The Eclectic Evangelical-Arlene Bridges Samuels : 2020-08-30

Citizenship is a hot topic today. Our world population is around 8 billion people and composed of 193 nations. Everyone wants to belong somewhere…to a nation, a family, a church, a choir, a team, or a school.

I’m grateful to be an American citizen “in the land of the free and the home of the brave.” Citizenship, “the state of being vested with the rights, privileges, and duties of a citizen” provides part of our sense of belonging. Sadly, many nations in the world, governed by despots and dictators, offer their citizens little, if any, rights and privileges. When it comes to citizenship-and world travel-passports are ever more important! Our passports are one way to show we belong somewhere. Our passport opens doors all over the world. We have yet another passport and citizenship. It is eternal and permanently stamped 2,000 years ago with the sacrificial blood of Jesus on the tree.

Philippians 3:20 phrases it this way, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” When we encounter and embrace Jesus' salvation as our Substitute Who paid the debt of our sin, we are adopted into His family. He bestows rights and privileges on us. In turn, by His spirit within us, we carry out the “duties of citizenship” to love Him and serve others.

Revelation 7: 15-17 describes our eternal country. “And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Billy Graham put it as only he could. "My home is in heaven. I'm just traveling through this world."

Jesus IS our Passport. He’s our Passport to a more fulfilling life here on earth and the Passport to our eternal destination as a citizen of Heaven. Heaven is a country containing beauty and glories, rights and privileges that we cannot imagine!

In 1949, hymnist Ira F. Stanphill wrote “Mansion Over the Hilltop.” It describes the land we'll live in forever when our Passport, Jesus, opens the gate. Here’s the chorus:

"I've got a mansion just over the hilltop,

In that bright land where we'll never grow old.

And some day yonder, we will nevermore wander,

But walk the streets that are purest gold."

Image Credit: Cytis

A Tapestry of Churches

A splendid tapestry of churches has ripened my faith with fruit from many good trees; as a missionary with Mercy Ships in a crew I describe as a "Christian United Nations," and also living in Switzerland and Romania-plus moving around the United States.

Growing up, my Southern Baptist church laid my foundation built with singing the great hymns of the church, where to locate books of the Bible, and scripture memory. Through my youth group, I encountered the Lord in a personal way on July 31, 1963.

Presbyterians fed me at a buffet of Protestant theologians especially my favorite one, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and emphasized God’s sovereignty.

In The Episcopal Church, I waded into two different streams, one liturgical and the other charismatic. In the liturgical "high" Episcopal church, I feasted at the Eucharist each week and navigated the ups and downs of kneeling. In the charismatic Episcopal church, I connected more deeply with the Holy Spirit, finding freedom to raise my hands in joyful worship. As a member of a black church on then-small Hilton Head Island, the pastor and choir fed me with vibrant songs and eloquent sermons.

Living in Switzerland, we enjoyed worshipping with other ex-pats in the Church of Scotland. During our eight years with Mercy Ships, the world's largest private Christian hospital ship, we sailed the seas with a crew from 35 nations-among them South Sea Islanders who introduced us to their lovely, worshipful dances. On the mission field living in Romania, my senses delighted in the Romanian Orthodox Church replete with incense and gilded, intricate altars.

In a non-denominational church with contemporary music, I engaged with believers from varied church backgrounds and joined a small group. At the Church of God, I worshipped in a Pentecostal setting in a distinctly pro-Israel denomination that displayed the American and Israeli flags. Belongling to a small Anglican church I relished liturgy, weekly Eucharist, missions outreach to Rwanda, and acoustic guitars.

Transferring from small Anglican to big Baptist, I have reconnected with my chidlhood biblical roots where I feast on hymns sung by an outstanding choir and orchestra, an excellent Sunday School class, bible-focused sermons, and a prolific domestic and international missions focus. Last but not least, the Jewish community and expert Hebraic roots teachers have opened a door of deeper understanding that Judaism nurtured Christianity in an ancient cradle rich with commandments, festivals, wisdom, poetry, patriarchs, prophets, and Older and New Testaments. Significantly, learning more about Jewish culture and Christianity's Jewish roots has deepened a richer relationship with my Savior, a Jewish Rabbi. I've received an extraordinary gift as a non-Jew grafted into the branches of the ancient Jewish tree connecting me to Israel, my spiritual homeland. .

I invite you to walk with me through a lifetime of adventures reflecting a tapestry of faith that I hope will encourage you in your journey to discover extraordinary beauty and limitless fulfillment of our Christian faith.

In Him we hope, Arlene

Our Citizenship

Only One Name, Only One Verse