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The church where people go when they leave Big Ugly
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A church in rural Alabama is named “Original Church of God,” but underneath the sign are the words “Number Two.” This isn’t the only church with an original name, however. Here are some other unique church names I’ve heard about:

   Little Hope Baptist Church (in Little Hope, Texas)

   Too Blessed to Be Stressed Church in Drew, Miss. (relaxing place to worship, I’m sure).

   Left Foot Baptist Church and Right Foot Baptist Church (the result of a split over foot washing in a town in Georgia).

   The First Church of the Last Chance in Dade, Fla. (better not wait until the last verse of the invitation to come forward at that church).

   Flippin Church of God (in Northern Arkansas).

   Accident Baptist Church (apparently not a Calvinist church).

   The Holy and Overcoming Apostolic Church in the Name of Jesus Only (try to fit that on a church sign).

   Rock Star Baptist Church, Brandon, Miss. (I wonder if Elvis visited).
   Big Ugly Baptist Church in Big Ugly, West Virginia (a visiting preacher said, “It sure is nice to be with you Big Ugly folks tonight.”)
   The Lovely Freewill Baptist Church in Lovely, Ky., (where people go when they leave Big Ugly).
 

Thank God, a congregation is not defined by the name over their door, but by the Lord over their hearts! After all, whenever you find the words “church” and “name” together in the same Bible verse, the emphasis is on the name of the Lord, not the name of the church (see 1 Corinthians 1:2, James 5:14). So whatever the name of your church is, find one that honors the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and God will bless it.

(Copyright 2010 by Bob Rogers. Email: brogers@fbcrincon.com. Read this column each Friday for a mix of religion and humor. For more “Holy Humor,” go to the Web site of First Baptist Church of Rincon at www.fbcrincon.com.)

Is there a church for a big woman with an itch?
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A pastor was called to be guest preacher at a church. He knew this church was different when the congregation ended every line of the hymn with the shout of “yeehah!”


As he stood to preach, he noticed that people were spread out on the pews. He would see a person, then a space, then another person, and another space. He wondered why nobody sat next to another person, when he noticed on the pew beside each person was a cowboy hat.


Another time this same preacher was invited to a new church in the city. He was surprised to see that everybody there looked like they had fallen face first into a tackle box, because they had piercings and earrings on every part of the body imaginable. A rock band was playing alternative music on the stage.


As different as these two churches were, they were both growing and reaching people for Christ.


Years ago I was pastor of a small country church in the backwoods of Mississippi. There was another Baptist church just five miles away in the town (population 600). The pastor’s wife at the town church asked me, “Why don’t our two churches merge?” I said, “There are people in my church who would not feel comfortable or fit in at your town church.” She said, “Oh, come on. We’re a small town church. What could be so different?”


I said, “Well, I got one really big woman in my church who, when she gets to feeling an itch, she pulls her dress halfway up and she scratches herself.”


The eyes of this pastor’s wife got really big and she said, “I see what you mean.”


I forgot to tell her about another woman in my church who saw a roach running across the wood floor, so she stomped on it with her bare foot, laughed and shouted, “Aha! I got him!”


Yep, the culture was definitely different where I was pastor.


Jesus upset the religious establishment because He crossed cultural barriers. He loved to eat with tax collectors and Gentiles and other strange people. Jesus walked into the land of Samaria, full of half-breed Jews who worshiped in weird ways and talked different and smelled different.


Jesus walked right up to a Samaritan woman at a well and started talking her language. He accepted her culture, but he let her know her sinful lifestyle had to change. Soon she had the whole town following Jesus (see John 4).


So what cultural barrier is keeping somebody in your community from hearing the gospel? If you tear down the cultural barriers to share Christ in your neighborhood, you may hear the angels shouting, “Yeehah!”


Copyright 2014 by Bob Rogers. Email: brogers@fbcrincon.com. Read this column each Friday in the Herald. Visit my blog at www.bobrogers.me.