Filling Ed's Size 19 1/2 5Es

You probably don't know this but, at about the time I created this blog, I created another blog called THE ED ROSENBERRY BLOG.

I've written ten posts for it but I never felt freed by the Lord to publish any of them.  Those posts have served as a sort of journal for me in the months since.

The description of the blog states:

Through his profound impact on the Eastern Regional Conference and the General Conference as their Executive Director, Ed Rosenberry is now the second most influential person in CGGC history, behind John Winebrenner, exceeding even C. H. Forney. This blog is dedicated to assessment of Ed's influence and speculation on what his legacy may be.

And, until recently, I believed that. 

Now, I'm not certain that he's still number two. 

The circumstances surrounding Ed's resignation defy understanding to me.  And, being the cynic that I am about the things that are spoken from the mountaintop, I don't think we know the whole story.  I have long since stopped taking anything Ed says or does at face value and I certainly don't take his explanation of his resignation at face value.

So...

...I'm not certain that Ed is still number two, behind only Winebrenner, in the CGGC.  But, the impact of his leadership certainly has been great.

Whether he's still number two or not, Ed has been extremely influential and has, as I've argued in the past, exercised authority in our body in a way that most Roman Catholic Popes never dreamed of.

Filling his shoes will be extremely difficult.

How we do it will matter.

It is my hope that the Search Committee will stop searching.  It has declared that it is searching for the next CGGC CEO.  I hope that it will submit to the authority of the Eldership and to We Believe and the new Statement of Faith and go back to square one and allow the Bible to be its "only" "rule."  I hope it will report that it can't, in good conscience, defy the Word and foist another CEO on our body.

If it doesn't, I promise to submit to the Eldership and our faith statements--even though I disagree with them on this point--and to resist the Search Committee and any and every thing the next CEO attempts to do. 

I promise to do it like a little brat with a tummy ache in the throws of the terrible twos.  I will because I see that as an apt description of Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist--and even Jesus--when they dealt with faithless religious institutionalists who ignored the Word of the Lord.

Please pray for the people on the mountaintop.  Pray that the Spirit will lead them to repent of their avowed search for another CEO.  Pray that He will convict them of this folly.  Pray they will submit to Him and to the authority of the Word and of CGGC body itself.

And, if they don't, be prepared yourself to submit to the Word and to the authority of the Eldership!