RE: The Damage of Religious Lies
I've found that many churches use guilt, shame, condemnation -- judging others when we are asked not to judge.
That which is evil also milks guilt/shame/rejection to make us forget about the salvation and love available to us.
I experienced something very similar to you and so far I haven't aligned myself with a church. I've been "testing"/interviewing people of certain churches before I join anything. I haven't found a single one yet that has leaders who understood what I was talking about.
I was brought up in the RC faith, went through a period of atheism, years of esoteric spirituality and finally came to Jesus unexpectedly.
We will still struggle after being born again... sometimes this is because there are energies that perpetuate that struggle and want to keep us from healing. Instead of healing in God or otherwise, our inner wounds actually get worse as a result of these energies (or even religion) -- if we're being taught by people who don't understand the Bible in the first place or haven't faced their own wounds.
I hope you don't mind me saying this but when I explored esoteric spirituality (and even viewed the Bible in an esoteric way), in hindsight, I see that it actually took me further away from God. If I hadn't stepped away from all that I would never have known God's presence.
I dont mind ever, I love input, I am always in search for Truth....I have studied the bible for years as well, actually am an Ordained Pastor, but the more I search the more I see the bible was written to jews 2000 years ago, and that what Jesus did was for all creation.....Without getting into a theological in depth convo....I believe in inclusionism......I aslo believe the Revelations was fullfilled in AD70, its called preterist theology......So I have been a catholic, and a pentecostal I have seen the huge swing from and been deeply involved in spiritual warfare and belief that the end of times is soon, but I dont any longer......I highly recommend Victorious Eschatology and Hope Beyond Hell....
What Jesus did was Enough for All
I'm glad to hear it :)
I've been finding the Holy Spirit guides me when reading the Bible. They both validate and confirm each other, if you get what I mean.
Most of the Bible was written for Jews but it's very useful to others too… Even though the old testament is old covenant stuff (that jews believe), it has a lot of relevant wisdom. Prior to being born again, I didn't truly get the salvation message behind even the New Testament because I was so entrenched in esoteric/Eastern spiritual/consciousness-is-all perspectives. Plus, I was egoically biased against any kind of religious thought because of my own wounds.
As for spiritual warfare, I'm not sure if we mean the same thing. It might be difficult to see without being there. I came across spiritual warfare separate from any religion so it might be different to what you mean.
I'm finding that a lot of esoteric/occult practice is use of our own spiritual blindness against ourselves. In our blindness, we'd be using a spectrum of God's creation in a very dangerous way when we would otherwise have access naturally to many gifts through the Holy Spirit.
It's as if Satan could be saying to God "I will use your creation against you, and I will fool people into thinking they can be God" etc etc.. This is what the one-eye pyramid religion seems to stand for basically. "We are all one, God is Love" is true on one level but from a perspective of form and our reality it does not really apply -- that blind spot is completely misused by certain hierarchies to their own benefit.
Most popular spirituality and the new age is exploiting humanity's blindness to their own inner wounds (caused by other people), Self-pride and doubt.
I'll check out those resources and see what they say, thank you. I came across the different eschatological theories recently…Personally, I'm inclined to think revelation hasn't been fulfilled yet. The Bible is confirming some conclusions I came to independently of religion.
I love your journey....Blessings!!
Thank you, I wish you all the best in finding true healing from the effects of spiritual abuse.
I hope my onslaught of opinion wasn't bothersome or triggering :/