eNews: "What Will Church Planting Look Like in 2033?"

 

I still read the CGGC eNews.  

These days, in my opinion, the quality of the articles is higher than it has ever been. Today's eNews articles tell the truth about who CGGC "leaders" are, how they're thinking and what they're doing. 

Still, while I appreciate the quality of eNews writing, I am, more than ever, concerned and disburbed about what's going on in the CGGC headquarters building. 

Last week's September 1, 2023 article was by Lance...a rarity these days. The title of this post, What Will Church Planting Look Like in 2033? is the title of Lance's article. Lance details some things that he and about 25 CGGC "leaders" learned at a two-day training organized by an organization called Axelerate.

About a third of my way into reading the article, I decided to stop and return to the beginning, then scan the whole thing to see how many times the word Jesus appears.

Nada.

Today, more than ever, CGGC leaders are all  about institution. All church no Jesus.

I'm old. I can remember. It was about 40 years ago that we decided that the way to reverse our decline was to plant churches. We were wrong. Our last 40 years have been bad years.

Gang! Jesus didn't say, "Therefore, go and plant churches."

In my opinion, this group of current CGGC  leaders does what it does very well. But, very simply? It doesn't do the right thing.

We need to turn to Jesus. 

We must repent. 

"For better or for worse..."

That's what Evie and I promised as a part of the vows we spoke on our wedding day. We got hitched long before writing your own vows became a thing.

As you get older, the "worse" part becomes the norm.

My back is killing me...again. It's a genetic thing. My dad struggled with back pain from my earliest memories of him. My brother quit his job before he could receive Social Security at age 62 because his back pain was excruciating. 

Last year at this time, I was in physical therapy to treat back pain. I still do the exercises a minimum of a half hour most days. Often, I do them for about an hour. I've met with a back pain doctor. He said, essentially, I'm an old man with a bad back. I take a strong prescription NSAID daily. 

I'm happier to be on the other end of 'worse.'

Since 2010, Evie's had cancer, open heart surgery and a perforated colon. More surgeries than I can remember. Since she survived, I'm happy to have been with her through them...

...but, for me, to spend these days as the care-receiver, not the care-giver, is difficult. 

It's a spiritual thing. 

*****

About twenty years ago, I read Hirsch and Frost's, The Shaping of Things to Come and, The Present Future by Reggie McNeal. As I've noted on my blog, I have never been the same. 

Since then, my intention has been to practice radical grace and mercy. Among the 'least of these.' 

Since then, a handful of Bible passages have ruled what's in me head. Among them, Matthew 25:35-36. 'I was hungry and you gave me something to eat...," and Ephesians 2:8-10. 'For it is by grace you have been saved (8)... For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works (10)..."

When Evie struggled?, that was a piece of cake. I was on mission...

...but, to receive grace and mercy, uh, graciously? For me, that's a very serious struggle. It points to a spiritual problem. 

I chide the American church...and the CGGC specifically...for its clergy/laity culture in which its 'laity' consumes the religious products and services provided by its 'priesthood.' As far as I can tell, there's not one jot nor tittle of that vision of Kingdom life in what Jesus did and taught.

Me?, I go so bonkers for Ephesians 2:10...'created in Christ Jesus to do good works...' that I'm tempted to ignore 2:8...'it is by grace you have been saved through faith...'

So, for me, the receiving part of 'for better and for worse' is a difficult, convicting, part of my discipleship journey. 

The line separating works righteousness from a life in which the full Ephesians 2:8-10 dynamic thrives... where faith produces fruit... that line is a very fine line.

When I'm laid up with back pain, I have extra time to think about it. 

It's painful in several ways. 

A view from 40,000 feet

My friends, thanks for your reception of my earlier post. I sent it out to an abridged mailing list. I was stunned to note the number of hits on it in just a few hours. Blessings.

It's been a long time since I've walked in my prophetic calling within the CGGC... particularly as far as the writing of articles in this forum is concerned. 

Being prophetic among people whom the Lord is not blessing is not fun. In fact, merely BEING among a people whom the Lord is not blessing isn't fun. What's even more painful is to be among people who are as content not to be blessed as CGGC people are.

It's easy for a prophet to burn out and to lose focus when ears don't hear and hearts are hard.

Considering the most prominent names that have gone before me, I have no excuse. Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, John the Baptist? I cower in shame noting those examples of faithfulness. 

I'm resolved to be faithful. Still,... As Ringo Starr sang, back in '71, "It Don't Come Easy."

So, for today...

The CGGC pays lip service to a belief in the continuing ministry of apostles, prophets, evangelists and shepherds and teachers. The CGGC talks a good talk...

...but it doesn't walk the walk.

To my knowledge, there are no prophetic voices in the CGGC conversation in 2023. There are, at least, no prophetic voices being listened to. 

One characteristic of the prophetic is the ability to see the big picture...(and, also, the inability to comprehend up-close detail.)

I still read the CGGC eNews faithfully. I read the ERC E-Newsletter. I hear the oral scuttlebutt.

It's the gift...and the curse...of the prophet to discern a big picture vision.  From everything I know, in the CGGC, all big picture vision is being stifled or ignored... or, those people have moved on. There is no big picture perspective. 

Gang, the Lord promised that even the gates of hell will not stand against the church. The Lord of that promise is not blessing us. In every way decline can be measured, the CGGC is in decline. 

So,...

...in future days and weeks, if the Lord allows, I'm going to contribute some big picture insights.

Blessings. 

We "went to 'church'" again yesterday

Gang,

It's been a year since I posted a blog. Actually, I've rough-drafted about a half-dozen but have not hit publish on any of them, though I might still. Many of them still seem like good ideas and...of the Lord. 

I'm still up here at 40,000 feet and observing. 

We did go to church on Sunday. The last time we went, I blogged that, too. So, I know. The last time we did the traditional, institutional church "service" was in August 2021.

Yesterday was an okay experience. It was a small group that meets in a bowling alley. Very nice, welcoming people. Mostly people a little older than are we. Plus some grandkids. Just like many CGGC congregations. For the most part, they appeared to be people from a Mennonite background. 

In the "sermon," the guy who self-identifies as "Lead Elder (pastor)," "preached" a "topical sermon" mostly from James, on the connection between faith and works. He spent a chunk of time on 1:26-27, verses I harangued on often when I was blogging regularly. It's the "religion that is pure and undefiled" verses...which few, if any CGGC "churches" practice. 

WE MUST REPENT...or else. 

Anyway, the message content was fine. But, gang, it was, by definition, at its core, unbiblical...because sermons ain't biblical. 

After the "service," as we were chatting, the "Lead Elder (pastor)" engaged Evie in a cordial  conversation about why she isn't a regular attender of the services of the institutional church. I was fascinated. She and I don't talk about this regularly. Her explanation was far less theoretical and theological than mine is. But, I was nodding through the whole thing. 

Bottom line. What happens in "church" "services" doesn't resemble, in even the slightest way, anything Jesus did, or taught. The same is true of the behavior of the apostles and early disciples. 

Evie has a part time job now. The pastor's wife works with her...is her supervisor...and they're becoming close friends. We promised that we'll be back to their gathering...from time to time.  It wasn't an empty promise. 

Still, American institutionalized church involvement doesn't enhance our lives of obedience.   

I have struggled for about a half-dozen years with Hebrews 10:24-25. "...let us...not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing..."

I am convinced that what happens in an American church in 2023 has absolutely nothing in common with early disciples "meeting together" and truly does me more harm than good. Certainly, the Lord isn't blessing it.

Still, the early followers of Jesus knew that it was important not to "give up meeting together." I'm convinced that it still is important. But, how? Where?

Anyway...

..."we went to 'church' again." My guess is that I may reflect more on the Hebrews 10 teaching in the future. 

Blessings. 

We must repent. 

On being "Postmodern Bible-thumper" in the CGGC

Years ago, during the heyday Brian Miller's Emerging CGGC blog, I began participating in another discussion forum, a religion board where most participants are not Jesus followers. That board still functions. 

Recently, one of the old-timers there reminded me that, for a brief time, I posted under the name, "Postmodern Bible-thumper." That's what I did there: Thump the Bible. 

It's also what I did on the CGGC Blog. 

In those days, the CGGC approved its first ever Mission Statement, directly inspired by the three points John Winebrenner preached in his October 1830 sermon, on the day the Church of God was formed. 

Our first ever Mission Statement was:

As witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ, we commit ourselves to make more and better disciples by establishing churches on the New Testament plan and proclaiming the Gospel around the world. 

In the early years, "the New Testament plan" was a way of life in the Church of God, and we were blessed. 

In 2010, the General Conference unanimously adopted that first Mission Statement. Sadly, we talked, but we didn't walk.

In our early years, the Church of God searched the Scriptures first, then acted. By design, our "Plan" was the New Testament. 

Today, in the CGGC, the church, not the Word, is our focus. 

Today, we devise humanly-imagined visions and strategies, then, we supplement them with verses and passages from the Word.

Today, the CGGC is in decline. 

The men and women who make decisions that determine what the CGGC will be, and do, in the future met, recently, to "Reimagine."

It's time to Reimagine ourselves as people who focus, first, on the Word, as people who are willing, as God said to Jeremiah, "to uproot and tear down, and to destroy and overthrow" everything about us not of the Word and, "to build and to plant" (1:10) a people who, once again, "search the Scriptures daily" (Acts 17:11) to know what is true. 

Forget Reimagining. We don't need to rethink our own thoughts. 

It's time to thump His Word. And, to hit it hard.

We must repent. (Mt. 4:17)

On being "Adorable"

While we were on our Snowbird Sojourn from late December through early April, Evie needed to buy a really good pair of sneakers.

She googled, "footwear." She found a store with a 4.9 (out of 5, not 10) customer rating and we drove there. The store deserved its rating. We were attended there by a very competent 40Something woman who set Evie up with shoes, inserts and socks.

The woman who took care of us was very patient. She invested more than a half hour with us. She answered our questions about shoes and herself and her family, in the way someone who's good at customer service does.

As we were finishing up, we were talking about personal stuff: spouse, children, hometown, etc. 

She asked, "How long have you two been married?" We told her. Then, she smiled and knifed me in the heart.  

"You're adorable."

She meant well.

"Adorable" is an adjective that fits two groups of people: Children younger than three and,...

...very, very old people. 

On this blog, I, frequently, refer to myself as a geezer. 

It's one thing for me to say I'm a geezer. It's quite another for someone else even to think it.

Twelve years ago, Evie was having chemo treatments. She shaved her hair before the treatments started. She didn't want to wake up in the morning with clumps of hair on her pillow. To support her, I shaved mine, too. And, I've continued to shave it.

The shaved head was sort of a lark back in the day. If you thought I was old, the joke was on you.

That was twelve years ago. Now I realize I am old. 

But, please, not "adorable." I can't be that old!

If you know me only from this blog, you may dismiss me as a Grumpy Old Man. 

If so, understand. We now have it from an unbiased, independent observer: 

I am adorable.

When you read the words, "We must repent," here, remember. Those words come from a man who is adorable,...not a crotchety, grumpy, old man.

We must repent. 

A Word on next week's General Conference sessions

I haven't blogged for a long time.

In the past, I've used this blog to speak as a prophet. For the times I have neglected that calling in recent months, I know that I need the Lord's forgiveness for my silence. 

Months ago, I read, in the eNews, that the theme of the 2022 General Conference gathering will be "Reimagine." When I read that, immediately, the prophet in me woke up. 

I don't feel prophety as often these days as I have at some times in the past, but, on this issue, my prophetic voice instantly came alive. 

Over the years, I've learned to listen to the Spirit before I speak as a prophet. 

As a result, part of my delay in transmitting this word is my understanding that, to be faithful to the Spirit, I need to be careful to get it right.

I could have written this long ago. Other issues, some of a spiritual nature, are involved in my delay. So, I ask for the Lord's forgiveness and apologize to you, my brothers and sisters. 

---------------

Next week, the delegates of the General Conference will gather. Their theme? 

Reimagine 

My friends, the notion that the CGGC can reimagine its way back into God's blessing, very simply, turns the message of the Bible upside down. 

Back in our best days, the Church of God men and women, who walked in God's dynamic blessing, were committed to operating on what they called, "the New Testament plan."

Understand: There was no time, in the New Testament, when believers reimagined themselves back into God's blessing after they'd lost their way. 

Reimagining is human-focused.

The Book of Acts says little about what disciples did in the days after the ascension, but what it says is instructive.

Acts 1:14 says, very simply, "they were devoting themselves to prayer." And, they were together with each other (Acts 2:1).

Their focus was on God, and being together to focus on God. 

In 2022, the CGGC is in decline, no matter how you choose to define it.

These days, we struggle with decreasing numbers, shrinking income and aging congregations. 

Nearly 200 years ago, God's blessing was so astounding that our people struggled to keep up with what the Spirit was doing.

Revelation, the last Book of the New Testament, makes it clear that the Lord does not bless His people when they stop walking in the Spirit.

In Revelation 2, Jesus tells the fallen church in Ephesus, "...you have lost your first love," and, then, "...if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place."

To the church in Pergamum, Jesus actually threatens some in that church if they don't repent. He says He will "war against them." 

To the lukewarm in Laodicea, Jesus warns, "I know your deeds"..."I will spit you out of my mouth."

In this, actually, there is comfort. True enough. The Lord of all authority and power and blessing is not blessing us.

But, we, in the CGGC, are not the first. 

It's true. His love endures forever. 

His invitation in Matthew 11:28, "Come to me..." is always available. 

But, the Lord's solution for people, and for churches, who have lost His blessing is not to look within ourselves. 

Our solution can't be found in our own imaginings.

Over and over, God's word to individuals, and to churches, is, simply, "Repent."

To be redeemed, we must focus on Him and walk in His ways.

We must repent. 

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One other word from the Lord: At this moment, we are not in the spiritual condition that makes repentance possible. 

We are content. 

The Beatitudes begin, "Blessed are the poor in spirit,...Blessed are those who mourn."

When Jesus invites us and says, "Come to me," His invitation is restricted to, "all you who labor and are heavy laden."

After they repented, Paul explained to the once-fallen church in Corinth: "...godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation." (2 Cor. 7:10)

I'm still in contact with a handful of CGGC people. I read the eNews as faithfully as anyone. My sense is that we're concerned about our decline, yet, we're as lighthearted as we've ever been. 

When I look across the universe of my CGGC acquaintances, I don't sense poor in spirit. I don't see people mourning. I don't see people who labor and are heavy laden. I don't see godly grief producing the repentance that leads to salvation. 

People who are poor in spirit and overwhelmed by godly grief wouldn't, for a moment, think that, by their own reimagining, they can accomplish anything for the Kingdom of God. 

Our answer? Repent. 

I know that our brothers and sisters who planned General Conference sessions, and conceived this time of reimagining are sincere. They only hope for the best...

...but, this will come to nothing. 

We must repent.