Why, According to Dr. Richardson, I am in trouble in the ERC

This is no secret. He's said it to my face several times and, based on reports I've received, he said it to the Conference in session.

I'm in trouble for pointing out things like his recent assertion that, despite the teaching of Scripture, he is leading the Conference in writing another Strategic Plan.

All I've done is stand for the authority of the Bible and, in our CGGC setting, his need to submit to the authority of the Conference.

I'm know that I'm personally involved in this, but this strikes me as being similar to Herod imprisoning John the Baptist for pointing out his sin.

There must be massive repentance across the CGGC.

My Take on the Election

I used to be a politics junkie who followed election intrigue as if it were a sport.

Part of my repentance in recent years has been to leave all of that behind.

Jesus said that His Kingdom is not of this world and so I don't pour my own self into this world in the way I once did.

On the other hand, it is my belief that when He said that we should give to Caesar what's Caesar's, for disciples of Jesus in a republic, voting responsibly is a necessity. So, I followed the political season and voted.

In my job I literally talk to hundreds of people every day and it stuns me how candid people often are in those conversations. I suppose that I've had hundreds of brief chats about the election over this long political season and the conversation continues.

By far, the prevailing sentiment this time around has been that people disliked both of the major candidates.

When there was passion for one of them, in my experience, it was exclusively for Trump, never Hillary. But most people were voting for the candidate they despised less.

Living in Pennsylvania, most who planned to vote for Trump expected to lose the vote in this state due to the efforts of the Philadelphia machine to produce a majority for Hillary. It is certain that 100% of dead voters in Philadelphia voted straight Democrat.

It was a real stunner that Trump prevailed here.  He campaigned hard in this part of the state, holding about half a dozen well-attended rallies which produced a huge turnout on election day.  Our wait at the polls was our longest ever by far.

Here in Pennsylvania and across the country, it was a surprisingly good day for the GOP.

Donald Trump is not a Reagan conservative and most GOPs in Congress are.  Who knows what will happen in the months to come?

Were I still a politics junkie I'd be ecstatic.

That's the political news from Lake Wobegon, PA, "where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking and all the children are above average."

Does Anyone in the ERC Have the Authority to Say, "Yet"?

I continue to be stunned over Kevin Richardson's recent article promoting and justifying ERC mountaintoppers decision to develop still another Strategic Plan, only one year after it published the last one with great fanfare and enthusiasm.

Kevin admitted straightforwardly that the words are not in the Bible and that the concept itself seems "foreign to Scripture. "

Then he said, "Yet..."

How does any human being who claims to believe, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful..." say that?

I have to ask, based on this fruit Kevin produced, how much authority Kevin think he has.

And, I'll say this:

NO POPE WOULD HAVE EVER ATTEMPTED TO INTRODUCE EVEN THE MOST RADICAL INNOVATION TO ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH DOCTRINE OR PRACTICE WITHOUT USING SCRIPTURE TO JUSTIFY IT.

Not even one Pope in all of history would have said, "Yet."

Can you see how far we have fallen?

The CGGC has authority issues.

We all know that God is not blessing what we do.

Can there be the slightest question why.

Kevin must repent and publicly confess this sin.

All who are willing to give any human the right to say, "Yet," must repent and confess in tears.

We must repent. This is bad.

Gathering Such as It is: 11-6-16

We try, as best we can, to live by the wisdom that says:

The important thing is to keep the important thing the important thing.

At this point we have far more life going on than we can handle.

Mom had cataract surgery last week on a cataract that was so huge that the doctor couldn't guarantee anything as far as results are concerned.   In the end, everything turned out nicely--a sweet answer to prayer.

Evie accompanied her and I spent the day sitting with dad who, in the most common way of assessing dementia, is well into stage 6, out of 7.

That sort of time with dad always exhausts me.  The mini strokes have killed dad's attention span, so that it extends only for about a minute but the strokes have also left him a sweet, simple man.  He and I spent about four hours together.  He slept some of that time and then repeated the same few questions dozens of times. Where's your mother? Why is she away for so long? Who's with your mother? How did she get there? When will she be home? Why is this taking so long?

I had no difficulty being patient but there is something about seeing the man who raised you reduced to that level of existence.

All this is to explain that neither of us have the emotional wherewithal to do all that is involved in hosting a Gathering. So, we are taking a large number of the regular gang out to lunch.  The folks from the home always enjoy the outing but they do miss seeing Lizzy.

After that, we will probably start a small fire in our fireplace and drift off to sleep.

There is a huge sale going on at the store. I'm not sure that I mentioned that a few months ago I was offered a management position at the store. In my new position, very busy times just about kill me.

A nice Sunday afternoon nap will probably hit the spot.

Join God in the Work He is Doing: NOT

Fifteen to 20 years ago, a microfad that spread across the CGGC was doing the interactive study of Henry and Richard Blackaby and Claude King's, Experiencing God.

Many of the CGGC engaged in the study and spoke enthusiastically of the depth of its biblical wisdom.

The study is well done, not only because it is profoundly biblical, but also because its central idea is clearly communicated.

The central idea is that the essential act of Christian discipleship is to join God in the work He is doing.

The authors of the study present numerous examples from the Bible that that is the way men and women of God live.  The most powerful biblical examples are drawn from the life of Jesus Himself.

It is clear, from the study, that the person who lives righteously has no plan, that s/he has no goal but to be a willing instrument in God's hand.

And, in announcing the ERC'S decision to create a new Strategic Plan, Dr. Richardson seems both to acknowledge that truth and to spit on it.

He declares that the idea of a Strategic Plan seems foreign to Scripture. "Yet," he says, to paraphrase, we all know that for humans plan is a good thing.

Is there anyone in our body, apart from me, who is appalled not only that Kevin could say this but so brazenly lead the Conference on a path that he himself understands defies biblical authority.

Does anyone else recognize that he is holding his own authority above the authority of the Word of God!?

The Lord hasn't blessed the Strategic Plans of the past.  And, He will not bless Kevin's vision this time around.

I know very well that I am a lone voice crying in the wilderness.

Won't some of you whose voices are heard, speak up?

God's way for us is to repent, not to form our own new plans.

Everyone-did-what-was-Right-in-his-own-Eyesism

I'm convinced that I need to add a new characteristic to my description of the CGGC brand.

The end of the era of the Old Testament Judges was a dark time for Israel. The Word describes that as a time when "everyone did what was right in his own eyes."

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I have noted that a characteristic that defines the CGGC identity is cynicism. By that I mean that mountaintoppers behave as if they have limitless authority and that many of the clergy and most congregations simply ignore leadership out of unabashed cynicism.

For many years I've heard the pastors and people of the CGGC say that they don't care what leadership says we believe or how it describes our mission or vision or strategic plans because, they say, "We do what we believe is right no matter what 'they' say or do."

And, for all those years I've seen CGGC mountaintoppers spin their statements of belief and vision and mission and devising their plans without making serious effort to extend those thoughts and plans to the entire CGGC body. In that way, mountaintoppers practice their own kind of "in-our-own-eyesism."

This dynamic seems to me to extend to the very core of the CGGC identity.  It seems to me to be a characteristic of the CGGC brand.

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What's wrong with this way of thinking?

Many things are profoundly wrong with it but, among people who think of themselves as disciples of Jesus, it spits in the face of Jesus commanding all who call Him Lord, "Love one another as I have loved you."

In one word, this "own-eyesism" is an actual sin.

As long as we practice it and fail to repent of it, the Lord will not bless us.

We must repent.

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FYI, I'd place it as item 11, immediately after Cynicism.

Defying the CGGC's Belief that the Bible is Our Only Rule of Faith and Practice

Recently, in an email exchange, an ERC mountaintopper asserted that I am, using my term, in deep doodoo with the Conference because of my criticism of leadership.

I responded by saying what I have said a few times here:

I don't ever criticize leadership.

The CGGC is, to use the theological term, Presbyterial, that is, it is a body in which the highest earthly authority is the Conference--as our founders called it, the Eldership.

The CGGC truth is that its greatest earthly authority is found, not in any Executive Director or Council or Commission or headquarters building, but in the actions and declarations of the General Conference in session. After that, in my ERC for instance, the second greatest authority is found in the actions of the ERC in Conference session.

When I appear to be critical of Kevin Richardson or of Lance or or even an Ad Council, it is because I, a credentialed elder in the body, am exercising my obligation, as an elder, to promote and defend the authority of the Conference, the Eldership.

And, that is all I ever do.  And, as the Lord gives me strength, I will always do it.

What I say next is not about Kevin Richardson.   It is about the integrity of the whole CGGC and the authority of the Eldership.

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As an elder in the CGGC, I am appalled by Kevin Richardson's recent justification of ERC leadership's decision to create a new Strategic Plan.

In the most recent General Conference, our highest earthly authority, in session updated WE BELIEVE and created a Statement of Faith both of which speak of the Bible as our "only rule," to quote the Statement of Faith precisely, of faith and practice. Kevin was a writer of WE BELIEVE and a delegate to General Conference.

The words of WE BELIEVE and the Statement of Faith are strong and absolute words. They are radical.  Our General Conference chose them. They, therefore, have authority over the CGGC body.  No one forced the General Conference to adopt so radical a position on biblical authority.

But it chose them.  And, now all of us--ALL OF US--are bound to submit to them.

"Only rule of...practice."  Those words don't really leave any wiggle room.

I myself am nothing more than a member of the CGGC Eldership who accepts the authority of the earthly body which I pledged to serve.

As a member of the Eldership, Kevin Richardson stuns and offends me.  To justify the creation of the new Strategic Plan he says this:

You can't find the words (strategic plan) in the Bible and even the concept seems foreign to Scripture.  Yet, in our hearts we know the benefits of good planning.

"Only rule," Kevin. Highest earthly authority.

Can you imagine how John Winebrenner would have responded if an elder in his day had written those word!!!???

Forget Winebrenner.

Kevin's words defy the 2013 proclamation of WE BELIEVE and Statement of Faith. They are insubordinent to the authority of the General Conference.

I'm not criticizing Kevin personally. I continue to have a great amount of affection for him in spite of everything.

But, I am defending the Eldership--the integrity and authority of the CGGC.

If we cared about truth, Kevin would be in trouble.

The Lord will not bless this.

There must serious repentance in our body.