my coming out.
Well, if anyone still reads this, I suppose I should finally come out. I'm no longer a Christian, and haven't been for about a year. I've officially withdrawn from the church now. At the moment I don't really feel like explaining the whole history of my "falling away." Just that I ended up with too many problems with the church of christ, and I've found a religion I feel is a better path. No one encouraged me to do this, and I didn't do it so I can go "party" and "be more liberal" or whatever. It took a very long time to make the decision. I really miss the singing above all. I'm most likely getting married next fall, though we don't have an exact date yet. It makes me sad none of you or anyone from my church will probably come to my wedding because you're not allowed to even eat with me anymore. I think it's terrible to do that to someone- to totally spurn them because they made different decisions than you, but I guess there's nothing I can do about it. I still love you all, even though the only thing you'll probably try to talk to me about now is how I need to come back. Trust me, its already been done by a lot of people. So yeah. Goodbye, I guess.
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I love you Brittany. Be determined to tell yourself the truth and do the right thing, no matter what that is. Don't give up looking and reconsidering. What seems most rational this month may not seem that way next month if approached from a fresh perspective. Don't let human thoughts, whether yours or someone else's, pull you away from doing what you think is right. Find motivation to do good to others. We all know this is the right thing to do, no matter what religion we are apart of. Tell yourself that there has got to be a God and there has to be justice somehow and that your labor to do what is right will not be unfelt in this world and will not go unrewarded. But don't fall into substitutes for the true fulfillment that service to others brings, and the self-worth. Every other earthly pleasure sought sought in the place of the satisfaction that comes from knowing you are trying to do the right thing is fleeting and unquenching. -
Fun will not fill you up, nor food, nor any drug of any kind. Fulfillment comes in feeling that you are caring out your purpose. No longlasting happinesses or joy comes from anything else. Don't let yourself or anyone else fool you into thinking any different. You can be a slave to Christ, Mohammed, Buddha, the Great Spirit, or self. But you are always a slave of something. If you feel you are reaping the joy of liberty and being freed from the chains of your former faith now, realize that your new religion will become old hat soon enough. The only abiding satisfaction will come from the instant gratification of present and pleasant circumstances, but knowing that you are doing right despite not having all you want (in any religion). I sent you an email at your yahoo account, though I obviously added bonus material here. I don't have all the answers either, but I do believe the things I just wrote are true and are written for your benefit. I'm not getting down on you. I love you. Much of what I said here is vague and a wild shot in the dark, so maybe it is overkill and unnecessary. But, nevertheless, I think that it is true and ultimately something that we all need to think about. My email address is joshuabrainard@gmail.com and my number is 813-784-2486.
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You said that you are not a Christian anymore but then criticise specifically the Church of Christ quasi-denomination. Are you a believer in Christ still or do you not consider yourself a Christian in any sense of the term? If stopped being a Christian in any sense because of the Church of Christ in particular, have you not considered that there may be authentic Christianity outside the groups that go by "Church of Christ"? Remember, Paul wrote in I Cor 11 that Jesus on the night that he was betrayed said he was going to shed his blood for the world and to establish a new covenant. And Paul was convinced that he and a bunch of others saw Jesus risen after he died. Do you have any sort of explanation for that? I'd like to know. In any case, I'd be interested to hear what you do believe instead of just guessing here. Would ya throw me a bone?
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You might try a tango with www.reasonablefaith.org
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Also, I learned over the last year that it is when I am discouraged and lacking faith that I am least likely to reach out to former friends. Yet friends are for healing. While a few did contact me by phone from time to time, I started simply assuming that they had stopped caring about me or stopped respecting me, but every time I actually did get to talk to someone this proved to be untrue. Yet, me convincing myself otherwise just made me feel sad and alone. Don't let that happen to you. If you have old friends, contact them. Everyone who knows you knows how hard your life has been. It is unlikely that any of your Christian friends will like the fact that you lost your faith, but I doubt very many of them will think that they should shun you altogether from now on. The fact is, the instructions regarding "withdrawing" from someone in the NT mostly concern a member of your congregation, not someone across the country. You are right that your friends will want to talk to you about religion (hopefully, if they think the health of your soul depends on it), but that doesn't necessarily mean they can't also talk to you about life in general and be a friend to help in hard times. If your friends are anything like mine, they still love you too. Don't convince yourself otherwise without proof (and judge each individual individually. If you do have a friend who totally shuns you, don't assume that all of your friends are that way).
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People respect a person who acts on their convictions, for which reason many have been patient with my doubts. But people are less patient when departure from the faith is a result of or leads to moral decay. If you show that you are not plunging into a self-indulging or self-centered life style, and that you are simply trying to do what is right, more people will retain their respect for you and want to stay in contact with you (even though they will be wanting to influence you back towards Christ). If it is not worth it to you to explain to old friends why you made the choices you have made simply because you assume that they will not understand or you assume that they will look down on you, you will be the one to suffer the feeling of alienation and rejection. And, yet, without the proper investigation. If you feel that you never developed any friendships with "Church of Christ" friends worth saving, then I'm really sorry. Perhaps you can shop around some other churches and see if there aren't any you feel are putting out a love worth sharing (John 13:34-35).
Camera junkie
Bill Nye the Science Guy
stinkin hilarious
Speaks way too much English
Red ball and radio
Purely Awexome
Mr. Mysterious
Purple Flowers
This guy smells good
Sometimes misses my yelling
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