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 Think on these things! Jun 06, 2008
Free Indeed is a thought-provoking book. Whether you agree with all of the author's opinions or not, his points will make you step back and take a look at the current state of the organized churches. Generations of Christians have slowly closed our eyes and ears and been lulled into a false sense of security with the system, similar to communist countries and too similar to what we are allowing to happen in our own country's government now, but that's a different book.
Mr Smith shows through research and documentation how far away from Jesus' plan the church has gone. If we read Jesus' words, we find how simple His plan is and we can give ourselves permission to follow His teaching which is far from what we hear in the opinions being offered from pulpits on Sunday mornings.
I actually had a hard time grasping all that is in this book my first time reading it; there's so much there. I rarely read a book more than once, but was anxious to read this one again with my Bible beside me to look up the scripture references. The second time through, I got even more out of it! This is a book to read, study, digest, share, discuss, and act upon as God leads you. But, this is not a book to ignore or have preconceived notions about. I highly recommend that everyone give this book a read, a chance, and some thought.
Thank you, Mr. Smith, for putting in print what so many of us have thought for years but were afraid to voice.
 A Heartfelt Effort Jun 05, 2008
This book truly makes you think. Shean Smith helped put words to feelings I was having regarding "churchianity" and the never-ending activities, events and time commitments associated with active church participation. While I did not necessarily agree with every suggestion, this was a profoundly honest commentary on the institution of church today that is worth your consideration. If you are struggling with church-overload and want to get back to the basics of real, personal relationship with Christ, this book will help you understand how to do that.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Free Indeed?: Are Christians Free Indeed or Enslaved by Religion? Feb 29, 2008
An excellent description of how not to let the organized church get in the way of one's commitment to Christ. The organization demands, Christ satisfies. For anyone who thinks that his/her church organization is applying guilt and making demands of any kind read this book.
Too often the church becomes consumed with itself. Although the book advocates no need for a church home, I don't know if I would go that far. However, it does make a compelling point, in theory, that the organized and controlled church is not the end to which Jesus pointed. One can be a committed Christian without organized church membership or affiliation.
4 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Excellent book!!! Feb 12, 2008
Free indeed is an incredible book that explores the subject of "status quo churchianity" and compares it with what the Bible actually refers to as the Church (i.e. the body of Christ). Many Christians today are raised with a certain deffinition of "church" that actually exists nowhere in Scripture but is purely the product of tradition.
The previous reviewer who called Shean's book "ridiculous" must have skipped over half the book because Shean is very clear regarding how he defines the Church that Scripture refers to compared with the "church" that religion regards... and Shean is right on! His examination is wholly biblical and the distinctions he makes are significant. Even most traditional church-attending Christians would agree that there are religious groups who identify their organizations as "churches" but which clearly do not represent God's design for what Christ called His Church. Shean presents the same challenge to those Christians to examine the very thing they have regarded as "church" for so many years to see whether it aligns with biblical truth and the nature of Christ. This is not a book that seeks to tear apart the body of Christ or devalue corporate worship or the benefit of gathering together among true believers in Christ. In fact, just the opposite is true; Shean is simply drawing a line between one concept of church, which is a product of organized religion, made entirely by man, and the true concept of Church that is defined in Scripture as the body of Christ (a spiritual house of living stones - not buildings and programs based on institutional mindsets).
Jesus Himself directed followers away from the status quo mindset of worshipping God at a physical place (complete with static rituals and religious performance) with something entirely different and, in all actuality, quite different from what most people had always known. One such example is the story of the woman at the well that Jesus interviewed. Her concept of worship also involved a specific place and a certain kind of ritual performance; but Jesus corrected this outdated view of worship by directing all the attention to a new and living Way (the Message version paraphrases this passage well):
John 4:20-21 - (the woman to Jesus) "Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?" (Jesus replies) "Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem."
John 4:23-26 - "But the time is coming--it has, in fact, come--when what you're called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter. It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself--Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration." The woman said, "I don't know about that. I do know that the Messiah is coming. When he arrives, we'll get the whole story." "I am he," said Jesus. "You don't have to wait any longer or look any further."
Strangely, so many people are still "looking further" and replacing "spirit and truth" with religion and subservience of man-made doctrines and traditions, even elevating them to the position of "commandments/requirements/expectations of God". Instead of following simply what Jesus taught, they have created pages of man made rules and considered them to be God's rules. It reminds me of what Jesus said to the religious leaders of His day:
Mark 7:6-9 - He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!"
Shean's book is written with grace, sincerity and conviction. In it he shares his personal path to revelation and encourages readers to examine Scripture for themselves and to be led wholly by their relationship with Christ, not by merely paying subservience to long-held religious traditions. Remember, "he whom the Son sets free is free indeed," (John 8:36) and as believers in Christ, we should not allow ourselves to be enslaved by anything - especially religious traditions of men.
The reviewer who criticized Shean's book and concluded by saying, "If you see the Church as in 'institution' then you've never known Christ," needs to take a second look at Shean's book because this is exactly the point Shean is making. The only way someone could confuse that message is if they still regard the church as an institution themselves, in which case their conclusion is self condemning.
I've had the privilege of talking with Shean on the phone and through e-mail several times since reading this excellent book and can tell you that this bro is 100% genuine and truly impacted by God's truth and love. Those who are criticizing the book have either not read it or are largely critical by virtue of ignorance. I encourage you not to be swayed merely by a few critical reviewers. Read it yourself, lay your own heart before the Lord (allowing Him to speak to you Himself), and then make up your own mind based on honest investigation rather than other people's religious reactions and offenses. I believe Jesus meant it when He said that if you ask your Father for bread He won't give you a stone... In other words, if your heart is after truth, you will find it!
1 John 2:26-27 - I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit--just as it has taught you, remain in him.
John 16:13 - (Jesus said) "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come."
I wholly recommend Shean's awesome book and encourage you to check it out! I firmly believe that most of those whose hearts are hungry for truth and purely in love with Jesus will not be offended by the content, but will find themselves identifying with what they already suspected in their hearts, because the Holy Spirit has been speaking to them already.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Religious Spirit in the church today Feb 10, 2008
I agree...there is a very lethal religious spirit in the Church, and we need to pray for repentance and healing so that God can set us free to live in the Power of the Spirit and not be enslaved to religion.
Jesus said "Follow Me!" not "Follow a religion"...
great timing for this book.
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