Church Matters

I went to church today. If you've been following this 'blog for any length of time you know where I go; if you don't, click on the title of this post to find out. My congregation is one of several famous mega-churches in the greater San Antonio area (John Hagee's Cornerstone Church is almost walking distance up the street from us.) The bulletin at my congregation has the admonition "Today is devoted to Worship. If noted guests are present, please refrain from seeking autographs or making personal requests."

And it happens on a regular basis. My preacher, being a noted author and lecturer, tends to draw celebrity guests to him. The chuch is frequently referred to as "Max's Church" in San Antonio, which bugs Max just a bit -- he says "I didn't die for this church; Jesus did. David Robinson (late of the San Antonio Spurs) teaches my Men's Bible Class on Thursday; so NBA players are a fairly frequent sight as well.

(Coincidentally, this is a weird parallel to my own life. Having driven a limousine for a couple of years, I've met more than my share of celebrities through my work. Plus being a comic book afficianado has brought me into contact with other persons of note. Ask me sometime about the time I almost ran over Walter Koenig --Mister Chekov of Star Trek-- while reasearching my Thesis in Chicago.)

We had two celebrities in church this morning. The first was conservative commentator Cal Thomas. I had spotted him sitting a few rows up from us and thought he looked familiar. When the preacher introduced him, he said that Cal had agreed to be recoginized if he was identified as "just a fellow sinner." He waved from his seat when the preacher introduced him without standing; and it was very refreshing to see a celebrity who was humble and meek in the presence of the Lord.

I'm going to have to start reading his column more.

The other celebrities were unexpected. You probably don't know them. Their names are Greg and Rebecca Pruitt and their children Hannah, Abigail, and Paul. The Pruitts have just returned from twelve (12!) years in West Africa translating the Bible into the Yalunka language; a missionary team sponsored by my congregation.

For 12 years!

And all three of those kids are under 10, which means they're all having massive culture shock right about now.

The congregation gave the Pruitts a standing ovation -- for over a minute.

Wow. I can't even imagine what that must have been like. The entire worldview of the Yalunkas is radically different from Western civilization. For instance, Greg Pruitt told the congregation that the Yalunka tribes believe in demons, and it's hard not to find a Yalunka who hasn't seen at least one demon. Sacrificing chickens and small animals to dispel demons is common practice.

The thing that really won over the Yalunka was the gospel's promise that "demons also believe, and tremble." Greg related a story that his ten year old daughter had told him once "Daddy, there was something in our room last night; and it growled at me."

He asked her if she was scared, and she said No; "I told it that I belonged to Jesus; and he should get outta here right now!"


And the demon fled.


Think about that for a few seconds. Here I am, writing on a 21st century word processor over the Intenet -- a guy with a couple of degrees and who speaks a couple of languages -- writing on the possibility -- no, the certainty -- that a ten-year-old-girl in the year 2006 is casting out demons.


And 3,500 people in the congregations watching this sermon never doubting it for a minute.

We live in odd times. Or maybe we just live in times when society has so completely tried to separate the spiritual from the physical that even talking about the spiritual seems odd any more.

Which, I think, is sad, really.

When I think of ten-year-old Hannah Pruitt standing in her bedroom in a hut in West Africa telling a growling demon to go away because she belongs to Jesus, it brings a proud smile to my face. And maybe just a touch of envy for her complete faith.

Meanwhile, (1) I'm back in school and doing well; (2) the weather is beautiful (66 degrees) and the sun is warm; (3) I'm in love with my wife, (4) my health is good, and (5) The Outlaw Josey Wales is on TV.

Life is still Good.

~~JD~~

Just a Brief Note . . .

. . . after which I'll promise to post more this weekend. Re-acclimating to college at 48 years old has proven to be a LOT harder than I thought; the idea of using reading glasses to study has been a significant obstacle in itself.

Heh.

Overall though, I'm maintaining my "B" Average, so I should find some breathing room maybe Saturday or Sunday and we'll figure it out then.

Just one short vignette from last night I have to share before I forget it. I was sitting at the end of a hallway with some other students doing a little pre-test review (aka "cramming") when one of the professors came out of an office and walked towards our group. He asked us, "Did you just see a girl come past here?"

Honestly, we hadn't; but I couldn't help telling him "Sir, this is the Nursing Department. You and I may be the only two males in this building."

He stared at me for a second, then blinked hard before a grin crept across his face. "Well, yes, that's true. She's a young girl, very pretty -- long dark hair?"

Now it was my turn to deadpan back at him and blink hard. "Sir, this is San Antonio Texas. We're in the middle of Latina Central. They're ALL young, pretty girls with long dark hair.

Dead silence. A second -- then two.

Then my study group and the professor burst out laughing until the tears came. When we'd all settled down, the professor said, "You're not from around here, aren't you?"

"Nossir, I'm from the Chicago area originally."

He said, "Well, I've lived here all my life, but I've never quite thought of it that way." And we all laughed again.

Just as another example of how weird my mind works, I got two questions on my test right last night by imagining Tony Orlando and Dawn dancing and singing on a yeast culture of small pale pink cirular cultures.

When I saw the culture under the microscope, I knew the name of both the song and the culture. Candida Albicans. Unfortunately, I'll spend my life wondering why they were singing about a girl with a Yeast infection.

~~JD~~

Just In Case Anyone was Concerned . . .

I'm fine.

Work is extremely busy, and school is chaotic as I'm struggling to re-adapt to a school schedule. I'm taking 8 hours (Microbiology and Anatomy & Physiology) so it's a bit intense. Ariane's carrying a full load this semester, so she's as busy as she can be as well. Julian got a firt-place mark (a "1") at the UIL Violin competition last weekend. He's now first chair in his orchestra. This week he's escorting Japanese exchange students around San Antonio -- his Japanese is THAT good after less than a year of classes.

Plus, just to keep things interesting, both the washing machine broke and my cellphone/PDA crashed in the last week. Lots of work to do to fix those items.

And taxes, of course.

So, I'm swamped. When I get a minute to breathe, you'll be the first to know.

~~JD~~