You do not have to go to Church to be a Christian.

[tonywiltshire]

I probably go to Church for all the wrong reasons. I always have, I enjoy the atmosphere, I like the ritual, I like to sing (others may not like to listen), I enjoy the company and I like to praise God.
I consider myself a Christian, better than those who do not go to Church or do not share my Religion-NO.

[boxtops]

well said, tony - I know several people who follow Christian ethics and principles, but don't like the Church hierarchy and power - they prefer to follow their faith in their own way. I don't differentiate at all between them and people who feel that the only way to worship is in a church (or in any other religious building, come to that).

[snags]

... and you are suspended.

[MarkRae]

Banned, actually, and rightly so.

[dave1948]

Shitzue

How aptly named you are. Why can't you respect others for their views?
It looks to me that you are both illiterate and unstable

[ummmm]

I want to know what they said now.... :-)

[boxtops]

I saw it - a pile of sad abuse for tony's personal views.

[tonywiltshire]

Do you consider people sick that go to Church shitzue, this is an extreme view and you seem very angry.

[boxtops]

You won't get an answer tony, he's already banned for expressing those views.

[ummmm]

Ohhhhhhh....

[wolf63]

Isn't a shitzue a small yappy dog with no known use.

[boxtops]

I hope this doesn't mean that we are going to have an interesting evening....

[MarkRae]

I can totally understand the social aspect of going to church. That's no different to being part of any other community such as a book club or attending an adult education course.

And I agree that some church music can be extremely emotive, having been an occasional church organist for the last thirty years or so.

What I just can't understand is the whole concept of "praise". Given that Christians believe that they and everything around them were created by an omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent deity, why on earth do they think that this deity requires them to continually remind him about how wonderful he is...?

[craft1948]

I sometimes go to church for a time of reflection, but I don't usually go to the services..............

[tonywiltshire]

I do not think God expects praise Mark it is just what people to do.

[MarkRae]

:-) Yes, but why? Doesn't he already know?

[tonywiltshire]

Probably he/she knows.

[karenmac60]

I know some folk who would never dream of missing church, but are lacking in many so called 'Christian values'.

[sandyRoe]

I think different churches have different ways of working. The Salvation Army, for example, show true Christian spirit in the work with the less fortunate in society.

[MarkRae]

Then what's the point? To me, that's as pointless as writing to Geoff Hurst once a week to tell him that he scored a hat-trick in the 1966 World Cup final.