Out of Answers

[justanobserver]

What is the answer when a sinner like me has been seeking a home church, the one that is right for me but nothing opens up. The churches I have gone on my own to, the door slams shut as in no doubt in my mind it aint the one. This has been going on for a while now. I have prayed daily, had folks here and other sites pray He would help me find the church I can call home and nothing, I mean not a word, inkling, thought,nada.


I really did have the faith and believe that He would answer so simple, little and easy a request - help Norm find the Right Church. I really thought/expected I would run into someone at the store, my job, an email, a phone message, something - thats how much faith I had on this rquest. Even maybe God would move on someone at this site to give an invite and assist but not a word.


Is this a possible way of God saying that it just aint gonna happen for me? That He knows (since He does know the past and future) that I would not get saved in the end so He aint gonna waste His or a church's time with me? Thats starting to sound logical to me.

Sorry for the length of this. I have a very extremely good reason for wanting God to find the right church for me. not every church is the right one for everybody.

One could say this is the answer from Him and just give up.

 

[MariaRegina]

Don't give up, dear Norm.

You can visit the various [open]cafe's found in the Christian forums and see what the chat is like.

Try Reilly's in OBOB or the Open Cafe in TAW. Those are among the friendliest ones and there are others too. Just take this time to be free to explore Christianity.

Know that I will be praying for you.

Prayerfully in Christ,
Aria

 

[Jim47]

Hi Norm

I would like to give you 2 invitations, one to the Lutheran forum here at CF. There is always some kind of dicsussion going on their about faith and religion. Some of these discussions can get pretty deep, so I would simply open a couple of new threads and introduce yourself and ask questions.

http://www.christianforums.com/f367-theologia-crucis-confessional-lutherans.html

I would also like to invite you to the WELS Lutheran church. I did a seach for churches on our web site. You can do this same seach yourself using the link below. But what I found was one church at Alpine and another at Anderson.

http://wels.locatorsearch.com/


Our web site also has a lot of reading and a question and answer forum. You can read our doctrinal statements and I would also recommend reading our "This we believe" statement.
http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?2601&collectionID=795

http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?1517&cuQA_qaID=1

If you explore the Q&A forum and have a question, just type the question in the space at the top, or you can search for related topics from the list below.

If I can help with anything please feel free to PM me.

 

[justanobserver]

I have a very extremely good reason for wanting God to find the right church for me. not every church is the right one for everybody.

The reason why I am been asking/begging God up till when I sorta gave up recently is that for years (years ago) I was a very active believer/member of a strict Oneness fundlemental pentecostal holiness church organization and had accepted their doctrine hook line and sinker that if one wasnt saved by what they preached, they aint saved and bound for hell.

Although I know now that the majority of christianity isnt going to hell after all BUT I still struggle with what is truth, where is truth, how would I know I am safe and SAVED, etc - meaning that I can sit somewhere and feel comfortable and sure with that church's doctrine and have no worries.

Hence why I been asking, praying, seeking, searching, begging, looking for any sign, signal, hint, answer, email, phone call, knock on the door, getting stopped in a parking lot an getting asked to church (you have no idea how many times I really been expecting it to be like that - you hear stories about that all the time - why not me???), a customer coming to my job, I see the bumper sticker and ask but he is from out of town or the sticker came with the truck, etc etc.

Its just one frustration after another. Its almost like He is teasing me with the answer finally only to have it be a dead end so when I was all excited about it, it turns into a depressed "yep, happened again".

This may sound like whining and perhaps it is but it is my struggle.

I am a recovering alcoholic/addict, have found out thru very bitter, I mean real bitter hard first hand experience that God's love and outreached hand is not extended in all churches to us in recovery. hence why this struggle is even more so difficult and personal.

I do want to go to church, to develop what I can a relationship with god and start over. I got a prayer request over in Non christian prayer requests forum that kinda or did state what I was seeking.

This is a very personal and hard struggle. I do not believe nor accept that any church is the right one - I believe each church and its beliefs is right for each one that goers to that one church. I dont want to just attnd some church down the street and it not what I am looking for and I spend more time looking at my watch than listening to teh pastor.

a bigpart of me has really given up but theres that part (its the one thats typing this) thats holding out for a miracle that faith in it is really dieing more and more every day.

thanks for reading this rant.

but its all truth.

 

[justanobserver]

Don't give up, dear Norm.

You can visit the various [open]cafe's found in the Christian forums and see what the chat is like.

Try Reilly's in OBOB or the Open Cafe in TAW. Those are among the friendliest ones and there are others too. Just take this time to be free to explore Christianity.

Know that I will be praying for you.

Prayerfully in Christ,
Aria

OBOB? TAW?? what are those?

 

[justanobserver]

Hi Norm ~ snip ~


If I can help with anything please feel free to PM me.

thanks for the links and help. I will be looking thru them.

 

[HumbleUnderdog]

Who says you have to go to a church?
I myself, i study the bible on my own, after coming across so many different teachers and teachings, you then realize that almost all of them have their own POV and interpretation of the bible rather than the actual real truth that the bible speaks of. That's why i study scripture for myself and not at church, plus for my own preferential purposesm it's hard for me to study by myself and also study what the pastor is teaching on sunday and study what the mid-week bible study is teaching. It's just too much for me to interprate.

I haven't studied in detail what the actual real plan was for the Church, but i recall faintly that the purpose was to gather a whole bunch of peopl in order to worship God altogether. But to me that does not mean that you have to sing old boring songs and that you have to gather in a fancy done up building who takes money from you during offerings and still complains about not having enough money to keep the building intact.
To me, church is a gathering of people to worship god, which could mean that you and a few others could go out and sit atop a hill and look down at all of the trees and mountains and hills and all of god's creation and just sit there in awe of the beauty of it all. That to me is what wirhiping God is all about ,and thus what a church is all about.

 

[Jim47]

justanobserver




This is a very personal and hard struggle. I do not believe nor accept that any church is the right one - I believe each church and its beliefs is right for each one that goers to that one church. I dont want to just attnd some church down the street and it not what I am looking for and I spend more time looking at my watch than listening to teh pastor.

a bigpart of me has really given up but theres that part (its the one thats typing this) thats holding out for a miracle that faith in it is really dieing more and more every day.

thanks for reading this rant.

but its all truth.

Hi NORM

I would like to address your statement above. We need to be very careful that what we believe is what God has said to us in His Word-The Bible. I encourage a staring faith and belief in you, but let it be strong in The Lord.

To give you some basics, I will post a couple of creeds and confessions here. These are inportant because they are very scriptural. Through them we get direction for our faith.

APOSTLES' CREED


The Apostles' Creed is a brief statement of gospel truths taught by the apostles. It was not formulated by theologians, but out of the needs of the Christian church. Christians used it to tell others what they believed and also to confess their faith with one another as they met for worship.

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.





NICENE CREED



The Nicene Creed was written around a.d. 325 in defense of the true Christian faith. The Council at Nicea developed it, expanding on the deity of Christ, in order to safeguard the apostles' teaching.


We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is,
seen and unseen.


We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
and became fully human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate.
He suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who in unity with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The other things I wanted to post ae too lenghty, so I will post a link instead. If the link doesn't take you right to it, what I would like you to see is the statement on scripture.

http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?2617&collectionID=795&contentID=4440&shortcutID=5296

 

[Jim47]

You also asked how you can be sure of your salvation. There is only one way to be sure, and that is if you put your trust in Jesus as your Savior. We can do nothing to earn God's good will, nor the forgiveness of our sins. It is only through the free gift of His grace and by the blood of Christ Jesus that we are saved. My favorite scripture to show this is:
Eph 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
Eph 2:2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
Eph 2:3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
Eph 2:4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
Eph 2:5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
Eph 2:6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
Eph 2:7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
Eph 2:9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
Eph 2:10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.


This scripture shows very clearly that it is only by God's grace that we are saved. I too was lost until I found this scripture. My Pastor told me something this last week that made sence. Without Christ all we can do is try harder. That is a relentless fruitless part, because we can never become Holy without Christ. God demands perfection. Even if we werne't born in sin we would commit enough sins before we could speak our first words to condemm us to Hell.

So in all of this, what I am saying is put your faith in Jesus as your Savior, confess your sins and live your life in honor of Christ Jesus, living a good clean life and spreading His love and gospel message.

You would do weel to print out those verses and put them where you can read them every day. In them you have confidence of your salvation and that God has accepted you through His Son's work. If you try on your own in any way to find God's favor, you will always find yourself short of getting there.

Only through Christ Jesus!

 

[justanobserver]

Who says you have to go to a church?
I myself, i study the bible on my own, after coming across so many different teachers and teachings, you then realize that almost all of them have their own POV and interpretation of the bible rather than the actual real truth that the bible speaks of. That's why i study scripture for myself and not at church, plus for my own preferential purposesm it's hard for me to study by myself and also study what the pastor is teaching on sunday and study what the mid-week bible study is teaching. It's just too much for me to interprate.

I haven't studied in detail what the actual real plan was for the Church, but i recall faintly that the purpose was to gather a whole bunch of peopl in order to worship God altogether. But to me that does not mean that you have to sing old boring songs and that you have to gather in a fancy done up building who takes money from you during offerings and still complains about not having enough money to keep the building intact.
To me, church is a gathering of people to worship god, which could mean that you and a few others could go out and sit atop a hill and look down at all of the trees and mountains and hills and all of god's creation and just sit there in awe of the beauty of it all. That to me is what wirhiping God is all about ,and thus what a church is all about.

I appreciate your view (really do) and I thank you for your input and if what you described works for you, thats great. But it wouldnt work for me. What I need (and I know this) is a body of believers gathering together in one accord. This one verse comes to mind why I am seaqrching for a church:

Ro 10:14 -
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

I need to hear an annointed man of God that has sought God's will to help me in my spiritual growth. Its not just for my spiritual edification but the help and guidance I need for my continual sobriety. I also enjoy the old hymns - The Old Rugged Cross is my favorite.

I do undertsand where your coming from about buildings, offerings not being enough, folks more concerned about being pretty more so than being a christian - this is one of the reason why I walked out in '82 among some far more serious and severe.

but I do thank you for your thoughts.

 

[HumbleUnderdog]

You're welcome.
But let's make things clear for you here.

I need to hear an annointed man of God that has sought God's will to help me in my spiritual growth

This sounds to me like you need an example of a strong Christian to show you how to live right. Is this true? Cause if it is, then no pastor or anyone you meet can do that, only Jesus is the rightoues perfect example. And who else can help you in your spiritual growth as much as Jesus?

Deep down inside, everyone christian needs this, if you really think about it. But relying on a pastor or another church goer won't be enough. Jesus is and was the only perfect example and the only annointed man of what is/was the perfect human, and who also has never stopped seaking God's, his father's, will. I never found any annointed man/woman of God or of Christianity or of the Church who has helped me in my spiritual growht in the church except for Jesus. Mostly because everyone from the church that i intereacted with had so many faults and fallacies and wrong interpretions of bible verses and teachings. And besides that, they didn't have the answers that I was looking for. Know why? Probably because everyone else in that church is looking for that exact same thing, an annointed man of God to help them in their spiritual growth. And the only annointed man of God who can help you in such ways is Jesus, from the Bible. That's why i dropped outta church so that i can read the bible on my own without intereference, and learn who the real true Jesus is, and learn the real true truth.

As for the old hymns, well that is actually the main reason why i left church.........boring!!!!!!!
j/k

 

[megg]

Hi Norm,
I can feel your frustration, I have been there. Please keep in mind that there is no perfect church. Pick one and attend a few times. One visit is usually not enough to really know if you fit there.
Churches are made of imperfect people, so there will always be something. Keep on keeping on. I know its discouraging, but its worth it when you finally do find that place that feels a bit like home.
Best of luck.
Megg

 

[Dimitree]

GOD did nothing becaouse your desires are temptation !
And you will NOT tempt GOD !
And if today you wait for a message then
tomorrow will you not say god i will jump off this building send someone to catch me ???
Do not tempt GOD !
Amen !

 

[justanobserver]

GOD did nothing becaouse your desires are temptation !
And you will NOT tempt GOD !
And if today you wait for a message then
tomorrow will you not say god i will jump off this building send someone to catch me ???
Do not tempt GOD !
Amen !

okay........... thank you for that judgemental drivel.

can you show me where I said I will jump off a building tomorrow? betcha you cant.

plus, what does wanting God to help guide/lead/show/open up to/for me to a church got to do with temptations and me jumping off a building??? you know, there is medication that would help you to live more meaningful in reality than in an imagined world with roof jumpers.


anyhooos, moving on....


this struggle (for lack of a better term) started off in the Non christian prayer request section. Some days I dont really care anymore and other days I get in a deep "where art thou oh God?" type feeling. just want to find a path that will take me where I need to go.

I use to be a Scout/recon type in the military (among many other duties) and part of my job was snoopin out the trail for others to follow or for me to go down. This is metaphorical of course but theres many many trails that trake many to wherever they are to go but not just anyone is for me. I need to find that trail for me to go down and He knows which one it is. "Cept He just aint talkin at this time.

As far as asking Him for help in this, I have had toooooo many CHRISTIANS tell me to pray, ask, seek, etc - kinda exactly what I am doing here so I guess they are guilty of tempting God too. But anyways, even on this site as well as I have listenbed to testimonies of those who sought God for the right cvhurech fro them and they got showed. I am only asking for this to happen for me as well.

Unless theres no where for me to go anymore and its over as far as salvation goes.

I havent ruled that out at all - in fact, its pretty stong in my way thinking. some call it predestination I think.

sounds like a stuck record but it is until one way or the other it gets unstuck.


I apreciate the PMs but comparing church doctrines and interpretations of what is and is not how to get saved is not what I am looking for. Most everyone who believes sincerely in their church believes that their doctrines are the one. I have been thru that and am more confuzzled as to what is truth.

I need to be able to sit in a church and feel ok, safe, comfortable, cool with God, etc where I am at. Then I would know that that doctrine in that church is theone for me.

I call this my struggle but its also a prayer request thats awaiting answer.


I appreciate those who take the time to read this and offer up thoughts to God and those who even just shake their heads and ask God to do something and shut me up. thats at least something. but this aint a game with me - its very real and I am dead serious.

 

[heron]

Norm, I suspect this is too far south of you, but I know a wonderful pastor in Madera
http://www.faithwebsites.com/sysfiles/member/staff/staff.cfm?memberid=112


http://map.web.mapquest.com/?e=9&Ge...t5&@$:&az&hy2xu6$.907&u41au6$:&ur2u-a|&yt29@$


I find a certain comfort in a church not being a perfect match...I can't quite describe it, except that it keeps my expectations level and my autonomy intact. I no longer get swayed by odd doctrines.

It sounds as though you've been through some experiences that really sharpened your discernment. After that, I doubt you need to fear falling into the same trap, so you can trust yourself within many different churches.


I've found that times when God was silent as you describe, I later concluded that He was giving me extra-wide space to make decisions for myself. In those times, I was so fearful of making the wrong decision, that I took my Self totally out of the equation. I can't say what God is doing with you now, but don't be afraid that no answer means He's not paying attention. I think He wants you to be free to pick things on your own, without pressure or inner conflicts. You've already taken the bossy God route.


On another note--
You can approach the church not only with how it will support you, but why God might need you there. Maybe there are people who need your wisdom, experience, and warnings. Sometimes a traditional church is beginning to sense a move of the Spirit, but they don't know how to manage it. Your observations of what went wrong could be useful to them.

Jim suggested Lutheran churches, and that sounds like a good match... I would also suggest visiting some down-to-earth places like Salvation Army or (i was about to suggest Quaker or Mennonite, but they sound too much like holiness). The link above is Presbyterian.

Many cities have chapters of Full Gospel Businessmen (FGBMFI) which meet a couple times a month in restaurants ... they're a really pleasant source of fellowship--instant Christian friends without declaring a church. They usually ask one of the members to speak, and take prayer requests, and allow people to network a bit. (Women are welcome too.) The local group here also takes requests to visit businesses on site, to pray over them.

 

[Ave Maria]

Hi NORM

I would like to address your statement above. We need to be very careful that what we believe is what God has said to us in His Word-The Bible. I encourage a staring faith and belief in you, but let it be strong in The Lord.

To give you some basics, I will post a couple of creeds and confessions here. These are inportant because they are very scriptural. Through them we get direction for our faith.

APOSTLES' CREED


The Apostles' Creed is a brief statement of gospel truths taught by the apostles. It was not formulated by theologians, but out of the needs of the Christian church. Christians used it to tell others what they believed and also to confess their faith with one another as they met for worship.

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.





NICENE CREED



The Nicene Creed was written around a.d. 325 in defense of the true Christian faith. The Council at Nicea developed it, expanding on the deity of Christ, in order to safeguard the apostles' teaching.


We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is,
seen and unseen.


We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
and became fully human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate.
He suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who in unity with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The other things I wanted to post ae too lenghty, so I will post a link instead. If the link doesn't take you right to it, what I would like you to see is the statement on scripture.

http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?2617&collectionID=795&contentID=4440&shortcutID=5296

Actually all the ancient creeds use the word Catholic, not Christian. Most people will say that this means universal and that is even what this site says. Of course Catholics are Christians. That said, I would like to invite Norm to visit One Bread, One Body, the Catholic forum.

 

[VerdantTruth]

Er... this is just a small little comment. I struggle with faith too, justanobserver. I only really have one answer to "how can I trust..." so far. That would be "take His word for it". I don't know if that helps any. If He's God, and cannot lie, then when he says "believe in me and you shall have everlasting life", no matter what our understanding says, it must be true. Then we simply obey. Christianity made easy.

I think proverbs says something about not trusting your own feelings... or maybe it was understanding... because man is naturally deceitful.

(Shrug) Sorry if I haven't contributed anything to your line of thought.

As far as a church is concerned... the church is the body of Christ, his children. You can call this forum a church, I guess?

 

[justanobserver]

Just want to add this and then I am done.

here are some examples of I really did had/have faith in gettin an answer and what I got instead:

just over a yr ago I was praying for a home church. A customer I have dealt with many times drove up to pick up some duct work (I work in HVAC). On the back of his truck was the wording Jesus is the answer to sin, etc. I thought WOW! that was a quick answer from God. I asked Tim what church he went to thinking he would say "heres my church right around the corner and your welcome tonight at 7pm" or something like that. he didnt. he is not a christian - the words were on the truck when he bought it and he left it there.

Around the same time (praying/requesting prayer for a church) another contractor showed up for his order. I noticed Reggie wore a necklace with a Star of David and a Cross on it. I asked about his church, thinking God just sent this man to show me the Chruch finally. He was a christian (actually a lay minister) on the way out the door and eventually left church (as of the last time I seen him recently). The church he left was out of my area anyways.

Several months ago I was at the store, saw a lady picking out a particular type of ice cream. She saw me looking and we talked about ice cream and diabetes (I am type 2 as she was also). Topic changed to God. Again, I got excited thinking, ok, now I am gettin an answer to my prayer in the frozen food section. Cool! (pun intended) Turned out she was from out of town and couldnt tell me squat about churches around here, wished me luck and she left to the check out line.

Easter this year. I requested some here to pray, I prayed, etc for a church - the very next day there is a invite post card ad from a church about Easter services. I got excited thinking FINALLY!!! turns out this church was over an hour and half drive away (no car at the time either).

Another contractor at my job - he is a christian and when I asked about where does he go, he dont go to church but just believes. wouldnt suggest a church.

An employee from a company that buys from us - she is a believer and heard I was asking about God. I asked her where she goes - she doesnt due to "all churches are hypocritical and I should avoid them" (meaning all churches). but she loves Jesus and sais I dont need church to tell me how to be a christian.

startin to see why I am gettin a tad cynical?

continued...

 

[justanobserver]

the last of this:

I find out my bank manager is a christian and loves her church - but she goes to one in another town.

I get told by more than a few about I should go to Celebrate Recovery (christian AA/NA) - there are none in my immediate area and the leaders dont have anyone in my town that I can commute with (I emailed them). I would LOVE to go )been to one before down south) but none here.

Couple months ago I see on a certain church's website they have Celebrate Recovery (christian AA type) services in my city. I get real excited!!! theres none in my city at all. I call them. they stopped having it over a year ago and just aint got around to correcting the web site....

Another church that I got excited about, called only to find out their advertised recovery/support ministry stopped some months ago.

one dead end after another after another after another after......

I visited several here in my city (on my own - picked them out of the religious section of the newspaper or phonebook) - one I went to for about a month and half was a very very horrible experience, another one that was only a mile from me the pastor was too busy to just sit and talk and after 4 visits I stopped going (the church closed several months ago), another one I found in the newspaper - the pastor like the other was too busy to get together or even sit and talk after the service. I stopped going after 3 times. never heard from him. Another told me that they are not set up (as in a ministry or a body) to support those in recovery (he was nice about it at least) but couldnt recommend any.

this is why I am frustrated. and wondering what He is doing and why. When I pray or have others (like when I posted my prayer request in the non christian forum), I run into people that are believers but its a dead end - like a tease. just a tease. and for why would this happen? for what purpose? Or others will tell me of great churches that I would long to attend BUT are not in my area.

Maybe this will show why I am frutrated and wish to know what is going on with Him granting an anwer to such a little request - it wont cost Him but maybe a second of His time and I doubt any money out of the heavenly budget. With so many churches - baptist, lutheran, nazerene, four square, assembly of God, etc etc etc - maybe no one is really wrong and all are right too as long as they preach and teach and follow the basics - repent, faith, commttment???

anything else would be that particular church's flavor? Like the UPC preaches Acts 2:38 as the only way to be saved - but other churches preach that simple believing and quoting the Sinner Prayer is good enough to get saved. This is why I request His direction of my steps to where He wants me to be.

its like God saying, "Hey Gabriel - watch Me send Norm another dead end. Watch! He gets so excited. Wait. Wait. Heres the kicker - he dont know its another dead end!" and all heaven laughs.

good one God, I am laughing. ha.ha.

got to thinking - after I am done posting this gripe/whine/rant/struggle - think I am done. I really am tired. after a while when your knocking on a door an no one answers or rude when they do, you gotta wise up and stop knocking. I been dumb.

But I do really appreciate the input the thoughts/views expressed. Every post I read and I do thank you. sorry for those who may think this is just a whine or have no place here but I got something off my chest that meant something to me and how I felt/feel.

 

[heron]

Bummer! I can't believe you had so many dead ends. It almost seems that you're the strong one in that region... that your words might have sparked life and thinking in people you ran into...I know that's not what you wanted to hear, but your contacts have probably helped people with healing from bad experiences.

It still doesn't answer your prayer the way you expect. Except that maybe you should start up a Bible study yourself, and see who shows up...let it form into something.

One time I was feeling the same way about finding something for my young son to do out of the house, away from me. I saw an ad for a boy scout informational meeting--perfect.

When the sales pitch was over and it was time to sign up, the leader told me there were no leaders, but plenty of boys... if I wanted a troop, I needed to lead it. So much for getting my son out on his own. But it was a fun experience and I stumbled through it...still run into a couple of the guys now that they're older. I wasn't the ideal den mother, but we had a troop, and the guys felt like they belonged.

I'm not telling you this as a reprimand at all -- it's very sad to hear your story of so few possibilities. I just say, even if you don't have the confidence that you're at a knowledge or experience level to run something, big deal. It's better to be trained and skilled, but when there's nothing else... it's a happening.

Jesus sent disciples out after a short amount of time in training. Some were fishermen, not lifelong scholars.


How that could come about...
1.Set a date, a place -- your home? A place that strangers would feel safe coming.
2. Talk it up, put up a few flyers at the PO and convenience stores and pizza places.
3. Expect that the first few weeks, it might only be you and a friend. Keep praying for more to come.


I know, I know, you're looking for a church...