Just My Thoughts De Jour ...

I do believe that I'm emerging a bit from my jet-laggged, sleep-deprived cave, at least enough to put out some thoughts ... this is along the lines of what I shared at the conference in Baytown (the link to the talks will be provided in a few weeks -- and I'll be sure to share them here!).

Meanwhile, here are some thoughts I shared "elsewhere" ...

I honestly am beginning to believe that Christianity made a colossal mistake in creating a cult based on the personality of Jesus, rather than recognizing the enormity of what He was really teaching ... He had "much more" to show us, that only the Spirit can lead us into ... and we settled instead for making this an extension of the sacrificial system...!

AISI, without the devil, without original sin, there IS no Christianity.

Since I no longer see the former, I no longer see the point of the latter.

There are so very many things I now see as "training wheels" that I used at one time, or at least *thought* I needed, which are now very much getting in the way of the journey ... and so I've been tapping into such a huge perspective-shift, that there are numberless nuances to explore here ...! I'm in the very thick of it myself. Exploring "Who is Jesus ... Who/What is The Christ" feels like THE biggie for those of us with a Christian history.

As we discover that much of what we've been taught in Christianity is merely the traditions of man, we go through a stage (or several stages) of disillusionment ... even defragmentation. I know of scores of post-Christians who would claim to now be agnostic, if not atheist. Perhaps a necessary time of UNlearning ... and certainly God is big enough to handle it. Detoxing is so critical, and it can last longer than we may be prepared for ...

For me (& each one must have his own experience, rather than sucking vicariously from another) ... I'm discovering that Christianity, in forming a cultic mindset around the personality of Jesus, missed the bigger perspective of what constitutes The Christ. I am finding that scripture is not inerrant (as humans declare) but is useful (which is what it declares about itself). And so I use it, rather than worshipping it. It's the training wheels to bring me to the concept of salvation, of the here-and-now-Kingdom. But, having come to that awareness, having been born again to the spiritual reality, I find that the more tangible training wheels *can* get in the way of riding out the adventure of the Abundant Life.

What I know *about* God was indeed shown to me via Christianity, and the scriptures ... but my experiential-knowing God Himself has been brought to me by the very Spirit of God Himself, within me.

It's as if my former understanding was the larvae/pupae stages of consciousness ... but once we emerge from the cocoon, the freedom to fly beckons us to go forth, rather than to remain in the no-longer-fitting "safety" of that now-decaying cocoon. We move from milk to meat, from the womb (even of the Garden) to life, from immaturity to maturity. Everything we see in the physical speaks to us of the greater reality of the spiritual ... that which does not embrace change, shrivels and dies.

I shall try to share more from my speaking-notes, tomorrow ... but if not, soon. I don't know how much free time I'll have from Thursday - Saturday ... and then Mark and I are meeting at the hotel near the Portland airport ... for two nights of a very focused and specific agenda...! We will be saying "I see you" in a whole nother, much-neglected (due to travel) way! ;)

Shalom & Namaste ~
Dena