My reflections of the week through the cross.

As I have thought about our different experiences this past week, my heart is full of various emotions. I have learned some much from all of the people we have encountered. They have been so gracious in their time and willingness to talk with us about their beliefs. They have fielded many questions and taught each of us so much.

There are various differences between the different beliefs and practices we visited. However, there are also many similarities. A few of the similarities I noticed were:
1) We are all searching for the truth and seeking to find the way to fill a void in our lives.
2) We are trying to determine how to make this world a better place (community service was big in a couple of the groups we visited).
3) We are seeking purpose for our lives.

Last night, I was listening to some music and was brought to tears as I listened to the song "The Wonderful Cross." I knew the song, but through this week have been given a new appreciation for my Lord's sacrifice. The beginning of the song reads...

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride...

It continues with a chorus of...

O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live
O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
All who gather here by grace draw near and bless
Your name.

We all are searching for the "way to truly live." Ephesians 2:8-10 tells us that it is grace that allows this life. And through this life, we will be able to serve God better. It reads..."For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

God created all of us to do good things and make this place a better world. We see this desire and effort through many different religions. However, I am so thankful that God has given me the gift of life -- and my salvation with paradise later (as many of the religions referred to) is not based upon what I have done. I fall short so many times -- but through the sacrifice Jesus Christ made on that Wonderful Cross I may truly live. What a blessing to serve a mighty God!

I must say thanks to many for this week.
1) Thanks to the group of students that went. It was a joy to learn with you this week.
2) Thanks to Dr. Dean for helping me. It was nice to get to know you better and I look forward to working with you in the future.
3) Thanks to Donny Murray for the picture I posted. Your visual captured earlier was the image that I saw as I worshiped last night and reflected on my adventures this past week.
4) Thanks to Jesus Christ for His sacrifice -- so that I may have a relationship with the One True God.

Day 5

Our final day of touring various temples/churches was an exciting day. We visited an Islamic worship service. When the tour was originally set up, I thought we would be visiting an Islamic Mosque to observe their time of worship (Friday is their big Church day). As we traveled to our location, we had trouble finding the place. This congregation held their services on the top floor of a medical center. There was not a sign for the place of worship -- only the address we were originally given.

I went into the medical center and told them we were looking for the Islamic Center and the lady at the front desk asked, "Do you have an appointment?" I was a bit taken back...then said yes. She called to a back office and two men came to escort us to the worship service. (What an adventure!)

As we arrived at the worship area, we were asked to remove our shoes. The ladies were asked to cover their heads and then we were shown to a table were we learned about the Islamic faith. We had a short introduction with our leader, Naji, and then he was called to prayer service.

The Friday prayer service is similar to a Sunday worship service in Christian churches. There was a call to start the service/prayer, a message given by a minister, a time of prayer, and then a pot luck dinner was served. (They invited us to eat! It was wonderful homemade foods -- with many of the dishes being Pakistan dishes.)

They did not have any musical instruments or any time of singing. The portion of the service that would be similar to music was the chanting sound of their corporate prayers. The minister gave a message about the Prophet Jesus (yes, they believe in Jesus -- just not as the Messiah). The minister shared how Prophet Jesus was nice to his mother and thus we should be nice to our mothers also.

During the worship time, the preacher stood at the front of the room. The men sat on the floor around him and the ladies sat on the floor toward the back of the room (near where we were sitting). At the end of the prayer time, the minister began to kneel on a prayer rug facing Mecca. All of the men lined up in single rows behind him to kneel and pray (they did not have prayer rugs). The ladies lined up in straight lines behind the men to do the same.

This was such a learning experience. Naji shared with us that their are about 7 or 8 Islamic congregations in Fort Worth now. This was a smaller congregation (about 50+ people). For me, this was a day at church that I will not forget. I have added a picture of our group with Naji and Dr. Anees. Sorry it didn't come out great. :(

Day 4

Thursday we went to a Catholic Church and a Mormon Church. The first place we went to was the Catholic church. The name of the church was called St. Mary the Virgin. The pastoral assistant showed us around the church. He gave us a brief history of the church and told us about how the church is run. The head of the Catholic Church is the Pope. The Pope lives in Vatican City which is also the headquarters for Roman Catholicism. Catholics make sure to take communion every week because it is very important to their faith. One the main differences between Catholicism and Protestantism is the style of worship. Catholics are very traditional with their style of worship. They use hymn books, and normally only have a piano playing for music. One main difference between Catholicism and Protestantism is that Catholics believe in Purgatory. Purgatory is the place between Heaven and Hell. It is where people are held for punishment for small sins.

After we visited the Catholic church, we went to the Mormon church. The people who showed us around were very nice. We even got to meet some Mormon missionaries. Mormons are similar to Catholics in a few ways, but also very different. One similarity between Catholics and Mormons is that they take communion every week. They also meet on Sundays for church. Some differences between Catholics and Mormons is that Mormons don't believe in the Blessed Virgin Mary. They also believe that if a person did not get the chance to hear about Jesus in their lifetime, they don't go to Hell, they go to a spirit world. They believe that if they baptize themselves for the people in the spirit world, the people can choose to accept Jesus and go to Heaven. They also believe in three heavens instead of one. The first heaven is where the Mormons go. This is the best heaven where God, Jesus, and the founder of their religion are. You go to the second heaven if you were a Christian but did not accept the Mormon faith. The last heaven is where the people go if they were good people but weren't Christians. The Mormons believe in spreading their religion all over the world. I'm sure you've seen those men in the white shirts on the double-bycicle going around to spread the Mormon faith. The Mormon missionaries take two years off of their college career to be a missionary. During those two years, they travel to different places to spread their belief. On our way out, the people actually gave each of us a bag filled with magazines, videos, books, and yes... the Book of Mormon. The Mormon religion is very interesting, and I'm very glad I had the chance to learn about it.

By: Rebecca Boudreaux

Day 3, March 25

dear people who blog,
Yesterday we got the pleasure of going to a Buddhist Zen Center. The Maria Kannon Center. this one is in Dallas so we had a long drive. It was a cute little area. We got there a little bit early, so we spotted a park. As Max Perry said, "Parks are more fun when your bigger,since when you were little you couldn't climb on what you wanted."





There was this guy giving us a funny look, we left. Then we went back to the zen center and went in. It was cool looking, there were these pillows against the wall along the entire room. She walked us through the steps of one form of meditation. We did chants, to me was kind of different, here is one of the chants, we spoke in a monotone voice. Verse of Purification:
All harmful karma ever committed by me since of old
On account of my beginningless, greed, anger, and ignorance,
Born of my body, mouth and consciousness
Now I atone it all.
(that was different, you had to be there)
I thought it was pretty cool, and they were nice enough to donate a book to our library.
posted by: Katelyn E. Vietti

Day Two

Today our little group went to Beth Yeshua Jewish Synagogue.I was expecting to see an old traditional looking temple church thing. But to my surprise the synagogue was a little store front. Inside was a small room with chairs in a row with a bima or pulpit in the front. Mario Montes was our tour guide,is a Messianic Jew meaning he believed that Jesus is the Messiah. He showed us the Messianic Siddur, a little book that was in Hebrew with hymns and some scriptures.He also showed us the Sadar plate which is used for passover and the ark that holds the Torah,first five books of the Bible or Law. Covering the Torah is the mantel which reminded us of heaven,the breast plate which represented Aaron's priestly garment,the Torah is the words on the scroll made out of sheep skin it was held together by linen cloth and the cloth was the same material as the priest clothes. Mario asked Max to dress in the Yamaka and go around the room with Torah and let everyone touch it and kiss the teetzi. They will do that on Saturday. The Messianic Jews are much more different than the Orthodox Jews. The Orthodox are very traditional Jews they believe the Messiah has not come yet. Both Jews do not perform animal sacrifices. Being Jewish is both racial and religious.

By:Alese Davis

Day 1

That was only a part of the Prestonwood Baptist Church we saw yesterday. The main worship center seated 7,000! The "smaller" chapel seated 400! That's bigger than all of my Catholic church. This place was MASSIVE! The place takes up nearly 1 million square feet. I'm pretty sure that's the size of an average university. It even had a cafe that served Starbucks, and other foods. On the main stage (the one in the picture above) had a baptistry, in which baptisms are performed at the start of every service, and they believe in full emerson baptism. They only take communion quarterly, which is a strange concept for me, being raised Catholic, we take communion every week, and only sprinkle, or dip the baby's head under water. Which is another difference, they don't baptize babies. They had beautiful stained glass in the entrance which depicted Alpha, Omega, and every book of the Bible. They had massive t.v. screens to show the people who couldn't see, which makes sense some people wouldn't have a good view, seeing as you know, 7,000 people are there. There were fitness centers, youth centers with all sorts of video games, bookstores, massive kids areas, and job centers. In the words of Katelyn Vietti, this was one mega-huge church.



This church on the other hand, Fort Worth Presbyterian Church, was quite petite. It was about the size of the church I go to, seating 250 people. They had beautiful architecture both outside and inside the church. They had excellent acoustics, and a gorgeous stained glass window in the front of the chapel that depicted a cross. They take communion monthly, and do baptize babies. It very much reminded me of my church, so much so that at first when I walked in and sat in a pew, I was confounded at the lack of knee rests on the back of the pews. Their worship combined both classical and contemporary worship, as opposed to the mainly contemporary worship of Prestonwood.

It was very interesting to see the differences between the two, and also similarities within the faith. It just goes to show how dynamic the Christian faith really is.


By: Max Perry

Looking forward to our "Temple Tours"

I am so excited about the events we have scheduled for our minimester term. It is going to be some amazing experiences -- some that I believe you will not forget any time soon (at least that is my hope and prayer).

Our schedule (at this point) is:
Monday -- Christian (We will tour/discuss both Protestant and Catholic faiths)
Tuesday -- Jewish Synagogue
Wednesday -- Zen Center (Buddhist Temple/Meditation Service)
Thursday -- The Church of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons)
Friday -- Islamic Mosque and Worship Service

We will have a time of discussion with leaders from the different World Religions as well as observe some of their worship services and places of worship (Temples).

Please remember that we will be in Senior Dress Code for the week. We want to show respect to each World Religion as we visit the house of worship/temple. See the handout previously given for clarification. If you have any questions, please email me at lwelch@southwestchristian.org.

Don't forget that you will need a digital camera for the week. This will be to log our activites (on the computers at school). You will also need money for lunch. We will be eating off campus while we are out for our tour each day. We will stop at local food chains (fast food of your choice -- example: Rosa's, Chick-Fil-A, Pei Wei, etc).

Have a great Spring Break -- and I will see you at 8:00 a.m. on Monday morning -- March 23rd in Room 210.