The Zowie Family searches for a church, Part 1

Since my wife had just recently been discharged from the hospital with a heart problem that she’s now treating with meds, a low-fat, low-sodium diet and by losing weight, I decided to use my day off last Sunday to engage in a long put-off task–finding a good, local church to attend. I work two jobs, so it’s a challenge having work scheduled around church services.

We had attended one in Lapeer for the past few years but decided to look for something closer (among other reasons). On Easter Sunday, I visited a nice church in Frankenmuth, but it wasn’t a good fit. The preaching and contemporary music weren’t bad, but they had two services due to overflow: 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. When we arrived there, I was told that they did not have children’s church at the 10:45 a.m. service, which really soured me. If the day comes that we are still looking for a church and they’re in their own building again and are able to offer normal services and offer children’s church at a decent time, we’ll check them out again.

This past Sunday by myself, I attended First Baptist Church here in Vassar. The people were pretty friendly, and I liked the Bible teaching. The pastor also encouraged anyone who didn’t know the Lord to get that settled, which was also a huge plus. Some snooty Christians treat invitations as something only done in the “embarrassing” circles of Independent Fundamental Baptists.

As someone who’s heavy and is losing weight, I don’t have any dressy clothes in my closet that fit. So, I wore a nice pair of jeans, tennis shoes and a button-down shirt. Turns out, many of the men in the church also wore this style. It reminds me a little of that one church’s slogan: “Dress casual. Jesus did.” Nothing is more embarrassing than to go into a church and see you’re extremely under-dressed.

Overall, I liked FBC in Vassar. There are two other churches in the area I plan to check out, but I definitely liked what I saw. And, of course, it’s only a few blocks away from our house.

I come from a Baptist/Independent Fundamental Churches of America/Non-denominational background. Here’s what I look for in a church:

Teaching of the Bible. Preaching is great, but I really like it when a pastor digs deep into what the Word says and telling how it can be applied to our own lives. Two former pastors, including Don Ohm of San Antonio’s Lighthouse Baptist Church, are great at this. You come away knowing something about the Bible and its historical backgrond.

Separating personal preferences from convictions. In Baptist circles, I’ve seen this far too much as the lines between personal preferences and convictions frequently get too blurred. One pastor decides he doesn’t like Michael W. Smith’s music, and then soon it becomes a Biblical dogma that Smith’s music is not to be listened to. I remember once that the late Dr. Jack Hyles once referred to the “Jesus is the Answer” singer as “Michael W. Smut”. It’s one thing to not like the Power Rangers or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (I personally find the turtles very obnoxious), but if you’re going to tell your youth group they’re “new age”, do research to see what they are about, compare it with the Bible and make sure it’s really harmful rather than just a harmless kids’ entertainment.

Contemporary music. I used to be vehemently opposed to Contemporary Christian Music, until I started learning a few things. First, as one pastor once said, today’s CCM is tomorrow’s traditional music. IFB-ers love Fanny Crosby’s hymns, but my understanding is in her day she was considered pretty worldly and radical with her music. I love songs like Watermark’s “More Than You’ll Ever Know”, Stacie Orrico’s “Don’t Look At Me”, Rebecca St. James’ “Don’t Worry” and Crystal Lewis’ “Only Fools”. Huge blessings, including the evil Michael W. Smith’s song “Jesus is the Answer”. I even like Petra’s version of “The Graverobber” and “Not of This World”. It’s ok to use an amplified guitar in church, kids. And it’s also ok to use drums and a bass guitar. Heck, when I was at a Baptist church in Mexico back in 1990, guess what they used for musical accompaniment? An electric guitar!

Various activities. A church needs to busy itself serving its members, encouraging people, edifying and evangelizing the community.

Children’s programs. I’m not just talking about Awana or Patch the Pirate, nor am I just talking about Sunday School and Children’s Church. There needs to be activities for children during Sunday night services, midweek services and during revival meetings. When kids are stuck in adult services, they get bored. Very. Quickly. Nothing’s worse than for kids to associate church with boredom.

Keeping things fresh and thinking outside the box. Churches that adopt the “We’ve never done it this way before” attitude are doomed–especially with how our society (and especially technology) is constantly changing. Even Pope Benedict XVI has recently encouraged Catholic ministers to use the internet and blog as a way of reaching out to parishioners.

Richard Zowie has been a Christian since 1981 and blogs here about Christian issues. Post comments here or e-mail him at richardstwoshekels@gmail.com.

Michael W. Smith and umbrellas

When I typed on this blog Sunday night, I listened to Michael W. Smith’s wonderful song “Jesus is the Answer”.

Smith reminds me of this interesting story about my time at Pensacola Christian College.

PCC’s located in Pensacola, Florida, which receives lots of rain. If there are any prospective PCC students reading this blog posting, I’d strongly advise them to purchase a good umbrella.

Preferably, one that’s not too expensive. Umbrellas at PCC (at least when I was there from 1991-1995) tended to magically disappear. In my four years there, I lost two of them. Ironically enough, to try to keep my second umbrella from getting stolen, I wrote in bold black letters RICHARD ZOWIE’S UMBRELLA and STEAL THIS AND GET SHIPPED! (At PCC, getting “shipped” meant getting kicked out). That umbrella disappeared, and a friend a year behind me told me the year after I graduated it showed up again on campus.

My favorite form of umbrella art belonged to one student named James W. (anyone who graduated from PCC in 1995 probably knows whom I’m talking about). James listed Bible verses that talked of how stealing was prohibited and a sin, but then talked about how he would still forgive the person who committed such an atrocity just as Jesus forgave us. I liked it. James was a serious but very good guy, and he mentioned once wanting to use his engineering degree on the mission field.

One student took umbrella protection to a new level. A fan of Dr. Jack Hyles, “Andrew” filled his umbrella with Dr. Hyles quotes. One panel said, “Yes, I support Dr. Hyles” while another quoted Hyles calling out another minister and saying, “He ain’t no fundamentalist!”

Dr. Jack Hyles

Another panels showed Hyles’ fervent dislike for pants on women along with contemporary Christian music (which, I must confess, I wasn’t a fan of at the time). There was a quote where Hyles referred to Michael W. Smith as “Michael W. Smut”.

Pretty harsh.

I wasn’t too surprised to find out later that Andrew transferred from PCC to either Hyles-Anderson College or some college like it.

As for Smith, “Jesus is the Answer” is one song I’d love to have played at my funeral. I find it to be an encouraging song that also helps to evangelize.

Songs I'd love to have played at my funeral

My wife has asked me to not request any “Weird Al” Yankovic songs since she feels that would be too farcical. So, for now, I have a short list of songs I’d like to have played/sung at my funeral. I’m in good health and not dying, but I figure it’s never too early to have something in mind:

“Jesus is the Answer” by Michael W. Smith (a great song that reminds us God’s in control in this insane world)

“Farther Along” an old Southern Gospel hymn by J.R. Baxter and W.B. Stevens, it’s an encouraging song reminding us that someday in heaven, God will provide answers for all those heartaching questions.

“The Golden City” — not sure exactly who sings it, but it’s a song reminding of us of the beauty of eternity and how all this suffering is only temporary.

And, of course, “Amazing Grace”. I’m not Scottish, but the way it sounds on bagpipes is beautiful.

I’ve also told Jennifer this request: nobody wears black. Colors I’d rather have worn: royal blue, kelly green, scarlet red, purple and yellow. Bright colors. Black is too somber.