Organized Religion Is Spiritual Welfare
 

Organized religion is a system that enables a few givers to be sucked dry of every resource they have to give to a bunch of vacuums that take, take, take and then critique what you gave of yourself and then go back home and wait for their next spiritual welfare check come Sunday or Wednesday.

That is my epiphany of the day.

Re: Organized Religion Is Spiritual Welfare
 

Can't wait for the next one! :lol

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YEAH! THATS WHAT I'M TALKIN BOUT! WHERES MY CHECK??????!!!!!!!! lol jk

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That's my experience too.

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Yes'm.

I keep forgetting that.

I'll learn someday. :)

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You sound like you are giving yourself down the road and I don't know why.
D4T=:ouch

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I'm the kinda guy that sees something that needs to happen or get done and just gets after it. All I need to do something is to know that it needs to be done.

I keep getting myself involved in things and I forget time and time again that people don't think the way I think. Most people just sit and watch and only have to something to say when it's finished and they don't like the end product because it's not the way they would have done it. I've got a word for them... they WOULDN'T have done it. It wouldn't have gotten done if we had to wait on them.


Why do I even try?

I'll learn one day to mind my own business and just let things sink. :)

Re: Organized Religion Is Spiritual Welfare
 

Man, my husband could have written that! Really, it is a hard lesson to learn (for all of us). It's like the little red hen. They all gather for the bread when it's ready. Don't ask for help and don't tell anyone when the bread is ready. Cynical, I know....but it seems to work for me.....

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Sounds like some marriages

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I give to the Lord. My sight is not on what men do. I'm not giving for the personal accolades by men. I'm not giving expecting something in return other than my reward in heaven. Did anyone learn that lesson?

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I hope to master this soon. :)

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The funny thing is that 8-10 years ago I had enough and I sat down. I never did anything for close to a decade. And then a year or so back I must have lost my mind... I dove in full steam ahead for some reason to the point that I pretty much do it all now.

Now I remember why I did nothing for so many years.

:)

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My experience has been a bit different. There are always "parasites" - but for the most part, the people I have interacted with were mostly "symbionts" who gave as much as they received.

My biggest problems came from the "Well Intentioned Dragons." These people ruined more ministry opportunities and drove more people from the church than all other causes combined. They got excited about baptism in Jesus name from a Bible Study I gave and then would promptly go home and send their families to hell. Thanks guys, but I was hoping to win your family to Christ as well...

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Yep... there's no shortage.

Re: Organized Religion Is Spiritual Welfare
 

Thank you for that cheery message of self promotion.

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Sounds like you had it mastered until you grew another "goodness" spurt. ;)

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If you are going to pray for God to use you......

you will wind up feeling used.

There's a quote something like that that I read somewhere and put on facebook at one time but I don't remember the source.

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I don't like being "used".

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If God wants what is best for us, and He is the one who has instituted ministry, shouldn't ministry be invigorating and not draining? I would think, and there is some experience speaking here, that doing the work that God has designed you for would be an experience that would fulfill you and leave you feeling better about yourself, your world, and most of all, God. And yes, this means the converse must also be true. If what you're doing is draining you and burning you out, IMO, that's not God's will for your life. Change direction because that isn't His plan for you. I do believe that organized religion as it is set up in most places in the US is not quite what He had in mind. I blame the extremely high rate of minister burn out on this.

Re: Organized Religion Is Spiritual Welfare
 

Woah. Why the personal attack? How did I promote myself anymore than you promoted yourself by your dreary message?

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So it's all about you is it?

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Agreed.

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*sigh*

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Let's look at Paul. His ministry landed him in jail and ultimately death. He suffered for it. He had worries though he trusted in God to keep from being anxious

Act 20:29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;
Act 20:30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.
Act 20:31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears.
Act 20:32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
Act 20:33 I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel.
Act 20:34 You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me.
Act 20:35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
Act 20:36 And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.
Act 20:37 And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him,
Act 20:38 being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.

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You thought it was ok for her to say what she said to me about self promotion? *sigh* indeed!

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It seems nobody can have a positive message on this board. Everything has to be negative message or experience. Why is that? :foottap

Re: Organized Religion Is Spiritual Welfare
 

Difficulties and persecution are not the same as burn out. This is a matter of the heart. If what you are doing is not leading to your growth and security as a believer, it is not the right thing for you to be doing. If you are doing something that is causing you to grow consistantly closer to God, and causing you to consistently feel refreshed and inspired and leaving you with a feeling of contentment, you're on the right track.

It's like exercise. If you're doing proper exercise for your body and your fitness level you will feel exhausted but good and you're fitness level will progress. If you're doing something incorrectly, you'll injure yourself and require time to recover. You'll feel exhausted *and* injured, and your down time will cost you progress in your fitness level.

Re: Organized Religion Is Spiritual Welfare
 

Yeah, not everything is negative. I've had good and negative experiences both in church and just in life in general

I did not quit either nor focus just on the negative. Organized Religion is made of men. Any church, even a local church, will be made of men and men will always disappoint us at some point

It's a good idea then to focus on Him and do your works for Him :thumbsup

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You've posted a whopping 19 times all in the last 14 days and you know what people here post like?

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People can let difficulties and persecutions to cause burnout though

Growth is through personal relationship, despite difficulties and what others say or do, you have to walk with God. Don't focus on people or what benefits we thought we should have gotten from serving God

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When I was a kid, I saw being in a minister's family as prestigious... now I just see it as being related to someone with an addiction akin to gambling. Always hoping that maybe next month, a new family will come to the church and maybe then they will be able to make ends meet.

The unfortunate part is, with this particular addiction, all of the other people with the same addiction encourage and reinforce the behavior, even if the person has hit rock bottom, cannot pay their bills each month, has to rely on the charity of others on a day by day basis for years on end.

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I've been reading far longer and it's just a general feel I get from a lot of posts. There seems to be more negative commentary than positive

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I haven't seen anyone, except for you, mention this idea of focusing on people and benefits. It's really confusing me because I'm not talking about that.

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Questioner, I'm very sorry. :( I don't agree with this sort of belief system and won't be part of it anymore. I just can't. Too many people get hurt, too many lives are destroyed. That's not what God wants.

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I didn't say you were talking about that. I simply posted my thoughts on the topic in general.

Re: Organized Religion Is Spiritual Welfare
 

Dark Energy..... could your name be the problem? DARK Energy! Why didn't you go for BRIGHT Energy? j/k :heeheehee

Been Thinkin

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I have to admit, on this forum and in life, I have had the tendancy at times to focus more on the negatives, and it is certainly not productive. In fact just thinking abut it makes me want to repent! It is, in my opinion, human nature to focus on the negative, although that is not an excuse.

Sitting here and pondering the subject of this thread, I can't help but think that organization is not the root problem, in many cases it is the religious aspect that spawns the issues and the burnout. If we are supposed to keep the gift stirred in our lives on a personal level, how much more should we be changing and moving in the natural so that life with God is fresh and new as much as possible.

Let's face it, we are all different, but if as a church body, we could somehow embrace the diversity, and if uniformity could be squashed, I think we may not only be more tolerant of differences, but we would also function in more harmony with grace.

I was talking with my wife and I was thinking about the scripture on not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. My thought to her was, where does it go on to list how many "services" we are supposed to have in a week or month? There is no time line or hard fast rule in gathering - we, as humans have made the rule every Sunday, Sunday Night, or Wed. evening. Could it mean a forsaking in the heart which leads to the attitude and action of never assembling, or does it literally mean every time the doors are open?

When you sit and really think about the way we sometimes do things, and the justification we use, it does not always show up in the Word, and maybe that is part of the issue..

Re: Organized Religion Is Spiritual Welfare
 

Ding, ding, ding, ding...

Give them man (I guess :) ) a prize.

Excellent post.

Re: Organized Religion Is Spiritual Welfare
 

:blah

The early church displayed organization...