As a young Christian, I struggled more with false guilt than with any besetting sin in my life. I remember one time trying to just sit down and enjoy a moment of peace, but it did not come. All I could think about was the penny worth of gas I accidentally went over at the gas pump and did not pay for. I jumped in the car and drove back to the same gas station and made sure I was a penny under of gas the next time I paid.
On top of that, I was in a church that was in a massive building program. The sermons were not Christ centered, but were all about giving more and more money. Attendance was demanded every time the church doors were open. Church ministries were short-handed, so the pressure to give more and more time was expected. You were always left with the feeling you were not doing enough. To cap it off you were labeled a ‘complainer’ and were reprimanded from the pulpit for any questions you had. You were told to read John Bevere’s book ‘Under Cover’ and come under total submission to your pastors.
I found out I was not the only one who felt they were coming apart at the seams. I also saw other families being torn apart because of the demands. I finally got to the point where I could not handle this kind of guilt any more. I did not realize at the time it was a false guilt. But thank God, with the right Christians I was able to surround myself with, they were able to guide me free of this paralyzing false guilt.
Please do not get the wrong impression, so let me put things into perspective. Because of the last days we are living in, there is an onslaught against the organized Church, which is in essence Christ’s Bride, like never before. It is coming from within and without the Church. I have seen too many people write against church membership and tithing because of the negative things they have seen or experienced. This leaves others with the impression it is best to stay home and keep their money in their pocket. Our duty as a Christian is to meet regularly with a group of like minded Christians and to support that fellowship financially. If a Christian does not, they are in direct disobedience to Jesus Christ whom they claim is the Lord of their life. Satan infiltrated the early Church and he is still infiltrating it today. Our job is to always defeat these infiltrations, not to walk away. Others who decide to only get their ‘Churching’ from the radio, TV, internet, or other media are missing the most important aspect of going to Church. According to 1 Corinthians Chapters 12 and 14, it is about giving of your Holy Spirit talents and not just about receiving:
Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize. When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must strengthen all of you. (1 Corinthians 14:26 NLT)
It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:11, 12 NLT)
Even though this is considered a blog site, by the power of the Holy Spirit it has turned into a resource rich website. Anything that is found in it I consider open to my fellow Christians. Just think if Paul said, “You can’t copy my epistles because they are copywrite protected!” Ninety percent of what you find on this site is mine and the other ten percent has been gleaned from resources from all over, just simply because it was much better than what I could produce. I just added a page on the headliner of this site called ‘Church Questions’. In it you will find a list of PDF’s you can open and find good sound answers to many questions I wish I had years back when I suffered from false guilt. Also, go to my ‘Index of Posts’ page on my headliner and click on any posts you may need the answers to any struggling questions you have in your walk with the Lord. Please leave any comments you have because I want to continue to make this site better and better. Your comments mean a lot to me.
“If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36 KJV)
Annointing 