11-26-2001
Someone mentioned Jesus to me one day and told me that if I’d go to a building called church, I’d find him there and could meet him personally. They said I’d be introduced to him and from that point on we; Jesus and I could have a wonderful relationship.
I’d considered what was mentioned and decided to go to the church to meet this Jesus, to hear Him and all that He had to offer. I figured that we’d talk and upon hearing what He had to say I just might take Him up on whatever offers He had to make.
Being all excited one Sunday morning, I dressed hurriedly and rushed out to the car to go meet this Jesus at church. There was a great expectancy that had welled up inside of me.
I came to the church with a halting screech and stumbled getting out of the car. I was in such a rush to meet this Jesus.
When I entered the church I was so amazed to see so many people. Young and old, black and white, rich and poor, were all together in this church. I thought to myself that this Jesus must be an extra ordinary individual.
Something called praise and worship was going on and everyone was clapping and swaying. I took the time to listen to the words over the almost deafening music to hear the lyrics of “You can talk about me as much as you please, the more you talk, I’ll stay on my knees…”. Immediately I wondered if they were singing this about this man Jesus. Was He talking bad about people causing them such anguish and pain that it drove them to their knees? After all, I was told that church belonged to this Jesus and I figured that praise and worship was about this man, so the people had to be singing about Him and singing songs that talked about Him, pointed to Him, songs that told the story about who He is, right?
After the song people would begin saying, “yes Lord, thank you Lord and then some started jumping around. I later learned it was called dancing. I thought again to myself that this Jesus had to have a devastating effect on people, because according to the praise song, he could dog folk out and they danced before him or unto him. After all quieted another song was sang and this time the lyrics were “I’ve been saved all day and I’m glad”. People were really rocking and swaying. As for me, I was looking around the building hoping to get a glimpse of the man Jesus, hoping to catch his expression, , after all doesn’t praise bring about an expression that is unlike any other especially when you ‘re the one that’s being praised?
A man stood up after the song and said he’d like to say something. Immediately I became excited thinking that he had to be the man Jesus. The man began to talk about his job and the things he used to do and the things that he is presently doing; helping the poor and widows, praying for the sick and the lost, reading his bible and just enjoying life. He expressed his pride in being a deacon and being found worthy by the pastor to hold the office. Some applauded him saying amen. I knew this man couldn’t be Jesus because he hadn’t stated that he was nor did he express any of the things that had been mentioned to me about Jesus.
Well…the service changed and people began to talk about taking up monies to help build a kingdom. They said they wanted to build God a better house. Hey I was all for helping this God out. Evidently His house was in shambles and I wanted to help Him to have a better place to live. I kept wondering though why this Jesus hadn’t shown Himself especially now when God was in great need. I’d heard once that some guy in the bible had built God a house and it was beautiful, quite similar, from what I’d heard, to the building I was presently seated.
Music interrupted my thoughts and people were walking in formation around the table dropping in money while others hastily counted. I couldn’t help but think with so many people in the building giving, that God would surely have a better home. The music stopped and a man said that he needed the people to bring more money. He said that no one could beat God giving, but it wouldn’t hurt to try. The music started again and the people went around the tables a second time.
Again the music stopped and this time the man said that they wanted everyone to give a special offering for the speaker of the day. He asked everyone to give beyond their best because the speaker was always faithful in being there on Sundays and always receiving their calls, always praying and speaking great blessings on them and was the one responsible for them having the beautiful edifice where they were seated and always has good things to say about them. I knew in my heart that he was talking about Jesus and that explained why he hadn’t shown Himself yet. He was waiting for people to give Him this special offering. I thought surely with the great finances He’d receive from the offering that this Jesus would give it to God to help out with the better house the people were building for Him. I dug real deep into my purse and I found every penny I had. As I was counting my change and a few dollars the man officiating over the collection said that he didn’t want us to nickel and dime it neither give a few dollars, but he wanted us to give real big. I felt bad that I had only a few dollars and some change but decided to give it to Jesus anyway knowing that I’d have a chance to explain my giving later on when Jesus and I met.
A prayer was said over the first offering quickly. God was asked to use the money wisely. Thinking about Him needing a new house, I added a sincere “please” to that prayer. Then a prayer was said over the offering for the speaker and it was a lot longer than the first prayer. They were praying that the speaker would be pleased and that the money would help him to do things that he wanted to do for him and his family. At the end of this prayer people were clapping and shouting. I knew they were talking about Jesus in this prayer yet no one mentioned anything about His family. I couldn’t help thinking that there was a lot about this Jesus that I would learn.
Finally…. everyone in the building was told to stand to their feet. Toddlers who had fallen asleep were awakened and were a bit cranky yet their parents help them to stand. Mothers feeding babies were standing with their chins holding the bottles to their baby’s lips. A few grannies with canes were struggling to their feet. I thought wow, this Jesus has to be somebody special because these people really respected and adored Him to the point of discomfort and pain to their own selves.
From someplace in the front of the church walked a man followed by three others. They mounted a platform that was beautifully decorated. The leader of the three waved and the people begin clapping and some whistling. When he was seated, then all could be seated.
One of the men who’d followed this leader came to the podium and begin talking about the man he followed. I later learned this leader was called pastor. The follower talked a whole 35 minutes about the pastor. I learned a lot of things about the pastor and it was alright, but still I wanted to meet Jesus. Where is Jesus I kept wondering? These people have sang, danced, and have taken up what I imagined to be a substantial amount of money for Him. I kept wondering if He was going to show up.
Finally, the pastor came to the podium and said that he wanted to give honor to God and his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. My immediate thought was that it was about time that someone got up to bring the man Jesus out. I got excited, because I just knew that at any minute Jesus would be coming from some place up front and I’d get to both see and hear Him.
The pastor started talking about the ushers and how good of a job they do in the church. He had much to say about them and I learned some things about the ushers. He talked about the musicians, whom I also learned some things about. He talked about some of the members, who had given him most recently what is called a love offering of a substantial amount of money. He talked about places he had to go requesting all of the members to follow him. He talked about him and his wife’s anniversary and praised the mother of the church who had baked them such a beautiful cake. I learned quite a few things about the people in the church this day.
Finally, the pastor asked us to open our bibles to a passage of scripture saying something about not letting the left hand know what the right hand is doing; taking for a sermon topic ”keep your business to yourself”. Yet, never once did he even mention anything about Jesus. He spoke about being able to confide in a few people who could be trusted with your secrets. I guess that the song they sang earlier in the praise and worship was really about Jesus. He must tell everyone business.
After the pastor finished speaking he called a prayer line saying the doors to the church was opened. I looked around to see if Jesus was coming through one of them. Unfortunately, He wasn’t. A few people had gone up for prayer and afterwards the Pastor dismissed. He extended an invitation to all who desired to feast with him at a particular restaurant and through the door he went.
I asked a lady sitting next to me if all was finished in the building and her response was yes. I was so disappointed inside. I hadn’t seen, heard or met this Jesus. I kept wondering why I was told to come to church. I wondered why Jesus didn’t come. If any of you hearing my story have any knowledge of Jesus’ whereabouts would you kindly let me know. Where is Jesus????
Seeking
IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT JESUS IS IN HEAVEN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER,MAKING INTERCESSION FOR US. PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG…..
Ruth thank you for visiting the site. Our prayer here at flip the script is that the Lord will enlighten and open your understanding as you walk with Him.
Your comment can take us into a wide range of discussions. What you’ve commented can be found in Colossians 3:1 and Hebrews 7:25. Colossians 3:1 states; If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. The right hand of God is simply a place of authority and power. Luke 22:66-69. Jesus had been arrested by night, taken to the high priest where he was both interrogated and assaulted. As soon as it was day the elders of the people, the chief priest and the scribes came together and took Jesus into their council where they intended to interrogate him more. They wanted Jesus to verbally confess to what the last three years of his life had openly spoken: that Jesus was the Christ, the long awaited Messiah, the anointed one of the Most High God. Jesus said to them, “If i tell you that I am Him of whom you ask you will not believe me and I I ask you who I am you will not answer me nor let me go yet I will say this: after I go through all of this with you and all of this for you, Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God. In Matthew 28:18 after His resurrection Jesus met with the disciples in a mountain in Galilee and He said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Hebrews 7:15-25 the writer is showing a contrasting truth between the earthly high priest of earlier biblical times and our heavenly high priest who is none other than Christ Jesus. Earthly high priest would die and another would fill the office. So then there have been large numbers of high priest over the people. Jesus Christ is the last and final high priest given to man. He will never die nor will he ever be replaced. Because his priesthood shall never end Jesus Christ forever lives to save to the fullest those who come to God by faith in him and because Jesus Christ forever lives He can always intercede for us or plead with God on our behalf..
In the story of Where is Jesus Ruth, the individual went to church seeking the Lord. Having been told some interesting things about Jesus and being told that Jesus could be found by going to Church the individual went to church. Once there the individual didn’t hear anything about Jesus, was never introduce to nor was it explained how to come into a relationship with Jesus.. The individual was introduced to and had an encounter with church and not Jesus.. The seeker had an encounter where he learned about the people, the pastor, the auxiliaries
but not Jesus..