West Cocoa Chat

The year was 1971. I was in 8th Grade and skipping school, with my parents' permission albeit, worried permission. Disney World had been open for a few weeks and one of my friends' older, High School aged sister and her boy-friend that was a friend of our family, had offered to take us to Disney World. My parents were reluctant at best to allow me to go but they relented. I'm sure I used some combination of " imagine the Science and History I'll witness / all of the other Moms and Dads are allowing their kids to go" argument. Looking at it now from a parent older than they were when they made that decision I have to think, "We're they nuts!!" No, I love my Mom and Dad for allowing me to go on my first trip to a newly opened Disney World. That memory will forever be in my mind.

As you can guess, being there at the newly opened park guaranteed long, long, long lines. The way we passed the time away waiting in line for those (anybody remember this) "E-Ticket rides" was to at various points, point back to a place in the zig-zagging line that had been our spot and say to each other, "Remember when we were back there?" For some reason being able to point back to where we had been gave us encouragement for we knew we were getting closer to our destination.

It seems like I have that experience every Sunday at Central. Yesterday's worship was so powerful, energetic, and engaging that I'm becoming a bit of a "cry-baby" at church. Not in a "ka-zillion" (which is a zillion to the "ka" power) years would I have ever imagined worship at my home church would literally move me to joy and at times, tears of joy!

There were times in my life when I lived by counting down the calendar to the Pepperdine Lectures, Mid-Ohio Valley Workcamp, or Bible Camp for it was in those venues that one could turn loose if you will and worship. I knew when it came time to return home, it would be time to put the lid on that kind of worship until the next event.

I think "the lid" or "the ceiling" is where my thoughts are going. The occasion of our largest church, the Richland Hills Church of Christ being left out of the latest Directory of Churches of Christ in America composed by Flavil Yeakley has been on my mind lately. Mike (http://preachermike.com/) Cope recently mentioned it in his post called, "Declaration. Address." He used the phrase, "Voted off the island," to describe the fact that although RHC continues to call themselves (like our church) a "Church of Christ," the fact that they have added (like us) an instrumental service seems to be the mitigating factor in their removal from this Directory.

Two things come to mind:
1. In the Directory there are abbreviations for Churches of Christ that either practice or believe things like: One Cup, No located Preacher, No Sunday School, No Kitchen, adjure to a belief called "A.D. 70," and on and on. Here's the irony - Like RHC, most (now define this one - ) "mainline Churches of Christ" do not believe or practice any of the preceding. The only difference - the dreaded instrument! I think Mike Cope wrote this but if he didn't, I will, why not a "guitar symbol" out to the side of their name? My brothers and sisters, men and women of influence in our fellowship need to step up and stop this nonsense! If for nothing else, won't some of us be a bit embarrassed in Heaven when those they have excluded are singing (don't they have harps in Heaven?) side by side with them for eternity?

2. What is the real issue? I think it is the lid or ceiling that I will write about in my next post. I'll leave with this - in my opinion the real issue isn't instrumental or acapella. If it is, then we should be embarrassed for there is a world out there that is lost and dying. However, I do believe these are all intertwined and can lead to whether the ceiling or lid is on ministry or not.
Hate to leave you hanging but until tomorrow - God bless.