Stomach Cramps and Church

This weekend I have had some stomach problems. I am not sure if it was something I ate or a bug. Maybe I ate a bug.

Because of my gastrointestinal problems, I did not go to church. It is difficult for me to find a church within 25 - 30 miles to go to where I feel like this is the place for me. I really like going to the Impact Church, an inner city mission in Houston. However, it takes 35-45 minutes to get there, and the service goes until past 1:00, so we would not get home until past 2:00. This messes Phyllis up because she has a schedule on Sunday which includes reading, taking a nap, going to Walmart, and grading papers. She has been on this schedule for at least the past thirteen years. She has always taken a nap on Sunday afternoon. When the kids were small, my job was to keep the house quiet until she woke up. Of course this provided many benefits that I will not go into at this time.

Back to the church issue. For the past few months I have been going to the church that I preached for eleven years ago. There are only about twenty people there now who were there during this time. Most of the people who go there were not even living in the Katy area when I was preaching there. There are a few people still there and it is always good to see some of my old friends.

Of course I am paranoid. I think they must have brought my name up at an elders (they only use the word shepherd) meeting and decided to ignore me and I would go away. After about three months, I think the strategy is working. Most likely they have formed an opinion about me without even talking with me, and they would rather I not be a part of their church. Phyllis hates going there anyway. Besides being kicked out eleven years ago, which she took way too personally, their service seems, for lack of a better word, bland. Even though it is a traditional worship service from the early 1990's, it feels very disconnected. Maybe part of the problem is that we sit at the back which has many distractions, besides watching different men constantly getting up and speaking to each other. It is like the worship service is being managed, if that makes any sense.

So where do I go? Phyllis likes going to the West Campus of Second Baptist. It is difficult for me to go somewhere that I know I would never be involved. I would really like to go somewhere that has communion each Sunday and doesn't have the American and Christian flag next to the baptistery like our only Independent Christian Church in the area has.

Of course I know I am supposed to have the attitude that it is not what you receive, but what you give -- right? There is a Cowboy Church about twenty miles away to the west that I haven't been to. Maybe I should go there?