Church?

Sometimes I feel guilty because I don't go to church. I was brought up thinking that one must go to church every Sunday or just about every Sunday if they wanted to go heaven.  And every Sunday I went dutifully (not that my mom gave me a choice). I sang in the choir and went to Sunday school and even attended fellowship at night. Most of it was fun but some Sundays I would have rather slept in. When I got to college I found out many people don't go to church.  I went sometimes but often did not. And God didn't strike me dead. :)

I don't happen to believe that it is on the checklist at the pearly gates that one has to have gone to church in order to go to Heaven any more. I am not denying I am a christian and I do pray daily. I consider myself a spiritual person not so much a Presbyterian.  I know that God is there watching over me all the time, giving me only what I can handle in life...but I just do not see the need to go to church.  Frankly the only reason I would go to church is to get some friends.  Working at home is very isolating and for the most part I am okay with it, but I cannot honestly say I have any good friends locally.  Sad but true.

I do attend church in a sense though. I love watching Joel Osteen on Sunday mornings.  I am watching him right now.  What sets him apart from other preachers or ministers in my opinion is that when I've listened to his program for those 30 minutes, I come away feeling like I've just heard a powerful motivation speech, not a sermon full of quotes from the bible that are hard to compare to the modern world.  He gets in the bible quotes but does such a great job giving current day examples or stories to get his point across.  And the best part to me?  HUMOR!  He is funny!  Who doesn't like to hear someone who is not only motivational but makes you laugh at the same time?!  That is a true master of a speaker to me.

And the things he says stick with me longer than any sermon I would hear at a church. In fact I remember so many sermons that I did not truly listen to.  I wouldn't be able to tell you what the sermon was about as my mind would wander.

Well another 30 minutes of inspiration is over.  Off to get my shower.