I have heard from one person who attended The Gathering and am involved in an interesting conversation with him.
The essence of it has to do with acknowledging that most of us have probably preached a false gospel, and that a challenge for many pastors who buy McKnight's take now have to explain to their people that a past pastor who led them to Christ preached a false gospel to them.
This is not an issue to be addressed by a shepherd dominated leadership culture.
-----------------
A thought: Shepherds understand that there is truth and that there is error but they find it almost impossible to acknowledge and confront error, even within themselves. They also have difficulty standing boldly for truth.
Friday, October 31, 2014
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Only One of the Problems with the New WE BELIEVE
It is irrelevant.
One important illustration of how: Have you noticed that when the CGGC Regions dealt with the issue of same sex marriage, in their Conference sessions, that they couldn't point to the authority of We Believe? WB gives our body nothing to address the whole bundle of issues having to do with sexual righteousness.
Now, remember: One rationale leadership used to justify this theological disaster was that the church needs, from time to time, to revise its statement of belief so it can speak to its age. What a joke!
How many ways has our culture changed since the 1980s? How has WB empowered the CGGC to reach our changed world!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!
The reality is that, unlike its predecessor, this We Believe is entirely disconnected from the spirit of its age.
We need seriously question the LEADERS who suggested that it is relevant--and not only the soon to be departed Ed.
One important illustration of how: Have you noticed that when the CGGC Regions dealt with the issue of same sex marriage, in their Conference sessions, that they couldn't point to the authority of We Believe? WB gives our body nothing to address the whole bundle of issues having to do with sexual righteousness.
Now, remember: One rationale leadership used to justify this theological disaster was that the church needs, from time to time, to revise its statement of belief so it can speak to its age. What a joke!
How many ways has our culture changed since the 1980s? How has WB empowered the CGGC to reach our changed world!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!
The reality is that, unlike its predecessor, this We Believe is entirely disconnected from the spirit of its age.
We need seriously question the LEADERS who suggested that it is relevant--and not only the soon to be departed Ed.
Friday, October 24, 2014
My Nomination for the Next CGGC Executive Director
No one.
The CGGC is at a point where it has to either, well to put it indelicately, poop or get off the pot as far as the authority of the Bible is concerned.
Our current leadership spent five years writing and promoting a new We Believe defining the Bible as the only rule in the CGGC. The Ad Council gave it its authority.
Now, in the wake of Ed Rosenberry's resignation, the same leadership has launched a search for a new Executive Director--a position for which there is no support in the Word. They continue to define the holder of that position as the "Chief Executive Officer" of the denomination.
Show me a CEO under the "rule" of the Word.
If we hire another CEO, the people of the CGGC will have to choose an authority: the Word or the CEO.
I, for one, will never even consider submitting to the authority of another denominational CEO.
Trash this search.
Open the Word.
Start over.
The CGGC is at a point where it has to either, well to put it indelicately, poop or get off the pot as far as the authority of the Bible is concerned.
Our current leadership spent five years writing and promoting a new We Believe defining the Bible as the only rule in the CGGC. The Ad Council gave it its authority.
Now, in the wake of Ed Rosenberry's resignation, the same leadership has launched a search for a new Executive Director--a position for which there is no support in the Word. They continue to define the holder of that position as the "Chief Executive Officer" of the denomination.
Show me a CEO under the "rule" of the Word.
If we hire another CEO, the people of the CGGC will have to choose an authority: the Word or the CEO.
I, for one, will never even consider submitting to the authority of another denominational CEO.
Trash this search.
Open the Word.
Start over.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Every day with, uh, bill...
Friends,
I've got a lot going on in my life these days and I don't have as much time as I'd like to do the sort of blogging I've done on this blog in the past in which I write lengthy comments, going through many drafts, often, over a period of weeks or months. I do continue to work on those threads.
However, lately I've been thinking of adopting the method of my friend Dan Horwedel in his excellent blog, "Every day with dan..." and to make more personal observations often shorter in length and without any thought or care that they might provoke dialog and, certainly, without the intention to respond myself.
So, somewhat in that vein...
-------------------------------
It is our intention at Faith to discontinue the practice of taking an offering. We hope to do that soon. My goal personally is that we will do it beginning on January 1, 2015.
We still have an obligation to our current landlord--to fulfill the financial obligation of our lease. I hope we can pay it off early. We do have one or two other small obligations that we will need to meet. Then, as far as I am concerned, we will no longer funnel money through the church.
I think I can say that we all believe that Jesus taught, or at least endorsed, tithing. (Mt. 23:23) As for me and my house, we will continue to give. We simply no longer believe in tithing to a local church. We see no biblical basis for such a practice.
So, as soon as we can, we will be setting our Church Treasurer free.
I've got a lot going on in my life these days and I don't have as much time as I'd like to do the sort of blogging I've done on this blog in the past in which I write lengthy comments, going through many drafts, often, over a period of weeks or months. I do continue to work on those threads.
However, lately I've been thinking of adopting the method of my friend Dan Horwedel in his excellent blog, "Every day with dan..." and to make more personal observations often shorter in length and without any thought or care that they might provoke dialog and, certainly, without the intention to respond myself.
So, somewhat in that vein...
-------------------------------
It is our intention at Faith to discontinue the practice of taking an offering. We hope to do that soon. My goal personally is that we will do it beginning on January 1, 2015.
We still have an obligation to our current landlord--to fulfill the financial obligation of our lease. I hope we can pay it off early. We do have one or two other small obligations that we will need to meet. Then, as far as I am concerned, we will no longer funnel money through the church.
I think I can say that we all believe that Jesus taught, or at least endorsed, tithing. (Mt. 23:23) As for me and my house, we will continue to give. We simply no longer believe in tithing to a local church. We see no biblical basis for such a practice.
So, as soon as we can, we will be setting our Church Treasurer free.
Reflections on the MLI Reunion
If you read the eNewses of September 26 and October 3, you know that past participants in the Missional Leadership Initiative were invited to come together about a month ago, as Ed says it, "to return for a kind of reunion with an agenda."
I don't have many reflections worth mentioning, but I believe some of my insights have value--especially as our body considers how it will move on from the Rosenberry era.
I can detail two realities that I, very personally, think are worth mentioning:
1. I wasn't invited.
I didn't even know there was a reunion planned until I read Ed's brief mention of it in his article on the recent GC Ad Council meeting. The following week's eNews was Ed's account of the MLI gathering of Eagles--as a fait accompli.
I was stunned to realize that it had been planned and held and that I had not gotten even a sniff of it from my brethren and sisters in Findlay.
I wrote a note to a friend whose heart has some passions for the Lord and the world that are similar to mine, who has also completed MLI, asking if, like me, he also wasn't invited. To my surprise, he told me that he had been invited. At that point I began to wonder how small the universe of the excluded is.
In his reply, noting that I was not invited, my friend asked, "What's up with that?"
While I have my thoughts, I think that his is a good question.
Before MLI was even a twinkle in GC Leadership's eyes, I was calling for missionality in the CGGC and I was living it and participating in it in my local setting. Since my two years in MLI ended, I have continued to support the goals of MLI and still, today, live out missionality with a passion that is at least as great as anyone in the CGGC.
So indeed, "What's up with that?"
What could have possessed the people making the decision to exclude me from having the opportunity to share my missional joys and sorrows, my triumphs and failures, in community with my brothers and sisters on mission in the CGGC?
I do have a theory. But, I do not know.
2. In spite of my absence, my presence was felt.
A telling passage in Ed's glowing account of the successes of the CGGC missional and of the denomination in general is this:
But, "naysayer-s?"--in the plural? Who, besides me could Ed mean? Who, besides me, in the CGGC is actually saying nay?
Certainly, Ed's innovations have been opposed by minorities--sometimes fairly large minorities--but actually speaking nay? To me, it feels very much as if I am a lone voice crying in the CGGC wilderness. I know that some agree at least on points that I make. They tell me so. But, no one I know of is voicing--i.e., saying--nay.
Now, please understand, while I may be saying nay, I'm not saying what Ed says I'm saying. I'm not denying, as he says, "God is alive and moving across the CGGC." To this moment, I neither confirm nor deny that He is. I've never really talked about that at all and I rarely have thought in those terms.
I can say that what I see around me is churches that are either--with very, very few exceptions--struggling to hold their own or are declining and some of them are declining rapidly. I acknowledge that there are some exceptional stories of churches doing well--but not nearly enough of them to justify Ed's glorious accounts of growth across our body.
But, I will say now that, according to the standards established by the Bible which is, our "only" "rule," that God is NOT alive and moving across the CGGC. Certainly, the institution of the CGGC is in better shape than it was when Ed's regime began.
But, when I read the Word--in both Testaments--I see, as fruit of God's blessing, two things taking place among God's people:
First, they repent.
Second, the turn from their evil ways.
While Ed often reports of his travels to the churches and Regions across the CGGC, I can't recall a single account either of repentance or of conversion under his leadership.
By the standard of the Word, since Ed has raised the issue, I don't think God is alive and moving across the CGGC.
Clearly, the institution has been undergirded. But, as far as I can tell, God's work is still not being accomplished. Hearts are not being moved. Lives are not changing.
-----------------
So, these are my reflections--in absentia--on the MLI Reunion. Sorry I missed it. I, and the people with whom I serve here at Faith, no doubt, could have benefited from an invitation.
But, alas...
I don't have many reflections worth mentioning, but I believe some of my insights have value--especially as our body considers how it will move on from the Rosenberry era.
I can detail two realities that I, very personally, think are worth mentioning:
1. I wasn't invited.
I didn't even know there was a reunion planned until I read Ed's brief mention of it in his article on the recent GC Ad Council meeting. The following week's eNews was Ed's account of the MLI gathering of Eagles--as a fait accompli.
I was stunned to realize that it had been planned and held and that I had not gotten even a sniff of it from my brethren and sisters in Findlay.
I wrote a note to a friend whose heart has some passions for the Lord and the world that are similar to mine, who has also completed MLI, asking if, like me, he also wasn't invited. To my surprise, he told me that he had been invited. At that point I began to wonder how small the universe of the excluded is.
In his reply, noting that I was not invited, my friend asked, "What's up with that?"
While I have my thoughts, I think that his is a good question.
Before MLI was even a twinkle in GC Leadership's eyes, I was calling for missionality in the CGGC and I was living it and participating in it in my local setting. Since my two years in MLI ended, I have continued to support the goals of MLI and still, today, live out missionality with a passion that is at least as great as anyone in the CGGC.
So indeed, "What's up with that?"
What could have possessed the people making the decision to exclude me from having the opportunity to share my missional joys and sorrows, my triumphs and failures, in community with my brothers and sisters on mission in the CGGC?
I do have a theory. But, I do not know.
2. In spite of my absence, my presence was felt.
A telling passage in Ed's glowing account of the successes of the CGGC missional and of the denomination in general is this:
"Friends, God is alive and moving across the CGGC. Heed not the naysayers."Obviously, Ed could not forget that there are those inside the CGGC who reside beyond the borders of his preferred world in which we all just get along and in which the CGGC word is spoken and received in unity and with power.
But, "naysayer-s?"--in the plural? Who, besides me could Ed mean? Who, besides me, in the CGGC is actually saying nay?
Certainly, Ed's innovations have been opposed by minorities--sometimes fairly large minorities--but actually speaking nay? To me, it feels very much as if I am a lone voice crying in the CGGC wilderness. I know that some agree at least on points that I make. They tell me so. But, no one I know of is voicing--i.e., saying--nay.
Now, please understand, while I may be saying nay, I'm not saying what Ed says I'm saying. I'm not denying, as he says, "God is alive and moving across the CGGC." To this moment, I neither confirm nor deny that He is. I've never really talked about that at all and I rarely have thought in those terms.
I can say that what I see around me is churches that are either--with very, very few exceptions--struggling to hold their own or are declining and some of them are declining rapidly. I acknowledge that there are some exceptional stories of churches doing well--but not nearly enough of them to justify Ed's glorious accounts of growth across our body.
But, I will say now that, according to the standards established by the Bible which is, our "only" "rule," that God is NOT alive and moving across the CGGC. Certainly, the institution of the CGGC is in better shape than it was when Ed's regime began.
But, when I read the Word--in both Testaments--I see, as fruit of God's blessing, two things taking place among God's people:
First, they repent.
Second, the turn from their evil ways.
While Ed often reports of his travels to the churches and Regions across the CGGC, I can't recall a single account either of repentance or of conversion under his leadership.
By the standard of the Word, since Ed has raised the issue, I don't think God is alive and moving across the CGGC.
Clearly, the institution has been undergirded. But, as far as I can tell, God's work is still not being accomplished. Hearts are not being moved. Lives are not changing.
-----------------
So, these are my reflections--in absentia--on the MLI Reunion. Sorry I missed it. I, and the people with whom I serve here at Faith, no doubt, could have benefited from an invitation.
But, alas...
Monday, October 6, 2014
Organized Hypocrisy in Action
My thirteenth Characteristic of the CGGC Brand is Organized Hypocrisy:
Note the Job Description for the position which defines the ED as the CGGC's CEO and describes that person as its overseer of personnel and its programs.
This description is a copy and paste from the innocent days when our leaders created the position as part of a series of changes they attempted which featured the 35,000 by 2000 program--which, of course, failed miserably, so miserably that recently Ed Rosenberry was celebrating 28,000 in worship in 2013.
My question is: What in the WORD is a denominational ED who is a CEO overseeing personnel and programs?!?
The hypocrisy is particularly stark and outrageous because the same leadership team worked tenaciously for five years to gain the adoption of a new We Believe which states, "We believe the Bible is the inspired, infallible authority, the Word of God, our only rule for following Jesus in every aspect of our life" and then added a 2013 Statement of Faith which affirms, "We believe that the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice."
These two statements created afresh two authorities over all of the people of the CGGC:
1. The Bible as our, well, ruler, that which rules us, and,
2. The two declarations of the CGGC Eldership both of which denote that the highest authority in our body is the Bible.
All of the people in the CGGC--especially those who reside on the mountaintop--must, therefore, be ruled by the Bible. They must based on the authority of the CGGC community represented by the General Conference in session.
So, the first question is: What in the WORD is a denominational ED who is a CEO overseeing personnel and programs?
The answer, I think we can all agree, is nowhere.
If you find such a person in the Word, please show us from the Word.
A second question becomes: Where do the powers that be get off defying the Word and the
Eldership by creating the search for a denominational CEO who oversees, uh, personnel and programs? Where in the Word do you find church personnel and programs?
This is quintessential and highly organized hypocrisy!
Why shouldn't all of the mountaintoppers who are a part of creating the search for a new CGGC CEO not be tried by the Eldership for insubordination?
I can see no reason.
13. Organized Hypocrisy. There is illogic and outright contradiction among the things the CGGC claims to be true about itself. This illogic and contradiction is, in reality, deeply rooted, highly intentional and carefully executed. A hypocrite is an actor: "...a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings." It is a positive and essential value of the CGGC to speak one message and to, without qualm, act out another that is entirely disconnected from that avowed principle.This characteristic of who the CGGC is and what it does is depicted vividly in leadership's search for the new Executive Director, or as the job description has it, the new CEO.
Note the Job Description for the position which defines the ED as the CGGC's CEO and describes that person as its overseer of personnel and its programs.
This description is a copy and paste from the innocent days when our leaders created the position as part of a series of changes they attempted which featured the 35,000 by 2000 program--which, of course, failed miserably, so miserably that recently Ed Rosenberry was celebrating 28,000 in worship in 2013.
My question is: What in the WORD is a denominational ED who is a CEO overseeing personnel and programs?!?
The hypocrisy is particularly stark and outrageous because the same leadership team worked tenaciously for five years to gain the adoption of a new We Believe which states, "We believe the Bible is the inspired, infallible authority, the Word of God, our only rule for following Jesus in every aspect of our life" and then added a 2013 Statement of Faith which affirms, "We believe that the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice."
These two statements created afresh two authorities over all of the people of the CGGC:
1. The Bible as our, well, ruler, that which rules us, and,
2. The two declarations of the CGGC Eldership both of which denote that the highest authority in our body is the Bible.
All of the people in the CGGC--especially those who reside on the mountaintop--must, therefore, be ruled by the Bible. They must based on the authority of the CGGC community represented by the General Conference in session.
So, the first question is: What in the WORD is a denominational ED who is a CEO overseeing personnel and programs?
The answer, I think we can all agree, is nowhere.
If you find such a person in the Word, please show us from the Word.
A second question becomes: Where do the powers that be get off defying the Word and the
Eldership by creating the search for a denominational CEO who oversees, uh, personnel and programs? Where in the Word do you find church personnel and programs?
This is quintessential and highly organized hypocrisy!
There is illogic and outright contradiction among the things the CGGC claims to be true about itself. This illogic and contradiction is, in reality, deeply rooted, highly intentional and carefully executed. A hypocrite is an actor: "...a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings." It is a positive and essential value of the CGGC to speak one message and to, without qualm, act out another that is entirely disconnected from that avowed principle.A third question:
Why shouldn't all of the mountaintoppers who are a part of creating the search for a new CGGC CEO not be tried by the Eldership for insubordination?
I can see no reason.
Thursday, October 2, 2014
CGGC Executive Director Job Description--Makes MY Skin Crawl! How About Your's?
I pasted this straight from CGGC.org. It didn't paste perfectly, though the text is all there.
If you don't recognize it, it comes, with only the slightest tweaking, from the wisdom of the same group of people who came up with 35,000 by 2000: The same people who defined "More and Better Disciples" as an increase in average attendance in worship services.
Can you say, "Institutionalism?" Can you say, "Hierarchy?" Can you shout, "TRADITION!?"
I don't know if you can. But, the Ad Council and the Search Committee certainly can.
Can you say, "Repentance" or "Change?" Can you act under the "rule" of God's Word?
Clearly, they can't.
This has to be stopped before it's too late!
-----------------------------------------
Note: Bold Italics are my emphasis
GENERAL CONFERENCE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
A. Position Description
B. Organizational Responsibilities
1. Responsible to: Administrative Council of General Conference
3. Related closely with: Administrative Council Members, General Conference staff and Directors, Conference Leaders, Winebrenner Theological Seminary, church leadership and other denominational leaders in the larger Body of Christ
C. Position Qualifications
a. Have at least 10 years experience as an effective servant-leader with sufficient evidences of team success
c. Have had sufficient involvement in ecumenical endeavors and relations to relate to interdenominational activities
d. Have had adequate exposure to the total ministries of the church to provide a broad experience compatible with the inner workings of the Churches of God
e. Have demonstrated skills in personnel management, corporate planning and finance, along with experience in problem solving and crisis management
b. Possess biblical knowledge supportive of an adequate perception and understanding of the church should be viewed as an essential part of the educational foundation of the person.
c. Hold a personal theological position that is biblical and compatible with the We Believe statement of the CGGC.
3. Personal
a. Evidence personal integrity, good moral character, Christian commitment, and financial responsibility (1 Timothy, Titus)
c. Be a person given to neatness and good taste in matters of dress and appearance and have reasonably sound health
d. Manage own household well and be willing to do extensive travel, given the broad scope of the church and its various ministries
e. Demonstrate a loyalty to the Churches of God and her traditional doctrinal position, possessing the respect and cooperative support of the church
D. Job Summary
1) Church Planting
2) Cross-Cultural Ministries
3) Finance
4) Denominational Communications
5) Transformational Ministries
6) Publications
7) Stewardship and Capital Development
8) Personnel
9) Administration
b. Develop working relationships with the Conference/Regional Leaders (appointed and elected) of the Churches of God, General Conference
2. Managerial Roles
(2)Develop short-range and long-range plans for denominational growth, development, and renewal for ascertaining needs, setting objectives, developing strategies, proposing programs and budgets, evaluating results, networking regions and churches, and identifying external resources.
(3) Design effective systems for recruiting, training, and deploying General Conference personnel on the basis of spiritual giftedness and expertise.
b. Organizing
(1)Oversee the development of an effective organization by nurturing a relational chain of concern and span of care.
(2)Work with the General Conference Team to develop position descriptions and oversee the selection of personnel to accomplish effective ministry.
(3)Oversee and facilitate the development and implementation of action plans for General Conference ministries.
(4)Conduct regular Directors and staff meetings to insure coordinated, resourced planned activities.
c. Leading
(1)Clearly communicate the denominational strategy to all denominational membership and leadership.
(2)Recognize, recruit, test, train, empower, and deploy persons to minister, based on character, faithfulness, gifts, education, experience, and availability.
(3)Be available as advisor and resource person to the Administrative Council, conference/regional leaders and WTS staff.
(4)Handle personnel problems at the General Conference office which have not been settled through regular procedures.
(5)Network resources to provide opportunities for growth to all churches.
d. Controlling
(1)Meet regularly with the Executive Committee of the Administrative Council to evaluate progress and problems related to the denomination.
(2)Meet regularly with Directors of Ministry and staff to review progress and expedite team proposals for needed change.
(3)Monitor and evaluate new changing paradigms in cross-cultural ministries.
(4)Provide evaluation of all Ministry Directors and staff.
E. Recurring Priorities
2. Assist General Conference team to recruit and train competent people to be part of the Churches of God ministries.
3. Motivate General Conference staff to quality relationships and a lifestyle of Christian discipleship.
4. Facilitate the redefining and refining of objectives, programs, and job descriptions for Directors and staff ministries.
F. Specific Areas of Oversight
1. Staff
a. Oversee the enhancement of skills through training
b. Guide in strategic planning of programs
c. Make sure a variety of opportunities are available for spiritual growth and enrichment
2. Possible Programs
a. Regional and Conference Visits
b. Special Programs
G. Scheduling
1. Reports
a. Specific reports requested by Administrative Council
b. Triennial report to General Conference
2. Meetings
a. Regularly scheduled staff meetings
b. Scheduled Conference Leadership meetings
c. Administrative Council and other meetings and services as needed
e. Serve on Winebrenner Theological Seminary Board
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