I grew up in Vegas and so the whole gambling culture has no appeal for me at all. After my parents retired and moved away, I had no reason to ever go back (except one person I know from high school still lives there...so maybe someday). I guess it is an adult Disneyland that most people want to see at least once in their lifetimes, but nothing there has an appeal for me. Glad you had fun and congregations on the wedding.

First of all, I'm honored that you quoted from my blog. Thank you.

Beyond that, I can attest that it's possible to successfully "return to church." In my case, I was rather doubtful, but a number of factors added motivation (pressure), including my conscience (which I interpret as the influence of the Holy Spirit), two friends, one local and one remote, and my Mother (she's 80, but I still try to listen to her).

I was also dreading going church shopping, especially since I don't know the first thing about it. Fortunately, a highly unlikely set of circumstances occurred (i.e. God) that led me to the right church (for me) the very first time. I've been attending for about four months now and have created a beginning niche for myself (or God created it for me).

I wish I could say that God will also provide you such a seamless (though it didn't seem seamless when I first started going) experience in finding a church, but only He has control of that. I hope you and Brian are guided by God's providence to finding the community where He desires you to live and thrive.

Peace.

I hear the demographic for Rolling Stones concerts is positively geriatric. ;-)

I'm glad Stevie Nicks is still out there performing. As I get older, I find that the living monuments of my past are rapidly fading away. A startling reminder that the world has changed far more than I tend to realize.

Thanks for the "coffee."

So rich people know how to work and poor people don't across the board? Has Newt never heard of Paris Hilton?

Great blog post, Antwuan. I completely agree. I once had to take a "slave job" at the big mail processing plant in my town. Worked 11 p.m. until whenever, along with a group of other temps and regulars. I met a guy there who had lost everything, his wife, his job, everything. He had been a pastor and his wife had been caught in a very public and very messy affair.

Somehow this was the Pastor's fault and his board of director's fired him. He got a divorce. His ex-wife moved half a country away, taking his two daughters with her. He taught me that, "the church is the only army that shoots its own wounded."

So much for the love of Jesus Christ in the church.

I assume you meant "sinful competitiveness" (but I've been wrong before). Is that always the case between different denominations or is it possible that people really believe they've got it right and other denominations, not so much? If each denomination is acting in good faith (sorry about the pun) and truly believes they are obeying God's will, they may not be sinning so much as they are just wrong.

I know that sounds strange, but people have a tendency to take the Bible and look at it in all sorts of crazy ways. Add to that the fact that even trying our best to understand the Word of God in its original languages and contexts, there's a lot we just don't know about. It's inevitable that we will get our doctrine messed up. No one has it right, IMHO (which makes groups like the Greek Orthodox church just crazy because they believe they their traditions come down unchanged, from the days of Peter and Paul).

As far as sticking around, no worries. I'm a notorious blabber-mouth in the blogosphere. Of course, you could occasionally drop by *clickable linky---> my place on occasion and chime in. (hint, hint).

I understand what you're saying and I agree, but people subdivide, categorize, and pigeon-hole all the time. Even in the day of Jesus, there were different sects of Judaism and they dramatically disagreed with each other. If you read the Pirkei Avot (Wisdom of our Fathers) in the Talmud, you'll see the two great Rabbinic schools in the late Second Temple period, Hillel and Shammai, disagreed tremendously (both Hillel and Shammai pre-dated Jesus by about a generation). Ever since there has been this thing we call "religion", there have been groups and sub-groups and splinter groups and all manner of ways to pull apart what God put together.

I seriously doubt we'll have unity in "the church" until Jesus returns to straighten us all out. The incredible irony I see coming our way is that when he returns, he'll tell us that we *all* got it wrong at one place or another. I also suspect he'll return looking and acting more "Jewish" than the vast majority of believers are comfortable with, which most Christians will never see coming.

I hear what you're saying and in my own way, I try to teach unity and trust (although in my case, it's between Christianity and Judaism) on my blog as well, but I also know what it's like to beat my head against a brick wall. We can and must do our best to prepare the way for Christ's return but we must also realize that he's going to do most of the "heavy lifting".

Who says you have to do everything? Also, before laying all this at the feet of some supernatural power, consider the possibility that we all face this kind of struggle because that's what human beings do when we attempt to meet God at the intersection of humanity and Divinity. However, to continue what you had said, if you give up the twenty-somethings deal at your church, what will Satan have won and you have lost? If you stay in the twenty-something deal and don't work at the mission you believe God has given you right now, what will Satan have won and you have lost.?

God depends on us to do our jobs but we depend on Him for the support in doing them, as well as the guidance to know where to go next. If you are struggling with this puzzle right now, you probably shouldn't make any sudden changes designed to reduce your anxiety. Chances are they wouldn't be well considered and most likely, you'd end up in a worse situation than the one you're in now. God isn't trying to set you up for failure. If you're doing good, then do good. You don't have to do overwhelming good for everyone every where.

Yes, I will pray for you. For your part, turn to God and then be patient. Most likely, the world won't disintegrate to dust if you continue to seek guidance. In the meantime, do the best you can with what you've got. That's all anyone in the Bible ever did. That's all we can do. God will provide the miracles. We just have to show up.

First off, I have to contradict you slightly. If you think you should quit your job (you never said this, I'm exaggerating to prove a point), abandon your family, and pursue whatever calling you believe God has laid at your feet (working with youth in poor neighborhoods?) in order to fulfill your purpose in life, you may be throwing the baby out with the bath water. I think you're supposed to work and support yourself. Paul did that, even while he was evangelizing to the Gentiles (no one agrees if he was a tent maker or a fishing net maker, but he did something to earn his way). I'm also sure you've heard the one about "if a man doesn't work, neither should he eat." The Bible doesn't say this next part, but I believe (I know, I'm old fashioned) that a man's first duty after God, is to his family. If God wanted you to devote your life exclusively to your "mission" instead of your family, you probably wouldn't have a family.

God isn't unfair and He doesn't play "hide the ball" with the universe. True, He doesn't lay out His plan for our individual lives out like a biography, but He also doesn't give us a job to do and then make it impossible for us to do it. Is God pressuring you to fulfill your mission and tapping His (metaphorical) foot because you're late in getting started, or is the pressure coming from you?

I have found that when God wants me to do something, He also provides the tools to allow me to get it accomplished. Sure, I have to cooperate and generate the effort to put those tools to work and most of the time, it is anything but convenient. I've long ago abandoned the idea that I have to take God's plan and "fit it in" to my pre-existing life. Our lives are supposed to be all about living God's plan (which includes, for most of us, having a job, earning a living, paying our bills, supporting our families, helping the kids with their homework, taking out the garbage, and so on).

Christianity expects an all or nothing approach to life and if we stumble in even one tiny area, it's like we've failed in everything. I recently had a "comments conversation" on my own blog about how Judaism faces this same problem. A Jew considers that there are (clickable link coming up) 613 commandments that he or she is responsible for (hundreds of them cannot be observed today because of the lack of a Temple in Jerusalem and the Levitical Priesthood). Rather than attempt to learn and do all of the mitzvot (commandments) at once, each one is considered an individual responsibility. You start with one, get good at it, and then learn another. You never get perfect at all of them and you always struggle to get to know God and learn how to serve Him.

I recently quoted Rabbi Shmuley Boteach on my blog regarding people who could fulfill most, but not all of the commandments:

“You have 611 commandments left. That should keep you busy. Now, go create a kosher home. Turn off the TV on the Sabbath and share your meals with many guests. Pray to God three times a day for you are his beloved children. He desires you and seeks you out.”

Trust God (not as easy as it sounds). Take each day as it comes. Work toward what you believe He wants you to do, even though you don't get all of it accomplished at any given point in time. See what happens next.

Rabbi Heschel addresses Judaism on the surface but really asks and answers the difficult questions I think all people of faith have. Judaism isn't afraid to "wrestle with God" and I think that's what Heschel allows his readers to do as well.