Oh I left the church long ago, but I never left God.  Even as a child I questioned the teachings of man in the church.  I couldn't reconcile the biblical explanation of the beginning of life with the scientists explanation of the big boom theory so I decided for myself to believe the word of God.  I in fact challenged my elementary school teacher with the question of how she went to church on Sunday and then came to the classroom and taught us to believe we exist as the result of a big boom. I prayed a lot about the bible when I studied it because so many things didn't make sense and I saw gaps in the stories.  The message I got back from God was that it had been tampered with by man and I had to pray for truth to reveal itself as I studied.  Now I can easily discern the truth from the mis-interpretations and sometimes reinterpretations perpetrated by kings, the Roman Catholic Church and theologians.    I learned not to accept the notion that a preacher, pastor, priest or other 'holy' person was an intermediary between God and myself.  We each have direct and individual relationships with God and Christ.  I learned to reject the categorization of man determined rules for living as 'sins' and studied the guidance Jesus gave for living a life that's pleasing to God.  It's not complicated at all.  God gave us free will to choose how we wish to live but in order to reach a spiritual elevation to return to his side we are guided to follow two rules for living which all the 10 commandments spring from and those two are 1)Love God with all of your heart, soul and mind and 2)Love your neighbor as you love yourself. You can see how everything else flows from those two: 1) Bow before no other God before me, 2)Worship no idols or graven images, 3)Thous shall not steal 4) Thou shall not kill  5)Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's goods, 6)Thou shall not bear false witness, 7)Thou shall not take the Lord's name in vain, 8)Honor your mother and your father 9)Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy 10)Thou shall not commit adultery