Evie was released from the hospital on Saturday, the earliest day she might have been set free. The range her doctor gave her before she was admitted was for release between Saturday and Monday, or later, depending on when...if...her digestive tract resumed normal function.
She was weak and fatigued before the operation those realities are intensified now. She's allowing me to pamper her without protest.
Sadly for her, I don't mind cooking but I'm a HORRIBLE cook, beyond heating things up. So, I'm an ace at scrambling an egg, but I'm horrible with foods including multiple ingredients.
And, she is an excellent cook who loves cooking.
As far as recovering from the actual surgery, she healing inside AND she has two incisions that are stapled...and go different directions. This makes moving very painful.
She was given some pretty nice pain medication but she's not taking as much of it as she could, settling mostly for Tylenol.
She's not sleeping well because of the pain, and that's her fault.
She's home and recuperating. But, it will be a long haul, especially until her energy returns, if it ever does.
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
My Latest CGGC Blog Comment
Gang,
I hope you've read Lance's latest: Don't Just Move On
If you haven't read it, you'll be able to glean some of its message from my comment.
I've not done much in the last week beyond taking care of Evie who, incidentally, is progressing normally after her surgery.
But, when I read the eNews, I immediately felt these thoughts...among others. (I might write up the others if I feel led and have the opportunity.)
----------------
Lance,
Sadly, you are correct. CGGC people today follow the culture by, in this case, briefly showing interest in the problem of racial injustice only to drop that concern to care about something else.
This has been the way of the CGGC for decades.
In Matthew 23:23, Jesus said, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others."
Like the scribes and Pharisees, the people of the CGGC are not people of "justice and mercy and faithfulness." We might care about justice and mercy and faithfulness for a moment. But, justice and mercy and faithfulness are not in our hearts.
If our hearts had been tuned to what Jesus calls "the weightier matters of the law," we would have been living for justice, mercy and faithfulness before the George Floyd tragedy. And, there would be no concern that we'd move on from these issues close to the heart of what Jesus taught and lived.
These days, our hearts are not aligned with the life Jesus lived, nor with the teachings Jesus taught...and we experience spiritual decay and numerical decline.
Yet, we know that, in the first generation of the Church of God movement, our people were deeply committed to living lives of justice, mercy and faithfulness...and our movement thrived.
Jesus said to one church, "Repent and do the things you did at first."
I believe that those are His words for the CGGC today. The time has come for us to return to our old and radical ways. We will do that only after we repent.
I am convinced that there are people in our body who will follow you if you take your direction from our past, if you yourself live justice and mercy and faithfulness as Jesus commanded...if you live an example that can be followed.
Jesus commanded us to let our light so shine before others that they will see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.
You are the one person in the CGGC uniquely positioned to let his light shine for everyone in our body to see.
Thank you for your challenging words. Now, please, show us the way.
I hope you've read Lance's latest: Don't Just Move On
If you haven't read it, you'll be able to glean some of its message from my comment.
I've not done much in the last week beyond taking care of Evie who, incidentally, is progressing normally after her surgery.
But, when I read the eNews, I immediately felt these thoughts...among others. (I might write up the others if I feel led and have the opportunity.)
----------------
Lance,
Sadly, you are correct. CGGC people today follow the culture by, in this case, briefly showing interest in the problem of racial injustice only to drop that concern to care about something else.
This has been the way of the CGGC for decades.
In Matthew 23:23, Jesus said, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others."
Like the scribes and Pharisees, the people of the CGGC are not people of "justice and mercy and faithfulness." We might care about justice and mercy and faithfulness for a moment. But, justice and mercy and faithfulness are not in our hearts.
If our hearts had been tuned to what Jesus calls "the weightier matters of the law," we would have been living for justice, mercy and faithfulness before the George Floyd tragedy. And, there would be no concern that we'd move on from these issues close to the heart of what Jesus taught and lived.
These days, our hearts are not aligned with the life Jesus lived, nor with the teachings Jesus taught...and we experience spiritual decay and numerical decline.
Yet, we know that, in the first generation of the Church of God movement, our people were deeply committed to living lives of justice, mercy and faithfulness...and our movement thrived.
Jesus said to one church, "Repent and do the things you did at first."
I believe that those are His words for the CGGC today. The time has come for us to return to our old and radical ways. We will do that only after we repent.
I am convinced that there are people in our body who will follow you if you take your direction from our past, if you yourself live justice and mercy and faithfulness as Jesus commanded...if you live an example that can be followed.
Jesus commanded us to let our light so shine before others that they will see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.
You are the one person in the CGGC uniquely positioned to let his light shine for everyone in our body to see.
Thank you for your challenging words. Now, please, show us the way.
Thursday, June 25, 2020
Pride Month
June is LGBTQ Pride Month.
As our local churches squirm their way through the interruption to their beloved "worship services" associated with the quarantine and the serious challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic for their aging congregations,...
...and as they try to make sense of the very sudden shift in the culture connected to the rising passion for racial justice among our pew-sitters' grandchildren and great grandchildren, who are now shouting "black lives matter" when nanna and pap pap have always believed that "all" lives matter,...
...most devotees of clergy/lay driven institutional Christianity are oblivious to the vigorous, and increasingly militant celebration of LGBTQ pride that is taking place all around them.
Living the life of an ambassador of the Kingdom of God that I live, I meet, and interact with, many 16 to 21 year old people regularly.
I make it a goal to get to know these young people. I'm old enough to be their pap pap and, so, it's easy to be very friendly with most of them. It's easy to get to know many of them in a meaningful way. And, as a matter of theological conviction, I do that.
A large portion of my 300+ Facebook friends are in their early twenties or younger. I follow, very carefully, what these people think and do.
You may have no idea how far the LGBTQ way has moved to the center of the culture just in the last twelve months.
Perhaps I'm misinformed, but I think people in our body continue to hold to the historic Christian belief regarding sexual righteousness.
However, I do get that I may be making an unwarranted assumption.
I have seen how quickly some parents have dropped formerly unquestioned biblical teachings about sex and "gender" when a child has "come out."
Anyway, this post will not be a lengthy harangue.
I will only point out that the Church-es of God way is doomed to be irrelevant on this issue because members of the clergy who provide religious products and services and their laity who understand discipleship as contented consumption of those religious products and services will not be up to this challenge. They'll never DO anything meaningful about it...
...and that CGGC-ism, with its walkless radical talk, ain't going to DO a derned thing. In fact, I can't see that the producers of CGGC talk are even talking about this. I can't see any sign of awareness, even among our Big Talkers.
But, a change in the culture is well under way. It's happening at the speed of light.
We must repent. Oh, how we must repent!
As our local churches squirm their way through the interruption to their beloved "worship services" associated with the quarantine and the serious challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic for their aging congregations,...
...and as they try to make sense of the very sudden shift in the culture connected to the rising passion for racial justice among our pew-sitters' grandchildren and great grandchildren, who are now shouting "black lives matter" when nanna and pap pap have always believed that "all" lives matter,...
...most devotees of clergy/lay driven institutional Christianity are oblivious to the vigorous, and increasingly militant celebration of LGBTQ pride that is taking place all around them.
Living the life of an ambassador of the Kingdom of God that I live, I meet, and interact with, many 16 to 21 year old people regularly.
I make it a goal to get to know these young people. I'm old enough to be their pap pap and, so, it's easy to be very friendly with most of them. It's easy to get to know many of them in a meaningful way. And, as a matter of theological conviction, I do that.
A large portion of my 300+ Facebook friends are in their early twenties or younger. I follow, very carefully, what these people think and do.
You may have no idea how far the LGBTQ way has moved to the center of the culture just in the last twelve months.
Perhaps I'm misinformed, but I think people in our body continue to hold to the historic Christian belief regarding sexual righteousness.
However, I do get that I may be making an unwarranted assumption.
I have seen how quickly some parents have dropped formerly unquestioned biblical teachings about sex and "gender" when a child has "come out."
Anyway, this post will not be a lengthy harangue.
I will only point out that the Church-es of God way is doomed to be irrelevant on this issue because members of the clergy who provide religious products and services and their laity who understand discipleship as contented consumption of those religious products and services will not be up to this challenge. They'll never DO anything meaningful about it...
...and that CGGC-ism, with its walkless radical talk, ain't going to DO a derned thing. In fact, I can't see that the producers of CGGC talk are even talking about this. I can't see any sign of awareness, even among our Big Talkers.
But, a change in the culture is well under way. It's happening at the speed of light.
We must repent. Oh, how we must repent!
Post Surgery Update on Evie: I
As far as I can tell, yesterday went as well as can be expected.
Evie was scheduled to go into surgery at 12:30. My experience has been that, by that point in the day, someone using your OR will have run late and 12:30 becomes 1:00, 2:00 or later. Evie actually went into surgery almost 30 minutes early.
I was allowed to visit after she was prepped for surgery and, when I entered the room, the young women prepping her and Evie were chatting and giggling. The actual OR nurse looked at me and said, "You are so lucky. We love her. We're her groupies."
You would have thought they were doing her nails and a facial and that they were all going out to a party together.
No doubt, Evie overcomes all the adversity she faces with the love for life that she brings to every moment she lives.
The person who did Evie's admission told us that she was scheduled to be in the operating and recovery rooms for five hours and twenty minutes for the two procedures. By the time the second doctor talked to me and she was moved to a room it was a little more than four and a half.
Both doctors said their procedures went well, but the doctor who reversed the colostomy talked about issues with scar tissue and left open the possibility that there might be the need for another "little operation" to fix some things in the future, things he couldn't do yesterday because she'd been opened up to have the other procedure as done. We've heard that this guy is a very highly skilled surgeon, and I believe it.
I visited Evie for about two minutes in her room and she looked totally run down, as you'd expect. I said one thing to her that made her smile...she's so amazing!
The nursing staff at Penn Medicine is incredible. Evie's nurse told me three different ways I could be in contact with the staff about Evie and she offered to let me stay longer. But, I knew Evie likes to be alone during those times. So, I left.
I woke up this morning at my normal time, about 5:00 and saw that Evie sent me a text at 3:28, saying that she slept and telling me that she loves me.
I have her land line number for her room and, of course, her cell number but she has always hated talking on the phone. If her recovery proceeds normally, we'll probably talk once a day but text a couple dozen times.
Having said all that, her health is not good. She's been through cancer and open heart surgery. She now has issues with her colon and needed to have the hysterectomy done by a cancer doctor.
She's been very weak and fatigued since the emergency surgery in March. My guess is that she'll push herself through the recovery from surgery and be home as early as they'll allow, though I won't be shock if there are complications.
In order to be released, she have to demonstrate that her bowels are working normally again. Who knows how well that will go. Everyone says that, in the best case, it will be three days, but may take longer...and it may be that she may need to have another colostomy, which would be permanent.
Either way, I'm hoping to have her home soon.
There's no chance that I'll go back to my ambassadorial job until she's well on her feet.
---------------
Thanks for your prayers. Please continue to pray.
Evie was scheduled to go into surgery at 12:30. My experience has been that, by that point in the day, someone using your OR will have run late and 12:30 becomes 1:00, 2:00 or later. Evie actually went into surgery almost 30 minutes early.
I was allowed to visit after she was prepped for surgery and, when I entered the room, the young women prepping her and Evie were chatting and giggling. The actual OR nurse looked at me and said, "You are so lucky. We love her. We're her groupies."
You would have thought they were doing her nails and a facial and that they were all going out to a party together.
No doubt, Evie overcomes all the adversity she faces with the love for life that she brings to every moment she lives.
The person who did Evie's admission told us that she was scheduled to be in the operating and recovery rooms for five hours and twenty minutes for the two procedures. By the time the second doctor talked to me and she was moved to a room it was a little more than four and a half.
Both doctors said their procedures went well, but the doctor who reversed the colostomy talked about issues with scar tissue and left open the possibility that there might be the need for another "little operation" to fix some things in the future, things he couldn't do yesterday because she'd been opened up to have the other procedure as done. We've heard that this guy is a very highly skilled surgeon, and I believe it.
I visited Evie for about two minutes in her room and she looked totally run down, as you'd expect. I said one thing to her that made her smile...she's so amazing!
The nursing staff at Penn Medicine is incredible. Evie's nurse told me three different ways I could be in contact with the staff about Evie and she offered to let me stay longer. But, I knew Evie likes to be alone during those times. So, I left.
I woke up this morning at my normal time, about 5:00 and saw that Evie sent me a text at 3:28, saying that she slept and telling me that she loves me.
I have her land line number for her room and, of course, her cell number but she has always hated talking on the phone. If her recovery proceeds normally, we'll probably talk once a day but text a couple dozen times.
Having said all that, her health is not good. She's been through cancer and open heart surgery. She now has issues with her colon and needed to have the hysterectomy done by a cancer doctor.
She's been very weak and fatigued since the emergency surgery in March. My guess is that she'll push herself through the recovery from surgery and be home as early as they'll allow, though I won't be shock if there are complications.
In order to be released, she have to demonstrate that her bowels are working normally again. Who knows how well that will go. Everyone says that, in the best case, it will be three days, but may take longer...and it may be that she may need to have another colostomy, which would be permanent.
Either way, I'm hoping to have her home soon.
There's no chance that I'll go back to my ambassadorial job until she's well on her feet.
---------------
Thanks for your prayers. Please continue to pray.
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
Updated Prayer Request for Evie
Her surgery is scheduled for early afternoon today.
Her prep was extensive, including a variation on the prep for a colonoscopy. She struggled with that but completed it.
Of more concern, she was supposed to take a very large dose of two antibiotics orally. She was unable to keep them down so that an important part of her preparation was not completed.
How that will impact the surgery and her recovery, we don't know. She called the surgeon's office but didn't talk to the surgeon himself.
Please keep this issue in your prayers.
Her prep was extensive, including a variation on the prep for a colonoscopy. She struggled with that but completed it.
Of more concern, she was supposed to take a very large dose of two antibiotics orally. She was unable to keep them down so that an important part of her preparation was not completed.
How that will impact the surgery and her recovery, we don't know. She called the surgeon's office but didn't talk to the surgeon himself.
Please keep this issue in your prayers.
Sunday, June 21, 2020
Evie has Double Major Surgery on Wednesday
The biggest thing in life for us during the last three months has been Evie's health.
I've been less than fully open about this,...more so on Facebook...but she had a brush with death in March.
She began to experience sudden intense lower abdominal pain. Living in a retirement community, I "pulled the cord" and a nurse ran to our apartment.
She took Evie's vital signs which, as it turns out, were essentially nonexistent. At one point there was no discernable blood pressure and a weak pulse in the low 40s.
The ambulance got her to the ER of the local hospital that has the best ER in time. Tests were taken.
She had diverticulitis and her intestine had ruptured in two places. Infection was spreading. She developed peritonitis. She was given massive doses of antibiotics yet her white blood cell count continued to rise.
The day after she arrived at the hospital, a surgeon performed emergency surgery. It was touch and go for about a day. Until she began to gain strength.
She survived, but has a colostomy, which she HATES!
At about that time, she experienced a recurrence of an ongoing, unrelated problem which, doctors advise, should be resolved through surgery.
So, Wednesday, June 24, she'll undergo procedures from two different surgeons: First a hysterectomy performed by an oncological gynecologist. Then a reversal of the colostomy by the surgeon who created it.
Evie's still very weak from the trauma of the ruptured colon and the emergency surgery. She's extremely weak and lacking in stamina. However, if the colostomy can be reversed successfully, she can't wait long to have that surgery.
I decided with my parents, as their health began to decline, that quality of life is important. I didn't want to maintain their lives, if their lives weren't worth living.
It's been hard, but I'm at the same place with Evie. Neither of these procedures are absolutely necessary. But, to be able to have a robust life...
So, please pray for her.
This one could be tough.
I've been less than fully open about this,...more so on Facebook...but she had a brush with death in March.
She began to experience sudden intense lower abdominal pain. Living in a retirement community, I "pulled the cord" and a nurse ran to our apartment.
She took Evie's vital signs which, as it turns out, were essentially nonexistent. At one point there was no discernable blood pressure and a weak pulse in the low 40s.
The ambulance got her to the ER of the local hospital that has the best ER in time. Tests were taken.
She had diverticulitis and her intestine had ruptured in two places. Infection was spreading. She developed peritonitis. She was given massive doses of antibiotics yet her white blood cell count continued to rise.
The day after she arrived at the hospital, a surgeon performed emergency surgery. It was touch and go for about a day. Until she began to gain strength.
She survived, but has a colostomy, which she HATES!
At about that time, she experienced a recurrence of an ongoing, unrelated problem which, doctors advise, should be resolved through surgery.
So, Wednesday, June 24, she'll undergo procedures from two different surgeons: First a hysterectomy performed by an oncological gynecologist. Then a reversal of the colostomy by the surgeon who created it.
Evie's still very weak from the trauma of the ruptured colon and the emergency surgery. She's extremely weak and lacking in stamina. However, if the colostomy can be reversed successfully, she can't wait long to have that surgery.
I decided with my parents, as their health began to decline, that quality of life is important. I didn't want to maintain their lives, if their lives weren't worth living.
It's been hard, but I'm at the same place with Evie. Neither of these procedures are absolutely necessary. But, to be able to have a robust life...
So, please pray for her.
This one could be tough.
Saturday, June 20, 2020
How do People of the "CGGC" become Warriors for Justice, Mercy and Faithfulness?
Here's a summary of what I see as the three eras/ethei (ethoses) of our body. (These descriptions are, with minor editing, copied from an earlier post.)
It's the third era, the CGGC, that is the focus of this post. Denominational holders of institutional authority, many pastors/parish priests and congregations in our body in the year 2020 fit this description. (This post is a follow up to the earlier, How do People of Church-es of God Congregations become Warriors for Racial Equality?)
---------------
1. The Church of God, the movement which envisioned itself as joining in a "new Reformation," and that formed around the ministry of John Winebrenner and others, which was blessed and thrived from before its first moment and which inspired the "planting" of about 800 congregations within 60 years. For these people, the Bible was, literally, the only rule of faith and practice.
2. The Churches of God, the denomination that rejected the radical to settle for being a small, respectable, Protestant, church, which progressively institutionalized the former movement, created the beginnings of a hierarchy and which witnessed the beginnings of what is, by now, a generations-long trend toward spiritual decay and numerical decline which continues to this day. For these people, the assertion that the Bible is our only rule of faith and practice merely is a creedal statement.
3. The CGGC, the effort to reverse the disaster that was the Churches of God, attempting to end decay and decline by increasing the size of the denomination's hierarchy and adopting a leadership model which describes its highest ranking official as the denomination's Chief Executive Officer, and which defines a disciple as a person who attends church worship and which has seen the spiritual decay and numerical decline of the Churches of God continue. In time, the CGGC became characterized by radical Bible talk accompanied by extremely moderate, even conservative, action.
--------------
In addition to high holders of institutional authority in our body, there are many pastors and congregations today who appreciate the radicalism of our body's faith.
Those people who are of the CGGC culture know that, in the days when the Lord of all authority and power and grace and blessing blessed the Church of God, we were radical people in many ways. We were known, for instance, for our extreme position on racial equality because of many things that we were doing.
For the people of the CGGC unfortunately, it's the doing that's the rub.
CGGC people are at home with radical talk. They can be eloquent in their talk. They are unable, however, perhaps, worse, unwilling, to achieve a fierce walk.
The truth about following Jesus is that Jesus didn't write weekly (J-News) updates on His ministry. He didn't write manifestos. He didn't WRITE anything. He's know more for His walk than His talk.
Jesus made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant. He humbled Himself and became obedient to death...to, among other things, incarnate a life of "justice, mercy and faithfulness." (Phil. 2. Mt. 23:23.)
No one in our body talks incarnational living, no one promotes the life of justice, mercy and faithfulness better than the people of the CGGC.
For more than a decade, our CGGC faction has talked a fierce Bible, sometimes even Jesus, talk...
...but the denominational hierarchs who are of the CGGC have done that from behind their big desks in their fancy offices...
...the congregational pastors who are CGGC have done it from behind their pulpits...
...and the people of the CGGC laity have left their passion for justice and mercy and faithfulness...to the degree they have it, in their pews.
CGGC people don't take it "to the streets."
---------------
So, how do the hierarchs, the pastors and the laity of the CGGC become warriors for justice, mercy and faithfulness?
Follow.
To talk but not walk is a definition of hypocrisy.
I've often flirted with accusing the whole CGGC culture with hypocrisy...
...and I have no doubt that some of these people are, truly, hypocrites. Hypocrites could easily blend in with the CGGCers.
But, I have known some of these people fairly well, in the past, anyway. And, I can't see hypocrisy in them.
I am convinced of two things about the prominent CGGC people, at least.
1. Despite their lofty positions in the institutional hierarchy, they don't DO things that can be followed, or, they don't create followership, they are not followable. They don't lead.
2. They are sincere.
---------------
The truth of the gospel is that we are saved by grace, through faith, to do good works that God prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph. 2:8-10)
CGGC people, specifically those in denominational and congregational "leadership" are decent at the grace thing and the faith thing, but they're atrocious at the good works which God has prepared...
Left to their own devices, they'll do nothing about grace and mercy and faithfulness, other than talk. I know that BECAUSE THEY NEVER HAVE!
But, they can serve productive role in following in the crucial work of following Jesus in promoting justice and mercy and faithfulness by empowering our people who are followable! And, following.
Blessings on them.
It's the third era, the CGGC, that is the focus of this post. Denominational holders of institutional authority, many pastors/parish priests and congregations in our body in the year 2020 fit this description. (This post is a follow up to the earlier, How do People of Church-es of God Congregations become Warriors for Racial Equality?)
---------------
1. The Church of God, the movement which envisioned itself as joining in a "new Reformation," and that formed around the ministry of John Winebrenner and others, which was blessed and thrived from before its first moment and which inspired the "planting" of about 800 congregations within 60 years. For these people, the Bible was, literally, the only rule of faith and practice.
2. The Churches of God, the denomination that rejected the radical to settle for being a small, respectable, Protestant, church, which progressively institutionalized the former movement, created the beginnings of a hierarchy and which witnessed the beginnings of what is, by now, a generations-long trend toward spiritual decay and numerical decline which continues to this day. For these people, the assertion that the Bible is our only rule of faith and practice merely is a creedal statement.
3. The CGGC, the effort to reverse the disaster that was the Churches of God, attempting to end decay and decline by increasing the size of the denomination's hierarchy and adopting a leadership model which describes its highest ranking official as the denomination's Chief Executive Officer, and which defines a disciple as a person who attends church worship and which has seen the spiritual decay and numerical decline of the Churches of God continue. In time, the CGGC became characterized by radical Bible talk accompanied by extremely moderate, even conservative, action.
--------------
In addition to high holders of institutional authority in our body, there are many pastors and congregations today who appreciate the radicalism of our body's faith.
Those people who are of the CGGC culture know that, in the days when the Lord of all authority and power and grace and blessing blessed the Church of God, we were radical people in many ways. We were known, for instance, for our extreme position on racial equality because of many things that we were doing.
For the people of the CGGC unfortunately, it's the doing that's the rub.
CGGC people are at home with radical talk. They can be eloquent in their talk. They are unable, however, perhaps, worse, unwilling, to achieve a fierce walk.
The truth about following Jesus is that Jesus didn't write weekly (J-News) updates on His ministry. He didn't write manifestos. He didn't WRITE anything. He's know more for His walk than His talk.
Jesus made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant. He humbled Himself and became obedient to death...to, among other things, incarnate a life of "justice, mercy and faithfulness." (Phil. 2. Mt. 23:23.)
No one in our body talks incarnational living, no one promotes the life of justice, mercy and faithfulness better than the people of the CGGC.
For more than a decade, our CGGC faction has talked a fierce Bible, sometimes even Jesus, talk...
...but the denominational hierarchs who are of the CGGC have done that from behind their big desks in their fancy offices...
...the congregational pastors who are CGGC have done it from behind their pulpits...
...and the people of the CGGC laity have left their passion for justice and mercy and faithfulness...to the degree they have it, in their pews.
CGGC people don't take it "to the streets."
---------------
So, how do the hierarchs, the pastors and the laity of the CGGC become warriors for justice, mercy and faithfulness?
Follow.
To talk but not walk is a definition of hypocrisy.
I've often flirted with accusing the whole CGGC culture with hypocrisy...
...and I have no doubt that some of these people are, truly, hypocrites. Hypocrites could easily blend in with the CGGCers.
But, I have known some of these people fairly well, in the past, anyway. And, I can't see hypocrisy in them.
I am convinced of two things about the prominent CGGC people, at least.
1. Despite their lofty positions in the institutional hierarchy, they don't DO things that can be followed, or, they don't create followership, they are not followable. They don't lead.
2. They are sincere.
---------------
The truth of the gospel is that we are saved by grace, through faith, to do good works that God prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph. 2:8-10)
CGGC people, specifically those in denominational and congregational "leadership" are decent at the grace thing and the faith thing, but they're atrocious at the good works which God has prepared...
Left to their own devices, they'll do nothing about grace and mercy and faithfulness, other than talk. I know that BECAUSE THEY NEVER HAVE!
But, they can serve productive role in following in the crucial work of following Jesus in promoting justice and mercy and faithfulness by empowering our people who are followable! And, following.
Blessings on them.
Thursday, June 18, 2020
Growing Weary of Doing Good
From time to time, I say that one characteristic of being a prophet is the ability, in Christ, to view life among disciples from a 40,000 foot perspective.
That's the best way I can describe one of the realities of my walk that distinguishes my walk from many others who love and serve Jesus.
I don't have to try to do it. I do it as easily as I breathe.
One frustration for me is that there are times when I want to come down to earth, I can't. The Lord put me up here, and, it seems, He is going to keep me here.
However,...
...there's one aspect of life that I don't view from that lofty perspective, that is my own life.
I'm so connected to me that I can't see me as if from a great distance. And, that's a problem.
Living in the midst of quarantine though, I think I have achieved a degree of big picture perspective on my life before quarantine, simply because I have been separated from it by the passage of time.
Some time ago, I had the thought that, in my life as an ambassador of the Kingdom of God, working in the supermarket, I had begun to lose my edge. I've mused over that insight and I'm convinced it's true.
---------------
I love Galatians 6 because it is practical. In part of verse 9, Paul admonishes his readers not to grow weary of doing good.
I remember a time that I preached on those words, and I have kept them close to my heart.
Nevertheless, I think that, in my life before quarantine, I was wearing down. I was becoming weary.
Allowing yourself to grow weary in doing good is a dangerous thing.
In a way, I'm thankful for the quarantine because I'm not certain that I would have repented of my, well, dysfunction, my sin of overdoing, in time before it was too late.
Ultimately, it's the good works that your salvation by grace through faith produces that connects you to Jesus. (Mt. 7:21-23, 25:34f, Eph. 2:8-10)
I suspect that people who have been convinced that "going to church" is the central act of righteousness as a disciple are profoundly wrong, perhaps even lost. And that's a bad thing.
But, there's the other danger, one that I was facing.
I was close to the point, I'm afraid, that I was about to become so tired in doing good, that I very well might have stopped.
Clearly, there's a bigger sin that led me to the place that I was at and,...
...sadly, I'm not sure I've put all of those pieces together, even now.
That's the best way I can describe one of the realities of my walk that distinguishes my walk from many others who love and serve Jesus.
I don't have to try to do it. I do it as easily as I breathe.
One frustration for me is that there are times when I want to come down to earth, I can't. The Lord put me up here, and, it seems, He is going to keep me here.
However,...
...there's one aspect of life that I don't view from that lofty perspective, that is my own life.
I'm so connected to me that I can't see me as if from a great distance. And, that's a problem.
Living in the midst of quarantine though, I think I have achieved a degree of big picture perspective on my life before quarantine, simply because I have been separated from it by the passage of time.
Some time ago, I had the thought that, in my life as an ambassador of the Kingdom of God, working in the supermarket, I had begun to lose my edge. I've mused over that insight and I'm convinced it's true.
---------------
I love Galatians 6 because it is practical. In part of verse 9, Paul admonishes his readers not to grow weary of doing good.
I remember a time that I preached on those words, and I have kept them close to my heart.
Nevertheless, I think that, in my life before quarantine, I was wearing down. I was becoming weary.
Allowing yourself to grow weary in doing good is a dangerous thing.
In a way, I'm thankful for the quarantine because I'm not certain that I would have repented of my, well, dysfunction, my sin of overdoing, in time before it was too late.
Ultimately, it's the good works that your salvation by grace through faith produces that connects you to Jesus. (Mt. 7:21-23, 25:34f, Eph. 2:8-10)
I suspect that people who have been convinced that "going to church" is the central act of righteousness as a disciple are profoundly wrong, perhaps even lost. And that's a bad thing.
But, there's the other danger, one that I was facing.
I was close to the point, I'm afraid, that I was about to become so tired in doing good, that I very well might have stopped.
Clearly, there's a bigger sin that led me to the place that I was at and,...
...sadly, I'm not sure I've put all of those pieces together, even now.
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
Who John Winebrenner was in APEST
If you watched the Nick and Dan's Bible Study Podcast Facebook live session yesterday, you saw their interactive conversation on prophets.
I watched it any interacted briefly.
What I liked most about the Facebook live session was their discussion on the importance of "mutual submission" and their comments about APEST in general.
If I heard correctly, Nick said that he took a well thought of APEST test and scored as Evangelist.
Actually, observing his fruit, I'd already strongly suspected that.
---------------
But, that led me to think about something that I've thought about almost since the Spirit showed me APEST.
Because our body traces its history to the ministry of John Winebrenner, and because who we've become is dependent on who we've been, it's important for us to consider who Winebrenner was in the APEST spectrum.
I'll be happy to discuss this on or off the blog, but I'm convinced that Winebrenner was not an apostle.
In my opinion, and without a doubt, I'm certain that Winebrenner was, primarily, a PROPHET.
Part of that conviction is based on the obvious passion that Winebrenner had for SOCIAL justice (wink wink),...
...or to use the language of Jesus in Matthew 23, "justice, mercy and faithfulness."
I believe that Winebrenner's gifting as a prophet was edged up by a touch of gifting as an evangelist.
I say edged up because one important characteristic of both giftings is that they call for repentance.
Prophets call disciples to repentance. Evangelists call people who do not believe to repent.
On a Facebook discussion, Cindy Warner, who has sometimes commented on my blogs, said to me, "I'm sure John Winebrenner was a very nice man..."
I didn't make the point on Facebook, but I will here.
No, I don't think that John Winebrenner was a nice man. He was a man of love, certainly, and of spiritual passion and zeal and fire. But, nice?
I don't see much evidence of that. Winebrenner was a prophet-evangelist.
Who we have become today is a response to who we were in our beginnings.
Who we were in the beginning connects significantly to who John Winebrenner was.
Based on what you know, what do you think?
I watched it any interacted briefly.
What I liked most about the Facebook live session was their discussion on the importance of "mutual submission" and their comments about APEST in general.
If I heard correctly, Nick said that he took a well thought of APEST test and scored as Evangelist.
Actually, observing his fruit, I'd already strongly suspected that.
---------------
But, that led me to think about something that I've thought about almost since the Spirit showed me APEST.
Because our body traces its history to the ministry of John Winebrenner, and because who we've become is dependent on who we've been, it's important for us to consider who Winebrenner was in the APEST spectrum.
I'll be happy to discuss this on or off the blog, but I'm convinced that Winebrenner was not an apostle.
In my opinion, and without a doubt, I'm certain that Winebrenner was, primarily, a PROPHET.
Part of that conviction is based on the obvious passion that Winebrenner had for SOCIAL justice (wink wink),...
...or to use the language of Jesus in Matthew 23, "justice, mercy and faithfulness."
I believe that Winebrenner's gifting as a prophet was edged up by a touch of gifting as an evangelist.
I say edged up because one important characteristic of both giftings is that they call for repentance.
Prophets call disciples to repentance. Evangelists call people who do not believe to repent.
On a Facebook discussion, Cindy Warner, who has sometimes commented on my blogs, said to me, "I'm sure John Winebrenner was a very nice man..."
I didn't make the point on Facebook, but I will here.
No, I don't think that John Winebrenner was a nice man. He was a man of love, certainly, and of spiritual passion and zeal and fire. But, nice?
I don't see much evidence of that. Winebrenner was a prophet-evangelist.
Who we have become today is a response to who we were in our beginnings.
Who we were in the beginning connects significantly to who John Winebrenner was.
Based on what you know, what do you think?
Monday, June 15, 2020
APEST and Justice, Mercy and Faithfulness
What will people of the Kingdom of God actually do in the wake of the changes in the United States that took place almost immediately after the story of the murder of George Floyd became public knowledge?
I don't know that a more compelling challenge has confronted the "church" in the last few decades.
What's happening in the world now could become a moment in which the Kingdom scores one of its great victories in its history...
...or, it could lead to one of the most debilitating disasters the church has ever experienced.
---------------
A few thoughts.
1. In the first years of the Kingdom, the Lord prepared, called and empowered one person to be the, I'll say, instrument the Lord would use in expanding the proclaiming of the gospel to the gentiles.
Certainly, it was His will that all believers support that ministry but, as crucial as evangelizing the gentiles was to God's eternal purpose, leading that Kingdom ministry fell to one person who was prepared, spiritually gifted and empowered. That person, of course, was Paul.
In a sense, all of the subjects of the Kingdom of God participated in the preaching of the gospel to the gentiles, but the leading of that ministry was focused on one man...and, eventually, to the, well, team, he assembled.
2. Honestly, I've been watching to observe how some of the people I know of in ministry, are providing ministry that can be followed in these times of racial strife.
It seems to me that what I'm seeing is APEST in action...for better and for worse.
When I see an APEST person whom I believe to be a shepherd, I hear shepherding words in the sermon, no matter how much angst there may be in the listeners' heart, no matter how much must be done. When I listen to a sermon from someone inclined to be an evangelist, I hear the strong and simple gospel truths. And, while the gospel is always appropriate, in these times, the gospel could be applied in specific ways and, I've not heard that. And, and you get it: Teachers are teaching.
Often, if I didn't already know it, as I view the messages I'm seeing, I wouldn't know that riots are taking place and that there is upheaval everywhere.
Here's what I know. This is not a time when evangelists and shepherds and teachers will be able to be followed in doing the things that Kingdom people need to do.
3. This is a serious problem for the CGGC. Since I entered our ministry in the mid 1970s, we have not been faithful in integrating apostles and prophets into our ministry.
Often, we have, as quietly as possible, sent prophets packing or made it so uncomfortable for them to stay that they moved on on their own.
Our experience with apostles has been nearly as tragic. It's normal that our institutional authorities will offer an apostle the chance to plant a church or, perhaps, to be an intentional interim. But, apostles are men and women of innovation who make God's new ways clear and able to be followed.
We are people of our own churchly tradition. The truth is that we haven't kept many apostles and, certainly, our approach to ministry is not driven by the apostolic gift, as it always is when the Kingdom thrives.
4. At times like this in the history of the Kingdom, when the organized church has met the challenge, it is because the Lord empowered apostles and prophets to provide ministry that can be followed. At the times the church advanced in crisis, the people gifted to be shepherds and teachers, especially, followed apostles and prophets.
For the most part, the people who hold positions of authority in our churchly institutions are shepherds and teachers. This is not a time when the world will benefit from an institutional response from the church.
On the other hand, it is a time when the people of the Kingdom, following apostles and prophets called to specific ministries, can, to use the language of the Book of Acts, "turn the world upside down."
5. I am not hope-less...I can't go so far to say that I'm hope-ful...for the CGGC in this moment of crisis and change.
We do have some people who are able to provide ministry that can be followed in this moment.
I'm certain that there are more than three, but from my place 40,000 feet in altitude, and out here in the wilderness, I can point to three.
One, obviously, is Andrew Draper, who's been living what needs to be lived for a long time, at great personal risk. Undoubtedly, he can be followed.
Second, Nick DiFrancesco. While Nick has a position of prominence in the ERC institution, he, nevertheless, produces fruit of a person with either apostolic or prophetic gifting. The wisdom and passion that oozes from him...and his ability to connect talk and walk, common among APs...suggests that, in this moment of Kingdom opportunity, he can be followed.
Third, a name that is less familiar. Jack Guyler. I mentioned that I have watching to see how people I know are providing ministry that can be followed in this challenging time. I've seen sermon crafters simply be who they are, often in ways that are irrelevant to the challenge of the moment.
When APEST was new to me, Jack and I were serving together on an ERC commission and we had several APEST conversations that were helpful to me. And, Jack and I agreed that he probably has some apostle in him.
I watched his message yesterday. It was simple, natural to him, innovative, compassionate and powerful. It was as appropriate a response to these times as any message/sermon I've seen.
Based on that, I can say Jack is providing the sort of pulpit ministry that can be followed. I access him on Facebook at, I think, Harmony Church.
Check him out. This message is not long and, based on what I understand, it oozes apostleship.
And, as I said, it is extremely followable. If you're a pastor, you might want to steal it. You could do worse.
---------------
My friends,
We are in a time when the Kingdom will advance or the church will be defeated.
Times like these have never been times when institutional Christianity has distinguished itself.
But, these are times when apostles and prophets, called and empowered by the Holy Spirit, have created for the Kingdom, its greatest moments.
It's also, sadly for the church, the sort of moment when new movements...
...such as ours...
...have emerged as Kingdom remnants because the institution would not walk in the Spirit.
This is a moment of opportunity.
We must repent.
I don't know that a more compelling challenge has confronted the "church" in the last few decades.
What's happening in the world now could become a moment in which the Kingdom scores one of its great victories in its history...
...or, it could lead to one of the most debilitating disasters the church has ever experienced.
---------------
A few thoughts.
1. In the first years of the Kingdom, the Lord prepared, called and empowered one person to be the, I'll say, instrument the Lord would use in expanding the proclaiming of the gospel to the gentiles.
Certainly, it was His will that all believers support that ministry but, as crucial as evangelizing the gentiles was to God's eternal purpose, leading that Kingdom ministry fell to one person who was prepared, spiritually gifted and empowered. That person, of course, was Paul.
In a sense, all of the subjects of the Kingdom of God participated in the preaching of the gospel to the gentiles, but the leading of that ministry was focused on one man...and, eventually, to the, well, team, he assembled.
2. Honestly, I've been watching to observe how some of the people I know of in ministry, are providing ministry that can be followed in these times of racial strife.
It seems to me that what I'm seeing is APEST in action...for better and for worse.
When I see an APEST person whom I believe to be a shepherd, I hear shepherding words in the sermon, no matter how much angst there may be in the listeners' heart, no matter how much must be done. When I listen to a sermon from someone inclined to be an evangelist, I hear the strong and simple gospel truths. And, while the gospel is always appropriate, in these times, the gospel could be applied in specific ways and, I've not heard that. And, and you get it: Teachers are teaching.
Often, if I didn't already know it, as I view the messages I'm seeing, I wouldn't know that riots are taking place and that there is upheaval everywhere.
Here's what I know. This is not a time when evangelists and shepherds and teachers will be able to be followed in doing the things that Kingdom people need to do.
3. This is a serious problem for the CGGC. Since I entered our ministry in the mid 1970s, we have not been faithful in integrating apostles and prophets into our ministry.
Often, we have, as quietly as possible, sent prophets packing or made it so uncomfortable for them to stay that they moved on on their own.
Our experience with apostles has been nearly as tragic. It's normal that our institutional authorities will offer an apostle the chance to plant a church or, perhaps, to be an intentional interim. But, apostles are men and women of innovation who make God's new ways clear and able to be followed.
We are people of our own churchly tradition. The truth is that we haven't kept many apostles and, certainly, our approach to ministry is not driven by the apostolic gift, as it always is when the Kingdom thrives.
4. At times like this in the history of the Kingdom, when the organized church has met the challenge, it is because the Lord empowered apostles and prophets to provide ministry that can be followed. At the times the church advanced in crisis, the people gifted to be shepherds and teachers, especially, followed apostles and prophets.
For the most part, the people who hold positions of authority in our churchly institutions are shepherds and teachers. This is not a time when the world will benefit from an institutional response from the church.
On the other hand, it is a time when the people of the Kingdom, following apostles and prophets called to specific ministries, can, to use the language of the Book of Acts, "turn the world upside down."
5. I am not hope-less...I can't go so far to say that I'm hope-ful...for the CGGC in this moment of crisis and change.
We do have some people who are able to provide ministry that can be followed in this moment.
I'm certain that there are more than three, but from my place 40,000 feet in altitude, and out here in the wilderness, I can point to three.
One, obviously, is Andrew Draper, who's been living what needs to be lived for a long time, at great personal risk. Undoubtedly, he can be followed.
Second, Nick DiFrancesco. While Nick has a position of prominence in the ERC institution, he, nevertheless, produces fruit of a person with either apostolic or prophetic gifting. The wisdom and passion that oozes from him...and his ability to connect talk and walk, common among APs...suggests that, in this moment of Kingdom opportunity, he can be followed.
Third, a name that is less familiar. Jack Guyler. I mentioned that I have watching to see how people I know are providing ministry that can be followed in this challenging time. I've seen sermon crafters simply be who they are, often in ways that are irrelevant to the challenge of the moment.
When APEST was new to me, Jack and I were serving together on an ERC commission and we had several APEST conversations that were helpful to me. And, Jack and I agreed that he probably has some apostle in him.
I watched his message yesterday. It was simple, natural to him, innovative, compassionate and powerful. It was as appropriate a response to these times as any message/sermon I've seen.
Based on that, I can say Jack is providing the sort of pulpit ministry that can be followed. I access him on Facebook at, I think, Harmony Church.
Check him out. This message is not long and, based on what I understand, it oozes apostleship.
And, as I said, it is extremely followable. If you're a pastor, you might want to steal it. You could do worse.
---------------
My friends,
We are in a time when the Kingdom will advance or the church will be defeated.
Times like these have never been times when institutional Christianity has distinguished itself.
But, these are times when apostles and prophets, called and empowered by the Holy Spirit, have created for the Kingdom, its greatest moments.
It's also, sadly for the church, the sort of moment when new movements...
...such as ours...
...have emerged as Kingdom remnants because the institution would not walk in the Spirit.
This is a moment of opportunity.
We must repent.
Sunday, June 14, 2020
How do People of Church-es of God Congregations become Warriors for Racial Equality?
Here's a summary of what I see as the three eras/ethei (ethoses) of our body. (These descriptions are copied from an earlier post.)
It's the middle era, the Church-es of God, that is the focus of this post. Many pastors/parish priests and congregations in our body in the year 2020 fit that description:
---------------
1. The Church of God, the movement which envisioned itself as joining in a "new Reformation," and that formed around the ministry of John Winebrenner and others, which was blessed and thrived from before its first moment and which inspired the "planting" of about 800 congregations within 60 years.
2. The Churches of God, the denomination that rejected the radical to settle for being a small, respectable, Protestant, church, which progressively institutionalized the former movement, created the beginnings of a hierarchy and which witnessed the beginnings of what is, by now, a generations-long trend toward spiritual decay and numerical decline which continues to this day.
3. The CGGC, the effort to reverse the disaster that was the Churches of God, attempting to end decay and decline by increasing the size of the denomination's hierarchy and adopting a leadership model which describes its highest ranking official as the denomination's Chief Executive Officer, and which defines a disciple as a person who attends church worship and which has seen the spiritual decay and numerical decline of the Churches of God continue.
------------‐-
In our body today, there are many pastors and congregations who understand Christian righteousness...the life of the disciple...to be centered in the clergy/laity divide. This is the hallmark of the Churches of God.
For these pastors and their people, following Jesus is essentially, but not necessarily entirely, centered on what takes place in the so-called "worship service" where the pastor provides certain religious products and services and the laity consumes them.
In our context, the most important religious product provided by the clergyman is the sermon.
But, in a larger sense, the entire well-planned "service" itself is an important religious product.
Certainly, the presence of congregational music that the consumers enjoy singing, or listening to, is vital to the laity's contented consumption.
In our context, the occasional practice of the ordinances in a way that is pleasing and uplifting to the consuming laity is also an important part of the clergy/laity, provider/consumer of religious products and services package.
In these ministries in our body, the core of obedience to Christ is centered around the "worship service" and the religious products and services the clergy-person provides for the laity to consume, hopefully, as contentedly as possible. That is, follow Jesus is to "go to church."
An issue which, I believe, causes tension in our body, and makes the existence of community among us virtually impossible,...
...is that the Churches of God way of defining righteousness is a bold and naked rejection of everything that was most important to the founders of our movement.
The people who gathered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in October 1830 to form the Church of God intentionally rejected all that clergy/laity, provider/consumer stuff to form our body.
---------------
To the point raised by the title of this post, one characteristic of the Church of God, which is rejected by the Churches of God, is a fierce commitment to the notion that followers of Jesus are people for whom justice and mercy are important matters of the Christian life. (Mt. 23:23)
For Church of God people, righteousness begins the moment the gathering ends.
For Churches of God people, obedience is focused on the attendance of the "worship service" and the religious products and services the laity consumes.
Church of God people see the gathering as the time when disciples spur each other on the love and good works.
For Churches of God people the worship service is the biggest part of their love and good works.
A life in which the Church of God person becomes a warrior for racial equality flows naturally from what the Church of God is.
On the other hand, to live a life of justice and mercy, to become, for example, a warrior for racial equality simply doesn't fit easily into the way the Churches of God pastor/parish priest nor the consumers of his/her religious products and services.
---------------
How do Churches of God people become warriors for racial equality?
Honestly, I don't know.
Honestly, I don't think they can.
Honestly, I think they start out rejecting everything that makes a life of justice and mercy possible.
Honestly, I think that, in the context of our body, their only hope is to be broken of their unrighteousness and love for unbiblical tradition, to become what they've rejected and to join with the people of the Church of God.
---------------
Perhaps, though, you can see another way. If so, respond on or off the blog.
It's the middle era, the Church-es of God, that is the focus of this post. Many pastors/parish priests and congregations in our body in the year 2020 fit that description:
---------------
1. The Church of God, the movement which envisioned itself as joining in a "new Reformation," and that formed around the ministry of John Winebrenner and others, which was blessed and thrived from before its first moment and which inspired the "planting" of about 800 congregations within 60 years.
2. The Churches of God, the denomination that rejected the radical to settle for being a small, respectable, Protestant, church, which progressively institutionalized the former movement, created the beginnings of a hierarchy and which witnessed the beginnings of what is, by now, a generations-long trend toward spiritual decay and numerical decline which continues to this day.
3. The CGGC, the effort to reverse the disaster that was the Churches of God, attempting to end decay and decline by increasing the size of the denomination's hierarchy and adopting a leadership model which describes its highest ranking official as the denomination's Chief Executive Officer, and which defines a disciple as a person who attends church worship and which has seen the spiritual decay and numerical decline of the Churches of God continue.
------------‐-
In our body today, there are many pastors and congregations who understand Christian righteousness...the life of the disciple...to be centered in the clergy/laity divide. This is the hallmark of the Churches of God.
For these pastors and their people, following Jesus is essentially, but not necessarily entirely, centered on what takes place in the so-called "worship service" where the pastor provides certain religious products and services and the laity consumes them.
In our context, the most important religious product provided by the clergyman is the sermon.
But, in a larger sense, the entire well-planned "service" itself is an important religious product.
Certainly, the presence of congregational music that the consumers enjoy singing, or listening to, is vital to the laity's contented consumption.
In our context, the occasional practice of the ordinances in a way that is pleasing and uplifting to the consuming laity is also an important part of the clergy/laity, provider/consumer of religious products and services package.
In these ministries in our body, the core of obedience to Christ is centered around the "worship service" and the religious products and services the clergy-person provides for the laity to consume, hopefully, as contentedly as possible. That is, follow Jesus is to "go to church."
An issue which, I believe, causes tension in our body, and makes the existence of community among us virtually impossible,...
...is that the Churches of God way of defining righteousness is a bold and naked rejection of everything that was most important to the founders of our movement.
The people who gathered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in October 1830 to form the Church of God intentionally rejected all that clergy/laity, provider/consumer stuff to form our body.
---------------
To the point raised by the title of this post, one characteristic of the Church of God, which is rejected by the Churches of God, is a fierce commitment to the notion that followers of Jesus are people for whom justice and mercy are important matters of the Christian life. (Mt. 23:23)
For Church of God people, righteousness begins the moment the gathering ends.
For Churches of God people, obedience is focused on the attendance of the "worship service" and the religious products and services the laity consumes.
Church of God people see the gathering as the time when disciples spur each other on the love and good works.
For Churches of God people the worship service is the biggest part of their love and good works.
A life in which the Church of God person becomes a warrior for racial equality flows naturally from what the Church of God is.
On the other hand, to live a life of justice and mercy, to become, for example, a warrior for racial equality simply doesn't fit easily into the way the Churches of God pastor/parish priest nor the consumers of his/her religious products and services.
---------------
How do Churches of God people become warriors for racial equality?
Honestly, I don't know.
Honestly, I don't think they can.
Honestly, I think they start out rejecting everything that makes a life of justice and mercy possible.
Honestly, I think that, in the context of our body, their only hope is to be broken of their unrighteousness and love for unbiblical tradition, to become what they've rejected and to join with the people of the Church of God.
---------------
Perhaps, though, you can see another way. If so, respond on or off the blog.
Friday, June 12, 2020
Fleetwood Mac vs. Jesus's New Command
It seems to me that one of the most serious sins of our body is our disobedience to the New Commandment of Jesus.
After Jesus washed the disciples' feet, He said the He was now giving a new command. The command: Love one another.
After He announced the command, He offered commentary to explain the command's significance.
"As I have loved you, so you must love one another."
The use of the past tense there is extremely meaningful. The cross was, at that time, still in the future. He could not have been referring to the crucifixion, the atonement.
The expression of the love of Jesus in the immediate past was His washing of their feet, a humble act, a slave's act. The task given to a servant. In fact, an act so revolting that Peter argued with Jesus about it.
Clearly, Jesus explained the love He was commanding as the necessity that people who follow Him will be known by their slavish devotion to each other. As Jesus said it:
"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
And these days, we're not known by our love for each other.
What I see up here from 40,000 feet, we don't obey the New Command.
---------------
Nearly 45 years ago, the popular music group, Fleetwood Mac scored their first top ten American hit with a song whose chorus proclaimed,
"You can go your own way."
(If you're old enough, you're welcome for the ear worm.)
And, in our body, for all practical purposes, that's our anthem.
You can go your own way because you can take it to the bank, that I'm going to go mine!
We are so hepped up by our need to join in the old sin: "...everyone did what was right in their own eyes," that we refuse to love each other with the submissive heart Jesus summoned in Himself when He took a towel and basin and, in abject humility, washed the feet, even of Judas.
What we do is rebellion. It is sin.
The Lord of all authority and power and grace and mercy and blessing isn't blessing us.
Honestly, can you even begin to wonder why.
So many of us do what is right in our own eyes. Certainly, we are a people who do what we think is right.
But, we lack submission to one another out of reverence for Christ.
We have tolerance, but not unity...because we refuse to love as He loved, and as He commanded us to love.
We must repent. We must obey His command.
After Jesus washed the disciples' feet, He said the He was now giving a new command. The command: Love one another.
After He announced the command, He offered commentary to explain the command's significance.
"As I have loved you, so you must love one another."
The use of the past tense there is extremely meaningful. The cross was, at that time, still in the future. He could not have been referring to the crucifixion, the atonement.
The expression of the love of Jesus in the immediate past was His washing of their feet, a humble act, a slave's act. The task given to a servant. In fact, an act so revolting that Peter argued with Jesus about it.
Clearly, Jesus explained the love He was commanding as the necessity that people who follow Him will be known by their slavish devotion to each other. As Jesus said it:
"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
And these days, we're not known by our love for each other.
What I see up here from 40,000 feet, we don't obey the New Command.
---------------
Nearly 45 years ago, the popular music group, Fleetwood Mac scored their first top ten American hit with a song whose chorus proclaimed,
"You can go your own way."
(If you're old enough, you're welcome for the ear worm.)
And, in our body, for all practical purposes, that's our anthem.
You can go your own way because you can take it to the bank, that I'm going to go mine!
We are so hepped up by our need to join in the old sin: "...everyone did what was right in their own eyes," that we refuse to love each other with the submissive heart Jesus summoned in Himself when He took a towel and basin and, in abject humility, washed the feet, even of Judas.
What we do is rebellion. It is sin.
The Lord of all authority and power and grace and mercy and blessing isn't blessing us.
Honestly, can you even begin to wonder why.
So many of us do what is right in our own eyes. Certainly, we are a people who do what we think is right.
But, we lack submission to one another out of reverence for Christ.
We have tolerance, but not unity...because we refuse to love as He loved, and as He commanded us to love.
We must repent. We must obey His command.
Nick's Facebook Post on the Voice of the Prophets...and Today's Podcast
Yesterday, June 11, Nick DiFrancesco entered what I'm guessing was an innocent post on Facebook, like many he enters. It exploded like an A Bomb. The last time I checked, it had generated 125 comments.
Here's Nick's post:
I’m reading Jeremiah, and I’m curious about the opinions of others. To my pastor friends (and others who have an opinion)...can the Church actually thrive without the voice of the profit? Teachers teach and shepherds care for the needs of the flock. Is there a unique role for modern profits? Is the role of the profit to frame the discussion by applying the measures? Is it the profit who guides the flocks through an ever shifting landscape of secular culture using The Word as the only lantern capable of finding the narrow path? In the OT God spoke directly to the profits. In the NT God speaks through Jesus (Gospel). Is there still a need for the prophetic voices? In contrast to the many false prophets of secular culture, how can you identify a modern prophet of God? Many questions, so pick one. Thoughts?
---------------
Nick very graciously accepted some razzing on his spelling of the word, profit, but other than that, the conversation was spirited and productive...
...and, if you haven't already checked it out, I encourage you to, especially if you are ERC CGGC.
I, personally, find the Facebook format for length conversations to get a little chaotic and hard to follow but, still, this is good stuff. You'll see my comments at a few places.
---------------
Also, Dan Masshardt announced later, on in the list of comments, that the next episode of Nick and Dan's Bible Study Podcast, which appears later today, will address biblical issues related to Nick's questions.
And, of course, there will be the Facebook live follow up, which encourages interaction, next Tuesday at 2:00 EDT.
Here's Nick's post:
I’m reading Jeremiah, and I’m curious about the opinions of others. To my pastor friends (and others who have an opinion)...can the Church actually thrive without the voice of the profit? Teachers teach and shepherds care for the needs of the flock. Is there a unique role for modern profits? Is the role of the profit to frame the discussion by applying the measures? Is it the profit who guides the flocks through an ever shifting landscape of secular culture using The Word as the only lantern capable of finding the narrow path? In the OT God spoke directly to the profits. In the NT God speaks through Jesus (Gospel). Is there still a need for the prophetic voices? In contrast to the many false prophets of secular culture, how can you identify a modern prophet of God? Many questions, so pick one. Thoughts?
---------------
Nick very graciously accepted some razzing on his spelling of the word, profit, but other than that, the conversation was spirited and productive...
...and, if you haven't already checked it out, I encourage you to, especially if you are ERC CGGC.
I, personally, find the Facebook format for length conversations to get a little chaotic and hard to follow but, still, this is good stuff. You'll see my comments at a few places.
---------------
Also, Dan Masshardt announced later, on in the list of comments, that the next episode of Nick and Dan's Bible Study Podcast, which appears later today, will address biblical issues related to Nick's questions.
And, of course, there will be the Facebook live follow up, which encourages interaction, next Tuesday at 2:00 EDT.
Tuesday, June 9, 2020
Why I'm Always So Negative
One of the people who's chatted with off the blog regularly and for many years, has often raised the issue that I am NEVER positive and constructive in my posts.
I suppose that everyone who's taken homiletics (preaching) classes has been taught that to be an effective preacher in the long run, one has to be balanced, i.e., you can't praise all of the time and you can't harangue continually.
Why have I not figured that out so that my message here would be more effective?
Over the years I've had several thoughts in reply.
Most primarily, what I write here is not a series of sermons. The balance that might, or might not, be necessary for effective preaching is not a concern here.
Also, I've repeated that I attempt to be faithful in transmitting the "words" that I believe I have received from the Lord. I've said that when He gives me something positive, I pass it on.
More to the point: The Lord Himself has been negative about EVERYTHING that the CGGC has done for a very long time.
My negative take on the CGGC is consistent with His ongoing lack of blessing on our programs and plans and the fads we've followed.
Try arguing with me that the Lord isn't blessing us. Try proving that I'm wrong when I say that the CGGC is in the midst of generations of spiritual decay and numerical decline. Try suggesting that I've been wrong to foreshadow the failure of every program and plan devised so ingeniously by our holders of institutional authority.
And, please don't think that being right about all of these things has given me one moment of joy or pleasure.
Off the blog, not so long ago, I was chatting about Ezekiel 33. I recounted the fact that I grew up in a high church Protestant denomination and, I've said here before, I could recite the whole Apostles Creed long before I could read...
...and, that part of the liturgy recited by the minister every week, came from Ezekiel 33 and that I'd memorized that before I could read, though I didn't know it came from that chapter for many years.
Every week, the minister would quote, "As I live, says the Lord God, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that he might turn from his ways and live."
That's true of the Lord and it's, honestly, how I feel.
It doesn't make me happy to see our congregations slowly die and to know that the youngest people who attend many of them are in their 40s, or 50s, even 60s.
Still, I can't seem to escape the strong feeling that the Lord wants me to, I
dunno,...
...sometimes it feels like I'm rubbing your noses in your failure and folly...
...as the spiritual decay and numerical decline continues.
Please understand, that the God who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, takes no pleasure in withholding His power and blessing from you.
When I say, "We must repent," I'm positive that this is His word.
We must repent.
---------------
Having said that, if you're a regular reader here, you have to have noticed that I've not been consistently negative lately.
I've praised and recommended Nick and Dan's Bible Study Podcast.
Doing so seems as organic to my walk with the Lord as, as one example, my condemnation of the foolish and failed 2015 ERC, "New" Strategic Plan.
So, from now on, if you accuse me: "Why are you always so negative!" I'll be able to plead not guilty...
...not that I care about the human response.
---------------
Let me be clear about why speaking positively about Nick and Dan's Bible Study Podcast seems organic to my walk with the Lord.
It's not their message, though I love the message.
What they do is counter-culture, even revolutionary, for us because they actually do what they talk about. Their talk is fruit of an already existing walk.
What they are saying is only a tick or two more, to use their own words, radical and controversial than what you hear from the holders of institutional authority in the CGGC.
The revolution for us, especially in the last decade or so, is that these guys walked the talk before it even occurred to them to talk about it in a podcast.
For us, these days, the pre-walked talk is the revolution.
Here's a serious warning, and I believe that it is from the Lord.
Your temptation, as imbibers or the CGGC culture, will be to engage them only on the level of the talk, as if "to talk is to walk-ism" is biblical.
As I understand these guys, they're not talking simply to be heard.
They are offering a challenge to action.
Just intellectually agreeing with them will not satisfy, as it does in others CGGC contexts.
Their revolution is the call to a walked talk...
...as the first women and men in our movement could not have imagined belief divorced from action.
We must turn, as Ezekiel said, "from our wicked ways and live."
I suppose that everyone who's taken homiletics (preaching) classes has been taught that to be an effective preacher in the long run, one has to be balanced, i.e., you can't praise all of the time and you can't harangue continually.
Why have I not figured that out so that my message here would be more effective?
Over the years I've had several thoughts in reply.
Most primarily, what I write here is not a series of sermons. The balance that might, or might not, be necessary for effective preaching is not a concern here.
Also, I've repeated that I attempt to be faithful in transmitting the "words" that I believe I have received from the Lord. I've said that when He gives me something positive, I pass it on.
More to the point: The Lord Himself has been negative about EVERYTHING that the CGGC has done for a very long time.
My negative take on the CGGC is consistent with His ongoing lack of blessing on our programs and plans and the fads we've followed.
Try arguing with me that the Lord isn't blessing us. Try proving that I'm wrong when I say that the CGGC is in the midst of generations of spiritual decay and numerical decline. Try suggesting that I've been wrong to foreshadow the failure of every program and plan devised so ingeniously by our holders of institutional authority.
And, please don't think that being right about all of these things has given me one moment of joy or pleasure.
Off the blog, not so long ago, I was chatting about Ezekiel 33. I recounted the fact that I grew up in a high church Protestant denomination and, I've said here before, I could recite the whole Apostles Creed long before I could read...
...and, that part of the liturgy recited by the minister every week, came from Ezekiel 33 and that I'd memorized that before I could read, though I didn't know it came from that chapter for many years.
Every week, the minister would quote, "As I live, says the Lord God, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that he might turn from his ways and live."
That's true of the Lord and it's, honestly, how I feel.
It doesn't make me happy to see our congregations slowly die and to know that the youngest people who attend many of them are in their 40s, or 50s, even 60s.
Still, I can't seem to escape the strong feeling that the Lord wants me to, I
dunno,...
...sometimes it feels like I'm rubbing your noses in your failure and folly...
...as the spiritual decay and numerical decline continues.
Please understand, that the God who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, takes no pleasure in withholding His power and blessing from you.
When I say, "We must repent," I'm positive that this is His word.
We must repent.
---------------
Having said that, if you're a regular reader here, you have to have noticed that I've not been consistently negative lately.
I've praised and recommended Nick and Dan's Bible Study Podcast.
Doing so seems as organic to my walk with the Lord as, as one example, my condemnation of the foolish and failed 2015 ERC, "New" Strategic Plan.
So, from now on, if you accuse me: "Why are you always so negative!" I'll be able to plead not guilty...
...not that I care about the human response.
---------------
Let me be clear about why speaking positively about Nick and Dan's Bible Study Podcast seems organic to my walk with the Lord.
It's not their message, though I love the message.
What they do is counter-culture, even revolutionary, for us because they actually do what they talk about. Their talk is fruit of an already existing walk.
What they are saying is only a tick or two more, to use their own words, radical and controversial than what you hear from the holders of institutional authority in the CGGC.
The revolution for us, especially in the last decade or so, is that these guys walked the talk before it even occurred to them to talk about it in a podcast.
For us, these days, the pre-walked talk is the revolution.
Here's a serious warning, and I believe that it is from the Lord.
Your temptation, as imbibers or the CGGC culture, will be to engage them only on the level of the talk, as if "to talk is to walk-ism" is biblical.
As I understand these guys, they're not talking simply to be heard.
They are offering a challenge to action.
Just intellectually agreeing with them will not satisfy, as it does in others CGGC contexts.
Their revolution is the call to a walked talk...
...as the first women and men in our movement could not have imagined belief divorced from action.
We must turn, as Ezekiel said, "from our wicked ways and live."
Saturday, June 6, 2020
Nick and Dan's Bible Study Podcast...with Antoine Lassiter
Here's their description:
"In this episode we are joined by our friend Antoine Lassiter to discuss a passage in Luke 15 and several things on our hearts in these current circumstances and beyond."
I've never met Antoine. From his first word in the podcast, I recognized his love for the Lord and for the Kingdom of God.
This podcast is very timely. Give yourself about an hour to listen to it.
(Clearly, Nick and Dan exaggerated to Antoine, the size of their audience.)
Incidentally, I listen on Spotify. Even for a geezer like me, it's easy to do.
Incidentally, I listen on Spotify. Even for a geezer like me, it's easy to do.
If you haven't listened yet, this is a must, uh, listen.
Friday, June 5, 2020
Nick DiFrancesco's Facebook Post
No doubt, many of you saw this on Facebook yesterday. If we are Facebook friends, you probably saw that I shared it there.
Either way, I asked Nick for permission to copy it here, and he gave me permission.
Here is something very relevant and important Nick said:
---------------
For clarity, I value the important message behind #BlackLivesMatter. I’m embarrassed that racism still divides my county and that political platforms and political division continue to bind people to generational poverty. I’m proud to have spent so much of my career with people who work outside of the politics of division to solve real community problems. Homelessness, schools that prepare children, economic opportunity for all, these are challenging problems that become more challenging when the rhetoric of the ignorant and inexperienced feed the political divide.
I’ve been praying and contemplating a lot lately about the Christian message as it pertains to racism and even rioting. For the past two days I’ve been inspired by those that offer Matthew 18:12, leave the ninety-nine for the one, but watching the responses, I’ve seen a disconnect between the readers who defend “all lives matter” and the writers who are saying in this moment it is black lives that need the Christian community to mobilize. We can get caught up in rhetoric or we can look at the heart of Jesus as presented in Scripture.
Jesus would love his neighbor. Jesus would care for the beat up Samaritan without asking if he deserved his beating. Jesus would protect the prostitute from heartless, religious men and then teach her, not with judgement, but by a simple, self-convicting message of “go and sin no more.” Jesus would run to greet his lost child without regard to the damage he had done, focusing only on the opportunity for healing that reunion provides. Jesus would acknowledge the Canaanite woman’s plea giving her more than the scraps from the table. Because of Scripture and the words of Jesus, this is the time for the Church to mobilize. With the passion of our founder John Winebrenner, the Churches of God have a legacy of fighting for social justice. This is the only place for us in the CGGC to stand with integrity.
To my Christian brothers and sisters, my plea is to search your soul and set aside any self-identified bias. Set aside worldly political influences and turn to Jesus. Set aside any cultural beliefs about racism and let Jesus guide your thoughts and actions. Don’t get caught up in the overwhelming challenges of the policies and simply love the people in front of you by sharing the Gospel with integrity. The government cannot heal our community’s wounds. Our government is broken, and it will remain broken until men and women who place the value of human life over political gain rise up and step into their calling.
Ephesians 6:10–12 (NIV): Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Racism is darkness. Poverty and injustice are darkness. Political considerations over human needs is darkness. Scripture subjugated to political or legal documents or agendas is darkness. This is a critical moment in the Church’s timeline. Let’s get it right!
Either way, I asked Nick for permission to copy it here, and he gave me permission.
Here is something very relevant and important Nick said:
---------------
For clarity, I value the important message behind #BlackLivesMatter. I’m embarrassed that racism still divides my county and that political platforms and political division continue to bind people to generational poverty. I’m proud to have spent so much of my career with people who work outside of the politics of division to solve real community problems. Homelessness, schools that prepare children, economic opportunity for all, these are challenging problems that become more challenging when the rhetoric of the ignorant and inexperienced feed the political divide.
I’ve been praying and contemplating a lot lately about the Christian message as it pertains to racism and even rioting. For the past two days I’ve been inspired by those that offer Matthew 18:12, leave the ninety-nine for the one, but watching the responses, I’ve seen a disconnect between the readers who defend “all lives matter” and the writers who are saying in this moment it is black lives that need the Christian community to mobilize. We can get caught up in rhetoric or we can look at the heart of Jesus as presented in Scripture.
Jesus would love his neighbor. Jesus would care for the beat up Samaritan without asking if he deserved his beating. Jesus would protect the prostitute from heartless, religious men and then teach her, not with judgement, but by a simple, self-convicting message of “go and sin no more.” Jesus would run to greet his lost child without regard to the damage he had done, focusing only on the opportunity for healing that reunion provides. Jesus would acknowledge the Canaanite woman’s plea giving her more than the scraps from the table. Because of Scripture and the words of Jesus, this is the time for the Church to mobilize. With the passion of our founder John Winebrenner, the Churches of God have a legacy of fighting for social justice. This is the only place for us in the CGGC to stand with integrity.
To my Christian brothers and sisters, my plea is to search your soul and set aside any self-identified bias. Set aside worldly political influences and turn to Jesus. Set aside any cultural beliefs about racism and let Jesus guide your thoughts and actions. Don’t get caught up in the overwhelming challenges of the policies and simply love the people in front of you by sharing the Gospel with integrity. The government cannot heal our community’s wounds. Our government is broken, and it will remain broken until men and women who place the value of human life over political gain rise up and step into their calling.
Ephesians 6:10–12 (NIV): Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Racism is darkness. Poverty and injustice are darkness. Political considerations over human needs is darkness. Scripture subjugated to political or legal documents or agendas is darkness. This is a critical moment in the Church’s timeline. Let’s get it right!
After the George Floyd Fad Passes, will we DO Anything about Racial Justice?
This is one of two similar posts. This one takes a more big picture view of the question.
---------------
It's easy, now, to be "woke."
EVERYONE is appalled by what happened in Minneapolis.
There's difference of opinion about what to think about the demonstrations, and the riots that have followed...
...but about the event that is at the core of everything, it's easy to be horrified about the senseless murder of that one man, George Floyd.
And, it's easy to express upset and anger. If you can't put it into words, you can read dozens, HUNDREDS, of passionate expressions...and pick and choose, from among them, how to put your own abhorrence into words.
But, in our religious body, we're good with words. We love our words. We love our righteous talk.
The time will come, though, when the outcries will have been shouted and the emotion will fade.
And, we will be left with the same reality that has always been the central truth of our lives.
It will be time for us to do.
One way Jesus said it is this: "Not everyone who calls me Lord will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only people who DO my Father's will, will enter."
When that happens, we will be accountable to be stewards of this moment. It will matter only what we have done.
We have a history.
For generations, we have lived in the moment.
With consistent conviction and purpose and intention, we have allowed ourselves to be infants tossed back and forth by the waves. (Eph. 4)
It's been our way to wait for the next bandwagon to come along so we can be, usually too late, followers of the next fad.
Faddism is our way. By now, it's so deeply rooted in us that Reggie McNeal might say that it is in our tribe's spiritual DNA.
I'll say this:
We are at a key moment, in our spiritual decay and numerical decline, when turning from our evil, unblessed ways, may be as possible as it will ever be.
So, the question screams to us: What will we do to turn from our fallen, faddish ways.
In the CGGC, Talk-ism and Faddism are rooted in decades of (un)righteousness.
To turn will be to reverse habits that are well established...the ways of our spiritual fathers' fathers.
---------------
To turn will be painful because many will want to continue to live in the old way.
To turn may well break up friendships. It may separate you from members of your church, even your own family. But, then, Jesus was clear that it would.
We have been in the midst of spiritual decay and numerical decline for generations. The Lord of all authority and power and grace and mercy and blessing has not blessed us for all of those generations.
Could it be that this is the time that we will repent? Will we turn from our unblessed ways to live as subjects of the Kingdom of God?
I pray that this will be the moment when we stop thinking that mery talking obedience to Jesus as Lord is, actually, obedience.
This is the time to begin to pray for the holders of institutional authority in our body in a new way, more zealously than ever.
They are in the position to be responsible to show us a way that can be put into action. Talking a good talk will not do.
They, especially, will be subject to judgment.
---------------
It's easy, now, to be "woke."
EVERYONE is appalled by what happened in Minneapolis.
There's difference of opinion about what to think about the demonstrations, and the riots that have followed...
...but about the event that is at the core of everything, it's easy to be horrified about the senseless murder of that one man, George Floyd.
And, it's easy to express upset and anger. If you can't put it into words, you can read dozens, HUNDREDS, of passionate expressions...and pick and choose, from among them, how to put your own abhorrence into words.
But, in our religious body, we're good with words. We love our words. We love our righteous talk.
The time will come, though, when the outcries will have been shouted and the emotion will fade.
And, we will be left with the same reality that has always been the central truth of our lives.
It will be time for us to do.
One way Jesus said it is this: "Not everyone who calls me Lord will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only people who DO my Father's will, will enter."
When that happens, we will be accountable to be stewards of this moment. It will matter only what we have done.
We have a history.
For generations, we have lived in the moment.
With consistent conviction and purpose and intention, we have allowed ourselves to be infants tossed back and forth by the waves. (Eph. 4)
It's been our way to wait for the next bandwagon to come along so we can be, usually too late, followers of the next fad.
Faddism is our way. By now, it's so deeply rooted in us that Reggie McNeal might say that it is in our tribe's spiritual DNA.
I'll say this:
We are at a key moment, in our spiritual decay and numerical decline, when turning from our evil, unblessed ways, may be as possible as it will ever be.
So, the question screams to us: What will we do to turn from our fallen, faddish ways.
In the CGGC, Talk-ism and Faddism are rooted in decades of (un)righteousness.
To turn will be to reverse habits that are well established...the ways of our spiritual fathers' fathers.
---------------
To turn will be painful because many will want to continue to live in the old way.
To turn may well break up friendships. It may separate you from members of your church, even your own family. But, then, Jesus was clear that it would.
We have been in the midst of spiritual decay and numerical decline for generations. The Lord of all authority and power and grace and mercy and blessing has not blessed us for all of those generations.
Could it be that this is the time that we will repent? Will we turn from our unblessed ways to live as subjects of the Kingdom of God?
I pray that this will be the moment when we stop thinking that mery talking obedience to Jesus as Lord is, actually, obedience.
This is the time to begin to pray for the holders of institutional authority in our body in a new way, more zealously than ever.
They are in the position to be responsible to show us a way that can be put into action. Talking a good talk will not do.
They, especially, will be subject to judgment.
What will You and I DO with Our New Racial Sensitivity?
This is one of two posts I'm working on with similar titles. This one addresses the issue on the level of the personal, or individual. In the end, I'll probably make it a bit of a journal entry and make it, first and foremost, about me.
----------------
The death, well, MURDER, of George Floyd seems to have brought a sea change to America.
Based on what I'm seeing, even among Facebook friends who are much more geezerly than am I, suddenly, it's sensical to mock the phrase, "all lives matter." Suddenly, very moderate white bread caucasians understand, more than that, sympathize with, peaceful protests for racial justice.
No doubt, the insight of the moment will fade when the next big story overwhelms the 24 hour business cycle,...but, I believe that the U. S. will never revert to its old normal.
So, how will people of the religious body officially bearing the name, Churches of God, General Conference, put the new norm, the new racial sensitivity, into practice. What do we actually DO now?
---------------
Starting with me, I'll say this for myself, with as much humility as I can muster: I don't know.
I'm very intentional about living as an ambassador of the Kingdom of God.
Until I was confined by the tight quarantine imposed on us who live in this retirement community, I made it a point to put myself out into the world where I'd be forced to engage people and be given the opportunity to live out, as Paul describes it in Galatians 6, "the Law of Christ."
Certainly, the quarantine won't last forever and, assuming I survive COVID-19, I'll be able to, once again, live the ambassadorial lifestyle.
---------------
But, I live in a very white culture. This is heavy duty, uh, "Anabaptist-ville." For me, it's a cross-cultural experience, and, certainly, there are some ways that the Amish and Old Order Mennonites are discriminated against and are victims, in their own way, of oppression.
But, no one's going to carry around a sign that says, AMISH LIVES MATTER.
And, the new wisdom now is that black lives really do matter. And, they do.
Bottom line for me? I'm not positioned to easily live out the new insight.
Still, a disciple's life is one that bears fruit in real behavior.
Jesus is clear that, even among those who call Him Lord, only those who do will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
So the question of how to live as a faithful steward of this new understanding it not academic. It has implications for eternity...
...for me, for us all.
Still, as I say, right now, I don't know.
What I will say is that I think that this is a moment where the people who, well, are holders of institutional authority among us, who consider themselves to be leaders, are responsible before the Lord, to show us a way that can be followed.
I wouldn't want to be in that position now because, if I were, at this moment at least, I'd have nothing.
I think that, for me, I'll meditate and pray. And, I will wait for wisdom from those who are servants of the body to show a way.
What I know is that I must repent. Most of us, perhaps all who read this blog, must.
----------------
The death, well, MURDER, of George Floyd seems to have brought a sea change to America.
Based on what I'm seeing, even among Facebook friends who are much more geezerly than am I, suddenly, it's sensical to mock the phrase, "all lives matter." Suddenly, very moderate white bread caucasians understand, more than that, sympathize with, peaceful protests for racial justice.
No doubt, the insight of the moment will fade when the next big story overwhelms the 24 hour business cycle,...but, I believe that the U. S. will never revert to its old normal.
So, how will people of the religious body officially bearing the name, Churches of God, General Conference, put the new norm, the new racial sensitivity, into practice. What do we actually DO now?
---------------
Starting with me, I'll say this for myself, with as much humility as I can muster: I don't know.
I'm very intentional about living as an ambassador of the Kingdom of God.
Until I was confined by the tight quarantine imposed on us who live in this retirement community, I made it a point to put myself out into the world where I'd be forced to engage people and be given the opportunity to live out, as Paul describes it in Galatians 6, "the Law of Christ."
Certainly, the quarantine won't last forever and, assuming I survive COVID-19, I'll be able to, once again, live the ambassadorial lifestyle.
---------------
But, I live in a very white culture. This is heavy duty, uh, "Anabaptist-ville." For me, it's a cross-cultural experience, and, certainly, there are some ways that the Amish and Old Order Mennonites are discriminated against and are victims, in their own way, of oppression.
But, no one's going to carry around a sign that says, AMISH LIVES MATTER.
And, the new wisdom now is that black lives really do matter. And, they do.
Bottom line for me? I'm not positioned to easily live out the new insight.
Still, a disciple's life is one that bears fruit in real behavior.
Jesus is clear that, even among those who call Him Lord, only those who do will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
So the question of how to live as a faithful steward of this new understanding it not academic. It has implications for eternity...
...for me, for us all.
Still, as I say, right now, I don't know.
What I will say is that I think that this is a moment where the people who, well, are holders of institutional authority among us, who consider themselves to be leaders, are responsible before the Lord, to show us a way that can be followed.
I wouldn't want to be in that position now because, if I were, at this moment at least, I'd have nothing.
I think that, for me, I'll meditate and pray. And, I will wait for wisdom from those who are servants of the body to show a way.
What I know is that I must repent. Most of us, perhaps all who read this blog, must.
Thursday, June 4, 2020
My Representative Church-es of God Congregation and George Floyd
Gang,
Sometimes, when I have finished writing out what was in my mind when I started a post, I realize that what I've written may be too harsh.
I'm thinking that now as I decide whether or not to publish this post.
All I can say is that all I've written is factual to the best of my knowledge,...
...all my opinions are honestly expressed,...
...and, the pastor at the center of this is a bright and thoughtful person who does what he does with considered intentionality.
If you're reading this, obviously, I did decide to hit publish.
---------------
I'm not omniscient. I don't claim to know everything about everything, even in the CGGC. But, I am serious about understanding and, in order to understand, a person needs to know things.
I'm pretty well convinced that there's truth to my Three Eras/Three Value Systems understanding of our body.
There have been three eras in our history, each with its own set of values, each with its own ethos:
The Church of God, which was radical and yearned to join in "another great Reformation," to be rigidly biblical and which was committed to being a prophetic voice in the world.
The Churches of God, which toned down the radicalism, wished to be respected, to become one of many Protestant denominations and wished to provide religious products and services to its own little world.
The CGGC, which inherited generations of spiritual decay and numerical decline engineered by the Churches of God and sought to reverse those trends by creating an institutional hierarchy to lead it and which speaks radically but behaves blandly.
I study up on all of this. As I've noted in other posts, in our body today, most people are of the CGGC culture and most who are not embrace the spirit and the ways of the Church-es of God.
To stay informed about both the CGGC and the Churches of God, I keep my eyes and ears open...but, honestly, as far as the Churches of God is concerned, I study one representative ministry.
I watched this congregation's on line gathering this past Sunday and I studied it carefully...to observe one thing.
Recently I noted that, in this one congregation's Churches of God ethos, the ministry model is one in which the church staff without shame, proudly even, provides religious products and services to be consumed by the laity. They do it as brazenly as any Medieval Roman Catholic parish.
Still, the Word is clear that the gathering of disciples is intended to exist so that disciples "spur one another on to love and good works." (Heb. 10:24)
So, as I say, I studied the on line gathering mostly to obverse one thing: The story of the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police was topping the news. Riots were taking place. I wanted to see how this one representative Churches of God congregation's parish priest handled the issue.
At the very least, I knew that there would be tension.
The biblical mandate, "spur one another on to love and good works," doesn't fit well with the clergy who provide religious products and services to be consumed by the laity institutional model of the church.
Before I turned the "service" on, I had my suspicions...and, as it turns out, my suspicions were confirmed.
NOT ONE WORD was spoken about the issue that was already turning the nation on its ear. Total silence. Nary a burp about how members of the congregation might live in the world as Christians in the midst of rising anger and chaos...
...not a hint of spurring each other on to acts of love.
I've said that each of the three eras/ethe (plural of ethos. I looked it up.), has its own understanding of what righteousness is, that is, their own understanding of what it means to live as a Christian.
I won't suggest that all of our Churches of God congregations ignored the compelling events going on in the world this past Sunday.
What I will be say is that this one behaved according to the principles under which it operates.
These people genuinely believe, when all is said and done, that "going to church" is the central act of discipleship, that, for the pastor, to provide religious products and services to be consumed by the laity, and for the people in the audience to consume those religious products and services contentedly is the Christian life. And, on Sunday, they lived it...
...George Floyd and the whole world be damned.
Let me say that this is a radical form of Churches of God-ism. I don't suggest that everyone of the Churches of God faction entirely ignored the events of the world.
But, I do think that this fits the Churches of God philosophy of ministry.
I've been using the three eras/ethe construct to explain why community doesn't exist in our body. Clearly, a shared understanding of what we do is key to living in community.
I suggest that this congregation's understanding of righteousness can't be our model.
Sometimes, when I have finished writing out what was in my mind when I started a post, I realize that what I've written may be too harsh.
I'm thinking that now as I decide whether or not to publish this post.
All I can say is that all I've written is factual to the best of my knowledge,...
...all my opinions are honestly expressed,...
...and, the pastor at the center of this is a bright and thoughtful person who does what he does with considered intentionality.
If you're reading this, obviously, I did decide to hit publish.
---------------
I'm not omniscient. I don't claim to know everything about everything, even in the CGGC. But, I am serious about understanding and, in order to understand, a person needs to know things.
I'm pretty well convinced that there's truth to my Three Eras/Three Value Systems understanding of our body.
There have been three eras in our history, each with its own set of values, each with its own ethos:
The Church of God, which was radical and yearned to join in "another great Reformation," to be rigidly biblical and which was committed to being a prophetic voice in the world.
The Churches of God, which toned down the radicalism, wished to be respected, to become one of many Protestant denominations and wished to provide religious products and services to its own little world.
The CGGC, which inherited generations of spiritual decay and numerical decline engineered by the Churches of God and sought to reverse those trends by creating an institutional hierarchy to lead it and which speaks radically but behaves blandly.
I study up on all of this. As I've noted in other posts, in our body today, most people are of the CGGC culture and most who are not embrace the spirit and the ways of the Church-es of God.
To stay informed about both the CGGC and the Churches of God, I keep my eyes and ears open...but, honestly, as far as the Churches of God is concerned, I study one representative ministry.
I watched this congregation's on line gathering this past Sunday and I studied it carefully...to observe one thing.
Recently I noted that, in this one congregation's Churches of God ethos, the ministry model is one in which the church staff without shame, proudly even, provides religious products and services to be consumed by the laity. They do it as brazenly as any Medieval Roman Catholic parish.
Still, the Word is clear that the gathering of disciples is intended to exist so that disciples "spur one another on to love and good works." (Heb. 10:24)
So, as I say, I studied the on line gathering mostly to obverse one thing: The story of the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police was topping the news. Riots were taking place. I wanted to see how this one representative Churches of God congregation's parish priest handled the issue.
At the very least, I knew that there would be tension.
The biblical mandate, "spur one another on to love and good works," doesn't fit well with the clergy who provide religious products and services to be consumed by the laity institutional model of the church.
Before I turned the "service" on, I had my suspicions...and, as it turns out, my suspicions were confirmed.
NOT ONE WORD was spoken about the issue that was already turning the nation on its ear. Total silence. Nary a burp about how members of the congregation might live in the world as Christians in the midst of rising anger and chaos...
...not a hint of spurring each other on to acts of love.
I've said that each of the three eras/ethe (plural of ethos. I looked it up.), has its own understanding of what righteousness is, that is, their own understanding of what it means to live as a Christian.
I won't suggest that all of our Churches of God congregations ignored the compelling events going on in the world this past Sunday.
What I will be say is that this one behaved according to the principles under which it operates.
These people genuinely believe, when all is said and done, that "going to church" is the central act of discipleship, that, for the pastor, to provide religious products and services to be consumed by the laity, and for the people in the audience to consume those religious products and services contentedly is the Christian life. And, on Sunday, they lived it...
...George Floyd and the whole world be damned.
Let me say that this is a radical form of Churches of God-ism. I don't suggest that everyone of the Churches of God faction entirely ignored the events of the world.
But, I do think that this fits the Churches of God philosophy of ministry.
I've been using the three eras/ethe construct to explain why community doesn't exist in our body. Clearly, a shared understanding of what we do is key to living in community.
I suggest that this congregation's understanding of righteousness can't be our model.
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
Church-es of God People Don't do Talk-ism, but...
Gang,
I'm going to publish this. I think it's poorly written, even by my standard.
Still, it's a point that I want to make, which, I think, is important for any sort of meaningful future for our body.
Community can only exist where there is a common understanding of what right doing...righteousness...is.
Our body doesn't have that. It's an everyone does what is right in their own eyes thing.
When the first Church of God people formed independent of the German Reformed Church, it was over righteousness, not doctrine. There was minimal difference in theology between the two groups.
It is doing that defines...
...unifies.
------------------
Background: I see three eras in the history of our body...and, with each, a distinct set of values. And, ultimately, a distinct definition of righteousness:
1. The Church of God, the movement which envisioned itself as joining in a "new Reformation," and that formed around the ministry of John Winebrenner and others, which was blessed and thrived from before its first moment and which inspired the "planting" of about 800 congregations within 60 years.
2. The Churches of God, the denomination that rejected the radical to settle for being a small, respectable, Protestant, church, which progressively institutionalized the former movement, created the beginnings of a hierarchy and which witnessed the beginnings of what is, by now, a generations-long trend toward spiritual decay and numerical decline which continues to this day.
3. The CGGC, the effort to reverse the disaster that was the Churches of God, attempting to end decay and decline by increasing the size of the denomination's hierarchy and adopting a leadership model which describes its highest ranking official as the denomination's Chief Executive Officer, and which defines a disciple as a person who attends church worship and which has seen the spiritual decay and numerical decline of the Churches of God continue.
---------------
One essential quality of today's CGGC has been to create radical talk which it ignores with an incredibly bland and tepid walk. I've called this behavior, Talk-ism.
Most of the people active in the body today are CGGC people. CGGC "leaders" create the radical talk and walk the bland walk. The others of the CGGC approve of the talk, or, don't disapprove of it.
----------------
Nearly everyone active in the body these days who's not CGGC is Churches of God.
Interestingly, one important trait that distinguishes Churches of God people from CGGC people is that,...
...unlike people of the CGGC, Churches of God people do not practice Talk-ism.
I began to understand this about five years ago when I was noticing differences between what takes place among General Conference staff and what was normal, at the time, among the leadership culture of the ERC.
I was surprised, back then, when I realized that ERC staffers didn't talk big. They never exaggerated.
In those days, General Conference people talked the early Church of God radical movement talk...,"the New Testament plan," the language of rejection of the Reformation, the language of being part of something energetic, dynamic and new. But, in practice, in walk, they were everyday and run of the mill.
That was not the way of the ERC. The ERC, then, was pure old-school, Protestant, Church-es of God.
They were staid, respectable and, forget that "new Reformation" vision announced by John Winebrenner. They were very, very, content to be Protestant.
I've occasionally used the phrase, "theologically conservative Lutheran wannabes" to describe ERC staff in that day.
Back in the day, that described ERC staff. To this day, something similar describes the Churches of God faction of our body.
---------------
The truth about Churches of God people is that they walk their talk.
Yet, I see two problems with their walked talk:
First, and, most importantly, their walked talk is not being blessed. It has never been.
In history, the Churches of God saw the beginning of our time of spiritual decay and numerical decline and the Churches of God people who live in that way today continue in that tradition.
Second, Churches of God people ignore the authority of the Eldership, the Conference.
They concoct a way of being church that, in effect, rejects both the talk and the walk of our movement days to embrace a wannabe way of reclaiming the ways of the high church German Reformed Church.
That is precisely what Church of God people rejected to become the Church of God. It brings to mind the people of Israel clamoring to be able to return to Egypt.
-----------------
I criticize CGGC people for their Talk-ism, but, give CGGC people this:
CGGC people acknowledge, and even, I think, love, our radical past. To use their language, they talk "aspirationally." They're simply unwilling, unable?, to live radically.
The Churches of God people, on the other hand, truly walk their talk. The problem is that their walked talk is of everything we rejected in calling for "a new Reformation" and "the New Testament plan."
So, Churches of God people walk their talk. The problem is that theirs is not ours.
For example, they outright reject the core Church of God belief in the Bible as our "only rule of faith and practice." They refuse to submit to the founding Church of God commitment to "establish churches of the 'New Testament plan'" to be mundanely and conventionally Protestant.
Churches of God people groove on the clergy/laity divide. They see it as a good thing that pastors function as parish priests who provide religious products and services to be consumed by the laity.
And, they are very comfortable with high church practices, especially the use of the ecclesiastical calendar.
One of the congregations I follow on Facebook/YouTube is a Churches of God group.
They are unabashed in their observance of the high church ecclesiastical calendar. I watched their "worship service" this past Sunday. Yikes! If I had $100 for every time the words Pentecost Sunday were spoken, I could pay back my first Social Security check and use what's left to take Evie to the Jersey shore, ocean front, for a week, once the beaches open!
Churches of God people walk their talk. Sadly, their talk ain't ours.
---------------
Why does that matter?
It matters because community in a religious body is the fruit of a shared commitment to a walk...to a common understanding of what righteousness is.
These people reject our core understanding of what it means for a congregation to walk together for Christ.
I've called them spiritual terrorists.
Individually, they are nice people. Bland, even.
But, in what they DO, in the context of this body, they subvert our need to reverse the trend to spiritual decay and numerical decline that began in the Churches of God era with what they believe...and do.
If our body is going to move forward, it's going to have to think seriously about walk. About righteousness.
I'm going to publish this. I think it's poorly written, even by my standard.
Still, it's a point that I want to make, which, I think, is important for any sort of meaningful future for our body.
Community can only exist where there is a common understanding of what right doing...righteousness...is.
Our body doesn't have that. It's an everyone does what is right in their own eyes thing.
When the first Church of God people formed independent of the German Reformed Church, it was over righteousness, not doctrine. There was minimal difference in theology between the two groups.
It is doing that defines...
...unifies.
------------------
Background: I see three eras in the history of our body...and, with each, a distinct set of values. And, ultimately, a distinct definition of righteousness:
1. The Church of God, the movement which envisioned itself as joining in a "new Reformation," and that formed around the ministry of John Winebrenner and others, which was blessed and thrived from before its first moment and which inspired the "planting" of about 800 congregations within 60 years.
2. The Churches of God, the denomination that rejected the radical to settle for being a small, respectable, Protestant, church, which progressively institutionalized the former movement, created the beginnings of a hierarchy and which witnessed the beginnings of what is, by now, a generations-long trend toward spiritual decay and numerical decline which continues to this day.
3. The CGGC, the effort to reverse the disaster that was the Churches of God, attempting to end decay and decline by increasing the size of the denomination's hierarchy and adopting a leadership model which describes its highest ranking official as the denomination's Chief Executive Officer, and which defines a disciple as a person who attends church worship and which has seen the spiritual decay and numerical decline of the Churches of God continue.
---------------
One essential quality of today's CGGC has been to create radical talk which it ignores with an incredibly bland and tepid walk. I've called this behavior, Talk-ism.
Most of the people active in the body today are CGGC people. CGGC "leaders" create the radical talk and walk the bland walk. The others of the CGGC approve of the talk, or, don't disapprove of it.
----------------
Nearly everyone active in the body these days who's not CGGC is Churches of God.
Interestingly, one important trait that distinguishes Churches of God people from CGGC people is that,...
...unlike people of the CGGC, Churches of God people do not practice Talk-ism.
I began to understand this about five years ago when I was noticing differences between what takes place among General Conference staff and what was normal, at the time, among the leadership culture of the ERC.
I was surprised, back then, when I realized that ERC staffers didn't talk big. They never exaggerated.
In those days, General Conference people talked the early Church of God radical movement talk...,"the New Testament plan," the language of rejection of the Reformation, the language of being part of something energetic, dynamic and new. But, in practice, in walk, they were everyday and run of the mill.
That was not the way of the ERC. The ERC, then, was pure old-school, Protestant, Church-es of God.
They were staid, respectable and, forget that "new Reformation" vision announced by John Winebrenner. They were very, very, content to be Protestant.
I've occasionally used the phrase, "theologically conservative Lutheran wannabes" to describe ERC staff in that day.
Back in the day, that described ERC staff. To this day, something similar describes the Churches of God faction of our body.
---------------
The truth about Churches of God people is that they walk their talk.
Yet, I see two problems with their walked talk:
First, and, most importantly, their walked talk is not being blessed. It has never been.
In history, the Churches of God saw the beginning of our time of spiritual decay and numerical decline and the Churches of God people who live in that way today continue in that tradition.
Second, Churches of God people ignore the authority of the Eldership, the Conference.
They concoct a way of being church that, in effect, rejects both the talk and the walk of our movement days to embrace a wannabe way of reclaiming the ways of the high church German Reformed Church.
That is precisely what Church of God people rejected to become the Church of God. It brings to mind the people of Israel clamoring to be able to return to Egypt.
-----------------
I criticize CGGC people for their Talk-ism, but, give CGGC people this:
CGGC people acknowledge, and even, I think, love, our radical past. To use their language, they talk "aspirationally." They're simply unwilling, unable?, to live radically.
The Churches of God people, on the other hand, truly walk their talk. The problem is that their walked talk is of everything we rejected in calling for "a new Reformation" and "the New Testament plan."
So, Churches of God people walk their talk. The problem is that theirs is not ours.
For example, they outright reject the core Church of God belief in the Bible as our "only rule of faith and practice." They refuse to submit to the founding Church of God commitment to "establish churches of the 'New Testament plan'" to be mundanely and conventionally Protestant.
Churches of God people groove on the clergy/laity divide. They see it as a good thing that pastors function as parish priests who provide religious products and services to be consumed by the laity.
And, they are very comfortable with high church practices, especially the use of the ecclesiastical calendar.
One of the congregations I follow on Facebook/YouTube is a Churches of God group.
They are unabashed in their observance of the high church ecclesiastical calendar. I watched their "worship service" this past Sunday. Yikes! If I had $100 for every time the words Pentecost Sunday were spoken, I could pay back my first Social Security check and use what's left to take Evie to the Jersey shore, ocean front, for a week, once the beaches open!
Churches of God people walk their talk. Sadly, their talk ain't ours.
---------------
Why does that matter?
It matters because community in a religious body is the fruit of a shared commitment to a walk...to a common understanding of what righteousness is.
These people reject our core understanding of what it means for a congregation to walk together for Christ.
I've called them spiritual terrorists.
Individually, they are nice people. Bland, even.
But, in what they DO, in the context of this body, they subvert our need to reverse the trend to spiritual decay and numerical decline that began in the Churches of God era with what they believe...and do.
If our body is going to move forward, it's going to have to think seriously about walk. About righteousness.
Monday, June 1, 2020
Killing, or as Paul would Say, "Quenching," the Holy Spirit
To help me survive the extreme quarantine, well, imposed, on those of us who own apartments here in this retirement community, Dan Masshardt gifted me with Neil Cole's, Primal Fire, which focuses on APEST and, therefore, one way the Holy Spirit empowers disciples of Jesus. I've been reading it at a very deliberate pace.
(By the way, Dan gave me permission to mention him here, an either courageous or foolish act.)
At the beginning of each chapter in the book, Cole places introductory quotes. Here is one of them which says something I've believed passionately for some time, but never express this well,...
...from an English missionary, of whom I'd never heard:
"How little chance the Holy Ghost has nowadays. The churches and missionary societies have so bound Him in red tape that they practically ask Him to sit in a corner while they do the work themselves." -- C T Studd
Amen, Preach it, bro!
---------------
In my opinion, this describes a flaw in the CGGC...a serious flaw.
Sometimes, off the blog, I'm criticized for making too much of our body in the Church of God movement days and, most certainly, I'm taken to task for nigh unto making a saint out of John Winebrenner.
I acknowledge that there is some validity to that criticism.
In truth, my Lord is Jesus, not John Winebrenner. My references to Winebrenner and the Church of God normally highlight two facts.
One is that the Lord blessed us then and that we are decaying and declining now.
The other is that, in many ways, we talk the same talk as Winebrenner and his colleagues yet we don't walk their walk.
For all of my reverence for Winebrenner and for all of my appreciation for what the first members of our movement accomplished, with the blessing of God, there's one thing about those people and that time that concerns me.
In that day, we were too much about the Bible...
...and, too little about Jesus...
...and, even more than that, way too little about the Holy Spirit.
From that, we have a particularly serious problem today.
One of the worst aspects of institutionalizing is that, inevitably,...
...a Christian institution substitutes its hierarchy for the Holy Spirit.
And, ours has.
In the CGGC, we have a serious problem.
We began in our hay day, overemphasizing the Word and underemphasizing the Holy Spirit.
And, since the Churches of God era began we have institutionalized ourselves, and now, much more in the CGGC dispensation, we have institutionalized even more.
As I've said before, the CGGC actually defines its Executive Director as its "Chief Executive Officer." Where is there room for life in the Holy Spirit in an institution led by a CEO.
Honestly, whose power do you want to lead you? The third person of the Trinity, or Lance Finley and the Councils and Commissions and Committees he executes?
The truth is that, even in our best days, we made too little of the Holy Spirit.
And, in recent generations, we've chosen to create an institution to lead us. We have not turned to the Spirit. In a very real way, we've turned away from Him.
We have chosen wrongly.
---------------
There are so many facets that must be involved in the repentance that is required of us.
This rejection of the power of the Holy Spirit which traces even to our first and best days, is one facet, a very important one.
But, we must, first of all, allow our hearts to be broken.
"...godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret."
If we'd stop being so proud, so certain of ourselves...
...and mourn...
...the Lord will fill us and lead us and empower us and bless us.
We must weep.
Then, when our hearts are broken...
...we must repent.
(By the way, Dan gave me permission to mention him here, an either courageous or foolish act.)
At the beginning of each chapter in the book, Cole places introductory quotes. Here is one of them which says something I've believed passionately for some time, but never express this well,...
...from an English missionary, of whom I'd never heard:
"How little chance the Holy Ghost has nowadays. The churches and missionary societies have so bound Him in red tape that they practically ask Him to sit in a corner while they do the work themselves." -- C T Studd
Amen, Preach it, bro!
---------------
In my opinion, this describes a flaw in the CGGC...a serious flaw.
Sometimes, off the blog, I'm criticized for making too much of our body in the Church of God movement days and, most certainly, I'm taken to task for nigh unto making a saint out of John Winebrenner.
I acknowledge that there is some validity to that criticism.
In truth, my Lord is Jesus, not John Winebrenner. My references to Winebrenner and the Church of God normally highlight two facts.
One is that the Lord blessed us then and that we are decaying and declining now.
The other is that, in many ways, we talk the same talk as Winebrenner and his colleagues yet we don't walk their walk.
For all of my reverence for Winebrenner and for all of my appreciation for what the first members of our movement accomplished, with the blessing of God, there's one thing about those people and that time that concerns me.
In that day, we were too much about the Bible...
...and, too little about Jesus...
...and, even more than that, way too little about the Holy Spirit.
From that, we have a particularly serious problem today.
One of the worst aspects of institutionalizing is that, inevitably,...
...a Christian institution substitutes its hierarchy for the Holy Spirit.
And, ours has.
In the CGGC, we have a serious problem.
We began in our hay day, overemphasizing the Word and underemphasizing the Holy Spirit.
And, since the Churches of God era began we have institutionalized ourselves, and now, much more in the CGGC dispensation, we have institutionalized even more.
As I've said before, the CGGC actually defines its Executive Director as its "Chief Executive Officer." Where is there room for life in the Holy Spirit in an institution led by a CEO.
Honestly, whose power do you want to lead you? The third person of the Trinity, or Lance Finley and the Councils and Commissions and Committees he executes?
The truth is that, even in our best days, we made too little of the Holy Spirit.
And, in recent generations, we've chosen to create an institution to lead us. We have not turned to the Spirit. In a very real way, we've turned away from Him.
We have chosen wrongly.
---------------
There are so many facets that must be involved in the repentance that is required of us.
This rejection of the power of the Holy Spirit which traces even to our first and best days, is one facet, a very important one.
But, we must, first of all, allow our hearts to be broken.
"...godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret."
If we'd stop being so proud, so certain of ourselves...
...and mourn...
...the Lord will fill us and lead us and empower us and bless us.
We must weep.
Then, when our hearts are broken...
...we must repent.
Everyone Did (Does) What was Right in Their Own Eyes-ism
The realization that, in understanding our body, it's useful to observe three eras in our history, has given me a heightened understanding of who we are today, of how we dysfunction...
...and, I think, of why the Lord of all authority and power and grace and mercy and blessing isn't blessing us.
Just a quick summary.
During the Church of God time, our body thrived. It was during the Churches of God time that our current slide into spiritual decay and numerical decline, now continuing for generations, began. And, now, in the CGGC era, our decay and decline accelerates.
Of course, the three designations refer, not only to time periods, but also to value systems...to ways of thinking about what is good, what is right, what is righteous.
This is the CGGC era, officially, in our body. But, certainly, people of the Churches of God are many, and very determined.
I think of myself as a Church of God person.
And, I've said that the community developing around the Nick and Dan Bible Study Podcast may turn out to represent the rise of a "Neo-" Church of God movement, or faction at least. What these guys advocate is not CGGC. It's also clearly not Churches of God.
If I ever redo my Characteristics of the CGGC Brand, which was last revised before the beginning of the Finley regime, I think I'd shuffle things around, probably lose one or two of the old, but definitely add:
Everyone Does what is Right in His own Eyes-ism.
Because, in spite of the fact that we have updated our faith documents in the last decade, no one acknowledges to them. Certainly, no one submits to them.
And, that lack of acknowledgement of, and submission to, shared authority, is key in describing a group of people where everyone does what he wants to do.
I do want to be clear about what I see.
In our body, the defining characteristic is not merely that everyone does what they want to do.
No, not at all.
It's that everyone does what is right in their own eyes. This is about righteousness. All of us care about doing the right thing.
The Churches of God people, the CGGC people, and the (Neo-)Church of God people are all doing what we think is right.
There are two problems with this at the very least.
One is that these groups can't all be right. Some are wrong. Perhaps all are.
The other is that, as long as our defining characteristic is that we all go around, each doing our own thing, there can't be community.
There can't be unity. There can be tolerance.
But there can't be "Love one another. As I have loved you..." love, i.e., there can't be obedience to the New Commandment.
And, most certainly, there can't be obedience to the admonition of Paul that we should be "submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ." That, of course, points, ultimately, to our connection to, or lack of close connection, to Christ.
For all our bland, tolerant, shepherd-dominated church-ism,...
...we don't do submission well.
Not to one another. Not to Christ.
And, so, the Lord of all authority and power and grace and mercy and blessing doesn't bless us. And, spiritual decay and numerical decline continues...with no reversal of that trend in sight.
We must repent.
...and, I think, of why the Lord of all authority and power and grace and mercy and blessing isn't blessing us.
Just a quick summary.
During the Church of God time, our body thrived. It was during the Churches of God time that our current slide into spiritual decay and numerical decline, now continuing for generations, began. And, now, in the CGGC era, our decay and decline accelerates.
Of course, the three designations refer, not only to time periods, but also to value systems...to ways of thinking about what is good, what is right, what is righteous.
This is the CGGC era, officially, in our body. But, certainly, people of the Churches of God are many, and very determined.
I think of myself as a Church of God person.
And, I've said that the community developing around the Nick and Dan Bible Study Podcast may turn out to represent the rise of a "Neo-" Church of God movement, or faction at least. What these guys advocate is not CGGC. It's also clearly not Churches of God.
If I ever redo my Characteristics of the CGGC Brand, which was last revised before the beginning of the Finley regime, I think I'd shuffle things around, probably lose one or two of the old, but definitely add:
Everyone Does what is Right in His own Eyes-ism.
Because, in spite of the fact that we have updated our faith documents in the last decade, no one acknowledges to them. Certainly, no one submits to them.
And, that lack of acknowledgement of, and submission to, shared authority, is key in describing a group of people where everyone does what he wants to do.
I do want to be clear about what I see.
In our body, the defining characteristic is not merely that everyone does what they want to do.
No, not at all.
It's that everyone does what is right in their own eyes. This is about righteousness. All of us care about doing the right thing.
The Churches of God people, the CGGC people, and the (Neo-)Church of God people are all doing what we think is right.
There are two problems with this at the very least.
One is that these groups can't all be right. Some are wrong. Perhaps all are.
The other is that, as long as our defining characteristic is that we all go around, each doing our own thing, there can't be community.
There can't be unity. There can be tolerance.
But there can't be "Love one another. As I have loved you..." love, i.e., there can't be obedience to the New Commandment.
And, most certainly, there can't be obedience to the admonition of Paul that we should be "submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ." That, of course, points, ultimately, to our connection to, or lack of close connection, to Christ.
For all our bland, tolerant, shepherd-dominated church-ism,...
...we don't do submission well.
Not to one another. Not to Christ.
And, so, the Lord of all authority and power and grace and mercy and blessing doesn't bless us. And, spiritual decay and numerical decline continues...with no reversal of that trend in sight.
We must repent.
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