Thursday, June 18, 2009

The Church, Walking With the World


THE CHURCH, WALKING WITH THE WORLD



The Church and the World walked far apart
On the changing shore of time-
The World was singing a giddy song,
And the Church a hymn sublime.
"Come, give me your hand," said the merry World,
"And walk with me, this way!”
But the good Church hid her. Snowy hands
And solemnly answered, "Nay,
I will not give you my hand,” she said,
“And I will not walk with you;
Your way is the way of eternal death;
And your words are all untrue.”


“Nay, walk with me but a little space,”
Said the World with a kindly air;
"The road I walk is a pleasant road,
And the sun shines always there;
Your path is narrow and thorny and rough,
While mine is flowery and smooth;
Your lot is sad with, reproach and toil,
While in rounds of joy I move.
The sky to me is always blue,­
No want, no toil I know;
The sky above you is always dark,
Your lot is a lot of woe.
My way, you can see, is a broad fair one,
And my gate is high and wide;
There is room enough for you and for me,
And we'll travel side by side."


Half shyly the Church approached the world
­And gave him her hand of snow;
And the old World grasped, it and walked along,
And whispered in accents low,
"Your dress is too simple to please my taste;
I have gold and pearls to wear,
Rich velvets and silks for your graceful form,
And diamonds to deck your hair.”
The Church looked down at her plain white robes,
And then at the dazzling World,
And blushed as she saw his handsome lip
With a smile contemptuous curled.


"I will change my dress for a costlier one,
Said the Church with a smile of grace;
Then her pure white garments drifted away,
And the World gave in their place,
Beautiful satins, and fashionable silks,
And roses and gems and pearls;
While over her forehead her bright hair fell
Crisped in a thousand curls.

"Your house is too plain,” said the proud old World,
"I will build you one like mine;
With walls of marble and towers of gold,
And furniture ever so fine.”
He built her a costly and beautiful house;
Most splendid it was to behold;
Her sons and her beautiful daughters dwelt there
Gleaming in purple and gold;
Rich fairs and shows in the halls were held ,
­And the World and his children were there,
Laughter and music and feasting were heard
In the place that was meant for prayer.
There were cushioned seats for the rich and gay,
To sit in their pomp and pride;
But the poor who were clad in shabby array,
Sat meekly down outside.

"Your preachers are all too old and plain,"
Said the gay World with a sneer
"They frighten my children with dreadful tales,
Which I like not for them to hear.
They warn of judgments- and fire and pain,
Of doom of the darkest night,
And speak of a place that should not be,
Mentioned to ears polite.
I mil send you some of a better stamp;
More brilliant and gay and fast,
Who will show how men may live as they list,
And then get to heaven at last.
The Father is merciful, great, and good,
Tender, loving and kind,
Do you think He would take one child to heaven!­
And leave another behind?”
So she sent for pleasing and gay divines,
Deemed gifted and great and learned,
And the plain old men who had preached the cross
Were out of her pulpits turned.


Then Mammon came in supporting the Church,
And rented a prominent pew;
And preaching and singing and floral display
Proclaimed a gospel new.
Then fair and festival, frolics untold
Were held in the place of prayer,
And maidens, bewitching as sirens of old,
With worldly graces rare,
Thought up the very cunningest tricks,
Untrammeled by gospel or laws,
To beguile, and amuse, and win from the World
Some help for the righteous cause.


The angel of mercy flew over the Church,

And whispered, “I know thy sin!"
Then the Church looked sad and earnestly longed
To gather her children in.
But some were out at the midnight ball,
And some were at the play;
And some were drinking in gay saloons,
So she quietly turned away.
Then said the World in soothing tones,
"Your children mean no harm,
Merely indulging in innocent sports."
So she leaned on his proffered arm,
And smiled, and chatted, and gathered flowers,
And walked along with the World.
While countless millions of precious souls
O'er the fearful brink were hurled.


“You give too much to the poor,” said the World,
"Far more than you ought to do.
Though the poor need shelter, food, and clothes,
Why should that trouble you?
And afar to the heathen in foreign lands
Your thoughts need never roam-
The Father of mercies will care for them.
Let charity stay at home.
Go, take your money and buy rich robes,
And horses and carriages fine;
Roses, and jewels, and dainty food,
And rarest and costliest wine;
My children just dote on all these things,
And if you their love would win,
You must do as they do, and walk in the way­
That they are walking in.

So the Church drew tightly the strings of her purse,
And gracefully lowered her head,
And simpered, "I've given too much away,
I will do, Sir, as you have said."
So the poor were turned from her door in scorn;
She heard not the orphan's cry;
She drew her beautiful robes aside
As the widows went weeping by.
Her missions treasuries beggarly pled,
And Jesus commands were vain,
As half the millions for whom He died
Had never heard of His name.


Then they of the Church and they of the World
Walked onward hand and heart,
And only the Master, who knoweth all,
Could tell the two apart.
Then the Church sat down at her ease, and said,
“I am rich and in goods increased;­
I have need of nothing and naught to do
But to laugh and dance and feast."
The sly World heard it and laughed in his Sleeve,
And mockingly said, aside--
"The Church has fallen, the beautiful Church;_
And her shame is her boast and her pride."

The angel drew near to the mercy seat,
And whispered in sighs her name;
Then the loud anthems of rapture were hushed,
And heads were covered with shame;
And a voice was heard at last by the Church,
From Him who sat on the throne,
"I know thy works, and how thou hast said
“I am rich” but thou hast not known
That thou art poor and naked and blind,
With pride and with ruin enthralled.­
The intended bride of a heavenly groom
Is companion of the World.
Go, humble thy heart and confess thy sin,
Let shame now cover thy face,
Or else--alas--I must cast thee out,
And blot thy name from its place.
Matilda C. Edwards 1874

Saturday, June 6, 2009

The Great Speckled Bird


Bare with me please.
 I grew up in the south in a Holiness/Pentecostal church. I was raised knowing I was in the only “true” Church of God (of Prophecy). Other churches were only a poor imitation of what Christianity should look like. We were holy people and we were proud of it. I loved church and wonderful worship, knowing a personal Jesus and what a good “Holy Ghost” message sounded like. We were quite clannish and were willing to “pray it through” until the Lord gave clear direction.

I am thankful for my roots.

My greatest memories and some of my happiest, are remembering the closeness of Jesus to us, His people. I go to bed at night and follow the prayer patterns my grandmother taught me of calling out to God for those I love, asking the Lord first for my husband and children and then my extended family and church family. I follow a pattern of history that my mother and grandmother shared and I have passed that on to my children. Prayer does change things.

The Lord recently reminded me of an old song we sung in church.
You will have to use your own imagination ( or find a rendition on the web) but try to hear the pedal steel guitar carrying the tune and make sure you sway a little while you pitch just a tad “southern.”
Today, even with it's pretribulaton message, I think much of it is true to my understanding of church:

The Great Speckled Bird

What a beautiful thought I am thinking
Concerning a great speckled bird
Remember her name is recorded
On the pages of God's Holy Word.

All the other birds are flocking 'round her
She is despised by the squad
But the great speckled bird in the Bible
Representing the great church of God.

All the other churches are against her
They envy her glory and fame
They hate her because she is chosen
And has not denied Jesus' name.

Desiring to lower her standard
They watch every move that she makes
They long to find fault with her teachings
But really they find no mistake.

She is spreading her wings for a journey
She's going to leave by and by
When the trumpet shall sound in the morning
She'll rise and go up in the sky.

In the presence of all her despisers
With a song never uttered before
She will rise and be gone in a moment
Till the great tribulation is o'er.

I am glad I have learned of her meekness
I am proud that my name is on her book
For I want to be one never fearing
The face of my Savior true love.

When He cometh descending from heaven
On the cloud that He writes in His Word
I'll be joyfully carried to meet Him
On the wings of that great speckled bird.

I am very proud of the way I was raised and the heritage I am from. My grandmother came from her Baptist background to a fuller understanding of the gifts of the spirit during WWI. The story of the angel of the Lord who came to her as she prayed in the smokehouse are what family history is all about. This angel told her to not fear the pentecostals, that what they brought from the Lord would bring salvation to her family. It did.

All through the war and the dark days of the depression, the church was the Rock for my grandmother and her large family of nine kids on a cotton farm. Hard times and a drinking man, no money and plenty of nothing, insured that all kids were in church with my grandma every time the doors were open. They can all tell the stories of walking miles on black topped roads in the sunset and coming home in the dark, bringing the “travelin' preacher” home with them to have a hot meal and sleep in the barn.

The snake handlers and bare-foot hot coal walkers were real people that I grew up loving and trusting. They knew how to get God's attention. By the time I knew them they were old, with only their stories left to tell, but I understood God answered their prayers. They didn't have to do the wild things anymore to have others believe them about what Jesus could do, they had already lived it.

Scripture was always touted and I was raised to believe, “Know the truth and it shall set you free!” Truth had it own price tag and every man had the right for more of it. It was free but it might cost you everything.

Coming from good stock that loves the Lord like that, means you really can't be complacent in your own walk. There is something in my family tree that says I can't just “ get by.” I was raised to want and know truth. That “want to” led me into a discipleship program as a young adult, kept me involved in missions, and has led me into studying more theology and church history than any sane person should.

In my denomination ancient church history couldn't be studied. Hey, we might have been the true church of God but we weren't formed until 1903! I had never heard of the Church Fathers, the Nicene Creed or anything historic, until I was an adult. Then I studied everything: Anabaptist, Reformed, Calvinist, Arminian; you name it – I tackled it. The one place I didn't care to go was to Catholicism. It just wasn't for me. It was too weird and they were the guys that always tried to kill off people that differed with them. I knew they had some great reading material but it really didn't seem very relevant to real life situations or practical, for that matter. The saints were all dead and what made them a saint anyway?

God has a way or weaving His own story and certain things happening the way they do, might just be His way of getting your attention. A series of life changing events led my own family through a very similar depression, much like my grandmother's. How blessed we all were to have Jesus as our anchor. Without the strength of the Lord, we would not have survived as a family. I had prayed for God to do whatever it took to make us look more like Him. He did. He is good like that. When it was all said and done, I was looking square into the face of Rome.

How did a Holiness pastor's daughter become a Catholic? I wanted more truth of WHO God was. Because of His love for me, I followed a very clearly marked trail. That roadmap took me to the true Church of God. This church is very real, like God's family should be. It has nastiness and wickedness along with everything beautiful. With all of the good it has, there is still plenty of bad because it is made up of many, many kinds of people. Some desire more of Jesus in their own life and some are happy just “getting by.” It has withstood the test of time and trials and even being wrong but the rightness of it far outweighs the sinfulness of men that might be in it. It still takes the blows from the world. There are those who would want the Mother Church to lower her standard. She doesn't. She has holiness as her claim and she sticks to it.

This Church is the Great Speckled Bird I grew up singing about:
and She's Catholic!