***UPDATED BELOW***

The other day I was talking with someone about church and I asked him if they went anywhere. His response was, “Yes, wherever we decide on Sunday morning.” They had been to most of the churches in town and have not yet found a church home. I told them where I went but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. As it turns out, they had been there. He told me the building was really nice and the service was fine -and this is where I could feel the “but” coming on- so I said “but” and he finished, “it felt like a show. When I left I felt like I needed to go over to the Catholic Church so I could pray and be with God.” Wow…. Just sit and mull on that for a few minutes. What might be sadder is that I don’t disagree with him and yet I am still there. (Not really for me-it is for my kids, right or wrong, I don’t know). I didn’t get a chance to tell him about the church I attend on Sunday night.

It is small and honestly it is a bunch of broken, messed up people that have decided to be honest about where they are. There are not many secrets here. Honestly, most of us didn’t even want to do this and start getting together. I look at it now and realize that God stepped in and decided that it was time and that we were ready even though we were telling ourselves (and some continue to tell themselves) that we are not ready. Thing is HE sees the fire inside you. It is the one you/I have been trying to put out so God can write you off. The problem: He sees the fire is just about getting to the point where you are going to lose control of it and HE sees it and has been waiting. Waiting, because HE knows you cannot put it out, once that fire has been lit…. It will NEVER go out…..EVER. It does not matter how hard you try (and God knows how hard I have tried), you cannot put it out. You can knock it down for a time, even get it down to hot coals and no flame, but all GOD has got to do….. is breath on it.

***UPDATE***
Any good blog post, I think, should generate some discussion. This one may have provoked the wrong discussion. While I can’t speak to what this other guy thought was a “show”, I know what I meant, and it is not about any one person, my church or even about any one church. The majority of churches in America would get my vote as showy. “The show” for me is anything that is a distraction for me from what I am supposed to focused on.
The point of that paragraph was to segue into what I feel is my “church home” and what God is doing there.
I am sorry if you were hurt by my comments, I certainly could have fleshed them out better so my meaning was more clear the first time.