Real Life in Christ

I know this post will be a little different from what I normally engage in and/or comment on. However, it is exciting to witness others breaking free from the "religious bondage," which has held them captive, and then begin walking in the freedom appropriated by the cross.

The below comments were recently posted on a website which I highlight on this blog, The ShovelShack. I encourage each of you to check out this site, and allow the Lord to "Minister" His Grace, through this forum.

See link to the right, or click on the above title for continued comments:

Please do not allow the frankness, of some of the comments below, hinder you from hearing the Heart of this ongoing Revelation! Grace! Grace! Grace!

"I really appreciate your guys' comments...thank you.

Today somebody went ahead and told me that I'm too hard on
myself. Out of the blue. twas the holy spirit

im so thankful God brought me here to theshovel. he was fully
aware with my discontent with the church and much of what I
learned in its religious environment..

the depth of the insanity taught by some churches is off the charts
guys. i honestly
believe that Ive been taught all my life to reject grace..to inflict pain
on myself when I fail...to try and love others without loving myself.
to act like Jesus without understanding why. frankly it pisses me
off to see how distorted the message has become...some of these
churches are raising worry freaks who feed their flesh the very
ideas that will only stimulate it. anxious, confused. and they think
its the result of having their eyes "open." lots of church goers are
turning into psychological nightmares.

i hate how we're taught to WORRY about the will of God (people
teach that to walk in the will of god, one must examine their life
for any sign of sin and never make any mistakes which can cause
some type of random riff in all of Gods plans. people also teach
that to hear gods voice, you cannot make a single mistake..if you
do hear gods voice and your making mistakes, your listening to
satan)

I hate how we're taught to condemn ourselves when we are
conscious of some sin..then taught to feel holy if we think we've
been on a sinfree streak.

i hate how my friend doesn't feel welcome at our church because
he smokes. more than that, he feels condemned. the other day he
said "I'll start going to church after I change, because I have a bad
reputation there so when I go back I want to show people I am
different". I DONT EVEN WANT TO GO INTO THIS ONE.

i hate how "prayer request times" are composed of nothing but
gossip or sharing their worries. i think sharing ones worries is
ok..but we have a solution: christ. people must think that
worrying is some kind of holy struggle. they share their worries to
show that they are "keeping God on top of things" because they are
"mature" and "spiritually aware"

its SO wrong. so OPPOSITE of what God intended for us. its
so...INSANE.

im done venting, sorry guys. haha. really though..no more am i
gonna keep my mouth shut. just the last week i went ahead and
expressed my disappointment with my mens group and their sin
consciousness. funny thing is, that night was the first night these
guys had their eyes wide open, nodding their heads in agreement
at everything that was being said about God's grace. it was the
first night they smelled freedom from a God who to them was the
cause of their unnecessary bondage.

i cant wait till i see their reaction to the REAL jesus. the freedom
fighter..liberator..friend...model..king."