Christians, Please don’t downvote comment if you upvoted post.
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Spiritual without formal religion.
Same
Same.
Same
Same. I'm Christian without formal religion.
Non-denominational Christian while also engaging with shamanism and utilizing Shaiva Hinduism.
I'm not one one those New Age "Christ Consciousness" or "Christ was just another ascended master" types. I do understand and accept the uniqueness of Christ and the teachings of the gospels, but for me, that is not mutually exclusive to a more encompassing spiritual cosmology.
I think you sum up 90% of the people here. Praise God people like you exist that can articulate so beautifully what everyone else is thinking! That's a God-given talent and He's using you well!
I was New Age too. Makes me depressed because New Age is totally lucifarian in origin. Madam Blavatsky literally had a magazine called Lucifer.
Reading Q drops and going down the Satanic rabbit holes, woke me the fuck up. Made me realize Christ was the Good side. After I discovered all the other ways these Satanists in power, media, entertainment etc have led us astray? Well, I’m a church militant now.
Pretty much my story.
Different but 2015-2016
Except I wasn't religious at all but I did pray now and again in my own way. And I had no idea what i was being involved in. I was pulled into it and i was clueless.
My life is so strange its literally like my life is engineered.
It is mutually exclusive according to Jesus.
When I said "uniqueness" of Christ/Christianity I was implying the Exclusionary Principle of Christianity. That He is the narrow door to true salvation and no one and nothing else is.
I never said salvation was attainable through other means or entities. Just that one can incorporate them into the whole cosmic landscape that includes Jesus without discounting his words and the gospels.
The bible clearly elaborates other aspects of the spiritual world which one can interact with. Various hierarchies of elohim which includes numerous categories of benevolent non-human spiritual beings; form cherubim and seraphim to archangels and the Hosts of Heaven, or the Four Living Creatures who are covered in eyes.
And interfacing with these beings through prayer and altered states is also affirmed by the myriad Old and New Testament examples of prophesy and encounters made during dreams and fasting.
Nothing I said is mutually exclusive with Christ's teachings.
What is? Be specific.
Yep. My faith is rooted in God and Christ as my savior but don't go to church because none in my area actually follow the Bible. I much prefer fellowship with my customers and having impromptu service and Bible study in my restaurant.
I think this touches souls far more than most brick and mortar churches! You’re awesome to spread the good word in such a way!
Strangely enough, I totally relate.
I've been greatly enjoying going to a non denominational Christian church for about a month or so now, and while I believe that the wisdom and system of morality depicted in the bible is the blueprint for a healthy, productive, and morally sound society, I can't help but wonder if there's something more.
I've only recently begun to read the Bible for the first time, and it's already incredible to me how many layers of meaning are packed into that book. A surface level reading is a good place to start, but where I've seen the most growth personally is when I start to read into the symbolism and deeper meanings hidden in the Bible.
Once I have enough knowledge of the Bible under my belt, I'm really excited to dive into a book I was lent called "Q and the History of Early Christianity" by Christopher M. Tuckett. That's a coincidence I am greatly interested in learning about, lol.
Me too. I’m a Christian in that I believe the words of Jesus but think churches got the message wrong or distorted it to control people and/or get money and power. Jesus’ message was against that exact world system corruption - trying to teach how to live according to God’s system.
Uh....ever heard of Acts? What about the epistles written by Paul? They were written to different churches in existence at the time. Revelation talks about the seven churches. I'm a long way from being a Bible scholar but it's all right there in the Word. Also, I agree with your suspicions of the vatican.
Catholicism aside. Here is a list of churches in the Bible:
Antioch, Pisidia: Acts 13:14; Gal 1:2
Antioch, Syria: Acts 11:26 (Paul's home base)
Athens: Acts 17:34
Babylon: 1 Peter 5:13; Acts 2:9
Berea: Acts 17:11
Caesarea: Acts 10:1,48
Cenchrea: Rom 16:1
Colossae: Col 1:2
Corinth: Acts 18:1
Crete: Titus 1:5
Cyrene: Acts 11:20
Damascus: Acts 9:19
Derbe: Acts 14:20; Gal 1:2
Ephesus: Acts 18:19
Hierapolis Col 4:13
Iconium: Acts 14:1; Gal 1:2
Jerusalem: Acts 2:5
Joppa: Acts 9:36, 38
Laodicea: Rev 1:11, Col 4:15
Lydda: Acts 9:32
Lystra: Acts 14:6; Gal 1:2
Pergamum: Rev 1:11
Philadelphia: Rev 1:11
Philippi: Acts 16:12
Puteoli, Italy: Acts 28:13-14
Rome: Rom 1:7
Sardis: Rev 1:11
Sharon: Acts 9:35
Smyrna: Rev 1:11
Tarsus: Acts 9:30
Thessalonica: Acts 17:1
Thyatira: Rev 1:11; Acts 16:14
Troas: Acts 20:6-7
The Vatican has always been about money, control and power for a select group.
https://www.history.com/.amp/topics/renaissance/medici-family
If you have Netflix or Showtime this series is a good reference. I watch a lot of historical dramas because I love history. After watching, I also research the facts vs the Hollywood version.
Borgias Family This really shows how power hungry they were.
https://www.netflix.com/title/70177084
100% agreed.
I was raised Roman Catholic...altar boy, Mom was/is a Lectern (every Sunday), CCD, Church Youth Group, Jesuit HS (all male)... a few of my classmates I found out were "raped" during my HS yrs...did not find out til' years after...Youth Group Leader was also indicted for abuse on boys as well..(found out yrs. later as well)..this "Pope" is pure evil and I want nothing to do with religion...I found spending a few mins sometimes multiple times a day "Speaking" with/to God helps...it was very hard for me to "turn away from the church"..glad I did.
My pastor always says that "Christianity shouldn't be a religion, it should be a relationship". Be blessed fren.
This is correct….the downvoter is wrong.
Yes why was that downvoted
great way to put it...thanks fren..
Religion is that which is owed to God.
And you as well, yes agree, could not find a church that “fit” Mother Earth is my church, I thank God and Jesus for her everyday.
You might want to check this out if you are ever in the Appalachian mountains, SC. It’s on my list.
https://www.scpictureproject.org/greenville-county/symmes-chapel.html/amp
I don’t remember where I saw another place like this. It had pews made of tree logs. They faced a clearing over the mountains. (Not sure if it’s USA or the state) I love places like this.
Jesus was against religion too. Remember his retorts to the Pharisees?
Probably not in the way insinuated here.
This was His problem with the Pharisees:
“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away. Their worship is a farce, for they replace God's commands with their own man-made teachings.” (Mark 7:7)
People love to replace God's commands with their own man-made teachings.
As it relates to how Christians should worship, Jesus said this:
“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him” (John 4:23).
And He said this:
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ (Mark 12:30)
Christians ARE modern day Pharisees, spiritual ancestors.
They dont represent Jesus but Satan.
I had a hard time, for the longest time, coming to grips with the rampant pedophilia in the church. And this Pope is definitely evil, and likely a Freemason. However there’s a growing movement within the church. Dr Mark Taylor is one of the leaders, who asserts there’s been an infiltration of the church. It’s part of the Masonic/Satanic long game. And in my spiritual war journey, I’ve researched the power of Christ through certain Catholic tools, such as Holy Water, blessed medals, the power of our Lady Mother of God, blessed candles and oils, how exorcist priests can cast out demons with success over laity or other denominations. These things make me feel there are elements of Catholicism that hold power in the spiritual war.
Right now we have a pedophile President. Before Trump another child rapist, Obama with this shipment of hotdogs from Chicago. The office of President is tainted, our Congress is also a den of sick people, like Adam Schiff. Our country has been infiltrated by evil, just as the church has. To me the core elements of our country (and the church) are still are worth fighting for. I do not blame you for how you feel as I was once there for a huge portion of my adult life. But, now I stand firm with the likes of good Catholic men like Vigano, Dr Taylor, and Fr Altman.
EDIT: Dr Taylor Marshall as my Fren points out!
I can’t understand or agree with the power of Holy Water. It’s boiled water! I don’t believe anyone should be confusing to another person. A priest or anyone else doesn’t have the power to forgive anyone. Please correct me if wrong. Doesn’t the Catholic Church pray to Mary? I understand why she’s an important person. I don’t understand praying to her.
I’m hesitant to post this because I don’t want to be judge mental of other religions. I believe for myself it’s more of misunderstanding. I want to understand other people’s experience’s and their religions.
We don’t pray TO Mary, we pray that she pray for us. We ask her to pray for us. Her presence will make demons flee, as she is the most powerful human to ever exist, naturally, because she housed God in her womb, and lived a life free from sin. She’s an anomaly the demon world cowers from when she shows her presence. Demons also hate Holy Water. It’s prayed over with holy intention. I really don’t understand how this is unfathomable to you when science has documented how water changes into a beautiful designs under a microscope when nice things are said to it. And conversely it looks depleted and depressed when bad things are said to it. Music also has an effect on water. In any event, in my dive into the spiritual war, like I said, demons hate holy water. And those possessed by demons really do feel pain when holy water is put on them. This is also documented.
Dr. Mark Taylor?
Do you maybe mean Taylor Marshall?
🤦♀️ Yes
thanks fren...
Listen to the Malachi Martin/Art Bell interviews for some validation and deeper understanding of the evil infiltration. I'm not Catholic, but Martin helped me understand some things about how this world works.
I like Art Bell...I will..appreciate it
I believe in a greater being but call bullshit on any and all humans defining the divine for others. In simpler terms, I refuse all man-made religions including the ones that claim they're not a religion (eg: totalitarian beliefs, eco-cult, etc)
So I suppose I fall under this category.
Nice to see another enlightened free of definition, constraints and grounded fellow individual.
Much to the chagrin of liberalism and postmodernism, like the Constitution is to our form of government, the Bible, God's Word, is to Christianity.
The Bible is the Truth and is the authority on God, salvation, right Christian living, prayer, worship, etc.
The Bible is written by God and its contained truth is not defined by man.
Which part?
As written by a man as the ten commandments. Learn to differentiate between attacks on the actual words of your god and those on the hand that wrote it.
God did write it.
20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20-21)
Yes me too
Hmmmm. What an interesting thread.
Something I think more of us will understand as we exit the Matrix and enter the clean air of God's presence, how we see things and what we see are so deeply influenced and often defined by the vantage point we adopt; our viewpoint determines in part what we see and how we see them.
I'm most certainly Christian, but I would not define Christian as necessarily having "formal religion".
For example, I certainly adhere to the maxim: "it's not about religion, it's about relationship". In this context, I see "religion" in whatever form or faith - Christian, buddhist, hindu, other, as being a "school" for learning and acquiring the principles and skills that allow a relationship to be formed with the Creator and with others.
Some may think this is a relativist viewpoint but no: my understanding of most faiths is that the Father inspired them and brought them into being via various messengers in order to prepare the way for those people to come closer to the point where they could receive and unite with Christ. So I'm not saying all religions (schools) are equal. I'm saying that they came into being divinely inspired as part of a process of bringing more and more people to the place where they can recognize, receive and unite with Christ.
Is it mere coincidence that the last prophet in the Old Testament who spearheaded a major reformation prior to the advent of Christ came 400 years before Christ, and that other teachers also emerged in that time frame? The teachers in Greece, the teachers in the East, and so forth? (no.)
Many forget that religion is a school; "re-ligio" to re-connect". But the purpose of school is not to remain in school forever. Rather, it is to learn what the school offers, infuse it, inherit it, embody it, and then graduate.
The purpose of formal (and informal) religion is to train us to be capable of building and growing a living relationship with the Creator (the Father) through a relationship with Christ.
When that relationship is living, live and full, then you begin to transcend religion. Not throwing it aside, but rather naturally embodying the value of it. Just as someone with a pure conscience and clean heart does NOT need the law to guide them, but rather, they transcend the law because their natural practice and character prevents them from doing that which the law is intended to proscribe.
I guess what I'm saying is, I'm a Christian, without a "formal" religion.