The Church Thing

Yesterday we did the church thing. For those of you who don't know, this has been a big struggle for us because the church we've been attending teaches more opinion than Bible. If we hadn't committed to teach an adult SS class, we'd be gone. Instead, we teach the class and have a home fellowship time with another family. But yesterday, we visited another church.

Husband has had ties to a Horizon Fellowship for years and we have good friends also involved in one. Well, it turns out there is one near us, so we went. Several very, VERY shocking things happened.

First off, we were greeted by two 12 year old boys at the door. They had SMILES on their faces. What is WRONG with those boys? They are homeschooled, of course!

Next, we were greeted by EVERYONE! It was so nice and I know for a fact that I have never been to a "public" church where this has happened. Husband commented afterward that not one person asked about his job. Asking about a man's job is what (he says) men do when they don't really want to talk to you, but have to.

THEN...we sat down for the praise and worship--actually we stood up--for an HOUR! They sang for an HOUR...ANNNNDDDDD they didn't sing songs about ME...ME...ME...They sang about God and heavenly things--even a HYMN, of all things! Absolutely astounding.

And it gets better. The teaching time was another HOUR. AND went OVER! AND did I mention it was BIBLE teaching AND that there were CHILDREN PRESENT! Can you hear the shocking sarcasm in my typing! I'm trying to be VERY CLEAR here!! Well, there's more.

We talked with the pastor and his wife after and I asked her if anyone homeschooled there. We didn't know about the 2 boys at the door yet. She replied that she did..."Oh, WE ALL DO!" She added. I like ta' had a heart attack right then and there. All the parents homeschool. Of course, it all made sense. The presence of children, the smiles on everyones faces. The proclaiming of God's Word and heavenly things.

Now I don't mean to imply that non-homeschoolers are not capable of these things. Please forgive me if that notion creeps out. It's just this seems like homeschooling NORMAL. These things are what I've come to know and believe in most Christ-centered homeschool families. We've had so much opposition to it at our "public" church. The pastor there actually told us that the most important thing to teach our children was how to talk to adults so that they can grow up and be successful. How sad is that?

So what propelled us (finally) out the door? Most protestants may not be aware that Lent is actually NOT in the Bible and has pagan origins. But more than their desire to "observe" it, they have decided to have a huge board put up with every families name so that they can record what you are "giving up" for Lent and then hold you accountable for it publicly. SOUNDS LIKE THE OPRAH SHOW TO ME! Ick. Well, I have pretty strong thoughts on all this and I'm trying not to pour them all out here and offend everyone who reads, but our desire is just for the things of God and Him alone. This other made-up religious stuff is just too made-up. God's "stuff" is good enough for me.

We are very happy we attended this other church and hope to go back really soon. It was such a blessing "giving up" my Sunday for true worship and true fellowship.