For those of you who don't read the ERC "Newsletter," the staff of the ERC has been publishing prayer requests for next week's Conference sessions.
One of them asks for "Encouraging and Uplifting Fellowship among Brothers & Sisters."
Because I'm connected to reality, and the fact that 80% of CGGC churches are stagnating or declining and that the ERC always sets the denominational trends, when I pray for the sessions, I pray for an Act 2:36 and an Acts 2:37 moment.
I pray that someone will confront the Conference with the truth about the things they have done--over the course of generations.
And, that people in the crowd will be cut to the heart and say, "What shall we do?"
I got in big trouble several years ago when I began to call ERC Conference sessions the "Yay God" sessions.
But, that is what they have been for the past 25 years.
Yet, the Lord of all power and grace and mercy and authority and love and blessing is not blessing the ERC.
We should face reality. We should be grieving.
As Paul says, "Godly sorrow produces a repentance that leads to salvation..."
We need godly sorrow.
We must repent.
I read Lance's May 5, 2017 eNews article and it seems that my prayer for ERC sessions may have been answered.
ReplyDeleteLance talked about the brothers and sisters in the ERC struggling with the fact that things are not going well and that things must change.
I, immediately, thought about the, apparent, veering away from the YAY GOD approach to holding Conference to what Lance describes by using the term, "reality."
I'm pleased.
One of my criticisms of Conferences in the CGGC is that they have been times when the staff gathered the gang together to lie to the people and to each other about how well things were going.
So, reality.
And, as Lance says, "embracing" it.
This is, possibly, a first step.
I do remember that, about 25ish years ago, the General Conference embraced reality and developed 35,000 X 2000, which was a disaster and, in the end, worsened the CGGC reality.
Based on what Lance wrote, some important components of positive change are still lacking, at least according to the Word.
But, we will see.
I said that I was praying for an Acts 2:36 moment where someone would confront the Conference with its sin and an Acts 2:37 moment when some would ask what they should do.
Now, it's time to pray for an Acts 2:38f moment in which there is a call for repentance which results in actual repentance.
I did notice that no form of the word repent appeared in Lance's article.
Okay. Now, here's something interesting. And, typical.
ReplyDeleteI just read an email from an ERC pastor friend, giving me some of his thoughts on ERC sessions.
He said that, during his time there, nothing special happened, though he was present for the discussion of the new Strategic Plan, which seems to be the basis of the effort to, as Lance has it, embrace reality.
I trust this guy's take on things. He does reside at a fairly high peak on the ERC mountain but he's, in no way, a member of the ERC good old boy network.
In other words, he still has a grasp of reality--and always has had.
He mentioned that the ERC ordaining bureaucrats announced, using my word, the intention to foist the official CGGC position on women in ministry on people seeking credentials.
This, rule-by-bureaucrats, old way, doesn't bode well for meaningful repentance in the ERC in the future.
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