Well, here we are with the first post for this new blog and, as I write this, I'm still a bit perplexed on how to kick things off. There's a lot to throw in here, so apologies are in order if things seem a bit scattershot at the outset.

The mission of this blog, who's writing it, & how it came to be:
I'm writing this blog to basically put some thoughts down on my own rededicated relationship with Christ. I'm no minister, nor a pastor, nor a church leader, even ... just a believer with bandwidth. I've run a few other blogs over time and have come to appreciate the way in which keeping a running journal helps us track our thoughts and grow with questioning and exploration in thought. For now, I'm operating the blog as quasi-anonymous (you get my first name, but not last). Granted, it's not impossible, nor difficult to figure out who I am (clue: nobody important). Anonymity is hardly a big hangup on my part, but for now, I figure the policy will help me in just tapping the keyboard with my thoughts on subject matter that I've previously not blogged about extensively.

A little about me:
I currently go to Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. Yeah, the one with Joel Osteen as pastor and that apparently has the biggest membership in the U.S. of A. Make of it what you will, but we'll explore some of that down the road, I suspect.

I was born again many moons ago (if moons equals years, that'd be 18 moons). While I've taken my faith seriously and tried to apply it as much as possible to my life over much of that time, I'd had the biggest problem finding a church that I felt comfortable with. Believe me, I tried. I had good friends who tried to help me with that, had a few church visits that intrigued me, but no dice. As you can well imagine, eighteen years is a long time to be a Churchless Christian. And I never realized the importance a church could had in one's relationship with Christ until I visited Lakewood on their Grand Opening (July 2005) in the former Compaq Center. So it was that I decided then to rededicate myself to my relationship with Christ. It's been a wonderful experience thus far. I usually make it to the Wednesday & Saturday services as well as attend the over-35 Singles group offered on Saturdays. So far, so good. I'm really liking it and seeing it's impact on my life each day.

Topics, Guidelines, and other Assorted Stuff:
Just so ya know, I intend to cover my own path with Christ from this point forward. That'll likely mean touching on material covered in the sermons at Lakewood. I tend to purchase the CDs of the Wednesday sermons. At some point, I may check with one of the higher-ups at Lakewood to see if it's ok to include a snippet's worth of an MP3 of the sermons.

In addition to that, I'm sure there'll be plenty of other opportunities to blog about topics more tangential to the sermons as well as cover a bit of what I happen to be going over in Bible study. For now, that study is self-directed. Eventually, I'll move on to look for a small group to study with.

Speaking about those tangential issues, Lakewood Church is a bit of a topic in and of itself. I'm sure I'll be getting into some of those issues down the road. Naturally, I'll defend Joel Osteen's ministry as I can personally attest to its impact on my own life. I should also add that I honestly thought I'd be the last Christian on earth to be attending a 'megachurch' pastured by some 'televangelist.' So I'll offer this much at the outset:

I'd heard of Lakewood in glowing terms from members as far back as about 15-16 years ago when John Osteen was the pastor. The television aspect of the church was smaller then, so whenever anyone mentioned that this church had such a diverse membership, it struck me as a bit too good to be true. Still, you'd see John Osteen on the local channels from time to time, so I managed to not change channels a few times when he happened to come on ... usually while I was waiting for some Sunday talk show to come on afterwards. Since Lakewood was still the 'local' church to us Houstonians, many of the big news stories that happened into the papers from time to time got noticed: Lisa Comes being injured by a mail bomb, John Osteen passing away, and Lakewood taking over the lease of the now-former Compaq Center all were easy news items to follow.

When Joel Osteen took over after his father's passing, things obviously got interesting. The church grew, as everyone knows. Joel penned a bestselling book that's nearing 3 million in sales (paperback out in October, btw). And, of course, there was that big expensive move into the Compaq Center. I'd seen Joel on the tube much the same way I happened upon his dad ... while waiting for something else to come on. Still, Joel always struck me as a naturally gifted speaker and there was something I had yet to put my finger on as to how his message related to me. Of course, now it just sounds like much of what you'd hear from almost any Lakewood member ... it's a message that's relevant to everyday life. It's also a message that's full of optimism and doesn't seek to beat people down or send an otherwise limiting view of Christianity. Based on a positive impression of Osteen and the fact that the church was soon to be opening closer to my neck of the woods, I thought I'd give it a try.

I was a bit wary of arriving at a big megachurch where I might be just another number or another click of the turnstile (ok, so there IS a membership number ... but no actual turnstile involved). The smaller ministry groups have the effect of making the big church small for us, and to that end, I've been blessed by my experience with the older singles group that meets on Saturday. Of course, many of the folks in the big hall are also rather friendly and quick to make introductions. It seems like a quaint concern now, that the church might strike me as being 'too' big for my taste. Now, it seems rather small to me. But then again, part of the reason I make it to the Saturday service instead of Sundays is because it's a bit easier to get a seat on the floor where legroom is more ample. I remember being taken aback one Saturday when I arrived late and had to get a seat in the back. Noticing how much the Saturday service filled up even after I arrived made me realize that, indeed, the church was big.

Anyways, that's about all for introductions and howdies. If I realize I've missed anything, I'm sure I'll be called on the carpet about it in due time. Any further questions, feel free to ask. I'll try to get at least a post-per-day going here, but don't shoot me if that doesn't always happen.