I belong to a church, which I need to spend more Sundays attending.
You don't -need- to do that. If you -want- to that's fine, but don't feel obligated. I've spent a lot of time in churches, but the best convo's I've had with God were late at night, or riding a motorcycle, or hiking in the woods. My beliefs are similar to PM's, I am a believer but I am VERY skeptical of organized religion and the negative, pessimistic views they teach about humanity. They want us to feel nothing but guilt over the way we live our lives because nothing we do can match up to the standard Jesus lived by.
My sitch has radically altered how I view God, I no longer see him as a Santa Claus that doles out prayer answers to the "faithful". Our lives are infinitely complex and beyond our understanding, and sometimes what we think is best is perhaps not so. For example, I prayed probably a dozen times a day for a year or more for my marriage to be saved. And yet here I am, waiting for the D papers to arrive. Why didn't God answer those prayers? Probably because I misunderstood his nature. I don't believe in him any less because of my sitch, but I now know that it's a waste of time for me to try to figure out how to make him meet MY needs.
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So, I am also part of a small group that focuses on Bible study.
I think that's great, I've read it cover-to-cover and most parts multiple times. But just remember, the Bible is a different message for each person. If you hear opinions expressed in Bible study (or from the pulpit) that you don't agree with, just keep in mind that they are "opinions" even though many people (including pastors) will try to cram it down your throat as fact.
