Okay. I work as a manager of the Front End of a grocery store. While the store compensates me, I see my real job as being an ambassador of the Kingdom of God. The job empowers me to share life with about two dozen millennials and post-millennials at any given time.
Years ago I was a "Youth Pastor" for a time, but this is real ministry.
Anyway, I meet lots of different kinds of people on my job.
One of the high schoolers who joined the team a few months ago has a unusual and tragic past.
Eleven years ago, when she was six years old, her father murdered her mother. He was subsequently convicted of first degree murder.
Each one of the school kids is, of course, unique. But, I'll call her Suzy, is obviously, toting some heavy duty baggage.
I have a responsibility to her, of course, as her boss but, also, more importantly, as a lover and follower of Jesus, to be salt and light in her life.
Every time I interact with her, even in the most superficial way, what I know about her past is in my mind.
And, it frustrates me that I'm not as free to be myself with her as I am with others.
It's a challenge for me to know how to be salt and light here. I learned early on that there is incredible power for the Kingdom when, as a disciple, I'm, simply, me, when I walk in truth, in His light.
And, that's precisely the point. The "simply" part of simply being me is, somehow, compromised.
I must repent.
Thursday, February 28, 2019
Tax Exempt Status
I've heard some buzz, in the wake of the decision of the United Methodists not to endorse gay clergy and same sex marriage, that there may be attempts to to remove, from churches and religious institutions, their tax exempt status.
My guess is that such efforts will lead to nothing.
But, I began thinking about it.
Other than the fact that churchpeople want to have privilege, at the expense of others, if you're in favor of tax exempt status for churches, why? On what basis? Other than your own self-interest?
What, in the Word, is your rationale? What, in the Constitution, justifies it?
As is clear, to me at least, from the case of the Methodists, privilege doesn't empower the growth of the Kingdom. The United Methodists are growing in Africa, where Christianity is not privileged and, in some cases, even persecuted. The organization is declining rather rapidly here, where it is privileged.
So, why fight for tax exempt status. Why, apart from worldly concerns, want it?
What would truly be bad for the Kingdom if churches lost their tax exempt status?
My guess is that such efforts will lead to nothing.
But, I began thinking about it.
Other than the fact that churchpeople want to have privilege, at the expense of others, if you're in favor of tax exempt status for churches, why? On what basis? Other than your own self-interest?
What, in the Word, is your rationale? What, in the Constitution, justifies it?
As is clear, to me at least, from the case of the Methodists, privilege doesn't empower the growth of the Kingdom. The United Methodists are growing in Africa, where Christianity is not privileged and, in some cases, even persecuted. The organization is declining rather rapidly here, where it is privileged.
So, why fight for tax exempt status. Why, apart from worldly concerns, want it?
What would truly be bad for the Kingdom if churches lost their tax exempt status?
Sunday, February 24, 2019
Cis or Trans Christianity
Thinking about an old problem in a new light...
----------------
Cis.
Trans.
Terms from the subject of gender identity.
Cisgender refers to a person whose gender identity matches their biology at birth.
Transgender refers to someone whose gender identity differs from their biology at birth.
So, CisChristian could mean a churchperson whose actions match their talk and a TransChristian one whose actions differ from their talk.
In the Church of God movement days, there can be no doubt. John Winebrenner and the men and women who shared his radical, prophetic, sin-challenging, grace-proclaiming, empowered-by-the-Spirit, incarnational, world-transforming ministry were CisChristian. They talked big and, in the Spirit's power, walked, if anything, even bigger.
And, that's a way of thinking about the difference between our body in its movement days...
...when the Lord of all authority and power and blessing empowered and blessing, blessed us...
...and the CGGC today, limp and lukewarm,...
...which continues to decline and decay.
They were CisChristian. We, today, are TransChristian.
They were empowered and blessed and we...
...well, ain't.
-------------------
A recent example:
Lance's recent eNews face-stomp on a person, or persons, who wondered why no one from the mountaintop, including Lance himself, has expressed outrage, or behaved with outrage, over New York's new late-term abortion law.
Lance claims to, and, I really think, does, believe that Christ still does give, to the people of the Kingdom, apostles, prophets, evangelists and shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for works of ministry.
Yet, when he's given the chance to act, I've never known Lance to live this belief.
As seems clear from his recent bristling over the call for a strong response to the New York abortion law, Lance is a TransChristian who thinks APEST but actually opposes it when someone wants him to put it into action.
I wrote to Lance about this.
I noted to Lance that prophets are the stewards of outrage in the body, as were the men and women of our movement era.
And, I noted, to Lance, that, in this case, he failed to live APEST. He failed to empower prophetic ministry in the body. In fact, Lance threw a wet blanket...in many, many words...on the prophet impulse in our body.
In his eNews article, Lance argued with careful reason, to stifle a prophetic impulse from the CGGC.
To be honest, Lance not only failed to live APEST, Lance, actually, argued against APEST, attempting to justify a response that is not prophetic, and to condemn the prophetic impulse.
Sadly, this is par for the CGGC course. It's not only Lance.
But, if Lance ever leads in action, it's in his TransChristian approach to APEST.
Oh, for the good old Church of God, CisChristian, days!...
...the day when we thrived in the Spirit's power, and our words and actions matched organically and seamlessly.
Today, we are TransChristian.
We must repent.
----------------
Cis.
Trans.
Terms from the subject of gender identity.
Cisgender refers to a person whose gender identity matches their biology at birth.
Transgender refers to someone whose gender identity differs from their biology at birth.
So, CisChristian could mean a churchperson whose actions match their talk and a TransChristian one whose actions differ from their talk.
In the Church of God movement days, there can be no doubt. John Winebrenner and the men and women who shared his radical, prophetic, sin-challenging, grace-proclaiming, empowered-by-the-Spirit, incarnational, world-transforming ministry were CisChristian. They talked big and, in the Spirit's power, walked, if anything, even bigger.
And, that's a way of thinking about the difference between our body in its movement days...
...when the Lord of all authority and power and blessing empowered and blessing, blessed us...
...and the CGGC today, limp and lukewarm,...
...which continues to decline and decay.
They were CisChristian. We, today, are TransChristian.
They were empowered and blessed and we...
...well, ain't.
-------------------
A recent example:
Lance's recent eNews face-stomp on a person, or persons, who wondered why no one from the mountaintop, including Lance himself, has expressed outrage, or behaved with outrage, over New York's new late-term abortion law.
Lance claims to, and, I really think, does, believe that Christ still does give, to the people of the Kingdom, apostles, prophets, evangelists and shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for works of ministry.
Yet, when he's given the chance to act, I've never known Lance to live this belief.
As seems clear from his recent bristling over the call for a strong response to the New York abortion law, Lance is a TransChristian who thinks APEST but actually opposes it when someone wants him to put it into action.
I wrote to Lance about this.
I noted to Lance that prophets are the stewards of outrage in the body, as were the men and women of our movement era.
And, I noted, to Lance, that, in this case, he failed to live APEST. He failed to empower prophetic ministry in the body. In fact, Lance threw a wet blanket...in many, many words...on the prophet impulse in our body.
In his eNews article, Lance argued with careful reason, to stifle a prophetic impulse from the CGGC.
To be honest, Lance not only failed to live APEST, Lance, actually, argued against APEST, attempting to justify a response that is not prophetic, and to condemn the prophetic impulse.
Sadly, this is par for the CGGC course. It's not only Lance.
But, if Lance ever leads in action, it's in his TransChristian approach to APEST.
Oh, for the good old Church of God, CisChristian, days!...
...the day when we thrived in the Spirit's power, and our words and actions matched organically and seamlessly.
Today, we are TransChristian.
We must repent.
Sunday, February 17, 2019
The Latest Kate Burkholder Novel
I'm a bachelor for a week.
Evie's on her way to Florida to stay at a time share we've owned for about 25 years. It's actually worked out well for us. It's a nice place, three miles down the road from Mickey.
We've been worn out on the attractions for years but the resort the time share is a part of is nice and it can be restful and relaxing.
Today is exactly six months since Evie's heart surgery. This past Friday was her last cardiac therapy session. She's doing well.
Evie and our niece have vacationed together a few times and always enjoy themselves. They're two years apart in age, grew up as neighbors and are more like sisters.
So, it's the dog and me.
On Friday I went to the local library, as big as a large closet, to pick up a few novels on audio. There wasn't much there that was of interest and new for me.
I took home a previously listened to John Grisham and a Michael Connelly and the latest Lee Child, Jack Reacher novel, a Lisa Scottoline and the latest Kate Burkholder by Linda Castillo.
The pick of that litter for me is the Kate Burkholder.
Kate Burkholder is the sheriff of mythical Painters Mill in for real Holmes County in Ohio, the heart of Ohio's Amish country. Every novel in the series that I know has been about murders among the Amish.
Castillo uses the stories to offer information about and insight into Amish religion and culture.
The stories are reasonably well told but it's Castillo's weaving of the Amish faith and culture in them that fascinates me.
This one's typical. Good enough. Uncharacteristically preachy, though...like a bad John Grisham...in a #MeToo sort of way.
But, as always, I like it for its exploration of the lives of people who understand Christianity as, above all, lifestyle.
Certainly, I'm not into the Amish understanding of the obedient Jesus lifestyle. Still, to believe that to be a Christian is the way you live?
I see far too little of that in the churchy people I know.
Evie's on her way to Florida to stay at a time share we've owned for about 25 years. It's actually worked out well for us. It's a nice place, three miles down the road from Mickey.
We've been worn out on the attractions for years but the resort the time share is a part of is nice and it can be restful and relaxing.
Today is exactly six months since Evie's heart surgery. This past Friday was her last cardiac therapy session. She's doing well.
Evie and our niece have vacationed together a few times and always enjoy themselves. They're two years apart in age, grew up as neighbors and are more like sisters.
So, it's the dog and me.
On Friday I went to the local library, as big as a large closet, to pick up a few novels on audio. There wasn't much there that was of interest and new for me.
I took home a previously listened to John Grisham and a Michael Connelly and the latest Lee Child, Jack Reacher novel, a Lisa Scottoline and the latest Kate Burkholder by Linda Castillo.
The pick of that litter for me is the Kate Burkholder.
Kate Burkholder is the sheriff of mythical Painters Mill in for real Holmes County in Ohio, the heart of Ohio's Amish country. Every novel in the series that I know has been about murders among the Amish.
Castillo uses the stories to offer information about and insight into Amish religion and culture.
The stories are reasonably well told but it's Castillo's weaving of the Amish faith and culture in them that fascinates me.
This one's typical. Good enough. Uncharacteristically preachy, though...like a bad John Grisham...in a #MeToo sort of way.
But, as always, I like it for its exploration of the lives of people who understand Christianity as, above all, lifestyle.
Certainly, I'm not into the Amish understanding of the obedient Jesus lifestyle. Still, to believe that to be a Christian is the way you live?
I see far too little of that in the churchy people I know.
Sunday, February 10, 2019
My Coworker, George, Passed Away
He was 83.
He'd been declining for about a year.
His wife also works at the store.
George was not a church man. So, there was no pastor on the job to take care of his funeral.
Interestingly, his wife, call her Sally, didn't look to a pastor in town to do his, uh, service.
She asked one of the baggers who is about her age to do the service.
The bagger does actually go to a church but he's known more prominently by us all for his deep and courageous love for Jesus and for his kind and gentle spirit.
It occurs to me that the fact that Sally didn't turn to a pastor in her moment of need is a story for our times, even among octogenarians.
Pastors don't mean much in today's world...outside of the institutional church, anyway.
This is evidence of the folly of my Conference's renewed and vigorous focus on pastors in its new New Strategic Plan, adopted a year ago.
Key to the plan is the role of "healthy, life-giving pastors."
When people outside of the institutional church look for spiritual guidance it is...
...and, in the future, no doubt, will be...
...more and more...
...to people they rub elbows with day by day,...
...not to people who stand behind pulpits.
It's long since past time to empower the Priesthood of all Believers, not to try to foist parish priest led churchianity on the world.
Will we ever learn?
He'd been declining for about a year.
His wife also works at the store.
George was not a church man. So, there was no pastor on the job to take care of his funeral.
Interestingly, his wife, call her Sally, didn't look to a pastor in town to do his, uh, service.
She asked one of the baggers who is about her age to do the service.
The bagger does actually go to a church but he's known more prominently by us all for his deep and courageous love for Jesus and for his kind and gentle spirit.
It occurs to me that the fact that Sally didn't turn to a pastor in her moment of need is a story for our times, even among octogenarians.
Pastors don't mean much in today's world...outside of the institutional church, anyway.
This is evidence of the folly of my Conference's renewed and vigorous focus on pastors in its new New Strategic Plan, adopted a year ago.
Key to the plan is the role of "healthy, life-giving pastors."
When people outside of the institutional church look for spiritual guidance it is...
...and, in the future, no doubt, will be...
...more and more...
...to people they rub elbows with day by day,...
...not to people who stand behind pulpits.
It's long since past time to empower the Priesthood of all Believers, not to try to foist parish priest led churchianity on the world.
Will we ever learn?
Dorothy L. Sayers
I "discovered" Sayers about ten years ago. Or, I guess it would be more accurate to say that I discovered her most famous creation, the gentleman detective, Lord Peter Wimsey.
Quite an achievement. She died in 1957 and wrote her last Wimsey novel in 1937.
Sayers was a contemporary of Agatha Christie. She was writing the Lord Peter Wimsey novels at the same time Christie was writing Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple novels.
I love Lord Peter. In my opinion, David Niven would have made a great Lord Peter.
I actually discovered Sayers more recently than Lord Peter when reading one of my favorite books, ReJesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church, by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch.
Frost and Hirsch present Sayers as an example of someone who believed in Jesus and who lived a lifestyle reflective of their "wild messiah."
Sayers lived in Oxford and was good friends with C. S. Lewis. Lewis...and Frost and Hirsch...highly praise Sayers', "The Man Born to be King: A Play-Cycle on the Life of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ," written in the 1940s.
Lewis thought so highly of it that he read it every year during holy week. He said of it, "I shed real tears (hot ones) in places..."
Since being introduced to Sayers' radical life and faith, I've become an even bigger fan of Lord Peter, though I can't see much of Jesus in the character, nor the novels.
Incidentally, Sayers stopped writing murder mysteries because she was deeply disturbed by the fact that European dictators were committing mass murder so easily. Murder was no longer a source of entertainment to her.
I think I'd love to read a good biography of Sayers. She certainly didn't live a spotless life. She had a child outside of marriage in the 1920s!
Yet, twenty years later, she became someone whose devotion to Jesus stirred even C. S. Lewis.
All this to lead up to saying that the BBC serialized five of the Lord Peter Wimsey novels in the 1970s, featuring Iain Chamberlain, and three more in the 80s with Edward Petherbridge as Lord Peter and Harriet Walter as Wimsey's love interest and eventual wife Harriet Vane.
We bought the first series on DVD a while back when we found a good price on it. Considering that it's almost 50 years old, it holds up fairly well. But the second series was way out of our frugal price range. Evie won an EBay auction on the second series recently and the discs arrived the other day.
We'll watch one of them, at least, today.
Quite an achievement. She died in 1957 and wrote her last Wimsey novel in 1937.
Sayers was a contemporary of Agatha Christie. She was writing the Lord Peter Wimsey novels at the same time Christie was writing Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple novels.
I love Lord Peter. In my opinion, David Niven would have made a great Lord Peter.
I actually discovered Sayers more recently than Lord Peter when reading one of my favorite books, ReJesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church, by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch.
Frost and Hirsch present Sayers as an example of someone who believed in Jesus and who lived a lifestyle reflective of their "wild messiah."
Sayers lived in Oxford and was good friends with C. S. Lewis. Lewis...and Frost and Hirsch...highly praise Sayers', "The Man Born to be King: A Play-Cycle on the Life of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ," written in the 1940s.
Lewis thought so highly of it that he read it every year during holy week. He said of it, "I shed real tears (hot ones) in places..."
Since being introduced to Sayers' radical life and faith, I've become an even bigger fan of Lord Peter, though I can't see much of Jesus in the character, nor the novels.
Incidentally, Sayers stopped writing murder mysteries because she was deeply disturbed by the fact that European dictators were committing mass murder so easily. Murder was no longer a source of entertainment to her.
I think I'd love to read a good biography of Sayers. She certainly didn't live a spotless life. She had a child outside of marriage in the 1920s!
Yet, twenty years later, she became someone whose devotion to Jesus stirred even C. S. Lewis.
All this to lead up to saying that the BBC serialized five of the Lord Peter Wimsey novels in the 1970s, featuring Iain Chamberlain, and three more in the 80s with Edward Petherbridge as Lord Peter and Harriet Walter as Wimsey's love interest and eventual wife Harriet Vane.
We bought the first series on DVD a while back when we found a good price on it. Considering that it's almost 50 years old, it holds up fairly well. But the second series was way out of our frugal price range. Evie won an EBay auction on the second series recently and the discs arrived the other day.
We'll watch one of them, at least, today.
Sunday, February 3, 2019
Super Bowl Eve
I work as an ambassador of the Kingdom of God in the role of a manager of a grocery store, yada.
The work itself is not always thrilling but it puts me in contact with gobs of people.and affords me the opportunity to be a presence for the King among people who'd never touch organized Christianity, except maybe to get a parish priest to marry them or plant dad or mom in the grave.
And, it gives me a chance to glimpse a part of popular culture that is fascinating.
If you're going to throw any sort of party, you need food. That's where we come in.
I never would have guessed how big the Super Bowl is.
The day before the Super Bowl is one of the busiest days at the store in the entire year. I'd rank it in the top 5, up there with Christmas and New Year's Eve and the day before Thanksgiving.
Last year the Eagles were in the game and it was brutal. I thought we'd catch a bit of a break because many people claim not to care about the game because of the historically bad call that won the NFC Championship game for the Rams and the fact that the hated, cheatin Patriots are in the game.
But, yesterday we were absolutely slammed!
No party for us, though. We're home petting the dog and watching reruns of the old BBC program, Foyle's War.
The work itself is not always thrilling but it puts me in contact with gobs of people.and affords me the opportunity to be a presence for the King among people who'd never touch organized Christianity, except maybe to get a parish priest to marry them or plant dad or mom in the grave.
And, it gives me a chance to glimpse a part of popular culture that is fascinating.
If you're going to throw any sort of party, you need food. That's where we come in.
I never would have guessed how big the Super Bowl is.
The day before the Super Bowl is one of the busiest days at the store in the entire year. I'd rank it in the top 5, up there with Christmas and New Year's Eve and the day before Thanksgiving.
Last year the Eagles were in the game and it was brutal. I thought we'd catch a bit of a break because many people claim not to care about the game because of the historically bad call that won the NFC Championship game for the Rams and the fact that the hated, cheatin Patriots are in the game.
But, yesterday we were absolutely slammed!
No party for us, though. We're home petting the dog and watching reruns of the old BBC program, Foyle's War.
Is the CGGC "Evangelical?"
In his Where are We Now? articles, Lance has made that claim.
The word evangelical has achieved the status of being a word that means so many things that it means nothing.
If, by it, Lance means that we hold carefully to the theology of the Reformation...the most formal definition of the term..., I think he's wrong. We aren't serious enough about theology to qualify according to that definition.
If he means by that that we are moderate and tradition-bound...,
--not conservative enough to be called Fundamentalists and
--not liberal enough to be progressives, he may be on to something.
It seems to me that the defining characteristic of the CGGC, especially in the past decade plus, is our blandness and moderation.
------------------
However, in our talk, our official talk anyway, we are not evangelical.
We have taken on the language of our founders who, in truth, shared the belief that the Reformation had failed. In that day, we, most definitely, were not evangelicals.
Our founders actually hoped that the Church of God would be a part of "another great Reformation," words spoken in 1830 on the very day our body was formed.
And, using the language of our founders in the day that this was a thriving and blessed movement, we seek to return to the ministry of the first disciples of Jesus and operate...,
...not according to the ways of the sixteenth century revolt against Rome...,
...but on the "New Testament plan."
Those words identify us, not with the sixteenth century Protestants, or evangelicals, but with the Anabaptists, whom the first evangelicals imprisoned and executed.
So, is Lance right? Are we evangelicals? (I don't believe we are members of the National Association of Evangelicals.)
Theologically, I don't think we're vigorous enough to be evangelicals...
...but in terms of blandness and moderation? Well, yeah, that probably fits.
The word evangelical has achieved the status of being a word that means so many things that it means nothing.
If, by it, Lance means that we hold carefully to the theology of the Reformation...the most formal definition of the term..., I think he's wrong. We aren't serious enough about theology to qualify according to that definition.
If he means by that that we are moderate and tradition-bound...,
--not conservative enough to be called Fundamentalists and
--not liberal enough to be progressives, he may be on to something.
It seems to me that the defining characteristic of the CGGC, especially in the past decade plus, is our blandness and moderation.
------------------
However, in our talk, our official talk anyway, we are not evangelical.
We have taken on the language of our founders who, in truth, shared the belief that the Reformation had failed. In that day, we, most definitely, were not evangelicals.
Our founders actually hoped that the Church of God would be a part of "another great Reformation," words spoken in 1830 on the very day our body was formed.
And, using the language of our founders in the day that this was a thriving and blessed movement, we seek to return to the ministry of the first disciples of Jesus and operate...,
...not according to the ways of the sixteenth century revolt against Rome...,
...but on the "New Testament plan."
Those words identify us, not with the sixteenth century Protestants, or evangelicals, but with the Anabaptists, whom the first evangelicals imprisoned and executed.
So, is Lance right? Are we evangelicals? (I don't believe we are members of the National Association of Evangelicals.)
Theologically, I don't think we're vigorous enough to be evangelicals...
...but in terms of blandness and moderation? Well, yeah, that probably fits.
Where in the World is Brother Brandon Kelly? (Sung to the theme of Where in the World in Carmen Sandiego?)
Has any agency of state, local or the Federal Government issued an APB? A BOLO, perhaps?
If the earth were flat, I'd wonder, did Brandon fall off the edge?
He's just disappeared.
After all the ballyhoo launching his to-be-year-long series of APEST articles in both The CHURCH ADVOCATE and the CGGC eNews: Poof. Thin air. Nothing. The world's first case of APEST Interruptus.
I've had conversation about this. Some people, at least, in the CGGC are pleased with the fact of Brandon's APEST series in both CGGC publications. Even if they weren't blown away by the content, even if they didn't agree with Brandon's take on APEST, the fact that APEST was, finally, being discussed so prominently in the CGGC was appreciated.
So, wassup?! Why did the series end prematurely?
So, in the CGGC, we advocate APES? We do have a recent history of coming up short. So, why not!
Remember the days after the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, when Teamster truckers put "Where's Jimmy?" bumper stickers on their trucks?
Perhaps, at General Conference sessions this summer, General Conference staff should hand out WHERE'S BRANDON stickers to be placed on the bumpers of CGGC parish priests' SUVs.
Where in the world is brother Brandon Kelly?!!!??!!!
If the earth were flat, I'd wonder, did Brandon fall off the edge?
He's just disappeared.
After all the ballyhoo launching his to-be-year-long series of APEST articles in both The CHURCH ADVOCATE and the CGGC eNews: Poof. Thin air. Nothing. The world's first case of APEST Interruptus.
I've had conversation about this. Some people, at least, in the CGGC are pleased with the fact of Brandon's APEST series in both CGGC publications. Even if they weren't blown away by the content, even if they didn't agree with Brandon's take on APEST, the fact that APEST was, finally, being discussed so prominently in the CGGC was appreciated.
So, wassup?! Why did the series end prematurely?
So, in the CGGC, we advocate APES? We do have a recent history of coming up short. So, why not!
Remember the days after the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, when Teamster truckers put "Where's Jimmy?" bumper stickers on their trucks?
Perhaps, at General Conference sessions this summer, General Conference staff should hand out WHERE'S BRANDON stickers to be placed on the bumpers of CGGC parish priests' SUVs.
Where in the world is brother Brandon Kelly?!!!??!!!
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