Practicing Christianity Without Attending Church?

[Blood Bought 1953]

7 minutes ago, Margo1945 said:

@Blood Bought 1953, thank you for your comment re: my last post .. I reposted it just for you .. lol .. actually, I didn't .. with many posts when I click on Submit Reply, the thingie goes round and round and round and round and ... and finally stops showing as Saving and is back to Submit Reply but the post isn't posted .. thus, I, sometimes post more than once coz I don't know if my post was posted or not and so duplicate posts show such as here .. sorry for the repetition, folks, but here I made the most of it .. lol

 

It was a wise and insightful post.....worthy of being put up two times.....post it again if you want....you’ll get no complaints from me......lol....

[Alive]

The following is true and born out by history.....

When believers whether individuals and even more so a 'group' of believers, places a priority on battling heresy, the focus is no longer on Christ, the Head of the Church and a building up of the saints.

When this is happening, there is a loss and a very real danger of halting growth.

One large contributor to the developing hierarchy and ecclesiastical nature and the increasing centralization of christendom--was to stand against the early heresies. This seemed good at the time, but the unintended result was a brisk move away from the organic and vital 'Church' experience to what we have today.

Individual believers in pews as spectators looking for sustenance from a person behind a podium--rather than as a unified body looking to the Head.

This system replaces naturally occurring members being manifested by the Holy Spirit as teachers, prophets and pastors with carnally placed individuals based on things like what seems practical choice or carnal talents--or even political expedience.

The result looks and acts nothing like the early church experience and makes for an environment where true spiritual growth is very difficult.

The 'Church' is an organic living body and not a dead artifice.

Let's concentrate on building and not tearing down. Let's look to Christ, the Head in ordering His Body.

[The Survivor]

No idea where you live but I know people join/create groups from meetup.com. I have never attended any because, we are an introverted antisocialist. I also do not go to church for that reason, along with I can not stand singing, crowds, and not want to spend the gas money because I am on a "Dollar Tree Only Survival Budget" (and some weeks i can not even afford that).

You could always create yourself a group, describe why you doing it, and have a coffee meeting someplace and talk with who wanted to join you and see where that all goes. That way you the leader of the group and founding your thoughts.

[The Survivor]

3 minutes ago, Margo1945 said:

I read your list of interests and your being on a "Dollar Tree Only Survival Budget" and not being able to always afford that .. anyway, I found it interesting that your interests fit your low budget: skydiving, paintball, and martial arts .. lol .. oh, and good luck finding romance .. lol .. I take it that you don't actually engage in those activities as they can be costly .. seriously, though, your idea of a forming a group of Christians and pursuing ideas and interests of said group is a good one and a possible answer for those who cannot for whatever reason attend Church services .. such groups are always possible, for even the least of them, only needs you and one other person gathered together in Christ's Name and there you have it "Church" .. since you are an introvert, you may understand my next comment more than would an extravert ..  one advantage to going to an organised Church is that certain individuals, including the pastor and parish council, are the ones formulating and leading the service, so if all goes well, they get the accolades and if all goes wrong, the criticism .. they speak out fearlessly .. when an introvert and I am basically such meets face-to-face with even a close friend but one who is not Christian at all or not a very believing Christian, the introvert may find it difficult to speak up and out in defending and promoting one's beliefs when the other person(s) will oppose such .. I have experienced such reticence, so the saying, "put your money where your mouth is" comes to mind, in that, such is not always easy .. I believe adamantly and vehemently but I am not always able to voice my beliefs as adamantly and vehemently .. I constantly pray for the courage to do so .. the funny thing is, I do not care what others think of me when they judge me for what I believe as my beliefs do always come first and I shall not water them down to come more in line with what others think .. but, still, it is not as easy to be face-to-face with others in evangelising and so, in many ways, going to an organised Church is much easier as all there are Christians, at least, for the time of being there and others are taking the lead .. being a follower among like-minded people or when one does not have to speak out is easier than being a follower face-to-face and alone with people opposing one's beliefs .. anyway, I throw this in as I think you may understand more than would an extravert .. enjoy your low budget activities .. try golf as it, too, is low budget .. lol .. I enjoyed your post 

Interests are different than"actually affording to do them." I am interested in space travel but not doing that either. So please be careful what you assume people do or do not because of "an interest." Unless you were being funny and sarcastic, which I am sorry but I do not get easily over text.

But thanks!

I also hate golf. Suck at golf. Will not do golf.

Anyone for chess?

Edited December 10, 2019 by The Survivor

[The Survivor]

4 minutes ago, Margo1945 said:

@The Survivor, I am sorry if I offended you as that was not my intention .. I was trying to be funny and the lol (laughing out loud) was meant to convey such .. I was not sure how serious you were either when you stressed your low budget and then some high budget interests .. of course, they can be watched but not engaged in .. anyway, sorry if you took my comments in the way I  did not mean them .. as for golf, I feel the same way .. I did play golf twice in my younger adult life and the first time I got a hole in one .. can't recall the tee and it was a fluke and not any skill of mine .. I should have quit then, so I could claim to have had an "always hole in one" game .. lol .. take care, The Survivor, and once again, sorry if I offended you as that was not my intention .. it was more a play on words on my part .. low budget and sky diving .. lol .. God bless 

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh....... then I apologize. I am very sensitive indeed about it because it is hard to not do the things I do enjoy doing because of financial priorities first, and endured so much criticism (here locally) because most people just not "get it." So it has become sensitive for me, and over text over the years those "lols" have been people just laughing/mocking at me. If you were being funny than I do truly apologize.

This is one reason, of several, I have not gone to the church I have been going to. I get tired of hearing people being so happy about their meals, their cars, their whatevers while I am usually 92.3% home every night staying cheap (and during holidays hard for me to have fun overall knowing people have lost children in violent attacks or diseases, and this is also on a personal level). Also, before anyone talks about food banks, donations, etc etc, believe me, I have done all that, tired of all that as there are people worse than me, and just hilariously funny I make "too much" because everyone looks at my pay before taxes and priorities, not after. Where was I? I forget..... I think I was saying one reason I do not go to church or social groups is to hear other people.

[samuelg1]

4 hours ago, The Survivor said:

No idea where you live but I know people join/create groups from meetup.com. I have never attended any because, we are an introverted antisocialist. I also do not go to church for that reason, along with I can not stand singing, crowds, and not want to spend the gas money because I am on a "Dollar Tree Only Survival Budget" (and some weeks i can not even afford that).

You could always create yourself a group, describe why you doing it, and have a coffee meeting someplace and talk with who wanted to join you and see where that all goes. That way you the leader of the group and founding your thoughts.

There are several meetup groups, all associated with the larger "mega" churches. All of the attendees are older, middle aged, trying to find a partner or spouse. They're not well attended, actually. They typically struggle to attract even a single RSVP. One lady in one such group pestered me to attend one of these meetups which was quite annoying. 

[samuelg1]

In a way, I'm glad I encountered this heretical church. It's forced me to dig deeper and conduct my own research instead of being a lazy slob and relying on someone else to spoon feed me the supposed word of God. As I have discovered, a lack of vigilance leads to a lack of knowledge, which in turn makes one an easy prey for shifty pastors looking to turn a quick buck. 

I see this church and every other church for what it is: a fun, social gathering which may or may not present God's word in an accurate light. Whatever is said, I'll be sure to double check it's accuracy on my own. 

And no, I won't feel guilty in the slightest: Sunday is not the Sabbath and attending church is not required by the Bible. 

So many people have been duped but I'm not one of them. 

[samuelg1]

For those interested, we are actually looking at the Greek original text demonstrating all of the fallacies in translation of major editions such as the KJV and NIV. Suffice to say, without actually examining the original Greek text, we know nothing about the Bible itself. 

[Michael37]

8 minutes ago, Prodigal Son said:

@samuelg1 I know what u mean bro. Im currently in a situation where I don't believe all the things being taught by my church and notice a lot of "human tradition" being held above scripture everywhere I look. Im not sure what I will do yet but i have considered going on without a church. Good luck and God bless.

 Two links for those researching Christians who are "done with denominational institutional Christianity". 

Done With Church.Org/Meet Other Dones/Share Your Story

Christianity Today/Who Are The "Dones"/Why Are They Done With Organised Religion?

[The Survivor]

@samuelg1 are you able or considering to try creating your own group on that site I gave you and see how that goes? Based on your personality of course I do not know how very social or antisocial you are with other humans.

 

Gosh took me so long to edit this because I put the wrong name in the @ and it would not let me remove it without refreshing the page. Grrrrr.... pterodactyl!!