First Baptist Church of Plattsmouth I have committed, during this campaign, to responding to questions people ask me. When I get asked the same question a lot I like to post the answers here for all to see. Please note: This post is rather personal & is not meant to offend anyone. It isnt even really a campaign post. It is simply meant to respond to the questions I receive about a personal matter Did you choose a church & if so which one? I would ask, if you are not interested in reading on you simply skip over this post & move along to something of more interest to you. As many of you know earlier this year I attended service in many of our local churches. I did this in part due to a discussion I had with my next door neighbor & another talk I had with a different friend across town. In both of these discussions it became clear to me that I had begun to fall away from my church. Yes I continued to go but my frequency of attendance had fallen off & I realized that I was going more because I had to go rather than any real desire or passion to go. I took a hard look at myself & decided it was time to re engage with my spiritual self & take a hard look at what had happened that caused me to stray. I decided the best way for me to do this was to attend the churches of Plattsmouth to see if any would help rekindle my passion, restore my faith & help me find my way back to The Lord. I attended almost all of the Christian Churches in town, including the one representing my original denomination, as I wanted to be fair. Now, because I am running for Mayor many who saw me thought I was there to campaign - not so & I made it a point to share with anyone who asked why I was really there - not to find votes but rather salvation. I met a lot of wonderful people during my visits, all of great faith. At the time I was attending 2 sometimes 3 churches a weekend and returned multiple times to several of them. I needed to be sure that if I were to join a church I would fit. I will tell you, however, that In the future I hope to return to worship with these great folks whenever possible. At the beginning of this journey also I set myself the task of rereading the Bible from cover to cover. I can tell you this effort took a full two months but I believe the effort was well worth it to me spiritually. Then, while on a business trip I was stuck for several hours in an airport. A Sister approached me & asked if I would watch her bag so she could use the restroom. I remember looking at her funny - youre not supposed to watch anyones bags but your own in an airport - and she said I trust you, your reading the Bible. When she got back we spoke for more than an hour about stuff. Things seemed to be falling into place. As I visited churches i began to see a pattern emerge. I would attend church here or there and then do my best to work my way out to First Baptist for their 11am service. By the time I had just a few churches left To attend I realized that without consciously picking one I had chosen First Baptist Church as my new home. That is if they would have me. About that time Pastor Wicks came by and sat with me on my porch & we talked. We had a good talk & I, for what I believe to be the first time in my life, truly understood what others had been preaching at me for so long. That what I was being offered was not something being forced on me but rather is a gift from God. A gift, quite frankly, I am not worthy of receiving. Still, knowing this about me, the offer was made. Pastor Wicks helped me understand this & accept the gift & I thank him for that. Since then I have done my best to attend Bible Studies, Sunday services & Wednesday night studies at First Baptist. I have attended events & helped wash cars & I can tell you I am just getting warmed up. I will tell you another question I received a week or so back Dont the Baptists go to church a lot? My answer is truthfully It doesnt feel that way when you want to be there. Sorry for the long post, remember I am not trying to sway you one way or another here I am just sharing with you a bit of my life so you will better understand who I am & who you will be electing if you choose to allow me to Go Forward! Thank you, Patrick Dugan
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 21:43:25 +0000
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