CHURCHES ON PARADE

“For I want not only to share my faith with you but to be encouraged by yours. Each of us will be a blessing to the other” (Romans 1:12, TLB).

Last night I had a dream. I was looking out a window and a parade of churches passed in front of my eyes or it may have been a horizontal slide show of some kind. On the right were small hovels, barely distinguishable as churches. As I viewed those on the left, I saw large gothic cathedrals all lit up in the darkness of night. I could see a glow of light coming through their stained glass windows. As I thought about the meaning of the dream, I supposed viewing the churches from “right to left” had to do with the churches’ political or denominational perspectives. The hovels, I assumed, were simple, unadorned house churches.  (*Photo – see below.)

As I reflected on my dream, I asked, “Why so many churches?” I responded to my own question, “There are many expressions of faith in Jesus Christ. The time of cookie cutter faith is over.”

At a time when everything is being shaken to its core, expressing our faith requires new wisdom and creative ways and, I suspect, is happening and will happen most often outside the four walls of a church building. I think of the “flash” choirs in malls, a family festival at our Agape farm, doctors sharing their faith with their patients, books written about God’s faithfulness in situations that defied common sense, Dr. Bill’s Window Thoughts on YouTube.com,** a sculpture of the woman reaching out to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment (Mark 5:28), and a thousand house churches viewing services at the Global Spheres Center each Sunday via the Internet. The possibilities for expressing and sharing our faith are endless.

You don’t have to be an ordained evangelist to express your faith or to share the love of God with someone. Maybe all you need to do is smile. 

Be blessed…

PatM

* Hawaiian Dancer at Glory of Zion worship service, Corinth TX, Pentecost, 2015. 

**To view and subscribe to Dr. Bill Becknell’s Window Thoughts, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snFVbEy2o2I. You can order Dr. Bill’s book FAITH: The Abyss We All Face from most online bookstores or order it from your local bookstore.