Today at The Gathering we covered part 2 of our series, “7 Lies of Organized Religion.” I talked on the subject, “The worse you feel, the godlier you are,” the shocking truth about God that religion wants to hide from you.

It’s really sad that people of faith feel so miserable, depressed, disconnected, and oftentimes disappointed with God. Why is this? The truth is, religion teaches us that God is huge, unapproachable, and that He wants us to struggle and live in guilt. Nothing can be further from the truth.

Here is the central truth. Tell me what you think about God, and I can predict for you the kind of life you’re going to have. So today we talked about the 10 erroneous views of God and exposed why each one of them leads us to a life of guilt and shame.

In contrast to these 10 lies about who God really is, we talked about a story Jesus told that we call “The Prodigal Son.” It tells us two things. One, that God’s most favorite name and position is “Father,” and two, that The Father’s love for His children is inexhaustible and oftentimes unexplainable. The fact that God loves us, that He cares about us is “off the charts” good news; not the kind of good news that religion often tells.

The shortest verse in the Bible is also the most overwhelming, “Jesus wept.” Think about it. The God of the Universe, God’s Son, the One Who is full divinity and full humanity, The One Who suffered and died, wept. The One around Whom all of heaven revolves, The One Who can lead legions of angels wept. Why? He wept over us. He wept over you.

What an amazing thought to think, that when God is thinking He is thinking about you; loving thoughts, generous thoughts, good thoughts, thoughts of grace, thoughts of faith, thoughts that tell us we have a plan and a future, thoughts that tell us we’re free; always to come home, always to repent, always to receive the loving grace of our Heavenly Father.

You won’t find that in religion.

What a great day at The Gathering to see all the exciting people and what God is doing. The stories are amazing!