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	<title>Comments on: The Spiritual Desert</title>
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	<link>http://theschoolofchrist.org/listen/the-spiritual-desert.html</link>
	<description>Christ-Centered Teaching for Christ-Centered Living</description>
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		<title>By: Janet Hagen</title>
		<link>http://theschoolofchrist.org/listen/the-spiritual-desert.html/comment-page-1#comment-3015</link>
		<dc:creator>Janet Hagen</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Mar 2012 13:25:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.theschoolofchrist.org/socwp/wordpress/?p=617#comment-3015</guid>
		<description>My husband and I left the religious &quot;matrix&quot; in disgust after 24 yrs. of faithful &quot;good Christian holier than thou&quot; attendance. We are now &quot;unplugged&quot; &amp; misunderstood &amp; apparently &quot;backslidden&quot; &amp; pitied by many old church friends but closer to the Lord than we&#039;ve ever been. The downside is that we were angry..very very angry for a while. There seem to be stages of appropriate &amp; unappropriate grief you go through in the initial &quot;unplugging&quot; process.
  We started a home fellowship with 4 others which has grown to roughly 16 people. Surprise.. (at the 1 yr. mark) this too is not the answer. I was definitly filling the void with fellowship to feel &quot;ok&quot; &amp; &quot;accepted&quot; about not being in &quot;church&quot;. I felt &quot;hurt&quot; if someone decided to not come to our 2nd meeting of the week. I felt &quot;frustrated&quot; that some do not seem to value what we&#039;re trying to &quot;do&quot; &amp; they would rather skip off to the beach that day. WAKE UP CALL: My affections for this lovely group of people has been misplaced.  It took a year for me to understand this. One of your articles concerning this set me free!! That religious spirit came with me. Its happy to go with me wherever I want to go..as long as I dont call it out and slay the stinking thing. 
  Im obviously in the desert (praise God?)  I am DESPERATE for the Lord and DESPERATE for His truth and only HIS truth!. Im sick of reading about other peoples experiences with Him. I want my own experinece with Him, my own story.
   It feels MARVELOUS to not be robotically tithing to the system. Im sick about the large sums of $ we gave into worthless religious programs &amp; pastoral &quot;vision&quot;, buildings, etc....we could have been giving to the poor right in our town. Now Im a rebellious &quot;teen&quot; of sorts to the religious system saying &quot;You can&#039;t tell me what to do...only the Lord Jesus can tell me what to do&quot;  It feels wonderful, a bit uncertain and shaky at times. All the obvious familiar religious props have been removed.  I liked the props for a very long time. The Master carpenter is tearing down to build up. The season is now.                     
  After reading the e book &quot;Getting Babylon Out of you&quot;, I was thrilled to see that the Holy Spirit has shown me privately to take so many of the steps you&#039;ve suggested.  I wake up every night at odd hours and hear myself say &quot;Lord, PLEASE speak to me..I NEED you!!&quot;  I have cried a lot over the last yr. Many tears were a complete waste of time and energy from churchianity religious spirit withdrawl. It truly is a wicked drug. Im trying to find the balance and not discourage my young adult son who love the Lord, attends a &quot;church&quot; but does not understand what in the world is going on with us. Our 2nd son who is a prodigal is even curious as to what is going on.  What a crazy wonderful journey we&#039;re on.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My husband and I left the religious &#8220;matrix&#8221; in disgust after 24 yrs. of faithful &#8220;good Christian holier than thou&#8221; attendance. We are now &#8220;unplugged&#8221; &amp; misunderstood &amp; apparently &#8220;backslidden&#8221; &amp; pitied by many old church friends but closer to the Lord than we&#8217;ve ever been. The downside is that we were angry..very very angry for a while. There seem to be stages of appropriate &amp; unappropriate grief you go through in the initial &#8220;unplugging&#8221; process.<br />
  We started a home fellowship with 4 others which has grown to roughly 16 people. Surprise.. (at the 1 yr. mark) this too is not the answer. I was definitly filling the void with fellowship to feel &#8220;ok&#8221; &amp; &#8220;accepted&#8221; about not being in &#8220;church&#8221;. I felt &#8220;hurt&#8221; if someone decided to not come to our 2nd meeting of the week. I felt &#8220;frustrated&#8221; that some do not seem to value what we&#8217;re trying to &#8220;do&#8221; &amp; they would rather skip off to the beach that day. WAKE UP CALL: My affections for this lovely group of people has been misplaced.  It took a year for me to understand this. One of your articles concerning this set me free!! That religious spirit came with me. Its happy to go with me wherever I want to go..as long as I dont call it out and slay the stinking thing.<br />
  Im obviously in the desert (praise God?)  I am DESPERATE for the Lord and DESPERATE for His truth and only HIS truth!. Im sick of reading about other peoples experiences with Him. I want my own experinece with Him, my own story.<br />
   It feels MARVELOUS to not be robotically tithing to the system. Im sick about the large sums of $ we gave into worthless religious programs &amp; pastoral &#8220;vision&#8221;, buildings, etc&#8230;.we could have been giving to the poor right in our town. Now Im a rebellious &#8220;teen&#8221; of sorts to the religious system saying &#8220;You can&#8217;t tell me what to do&#8230;only the Lord Jesus can tell me what to do&#8221;  It feels wonderful, a bit uncertain and shaky at times. All the obvious familiar religious props have been removed.  I liked the props for a very long time. The Master carpenter is tearing down to build up. The season is now.<br />
  After reading the e book &#8220;Getting Babylon Out of you&#8221;, I was thrilled to see that the Holy Spirit has shown me privately to take so many of the steps you&#8217;ve suggested.  I wake up every night at odd hours and hear myself say &#8220;Lord, PLEASE speak to me..I NEED you!!&#8221;  I have cried a lot over the last yr. Many tears were a complete waste of time and energy from churchianity religious spirit withdrawl. It truly is a wicked drug. Im trying to find the balance and not discourage my young adult son who love the Lord, attends a &#8220;church&#8221; but does not understand what in the world is going on with us. Our 2nd son who is a prodigal is even curious as to what is going on.  What a crazy wonderful journey we&#8217;re on.</p>
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		<title>By: Paul Fultz</title>
		<link>http://theschoolofchrist.org/listen/the-spiritual-desert.html/comment-page-1#comment-3002</link>
		<dc:creator>Paul Fultz</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 26 Feb 2012 04:43:29 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description>My close friend sent me to your site, I have left the church for just that reason! thank you for your writings.... I am still sharing the Love of Jesus with others, To a relation ship with Him not a relgion!!</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My close friend sent me to your site, I have left the church for just that reason! thank you for your writings&#8230;. I am still sharing the Love of Jesus with others, To a relation ship with Him not a relgion!!</p>
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		<title>By: Ali McCoy</title>
		<link>http://theschoolofchrist.org/listen/the-spiritual-desert.html/comment-page-1#comment-2638</link>
		<dc:creator>Ali McCoy</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:46:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.theschoolofchrist.org/socwp/wordpress/?p=617#comment-2638</guid>
		<description>Hi Steph, We are evidently being taught by God to come to Him only.
Unfortunately we don&#039;t see many others go through this learning alone.
When others won&#039;t do, we are drawn to Him as our ONLY.
You aren&#039;t without God now--you are being taught to walk by faith and not by sight or feelings.
HE promised He will NEVER LEAVE YOU OR FORSAKE YOU!!!!
We FEEL FORSAKEN but we CAN&quot;T BE!!!! HE PROMISED!!!
I see your message was in 2010---how are you now?</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hi Steph, We are evidently being taught by God to come to Him only.<br />
Unfortunately we don&#8217;t see many others go through this learning alone.<br />
When others won&#8217;t do, we are drawn to Him as our ONLY.<br />
You aren&#8217;t without God now&#8211;you are being taught to walk by faith and not by sight or feelings.<br />
HE promised He will NEVER LEAVE YOU OR FORSAKE YOU!!!!<br />
We FEEL FORSAKEN but we CAN&#8221;T BE!!!! HE PROMISED!!!<br />
I see your message was in 2010&#8212;how are you now?</p>
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		<title>By: Regina</title>
		<link>http://theschoolofchrist.org/listen/the-spiritual-desert.html/comment-page-1#comment-1697</link>
		<dc:creator>Regina</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 02 Jan 2011 10:13:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.theschoolofchrist.org/socwp/wordpress/?p=617#comment-1697</guid>
		<description>Yep... It&#039;s been over seven years!  Everything you say I have experienced - except anger.  I am truly grateful that I am alive and I don&#039;t believe - because I KNOW - that God loves me and everything He said is true.  But 7 years in the desert is a long time - though it took me 5 years to just sit back and enjoy the ride.  I have become familiar with this non-feeling, and I am not unhappy - just...... you know.... blah.
But Jesus still rocks.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Yep&#8230; It&#8217;s been over seven years!  Everything you say I have experienced &#8211; except anger.  I am truly grateful that I am alive and I don&#8217;t believe &#8211; because I KNOW &#8211; that God loves me and everything He said is true.  But 7 years in the desert is a long time &#8211; though it took me 5 years to just sit back and enjoy the ride.  I have become familiar with this non-feeling, and I am not unhappy &#8211; just&#8230;&#8230; you know&#8230;. blah.<br />
But Jesus still rocks.</p>
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		<title>By: Sharon</title>
		<link>http://theschoolofchrist.org/listen/the-spiritual-desert.html/comment-page-1#comment-1599</link>
		<dc:creator>Sharon</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Oct 2010 11:47:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.theschoolofchrist.org/socwp/wordpress/?p=617#comment-1599</guid>
		<description>Amen !

Thank you for the words ! Praise be to HIM !</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Amen !</p>
<p>Thank you for the words ! Praise be to HIM !</p>
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		<title>By: Steph F</title>
		<link>http://theschoolofchrist.org/listen/the-spiritual-desert.html/comment-page-1#comment-1183</link>
		<dc:creator>Steph F</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 19 Jun 2010 12:11:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.theschoolofchrist.org/socwp/wordpress/?p=617#comment-1183</guid>
		<description>thank you for writing this article, it describes exactly how I feel and have experienced and I cannot find away out of my spiritual desert and that is upsetting me. I MISS GOD, MY SPIRITUAL TRUE HEAVENLY FATHER!!!</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>thank you for writing this article, it describes exactly how I feel and have experienced and I cannot find away out of my spiritual desert and that is upsetting me. I MISS GOD, MY SPIRITUAL TRUE HEAVENLY FATHER!!!</p>
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		<title>By: DARLENE</title>
		<link>http://theschoolofchrist.org/listen/the-spiritual-desert.html/comment-page-1#comment-801</link>
		<dc:creator>DARLENE</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 12 Feb 2010 23:30:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.theschoolofchrist.org/socwp/wordpress/?p=617#comment-801</guid>
		<description>THE REASON I AM READING THIS IS BECAUSE, TODAY THE LORD SPOKE AND TOLD ME &quot;I WILL MAKE A WAY IN THE WILDERNESS.&quot;  BEAUTIFUL WORDS, DO YOU AGREE. I ENJOY READING WHAT YOU HAVE WROTE. HOW TRUE THIS IS. I KNOW THAT GOD MADE ME A PROMISE, AND I HOLD TO THAT PROMISE EVERYDAY. WHEN HE SPOKE THIS WORDS TO ME I FELT A LOAD OFF MY SHOULDERS. NOT THAT I DID NOT BELEIVE GOD OR TRUST HIM. I DO! I DID&#039;T KNOW WHEN HE WAS GOING TO MOVE. SO I HAVE WAITED AND PRAYED FOR A LONG TIME. AND AM STILL STANDING BECAUSE OF JESUS CHRIST. THANK YOU FOR THIS STRONG AND TRUE MESSAGE. MAY GOD BLESS YOU!</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>THE REASON I AM READING THIS IS BECAUSE, TODAY THE LORD SPOKE AND TOLD ME &#8220;I WILL MAKE A WAY IN THE WILDERNESS.&#8221;  BEAUTIFUL WORDS, DO YOU AGREE. I ENJOY READING WHAT YOU HAVE WROTE. HOW TRUE THIS IS. I KNOW THAT GOD MADE ME A PROMISE, AND I HOLD TO THAT PROMISE EVERYDAY. WHEN HE SPOKE THIS WORDS TO ME I FELT A LOAD OFF MY SHOULDERS. NOT THAT I DID NOT BELEIVE GOD OR TRUST HIM. I DO! I DID&#8217;T KNOW WHEN HE WAS GOING TO MOVE. SO I HAVE WAITED AND PRAYED FOR A LONG TIME. AND AM STILL STANDING BECAUSE OF JESUS CHRIST. THANK YOU FOR THIS STRONG AND TRUE MESSAGE. MAY GOD BLESS YOU!</p>
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		<title>By: Phylis Brown</title>
		<link>http://theschoolofchrist.org/listen/the-spiritual-desert.html/comment-page-1#comment-597</link>
		<dc:creator>Phylis Brown</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 09 Jan 2010 13:50:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.theschoolofchrist.org/socwp/wordpress/?p=617#comment-597</guid>
		<description>Thank you for  your  writings
This  has set  me on a  spiritual journey
with the courage  regarding  Spiritual BABYLON</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thank you for  your  writings<br />
This  has set  me on a  spiritual journey<br />
with the courage  regarding  Spiritual BABYLON</p>
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