Why I have changed churches

In my previous blog I talked about how change is a rough thing. Well, one of the changes I have made is that I am no longer going to the church I had been going to for the last 7 years. This was a decision that I did not make on a manic fly (something I am really quite the expert at) but actually had been praying, and thinking, about for a long time.So did I do it because there was something wrong at my church? No…actually my old church is, and in some ways, still is a pretty good church. I just became very impressed that I didn’t belong their anymore…and no, before you jump to conclusions, it wasn’t because of a person nor some dramatic event that had occurred at some point in my stay at the church. If there was a reason….I left because:

• I needed to change: Up until April or May of 2007 I had become very comfortable in the mud I had gotten myself bogged into. The thing about getting bogged down in mud is that sometimes you don’t know that you are stuck in the mud until you are in a crisis. The divorce I went through was the "Crisis" point with me. It brought me to a place to get me to start facing realities and to be real with myself. I was stagnant both physically, emotionally and, sadly to say, spiritually also.

• I needed to separate:I had come to the conclusion that for me to move forward I needed to let go of my past. For me to stay at Oak Grove would be to hold on to my resentments and pretend I was someone I was no longer. (I’ll talk about that in a separate entry) For one thing it created an environment for both Tonya, my second wife, and I that would be very difficult for us to move forward and allow us to pursue new relationships and for us to be healthy emotionally.
• I needed to have something relevant: My last meeting with the Pastor of the church and the last couple of sermons I heard. It just became clear to me that I wasn’t going to get fed here. I mean what he was preaching was just plain weird and kooky and not relevant. In my own study I had begun to see a distinct pattern in scripture that early church worship centered around 2 things the table (Communion) and the Word. I saw that out of that came community. When you begin to equate work as a mark of true discipleship you get yourself into a real pickle both biblically and spiritually. (looks like I have the makings of an article here.)

So there you have it…my reasons for a change in churches. I am looking forward to seeing if this will generate some discussion….