The reason we go to church

I was reading some posts that Majestica and a few others posted on a thread about "going to hell" and it seems that alot of people who have or are going to church are going for the wrong reasons. Preachers trying to get into mamas pants, everyone talking about the mother for not being married.........useless in the quest for an opportunity to be with our creator! If one goes to church for any reason other than to praise Jesus and to seek a personal relationship with him, then you are there for all the wrong reasons, whatever they may be. You dont even have to go to church to have a relationship with Jesus. If you do have one with him he will guide you to a church that you are needed in or to a place where someone in that church may be in need of something you can do for them. It all starts with that relationship and every thing thereafter will follow. So no matter what the so called "church" is saying or doing in that church......guess what? It doesnt matter because they are there for the wrong reasons and will have to answer for those things. I hope this post may help some of you. Not poking at you Majestica, it just sounded like you may have been to worried about what other people were doing in that church.

Im going to stop going to church.

The only reason we should goto church is to support eachother and I dont like most of the people that goto church, my church.

Are not good chritians but only selfish, sinfull, worthless pieces of crap.

I would say the number one reason people dont goto church anymore is that they dont need it. You can be a good person and not goto church.

You can be a good person and go to Hell, too.

We should go to church for a few reasons, but the biggest reason is that God wants us to do that. If the church you frequent is not a good one but spiritually dead, you can certainly move your membership. Nothing says you have to stay! It took me a little while to figure that out as well. I think its because we humans hate change.

Most people here go to Church to network.

Atleast at the one I went to, First Baptist, they air it on TV here every sunday morning.


My family went and they aren't baptists.

I haven't gone to church in probably... 6 years.

First of all, don't single mag out. Second, not every church is like the one you attend. People go to churches seeking the relationship you speak of, but find themselves mired in the crap that is the modern christian church. Politics and the bottom line rule in many congregations, regardless of denomination.
You sound like a friend of mine who pastors a vineyard church. Possibly the only christian of whom I have total respect for because he talks it and walks it.
I agree that it is more about the personal relationship but some christians need fellowship. Whether a person is worried about what another member is doing or not, it is all a reflection on one's self. You are who you associate with.
TC is quite right in the fact that a person can move to a better congregation, but it is a crap shoot. I personally found that you can change churches, but not human nature.

Peace,
BG

For most Christians...

Quote from Mr. Hat, South Park, Colorado...

"You don't go to church? You go to church, or you'll go to hell!!! You go to hell and you die!!!"



In reality though, most go for the same reason the boys get together and play poker, etc. It's a social get together, and we've needed such outlets since the beginning of our civilizations.... They go to see friends, show off, gossip, etc.

Well I go to A temple ( gurdwara), the reason being where the masses of Sikh followers come together and listen the head Priests recite the Japji ( our holy Book)
Thier are also Schools in our Temples, where the teach our language, Punjabi, and learn about our religion and culture.
Most elderly men and women are usualy in a deep state of meditation during the reciting of our japji by our priests.
Its strictly a place to learn and hear the Sacred Japj.
God can be reached anywhere, may it be in Church, Temple, or a toilet seat.
Church is not a bad thing, but somewhere to learn about your religions.
Deep

Originally posted by Thomas Crowne
You can be a good person and go to Hell, too.

We should go to church for a few reasons, but the biggest reason is that God wants us to do that. If the church you frequent is not a good one but spiritually dead, you can certainly move your membership. Nothing says you have to stay! It took me a little while to figure that out as well. I think its because we humans hate change.

right on Thomas!
We dont go to church for people or the priests, we go because it is a place for worship.....and Yes you can pray at anytime anywhere but DO WE?
Church is not a 'social function' where people get together to talk about social things or fashion or work....it is a place of worship ...
And not all people that go to church are saved and are bound to go to heaven.....
As Thomas said.quote//You can be a good person and go to Hell, too.

I guess it is up to God and His final judgement that will decide ......

One of the first requests made by the disciples to Jesus was, "Lord, teach us to pray..." (Luke 11:1). The Jewish people of Jerusalem were above all a praying people, and this tradition of prayer was continued by the earliest Christians...

Keep the sabbath .....

Ex.16:29
"The LORD hath given you the sabbath. ... abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day."

Ex.20:8
"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy."

Ex.31:13-15
"Six days my work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death."

Ex.34:21
"Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest."

Ex.35:2
"Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a sabbath of rest to the Lord: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death."

Lev.19:3, 30
"Ye shall ... keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God."

Lev.23:3
"Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD."

Num.15:32, 36
"And they found a man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath day .... And all the congregation brought him without the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the Lord commanded Moses.

Dt.5:12
"Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee."

Is.56:2
"Blessed is the man ... that keepeth the sabbath."

It is not necessary to keep the sabbath....

Is.1:13
"The new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity."

Mt.12:2
"Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day."

Jn.5:16
"And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day."

Rom.14:5
"One man esteemeth one day above another; another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind."

Col.2:16
"Let no man therefore judge you in meat and drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon; or of the
sabbath days."

Any thoughts?

Originally posted by websuspect
Im going to stop going to church.

The only reason we should goto church is to support eachother and I dont like most of the people that goto church, my church.

Are not good chritians but only selfish, sinfull, worthless pieces of crap.

I would say the number one reason people dont goto church anymore is that they dont need it. You can be a good person and not goto church.

Maybe try finding a church that is supportive and caring? I know I was miserable at my last church so I left ... And it took months and months of searching but I finally found one... even if I do have to drive 7 miles to go there.

Actually, all of those Bible quotes posted by Toltec were words that came out of a human being's mouth...Most of them from Moses.

The only words about the Sabbat that are attributed to God Himself are the words in the Ten Commandments. In effect, He told us only to *remember* the Sabbath to keep it holy...In other words, He doesn't care much what you do on the Sabbath except to take some time to *remember* God's day of rest to commemorate His Act of Creation.

Stoning people to death or people who refuse to go to their jobs on a Saturday (Most people seem to think Sabbath is Sunday...But Sunday is the *first* day!) due to religious reasons are either lying or have fallen to the illusions fostered by The Church itself.


[Edited on 27-10-2003 by MidnightDStroyer]

Those who go to church for the right reasons I commend them... those who go there simply for the fact they think if they dont' they will go to hell I say they are fools.

The fact of the matter is jesus didn't want you to go to church and worship all he wanted was for you go follow your true conscience which, IMO is to serve the good of all humanity.

As I stated in the title

Jesus once said

"Split a piece of wood and I am there, lift a stone and you will find me" [meaning jesus will be in your heart if you go to church or follow your own destity and beliefs, not the ones forced onto you by the heirachy of religion]

Religion may be the source to evil as all of the world wars have been started by religious beliefs....

I believe that once people stop folliwing the rules of the church and start finding themselfs through meditation and deep spiritual research of their consious-psyche they will truly be free from the pains of fear and hate

Actually MD Jesus did work on the Sabbath, Jesus being God he broke his own commandment.

Consideration should be given that even to Jesus the issue was one of semantics. In other words, going to church is fine and as well is keeping the Sabbath Holy but lets not treat it as justification for stoning or ending up in hell.

Seems to me a part of the conspiracy.


[Edited on 27-10-2003 by Toltec]

*You can be a good person and go to Hell, too.*

Sorry I'm not following you on this one, isn't it a spiritual contradiction. Is it simply because they failed to attend church.

I'm with CPYKOmega on this, any god who is good and loving will be more concerned about our actions towards each other rather than totting up individual attendance rates and condemning on that basis.

You can go to church, be a kind person, and everything, but if you aren't a Christian who accepts Jesus as your lord and savior, you will go to hell. So nice kindly jewish, muslim, and all other religious peoples are going straight to hell regardless of them being good and attentive of their church needs.

It also really doesn't matter how rotten you are in life. You are forgiven of all sins as long as you request it and make Jesus your lord and savior. Hitler even went to heaven while the people he had killed went to hell. Thats dogma for ya.

[Edited on 27-10-2003 by heelstone]

The amazing Thomas Crowne said that the reason to go to church is because God wants us to.

Our body is our church. The Holy Spirit resides within each one of us. One does not have to go and sit in a church that cost over $50,000,000 to construct to have a close relationship with God.

I threw that figure of $50m out there for most churches I see these days are getting bigger and bigger. It seems that money could be better spent feeding and clothing the hungry and poor. That is what Jesus would want to do with it. One can hold a meeting under a shade tree if like minded individuals want to get together for worship.

The final word is be kind to others. If you goto church and are a miserable person it doesnt make a damn bit of difference.

You know theres a new attitude in Church. We might well all take out the pews and install cubicles. That way, God forbide someone turn around or say somethign nice to fellow Christian.

are we going through another reformation? we still haven't figured out that religion is inside ourselves lol.

You can be a good person and go to Hell, too.

We should go to church for a few reasons, but the biggest reason is that God wants us to do that.

so did all humans pre-church, go to hell? well i guess thats only a couple thousand years of people goign to hell, god must have been one lonely diety for all that time

I think people go to Church for all different reasons...

Like some old people go beacuse lets face it,,,either you were brought up that way of every Sunday and never stopped,,,or you're down to the two minute warning and you effed up in life and are afraid of eternal damnation. (Beacuse your precious Savior deemed you too evil for the Kingdom)
Some people feel better after going. Or like the born agains,,,they go and screw everone else besides their spouses, drink, and do drugs, commit crimes,,,,etc and when they go to church,,,God forgives them for their sins and gives them a new week of sinning. I was told this by a born again,,,he said we are human and we are lible to sin,,,so going to church and paying 10% of his paycheck makes him a better person,,,,,uuugghhhhh,,,I HATE IGNORANCE!!!!!!

[Edited on 27-10-2003 by Stress]

I do not attend church.

"Is all the world jails and churches?"-Zach De La Rocha