A View from the Pew: The Church vs. InstitutionThe underlying thesis of "A View From The Pew" deals with the institution’s presentation of a god that micro-manages one’s life versus a god that allows a person more personal choices, along with personal responsibility. The institution assumes the role of God’s representative to the congregation and teaches them on a subject by subject basis to live and manifest their Christianity primarily through their attendance and support of the institution and its selected programs. Those institutions in question promote/emphasize (1) much praying, (2) much congregational praising of God. (3) Manifesting spirituality in their prepared "worship" programs, (4) reliance on God’s constant provision for their protection as well as their every need and/or want, (5) and, acceptance of life’s disappointments as having been allowed or approved by God. The congregations are admonished to read their Bible, but are taught only selective scripture that supports institutional doctrine. Some of that teaching is purposely taken out of context or misquoted entirely. God is presented only as a one-way street named LOVE. They claim that a true Christian will be an active participant in some local church. They do not want their authority challenged. Sermons have become less and less specific to audiences of a million different imaginary gods. PC’s gospel of "No absolutes" has hammered specific Bible teachings into the Christian history book. The thrust of those anemic sermons is to console, without offending. Much of the ongoing ministering to the congregation comes from the group’s ignorance of the Bible and how to live an overcoming Christian life. Dysfunctional families are created and sustained as sheep to be tended by the shepherd called the institution. Many institutions have taken that as their primary role. They light the fires of confusion, then chase around in their "Dear Abby" role trying to put them out. It’s another form of job protection, perpetuated by use of the "mushroom theory." This book suggests that a "born again" believer and follower of Jesus Christ has been restored to an individual relationship to God the Father, through Jesus. It suggests that that relationship cannot be monitored or censored by men’s doctrines or by a controlling institution, which is nefariously representing Christ’s Church. |
From inside the book
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... mind medicine Once agriculture allowed towns and specialized occupations to develop by 6,000 years ago ( the last ... mind medicine eventually " improve " us ? 12 What's Sudden About the Mind's Big Bang ? The moderns somehow got their ...
... mind. You have a body and a brain, but they don't exist independently of your mind. Your body and your brain work together to keep you alive. Your mind also plays an important role in keeping your body functioning properly. It keeps ...
... mind . The differences between the physical and the mental were thus represented as differences inside the common ... mind's perception of a flash of light ? This notorious crux by itself shows the logical mould into which Descartes ...
... mind and body. According to Descartes, each essence has different modes or modifications in which it can occur. Bodies are infinitely divisible. That is, they can in principle be ... mind. If A DOZEN PROBLEMS IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF MIND 15.
... mind may take root , by which it may possess an independence worthy a being whose eternal destiny is in his own hands --- so the moral and civil institutions , the actual condition of society , is the at- mosphere which surrounds and ...