Religions

I have pondered the affect that some Religions have on our youth. I use the term religion loosely, because to me it generally entails rules, laws, the "churches" way! None of which are the Lord's. Many of the large religious denominations are Mormon, Catholic and even the Amish. The focus of these large churches is the church, and not the people of the church or the community, and most importantly not about Jesus Christ and His saving grace, Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: I am seeing more of our youth turning away from a church they cannot believe in, not from a God that loves them, I believe the young even know the difference. The Amish have a period of time from 16-18 years old ( the rite of passage known as rumspringa) this is a time these teens are allowed to experiment with most anything on the outside world, such as drinking, drugs,and parties, this particular time is so dangerous to the souls of these kids. I was truly horrified to know a religious group that claims such strict rules of their religion would support and allow such a thing to take place. After this time period the decision is to be made whether joining the church is something these teens wish to do. If a decision is made to join the church yet later for whatever reason the youth's leave the community, they are ex communicated by the family and friends, believing their soul is lost for leaving the Amish Church. There is only one way to heaven friends, John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Jesus Christ defeated death the day He was crucified, and also by that defeated the law, He spanned the gap between man and God, so that we all through Christ, would be justified by faith not works or law. We only need believe in Jesus Christ and repent of our sins to enter into heaven where the Lord has prepared a place for all His children. 1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of a man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.