Church is a difficult thing to understand because there are so many different types and so many different styles of worship.  God distinctly says we are to "…not forsake the assembling of ourselves together…" so how do we find where we belong?  How do we find "The Church?"  What is it anyway.  Is it a denomination?  Is it a building?

There is so much superstition connected with religion.  Rituals, prayers, oblations.  It is easy to fall into a pattern of behavior--concerning church--without examining why you think what you do--where God is concerned.  Some people just give up and don't go at all.  So why does God require that we go?  Why does he tell us not to forsake assembling ourselves together?

There are some churches that say you have to be a part of their denomination if you want God's salvation.  This strikes fear in the heart of their members.  They stay because they are afraid to do otherwise.  To find truth, you must read the Bible.  Which is not encouraged in some churches.  That's a pity because the Bible is the record we have of God speaking.  It is the way we find out what we should believe.  And how we should live.  It is our ultimate true source of information about God.

I have been a member of dozens of churches across America.  Some I liked.  Some I didn't.  But I kept going because God said to go.  And in the process figured out what made church good.  It wasn't the speaker.  Or the choir.  Or the teachers.  It was the people.  (Excluding the hypocrites--which you will definitely come across.)  If you go on a regular basis, you find life long friends who will be there for you when things go wrong.  (Things will go wrong…)  They are different from the friends we make outside the church in that there is a common agreement of our cause.  Your connection with them is based on a common set of principles.   You don't have to explain yourself.  I have "Church Friends" in S. Carolina, California, Virginia, Florida…everywhere I have lived.  They love me.  I love them.

John 15: 12 "This is my commandment, That you love one another as I have loved you."

The way he loved us was warts and all.  We must love others that same way.