Church is not a noun,” he says. “It’s a verb. It can be friends gathering together around a meal, talking about the things that matter most, building each other up. That’s a lot bigger than 11 a.m. on Sunday. Eleven a.m. on Sunday can be fantastic. It can also be devoid of spirit and quite boring

Rob Bell
Heaven is a Place on Earth:
Rob Bell’s Revolutionary Mission

Image from:
Wikipedia

I discovered Rob Bell much the same way I find many of my authors, through my day job at the Scranton Library in Madison Connecticut.  Oprah’s magazine came across the library desk a few weeks ago and my eyes automatically gravitated to the article about Rob Bell.

Naturally, I felt compelled to read it as, Mr Bell and I are connected on a spiritual level.  You can read more about my spiritual connectedness to Mr. Bell at my About Me page on G+  Start with:
A bit about my spirituality

I love the above quote from Mr. Bell, because I feel the same way about organized religion (aka church.)  I love that Mr Bell is thinking outside the box, rocking the boat, shaking the foundation.  It is after all those who think different as Steve Jobs once said who once said:
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

This is what Rob Bell is doing.  He is moving us forward, giving us a new way to view God/Spirituality/The Church.  We need more people like this in our midst.  I understand that some of you may be uncomfortable with what I’m about to say, however like Rob Bell who is rocking the foundation I don’t attend any organized religion.  I’ve always felt that I get more out of my friendship with HIM then simply sitting in a staid building listening to someone else tell me what THEY think I should be doing.  Church, for me is exactly as Rob Bell describes:
…friends gathering together around a meal, talking about the things that matter most, building each other up.

I carry an ongoing conversation with God (HIM) all the time.  As I’ve said here before:
My faith is so important to me, such a part of who I am, a fabric of my life that to attempt to separate it from me you’ll be separating me from me!  I no longer worry how others perceive me.  Take me or leave me, this who I am now.

I’m still the same person I was before I my philosophical shift and I don’t share my paradigm with those who aren’t in the same place.  I do of course disseminate my thoughts to Wisdom and Life.  However people can choose to read what I say or not and I don’t worry about that as much.

When I say I don’t attend organized religion, it in no way means that I don’t believe, on the contrary, sometimes I feel I have a stronger faith than some who do attend.  I’ve seen too much, been involved in too much, not to feel God’s presence constantly in every aspect of my life.  My belief in Law of Attraction has only deepened my conviction in God’s power in my life.

For me, Law of Attraction (LoA) is simply another path to spirituality.  If study the tenets of LoA, you’ll see that:
–Ask and ye shall receive.
–Believe you already have it.
–Give thanks when you receive.

These are all Biblical notions as well as LoA beliefs.  Now you can understand why I feel the way I do.

Church IS more than a building.
Church IS more than one person preaching.
Church IS more than 11AM on Sunday.

Church is a verb.

Be Happy!  Be Well!  Be Positive!
Blessings to you.
—
Chris

Once you realize that life is eternal,
That our souls our eternal,
That we return to light and physical over and over;

We then lose all our distress
We then lose all our fear of dying.
For there truly is no end.