We Want Good People

We keep hearing commentators and news people wondering why Mike Huckabee has such a strong and growing following, especially amongst evangelical Christians. It really isn’t hard to figure out. It’s because he is, as far as we know, a GOOD person.

We are sick to death of wealthy and powerful scum. We’re disgusted by millionaire sports figures who live lives of depravity. We’re frustrated by politicians who find themselves charged with felonies when all they did was solicit some sex in a restroom. We’re appalled by a female candidate in high office whose back-stage talk is laced with the f-word.

It isn’t that we demand of our leaders what we demand of ourselves. We demand more. We want our teachers, leaders and preachers to be better than we are. We want to be able to look up to them. We want to be able to hold them up as examples for our children. At the same time, we understand that they are just human and all of us have faults and failings. But there is a desire in our hearts for our leaders to be GOOD people.

Enter Huckabee. He is an honest, straight-forward man, a Southern Baptist preacher, and an experienced politician. He also has a sense of humor and a humility that endears him to us. It’s no surprise to me that conservative America, Christian America, is drawn to him. Look at the others who are vying for the office of president of the U.S.A. The contrast couldn’t be more stark.

I really don’t know if he would be a strong, conservative president. I don’t think anyone can know that for certain. Many people thought Ronald Reagan would be a bust as president. Many thought Jimmy Carter would be a really good president. We’ve been wrong before.

Be that as it may, it is thrilling to see someone set his cap at the White House who is a worthy person. I’m praying that he makes it!

Wake Up to a Song

Do you wake up in the morning singing a song? Sounds idyllic, but it's kind of weird really. Every morning when I wake up, there's a song in my head, and it usually stays all day. It's never anything like "The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Music." It's things like "Greasy, grimy, gopher guts..." or "The Wabash Cannonball." Yesterday it was "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf" and today it was "I'll take you home again Kathleen..." Now where on earth did THAT come from? I guess I should be thankful that I wake up "with a song in my heart," but it gets annoying when the song sticks with me every waking minute.

Book Review: Nails by Peter Bowen

Once in awhile you find an author who opens up new vistas for you. Peter Bowen is that kind of author. In the publicity photo he looks like a white-haired old cowboy, and he writes like one, too. His main character is Gabriel DuPre, a renowned fiddle player who specializes in the old French Canadian music. DuPre is part Indian also, and he lives in the Wolf Mountains of Montana. The other characters are so well-drawn that you know you'd recognize them if you saw them on the street.

Each book has many themes. In Nails, Bowen's latest book, the theme is religion, believe it or not.

There are the "Christers," as DuPre calls them, fundamental Christians who pray out loudly anytime and all the time but who browbeat their women and kill them if the women aren't righteous enough. The Christers' goal is to get Creationism taught in the school instead of evolution. It doesn't matter to them that the money spent to fight them in court is money that cannot be spent on education.

There is Father Van Den Heuvel, a Jesuit priest who is also a geologist. Father Van Den Heuvel was sent to this out-of-the-way place because it would keep him out of trouble. He is the clumsiest person alive, and it's all DuPre can do to keep the priest from fatally wounding himself. At one point, Father V.D.H. says, " I could almost manage to believe in hell, just so I could hope that bastard was in it."

There's Madelaine, DuPre's wife, who is steady as a rock, and wise and generous to boot. She goes to confession even though she knows Father V.D.H. doesn't believe in it. She says she knows what works for her, and what other people believe is no concern of hers.

There's Booger Tom, an old cowboy who is now the top hand on a rich man's ranch. Tom is one of the funniest and most colorful characters in the books. In this one he sews up a wound on Father V.D.H.'s rear end and gives him shots of penicillin that he keeps for treating horses and cows. His funniest line in this book is, "I tried to give myself one [a shot] oncet. Chased my ass with that needle from Miles City to Spokane, gave up, had to ask for help."

The patois spoken by the natives of Toussaint, Montana, is English, with word order and phrasing that is French Canadian and/or Indian. It takes some getting used to, but after a bit I was wishing I could be immersed in it for real.

My advice is to start reading Bowen's work from the first one, Stewball, and proceed through all 13 books. My problem now is that I have to wait months for the next book in the series. It'll be worth the wait though.

More on Worship

At Harristown Christian Church we offer what is best described as a "traditional" worship service. There are rites like weekly open communion service and the lighting of the Gospel and Epistle candles by an accolyte. We sing at least four hymns accompanied by an organ or piano and sometimes both. Then there's the pastoral prayer followed by the Lord's Prayer, an introit and benediction, two readings from the Bible and singing the Gloria Patri and Doxology.

Other than the form of our worship services, the thing that sets us apart from other churches is that the preaching is positive in tone. Our pastor explains the Bible reading, giving the history surrounding it, what the writer was trying to do, and any special considerations like translation from the original language that it was written in. Then the pastor relates the Bible reading to our current time and teaches us how we can live according to the Bible lesson.

We are fortunate to have three women who are competent on the keyboard, one or two who have beautiful singing voices, and an appreciative audience for just about anyone who wants to do something for the worship service. We have an occasional harp or trumpet solo and vocal solos with beautiful sign language accompaniment.

We also have a body of people who are willing to do the work of the church including mowing the lawn, repairing things that break, handling the necessary paperwork, participating in the worship service, attending and teaching Bible study classes, and coordinating our mission giving. And our potlucks are still worth coming to, because our cooks are the best anywhere.

What we do not have is hellfire-and-damnation preaching, talking on and on about sin and sinners, harrangues about giving more money, political issues masked as Christian duties, or speaking in tongues or testimonials. We also don't have charismatic things like arm waving, amens, spontaneous outpourings from the congregation, or contemporary music with guitars and drums.

What I personally miss is a choir, enough people singing so I don't feel like I'm doing a solo, enough people to do an occasional playlet, and a Sunday School for kids....along with some kids to teach.

All in all, Harristown Christian Church is a wonderful place to recognize God's goodness and grace. It's a place to come back to weekly so that we can "recharge our batteries" and get right with God and man. We're small, but we're great in heart and service.

How I Became a Musician

My Grandma Hammond was very musical. She played the piano for her mother's movie theater in the days of the silents. One of her favorites, and one that my aunts Mary and Sally both learned to play, was "The Midnight Fire Alarm." I finally got a copy of it and sometimes I play it just for fun. That old music requires a lot of accurate bouncing around in the left hand: low note, middle range chord, low note, chord, etc. You know what I mean. I used to be able to play that kind of stuff, but it's a struggle anymore.....except that I've gotten over the weak-elbows-when-you-make-a-mistake phase. I can just keep on going.

I never questioned that I would play the piano. I just assumed it was something I was supposed to do. And then when I moved to Peoria and had NO friends or social activities (until I met the boy who became my husband in my sophomore year), the piano was my entertainment. Mother told me, "I have to do these dishes. You can either help me with them or practice." Then she would take a LONG time doing the dishes. We had a very clean kitchen then, I'll tell you. After awhile it got so I even enjoyed doing the exercises.

I do wish I had paid more attention when Miss Johnson tried to teach me the different chords and progressions. It's not as easy to learn now as it was then. At one time I debated taking guitar lessons so I could learn such things, and Jim got me a nice guitar for Christmas one year, but I never got to the point of signing up for lessons. I always thought it was so cool when someone could pick up a guitar and accompany singing. When I was young, I was too shy to do any such thing. After about age 40, I gave up being shy, but I don’t have the time or the need to learn guitar any more.

Small Churches that Survive Against All Odds

Besides Harristown Christian Church, I know of two instances of thriving small churches that defied all odds.

In Taintor, Iowa, there's a community church that used to be a Methodist congregation. The people had met in the same building for years and years, and one day the bishop (or whoever) decided that the congregation was too small, and they would have to cease to be. The people were furious, and said they would just stop being Methodists, and form a new church. Well, that was well and good, but it turns out that they didn't own the building. The Methodist Church did. One of the congregation had a new two-stall garage that had a concrete floor, so the congregation set it up as their temporary home. After a time, they got a loan and built a new church building. It's a very simple but elegant structure, well-suited to their needs. When I visited it a couple of years ago, it had grown some. Maybe someday it will not be a small church at all, but no one is about to panic about its small size.

On the other hand, the Presbyterian Church in New Sharon, Iowa, is very small. When we visited with my sister, there were just 7 people in attendance, and that counted my husband and me. They have their worship services on Wednesday evening, and their minister is usually a student who serves a Sunday-church also. After the service, they get together for refreshments. The time we were there the refreshments were substantial, and everyone was congenial and friendly. I guess there's been talk from "higher up" about closing the church, but the congregation supports the expenses and so far they have managed to keep on keeping on.

Small churches are everywhere. Some of them become big churches when they get a charismatic minister and strong, growth-centered lay leadership, but some will remain small and may continue on for years and years. I wonder what Jesus would say to our small groups if he came to visit?

Churches for Everyone

What is it that makes one church more suitable to a person than another? Is one kind of church better than another? Is one more Christian? The answers are obvious. Everyone has different expectations, desires, and needs, to say nothing of his/her cultural background. So there’s not one kind or size of church that is right for everyone.

At Harristown Christian we have become a pretty small church, but our expectations, desires, and most of our needs are met. Oh, it would be nice to have more “young” people. Most small churches suffer from a lack of young families. In our case most of the people with families migrated to the churches with active youth programs. Who could blame them? When we had children at home, we also wanted a youth-centered church. Now that we are older, we appreciate the quiet and orderliness we experience on Sunday. Oh, we surely wouldn’t turn down a family with youngsters, and we would do our best to provide for their needs. But most of us recognize that the time when our church would be full of children is probably over.

It’s entirely possible that something will happen in the future to change the nature of our church and “turn it around.” I don’t think anyone would be opposed to that kind of change, but if it doesn’t happen, we are content to keep on keeping on as we are.

My husband has often said that there is nothing wrong with being a church dedicated to the needs and desires of “old people.” There’s room enough in this country for all kinds of churches, and Harristown CC’s place is perfectly fine, thank you!
(Next time: What happens to small churches?)

Harristown Christian Church, a Small Church

In our denomination, and in most denominations today, there's a concerted effort to close down small churches and consolidate into a more viable size, even a mega-church. I've been a member of a small congregation all my life, and I'm getting a little weary of the pressure put on small churches to grow and merge. Its as though the only true church is a big church. After all, big churches can provide so many more programs, hire so many more ministers, build much better buildings, yada yada yada.
By the way, the definition of a small church depends on who is talking. To the Regional Office a small church is one with 100 or fewer people in attendance on Sunday. To me a small church is one with fewer than 40 in attendance. And then there's the really small churches with three people meeting together. And I don't need to remind everyone that Jesus said that wherever two or more are gathered in His name, He is there also.
Harristown Christian Church has an average Sunday attendance of 16 or so. It's a small church, but it's extra large in heart. If you start listing all the things we don't have because we're so small, you can go on and on. If you start listing all the things we have and all the things we do, you can make an equally long list. Small size does not mean nothing is happening. People in our congregation are committed to being good people. They are the hands, feet, and heart of Jesus in this world.
(Continued tomorrow)

Bug Bite Central

My kids call me “Dr. Karen.” Whenever there is a medical problem, they call for advice on what to do about it. My husband’s pretty good at it, too, so he gets in on the diagnosing and advice.

Lately I’ve been “Bug Bite Central.” I get calls just about every week about some bug bite or other and what to do about them. Everyone’s afraid of the Brown Recluse spider, of course. I keep hoping I never see one…or the results of a bite from one.

Today the question was about three bites on a 4-year-old’s abdomen. They have a center with a red ring around it and a white raised ring around that. Now, that’s a new one on me. My advice was cortisone cream and benedryl. If things don’t look better by evening, a call to the real doctor is in order.

Flea bites are the most annoying. For some reason, a flea will bite two or three times, the bites lined up in a pretty straight line. I’ve never researched why they do this. Flea bites itch like all tarnation, and cortisone creams don’t seem to do much good. Neither does scratching.

The best thing to do is to get rid of the fleas. That’s easier said than done if you have indoor pets who have outdoor privileges. The strange thing about fleas is that once they hitch a ride inside, they hop off and burrow into your carpets and furniture. Any old crevice will do. They lay eggs and spit out blood that gives the hatching larvae something to live on until they can become adults.

I remember one time many years ago coming across a pad of cloth that one of our cats used for a sleeping place. It must have had 50 to 100 little worm-like things on it. I threw it out of course, and wondered what those critters were. Soon I discovered they were flea larvae. Ick!

Protecting your pets with flea treatments not only makes life easier for them, it keeps you from having a house full of fleas. I prefer the kind I get at the veterinary. There’s an applicator filled with several drops of liquid that you squirt between the animal’s shoulder blades, high up on its neck. It requires reapplication monthly, but it’s worth every penny.

Getting Rid of Age Spots

For all of you ladies in my vast readership, I have a product to tell you about. I hope you already know about it and use it. It's called "Even Complexion Essence" by Mary Kay. You know that daughter Susan sells Mary Kay products now, and although I thought I would go to my grave wearing Merle Norman, I'm a Mary Kay convert.
For many years I've had "age spots" about the size of half a postage stamp on both my cheeks (facial, not behind....if they were on my behind, I wouldn't know about them). They weren't right up front, so I couldn't see them very well, but in pictures they were very obvious. Now, I know I'm growing old and I have to expect things like age spots, but I like to think of myself as a lot younger, and age spots on the face are only for OLD women. When I bought my first set of Mary Kay products, I got the Even Complection Essence, but I really didn't think it would work. Since Susan told me to try it, I did. And it worked! The spots are still there, but they are so much lighter that the foundation makeup covers them. It took several months for the spots to fade and I have to keep applying the ECEssence every day, but it's worth it. I highly recommend this product to anyone. If you don't know a Mary Kay sales person, Susan will be happy to mail things to you. Her email address is susan@bressner.net