Tag Archives: church

Day of Prayer

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This has been quite the week for special days. Tuesday was Star Wars day. May the Fourth. Like “May the Fourth be with you.” Did I make that up? Why no, no I didn’t.

Wednesday was Cinco de Mayo, that traditional U.S. holiday. “U.S. holiday?” you ask. Yep. It’s a regional holiday in Mexico, not particularly celebrated outside of Puebla. In the 1860s, people in California started celebrating this day, and it eventually became a sign of Mexican pride here in the U.S.

Today is the National Day of Prayer. It’s also National Crepe Suzette day and National Nurses Day. Hard to know which one to celebrate, right?

Sorry, I know that it’s cool to complain about this day not getting enough observance. I just don’t see the plus to it. I believe in prayer. I believe firmly in the power of prayer. Just look at the discussion last week in the comments.

But I don’t believe in prayer by decree. I don’t believe in somehow trying to get people who wouldn’t otherwise pray to join us in prayer.

Christians should pray without ceasing… not needing a special day.
Christians should pray for leaders of all nations, not wait for leaders to pray for them.
Christians should pray without making a show of it.
Christians should pray in secret.

None of this is accomplished by a National Day of Prayer.

Today should be a day of prayer.
So should tomorrow.

{photo by Jesper Noer}

Discipleship

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“We teach a man to come to church three times a week so he can come and learn to come to church three times a week.”

That’s how a friend described how discipleship works all too often.

What do you think of the description?

How should we then dress…

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1857_Mens_FashionsAll right, some of you raced ahead of me on this one. Some cook faster than others. Now I’m ready to talk about us. Clothing styles have changed over the years. What was once unacceptable for wearing in public is now commonplace. What was once expected as minimal dress for a Sunday assembly is now out of place.

How should we dress for church? Here are some answers I’ve heard:

  • We should dress with the best clothes we have. We should ask ourselves, “How would I dress if I were going to meet with the President?” (Yeah, I know. Lots of you look at this president differently than other presidents. If you just can’t bear to think of meeting with Obama, pretend it’s Nixon)
  • We should dress comfortably, like someone who is going to meet with close friends and family.
  • We should dress as well as we do for a business meeting. If we wear a suit in our work, we should wear a suit to church. If we wear polos and khakis, wear polos and khakis. (Sorry ladies… you’ll have to come up with your own equivalents)
  • We should dress cleanly, but not too fancy. We don’t want to make outsiders feel uncomfortable when they visit.

Have I missed any? What’s your theory behind how we should dress? Dare I ask if anyone has any biblical basis for their choice?

Should we be preparing to be bilingual?

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Picture 2Yesterday I wrote about a successful bilingual church in Stockdale, Texas. As I look at the changing demographics in the United States, I can’t help but think that more and more churches are going to need to go that way. Many people agree to that in theory, but few congregations are doing anything to prepare for that.

Especially in the Southwest, Anglos are going to be in the minority soon. Maybe not this year nor next , but soon enough. So what will churches of Christ do? Content ourselves with primarily serving a minority population? Force Hispanics to adapt to our current way of doing things? Or is there something I’m not thinking of?

What, if anything, do you think our congregations should do to prepare for this cultural and linguistic shift in our communities?

Stockdale bilingual church

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I don’t know that I’ve written about the church in Stockdale, Texas. It’s a remarkable congregation that I had the privilege to work with for 4 years and have the special privilege of still being welcomed back every time I go.

In 2002, my family and I had decided to move to the United States. I didn’t really know what I was going to be doing, whether I would continue in fulltime church work or not. Among other places, I posted my resumé on the Abilene Christian University website. One night I got a call from one of the members in Stockdale, telling me that they had seen my information and wanted to know if I would be interested in talking with them about a job. It was a predominantly Hispanic church in a small town in Texas (population about 1400). I was too polite to tell them that I wasn’t interested in small towns nor Hispanic ministry, plus I’ve always felt that I should listen to every opportunity the Lord puts in my way. He’s surprised me almost every turn along the road, so I’ve learned not to rule anything out.

Several phone calls followed, including one where they offered to fly me to the States to interview. Seeing this as a chance to travel to the States and interview for some jobs I was really interested in, I agreed. But the people of Stockdale knew something I didn’t know: once I met the people of that congregation, no other place could have any appeal for me. They wanted me there on a Sunday and a Wednesday, which I now realize was an exceptionally long visit/interview (I was pretty new at all that, having been in mission situations before that). By the time I left on Wednesday, I was fairly convinced that I had a found a good place for our family to be.

We accepted the job in July, making arrangements to make our move in October (we were waiting on Carolina’s visa). During that interim, the congregation merged with the local Anglo congregation. It was a merger with lots of strikes against it: different cultures, language barriers, different worship styles, doctrinal differences… None of those could overcome the biggest positive these Christians had: they really loved the Lord and they really loved one another.

Today the Stockdale congregation is a healthy one. They’ve had plenty of trials over the last 6 years, but God has blessed them in many ways. It’s hard for me to describe all of the ways in which God has prepared this church for ministry. I’m proud to still be able to consider myself a part of that congregation, even though I’ve been away for 3 years now. I doubt there’s a healthier small town church in the country, especially a bilingual congregation. Others would do well to observe the things they’ve done to bring Christians together, especially those of different languages.