| Author | Message | ||
| Aliza Registered user Username: Aliza Post Number: 93 Registered: 8-2006 |
First of all, thanks so much to Lydell for pointing out the problem that all of us have no doubt had about getting over the "true church mentality." That was so ingrained in us within Adventism. Several of you are absolutely right that I'm not going to be able to find a church with one visit. But often you can eliminate a church with one visit. What I've been trying to do is to attend a Sunday service and later attend some type of other service. Even then I know it may take weeks to really feel it's the right place. Plus, I'm one that tends to contact the pastor about what are beliefs or traditions of that particular church because it can differ so much. For instance, my daughter and SIL landed out of Adventism into an Evangelical Free Church after a period in a tiny country church. Their EFCA was preaching through Romans, as I remember, and it was so useful for someone who had been SDA. So when I was hunting for a church in my last area I decided to try the EFCA and it looked really hopeful. They even had a great sermon on giving while I was there. Rick and Raven would have greatly appreciated it! But when I wrote the pastor with my four basic questions I was quite disappointed. Let's face it, I sit between cessationists and Pentecostals. When the EFCA pastor told me none of the miraculous gifts were for today, that was a line I wasn't willing to cross. In my e-mail I had told him where my kids attended and he wrote back hinting that not all EFCA are the same and was very cautionary. Their church is not cessationist and must be a bit too off the wall for some of the others in the denomination. I agree 100% with Stan that Calvary Chapels can be an excellent first step (or permanent step) out of Adventism. Certainly I must not be the only one who remembers all the texts that just looked so different on the other side of Adventism. And the sovereignty of God is definitely so much different outside of Adventism. But I'm not sure I would agree I have to be in a Reformed tradition in order to find someone with that level of understanding the Gospel. Some may have noticed a distinct absence of Baptist churches on my list. As I said, I can't bring myself to accept a church who doesn't allow God to be God. It wasn't many months ago that the SBC was angry with missionaries who had a prayer language and no one was even aware of it. Now, that's just going too far. But I do appreciate the Baptists I've known who've been good students of the word. I guess maybe I'm what people would call a Bapticostal! This is getting too long so I'll continue to explain why in the next message. Aliza | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 3058 Registered: 3-2004  |
Yes, Aliza, there are 3 chaplains. One is the Baptist, there is a Presbyterian and one from the Church of the Nazarene. We had the Baptist yesterday. Diana | ||
| Susans Registered user Username: Susans Post Number: 163 Registered: 8-2006 |
Aliza, Calvary Chapel was the first church I attended with any regularity after leaving Adventism. I had visited several churches in the area, and like you and others have stated, sometimes one visit was enough. I was at Calvary Chapel for 2 years and learned so much! When I moved back home from Wa state, the first church I attended was a Calvary Chapel. I went for a few weeks, and even attended a women's retreat. But, I didn't have the same experience, and so I ended up at a very large contemporary Baptist Church for worship and small groups. Moving again, this time as a married woman, the first church we agreed to attend was a Calvary Chapel. One visit for me was enough to know this was not where we needed to be. I try not to pay too much attention to denominational names or preconceived notions. As I've said earlier in some thread, I want to have my spirit agree with the Holy Spirit that this is where God wants me at this time in my journey. I want pure gospel preaching, and know there are certain doctrines that I cannot agree to. As Stan, I've been blessed as well in our current PCA church. You are certainly on an exciting journey, and I know God has a place just for you! Blessings, Susan | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 4981 Registered: 12-2003  |
You're right, Susan. The church label does not tell the storyóthe actual preaching and church life does. Our EFCA does have a pastor who teaches verse-by-verse through books of the Bible, and he holds a very high view of Scripture, God's sovereign grace, and our responsibility to submit our lives to the word of God. We also have amazing Bible study (not books but Bible study) in women's Bible study. But I know we are unusually blessed; not all EFCA's are the same, as you mentioned, Aliza. God really does have a church in mind for each one of us. It's far too easy to resist attending and looking because we feel we must have a church with "perfect" doctrines. I've had calls from people who said they could "never" worship at this or that church because they don't believe in any number of teachings: the rapture, eternal hell, the dead go to be with God, etc. My answer remains the same: the peripherals are not the mountain to die on. If a church holds Jesus and the cross at the center of all teaching, if the sermons are from the Bible, if the pastoral staff honor the Lord Jesus and structure the church life to reflect Him and to promote the true gospel of Jesusóthese other beliefs can vary among the members. It is very important for all of us as "formers" to humble ourselves and submit to learning the Bible from people who have not been Adventists [assuming, of course, that they are well-grounded in the centrality of Jesus/the cross and the word of God]. I can't begin to explain how my understanding of the Bible has expanded since I've been learning from the teaching at our church coupled with my own Bible study. We formers have insight and understanding to offer, and we have MUCH to learn. We can't think that we can absent ourseles from the body of Christ and thrive. We must immerse ourselves in study and worship, praying for God to let us know when we have found the church where He wants us. He is faithful. Colleen | ||
| Loneviking Registered user Username: Loneviking Post Number: 510 Registered: 7-2000 |
I guess maybe I'm what people would call a Bapticostal! ----------------------------------------- Yep, I know a church like that. Goes by the 'First Baptist' name, but it's a wild mix of Baptist teaching and Pentecostal fervor. I made it to their Thanksgiving service and feast this last Sunday. I really have missed this little, miracle filled church since I've moved away. Aliza, I hope you find a similar church. Don't let names get in the away and ask around. Find Christians at work or at the gymn and ask where they worship. Bill | ||
| Aliza Registered user Username: Aliza Post Number: 95 Registered: 8-2006 |
Yesterday Stan made this comment:
In my wanderings around checking out churches I have to ask myself what are some criteria Iím looking for. Well, I want them to be preaching the true gospel with power, thatís for sure. But I question exactly what that means in society today living in the US. Do I want a church thatís preaching to the choir? Do I just want a church where my own knowledge will increase? Do I want a church that could disappear tomorrow and no one in the community would much notice? And I have to answer ìnoî because I want to be involved with a church that has a sense of its own mission. I guess Iíve learned a lot about myself from churches where God has placed me after Adventism. Let me tell you about the last one. This was a new church plant that met in a middle school. The pastors had primarily Baptist backgrounds but it was nondenominational. It started in September and I arrived in January when there was still one service. The reason Iíd gone the first time is that Iíd found it looking for church plants online because Iíd tried a lot of the regular churches and was looking for something different. Not long after Iíd decided to visit I got a card in the mail talking about the Superhero series and I almost decided not to go. After all, if a card has Batman, Spiderman etc all over it, can it be a serious church? What I saw from my perspective was totally different than what the average newcomer saw. I saw a church that knew their target audience. Theyíd obviously done their homework and knew exactly what to say to new people; how to park the cars; how to put out the signs; how to do the simplest things. They knew how to make people feel comfortable. The pastor would condense everything into everyday language. It was a fun place to be. Over the time to their first anniversary it went from a church where people came to ìcheck out Godî to a place where people were becoming on fire for Jesus. This was a church that was growing, for the most part, by conversions, not by drawing in Christians from other churches. They encouraged service and put anyone willing to work. I sat their amazed week by week as I watched how the pastor gradually went deeper and deeper into the word and oneís commitment to it. It wasnít shallow but it was repackaged to meet their particular target, which was young, well educated, keep-up-with-the-Joneses yuppies from an end of town growing new subdivisions. By the first anniversary, weíd grown to three church services and an attendance over 450. It was a joyful place to be and people learned to serve while learning to grow in their love for the Lord. I volunteered in the grades 1 to 5 group at an alternate service and they put a lot of energy and effort into having meaningful, biblically solid kidsí programs that were fun as well, but certainly not just entertainment. But if one of us coming from years of Adventism walked in the door, we might tend to be very critical because it just didnít ìlook like churchî. Stan mentioned,
You would have been absolutely correct if you called the small group I was in rather shallow. But you know why? It was because it was a combination of people who were just starting their journey of faith or just checking it out. I was the ìmomî to the group so theyíd look to me for prayers and answers at times. They would ask the most basic questions. Iíd say primarily they had all gone to Sunday school as kids but found it legalistic or emotionally abusive in approach. Now theyíd arrived to a point in life where they wanted to know about Jesus, first for themselves and then for their kids to be raised differently. It was rewarding to watch them grow. They needed milk and would have choked on steak at that point. Therefore, I must say I want a church with a huge sense of their purpose for existing. Sharing the gospel with power includes doing so in a way to meet their target community as well as doing so in a biblically correct way. After all, what good is preaching the gospel if itís not to those who need to hear? To me ìpowerî means youíre actually reaching people and making a difference. Our good friend River here on the forum exemplifies the passion of our Pentecostal friends. Heís passionate about the gospel and about prayer. Thereís nothing shallow about him. If a church emphasizes a lot of experiences at times, then I say great! It means that you actually have something to share. Adventism too often didnít. So give me the Pentecostal fervor. Give me joy. Give me a group thatís becoming on fire for Jesus. It just annoys me no end that I had it so pounded into my head that reverence meant ìwalk softly in Godís sanctuary.î Well, quiet traditional services are fine. But will they reach the target group for your area? If so, great. If not, then get to thinking outside the box. I was in casual conversation one day with a ministry leader and he just happened to remark, ìYou know, if there arenít a pile of cigarette butts outside your church, are you really reaching people?î (He was in a poor end of town where everyone smoked, but you get the idea.) OK, off my soapbox. Waiting for the arrows to fly. Aliza | ||
| Helovesme2 Registered user Username: Helovesme2 Post Number: 704 Registered: 8-2004  |
 this reminds me of a comment made, IIRC, by a Lutheran pastor friend of mine. It went something along the lines of "God is reaching out to people where they are. We are here to do our part - and there are people we reach that perhaps other places might not reach, but if more people are being reached by a different type of service, let them go there. The point is that God is preached and people are coming to Him." In my opinion, we have different gifts but one Lord. Different styles but one faith. Different understandings of the technicalities of baptism but one baptism - into Christ. So long as it Jesus Christ being preached, Viva la Difference! | ||
| Ric_b Registered user Username: Ric_b Post Number: 644 Registered: 7-2004  |
There is no complaint that I see about Pentecostal fervor. The concern is when that fervor and personal experience replace good theology and a reliance on the Word of God. These do not need to be opposed to one another, but it frequently happens. Much like tradition and repetition can replace that reliance on the Word of God (and fervor) in historical mainline churches. No church is immune from gradually turning away from the Word of God and the Gospel as their focus. Different "styles" of churches simply do it in different manners. Just because the style of a church worship is different from SDAism, doesn't make the doctrines true. No one objects to seeking to reach the "target audience" in any community. The objection is to changing the message of the Gospel to better fit what the "target audience" wants to hear. Having something to share is important, if it is the true Gospel. But fervently sharing another gospel might be even worse that being quiet about a false gospel. The true Gospel message matters. A commitment to teach and follow God's Word matters. These can occur in any "style" church. But they can be absent from any "style" just as easily. Church growth, an entertaining worship service, fervent people, and apparent happiness do not; unfortunately, indicate whether the true Gospel is being taught. My quiver is empty now. | ||
| Seekr777 Registered user Username: Seekr777 Post Number: 613 Registered: 1-2003  |
awwww come on Rick you must have at least one more "arrow". <grin> <tongue FIRMLY in cheek> The above is for those who are humor challenged. In HIM, Richard rtruitt@mac.com | ||
| Ric_b Registered user Username: Ric_b Post Number: 645 Registered: 7-2004 |
A wink icon would have been handy for my quiver comment. | ||
| Aliza Registered user Username: Aliza Post Number: 96 Registered: 8-2006 |
Nah, that's ok. They weren't that sharp of arrows since I'm in total agreement. | ||
| Riverfonz Registered user Username: Riverfonz Post Number: 2309 Registered: 3-2005 |
Aliza, Based on what you are telling me about that church plant, I don't see a problem with the approach (See, no arrows! (smiley) It looks like they did things the right way. There is nothing wrong with starting with a group of people who don't know the Bible and then gradually going from milk to meat. No one is against that. There is another remarkable story of church growth in a similar way originating in the 60's with Chuck Smith, who invited hippies with bare feet, and their drums and guitars, but Chuck Smith taught the Word of God all the way through the Bible verse by verse. God blessed this Calvary Chapel movement tremendously. They have some real problems they are dealing with right now, but overall they are solid. Another sterling example of church growth is the story of Mark Driscoll, the young Reformed pastor who started with a small group in Seattle, Wash.(an area that is openly hostile overall to the gospel), and no one thought you could build a church on Reformed theology. But he was innovative, and used a lot of modern methods and rock music, BUT, the teaching of sound Biblical Reformed theology was done in a way that people could understand, but not compromising the message in any way. Today, Mark Driscoll's Mars Hill church is a huge mega-church, and at first he was not shown respect by the more traditional Reformed type theologians. Now, despite some wild, unusual methods, he is now a guest at the conservative John Piper conferences. However, now contrast Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral where Schuller's initial goal was to try to reach out to the community by giving them what they wanted. So church turned into weekly positive thinking psychology seminars with guests invited to be on stage who were not even Christians. Schuller justified this on being good outreach. But as more new members came in, the same shallow theology was taught, and eventually Schuller shipwrecked his Reformed faith by denying all the basics of the atonement and adding self-esteem heresy. He is just like the liberal SDAs now in his theology thatGod is only Good, and won't show his wrath. Another example is the Purpose Driven Life movement which was documented well on the locked section what the fruit of that bad experiment was and still is. Rick Warren took surveys on what people wanted in church, and has continued to preach on a weekly basis a watered down message not based on solid Biblical teaching, but the excuse is always, well, they have solid Bible teaching in smaller groups, but the average person comes on Sunday to hear the gospel and doesn't always have time on weekdays. The bottom line is there has to be solid Bible teaching based on the Biblical gospel as presented in Romans, Galatians. John, Ephesians, etc. This message can't be compromised and replaced with feel good sermons on how to lose weight, or have a better marriage. It is the true teaching of solid Biblical theology--Love your wives as Christ loved the church and laid down His life for the Sheep--that is the basis for a better marriage. But look at the disaster of what Joel Osteen is preaching weekly--it is all health and wealth, and how to have your best life now. This is the largest church in America, but he is leading millions on the broad way that leads to destruction. (Matthew 7:13,14) So innovative ways of being winsome and ministering to people's needs is very important, but if sound doctrine is neglected, church will become a social club. Stan | ||
| Aliza Registered user Username: Aliza Post Number: 97 Registered: 8-2006 |
Again I agree with you Stan. Sounds like we need to clone Mark Driscoll. The sad part is that churches who have the gospel correct are willing to sit back and let the shallow entertainment type of ministries grab those who are hungry for a relationship with Jesus. I didn't realize until my last church how many, many, MANY want to have a place to go to learn about Jesus in a safe environment. I personally heard several people say they started attending because it wasn't REALLY like a church since it was at a school. So many had PTSD still from their relationship with churches as a child. Oh, by the way Stan, did you know Chuck Smith was ordained through the Foursquare and was a pastor there originally? (Just a little teasing given your thoughts about Pentecostals.<g>) Aliza | ||
| Riverfonz Registered user Username: Riverfonz Post Number: 2311 Registered: 3-2005 |
Aliza, I really like the spirit of your posting on these issues. There are areas of common ground. Yes, I am well aware of Chuck Smith's background in FSG, but it is well known that he didn't like being pigeon-holed into the same tired traditions, so he broke ranks and God worked mightily--It is very interesting to read the story of the early years of the CC movement. Chuck Smith took all kinds of flack for letting hippies with bare feet into church, but those same hippies have grown up, they know the Lord, and now you see them in business suits and are successful people in Orange County. To go to CC in Costa Mesa now is much different, than in the old days, and because of the growth of the CC movement, there are now danger signs that the Calvary Chapel movement is going to have to deal with, if it is going to survive. Interestingly enough, Chuck Smith junior, Smith's son has taken his Calvary Chapel church out of the CC fellowship. Junior's church in South Orange County has taken a very strange turn. Junior Smith spent six months at a mystical Catholic monastery, and the effect that has had on Smith jr has been frightening. They have many new age worship techniques down there, and they have adopted the emergent church model. According to reports, Smith jr is rethinking many aspects of the basic Christian faith and has broken with his dad on several major issues. We need to pray for both father and son Smith, as this weighs heavily on his father's heart. There is no Biblical gospel being preached at that CC in South County. You have an excellent point Aliza about the Bible teaching churches being too afraid to minister in different ways. I have changed some of my thinking on this in light of the obvious fruit of the Mark Driscoll story. We are living in a post-modern world with a different mindset, and as long as the message isn't compromised, then I don't have problems with certain methods. And this is a definite change from some of my previous posting on this. Stan | ||
| Riverfonz Registered user Username: Riverfonz Post Number: 2313 Registered: 3-2005 |
I just ran across this interesting quote on what fruit doctrine should produce, and thought it was relevant to the current discussion: Doctrine is not an affair of the tongue, but of the life; is not apprehended by the intellect and memory merely, like other branches of learning; but is received only when it possesses the whole soul, and finds its seat and habitation in the inmost recesses of the heart. . . . To doctrine in which our religion is contained we have given the first place, since by it our salvation commences; but it must be transfused into the breast, and pass into the conduct, and so transform us into itself, as not to prove unfruitful." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, III. VI. 4. We would do well to heed the words of John Calvin. Stan | ||
| Aliza Registered user Username: Aliza Post Number: 101 Registered: 8-2006 |
With the past week being a holiday one, it didn't give me an opportunity to try any additional services. No one seemed to have Wednesday night services. Not all churches around here have Sunday services and two that were had special things: one was packing Thanksgiving baskets and another one was delivering them. Both the churches I visited last week sent welcome letters during the week. Later in the week the AOG one sent another invitation and it invited me to "be our guest again and this time, stop by the Heavenly Grounds Coffee Shop to enjoy some breakfast on us." Then it included two tickets offering "free breakfast special with coffee or bottled water". Friday I saw a car coming up the long driveway and went out to see who it was. It was someone from the Foursquare Church with a gift box of cookies. Thanksgiving Day I was volunteering at a Homeless Center and met someone who invited me to another church. It was one that I had originally considered but thought perhaps may too legalistic. However, my new acquaintance insisted it wasn't at all and that he and his wife had been very blessed since changing from a local Methodist church. So I added that back to my list. | ||
| Aliza Registered user Username: Aliza Post Number: 102 Registered: 8-2006 |
I was hoping to make it to two different services today, but the one service went overtime and I didn't want to be late to the next church. The only service I did today was at the Lutheran Church. This church is a historic looking building in the downtown area. I would estimate it holds maybe 250-275 people. Since this is relatively small, they hold three services Sunday morning, one Saturday night and then one on Sunday on a community college campus. I attended the middle service on Sunday which was the "contempory" one. This was one of those confusing churches with parking lots on three different sides and doors on each one. So I picked the one that appeared to have the most people entering. Before long I ran into my two neighbors who were leaving from the first service. These elderly twins have separate homes near me and each had invited me to attend his church. We chatted awhile and they attempted to introduce me to a few people who offered perfunctory greetings and then they left while I entered the service. Now, I admit that I'm a bit out of my comfort zone in a Lutheran church. I'm very thankful that we had already discussed the meaning of communion within Lutheran tradition because there were two sets of cards--members and guests. The member card had you circle the members of the family taking communion today. If the guest wanted to take communion, you signed your name on the back that you had read and agreed with the four points we discussed a few days ago. It's funny how you notice small things while in new surroundings. I've had a few Presbyterian friends in the past who joking referred to their denomination as the "frozen chosen" and that came to my mind during the worship service. While the choice of songs was fine, it was like there was the unwritten "rule" just like in way too many SDA churches I've attended that you couldn't allow yourself to exhibit any joy. Then when the service started I really could hardly keep from laughing because the pastor's toupee was a poor match! Oh, I wasn't off to such a good start here. They had given out booklets of "New Member Welcome" which I assume they do every month since this was marked "November". It was quite neat that it had a separate page for each person or family joining the church. There was info about the person or family such as hobbies, where they worked, interests etc. Very nice touch I thought. Another thing we were given was a page called "Receiving of Members" which was read responsively by the pastor and audience at the end when the new people were called up. Actually, I thought it was well done. I don't know if this is typical of other Lutheran Churches but it covered things quite comprehensively. For instance, the pastor's part started out: "St Paul's is not a club where there are dues; nor is it a theatre where one simply comes and watches. Rather it is a gathering of God's people who have been called out of darkness into the light of Jesus Christ and are now empowered to proclaim that light in word and deed. Our purpose is to make disciples for Jesus. As such, there are expectations and challenges that we have for those who join us in reaching this community for Christ." The audience read a long passage in John together prior to the sermon. During the sermon, only once was the audience asked to turn to a passage. Even though there were pew Bibles, there was no rustling of pages and it just didn't seem like people were much interested in turning to the passage. There were a couple of other allusions to Bible texts. The sermon was entitled "Be Thou My Vision" and at the end we stood and sang that great hymn. This is only my second Lutheran service ever but as before you were ushered out by rows for communion. As I believe Rick or Raven mentioned, the pastor was offering some sort of comment to each person with a young child and he would reach out and touch the child. No idea what he was saying as I wasn't close enough to any to hear. The one difference from my first Lutheran service was this one had the typical communion cups where as the first one you dipped bread into the wine. Those cups that look small with grape juice, looked pretty large to me since I'm just not used to alcohol. I really do feel that communion seems more relevant within this tradition. I noticed that upon returning to their seats, several people throughout the congregation were kneeling on the kneeling benches and praying. I'm also totally in agreement with real wine but I was wondering what they do with someone with an alcoholic background who wants to avoid it. As I isolate the sermon, I have to recognize it really didn't have much depth. This church appeared to lack a spark of joy and hunger for Jesus. You hear a lot of criticism of contemporary services with pep talk kind of sermons but this was a more traditional sermon that was, at the bottom line, essentially the same thing if you analyzed it. At the end they announced that in the lobby there was an information area and for visitors to stop by and pick up a gift. I hadn't noticed it coming in because I was walking and chatting with my neighbors. When I went to stop by after service, there was no one at the information area. Another part of the lobby had what appeared to be gifts on a table but no one there was available to talk. One group of people was chatting among themselves but I didn't want to intrude. This is the first church I've attended where there really wasn't a way to connect as a visitor and ask questions. Perhaps this was because there was a real doubling up between the services. Our service got out at the time the third service was to start. This was most likely because this service was very packed and it just took awhile to do the communion with so many people. All in all, I really don't feel this is the place for me. There most contemporary service really was not. Perhaps the definition of "contemporary" is that there wasn't liturgy. Maybe some of the Lutherans here could help me out with understanding this. Aliza | ||
| Grace_alone Registered user Username: Grace_alone Post Number: 326 Registered: 6-2006  |
Aliza, I'm still laughing at the "toupee being a poor match". I think I would've been distracted through the whole service! Also, I thought the Lutherans were the "frozen chosen", or at least that's what our Pastor likes to say when we're not being Baptist enough, haha. I'm guessing that this church's definition for contemporary is the lack of liturgy. The structure of the traditional service is not unlike an SDA service -in fact when my husband and I started dating I was surprised that it "seemed" so similar. There was a hymn at the beginning, there were the occasional responsive readings, an offering, a sermon, etc. (It wasn't until I repeatedly heard "Sister White says" that I found out the difference!) When I was younger our service was pretty much the same each week. Hymns, liturgy for regular and liturgy for communion. It's the pastor and the people who make it worth coming back everytime. The pastor we have now though, has brought in some new ways to worship. Being that it's a small church we only have one service a week. So some weeks we have liturgy, some not. There's always a hymn at the beginning and end, but three or four contemporary worship songs in the middle. Occasionally we have a praise band by the youth complete with drums and electric guitars! There are also people who truly feel free to stand and lift their hands during worship. Being that I haven't visted many other Lutheran churches I couldn't tell you what the norm is. (ours is Evangelical) I've visited a Presbyterian church and even a huge Baptist church where I totally felt at home. I absolutely appreciate how careful you are in your search, and how you know what you want in the sermons, etc. I'll pray for you to find your church family. I know they're out there!! Leigh Anne | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 5004 Registered: 12-2003 |
Aliza, again, thank you for your detailed report! These are such fun to readóand God is helping you to understand what you are looking for and what you are experiencing through your written analysis. Thank you so much for sharing these visits with us! (Yes, I'm grinning over the toupee, too!) Colleen | ||
| Aliza Registered user Username: Aliza Post Number: 103 Registered: 8-2006 |
I was still laughing about the toupee last night while I was telling my daughter about my day at church. Just too funny. Leigh Anne, yes, you are right that some things reminded me of the SDA church. I kept sitting there thinking, "Now why is this?" because so much was very dissimilar. The only thing that really connects with me is that the audience appeared to be responding as if they were attending a lyceum, not worshipping a holy God. This is so much what I grew up with in Adventism. Now, I'm sure that this is a harsh criticism for many there, yet I just wasn't sensing that spark or enthusiasm or the sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Then I had to look inside of myself to see if I was allowing my personal taste to influence my thought. (That's in case some of you are thinking I want them dancing in the aisles before I believe they're full of joy.<g>) But I can remember powerful times of very quiet, reverential worship that had the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit so it just wasn't the style of worship. There is only one church on my list that I've not attended yet. My list is now down to five which I'll add to if I make connections with people who bring my attention to something that I sense may be an option. I did have a long talk last week with someone at a non-profit social service coalition. I had called there to find out where help was needed for Thanksgiving and we ended up talking about the church community. She told me about different ones from a community outreach perspective and invited me to her American Baptist church (no thanks). This organization is a consortium of 60 churches in five surrounding counties and it's an umbrella for a lot of different community service organizations. I believe I may try to get involved with this unless (until?) I get a job. I've decided to speed the process of church selection along via the internet. The Foursquare church had one sermon video online of the week prior to my visit so I watched that while exercising yesterday and ended up moving that church down my list. I listened to two audio sermons from the non-denom Christian church and moved that one up the list. Come to find out the non-denom Christian church is also a member of Willow Creek. I'm beginning to think that a pattern of Willow Creek churches is to use sermon series built around very catchy themes. Without a doubt, that makes it more difficult to just preach through the Bible. But at least the Willow Creek two here have both taken an entire passage and preached from it rather than topically hopping all over the place. So far, I've not found any church that follows the Calvary Chapel model of preaching straight through books of the Bible. That would be my preference, but I must adapt to my city plus be wherever God would have me to be. I'm certainly glad that God has given me a joy for this journey although I will be glad to get settled into one spot. Aliza |
