Archive for April, 2007
« Previous EntriesCommon Objections . . . Part 2
Friday, April 27th, 2007In my last post, I spoke of several “common objections” a number of people have had to the path I am walking with God outside of the institutional church. In this post, I will address what I see as the two most significant of such objections.
I call them “significant” not because I think they are […]
Deconstructions and Constructions
Friday, April 27th, 2007My Journey Away From Organized Religion and Into the Arms of Christ, Part the Fifth
About the same time that I stopped attending church regularly, I began developing friendships with more and more people who had dealt with abuse in their churches. I read “The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse” by Jeff VanVonderen. I started realizing […]
Common Objections . . . Part 1
Thursday, April 26th, 2007I promised in a previous post to address many of the objections I have seen (and felt) levelled against those of us who have chosen a life outside of the institution that calls itself “church.” There are enough of them that I cannot do so in one post, but I will cover a bunch of […]
Leaving and Coming
Thursday, April 26th, 2007My Journey Away From Organized Religion Into the Arms of Christ, Part the Fourth
After everything happened the summer of 2000, I stopped reading my Bible. I went to church, only because I’d begun attending the church my best friend went to and I wanted to see her. When other people at church asked me how […]
Broken Hearts and Broken Promises
Wednesday, April 25th, 2007My Journey Away From Organized Religion into the Arms of Christ, Part the Third
It was the very same year that God began to deliver me out of legalism that I fell in love for the first time. I had a best friend who I will call “D” who happened to be a boy, and our […]
My Journey out of Church and into the Body of Christ: A Personal Testimony (Part 5)
Tuesday, April 24th, 2007So where do I find myself at present . . . ?
Recently, my wife and I have both been challenged by dear friends who are concerned about our decision not to remain within the framework of an institutional, organized church. Given how much these friends mean to us, these conversations have touched off a great […]
From Legalism to Grace
Tuesday, April 24th, 2007My Journey Away From Organized Religion and Into the Arms of Christ, Part the Second
Despite my legalistic tendencies, God had begun to come for me in ways that I didn’t recognize until later. My pastor from the time I was 10 until I was 18 was a truly loving, God-centered man, and had an incredible […]
A Child Following Hard After Father
Monday, April 23rd, 2007My Journey Away from Organized Religion Into the Arms of Christ: A Testimony, Part the First
Introduction: A couple of months ago I began a series on my personal blog titled “My Journey Away From Organized Religion.” I have written a few posts but upon further reflection feel the need to delve much more deeply and […]
My Journey out of Church and into the Body of Christ: A Personal Testimony (Part 4)
Monday, April 23rd, 2007The threat of church discipline brought back the fear, in spades. I had watched the church of my childhood go through a heartrending split over church discipline issues, and the last thing I wanted to do was cause anything of the sort among another local assembly, particularly one where many of the close friends I […]
My Journey out of Church and into the Body of Christ: A Personal Testimony (Part 3)
Sunday, April 22nd, 2007I’d been depressed before. My mom had died the previous year and I remember sitting in my room while she lay down the hall suffering from the second bout of cancer, which would eventually kill her, thinking to myself, “I’m glad I know there’s a God, and that he actually cares about me, because if […]
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