Religion vs. Church

I want to fore worn all of my couple of blog readers out there about this next post.  This is my opinion and only my opinion, but that is why I blog, right?  I have been really thinking lately about the church I attend and the reason I attend every Sunday.  Let me give you a little background on my "Religion/Church Experiences" growing up....

I grew up Catholic, attended Catholic school, and a Catholic college.  I went to church every Sunday growing up with my parents, whom are both Catholic.  But once college hit I never went to church except when I was home for the holidays with my family.  There were a couple of reasons that led to this and maybe some of you will understand where I am coming from.  1)  I had so many unanswered questions about the Catholic faith and why they did things the way they did that no one could ever answer or perhaps I felt it was shunned against me to even question the Catholic faith.  2) I never understood why they didn't have a great pre-school aged bible study group every Sunday for the younger children.  It does not make sense to me the make a child sit through a service that they do not understand all while you have to kneel, stand, and sit all through the service.  Would you put a three year old or perhaps a ten year old in a high school math class, no because they wouldn't be able to handle it.  I have always thought that was crazy to make children sit through a church service when they could be learning about Jesus at their own level.  Plus as a parent you can not focus on the message because you are so worried about keeping your child quiet.

So now you can see I pretty much put "Church" on hold for about 10 years.  Then one day last year our little man got really sick and had an unknown cause and an unknown cure.  So what do we as humans start to do....start to pray.  To whom...Jesus the Lord to help us through this tough time.  When in fact I had no idea if he even knew my name anymore or perhaps would even listen to me.  Somehow our little Bronx pulled through and to this day I truly believe it was a miracle from the Lord, which then brought myself closer to Jesus and understood for SURE that there was a higher power out there and no human being could ever do anything themselves.  Bronx was sick for a reason and I think it was a way the Lord was tapping me on the shoulder saying, "this is your time to come back."  And without any hesitation I heard him loud and clear!

"Our way to Faith"

Well while we were in the hospital my dad was taking care of Lunden for a couple of weeks, yes just the two of them,  he decided to take Lunden to church.  He knew there were a couple of churches down the street from our house so they popped into one.  He thought it was the Catholic Church, but he ended up going to Newspring, which is a non-denominational church.  Lunden and him were a little late so they sat in the balcony section and listened to the band play before Pastor Mark started his lecture.  Now if you know my dad he is a die hard Catholic.  He couldn't believe what a great message Pastor Mark gave that day, he said it was all about family.  When he came to the hospital that day to visit he said we should really check it out and that Lunden loved it.  They got to church to late to check Lunden into Kidzworld, but next time we should really give it a whirl.

The Sunday we got out of the hospital we decided to try it out and low and behold Nick and I loved it.   The message was great and are always great, the kidzworld for kids is amazing and they learn so much every Sunday, the band is phenomenal, and there is nothing like a great coffee shop offering wonderful treats before you enter the service into the comfy theater seating.  And you actually get to sit through the whole lecture and get to pay attention to the service, every WORD because your kids are in kidzworld.

Why isn't every church like this?  Why don't all churches focus on the kids?  They main reason I love this church is because they are totally against RELIGION and believes it has corrupted our world.  Which I totally agree with.  They are totally focused on Jesus, the Lord and how strong a person's Faith is based totally upon the BIBLE.  I used to believe we as people needed to try to get better in our daily lives and God will than accept us.  I don't believe this anymore.  God loves us unconditionally and it is not for us to judge others as they have done wrong.  I have so many friends that are such hypocrites when it comes to their Religion and what they believe.  If they or you are a true Christian than you should walk the walk and not just talk the talk with the Lord.  Treat people as you would like to be treated and accept everyone for who they are.  The Bible is not a book to learn about Religion it is a book to learn about Jesus, or perhaps Dr. Jesus.  He has all the time in the world for us.  Do you know who is engineering what is happening in your life?  It's not Religion or your church it's Dr. Jesus himself.  He knows every step you have made, are about to make, or will make.

God wants a big family!  You may hate God, but there is nothing you can do about it because he loves you unconditionally!  If you are in the Wichita area and have the chance you should really experience Judgement House.  This is awesome and life changing.  It is a 59 minute skit focused on four different lives and what takes place 59 minutes before each one of them die unexpectedly as well as what takes place after they have passed away.  It is for all ages 6 and older and I truly believe it will open your eyes and you will think about every move you make, who you have talked to, how you say good-bye to your family members before you walk out that door each day and how you treat your family members all wrapped up in the final 59 minutes of your life.

As you have read this blog I am sure you have many thoughts for or against my personal thoughts.  But one thing I will leave with you.......if you were to die 59 minutes from reading this blog WHERE WOULD YOU BE?  AND WHAT DID YOU DO OR HOW HAVE YOU ACTED IN THE PAST 59 MINUTES?