Church, Fool!

[zinn1348]

Tom- good to see your still kickin' too !!! you keepin them kids inline? God Bless-paul

Impossible job, I've now got 7 grandkids to contend with as well. They're all against me!

Seriously, being blessed with those little ones makes this the best time of my life.


Warm Regards,

Thomas

 

[CRH]

Gollnick hit the nail on the head with, "It's about finding a place where your spiritual needs will be ministered too." This can be a difficult task for some. I know it is for me.

My best friend is a "recovering Catholic", his wife is a "recovering Presbyterian", daughter of a Presbyterian minister - both being fed up with various combinations of antiquated dogma and hypocracy within the Church. In the past they had been satisfied with a Unitarian Universalist congregation but after a recent move there is no UU available within reasonable distance so they practice there faith privately.

My father is a retired UCC (United Church of Christ) minister. He still preaches as a fill in for various pastors taking vacation and such. Any denomination will do - my parents are well known and welcomed in about every Protestant Church within 50 miles of their home . His sermons are better than ever. Over the years he has mastered the nuts and bolts of applying the teachings of Christ to the modern context without the fascade of the various denominations.

As for myself, my faith is week. I have found faith to be a poor method of gaining spiritual knowledge hence I am not much of a Church goer since Church "does not minister well" to me. FWIW I would describe my faith as a sort of combination of Zen and Deism and here's the kicker - I don't separate the creator from creation, I view them as one in the same. I have found the faith based denominations to draw distinct lines between the two.

Whatever you decide just remember that:

Jesus is coming and he's bringing the been dip .

 

[Cindy Denning]

Where a man goes, his woman will usually follow. Religion is important to you obviously and I would persue it. No, christians are not the popular crowd but that doesn't bother me. Once you have the desire to follow God, all things we aren't suppose to go or do willingly falls by the wayside. I like a preacher who will read scripture and tell it like it is from the King James Version and carry it with me each day. I'm leary of "new churches" who have a culture of their own since I am use to one Bible. I am an Independent Baptist. How man, or woman can make it through their life without faith is missing given blessings that are overlooked and frankly I don't know how one makes it through life without spiritual guidance. Pray on it. Cavelady

 

[FullerH]

I was raised Episcopalian and attended an Episcopalian preparatory school, Saint Albans in Washington, DC, from 1952-1960, when I graduated. At the time, chapel was compulsory five days a week and Sacred Studies was a regular part of the academic curriculum. My parents also insisted that I and my siblings attend church on Sundays as well as Sunday School. I must have been the "Kid From Hell" as far as the Sunday School teachers were concerned, for I had no interest in being there, generally was better scripturally grounded than the teacher, and had no reservations about making either point clear. After my 2nd Form (8th grade) year, my parents gave up on sending us to Sunday School, for which I am certain the teachers were grateful.

I left StA with a considerable weight of anger against organized religion as I was not happy with being told what sort of god I should follow. If you want an idea of what I mean, watch the Robin Williams film, "Dead Poets Society" which is set in an Episcopalian prep school in the 1950s. Just extend the English literature class to their theology. For some years, I drifted around, looking at various churches and playing with religion but always coming back to the message of Jesus Christ. I finally found what seemed a good choice for me when I went to a Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. The only problem that I had was that this particular Monthly Meeting, unnamed, was dominated by a group who would have been better off in the Unitarian Universalists and they drove me and my family out because they became increasingly uncomfortable with our christocentrism, our Christ-centered religion and our focus upon the Scriptures. We left and I and my wife found refuge in another Monthly Meeting which welcomed us AND our christocentrism. We are very, very happy there.