I remember being eight years old and sitting next to my mother in our little Nazarene Church in Arizona while the singers took the stage. Although we were a small church, I’m convinced that we had some of the greatest talent in the world inside of that congregation. I remember a quartet of women who sang together several times a month in that church; they had the most magnificent voices I’ve ever heard. I can recall playing with my mother’s wedding band on her finger while listening to these women sing their hearts out, watching their animated expressions and movements. They were bigger than life. They even made my mother cry. In fact, my dad would get sad when they sang (which I couldn’t figure out since I thought they sang wonderfully).

What caught my attention and has stuck with me for years was not the fact that they sang so well, but the animated expression of joy and happiness on their faces when they did it. It was as if they had this joy that was “over the top” and at times they looked like their heads were going to explode. As a child, it was a little scary to me and I secretly wondered if God didn’t give them more joy than the human body was meant to contain. I remember thinking to myself, “I bet their mouths are gonna hurt the next morning!” They were happier than any human I’d ever seen in my life – like they had been abducted by aliens and their souls were replaced by circus clowns. I remember asking my mother why they were like that and she just muttered something about “joy un-speaking” and a piece of something that passes around no understanding. She was right about that! I didn’t understand what had happened to these women and I wasn’t sure what to think of them, but they sure were fun to watch and listen to!

Those women’s happy faces would come to mind at the oddest times in my life as I grew up. One time in my twenties, while in the middle of a drug overdose and barely clinging to my sanity, thousands of bizarre pictures and deafening sounds raced through my head as I dug my fingernails into the sides of my mattress. Those women from the church and their “larger-than-life happy expressions” were one of them. Another time, I was living in Los Angeles and I was in a motorcycle accident. My head hit the pavement (I was not wearing a helmet) and I was lying in the middle of an intersection bleeding to death, when I saw their faces again. Sometimes I would just be driving down the road and for no reason at all, I’d think of them again. They became a permanent picture of Christianity in my mind. I associated this picture with God, Jesus, spirituality, church, the Bible and anything else connected to that.

I think that because of the legends and stories we’ve all grown up with that describe the blissful Christian experience, we start acting out what we imagine these things would look like on our faces if we really had them in our hearts. The women in my childhood church were doing exactly that. They were on stage, acting out their interpretation of joy, freedom and peace with their facial expressions and body movements. The act goes so overboard that it leaves everyone in the audience wondering if they even know God at all. They become the beautiful sexy models who advertise Jesus to the potential consumer. After all, if there are any unsaved people in the audience, we want to make sure Jesus looks His best. Essentially, what these church ladies were saying is, “Look what he did to me! Surely you can’t turn down a Jesus who could make you this happy, could you?”

I spent the first fifteen years of my Christian life beating myself up because I just knew I didn’t have the freedom I was supposed to have. I felt as normal and human as I did before I became a Believer. Sure, I felt better in the long run because I knew I wasn’t going to that Hell they kept talking about, but I never experienced the freedom that these women in my church were advertising when I was eight years old. In other words, I don’t think my friends were ever worried that my head might explode from super natural ecstasy. I looked and felt the same as I did before I became a Christian; if anything, I felt worse in many ways. So, what gives?

Before I became a Christian, I struggled terribly with depression. I was what a psychologist would call, “Bi-polar”. I had extreme highs and extreme lows. The highs were great, but the lows were earth shaking. Then I met Jesus and asked Him into my heart. I went to Bible college and became a pastor; I started writing books and speaking all over the world. All the while though, there was a part of me that was feeling like a fake because I STILL struggled with depression just as much as I did before I became a Christian. The only thing worse than being depressed without Jesus is being depressed after you’ve met Him. Now what’s my excuse? What am I not getting? Is it because I still struggle with this or that sin? Do I not have the faith I should be having? Is He mad at me? Am I not reading my Bible enough or praying enough? What am I not getting about this religion? Where is this wonderful freedom I was promised?

About five years ago I started a journey to find this freedom. I had determined in my mind that one way or another, I was going to hunt it down and claim it. The first question I had to ask myself was this: “Freedom from what?”

From childhood I’ve heard thousands of testimonies on the church stage talking about the incredible freedom that Christ gives, and not once have I heard anyone say “from what”. It has to be more than just a “free feeling” doesn’t it? What are we being freed from? The Apostle Paul spoke over and over about how we have to “guard this freedom we have in Christ”. It was a consistent warning in almost all of his letters. He constantly worried that someone would come along and steal away the freedom that the early Christians had.

I remember hearing from one preacher that the freedom the Bible talks about is “freedom from sin”. Hearing that just about killed me because I still sinned and I knew it; and I’m pretty sure he did to. If he was right, he was basically saying that no one in the world has that freedom because we all sin. I remember hoping with all my might that he was wrong.

Another man came to our church and told us that the freedom Christ paid for is freedom from things like depression, sickness, loneliness, sadness and all those other things we hate going through. I hoped he was wrong too, because that sounded more to me like, “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”.

I do know this; I don’t think I’ve seen very many Christians who have any freedom, much less the freedom that Christ brings. They all seem to be in a great deal of bondage if you ask me. If you don’t believe me, go to any Christian chat forum on the internet and read their conversations. The bickering and fighting is worse than a group of kindergarteners who haven’t had a nap. It’s embarrassing. I assure you, there is anything BUT freedom there.

It wasn’t until about three years ago that I finally realized what it was Christ had freed everyone from. I couldn’t believe that it took me that long to discover it. In recognizing it, I was also saddened by the fact that our present day understanding of Christianity pretty much disqualifies us from ever experiencing Christ’s freedom. The teachings and philosophies that modern day Christians hold to, make the freedom of Christ of no value at all. In fact, I am becoming more and more convinced that people in general don’t want that freedom.

The question is this: Will you give yourself permission to possess it?

Believe it or not, the freedom that Christ paid for on the cross is FREEDOM FROM RELIGION.

If you think I’m wrong, I encourage you to go back and read all of Paul’s letters. It is without a doubt, freedom from religion. If you understand how much of these people’s lives were dominated by religious practices, laws, rituals, and traditions, it makes perfect sense. Everything they did from day to day was controlled by religion. The people in Jesus’ day were under six-hundred and thirteen different laws. Every facet of their lives was dictated by the religion of their people. Make no mistake about it; it was a full time job keeping up with everything that was expected of them.

Sadly, this freedom is almost never acquired by anyone due to the fact that most institutional churches won’t allow it. If you were to truly walk in the freedom that was purchased for you on the cross; your church would go bankrupt. Their survival depends on you not getting that freedom and remaining in bondage to them. Ironically the very same institution that promotes a “relationship with Jesus Christ” also, “makes Christ of no value” because of their reliance on their laws and rules. The moment anyone becomes a “sin monitor” in your life, they are taking away your freedom.

Freedom from religion and law is so significant that I believe life doesn’t even begin until this one principal is swallowed into your spirit. It’s not just freedom from having to practice endless rituals and follow dead traditions; it’s much more than that. The most beautiful thing of all is that it’s freedom to be human. This one point is almost never accepted by Christians today.

Our entire religion is based on “fixing people”. That has even become our tag line to the world. It’s how we identify ourselves and our God. It’s like “bait and switch” advertising. We tell people that God loves them for who they are. We remind them that while they were still sinners, Jesus died for them. The lights are lowered, the band plays softly, the choir sings, “Just as I Am” and the invitation to accept Jesus is given. It’s all a very emotional experience. People begin to flood the altars with open hearts and tear filled eyes. People are rejoicing, as chains are broken and freedom sets in.

As a Pastor, I sat on the stage during the service and I was given a unique bird’s eye view of the whole experience. I remember thinking to myself as I watched the people come forward, “You just wait. He may want you today – just as you are – but from this moment on; you will never be allowed to be ‘just as you are’ another day.” I honestly felt like the “Just as I am” line was just that – a line. It was a way to con people into thinking God really loved them. Everything about modern day Christianity is about changing people and convincing them that the way they are isn’t good enough. From the moment they receive the Lord into their hearts, they go on a life long journey of changing every single thing about themselves. They are basically never allowed to be content with who they are for the rest of their lives. This is precisely why the true freedom that Christ paid for is almost never realized by modern day Christians. Our entire religion teaches the exact opposite of that.

This is why so many millions of Christians in America are loaded down with condemnation, guilt and spiritual insecurity. It reminds me of what Jesus said about the “church” of His day: “I’ve had it with you! You’re hopeless, you religious scholars, you Pharisees! Frauds! Your lives are roadblocks to God’s kingdom. You refuse to enter, and won’t let anyone else in either.” (Matthew 23:13)

I believe that most Christians are raised on a “diet of death” from the moment they are born. The very tree that killed Adam and Eve is now being used to kill an entirely new generation of people. God told Adam and Eve that they could eat from any tree in the garden, but they must not eat from “The tree of the knowledge of good and evil”. The modern day parallel to that tree is “LAW”. Think about it. What is the law? It’s the knowledge of good and evil. When Pastors across our country stand in front of their congregations with a list of rules and regulations, they are literally picking fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and hand feeding it to their people. And we wonder why our religion keeps dying out on us. We wonder why we need to pray for revival every hundred years. Christ has restored us to the “garden relationship” that was lost by Adam and Eve, and what do we do? We run right back to the same tree and eat of it again! The American church is the “Eve” of our time. They eat the deadly fruit and they bring it to everyone else and convince them to eat of it too.

The freedom that we Christians were given is literally freedom from the power of the tree. From the days of Adam and Eve, mankind has been in bondage to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It has been our master. Christ’s death and resurrection freed us from that bondage. The moment He was hung on a tree and crucified, the power of the tree was killed.

More than anything, it’s important for you to know that you are now free to be human. You can take yourself out of “fix” mode and enjoy life. If you really absorb the very essence of this wonderful gift, it can change you in ways you would never imagine. Yes, many people will look at it as a license to sin. They did that in the New Testament times as well. The important thing is that you can give yourself a break. If you do sin, you can just blow it off and keep going. You’re covered forever! You don’t have to hide anymore. It doesn’t matter that you’re not perfect. It’s ok. Forget about your sin and just spend time enjoying life and loving people.

I have a friend who was raised with me in the church and when he hit about thirty years old, he decided to become an atheist. He later told me that the freedom that came over him, the moment he made the decision to give it all up, was so beautiful and powerful that he vowed to himself that he would never again believe in God. I explained to him that the freedom he felt that day was the same freedom that Christ won for him. He was finally free from all the impossible rules and regulations he had grown up with. He was free from the constant bondage of guilt and condemnation that weighed him down from day to day. It all left him the day he gave up his religion. Unfortunately he associated God with religion and thought he had to give God up as well. When he found out that his religion had nothing to do with God, he was free to believe again.

Most atheists I know are exactly the same. They’re not rejecting God. They are rejecting the foul picture of God that their religion has painted for them. The moment they leave that religion and declare that they are an atheist, they actually encounter the real freedom that God wants for all of us. It’s freedom from the bondage of living under the law. It’s freedom to just be who you are with no apologies. Freedom to accept yourself and be content from day to day without feeling like you need to change this or that.

I want to make myself perfectly clear to the reader who would be inclined to believe that this is about “leaving the institution of Church”. The freedom that you have in Christ allows you to either leave or stay in your church. For many people, leaving their church is a bad idea. They have close relationships there. They honestly receive good teaching from a pastor who sincerely cares. Why leave that? Being a “Free Believer” is NOT about abandoning the institution of Church. It’s about not relying on the institution and replacing God with the institution. A “Free Believer” can look into their heart and decide to go to church because they WANT TO, not because they’re obligated or they fear getting in trouble if they don’t. The Freedom of Christ is NOT “anti-church”, it’s anti-bondage.

When I was 18 years old I bought a brand new Toyota truck. It was the first car I ever owned. Because I had no credit, my payments were astronomical. My entire life surrounded that stupid truck. Because of those high payments, I was in bondage for about seven years. I literally worked night and day just to keep my head above water financially. I’d drive to work, and I’d work to drive. I was in bondage to that truck for many years. Then one day my father stepped in and paid the whole thing off in one day. I guess he saw my struggle and had mercy on me. It was interesting how my entire relationship with my truck changed the day I no longer had to serve it. Now my truck served me! My life was no longer about being a slave to the truck. Now the truck was there for my purposes. You can be sure I used that thing to it’s fullest extent. In fact, it had over three-hundred-thousand miles on it by the time I sold it.

Freedom from religion is exactly the same. You are now no longer in bondage to the institution of Church. Your Father paid it off and now the institution serves YOU.

I am convinced that 99% of life is about confidence. Until you are committed to believing you’re ok; confidence will be impossible. If there are a thousand things about you that you feel need to be changed, you won’t even begin life until you either change those things or let them go. Christ’s freedom allows you to let them go and move on.