Religion has actually convinced people that there is an invisible man living in the sky watching everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he doesn't want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever until the end of time. But he loves you. He loves you, and he needs money. He always needs money. He's all-powerful, all-knowing, all-perfect and all-wise, somehow he just can't handle money
~George Carlin~
I recently made a pretty important decision in my life. A decision which I should have made long ago. I've decided that I wasn't going to give too much credence to those individuals in my life who have grown accustomed to, shall we say, bringing negativity into my daily life. Now, many people would say that it's not that much of a big deal, but I disagree. Simply because of the fact that a few of those individuals that I have chosen to distance myself from are those who confess to being a Christian believer. Think I'm off base? Think I've gone too far? Well, trust me when I say that I have struggled with this decision for some time, it wasn't an easy one for me. I mean, believers are supposed to uplift each other, right? That's what we will hear preached from the pulpits of the church. But I've often noticed that the very preaching and teaching of those within the church can be seen as negative in nature. But wait, how is it that the good news can be seen as negative? Well, it depends on the translation of those who speak it. I've had more than a few people who have questioned my use of the quote from comedian George Carlin which I often use as a precursor to my page. But whether Carlin knew it at the time of not, he was delivering a scathing rebuke of the mainstream church we know today. Of how congregations who have been advised to love one another instead turn to the negativity of warnings of sin and hell. One of the individuals I have decided to distance myself from is among that crowd. Any opportunity to discuss Jesus often turns into a condemnation of whatever sins I'm carrying with me {Paul to the Romans 3:23}. The stark warnings of what awaits me if I refuse to repent. Does this sound like the good news of the forgiveness we have in Jesus to you? In my opinion, it's simply a gospel of gloom spoken by those within the church.
A dear friend of mine recently spoke to me that the early reformers of the church never changed the doctrine of how the church views sin, only that it was forgiven by God directly, a process known as "Solo Gratia." What Luther, Calvin and other early reformers of the church did was to exaggerate the sinfulness of man to a high degree. Listen to any church pastor and you will hear phrases such as "Wretched sinner am I' and "sinner saved by grace." This has been the gospel of gloom spoken by the church for thousands of years, and I want NO part of it. My first question to anyone espousing this teaching is always, what about Jesus? For it is Jesus Who has given Himself willingly for not only the forgiveness of sin, but that sin within us would be put to death entirely {Paul to the Romans 6:6-11}. Yes, it is we who have perished on that cross with Jesus {Paul to the Galatians 2:20, Paul to the Romans 6:6}. Therefore, we no longer are tagged with that monicker of sin. That ship has sailed. "For sin shall not be lording it over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace" {Paul to the Romans 6:14}. In fact, for those who continue to proclaim the gospel of gloom that we continue to live in sin, Paul already has the answer for that lie. "We, who died to sin, how shall we still be living in it?" {Paul to the Romans 6:2}. Yet there are those entrenched within the false doctrine of the church who will say that I'm simply quoting verses to support my own narrative. Well, if you read yesterday's page, you will see that it is the mainstream church which has created that false narrative, not me. That narrative was born from the Nicene creed in the year 325. The original intent of this council was to create a consistent theology among the various Christian churches, a narrative if you will. This is the gospel of gloom which has been preached from the pulpits for thousands of years. The theology which ignores the good news which we have through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. Well, I choose the good news over the bad.
For sin shall not be lording it over you, for you are not under law, but under grace
Paul to the Romans 6: 14, Concordant New Testament Translation
~Scott~
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