Actually a local preacher has his church televised from time to time. My mother n law was watching so i decided to tune in also. it was very interesting. He talked about friendship and how we all need a circle of friends to care for us. He used the example in the bible where this man was crippled and his friends was carrying him and tried to get him in to Jesus but the place was crowded so they lifted him up to the roof and made a hole and hoisted him down. he said how this man friends didnt take no for answer when they could not get him in but went to great lengths for this man. the fact that they carried him showed love.
what was really interesting is how he said that if one of your friends hasnt been to church how you should be patient and go see about the person, and if the person just doesnt want to come to church, for whatever reason, how you should go with other people that are in your circle of friends and gather at the person's house, with God's word, and have service there until the person is ready to come back. The bible does say do not forsake gathering yourselves together. The reason it was so interesting because as a JW i was always taught that if a person wasnt coming to the KH, that they were weak and you should call the elders. and if a person doesnt want to come to the KH then of course you then would start shunning.
I also noticed when they put the camera on the audience how many people were dressed in suits, dresses and the like, but some came in regular street clothes, clean and neat but with blue jeans and t-shirts etc whatever they had as their best to wear. it was very interesting also uplifting. The peacher actually used the bible! gasp! you know as JW's were taught that other religions don't use the bible and all they do in church is sing and holler. I believe i just might visit in person.
As a non-JW, I grew up in a variety of churches; I've been to a couple that were pretty intense on the dancing and shouting but also got into the Bible a lot. And I've been to Baptist and Methodist churches as well as non-denominational churches that calmly taught from the Bible and usually tried to demonstrate love, but I still have felt out of place at times. Then again, I'm a different kind of person and don't feel I've ever totally fit in anywhere.
But you are right about the differences~! I've noticed them, too, visiting my wife's cong 3x, one of them being the funera... er.. Memorial. But I admit there seemed to be some genuinely nice people at her cong, though she's DF'd and nobody could talk to her.
I, being a non-JW, started attending chruch at age 14. I came as i was and didn't dress in fancy clothes. The pastor at the current church I am with New Covenant Chruch of God is amazing. He talks about how we should unite and spead the word. They don't disfellowship and stuff like that. We do sing when time is approprate and we do read directly from the bible. That is how we are taught. pastor brings us a message from the word (he went to college to learn a greater amount of knowledge in the history of the church and stuff) and during the week i believe that it is the people's responsiblity to read the word of God, maybe a few translations and explore through prayer and meditation what the word means. I attend college Miami Univeristy of OH and it is neat, we have a group Campus Crusade for Christ. We get together on thursday nights as a time of fellowship and a time for an invited speaker to challenge us during the week, this groups has groups of girls and guys get together and do bible studies. I cant always make it to the church meetings cause of work and stuff, but this is neat too. I think it is necessary to spend time with God alone: In his word, through prayer and even reading books and stuff that have challenging messages in them (apart from the JW teaching).
I want to encourage you to visit in person, but remember some of these churchs do hoop and hollar where others are very traditional in their conduct. In my experience: the Pentacostals are loud, the Baptist are quiet and the Church of God's are sometimes like the Pentacostals and sometimes like the baptists. the Nazareenes are very quiet except for the men saying "amen". the Methodists are quiet but louder than the baptists. the non-denominational chruch I attened for a long time was very loud aka "full of the spirit" . each church is different, get an informant when you go to a church so they can let you know what is occuring so you don't feel lost. the first time i went to a pentacostal chruch, i was lost and didn't understand what they were doing. Have No Fear and explore what is out there. if nothing else it is a learning experience.
Truth time,,i went to church a few months ago because my son joined and i wanted to make sure it was nothing like the jws . I went for a couple of weeks actually but the last time all i could do was look for the exit . Will i go back ? i don't think so but now i know that church is not for me.
Church is a good experience. I remember my first time, i was still a jw, soon to be dfd. I was scared ****tless. Due to the positive atmosphere in them it helped me to shed some of that wt sludge.
Whyamihere
Yup, did that too at one or two of em. It was wierd.
