“Welcome to Pioneer Days.”
Those were the words I greeted people with yesterday. No, we didn’t have a dress-up Sunday. And no, Jesse James, Wild Bill, or any other cowboy came to visit. What made it like Pioneer Days was at 8:00 am
THE POWER WENT OUT.
I haven’t heard the exact cause although I have heard of a tree across a power line a few miles down the road, but then I heard of others who didn’t have power. One lives a good 10-15 miles from the church building and another lives a little over two the opposite direction. The people at the first service were real troopers and so we soldiered on. We sang with minimum instrumentation. We sang without the words on the screen (Power Point). I preached holding a little light in my hand so I could see my notes and Bible (that was weird). And by the time we were done the temperature and humidity in the building had become a sauna-like existence. It was so bad that even those who always come up to speak to me afterwards or to give me a hug left without doing either. I told someone I sure am glad I used deodorant and body spray! 🙂 Gail spoke to me. She said, “It used to be we didn’t have A/C in our houses and survived. Now we can barely function without it.” (Comments paraphrased). She’s right you know?
I am really proud of the folks from OVCF. I do feel bad for the first-time visitors we had. But then again, they did see us “trooper on.”
Back to my opening comment. It sure makes one wonder how in the world they did it back in Pioneer Days. No air. No fans. No electricity. Maybe because of that they could better manage a day like yesterday. Hot, humid, with temps in the 80s-90s. But we survived without power instruments. Without Power Point. Without air. Without lights. Without fans. I knew those bulletins we use are more than just to make our Bibles look thick. 🙂 Oh…five minutes after I gave the benediction the power came back on in time for a cool down for the second service.
Thankfully, our worship is not dependent on modern conveniences to be worship. Simple. Singularly focused. God-honoring. That is all we had…but that was enough.
{Note: There will be no meditation tomorrow. For a belated birthday present, we are taking Tami to see her beloved Atlanta Braves (cough cough) see the St. Louis Cardinals in St. Louis. We will be leaving this morning (Monday) and returning tomorrow. Your prayers for a safe trip would be appreciated). One good thing: I am wearing Pittsburgh Pirate shirt. 🙂 }
I’ve often wondered the same, Bill. How did we make it before we had a/c? Congrats to everyone for sticking it out!
Safe travels to all to see the ball game, too. We kind of like those Braves here in the Atlanta area – 🙂
On no! Another Braves fan! I used to like you and Danny. 🙂 Okay. Since I love Tami I’ll let you slide. 🙂 🙂
🙂
It was a fun trip even though her Braves lost. They made a go of it in the 9th and fell one run short. 🙁
Safe travels and have fun.
It’s funny how quickly we become uncomfortable, and are so quick to complain. I thought the service yesterday was great, I could really hear the women singing, and sometimes I cannot when the band is playing. They have beautiful voices. I enjoyed the sermon, lots of good points to meditate on. Sometimes in our instant demand lifestyles it is good for us to slow down, appreciate the moments, and what we take for granted. Both Noah and John, lead lives of taking time to listen to God’s instructions, and to follow God. They did not go off on their own, do things their own way, and then ask God to support them, instead they supported God, and had a servant’s heart.
You hit the nail on the head with your first sentence Gail. I could hear them singing as well. it was nice. Thanks for the inspiration for this post. 🙂
My granddaughter is doing her college internship in an orphanage in India … temps are often well over 100.
Lord, have mercy on Your children ’round the world.
WOW! I have a friend in AZ who says it the same way there. And yes, all of them…ours and theirs.