God did not come up with Southern Baptists, Catholics, Presbyterian, or any other religion for that matter. What God created for His creation was a relationship. God did not send His Son to die on the cross so that we can call ourselves Baptists or Catholics and then proceed to argue with each other which religion is right or wrong. God sent His Son to die on the cross to serve as the ultimate sacrifice and atonement for our sin. If you create something, you don’t want to see it destroyed by anyone or anything. God is the same way. He created us and He doesn’t want us to spend eternity in separation from Him. That is why He sent Jesus to die on the cross. Jesus’ death opened the door for a direct one-on-one relationship with Him.

What is one of the main things women complain about when it comes to men? Men are controlling. Religion, in my opinion, is men trying to control God. Religion is all about rules and rituals that men think are pleasing to God. For instance, in the Baptist religion, dancing is frowned upon. But in my Bible, which is the same Bible as every other religion, in Psalm 149:3 “Let them praise his name in the dance…” So if God had David write in scripture that it was ok to dance in praise to Him, what gives Baptists the right to say it is wrong? I can’t imagine not ever having the opportunity to dance with my wife. To me, that is praising God for His creation of marriage.

Dancing is just one of many religious concepts. I could fill out my entire hosting capacity with examples of where men have decided what is best for God. Many times, these religions and religious ideas get in the way of what God truly wanted for His creation. God doesn’t want you to follow a set of main-made rules. God wants you to be in a relationship with Him. Not worry about what people think because you clap your hands during worship, or pat your feet. God wants and deserves our praises to Him. He doesn’t want politics or bureaucracies to interfere with that.

And that leads me to the idea of church. Church is exactly that. Church, like everything man has to be involved in, is full of politics and bureaucracies. I truly believe that what we call “church” today is not what God had in mind when He inspired the concept of church. I don’t think God envisioned that committees be formed to form a committee to decide who is in charge of turning the lights on before each service. Once again, man had to be controlling and so that is what happened to God’s original church concept. Originally, church was meant as a place for believers to gather to encourage, pray for and exhort one another.

Where did we stray from that idea? I will be honest, lately, I haven’t enjoyed going to my church. I have felt for a while that Wednesdays and Sundays are just another day of battle of a war. I have felt that there are people in my church that are out to discredit my reputation, look down at me, and question my willingness, desire and ability to minister to the teenagers I work with. Some of the meanest people you will ever meet are sitting in a church pew on Sundays and Wednesdays.

Church shouldn’t be that way for me, or for anyone else. Sundays and Wednesday I should be able to go to church and fellowship with the people there. I know this sounds selfish, but I should be getting encouragement from the people there, just as I try to encourage the teenagers I work with. Instead, a lot of the times, I leave church with hurt feelings and the desire to never go back. There is always a sense that someone is out to get me. That is not what church is all about.

I firmly believe that the devil uses the church and its source of politics as a means to distract God’s people. I know the church, as a man-controlled organization, needs procedures to follows but we shouldn’t make that our primary focus.

The committees get in the way of the commitment to God, and the religions get in the way of the relationship with God.

Pray for your church, as I pray for mine. Pray that the politics and bureaucracies don’t get in the way of the true, Biblical reason of why we go to church.

Why you ask?

Is it because it’s a new year and therefore a metaphorically new beginning? Is it because I’ve just recently turned twenty-eight and I am finding my years slowly disappearing? Those reasons are partly true. But the real reason is this: I finally have something to say.

I am going to use this blog as an avenue to get my thoughts, ideas and opinions out. I am by no means claiming that my thoughts, ideas and opinions are 100% right, just 99.99%. That was a lie. I plan on writing about technology and/or Jesus. Those are really the only two things I know anything about in this world, and even then, I don’t claim to know it all about those subjects either.

For those of you who will take the time to read this site, I would like to thank and apologize to you up front. If I offend you, I am sorry, but I will write what I feel led to write. For instance, if you are an Android user, be warned, I don’t like Android and I intend on writing a post as to why. The same goes if you are a religious person. I agree with the video below. I don’t like religion and I intend on writing a post as to why that is as well.

So as I bring this introduction to a close, I want you to know that I will be leaving the comments turned on. I encourage your feedback and would love to hear what you think about what I have to say. I will closely moderate the comments and get things civil and bring the hammer down on someone if need be, but I doubt that will happen.

I don’t know when my first actual post will be written, and I will not commit to a regular schedule of posting. I will write when I feel led to write.

So until next time,

Matt