Winebrenner's focus was on obeying Jesus. The CGGC is obsessed with preserving the church.
Winebrenner focused on Jesus's command to go and make disciples and, when sinners were converted, established churches on the New Testament plan. The CGGC begins with the church, believing, using ERC language, healthy churches make disciples.
Winebrenner was all about Jesus. Today's CGGC is about church first, hoping, somehow, to get to Jesus later.
--------------------
The Lord of all authority and power and grace and mercy and blessing blessed Winebrenner's love for and his primitive obedience to Jesus. The Lord of all authority and power and grace and mercy and blessing is not blessing the CGGC.
We must turn our eyes upon Jesus and trust Him to take care of the church...
...as He did abundantly in our movement when we followed the forgotten ways.
Friday, June 30, 2017
Thursday, June 29, 2017
The Danger in what Dr. Richardson Believes about the Church
In the past, I have mentioned that, when Ed Rosenberry was CGGC E. D., I read what Ed wrote as carefully as I do the writings of the Apostle Paul, the prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah and my extremely wordy hero of church history, Soren Kierkegaard.
And, I did. But Ed is not the only CGGC mountaintopper whose writings I examine with a fine-tooth comb.
As will be obvious to regular readers of this blog, I now read Lance's eNews articles as carefully as I read Ed's. I also read The CHURCH ADVOCATE very carefully and comment on it here regularly.
And, I read the ERC hierarchs' Healthy Church Update with the greatest care.
Because of that, and as a result of my academic training and the obsession with truth that comes with my prophetic calling, I may understand more about what Dr. Richardson believes than his wife does.
Very simply, what Dr. Richardson believes about the church produced fruit in what he has done from the moment he ascended to the top of the ERC mountain nearly a decade ago until he (or someone) realized that the wheels are coming off the runaway truck that is the ERC institution.
(Incidentally, ERC hierarchs have done all they can to prevent me from reading what they write and viewing what they say by taking me off every mailing list they control. But, this is the Information Age.)
--------------
Several years ago, Dr. Richardson wrote an extremely important Healthy Church Update article for Pastor Appreciation Month.
What Dr. Richardson wrote details the core elements of what he believes about the church.
In that brief article, Kevin articulated what he sees as the joys of and the importance of the men and women who serve in the role of congregational pastor.
Kevin rejoiced because pastors have the privilege of providing what amounts to Low Church sacraments to their church's laity from their cradle to their grave.
Kevin rejoiced because pastors have the privilege of providing what amounts to Low Church sacraments to their church's laity from their cradle to their grave.
A pastor, said Kevin, has the joy and privilege of, among other things, dedicating the laity's children, of performing the ceremony when everyday church people marry and of leading the funeral and graveside services when a member of the church's laity dies.
(Note: These are all Low Church equivalents of Roman Catholic sacraments.)
(Note: These are all Low Church equivalents of Roman Catholic sacraments.)
I've called many CGGC mountaintoppers "theologically conservative Lutheran wannabes," and Kevin fits that description to the tee!
In that critically important Healthy Church Update article, Kevin declared his devotion to the idea of church in which its leaders are parish priest pastors who provide Low Church sacraments to be consumed by the laity whose primary, if not only role, is to practice those Low Church sacraments.
In that critically important Healthy Church Update article, Kevin declared his devotion to the idea of church in which its leaders are parish priest pastors who provide Low Church sacraments to be consumed by the laity whose primary, if not only role, is to practice those Low Church sacraments.
For years, everything Dr. Richardson did has been the fruit of that belief system.
And, in its own way, in the CGGC, in the past decade or so, the fact that what Dr. Richardson said matched what he did is refreshing.
On the other hand, during that time, the ERC was declining and its rate of decline has been increasing.
--------------
The CGGC Mission Statement declares that we establish churches on "the New Testament plan."
--------------
The CGGC Mission Statement declares that we establish churches on "the New Testament plan."
Dr. Richardson, has been a determined, yet gentle, rebel who believes in the church of the Middle Ages.
He believes in an institution that has an elite leadership hierarchy. He believes in a priestly class that offers religious products and services to the common people, the laity, of the church. And, in practice, he wants the laity to happily consume priestly rituals.
He believes in an institution that has an elite leadership hierarchy. He believes in a priestly class that offers religious products and services to the common people, the laity, of the church. And, in practice, he wants the laity to happily consume priestly rituals.
Here are some things that belief system does not allow for:
The priesthood of all believers,
The active discipleship of every follower of Jesus,
And, probably most importantly, focus on the Kingdom of God whose coming Jesus proclaimed.
Read over what Kevin's been writing and, more recently saying, in his recent videos. Kevin LOVES the hierarchical, institutional, parish priest-centered church. He's loves the pattern of the church established in the Middle Ages.
The Kingdom of God is nowhere in his vision.
All of those things can't be disputed.
For years, Dr. Richardson has written what he's written, said what he's said and done what he's done.
The Kingdom of God is nowhere in his vision.
All of those things can't be disputed.
For years, Dr. Richardson has written what he's written, said what he's said and done what he's done.
---------------
It goes without saying that Kevin and I disagree on the nature of the church and, far more importantly, on whether it is the Kingdom or the church that should be our focus.
The question for the ERC in the near future is:
Can someone with Kevin's convictions about the Kingdom and the church and hierarchy and the priesthood and the laity be the servant who takes the ERC into the future it hopes for?
Can someone with Kevin's convictions about the Kingdom and the church and hierarchy and the priesthood and the laity be the servant who takes the ERC into the future it hopes for?
To my knowledge, Dr. Richardson has not repented of the beliefs he detailed in that Healthy Church Update article he wrote only a few years ago.
If so, he hasn't made a public confession of the error of his ways.
--------------
The ERC wants to make disciples.
However, based on what Dr. Richardson has written, he believes that a disciple is someone who faithfully participates in the rituals practiced by priests and a discipler is a pastor/parish priest who faithfully practices his/her church's sacraments.
-------------
A problem confronting the ERC is that its laity has been taught that its role in the church is to consume priestly products and services and most of our people embrace that role.
We want to change that understanding and that reality.
But, that reality is precisely what Dr. Richardson has always believed in and stood for.
What is Kevin going to do when people resist the change he now wants to lead in the new New Strategic Plan BECAUSE THEY SINCERELY BELIEVE IN WHAT HE HAS ALWAYS TAUGHT AND DONE?
Unless there is radical repentance in Dr. Richardson, I can't imagine how this can work.
--------------
The ERC wants to make disciples.
However, based on what Dr. Richardson has written, he believes that a disciple is someone who faithfully participates in the rituals practiced by priests and a discipler is a pastor/parish priest who faithfully practices his/her church's sacraments.
-------------
A problem confronting the ERC is that its laity has been taught that its role in the church is to consume priestly products and services and most of our people embrace that role.
We want to change that understanding and that reality.
But, that reality is precisely what Dr. Richardson has always believed in and stood for.
What is Kevin going to do when people resist the change he now wants to lead in the new New Strategic Plan BECAUSE THEY SINCERELY BELIEVE IN WHAT HE HAS ALWAYS TAUGHT AND DONE?
Unless there is radical repentance in Dr. Richardson, I can't imagine how this can work.
Sunday, June 25, 2017
Gathering Update: 6-25-17
We won't meet today. This is a scheduled week off for our gathering anyway.
We didn't meet last week either, though, and Evie and I have already decided that we won't host a gathering next week either.
In another thread, the guy I know as Lew, AKA Vieux Loup, suggested that I think gathering regularly is not important.
And I argued in return that I do think it's important but that I don't think it's an act of righteousness.
And, I do not think gathering is an act of righteousness--in the New Covenant, anyway.
In a way, the proof that we think gathering is important here is that we have a regular meeting schedule.
On the other hand, the evidence to support Lew's claim that we don't think gathering is important is that we cancel our regularly scheduled gatherings on a fairly regular basis.
As of this moment, we do plan to gather next week. It's just that Evie and I won't host the gathering.
As we sometimes do, we plan to organize lunch at a local restaurant and invite everyone to join us there and to pay for the meal for at least the people from the home.
It's at this point that I'd guess that Lew and I have an issue.
I suspect that Lew wouldn't see what we plan for next week as a gathering in a spiritual sense.
But, we will spend time in the Word and we will pray together.
The only thing the congregation will consume next Sunday in that gathering will be the food they order.
In a traditional, seeker-sensitive, gathering, the people attending also consume "worship team" led music and, of course, a sermon.
Having carefully studied New Testament gatherings, I'd argue that what we do when we gather at a restaurant is at least as close to "New Testament plan" gatherings as what traditional seeker-sensitive folks do in their, misnamed, worship services.
And, honestly, what Jesus taught is that the church is present when two or three are gathered in His Name.
--------------
Bottom line, we think that gathering is important because it is a means to an end. Advocates of the institutional Christianity, I believe, see gathering as a very important end in itself.
With that understanding, many institutionalists may not see our gatherings as gatherings at all.
On the other hand, I, at least, can't see what goes on in a seeker-sensitive so-called "worship service" as resembling anything close to anything Jesus taught or did or that took place among early disciples.
--------------
Anyway, a lot of stressful and energy-consuming things are going on in our family, particularly concerning mom and dad's mental and physical health.
If we didn't value gathering, we'd not do anything gathering-related at all for a looooooong time.
More on that stuff, probably, at a later time.
We didn't meet last week either, though, and Evie and I have already decided that we won't host a gathering next week either.
In another thread, the guy I know as Lew, AKA Vieux Loup, suggested that I think gathering regularly is not important.
And I argued in return that I do think it's important but that I don't think it's an act of righteousness.
And, I do not think gathering is an act of righteousness--in the New Covenant, anyway.
In a way, the proof that we think gathering is important here is that we have a regular meeting schedule.
On the other hand, the evidence to support Lew's claim that we don't think gathering is important is that we cancel our regularly scheduled gatherings on a fairly regular basis.
As of this moment, we do plan to gather next week. It's just that Evie and I won't host the gathering.
As we sometimes do, we plan to organize lunch at a local restaurant and invite everyone to join us there and to pay for the meal for at least the people from the home.
It's at this point that I'd guess that Lew and I have an issue.
I suspect that Lew wouldn't see what we plan for next week as a gathering in a spiritual sense.
But, we will spend time in the Word and we will pray together.
The only thing the congregation will consume next Sunday in that gathering will be the food they order.
In a traditional, seeker-sensitive, gathering, the people attending also consume "worship team" led music and, of course, a sermon.
Having carefully studied New Testament gatherings, I'd argue that what we do when we gather at a restaurant is at least as close to "New Testament plan" gatherings as what traditional seeker-sensitive folks do in their, misnamed, worship services.
And, honestly, what Jesus taught is that the church is present when two or three are gathered in His Name.
--------------
Bottom line, we think that gathering is important because it is a means to an end. Advocates of the institutional Christianity, I believe, see gathering as a very important end in itself.
With that understanding, many institutionalists may not see our gatherings as gatherings at all.
On the other hand, I, at least, can't see what goes on in a seeker-sensitive so-called "worship service" as resembling anything close to anything Jesus taught or did or that took place among early disciples.
--------------
Anyway, a lot of stressful and energy-consuming things are going on in our family, particularly concerning mom and dad's mental and physical health.
If we didn't value gathering, we'd not do anything gathering-related at all for a looooooong time.
More on that stuff, probably, at a later time.
Friday, June 23, 2017
Treating the Spiritual Cancer in the American Church
Here's some background on my story:
In the language of the American institutional church in 2017, I am the "leader" of a house church community.
I also have a full-time job apart from my involvement in our gathering.
You can't call me bi-vocational because I earn no money from the gathering for my service to Jesus and God's Kingdom.
In our gathering, I don't see myself as a parish priest/pastor. In our gathering, we are all responsible to be priests to each other.
At my job, my focus is on being a man of God's Kingdom. On the job, I see myself as an ambassador of the Kingdom of God in a spiritually foreign place.
----------------
On that job, one of my coworkers has recently been diagnosed with cancer and her diagnosis has brought back a flood a memories.
Seven years ago today, Evie, my wife, was undergoing chemo treatments, expecting to have cancer surgery in September and radiation treatments after surgery until the end of the year.
She had Stage 3C breast cancer so her survival was, by no means, certain. (Stage 4 is when the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.)
Praise God. Seven years down this road, she is cancer free.
---------------
The process of the diagnosis of Evie's cancer was a tense time. Her mammogram showed a tumor that was 5.2 cm. x 3.7 cm., (2+ inches x 1 1/2 inches). Later, cancer was discovered in some lymph nodes.
Here's where all of this background is leading...
AT THE VERY BEGINNING, EVIE'S ONCOLOGIST SAID:
"WHEN THE DIAGNOSIS IS COMPLETE, IF WE THINK YOU CAN SURVIVE, WE WILL ALMOST KILL YOU TO CURE YOUR CANCER.
BUT, IF WE THINK YOU CAN'T SURVIVE, WE WILL GIVE YOU MILD TREATMENTS TO ENSURE THAT YOU HAVE THE HIGHEST QUALITY OF LIFE POSSIBLE FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE.
--------------
The American church has cancer.
Attendance at its services, its measure of health, is declining--and declining rapidly and tragically among people under the age of 40.
Even more tragically, based on the lifestyle Jesus commanded and modeled, the American church has turned most church attenders into passive consumers of religious products and services.
---------------
In my denominational tradition as an example, congregations are failing, that is, churches are closing, at a historic rate, and, according to denominational leaders, 80% of remaining churches are either stagnant or declining.
We acknowledge that our denominational body has cancer.
The question is: Can the denomination survive?
---------------
As I read the Word and study church history, I believe that if our cancer can be beaten, the only hope is through radical treatment that will leave what exists now all but dead in the hope that what remains can recover and thrive.
Sadly, to my knowledge, in my Conference, the only remedy being proposed by our leaders is a tweaking of what already is with the creation of yet another in a series of Strategic Plans and a restructuring of a failing Conference hierarchy.
This is the equivalent of the approach Evie's oncologist described if survival isn't possible. It's mild. It extends life but acknowledges that death is inevitable.
It will lead to, at best, a managed, longer and less traumatic process of dying.
--------------
The Word is clear. It describes the process that leads to salvation where there is spiritual death in a church.
Paul said it this way:
"Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret." (2 Cor. 7:10)
--------------
If what exists as Christianity in the West today is to reverse its decline and thrive again in the future, it will have to go radical in attacking what's killing it from within.
It can't tweak.
It must attack the cancer that is alive and thriving in the body now and kill it off so that what is of the Lord can, again, thrive.
In the denominational body that I love, the killing of the cancer in the body isn't being contemplated.
My heart is breaking.
We must repent.
In the language of the American institutional church in 2017, I am the "leader" of a house church community.
I also have a full-time job apart from my involvement in our gathering.
You can't call me bi-vocational because I earn no money from the gathering for my service to Jesus and God's Kingdom.
In our gathering, I don't see myself as a parish priest/pastor. In our gathering, we are all responsible to be priests to each other.
At my job, my focus is on being a man of God's Kingdom. On the job, I see myself as an ambassador of the Kingdom of God in a spiritually foreign place.
----------------
On that job, one of my coworkers has recently been diagnosed with cancer and her diagnosis has brought back a flood a memories.
Seven years ago today, Evie, my wife, was undergoing chemo treatments, expecting to have cancer surgery in September and radiation treatments after surgery until the end of the year.
She had Stage 3C breast cancer so her survival was, by no means, certain. (Stage 4 is when the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.)
Praise God. Seven years down this road, she is cancer free.
---------------
The process of the diagnosis of Evie's cancer was a tense time. Her mammogram showed a tumor that was 5.2 cm. x 3.7 cm., (2+ inches x 1 1/2 inches). Later, cancer was discovered in some lymph nodes.
Here's where all of this background is leading...
AT THE VERY BEGINNING, EVIE'S ONCOLOGIST SAID:
"WHEN THE DIAGNOSIS IS COMPLETE, IF WE THINK YOU CAN SURVIVE, WE WILL ALMOST KILL YOU TO CURE YOUR CANCER.
BUT, IF WE THINK YOU CAN'T SURVIVE, WE WILL GIVE YOU MILD TREATMENTS TO ENSURE THAT YOU HAVE THE HIGHEST QUALITY OF LIFE POSSIBLE FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE.
--------------
The American church has cancer.
Attendance at its services, its measure of health, is declining--and declining rapidly and tragically among people under the age of 40.
Even more tragically, based on the lifestyle Jesus commanded and modeled, the American church has turned most church attenders into passive consumers of religious products and services.
---------------
In my denominational tradition as an example, congregations are failing, that is, churches are closing, at a historic rate, and, according to denominational leaders, 80% of remaining churches are either stagnant or declining.
We acknowledge that our denominational body has cancer.
The question is: Can the denomination survive?
---------------
As I read the Word and study church history, I believe that if our cancer can be beaten, the only hope is through radical treatment that will leave what exists now all but dead in the hope that what remains can recover and thrive.
Sadly, to my knowledge, in my Conference, the only remedy being proposed by our leaders is a tweaking of what already is with the creation of yet another in a series of Strategic Plans and a restructuring of a failing Conference hierarchy.
This is the equivalent of the approach Evie's oncologist described if survival isn't possible. It's mild. It extends life but acknowledges that death is inevitable.
It will lead to, at best, a managed, longer and less traumatic process of dying.
--------------
The Word is clear. It describes the process that leads to salvation where there is spiritual death in a church.
Paul said it this way:
"Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret." (2 Cor. 7:10)
--------------
If what exists as Christianity in the West today is to reverse its decline and thrive again in the future, it will have to go radical in attacking what's killing it from within.
It can't tweak.
It must attack the cancer that is alive and thriving in the body now and kill it off so that what is of the Lord can, again, thrive.
In the denominational body that I love, the killing of the cancer in the body isn't being contemplated.
My heart is breaking.
We must repent.
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
ERC Leadership: Humility or...something Else
The word hubris is one of those ancient Greek words that actually appears in the New Testament and is used in English today.
In English today, it's a $100 word, no doubt, but it is a New Testament Greek word that you can find in its Greek spelling in your English dictionary.
It appears three times in the New Testament and its verb form, hubrizo, appears five times.
Hubris is a nasty word.
Among the Greeks, it described pride so extreme that it offended the gods. In fact, a common theme in Greek drama saw extreme pride leading to a person's downfall.
(I've posted here that we are fans of the, now concluded, BBC series Lewis. A whole episode of that series centers on hubris.)
The biblical truth is that hubris was condemned in the Old Testament long before it was the focus of Greek tragedy.
Proverbs 16:18 declares that pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.
In the Septuagint, the ancient translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek, the word translated pride is hubris.
---------------
It seems to me that the CGGC/ERC leadership community reeks of hubris.
I suspect that no one reading this and who knows one or more mountaintoppers personally is agreeing.
I don't know all the mountaintoppers well these days. But, I am a geezer and I entered the Eldership more than 40 years ago. I knew some of the mountaintoppers when they were students at seminary and I was acquainted with others before they started in their first pastorates.
For the most part, today's mountaintoppers are introverts who have reserved and temperate personalities.
They are quiet, some even shy. And, as individuals, they appear to be gentle even meek.
And, in their reserve and gentility, they may seem to be humble.
But, on the big-picture level, as a leadership culture, or community, what they do smacks of hubris--of pride, of arrogance and self-concern.
----------------
Many times, I have accused the mountaintoppers of being church, not Kingdom, focused.
Based on recent ERC mountaintop action, I'm reaching the conclusion that I've been far too generous.
ERC mountaintoppers are showing themselves to be mountaintop-focused, not even church-focused.
The mountaintop's response to the disaster that is the old, new 2015 Strategic Plan has been to try to save the mountaintop so that the chief mountaintopper, at least, can keep his salary and corner office.
----------------
What would they do if they were driven by humility, not hubris?
They'd do something like stand as one before the Conference with slumped shoulders, bowed heads, struggling to achieve eye contact and mumble:
Two years ago we presented a new Strategic Plan to you with great pomp and fanfare and we believed in it. But, it has failed. WE HAVE FAILED.
In those two years, many of the churches you attend, or, if you are a pastor, you serve, have declined.
We now realize that that Strategic Plan is nothing more than words on a page. And, we acknowledge the Strategic Plan's failure is our failure.
We beg you, in the love of Christ, to forgive us for our sincere failure.
Because we love the Lord and His Kingdom and our church and because we love you, we submit to you, the delegates of the Eastern Regional Conference, our resignations.
Nevertheless, as we offer our resignations, we tell you that we believe that we still can lead our Conference to good things but we need to receive your forgiveness and we will only move forward in leadership with your permission.
----------------
That would have been the humble way for the mountaintoppers to have approached the Conference this year.
It's precisely what they did not do.
What they did do is not fruit of humility or of love for the Lord or the Kingdom or even the Conference or its churches.
It is fruit of self-love, of love of the institutional mountaintop.
It's hubris.
Self-concern and pride.
-------------
I often conclude a post saying that we must repent, not you must repent or that they must repent.
The essential truth about the mountaintoppers' performance at Conference this year is that the whole Conference bought into the mountaintoppers' desire to preserve the mountaintop.
The whole Conference is still letting the mountaintoppers have their way.
And, as I also often say, the Lord of all authority and power and grace and mercy and blessing is not blessing.
WE must repent.
In English today, it's a $100 word, no doubt, but it is a New Testament Greek word that you can find in its Greek spelling in your English dictionary.
It appears three times in the New Testament and its verb form, hubrizo, appears five times.
Hubris is a nasty word.
Among the Greeks, it described pride so extreme that it offended the gods. In fact, a common theme in Greek drama saw extreme pride leading to a person's downfall.
(I've posted here that we are fans of the, now concluded, BBC series Lewis. A whole episode of that series centers on hubris.)
The biblical truth is that hubris was condemned in the Old Testament long before it was the focus of Greek tragedy.
Proverbs 16:18 declares that pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.
In the Septuagint, the ancient translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek, the word translated pride is hubris.
---------------
It seems to me that the CGGC/ERC leadership community reeks of hubris.
I suspect that no one reading this and who knows one or more mountaintoppers personally is agreeing.
I don't know all the mountaintoppers well these days. But, I am a geezer and I entered the Eldership more than 40 years ago. I knew some of the mountaintoppers when they were students at seminary and I was acquainted with others before they started in their first pastorates.
For the most part, today's mountaintoppers are introverts who have reserved and temperate personalities.
They are quiet, some even shy. And, as individuals, they appear to be gentle even meek.
And, in their reserve and gentility, they may seem to be humble.
But, on the big-picture level, as a leadership culture, or community, what they do smacks of hubris--of pride, of arrogance and self-concern.
----------------
Many times, I have accused the mountaintoppers of being church, not Kingdom, focused.
Based on recent ERC mountaintop action, I'm reaching the conclusion that I've been far too generous.
ERC mountaintoppers are showing themselves to be mountaintop-focused, not even church-focused.
The mountaintop's response to the disaster that is the old, new 2015 Strategic Plan has been to try to save the mountaintop so that the chief mountaintopper, at least, can keep his salary and corner office.
----------------
What would they do if they were driven by humility, not hubris?
They'd do something like stand as one before the Conference with slumped shoulders, bowed heads, struggling to achieve eye contact and mumble:
Two years ago we presented a new Strategic Plan to you with great pomp and fanfare and we believed in it. But, it has failed. WE HAVE FAILED.
In those two years, many of the churches you attend, or, if you are a pastor, you serve, have declined.
We now realize that that Strategic Plan is nothing more than words on a page. And, we acknowledge the Strategic Plan's failure is our failure.
We beg you, in the love of Christ, to forgive us for our sincere failure.
Because we love the Lord and His Kingdom and our church and because we love you, we submit to you, the delegates of the Eastern Regional Conference, our resignations.
Nevertheless, as we offer our resignations, we tell you that we believe that we still can lead our Conference to good things but we need to receive your forgiveness and we will only move forward in leadership with your permission.
----------------
That would have been the humble way for the mountaintoppers to have approached the Conference this year.
It's precisely what they did not do.
What they did do is not fruit of humility or of love for the Lord or the Kingdom or even the Conference or its churches.
It is fruit of self-love, of love of the institutional mountaintop.
It's hubris.
Self-concern and pride.
-------------
I often conclude a post saying that we must repent, not you must repent or that they must repent.
The essential truth about the mountaintoppers' performance at Conference this year is that the whole Conference bought into the mountaintoppers' desire to preserve the mountaintop.
The whole Conference is still letting the mountaintoppers have their way.
And, as I also often say, the Lord of all authority and power and grace and mercy and blessing is not blessing.
WE must repent.
Monday, June 19, 2017
I Should be the Poster Boy for CGGC Ministry
I walk the CGGC mountaintoppers talk.
It stuns and, at times, amuses me when I view Dr. Richardson's videos and read Lance's eNews articles and see their vision casting for wildly progressive approaches to ministry which they are convinced will transform the ERC/CGGC into healthy/growing bodies...
...and I realize that they are describing who I have been and what I have been doing...
...FOR YEARS!
Multiplication?
We, at Faith, began to walk that path, what, three? four years? ago now?
Multiplication is startling, radical and cutting-edge, there, my ERC friends. Of course, except that the expelled whackoes at Faith Community have already embraced it.
Lance's June 16, 2017 eNews highlighted the importance of, I guess, mature church leaders, such as himself, investing themselves in the lives of "young leaders."
With the understanding that I have noted that in a Kingdom, the only actual leader is the King, I have been doing what Lance advocates--to about the tenth power--FOR YEARS.
By saying that I do it to the tenth power, I mean that I do it as a full-time and as a lifestyle.
-----------------
If you look at this from 40,000 feet, you have to believe that the behavior of the CGGC is insane.
And, well, I suppose mine is too.
Here's a big word I recently learned: Laicized.
Rumor has it that, in 2016, the ERC laicized me.
You want to get into trouble in the CGGC? Walk the mountaintoppers' talk and do it openly and passionately.
If you're on top of a CGGC mountain and someone actually puts what you say into action?
Shepherd whack that person.
----------------
By all rights, I should be the Poster Boy for CGGC Ministry.
Instead, in the insane CGGC world, I'm on a Wanted Poster.
Do we laugh or cry?
It stuns and, at times, amuses me when I view Dr. Richardson's videos and read Lance's eNews articles and see their vision casting for wildly progressive approaches to ministry which they are convinced will transform the ERC/CGGC into healthy/growing bodies...
...and I realize that they are describing who I have been and what I have been doing...
...FOR YEARS!
Multiplication?
We, at Faith, began to walk that path, what, three? four years? ago now?
Multiplication is startling, radical and cutting-edge, there, my ERC friends. Of course, except that the expelled whackoes at Faith Community have already embraced it.
Lance's June 16, 2017 eNews highlighted the importance of, I guess, mature church leaders, such as himself, investing themselves in the lives of "young leaders."
With the understanding that I have noted that in a Kingdom, the only actual leader is the King, I have been doing what Lance advocates--to about the tenth power--FOR YEARS.
By saying that I do it to the tenth power, I mean that I do it as a full-time and as a lifestyle.
-----------------
If you look at this from 40,000 feet, you have to believe that the behavior of the CGGC is insane.
And, well, I suppose mine is too.
Here's a big word I recently learned: Laicized.
Rumor has it that, in 2016, the ERC laicized me.
You want to get into trouble in the CGGC? Walk the mountaintoppers' talk and do it openly and passionately.
If you're on top of a CGGC mountain and someone actually puts what you say into action?
Shepherd whack that person.
----------------
By all rights, I should be the Poster Boy for CGGC Ministry.
Instead, in the insane CGGC world, I'm on a Wanted Poster.
Do we laugh or cry?
Friday, June 16, 2017
Update on Mom's Health
A few weeks ago I journaled here that my mother fell in the middle of the night.
Since then, she's had Xrays twice because her pain level has been intense.
Before she fell, she had two broken vertebrae. The Xrays show that she worsened the break in what we members of the medical laity know as her tail bone. Now, rather than calling it broken, we're being told it's crushed. She's undergoing physical therapy which she doesn't like because it increases her pain to an even higher level.
In addition to her physical pain, she has related physical problems and, as is often the case with people suffering from dementia, the physical trauma has created a rapid decline in her mental state.
Her memory, at least for the moment, is gone to the degree that it is dangerous. When we ask her if she's had physical therapy that day, she always says that she has. She has absolutely no memory of the previous day.
Because she's in so much pain, her appetite is gone and she doesn't want to eat many meals. Dad is so far into his dementia that he has lost awareness of the concept of meal time and doesn't ever seem to be hungry, though he eats if you give him food. And, he's losing weight.
Mom often tells the staff from the home that they don't want a meal and, based on the rules, it appears that she can refuse meals for both of them.
All of this works together to create an unsafe situation.
It's very stressful for the family.
That's the latest from our version of Lake Wobegon.
Since then, she's had Xrays twice because her pain level has been intense.
Before she fell, she had two broken vertebrae. The Xrays show that she worsened the break in what we members of the medical laity know as her tail bone. Now, rather than calling it broken, we're being told it's crushed. She's undergoing physical therapy which she doesn't like because it increases her pain to an even higher level.
In addition to her physical pain, she has related physical problems and, as is often the case with people suffering from dementia, the physical trauma has created a rapid decline in her mental state.
Her memory, at least for the moment, is gone to the degree that it is dangerous. When we ask her if she's had physical therapy that day, she always says that she has. She has absolutely no memory of the previous day.
Because she's in so much pain, her appetite is gone and she doesn't want to eat many meals. Dad is so far into his dementia that he has lost awareness of the concept of meal time and doesn't ever seem to be hungry, though he eats if you give him food. And, he's losing weight.
Mom often tells the staff from the home that they don't want a meal and, based on the rules, it appears that she can refuse meals for both of them.
All of this works together to create an unsafe situation.
It's very stressful for the family.
That's the latest from our version of Lake Wobegon.
Thursday, June 15, 2017
Kingdom Focused Giving: A Follow Up
Two weeks ago, I entered a post describing ways that we were planning, as subjects of the Kingdom, to contribute financially to the needs of people we know.
In that post, I described what we did for one family.
In the case of my coworker who's been ill, we decided to make a gift of cash.
We tried to do it anonymously this time.
(Don't try that. The whole thing got messy and, in the end, more people became aware of what we did than had to know and, it appears that we put someone in the company I work for in an uncomfortable position.)
Anyway, Evie and I considered, in the Spirit, the size of the gift we should give and quickly agreed on a number of dollars. Curiously, the number we agreed on is a sort of round number but certainly not an obvious number if rounding off is your goal.
So...
We got the cash together and arranged for it to be given to my coworker.
Today is the day that the money was going to be given.
And, about two hours before my coworker received our gift, she sent me a text with a prayer request. She had a sudden, unexpected expense. She begged me not to think she was asking for money.
THE SUDDEN AND UNEXPECTED EXPENSE SHE DESCRIBED WAS EXACTLY, TO THE PENNY, THE AMOUNT INSIDE THE ENVELOPE FROM US!
We are intentional about living, as Paul says in Galatians, "by the Spirit," and there are times when the Spirit lets you know that you got it right.
Amazing!
To the PENNY!!!!!!!!!!
My coworker was amazed by the to the penny part of it, more than the amount of the gift.
In that post, I described what we did for one family.
In the case of my coworker who's been ill, we decided to make a gift of cash.
We tried to do it anonymously this time.
(Don't try that. The whole thing got messy and, in the end, more people became aware of what we did than had to know and, it appears that we put someone in the company I work for in an uncomfortable position.)
Anyway, Evie and I considered, in the Spirit, the size of the gift we should give and quickly agreed on a number of dollars. Curiously, the number we agreed on is a sort of round number but certainly not an obvious number if rounding off is your goal.
So...
We got the cash together and arranged for it to be given to my coworker.
Today is the day that the money was going to be given.
And, about two hours before my coworker received our gift, she sent me a text with a prayer request. She had a sudden, unexpected expense. She begged me not to think she was asking for money.
THE SUDDEN AND UNEXPECTED EXPENSE SHE DESCRIBED WAS EXACTLY, TO THE PENNY, THE AMOUNT INSIDE THE ENVELOPE FROM US!
We are intentional about living, as Paul says in Galatians, "by the Spirit," and there are times when the Spirit lets you know that you got it right.
Amazing!
To the PENNY!!!!!!!!!!
My coworker was amazed by the to the penny part of it, more than the amount of the gift.
Sunday, June 11, 2017
One Thing I Mean when I Accuse CGGC Mountaintoppers of being POPISH
It's likely that I lost a heap of sympathy across CGGC in late 2012 when I sent out an email in a furious response to the 2013 Credentialing Proposal saying that it was the result of a "popish process" led by the current CGGC E.D..
If you are one of the dozens to whom I sent that intemperate note, and if you remember it, you'll recall that I actually observed that, at times, CGGC mountaintoppers claim authority over the CGGC that Roman Catholic Popes don't claim within their institution.
I actually went so far as to apologize to the Popes of history for lumping them in with recent CGGC authoritarians.
Needless to say, at the moment, I was highly agitated. And, while I apologize for the tone of that note, I stand by my assessment of the Credentials Document. It has mired us in Medieval, church-focused ways and impeded any effort to focus us on the Kingdom.
----------------
What does the adjective popish mean?
As that sort of term does, it means many things.
Specifically...
...In the context of the ERC 2015 old, New Strategic Plan and the new, New Strategic Plan now percolating among ERC mountaintoppers, it has to do with the Middle Ages idea that some in the church are providers of religious products and services to be consumed by others.
One way to understand the admission of the mountaintoppers at Conference in 2017, as it has been conveyed to me...
...is that in 2015 the mountaintoppers regarded themselves as providers of religious products and services at the top of a pyramid scheme that functions very much like Mary Kay, or Amway in which everyone below them will fall in line and consume and, in turn, sell the religious product they were selling.
---------------
Their Pastor as Parish Priest idea of how the local church runs is an integral part of that scheme.
Pastors provide religious products and services to the laity, who are on the bottom of the pyramid, and are the ultimate consumers.
In the mountaintoppers' scheme, theoretically, then, the pastor parish priests consume the religious products and services developed by those in the hierarchy...
...and, ultimately, those lower in the hierarchy consume the products and services by higher ranking CGGC bureaucrats so that when the Executive Director belches, everyone, all the way down the mountain and into the deepest CGGC valley, says, "Excuse me."
------------------
So, in 2015, and this is vastly oversimplified. There is much more involved, but...
...the mountaintoppers produced their latest religious product, the old, New Strategic Plan...
...and, the consumers didn't buy it. They never have bought it. But, the degree of putrefication and decline of the Conference has become do great that now it matters.
HOW DARE THEY!?
So, by 2017, the mountaintoppers appeared at Conference admitting that the old, New Strategic Plan was only "words on paper."
Their admission meant, whether they get it or not, that, in at least this one instance, they realize that they aren't popes.
This is an important moment for the ERC because it might lead to a crisis moment in which the mountaintoppers experience the godly sorrow that produces the sort of repentance that leads to salvation.
----------------
So far, that hasn't happened.
The hierarchs have merely reached into their old bag of failed tricks and pulled out another Strategic Plan.
They're still behaving popishly in the way that allows them to regard themselves as providers of religious products and services to be consumed further down the mountain...
...not, as Jesus described the greatest in the Kingdom as those who are slaves of all.
We must repent and change our ways.
If you are one of the dozens to whom I sent that intemperate note, and if you remember it, you'll recall that I actually observed that, at times, CGGC mountaintoppers claim authority over the CGGC that Roman Catholic Popes don't claim within their institution.
I actually went so far as to apologize to the Popes of history for lumping them in with recent CGGC authoritarians.
Needless to say, at the moment, I was highly agitated. And, while I apologize for the tone of that note, I stand by my assessment of the Credentials Document. It has mired us in Medieval, church-focused ways and impeded any effort to focus us on the Kingdom.
----------------
What does the adjective popish mean?
As that sort of term does, it means many things.
Specifically...
...In the context of the ERC 2015 old, New Strategic Plan and the new, New Strategic Plan now percolating among ERC mountaintoppers, it has to do with the Middle Ages idea that some in the church are providers of religious products and services to be consumed by others.
One way to understand the admission of the mountaintoppers at Conference in 2017, as it has been conveyed to me...
...is that in 2015 the mountaintoppers regarded themselves as providers of religious products and services at the top of a pyramid scheme that functions very much like Mary Kay, or Amway in which everyone below them will fall in line and consume and, in turn, sell the religious product they were selling.
---------------
Their Pastor as Parish Priest idea of how the local church runs is an integral part of that scheme.
Pastors provide religious products and services to the laity, who are on the bottom of the pyramid, and are the ultimate consumers.
In the mountaintoppers' scheme, theoretically, then, the pastor parish priests consume the religious products and services developed by those in the hierarchy...
...and, ultimately, those lower in the hierarchy consume the products and services by higher ranking CGGC bureaucrats so that when the Executive Director belches, everyone, all the way down the mountain and into the deepest CGGC valley, says, "Excuse me."
------------------
So, in 2015, and this is vastly oversimplified. There is much more involved, but...
...the mountaintoppers produced their latest religious product, the old, New Strategic Plan...
...and, the consumers didn't buy it. They never have bought it. But, the degree of putrefication and decline of the Conference has become do great that now it matters.
HOW DARE THEY!?
So, by 2017, the mountaintoppers appeared at Conference admitting that the old, New Strategic Plan was only "words on paper."
Their admission meant, whether they get it or not, that, in at least this one instance, they realize that they aren't popes.
This is an important moment for the ERC because it might lead to a crisis moment in which the mountaintoppers experience the godly sorrow that produces the sort of repentance that leads to salvation.
----------------
So far, that hasn't happened.
The hierarchs have merely reached into their old bag of failed tricks and pulled out another Strategic Plan.
They're still behaving popishly in the way that allows them to regard themselves as providers of religious products and services to be consumed further down the mountain...
...not, as Jesus described the greatest in the Kingdom as those who are slaves of all.
We must repent and change our ways.
Friday, June 9, 2017
Dr. Richardson's Video on Multiplication
As you will see, I take some of this very personally, and I considered not posting this for that reason but this, I believe, is too important.
Forgive the personal part if you must, though I think what's personal to me reveals an essential truth.
---------------
I received, from several sources, Dr. Richardson's latest video featuring his efforts to lead the new New Strategic Plan. The video certainly isn't a secret thing. It's the feature of the latest ERC Newsletter.
In it, Kevin encourages the people of the ERC to be about the work of multiplying disciples, leaders, ministries and churches.
I have three thoughts about what he says and how he says it.
1. I doubt Kevin's heart is in his message.
It was seven years ago, when Kevin was the Executive Director of the ERC, that we at Faith began our journey to revamp our ministry.
What we did was inspired by a desire to obey Jesus and to mimic the ministry of the early church.
Our refocused ministry was, secondarily, aligned with CGGC and ERC doctrine, and, the CGGC's Mission and Vision Statements.
To this day, the Ministry at Faith continues to embrace CGGC doctrine and Mission and Vision.
The CGGC Vision Statement specifically highlights the importance of multiplication and we have pursued multiplication.
Dr. Richardson's response to what we have done?
At first, Kevin ignored us. Ultimately, though, he fought us.
In the end, he became the mouthpiece for those challenging my credentials and, then, a cornerstone in the effort to expel Faith's multiplication-focused ministry from the Conference.
Amazingly, Kevin's letter to Faith announcing that it had been expelled arrived only two months ago.
Kevin's talk doesn't match his very recent walk.
2. You have to wonder, don't you, if Kevin even owns a Bible.
I've watched video several times now. And, I'd say that it is representive of Dr. Richardson's leadership of the ERC over the past nine years, in one way in particular:
Kevin, not even once, cites Scripture as the authority for what he is doing or for how he wants to do it.
The essence of what the Church of God does has always been, according to Winebrenner and even the 2013 Statement of Faith that, "the Bible is our only rule of faith and practice."
It may be our only rule of faith and practice, but, clearly, it's not Kevin's.
To listen to Dr. Richardson, the Bible plays no role in either the faith or the practice of the Eastern Regional Conference.
Many times over the years, I've described the mountaintoppers of the CGGC as hypocrites. This video provides a perfect example of that hypocrisy.
Why in the Word would a disciple of Jesus follow Kevin and the new New Strategic Plan?
Kevin supplies no reason. He doesn't cite Scripture.
3. Kevin's video is the incarnation of the the Characteristic of the CGGC Brand that I have labeled, Ecclesiolatry, that is, the worship of the church, not the Lord of the church.
Here's a tip:
If Las Vegas oddsmakers set the over/under line on appearances of the name of Jesus and mentions of the Kingdom of God at 1 in Kevin's video, BET THE UNDER!
On the other hand, I tried to count the number of times Dr. Richardson used the words church and churches but I couldn't. I ran out of fingers and toes with about 30 seconds left in the video.
The word church is absent from three of the four Gospels while the Gospels are filled with Jesus' teachings about the Kingdom of God.
Clearly, Kevin cares about the church. If he loves Jesus and the Kingdom of God, he doesn't tell us in this video.
----------------
From the top to the bottom and from side to side, we must repent.
And, based on this video, ERC mountaintoppers are still following their old and fallen ways.
Forgive the personal part if you must, though I think what's personal to me reveals an essential truth.
---------------
I received, from several sources, Dr. Richardson's latest video featuring his efforts to lead the new New Strategic Plan. The video certainly isn't a secret thing. It's the feature of the latest ERC Newsletter.
In it, Kevin encourages the people of the ERC to be about the work of multiplying disciples, leaders, ministries and churches.
I have three thoughts about what he says and how he says it.
1. I doubt Kevin's heart is in his message.
It was seven years ago, when Kevin was the Executive Director of the ERC, that we at Faith began our journey to revamp our ministry.
What we did was inspired by a desire to obey Jesus and to mimic the ministry of the early church.
Our refocused ministry was, secondarily, aligned with CGGC and ERC doctrine, and, the CGGC's Mission and Vision Statements.
To this day, the Ministry at Faith continues to embrace CGGC doctrine and Mission and Vision.
The CGGC Vision Statement specifically highlights the importance of multiplication and we have pursued multiplication.
Dr. Richardson's response to what we have done?
At first, Kevin ignored us. Ultimately, though, he fought us.
In the end, he became the mouthpiece for those challenging my credentials and, then, a cornerstone in the effort to expel Faith's multiplication-focused ministry from the Conference.
Amazingly, Kevin's letter to Faith announcing that it had been expelled arrived only two months ago.
Kevin's talk doesn't match his very recent walk.
2. You have to wonder, don't you, if Kevin even owns a Bible.
I've watched video several times now. And, I'd say that it is representive of Dr. Richardson's leadership of the ERC over the past nine years, in one way in particular:
Kevin, not even once, cites Scripture as the authority for what he is doing or for how he wants to do it.
The essence of what the Church of God does has always been, according to Winebrenner and even the 2013 Statement of Faith that, "the Bible is our only rule of faith and practice."
It may be our only rule of faith and practice, but, clearly, it's not Kevin's.
To listen to Dr. Richardson, the Bible plays no role in either the faith or the practice of the Eastern Regional Conference.
Many times over the years, I've described the mountaintoppers of the CGGC as hypocrites. This video provides a perfect example of that hypocrisy.
Why in the Word would a disciple of Jesus follow Kevin and the new New Strategic Plan?
Kevin supplies no reason. He doesn't cite Scripture.
3. Kevin's video is the incarnation of the the Characteristic of the CGGC Brand that I have labeled, Ecclesiolatry, that is, the worship of the church, not the Lord of the church.
Here's a tip:
If Las Vegas oddsmakers set the over/under line on appearances of the name of Jesus and mentions of the Kingdom of God at 1 in Kevin's video, BET THE UNDER!
On the other hand, I tried to count the number of times Dr. Richardson used the words church and churches but I couldn't. I ran out of fingers and toes with about 30 seconds left in the video.
The word church is absent from three of the four Gospels while the Gospels are filled with Jesus' teachings about the Kingdom of God.
Clearly, Kevin cares about the church. If he loves Jesus and the Kingdom of God, he doesn't tell us in this video.
----------------
From the top to the bottom and from side to side, we must repent.
And, based on this video, ERC mountaintoppers are still following their old and fallen ways.
Thursday, June 8, 2017
Commentary on The ERC should Hire Me, Reason 1
As I've noted many times, I've asked several people what I was charged with when the ERC considered the status of my credentials in 2016 and not a single person knew the charge.
Nor do I. (And, as I've said in the past, Dr. Richardson once wrote to me that there was no cause for the Standing Committee nor the Administrative Council actions.)
However, what everyone I asked said is that I've been critical of Conference leadership. (I categorically deny that but that's a matter of definition and perspective. I admit to having predicted, in the Spirit and with precision, the numerous failures of the plans of the mountaintoppers.)
The fact that I've been perceived as being opposed to the Conference is precisely why the ERC should hire me to join the Lord in a work He might do to reverse the decay and decline of the ERC.
The import of the message of ERC mountaintoppers at Conference in 2017, as reports have trickled to me, is that the mountaintop now, and suddenly, agrees with me that:
The Lord of all authority and power and grace and mercy and blessing is not blessing the ERC.
And, now those same mountaintoppers have devised yet another Strategic Plan in an attempt to provoke the Lord to bless their ways.
This is the incarnation of Einstein's purported definition of insanity, that is, to do the same thing over and over again expecting different results.
What?
The mountaintoppers think, "The Lord flubbed it. He didn't realize that He shouldn't have blessed our other Strategic Plans. So, we'll give Him one final chance to get it right and to join US in the work WE are doing!"
----------------
Friends,
Because of the gifting given to me by the Holy Spirit and because of my halting success in hearing Him and speaking for Him, I knew for certain and foretold the failure of the old new Strategic Plan and the fact that the Lord would not join the mountaintoppers in the work THEY wanted to do.
The widely rumored discussion of the status of my credentials on the Conference floor in 2016, because I am radically, vocally and unapologetically at odds with ERC mountaintoppers, is precisely why the ERC should hire me.
Check the record of recent years. Please!
The mountaintoppers now acknowledge that they have been wrong.
And, the truth is, as I have walked in the Spirit, my prophetic words have always accurately described, in advance, the mountaintoppers' failure and folly.
For there to be a future for the ERC, there will have to be a 180 degree turn and a walk in that direction.
Current mountaintoppers get vertigo even trying to turn toward that direction. The fact that they have produced a new New Strategic Plan is all the proof of that anyone should need.
I've been pointed in the direction we should go since I embraced my prophetic gift.
We must repent...and turn from our fallen ways.
Nor do I. (And, as I've said in the past, Dr. Richardson once wrote to me that there was no cause for the Standing Committee nor the Administrative Council actions.)
However, what everyone I asked said is that I've been critical of Conference leadership. (I categorically deny that but that's a matter of definition and perspective. I admit to having predicted, in the Spirit and with precision, the numerous failures of the plans of the mountaintoppers.)
The fact that I've been perceived as being opposed to the Conference is precisely why the ERC should hire me to join the Lord in a work He might do to reverse the decay and decline of the ERC.
The import of the message of ERC mountaintoppers at Conference in 2017, as reports have trickled to me, is that the mountaintop now, and suddenly, agrees with me that:
The Lord of all authority and power and grace and mercy and blessing is not blessing the ERC.
And, now those same mountaintoppers have devised yet another Strategic Plan in an attempt to provoke the Lord to bless their ways.
This is the incarnation of Einstein's purported definition of insanity, that is, to do the same thing over and over again expecting different results.
What?
The mountaintoppers think, "The Lord flubbed it. He didn't realize that He shouldn't have blessed our other Strategic Plans. So, we'll give Him one final chance to get it right and to join US in the work WE are doing!"
----------------
Friends,
Because of the gifting given to me by the Holy Spirit and because of my halting success in hearing Him and speaking for Him, I knew for certain and foretold the failure of the old new Strategic Plan and the fact that the Lord would not join the mountaintoppers in the work THEY wanted to do.
The widely rumored discussion of the status of my credentials on the Conference floor in 2016, because I am radically, vocally and unapologetically at odds with ERC mountaintoppers, is precisely why the ERC should hire me.
Check the record of recent years. Please!
The mountaintoppers now acknowledge that they have been wrong.
And, the truth is, as I have walked in the Spirit, my prophetic words have always accurately described, in advance, the mountaintoppers' failure and folly.
For there to be a future for the ERC, there will have to be a 180 degree turn and a walk in that direction.
Current mountaintoppers get vertigo even trying to turn toward that direction. The fact that they have produced a new New Strategic Plan is all the proof of that anyone should need.
I've been pointed in the direction we should go since I embraced my prophetic gift.
We must repent...and turn from our fallen ways.
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
The ERC should Hire Me: Reason 1
I'm seriously declaring myself to be a candidate for the position of being the person who will lead the ERC CGGC out of its death spiral, in the Spirit, into a reversal of its fortunes.
It's true that I currently have a full-time job. However, the management of the store that employs me is profoundly Christian. They are all lovers of the Body of Christ. I have no doubt that they would release me and grant me a leave of absence to serve the ERC at this delicate moment.
There are many reasons why I believe the ERC should turn to me now.
The most obvious is that I have been right in predicting one ERC leadership debacle after another over the course of all the years since I began to walk in my prophetic calling.
Each of those fads ERC leadership followed? All those programs they created? All of those plans they devised? I, with clear vision of the future, predicted to be a coming disaster.
And, I was bang on correct. Every time!
The danger to the future of the Conference that its leadership described at Conference sessions this year?
I foretold it.
The Word says that the test of a person who claims to be a prophet is whether or not what s/he predicts comes true.
So, my fellow ERC CGGCers: Check the record.
When the current mountaintoppers were saying, "Try this program," and you did, and I went ballistic and foretold doom?
Who was right?
When the current mountaintoppers sold you the old new Strategic Plan, which they now acknowledge to be disastrous mere words on paper? Think about who has been denouncing CGGC leadership for its To Talk is to Walk-ism and who alone and by himself as far as I know, denounced as folly the old new Strategic Plan mountaintoppers now acknowledge to be folly.
For years, only I have seen, with clear, excuse the pun, 20-20 Vision, the ERC's future.
Can there be any alternative?
Hire me to serve the ERC!
It's true that I currently have a full-time job. However, the management of the store that employs me is profoundly Christian. They are all lovers of the Body of Christ. I have no doubt that they would release me and grant me a leave of absence to serve the ERC at this delicate moment.
There are many reasons why I believe the ERC should turn to me now.
The most obvious is that I have been right in predicting one ERC leadership debacle after another over the course of all the years since I began to walk in my prophetic calling.
Each of those fads ERC leadership followed? All those programs they created? All of those plans they devised? I, with clear vision of the future, predicted to be a coming disaster.
And, I was bang on correct. Every time!
The danger to the future of the Conference that its leadership described at Conference sessions this year?
I foretold it.
The Word says that the test of a person who claims to be a prophet is whether or not what s/he predicts comes true.
So, my fellow ERC CGGCers: Check the record.
When the current mountaintoppers were saying, "Try this program," and you did, and I went ballistic and foretold doom?
Who was right?
When the current mountaintoppers sold you the old new Strategic Plan, which they now acknowledge to be disastrous mere words on paper? Think about who has been denouncing CGGC leadership for its To Talk is to Walk-ism and who alone and by himself as far as I know, denounced as folly the old new Strategic Plan mountaintoppers now acknowledge to be folly.
For years, only I have seen, with clear, excuse the pun, 20-20 Vision, the ERC's future.
Can there be any alternative?
Hire me to serve the ERC!
Monday, June 5, 2017
Why Some People won't Repent
Evie and I, and, to a lesser degree, our whole gathering, are involved with a guy who's hit a rough patch.
He's having some serious health problems and his ability to work has been seriously compromised so much so that, for months, he's been unable to pay his rent or meet the most basic living expenses.
Were it not for the sacrificial aid of members of his family and Evie and me and the people of Faith, he'd have lost his home by now.
But, due to acts of mercy shown to him by a number of people, all of whom, as far as I can tell, have been motivated by a desire to practice mercy as disciples of Jesus, he is surviving.
This guy knows that the people keeping him in his home and putting food on his table follow Jesus...
...and he knows the Good News...
...and, based on contact I've had with him over a number of years, he believes the gospel, at least intellectually.
Yet, he is not living as a follower of Jesus.
He's an alcoholic. He lives in a odd shack up relationship with a girlfriend, even though, based on the last I've heard, they both are still married to other people.
And, again, he knows the Good News. And, he believes that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He rose, etc.. The whole story.
He believes it all. Without doubt.
So, why doesn't he live as if Jesus is his Lord?
He loves his old ways too much.
He likes booze.
He likes having sex with his honey.
And, based on observing the choices he's been making, while his knowledge of the gospel creates tension for him, there's no question that his love for the old ways is stronger than his desire to live for Jesus, no matter how firmly he believes the Jesus story.
-----------------
The preaching of the gospel by Jesus and His New Testament followers, wisely, made believing a second action in becoming a disciple.
The Gospel of Mark tells it succintly.
Jesus began to proclaim that:
1. The time had come.
2. The Kingdom of God was near.
Then he called for two acts in response:
The second of those two was to believe the Good News.
What act was first in order and first in importance?
Repentance!
"The time has come. The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the Good News."
----------------
Believing comes from the mind. It's rather easy to do.
Repentance, though, while it is a change in the way a person thinks, is an act that comes from the heart.
----------------
Jesus said that the greatest command in the law is, "Love the LORD your God with all your heart..."
More and more, as I live among the unrepentant, I think that what separates people who merely believe from those who repent and believe is obedience to the so-called Great Command.
Our acquaintance whose life is crumbling accepts the gospel message as being truth but he won't live the life that the Lord Jesus demands..
...because what he loves with all his heart is the booze and the sex and the other pieces of his old life.
What his heart clings to won't permit him to repent, no matter how firmly he believes in the truth of the gospel.
It strikes me that many churches today are filled with people who firmly believe the Good News but whose hearts are not entirely in love with the Lord.
They live believing, yet unrepentant.
By the definition of Jesus, they are not apart of the Kingdom of God.
We must repent.
Sunday, June 4, 2017
Gathering: 6-4-17
We've been gathering on our regular every-other-week schedule, even though I haven't been journaling it.
While nothing out of the norm for us has taken place: Word time has been invigorating, the taking of the bread and cup has been inspiring and invigorating, the purpose of the gathering has been to spur each other on to love and good works and the meals have been tasty moments of service and fellowship, two developments are worthy of note.
One is that Evie's singing voice is about shot. She has always naturally assumed the leadership during singing time from the beginning of our house gathering.
However, her voice seems to be wearing out.
She attributes it to the long-term effect of the many radiation treatments she endured in the last months of 2010.
At any rate, I tried leading last gathering. No one actually died but several people did rush to the bathroom.
Today, we limited the number of songs sung.
The other is that we've been dealing with the existence of stark differences of political opinion in the group.
Most of the group is politically unconcerned and, seemingly, unaware. Evie and I are, increasingly, in the "my kingdom is not of this world" camp but one of the group is rabidly and passionately anti-Trump.
It's been uncomfortable for me at times. But, the fact is that I've discovered that what we all share, in our devotion to Christ, binds those of us in the group more than even passionate political opinions divide us.
Anyway, today's gathering was a blessing.
While nothing out of the norm for us has taken place: Word time has been invigorating, the taking of the bread and cup has been inspiring and invigorating, the purpose of the gathering has been to spur each other on to love and good works and the meals have been tasty moments of service and fellowship, two developments are worthy of note.
One is that Evie's singing voice is about shot. She has always naturally assumed the leadership during singing time from the beginning of our house gathering.
However, her voice seems to be wearing out.
She attributes it to the long-term effect of the many radiation treatments she endured in the last months of 2010.
At any rate, I tried leading last gathering. No one actually died but several people did rush to the bathroom.
Today, we limited the number of songs sung.
The other is that we've been dealing with the existence of stark differences of political opinion in the group.
Most of the group is politically unconcerned and, seemingly, unaware. Evie and I are, increasingly, in the "my kingdom is not of this world" camp but one of the group is rabidly and passionately anti-Trump.
It's been uncomfortable for me at times. But, the fact is that I've discovered that what we all share, in our devotion to Christ, binds those of us in the group more than even passionate political opinions divide us.
Anyway, today's gathering was a blessing.
Friday, June 2, 2017
Kingdom Focused Giving
Entering posts like this always bother me. I am conflicted. I know that Jesus warned against doing righteousness to be seen by others.
Honestly, that's not what I'm doing.
The truth is that so many of the people I know are obsessed with the church, not with the Kingdom, as Jesus commands.
I enter these posts as a testimony to our journey in seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
I don't suggest that we do it perfectly, or even well. But, we do it honestly and sincerely.
I despair for self-styled church leaders who give their all for the institutional church. The fruit of their lives that I can inspect is entirely disconnected from what Jesus taught and did and from the testimony of early disciples.
---------------
Just to review what readers of this blog know:
Our "church" doesn't take an offering and it has no building and no paid staff and absolutely no expenses.
Evie and I accept the fact that, according to the teaching of Jesus, tithing is a righteous act.
We take seriously Jesus' teaching that what you do to the least of His brothers and sisters, you do to Him.
We understand that to be saved by grace through faith requires a disciple to do the good works God prepared in advance for us to do.
We consider ourselves to be ambassadors of the Kingdom of God as we do our jobs and live among our neighbors.
----------------
So, two of the people I work with are struggling financially.
One of them is a single woman who is ill and, for the moment, unable to work and is incapable of paying her part of the premium for her benefit package at work and incapable also of meeting copays for medical appointments and medications.
Another is a part time employee whose husband is caught in a plant shut down that will last all summer. They have three teenagers.
---------------
Evie and I agree that contributing to these needs are works that God prepared in advance for us to do.
Yesterday was our anniversary. We gave ourselves the gift of buying a nice-sized pile of everyday need stuff for the family with the teens and with buying them a gift card to their favorite discount grocery store.
There is joy in obedience.
We had a very pleasant day, the nicest anniversary we've spent in years.
We are arranging to do something anonymously for my coworker who can't work.
It is a joy to give your life over to seeking HIS kingdom and His righteousness.
And, that lifestyle opens so many doors for the proclaiming of the gospel!
The Lord is praised!
Honestly, that's not what I'm doing.
The truth is that so many of the people I know are obsessed with the church, not with the Kingdom, as Jesus commands.
I enter these posts as a testimony to our journey in seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
I don't suggest that we do it perfectly, or even well. But, we do it honestly and sincerely.
I despair for self-styled church leaders who give their all for the institutional church. The fruit of their lives that I can inspect is entirely disconnected from what Jesus taught and did and from the testimony of early disciples.
---------------
Just to review what readers of this blog know:
Our "church" doesn't take an offering and it has no building and no paid staff and absolutely no expenses.
Evie and I accept the fact that, according to the teaching of Jesus, tithing is a righteous act.
We take seriously Jesus' teaching that what you do to the least of His brothers and sisters, you do to Him.
We understand that to be saved by grace through faith requires a disciple to do the good works God prepared in advance for us to do.
We consider ourselves to be ambassadors of the Kingdom of God as we do our jobs and live among our neighbors.
----------------
So, two of the people I work with are struggling financially.
One of them is a single woman who is ill and, for the moment, unable to work and is incapable of paying her part of the premium for her benefit package at work and incapable also of meeting copays for medical appointments and medications.
Another is a part time employee whose husband is caught in a plant shut down that will last all summer. They have three teenagers.
---------------
Evie and I agree that contributing to these needs are works that God prepared in advance for us to do.
Yesterday was our anniversary. We gave ourselves the gift of buying a nice-sized pile of everyday need stuff for the family with the teens and with buying them a gift card to their favorite discount grocery store.
There is joy in obedience.
We had a very pleasant day, the nicest anniversary we've spent in years.
We are arranging to do something anonymously for my coworker who can't work.
It is a joy to give your life over to seeking HIS kingdom and His righteousness.
And, that lifestyle opens so many doors for the proclaiming of the gospel!
The Lord is praised!
Thursday, June 1, 2017
Breaking Personal News: For the First Time Ever, I didn't Read the eNews
Since Ed Rosenberry launched the CGGC eNews, all those years ago, when he was a newly minted General Conference mountaintopper, I have gone over each and every issue of the eNews with a fine-tooth comb.
(There was actually a time when Ed told me that he wished I wouldn't.)
The eNews usually gets to my mailbox on Friday afternoon when I am busy at work. And, usually, I find a moment to break away from the pressure of work to read through what, now Lance, has written, I look it over and, then later, read it more carefully.
When it arrived last Friday, I wasn't even curious.
The title suggested that it was going to extol the virtues of CGGC ACTS Teams, and, honestly, my reaction was somewhere between apathy and annoyance.
Later, I saw it in my inbox and, for a nanosecond, asked myself if I wanted to read it, got annoyed with MYSELF for thinking that, and moved on.
I suspect that I am more engaged with what comes down from CGGC mountaintops than anyone in the body.
My hyper-interest in what mountaintoppers say and do, my negative view of it and my accuracy in predicting the folly of the efforts of those on the CGGC and ERC mountaintops, I believe, resulted in the ERC considering the status of my credentials last year.
Most in the CGGC are apathetic or cynical about what the mountaintoppers say and do.
I've been told that almost no one reads the eNews and I'm inclined to believe that.
But, until last Friday, I always read. Carefully. With great interest.
I've been asking myself why I didn't read this one.
I'll say this, I'm still interested in what Lance will say this Friday.
But, I've been reading about the glories of ACTS Teams for decades. Yet, our mountaintoppers have lost the generation of young people who participated in the program.
So, maybe, I wasn't annoyed as much as I was iritated.
Yet, if even I can respond to the eNews with a harrumph...
I've been asking myself if I sinned against my calling as a prophet to the CGGC by not reading Lance's latest.
If I thought that, I'd read it, no matter what.
But, BREAKING NEWS!
I actually skipped the eNews for the first time ever.
(There was actually a time when Ed told me that he wished I wouldn't.)
The eNews usually gets to my mailbox on Friday afternoon when I am busy at work. And, usually, I find a moment to break away from the pressure of work to read through what, now Lance, has written, I look it over and, then later, read it more carefully.
When it arrived last Friday, I wasn't even curious.
The title suggested that it was going to extol the virtues of CGGC ACTS Teams, and, honestly, my reaction was somewhere between apathy and annoyance.
Later, I saw it in my inbox and, for a nanosecond, asked myself if I wanted to read it, got annoyed with MYSELF for thinking that, and moved on.
I suspect that I am more engaged with what comes down from CGGC mountaintops than anyone in the body.
My hyper-interest in what mountaintoppers say and do, my negative view of it and my accuracy in predicting the folly of the efforts of those on the CGGC and ERC mountaintops, I believe, resulted in the ERC considering the status of my credentials last year.
Most in the CGGC are apathetic or cynical about what the mountaintoppers say and do.
I've been told that almost no one reads the eNews and I'm inclined to believe that.
But, until last Friday, I always read. Carefully. With great interest.
I've been asking myself why I didn't read this one.
I'll say this, I'm still interested in what Lance will say this Friday.
But, I've been reading about the glories of ACTS Teams for decades. Yet, our mountaintoppers have lost the generation of young people who participated in the program.
So, maybe, I wasn't annoyed as much as I was iritated.
Yet, if even I can respond to the eNews with a harrumph...
I've been asking myself if I sinned against my calling as a prophet to the CGGC by not reading Lance's latest.
If I thought that, I'd read it, no matter what.
But, BREAKING NEWS!
I actually skipped the eNews for the first time ever.
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