church

i went to church this morning and this evening. i've been going pretty regularly the last couple of months. i went regularly from the time i was 12 until i left WV 7 yrs ago. it's not that i didn't want to go or that i was growing away from God. it was just that i couldn't find a church i liked.

my little Baptist church was very fundamental. we only used the King James Version Bible. the females wore dresses. we had 4 sunday school classes: up through grade school; jr high, sr high, and adult. those who were too little to go to the grade school class sat with their parents. they behaved. those who graduated from high school stayed in the high school class until a) younger kids were promoted, b) they got married, or c) they finally said, i'm in my mid-20's and i think i'm an adult. that's how it happened for me. we had very few kids in church back then. we took up the offering once on sunday morning. we didn't have technology such as video, audio, or "canned music." we had a preacher--yes preacher. he didn't take offense to that title because that's what he did, he preached. it was the congregation's problem if they thought of preach as a derogotory term. preacher joe did not. and we had maybe 30 ppl on a good sunday morning. a nice size crowd for a small country church.

that was a tough act to follow. i went to churches that used Bibles that left out things like "Blood" and "virgin" and sometimes even "hell." seems as a Christian society, we are getting lazy about reading and understanding the Bible. so in trying to find an "easy to read" Bible, we lose some of the important stuff. sorry, i know that offends my boyfriend. we have agreed to disagree about that. i went to churches where the men and women wore jeans and printed t-shirts. now i know God really doesn't mind how you dress. the improtant thing is to be there. and there are ppl who just don't have that many dressy clothes for church. that is fine. but really, the printed t-shirts are more than i can handle. this is God's house. we are to respect Him. people forget that i think. they just throw on any old thing and go. again, i know being there is more important. but people, let's have some respect. and speaking of respect--why do parents allow their kids to run all over the church, talk with others, play loudly, etc. i know i know...at least they are in church. but i can't concentrate when junior is counting his cheerios as he smashes each one deeply into the carpet and then laughs while loudly asking his older sister, did you see me smash that to smitherines?? i went to churches that had more sunday school classes than they had members. i went to churches that took up the offering during sunday school and church. and they used guilt tactics to get $$. it appeared to me that the $$ was used to buy the "pastor" a new car or his wife a new suit. iand i went to churches that had so many attendees, they had to have 2 worship services. i like ppl and i like crowds and i loved living in the city. but how do you even start to function as a congregation when 1/2 of you go at a different time????? and some churches even had "traditional" services and "contemporary" services. WHAT?? contemporary? can you say new age? can you say satan? yes i know i sound like church lady, but someone has to!

i never found a church i liked in florida. then i moved to milwaukee. i found the perfect church! it was very small. and very fundamental. they would tell you from the pulpit every sunday that they used the KJV Bible. women wore dresses that covered their knees. (ok, so it took me a few weeks to catch on to that "covers your knees" part.) granted, some were denim skirts and that was fine. but they weren't wearing beavis and butthead shirts with them!! women wearing slacks is fine with me--just be neat about it. you don't have to have on the best...but at least be clean and have no tears. ok, there i go again. LOL can you tell that bugs me? let me stress again, jeans and pants are ok....printed tshirts or sweats are not.

um, where was i? oh yes, the little church in milwaukee. the only thing i didn't like about this little church was that they never allowed time for prayer requests or praise from the congregation. i found that odd.

but i moved back home a few months ago and was excited to be back at my little church. my little church where they now dress casually, let the million children who attend there ramrod the adults, have audio/video equipment, take up the offering twice, and have started a new sunday school class. HA. ok, i'm living with it because i love the people. we have a new preacher--a guy i graduated from high school with. he's great. it's taking some getting used to, but i'm adjusting....

then today i walked in and our piano was gone. GONE!! the piano my grandma used to play every sunday morning until she got sick and had to quit coming to church. the one that caroline has played ever since. the one on which caroline's daughter, rachel, learned to play for church. GONE!! in it's place some wierd synthesizer looking thing that caroline seemed overwhelmed with. OMG, GONE!! without so much as asking ME about it. LOL and on top of that...

the sunday school teacher used a NON-KJV Bible today!! HELLO!!

ok, so that's my rant about the downhill ethical and moral freefall of the church.

don't get me wrong--i am not slamming the faith. i am a Christian and i know i'm going to heaven. i know the people who wear printed tshirts are going to heaven--if they are saved. i was just overwhelmed by pet peeves today.