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My church sucks!

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posted on Aug, 2 2008 @ 02:51 PM
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“My church is Boring!!!!”

“I used to go…until…”

“Christians are hypocrites!”

Church is ______ (you finish)

“Seven in 10 Protestants ages 18 to 30 — both evangelical and mainline — who went to church regularly in high school said they quit attending by age 23, according to the survey by LifeWay Research. And 34% of those said they had not returned, even sporadically, by age 30. That means about one in four Protestant young people have left the church…
…The statistics are based on a survey of 1,023 Protestants ages 18 to 30 who said they had attended church at least twice a month for at least one year during high school. LifeWay did the survey in April and May. Margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.”

Reference: www.usatoday.com...

Why?

Have you left church?

I’d be interested in who likes church and who doesn’t…bring research to the discussion if you can, but I’m more interested in your experiences, insights and horror stories…



posted on Aug, 2 2008 @ 04:53 PM
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I left church a LONG time ago, and haven't been back since.

My parents carted us kids to the First Baptist Church every single Sunday without fail. Most of the time we did not attend the regular services, but instead attended Sunday School. They gave us all $1 to put in the offering envelopes every Sunday.

I actually had fun in Sunday School growing up though. We would do all sorts of crafts and then in later years it was all music, literally. We had tons of fun singing all sorts of songs, not just religious-oriented ones. Plus they had all kinds of refreshments like pastries and hot drinks. Sometimes they even brought in recording artists to play music for us. No one really famous though, but still... it cost them thousands per musician at least.

Majority of the people that attended the church were middle to upper class, so there was a lot of money floating around. My family was middle class.

The old preacher decided to retire. I can't remember exactly when, but I was either 12 or 13 years old. Guess what his retirement gift was?

A brand new Jaguar vehicle.

WTF?

The church itself was not far from the business district downtown but the surrounding neighborhoods were mostly poor.

Why did the church give such an expensive gift instead of helping the poor more?

Instead they built a HUGE building in a popular church campsite in New Mexico. The place was massive. Could house over 100 people in there. The main gathering room was like a cathedral, but all in wood. Very high ceilings, lots of windows.

I ultimately stopped going once I opened my eyes and saw the materialism and how they flaunted it. And how little they helped the poor.

Then they built a huge "family center" on the church property. It has a gym, running track, work out area, pool tables, bowling alley, and basketball court. You had to pay $7 a month to go there though.

So, while not a "horror story," it goes to show that they only seem concerned about money, and always want more. Ticks me off.



posted on Aug, 2 2008 @ 08:10 PM
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I don't blame either of you, I went to the "Creation Museum" in Cincinnati and although the place was fabulous (pricey to get into too) I found the displays simplistic to the point of it must be for children because no skeptic is going to come out of there converted. The money spent on this place seems to be exessive when much needs to be done elsewhere.
So I see where your coming from but I still attend church, Why? you may ask, because I go there not for them, I go there to worship God, and I know I don't have to go there to do it and sometimes, actually often, I don't, but Jesus told us not to neglect the assembly. Oh and yes ALL Christians are hippocrites thus the need for Christ. God is not boring so I'm not sure how or why today's American churches are but they are, My guess would be because God is not attending most of them and probably because he doesn't tolerate being second to anyone or anything, (also a reason we need Christ)



posted on Aug, 4 2008 @ 04:09 PM
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reply to post by Ceara
 



posted on Aug, 4 2008 @ 04:13 PM
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Nice post...glad you attend, do your friends attend...?

btw, I went to that same museum...and remember their budget is a whooole lot less than the Smithsonian's...I kinda dug it



posted on Aug, 4 2008 @ 04:18 PM
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You just need to find a non-denominational church. They are less pushy on a certain belief and most of the people are more true to themselves.

What I hate is the people that dress up to go to church. It's like they are the real phony ones. Who are you trying to impress, I would ask them and they just look at me like I'm some poor piece of doo when I'm sure I make more than they do. I'm sure they're just into church for public relations reasons.

They maybe going to church, but I'll bet they are still going to hell. I that it makes a difference in my life what happens to them.

Plus it is a place to feel superior to others. They can look at others and flaunt there life in front of the ones that are struggling. They are sad souls that are desperate for an ego boost.

Edited From:

I'm just into church for public relations reasons.

Oooops! That would of given the wrong impression of me!


[edit on 4-8-2008 by MrMysticism]



posted on Aug, 4 2008 @ 04:36 PM
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Skeptics, Are you there???????

What is a good Christian to you?

Ever met one???

Got to be more interest in this subject!!!!!

Am I transmitting-Houston we have a problem!



posted on Aug, 5 2008 @ 03:19 AM
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i left church because it wasnt following the bible both literally and principly.

its one thing to teach hellfire and the trinity and other absurdities, but its another to not follow the basic commandments like "love one another"

so i stopped going



posted on Aug, 5 2008 @ 12:47 PM
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reply to post by OldThinker
 



Hello

to me the churches i have been to (various) are to bothered about the politics of church and the world. They do not allow for the holy spirit to work and when they do its at the other scale of charismatics.

its a lot of im right so listen up.

the good side to this is that the bible tells us this would happen.

cheers

david



posted on Aug, 5 2008 @ 04:02 PM
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What I hate is the people that dress up to go to church. It's like they are the real phony ones. Who are you trying to impress, I would ask them and they just look at me like I'm some poor piece of doo when I'm sure I make more than they do. I'm sure they're just into church for public relations reasons.


Have you ever considered the fact that people dress up for church out of respect for God/Christ? Reread your post and see how silly and superficial you sound ... you're sure you 'make more than they do'? Who cares? Getting dressed up and wanting to look your best while worshipping has nothing to do with money - it's a sign of respect in a variety of ways. Self respect as well as respect for the church, respect for worshipping and respect for God.

Just my two cents

Jemison



posted on Aug, 5 2008 @ 09:39 PM
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First to the Op , no, I don't have alot of "friends" as I'm pretty jaded dealing with people in general, an untrusting type of fellow life has made me, the so called "friends" I have do not go to church for the most part, for the same reasons you and the other posters don't. I dress up in a nice shirt and pants, shoes just as I would for any other formal gathering, no suit though I don't own one. I'm not in competition with anyone when I go.
Off topic... The Smithsonian museums have really degenerated into political types of displays since I was young. I took my family there a couple of years ago and apologized to them for how bad it was after I had told them the fantastic things I had seen 15 years prior.



posted on Aug, 12 2008 @ 11:24 AM
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reply to post by miriam0566
 


Miriam0566,

AMEN! Your comment on loving one another is the key...I'd encourage you to get it another chance...there are great churches out there, you can find a good one, not perfect though...

A great place to start is listening to "It's Friday, but Sunday's coming" audio...just google it, it's on the Tony Campolo website...

Thx so much for replying!

OT
Phil 1:3



posted on Aug, 12 2008 @ 11:27 AM
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reply to post by Ceara
 


INTP, huh? Excellent!!!!!

I'm ENTJ...

Thx for your thoughts...

Old 'Thinker'



posted on Aug, 12 2008 @ 12:04 PM
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Wow.. why i stopped going to church.. where to start?

While employed at a major bank, one of my clients came to me and changed his beneficiary from his daughter to a local priest. The agreement was that this priest should use the funds to build a small chapel in the clients wifes memory. ( An institution , such as a church, cannot be listed as a beneficiary so the priest assured the client that the funds would be used for the intended purpose. )

My client passes away shortly thereafter.. The priest came in to collect his check... and traveled the WORLD. No chapel was ever built.

What an abuse of a parishioners trust.

Fast forward to the whole alter boy sex abuse debacle /rampant pedophilia and there you have it. ( All 4 of the parishes i have belonged to in my life have had priests removed for improper behavior with youngsters.. )

I would rather work on my own to get to a better place spiritually than have to listen to hypocrites.



posted on Aug, 12 2008 @ 01:21 PM
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SugarJ,

thx for the post...a disappointing story for sure. Thank you for contributing to the thread...

Got any opinions on who Jesus Christ is?

OT



posted on Aug, 12 2008 @ 01:28 PM
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reply to post by OldThinker
 

well, in my opinion a real man who had walked the earth historically. ( would love to have had DNA tests back then.. Half of Marys DNA and then what?? )

Do i believe he is the Son of God? The savior? My opinion is that he never intended to start a new religion ( Catholicism) but wanted to perhaps weed out the pariahs in his faith.. Judaism.

Incidentally i was raised Catholic.. married a jew in a church with a priest and a rabbi ( sounds like the set up for a good punch line doesnt it? )

Typo grrrrr




[edit on 8/12/08 by SugarJ]



posted on Aug, 12 2008 @ 11:40 PM
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I left the church and Christianity because almost none of my questions were answered. I aksed and they responded with almost a mockery of my ideas. Now...I am not the person to take the word of a mortal man on a spiritual manner so I turned to the bible and what I saw disgusted me. In my opinion women are not equal in those words and it confused me because I read further and discovered God is omnipotent and knows my fate so what is the point to my life?

On top of that I didn't feel anything personal with him so I moved on until I found it.

-Kyo



posted on Aug, 13 2008 @ 07:05 PM
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KyoZero,

Thank you for your opinion/experience...

God bless you...

OT



posted on Aug, 13 2008 @ 07:38 PM
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You guys can go to my church. Well, virtually at least. If you can't visit Frisco TX then log in on Sunday Morning to Celebration Covenant and you can watch the service live. I think you can see some of the previous services too in the history.

This church is different from any other one that I've been to. The song service makes you feel alive instead of sleepy, but most importantly, the pastor Keith Craft really knows his stuff and makes the Bible come alive.



posted on Aug, 13 2008 @ 07:56 PM
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dbates,

Thank you so much...I will check out Paster Craft's church/link...

OT

[edit on 13-8-2008 by OldThinker]







 
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