Introduction: God is Sin

[FoundationOfUnity]

 

Greetings. I hope each of us can help others reach the level of life experience they deserve as humans and will earn through hard work toward their goals. I speak to myself as well. I am a scientific life coach so goals are central to my work. I was once a pastor in the Assemblies of God, Nationally Appointed Home Missions Chaplain, and Director of a spiritual care Department in a larger New York State Hospice. I was a pastor to the master and thought it was just his servants running things on earth that was the problem. Instead, it was the master himself. I really can't blame god, he just doesn't exist so...such futility only hurts me by dissipating my energy. And what energy it requires to either blame him or tame him. He is on sickening virus of the mind. 

 

From the charismatic, tongues speaking, fasting, praying preaching eating meditating life in leading a community of people lobotomized by god it become clear that there was or must be another way. My real saving grace had nothing at all to do with a blood soaked book club or post that fueled a blood soaked grounds among nations for the next 20 centuries. It had nothing to do with a god who does not exist in any meaningful way that some other less magical fantasy could not easily fulfill. My grace that saved myself was desire for the best for humanity regardless of any other factor, even regardless of god and regardless of Jesus. It was also for the best for me.

 

While I did come from a rather emotionally barren experience growing up, and while I was fully aware of this lack, I and my new wife ran into Jesus people. For the first time I met people with a global vision of peace and power and an answer. Jesus. The world had problems because of sin and sinful behavior. Yep! I agreed. Lots of murdering warriors (Vietnam), lying politicians, and violence everywhere along with laws that just seemed out of control. Teachers had only reading writing and arithmetic but no real understanding of life. Now, they told me Jesus knew everything, the bible was absolutely true in every way, and to cap it off…I was the problem.

 

Ah, turning the tables and both barrels on me. I admitted I wanted to be better and have a great life. “Well, there you go…sinner.” They said…”on your knees.” Eventually I capitulated. I had entry to the cult of Christian faith. Twenty-four years, two children, an ordination, and top experience, it was solidly clear, I’d been had by others who “had been had.”

My kids are grown but still trapped. They do enjoy it. My former wife told me once she is no longer religious. Good for her! Freedom is lovely and freedom requires reality, not fantasy god-ball. What follows is the result of continued education and search for real reconciliation. It follows advanced degrees from top universities in business (MBA), politics (MILR), human development (MA) and human and organizational systems (PhD). Let’s start.

 

God is sin. Let it sink in. How do I know this is true? I know this by the definition of sin and its relationship to god. Without god, sin could not exist for sin is the transgression of god’s law. No god means there is no god’s law. Since there is no law of god, there can be no sin. Crime is not sin and crime does exist. Crime is the transgression of human law but crime is not sin.

Many crimes are also sins because god copied human law because god takes all natural things and claims them all for his supremacist ego. Crime is man’s law. How laws are enforced are different in different cultures. Criminal law is a work in progress and nations without god law are more humane, loving, and successful than those with sin or god-based law.

 

 Sin is evil and works horrendous and hideous mayhem in any group that adopts this concept. The threat of death and destruction brings fear and paranoia into any group. Fear and paranoia causes hysteria and hateful acts toward those who transgress god-law. Not only are transgressor judged, shunned, economically harmed, and eventually killed or exiled, they must also live lives of hiding and lying to survive. All because of a god who does not exist and has never done any of the things the bible claims.

 

This god who created sin is the worst of leaders and most un American or un-free leader possible in terms of law. God is immoral and that I will explain in another, perhaps the next, post. This god, now referred to as “clod” whenever possible, is the judge of sin, the jury of the sinner and the executioner. Clod brings hell and sometimes, immediate punishment.

 

No one on earth need put up with clod’s immoral and destructive personality. Clod is a liar, a murderer, a thief, and quite insane. But clod, like a child beating drunken parent, begs for children to stay under his roof because clod loves us. All we are asked for repeatedly are strict obedience and offerings in addition to 10% of our income.

[TheRedneckProfessor]

I was also assemblies of god.  Welcome.

[FoundationOfUnity]

3 hours ago, TheRedneckProfessor said:

I was also assemblies of god.  Welcome.

Thanks. I kinda like it here. After visiting the humanist site, CFI, and various youtube chat sites, this seems right and more engaging conversations. Hey, think they will put our stories in the "Evangel"? If you remember that magazine that came out from AG, I think weekly or monthly.

[TheRedneckProfessor]

The Evangel... god I haven't even thought about that wrag since my days at Southeastern.

[Geezer]

Preach it brother preach it! Amen, and a hearty Halleluiah! I was Church of Christ. I'm not sure if we were one notch above or below the AOG when it comes to nuttiness. It's probably too close to call. I do know that we were the only ones saved, 'cause the preacher told us that 'bout every Sunday, because we were the only true Christians. Sorry to inform you that you were never really saved to begin with, but I guess that doesn't matter now.

 

Welcome aboard. I'm looking forward to reading more of your thoughts.

[LogicalFallacy]

12 minutes ago, Geezer said:

Preach it brother preach it! Amen, and a hearty Halleluiah! I was Church of Christ. I'm not sure if we were one notch above or below the AOG when it comes to nuttiness. It's probably too close to call. I do know that we were the only ones saved, 'cause the preacher told us that 'bout every Sunday, because we were the only true Christians. Sorry to inform you that you were never really saved to begin with, but I guess that doesn't matter now.

 

Welcome aboard. I'm looking forward to reading more of your thoughts.

 

What we having a competition for how nutty our churches were? Bring it brother! I'll whip ya hides any day :D

 

Welcome Foundationofunity

 

Hope you enjoy it here.

[Geezer]

Okay, I'll play.

 

The Church of Christ came out of the restoration movement that arose in the late 1800's. This movement decided the first Century church was the one & only true church of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was literally the Church Christ personally created. It was also believed the Bible contains the scriptural blue print for "The Church".

 

The c of c believes every word in the Bible was put there personally by God & therefore it's inerrant & must be adhered to literally & precisely. Bible things must be called by Bible names. Therefore the preacher may be identified as a Gospel Preacher or a minister, but never a pastor because the Bible identifies Elders aka Pastors, as the church's shepards the c of c prefers the name Elder or to be Bibically correct Elder(s). There must be more than 1 Elder to Shepard a congregation. The Elders, not the Preacher/Minister shepards the congregation. In other words they run the show. 

 

Ministers/Gospel Preachers can also be identified as Evangelist. The Bible assigns them the task of preaching the word. They are not part of the congregations leadership. 

 

Each congrgation is autonomous. There is no central authority & congregations do not cooperate with each other. The c of c developed something called CENI. It means every command in the Bible must be followed exactly as written. Examples found in the Bible, such as the Church met on the first day of the week (Sunday) & participated in celebrating the Lords Supper, so the church must do the same thing today because examples are interpreted as commands.

 

NI- Necessary Inference is tricky because it can & does conflict with SS or silence of the scriptures.The c of c believes basically that everything they do must have a specific scripture that authorizes it, but the Bible doen't have scripture that gives guidance for everything that the church has to deal with.

 

So the doctrine of silence of the scriptures was developed. If there is no scripture that addresses an issue then the Elders must assume such the Bible does not grant permission to do it......BUT that often put the Elders between a rock & a hard place. The Bible doesn't say if it's okay to even have a church building to worship in, pay staff, have a parking lot, air condition the building, or hire youth ministers or worship leaders. 

 

So, necessary inference was created. Basically that means if the Elders think something is needed then they can say it's okay & override the silence of the scripture doctrine. Nobody is more powerful than the Elders & there is no central authority so who is going to tell them they can't do something they want to do? Well, other congregations Elders can challenge the erring congregation & if those Elders refuse to repent the challenging congrgation can withdraw fellowship (shun then). And this happens quite a bit. Members of shunned congrgation cannot be fellow shipped by the members of the comgrgation that shunned them. This can become quite comical. 

 

There are also anti-congregations that only fellowship other anti's. I'm not going to even get into that except to say if you aren't an anti you can't worship with an anti.

 

The two things the c of c is most known for is that they do not allow instrumental music in their worship services because the Bible does't say instrumental music can be used in Christ NT Church. Silence of the scriptures....remember?Silence means you can't do it. 

 

The other thing the c of c is known for is that baptism is what saves a sinner. Acts 2:38 is the supporting scripture because it says a person's sin are washed away by water baptism & this requires the person be fully emerged under water. Some c of c believe the words, "I Baptised you for the Remission of your sins!" Must also be said in order for the person to be saved. 

 

But the c of c believes no one is saved until they are scripturally baptized, and when a person is baptized they are instantly added to the Lords Church aka The Church of Christ. They are free to chose which comgrgation they want to worship with though. There is more nuttiness that that but this should suffice for now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FoundationOfUnity]

4 hours ago, Geezer said:

Okay, I'll play.

 

AoG's turn with the 16 Tenets of Faith. Founded in the early 20th century here is the way they spell crazy:

The following is a summary of the 16 Fundamental Truths:

1. The Bible is inspired by God and is "the infallible, authoritative rule of faith and conduct".
2. There is only one true God who exists as a Trinity.
3. Jesus Christ is the Son of God and, as the second person of the Trinity, is God.
4. Man was created good by God but was separated from God through original sin.
5. Salvation "is received through repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ".
6. There are two ordinances. Believer's baptism by immersion is a declaration to the world that the believer has died and been raised together with Christ, becoming a new creation. The Lord's Supper is a symbol expressing the believer's sharing in the divine nature of Christ, a memorial of Christ's suffering and death, and a prophecy of Christ's second coming.
7. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a separate and subsequent experience following conversion. Spirit baptism brings empowerment to live an overcoming Christian life and to be an effective witness.
8. Speaking in tongues is the initial physical evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
9. Sanctification is "an act of separation from that which is evil, and of dedication unto God". It occurs when the believer identifies with, and has faith in, Christ in his death and resurrection. It is understood to be a process in that it requires continual yielding to the Holy Spirit.
10. The Church's mission is to seek and save all who are lost in sin; the Church is the Body of Christ and consists of all people who accept Christ, regardless of Christian denomination.
11. Divinely called and scripturally-ordained ministers serve the Church.
12. Divine healing of the sick is provided for in the atonement.
13. The "imminent and blessed hope" of the Church is its rapture preceding the bodily return of Christ to earth.
14. The rapture of the Church will be followed by the visible return of Christ and his reign on earth for a thousand years.
15. There will be a final judgment and eternal damnation for the "wicked dead".
16. There will be future new heavens and a new earth "wherein dwelleth righteousness". "from Wikipedia"

 

4 hours ago, Geezer said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FoundationOfUnity]

7 hours ago, LogicalFallacy said:

 

What we having a competition for how nutty our churches were? Bring it brother! I'll whip ya hides any day :D

 

Welcome Foundationofunity

 

Hope you enjoy it here.

Thanks LF.

[LogicalFallacy]

Well as Geezer said C o C has some nuttiness.

 

I will warn members, the following could be disturbing. The nuttiness factor should increase by a factor of 10.

 

The Church I was in is non denominational, and largely is based on the teachings of a one William M Branham, the 7th Church age messenger. We pretty much largely have similar basic doctrines to Pentecostal, AoG and Baptist... kinda a mismash really because of the fact that a lot of Branham followers were "called out" of the denominations as the Bride of Christ. So I'll stick to some of the unusual doctrines.... the not so main steam ones:

 

1) W M Branham was a messenger from God who healed sick, and revealed the word of God (We have decided only some was revealed now - someone else needs to reveal more)

2) The earth and universe is 6,000 years old

3) The original sin was Eve having sex with the serpent (Which is referred to as "the beast") The serpent was in the form of a big ape like creature

4) Because of this the human race is fallen having beast blood in us which explains why we are so closely related to the great apes.

5) Cain was the product of Eve and the serpent hence his line is cursed

6) This union caused degeneration in humans which is where homosexuality and all forms of perversion come in

7) Homosexuals are bad, LGBTQ are worse and the world will soon (TM) burn with fire like Sodam and Gomorrah

8) Armageddon is coming as written in Revelations

9) Only the chosen of the called out (Many are called, few are chosen) are going in the rapture, which is God coming back in the chosen (God dwelling in man again like he did with Jesus)

10) You are all going to hell

 

 

One up me anyone?

 

PS Yes this is stuff people actually believe, yes I believed it, I'm not making it up just to appear nutty.

PSS I only listed 10 major things because those are central to the overriding belief system... and didn't want to cause too much head slapping for ya'll.

 

 

[Geezer]

Interestingly enough the Church of Christ doesn't have a statement of faith, but they do believe they are the restored church Christ established on earth & that makes them the one & only true Church. They beiieve all other churches are manmade  so God doesn't recognize them or their members. Therefore, anyone who has not been added by baptism to the Lords Church (The Church of Christ) is not saved. It is not uncommon for a c of c congregation to have the words founded in AD 33 on their sign.

 

The c of c is so legalistic there is constant infighting over how scripture should be interpreted & that leads to disunity & disfellowshippimg members & other congregations. Oh yeah, many believe every time a person sins they lose their soul & are lost until they repent, so it's possible to be in a saved & unsaved condition multiple times a day. 

 

I'm not sure if it's possible to determine who has the nuttiest religion, there are too many to chose from. I'm just glad to have gotten out with some sanity left.

 

[Tsathoggua9]

23 minutes ago, Geezer said:

Interestingly enough the Church of Christ doesn't have a statement of faith, but they do believe they are the restored church Christ established on earth & that makes them the one & only true Church. They beiieve all other churches are manmade  so God doesn't recognize them or their members. Therefore, anyone who has not been added by baptism to the Lords Church (The Church of Christ) is not saved. It is not uncommon for a c of c congregation to have the words founded in AD 33 on their sign.

 

The c of c is so legalistic there is constant infighting over how scripture should be interpreted & that leads to disunity & disfellowshippimg members & other congregations. Oh yeah, many believe every time a person sins they lose their soul & are lost until they repent, so it's possible to be in a saved & unsaved condition multiple times a day. 

 

I'm not sure if it's possible to determine who has the nuttiest religion, there are too many to chose from. I'm just glad to have gotten out with some sanity left.

 

 

Preach it, brother! As another former Church of Christ member, I can attest to its nuttiness. Legalistic to the point of being Pharasaical, fer sure....

[TheRedneckProfessor]

43 minutes ago, Geezer said:

Interestingly enough it's possible to be in a saved & unsaved condition multiple times a day. 

 

Schrodinger's christian.

[☆ DarkBishop ☆]

 

Well as Geezer said C o C has some nuttiness.

 

I will warn members, the following could be disturbing. The nuttiness factor should increase by a factor of 10.

 

The Church I was in is non denominational, and largely is based on the teachings of a one William M Branham, the 7th Church age messenger. We pretty much largely have similar basic doctrines to Pentecostal, AoG and Baptist... kinda a mismash really because of the fact that a lot of Branham followers were "called out" of the denominations as the Bride of Christ. So I'll stick to some of the unusual doctrines.... the not so main steam ones:

 

1) W M Branham was a messenger from God who healed sick, and revealed the word of God (We have decided only some was revealed now - someone else needs to reveal more)

2) The earth and universe is 6,000 years old

3) The original sin was Eve having sex with the serpent (Which is referred to as "the beast") The serpent was in the form of a big ape like creature

4) Because of this the human race is fallen having beast blood in us which explains why we are so closely related to the great apes.

5) Cain was the product of Eve and the serpent hence his line is cursed

6) This union caused degeneration in humans which is where homosexuality and all forms of perversion come in

7) Homosexuals are bad, LGBTQ are worse and the world will soon (TM) burn with fire like Sodam and Gomorrah

8) Armageddon is coming as written in Revelations

9) Only the chosen of the called out (Many are called, few are chosen) are going in the rapture, which is God coming back in the chosen (God dwelling in man again like he did with Jesus)

10) You are all going to hell

 

 

One up me anyone?

 

PS Yes this is stuff people actually believe, yes I believed it, I'm not making it up just to appear nutty.

PSS I only listed 10 major things because those are central to the overriding belief system... and didn't want to cause too much head slapping for ya'll.

 

 

Whoa damn logical.......

 

You really were in a cult weren't cha? That's some whacked out crap right there lmao!

 

I know there are cults that "can" one up that. But I think they all cut their genitals off when Halleys comet went by last time!

 

I know I'm poking fun at it a little but From the way you described it I imagine you have as well by now. So I hope I didn't offend ya.

 

But in all seriousness I'm sure they made it sound authentic when they preached that message. And relating it to scientific theory of our evolution probably made it sound even more plausible. These churches and cults can make anything sound like the real deal by twisting the "word" and if they throw another messenger in there well that makes it even more twisted. There are some pretty twisted prophecies in the LDS church too. In their "journal of discourses" Brigham young said their were people dwelling on the sun and the earth would also be like the sun when it is celestialized. 

 

 

Just be thankful you weren't in one of those cults that had pervie child molesters making the prophecies up ?.

 

DB

[FoundationOfUnity]

9 hours ago, DarkBishop said:

Whoa damn logical.......

 

You really were in a cult weren't cha? That's some whacked out crap right there lmao!

 

I know there are cults that "can" one up that. But I think they all cut their genitals off when Halleys comet went by last time!

 

I know I'm poking fun at it a little but From the way you described it I imagine you have as well by now. So I hope I didn't offend ya.

 

But in all seriousness I'm sure they made it sound authentic when they preached that message. And relating it to scientific theory of our evolution probably made it sound even more plausible. These churches and cults can make anything sound like the real deal by twisting the "word" and if they throw another messenger in there well that makes it even more twisted. There are some pretty twisted prophecies in the LDS church too. In their "journal of discourses" Brigham young said their were people dwelling on the sun and the earth would also be like the sun when it is celestialized. 

 

 

Just be thankful you weren't in one of those cults that had pervie child molesters making the prophecies up ?.

 

DB

Give me a few days because there is a story beyond all the others I've read. It is in a book titled, "God is a millionaire". This, and one book I still respect by Ann Kimmel (I love the word impossible), are the only ones I saved from all the thousands of dollars I invested. In the Clod is a millionaire book, there is the story of the only may recorded as crowned King in America. He is a worse smuck than Jesus is a tyrant of love

[AlienGoddess]

 

Whoa damn logical.......

 

You really were in a cult weren't cha? That's some whacked out crap right there lmao!

 

I know there are cults that "can" one up that. But I think they all cut their genitals off when Halleys comet went by last time!

 

I know I'm poking fun at it a little but From the way you described it I imagine you have as well by now. So I hope I didn't offend ya.

 

But in all seriousness I'm sure they made it sound authentic when they preached that message. And relating it to scientific theory of our evolution probably made it sound even more plausible. These churches and cults can make anything sound like the real deal by twisting the "word" and if they throw another messenger in there well that makes it even more twisted. There are some pretty twisted prophecies in the LDS church too. In their "journal of discourses" Brigham young said their were people dwelling on the sun and the earth would also be like the sun when it is celestialized. 

 

 

Just be thankful you weren't in one of those cults that had pervie child molesters making the prophecies up ?.

 

DB

HA HA HA . 

    " But I think they all cut their genitals off when Halleys comet went by last time!

 

That was a proof religion could turn healty sane people into madness,illogical and irrationality.