Something to think about

I kind of agree with you, but I kind of don't. I think that if there is a message that God wants any particular person to hear, that person will be able to glean that information from the Pastor's words or from anyone that God uses to deliver the message. I believe that the Holy Ghost will discern the information for that individual. No message that God has for someone is ever lost. At least that's what I believe. While I don't neccessarily attend church, I believe that it serves a purpose. Some people need it. So if hearing the message from a pastor is what you need to get there, it doesn't matter as long as you get there. We all are on a journey and life and we all have a unique path. What you need may be completely different from what the next person needs.

Well said Arkie69, you see alot of these preachers go to college and universities to study how to be a preacher and do not concentrate on having a relationship with God. Most of the men in the old testaments fail God and this is the reason why Jesus Christ came. If Christians want to depend on listening to preachers/pastors and don't study God's Word and know God/Jesus/Holy Ghost for their selves then they will be so disappointed when these persons fails. When I used to hear other Christians talk about have a personal relationship with God is necessary I used to scoff but since I have started doing it I am telling you that I found joy in it. I am still at the baby stage but I know that with diligent and preservance I will eventually be at the level I want to be. Hold the faith my friend. Happy holidays.

You just took the words away from me, arkie! I feel so much the same. I don't go to church and haven't for years and years. When I was a kid, my dad would let us skip church and he'd take my brothers and me to the beach. There, we'd walk and he'd talk about God & life and how to be good people. I learned so much more from his words than I ever did in the church. We didn't skip church all the time but enough and it was always a treat. I think he really felt the same as you do but back then,pretty much every family around us went to church every week. It was a way of life. Now it isn't as common. More and more people are turning from the church and still not turning from God. Those that are seriously tied into a religion often tend to be so much more judgemental & closed minded than those who are not. Im not saying that all who are involved in religion are that way but judgemental,biased people quite often are very dedicated to some religion.

well if it gives people joy and hope and love for God to believe that its good for them. Because Jesus also said whosoever gathers in my name there i will also be. so, isnt it good to gather for his sake and have people praise him and listen to things they may not already know?

The word says 'Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God'... so the purpose of listening to the preacher is sometimes you just need to hear it out loud from someone else to set the fire in your heart... but I agree, we have taken that to the point that we have to hear it from this one particular man and then we risk making him into some kind of a god and get everything screwed up and out of proportion, and forget to be listening to the Holy Ghost ourselves... if we take time to listen then there will be times in our everyday life (not just on Sunday morning) where we say things to people that stir faith in their hearts...maybe to a stranger at the grocery store, or standing in line at the post office... or to your best friend... or maybe on post right here on MyLot

i totally agree with you my friend

I am not a Christian, I am a Hindu. We have a pantheon of gods and goddesses so that makes it even worse. The priests and godmen have vice like grip on gullible people and I see it around me everywhere everyday. I do not believe in the healing powers of any mortal person…maybe there are some, I haven’t toured the world really, but of what I see and hear, I have no faith in any of them. According to me, the books are there, the path is there and my God is up there somewhere…it is for me to seek Him if I want…I will have to walk the path myself. There’s none that can walk it for me or lead me to it, if I don’t want to go. Everybody will have their own interpretations and nobody knows who is correct. So I will have to seek my answers myself.

Arkie69, In the first place, none of us is perfect and blameless and that includes me. I do not think anyone of us today can even be justified enough to ever cast that first stone. So, I think IMHO you should try to accept and accommodate this fact and understand retrospectively. Organizations, whether secular or religious, are made up of imperfect people. As adults we sometimes continue to expect perfection from organizations long after we have stopped expecting it from other individuals or ourselves. But just as teenagers grow into adults, Christians mature in their relationship with Christ. As we mature, we begin to discover how much we owe to God's grace and how little we earn through our own efforts. This makes it easier to see how God is able to use His church, which, like us, can serve as an instrument of divine grace in spite of imperfection and sin. I am in opinion that sinful individuals or a sinful church can't produce lasting effects for the kingdom of God, but the power of God's Spirit working through them can! ( 2 Corinthians 4:7 ). As Jesus said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance" ( Mark 2:15-17 ). If we were all perfect we wouldn't need the church. It is our imperfection that calls for the purifying process of membership in the body of Christ. Our mission is to love each other ( 1 Peter 4:8 ) in such a way that we gain the spiritual strength that can only be developed in union with other believers ( Ephesians 4:14-16 ). I am not say that we should overlook the hypocrisy and problems that exist in the church BUT, we need to do what we can to confront and deal with them in loving Christ like ways. In the words of Paul the apostle: "Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load" (Galatians 6:2-5). Take care and compliments of the season.

i usually not think about god and i feel neutral about him i doesnt like to join the preyers and all that i love to be as i am

I go to church, because that makes me a better person, and that what matter most. :) Why put life so complicated when it is just very simple. Just my opinion. Peace!