Church Shaped Bushels

Been pondering this:

"No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light."  Luke 11:33

And then, consequently, this:

"What causes most trouble for Christians of all ages is not legalism or lack of faith or theological controversies; it is Jesus Himself, who bestows freedom so openhandedly and dangerously on those who do not know what to do with it. The church always get panic-stricken for fear of the turmoil that Christ creates when He comes on the scene; and so it takes His freedom under its own management for the protection of the souls entrusted to it, in order to dispense it in homeopathic doses when it seems necessary. The church claims to represent Jesus on earth, but in fact it often supplants Him. It must tremble in all its joints when confronted with His portrait. Ecclesiastical traditions and laws have domesticated Jesus and today all the churches are living off the success of the attempt." (Ernst Kasemann, German theologian)

And then wondering why so many spiritual gifts are exercised only within the four walls of the church building.  And why the message of redemption is often only preached to the redeemed.  If the redeemed say so, shouldn't we sometimes say it in the presence of those who are not?  And if tongues is a sign to the unbeliever, why do we only do it in front of other people who speak in tongues?  And are we becoming so seeker sensitive that in essence we are hiding our candle in a big church shaped bushel?

The Vision

A few weekends ago I went on a ladies' retreat with my church. During a time of soaking prayer I had a beautiful vision that I feel led to share with you all. First of all, it was really challenging for me to begin soaking. I laid down and it was nothing like peaceful meditation. My thoughts were everywhere...except on the Lord. Finally, I quieted by heart. The next thing I knew tears were pouring down my face. I was in the presence of the Lord.

I saw myself walking through a field of grain, wearing a summer dress. I let my hands touch the grains and drift over the tops. I was walking towards Jesus who was facing me. Around me in the distance were people I admired, prophets, and pastors. All with their backs turned looking towards the mountains that surrounded the valley where I walked.

Around me were also children, lots of children--laughing, playing, running. Occasionally, I would pick up a child and walk a little ways with the child before setting him/her down. But my eyes always remained on Jesus. I did not hurry. I did not look away. My eyes were steadfastly on Him and I just contentedly walked.

As I walked I remembered all the great things those with their backs turned had prophesied over me and all the things I was expected to do. I did not do any of them. I just walked towards Jesus.

As I walked, my children all around me, laughing and playing, began to climb the mountains. As they climbed they grew. They stood on top of all the mountains surrounding my valley.

As I was seeing this scene Jesus whispered to me, "All you have to do is walk after me. That is the greatest work you could do. Your children will reach their destinies because you just follow me. Let them play and laugh. You just keep your eyes on me."

The peace I felt in this place was overwhelming. All the burdens to perform, to "do something", to achieve, to live up to man's expectations just fell away. Even now to think of it, all I sense is perfect peace.

Saraa's Dedication

On Sunday, May 10, we dedicated Saraa to the Lord at Harvest Rock Church. It was a beautiful day.

Here is Saraa cuddling with her daddy before church started.


Captain thinks the baby belongs exclusively to him. Here he is getting his turn to hold her.

It was also Mother's Day. Meg and Israel (back row) participated in a children's choir. They sang "Mom's Are Made That Way" and "God Is So Good." The choir was lead by my dear friend Kristina.

All eight of us (Gana, me, Meg, Israel, Luc, Caesar, Belgee, and my mom) presented Saraa Ann Misheel to the Lord and dedicated ourselves to raising her in the Lord.

After a nice Mother's Day service my mom prepared a fantastic reception at our house. It's tradition.

For this reception she created a Trifle Bar! There was brownie bites, angel food cake, cookies, chocolate mousse, tapioca, whipped cream, fruit, nuts, marshmallows, caramel sauce and so much more. Each person created their own delectable little trifle in stemware.

It was amazingly good and beautiful!!

My mom brought all the serving dishes, punch bowl, etc. We needed a few extra stemware and punch cups. So, I hit the thrift store. I love thrift stores for this sort of thing! I got 12 punch cups for $3! I was pretty excited about that.

We read a note from Saraa's godmother, my niece Jael. It was a precious little note that I'll keep forever (until I can pass it on to Saraa). Jael is seven years old. One might think it strange that we chose a godmother who was so young. But, you know, it just fits in with what God is doing right now. He is awakening his people to the role of women (which I've talked about on this blog) but also the role of children. The Church has not had the success on the earth that it could have had, partially because we have not recognized the gifts--even leadership gifts!--in children.

Of course, Gana joked that the reason we chose a child this time was because we had used up all our other family and friends as god-parents of our other children! LOL!

Several of the guests also took some time to pray and prophesy over Saraa. It was beautiful. They confirmed so many things that God has already spoken to us about our little princess!

If you were there, thank you for being part of our special day!

Who's Kid Was That?

As the saying goes, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree....

Gana and I taught Harvest Kids (our church's children's program) for 4-5 year olds on Sunday. Luc is in that class.

At the beginning of class we shared prayer requests. Of course they began with, "I have an owie." So, we said, "Who here has an owie? Raise your hand. OK, who would like to pray for everyone that has an owie?"

Next, "My sister is sick." So, we said, "Who here has a friend or family member that is sick? Raise your hand. Who would like to pray for everyone who is sick?"

Next the kids shouted out about praying for people that don't know Jesus.

One kids said, "My teacher isn't a Christian."

Another one said, "Pray for my neighbor. He doesn't know Jesus."

Another one said, "My cousin isn't a Christian."

Luc shouts, "And pray for Barack Obama! He's not a Christian!"

A few other parents in the room almost fell off their chairs in hysterical laughter.

The other kids said, "Obama, who?! What's that?!"

Oh, dear! I hope none of them went home and told their parents that Mrs. Daja and Mr. Gana taught them about Barack Obama in Sunday School!

Dominion Theology

2 Questions you probably should not ask people you don’t know well:

1. Were all these kids planned?

2. Are you going to try for more?

(This really seems like asking how often we….you know.)

Yet, I get asked these two questions on a regular basis, believe it or not. Some people don't know that some things are marked "Private."

This week was refreshing, though. Gana and I attended the Revival and Transformation of Society Conference at Harvest Rock Church. I keep being very pleasantly surprised by the welcoming spirit in this stream towards large families.

Now, when I hang around homeschool conventions or friends that are of the Reformed and conservative churches I usually find vast acceptance for my big family. My family often seems small in those circles. But, we are in a different stream, so to speak, and we don't see as many large families.

BUT, I find that changing. And that's pretty cool.

This week we learned about taking the Seven Mountains of Culture (which are religion, education, family, media, arts/entertainment, government, and business) for the Kingdom. In an aside, Peter Wagner gave a little rant about how Christians need to be having more children! That if we are going to truly affect society, this 1.6 children per family is not going to cut it! The 7M Mandate is really the Genesis/Creation Mandate to be fruitful, multiply, subdue and take dominion! We can claim taking dominion, but we also need to be fruitful!

Then later, Robert Stearns, who is a voice to Israel and the Arab world, challenged us with this story:

He has some friends in Germany who are involved in the PTA at their children's school. The Turkish Muslim community there is growing. In a PTA meeting a big argument broke out. The Muslim parents were unitedly refusing to send their children to German History classes because German history included Christian elements (the Reformation, etc.). The Germans insisted that "this is our history. If you are immigrating here, you need to learn the history of THIS country." But, the Muslims instead insisted that their children be taught Islamic studies during the those periods. As the debate heated up, one parents stood up and shouted, "We will birth you to death!"

What does that mean? They all knew full-well.

The Replacement Birth Rate is 2.1 children per woman. That is the bare minimum needed to replace the population on earth or in any society.

Some countries are doing far and away more than 2.1 per woman. (For example: Somalia, is 6.91, Niger 6.83, Afghanistan 6.78, Yemen 6.75. Do you see a common thread in these countries?)

From the Wall Street Journal: "Scroll way down to the bottom of the Hot One Hundred top breeders and you'll eventually find the United States, hovering just at replacement rate with 2.07 births per woman. Ireland is 1.87, New Zealand 1.79, Australia 1.76. But Canada's fertility rate is down to 1.5, well below replacement rate; Germany and Austria are at 1.3, the brink of the death spiral; Russia and Italy are at 1.2; Spain 1.1, about half replacement rate. That's to say, Spain's population is halving every generation. By 2050, Italy's population will have fallen by 22%, Bulgaria's by 36%, Estonia's by 52%. In America, demographic trends suggest that the blue states ought to apply for honorary membership of the EU: In the 2004 election, John Kerry won the 16 with the lowest birthrates; George W. Bush took 25 of the 26 states with the highest. By 2050, there will be 100 million fewer Europeans, 100 million more Americans--and mostly red-state Americans....

"There is no "population bomb." There never was. Birthrates are declining all over the world--eventually every couple on the planet may decide to opt for the Western yuppie model of one designer baby at the age of 39. But demographics is a game of last man standing. The groups that succumb to demographic apathy last will have a huge advantage. Even in 1968 Paul Ehrlich and his ilk should have understood that their so-called population explosion was really a massive population adjustment. Of the increase in global population between 1970 and 2000, the developed world accounted for under 9% of it, while the Muslim world accounted for 26%. Between 1970 and 2000, the developed world declined from just under 30% of the world's population to just over 20%, the Muslim nations increased from about 15% to 20%....

Nineteen seventy doesn't seem that long ago. If you're the age many of the chaps running the Western world today are wont to be, your pants are narrower than they were back then and your hair's less groovy, but the landscape of your life--the look of your house, the layout of your car, the shape of your kitchen appliances, the brand names of the stuff in the fridge--isn't significantly different. Aside from the Internet and the cell phone and the CD, everything in your world seems pretty much the same but slightly modified.

And yet the world is utterly altered. Just to recap those bald statistics: In 1970, the developed world had twice as big a share of the global population as the Muslim world: 30% to 15%. By 2000, they were the same: each had about 20%.

And by 2020?

So the world's people are a lot more Islamic than they were back then and a lot less "Western." Europe is significantly more Islamic, having taken in during that period some 20 million Muslims (officially)--or the equivalents of the populations of four European Union countries (Ireland, Belgium, Denmark and Estonia). Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the West: In the U.K., more Muslims than Christians attend religious services each week.

Can these trends continue for another 30 years without having consequences? Europe by the end of this century will be a continent after the neutron bomb: The grand buildings will still be standing, but the people who built them will be gone. We are living through a remarkable period: the self-extinction of the races who, for good or ill, shaped the modern world. " (Rest of the article here.)

As I sat there listening to these great prophetic men of God, who like the tribe of Issachar (1 Chronicles 12:32), understand the times in which we are living, I cheered. My friends around me cheered for me! Working on number six....taking our dominion! We also met some HIM pastors who have 11 children. They were a great encouragement that God will meet all our needs. Some one prophesied over us this week that our children would stand on all seven mountains of culture. Yes, Lord, let it be so!

Why do we have all these kids? It's in our DNA. We have dominion theology.

"The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever." Revelation 11:15

C.S. Lewis on Church

"It is easy to think that the Church has a lot of different objects--education, building, missions, holding services....The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became Man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose."

"When I first became a Christian, about fourteen years ago, I thought that I do it on my own, by retiring to my room and reading theology, and I wouldn't go to churches and Gospel Halls;...I disliked very much their hymns, which I considered to be fifth-rate poems set to sixth-rate music. But as i went on I saw the great merit of it. I came up against different people of quite different outlooks and different education, and then gradually my conceit just began peeling off. I realized that the hymns (which were just sixth-rate music) were, nonetheless, being sun with devotion and benefit by an old saint in elastic-side boots in the opposite pew, and then you realize that you aren't fit to clean those boots. It gets you out of your solitary conceit."

In The Company of the Committed

Stumbling upon a certain blog and conversations with several different friends have sent me into some deep reflection into the purpose of the church. Not in a general sense, but in a specific sense, that is, "What do we go to church every Sunday?"


First I stumbled across this sad blog, perhaps the saddest blog I've ever seen. Then I was talking with a new friend in Mongolia who was not enjoying her church and wondered why she should bother going at all. (The preaching was terrible, the music pretty bad, etc.) Then I had a third conversation with another friend about what the church was supposed to look like.


In my conversation with my friend in Mongolia I had to ask God for the answer. This is what He said, "The Bible is a living thing. Even if every copy of the Bible was gathered together and burned, the Bible would still exists, because it is the Word of God! It's eternal. In the same way the Body of Christ is a living thing. You don't go to church to hear good preaching or to sing the songs you like. You go because it's your chance to gather together with other members of the Body of Christ. When you take communion together you are all confessing together your unity with Christ and with one another. It's a bigger thing than just the hour's meeting. It's communing with Christ."


Good answer, Lord!


I picked up Rich Mullins biography the other day. I've read it many times because there is a lot of food for thought there. I randomly opened it up and remembered that Rich's thoughts on the church were the same as the answer to my friend.


He said: "When I go to church, ... I involve myself in something that identifies me with Augustine, that identifies me with Christ, that identifies me with nearly 2000 years of people who have come together once a week and said, 'Let's go to the Lord's table and enjoy the feast that He has prepared for us.' In that week I may have been subjected to a million billboards that try to make me identify with the thinking of contemporary society. But once a week I go back to church, and acknowledge that though the shape of the world is really different now than it used to be, this remains the same: I still come to the Lord's table and say, 'Oh God, if it weren't for your grace, if it weren't for the sacrifice of Christ, my life would have no meaning, no life would have real substance.' And I do that voluntarily."


Rich believed that an hour in a bad church was better than not going at all. That was a new thought. But, actually I do love going to church....any church. I like small country churches where the singing is led by some guy with mutton chops and a 12 string guitar. I like lively black churches where my aunties and grandmas wear their Sunday hats and wave lacy hankies. I like large mega churches where the musicians are all professional and the choir has 200 people. I like churches that meet in coffee houses and eat donuts during the break. I like Catholic Mass with the deep, almost hidden meanings, beautiful buildings and prayerful atmosphere. To me, there is something in the gathering together of the saints that transcends form.


Gana goes to Fuller Seminary--a land of Christian variety! Sometimes it is easy to get very frustrated by the seeming many disagreements. Yet, I suppose, in essence, I am glad that there are different church traditions and denominations. Rich also said: "I have a huge respect for the Quakers as people. My only hang-up with it right now is that it's so watered down. I mean, they're just like Nazarenes that don't baptize. I always wished they'd be more 'Quakerly.' But I wish that about everyone. I wish Baptists would be more Baptist, and I wish Anglicans would be more Anglican. We don't all have to agree. You know, a lot of people think that the idea that there's so many denominations is disillusioning. And I just kind of go, I'm glad the Baptists can go to their own place to worship, because I'm not sure I want to do it the way they do."


We attend and serve at Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena. Even though I grew up in Pentecostal church, I would have to say that HRC has stretched me in my charismatic beliefs and experience. Only since going to HRC have I experienced Holy laughter. And I have been radically healed three times. (Read two accounts here and here.)


I like the preaching at our church. The music is fabulous. The kids' ministry is wonderful. However, I think when it all comes down, I go to church because I need to go. If HRC wasn't available, I would still find somewhere to go on Sundays. I need to make that weekly confession of reliance of God and others. I need to find myself in the company of the committed.


One more Rich quote: I hear people say, "Why do you want to go to church? They are all just hypocrites." I never understood why going to church made you a hypocrite because nobody goes to church because they're perfect. If you've got it all together, you don't need to go. You can go jogging with all the other perfect people on Sunday morning. Every time you go to church, you're confessing again to yourself, to your family, to the people pass on the way there, to the people who will greet you there, that you don't have it all together, and that you need their support. You need their direction. You need some accountability, you need some help.

IDOP Observed

I hope you observed the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church in some way this past Sunday.

I am so grateful and happy that our church leaders let me speak briefly about the Persecuted Church and lead the congregation in prayer. It was powerful to hear so many people lifting up their voices in one accord in prayer for the Persecuted Church. It's such a passion in my life that it moved me greatly to lead them all in prayer!

Also, The Revival Center, pastored by my parents, observed IDOP. And they did so in so many ways! Blessed me to hear about it!

Here are some highlights:

Power Point Presentation from Voice of the Martyrs.

Handouts for children and adults from VOM.

Next is a very creative idea from the heart of my sister. Her whole family wore ropes around their wrists in order to remember those bound as if bound with them! (Hebrews 13:3)

Diego, my cuddles, wore his rope with pride and prayed for the Church, too!

Here's the opening song, led by my sisters, Sarah-Kate:

Testimony Time!

God has indeed planted us in a good place.

I’ve been meaning to testify about a few things that have happened lately, but haven’t found the time. This is a lazy Saturday morning. I have a cup of coffee and the kids are watching VeggieTales. So, here it goes…

On Father’s Day evening, Pastor Che taught about how to pray for the sick. After the teaching he had people pray for one another. We had Luc prayed for for allergies. For those that don’t know, Luc as has had terrible allergies to nightshade vegetables. That’s potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. That means Mexican food, Italian food, most soups, most casseroles, French fries, most salad dressings, and a host of other foods were off limits. Even a trace of it, such as the potato starch in some canned broths, would cause him to break out with an itchy rash all over.

Our family and another guy who was sitting in front of us gathered around Luc and prayed for healing. Luc was excited! He said Jesus had healed him.

When we got home that night for a late supper Luc said, “Mom, I want tomato soup!” He ate it up. We waited. And sure enough he broke out with the rash. Gana and I talked privately. What to do? Luc kept saying Jesus had healed him. He was in the kitchen licking a tomato slice and then lifting up his shirt to show us there was no rash. But, there was. Should Gana and I tell him that he was not healed? That Jesus didn’t do it? That he couldn’t eat French fries? Oy!

We decided instead to contend for his healing. We had been admonished a few weeks before by a preacher to never discourage someone’s faith in the cross. If someone was believing for something, don’t steal it way by telling them there wasn’t really power in it.

So, we prayed that Luc’s healing would be manifested and that his faith in the power of the cross would not be shaken.

About a week or two passed and Luc kept insisting to eat all the off limit foods. Then one day we noticed that he had no rash. There was not even a bit of redness. He was not scratching himself, even in his sleep, as he would have done before. He was totally and completely healed!

Seeing the faith of my little son, who was willing to believe the promise of healing in spite of not seeing it immediately manifested, challenged me. I have been struggling with breast infections since Meg was a baby. And they’ve been getting worse. Between Meg and Israel’s births I had two serious infections. Since Ihbeleg’s birth I have had seven! These aren’t just minor inconveniences. I get a high fever, chills, body aches, excruciating pain in the breast, and a headache. It puts me in bed for several days. For a mother of five children I cannot afford to be in bed for days every couple weeks!

I remember I was washing dishes and was praying, “Lord, I need to be free from this.” I was washing a cup and was meditating on how the inside of the cup had to be as clean as the outside. Whatever the root of these reoccurring infections was, it needed to be healed.

I felt the Lord say very specifically, “I am going to heal you. And you will know when it happens.”

“Yes Lord!”

I started going to every Sunday evening service at our church. Sunday evenings are renewal services where there is lots of personal ministry time. I went. The messages were good, the worship was great. But, I was not yet healed. I came home a little disappointed each Sunday night. But, I kept waiting for the manifestation of what the Lord had promised me.

Then on July 22nd, I went to the Sunday evening service. The speakers spoke a really good word about wanting the Lord Himself, even more than you want your destiny. That intimacy with God was more important than even His promises.

I went forward for prayer and God started dealing with me about some personal things that I’ve held onto that He was asking me to let go of, promises and prophecies that I’ve wanted more than I actually want the Lord Himself. I felt like I was having surgery. I was at the altar weeping before the Lord and God was comforting me and ministering to me. Then someone came to pray for me and said, “The Lord is restoring your body for everything it gives out.” Boom! The promise the Lord had given me while washing the cup came back to my mind. I was at the altar for a good hour while the Lord worked on me. I was in His presence and He was beautiful.

I have not had another infection since! In that moment the Lord dealt with the root of that problem and delivered me.

Through my little son, God taught me about believing Him even when the circumstances don’t look very promising. And through the sermon that night of the healing I learned that it is more important to hold on to the Lord and pursue Him even more than His promises to me.

Daja and Captain

Revelation 12:11,

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb,

and by the word of their testimony;

and they loved not their lives unto the death.”

Meg's Testimony

Last night at our church's renewal service, "Night of the Supernatural", Meg was asked to share a testimony, along with about six other kids.

I am so grateful to have a church that respects children and their gifts. Children are not shuffled off to be babysat. The children's ministry is run by Spirit-filled people who really believe that God can and does speak to children.

One little girl sang a song that the Lord gave her. One little boy, about eight years old, said that he believed he has a gift for healing and shared about several times he's prayed for people and they recovered. So, they asked if anyone there needed prayer. He prayed for this lady with a back problem and she was healed! Another little girl, six years old, recently went to The Call in Nashville with her parents. She said that God spoke to her about not spending so much time with her friends and cousins, but to spend more time with Him. Whoa!

It was just such a moving time. The Lord's presence was so evident.

Here's Meg's turn. Sorry about the quality of the video, it was taken on my digital camera.



On an aside, when we got home Luc told me that he wants to go on the stage to talk, too. I said, "And what would you talk about?" He thought about it and said, "Dinosaurs."

What the....?

So, Chuck Swindoll is in trouble for using potty language. Click here.

There's an interesting take on it here. Here's an excerpt from that blog:

"Interesting conversation going on this week at Monday Morning Insight. Charles Swindoll has been dropped from VCY radio station for using 'vulgar" language [including buns, heck, crap, balls] I think it was the "crap" word that got him in trouble. ...BTW - Chuck Swindoll was my pastor in the eighties when i lived in Orange County. My wife was a missionary sent from EFC in Fullerton and we were married in that church. He is a good man and if he says "crap", then i would assume that the era of crap being a swear word has ended and people need to get used to it. ..."

Even John Piper was in trouble recently for saying that God kicks our a**.

Just last week I was watching a preacher on TV with my folks. The man said "screw," "crap," and "golly" in the same five minute period. We couldn't beleive it! I said, "All we need now is a few hells and darns and we can say we've been to church!"

What do you think about this new(ish) Christian swearing? Is it a part of our culture we just need to get used to? Is it just for effect and shock value?

Is it a violation of some Biblical command or is it merely contextualization?

Tell us what you think.

I LAUGHED!

I laughed in church today. During communion. We had just received the elements. I took the bread. I drank the cup. And as I sat there repenting over my sin, I felt the Lord asked me, “What are you talking about?” And the worship leader was singing, “Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow! No other fount I know…..Nothing but the blood of Jesus!”

I realized all over again that when the Lord looks at my life He doesn’t see the sin and the mistakes and all my shortcomings. He sees Christ. He sees Christ’s blood. I am white as snow!

And a laugh spontaneously bubbled up. It was how one laughs when she knows she is free. It was a laugh like my littlest son makes when tumbling all over me and blowing raspberries on my cheek. He knows he's accepted. It was a laugh that said, “What energy I have wasted continually repenting of the same weaknesses when God is ready to lift me up!”

I don’t know that I’ve ever laughed during communion. I’ve received it without much emotion. I’ve also received it and cried. But, I don’t think I’ve ever laughed through communion. It was so freeing and so wonderful! I think maybe Jesus threw His head back and laughed with me. Maybe He was picking me up and twirling me around and rejoicing that I finally remembered that I was His!

My husband just finished writing a term paper in which part of it examines the early church breaking bread together. He called it the Thanksgiving Element of their worship. Remember that the Passover, which is what Jesus was observing when He instituted the communion ritual, was a feast of thanksgiving. It was a time when God’s people recalled how and when they were set free from bondage. Communion, while sober in the recollection of Jesus’ suffering, is supposed to be a celebration of freedom!

“When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The Lord has done great things for them.” Psalms 126:1-2

“Surely God does not reject a blameless man or strengthen the hands of evildoers. He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.” Job 8:20-21

Church Shopping

For the first time in our lives we are “church shopping.” For virtually all my life I have attended the church my parents’ pastored. Gana attended the church he got saved in and then later the church he pastored. Neither of us have ever set out to find a church to attend.

Since moving a month ago, we have attended a different church every Sunday. It’s been an experience, let me tell you! Interesting no doubt! But, I will be happy when we find “the one” for us. Not that there is anything necessarily “wrong” with any of the places we have been, but we haven’t said “Aha! This is IT!” yet.

The first church we tried was the popular church with the famous worship leader. It was the church everyone said, “Oh, you’ll love it there. You should definitely try there first!” So, we did. First of all, the famous worship leader was on vacation, so I guess we’ll need to visit again. The first thing we were showed is where we were to “check in” the children. Let’s see….I’ve checked my coat before and let a valet park my car, but I’ve never handed my children over to a stranger and got a ticket to identify them when it was time to pick them up. Gana politely said, “Oh, this is our first time, we’d prefer they sit with us.” Enough said? Nope! We must have been told a dozen times by the stressed out usher lady that there was a place to “check in” the children. Then she tried to sell me on the idea by saying, “Oh, it’s so great. They have songs and games and then they have snacks like juice and goldfish crackers.” Hmmm…let me think….I brought my children to CHURCH not to a nursery school, so, no I think I’ll keep them with me. Then she must have said another handful of times how, “the pastor doesn’t like children in church. He doesn’t want them making any noise.” I am not irritated at the pastor. I’m SURE that the pastor would not have liked her telling first time visitors that he didn’t like children! Besides this lady’s attitude just seemed to rub me the wrong way. Didn’t Jesus say, “Suffer the little children to come to Me and forbid them not for such is the Kingdom of Heaven”? The topper of it all was when being served communion another usher girl handed the basket of the Lord’s body to Israel (4 years old) and said, “Would you like some crackers?” Thankfully the pastor’s sermon was excellent and almost made up for the other frustrating things.

The second church we visited was a mega church just a couple blocks from our house. It’s a much more conservative service than what we are used to, but we are open minded and don’t worship the STYLE of the service. The music was very beautiful and the pastor was extremely engaging and the sermon was good. The church does so much in our community and is truly a beacon of light in a dark world. No one tried to pry our children away from us and the service was short so the children never got in the least bored. They enjoyed trying to follow along in the books for the hymns and liturgy. Yet, we didn’t feel at home and we didn’t really talk to anyone, or shall I say, no one really talked to us. In-and-out, without scarcely being noticed.

The third church we went to has been my favorite so far. It’s daughter church of a famous church with a famous pastor. There is a children’s church, but they let us keep our children with us and a lot of other families did have their children with them. The music was very professional and artsy. Someone to the side was worship painting—which I adore! The visual effects and media presentations were really cool. The famous pastor was preaching somewhere else that Sunday, but his guest speaker was the son of another well-known minister whom Gana and I were excited to hear. The people were friendly. The church is very missions and growth minded, which we liked. And they use cell groups, which has big appeal. I think the whole service may have been a little too artsy for Gana, who isn’t as “hippy” as I am.

Last Sunday we went to a church that we found on the internet. The website was super professional and got our attention. It looked different and we like different, so off we went to a banquet room at a beautiful old hotel. They meet at round tables, serve Starbucks coffee, bagels and doughnuts, and are really into building relationships—certainly a concept that is needed in an urban mission! The musicians were super good. You could stand, you could sit, you could sip your coffee or doodle on the pad of paper on the table—hey, however you are comfortable! We’ve never been to a church quite like it before. But, of all the churches we have visited it was BY FAR the friendliest! Those are some of the nicest people we have ever worshipped with! They found out we were new to the area and offered their help with anything we needed be it finding local places to things for our house. Talk about nice! Then we got a very professional and beautiful email from them AND a letter in the mail from the pastor. If I had to send a new Christian somewhere it would be to that church.

If only we could find a cell church with great preaching, intimate worship, comfortable with the arts, missions minded, working in the community, friendly and that welcomes our family to worship all together.

We might have to commute.

First Communion

Meg has been asking many times lately about taking communion. Up to this point we have not allowed any of our children to receive communion. We felt that we wanted them to understand the history of it, why we take it, and to also understand their own need for salvation.

Meg came to me a few months ago asking. So, we’ve been talking about it from time to time. After talking with her daddy and him quizzing her on the ins and outs of it, he agreed to let her receive communion. He asked her what it meant. He asked her if she was a sinner and how she became a Christian. She took her little interview very seriously. I could almost see tears in her eyes.

On Sunday morning, after she was dressed for church, Gana presented her with a necklace with a small gold cross. He told her to wear it and remember that she is a Christian now. He also told her how very happy he was and how he dreamed of the day when his children would serve the Lord. He put the necklace around Meg’s neck. She then spent several minutes admiring herself in the mirror.

After the sermon there was an altar call that several people responded to for salvation. And my grandfather, using his walker went forward for prayer as well. When Meg saw him (it was the first time she’s seen him use a walker) she immediately stretched out her hand and started praying for him. Her bottom lip quivered and tears began to pour down her cheeks.

Before communion the pastor called her forward and to ask her about communion. He said, “Meg, where does Jesus live?” Expecting to hear, “In my heart.” instead Meg said, “At the right hand of God.” *smile* He rephrased the question to something like “Does Jesus live in your heart?”

He asked, “Why do we take communion?” Meg said, “The cup is for Jesus’ blood that was poured out for us. And the bread is His body that was torn up for us.”

He asked, “And why do we take it?” She said, “To show to wash away our sins.”

As she answered each question so seriously I cried my eyes out.

Later that day we went to a wedding reception, to an ice cream parlor, and various places. Meg had to tell everyone we met that today she took communion!

Now Israel is asking to receive communion. We’ll wait to see if he is really serious and ready.

Being congratulated by a friend.