Princeton Church of God

Today we worshiped at Princeton Church of God, 250 Oakvale Road, Princeton, WV 24740, 304.425.6505, www.pcogwv.com, Dr. Ray E. Hurt, Lead Pastor.

Scripture – James 5:13-18

Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.

Bob’s thoughts:

While traveling home we stopped for breakfast and I asked the waitress if she knew of any churches nearby. She gave us directions and said her daughter worshiped here.

The sanctuary is large, but I couldn’t see a cross anywhere.

I got the impression they have about 1,000 members so I didn’t expect the greetings I received. I thought sitting in the back would be more bearable for us, and for me with my knees giving out and requiring me to sit was a blessing. Those standing helped to block the speakers a bit. I appreciated the deep voice of the male lead singer and thought he led well. Most of the music, although familiar songs, were so loud to me that I didn’t realize there were instruments till I heard a flute during the offering.

My ears are just not good enough to follow the prayer with others praying at the same time and with music and song on top of that, it was impossible.

I am not sure what interpretation of the Bible was used, but I questioned the theology. It seemed to be more important to whip the congregation into a frenzy with loud exclamations than to accurately present Scripture.

Jan’s thoughts:

Sunday we were in transit, but this time located a place that looked like a church from the outside. Since it was a contemporary service, we were fine arriving 5-10 minutes late.

The building is huge and looked quite new, and the worship space was filled to perhaps ¾ capacity with two large screens in front and three monitors halfway back. There may have been an issue with the sound system as the lead female voice sounded annoyingly tinny. Once the music ended, the Lead Pastor took the stage.

After more than 6 ½ years of writing this blog, this is the first time I have ever said this: I am hesitant to say much more about this service. Our goal in writing this blog has always been to build up churches, not to complain or allow personal preferences to interfere with objectivity.

He said much about prayers said in the past, and the emphasis was strongly on miracles. Prior to the prayer for the offering he stated it was fine if someone did not want to give, and this was followed by a prayer that included his request that God “bless each one who gives.”

The topic of the message was prayer, and on the surface what he said sounded like it should have been accurate, but I disagree with much of what he taught, though not all. One I think I can agree with is his claim that “prayer changes who you are.” (Prayer is supposed to change you, and hopefully it does.)

However, that we must “make ourselves someone God wants to talk to”…that “people do not want to talk to someone who is arrogant and demanding, and what makes us think God is any different?” I believe our God is different than any person who has ever lived because He is holy. I can’t speak to how He feels about talking to an arrogant person, but I am not sure anyone should presume to say that God’s hearing our prayer is determined by our attitude and whether we have “made ourselves someone God wants to talk to.”

This all brings to mind a favorite saying of my mother’s: “I know you believe you understand what you think I said but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.” It is possible there is some misunderstanding on my part about what he said, but much of what I heard hit my ear and made me wonder.

We were disheartened and left before the service ended.

Our prayer for this church:

Dear God, we pray this was an unusual presentation of Your Word and that this church is being fed the truth. Amen.