I know that the Conference is providing a forum for the asking of questions about the proposed Strategic Plan...
...but, they're not sending that information to me.
So, I'll use the blog to suggest questions that might be asked.
Understanding what my giftedness is, it makes sense that mine are big-picture questions.
I plan to list other questions later and, most of them will be brief and to the point and more specific.
But, there is one issue that I think is central.
I'll ask it of you, the blog readers...who might be anyone...and, therefore, the entire ERC/CGGC body...and beyond.
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Who/what do the leaders of the ERC, the people who support and are promoting the Strategic Plan, see as a higher authority than themselves?
Seriously.
In composing the Strategic Plan, the writers of the Strategic Plan ignored Scripture.
The PDF used when the leaders presented includes no references to Bible truth to support any part of the plan. There is nothing in the Word cited as the authority for this plan.
The writers of the Strategic Plan also defied the authority of the Conference.
From the first days of the Church of God, our body has declared, without compromise, that the Bible is our only rule of faith and practice. Our highest human authority, the General Conference in session, affirmed that principle as recently as 2013 when it approved a new We Believe and a Statement of Faith. The men and women who lead the ERC were delegates to that Conference. They approved those documents. They affirmed the principle that the Bible is our only rule of faith and practice.
Again, the Word is not being used as the authority for any part of the Strategic Plan.
The ERC people I associate with the new Strategic Plan: Kevin Richardson (who's no longer a part of the promotion of the new Strategic Plan) and Jim Moss, the current interim Executive Director, are nice guys. They are sincere. They love the church. They sincerely want the best for the Conference. I've known these guys for decades. I personally know all of those things to be true about them. I have no doubt at all.
But, then, all of those qualities describe every CGGC leader who's been leading as our body's decay for about 80 years.
The truth is, the writers of the new Strategic Plan,...
...based on what they have actually done,...
...have placed the authority of their own opinions over the truth in the Word...
...and, and over the covenant all of us in the ERC agree to, and which binds the entire ERC body together.
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The issue of who has authority in the ERC/CGGC is extremely important.
Even if the plan is perfect, do we want to approve it merely on the basis that it is the opinion of the people in leadership?
If this plan would happen to be perfect, and we approve it merely on our leaders' authority, without reference to the Word, what will we do in the future when nice and sincere people propose something on their own authority that is not perfect?
On what authority would we question them?
I think the writers of the Strategic Plan are asking too much of us.
Wouldn't the delegates to this Conference be submissive to Jesus, who obeyed the Word, and to our own ERC covenant which demands that the Bible is our only rule of faith and practice...
...and wouldn't they be wise...
...to ask ERC leaders to come back to the body, at a later time, with their plan, demonstrating that it is rooted in the authority of the Bible as our only rule of faith and practice?
Really Bill... You are not my intermediary. Here is some wise counsel for any true disciple of Christ - "You, however, have an anointing from the Holy One, and ALL of you know the truth." I John 2:20
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised you didn't lead the people to seek counsel from the Holy Spirit instead of pushing your agenda. Very sad.
Cindy,
ReplyDeleteI'm not certain I know what you are calling my "agenda."
I'm calling the people of the CGGC to embrace the Word and, to, as people who claim to be guided by the Word, to be guided by the Word, together, and in community.
Because the Trinity is One, your suggestion that to call, as I do, our people to walk in the Word is different than calling them to "seek counsel from the Holy Spirit," makes me wonder.
Do you believe in God as One: Father, Son and Holy Spirit?
How is walking in the Spirit different than being people of the Word?
Perhaps, though, I'm misunderstanding you.