How God forced me into the right Church
VideoTranscript
This is the video’s transcript, lightly formatted. Tap a time to jump to that moment.
It's a Monday morning about 2 and 1/2 weeks ago. Beth has found a new coffee shop. We went to it once. It was really good and she wants to go back. So, we're getting ready, planning to head out early Monday morning to get some coffee as soon as this place opens.
At the last minute, she thinks to ask, "Well, wait, are they open on Monday?" Because some places aren't around here. Restaurants and coffee shops and things can have weird hours where they're closed on certain days. So, we've learned to look things up and she asks me to look it up. I didn't think about this. She just thought about it and so I looked it up. They're closed on Monday.
She's disappointed because she loves coffee and she wanted to go there, but she starts looking for, okay, well, let's find somewhere else new to go that we haven't been to before. And she finds a coffee shop. It's called Given Coffee and it's about 20 minutes away from where we live, but not far at all. It's actually the same distance as the other place we were going to go.
And she sees that the proceeds of the coffee go to a charity that feeds underprivileged students so that they don't go home hungry. They give them food boxes to bring home after school. We think that's a wonderful thing to support. We assume it's probably associated with a church, but which of course is fine. Actually, that's a good thing. And so, we go there instead.
We get there. It's not only associated with a church. It's in the church. The coffee shop is actually inside the church. Oh, that's cool. And it's a very modern looking church. Very contemporary.
I can tell by the name. It's called Hope City. Coffee shop is called Given Coffee. And it's clearly a very modern church, but no worries. We go in, the coffee shop's there, strike up a conversation with the lady who's running it, you know, back and forth, tell our stories. It's excellent coffee. Excellent coffee.
As it turns out, Beth knows the son of the woman who is running the coffee shop that morning because she saw him. He works at a different coffee shop in town that she used to frequent and you know they got to know each other. So that was a cool little connection and it turned out that we got to tell our story about where we came from because she asked how I and Beth met. Beth was not going to bring up our background with Jehovah's Witnesses. She wasn't going to do that, but I did because I didn't know that at the time. I'm like, "Oh, yeah. We met in the congregation and of course now she wants to know some details and so we got to do some unwitnessing about the cult that we came out of."
Also great. Well, I'm looking at the sign and I'm looking at the name Hope City. That sounds familiar.
So, I pull up my phone and I look up the church, Hope City. As soon as I see the image on Google Maps of the church, I remember why the name sounds familiar. About two weeks prior to this, I was talking to a buddy of mine that I used to work with at my previous job.
And I was asking him cuz I knew he went to church, but I didn't know where. And I was looking for a church. I'm like, "Hey man, I'm looking for a church to go to and I just want to know like where do you go?" And he told me he goes to Hope City. But as soon as I looked the church up and I saw a very contemporary picture, I'm like, nah. I didn't say this to him at the time. No, I'm just not into contemporary churches.
It's not my thing. No slam on them. I like traditional. I like a choir. That's just that's just my preference.
So, I immediately dismissed it. Not going there. But then we get to the coffee shop. Hm. How coincidental that on that Monday morning, the one we were going to go to is closed and Beth happens to pick out this one and we go there and it's in the church that my buddy goes to, which I was not going to go to because it was contemporary.
But I figured, you know what, they do this really good charitable thing. I am all about the church being charitable. I do not think you can call yourself a Christian if [snorts] you are not engaged in the kind of charitable activities that Jesus did. Feeding the hungry, helping the poor, the sick, that kind of thing. Widows and orphans, right? Keeping oneself without spot from the world. That's how they used to word it in the Bible we used to read.
So, I'm like, you know what? Let me give them another shot. Let me give them another chance. Let me at least look them up and see what they're all about. So, I looked them up online. Of course, they have a website. And I read their they don't call it their articles of faith on that website, but like what they believe.
And I'm down with it. I know I'm not going to 100% align with any specific church because of my background and my personal path and studying and all that, but that's okay. As long as we major on the majors and they're good people and they engage in charitable activities, that's all I care about. It's fine.
It's great. Like, I'm happy with their articles of faith. I'm happy that they have women in leadership. I'm happy about the uh positivity of the sermons. I listen to the pastor's name Scott, some of his sermons online. I'm like, "Yeah, he's good. I like it.
I like this. I'm down with going here." So, I make the decision. Now, I'm driving out Sunday morning. This just gets more and more coincidental. I had to drive 6 hours to south of Atlanta for training for the new job which I got back from uh Friday night.
And I mean I'm going to drive for six hours. So how am I going to get up and go to church early in the morning and then drive six hours? Like there's no way. I just I don't think that's plausible.
But I tell myself and I tell God, if I wake up early enough Sunday morning, I'm going to go to church. But if I don't, I need I really need to sleep. I'm going to be on the road all day.
What time do you think I woke up Sunday morning? Whether I liked it or not, I woke up at 6:00. Service starts at 8:30. I wanted to go back to sleep. I tried to go back to sleep. I was tired.
Went to bed later than I should have the night before, but I can't. I can't go back to sleep. And then I remember my prayer. I'm like, I told Aba, if I wake up early enough, I'm going to church. So, I go upstairs. I get ready. Beth knows.
I told her the night before, hey, if I wake up uh early enough, I'm going to go to church. And so, she's like, hey, so you're going to church? Yeah, I'm going to church. So, I go and I get all my stuff together, you know, get ready, all that, and I drive to Hope City. My first time ever going to the service. I'm I'm trying to nap in the car cuz I'm pretty early and I'm tired, but I made a promise and I'm sticking to it. I go inside.
Couldn't sleep in the car. Go inside. The people are really nice. They have the people who greet you. They're asking questions. are very happy to have me there, all that sort of thing. And then I go and sit in the sanctuary because I like to sit in the sanctuary as long as possible.
It's, you know, there's a connective feeling there, and I like that it's uber contemporary, which is not my style. It's got lighting. It's got like uh fog, you know, for because there's a band. I can see the band set up. This place is not going to have a choir. Not my style at all. But I promised that I would go and the coincidence of the coffee shop and all that and it happened to be in the church that my buddy went to and I'm like, "No, I'm going to go."
So, I'm sitting in there. Time passes. People start filtering in.
The music begins. The band goes up on the stage. It's not my style of music. It's lovely. It's reverent. It's not poppish. It has a little bit of that, but it's more reverent than the kinds that I've heard at other contemporary services.
And even though it's not my taste or my preference, I feel the spirit. I can feel it. So, I know even if it's not my preference, this is a good church. Like, this is these people are sincere. I can just feel it. I'm filled with it.
Music ends. I sit down. Pastor Scott comes out and he says he he has he says, "I haven't warned anybody about this. The band doesn't know. I know this is going to be very different for y'all, but I want to do something different today." I have the feeling that there's people in the audience that have something they need to say, something they need to like get off their chest, just something they need to talk about. So, if that's you, raise your hand and we'll get a microphone over to you.
It's my first time. I'm expecting music, a sermon, and go home. Well, I immediately feel like I'm supposed to say something, but I'm like, "No, I'm not." I'm telling myself, I'm arguing with myself in my head. I'm not doing that. I'm No, I'm just got here. I don't know these people.
I'm an introvert by nature. Very uncomfortable for me to just speak in front of a group I don't know in this particular situation about something very, very personal. It's different when you're talking to a camera and it's different when you're on the stage giving the sermon because I did that plenty of times, too.
But this this is very personal. This isn't teaching. This is soulbearing in front of a bunch of strangers that I have never met.
First person speaks. It's heartbreaking. The church has a coffee truck. There was an explosion of the propane tank. Uh, four people were very seriously injured. One of them is in the audience that Sunday and it's her talking about it and how much the church has helped her and just all of that. And it it was impressive to me that the pastor that Scott was very honest.
He said, "Look, we talk about how good God is. We talk about how great he is, how he does all these wonderful things like but sometimes we don't feel that sometimes life is hard and that's what prompted him to say I know I just can tell someone in the audience needs to talk about this and so I'm going to change it up. She spoke first and it was a very moving heartbreaking situation that she dealt with.
After she speaks, guess who raises her hand? My buddy named Chandler. His wife.
So, I was wondering if Chandler was in the audience. I knew he went to the 8:30 service, but I didn't know he was there. I was in earlier than everybody else. It was dark. I did not see him come in. He's a few rows down. It's a fairly large sanctuary.
I just didn't see him. I'm like, "Oh, I wonder if that because Scott says Chandler and she mentions Chandler." I'm like, "I wonder if that's the Chandler I know, but I can't see him." Well, yeah, it [snorts] was Chandler's wife. And that again, I'm feeling the need to speak, but I'm No, no, no. I'm not doing that. I'm not doing that.
I'm not doing that. But as soon as I know it's Chandler, my buddy Chandler's wife talking, that's it. I know I don't have a choice. I have to raise my hand. And so I do. And they pass me the mic and I say, "I don't want to do this into the mic. I don't want to do this, but I know I'm supposed to."
And Pastor Scott kind of laughs a little bit. And I proceed to tell a very shortened version of my story. My childhood in the cult, the nightmares I used to have from it, my exit when I was older, how doomsday they are, and that they thought everyone who wasn't in the religion was going to be destroyed by God in Armageddon, how I left my seven-year journey, my exploration of other religions, my flirting with atheism, agnosticism, all those things, and finally being drawn back to Christ.
It's maybe 5 to seven minutes, something like that. Not a long, maybe not even that long. Not a long time.
They give the mic back and I am shaking because I did not want to do that. That is I'm pouring my soul out to probably 150, 200 strangers, my first time there. But I knew I was supposed to be there.
So, let's back up. What are the odds? One, that the coffee shop Beth wants to go to is closed. We didn't know that. Two, that she happens to pick the coffee shop that's inside a church. Three, that that coffee shop and church happened to be the church that my buddy told me about that I wasn't going to go to. Four, that the I wake up early enough and decide to go on the day I'm supposed to drive six hours to the south of Atlanta for work.
Five, that that morning happens to be the morning that the pastor, unbeknownst to anyone, has decided last minute, spur of the moment, that he's going to do something different because he feels like someone has something they need to say. Six, that my buddy's wife would be one of those people who speaks. And seven, I haven't told you this one yet.
I get there this Sunday cuz that's my church now. God has told me that is where I'm going. It It may not be It may be contemporary. That may not be my style, but I love this place now. And it's only the second time, and this is where I'm supposed to go. I was led by the spirit to where I was supposed to go. I led I was dragged there.
That's where I'm supposed to be. So this morning I get there, Chandler comes up to me, you know, we're talking, whatever. He says, "You know, I was wondering about what happened last Sunday." He said, "So I looked online for the other two because there's three services. There's a 8:30, 10, and 11:30.
And he says, "I wanted to know like did Scott do the same thing for those two or was it just this one? Like was this really spur of the moment?" Not that, you know, he wasn't telling the truth about that, but did he decide to do that again at the next two?
He did not. The other two services were normal services with the music and the sermon and all that. So the seventh coincidence was that I happened to show up at the only service where the pastor decided somebody had something they needed to say. And after I spoke and it wrapped up and ended, a whole bunch of people came up to me. Quite a few of them hugged me, said they really appreciated it. was a powerful testimony and I knew I had done good for people that morning. And another guy came up to me today who did not have a chance to the last time.
It was his first time also and he just told me it was a very powerful testimony and how much he appreciated it. It's a great sermon today is about anger and how we're held to a higher standard as Christians and not taking being quick to take offense. The pastor encourages people to look up the scriptures in their own Bible. I have been to some churches where nobody brings a Bible. Like they might be good. The message might be good. What they're saying is good.
But I want someone who's going to actively encourage people to look scriptures up. Coincidence after coincidence after coincidence after coincidence after coincidence after coincidence means this is not a coincidence. So that is how I found was shoved into the church that I'm supposed to go to. Now why am I telling you this story? I wanted to tell you this story because I've had a bunch of people who came out of the same cult I came out of, who don't know how to go about finding a church. And I can tell you right now, you you're not going to find a church. God is going to lead you to the one you're supposed to go to.
Now, you have to make it up in your own head that you want that that that is absolutely what you want to do. For a long time, I have not been going to a church, read the Bible all the time, pray, study, make the videos, all that. But I went to a bunch of churches in town. I'm like, you know what? None of them are really my vibe. I'm I'm probably not going to find a group that falls in line with my Christian mystic outlook. I just let me just stop.
And I gave up for a long time. But here over the last two months, I really wanted to go and so I started talking to God about that. Lo and behold, all the coincidences happen that drags me to a place I never would have chosen ever. Not all, not ever. Would I have chosen this? Had you put a list of churches in front of me, I never would have picked that one. never would have picked Hope City because of it being contemporary and that just not normally being where I would feel, you know, comfortable.
But then I got there and I could the spirit was all over that room and the pastor was great and he encourages using the Bible actively and we he called on people to speak and I was forced by the Holy Spirit to talk and it helped a bunch of people and on and on and on. Sometimes what you think is good for you. What you want isn't the right choice. For God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts. So if you're looking for a church, if you need a place to go, if you want a spiritual home in a community, talk to God about it. And he is going to lead you where you need to go. and be open to it.
Even if it's not in your comfort zone, even if it's not in your preference to go there, go there anyway because you have no idea how many things he's moving around on the chessboard to get you to where you're supposed to be. So, that's what I wanted to tell you today. And I would love to know what you think. So, please leave a comment below. Do you have a church? Have you found one? Do you have a similar experience that led you there?
And if you live in this area and if you decide you want to check out Hope City, I know that everybody would love to have you there. And if it wasn't for a Chandler being willing to speak up and tell me and invite me, I never would have made the connection. I knew I was going somewhere where I had a friend and so I went. So, how did you find the church you're going to? Are you looking for one? I would love to know about it. I hope this video was encouraging to you and helped you to realize that you never have to worry.
God's got your back. He's guiding your footsteps and you will go where you're supposed to go, whether you like it or not. I'll catch you in the next video. I wanted to take a moment to tell you about my book, The Broken Mirror: Rediscovering Our True Nature in Christ. Readers call it a fantastic book where you will feel yourself discovering your identity in Christ. One reviewer praised it as five-star material for the spiritual mystic or group Bible study. It's time to escape legalism and shame.
Discover you're already God's beloved child with divine nature flowing through you with what reviewers describe as excellent writing style and elegant pros like a campfire discussion with a knowledgeable and gifted recon tour. Journey from Genesis to Revelation, uncovering your true identity. This book shows how to access God's peace, wisdom, and strength from within. Your struggles become opportunities for divine light to shine through. Available in hard coverver, paperback, Kindle, and audio book. The link to the book is in the video description. May God bless your journey along his path for you.
