Our journey is over. I’m sad and excited at the same time. Our spiritual sojourn of fifty-two churches has ended. Reunion with our home church, church 53, community looms large. Today is Good Friday and our Easter celebration will be in two days, but I can’t wait for Sunday. I desire a preview, a reminder […]
Ideas for Having a House Church Over the years there have been times when I couldn’t go to church. I’m not talking about the Sundays I was ill or traveling. Instead, I’m referring to times when the church canceled its service. These have included weather-related problems, power outages, no heat, and construction issues. Each of […]
Celebrate the Holiness of God The prophet Isaiah has a dream, a vision. He sees into heaven. God sits on his throne over the temple. Six-winged angels, seraphim, hover above him. They sing out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. Earth fills with his glory.” As their voices ring out, the temple shakes and […]
Quick, are seraphim angels? Until recently I would have said “yes” without hesitation. That’s what I was taught. However, after researching for the post Holy, Holy, Holy, I’ve reached a different conclusion. First, the dictionary says seraphim are “celestial beings.” Celestial implies heaven or the divine (God). I equate celestial to the supernatural or the […]
When we arrive at church portrays something about us. More importantly it reveals much about the importance we place on God and worshipping him. Aside from conditioned and cultural predispositions towards punctuality, we also have personal circumstances that can interfere with our best intentions. Having a baby, small children, or many children can all impede […]
We arrive at church about ten minutes early, and after milling about for a while, we sit down. A mostly youthful praise team assembles on the stage to worship God, which is a mere eight inches high; the low ceiling allows for little more. In addition to three who play guitar, there’s one on bass, […]
The church we visited on Sunday is a mostly older congregation. The worship team, however, is comprised of teens. What a pleasant surprise. Three play guitars, with one on percussion. Offstage is a pianist, the church’s worship leader and the only non-teen of the ensemble. There are several vocalists, with two who sing and play. […]
Discover the Origin of Having a Local Place of Worship Another interesting word that occurs only in the New Testament is synagogues. Appearing sixty-six times, it’s in all four gospels, a lot in the book of Acts, and twice in Revelation. That’s it. Notably the word synagogue does not appear in the Old Testament. Where […]
There’s a Mandarin service followed by one in English;. We attend both. The worship team leads us. The words to the song are displayed in Mandarin and have the English translation underneath. They sing and I listen to voices of a different tongue. God’s presence engulfs me. When others raise their hands, I wonder if […]
May My Clothes Never Keep a Visitor from Encountering God My parents, especially my mom, taught me to dress up for church. That’s what people did when I was a kid, and I didn’t question it—even though I’m still looking for a biblical command to do so. Never mind that I’m sure my parents spent […]