relevant expression

What's going on?

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Fri, 22 May 2009 02:36:00 +0000

Hey everyone. I have been bad the past couple of months in the blogging world. I have had to put a couple of priorities before the blogging. I finished my last class and started running and exercising. So between the running and the studying I have not had a lot of extra time.

Everything is going well though. I ran a half-marathon last weekend and finished my class a couple of weeks ago. I am taking the summer off from school so I can spend some more time with my family this summer as they will be off from school as well.

I have added some pictures of some things that have been happening lately.

First Love

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:31:00 +0000

Being in ministry and also being a Christian for awhile now, I see something that many believers face. I get irritated by it, but then realize that I make the same mistake. That mistake is forgetting our first love.

Revelation 2:3-5
3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

We all do it or have done it. We get so excited as new believers, but as life happens we forget about our real priority which should be in Jesus Christ.

Shame on us! It’s not God’s fault. He is not less amazing. He is not less omniscient. He is not less exciting. He is not less powerful. He is still God. He has never changed. We have changed. We have forgotten our first love. Yes we have done very good things in the past, we have “endured hardships” for Christ name, and not grown weary, but we have forgotten what it is really about. “Our life is but a vapor”, so we must live it to the fullest for Christ.

Any thoughts? Please comment.

What exactly do I do?

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:49:00 +0000

I have been asked this question a lot in my 11 years of ministry. I think this is a common question to anyone when we are not exactly sure what their “job” consist of. I have asked this question to many people in other professions when I am ignorant of what they do.

It is no different as a Worship Pastor of a church. I think most people think that I listen to music everyday and play the guitar in my office 24/7. Then on the weekends I get up and sing. Although I wish that would be true sometimes, that is not the case.

I remember as a kid always asking my dad what he did as he was a Music Pastor as well. It wasn’t until I started into ministry that I understood the complexity of ministry. So I thought I would just throw a little of what I do as well as many of my other Pastoral peers. Many of the things I do ring true for many of the other people on our team at Bridgepoint Church and other churches.

My main job description is to oversee the workings of the weekend services as well as lead and shepherd the people that are involved in that as well. This spans from the music, sound, media, creative elements, transitional elements and the ebb and flow of the services. Every element big and small falls into my jurisdiction. I work hand in hand with our Senior Pastor under the vision and direction that God has given him for our church. All of these functions require man volunteers and creative thought and help. There is no way I can do all the things we do at Bridgepoint without the teamwork of other people who are sold out to the ministry.

Because of the type of ministry we have at Bridgepoint, we have many volunteers that are involved in this ministry. Due to having 3 services a weekend, we need many volunteers so that we never burn individuals out. So instead of having just 1 electric guitarist, we need 3 or 4. Instead of having 1 sound tech, we need 4 or 5, and so on for every ministry. With all of these ministries there can easily be 100 people involved in rotations and different aspects of ministries. There are 3 seperate bands, 4 different types of vocal ministies, sound techs, media, lighting, production directors, a creative team, and other ministries that all are on a rotation schedule. This requires a lot of communication and planning. Fortunately I have a lot of good help in this area, and have many good lay leaders that help as well. So much of my time is taken up in communication and developing relationships, which is awesome, because that is what I really love. I am also blessed with some help from an administrative assistant named Brenda Fick that helps with some of the communication.

What I do love about what God has called me to do, is I get to do many different things. But what I am learning is God is calling me to first and foremost shepherd people. Yes I love music and I love the area of worshipping through music. I believe that God has gifted me in this area but even more importantly than that, I believe God has called me to Pastor people.

My main job is not to do everything as a Pastor. I am not supposed to sing all of the solos, play every instrument, make every video, make all of the cool graphics, paint every room, lead every group, and come up with all of the cool ideas on my own, and so on. My goal is to empower the people that God has placed in my path to excel in the gifts that God has given them. My main job is to build the people up and empower them to utilize their gifts to their full potential and be the light of the World. Yes there are certain things that God has gifted me as well to do, and I might be the only one to do it, but in most cases there are others that can do it way better than me, so I would be a fool to try to do it on my own. It is usually easier to do many things on my own, but it is not always best.

This is just a portion of what I do and the other Staff at Bridgepoint Church. This doesn’t include all of the leadership meetings making decisions for the church, emailing, visiting people, communications to all ministries, emailing, hanging out with people and counseling them, trying to spend time with the people in your ministry, emailing, weekend preparation, music research and selections, charting music, emailing, media research, a ton of miscellaneous things, dealing with people that are upset(sometimes with me), emailing, sharing with people’s joys and excitement, , emailing, and so on. All of these things I love(except for the upset people on occasion).

My point is that ministry is probably a lot like many of your vocations. There is always something to do. There is never enough time in the day. It is a balancing act between ministry and my home ministry with my family. Both are hugely important. I love what I am called to do. I am very blessed.

I will tell you that our Senior Pastor Jeff Love does what I do and add much more as well. I could write another entry about that some day and just fill some of you in with the enormity of his ministry. The other staff that I work with work insanely hard as well.

I love to talk about what I do, but I would also love to know what you do as well. Many times we have no clue what other people do and how hard they really work. It is very interesting. So that is some of what I do and love.

30 Days No Regrets Conviction

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:41:00 +0000

Our church is doing a sermon series asking us what would are life be like if we only had 30 days left to live. And the thinking is that we should implement many of those things in our life now.

One thing that I am in the middle of being convicted about is spending time with my family. I am been so busy, just like all of us. (I barely ever talk to someone who is not busy.) I always have to fight for time for my family, because other really good things get prioritized before them sometimes.

On Saturday, I was able to take a Saturday night off from church, and our family literally spent the entire day together. We went to the kids Basketball games, then to a dollar movie, and then we went to a restaurant that we would never go to, but we were fortunate to receive a gift card from some great people. At the end of the night, Cassi told my wife that she had the best day of her life. Yes we did some fun things, but I think more importantly we just spent some quality and quanity time together.

I think we have to have both the quality and quanity time with our family. Both are important. I pray this is an area I can improve in.

Do any of you ever struggle with that issue?

"Radically Unchurched"

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 19:55:00 +0000

I just finished my class, and one of the books I read was called "Radically Unchurched". It started off with some interesting facts. The author told us that only 29% of Americans are considered practicing Christians. This number he said was a generous number. 30% of people in America are christian in name only. That means they have no evidence of any faith. Then, over 41% of all people in America are unchurched. They have no religious affiliation at all. This poll was taken about 10 years ago, so I would assume that percentage has gone up.

The next statistic given is that 80% of churches in America are stagnant. (no growth) Also less than 1% of churches growing in America are growing by conversion growth. That means that many churches are not growing, and many of the ones that are actually growing are mainly from transfer growth. They are growing from gaining believers from other churches.

This should be staggering statistics for Christians. Another question that was asked in the book is, "Is your church more aptly described as a hotel for saints, or a hospital for sinners?

Are our churches designed more for taking believers from other churches, or are we designed more for people to come to know Christ? Don't get me wrong, our churches should never neglect discipling already believers in Christ, but we must never forget about the 41% plus of the people in America that have no relationship with Christ.

When you think about church are you more concerned about the programs that will personally benefit you, or are you more concerned about being part of a church that is seeing people won to Christ? Just a thought.

Latest Health Update

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:45:00 +0000

I was really excited this morning, because I hit my goal of loosing over 20 pounds this morning. More importantly I have lost a lot of inches, which is important to me, because I mainly want to just be healthy. So I started about at 197, and this morning was at 175.

I just have to praise God, because I have never had the discipline ever to be do this, but I really have given it over to the Lord. He has given me the ability to change my eating and exercising.

I hope I don't come across bragging. The only reason I am saying this is maybe to inspire some of you. I was inspired by my aunt and uncle over Christmas break. They are close to 50 years old, and they are in great shape because of their eating, exercising and discipline.

If I can do it, you can too!!!

Worship Team Party- 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 03:46:00 +0000

We had a great time at our Worship Team Party. I want to thank everyone who was able to come and be a part of this great night. This night included anyone who was a part of our video, media, sound, vocal, band, and creative team ministries. If you are a part of the Worship Team at Bridgepoint and were not able to make it, I hope you can make it next year. We missed You!

I thought I would throw a few pictures up from it. Thank you Lauren for all of the hard work. It turned out great.

Pastor Jeff spoke to us as well. He talked about how blessed we are at our church to have so many talented, great hearted servants that are a part of the team. He also talked about how are ministry makes and eternal difference. Pastor Jeff did a great job speaking to us.

Thank you guys for a great night!

Atheist or Agnostic

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:52:00 +0000

Do you know what the difference is between and atheist and an agnostic? An atheist is someone who believes that there is no God. Usually they are fairly adamant that there is not a God. Many times atheist are people who can not stand Christians, and they are usually the intellectual type. Because of the circles that I run in, I don't know many of them.

An agnostic is different. First of all, there are several different categories of them. An agnostic in general is not sure if there is a God or not. Some believe that there might be a God but have never really seen any evidence, so they can not be sure.

I think many of the un-churched people in our lives would fall into this category. They don't deny God, but they can't be sure that there is a God either. They are undecided. How do we reach these people for Christ? How do we reach atheist for Christ?

Ultimately it is the working of the Holy Spirit in their lives, but God can work through us as believers to show them Jesus. What it really comes down to is Christians showing the love of Christ through our relationships with these people. It might even be simple acts of kindness.

These are just some thoughts. Any comments?

Worrying is going to kill you

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:29:00 +0000

Who of us can say that we have not ever worried. I would be lying if I said that I never did any worrying myself.

Jesus asks this question in Matthew 6 verse 27.

"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

The Greek word for worry means to "to be drawn in different directions". No wonder worrying pulls people apart.

It is a scientific known fact that people that don't worry as much live longer lives than people who do worry.

The reason for this is because God created us for faith and not worry. Everything in our bodies from our organs, tissue, cells are all created by our maker who wired us for faith.

If we live with worry we are going against the nature of how God created us.

What are you worried about today? What can you give away to God and allow faith to override your worry?

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. - Philippians 4:6.

All I can control is what I do

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:11:00 +0000

As leaders, parents, or anyone who who holds a leadership position, we struggle with the amount of impact that we can have on others. We have the ability to have influence on the people around us. Sometimes the influence is not exactly what we want. The people that we lead maybe don't always do exactly what we would want them to do. Sometimes my children don't always take the path that I want them to take.

There is always one person that we can always have total influence on. That person is youself. I can't control anyone around me, but I can always control what I do.

This personally helps me, because sometimes I get so worried about the people around me and them making the right decisions and I forget that I have my own problems that I need to take care of first.

Yes we are called to have influence on the people around us, but we have to start with ourselves first, and sometimes that is a big job.

Concentric Circles of Concern

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 19:37:00 +0000

I just finished up a book called Concentric Circles of Concern. It was written by a man named Dr. Oscar Thompson. The premise of the book is that God has stategically places people into our lives. There are 7 stages of circles. It starts with your self and then goes out into your family, relatives, friends, neighbors, associates, acquaintances, and ends up with person x. Person x is the person you might encounter 1 time.

Thompson tells us that God has placed each person in our lives for us to have an impact on each one of them. God made us for relationships. It starts with a vertical relationship with Him, and then goes from there.

I got some really good thoughts from this book. The biggest one that stuck out to me is the need for us to serve others. Jesus was the prime example of this. He did not come to this world to be served, but to serve others.

I have the most impact in other peoples lives by serving them and meeting their needs. That is where God is challenging me right now. This book challenged me to intentionally look to the people that God has put into my life. Some of them are already believers, some are not. I must look at all of them and re-evaluate God's purpose for me in their lives.

Health Update

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 23:28:00 +0000

I have run into a few of you that are in the same boat as I am. You are trying to change your lifestyle of eating and exercise. So here is an update of where I am at. A few weeks ago I blogged about going on a diet and changing my lifestyle for the betterment of my health.

I was at a certain weight and wanted to loose about 20 pounds through diet and excercise. So I have been watching what I have been eating by counting calories and excercising every day. I have lost about 15 pounds. But because I am now lifting some weights, I don't know if I will be able to loose much more weight due to gaining a little muscle mass. That is fine with me.

So I am getting closer to my goal. I have to tell you I feel so much better. So I just want to encourage all of you out there that are making some lifestyle changes as well, keep it up. Hang in there. You will feel so much better.

Sledding

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 02:36:00 +0000

We found a cool spot to go sledding. This is where I broke my cell phone. But it was worth it. I think I broke it on this video.

A Great Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 01:33:00 +0000

-We had a great weekend as we launched our new Church name.

-I want to thank everyone that had a part in this weekend. Everyone did a great job. There were so many people involved it would take me a while to list everyone. Thank you for being kingdom minded and seeing God's vision for our church.

-Pastor Jeff did an awesome job on casting the vision for our church, and encouraging everyone to be a part of the Weekend Service.

-He also did a great job on encouraging all of us to invest in someones life by sharing our faith and inviting them to come to church. I challenged all of us to invite at least 5 people to our new sermon series starting in a couple of weeks. We were also given 5 invite cards per person.

-It was great having my friend Scott Bettinger hang out with us and help our church in our transition of our new name. He also taught our church some really valuable stuff this week with service planning. Thanks Scott!

-I am really looking forward to see what God is going to do with our church now. I hope and pray that every person in our church gets fired up and realizes the need to be kingdom minded.

-It is great to be part of an exciting church.

Get to the Point

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:32:00 +0000

I am really looking forward to this weekend with the launch of our new Church name, Bridgepoint Church. We have a lot of exciting things happening this weekend, as well as a lot of cool things that are happening to get our new name out in the community.

Our website has been adapted to the new name as well. You can check it out at http://www.bridgepointchurch.com/

Please be in pray as God will do great things with our church and this new change.

Permissible VS. Beneficial

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:42:00 +0000

Paul said everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial (I Cor. 6:12)

As believers we do have freedoms in Christ. We are not under the law of the Jewish Customs. Just because we are not under the law, we have to remember that everything we do is not profitable to do.

I had this conversation with someone the other day. Should a Pastor drive a Cadillac, or some other fancy car? I personally don't think there is a set answer on this. The questions I would have are these. Should he drive an expensive car, to show the goodness of God, or should he drive a clunker because his treasures are not of this world, or should he drive a moderate car to show good stewardship?

I think the answer would be dependant upon what God is leading that person to do and where that person is at culturally.

Yes we do have freedoms as believers, but we also have responsibilities to help people into God's Kingdom .We should never put stumbling blocks into people's way. At the same time we should never become so rigid that we rip the joy out of our lives and the people around us.

Any thoughts on this?

Life is a Mist

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:45:00 +0000

It was wild what happened on US Airways Flight 1549. What if you were one of those 150 passengers and you’re headed toward the water? Have you ever thought about that when you are taking off on an airplane?

What’s going through your mind?

James 4:14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Life is short and we never know when it is God's time to take us. We must always take time to be thankful for what we have, and always remember there is an eternity at stake for everyone around us.

dougism

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:47:00 +0000

Many of us have had a laugh at our President with some of the words that he has come up with. David Letterman, Saturday night Live and Jay Leno have all had a great time with it. In his press conference the other day, President Bush was even laughing at himself for a word that he had made up.

I still get flack from saying the word Scochy. I used it in reference to people scooting together in a service to make room for other people. I have been told it is not a real word. Last night I was switching the word, anonymous with the word unanimous. Sometimes words are very confusing for me. But my question is, how do real words come into being? Is there a process? Or can I just continue saying it and it stick? If you are really cool, is that a way for you to get made up words to become real words?

Do any of you use words that you have made up and if so, what are they?

The Sin of Silence

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 03:18:00 +0000

Debates have happened dealing with what wounds afflicted by Jesus actually killed him. Jesus was punctured, whipped, kicked, and tortured in many other ways. But what really killed him was that no one spoke up for him.

Even his loyal disciple Peter denied him 3 times. We can easily sit there are say, "wow, I'm glad I have never denied Jesus like that." And even though many of us never have denied Jesus like that, we deny him by not speaking up on a daily basis.

We need to ask ourselves these questions. Am I sharing my faith? Do I have only Christian friends? Do I hang around any lost people at all? Have I told anyone about Christ lately?

God is challenging me this week about sharing my faith. I can make an excuse that all my family and friends are Christians and I work at a church, but this is no excuse. God challenges me on a regular basis to look to my neighbors, involvement in my kids activities, and other places where I interact with people that don't know Christ. He is challenging me to make some friends at my new gym, and other places where I meet new people.

It all starts with relationships. And many times the best way I can witness to someone is just to get to know them and then invite them to church. I need to do more though.

I don't want to be silent.

We showed this video a couple of weeks ago in church. It is very interesting. Penn from "Penn and Teller" is an atheist, but he tells a story of someone witnessing to him. He says that even though he is an atheist, he can not believe that if someone really believed in heaven and hell, how could that person not witness. Check it out. I hope it challenges you.

Are you healthy?

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 00:38:00 +0000

Would you consider yourself healthy? What is being healthy? Is it important for a christian to be healthy?

These are all really important questions. They can have a long lasting impact in our life, in how we feel, how we carry ourselves, and how long we live.

God has really been convicting me in this particular area lately. We can look to the veres in I Corinthians that say, " "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are."

I have known this verse for awhile, but many times you hear it in regards to smoking, drinking, and other types of things Christians frown on. I have been convicted lately that food can and has been an idol in my life. My wife has always joked with me that I am having an affair with Little Debbie. (snack cakes) Each one of us have our own issues that we have to allow God to work in our lives to overcome them.

And idol can be anything that takes our attention and disciplines away from God. This is a discipline that God is working on me with.

So I am telling you that I am changing this, and I would love for you to hold me accountable in this area. My goal weight is to get to 175, but also to be healthy. Work out, and eat healthier. I got a jump start on this this week with the "Sacred Heart Diet". It is a 7 day diet that will detox your body and you will probably loose around 10 pounds doing it. Here is the website for it. http://www.idiet4u.com/diets/sacredheart.html I am on my last day and have lost 9 pounds. So I have about 11 pounds more to go to reach my goal. Tomorrow, I just going to start counting my calories. Nothing fancy. I want it to be a lifestyle, not a fad.

Please pray for me with this goal. Do any of you have any good suggestions or thoughts on this topic? Please comment if you do.

Destination

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 00:30:00 +0000

The next couple of months at church is going to be exciting. This month we are starting a sermon series called "Destination". It will be 4 weeks, and it will be focusing on 4 things that believers should be involved in with the church and in their personal life. Pastor Jeff will start this week focused more on the individual believer. These are 4 things we as a church are asking each believer to be a part of. It is a roadmap to spiritual growth.

At the end of the month we launch our new name, Bridgepoint Church. The theme of that weekend will be "Get to the Point". I am really looking forward to see what God will do with the change of our name.

Please pray as God is working and doing great things in the life of our church.

What am I going to do?

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:15:00 +0000

The past few months, God has really been getting a hold of me concerning my life, priorities, and the impact that I can have in this life. Many times I feel like I have settled for the status Quo. (Like many of us) I have been challenged by God and other situations in my life to not settle for mediocrity. I don’t want to be normal. I want to always allow God to challenge me to be better, to do more, and always keep my priorities in check. I don’t want to be the guy that works all day and then comes home and plops in front of a TV all night. I want to be challenged, and I want to allow God to do great things through me. He wants to do great things, and has done some already. But I think he wants to do even more. The key to Him doing more through me is to be more disciplined and focused.

Here are some of my goals for this year…. (not in order of importance)

-Be healthier. This will happen through diet and exercise. I will exercise more and eat better. I want it to be a lifestyle, not just a fad.
-Be wiser. This will happen by more time with God, and allowing the Holy Spirit to work through me more. Continued time in the Word. I will continue to work on my Masters Degree as well this year.
-Be a better leader. This will take place by cutting out the things in my life that will not grow me. (TV, movies, other wasted time, ect.) I need to read more and fill my mind and life with things that will stretch me.
-Be a better husband and father. This will happen by a not allowing other outside influences to rob me of my essential time with my family.

Many of these goals have time involved. And I look at my schedule and my life, and realize that there is not a lot of extra time. So to free up time I must cut some things out. Those things will be TV, sleep, (I like to sleep, probably to much.) and other things that really are not that important.

What are your goals? How are you going to impact your world around you? What are you going to do?

Christmas Vacation

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:12:00 +0000

After a busy pre-Christmas time with Church and School ,my family and I went to Indianapolis, Indiana for Christmas Vacation. We were able to spend time with my family. We had a great time. We were able to go to Dayton, Ohio, and see some great friends We were also able to tour the air museum at Wright Patterson Air force base.

For the first time I was able to take my kids to to Harriman, Tennessee, where they met my mom's family. Thanks Mike and Tonia for letting us crash with you. I have 7 aunts and uncles there. So there is a lot of family for them to meet. I wasn't able to get any pictures though.

We were also able to spend time with my Dad's family. Thanks Grandma and Granddad for letting us stay with you as well.

All in all ,it was a great time with my family and friends.

New Blog Template

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:31:00 +0000

Please bare with me as I try and get a new blog template. Hopefully in the next couple of days, I will get something better.

Is Church even important?

noreply@blogger.com (Our Ministry) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:19:00 +0000

This is a really important question for me since my life has and is centered around church. Why is Church even a big deal? What's the point? Why can't I just worship by myself at home with the TV or in nature. As a Christian, why would church even matter? What's the point?

I like what Perry Noble says on his blog. Here are some reasons he gave about the church being important...

#1 - If church isn’t that important - then why does Matthew 16:18 say that Jesus built it? Would the Son of God actually spend time building something that was worthless?
#2 - If church isn’t that important - then why does Scripture say in Acts 20:28 say that Jesus shed His blood for it? Would the Son of God have been willing to endure the suffering He went through for a meaningless organization?
#3 - If church isn’t that important - then why does Ephesians 1:22 & Colossians 1:18 say that Jesus is the Head of it? Would Jesus REALLY be the Head of something insignificant and trivial?
#4 - If church isn’t that important, if church isn’t “needed” to learn about God…then why does Ephesians 3:10 say that it was through the church that the wisdom of God should be made known?

You also can't leave this out. "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:25)

In my years of ministry, I have met people that both do attend and don't attend church, that do not have a clue what it is about. What is it about? What is it's role? What is our job as Christians in it?

Please let me encourage you. If you are a believer and you don't attend a church for whatever reason, please study about the church. Understand what it is really about. Maybe you haven't been to a church that is doing it's job. That could be your first problem Maybe you haven't stayed long enough, or have not gotten involved. That might be the main problem.

If you are attending a church, but are not giving back to it in any way (serving). Shame on you. Get involved. Jesus died for the church. Come on now!