Perhaps I'll check it out later...I think there's a sizable amount of people here (though if a majority/minority I cannot tell) who consider church as a resource...not the end all be all of a walk with God. If a pastor says something "iffy" they question it.
I've heard many times in sermons how people get their faith from another person... "My pastor said..." but this is just a new believer thing. I'd be pretty surprised if it was common for people to say that well into development.
perhaps say "I like what he said because..." and certainly a pastor is there to feed the sheep so it is not unreasonable to be fed by messages. Or are you saying something different where churches become like cults?
Actually, since you asked
, I have a lot to say about the churches subject in particular. Churches are misleading in my opinion:
Churches are businesses. Each church’s objective is to become the biggest church with the largest number of members.
Seminary college graduates find good paying jobs there, instead of finding truths like the real meaning of the daily Bread. Are they seeking God in those colleges? I doubt it. Many church leaders today are millionaires. This is usually the graduates' objective.
They all cater to people. It’s about what people like to hear. None are truly seeking God.
Their sermons are always the safe and pleasant ones that attract people. They never preach about those “politically incorrect” parts of the Bible that may bother people.
They all adopted a simple message: "all you have to do is declare you believe in Jesus, and you are saved for eternity. And you don’t have to do anything else; nothing, nothing at all. Pray the Lord’s Prayer daily? No, nothing at all."
Of course, people love this message. And they’ll definitely come to church every Sunday and tithe.
But the reality is, churches only preached off of a couple of verses that say that and ignored thousands of pages in the bible that elaborated about those verses. While those verses are true, a crucial element is missing - our daily commitment to God exhibited in us seeking God and His Righteousness. Otherwise, we’re not truthful about our claim of believing.
Every verse in the Bible that says in one sentence something like "believe in Jesus and you're saved...", is meant as a high-level statement. Thousands of other verses clearly elaborate on how to do that.
How do we do that?
- By seeking God: through reading the Bible (or hearing).
- By seeking His Righteousness: through reciting the Lord’s Prayer daily. And meaning it correctly: the daily Bread is the body of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. Why daily? Because Jesus said so. You don’t have to chew on actual bread like some churches advise. You can receive God’s bread of life by genuinely saying the Lord’s Prayer.
Is that “ceremonial law”? No. Is it “works”? No. Anything there to boast about as personal accomplishments towards own salvation? No.
Why then aren’t churches preaching this about the true meaning of the "daily Bread"? It’s because:
- It doesn’t fit their mold of “declare it once and you’re done”.
- It’s too much work for people; people may leave that church and go tithe elsewhere.
Request from your church to preach this truth correctly. Be loyal to God, not to your church denomination, or to your favorite preacher. Although I'm all for abolishing all denominations and doing your own Bible study, but if a church commits to truly seeking God always and finding new truths/interpretations and teaching them, then I'll go to that church.
No one can claim they have all the answers to the Bible questions. If anyone says that, start running in the other direction. Our God is not a simple One to be figured-out. So many truths and interpretations are yet to come. We just have to keep seeking as He instructed. And I wish churches would stop telling people "that's it you're born again, go on your way."
I encourage you to get your Bible facts from the Bible, not from the church, or other books or movies about the Bible. They all have their agendas; modifying the scripture to fit their plan. All it takes is a small modification, and you're going down a completely different path than God intended. Do your own reading; get it from the source. This is how we seek God.
There are some nice Bible apps today that offer audio. You can install it on your smart device. And listen to the Bible (example when driving). Available in many versions. My favorites are CSB and NIV. Because they’re in plain English so we can easily understand.
Forget "old English". It is NOT the language of the Bible. Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek are the original languages of the Bible. Why are there churches today still teaching "old English" language? I call that the work of the devil. This is how you get the young generations who speak plain English to completely miss the Bible teaching. It is about getting the meaning of the scriptures to the people. Not about fake formalities like "use old English"...
What is your objective? Be loyal to your church and your ancestors choices even if wrong? Or find God and get into His heaven in the next age?