What caused you to leave your church?

Johnnz

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What do you mean by mixing law with faith?

Do you know Jesus gave us His commands to obey? His commandments are His law.

Let's not go down this road here. There are other threads where this is debated -ad ifinitum.

John
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keepuslord

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Galatians 3
1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.
5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
 
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keepuslord

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Months ago while on a job I was given a box to discard in the trash as I did so and threw it into the trash heap I heard a strange sound so I tore into the box and found a money bag of old coins. Immediately satan came with lies but God won and I gave the money back to the owner. The world would say it was thrown out therefore it was legally mine yet God said other wise. This was an example I saw as Gods laws being written on my heart. I believe we now worship in Spirit and truth and when I fail in any area I run to my Lord to cleanse me and enable me to do His will. Right now I'm in the fire to forgive someone who has hurt me and my family yet I know and trust GOD will prevail not me. I expect He'll always be working within me to do His will. I trust nothing in my flesh. Are we saved unto good works, YES.
 
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Francis Drake

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Months ago while on a job I was given a box to discard in the trash as I did so and threw it into the trash heap I heard a strange sound so I tore into the box and found a money bag of old coins. Immediately satan came with lies but God won and I gave the money back to the owner. The world would say it was thrown out therefore it was legally mine yet God said other wise. This was an example I saw as Gods laws being written on my heart. I believe we now worship in Spirit and truth and when I fail in any area I run to my Lord to cleanse me and enable me to do His will. Right now I'm in the fire to forgive someone who has hurt me and my family yet I know and trust GOD will prevail not me. I expect He'll always be working within me to do His will. I trust nothing in my flesh. Are we saved unto good works, YES.
Amen.
The law is for lawbreakers, not for those who listen to the conviction of their spirit.
The law is there so society can punish evil doers. Obeying laws never made anyone right with God.
 
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New_Wineskin

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This thing of mixing Law with Faith is sweeping through many areas of the church now. Sad ending for the end time church, I'd say it's causing great confusion.
It has been that way since Paul's time . His writings did not put an end to it . In fact , people have used and are using Paul's own writings to have a works-based religious righteousness . Everytime people quote Paul or any part of the Scriptures and demand obedience to it , it throws faith to the curb and elevates Law as god . The "Scripture only" doctrine promtes this doctrine .
 
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Francis Drake

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It has been that way since Paul's time . His writings did not put an end to it . In fact , people have used and are using Paul's own writings to have a works-based religious righteousness . Everytime people quote Paul or any part of the Scriptures and demand obedience to it , it throws faith to the curb and elevates Law as god . The "Scripture only" doctrine promtes this doctrine .

Amen,
The strange thing is that getting righteous by sticking to laws is something any unbeliever can do. You don't need to be a child of God to follow laws.
 
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Please pray for me as I have a small group in my home.
Good for you! May God move deeply in the hearts of each member, and everyone they have contact with.

We nearly went crazy, blaming ourselves for our lack of understanding we learned the way of silent conformity.
What a painful experience. Sometimes in those cases, leaders don't even realize they're doing something harmful. It grows and the fire is fed by passionate followers.

PM me if you ever need to vent -- I've been through some things.
 
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jsimms615

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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

that's really an interesting story. I've always heard that we are all ministers. I think people give that lip service while holding paid staff to a different standard. I have always thought my ministry was in helping people in very practical ways. I have been doing this mainly on my own for the last 7 years. But, still yearning for a group of christians to have fellowship with. The morning church experience has not met my needs. I need something more than a morning service and a handshake at the door and impersonal shallow relationships.
Thanks for th enecouraing word
 
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Pteriax

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Forum members,

I want to hear your stories or reasons why you left your particular church organization. For me, it was because my church was superficial and 80% of the sermons was about money. It wasn't about Christ anymore or his teachings. It was more like a for-profit corporation than a meeting place for believers to come together.

What are some specific things that have caused you all to leave your organizations?

It was Methodist. I believe the Bible.
 
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covered4god

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I joined a home church in shipshawana 180 miles from my house because the church down the street from my house told me i was not welcome because i chose to cover my head while praying and they had a issue with my scooter.

i would park it with the other motorcycles and the wel to does that drove the big bikes did not like it that a pink scooter was sitting next to their 100,00 dollar harleys. so they whined to teacher and I left.

But now i feel i am where i belong and i am happy even it it takes me 3 hours to get their it is worth every mile. It is a home run mennonite/amish church.
 
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jrdnoland

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Nothing. I haven't left my Church. I enjoy it very much.

This is just what we need. A place for disgruntled Christians to gripe.


I used to be like you, about 20 years ago. I thought God had only enlightened me and it was my job to tell others that they were wrong, no matter what the method, no matter what the outcome.

Over time, God taught and I learned, that I can't beat people up, that my opinion was not always correct, that it was better to focus on the things that bind us together rather than the things that divide us.

I have been in so many different churches that I think I have a fairly good idea of how a majority of them function. There is no perfect church this side of Heaven, we are the church and we are sinful by nature.

God has called different people to different "churches" different denominations, to focus on different aspects of Himself. We are His body and we don't all function in the same way.

I just recently started home churching due to many reasons. I consider my theology reformed and I tend to be a little confessional; I bring these things to my home church. I act as a leader, but am only a single person and not the most important person in the group. I like the fact that in a home church we can be more interactive, become more relational, and don't have to conform to the traditions of men. We try to live and worship together in a way that brings glory to God, in a way that will help attract people to our fellowship and ultimately to Him.

We also go out and minister in the nursing homes and I help lead a men's group where I work.
 
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ezeric

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I used to be like you, about 20 years ago. I thought God had only enlightened me and it was my job to tell others that they were wrong, no matter what the method, no matter what the outcome.

Over time, God taught and I learned, that I can't beat people up, that my opinion was not always correct, that it was better to focus on the things that bind us together rather than the things that divide us.

I have been in so many different churches that I think I have a fairly good idea of how a majority of them function. There is no perfect church this side of Heaven, we are the church and we are sinful by nature.

God has called different people to different "churches" different denominations, to focus on different aspects of Himself. We are His body and we don't all function in the same way.

I just recently started home churching due to many reasons. I consider my theology reformed and I tend to be a little confessional; I bring these things to my home church. I act as a leader, but am only a single person and not the most important person in the group. I like the fact that in a home church we can be more interactive, become more relational, and don't have to conform to the traditions of men. We try to live and worship together in a way that brings glory to God, in a way that will help attract people to our fellowship and ultimately to Him.

We also go out and minister in the nursing homes and I help lead a men's group where I work.

Beautiful!

JESUS building HIS CHURCH!

-eric
 
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B

bbbbbbb

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Nothing. I haven't left my Church. I enjoy it very much.

This is just what we need. A place for disgruntled Christians to gripe.

I agree with you. If it isn't broken, don't fix it and if it is broken then don't attempt to reinvent it.

I haven't left my church and I could care less what sort of building it meets in as long as the roof doesn't leak.
 
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Stefos

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Hi folks,

Well, Church is people who are saved & have a biblical church governmental model under the Headship of Christ in relationship not the 500 different denominations we have.

The book "Pagan Christianity?" best describes where I stand.

The Lord showed me some of the stuff the book talks about when I first got saved at 15..........Now he is wanting me to continue following him in what he's shown me out of his written word & prophetically in visions...YES visions from God....they're real folks.

What the Lord shows you himself, you're responsible for...No one else is.

Amen?
Right on,
Stefos
 
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Stefos

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God has called different people to different "churches" different denominations, to focus on different aspects of Himself. We are His body and we don't all function in the same way.

Hello,

This, to me, is wrong.

Paul in I Corinthians stated that:
"Divisions MUST occur among you to see who among you are approved."

The divisions called "denominations" today are not from the Lord's heart but from the selfish motives & pride of man along with a good mixing of tradition(s).

While tradition is nice, really, it can become and has become a dead thing where people repeat a movement or wave a bible or whatever, without understanding. Furthermore, How does this tradition appear to people who aren't saved seeing this stuff for the first time? Weird or bizarre?.....Usually in these traditions, the believers following them don't know why they do them! Yikes....

Ex. Priest comes from the English word Prester which was know prior as Presbyter or Elder.........Today the Priest/Pastor is the same thing in any denomination you go to: The de facto "Head" of the church.

No sir....It's not God's will that God has "called" different people to different denominations. It IS God's will that we go back to the written word & see what God did in the early church.

The Roman Catholic church is where Protestantism came from.
Eastern Orthodoxy had numerous breakaways.
Coptic and other denominations were created due to not believing in the agreements of the Ecumenical councils from ancient times, Ex. Chalcedon.

This current mess is allowed by the Lord but it's not his perfect will and having believers going through the "grist mill" of denominations is not right.
We don't search through the denominational forests & thickets to come to pasture with God's people under the Headship of Christ....Jesus is in his people.

Let's go back to the New Testament, keeping it in context and let's follow it and the living Word Jesus.

Amen.
Stefos
 
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ByTheSpirit

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I left my church (Assemblies of God) because like most here it was getting superficial and I am tired of trying new churches thinking that I will find one that I feel at peace in. I did have one like that a few years ago, but one day after talking to the Pastor and expressing a difference in theological beliefs to him he told me I was under God's curse for disagreeing with him and so I left.

I do know now though that God wants me to run a "house church" but what I'm running into right now is I feel He has told me to wait until my wife fully gives herself to Him. Not that I'm perfect but there are somethings there that really make me uneasy about beginning such a ministry, least of which being her propensity to want all the nicest and newest gadgets and lack of Bible study and prayer. Once again, not that I'm perfect but how can I run such a ministry on my own and I really don't feel comfortable with her level of maturity in the faith to have her assist me.

But yes, back to the OP, I left my church because of it's superficial nature. The sunday school teacher (for my class at least, adult class) were never prepared for class and if you were not part of the leadership group, or part of the "trusted brothers and sisters" club, then you were not allowed to participate in discussion. The Pastor being a part of that class would allow side bar chat to be engaged in and I didn't feel it was my place to speak up and tell them to straighten up, especially if the man God had placed there as Pastor was allowing it and even participating in it. The people would always decry how little people prayed in the church as a whole, but yet, the church has a 915 prayer meeting every sunday and the only ones that would go out of a church of 200 or so were myself, a dear senior hispanic lady, and the Pastor. Then this one lady, who is also a Sunday School teacher and a church elder, is very good at drawing attention to herself during praise and worship as she blurts out just random things. She has actually stopped praise and worship once just to call the Pastor forward so everyone in the church could file past him and shake his hand. She sang a special once (one of my last services there) where as she sang she was bebopping and hipbouncing behind the pulpit. I had just had enough. Either churches are too legalistic and narrowminded, or they are way too liberal and anything goes type because of God's grace, etc.

I don't know I know I sound like I'm complaining, but I'm trying not to so I apologize. God has told me though something very dear to Him. That is He has chosen ones, a new generation within the saints, who are being personally led and trained by the Holy Spirit for a special hour of service to the King. They will be the ones to lead the church through the end times and leading the saints to the triumphal procession of our King as He returns. Those currently in charge of big and fancy meetings and churches/ministries now are VERY SOON going to wake up and realize that something remarkable has happened and this new generation has led the church on to the fullness of the realities Jesus has for us! Praise to His name!
 
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Stefos

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I left my church (Assemblies of God) because like most here it was getting superficial and I am tired of trying new churches thinking that I will find one that I feel at peace in. I did have one like that a few years ago, but one day after talking to the Pastor and expressing a difference in theological beliefs to him he told me I was under God's curse for disagreeing with him and so I left.

I do know now though that God wants me to run a "house church" but what I'm running into right now is I feel He has told me to wait until my wife fully gives herself to Him. Not that I'm perfect but there are somethings there that really make me uneasy about beginning such a ministry, least of which being her propensity to want all the nicest and newest gadgets and lack of Bible study and prayer. Once again, not that I'm perfect but how can I run such a ministry on my own and I really don't feel comfortable with her level of maturity in the faith to have her assist me.

But yes, back to the OP, I left my church because of it's superficial nature. The sunday school teacher (for my class at least, adult class) were never prepared for class and if you were not part of the leadership group, or part of the "trusted brothers and sisters" club, then you were not allowed to participate in discussion. The Pastor being a part of that class would allow side bar chat to be engaged in and I didn't feel it was my place to speak up and tell them to straighten up, especially if the man God had placed there as Pastor was allowing it and even participating in it. The people would always decry how little people prayed in the church as a whole, but yet, the church has a 915 prayer meeting every sunday and the only ones that would go out of a church of 200 or so were myself, a dear senior hispanic lady, and the Pastor. Then this one lady, who is also a Sunday School teacher and a church elder, is very good at drawing attention to herself during praise and worship as she blurts out just random things. She has actually stopped praise and worship once just to call the Pastor forward so everyone in the church could file past him and shake his hand. She sang a special once (one of my last services there) where as she sang she was bebopping and hipbouncing behind the pulpit. I had just had enough. Either churches are too legalistic and narrowminded, or they are way too liberal and anything goes type because of God's grace, etc.

I don't know I know I sound like I'm complaining, but I'm trying not to so I apologize. God has told me though something very dear to Him. That is He has chosen ones, a new generation within the saints, who are being personally led and trained by the Holy Spirit for a special hour of service to the King. They will be the ones to lead the church through the end times and leading the saints to the triumphal procession of our King as He returns. Those currently in charge of big and fancy meetings and churches/ministries now are VERY SOON going to wake up and realize that something remarkable has happened and this new generation has led the church on to the fullness of the realities Jesus has for us! Praise to His name!

Hi!

The Lord gave me a vision a few years ago and I think that it's pertinent to share it now:

I saw the Lord standing with a shoulder strap type of thing which could carry seed. It was filled in such a way that it was huge in size.

I saw him walking & sowing the seed using his right hand.

As he sowed the seed, I saw the seed go from real time to slow motion until it finally stopped mid air.

I then saw each seed in mid-air crack and singular shafts of light came out of each seed I could see and then the whole "scene" flared up with light and the vision ended:

This is the interpretation:

Jesus is the sower.....Christians the seed.

The Lord said that new believers would be manifesting and that the Lord would do an accelerated work in & through them (Hence the seed breaking & send out light BEFORE going into the ground & receiving sunlight & water).

The overall gist was that the Lord was saying that things are being "fast forwarded" per se, in the Spirit......God was accelerating believers everywhere.

That's it!
Stefos

Comments or questions? I'd be happy to answer them.
 
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ByTheSpirit

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Hi!

The Lord gave me a vision a few years ago and I think that it's pertinent to share it now:

I saw the Lord standing with a shoulder strap type of thing which could carry seed. It was filled in such a way that it was huge in size.

I saw him walking & sowing the seed using his right hand.

As he sowed the seed, I saw the seed go from real time to slow motion until it finally stopped mid air.

I then saw each seed in mid-air crack and singular shafts of light came out of each seed I could see and then the whole "scene" flared up with light and the vision ended:

This is the interpretation:

Jesus is the sower.....Christians the seed.

The Lord said that new believers would be manifesting and that the Lord would do an accelerated work in & through them (Hence the seed breaking & send out light BEFORE going into the ground & receiving sunlight & water).

The overall gist was that the Lord was saying that things are being "fast forwarded" per se, in the Spirit......God was accelerating believers everywhere.

That's it!
Stefos

Comments or questions? I'd be happy to answer them.

Amazing vision! Lord accomplish Your Will and may You raise Your chosen ones, Your holy vessels, clothed in great power and glory to fulfill Your purposes!
 
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Forum members,

I want to hear your stories or reasons why you left your particular church organization. For me, it was because my church was superficial and 80% of the sermons was about money. It wasn't about Christ anymore or his teachings. It was more like a for-profit corporation than a meeting place for believers to come together.

What are some specific things that have caused you all to leave your organizations?

I left an AoG church I had attended 4 yrs because of what I called "teaching weak faith". I may have over-reacted as I now get the impression that is just their doctrine. I wanted to go to where healings and deliverances are the norm; there is certainly no shortage of people needing healing and deliverance. Lastly I would like to see how a church grows when miracles are commonplace.
 
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