Dear Jesus, Please Save Me From Your Followers!

Twenty-two million Americans say they’re Christians, but do not go to church. Why? Too many have been hurt by people in churches – by other Christians. It’s a fact that is flaunted by atheists. Christians can be hypocritical, judgmental, mean-hearted people. Why would someone want to have anything to do with that?

When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Mark 2:17

Christians are not perfect. We sin, we make mistakes, and we often do it again. We are the ones Jesus came to help. You are the one Jesus came to help and to save. Please do not give up on Jesus based on your experience with some of His imperfect followers.

Review: The Devil in Pew Number Seven

The Devil in Pew Number Seven, by Rebecca Nichols Alonzo, is a memoir about growing up as the young daughter of a small town minister. In the tiny little congregation, a man (who always occupied pew number seven) decided that he hated her father and wanted him out. Not just out of the church, but out of town. And he would stop at nothing to see it happen: "Dead or alive, crawling or walking." The family lived for years under constant attacks, threats, and fear from this man, their neighbor.

 

Rebecca’s father modeled forgiveness and praying for his enemies throughout the entire ordeal which included bombings of their home and surrounding property, threatening phone calls, and eventually a shooting which took the life of Rebecca’s mother. In the wake of her mother’s death, the widowed preacher spiraled downhill and soon died, leaving Rebecca and her younger brother as orphans.

The author’s descriptions of the fear she experienced and lived with as a very young girl built throughout the story, but the ending was the most unexpected event of all: forgiveness. She offered forgiveness to the man who had terrorized her family and caused the deaths of her parents. After he was released from prison, she allowed him into her life (she was, by then, an adult) and the two made amends. The “Devil” even arranged, while incarcerated, to pay for her and her younger brother’s college education.

I highly recommend this book to any who have experienced injustice. Because you simply cannot read this book and feel all the empathy and sympathy for this family and not be completely affected by the reconciliation that occurs. I was blown away by this woman’s story and by her depth of faith, love, and compassion.

Child-Free Mother's Day

Today is Mother’s Day, but we’ll be celebrating my son’s birthday. That’s okay with me. We celebrated Mother’s Day last night with a nice dinner at Red Lobster – and left the kids with a good, responsible mom friend. One of our invited guests questioned the “no kids” clause on the invite: why no kids? It’s Mother’s Day.

Wouldn’t you want to spend Mother’s Day with your kids? Well, I have so many answers for that. First, it’s the way I was raised. It was a Follower tradition for parents to have a child-free day on Mother’s Day. Teenage girls were asked to babysit so couples enjoy the day with other couples – or alone. It was always a privilege to be asked to watch someone’s children on Mother’s Day.

It’s nice for us moms who spend the rest of the year catering to the needs of our children and families to have a nice dinner that we didn’t have to prepare. It’s nice to not worry about cutting up food for little people, wiping their faces, dealing with picky eaters, or being outnumbered. It’s a treat to have a grown up conversation.

Do I want to spend Mother’s Day with my children? Of course I do! I became a mom the week of Mother’s Day and this day will pretty much always belong to my firstborn. And there’s nothing I love more than to see my children filled with excitement and joy.

To all the mothers, mothers-to-be, empty-nesters, and especially moms who have lost children: may your day be filled with peace, joy, and blessings. And, a special shout-out to the person who has loved me and cared for me more than any other mortal person: happy mother's day Mom!

A Something Positive Post: She Made It!

I’ve been accused of presenting an imbalance of information when writing about the FOC. I have written several blogs about the good things Followers do for each other, and today I am presenting another positive aspect of Follower life: bridal showers.

Have you been to a bridal shower? I’ve been to hundreds, and that’s not an exaggeration. The main event, the entertainment, consists of a time of blessing the virginal young bride. The bride and most of her bridesmaids stand on the pulpit in front of a long table overflowing with beautifully wrapped gifts, large and small. A card table stands at the end of the gift table and holds a basket full of cards stuffed with well wishes and money.

A young lady, one of the bridesmaids, sits at the card table. It is her job to record the gifts on each of the cards, so the bride can later send out thank-you cards. On the other side of the scribe, another bridesmaid stands at the microphone and reads out the names on the cards as the gifts are opened. A very sweet tradition is that many ladies will make beautiful gifts for the new bride, and when one of the homemade items is held up, the caller will say, “and she made it” and the five hundred or so ladies of all ages break into an appreciative applause.

Little girls, selected by the bride, serve as package carriers. They wait in line on the steps to the pulpit to receive the gifts and carry them down the benches to the left of the stage (where young boys and bachelor men sit during church services). The gift opening can last well over an hour.

One of the most exciting gifts are the ones the bride and her friends got to shop for themselves. In the weeks before the shower, bridesmaids will take a collection from ladies who want to donate money (en lieu of bringing a gift), and then take the bride out to pick out several nice outfits to start off her married life.

After the gifts are opened, the bride gives a thank you speech and welcomes the guests to enjoy the delicious food set out on the long tables in the back room. The girls and women visit, walk the isles of gifts admiring all the nice things the bride has received (especially the handmade items), and enjoy the wonderful banquet of food. The food provided at Follower events is impressive. Dozens of women volunteer to bring dishes to contribute special recipes, sweets, various snack foods, bowls of punch,  cheese balls, and vegetable trays.

It is one of the nice traditions and passages into adulthood to honor a young woman who has saved herself for marriage.

Born Holy

I was born holy on Crystal Court in Oregon City. “Born holy” because my parents had been “saved” through the full submersion water baptism they received by the preacher Walter White. White’s baptism held the key to salvation, the Followers believed. White or a man like him – called by God through visions, confirmation, and outwards signs such as speaking in tongues.

The children of those White baptized were said to be “born holy.” I didn’t understand where that phrase came from and eventually I came to believe the Oregon City group had adopted the phrase to convince the generations who came after White’s time that they had hope through their lineage.

Oregon City, I later discovered, was not alone in their belief about the offspring of the “saved.” The Idaho FOC believes that when a parent is “saved” through baptism, their children – those born and those who will be born – become holy.

Setting aside the notion that baptism is what saves a person, I was interested to know where this idea came from. As it turns out, it’s biblical.

For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now they are holy.

1 Corinthians 7:14

According to this verse, a believing spouse offers spiritual protection to their unbelieving husband/wife, and their children are “holy” through the belief of one or both parents. I had always thought that all children, regardless of their parents’ beliefs or spiritual standing, were considered innocent until the age of reason – somewhere around age eight or nine.

My interpretation of this verse is that these “holy” children are actually children by age. We cannot stay children forever. Each of us must become accountable for our own lives and our own children.

How's Your Prayer Life? #NationalDayOfPrayer

Rejoice evermore.

Pray without ceasing.

In every thing give thanks:
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Today, May 2, is the National Day of Prayer. I love that we have this day. It’s a great reminder to stop and prayer – or keep going and pray. Pray all the time.

When I was a child, my church would kneel in silent prayer. Only I didn’t know it was a time of prayer. By the time I was old enough to ask questions, age seven, I sat away from my parents and with my peers during services. We kneeled like the adults, but the girls I sat next to didn’t seem to know any more than I did. We would make finger drawings on the oak benches and watch each other. For some reasons (maybe I was sick), I sat with my parents once during church and proceeded to play during the silent prayer, when my mother leaned over and whispered that I was supposed to be praying.

I didn’t know how to pray, other than repeating the words my dad (and sometimes one of my brothers) would recite before meals. It went something like this: “Dear Lord, thank you for our food and raiment. Forgive our sins. In Jesus’ name. Amen.” The same prayer, word-for-word. That’s all I knew.

And I had never heard a woman pray aloud. It took quite a bit of coaxing and encouragement from other believers before I could pray aloud. I still don’t prefer to do it in front of others, with the exception of my children or female friends. But, I have learned a lot in the past two decades about how to talk to God, through prayer.

I’m still learning and I sometimes forget to pray for a couple of days. And then I get a reminder when things start spinning out of control. God’s calling.

How is your prayer life? How did you learn to pray? Do you struggle with talking to God or are you a “prayer warrior”?

Z: Zodiac

And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

Deuteronomy 4:19

I paid five dollars to have my palm read in 1993 at the Oregon State Fair. The gypsy-looking woman studied my hand and told me some distressing news: my lifeline was extremely short – barely visible. I would die young. My love line was broken: I wouldn’t find love until later in life. So, I was to die young and find love when I was old. Awesome.

I will admit that for years, I enjoyed reading my daily horoscope and finding ways that it rang true. I kept a horoscope taped to my refrigerator from a few years ago that I particularly liked: “Be patient with the current state of things. You will have more than one career in your lifetime and several big adventures. Whenever you’re in a lull, as you may be now, rest up and take full advantage.” I liked it because, like most horoscopes, it was an encouraging message. But, it didn't apply to every Cancer I knew. It was entertainment – not prophesy. At least, that's how I used to justify it.

Years later, I had another palm reading by a woman who said she was Catholic. This time, my reading indicated that my lifeline was long and steady: I would enjoy good health long into old age.

I know that many Christians believe astrology is heresy. I know other folks who believe in star signs and even use it in place of traditional religion. For me, it was a fun diversion; interesting to see the coincidences and nice to read encouraging messages. After researching what God’s word says on the subject, I no longer consider it harmless entertainment. The old horoscope clipping came down, and if anyone wants to know my sign, well that’s irrelevant.

Harmless or risky: what do you think about astrology, horoscopes, and palm readers?