Revelation 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

Fast and furious is the only way I can describe my new birth, my born again experience. I was instantly changed and from the very beginning the Holy Spirit was actively seeking to correct my attitudes and impressions about God and my new relationship. It really was too much for me to comprehend. I needed help and a pastor and a teacher seemed like the right move. What church should I attend?

Luckily I had a boss who was an elder at a church. I knew nothing about the church, its history or its administration. I chose his church for one simple reason. He had shown me that he loved me and that his prayers had been instrumental in my being healed from drug addiction. He could have exposed me and have me fired but rather than that he showed mercy and grace. He prayed for me.

If you are going to start afresh in attending a church you cannot go wrong with seeing where that person who loves you attends church. Obviously what he did for me worked towards my salvation, so I could count on his guidance in my introduction to church life.

I’ve attended four different churches since my new birth. Each one provided me with a different aspect of my Christian growth. The first was responsible for training me to serve. The second church helped identify my primary gift and that hearing God is only the beginning of obedience. The third demonstrated that perfect knowledge of the Word and how preaching wasn’t sufficient for a healthy church life. It took more.

The fourth and current church showed me that grace isn’t restricted to God’s blessings. His grace flows from the body to each member from each member and grace is the bond that holds a church family together.

Ephesians 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

As I sat on the couch in my living room all sense of time and events escaped me. My children came to speak to me and I didn’t not know it. I was oblivious to all sights and sounds in the room. My wife asked me where I went when I finally came back to the present. I had no awareness of what had happened around me. I did however know what happened inside me.

The Holy Spirit took that time to take all the pieces of scripture that was on the floor of my mind and put them in order so that they formed the picture and it all fit together in order. I did nothing to sort out the mystery that was unfolded before me. It was God who enacted the ordering of His Word to allow me to make sense of it all.

In all my years I have not heard of anyone having a similar experience. If they have, I have not met them. It might have been God’s way of showing me that I needed more than just reading His Word. I was not in fellowship at this time. I worshipped alone. I had no pastor, no teacher, no fellowship and this was not God’s way. I needed the structure of an administration of God’s church body. I needed to be part of something more than just myself.

Luke 10ip Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet.

While Mary did the only needful thing, in hanging on every Word of Jesus, she did not sit there alone. That point is often lost on us because of the telling of Martha’s concerns for playing hostess and preparing food alone. She prepare it for many in her house while Mary was in fellowship with the many at the feet of Jesus.