Church #51. Cross of Christ Lutheran Church of the Deaf

(WELCOME) To this weeks edition of 100 Churches. As you might have guessed this week, I visited a church designed to accommodate a deaf congregation!

The building has a very interesting U-shaped lay out. It took me a moment to figure out the right door, but I got it eventually. Not much has changed inside of this church for a long time. It did not instantly hit me as being negative. Some of the best churches that I have been to have been very "untouched", but then again that has also been the case with some of the worst. Needless to say I was not too worried, especially considering the congregation that attends here. I can only imagine that they would need to be at least a little flexible. I was greeted by one of the deaf church members when I entered. He singed to me and then I simply waved back. I think he quickly understood that I didn't speak sign and a speaking person was soon there to meet me. I met the Church leader before the service and he greeted me. He told me that this was the Sunday that they were doing communion and then asked me the inevitable question of "Are you Lutheran?" .

O God, here we go again.....

As you can imagine, the answer to that question was a long "Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh........"

Then he went on to explain the difference between the Catholic and Lutheran perspective on  communion. That while the Catholic's declare that after the wine and bread are blessed they are LITERALLY the body and blood of Christ, and that Christ is LITERALLY present while this is happening. While the Lutherans see communion in a more symbolic and spiritual sense.

Personalty, I never got the whole only-taking-communion-at-one-type-of-church-thing. And I really don't think it matters.

Who cares if it is Catholic or reformed? Who cares if it is a certain type of priest that blesses the bread and wine? Is it really relative what they, or the church members, think the symbolism of this ritual is?

The way I see it, communion is a holy ritual between two people. God and I. That's it. I could care less who blesses it. Or what building I am standing in. These factors are ambiguous and unimportant.

Seriously.

As long as that person is a follower of Christ and holds Gods love in their heart, they are perfectly suited to do the blessing. And it is legit.

I would even let my little brother do it!!!!!
(For real! He is a cool guy!)

Anyhoo..... back to the main story.

So after all that the church leader suggested that I "maybe should not take communion today" . You can only imagine how I felt. Then soon after he came scrambling back, and looked at me and asked me if I profess Christ to be my lord and savior? and I replied with an enthusiastic "YES!" So after further discussion, it was concluded that I could take communion today but to decide that for myself based on my own discretion.

* ps. I did receive communion today.
The wine was a-mid quality Pinto Noir by my guess.
It had rich fruity undertones of cherry and blackberry.

Before the service I noticed that the room had about a dozen people, almost all seniors (majority men) who had some very lively conversations going on. The room didn't have much sound but you could tell there was a whole lot of communication going on. One of the church members there told me that the deaf members really like to catch up with each other at church, because they spend most of their work week around only speaking people. I later talked to one of the speaking members of the church and he mentioned to me that he didn't know sign language personally, but he felt that the deaf members of the church could express themselves better with their hands sometimes, then we can with words, which to me makes sense. In some cultures in the world, a person's hands do half the talking.

I would like to apologize in advance for using a video clip from Eat, Love & Pray in my blog. I never thought I would stoop so low...

Just in case you were wondering, this was not an entirely deaf/signed church service. There was some speaking members at the church. In fact, the church leader himself did not sign and had a interpreter stand beside him during the entire service.

I was curious about a lot of things when I entered this church. How would a church have songs when almost no-one there can speak or possibly hear? Would the lords prayer be recited as a group? How would that work?

Well I got my answers and they were very interesting. The church still had songs that were read out of the song books. When it came time to actually start we were told that we were welcome to "sing or sign along". There was a church member that came to the front of the room as if to lead the song, and he did. With his hands. And the rest of the church members followed him with their hands, signing out the worlds of the songs (the same process was used for group prayers).

It was truly an interesting thing to watch. Instead of group "singing" to glorify God, they were "expressing their hands" in a flowing group performance to express their worship.  It was a truly interesting sight to behold, and gave you a real sense of God's love for all.

I am not sure if you saw this one, but it came out 2013. As far as I understand this girl is not deaf, but has deaf parents, and she wanted them to be able to understand he kindergarten Christmas choir.

Super cute!

But besides how much accommodation there was for the deaf people at this church, what really came as a surprise was how much accommodation there was for me! l was quickly connected to the speaking people in the church, even where I could sit next to a speaking person at lunch and they helped me find the papers and songbooks. Truly helpful and welcoming.

There was a banner hanging from the front podium today advertising the story from the Bible that was going to be the center for today's scripture lesson. Something I have been wanting to hear for a very long time actually.  Mark 10:17-27

The Poor Young Rich Man. 

(NIV)

¹⁷ As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
¹⁸ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’^[a]”
²⁰ “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
²¹ Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
²² At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
²³ Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
²⁴ The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is^[b] to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
²⁶ The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
²⁷ Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

Yes, the famous "Camel thru the Eye of the needle" sermon.
After reading the scripture the church leader gave his thoughts and analysis of this piece of scripture;

-Out of listing the regular 10 commandments Jesus also mentioned " you shall not defraud' which is a separate commandment listed in the book of Leviticus.
-When the young rich man said he has kept all the commandments, Jesus looked upon him and "loved" him. He didn't lecture him about how he is not perfect or rebuke him in any way. He loved him. And offered him a place in his group of disciples.
- Jesus was saying something that was very contradictory to the time. Jew's in that time believed that rich people were rich because God blessed them and they were God's favourites.
-The church leader noted that "wealth can be a barrier" between us and God. And that "The rich think they can trust in their wealth more then they trust in God" . "They can think they are self sufficient".
- "Wealth can be an obstacle to discipleship."
 - He finished by pointing out that this is a "very sad story" as this man was the only one that Christ called that could not fulfill the position of discipleship.

I understand the sad feelings that come with the end of this story, but in the last words. I find hope.

Near the end of the service, there were a few more prayers. Those prayers also included something very important:the oncoming Canadian Federal election. We prayed that God grant wisdom to the voters and that we will be given good government.

I voted.
I am not sure how you feel about the new government. And our new young, good looking, marijuana-friendly Prime Minister. But regardless. This video gave me a good laugh.

 A few other interesting things I found out after the service; there is another Church for the deaf  here in the city. Actually there is multiple ones. But there is one with an entirely deaf congregation. So that church has no songs of any type included in the service, just because there is no point to it.
I was also told that this churches population can fluctuate a lot. They "never really know" how many people will be at the service on Sunday and that there used to be a lot more attendants and many young children. (back in the day).

There was also one very interesting panels which I thought was stain glass. but was actually "Betonglas". This is an art style that requires the glass to be chipped to portray colour and is permanently set in cement.  This art-form was founded in Rottweil, Germany in 1866.  This art piece is made by Mr. Gunther Trick who has been trained in the art of "Betonglas"  and has been living as a deaf person since the age of two. Mr.Trick has been involved in many pieces of art throughout Europe. Mr. Trick can be contacted at his residence of 9713-90 ave Edmonton Alberta.

Got a photo inside the church before I left.

*sorry not the best photo

But regardless, it was a nice quiet Sunday, with a nostalgically-pleasant church with an interesting twist.

And the weather for the walk home was good too!

See ya'll next week! 

And then I ended up on the radio....

CBC Radio Edmonton AM.

Church #50 Vietnamese Alliance Church

So this is the first official "Asian Church" that I have gone to.
Pretty nice new building.
Needless to say there was no sneaking into this one. I stuck out like a sore thumb the moment I entered the door.( However, I did not end up being the only white person there). The leadership was alerted immediately to my presence, while I met a verity of people and explained my project. I was escorted to the downstairs basement (where the English half of the service was) that doubles as a daycare center? (If I remember correctly?) There was a worship band of young people in there late teens and early twenty's at the front of the room rehearsing, with all the fold-up chairs set up in front of them for the audience to sit. I accidentally stumbled into a HUGE kitchen (located at the back of the room) where some hard working ladies were preparing a meal on the scale of what I would describe as a small feast( Vietnamese style) . There was defiantly a large share of children in the room, along with their parents.

Initially I was pretty pleased with the environment and was happy to start up a conversation with a very tall fellow. I mentioned how I was impressed with this church and how I had been very unimpressed with some of the very conservative churches I have been to.  He then expressed the idea that he actually liked a conservative worship service, especially singing hymns. Personally I like singing hymns just as much as the next girl, but I told him that is was the "fire and brimstone " style preaching that I can not tolerate. His reply was "Well there is fire and brimstone in the Bible......" Then the service started and our conversation was cut short.

We took our seats and the service began. As you can Imagine there was some opening prayers and a performance by the worship band. A few announcements were made, and then the big highlight of my day showed up. They announced they were doing Operation Christmas Child! I AM SO STOKED!!!!!!

Personally there is nothing I love more then flying down the isles of the dollar store picking out a grand total of $18 worth of times that I know will make a world of difference, and a bright future for a child that is waiting for a blessing. 

For those of you that are not familiar, Operation Christmas Child is ran each year by a christian charity by the name of  Samaritan's Purse. Which is an "Evangelical Christian humanitarian organization that provides aid to people in physical need as a key part of Christian missionary work." Each year they have a campaign where they allow members of the public load a shoe box with school supplies, hygiene items, and toys, and send them as gifts to children in places of great need. This project has been going on for a while I think I was in 1998 That I can remember filling my first shoe box. I was Checking out their website and I found it really interesting some of the stories from adults who received the shoe-box as a child,and how it changed their lives.

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/shoebox-stories-index/

So at the start of the sermon, it was noted that the focus today would be on, the book Ephesians which today was being described as the "blueprint" for the church. Written buy the Apostle Paul *(for some this fact is debated) . 

The great boxer, Muhammad Ali was quoted saying that in the end of time we will be judged by our deeds. If we have done more good deeds then bad we will go to heaven.

The Church leader made it clear that Mr. Ali was wrong and that is not true. And then went on to explain the whole "saved by Grace (freely given and undeserved love from God)  thru Faith (belief that Christ was the son of God and paid for our sins, and has redeemed all of us)" philosophy, and the whole "death is the wages of sin" thing.

Then there comes the whole comparison of  what is redemption and what is salvation?

 As far as I can understand redemption is something we all now have, that Christ covered everyone's tab from now into eternity. We are paid up. He took on all the suffering we deserved, so that we can now and forever stand before God with our heads held high.
Now salvation, as far as I can understand, comes from believing that Christ was the son of God and has paid for our sins.

Question then becomes; What is salvation?
Salvation is a multi-faceted concept that needs a lot of explanation.
http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/salvation/

And basically what was being taught here today at this is that only Christians are entering Gods kingdom and everyone else is Shit-Out-Of-Luck. And that their souls will simply die. Yes die. Not be thrown to the depths of hell and damnation. Just simply die off. The wages of sin is "death", not "damnation".

And according to this church is also not acceptable to "cherry pick" from other religions ex. Buddhism and Hinduism. ( I have seen this referred to before as "unacceptable man made religion" in other sources. )

I never actually stayed for the end of the service because I had somewhere to be so I rushed out near the end  and ran across town.

I hate to say, but this place is currently not making my favorites list.

Now for my rant.....

First the whole Muhammad Ali thing.

Dude. You are comparing apples to oranges.

Muhammad Ali read the Koran, obeyed the teachings of the profit Mohamed (s), and fallowed Islam.

THE DUDE WAS MUSLIM!!!! OF COURSE HIS PHILOSOPHY ON JUDGEMENT IS GOING TO BE DIFFERENT!!!

And at the moment after reading a bunch of quotes from the guy, I actually have a lot of respect for him.  (hes got a little attitude to spare, but I like it.)
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/muhammad_ali.html

Particularly for this actually.

My summer course in NYC has given me a new and unique perspective on Christianity Via its Jewish ancestors and Muslim cousins. I was kind of surprised when I learned that the other two Abrahamic faiths see judgement, and the life after, very differently then Christianity. Despite all being based on the same foundation.

Judaism I find particularly interesting because it is the foundation of our faith and where we get the whole "the soul can die" concept from. Also Judaism teaches that the evil that we hold within our hearts then become demons that we need to purge yourself of in the afterlife. And you are outside of Gods kingdom until you have defeated all of them, only after that are you are allowed in.

ps. This "demon fighting" process will last no longer then 12 months.
*yes there is actually a time limit on this.

Islam is another story. After we die we meet God, we are raised and judged in accordance to the "Communities" (spiritual) that God sees us as belonging to. And then when we are handed judgement. If
it comes in one hand, we enter his kingdom, if it is in the other hand, we go to hell, but......If we know God we will not stay there.

Yes according to our faith relatives, you can get yourself ....OUT OF HELL!!! 

Sorry. I had to do it. :P

That and knowing God,  I believe fully in his love for all of us. And that he would not write us off.

Chew on this if you will....God is the creator of all. God is love. God made man. God created Buddha, God created the profit Mohammad (s) and the savior Jesus Christ, God knows what is Going to happen. God knew that These people would be seen as directors towards the almighty, and have religious followings. God has purpose or meaning in all that he does.Why would God do all this to set a trap?
 

I refuse to believe that God simply drops us into this world onto a "Russian Roulette Religions Board Game" loaded with hundreds of bullets and only one empty space. And the tag line "Better pick right or you are not getting in!" 

No.
F#@K. No.

But lets just throw this Idea out there say that there is only two roads, Heaven or Damnation. Lets just say for fun-zies that If you don't fallow the "True faith" you are not getting in. Then that brings to question what is the true faith? Christianity? and if so, does it matter which denomination?

I don't consider this question worthy of wasting my brain power over, however there is something That comes to mind....

* Hopefully the link works.
The Correct Answer is .........

Second of all; Salvation.

One of the best things I have ever heard about this topic is when a pastor said to me that "Salvation Starts Now! "

To me salvation is a personal transformation, that comes with the realization, that we are set free in Christ. And hence us, then becoming inspired, to fallow in his ways. And when we do fallow in his ways, our minds are transformed. Bringing us into unity with the "body" of Christ.

Or maybe I am wrong? Maybe my thoughts on salvation are bogus? Maybe I need to be ready to simply kiss 90% of my friends away because they haven't "proclaimed their belief in Christ" and allegiance to a certain church?

Regardless. I am not God. And I don't know the right answer. But in the mean time, I am sticking with my guns. And for those of you that say I am in denial.... well. In the words of the great Adam Savage;

Then there is our buddy Paul , o Paul....

Just before I did my summer program in NYC, I came to a friend with some personal issues. How was I supposed to have peace meeting all these new Muslim and Jewish friends? And not feel terrible? Spending 2 months becoming  close with people that are deeply devoted to a faith that is not Christian. Will any of them be with me in the next life? Paul has a similar dilemma. Paul was a hew that accepted Christ as his savior, and then was faced with the fact that the rest of his close family members.Who had no interest in converting. Paul stews on this and goes back and forth may times. In the end he concludes that's "only God knows Gods will" as to what will be the fate of these people, and leaves it at that. This was in the book of Romans written in what is thought to be the year 57 AD. Addressed to believers in Rome.

What was talked about today was in the book of Ephesians written by Paul during his first imprisonment around  60 AD. This was written to believers in Turkey.  

So apparently Paul is this rock of a man that will stop at nothing to spread the world and convert the masses, with his whole "Christ or nothing" Philosophy. And then the very issue he stands hard on, falls in his own back yard and it becomes a different story.

But, I take this all with a grain of salt.


Paul is know for going over-board with the message. God even had to stop him and reprehend him at one point because he was getting too out of control. And he actually joined the Apostles after  Christ's death and never even met the guy! (except briefly in spiritual form).

Like I said, Paul is, as Paul does.
Try not to judge the guy.

And Frankly. I think a lot of the other major religions I have learned about all have very similar main focuses that are not far off of Christ's message at all. I am sure Jesus would have fully approved of Buddha's philosophy of the importance of respecting and caring for the elderly. And Islams practice of  stopping on daily regular intervals to pray. Yes they have their differences, but they were all founded in different places, times, by different people in different social/political climates.  Despite all the central message remains the same, that we all need to live out Gods love everyday.

Church #49. Christian Science Church.

O boy, where do I start with this one....? I am gonna put this out there right now. This was not a great experience at all. Have you even sat in a room the entire time with your eyebrow raised, and thinking that everything you are being told is questionable or totally out to left field? That was this kind of church for me.

It is an older building, my guess is that it was built in the 70's and not much has been changed since. The main body of the church was laid with almost all yellow stain glass windows, giving the room a strange "supper yellow" glow, like one would see in old photos.Also, no cross at the front of the room. There was roughly 12 people at this service. Of all different background and age groups.

I didn't research a lot into this church, but from what I can gather it was started in Massachusetts and was in some way founded by a lady called Mary Baker Eddy. They also did a very persistent job of reminding every one that they have a "Public Reading Room" and its hours of operation.

Right from the get go, I knew this place was different. Lords prayer was barely recognizable. Totally different. God was referred to as "our Father Mother God". Which I thought was kind of nice, but I still prefer the method of referring to God as the earth or the sky etc. It kind of puts the image of God into a larger global perspective without the argument of gender bias. That is my thoughts though.

And then the real eyebrow action started. So if I had to put this all into a nutshell, I would describe this church as having the idea that; because man is made in God's image, therefor man is perfect and and we are put on earth to rule over and control anything and everything.

Don't worry it gets better.....

Apparently we should also not believe human theories on health,  and there is no such thing as accidents and it is all under Gods direction.

"Man is not matter, man is spiritual." 

"Man is spiritual and perfect!" 

WTF?

I am not sure where these people were for Christianity 101, but even babes of wolfs know that we are not perfect, by far. I, or anyone else I know, certainly doesn't fit that description. That status belongs only to the big guy upstairs, and also his son ( mattering on your perception.) 

Not only that, I feel that this way of thinking is not only questionable but dangerous. I could see this kind of philosophy easily being adapted to further such things as environmental destruction, imperialism and foreign invasion.

Strangely one of the first things that came to my mind was Mao's War against Nature in China.
This was was fed on the idea that "Man must conquer nature!" and put all of its forces under the control of the hands of man. And as you can guess that ended up going very, very, very bad.

As a wise Rabi once told me, God exists in many different forms in our world, and nature is "the green face of God." An Image to be loved, respected, and glorified.

Honestly the only thing I really enjoyed out of this service was the fact that we got to sing Beethoven's 9th symphony "Ode to Joy!" at the end.

And to end this I leave you with the words of the man himself;

Church #48. Gracepoint Gospel Fellowship

Well I'm still down here. And today was not the greatest, not gonna lie. Today I faced the all-dreaded Pentecostal/Evangelist Church field trip. O Joy! Not. So me and my group got up, got dressed, and drove out. This place is set up very much so like your modern large scale church. This one resembled a school gym in a lot of ways. Full stage at the front, a lot of chairs set up  on the floor and a raised seeting section higher up in the back. It also included a full display of different world flags on one wall.

On the wall, to the side of the stage, there was a projector showing advertisements for activities going on within the church and up-coming events. One of those up-cumming events. was entitled "Out of the devils Cauldron"hostessed by John Ramirez, quoted as being a "High Ranking Ex-Satanist" . 
This is what his face looks like.

And his book.

I haven't looked into this very much. I am almost curious about what the guy has to talk about. But quite frankly I am shocked that this is even being advertised. I just feel like inviting a "High Ranking Ex-Satanist" to speak at your church about all the horrors of the world, is something you would much more likely see in America before you would see it in Canada. Our southern neighbors have always seemed to have had a strong appetite for over the top drama and terror.

But then that brings up the question of what is real Satanism? For those of you that may not be knowing, their are two types of Satanism in this world the real one, and the fake one. Seeing as I am not an expert on this I decided to consult the "Church of Satan's" official web page and left it open to the Q&A section.

http://www.churchofsatan.com/faq-fundamental-beliefs.php

Also, I always get a kick out the old up-side-down cross. Because it is not a "anit-christian" symbol at all.

But what really gets me thou, is how "Satanism" is not the full opposite of "Christianity" . This is one of the reasons why.

Lets flip to Mark 12. ( NIV)

28One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

29“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^e 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’^f 31The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^g There is no commandment greater than these.”

Pretty simple eh? Love God, and love everyone around you. So one might guess that Satanism is just the opposite? Don't love God, and use people however you like? Well the first part is consistent. Satanist are clearly atheists. However the second half is not. According to the "Church of Satan" its members are not free to go out and abuse people however they like. The Church has clearly laid out a long list of rules for human interaction, including bans on behaviors such as sex with children or animals, abuse of others, sacrifices and many other things. My understanding is that they believe that man, his nature, and personal choices can and will dictate what is right and wrong.

 I dont buy that. This is why. 

Sometimes in out world the lines between right and wrong are blurry, or different from one society to another. That may or not be for the right reasons, but as long as the goal behind that norm is to "Love your neighbor as yourself" personally, I am cool with it. Some would argue, that human beings would simply be able to lay out some fair practical laws, free of  all spiritual or religious influence, without making anything to crazy into something legal. 

I also dont buy that. This is why;

I was once was having pretty much this exact same discussion with a person who was putting up an argument for the "rational atheist" and I remember him saying "Well we can all agree that murder is wrong right? No place would ever make that legal!"  Guess what buddy? There is an entire country that already has. A place where there is such thing as a man that can turn in his own starving mother, watch her get executed and feel perfectly socially right about it. What is the name of this pit of hell fire you may ask? Two words;

NORTH F#&KING KOREA! 

( yes that was technically three worlds but give me a break) 

This book will BLOW YOUR MINDS!

Ted Talk on it too. And quite frankly, when an senior reporter says that this is literately the sadist story he has ever covered, you know it's bad.

Anyhow... where were we?...church service.. right....

So besides noticing this advertisement projected onto the side of the wall, my group (including our tow Muslim friends) got a chance to sit down and speak with one of the church leaders. He took some time to share with us a current social justice action that he is a part of. In this particular area of up-state New York, there is a noticeable problem with extreme under-funding of public schools. But why they are so underfunded is not as dry and cut as you think. In this area 9000 children attend the public school system, and 27000 attend private schools. And almost all of the children in the private schools are Ultra-Orthodox Jews.

Yep, these guys.

Now the school board in each area is composed of the people in the area, with the representation equal to the demographics of the area. So there are a very large amount of Jews on this school board. Who have made the choice to make extensive cuts to the public school system. This church, and other churches in the area, a few mosques and non- ultra-orthodox Jews have teamed up and are calling for the state to step in on the situation to achieve some equal representation for  the public school system.

So now lets get to the actual church service. This is very much so your modern style church, contemporary music, lights, sound systems, full choir and rock band. Worship started out with song and dance, with the choir and band on stage leading the room.( ps. I appreciated the mini drum solo at the end there.) I noticed something the worship songs. There was this huge focus on "Jesus" and very little on "God" which I found interesting. Especially when Jesus spent so much time telling people to keep the focus on God. Then announcements were made. So keep in mind this place is an "Evangelist church" But in all honesty, this church acted nothing like any of the evangelist churches I have seen in Canada. Totally different animal.

This churches highest priority is to go out and evangelize as much as possible, and convincing people to become Christians. This is new to me. I know churches that go out and evangelize in Edmonton. But none like this. They are into it so much I feel like they have made it into a sport in a way. There were a lot of references to the amount of people they did or didn't convert, and a lot of celebration in their achievements. Or as I see it "high scores".

So after the music was over their were some announcements to be made. One of which was kind of a shocker. After going thru the list one of the last things that were mentioned, was that there would be a special meeting to pray for our Muslim friends during this time of Ramadan that they "may know the Lord". 

*aka. That they may come to realize the "true" significance of Christ, and become Christians.

I may not be Muslim. But even sitting 4 seats away, I could feel the wind off of that verbal sucker-punch-to-the-gut that my friends received from that comment.

Ouch. Sorry you guys had to deal with that.

For those of you that may not know. Muslims know Jesus. And  quite a bit about his mother, actually. Because Jesus is a profit, Muslims are required to know him and to believe in him.

Just not in the exact same way Christians do.
To further this, I thought I would send you two links.

This first one is 11 common beliefs between Christians and Muslims on the topic of Jesus.
 http://www.patheos.11-things-muslims-agree-with-christians-about-concerning-jesus

This is a list of  6 things that Muslims and Christians disagree over.
things-christians-and-muslims-disagree-about-over-jesus

But despite our standing differences, we still both love Jesus none the less! *peace and blessings be upon him!

 Then we got all the speeches.

One young lady come up and spoke about her mission trip to Morocco. Which was cool.

Then another fellow came up and spoke about his groups mission trip to Japan. That was interesting. They spent there time in what was know as the "Missionary Graveyard". This is a place where many had come to evangelize and all have failed. They ministered to students in school. Apparently they were even interested in possibly converting, however all of them declined. They told the missionaries that they were interested Christianity, but if they converted, their parents would literally kick them out.

Today we studied from the book of Joshua, on the topic of the conquering of the city of Jericho. We then learned about the recent discovery and excavation of the city.  And the surprising amount of common findings between the archaeologist assessment, and the details of the old testament. They both fully agree that the city was pillaged, conquered and destroyed by an earth-quake.

Quote of the day:

"I am a disgruntled Jets fan and I want you all to share in my misery!" 
 * Omg I have seriously never heard so many sports references or sports style talk in one church service.  

On another side note, the city of Gath was recently discovered. Home town to the famed "Goliath".
 
Discovery of Gath

* The bible actually gives a exact description of Goliath's actual height. Apparently he was roughly 9 feet tall.
* I was reading Samuel 2 and discovered that Goliath had a brother!

One last quote I found very interesting was:  
"We are the most dangerous when we think we can do everything on our own power. God makes us stumble out of grace, to help us turn back to God."  

I have mixed feelings about this statement. Weather us falling is the doing or the will of God, or not, you can't deny that I does humble a lot of people. It is regularly reported that in Canada, church going is highest in times of economic depression.


The more you know!

Have a good one! And see you next week! 

Church #47. The Riverside Church.

Still in New York, and O Man is this place BIG!!! And when I say big, I am talking Christ City size. (see Church # 27) here are some shoots from the outside.

I regret not getting a better photo of this. But the front of the church had revolving doors, except the panels were literately made out of old church doors. So we walked inside to find everything in a gray stone finish, with a very modern stainless steal and glass topped snack bar right in the middle of everything. The direction of the main hall was not instantly apparent. But after moving down a few hallways, we found it.  While we were walking, I noticed that there was more then just one hall in this cathedral. I was able to pick out others, including a very cute mini chapel (which I am sure is used for many weddings.)

Random Fact! Did you know that traditionally, the length of the train on a wedding dress, was dictated by what size of church the bride was getting married in? Train sizes are often named as descriptions of different church sizes.

We arrived at the main hall, and found a place to sit. It was BIG. And quiet elaborately decorated. There were bells ringing. Real ones. Approx 350 people of mixed race, with mostly middle-aged and senior people. But what really confuses me, is the denomination of the church? From what I understand they are a hybrid between the American Baptist Church and The United Church of Christ. But I was unable to distinguish the building or the service, from the Anglican services that I have seen in the past. (see All Saints Anglican Cathedral) Seriously. I couldn't tell the difference.

As you all know i am a big fan of stain-glass. There was a lot of it at this church, but it was very fine and the images were very small. One panel I was sitting close to actually had image of Johannes Gutenberg and his invention and use of the printing press. I think this was being depicted in a church because of Gutenberg's attempt mass-producing the Bible to make it affordable and accessible to everyone.

http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/press.html

The body of the church was beautiful, and the front of it, I am sure, would have been phenomenal, if it were not for the fact that it was covered for construction. Hopefully one day I will be able to witness the finished project.

This church has gone all out. They have an amazing lady that leads the worship with an opera voice that makes me feel guilty for walking in the door without paying for the show. On the far left-hand side of the room, there is also a singe language translator that dose a fantastic job of interpreting the sermon and the music. All of the ushers, and male volunteering members of the church, were dressed in full black suits with white carnation corsages.

The sermon itself was definitely impressive.  It reflected on Independence day, and what it means to be christian in the USA in this day and age. He explored the meaning of "E Pluribus Unum" which is one of two of the United States motto's. It generally translates out to "One from many"or, "Out of many,One". The state of Pluribus being small and divided, and Unum, as being united as one. He made the point, that now "We seam to have a lot more 'Pluribus' then 'Unum' these days." And honestly I think he is right. Especially in the United States.

This speech was loaded with great points;

-We need to watch what we say
-Don't sugarcoat
-Don't beat around the bush.
-Don't be harsh

He also declared that we can not judge all Muslims based on the terrible actions of a few violent extremists that claim to be acting in the name of Islam. And that we should "stand shoulder to shoulder with our Muslim friends." in their struggles.

"Tell the truth in Love".

One of the best things I heard today is that we need to; "Not just Tolerate but Respect others."

( He also noted that the Westboro Baptist Church, is a clear example of people failing to do this.)

*facepalm.

As a Canadian I have gained some interesting insight into this American "Pluribus" situation. America is strange in the fact that it is in  very few ways a "UNITED" nation. All the different states insists on having a lot of independent choice in their laws and actions, and many states want nothing to do with others. It is understandable how It is very difficult to make any unified progress in America, when so much of the country is extremely divided and not willing to find a middle ground with others. A lot of "My way or the Highway" attitude here. America has powers to dictate on issues of the death penalty, abortion, gay rights, gun laws, State by State. Canada is a very different story. We are a united nation (*Quebec is complicated). We may not all like each other a times (one province and another). But we are not  Putting up guns and pitchforks to fight the other off. Canada is a family that doesn't always like each-other, but we never let it get out of hand, because we live in the idea that we are ONE. And when we deal with big issues, we do it on a federal level.We address it once, get everything out in the open, come to a decision of the issue, that decision becomes law across the entire nation, and we are DONE.

That is just how we roll.

Communion was  given today and I noticed something very surprising about it. Just before the congregation started moving towards the front the church, the leaders made it clear that taking communion was something that was accessible and acceptable to all. Not just Christians, not just people that have been baptized under a certain denomination. Everyone.(At the same time I am not too surprised by this considering the church service was also being led by people of different genders, different ethnic backgrounds, and ordained members of the LGBTQ community.) Which is a new and radical idea even to my mind. Should non-Christians take communion? And even if offered, would they do it? Well I can tell you at minimum that I know one practicing Muslim who has accepted communion. And her feedback on it was interesting. For those of you that are less familiar with Muslim practices, the month of Ramadan is a wholly Islamic month in which Muslims focus their efforts on charity, prayer,community sharing, studying their wholly text, and fasting. At the end of their daily fast, they break their fast by consuming a date

To Muslims this is a spiritually significant act and is often done slowly and silently.

The person i know who shared this knowledge with me said "Hey! I am have taken communion before!" she expressed that the feeling of it was very similar to "taking a date". I think we both found the commonality very interesting.

Maybe we are not so different after all.

The service its self was very Unique. It was extremely liberal and progressive, but still very timed and structured. Personally I thought the heavy structure took away from some of it for me. But some people really like a structured service. All matters on your personality I guess.
 
And as soon as the service was over, once again, I saw something I didn't expect
.
I am still baffled on why I see the most profound things, at the most odd times.

I looked over to my right to observe the room for some good photo ops as the service progressed to an end. That is which I did find, check out the giant flying gold Jesus.

Then I saw something that really struck me. A young family.  There was African American man and woman in their mid to late 20's. The man was wearing a white t-shirt with a grey hoody over-top of it. Except he cut the sleeves off the grey goody. You could faintly see the black print of the tattoos down his arm, somewhat blended into his chocolate complexion. The woman was wearing a red shirt with jean jacket covered in rips ( done strictly for fashon). They were holding a small 1-2 year old child. You could see in their eyes how much they carried. How worried they were, that their child will hopefully not make some of the poor life decisions they made. Or maybe, they are pondering how to give their child a better and safer home then what they had. They may also be in fear that they dont have all the knowledge or skills to create this better environment. Regardless, it was clear from their eyes that they care. A lot. And maybe instead of speculation what should be focused on here is hope. Hope for the better, that comes with the renewal that Christ brings. I pray that the eternal hope, love, redemption and kindness of God reaches the hearts and minds of this young family and  helps they make them into a safe family with a bright future.

Amen.

Church #46. First United Methoidist Chruch

Still in the USA. And this would be the second church I have been to while on my journey here. Strangely enough, this was a church I was trying to avoid. Not necessarily because of the church, but because of the walk. The trail that leads from the center, that takes you to the church, happens to go right thru the middle of the dark forest and then the grave-yard. Because that is just the best way to start your Sunday.

So in an attempt to avoid that, I decided to walk the other direction, down the street to Another Methodist church that happened to be near-by. However I could not find any resources online to tell me when the service started. So I went with my default guess. 10 am........ And I was wrong. I approached the church at 9:52 and the singe said services start at 9am. Well Shit. So I went in for the last 10-15 min. The service finished. The minister approached me and told me that he was also ministering at another Methodist church down the road, and that their services started in half an hour, and that he would be happy to give me a ride.

Nice old guy.

So we drove over to the church I was initially avoiding, passing the graveyard as we drove down the road. We arrived at the church, perched at the top of a hilly incline. There were a few people parked around it and filing in. Most in their "Sunday Best", (I soon discovered that there was a baptism going on that day). The church bell sound is a automated recording, that rings out with different tunes on the hour 7-days a week. It is clearly heard from a distance away, but not overly loud when you are inside the actual church. The building appears to be old, but maintained. There is approx 50 people here. More of a family mix, ( I suspect that these numbers are directly influenced by the event going on today).

I must say, I have experience more them my share of  MERICA, since coming here. The town I am currently in, was apparently the location of some major historic battle? And there is some kind of an army army base? Needless to say almost every house in the area dons the star spangled banner, if not some other array of Americana. The church is no exception. It also has and American flag at the front of the room, on a vertical flag pole topped with a gold eagle looking proudly upwards. The date is  June 28.  Only a few days before American Independence Day.

The service started, and one of the first things that was announced, was my presence, what my name was and that I came from "CANADA". I got looked at like I was the most exotic thing these people have seen in a while. Who knew Canadians actually existed?

The service started in song, which was kind of difficult because I think the music peace they picked was a bit too advanced for the average Joe to catch on. The minister then took request for anyone that was in need of prayers. After the names were listed off, He then acknowledged that the July 1st Holiday was coming up

Yes we sang this.

"God Bless America!"
Is a common phrase used in these parts, and I suspect it will be more so as we head towards the holidays,. The church leader said that maybe it is time to re-examine this phrase and think of it differently.First off, yes America is blessed, not the next thing we should look at is "What can we do to bless America and the world?" And secondly, maybe we should spend less time asking God to bless this country more, and reflect, and be thankful, for the blessings we already have.

Personally, I would like to see more of this way of thinking, in the U.S.A.

Quote of the day:
"The healing hand of the great Physician."

There was a baptism that happened today. For a Little 5-7 year old boy? Roughly? I have no idea. This young boys family stood around him at the baptism front as the church, and his family made pledges to show a good example and commit themselves to his spiritual growth. I may have missed this, but at no point did I see the church leader address the little boy, and ask him if he accepts this sacrament. After a long speech, he wet his hands with the water in the font and touched the young boys head 3 times saying the blessing. After it all was over the little boy ran back to his seat, and garbed his hand held gaming device, nearly clueless to the significance of what just happened.

Honestly. I have feeling of compassion right now for people that argue that baptism should be done only to fully grown, comprehensive, adults. I still hold my position that infant baptism is not invalid.

The scripture that was focused on today was from 2 Corinthians 8:7-15...Wait! that's not right......

The church leader totally dropped the ball on this, but the story we learned about today was not in  2 Corinthians 8:7-15. I discovered the actual location of the scripture in Mark 5:21-43.

²¹ When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. ²² Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. ²³ He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” ²⁴ So Jesus went with him.
A large crowd followed and pressed around him. ²⁵ And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. ²⁶ She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. ²⁷ When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, ²⁸ because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” ²⁹ Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
³⁰ At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
³¹ “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
³² But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. ³³ Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. ³⁴ He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
³⁵ While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”
³⁶ Overhearing^[c] what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
³⁷ He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. ³⁸ When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. ³⁹ He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” ⁴⁰ But they laughed at him.
After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. ⁴¹ He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). ⁴² Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. ⁴³ He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.


There was discussion about the woman that suffered from internal bleeding. This condition would have been a really ugly situation in this time and place, due to the lack of medical advancement. And compounded on the fact that the old Leviticus laws state, that a woman who is "bleeding" can not be touched. Therefore she would have been rejected and secluded. This is where I Cant help but admire Gods love for us, show thru Christs example. Jesus find the people that there is no hope for, and gives them a new life. 

The Church leader spoke about how she had visited may doctors that had taken her money and left her no better off.  He related this to the endless medical lawsuits against malpractice that occur here in the states.

Something I think people forget about sometimes, is not only, the spiritual revolution of salvation that Christ started, but the Social salvation work he also did. After the woman was healed, she was likely just hoping she could sneak away. Jesus instead called her out, and she feel to the ground, and told everyone what just happened. This almost seams confusing at first. This woman's condition was embarrassing! Why would he single her out and announce it to the world, that she had been healed of this? Why make a Public Service Announcement? Answer: So she can start over. To lift the social stigma. She is clean again. Safe to touch, to go shopping, to go meet with friends, to have a job, get married, to be free. And it is not just on the truthful authority of her word, but the word of God. Christ forced people to socially to rethink their ways and norms. Jesus really changes everything.  

Side Note: This is only time that Jesus uses the word "daughter" in the bible to refer to someone.

I was able to speak to the church leader after the service, and I took a moment to ask about the other flag at the front of the room that I did not recognize. He lifted it up and told me that it was the "Christian Flag"...... hold on......what?

Yes apparently this is a real thing. Christians have a Flag! Fallow the link to learn more.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Flag

What really got me is when he said "This flag (Christian Flag) supersedes the other(American Flag)."  WOW. I must say this guy has impressed me. He has also given me hope that maybe people like him, can influence some of the more arrogant and self-righteous citizens, to take a step back and examine themselves.  

So I left the church passing by a big black truck with "Vietnam War Vet" stickers on the back of it and headed home.

Thru the grave yard......

It was funny, but until now I had never truly gasped the temptation of the "forbidden fruit" so fully until I saw this bush.

This grape bush/tree/vine was one of the most beautiful and healthy I have seen in my time here (wild grape vine grows everywhere around here). Most grow out of reach. Not this one. And it had fruit! Plenty of it! Looks good huh?

Until I realized that these lovely tasty grapes, were well fertilized on the ground of dead bodies loaded with toxic embalming chemicals that have seeped into the ground from old cracked graves. Things suddenly got a whole less appetizing.....

And it ends up the walk was not that bad, I just kind of powered thru it!

And then finished my way home thru the creepy forest.....

 .....And they all lived Happy Ever After!







for now...... *que dramatic music.