Religious variety?

Wsup VI. I know i know, been a long time! But u know time can be extremely elusive. But i must admit its great to know that good ol' denno and angie and vicks and shiku and nattizo are still alive and kickin!

I'm going through an interesting process which requires me to visit a number of churches in nairobi with a view to registering musicians for an Interdenominational Music Concert that will be held in September 05 and i've had many amusing moments in the various houses of worship that i have visited.

You can hardly imagine the variety that you will find in the different assemblies of God. Variety in the sense of kind of worship that goes on and the general ministry presentation of the different churches.

Among the five churches from which i was assigned to recruit members included one church called Green Pastures which, you will not believe, is situated right above Choices...the Choices. (Dennis you can tell them the exact physical address! lol! jus kidding!) Yeah, so i visited the church and the one thing that struck me was the duration of the praise and worship. I got there at 9.30 and the Pastor started preaching at 12pm!!!! So u know as the praise progressed, i kept on taking a break thinking that surely it must be time for the preacher to start preaching! but no! it went on and on. But NOTE am not complaining- its an excellent thing to have.

My other church was, Jesus Is Alive Ministries- the Bishop Margaret Wanjiru Church 'THE GLORY IS HERE!'Now in that church, you feel like you are in a TBN service. u know the 'love gift' concept? She's perfected it. I was astonished at how lucrative she makes giving to the Lord seem- i almost emptied my wallet as i was confident/ certain beyond doubt- that the giving would come back 100 fold- pressed down, shaken and flowing over! Man! it was astonishing. Once again, i ain't saying that giving is bad or good- but in my mind i was really hoping that the pple she ministers to understand that it is God there are seeking after and not God's gifts only!

Yo'al must jua Rev./ Bishop/Pastor Pius Muiru (the servant of God with a hoarse voice)? Yeah, i visited his church actually moments ago, for an evening service, which i couldnt sit in for because i simply have no respect for the venue- Odeon Cinema! Anyway, so i check and i find the Praise going on. And as the pace picks up, the guy leading alas turns out to be an Aerobics trainer! well, if i didnt know where i was, that's what i would think! The guy was making the congrgation pull some moves- leg up, hands up, gyrate the hands back and forth, jump bend, jeez! Now in my suit, God forgive me, but i was just unable to keep up! And in the midst of the aerobics, the music was so loud and noisy that i couldnt really catch the motivation for the physical exercise, it at all there was any. I not being a person who agrees to do anything without grasping the incentive/rationale, i slowly picked myself up... and trotted along to the cyber- eager to share my experience with u VI children of God!

Whenever i attend a church... and for some reason i was sent to very charismatic assemblies, i always remember how my NPC service would have been. With the time being monitered religiously, the uptown and straight congregation not being able to wave their hands to vigorously, the meticulously dressed Pastors in serious 2/3 piece suits (no flowing African regalia!), etc. It makes me wonder, do i really need to get more charismatic and pentecostal or is it all good just to lift my arm to the polite 45 degree angle and softly swing to the tune. All in all, i think i love the Lord and i trust that he hears my prayers.

what do u think?