Not so much

James and I have found ourselves in Fairbanks, AK. Upon arriving here, on our list of things to do is find a church. So I went to the internet. I went to Google and typed in churches in Fairbanks and got a list. After looking at the websites and looking at what they had to offer, I had a list of about 6 churches that seemed promising. One of the churches, pointed out that they do special music and then began to list the kinds of performances, brass was listed. Thinking of my husband, I thought this might be a good place for him. So we went. Now I will openly admit that I don't sing beautifully. But I take the line in Psalms where you make a joyful noise unto the Lord. That's how my husband describes my singing, and that's what it is a joyful noise. To me, there are some songs that I can't sing quietly. The song How Great Thou Art, the chorus needs to be song out. We sing this song Sunday morning, and when we get to the Then sings my soul, I start singing more with more joy. There's a handful people that turn around and give a not so friendly look at me. So I'm too thrilled. Next this couple gets up and sings a song, they do a wonderful job and when they are done, nobody claps. I lady plays the violin and does a beautiful job, and again no clapping. Another lady gets up to sing a solo, she does a awesome job and still no clapping. Now this bothers both James and I. When someone does a good job there should be praise for them and God. So after the service, James asks why there is no clapping. The explanation was that when you clap you are praising the person, and since God gave the gift He should be praised and He should be the only one praised. Now I've received praise for using the gifts God has given me. I feel that it's my job to share that praise. As a human, I need that praise too. Especially when I'm using a gift, I'm unsure about. I doubt my ability to write, so when someone tells me what a good job I did it encourages me to keep going. When someone gathers the up the courage to get up in front of group of people and use their gift, there is nothing wrong encouraging that. There are many people who try to keep their gifts to themselves. There are people who will never get up in front of crowd. The fact that you are obedient needs to be encouraged. Now James really enjoyed the service, and thought the pastor did an amazing job a preaching. So Wednesday night rolls around and we go to their Wednesday night service, which is what it was, and not a bible study like the website said. Not that big a of deal. They took prayer request and then someone got up and preached and he did a good job, in fact the message was great and could be applied that night. After we was done talking about sin and how to deal with it and the fruits of the spirit and the flesh, a kid from the youth got up and basically said he had sinned and had asked for forgiveness from his mother and was seeking it from the church. The pastor got up and spent a good 15 talking about what happened in general terms. He even said some things that I don't think should have been said. So basically the message of the evening you really shouldn't kick someone while they are down, and pastor got up and kicked the poor kid. No matter how great a church James and I can't attended a like that. Did the kid need to get up in front of the church ? Yes he did. Did pastor need to shake his finger at the kid for 15 minutes pouring on more shame? Not in front of the church like that. Yes sin needs to be addressed and taken care of, but not aired out for everyone to see. As we were leaving that night, we stopped by the man who ran the music. I was worried that he was coming to address that fact of my joyful noise singing, because of their core values is quality music. However, I was wrong. He runs the young married group and was coming to say Hi to the new young couple. After that another lady told us this was a good church to come to get fed. I don't want to get fed, I can feed myself, I want to be used. Is it a good church? I think so, but I can't just can't go somewhere that kicks people while they are down.