A slight disappointment

Christine and I went to East Park Church Sunday. While the experience was great I was disappointed for three reasons.
1. We have visited before and missed the Senior Pastor, hoping to hear him, we wound up getting the youth pastor for the second time (of two) that we visited.

2. Pastor Gary? Where were you, man?! I was hoping to be envious of your long flowing locks of hair.

3. No application points!!!

I know, right!!!??! A guy decides that he will literally do everything and anything that he gets asked to do by pastors in churches for a year. Exploring several churches, I figured I would be overwhelmed with actions to take. I assumed I would be inundated with tasks. But, instead, thus far I feel like I haven't had a substantial challenge laid out. Moreover, this week, I couldn't even find a challenge. I thought for a minute he was going to recommend a Bible study, but he just trailed off.

Maybe, I'm to early for this to have any quantitive value with the limited sample data available, churches don't grow, succeed, or reach people because nobody ever gets asked to. Maybe a clear lack of a plan, vision, mission, or strategy is the problem. Maybe people don't invite their friends to church because they keep forgetting, and nobody bothers to remind them. Maybe people don't read their Bibles because they aren't asked to.

I'm starting to wonder if this expectation is kind of like one of my fading expectations of churches as I have been visiting many these last few months. I used to believe that people going to a church service should have a spiritual experience. Connecting with the living God is an opportunity afforded them by their presence. But, I often feel as though the songs are canned, planned and bland. The music is just a thing done before the preaching, and the preaching is as inoffensively encouraging as possible. Am I wrong to wonder, where the Spirit is in this? Where is the life-altering connection with God? I don't think there are many atheists standing solely on intellectual ground. I think many just look at Christians and see plainly unspiritual, uninterested people not on an adventure or doing something worthwhile.

Our faith is an adventure, an experience, a challenge, we live in a mysterious certainty. A place of comfort on moving ground. We are called to lives of faith, hope and love.

It's easy to be a critic. Please, don't take my words as an insult to any person or church. I am simply putting my thoughts digital paper. Leaving them out on the table for any person to read.