Below is a small part of chapter one as taken from one of my books still being written…
Chapter One
It is said that religion has destroyed far more lives than it has saved. It has ruined people in so many ways, turned them into bigots, caused wars and is possibly one of the most divisive things on the planet today. The controlling ways within Christianity has forced people to make bad decisions and live in ways that took all sense of dignity, morals and humanity from them.
Women and men have been raped, bullied, abused, had babies snatched from them never to be seen again; told they must stay in abusive relationships or be removed from the Church. Mankind has killed, fought, maimed and tortured all in the name of religion. Jesus Himself was not exempt from this cruelty.
Looking back through history, the horrendous stories we have read about, and seen exposed about abuse and control in so many ways, is disturbing in something meant to spread and teach about love, compassion, kindness, caring and unity. The thing is, it is not religion that has done these things, it is people within those religions be it leader or follower.
I talk of Christianity because that is the only religion I know about intimately since birth. There is so much I love about the teachings we have been given through Christ and heaven in the bible – and other holy books – but so few follow those teachings.
The Church has become mostly about man’s laws rather than Gods. The followers within them are no different. They’re worshiping and following the religions made up more of man’s wishes than God’s. They are unmoving, unquestioning, refusing to listen to anything but what they’re brainwashed with, which is why the Church as a whole is in deep decline and danger of disappearing totally, which is actually what it needs. It needs to be rebuilt so it becomes only of God, not mostly mankind as it is now.
When Jesus came to this world of ours, He lived a simple life. He taught, counselled, healed, forgave sins, was humble, simple and showed us how His Father wanted us to be, to live. He brought the good people together as one, not divided them as so many religions and faiths do today.
Where is any of His teaching visible in the Church, in Christianity or in the leaders within the various faiths? How can Christianity have so many divisions that all fight against each other? How can anything which was Universal now be still called Christianity when most of those universal teachings are ignored or removed from the protesting faiths that walked away to make up their own rules rather than follow God’s?
Leaders are the ones to blame, for they are the ones not teaching us how God wants us to be. They are mostly weak and lack courage. They are the ones allowing and encouraging their followers to protest, argue, divide, feel superior, decry others under the same banner, to be more of man’s ways rather than God’s. To be divided from others professing to love and know God rather than be united as one.
In 2016, I published a book called, You are God’s Church. Part of the opening of that book had these words, “…We are God’s Church, a Church that needs no buildings, no man-made laws, religions or anything else in order to be one of God’s much-loved children…”
My words aren’t about me wishing to see religion abolished, far from it. Instead, I want to see it cleaned up, followed properly, united as one and practiced with humility not superiority. Practiced as God asks of us not how man and Church leader’s demand. As for women in the Church today, I despair as does God. It should be men only in the role of Our Father in heaven as Jesus taught us, not women dressed up in dog collars parading around claiming they can be. The priest acts in persona Christi (in the person of Christ), who was male. As such, the Protestant Churches allowing women to take that role are highly offensive to God and are deliberately ignoring His laws and teachings.
There is much I adored about the Church as a body, still do, but there is so much more that now makes me angry, very upset and disturbed. Yes, angry. What would be wonderful to see is everyone united as one. Everyone humbled and coming together in love, not hate and superiority. All people doing only God’s will as asked of us in His Ten Commandments; heeding only Christ’s teachings given when He came to our world to show us how we should be living while leading us by His example.
Apart from those teachings, which many Christian faiths choose to ignore, the supernatural gifts of God too are being either totally ignored or twisted into what charismatic leaders and followers pretend them to be. So much now is about mostly man’s desires, man’s control with very little of God. I’m far from alone in realising how religion has destroyed so many lives throughout the ages, including mine.
I am sickened how nothing is being done about any of it. Small gestures here and there that mean very little and achieve even less, but none that mean much if anything at all. Superiority shown by leaders and followers over other faiths, closed minds, lack of testing or showing discernment about many things where testing should always be seen are just a couple of things that need to be sorted out.
Pope Francis’ decision over Medjugorje is one such thing where he ignored what’s so obviously a deception in order to pander to people’s demands in desperation to try and save the failing Church. How sad he, like so many leaders today, chose false quantity over quality, deception rather than fact and truth.
The whole Church needs cleaning up. The Church is dying and much as I hate to say it, it needs to die so it can be resurrected just as Jesus was resurrected. If and when this happens, it will hopefully then become as God asked of us and wants, not how mankind decided it should be…
To see more of Lorraine’s books and read the first chapters FREE – go to Amazon or see the titles on the right hand side of this blog
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