I CORRECT MYSELF

My good Christian friend Russ Martin stopped by and left an important comment on one of my posts today. So important in fact, that I feel the need to clarify something I said as well as come into agreement with Russ.


My comment was that, "the church is a liar." And Russ reminded me different. The clarification I feel that is warranted is that, he is right. It's not the church that is the liar. It's that percentage of religious people that twist the scriptures into their own doctrine and drive people out of the church and away from the Kingdom. That's the lie. Russ also said that there's more good than bad to be found in the church. I agree with him. This is why I want to reiterate that I'm not telling people through this blog that they shouldn't go to church or trust in the Lord to bring them there and see to them while they attend.


What I should be sure to clarify is that there is great worth and value in attending a good church. One that allows the moving of the Holy Spirit and teaches good sound doctrine. If you attend a church and you feel cold and unmoved, then perhaps that is not such a good church. If the teaching is centered around tithes and much doing instead of trust in the Lord and loving of thy neighbor, then perhaps that is not a good church either.


In gist, I want to thank my brother in Christ, Russ, for holding me accountable for my words and bringing good truth to my blog and the world. He's a wise man and I appreciate him very much.

NOT BY WORKS LEST I SHOULD BOAST

My walk with Christ is such a beautiful and mysterious thing. I'm not feeling melancholy at the moment however, I'm feeling that sense of knowing. Just that the things I've done in this last year to improve my walk, are paying off.

When someone has spent years and years attending church faithfully, there's a fear there when you wake up on that first Sunday morning and say, "no more, I'm not going." You immediately have that fear that we are each admonished to work our own salvation out with. I worried that a bolt of lightening was going to descend from the sky and fry me. Now, where would I have gotten that from?

I'm utilizing the social aspect of computing and meeting new people daily. Although they aren't sitting next to me in a church pew, I'm reaching greater distances and achieving deeper levels of fulfillment in Christ in this way. The church successfully convinced me that I would have no ministry if I was not connected to the congregation and the building. Not true. I still speak His name to all who will listen. I still hear His voice commanding me. I still feel His presence and I'm still forming Christian bonds. I do not mean to insult anyone when I say this, but the church is a liar.

No wonder Jesus never said, "go to church, your faith has made you whole." No wonder so much of the scriptures (new Testament) are about Jesus fighting the Scribes and the Pharisees. If that's not enough to convince you that He warns against religion, then what more do you need? I'm not writing this to pull people out. I'm writing this to warn you while you're in there. Don't follow. Lead. Don't listen only, but comprehend. Know what Jesus says for yourself. Pay closer attention to His actions while on earth. He was a deity, sent by God the Father to perform the most significant act of sacrifice a man can perform. There is no way to emulate that. We cannot achieve such a high standard or place in this world. We shouldn't be working towards that.

I want everyone that reads this to know that a TRUE relationship with Christ is not about the works you do. You will gain no ground by going to church. You won't become more righteous through much attendance. All you are doing is having yourself a social gathering before the man speaks. 

 The Bible says, "how can anyone know the gospel accept they hear it." What if we remove all rules and belief started by someone long ago with big dreams of heading up their own church congregation, and we simply take that scripture for what it means. I read it, then share that with another. Now, if the Holy Spirit has come into my heart, then when I share it, it has power. Not to mention that the one I'm sharing it with has been drawn by the same Spirit that is working through me. 

I just want people to stop fearing the lack of church attendance. It's not helping so many. My own landlord never misses a service. She is so dishonest, so rude, so uncaring about her renters. Church does nothing for her. I've known her for 8 years now, and still cannot bond with her. Lack of the Holy Spirit. She lives by her own righteousness.

I've said it before in my posts and I'll repeat it here, "What shall we say then that Abraham our father has found as pertaining to the flesh? If Abraham were justified by works then he has something to feel glory for? BUT NOT BEFORE GOD. For, what does the scriptures say? Abraham believed God and therefore it was counted to him for righteousness....but to him that works not, but believes on Him that justifies the ungodly, this faith is counted for righteousness." Romans 4:1-5 (paraphrased.)

It's a faith thing, not a works thing.

guess title...MOTHER'S DAY, of course

Today is Mother's Day. How was yours? Mine was fantastic. I called my mother and we talked for 4 hours. No big deal to the daughter who has a close relationship and considers her mother to be her best friend. I am just bonding with mine, and that's been a long time coming.

We had fantastic conversation wherein I explained several things. For one, how I realize the bondage that religion had placed me in. Also, how free I feel now simply serving God just as His child, not His religious fem-bot. How I understand my relationship with Christ better than I ever did while attending church and going through the rituals.

"How do you know you understand your relationship with Christ better if you have no doctrine being taught to you to compare it to, Kelline?" the people ask. Why, I'll tell you dear friend. Because, I know peace now. Here's how we should know the difference between doing something out of our own will , and that of God's will for us. Do you experience peace? I did not, while attending church.

What I was supposed to experience was the pure joy of going to church to worship God and feeling the love and willingness to honor Him that way (yes she gets it). That's ideal when you're flowing in the Spirit. When you arrive, however, and the Spirit has to stay outside, it tends to quench the flame.

We are not perfect, and it's ridiculous to assume I quit going to church because of the people, per se. I quit going so I could receive the gift of freedom. If Jesus "came to set the captives free," then that means me. If "whom the Son has made free is free indeed" then that means me. If Jesus "came that they may have life and have it more abundantly" that applies to me. (Note: I realize "life" comes after death but there's no categorical statement as to that within this verse.)

How did I get started on that subject? Anyway, I had a great day. My youngest (the one struggling to put it all together), and not my oldest (the one who already has), popped in today unannounced and surprised me with a dinner invitation. I just wanted a good old greasy burger but he would have none of that. He INSISTED on taking me to a restaurant where we could go in somewhere...which I hate to do on the fly. Especially when it's Mother's Day and the crowds are high. But it made him happy to be with him and be thought of that highly, and I love him so.

My eyes are crossing. Must...get....sleep. I think I'll update this tomorrow. Goodnight earth.

LIGHT FROM WITHOUT

It's hard to know what to believe in with so many doctrines and so many scientific facts floating around these days. Science has atheists believing in evolution while the Bible is the basis for religion and faith. In fairness to all religions, not just the Bible for all, but each faith's own scriptures or ancient artifacts.

What it is that makes each of us lean in one direction or another we may never truly know. I can speak for myself in saying that I have felt a strong, loving, guiding, presence my entire life. I was a little girl of 8 in Florida when my mother took myself and my big brother to church. There I met Jesus. Only, I don't remember meeting Him. As I grew up, I knew there was a presence with me at all times. I didn't realize it in the early years as much as I realize it in retrospect.


Once I hit 16 years old, the wild in me took over and I lost my way. I stayed in this "wild" condition for about 22 years. I was everything a father wouldn't want his daughter to be. But, I managed to survive things that should have killed me. I somehow slid past obstacles that should have slowed my life to a snail's pace. As I regard my life, it's clear to me that coincidence and luck go only so far and then there's the unexplainable.


I remember being in a stupor once and the only thing I could think of or speak out of my mouth was a song I had never sung, nor would think of singing for any reason whatsoever (being a wild child subsisting on rock-n-roll) and that was the song, "Amazing Grace." 

As the darkness closed in around me that day, I clung to sanity. From somewhere beyond me came this light into my soul. A light that beckoned me to stay...here....in my life. The light wasn't audible nor was it anything I could see, touch, smell, or feel. It was a knowing. This light gave me this song to sing and gave me the voice to sing it with. It was as if I was made to sing and made to sing that song on that day, as if I had an audience of millions. It flowed from me. With every word I sang, the darkness crept back a little more, until suddenly the light of the true day broke through and I knew I was going to survive my own foolishness. Something changed in me that day. It was the beginning of a long and arduous journey back from the dark.

All I can say is that, I didn't make this journey alone. All obstacles seem to melt away before me and great blessings have been poured out on me. I have felt "someone" helping me, guiding me, speaking truth and wisdom into me in the most amazing of ways. 

In closing I'll say this, I didn't want to return from that place of darkness but was hoping to keep going into the abyss, and so no one can tell me that all the good things that happened were just by-products of my deep-seeded desire to get clean and recuperate. It's not my plan that's being played out in my life.

ONE PAGE BIBLE

Ok, here's how I interpret the old testament and into the new:

God created man. For awhile we were bearable to Him. But then it got ugly. People acted like heathens and God knew He needed to do something or mankind would destroy each other as well as the planet.

So, He flooded the earth and saved alive the Noah family because they had their crap together. Noah was a good man and the Lord God loved him. He gave Noah instructions to save himself and his family from the impending doom. At the same time, the Lord instructed Noah to take 2 of each critter on board so as to procreate each species and repopulate the planet.

The flood came and all evil was wiped away. The Lord began with a clean slate and mankind was off and running again.

As time grew and mankind began to repopulate the planet, God saw that there was CLEARLY going to be a need for some kind of accountability factor implemented in order to keep His creation on a relatively straight and narrow path. So began the book of Deuteronomy. In this book is found all of the things God felt would help mankind to understand the best way to live with one another and be at peace as well as respecting boundaries and showing love.

As more and more time passed, God saw that the things He told His people to do didn't seem to be too clear. They still had a problem with a thing called "sin." So, He decided that in order to call attention to their sins and hold them accountable for their actions, He would need to implement some form of payment for each person to pay in order to absolve themselves of the wrongdoings they were committing throughout the year.

For an example, a man might steal something. For that theft, the man may be required to bring something to the designated location for "somethings" to be brought to in order to pay one's "sin debt." God felt that if each man had to atone for his own sins, he could have a form of forgiveness and mercy.

As time grew and grew, however, God began to see that the many rules and debts He had implemented became difficult for each man to follow. It became almost impossible for a man to follow each rule to the letter as well as bring the perfect sacrificial debt payment (goat, dove, oxen, etc.) to the right place at the right time. Mankind began to slip in their obligations to pay their sin debts. God, being a loving creator knew He would have to fix this as well. He would have to implement something new that would fix our weakness, once and for all, and give us the mercy we so obviously needed every minute of our lives.

What could God do to relieve mankind of all of the rules, rituals, ceremonies and sacrificial animals? First, one must understand that He is a God of details and therefore the rituals and ceremony. Second, one must understand that the animals were to represent a sinless being. Animals don't sin and so their blood would be used to atone for the sins of the man. But, man's sins were many and frequent and animals would undoubtedly become scarce. God could provide Himself a sacrifice (as He had before) but this would get extreme. There has to be a better way.

God, in His infinite love and wisdom, chose to send a sacrifice that would be one time for all, sinless and perfect. The real kicker however,...the sacrifice would choose to be sacrificed.

This would be a "lamb" who instead of being led to the slaughter, would go willingly just like in old times. This would be a perfect sacrifice, one without blemish, no blind eye, nor anything that would make this an unworthy sacrifice to present before God. This would be one who's blood would be spilled upon the ground only once. This sacrifice will go willingly and without hesitation.

God sent Jesus. A deity..a man...a sacrifice for the sins of all mankind for all times. He would die once. There wouldn't be the need to sacrifice Him over and over. Once He was sacrificed His job would be done and the sins of mankind would be atoned for. As mankind believed in the sacrificial lambs, he-goats, oxen, and doves, as being able to atone for their sins, they would have to believe that Jesus could do the same thing. It was a small thing to ask and an easy burden to bear.


And so it was, Jesus climbed upon the cross and allowed His blood to be shed. He gave that as a sacrifice to atone for my sins and plead my case before the throne of God. He gave His life so I could live free and at peace. He did well.