Christmas Good News

The BAD news is Christmas 2008 finds us sliding deeper into the recession I predicted eight years ago. I don’t claim any gift of foretelling but it is true that I complained that the policies behind George Bush would lead to something similar to the Hoover depression.

Many writers now say we are seeing the trickle-down political economics of recent years unravel after unleashing carnal greed and economic conquest, supported by divisive politics that squeeze the living life out of those most vulnerable.

America did not have a system of political party’s until Thomas Jefferson enlisted James Madison and campaigned on an anti-federalist politic. He cherished the rights of a colony above and beyond anything on a federalist level.

Neither Washington nor Adams were party men. Yet, America could not have become the great nation it has without developing federal powers. And we still fiercely contend for one side or the other, and give far more attention to maintaining power than to achieving the common good.

That is just one more reason that I celebrate the birth of Jesus in this Christ-mas season. He cared very little for personal power, but he cared a great deal about people and the common good. The time he lived in the first century was not unlike our own. Life was cheap. Suffering was epidemic. Poverty and slavery were everywhere, unless you happened to belong to the ranks of the privileged.

However, JESUS WAS BORN! He came in the humblest of forms, the total dependence of a newly born. Obviously, he was not much of a politician, otherwise he need not have died. Yet, in his weakness he exhibited a strength that forever changed the world--enough that we mark time by his birth--before and after.

It is that strength--the power of love--that we need today, neither worldly wisdom nor wealth. Wielding the power of love, he changed the course of human events and forever transforming the lives of millions who worship him as the Christ of Christmas.

Other religions dominate in other places of the world, but they do not allow the personal freedoms, the human rights, et al, that we enjoy in America. That does not mean America is a “Christian nation,” it is not. In spite of much of America’s sinfulness, it remains the one place in the world where “Christian values” transform socio-political values into the common good for the most people.

Both Washington and Adams were deeply religious men. Jefferson challenged traditional teachings about Jesus, but he acknowledged the values of Jesus. In fact, we owe it to Jefferson for putting principles of Jesus into the Bill of Rights, as related to human rights and the common good of all men.

So, while we’re celebrating this Advent Season, let us celebrate the gifts that Jesus would share with us, like love, joy, peace on earth among men of good will, with equity and social justice for all--not just the privileged.

Harold Kushner described his house painting grandfather eking out a modest living in Lithuania. In addition to his grandfather having the public image of a painter, he also had a secret identity; he was one of God’s agents on earth, maintaining literacy in a sea of ignorance and kindness in a world of cruelty.

His every act, every day became important, because he believed it mattered to God what he ate, how he earned and spent his money, how he respected his wife and treated his children. That sense of having to live up to God‘s standards, wrote Kushner (Who Needs God/77-78),redeemed his grandfather’s life from anonymity and insignificance.

The GOOD NEWS is that is what Jesus does best for each of us.
Wayne

From Scars To Stars

Am packing; completing last minute details before leaving for Christmas. Two friends went home in recent days, but Christmas correspondence has been a real joy, sharing with so many, and catching up in our lives. I’ll spend Christmas weekend with family and then work a week or two in the print shop at Reformation Publishers, before returning north.

With that, let me add a few details about a high school sophomore who experienced a life-changing encounter with himself and later transitioned from his scars to stars. It begins in 1978, twenty-two years before he and I became significant friends.

One Friday, while walking off the football field, this lad invited his friend to stay over night. When the friend said no, his question demanded “Why?”’

The simple answer explained that the boy’s parents were afraid “of what kind of trouble he might get into staying all night with me.” That Sophomore heard a new sound that day in the mountains of southeast Kentucky, a voice he came to recognize as “the voice of God.”

It was not an audible voice, but I recognized “Him-- convicting; a piercing voice that spoke to my very soul!” The question was, “Is that what you want in life?”

That prompted him to visit a local church. He attended five straight Sundays. He liked what he heard, saw, felt, and learned. On the fifth Sunday--October 8, 1978--he went forward and gave his life to Christ. Pastor Dennis Creech took him under his wing and involved him in the growing youth group. Eventually, Steve heard a call to preach. That brought a further commitment--1979.

When someone introduced him to the church magazine Vital Christianity, that led to his participation in a special church campaign to increase subscriptions. His parents subscribed and he eventually read the centennial issue that reviewed the history of the first 100 years of the Church.

He read it cover to cover. Like a magnet, the pictures and articles so excited him that the following June--1980--he and a friend packed their camper and drove to the Church’s Centennial Convention in Indiana (He returned in 1981 and has not missed since).

The two young men spent all their money on books. As he tells it, they enjoyed the delicacies of green bologna and dirty socks in the back of the truck under the camper.

When his first order to the church publishing house brought Russell Byrum’s Christian Theology and The Responsible Pulpit by Dr. James Earl Massey, they excited him and became the direction in which God seemed to lead his life.

There, in the basement of his home, he read his books avidly. As his book corner grew, and his collection expanded, becoming a full shelf, then another. A friend dubbed the growing book nook-- “Warner’s Corner” after the founder of the Church and Publishing House.

Already a teenage Volunteer fire fighter, he wanted to attend University and become a professional firefighter. After feeling led to consider a preaching career, he made that commitment at Youth Camp--1980.

His first attempt to preach produced a five-minute failure--he thought. From it, he prayerfully discovered that if he ever succeeded it would be because God enabled him. He accepted that and enrolled at Anderson University. By 1988, he completed Seminary.

Steve pastored nine years at Springfield Northside, then moved to a second pastorate. There, his marriage totally collapsed. He moved home, heart-sick and depressed--a failure--divorced. In mid-1998, he agreed to be a guest speaker at a nearby church - really hard, but they liked him.

In December of 2000, the church asked him to be their interim pastor. Later, they asked him to stay on. He became good friends with a member of the Pulpit Committee--both divorced--and in time they became Pastor Steve and Martha (Wells) Williams.

This talented couple is now highly regarded in southeast Kentucky for their civic and religious work. Martha is a specialized medical educator. Dr. Steve is a bi-vocational pastor-printer--a reprint specialist via Williams Printing and Reformation Publishers.

Together, they enjoy an expanding circle of friends and loyal supporters. Martha works for the Kentucky Vo-Ed system and Steve prints-publishes books, school yearbooks, out of print Church of God classics, and local printing needs.

I’m headed there shortly, God willing, and winter storms don’t hinder. Following Christmas, I‘ll go for a week or two in the RP print shop. Say a prayer for Steve and RP. Big companies are hubbing it hard and Reformation Publishers is no exception.

Steve faces difficult days ahead. He works long hours, shorthanded, and struggles to stay abreast. He needs our support--churches, pastors, and interested others. He provides the church a much-needed service, working with our national agencies, servicing a growing number of east Kentucky schools, and meeting other area printing needs (his church ministries are not self-supporting).

Since I’ve been volunteering for about nine years, should you call the toll free number one day, don’t be surprised if I answer the phone--1-800-765-2464.

Meantime Steve, congratulations on your ten years with the church at Prestonsburg, KY and for the many services you‘ve provided to the Church of God. You’ve turned your scars into stars … God is still making a difference in people’s lives ...
Wayne

Terrorism, Religion, and Christmas

The following story caught my attention and I have excerpted a quote from it. It comes from Assist News Service (ANS).

DHAKA, BANGLADESH (ANS) -- Buddhist clerics and local council officials are holding 13 newly converted Christians captive in a pagoda in a southeastern mountainous district of Bangladesh in an attempt to forcibly return them to Buddhism.

A spokesman for the Parbatta Adivasi (Hill Tract) Christian Church told Compass Direct News on condition of anonymity that "the plight of the Christians is horrifying."

According to Compass, local government council officials in Jorachuri sub-district in Rangamati district, some 300 kilometers (186 miles) southeast of Dhaka, are helping the Buddhist monks to hold the Christians against their will, he said.

"The 13 tribal Christians were taken forcefully to a pagoda on Dec. 10 to accept Buddhism against their will," he said. "They will be kept in a pagoda for 10 days to perform the rituals to be Buddhists -- their heads were shaved, and they were given yellow saffron robes to dress in."

I’ve been reading about Hindu terrorism in areas like Orissa (The picture shows a church vandalized by Hindu terrorists). One story reported Hindu terrorists putting a price on the heads of Christian pastors. Again and again, Hindu’s charge Christian evangelists with forcing people to convert. Of course, we are already well aware of Islamic Militants of several varieties, creating 9-1-1, Mumbai, et al.

As we approach Christmas week, I find it interesting that

1) so much of the world terrorism is involved in religious differences,
2) charges against Christians are often those tactics most used by non-Christian devotees, and
3) only in America, with its strongly Protestant Christian influence--I didn’t say nation--can people of differing religious faiths live side by side in relative peace.

Buddhists, Hindus, and Islamics (and some Christians) all find it difficult to tolerate each other. Non-Christians terrorize Christians in many parts of the world. CHRISTMAS reminds us again of the birth of the babe in Bethlehem. It was a night when the angels sang peace on earth among men of good will. It launched a life that died 33 years later at Golgotha (Calvary) rather than deny God’s purpose. However, according to Easter, God refused to let the light of that life be extinguished.

His purpose was revealed in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (NIV). Or, as the Apostle Paul declared, “His purpose was to create in himself one new man … thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross by which he put to death their hostility” (Ephesians 2:15-16).

He did not say it would be easy, but Christians are at their best when restoring peace, loving all of God’s created, and extending the grace of the Lord Jesus.
Peace . . . Wayne

Christmas and THE BOOK OF NOAH

I'm having a problem mastering placement of my pictures, but I just received one of those occasional phone calls from Dale Stultz in Anderson and I want to share with some of you.

Dale is one of those rare people, always blowing in a breath of fresh air, bringing words of optimism, sharing acts of joy. Since meeting Dale, we have become fast friends, each of us fascinated by varying aspects of our Church of God heritage. Today’s chat informed me he had just sent me three pictures he is using as he shares Christmas in Anderson with individuals and small groups interested in our early history.

Using the above pictures as living graphics, Dale reads the story of young Noah Byrum’s first Christmas away from his Hoosier home, and his mother. He is with his older brother Enoch, and living in the bleak austerity of the Trumpet Home, seen in the panoramic view of Grand Junction (bottom picture).

He is working with those earliest Gospel Trumpet volunteers at Grand Junction, MI. His story is found on pages 45-47 in The Book of Noah, Memoirs From Our Past). He arrived earlier in the year as a 15-year-old teenager--away from his mother and home for the first time.

Struggling with “Christmas Eve depression,” he heard the train pass by en route to South Haven. Minutes later, he heard the door open softly, but ignored it. Then, “I realized someone was standing in the doorway," he wrote, but I kept on with my reading; "I glanced up and my heart almost skipped a beat. There stood my mother, her face all smiles. I was soon in her open arms, and a happier boy could not have been found. . .” (12-24-1887). The picture at top center shows the Byrum farm in an Indiana winter scene.

Mother Lucinda spent Christmas week with Noah, watched and worked around the Trumpet Home for the week, and returned home to Indiana, happy that her sons were busy in God’s work. Noah spent many more happy Christmases, holidays, and other gatherings in Grand Junction and at the nearby Joseph Smith farm--and meeting house, where the Saints often worshipped--as seen at the upper left. Also, you read Noah's handwritten comments.

I haven't mastered placing these pictures yet. Hopefully, I will learn to place them where I want them. Meantime, I will return to Kentucky Christmas week, spend Christmas with our daughter and soon-to-be Irish Cherokee of 62 years (1947-2009), as well as another week or so at Reformation Publishers. I will then leave her there for the cold weather and return to the wonders of Michigan’s winterland_
Wayne

Financial Crunch at CHOG MINISTRIES

Blogger friend, Lloyd Moritz, excerpted the following from a letter from Dr. Ron Duncan of Church of God Ministries, informing pastors and leaders of budgetary cuts.

“…The manner in which we collectively view these reductions will affect the future of our movement. Some may view these reductions as failure. I certainly have reflected on this point of view. There is an element of these reductions that certainly feels like failure…”

“…failure of our congregational system of polity to support and fund the decisions of the General Assembly,
failure of Church of God Ministries to adequately challenge and provide the necessary motivation to inspire support for the budget,
failure of our leaders and congregations to deal with the gravity of the situation, and

failure on my part to provide the leadership necessary for success…”

Duncan rightly suggests that "throughout the Church of God’s 127 years, finding the financial support for the congregational, state, and national ministries has been a constant challenge.” I believe we have not yet satisfactorily resolved the question of how to live and teach New Testament principles of stewardship.

D. S. Warner, our founding father, began with a message of holiness and unity. He proclaimed and penned that message via “The Gospel Trumpet.” He and a growing number of flying messengers (itinerant preachers) sacrificed heavily to propagate that message through messengers, missionaries, and written publications. Their efforts produced a people now known as the Church of God (Reformation Movement) and a publishing house.

The development of local congregations encouraged permanent pastors, as opposed to traveling evangelists. Self-supporting congregations obviously took from available funding for “spreading the message” (in the sense of national ministries and world evangelism).

For what it is worth,
1. I do not accept this situation as our failure, or of Dr. Duncan’s failure as a national leader. Nor is it the fault of our national leadership team. It may not be all, but it is partially a result of our nation’s economic reassessment and financial adjustment from Wall Street to Main Street.

2. It does reflect our conflicted understandings of New Testament stewardship. Core to “NT” teaching is the principle of the church as the Body of Christ, every minute part working in harmony for the health of the whole body. This has been a central focus of the Church of God movement from Warner until today.

Although we deny being a “denomination,” we do assert that we are a “body” with ears, eyes, hands, and feet. Paul taught that God arranged the parts of the body as He wanted them. We are not different denominations; we are the body of Christ.

As part of God’s Church, the Church of God is not a loose collection of independent congregations. Nor are we ministers simply Lone Ranger’s riding about independently. We are all part of the Body of Christ. We have obligations to each other and to the larger “body.”

Jeannette Flynn is also right in observing that “over the last four to five decades, there has been a serious breakdown in our society and culture of genuine, authentic community” (cf “Communion” Jan-Feb 2008)

I suggest that local, state, and national ministries all have their rightful place in the Body of Christ. Our conflicted tension between independent messengers (local autonomy) and cooperative agencies (working together), reflects the dysfunctional society that is too much in the church.

Congregations have obligation to one another and to our cooperative programs. Ministers have obligations to each other, to their congregations, and to the cooperative programs. We are one body, with one mission, and the church is dysfunctional to the extent that individuals and congregations try to function outside of the cooperating body.

Measuring our worth by the size and success of our institutions, or to conclude that we “failed” because we find it necessary to reduce “national programming” may also send the wrong message and measure by the wrong yardstick.

The Church is us and we are more than an institution. We are a koinonia (community). We are an ecclesia (called out body). We are the laos (people) of God.

Read the story of the sons of Eli the priest in I Samuel 2. Hophni and Phineas lived off the best of the people’s Temple sacrifices with Eli’s passive approval. God called Samuel and brought retribution upon Hophni and Phineas, as well as Eli (vs. 22).

Ralph Clough was en route home the day Air Florida, Flight 90, struck the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. in 1982. Having just crossed the bridge, Ralph quickly parked his car. The 67-year-old retired Foreign Service Officer (my brother in law) quickly joined the human chain of people rescuing victims from the frigid waters of the Potomac River.

However you philosophize and theologize about individual autonomy and cooperating together, the Church remains a human chain linked together for one purpose--rescuing victims.

That demands our service. And that service, concluded Martin Luther King, is the rent we pay for the space we occupy__
Wayne

12-Step Thanksgiving Program

An old newsletter offers a great 12-step program of Thanksgiving.

Then Pastor at St Joe, MI, my friend Jim asked “Have you ever tried to imagine what it would be like to live in the belt of poverty, illiteracy, and hunger?” He offered this illuminating but frightening exercise:

1. Take out all the furniture from your home, except a few old blankets, a kitchen table, and one chair.
2. Take away all the clothing, except for the oldest dress or suit for each member of the family, and a shirt or blouse. Leave one pair of shoes for the head of the family.
3. Empty the pantry and refrigerator, except for a small bag of flour, some sugar and salt, a few moldy potatoes for tonight’s supper, a handful of onions, and a dish of dried beans or rice.
4. Dismantle the bathroom, shut off the water, remove the electric wiring.
5. Take away the house itself and move the family into the tool shed.
6. Remove all the other houses in the neighborhood and set up a shantytown.
7. Cancel all subscriptions to newspapers, magazines, and book clubs because you are now illiterate.
8. Leave one small radio for the whole shantytown.
9. Move the nearest clinic or hospital ten miles away and put a midwife in charge.
10. Throw out the bankbooks, stock certificates, pension plans, and insurance policies; leave the family a cash hoard of ten dollars.
11. Give the head of the family three tenant acres to cultivate. On this he can raise $300 in cash crops, of which one-third will go to the landlord and one-tenth to the local money lender.
12. Lop off 25 to 30 years of life expectancy.

Now in the twilight years of our retirement, my wife and I live rather existentially. She has spent most of her lifetime struggling with fragile health, compounded with aging. We now live from month to month, thanks to unseen events that eroded our best planning. The current depression further compounds our insecurity, but these do not rob us of our joy, our peace, or our sense of charity.

When I look at this 12-step program of Thanksgiving, I can only ask what Jim asked when he first wrote: “Now do you still think you are poor?”

One of the better writings in contemporary literature is the Bible. Consider what the Apostle Paul wrote to his struggling Philippian friends (4:4-7, NASV):

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Make the best of your days by sharing something with someone; then give thanks. As Dr. Keith Huttonlocker once reminded us If we are thankful, it is not because we have a reason to be. It is because we have a mind to be. If reason were enough everyone would be thankful.

Times are tough, true enough; but tough times call for fortitude. Now is the time for all of us to express our attitude of gratitude (bold print for emphasis).
Wayne

The Translator

Meet “The Translator“. How does one encounter genocide face to face?

Native of Darfur, western Sudan, young Daoud (David) Hari spent his childhood learning the ways of his Zaghawa tribesmen, where he and his camel did all the things normal to life in the Sudan .

The children herded small goats and cattle in the wadis and small mountains outside the village. At night they played outside games together–too hot during the day. Anashel was a game where you search for a bone that someone has thrown into the air when your eyes are closed.

Daoud had a camel called Kelgi, that he loved like family. He describes his life like growing up anywhere, “except our families had camels instead of SUVs and the children rode donkeys instead of bicycles. Otherwise, it was chores and games and worrying about growing up and being respected, as it is everywhere.”

When helicopter gunships appeared over the villages in 2003, followed by attacking horsemen, raping and murdering citizens, and sacking villages, Daoud‘s family escaped. Sent north, he completed high school and eventually volunteered as a translator, guiding journalists in and out of enemy territory, rather than take up a gun and the violence of war.

Caught and imprisoned while assisting Paul, an American journalist, he thought he would most surely die. “I did not care too much,” he writes, “because I felt mostly dead anyway after the attack on my village and the death of many friends and family. But I felt responsible for Paul and Ali and I did not know what would happen to them.

“I had been in prisons before and I felt that if I died, it would be because I was doing something to help my people, and that was ok. But even in the prisons, I made friends with the guards because I know that everyone has some good in them and sometimes you just have help them get it out. I learned that, even in such places, people are people and there are opportunities for kindness and understanding.”

Imprisonment finally ended through negotiations by American Cabinet Member, Bill Richardson (now Gov. of N.M.)

Daoud, currently in America, writes in simple, straight forward language, eloquently human. He details his childhood, his imprisonments, his work with journalists, as well as experiences guiding, protecting, interviewing, even burying, the most vulnerable.

Parts of the book were grueling to read--the inhumanity, suffering and vulnerability. One father he interviewed had to watch his young daughter lifted up on the blade of a bayonet, crying “Abba! Abba! Then he lifted up his gun, with my daughter on it, with blood from her body pouring down all over him. He danced around with her in the air and shouted to his friends, ‘Look, see how fierce I am,‘ and the chanted back to him . . .

“It took a long time for her to die,“ he continued, “ her blood coming down so fresh and red on this--what was he? A man? A devil? He was painted red with my little girl’s blood and he was dancing. What was he?“

Daoud concludes, “This man had seen evil and didn’t know what to do with the sight of it. He was looking for an answer to what it was, and why his little daughter deserved this. Then, after taking some time to cry without talking, he told me he no longer knew who he was.. . .“

With Daoud’s village gone, 2.5 million people displaced from Darfur, more than 240,000 are in refugee camps in Chad, many areas have been cleared of Darfuris. This young man has seen humanity at its finest and its worst. He risked his life to do in Chad and in Darfur what he could to share his tragedy with the world. “One day,” he says, “I hope to go home to Darfur and to help my people rebuild our communities once there is peace.”

May we all work toward peace in our war-torn, grief-stricken world. I did finish reading the book and found the reading quite worthwhile. Reading the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Appendix 2 is worth the price of the book. I do recommend it.
Wayne

The Exception to the Rule

Hollywood’s Cynthia Nixon takes comfort in having two children by a man she did not marry. Currently, she awaits “marrying” her same-sex friend. Since her procreating children did not motivate marriage, I find her current behavior highly curious. So, what difference does marriage make?

I am a left-wing liberal conservative. I am far enough out into left field that I agreeably defend the civil rights of same-sex individuals. I am so far to the right that I FAIL to miss the fact that same-sex marriage is the exception to the rule, whatever you call it.

The fact is, same-sex cohabitation does not a marriage make, by whatever name you give it. It merely gives a license to lust without any accountability for the destroyed families, damaged children, and diseased lives.

Media people are currently enjoying huge listener response, as they frame questions regarding the civil rights of same-sex and hosting panels they cannot give equal response time to, like Joy Behar of CNN. They take no responsibility for fomenting further anarchy, although the church representatives put her ill at ease as she turned the same-sex defender loose -- as in loose cannon.

Whatever you think of it, it is an interesting conversation and I want to note some observations that remain hard to debate.

1. Same-sex marriage remains the exception to the rule. Our universe operates by law and order, rather than exception.

Whatever one thinks about God; e.g., take the story of Noah and the Ark. The narrative alleges that Noah took every living creature into the Ark 2x2, goats, ducks, pigs, domestic and wild animals, including the humans that went on board. The simple truth was, and is, that procreation requires 1 male sperm and 1 female ovary. Man and woman offer no exception - until the 20th century.

Heterosexual marriage has produced 6,000 years of antiquity, give or take a few years, depending on your system of dating. Same-sex marriage could not have produced the 2nd generation whereas heterosexual marriage produced a society that allowed scientific discovery to short-circuit the natural process and produce the exception to the rule - procreation via synthetic means of science.

Now the exception to the rule demands equal civil rights (marriage) but they have to depend upon science, or a heterosexual marriage, to produce their child for them. Talk about incivility and unfairness, everyone should have a constitutional right to bear his or her own child; why should women have the privilege of bearing all the children?

That voids the issue of religion! Procreation remains a universal issue of biological law, pure and simple. As for religionists and others depriving same-sex individuals of their civil rights, I insist that these biological anarchists are thieves (an issue of morality).

By attempting to restructure the focus, they attempt to PLUNDER ANTIQUITY AND STEAL FROM SOCIETY what has been the bedrock of our civilization, the cornerstone of our society, and the very epitomy of human relationships for most of us--our homes.

2. As an exception to the rule, they substitute a cheap glandular gorge for love. They cheapen human relationships to the level of body functions, living like alley cats, all the while demanding the right to re-write the laws.

3. As an exception to the rule, they seek privileges they are unwilling to earn: they want children they neither procreate nor protect.

*Same-sex marriage offers no protection to the child who is dependent on both a father and a mother to “parent” it with all the mental-emotional-psychological issues involved in “maleness” and “femaleness.”

*IF anyone has a civil right due to them, it is the child who has an “inherent human right” to have both a father and a mother, with all that entails. Sociologists like David Popenoe know that dad and mother are the source of much of their child’s learning about being a male and female, and the evidence has mounted in recent years.

We already have a world crisis with our children: preemies, victims of sexual abuse, divorce, poverty, war, genocide. All of these play a serious role and I see no reason to further exaccerbate the problem by creating further relational identities for the children than they already have.

That is abuse of the worst degree, immoral and unconscionable, socially unacceptable! It simply makes same-sex adoption socially unacceptable. We are still reaping the benefits of the dissolution of two-parent families as written about by Barbara Dafoe Whitehead in Atlantic Monthly (4-93). It benefited the selfish needs of many adults but helped few children, which is precisely the case the dear Bishop tried to make with Joy Behar on CNN 11-14-08.

The Powers of the Universe, whomever or whatever that may be, could have prevented all of this by creating--whatever your method of creation or evolving)--a same-sex union. However, until that happens, I am happy to leave things the way they are and leave same-sex liasons as exceptions to the Ruler of the Ages.
Wayne

Easy Living

Some people are easy to live with. Others are just as easy to live without. Dr. Leslie Parrot suggested the real test of maturity is “the ability to make ourselves easy to live with.”

Parrot further observed that many people will never reach this goal: “They will be hard to live with until the day they die.” In other words, heaven will require radical surgery if they are going to be people to enjoy forever.

A minister visited a lawyer friend. The lawyer told the preacher of a conversation he had with his grandchild not long before. As Grandpa prepared to leave, the little one looked up at Grandpa and said he wished Grandpa wouldn’t leave. When asked why, the child answered, “Because when you’re here, Daddy and Mommy are more patient with me.“

This is a common affliction, even among us church folk. Consider the observation Dr. Paul Rees offered in a sermon. My dear friends, declared the preacher, “we have had at times a kind of eloquence in a camp meeting or a holiness convention that seemed seraphic--Oh, how heavenly it was!----but there was nothing that corresponded to it in the patience that was demonstrated by the preacher, let us say with his own wife and children in the home.”

Someone else adds that “swifter than the speed of an arrow from an Indian’s bow comes the all-too-justified accusation that some holiness people simply are not holy.” Most of us have seen local churches that just as well close their doors because everybody knows that group of people can’t get along together, so why go there? The rest of us find life hard enough without joining ourselves to a group of people who are hard to live with.

However, I have been around enough churches to know that not all churches are that difficult and not all Christians are at odds with each other. It is true, I have run into my share of people that are hard to live with; they are in Sunday school classes, on Trustee boards, on the job, and even in the community.

You do not have to be a compromiser to be easy to live with, claims Glenn Black. Superintendent of the Kentucky Wesleyan Church, Black suggests you are not a weak-kneed or spineless Christian if you are easy to live with at church (I would add at home and elsewhere).

Rather, it is a mark of emotional, mental, and spiritual maturity to be easy to live with (God’s Revivalist and Bible Advocate, 3-08 “Easy to Live With,” p.8.). It is a mark of wholeness, that level of living without which no man shall see God. Did not St. Paul remind us, “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:18).

As often as not, the crisis of getting along peaceably with others lies with us--not others. Therefore, let us not be so myopic and stubborn that we refuse to explore all possible means of living peaceably with others.

For my part, I do not want God to need to do radical surgery on me to make me easy to live with, either here or on life’s other side--forever.
Wayne

MACU Update

Steve, our neighborhood Mailman, delivered an interesting package yesterday. It brought personal greeting from President Fozard of Mid-America Christian University. It provided an update from MACU’s Trustee’s, and it included two recent publications: MINUTE MOTIVATORS FOR STUDENTS (Toler) and MAKING SENSE OUT OF SPIRITUALITY (Sanders).

I learned that MACU hired Worden Associates for marketing purposes. Dennis Worden, John Maxwell’s former Director of Marketing, helped expand Injoy Ministries and the “Million Prayer Partners of Pastors” initiative.

Worden will now lead the charge in increasing MACU enrollment and advancing both the Toler Leadership Center and the Thomas School of International Studies. While general enrollments are down in Oklahoma, MACU experiences a 5% increase in headcount--909 total students.

Of personal interest was confirmation on a rumor floating about. Helen, the widow of Dr. James H. Curtis--friends over the past 50 years-- will be honored with a Doctor of Divinity honorary degree.

I’ve never placed a lot of value on honorary degrees, for academic reasons. However, I applaud this action. Helen represents a host of women that have served the church so faithfully; Helen and Jim ministered to the church, and on behalf of MACU for many decades. We need ways of saying “Well done thou good and faithful servant!” to some of our extraordinary leaders.

I rejoice with the progress of the Thomas School of International Studies, named after Donna and Chuck Thomas and directed by Henry Cepeda. I remember when Cepeda became a student and how he went on to distinguish himself in Hispanic Evangelism.

I see great promise in the Toler Leadership Center, directed by our respected friend Stan Toler. We have family involved in Stan’s local church and my wife loves to visit at Trinity. Toler’s goal of training 100,000 church and community leaders by 2014 is noteworthy; to date they have trained 55,000.

Especially exciting to me is the vision for MACU Press and the hope of republishing some of the great out of print Holiness Classics. I would certainly hope one of those will be Asbury Lowrey’s POSSIBILITIES OF GRACE, of which I have an original from 1884.

Although an alumnus of Warner Pacific, I have been privileged in several ways to enjoy a close relationship with MACU from its beginnings. It has overcome earlier stigmas and become a dominant player in training leaders for the Church of God, and I would wish for it a greatly expanded ministry - especially in the context of the Wesleyan Holiness traditions.

Toler’s book, MINUTE MOTIVATORS, is Stan at his best. Published as a promotional piece for student recruitment, it offers quips, quotes, and stories that will not fail to motivate every reader toward a more excellent life.

MAKING SENSE OUT OF SPIRITUALITY, by Dr. Cliff Sanders, cuts through our mistaken, muddled thinking and reveals a worthwhile relationship with God. I acknowledge “Dr.” Cliff remembering him more as a young whippersnapper, one of those “preacher’s kids”, you know the kind I mean J .

I crossed paths with the Sanders family years ago in West Texas. Cliff‘s Grandmother would have been deliriously proud of him. She knew little of theology and doctrine, but she was a woman of prayer. We shared some hard days together and I loved to hear her pray. When she prayed, we felt God’s presence.

Dr. Sanders may well have spiritual roots far beyond the academic regurgitation we often endure--even beyond his understanding. Madge’s sons, Paul and Marvin, are longtime friends and Cliff is Marvin’s son. We owe gratitude to Spirit-filled people like Madge Sanders.

I rejoice in the successes of President Fozard at MACU. While we rejoice in their progress, let us give thanks for the sturdy contributions added by each of our several educational institutions. They contribute heavily to the well being of our local churches.
Wayne

Yes We Can!

There are those special times when the soul of a slumbering nation awakens and arouses itself to some decisive act. Millions of us watched last night as the American public rallied to act in a way that will hopefully change the course of this great nation. Martin Luther King, in giving his Acceptance Speech for the Nobel Peace Prize he accepted December 11, 1964, described it this way: “Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart.”

I have long been an advocate for racial reconciliation, a multi-racial church, a nation no longer divided by skin coloration. I felt that I understood the fundamentals of black society, but I never saw the heart of black America as I saw it last night as Barack Obama accepted his election as President-elect.

I applauded when the Governor of Illinois handed down a moratorium on death-penalty sentences until justice could be reconciled in cases sending innocent men to the death chamber. I was never offended by Dr. Jeremiah Wright because I heard him in the context of the Southern Confederacy I met as a young Pastor. I was never put off by Oprah’s attempts to reach out in conciliatory ways that offended some Christians that thought she was anything but Christian in her attempts to mediate and bring inclusiveness.

I was not offended by the so-called liberalism of Jesse Jackson that prompted him to advocate as he did for the rights of the working class. I was not afraid of Obama because his Muslim father gave him the name of Barack Hussein. But, although I have mingled with black people all my life, I never saw the soul of black America as I did last night, with the announcement that the Obama Family will be our new First Family.

It went far beyond the glib demonstrating I expected. Far from destructive demonstrating as sometimes happens, I saw a new civility, a sober, somber side of a new responsibility; I saw aspirations never before thought possible pushing to the surface of the soul. It expressed itself in smiling faces, copious weeping, unashamed tears, people simply too overcome with emotion to utter words.

I call on President-elect Barack Obama, his administration, and all who influence the halls of government, to return to an inclusive, rather than exclusive, non-partisan governing by, for, and of the people. On the global front, I join those who support engagement in a new foreign policy based on the following five core principles, as outlined by American Friends Service Commission.

They remind us
1. Our nation should invest in peace. Our country should invest in diplomacy, development, and conflict prevention — cost-effective ways to improve national and global security.
2. Strengthen the civilian agencies that work on peace and development issues. The military is not an effective relief agency. The government needs a strong civilian foreign assistance and crisis response team.
3. Give diplomacy a chance. With a highly skilled diplomatic corps, the United States can prevent conflict and restore its international reputation.
4. Be a part of global peacebuilding efforts. We must work with renewed commitment in international institutions and partners to address major global conflicts and challenges, such as nonproliferation, climate change, migration, public health, and poverty.
5. Create justice through good development and trade policies.

We can make a difference and by the grace of God and we can do it gracefully. I pray that we do; yes we can…
wayne

Race

I am not a biologist, or much of a scientist of anykind. However, I find today today's election interesting with so much being put upon the historicness of this election. I recognize that Sarah Palin would be the first female VP, if elected. But, to make so much of Barack Obama being the first African American to become president is, to say the least interesting.

Obama was birthed by a young white girl, in a white family, whose father happened to be Kenyan. It seems to me our thinkiing is somewhat skewed. Barack Obama, having a mostly white ancestry, with the characteristics of his African American father, is as much a white man as he is a black man.

Does a little "black" blood make a white person black? Are we overplaying the race card in our mixture of races? What do you think?

Wayne

Checks and Balances

A man I love and appreciate recently emailed me admitting he had already voted with his absentee ballot. This man is a strong evangelical Christian. He was strong enough in his personal faith that he once considered entering church ministry. Later, he determined that God called him to the teaching profession, which he served as a divine calling. Now retired, after serving competently and admirably as an educator, he continues to serve through Christian counseling.

I know him well enough to know he is anything but an atheist, a socialist, or less than a thoughtful thinker. He came up the hard way. He got his education without many of the benefits many enjoy today. His life models personal commitment, impeccable integrity, and a devout faith in God. Still, he dares break with those narrow thinkers of the Christian Right, who devote legalistic attention to a narrow niche of hot button ethical issues with which they politically divide people, but overlook many other social practices condemned in the bible.

Maybe, he told me, “our country will do the right thing and elect Obama for President, and "redistribute" the wealth! Of course, I understood what he was saying. He was repeating (tongue in cheek) something that Barack Obama said, something that Sarah Palin and John McCain have consistently warped and twisted into anything but what Obama really meant.

He obviously did not mean Russian Communism/socialism. That‘s where equality means throwing the lion and the lamb both into the same cage to coexist. He knew that in such circumstances the lion comes out the [only] survivor 100% of the time. Thoughtful people, that are not out to intentionally slash and burn, understand that without referees, regulations, and game rules like the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the Wall Street Bear comes out of his cage of citizenship the winner every time.

The bible does talk about redistributing the wealth. In using the term you can mock and demean it, or you can understand my friend when he says “That is what is needed now.”

Commenting further, he talked about how others respond to him when he says “My Bible says we should be concerned about the poor and the down trodden.” He finds it puzzling and “amazing how when I say that, many of my Christian friends only hear, "take from me as a hard worker, and give to some lazy person".

I find such answers inexcusably lazy thinking and unconscionable behavior, at least for Christ followers. From the prophets of old, to the coming of Jesus, clear declarations of social accountability have guided people of faith. Amos long ago wrote, Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, saying, When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?” -- skimping the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat.

Concludes the Prophet, The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done . . . they will fall, never to rise again” (Amos 8:4-7, 14). What has that to do with America and the Presidential Election this Tuesday?

If you think it does not correlate, then consider this recently revealed bit of statistic that reports this current year “2008 is the second 'gilded age' in 100 years.” That term “gilded age is defined simply as a time “where the top 5% own more money than all the other 95% put together.” That was what we had “in our country back in 1928” a year after my birth.

Those were the years of the Great Depression and Hoover Beef, when the Barons of Wall Street owned America, they thought, and arrogant financers controlled the market place, buying and selling unprotected laborers for the least possible amount, when men like my father--lifelong Republican that he was--humbly accepted employment under the New Deal of FDR.

Those were extreme times. I hope we never face them again. Still, in view of the social devastation in which we find ourselves, I am not surprised when I learn that I now live in the second gilded age. When 5% own more money than all the other 95%, it is time to reestablish the checks and balances, or else go back to pre-colonial days and once more submit to the monarchial whims of wealthy King George.

I’m not interested in accumulating any great fortune on Wall Street. I am investing heavily in the Kingdom of God. And, I find it a great misfortune for the wealthiest nation in the world to have so many vulnerable people in America being ignored while the rich get richer and the poor struggle even to exist.

I need some hope. Some checks and balances would help. I believe Jesus would be pleased with that, whatever one’s political party may be.
Wayne

A Risky Candidate

The coming presidential election has revealed omniscient pundits heating the airwaves with hot political rhetoric. We’ve watched political rallies with some pretty good political palaver--stump speeches. We’ve watched a mediating media meditate on the merits of this or that candidate, and you know what: John McCain is a scarred POW, but I warm to the laughter in Barack Obama’s eyes when he is composed, relaxed, and smiles his wide smile.

He’s intelligent and well educated, a really savvy guy, as fund raisers have discovered. Like the Apostle Paul, Obama can discuss issues with the smartest and talk the language of the most common of us. He makes a great speech! And yes, I kinda like the guy, especially since he cares about so many issues that I care about. But, you know what? Obama is one big throw of the dice - pretty risky.

Now, don’t take me wrong! I was raised in an integrated society. I have all kinds of ethnic friends: black, Hispanic, oriental. Wife and I have a very dear friend, a black widow. We consider Dot J an intimate part of our family, in spite of her black skin. However, we’re talking about the sacred honor of being President of the United States. I know, sooner or later we have to break the color barrier. But, these are sensitive times! Do we risk a name like Barack Hussein Obama in the Oval Office?

Some of my friends say he is a Muslin. He had a Muslim father that he didn’t meet until he was ten years old. That’s not much to brag about, child in a single-parent home, raised by his grandparents (what kind of family values is that?) Some call him a Socialist. Soooo many charges! Dare we risk that in the White House?

He went to Harvard, too, but you know how Affirmative Action works--denying opportunities to the deserving in order to allow lesser qualified people unwarranted opportunities. That might work some places, but is it right for the White House? Then, instead of going out and getting an honest job and chasing the American Dream, he took a job with a church organization as a Community Organizer (a political activist, in a place like South Chicago). That seems to have thrown him into some pretty notorious company--wacky preachers, criminals elements, terrorists …

If nothing else, people say he is guilty by association, although the law says we are innocent until proven guilty. Really, Barack Obama is a pretty dangerous character. After all, he came from nowhere--born in outside the 48 states, a poor kid that had to get up at 4:00 a.m. to prepare school lessons; he only went to college by scholarships and working his way.

Its true, he did spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, 8 years as a State Senator representing a district of over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees. What kind of leadership experience is that?

He is the only candidate who stayed faithful to his only wife. They have a 20-year marriage, 2 beautiful little girls, and they model enviable family values. But, here is where I find Barack Obama such a dangerous threat to our American status quo. You know why? If I am any judge of character at all, this man believes deeply in the things that made this country great, and he dares to believe that every person deserves an equal opportunity at obtaining a share of the American Dream, that under God every individual has a right to life, liberty, and equal justice for all.

That threatens some people, but I will be proud with that kind of President! He will face challenging forces, and some failures, but I am convinced he will disturb the status quo of partisan politics, corruption, and racism, for here is a man, I believe, who has the common good of our country and its values deep in his soul of souls --a man with a faith in God that calls for walking the walk as well as talking the talk.

At least, he got my Absentee Ballot!

Worship Wars

Recently I came across a used copy of Robert Weber’s WORSHIP IS A VERB. I find more books of interest than I can read, but I am interested to determine how Dr. Weber handles this subject.

I find that I strongly react against the current contemporary worship music for a variety of reasons. On the other hand, I know that such matters change in style, format, and personal taste. I am also aware that music is a vehicle for touching people’s hearts and communicating thoughts and expressions that help them relate to a personal encounter with God. Therefore, although I have some personal hearing issues with sound levels of some contemporary music, I try to keep my personal responses to a minimum.

Pastor Gary Brown recently preached a sermon to his new congregation from Ephesians 5:18-21. He titled it “No More Worship Wars.” Coming on board as the new Senior Pastor, Gary recognized worship music as a much-discussed subject among his people.

Since I have a copy of Gary’s manuscript, I may return to this later. For now, here are four points as I recorded them in the margins of my worship folder.

1. We’ve not been at war over essentials. If we’re going to war, we need issues worth dieing for.
2. A worship war is fighting a battle that has never stayed the same. Here he referred to the armies of the Hymn-ites and the Praise-ites.
3. A worship crisis is a faith crisis and he gave an extensive history of worship across the centuries.
4. He gave this affirmation: “I’m going to do my best not to dictate worship style, but also to keep you from dictating.

He concluded by inviting those who wished to do so, to come forward for prayer. For those remaining, he gathered them together by leading them in moments of meditation and prayer.

This has been a subject of wide interest in church circles. Perhaps you have a reader response. Wayne

The Biblical Jesus

I cannot take credit for this piece of writing. However, I wish I could, for it expresses a conviction in which I deeply believe. It is a theme in which many of us believe. It came through a sermon by Pastor Rick Webb, July Evangelist at Southwest Michigan camp Meeting (a camp that shows increase at a time when some camps are slumping).
WHO IS THIS MAN?

In Genesis He’s the Seed of the Woman
In Exodus He’s the Passover Lamb,
In Leviticus He’s our High Priest,
In Numbers He’s the Pillar of Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by Night,
In Deuteronomy He’s a Prophet like unto Moses,
In Joshua He’s the Captain of our Salvation,
In Judges He’s our Judge and Lawgiver,
In Ruth our Kinsman Redeemer,
In 1st and 2nd Samuel He’s our Trusted Prophet,
In Kings and Chronicles He’s our Reigning King.

WHO IS THIS MAN … ?

In Ezra He’s our Faithful Scribe,
In Nehemiah He’s the Re-builder of the Broken Down Wall of our Shattered Lives,
In Esther He’s our Mordecai,
In Job our Ever Living Redeemer,
In Psalms He’s the Lord of Shepherds,
In Proverbs and Ecclesiastes He’s Our Wisdom,
In the Song of Solomon He’s our Lover,
In Isaiah He’s the Suffering Servant,
In Jeremiah and Lamentations He’s our Weeping Prophet,
In Ezekiel He’s the Wonderful Four-Faced Man,
In Daniel He’s the Fourth Man in the Burning Fiery Furnace,

WHO IS THIS MAN … ?

In Hosea He’s the Faithful Husband forever married to the backslider,
In Joel He’s the Baptizer in Holy Ghost and Fire,
In Amos He’s our Burden Bearer,
In Obadiah our Savior,
In Jonah He’s the Great Foreign Missionary,
In Micah He’s the Messenger with Beautiful Feet,
In Nahum He’s the Avenger of God’s Elect,
In Habakkuk He’s the Prophet Crying for a Revival,
In Zephaniah He’s the Mighty to Save,
In Haggai He’s the Restorer of the Lost Heritage,
In Zechariah He’s the Fountain Open Wide for the Sinful and Unclean,
In Malach, He’s the Son of Righteousness Arising with Healing in His Wings.

WHO IS THIS MAN … ?

In Matthew He’s the Messiah,
In Mark the Wonder Worker,
In Luke He’s the Son of Man,
In John He’s the Son of God,
In Acts He’s the Holy Spirit,
In Romans He’s our Justifier,
In 1st and 2nd Corinthians He’s our Sanctifier,
In Galatians He’s the Redeemer from Curse of the Law,
In Ephesians He’s the Christ of Unsearchable Riches,
In Philippians He Supplies All of my Needs… Simultaneously,
In Colossians He’s the Fullness of the Godhead Bodily,
In 1st and 2nd Thessalonians He’s our Soon Coming King,
In 1st and 2nd Timothy He’s the Mediator between God and Men,
In Titus He’s the Faithful Pastor,
In Hebrews He’s the Blood of an Everlasting Covenant,
In James He’s the Lord Who Raises up the Sick,
In 1st and 2nd Peter He’s the Chief Shepherd Who Soon Shall Appear,
In 1st, 2nd and 3rd John He’s Love,]
In Jude He’s the Lord Coming with 10,000 other Saints,
And in Revelation … Lift Up Your Eyes Church For Your Redemption Draweth Neigh…
He’s the KING OF KINGS AND THE LORD OF LORDS!
___
So Come, Lord Jesus,
Wayne

United, or Divided, by Faith?

Is “white Christianity” the norm and other racially specific congregations only “special ministries?“ Curtis Paul DeYoung, Michael O. Emerson, George Yancey, and Karen Chai Kim respond to this question in their volume entitled United By Faith: The Multiracial Congregation As An Answer To The Problem of Race (NY/Oxford University Press/2003).

Part One
considers biblical antecedents for multiracial congregations. Ch. 1 shows how scripture reports the church as a house of prayer for all nations. Ch. 2 describes Pentecost as the birthing of the early church in its multi-ethnic, multi-lingual splendor. That church spread throughout the Acts of the Apostles like wildfire, in spite of adjustments needed to maintain it (cf Ch. 2).

Part Two
traces the history of multiracial congregations in the United State (1600 to 1940) and shows the emergence of the color line. The multiracial congregation re-emerged between 1940-2000, primarily a result of the Civil Rights Movement.

In Ch. 4, Ghandi suggested to a group led by Howard Thurman that “it would be through the African American struggle for freedom in the United States that ‘the unadulterated message of nonviolence’ would reach the world.”

This was fulfilled in the context of the civil rights movement. From there, the authors examine four multiracial congregations: Riverside Church of NYC, the Mosaic Church of LA, St. Pius X Church of Beaumont, TX and Park Avenue United Methodist Church of Minneapolis.

Part Three
offers rationales for, and responses to, racial segregation of the worship hour. Chapter Six details events that result in the rejection of the white man’s church by ethnic minorities, and the failed attempts of a Euro-white Anglo society to assimilate ethnic Christians into “white definitions of Christianity.”

Chapter Seven argues separate but equal, whereas Chapter 8 calls for multiracial congregations, as illustrated by Richard Twiss. This native American, asked how to relate to his native culture as a Christian. The revealing answer came back with a reading of Gal. 3:28, acknowledging neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. Everyone is one in Christ. The reader then concluded, “So Richard, don’t worry about being Indian; just be like us.”

Part 4
suggests developing multiracial congregations in the 21st century as an answer to the race problem.

“If we claim to follow Jesus Christ and to have inherited the Gospel of the first-century church,” the authors contend that “present-day congregations should exhibit the same vision for and characteristics of those first Christian communities of faith.” Therefore, “we even go so far as to say that a Christian, by biblical definition, is a follower of Jesus Christ whose way of life is racial reconciliation” (129).

“A church that does not aim to become multiracial almost never does” … “Leaders will fail if they are not thoroughly convinced that being multiracial is God’s design” (170).

In our research, we found that “all racial groups experience the benefits of multiracial congregations, but the costs are disproportionately born by the congregational minority groups” (172).

Multiracial congregations require intentionality and adaptability as well as multicultural worship (pp 175-79)

Successful multiracial congregations generally begin by “redesigning their mission statements, worship styles, and social practices in ways that reflect the New Testament call to be multiracial” (185).

We need people, say these authors, who not only speak truth to racism but who can envision a future church where racism is no longer a defining characteristic of our faith. Unequivocally, they insist that we must move forward with the task of reclaiming the vision of Jesus Christ and the New Testament model of inclusive congregations. “We are calling for a movement in the church toward multiracial congregations!” They conclude.
_____
Further quotes:
P4 When religious people make choices based on their individual rights, they largely end up in homogeneous congregations
P5 …the United States is more racially diverse than it has ever been but not as racially diverse as it will be in the coming years.

P19 The author of Mark understood that the last four words of that quote from Isaiah--for all the nations--SUMMED UP WHAT CAUSED THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS TO FEAR Jesus and look for a way to kill him (ll1:18).

P20 Jesus offered a counter kingdom proposal: he foresaw a time when every people of every nation would call God’s Temple their house of prayer. (Brian Blount)

P22 The church was multicultural and multilingual from the first moment of its existence.

P26 The Greek word Gentiles literally means nations. (David Rhoads)

P32 Ben Witherington believes, ‘It is here in Ephesus that he has the longest stable period of ministry without trial or expulsion, here that he most fully carries out his commission to be a witness to all persons, both Jew and Gentile.

P37 Their broad inclusiveness decreased only when the church became more aligned and identified with the Roman Empire and the culture of the elite.

I’m passing my copy on to a friend in KY who has launched a multicultural congregation. I highly recommend friend Curt’s works, and others are COMING TOGETHER, 1995; RECONCILIATION OUR GREATEST CHALLENGE--Our Only Hope, 1997; BEYOND REHETORIC, Reconciliation as a Way of Life, 2000 (which I keep for reference).
Wayne

Onward Christian Soldiers

In the 1970s I attended a Preaching Conference in Dayton, OH, hosted by Dr. David Grubbs. Dave has since retired from pastoral ministry, but his son Marty leads a church family of more than 4,000 souls at Crossings Community in OKC.

Attending that preaching conference with me was self-described “Black Kojack” - Horace Shepherd. I have long treasured that experience, especially when Horace shared his story and preached his practice sermon for our small group.

Racially and educationally, we were a diverse lot. Horace was surprisingly intimidated, I thought. Most of us had white skins and several had higher educational degrees. Yet, some of us were far less gifted.

Horace, in his prime, was a powerful preacher-evangelist and had wanted to be an entertainer when young. His ability to entertain became a scalpel in the hands of a gifted gospel surgeon and I loved to sit under my older black brother’s ministry!

Horace’s boys are now preachers. Son Paul, spoke again at our summer North American Convention. Paul left his dad in Philly to take a small CA church under 50, a ministry now serving more than 6,000 people. It impacts communities like Mountain View, East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Redwood City, and Palo Alto as well as Stanford University. Their members drive in from 153 different cities and towns throughout the Bay Area.

More than 100,000 persons tune in weekdays to “Enduring Truth,” Paul’s daily radio voice. The church supports full-time missionaries in Germany, Holland, France, Russia, China, Thailand, Sudan, Africa, and South Africa. Scores of members took short-term missions trips to Germany and Guatemala as recently as 2006.

Eric Denton is another preacher’s kid on a mission. I met Eric online, remembering him only as one of the Denton‘s (the Denton brothers remain a respected Church of God name). Eric’s dad, Wilfred, is now 93.

My earlier recollection of Eric was a bright young upstart. He was very different in style from what I thought proper at that time. Today his church faithfully ministers in Africa, Mexico, and elsewhere. His online newsletters from Siempre keeps me posted on events at their Tijuana orphanage. Their Jackets for Jesus ministry takes them weekly to the streets of downtown LA, where they minister with meaning to the down and out and the up and out.

In Lexington recently, I met a new friend, DeJesus Butto--all the way from Venzeuela. DeJesus works out of an Anglo church facility in Louisville serving Hispanics through Cantares Ministries Int’l. They present the gospel to the young through music and drama, via a mobile unit, and other social outreaches.

I have a stand-up cast metal memorial plate that celebrates 100 years at Warner Memorial Camp--1892-1992. As a retiree and care-giver I now find it difficult to maintain pace. At times, I feel my old body wearing down. Yet, in my heart burns a bright fire, even when needing retooling.

Etched on my Centennial Plate are drawings of D. S. Warner and Warner’s Home. Warner, Warner Camp, and the global movement of the Church of God significantly influenced my life. They shaped my belief system, occupied much of my life, and dominated my beliefs and behaviors.

Beginning with Warner, their passionate and powerful message resonated in a manner reminiscent of first century witnesses. Although I hear negative talk here-n-there about the church losing its way, look around and see vigilant followers of Jesus serving in His name--in the trenches. The Church of God continues to build community among separated races, extend open hands of friendship to vulnerable and dispossessed individuals, and heal the wounded.

Hurricanes of political upheaval, socio-economic crisis, and human failures increase our burden. Meanwhile, faithful witnesses heroically spread faith, hope, love and friendship - in Jesus’ name. Passionate pioneers birthed our beginnings, but there are 21st century saints leading passionate charges that are neither lost, detoured, nor dead.

Like a mighty army moves the church of God;
Come, now, we are treading where the saints have trod.
We are not divided, all one body we:
One in hope and doctrine, one in charity
_____
Onward Christians soldiers, Wayne

Ballgames Without Umpires

ELAINE NOGAY WALKER is the Mayor of Bowling Green, KY. She chairs the U.S. Conference of Mayors' Women Mayors' Caucus. She offered these comments in response to a question regarding the two contenders coming to her town. They illustrate some of what is happening on every local level under the current political administration. I quote:

“How will the next president address the growing list of local government needs that have been consistently ignored or underfunded the past eight years? Since 1993, when the federal Community Oriented Policing (COPS) program was instituted, Bowling Green has grown by more than 25 percent, to nearly 53,000 residents, yet funding has been slashed for this and other programs that put police on the streets. Every year, the administration has attempted to eliminate the only local discretionary funding program we have, Community Development Block Grants. We're left scrambling for dollars to provide low-income housing, social services and other programs to serve our poor. Congress passed but has yet to fund the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program. That money would help Bowling Green, in cooperation with Western Kentucky University, appoint an energy and environmental conservation coordinator and provide incentives for local businesses and residents to reduce energy consumption and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. How would you help us expand our police programs and social services, repair crumbling infrastructure and take steps to increase energy conservation?”

The collapse of Freddie and Fanny and other financial agencies has reduced us to a dither! I don’t know how many Congressional Republicans I have heard screaming “Naughty! Naughty!” It surprises me as they demand that these bad-boy financial barons on Wall Street handled their investments and our monies very badly. They insist “They need to be caught and punished!!”

McCain accuses Obama and his Democratic allies of elevating taxes. This results because Obama insists on transferring some of the tax burden to the 5% of the wealthiest while relieving 95% of the country. Yet, months ago I heard Bill Clinton admit paying proportionately lower taxes than most of us ordinary folk.

Now this week I see that Warren Buffet told Charlie Rose in a 10-5-08, NYT interview that “to help pay for the rescue, the government should raise taxes on the wealthy“. This wealthiest man in the world then concluded, “I’m paying the lowest tax rate that I’ve ever paid in my life,” adding, “Now, that’s crazy.” I agree; it is unfair, and its wrong.

The growing financial crunch precipitated a world crisis in the financial market. Books proliferate, like Kevin Phillips BAD MONEY. They show the unleashed greed of unregulated Capitalism and the reckless investment practices resulting from our regulated market (mostly the result of 30 years of Reagan‘s “trickle down“ theory).

On the other hand, I watch George Bush and John McCain lead the charge for privatizing government regulatory issues like Social Security, while maintaining a free “deregulated” market.

McCain, a veteran of over 26 years in the Congress has fought hard to defend the free market (Reaganomic deregulation). I recall that McCain was one of the Keating-5 and that he fought for continued deregulation that contributed to the huge S&L bailout that sent Keating to prison and cost us the biggest bundle ever, up to that time.

People amaze me denouncing socialism (government intervention)! I understand their dislike of atheistic Communism, but what I do not understand is their failure to recognize that life is about being social (relationships require discipline and accountability).

We relate with appropriate social behavior, or we react antisocially. When I learn that Lehman Brothers seeks government assistance, while simultaneously preparing top executives to opt out with huge benefits, I call this antisocial behavior. When one of those upper execs includes a Walker--cousin to the current president that opposes government intervention--I find both the behavior and the underlying philosophy antisocial, as well as unacceptable!

Now: do I want the government regulating my life? NO! Absolutely not, but I also expect the government to protect me from financial predators like Charles Keating and the political philosophy of John McCain, Cousin Walker, and President Bush. The unregulated market they insist on only produces bad money and unleashes unvarnished greed that results in further reckless and unsecured investments. When payday comes, as it always does, someone has to become accountable (the financial industry thought they could avoid this).

Let’s apply this politic to athletic entertainment. I love to watch UK’s Wildcats win basketball games. I have followed Oklahoma’s football team since the days of the legendary Bud Wilkinson. As a faithful fan, I note the special teams, the numerous referees, head linesmen, etc, I see coach upon coach, scouts recruiters, trainers, ad infinitum!

Now, apply Ronald Reagan’s famous dictim - less government to the game I’m watching. The game requires only 2 teams, no special teams, only 1 coach for each team, and 1 referee for each game--plus a place to play. Reagan, Bush, and McCain all carp for less government, while leaving larger government. Moreover, I discovered on moving to CA in the 70’s that Gov. Reagan left the highest deficit up to that time in CA history. I could also tell some horror stories about what his deregulation did among State institutions.

Then I note what George Bush has done to Bill Clinton’s surplus and grieve for my grandchildren. That makes me wonder about McSame’s politics … ?

When I apply Capitalism and government to the business of athletics, the comparisons go on and on, but the very issue of “less government” that they propose is what makes the game enjoyable for me, the fan. Multiple referees keeps it fair and honest between the players. Coaching Staffs allow coaches & recruiters et al to provide the entertainment and make it a successful venture for the people funding the athletic business.

Truthfully, we need a new model of democratic politics that is neither Republican nor Democrat. We need the personal integrity and social accountability that Jesus modeled. When intentional integrity is personally applied to political relationships, it provides all the ingredients we need for our democratic process to thrive in this world of fear, mistrust, and selfism that has produced war, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and accelerated arms build-up.

The regulated and the regulators (government and its people) must responsibly relate and intervene (cooperate), to provide all the infrastructure our complex society has developed in this 21st century. The world fears our unleashed capitalistic greed, but the world will follow our leadership as we push for the common good of people everywhere.

Free-market capitalism leads to unvarnished greed (it is human nature). Reagan Republicans can no longer have their cake and eat it too. Responsible government intervention provides things like infrastructure, regulations for industry et al (rules that keep the game fair between all the players, big and small), and a people and government that acknowledge the common good of all (rather than the few).

Wayne

Gratitude With Purpose

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

September 4 … I ranted on John McCain. The following day, I left for a month in Kentucky. In Winchester, my wife stayed busy keeping company with our daughter, off on disability leave. I pushed on down the Mountain Parkway to Prestonsburg, where long hours filled my days at Reformation Publishers.

Sept 7--Pburg--the new shelving for a reorganized Archive was not yet completed. The print shop had been greatly remodeled and reorganized. Progress evidenced everywhere, and Summer book consignments were back from camp meetings et al--piled and stacked everywhere … amid ongoing remodeling and reorganization.

Seeing the progress, we vigorously pursued reorganizing the Inventory Room, achieving a level of satisfaction. We took orders, prepared shipping and invoicing. We did whatever the day called for. When the time came, we taught Sunday School and such, all the while maintaining details of printing and production for Reformation Publishers and Williams Printing. (As in days of old, WP helps underwrite RP and sustain local church needs, revealing a multi-pronged level of assault on the work to be done).

Many days went 14+ hours. One night, a volunteer crew worked until 3:00 a.m. meeting a printing deadline. Fun, food, and fellowship were always in evidence. The torrid pace takes its toll on Steve and Martha (she has more than her share of overload, between her teaching job, her church duties, and assisting Steve in the Warehouse, not to mention being the lovely Queen of the Parsonage) but each remains committed, gracious, and appreciative.

One morning, lay leader Jack Crider (a relatively new convert) came in with one of Barb’s home grown, home made, apple pies. Jack hand-delivered it to Yours Truly while it was still steaming hot and fresh from the Crider oven (the UK jacket I wear came as a gift from Jack, a rabid UK fan).

Jack and Barb, like other of the locals, are special people. Freddy, Jimmie, Janice (from Winchester) and I all enjoyed this special gift (I’m not sure if Bobby got any, but my wife got a few bites).

The work is time and labor intensive, both manually and technically. There are never enough laborers, nor enough time, to do all that needs doing (I never knew just how much work is involved in making an ordinary book). Reformation Publishers has been a gift from God to Church of God publishing.

I would love to see Warner Press (Anderson) accomplish what Pathway Press has achieved. Pathway Press made space in their Cleveland, TN traditional printing plant and opened Derek Press as an “On Demand” digital printer-publisher. It expanded and enhanced all levels of printing and publishing for their whole denomination.

The more closely Warner Press/Chog Ministries and Reformation Publishers work together, the more our churches benefit, even from the distance of Anderson, IN and Prestonsburg, KY. In actuality, Reformation Publishers has the capability to meet most every need WP/Chog Ministries currently has (Joe Allison, Chog Ministries, is working hard to keep our church publishing up to quality and quantity).

My time at RP included 3 days that my wife and I spent in Lexington manning the book tables at the KY General Assembly and the Saturday CE leadership conference. It was satisfying to renew old acquaintances and make new friends. I found a new friend in an online acquaintance from Chogtalk (Dave Hardin). I had an interesting conversation with DeJesus Butto from Louisville para Jesuscristo. I even met a young pastor for the first time who reads and appreciates my blogs (that was pretty nice!).

I found new appreciation for Dr. Ron Duncan, for the patience and skill with which he led KY Ministries in a discussion of Congregationalism and Autonomy in the Church of God. Ron truly has a servant’s heart and we can rally together with great expectation. Renewing friendship with Jeff Jenness (Pensions Board), I was reminded that we have some truly quality and caring executives leading our church ministries, regardless of some of the negatives we frequently harp on.

This being my second year at the KY GA, it gave me a better feel for Kentucky Ministries, led by Dr. Randy Montgomery and staff. Now in his 3rd year of executive leadership, Randy may find making budget tough sledding (many are in the current cash crunch), but KY Ministries is no different than the rest of the country. It seems to be in the political air we breathe.

I believe if Randy will control his own youthful impatience and listen to the counsel of wise and loving brothers and sisters, young and old, this splendid group of Kentucky pastors and church leaders will enable him to become the kind of leader he aspires to become. That is, after all, what leadership is all about.

That weekend allowed me to attend the morning service at nearby Winchester 1st. I salute pastor Gary Brown for his excellent sermon he titled “No More Worship Wars!” (more on that in another blog). Pressed for time, I pushed on to Prestonsburg that evening, after a quick lunch with my family, to set up our RP book display at nearby Little Paint Chog.

That service signaled a Reformation Witness Rally for SE KY churches. It followed with a 4-day revival with Frank Curtis, retired from Middletown, OH Towne Blvd. I spent the weekdays at the RP Warehouse and evenings I headed out to Little Paint, making new friends and enjoying good music and solid preaching.

As the end of the month approached--9-26--we had been away from home as long as our bills would allow. Thus, on Friday evening I headed toward Salyersville, driving the colorful Mountain Parkway back to Winchester, enjoying the already-changing Fall colors, and thankful to God for what I had been part of.

Back in Winchester, I put in another 2½ days assisting our daughter as needed and attending Gary Brown’s Installation Service with Bob Russell. I had met the retired preaching pastor from Louisville SE Christian Church earlier, in Anderson. I met him with my friend Sam Stone (former editor of Christian Standard).

Bob did a masterful job as the installation speaker, adding stature to Gary Brown and 1st church. Sam Stone’s son Dave now fills the pulpit Bob once occupied at SE Christian. One need not wonder at the phenomenal ministry Bob Russell had at that church and I, for one, am happy that more of our people are coming out of our institutional shell and doing more to complement the larger church family, than compete with it.

Before leaving Winchester, I made sure I thanked Rufus Cravens for the Pink Ponderosa low acid tomato plants he gave me in May. They produced all summer and my acid-intolerant wife especially appreciated them (My biggest prize was 27½ ounces and we love blt’s!). I staked them, nurtured them, and when I returned to KY they stood over my head having produced well. (Rufus attends Winchester 1st and is a brother to Arley Cravens, retired State Administrator in WVA; Arley remains a longtime friend from bygone days further south).

I’m home now. Battle Creek is 20 degrees cooler than SE KY and I am busy winterizing. Hassling storm windows, painting, mowing, doing catch-up, and all that good stuff makes me feel my years. I used to knock it out in hours and days; now it seems perpetual, taking far too long--if at all …

That brings me to this … like the day Bobby called Steve warning us to go gas our cars; gas would top $5 a gallon before the end of that day. It didn’t quite happen, but turbulence fills the air as I turn to Thomas Chisholm in the hymnal. One day, he read that great passage from Lamentations 3:22-23. It filled him with rejoicing in the assurance of his faith - even as I rejoice today:

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father!
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not:
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
Great is Thy faithfulness
…
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided--
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

I may not be all I once was; I may be overwhelmed with uncertainty and clouds of wonder. Nonetheless, God is faithful today, as He was the day Daniel Webster encountered John Quincy Adams on the street. “Good morning, Mr. Adams, how are you feeling today?” Webster inquired.

“Why, I’ve never felt better in my life, Mr. Webster, than now. It’s true, the house in which I live is getting shaky. The roof is leaking, the walls are caving in, and soon I’ll be moving out. But” he concluded, “Mr. Adams is quite well, thank you.”

With that, the old gentleman tottered off down the street, and with that I leave you - thankful for “strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. . .Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside (Chisholm). It was true when Jeremiah first wrote it and it is true today as America faces its (moral and spiritual) economic and political crisis . . .

Wayne