Ill preface this by mentioning that I used to be Christian for the first 21 years of my life.....and was very active in the church in my teenage years, participating in youth groups (played on the Church Basketball team for two consecutive years). At one point, members of the Congregation saw and heard me so much, they thought I was going to be a preacher. In fact, I thought so too at one point. On January 21, 1997 that all changed when I was blasted with what Ill call a spiritually induced revelation that lead me out of the church.....took me on a different path. But I want to take you back to where I was while in the church.... As I look back on how I felt while in the church, I remember always having questions. Ive never been the type to just accept whatever someone tells me as 100% truth. Its not in my character to do that....questions would always fill my mind. One of the questions was why are preachers doing the same thing? Keep in mind, at the time I was mostly attending Baptist Churches (mainly African-American). I kept hearing similar sermons by Pastors. Not only would I hear similar sermons, I would also hear similar alliterations, pitches....just the overall style and tone of these Pastors was the same. Now, at the time I was thinking most of the Sunday service procedures were organic, at least in terms of the sermon.....just going off of the guidance of the spirit. I was thinking this at ages 15 thru 21 (when I really started to analyze). Im thinking this, even though youre NOT ENCOURAGED to ask questions....or in depth questions. Youre supposed to just take what youre taught as truth and nothing else. My other question was why is there so much focus on the New Testament and not the Old? At that time, I could probably mention eight scriptures off memory from the New Testament, with the most memorized one being John 3:16. I dont even have enough fingers to count how many times scriptures from Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Corinthians, Timothy, Acts, Romans and so on were used for Sermons and/or Bible study groups. The book of Revelation was the only one in the New Testament seldomly read. But the Old Testament was rarely read or researched or analyzed. Psalms, Proverbs, Deuteronomy and Exodus were read the most....never Haggai or Zephaniah or Obadiah, for example. Thats 4 of 39 books in the Old Testament where focus was heavy. Compare that to 20 of 27 books in the New Testament that were used in sermons....WHY??? Again, this is what I thought as a youngster, heavily involved in the church. If I recall, I did ask our Pastor at the time...but obviously the answer (which I dont remember) was not to my satisfaction because I was prompted to pick up the Bible and start reading the Old Testament myself. Right after I graduated from High School, I started doing this. Three years later my transition happens and then skip to....... ....TODAY!!! I just came across this book titled, The Star Book for Ministers by Edward T. Hiscox. Interesting right? A book about how to be a Minister written by a guy named HISCOX. But I digress..... ....in this book, it lays out all the procedures on how to be a Pastor. It breaks down what their duties and responsibilities consist of, including Funerals, Weddings and other services. I guess you could consider it a Preachers handbook. According to the text, Pastors are trained to focus on the New Testament more than the Old. It mentions, the heart of the Christian faith is in the New Testament rather than the Old. It continues with, although the doctrine of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth appears in Exodus 21, Leviticus 24, and Deuteronomy 19, Jesus specifically rejects it in Matthew 5:38-39. Hmmm....interesting. In terms of the way Pastors deliver their sermons, all of that is taught as well.....from tone to alliteration to the ideas of repetition to delivery methods to preparation....its all one big system or format. Lets face it, in order for a Congregation to believe or be inspired by what is being preached, they must hear it a certain way, right? Okay. In most Baptist Churches youll hear things like..... CAN I GET A WITNESS?? I DONT THINK YOU HEARD ME....I SAID _______________ LOOK AT YOUR NEIGHBOR AND REPEAT AFTER ME Right? Its a very general experience....nothing unique about it. Keep in mind, this is how I felt at that time (age 21). And perhaps that, among other revelations not mentioned here, was the catalyst for my departure from the church. Besides, I did not choose to be Christian......I was just born into a family of Baptist Christians. Although I have left the Church and do not have any inclination to return, I will continue doing research....this includes the extensive reading of ALL RELIGIOUS BOOKS...as well as other relative materials. To make a long story short...... DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH.....GET ANSWERS......DONT BE AFRAID TO CHALLENGE WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN TAUGHT SINCE BIRTH. from my mind to yours, Armond
Posted on: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 19:41:44 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015