Comments for Churchless

Comment on Don’t we need pastors to equip the saints? by Margaret

Margaret — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:04:21 +0000

So, I’m curious… What are professional pastors to do???

Ok, I’ll will play devil’s advocate! What about all the references in the Bible about shepherds and a “workman is worthy of his hire”?

Comment on Go to Church or the Devil Will Get You! by wenie

wenie — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 23:11:13 +0000

It’s like some say on here and more. Theres plenty of places online that expose the wrongs about church. I like that tract somewhere online that speaks of the true temple and explains the true church is not a place we go but helping the poor. The rich and popular real estate individual cons are the problem. Realtors continue to support local church funds. Lots of nepotism runs in the south. Southern churches are condemning individuals for wearing or speaking their minds about Jesus in our bodies. Maybe someday somebody will speak for those of us that are tired of the wealthy church members and pastors controlling politics all over the south!

Comment on They don’t go to church because… by Kevin Fusher

Kevin Fusher — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:59:33 +0000

My wife and I left a Church 18 months ago, we walk, Kayak, do the garden and meet regularly with six or so friends. The experience is one of adventure and discovery. Our walk with Jesus is stronger and more focused. I am working with the Lord to be salt and light in my business (Hairdressing)I find people want to hear about Jesus and some are willing to be prayed for, I am looking to be a link in the chain, a conduit for the Holy Spirit. Some of my Christian customers are supportive of my adventure some really think we will go into heresy! Some friends at our former Church are hurt and do not understand our reasons for leaving, and, for now to try to continue to explain, is not helpful to them. For myself dropping the baggage of being a former house group leader and an ‘alpha male’ along with three other men of the same ilk has been very interesting! I am begining to think that for men the emerging Church or whatever label you put on it is one of God’s ways of creating loving servants and dealing with people like me, who have mainly had functional relationships based on the Structure and mission of whatever denomination we have left. My Wife finds the more fluid, deconstructed way of doing things easier than me, which leads me to think that Women’s viewpoints and perspectives are a vital component in this new move of God.

Comment on Do I Have to Go to Church? by John

John — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 22:25:34 +0000

A response to Sterling. I’m in a similar situation, so I sympathise totally: quitting the established church not because I’ve lost my faith but because my faith has outgrown an inadequate church. Yes, I too feel guilt. I ask myself if I’m just being a “spiritual tourist”, looking for the right emotional experience; or whether I’m just letting my natural dislike of authority get the better of me. However, I have come to trust my instincts about church life and have resigned myself to going it alone. It has been a great release – not into egotistical “just you and me, Jesus” christianity but a deepening of faith. The meaningless rituals of church have been cleared away and I read the bible more regularly and with fresh understanding. I don’t rule out rejoining a church in the future – I still have great respect for some of them (the Orthodox church, for example) but I’m using this time as a chance to deepen my faith and really LIVE the life Jesus ordained for us rather than just doing my Sunday God shift, talking and arguing about and showboating. Anyway, I’m not sure if all the above makes sense to you, but please believe me, my thoughts are with you in your situation!

Comment on Do I Have to Go to Church? by John

John — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 22:14:05 +0000

Great reply, Frank. Couldn’t have put it better myself. I sit in a church full of rituals and people social networking and feel nothing. I sit and read the morning service and Book of Common prayer to myself, read the bible, pray in my downstairs toilet and most of all, try and live (however failingly) the life Jesus set down for us and feel that I’m close to God. If that means I’m going to hell, then so be it!

Comment on “Jesus is my boyfriend” music by Today’s Music Ain’t Got The Same Soul » First Thoughts | A First Things Blog

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 06:13:53 +0000

[...] our metrosexual worship leaders, two-guitars-and-a-drum praise bands, and “Jesus is my boyfriend” songs, I assumed we evangelicals had a monopoly on messing up church music. But at the always intriguing [...]

Comment on They don’t go to church because… by Stacy

Stacy — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 16:08:34 +0000

I think the best function of the church is to expose young people to Christ. The Jr. High and High School programs are the most vital. After that, it just seems to be a bunch of gossiping ninnies. =)

Comment on They don’t go to church because… by Stacy

Stacy — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 15:49:10 +0000

“All the arguments that a person could construct to refute the ‘assembling of yourselves together, as some are in the habit of doing’ fall short for a few reasons” -

Really, really? You have heard all the arguments and they ALL fall short? How about this one?

We don’t go to church because my son is 5, and had a kidney transplant when he was 3 years old. He is immune-suppressed as a result of the anti-rejection medication. We will not put him in nursery or the children’s classes as a result, because we will not expose him to the vast amount of careless “Christians” who stick their sick kids in nursery/Sunday school. My friend is a greeter for the preschool Sunday school at a large church and said that last week a fellow preschool “greeter” had just been diagnosed with H1H1 but “felt fine” and came to “greet” anyway. One of their preschool attenders has leukemia and is on Chemotherapy, with a very weakened and fragile immune system.

I have learned that many people, Christian and non-Christian alike, are just idiots when it comes to judgement. And I will not risk my sons life because you decided you “felt ok” to come to church and shake his hand anyway.

Your comments sound judgmental, and the fact that you state that “all the arguments fall short” prove that you speak of that which you do not know.

Last I checked, the “vine” was Christ, and His saving life. The vine is NOT the church. If that were the case we would be in a sorry state. And the last I checked, there was no mediator between us and Christ. Therefore I can gain all I need through my reading of His word, I don’t need someone in a pulpit to explain it to me. I have been to Bible School, I have read the Bible extensively, and I have also worked in Ministry. My accountability is to God, through Christ.

Comment on Church Alumni by Pat Duronslet

Pat Duronslet — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:42:41 +0000

I guess I’m a Pondering Pre-Alumni…heh!! I’ve been doing a LOT of pondering, and believe that the Lord is leading me out of institutional Christianity. And so…I stumbled onto this website. I have a question. But first I want to describe “church” as I see it in the New Testament in case my eyes are fogged.

The description from Acts 2:1-47 indicates that they continued meeting after Pentecost with “one accord.” I looked up the Greek and discovered that this word means that they met in the same place, at the same time, with the same passion.

That got me thinking…what “passion” did they all share? JESUS crucified and risen was my conclusion. So in trying to get a glimpse of what new creatures in Christ meeting together originally looked like, I concluded the following:

They talked about Jesus; they looked at Jesus in Scripture; they shared things that Jesus was teaching and doing; they remembered Jesus’ sacrifice in breaking bread. They were married, devoted, addicted to Jesus; they loved being with anyone else who was also attached to Jesus.

Paul indicates in 1 Cor. 14:26 that whenever they assembled together every new creature in Christ was expected to share the word, song, teaching, revelation, tongue or translation that Jesus saw fit to deposit in their mind.

So, on to my question. I’m sure that post Pentecost some of the 3,000 saved that day would bump into each other at the market or the well, and that they’d no doubt encouraged and prayed for each other in that moment. However, this would never have satisfied the new urgent desire to spend time with other new creatures in Christ to share Christ alone. There are too many NT descriptions of Christian meetings that were wholly focused on Jesus to conclude that they only met together on occasion of shopping or entertainment (or work).

So my question: It seems to me that the IC is extremely ordered to the point of suffocation, and the OC is extremely unordered to the point of disintegration. Is there a happy medium somewhere? I’d sure like to visit. I live in the Cape Canaveral area, Florida.

Thanks for your help. Pat

Comment on Frank Viola’s unfortunate assumptions regarding “postchurch” views by Alan Gray

Alan Gray — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:52:53 +0000

I am not sure it is of any value to use these labels to overlay followers of Jesus. If we include labels, there is no way to avoid creating an “us” and “them” conflict.

It seems ok to me for someone to prefer meeting in a regular group and another to meet in a random group. It even seems ok for someone to never meet in a group at all for a time. Paul apparently vanished for at least 10 years himself. Maybe that is how he heard so clearly from god directly.

I am no authority in your lives but picking out all the comments Paul makes about how churches should meet or what they should do when they gather is helpful if it is helpful.

What I know for sure about life and humans is that we nearly always isolate people with labels. That is what labels are for. That’s how we sort out cans of food or cereal and stuff. It doesn’t work with people very well though because so much about people is hidden.