Country Church

I preached in a country church yesterday. I saw jeans and boots but no slacks and ties, other than the tie I wore. People greeted one another warmly. Hugs were offered. Even to me. Love permeated the atmosphere. I saw the joy of hard working country folks coming to worship and adore their Savior.

The worship service featured many hymns I have not sung in years. It felt good to my soul to sing some of these anthems of our faith. I often get wary of learning another new song when there are so many old ones we never sing anymore. This will not set well with the contemporary crowd. I am okay with that. Some of the songs we sang yesterday have been around 200 years. We will not be singing some of these new songs in 200 days much less 200 years. I thank God for all kinds of music but yesterday it did me good to sing songs I sang when I first got saved.

I thank God I got to preach. This is not something I take for granted. It is a responsibility I take seriously. We dove into the sacred scriptures together. Those sweet people opened their Bibles and studied along as we expounded the truth. That is what they came for. They did not come to have their ears tickled. They wanted truth.

We laughed. Some cried a little. We all looked at our lives in the light of God's truth. I saw no presence. Those people were salt of the earth kind of people. Hard working. Good folks. Some of them retired. Some still working. Some with young children and others empty nesters.

I love country churches. I have preached in many of them over the years. Country churches are no more perfect than city churches. I like the simplicity of the country church. Simple people. Simple worship services without all the hype and programming of city churches. People are relaxed, unless you preach too long, then they begin to squirm and fidget.  I never seem to notice.

I know God uses big city churches. I know many big city churches are effective. I have spent much of my ministry in small towns and serving country churches, either as pastor, or preaching revivals and filling the pulpit in the pastor's absence.

Most country people are straight shooters. They say what they mean and mean what they say. Several times yesterday I received encouragement from those in attendance. They were not just mouthing empty words. They meant the things they said. It meant much to me.

Brenda and I enjoyed lunch with two widows. We ate with them and their husbands almost every Sunday 26 years ago when we served that church. We miss their husbands but enjoyed lunch and an afternoon to visit in one of their homes. It felt like old times. Of course we are all older now. The bond in our relationships is only stronger after all these years. What a blessing to enjoy visiting in a home. Hospitality is often forgotten in the city church. Fewer people open their homes anymore.

What made the day even more special is that I got to enjoy it with Brenda. She grew up a big city girl. It took some time but now she prefers the small town life as well. A slower pace of life. In the country people have time to think, to reflect, to meditate, or to ponder. They ponder out in the garden, on the tractor, doing laundry, fixing supper, or gong to town. In the country the only gated communities are the gates to pastures where the cows graze. Cattle guards replace the security guard of gated neighborhoods in the city. In the county many people never lock their doors. Some even leave their keys in the ignition of their vehicles.  This is slowly changing as crime encroaches the country folks as well as the city.

The country church enjoys tings like "Singings, dinner on the grounds, pot luck suppers, cottage prayer meetings, Great Day in the Morning, Son Rise Services, and Revival Meetings." Deep relationships can be forged in the country church. A country church can feel like home and the members like extensions of your own family.

I have preached in some city churches as well. Lost people live in the cities as well. God uses urban churches just like He uses rural churches. On this day I am thankful for the country church. I am thankful for such sweet people as I worshipped with yesterday. May God bless country churches and their country pastors as they labor to reach the farmers, ranchers, cowboys, cowgirls, and those who prefer the country life. I cut my ministry teeth in the country churches of Rochelle Baptist Church in Rochelle, TX and Spring Creek Baptist Church in Weatherford, TX. How I thank God for those people who loved me, taught me, extended patience and grace to me, and helped me on my journey in ministry. I say it again. I thank God for country churches.