God, Church and Money???

  Can we buy our wings or our way into the pearly gates?

  I understand that churches rely on their members and the community to support its needs, but when does it go to far? Lets not make it complicated.

  I have always believed in God. At an early age, my parents instilled church and, God, in me. As I got a bit older, I began to notice that not the church, but the people in the the church seemed very judgemental and very opinionated. Like if you sat in the wrong pew, didn't drop enough money into the offering plate or did not have on quite the right clothing.

 I know this is not God's way. It was like being in Jr. High all over again. I self taught myself, that no matter where I was, God, was with me. I always felt closer to him on a mountaintop, than sitting on a pew that kills my back.

 After finding out that my third pregnancy was not going well my husband and I found a church that we loved dearly. The Pastor was awesome and I enjoyed listening to him speak of, God, and his journeys. Also, the few members they had were great too. So we decided to join this church because it felt welcoming, peaceful, inviting and warm. I wanted to help out this church as much as I could; and I wished very much that I could help more, but with a house of six people, money gets tight. 

 So there we sat in the pew hoping to drop as much money as we could into the offering plate. I told my husband, I wish they had a credit card machine to send up the aisle. Sad to say, but without credit, we would not make it; and that is probably true for many families. I just wish we could do more to help the church financially.

 With the family of six being said, we would not regularly make it to church every Sunday. It always seems that someone is always sick, having a tantrum, or on-call. It's completely amazing that we ever leave our home.

 So finally, one Sunday we made it to church, fashionably late, but we made it. That days sermon was based on money and the percentage of money you should give based on your annual income. A member spoke and gave the breakdown of percentages to family ratio. Was I back in math 101? They kindly named off two or three families that had donated, which was nice, but what about everyone else who sat there? I began to feel like I was at an awards ceremony and not church.

 Perhaps, I'm looking to hard into it, but the mountaintop is looking so great to me.