Went to Church after a long time! And enjoyed it!

Thanks Trish Steele for inviting me to go to “In His Presence Church” this Sunday. 

I grew up as a Christian in a Seventh Day Adventist Christian family. My family and I were regular churchgoers till I was about 10-12 years old when my dad moved out of the mission to start his private business. Even though I read the Bible and prayed through Christ every morning and night, including saying grace before every meal, church-going was optional. Over time, going to Church became less frequent.

I started becoming more universal, which I considered to be a good thing. I did not feel brain washed by the family tradition of Christian religion.  I made friends in all faiths and enjoyed their company and learned a lot of good things their faiths offered. I liked my life and my attitude of being more accepting and inclusive of all people and religions.  I still like that about myself.  I am very open to meeting and spending time with all people; their religious preference has never been a filter for me. I usually do not even ask or think about asking what religion someone belongs to.

I married a guy who came from a family that lived by Hindu philosophy, and he did not follow any religion

himself. He was cool about my Christian background and his non-religion did not affect me adversely.  So, I continued to pray through Christ pretty much all through my married life and our difference in faith never became a problem. Even through our divorce religion was not a source of conflict.

So, my conviction that there are good people in all religions became stronger over time. The fact that the Bible says you will go to hell if you do not accept Christ as your savior was becoming a question in my mind.  If there is actually a Heaven and a Hell to go to after death, how could all the amazing people in the world go to hell because they did not accept Christianity?  I do not want to believe that still.

The constant conflict over this one question and not going to church regularly, combined with my universal acceptance and spirituality, moved me farther from the church. Whenever I did go to church, many times I felt like the business aspect of most churches I went to made me feel like I was wasting the time and effort that I made to go to church.

In His Presence Church was different.  It was fun! It started like a rock concert with lively gospel songs. The preacher kept the sermon focused, informative and intelligent. It made me think and contemplate. It made sense. It did not feel like a lecture expecting obedience.

I dressed up in church proper attire. It was nice to be in a community where how you dress was not so important. Everyone was enjoying reading the Bible, singing and learning in a relaxed atmosphere. 

Church can actually be fun!

Veera