What the church needs: Unity

Have you ever thought about the last prayer Jesus prayed before His crucifixion? He prayed for us. John 17 has the prayer, and towards the end of His prayer He prayed this:

20 "I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21 I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one-as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

  I doubt Jesus had in mind what we have today. Hundreds of different denominations, splits, splinters.... the reason we have so many different denominations and "non-denominational" churches, is people can't agree, and some want power. It is amazing how we all came from the New Testament church, and that we have one Bible; and yet no one agrees.

One church believes in tongues, and another believes it is languages

One church believes once you are saved you will go to Heaven no matter what, another church believes you can walk away from God and miss Heaven

One church is against women preachers, another is fine with them.

One church uses a hymnal, another uses choruses projected on a screen.

  Churches have split over doctrine, music styles, what instruments to use in the church, and even the color of carpet.

  We are far from being one as Jesus prayed we would be. Christians tend to focus too much on what we disagree on instead of focusing on what we agree on.

  I shall give a great example of this: several months back, a man from a Facebook group I am in added me as a friend on Facebook. He was extremely Calvinistic, posting insulting things about people who are not Calvinist - like me. I am friends with a lot of Calvinists and have never had anyone be so rude and in your face about it. It got so bad, that I deleted him.

  Fast forward a few months to the Hope for Wholeness Conference I attended in June. Who should show up partway through the conference, but Dan. I was cordial, but tried to avoid being engaged in conversation. We were having our sharing time for men on the porch of one of the buildings, and he left halfway through while acting rather oddly.

  I discovered later,  by something he said in our Facebook group, that he had had a problem with something my friend Mathew had said while leading our group. Matthew believes in speaking  in tongues, and though he never pushes it and rarely mentions it, he had referenced it in relating a story. Mr. "You're going to hell if you aren't a Calvinist" couldn't handle it.

  Matthew and I have texted several times, talked on the phone, talked in person, I ate with him at the conference. I have had a lot of contact with this man and have total respect and confidence in him....but I totally disagree with what  he and his church believe and practice about speaking in tongues. Not once in any of our talking or texting did he bring tongues up. Not once did we argue about it or discuss it. We talked about our common struggle and our spiritual progress.

  To further illustrate my point, let me tell you about Ed and Kay. Ed is a volunteer in the Emergency room where I work as a greeter for half of my day. He is a great Christian guy in his late 60's who comes in two times a day. He attends a Church of God down the road. There is a lot of down time in the mornings between patients coming in, so we talk. We talk about church, prayer, the Bible, and other church and Christian related things.... and not once have we argued or debated. Sure, there are times we see things a different way, but we talk about what we have in common: the need for improvement in our prayer lives, why churches are getting smaller, and more. I have been encouraged and helped by our conversations. Do we agree on everything theologically and doctrinally ? No. Our churches are a lot different and our beliefs, but we have great conversation about what we agree on.

  And there is Kay. She is a Methodist lady around the same age as Ed. She works the main desk 2-3 days a week where I am stationed in the afternoons. Again, she and I have some great conversations about Christian and church related things. And she and I also would not agree on everything, nor would our churches.

   If we all focused on what we agree on, I have to wonder if there would be so many different denominations, splits, and splinters. Would there be so many new churches springing up if we found what was common and made that our focal point?

Whenever we agree together
The Holy Spirit starts to move
Whenever we agree together
His mighty power He will prove
If His children love each other
Till their hearts become as one
And two or three agree together
He has promised He will be there
And the work will be done (Gaither)


  And could it be some Christians and churches make their differences their focus? Going back to Dan and Matthew. Dan talks all the time about his Calvinist beliefs and why people like me are wrong (according to him). Matthew rarely even mentions speaking in tongues. If a church is known for one particular belief, something is wrong.....whether it be tongues, dress, music, prosperity, Calvinism or Arminianism, or any other of the multitude of issues we differ on. No matter what our beliefs, God should be the main focus, not the things that we believe differently.

  In Heaven, there will be no denominations. There will be no cliques or schisms. We will all be one big happy family, only having Jesus in common.

  There is a blog post I recently did on community. In it, I talked about going to the Hope for Wholeness conferences with other men and women dealing with same-sex attraction. There are a lot of different denominations and beliefs represented. There are Calvinists, Arminians, charismatics, Catholics, and even people who use flags in worship. But you know what? We were gathered there for a common purpose, and there was unity. (Well other than the one man who took issue in the sharing time). I sat and talked with men whose beliefs would differ greatly from mine, and we have fellowship. I received hugs from Catholics, charismatics, and men and women from other denominations. Would we see eye to eye on everything if we had started discussing everything we believe? No.

  But we weren't there to discuss what we differed on. We were there to worship God and receive some help and encouragement on how to serve God while dealing with the issue we all struggle with.

  Imagine if we could do that in our churches....encourage our brothers and sisters and have fellowship and worship together as we focus on what we have in common, instead of looking for what we disagree on. Then imagine taking that outside of our individual churches and denominations and banding together as THE Church of Jesus Christ and showing the world God's love and our love as we become unified in the things we believe in common.

  Radical idea? Maybe, but it was Jesus' idea.

Long Walk Home

Verse 1
One man's trying to build a wall, one's trying to tear it down
One man hears a battle cry, the other hears a peaceful song
Some say once always saved, some say you fall from grace
But if we don't learn to love each other, listen when I say

Chorus:
It's gonna be a long, long walk home
Walking in our differences
It's gonna be a long, long walk home
If we don't walk in the love Jesus gives
If we spend all our time trying to be right
And fighting over who's been wrong
It's gonna be a long walk home

Verse 2
A local congregation singing “Just As I Am”
I hear the preacher saying “some day we''ll walk hand-in-hand”
I can't help but wonder why we don't do that now
If we don't lay aside our pride and learn to reach out

Chorus:
It's gonna be a long, long walk home
Walking in our differences
It's gonna be a long, long walk home
If we don't walk in the love Jesus gives
If we spend all our time trying to be right
And fighting over who's been wrong
It's gonna be a long walk home

What the church needs: Community, part 2

**I already posted on this subject, but it is something I feel passionate about. Due to a Facebook chat with a friend, I felt more on my heart to say. This nor the other post is a commentary on my own church. I do believe my church lacks true community and has many areas we could improve in, but so does every church across our globe.

 In the book The Blessing, John Trent and Gary Smalley relate a story that the church needs to hear. A Christian woman had an unsaved husband who spent a lot of his time at bars. He became a Christian and started attending church regularly, but quit going and went back to the bars. The reason: he missed the fellowship and camaraderie he found at the bars.

  There will be no place for excuses when we stand before God. No one will be able to say "but the church ignored me, so I gave up", and have God give them a free pass. We are responsible for our own relationship or lack of relationship with God. There is nothing that happens to us in this life that is reason for us to not be a Christian.

  That said, it doesn't mean we are free from blame when people do leave the church or give up if we haven't done anything to encourage and help.

  I have gotten to the place where I am determined to be a Christian even if the whole church ignores me and thinks I am off base. At this point, I am sort of on the other side of the issue of feeling deserted at church......it just isn't that big of a deal to me anymore. However, I can still see where the church is dropping the ball though and I can see need for improvement.

   It is tough being single in a couple''s world. Even in the church, there is the expectation that you'll marry and have kids. If you are single, the church doesn't seem to know what to do with you. I know from personal experience what it is like. It didn't help that I was hurting, didn't think anyone truly liked me, was afraid people would find out the secret I had, and that I felt nothing like the guys I attend church with.....or any other "normal" guy for that matter.

  There are a couple of Facebook groups I am in run by ministries for people who deal with same-sex attractions. People share, ask for prayer, and offer support to each other. One of the guys in that group, I'll call him John, messaged me yesterday.He wanted to know how I got to the place I am at, and how long it took, etc. I tried to answer the best I could, and then he said a couple of things which has resulted in this blog post:

"One of my biggest battles is loneliness.....everywhere I go and do...alone"

"After 20 years, I at times question if God really loves me or even cares...I really have this inate desire to be married, but to eat out alone is excruciating"

  Here you have a man who I would say is a little older than me. He is unmarried, not because he wants to be; but because he is attracted to the wrong gender. He is serving God faithfully, going to church.....and is lonely with no one to hang out with.

  I've been there. I used to dread going out to eat alone. I'd stand back after church wishing someone would talk to me. I'd go shopping and wish I had someone to go with me. I have gotten through that, and actually enjoy eating out alone - though I weary of the "just one?" question. Shopping alone is fun and cathartic, and I am even going on a 2-trip a week from Monday all by myself that I am looking forward to it. Sure, I wish I had more chances to eat out with someone, shop with a friend, or just hang out.... but I have become more comfortable in being just me and being with just me.

  I am reading a fantastic book right now, and the author hit on something worth sharing here. He is a Christian guy about my age who has dealt with the issue of same-sex attraction. Over the years, he has befriended many men who have lived the gay lifestyle and became Christians, men who never lived it but struggle with SSA, and men who left the church to go into the gay lifestyle. He has had many men tell him that they tried to serve God, but after a while everyone their age got married and they graduated from the class or group they were in, and had no one. Many of these men went into, or back to the gay lifestyle to get companionship, love, and to not be alone.

  There have been other unmarried - and I am sure some married people - over the years who left a church because they were lonely, felt overlooked, had no one to befriend them. Some change churches, but others leave the church, possibly never to return.

  Again, I want to stress that we each have a personal responsibility to our own souls, and cannot give excuses to God at the judgment that others didn't help us enough.

But these stories bring up a few things to consider:

1) Are we responsible for or to our Christian brothers and sisters in any way?

2) If someone is attending our church and feels lonely and disconnected, are we doing church right?

3) If someone leaves the church and goes into sin or just never goes elsewhere, are we guilty of neglect and not loving enough?

4) Are we too busy?

5) Are we too caught up in foreign missions and the world outside the church doors, that we are neglecting those inside our church doors?

6) What does the family of God truly look like and involve?

7) Has the church so uplifted and emphasized marriage too much?

8) What is community, and do we have it?

9) What could we as Christians and as a church do to insure no one falls through the cracks.....whether they be married, unmarried, divorced, gay, clean, dirty.......

10) Do we have community?

11) Do you think unmarried people felt alone and disconnected in the New Testament church?

12) Should Christians have to go to Facebook groups or other online sites for help, encouragement, and community?

  A young man walked into a Christian bookstore one day and wandered around for a while. He was contemplating suicide and was hoping someone would approach him and talk to him. No one did, so he went home and wrote a suicide note and took his life. How many people have done that who could have been stopped if a Christian in their life and/or church had taken the time to care?

  The world is full of lonely and hurting people.... and they aren't all out there. Many of them are sitting in the church pew at your church and mine. Some of them may be about to switch churches, stop going to church completely, and some may be considering giving up and getting their needs for companionship met in unhealthy and sinful ways.

  There is only one thing we can take to Heaven with us: people. We get so caught up in work, paying bills, entertainment, and other necessary and unnecessary things that we don't have time for what matters - people. Church should be so much more than a place we go a couple of times a week, sing, hear a message, and go home.

  But that is what it is all too often. I feel disconnected from my church. If you're in the youth group, you have youth activities outside of the church. If you're a woman, you have the secret sisters/sisters of encouragement thing, If you are a man.......and if you are a single man....... there's nothing. You see your fellow church members at church only.

  For the most part. I do occasionally see people during the week, and once in a great while eat with someone.

 But we need more. We can't keep neglecting those in our pews who need us.

Thank God for those who do reach out. Thank God for online social media who can hook up people with others who can help and encourage them.

 But what about offline? Are we doing enough? Do we care enough?


  There's a song that was popular several years ago called "Who will be Jesus to them?" May we be Jesus to the hurting and lonely among us, and may they never have to leave the church to find what they need.


He came home from work last night, 
To find that she is gone, 
Now He's spending his first Sunday 
Sitting in the pew alone, 

There are whispers all around him, 
His heart breaks in two, 
He's wondering who will reach out 
And help him make it through, 

Who will be Jesus to him?
Who'll show the love that restores him again?
Oh he does not need a judge, he needs a friend.
Who will be Jesus to him?

She has a reputation like 
The woman at the well, 
The only love she ever knew was
The kind she buys and sells, 

But her thirsty heart is searching 
For a love that will be true, 
The Savior cries for her to 
See Himself in me and you, 

Who Will be Jesus to her?, 
Who'll show the love that's 
Commanded in His word?, 
Will she see in us the mighty God we serve?, 
Who will Be Jesus to her?

Wounded People everywhere, 
And when they look at us, 
Do they see Jesus there?
Who Will be Jesus to Them?, 
Who'll show the love that 

Restores Them again?, 
Oh, They do not need a judge, 
They need a friend, 
Who will Be Jesus to Them?

What the church needs: Reverance

   It isn't unusual to hear people talk about the "good old" days of church. They tell of how God came, altars were lined, people got right with God, churches were set on fire (spiritually) and the whole town knew something was going on at the church.

  Have you ever wondered what changed? Why we don't have that today? The contributing factors are many and different people would come up with a list that wouldn't be the same as my list or your list. I wonder if one of those contributing factors is that we have lost reverence for God's house.

  God isn't some stiff figure who hates fun and laughter, but I have found myself wondering if we approach going to church with the right attitudes, mind set, and demeanor. We all need fellowship, but is it reverent to be going nosily into church, laughing and not even thinking about why we are there?

  My church has the most advanced age class in the main sanctuary. After the Sunday School time is over, people start gathering back in the main sanctuary. We always sing a chorus, sometimes take an offering, and occasionally there is an announcement or something else in the few minutes between the Sunday School time and worship service. Not everyone comes in immediately. The vestibule is full of people waiting for the brief goings on between the services before they come in and find a seat..... and they are noisy, very noisy. It sounds like there is a party going on out in the vestibule..... even with the doors closed.

  It happens in the evenings also as one service is ending and another about to start. It happens before any service starts. Sometimes there is a lot of talking and noise in the sanctuary while waiting for a service to start. I am not guiltless, but there have been times I have sat there and found myself wondering at how loud everyone is when we are about to start a worship service.

 If we are coming into God's house to worship Him, shouldn't we be coming into His house and presence with more reverence?

  And it isn't just limited to how quiet or noisy we are, if we are joking and laughing or not. It should be an attitude of the heart. We should have already prepared our hearts before we got to church, and be ready to worship Him; not carry on and have fun before we enter the worship service.

 Would it be extreme or radical of me to say that if we have to close the doors between the vestibule and sanctuary to block out the noise in the vestibule, then people are being entirely too noisy and irreverent in God's house?

  Would it be even more radical to say that if the people sitting in the pews are being loud and carrying on before the service, they are lacking reverence in God's house?

  And most radical question of all: Could it be the reason God doesn't come on our services as often as He used to and in the ways that He used to, is because we have ceased to be reverent in His house when we are gathering to worship Him and invite Him into our midst?

What the church needs: Revival

  ** By posting this series of blog posts, I am in no way thinking I have the answers, nor am I exempt from making the church what it should be. I am just weary of the status quo and want things to be different and better.

    I am a bit cynical, and have also suffered some ill effects from overzealous preachers over the years, so my views on this subject may be a bit unlike most Christians in the church.

   Revival. It brings to my mind longer than normal services lasting most of the week, long-winded preachers thumping on their Bibles and shaking their fingers at the congregation, long altar calls with scary stories and several verses of Just As I Am and other invitational hymns, and the need to go to every service so the rest of the church doesn't think you're not a good Christian.

  And then there was the "coue de grace": The closing service. That is when the preacher pulled out all of the stops. got his scariest stories out, pulled out the invitational of all invitational hymns - Almost Persuaded - and held off on that last verse until the time when he could use it to scare the devil out of the crowd. As I said, I am cynical.

    I really don't have a lot of good memories associated with revival meetings. As an adult, I don't go to very many. I am obviously not the model church member.

It is often a preacher I'd rather not hear.

I go to bed early and rarely go anywhere once I get home from work

I have had too many revival preachers preach my confidence away and make me wonder if I am really a Christian.

I wouldn't go to the altar even if I did genuinely feel  the need to - I'd pray at home.

I am not convinced we are doing revival right

I am not going to be in bondage to what others think of me and go to avoid being judged

  Revival is not something you can schedule. It isn't something you  have in the spring and fall and expect God to show up at the scheduled time and revive the congregation. I am not against a church holding special meetings, but I am not sure we should call them revival meetings and expect revival to happen in the allotted time.

  Think about it: a church schedules an evangelist for a revival meeting. As the time approaches, the church is encouraged to pray for it, and there may even be a special time of prayer held for it. Then the week finally arrives. We have scheduled our revival and now expect God to show up and revive us as the preacher in general tries to make people feel guilty enough to go to the altar. (Man, that is beyond cynical.)

  Looking back over the years and thinking of the dozens of revival meetings I have been in, I can't remember ever feeling I personally had experienced revival. And I don't remember feeling any time that the church had truly been revived. Oh, some people may have been saved, and others may have received some help; but it was back to business as usual afterwards. Once the evangelist packed up his suitcases and his car pulled out of the church parking lot, everything and everyone was mostly like before revival services. If there is true revival there should be a lasting and marked difference. It used to happen years ago in big enough ways to make the history books and change churches, towns, and even nations.

  I may be off  the mark..... no pun intended.... but I believe we need personal revival before our churches and our country can ever experience true revival. We are too self-centered, too shallow, we really don't like the idea of surrender, denying ourselves, and carrying a cross. We are too busy, too addicted to comfort and entertainment. God is just part of our life, not all of our life. We approach God and revival as we do going to the drive through at McDonald's. We want it fast, and we want to pick off the menu what we want to have revival. Maybe down deep we like the idea of a church scheduled revival so we don't have to work at our own revival as much.

  I think revival takes more than six days. It isn't an instantaneous event, but a gradual thing that there is no time limit on. It is total surrender, asking God to search the heart and reveal what needs to be changed. It isn't getting sinners to repentance and backsliders reclaimed, though that is cause for rejoicing. The definition of revival is:

- an improvement in the condition or strength of something

- an instance of something becoming popular, active, or important again


 And revive is defined as:

- restore to life or consciousness

- regain life, consciousness, or strength.

- give new strength or energy to

   Do those definitions really fit what happens during our scheduled revival meetings?

  This could be totally wrong, but I wonder if we stayed prayed up, stayed committed, daily asking God to do the things we ask when we are praying for revival; then revival may come more often and stay longer....with no special speaker or meetings.

   I have been praying for God to take charge of my life and make me into the man and Christian I should be, to help me not be shallow or self-centered, to stop worrying what people think of me and do what He wants. I haven't specifically prayed for personal revival, but I can see growth, change, a move towards what God wants of me,  and a move away from thinking I know best.

  Maybe that is why we don't experience true revival and wind up with just a 6 day night of preaching. Perhaps we need to make revival more personal, and not wait for a series of services to get revived. Maybe we need to focus on revival 365 days a year, not just two times a year.  If every Christian in even one church truly got down to business with God and got revived at home, it would change the church and possibly the whole town. It used to happen, and can happen again.

What the church needs: Community

**Disclaimer: This is the most personal blog post I have shared on here to date. You may find out more about me than you wanted to know. You have been warned.....

If you have ever gone on any kind of Christian retreat or stayed at a Christian camp, I believe that is a bit what community looks like....... though more than that. When I think about church community, I envision Christians being more involved with each other, really caring about each other, taking care of each other, and being around each other outside of the church walls.

   I go to church Sunday morning and Sunday evening. I usually speak to a few people and carry on some conversation, usually with the same people. (We do tend to have our cliques.) I don't go to church on Wednesday evenings for reasons I won't share here, so most of the 52 weeks of the year, I only see my fellow church attendees on Sundays. There is no deep conversation, no sharing, no personal time.

  I have a problem with that. We need fellowship, not just a few brief conversations in passing while at church for worship services. As a single guy, I may feel that void more than married people, and have less chances of filling that void; though I am sure married people may feel the same way.

  The last two summers, I was able to experience a time of real community. Hope for Wholeness is a ministry/network for men and women dealing with unwanted same-sex attractions. (If you haven't caught on by now that I am in that group of people, you haven't been paying attention.) HFW is a smaller ministry that is trying to fill the void left when Exodus International closed down, which was far from small.

They have a 4- day conference in North Carolina in June, and I was fortunate enough to go to it the last two years. What an amazing time.

  Imagine you have a secret you want no one to know about. You hide it for years, afraid people will find out and condemn and ostracize you. Now imagine being at a conference center surrounded by people who have the same secret/struggle, or are family members of someone who has it. It is amazing and freeing.

  I found the times of worship helpful and encouraging, the speakers, and the workshops; they all were worth going and it was profitable to my soul and Christian walk to be part of that. I don't want to minimize those blessings and what they did for me. Those things are not the most memorable parts of the conference for me though.

  If you have never had a major struggle such as mine, then you cannot imagine sitting down at a table of 8-9 other guys who have the same struggle. You can't imagine what it is like to be able to freely discuss your struggles and your story, to hear their struggles and story, and have no fear of being condemned, judged,  or ostracized. To look around at the tables full of people just like you: messed up people, broken people, imperfect people, people with no masks.

  Every afternoon before supper, there were different groups you could go to. The one group was for men only and met on the large porch of one of the conference buildings. There were usually at least 30 or so guys sitting in a circle. My friend Matthew, director of Big Fish Ministry in Florida, was in charge, and he would keep things going, ask guys by name to share if there was a lag and no one volunteered...something I found out the first evening; having made the mistake of sitting by Matthew, Men openly shared their struggles, their past. Some had lived the gay lifestyle, some were married and cheated on their spouse with another man. One man had started the transgender process and then became a Christian,

  There were times we'd gather around and pray for a man after he brokenly confessed how discouraged and how he was hurting. Hugs were freely given and words of encouragement. This was community like I had never experienced. This was sharing, caring, and loving on a level I had never had among Christian brothers.

  I've stood by while people joked about gay people. I've heard the hateful comments, even from Christians. I had a friend lean up to me in church after a speaker mentioned the issue and tell me that "they should just hang all those homos." I sat in a Sunday school class on that subject while a couple of men spoke up about "those perverts" and how they'd never let them around their kids, how they'd rather have a murderer around their kids.

   I've sat in the pew for years needing love and encouragement, deathly afraid people would find out my secret. I was lonely, scared, hurting, confused, and working overtime to appear "normal" to everyone. I'd hear people's prayer requests and knew I could never stand up and request prayer for THAT. I stopped going to the altar because too many preachers said you had to pray out loud, don't hang over the altar like a sack of feed, don't pray into your arm... pray out loud..... I knew what would happen if I did that, so I'd pray at home where no one could hear me.

  But at this conference, I was none of that. Masks were left off campus. New friends were made, friends who could relate to what I deal with, friends who weren't afraid they'd catch something. I had no fears of praying about my struggles and someone hearing. I didn't want to leave. I didn't want to go back to wearing a mask, having superficial conversations with Christian brothers and sisters who I only see at church on Sundays.

  I want more. I need more. I got a taste of true community that I never had at any church or campground. People had time for each other, people were honest and open and caring with no need for masks....... though mine has pretty much been ripped off out of weariness of wearing it. Thanks to Facebook, I can keep up with a lot of the men and women I met there, and by way of a Facebook group can share, ask for prayer, and pray for them.

  We can't all live together in a setting like we did at these conferences; but we can be more than we are. We can be better than we are. We need to be more than ships passing in the church vestibule on Sundays. We need to care more about our Christian brothers, pray more for them, listen - really listen - to them, interact and be with them more than Sundays.

  From what the New Testament says of the early church, I believe I am safe to say we are far from what they were like. They had community. They were known by their love for each other. They had all things in common. The early church was built on people saved from homosexuality, adultery, idolatry.... a lot of people saved from the not-so-nice sins. I doubt there were masks. I imagine it was the norm to meet and openly talk about one's issues and struggles. It was normal to know each others' pasts.  They saw each other more often than just Sundays. Church and God were such a big part of their life, that everything else took second place.

  We are too busy, too self-centered. With all of our modern technology and devices to save us time, we have no time to truly care about and be involved in each other's lives. The early church had souls saved daily and grew at an astonishing rate of speed. Maybe that is why: community and a true family of God.

    My church needs that, and it isn't the only one. I don't know what the answer is, but I can hope and pray that we can change.

What the church needs: Introduction

  I love to write. This blog gives me a place to do so, and I am often amazed at how wordy I can be. I wish I had been so creative with rambling when I was writing college papers years ago. I remember many word and page counts, and trying to add more content to stretch it to the required length.

  I wish I was better at writing. It has been too long since I took grammar, punctuation, and all that, and I often find myself wondering if the occasion calls for a comma, a semicolon, a dash, or when in doubt......... several dots.

  There have been some things on my mind in regards to the church, that if I let loose and put it in one blog post, might be longer than the Gospel of Mark in the Bible. So I am going to do something I don't do often, or at least I am going to try to do it: a series of blog posts revolving around things I'd like to change about my church, about all churches, and other things along that line.

  And I am hopefully not doing it alone. I have a couple of people who volunteered to write a post when I mentioned this, one I asked, and another  I just told to do it (my best friend). Depending on when my friends do these, they will be spread out over the next few weeks.

  I like my church. I don't always want to go, and I know that is almost heretical for a Christian to say he doesn't always want to go to church; but if you're shocked by anything I say at this point...... then you don't know me, nor have you read many of my blog posts.

  There exist some taboos in life. There are just some things you don't say, at least not without people disapproving. It is one thing to say you love your church, but another to say you would like to see some improvements in some areas.... and then name those areas. Or admit you don't always want to go to church. The squeaky wheel doesn't always get oiled, it often gets ignored..... or prayed for that you'll see things the way everyone else does.

  I'm an oddity. I know that, but I am becoming more and more comfortable in my own skin. I just wish it had happened years ago. I am politically incorrect, and even religiously incorrect... if that makes sense.

  Pleasing God has become much more important to me than pleasing people, or worrying what they think of me. I know I am way too outspoken for my own good, and talk openly at times about things people wish I'd shut up about..... but this is me. For years, I let people bully me, walk on me, tell me what I had to do, believe, what I had to be, how to act, etc. I was pretty quiet about pretty much everything, and didn't voice opinions much.

  Only in recent years have I got on track with serving God. Oh, I tried for years to do it, but sadly to mainly avoid hell. I knew nothing of this God who so desperately loves me that it doesn't matter what I do..... He won't stop. I have finally experienced this side of God versus the vindictive God I tried to serve for way too many years of my life.

  As I have come to know this God and slowly leave behind my misconceptions about God, church, being a Christian, and all things to do with serving God; I have come to feel something is missing in my church life. Oh, I have blogged before about things I'd like to change in my church; but I am just seeing things a bit differently now.

  I believe it is tacky and spiteful to criticize a church after you have left it. There was a man who caused a lot of trouble at our church and for our whole denomination, and after he left he kept up a constant diatribe against us on social networks and even had a website dedicated to criticizing our church. And others have done the same thing after leaving a church.

  But it is unhealthy and dangerous to have an atmosphere and attitude in the church that no one can question or suggest changes.

  So enter he who likes to stir up trouble. That would be me :)

  It is probably a good thing I am not a voting member of my church. As I understand it, at the end of the year a committee puts together suggested people for church offices; usually the same ones who had those offices the year before. You are allowed to nominate someone else for the position in the business meeting where these names are brought up, but no one ever does...... they are afraid to offend the person who the committee suggested, and/or the person who has held that position for 50 years......

  Now if I was a voting member, and they suggested Bob Offkey stay in as song leader, and asked for other nominations, I would have the nerve to suggest John Makes A Melody be song leader, for he would do a better job. And then there would be a vote. (I do love our main song leader, except when he has us sing with no music). But that isn't the way you do things at church... you just accept the nominations and don't make any suggestions. You might ruffle someone's Blessed Assurance.

  You see, people who have differing views or ideas from the powers that be tend to be looked at as troublemakers....

  But what if these troublemakers have valid points? What if some of their ideas would be good for the church?

    I have suggested things over the years, but none of my suggestions have been taken. Granted, some of my suggestions have been far out and not serious.... but I have had a few serious and decent ones. I have joked that if someone else made the same suggestions, they would be used...... but I was kidding...... I think. I am sure it isn't personal. I did have one a year or so ago that my pastor agreed was a good idea...... though he had a slightly shocked look on his face - and said he'd have to check into it. It never did happen, so maybe it wasn't as easy to do as I thought it might be. (Sending the church bulletin out by email to interested people.)

  Sometimes the problem is that "we have never done it that way before".

  As I have been progressing on my walk with God, I have started to wish even more that church was different, that church did some things better, did some things they don't do. And not just my church, but church in general........though mine is going to be on my mind as I blog since I attend there.

   And if you have some thoughts you'd like to share on what the church needs, feel free to share them.... or even write a blog post.

  God bless.