The way our Faith is presented is very academic. We spout doctrines from pulpits, and etch verses on car bumperstickers. But the truth is the sharing should be around a table, a feast with Saints. The customn of coming together to eat as the Church goes back to early church, "A ll the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer." (Acts 2:42). The New Covenant was even revealed at Supper, The Last Supper, and for ages the Jews waiting for the Messiah observed feasts, one of them Passover. Martin Luther use to teach this way, at table with his family, and called it Table Talk. It is effective to share Christ while sharing bread, for He is the Bread of Life! The setting of eating with people is intimate, and in the Middle East covenants are still made when people eat with one another. In fact, one of great ways to make a practicing sinner know they were out of fellowship was ...
Growing in popularity is the use of incense. Incense is wood sticks that when you light them release a smoke from the properties of wood and minerals from which they come, some examples are Frankincense, Myrrh, Sage, Amber, Sandalwood, and etc. Incense can be used to help freshen your home, and even can be tool to do with smoke smells coming from neighbors. However, in a religious context there is some concerns. Most of the types of incense have very specific religious connections to false and pagan religions, Palo Santo (Holy Wood) is a South American one that is used to ward off evil spirits, and bring good energy, which is not appropriate for us Christians, we caste out demons in name of Jesus, not by incense, and incorporating a pagan wood is a slippery slope into witchcraft. Sage in particular is used by New Age people to cleanse homes, and so burning it has pitfalls, because the fallen angels and demons are legalists, they will want to claim they have a right to be th...