@Romel,

I feel pretty much the same way you do about it.

There is certainly nothing to feel bad or alarmed about, since so much of what is termed "Christianity" to day has evolved (or devolved) pretty far from what the individual referred to as Jesus taught in the various accounts and scriptures.

If you dive into the Bashar, Abraham, and metaphysical stuff, and then re-read the New Testament, you'll find out that there is a huge amount of overlap.

It is written that Jesus said, "All things are possible to them that believe," and it is a concept that is repeated throughout the various scriptures.

However, I have yet to attend a modern sermon where this sort of stuff is given any attention.

For that matter, I have met very few "Christians" who take these words of Jesus seriously. If pressed, they would say "Well, he couldn't have really meant what he said." And the one or two individuals that I know who do take it seriously, are also heavily into this metaphysical stuff.

So, for these and other reasons, I have come to accept that the vast majority of people calling themselves "Christians" today are not actually adhering to or following the original material.

Most (not all) of my experiences in modern churches have actually been sort of depressing rather than uplifting. There is the usual acknowledgment of all the bad things going on in the world, how dark it all is, and how we can "cope" with it through the teachings of the bible, and by worshiping Christ. It actually kind of brings one down.

There is also this massive focus on the suffering of Christ on the cross, how horribly he was treated, and how we should feel awful about it, and so grateful to him. Why is this so?

Christ came back from the dead, and he didn't seem too bent out of shape about it. He had some holes in his palms, and felt good enough about it that he could order a doubting disciple to poke his fingers through the holes. He left us with some more uplifting messages and then took off for somewhere else. Sounds like cause for joy to me. Nothing in there such as "Remember my suffering and remember to feel bad about it!"

It is also written in the bible, "By their fruits you shall know them." If I apply this by looking to other Christians, I have to say that the vast majority I know are sad, somewhat frustrated, often depressed people. It seems that something is not right there. Either the teachings are not helpful, or they are not being understood or applied (I choose to give Christianity the benefit of the doubt and go with the latter).

Whereas, I always come away feeling great, inspired, and positive, from watching any Bashar seminar...even just a ten minute clip.

I think much of the teachings and focus of Bashar and Abraham is actually closer to the original teachings of Jesus that 99.999% of modern sermons preached today in Christian churches.

I mean, even the title of Abraham's book "Ask and it is given," is taken from the mouth of Jesus.

How much more blunt can you get?

That all said, I have been to three Christian churches (out of a very large number) where I have had an inspiring and uplifting experience. So there is that.

There are many levels of understanding of the Bible. What you have outgrown is being satisfied being a baby Christian. If you believe you have outgrown the Bible then you will deny yourself finding Christ within.

@Romel They might think so but they are content being baby Christians. You have taken your first step towards being Christian as a student of Jesus instead of a student of the church.

You are the temple of the living God. Now think meditate on Christ, and Jesus teaching. Even meditate of the difference between the Christ and Jesus. If your body is God's temple, who are you?

Meditate daily on the scriptures, you will find the Bible goes very deep in metaphysics. The Bible is ment to be understood at all levels of intelligence.

Sadly most never get past the basics even ministers. This is because the masses are not ready to find out yet.

It is an easier path to fear and feel helpless. But someone that really knows the Bible would know that is a lie. There is nothing to fear and we absolutely are not helpless.

If you want to see the power of Christians, watch, The Finger Of God or Furious Love. Both are powerful, do not let unbelief stop you. Instead let this build your faith, you are very powerful!

I just cast a demon out of someone. It fought me but it was no match for me because I know I and my father God are one.

The Bible is full of wisdom, it has just been misunderstood, misinterpreted and misused. Coming here and learning about the Law of Attraction and the metaphysical aspects, I came to understand the Bible with new eyes, a new understanding. Jesus said that if we believed, we could move mountains. I didn't see that happening, nor did I hear it preached at church. I started at a Friends church, or Quaker. They had the purest understanding of the Christian churches that I went to. After that, they were more right wing conservative and less empowered by Christianity, and more subserviant.

Even though the Bible says not to fear many times, fear is preached in church. The Bible says to think on whatsoever is good and right and true, yet they preach the crucifiction. The Bible says not to make a likeness of anything in heaven or on earth, of a god or creation and bow down and worship it, yet the church idolizes and glorifies the cross and the crucifixion of Jesus. I found it repulsive. Jesus said that the truth would make you free, yet the church creates rules and doctrine to keep people obedient to their authority.

So how then do we get this power that Jesus promised? I recommend reading Jesus Taught It Too (The Early Roots Of The Law Of Attraction) by Philip F Harris and The Writings of Florence Scovel Shinn. These writings really helped me to see how Jesus taught this stuff and how to apply the knowledge. It definately requires shedding old beliefs and learning new ones. Even the disciples didn't understand what Jesus taught, as He said so and then explained it to them several times in the Bible.

Many of the things that Jesus taught have to do with our thoughts and beliefs and how they affect our lives. In the terms we use here on IQ, we would say that our thoughts and beliefs affect our vibration which affects our perception of reality. Jesus taught people to do things that raise their vibration and not things that lower it. For example, Jesus said that the Law said not to kill, yet if you think about killing your brother, it is the same as killing him. I didn't understand that from a physical perspective, but if you see that thinking about killing your brother, it puts you in the same vibration as if you did kill him, then it makes sense.

Absolutely YES! The bible is a book of mythology that was recorded by primitive men about a family linage, interpreted by primitive men and then bound together like a bunch of comic books and then a business model (church) built around it. Why would you bind yourself to such primitive interpretation of the world around you? Why would you bind yourself to such a primitive limited interpretation of spirit and God? God is bigger than the bible. Jesus is bigger than the bible. Lucifer, if he exists, is bigger than the bible (by the way Islam does not look at Lucifer as a fallen angel or evil). YOU are bigger than the bible. Do not limit yourself by other's beliefs or human interpretations that are trying to guilt you into God and the Bible. You feel there is more and there is. There is no evil in the world, only the corruption of the human spirit by generations of confusion. You are breaking the chain of confusion. It will feel strange at first because you are re-creating yourself and the framework or lens in which you view the world...in other words you are now realizing that you have been creating your own reality all along.

If you are afraid then you need to ask yourself why you are afraid? Why do you feel you need to believe in a vengeful limited God as written by primitive people and translated and re-translated again and again instrument designed by the church for control of the population and resource acquisition at the expense of entire races of people.

Does it make sense that all loving, omnipresent, all powerful God would limit himself to favor only part of his creation at the exclusion of all others. Does it make sense that God gave you and Adam free will and in his perfection would make and destroy you and this world out of anger for using that free will? Ask any uncorrupted child if he should be punished for Adam's deeds and he will tell you NO it doesn't make any sense. He was born innocent. Corrupt the child with the guilt and fear of religion and you get another lost soul trying to find his way back to love for the rest of his life.

The only good stuff to recall from the bible are the words of Jesus. The kingdom of heaven is within YOU. Your emotional guidance will lead you there. Stand where you are an look around you. Everything within your view is perceived good or bad by your mood and your translation. Good or Bad is a label. Remove the labels. Experiment for one day and pretend that every thing you see is something that you caused to be in your view. You can recognize the contrast as feelings: I feel good and I feel uncomfortable or "bad". Acknowledge "this makes me feel good, I like it", and "I am looking at this it makes me feel bad, I feel good that I can learn from it now. How would I need to think about this to not be afraid?" Throw everything you have been trained to believe out the door and see how this feels for one day.

You are not alone. Look at the stars in the night sky and know this. You are source, you choose to create the reality you desire...with the bible or without it. You are doing it every now that you have lived.

Your fine Romel. The Father within you, that is you , is beginning to awaken.

The process cannot be stopped or reversed. Its quite normal and natural. You will never again be able to accept the rubbish thats preached in the name of so called christianity again. It will become more and more unpallatable to you.

You will not outgrow the teachings of the bible, you will see new teachings within its pages. You will begin to see the 4 th dimensional truths contained within those writings.

There will soon be not one stone standing on another as far as your old beliefs are concerned.

Rejoice, you will soon have "THE" revelation "OF"Christ. Not the Christ taught to you in church but the real on. The one thats always been you, even before you came into this body.

I have the same inner conflicts that you do in regards to being Christian and being "enlightened", too.

It is possible to have your cake and eat it, too! How?

You have NOT outgrown your Bible- rather, you need to dig deeper into it, to find that hidden treasures it contains that will tell you that Christ, too, was enlightened. "I am the way, the Truth, and the Life," he said. What is He saying? Do as I do. Be as I am. Then you, too, will find "it". Check out this post. It was part of my ongoing visions about God, heaven, and Christ.

Jesus just trying to teach us that we could be like Him if we did what He did. He latched onto something Really Big. You'll see that He was desperate to get us to have deep and total Faith. Spiritual Faith.

Please look at the Bible differently. It is like a big toolkit. Inside are treasures to find that speak of truths that apply, no matter what spiritual background you have. Some people are afraid of the Bible. They think that it is only for Christians. No! It is enormously valuable, if you apply its hidden truths to your life.

A guy named Bill Wilson, in 1935, took the pure essence of the spiritual truths of the Bible and other vastly important spiritual books (like those by Emmet Fox and C.S, Lewis), and distilled their ideas down into a plan to help people with addictions. He was enormously successful, and millions of people have benefited from this book. What is it? The book is called Alcoholics Anonymous, and within it lies the secret that has helped hopeless drunks become sober and straight. We never say that we have "outgrown" AA. It just gets deeper and deeper. The same with the Bible.

I have a very bad headache and need to lie down, but I just had to write to you and tell you that one never outgrows any good spiritual book of Truth. Rather, we grow, and see it anew with more mature eyes every time we grow. It does not stop. It does not lose its truths.

Blessings,

Rev. Jai

I am telling you the truth, I will make it simple for you to understand: God created man in is image. Blessed are the peacemaker they will be called sons of God. it is written in your bible is it not? If every one is at peace with each other are they not equal even if they are different? You cannot be equal to God in the sense to be exactly like him, but as a child of God you are like him. compare a father to a child on this earth the child is made in the image of is father yet he needs to grow and he is not the father. Satan did not want equality with God he wanted to be superior to God. How can he be superior if it makes division and end the peace ? that is why he cannot be in the kingdom. Adam and eve took the fruit of division you know the rest of the story. Since then men are trap in their sin judging other complaining making inequity. you should not be surprise at my saying. the one that serve you best is the greatest among you, and he does not need to be superior to any one else.

Some (so called) Christian beliefs were meant to crumble.

Some (so called) Christians hold firmly to the notion that this one book, and only this one book, is absolute authority of God's Word. So, the book possibly, I would say probably, becomes that which replaces the experience of God's Word.

Some (so called) Christians are convinced it is the Father who throws the Child into hell for disobedience. So, when confronted with temptation or tragedy on earth, they project onto God (really judge God), that the Creator has caused this, and/or is testing me.

Some (so called) Christians somehow hold to idea that if God didn't say it in the bible, then what is being attributed to God can't be Divine, for otherwise, it would've been included in the bible. This creates a wonderful loophole to establish 'false teachings' and thus limit God. Of course, no Christian is going to admit to limiting God, so perhaps another way of saying this is 'limit one's self on journey back to God.'

Any of us who have strayed from traditional / orthodox teaching, and found Truth in messages that are all around us, have experienced (I believe) a crumbling of beliefs. I think of this as a period of 'sorting out.' During that sorting out phase, it is quite possible that the baby gets tossed with the bathwater, and thus Christian faith is abandoned. And as there are alternate views / explanations for most of what's in the bible, it can be abandoned for good. Even while the Truth remains, and the path continues.

I find it plausible to review the bible, approach it with discernment, and honor it for its profound wisdom. Though I am one who reinterprets certain passages in ways that seem incredibly obvious to me, while to others, it is either not obvious or possibly blasphemous.

As in example of "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me." If this were actually about Jesus (as sole Christ), I'd have to see that as Jesus saying, "I, Jesus, am the way....." But that's not said. Instead it is a statement about "me" (and you, or all of us). This interpretation takes nothing away from the message, and unlike the common interpretation, doesn't add to it (not adding Jesus in there, when even Jesus didn't add it in there). Thus, all of us can say, and it is Truth, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me." To know the Father, or return to God, you must go through you. To think you must go through another, or through a holy book, is what I would deem blasphemous. Also helps, I think, if you realize Christ Self is in all. As Jesus apparently knew this, his example appears more perfect, but in reality, for you to identify the Christ in Jesus, you must see Christ in own Self. How anyone pretends to know Christ and deny it in own self always baffles me. And on my more peaceful days, it actually humors me. Who said orthodox Christians don't have a sense of humor?

Spirituality is a question that I have been striving to answer for the last 30 years of my 55 yrs existence on this planet. I was brought up in a very strict catholic country where the religion not only controlled the church but the government. This has now changed and the result of been controlled that much by a religious body was fear and guilt because it portrayed God as SOMEONE you should fear, when in actual fact it was a way of the religious organisation using God to control you for their benefit and control. The harm that this done certainly to me, was to look at God and Jesus as something to be feared, and fear destroys. I can not read the bible without these fears rising and therefore can't use the bible as part of my spirituality teaching which is a deep regret. I have come to the conclusion that spirituality comes from a place deep within yourself, not something that comes from outside influences. If you take the bible put it through a religious body who dissect it for their own benefit , what you get is a loss of respect for the bible and its teachings. This should not be the way. Now the bible becomes fearful instead of something you should refer to as part of your own spirituality. This has led to many religious wars. I have also looked at other religions and find some solace from Hinduism, Buddhism and even the law of attraction.

"My Christian Beliefs Crumbled Down. Can one outgrow the teachings of the Bible?"

Yes, Romel I believe you can because -

You are growing more spiritual and it's only natural you would wish to explore & experience for yourself.

... and as @White Tiger says

Experience & Enjoy!

Wonderful opening description of your journey, I can relate to it completely. Some things that I have found helpful recently. "Christianity is the religion about Jesus, not the religion OF Jesus". So sad but so true.

I've never been able to reconcile the notion of an omnipotent God. Just this weekend, I found out why. There is no omnipotent God. However, God did reveal to me this insight, that brings me just one inch closer to He/She/God, for lack of a better word, Him.

"There are things beyond God’s power; and yet, there are things that can only come from God."

After a year of separation from church, I'm starting to read my Bible again, and understand better what Christ meant when he taught us, that if we obey his teachings, we shall know the truth, and the truth shall set us free.

The church teaches us to believe, but Jesus taught us to obey. As a UU minister recently put it: "Real religion is not one that is believed; real religion is one that is practiced."

Getting back to your question about Lucifer's sin, of equating himself to God:

My year in the wilderness brought me back to where I started, but now I understand that I am truly nothing compared to the vastness of God. I'm but a small part of all those spirits across a universe of existence.

Being humble is a must to moving forward with any meaning. The true meaning of Proverbs 9:10 opened up for me like a hidden treasure: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom." We'll never make any progress if we think we are anything other than our true selves, our very imperfect, and fallen selves.

We must start with knowing our place, with being humble. This is the only starting point that will lead us to God. Gandhi said it best: "The seeker of truth must be so humble, that the dust could crush him.".

Now I understand.

"[...] I am (or more precisely WAS) a closed minded Christian [...]"

We talk about being 'open minded' and 'closed minded' (and 'narrow minded'), but maybe it's being 'minded' at all that keeps people 'searching for the Truth'. Brings to mind (no pun intended) the picture of the mule and the carrot (or the dog running after his own tail). And believe me, I've spent about 35 years doing the exact same thing, but 'once I was lost, but now I'm found' and I couldn't tell you (nor me) who found me :-)

Come to think of it, 'Abraham' (not the one from the bible) stated in one of his/her/their movies: "You can't go there from there'. The deeper meaning of which might be: "You can't KNOW anything, as long as you remain you".

God bless