What an off night. One of Ryan's co-workers and his wife are looking for a new church so he asked Ryan what kind of church we go to and said he would like to come to visit ours. We thought that was pretty cool since we had no idea they were spiritually inclined. Hmm, that sounds like I'm calling them heathens. I'm not. They are really cool, fun and more importantly, nice people. So, we met up at the church.

After the first song I knew it was going to be a bad night. Ryan told Ryan and Nichole (from here on out it will be Abbotts and Nichole; I know Ryan Abbotts hates being called Abbotts but I must), that the 5 o'clock service was a contemporary service. 'Contemporary' is a very relative term. It is contemporary when compared the robed hymn singing choir in the morning but not at all contemporary when compared to a church that has a worship band and plays music that is more like rock 'n roll than hymns. Earl, the senior pastor, likes the music selection to fit with his message. That's cool but every song was slooow and very much like a hymn. Hymn's are great but if I wanted to sing nothing but hymn's I would go to a morning service. So, the music was less than great. Then Earl's sermon, well, Earl doesn't give sermons as much as he gives lessons. Earl's lesson was just not something I was grasping. His reading was from Revelations and it was about God being the Creator. The only thing I really took away from him tonight was when he gave the advice to not read too much into the great creatures in the book of Revelations. That really is something, actually. Maybe I'll try reading Revelations again.

After church we went to Cedars which serves the best Indian food in all of Seattle. OK, I can't really say that with much authority because I've only been to a few Indian places. The wait was supposed to be 15 minutes but was more like 30 and it was crowded as usual. We figured it would be OK because they are so quick to take your order and bring out the food. Wrong. We sat down and had our drink order taken right away. Then a table that was seated after us had their order taken and the waiter left. We were waiting and waiting and waiting for a server to come by and take our order. Ryan kind of lost his cool and yelled, "Hey!" when the waiter left the dining room after scanning it and overlooking us. When he finally showed up Nichole wasn't sure she wanted to order. I don't blame her for wanting to leave. But the food is so good! I hate that I will put up with horrible service and sub-par atmosphere because I want their chicken tikka masala and chai so bad. We did all order and the food was very good but it's too bad the service was so off tonight because they are normally very fast. Not the warmest bunch of servers but the fastest.

So the music was blah at church, the sermon/lesson was less than inspiring and the service at Cedars was the worst. At least the company was good. We are going to try out a new church with Abbotts and Nichole. My girlfriends would disown me if they knew I'm going to set foot inside Mars Hill. I just want to see what it's like. Katie actually said, "We can't be friends if you go to Mars Hill." And everyone else chimed in, "Yes." That made me want to go even more just to test them. I don't like churches where there is no one between the pastor and the congregation. There is usually a token board to counsel the pastor but they are appointed by the pastor and are usually just yes men. I came from a church where the pastor had the final say in everything. Now I see that a church that has some form of government/leadership is a good thing. If the pastor is off there is a governing body to reign him in. I am most interested in Mars Hills' worship. I really miss being out of the Christian music scene. I have no idea who anyone is anymore. The Christian station in Seattle suck. They play really old music and lots of worship music. If I want to hear worship music I'll go to church or put in a CD. I want to know who the latest and greatest is. I'm totally clueless. I occasionally flip over to the Christian station but am always disgusted with their music selection. I always turn it back to the alternative station that plays Death Cab for Cutie, Snow Patrol, Wolfmother, Red Hot Chili Peppers and the like. I know there are good alternative types of Christian bands out there but where they are hiding, I don't know. If you know of any good Christian bands that have come out in the last few years please clue me in.