"Rusty" <lr1008@shawneelink.net> wrote in message
news:KISdnbkfOZwQAqPcRVn-hg@shawneelink.net...

After going to several different churches over several years I must
confess that I'm a little leary of 'organized' religion. Most do not
seem to follow the same core values as the original followers of
Christ. Why is this?

For one thing institutional Christianity is dependent on money rather than
on God. It goal is the preservation and expansion of the institution.

those who truly love God fail when they try to follow Christ within the
confines of this institution, because its very nature is of this world
rather than of the Spirit. Institutional Christianity subverts the
teachings of Christ and softens them because if people were to follow

rather than be content as good church members, it would collapse the whole
structure.
Secondly, your typical "Christian" loves this world and this life. He is
more than willing to support teachers, preachers, and intitutions that
justify his worldliness and calm his conscience. For proof, just look at
christian TV.
I speak as one who has served as a pastor in three churches. The
institutional church cannot be fixed. I believe that the only hope is for
those who are called by the Holy Spirit to leave Babylon and return and
restore the (spiritual) Church of Jerusalem. We must take our standard of
what the Church of God is supposed to be from the New Testament. Indeed,
what it means to be a follower of Christ.
I have looked for almost 30 years for the Church whose builder and maker

God and have yet to find it. But I believe that Jesus is calling forth a
remnant in this very hour. Before the final darkness covers the earth, He
will restore His Church, a Bride without spot or wrinkle.