I Hunger and Thirst After Righteousness!
The thing, I like best about Christ, and his grace, atonement, and mercy, is the fact, that I can be, simply myself, in all the complexities that brings, spanning the spectrum from a human secularist, politically, and constitutionally, to the most devoted Saint, on my very best days . . . even if I swear, I think Jesus and I would get along just fine! SMILE! It's the rest of you, I am not so sure about! LOL! This morning, the Life Tabernacle Church, came to pick up all the people from the Homeward Bound, heavenly significance to that also, we all have a heavenly home, as well as an earthly home, heavenly parents, as well as earthly parents, and a good group of us from the shelter, got on the bus, bright and early, on this beautiful Sabbath morning, and headed to a church, I was not sure which church we were going to, and didn't care! Hell, they were serving breakfast, and having a birthday party for the Pastor! LOL! No, I am a church goer, and generally go every Sunday, to the closest or most convenient church, regardless of the denomination . . . I have always been spiritually fed, up lifted, and got a wonderful message, to think about, during the week, always looking forward to getting a shot in the arm, that seems to last me, until I go the next week.
With James, being such a wild ass, I was a bit taken back, by the ladies in the kitchen, serving and cooking breakfast, and wondered, if they were somehow connected to the polygamist groups in Utah! Just kidding, they were much more modern than that, but there were a lot of women with buns in their hair, and I wondered if that was a requirement to go to church? Breakfast was great, yummy, and satisfying, with good cooks, in all denominations--I actually thought, that Mormons had a corner on the homemaking corner, and the to me almost lost art of cooking, but that is just me. But there were many very contemporary dressed women also, and so I figured that it was kind of like, whatever you wanted to wear, or how ever you came, was acceptable. Which is good, since I tend to be, a don't tell me what I can and can't wear to church, or I will just bring my clothes, and lay them on the pews, and I will skip out, if that is the conditions to get my sorry ass to church; I am kind of, come as you are, and suck in the beauty of Christ, his love, and the love of his disciples, regardless of what you look like! And that seemed to be the case.
A Passion for Purity--Personal Perfection
So, I am sitting in waiting for the first meeting, and looking around at the church set up, and it reminded me of the inside of what Mormons call the chapel, and some denominations, call the sanctuary, but the band was playing, and practicing, and I just loved what they were singing, that song of the heart is true worship to me, and I dig all the new gospel songs, many, based on actual scriptures, are amazing, and tears are running down my face, even during practice, as they were today! I don't know, why I bother to put on make-up . . . vanity, vanity, vanity! LOL! But the songs were amazing, lively . . . some beef cake guy, with back up singers, guitar, and I think keyboard, were rockin' the gospel, Christ, beauty, love, that Jesus is more fair that ten thousand, and more beautiful . . . and I would have to agree. But, I loved the guy singing . . . he was passionate and powerful, putting his whole heart, soul, and love into this music. Now the first meeting, was a very informal, Pentecostal Church, meeting, that kind of reminded me of Sunday School, with audience participation, and the Pastor, involving the people sitting in the seats.
That may have been, that many are new Christians, or visiting the Church for the first time, but I loved the sermon, especially, because he used the analogy, that is in the New Testament, talking about Christ being our advocate with the father. As an advocate, there has been many a time, that as I represented defendants in court, that scripture came to mind, and egged me on to amp things up, and do for my clients, what Jesus would do for me, had I been sitting in front of God, Him, or some heavenly judge, arguing my case, getting me the best deal he could, and then, on top of that, doing much more than I could do for my clients, pay the sentence, fines, for my sins, crimes, indiscretions, sins of commission and omission, doing whatever it took to get me off payment on my own! And for that, I am eternally grateful, and think I was a better advocate for my clients, with Christ as my exemplar, in law!
Strict Up Brings . . . God, Knows Our Parents Tried! LOL!
One, night, James and I were, sitting waiting for some pastor to show up at the Butte Rescue Mission, doing the several times a week sermons, which I enjoyed, as much for the messages, as I did, sitting by James, and having him, pull my chair closer to his, so we could share the scriptures, and sometimes, I didn't focus much on the lesson, and just enjoyed the sensation of being close to James! LOL! Sorry, were all wired that way, and that is exactly the way God intended, men and women to be, with a natural attraction for each other, and some, with a more hot attraction than, to others . . . that would be the case, at least on my side! He will have to speak for himself. But, that time several nights a week, was great, in addition to the message, that was always, always, always, something that I needed to hear. But, while we were just killing time, one night, I asked James if he was raised in a religious home . . . he gave me, this, are you kidding me, and rolled his eyes . . . yeah, my mother was a Pentecostal minister! Are you kidding me! No. LOL! So, you were probably raised as strictly as I was, or worse, LOL! James wasn't much of a conversationalist, but it cracked me up, just his facial expressions, and his reaction just to my question!
I told him, how my parents, who had first six kids in eight years, so a litter, would sit in church, my father, until he got into leadership positions, one one end of the pew, and hold his arm out behind our heads, and my mother would sit at the other end, and both would do damage control, and hit us on the back of our heads if we got too noisy! LOL! Me and my sisters, quickly learned, that church would go much more quickly, if we took turns, tickling each other's backs, rather than trying to talk with the hand cops, with their slapping machines behind our heads. It was not much of a hit, more of a tap, to let us know that talking during church services, was not allowed. My father used to make us girls, all line up before church, to see if our dresses touched the ground, and were not too far above our knees. We could never watch TV on Sundays, but to my father's consternation, I took the religious thing to the extreme, and refused to work on Sunday, as a day of rest! Jo, would you vacuum the floor . . . No, I do not work on Sundays! That self imposed, strict attitude, applied to friends and later, boyfriends; I would refuse dates, visits, and made my trip to Mecca each Sunday, and hiked up to a river, or up in the hills, and would read my scriptures, pray, and set goals!
Snake Charmers! James Led Me to Believe, That Yes, That Was Part of the Pentecostal Church--Like I Said, Not Much of a Conversationalist!
Many of you, who live in a religiously diverse community or state, can't relate to someone who was raised in a predominately Mormon state, with little exposure to other religions, if you ever even knew there were other religions and if there were, they were not the one true church; therefore, just avoid them at all costs, they will just lead you astray. So, other than my own personal study, before moving to Montana, I had very little exposure to any other religion, at all, so excuse my ignorance . . . now, I just see everyone, as different rooms in the house of God, or all members of the community of God, believing in one true God, and all working to go, Homeward Bound, meeting our maker, dancing, singing, worshiping and rejoicing in his amazing grace, his love that finds no tomb he can't resurrect, and his open arms, coming him in whatever condition we are in . . .
Remember the Parable of the Workers In the Lord's Vineyard . . . those Who Come to Jesus Christ, Get the Same Reward, Even in the Eleventh Hour, As Those Who Have Worked the Full Day! We Are All Joint Heirs With Christ, Inheriting Everything the Father Gives To Christ . . . What an Awesome Deal. You Just Don't Get A Better One. The Apostle Paul, My Personal Favorite . . . Warned the Christians, Not to Be Persuaded By Those Who Would Introduce Legalism in the Church or Dogma . . . It is Belief in Jesus, His Name, That Saves . . . Not Liturgy, Ritual, Traditions!
P.S., Thanks for the very fun, delicious, and enjoyable, Sunday, pot luck dinner . . . I met great people, found new friends, and might even rent a room for a while, from a very cool lady, my age, my persuasions, loves to dance, fun, talkative, and definitely a kindred spirit . . . we went to her house, and talked and talked, and when we parted, I even told her I loved her, and I mean it, fellow Saint, but a very fun one! My type! I can kind of see where James gets all his energy from, the Pastor was high energy and loved what he was preaching and teaching about, and you could tell he was alive in Christ, and on fire, which always makes things more fun. And, remember, I told you, readers, that earlier, James, spontaneously jumped up, one night, and started dancing, to some cowboy song. One of the things, I really dig about the church, is the passion, the energy . . . one lady, dressed formally, with red high heels, and a matching red hate, was dancing in the isles, teens were doing the boogie at the front of the congregation, and someone was shaking the tambourine, moving around here and there! I love music, love dance, love to sing, and these guys were signing with gusto and crescendo . . . Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus! LOVED IT! Thank YOU!
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