There Has Got To Be

More Than Christianity

My
first
spiritual
awakening came as a surprise to
me. Growing up in a
conservative "Christian" city in
the US and attending a Catholic
high school, I had no desire for
any of what I had seen in
religion. After several years of
drug
use,
selfish
sexual
activities, violence, and many
other
dark
and
egotistic
behaviors, I hit rock bottom
while on an overseas hitchhiking
journey. I had been away from
home for nearly a year and I was
ready to end my own life. I felt
I had nothing to live forno
love, no reason to go on, and no
purpose in this life.
In a depressed stupor I
realized I needed truth. Now
what "truth" meantI had no
idea. I sat on a dirt floor in a
barn where I had been living
with some people in the Fiji
Islands. For some reason I

looked at a man and asked him

to go on a walk with me to tell
me the "truth." The man agreed
to walk with me. (There is a lot
more detail to this story, in fact I
wrote a book about the
experience called Broken Man
I am just giving a quick
summary here to get to the point
of this article.) The man shared,
very boldly, some spiritual
insights about light and dark,
about heaven and hell, about
religious hypocrisy and real
spirituality. He shared with me
that I could have true salvation
and true life through a
relationship with Jesusand
again - three times actually warned me about the difference
between a relationship with God
through Jesus, and mere
religiousness.
I realized I
needed the truth that he was
sharing with me. I prayed. I
asked Jesus to come into my
heart and to change my life.
Ok. The reality is that he
did come into me, and he did
change my life - tremendously.
BUTthere was another force,
still lurking and desiring my
allegiance. The dark force still
wanted me, and would spend
years with a large variety of
tactics to trick me and to deceive
me into dead end roads. The
enemy of my soul used
temptations such as pride,

power, the lure of riches and

stronger. I began to attend
fame,
lust,
pornography,
various organized "churches,"
adultery, violence, alcohol,
hoping to find a place to fit in.
drugs, judgments of others, and
(I use the quotation marks for
the ever-old tactic of religiosity.
the word "church" because I
Yes, one of the main strongholds
believe that the people are the
that Jesus came to expose - that
church, not the building or its
condemning religious spirit, full
doctrine.)
Having
no
of doctrine and dogma - the
community, and not really
enemy used on me. Although I
finding a place to fit in, I
did grow and did learn about
continued my self-destructive
God, and I did even walk, at
behaviors, hiding behind my
times, in personal relationship
strong personality and my ego
with God, there was still a lot
accomplishments. I left in the
missing from my life.
wake of my arrogance, two xAs I continued on the
wives and four children with
spiritual path, I sought more
broken homes.
truth and realized my need for
What had happened? I
deep emotional healing.
I
gave my life to Jesus. Why had
embarked on a journey to
I not been able to stay on the
receive
that
righteous
healing. I began "I believe that much of spiritual
path
to really receive the behavior displayed by and be a light to
healingand yet, people claiming to be the
world?
there was still "Christian" is a classic Well, part of it
something
example of using the was just plain
missing.
I had Lord's name in vain."
old ego, and part
heard the term
of it was a lack
"community," but did not really
of a real support system. I
pay much attention to what it
needed a tribe. I needed family
meant. I had heard it used for a
to live in community with. I
variety of social descriptions,
needed
strong
genuine
each with different levels of
accountability. I needed to live
intimacy.
Something in me
as the early believers did, as
longed for real community. I
they sold all their personal
had grown up in a broken home
possessions,
pooled
their
and with no strong connection to
resources together and lived as a
my mom, dad, or brother, and so
single tribe, loving one another
perhaps the longing grew even
and caring for one another.

Now, after 20 years on

this conscious spiritual journey,
and
much
personal
introspection, I believe that it is
nearly impossible to truly be a
follower of Christ and not live in
community.
The scriptures
seem clear about this call to live
in community.
The current
condition of our modern,
fragmented,
selfish,
and
pathetically sick society also
seem to point to the fact that
community-based, tribal living
is the way we are intended to
live. Oh, and by the waythis
statement about society includes
what is commonly labeled as
"Christianity."
"I believe that deep, lifechanging
healing
comes
through total surrender to
God not through religion."
People claim to be
Christians, and yet they hoard
material
possessions
and
personal wealth while even
attending "church" services with
people who are desperately
struggling to feed their own
children. I believe that much of
the behavior displayed by
people
claiming
to
be
"Christian" is a classic example
of using the Lord's name in vain.
There has been a move in the
""Christian church" towards
material prosperity and ego

kingdom building, which has

caused
great
damage,
disillusionment,
and
has
destroyed many lives. Much of
this organized religion has also
successfully worked to push
people far from the faith and
hope in the Messiah.
If you have been hurt by,
condemned by, judged by, or
otherwise burnt by organized
"Christianity," I encourage you
to look beyond the lies and into
the truth of God's perfect love.
There truly is hope and there is
real healing for you through
relationship with the Messiah. I
believe that deep, life-changing
healing comes through total
surrender to Godnot through
religion. I believe that one of
the key aspects to living the
surrendered life is to live in
community with other believers
in Christ who are daily seeking
deeper relationship with God
and with one another.
Our doors and hearts are
open to those seeking a new life
in Christ - a life beyond modern
Christianity. We live on an
organic farm in Costa Rica and
are
working
toward
sustainability.
If you are
interested in learning more,
please check out our website at
www.Awakening-Soul.org