“Religion. It's given people

hope in a world torn apart by

religion.”

Jon Stewart

“We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.”

Jonathan Swift .

1. That God Looks Like An Old White Man

George Carlin said: “Religion has convinced people that there's an invisible man ... living in the sky. Who watches everything you do every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a list of ten specific things he doesn't want you to do. And if you do any of these things, he will send you to a special place, of burning and fire and smoke and torture and anguish for you to live forever, and suffer, and suffer, and burn, and scream, until the end of time. But he loves you. He loves you. He loves you and he needs money.”

“I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the

sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I

believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It's just that the translations have gone

wrong.” ― John Lennon

There’s Nothing wrong with picturing

God however you need to – and

differently every day – just let it be

your own picture – born of something

deep in your heart the place where

you know – you know God.

Remember the story of a six-year-old child in first grade. The teacher

walked to her desk and gently asked, "What are you drawing?"

"I'm drawing a picture of God," she said. The teacher then said, "But no

one knows what God looks like." The little girl responded with a smile, "They will when I finish."

2. You are the centre

of the Universe

This is a bit of a caution to the

previous encouragement

to imagine God. God is not at the exclusive disposal

of you

“Religion out of balance is in danger of becoming something

that turns human judgments into divine commands which makes

religion one of the most dangerous forces in the world” Georgia Harkness.

Be a person of faith – faith that is always changing and growing – in the midst of the

experience of those around you.

3. You Are Bad

Somehow, Religion Has Become Focussed On Guilt, On Pointing Out How Awful We Are. Forget This.

This Is Not Central To Faith. It Is The Opposite Of The Jesus Who Loves People Just As They Are.

What we are is God's gift to us.

What we become is our

gift to God. (Louis Nizer)

4. You should

do something!

Perhaps one of the biggest battles we face is the concept that we should do

something. You have caused confusion and delay – basic Protestant work ethic brilliantly proclaimed with

Thomas the Train – Which is a much easier read that the Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan – which basically says

the same thing.

We take - be doers of the word and not hearers only and leave out the word and hear part and just do…..

Let us try to just be!

5. Church is a Noun

Church is a verb.

Church is what we are – not where we sit

not what we must maintain – it is what we must become

(the need to know how) – is noun thinking.

Church is about our actions - not place, or time, or

habits – not what we do here – but in everything else

we do.

“Anyone who thinks sitting in

church can make you a Christian must also think that sitting in a

garage can make you a car.” Garrison Keillor

Religion is meant to be

bread for daily use, not

cake for special

occasions

Forget these 5 things that religion has taught

you – or others that you carry forget them

not to abandon religious teaching – but to the truth of the way of God. I dare you to believe that God is at

work in whatever circumstances you

currently find yourself

“The Christian ideal has not

been tried and found wanting; it has been

found difficult and left

untried.” ― G.K. Chesterton