God dealt with me at the early age. My parents did not go to church. At 10 I told my mom I wanted to go to a church. She had exposure to the Church of Christ so we went. As my mom tried to restrain me, I went forward and publicly professed Christ as my savior. She did not think I knew what I was doing. Within 4 years I had seen enough hypocrisy and turned away. One of the last events I remember was the pastor being arrested for molesting children in the scout troop. I had no idea as I had joined the scouts at the Presbyterian church nearby. In his letter of apology he stated he was seeking help. God used a Muslim convert to lead me back to Him some 25 years later. Since this time I have come to understand accountability, but have seen a major lack of it in the institutional church
@jarvil1 I have heard many accounts of people turning away from the church and God because of the hypocrisy of professing Christians. It is very sad to hear about. But, it is spoken of lots and lots in the Bible. There are many warnings in Jesus' teachings, Paul's letters, and the books of the prophets about false teachers, wolves, hypocrites, etc. Still, it is good to hear God lead you back to Him despite this. His love is greater than people's evil.
@TakeN Yes sir, His Love is everything. He was Faithful in so many ways even so much the more during my time of running to the dark side.