Warner's World

The Hardening of spiritual Arteries

2012-02-14T11:42:00.000-08:00

Radical Renewal: The Problem of Wineskins Today. Houston: Touch Publications, 1996, by Howard A. Snyder. Chapter three of Snyder’s book attracted me for its theme, expressed in the chapter's opening sentence: “Jesus came preaching the gospel to the poor.” We all know this. We Christians take it for granted; yet, we promptly forget and ignore it.

Dr. Snyder also affirms what some of us already recognize, which is, “The Old Testament repeatedly speaks of God’s care for the poor, the fatherless, the widow, the oppressed.” To that, however, Snyder adds what has become an odd note for too much of the church. He claims: “Radical renewal calls us to hear this biblical concern for the poor, for here we feel the heartbeat of God” (italic added).

Regarding the poor in the Old Testament, the author suggests “The Old Testament reveals several significant facts, surprising facts about God’s attitude toward the poor”:

1. The Lord “especially loves the poor and does not forget them… (emphasis added).
God’s anointed one “delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy” (Psalm 72:12-13).
The Lord “does not forget the cry of the afflicted “ (Psalm 9:12).
God has been a “refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in their distress” (Isaiah 25:4).

2. In the Old Testament social order the poor received an economic advantage (bold print added).
The people were commanded to loan freely to the poor, but not to charge interest (Deuteronomy 15:7-11; Exodus 22:25).
*Part of the wheat and grape harvest was to be left ungathered for the benefit of the poor (Leviticus 19:9-10; 23:22).
*Significantly, part of the purpose of the tithe was to provide relief for the poor (Deuteronomy 14:29; 26:12-13).

3. The Old Testament insists that God requires justice for the poor and will judge those who oppress them. God’s words by the prophet Zechariah are typical: “Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy each to his brother, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor” (Zechariah 7:9-10; compare Leviticus 19:15; Deuteronomy 16:18-20, 24:14-22; Proverbs 31:9; Amos 2:6-7).
4. Finally, the Old Testament teaches that God’s people bear a special ethical responsibility to the poor. “Remembering their slavery in Egypt was to motivate the Israelites to show mercy to the oppressed” (stranger, emigrant) (Deuteronomy 24:17-22).

Why this concern for the poor? Snyder suggests, “In the Old Testament God’s concern with the poor is consistently tied to God’s justice and the working of justice among God’s people. Thus, biblical words such as the poor, the needy, the oppressed, the sojourner typically have moral content, pointing to God’s requirement for justice” (bold added).

The poor is a moral category. In God’s world there is no human condition which escapes moral significance, and the poor, and the treatment they receive, are strong indicators of the faithfulness of God’s people” (italic added).

Now, we all know Jesus emphasized the poor and vulnerable, but did he play down the O. T. emphasis, or did he affirm it? Snyder offers four statements answering this question.
1. Jesus made the preaching of the gospel to the poor a validation of his own ministry (Luke 4:18-21, citing Isaiah 61; compare Mark 11:1-6).
2. Jesus believed the poor were more ready and able to understand and accept his gospel (Matthew 11:25-26)..
3. Jesus specifically directed the gospel call to the poor (Matthew 11:28).
4. On several occasions Jesus recommended showing partiality to the poor (cf. Matthew 19:211; Luke 12:33, 14l:12-14).
He concludes: “In short, Jesus… the Son of God, demonstrated the same attitude toward the poor that God revealed in the Old Testament.”

From this, Snyder draws this parallel for today: “Like her Master, the Church must place special emphasis on the poor” (italics added). He further observes what I too have observed, “Protestantism is, in general, neglecting poorer people.” This I have experienced, in the white flight to the suburbs.

Snyder’s application for his book is this: “The priority among the poor is evangelism” and he makes a strong case for church planting and evangelism among the poor and letting the power of the gospel raise the level of the people (which it will quite naturally, but we are not to turn our backs on the poor after we ascend economically, as has happened across Protestantism).

This may be a better strategy than moving to the suburbs in a fine, upwardly mobile community that is hard to reach with the gospel. In 1771, Wesley commented, “Everywhere we find the laboring part of mankind the readiest to receive the Gospel.”

My application for this is what Snyder applies as a 3rd implication in ministering to the poor for today. He claims “Christian responsibility toward the poor does not end with evangelism.”

It is my contention that Christians today have a moral and ethical obligation (sense of justice) that demands rethinking political positions and working to repair a broken socio-political system that favors the ways of the wealthy and further burdens the middle and lower income people (much of it in the name of the Christian church and being moral).

FROM WARNER’S WORLD,
If the church is to avoid spiritual and social hardening of the arteries, the church must be growing among the poor. I am walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Politics and Social Justice

2012-02-09T13:22:00.000-08:00

Many scorn Obamonomics and deternine to limit the President to one term in office. He is not a Christian; he is a closet Muslim. He is too bright and intelligent to be a black man, except he was given an education via affirmative action he did not earn.

Worst of all, Mr. Obama is a Socialist. He represent the masses rather than the people in power. He wants to redistribute “our wealth” (which we earned) among the poor (who did not earn). Like the Clintons and all that liberal crowd, he insists on providing health coverage for everybody (which we all know we can’t afford, although we can afford war, tax breaks for the most wealthy, lifetime pensions for everybody who serves a term in Congress, ad infinitum).

Such people are like the wealthy Israelites the Prophet Jeremiah described: “For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. They have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying, "Peace, peace," when there is no peace” (Je. 6:13-14).

The rage of right-side politicians today is individualism, a specialty of Ayn Rand, the Russian atheist, social philosopher, and mother of the school of “Objectivism”. Rick Santorum idealizes the good old days when there was no social network to protect people in difficult times, when there were only hardy pioneers (individualists) who carved it out on their own, without help from anyone. They created our country, he claims! To hear him talk, you would think any kind of social networking is un-American and Socialistic.

Listening to current conservative Republican Presidential candidates, I hear them outline their political conservatism and am painfully aware they are building their political structures more on the philosophies of Ayn Rand than they are the moral integrity of the Bible. Although the social issues of health, welfare, and education are a relatively small number of dollars within our national budget, they take up a majority of the political campaigning. Each vies with the other to see who can have the smallest government, with the least number of entitlements et al. In doing so, they deny major themes of the Bible.

For example: when Moses reaffirmed the Covenant in Deuteronomy 26, outlining the first fruits and tithes, he reminded Israel to declare “before the Lord your God: ‘My father was a wandering Aramean… the Lord… ‘saw our misery, toil and oppression…”

He told them, “Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before him. And you and the Levites and the aliens among you shall rejoice in all the good things the Lord your God has given you…” To this he added: “When you have finished setting aside a tenth… you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.”

In chapter 27 Moses outlines the curses and blessings of Israel, all premised upon their obedience: “The Lord your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul” so that “you will be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised“ (26:16; 26:19).

Among the curses of disobedience is this one (v 19): “Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow…”

Years later, at the end of Joshua’s life (the successor to Moses), Joshua reminded the people “the Lord gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their forefather… Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled… But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses… gave you…love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul” (Joshua 21-22).

Joshua gave this word to Israel’s Leadership before he died: “Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses” (23:6). From the beginnings of the Judaio-Christian era the message has been one of individual responsibility with equality of opportunity and social justice for all as a major theme throughout the Bible.

Nor was this a word for Israel only. While the Israelites took the matter of circumcision to be a means of distinguishing Jews from Gentiles, the Bible sees it differently. Joshua’s departing message included this insight: “The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live…” (30:6).

By the time Jesus taught his disciples “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine [or did not do], you did [did not] for me”, he was only fulfilling teaching that began with the Abrahamic Covenant, continued throughout the Prophets, and was brought to its fullness in Jesus (Matthew 25:40-46).

From Warner’s World,
Social Justice is neither left nor right, Democrat or Republican, social justice became the law with the Word of God and it finds its finest expression when we worship God supremely, and love our neighbor (including our enemy) as ourselves…

walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Libertarian Anarchy

2012-02-02T18:58:00.000-08:00

Have you had any of those “Hate Obama” messages? I have! America has been attacked from within by well-meaning people, bent on having their own way, and who fail to understand the times. They raise a flag of conservatism that claims democratic politics (Main Street politics, not just the Democratic party) are treasonous to American tradition.

They charge Barak Obama with being a non-American (born outside the 48 states), a Socialist (Communist) for advocating a cooperative approach to running the country), an intelligent enemy intent on destroying America as we know it. Oh, they also charge him with being a secret-but-devout Muslim, although I have heard his testimony of personal faith, and am aware of some of his Protestant Pastor friends. The biggest offense Barak Obama committed, although unspoken by his attackers, is that he was born black.

I see the current Tea Party phenomenon as representing the greatest threat to our American way of life since Adolph Hitler. Anything that suggests community-based cooperation, like some form of government, is socialistic, anti-reason, and anti-individual. Ayn Rand, as an atheist, idealized this brand of individualism, claiming the individual (she does not say which one) is at the center of society--the ultimate of society.

Do you understand what George Bush meant when referring to a free-market economy? It means everybody “voluntarily” does his own thing; each individual is the center of his/her world. That is economic anarchy, a form of Lone Rangerism.

Do we understand where Ron Paul comes from with his libertarian political views? Why did Dr. Paul name his son, the Kentucky senator, Rand? Why are so many politicoes emulating the moral philosophy (objectivism) of the Russian emigrant, atheist, Ayn Rand? Anyone wanting to know the answers to these questions and other related questions should google a little free information. Here are some helpful quotes:

“The Ayn Rand Institute (ARI), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Irvine, California, works to introduce young people to Ayn Rand’s novels, to support scholarship and research based on her ideas, and to promote the principles of reason, rational self-interest, individual rights and laissez-faire capitalism [hands off] to the widest possible audience. The Institute is named for novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand (1905-1982), who is best known for her novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.”

*Did you note that self-interest, individual rights, and unregulated (laizzes faire) capitalism are at the center of importance?

Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend said in 2011, “Ayn Rand has a large and growing influence on American politics.” Fox Network quoted Don Watkins as asking-and-answering, “To what extent has Ayn Rand shaped our political landscape? So far, not nearly enough. Don Watkins is an analyst at the Ayn Rand Institute. You can follow his work at www.facebook.com/DonWatkinsWriter.”

Quoting further:
“Rand is usually thought of as a political philosopher, but that is not how she viewed herself. “I am primarily the creator of a new code of morality,” she once said. Whereas previous moral codes bestowed sainthood on those who served and sacrificed for others, Rand’s morality extolled “the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.” *Note: She eliminates the sainthood of service and sacrifice for others in favor of the morality of self-service.

Again quoting:
“Above all, you can see it in the moral outrage of the Tea Party activists, many of whom carry signs championing Rand’s works and ideas. Recall the Rick Santelli rant that started it all: “This is America. How many of you people want to pay for your neighbor’s mortgage that has an extra bathroom and can’t pay their bills, raise their hand? . . . . We’re thinking of having a Chicago Tea Party in July. All you capitalists that want to show up to Lake Michigan, I’m going to start organizing. . . . at the end of the day, I’m an Ayn Rander.”

*Note:
Santelli was not an ordinary workman ranting against government per se; he was ranting against Obama’s wanting to make his bailout help commoners with mortgages underwater, which was taking income from Santelli, a Wall Street Trader. Big business took Santelli’s ranting and turned it around as an anti-Obama, anti-socialism message because the government was “forcing” Santelli against his will as an Inside Trader.

“In other words, a Rand-inspired political movement would be a principled movement. It would champion laissez-faire capitalism—the total separation of state and economics—as the only system that fully protects the rational and productive individual, securing his moral and political right to pursue his own happiness.”
*I disregarded this story, which I found first in AlterNet, an alternative News Service, but then discovered the original on the Rand Institute Website. AlterNet’s interpretation of it was not original and is authentic.

Further reading of Rand revealed this term and its definition on Wikipedia:
“Anarcho-capitalism (also referred to as “libertarian anarchy” by anarcho-capitalists,[1] “market anarchism,”[2] “free market anarchism”[3] or “private-property anarchism”[4]) is a libertarian[5][6] and individualist anarchist[7] political philosophy that advocates the elimination of the state in favour of individual sovereignty in a free market.

“In an anarcho-capitalist society, law enforcement, courts, and all other security services would be provided by voluntarily funded competitors rather than through taxation, and money would be privately and competitively provided in an open market.

“According to anarcho-capitalists, personal and economic activities would be regulated by privately run law rather than through politics. Furthermore, victimless crimes would not be punished.” The bottom line of this line of thought is individual sovereignty in an unregulated (anarchic) market. But, when you eliminate all authority, all rule books, all cooperative efforts, except that which is voluntary, what do you have?

While Rand idealizes humanity, and imagines everything being peaches and cream, life tells us differently, as illustrated by this story of the Scorpion and the Beaver. The Scorpion asked the Beaver to carry him across the lake.

“If I let you get on my back,” responded the Beaver, “you’ll sting me and paralyze me and cause me to drown.”

The Scorpion reasoned, “I can’t swim. Thus, if I sting you while we are in the lake, I’ll drown too. Obviously, I wouldn’t do anything to cause that.” So, the kindhearted Beaver agreeably gave the Scorpion a ride. Sure enough, the Scorpion stung him, and the Beaver reproachfully asked, “Why did you sting me?”

Tearfully, the Scorpion replied, “I couldn’t help it, it’s my nature.”

Atheism and sovereign individualism have no successful way of dealing with the realities of human nature (what the Bible calls sin). That sin is what nobody talks about, but everybody does. From Warner’s World, I am walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

The Biblical Character of Unity

2012-02-01T18:03:00.000-08:00

My friend asked what I thought was the biblical character of the unity we proclaim. That is a discerning question. The Church of God [Reformation Movement] has survived some 130 years because dedicated individuals followed the spirit of the commission D. S. Warner believed God gave him.

Warner wed his proclamation of personal holiness and a united church (the spoken word) with the written (published) word. During the latter 19th century, he combined preaching and publishing, and out of that 2-fold thrust evolved the Church of God Reformation Movement, the church ministry being heavily nurtured by the publishing ministry for the first 50-75 years.

Like so many, my friend and I have spent our lives wrapping ourselves around Warner’s example--volunteering--sacrificing--giving [frequently] until it hurt. I recognize the great devotion that prompted so many to pour entire lives into that message of personal holiness, Christian brotherhood, and church reformation.

Unity has always characterized our message. On the other hand, we often proclaimed more unity that we practiced. In defining the biblical character of unity, I want to be positive, but I must honestly confess we have often fallen far short in practicing that facet of our Biblical message.

Looking back, I see well meaning people with the best of intentions, sometimes functioning dysfunctionally--from beginning. Is that bad? Is it good? Or, does is rather reveal the dilemma of our humanity? I suggest Warner et Company were flawed, as was their message. Some remain among us who overly revere the writings of our pioneers.

As worthy as they were, I find then quite human. I respect them. Their published message is worth referencing. Nevertheless, they were subject to their times, and while I will accept their guidance, I will not canonize their writings. Some things, they got right, but some of their choices could be improved upon.

They did their best with what they had, which was sometimes better than we have done with what we had. Were they infallible in their behavior, their beliefs, and their applications of scripture for their times? Hindsight says they, like unnecessary baggage, sometimes brought their fallibility into our cooperative ministry, which has occasionally left our witness weaker than it should have been.

I do believe the Church of God Movement is better positioned today than ever before, to be the Reform Movement our pioneers claimed to be in the beginning. I say that, warts and all--fully cognizant of some wretched flaws that produced debacles like the downfall of Warner Press, the demise of “Vital Christianity” magazine, Church Extension, et al.

I believe the Biblical character of unity must be defined biblically, rather than doctrinally. I grew up in a congregation “where Christian experience makes you a member.” We believed we were “A United Church For a Divided World”.

Those themes are consistent with the prayer of Jesus in John 17, for his disciples to be one, as Father and Son are one. Paul defined our one hope as having one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and “one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:6 NIV).

“The Church’s one foundation,“ wrote Samuel Stone, “is Jesus Christ her Lord.” Christ’s followers share a common bond in Jesus Christ. That bond is trans-denominational [some would say, non-denominational] and is NOT simply the agreement found “within” the Anderson Fellowship. Nor is it in finding doctrinal (creedal) unity, or agreement on a set of Bible doctrines.

From the time I became a Church of God pastor until today, I have shared a level of fellowship within God’s larger Church Family, everywhere I served. Warner’s 1881 withdrawal from sectism at Beaver Dam, IN inspired me. Believing he did it to openly fellowship all of God’s people, I found him ahead of his time. I liked his intent; it motivated me, and I took it seriously.

Yet, I believe Warner had unresolved issues with organization and authority--due in part to his credentials being withdrawn by the Winebrenner fellowship with whom he associated. Dare I suggest he practiced biblical unity better in launching his ministry than he did after he developed his “Come-out” theology that he adapted from the Adventists of Battle Creek through Uriah Smith. That teaching is badly flawed, but later on that.

If you know the story of G. P. Tasker‘s conflict with “Anderson” you readily understand some of the problems with the “come-out doctrine. Doug Welch chronicled the details of that story and Tasker’s recall from missionary service in India (Ahead of His Times: A life of GEORGE P. TASKER/Douglas Welch/AU Press/2001). You might also read E. A. Reardon in The Gospel Trumpet Years, by Stultz and Welch; I found him thoughtfully challenging.

Biblical unity comes through personal discipleship with Jesus rather than uniformity of doctrine, be it holiness, the church, end times, or whatever. doctrine. Our Salvation in Christ creates a common brotherhood and is our common bond.

Biblical Unity is best expressed, I believe, when we cooperate with God’s larger family by working together on His “Unfinished Mission” of taking Christ to all the world (evangelism) [cf John 3:16; Matthew 20:19-20]. That is our common mission--our primary ministry. God did not call us to become a cookie cutter church body (sometimes called denomination); He called us to become an Emergency Room in a dysfunctional world.

To refuse to come together for that purpose is to reject the primary desire of God’s own heart. From Warner’s World, I am walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Abolish War, For the People's Sake!

2012-01-27T13:15:00.000-08:00

A quiet celebration took place in Baghdad not long ago. Highly acclaimed in political circles, it left no "Mission Accomplished" ... no victory parade for nine years work … no cheering crowds grateful for freedom from Saddam. Associated Press reported it “officially declared end to its mission in Iraq with a business-like closing ceremony behind blast-proof walls.”

Nine years killed 4,500 Americans, and more than 100,000 Iraqis. Other damages included 32,000 wounded Americans, “far more Iraqis wounded,” and $800 billion drained from our public treasury. Initially supported as an extension of 9/11, that proved fraudulent and left Iraq fractured by violence and fearful of its future. Defense Secretary Panetta told troops, "You will leave with great pride — lasting pride ... Secure in knowing that your sacrifice has helped the Iraqi people to begin a new chapter in history."

Views vary however.” AP quoted Mariam Khazim as saying, "With this withdrawal, the Americans are leaving behind a destroyed country.“ A Shiite whose father was killed when a mortar shell struck his home in Sadr City, concluded, "The Americans did not leave modern schools or big factories behind them. Instead, they left thousands of widows and orphans. The Americans did not leave a free people and country behind them, in fact they left a ruined country and a divided nation."

Others celebrated our exit as “neither invited nor welcome”. An Iraqi lawmaker declared "The American ceremony represents the failure of the U.S. occupation of Iraq due to the great resistance of the Iraqi people." Many were grateful for ousting Saddam, but most agreed the war lasted too long.

On the other hand, Gen. Lloyd Austin, top U.S. commander in Iraq, closed our Iraqi bases and outposts, and methodically relocated more than 50,000 U.S. troops and their equipment out of Iraq, while “still conducting training, security assistance and counterterrorism battles.” He added this insight: The war "tested our military's strength and our ability to adapt and evolve." He also noted the development of the new counterinsurgency doctrine. Despite the war's toll and unpopularity, claimed Secretary Panetta it "has not been in vain."

I beg to differ with Mr. Secretary Panetta. That view of the political powers is what keeps the Military Industrial Complex at the throttle of American political life, manipulating Main Street America into supporting causes not in the best interest of the citizenry.

By ending Iraq, the powers that be can now focus on Afghanistan, but we are still at war; we are still losing sons and daughters--substitutes--for those signing the decrees of war. We are doing little “nation building” abroad or at home. Rather, we politicize the National Debt, while continually losing ground on our own “nation building.” All the while, entrenched powers seek better ways to take more from the masses and funnel to the already powerful and wealthy.

The AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMISSION noted that the first four years in Iraq cost “us” $1 trillion and projected that for every “ONE DAY in Iraq“ we could have funded -
95,364 Head Start Places for Children or
12,478 Elementary School Teachers or
163,525 People with Health Care or
34,904 Four Year College Scholarships or 6,482 Families with Homes.

Now in my eighth decade, I suggest today is pregnant with opportunity for people-of-peace to rise up, occupy the seats of power, and establish peace policies for peaceful people. Citizens would happily co-exist, were it not for the politicians and the people in power.

Consider the following:
“If, early that year [1787], you had stood on a London street corner and insisted slavery was morally wrong and should be stopped, nine out of ten listeners would have laughed you off as a crackpot. The tenth might have agreed with you in principle, but assured you that ending slavery was wildly impractical: the British Empire’s economy would collapse. The Parliamentarian Edmund Burke ... opposed slavery but thought that the prospect of ending even just the Atlantic slave trade was ‘chimerical.’ Within a few short years, however, the issue of slavery had moved to center stage in British political life. There was an abolition committee in every major city or town … more than 300,000 Britons were refusing to eat slave-grown sugar. Parliament was flooded with far more signatures than it had ever received on any other subject. And in 1792, the House of Commons passed the first law banning the slave trade … It would become interwoven with great historical currents which, on that afternoon in the George Yard printing shop in 1787, no one foresaw…” (Adam Hochschild, Bury the Chains, 2005, p. 7).

From that Quaker Print Shop in May 1787 came 9 Quaker men and 3 Anglican men--12 strongly Evangelical Christians that gave their lives opposing slavery. They established Britain’s Abolitionist Movement and launched a human tidal wave of advocacy for human rights now extending far beyond the Christian Church.

Yet, it all began 2000 years ago with a man called Jesus. Today, approximately 2.7 billion people live on less than $2 per day. Some 9.2 million children (25,000 per day) under the age of 5 die yearly, mostly from preventable diseases. We have 2.5 billion people without access to adequate sanitation, and about 900 million without access to clean water. Nearly 11,500 people die every day from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

Is this not reason enough for peaceful-people-everywhere to turn from the violence of war and commit our lives to peace on earth among all people of good will?

From Warner‘s World … walkingwithwarner.blogspot

Interspersing Truth with Half-Truths

2012-01-20T22:09:00.000-08:00

In May 1787, a core group of British abolitionists (9 Quaker evangelicals and 3 evangelical Anglicans), led by the Reverend Granville Sharp, financed establishment of a new, free and self-governing, twenty square-mile project of black and white residents--mostly former black slaves. In time, the project failed, but the sponsors believed their efforts would prove the wrongness of slavery and the profitableness-and-productivity of black Africans and products produced by free people in a free market.

From Adam Hochschild, I quote:
“In honor of Sharp, the settlers named their collection of tents and gardens Granville Town. But the bedraggled settlement’s shoreline bordered the deep-water shipping channel in the Sierra Leone River used by slave ships sailing a dozen miles upstream to collect their cargoes at Bance Island. Its former owner, Richard Oswald, was dead, but two of his nephews had inherited control and operated their own slave vessels as well as selling slaves to others.

“Their agent in charge was outraged when an abolitionist Utopia run by a ‘very dangerous bad set of people’ suddenly appeared next door. The colonists, he declared, had ‘intermixed with the Natives and have by telling them a number of Falsehoods given them a great many bad Notions of White Men in general that has made them more saucy and troublesome than ever they were known before’” (Hochschild/Bury the Chains/Houghton-Mifflin/2005, emphasis added).

In 2012, political debates banter back and forth, reeking of similar-and- samo-samo arguments of truth twisted into half-truths - like Newt Gingrich defending his adulterous marriage by attacking the news media on national television.

America enjoys its reputation as the land of the free--the one global neighborhood where people enjoy social justice and liberty, yet Civil Rights and ethical behavior finds it difficult sledding in the American economic system. Just the Mexican emigrant, or the homeless man sleeping under the bridge. Look about and you see fraud on Wall Street, with white-collar criminals thriving in obscene wealth, protected by flags of legality, created by cronies and government bureaucrats who “set“ the rules of the financial game that allows them to bilk the public ever more.

Become a neighbor to evil and call for right political behavior and you hear the 21st century version repeating the earlier versions. Call for a reasonable health care for everybody, and listen to how certain monopolistic interests of private profiteers swap your argument and give you a wretched name, as your due for advocating for democratic and human rights. You are now a leftfield liberal, socialist, Communist, or something worse; you are an enemy of free enterprise because you challenged their libertarian right to unfettered greed (the lion's share).

Slavery did not end with the British Abolitionists and the American Civil Rights Act. We want to believe it, but we continue seeing new evidences daily, of human slavery and bondage of every sort in 2012. While our political system tries to hide under the cover of Democracy, the existing economic bondage increases as the disparity between the diminishing middle class and the increasingly wealthy 1% grows to alarming proportions .

Globally, sex slaves are everywhere. Pornography booms on Internet airlines, and sex slavers reach their tentacles into West Michigan, as well as Cambodia. All the while, the 3rd World lives in poverty and drinks polluted water.

You see why I find it so interesting that an enraged slaver of 1787 could belittle his new abolitionist neighbors, call them utopian, and very bad people that give slave traders a bad name, and make natives saucy and troublesome to control. According to the slavers, they benefited the slaves by Christianizing them, civilizing them, and providing them with a wholesome, healthy livelihood that was indeed pleasant and beneficial to all. Moreover, they were benefiting British life by stimulating the economy with sugar and various plantation products and producing jobs from which their whole culture benefited, so they claimed.No one believes such rubbish today!

In 2012, civil and human rights are accepted for everyone rather than the privileged, but in 1787 King George III was King and no man had any vote in the House of Lords.
*One male in ten could vote for the House of Commons.
*The only redress for citizens was the possibility of a petition. Quoting Hochschild, “The right of petition was recognized in the Magna Carta, the charter of liberties demanded from a resentful King John in 1215, restated forcefully in the Bill of Rights won by the Brits in 1689, and was considered important enough to be enshrined in the first Amendment to the U.S. Constitution” (Hochschild/138).

So in this land, where we can all cast our votes, let us more seriously exercise our right to vote, and let us under God make sure we vote in ways that protects the life and liberty of the oldest as well as the youngest, and everyone in between - as the Bible teaches us to do?

From Warner's World, don't allow your vote to twist a truth into a half-truth that hurts people ... walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Regarding Women In Ministry

2012-01-02T17:34:00.000-08:00

January 2, 2012--I pause, tongue in cheek--to share with my Missouri friend Joan Hart, pastor at Oakland Heritage Church in rural Lebanon, MO and her female peers. Women clergy have been subject to the thorny issues of Women in Ministry at various times and places in the Church of God--weighty discussions.

We traditionally ordain women preachers. We also refuse to bend, bow, or budge, when it comes to holding the more significant positions and pastorates et al for the male wage earners. In some places, it has been a totally dead issue since Adam and Eve--only heretics recognize female clergy.

For whatever it is worth, FWIW, here is an article that speaks to some of my clergy peers, because it comes from the pages of The Gospel Trumpet (1-24-1895). I cannot be certain D. S. Warner wrote it, but for those for whom The Gospel Trumpet means something, you can file it with traditional authority. If it means little or nothing to you, file it wherever you please.

The column is subtitled “Ordination of Women” and the author concludes:

“A brother writes that there is a disturbance of the peace and the unity of the body in their place over this matter: the ordination of female elders and deaconesses. ‘Some of the ministers, he says, have already taken a stand against ordaining women, and are teaching it, and the result is division.’ The brother adds, ‘We know all divisions between God’s people are of the devil.’

“Surely so. Now we wish to say that every preacher or professed Christian that takes a stand against God, or is becoming so in pursuing such a course. We have never known that course to fail to rob the soul of the real Spirit of God. And as sure as division is of the devil, and the word of God says, ‘There is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.’ Gal. 3:28, so sure this contention against females acting in these callings when chosen thereto of God, is of the devil.

“The superstitious notion arises from the fact that ‘a man’ is always spoken of as ‘desiring the office of bishop.’ etc. But the same erroneous notion would exclude a woman from being born of God. ‘Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom.’

“Except a man be born of water, and the Spirit’ etc. Nothing is said of women. They are therefore, it might be ignorantly contended, excluded from salvation.

An elder is to be the ‘husband of one wife,’ therefore, it is the thought, a woman must not be ordained. But it is also written that a deacon is to be the husband of one wife. And the same apostle who said so, commended Phoebe as a servant--Diakonon, deaconess--of the church at Cenchrea. Rom. 16:1.

He did not therefore mean to exclude women from either the calling of elder or deacon, no more than Christ did from the new birth. In the name of Jesus, we say to all who have been contending in this matter to repent, and pray God to forgive you, and hereafter let God use whom he will, and that is neither male nor female.”

Thus saith the early written tradition of the Church of God (fwiw) … Anchored on that authentic authority recovered from our early beginnings, let contemporary church and pulpit committees herewith open pulpit arms widely to include “your sons and your daughters [who] shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even upon my bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of my spirit and they shall prophesy. . .” (Acts 2:16-21, NASV).

From Warner’s World,
let the Word of the Lord go forth … walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Some Thoughts About the Church in 2012

2011-12-30T13:30:00.000-08:00

“Church of God Ministries” resides in Anderson, Indiana--a focal point that supplements the combined Church of God preaching-publishing ministries of J.C. Fisher and D. S. Warner. Both were ordained by the General Eldership of the Church of God of North America (John Winebrenner followers), now known simply as the Church of God. However, “The Church of God Movement” occupies a multitude of places and people along a global partyline that brings health and healing to a hurting global community.

Daniel S. Warner launched in Ohio, linked with Fisher in Indiana, and relocated to Williamston, Michigan via Cardington-Bucyrus, Ohio. The Williamston Gospel Trumpet produced a “Trumpet Family“ of volunteer workers. When Fisher forsook his wife, Warner disassociated with him, and the magazine moved on with its message of unity and holiness--Grand Junction--Moundsville--Anderson.

The Church Advocate of January 10, 1877, a Winebrenner publication, noted early, that “Elder D. S. Warner is a model young man, of deep piety and superior courage and means business in the work of the ministry, and if he continues humble will make his mark in the church.” He became a successful pastor, evangelist, and missionary, but it seems safe to say that had he not joined forces with Joseph Fisher, (and Byrum), there would be no Church of God Reformation Movement as we know it.

In his centennial history of the Gospel Trumpet Company--Miracle of Survival/44, Editor Harold Phillips pointed to Warner’s role of pen-preaching, concluding that Warner “wed them into powerful instruments for the spread of the truth to which he was committed.“ That marriage of the printed word with the spoken word produced a people driven by a “flying ministry” of volunteer preachers and workers and the “Trumpet Family”--volunteers.

Working hand-in-glove with the “flying ministers” the publishing ministry created a people out of no people. They created a visible re-formation that became a publishing ministry--Gospel Trumpet Company--and an evolving church body thought of as a “last reformation.”

The Publishing House, as the driving force, created a variety of in-house curriculum materials for feeding the infant church. By extending the company outside the church, a large retail business evolved, including educational materials, greeting cards, worship folders, and a full line of books.

Enoch Byrum, successor to the Fisher-Warner ministry, soon put Amos Radabaugh on the road selling the books they published. They understood--very early--that their church ministry lacked the ability to support their publishing ministry. They resolved this by developing and selling products to the General Public - to subsidize publishing needs.

God blessed! The Company thrived, and that marriage offers the best reason I know for forging a new and contemporary publishing ministry for the 21st century. The church grew early on, but its institutional needs created changes of attitude and practice across the decades, with unfortunate results. After 116 years of movemental institutionalizing, “Vital Christianity”--former Gospel Trumpet--died, amid a restructuring church, forcing a downsized publishing ministry.

A 1971 audience at the Anderson School of Theology Lectures failed to grasp the significance of the question Franklin Miller raised: “In this closing decade of our first century as a movement, [h] ow do we see the future of the use of literature? In the last three or four years, Miller added, several large Religious bodies have found it necessary to discontinue publication of their official journals and magazines (emphasis added), some of which were in Publication for many, many decades “Projections” 11/1971).

Miller pressed his point to no avail: “What do we see in the future of the publication of VITAL CHRISTIANITY And the Church of God? How do we see the future of book publications? Are the destinies of our church’s publishing house to be determined by whatever attitude we take toward freedom of independent action and loyalty to the movement?”

Editor Phillips, added additional warnings. Editor Newell reprinted an editorial from Editor Smith from 1928, with this provocative title: “Voluntary Cooperation or Disintegration.” “Reformation Review” later reprinted that “Smith editorial” in their prototype issue--peeking into our past--without comment. That experimental issue did not make it beyond the prototype issue.

I became a pastor in 1951 and began attending our National Assemblies. There, I frequently heard criticism among my peers--even offered a few. Complaints varied, but they generally concluded that “they sell Holy Trinkets!” Many Warner Press Retail as growing rapidly, making “gobs of money,” and taking commercial advantage of the church .

Meanwhile, in the church body, Agency in-fighting existed. Salary rivalries arose. Turf wars created problems Pastors complained that the “GA” was a “waste of time!“ Some declared business meetings useless. Some business meetings were lack luster, but I never envisioned God’s business as a waste of time--yet, what did this young preacher know?

Eventually, intentional “Bible-based cooperation” replaced the practiced voluntary “disintegration.” Free-wheeling independence ruled the day. Freedom of choice--in! Passion for Publishing [the message]--out!

The Church Body lost sight of the role the Publishing House played as primary “nursemaid” for the Movement during its first 75 years. The Church of God, Anderson no longer appreciated the sacrifices of its elders, choosing to ignore the benefits for its children, youth, families, congregations, and missional outreach.

Yes, we reorganized national structures to function more efficiently, and I voted for it. That well-intentioned effort bore minimal fruit; we were already bare-bones, denominationally speaking. Hindsight says we exchanged bare-bones for an even leaner-meaner structure.

We have now lived more than 130 years, mostly because of dedicated individuals that to some degree follow the spirit of the commission D. S. Warner believed God gave him--wed the spoken-and-written word in proclaiming unity and holiness. Following Warner’s example, they wrapped themselves around that cause--volunteering --sacrificing--and giving until it hurt.

Our 20-20 rear view vision has improved significantly, but, our foresight remains overly self-centered, non-visionary, and too self-seeking.
1) We cannot fill our niche in God’s world without correcting past failures.
2) We cannot adequately fulfill our mission without wedding the passionate publishing and personal proclaiming that birthed us and created a Witnessing Body of Gospel Witnesses.
3) By itself, “Pen preaching” is not a panacea--cure-all; we need to renew Warner’s contract with God and supplement it with the proclamation and witness of individual ministers, congregations, and members.

An excerpt from Warner’s signed document, that December 13th day of 1877, says simply:
In signing my name to this solemn covenant I am aware that I bind myself to live, act, speak, think, move, sit, stand up, lie down, eat (underlined twice), drink, hear, see, feel and whatsoever I do all the days and nights of my life to do all continually and exclusively to the Glory of God.

Warner wanted nothing but what honored God; he wanted nothing in his possession or under his control but such as he could “consistently write upon ‘Holiness unto the Lord.’”

Warner’s devotion--to God--to Scripture, is what we need. We have capable congregations, more than ever. We have “Chog Ministries.” We have on-demand publishing--Reformation Publishers. We have more communication than anytime in history. Our wired online global neighborhood gives us a neighborhood network for talking to one another--sharing with each other--and a means of dialoguing with the world.

Twenty-Twelve demands better of us--our utmost best. Twenty-first century “pen preaching” supplemented by our “practice” of what we “preach” will result in renewed vision of prophetic leaders and passionate people. Joining hands and uniting in plugging into God’s promised mission of John 3:16 will produce “active First Responders” empowered by the Living Christ, authorized by God Almighty, and not somebody’s interpretation of End Times.

From Warner's World,
it is true that “a great tribulation” is taking the lives of many in these days, but it is also true that we face THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY IN HUMAN HISTORY. What a great time this is to be alive ...

walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com
______

Pastor's Christmas Eve Gift

2011-12-28T10:30:00.000-08:00

Compass Direct News
reported Islamic extremists threw acid on this church leader in Kampala, Uganda on Christmas Eve. This was the Christmas present given a Christian pastor shortly after a seven-day revival at his church. This hostile act of violence left him with severe burns that blinded one eye and threaten his sight in the other eye. It reads like Judas betrayal of Jesus.

Mulinde was attacked on Christmas Eve (Dec. 24) outside his Gospel Life Church International building in Namasuba, about 10 kilometers (six miles) outside of Kampala. From his hospital bed in Kampala, he told Compass that he was on his way back to the site for a party with the entire congregation and hundreds of new converts to Christianity when a man who claimed to be a Christian approached him.

“I heard him say in a loud voice, ‘Pastor, pastor,’ and as I made a turn and looked at him, he poured the liquid onto my face as others poured more liquid on my back and then fled away shouting, ‘Allahu akbar [God is greater],’” Mulinde said, still visibly traumatized two days after the assault.

A doctor told Compass that acid burns cover about 30 percent of his face and has cost him sight in one eye. “We are doing all we can to save his other remaining eye and to contain the acid from spreading to other parts of the body,” the doctor said. His face, neck and arms bore deep black scars from the acid, and his lips were swollen. His face, neck and arms bear deep black scars from the acid, and his lips are still swollen.

Mulinde said Muslim extremists opposed to his conversion from Islam and his outspoken opposition of sharia (Islamic law) courts in Uganda attacked him. On Oct. 15, area Muslim leaders declared a fatwa against him demanding his death. Mulinde is known for debates locally and internationally in which he often challenges Muslims regarding their religion.

Bishop Umar Mulinde, 37, was a sheikh (Islamic teacher) before his conversion to Christianity. Violence in the name of religion seems to me the most hypocritical of all religious heresies. Thus, the words of Jesus were never more true than here: “If you abide in My word … you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).

If you pursue Allah (God) far enough, you will find peace, but not violence. Then, you can say of a certainty, Allahu Akbar (God is greater). From Warner’s World ... walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Christmas Day Worship

2011-12-25T14:07:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day service was abbreviated--35-40 minutes--warm,receptive,and pungent with Christmas Spirit. Tonya, a local music teacher, led worship. She proved to be a breath of fresh air as a full congregation sang vigorously and joyfully before Tonya introduced Pastor Sparks sermon with her solo.

Without repeating the lyrics of her song, I was moved with Tonya's level of engagement in her song. It was apparent to us in the pew that she was standing alone with God, carrying on a conversation with Him through the lyrics of her song. We were blessed as she simply overflowed--choking back her tears, even ‘tho I had difficulty putting all of her broken lyrics together (being without my hearing aids).

It was a tender and touching moment as Jim stepped forward to deliver his Christmas Message on “Jesus the Immanuel”. Without repeating Jim, he reminded us that had God thought we needed a king, an educator, or whatever, God could have sent that person. What he did, in fact, was to send us a Savior--we needed forgiveness.

A quick glance at Christmas 2011 could reveal the greatest need within humanity is forgiveness. Picking up on Tonya’s tears and brokenness in worship, Jim recognized tears have always been part of the life drama of failure, renewed efforts, transformation, and new opportunity. I have to confess he jerked me up short--thinking perhaps of the whiteness of the fresh snow, the cleansing of a new and fresh start, concluded with the double entendre (with which he sat down): “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas.”

We stood to our feet, singing ” with renewed understanding, “Joy to the World.”
…the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King…
Joy to the world, the Savior reigns!
…No more let sin and sorrow grow / Nor thorns infest the ground / He comes to make his blessings flow…
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of his righteousness,
And wonders of his love…

George grew up going to camp meeting in South Dakota, the son of a Wesleyan Methodist pastor. That was what they did. George was also a WWII Bomber Pilot, a churchman, a history professor, a politician. At the core of George is a man acquainted with suffering. He invested his life trying to lift others, and suffered depression from his inability to help his alcoholic daughter, who died in a parking lot falling-down-drunk--the result of a colt-45 at 13 (drink, not gun).

George is a man who has learned to rise above personal depression, as well as the destructive elements that ruin so many lives today. His words reaffirm the spirit of this day--Christmas 2011:

“This is not the time to hide in the shadows or to surrender. This is the time to step out and to step up. This is the time for us to heal our nation’s rifts and to deliver on her promise as we see it: a republic that is good to all. It is not for nothing that I will go to my grave believing that ours is the greatest country on earth.”

Merry Christmas from Warner’s World … for his name shall be called Emmanuel, meaning God with us (cf. Matthew 1:18-25) … walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Celebrating the Prince of Peace

2011-12-24T12:35:00.000-08:00

Lawrence Korb is a senior fellow for a Washington Think Tank and former assistant Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan. Korb, and his associate Laura Conley, identified ’unproven, over-budget, or strategically unnecessary’ weapons and weapons programs that could be cut or canceled and not missed.

Among those identified was the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. According to the study, this program has been plagued by so many technical problems since its inception in 1991 that Dick Cheney, then Secretary of defense, called it a ‘turkey.’

Rejecting the Navy’s request for twenty-four new Ospreys would save Taxpayers $9.1 billion--pretty good chunk of change. Cutting the procurement of the Navy and Marine F-35 Joint Strike Fighter variants would save Americans another BIG BUNDLE.

Since 2002, estimates of the lifetime operational costs of the F-35 have more than doubled to $1 trillion. Alternate fighter jets such as the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet continues to be effective in the Navy and marines, so cutting their variants while allowing the Air Force to keep its entire buy would control spiraling costs without compromising American air superiority and the savings would be $16.43 billion by 2015.

That raises a question for me on this Christmas Eve - the day celebrated as the birthday of The One announced as the coming “Prince of Peace.” Remember that Bible passage that asks the question, what is it all worth if I gain the WHOLE WORLD and lose my own soul?

I would like to rephrase that question and ask what does it mean (how much is it worth) to be the strongest country on earth … if … our citizens cannot find worthwhile jobs, affordable housing, quality schools, good health care, and a clean environment?

There are those who make a mighty good living spending as much for military related programs as the rest of the entire world. We send our military from one place to another being the neighborhood Cop. Yet, we live in such fear that we strip-search 85-year-old ladies for fear they might have a terrorist explosive hidden in their private places, in their toothpaste, or...

Homeland Security is a $42 million boondoggle for the 200,000 employees. Meanwhile, it costs us an arm and a leg, and leaves us wobbling about like a wounded veteran on a new prosthesis. Our national debt is out of sight. We are at each other’s political throats. Our Congress is engaged in a civil war of deadlock.

To you on my right, the military has no way of resolving the issues--without diplomatic help. To my left, revolution of whatever kind is no solution to the moral re-formation needed by our nation.

Peace, said Dorothy Thompson, has to be created, in order to be maintained. It is the product of Faith, Strength, Energy, Will, Sympathy, Justice, Imagination, and the triumph of principle. It will never be achieved by passivity and quietism (or by military might; I add).

Christmas Eve is the time to celebrate the music of the stars …
a heavenly host praising God and saying,
‘Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men
with whom he is pleased!”
(Luke 2:14 RSV).

walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com; this is Warner’s World

The Sacredness of the Ordinary

2011-12-23T18:19:00.000-08:00

Elton Trueblood described the birth of Jesus bringing the sacred and the secular into a powerful human experience, through what he called “the common ventures of life”--birth, marriage, work, death. Richard Foster insists we can overcome what he terms the “heresy of 5 percent spirituality.” We can turn “ordinary experiences of life into prayer, seeing God in our ordinary life experiences, and praying throughout those ordinary experiences (Prayer, Finding the Heart's True Home/169).

He describes his ordinary, uneventful mother. She lived with neither drama, nor newspaper headline, nor high adventure, but she did live with Multiple Sclerosis. She died an “ordinary death,” he says, after living her “ordinary life,” but he concludes, she “did both well.”

Ordinary living can be so common, so uneventful, so tedious, and so repetitive. Young people today find ordinary life so “boring.” I heard George pray probably hundreds of times in church. If I heard him ask once for power, I heard him ask for power a hundred times; he wanted the extraordinary and asked for it often.

The Jews rejected the authority of Jesus because he was too ordinary. He was only a hometown kid, from small-town Nazareth, where everybody knew him as the son of the local carpenter. Born in a Bethlehem manger--an animal compound. Jesus didn‘t even have enough good social graces to even know how to pick his friends.

Jesus chose to run with a bunch of nobodies--fishermen, tax collectors, unsophisticated men. He ate with sinners. He kept mixed company of the questionable kind. He ignored tradition and social custom, even eating his meals with unwashed hands and neglecting all-important Sabbath-keeping laws. Whatever his moral character, he obviously was not of the kingly stature to lead the Hebrews in overthrowing their Roman conquerors or to make them the United States of the Middle East, while ruling from Jerusalem during an imagined Millennium. He just didn’t qualify as somebody significant.

A while back, a young pastor’s wife was diagnosed with cancer. He sent encouraging "half-time" notes when he could, but now he reports a changed outlook following a full course of chemo treatment. Their outlook has changed. In spite of the best Medical Science can offer, this may be their final earthly Christmas together.

A recent CT scan reveals her cancer has grown. In spite of the chemo--in spite of humanity’s best, the cancer has increased in size where it is. Although not spreading elsewhere, it “now appears more resistant“ - and - “there is nothing further than can be done.”

Further options offer “low success rates” and she finds herself “entirely weakened by the normal chemotherapy, so more and harsher therapy is not an option.” Hospice has come in for as long as needed … the present objective being simply to avert pain.

This family lives in what I call the “tediousness of everyday living. “ Nonetheless, their testimony says “Nobody knows how long she will be with me [us] … This is very difficult news to bear. Our hope has certainly been disappointed but our faith in a Heavenly Father, who can still restore her health or who may call her home, is not shaken. He is loving and good, but situation is hard right now for us. Continue to pray for us”, and that is Christmas at their house.

I remember a day not unlike theirs--3-6 months to complete a terminal illness. Somehow, by the Grace of God, my spouse survived and we anticipate our 65th anniversary within the next few weeks--nobodies in the Kingdom of God.

I think of the words of Richard Foster and the birth of a Christmas baby, to an engaged but unmarried girl, betrothed to a carpenter of unknown stature, born in an animal compound. That baby’s birth in Bethlehem was as insignificant as insignificant can get, but it was the beginning of a journey from Bethlehem to Calvary.

At Calvary, that innocent baby found himself a victim of crucifixion. The road from Bethlehem to Calvary is a transforming journey, and somewhere en route that baby became the embodiment of “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but should have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

The transformation was such that in the most agonizing and terrible moments of his coming death--nailed to a cross he did not deserve--he held on long enough to extend a word of loving hope, and eternal transformation to a criminal he had never met but who deserved his punishment.

Christmas reminds us that everybody is somebody. There is no such thing as an insignificant being--a nobody. Not in God’s sight! As Ethel Waters used to say, "God don't make no junk!" Meaningless moments do not exist. As we travel from Bethlehem (Christmas) to Calvary (Easter), we find the storyline is not about the church discovering God’s gifts and selfishly enjoying them (or Israel living as King of the Mountain in their political community).

Rather, we find the storyline is about the people of God living as a new community, an outpost where now God dwells and rules, giving allegiance to Him as Lord [rather than to kings and political leaders]. It is about living within that realm wherein “we must obey God rather than human beings (Acts 5:29), and living in-and-under the authority of God--a present authority in this besieged world.

Earth, as we know it, and heaven may be we know not quite where, but they are not that far apart. God’s powerful presence abides and rules in both rooms. Teilhard de Chardin reminds us that the value and interest of life is in the ordinary things rather than the more conspicuous. God is most readily found in the ordinary tediousness of everyday living, including the terminal attacks upon the body by disease and malignancy.

From Warner’s World, Christmas reinforces the reality we experience when we pray “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” God love you and so do I ... walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

God's Will ... on Earth as...Heaven

2011-12-16T11:19:00.000-08:00

The current new reports that Chief executive pay has roared back after two years of stagnation and decline: “America's top bosses enjoyed pay hikes of between 27 and 40%last year, according to the largest survey of US CEO pay.” This dramatic turnaround comes as the latest government figures show wages “for the majority of Americans are failing to keep up with inflation.”

Giving me a face for this story is the veteran nurse I know--hard-working and highly-qualified; she is someone I know has overcome against great odds--severe health issues--to work in a field she loved and respected. Then, the axe fell. She lost her job--unwilling to put her nursing license on the line to support fraudulent claims of an “unqualified” military supervisor who did not accept female equals in his “good ole boy“ system.

Overnight, this highly-skilled industrial nurse that won awards for the lives she saved, went from her very taxing job--well-paying--and good retirement, to no job and no future. This skilled employee was expendable because a government contractor could "bend the rules" and avoid facing legal scrutiny of sometimes operating outside the law.

Not realizing the cards were stacked so high against her, she lived on her retirement fund --until it was gone. Today, she exists from day to day--no income--no future. Unable to find a legitimate job, dependent upon emergency social agencies, she occupies her house, not knowing when the Bank will enforce her unpaid mortgage, which was sold-and-resold leaving a paper trail of legal proportions--of illegal operations.

She lives with circumstances she has not known in her lifetime. She wonders how she got to where she is: she worked long and hard, played by the rules but stayed honest, cared for people, and did everything the right way. I look at her and see a victim of America’s "Corporate Feudalism," in which Corporate CEOs are the 21st century version of Royalty and rule by Divine Right. Peasants (employees) are not of major concern, mere obstructions to those pleasured by divine rule, as it was in the feudalism of the Middle Ages.

After his conversion, William Wilberforce sought out the man he had idolized as a boy, John Newton,former slaver--October 1787. Wilberforce sought Newton’s counsel about how to invest his life as a Christian, thinking probbly he should leave Politics and enter ministry. Newton counseled, “You are the Lord’s servant, and you are in the post He has assigned you.”

Now satisfied that perhaps he could serve God faithfully and remain in parliament, Wilberforce wrote, “God Almighty has sent before me two great objects, the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners … Let the consequences be what they would, I from this time determined that I would never rest until I had effected its (slavery) Abolition.”

The world honors William Wilberforce as a key component in bringing down the Goliath of human slavery, in spite of impossible odds. Today I pray God’s will be done “on earth” as it is in heaven. This Christmas season is God's reminder that God wants to bless men, women, boys and girls to serve Him in those tedious details of ordinary everyday living.

From Warner’s World, walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Such is the Spirit of Christmas

2011-12-07T11:22:00.001-08:00

Sunday was our second Sunday of Advent and a pastoral reminder of the coming Christ’s Birthday Offering (CBO), which many churches take at this time every year. With that reminder came the biblical story of Christmas (not the typical marketers version).

Even the President tried to make this point, if you watched the official lighting of the White House Christmas tree. Recognition was given all around, the tree lost in the storm, even Santa Claus. However, when the President spoke, he referenced the Biblical Story and the faith expressed in this Christian Holiday. The reason for the season is the birth of Jesus, called the Christ--Emanuel: God With Us.

“Tis the season of Christmas, that time of the year following Thanksgiving, when business celebrates “Black Friday”, the day the business community recognizes as the success of American marketers in hijacking Christmas as a secular holiday for receiving gifts and doing 40% or so of their annual business.

I have no problem with gift-giving. I love the spirit of the holiday season. Yesterday, when I came through the Wal-mart line, I handed the clerk several twenty-dollar bills and reached for the change in my pocket. As luck would have it, I came up 2 pennies short, which meant breaking my last $20 bill. Immediately, the lady behind me handed a coin to the clerk and said “Merry Christmas” to me.

Thanking her, I spoke directly to her and her elderly mother sitting in her wheeklchair: “I’m glad you said “Merry Christmas rather than happy holidays.” Without batting an eyelash, she replied, “Without Christ, there is no Christmas!” I left the store with my cart of groceries, but not before leaving with her my blessing of peace: “And may His Peace be yours… “
Such is the Spirit of Christmas.

When I opened my most recent gas bill for the month, it had a seasonal flyer from Semco Energy reminding me of the Spirit of the Season. This special assistance edition informed me how I could apply for Home Heating Credit, if I needed it, or how I could make it easier for someone else that needed it.
Such is the Spirit of Christmas.

Another piece of mail offered me “The Most Important Gift Catalogue in the World” … for people still looking for the perfect gift. Inside, I learned about www.heifer.org.gift. Since 1944, Heifer International has brought hope and healing to impoverished families (13.6 million) in more than 125 countries.

One example is Citu Liviu, whose family in Plostina, Romania improved their nutrition through sheep received from Heifer supporters. Nsangou Rachidatou, from Cameroon, has a heifer that provides her family with milk to drink while profiting from the yogurt she makes and sells to enhance their limited income.
Such is the Spirit of Christmas.

From my Clay City, KY friend, Don Curtis, came this flyer from “Children’s Lifeline,” founded by Arnold Lemke of Buchanan, MI. Don is president/CEO and spends much of his time in Haiti. By utilizing www.childrenslifeline.com I could buy a laying hen for $15 and improve the poverty of a Haitian family; they already feed 8,300 children a day. My support would help provide medical care for Haitian children who would otherwise be without such care, or a gift of $4,500 would provide a block home for a homeless family.Such is the Spirit of Christmas.

I don’t recall the goal of our church's Christ’s Birthday Offering (CBO) --I think a few thousand dollars. I know it will help support Christian missionaries abroad. It will enable our church agencies to further perform functions that have become vital to our institutional church life. Most of all, it will enable our congregations to continue cooperatively sharing God’s love story, and I consider that of vital importance to our networking, as well as to our relating as a global community. I believe, of such is the true Spirit of Christmas.

Now, I know that business must make money to stay in business, but I would feel better about it if business did not hijack a religious holiday for the purpose of private profit. I have no objection to giving gifts, but how much better that we teach the true spirit of Christmas--more about giving and less about receiving.

From Warner’s World,
I believe that bible verse that says it is better to give than to receive, and I am concerned that we be more about giving than about receiving, for of such is the true Spirit of Christmas. Walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

The Absurd Turkey Terrorist

2011-12-04T14:06:00.000-08:00

En route home from the Post Office moments ago, I heard the most absurd turkey story on Michigan Public Radio. It prompted me to look for it online. I found numerous stories of turkey encounters from Louisiana to New Jersey, but not the one I just heard. So, I'll just recount what of it I can.

It seems an animal-loving couple lived either on Long Island, or a nearby coastal island where residents enjoyed semi-rural living, accompanied by a herd of 30-40 wild turkeys. One day this couple rescued a young turkey from the clutches of a predatory hawk. They patched the wounded bird and raised it as a pet, where it eventually became a large and somewhat ferocious Tom.

Whether this big bird was attached and protective of his owners property or was just territorial with the flock he controlled, this big bird became the nemesis of this neighborhood. He kept neighbors and everybody at a safe distance from that property, which I understood was a place that frequently hosted children.

One day, as luck would have it, two delivery people came, only to be attacked by this terrorist, supported by his 30-40 followers. Thinking of children and a fearful encounter, the delivery people called 911 for the local police. Two officers soon arrived and immediately encountered the terrorizing tom. He put one officer to flight, and prompted firepower response from the second officer. This stalwart six-footer, finally shot the bird in self-defense.

A couple shots brought the homeowner flying out into the yard. He arose in defense of his pet turkey and attacked the offending officer shooting his pet. This brought the mistress of the house into the fracas. She called the State Police, because the local officers had her husband handcuffed and were shooting their pet turkey.

Four-or five shots were finally fired, the turkey was killed and bagged for evidence. The police collectively arrested the homeowner for assaulting an officer et al, and jailed him. The case dragged on for 2½ years and $30,000 before being settled, the neighbors being well-pleased that their terrorist had been eliminated.

I listened to this story spin for several minutes--the absurd turkey terrorist, as the reporter narrated a lengthy history. It captivated me, taking me back half a century, to when my 10-year-old son was a fifth grader in Yazoo City, MS.

We were part of a large contingent of rural families, one of whom lived 20 miles over in the Delta, near Sartartia, MS. One Sunday, Rex and Marguerite invited us home for dinner--all-afternoon event,and we had evening church in those days. Our hosts owned numerous farm animals and our children were free to roam, explore, play and and be children.

The one deterrent to safety was their overly aggressive turkey tom that they laughingly cautioned us against. Big Rex was perhaps 230 pounds, and able to protect himself, admitted to sometimes being hassled by this obnoxious bird.

Everyone laughed except my son’s mother! She had already warned her son to do whatever he needed, to protect himself from this bird. Midafternoon, the kids were being kids, and that turkey decided to do what he did best; he attacked our undersized son. After the fact, we learned that this preacher’s kid had his baseball bat and when the affronting terrorist made an offensive pass at him, he took careful aim, and with a Babe Ruth swing, laid "Big Tom" stretched flat on the ground - out colder than a mackerel.

This good little "PK", was afraid of offending our hosts, but as I recall, they took it in good stride. They were not at all offended, but our kids had a few terrorizing moments--before and after--wondering what it was all about.

Privately at home, we had a good family laugh, figuring the terrorizing-tom got exactly what he deserved. Moreover, we were the proud parents of an undersized-kid who, inspiteof his small-stature, did not lack in fortitude and bravery.

We raised our two to be children; we expected them to enjoy their childhood. They have long since become adults, but they have faced life with the bravery that goes with knowing who you are as human beings, and they have faced life with integrity, and I could not ask more than that.

Oh yes, that big tom finally revived after a spell. He staggered to his feet, shook his head, and stumbled off to the barnyard. From Warner's World, I can tell you he didn’t chase people any more after that - walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Post Giving-Thanks Day Friday

2011-11-25T13:43:00.000-08:00

Pictured, Dr. Daisy Century of Philadelphia who presented an outstanding historical monologue of Sojourner Truth's life.

I cling to my right to walk to the Post Office,the same way my wife claims her right to maintain her Driver’s License. I don’t walk like I used to; she does not drive unless she has to. So, when I have a sunny mid-fifties post-Thanksgiving Friday, I take full advantage while the sun shines and the weather holds.

The Post Office, across from Kellogg’s Corporate Headquarters, is a 3 ½ mile walk that I used to do in something under an hour, in the midst of a busy day. It now takes me something over an hour and I take a pain pill before launching.

En route home, I found myself at Monument Park, across from 1st Methodist Church. I observed 3 carloads of African-Americans receiving some kind of lecture from a person obviously addressing the group. Noting the Illinois tag, I surmised they were visitors present for the Sojourner Truth Observance.

Before they left Monument Park, I feel certain they walked over to the 12’ bronze statue of Sojourner Truth nearby. It is a place where I have often stopped to meditate in my own sojourn.I had not known of Sojourner until I moved to Battle Creek in 1973, but it did not take me long to learn that she is the city’s most famous personage, along with Dr. John Kellogg.

Kellogg had the advantage of being white and free, a brilliant medical doctor and a prominent 7th Day Adventist, the man who pioneered breakfast cereals.Sojourner, on the other hand, had the disadvantage of being born black, and a slave, as well as illiterate.

Once she determined that God had not created her for slavery, her slave days were numbered. One day she walked away. She fled to the Quakers, where she learned more about her human birthright. Eventually, she discovered the Methodists, where she learned more about holiness, and she responded to the call of God upon her life--a holiness preacher.

Over the past three decades, I have read Sojourner’s autobiography and numerous other biographies about her. None, more than Nell Painter, catches for me the significance of this humble black female, and former slave. The Princeton historian, describes her as, “Pentecostal that she was, Truth would have explained that the force that brought her from the soul murder of slavery into the authority of public advocacy was the power of the Holy Spirit … Without doubt, it was Truth’s prestigious faith that transformed her from Isabella [Bomfrey], a domestic servant, into Sojourner Truth, a hero for three centuries - at last” (Painter/SOJOURNER TRUTH, A LIFE, A SYMBOL/Norton/2000/4).

Two of the three bronze tablets behind Sojourner in Monument Park remind the public:
“… and Truth shall be my abiding name.”
Another concludes: “Lord, I have done my duty and I have told the truth and kept nothing back.”

Sojourner Truth withheld nothing as she became a simple holiness preacher, woman’s rights advocate, one of the first of a long line of abolitionists, and the first person to bring national prominence to Battle Creek in the late 1800s, following her first visit in 1857.

On this post-Thanksgiving Friday, I view Sojourner Truth as a person who changed her name and spent her life in pursuit of truth. In that pursuit, she maintained her integrity, limited as she was by race and illiteracy. Her life shines like the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor, a beacon of truth pointing out the beauty and blessing of being born American. Her achievements, moreover, reflect the overwhelming redemption found in the Christian Faith.

Tomorrow I hope to be in the audience of those “Celebrating the Legacy of Sojourner Truth” at 2nd Baptist church. Dr. Daisy Century of Philadelphia will present an “Historical Reenactment” from Sojourner’s life, along with other community responses.One person I am certain will be there is Tommie McCleichey, 5th generation descendant of Sojourner, and my friend, with whom I worship on many Sunday mornings at North Avenue Church.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, Bless His Holy Name …
From Warner’s World, walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

BLESSING WEEK 2011

2011-11-21T11:27:00.000-08:00

This is Thanksgiving Week - "Blessing" week. Shown in the picture are 2010 Thanksgiving Volunteers at Central Community Church (Riverside, CA, with Pastor Eric Denton).

A few days ago our North Avenue Family gathered for yet another Blessings Banquet. This year proved to be one of our larger dinners. Plentiful food, tastily prepared by the family’s many family cooks, produced a familial atmosphere of genuine caring and happiness. This blessed event left us keenly aware of blessings, abundant both long and short term.

We Warner’s arrived in Battle Creek late in August 1973, to assume leadership of then Capital Avenue Church of God. Coming from California’s Bay Area, our children thought we had landed in the jumping off place. Our move introduced us to a declining ministry at an inner-city church--a new experience.

Over three years, we saw wholesome progress and some of our most difficult times ever. Reduced mortgages, downscaled debt, and stabilized membership, signaled renewal. We purchased 10 acres in the city’s SW quadrant, and eventually sold the facility. Our relationship did not, however, prove long term, and we eventually moved on.

This November 20th, Dr. Bill Jones conducted the final service for that congregation. After about 130 years, it is now closed, sine die. I never thought I would live to see the day they closed, but they were terminally dysfunctional. Even the oldest congregation of the Church of God in Michigan is subject to such measures, and this ministry will now continue, scattered elsewhere.

Of course, I am saddened, but fifteen years into retirement, we are part of North Avenue’s family, a congregation that spun off from Capital Avenue through the "strange politics" that replaced Pastor Emma Burgess with young Henry Hartman of Kalamazoo. The recent Blessings Banquet, thereby, serves as a reminder to me of blessings too numerous to enumerate here.

Greatest of all blessings, is that so beautifully captured by Dottie Rambo, when writing, “He looked beyond my deeds, and saw my need.” That brings all of us to our knees! Good health allowed me to continue to travel several years with Michigan’s Interfaith Council on Alcohol Problems (MICAP) and give more than a dozen years in various capacities with Reformation Publishers, while becoming a care-giver. For these, I am grateful!

I am blessed by the nearly 65 years with the mate for whom I am now primary caregiver. Doctors said she would not finish the year 1948---In September 1947, Air Force Doctors gave her 3-12 months of life---but here we are … such as we are … blessed beyond measure! These have been years greatly blessed by our involvement in the North Avenue family. This marvelously loving church family of more than 400, is wonderfully shepherded by Jim and Susan Sparks, Jim (Lisa) Sirks & Dennis (Jan) Siddal.

I am also appreciative of the good works of the Capital Avenue (1st) Church over the past century. Talking to someone at church this week, I discovered "Hope’s uncle" was V. A. Wilcox who reported to the Gospel Trumpet in 1913 on his leadership at Capital Avenue. As we continue to worship at North Avenue, we want the good things that happened at Capital Avenue to continue, while avoiding the pitfalls that brought dysfunction and demise.

I have discovered in my 80+ years that God has a way of sorting out our lives. We often pay a high price for the bad judgments we make, but God sifts through the good and the bad, as much as we allow Him, and He transforms this accumulation into His creative good. God, as The Creative God, is not yet through creating.

While humanity has now learned to recycle profitably, we can take lessons from History‘s Great Recycler. The greatest lesson of the 7 last words of Christ on the cross is God’s ability to transform humanity’s worst into God’s Best. I tried to capture that thought when writing Conclusions From the Cross in 2002. It is a lesson that releases [un-dams] a fountain of blessing - when we can confess our worst, and trust ourselves to the best of His transforming re-creation.

Pastor Sparks enlarged my understanding of this when concluding his recent sermon series on David. King David was the shepherd boy become King ... a man after God’s own heart. But, how could this adulterous husband and bloody soldier be a man after God’s own heart? By daring to honestly examine himself, confess his sin, and trust in the mercies of God. “The mercies of God are always safer than the securities of humanity.”

We will continue to live in a world polluted by the violence of wars and rumors of war, says the Bible. That is our delemma. Nonetheless, reaffirms the Bible, even as the violence of the human heart escalates, the goodness of Divine Grace proves ever the more powerful (Romans 5:20).

Here and there, human hearts are being transformed and peaceful relationships continue to expand and grow, like the tiny seed of life in the womb of a pregnant mother.And for this, we can continue to be thankful to God -

“Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name” (Psalm 103:1, KJV) - This is Warner’s World,
walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Overexposing Human Nature

2011-11-19T09:14:00.000-08:00

“When did it become acceptable” to put “explicitly gruesome footage” on newspaper websites? Asked Indian knight. Not only are we now showing pictures of dead people on the front pages of newspapers--which not long ago was considered disrespectful of the dead and lacking in taste--but we are also linking to videos of people being killed.

Last week I received a video link on my Face book page showing the tragic tale of that little Chinese girl being run over twice and left to die. Why did that story need accompanying video footage and “who presses play?” Correspondents point to the exposure of Muammar al-Qaddafi, begging for his life, while being kicked and beaten, and about to die, and conclude, “There is such a thing as too much information, and last week showed that we’re drowning in it--drowning in our own voyeurism, drowning in ghoulishness, drowning in other people’s blood” (p.14, THE WEEK).

We may be drowning in a tsunami of ghoulishness and gossip. Serious consideration of a Biblical perspective of gossip, slander, and idle curiosity would put half of our publications out of business today. Yet, perhaps there is another consideration here.

I did not know of the little Chinese girl being run over, until I received the FB link from a very highly incensed friend who wanted my opinion. I understood her to be greatly offended by the careless neglect of people seeing such an event take place and literally going about their own business ignoring it and doing nothing. She was deeply angered by the passiveness of people too preoccupied--too wrapped up in themselves--too narcissistic, to get involved.

Mostly to answer her question, I studied the link, unable to believe what I saw. I replayed it 2-3 times, questioning whether or not it was merely “staged” video--for effect. What I saw was an inexcusably inhumane act perpetrated for God only knows what reason, but mostly ignored by people overwhelmed by the utter inhumanity of humanity.

There are too many people who have their opinions about things and do not want to be forced out of the rut they are in--the status quo that says “don’t bother me, I am satisfied with me the way I am, and I don’t want to be bothered by the facts of life.” On the other hand, some of us are so deeply offended today by humanity’s inhumanity to humanity that we are determined to shake people out of their bored existence by giving them with a dose of reality.

That may be a little like the old fashioned treatment of electro-shock therapy for emotionally disturbed people, but there are times when I would like to shock some people I know with “some of the reality they conveniently sweep under their rugs.” I would just like to give them a good “jolt” and get them involved in some humanitarian cause outside of themselves.

So, while we drown in this “overexposure of human nature”; which is the more preferable: delete it from public view and deny the existence of what we can do given the right set of circumstances? Or, expose such behavior as a means of protest; renew personal accountability, and reestablish more sociable mores of honesty, integrity, and public trust. Human nature remains highly susceptible to corruption, but the Grace of God remains ever redemptive for the worst of us ...

Without personal and social honesty, integrity, and public trust, we have drifting sand and no relational social structures ... Warner’s World, walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Battle Hymn of Aging

2011-11-13T11:31:00.000-08:00

I picked up one of my favorite books this week and unexpectedly found a long-forgotten piece of verse neatly folded inside the back cover. The book was A theology of Aging by my favorite professor of Biblical Theology while at Southwestern Seminary years ago. I have long-forgotten where it came from and have no idea who wrote it.

Now that I am somewhere beyond the 65 mile-marker, I occasionally feel like the bent tree shown above. The following bit of doggerel catches a spirit I want to maintain, so I share it with you for whatever use you might find for it. I passed it out in our Wednesday night group at church.

The lyrics are written to the tune of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic.” It sings easily,recalling a significant time in the lives of some of us. I like the determined spirit of the lyrics … As we go marching on …

For whatever value it may have to a reader, I offer it here FWIW, as the BATTLE HYMN OF AGING:

We reach the age of 65,
Our golden years are here;
They tell us that the age begins
A happy new career;
For now our Uncle Sam becomes
Our permanent cashier,
As we go marching on!

Our Social Security
From Baltimore is sent;
We buy a little bit of food,
And maybe pay the rent;
And after that we’re stoney broke,
And left without a cent,
But we go bravely on!

And as for checks from medicare,
Will someone tell us how,
They always find some doctor bills,
They sadly disallow;
And dental cost, as we all know,
They wholly disallow,
But we go bravely on!

We don’t know how we make it
As we live from day to day;
With income fixed and prices up,
There’s always more to pay;
So minding our arthritis,
Let’s get on our knees and pray,
That we’ll go bravely on!

And first of all, let’s thank the Lord
That we are still alive;
The dreams we have may still come true
When we are ninety-five;
So please Dear Lord, give us the strength,
Our troubles to survive,
As we go bravely on!

From Warner’s World,
as I take my spouse to our all-church BLESSINGS BANQUET this evening;
know that my interactions with you who pass by this blogsite are one of the great blessings of my life …
walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Responding Responsibly

2011-11-12T09:06:00.001-08:00

One of the blessings I enjoyed in my recent venture to our Lansing Church Assembly was being thoughtfully prodded by guest speaker, Dr. James Earl Massey to think further. In the 7 p.m. service on 11-4-11, Dr. Massey used four scriptural references, beginning and concluding with 2 Timothy 2:8, and including Ecclesiastes 12, Psalm 139, and Hebrews 13.

He launched by reminding us of the unsteady times we find ourselves in. We need to look no further than the Occupy Movement to realize that people everywhere are “reacting.” Just this morning, the news came of the release of the Venezuelan ballplayer from his kidnappers, the kidnappers being reactors of the criminal variety.

People react in all kinds of ways, but the call to Christians is to respond responsibly. While Massey did not enlarge upon this, thought, it is obvious to me that we have a real responsibility for responsible reaction, especially to react thoughtfully and positively in a time when people find it easy to react emotionally, without thought, and more negatively than positively.

The Christian begins by remembering “Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David” (2 Tim. 2:8, NIV). That was Paul’s gospel, and it should be ours. The Christian faith has many facets of truth involved in it, but it begins with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, who is the Lord of Life for the People of God (those spiritual descendants of Abraham in the Davidic Kingdom).

In times like these, Massey said, we remember our Creator (Ecclesiastes 12; Psalm 139). As the people of God, our prayer becomes “Search me, O God, and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Therein lays the secret of joy.

Hebrews 13 is filled with exhortations to love each other as brothers, to entertain strangers, remember those in prison, and honor the marriage relationship, et al. The writer assures the reader of God’s ever-present help and verse seven declares, “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.”

Here, it is hard for me not to begin recalling leaders who helped mentor my life, from the likes of A. F. Gray and Otto Linn, to Harold Boyer, to Samuel Hines; this list would be endless of people who enriched me by their friendship, example, and teaching. Massey used a political illustration that must be “depoliticized” to appreciate.

Somewhere in his life Barak Obama learned to deeply appreciate Abraham Lincoln and from the day of his inauguration he has periodically returned to Lincoln. His inauguration saw him lay his hand on a Lincoln Bible to repeat his oath of office. More recently, Obama followed Lincoln’s pattern of quietly and rationally speaking to the affairs of the day while the masses clamored for him to respond with confrontation and clamoring. Many criticized him for not “fighting back,” but he followed the example of Lincoln facing a divided nation and “sucking it in” so to speak.

Remember your leaders. The problems we face are essentially the same old problems, just a new generation.

Finally, Massey returned to 2 Timothy 2:8 - Remember Jesus Christ … raised from the dead … At this point, Massey spoke directly to us as Ministers of that Gospel: God will vindicate our ministries. What Jesus taught, he lived intentionally. “Pray for us” the writer of Hebrews continues, and “may the God of peace … equip you with everything good for doing his will” (vs. 18-20).

May the message be fruitful, and “may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (v. 21). The 92nd Michigan Assembly was about following Jesus and about being connected to one another.

From Warner’s World, our times are little different than they have been throughout history. Our First Response as People of God yet remains to respond responsibly … walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

From Fugitive to National Treasure

2011-11-10T13:09:00.000-08:00

American to the Backbone, is the compelling story of The Life of James W.C. Pennington. Pennington is the Fugitive Slave Who Became One of the First Black Abolitionists, a historical biography by Christopher Webber, who is himself an ordained member of the Episcopal clergy (NY: Pegasus,2011).

James Pembroke (aka James W.C. Pennington) decided at about 20 that he could no longer be a slave, but he had no alternative vision as to what or who he could be. He knew what he could NOT BE and fled to safety. Circumstances led him to William Wright, a Quaker, where Pembroke requested work, Wright invited him in with this life-changing sentence: “Well, come in then and we will talk about it.” That, says the author, was the first of five transforming moments for young Pembroke.

That invitation at Wright's door introduced Pembroke to his first plenteous lunch in many days and an exploration of his life as a human being, no longer simply Master and machine. Webber describes a second defining moment when Wright challenged Pembroke by introducing him to stories of Phyllis Wheatley, Francis Williams, and Benjamin Banneker, black people who demonstrated an ability to be as creative as their white counterparts. That opened a new window for the first time to young James.

The third transforming moment came in a Brooklyn schoolroom when Pennington) discovered there were 700,000 children in slavery. This pointed him in a new for his life, like a child that runs off to share a new gift.

A fourth transforming moment came when Samuel Cox introduced James Pennington into the Christian Church. His conversion brought membership in a New Light Presbyterian Church and planted his feet upon a confidant path that believed God’s purpose would prevail as a powerful remedy over the discouragements he would encounter in a culture that was against him because of the color of his skin.

A final and fifth transforming moment resulted through the Negro Convention Movement, in which Pennington became a significant figure. Encountering a strong movement to colonize blacks back in Africa and elsewhere, Pennington knew he was a
3rd generation American slave and “American to the backbone: for better or worse, he was part and parcel of America’s future.

A statement Pennington made to a Scottish audience while traveling abroad, declared:

“The colored population of the United States have no destiny separate
from that of the nation in which they form an integral part. Our destiny
is bound up with that of America.Her ship is ours; her pilot is ours; her
storms are ours; her calms are ours, if she breaks upon any rock, we break
with her. If we, born in America, cannot live upon the same soil upon
terms of equality with the descendants of Scotchmen, Englishmen, Irish-
men,Frenchmen, Germans, Hungarians, Greeks, and Poles, then the fundamental
theory of America fails and falls to the ground” (Emphasis added).

Nineteen-year-old James Pembroke fled his slave quarters six miles south of Hagerstown, MD in 1827. Although a skilled blacksmith, he remained an illiterate fugitive, yet a curiously determined young man. He quickly became a leading black spokesman against slavery. Ten years after his escape from slavery, Pennington made his way to Yale, became a leader in the Presbyterian Church, a world traveler, and the recipient of a well-deserved honorary doctorate from the University of Heidelberg in Germany.

Pennington wrote the first-ever “History of the Colored People” as well as a careful study of the moral basis for civil disobedience, which would be echoed decades later by Gandhi and M. L. King.

The struggles for human rights versus slavery is one I find especially intriguing, and the thing that challenges me most is that much of the argument between abolitionists and slavers is readily framed in similar arguments yet today between the political powers of the haves and have-nots. I don't find the pre-Civil War era that much different today, with our political struggles between Democrats, Republicans, Tea Partiers, et al.

The Rev. Dr. Pennington became a distinguished pastor, human rights advocate, and academic of international acclaim. I found so much about him that I deeply admire, especially his incisive arguments based on a solid moral defense, anchored in God. Interestingly enough, his profoundly moral insights convinced no more people then, than do such arguments today.

We work up a real sweat over a political debate, but ground it in a moral foundation and commercial pragmatism will win every time. No wonder Jesus said there would always be wars and rumors of wars . . .
From Warner’s World,
walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com,
a new book well worth your time.

"Us and Them" vs We Are One

2011-11-06T13:31:00.000-08:00

The largest surgical procedure in the world is said to be Lansing, Michigan--where I was last Friday--92nd General Assembly of the Church of God in Michigan. Lansing means different things to different people:MSU - Spartan Country - home of Ransom Olds who founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company in 1897.

Some credit Henry Ford for the first assembly line, but that honor belongs to Ransom Olds and his 1901 Olds Curved Dash. Purchased by GM in 1908, Oldsmobile’s brand moved to Detroit, relocated back to Lansing, and played a large role in the life of Metro-Lansing and mid-Michigan--until its demise.

For me, Lansing is where the Church of God in Michigan first organized as a State Organization in 1920. The Church of God in Michigan became the first state assembly in the Church of God. It has remained a leader until today and I attended to represent Dale Stultz and the Church of God Historical Society, to introduce the third volume of the Stultz-Welch trilogy, The Gospel Trumpet Years.

I also went was to see and hear my friend, Dr. James Earl Massey, the Assembly’s Guset Speaker. James is one of America’s premier preachers and as fine an example of personal excellence, academic quality, and pulpit ability as produced in the Church of God. Dr. Massey and I grew up on opposite sides of Michigan. about the same time, unknown to each other. I came from Republican white West Michigan and ”Jim” from strongly black Detroit. As peers, we intersected, bonded, and strongly appreciate each other today.

The theme of Assembly-92 centered in “connections. Dr. Massey and I illustrate that in a social manner. He grew up mentored by Dr. Raymond S. Jackson, a brilliant young man, with a very bright future as a piano prodigy. Music was his forte, but ministry became his calling. I came from a very mediocre white home with a modest future. Our mutual faith led us to fall in love with the Church of God Reformation Movement. At Lansing, we were two native sons nearing the end of our careers, both in our eighties, both deeply immersed in the experience, the importance of, and the joy of connections and “connnectedness.”

The Church of God has always been about connectedness, black and white, majority with minorities, male preachers and women preachers, connected at all levels from local to national to global. We found ourselves a united church in a divided world, where we extended the hand of fellowship to “every blood-washed one.” Unity was our forte, altho we preached it better than we practiced it. And although we had a problem with organizing--being somewhat anti-organization--we were a “family” of faith.

From our beginnings, we rallied together. We now understand that more of our early history came out of Michigan than was sometimes understood, but our first national Camp Meeting and Assembly came to Bangor, Michigan, 1883. In one of those earliest assemblies, a “brother” walked from Ohio to Bangor, some 170+ miles, to attend. Such has always been our love for one another.

As a young pastor living on a shoestring in West Texas, it was nothing for me to drive more than 140 miles to attend camp meeting, or to drive 90 miles to attend and support a revival at my neighbor-pastor’s church in Big Spring. A half-century later, I still recall the warmth and love shared with John & Julia Kolar in Big Spring, formerly of Alpena, MI.

I always called John a “Bohunk!” He thumbed his way out of Bohemia with a knapsack and comforter provided by his uncle, and emigrated to America with $9 in his pocket. Over the 45 years of my pastoral ministry, John represents a “cloud of witnesses” as spoken of in Hebrews 12.

We had to organize as we grew in number, but we have always attempted to remain biblical in our organizational principles, and I believe we have. And, we have always stood on equal ground, as at the foot of the cross. We were interrelated parts of a functioning Body of Christ, under His leadership and mind. We remain are as democratic as our American roots, but we are learning to cooperate together more effectively and efficiently, while seeking His Leadership at all times.

This has proven hard to do in a culture that has become intensely individualistic over the past half-century, selfish, narcissistic, and individualistic, almost to a degree of being politically atheistic. But, as the physical body is “fearfully and wonderfully made,” so is the church of which we are a part.

While technology makes it easy for us to become loners, Lone Rangers, individualists and even anarchists, the Bible points us to the way of bodily “connectedness”. That sense of “body” means we are interrelated and interdependent. I am partly who and what I am today because of … and here, let me throw out a few names and brag like Paul: A. F. Gray, Otto Linn, Mack and Irene Caldwell, D. S. Warner Monroe (a Canadian), or Harold Boyer, chairman of our national General Assembly for 17 years, who read my wedding vows, or Bill Hutton who “brothered” me in some tough times, and the list is endless.

Dr. Ron Duncan of Church of God Ministries has been trying to help us with this problem of authority, hierarchy, and relatedness et al. Some love Ron; some fear Ron as trying to usurp power. Having worked in several state organizations, as well as states with no paid organization, I will affirm unequivocally, that we are closer to the ideals of our Heritage (both theologically and organizationally) than we have ever been.

Michigan’s 92nd Assembly rejected the recent term of State Overseer recently adopted by our Association of State Leaders (by whatever name you know them). Dr. Bill Jones is our Michigan elected leader, now re-named STATE PASTOR. In that position, he works for us and is charged with leading (directing, managing, being CEO) of our state work, under the Board of Directors.

Bill Jones is my elected State Pastor, but first he is my personal friend, and brother. This applies to Dr. Ron Duncan and every Agency Leader in Anderson. I entered Lansing Lexington on Friday intent on unloading my 10-12 heavy cases of books, but I got unexpected help--not from the Lexington Hotel, but from the Board of Pensions of the Church of God. There was my friend Jeff Jenness, Director of the Pensions Board, and his new Associate (Jim, if I remember, a former Indy Banker, now a Ministerial Candidate). These guys were younger and stronger than me and made play out of handling my 900 pounds of books.

I hope you get my message, because it is essential to our mission in the Church of God: we can do so much more (and better) together than we can by ourselves as individuals. We are a voluntary Association, deeply interdependent. One thing we must never become is an occasional gathering of Lone Rangers. We belong to each other as surely as my arm is part of my body.

From Warner’s World,

it’s time to forsake that “us and them” mindset and return to being the Body of Believers God called us to be, and the World needs us to be … walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Psalm 91:4

2011-11-05T13:28:00.000-07:00

I’ve been retired from the pastorate 15 years, during which I have missed several of our State Assembly meetings. For me,it was a most joyful reunion to be present for part of this year's 92nd General Assembly at the Lansing Lexington. Most of my failures to attend have been due to conflict of schedlule, and being in Kentucky at Reformation Publishers. In a few instances, I simply did not have the price of registration and lodging.

It was incumbent that I be present this year, because I had ten cases of The Gospel Trumpet Years, the new historical pictures-and-text update by Stultz and Welch that so many people were waiting to see. Stultz and Welch, were dependent upon me to represent the Historical Society. People like my new friend Paul Hein of Lansing Pennway--a history buff--were waiting for me to bring their copies of the book. Moreover, it was a day of seeing old friends-and-peers, but also of confirming new friends. Paul and I have been emailing for some time now, sharing our historical interests, but we had not yet met in person--until now.

Instead of staying overnight for the full Assembly, I made one long day of Friday, leaving town at 7:20 a.m. and arriving home to my waiting spouse about 11:15 p.m.. I hope I can follow up with a few appropriate comments regarding the workings of our Michigan Assembly that peers will find relevant, as well as anyone reading me. For today, however, I want to hi-light something that happened en route home last night. If offers a thoughtful perspective,following up on what Dr. Massey said last night.

I had a joyful day ... a beautiful Fall Day, so typical of Michigan football. It offered me a day filled with connecting and re-connecting with this Assembly in which I have been an active participant since 1973--friends old and new. “Connections” was part of the Assembly theme, about which we have in recent times been quite dubious, questioning the value of connections.

For me, it provided a full day of absolute affirmation of the connectedness I have enjoyed since I first became a pastor of what was then a new mission church in Harrison, AR.,--June 1951--a story all its own.

Last night I made my first night drive in a while’. There was a time when I almost preferred night driving, thriving on the quietness of the night, the peacefulness of the traffic, and the general solitude. At my current age, however, I was a bit apprehensive, until I had a chance to cat-nap at the evening dinner hour. So, after I reloaded my cases of books--assisted by Pastor Kerry Hurd--I took off on westbound 496 and was quickly out of Lansing, en route to BC.

It was a pleasant drive, late enough not to be hamopered by “deer” traffic. Approaching Battle Creek, I thought I should try the new I94 exit at the 104 mile marker. It is simple enough, and we had tried it one, except the other time, I jogged left at 11-mile and crossed over to Michigan Avenue, at the familiar intersection.

Last night, I thought I was up to it, so instead of turning left--over to Michigan Avenue--I crossed 11-Mile, certain that I new where I was going. I did as intended, and followed this new exit straight across and intersected Michigan Avenue just west of the main intersection. When I came to Michigan Avenue, I stopped and looked all directions. Any other time, I would have turned right, and drove into town. In the darkness, however, with my tiredness (more deceptive than I realized), the intersection simply did not look right to me.

After a momentary hesitation, I slowly turned left and followed Michigan Avenue for 4-5 miles until - I suddenly realized I was approaching Marshall rather than Battle Creek. Anyone who knows this area is going to enjoy a good laugh at my expense. However, I was just tired enough, and the darkness was just deceptive enough to my aging eyes, that my perception of things was not as clear as it should have been. The consequence was that I had to do a “Georgia Loop” (U turn) and head back into town, somewhat chagrined at my own stupidity.

My reason for telling you is to follow up on Dr. Massey’s sermon last night, regarding the deceptiveness of the times in which we live. The stress, the lack of jobs, the inequity between the haves and have-nots, people losing their homes and/or jobs, and the list goes on--all of which cloud our minds like the tiredness of the evening and the darkness of the night. As hard as we study our situation, it does not look the same in the darkness and weariness as it does in pure daylight. We make wrong turns, wrong decisions. We end up in unintended places.

This morning, after a good sleep, I could hardly believe I was so “foolish” last night as to make a mistake that looked almost too funny to be stupid. Yet, my head reminds me how easily I sometimes get confused in the darkness of the night, when everything looks so different, and the perspective just isn't right.

Are you at a dark intersection and cannot see it clearly? Are you at an intersection you should recognize, but which simply does not “look right”? Look at the picture that follows; see the mother bird with her little ones tucked one under each wing. Remember the words of the Psalmist: “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust…” (Psalm 91:4, KJV).

The times may be difficult and strange. Things don’t look right enough for you to make a clear choice. Yet, your Heavenly Father knows WHO you are and WHERE you are. HE knows your need! He will not forsake you!

From Warner’s World,
I have to remind myself, it doesn’t matter whether or not you have ever been where you currently are, HE KNOWS …
walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Acceptable English

2011-10-25T13:18:00.000-07:00

Clayton Potter served a church in the North Texas neighborhood where I lived. He described his boyhood years, between thirteen and nineteen, when he engineered for threshing crews in the grain fields of Denton County. When a team of mules balked on the bundle-wagon, or the grain separator broke down, or the pulley-belt came off, or the engine died, or the chuck-wagon arrived late when changing locations, Clayton encountered “first-hand exposure to fervent and sincere profanity and obscenity” erupting from “the lips of real artists!” Adolescent that he was, he tried to emulate them!

We are sometimes told, sdays Clayton, "that we should be ‘relevant and realistic’ in the Church. Yet, after opreaching many years, he realized, “Not a year in thirty years of pastoral ministry but what I’ve had to deal directly with people trapped by alcoholism, homosexuality, drug addiction, immorality, adultery, and what-not. Sometimes my heart has been near-to-breaking as I shared their anguish and tried to bring the redemptive ministry of our faith to meet their need.”

“I don’t believe I’ve been over-sheltered from the facts of life at the more primitive levels!” he adds. Yet, these people, suggests Clayton, “did not have to use coarse, profane or obscene language to tell me their difficulties or to convey their feelings. I could understand what they were trying to tell me and what they were feeling when they used plain and ‘acceptable’ English. They could not have added clarity with crudity” (emphasis mine).

Were I to resort to anything so juvenile, continues Clayton, “there is no doubt in my mind I could produce considerable shock if next Sunday I described the crucifixion of Jesus by saying in the pulpit, ‘Those blankety-blank, double-crossing so-and-sos framed Jesus with a bum rap and may their (censored souls burn in hell…”

In doing so, he would be reporting some of the Christian message and he would also be conveying feeling. But, how much would he have enhanced or clarified the Christian message, which has survived more than two millenia couched in the language of modesty. “It might be considerably debased,” he concluded.

The question is, do we really believe that we should equate crudity with Christianity, or that gentility is unable to convey Christ’s message adequately. As a matter of fact, how much does our conversational crudity, vain vulgarity, and obscene profanity enhance our ability to problem-solve or create friendships, or build bridges over impossible controversies?

I am weary with the coarse, crude, profanity, and the often obscene language that fills our airwaves,movie houses,and now fills Living Room TV screens. It only becomes the more wearisome when protruding into Christian circles. And if you dare protest, you are told, “But, it has a message!”

It may have a message, but it may not be the message intended. It may reflect more intellectual laziness and emotional immaturity, than verbal ability with words and communication skills. Few things are worse than an empty mind occupied with fevered feelings, leftover garbage, and decay. What was it Goethe said? “By nothing do men show their character more than by the things they laugh at.”

It is true that we live in an age of information, but what does our information communicate? From Warner’s World, at walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

THE GOSPEL TRUMPET YEARS complete Historical Trilogy

2011-10-15T14:50:00.000-07:00

The Gospel Trumpet Years completes the Stultz/Welch trilogy of Church of God historY books. Nine years of work, by two very different men, bonded by a common love of Church of God history, gives us this added research. Until now, we utilized secondary research, using A. L. Byers as the major interpreter, with much second-hand information. Dale Stultz brings us some new and original research that makes these volumes our most authentic todate.

Douglas Welch is a Canadian-born, missionary to Kenya, former teacher at School of Theology, and former Archivist, where this book was conceived, now retired. Stultz is a retired crafts teacher in the Anderson Schools, with excellent skills in photography and digital processing, who dedicated his retirement years to doing original research of people, places, documents, and collecting all kinds of memorabilia.

Bound in common purpose allowed them to combine their editorial skills and creative investigative skills resulting in these 256 pages of text, and pictures numbering in the hundreds, many of which have not been viewed by the public.

The Church of God (Anderson) is an interesting family. “Anderson” is the largest of a disingenuous number of church bodies claiming Daniel Sidney Warner as the Moses of their Theological Exodus. “Anderson” remains the primary body, along with others that have different doctrinal lenses that cause them to perceive “Anderson” as somewhere between liberal and apostate.

The Anderson Body divides itself when interpreting the church and church history. Some view the church through “prophetic” lenses that cause them to view Warner’s Followers as the “final reformation.“ Most of us today view the church through a more commonly accepted historical view. Without drawing conclusions here, this issue seriously affects how followers view Warner’s Anderson Church of God, and how liberal-or-conservative you consider it.

Reading this should help you know better why you stand where you stand. The authors describe the book’s birth (pp 1-7), suitably introduce it (pp 8-13), and give you a good historical overview (pp 14-20).

Part I traces the development of the Gospel Trumpet magazine by examining the editorial lineage, editor by editor, through 1961 when the magazine changed its name to “Vital Christianity”. Of interest here is that we do not traditionally list Joseph Fisher in the editorial sequence. You will also learn more about the Williamston years (1884-1886). You may even wonder why we became Warnerites rather than Fisherites … :-)
Part I: The Gospel Trumpet and Its EditorsThe Gospel Trumpet (1881-1961) 15
Daniel Sidney Warner (1842-1895) 22
Joseph C. Fisher 32
Enoch Edwin Byrum (1861-1942) 36
Frederick George Smith (1880-1947) 91
Charles Ewing Brown (1883-1971) 103
Harold L. Phillips (1913-2006) 111

Part II describes the evolution of the magazine and how the magazine and the supporting church-body developed and intertwined together. This informative section on our church development could shed new light on some of your old questions.
Part II: The Gospel Trumpet and the Church
The Role of The Gospel Trumpet 118
Songs of the Evening Light Saints 122
Camp Meetings 130
Into All the World 137
Mission Homes 152
Theological Education 160
Christian Brotherhood Hour 167
Afterword 173

You will find the 17 appendices in Part III informative reading, and perhaps explanatory of numerous threads of thought regarding who-and-what we are as a Movement. I particularly liked learning more about D. O. Teaseley, whose songs I have sung all my life, but knew so little about. I found this section an invaluable resource.
Appendices 183
Appendix I: The Holiness Movement 183
Appendix II: Restorationism 189
Appendix III: The Ohio Odyssey: 1882-1884 192
Appendix IV: Daniel Sidney Warner, the Son 203
Appendix V: The Gospel Trumpet Company (G. Newberry) 205
Appendix VI: Christian Unity (R.R. Byrum) 210
Appendix VII: Problems of Christian Unity (E.A. Reardon) 212
Appendix VIII: Present Awful Truth (D.S.Warner) 215
Appendix IX: The Anti-Cleansing Heresy (C.W.Watson) 217
Appendix X: The Anti-Necktie Controversy (C.W.Watson) 223
Appendix XI: D. Otis Teasley (David L. Neidert) 232
Appendix XII: The Greater Evangelism (A.L. Byers) 235
Appendix XIII: Divine Healing (G.L. ; C.W. Naylor) 240
Appendix XIV: Russell R. Byrum (Merle D. Strege) 243
Appendix XV: Whatever Became Of...? 245
Appendix XVI: Making of Music 250
Appendix XVII: The Loss of D.S.Warner (F.D. Rayle) 251

As a personal aside …
I made some trips with-and-for Dale, to Court Houses, to cemeteries, and around. I observed some of his collectables and spent hours at his home viewing literally thousands of photos he has collected, cleaned, and performed miracles with. I have read documents I never expected to see in my lifetime, let alone read them. I have participated in group sessions, like that day in Grand Junction when a group of us talked and prayed with, and sang to, Jerald Frederik (F.G.’s 101 year-old son that distanced himself from the church but found new life via Dale).

These were times I will take to my grave, but they affirm for me what you can expect to find in the pages of this book. These authors do not walk on water, but they do get their hands dirty, and they have done a lot of thinking about what you will read in these pages. I salute them for their academic integrity and as my friends. Being a friend has been an education all of its own, and I commend this volume to you, having higher hopes than ever for this Church Family known as the Church of God, the Church of the Christian Brotherhood Hour, the Church of God, Anderson, or whatever other handle you use.

From Warner’s World, I am walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Blessings and Cursings

2011-10-09T17:47:00.000-07:00

I “heard” a really tough sermon in church this morning. WOW!. It was a lesson I had not recognized in that text and it challenged me down right down to my core values. Using Pastor Jim’s talking points, here are some ways I would say it.

Whatever Jim called his sermon, he talked about contrasting “Blessings and Curses.” That is about as basic as you can get with life; you can bless people and the events of your life, or you can curse them. Either way, life goes on, but the reaction is mostly up to you: life becomes a blessing or a cursing.

Jim has been preaching out of the life of David. Today’s lesson came from 2nd Samuel 16:1-14. Vs 1-4 finds David in tough times, past sins catching up with him, his family in a mess, his son Absalom competing for dad’s kingdom … a real mess.

In v1 David meets Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, who is loaded with goodies for buying favors. Mephibosheth was the crippled son of Saul that David befriended years before. Mephibosheth has sat at David’s Dining table for years, under David’s protection because he respected Saul, as a man God honored, although he replaced Saul as king.

When David inquires of Ziba about his goodies, Ziba lies to the king, thinking to flatter him and curry favor, and maybe regain some of David’s floundering kingdom that had once belonged to Saul.

David accepts Ziba’s answer and extends to him a blessing … “all that belongs to Mephibosheth is yours…” (v4). With that, David proceeds on his journey and meet Shimei, son of Gera. Shimei “came out cursing … threw stones…” and as he cursed him, he declared to David and his party, “Get out, get out, you man of bloodshed and worthless fellow!” (vs. 5-7).

One of David’s defenders, Abishai, offered to cut off the head of this rabble-rousing critic, whereon David responded with a soft answer, a generous blessing, and words that perhaps acknowledged his own shortfalls: “What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah? If he curses, and if the Lord has told him, ‘Curse David,’ then who shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’”

David responded … “…Let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him. Perhaps the Lord will look on my affliction and return good to me instead of his cursing this day… “So David and his men … arrived weary and he refreshed himself there” (vss 5-14).

While Shimei cursed and insulted him, David moved on; he trusted God and returned good to Shimei for his evil curses. When David was restored to his throne, and Absalom was dead, Shimei apologized to David for his bad behavior. David, rather than getting even, proved to be a giver instead of a taker. Again, he extended generosity and reconciliation, filled with gratitude to God.

The descendants of Shimei live among us today--in the family, in the office, and elsewhere. They are our critics and competitors, throwing dust, cursing and insulting us.

I liked Jim’s illustration of the 2nd grader. Mom and her 2nd grader are preparing valentines to send to his class mates. All goes well, and he signs each one she hands him, “Love, Jimmie.” … until Mom hands him a card with the name of “that girl” who is mean to him at school. He strikes out “Love Jimmie” in favor of something more fitting.

Wishing to share a “learning moment” with her son, Mom urges Jimmie to be kind to the girl; extend a blessing rather than returning the hurt feelings she causes him. She asks her son to protect the girl from the pain he feels and give her his blessing.

The lessons are obvious. Iranians imprison Americans. Muslims behead Christians. Wealthy Wall Street investors defraud a public that pays via default and is then insulted with higher tax rates because they lack the deep pockets for legal defense. Closer home, thorny issues become even more personal and hurtful.

From our international clashes, to our Wall Street occupation, to our local guerilla sniping in the office, or home, or across the backyard fence, the applications abound. Whether we strive with a sibling, or face our worst enemy, somehow the words of Jesus take new meaning as we hear him say. “if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same … But love your enemies, and go good, and lend, expecting nothing in return … and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men" (Luke 6:33, 37, NASV).

You will bless people, or curse them, and we all do one or the other. What goes around, comes around, and it seems to me that life lives a whole lot happier when we bless people and circumstances rather than cursing them. Thanks Jim, for that word, I will intentionally focus more on what our mutual friend Berquist described as "The Miracle and Power of Blessing."

From Warner’s World, I am
walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

GOD’S BANK AIN’T BUSTED YET!

2011-10-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

Recently I read a book describing America’s greed in detail. The author told me how some of our nation’s top financial executives played the game of business versus governmental regulations and parleyed their money and their investor's funds into obscene profits for the top management (only).

I learned how investment bankers tweaked the rules of their game and made huge profits that eventually cost their banks and the public a lot of bailout-money. Even now, hundreds of people are protesting on Wall Street and others are already in jail for their protest efforts.

Such events disturb me, as my blogs reveal. Thus, when I ran across this favorite old poem, it seemed like a timely reminder--probably more to me than anyone else--but I want to share it. Some of you will remember an incident in the Bible where the man asks the Prophet this question, “Is there any word from the Lord?”

Is there any word from God today? I have to tell you there is! This particular word I first found in a collection of poems gathered by the girl I married. I loved the beauty of its message then and I find its metaphor even more meaningful today. Alice P. Moss reminds everyone of us, GOD’S BANK AIN’T BUSTED YET!

The bank had closed; my earthly store had vanished from my hand;
I felt that there was no sadder one than I in all the land.
My washerwoman, too, had lost her little mite with mine,
And she was signing as she hung the clothes upon the line.
‘ How can you be so gay?’ I asked; ‘’Your loss, don’t you regret?’
‘ Yes, Ma’am, but what’s the use to fret? God’s bank ain’t busted yet!’

I felt my burden lighter grow; her faith I seemed to share;
In prayer I went to God’s great throne and laid my troubles there.
The sun burst from behind the clouds, in golden splendour set;
I thank God for her simple words: ‘God’s bank ain’t busted yet.’
And now I draw rich dividends, more than my hands can hold,
Of faith and love and hope and trust and peace of mind untold.
I thank the Giver of it all, but still I can’t forget
My washerwoman’s simple words, ‘God’s bank ain’t busted yet.’

Oh, weary ones upon life’s road, when everything seems drear,
And losses loom on every hand, and skies seem not to clear;
Throw back your shoulders, lift your head, and cease to chafe and fret,
Your dividend will be declared: ‘God’s bank ain’t busted yet.’
Alice P. Moss

Today is the first Sunday of a new month. Social Security checks will be in tomorrow. From Warner‘s World,
I remind “us that God presides over a bank that never has to wait until the first of the month,
never runs short on dividends,
never needs bailing,
and always has a full account whatever the time of the month.
Best of all, God’s Bank is NOT LIKELY TO FAIL anytime in your future ... walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

What It is Like Going to War

2011-09-29T19:55:00.000-07:00

At 23 Karl Marlantes, a 23-year-old 2nd Lieutenant from Oregon, parachuted into the jungles of Vietnam. That was 1969, four years after I watched young Vietnamese trainees being celebrated by the local hockey fans in Fort Worth, TX, 1965.

Marlantes is a Yale graduate and a Rhodes school, so he is no fool. He served as a Marine officer, loved the service, and valued his Navy Cross, Bronze Star, two Navy Commendations for valor, two Purple Hearts, and ten air medals. He is also a prize-winning author. He wrote this particular book as his way of wrapping up forty years of dealing with his experiences of PTSD and the gruesome life-destroying effects that war has on the soldiers that survive intense combat.

He writes from a deeply personal perspective. I found him brutally honest, intensely personal, widely educated, and ethically sensitive. He understands military life and describes both its better sides and its undesirable effects. He shows great insight into human nature, with pros and cons of human reaction to military life and the politics of war.

I was glad I read his book, for he added to my arsenal of challenges opposing war and military thinking in contrast to waging peace. In the end, I found him in a love-hate relationship with war, loving the models of heroism with its polished medals, and the excitement of intense combat, yet thoroughly traumatized and haunted across the years by the face of that young Vietnamese soldier he killed in close combat.

Ultimately, it is his how he examined himself and made peace with his past. It is also his critical analysis of the military mind, and war. He tells riveting stories of combat, thoughtfully analyzed and self-examined via readings from Homer, the ancient Greek warrior to eastern Mahabharata, to psychoanalyst Carl Jung.

Although he began with a religious orientation, I found him more steeped more in psychoanalysis than the Bible.

His major concern is one he makes extremely clear--just how poorly prepared our nineteen-year-old warriors--mainly men but increasingly women--are for the psychological and spiritual aspects of the journey. He deeply values the warrior, and loved the warrior life, but within the scope of his ethical concepts for a warrior.

He rightly concludes that a nation that sends its finest young to do its dirty work of war, owes them better psychological and spiritual preparation than they currently receive. As the world’s finest fighting machine, they are ill equipped in the realm of the spirit, yet his brilliant education seemingly lacked the ability to dig deep enough to find an evangelical God.

Ed Conklin of Chaucer Books called it a “courageous, noble, and intelligent grapple with myth, history, and spirituality.” I gained insights both positive and negative regarding WHAT IT IS LIKE TO GO TO WAR. Most people would gain greatly from an open-minded reading of it, but I came away disappointed that he could not conclude it with a total rejection of a failed system.

War is as old as humanity and it comes out of a nature that man is unable to conquer, because that man is unable to deal with that selfish side of humanity which the theologian describes as that old sinful nature. Marlantes writes in his closing paragraph on page 256:
“As long as there are people who will kill for gain and power, or who are simply insane, we will need people called warriors who are willing to kill to stop them … They must undertake the personal responsibility for deciding when to kill and for what higher cause … beyond self-interests, or even national interest alone…”

Military leaders could improve themselves by reading it, and perhaps their chances for survival. People opposed to the ways of war, would be greatly enriched as to why they believe in waging peace. People who do not, or will not, bother their minds about issues like war, could greatly benefit by reading this recent literature on war.

His “Afterward” briefly outlines contradictory causes leading him into the Warrior life. He now confesses never feeling closer to God and yet more baffled by the problem of evil. He admits his own flawed humanity and raw savagery, but witnesses to something better when saying “the more we recognize the feelings of transcendence and the psychological and spiritual intensity of war, the easier it will be to prevent their appeal from clouding our judgment about going to war the next time. What ultimately will save us from the appeal of war is achieving this transcendence and intensity through other means” The weakness I find here is his very unevangelical substitutes are “all achievable through individual hard work” with too little recognition of the power of God’s transcendent grace.

From Warner’s World,
I recommending your reading of WHAT IT IS LIKE TO GO TO WAR, by
Karl Marlantes, Atlantic Monthly Press, NY, 2011 … walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Slippery Slope of Decline

2011-09-27T20:02:00.000-07:00

Just before 9/11, America “was in full bloom.” The economy was booming. George W Bush had “inherited a fat budget surplus.” The U.S. was “the indispensable nation.” The world rallied to the American cause. Even Yasser Arafat personally donated blood for the 9/11 victims.

“Even the French suddenly wanted to be Americans.”

And 10 years later?
The U.S. is unrecognizable. Bitterly divided against itself, the country has become “distrustful, fearful, and defensive--against Muslims, against foreigners, against anyone who is different.”

What a toll this decade has taken on the U.S. said Gregor Peter Schmitz, of the Hamburg Der Spiegel, a German newspaper.

If al Qaida’s goal was to goad the superpower into self-destruction,” the Bush administration succeeded admirably in complying.” By launching two wars, at a cost of trillions of dollars and rising, the U.S. carried out “a massive transfer of money and resources from the national treasury into the pockets of the military-industrial complex.”

Military budgets have ballooned to the point that the U.S. now spends more than all other countries in the world put together. And that’s not even counting the massive costs of the new Homeland Security Department and Transportation Security Agency. The financial meltdown facing the U.S. can be directly traced to this insane overspending on defense against a small band of terrorists.
The terorists won, said Bernd Pickert in the Berlin Die Tageszeitung.

There is also “another less tangible, cost,” said Neil Tweedie of the London Telegraph. America has abandoned its claim to the moral high ground--not just by killing 140,000 civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.
First it violated the sovereignty of allies by kidnapping suspected terrorists … Then came the practice of “extraordinary rendition,” whereby those suspects were shipped off to other countries for torture.

Then torture was embraced as an American tactic, when CIA agents water boarded suspects at “black sites.” And finally we have outright assassinations, in the form of drone attacks. All these Bush administration policies “have sullied the country’s reputation” beyond repair.

Don’t blame Bush alone, said Tariq Ali in the London Guardian. Obama has deported more immigrants and prosecuted more whistle-blowers than Bush. He has failed to close Guantanamo, and he renewed the Patriot Act. He increased the use of drones, killing untold numbers of Pakistani families.

I would not go as far as the writer who said Obama started a third war in a Muslim land, Libya, but the words of new CIA Director David Petraeus, might be true (I hope not): “This is the kind of fight we’re in for the rest of our lives and probably our kids lives.”

But what do I conclude from these references by mostly foreign editors? It remains obvious to me that we have paid a far bigger and heavier price than these wars were worth. Wars are anti-social behavior--failed diplomacy. Wars are never settled by force; they are finally resolved by intense diplomatic efforts. Wars result mostly from greed and the struggle for power, be it military, economic, or religious.

Moreover, I would agree: the decade since 9/11 has been one sorry downhill slide--decline.

From Warner’s World,
The American people have done themselves no favor by listening to the political and military leaders taking us down this slippery slope. I am walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

"EQUALITY OF MAN BEFORE HIS CREATOR"

2011-09-22T12:15:00.000-07:00

I find several interesting things happening under President Ronald Reagan that give me pause for reflection, as noted by Jeff Madrick in his book Age of Greed /Madrick/169-175).

Reagan cut taxes. In turn, he raised military spending. He cut taxes 25% over 3 years but ended up with a deficit of $130 billion.

Consequently, he added payroll taxes to 12.3% on the working - mid-class (up to $107,000 in 2010) and raised retirement to 67. “It was a decidedly regressive tax: earners in the middle fifth of Americans would now pay 9.8% of their income in payroll taxes, while those in the top 1% now paid 1.4% of their income in payroll taxes.”

We also note that Security taxes were “commingled” with general revenues to pay for all government programs, and have been ever since.” (altho passed and intended only to pay Social Security.” This suggests shortages in the Social Security funding are generated by legislators “borrowing” out of budgetary funds not theirs to spend, and that most of the hubris about Social Security is just that: political hype.

“The rate of actual federal taxes of all kinds on the middle fifth of income earners in America (households) fell only be .7 percent between 1979-1989, but for the top 10 percent it fell by 3.3 percent, and 8.1 percent for the top 1 percent of owners.”

“Thus, Americans paid lower taxes, but the cuts for the well-off were far greater on a percentage basis than for those in other brackets.”

Under Reagan, Defense spending rose from 5. To 6.5% of GDP in the late 80s. “Business investment remained significantly weaker as a percentage of GDP than in the 1960s and 1970s.”

The 1983 Budget deficit, which was above $200 Billion and 6+% of GDP dropping to 3% at its lowest point, was “never as low as Carter’s final years.,”

“As for American workers, who so strongly supported Reagan politically, their wages, as noted, generally stagnated or at best grew slowly. Male wages were especially weak. In this period, income inequality started to climb to the levels reached in the 1920s. Typical family incomes rose only because spouses went to work. Female incomes rose consistently, but not robustly, and a typical woman of the same age and experience as her male counterpart still earned far less. Meanwhile, the public goods of America were neglected. Under Reagan, investment in public transportation infrastructure was reduced from 0.5 percent of GDP to 0.3 percent - a sharp drop. And more and more Americans had no health insurance.”

As a Christian, I am decidedly uncomfortable with this system of taxation, for the inequity of the system and for the increased military spending, which continues to dominate our pocketbooks, to the point it seems we pay for Defense and War but we deserve neither adequate infrastructure nor a public safety net for the more vulnerable.

Issues for the common good are made to appear as politically incorrect. However, I am no more interested in Socialism than I am in Capitalism. I do not need the government planning my life for me. Neither do I appreciate being increasingly impoverished by the Barons of Corporate Capitalism. I long ago committed my life to the teachings of Jesus, which are the only teachings I have found with power to change a human heart, and on which humanity can build a safe and friendly environment for everybody. I read Matthew 25 and take seriously His Word, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me: (v. 26 NIV).

It sort of reminds me of a statement Michael Kazin quotes from William Jennings Bryan: “You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold. ” Bryan recalled tethering the hogs back in Southern Illinois as a boy when he had to prevent the hogs from tearing up the land. “And then it occurred to me,” he said, “that one of the most important duties of government is to put rings in the noses of hogs.” (of greed).

What I want to know is not your politics, or religion, but how you live and how you treat your fellow man. I like following examples like that of Thaddeus Stevens, the Pennsylvania Congressman that led a move during earlier days to redistribute southern lands to slaves. You may challenge his politics, but I find it hard to disagree with his final example in death.

When Stevens died, he was interred in the one integrated cemetery in Lancaster, PA with these words on his stone:
“I have chosen this that I might illustrate in my death The Principle which I advocated through a long life EQUALITY OF MAN BEFORE HIS CREATOR (Kazin, American Dreamers, P. 61).

From Warner’s World, walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Then They Came For Me

2011-09-17T12:41:00.000-07:00

The anticipated return of the two American tourists from their Iranian imprisonment makes the story of Maziar Behari of great interest to me, since I discovered that Behari encountered the three Americans late in his own imprisonment. Behari’s book, (Maziar Behari/Then They Came for Me/NY/Random House/2011) gives me some idea as to what to anticipate for the two young Americans awaiting release.

Three young American tourists made the mistake [?] of transgressing the Iran border--two men and the fiancée of one of the men. Iran eventually released the female and she returned to America. She has continued advocating for her two male counterparts. Now, the world awaits their soon release, as promised. When the three were arrested, they were accused of leading the Iranian branch of the American CIA, et al, which I considered both interesting and humorous.

Behari, an Iranian-born Canadian citizen, was arrested while filming the 2009 mass protests in Teheran, with the savage repressions that followed. Although he was a 12-year-journalist with “Newsweek” magazine, he was imprisoned as a spy and spent 118 days in Evin Prison. Tortured, fearing for his life--thought lost--he held to the secular values that sustained him.Late in his imprisonment, he encountered the three Americans apparently coming into the Iranian prison system. He also reveals the truth about the [crooked] election of Ahmadinejad, as well as his relationship to the present Ayatollah.

Behari gives a riveting, and at times heart-wrenching, memoir of his imprisonment for being a Western spy. I found his historical insights into the past seventy years of various regimes of Iranian history offering me a better feel for the land of his birth. I found him very empathic with Jewish people, whom he recognized as being a wholesome part of Iranian culture since the days of King Cyrus of the biblical days of Daniel.

Behari’s family experienced wars, coups, and revolutions under oppressive regimes. In reading his story, I could feel the aspirations of his people living under oppressive, totalitarian [fascist] regimes as they did (and do), and looking for any kind of philosophy or faith to enable them to live freely and enjoy those qualities that go with human rights, economic and religious freedom, et al, that I and all other freedom-loving Americans enjoy.

Maziar’s father belonged to a Communist circle, through which he sought those social and economic benefits to which we all aspire. Maziar grew up as what I would consider a secular Muslim, drawing strength from his father’s courage during his imprisonment as a Communist. He drew additional strength from his sister’s imprisonment under the shah of Iran, the American-supported Muslim dictator-king, whom the Ayatollah Khomeini eventually overthrew. Moreover, he continued to draw strength from the surprising and feisty resilience of his 84-year old mother who had seen it all but continued to cope, even when her son Maziar was all she had left.

The book traces the democratic impulses of freedom-loving people long-tired of oppressive government, most of which they experienced in the name of religion. I readily understand why the author is a secularist in his desire for democracy; he had never experienced human and civil rights otherwise. While Behari continues to hope for, and press for, democratic expressions of civil society, his story reveals the corruption of power, and Lord Acton’s confession that absolute power absolutely corrupts.

In Behari’s experiences, I could only guess at the “real” treatment of the two young Americans, and especially at the face-saving loops they are must go through as they anticipate their soon-freedom, which some suggest will not come until they accompany Ahmadinejad, when he comes for his soon-anticipated appearance in America.

What interested me most was Islam's obvious lack of a personally life-transforming faith, and the fact that there seems to be a significant number of Muslims who are freedom-loving non-totalitarians. The problem in Islam is the religious institution, just as it was in Judaism during the days of Jesus. The religious establishment has become quite institutionalized, and Muslim leadership can no more tolerate diversity and individuality than could the Pharisees and Saducees when challenged by Jesus.

Power corrupts. Absolute power (Islamic theocracy or Christian theocracy) corrupts absolutely, whereas Jesus taught the truth shall make you free (not the institution). From Warner's World, I am walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

POST SCRIPT - Greed

2011-09-14T12:47:00.000-07:00

Jeff Madrick introduces the Epilogue in his book Age of Greed (NY, Knopf, 20011) with a quote by Shiela Bair,Republican-appointed chairwoman of the FDIC. Bair acknowledged that Wall Street had channeled hundreds of billions of dollars of capital into foolish speculation in the housing market. “The bust that followed” she claimed, “is clear evidence that capital was misallocated and could have been put to better use in areas such as energy, infrastructure, or the industrial base.”

Madrick’s expose, Age of Greed, details four decades of records revealing how a select Wall Street CEOs and Executives became fabulously rich while channeling hundreds of billions of dollars into wasteful investments via sub-quality bonds packaged and sold deceptively. The question, he says, was not whether they contributed “enough to the economy to warrant their compensations, but how much they cost the economy in the damage done” (399). He shares further costs, which I have not listed here.

To challenge such practices is in the minds of some unthinkable: socialism and liberal politics. To deny such a discussion is to fail to get to the truth, which may not be on either side of the political aisle. I like what Randy wrote on my Facebook page,
“I agree with you about extremes. Capitalism without morals is exploitive. Socialism without incentive makes everyone poorer. Democracy without a bill of rights results in the tyranny of the majority. A representative republic without effective accountability results in corruption. Reasonable regulations and checks and balances are necessary for a healthy nation and economy. Workers without protection can be manipulated by their employers. Unions without constraint can be just as greedy as their employers. A well operating society requires a fine balance of freedom and responsibility.”

The CEO at Caterpillar Corp in Peoria told CBS News recently that the primary thing lacking today is “honesty.” I agree and I suggest that many liberals and conservatives have supported an economic free-market gone to the extremes of individualism and greed. It became increasingly so in the 1970’s, progressed through the Reagan Administration until the White House appearance of Barak Obama. Today we are caught on the horns of the dilemma of the past 40 years and we don’t know which horn is most damaging, the left or the right. Truth seems lacking from both directions.

To begin with, I challenge the right of the Financial Industry to behave like a hand-full of Roman Gladiators killing Christians in a free-for-all survival of the fittest. That is the free market of Milton Friedman, Ronald Reagan, and George Bush et Company. That free for all intensified until Wall Street was on the verge of Collapse, and we have all heard news reports of unregulated and irregular practices making a few people filthy rich while whole companies were on the verge of self-destruction.

In one instance, George Bush’s Admin backed a TARP bailout of $700 “B” billion, which free-marketers do not like to acknowledge because it admits to the truth that a free market economy does not self-adjust nor does self-policing (assisted by lobbied legislation) work adequately. Both Bush-43 and Clinton became exceedingly wealthy in such instances but that is a political aside.

Madrick reports the financial industry paid back the TARP loans, except the loans went to pay for executive benefits et al and the banks continued withholding on loans, slowing both the economy and jobs, thereby hurting ALL OF US.

Adds Madrick: "the largest cost of the crisis was the steepest recession since the 1930s. GDP fell sharply. Eight million jobs were lost. And recovery in the subsequent year and a half beginning in mid-2009 was slow, and will likely stay slow, resulting in considerably higher unemployment and lower national income for many years than otherwise could have been realized. Federal tax revenues were and will continue to be reduced accordingly and the budget deficit will be much higher as a result. None of this counts the several trillion dollars of debt or loan guarantees made by the Federal Reserve, whose future costs cannot yet be computed”
(400).

While this was going on, “Average compensation per employee at financial firms started growing far faster by 1978 than the average of other U.S. business, and was well more than double the average compensation elsewhere by 2008.”

In other words, the financial industry was “making money” by selling paper back and forth (stuff like sub-prime mortgages on my daughter’s house, which re-sold several times), while the labor force was losing income but paying more taxes, and the top 1% was increasing 400 times while paying a lower rate of taxes. This is what many have not yet comprehended.

“Harvard Law School researchers found that the top five executives at each firm (in recent bank collapse) drew out cash and stock of $1.4 billion from Bear and $1 billion from Lehman. It is fair to estimate that both Cayne and Fuld had put away $300-400 million each” (before their banks crashed--p. 397).

Jeff Madrick concludes Age of Greed with this 4-liner:
“The crash of 2008 was not a systematic failure. It was a function of the unchecked greed of a handful of individuals, the culmination of forty years of growing power and weakened government. And the same individuals were essentially still in charge. The age of greed continued” (italics mine).

Back to what Randy commented on my Facebook page: I could not agree more, Randy: “ We need to model integrity, fiscal responsibility, justice, industry, wisdom and generosity in the public sphere. The answers to the multiple woes of our time are fundamentally spiritual.”

From Warner’s World,
Let’s stop parallel-talking each other (conservatives vs liberals) and filter our conversations as Christians through the words of Jesus
- walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com - there is truth to be found in between our extremes!

The "Madness" of Greed

2011-09-11T14:02:00.000-07:00

GREED did not launch with the Iraq War and will not end with the Tea Party. Free-market capitalism has a history as old as the Garden of Eden. Charles Spurgeon did not miss the mark by far when he recalled the words of the ancient wiseman: “madness is in their heart while they live” and after that “they go to the dead.” (Ecclesiastes 9:3 KJV).

That sounds like the small Mississippi start-up company--Global Crossing. Jeff Madrick describes it.

“Global Crossing was another phenomenon of the age, built on a good idea and carried to extremes by the Wall Street juggernaut… (emphasis mine).

“Global Crossing engaged in dubious accounting practices, such as swaps of financial assets, some with Enron, others with Qwest, to inflate earnings. These and other such questionable accounting practices were again approved by Arthur Anderson (Winnick even hired Andersen’s main auditor as his chief financial officer).

Global went bankrupt a month after Enron. Its executives and other insiders had already sold $4.5 billion worth of stock, far more than the Enron executives did. Winnick sold $735 million. George W. Bush made a killing as did Bill Clinton’s close friend and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Terry McAuliffe, who saw his $100,000 investment increase to $18 million.

All along, Jack Grubman advised on Winnick’s deals for Salomon, sat in on board meetings, and kept giving Global Crossing shares his highest rating for most of its life as a public company… (Madrick 342-43)

“Global Crossing was not Grubman’s biggest mistake. He developed a similar relationship with Bernard Ebbers, the head of WorldCom. Ebbers had started a small long-distance phone services company in Mississippi, and expanded by acquiring other small phone companies. His strength was as a salesman; his weakness was numbers.

Grubman noticed that the upstart firm, despite its small size, was expanding rapidly. He made contact with Ebbers and, as WorldCom grew, eventually convinced him to make a daring bid for the much larger MCI with Salomon’s considerable help. MCI agreed to the acquisition, given Salomon’s participation, and overnight Ebber’s WorldCom became the second largest long-distance phone company in the nation.

“As recession coupled with overcapacity began to undo the telecommunications bubble in 2000, WorldCom’s clever financial officer Scott Sullivan moved expenses off the profit and loss statement and into the company’s capital account, keeping the earnings trajectory rising--out accounting deception (emphasis mine). With rising earnings, WorldCom could claim that it was unique in avoiding the plunging earnings of the rest of the sector and it was able to sell a $12 billion bond issue through Citigroup (Solomon) and JPMorgan Chase.

As with all underwriting, the two investment bankers were obliged by SEC rules to do due diligence, providing an opinion statement that all the financial reporting was in order and reflected the operations of the firm. Neither Citigroup nor JPMorgan Chase discovered the major accounting deception, or if they had, they did not make it public. The credit rating agencies also overlooked the obvious chicanery and gave the new bond offering a high rating.

“It turned out that WorldCom had overstated its $10.5 billion of earnings in 2001 by at least $4 billion. Another $3 billion of false profits was later found. The SEC discovered that WorldCom gave Ebbers more than $400 million in personal loans, with which he bought more WorldCom stock. Grubman maintained a buy recommendation until one month before the formal bankruptcy and only a few days before the admission of the accounting chicanery.

The accounting restatements and the plunging stock prices, plus ratings downgrades (again too late to save many investors) made WorldCom’s end inevitable. Ebbers was ruined, but Global’s Winnick remained one of the richest men in Los Angelos.

“In 2002, Grubman, at the peak of his influence, despite Global’s bankruptcy and the similar fate awaiting WorldCom, denied to BusinessWeek that he had conflicts of interest… WorldCom went bankrupt in July 2002, becoming the largest failure ever until Lehman Brothers a half dozen years later” (Madrick, 343-4).

The accounts above reveal little about our national economy; they suggest nothing of the reasons for starting a business (to manufacture or whatever). What this does reveal is a vulnerable herd of valuable cattle--our cows of industry: manufacturing, technology, information, et al. It further reveals the illegal and fraudulent practices that are protected by a Congress that conspires in the crimes by refusing to regulate special-interest cowboys who enjoy raping companies for the singular purpose of reaping obscene profits (not to increase production or improve services, but desk jockeys trading deceptive paperwork--corporate raiders).

And when you see a recent President and the former head of the Democratic party reaping those “obscene profits” you understand why it is so important that government regulations be minimized--to protect and maximize the profits of select private interests (emphasis mine).

From Warner’s World, I repeat, Charles Finney hit the mark: “madness [in this case greed] is in their hearts while they live. Too bad they can’t take it with them, but then they never could … walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

GOD vs GREED

2011-09-10T13:03:00.000-07:00

We retired just in time to take a hit on wife’s retirement funds secured through a church agency. Having banking experience, she insisted on secured bonds only. The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) eventually investigated that Agency and we discovered her “secured” bonds had been exchanged (without her knowledge) for unsecured bonds she knew better than to buy.

Two leaders were found guilty in civil court, but church leaders refused to press criminal charges. She lost substantially, and we lost our “margin of difference” between comfortable retirement and tough stretching, and Church Leaders could not adequately cushion the worst losses.

That explains part of my interest in today’s political climate; it is where I live. It helps me understand Kevin Phillips, onetime Republican strategist, when reporting, “Nearly 90% of all shares were held by the wealthiest 10% of households in 1997, up from 68.2% in 1983. Stock options pushed the ratio of executive pay to factory workers pay to 419.1 in 1998, from 42.1 in 1980” (italic mine). He concludes, “Succinctly put, the two-decade stock market boom, together with the tax advantages that accrued to investment income over earned income, became the motive force of a new national economy” (italic mine)

The new national economy, so highly touted at the time by Milton Friedman our top government economist and a strong free-marketer, supported a system in which the top 1% held 40% of stock doubling from 10% in 1980 to 20% in 1999 - while the average household stagnated (Phillips/American Dynasty/ NY/Viking Penguin/ 2004/ 66, italics mine).

Another author announces “There were dozens of accounting frauds in these years, and Anderson [Arthur Anderson Accounting Firm] was involved with many of them. Only a few of the CEO’s who perpetrated the major frauds served jail time or were severely fined compared to their substantial wealth…

“In 1997, Arthur Levitt, the SEC chairman, at last realized he had to take more aggressive legal action and the SEC started to bring suits, including those against CUC and Waste Management. But the campaign almost completely neglected the newer, more innovative kinds of accounting manipulation [cooking the books], and the growing derivatives market…

“Unethical accounting standards were, in large part, a consequence of the outsize personal compensation CEOs could earn because compensation was linked to rising stock prices through generous stock options. Theoretically, if they managed the company well, share values would rise and options with them…

“Stock options ... it was discovered, were illegally backdated … the price at which the shares could be bought had already been exceeded when they were issued. The practices did not fully come to light until 2006... Approximately one hundred companies were involved in cases brought by the SEC. By 1996, average CEO compensation among the Standard & Poor’s 500 companies was 210 times the level of average pay for production workers compared to roughly one hundred times in 1990.

“It was only twenty-five times higher in 1970" emphasis mine). Many CEOs profited handsomely from the roaring bull market of the late 1990s, no matter how poorly they managed their firms” (Jeff Madrick/Age of Greed/NY/Knopf/2011/326-328).

Adjunct professor of humanities at The Cooper Union, senior fellow at the Roosevelt Institute and the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis, The New School, and an economics columnist, Madrick reviews America’s financial history since 1970: “The triumph of finance and the decline of America, 1970 to the present.”

I see it as a moral indictment of an immoral financial system that capitalizes on greed and only uses politics to satisfy that greed. So, when I say that we live in a financial system stacked to favor special interests groups of the wealthy, some of my friends whine that I am only reading liberal “left-wing rags.” They ask “why”” are you so opposed to the Republicans. They call me a “socialist” for supporting President Obama; some add the bullying rhetoric of “baby killer.”

My well-meaning friends are shooting themselves in the foot at the ballot box. “Free market” sounds good, but it was never intended to become a survival of the fittest through cannibalizing corporations, manipulating the money market so only the top 1-2% can pay themselves obscene fortunes, while companies they buy go out of business, or downsize the labor force to expand stock values, etc.

The companies have to play the game or get swallowed up. The purpose for their existence and what they produce no longer matters--only the stock values that allow speculators to up the market-value long enough to buy, sell, or trade for an obscene amount of money, purely for investor’s profits.

Mention any kind of controls and somebody screams “Communism! … Socialism …” ad infinitum … Do you know what the Stock Market is? It is a wealthy play-boy’s gambling casino--largely unregulated and highly protected. Try buying into it.

I fail to understand Christians insisting on protecting unborn babies and feeling no social responsibility for America’s underclass. They support a political-financial system that protects individuals at the top of the pinnacle. They elevate obscene greed as the epitomy of success while supporting a political structure that feeds and protects that system. The words of Jesus mean nothing!

The Prophet Amos thundered, You cows of Bashan … who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, ‘Bring us some drinks!“ …You trample on the poor and force him to give you grain … you oppress the righteous and take bribes and you deprive the poor of justice in the court … I hate, I despise your religious feasts … away with the noise of your songs! But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! (Amos 4:1-7:14, NIV).

From Warner’s World, I am walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Labor Day Weekend 2011

2011-09-03T14:55:00.000-07:00

Local Church on KY Mission-09

The weekend of Labor Day 2011 is upon us with record weather everywhere: heat, flooding, hurricanes, earthquakes, and you name it. Not only are we assaulted by forces of nature, but by political forces that seek to denigrate working Americans by taking away rights to bargain, negotiate, et al.

This weekend finds me past my working days, doing my routine as a spousal care-giver.
That said,I find care of the kitchen is mine, and I confess I am disturbed over recent evidence of a mouse. We have not seen such evidence in years in this house--until days ago.

While dealing with my mouse problem, I’m thinking about Labor Day and the mice in our kitchen. They are eating things we don’t want destroyed. Wisconsin’s governor Ryan is taking bargaining rights from working Wisconsinites and Governor Snyder is wanting to privatize teaching positions in Michigan. These greedy little mice are destroying fundamental “civil liberties” of working class Americans for personal and political gain; now that is fascism in action, little different than Libyia.

I called them greedy; they are self-seeking. They care little for the common good--too far to the left politically, although that is what makes American workers different from the rest of the world. I guess they want us to be like the rest of the world.

Greed is a viral infection, destroying our western culture of affluence. The Bible says enough about greed that no matter how loudly individualists and atheists preach the benefits of greed, selfishness is selfishness--destructive of anything hindering its success.

That leads me to the current book I’m reading: Age of Greed by Jeff Madrick, Knopf, 2011. It describes the fast-paced, single-minded pursuit of huge personal wealth in American capitalism. The author is an economist, teacher, author and has paid his dues. He tells many stories of politicians, economists, and financiers who have participated in this moral battle for freedom that has given way to an age of greed.

Madrick describes intense economic inequity and instability with style, clarity and command of his subject. I share part of Sam Walton’s success, as one of many such stories.
“Walton contracted leukemia in the late 1980’s and died in 1992. His successors intensified his devotion to controlling labor costs. As criticism of Wal-Mart’s low pay, long hours, and scant benefits grew, the company defended itself by noting that nearly three quarters of its employees work full-time and earned twice the minimum wage. But it defined full-time as working thirty-four hours a week, and even for a forty-hour worker, that meant less than $1,300 of income a month after taxes. Few families, no less individuals, could live on that anywhere in the United States…” In essence: The company succeeded on the backs of its employees.

“Many claimed, despite the low wages, the nation benefited from Wall-Mart’s low prices. American consumers had voted with their pocketbooks. Ninety percent of Americans lived within an hour’s drive of a mammoth Wal-Mart store, half of Americans lived within a ten-minute drive … In the 2000s, for the first time, more Americans were working in retailing than in manufacturing and the pay on average was far less. This was the business environment of a new age. Some companies went against the trend, such as Costco, which emphasized more service for customers, paid higher wages, and offered better benefits. But it was not nearly Wal-Mart’s size.

“McKinsey, the consulting firm, estimated that Wal-Mart’s productivity gains accounted for one fourth of the productivity gains of the entire nation between 1995 and 2000. Yet in the past, higher productivity of industrial giants was usually associated with high wages--even as the prices of products fell. The great entrepreneurs of an earlier era created jobs that paid good wages. The price of a Model T fell from roughly $1000 to $300 in the early 1900s, and Henry Ford fought vehemently against unionization, yet he paid his workers up to $5 a day, an extremely high wage in those times. This had become the classical example of capitalism at work. Now productivity was losing its historical meaning in a political environment that tolerated low wages and worker insecurity. It was not a model that a prosperous nation could depend on indefinitely” (emphasis mine).

I quote this not to offer a political position, or to pick on Wal-Mart; I am a customer too. I use it to illustrate something it took me years to understand. Henry Ford provided a needed product and paid his people well to produce it. For that reason, they were able to buy the products they produced. The biggest reason today for the “consumer confidence crisis” is the inability of families on Main Street to buy the products they produce, due to current politics that favor downgrading the rights and wages of working class people.

This is producing an expanding Grand Canyon between the haves and the have nots, and no amount of rhetoric about reforming welfare and entitlement programs et al will change this situation. The statistics show CEO’s with increasing entitlements, the wealthy becoming more affluent, and the rest losing ground--totally contrary to Jesus word suggesting it is better to give than to receive.

As one who never cared for money, I first became aware of this when my wife managed a business for a “Christian entrepreneur” who operated on the other person’s money, who regularly “skimmed the till” and lived out of it illegally, and who typically paid most of his employees minimum wage. He thought nothing of that, but challenged me when I voted on what he thought was the wrong side of a “moral” issue. Yet, his whole business foundation was “immoral”.

Jesus said give Caesar what is his (Caesar has his place and God has His). Jesus also said, love God above all else, and love your neighbor as yourself. Seems to me that ought to say volumes to our Labor Day celebrants.
… walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com at Warner’s World.

Frank Bailey vs Sarah Palin

2011-09-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

A VERY INTERESTING READ:
… Frank Bailey, Blind Allegiance to Sarah. Nashville: Howard Division of Simon & Schuster, 2011.

The author takes an interesting journey of introspection that reveals more than a little insight into the author himself. He reveal a very religious (Protestant Christian) and idealistic (naïve) young man wanting to make a difference (good), but thinking he can do it through political strategies (mostly naïve and not so good).

I had a hard time putting the book down, and by the time I finished reading it, I had a thorough appreciation for the fact that three authors collaborated the effort rather than one single disgruntled opinionater venting it. I felt that I had a comprehensive and accurate assessment rather than a one-track opinion.

Bailey’s journey shows how the political system becomes a fiery furnace that will break, bend, burn, or someway compromise participants (both staff personnel and candidates) before it will allow the system to be changed. He offers insight, intentionally or otherwise, on how participants gradually succumb to the tidal rip currents and get pulled down into the depths of party participation.

He reveals participants playing the system for self-gratification. If one wants to see it, the workings of the human mind are shown at play, and one can see people finding either a path for themselves or Robert Frost’s road less taken. I found this challenging.

The Alaskan data and background showed just about what I expected to find in that frontier-minded setting; interesting and inviting … exciting … often beautiful … some parts less than flattering. It is a culture of its own where people are individualistic and do not understand or appreciate the more populous and urbanized social development of the Coastal States and the northeast.. I could just as well have been back in the West Texas of the 1950s, or other western states where they still have a less-urbanized and more pioneer mindset with romanticized cowboys and Indians, and raw individualism.

I selected the book out of curiosity about Sarah Palin, not one of my favorite people … wondering just what kind of dirt Bailey would expose under her rug (authors oft times reveal as much about themselves inadvertently as they do about the character they are exposing). I was not disappointed; but, I was more than disappointed.

Bailey tells a story that is as much his story as Palin’s story. His innocence and naivety show through but he does not hide his slide into failure and ultimate betrayal of himself and his ideals (Never sell your soul to any person!). He attempts to be honest in his self-revealing. He reveals a surprise climax that may, or may not reflect Divine approval (according to one’s views). It does, however, make for a good journalistic tool that adds a “feel good” touch to having read the book.

How did Bailey influence my views regarding Sarah Palin?
1. Whereas I once regarded her as an undesirable presidential candidate, I no longer regard her as a potential threat.
2. The book reinforced a few negative views of her, but in the main, it neutralized any negative feelings and left me passively viewing her as non-threatening.
3. I saw how cruel and destructive public office and media attention can be to a candidate, and a candidate’s family. That was vigorouly reinforced, I should say, and I responded with compassion for her children--parental victims of both the political system and the public media.
4. Having said that, I saw a family exposed and left naked in the public eye. I viewed that exposure as unflattering rather than pleasing. They became human beings, having all the warts and flaws of a human family--sometimes “unpretty”. I saw very little I would support in a political candidate; I saw aspects that could draw negative feelings;mostly, I saw a person exposed for whom I felt compassion.

I saw a very attractive person to look at from an external viewpoint. However, I saw someone like Baltasar Gracian described long ago as “all front, like houses having the entrances of a palace but the contents of a hut.” Sadly, I saw a person wanting perceived changes, but I also saw a person wanting ... needing, public adulation. I saw an individual who, contrary to her faith journey, does not have her internal issues in order and under control ... a person I recognized as having too many unresolved personal issues to be of immediate service ... a person too swept up in the heady atmosphere of wealthy celebrity living to ever again be valued as a public servant for the common good.

Before reading the book, I was inclined to argue with Sarah's views. Having read the book, I am more inclined to pray that she rediscover those original values she once wanted to share. From Warner’s World, I am walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

InterDependence vs Independence

2011-08-28T14:16:00.000-07:00

I grew up in a white, Anglo-Saxon, strongly protestant home with a strong Republican bias against Democrats (who were urban union-mafia mobsters). My socio-political and personal faith journey has come a long ways, much to the dismay of some. To some, it may appear I have simply moved from the extreme rightfield bleachers to the far leftfield bleachers.

I see my journey as escaping from Redneck Haven, exploring Libertyville in leftfield, but settling into deep centerfield, more deeply entrenched than ever in the centrist views of an a-political Jesus, who is at the core of my evangelical Wesleyan-holiness faith.

Having said that, I’ve just been reading a biographical sketch of Milton Friedman, as I explore the world of greed. I quote:

“Above all, Friedman argued, no one will take advantage of others (emphasis mine). “So long as the freedom of exchange is maintained… Thus, Friedman summarized his moral philosophy. If individuals are given the choice, free of government rules and regulations,
of where to work,
where to invest their retirement funds,
where to send their children to school,
where to buy their health care,
and where to rent or buy their homes,
competition to supply the best goods or services will result in a greater number of cheaper and higher-quality options. In this way, Americans will have more high-paying jobs,
a more secure retirement,
schools of surpassing quality,
a possibly cheaper but surely more efficient health care system,
and more affordable housing.

"He argued further that with reduced government and lower taxes,
the poor would be better off,
inequality would be minimized,
and discrimination eliminated;
coercion would be minimized
and material prosperity maximized.
It was nearly a utopian or religious promise, and that was its broad appeal, a moral call for the protection of personal freedom. Economic freedom is also the way to achieve political freedom, according to Friedman“ (Madrick/Age of Greed/Knopf/NY/2011/41).

This is the gist of “free market economy” in a paragraph, propagated by all Republicans, Tea Partiers, and that grand multitude that believe that individual liberty without intervention is the ultimate of American freedom.It not only defines "free market" economy but it defines anarchy and/or libertarianism.

Because Friedman’s bias said, “The fact is that the Great Depression, like most other periods of severe unemployment, was produced by government management rather than by inherent instability of the private economy,” he blamed the depression on the Government--pre-FDR! This is no different from those who today blame the current depression on Obamamania and his stimulus spending, rather than facing the truth of George Bush spending us deeply into debt via the Iraq War and putting it on our Chinese credit card.

Whether or not I learned anything else, I learned a fierce sense of telling the truth as a child. I can tell you it is not comfortable to be taken back and forced to tell the truth to someone you misled. I learned better as a child and Mr. Friedman and company should be made to tell the truth, that a “free market” will not automatically adjust itself, and rather than people in that “free market” treating everyone else by the Golden Rule, people will lie, cheat, steal, and defraud you, just because they think they can get away with it. The Bible calls it sin, but that word is not in vogue these days.

Nonetheless, Friedman’s “moral philosophy” was MORALLY FLAWED from its inception. HE WAS WRONG, as are all extremists of this far right political persuasion. I know little about economics and the philosophy of financial management, but I know that when people anchor themselves to Capitalism and Freedom (authored by Friedman), I know they are working with a flawed system.

I know that such a free market system evolves until it becomes a cannibalizing process of economic survival of the fittest (ask any MBA graduate how that works). Walter Wriston built First National City Bank into the largest in America via the free market. He grew the company large enough that it was too big to be allowed to fail. On the several occasions it did nearly fail, it was the government that bailed him out because it would be detrimental to the economy (cf Madrick, pp 10-25 for Wriston story of regulatory revolt).

All democratic nations face that tension of individuality versus government. Democracy can survive only with a good balance. Without regulators (referees and officials) any game will become unequal, unfair, dirty, and compromised; the players need objective assistance. An overly-regulated game will be no better. What I do know is this: to attend Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY and watch the Wildcats play, properly assisted by a well refereed game, may look like far too much governmental regulation, but it produces a satisfying game for the customer (especially if KY wins), and it produces a huge economic windfall for the Bluegrass--players, coaches, scouts, officials, fans, university, business community, et al.

I may not understand economics adequately, but I know athletics well enough that if “free marketers” were correct, two basketball teams could play without officials, BUT it takes those regulators (NOT JUST 1 referee but SEVERAL OFFICIALS, TIME KEEPERS, SCOREKEEPERS, AD INFINITUM) to keep everything fair and above board from the 7 foot center to the 5’ 6” guard.

From Warner’s World, I still believe in interdependence more than independence; this is walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

The Gospel Trumpet Years

2011-08-25T18:32:00.000-07:00

“I believe in a clean, separate and distinct work for God, but I also believe that we should keep the sectarian stink out of the distinction… ” declared E. A. Reardon, the pioneer father of Anderson University’s longtime president, Robert H. Reardon (p214/The Gospel Trumpet Years/Welch & Stultz/2011).

Reardon concluded his message to the church that day by admitting “There is such a thing as stressing the reformation to such an extent as to cause our people to be reformation-centered reformation sectarians.”

Mention the Gospel Trumpet years and Church of God people become nostalgic. This newest volume from the Church of God Historical Society (authored by Welch & Stultz) is now in the final editing/proofing stages and will bring you the most comprehensive overview available of the Church of God (General Offices, Anderson, IN).

It will clear up questions some of you wonder about. It will raise further questions for some. You will not just read it and lay it aside for it will be a resource you can turn to again and again, for information contained therein, and for historical pictures, a valuable timeline of important events (1867-1961, and other special items like the charts on the inside front and back covers.

It promises to be a fine resource for your coffee table. It covers the developing years of the magazine, the years the magazine was birthing the church; that period when the magazine was called The Gospel Trumpet (up to 1961 when it became “Vital Christianity).

The book divides into three parts. Part I offers an excellent introduction and overview before discussing the magazine itself, followed by the 6 editors of that period: Warner, Fisher, Byrum, Smith, Brown, Phillips. Of special interest will be the insights into the role of J.C. Fisher.

Part II deals with the magazine that birthed the Church and offers excellent insights into the role of the Gospel Trumpet, Songs of the Evening Light, Camp Meetings in the Church of God, the developing Global mission, theological education and the Christian Brotherhood Hour. I especially enjoyed the informative piece on the development of Mission Homes.

Part III offers a resourceful appendix with excellent appendices on the Holiness Movement, Restorationism, The Ohio Odyssey, and Sidney the son. Dave Neidert contributed an excellent segment on D. O. Teaseley. Other subjects include Healing, Making Music, and related segments on RR Byrum and EA Reardon.

The appendice on “Whatever became of? Is informative. For me, reading Dr. Gene Newberry’s final written word to the church he so dearly loved was priceless. This proved to be the final word to the church by the 93-year-old theologian and former Dean of the School of Theology--great wisdom.

From Warner’s World, I hope I whet your whistle a little and increased your interest in this soon-to-be volume awaited by many of us … walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Islam Without Extremes

2011-08-19T19:23:00.000-07:00

Looking over the new book selections at Willard Library, I picked up Islam Without Extremes, a Muslim case for liberty. That sounded like a different Islam than I knew from reading the daily news, so I thumbed through it: 290 pages, plus notes and index; written by Mustafa Akyol, a columnist for two Turkish newspapers. Alyol’s articles have also appeared in Foreign Affairs, Newsweek, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal, since his studies at Bogazici University in Istanbul, where he lives.

Akyol obviously is a man of questions, as well as a devout Muslim. For example: is it possible that current authoritarian Islamic regimes derive not from Islam but from deep-seated socio-political structures in the Middle East? Going back to the genesis of Islam, Akyol digs in the roots of the 7th century Prophet Mohammad, whom he sees ushering in a “medieval war of ideas” and something of a religious renewal.

He offers a different version of Mohammad than I had previously read, a more tolerant and reasonable man than I had previously known. Akyol then traces the development of Islamic political thinking through several schools of thought, with strong emphasis upon reason, free will, and pluralism. He reveals a “more rigid, dogmatic, and exclusive interpretation (traditionalism) ascending to the top in later centuries, after a more liberal, inclusive, and religious beginning.

My lack of familiarity with his subject made it hard for me at times to keep reading. On occasion, I felt he assumed too much for Islam, too easily blamed none Islamic forces, and throughout I had the feeling that something was lacking, but was unable to quite put my finger on it. I think I felt his whole approach was too much of human origin; too dependent upon human reasoning, but also more dependent upon prior Christian influences than he recognized.

Mustafa Akyol likely began his journey when as an eight-year-old lad he accompanied his mother to the suburbs of Ankara, where he visited his imprisoned father, a Turkish journalist, imprisoned for speaking out as a Muslim against the State. Akyol is knowledgeable about Islamic culture; he is admittedly a more reasonable Muslim, not of the authoritarian theocracratic views, and he quotes freely from Western sources, with some 40 pages of notes in the back.

Here and there I found hope for better cooperation between Muslims and Christians, as well as potential common ground for a political state in which each could exist. His description of the Ottoman Empire revealed Ottoman leadership drawing considerably from Western socio-political-economic influences. Speaking of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, I found this paragraph especially interesting:
“The collapse of the empire would have other tragic consequences that only time would reveal. Yet Archibald Wavell, a British officer, had the foresight to see them as early as 1918. Watching the victorious European powers happily carving up the Ottoman Empire in Paris after ’the war to end war,’ he dismissed the optimism. What the Europeans achieved instead, he said, was ’peace to end peace’” (cf Fromkin, A Peace to End All Peace, Holt, 1989).

This “peace to end peace” (Versailles Treaty) is a theme I find common among journalists and historians).

The author offers some insight into Muslins intent on Islamizing the United Kingdom, which he discounts. On the other hand, he offers hope for many of the issues that concern Westerners, and especially Christians, about current Islam. He suggests that neither the Qur’an nor the Prophet offered a definition of government. He believes “accepting the secular state could also help Muslims focus on what is really important,” suggesting that what they really need from the state is not religion “but freedom of religion.”

Throughout, the author argues that Islamic authoritarianism as we know it today is more of a cultural issue than religious, that Islam was not so in the beginnings, but is a more recent aberration.

From Warner’s World, for what it is worth …
If we are going to live and serve in a world that includes Muslims, and other equally difficult people groups, we need to learn how to dialogue with them and be sure that we extend to them the Spirit of our Risen Lord. This is not a conflict that will be resolved by military might … walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Beyond the Peak

2011-08-14T20:19:00.000-07:00

The E. C. Lee family was a well-known Church of God pastoral family in east Tulsa back in the 1940s, and well known to the girl I married in 1947. Two Lee sons, Byrum and Curtis, became pastors like their well-respected father, and there were other siblings.

I would meet Byrum, and Genevieve, and the three children when they moved West to pastor the Church of God in Oregon City, OR. We were students in Portland at the time. Before graduating in 1951, we would spend many hours and days mingling in the Lee home in Oregon City, doing the things students do in assisting the work of the church.

The last time we would visit in their home in such comfortable surroundings would be in Caldwell, ID in late May 1951. We were en route to AR., to our first fulltime charge, and the Lee’s had just relocated from Oregon.

In time, the Lee’s would relocate to the East Coast and we would follow their paths but seldom cross paths. I remember Curtis serving in Northern Kentucky, but our paths went different directions. Eventually Genevieve died and we lost track of the family, except that Byrum remarried in time and relocated back to Oklahoma.

Byrum was a music-lover. I can still hear his strong baritone voice and remember that one of his very favorite songs was “The Unclouded Day” by J. K. Alwood. It was a song I enjoyed as a boy back in southwestern Michigan:

O they tell me of a home far beyond the skies,
O they tell me of a home far away;
O they tell me of a home where no storm clouds, rise,
O they tell me of an unclouded day.
_____
O the land of cloudless day,
O the land of an unclouded day;
O they tell me of a home where no storm-clouds rise,
O they tell me of an unclouded day.

It sounds pretty “other worldly,” as Irene Caldwell taught us many of those songs were. Yet, sixty years later, it has a very comfortable ring to it. I’ve long since lost track of the Lee family, EXCEPT that I still see the name Byrum C. Lee attached to occasional poetry, and that is what sparked this bit of nostalgia.

In the recent June 2011 issue of the occasional newsletter from Christian Triumph Publishers I found these lines entitled, “That’s What I Seek!” Not all poetry is good enough to catch my attention, but I liked the flow as I read Byrum’s words: it offered a message with which I strongly resonated--reaching the peak:

I’ve climbed the mountain thus far;
My eyes fixed on that distant star.
But I have not yet reached the top,
So this is not where I should stop.

I must pursue my upward climb,
Forgetting what I’ve left behind.
To stop before I’ve reached my goal
Would never satisfy my soul.

The air is rarefied up here,
And tho’ faint, I must persevere
Until I’ve reached the mountain’s peak;
To be with my God--that’s what I seek!

From Warner’s World,
Byrum has been climbing many a year, as have others of us. I‘m not interested in stopping halfway up the peak; the view on the other side promises to make the climb worthwhile. Remember when Terah left for Canaan with his family, but settled in Haran (Genesis 12:31-32? Not satisfied to settle, Abraham picked up from there and moved on (12:1-4). I too want to clear the peak … walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

OPEN LETTER TO TEXAS GOVERNOR PERRY

2011-08-12T18:13:00.000-07:00

AN OPEN LETTER TO GOVERNOR RICK PERRY OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
DEAR GOVERNOR PERRY:

I read in the news where you refer to yourself as a born-again Christian, a man who ended up in politics, but thinks seriously about the Christian Ministry. You offer yourself as a Christian politician who is a man of prayer, and a born again Christian that believes in righteous living and Christ-like behavior.You appeared recently at a public rally praying for God to bless Texas with the rain she needs.

In watching today's evening news, I learn that Texas has a program called the Comprehensive Energy Assistance Program. You fund this program by collecting $1.00 a month from each energy consumer. The purpose of the program, as I understand it, and as publicly stated, is to subsidize people unable to pay their electric bills when the electric bill gets out of hand during the high-use summer months.

This very evening, millions of Americans watched CBS News report that while Texas collected this money in the name of poverty, Texas has now changed its collective mind and Texas politicians will hold a huge block of this money to balance the budget, leaving many impoverished people unable to pay their electric bill.With the debt in Texas higher than the national debt, and getting higher, you would balance your budget with misappropriated monies.

I know you have had fires, and I know you could have a hurricane. Nonetheless, what this tells me is that you consider it good financial politics, ethical behavior, and honest behavior to

(1) BALANCE YOUR BUDGET ON THE BACKS OF THE POOR,
(2) BALANCE YOUR BUDGET BY APPROPRIATING FUNDS RAISED FOR ONE PURPOSE AND USED FOR ANOTHER PURPOSE, AND,
(3) YOU CALL IT IRRESPONSIBLE TO USE THIS MONEY FOR THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH IT WAS RAISED, IF YOU OTHERWISE FAIL TO BALANCE YOUR BUDGET.

Dear Brother in Christ: as a fellow evangelical Christian (and a minister of the gospel) I call upon you to change your behavior or give up your name. Christians do not lie, steal, misappropriate funds, or treat the poor as shabbily as this action does.

Dear Sir: I am happy that I am only a former citizen of the Lone Star, for such action cannot be justified politically or economically, especially when Texas Oil producers that made your administration possible are recording record profits. Are you telling me they could not increase their support and balance your budget? They would not even have to downsize their executive salaries to achieve this worthy objective for the citizens of the Lone Star State.

For Texas to raise monies for charitable purposes, as appears to be the case here, and spend it for political purposes is to say the least, blasphemous, and whether or not you like it, the buck seems to stop at your desk

From Warner’s World, I suggest you call yourself a politician, or any other thing you wish, but don’t call yourself a Christian and perpetrate this kind of “un-Christ-like” behavior.
I am walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Faith in Public Life

2011-08-10T13:27:00.000-07:00

“Things have come to a pretty pass,” thundered Lord Melbourne, “when one should permit one’s religion to invade public life.”

That statement expresses the contempt Lord Melbourne felt for the enthusiasts of his day (those pesky religious peasants that followed Whitfield and Wesley and insisted on taking their religion seriously. They were shaking up the social order of the wealthy status quo of Great Britain(Metaxis/Amazing Grace/Harper/San Francisco/2007/xix).

In that statement, Lord Melbourne also expresses the GREATEST FEAR OF MANY CURRENT CITIZENS who want either to eliminate religious faith in the marketplace, or chain it to the church pew and confine it to the limited boundaries of ritualized worship.

By invading public life with his faith, Newton the slaver became a public icon as “Amazing Grace” and the Rector of Saint Matthews Anglican Church in England. It was Newton that a certain young politician sought out privately, much as Nicodemus the Pharisee sought out Jesus under cover of night.

It was the converted slaver, a true evangelical, who helped the highly successful politician understand that he could serve God without giving up his successful career as politician-legislator, and intimate friend of William Pitt the Prime Minister.

That 25-year-old dedicated the rest of his life to serving God in the public arena of the British Parliament. True to form, there were those like Lord Melbourne who shot off their verbal artillery, attempting to suppress the presence of divinity in the public arena. On the other hand, because William Wilberforce stayed true to God for the remainder of his life, while filling his role in a half-century of public service, he saw legislation passed that ended slavery in Great Britain, and virtually ended the world of slave trading.

From Warner’s World,
slave-traders like Isaac Newton are now a relic of the past. However, hundreds of former slaves owe their freedom to that one life-long member of the British Parliament who dared to take his religion into his public life. Today, no man, woman, boy, or girl worries about being forced into legalized slavery, although there are numerous new forms of human slavery today.

The “slave trade” is no more, all because one man took his personal faith in Jesus Christ into the public arena and consistently worked at making human rights a public issue. The next time someone tells you religion has no place in the marketplace, you remind them that had not William Wilberforce spent his Christian life in public service, we might still be buying, selling, and trading slaves on Wall Street. I am walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

"You've Been Hacked"!

2011-08-06T12:43:00.000-07:00

Mike called last night; he and Sue are area church friends. He asked about the recent scam message they received, purportedly from me, abroad, robbed, desperately needing funds in the far country to return home. This remains an oft-repeated story. Recent weeks brought calls from MI., TX., Canada, and numerous other places, all for the same purpose.

I was hacked online. I was trespassed, violated, robbed of numerous contacts, and used for selfish purposes--scam my friends and family. That describes Satan in the Old Testament story of Job. Anyway you read Job, he was invaded--trespassed. The writer claims Satan’s primary role is that of trespasser on posted property that belongs to God by creation.

The Bible abundantly describes this trespassing of God’s posted property. My numerous callers represent today’s church [church member] in current society, which brings me back to my recent week at Warner Memorial Camp.

“Tracks” (the daily camp newsletter), reported “many generational families on grounds!!” The observer reported “4 families of 4 generations” and sought to learn of more. That is nice, perhaps, but I suggest this is normal procedure for the average church family. When we remain alert to those forces trespassing God’s posted property (our families) and alert them to the “hackers in their lives” that is going on, we are only acting as parents that love our kids. This seems only normal, rational, and the “Christian” thing to do!

Having shared this opinion, let me go one step further. From the same issue of “Tracks”, the reporter shared from Pastor Gary’s message the night before. Gary introduced his theme (sermon if you will) by recognizing a problem in our churches. He suggested we need to return to the example of the early church and learn from them. He claimed the Bible is our manual for learning how to live (we claim it as “inspired“ but we too often ignore it).

Going to church will neither save us, nor change us where we need to be changed. Cleaning up a pig and tying a bow on it will not prevent that pig from doing what it does naturally--wallow in the mud. Improving our economics, and changing our circumstances, will not stop our “hackers” from trespassing our lives and using that information to scam still others. It happens all the time, from government to the gutter.

I enjoy the historical aspects of Warner Camp. I love the religious heritage I learned via the Church of God (Anderson Convention). I do not enjoy the fact that we have so many spiritually obese people waddling around full of historical tradition and theological certainty while overlooking the obvious fact that our world is full of people needing someone to call, email, or otherwise contact them and let them know they have been hacked.

A trespasser lurks in their lives, seeking whomever he can devour. Many are oblivious of their hacker; they fail to recognize the scamming taking place. They see only this or that misfortune, or lack of opportunity, or some other social-or-moral diagnosis. And, some plainly do not care; they are too full of themselves and are intent only on getting WHAT THEY WANT, which is what they have been led to believe is what they need. THIS IS THE BIGGEST SCAM ever been perpetuated on our society, by profit-seeking social designers.

We are in an economic CRUNCH, for several reasons. However, we are in an even LARGER MORAL CRUNCH. We remain a rudderless society sailing around in a social mud puddle, looking in all the wrong places for the right solution. Going back to what Gary talked about--we need to change our lives. We need to give evidence of Holy Living. We need as Christians to live like Christians (little Christ’s) or we need to change our name from Christians to something else. We need to share that sense of family (we call it unity), which means we need to be more interested in taking the message of Jesus around the globe than we are concerned about all Christians coming to our Sheep Pen at Anderson, IN.

We have a bigger mission than that. Christ’s mission did not begin with D. S. Warner in 1881; it began with the “1st century disciples” when Jesus instructed them to go into ALL the world and share His Story. Jesus is the gate on which history swings, and as nearly as I can tell, it is His story … this is Warner’s World … walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

2011-08-04T08:31:00.000-07:00

Pictured is “Doc” Stevens, who for the past 16 years has been the living icon representing all the best qualities of all that Warner Camp represented. An MSU grad and avid Spartan fan, Doc left a 30-year career of working with Kellogg Community College. He was a living legend in Battle Creek area sporting events as KCC athletic trainer, one time Athletic Director, et al.

Behind Doc you see Warner Lodge, probably the first major renovation involving the Selents' in the 70s (more about that in another blog). Doc became a key figure in the lives of Grace and Leslie Ratzlaff. Grace probably came closer to filling that empty place left by the death of Doc’s mother than any other; she was his close friend, confidant, role model and longtime mentor.

Les, was what he was, one of the hardest working men you could find anywhere between “Heart” (the survival training camp in Florida) and Warner Camp in Michigan--a SD farm boy--a Churchman steeped in book lore.

In the following paragraphs, we conclude Grace's recollections of how she and Les made their plans and God directed their steps, several years of which Doc was an intimate part.

“It took two weeks to get the tests done, and the biopsy, but we still had not received the doctor’s report as to exactly what was wrong. He didn’t realize how sick he was and neither did we, but he still did not want to go home.

“Ray and I finally convinced him that we needed to get him to his doctor. We arrived home on Sunday afternoon. I had talked with Leslie’s sons and told them they needed to come see their Dad. We still had not received the report from the doctor; all we knew there were some cancer cells.

“We knew he had that cancer mass in his one kidney, but were told that was not growing. Paul [son] came on Tuesday and we had an appointment with Leslie’s cancer doctor on Wednesday. Paul went with us and that was when we got the results of the biopsy. Doctor said no more tests or appointments and he would schedule hospice to come in. We were shocked! He said they did not know where the cancer was coming from (not the kidney--different kind of cancer), but it did not matter as it was all across his chest and abdomen and his neck--no wonder he was so nauseated and no appetite.

“On our way home from the doctor we stopped at Denny’s and met Dale and Marcie [other son] for lunch. Leslie ate a couple spoonfuls of soup. We did not know what the prognosis was, doctor just said it was really hard to tell. So we just assumed he still had at least several months. Paul went home on Thursday. On Friday, hospice came in and the coordinator/nurse got all the preliminary work done--equipment, nurses, etc. round the clock.

“Saturday, Leslie was in terrible pain. I called hospice and in a short time the hospice nurse came and prepared him for bed (hospital bed), gave him morphine, and made him comfortable. In the meantime, the head nurse had called my son, Ray and told him not to go anywhere, that I would need him. She told him Leslie had only 36-48 hours, but did not tell me when I asked her.

“Leslie was not communicating on Sunday. However, my grandson and his family came over from Winter Haven about 18 miles from here and Lauren (6) and Kolson (4) stood by Leslie’s bed and sang “Jesus loves Me” for him. He smiled and mouthed “thank you.” Dale and Marcie and their girls came, but stayed just a little while. Leslie did not say anything more after that.

“On Monday, Sept. 6, I went in to see him and spoke to him. He did not say anything, but I think he heard me as his eyelids moved a little, so I think he heard me tell him I loved him. About an hour later, at 7:15, he went to be in the arms of Jesus. It was such a shock that he went so fast. What a Divine Appointment that we came home instead of going to VA, and that Ray came to help me drive.

“We had traveled 9600 this summer. God is so good. I am so glad I listened to that still small voice that cautioned me about going to VA, even against Leslie’s wishes. He was “still determined that we not go home. Praise the Lord” we did, but little did any of us know how seriously ill he was. Leslie didn’t even know--he was sure he would get better.

“God is so good. Leslie is not suffering anymore, but I miss him (Grace, 2010).”

From Warner’s World,
we do not grieve as those without hope, nor are we knee-deep in mere sentiment. We rejoice and stand deeply in awe of what God does in people’s lives, ever mindful of His gracious and beneficent love.

I look back across the span of two totally different church families and saw how they served the church so differently in their individual ministries in varied places--later linked by a second marriage for each of them.

I bow my heart before God and thank him for His Angel Messengers that he allowed to touch me and my spouse, as well as a whole host of others … I am walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Following Grace & Les - #2

2011-08-03T18:34:00.000-07:00

A few campmeetings back, this blogger and Dr. Les joined a tour group led by church historian/archaeologist Dale Stults in examining the fired remains of the Gospel Trumpet Offices which burned back in 1898, the same night those earlier Saints had moved on to Moundsville. We later blogged about Dr. Les obtaining his Higher Degree.

As recently as late July, we worked with Grace in the Camp Dining Hall as she was still working through her grieving, accompanied by several of her adoring family, including son Dave and various grandchildren. That was a special joy to us, and I remembered the year that granddaughter Andrea worked on our Dining Hall crew. She was an area highschool basketball star then, now she is a gracious and mature wife and mother.

First it was the sons/wives who helped dad and mother in camp; later it was the grandkids, and always they each had that delightful "Selent" stamp upon them. They come back and bless us at Warner Camp, but they now live their own lives across the country, serving God diligently, just as they learned at Warner Camp. I'm leaving names out, I know, but when I received Grace's recollections this week, I felt compelled to share them, thus this second part of how Les and Grace made their plans, and God directed their steps (*again, slightly edited).

"Normally we would go to South Dakota at the end of July, but Leslie’s grand-niece (Jessica) was getting married on July 10 and asked Leslie to perform the ceremony. So, July 4th weekend we took off. Leslie performed the ceremony and did a good job, but was absolutely beat. He also baptized his niece, grand-niece and grand-nephew, with the help of his brother Leroy who is father of the niece. This took place in the public swimming pool in Highmore (S.D.) after it was closed to the public. It was warm and worked out very well. Someone had inadvertently left the heater on so the water was warm--another blessing.

"We visited with relatives there for several days. Leslie was asked to preach on Sunday, but declined because he was too weak. We headed back to Grand Junction and I helped with the youth camps and Leslie rested. He would not give up and go home. Doc Stevens, Camp Director and friend, allowed us to use his golf cart the whole time we were there … another blessing as Leslie was too weak to walk to the activities.

"We attended the camp meeting (at camp) and I helped in the cafeteria--end of July. I suggested we go home, but Leslie wanted to stay and attend the wedding of my granddaughter, Michelle on August 13 and another wedding of my granddaughter, Andrea on August 27th. He was feeling really terrible by this time, but would not give up; I felt we should go home and I could fly to MI for the weddings, but he would not hear of it at all. He wanted to be there, too.

"He had lost about 15 lbs. and was not able to eat hardly anything. I would get him milkshakes--he liked those and would drink a little at a time. We had planned to go to VA to visit my grandson, Eric and family after the weddings. My son, Ray, had come to MI from FL to help me drive to VA.

"I need to back up … on August 15 a lump appeared on Leslie’s neck on the right side just below the ear and the next day it was much bigger, so back to the doctor. He scheduled an ultra-sound, but it was inconclusive: they did not know if the lump was inside the carotid artery or attached to the outside. He scheduled a c-scan and then a biopsy which showed lots of infection and some cancer cells. It was a Divine Appointment that Ray came to help me drive, since I would not have been able to drive and take care of Leslie also. Against his wishes, we headed home on the 28th after the second wedding."

From Warner's World, we'll conclude Grace's journey tomorrow, but we continue our friendship with her, as a lady who represents the highest and the best of the tradition of the Gospel Trumpet Saints that have inhabited Warner Memorial Camp over the past 119 years ...
I am walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

We Made our Plans--but--God Directed our Steps

2011-08-02T12:33:00.000-07:00

The pictured scene is mostly symbolic of an earlier generation when the Church of God moved to Grand Junction, MI. because D.S. Warner envisioned "taking the gospel" around the globe from the place he called in one of his poems, "the place where the light'ning tracks cross." They gave everything they had to encircle the glob from that insignificant place that now ships blueberries globally.

It was recently the site of our 119th Church of God Camp Meeting, as well as the ongoing place where much Church of God leadership and youth training goes on year-round. The following comes from my mailbag today and came from Grace Selent-Ratzlaff. "Amazing Grace" is one of the finest women I have ever known. I met her when she and (first husband) Ray had just become the "first fulltime Resident Directors" and Warner Memorial Camp became a serious year-round facility.

This may be repetitious to some, but for me it is a warm and wonderful recounting of the goodness of God that I have watched unfold in the lives of people with whom my own interfacing has been, as Grace suggests, a "divine appointment." I have lightly edited Grace's account, and divided it into three sections, lest I overload you all at once. Following is section one, from Grace's own hand:

"Our plan [Grace writing] was to go to Seattle to take the inland passage cruise to Juneau, AK, round trip. We left Lake Wales May 1,2010 in our motor home. We visited family in OK., ID, and OR en route. Leslie had not seen several of them in over three years, including his brother Sidney.

"We stopped at Warner Pacific University, where Leslie served as Dean for about seven years, visited several persons there and toured their complex. We contacted a couple we knew, Dave and Monica Monroe--had a nice time with them--went to dinner --to their home, and back to the University where we parked for the night. During the night, a water leak happened--all over the bathroom floor. Leslie contacted Dave, who knew exactly what to do and where to get the needed parts. He put it all back together while Monica washed and dried the rugs; what a blessing they were. Our contact with them the day before definitely was a Divine Appointment.

"We went on to Elgin, OR., to visit Leslie’s brother Sidney and two sons--Dave and Steve. It so happened that Sidney’s granddaughter was graduating with a Doctor’s degree in Veterinary Medicine from a college about a hundred miles away in Washington on Sunday. They had room for us--a real blessing--since Leslie had not seen Sidney’s son Dan (father of the graduating girl) for many years and did not know his family. Another son, Mark and his wife Margie, were also there for the graduation. Leslie had not seen Mark for a number of years either; so, it was quite a reunion for him--another Divine Appointment.

"We left Elgin and went on to Seattle to take the cruise. Weather was chilly, but we didn’t mind. Leslie rested a lot, but we had a great time on the cruise--saw a number of glaciers. Juneau was warmer than anywhere else we had been. Vancouver was gorgeous.

"We left there and went on to Minneapolis through rain, then snow--lots of it--sometimes a complete white-out, but PTL we had a good trip--lots of beautiful scenery--mountains were beautiful covered with snow. In Minneapolis we visited two of Leslie’s relatives, Walter and Pearl Ratzlaff and Walter and Lois Ortman whom he had not seen in a number of years--nice visit with them--great blessing for Leslie even though he was not feeling the greatest--nauseated much of the time and very tired. I did most all of the driving by this time.

"We left Minneapolis and headed for Michigan, taking the northern route, crossing the famous bridge and on down to Grand Junction, MI. Arrived at Warner Camp (where I have a campsite) May 20th. We helped with Youth Camp - I in the Cafeteria and Leslie on the grounds when he felt like it - which wasn’t very much because some of the time he was in pain and no appetite - when he did eat a little he couldn’t keep it down and he was getting weaker all the time.

"I contacted a doctor I knew and he was able to see Leslie quickly. He diagnosed a pulled muscle in his back, after checking him thoroughly where Leslie described the pain. Doctor gave him pain prescription and something to help rid the nausea and be able to eat. That didn’t help much, but he was determined to go on to Anderson, IN Convention [NAC] in June.

"Leslie could not walk to any of the conferences he wanted to attend; I had to take him to all the meetings. Visited with several friends and relatives before CM started. The day CM ended [NAC] Leslie was in so much pain he wanted to go to ER, but I suggested we return to camp and to his doctor rather than start all over, which we did--just a four-hour drive. The doctor was really puzzled since the pain would come and go and the way Leslie described the pain, he was sure it had to do with a pulled muscle. Sometimes he could not even bend over to put on his shoes.

"At this time, I went to Wal-mart to get his medication and took a bad fall in their parking lot--stepped in large pot-hole and fell, badly injuring my right shoulder and ribs on right side. Ex-rays showed nothing broken, but seriously injured: could hardly use my right arm, which made it difficult since I had to do all the driving ..." (to be continued).

From Warner's World,
purely selfishly, I marvel when I remember the quality and quantity of people
God allowed into the obscure life of a little boy that found the presence of God and chased the dream of that place where the lightning tracks crossed at Grand Junction decades ago ... walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

William Ebel by Kurt Pudel

2011-07-28T20:21:00.000-07:00

Some of my happiest times at Warner Camp have been learning more of the real history of the people and places in and around Grand Junction, MI., which I took for granted as a child. Joe Cirone, L. S. Shaw, and William Hartman were significant camp leaders in my early years. Names like E. E. Byrum and F. G. Smith were common to our language.

Smith’s sister, Lottie Storey, lived with her husband and family on the camp farm during those years and I went to school with their children, Merle, Bob, et al. There were area lay people who attended faithfully, whose children I later encountered in places like Anderson College: Hartman, Hoffman, Macholtz, Buller, Koroch et al.

Among my newer friends is Kurt Pudel, older brother of Sig Pudel, pastor of a church plant near Toronto. Kurt went the other way--west, toward Edmonton where he is in business. Kurt is also the author of When the German Trumpet Sounded and Lillian Meier - Missionary of the Church of God.

Kurt brought a new book to CM this year, 126 pages, chronicling the life and ministry of William Ebel. This year-by-year narrative explores the contributions of a missionary, evangelist, poet, editor, pastor, and prayer warrior. My reading suggested that Wilhelm Ebel capably filled each of the niche’s noted by the author. Altogether, they made him a significant Church of God presence in North America and Eastern Europe between 1905-1919.

Born in Germany in 1863, Wilhelm (William) Ebel converted to Christ in California, 1892 at the age of 29. He met D.S. Warner that same year and was baptized by Warner. That led to an invitation to Grand Junction to join the Trumpet Family to help launch a German publication, “Evangeliums Posaune.”

The Saints were not in Grand Junction long before expanding the “Gospel Trumpet” to the “Evangeliums Posaune” and several other ethnic publications. “EP” launched in 1895 with a printing of 8,000, edited by Fred Hahn. William Ebel assumed the editorship in 1899. The picture above shows the Trumpet Offices as he would have seen them at his arrival in Grand Junction.

In 1902 Ebel launched his own iterant preaching ministry, both German and English, throughout the U.S. and Canada. He married Anna Thiessen of Marion, SD in 1908; they announced their calling to Russia in December 1909, and arrived in Riga (now Latvia) that same year.

Together, they ministered throughout Eastern Europe, where William become a model mentor and missionary to many fellow believers. He was a man of strong faith, a man of practiced prayer, and a strong preacher in both English and German. They endured their share of suffering, losing one child, but always remaining positive and faithful. Keeping a forward look enabled William to help launch both a Latvian Basune and a Russian Truba (Trumpet).

The following quotation from 1914 (p. 79) spoke to me of their venturing spirit: “But despite the great poverty and hard times, they had been able to save almost all the money required for a new printing press, and were lacking only one dollar.”

Missionary work kept them mobile and required a certain flexibility and willingness to live with patience. WWI added suffering, poverty, and strain, and the author shares some of that with the reader. The war finally made it necessary to leave Riga. Caught in Bucharest, Romania, they had to stay throughout 1917-18 and necessity forced William to find secular employment.

They ultimately escaped in early 1919 and returned to Gospel Ministry. I was impressed that Brother Ebel informed the Missionary Board in Anderson to send them only those funds personally designated to them, and use Board support for other missionaries.

The Abel’s were en route to an eventual return to Anderson when they stopped in Basel Switzerland to minister for a time. It was there that William Ebel died on September 18, 1919. His epitaph in the Horburg Cemetery states, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Anna returned stateside and eventually retired to St. Joseph, MI with her sister. Her Memorial Marker records her as “A Missionary of the Church of God.” Her travel chest can be observed in the B. E. Warren Cabin in Anderson, IN on East 5th Street (Church of God Historical Society).

They were a model of devotion to each other for 11 years, 8 months, and 18 days, as Anna noted (p. 102). The years of hardship took their toll and neither lived to be quite 60 years old, but they “served significantly.” A verse from one of William’s poems catches their spirit:

Why shouldst thou so fearful be, at the tempters roaring?
Simply trust in God alone, Satan’s wrath ignoring.
See God’s tenderness and prove, with the sainted hosts above,
His unfailing, wondrous love, ever for thee caring.

For a brief, insightful, easy to read bit of inspiration and history, contact Kurt at kpudel@interbaun.com, or write him at Kurt Pudel, 6319-35 Ave. NW, Edmonton, AF T6L 1G5, Canada. The book is William Ebel, ISBN 978-1-4507-8135-0, self-published 2011, $10 + shipping.

Kurt documented the life of William Ebel because he believes our spiritual heritage is important. From Warner’s World, I am walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Scammer At Work

2011-07-27T15:37:00.000-07:00

Wayne,
Did you send this email?
Bill

From: "Loy Mauch"
To: billck@comcast.net
Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2011 2:29:50 PM
Subject: Re: home

Bill

These is true, my last email is true, i was robbed in a missionary trip to wales till now I'm yet to get any help that was why i mailed you, please i really understand that the devils is fighting a battle which he will definitely lose, please we need to see and talk in person but firstly before you prepare for your trip to Argentina, try to arrange some funds for me so that i can organize my return back home, please i want you to get back to me.

STUDY THE ABOVE EXAMPLE OF A SCAMMER AT WORK, as I have shared it with you in bold type.

Last week, I was hacked at Yahoo. Early Tuesday morning I had a call from Gary Ausbin, over in Michiana. Gary received an email that confused him. He knew he would see me later in the week at Warner Camp, but a messenger informed him that I was stranded in Wales, UK and needed $2350 to get home.

The informant said I was robbed while on a missionary trip with my family.
Gary's alert launched many more calls, from Canada to Texas, over the next four days. I soon learned I was locked out of my own account--one frustrated German. As a result, I lost more than 400 contacts, which I am now re-building. I was left with a host of confused friends.

I spent the rest of the week correcting my account, changing my password, and spending two different sessions with technical support. By last Friday I was off to Warner Camp with a sense of relative security and we spent a full week at Camp. I'll say more about that later.

We have never been campers, per se, but we love the fellowship of Camp Meeting. We are among those that perpetuate the CM tradition in the Church of God. Granted, times have changed. Methods change. Programming changes, BUT there are valid reasons for continuing our CM tradition, although I also support the changing face of Camp Meetings.

Be that as it may, I find that my hacker works as diligently as Satan himself. Just today--7-27--my friend Bill RECEIVED THE ABOVE MESSAGE from the Scammer, still trying to collect money from a letter that is obviously fraud from beginning to end.

Study the letter. It follows a familiar pattern. Recognize it for what it is. NEVER SEND MONEY IN RESPONSE WITHOUT FIRST CONFIRMING IT OFFLINE! The money you save, may well be your own, or it may be some of God's money.

Like Satan Himself, hackers are insidiously diabolical; they are interlopers - trespassers. They “trespass” on posted property in order to hack you and scam your friends, creating problems for you, as well as for themselves. They are like the man that received a cucumber in a bottle as a boyhood gift.

He wondered how a cucumber that large got into the neck of a bottle-neck that small, but time revealed the secret as he watched someone slip a bottle over a small cucumber. That gift became a living lesson when the man realized that the cucumber could never escape from the bottle.

It taught him to consider his choices, lest he find himself a cucumber captured in a bottle. One sin may seem a small cucumber. Confined to a bottle of circumstances, that one sin can only grow until escape is impossible. Another writer described the issue in another way: “The reason I am here today,” confessed the prisoner, “is because I stole an apple from a Fruit Market as a boy

From Warner’s World,
we do well to remember that although Peter called Satan a “roaring lion” Satan also goes about with “cleverly devised myths”. Thus Peter adds, for we do not “follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses to his majesty (2 Peter 1:16 RSV) … walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

119th Warner Memorial Camp

2011-07-24T17:02:00.000-07:00

Born in Hanan, Germany, William (Wilhelm) Ebel accepted the Lord Jesus as his Savior and Lord on March 20, 1892, at the age of 29. It was life changing for young Wilhelm. He met Elder D. S. Warner in Los Angeles and found a man of like spirit and was baptized shortly thereafter. In early February 1893, William accepted a call to Grand Junction, MI, where he became involved in the publishing work of the Gospel Trumpet Company. That placed William in Grand Junction at the time of the second annual Camp Meeting on Lester Lake, where Sebastian Michels and others labored.

More than a century later, the churches and pastors of SW MI gathered on July 15-22 for the 119th annual Warner Memorial Family Camp. Warner Camp has transitioned from the National Convention of the Church of God to the annual Family Camp conducted at the historic site of the former Children’s home and Camp Meeting Center. The original 60-acre farm has been transformed into a 192 acre Youth Camp and Great Lakes Retreat Center (cf. www.warnercamp.com).

Each year hundreds of conferees come through the Retreat Center, in groups large and small. Several hundred Michigan children and youth are hosted by Warner Camp, under the auspices of the Division of Christian Education of the Church of God of Michigan. Complementing the annual Family Camp are the hundreds of people who come for some kind of camping experience on a year-round basis, all of which is under the direction of Mr. Robert (Doc) Stevens and the camp Board of Directors.

Located four miles from the childhood home of Dr. F. G. Smith and eleven miles from the home of Sebastian Michels, the camp provided the final home of D.S. Warner (shown above)and became the place of his burial. It retains an historic, international,and multi-ethnic flavor, although the general agencies of the church later found a more permanent home in Anderson, IN in 1906.

It is not unusual for an individual or group from somewhere around the globe to visit Grand Junction as they check out our early church history. Only recently, a group of Ontario youth from a Canadian Christian school visited us on their senior trip; they were from the Restoration Church of God that publishes the Gospel Trumpet and holds their camp meeting at West Milton, near Dayton, Ohio. Danny Layne and the Gospel Trumpet Singers are a familiar sight in their old-order Amish dress. They serve God as a more theologically and culturally conservative people that loves God and the "earliest message" of the Reformation Movement.

Camp Evangelist for the 119th encampment was Gary Ausbin. A Kansan by birth, Gary went to AC where he became an outstanding basketball player, once holding the record for the most number of points scored in one game (54). Gary came to MI as pastor of the historic Kalamazoo Westwood church, once led by William (Dad) Hartman, the “unofficial bishop” of SW MI (54 years).

Gary became a Church of God leader in his own right, serving noteworthy pastorates at Westwood, Ashland, KY., and Norfolk, VA. After more than 50 years in ministry Gary (and wife Frankie) came with a loving passion; I doubt ever a man preached with more “ humane compassion” than did Gary Ausbin this past week at Warner Camp and we all sensed the presence of God.

I don’t know whether my first Warner Camp Meeting was 1927 or 1928, but I was a babe in arms. When I returned to MI in 1973 as a married minister, we became active on an adult leadership level. It has been my privilege to serve in about every elected position available, except the treasurer’s job. In our last pastorate, we finally ended up directing the Dining Room and leading a corp. of youth workers, that includes many noteworthy leaders today.

It began when we saw the value of the new camping represented by first Resident Director, Rev. Raymond Selent and wife Grace (Amazing Grace). Grace and Tommie (my wife) were a perfect fit and we have worked as couples beyond Ray’s death a few years back. Grace survived Ray Selent and Dr. Les Ratzlaff and this year this vivacious widow worked through her grieving process working with Tommie in the Dining Hall (no longer Camp Food Service Mgr). Interestingly enough, the two ladies promised each other to help each other one more year--the 120th camp.

I hope I can share a few of the beautiful things that happened at Warner Camp this week. As one who has known the camp for more than 80 years, I see how far it falls short of missing the mark, yet I find it hard to believe how far it has come. I remember our Friday the 15th arrival, only to learn of the death of Mrs. Robert Malzon of St Joseph (Washington Avenue Chog).

I felt an immediate sense of grief, a personal loss. When I had occasion to speak with Robert later in the week, when he came on the church bus, he told me of standing at the coffin and examining her hands and thinking of all that her gifted hands had done. He mentioned the 7 years she cooked at the Fritzlar Bible School before they came to America. During the week, I heard several ladies describe various creations of her gifted hands.

My wife and I served 9 pastorates in 7 states, if I remember accurately. I know of few places with a richer, more interdependent fellowship than you will find at Warner Memorial Camp, a place that has been training Church of God leaders for well over 100 years. How the Malzons found their way to America was as amazing and as beautiful as was the arrival of the William Ebel’s, who became early German-American leaders, especially when William edited the Evangeliums Posaune during the 1890s.

The village of Grand Junction now has running water, a Post Office, and I don’t know about a bank. It has electricity and numerous services not yet available when the Gospel Trumpet Company arrived in 1886. In fact, GT Co. had the first live telephone, from the publishing house in the village, out to the camp ground. What Grand Junction now has that it did not have in the late 1800s; it is the current Blueberry Capital of the World.

From Warner’s World,
If the church did as well at sharing Jesus, as the village of GJ has done with sharing Blueberries with the world, we would be well on our way to winning the world for Jesus. :-)
walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Don't Eat Lake Trout

2011-07-11T12:31:00.000-07:00

I see all kinds of preachments about BIG government, eliminating the EPA, getting rid of government controls, et al. I took the following clipping from the "Muskegon Chronicle" a west Michigan newspaper.As you read the clipping, remember that Big government performs many, many helpful functions as related to our infrastructure. Remember that without governmental protection, industry and others pollute our water resources.

To eliminate all government except for essential security services etc, as some conservatives would suggest,would be to eliminate protection of many popular industries as the West Michigan sports fishing industry, and to privatise much of life as we know it today.

I mention these few, just to illustrate. Now, read the following and learn from it, and know that government is not our enemy, nor is the EPA (federal regulations), or even President Obama. The real enemy is misuse of government (and I'll not muddy the water here with explaining that).

Michigan DNRLake trout
Don't eat the lake trout.
The Michigan Department of Community Health has expanded its Michigan Fish Advisory for Lake Michigan to include all legal-sized catch of lake trout — 20 inches or larger.

The previous “don't eat” advisory for lake trout caught in Lake Michigan south of Frankfort, including the entire Muskegon area, covered only those 22 inches or larger.

The updated advisory was one of nine changes statewide in the 2011-12 Michigan Fish Advisory. None of the others affected waters in the Muskegon area.
In the case of Lake Michigan lake trout, testing showed hazardous levels of PCBs, chlordane and dioxins in all harvestable sizes of the fish, not just those 22 inches or larger.

The Michigan Fish Advisory at www.michigan.gov/eatsafefish is intended to help people who eat fish to choose those that are lower in chemicals and safer to eat.
The advisory provides recommendations specific to bodies of water and types of fish for two groups of people: the general population, meaning women over the age of 45 and males 15 and older; and children younger than 15 as well as females ages 15 to 45.

Young children and fetuses are at greatest risk of the health effects of mercury, dioxin and PCBs found in some types of fish. Those chemicals have been connected to liver damage, cancer and birth defects, and could harm brain development if eaten in large quantities or over a long period.

Related topics: Lake Michigan, Muskegon environment, West Michigan. It would not hurt to read Alex Prud'home's recent publication on THE RIPPLE EFFECT, an up-to-date review of our water crisis and/or investigate the polluting of your water wherever you live.

The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof ...
From Warner's World,
walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

A Lesson From the Reagan Administration

2011-07-07T12:53:00.000-07:00

Chris Daemmrich, a 16-year-old junior at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin, TX wrote the following piece about Ronald Reagan’s administration, which ended January 20, 1989:

“Rarely in American political history has there appeared a man of such contradictions as Ronald Reagan. If I have learned anything from his legacy, it is this: It matters what people think you are, not what you are. If people perceive you as one thing, like an evangelical, God-fearing Christian, it doesn’t matter that you yourself rarely attend church. As long as you seem like someone who would, you can be assured that the Christian right will be on your side.

“Reagan’s mastery of popular perception shows me that to succeed in American, you must be likeable and relatable to the masses. You can achieve this through dress, humor, or actions, and the great part is that in the end, it doesn’t matter what you think, as long as the people who will be voting for you think they know what you think, and they like.”

Chris started out to enter Texas governor Perry’s contest for Texas high school applicants writing a 99-word essay on the merits of Mr. Reagan’s presidential administration. Unfortunately, Chris could not get down to the 99 word maximum. He also had a problem with “liking” Governor Perry on Facebook to offer his entry.

The Fort Worth Star Telegram (Wednesday, March 16, 2011 11A) picked up the story of how this young essayist went in a different direction than most of his peers, as reported by editorial writer Ken Herman, of the Austin, TX American-Statesman. One thing for sure: I couldn’t argue the point when Reporter Herman noted, “I don’t know. I’m not sure this is Chris’ crowd.”

Urging Chris to “write on, kid,” Herman also raised this question after reading Chris’ essay: “Who says the kids aren’t learning critical thinking skills?” Seems to me the young man from Texas hit the nail dead center--middle of the head--and as well-said as any Academic I’ve read in recent years.

From Warner’s World, walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

A July 4 Meditation

2011-07-04T09:12:00.000-07:00

July 4, 2011:
One of the most valuable things we can do for our nation today is to turn our indifference into restoration.

This is true in many areas of our lives. For example, I see real applications of this for Christians and for the church, in terms of our mission as People of God on mission, to permeate our world-culture with the faith, love and hope of Jesus Christ and the reconciliation of humanity he promises.

On a different note, however, and not least in importance, is our participation in helping improve the culture in which we live our lives and are part of. Perhaps our most common global need today, outside the realm of personal faith, is the area of water. Water is a commodity common to all of us. It is absolutely essential to our physical survival as individuals, and it is equally essential to our survival as a global society.

Alex Prud’home describes a scientific article he read in 1968 “titled “The Tragedy of the Commons” in which Garrett Hardin, a leading American ecologist, wrote of “the damage that innocent actions by individuals can inflict on the environment.” Hardin described the pattern by which people acting in their own self-interest destroy shared resources.

“The hypothetical example he used focused on medieval farmers who shared a field, “the commons,” and allowed their cattle to graze indiscriminately. As each farmer added more and more cows to the field, he reaped benefits, but with each cow added, the field became more degraded; eventually all of the grass on the common was eaten, at which point all of the farmers and their cows suffered. Their shared resource was destroyed by individuals concerned only with their own well-being” (Prud’home/The Ripple Effect/ 2010/357-58).

Prud’home has documented our dependence on water, our flagrant and often careless use of water, and our diverse approaches to conserving, protecting, and managing our water resources. He concludes that “By the second decade of the twenty-first century, most people have not run out of potable H20 yet, but they [we] continue to take it for granted, waste it, contaminate it, and mismanage it. These practices are unsustainable” (emphasis added).

With growing numbers of hydrologists, economists, and diplomats warning us that localized water problems could coalesce and tip the earth into a full-blown “water crisis”, can we be patriotic enough, Christian enough, or sufficiently civic-minded enough, to
1) Educate ourselves to the possibilities,
2) Put partisan politics aside and cooperate together to forestall any emergency, and
3) Unite our heads and hearts in redefining how we think of water, and
4) Re-think how we will manage our most precious global resource.

One could begin with the 24th Psalm … “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof …. That reminds me we have a resource we did not create but are responsible to “use responsibly.” One could turn to other resources for learning better how to protect and manage this common gift (cf sources such as WaterSMART, which stands for Sustain and Manage America’s Resources for Tomorrow).

I personally affirm this gift as a gift of God, a free gift I am free to use and enjoy, along with every other global citizen. However, I also acknowledge the truth that what I do with this gift is “my gift” to God. The way I use or misuse it is only my way of saying “thank you” to God, or it becomes my way of saying “too hell with you” this is nobody else’s business. I look at the following picture of Katrina approaching Magee, MS and I have to wonder if our indifference of attitude about issues such as global warming is just another way of thumbing our nose at whoever put this great globe together in the first place ...

From Warner’s World, what do you say? walking withwarner.blogspot.com

Lit Candles in a Dark World

2011-07-01T13:04:00.000-07:00

The Church of God, (Anderson, IN. Convention) concluded its 2011 North American Convention June 29 with much to be encouraged about. Yet, we also need be aware that there are those who believe “the American evangelical Church, in spite of all the good it still accomplishes, has lost its way” (Tim Dalrymple, at Patheos).

In the vision of Christian life that has been passed down the stream of generations, Tim wonders if “something essential seems to have been lost in the exchange.” Call it a hunch, buried deep in the inner folds of the spirit within: a nagging concern that Christ calls us to something more than this.

I concur when he writes “God did not become incarnate, endure the indignities and humiliations of the human condition, suffer rejection and persecution, torture and death, so that we might live comfortable lives of suburban complacency, lives more characterized by rampant consumerism than radical obedience, by cultural accommodation than counter-cultural witness, by potlucks and stewardship seminars than the persecutions and sufferings of the saints.”

As we “Church of Godders” return to home front congregations this week, let us listen to Christ’s call more sensitively. As Dalyrmple wrote earlier “The way of Christ is the way of the cross, and the way of the cross is diametrically opposed to the way of the world.”

He believes Evangelical Christians “do not bear crosses anymore; we bear the sweet burdens of worldly idols and ambitions. The Church fell in love with the extravagant comfort and consumerism of American society, its sumptuous materialism and endless distraction -- and became unwilling to follow Christ into sacrifice and suffering, into the life of the disciple that is fiercely focused on walking in the Savior's footsteps. If the Church today lives at peace with the world, it is because it has become so like the world, so harmless to it, that it no longer presents a substantial threat to the ways of worldly sin.”

May that never be true of us and may Dr. Jeff Frymire’s closing message from Matthew 22 and John 8 goad us into action. Jeff reminded us some in today’s culture have no idea who Jesus is … because we have not taught this generation who he is. We are not called to make the culture around us happy, or feel good, but to bring the message of Jesus Christ to a world that is unfamiliar with him.

He challenged us by reminding us that we are the light of the world when we don’t look like the world, don’t act like the world, and don’t believe what the culture is trying to teach us. “You cannot transform the culture by being the culture.”

We transform the culture by being the body of Christ, as Jeff insists, “When we teach the basics of who Jesus is and who we are supposed to be, this is when we are truly the light of the world.”

Following this year’s theme, “Love for Church.” may we be convicted, committed, and determined to do what that God has laid upon our hearts … let us be the lit candles, like those held by conventioneers’ in the concluding candle lighting.

And, may this long-standing convention tradition celebrate and accurately represent our unity as a part of God’s people on mission in the Name of Christ.

From Warner’s World, walking with warner.blogspot.com

Expanding our Thinking as Citizens

2011-06-20T09:38:00.000-07:00

Long interested in issues of environmental pollution, my current reading fascinates me (Prud’home/The Ripple Effect/Scribner/2011/77-78).

Multiplied books on environmental issues over the past twenty-plus years, thoroughly convince me that many of the current issues we face are problems of Christian stewardship and physical health. We have not yet begun to correlate the relationship between certain health problems and environmental pollution.

Explore some fresh thinking with me, as I read Prud’home’s review of chemical pollution and some of its health effects: EG; “A growing body of evidence suggests that certain man-made chemicals released into the water and the air have led to a surge in serious health issues, such as breast cancer, leukemia, asthmas, neurodevelopment disorders, and physiological changes” (77). Nothing new here.

New to me, hoever, is this issue of “intersex.” In fish, it causes females to develop male stumps and males to develop female eggs, among other things. Perhaps related is this: “It is well documented that Western women are beginning puberty earlier and going through menopause later; age 17 in 1800, 14 by 1900, and 12 by 2000" (77). This leaves doctors “particularly concerned about the role of endocrine disruptors, which may fool the body into undergoing hormonal changes early” (77). Factors causing this include cleaning products, pesticides, flooring, air fresheners,, and plastics …”.

Especially interesting to me was this: “In 2000, Anne Fausto-Sterling, a biology professor at Brown University, conducted the leading study on the frequency of intersexuality and found that 1.7 percent of the population develops in a way that deviates from the standard definition of male or female” (77, emphasis added).

Cited as a possible example of “intersexuality” is the track star Caster Semenya of South Africa. This 18-year-old won the 2009 Olympics, only to be challenged about her gender, having the muscle strength of a male). After much debate, she was allowed to continue competion and in 2010, at the same Berlin track, she again won, only to be challenged when “her competitors demanded that officials define what constitutes an acceptable biological baseline for female athletes” (78).

Consider this: fish are said to be “most susceptible” to endocrine disruption when they are still “in their eggs in river sediment or are very young …” So … if human babies are exposed to endocrine disruptors when at a similar stage of development, could they “theoretically suffer immunosuppression or possibly intersex“ (78).

This raises two issues for me. First, the author has cited pages of reading that prove the probability of a long list of medical drugs and industrial chemicals in our water habitats and our drinking water: cannabis (pot), ecstasy, LSD, amphetamines, and heroin, among other drugs, not to mention a long list of industrial chemical wastes. Most local water treatment plants neither test for, or filter, these kinds of drugs and chemicals. This leaves me wanting stronger government regulations to purify my drinking water, rather than fewer regulations--as dictated by certain politicians.

The second issue that concerns me is homosexuality. I support the civil rights (none abuse) of all individuals, but I am comfortable in strongly opposing homosexuality on moral-ethical grounds, as well as other reasons. I believe this “learned behavior” is not a biological result of changes in our genes.

Having said that, when I read that certain pollutants potentially lead to “1.7 percent of the population” developing “in a way that deviates from the standard definition of male or female,” I have to ask what part pollutants play in this matter of “immunosuppression or possibly intersex”? Is homosexuality one of the possible ripple effects?

These are no longer issues of any liberal left or conservative right! These are human issues we must all wrestle with. Our political positions and moral standards may vary individually, but we must come together in a common politic of public safety within which we can confront and properly regulate our pharmaceutical and industrial products for the good of all concerned.

From Warner’s World,
walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

North American convention--June 15-22

2011-06-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

Joe Allison wrote a most provocative piece last week on his blogsite (http://wp.me/pTmH2-2R ). Joe is a former managing editor editor of “Vital Christianity” and long involved in Church of God publications and elsewhere. He summarized our past efforts this way: “… so we've invested a major part of our time and energy in developing Sunday School curriculum, training events for pastors and teachers, and a convention that brings together thousands of people every year for several days of workshops and seminars on how to improve the ministry of local congregations.”

Then he added this insight, which he and I discussed briefly: “But we're beginning to realize that making Christian disciples involves far more than gathering large audiences and developing high-tech classrooms. It involves drawing people into transformative relationships. It involves mutual accountability. It involves the joy and sorrow of getting involved in other people's lives -- and letting them get involved in ours.”

I dared suggest there is yet a place for how we did things in the past, considered by some as revivalist (mass meetings) and perhaps out of date. Joe strikes fire in the previous paragraph. We need far more today than a massive national camp meeting, a successful national publication that faithfully reproduces our teachings, and all the trimmings we worked at producing,whose worth we now debate.

First, I appeal to the worth of our North American Convention and accompanying General Assembly. I attended my first NAC/GA IN 1952, driving 1700 miles from San Angelo, TX. Later, I drove the furthest distance via the I80 exit at Vallejo, CA. Between 1952-1996, the times I missed could be counted on one hand.

I did it to visit my parents in Michigan (at least once a year). I did it because it was part of my job (my ministry) and because I felt the biblical bond of 1 Corinthians 12, and elsewhere. I did it because I felt part of some much bigger than me, something that connected me globally, something that also enhanced my local ministry. I did it because I felt connected with my church family. I found lots of reasons to disagree at times, but we were family.

I remember yet the day my little daughter of 3-4 years heard a voice she knew from our radio at home. Instantly, she broke into a run toward a group of preachers nearby, saying “That’s my Dr. Oldham!” Dale wheeled around, saw the child coming, and she scooped up into his arms as he held her and wept. They were friends who had never met--we were family.

The Convention Grounds were a safe haven for children and one day our 4-year-old son got lost in the crowd. I was preoccupied, but my wife looked frantically around the Convention grounds. Finally, a couple came from down near Park Place Church, towing a boy who had lost his parents. New Christians from Falfurrias, TX--the Chapmans--they knew how to reconnect lost child and frantic mother.

We visited many a year after that, watching young Bob grow up and enter into Ministry. Bob is now deceased, but his sister Shirley is a retired Pasadena, TX schoolteacher and esteemed acquaintance--Facebook friend. More than all the mass meetings (quite massive by the standards of the day), learning experiences, and other program, WE WERE FAMILY. Names and faces flood my vision as I write ...

Camp Meetings are no longer what they once were, so we lash out at the changing times. Truthfully, we are so busy maintaining our technological networks that we no longer talk to each other; yet, we need each other more than ever. We blog, text, and tweet, using our laptops, cell phones, ipods, ipads, and every other gimic. As a Culture, we turned inward, and away from. We live myopic, narcissisistic lives--a thousand FB friends but no meaningful relationship that keep us accountable and involved in the ordinary joys and sorrows of daily living.

The Church of God family has gathered in Anderson, IN since 1906. Part of the family will reassemble on the old Convention Grounds--aka AU campus on June 15-22. I cannot be there this year (except in spirit), but I sent my absentee ballot and I send my greeting. On Sunday, I will relieve an area pastor who will be in attendance. We will not stop attending until Jesus comes, or until we are no longer physically--we value our family.

With that confession, we will continue working with Reformation Publishers and supporting our North Avenue congregation when home. What I am most convinced of is this, as Joe says: “discipleship is long, slow, difficult, risky work. But disciple-making is the Lord's work, and we Christians must be about our Father's business.” It isn’t a matter of Joe’s small groups or my mass meetings; it is both and …

I would go so far as to suggest that if and when we get it together in our home congregations, get everyone involved, and make the best use of our small groups (fellowship and educational), we will soon discover that our regional and national meetings might once again return to the size, stature, and glory that we prized so highly at one time.

From Warner’s World … I am walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

A WORD IN DUE SEASON

2011-06-16T12:02:00.000-07:00

Friend Bill offers a positive word for these hard times we are experiencing. He claims a new mood now fills our airwaves and shocks us. He believes this new mood is “incompatible with the traditional and historical American spirit.” He calls it a “mood of pessimism, negativism, doom, and surrender.”

Let me quote a couple of paragraphs: (A WORD IN DUE SEASON/Konstantopoulos/2010:
“We are magnifying our enemies, broadcasting our weaknesses, publicizing our fears, and openly declaring that our foundation and faith are shaky. Our songs are filled with the blues, lacking an affirmation of faith, confidence, and adventure. The rising unemployment, the economical index, the threatening wars, and the possibility of a nuclear holocaust are presented to us as undeterred monsters for whose devouring we should helplessly wait! The effects of such a mood are paralyzing, and it has led us to a procrastinating attitude that steals both time and purpose from us.

“Of course, we face hard times. Without a doubt uncertainty hangs like a dark cloud over us, but should we surrender to the doom-sayers and forget the faithfulness of God? Should we withdraw into the hard shell of self-protection and hang up our harps, and offer no song of joy and no message of hope to a highly pessimistic age? Should we retreat and not advance with clean-cut principles, pursuing our divine purpose and destiny?”

These are hard questions. They dig deep in out gut. Hear what Bill is saying: “The Christian spirit, the Christian message, and the Christian hope can best be exemplified and demonstrated during hard times.” In other words, the proof of the pudding is not how something works under comfortable conditions; rather, how dies it work when life is difficult, trying, even impossible?

American Christianity has enjoyed relative security. True, denominations compete with each other, but the rights of each is protected by government. That is all most of us have ever known. Honestly confession: I have never faced serious persecution, abuse, or loss of life and goods because of my faith, nor have most American Christians.

Bill calls us to a higher standard: “The deeper the darkness is, the brighter the light. The harder the times, the more Christians give of themselves to the spirit of surrender and service.” Life was never cheaper than during the days of Rome’s empire, if you were not a Roman. Perhaps that is why the life of Jesus continues to shine so brightly. Jesus lived successfully and died victoriously in the blackest of times; no wonder, his life shines so brightly.

So I suggest we look to Christian believers in other parts of the world to determine the true worth of the Christian faith. Christian Correspondent Elizabeth Kendall, writing from Australia, speaks to the skyrocketing number of Christian refugees:

Those with financial means may fly out and apply for refugee status in the West, an arduous enough process. However, poorer Christians seeking refuge in a neighbouring state must risk death traversing deserts, oceans and dangerous cities (emophasis added), while dodging bandits and people-traffickers. As the 'Arab Spring' becomes a hot inhospitable 'summer', many Eritrean and Middle Eastern Christians find that nowhere is safe. Elsewhere in the world, refugee North Korean, Hmong, Montagnard and other Christians likewise suffer perilously. Though our Lord Jesus was born a King and Saviour, he fled and lived as a refugee in Egypt for years. Yet even during that time -- which was prophesied in Hosea 11:1 -- God was always in control. Please pray for fleeing Christian refugees.

Global conditions make the following statement by Bill only that much more obvious. He suggests, “Our age calls for a new spirit, and only Christians can offer that gift’s hold on to the faith in a faithless generation.” If you want to see Christianity in action, look to India, China, or a Muslim country where believers continue to increase inspite of facing martyrdom or harrowing conditions at the least.

Bill believes we need to hang on to the promises of God and hope where no hope lives. As FDR said, “When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”

I join Bill in saying “Christians ought to do better than that!” What I would add is this: Now is the time for American Christianity to move beyond its self-centered vision of cheap grace, easy living, and upward mobility, and recognize the inequities being experienced by believers in other places and begin lifting-sharing that burden so that we each share a little more equally.

From Warner’s World,
I have learned that whether it involves the loss of a finger tip or the pain of an injured ankle, my whole body quickly knew what was going on and felt the affects of it. So should it be in the Body of Christ around the world ... walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

The Big Fire

2011-06-15T08:09:00.000-07:00

I am cleaning out my files--looking for some pictures actually; I need them but cannot find them. I’ve needed to do this for a long time, rid out a lot of old papers I’ll never use again or that are simply claiming space.

What I found is this vignette from Warner Memorial Camp--early fifties before the camp transitioned, reconfigured, and updated. Current campers will find it hard to imagine but it brings up old memories for me. :-)

Written in longhand by Andy Bos, a former Kalamazoo camper, it arrived via Andy’s niece, Barb Akright, both longtime acquaintances. It happened in that interim after I left home and then pastoring out in Texas, but after my recent involvement of 38 years n camp life I easily visualize it and those mentioned (I also remember 1953 as a stormy summer with several destructive tornado’s from Texas to Mich.). Here is Andy’s verbatim:

“We, Andy and Helen Bos had purchased a cottage at the ‘old Camp Ground.’ As often as we could we drove out to Grand Junction (about a 35 mile trip) and stayed over a night or two. We played around, enjoyed the lake (Lester Lake), fishing and swimming.

“It was the year of 1952 or 1953 that a severe storm struck during the night, a storm that could have destroyed the entire camp. The camp store, the dormitory and about ten cottages surrounded the Tabernacle, so, if a fire got started it could spread from building to building and so burn the entire camp including the tabernacle.

“It was a Friday evening, we with our four children, Dave, Ron, Jer and Ben had driven out to the cottage. We enjoyed a swim and a visit with a retired minister and his wife, Rev. and Mrs. Adrian De Ward. Then, Helen fixed a delicious supper. As we tucked in to bed we said, the sky looks stormy.

“It was after midnight that the thunder and lightning illuminated the sky and rain was pouring down. Soon after the storm hit we heard someone pounding on our door. It was old Rev. De Ward. He said, lightning has hit Merle Underwood’s Cottage, its burning fiercely and the wind is blowing flames toward Arend Bos Cottage, we need the Fire Dept!

“Helen and the family were up as Andy and Dave drove downs the road to find a house with a telephone, so we could call the Pullman Fire Dept. In the early 1950’s telephones were scarce and those people who had phones were on a party line with 10 or 12 other family’s.

“Andy and Dave roused a neighboring farmer who called the Pullman Fire Dept. They said, its not our district, and, even though they were only 4 miles away they would not come. The farmer finally got the Bangor Fire Dept. to agree to come to help us. The Bangor Fire Dept. was 10 to 12 miles away and they didn’t know where the Church of God (Warner Camp) was, so, Andy tried to give them directions.

“The party line was noisy and crackled, but, they said they would come. We promised to be downs the road with flashlights to help them find us. It was now about 2:30 a.m. and the Merle Underwood Cottage was burned totally and the Arend Bos cottage was burning. We continued to look for the fire dept., but, they were not in sight. The rain was pouring down, but the Arend Bos Cottage was burning furiously.

“The next cottage in line belong to the Rev. Hank Hartman. This cottage was shaped like a small chicken coop about 14 ft x 14 ft. and it sat on cement blocks. About 4:00 a.m. some neighbors came over to watch the big fire, We suggested the possibility of tipping the Hartman Cottage over, thus stopping the progress of the fire.

“So, Andy, Dave, Rev. DeWard and a few neighbors agreed to try to roll it over. It was about 4:30 a.m. when we finally rolled the Hartman Cottage over. We watched the Arend Box cottage burn to the ground and the rain continued to pour down on the fire and we thanked the Lord! The fire was stopped!

“The Bangor Fire Dept. drove into the camp about 5:30 a.m., but, the fire was out. It had beebn a wild night and we must have looked like drowned ratws. We wee all soaking wet and dirty and smoky.

“We stood around looking at each other and smiled and admitted that we were utterly exhausted and paused to thank the Lord … the camp did not burn down! Yes, we were exhausted, but, none of us got hurt! All we needed now was to take a bath in Lester Lake, then a little breakfast and some sleep.

“As we stood thanking God, Rev. Cironi walked up neatly dressed in his good suit, white shirt and necktie and raincoat and umbrella. He looked at Rev. De Ward whose felt hat was drooping down over his dirty face, his muddy shoes and dirty, smoky pants and shirt spoke of a wild night. Rev. Cironi said, Brother, I’ve been praying for you all night. Rev. De Ward lifted his rain soaked hat, looked at Rev. Cironi and said, “Faith without works is dead brother” (s/ Andy Bos, Dec. 2004).

From Warner’s World, Camp grounds and Camp Meetings are much different in today’s church life. However, Brother De Ward’s brotherly rebuke of their Pastoral Leader, Joe Cirone, (longtime pastor at Wayne St., Jackson) remains a fitting bit of wisdom even today, Faith without works is dead (cf book of James/Bible).

walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

God's Peace Corp

2011-06-13T19:38:00.000-07:00

“I have this belief, strong belief, that freedom is the Almighty’s gift to every man and woman in the world,” Robin Meyers told a 2004 conference in Oklahoma City. As the greatest power on the face of the earth, America has “an obligation to help the spread of freedom.”1

Since peaceful negotiations pay greater long-term dividends than war and military violence, why do we view soldering as patriotic and diplomacy a last resort? Force achieves short-term military goals but does not build political peace, provide positive relationships, or leave funds for human resourcing.

“Think” Peace!
Violence is toxic! Infected by violence and greed, war creates dysfunctional relationships. Nationalism motivates power grabbers, political profiteers, and an arms industry that thrives on broken relationships, untamed hatred, corrupt diplomats, polluted diplomatic efforts, and polarized religious nuances. Warriors decimate humanity by means of ethnic cleansing, genocide, and political purges, while purging the common good in favor of special interests.

America entered the Iraq War, ill-advised, as political War Hawks introduced a new doctrine of pre-emptive strike into American politics. The President quickly announced a military victory, while leading the nation into a political quagmire of terrorism, an escalating war in Afghanistan, and a severe economic depression for which his economic policies could not pay.

Mounting costs of war depleted our resources, ruined our economy, left us hopelessly in debt, and encouraged unregulated speculation motivated by free market greed. President-elect Barack Obama came into office facing the challenges of attempting negotiation, re-building bridges with untrusting nations, and trying to convince Americans to re-invest in the politics of life, liberty and property. The nation has rewarded him by blaming him for the fruits of his predecessor and left citizens deeply polarized. Such are the results of “thinking” war!

Only one man in history ever devoted his life solely and singularly to peacemaking, Jesus, called the Christ. Whereas Jesus spent his life enlisting peacemakers and creating his church as a spiritual Peace Corp, Mohammed followed in the ruts of human thinking by converting others to his Islamic reformation of Christianity through the use of the sword.

Whereas Muhammad took up the sword, Jesus died turning the other cheek rather than compromise. Jesus’ unflinching refusal to compromise may be the greatest fault anyone ever found with him. As a result, his own people--the Jews--rejected him and turned his non-political kingdom of moral righteousness into a political dream in which they would rule the world.

America’s second President, John Adams, voiced deep satisfaction at “having achieved peace.” He concluded: “I desire no other inscription over my gravestone than: ‘Here lies John Adams, who took upon himself the responsibility of peace with France in the year 1800.’”2

Former President Carter spoke out of deep Christian conviction when he accepted his 2002 Nobel peace prize, admitting “war may sometimes be a necessary evil, but no matter how necessary, it is always evil.”3

Whereas an increasing number of people are inspired by the teachings of Jesus, humanity continues to pursue wars and rumors of war.

Support “People”
Wars confuse patriotism while benefitting special interest groups, intimidating politicians, and obfuscating public policies for the common good. Regrettable are the wounded and dead civilians, destroyed infrastructures, and issues of national security, all of which become mere statistical “corollary damages.” Only peacemakers offer hope for the common good of the largest percentage of humanity.

When President Clinton faced his nuclear crisis with North Korea in 1994, his greatest fear was not winning or losing the war; it was the economic impact of the 52,000 American casualties and 490,000 South Koreans projected by his advisors for the first 90 days--not to mention civilian casualties, etc. That offered huge political implications. Beyond that, North Korean would suffer enormous casualties. Without a doubt, the advisors knew America could win, and avoid spreading radiation, but they projected a cost to the nation of $61 billion.

War divides people, destroys nations, and wastes resources. It always leaves some kind of unresolved situation that requires a diplomatic resolution--a peacemaker reconciliation. That is the nature of military conflict.

World War Two’s most popular general and President-elect, General Dwight David Eisenhower concluded in 1953:
“Every gun that is fired, every warship launched, every rocket fired,
signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed,
those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not
spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers,
the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.”4

This is not a way of life in any true sense, added Eisenhower. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron. With more than 4,400 deaths, over 30,000 casualties, and a host of other collateral costs of the Iraq War, America now finds itself hanging from that cross of iron in Afghanistan.

Practice Partnership
Thinking peace, and considering people, calls for a radical attitude adjustment. It requires a new win-win model of international diplomacy for replacing the old “I win, you lose” model. Ask any citizen of the world what they want most and they will tell you life, liberty, and the pursuits of happiness, wholeness, and security. The common bond that unites the people of the world is the common need for personal acceptance, and a safe place to live one’s life with family, faith, and a craft.

The military-industrial complex profits from the anti-social behaviors of war that sacrifice blood and prevent nations from partnering in common cause. Peacemaking removes the muzzle from Jesus and elevates a Samaritan outcaste who went out of his way to assist a mugging victim. The Jews hated Samaritans, but Jesus described this man as an exemplary neighbor (Luke 10:25-37), and concluded that we should “go and do likewise.”

We need new international policies of neighborliness when nations around us are mugged, so to speak. We need to become catalysts who think and act outside our global boxes of “hatred, discord, jealousy. . .selfish ambition. . .factions and envy” (Gal. 5:20-21). Paul, that early Christian Apostle, believed there is but one word that satisfies the criteria: “love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, take care lest you be consumed by one another” (cf. Gal. 5:14-15, 18-22).

Improving international relationships will require creating new partnerships that provide new opportunities for overcoming evil with good. New partnerships that provide more peaceful relationships would offer positive win-win options, as opposed to political greed, economic power,and ethnic hostility.

“He has showed you, O man, what is good” wrote the Biblical Prophet, “and what does the Lord require of you To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8, NIV).

Be Pragmatic and Eclectic
Jimmy Carter’s 1994 unofficial meeting with North Korea’s dictator, when Carter went as a private citizen 6, yielded “general and Korea-specific” lessons that could still prove useful to current U. S. policymakers. “They are especially valuable” wrote Marian Creekmore, “if the employment of the military weapon is to be regarded, as I firmly believe it should be, as the last resort for dealing with international disputes between countries (italics added).

Our ‘War on Terrorism’ has not changed the validity of this proposition.” It remains to be seen how many other international crises “peacemaking negotiations” might defuse without adding the unbearable and non-productive costs of war.

“It isn’t enough to talk about peace,” declared Eleanor Roosevelt, “One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it,” she concluded, “One must work at it.” True peacemakers pick and choose--being eclectic. Carter’s approach with North Korea offered three outside-the-box possibilities:
1. Decision-makers talk directly--unfiltered.
2. The State Department rethink its position denying diplomatic recognition
to rogue states (we seldom help anyone by isolating them).
3. Closer cooperation between elected officials and non-governmental personnel(NGO’s). Wise utilization of an NGO should be sufficient when successful, without a political administration needing to claim credit (politicizing). If unsuccessful, the President loses nothing.

I object to war because Jesus taught peace-making and peaceable relationships. War in the name of God is especially objectionable. I reject the spinning of half truths into defensible arguments for violent means. Profiteering in the name of patriotism, and peddling fear to protect selfish interests, also seem contrary to the teachings of Jesus.

From Warner’s World, although I enjoy living in the greatest country in the world, I question the political assumption that views the world’s greatest super-power--America--as being obliged to spread freedom through forced means … walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com
_____

1 Robin Meyers, Why the Christian Right Is Wrong. (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006), p. 118.
2 David McCullough, John Adams. N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, 2001, p.567.
3 http://nobelprize.org/peace/leaureate.
4 General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1953 Cross of Iron inauguration address.
5 Marian V. Creekmore, Jr., A Moment of Crisis. New York: Public Affairs, 2006.
_____

Gallows Laughter

2011-06-13T08:06:00.000-07:00

Who said it hardly seems important, but someone spoke a great truth: “When dishonesty, immorality, violence, injustice, and rebellion against the moral and spiritual principles becomes a way of life in a society, that society faces its worst enemy—the deterioration of its morals and spiritual fibers, without which it cannot survive” (emphasis added).

Even worse--when a society loses its moral compass, its spiritual conscience, it turns its moral and spiritual ills into entertainment. Rather than accepting the moral diagnosis and correcting the ills, it seems--sadly enough--we turn our corruption into a profitable state of pleasured humor. And that seems to be where we are in our present state of culture--gallows laughter.

Things that threaten our very existence have become the source for creating our laughter. Moral corruption, unfaithfulness, injustice, and violence are no longer just the leprosy on our Social body; they provide as our primary source of humor and live entertainment via reality TV and the Media. As consumers of this conglomerate cesspool, why should we wonder at the mood of despair that hangs like a dark blanket over our people.

Should we be surprised that the news is gloomy and discouraging from all directions? Should we think that the growing rate of illegitimacy, divorce, and crime is purely accidental? Should we not recognize it as a fulfillment of the Word of the Lord, when it says, “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me
the fountain of living water, and hewed them out cisterns,broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jer. 2:13)?

From Warner’s World …
you cannot ignore the moral and spiritual principles of the word of God and expect to be sound in judgment and character. We will reap what we have sowed as individuals; we will reap what we have sowed as a nation.

We are walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

The Nature of Evil

2011-06-11T09:25:00.000-07:00

EVER WONDER what keeps our world from falling into worse crime and total corruption of our human system? Do you ever stop to realize the psychological truth that evil by its very nature is separatist; it conquers by separating and dividing? On the other hand, goodness by its “very goodness” is unifying, creative and full of life.

Consider this: evil, by its evil nature separates itself both from the good and from other evil as well. Thieves sooner or later fall out from each other. That is the essence of their character. The self-centeredness of their core being--what is antisocial in them at the beginning--later turns into anti-others.

The Hitler’s and Stalin’s of history could not maintain nonaggression agreements for long. Tyrants often end up being assassinated by their own lieutenants whose evil aggressions can be neither trusted nor tolerated. By its very nature, evil is self-defeating.

In the darkest days of Germany’s war with the world, Dietrich Bonhoeffer found light and personal redemption in the regenerating power of love, which he discovered was the essence of that Almighty God that so loved the world (John 3:16). Bonhoeffer found unmistakable hope, even when hanging at the end of Hitler’s noose at age 39. Bonhoeffer; lived and died in that hope, a symbol of victory while Hitler slowly crumbled in abysmal defeat.

That global struggle continues today, between nations, between the repressed and the oppressors, between the lawful and the illegal. Repressed and suffering people lift up hands of hope--even picking up weapons of rebellion. The world looks ominous and threatening as political powers tighten their evil grip--politically, economically, even religiously.

At times global peace seems almost impossible and it appears there is nothing to cling to. None the less, good people can take hope in remembering that evil by its very nature is a self-destructing parasite. As the Christian Apostle described it, we see in the mirror now only partially, with distortion; we have only partial knowledge. In the creativity of God's goodness, there is faith and hope and ultimately love, but the greatest, most long lasting, and most filled with life is the love of God.

It is love, then, that you should strive for, concluded Paul (I Cor. 14:1 TEV).
From Warner’s World, I am walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Recipe for Tomorrow

2011-06-10T17:56:00.000-07:00

I started this back in April, with yet three weeks until May. May came and I tiptoed through the tulips, May being one of my two most favorite months of the year (May and October).

As the April winds died down, I enjoyed a brief hiatus in Kentucky, including a couple of feverish days promoting books at the Reformation Publishers Book Nook at the Winchester Pastor’s Fellowship. Most of all, I enjoyed the flowering trees and other beauties of Central Kentucky’s historic Blue Grass region.

I returned home in time to watch the tulips bloom in Michigan--I love the tulips! They bloom so profusely in Michigan and in such variety. As far back as I can remember, thousands of families have journeyed annually to Holland, MI--mid-May--to be dazzled by the exquisite beauty of the Dutch Culture's annual Tulip Festival.

Throughout the Spring, I studiously studied most every blade that promised any kind of growth in my small yard. While still early, I became rather amused at most of us--myself included, for it seemed to me that even the weather prophets behaved more anxiously than usual, impatiently awaiting the arrival of Spring. We all needed that fill-up with sunshine--a good warm-up.

Winter has now made its departure. Spring is rapidly transitioning into Summer. The tulips strutted while my Irises flaunted their best blooming season in several years--3 weeks and counting. Roses are attempting a takeover; even my peonies show improvement, and now I‘m waiting to transplant my tomatoe seedlings--low-acid yellow Ponderosa's.

All of this points me to the recipe I want to share with you for the remainder of the year--a year-long gift of Spring. You will need only the following ingredients and may it be one of your best-ever years.:
4 cups of Love
2 cups of Loyalty
3 cups of Forgiveness
1 cup of Friendship
5 spoons of Hope
2 spoons of Tenderness
4 quarts of Faith
1 barrel of Laughter
Pour in your Love and Loyalty. Mix them thoroughly with an abundance of Faith. Blend with adequate Tenderness, Kindness, and Understanding. Sprinkle this freely with Laughter and bake it with summer Sunshine.

Serve it daily in generous portions, and do it as often and as regularly as you possibly can. May the coming months be the best of your whole life.

Yours from Warner’s World, for one of your better seasons … walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

The Best Way to Communicate

2011-06-09T16:19:00.000-07:00

Currently appearing in the Free Methodist Sunday school Evangel is a valuable lesson I learned some years ago (6-26). My neighbor pastor gave me a piece of advice. “Take I-20 by way of Dallas,” he said.

Well, I admit two hundred miles of two-lane traffic on Hwy 287 did seem like a long drive to Youth Camp. I wanted to avoid Dallas traffic, but I went ahead and followed his suggestion. Very quickly, I discovered I could drive on Interstate highway most of the way, which left me only 20 miles of two-lane driving.

“I will show you a still more excellent way,” Paul told his Corinthian readers (1 Corinthians 13). Using such contrast, Paul argued for a spirit of love. Without love, wrote Paul, words sound brassy. Although Paul spoke eloquently and proclaimed the gospel with prophetic powers, his witness left his hearers cold and unresponsive--unless tempered with love.

That suggests to me that although I reflect a wide range of knowledge, a deep understanding of truth, and exercise a mountain-moving faith; without love, I really achieve little. For as Paul concludes, the letter kills. Life comes by way of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:6).

Paul drills deep into the core of this issue: “words without works equal waste”. Only a mature love understands the inadequacy of right desire and adequately pursues right conduct. “Reception of perfect love is by faith alone,” writes Otho Jennings, but “the practice of perfect love requires knowledge and improves with experience” (Geiger/ Further Insights Into Holiness/Beacon Hill/1964).

Outward values hold only temporary meaning, suggests Paul. They lack life--unless prompted by that deep, immoveable love that brings beneficial blessings through dedicated service that is prompted by knowing the true ways of God.

What we are matters even more than what we do, for what we are ultimately determines what we do (emphasis added). If we are right, we will do right. If we are not right, no abundance of rules and regulations will produce right living. Living the Christian life comes out of the overflow of God’s love that spills over into the heart of the receptive believer. Where we go and what we do only reflect further who and what we are within.

The best way to communicate an idea is to wrap it up in a person and send that person out. When God wanted to reveal His idea of love, He exported it into the world via the birth process. A hurting humanity reads that message in the journeys of Jesus, as He became the living embodiment of God’s love in its purest form, en route to the cross.

Long ago, Henry Drummond spoke to departing missionaries. His message to them drives home the insight we need for more effectively sharing our message this turbulent and hostile environment: “You can take nothing greater . . . than the impress and reflection of the love of God upon your own character” (emphasis added).

Love is the one universal language. Languages and dialects can take years to master and speak persuasively. Everyone understands the “unconscious eloquence” of love when it is poured out in compassionate service.That love makes the person the messenger, not the words spoken.

From Warner's World ... Our character--who we are--becomes our primary vehicle for communicating our message ...
this is walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

The America We are Building

2011-05-28T09:25:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day Weekend is underway. Dropping gas prices raised over Memorial Day as they have for many years, before dropping for the summer. The American people continue to shoot themselves in the foot by paying the oil barons & speculators their exorbitant prices rather than saying “enough is enough.” Yet, for an increasing number of us, “enough” is already well beyond what we can pay and survive.

While citizens continue vascillating in this game of chance, Congress plays its own shell game. For example, the five largest oil companies are Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil, British Petroleum, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips. Did you find it interesting when the CEO at ConocoPhillips was heard to tell Congress that it would be “unAmerican” to withdraw the oil & gas subsidy which the industry has received for the past one-hundred years?

That is so typical. Whenever there is a call for a reduction of power or profit, we all jump on the bandwagon when it is for the other guy. Everybody wants a reformed welfare system. Everyone wants to reduce the number of entitlement programs. Everyone wants to stop BIG Government and its enormous spending. We say.

We want it as long as it reduces the number of poor and vulnerable that receive subsidies of some kind. Stop welfare babies. Eliminate the luxuries of prison life. Let all these rich Seniors (whoever they are) pay some taxes, says Michigan‘s Governor Snyder. Eliminate Obamacare! Throw out Medicare! Get rid of socialism. The fact is, we say, we have to face it: we can’t keep on spending ourselves further into debt.

Yet, when Michigan’s Carl Levin sponsored S940 to close Big Oil and Tax Loopholes, the Senate rejected it. The Congressional Research Service, a non-partisan group, reported that the 5 major oil companies profited $76 billion in 2010. Between 2001-2010 they pocketed $1 trillion in profits. Yet, the Senator’s bill failed because they could not muster the required 60 votes to stop a threatened filibuster by the GOP.

That tells me the GOP is more interested in “selective entitlements” rather than national debt reduction. It tells me the GOP is more interested in the profits of Special Interest Groups than in the common good of the country. They will maintain the century-old oil/gas subsidy rather than use those subsidies to reduce the national debt.

They make military spending a patriotic duty rather than allow equitable reduction so as to reduce the national debt. They will say all the right words, but they will leave seniors like me to choose between food and life-saving medications while hoping to survive to the first of the month. They will bow to the dictates of wealthy lobbyists who fund GOP elections, and ignore the increasing gap between the most vulnerable and the most wealthy. They will work feverishly to eliminate subsidies demanded by the most vulnerable while they suck up to the more demanding feudal barons of industry and commerce.

From Warner’s World ...
anyone who knows very much history knows America cannot maintain good national health under our growing conditions of inequality. While we are celebrating patriotism this weekend, and while we honor our military boys and girls, we might want to re-think the kind of America we are trying to build--an America that offers equal opportunity to all creeds, colors, and cultures, or an America that serves as the private playground of those who make the most profit ...

walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

The Power of Love

2011-05-21T18:41:00.000-07:00

Christos Gatzoyiannis was just another Greek emigrant living in WWII Worcestor, MA until he married sweet Eleni, the lovely girl he left in his third world village of Lia, while he made his way in the new world. Located near the mountainous border against Albania, Eleni was raising their family in a third world village by those old world standards. When Mussolini determined that he wanted Greece for himself, the sturdy Greeks repelled him. That brought the Germans for the remainder of that war.

Eleni gave Christos four daughters but yearned for a son, until Nikola completed their marriage by filling her womb. She loved her son as only a mother could love an only son. She loved her four daughters, but she doted on her son until he was nine and escaped. When the children escaped from the village, they anticipated reuniting with their mother before going to America. But Eleni committed the unpardonable sin of Communism; she maintained her self-determination; when it came to her children, she refused to conform. For that, she was a rebel and she was imprisoned, tortured, and shot!

As young Nikola grew up, the memory of his mother literally shaped his life. Becoming an investigative reporter, and finally a New York Times Foreign Correspondent, he eventually retraced the lives of his family members and others from the village and revealed how they coped with Communism and outside fascist forces. That journey takes the reader away from our internet culture of cell phones and Face Book communications to a setting where outdoor plumbing was the rule and 4-wheeled vehicles were part of the outside world not yet experienced.

Eleni raised her family as the wife of the Americana, surviving WWII, but suspected, preyed upon, and no longer living her own life under occupation of Greek Guerrellas assimilated into Russian Stalinists--Communists. Unable to conform to their warped values and incongruous inhumanity, she was sustained by the only faith she knew (the ritualism of Greek Orthodoxy). She loved her children supremely, refusing to give them up for Communist re-education, she paid the ultimate sacrifice while arranging their escape to America.

Author Gage firmly establishes the setting of his book in the third world culture of Greek village life. The reader learns much about the culture of the period as Gage re-traces the tragedies of the Greek civil war and the events resulting in the imprisonment and death of his mother.He offers excellent insight into the prevailing philosophies of the time, which controlled people’s lives. The machinations of the human mind confront readerd when following the circuitous routes we take as we try to adapt, conform, and find our own way through all the multiplied circumstances over which we have little or no control

Eleni, without formal education, stood firm on learned principles, firmly anchored in her unchanging love for her family. I found the book historically informative, as did Ronald Reagan who praised the author as someone who inspired him in his presidential resistance to Russian Communism during the Berlin Crisis. I found the reading somewhat grueling--difficult because I react to human suffering. Yet I pushed on, compelled to learn if the author discovered who murdered his mother and how he responded to the tragedy that shaped and blessed his life.

Person by person, Gage researched his case with faultless precision, sorting out the characters and determining who was the one person most responsible for his mother’s death. Armed and prepared to avenge her death by his own hand,Gage met with the Prosecutor twice. Circumstances the first time were too risky, but the second time, the circumstances for his revenge were perfect.

But now Nikola Gatzoyiannis truly comprehended the power of his mother’s final words--not an invocation of what she died for, but a “declaration of love: ‘My children!’” He recalled Sophocles’ Antigone telling the man who condemned his mother Hecuba to her death, “It’s not my nature to join in hating but in loving.”

“That was Eleni Gatzoyiannis’ nature as well,” writes Gage, and Prosecutor Katis had not been able to destroy it by killing her. “Like the mulberry tree in our yard, which still stands after the house has fallen into ruins, that love has taken root in us, her children, and spread to her grandchildren as well.”

With that realization came Gage's conclusion:
“If I killed Katis, I would have to uproot that love in myself and become like him, purging myself as he did of all humanity or compassion. Just as he had abandoned his baby daughter and wife to become a killer for the guerillas, I would have to put aside thoughts of what I was doing to my children’s lives. My mother had done everything out of love for her own children.

“Killing Katis would give me relief from the pain that had filled me for so many years. But as much as I want that satisfaction, I’ve learned that I can’t do it. My mother’s love, the primary impulse of her life, still binds us together, often surrounding me like a tangible presence. Summoning the hate necessary to kill Katis would sever that bridge connecting us and destroy the part of me that is most like Eleni” (Eleni/Gage/Ballentine Books/1983/470/emphasis added).

From Warner’s World,
the pay-off came for me in the final paragraph of this book. I hate war, violence, and injustice, and there is but one power that is greater. Although this is not a religious book, its message of love is powerful. Human love, under-girded by divine love, is the only power in the universe capable of conquering the inhumanity of humanity against humanity ...walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Church of God Overseers

2011-05-19T20:47:00.000-07:00

From the days of Daniel S. Warner, the esteemed patriarch of The Church of God Movement (Anderson, IN Convention), we have valued God’s touch upon our lives, especially that personal, God-given sense of divine calling.

Warner first served as a pastor-evangelist among the followers of John Winebrenner. When his peers “decredentialled” him it primarily involved the following: (1) preaching the doctrine of holiness which was unacceptable among them at that time, (2) refusing to dissociate from the Holiness Association, and (3) and refusing to allow others to dictate how--what-where he could preach--under God--his biblical convictions.

God's call comes in the shape of the cross. First comes one’s vertical relationship with God. Next, it intersect with others. I like what Jesus said: love God supremely (vertical relationship); love your neighbor as yourself (horizontal relationship). Without the anointing of God, there is no real call or ministry. There comes a time in every preacher-prophet’s life when s/he must intersect with others who also recognize that call; thus, the Church and its credentialing bodies.

The Church of God has always recognized God's call into a ministry that is uni-level, not multi-tiered. It has no hierarchy leading up to Papal authority, or other human authority. Hierarchical positions of authority of Overseers, Elders, Bishops, and beyond, are all foreign to the spirit and understanding of the Church of God.

One early example that intrigued me was the case of Sebastian Michels, peer of Daniel Warner. Mr. Michels served as a part time itinerant evangelist, but never as a pastor. He served as unofficial Business Manager for the early Gospel Trumpet Company, first Campground Manager at the Grand Junction campsite, the founder of the first Children’s Home at Grand Junction, and as founder of the first Old People’s Home at South Haven, MI.

Elsewhere, I have detailed his struggle, as he wrestled over the leadership of the Children’s Home. He confessed to realizing he had invested his life’s accumulations in the Children’s Home and that with a spoken word, the Board could replace him, leave his family without, and essentially short circuit his walk with God.

Simultaneously, he was discovering a new call, the Old People’s Home. He saw it first in a dream, after which he returned home from that revival and discussed it with his wife. Believing God wanted them to do this, they turned over the Administration of the Children’s Home, purchased property in South Haven, and established the Old People’s Home as a non-profit ministry (which became their livelihood for 25 years).

That was when church leaders pushed Michels aside as a non-conformist, saying-and-believing that to be in ministry he should be “on the field preaching.” Michels never left the church and was later called “one of the best” of the pioneers, but he followed the dictates of his conscience regardless of church authority.

Sebastian may be a bit of an extreme example, for we do have our licensing committees and other denominational paraphernalia today, through which we function legally and socially as a recognized church body, and they serve us well. On the other hand, we must understand the biblical concepts of our hymnology that suggest the church of God is one body and indwelt by but One Spirit. It is divinely built, divinely ruled, and in it we all submit mutually to God.

Led by apostles, prophets, teachers et al “His purpose to fulfill,” we all stand on level ground at the foot of the cross, dwelling “in the bonds of peace.” Another song suggests “…gladly to his blessed will submissive we shall be” but “from the yokes of Babel’s lords from henceforth we are free.” We don’t kiss the toe of any Papal papa and we have no hierarchical stepladder up through the District Superintendent’s Office (or the Bishop) to the top of the pecking order.

We do speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; we sing and make melody in our hearts to the Lord, and we give thanks to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus, and submit [mutually to one another in the fear of God (Ephesians 5:19-21, cf NKJV). We recognize neither superiors nor inferiors.

In this context, I quote Lloyd Moritz from his January 17 Chogblog: "Regional Pastors and Overseers" is the new phrase our association came up with to better describe our current roles within the North American Church of God. This will replace the meaningless "Area Administrator" moniker that we have used for several decades and provides a more accurate reflection of the type of work we do within our respective regions. Certainly, individual RPO's will still use their official titles as designated by their state or district, but this new designation is a intended to be a general description that can used to describe us as a group."
Now, without any say-so on our part as pastors, church leaders, executives, and church laity, we find we do have unofficial “overseers” and given enough precedence they will in time become official overseers. Is it too far afield to recall ancient Israel in Egypt? The overseers set the quotas for the workers and established the routine that made the workmen slaves.

Although some defend the term overseer as “more descriptive,” it still oversteps our traditional bounds of authority, being defined in one dictionary as "a person who watches over and directs the work of others." That reeks of controlled authority. I find the dictionary description less descriptive and more offensive than either Coordinator or Administrator.

I think our friends mean well; they have our work at heart, and they are not looking for controls over us but they are setting and unacceptable and dangerous precedent. A century ago the young oil industry needed help getting established. They received tax credits, subsidies, et al. Today, 100 years later, an established oil industry is making record profits. Yet, an oil executive told congress the other day that to take away the oil subsidies was “unAmerican” although some of us argue it has become for them a form of entitlement. Overseer today will be an entitlement of control and authority tomorrow.

We do not need any Lone Rangers, although we are a voluntary Association. We are also a “Body” --Paul’s language--we are a family--interdependent rather than independent. I suggest these church leaders have overstepped their bounds and assumed a historic precedence that is contrary to our mission, our message, and our whole history, not to mention the Spirit of Christ.

From Warner’s World:
Does this mean I have a problem with being submissive? NO! Anyone who really knows me knows that I can play a good “2nd fiddle. Nonetheless, “Overseer” is a name that needs to be changed before some decide to take the same walk that D. S. Warner took at Beaver Dam, when he and five others walked out of denominationalism to work with all of God’s church everywhere
... walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

The "Blessed Virgin" Mary

2011-05-14T16:07:00.000-07:00

Sixteen-year-old Labib met a kindly old Cairo printer (Egypt), who challenged him to grow in his religious faith. The youth learned that there was more to his faith than the traditional religious ritual of his Coptic church. Through Salib Farag, he discovered a relational religion that builds on a personal relationship to, and faith in, Jesus Christ.

That friendship launched Labib on a lifetime journey. Eventually,Dr. Labib Mikhail devoted his life to studying and teaching the Bible and living as a Christian missionary, pastor, evangelist, and author. In his youth, Dr. Mikhail practiced the traditional adoration and veneration of the blessed virgin Mary, without question.

After Dr. Mikhail learned what the Bible really teaches about Jesus and “His blessed mother, the Virgin Mary,” he wrote a book entitled The Virgin Mary In the Light of the World of God. The book has been widely distributed in the Middle East, Africa, and South America.

The son of the kindly old printer is Dr. Nasser S. Farag, a Christian missionary-pastor, evangelist-educator, and author in his own right. The two men are longtime friends and have now collaborated, with Dr. Farag translating Dr. Mikhail’s book into both Spanish and English.

Our concern here is Dr. Farag’s translation into English by Nordskog Publishing, Ventura, CA., 2011. It is a small and simple book--128 pages. It includes twelve chapters, an eleven page glossary of terms and ideas, and a short bibliography. In addition, it contains brief but descriptive chapters by each man--Author--Translator--Publisher, which I found personally helpful in better knowing the producers of the book.

Since I was raised a Protestant Christian, and served widely in Ecumenical ministries, I failed to first recognize the significance of the book. I hold traditional Protestant views regarding both Mary and Joseph as highly favored, but do not venerate Mary or pray to her as a unique Saint.

On page 11, the author gave me this insight: “It is true that some so-called Christians who were not familiar with the Scriptures and were deceived by Satan went into a cultic belief that the Trinity consisted of Father God, Mother Mary, and their Son, Jesus. Islam rightly rejected this as their Quran states, ‘He is the Originator of the heavens and the earth. How can He have children when He has no wife?’ (Surah 6:101, The Quran Translation by M. H. Shakir).”

Dr. Mikhail walks us through twelve chapters as he takes us through the primary Bible passages that reveal Mary and her son Jesus. He answers questions like “Can Blessed Mary Be Another Mediator” along with Jesus, and “Was Blessed Mary Assumed Bodily into Heaven?” In the process, he deals with the titles given to Mary by the Catholic and Coptic Churches, and the prayers frequently prayed from the Prayer Books. Not to be overlooked are a couple of chapters that focus on the rumored appearances and the miracles of Mary.

All in all, this non-confrontational little book is simple to read, easy to understand, and solidly based on Scripture (only). Dr. James Earl Massey, recognized as “one of the 25 most influential preachers of the past 50 years” (according to Christianity Today Magazine), offers this pertinent blurb: “This is a relevant study clarifying Mary’s role and significance that should be read alongside F. J. Moloney’s Mary, Woman and Mother and Jaroslav Pelikan’s Mary Through the Centuries. I highly recommend it as a balanced and Biblical portrait.”

With a recommendation like that, you don’t need my encouragement. If you want an enjoyable and informative book that offers Mary the honor and exaltation due her, read this $12.95 book from Nordskog Publishers. Mikhail has authored 80 books in Arabic, English and Spanish. Farag does leadership training through his non-denominational Ministry, “Truth in Love,” He is based in South Texas and serves throughout Latin America, Mexico, Africa, India, and the USA.

With a fuller appreciation for the Virgin Mary, This is Warner’s World, walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

A Passing Friend

2011-05-13T10:08:00.000-07:00

We accept and recognize lady ministers in our fellowship. There are some, I know, that would vociferously argue this point of women preachers with me. However, I readily admit that some of my favorite preachers are “women of the cloth.“

I was nurtured by one such lady as a small child in my home church--“Sister Sweet.” She was a capable interim pastor, but only filled in until a good man came along. Probably my all-time favorite was Wilma Perry, of Oklahoma, later Dr. Wilma Perry longtime Warner Pacific College professor. It still makes me laugh when I think of the carnal-spirited males stomping and snorting around the Convention Grounds when "that woman" preached at our International Convention. I remember one in particular, now long gone, whose name I’ll not mention--came from a rural church in southern Missouri

In recent days, I was touched--challenged--by a lesser-known “woman preacher,” a former acquaintance. In this case, she was a former fellow student some sixty years ago. I remember her as a vibrant young lady, a young single girl, evangelistically minded, full of zest and youthful faith.

I recently received a message from David Coolidge’s Prayer Line and it contained a this note, written to all her old friends:
"Recently I have been diagnosed with a rare disease, Amyloidosis. According to the Mayo Clinic, there are only three people in a million diagnosed with this disease in a year. It affected my tongue first, then the entire digestive system, and now it has affected the lymph system with the body filling with fluid and seeping. Thanks to everyone who has been my friend and helped me along life's most pleasant journey. I have had a happy life. I hope to see everyone in heaven."
I have Heaven in View, positively.
Thelda Quinn Shaffer/5-5-2011 (italics added).

Years has passed since I even saw Thelda; we had each gone very different tracks in church ministry, but our tracks had crossed in college and she remained a familiar name. The forthrightness and honesty of her message touched me deeply. I responded by writing her a note of appreciation for her candid frankness and the certainty of her note testimony--I like that.

Almost before I could turn around, I received another mailing from David announcing Thelda’s entrance into the eternal portals. Her note had to be one of the last things she did, for I scarcely had time to adjust my thinking before she had moved through her final Commencement.

Across my 45 years of pastoring churches, probably the funerals I conducted were what I remember most and best. I often said I would rather conduct a funeral than a wedding. Weddings were so often filled with facade and unreality, but in funerals I found who people were at their core. Often, they were highlight moments of personal intimacy.

When I remember Thelda, I have little or no recall about her years as a wife, mother, pastor and evangelist. I know we were the same age and that our years of service paralleled. What I remember is a verse I often used in funeral services, titled simply, “Friends”:

The river flowing gently by,
The rolling meadows green,
The mountains towering to the sky,
The valleys in between
Are all a part of God’s great scheme
On which our joy depends,
But greatest of them all, I deem
Our friends.

The sunshine and blue skies are fine,
I’m thankful for the flowers,
For they are truly gifts divine,
To cheer this world of ours,
But flowers droop and skies turn gray
God’s greats blessings, so I say,
Are friends.

When sorrow comes and grief is yours
And hope is lost in gloom,
‘Tis then that friendship comes to shine
Within your darkened room.
“Tis then that consolation sweet,
Your bitter woe attends,
For God hat made this world complete
With friends.

I glory in a summer’s day,
And in the morning sun,
But when my cares are put away,
And all my tasks are done,
When low the shades of evening fall
And night time fast descends,
Most thankful then am I for all
My friends.

I don’t find much satisfaction in the individualistic narcissism of our gadget-generated generation of affluent technics, but I take real pleasure in the interdependence and loving relationships through which God planned for us all of us to grow and thrive and make our world a better place for everyone. I hope my friends will remember me for the appreciation, and the candid forthrightness with which I remember the Reverend Thelda Quinn.

What would any of us be, without our friends?
From Warner’s World, this is walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

The Emigration Issue

2011-05-10T12:57:00.000-07:00

President Obama will speak on Emigration today, an issue I have stayed away from. I don’t know what he thinks about it; not exactly sure what I think...

I hear all kinds of political rhetoric against illegal immigrants … against free borders … against non Caucasians. Some want to fence us in. Keep us huddled behind a high protective barrier. I remember when we were but 6% of the world’s population enjoying the most cars and highways, the cheapest gas, the most telephones and gadgets--biggest and sweetest slice of the Apple Pie. But, that is changing … slowly. It does make one wonder …

There has never been a time in my life when I did not live among emigrants--European, German and Dutch. As a child we had that German family that came to church; they made beer in their basement although we were a teetotaler church--old custom with them. When I visit with those (old) children today at church camp, we are all Americans, but yes, they were emigrants.

While at Anderson College, I attended classes with German emigrants like the future Dr. Ewald Wolfram, and children of Greek emigrants from our Greek-speaking churches. Later, in Oregon, Danny just as well have been an emigrant; he was a Lapwai Indian (native American).

My first year in Portland, my pastor was Dr. Albert Kempin, never thought of that learned man as an emigrant, but he spoke German and emigrated to Philadelphia from Lithuania. As a young pastor in West Texas, one of my older associates in the early and mid-fifties was a man who came out of Hungary with the clothes he wore, a rolled-up Comforter on his back, and perhaps $9.00 (if memory does not fail me); John Kolar was a neighbor pastor and good friend.

While pastor Fort Worth’s Ridglea Church and attending the Baptist Seminary Oscar preached for me; he was a doctoral student from Canada. Sitting next to me in Dr. Churchill’s Journalism class at Southwestern was Molly Wong, who fled mainland China for Hong Kong, after learning to pray with her eyes open and escaping the Communists.

During that same time, Luz, pronounced Loose, became my friend--one of many Hispanic friends. To this day, Luz likes hot peppers like I like ice cream, but that friendship is almost fifty years old now.

For that past fifteen years, one of my most cherished friends has been just plain Bill … Bill K … the rest of it is a mouth full: Konstantopoulos (better known autobiographically as Vasilis). This bright boy came to America speaking Greek (we jestingly accuse him of still speaking Greek--broken English). He learned the language, graduated from college, and has now served the global church with distinction--an emigrant!

And I’m still encountering them! Recently at a recent church conference, I met Nabil (pronounced Nabeel). He and his wife Myrna came from Beirut, Lebanon. They live near Cincinnati, study at Anderson Univ. School of Theology, and partner with Ohio Ministries of the Church of God. Their linquistic skills and their Middle East heritage makes them valuable in working among Muslims. They are the tip of a rather large iceberg that includes others like Nassar and Marilyn Farag--Egyptians.

Dr. Farag translated a book he sent me for review titled THE VIRGIN MARY IN THE LIGHT OF THE WORD OF GOD by Dr. Labib Mikhail. They remind me that in my more than eighty years, I have never lived outside of the influence and benefit of--you guessed it--emigrants.

They are numerous German nationals and Europeans who have always been part of my life. They are Chinese--Suwan owns and operates the Chinese Buffet where we like to eat locally. They are the two Chinese young men I met a few years back who swam several miles out of China, risking their very lives to escape to my country. They are Indonesians, men I met one day while out walking, who constitute much of our downtown First Baptist Church. They are Michelle and her husband, a Vietnamese couple; she is a banker; he is a police dispatcher

Now my German-Norwegian Minnesota grandsons graduate from a Twin City High School where they bused in black African emigrant children--Sudanese et al. Although they were good students, their grades are downscaled because the school is accused of dumbing down to meet the needs of emigrant children and that devalues my graduating grandsons good grades for college.

Whatever one may think of such situations, I find it impossible to talk about “them” without discussing “us”. We have some heart issues with which we must deal:
What is our attitude toward “foreigners”?
Do we fear them? Do we see them as threats to our jobs?
Do we react with prejudice and racism?
Or, do you see “them” as an opportunity to share the good news of Jesus with?
Using a couple of examples from the Bible, did you know God expressed concern for foreigners and aliens? Moses instructed ancient Israel to love the aliens in their midst (Deuteronomy 10:19) and to treat them as if they were citizens (Leviticus 19:34).

I was stunned at the bluntness of the instructions when recently re-reading the book of Deuteronomy. The purpose of such treatment was that ”they can listen and learn to fear the Lord your God (Deut. 31:12).

The words of Jesus, however, dull my ability to hear the political correctness that prevails around me. Jesus reminds me, “Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me’” (Matthew 25:45)

From Warner’s World, I am walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Konstantopoulos Books

2011-04-25T12:36:00.000-07:00

The boy, Vasilis, poses among the foothills of his beloved and native Greece, where he grew to adulthood. I tried to reproduce his photo in his native dress, but failed at that. His appearance on the front cover of his new life story entitled Vasilis introduces a story you will want to read. You will be challenged by a journey that begins in Greece, moves to Houston, TX and crisscrosses the world from there as a Church of God pastor, missionary, and evangelist.

"Brother Bill" and wife Kay are greatly loved across the church. I, for one, personally benefited by his friendship and his pastoral ministry during his 14 years of serving the church in the Winchester, KY Bluegrass area.Now retired, he continues to serve through pulpit and pen preaching. You will be the better person for reading this venture in daring, discipline, and christian discipleship. His formidable faith will truly inspire you.

Vasilis is but one book by “Brother Bill” (as many of us know him), to be introduced at the coming Pastor’s Fellowship in Winchester, KY, at the Colby Road church, May 2-3.

Other titles to be introduced include a Word In Due Season, Piercing the Darkness, Rediscovering the Master and Discipleship, The Kingdom of God and the Millennium, and The Virtues of a Healthy Church.

In total, nine Konstantopoulos books will be available this year at either Reformation Publishers or directly from Bill (home address: Bill Konstantopoulos, 310Emerald Chase Circle, Johnson City, TN 37615.

From Warner’s World, we are walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

"Sister Lillie"

2011-04-22T19:34:00.000-07:00

Newton Falls, Ohio is a pretty small place to make much of a mark on the world, although it does have neighbors like Canton and Akron. Lillie McCutcheon helped her mother, then took oversight of a small congregation begun by her mother in this northeast Ohio town. She shepherded it for four decades, leaving a flock numbering several hundreds. Revered as “Sister Lillie” this successful pastor, evangelist, radio minister and author has now graduated to the beyond, but she lives on in the memory of a multitude.

Many remember her as the author of The Symbols speak--a consistent seller at Reformation Publishers. The unseen Spirit of Lilly broods over the Pastors Fellowship as it meets annually in Winchester, Kentucky. This regional meeting will gather again in a few days--May 2-3, much as it did the past thirty-five years.

I tend to think most people remember her for her reincarnation of F. G. Smith’s writings on the biblical book of Revelation. Although now held by only a minority within the church, this seems how most now remember her.

On the other hand, I recall male preachers in past decades poking fun as they callously mimicked her high-pitched female voice (lady preachers were not at all respected in some quarters). One instance came after she challenged the view of a respected Ohio leader, saying, “Why Brother _, I am surprised at you …”

I have not forgotten those men making great sport of her behind her back (involving at least one close friend of mine). The time came, however, when Sister Lillie gained maturity and earned much respect within the national church.

She led her church in successful growth that made her flock a leader in the Movement. Over time, she succeeded as a community spokesperson, a radio-TV personality, and a highly successful pastor, evangelist, counselor, author and doctrinal interpreter (theologian ?). In time, she became a national figure. By her success, the magnetism of her personality, the force of her powerful intellect, and her public appeal as a powerful lecturer who seldom, if ever, used notes, she earned respect.

I watched her up-close some years ago and saw her giftedness while serving as a Camp Meeting Evangelist, and again as she counseled a troubled lady from my congregation. I see another aspect that is frequently mentioned yet scarcely recognized.

Perhaps we know her best, not for those years of service, or her gifts as a leader and author, but perhaps by the quality of her influence on people she touched as she passed by. People touched by her grew into potential leaders, they attended our educational institutions, and they serve among us.

Barry Callen had a distinguished career at Anderson University and School of Theology. Barry is perhaps our most prolific author and interpreter of Church of God life. The Norm Patton’s went to school in California, and after a successful venture in Santa Cruz they came back to successfully lead our Global Missions program before returning again to the pastorate. I admired Norm’s preaching skill!

Robert (Bob) Moss developed a small church in Cody, Wyoming, then moved back east and led St. Joseph, MI to become the state’s largest congregation. After serving with Indiana Ministries, Bob now is investing heavily at Salem, in Dayton, Ohio.

There was a young farm girl back in Newton Falls that came to Christ through Sister Lillie. She went to Bible College and launched into pastoral ministry, just like her mentor--Jeannette Flynn. Jeannette launched a successful career with Gerald Marvel, then served as Senior Pastor at Walla Walla, WA, before giving fifteen years to our national agencies,

Jeannette recently relocated to the Church of God in Florida. An extra responsibility she will carry is the editorship of the magazine Truth Matters--newest publication of Pastor’s Fellowship. Working from her Florida base with her associates, computer technicians, and writers, Jeannette compiled a practical introductory issue, that could powerfully impact the church. Emphasizing truth, it promises potential breadth that could prove prophetic in power.

Barry Callen; the Norman Pattons’; Bob Moss; Jeannette Flynn; each touched by Sister Lillie. Most of us would be happy to introduce any one of them into the church. They are but four--perhaps the best known--of many touched by the shadow of Lillie McCutcheon in smalltown Newton Falls, Ohio.

If there were no more than these four, these would be sufficient cause to pay tribute to Lillie McCutcheon. I have long since moved beyond her interpretation of The Symbols Speak, but I recognize the powerful impact of one of God’s anointed when I see the impact of these four people in the church; all of whom I count it an honor to number among my friends.

God give us more such pastors who can impact lives as they pass by.
From Warner’s World,
I am walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

2011-04-19T11:38:00.000-07:00

The best way to export an idea is to wrap it up in a person. I believe, based on the Bible, that God did precisely. He sent a babe into our world, wrapped him in swaddling clothes, cradled him in a manger, and we call that Christmas.

Growing into manhood, Jesus learned the all-important lessons about God’s love for humanity, and of God’s hatred of all that distorts and destroys humanity. Experiencing the love of God as Jesus did, he took up the way of the cross--died. We call that Good Friday. What some did not know or recognize, SUNDAY WAS COMING.

Some days after that first Easter Sunday, the disciple Peter told a Jerusalem audience, This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men (Acts 2:23). Life for Jesus included a cross, but he ultimately exchanged that crown of thorns he wore at his crucifixion for a crown of everlasting life. NOW, He offers it to as many as will receive it.

As Peter told that same audience, “But God raised him up, having loosed the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it (Acts 2:24). Easter is more than the climax of the Christian calendar, the apex of the Christian teaching; it is the hinge on which all of history swings.

Go anywhere that humanity has thrived and progressed and see who-or-what made the most difference. It is in those countries where the influence of Jesus has been most felt that human culture has made the most progress. It is in those places that have been most influenced by the teaching of Jesus that we see the most remarkable differences from the rest of the culture.

Where Christ has gone, hospitals, schools, orphanages, leper asylums, homes for the blind, nurses and doctors have appeared. Where Christ has gone, prosperity and plenty have followed without regard to politics. Where Christ has gone, beggars have disappeared, homes have raised up and filled, and the comforts of life have come most readily.

Where Christ has gone law has taken over and justice has been exercised. Where Christ has gone women have been exalted, educated, reverenced and loved. Christian marriage has replaced polygamy. Where Christ has gone life has value and is protected as something sacred. Most generally, prosperity has been protected, and individuals have enjoyed more opportunities to develop business and prosper. In effect, they have been most able to care for their families and leave something to them.

Some attribute this to the American dream, but there is more to the story than that! It is the Christian gospel that appeared first as Christmas, then showed itself as Easter, that has made the major difference in human history. Eventually, when Jesus comes to claim his church, and God judges between the living/dead, and the Kingdom of God is most fully realized, the difference will then be fully realized.

What would life in our world be worth, had Jesus not appeared at Bethlehem?
And had he not gone to Calvary?
What would your life be worth without his story?
What would your life and property be worth in a churchless community?
What would daily life be like in a world where no Jesus-followers came teaching that life is more livable when people are loveable and peaceable?
What would life be without Easter to deter us from populating our world with rich fools and educated fiends?

From Warner’s World, I wonder, “What would life be without Easter?”
This is walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

AU announces Performance Hall plans

2011-04-14T16:07:00.000-07:00

AU announces Performance Hall plans

Bat Theology

2011-04-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

Bats give me the creeps! Yet, I have to accept them if what AP Reporter, Rudolph Schmid tells me is true: this greatly feared little creature of the dark far surpasses our vaunted modern technology.

Schmid suggests “Bat sonar is so much better than anything devised by humans.” He reports Brown University researchers admit, “the little creatures seem to enjoy rubbing it in.” The researchers admitted, “The bats were essentially turning to us and thumbing their noses.”1

Sonar systems operate by emitting sounds and listening for the returning sounds. The time it takes the bouncing sound to return suggests how far away something is and in which direction it is. A major factor in this research is the bat’s ability to differentiate between two echoes arriving almost simultaneously.

Researchers know electronic sonar discriminates between echoes twelve millionths of a second apart. Sophisticated technology shortens that time from six to eight millionths of a second. Bats, however, can reduce that time to two-to-three millionths of a second with apparent ease. This means the lowly little bat can tell the difference between two objects only 3/10’s of a millimeter apart - about the width of a pen line (emphasis added).

Although the United States Navy trained the versatile dolphin to help them in finding mines in the ocean, researcher Simmons suggests that bats promise faster performance and broader-based learning potential for research. They may not do quite as well chasing insects through the trees in the nighttime darkness, but they continue to show up fat, happy, and largely successful.

Humans have a lot of work yet to do to perform as easily as those quick and cooperative bats observed by Simmons. However, this gives me a better understanding of what I would call “bat theology,” for even the little bat that makes my hair stand on end (which I find so creepy) adds serious evidence to the perception that God is continually trying to get our attention, even though some of us may find the fearful little creature rather frightening.

God leaves messages for us in various and sundry ways. Some times we are at home but screening our calls. At other times, we are simply out of calling distance. Most of the time we don’t really believe He would call us, so we hang up when He does call.

That little bat, like some of the bad experiences we often face, should obviously not be ignored. Rather than ignoring such wonders of our Heavenly Father’s creation, let us take a closer look at life. When we see life as it really is, we will find that instead of ignoring God and His creation we need to join the Psalmist in giving God our long overdue praise and adoration.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me. . .
How precious also are Your thoughts
to me, O God! . . .
If I should count them, they would be more in
number than the sand. . .
I will praise You,
for I am (we are) fearfully and
wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works (Psalm 139:24, 17-18, 14).
_____
1 Battle Creek, MI. “Enquirer,” Oct. 13, 1998, “Bat sonar puts human technology to shame,” by Randolph E. Schmid, reporting on Oct. 12, 1998 “Proceedings of the National Academy of Science,” by James Simmons.

From Warner's World, that's my take on today, still
walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Bro. SV & Reformation Publishers

2011-04-07T13:11:00.000-07:00

Picture at the left: Steven V. Williams - (He looks younger than I do...

“Brother Steve...? … Is this Reformation Publishers? … Is this Williams Printing? … I’m trying to reach Steven Williams.”

I’ve taken literally hundreds of variations of the above calls over the past few years. It varies from covering the office phones at the shop in Kentucky to answering calls transferred to me elsewhere, while I answer them offsite. Last night I talked to two individuals from Prestonsburg 1st Church (looking for "Pastor Steve" after Prayer Meeting).

I just got off the phone with a retired southern pastor who ordered a hard-to-find volume by a Revelation Preacher. He wanted to know if it had been sent yet. I take many such calls. Earlier today, I talked with a couple of authors checking on the status of their pending publications. One is an older gentleman from the area that is compiling a new edition of his extensive poetic works; he needs copies for a soon-to-come family reunion. The other was from a highly respected holiness Para-church educational ministry awaiting an already proofed-and-paid-for book on the life of one of their team members.

IF you are a history buff, or like original Church of God publications, you may know who Steven Williams is. If you attend Winchester Pastor’s Fellowship, you likely know “Brother Steve” rather well. If you are a local customer of Williams Printing Company, you probably enjoy the personable printer, who also preaches at the brick church behind the Dairy Queen. To others, he may be simply a name or an unknown quantity.

Steve has owned and operated Reformation Publishers since 1992. He grew up in Jackson, KY, graduated from Anderson University and School of Theology with undergrad and graduate degrees, and has served in ministry since enrolling at AU in 1980.

In his 10+ years back in SE KY, Steve has completed his Doctor of Ministries degree and continued reprinting out of print Church of God literature, while pastoring Prestonsburg First Chog, and operating Williams Printing Company. To achieve this, he wears numerous additional hats.

Here are unsolicited reasons why we [my spouse and I] personally support RP ministries:
1. RP fills a significant niche in the national life of the Church of God and its Anderson agencies through resourcing needed writings.
2. RP serves as an unofficial liaison with several Church of God [as I call them] splinter groups that formerly had little interaction with us.
3. Although RP does not fully fund itself, through no fault of its supporting customer base, Williams Printing Company partially fills that role. Wearing this hat, Steve prints locally, publishes School Program Books and services a variety of area authors and local businesses. We view this like E. E. Byrum expanding the original Gospel Trumpet Company from Warner’s writings to providing church and religious resources. Steve uses his printing expertise to help underwrite his RP Ministries.
4. While Steve is a printer-publisher, he is foremost an ecumenical Christian minister and local pastor at 1st Church of God. When necessary, he supplements his efforts by driving school bus for the local School System. He remains a popular driver and this allows him and his handful of volunteer-associates to keep the digital presses running.
5. Working with Steve and Martha for more than a decade, I know them as the competent,honest, and hard-working people they are at their core. I cannot tell you the number of people who have said to me or my wife, “I [we] appreciate what you are doing!”
6. And yes, I must add Martha, the other half of this skilled team. An RN and Vo-Ed Teacher with complementing doctoral studies in Education from Moorhead State, Martha is Principal of the Kentucky Vocational School at Inez over in Martin County. She was also a contributing member of the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Education--very talented. Steve’s mother and I agreed before her death, “Martha is God’s gift to Steve.”

Even the finest customers in the world sometimes become impatient. I know, because sometimes my wife reminds me of the number of hats Steve wears--when I become impatient. I experience that same impatience with the church at large, wondering why we don’t rally to the job needing done. At such times, I realize we are not always pleased with God’s responses either. When I go back and re-read Job's drama, I see God grinning as he asks Job, “Where were you when I established the foundations of creation …? “ Duh…!

On the other hand, I know people sometimes fail to understand when they don‘t hear from Steve ASAP, or when a book is slow in delivery. I know Steve experienced burn-out this past year and that slowed him ... for awhile. Beyond the economic slowdown that is currently hurting him, he is functioning quite well today.

His responses are sometimes slower than I like, but I know the pace he maintains. I know he is giving all of us his best shot - as he pursues his God-given vision of publishing first seen as a high-schooler.

Now, I’m trying your patience with my many words … so ... be patient and possess your souls. You can help yourself by buying books from Reformation Publishers, or from our friend Joe Allison at Chog Ministries. RP is here to serve you - 1-800-765-2464.

From Warner's World, you can find RP’s website online but that is one of the things still needing improvement … best to call - toll free.

still walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

Recognizing Those Who Walked Before Us

2011-04-05T11:04:00.000-07:00

Enoch E. Byrum, minister, editor, administrator, praying for the sick.

Donald Ray Barnes of Girard, IL is a layman with a great love for his former pastor and friend, R. Ruthven Neff. Now retired in Bluford, IL. Neff was a fixture for many years on the church scene, and well known throughout the earlier years of my career. In fact, he returned from pastoral life in Logansport to Anderson College to complete his undergraduate work while I was beginning my college years.

Ruthven Neff was converted at the age of 18 at a Youth Convention in Akron, Ohio (9-13-30). He served as a music director for Evangelist E. I Everhart in Ohio and Western Pennsylvania throughout 1931-33. In July-August of 1933 the two men conducted a tent meeting that launched the new Madisonville congregation in Cincinnati. With that, he enrolled at AC as a music major (2-24-34).

The young music student preached his first sermon at the Anderson Way-side Cross Mission on February 16th of that year and in October assumed the role of 1st Tenor in the new Gospel Trumpet Male Quartet known as “The Radio Trumpeteers.”

Neff continued with his education and ministry, serving as Senior Pastor of nine congregations in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, in addition to an Associate Position and traveling as a song evangelist. Eventually, he did interim ministries with thirteen different congregations, fulfilling sixty-five years of ministry.

Some of my best friends are preachers. I find them interesting and multi-faceted; Neff was no exception. He built 2 parsonages, 2 Gyms, and 5 church buildings. While supervising construction, he often did the brick-work, and he built the furniture and kitchen cabinet for the Bluford church, starting his last church at 81 years of age.

He wrote as a Contributing Editor to our national church magazine, “Vital Christianity,” and wrote adult curriculum. The General Assembly elected him 3 times to the National Board of Pensions, and he held numerous State offices, serving a term as Editor of the Ohio State Paper. He led the Ohio State (OSU) Chapter of Warner Fellowship, performed all manner of duties from Emergency Room Chaplain in Springfield, IL, to ministering in the correctional facilities, working with Billy Graham and Leighton Ford Crusades in Columbus, OH and Springfield, IL … not to mention accumulating credits at Ohio State in Marriage Counseling while doing extensive marriage counseling.

Don Barnes compiled an extensive summary of the ministry of R. Ruthven Neff, which I will pass on to Vivian Nieman for filing at our AU Archive, home of a substantial body of Movement Memorabilia and History.

Neff reminds me of my deceased friend R. E. Bowden. I kept Robert Bowden‘s business card clipped to my bathroom mirror during my final years of pastoring. He printed his card acknowledging 50 years in ministry, but he continued to serve. Finally, he drew a diagonal line across 50 with his pen and carefully inserted the number 65--still doing things few others would attempt.

These men inspire me. They call me back to the truth that there is always something I can yet contribute, that the call from God has no real retirement date. Bowden left this scene of action approaching the century mark. At the upper right, you see a scene I attended in 1939--Warner Memoral Camp Meeting, Grand Junction, MI--where the elderly E. E. Byrum did what he always did--pray for people's healing.

Barnes adds this note regarding Neff: “since retiring from being the pastor of the Bluford church, Ruthven Neff preached several times as the guest preacher at Benton, Mt. Vernon, West Frankfort Camp Meeting, and Bluford. His last and most recent sermon was preached at Bluford on September 13, 2009, at the age of 97 years.”

I find it easier to appreciate such retirees as I write from Warner’s World at this stage of my life. More than ever, I realize the value of keeping these battle-scarred veterans on the action track. We need their example, their fortitude, and their inspiration. They beckon us to stand taller and to become better than we could be without them--our best selves.

That’s the way I see it and this is

walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com