How many do we need?

  This past week I got to spend Tues to Monday with my wife in Panama City Beach, Fl, and let me tell you, it was needed and it was wonderful.  We went to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary and actually went without our kids.  We hung out, talked, made some decisions on some real important things and mainly just relaxed and chilled.  On the way down we stopped and spent the night with some good friends in Atlanta and even went to a Hillsong United worship concert, but there's more to come with that later. 

   Now, it is a well documented fact that I despise, loath, admonish, give angry eyebrows to, can't stand, and hate country music and the country music culture.  (I'll give you Keith Urban, but that's it.)  To me it is the most wretched genre of music, all the whining about being drunk or heart broken, all the fake-christianity (you know, drink lots of beer, have sex, play poker on Sat night, but dog-gone-it, you better be in church Sun morning!), Montgomery-Gentry, cowboy boots, singing out of the side of the mouth, not writing their own songs, and of course, Montgomery-Gentry.  

But as we drove through KY, TN, GA, AL, FL, then a different way back through FL, AL, TN, and KY, I noticed something VERY troubling.  I mean how many flipping country stations do we need people?!?  Seriously?  There was nothing but country the entire way!  There was new country, mixed country, old country, Nashville country, California country, horse country, city country, Taylor Swift country, and let me tell you, it all sucked!!!  Station after station after station of COUNTRY!!!  Can I get a little U2?  How about some David Crowder*Band?  At least hook me up with some 'Freebird.'  Good grief!!!  Do people actually change from country station to country station?  What are they looking for?  I can hear them now, 'Oh, this song isn't sad enough, let's go to the next country station.'  'Oh, my dog was ran over 35 years ago, let's find a song about that.'  And they'd find it too, because it's on there somewhere, you know it has to be on there somewhere.  

  But the more I thought of it, the more it related to something else that really bothers me.  The fact that there are so many different 'churches' in our society.  The fact that my little town of 18,000 had 83 churches in the city limits.  The fact that the large mega-church 30 miles away has to cater to it's lazy people and put a 'satelite' in Danville, because "no one is doing anything" and they want to "chase the lion out of Danville."  (Those are actual quotes, and the only biblical description of 'lion' in Scripture is referring to Jesus, and I really don't want Jesus chased out of Danville.)  

  The fact that people pick and choose their flavor or what feels right and sounds good to them offends me and I can't imagine what we do to God with our attitude toward Church.  That our own local congregation is OURS DANGIT!!!  I love those chairs, you can't change them!!!  I don't want different things!!!!  This just doesn't fit my style or who I am, so I'm going to look someplace else!  I'm MAAAD, I'M LEAVING!!!!  THIS PLACE SUCKS!!!  I'M FINDING SOMEPLACE ELSE!!!

  Of course, because we read through the New Testament and that's exactly the church isn't it?  People shopped around to find the place that fit them best didn't they or to 'meet their own needs.'  

  Oh yeah, of course doctrine doesn't matter either, believe what ever you want about God's Word, it doesn't matter, because we all know the SINNER'S PRAYER is found in Scripture somewhere and even though the Bible tells us to be baptized, it doesn't matter...right?   

  Our society is so me focused, we have to have a bazillion country stations because of that, and honestly, there's nothing wrong with that.  But there sure as heck is something wrong with having a bazillion churches in the same place teaching a bazillion different theologies even though Scripture tells us God is unchanging.  We also have to have a large church bring something in because people throw fits because of the commute?  

  AM I THE ONLY ONE THAT SEES SOMETHING WRONG WITH THIS?!?!  THIS IS NOT THE CHURCH WE READ ABOUT IT ACTS!!! 

  I'm so fearful that so many people will stand before God and the same thing will happen to them as Jesus described in Matthew 7, when God tells people who thought they were following God, 'away from me, I never knew you.'

  That passage scares me to death, that's why I choose to follow God's Word and do the best I can, not that I'm perfect, but I'm sure trying, not because works save me, but because I simply am in love with Jesus.  

   It's time to stop this crap and start following God's way and God's Word.