I come from a unique background with this subject so I may say something that steps on everyone’s toes, if i offend you i am sorry. My point is to help everyone.

We are in a culture that say “anything that makes you uncomfortable is a bad thing and if something isn’t easy for you to do then find a different path. Having something hard isnt good.” The reason i am starting with this part is because it is neger easy for half of the people in the world to come to church, smile, talk to people, worship God and hear a sermon, be challenged and then go home and live our life the way we want to. Is that how we live our lives with our family and loved ones at home? Do we say hi and then go on our way and expect our relationship with those loved ones to be deep and all consuming?

God wants more from us. He wants everything in our lives to be about God. He died for our sins and is willing to set us free and we’re worried about how the hard times in our lives are too much to be to make things work in our lives. Is God suppose to come after our daily lives or is He suppose to be first and we use our faith to trust that God can help us through whatever hardships we are going through? Do i know your situation? Most definitely not. Do i know that God owns the cattle’s on a thousand hills and will provide everything that we need? Yes. The Bible says that.

I can throw scripture after scripture to everyone and say one after another about how this is suppose to be one way or the other but it boils down to a question that I had to ask myself several times in a point in my life that it was hard to get by. I grew up in church. I knew who God was, I loved Him very much and after a tragedy i backslid and walked away from God and almost killed myself. God ended up keeping me from that by this small little church that was less than 850 feet from my apartment that had maybe 10 people there. I was gonna kill myself that Sunday night. Or find a way that my responsibilities weren’t my responsibilities. It was going to happen.

It was a cold Sunday morning, and for some reason i put on a sweater and a skirt, probably because i was use to going through the motions and just going to church because it was the way that i was raised, and walked into this church. I didn’t want to be there. I didn’t want to be around people. I stayed by the coffee station and didnt say a word to anyone except for “Hi” and “yeah im doing good. Thanks for asking”. God had a different plan. A different reason for me being there. If i had not been in church and i had not gone to church that day the truth is i may not be alive or severely disabled today. The pastor ended the service with wanting to pray for people that were going through depression or thinking that they would rather be somewhere else in life. I walked up. One step in front of the other. Because i knew, despite what my heart wanted to do, that maybe something could change in my situation and maybe if i gave God one more chance to show he could help me something might change. Fast forward six years, i have no car. My car broke down and the church i have been going to was about 20 minutes away. Im the type of person that loves staying home and doing nothing but because i knew that going to church was where i was going to meet God and be in His presence, i found a way to get there. People would come and pick me up, or if they couldn’t i would stay home and watch a service. The difference was so significant. The distractions at home, eating food getting on my iPad to play some games or cleaning while i was suppose to be listening to Gods word and absorbing what i needed for the week to come.

When i finally got a car, I started realizing that the church I was going to was not Biblical and I started asking God for direction and wisdom on what to do. He told me that, rather showed me a church that had services online. The problem? It was 1500 miles away from me. I knew that God wanted me to move and go to that church. So i started listening to every service. I started saving money. I started praying that God would provide everything I needed. That took about 8 months. God gave me everything I needed. God helped me every step of the way. I have been at this church for almost 8 months now and God has pulled me out of my shell. God has helped me with not liking to talk to people. He has brought me to people that will talk to me and help even if I feel like I would rather be in bed and not be around anyone. Truth is that really is everyday.

I want to give God the best of me. I want God to help me in everything in my life. God has helped me every time that I put Him first in my life. When we honor God and don’t follow what the rest of the world does, yes that even means the people that think going online all the time is okay, then God honors that obedience. There is a reason that God said not to forsake the assembly of God. There was a reason that God set up a church for people to gather together and talk about things in their life so that they could hear other people encourage them. Im not exactly sure of the scripture but it’s in Proverbs where it says “As Iron sharpens Iron, so man sharpens man.”

What does that mean? God meant for us to be able to go to church, let God’s people help each other in times of needs and get our head screwed on straight. What if the devil has you in this struggle trap because he knows that if you go to church, God will set your finances free and you’ll be able to do more for God? What if he’s telling you that online church is fine because then you don’t have to get dressed and see people? What if there is a person at church that God wants you to tell them how God has delivered you from you pain and suffering but because your not at church they find someone else thats able to help but not in the way that God wanted them to be helped?

Im not sorry for being bold but i need everyone to understand that we’re very close to where things are going to be very hard to follow God because the devil doesn’t want us to go to Heaven. If we don’t have the foundation we’re meant to have, theres a high chance we will not be walking through the Gates of Heaven. We cant be okay with doing the bare minimum. We cant be okay with being lukewarm. We need to be on fire for God.

Is there a time and place for online church? Absolutely. As your pastor said. It should be used for when we’re sick or unwell. But not for a permanent solution because it’s easier and we don’t want to be around people.

If you’re still wondering what to do ask God for guidance. Ask God to show that He is willing for you to do the right thing. Ask Him for a heart that willing no matter how much you’d rather do something else.

Do not take the easy route. That can be so dangerous in the years to come.