I realized it has been a while since I have posted anything, I am not very consistent. I spend a lot of time on Facebook these days, being nosey about other people’s lives, I find it fascinating. While reading over my past blogs, I realize how much I change my mind about things. How my opinions change, my views change and how I am NOT a creature of habit. The last post about church was in January and here it is, only April, and things are much different. Well, THINGS are not  much different. I am different. But the same as the past. Does that make sense. No. Sorry.

I seem to have a real problem. I don’t fit in with any church that I have been in except our “home church” and Bible study group that we were once a part of. We still associate with that group on a limited basis, but many have moved away, some I still see on Facebook and a few we still have coffee with occasionally and discuss the Bible. Mostly we sit around and discuss the way things used to be or the way we think things ought to be in churches today. Some would think we are just a bunch of critics. I agree.  I think the problem is me. I am not a creature of habit. I am not content with routine. Never have been. I get upset when people do things out of habit and not because they really want to. It bothers me that people do not  know what the Gospel is, who have been in church all their lives. It bothers me that they don’t care to know either. It bothers me that they are content with using fluff  Sunday School literature and not interested in in-depth Bible study. It bothers me that I am bothered by this and am not doing my own Bible study lately, letting my job take over my life.

I don’t have any answers except reminding myself that this guilt I have about needing to be involved in an organization called church comes from the early years when I was guilted into attending every rat killin’ that was going on. Appalachian traditions abound around here. And in me.

I haven’t posted about church in a while, but we have been attending somewhere that finally feels like a good fit for us. Still traditional enough for me, and does not have alot of “non-church related” programs (which makes hubby happy).  We joined yesterday. I wouldn’t consider us “joiners,” as we feel all saved people are members of THE CHURCH, but that’s just the way things are done around here; you must be a member to serve or feel like you are a part of the fellowship. So now we are, and we are already being asked to serve in this capacity or that. Our prayer is to be a blessing to others; we know nothing we do can earn our favor with God because He says our righteousness is as filthy rags. Out of love for Him, we want to help others get to know Him better, whether it’s through music or teaching, or just ministering to the sick and elderly.

It’s been a while. Since last posting, we have been attending another church, which is working out fairly well. Traditional enough for our tastes, still preaching the Gospel, and  a pastor who spends his time visiting and witnessing.

We made it through Christmas without too much grief. Zak ended up with with what he wanted, of course, even though it was more than we had planned to spend. He got the Guitar Hero World Tour for XBox 360. It is a lot of fun, I have to admit. I like pretending I can sing some of those old hits from the 70’s and 80’s. This year, we just drew names at my mom and dad’s. That was great, only one gift each to buy, instead of 6.  And guess what, it was no different than the past years when everyone spent hundreds of dollars, except there was nothing to return and nothing to laugh about (like Zak still getting gifts that are more appropriate for small children – people forget he’s A MAN now). And Jay getting a shoebox full of Sugar Daddies because noone knows what to get him. Dad of course sent me on the yearly trek to find mom’s gift from him, and after criticizing him for having me do his shopping, mom remembers she has something for him in the closet and brings it out in a Walmart bag. His response was “do you want to save this wrapping paper?” Gotta love ‘em.

Well, we went back to Contemporary Church today.  The music is so contemporary. No hymns or choruses at all that I know.  Hubby has even commented that he doesn’t like the music, when origianally he didn’t really care.  Message was about worship and celebration. The pastor, who is a fairly quiet reserved man, taught that we should use our bodies more in worship. He mentioned clapping, dancing, shouting. He doesn’t really do this himself, as he feels uncomfortable with it, but yet he feels the need to tell others that maybe that’s what worship should involve. As mentioned before, we are not comfortable with this public display of emotion, whether it’s called worship or a football game, that’s just not who we are. Does that mean we love God less? I don’t think so. Does it mean they please God more with that type of worship? I don’t think so. Worshiping in spirit and truth, in my mind, means in sincerity and with a humble heart we focus on what God has done for us and praise Him for it, in our own way. Do I think they are wrong? No. I guess we are back on a church finding mission.

To spare you all the boring details, we had a great time. Daytona. Oceanfront condo. Free (owned by a friend). Lots of good food. Otherwise, anything else I say will be boring. That’s what we were, a boring old couple with 20 years of experience at trying to entertain others, but this time we just hung out by the beach, or in the shade by the pool. This was our time. We enjoyed it. Now we’re back home, workin’ on another 20. Love ya Honey.

After about 20 years of church-searching, my world-view of what Christianity is all about has definitely changed and continues to change. My faith has not changed. As a matter of fact, through it all, my faith has grown exponentially. I will attempt to give you a synopsis of these last few years. This article is a work in progress and may change occasionally as I remember points that need to be added.

I was saved at the age of 7 in a Freewill Baptist Church in the moutains of East Tennessee. I had heard about Jesus all my life at that point, but that night the preacher spoke and I don’t remember much now except that I didn’t want to go to Hell and I knew I was a sinner and if I didn’t ask Jesus into my heart, I would end up in Hell one day. So I went down and said whatever prayer he told me to say, with the most sincere heart I could have at age 7 and I believe that day God saved me and continued to teach me His ways over the years until finally at age 40 I am beginning to understand Him. In other words, at that point in my life I knew ABOUT Him, but over time I have come to KNOW HIM.

At age 10, we moved to another town and began attending an Independent Baptist Church. I can’t say that I saw much difference in these two churches except the first one had Foot Washing Services about once every 3 to 6 months. As a child, I thought that was really cool. All the ladies went into a room where the chairs were lined around the wall and there were a lot of tubs of water and the ladies would take turns putting their feet in the water and the other ladies would rotate around washing each ones feet. Strange thing is, I don’t remember any soap and I remember that no one took off their panty hose. You know, in the 70’s, everyone wore their hose to church as far as I can remember.

So anyway, back at the Independent Baptist Church. I just remember having to follow a lot of rules. Never ever would you wear pants to church. No dancing. No alcohol. TV was discouraged, the preacher didn’t have one at first but eventually his 5 kids begged hard enough until they did get one. Church services were very boring and bland, same songs every week. No one in the choir would smile, they looked so depressed. I took piano lessons at school and would play and sing sometimes, always very nervous but I loved to sing more than I loved to eat – and that’s a lot. I just realized in the last few years that I really can’t sing, but I still like to try.

After getting married, we moved around to 3 or 4 different churches. The church I came from would show up and ask where we were if we missed a service, so that didn’t go over too well with my new husband, who was a Christian, but did not grow up going to the church everytime the doors were open. From there, we started attending Southern Baptist Churches. They were less legalistic and usually big enough that we blended in and if we weren’t there, no one asked where we were the week before. In other words, we could “lay out” anytime we didn’t feel like going.

So finally after floating around for about 10 years we ended up at Mega Baptist Church (name changed to protect the innocent).  While there, we found a couple of excellent teachers who were really teaching the Bible, not just Bible stories. It was finally all coming together for me. I heard for the first time that Jesus was God in the flesh; I had always heard He was God’s son, but I don’t think it had ever “dawned on me” that God was here in person (aka Jesus).  The more we learned about the Bible, the more we began to notice things that were going on in the church that didn’t seem Biblical. Mostly to do with money, building projects, marketing services and techniques being purchased for tens of thousands of dollars.  So we left Mega Baptist Church.

From there, we went to Big Baptist Church. The preaching was great, the people were friendly, we liked the music (some traditional, some modern). Problem – they were doing the same thing with a building program. Long story short, from there we moved on down the road t Independent Baptist Church.  The pastor was/is wonderful. The teaching  and doctrine are very sound. We were very disapointed though when we found out they were also using marketing techniques to get people to give to their building program, even to the point of having the kids color a picture of a piggy bank showing the money floating from the piggy to the church building. We couldn’t believe this was happening.  We left and didn’t go to church anywhere for about a year.

We ended up back at Independent Baptist Church where I grew up. We went to visit and the pastor there was a Bible scholar, loved studying and his sermons really showed that he studied a lot; his wife was very friendly and we became close friends. After a good 18 months or so there, the pastor was basically being run over by the deacons and he decided to leave when he saw he was not getting anywhere and never would as long as these 2 men (brothers) were in charge (they considered it their church as they were the ones who started it 30 years before).

From there, we visited another IBC near our home where the pastor was a friend of the previous pastor from previous church. Again, being back in IBC, we are in a dress everytime you step into the church for anthing, people act totally different when they are away from the building. Anyway, a friend of ours was teaching a Bible study class there and because he didn’t believe that the KJV of the Bible was THE inspired version, the pastor told him he could not teach there anymore. They believe the translators were inspired and that no one can be saved with any other version of the Bible. So my question is, how did people get saved before 1611 when the translation took place? AND how do people get saved that don’t speak English?

So, for over a year we have been “churchless.” We attended a Missionary Baptist Church near our house one day, out of curiosity because it would be a shame to miss a good church right down the street, right??? Wow! The guy was yelling and screaming so bad he was wheezing between every 3 or 4 words. No kidding. I thought I was gonna have to do CPR right there and I wouldn’t have to go far because he was coming down the aisle towards us periodically. They all went up to pray and some lady started wailing and holding her hands in the air out of the blue. It was fairly chaotic. The whole time the preacher was “preaching,” there were men on the front praying loudly and the preacher kept telling them to “pray it down.” He said “if you have a preacher that has to use notes to preach you better get out of there.” The men in the front were praying for God to give him the words he needed. What happened to reading the Bible, I say. God is not the author of confusion.

Anyway, our current endeavor has led us to “Contemporary Church” which is totally unlike anything I thought I would be attending. We have been fairly critical of anything contemporary for several years because of our background. Usually contemporary means “anything goes.” And usually contemporary means charismatic,so when we found this church website we were very hesitant to try it out. The thing that roped us in was small groups that meet in homes. We like that kind of atmosphere, laid back, no getting dressed up and pretending to be something you’re not. So were we surprised after attending two services so far, that we just might fit in here. I’m not crazy about the contemporary music. Well, actually I like the music as long as the message reflects Christ and not some “generic god.” It’s the swaying and hand raising that makes me uncomfortable. Kinda like hugging and kissing. I don’t do much of that. I’m not a physical person. But the thing is, the people who were doing this had already introduced themselves to us and they were the nicest people you’d ever ask to meet. Several people surrounded us and wanted to know where we were from, what we do for a living, invited us to their small groups. Funny how God is teaching me that people worship in all different ways and it’s not my place to figure them out. I just need to find my place in this vast sea of believers, one where I can build relationships that matter, and one where I can serve and be a blessing to others. I think we’ll give it a try.

Elmer and I took a road trip Friday to Cherokee, NC to see Harrah’s Casino. I had been there, but it was a long time ago. Wow has it changed! There is a new Hotel there in the same vicinity, which means they had to buy out half the town center and move roads to get it done. When I went before, I just played the nickle machines and was able to play on 20 dollars for several hours. We tried those out when we got there, but we didn’t really understand the concept of random chance and it was boring, so we moved to the quarter machines where we could play poker – at least you get to hold some cards and choose some more. That kept us entertained for a while and we ended up spending 10 bucks each for about 2 hours of entertainment. They were having a drawing for a thousand dollar prize and 1500 dollar prizes every 20 minutes that day. It was not our lucky day but we had fun anyway.

From there, we drove back to the Bingo hall. We got there about 6 pm and asked the guy “how does this work?” He was going to sell us a pack of bingo cards for 10 dollars and they were not going to start that series until 7pm. The prizes looked pretty good and there were lots of people there already. We knew we had a 2 hour drive back, so we decided to go back sometime when we are prepared to stay late.

Rather than go back to the interstate and home, we decided to drive back through Gatlinburg. Of course, I got us lost and we ended up in Bryson City, NC (amost) and had to turn around a go back. It was a very nice drive though. The drive over the mountain back to Gatlinburg was breathtaking. The view was worth the whole trip.

Gatlinburg was busy with multitudes of tourists and we just drove through and got the heck out of there. Once back in Pigeon Forge we were a little hungry but not enough to stop and wait to eat somewhere, so we decided to have just dessert and coffee and Starbucks. Good choice, it was great, especially since I’ve been dieting all week.  I asked Elmer if she has ever driven 200 miles for a Starbucks. Maybe we should contact the company, they might put us on a commercial or something.

Maybe next week we will actually play Bingo – I hear you can do that in Middlesboro which  is a little closer to us. All the money they get from Bingo card fees goes to charity. Not a bad deal.

The Summer Olympics in China are dominating the TV this weekend.

I was trying to come up with something funny from my day and the best I can think of was the guy who said to me “they say I have a psychotic nerve problem.” He was referring to sciatic nerve pain in his low back going down into his leg. His wife started laughing and I had to try and keep a straight face while he continued to tell me about his pain.

Please always double check your medication bottles when you pick them up at the pharmacy. I had a patient today who had been prescribed a particular type of insulin which is a combination of long and short-acting insulin. The pharmacy sent her home with the short-acting insulin and instructions to give herself 50  units of it three times a day. This is a huge amount of short -acting insulin and could have killed her. Luckily, her blood sugar was very very high when she did it. I called the pharmacy to confirm, and they did admit they had made a mistake, so it wasn’t the patient who was confused.

Just wanted to post a link to our Bible study blog page

http://2morrow2.blogspot.com/