If you are offended by the title, it is because you do not know what it means. Jesus is His name and Christ comes from the Greek word for anointed one. It is calling on the Son Of God by name and title.
Somehow I think the only people offended by it are church goers. My job is to reach those who have no church to belong to because they were led to believe they were not good enough to enter one. A lot of church goers do not need to hear what I have to say, because many of them are better Christians than I’ll ever be, while some only think they are.
To the non-church-goers, or as I like to say, “Churchless Children Of God” just like me, there are many things you may not know about how you can have a relationship with God, thru Jesus without having to have a building do it for you. As a matter of fact, that is the way Jesus wanted it in the first place. This is from Stranger Angels Among Us, coming out in July.
“He said that God doesn’t live in houses built by human hands. That He created everything.” She turned to Chris, “I’m sorry that I didn’t remember that. He was saying what others said before him and that God didn’t want buildings and when Jesus said that Peter was the rock He wasn’t talking about a stone one but a living one. He told the people to pray to His Father directly. People use the word church without understanding what Jesus was talking about. Ekklesia means ‘the called out ones’ and was about God’s people, not a building. That is exactly what you’ve been saying.”
God didn’t want buildings.
48 “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:
49 “‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me?’ says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be?”
50 “‘Has not my hand made all these things?’”
Acts 7:48-50
As for what Jesus said concerning Peter,
“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”
Matthew 16:18
In the book, Chris was being accused of trying to take down the “church” even though that was not true. He wanted to reach those who were shoved away from them so they could still reach out to God to heal their spirits. It turned out that he was right all along and that was pointed out to him by a preacher’s daughter named Greer.
So here we are in a time and place in the real world where it seems as if everything has been taken over by hell. If you have #PTSD, that was already a familiar place to you. Everything went to hell in your life and you’re suffering because you have nowhere to turn, or, you just think you don’t. The truth is, you can turn to God all on your own the way it was supposed to be from the beginning.
He didn’t send the trauma into your life but has no control over what others decide to do. He is there to help you recover and heal because He had plans for you when He sent your soul to live in your body. Your body is just a vehicle and is not the image of God, nor is it perfect. While some say that the passage in Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” In other words, your body is your form but your soul is from God. Huge difference between the two. The living have the soul from God and the unborn, are unborn body forms. It also should mean that the living should be of value to the “pro-life” people who never seem to show as much interest in the born children of God.
He has plans for all of our souls and equipped them to do what they need to do. That includes, not just the ability to do them but to recover from what we are supposed to do. When some people risk their lives for the sake of others, they are equipped to take on the challenge and hardships with courage and compassion. They are also equipped to recover from what those risks do to them.
Jeremiah 29:11 “ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” No matter what you were sent here to do, great or small things, it is all inside of you. So is the ability to recover and heal.
Now you know that what some people tell you about a spiritual connection to God not being possible without a church is because they do not fully understand that is exactly how God wanted it to be. If you belong to a church you feel “at home in” then great. If not, then know your “church” can be within your own home.
Now do something! Do something to help you heal, to help other people heal and to live a happier life. Don’t settle for the miserable way things are because you are used to them, or are afraid to change. While it’s understandable, since the last big change came from the trauma you survived, which was a miserable change and out of your control, this change is a positive one that you do control. The power is within you because God put it there!
