No More Church Shopping

I have been church shopping though not very fervently. (I had only visited one church before today.) The first church I went to seemed okay but the people seemed too dorky. That's probably not a good or politically correct way to judge a church. Anyway, today I visited my second church- City of Refuge. I went with a fellow Ywam alum named Dinah. It's a really cool church.

Most churches seem to be very segregated. White people go to church with other white people, Black people with other black people, Koreans with other Koreans, etc, etc. I definitely don't think this is how God intended things to be. I was thinking about how when I get married, I will invite friends from all different times in my life- childhood, college, camp, work, YWAM, etc. I would prefer to see my friends from different areas all mingling and getting to know each other at my wedding instead of separated into their various groups. I think God may feel like that. He wants to see all the people who know Him mingling together and not segregating themselves.

This church is mostly black or white but there are also plenty of Asians and Hispanics. It seems more like what Heaven will be like- All of us worshiping together. The preaching was good. I have served as a full-time missionary and been to a lot of churches. I am a bit of a snob about church services. Some preachers pick one little verse from the Bible and then spend all their time trying to stretch the short verse into a 20 minute ten-point sermon. I prefer a sermon that focuses more on the Bible verses so that I come away with a greater understanding of the meaning of the passage. This guy also had a sense of humor and an obviously big heart. He mentioned a couple of people in the church who were struggling with hard stuff in their lives and we prayed for them right there. It made it feel like a family.

So, it looks like my church shopping is over, thankfully not long after it started. Unfortunately I will be out of town for a couple of weeks but I am excited to go back when I get a chance.