Oh my gracious...
Why do we overcomplicate what God has made so simple? This is going to be none of those things because, quite frankly, the older I get, the simpler God's plan becomes to me.
Finding out God's will when I was 18...ten steps at the minimum.
Finding out God's will when I was 30...one step: just be faithful.
Figuring out marriage when I was 22...ten steps at the minimum.
Figuring out marriage when I was 32...love like Jesus.
Figuring out what church to go to when you overcomplicate life...20 steps, visiting 20 different places, trying 20 different times. Worship too loud, worship too stuck up, pastor too trendy, pastor too legalistic, people not friendly, people too nosey.
Figuring out what church to go to when you keep it simple...hopefully just a couple of tries and then you stay there.
We have one must-have and it's this:
Look at all that GLORY.
Do they open the Bible and teach directly from the Word? Do they do this verse-by-verse and line-upon-line? If they don't, it is so easy to pass over the uncomfortable passages, context, background and leave out the entirety of God's Word. Psalm 119:160 says that "The entirety of Your Word is truth, and every one of your righteous judgements endures forever." This is a nonnegotiable for my husband and I. After that, who even cares! If a pastor is teaching the sheep the entirety of the Word of God then the entirety of the sheep will be serving and loving the body of Christ.
Richard and I have both been on the worship team and love, love, love music. I told him what I was hoping for in church worship when we were moving to Washington a couple of months ago. He reminded me yet again that that would be great to be able to belt out Phil Whickam songs in just the perfect key for my now alto voice but it's all about the Word and if it is being preached and growing in the hearts of the sheep.
Ask God to give you a content heart. Choose a church where you are being taught the entirety of the perfect, infallible Word of God and don't be so picky about all the other stuff. You can worship God whether there is an organ pounding out "How Great Thou Art" or one guitar dude singing "Open the Eyes of My Heart" really off key. (You can certainly pray that someone will step up to lead worship that can sing on key if you're a person that can tell the difference :) You can come with a heart ready to serve and love others and not be so utterly selfish and offended when you feel like they aren't completely serving you.
See? Super simple. I love church.
Finding out God's will when I was 18...ten steps at the minimum.
Finding out God's will when I was 30...one step: just be faithful.
Figuring out marriage when I was 22...ten steps at the minimum.
Figuring out marriage when I was 32...love like Jesus.
Figuring out what church to go to when you overcomplicate life...20 steps, visiting 20 different places, trying 20 different times. Worship too loud, worship too stuck up, pastor too trendy, pastor too legalistic, people not friendly, people too nosey.
Figuring out what church to go to when you keep it simple...hopefully just a couple of tries and then you stay there.
We have one must-have and it's this:
Look at all that GLORY.
Do they open the Bible and teach directly from the Word? Do they do this verse-by-verse and line-upon-line? If they don't, it is so easy to pass over the uncomfortable passages, context, background and leave out the entirety of God's Word. Psalm 119:160 says that "The entirety of Your Word is truth, and every one of your righteous judgements endures forever." This is a nonnegotiable for my husband and I. After that, who even cares! If a pastor is teaching the sheep the entirety of the Word of God then the entirety of the sheep will be serving and loving the body of Christ.
Richard and I have both been on the worship team and love, love, love music. I told him what I was hoping for in church worship when we were moving to Washington a couple of months ago. He reminded me yet again that that would be great to be able to belt out Phil Whickam songs in just the perfect key for my now alto voice but it's all about the Word and if it is being preached and growing in the hearts of the sheep.
Ask God to give you a content heart. Choose a church where you are being taught the entirety of the perfect, infallible Word of God and don't be so picky about all the other stuff. You can worship God whether there is an organ pounding out "How Great Thou Art" or one guitar dude singing "Open the Eyes of My Heart" really off key. (You can certainly pray that someone will step up to lead worship that can sing on key if you're a person that can tell the difference :) You can come with a heart ready to serve and love others and not be so utterly selfish and offended when you feel like they aren't completely serving you.
See? Super simple. I love church.
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