God's Loving Home Community Group
This group is for anyone who was abused, neglected, censored or targeted while you searched for the religious answers to your life. God's Loving Home is a place where you can feel safe, loved, supported and welcomed regardless of where you are in life. Welcome home sisters and brothers we are honored to have you here!
I came across a Catholic News Agency article that was concerned about Wicca becoming one of the fastest growing religions in recent times that is surpassing some mainline Protestant religions such as Presbyterians that is estimated to have 1.4 million followers of the faith in the United States, while Wicca is believed to have 1.5 million followers now.
I'm concerned about the article because Christian agencies such as this continue to demonize people of other faiths and feel threatened by them. In the article the Catholic priest theorized that people who turn to Wicca are seeking a quick fix to their life by magic and wants to warn Wiccans that satan is in charge of magic and to stay away from it.
I understand from a Christian perspective why that priest thinks magic is satanic, but from a Wicca perspective satan has nothing to do with their religion! I worry when Christians make the presumption that people of other faiths are somehow evil and opposed to Christianity and it's amazing how these Christians wonder why so many people are fleeing from the Christian faith?
From my experiences with Christianity I found that Christ is very loving, forgiving, and kind to His followers. I never saw Him encourage his followers to demonize the people they meet if they reject Him. His instructions were very simple and clear to me. We are to walk to people in peace and knock on their literal and figurative doors to proclaim the good News that God loves them and wants them to come back home to Him whenever they are ready.
If peope are receptive then that is great! If not then then we leave in peace with the invitation that we are always there for them if they need us. Some peope are not ready for Christ and that is fine! God is very patient, and so am I, so I don't give up on a person because of their current condition or faith. I keep them in my life, treat them like family and let them know I'm there for them if they need me. That has always been my Christian directive and I just wonder?
If Christians would concentrate on love instead of hate would people be fleeing from the religion so quickly? I am a Witch among other things, I am Wicca friendly and I love God with all my heart. A crazy combination but my life somehow works for me and I am at peace and content with who I am and what I stand for.
So I wrote a response to that site with the hopes and prayers that Christians can concentrate on the human standing before them instead of the monster they think people of other faiths are from!
I am so sorry if my article seems like I am attacking Chrisitans because that is not my intention! I just want to give a wake up call for Christians to stop pushing people away because they don't worship God the way they do! If you push someone away what is the incentive for coming back? Why would anyone want to come back to people that are going to shun, demonize, belittle, be hostile, instill fear, show no mercy and refuse contact with them unless they worship God according to their interpertation of the bible?
When a person forces someone to give up their individual relationship with Christ because it doens't fit into their Christian belief system that is manipulation and not Christianity! Is it any wonder why so many people are fleeing from the faith? I hope this trend does not continue but it if Chrisitans continue to judge instead of love the people they are blessed to have in their life, the Chrisitan Faith will become an irrelevant religion in the near future and that is sad to see!
At any rate I want to share the simple response I gave to that Christian site I am including in this article that I will place in my last paragraph below and thank you for giving me this opportunity to voice my frustrations I had to live with my entire life! It's not easy being a Christian when you are a witch, but for me it works and is something I can live with, my only prayer is that I hope you can live with it too! ;)
Why are people leaving the Christian faith? Is it because Wicca is a kind loving religion that is based on Earth and Nature, not God and the devil! Wicca encourages people to improve themselves so they can help others. There is no sin, no hate, no condemnation of other faiths that are different from Wicca Beliefs. It is an inclusive religion that offers support for the people that are seeking a connection with their fellow human beings, and the life forces of the universe we are a part of. Wicca does not recruit, shame, scare or intimidate people to come to the faith. It is a calling that comes to each individual person of their own free will in their search for the higher meanings of life. It is a religion that seeks Perfect Love and Perfect Trust and believes in Harming None. The power and magic we seek is not superficial or selfish, for we are seeking the power of a smile, a gentle touch and acknowledgement that you are human, you are precious and you are a sacred creation from the Divine above. I only hope and pray that one day Christians can show the same love for the people they meet regardless of the faith they come from and understand that people of other faiths are not the monsters they portray them to be.
There are things about my past that some held against me. But I am Not defined by my past. Yes, my past has made up who I am today. But, I now longer believe or do these things.
I felt like the same should be extended toward you.
I have to explain to you the attitude some church leaders/members have.
Ever since the garden and Adam&Eve, deception has been part of our makeup. Satan/the Devil/Lucifer/Samhain/godess (whatever name he goes by) deceived Eve with twisting the words of God.
Ever since then, we have had the Word of God twisted to say what we need it to say. And, keep it out of context so the meaning is what we need it to say.
If this is true, then I can use Scripture to prove there is no God:
Psalm 53:1 New King James Version (NKJV)
53 “There is no God.”
In context, this Scripture says:
The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
So, you are expecting people who have been told what they should and should not believe to be accepting of other belief systems.
I remind you "religion" is manmade. It is full of more "don't"s then "do"s.
Some of us believe in Relationship over "religion".
Relationship is seeing God as our Abba/Father, Jesus as our adopted brother, and the Holy Spirit as our guide/conscience.
Not everybody believes this way. Some need the rules and regulations. But. If they truly "WWJD" they will realize that Jesus came for those that truly believed they needed help. Not those who think they Are that help.
Mark 2:16-17 New King James Version (NKJV)
16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”
17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Again, this is just my opinion. I meant nothing against you or anyone else.
What about Moses seeing a burning bush that did not burn!
What about the three men who came to Abraham before the destruction of Sodom and Gamorah.
What about two of these men who lead Lot and his family our of the city.
What about Daniel in the Lions den.
What about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the fire.
Daniel 3 24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?”
They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”
25 “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like tge Son of God.”
These were all paranormal things. Paranormal means"denoting events or phenomena..that are beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding."
We should be living paranormaly!!
But, then again, that's just my opinion.
I have had a very good and blessed life for which I am extremely grateful for. I thank God every day for my health, my family, my job, and the wonderful people that are in my life! I learned over the years how important it is to have gratitude in you life it really is a source of happiness!
My life is certainly strange and ironic! I always had a love for God since the age of 2 and yet because my older sister and I dabbled into the occult world I was blessed to see God from a completely different perspective.
I often wondered what is my purpose in life was and how can I turn this tremendous burden of conflict in God's favor? As I grew older I became painfully aware that I was different and unique! I was a freak of nature, of humanity and realized that few people would truly understand who I really am and what I stood for!
For the Witches and Christians that associate with me I am not ashamed to say that I love God and trust Him with all my heart! I also believe that there is no shame for anyone including a witch to say they love God if they mean it!
Its really strange! There are so many opportunities for me to turn away from Christ and God so that I can be a full practicing Wiccan Witch. My life would certainly be a lot easier and I could finally be accepted by my Wiccan peers! I also have a mixture of Irish, Native American and Spaniard heritage which gives me deep ties to Celtic paganism, Shamanism, and Animism. I respect my heritage because I can see Father Sun, Mother Earth, Sister Moon of the cosmos and the sacred you and the sacred me as well! These are all beautiful things my culture sees in the world around us, but as a Christian I also see the beauty of Christ and God the Father, The All Knowing One, the source of Perfection and Creation! That is the Christian twist to my pagan roots and for me it works beautifully!
When I briefly died I was so blessed to have met Jesus and His royal subjects so many years ago it was overwhelming, beautiful, humbling and amazing! To see love in it's perfect form was so emotional and inspirational I dedicated my entire life to try to reach out to people and share my experience that revolved around those precious 3 minutes I had with Him!
A Pagan Wiccan Celtic witch that practices high ceremonial magic from one side of my culture to the other side of my Native American Heritage that practices Folk Magic and Shamanism was shown mercy and blessed beyond blessings by having the opportunity to be with Jesus for those few precious moments of my life to show me that God loves me, there is a family waiting for me and I have a home to come to when it is my time to cross over to the other side really changed me! To be in such a beautiful place with a very loving God, a family, and a home to go back to in eternal bliss is the message I want Christians and Pagans to understand about me.
When I saw such beauty and perfection in God, all the petty differences, the mistrust, the anger people have with one another over faith helped me realize that God is the one I need to turn to, because He is family, He is the father that never deserted me and loves me unconditionally despite the problems I have in my life!
No one is perfect here and we all have problems in our life that is part of the cost of being a human being, but the good news is that we don't have to face our problems alone, because there is a wonderful God that loves us and will be with us through our triumphs and tragedies, our happiness and sorrows too! Jehovah Jireh and Emanuel is a dear term to me that means God will provide and God will always be with us.
I'm sorry I write so much lol, but religion is such a passionate subject of mine, I love God, I love people and I have faith in both! If a person is in my life I am truly blessed and grateful for their company and I'm not worried in what they believe in. All I know is that when a person is in my life, I have an opportunity to show them how much I love them and how much more God loves them as well! That's been my mission in life, my calling, my passion!
Because I have Wicca, Shamanism, and Christian Backgrounds I wanted to create a site where people of all Faiths can come in, feel safe, and not afraid to ask questions about life, their concerns and what to expect from people of other Faiths as well. I try to be as neutral as I can whenever a person needs counseling in religious matters, but just hope people understand that I am Christian despite all the other things I am involved in. I also want people to feel at ease to ask any questions they have and not to feel like it is silly. I once had an Iranian man ask if I could turn him into a goat and I humbly said no. I think what he was really asking me was some type of proof that I have some type of supernatural powers as a witch and if I did, surely I could turn him into a goat. I don't have supernatural powers but I do have supernatural gifts that was given to me from God above, but I hope you see the strange question this man had was not silly, it was a genuine concern he had about witches claim of supernatural powers we work with. By the way my specialties are healings, and spiritual awakenings, and not changing people into animals ;)
I understand that people have the right to make up their own rules about religion and what they believe is right and wrong. I also understand how some people believe that obedience and following rules might be more important than relationship with God and for that I can't condemn them for their beliefs. It's just sad that people would cut themselves off from the rest of the world because of their beliefs. I just want people to know that in this room you are safe, you are part of the family and although we may have very differing opinions and may not agree with each other that will not negate the fact that we are family here and I love you dearly!
Thanks for your friendship and familyship Mary, it really means a lot to me and before I go I wanted to let you know how much I loved your examples of Supernatural occurrences that was documented in the bible. Most of my life is Spiritual than Physical so my life is very paranormal indeed lol. What I loved about Nebuchadnezzar story in the bible is that the furnace was 7 times hotter than usual because of Nebuchadnezzar rage and yet they were protected by God's son in Daniel 3:19 "Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual" Nebuchadnezzar wanted to make an example out of these men, but God protected them and Nebuchadnezzar realized the greatness of God! It's a beautiful story how God is with us, how powerful He is, and how mighty Kings can be humbled and changed by God's intervention.