Because is not a conjunction!!

Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. I really tried to keep my mind on the sermon, but I was being distracted by other thoughts. Lunch plans? Nope. How to keep Grant quiet? Nope. Planning when I was going to get all my schoolwork done that day? Nope. The true answer will positively prove I am a nerd.................... It was the punctuation that was used in the Bible verses that were shown on the big screens. I tried to ignore it. I tried not to care. But, it seems you can take the English teacher away from the English book, but you can't take the English book out of the English teacher. I think that I should add on to that that I not only teach English, (have for nine years now - WOW! Makes me sound OLD!), but I also taught the 4th writing TAKS for three years which I think is the biggest factor for my pickyness (not sure how to spell that since it's not a real word) with the written language. I guess you could say writing and its mechanics are burned into my brain whether I want them to be or not (Did you catch on that I'm trying to make my dorkiness sound - well - understandable???). Sure, I still make careless mistakes in my writing (and I am still a horrible speller), but that is not the point here. The point here is: "Because" is NOT a coordinating conjunction! NEVER put a comma before the word "because". In the Bible verses that were viewed in church, "because" continually had commas before it, and it drove me BONKERS!! I think the writer was getting confused with which rule to follow. It can be confusing as "because" is a subordinating conjunction (Please don't make me list them. There are too many!!!) and not a coordinating conjunction (which are: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so). And, when used as the first word in a complex sentence, a comma IS placed between the dependent and independent clauses, but not when the subordinating conjunction is in the middle of the clauses.

For example, below is an instance when the dependent clause comes first, (the subordinating conjunction coming at the beginning is what makes the clause dependent) and therefore a comma is needed to separate the dependent and independent clause:
Because my dog makes horrible messes on the carpet, I am getting new flooring next week.

Now I will share an instance when the subordinating conjunction "because" is used in the middle of a complex sentence, and therefore a comma is not needed to separate the dependent and independent clauses. **Notice that the dependent clause comes at the end of the sentence instead of at the beginning as in the previous example:
I am getting new flooring next week because my dog makes horrible messes on the carpet.

Subordinating conjunctions should not be confused with coordinating conjunctions. There is a quick and easy rule to follow to make sure you are properly punctuating coordinating conjunctions: Cover up the conjunction in the middle of the sentence (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so). If there is a complete sentence on BOTH sides of the conjunction, you need to put a comma BEFORE the conjunction.
Let's work with the example below:
I need new flooring and I need a maid.
If you cover up the "and" in the middle of the sentence, you will see that there is a complete thought on BOTH sides. Complete thought #1: I need new flooring. #2: I need a maid. Since these are both complete thoughts, a comma should be placed BEFORE the conjunction (and).
My correctly punctuated sentence should look like this:
I need new flooring, and I need a maid.

If there is not a complete sentence on both sides of the conjunction (and), you do not need to add a comma. For example:
I need new flooring and a maid.

Well, I feel better. Perhaps I can now let go of the mechanical errors I saw in church , and I can now be a more active listener during the lesson. Boy, the devil really knows how to get me, huh? ha ha Look out, Devil. I'm on to you now!! Wah-ah-ahhhhhhhhhhh!!