Bonus rooms

Occasionally Pat and I will stop to watch “House Hunters” on cable television’s HGTV Channel. Pat will sometimes mock a spoiled bride-to-be who coos, “Oh, I just love this granite!” or, “Honey, just look as these switch plates, aren’t they adorable?” To us, the show is a sobering reminder of skewed American values. Newlyweds searching for a house, pre-approved for a $850,000 mortgage is mind-bending enough, but a “must have” one acre lot for three dogs is way over the top. On a recent episode, a newly married couple listed several ways a “bonus room” could be used. The room appeared to be over the three car garage and large enough to play full-court basketball or indoor soccer.

Last Sunday, Pat and I experienced our vocation’s equivalent to a real estate “bonus room.” For two successive weeks we have been invited to minister in one of the churches we planted in the 1980's. Sunday’s “bonus room” experience was unexpectedly spacious. The lighting was brilliant. Every surface was pleasing to the touch. Every appointment was brilliantly electric, evoking deep emotion, fully expressing the goodness of our God.

The “bonus room” we experienced is not made of brick and mortar, sheet rock and spackle, but people! Redeemed people! Joyous, loving, celebrating people who once were lost, now are found. Those who were not a people, now share an identity completed by the wonder-working power of the blood of Christ. The tapestry of faces, experiences, and hopes reflect redemption, hold hope, and enjoy eternity while still bound to time.

Teaneck Assembly of God (TAG) was born in travail in 1989. Two short-term pastors ministered and moved on. Neighbors were resistant to the church’s message and ministry. A unique urban church within walking distance to New York City, TAG ministers in one of the most Jewish communities outside of Israel. Pastor Dan Meys arrived in Teaneck in 1991, 27 years-old, with his wife, Sally, two young boys and a new degree from Central Bible College. And, now, twenty years later, a congregation thrives.

Allow me to list a few of the unexpected “bonus room,” features we experienced, the fruit of twenty plus years of faithful, life-giving ministry.

• An office-light manufacturing style building in the heart of the city has been adapted for use as a church. The property is well maintained and a worthy symbol of the congregation’s excellence in ministry. People share a municipal parking lot with a pharmacy, grocery store and other retail customers.
• Most of the congregation live near the church and could walk to worship if they wanted. The people really are fulfilling the Scripture as light in the world, shining into darkness.
• An hour before worship began, several rooms were buzzing with students eagerly studying God’s Word. Teachers were obviously well-prepared and loving their assignments. Students were fully engaged.
• As a result of Pastor Dan’s networking with local synagogue leaders, TAG staffs the city food bank in the church building. The Jewish congregation supplies food and other useful items, the church staffs the outreach building friendship bridges and sharing Jesus’ love. One family whose first contact with the church was through the food bank, was sitting in the second row Sunday morning!
• TAG is diverse ethnically, racially, generationally and economically. She really looks like the community, and heaven!
• The worship was clearly Pentecostal and full of energy! The worship leaders were as diverse as the congregation, men and women, youth and seniors, black and white, US born and immigrants. The sanctuary is full!
• In the worship service, I sat with Pastor Chris Rainey, Pat with his wife, Marcia. They and their daughters have joined the ministry team at TAG. Like the Meys, we have watched them grow in family life and ministry for more than 20 years. Both couples make life sweeter and delightful.
• We shared Communion at the end of the service. Pastor Dan and a deacon brought a brief, Scriptural teaching, appropriately urging everyone to approach the remembrance of the Lord’s death with heart searching and thanksgiving. It was wonderful!
• Fellowship following the benediction was animated and pure joy! The people are sharing Truth and Life! Several shared with me how the ministries of the church have helped them follow Jesus. Tears are filling my eyes and I tingle with emotion as I write.
• Our fellowship over dinner with Dan and Sally Meys was as crown molding, wainscoting and plush carpet which makes rooms richer, more attractive, more distinctive and pleasing. Pat and I were enriched, our spirits were warmed. Their two young adult sons are preparing for ministry. How good is this?
If you are ever in Bergen County on a Sunday, I recommend Teaneck Assembly of God!
In 1987, Teaneck Assembly of God was an idea, a dream, a possibility. No one could yet speak of her with affection. Today she is a part of the Bride of Christ, the object of Jesus’ affection, the visible expression of the redemption of our God and His Son, Jesus.