Monday, February 29, 2016

Falling Out of Shape

At this point, I am two and a half weeks into recuperating from the injury to my wrist. The first few of those days I was healing enough to have surgery and then having surgery and then under the influence of strong pain killers. The next few days my activity was restricted by the fact that I had to keep my hand elevated.


And, I can't believe how quickly I have fallen out of shape.


In the past, I noted that my job is so demanding and I was so fatigued from it that it was difficult for me to keep my commitments to our community of gatherings. For a geezer, I was in fairly good condition.


It stuns me to note how far I have fallen so quickly.


I'm already struggling to get back in shape but it's no cake walk.


Getting old really, really stinks.

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Fresh Expression 2-28-16

Our understanding of church derives heavily from what Jesus said about the church in Matthew 16 and 18 and Revelation 2 and 3, and when it comes from Acts or the Epistles, it is with Jesus, not the Middle Ages, as context.


More and more, for both Evie and me I think, Jesus' teaching, from Matthew 18, that where two or three gather together in His Name, He is there with them defines our life in community. A pastor is not necessary nor is a church building nor are elders or deacons nor is a planned, uh, service. All that is necessary is more than one disciple and a focus on Jesus...


...So, I'm still banged up and Evie is overworked. We were not up to having a gathering in our house. So, we let the rest of the group know that we were going to take the folks from the home out to lunch and that any of the rest of them were welcome to join us.


The two men from the home can be embarrassing to be around in public. They are intellectually challenged and have poor social skills. No one else chose to join us, which was fine.


We did our best to ensure that everyone ordered an enjoyable, nutritious meal and did what we could to see that the conversation was seasoned with grace and we showed mercy as best we could.


The food we ordered was okay at best this time and the waitress seemed inexperienced and appeared to be overwhelmed.


We made a commitment to meet in our home next week.

What I Have Learned in Recent Years that the Writers of HERE We STAND Don't Know

The average person in a CGGC congregation and his or her friends and neighbors don't read at a graduate school level.




As I work at a full time job that brings me into fairly intimate contact with my coworkers as well as important but less intimate contact with members of my community, I am frequently invited to participate in conversations having to do with the Word as well as with the very issues addressed in HERE WE STAND.


In fact, it seems to me that, as time passes, people seek me out to invite me to talk with them about biblical truth and compelling issues of the day. And, I give thanks for those opportunities to be salt and light in my world.


From my experience, however, no one who's invited me into these conversations would be impressed if I introduced my opinions by referring to the double helix, as the writers of HERE WE STAND have done.


As I read through the document, I'm seeing it doing precisely the opposite of what Jesus did. Jesus took even the most complicated philosophical issues and addressed them in a way that made it possible for an uneducated man or woman to understand how to live righteously.


Read a few pages of HERE WE STAND. This is highfalutin' stuff. It is erudite. It is pretentious. It is from and for the ivory tower. It is not something that will edify anyone I, personally, gather with or work with or chat with in my neighborhood. And, my guess is that if you are a CGGC person, your world resembles mine.


As I first began to read HWS, I thought it was written for an intellectual historian living a hundred years in the future. It might well be useful as a textbook at a seminary today.


But it will frustrate, not edify, the people I gather with. And, it will be useless in fueling conversation in the real world that I travel in. Ironically, the issues addressed in the book are what people today are talking about. Just not at this level.


Another irony. When people sympathetic to me criticize this blog they say that what I write is, itself, too lofty and theoretical. And, that criticism has value. However, I write this stuff for a very narrow audience, not for the broad audience that HWS puts in its sights.


In my opinion, HWS fails to achieve the goals it sets for itself.


I think it should be rejected for that reason, among several others.

Saturday, February 27, 2016

The Draft of HERE WE STAND has been Released

There is a link to a PDF file in yesterday's eNews. I encourage everyone to read it--if you can understand it.


As you can imagine, I have a ton of problems with it, due to the fact that it is fruit of an old wineskin that has been causing our decline for many decades.


As an example, here is one issue I have with it. This is its very first sentence:


"Revival and reform serve as the double helix of the Churches of God, General Conference (CGGC) DNA."


The double helix?


That sentence says a ton.


I don't know who these people think they are helping with this way of communicating, but I do know that what they came up with will not communicate to the people in the congregation I meet with and it will mean nothing to the people I witness to on my job.





Friday, February 26, 2016

Two Reasons We Must Define What a Disciple is

1. In our recent past, we have used a definition of what a disciple is that is so clearly heretical, that is, someone who attends so called worship services.


2. Jesus repeatedly went to the effort of pointing out who cannot be His disciple. And, I never hear Today's church address the issue of false discipleship.

On the Journey to Recovery: Putting on a Glove

This morning was cold and windy and I couldn't take the world's greatest church greeter for her walk without putting a glove on my bad hand. For the past few days, I have been doing the Michael Jackson thing.


I have cheap, very stretchy, thin gloves that I thought would work. Putting one on was a pretty intense experience. But, I got it done.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

More Personal TMI

It was two weeks ago today that I fell. I had a busy day planned for the day, that day.


I fell just before 8:00 a.m. and the rest of the day was shot. Next on the agenda was to take a shower, which, of course, I didn't do, and couldn't do that for most of the time since then.


Well? I just took my first shower since I fell. It is the heaviest duty task I've taken on so far. It hurt, but now that the task is complete, it feels good.


Musically? I've been rehearsing a very personal version of the chorus from the Everly Brothers, DREAM. You know:


Cle-e-e-e-ean, clean, clean, cle-an. Cle-e-e-e-e-e-e-ean.


😉



How Would We Know it if We Made a Disciple?

If you are a faithful reader of the CGGC eNews, you are, apparently, part of a very small number of people. But, if you are, you know, from a posting a couple of months ago, that the CGGC theme this year is, "On One Mission--Discipleship."
As you might imagine, I have quite a few thoughts about that relating to Faddism among our leaders, and throughout the entire CGGC system.
Along with the massive jumble of thoughts, is the question: Do we, in the CGGC, agree about what a disciple is?
Twenty years ago, during 35,000 by 2000, we did seem to agree. Back then, a disciple was understood to be anyone whose attendance in CGGC worship contributes to the annual average attendance total.
I think that most, if not all of us, reject that understanding and many of us, these days, are even embarrassed by it. But, as far as I know, that understanding is the latest on our books.


So, our theme this year is discipleship--something for which we have not gone to any effort to define.
So typical of everything we do using the current CGGC wineskin.


And, I believe that it points to a serious problem in the CGGC. We are so unconcerned about truth that we don't have a common understanding of anything we claim to be core to who we are and what we are committed to doing. What's worse is that we don't seem to care.


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


Paul's letters frequently have him writing about "my gospel," an acknowledgement that, in his day, there were many takes on the essential Christian message and that many were dangerously false.
Proclaiming the gospel around the world is a part of our Mission Statement. What, then, is our gospel?
Our mission asserts that we establish New Testament churches. What is our understanding of the New Testament church?


Disciples.
Gospel.
Church.
Do these concepts actually have concrete meaning in our community? From what I know? No.


So, we will spend this year talking about making disciples without knowing what we are talking about.


We need a new wineskin.


We must repent.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

I Tied My Shoes Today--With Apologies to Sgt. Pepper

Today, on the fourteenth day after my injury, I tied my shoes.
A big deal.
I tried it the day before but there was too much pain. I don't know if this signals healing or if my muscles devised a new technique.
Anyway, not having to have someone else tie your shoes is a big deal...
...so, while I was walking the world's greatest church greeter these words came to mind along with the tune to the Beatles', A DAY IN THE LIFE. For those old enough to know it:


I tied my shoes today, oh boy.
I am a blesséd man who made a grade.
And, though the knot was rather sad.
I just had to laugh.
I took a photograph.


It stopped there.


Actually, I didn't take the picture.

How Many CGGC Leaders does it take to Change a Light Bulb?

Back in the day we were on the staffs of the General Conference and the seminary--at the height of the 35,000 by 2000 Campaign
--there was a joke sometimes told among Mountaintoppers at the expense of CGGC people unwilling to jump on board with the new, but now failed, vision. It would be proceeded by other versions of the light bulb joke then climaxed with:
And, how many Church of God people does it take to change a light bulb?
The answer was to put an expression of fear and exasperation on your face and scream, "CHANGE???!!!?!??!!!!!"


Of course, we now know that the people who saw folly in what proved to be yet another failed fad that would soon fizzle were not the fools. They possessed the wisdom to see the fad for what it was and to understand that another fad would be coming around the corner in barely more than the blink of an institutional eye.
This was a playing out of the characteristics of the CGGC brand, FADDISM and CYNICISM. It was the cynics who had it right, which is sad.


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


That sad story from the recent past is part of the evidence that the driving truth of the decline of the CGGC is that it is CGGC leadership that is resistant to change.


They think of themselves as people on the cutting edge who would succeed except for the tradition-bound people in the churches who won't ever move forward.
But the truth is that it is leadership that fears change as much as anyone. More, actually.


The thing they will not change is the old wineskin of hierarchical, institutional, shepherd domination which the church began to try out eight decades ago.
They will--and do-- embrace a fad a year, which amounts to nothing more than a new program or strategy that assumes the old structure remains intact and that keeps them in their comfy offices in headquarters buildings and, of course, with the salaries that come with their titles.


They, more than anyone, cower in the face of change...of wineskin change.


WE HAVE NO HOPE UNTIL WE USE A NEW WINESKIN.


We must repent.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

My Favorite Popular Fiction Authors

A few days ago I mentioned that a week before my injury I found two audio books on sale by authors in the 10 to 15 slots on my list of favorite fiction authors. That was an estimate. But, since then, I have given some thought to the content of that list.


Just a quick note: Reading popular fiction is one of my few hobbies. I probably average 15 to 20 a year. There are some authors I definitely do not like. All on this list, I like at least a little. I'll comment on some of these and not on others.


From my favorite on down:


1. Michael Connelly. Especially the Lincoln Lawyer series, but also the Bosch books.


2. Lee Child.


3. Robert B. Parker. The first of several on the list who have died. I love the Spenser novels and like the Jesse Stones.


4. Vince Flynn. Who died with many unwritten Mitch Rapps in him.


5. Harlan Coben. Some of his, though, I really don't like.


6. Linda Castillo. The author of the Kate Burkholder, Ohio Amish books.


7. Rex Stout. Nero Wolfe. I love the big words.


8. David Baldacci. Most of them.


9. Nelson DeMille. Smart alec.


10.Dick Francis. Some of my absolute favorites were his.


11. Lawrence Block. Love Bernie Rhodenbarr. Nothing else.


12. Tess Gerritsen.


13. Robert Ludlum. I have known Jason Bourne longer than you have.


14. Philip Margolin.


15. Kathy Reichs. Bones.


16. John Grisham. Back in the day, he was my fave but he's gotten very preachy.


17. Lisa Gardner.


18. Agatha Christie. She published THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES in 1920. Her output was monumental. But, it still holds up.

I have been Diagnosed...with a Second Opinion

In the past eleven days, I have spent some time in the ER and in the operating room and in doctor's offices. And quite surprisingly and intriguingly, I have received the same diagnosis. Twice.


The first time was in the recovery room. I was really just coming to. One nurse was updating another one my case and she said, "This is Mr. Sloat, a pleasant male...". And then she went on to use technical language to describe the procedure performed on me and my condition. I was able to absorb that but, with the pain and nausea I was experiencing, thought little about it.


Then, yesterday I visited the surgeon. His PA did a preliminary exam, entered notes into the computer and left, but kept the screen open. When he was gone, Evelyn walked over to the monitor to read what was there and, somewhat surprised to see it, quoted, "A pleasant man..."


Apparently, it is a common practice for one medical person to alert others regarding the demeanor of a patient and there must be an established scale. And, twice, I have been assessed to be pleasant. Two for two. I'm batting a thousand.


(I mentioned last week that the Navigator who dealt with our family when mom and dad were evaluated for dementia went out of her way to say several times that it was a pleasure (note that word) for her to begin her day working with us.)


It seems that there is an objective and unsolicited consensus. I have been diagnosed. I am pleasant.


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


After, I got the letter from Jack Selcher saying that I was being defrocked "for cause," I asked Dr. Richardson what the cause was, since no cause was mentioned. And, he said that no cause was actually mentioned but that in the Standing Committee several reasons were discussed. (None had to do with Christian doctrine or even with distinctive CGGC beliefs.)


What they did concern, in a broad sense was my, well, demeanor. One that I've noted in the past is that I fail to exhibit "exemplary piety." But, the truth is that, as I live in the world, and as I have been medically diagnosed, twice now, I do exhibit exemplary piety.


I BELIEVE THAT THE ISSUE IS NOT WITH ME, as medical professionals now attest.


WE, IN THE CGGC, ARE IN SPIRITUAL DECLINE AND I THINK THE PROBLEM IS WITH THE LEADERSHIP CULTURE THAT HAS HAD STEWARDSHIP OF OUR MINISTRY FOR MANY DECADES!


I believe that if there is to be discipline that I am not the one who should be its focus.


I have been medically evaluated. The problem is not with me.

Monday, February 22, 2016

Update on the Mangled Wrist

I met with the surgeon this morning and got some good news and some that wasn't so good.


I am healing well and, so, it appears, I will not need to have therapy.


On the not so good side of the balance, I am restricted until my next appointment, which will be in five weeks. I won't even be able to drive. The most I will be able to do until then is hold a cup of coffee. I will be able to take a shower and, hopefully, in time, operate a zipper and tie shoes.


If I was still a parish priest, this would be NBD but I use my hands and wrists in my occupation so these will be five more quiet weeks.


Lots of thinking time ahead for me...for all of us.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Fresh Expression 2-21-16...And...On Being the Family Chaplain

We will have a nontraditional gathering today of an increasingly common type. Most of the Sunday group will gather at a different restaurant than is usual and share a meal. This one will be paid for by someone other than Evie and me, though we would be blessed to do so.


In this gathering, conversation will, undoubtedly, be seasoned with grace and we will achieve our most basic purpose in gathering, of not giving up meeting together, but probably nothing above that, along the lines of provoking each other to love and good works and, as in the case of most churches, no words of prophesy or revelation or knowledge or wisdom.


We are simply incapable of hosting a gathering these days. Evie lamented yesterday that the house is a mess. But she is working overtime, taking care of me living only slightly above the level of an invalid--you have no idea what you can't do if you only have one hand, for instance, I have not worn shoes for more than a week. Plus, all we are doing for my parents and now their generation of the family. More on that next.


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


My dad is 90, and the fourth eldest and oldest remaining, of eight children. One of his two remaining sisters is very ill and is facing the amputation of her right leg above the knee. And she asked if her siblings would visit her in the hospital before her surgery.


So, Evie and I picked up mom and dad yesterday and drove them to the hospital. My aunt looks as ill as she is. Her daughter, a cousin whom I love but rarely see, was there. We discovered that my dad's remaining brother would arrive an hour after us so we waited so that three of the siblings and their wives could all be together at one time. I love all of these geezers dearly. Most of my best childhood memories include them and I was blessed by the time we were together.


As we were preparing to leave, some of them began to mumble that Billy, as I am still known, the, uh, Reverend, should say a prayer.


It has been YEARS since I prayed in a priestly role, as a member of the clergy who provides spiritual products and services to the unwershed laity and I was uncomfortable, but I did it.


Before I finished, I, and several others, were weeping.


I actually hate being viewed as a parish priest so this was a bittersweet experience. I did the, "I have become all things to all in order to save some" thing.


And, I realized that I am the family's chaplain. I'd rather, by far though, if all these people were men and women of repentance and faith.





Friday, February 19, 2016

Evaluating My Mom and Dad for Dementia

Yesterday my brother and his wife, my mom and dad and Evie and I kept appointments at a geriatric medical practice in Lancaster which specializes in the treatment of Alzheimer's and memory issues.
It was a momentous day for all of us.
Everyone in my generation was impressed. Clearly, these people know what they are doing.
A few observations:
First, the woman who served in the role of navigator told Evie several times that it was a genuine pleasure for her to begin her day working with our family. Apparently, our trust in the Lord and our joy in Him was immediately apparent to her and, apparently, it was, literally, remarkable, that is, able to be remarked upon. Her response to us encouraged me because, in the CGGC community, I hear that I am guilty of exhibiting a lack of "exemplary piety." I was blessed to be reminded that, in the real world, my walk with the Lord, along with others in my family, is viewed very differently.
Second, while this appointment was only for the purpose of evaluation, and not diagnosis, the process of evaluation was instructive. We are certain that dad will be diagnosed as suffering from a rather advanced stage of "vascular dementia," which is probably the result of a series of small strokes which were not recognized as strokes when they occurred.
Mom's case is less clear, to family members at least, at this point. And, her case is the more difficult for us to deal with, no matter what the diagnosis.
Third, one of the doctors spoke privately to my brother and his wife and said that, in the collaborative discussions among the members of the practice, he will fight for the sons and their families so that the doctors assume the role of bad cop with my parents. It is so difficult to see yourself being viewed increasingly as an enemy by a parent whom you desperately love, which is becoming the case with mom. Hopefully, future treatment will take us out of that position.
Anyway...the next appointment will be in about three weeks.


For the moment, I/we are encouraged.

This Could be Verrrrrrrry Awkward...with a Specific and Practical Recommendation

Please excuse the bizarre formatting of this post. This sometimes happens when I publish a longer post from my phone.


I began my ministry in the East Pennsylvania Conference of the Churches of God in 1976. Doing the math, 2016 is the fortieth anniversary of my ministry in the region.


That calculation is confirmed, from leadership's perspective, by the fact that in 2001, in mellower times, the Conference celebrated the 25th anniversary of my ministry (1976 + 25 years = 2001).


For readers of JASPERISM who don't know it, Eastern Regional Conference of the CGGC, celebrates a person's ministry after 40 years as well as after 25 years. So...
...2016 is my big year!



Forty years ago bill Sloat began ministry in the Conference! Yeeeee ha!
Celebrate good times, come on.






This year's gathering of the ERC in session is the time that my ministerial brothers and sisters will recognize me for my years of ministry which began, can you believe it?, when Gerald R. Ford was the American President.


Except that...
...when last year's Conference delegates were packing up to go home, on the last day of that august gathering of spiritual eagles and on the recommendation of the Standing Committee, the Conference Administrative Council voted, unanimously, to recall my ordination for (a still unspecified) cause.
So, we are all in a difficult place.
After last year's Conference, Conference Secretary Jack Selcher sent a certified mail letter to me requesting that, according to the promise I made when I took my ordination vows, I return my ordination. However, I made no such promise. So, I have not complied, and I will not comply.
Bottom line: this year's Conference is the time for the celebration of the fortieth anniversary of my ministry in the Conference and also the time for leadership to follow through on its demand that my ministry be brought to an end.




I honestly don't know how this will go.
These celebrations are carefully planned and rather complex and involve someone who has shared in or benefitted from the honoree's ministry speaking words of appreciation in front of Conference delegates and guests.
This speaker may be someone from the congregation the honoree is serving but no one I can think of from our community of gatherings would want to assume that role.
So, here is a reasonable suggestion: A former WTS student of mine could do the job. Three former students could easily fill the bill. WTS President Brent Sleasman, the current chief CGGC Mountaintopper Lance Finley, or, most efficiently, Dr. Kevin Richardson, current ERC E. D..


HERE IS MY RECOMMENDATION:
Have Kevin do it.
Because...
...if Kevin spoke the words of celebration and appreciation, he could share fond memories of our days at the seminary and of ministry moments the two of us have shared together...
... and then he could conclude his talk by making the motion that I be defrocked!!!!!!!!
Why not kill both birds with the same stone.


However the Conference handles it, I'll provide updates here on the blog.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Bored...Out of My Skull

I truly hate typing with my right thumb and I really did expect not be blogging much for quite some time...
...but as of this moment, my pain level is down to, the way the hospital asks it be rated, a 3 or 4 and with very little of the big-gun pain meds, my wrist is still crippled and I am getting a bit restless.
Fortunately, a week before I fell, I bought two audio novels by authors in the 10 to 15 slots on my list of favorites writers of popular fiction.
In the past, I've explained that I very rarely actually read popular fiction. I do enjoy listening to it as I drive or do things around the house.
So, at the moment, I'm listening to Nelson DeMille's, THE PANTHER, which I listened to as a library book a few years ago and enjoyed enough to buy at a 70% discount. Demille is getting up there in age and is not as sharp as he used to be but I still frequently LOL at his narrative. Even better, the book is read by Scott Brick, whose smart alec reading rhythm is perfect for Demille's style.
It's going be a long haul until my wrist mends and I'm sure there will be many long days until I get there. Today and the next few shouldn't be bad. This book is twenty one and a half hours long. (Demille is not known for his economic use of the word.)


BTW, I just got a call from a florist telling me that they have a delivery for me...for ME! I'm guessing that they're not from the Mountaintoppers in either Findlay or Harrisburg...but I'll let you know. I've been surprised, but not by either, in the past.

Having our, uh, Core Values Lived Out on our Behalf

I've mentioned several times that, in our community, there are core principles that we actually live out--as opposed to the larger church body's tendency to give voice to radical values it doesn't put into practice.


Among what we value is literal obedience to the commands of Jesus. The commands of Jesus that we emphasize most often are what we speak of as "the three love commands: Love the Lord, love your neighbor as yourself and love each other as Jesus loved you."


We are truly a "fresh expression" in that we are living in the moment, in the Spirit, often not knowing where we are or where our next step, or act of obedience, will take us.


Since I mangled my wrist, we have received acts of love, from within the community, that surprise and astound me.


This is, as I see it, what Jesus spoke of when He declared that if you abide in me you will produce much fruit.


----------


FYI: I'm not enjoying typing with my right thumb.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Mangled Wrist

Two days ago we had a snow squall and I slipped on a patch of ice covered up by the snow. I pretty seriously mangled my left wrist and had surgery on it yesterday. I'm enjoying some pretty serious pain meds but not the pain. I'll be off work for a minimum of six weeks.
I'm typing this with great discomfort with my right thumb and I doubt I'll be doing much blogging for some time.
Blessings.