It’s been awhile, huh? I apologize for that. Things are busy and hectic in the home right now, and, well, I am finally able to sit down and write again. For the moment, anyway.

So, how has it been without the ‘church’ for us? I don’t quite know for sure. We have been trying to do home services, but, it isn’t quite the same. We do need to get with other believers. I know that now. So we are searching for other local home-churchers so that we can engage in services with ‘fellow bretheran’, just like the Bible tells us to do.

Since we completely stopped going to church, things here have changed. At times I wonder if it is for the ‘better’, but when I look back, it is always for the greater good of not just us, but for God also. Shortly after we decided to stop going, my husband lost his job. Greater good? Absolutely! I was worried once what would happen should this ever be the case. Now, I know what would happen. My hubby was a truck driver for the entire life of our son. He was rarely home, and because of this, I wasn’t the only one to suffer. My son suffered too, becoming a big handful to raise. Things weren’t getting done around the house (things hubbies normally do) because I just couldn’t get them done. And, of course, my hubby was suffering too, because he felt the pressure of being home for less than 38 hours a week and having to not just fulfill duties as a man, but as a husband, daddy, and son. Now that he is home, the house is in order, our son’s behaviors have done a 180, and life in general is good. But satan does love to play in our lives, doesn’t he?

My husband is currently on unemployment compensation. His ex-employer is fighting this. This is a bad thing, because where we live, not only is it hard to find jobs, but it is doubtful he will find something that is equal in pay. The equal in pay thing is not that big a deal, IF he is able to find work. Losing his compensation is not necessarily a bad thing either, because we know that God will open another door for him that was better than the last. So take that, satan!

In the meantime, our family has blossomed. Sure we still have our problems. Sure sometimes it looks bleak, but God always points our hearts to the light at the end of the tunnel, and we are able to see the lesson behind the bleakness. And when that lesson is learned, we are one step closer as a family.

We have seriously started reading the Bible to our kids each night. It’s not a ‘guess what it means’ kind of reading…it’s an innocent reading of our Lord’s Word. We allow our daughter to read sometimes, we also allow our son who can’t read, to ‘pretend to read’ as long as it is a story he knows from the Bible. We may go over what was read, like “what did God tell Noah to do?” We also encourage them to ask questions and give their answers. There is an air of respect too, they are learning that this time is spent entirely on God, no talking is allowed if it doesn’t pertain to God or the Bible (hard to get our son to understand, but, he finally has!!) This has not just become Bible-reading time, but it has become a quality family time to spend together. The tv is off, the quietness of the night has settled in, and the kids actually ask to do this! I would have to say, this has been by far, the greatest spiritual step we have taken. Something so simple, yet with big changes. Our kids get along so much nicer, they look forward to Bible reading, and they are understanding. The best part is, they are teaching me and my husband about the Bible. Their innocence has led us to conclusions that we oridinarily wouldn’t have seen. I highly suggest every Christian family do this!

We also started doing the Lord’s Supper once a week. We use grape juice and bread, and my husband follows what Christ did in His Supper. This is also something we all look forward to, and the kids will ask for it more than once a week. The kids have really begun to understand what Christ did for us, and it shows in their behavior.

And for me and my husband, we have been giving of ourselves to the community. This is something that we seldom did, but since pulling together as a Christian family, we feel wonderful helping out! My husband has been mowing the elderly’s lawns, helping our one pregnant neighbor out (she is alone with 3 other children right now), and just trying to do what he can. I am helping people that need assistance with their kids, or gardens, etc. The feeling we get when we are done is so wonderful! Yes, there are times when we think, “ugh…do I have to?” But when we think about it, and remember that we are doing it for God, the energy surges, and off we go!

Wondering where our tithing has gone? Well, we don’t believe God wanted us to tithe 10%…that was for the Isralites, not the Gentiles, and, it is under the Abrahamic laws. However, God does tell us to give as He gives to us, and to give of ourselves. Helping our neighbors is the giving of ourselves. And, when we get money, we give it as well. We found a couple of legit charities to give to, and we happily give to them. Paul asked for monies for the poor, for the widow, and so on…and that is what we are doing. I will never again pay a pastor to do the thing God has given him the gift to do.

So, greater good? Some would think our lives are bleak and leading nowhere. Others will think we are lazy and getting what we can out of the government. But I say, no. God is giving us this time to make up for the lost time we missed out on. God is giving us this time to pull together, not just as a family, but as a Christian family, and with good reason. The times ahead are definitly bleak…and He is strengthening us where we need it most.

There are times when we each think we should go back to church. But when we seriously start to think on it, God shows us another reason why we should not. I certainly miss the people…but I know God will continue to show us where to go for this need. There are local groups, and I know God will show us when the time is right to find the assembly that we need to go to. But for right now, God is showing us how to unite as a Christian family.

So, although there are times when we feel like we need to go to church, because satan is dragging us down another notch, just because we don’t go to church, God shows us the bigger picture. When we step back and look at the whole picture, we realize God has his hand in all we do, and the bigger picture is one that is sometimes missed.

Stopping church and doing home church has been a blessing. It has strengthened our family in ways I could have only dreamt of. It has gotten us so much closer to God. We have grown in ways the old church we attended couldn’t have done for us. Our children are growing in God, our family is godly, and we are happy. And, I pray each day, that God is happy with our lives. I think He is, because He keeps blessing it over and over. And He will you too, if you let Him! I am glad I wrote this, because, when I started out writing it, I wasn’t quite sure if home-churching was doing God’s will…but now, again, God has shown me, it is what He wants us to do. We have an awesome God, don’t we?

Amen.

Tags: church, condemn, demon, fear, God, Hell, sight, spirit

Well, not only has another Sunday with no church passed, but it was a ’special’ Sunday…Easter Sunday. And yes, folks, we did not go to church. We were actually called heathens for not going! Imagine, in light of the home page’s article on Easter being pagan, and they called us heathens!! Not only did we not attend the festive sun-rise service, we also didn’t celebrate Easter! So when people asked us what we did for easter, when I said we slept in, they were astonished. “But your a Christian!! You should have at least gone to church!”. Yep, I am a Christian, and that is precisely why I didn’t go to church!

I haven’t spoken to the pastor of our old church yet. I don’t honestly think I will. I don’t think it will do much good if I did. However, we are called to let people know when they are doing things that are not right in God’s eyes. Perhaps I will do it the cowardly way and write a letter.

Since we have decided to begin home-churching, our lives have drastically changed. We feel liberated, yet humbled. The liberation comes from not being tied to tithing a certain amount, or to doing it the way the pastor has the service set up. We are not tied to being there at a certain time, and we are able to study what hits us, and in a way that is much more interactive. And yet, we are humbled that God would us out…a small family, new in His ways. He called us… and that is a humbling experience to say the least.

Easter and Christmas, although well intended, are pagan, and it upsets God greatly when we mix pagan with Godly. However, it is indeed, one more examply of the unbiblical church of today. They celebrate these pagan rituals, in most cases totally unknowingly, and they celebrate them with gusto. Sadly, they not only celebrate in vain, they also upset God when they do.

Here are some things that I learned about the easter holiday. It dates back to before Christ was even born. Christ actually didn’t even die and rise again during the easter holiday…it was the Passover meal that He ate as His last supper…and He rose after that. Passover this year isn’t for another month yet, so in reality, His rising date hasn’t happened yet. And the church of the Holy Seplucher? You know, where 1000’s of pilgrims go each easter holiday to worship the supposed place of Christ’s burial? Believe it or not, not only are they worshipping on the wrong day, but the wrong place! That’s right! The church of the Holy Seplucher is built upon the very place that the Temple of Venus was!! Jesus was not buried there! Constantine asked his mother to check out Jerusalem and a place to dedicate as Christ’s burial place. The Holy Seplucher is opposite of the Mount of Olives. Constantine wanted to eradicate anything Jewish and Christian, so that it suited his motives. Please see here for more info: http://www.reformation.org/pope-constantine.html

So you see folks, not only is church today pagan, but so are the very traditions that are to make a Christian, well, Christian.

I intended for this blog to be about my journey to leaving the church. But it wasn’t that hard to do really. Yeah, I have been harrassed by well-meaning church-goers, but that’s nothing compared to the harrassment Christ had. And once you hear that call to come out of the harlot, you find it very easy to leave. One thing I have noticed is that when I hear about the easter celebrations, or the masses at the Holy Seplucher, it makes me angry to think people are celebrating these things without really finding out what they are about.

Then again, I need to remember, I was once one of them.

Tags: celebrate, church, easter, heathen, Holy Seplucher, mass, pagan

As I have said before, this is my journey on leaving the local church. It isn’t that difficult when you realize that you are not the only one doing so. I have been made aware of the fact that I am indeed, not the only individual in my community who has been called out of church. I never realized how many people in my own little community have ‘home church’ instead of the false organized churches that we know of today.

In constant prayer about our decision to leave our local Baptist church, we know we are doing the right thing. It breaks my heart, not just because the people there are so misled, but also because they may never hear the call of God to come out of it. I also don’t like to hurt people’s feelings, but then again, I want nothing that is not pleasing to God. And our church, though full of Christ-loving people, is most likely not pleasing to God.

One of the women in the church has called me several times, telling me how much she misses me at church and Bible study. What I can’t get through to her is that the Bible study goes against most of what I believe the Bible to say. She misses me, and somehow blames herself for not getting me to church more often. I tried to calm her fears and told her that it isn’t her, it is God pulling me from there. Sadly, her comments were basically…”Well, I don’t believe in some of the things they do either, but I just bite my tongue and deal with it”. This for the sake of our command to fellowship with other believers.

Biting our tongues will not work with Christ on Judgement day. What if we are asked, “Why didn’t you stand up for what you saw was wrong? Why just be so ho-hum about it? Was I so ho-hum about my sacrifice and shed blood for you?” I personally, do not want to see the hurt in Christ’s eyes while He is asking these things of me.

If biting our tongues is not the biblical thing to do, will those who do it be the ones Christ says He never knew? I know this woman, and the rest in the congregation, is full of love for Christ. But like many others, they bite their tongues and just follow the misleading footsteps of those before them because “it is what we have been doing forever”. Well, that isn’t going to sit right with God.

I haven’t talked yet with the pastor on this matter either. I am torn on doing so. On one hand, the falseness needs to be brought up (we are commanded to do this), yet I really do not believe he is going to listen. He has been brought up in a family with generations of ministers and pastors. His grandfather, father, uncles, brothers, and even his sons have had the calling. And they seem to have just passed down from one generation to another the falsehoods that seem so church-like. I will keep you posted on that endeavor, however.

We need to hear the Lord speaking to us on this matter as well as all other things!! We are in perilous times, Christ could be coming back this very moment. If you are feeling the urge not to go to church, it may not be the ”backsliding” that I have been accused of. If you are still strong in your faith and following righteousness, how in the world can it be backsliding? It isn’t! It is God calling you out of the false church and into His own! Follow your heart in this! You aren’t alone. There are many of us not feeling the ‘urge’ to attend are yet flourishing in our faith. 

In my talks with that woman, as well as another church member, I have come to the conclusion there are more out there than I expected doing ‘home church’. With some research, I may just find a group that fits in a biblical way. I don’t know. But what I do know, is that God does not want my family in the organized church setting anymore.

God bless

Welcome to the Journey Page! We know how hard the decision of leaving your church may be, and we want to make sure you know that there are others out there that are doing the same thing. Please, keep in mind, we are NOT telling you to forget going to church. That is NOT the purpose of this site in the least! We are telling you that there are biblical alternatives to the church that man made and ruined in the past centuries. Always remember, you DO NOT need a building called a church to worship our Lord and Savior. He resides in YOU…you are His temple and church. And where 2 or 3 are gathered in His name, there He is also.

My name is Donna, and I am happy to meet you. Yes, I am a woman, and I live a literalist life-style. My faith is relatively new compared to some you will meet on these site, yet, I feel as confident in the guidance of the Holy Spirit as some one with 30 years experience at discerning the Word. If you feel uncomfortable with this or the fact that I am a woman in a ‘teaching’ position with the sites (Modern Day Exodus and Discerning the Word) I am sorry. I will tell you that I not only have the permission of the owner of Modern Day Exodus to do so, but my husband’s as well, complete with his blessing on the matter. Since this is not a church-setting there is no reason why I cannot teach if I have my husband’s permission. And if it still bothers you, I can do little else to help with that. Any questions I cannot answer, I will study and pray about before I do reply. And I can assure you, my replies will always be biblical with Scripture to back it up.

This blog is going to be about this exodus of church-goers. Not only will I try give helpful advice and support, but I will show my own personal journey towards God and away from the buildings known as the church.

I currently belong to an independant, fundamental Baptist church. God literally dropped this church on our front porch over a year ago. We asked Him to send us a church (long story) that He wanted us to go to and He did within 5 minutes! So why do we feel the need to not attend? Because I believe that God did this for a ’season’, to get us started on learning His ways. We weren’t ready to handle the idea of being a Christian and not going to church yet (you will find this happens a lot, He will give you info only when He feels you are ready for it). Our church is certainly filled with very holy people, full of the Spirit of God and the love for Christ, yet, they do this in a building where money exchanges hands, where one man is in charge, and so on. The reason why we delay in leaving is directly related to the people there because of their love for Christ. And it is a very hard and guilt-feeling decision to make.

So make the journey with us. We are all being called by God to follow Him, not man. Traditions are ok, but only if they are the traditions called by God to follow. This is new territory for us all, and we will learn together what God is calling us to do.

The end times are here, folks. There is no telling what we will be feeling as Christ’s immeniant return draws closer. All I know is I can no longer ignore His calls away from the church building and into the desire to be the actual temple for my Lord to reside.

~God bless!

Tags: atheist, bible, calling, Christ, church, God, Heaven, Hell, learn, leaving, scripture, teach