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My friend Courtney wrote an article that was in a Christian magazine a while back.

It perfectly describes the experiences I've had with Church in the last few months.

I visited a nice little Baptist Church in Conway, AR - Grace Baptist Church. It was very traditional, small town, country church. The membership though was huge. They must have 300 members or so. Talking with Courtney's grandpa yesterday I found out he and her grandma go to a small Baptist church in Little Rock. It's congregation is shrinking. That's what I saw when I was a kid, as our congregation at the church my parents went to got older it got smaller. There weren't a lot of youth functions, and as such the congregation shrank as the local demographic of the neighborhood changed and people moved away, passed away, etc... It's nice to see a traditional Church, like Grace flourishing because that's the kind of church I grew up in.

The Church I've visited twice in the last few weeks, New Life Church in Maumelle, AR is very nontraditional The core beliefs are there, the same as any church... But the music is upbeat, the pastor is very much all about the Good News versus hellfire and brimstone.

I like both kinds of Churches.

One reminds me of where I came from, the other, shows me there is hope for Christianity in this country still.

There is a company named Ink in Maumelle which does screen printing They had a sale last week, and I went there and picked up some t-shirts. They had tons of Christian shirts, I guess seconds, etc... The prices were really good. In the past I always thought I should shy away from that stuff... It never seemed right to popularize God and Christ because if it's trendy, then people might not be there for the relationship with God and Christ... But be there for the people and the crowd. My view has changed a bit, because if people are there and they truly come to Christ and God, then that's great. Why shouldn't it be fun, it doesn't have to be traditional.

Along those lines, I've attended Baptist Churches (Missionary and Southern), Pentecostal (when I was in High School with a friend), and now New Life Church. New Life has active praise and participation, it's upbeat, and very positive. I don't really know anyone there other than Courtney, and once I find out it's the place for me, then I'm sure God will let me get to know people there. I do know that this last Sunday was the first time I've been to a Church, and felt the spirit of god anointing me in a Church in a long time.

I've had a rough year, and I have friends of all different backgrounds and faiths... And I know they've worried for me, and prayed for me, and thought about me. I appreciate and love you all, I still need your thoughts and prayers... And I remember many of you at night when I pray. I have hope and faith that all is going to be fine, that God is taking me in the direction he wants me to go with my life...