Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandra79
I understand u can b backslidden sitting on an Apostolic pew... Its where your heart is. And dont get me wrong I love being in the House of God, but not so much being around the ppl. I love prayer I love the preached Word of God. But once again its being around ppl. How does one stop going to the House of God when thats all they kno? I dunno if its more habit or desire that drives me there on Sundays & Wednesdays but when I get there I feel so out of place and dont feel like I belong... I kno a lot has to deal with past hurts and the fact im not a young person anymore and neither do I have a husband or a family... Im sure id fit better out in the world but have absolutly NO desire for the things that the world has to offer. Can u be saved serving God from ur house... Listening to cds... Sending ur tithes to missions? I kno scripture says u must have a Man of God in ur life but I dont know if I can truely take being hurt by another Man of God or the thought of being kicked outa another church even haunts me...
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Of course you can be saved serving God from your home. You might want to research house churching. Many communities have house church networks.
That being said...
I think it's spiritually dangerous not to have any felllowship with other believers or sound teaching. I was really burned by a local church and don't feel safe in a traditional church. I began meeting with "Christians" at a local coffee shop once a week, listening to the radio, and essentially learning what it truly means to be a Christian biblically. Today I attend a church that has over 3,000 members. They meet Sunday afternoons at a very large tabernacle in Centerville Ohio... but it's not your traditional church. It's a network of house churches. They are Reformed in doctrine (I'm one of the few Pentecostals in their midst). But the teaching is VERY deep and VERY sound for the most part. They don't agree with Apostolics on everything... but we're all on a journey.
If you were in ministry, you might want to research house churching and start a house church out of your home. I think there is a thread on house church in the Deep Waters section of this forum.
Today's institutional churches are largely religious franchises. The way to have church is clearly outlined in
I Corinthians 14. If you study the book of Acts you'll find that the majority of the time Christians met in homes in small groups. No buildings, salaried clergy, sound systems, blah, blah, blah. That's how Christianity spread so easily. It was like this for nearly 200-300 years. Then the Roman Empire began mandating that Christians attend authorized gatherings in cathedrals.
Not attending a traditional church has nothing to do with backsliding. Backsliding is when you begin to live for self and not Jesus. Frankly, my religious service was all for my self and ego when attending traditional church. Today I'm doing a lot of volunteer work with homeless shelters in the area and focusing on sharing and SHOWING the Christian life to those in my life. Instead of trying to win them to a church... I'm focusing on Jesus. It took a lot of time to detox from traditional religion, ditching the legalism, and discovering what grace is all about. Now I'm victorious and complete in Christ alone.
I'll say a prayer for you after posting this. God bless and keep you and yours.
Re: How does one backslide?
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