A new start

It's great to ponder and think about things, and it's great to talk about what you're thinking and get input from others, but it's still hard to beat the written word when it comes to wanting to touch a wider audience and get input and feedback from a wider community (even internationally). Thus I jump right into the deep end and start this new blog...

Basically, I'm bored with "church". I've been going to church for something like forty years, and it's become "same old, same old." So why not just transfer to another church? No, I'm not talking about one particular church -- I'm talking about the typical Western church culture. Sing some songs, announcements and offering, sermon, and then home for Sunday lunch. It just bores me now...

I've been fortunate to have a ministry that takes me into a number of different churches from a range of denominations. They  have different names on the door and their songs and music do vary according to the congregation, but it's still the same old Sunday morning format, and don't dare go over the time or the wristwatch peeking starts all over the auditorium and the handbags move from under the chairs up onto the knees!  (Truly, I watched it from the back of a big auditorium just the other week.)

Yes. I still get challenged in the pew sometimes. And yes, I don't know everything the Bible says, so I still learn new things. I'm certainly not trying to say that it's a "dead" format -- actually church seems very functional as a God-based social fellowship amongst other things (and that is important). But I've pretty much heard the typical sermons all before and frankly, I learn much more about God and the Bible during the week and on Sunday afternoons at home. Church isn't stimulating for me, and I'm guessing from listening to others that it's not an uncommon feeling.

So that's my introduction, and enough for my cold fingers this morning. A new blog is born and we'll see where it takes us...