"Pope" you're not serious?

People never cease to amaze me. God made humans smarter than the animals but apparently many of us fail to take advantage of all our brain cells. Recently there has been alot of media attention surrounding the "pope". In all of my 44 years I have never once read in the bible where I , you or anyone else for that mater, needs a pope! Most catholics I know want to live life the way they want anyway so why would they embrace a religion with so many rules, regulations and man-made nonsense. Once again, wasted brain cells. Jesus on the other hand offers freedom where "religion" offers regulations and restrictions made by man. Look for yourselves...contrary to what your "priest" tells you, you can own a bible and read it and apply it to life. You don't need a priest or pope to access God. God himself is just a prayer away from right where you are. Use the brain God gave you, it's not rocket science, it's common sense!

Thats the facts Jack!

Unfortunatley it appears that a great number of "belivers??" still believe that the " hymns" came down the mountian with Moses and the ten commandments. Well guess what, they didn't! From my experience, the congregations that have grown  the most are the ones that have finally layed aside the meaningless man-made "traditions" that are merely  superficial and  that have nothing relevant to do with salvation. To believe that a "church" must contain pews, stained-glass windows, a piano, hymnals and be topped off with a steeple is simply not biblical at all.We have become very near-sighted and have accepted beliefs that were just passed-down or we simply are just taking someone elses word to be Gospel instead of opening the word to see for ourselves. I tend to believe that the singing in Heaven will be very energetic. I don't think God would allow Heaven to be filled with music such as would be heard in a funeral parlor. In fact, if we were to actually open our Bibles we would find what Psalms 33 says:

Psalm 33
 1 Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
2 Praise the Lord with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.

Notice here several characteristics. 1. Emphasis on the word Joy : Some folks sing as if they just lost their best friend, don't we have something to be happy about? If not, then I suggest checking your spiritual pulse! 2. Instruments : Yes, and they are not limited to the piano and organ! 3. New song : Yes, you read it right a NEW song..not the same songs that were sang hundreds of years ago! 4. Shout for joy : Here again is the emphasis on being loud and joyful. Why is it that we can freely express our excitement in the football stands but have much less zeal in expressing excitement over God loving us so much that He sacrificed Jesus in order that we can spend eternity with Him in Heaven?? There are those of us who have layed aside meaningless customs and have embraced God, and I mean every day of the week, not just on  Sundays. If you seek God you will find Him. If you find Him you can't help but to sing Him a new song out of the overflowing joy of your heart....and when you do, you can't help but to use a familiar language and style that represents how you feel...not how someone else felt a hundred years ago.

And by the way...

Psalm 150

¹ Praise the Lord.^[a]

Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
² Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
³ Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
⁴ praise him with timbrel and dancing,
praise him with the strings and pipe,
⁵ praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.

⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.