Do You Ever Think Of Going Back?

[Rico]

Originally Posted by keith4him

Rico,

Let me say from the onset that one should never leave Jesus period. Now with that being said alot of people are more comfortable with the UC mindset and practice of loving God and with that there are certain affections, memories and things they loved about it. Basicly being nostaligic.

But there a parallel found in the NT, the book of Hebrews, keep in mind the big picture was convincing Hebrew Christians the superiority of the New Covenant over the Old. Along with that was all the trappings of the Old Way, the Temple complex, the elaborate worship rituals, the smells of the buring sacrafices, the chanting of the priests, the whole emotional, memory connection to the past life.

For some the journey was to hard to focus on faith (life in the Spirit) so they returned to the tangible, the predictable, the structured way of religion.

Now before every UC or those that lean that way come yelling at me, I realize not every UC is this way, but legalism is easy to fall into because of all the reasons listed above. It becomes the safety net instead of Jesus.

But your confidence in him alone, not in your commitment to him.

I have always felt that some people really do need all those rules or they just won't make it. They are boundry minded people and there's nothing wrong with that. I am not a boundry minded person, by any stretch of the imagination, but there are times when I look back and can see how those boundries benefited me in big ways.

Originally Posted by keith4him

Rico,

Let me say from the onset that one should never leave Jesus period. Now with that being said alot of people are more comfortable with the UC mindset and practice of loving God and with that there are certain affections, memories and things they loved about it. Basicly being nostaligic.

But there a parallel found in the NT, the book of Hebrews, keep in mind the big picture was convincing Hebrew Christians the superiority of the New Covenant over the Old. Along with that was all the trappings of the Old Way, the Temple complex, the elaborate worship rituals, the smells of the buring sacrafices, the chanting of the priests, the whole emotional, memory connection to the past life.

For some the journey was to hard to focus on faith (life in the Spirit) so they returned to the tangible, the predictable, the structured way of religion.

Now before every UC or those that lean that way come yelling at me, I realize not every UC is this way, but legalism is easy to fall into because of all the reasons listed above. It becomes the safety net instead of Jesus.

But your confidence in him alone, not in your commitment to him.

Amen~ I believe this is the major reason why so many who do leave fall as hard as they do, their inner heart was never change, just their wardrobe. It became their God, and grace.

Mathew 7:23 tree and it's fruits
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Nope

[berkeley]

Originally Posted by tamor

Yeah she di-id.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tidr96VA39U

[Rico]

Originally Posted by COOPER

There are more blessing from Jesus than just Church, Thad.

Since I have been out of UPC and Church less We have been greatly blessed.

Here are some:

Our Marriage was saved.
Peace in the home
Family loves each other and the kids a are close.

God gave us a baby girl to adopt.

We purchased our first home that was built in 2000 with a $15,000. grant.

Less stress is in my life. etc, ect.

Coop, have you ever stopped to consider that maybe it's because you stopped being a threat to the enemy of your soul the moment you decided to walk away? I'm not berating you, ok. Just tossing that idea out. I know what the pressure can be like when you are in church and there is a certain amount of relief that comes from not having to deal with that pressure.

[Sherri]

Do I ever think we'll go back, or even want to? No, not for us. We are so happy and blessed in the work of the Lord right where we are. God has been especially good to us and we have seen so many people brought into the Kingdom in the past 15 years. We have seen healings, financial miracles, marriages restored, lots and lots of baptisms and Holy Ghost fillings.

Doing what we did is not right for everyone. There are lots of people who don't understand how to keep balance and they need a more rigid place in order to live for God. I totally understand that and don't blame them for staying. For us, this was definitely the right thing.

[Pastor Keith]

Originally Posted by Rico

I have always felt that some people really do need all those rules or they just won't make it. They are boundry minded people and there's nothing wrong with that. I am not a boundry minded person, by any stretch of the imagination, but there are times when I look back and can see how those boundries benefited me in big ways.

Well the scripture says that which is not of faith is sin...

let everyman be fully persuaded in his own mind...

Remember the law (performance based faith) was a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ, impossible to produce righteousness though.

But very effective in showing our sinfulness. When I thought like that, believe me I became very aware of my continuing sinfulness.

[Rico]

Originally Posted by Sherri

Do I ever think we'll go back, or even want to? No, not for us. We are so happy and blessed in the work of the Lord right where we are. God has been especially good to us and we have seen so many people brought into the Kingdom in the past 15 years. We have seen healings, financial miracles, marriages restored, lots and lots of baptisms and Holy Ghost fillings.

Doing what we did is not right for everyone. There are lots of people who don't understand how to keep balance and they need a more rigid place in order to live for God. I totally understand that and don't blame them for staying. For us, this was definitely the right thing.

I am not asking you this to pick, ok? I just know that you once were and aren't now. Have you changed any of what you preach because of getting out, other than standards issues?

[Charlie Brown]

Originally Posted by COOPER

There are more blessing from Jesus than just Church, Thad.

Since I have been out of UPC and Church less We have been greatly blessed.

Here are some:

Our Marriage was saved.
Peace in the home
Family loves each other and the kids a are close.

God gave us a baby girl to adopt.

We purchased our first home that was built in 2000 with a $15,000. grant.

Less stress is in my life. etc, ect.

Not one mention of being closer to God. That is telling.

Originally Posted by Rico

Coop, have you ever stopped to consider that maybe it's because you stopped being a threat to the enemy of your soul the moment you decided to walk away? I'm not berating you, ok. Just tossing that idea out. I know what the pressure can be like when you are in church and there is a certain amount of relief that comes from not having to deal with that pressure.

Rico, this mindset is how I was raised.... and this is exactly why I have no intention of ever going back. "If you aren't struggling in every area of your life, then you must not be enough of a threat to the devil for him to cause bad things to happen to you, therefore you are going the wrong direction"