I heard some things growing up that were crazy that negatively affected my walk with Jesus. Other things I'm not sure of and still sorting through, trying to decide/come to an understanding. Some things are obvious to us and we can identify them for what they are, flush it and move on. Other things strike some sort of nerve and stick, ferment, and bear fruit (not necessarily good fruit).
I think it may help me to put a few of them into words here, and I bet there are many things others have heard that "messed with" their head. It might help you and others to throw them out for examination, rebuttal, and/or affirmation. Here's a few of mine:
You've got to confess Jesus as Lord at least once a week to "stay saved". (I think I've pretty well got a handle on that one :laughing7:).
You really need to kneel to pray to make it more "acceptable".
If your ears are ringing it means someone around you/close to you is going to die. Believe it or not that thing has caused problems for me, sickly connecting it with my "disobedience" and likely punishment of losing someone I loved...heard it as a small child and it stuck in my head....crazy.
My dad says he knew my infant sister was going to die, and that God did that to get him saved, by getting him to "turn to" Him. She did die. Helped create fear of disobedience (perceived and/or real) and similar punishment.
And the biggie of course...if you die with one unconfessed and unforgiven sin, you would go to hell for eternity. = fear, condemnation, struggling, works rather than grace, and less ability to love God.
Maybe more later...
Heard anything that "twisted" you a bit?
QuoteAnd the biggie of course...if you die with one unconfessed and unforgiven sin, you would go to hell for eternity. = fear, condemnation, struggling, works rather than grace, and less ability to love God
This is the biggie, you are very correct. Add the supposed unforgivable sin and you have the whole cake with cherries on top.
Quote from: DeeDee on November 17, 2008, 09:13:41 AM
if you die with one unconfessed and unforgiven sin, you would go to hell for eternity. = fear, condemnation, struggling, works rather than grace, and less ability to love God
quote author=DeeDee
This is the biggie, you are very correct. Add the supposed unforgivable sin and you have the whole cake with cherries on top.
This one's a killer, my friend. And I believe there are many others that hit us in those "weak spots"...
Quoteif you die with one unconfessed and unforgiven sin, you would go to hell for eternity. = fear, condemnation, struggling, works rather than grace, and less ability to love God
quote author=DeeDee
This is the biggie, you are very correct. Add the supposed unforgivable sin and you have the whole cake with cherries on top.
This one's a killer, my friend. And I believe there are many others that hit us in those "weak spots"...
So very true.
Quote from: jabcat on November 17, 2008, 08:59:19 AM
Heard anything that "twisted" you a bit?
"If you aren't in church every service, then something is wrong with you....most likely you need to get saved."
"Men with long hair and earrings, people who claim to speak in tongues, and most chaosmatics....worship a false god."
"Any other bible than the authorized KJV 1611, will lead you astray, quite likely putting you in danger of eternity in hell."
Iv'e heard regarding people who have studied the bible and have come to a different interpertaion...."They are too smart! The devil fights them and it is harder for them to know God."
One of the things that has caused difficulty in my walk before I left organized Church was that if you did not see a physical or emotional manifestation showing you experienced God then it was not real.
One of the more recent examples was not long before I left the last church I was in, I said that sometimes you get a revelation from God for your life and it is so real that it just becomes knowledge and awareness of him. Just because I didn't jump up and down and dance and sing in physical praise to God didn't mean I did not experience that.
But the worship leader at the time pretty much said that couldn't be and that there must be some spectacular event associated with any movement of God or it's not God.
What that come down to is that if I am at church and worship is going on then of course the more lively I am the more God is present. For a while it caused me to want to pretend to go down this road and jump around in church and do all sorts of things to show that I was worshipping properly.
The Ironic thing of it all is that this church has a note in the bulletin it hands out that instructs people to keep their expression and movement to a minimum to avoid distracting others. LOL
When I actually saw that irony it was one of the harder laughs I'd had in a while.
QuoteWhat that come down to is that if I am at church and worship is going on then of course the more lively I am the more God is present. For a while it caused me to want to pretend to go down this road and jump around in church and do all sorts of things to show that I was worshipping properly.
The Ironic thing of it all is that this church has a note in the bulletin it hands out that instructs people to keep their expression and movement to a minimum to avoid distracting others. LOL
When I actually saw that irony it was one of the harder laughs I'd had in a while
:laughing7: :thumbsup:
Quote from: Paul Hazelwood on November 17, 2008, 03:55:11 PM
One of the things that has caused difficulty in my walk before I left organized Church was that if you did not see a physical or emotional manifestation showing you experienced God then it was not real...keep it to a minimum...the irony of it....
This one reminds of hearing a preacher/evangelist who came to our little church say "We believe to get saved you have to kneel at an alter and pray and cry". Sadly, I saw that man in a mental health center a few years later a emotional/psychological mess.
And, ah, yes, the men with long hair one...that was a big one where I grew up...and women wearing pants...
QuoteAnd, ah, yes, the men with long hair one...that was a big one where I grew up...and women wearing pants...
I have neighbours (female) that never wear pants and for a while I thought I was doing something so horrible because I wear pants. Irony in this is that in so many cultures the men wear skirts or the women wear pants. Another irony is that in the bible days they seemed to all wear dress/robes.