Is it Possible to Get a Basic Overall Understanding of the Bible Without Religious Affiliation?

Is it possible to get a basic overall understanding of the Bible without religious affiliation, churchgoing, or ecumenical affiliation?

The answer is a resounding yes! In fact, without religious dogmas, denominational creeds, and narrative agendas to confuse you, it is possible to get a clear sound common sense grip on what the plans of God are, past, present, and future for humankind and creation at large.

Your greatest challenge will be to find someone who has been set free from the matrix of religion to be your guide and mentor, look for that person, they are out there!

David L Ross – david@graceunlimited.ca (or East Coast Herald.ca )

Unchurching: The Exodus from Institutional Forms of Church — Richard Jacobson | TEDxPaloAltoCollege

Please take a few minutes to watch, and really listen to Richards Ted-Talk presentation: Unchurching - The Exodus from Institutional Forms of Church.

In this talk, former minister and author, Richard Jacobson, discusses a trend happening in the WORLD - people leaving institutional forms of church in large numbers for a different way to express spirituality. (video below).

Originally Communities met in homes...

Unchurching (Ted Talk/VIDEO) - The Exodus from Institutional Forms of Church -- Richard Jacobson

For those of you who have departed organized religion and now find yourself without 'church' or fellowship, watching this video will bring comfort

Richard Jacobson quit his full-time job as a pastor in 2003 because he was having a crisis of faith. He wasn’t having doubts about God... he was having doubts about the way people 'do' church today. The first christian churches were simple communities, but many of today’s churches have become corporations.

Jacobson’s work comes as more and more people are disengaging with churches in the U.S., and his idea suggests that spirituality is more fully experienced in a less traditional intimate community. Richard now helps moderate a rapidly growing online community of “unchurching” Christians from all around the world.

Watching this video will be a relief to many who have left the institutional church and to those who never graced the door of building for the fear they would be swallowed up by it... Please share if you have enjoyed this video so that others can know that they are not alone.

Faith Shift – Book Recommendation

Faith Shift:

Hope for spiritual refugees, church burnouts, and freedom seekers.

After years of participating in a comfortable faith tradition, many find themselves in a spiritual wilderness, feeling disillusioned with church, longing for more freedom and less religion in their lives. If that describes you, you’re in good company. Countless men and women are in the middle of a shifting faith—and aren’t sure where to turn.

But losing beliefs doesn’t mean you have to lose your faith. Pastor, friend, and spiritual director Kathy Escobar has journeyed with many who have experienced significant shifts in the faith they once considered unchangeable. Through their stories and her own, Kathy has discovered that growth and change are natural parts of life in our relationship with God.

Filled with honest stories and practical insights, Faith Shift gives language to what many experience as their faith evolves. With an inviting blend of vulnerability and hope, it addresses the losses that come with spiritual shifts and offers tangible practices for rebuilding a free and authentic faith after it unravels.

Includes personal reflection and group discussion questions at the end of each chapter.

People Can't Drive You Crazy If You Don't Give Them The Keys

"There's always that one person. The one who hijacks your emotions and makes you crazy. The one who seems to thrive on drama. If you could just "fix" that person, everything would be better. But we can't fix other people..."

Unchurching: Christianity Without Churchianity – Book Rec.

'Unchurching Christianity Without Churchianity' by Richard Jacobson - Book Recommendation.

Millions of believers are currently leaving the organized church, without giving up their faith. Sadly, many are only defining themselves by what they don't do, as Christians who simply “don’t go to church.” It’s time for these believers to catch a vision for genuine spiritual community, outside the walls of organized Christianity, a way of being the church without going to church.

Unchurching: Christianity Without Churchianity will challenge everything you thought you knew about church. Unchurching boldly examines whether organized churches are even biblical. It thoroughly deconstructs the idea of special church buildings, paid pastors, weekly sermons, mandatory tithes and offerings, gender inequality in church leadership, and much more.

Unchurching is intended to empower believers who are done with organized church but aren’t ready to abandon their faith. It will give non-churchgoing Christians a vision for genuine spiritual community that simply functions like an extended spiritual family, and, it will equip them with the language to finally articulate that vision to others.

Richard Jacobson

First Idiot In Heaven – Book Recommendation

We should always be ready whether it is convenient or not to give a clear intelligent and comprehensible answer for the hope that we have in Jesus Christ, unfortunately many who have been led by the Holy Spirit into the revelation of grace as preached by the Apostle Paul are not able to do that, but if you are really interested in knowing why it is GRACE and NOT LAW or even worse a mixture of the two, then you must UNDERSTAND both law and grace, that's what gave Paul the advantage over Peter.

Paul was versed in the law and illuminated to grace, where can you find this kind of understanding? I whole heartedly recommend the following book by Martin Zender, "The First Idiot in Heaven" published by Starke and Harmann Inc. You can find both electric and hard copies on Amazon.ca.......this book is a light shining in the darkness, the darkness can not comprehend it but I pray that you will............David L. Ross (Kindle edition currently only $5.00)

https://www.amazon.ca/First-Idiot-Heaven

Top 3 Current Reading Picks

Just for clarification: David has recommended several books for reading, however, the top three that we will concentrate on will be:

Pagan Christianity HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY WE AS CHRISTIANS DO WHAT WE DO EVERY SUNDAY MORNING? Why do we “dress up” for church? Why does the pastor preach a sermon each week?...

Pagan Christianity
https://www.amazon.ca/Pagan-Christianity-Explo…/…/1414364555

Finding Organic Church
https://www.amazon.ca/Finding-Organic-Church-…/…/B005S2DA66…

Reimagining Church
http://www.amazon.com/Reimagining-Church-Pursu…/…/1434768759

paganchrisitanitygraceunlimited

organicchurch

reimagchurch

PAGAN CHRISTIANITY – BOOK REC. #6

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY WE AS CHRISTIANS DO WHAT WE DO EVERY SUNDAY MORNING? Why do we “dress up” for church? Why does the pastor preach a sermon each week? Why do we have pews, steeples, and choirs? This ground-breaking book, now in affordable softcover, makes an unsettling proposal: most of what Christians do in present-day churches is rooted, not in the New Testament, but in pagan culture and rituals developed long after the death of the apostles. Coauthors Frank Viola and George Barna support their thesis with compelling historical evidence and extensive footnotes that document the origins of modern Christian church practices. In the process, the authors uncover the problems that emerge when the church functions more like a business organization than the living organism it was created to be. As you reconsider CHRISTS REVOLUTIONARY PLAN FOR HIS CHURCH―to be the head of a fully functioning body in which all believers play an active role―you'll be challenged to decide whether you can ever do church the same way again.

https://www.amazon.ca/Pagan-Christianity-Exploring-Church-Practices/dp/1414364555

HOUSE CHURCH ESSENTIALS BOOK RECOMMENDATION #5

Gives scriptural/practical help for house church startups and existing house churches. Areas covered in this book include the scriptural basis for church in the home, the names of the hosts in the New Testament, what to do about someone who dominates discussions, finances, how house churches grow, leaders and hosts, working through differences, multiplying out and more.

https://www.amazon.ca/House-Church-Essentials-John-Fenn/dp/1530460069/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1460819179&sr=8-1&keywords=house+church+essentials

FINDING ORGANIC CHURCH – BOOK RECOMMENDATION # 4

An essential guide that provides practical, effective tools for finding vibrant Christian communities.

Viola contends that many congregations today are struggling to survive, not because of bad planning, but poor planting. He presents an essential guide for starting and nourishing organic churches in any culture. Drawing from both Scripture and a wealth of experience, Viola offers real-world tools, insights, and practical suggestions so that christian communities won’t just grow, but thrive.

https://www.amazon.ca/Finding-Organic-Church-…/…/ref=sr_1_1…

BOOK RECOMMENDATION #3 – SMALL IS BIG