I promised to share about my experience in a Romanian church. To give you a little background, the Catholic and Orthodox religions are very prevalent here. We know they are extremely works-oriented. Then you have many Romanian Baptists and Pentecostals, who are also largely focused on the traditions of men and believe that following all the rules will keep them in good standing with God. Any church departing from these traditions is looked upon as radical.
I attended Harvest Metanoia Church, which is one of these "radical" congregations. In America, it would not be so different from many of our churches. The teaching is straight from the Bible and focused on applying God's will to life. They have a band leading lively worship music with guitars and drums. The people dress nicely, but more casual than a typical Romanian church. No head coverings, no specific dress code. It reminds me of a non-denominational community church in the States.
But so many of these Romanian churches are about strict dress codes, no makeup or jewelry, head coverings for the women, segregating the men and women in the service, preaching for hours about traditions and man's opinion of Scripture. They do not view the Bible as the supreme authority for the believer. Harvest Metanoia, on the other hand, is a church dedicated to following the God of the Bible and seeking Him in their daily lives. The pastor said that many people think he is crazy and radical for the things he preaches, but he is not ashamed or afraid to proclaim the Word. In fact, that is what his message last Sunday was about. Proclaiming the Word as our only authority. He took us through the book of Acts, pointing out every instance where the followers of Christ were proclaiming the message of God. They did not put any confidence in the tradition and opinions of man. They did not try to persuade people with fancy speeches. They recognized that God had called them, in fact commanded them, to proclaim His very words. The Spirit of God makes the words of God come alive and change people's hearts. The apostles' main job was to proclaim the Scripture, but every believer is called to proclaim God's truth without fear to the people in our path, as opportunities arise.
The service was in Romanian, but they have a translator for the English speakers. The translator's voice was transmitted to a handheld electronic device that each of us was given, and we used earphones. It was a little challenging to focus on the words because the pastor's voice was somewhat louder than the one in my ears, and she translated as he was speaking. I'm sure she simplified a lot of what he said in order to put it in English, and sometimes she had to stop for a moment because he was talking so fast and she would get lost trying to keep up! But she did a fabulous job. All the songs were in Romanian, and we didn't have a translation for them, but a few of them were tunes I recognized, so I sang along in English under my breath. For the songs I didn't know, I just listened. It's really cool to listen to singing in another language, even though you can't understand, when you know it is praise to God. It made me think about Heaven....one day a multitude will stand before God, people from every tribe and language and people and nation....and we will all worship the Lamb with one voice! I imagine we will all speak the same language, or our different languages will be understood by all. But even now, when people of different nations are worshipping God around the world on the same day, sometimes at the same time, all in our own tongue, He understands every one! And He loves it! And I just imagine this symphony of multiple languages rising up before His throne, and to think that He knows every name; what's more amazing....He knows how many hairs are on every head!
"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" Revelation 7:9-10
I can't wait for that day!
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