Mystic Journey 2.0

Simply put, I am on this journey toward a new understanding of God because from all I have read and heard - it works! On the other hand, traditional Christianity hasn’t worked for a long, long time. Those who believe in the the god of traditional Christianity are not living the life that Jesus promised to His followers - not even close! And being a pragmatist, I tend to abandon that which isn’t working. Besides, the definition of insanity says if you keep doing what you’ve been doing and yet expect to get different results, you are insane. Since traditional Christianity hasn’t worked for a long time, isn’t it time for a change?

Those who believe in the god of traditional Christianity are often suffering (or even dying) with diseases like everyone else (my wife and I both struggle with MS); they are not prosperous (like others who have tithed for decades, our retirement investments vaporized, and we were forced into bankruptcy); they are judgmental and divisive towards others, including other ‘believers’ (I believed ‘unbelievers’ deserved eternal punishment, and my doctrine made me superior to other denominations); thus they divide all humanity into the ’saved’ and the ‘lost’ or ‘them’ and ‘us.’

Traditional Christianity is a paradox - claiming that Jesus paid for man’s sins, and yet men are sinners still. Consequently, Christians still believe and live as though they are separated from God and that He is not fully pleased with them or their behavior. Their prayers consist of pleading with this distant god, hoping He will intervene in their circumstances. Many are trying to become ‘Christ-like’ - but don’t have a clue as to what that is, nor do they know that they already are ‘Christ.’

Christians fear God’s creation as the enemy of their well-being (plants, foods, bacteria, weather, etc.), including their bodies (genetic diseases); and believe that what mankind has created (medicine, science, education, ‘altered’ foods, etc.) is for our good. They have been suckered into believing and living in The Lie. They are also quick to go to war against anyone perceived to be their enemy, including those who do not believe in their traditional Western Christianity god.

Although Jesus said that the Spirit of God would be our teacher and lead us into all truth, Christians don’t trust this Teacher, instead choosing to follow the traditions and teachings of their Elders (does this sound like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day?). They shun anyone who claims to be following God’s Spirit as his Teacher, because they suspect anyone who isn’t under a ‘covering’ of another man. ‘My sheep know My voice and they follow Me,’ the Good Shepherd said, but Christians don’t know His voice, so they choose to follow the voice of their Hireling. (John 10)

What is the result of these traditional beliefs? The ‘lost’ or ‘unbelievers’ ignore the church as irrelevant and useless. They see Christians as narrow-minded, judgmental and often hypocritical.  In short, they see Christianity (and religion in general) as having no real answers for life, as evidenced by the mediocre, struggling lives of the churched.  It isn’t working any better than life without a belief in God or Christ.
But, I’ve discovered that those who know the true nature of God - whether they have abandoned a childhood Christian god, or were never taught Christianity in the first place - live the abundant life that those who believe in God should have, according to Jesus.

They are healed (often instantly) and live in health, often healing others. They have wealth and abundance, often doing what they love and loving what they do, rather than working a job they don’t like just for a paycheck. They typically work less but have greater income. They give much of their money and time to those in need.

These ‘believers’ have more compassion, peace and contentment than a whole church full of Christians, and they are loving and enjoying their lives to the fullest. Their life is no longer a struggle, nor do they suffer ‘trials & tribulations’ like most Christians. They see God as Love and Perfection, not their adversary.

Rather than feeling separated from a distant God, these believers know the Spirit of God who is IN them, and that their whole being - body, soul and spirit - is an expression of Creator God’s loving and perfect nature. They know that humans are eternal beings who are temporarily experiencing a ‘parenthesis in eternity’ here on earth. Consequently, they do not fear death nor do they accept anything in their life that is not in harmony with God’s perfection.

They won’t argue for Creationism, and yet they have a better appreciation for all of God’s creation than most Christians. These believers are not against anyone - they have the ‘peace and good will towards all men’ that Jesus came to bring.

How is this life possible?

Because those who believe in the True Nature of God clearly experience the greatest ‘benefit’ of all: LOVE - God’s kind of love. They KNOW God - who IS Love. Therefore, these believers love all of humanity - just like God does! They have no disdain for any group of people. They don’t hate terrorists, Muslims, liberal Democrats, homosexuals, or people of other races, nationalities, or faiths. They love and accept everyone because they know that we are all from the same Source. They don’t divide people into different groups or categories based on their political or religious background. They don’t see a need to ‘evangelize’ or proselytize those who don’t believe like they do. But, they are passionate about sharing their God of Love with others.

In short - whereas traditional Christianity hasn’t worked for over 1500 years, a life lived in the knowledge of the true nature of God really does work! At least that’s what I’ve seen and heard from those who are experiencing this abundant life. That’s how the first century church lived. And that’s what I’m after. I’ve lived the psychotic delusion of traditional Christianity for about 50+ years, and it hasn’t worked for me like it hasn’t worked for the majority of Christians (except for those who think it’s working for them because they aren’t being honest with themselves).

As I stated in ‘Why this blog?’ - “any journey TO a new place requires that we journey FROM a place.” So, we can’t get to know the true nature of God unless we are willing to depart from where we are and venture out - take a trip to where we’ve never been. We must trust that our Leader, our Good Shepherd, our (Holy) Spirit Guide will NEVER lead us ‘astray’ or into error. He can’t or He would cease to be God. God IS truth.

We can tell how well we know the true nature of God by how much peace, love, abundance and harmony is in our life experience. If there is any area of need or lack, then we don’t really know God very well. The degree of adverse circumstances we experience is the indicator of our failure to know God. Have I arrived at that destination? My own life still experiences some of the lack, inharmony, and struggle created by my traditional Christian beliefs.

But, I know I am making progress, because I have begun to see people differently - with more love and acceptance. I know I am seeing more through God’s eyes now, because I have a much broader view of this earth, the people who live on it, and the societies we live in. My mind is being renewed daily with the Truth of who God really is, as I consciously choose to admit that the beliefs I’ve held to all of my life just might not be completely true. This is not a hard process once I admitted that these beliefs hadn’t really served me well all these years, nor did they help me much in ministering to others.

(I’ve changed in my thinking to the point where I could possibly vote Democrat in 2008, simply because at least the Democrats support programs that take care of the needy - as Jesus commanded us to do. It’s a struggle for me to remain Republican, since I disagree with sending our young men off to war to kill our supposed enemies and to be killed in return. Judgement, hatred and killing just doesn’t fit the true nature of the God I am getting to know.)

It’s actually been very liberating and peaceful to finally trust the Spirit of God within me to reveal truth to me. It’s a wonderful journey, and one I would recommend. Letting go of ’sacred doctrines’ and completely trusting the Teacher has eliminated all fear and brought deep peace, contrary to what I was told by my Bible School professors who claimed that departing from the traditions of the elders would surely launch me into heresy. What an incredibly ironic lie!

If this is heresy, then I really feel sorry for those who aren’t!