Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Peter's Story

I'd like to thank Peter for sharing his story with us. Like many of you (and me), Pete is a follower of Christ but does not attend an institutional church. He's the first person to take me up on the offer of posting his story on my blog. Thanks Pete! Everything below is word-for-word what he emailed to me:


First, let me share with you that I do believe in God, Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I do not neglect reading and studying God's word, and I do fellowship with other believers on a semi-regular basis. With that said, I'll move on down the road.

It all started when a friend asked our pastor "how do you address the needs of seniors in our congregation." Well, he said, "they just kind of fall through the cracks." When our friend told us that, it really started me thinking, "something is wrong here. It's about relationships right?" So, our friend suggested that we start a home fellowship. I wish I could paint a picture that everything went smoothly, we started a home fellowship and we lived happily ever after, but it didn't happen. I was riddled with guilt about not attending the "Institution" on one hand, and on the other hand, in retrospect, I wasn't being led by the spirit.

However, these events set the wheels in motion for me to research and find out the truth about the Institutional church and how it had become a system cloaked in the "traditions of men" after the first century.

So, where am I today?" Do I attend a home fellowship?" Nope! "Do I fellowship with other believers?" Yup! "Am I excited about reading your stories of how you transitioned out of the Institution to meeting as the First-Century believers did?" You betcha I do! "Will we make some connections with each other?" I sure hope so!

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