Caught up on my Bible reading! Zowie!

Thankfully, my parents are not offended by my taking our surname in vain. It’s catchy, so no worries. I wish I hadn’t been so shy about that two decades ago when I absolutely insisted–with no success-that my classmates call me Richard and not Zowie. I might as well have asked them to throw away their Van Halen 1984 albums.

So, back to the ranch…

This morning, while doubling my reading in Isaiah and Hebrews, I got caught up on my Bible reading. No more having to read four to six Old Testament chapters a day and no more reading two chapters in the New Testament. I can now focus on quality and not quantity.

I briefly considered keeping my pace so I could read the Bible through twice this year but decided against it and felt it was yet another desperate obstacle of Satan’s to discourage me from reading God’s Word. I take it that The Adversary Formerly Known as Lucifer must not like it when people read in Revelation about his being cast into the lake of fire and how, for the first time ever, he will feel something he won’t like–physical pain. This kind has no morphine to look forward to: it’ll be eternal, excruciating and unspeakably terrible.

So now, I sigh, take a breath and get back into a normal routine. A brochure from the Roloff Homes in Corpus Christi, Texas states the homes had this very strict rule for all its staff and those in its homes: each morning, you begin with devotions. No Bible, no breakfast. No exceptions. Perhaps that is a rule I should modify and implement for myself: No Bible, no internet/facebook/blogging.

Sounds great, doesn’t it?

Coming soon: my potential adventures serving my church’s library ministry and an interview with an outstanding Christian blogger (no, I won’t be interviewing myself–far from it).

Richard Zowie still has a long way to go as a Christian, but he is getting there. Post comments here or e-mail them to richardstwoshekels@gmail.com.

Iron sharpens iron

If one thing in life is invaluable, it’s advice from wise friends. I receive a lot of that.

Lately, due to a change in my personal life, I have consulted with friends–guys and ladies and have received input from them. I’ve listened, spoken, been stressed, been near tears. Some have never been married, some are married, some are re-married and some are where I will be probably later this year: divorced and trusting God will someday bring a wonderful Christian lady into my life.

The late Charles Bronson once was quoted as saying he had many acquaintances but no friends. Pity. Friends have helped me to gather up the pieces of my life and to rebuild myself.

Making friends has never been one of my biggeststrengths, and going through this ordeal reminds me of how much I miss my friends who live elsewhere. Among the many: Bob, Chelsea, Valkena, Aaron, Sean, Angie and the two Lances in Texas, Angela in Indiana, Michelle in Connecticut, Rachel in Virginia, Barbara in New York, David in Los Angeles, Jeremy in Michigan…

Some friends have shared very similar experiences with me while some of the ladies (I grew up with two older sisters, an outgoing mother and a father who worked long hours to provide a living, so I tend to open up towards women easier) have provided a listening ear. It is indeed a blessing to have such friends. They have helped me to become a much wiser person.

Richard Zowie is praying for God’s guidance. Post comments here or e-mail them to richardstwoshekels@gmail.com.

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.

Getting back to basics: reading the Bible

I struggle mightily with procrastination, and someday (if I haven’t already) I plan to post an old column about how procrastination is the eighth deadly sin.

A week ago, I got back into reading the Bible on a daily basis. It was very refreshing and made me realize how much I’d missed by not doing so before. When it comes to God’s Word, my minimal goal is to encounter one of the writers of the 39 Old Testament books and 27 Old Testament books and be able to converse with them about their work. How embarrassing would it be to encounter Nahum* the Minor Prophet and say, “I know your book’s in the Old Testament and it’s near Jonah, right?”

I’ve heard two songs about the Bible, children’s songs that contain incontrovertible facts about scripture. One says if we read God’s word and pray daily we’ll grow, and the other says if we neglect His Word and forget to pray we’ll shrink. Been there, done that. Another says simply this: “The Bible will keep you from sin, and sin will keep you from the Bible.”

I visualize reading the Bible, jotting notes and summaries of what’s been read, studying the Word and praying as food for the soul. Just as we shouldn’t quit breathing or eating food, we most certainly should not quit reading the Bible.

*In a Bible drill at Alvin, Texas’ Kings Row Baptist Church in 1982 or so, the passage we had to look up was in Nahum. One kid asked the teacher where Nahum was, and the teacher deliciously replied: “It’s between Genesis and Revelation.”