Beware theological labels

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

As our understanding of who God is (our theology) developed, we began using the term “Incarnational Trinitarian Theology” to identify and summarize our understanding. However, use of that term (and others like it) might cause some problems. First, it might confuse some who are not trained in theology. Second, it might be used by some who do not understand it well. Third, it might be overused and thus become cliché. Last, it might become a denominational label that could lead some to misunderstand what we actually believe and teach.

Along with this letter, we’ve included an article from Gary Deddo titled, “Answering questions about our theology” (click on the link in the column at left). I urge you to read it carefully. As Gary notes, it is helpful to think of Incarnational Trinitarian Theology as describing how we believe rather than merely what we believe. Of course, all orthodox Christians accept the doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation. But for us, they are more than two doctrines on a list of many—they are the heart of our faith and worship.

Why is that not so for all Christians? Partly because these truths are deep mysteries beyond our fallen human imaginations. Also, these doctrines at times are poorly taught or not taught at all. Thus it is easy to drift away from this defining core and begin to emphasize secondary (even tertiary) issues. When that happens, everything becomes distorted.

This was seen clearly in the way Jewish religious leaders resisted Jesus. Those leaders looked to Scripture as a source of truth, but disagreed about its details. Nevertheless, they were united against Jesus. And so Jesus told them, “You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you’ll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me! And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren’t willing to receive from me the life you say you want” (John 5:39-40, The Message). Note how Jesus placed himself at the center as the living key to interpreting Scripture. He himself was the source of their life. If they would accept and understand that, they would put their petty disagreements in perspective and come together in acknowledging him as Messiah. Instead, they saw him as a heretic and plotted to kill him.

As Christians today, we can make the same mistake. Even if we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, we can sideline the fundamental truths that define who he is. The result is the fragmenting of Christianity into competing “schools” of thought with their own doctrinal distinctives. This leads to a “my Christianity is better than yours” mentality. Though the distinctives may be accurate, they emphasize peripheral matters. The result is that the reality of who God is and what he has done for us in his Son is diminished, if not lost. Division within the Body of Christ results.

That is why we need to avoid using labels in ways that imply that we are setting ourselves apart as having a Christianity that is superior in comparison to others. The reason we use a label at all is to remind ourselves (and others, if they are interested) of the focus of our renewal—the reality of what is revealed in Jesus Christ according to Scripture.

Also, in using a label, we must avoid implying that we are slavishly beholden to some systematic theology or to certain theologians—even those identified as Incarnational or Trinitarian. There are approximately 50 systematic theologies extant today. However, there is no single concrete, uniform, particular school of thought called “Trinitarian Theology.”

For example, Barth, the Torrance brothers and Thomas Oden drew on many other theologians throughout the ages and on the writings of the early church councils. Rather than seeking to establish a new theology, they were seeking to serve Jesus Christ and to build up his church through their teaching and research. Yes, they might be described as “Incarnational Trinitarian Theologians” because they saw that these particular elements of Christian faith were being neglected or even forgotten. They discerned that the church needed to get back on the central path of Christian faith.

When we use the term, “Incarnational Trinitarian Theology,” we are referring to the fact that Jesus is the lens through which we read and interpret the Bible and how we have come to know God. Consequently, any other doctrinal points should flow from and fit with the Trinitarian nature of God. Our role in the administration of our denomination is to pass on the best formulations of Christian theology that we can find—especially on the major issues. We are blessed to incorporate the ideas of the great theologians of Christian history and we can learn from those alive today. But we do not do so slavishly and biblical revelation always has the controlling authority.

So, when we say that we believe and teach Incarnational Trinitarian Theology, we are describing how we understand and believe Scripture based upon Jesus as the centerpiece of God’s plan for humanity. It is perhaps more like your computer’s operating system rather than one of many programs you load into it. Individual doctrines are like the software applications, which must be able to interface with the operating system if they are to work properly. But it’s the operating system that orders, organizes, prioritizes and produces all other useful results.

The focus of our renewal as a denomination has been the very theological issues that have been central to historical, orthodox Christianity. We are not the only branch of the church that neglected or even misunderstood the doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation. We hope that we might benefit other parts of the Body of Christ with what we have learned. It is in this spirit that we offer our Speaking of Life and You’re Included videos. If you have not viewed them, I urge you to do so. They will help us all keep the Center in the center, feed our continuing renewal in the Spirit, and enable us to join with all Christians down through the ages in giving witness to the glory of our triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Yours in Christ’s service,

Joseph Tkach

Bob Miller

Bob Miller, pastor of three GCI churches in Alabama (Birmingham, Good Hope and Hokes Bluff) retired last May but continues to work part-time.

Bob started serving people a long time ago when he worked as a bellhop at a motel while in high school. “I assisted the manager in waiting on customers, ran the switch board—one with all the wires like you see in old movies. I would make beds and clean rooms. A daily ritual was to wash the glasses at the local restaurant and wrap them for the maids to put in the rooms. I turned on lights at night (screwing in the light bulb at every outside door) and shoveled snow during winter. Our business rate for a single room was $6.30 a night.”

Bob, who grew up in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, had a desire to teach from a young age, “but no real direction in my life. I have never been one to do a lot of long-term planning. I believe God has nudged and pulled me along and placed me where he wanted me to be—sometimes with me pulling a Jonah and trying to run.”

Bob started attending the then Radio Church of God in Pittsburgh when he was 16.

I rode to church with a neighbor who had taught the MYF (Methodist Youth Fellowship) I attended. Another young man, who became a WCG pastor, now deceased, Danny Bierer, rode with us—he and I attended high school together. Jimmie Friddle was our pastor and recommended us for Ambassador College. I consider him my father in the faith. As a young man I found the church’s teaching something solid I could grasp and it gave me a sense of direction and purpose in life. I found, being a teenager, a lot of encouragement and acceptance from the way the members loved and supported me.

Ambassador College gave Bob more than an education. It was on the Big Sandy, Texas campus that Bob met his wife-to-be, Ruth. “We were married at Big Sandy by Dean Blackwell on January 22, 1977.” Bob and Ruth just celebrated their 36th anniversary in January. They have three children: Lisa; Laurie, who is married to Mike; and Brian, who is married to Kristen. They have one grandchild, Jackson Miller Dewey, who is 2½ years old. Another grandchild is due in May.

Ruth has a passion for women’s ministry and has been leading a fall women’s retreat for many years. She also enjoys teaching, and is currently teaching a women’ss discipleship class in their Birmingham congregation. She also gives occasional sermons. She works full-time as church secretary for Saint Mark United Methodist Church in Vestavia Hills.

After graduating college, Bob served for a short time as a ministerial trainee in Tennessee. In 1970 he began working for a US Steel subsidiary in Akron, Ohio working in their data entry and computer department for five years. He eventually moved to church headquarters in Pasadena and was hired full time in the Postal department and ended up working in the Ambassador Publishing department all through the 70s and 80s. He also served as a deacon in the HQ congregations. “I was ordained an elder in 1988 and sent to Birmingham, Alabama in 1989 as an assistant pastor. When the doctrinal changes were introduced, we lost our senior pastor and I took his place in 1995. I have served in this area ever since.”

Bob said the best part of being a pastor is “giving encouragement and helping someone find their spiritual giftedness to serve God.” This is clear from his most memorable moment as a pastor. “I was blessed to baptize a man in prison and twenty-three years later participate in his ordination and serve with him in ministry.”

Bob and Ruth love that GCI has enabled them to be part of a worldwide family. “Ruth and I have been privileged to serve in many aspects of the denominational work and have come to know and love many dear friends. GCI has been so good to us and the way our denomination presents the gospel is the most encouraging message I can imagine.”

Bob’s hobby is gardening, but his passion is to help others understand the love of God. “My passion is to nurture and encourage others in their faith journey.”

When asked about people who have been mentors for Bob, he was quick to respond. “Two men come to mind: Jimmie Friddle and Roger Lippross. One was my pastor and the other my boss. Both encouraged me to do better and gave me opportunities to improve my life and the lives of those I love. They both set examples of faith, perseverance and a love for preaching the gospel.”

Asked when he feels closest to God, Bob said, “When struggling with life’s problems and receiving the peace of God during prayer and the counsel of my best friend and dear wife that keeps me on track.”

Answering questions about our theology

This update is from Gary Deddo, who serves on GCI’s media team and as personal assistant to GCI president Joseph Tkach. In this article, Gary cautions about labeling ourselves as Incarnational Trinitarians and offers advice concerning answering those who question our theology. His insights help us understand more precisely the nature of our theological perspective.

The label, “Incarnational Trinitarian Theology” should be understood as descriptive rather than as prescriptive of our doctrinal statements. Our critics sometimes want to regard this label as being prescriptive, but that is not the case. Also, it is not the case that our theological perspective is Barthian or Torrancian or whatever. At best, such labels are only partially descriptive. Any similarities are definitely not prescriptive.
What is prescriptive for us is the reality of who God has revealed himself to be in Jesus Christ according to Scripture. Our theological formulations are derived from and meant to point faithfully to that reality, which exceeds what can be contained in our theological understandings.
When we quote any theologians positively, or even when the historic Christian Creeds are referenced, they are being used as illustrative of our own theological position, not as a source or final norm of it. They show that other members of the Body of Christ at other times and places grasped the biblical revelation in a way similar to how we have come to understand it. It demonstrates that we are concerned not to be esoteric or eccentric in our teaching and that we believe that other members of the Body of Christ can be helpful to us, saying at least as well, if not better than ourselves, how we also understand God’s Word.
Given what is noted above, the label “Incarnational Trinitarian Theology” is not meant to indicate that we hold to a special (or superior) form of Christianity. It indicates that the center and heart of our faith and worship corresponds to the center and heart of the revelation of the gospel itself—just as the whole of the historic, orthodox church has done down to this day. This label reminds us of the core reality of who God is and has revealed himself to be in and through Jesus Christ, according to Scripture. It also represents the nature of our renewal and restoration to true Christian faith which we have come to share with all the Christian church. If others have been pushed or pulled off-center we hold out to them these foundational truths, from which flow all other Christian doctrines, that they too might be renewed and restored in their faith and worship.
Some critics say we don’t make distinctions between believers and non-believers because of the way we speak of God having a oneness of mind, heart and purpose towards all. Though it is not true, they say we affirm universalism. Why do they come to this wrong conclusion? Because they make inferences from our statements about God to our views about his creatures. “If God regards all the same way, then all must regard God the same way.” But we do not come to our understanding through logical inferences made from one single affirmation about God. That would amount to both bad theology and bad logic. No simple logical inference is ever necessarily true, most especially when moving from God to talking about creatures.
It seems that their critique of our theology is a mirror-image of how their own theology works. Seeing a difference between believers and non-believers, they then imagine a corresponding difference in God. Again, they make a simple logical inference, but this time in the reverse direction: from a description of the differences among humans to what God then must prescribe for that difference among human persons. We do not reason in that way. Doing so would, in our view, constitute mythological projection, which is idolatry. Doing so would mean concluding something about what God prescribes from a description of individual creatures or a class of them. John Calvin made this mistake in reasoning in his polemical writings about predestination. Thankfully, he did not succumb to that faulty reasoning in most of his writings on theology (in his Institutes and elsewhere).
Typically, the difference between our viewpoint and that of those who criticize it, is that we start with God’s self-revelation as the criterion for our statements about God (“only God reveals God”). We do not start with our own, or even the Bible’s descriptions of how humans respond differently to God and then logically infer something about who God is and what God wants for his human creatures. Descriptions of human creatures and even of their potential eternal ends, either by means of our own observations or by reference to isolated biblical passages interpreted out of context, do not prescribe for us a definitive revelation of who God is and what he wants. Jesus Christ alone, according to divine revelation (Scripture) alone, prescribes for us our trust in and understanding of God’s heart, mind, purposes and character. On that basis, we conclude that God is a redeemer who has a redemptive nature and heart, does not want any to perish, but wants all to repent and receive eternal life. That is, God is identical in character to Jesus Christ who is Lord and Savior.
Some condemn or dismiss our theological stance, typically labeling it as Universalism, Aminianism or Calvinism. However, we have no need to be aligned with a particular school of theology. Though each school has understandings deserving our consideration, each also has significant weaknesses that obscure important, even crucial elements of the biblical revelation. Those weaknesses have not only been identified by us but have been brought to light in the ongoing discussions and debates down through the history of the church. While we share faith in the same realities as do all Christians, our theological understanding and articulation does not fall neatly along the lines drawn in the typical Universalist-Arminian-Calvinist debates.
Those who are satisfied with one of these primary theological traditions and insist that these are the only options, likely will not be able to properly hear our theological testimony or grasp its source and norm the way we do. Their critiques likely will assume that we have bought into the one or two theological options which they have rejected—ones that might include being “incarnational” or “Trinitarian.” While we can offer our reasons for why and how we understand the Christian faith the way we do, we don’t have to accept any labels nor defend the one we use. We are simply trying to be as faithful as we can in understanding and explaining the biblical revelation. We hold out our convictions first to our own members for their benefit and second to others in trust—hoping that others might be renewed and blessed as we have been as the Lord has corrected and restored us.
It was not a particular theology or theologian who transformed Grace Communion International. Rather it was Jesus Christ speaking through his Holy Word who revealed to us the true nature and character of God. Grace Communion International was grasped by the gospel of Jesus Christ, as our Lord placed himself at the center of our worship and faith. If the label, “Incarnational Trinitarian Theology” properly describes that transformation, then we accept it. However, we have no need to defend a label, for it prescribes nothing.

Resources for Holy Week

Videos for Holy Week worship services

Many pastors and ministry leaders are now preparing for Holy Week services (Easter this year is March 31). Using video clips in the sermon or other parts of Holy Week services helps connect the audience with the life-transforming messages of Jesus’ death and resurrection. The following list of videos was compiled by Christian Video Magazine. All are available in English; some in Spanish.

Follow utilizes a Twitter interface for a modern retelling of the gospel, challenging people to follow Christ.
A Very Special Sunday is a light-hearted and endearing children’s narration of Easter events. Both children and adults will love it.
He Is Risen is a powerful song; no text.
Easter Prophecy is a visual presentation of Isaiah 53 seen through the lens of Jesus.
Alive: The Story combines scenes from the film by the same name with music from Natalie Grant. Run-time is five minutes, but it could take the place of a song in your worship set.
I Once Was Lost (Amazing Grace II) is inspirited by a Salvation Army ad, with music by an award-winning guitarist.
The Last Painting is a visually stunning piece about Jesus’ crucifixion, which culminates in the final message: “It is finished.”
He Rose makes a great, energetic, Easter worship starter. Its profound message is addressed to all people, including those that may be visiting your church just because it’s Easter Sunday.
Alive! features rockin’ music and straight-forward and effective big-letter messages.
Good Friday features the Skit Guys in four short skits that retell the story of Jesus’ last day from the perspective of six individuals who were close to him. Total run-time is nine minutes, but you could build your service around it, even separating the vignettes with singing, reading or praying.
What Was On His Mind? addresses Jesus’ thoughts as he endured the cross. It ends with verses from Hebrews and a word of thanks to God for what he did.

40 ideas for Holy Week outreach

Looking for ways to do outreach in the Easter season? Click here for 40 ideas.

Death of Marj Friddle

We were saddened to learn of the death of our dear sister, Marj Friddle, wife of retired GCI pastor James (“Jimmie”) Friddle. Here is a note from Jimmie.

James and Marj at their wedding. — Jimmie and Marj on their wedding day

Marj and I deeply appreciated all the hundreds of heartfelt expressions of love, compassion and encouragement through your calls, cards, emails and Facebook posts. Thank you!

Marj died on February 21 at 11:00 am. She was at peace and surrounded by her family when she passed. She was truly a Proverbs 31 companion with whom I shared 60 years of life. She was the life of our marriage and I miss her.

Marj’s memorial will be held on March 9 at 10:30 am at the Congregational Church of Northridge at 9659 Balboa Blvd., Northridge, California 91325.

Here are tributes that have appeared on Marj’s Facebook page:

Truly a wise and loving woman! She dealt with so many health issues over the years yet handled them with such GRACE! What an incredible example she was. My heart feels heavy and I’ve shed tears, yet I smile because I know she’s not in pain anymore! I know she was met by her Savior and heard the words….WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT! Till we meet again! I love you Mrs Friddle. You will be missed by many!

Marj (at center) with her family

My sincerest sympathy to Marj’s family and to all who loved her—what a gracious, lovely, kind, compassionate, fun-loving woman she was. I have so many lovely memories of her during my teen years and beyond. Whenever we saw one another, though it was not often, it was as though we had never been apart. She always greeted me with the same loving kindness… May we all follow your loving example.

I am so very sorry to hear of the death of Marj Friddle. What a beautiful person she was. I have many fond memories of the Friddle family when they lived in Pennsylvania. I actually had the opportunity to baby-sit for them. What a lovely family! She will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her. The family is in my thoughts and prayers—may God comfort them at this very difficult time. I know we will all see her again—like she said: “I will meet you in the morning.”

Marj with her granddaughter Ashley Allen

Marj was always such a beautiful source of heartfelt encouragement, which she gave generously… She will be greatly missed by hundreds of dear friends.

I was saddened to hear of Mrs Friddle’s passing, but could not help smiling remembering her beautiful smile and presence. Our prayers are with Mr. Friddle and family.

Cards may be sent to Marj’s husband James and the rest of family at:

James Friddle

7404 Stillwater Dr

Bayonet Point, FL 34667-2293

Brian Queener

This prayer update is from GCI pastor Mark Queener concerning his son Mark. For the last prayer request for Brian, click here.

I am happy to report that Brian was released from the hospital on February 19. He’s living with Rhonda and me while he recovers. Although he is being treated as a diabetic for now, doctors say he may not have diabetes when he is fully recovered. Please join us in praying that this will be the case. We also ask you to pray with us about the next milestone in his recovery, that the sources of fluid being drained from his pancreas will soon stop producing fluid. Thank you very much for your love and concern. Brian is making good progress, but he still has a ways to go.