There is one thing I hate

Thats guilt. Sometimes I wish I didn't believe because then I could avoid that feeling.. The feeling of having to be perfect. To not do anything that is considered sinful. In fact it has got to the point wherein I've had enough of it. Where I just want to do what I want to do.

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SomeMichGuy · M

Then you have had people intentionally mischaracterize the New Testament to you, which is all too common.

The people who raised or taught / teach you, the ministers / pastors / priests have not been true to the Gospel, though they may have been true to their theological touchstones.

Just read the 4 Gospels for yourself.

You'll see what I mean.

The Good News is that God is actually interested in relationship more than judgment. The worrying about sin and ephahs of grain and atoning...it comes out of an unclear understanding of the One Who Is.

One of the primary jobs of the Messiah is to clear up the misconceptions about the nature of God. He stretches out a hand and smiles and invites us to come and begin a walk with Him.

Don't let people throw you from that.

RubiesandButterflies · 51-55, F

@SomeMichGuy most of what was taught to me I learnt in a religious cult.

SomeMichGuy · M

@RubiesandButterflies OMG...

Well...wow...I am sorry.

Most cults based in some notion of Christianity crucially use the "only WE have THE Truth / the WHOLE story" as part of their message, and they control knowledge by controlling the message.

I always encourage people claiming some level of Christianity to simply read the Gospels.

There was one television preacher--Arnold Murray, I think, from Gravette, AR, on a show called The Shepherd's Chapel--who was not like the standard televangelists. He sat at a simple desk with a flower on it, the US and Christian flags over his shoulder, and his Bible and a stack of letters. No arena, no expensive set, no audience.

He mostly read the Bible and focused on its plain meaning. And he would talk about the Hebrew or Greek words of the original languages, and often encouraged people to look into the original languages, himself.

He'd go through some questions in his mail, telling the writer where to look in the Bible, and would end up praying over the rest of the questions. He never said he had all the answers, he never demanded money. There is some criticism of his beliefs, but I was surprised to find very little with which I disagreed, and he wasn't in on the "prosperity Gospel" nonsense of so many of the on-air personality preachers. To my point, he encouraged viewers to read the Bible and get into the original languages, themselves. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shepherd%27s_Chapel for a little more.

I can't imagine what you went through.