Church Hunting Woes

It was a like a mini Pathway reunion this morning. I took my boys to worship and listen to our friend from our old church preach at Grace Bible Church of Phoenix today. I got the pleasure of hugging my pastor and friends I haven't seen in a month from Pathway. Miss them. A lot.

I've never been in the position I am right now- looking for a church.  I always sort of knew which church I belonged to by the name on the door.  At least that's been my experience for most of my life.  As a child it was the Church of Christ with my parents.  As a newly married adult I started attending a Calvary Chapel (big change from Church of Christ) and continued with Calvary Chapels until a few years ago.

The teaching gift I was blessed to learn under at Pathway is unmatched anywhere I've been.  And I kinda feel like I probably won't find another Pastor Craig anywhere.  And that's O.K. I guess.  I'm just kinda bummed about it.  I learned so much and unlearned a lot of fluff.

I've attended one baptist church and today's church since I began looking for a church a month ago.  The baptist church, after last Sunday, is out for me.  I can't do fluff.  I need Bible.  Not tid-bits, sugar coated with bells and whistles so that you are so distracted by the bells and whistles and sugar coating you can't really taste the, "pure milk of the word" anymore.

I enjoyed the teaching today very much!  But he's not the pastor there so we'll have to go back again and see.

Also, I have a problem with singing patriotic songs in church.  I don't know that I can do a good job of explaining why.

The whole religious-right-America-is-a-Christian-nation-and-we're-taking-her-back thing bothers me.  America is very blessed by God, but I don't believe her blessing is in correlation to her Christian-ness.  The kingdom of God is from every nation and tribe throughout the world.  No one country enjoys exclusivity with God. When I lament the state of our nation it's not because I think Barrak Obama is taking away what once was a godly nation and turning it into a godless one.  I lament because sin pervades and wrong is called right and right is called wrong and sooner or later it's going to have it's deadly effects on our nation.  I love America but I don't approve of her in many ways.  I love her, I want what's best for her and I grieve that she chooses a path that's destructive to our society.  But this has no bearing on my worship of God corporately.  Whether America is governed by  Judeo-Christian values or is an enemy of Judeo-Christian values, when I gather to sing praises to God and hear the preaching of God's word with other believers I want to do just that.  I don't want to mix in anything that looks or sounds like Christianity is American or America is Christianity.

O.K.  that's my church hunting woes for the week.

This world is not my home.  

I'm just a passing through.  

My treasures are laid up.  

Somewhere beyond the blue.  

The angels beckon me from heaven's open door.  

And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.

Quieted,

Sheila