Today marked the end of an era.

For 16 years, I have attended First Christian Church in Canton, Ohio. Today was the last time I will be a regular attender of their weekend services.

This isn't a rash decision, or one that has come lightly. It's been building for months, years even. I feel like I could write for so long on the reasons that have lead to this decision, but tonight I need to simply summarize and go read throught the Sermon on the Mount.

Simply put, God has been working so much in my heart lately, about what convictions I need to have, which ones I need to stand especially firm on, and how I cannot compromise on those beliefs. One of the key issues God is shaping my heart on is our use of money. While I am struggling to implement these changes in my own life, it's starting to sink in. In regards to the bigger picture, however, I can no longer in good conscience be a part of a group that is building an $18 million building, when there are children in Africa, and down the street in our own city starving.

In case anyone is wondering, while I am leaving one church, I am not leaving the Church. I am going to be becoming more a part of RiverTree Christian Church in Massillon, Ohio, where my heart has been drawn for the past year. In addition, I am still a part of the college-age ministry at First Christian called Tuesdays. I know it sounds hypocritical, but Tuesdays is a completely different animal than the rest of the church. In fact it is at Tuesdays that God has been working on my heart about these issues, and I went for the first time with the group to a homeless shelter/soup kitchen on Saturday, and am eager to go back. And, oddly, I actually have been at First Christian quite a bit in recent weeks, because with both of my parents working there, and me jobless for the moment, I hang out there in the afternoons, and try to make myself useful. I hope I'm able to a blessing to the really stressed office gang.

So this new blog. It's been something that I've been wanting to start for quite some time, and I decided today was the day to do it. I know that several of you will be(literally?) cheering at what you just read, while others may not understand. And that's ok. This blog is a place for me to share my thoughts on God, Jesus, Church, churches, religion, and relationships, and I hope I can be a blessings, even if it comes in the form of a thorn or a challenge.

Shalom.

P.S. I've been blogging for several years at xanga, but seem to suffering quite a bit of writer's block there. But I do have ocassional in depth entries there, at www.xanga.com/knightowl121