What caused you to leave your church?

yeshuaslavejeff said:

"For ye died and your life is hid with Christ in God. Colossians 3.3" Jesus abiding with us is (becomes) our knowledge, our wisdom, our salvation, all divinely - God's way... as written in His Word.

A short paragraph describes this simply (the difference in 'brick and mortar', and real life in Jesus):
Saints who have come into ascension life have
the insight of the throne. They shall not be moved by anything.
All who are truly crucified with Christ are truly raised with
Christ; and all who are truly raised with Christ are truly
ascended with Christ. By being in the ascended
position the saints can enjoy
more intimate fellowship with the Lord. And as a result,
will not the awful condition of this world's darken night be
made more manifest and the power of darkness appear to
be closer by? Will we(who are crucified with Christ and
ascended with Him) not possess further insight and will
not Christ become greater? What a position this is!

Work salvation out with "fear and trembling".... all around is quicksand, and wolves.....

Remain in God's Word. Ascended/seated with Christ , living in intimate true union with Jesus TODAY.

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yup

I have chosen to completely walk away from "the church". Loud music, a sermon "series", calling singing three songs "worship" all sounds so wrong. All the little lemmings walking in lockstep and never bothering to think outside the box, relying on this preacher or that program to fix their lives...Look to the King to fix your life, not a money-making scheme. Jesus said it plainly...."Love one another as I have loved you". He did not say to follow this preacher or that preacher or vote this way or that way. If I can ever find a church that truly lives out my favorite scriptures, Matthew 25:31-46 and Micah 6:8, then I will joyfully return to "the church". Until then, I find no need to fellowship with those who are, in my opinion, in darkness still.

RedPonyDriver said:

I have chosen to completely walk away from "the church". Loud music, a sermon "series", calling singing three songs "worship" all sounds so wrong. All the little lemmings walking in lockstep and never bothering to think outside the box, relying on this preacher or that program to fix their lives...Look to the King to fix your life, not a money-making scheme. Jesus said it plainly...."Love one another as I have loved you". He did not say to follow this preacher or that preacher or vote this way or that way. If I can ever find a church that truly lives out my favorite scriptures, Matthew 25:31-46 and Micah 6:8, then I will joyfully return to "the church". Until then, I find no need to fellowship with those who are, in my opinion, in darkness still.

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you may need to clarify that further .
if you find a church that practices YOUR favorite verses ..then you'd make it a church some one else cant attend once you show up and wreck 'their favorite verses" lol ...

but hey i get where your coming from

the boxed system is rife with the lies of tithes and leadership only having rights , and demanding much yet practicing little .

check this out instead ..no place to be no building to pay for no organisation to join ..

My favorite scriptures, to me, are the backbone of what it means to be a Christian.
Matthew 25:31-46 (NIV)
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me,Y)" I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me,you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life

Micah 6:8 (NIV)
He has shown you O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

James 1:27 (NIV)
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

These are the foundational blocks of how to live a Christian life. There's no point to claiming Christianity, if these things are not the foundation of your personal theology or the theology of the church you attend.

RedPonyDriver said:

I have chosen to completely walk away from "the church". Loud music, a sermon "series", calling singing three songs "worship" all sounds so wrong. All the little lemmings walking in lockstep and never bothering to think outside the box, relying on this preacher or that program to fix their lives...Look to the King to fix your life, not a money-making scheme. Jesus said it plainly...."Love one another as I have loved you". He did not say to follow this preacher or that preacher or vote this way or that way. If I can ever find a church that truly lives out my favorite scriptures, Matthew 25:31-46 and Micah 6:8, then I will joyfully return to "the church". Until then, I find no need to fellowship with those who are, in my opinion, in darkness still.

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I agree with you, up to a point. "The church" is the body of Christ, it's not all the unscriptural theater that is as far from the original church as one can get. The idea of a bunch of people getting together in their nice clothes to sit silently on forward-facing benches while an "expert" tells them how to be Christians has its origin in Greco-Roman pagan society. The early church was that of a functioning body, more like an extended family, that ministered to each other and shared with each other according to the gifts given to them by God. They also had regular agape feasts where all shared their food, bread (the body), and wine (the blood) together in a joyful gathering, as opposed to today's somber rite of communion, when the participants inflict "holiness" on themselves.

I would encourage you live life as fully as you can as a Christian. Love God and actively love your neighbor. Be a positive force for good in this world, to the point that people say to themselves "what does this person have that I don't?" Then you can tell them how and why you're a Christian.

If you can find a body of believers that behaves in a similar fashion then join them, accepting the fact that there will be limitations and disappointments no matter who they are. If you join them, do not be passive. Do whatever you can do to be a positive force to make that church even stronger and more loving.

There is no reason that you or I or anyone else who feels as we do must belong to a "church" that isn't really a church at all. If their numbers (and tithes) decrease maybe they'll begin to get the idea.

I have found myself attending a house church, and this is not what I thought I'd be doing, but here we are; my husband and I have joined up with another couple to establish this thing, and it's really different. We are.....

Our basic format (which sometimes shifts for a variety of reasons):

• Brunch and conversation
• Discussion of a passage from the Bible (taking turns facilitating - today I did it and the passage was 1 Peter 4:7-11)
• Praise and Prayer
• Worship in song and sometimes body ministry (laying on of hands,etc)
• Eat again and more conversation..

Several of the households have Hondurans living in them, so we often have bilingual services.

We have all become discouraged in the Latin American churches because they are pretty much all oppressively religious (the only exception I can think of has a North American "pastor") and with the "missionary churches" (there are two in the capital city) because they are "pastor"- and "elder"- centric, and we felt like we could not really contribute (for instance, if someone goes forward for prayer, usually only the elders and their wives pray for them). The other couple we are working with has four kids, and they wanted their kids to be part of the service and able to contribute too - we enjoy the children participating in our discussion and every part of our meetings.

I found out that one of the pastors was only a hireling and he was quite nasty to me, and wouldnt allow me or other members to use the gifts God had given us.

Oh and the church before that, one girl scammed me of $2000 and snubbed me cos I wouldnt go with her to pakistan and the pastor there called my mum a liar for forbidding me to go. Also I got headaches from the church sound system (in both churches) And every week I would be asked for money which I dont have.

Sorry you had such a bad experience in those churches, Goodbook

psychobabble, psychoheresy, too much influenced by word-of-faith feelgood teachings.

dayhiker said:

Sorry you had such a bad experience in those churches, Goodbook

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Thanks but not much i can do now since i dont really want to go back to those churches. It just a few ppl ruining it for everyone else. Im not really one of those strong or thickskinned ppl that can just shrug the hurts off easily.

I was thinking where can I go, why am i sitting in a dark stuffy church building on a nice summers day when the sky is blue and Jesus delievered his sermon on the mount in the fresh air so even the stones and all lilies of the field heard.

Great question,
I left several congregations for the same reason. They wouldn't allow me the liberty of my own conscience on matters of Theology which were beyond the scope of basic orthodox doctrine. They wanted to micro manage my thoughts and my life and to involve me in all sorts of activities. I wanted to participate in listening to sermons once a week, pay my tithes, volunteer once in a while for cleaning or odd jobs and then I wanted all the rest of my time and my religion to be managed by the Holy Spirit. But there was always subtle control and expectations and unhealthy enmeshment. Always pushing an agenda of some sort. I never regretted leaving because those circumstances would have choked out my fellowship with God and I would have received was broken cisterns instead.

I havent actually left the church just worship at different spaces or take a break from the one i attend all the time. So i think maybe the title OP is a misnomer.

But there have been times when I just dont want to go or maybe theres issues and its best for me if I take some time out. GOd doesnt really want me away from the flock for too long after hes dealt with the wolves.

ezeric said:

I had been a youth (pastor/leader) for years and was disillusioned with the fact that I couldn't hear GOD'S voice as I thought I should.

Frustrated, with telling others what the Christian Life should look like, but not knowing the power to get there or showing them how to get there.

Do, Do, Do

Don't Touch, Don't Taste (as Paul said).

One Sunday morning, I was shaving, as my family was getting ready to go to church (building).
It was a typical Sunday - or so it appeared...

Then....

GOD spoke!

To me - Of all people! Believe me, I wasn't ready for what I was about to hear.

DAD speaks to Eric "Son, I want you to STOP going to Bayview______ church" (i left the name out on purpose but GOD spoke the entire name.)"

Eric: Where do you want me to go - LORD??

- no answer....

I repeat my request, as to where do you want me to go to church? My thinking is, if I leave one I must take my family to another - right?

So that Sunday I ignored the LORD, thinking HE wasn't telling me enough.
And for 1 month (4 Sunday's) continued to go, there was a strange silence.

After 4 weeks, my wife comes to me and questions "Whats wrong?"

Saints, you can ignore what GOD tells you for so long, but it weighs on you.
And you also know, our spouses know us, they know when we are up or down.

You see, I didn't know what to tell her, if I tell her we aren't going to church anymore, she will wonder if I'm backslidden, and if I tell her what GOD said (very clearly to me), she will ask what I asked, in that ..ok, where do we go next?

So, I was confused - it doesn't take much at times...

But after a month of fighting what the LORD directly told me, I couldn't take it.
I told my wife, what the LORD told me shaving that Sunday morning.

What she then said, floored me!

"that is what the LORD told me too, but I was afraid to tell you!" she said!

We got on our knees and asked together, what do we do next?
The LORD spoke "You are to leave the church, so that you learn how to BE the church"

And we left that day, and never returned! Hallelujah.
The training HE gives, and the growth and the miracles just keep getting better and better.

That was years ago, and later the LORD sent an angel to confirm things for me, but that is another story.

Just like Mary told the servant at the wedding of Cana: "Whatever, HE says - do it!".
John 2:5

The other thing I learned through it, is this:
GOD won't give you the 'next thing', until you do the 'last thing'.

-eric

The Exchanged Life

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Jesus told me to leave the institutional churches in 2012. Not finding fellowship I returned And He brought to me what the angels said to the two women looking for Him at the tomb: "Why do you seek the Living among the dead?" I was shocked that Jesus should say christians are "dead" and asked if this was really Jesus speaking. He took me to Rev. 2 where He said to the church of Sardis, "You have a name that you are alive, but you are dead." Wow. So I left. Months after I returned to another one, unable to find fellowship. Then I was forcibly removed when the visiting prophet rebuked me for sticking to the Bible rather than his opinions (he said women cannot lead) and the pastor and ushers rushed me out the door, the pastor trying to fight me. My friend then sent me Paul Vieira's book 'Jesus Has Left the Building'; then I understood.

You said to do the last thing we were told before getting direction for the next. I left the church; I'm seeking and knocking. No door has opened to me. I really feel that God has placed a requirement on me that I can never meet. I've been homeless several years because of all this. What should I do?

AsherMBS said:

You said to do the last thing we were told before getting direction for the next. I left the church; I'm seeking and knocking. No door has opened to me. I really feel that God has placed a requirement on me that I can never meet. I've been homeless several years because of all this. What should I do?

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Hi,

I haven't posted here in forever almost.

My contribution to your question:

First,
I thank you for your stand in Christ.........Thank you.

Second,
I don't know how leaving institutional church has left you "homeless."
Are you literally homeless? honestly I'm not joking.

If you're speaking in terms of metaphors, then Welcome to the club of people who didn't get an answer other than "In the latter times, The Spirit expressly speaks that many shall depart the faith."
That is where we're at in my opinion...more or less.

It seems to me that the proper gospel being preached, The Gospel of the Kingdom, isn't largely happening.
Accountability and Discipleship aren't happening either.

Socialistic & Communistic ideas are spreading alarmingly as is the Leftist agenda which
is not to say the the agenda of the Right is God.........Neither are the Lord.
The Kingdom of God is Lord's will not the politics of people

To wrap up my second point, Do what God told you to do and make sure that your motives and heart are right. Don't compromise for people........End of discussion.

Third,
Share when you can but first throw a "lil' somethin" out there first to see if the person or people want to hear about what God showed you.
If the response is negative and you KNOW it's in the written word and is congruent with the Lord's attitude and character, Leave the person/people to themselves.

I hope that you don't despair.....Don't despair!
We, those who read the word and have had the Holy Spirit confirm that "Yes, this is not the gospel of the Kingdom nor how I want my body to function" have been through a lot.

I myself am single and I don't see any willing believers coming my way that I find are sober and that I'm attracted to also....

I've been as real with you as I can.

Follow Jesus, Forget the rest.
God bless you as you follow him sincerely and honestly.
Stefos

P.S. Feel free to send me an email in private or here publicly if you'd like.
Stay cool......

I left the church because the church threw me out! I was an elder of a small church that was becoming increasingly corrupt. Two things that happened: 1) the church accepted a monetary gift from a former pastor, only it wasn't a gift at all. It was money laundering. After a year my church was supposed to regift the money to the pastor, so both got tax benefits. 2) an elder retired and another was appointed whose goal was to turn our church into a dog-and-pony show: coffee club, huge wide-screen TVs, etc. I pointed out that the goal should be the spiritual health and well-being of the congregation -- and I was fired! (BTW, a year later the church closed its doors and had considerable debt.)

I have not returned to an established church. I have come to the conclusion that the message of the church should not be a weekly lesson to new Christians, while established Christians sit "bored to tears". The goal of the church should not be endless moral instruction. It should primarily be the sharing of the gifts given to all Christians and equipping all for service to each other and to the community.

I have learned almost all that I want to learn and now devote myself to serving others. IMHO that is what our Lord wants of all Christians.

Stefos said:

Hi,

I haven't posted here in forever almost.

My contribution to your question:

First,
I thank you for your stand in Christ.........Thank you.

Second,
I don't know how leaving institutional church has left you "homeless."
Are you literally homeless? honestly I'm not joking.

If you're speaking in terms of metaphors, then Welcome to the club of people who didn't get an answer other than "In the latter times, The Spirit expressly speaks that many shall depart the faith."
That is where we're at in my opinion...more or less.

It seems to me that the proper gospel being preached, The Gospel of the Kingdom, isn't largely happening.
Accountability and Discipleship aren't happening either.

Socialistic & Communistic ideas are spreading alarmingly as is the Leftist agenda which
is not to say the the agenda of the Right is God.........Neither are the Lord.
The Kingdom of God is Lord's will not the politics of people

To wrap up my second point, Do what God told you to do and make sure that your motives and heart are right. Don't compromise for people........End of discussion.

Third,
Share when you can but first throw a "lil' somethin" out there first to see if the person or people want to hear about what God showed you.
If the response is negative and you KNOW it's in the written word and is congruent with the Lord's attitude and character, Leave the person/people to themselves.

I hope that you don't despair.....Don't despair!
We, those who read the word and have had the Holy Spirit confirm that "Yes, this is not the gospel of the Kingdom nor how I want my body to function" have been through a lot.

I myself am single and I don't see any willing believers coming my way that I find are sober and that I'm attracted to also....

I've been as real with you as I can.

Follow Jesus, Forget the rest.
God bless you as you follow him sincerely and honestly.
Stefos

P.S. Feel free to send me an email in private or here publicly if you'd like.
Stay cool......

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I just saw this response. I didn't get a notification of it before.

You're right: give a little and see whether or not one rejects it before proceeding. If they reject it, leave them alone. I've been doing that for a long time. Everyone so far rejects the truth which is why I'm still alone.

I've been homeless since 2003. It's one of the greatest marvels in the universe for several reasons one being that if it was in my power, I'd be one of the last people on earth, if not the last, to ever be homeless. I have way too much going for me in the realm of potential and talents and gifts God gave me. I can outwork almost anybody, not just because I have enough energy for ten men but because I have a cause, a purpose. I became homeless in 2003 after God showed me that all the issues I was struggling with, the primary one being debilitating anxiety attacks, was due to my dad's involvement in the occult and secret societies. I didn't know this before, but it made sense of everything. When I insisted on receiving deliverance ministry, my dad kicked me out the house on my 24th birthday (5/2/03). I thought I'd be easily able to find some church that would do the very practical thing of giving me a place to stay until I could stand on my own (the anxiety and spiritual stuff prevent me from being able to hold a job at all and have to be addressed and resolved first); I was wronger than most people have ever been. From that time, I wandered from homeless shelter to homeless shelter, from city to city, from state to state, seeking to connect to a fellowship (in a building, home, wherever) where at least one person would say, "I'll help you." I turn 39 years old in a few days (5/2/18), and this hasn't yet happened.

It's so sad when christians tell me God is working things out, implying that this is somehow His will. Job's Comforters. They are concerned only about protecting themselves and leave people like me in the streets to suffer alone while justifying their lack of action and assuaging their guilt. My greatest discouragement hasn't come from christians though. I'be been a christian since I was seven years old and know that Christians don't really care about each other, so their not caring about me wasn't breaking news at all. I spell their name with a small c, because they don't follow Christ. God's inaction has been and will always be my greatest discouragement. No amount of prayer, dire need, and suffering moved Him to connect me with a genuine believer outside of church who would practically help me. For those who say, "He has a great calling on your life is why," it's first important to know that He told me several times that it's no part of His will for me to be homeless even one day (it'll be fifteen years in a few days) and that I have a believer friend who's also been suffering and dragging her kids with her. Is there a great call on her life for her to suffer needlessly too? It's best that no one tries to explain these things or tried to defend God because no one can. The last people we know who tried that got a blasting rebuke from God who needed Job to pray so He wouldn't harm them for their ignorance. But this is where things are.

Our family left because women were teaching and then they even ordinated women. Also, the leaders are not making separation to things which are not Biblical. We have our first own service next Sunday with Word, prayer, Agape Meal and communion. We are not happy to leave. It is hard, but we are getting peace on it. We just cannot do against what we belive is Biblical.

Hi!

I left my last church because of all the rules and regulations. Not from the pastor, but from the people around me.

Seems like salvation is a really fragile state. There are so many things that can cause you to miss it, loose it. Combine that with people who went from having an occasional drink, or smoked to now they had problems with demons.

There was no simplicity, little pleasure of life and it seems to be a really harsh task master.

Life is just too short to be that restricted and held in bondage to unreasonable morays.

Somewhere Jesus said something about coming to him if you have burdens, but these well intentioned people just heaped more burdens on me. So I left.

Sweetness in

IMHO most churches I have attended are too cerebral and too formulaic. It's all about "correct" doctrine and "correct" ritual. There is virtually nothing about being a Christian: loving your neighbor as yourself, doing good to others, praying for everyone who needs it (including Trump, whom I detest), etc.

The church is failing because it lacks the qualities that Jesus had. How many thousands of people followed him because he loved them and did not judge them? He fed them, healed them, filled them with hope and love because they were all worthy of it. "For God so loved the world..."

How about having some bread and wine with your neighbors?