We go to church kind of for a t-shirt

Decision America California Tour, Fresno, California
It usually isn’t wise for people who work at a hotel to talk about who stayed there. But hey, I’m done working there at the end of the week, so I guess I can tell you that folks from the Franklin Graham’s Decision America Tour stayed as guests this past week.

When I checked in one of the truck drivers, he mentioned the thousands of pounds of t-shirts he transported. After he left, Sam, one of the other front desk clerks, pondered how much his truckload was worth if they were charging $55 a shirt like they do at concerts and sporting events.

On Monday evening, we had the chance to find out. We drove to the Fresno Fairgrounds and followed the signs directing us to public parking, but the lot was full. There was plenty of street parking in the neighborhood, so we found a spot and walked a few blocks to the amphitheater gate. As we crossed the street, we couldn’t help noticing the protesters holding simply baffling signs about Israel and abortion and one sign that read “Little Red Riding Hood had more discernment than Christians.” Mindy puzzled over the grammar of this for a long time.

We were greeted by ushers pointing us toward the booth for free t-shirts (which, for those of you who are less financially astute, is significantly less than $55) which already had a big crowd. There were quite a few other booths, including one for Spirit 88.9 radio, another for Samaritan’s Purse, and several food trucks. Another volunteer was making sure everyone who wanted it got a free bottle of water (this is Fresno, and it was a warm evening. The water was appreciated).

We found seats in the ¾ full amphitheater about ten minutes before the 7:30 pm start time. Right on schedule, Jeremy Camp, the tour’s musician, was introduced. Camp is a Grammy-nominated, Dove-winning Christian singer -- as any listener to Christian music radio knows, and he said he couldn’t refuse when Franklin Graham asked him to join the tour to “pray for the state, pray for the nation and proclaim the name of Jesus.”

People stood, and many sang along with the lyrics on the screen (lyrics at times accompanied by brightly colored abstractions.) After the third song, Camp asked a little a girl in the front what her name was, then told her, “Annalise, I love how you were dancing and singing for Jesus! Not everyone is going to have this same passionate jumping up and down experience.” He said that was okay, and he added, “There are a lot of kids here, and that is awesome!” He quoted 1 Timothy 4:12, the verse about not letting anyone look down on you because of your youth.

After about 20 minutes of music, Camp introduced Franklin Graham. Graham is the son of the great evangelist, Billy Graham. Several years before his father’s death, Franklin became the president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. When he arrived at the podium, Graham referred to his heritage, saying, “Wow! What a night! It’s hot here! I was last here with my father for a crusade in 2001.”

He quickly moved to the reason for this tour of ten California cities: “Our country is in trouble. Your state is in trouble.” (There were sounds of agreement from the crowd.) “But there are things we can do. We can pray. We need to pray for our leaders, as God commanded us.” When he mentioned the names of Nancy Pelosi and Dianne Feinstein, there was scoffing in the crowd, but Graham said, “It doesn’t matter whether you like them or not, we are commanded to pray for them. If we pray, we can see change. God can turn this state around.”

Graham said, “We need to pray for Governor Brown, that he will be saved. Pray for Nancy Pelosi, that she will be saved.” (Curiously, when he mentioned President Trump, he didn’t mention praying for his salvation.) He encouraged everyone in the crowd to stand, join hands with the people next to them, and to pray for the leaders of the state and the country, reminding the audience that Christians are commanded to do so in 1 Timothy 2:2.

He urged Christians to vote and to run for local office. He said Christian voices need to be heard. “I’m not telling you who to vote for, but vote for candidates that support Biblical principles. Not that they necessarily live by them, but support them.” (I don’t remember those kinds of addenda being noted by any Christian leader pre-Trump.) “We sense we are losing our freedoms as our government becomes more secular, turning to science and public opinion polls rather than Scriptural principles.”

He opened his Bible to read the story of Nicodemus visiting Jesus from John 3. This was more of a straightforward Gospel message, urging people to put their faith in Christ. “Being a Catholic can’t save you, being a Baptist can’t save you, being a Presbyterian can’t save you…” He went through several other denominational affiliations, making the point that what we really need isn’t religion, but a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

He told his own story, “I was raised in a Christian home with great parents...When I grew older, I tried to fill my life with parties, girls, alcohol...But I was sick and tired of being sick and tired… I deserve God’s wrath, but I am forgiven because on the cross, Jesus took the sins of mankind and on the third day God raised Him from the dead, and He is here in Fresno.”

He urged people to pray along with him to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior and asked people who wanted to pray with him to stand. Dozens of people, including whole families, did stand. “For those standing, I’d like to lead you in a prayer. Prayer is just talking to God. And remember this, if you remember nothing else: ‘God loves you.’”

Volunteer chaplains moved around the amphitheater with literature for those who’d stood, and Graham said that if anyone hadn’t stood, they could text the word “Decision” to the number on the screen to have that material sent to them. The information on the screens was in both Spanish and English.

After the message, Jeremy Camp came out again for several more songs (many people, including at least one group who’d come in a bus from a retirement community, left during the singing). As I left, a chaplain asked if I’d received Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and I assured her I had, long ago. Many more people (probably not all associated with The Billy Graham Association) offered us tracts as we headed for the exit. We took some, and Mindy got a shirt that we plan to give to Sam. I wonder if I should tell her I paid $55.

We go to church with a truck

Clovis Missionary Baptist Church, Clovis, CA
“What does that say?” Donny asked.

Mindy and I read the sign. We were certain it clearly read, “Doc’s Garage.”

“That’s not it,” Donny told us. As I pondered my literary competence, Donny explained, “It’s Disciples of Christ’s Garage. There’s a madness to my mayhem,” he added. The stage under the sign is used every Friday night from May to September for the church’s hot rod gatherings.

Donny mentioned that there are many car shows in the Valley, but, he said, “we don’t do anything the way we’re supposed to.” The church doesn’t take sign-ups, charge admission fees, or limit the kinds of cars displayed. They don’t bring in food trucks that gouge the crowds; instead, the church sets up a barbeque and gives out food on a donation basis. It just so happens, they usually get more money that way than if they’d set a price for the food. Donny said, “It may seem we know what we’re doing… We just trust God.”

Clovis Missionary Baptist Church has been holding Hot Rod Gatherings for nine years now. They usually have at least three or four new people every week -- and a lot of regulars. Donny told me he overheard one of the regulars telling a visitor, “We don’t talk like that here at our church.” Donny said the regular had never been to a Sunday morning worship service, just Friday nights, but he considered CMBC his church. Some those Friday night folks have reached out to the church for help with counseling, for weddings and funerals, and some have even come for worship on Sunday morning.

Pointing to the sanctuary, Donny said, “People ask questions they wouldn’t be comfortable asking inside that building.” He said the gatherings are a good two-way street, allowing outsiders to get to know people in the church and people in the church to get to know outsiders.

We weren’t visiting on a Friday night -- we came for a Sunday night worship service on the church lawn. Nonetheless, there were cars (and a motorcycle) on display on the front lawn where the Hot Rod Gatherings are held.

The song leader (the only person wearing a tie that evening) said instead of using songbooks, we were going to sing familiar songs, beginning with “Victory in Jesus,” continuing with “Amazing Grace” and “God is So Good.”

Russell Bailey, the pastor of the church for the last thirteen years, came forward to speak. His text was Luke 14: 28 - 30, the passage about counting the cost before building a tower, so he talked about taking on a project without considering all that was in involved. He brought along quite a visual aid: a 1955 GMC pickup truck he’d traded for on Craigslist -- a truck that ended up needing much more work than anticipated.

“There are areas in our lives we need help, and there are people who can help,” he said, describing how others had helped him with the truck (which isn’t quite running yet). He pointed out that we’re often afraid to admit we need help. We lie to ourselves and say, “This won’t be a big deal.” His sermon closed with an invitation to receive Christ (as all good Baptist messages do).

After the service, we chatted with Pastor Bailey. He mentioned that for a long time the church emphasized foreign missions (after all, the church has “missionary” in their name.) But they realized that while they’d been obeying Christ’s call from Acts 1:8 to go to the ends of the earth, they hadn’t been going to their “Jerusalem.” With that realization, they began to put more of an emphasis on local ministry.

One of those ministries is Rafa Ranch, which uses “equine assisted learning” to help kids (I take it that means horses are involved). At Christmas, church members provide free hot chocolate to people seeing the lights on Candy Cane Lane. They participate in the Big Hat Days Clovis Rodeo Parade, and as far as they know, they’re the only church that does so. And they have a program called Clovis Connect to reach the community.

After the brief worship service, we headed into the fellowship hall with our chairs for sandwiches. The selection of fillings and breads were abundant; an old-school drinks cooler was filled with bottled water and sodas, and the dessert table was full of cookies, pies, cakes, and homemade ice cream.

I sat down with Donny and Cole (who runs the Clovis Connect program). During the week of Clovis Connect, they do a variety of projects. They go to markets and hand out free quality shopping bags. They do free car washes. They hold a daytime VBS program. They do a Pay It Forward program. And they figure on carrying on many of these programs throughout the year.

Donny told us that DOC’s garage, along with much of the promotional artwork for Hot Rod Gatherings, was done by a man who attends the Hot Rod Gatherings, but doesn’t attend the church. The church loves his work, but they’ve decided, for a variety of reasons, to do away with the brand names in the backdrop. They’ve painted over the “Firestone” on the tire, but are trying to decide what to put in its place. I suggested “Godsrich” -- you know, like “Goodrich” but not? 

I doubt they’ll take my suggestion because Hot Rod Gatherings at Clovis Missionary Baptist Church tend to do things better than that.

Mindy goes to a movie

Movie Night, Greenwood Village South, Greenwood, Indiana
Dean was at home in Fresno this past week, and his work schedule restricted the time he had for visiting a new church. I, on the other hand, was visiting my dad in Indiana to celebrate his 90th birthday. While there were plenty of "church" activities available, we'd already written about a wedding and about worshiping at Southport Presbyterian Church. Due to other obligations, I wouldn't be able to visit the morning devotional times, Bible studies, or hymn sing held at various times through the week at Greenwood Village South, the retirement community where my dad lives.

What to do?

Thankfully, two showings of The Hiding Place were scheduled for the weekend. It's the only film made by the Billy Graham Association in which Billy Graham doesn’t appear, and while Dean had hoped to include it in April's Christian Movie Month over at Movie Churches, there just weren't enough weeks.

The film (based on the book of the same title) is the true story of one family’s response to the Nazi persecution of Jews in the Netherlands during World War 2. Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsie lived with their elderly father, a watchmaker, and their lives had revolved around family and service to the community, with Christian faith motivating their everyday activities. As persecution of Jews became more and more brutal, the sisters realized that they had to find a way to care for those their father called “the apple of God’s eye.”

When a man they'd offered to help betrayed them, Betsie, Corrie, and their 85-year-old father were arrested. Casper ten Boom died ten days after their arrest; the sisters were held and eventually transferred to Ravensbruck concentration camp. Corrie struggled to forgive the brutal guards and to trust God's love, even as she recognized His care for them in such things as providing medicine and allowing them to have a Bible.

I wondered what it would be like to watch the movie with people who had some memories or even first-hand experiences from that time. I also wondered how the audience -- generally church-goers, but not exclusively -- would respond to the very evangelical message of the film.

It turns out, the audience was pretty much like any other movie audience: they joked about hurrying from dinner to the movie (one man had brought his dessert along). They teased the employee who brought popcorn and got the movie started. One woman in the row ahead of me wondered aloud where else she’d seen one of the actresses. One couple left after the scene in which the ten Booms were arrested, and I wondered if it was because of the scene’s violence.

I was surprised that the 40-year-old film had as much impact as it did when I first saw it, years before Schindler’s List. A few quotes will give you an idea:

When their nephew says, “Whatever helps Holland is right” while asking Betsie and Corrie to pass information vital to sabotage a German project (by bombing it), Corrie refuses, wondering, “What will we be like when this is over?”

Later, a Jewish professor hiding in their home asks her, “You have your father and your religion. Has it been enough?”

Corrie smiles, “More than enough. God has been very good to me.”

A pastor refuses to help the ten Boom family hide a Jewish baby. “Where would the church be without their pastor?” he asks, noting that he could be arrested and that the Bible instructs people to obey the law.

Corrie’s father, who has embarrassed the pastor by wearing a yellow star as a symbol of his support of the Jews (who are required to identify themselves), tells him, “We are meant to obey the law of the land unless it goes against the higher law. I will take off the star, but we will keep the child.” That baby is the first of many, many Jews whom the family hides, providing ration cards, false identities, and room in their home -- including the secret room behind Corrie’s closet.

In other words, the film held up. Issues of concern for the suffering, persistence in difficulty, forgiveness when wronged, and trust in God's care resonated with me. In spite of the movie's two-and-a-half-hour running time, few people got up for more popcorn, whispered, or even went to the bathroom.

As the credits rolled, the two dozen people in the meeting room left much more quietly than they had entered. I wondered if the lateness of the hour (it was after 9:00 pm) or the emotion of the story was the reason; I wondered if anybody in the group talked about the movie the next day.

I wondered how far I’m willing to go in God’s service and how much I'm willing to trust Him.

We go to a prayer meeting

National Day of Prayer, Fresno Pacific University, Fresno, California
We were running late. Mindy got off work just fifteen minutes before the National Day of Prayer gathering began, and we didn’t have good information about where on Fresno Pacific University’s campus the event was being held. The red, white, and blue balloons helped --we were reminded of trying to find a new polling place: it doesn’t hurt to keep an eye out for patriotic bunting.

Fresno Pacific University was founded by the Mennonite Brethren back in 1944. It’s not huge, but isn’t tiny either, with a student body of 4000 undergraduates and postgraduates on a 42-acre campus with 16 buildings (a number of which are chapels.) But we eventually found the well-populated meeting room. We weren’t as late as we feared we’d be, and according to the program we picked up as we entered, there was plenty of time left to pray.

The National Day of Prayer, observed the first Thursday of May, was enacted by the United States Congress back in 1952. Since then, every president has signed an annual proclamation urging prayer on this day.

There were several midday gatherings in Fresno, but with our work schedules, this was the only one we could attend. Soon after we sat down, Pastor Josh introduced a prayer of confession on behalf of our community and nation with a reference the Biblical book of Daniel. He mentioned that Daniel was one of the very rare figures in the Old Testament whose sin is not detailed. Moses and David were murderers, Abraham and Jacob were liars, Joseph was a braggart, Noah a drunkard, Samson was...what didn’t Samson do wrong?

Daniel on the other hand, in the very difficult situation of being dragged from his homeland as a slave, seemed to do everything right. But in his prayer, recorded in Daniel 9:5, he said, “We have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and rebelled; we have turned away from your commandments and laws.” Following that example, we were urged to pray for our nation as fellow sinners.

We were asked to pray in the small groups that had been formed before, but since we’d missed that part, Pastor Angulus joined Mindy, our son Bret, and me. The room was filled with the sound of pleas for forgiveness.

A woman named Kathy introduced the theme verse for this year’s National Day of Prayer, Ephesians 4:3, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

This verse seemed particularly relevant in our polarized times, but when I looked around the room, I could see how truly people with differences were coming together. We were a group with a wide variety of ethnicities, races, and ages. The program made it clear that there were pastors from a number of churches. I’d also venture to guess that not everyone in the room voted the same way in 2016 or would vote the same way this coming November, yet we were joining together as people of one Lord, one faith, and one baptism.

One portion of the meeting was specific prayer that different ethnicities and races in our nation would come together. The speaker leading that portion pointed out that diversity was God’s idea -- in Revelation 7:9, people of every nation, tribe, people group, and language pray before the Throne of God. That bit of the God’s Kingdom to come is something we need to bring to earth now.

I enjoyed how the congregation was called to pray with different styles. “All right, now let’s pray popcorn style” with people praying short, one or two sentence, prayers.

“Let’s pray Korean style” meant we all prayed aloud, creating a rumble of prayer going to heaven. (It reminded me of martial arts films when fighters choose “Monkey Fist Style” or “Eagle Claw Style.” I may very well be the only person in the room who was reminded of this.)

The only sour note came during one of the popcorn prayers as we prayed for the communities of Fresno and Clovis. Someone prayed, “Lord, the greatest plague in our community is caused by drinking wine and beer which only leads to drunkenness.” To me, the prayer made as little sense as praying about the great plague caused by cutlery, which only leads to murderous knife fights. Almost all the other prayers that evening seemed to have an underlying sense of humility; this one had the tone of Pharisee of Jesus’ parable who thanks God he is not like the sinner praying next to him.

“Those who are able” were asked to kneel to ask for God’s protection, for security for our community and our nation. We rose to pray for a spiritual awakening for our nation. We joined our voices to sing praise to the name of Jesus. And we held hands before we went out, praying that the unity we had in that room would go forth in the community and the nation.

So whether you pray Popcorn Style or Korean Style, aloud or silently, Monkey Fist or Eagle Claw, I would urge you, too, to pray that God will bring this country, this world, His unity and peace.