here i go...
i've been thinking a lot recently about my church, as well as how i come off to other people regarding my faith...
i'm obviously a pretty devoted Christian - i try to put God first in all i do and be a true Christ-follower, following the teachings of Jesus. it's my joy to attend church every sunday - i love the sense of community as i feel myself growing in my faith. to me, there is no better feeling. people always ask me why i'm so happy all the time, and it's honestly because i feel Christ's love constantly. it's my goal in life to share that with others, because it's honestly the greatest joy in the world.
i know Christianity has a pretty bad rap; nietzsche, for example, is famous for being against it. he holds that it's a "wimpy" religion because its God came to earth, and we just killed him (even though Jesus chose to die for us - it's not as if they dragged him to the cross kicking and screaming). it's also said to be a very violent religion - most likely the most violent in history. that's something i used to be really ashamed of and confused about, and it's something that turns a lot of people away. what kind of a religion is said to promote peace and love, but has killed and judged a great deal throughout history? it's easy to think that Christians are all a bunch of hypocrites.
but here's how i think it really is: unfortunatly, we are imperfect. we're not in the Garden of Eden - adam and eve changed that. ever since then we've been, more or less, screwing up. for example, the Pharisees who "created" rules out of nowhere to serve themselves instead of serving Him. the violence isn't God's fault. He gave us free will, and we've taken what he's told us and run with it in terrible ways. so Jesus came to abolish religion. that's what Galatians (a book in the Bible) is all about. from Galatians, i understand that for the most part, the rules of the old testament become void, and all of the bizarre practices in the name of religion were to be done away with. it's not about ceremony and traditions and buildings and books; it's about Him. if we just follow Him, we will make it to heaven. (...and, by the way... hell to me is a world without God.) the only man (other than Jesus) that we have been told is in heaven is the man who was on the cross next to him. he asked Jesus to save him, and told him he believed His way was the right one.
so all of this happened... and then guess what? we screwed up again. even those that followed Him began to stray in many cases. and so, wrongfully, in the name of Christ - we formed a new religion and called it Christianity. i'm pretty sure that this is the kind of thing that Jesus stood against. it became all about the rituals and routines, and not about Him.
so... why am i writing all of this? it's a sort of segue into an introduction to my church. i don't talk about it often - maybe because i'm afraid of people's reactions. not only do i sometimes get scowls or sarcastic remarks (not that i'm trying to point fingers), but more importantly i'm afraid to make it seem like a cult. after all, it is a little weird - we meet in a movie theatre for heaven's sake! but i know people that have gloated about it and have turned people off. that's exactly the opposite of what i want to do. life's not easy for a Christian at White Oaks, and i get the feeling that's why some people feel the need to get a little full of themselves in defence (again, not pointing any fingers). i actually appreciate the persecution, actually... if anything, it's helping me grow. (although i do feel like i need more support in my faith, and that's why i'm so excited about Redeemer! not just for the classes, so i can learn from a Christian perspective, but also so i can meet tons of people who i can talk to about all of this stuff - i don't pretend to know all of the answers, and i'm excited to get lots of other opinions.)
so! The Meeting House is truly fantastic. i would love it if you would go to the website... i'm sure my pastor can explain all of this way better than i can. the FAQ section is especially awesome for "seekers". overall - it's a very relaxed environment with free coffee, squishy chairs, great music, and other people that want to learn about the Lord. i would LOVE it if anyone wanted to come with me to a service or two, just to check it out and see what i'm so in love with. i promise there's no HALLELUJAH-ing, or rolling around in the aisles, or creepy people wearing robes (unless the series has a theme.... in which case, I don't make any promises...for example, the last series was called The Way, and it was hippie-themed. so much fun!). we look at the Bible as our "textbook" that we use to better understand the teachings of Jesus. there are so many things i want to say... but i'm pretty sure that - assuming you've read this far - you wont be able to read much more.
thanks for taking the time to read it... it's pretty long... heh.
another point i think that i should raise is why i believe in God in the first place. i've always sort of felt Him - i'm really lucky that way - and recently i decided that since He's there, i can't just go half way in showing Him my heart. you could call it a gut feeling to start with - but once you give yourself over to Him, He reveals himself over and over again. it's called having faith, but having faith means believing in something you don't know is there, and i'm certain He is there.
thanks for letting me get all of this off my chest. i'm sorry this seems like such a simplistic way to describe something that's so important, but it just came from my heart.
i'm obviously a pretty devoted Christian - i try to put God first in all i do and be a true Christ-follower, following the teachings of Jesus. it's my joy to attend church every sunday - i love the sense of community as i feel myself growing in my faith. to me, there is no better feeling. people always ask me why i'm so happy all the time, and it's honestly because i feel Christ's love constantly. it's my goal in life to share that with others, because it's honestly the greatest joy in the world.
i know Christianity has a pretty bad rap; nietzsche, for example, is famous for being against it. he holds that it's a "wimpy" religion because its God came to earth, and we just killed him (even though Jesus chose to die for us - it's not as if they dragged him to the cross kicking and screaming). it's also said to be a very violent religion - most likely the most violent in history. that's something i used to be really ashamed of and confused about, and it's something that turns a lot of people away. what kind of a religion is said to promote peace and love, but has killed and judged a great deal throughout history? it's easy to think that Christians are all a bunch of hypocrites.
but here's how i think it really is: unfortunatly, we are imperfect. we're not in the Garden of Eden - adam and eve changed that. ever since then we've been, more or less, screwing up. for example, the Pharisees who "created" rules out of nowhere to serve themselves instead of serving Him. the violence isn't God's fault. He gave us free will, and we've taken what he's told us and run with it in terrible ways. so Jesus came to abolish religion. that's what Galatians (a book in the Bible) is all about. from Galatians, i understand that for the most part, the rules of the old testament become void, and all of the bizarre practices in the name of religion were to be done away with. it's not about ceremony and traditions and buildings and books; it's about Him. if we just follow Him, we will make it to heaven. (...and, by the way... hell to me is a world without God.) the only man (other than Jesus) that we have been told is in heaven is the man who was on the cross next to him. he asked Jesus to save him, and told him he believed His way was the right one.
so all of this happened... and then guess what? we screwed up again. even those that followed Him began to stray in many cases. and so, wrongfully, in the name of Christ - we formed a new religion and called it Christianity. i'm pretty sure that this is the kind of thing that Jesus stood against. it became all about the rituals and routines, and not about Him.
so... why am i writing all of this? it's a sort of segue into an introduction to my church. i don't talk about it often - maybe because i'm afraid of people's reactions. not only do i sometimes get scowls or sarcastic remarks (not that i'm trying to point fingers), but more importantly i'm afraid to make it seem like a cult. after all, it is a little weird - we meet in a movie theatre for heaven's sake! but i know people that have gloated about it and have turned people off. that's exactly the opposite of what i want to do. life's not easy for a Christian at White Oaks, and i get the feeling that's why some people feel the need to get a little full of themselves in defence (again, not pointing any fingers). i actually appreciate the persecution, actually... if anything, it's helping me grow. (although i do feel like i need more support in my faith, and that's why i'm so excited about Redeemer! not just for the classes, so i can learn from a Christian perspective, but also so i can meet tons of people who i can talk to about all of this stuff - i don't pretend to know all of the answers, and i'm excited to get lots of other opinions.)
so! The Meeting House is truly fantastic. i would love it if you would go to the website... i'm sure my pastor can explain all of this way better than i can. the FAQ section is especially awesome for "seekers". overall - it's a very relaxed environment with free coffee, squishy chairs, great music, and other people that want to learn about the Lord. i would LOVE it if anyone wanted to come with me to a service or two, just to check it out and see what i'm so in love with. i promise there's no HALLELUJAH-ing, or rolling around in the aisles, or creepy people wearing robes (unless the series has a theme.... in which case, I don't make any promises...for example, the last series was called The Way, and it was hippie-themed. so much fun!). we look at the Bible as our "textbook" that we use to better understand the teachings of Jesus. there are so many things i want to say... but i'm pretty sure that - assuming you've read this far - you wont be able to read much more.
thanks for taking the time to read it... it's pretty long... heh.
another point i think that i should raise is why i believe in God in the first place. i've always sort of felt Him - i'm really lucky that way - and recently i decided that since He's there, i can't just go half way in showing Him my heart. you could call it a gut feeling to start with - but once you give yourself over to Him, He reveals himself over and over again. it's called having faith, but having faith means believing in something you don't know is there, and i'm certain He is there.
thanks for letting me get all of this off my chest. i'm sorry this seems like such a simplistic way to describe something that's so important, but it just came from my heart.