Thanks Christy for your ongoing honesty and 'naming the sins' when others may be afraid to. There is freedom in Christ - that's what He says He came for, in the fulness of life - so if we don't have that, I guess we have to ask the tough question of what it is we do have. More often than we'd like to admit, the answer is religion. Bless you Christy.
The whole appeasement thing is so contrary to how God wanted to interact with humans since forever. But we keep returning to it. Why? Because then we can be the ones in control. But God is't transactional, no matter how much we try to make it so. I love the freedom to be out of that!
Religion works, and so that's why they don't change anything. And that includes the 'discipline' techniques like shunning and stuff.... again, it works, so they use what's already in their playbook.
To be fair, it's the same in many organisations worldwide, both religious and secular. I call it the FIFO method.... Fit In or, well, you can guess the rest ;)
Thanks Christy. Your articles always touch the importance of following Jesus and His ways of grace, compassion, and mercy. Religiosity always throws a wrench into following Christ turning people into elder brothers and sisters instead of recovering prodigals of which I still am as a retired pastor at age 75. Keep up your refreshing writing.
“At the time, these worlds felt like polar opposites, but they were actually adjacent spheres with a frightening amount of overlap.” Yes. As you know, I relate. And I’m finding out that more and more of us are out there!
I relate so much! It’s almost like this is what he meant in Matthew 16:25. I wonder. If we are willing to let go of what man has created, even in religion, and cling fast to what God has created, we get more life and freedom than we’d ever comprehend. In so many ways, I feel like my life began when I really met Jesus and let go of the rest of the dogma. It’s scary to question though, because you feel like you’ve been warned through fire and brimstone…like hell will actually open up and swallow you whole. But no. The more I questioned, the stronger my faith in Jesus got.
Thanks Christy for your ongoing honesty and 'naming the sins' when others may be afraid to. There is freedom in Christ - that's what He says He came for, in the fulness of life - so if we don't have that, I guess we have to ask the tough question of what it is we do have. More often than we'd like to admit, the answer is religion. Bless you Christy.
You are so welcome! I’ve tasted the bondage of religion and I’ve tasted freedom in Jesus and I want everyone to know the real Jesus!!
The whole appeasement thing is so contrary to how God wanted to interact with humans since forever. But we keep returning to it. Why? Because then we can be the ones in control. But God is't transactional, no matter how much we try to make it so. I love the freedom to be out of that!
We keep returning to it…because we want control. So true! I love freedom as well! Praise God!
Religion works, and so that's why they don't change anything. And that includes the 'discipline' techniques like shunning and stuff.... again, it works, so they use what's already in their playbook.
To be fair, it's the same in many organisations worldwide, both religious and secular. I call it the FIFO method.... Fit In or, well, you can guess the rest ;)
Yes, so true. 😭😬
Thanks Christy. Your articles always touch the importance of following Jesus and His ways of grace, compassion, and mercy. Religiosity always throws a wrench into following Christ turning people into elder brothers and sisters instead of recovering prodigals of which I still am as a retired pastor at age 75. Keep up your refreshing writing.
Thank you for your encouragement!
“At the time, these worlds felt like polar opposites, but they were actually adjacent spheres with a frightening amount of overlap.” Yes. As you know, I relate. And I’m finding out that more and more of us are out there!
There’s a lot of us for sure!!
I relate so much! It’s almost like this is what he meant in Matthew 16:25. I wonder. If we are willing to let go of what man has created, even in religion, and cling fast to what God has created, we get more life and freedom than we’d ever comprehend. In so many ways, I feel like my life began when I really met Jesus and let go of the rest of the dogma. It’s scary to question though, because you feel like you’ve been warned through fire and brimstone…like hell will actually open up and swallow you whole. But no. The more I questioned, the stronger my faith in Jesus got.
I totally feel this! And I agree, the more I questioned, the stronger my faith got too!