Miracle Movie Churches -- Lilies of the Field (1963)

The problem with talking about Movie Churches with miracles is it's hard to get people to agree on the definition of a "miracle." Does a miracle need to break the laws of nature? Or can a miracle just be an answer to prayer? How can you tell the difference between a miracle and a coincidence?

"Lilies of the Field" is a movie about a church built through a series of miracles -- or a series of coincidences. The Mother Superior of a small convent in the desert prays for someone to build a chapel. In their community, there is no church building. There is a priest that travels about in a camper performing mass. The priest, Father Murphy, also prayed in seminary for a beautiful sanctuary to serve, and was disappointed in his situation.

Sidney Poitier (in an Oscar winning performance) plays Homer Smith, an itinerant handyman who believes he is stopping at the house where the nuns live for water for his overheated car. The Mother Superior believes he has stopped to build a chapel; that he is sent by God. He knows that this is not the case because he is not planning on staying and that he's a Baptist.

He's willing to work for pay. But the nuns really don't have money to pay him for all the work that must be done, and they certainly don't have the finances to pay for the supplies to build the chapel. So the Mother Superior prays for the supplies as well. God answers those prayers when a local construction business supplies bricks out of guilt. Certainly, there seems to be nothing strictly supernatural in the arrival of a worker and supplies, but the Mother Superior has no doubt that it is God's work.

Evaluating this movie church, I should take a moment to discuss the clergy. Father Murphy does not have the best reputation among some in the community. The owner of the local diner believes the Father loves his wine too much. The Father himself believes he's unworthy of his position. He believes his seminary prayers showed disqualifying pride. But the beauty of the new chapel reminds Father Murphy that God's grace overwhelms our sins, and it seems he will be a good priest in it.

Homer doesn't only bring his architectural skills to the new church, he also brings his guitar. He teaches the nuns a gospel song, "Amen," which tells a theologically sound life of Christ. In fact, most of the theology in the film I found fairly sound. I did have a problem with one thing the Mother Superior said in the film. She says about Homer, "He is not of our faith, but he was brought to us by God; the God of all faiths." I have no problem with her saying that about Catholics or Baptists. But when you say all faiths, you're including those that had faiths that asked for infant sacrifices to Baal. I'm just not comfortable with that. (And I'll save my rant on Scientology inspired by the very good HBO film "Going Clear" for another week.)

Psalm 127 says, "Unless the Lord builds the house, they that labor, labor in vain."  The movie church in "Lilies of the Field" seems to be built by God. By definition then, that's not for nothing.

-- Dean

[Business detail: as of June 1, Movie Churches will have its own blog. More exciting details to come soon!]

Victory Outreach Santa Rosa

In many churches, there is an assumption of "niceness." It isn't said outright, but everyone knows that we're good people who have never done anything too bad. Those people out there... Well, they're a different story. We feel bad for them, but what can you do? When sin is preached about, it's about things like the danger of using prayer requests as an opportunity for gossip or skipping your quiet time.

Niceness vs Reality

One of the things I liked best about Victory Outreach was the acknowledgment that in the house there are real people with real sins. As one worship leader said, "You've been delivered from more than sunflower seeds. It's Sunday morning, so I'll say God has delivered us from 'stuff.'"

Church History

The original Victory Outreach was founded in Southern California in 1967, working with street gangs and street people. Shortly after its founding, government agencies saw the good the ministry was doing and offered financial aid, but V.O. soon realized they would have to rely on God and His people to do the work without the restrictions the government might impose.

Recovery Ministry

Victory Outreach has franchised around the country and around the world and has been in Sonoma County for over 25 years. Like other branches, the local Victory Outreach puts an emphasis on recovery ministries. I talked to a couple of different people at the church who had been through the recovery program and now held positions of responsibility in the church. On the Santa Rosa campus they have a house for recovering male alcoholics and drug addicts. Nearby is another house for recovering women. Before the service, there was a group of a half dozen women standing in front of the church to left of the stage and a group of men standing in the front of the church on the right of the stage. Worship music played over the speakers as a man with a mike prayed on the stage. We're pretty sure the two groups were from the recovery houses.  Another prefab four bedroom house will be on the property soon.

Mindy noticed the church air conditioning was set at "Men in Suits." Like the Salvation Army, it seems the men in recovery wear suits to church, and the tradition carries on when they are out of the program. There were also a number of men in shorts and t-shirts. Women's attire also varied from casual to Sunday best.

Even the morning's guest speaker, Evangelist James Fernandez, talked about how God had delivered him from drugs and alcohol thirty two years before. He talked dismissively of the term "higher power" for dealing with addiction. He said deliverance comes from Jesus.

Evangelist Fernandez

Fernandez was in the pulpit (though there was no pulpit) because the church's senior pastor was at the Niners-Packers game with his wife (I appreciated their honesty about that). Fernandez was introduced as an evangelist who had traveled the world. He began his time by singing a couple of songs, Christianized versions of Billy Ray Cyrus' "Achy Breaky Heart" and Al Green's "Stay Together." I'm sure Billy Ray and Reverend Al would be okay with that. (Fernandez had CD's for sale in the lobby with a collection of his pop hits with a Christian take.)

His text for the morning was Ephesians 6. He spoke about the first item of God's spiritual armor, the belt of truth. He said the "belt of truth" was the Word of God. Though, of course, just a few verses down in that passage, the Sword of the Spirit is called the Word of God. I was distracted by an awkward metaphor he used, "standing on the belt of truth." It doesn't seem like a good thing to step on your belt. (Probably shouldn't make a big deal about this, but I have written a book about the Armor of God. Sure, it was a kids' book, but still...)

Spiritual Warfare

Victory Outreach is in the Pentecostal tradition with an emphasis on spiritual warfare. The sermon began with a warning that this month of October is annually a dark time.  He claimed that the daughter of Anton LaVey, the founder of the Church of Satan, is organizing other Satanists to fast and pray against Christians throughout the month and targeting Victory Outreach and its leaders.

Fernandez spoke on the need of the congregation to stand their ground, fight and move forward. He illustrated his sermon with quotes from "Rocky Balboa," the sixth in the Rocky series. He did quite capable impressions of both Rocky and Paulie. He also pointed to Kim Davis and the victims of the recent Oregon shooting as people who have stood their ground for their Christian faith.

The sermon ended with an altar call, and I was inspired to see approximately a dozen people go forward to make a first time commitment to Christ. Of course, it was difficult to differentiate between those people who were making that commitment from those who went to pray with them. We saw several people "slain in the spirit" during the second altar call (which Wikipedia defines as "a form of prostration in which an individual falls to the floor while experiencing religious ecstasy"). The group who came forward that time were seeking deeper commitment, healing, or prayer.

We first heard about this church from one of Mindy's co-workers. He wasn't there at the 10:00 am service because he's now helping out with the church's Sunday afternoon Spanish language service. There is also a Thursday evening service and a youth service on Wednesdays (called G.A.N.G. for "God's Anointed New Generation.")

Signs and Wonders

We've themed this month with "Signs, Wonders and Miracles." One of the greatest miracles in the world is a life changed for the good, and we're happy to report that Victory Outreach has plenty of examples of this kind of wonder.

-- Dean

Statistics:

Service Length: 2 hours 27 minutes (plus prayer time before the service)

Sermon Length: about an hour

Visitor Treatment: greeters at the door recognized we were new and asked if we were first time visitors. They made sure we went to the welcome table inside the door. The man and woman at the table gave us the visitor's packet ("there's a snack and some information") which had a couple candies, two cards about the youth program, two cards with worship times and information for English and Spanish services, and a CD introducing the church. The woman at the welcome table gave us a visitors' card to fill out, and Dean and the man had a long conversation about why we were visiting and about the ministries of the church. During the service, visitors' names were mentioned during the greeting time.

Followup by Tuesday Morning: none*

Our Rough Count: 125

Probable Ushers' Count: 150

Snacks: coffee, water, probably tea and other drinks, with donuts and pastries for sale (I think) before the service; those things as well as burritos or chile rellenos for sale afterward.

Musicians: 7 singers (female, one leading worship), 2 singers (male), electric guitar (male), 2 electric bass (male and female), drums (male), keyboard (male)

Songs: New Creation

            It's Because of You

            The Lover of Your Presence

            The Great I Am

            solo: Heaven is Waiting for You

Miles to place: 7 miles

Total California Miles: 13,007

* On Wednesday morning, we received a very nice "glad you visited, hope to see you again" email from the church. 

Miracles, Signs and Wonders Month

"I assure you: The one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father." (John 14:12, Holman Christian Standard Bible)

So according to what Jesus says in this verse, we should see some pretty amazing things happening in the Church. We could hope to see physical healing, storms stop, and even the multiplication of wine. But in many American churches today, the only wonder is wondering when the sermon will end (as people search for the exit sign). Sadly, there are churches that inflict pain, stir controversy and build the desire for drink. There are even theologians who speculate that miracles were only meant to be a part of the beginnings of the Church. But we don't believe that. 

We take Jesus at His word. We believe He is still at work through His people, doing some pretty cool stuff. As the song says, God's not dead, He is alive. And He is at work.

This month, we'll be visiting churches that are said to still have wondrous things taking place. Lives are being changed, God's voice is heard, and miracles happen. We hope, of course, to see such things happen, but if nothing else, we hope to talk to trustworthy witnesses of such things.

Just as God promised wonders to Moses (Exodus 3:20) to change the hearts of the Egyptians, we believe God can and will work to change hearts today. In the words of the great Mike (and his Mechanics), all's we need is a miracle.

-- Dean

Concord Bible Church

Free. Initially, they weren't thinking free, they were thinking a nominal charge, but Pastor Jeremy Cook felt God was telling them it should be free.

Five years ago Concord Bible Church wanted to do an eight week summer program for neighborhood children. The inspiration for the program was a desire to imitate the ministry of Jesus -- He responded to felt needs: giving sight to the blind, strength to the lame, food for the hungry, etc. CBC believed the people of the neighborhood needed child care in the summer, but after looking at church finances, it didn't look like something the church could do without charging for it. But Pastor Cook (or "Pastor Jer") believed God would provide. God did, of course. This ministry has proved of benefit to people of the community. And it has led to families being introduced to the Church.

I served as a youth pastor at Concord Bible Church a couple of decades ago. At that time the church was also serving children in the community. Mindy used to load up carloads (amazing how many kids a nine-seat station wagon will hold) of kids and take them to the church's weekly children's programs (and Vacation Bible School as well). Weekly children's ministry continues at CBC in many ways, including AWANA.  

We noticed something else that's continuing: old friends who are still active in leading and serving the church Pastor Jeremy's was not one of those faces, though he's been at CBC for almost ten years. But Jean Peters was not there. Jean and her husband Rawley were pillars in the church for the four years we served there. Rawley passed away a few years ago, and Jean passed away unexpectedly a couple of days before we visited. Many folks were visibly shaken by the loss. Jeremy dedicated the morning's sermon to "Saint Jean". The sermon was about a worthy walk in Christ -- not a perfect walk, but a worthy walk.

There are a number of other "worthy walkers" still there from back in the day. The "Egyptian contingent" continues to grow. Years ago (before our time!) a number of families and individuals from Egypt gathered to study the Bible together. Someone in the group (Philip and Magda Bedros?) discovered Concord Bible Church and invited others to come. The group still has Bible Study together regularly at the church (in Arabic).

During the announcements Jeremy mentioned that he had been invited by the Evangelical Free Church (of which Concord Bible Church is a member) to be a speaker at a conference focused on multicultural ministry. I'm sure the Egyptian contingent were part of the reason he was invited, but not the whole reason. Looking around during the worship service, Mindy and I noticed a variety of ethnicities, reflecting the community.

To highlight that diversity, Jeremy asked all who would be classified by the U. S. government as "non-whites" to say, "Amen". (A good number responded.) "Would all those who would be classified as 'white' say, 'Amen'?" (Again, a good response.) "Would all who are part of the Kingdom of God, say 'Amen'?" (The best response of all.)

Along that theme, the time of prayer (focused on the loss of Jean Peters) was led by an Egyptian American, a European American, and a Mexican American, each in his own first language.

Something that was different from our time at CBC was the lack of children in the room. My memory is that kids were in the first part of the service and then dismissed to children's church. (Mindy was no help at all with this because she remembers always being in the nursery.) All the children this morning were in Sunday School for the entire time of worship.  This was only the second week of Sunday School after a summer break. There had been a longer break in Sunday School. Jeremy told us that for a time during his tenure he had to cut Sunday School classes because there weren't the kids there and the leadership was stretched. But they were back at a place where there were plenty of young families with young children and enough adult leadership to meet their needs.

Another project the church is working on, particularly for kids and youth, is building a sports center. In the bulletin,  a graphic showed a little hoop that almost, but not quite, had reached the backboard. I would assume the school that shares the property, Ygnacio Valley Christian School, would also benefit from the project. The church is already involved with sports in the community, hosting AYSO (the American Youth Soccer Organization).

A different aspect of the church's concern for children is in the promotion of a banquet for the local Crisis Pregnancy Centers. In his announcement regarding the banquet, Jeremy said that the church needs to step up and care for women with unwanted pregnancies.

Frankly, the most exciting thing about visiting Concord Bible Church was seeing some of my youth group students all growed up. Some of those former spitball shooters are still at CBC, now providing leadership in the church and bringing children of their own to the place. The words "blessed" and "cool" would both apply.

-- Dean

Statistics:

Service Length: 1 hour 19 minutes

Sermon Length:17 minutes

Visitor Treatment: A staffed welcome kiosk just outside the sanctuary entrance has information and bulletins (programs), and we were offered name tags. Guests were encouraged to fill out attendance cards and leave them in a designated box near the door.

Followup by Tuesday Morning: none (we did have a long conversation with Jeremy and Jeanine Cook after church)

Our Rough Count: 90

Probable Ushers' Count: 110

Snacks: donuts and coffee cake, coffee, tea, water

Musicians: acoustic guitar (male), drums (male), keyboard (female)

Songs: Blessed be the Name

            My Hope is Built on Nothing Less/Cornerstone

            In Christ Alone

            Blessed Assurance

Miles to place: 75

Total California Miles: 12,712

Four Things I Remember about Concord

1. We loved living in Kenwal Apartments. The patios had short little fences that all faced the pool so people would come by and chat; at least half of the apartments were families with kids; the manager and her husband had grown up in the next town over from where I went to college; and when I looked out the windows at the palm trees by the pool or up at Mt Diablo covered with snow, I felt like I was on vacation.

 

2. The Solano Drive In was a great place to watch movies with youth group kids (I remember sitting in the bed of a pickup truck to watch "Speed" with a bunch of youth group kids when I was about seven months pregnant. Not exactly comfortable at the time, but such a happy memory) and with our own kids. I even sold homemade foam lizards at the flea market one time.

3. I remember feeling sad and a little desperate a lot of the time due to lack of space, lack of sleep, and lack of money. I also remember mostly happy experiences with church and community friends. Kindness is a very important memory of Concord. I don't know if we've had as much support from any other church.

4. We lived about a mile from church, and the easiest way for me to walk there with Bret and Paige (who were babies or preschoolers) was through what I called the wasteland...a dirt path along one side of a creek (which I don't remember ever noticing). It was always dusty, never really a pretty place to walk, but walking through took just enough time to tell a story about Moses with God's people in the wilderness. When I looked at the wilderness this week, it's quite a pretty place.

-- Mindy

Church Libraries

You'd think I'd be a great librarian. I'm addicted to reading, and possibly to acquiring books (we once lived in a house with a library room and everyone was happy). But sadly, I am not. (Humans of New York posted this recently. I do admire real librarians!)

I've spent a good chunk of my life in libraries (especially this one: hi, Bo!) I've gotten to work in four libraries: two in schools, one in a Bible publishing company's donated books room, and the library at Healdsburg Community Church. I was pretty bad each time, and with the church library, I gave up completely on the checking in/checking out of books. I figured that if somebody wanted a book and forgot to return it, what difference did it really make? All the books were donated, and it was better for a person to enjoy the book than for the library's records to be accurate. As I said, I'm not a good librarian.

Many of the churches we've visited have libraries. At some churches, it's obvious the library is used, maintained, and appreciated. Some church libraries are in a room set aside for that purpose, while some libraries are in common spaces with high visibility.

Not all churches have libraries -- some can't, some shouldn't. If we've learned one thing in our church touring so far, it's that different churches serve different people. But this weekend we saw a church library that was amazing.

The library shares space with The Well, a coffee and pastry shop. So there are chairs and tables that have adults and children eating and drinking. The room flows from the cafe area into the library, which has book stacks like any real library (or bookstore, for that matter). It has a real checkout counter, with real librarians (maybe some are just book-loving volunteers, but Val, who's in charge, definitely knows her stuff).

We offered her some Bill the Warthog books we happened to have with us and made plans to get her a couple more. Meanwhile, the other man working in the library (TWO people working in a church library, and neither of them were nice retired schoolteachers) helped a few other people find and check out books.

The books on the shelves looked fairly new. They looked tidy and well organized. Sections were labeled by category. There were places to sit and read. It wasn't a dim, quiet place. It was wonderful.

Later, I looked at the library section of the church website. It felt like looking at a really good school library website, with "top ten books" and "newest arrivals" and a searchable catalog. Wow. And I noticed that the library is listed in the "connect" section of the site...so the library is considered an important, useful part of the church's ministry.

Not all churches have the resources, of course, to have a church library website. Most churches don't need them, and lots of churches don't need a library. And different church libraries can serve different needs, but somehow, by combining location, atmosphere, organization and content, a church library should be a useful place that shares useful resources in a way to further the Kingdom of God.

I wonder how I could have made a difference in the opportunities I've had so far. How can I do it now? What good are the books and other media in my house doing?

-- Mindy

Orange County Friends Meeting, Irvine

I've noticed many churches have a problem with silence. A pastor will say they'll take a minute for silent prayer, and then the silence won't last the full sixty seconds. One time in a church, the preacher went to the pulpit and said nothing for two minutes. (Okay, it was me.)  I watched people look at their watches, shift in their seats, and look at one another puzzled. I listened to people cough and whisper to one another.

Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still and know that I am God."  I worry sometimes that if we can't manage being still, how well are we going to manage at deity recognition?

Quakers know how to be quiet for more than two minutes.

We went with a friend to a Friends Church. My wife, Mindy, has known Brad since she was 11 years old, both attending Southport Presbyterian Church. I met Brad when we were both attending Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Brad recently moved to Southern California to teach at Fullerton State, and we asked if we could join him for worship at the Orange County Friends Meeting.

We got off to a late start -- the service started at 10:30, and we arrived 10:40, but I thought we were okay. The meeting takes place in an office complex. We went in the front door, into a little room where eight people waited to join the others in silent worship. We introduced ourselves and talked a bit about the church. Their group had been meeting in Orange County for fifty years. Previously, they've met at a nursery school, a convalescent home, and a law school. For the last seven years they've rented this office space and were relieved not to have to haul chairs every Sunday.

Soon a door opened, everyone stood up, and we started down a hallway. I learned later that the meeting had already begun, but we were waiting for the break when the children exited and went to religious education. We entered the meeting, already in progress. Chairs were arranged in a semi-circle and we found our place. We had been warned that the air-conditioning was down but a couple of fans were blowing and I thought it was certainly comfortable enough. People were casually dressed, several in shorts and t-shirts, which is pretty typical for Southern Cal churches. I saw a keyboard in the corner of the room that certainly wasn't used that morning.

It was about quarter to eleven and everyone was quiet, saying nothing, as they remained for the next forty minutes or so. The sign on the wall asked people to turn off cell phones for quiet worship. I didn't hear a phone or even see one (quite unusual in American society).

During the time I noticed some people with eyes open and some with eyes closed. (I admit to being a bit terrified that if I close my eyes, I'd fall asleep.) One woman was knitting, which Brad noted afterward was a fairly common thing, since Quaker tradition allows that handwork is acceptable as long as the mind is focused on worship. A couple of people had water bottles. I could hear the gulps when they were used. I noticed a man tapping his right foot for the first half of the service and his left foot in the second half of the service. I noticed a man cleaning his ear with the tip of his eyeglasses.

I didn't notice anyone else reading, but I opened my Bible and read some Psalms. Brad said there has been a bit of controversy in Quaker circles about whether it was okay to look at electronic devices during Meetings. He had thought about looking up something to share on his phone that morning but decided against it. Mindy heard somebody's alarm beep quietly at 11:00.

Shortly before 11:30, Brad stood to share a word. He talked about how he'd been challenged by something he'd read recently from a writings of British Quakers to order one's life under Christ and to be open to God's healing. After the service Brad asked us whether we thought what he said was appropriate. We truthfully assured him that we'd found his words encouraging. He told us that a Quaker is always told to consider and reconsider before sharing to avoid the promotion of ego. (As we were leaving, a "weighty" or wise older woman also expressed her appreciation for what Brad shared.)

I noticed that after Brad talked, some people took the opportunity softly cough the coughs they'd been holding back.

A woman stood. She said that in the religious education class prior to the Meeting, they'd been discussing Quaker history in Southern California. In the past Quakers in the area reached out to Japanese interns during World War II and were a witness for pacifism during the Vietnam War. She wondered what issues they would deal with in the future.

As the quiet time of worship ended, people shook hands with those around them, mostly remaining in their seats or standing in their places. It was then time for announcements. A woman stood and pointed out the air-conditioning was working again. ("You may have noticed the man yelling outside during Meeting. The AC guy may not be our style of person but he got the job done.") She noted the next weekend was Labor Day and asked if they perhaps could get together for a barbeque or pool party.

Announcements were made for a speaker from the Citizen's Climate Lobby and the Orange County Crop Hunger Walk. There were announcements for an upcoming summit on prisons and issues of peace and social concern.

James stood up. He was an older gentleman who looked rather like the old timer who runs the country store in an old TV western. He said he had a story that might be of interest, and he would share it with anyone that wanted to stay after the meeting. A woman stood and said she also had something to share, if people would care to join her outside after the meeting.

Though Brad had attended this meeting before, it had been a while, and he was asked to introduce himself. We introduced ourselves. At the close of the meeting everyone was invited to snack time. People were quite friendly during the social time, because, of course, "friends" are what they're called -- though we did notice a chart on the wall that showed the schisms in the Quaker movement through the years and there had been quite a few.

But on this morning we appreciated the fellowship. And we appreciated the quiet. And we appreciated knowing that God is God.

-- Dean

Statistics:

Service Length: 1 hour 10 minutes (probably)

Sermon Length: no sermon. Quiet time after we sat down was about 45 minutes, and there had been about 15 minutes of quiet before we came in.

Visitor Treatment: While we were waiting to enter the meeting, we got name tags and introduced ourselves to the others waiting. We were asked to introduce ourselves during the announcement time. In the entrance room, we signed the guest book, and during the fellowship time after worship, a woman from the Meeting introduced herself to Mindy and made sure we had the information about Quakers and the Orange County Friends Meeting that we needed.

Followup by Tuesday Morning: none (but we didn't sign up for the newsletter, which is more of a very active email chain. Brad says he frequently gets updates from the Meeting)

Our Rough Count: 24

Probable Ushers' Count: 30

Snacks: coffee, hot water, water bottles, sparkling cider, star cookies, watermelon chunks, various crackers, veggie tray, plums and other fruit, bread, coffee cake

Musicians: none

Songs: none

Miles to place: 501

Total California Miles: 12,070