I have been a Southern Baptist for as many years as I am old, and it’s just way too late to change my road now.
My mother and daddy were Baptist, but she called herself a “hard-shelled” Baptist. I was raised in one of these churches and they were somewhat of different beliefs and actions than what I have grown accustomed to now.
I remember going to “tent meetings” with them when I was very young, when the nights were hot and sticky with the dampness of the lateness and the summer weather. Everybody had their “funeral fan,” fanning the hot air. The fans were cardboard fixed onto a small, paddled stick advertising the local funeral home.
When all the visitors began to fan, if you sat in just the right place, you could feel the movement of air without moving a muscle.
My grandmother was of the Pentecostal religion but was open to joining any of God’s people in worship. I love my Pentecostal friends and have often believed I am a Bapticostal and not just a Baptist, because I love the joy they show and feel during worship service. I have been known to raise and clap my hands and maybe even dance a little step or two in my pew.
I have been to some churches where the music is slow, the preaching is monotone and I have to be ever vigilant not to snooze. I need the loudness of the congregation with the many “Amens” and perhaps a slap to the pulpit and I am caught up in the preaching of God’s word. Amen?
To me, the music makes the worship service into a true worship experience. I served as a minister of music for over 25 years in my Baptist church and I learned to love the old hymns, the ones we sang at that little country church with all my kinfolks years ago. I loved to study the why and how of the songs that were written, and the words never grow old or overused.
Nowadays, most churches don’t use hymnals, they use teleprompters, one on each side, and the music is led by worship singers and bands. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the praise music and it is beautiful, but maybe just sometimes we could be asked to “turn to hymn #100 in your hymnals and let’s sing all three verses.”
Keep all the praise music in our churches. Keep the praise teams. But just for those old ladies like me, can we turn to “Just As I Am” for one altar call?
Easy Cheesy Meatloaf
2 pounds of ground chuck
1 package of onion soup mix
1 diced onion
¼ cup diced bell pepper
¾ cup of catsup
Salt and pepper
4 sticks of mozzarella cheese.
Mix all ingredients together except four cheese sticks. Mold into a loaf and pour ¼ cup of catsup mixed with 2 T. brown sugar on top. Take the cheese sticks and stick into the center from the end of loaf. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to one hour.
