the ones loving Him. For God revealed to us through the spirit, for the spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows the things of a man, except for the spirit of a man in him?  So also the things of God no one has known  except the Spirit of God.

And we received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit from God, in  order that we may know the things given to us freely by God; which things we also do not speak in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught of the spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. But a “natural” man does not receive the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolish to him, he cannot be in a state of knowing because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man- on the one hand- discerns all things- on the other hand- is discerned by no man. For who knew the mind of  the Lord, who will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.

making man in God’s image

There are people out there who believe that they are not made up of spirit, soul, and body, even if they say they know they are. I know that sounds contradictory, but many in the so called “Apostlic faith” actually believe that they are different in nature from God. How can that be when God said “let us make man in our own image” in Genesis? If God made man in His own image, then the substance of life within a man (or woman) must match the characteristics of the make-up of God.

A man or woman claims to die and go beyond this life into another dimension, another place. They state that it seems more lifelike than here. They say that they are aware of their being, whether in the body or not, being a soul and spirit, regardless of the physical body back on Earth.

In other words, we are a trinity- composed of three- spirit, soul, body. Some call the soul “the mind.” On this side, we cannot be 100% sure of that designation, but we can be sure that we are made in God’s image. For God himself is a trinity. In Jesus, He left Heaven and acted on Earth. In doing so, He was not subject to time, nor ever can be, since time is an earthly construct, or one of this side. Once on the other side, it would appear that we too are free from the constraints of time.

The fact remains that we are a trinity as God is a trinity, but we are one, as God is one. I encourage you to ask the Lord of All, God, to help you understand, so that you will not be in error, thinking with earthly thoughts about heavenly things.

Excuse me, pastor, but I AM a temple….

When the Roman Catholic church became established throughout the Roman Empire under Constantine, the conversion of “temples” began, accelerating to the point that the “established church” continued in the same pattern, creating temples to the New God. And so, the blueprint for the church, established by Christ and the apostles, was changed to mirror the rest of the Pagan world. And, it continues today.

Just like the religious leaders in the time of the earthly ministry, they …did not understand the concept of the temple. Jesus spoke of the temple being torn down and built back in three days. He was speaking of His temple, but they were clueless. And so are so many so-called Christians wed to the building program of their temple.

The Bible states: “Do you not know that you body is a temple of the Holy Spirit?”

Where is the temple?

Your body, when you have died to Christ and been raised with Him.

Now, the following verses make more sense.

“Wherever two or three are gathered in My name, there I am also. Do not forsake assembling yourselves together…”

We are to gather together as temples of the Holy Spirit. Together, we are the church. The temple is not the building. In fact, the building programs of the Temple of the Methodists, the Temple of The Church of God, etc. are pagan ideas, not Biblical.

So now, what are you going to do about this? Are you going to start operating in a biblical manner, meeting as temples together as the church?

Temple bulding

The Bible says that when we are born again, born of water and The Spirit, that we are temples of the Holy Spirit. When we meet together anywhere, we are temples meeting together. We do not need to meet in a temple. The temple in Jerusalem was part of the Old Covenant. Under the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit has come to live within us.

Anyone who preaches that God is contained within a building either has no sense, or is lacking in understanding. Yes, religions teach such things, but then religions are not reality. Only God is the author of reality.

A peaceful sleep

Do you know the power of prayer spoken in the most powerful name on Earth? Notice, I did not ask if you “believe” in the power of prayer. Praying is like eating, just because you do it does not make it good. You can pray to a golden covered Buddha and it will accomplish nothing…just as you do nothing good for your body when you eat chicken nuggets or eat processed food, it goes into your body, but does not provide the right nourishment for your body.

The Bible states that …we are to renew our minds daily. If we renew our minds daily with the Word of God, with the thoughts, the passages, that the Holy Spirit gave to be put into book form, instructions and information, and put into what we have as The Bible.. then we will have more of the thoughts of God within us. With more of the thoughts of God within us, we will be more like the way we should be, instead of the way we may see ourselves now…as less than valuable to be used as disciples for the Kingdom.

Do not allow the thinking of this age to replace God’s view of you. If you have repented, been baptized, and reborn in Christ, you are a new creature. The old has passed away…why bring it up again? The past is no longer powerful against a child of the Living God. Read and contemplate- think deeply- on what is written for you in the Bible, particularly the New Testament. Let it settle within you. Then, your sleep will be peaceful, and you rise again in the morning as a disciple of Christ, not a shadow of your past.

Reformation

When a reformation begins, there is always a reforming of something. If this is the day of the last reformation of the church, then it is the church that is being reformed. If you are participating in “signs and wonders” with a building-oriented congregation, with a pastor and subordinates, but you do not see a reforming of the church system toward the example left for us in the Bible, then what is actually happening? Is there any true repentance, any true devotion to God to be part of the Bride of Christ?
As the Last Reformation of the Church spreads, watch to see where there is a change in the church structure, the church purpose, and in the daily lives of the people of the church…including a repentance that leads to a more biblical life. Where there is no change in these things, there are lies and deception.

Citizens of Another Kingdom

In some western countries, there are citizens who actually believe that the government is their savior. The government will save them from financial trouble, the government will save them from criminals, and the government wants what is best for them.

Throughout history, many lives have been sacrificed on an altar to a god that does not exist, the god of the government. These individuals pledged their allegiance to die for a cause, not understanding that that cause is not th…e one that ultimately matters. Senseless losses of life, senseless wastes of time, and senseless sufferings have come as a result of the worship of men, women, and governments.

But The Kingdom of Heaven is above those governments, for the government of God has jurisdiction far above all who rule on Earth. And those who are citizens in the Kingdom of God owe allegiance to God, not to men, for our citizenship is not of this world. All governments are corrupted by sin, none are immune from sin, for they are by nature that which passes away…while we are, by nature, eternal.

If then, we are eternal, and we have a Heavenly Kingdom, if we have been translated from sin into the Kingdom of Light, then we should live as citizens of Heaven, being about the business of being an ambassador for that Kingdom. And this we do, as disciples of Jesus, who sent His first disciples out into the fallen world, just as He is now sending us.

Living Wisely

The early church did not live in a commune in some socialist community. But anyone who reads and studies the scriptures I am referring to, only in English, or only in the NIV or like, and not the earlier Greek texts, might assume as much. In Acts, following the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the scriptures tell us that the believers had certain characteristics that separated them in character from the world. But those characteristics have been misunderstood for lack of study,… and understanding.

If one is to dig deeply into what the New Testament is saying, he or she must adopt a desire to study the most accurate, reliable texts available in the original language, Greek. It is there that we find more clearly what the Word actually says, instead of what English often words poorly and waters down. The King James Version is notoriously off, primarily because word meanings and usage have changed drastically in 400 years, and because it was one of the most politically orchestrated text in the history of Christianity.

So, it is instructive that the pasage that describes the early disciples states that the disciples “met from house to house,” which most modern English texts omit, and that they “traversed their estates and acquisitions” so that all had what they needed within the church. And that need did not include a social welfare, other than that required for the widows and orphans who qualified under the specific conditions in the New Testament.

Another teaching that should not be followed without wisdom is to sell everything and give it to the poor. Why? Jesus told the rich young ruler to do it, so why shouldn’t I do it? And what will you live on? Oh, I see…you will sell everything and give it away but then when you have lost everything you will join a “Christian commune” and demand others fund you, even though you quit your job, blew your inheritance, and became a poster child for stretching the scripture. Jesus did not call you to leave everything, follow Him, and be stupid about it in the process, ending with nothing.

This passage is just one that demonstrates that there are so many with a lack of knowledge and understanding. We have so many zealous to do this and do that, preach this and preach that, yet they miss the depth, the height, and the breadth of the Word, thereby missing a good portion of the knowledge they need to live fully and wisely as a disciple in a restored church following the New Testament in the New Covenant.