"PUTTING CHRIST BACK INTO CHRISTIANITY"

JESUSISM: A type of Christianity in which belivers adhere to the life and teachings of Jesus as the true and perfect foundation for their spriritual walk.

While in theory every Christian believes this, modern evangelical Chrisitianity mostly adheres to the teachings of Paul. A Jesusist holds the words of Paul and all others scribes of the Bible as wisdom gleaned from that person's encounter with God, but believes that the words of JESUS are esteemed above the words of ANY other person.

Jesusism views the LIFE, the TEACHINGS and the WORKS of Jesus as the only infalliable way, truth and life by which we should live. It is our life, our path, our guide and the only source by which we place our faith.

In short- what Jesus said and did is more important than what anyone else said or did in the Bible and if there seems to be any contradiction between words of Jesus and another person's words in the Bible; then what Jesus said is what stands as THE truth.



Sunday, April 18, 2010

Now I am a heathen also

I got up one sunday morning and sighed and decided to go to church. I asked my daughter "honey don't you want to get dressed and go to church...." She looked at me like I had grown and extra nose and said "Nooooooo." After much explaining and much convincing (of her AND myself) I got us dressed and drove us to our friendly neighborhood church. One hour later, after long prayers, devotionals, songs, scripture readings, testimonies and sunday morning annoucements; they begin taking up offering. My daughter is sitting there looking at me and continuously whispering, "mom can't we go now.....Mom this is no fun.....why are we here..." After a while I started asking myself those same quesions. Why WAS I there..... I couldn't quite figure out the answer myself. I am told that you should go to church because that is how you serve God. I looked and around and wondered what use could God possibly have for this. A ceremony that follows a very ritualized format that seldom if ever varied and which most people show up out of societal mores and political correctness. I placed money in the offering plate took my daughter by the hand and left that place. I thanked her for opening my eyes. And now, I am officially a heathen.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful blog. I feel the same way. We really think alike. I was going to post on Facebook that I am a Jesusist... I wondered if anyone else had used that term, so I Googled it and found this blog! Jesus is the only way!

-Dillon

Invisible2men said...

I love what I have read here.

Invisible2men said...

I love this blog!

Anonymous said...

I love you and your wonderful blog. This all seems to be so much more in the spirit of Jesus then other points of view. Thank you for taking the time to do this. You are doing a wonderful work here.
Sincerely,
Christopher

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Wow, that sounds just like what I'm going through. I was perfectly happy at my church when a friend of mine who attended the same church asked me, "Why do you go to X Church?" He had been going through a tough time since our church had treated him shabbily. I told him, "Well...I like the sermons", which was true, but that started me on a 5 month journey that culminated in me leaving not only my church but church for good. OK, never say never, but I spent the last 5 months looking into the reasons I go to church, the history of the church, church finances, etc. and I came up with a whole lot of nastiness. Churches are very ugly when you lift the hood and take a peek.

Last week I took my normal bi-monthly tithe check (which is sizable) and gave it to a Christian friend that was in financial trouble (bankruptcy). It felt good to help out a fellow Christian, but I gotta tell you -- it felt much better not giving it to a church.

Anonymous said...

When we do not approach things like gathering and prayer mindfully, those practices can be more emptying than fulfilling. It was the empty rituals that Jesus taught us to avoid - not the ritual - but its emptiness.

Charles Laird said...

I am told that you should go to church because that is how you serve God. I looked and around and wondered what use could God possibly have for this. A ceremony that follows a very ritualized format that seldom if ever varied and which most people show up out of societal mores and political correctness. I placed money in the offering plate took my daughter by the hand and left that place.

I can't help but say, going to church is not how to serve God. Giving money to church isn't how to serve God. Doing rituals is not serving God.

Serving God starts with a relationship with Christ Jesus who is Lord and savior. Paul never said do religion. Paul never said give offering in an offering plate. Of at some point you would like what an actual Christian practices, please feel free to contact me. Charles.laird@gmail.com