Episode 17 - McKenzie Looks for a Connection

McKenzie Looks for a Connection McKenzie found himself at church. It was somewhere in middle England at the beginning of spring. With new life bursting out all around him, it seemed like an excellent time to make a God connection in the hope of getting things off to a good start after his winter of isolation. From the outside it didn’t look like a church building. It was a factory unit in an industrial estate. McKenzie liked that. One thing that repulsed McKenzie was overt religion. Non-religious Christianity was often difficult to find because religion soiled true Christianity like a bad stain. Furthermore, it was McKenzie’s sad experience that religion and Christianity were bed-fellows that were difficult to separate. McKenzie was made to feel welcome when he entered. Without much ado, he progressed into the main auditorium just as the band began to play and they were good. The presentation was good, the sound quality was good, the stage lighting was good and the projected visuals were also good. As the end of Genesis chapter one tells us; God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. However, as the meeting progressed, the well rehearsed format morphed into a praise and worship formula. It was all quite slick but it was also frustratingly familiar. It opened a door to the spirit of Religion who battled with the Spirit of God for control. The potential was there to make this a momentous, life-changing moment for everyone, but religious ritual, cleverly cloaked in charismatic exuberance, sucked at McKenzie’s energy. Instead of the tangible presence of God’s glory, religion descended like a thick fog. Many of McKenzie’s most amazing life-altering encounters with God had happened outside of the traditional church setting. Now, his attention span wavered and he began to be distracted. He looked around and saw that the congregation were, for the most part, sincere and responsive. The Pastor was sincere. He obviously loved God, the bible and his flock. Clearly, he was looking for ways to inspire his people with the fullness of his message, so that, they would have their own personal revelation of what God was saying to each of them individually. McKenzie felt the Pastor’s frustration and hoped that he would accomplish what he had set out to do. His job was not enviable, it was jolly hard work. He showed great endurance and perseverance. It seemed that the beloved would need to be wooed for a while longer….. McKenzie was reminded of Song of Solomon chapter 1 verse 4. The bible says….. Take me away with you - let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers. To find out more about this bible verse please go to ‘Connecting with Jesus’: http://www.getthegist.net/