Did you mourn leaving the UPC?

[shazeep]

Originally Posted by Abiding Now

Backsliding is always scary. Just sayin.

Actually (just being argumentative here) backsliding always struck me as pretty easy, and rather it is moving forward into a more spiritual path, others' murmurs of 'backslider' all the way, that strikes me as the more terrifying; at least at first. i think this comes from a lack of trust in God, sort of; imagining that God would not support a genuine search for a deeper relationship with Him, outside of one's former religion. It is a crime, to me.
http://www.wikihow.com/Lose-Your-Religion

[Rudy]

Originally Posted by Dordrecht

Yes, I am aware of that.
I attend one.

Could you p.m. me where?

[Rudy]

I left because I was accused of not helping with the light bill.

[KeptByTheWord]

Originally Posted by shazeep

Actually (just being argumentative here) backsliding always struck me as pretty easy, and rather it is moving forward into a more spiritual path, others' murmurs of 'backslider' all the way, that strikes me as the more terrifying; at least at first. i think this comes from a lack of trust in God, sort of; imagining that God would not support a genuine search for a deeper relationship with Him, outside of one's former religion. It is a crime, to me.
http://www.wikihow.com/Lose-Your-Religion

Any time the Lord begins to move in a new direction, the old "crew" fights back violently. God is not limited to an organization, culture, language, nation, or ideology. Whenever there has come about a change in religious ideas, the change initially is met with huge disapproval, and persecution.

Example: When Jesus himself came, it was the religious group of the day who crucified Him. When John Wycliff sought to begin to translate the Bible into a language the people could understand, he underwent tremendous persecution from the church, and holds a special spot in Fox's Book of Martyr's. When Martin Luther published his 95 theses against the Catholic Church, it was not taken too kindly, and he was met with persecution from the church. The lists can go on and on. The original Anabaptists are another example that come to mind.

So, those who are truly in search for truth should never be surprised when the cruelest persecution comes to them from the church; the very ones who should embrace it and recognize it, but don't, because they have become so steeped in their traditions, that they cannot see what new thing the Lord may be trying to do.

Good point, Shazeep

[obriencp]

Originally Posted by KeptByTheWord

So, those who are truly in search for truth should never be surprised when the cruelest persecution comes to them from the church; the very ones who should embrace it and recognize it, but don't, because they have become so steeped in their traditions, that they cannot see what new thing the Lord may be trying to do.

Awesome.

[tater]

I did not leave a UPC church, I left a charismatic/shepherding church. Although they were trinitarian there were many similarities with OP churches that I've heard about. They had the same ideas about not questioning authority. They had a powerful peer pressure to force their beliefs on you. There would be no one saying I had lost my salvation because I left that church, however, it definitely meant to most that I was leaving the "cutting edge of God's move on the Earth today" in so many words. It also meant I was probably backsliding to many.
It would have been hard to leave a few years before I did, for any reason, because I was swallowing all they taught completely. It wasn't hard to leave when I did because I'd become convinced that the manipulation/intimidation were wrong. Real friends do not try to manipulate and intimidate so the group had stopped being my friends and then I left.
That group has ceased to exist anymore ending a 35 or 40 year presence in that town of that movement (shepherding/CGM/Ft. Lauderdale 5). There were many in our church that left before and after I did.
I am now happy being part of a local small Southern Baptist Church. No, I don't agree with everything taught there but there certainly is freedom for me to disagree without having the label of "rebellious" or "backslider". I'm really liking that.

[Walk and Talk]

Originally Posted by tater

I did not leave a UPC church, I left a charismatic/shepherding church. Although they were trinitarian there were many similarities with OP churches that I've heard about. They had the same ideas about not questioning authority. They had a powerful peer pressure to force their beliefs on you. There would be no one saying I had lost my salvation because I left that church, however, it definitely meant to most that I was leaving the "cutting edge of God's move on the Earth today" in so many words. It also meant I was probably backsliding to many.
It would have been hard to leave a few years before I did, for any reason, because I was swallowing all they taught completely. It wasn't hard to leave when I did because I'd become convinced that the manipulation/intimidation were wrong. Real friends do not try to manipulate and intimidate so the group had stopped being my friends and then I left.
That group has ceased to exist anymore ending a 35 or 40 year presence in that town of that movement (shepherding/CGM/Ft. Lauderdale 5). There were many in our church that left before and after I did.
I am now happy being part of a local small Southern Baptist Church. No, I don't agree with everything taught there but there certainly is freedom for me to disagree without having the label of "rebellious" or "backslider". I'm really liking that.

Wonderful.
Been there, done that; so I can relate.

[KeptByTheWord]

Originally Posted by tater

I did not leave a UPC church, I left a charismatic/shepherding church. Although they were trinitarian there were many similarities with OP churches that I've heard about. They had the same ideas about not questioning authority. They had a powerful peer pressure to force their beliefs on you. There would be no one saying I had lost my salvation because I left that church, however, it definitely meant to most that I was leaving the "cutting edge of God's move on the Earth today" in so many words. It also meant I was probably backsliding to many.
It would have been hard to leave a few years before I did, for any reason, because I was swallowing all they taught completely. It wasn't hard to leave when I did because I'd become convinced that the manipulation/intimidation were wrong. Real friends do not try to manipulate and intimidate so the group had stopped being my friends and then I left.
That group has ceased to exist anymore ending a 35 or 40 year presence in that town of that movement (shepherding/CGM/Ft. Lauderdale 5). There were many in our church that left before and after I did.
I am now happy being part of a local small Southern Baptist Church. No, I don't agree with everything taught there but there certainly is freedom for me to disagree without having the label of "rebellious" or "backslider". I'm really liking that.

Originally Posted by Walk and Talk

Wonderful.
Been there, done that; so I can relate.

Never be afraid to walk where the Lord leads. It may not be where you "expect" to find yourself... but placing yourself in his leading, and guiding into His truth is where we all should be.

I find this verse relating well to this understanding:

I John 2:27 "But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him."

Coupled with this verse,

John 15:7 "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."

... there is a place that we can walk in the Lord that brings peace, where we can know his will perfectly, for the time and place we find ourselves in, as His words abide in us, we are led and guided by His hand. This is the truth that the genuine child of God has found peace, rest, and hope in.

[lilyrose]

Originally Posted by ILG

I was a three stepper the whole time I was in the UPC and for quite a while after we left. I can't remember how many years it was before I became a one stepper but the initial change was only about standards. I understood them as scriptural applications rather than bible law. (Which was really my first step away from the Bible as a black and white rule book.) That was the only change for a long time. Then, I began to feel that people who were baptized in the titles were also baptized in Jesus name because they believed in Jesus and the preacher said I baptize you in the NAME of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost....which is the same thing.

I entered the UPCI with a very, very loose set of beliefs which mirror loosely what I believe now. I was so excited about my new relationship with God, completely non-judgmental, full of curiosity about God, soaking up things like a sponge. I would have done ANYTHING, (almost) that they told me to do. I had only good thoughts about the people, thinking they all loved God passionately, just like me. I was very young, very naive, ripe for anything.

My revelation about standards was sudden, immediate. However, I could not change outwardly for four more years, when we left. And I had a great deal of time to think about it.

Everything else has been very gradual over time. And I haven't landed. What's more, I feel no need to. I would like to be a little more landed than I am, but I never want to stop growing and learning or to the point that I feel I know everything and am therefore, your instructor.

That was me. I started attending a UPCI church in my early 20's, very naive, rose-colored glasses thinking the members of the church were pretty much angels as they had the HOLY GHOST. Fast forward twenty plus years. The wisdom that comes with age, experiences good and bad in the church have just led me to feel that I have to move on. I haven't yet. I do firmly believe in Acts 2:38 foundational beliefs, but I would like to go somewhere that isn't hung up on outward things, and more focused on inward spiritual growth. I believe in a level of modesty, but not hung up on "standards" anymore. I'm really not sure where to try to attend. Don't know of Assemblies of God is where I should try.

[lilyrose]

The house meetings mentioned on this thread are something that sound very beneficial. I do attend a Bible Study of a neighbor and it's been very good to talk and connect with people and discuss the Bible on a real level. One thing I haven't liked too much about the UPCI is the shallowness of friendships formed. People seem to be afraid to be real with one another, or even if this level of friendship is reached, it can all quickly be dissipated by various church related reasons, such as ones mentioned on this thread . You can't form real friendships in a UPCI environment, at least not from what I've experienced. I've definitely been burned by people I thought were true friends. There is a culture of gossip too, at least in my home state, that although the Bible mentions against gossip WAY more than a standard of dress, I never heard preached against. Unfortunately in the UPCI church I first attended, the pastor's wife was a toxic gossiper. Gossip is a sin, but was never preached about from the pulpit, because they were major gossipers. I look back and I think I should have left that particular church a long time before I did. The UPCI church I attend now is worlds apart from the environment of the one I "got in church" at. At any rate, I really do hope to find a church to attend that is not hung up on outward standards. I know they're out there, but not sure where to go. It's exhausting on so many levels when trying to find a church home.