This is a small note from our third issue of Our Life Together that really surprised me. As I read through these old newsletters, I find that the way I remember it doesn't always match with reality. What was it that surprised me? Two things; 1) I don't remember the House of Abba meeting in the sanctuary and 2) I thought that the attendance at the coffee house was beginning to dwindle by 1973.
The House of Abba, which was our coffee house; no coffee, just music, teaching and Christian fellowship, started in 1970. The start of this ministry coincided with the beginnings of the Jesus People Movement. We were fortunate to have some very talented you people. They were talented in music, drama, art and in teaching. They began to reach people that our church had never reached before. Soon our church was filled with young "hippies". Many of these you people were really on the street and strung out on drugs. This is why we started our community households; how could you lead someone to the Lord and then send them out on the streets. This was a great time. During the 18 month period of Jan 1970 - June 1971, 750 people were baptized at our relatively small church -- we were certainly no mega-church.
When the coffee house started, they met in our old "Scout House". This was a small structure in our parking lot that had been used by the boy scouts. The room was pretty small. They used to keep the doors and windows open so that people in the parking lot could hear what was going on. Very soon they moved into the main building. Our "fellowship room" (which actually had been our first sanctuary) was converted for coffee house use. The walls were soon crowded with art. A patchwork carpet was placed in the building. People would sit on the floor. I do remember that even this room became so crowded that people were standing outside the room, and even out the front door of the church. An interesting side light was that we (early on) had to have a ministry that we called the floaters. There job was to circulate around the property -- particularly the dark places to see that no drugs were being used on the premises. These young "floaters" were also wonderful witnesses and would present the gospel to the person in the shadows.
I just don't remember the next step of moving into the sanctuary. I also thought the movement was losing steam in late 73 -- but it seems that they were still expanding. This was a great time. Ah yes, I remember it well.
I mentioned in my last post that I had a great Easter. But wait! There's more! I had a real Easter Surprise! My best friend in high school (Bellflower HS class of '55) was Don. We were together virtually all the time (except when we were with our girl friends -- this happened in our Junior year). Don had a troubled home life so he spent a lot of time living at my house. We were both good students. I remember as the Summer was ending before our Freshman year that we made a pact to be good students. We felt that High School would determine our college and that would determine our lives. I ended up number 2 in my class and Don was number 4. We were both on the tennis team (Don told me that he still plays). Here Don was number 1 and I was number one on JV or number 10 on the Varsity. He was a lot better than I was.
At graduation we went our separate ways. Don went to UC Berkeley and I went to UCLA. We kept in touch and saw each other on football weekends and such things. Then, during our senior year, Don decided to get married. I really didn't get that, but since he was my friend I accepted it. I even journeyed to Berkeley to be his best man.
Finally school ended. I went to Graduate school -- and then the military called. I entered the Navy's Officer program and received my commission. I saw Don once after my commissioning. It wasn't that great a time; we were moving in different directions. This was in 1961. I never saw, nor heard from Don again. I thought about him a lot. I never took the effort to look for him. Then, Sunday afternoon, Don called. It was good! Inside I felt like a kid again. We talked and laughed about the old times. Then we talked about what had been happening during the last 50 years. I had a Naval career and a ministerial career, a 44year marriage, two children and three grandchildren (this is the brief summary). Don had a career in social work and had spent time all over the US and abroad, he was on his third wife. None of that mattered! We were just young guys reliving our youth. Don was my friend.
He was a great Easter Surprise. (By the way, the picture really isn't Don and I -- just some Giraffe friends)
For the Christian, Easter is always a high point. What can trump the fact of the resurrection of Jesus. The old hymn says, "I serve a risen savior. He's in the world today. He walks with me and talks with me along my way." We had a great celebration at our little church. We started with a time of fellowship around the breakfast table. Then we moved from there into the sanctuary and celebrated our living Savior.
Our scripture for the day was John 20. This is the story of Mary Magdalene. She went to the tomb and, much to her dismay, found the tomb open and empty. Of course she thought, as any rational person would, that the body had been stolen. She ran to get Peter and the disciple "that Jesus loved", John. They ran to the tomb. John seemed to be the better runner because he got there first. Peter finally arrived and didn't wait, but ran into the tomb. Yes, it was empty. Then John came in. Something about the placement of the bodily coverings convinced John. The Bible simply says that he believed. Yet, Peter and John just went home.
Mary stayed at the tomb. Finally, she got up the nerve to look inside.Yes, it was empty -- but, wait! There were two angels there. Before she could do anything, she heard a voice behind her. She turned around and saw what she believed was the gardener (Jesus seemed to be hard to recognize -- and of course, no one really expected to see him up and walking around). She asked him if he had been the one to take Jesus' body. Then he said one word -- Mary. Immediately she recognized him. She knew her Lord and He knew her. Don't believe the Da Vinci Codes. This was not a romance. But it was love. God is love. Jesus loved Mary deeply and Mary loved him deeply. But this was not all. He gave Mary a message to take to his brothers. No, it wasn't a message to James and Judas, his siblings, it was a message to his disciples -- the ones that had deserted him. He called them his brothers. He loved them and he forgave them.
Many don't believe in the resurrection. Others who believe, think it was kind of a spooky ethereal kind of thing. The scriptures say it was a bodily resurrection. The witness given is overwhelming. The Apostle Paul even says that he appeared to over 500 people. Paul wrote this when those people would have been around and able to refute this word. I think that in many ways the best evidence for the reality of the resurrection is the change that we see in the disciples. They were somewhat flaky before Jesus' crucifixion. But after the resurrection, they were all business and gave their lives as martyrs. Why would they do this if it was all a hoax?
I believe in the resurrection. I have been to both the Garden Tomb and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Jesus isn't there! I don't know whether either of these sites is the real tomb or not (the Church has real good evidence, and the Garden Tomb looks like it ought to be it). I just know that looking at the empty tomb gives me goose bumps. But that is nothing compared to the reality of meeting the real Jesus. I met him (not in the flesh) and nothing has ever been the same.
Happy Easter
This is from the second issue of OLT. The church was really blessed with a lot of musicians. The group advertised, Hebron Israel was one of our bands. At this time in our church history, we weren't very organized. Everyone just went about serving the Lord as they saw fit. This is not a negative comment. It was an amazing time in our church history. Everything just flowed together. This is not the first concert by any means, but it is the first concert advertised in OLT. The music was light Christian 70's rock. Notice the art work with the invitation. The star burst was a motife used much by our art ministry, Abba Graphics. I will discuss this ministry quite a bit in subsequent posts. I just thought that this invite was quaint.
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