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2 years ago  ::  Sep 22, 2011 - 12:16AM #1
Beckablueyez
Beckablueyez
Posts: 4

For many years now I have been spiritually conflicted. My roots are in conservative/evangelical christianity. Most of the churches I attended or were exposed to in my childhood/adolesence were along the lines of southern baptists, pentecostals, nazerenes etc..
When I was still in elementary school I think about 5th grade I responded to an altar call prayed and was prayed for to accept christ, I was baptized and was active in church and commited to the christian faith but in my teens years lots of stuff happened. I went through my own struggles as many teens do and I also began to see/experience things within my church life that troubled me. I began to see a lot of what I percieve as a pharisees and sadduces mentality , a lot of hypocrisy in which I saw people being judged/condemned by the church for their sins and flaws yet I saw the same people doing the condeming had flaws of their own.

I saw racism , sexism, all kinds of bigotry and self righteousness. It was disheartening. I began to see that the people I was suppose to look up to and be like were people I dind't want to be like.

I also began to feel in my heart that some of the things I was being taught to believe and to proclaim to others I had doubts about. So I began to drift.

Over the years I have become a spiritual seeker. i have studied ,learned about and felt drawn to or intriuged by many religions/spiritual paths.

I tend to be moderate/liberal in my moral thinking/politics. I oppose the death penalty, oppose abortion as birth control but support it in certain situations such as rape/incest
health issues etc.. I refuse to judge/condemn homosexuals because I believe that by biblical standards everyone has sin in their lives and we should not single out certain things that are condemned by the Bible but treat other things that are condemned such as divorce , gluttony, vanity etc.. less harshly or to believe that gay people should have less rights than hetrosexuals.

I tend to believe that it up to each individual to search God's will for them and that no one should cast stones at any other.

I have tried to recommit myself to Christ and to my Christian roots because when I have been tryng out other paths I have felt compelled by Christ but I find that I seem to not fit into the "box"

Most of the christians I know say that I am too liberal that I reject christian standards because I do not see eye to eye on certain issues with them.

when I have tried to adhere to the standards and beliefs that they say one must I feel heartbroken, hypocritical and fake.

But I still have theological questions and doubts and I sometimes wonder if I am really Christian or if I am trying to be something that in my heart I cannot live up to.

I keep trying to resolve things but I go in circles.

what should I do?
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1 year ago  ::  Feb 09, 2012 - 7:21PM #2
noor1961
noor1961
Posts: 15

Hi Becka,


I'm not sure if you're still checking for a reply, but just in case...


I understand that feeling of going in circles. I've spent the last several years in a merry-go-round, trying to find where I belong, religiously. To make a long story short, I'm a religious mutt. My mother and father raised me in the ECLA. After my first confirmation, we left, at my mother's insistence. We tried a few other churches, but nothing stuck. Fast forward to adulthood and I married someone of a different racial and religious background and decided to follow my husband's faith. It was only later that I found out that his religion does not like it when westerners convert into his faith, and that feeling of of being hippie wanna-be and of being seen as a pretender, or worse, made me decide it was not for me. Still married, but not his religion anymore.


A few years ago, I found out that my mother is Jewish. Jewish mother, Jewish me? No. Not for me. Because I had married someone who is not Jewish, and on and on, so I felt the merry-go-round slow down for a weekend or so, and then I had to get back on. No stopping there.


I have decided to return to my Christian roots, as that is by default my only option. The Eastern religions seem not to warm up to western converts, and the other two Abrahamic faiths are out for me, for various reasons. So here I am.


I don't have a church yet, either. For me, right now, reading a little bit of my Bible every day, thinking about what I've read, trying to be decent to the people around me, remembering to pray and being grateful every day, and learning a little bit more about the history of our faith is enough. But it won't always be.


I will want a church. I will want to find a home. Which one will it be? I know what I don't want:


* Insistence that creationism is the only answer and that evolution is wrong and ungodly.


* A big rock band leading a praise chorus


* Little kids coming on stage to dance like butterflies and easter bunnies


I want a church that is simple, that amplifies my sense of awe of God, of Jesus, of the Christian Church, without it being dumbed down.


Read your Bible and think about how it resonates with you and you're likely to find a community that is in line with your values. Don't get lost in the weeds. Start slowly. Interview churches like you get interviewed for a job. This is your soul you're worried about!
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1 year ago  ::  Feb 12, 2012 - 9:57AM #3
Rgurley4
Rgurley4
Posts: 3,805

Hey Becka...another late reply!


If one looks hard enough, usually in every denomination, you can find what I call a:

DOCTRINAL STATEMENT...A series of "we believes" that outlines what a member can expect.

Go here please...for a statement of principles from a non-denominational seminary. As expected, it is heavily annotated and referenced to the Bible.



www.dts.edu/about/doctrinalstatement/

To me the most important part of my spiritual life is to spiritually discern the truths of the miraculous Bible. It is my "owners manual" and "litmus paper". It is "milk" and "strong food".


Hebrews 4:12 (NASB)
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
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6 months ago  ::  Nov 26, 2012 - 11:04AM #4
Bob10
Bob10
Posts: 366

 According to the Scriptures, humans are not an evolutionary accident but a special creation. Human beings were purposefully produced by God to fulfill a preordained role in His world. They have peculiar qualities that somehow reflect the nature of God Himself and set them apart and above all other created beings.


www.studylight.org/dic/hbd/view.cgi?numb...  - entire article
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4 months ago  ::  Feb 08, 2013 - 1:18PM #5
Bob10
Bob10
Posts: 366

You reject all those who stray from Your statutes (Acts 2:1/ 1Cor. 5:7-8),
For their deceit is falsehood.     – Psalm 119:118, NKJV


 


You rebuke the proud—the cursed,
Who stray from Your commandments (1Cor. 7:19/ 1Jn 2:3-4).   - Psalm 119:21, NKJV


 


 


PAUL:   Do not let anyone find the means of leading you astray …     - 2Thes. 2:3, Knox Bible (KNOX)


 PAUL:  … Who is led astray without me being furious about it?    - 2Cor. 11:29, CEB



Wine is a mocker,
Strong drink is a brawler,
And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.    – Proverbs 20:1, NKJV


 


Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,   - Ephesians 5:15, NIV


  


Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She made all the nations drink the wine …     - Rev. 14:8, Common English Bible (CEB)
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3 months ago  ::  Feb 21, 2013 - 10:38AM #6
Bob10
Bob10
Posts: 366

… What pleases the Lord more?
    Burnt offerings and sacrifices, or obeying him?
It is better to obey than to offer a sacrifice.
    It is better to do what he says than to offer the fat of rams.    – 1Sam. 15:22, NIRV


 


… Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments (1Cor. 7:19/1Jn 2:3-4), My statutes (Acts 2:1/1Cor. 5:7-8), and My laws.     – Genesis 26:5, NKJV


 


 


So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.    – 2Cor. 5:9, ESV


 


The one who is in the right will live by faith.
If he pulls back,
    I will not be pleased with him. (Habakkuk 2:3,4)


 But we aren’t people who pull back and are destroyed. We are people who believe and are saved.       – Hebrews 10:38-39, NIRV


 
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2 months ago  ::  Mar 12, 2013 - 10:12AM #7
Bob10
Bob10
Posts: 366

PAUL:  God made the nations so they would seek him, perhaps even reach out to him and find him. In fact, God isn’t far away from any of us.   – Acts 17:27, Common English Bible (CEB)


 


DAVID:  Blessed are those who keep his statutes (Acts 2:1/1Cor. 5:7-8) and seek him with all their heart—      - Psalm 119:2, NIV


  


I have sought you with all my heart.
    Don’t let me stray from any of your commandments (1Cor. 7:19/1Jn 2:3-4)!      - Psalm 119:10, CEB
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2 months ago  ::  Mar 12, 2013 - 10:28AM #8
Bob10
Bob10
Posts: 366

You reject all who stray from Your statutes (Acts 2:1/1Cor. 5:7-8),
for their deceit is a lie.       – Psalm 119:118, HCSB


 


You rebuke the proud—the cursed,
Who stray from Your commandments (1Cor. 7:19/1Jn 2:3-4).                         - Psalm 119:21, NKJV


 


 “If you, Israel, will return,
    then return to me,”
declares the Lord.
“ … put your detestable idols out of my sight
    and no longer go astray,”      - Jeremiah 4:1, NIV


 


For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.   – 1Peter 2:25, ESV


 


PAUL:   … Who is led astray without me being furious about it?     - 2Cor. 11:29, CEB
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2 months ago  ::  Apr 02, 2013 - 12:47PM #9
Bob10
Bob10
Posts: 366

… follow the Lord, keeping his commandments (1Cor. 7:19/1Jn 2:3-4), his decrees, and his statutes (Acts 2:1/1Cor. 5:7-8) …      - 2Kings 23:3, NRSV


 


  


JESUS:  Whoever serves me must follow me … Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.       – Jn 12:26, NRSV


 


PAUL:  I serve God, knowing that what I have done is right. That is how our people served him long ago …       - 2Timothy 1:3, NIRV


 


We and the Lord were your examples. You followed us … So you became a model to all the believers in the lands of Macedonia and Achaia.         - 1Thes. 1:6-7, NIRV


 
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3 weeks ago  ::  May 02, 2013 - 7:43PM #10
Bob10
Bob10
Posts: 366

You reject all who stray from Your statutes


(Acts 2:1/1Cor. 5:7-8), for their deceit is a lie.     - Psalm 119:118, HCSB


 


 


PAUL:  They traded God’s truth for a lie …       - Romans 1:25, Common English Bible (CEB)


 


My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back,  let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.        – James 5:19-20, NASB
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