Church checklist...

Worship, Pastor, small groups, and size. I hate to compare everything to Beltway, but hey when you find something you like, you want to stick to it as best you can.

We found a church with AMAZING worship, nearly exactly, actually probably better than Beltway (gasp!). Beltway, with their powerful worship, really opened our eyes to the fact that there's nothing more boring than sitting through worship that is repetitive and lifeless. So now, it's what we search for, it's what we crave in our church hunt. Worship is meant to be more! It's amazing how much worship just lifts your spirits, provides a connection, and renews your strength for the week.

We've also discovered that we enjoy the many resources that larger churches have to offer. We like the many options for life groups, different service groups to help with, etc. The size of this one was about the same as Beltway, but in a smaller setting, 5 services into 2 buildings (an auditorium and a coffee lounge - seriously, get with this Beltway!) instead of 2 services in one giant building.

BUT, the pastor was just so-so. It could have been an off week because it was a tough subject so we will try again. We had found 1 pastor at the first church we tried that we really enjoyed and he was awesome but the worship was so-so.

Last weekend we went to Max Lucado's church again, the worship is definitely more traditional and the church is probably geared towards an older crowd. However, their older male vocal was INCREDIBLE! Think, worship = rugged ole cowboy + huge stash + guitar. But, Max Lucado did a great job with his message. However, it was interesting to see his style technique. You could tell he was a type a, structured person with his laminated displays, and perfectly organized notes, inflections, stares etc. He did everything well, but lacked a certain emotion, and connection. I need more stories and humor.

So as you can see, it's so hard to find the right mix! Especially in a big city with too many options! So, the search continues. We may just not settle on one and continue exploring. We can be picky here because we have SO many to choose from. Del Rio, will be another story! Less than 3 more months here!!!

This is the 2nd time we've heard this song sung in worship, it is very powerful live. I think they've also done it for baby dedications at Beltway and I can't get it out of my head.

Beautiful song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR7VOKQ0xJY