My first Xanga post, which I’ve since ported all to Blogger. I was on Xanga till July 16, 2005.
I am a little annoyed with the churches I’ve been to in this area. I am looking for a church with friendly people. I know they’re out there; I’ve been to churches like that before. That’s the sort of church I join. But thus far I haven’t been to one in this area.
The first church I went to had great worship (led by Bethany people) and a decent sermon. The people didn’t say jack to me (except for the meet-’n’-greet part in the middle of the service that every pastor feels obligated to insert). Unfortunately that was just how the Bethany people liked it; after the service they hopped in their cars and scampered back to Bethany before the cafe ran out of waffle batter.
The second church was all Bethany people. So you’d think that, as a fellow Bethany student, they’d say hello—but no. The only people who had any kind of post-service discussion with me were the pastor (whom I don’t count; pastors know better) and an old friend I ran into. The others were too busy talking with their closer friends to greet any visitors or make sure new people feel welcome instead of uncomfortable.
The third church—actually, there wasn’t enough room in the car so I was stuck on campus. I watched TV church. Got saved again. If I appreciated my salvation, I was invited to call their toll-free number and donate money. So how much are you supposed to tip your evangelist? What’s 15 percent of the eternal riches of God’s glory?
I skipped a week and went home. I visited my sister’s church. I finally found friendly people. What in heck is wrong with the people in this area?
Last Sunday was the fourth church, in San Jose. Worship was great. Sermon was great. People didn’t say squat. Dangit!
Maybe I need to stop going to church with Bethany people. By and large they’re looking for a church that’s non-committal (because they already have home churches) and one with kickin’ music and a sermon that doesn’t go against what they’re learning in their bible classes.
There are plenty of churches with competent music and preaching, but Jesus said we’d recognize His disciples by their love. So from what I’ve seen—and remember, I’m using Jesus’s qualifications here, not mine—I have yet to go to a Christian church in this area. They’ve all been pseudo-Christian.
Let’s see how next Sunday goes.
Comments…
This was my first Xanga post, and the first time my blog appeared in the Bethany College blogroll. So the Bethany students, past and present, responded.
Mandy of course recommended her church, New Hope. So I went there next week. I warned her, “You do realize that if I go to New Hope and the people aren’t friendly, it’s going on my blog.”
Ben recommended the River, a church in San José, and then he went on a tear about
I agree with your statements about Bethany students and church. The thing is, most Bethany students are just trying to fit in with the other
f---ing Bethany students and just want to be part of the mold. They don’t know who God is nor what true worship is. Thus they go tos---ty churches and learn jacks---. Sorry about the cussing; it’s just me straight from the heart.
If he was really sorry about the cussing he wouldn’t have left profanities on my blog. In any event, this was probably the post that made me rethink the idea of accepting comments.
I do agree that a lot of Bethany students (heck, a lot of Christians) don’t know how to find a good church. Most people join a church to be “fed,” and as soon as they’re not, they leave. They’ve got it backwards. The church is to feed the baby Christians; after a point, God is supposed to be feeding us. Church is not for feeding, it’s for fellowship. Unfortunately, our churches are full of people who could care less about fellowship.