Just finished reading something and decided to post. Normally don’t like to criticize publicly and nor do I intend to do so, though the wording of the post title may indicate otherwise.
The famous quote by Karl Marx regarding religion is that it is the opium of the masses. Unfortunately the wording of a new study swings in that direction. The University of Washington entitled the results of a study “God is like a drug”.
Yet the study focuses it’s title based on what happens at mega-churches not the average church. With so much state of the art technology, these church have succeeded in creating an non-intimidating ethos and aesthetic atmosphere. The researchers say when all the factors of mega-churches are combined the effect on the brain is like that of a high from illegal drugs (oxytocin – which strongly influences thoughts, decisions, etc of prefrontal cortex). When combined with hormones and other neurotransmitters it creates the feeling of trust and a reduction of stress.
The study found that the worshipers of mega-church described the effects from the worship service like those of drug users. and that the thinking is like that of a stadium full of fans.
This is one the inherit dangers as individuals move away from a Bible based belief system and more towards a post-denominational system that caters to the this is what works for me. In amoral situations that may work fine, but in religion it’s not about us but God.
That’s why it pains me to see those who have experiences the beautiful and biblical truths taught by the Seventh-day Adventist Church go away to other churches. So many churches can teach the gospel (at least partially it) but only one church is preaching the everlasting gospel. Naturally one can declare that all churches can claim that, but under the context on which the everlasting gospel is mentioned in the Bible is the Three Angels’ Messages of Revelation 14. And there is only one church that is doing that. The Seventh-day Adventist Church.
This does not dismiss the mistakes and wrong doing that have been done that hurt people, but if God is faithful to us, we can continue to be faithful to His church. Being faithful to his church goes hand in hand with being faithful to Him.
A few days later, God hit me over the head with the same message. I needed new tires, so I ordered some online. Ended up being more than I expect and more than I wanted to pay. I couldn’t extend it more because snow could come anytime soon and one of my tires was completely worn out, the others three were about 3 months away from the same state.
