That's what the ERC is doing in creating a new Strategic Plan after Dr. Richardson had the insight to admit that this kind of planning is foreign to Scripture because, after that, he said, in effect, yet all of us know better than to live by the wisdom of the Word, at least in this case.
Key to the vision Dr. Richardson cast for the creation of the new Strategic Plan is his plea that all of us join together in prayer, asking God to fill the strategic planners with His wisdom in developing the plan that we, nevertheless, understand is foreign to the wisdom of His Word.
That is saying, in effect:
"Lord, we're drawing a line in the sand between You and us that WE won't cross over. Please, Lord, defy your own wisdom and step over that line we have drawn and come to us and bless our planners as they defy your wisdom. "
Can anyone see how self-focused, tradition-bound and foolish this is?
It's akin to faithless people in the Old Testament trying to figure out where to put the altar to Baal in reference to the temple and then asking the Lord to bless them as they gather at Baal's altar.
This is a radical image but, based on the Lord's continued lack of blessing on the CGGC, we need to consider it seriously.
Does anyone think that the Lord will bless this Strategic Plan?
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Gathering: 11-20-16
At this moment, the time is 8:24 and we, mostly Evie honestly, are preparing to host our first house gathering in, as far as I can tell, slightly more than three months.
The house looks fairly nice. All of the detritus of my parents' move is safely out of sight. And, because Evie's preparing a classic Thanksgiving meal, it smells wonderful.
One complication: Our heat pump went on the fritz a few days ago and the guy we use to maintain it is, inexplicably, on vacation until after Thanksgiving and we've decided to tough it out. We have a fireplace that makes a pretty fire more than it produces heat and we figured that the heat produced by cooking and body heat will keep everyone comfortable. Yesterday the high temperature was 69 but, by about 8:00, it was snowing and now its in the 30s, cloudy and windy and the temperature inside is currently 67.
I'm looking forward to gathering because I think that one reason Evie and I haven't been sacrificing enough lately is that the gatherings we have had have not been in a home and, therefore, have not lent themselves to the spurring of each other on to love and good works.
I pick up the folks from the home in about an hour...
---------------------
Well, the temperature peaked inside at 70 degrees, the meal was tasty and it was nice having the gang back in our home.
Two of the guys from the home missed. One, the guy I call Bennie has a very bad cold. Our friend Ward, though, has had a mild stroke and is in a rehab setting.
Our Word time, which is usually very powerful, wasn't today. It was interactive as usual and centered around the theme of thankfulness.
Sadly, our sixth grader, was filling us on the real, politically correct, story of the first Thanksgiving, which he accepts.
Bizarre!
With that in the background, it was difficult to get to a biblical concept of giving thanks.
Still, being together in our home base was sweet.
The house looks fairly nice. All of the detritus of my parents' move is safely out of sight. And, because Evie's preparing a classic Thanksgiving meal, it smells wonderful.
One complication: Our heat pump went on the fritz a few days ago and the guy we use to maintain it is, inexplicably, on vacation until after Thanksgiving and we've decided to tough it out. We have a fireplace that makes a pretty fire more than it produces heat and we figured that the heat produced by cooking and body heat will keep everyone comfortable. Yesterday the high temperature was 69 but, by about 8:00, it was snowing and now its in the 30s, cloudy and windy and the temperature inside is currently 67.
I'm looking forward to gathering because I think that one reason Evie and I haven't been sacrificing enough lately is that the gatherings we have had have not been in a home and, therefore, have not lent themselves to the spurring of each other on to love and good works.
I pick up the folks from the home in about an hour...
---------------------
Well, the temperature peaked inside at 70 degrees, the meal was tasty and it was nice having the gang back in our home.
Two of the guys from the home missed. One, the guy I call Bennie has a very bad cold. Our friend Ward, though, has had a mild stroke and is in a rehab setting.
Our Word time, which is usually very powerful, wasn't today. It was interactive as usual and centered around the theme of thankfulness.
Sadly, our sixth grader, was filling us on the real, politically correct, story of the first Thanksgiving, which he accepts.
Bizarre!
With that in the background, it was difficult to get to a biblical concept of giving thanks.
Still, being together in our home base was sweet.
Friday, November 18, 2016
Not Sacrificing Enough
I have pointed out many times in the past that I believe that a core characteristic of the CGGC brand is "To Talk is to Walk-ism."
That means that actions count for almost nothing in the CGGC.
In the past, especially in Findlay, big, radical talk was common but all action was bland, moderate and tradition driven.
Honestly, I'm not picking that up from Lance. His talk is forward-looking and what he himself does matches his talk.
Recently, here in the ERC, we've witnessed some serious talk-ism from Kevin Richardson, co-writer of WE BELIEVE and its radical position on the authority of the Bible in the CGGC, in his promotion of a new Strategic Plan even though he admits the idea of a Strategic Plan is foreign to Scripture.
While I continue to defend the authority of the Conference in the face of Kevin's defiance of its position on the authority of the Bible, I have to acknowledge that, here at Faith, we are struggling against Talkism in our own setting.
One of the, well, Characteristics of the Faith Brand is that, in the New Covenant, worship has nothing to do with gathering and singing and hearing a sermon. For us, true and proper worship is to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice.
We believe that passionately.
This morning Evie said to me that, lately, she and I have not been sacrificing enough.
And, as soon as she said it, I was convinced.
But, I will say this in our defense. Evie and I will change this deviation from our core belief immediately whereas, previously in Findlay, there was no intention to live out radical talk. The talk itself, truly, was the walk. And, with Dr. Richardson, I'm convinced, based on past actions, he thinks he possesses the authority to lead the Conference in doing something that is foreign to the teachings of Scripture, even though, in doing so, he's defying Conference authority as well as the Word.
As the NIV says it, in Jesus, "true and proper worship" is about personal sacrifice.
We will begin to do that again. Now.
That means that actions count for almost nothing in the CGGC.
In the past, especially in Findlay, big, radical talk was common but all action was bland, moderate and tradition driven.
Honestly, I'm not picking that up from Lance. His talk is forward-looking and what he himself does matches his talk.
Recently, here in the ERC, we've witnessed some serious talk-ism from Kevin Richardson, co-writer of WE BELIEVE and its radical position on the authority of the Bible in the CGGC, in his promotion of a new Strategic Plan even though he admits the idea of a Strategic Plan is foreign to Scripture.
While I continue to defend the authority of the Conference in the face of Kevin's defiance of its position on the authority of the Bible, I have to acknowledge that, here at Faith, we are struggling against Talkism in our own setting.
One of the, well, Characteristics of the Faith Brand is that, in the New Covenant, worship has nothing to do with gathering and singing and hearing a sermon. For us, true and proper worship is to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice.
We believe that passionately.
This morning Evie said to me that, lately, she and I have not been sacrificing enough.
And, as soon as she said it, I was convinced.
But, I will say this in our defense. Evie and I will change this deviation from our core belief immediately whereas, previously in Findlay, there was no intention to live out radical talk. The talk itself, truly, was the walk. And, with Dr. Richardson, I'm convinced, based on past actions, he thinks he possesses the authority to lead the Conference in doing something that is foreign to the teachings of Scripture, even though, in doing so, he's defying Conference authority as well as the Word.
As the NIV says it, in Jesus, "true and proper worship" is about personal sacrifice.
We will begin to do that again. Now.
Thursday, November 17, 2016
A Report to My Commission
The most outrageous item for me to report is that the Conference still neither confirms nor denies the flurry of rumors, that surfaced during the spring, that my ordination was recalled.
And, more to the point, if the rumors are based in fact, Dr. Richardson and his staff are insubordinent to the authority of the Conference by not following its directive to recall my ordination.
If the rumors are based in fact, the inaction of Conference staff is suggestive of one important dysfunction that goes far in explaining why this Conference of the CGGC is in, especially spiritual, decline.
Jesus teaches that those who would be great in the Kingdom would be slaves of all. That attitude of hyper-servanthood is entirely missing from ERC mountaintoppers. They view themselves as leaders, not slaves.
I'll ask what I frequently ask. Is it any wonder that the Lord of all power, mercy and grace is not blessing us!
A second item: I've heard nothing from the ERC Commission on Church Renewal about the possibility that they may recommend the depantsing of Faith Community.
For all I know, they've already recommended it and, for all I know, Faith has already been depantsed. That would be true to form. The Ad Council already defrocked me before I even knew that the status of my credentials was under review.
I'll repeat the question about the Lord's blessing.
One final note, I have become aware that some heavy-duty lies about me were spoken on the floor of Conference last spring and the person who spoke them has, perhaps inadvertently, acknowledged speaking them. I'm doing my best to follow the teachings of Jesus in approaching a person who sins against you. So far, it's not going well but I am resolved.
To be fair to the person who spoke untruthfully about me, that person believes that his misrepresentation of me was justified under circumstances he recalls being in place. As I say, I am resolved.
And, more to the point, if the rumors are based in fact, Dr. Richardson and his staff are insubordinent to the authority of the Conference by not following its directive to recall my ordination.
If the rumors are based in fact, the inaction of Conference staff is suggestive of one important dysfunction that goes far in explaining why this Conference of the CGGC is in, especially spiritual, decline.
Jesus teaches that those who would be great in the Kingdom would be slaves of all. That attitude of hyper-servanthood is entirely missing from ERC mountaintoppers. They view themselves as leaders, not slaves.
I'll ask what I frequently ask. Is it any wonder that the Lord of all power, mercy and grace is not blessing us!
A second item: I've heard nothing from the ERC Commission on Church Renewal about the possibility that they may recommend the depantsing of Faith Community.
For all I know, they've already recommended it and, for all I know, Faith has already been depantsed. That would be true to form. The Ad Council already defrocked me before I even knew that the status of my credentials was under review.
I'll repeat the question about the Lord's blessing.
One final note, I have become aware that some heavy-duty lies about me were spoken on the floor of Conference last spring and the person who spoke them has, perhaps inadvertently, acknowledged speaking them. I'm doing my best to follow the teachings of Jesus in approaching a person who sins against you. So far, it's not going well but I am resolved.
To be fair to the person who spoke untruthfully about me, that person believes that his misrepresentation of me was justified under circumstances he recalls being in place. As I say, I am resolved.
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
My Calling
I've written this up here several times over the years.
I came to understand this in almost exactly in these words for the first time nearly ten years ago.
I pray over this more than anything else I pray about, always asking the Spirit to show me I'm off base, if I'm off base.
It derives from Jeremiah 1:10, Romans 1:1 and Ephesians 4:11-12. This is it:
To be a servant of Christ Jesus called to be a prophet and set apart to uproot and tear down and to destroy and overthrow the church's pastor dominated leadership culture and to build and to plant a servant community in which apostles, prophets, evangelists and shepherds and teachers are all empowered to live within their callings and, therefore, to prepare the saints for works of ministry.
From early on, I've struggled with the words, "to destroy and overthrow." These are words that appear over and over again in Jeremiah. Jeremiah carried them as a part of his ministry for decades. They are especially challenging in a shepherd dominated spiritual world.
But, I'm taking them seriously today more than ever.
I came to understand this in almost exactly in these words for the first time nearly ten years ago.
I pray over this more than anything else I pray about, always asking the Spirit to show me I'm off base, if I'm off base.
It derives from Jeremiah 1:10, Romans 1:1 and Ephesians 4:11-12. This is it:
To be a servant of Christ Jesus called to be a prophet and set apart to uproot and tear down and to destroy and overthrow the church's pastor dominated leadership culture and to build and to plant a servant community in which apostles, prophets, evangelists and shepherds and teachers are all empowered to live within their callings and, therefore, to prepare the saints for works of ministry.
From early on, I've struggled with the words, "to destroy and overthrow." These are words that appear over and over again in Jeremiah. Jeremiah carried them as a part of his ministry for decades. They are especially challenging in a shepherd dominated spiritual world.
But, I'm taking them seriously today more than ever.
Sick
I point out, so frequently that I think it annoys some of the kids who work with me, that I'm a geezer.
A few months ago, I was offered and accepted a position in management in the super market I've been at for the past few years.
It has surprised me how much more exhausting the work is compared to what I had been doing, some parts of which was pretty heavy physical work.
The exhaustion has physical and psychological components. In the job, I'm in demand constantly and the pressure on my introvert-ism is unbelievably intense.
On Monday, I began to feel a worse than normal cold coming on and, starting out with the level of exhaustion that has become normal, my energy level tanked below what allows me to keep up on the job.
Half of Tuesday and half of Wednesday I am lead manager of the front end of the store, so I contacted the guy who works the other manager shifts on those days and told him that I'm only going to work when I'm manager.
It's hard for me to take the time off because this is Thanksgiving time and our workers are really pushed. But I believe I have done the best thing if I'll be able to survive Thanksgiving week itself with my coworkers.
I think back to my days as a CGGC parish priest when, if I felt tbis way, I'd just slow down for a few days and no one would notice and I wouldn't have given it a passing thought.
Like many so-called laypeople, I will lose money for the hours I don't work and we're not rolling in it these days.
A few months ago, I was offered and accepted a position in management in the super market I've been at for the past few years.
It has surprised me how much more exhausting the work is compared to what I had been doing, some parts of which was pretty heavy physical work.
The exhaustion has physical and psychological components. In the job, I'm in demand constantly and the pressure on my introvert-ism is unbelievably intense.
On Monday, I began to feel a worse than normal cold coming on and, starting out with the level of exhaustion that has become normal, my energy level tanked below what allows me to keep up on the job.
Half of Tuesday and half of Wednesday I am lead manager of the front end of the store, so I contacted the guy who works the other manager shifts on those days and told him that I'm only going to work when I'm manager.
It's hard for me to take the time off because this is Thanksgiving time and our workers are really pushed. But I believe I have done the best thing if I'll be able to survive Thanksgiving week itself with my coworkers.
I think back to my days as a CGGC parish priest when, if I felt tbis way, I'd just slow down for a few days and no one would notice and I wouldn't have given it a passing thought.
Like many so-called laypeople, I will lose money for the hours I don't work and we're not rolling in it these days.
Sunday, November 13, 2016
Who Has Plans for Whom?
At the height of my participation in the institutional church, I was a pastor of enough consequence I had a paid, full-time secretary. Looking back, I'm impressed with myself. Neither Jesus nor Paul had a secretary, let alone one who was full-time!
My secretary's favorite Scripture verse was that, "I know the plans I have for you," verse in Jeremiah. A good verse, no doubt.
I've been thinking about that verse a lot lately since Dr. Richardson of the ERC noted that despite the fact that the idea of a Strategic Plan is foreign to Scripture, he believes we all know the importance of planning and that he and other ERC mountaintoppers were undergoing a process to create a new Strategic Plan to replace the one the Conference approved only last year with great fanfare and joyous enthusiasm.
The idea that disciples of Jesus should come up with plan after plan in the hope that their plans would succeed, excuse the vivid verb but I think it fits, RAPES a most basic truth contained in the Word of God.
The Lord is the creator of all things and He alone possesses power and authority. It is He alone Who can plan. It is for humans to seek to live under His authority, to seek and to do His will, to understand His plan and to obey Him.
As well-intentioned as Dr. Richardson and his colleagues may be, we all know that previous plans have not been blessed by the One who possesses all power and authority.
Can't they see that it is for the Lord, not for them to plan?! Well, we know that Dr. Richardson, at least, can see that. He said so in so many words. He, apparently, thinks he can improve on biblical wisdom. Is that blasphemy. Or, is a more grievous sin, if there is one?
Having a Strategic Plan is, indeed, foreign to Scripture.
But, ERC mountaintoppers are determined to plan any way.
God help us.
God forgive Dr. Richrdson and his fellow planners.
We must repent.
My secretary's favorite Scripture verse was that, "I know the plans I have for you," verse in Jeremiah. A good verse, no doubt.
I've been thinking about that verse a lot lately since Dr. Richardson of the ERC noted that despite the fact that the idea of a Strategic Plan is foreign to Scripture, he believes we all know the importance of planning and that he and other ERC mountaintoppers were undergoing a process to create a new Strategic Plan to replace the one the Conference approved only last year with great fanfare and joyous enthusiasm.
The idea that disciples of Jesus should come up with plan after plan in the hope that their plans would succeed, excuse the vivid verb but I think it fits, RAPES a most basic truth contained in the Word of God.
The Lord is the creator of all things and He alone possesses power and authority. It is He alone Who can plan. It is for humans to seek to live under His authority, to seek and to do His will, to understand His plan and to obey Him.
As well-intentioned as Dr. Richardson and his colleagues may be, we all know that previous plans have not been blessed by the One who possesses all power and authority.
Can't they see that it is for the Lord, not for them to plan?! Well, we know that Dr. Richardson, at least, can see that. He said so in so many words. He, apparently, thinks he can improve on biblical wisdom. Is that blasphemy. Or, is a more grievous sin, if there is one?
Having a Strategic Plan is, indeed, foreign to Scripture.
But, ERC mountaintoppers are determined to plan any way.
God help us.
God forgive Dr. Richrdson and his fellow planners.
We must repent.
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