Chapter Fifteen

Faith and Religion

My Church History

Mom and Dad were lifelong members of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC). They met at a church picnic when the West Park and East Side CRC's had their annual gatherings. When I joined the family, it was only natural that I be baptized and brought up in their church.

The church was the center of our lives. Although their belief systems may have differed from ours now, they were solid, loving, and our extended family. My years there from the beginning until we moved away from Cleveland, helped to build in me a solid foundation of faith and belief centered on the precepts of the Apostle's Creed. While our church affiliation today wouldn't consider themselves creedal, the principles of faith are very much a part of who we are and what we believe to be the truth.

It has taken most of my lifetime to truly appreciate the Apostle's Creed. I have written a series based on the Creed called the Firm Foundation Series; you can find the link on the main page or click here.

From a small child, I loved Jesus and would defend the Name of the Lord whenever I felt He was being disrespected in any way. That didn't always earn me favor with peers or adults. It has always been something that bothered me.

I began working in the church when I was a young teen, helping in the nursery, assisting the teachers in the primary and elementary Sunday School classes, and playing the piano for children's church and adult choir. And, when I wasn't at the keyboard, I was singing in the choir. It was just who I was and what I always did!

Our church had a policy stating someone had to study the Catechism before joining the church. This ensured an understanding of our faith, the atonement, the power of the resurrection, and the plan of salvation. We didn't have altar calls or a public response time during our services. However, the elders and/or pastor welcomed anyone to meet with them to answer questions and help them comprehend the power of God at work through the sacrifice of Christ.

If I remember correctly, I was about 17 when I actually "joined" church. At that time, I was welcome to partake of holy communion with other members who had professed their faith in Christ.

Shortly after we married, my husband's uncle and his wife came from California to visit us. It as in August. We sat around our dining room table as I served uncooked beans (I still get teased about it today) along with beef bordelais and twice baked potatoes and corn soufle. After dinner and all the joking was over, we sat in the living room as Uncle Chuck and Aunt Marion explained to us the plan of salvation and asked if we wanted to pray. Although I'd been a believer nearly all my life, I prayed with my husband as he accepted Jesus as his Savior. At that point, our lives changed.

Soon thereafter we decided to move to Willard where we could get involved in a church as a couple. We went to Guinea Corner Church of God with my inlaws most Sundays and for midweek services. Every chance we got, we went to church with my husband's brothers' families. The mode of worship in the services was different than what I had been raised with. But, I wanted more – I wanted to go to school and learn how to study the Bible under qualified Bible teachers because confusion began to distress me. Sandusky Bible College offered classes and I enrolled. We began attending Sandusky Bible Baptist Church affiliated with the College. My husband was happy to have what he considered solid teaching – he was never satisfied with the Christian Reformed Church and felt like he wasn't getting what he wanted and needed from other churches we'd visited.

We continued to trust God to lead us when, without warning, we both found ourselves unemployed. With a greater hunger for God's Word and relationship with Him, we both agreed that God was leading us to go to California where we could be mentored and taught the Word in a setting saturated with emphasis on living a life of godliness and holiness without all the hype found in the organized church (that was our opinion at the time).

After a series of events, we found ourselves moving to Kentucky where we were uprooted from Uncle Chuck and Aunt Marion's influence and catapulted into a life so much different than what we had grown to love. It was where the rubber met the road, so to speak. We were in a position to live out our faith in a setting where the faithwalk was more social than spiritual.

Indian Hills Christian Church had a program that was helpful in developing Andrew's speech so we began attending there each Sunday. It was great but still not what we wanted or felt we needed. When we began to look into adoption, they strongly advised against it. It was at that point that we felt we either needed to find another church or give up what we felt God called us to in order to find peace. Being new in town. put us in a position to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit as we pursued God's will, walking out of our comfort zone again and into His purpose for us.

When we began the classes for Special Needs Adoption Project, we met a couple about our age who had a two sons. Since we had three little ones, we immediately made friends. They invited us to visit their church – Faith Fellowship. It was originally located in a storefront on Fourth Street in Danville, right next to the Haberhashery.

It was a little intimidating at first, being the new family with three little children, walking in the door while people were singing. Marilyn Waits (now Amy Barkman) was at the piano and the people were singing praises to God. It was a simple setting but filled with love and acceptance. There was a special feeling about this place, one we couldn't ignore. God had led us there.

Burt Kelly, the pastor, was such a blessing! He loved God's Word and was great explaining it in such a way that it was understandable. We loved this little church! It wasn't long until I was at the old upright piano every service. The church began growing while new families with young children brought more reasons to stay as they also wanted to grow in the knowledge of God's Word.

We were with Faith Fellowship for several years until we felt the Lord calling us to Danville Church of God. It was a difficult decision but circumstances made it almost necessary. Our children were older and they needed a stronger youth group where their faith could grow. They had friends from school at the DCoG so it seemed like a good fit. Since that change from Faith Fellowship to the Church of God, we've remained part of that denomination except for a short few years at the Willard Church of the Nazarene. As soon as we learned that Potter's House was planting a church in Mansfield, it became our church.

So, What About My Faith?

What do I believe? Why do I believe what I believe? What motivates me to believe?

To answer about my faith is to circle back to the Apostle's Creed. I believe because I believe, not because someone else believed and I copied them. And, this is what I want for my children and grandchildren! I want them to believe because they have had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ and believe Him to be the ONLY WAY to eternal life.

Whether someone is raised in church or has never stepped foot in a church, it is each individual's responsibility to reckon with the truth – is God's Word true or is it not? I choose to believe it is true. It has been proven to be true. It is infallible in doctrine, showing us the way to live a life pleasing to the Father.

God's Word is and must be the foundation for our lives. It is the anchor that holds us steady when life's storms seek to overtake us and wipe us out. It shows us the way of freedom from all that binds us to this messed up world and its influence on our lives. It is the key that opens the door to a life of fulfillment and peace. It is the way of purity and holiness leading us to the glorious presence of God. It is the way to eternal life.

So, let's answer some hard questions!

Can you be a Christian and be gay? I read an excellent response/testimony today and I want you to read it. It hits the nail on the head and dispels any wrong beliefs about being gay, the struggles faced with homosexuality, and God's provision and plan for us all. To keep this chapter from getting too long, I've created a separate post to answer this question. Click here to read it.

Isn't it enough just to be a good person? That is actually a great question. While I cannot speak to you personally since that is between you and God, I can answer your question in general terms. In order to answer this question we need to consider both cultural expectations and biblical expectations and keep in mind that they do not always agree.

As a conservative Christian, I believe that the Bible should inform us about our faith and we should not rely on opinion- no matter how popular- to guide us in our faith. It is true that in our culture it is commonly believed that as long as you do not hurt or offend others you are a good person. That is actually true. As long as I do what is expected of me and do not hurt or offend others (meet cultural expectations), then my co-workers, friends, and family will view me as a good person.

However, the Bible has a different view of this. There are many verses that speak to this, but I will choose only one since Jesus said it.

And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone’ (Mark 10:18 ESV)

According to Jesus, no one is good or can be good enough to meet God’s expectations. That is why we needed Jesus. If we could be good enough on our own without Jesus, then He would not have had to come and die.

We can never be good enough, do enough good deeds, give enough money, or go to church enough, or anything else to earn God’s favor. We can only experience God’s favor if we accept the free gift of His son Jesus Christ. Even then we are still not good since we still have a sinful nature, but we do have Jesus to bring us into a right relationship with God. However, once we have that right relationship with God, we should try to live by what the Bible teaches us. With the help of the Holy Spirit empowering us and leading us, we need to try and make those changes in our lives not to earn God’s favor, but because we have His favor and we want to please the Father. To help us to accomplish this, we learn to lead a life of dependence on God through prayer and studying the Bible every day, and we should bind ourselves to a community of believers where we will find fellowship, encouragement, and strength to grow in our pursuit of Christlikeness.

Why is church important? I basically answered that in the previous question. But, let me go a little deeper. I've heard people say things like, "I don't know or even like most of those people. What would I get out of spending two hours sitting in a room listening to a talk about Jesus? After all, I know who Jesus is and I'm a good person with a good heart. I can help those in need without going to a church on Sunday!"

While connecting with people, helping those in need, fighting injustice, and resting are all necessary things, we should not prioritize them above God himself. God alone is preeminent.

And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. (Colossians 1:18 ESV)

Our good deeds of serving others should flow from a life-giving connection with Christ and his people. When we make good things central we give them God’s position, and they become idols.

Our view of Jesus and his church is often filtered through historical, political, and pop-culture lenses. Many see the church as producing cookie-cutter people who follow dominant power structures rather than as a living organism with discipleship and merciful influence in our surrounding communities. But why should you go? Tiffany Johnson shares five reasons for gathering with believers each weekend. For the sake of brevity, again, please click here to read further. It's important ... please don't skip over this!

Why is marriage so important? Rather than trying to put this into my own words, this link will lead you to a page dedicated to the purpose of marriage with some very good reasons why marriage is important, not only for adults but for their children and for society as a whole.

Why do people suffer if Jesus came to heal us? There are a lot of good answers out there. I found two good articles and blended them to help answer this important question. You can read them here. If I were to summarize it all, there is an important verse that brings some clarity to the issue: God's grace is sufficient in all circumstances so that we, "for the sake of Christ" (2 Cor. 12:10a), might learn that in our weakness his power is made perfect!

I'm satisfied with that. That Jesus might be glorified in my weakness ... yes, I'm satisfied with knowing that even if I am never healed this side of heaven I am loved and not forgotten and Jesus is glorified.