Church pull....

God has finally answered my prayer on a church. I went through a period of time where I wondered where I belonged as far as church was concerned. See my grandparents were Seventh Day Adventists and every summer we would visit them, that's what church we would go to. But during the rest of the year, nothing! Our parents didn't attend church. So when I grew up, I wasn't a church goer. I believed in what I knew about God that I had learned from my grandparents but that was only in the summer so it wasn't constant knowledge.

So the older I got, religion hit me at different times, but not enough to invest and form a relationship with God.  The 1st time was after I had my 1st son and his father had proposed to me. We felt, as did his father, that it was best to try to put things the way God would have wanted things to go. That was a mistake! To make matters worse, the pastor who married us, shouldn't have. Any good pastor knows if you can't meet with the couple for counseling to make sure it is right in God's eyes, you shouldn't marry them. But he did and well needless to say we had one more child and the marriage didn't work out. The 2nd time, I recall, was in the middle of the marriage. Someone had advised me to pray and read regarding my troubled marriage. I did begin to do this and it seemed to only make matters worse. So I stopped. Things progressed and the divorce occurred.

Life kept moving. When I look back, not as I had hoped it would. You know with joy and happiness.
Then I came to a job and met someone I knew about 10 yrs ago. At this point I was questioning why I even considered myself a Seventh Day Adventist. We talked alot about God and I began to go to a church he told me about. Needless to say, I flourished at this church. I got to get a relationship with God. I even developed a relationship with a young lady who helped me in my walk. If only I had of clung to God and to what she was telling me. Eventually I started having bad dreams about my current church and I felt I was being told it was time to go. So I left and went back to the Seventh Day Adventist Church. I was there a while. I was on my path with God. There were things I wanted and it was hard waiting for them. Then I met someone, whom at the time I thought God had sent into my life. I was warned by my friend. But I didn't see what I was supposed to see. I believe now that I was blinding myself because of what I wanted, which I though would never come and I wasn't getting any younger!

Even that relationship didn't work. But the one precious thing that came out of it was my son. I will never regret him. I do regret falling out of my relationship with God. So I had come to a point where I craved having that relationship again. And I started to read and listen to sermons, but I was not in church. I started again to try and figure out why I was a Seventh Day Adventist. Was is because my family was? Mostly yes, as I really didn't know alot about SDAs. So once again being on that journey led me to NOT wanting to go back to the SDA church. I started to feel like I was sick of denominations. Can't we just praise and worship God with saying, "well I am a SDA, or I am pentecostal, etc." I had visited a church when I was in Columbus that I enjoyed. But I couldn't find one like it where I live. So I prayed on it. I even asked my friend about churches and she suggested a church to me. But nothing was moving me to go to any of these churches.

I needed a church home! I didn't want SDA...I didn't want Baptist or any other. I wanted a church that was going to praise and worship God and teach me about HIM.....

So last week, I was changing the AM station. I was sick of any type of music. ( Had only been listening to classical and some gospel. I had even started listening to this other station called The Fish. Christian music. So as I was changing the AM station, I heard this voice. I had heard it sometime ago. I stopped the searching and went back to this voice. I listened and listened. (There was the faint sound of an arrow hitting the bulls eye.) The next day I listened again. And the next day after that. Then I started listening while I worked. Who is this man? Where is he at?

I found out about him. His name is Alistair Begg. The 1st time long ago when I heard him, it was his accent that caught my attention. Although I still enjoy his accent, it was much more this time. Hi sermon was piercing me. It was hitting me right where it was supposed to. I needed to find out where he is. Is he accessible? YES....the church is 30 minutes drive from me. I was excited. I was going to visit this church on Sunday.

And that is exactly what I did. I enjoyed it. Alistair was not there as he is traveling Wales, but it was still nice. What I like about this church? 1. Whatever sermon they are preaching, the bible verses that go with it, they take each verse. Like this Sunday was Power in Weakness. And the bible verse was 2 Corinthians 4:7-12. So each verse was examined.  2. This church is non-denominational. I just want to worship, praise and learn about God without telling you that I am anything besides a Christian.

I will be going back. I can't wait for Alistair to be there. But I am glad I still enjoyed it when he wasn't it. It's not supposed to be about the pastor. It is about the Word that is being delivered and believe me, the Word of God was being delivered.

I don't know how long God will keep me there but at this point, I don't care. I want and need to learn about my Father. My life is not the same without HIM.

So thank you Lord, for answering my prayer for a church.....Until we talk again......