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"beware of more diversions and obstacles"
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or
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"any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed"

Did you know that the New Testament specifically tells you to remain where you are after being saved?  Go on, look it up ... 1 Cor. 7: 17-24!  Thiz means you don't have to join anything religious including any try hard "bless me" club or signing yourself over (literally) to 'officaldom".

As they say, if it works then why fix it?  Or, if itz simple then why complicate it?  After all, is not every gift from God good and perfect anyway?  I guess, if there has been so much emphasis in joining things and getting deeply involved, these 'basics' get drowned in a midst of religious flury and institutional activity.

Here it is ... Religion is mans interference or alternative to what God gives to us and requires of us.  It is the Devil's counterfeit (yes, he still exists) replacing a true relationship with the living God with a pseudo version, coming in many forms and varieties, to suit the occasion and fool the recipient.  It is usually always based on false obligation and guilt no matter how justified or plausible it comes across.  Thiz'iz a reason the Bible warns and makes it very plain ...  LET NO MAN (no man that'iz - whether friend or foe, qualified or unqualified, well meaning or devious)!  Let no man DECEIVE YOU!!!
Religious professionals (Jesus called them hirelings) and the culture or tradition built around them, are usually the main barrier of the individual entering into all God has for you (thatz the kingdom).  Jesus said to these religionists, "For ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in."

They (religious care providers - whether in a traditonal gown, a slick suit, or the latest trendy garb) don't want you to enter because they would be without a job.  They wont enter themselves because they would have to admit that Jesus was the door and only way after all, and that all human proxies were redundant.  Therefore, they are compelled, along with their associates and followers, and cronies, to bring another version of the truth and play down the narrow way.

Another obstacle for blocking out the true message of the gospel is the trap of political assimilation and involvement, along with itz fun and gamesmanship of all kinds.  From the Bible we know that man (everyone born) has been corrupted by sin after conception and that mans system is based on mans values (some good, some bad) and not on God's perfect values ...  his word!  We also know from God's word that war and conflict were nailed to the cross (along with every type of sin) 2,000 years ago and should have no bearing in the believers life if he is walking in the Lord.  Because Jesus said that his kingdom is not of this present world but found within our lives, as we abide in him; we no longer have to conform to this present world.  We also do not have to go out and promote breaking down walls either (leave that to the ecumenicalists) as Jesus also tore down the wall of separation at the cross.  More so, instead of being part of the problem (sin) we offer a way out through him.  The only way out, as a mater of fact!  Thatz God's solution ... the good news in a nutshell!

Therefore, we don't try and patch up the holes on this doomed ship called Planet or Mother Earth.  Nor get side-tracked squabbling with its crew or passengers; but offer the only way off ...  the life boat called Christ!  There is a great urgency, and dialoguing the truth with the so-called "trained" or the 'lofty headed' professional will only waist time being diverted away from those who are hungry to hear the truth and not explain it away.  The truth is nonnegotiable by the way, and is always based on God's terms, who commands all men, everywhere, to repent!

In finishing, there is one other master counterfeit the Devil has set up in order to deceive many.  It is called Christendom and is akin to  Babylon the Great in scripture (the wide gate of accommodation and confusion) or the Harlot (the false bride or false church), who is always ready to hop into bed with the world, along with her lovers akin to false religion and political association.

Christendom comes in many forms from 'high church' Catholicism and Anglicism in the west, to the Orthodox varieties in the east, to the more common middle-ground assortment of liberal and evangelical trendy churches of our time.  This system operates behind many faces.  It can be seen as being very traditional or very flexible, from the importance of relics and rituals, to less formality, to less rank and structure.  It works as a very effective hook for new converts or for those who initially adhere to the gospel, to find themselves sucked in and trapped later, by something that resembles Christ's functioning Body on earth, but in reality is nothing but a major diversion from the kingdom of God.  By then it is usually too late for the novice to muster enough strength to challenge the system even in part, all on his or her own, at a great cost to their repeutaion or being ostracized.

The trappings that go with Christendom are the universal acceptances of Christmas and Easter (christianized paganism), to being caught up in social and political campaigns or struggles, to joining "moral" or "just" crusades and causes.  Not too forget to mention, maintaining the religious machinery of a church or denomination you got sucked into and are obliged to attend and participate for life.  Or until you find greener (spiritual) pastures as a lifetime alternative at mutual consent.

At the end of the day this is the subtle way of keeping families apart by compartmentalizing in age, and by intense "church" activities and 'Sunday service', based on the invented concept of "praise and worship" or "having church".  This must be the most effective ploy in isolating true fellowship one to another, with devotion to a man of the cloth dictating (with pleasantries or severity) at the front on an elevated platform.   Moreover, with little room for the saints (the true believers) to intermingle with each other (fellowship) apart from after "the service" while departing through "the church" foyer or brushing past outside in the carpark (car lot).  How unreal is this in contrast to Acts and "breaking bread from house to house"?  As well as verses like 1 Corinthians 14:26 and 2 Timothy 2:22 (go on - look'em up)?

Just encase you don't know ...  Sunday or Sabbath culture (routine is a more accurate word) is the unbiblical term called "going to" or "attending church", or "church membership".  It is the clever substitute for true interrelations and family participation in normal and natural surroundings.  It is the difference between the New Testament emphasis in God saving families and keeping them together by true fellowship around the word, in intimate home situations and homely enviouments, than being separated and kept occupied and busy by the demands of the manmade institution down the road.  These are those who notion full and complete devotion to the system in order to validate it as "biblical" or "Christian", while its mechanisms are kept in motion, and its adherents don't get time to really question, put things to the test, and maybe even break-out.  Or resisting fear and condemation, or false devtion and obligation, in order to really find out that God is not like this and the truth of his word is able to set one free.

In other words ... 'control' is the name of the game, no matter how pleasant or how tyrannical it cloaks itself.  The great news is that you are obligated to no one but God.  Who in turn points you to normal responsibilities, sound relartionships and true freindship with others.  As well as respectful attitudes to those in authority, and to remain where you are, as a witness for him and his gospel, without the fanfare and drama of redtape and religious bureaucracy.  To when?  Until he calls you home, for eternity.