No, that phrase just has meaning for me now, and it was just noises out of my mouth that sounded good when I identified as a Christian.
I no longer identify much with "Christian," T, but that is because I found a clearer image of Christ. "Religion"="by rote; because it is the way we do it, a habit; the dead rituals that one does without understanding why." To me, anyway.
I give up! You win! You don't have a religion!
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Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
Religion is something we wade through with other people on our journey towards God.
Religion is something we participate in so that others can relate to us as we journey towards God.
Religion is the raft that we use to cross the river as we journey to the One who is beyond name, form, and gender.
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Are you worried about what 2026 will bring?
I think it will bring flowers. why?
because i'm planting flowers 🌹
What is the endgame? Is one hoping to argue that since all religions is either unsettled or corrupted that everyone should just be able top live however they wish as long as they calim to serve Jesus? Religious rules and authority can be tossed bc everyone gets to decide what is right for themselves and still claim to be just as right with God?
Yeah, that wouldn't be a perverted mess of nonsense and sinfulness at all right?
What is the endgame? Is one hoping to argue that since all religions is either unsettled or corrupted that everyone should just be able top live however they wish as long as they calim to serve Jesus? Religious rules and authority can be tossed bc everyone gets to decide what is right for themselves and still claim to be just as right with God?
Yeah, that wouldn't be a perverted mess of nonsense and sinfulness at all right?
I disagree with your analogy. If we are honest, we will admit that a majority of right and wrong issues are dealt with by the governmental Authorities that are placed over us.
If you rob a bank, the Church won't throw you in jail. If you speed, the pastor doesn't pull you over and give you a ticket. If you kill or molest, there is a court system waiting to prosecute you. And, we don't stop and ask the police officer who's handing us that ticket, "Sir, what Religion do you belong too?" He might be a Muslim, an Atheist, or a Mormon, enforcing law and order.
I don't think any right-minded human being wants to live however they wish, no matter what kind of Faith they have. Good, Law abiding citizens appreciate the order of good conduct and limited crime within Society. Look at Mexico; people are fleeing a Country where governmental corruption is rampant, despite the fact that they have a higher percentage of Christians than America does (America, 78.4%-Mexico 94.5%).
Then you take into account Countries that reek with Religion and you find warmongering of the worst kind. Religion is the main cause of war on our Planet because people can't decide what God is expecting of them, while right and wrong are dragged into the dungeon of radical, religious extremism.
Where did this man and woman in this hypothetical beginning come from? A mindless evolutionary soup...or an intelligent creator?
Almost every Religion has a "Book" to verify their motive in Faith, developed from Ancient Manuscripts and primitive Civilizations that were chained to ignorance. Where all these Books begin that trudge down the road of failure is when they require people to do things that cannot be measured by result (Speak in tongues; Saved. Don’t speak in tongues; Not Saved. Believe in One God; Saved. Believe in the Trinity; Not Saved.).
The missing link in all Faith is this; we don't have one person from the afterlife who can sit down with us and tell us, "This IS what WILL happen when you die!" Without having a bona fide witness from this realm, mankind will struggle with a mind that is floundering with imagination and guilt, leading to a Faith built upon fear.
The guess work in Faith is what creates Religion(s) that will ultimately lead to confusion. This is why there are over 30,000 Christian Denominations on Earth, and why Christians cannot agree upon the validity of what God is requiring them to do. If a person sits down and studies the diversity in the Christian Faith alone, the conclusion will be staggering.
Chris, think about your understanding regarding, Hell. Probably most people on AFF disagree with you. You struggle, I struggle, we ALL struggle to understand the Scripture. Abating fear will cause us to be more honest, and I believe God expects us to be honest about our limited abilities and frustrations with Religion, and that includes our frustration in trying to understand the Bible.
Fox’s conception of Creation Spirituality drew on both a close reading of early and medieval mystics within Catholic traditions as well as ecstatic and spiritual practices from numerous other faiths around the world, in an approach Fox called “deep ecumenism” for its connections across many spiritual practices. This was described most particularly in his book One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faith.
Creation Spirituality considers itself a “green” theology, emphasizing a holy relationship between Man and nature. Accordingly, the protection of nature is considered a sacrament and an expression of God and a “Cosmic Christ”. This approach was endorsed by eco-theologian Thomas Berry among others. Fox’s book The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance delves more into these issues.
Fox also laid out other tenets of Creation Spirituality in some of his other books, particularly Original Blessing and A Spirituality Named Compassion.
Fox’s 1996 autobiography, Confessions: The Making of a Post-Denominational Priest, describes his life as a Dominican priest and his struggle with the Vatican as he wrote about his experiences and understanding of early Christianity.
Techno Cosmic Masses
Fox's "Techno Cosmic Masses" (more recently just called "Cosmic Masses") are events that attempt to combine the religious ritual of the Eucharist with dance and multimedia material, deejays, video jockeys and rap music. They evoke and connect spiritual rituals and the ecstatic energy of Techno music and rave parties. They developed from a group called the Nine O'Clock Service in Sheffield, England in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was brought to the United States and further developed by Fox in the mid 1990s.
__________________
Are you worried about what 2026 will bring?
I think it will bring flowers. why?
because i'm planting flowers 🌹
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