Blessed are those Who Mourn

I was 63 years old when my first parent died, just two weeks ago,  and I am experiencing grief in a way that is new, and more immediate, to me.

There's nothing profound that I have to say about the grieving process itself...

...but, I have been thinking over the connection between spiritual grief and salvation...and a vital relationship that a human being can have with the Lord.

The Word makes it clear that grieving, mourning is essential to a human being's intimate connection with God.

You know, from the teachings of Jesus, the blessings for those who are poor in spirit, who MOURN, and are meek.

You know, if you read here, Paul's formula: Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation.

James says that if you grieve, mourn and wail...God will lift you up (4:9-10).

And, it is at this point that shepherd dominated, uh, leadership fails the body.

Shepherds comfort and nurture as a result of their spiritual giftedness.

They, when they don't live in mutual submission to other giftings, and when they demand that their way be THE way, thwart the Holy Spirit when He moves to break us when we sin.

They, when they don't live in mutual submission with other gifts, stand against the strivings of apostles and prophets and evangelists when they, following their own spiritual giftedness, attempt to lead people into the godly grief that produces the repentance that leads to salvation.

They, when they demand that their way be THE way, confound the Spirit and the remainder of the body...

...attempting to create a, tepid, repentance-less walk with Christ, one that is phony.

They attempt to bring people into a relationship with Christ that ignores the reality that only Christ can lift up a sinner and He will do that only after the sinner has fallen down before Him, wanting nothing more than His mercy.

And, so, the church has become lukewarm and, ultimately, institutional. It has no fire.

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Bringing this thought to my ERC home: The shepherd leaders of the Conference believe, and want us all to believe, that the answer to our decline and decay is for us to allow them to create a plan.

They want to convince us that if we link a few new programs together and call them a strategic plan, our fortunes will change.

Please don't fall for that old line.

It is an old line.

They laid it on us twice before...and we bought it...and the plan failed.

The rate of our decay increases under those plans.

Our problems are not strategic; they are not solvable with better programs.

Our problem is spiritual.

We need to mourn, to grieve...

...as James says it, we need to grieve and mourn to the point that we wail.

We don't need a new plan.

We need to fall flat on our faces...to put ourselves in the position...

...to be lifted up

...by Him.

We must repent.

The First Christians did NOT Plant Churches

In the CGGC, during the era of shepherd domination, the local church has always been the center of universe. Jesus has not been.

These days, the church is more central than ever in the CGGC. Hence, the ERC's new New Strategic Plan and its goal of creating healthy, life-giving churches.

As the ERC Shepherd Mafia prepares to summon the Conference's parish priests and lay delegates to its special Conference session on January 13...

...it is important to note that the church was not core among the people of the first generation Jesus' disciples.

For, what? three decades? the CGGC, and especially the ERC, has hinged its hopes for church growth on the planting churches.

Church Planting has been the end all/be all...

...let's face it...

...during the era of our body's most disastrous decline.

I first wrote what comes next waaaaaay back in the days of the Emerging Church blog:

Church planting was never in the minds of the early disciples of Jesus. Neither was church multiplication. These failed and failing approaches to Kingdom expansion are fruit of the Shepherd Mafia's most essential heresy, Flockism.

Early disciples didn't plant churches.

As I say ad nauseam Jesus almost never talked about the church. In fact, the word church is absent from three of the four Gospels.

When Jesus mentions planting in the parables, obviously, He's not referring to churches, He's talking about spreading truth.

When Paul talks about planting in 1 Corinthians 5, he's not talking about planting a church in Corinth, he's talking about planting the GOSPEL there.

For three decades, then, the powers that be in the CGGC have been investing oodles time and energy and goo gobs of moolah in planting churches...

...when church planting wasn't even in the minds of Jesus and His first followers.

Is it any wonder that the Lord of all authority and power and grace and mercy and blessing is not blessing the CGGC?!?!?!!!!

In the three decades or so that the CGGC has been obsessed with church planting, truth, especially the simple truth of the gospel, has come to mean less and less in what it does.

And, as I say, and as we all know, the Lord of all authority and power and grace and mercy and blessing, very simply, is not blessing us.

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The new New Strategic Plan is all about churches...

...and parish priests...

...and, an expanded and more powerful than ever, Conference hierarchy.

But, the first followers of Jesus didn't plant churches. They planted the Word, the gospel.

They preached the gospel...Jesus.

We must do that.

We must repent.

The Family Holiday Gathering

We got together on, well, Xmas eve.

This may turn out to be the beginning of a new tradition. Evie and I have gotten together with my brother's family on the 24th for years and then met again with mom and dad on the 25th with mom and dad.

In recent years, the gatherings on the 25th were defined, for me, by the crumbling of dad's mind.

This year, Evie and I will take mom to Park City Diner for what the Diner calls "Christmas dinner." We made reservations. My brother's family will visit mom later in the day.

So, the whole family met on Xmas eve at our place because there are no steps and because there's a biffy on the main floor.

Everyone except mom contributed food. There was way too much to eat. The format followed the pattern of the Xmas eves of the past but with mom present.

That means silliness is the rule.

Evie asked that I start with prayer...I presume because mom was present...but it seemed appropriate. I gave thanks for all the things you would, even thanking God that He loved us so much that He gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

I concluded my prayer thanking God for dad and the example he provided and the life he lived.

Uncharacteristicly, at the end, I heard several whisper, "Amen."

The gathering was bittersweet.

As we expected, as a result of the trauma of dad's death, mom has slipped a little further into Alzheimer's, not far yet, but further.

As I've said, dad just got sweeter and sweeter as his vascular dementia took him. Alzheimer's is another story, normally...at least, from what I understand.

It seems that mom's descent will not be like dad's.

Much of my personality comes from her and, so, this is especially challenging for me.

One positive thing with mom is that her love language has become very obvious. (These days, mom is something close to a 7 year old with very bad hearing and no short-term memory.) It's easy to know how to make her feel loved. Evie just talked to her and mom's memories of yesterday are very pleasant. That's adds to the sweetness of the memory for me.

It was probably happier to meet in a way that didn't have a definite connection to our memories of dad. He was very definitely in our hearts and we mentioned him from time very happily and pleasantly.

One other note: We gathered on Sunday morning. While many of us are very serious about following Jesus, there was no thought in anyone's mind about attending a church. I know some of the rest of them go to a church building from time to time, but Jesus is a much bigger part of our lives than what has become of the church.

Interesting.

Considering the loss of dad...and that we're still missing Lizzie...yesterday was a blessing.

Now that I no longer Believe in Christmas

I first brought this up here last year and feel it more strongly now.

In our denomination, we claim to be people of the Book. In our Mission Statement, we say we are committed to "establishing churches on the New Testament plan."

So, let's face these facts:

In the New Testament, disciples, indeed, did focus on the incarnation of Jesus but not on His nativity.

Even the Gospel accounts of the nativity, presented the story of the birth of Jesus to show the power of God's promises and God's prophecy and to proclaim Jesus as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and as the suffering servant.

For the most part, the people I know who groove on the Christmas schmaltz, are serious about their faith but see Jesus in terms of the manger, as a baby, the height of innocence and weakness, one to be cuddled,...

...not as a Lord who gave up divine power to be a sacrifice and to command the men and women who follow Him to seek greatness by serving others.

What most of the people of the church today have made of Christmas makes me want to hurl.

I believe that they are a prime reason that the church today is weak and that it declines.

So, I ignore the High Church Holy Day, Christ Mass to embrace the entirely commercialized, sentimental, secular, celebration of Xmas,...

...of chestnuts roasting on an open fire, of letting my heart be light, of five golden rings (ba da bum bum), of presents on the tree, of Snoopy making a temporary truce with the Red Baron, of giving thanks to the Lord above cuz Santa Claus comes tonight, of dreaming of a White Christmas, of poor old grandma with incriminating Claus marks on her back.

And, all the while knowing that to be the greatest among His disciples is not to snuggle a baby, but to be the slave of all.

So, go, if you must. Pollute the truth of the incarnation by thoughts of cuddling God-as-baby. Comfort yourself with that easy and false gospel.

And, watch as your children and grandchildren grow up never knowing the One Who will, one day, separate the sheep from the goats.

What I Planned to Say at My Father's Funeral

My dad died slowly. Peacefully, but slowly. Long before he died, I knew that I would offer a tribute to him during his funeral service.

On the other hand, I knew that I become emotional at times like that and wondered if I could say what I'd planned.

In the end, as the Lord would have it, Lizzie died quickly and heart-wrenchingly the day before the funeral and I was too emotionally raw, during the service, to do anything but weep.

It was a beautiful service and a wonderful day. But, I didn't pay tribute to my dad then.

So, I will now. Here's what I would have said:

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The Book of James in the New Testament defines what true religion is for people who believe in Jesus. It says,

If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight reign on his tongue he deceives himself and his religion is useless. 

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: To look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

In the last years of his life, dad told me things about himself that I didn't know and that helped me to understand him better...and to respect him even more than I had.

He told me about long, and tedious, frustrating days that he'd spent taking women whose husbands had died to appointments at hospitals or doctor's offices or to government offices to deal with legal issues that arise after someone dies.

Interestingly, the frustration dad felt was for the pain of those women who, in the midst of their suffering, then had to deal with cold and uncaring institutions and bureaucracies.

Many of you here know the story of my cousin ______, who was physically abused by his father. When it was too dangerous for ______ to be in the home, dad took him in to our home and, more than that, made him a part of our family.

My dad was very religious in the way most people understand the meaning of the word religion. He was a regular church goer and he was very involved in the church.

But, more importantly, dad was religious in a way most people do not understand.

Dad put into practice the religion talked about in sanctuaries on Sundays. He set himself aside. He put others above himself. He sacrificed. He loved his neighbor as he loved himself.

My dad was truly a religious man.

Goodbye, Lizzie

Yesterday, one day before dad's funeral, we put our sweet Golden Retriever, Lizzie, down.

What a horrid expression, but that's what people say. We put her down. 

She was nearly ten and a half, a decent age for a Golden, but seemed to be slowing down more than she should have been so, two Wednesdays ago we took her to our vet for a check up. Her blood work showed some minor concerns, including a slightly low red blood cell count. We told the vet that we'd be in for her next regular check up in March. 

However, in the following days, she became even more lethargic so, last Thursday, the day after dad died, we took her back to the vet. Her red blood cell count was dramatically and dangerously low and she was diagnosed with an autoimmune form of anemia abbreviated IMHA. 

The vet said that she could be treated with prednisone so we started the treatment immediately. 

Still, Lizzie got worse, much worse.

Yesterday, we took her to a wonderful veterinary E. R. near Reading. Her red blood cell count had fallen to a nearly fatally low level.

After discussing the options available to us, we made the tough decision. The very kind and patient doctor told us directly that we were doing the right thing and that IMHA is a terrible disease. 

But, it all happened so quickly. 

In the midst of saying goodbye to dad, we have the pain of this loss. 

Certainly, this is a different sort of sorrow. But, the two piled on top of each other...

We called Lizzie, Sweet One. Like most Goldens, she was very quiet. But, she wagged her tail with more enthusiasm than any other dog I've known.

She was a very pleasant companion. 

The house seems very empty today.

The Existing ARTICLE VII in the ERC Mailing

I've clicked on the link to the existing ARTICLE VII in two emails and, to be certain that it wasn't a glitch related to the emails I received, I clicked on the link directly from the ERC website.

When I click on it, I don't get the existing ARTICLE VII. I get a supporting document for the new ARTICLE VII...a piece that actually promotes the NEW ARTICLE VII.

My emerging belief that the new ERC leadership team is profoundly dishonest and lacks integrity, which I'm struggling against, in spite of growing evidence,...

...also tempts me to believe that this was not a mistake but an attempt to promote the new ARTICLE VII under the guise of providing a full picture of the proposed changes.

(I wonder if anyone other than I even noticed the error. It's been up for a few days...and it's still there.)

The only alternative explanation that I can think of is that this is a genuine mistake that further points out the incompetence of the ERC's current leadership team...

...and reminds us of what we lost in Kevin, who, in spite of other perceived shortcomings, was a very capable administrator.

At this point, I'm leaning toward the incompetence theory.

Either way, though, we are worse off now than we were. Make no mistake about it!

Whether it's dishonesty or incompetence, don't trust these guys as far as you can throw them.

The Proposed ERC Constitutional Changes: Ministers

Numerous people have sent me the proposed changes to the ERC Constitution.

The change that interests me most initially is the proposed expansion of ARTICLE XI--MINISTERS.

Among other things, it places the ERC ordination vows into the Constitution.

And, I think about the attack on my ordination which, according to rumor, was discussed on the floor of the ERC Conference in session in 2016.

Two thoughts:

1. I am and have always been true to my ordination vows.

2. It is the ERC hierarchs who continually and shamelessly abuse their ordination vows.

In particular they are still making a mockery of the proposed Section 5. C. (3) having to do with the requirement that ministers subscribe to, teach and defend the doctrines of the Churches of God.

First and foremost among the doctrines of the Churches of God is that the Bible is our only rule of faith and practice.

And, these guys are pressuring the Conference to adopt a Strategic Plan with no Scriptural authority which they presented to the people of the Conference...

WITHOUT A SINGLE REFERENCE TO THE BIBLE!

Here's my take on the proposed amendment to ARTICLE XI:

1. Unanimously adopt it, then,
2. Defrock each and every member of the ERC Shepherd Mafia on the charge of insubordination to the doctrines of the Churches of God.

In my opinion, as long as the people who think of themselves as our leaders assert their own traditions and opinions over the doctrines of the Churches of God and the teachings of the Word of God, two things will be true:

1. Most of the people in the Conference will never follow them, and,
2. The Lord of all authority and power and grace and mercy and blessing will never bless us.

We must dive head first into the Word of God.

We must repent.

My Dad's Peaceful Exit

Dad died yesterday afternoon a little after 4:00.

As I blogged earlier, he took a turn for the worse last Tuesday night.

From that point on, he was not able to swallow. He went without food or liquids for more than a week, which is remarkable to me because he'd lost so much weight before this all started.

During most of the time, except for losing more weight, he seemed unchanged.

When the end came, it came very quickly. A nurse at the home said that he was beginning to show signs of immanent death about noon yesterday and he was gone about four hours later.

Dad was peaceful throughout. Even with morphine, he seemed somewhat uncomfortable during the last day or so. The Hospice nurse thought that the staff at the home might have been a little more aggressive with the morphine. Who knows?

In the end, though the end came quickly, his room was packed. Dad's remaining brother and his wife and had stopped by for a visit and stayed until the end and one of mom's sisters arrived with her beau about five minutes before the end.

Besides that, my brother and his wife, their daughter and a friend and Evie and mom and I were there. Dad was always a very private man and I'm certain that this was not his idea of a perfect end to his life.

It's a temptation at times like his to remember only the good about a person.

Dad was human. Like the rest of us, he was a son of the first Adam.

But, he was an absolutely devoted husband and father.

His mother died tragically when he was 14 and there were four younger siblings in the house. Over the years the younger ones have spoken to me about what a wonderful older brother he was. I think, in some ways, he took on the role of their mother.

He understood duty as well as anyone I've ever known and he did his duty to one and all.

He was a loyal churchman and did his part over the years, serving on boards, even teaching Sunday School.

And, though he was rarely vocal about his faith, he was, more than a churchman, a follower of Jesus.

In his later years, while he still had his mind, he told me stories of his care for widows who were in need. Twice, he took in a child who had been removed from his parents' home. I was growing up then and knew those stories well.

He lived the life much more loudly than he talked it.

(Undoubtedly, my frustration over today's church's tepid, church-focused definition of righteousness can be traced to the sacrifices dad made to show Christ's love and to obey His commands. Dad would never been vocal in expressing his own frustration, if he, indeed, was frustrated.)

Near the end, when I hope his mind was clear enough for him to understand, I told dad that he was my hero and that he still is. He will always be my hero.

His body died yesterday. Except for rare moments of clarity, his mind had been completely gone for many months.

Still, I'll miss him more now.

I'm blessed to have known him.

I'm proud to be his son.

Arrogance on the ERC Mountaintop

It was some time ago that I was made aware of the ERC Shepherd Mafia's plans to dismiss Kevin and that the idea was that his replacement could fill in one day a week until the search for the new E. D. was completed.

The Mafiosi are saying that we have an interim Executive Director but, from the moment I first heard what the plan was, here's what I thought:

This person is not an interim. He is a care-taker. 

And, that's the arrogance.

So, their guy can do as well, no better than, Kevin did working the job only one day a week!?!?!?!???

Apparently not!

Do you really think that we'd be enduring the fiasco over the rescheduling of date of Conference if Kevin was still in the chair?

Do you think that KEVIN would have tried to pull the wool over the Eldership's eyes over the real reason for changing the date...

...or, at the very least, have been less than transparent about it?

I do not.

We are not better off with this care-taker regime.

We'd be in far better hands with Kevin still in place, if this is how the Shepherd Mafia plans to lead!

The ERC is at a crucial moment as it faces a very uncertain future...

...and, we are not being led well.

It's time for a major overhaul of the Conference.

We need to get rid of the gang that's been our leadership culture for decades.

We need to dive head-first into the Word.

We need to deconstruct the institution and walk in the Spirit.

We must repent.

Dad's Health

If you're a Facebook friend you may already know most of this.

(I use this blog, to some degree, as a journal so this is as much for me in the future as it is a plea for prayers from brothers and sisters in Him.)

Dad took a turn for the worse this past Tuesday during the night.

At this point, he's sleeping most of the time, though he wakes up from time to time and is actually fairly clear minded. He says he's not in pain and that he is peaceful.

He's been taken off of nearly all of his medications, though he still gets morphine.

Until two days ago, mom, who is in the moderate stage of Alzheimer's, was in complete denial about the state of his health. Then, in an instant, she came to grips with the reality.

She's struggling. They've been married for 65 years and their lives have absolutely revolved around each other. She is about a ten minute walk, at her snail pace using her walker, from dad's room and she makes the trek in the morning, afternoon and evening. Last night, apparently, she stayed late into the night.

The rest of the family has been regular in visiting them anyway but we're all there daily now. Evie's on her way now. My brother's there now. I have work midday. But will go down after work.

The people at the store have been very supportive. I can take off to be with any time I want and can take as much time as I need. It will be at my own expense but knowing there's no pressure from the job is a tremendous relief.

Hospice is telling us that it's a matter of days, not weeks.

Nevertheless, dad's body is resilient. He's lost so much weight that he looks like a holocaust victim. But, his pulse is steady and his respiration is fairly regular. It could still be a long haul, though he seems to be perfectly at peace with the awareness that he is dying.

Dad has been quiet over the years about his faith but has lived the life right out of Matthew 25:34-40 and James 1:26-27. There is no question about his place in eternity.

We are all sad. And, very tired.

Push Back over the Issue of Institutionalism

There's someone who is in regular conversation with me off the blog over my blog posts. I often think that our off the blog exchanges are better than anything I put on the blog.

Yesterday, this guy (That's right, Lew, I identified this person as male.) took me to task because I'm pretty consistent in calling the new New Strategic Plan institution-based and the framers of the plan institutionalists.

He suggested that I'm making a much bigger point than is justified in pointing out that the new New Strategic Plan calls for the expansion of Conference staff to an E. D. and FOUR directors.

In the Round Table Meetings, apparently, Kevin suggested that not as much money would go into paying for these Directors as it might appear and that Kevin expected the E. D. to fill one of the Director roles.

So, let me be clear:

My strong objection is that this plan is focused entirely on polishing up the institution...

...AND NOT ON DISCIPLING AND MOBILIZING THE ENTIRE BODY.

All we've done in recent generations is attempt to get hierarchy right with the assumption that effective ministry will result from a perfectly functioning leadership structure.

Yet, all we've accomplished is turn our people into increasingly passive consumers of our leadership's religious products and services.

And, this new New Strategic Plan will continue that trend.

In the Church of God movement days, the Priesthood of all Believers functioned.

These days, we are becoming theologically conservative Lutheran wannabes. And, this plan will make us more like the Lutherans and even less like we were when we were a thriving Spirit-empowered movement.

We need less, not more, institution and more, not less, life in the Spirit.

Competence and Integrity on the ERC Mountaintop

First things first:

I RECEIVED THE NEWS ABOUT THE LAWYER DRIVING THE DECISION TO CHANGE THE DATE OF ERC CONFERENCE EARLY IN THE WEEK, LONG BEFORE I PUT THAT INFORMATION ON THE BLOG. 

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My network is abuzz with rumblings and reports concerning the upcoming FLY BY NIGHT ERC Conference session now scheduled for January 13, 2018.

It was people who converse with me who filled me in on the actual truth behind the reason for change in the date of the Conference meeting.

Because the hierarchs have removed me from the mailing lists, I honestly didn't know that the original memo from the Conference didn't tell the full truth until an ERC person, who is a reader of this blog, informed me that he didn't know that it was because of legal concerns that the date of Conference was changed.

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I never expected that this blog would serve as source of "All the News That's Fit to Print" about the Eastern Regional Conference of the Churches of God, General Conference.

But, that is precisely what it seems to have become.

You should know that I still have friends across the CGGC and that I hear a lot. I only pass on what I consider to be important to the Kingdom and to come from sources with direct knowledge.

I don't spread gossip.

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So, as a matter of historical fact, understand..

...this blog told the truth about the reason for the change in the date of the Conference session...

...BEFORE the truth was unloaded from the Conference office.

Perhaps the Interim E. D. planned, all along, to wait at least several days, until late Thursday afternoon to tell the entire story about the change in the date of Conference...

...and, perhaps, the fact that I spilled the beans, earlier in the day, had nothing to do with the timing of the Conference memo.

Perhaps.

I personally doubt that.

We all know the real-life timing.

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As I see it, there are now several issues:

I already raised one of them: Current ERC leadership doesn't do institutional church as well as Kevin did.

Make no mistake about it.

These guys are institutionalists.

They support the new New Strategic Plan. They advocate the expansion of Conference staff to an E. D. plus FOUR Directors. But, based on this little dance over the date of Conference,...

...these guys do institutionalism very poorly.

-----

The second, more crucial, issue is the question of the new leaders' integrity.

Why would they wait even a minute to tell the real story about the change in the date of Conference?

Only revealing the lawyer's role...

...AFTER THE TRUTH WAS TOLD ON THIS BLOG?????

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I've pointed out many times over the years that, unchecked and left to their own devises,...

...shepherds are so focused on relationship that they have trouble telling the truth.

The indisputable fact in this case is that there is only one reason that the date of Conference was changed...

...and, the ERC mountaintoppers didn't reveal that reason until the truth was mentioned in a public forum elsewhere, i.e., here.

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My network is telling me that, when you get the proposed changes to the Constitution, you'll see that the hierarchs will be asking the Eldership to give up its voice in determining the makeup of Conference Commission Structure.

Or, the hierarchs will be asking for even more authority over the body...

Or,...

...to be less accountable to the Eldership.

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The hierarchs need a two-thirds majority, FROM THE ELDERSHIP, to be released from accountability to the Eldership in this way.

It's up to the Eldership to release the hierarchs from accountability.

In my opinion, it would be foolish for the Eldership to grant the hierarchs the new power they crave.

Doing Institutional Church...Very Poorly

If I've heard, everyone else in the ERC world knows by now that the date of the special Conference session has been moved back so the legalities of changing the Constitution can be done according to hoyle.

What a joke!

Call this one The FLY BY NIGHT Conference.

People in my network high on the ERC mountain have been trying to convince me that this Conference session is really about leadership starting a conversation and getting feedback from the Eldership about the new New Strategic Plan...

...and not about foisting constitutional change to make the new New Strategic Plan a done deal.

Oh, naive little me! I was beginning to believe them.

As Maxwell Smart would have said, "Ah, the old, 'Let's live together in community trick.' Third time I've been fooled by that one this week!"

Then, the hierarchs got caught in their own game and were told by the LAWYER that they must give 30 days notice to change the Constitution. (Remind me: At what point did the lawyers get involved in the Gospels and the Book of Acts?)

So, what's this conference gathering really about?

Getting feedback from the Eldership?

Having conversation?

Living in mutual submission as a community?

Bahahahahahaha!

If it was about the conversation, the meeting would still be held on schedule. Nothing from the lawyer effects the talking and listening.

No.

This meeting is all about changing the Constitution so that the hierarchs can have their way with the Conference and do what they dern well please with a minimum of accountability from the body.

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But, as it turns out, this gang of hierarchs can't do institutional church as well as it was already being done.

The hierarchs just got caught in their own game.

This Conference session is about changing the Constitution and everything else is just P. R..

Maybe the Cynics do have it right after all.

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I'd like to laugh. But, because I love the ERC and CGGC, I'll probably cry.

We must repent!

Was the Explanation of the new New Strategic Plan a Flop?

There have been murmurs, through the network of people who keep me connected to the happenings on the ERC mountaintop, that there are some very highly placed people on the highest peaks of the ERC mountain...and others...who are devoted to the new New Strategic Plan and who think that all of us also would be excited...

...except for the fact that the people who prepared the PDF and presented the plan in those Round Table Meetings did a very poor job.

What I'm hearing is that the plan is perfectly fine and that we'd all know that, if we'd been given a better picture of it.

For example, one of my criticisms of the plan is that the people who wrote the plan ignored the shared belief of the CGGC that, "The Bible is our only rule of faith and practice," by including no Bible references in the presentation of the plan when...

...as I'm hearing it, the creators and supporters of the plan think that the plan is based on, or at least consistent with, important Scriptural truths.

If it's true that at least some people way up there on the mountaintop believe that the plan is the bee's knees and that the only reason we don't all know that is that it was poorly presented,...

...then I'm even more confused by the hierarchs' full-court press for the plan's approval.

If the mountaintoppers are thinking, "It's a great plan but we understand why no one thinks it is," they should be convening a special session of Conference to, properly, make the plan's virtues known to one and all...

...not to press an issue that wouldn't need to be pressed.

If this is the case,...

...and my sources are impeccable,...

...if the mountaintoppers want the Eldership to embrace this plan...

...they need to be selling it to the brothers and sisters, not pressing the body to approve it before the plan's benefts are properly explained.

Words on Paper 2.0?

The second of Stephen Covey's habits of highly effective people is, "Begin with the end in mind."

From where I sit, having the end on mind may be the most glaring failing of the people of the CGGC who think of themselves as leaders of the church (as opposed to servants of the King).

And, even by their own admission, our leaders have not been effective people in their supposed leadership roles. Their writing of the 2017 new New Strategic Plan...

...and their description of the 2015 old New Strategic Plan as merely words on paper tells that tale.

Hovering up here from my 40,000 foot vantage point, observing the recent behavior of the ERC hierarch culture, I think it's clear what the end is that our hierarchs have in their heads:

The approval of the new New Strategic Plan. 

Child's play.

In my many-decade-involvement in the Conference, leadership has never been denied official approval of its programs and strategies because...

...the delegates to Conference have always granted permission...

...of the words on paper.

What the Conference as a whole, has never done is to participate in the plans.

So, as I see it, the hierarchs' recent actions will end in a repeat of history in which they get approval...probably rather easy approval...
of their words on paper and nothing more.

Through the Round Table Meetings, according to the PDFs, the hierarch culture was adamant that the new New Strategic Plan would be implemented beginning January 1, though the people who attended those meetings, if the PDF is to be believed, had meaningful reservations about elements of the plan,...

...some even joining with me in doubting that the hierarchs had the authority, according to the covenant we have with each other other, as described in the Constitution, to implement the plan.

It seems clear to me that, at this moment, the new New Strategic Plan would be less than a month from implementation except that the Ad Council shouted, "Whoa Nellie Belle!" in that special meeting in November.

So, undaunted, the hierarchs are pushing it through, as best they can.

They picked Jim Moss to be the ERC's Interim Executive Director because he helped write the new New Strategic Plan, knows it inside and out, and is as excited about it as any four year old awaiting the coming of Santy Claus.

Then,...

...Jim introduced himself to the Conference as the new Interim Executive Director as someone who will be able to get the plan going when it is approved at the special Conference session in January.

The hierarchs are using a full court press to get the new New Strategic Plan approved when...

...as far as I can tell, approval is already a done deal.

After all,

The 2015 old New Strategic Plan was approved by the Conference in session...

...UNANIMOUSLY!

And, with much less effort than is being poured into the promotion of the new New Strategic Plan.

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Here, however, are some key realities about the new New Strategic Plan:

1. Very few people attended the Round Table Meetings. Therefore, very few people know what they will be asked to approve in January.

2. The lack of attendance suggests to me a lack of interest in the plan one way or the other.

3. Read the PDF of the questions and answers if you doubt this, but many questions were raised about the plan. And, my take on the questions is that few satisfactory answers were provided. I'll say this: Many of the questions raised are concerns I myself have and the answers didn't satisfy me.

4. Based on the lean attendance of the meetings, few in the ERC seem to care about the new New Strategic Plan.

5. Based on the questions raised at the meetings, among those who do care, many have concerns.

6. The end that Jim and the hierarchs seem to have in mind, is simply to get the plan officially approved...something that has never, ever been a problem in the first place.

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There is a culture in the ERC that allows the hierarchs to come together in the meeting rooms at the Church Center and plan and scheme to their hearts' content and, then, to beat their chests in pride over their fine work...

...so long as the Apathetics and the Cynics of the Conference have permission to give meaningless approval to their plans...

...and just so long as no one asks them to actually do anything about it.

That's exactly what happened, just two years ago, in 2015.

It's what the hierarch culture is working for now and...

...most likely, that's what it will get.

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If the hierarchs cared about anything else, based on the slim attendance at those Round Table Meetings, and the nature of the questions raised,...

...they'd be focusing on informing the members of the Eldership about the plan,...

...not pushing the ERC community for approval.

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What is likely, though, is, in the wake of the 2015 old New Strategic Plan,...

...we'll get Words on Paper 2.0.

Jim Moss's FULL COURT PRESS Memo...Thinking Theologically

I've been sitting on this post for several days, though I have had some conversation with people in my, uh, "network" about the Jim Moss memo and the new New Strategic Plan as the conversation heats up.

I, of course, wasn't on the mailing list of people who received the memo. I'm thankful to my friend who sent it to me.

I've been trying to be careful, during the time I've had the memo, to allow my many thoughts and emotions to settle so that what's consistent with my spiritual gift and calling may become more clear.

What we prophets do is see issues of truth in the big picture. And, I've been trying to relax to allow myself to see clearly what there is for me to see that serves the Kingdom...and our community.

Big picture: The ERC leadership culture has, to use a boxing metaphor, come out swinging.

Or, switch sports, this memo is an all-out blitz...

...a full-court press.

It is, perhaps, an aggressive, at the very least, assertive, first step, right out of the batter's box to take control.

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A crucial New Testament principle is that it is what one does that is all that really matters.

Certainly, it is faith that saves us.

But, after Jesus began His ministry calling on all people to believe the gospel, He made it clear, in Matthew 25, for instance, that it's how one lives in faith that will determine whether s/he will stand before Him among the sheep or the goats.

And, after Paul says that we are saved by grace through faith, he adds that we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works. (Eph. 2:8-10)

So, what the ERC leadership culture actually does to begin the conversation about the new New Strategic Plan in its first post-Kevin communication is important.

What the ERC hierarchs really want is to get the new New Strategic Plan approved.

And, Jim Moss himself is the incarnation of their intention, as he himself makes clear.

Jim was chosen to be the ERC's Interim Executive Director because he strongly supports the plan...

...and, he even helped design it!

He's in place so that...

...when...

...WHEN...

...the plan is approved, the Conference will save four to six months in getting the plan going.

I believe Jim, in the memo, when he says that he didn't seek the job, as Interim Executive Director. Hiring him was the idea of a whole group of hierarchs.

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One note of theological interpretation:

These guys are doing what they can to CONTROL the process and the Conference gathering in January, not to SERVE the Eldership. 

The CGGC is a conference, an eldership. Humanly speaking, our highest authority is the community when it is gathered.

We are not led by bishops. We truly believe that the Spirit speaks to us through the community.

The hierarchs are attempting to taking control. They are not allowing the Spirit to be in control.  They are trying to lead. They are not functioning as servants who are in place, at the pleasure of the Eldership, to carry out the ministry of the Conference...

...they are behaving as if the Conference exists to accept and carry out their wisdom...

...to be led by them, not by the Spirit speaking to them through, well,...

...our community.

It truly has always been the official belief of the Church of God that the Spirit speaks to the body through the community of the called, i.e., the Conference, the Eldership,...

...and that people who hold staff positions or hold commission membership serve the Conference,...

...not LEAD it.

I am sure that Jim, and the rest of the hierarchs, have only the best of intentions but the tone of Jim's memo defies the covenant we have with each other in the ERC and CGGC.

Thinking theologically, Jim Moss, as Jesus explained it, has been chosen to be the ERC's Interim Slave-To-All, not the hierarchs' key man in getting the new New Strategic Plan approved.

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The truth is that attendance at those Round Table Meetings was very low and, based on the PDF, many of the people who attended them have reservations about the plan.

If our hierarchs were true to what we believe about our community, they'd be taking the initiative in serving the Eldership. Jim would not be thinking about getting the plan approved and implemented. He'd be thinking about increasing knowledge about and understanding of the plan...

...then allowing the Spirit to speak through the community.

I believe that the Conference does not need to be convinced to rubber stamp the new New Strategic Plan. It should be invited into an informed conversation.

It should be called to prayer so that the Spirit can be heard...

...so that He will speak...

...and we will hear...

...as the community of the called.