I've Been There, Done That...I've Seen It All...And I'm NOT Going Back

From the time I was a little child, I was told that Jews don't go to church and that Jews don't believe in Jesus. Even though I knew that, I just had to explore how the "rest of the world" worshipped and believed, so I decided to explore, what was to me, the unknown (the Christian world).

I was a young Jewish girl who wondered what went on inside of all those churches I'd see as I drove through my city and in other cities. I'd never been inside a church in my life. That was then...that was over 30 years ago.

I learned, by venturing inside, what went on inside churches. I also learned about Jesus, but I didn't truly understand the Gospel.

Although I did not truly believe, I learned all the motions. I learned how to behave and I learned all the lingo.

I visited ministries like Glen Eyrie (that belong to the Navigators), Keith Green's Last Days Ministiries commune, and several mainline denominations.

It wasn't long before I stumbled on The Jesus Movement and enjoyed the non-traditional way of approaching God that I found there.

As time passed, I learned what charismatic groups were. I also learned about and visited pentecostal groups. I saw people fall down and get "slain in the spirit" and I saw what I thought might have been healings.

I have worked for some well-known ministries and I was a missionary. I've passed out religious literature on the streets. I've done street "testimonies" in New York City! I worked as a teacher at a school owned by a church.

I've also attended what seems like hundreds (maybe thousands?) of bible studies. I've seen all sorts of types of worship meetings and prayer meetings. I've listened to bible studies and sermons on the radio and on tape. I've heard many, many stories of changed lives and read about great religious leaders.

In my lifetime, I believe I may have stepped inside about every type of church or denomination (including some cults or cult-like groups).

There was a period where I grew tired of the Christian religious scene and walked away from it, but I found that I was still "hungry" for God and sought God as a Jew.

After much searching, now, in 2011, I may have decided that Jesus is the Messiah, but does that mean I need to go inside any more churches, listen to sermon after sermon, or sing and listen to hymns and songs, and "fellowship" with people that I don't even know without my family?

You see, after years of not belonging anywhere, my family feels comfortable together worshiping God inside a reform Jewish temple and also learning about G-d from Orthodox Jews. It's where we belong. It's where I belong.

I did take some time in March and April of this year to visit some churches again, but what I find there is just not for me. I've been there...I've done that. I'm just not going back.