"Why I love Jesus with a passion but the CHURCH SUX!!"

She was fifteen and a confused teen but she had the courage to be direct.  Coming from a radical Christian home with some really weird attributes, this girl was a tad rebellious. My children had introduced me to her and, while my wife and her mother were chatting in the lounge, we were in our leisure room establishing rapport. When I asked her "what is your opinion of the church" she hesitated, plucked up courage, puffed her cheeks and blurted it out: "the church is a f.......up!" Fearing my reaction to come, she looked at me, ready to run for the door.  You know what I did instead of berating her?  I gave the children money and sent them to go buy ice cream as that young girl really earned it!

As I come from a religious and decent family myself, something happened between the day I was reborn and now.  Church happened.  A few things we experienced there:

• Persecuted because I said that Jesus was God. (I still believed in a trinity back then.)
• Pastor and his co-pastor wife as well as lead elder broke up homes, three family evictions took place (making church members homeless) and they also caused a number of people to lose their businesses, that lead to divorce and young children saw their world turned upside down.
• Fornication and promiscuity.  Even unsightly me was hunted man-eater and I left church for good even though she stood no chance. I habitually stay away from pubs, clubs and places where trouble brews.
• Children were taken away from their families.
• People called to serve God saw their ministries terminated. For example, a very talented young girl was prohibited from singing anywhere.  Her voice reminds of Norah Jones.  God-given talent silenced by the church.
• Sowing dissension, slander and gossip had lead to more heartache ever caused by promiscuity or substance abuse. Before attacking the LGBT or any other identifiable group of sinners, do as taught in 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 and expel the greedy, the slanderers, the gossipers and the fraudsters before attacking anybody else. The most vile and damaging sin is gossip as it is THE most destructive of all! In several churches, we saw how it damaged lives.  One pastor, possibly trying to impress me with his skills, pointed to a police woman in uniform and told me how he had healed her sex life.  Talking outside from what happens in private counseling?
  
• Pastors involved in money laundering - several church in my city are involved in this. Much of the thick rolls of money that usually ended up in collections baskets were planted there to inspire others to give, to lend credibility to the culture of giving.  Much of this money was proceeds from illicit dealings.  Where I live, churches are exempt from income tax. So they put their hot money in their church and enjoy a tax-free lifestyle. The pastors and their cohorts were involved in gambling, illicit trade and racketeering.  Because others saw how financially "blessed" these were, it motivated them to also give handsomely and they unwittingly aided organized crime.
• We were asked to leave because we had "too much faith!"
  

If these were once-in-a-lifetime experiences, we would have acted differently.  This was our experience at various churches over perhaps twenty years.  I went to Jesus with this all and He showed me Scripture that basically stated:

• The temple is not the temple and the "priests" are fat because of their corruption.
• Those worshiping in the temple and also those on the hills of Samaria were both wrong, as the time now is to worship in Spirit and in Truth.
• He accused temple-goers of "standing in the way of the salvation of others."
• In Revelation He talked about the religious and said that they thought they were fine but, instead, they are of the "synagogue of Satan."
• Somewhere in the Daniel-ish part of the Bible, it says that the judgment begins at the temple and that the dead bodies are piled to the roof. (I tried to text Daniel for details, asking for the fine print, but his phone is not on roaming and he apparently is out of town.)
  
• Oh, lest I forget, also the instruction to "get out of her, My people, as there is a judgment on her, lest you come under that."

If you are shocked, then let us agree to disagree. Church lost its appeal and its credibility is on par with a pastor selling used cars. Avoid!  I can see why Jesus was cosy with prostitutes and "people of questionable integrity."  Including tax collectors.  If you enjoy church, by all means. Please just don't try to "sell" me yours, as I am guaranteed to disappoint.


I wrote a letter to my children and said that I refuse to be buried out of a church and/or by a pastor I did know know intimately.  If they buried me against my wishes, I would sue them for defamation! :)


I believe in "true church is where we are."  Where people don't use carefully engineered politeness for sending one to hell all so diplomatically yet unlovingly. Rather be reliable than popular. Our faith is not a celebrity contest, but a place to have integrity and a solid character.  Jesus was a radical and so am I. Paul was a man of rude speech and so am I.  I will not come here to deceive you and I also will not intentionally offend you.


If you are upset by what I had said, either choose to live with it or use the next exit, as you then have shown your true colors.


To those who can stomach this......there is a smoother ride ahead!


Why I love Jesus?

Because He loved me first!


-- http://dutchuncletalk.blogspot.com/