Searching for God Part 1

In 2007 my husband and I wanted to find a "church home." I wanted to bring my children up with a family away from my family, who were still in Lubbock, TX. We started visiting churches of all denominations. We went to huge churches, TV churches, small, and we just couldn't find anything. Until in 2009, we decided to visit a church literally 2 minutes from our home. Why we hadn’t visited I was not sure.

We did everything we were supposed to. We visited and met with the pastor and fell in love with the congregation. We loved the music and I felt at home. During this time, we started watching a TV show on the History International Channel call, "The Naked Archaeologist." We began to really think about the archeological discoveries around who Jesus was and what the Bible was. We were so excited about the physical evidence surrounding Christ and proof that the Bible was not just a book of stories.

I remember expressing my excited to my pastor, who stated he didn't need physical proof to have faith and that we shouldn't be taken by it either. In fact, that's what faith was. It believed without seeing. But I was disappointed he didn't share in my excitement. I mean it only confirmed my faith. As months went on, we became involved in the church through volunteer efforts and social gatherings. I was so happy to find real friends.

But, I began to see our questions about the Bible not being answered. There were so many things I didn't agree with, concerning the church's beliefs. So, I began to study Hebrew. I wanted to know what the Bible truly said. I mean if I am to hold the word of God sacred, I should understand it in its original languages.

I did not agree with some English translations or my pastor’s interpretation of scripture. I was not encouraged to question his interpretation; only to accept that he was a man of God and knew the truth and I was to take his word for it.

So for many months I did. I was not fulfilled. My husband and I questioned keeping the Bible’s food diet (Kosher). We were told because it was the old testament we did not have to follow it because Christ died for our sins. But, we were encouraged to give a 10% tithe to the church even though it too was a old testament law.

In January of 2010, I began to notice a difference in our Pastors sermons. He began to only preach on tithe. For 4 weeks in a row that’s all we heard. The church was growing but, was struggling financially. I became more discouraged. But, I also began to study more and more.

While I was becoming discouraged with the church, my faith was growing. In November of 2009, My husband lost his job a week before Thanksgiving and by Thanksgiving he had a new job making almost double his previous amount. This gave us the opportunity to move out of our 2 bedroom home and find a bigger one. I had seen the blessings of searching for God and his truths not my own. This kept me faithful to reading and researching scripture and the true meaning of it. We stayed at the church despite our difference in beliefs and began to look for a new house.