Resonance - living with different frequencies

I have no doubt most grace preachers and teachers are helping people to believe in positive outcomes to overcome their problems. After all, my personal principle is that whatever benefits oneself and others is wonderful, and it doesn't matter what label we give to our religion or ideology, whether it is called progressive Christianity or new age or socialism or anarchism, etc. However, the main grouse I have with mainstream Christianity or grace teachings in evangelical circles is that they engage in double talk - on one hand, they encourage people to see God as bigger than their problems, yet on the other hand, they limit God by excluding "unbelievers" from being part of God's family unless they are seen to confess or believe the "right" things about Jesus Christ.

The false dichotomy of "us versus them" is perhaps one of the most divisive mindsets in the world. I myself also need to remember not to allow the differences in beliefs or mindsets come between me and others. I suppose friendship with others who subscribe to mainstream Christianity is still possible, even though it may not be at a deep level since there may be little or no resonance with their mindsets about certain topics or issues.

This is not to say I got everything figured out and they don't. Rather, this is to acknowledge that my journey has taken a different turn from theirs at some point in time. I feel that it is up to each person to decide for oneself whether one prefers to explore the mysteries of life by oneself or to follow the crowd and accept the established ideas handed down from the previous generations. Of course, we all can choose to learn from one another and draw our own conclusions. We need one another at the end of the day, since we are interconnected in the web of life in the universe, even though we may not always see eye to eye on some matters.

 'Trust the wisdom of your soul. It knows the way."~ Laurel at Illuminating Souls.

It's time to wake up and grow up

HEY CHRISTIANITY, WAKE THE HELL UP!

- Let's just be real. First of all, Jesus and Christianity have NOTHING in common. Christianity is nothing more than the Pharisees under a new title. Their so called Sabbath is a fashion show, and the main event is always the offering plate. They seem to think the Word of God is a book, and honor that which is dead, more than that which is alive (their own brothers & sisters). They say, you are a sinner, and you must accept Jesus, or else God who is LOVE will throw you into an eternal oven.

Come on' people, stop being brainwashed and WAKE UP! The bible is not a literal book. WE are the Word of God wearing garments of flesh. Jesus is everyman's story, a microcosm of ALL humanity, (he is you and me). Yes, WE are the living Christ, and the Kingdom of (love, joy, and peace) here and NOW! Please, stop waiting for that which is already here. The Pharisees could not see Christ then (in the form of Jesus), and the Pharisees (Christians) can not see Christ NOW (in the form of EVERYMAN). Humanity is Jesus the Christ if you have not yet caught on.

So please, grow the hell up and find out who you truly are. Stop being a bunch of fucking zombies walking around quoting scriptures and gossiping about each other. Stop believing everything you read, everything that people tell you, and learn to go within and find out for YOURSELF.

Have a beautiful day, PEACE!!!

- Matthew M

It is refreshing and encouraging to read the above post as he tells it like it is, that Christianity has missed the truth just as the Pharisees did. Jesus the Christ is indeed humanity himself. Back then, when Jesus told the Jews (after saying "today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing") that the non-Jews have received healing and grace instead of them, the Jews were mad at him and wanted to throw him off a cliff. Today, many of those who call themselves Christians are no different - they get mad when they are told that the kingdom of heaven is in and for everyone, not just "Christians". Like the Pharisees, they thought only they had exclusive favour with god (or rather their version of god).

As Matthew M pointed out, today's Pharisees (Christians) cannot see Christ now (in the form of every man). It is sad because the gospel is the good news for everyone, not just for "Christians" only. Christ came to show he is all and in all. It is indeed time for those who call themselves Christians to stop quoting scriptures to condemn or discriminate their fellow human beings, or gossip about who has "backslidden". Talking about that, I like Mike Myers' definition of a backslider -"a term used to describe someone who has enough sense to leave a cult"

Related link:

Blasphemy or good news?

Ten warning signs of a potentially unsafe group/leader 

10 Signs of a Cult

How Cults Work

Blasphemy or good news?

Modern-day Nazareth, Israel in 2008

 ¹⁶ So He came to Nazareth, [^[e]that Nazareth] where He had been brought up, and He entered the synagogue, as was His custom on the Sabbath day. And He stood up to read.

¹⁷ And there was handed to Him [the roll of] the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened (unrolled) the book and found the place where it was written,

¹⁸ The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity],

¹⁹ To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day ^[f]when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound].

²⁰ Then He rolled up the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were gazing [attentively] at Him.

²¹ And He began to speak to them: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled ^[g]while you are present and hearing.

²² And all spoke well of Him and marveled at the words of grace that came forth from His mouth; and they said, Is not this Joseph’s ^[h]Son?

²³ So He said to them, You will doubtless quote to Me this proverb: Physician, heal Yourself! What we have learned by hearsay that You did in Capernaum, do here also in Your [own] town.

²⁴ Then He said, Solemnly I say to you, no prophet is acceptable and welcome in his [own] town (country).

²⁵ But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were closed up for three years and six months, so that there came a great famine over all the land;

²⁶ And yet Elijah was not sent to a single one of them, but only to Zarephath in the country of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

²⁷ And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and yet not one of them was cleansed [by being healed]—but only Naaman the Syrian.

²⁸ When they heard these things, all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage.

²⁹ And rising up, they pushed and drove Him out of the town, and [laying hold of Him] they led Him to the [projecting] upper part of the hill on which their town was built, that they might hurl Him headlong down [over the cliff].

³⁰ But passing through their midst, He went on His way.

 Luke 4:11-30 (Amplified Bible)

Imagine Jesus standing up today in a church building after reading the scriptures and said "Today these things are fulfilled in your hearing. The atheists, buddhists, muslims, jews... all of them have inherited the kingdom of heaven." Will the church-going christians get mad and try to push Jesus off the cliff for saying such blasphemy? Or will they rejoice with the good news?

Related link:

It's time to wake up and grow up

Mark Twain said, "It is easier to fool someone than it is to convince then that they've been fooled."

"Mark Twain said, "It is easier to fool someone than it is to convince then that they've been fooled."

But he didn't say it was impossible. That's why I started this page. It is my aim to loosen Christianity's grip around your mind. Why? Because Christianity claims to provide rock solid answers to the questions of mankind when in reality it's as if the whole belief system were held together with Scotch tape. Once you start to probe the logic behind Christendom you'll quickly discover that it makes no sense whatsoever. And what is touted as a God of love is actually a devil.

And once you're freed from Christianity's shackles, it matters not to me where you go from there. Weather you go into another theistic belief system or atheistic mind frame... I simply cannot stand silently and watch people be indoctrinated with the idea that there's only one grain of sand when in reality there's an entire beach of sand!"

- Mike Myers 

I agree with Mark Twain's quote as it usually takes someone from outside the system to realise (more easily) that they have been fooled by the system compared to those who are still in the system. So for those of us who are now outside the system of institutional church, the least we can do is to help others rethink about christianity (as we have been rethinking ourselves), such as through sharing our experiences and findings in our blogs and so on.

Live Video Stream recording with Carlton Pearson - Streaming Consciousness (Recorded on 4 October 2012)

I like what Carlton Pearson said about self-actualisation as the way to know God, since we are Co-creators and we have the power to create our own world. The water of the Aquarius sign represents Spirit, according to Pearson, and indeed we are becoming more spiritual (or rather, more in touch and in tune with our spirituality) as a whole, as our consciousness continues to expand (as part of our ongoing evolution).

How religion separates people based on ideology and belief system

Someone wrote in Yahoo Answers:

"If you are not sure and convicted for what you stand for, you will and can fall for anything. I cannot see, anyone, man or woman, having encountered and experienced the Love of the Lord Jesus, can attest to the salvation that they received and have had a genuine touch from God, easily go into a marriage with someone who is against Christ's diety, His Person and Work" 

The above quote is an example of how the Christian religion is separatist, elitist and sectarian in nature as it divides people based on their ideologies and belief systems. Those who adhere to the Christian religion are often divided over doctrines and may feel pressurised into pledging allegiance to whichever sect or denomination is preaching doctrines that align with their personal beliefs (and bias and prejudices). It is almost as if they fail to see that such indoctrination has made them self-righteous Pharisees who use their religion to judge and condemn other people for living and making decisions that offend their sanctimonious religious sensibilities. It could also be that they are living in their own prison of fear as they are afraid of "displeasing" the idolised god of their imagination, and they are projecting that fear onto other people. 

On a similar note, here's sharing a short story "A Father, A Son, A Cigarette, And Jesus" by Mick Mooney, which does a good job to illustrate how some people in the Christian religion typically use guilt and shame to control and manipulate others to try to make them conform to their socio-religious norms.

The gospel is about the indwelling Son, not the indwelling "sin"

Jeff Turner & Sound of Awakening Ministries

"If a sermon seeks to expose indwelling sin in the saint instead of the indwelling Son in the saint, it is not the Gospel. Period. You are not sinful, but Sonful." - Jeff Turner

Yes, the gospel is the good news that proclaims the sonship in saints, who are all of us, as the gospel unveils the loveliness, perfection, beauty and innocence of every man and woman because we are all made in the glorious image of the indwelling Son. Any other message that seeks to expose so-called indwelling "sin" is not the gospel but merely man's opinions based on the knowledge of good and evil. "Sin" is an illusion, which only exists in religious mindsets. The gospel is born of the Spirit (of God/Love) which gives life, whereas man's religious doctrines are born of the flesh which ministers condemnation.

The gospel is also good news for everyone because every one is a saint, regardless of whether they believe in a particular religion because we are all made in Love's image and Love keeps no records of wrongs. As Love is perfect and glorious, so are we in this world.

Evolution of our human consciousness

"Is it even POSSIBLE that our inherited interpretations of the teachings of Jesus are vastly incomplete or even wrong???  Is it even POSSIBLE that there are more accurate interpretations than what we have been taught???" ~ Kenneth Dahl

I have skimmed through the post by Kenneth Dahl about following the truth even if it leads us away from our religion. I would say that would be the best thing that ever happens, if the truth leads us away from religion because religion tends to be fear-based and separatist, as noted also by Carlton Pearson and Michael Beckwith in the video below. The truth is within each of us, and evolution is an ongoing process when we collectively and individually grow and know over and over again our true essence and our divine oneness with God (highest consciousness) and with one another and the universe. Science itself is evolving and proving more and more about our interconnectedness and the expansive nature of the universe. While people in the past used to think heaven is somewhere up in the sky, we today know there are millions of stars and galaxies beyond our earth, which goes to show the terminologies used in the bible are only symbolic or metaphorical and not meant to be literal. The truth always sets us free from fear, shame and guilt imposed by religions, traditions and superstitions, and brings peace, unity and harmony, individually and collectively.

Some of my Facebook friends managed to reconcile the crazy parts of the bible somehow and is at peace with the christian faith, while others are finding our ways to reconcile the seeming contradictory parts of the bible. The bible itself had been put together by a group of people in the early centuries, leaving out some books and including only selected ones, for their own agenda, perhaps to start their own religion and/or control the masses. Inevitably, there will be differences in opinions and interpretations - indeed, one man's orthodoxy is another man's heresy. The fact remains that everyone picks and chooses from the bible what they want to believe and decide whether it is literal or metaphorical. I suppose it's up to each of us to think through for ourselves how we can interpret the bible, as in how much it is meant to be allegorical, or literal, or historical, and so on.

In one of my blogs "Much ado about theology", I shared the following thought:

"I would say spirituality itself is organic and living, and people’s understandings of God are meant to be subjective and evolving over time. It is perhaps better not to label any set of beliefs because to do so would only inevitably confine people’s understanding of God within a particular “-ism” or “-ianity”. Even for those religions with long history of traditions, such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Sufism, native American spirituality and so on, I feel that being open to interfaith dialogues among the adherents is a progressive step towards freedom to think for oneself and go beyond traditions and theology, which can only promote peace and harmony among all peoples."

At this point of my journey, I would see our spiritual growth and journey in terms of evolution (of our consciousness).

"People don't need to be saved or rescued. People need knowledge of their own power and how to access it."

Regarding the above picture, my understanding of the message is that it is about empowerment, whereby each of us needs to know our true divine identity who possesses infinite wisdom and we have the power to create or co-create our reality. I think organised religions such as mainstream Christianity tends to tell people to rely on an external saviour, but this idea is based on the illusion of separation.

I also come to realise the religious or societal mindset seems to place a responsibility on people to save others, in the sense of fixing others, but this not only becomes legalism, but also encourages co-dependence because when we "save" people, we have to save them again and again as long as they remain unaware of their own innate power. When we realise that we are not called to be saviours (because each of us is our own saviour, or our own physician, as Jesus said, "physician, heal thyself"), the pressure is off us to save others. Maybe religious authorities don't really want the masses to know about their own true innate power so that the authorities can continue to enslave and control them by keeping the masses co-dependent on them, telling them to come back every Sunday and "hear the word of God" from them. But no, each of us can hear God ourselves because we are one with God/Divine/Great Spirit, and we are also gods and goddesses. We all have intuition, and we can tap into our psychic powers, so to speak, by meditating and being in tune with ourselves and with Mother Nature. As the verse goes, "be still and know that I am God". 

"Beliefs are doubts wearing garments of fear." ~ Randy Stalls

"Beliefs' indicate that one does not 'Know'.....When one 'Knows', all 'beliefs' and 'belief systems' have fallen away".....Matthew Michaud

Yes, too often, beliefs in the religious circles are based on borrowed concepts, ideologies and doctrines passed down through the centuries, and most of the time, such beliefs are fear-based, as noted by Randy Stalls. For example, people are taught to believe they have to do this or that, else "God" will be displeased blah blah blah.  Also, like what Matthew Michaud pointed out, when people know instead of believe, all belief systems have fallen away. Our part then is to know who we really are, and help remind others too where necessary.

How does a person overcome one's hatred towards "Christians"?

Someone asked in Yahoo Answers this question:

"How do I overcome my hatred towards Christians?
Two years ago I met God. He turned my life around. He helped me grow, He helped me mend seemingly un-mendable relationships. Last summer I was supposed to be a counselor/TA at a Christian summer camp. The application told me to write down what I was passionate about. I said that I am passionate about marriage equality, helping teenage drug addicts, being a part of stopping sexual trafficking, and treating animals with the same respect I treat humans with. I was basically "kindly asked to leave" because I supported marriage equality and thought that the lives of animals are worth just as much as humans. It has been several months and I still cannot overcome this anger and hatred that boils up inside of me when I see anything Christian. Right now at school I am learning about Christianity and just reading about it disgusts me beyond belief. I don't want to hate Christians but I don't know how to overcome this anger within me. Please help."

 Below is an excerpt of my answer.

"I am sorry to know about the unkind treatment you received from the Christian organisation for stating your beliefs that differ from theirs. I have had my fair share of being treated unkindly by some church members for believing differently from their mainstream church doctrines/teachings. I am no longer attending any church services today.

I have come to learn that it is okay to feel angry at them. Acknowledging our anger and hatred towards them for mistreating us (instead of suppressing our emotions) is actually a step towards finding healing and ensuring our emotions do not control us in the long run.

I would say our anger is directed not so much at Christians as it is towards what they represent. Some are more open-minded and gracious than others, and it so happened we have encountered the more close-minded ones. I can understand that having been hurt by them, anything that is associated with Christianity would leave a bad taste in your mouth, and you would naturally want to stay away from it as far as you can.

At a deeper level, I personally would want to see everyone as human beings, whether they call themselves Christians or otherwise, as I have come to see that Christianity is only a belief system like all other belief systems. One man's orthodoxy is another man's heresy, as the saying goes. Our beliefs about God are ultimately personal and subjective. I think this view helps me to see them from a bigger perspective and realise that the way the adherents in a particular religion treats others is mostly a result of incessant indoctrination by their system, and they were only projecting the bias and prejudices they have been taught onto us who were unfortunate enough to be in their presence at that time.

In the meantime, in order to overcome your hatred towards them, I think writing your thoughts in a journal or blog helps. Even as I am sharing my thoughts in my answer, I am helping myself to articulate my thoughts regarding Christianity at this point of my journey in life. Talking with trusted friends helps too, as we all need support and safe outlets to ventilate our thoughts and emotions."