September 2013 – GCI Update

GenMin update

Anthony Mullins, who directs GCI Generations Ministries (GenMin), recently reported on progress in 2013:

1,144 campers and 750 staffers participated in a GenMin camp (these numbers do not include CrossWalk and Souled Out, which are yet to be held this year).
38 missionaries on GenMin sponsored mission trips served 460 indigenous children and 307 indigenous adults.
Three camp coaches were appointed to provide skills coaching and mentoring to GenMin camp directors. Mark and Anne Stapleton are coaches in the West and Jeff Broadnax is coach in the East.
Lee Berger was appointed coach of GenMin’s mission directors and mission resource team.
GenMin moved from one annual camp/mission leadership conference to two, now named Converge: one in California and one in Ohio. As a result, there was an 80% increase in attendance and a greater sense of community and passion for Christ’s mission.
85 young emerging leaders participated in five Journey with the Master retreats to help them understand who Jesus is and to participate actively in Jesus’ ongoing ministry.
GenMin launched two “Dream Teams” (one in the East and one in the West), each with five young adult leaders. Their charge is to help imagine GCI’s future with dialogue surrounding key questions:
- How can local churches experience the relational closeness and inspiration that camps are known for?
- To what is God calling your generation?
- How can GCI better meet the needs of your generation?
- Why do you think many college students leave the church and how can we better prepare them to be involved in the body of Christ?

Heartland SEP

One of the GenMin camps this past summer was Heartland SEP in central Illinois. Camp director Todd Woods reported that 83 staffers served 75 regular campers and 15 junior campers. Of particular note is that many of the camp’s older staffers caught GenMin’s vision for preparing the next generation of servant-leaders. There were three new chapel message preachers and campers and staffers were helped to grow in ministry ability through classes in worship, drama and missions. Other camp activities included sports, paintball, pottery, archery and cake decorating. Three baptisms capped off a wonderful week of fun, fellowship and disciple-making.

Fighting in the Philippines

This prayer update is from GCI Philippines director Eugene Guzon.

Prayer is requested concerning the situation in Zamboanga City, on the Southwest tip of the Philippine island of Mindanao, about a one and a half hour flight south of Manila. There is an ongoing armed struggle there between government forces and a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). It has resulted in about 100 casualties including 12 government soldiers, 3 policemen and about 86 MNLF rebels. Many, including civilians, were wounded. As of this report, the conflict continues.

So far, GCI members living in the area are safe, although our pastor Ted Natividad and his family had to relocate. Another church leader lives four kilometers from the fighting. They told me that once the situation stabilizes, they plan to move to a safer place—they can hear sounds of mortar and machine-gun fire. Other members in the area are in the same predicament. About 100,000 people have moved to relocation centers because MNLF rebels have burned about 500 homes in the area.

Sadly, there are other areas in the world where this sort of violence is common. Mother Teresa said that the world does not have peace “because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” We know that it is God who brings real, lasting peace. As it says in Psalm 46:9-10, [God] makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire. ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.'”

We request prayer for the people of Zamboanga City. Please pray for a rapid end to the conflict and that we as a church are able to assist those needing help.

Harry Kall

Harry Kall, who pastors GCI’s church in Cicero, Illinois, grew up in the Chicago area. “It was interesting for a Greek boy, born of immigrant parents, to grow up in a predominately Italian and Mexican neighborhood. As I reflect on what brought me to where I am today, I can only say that it was God’s mercies.”

Harry and his wife Ruth have been married for 30 years. “My loving wife has been a fabulous mentor to me. She is a member of my ‘jury of peers.’ She has great vision, compassion and patience.” Harry and Ruth’s daughter Marissa (25) is an orchestra teacher. “We still attend her performances; pretty awesome!”

Harry became part of GCI on June 22, 2003. “Our entire church was added to GCI. Prior to that, I was ordained by and affiliated with the North American Conference of the Evangelical Church of God. The president of that conference was Lorenzo Arroyo (now a GCI regional pastor). All of us in the conference had been members of the Church of God (Seventh Day), headquartered in Denver. In 1996, 32+ churches left that Sabbath-keeping group to form the independent conference led by Lorenzo. Later that year, Lorenzo met with GCI president Joseph Tkach and seven years after that many of our congregations became part of GCI.”

“The short version is that theological reasons led to these decisions,” Harry shares. “Interestingly, GCI was moving on a parallel track; away from Sabbath-keeping and toward the gospel of grace.” Harry adds: “Leaving wasn’t an easy or quick decision. I don’t believe anyone should leave a church or conference unless it is for theological reasons and that is what we did.”

When they joined GCI, Harry was ordained a GCI pastor. He loves being a pastor. “Weekly we gather with other believers who place their trust in us; and, we have the privilege of talking to them about what God is doing in our lives and that of his church. Amazing isn’t it?”

Becoming part of GCI proved to be a great blessing to Harry and the others who joined GCI with him. “Until you have had the feelings of isolation and being a ‘lone wolf’ you cannot imagine the joy I feel being part of GCI and its support system—from its extensive website to its regional conferences and associated activities that occur regionally and nationally. Did I mention our theology?”

Harry, who said the one thing people may or may not know about him is that he gets moody when he’s hungry, and one of his big passions is music. “I’ve never been a person driven by a single passion, but I must say that I love all sorts of music: jazz, blues, concert, bluegrass and most operas. Oh yes, you will also find me gardening in my free time and looking for travel deals.”

When asked about a mentor, Harry shared the following: “There have and continue to be five or six people I trust where I can check out an idea with them. When in doubt, it’s always best to have what I call ‘a jury of your peers.’ Having three to five people who can ‘weigh in’ on a question of interest or concern is a great way of keeping you grounded and puts in check pridefulness or self-righteousness.”

Harry recently retired from being a GCI District Pastor and says the experience was something he will never forget: “I had the awesome and amazing privilege of ordaining elders and deacons. I thank God for allowing me to do that through the years.”

When asked when he feels closest to God, Harry said it is when he is preparing a sermon. “During that time, I am always reminded by him of how much he loves me. When I am in the Word is when I am most reminded that God really, really loves us, that he saved us and that he has given us an everlasting relationship with him.”

Baptisms in Colombia

Pastor Hector Barrero reports that his GCI congregation in Bogota, Colombia is rejoicing in the baptism of six members early this month.

Colorado floods

GCI Denver, Colorado area pastors report that no GCI members were harmed in the recent terrible flooding in Eastern Colorado, though some were threatened by rising water.

At least four rivers in the area flooded due to torrential rain storms. As a result, six, or perhaps more people lost their lives (some still are missing), about 100 miles of roadway (including highways) will need to be rebuilt; about 30 bridges must be replaced and another 40 to 50 will need major repairs. Thousands of homes were destroyed. Please pray for those affected and for those helping in the recovery.

Reaching out

Sam Butler pastors GCI congregations in Grand Rapids and Ravenna, Michigan and serves as one of our district pastors. Until recently, Sam’s Grand Rapids church met in the Roosevelt Park community where for several years they ran a food pantry that served dozens and dozens of disadvantaged families. Though many were blessed by this outreach and Sam and the congregation became well known in the community, their efforts did not lead to the hoped-for multiplication of new disciples of Jesus.

This past spring, Sam began looking for a new focus community for the congregation. He discovered the nearby town of Wyoming with its community-based program called One Wyoming. The program brings together church leaders, school officials and local government leaders to help end poverty in the community, to plant new churches and to mentor school-age kids. As Sam became acquainted with its leaders, an opportunity arose for GCI to offer the GenMin Journey with the Master (JWM) emerging leader training program to community teens. Sam asked Greg Williams to facilitate that training and three sequential weekend training events were arranged.

Sam has now been asked to help One Wyoming train mentors of school children. Also, Sam’s congregation has relocated to Wyoming, meeting at an elementary school at the invitation of the school’s principal. There is much work to be done, but forward movement is occurring and Sam is working closely with his church leaders as they seek to discern what their next steps should be. They would appreciate your prayers as they enter a new season of reaching out to the community to join with Jesus in his disciplemaking ministry.

It’s about relationships

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Tammy and I recently traveled to Staten Island, New York to share in an anniversary celebration at Hands for Christ Community Church—one of our most interesting and unusual congregations. One year ago, Pastor Mary Bacheller had a dream come true when Hands for Christ held their inaugural worship service. Weekly attendance has grown to around 40. About 120 attended the first anniversary worship service—they had invited members from other New York City area churches.

Hands for Christ Community Church is an apt name, because the congregation serves the deaf and hearing-impaired community. They conduct their worship services entirely in American Sign Language (ASL). All their hymns and music are signed—watching their choir signing in ASL was quite an experience (see the picture at left). In a reversal of what is usual, those of us who can hear were the ones who needed an interpreter.

Tammy and I joined with Pastor Mary in baptizing three members at Mary’s home and then blessing them in the anniversary service (see the picture at right). We also helped commission three new ministry leaders. The whole anniversary celebration was inspiring. I thank Pastor Mary and the other Hands for Christ leaders for their faith, determination and hard work in shepherding this pioneering church plant to this point in its journey with Christ.

On the subject of anniversaries, this month marks the 18th year of my serving as President of our church fellowship. I can honestly say that “time flies when you’re having fun” (despite some anxious moments). There is no greater joy than seeing people grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior.

GCI is active in about 100 countries and territories, with about 55,000 members gathered in about 900 congregations. I say “about” because it is difficult to get precise numbers since we have added several thousand new members in Asia and Africa in the last few years. Because we are a small denomination, it is my blessing to be able to know the majority of our ordained ministry, not only in name but also in person. This is true for many of our members as well, although I must confess that since crossing the 60-year age threshold, I cannot always recall names as I used to. However, my recall of God’s commission to our church fellowship has not been forgotten in any way. Collectively, our memory is strong in the calling God has given to all of us to be in his ministry of all believers.

Traveling to annual conferences around the world, I am reminded that we are alive in Christ. It is a recurring and delightful thought that Christ lives in us all through the multiple relationships we have with one another. We are bound together in an intricate network of relationships that fascinates me whenever I think about it.

Other Christian leaders often tell me how impressed they are with the relational nature of our fellowship. We probably underestimate how unusual and important this is. According to a recent article in Christianity Today, 19.8 percent of North American non-Christians do not know any Christians (see the graph below) and 60 percent have no relationships with any. According to LifeWay president Thom Rainer, in his book, The Unchurched Next Door, though most people come to church because of a personal invitation, seven out of ten unchurched people have never been invited to attend church, despite the fact that 82 percent of unchurched people are at least somewhat likely to attend when invited.

CT image — The full article is available online at www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/august-web-only/non-christians-who-dont-know-christians.html

LifeWay Research surveyed over 15,000 adults and found that about two-thirds are willing to receive information about a local church from a family member, and over half are willing if the information comes from a friend or neighbor. The survey also showed that 4 percent of formerly churched adults are actively looking for a church to attend regularly (other than their previous church) and 6 percent would prefer to resume attending regularly in the same church they had attended. The survey also indicated that over 60 percent are not actively looking for a church but are open to the idea of attending regularly again. It showed that many would respond to an invitation to attend church when given by a friend or acquaintance (41 percent), by their children (25 percent) or by an adult family member (25 percent). The issue of affinity surfaced here: 35 percent indicated that they would be inspired to attend “if I knew there were people like me there.” Unfortunately, the study also revealed that only 2 percent of church members have invited someone to church in the past year.

Statistics like these remind me of Jesus’ words in Matthew 9:37: “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” I can only echo the words of Lee Strobel, author of The Case for Christ, “Seven out of 10 unchurched people would visit a church if a friend invited them. What are we waiting for?”

Your brother in Christ’s service,

Joseph Tkach

Grace & obedience

By Gary Deddo

Following centuries of debate, it seems that Christians still have not settled on how best to speak about the connection between grace (faith in God’s grace in Jesus Christ) and obedience. Biblically grounded Christian teachers certainly recognize that salvation is God’s work and that it is received by faith. They also recognize that the resulting life with Christ involves obedience. The problem arises in how to affirm the one without denying (or severely qualifying) the other. The challenge is avoiding either lawlessness (antinomianism) or works-righteousness.

Both-and?

Most recognize the validity of both grace and obedience (faith and works). Rather than going the “either-or” route, most embrace some form of the “both-and” approach. However, this approach typically has little to say about the “and”—about how grace and obedience are actually connected. The result is that grace and obedience are artificially laminated together or stacked on top of one another. It is as if they are put into a room together and told to “get along.” Following this approach, efforts to correct perceived errors on one side typically involve emphasizing the other. If the perceived problem is too much works, then grace is emphasized. If it’s too much grace, then obedience is emphasized. In similar fashion, various ministries emphasize one or the other, depending upon which they think is more dangerous or prevalent. I find that the result of this approach is a sort of “seesaw theology” where the connection between law (works) and grace (faith) remains vague if not altogether absent.

In contrast, I find that the Bible deeply relates and integrates grace and obedience as fundamental to Christian faith and life. For example, in Romans 1:5 and 16:26 the apostle Paul says that bringing about this integration was the goal of his ministry. In 14:23 he says that any obedience that does not spring from faith in grace is sin! Hebrews 11 offers illustrations of people who obeyed God “by faith.” Then in 1 John 5 we are told that God’s commands are not burdensome because of the victory of faith in God’s grace (vv 3-4). Jesus himself reminds us that his burden is easy and his yoke light (Matthew 11:29-30) and that we are God’s “friends,” not his slaves (“servants”—see John 15:15 The Message). Then in Galatians, Paul tells us that “faith is made effective through love” (5:6 NRSV, footnote).

The nature of “AND”

There are dozens of places in the New Testament that clearly establish this connection between grace (faith) AND obedience (love for God and for others). But how does the connection work? What is the nature of the AND? It is found in the person of Jesus who alone embodies fully the character, mind, attitude and purpose of God. The object of our faith is Jesus Christ and the essence of that faith is trusting in Jesus as God in person according to who he is and what he has done. Faith is thus our response to who Jesus is in person, word and deed. We put our trust in God because of who Jesus Christ is. And he himself is the grace of God towards us. Jesus is the gospel. He is our salvation. And we receive all the benefits of who he is as we trust in him and cast aside (repent of) all rival objects of trust. We then enjoy our union and communion with Jesus as our Lord and God. Our lives are united to him and we share in his life, participating with him in all he is doing and will do in our relationship of trust (faith). We have our being by being in fellowship and communion with Jesus, receiving from him all that he has for us, and he taking from us all that we give him. In that union and communion we are transformed, bit by bit (2 Corinthians 3:18) to share more of Christ’s own glorified human nature, his character. We can count on this on-going gracious work of Christ by the Spirit even if much still remains hidden (Colossians 3:3) and we remain mere earthen vessels (2 Corinthians 4:7).

Our view of Jesus

The problem is that people have too small a view of Jesus and thus a restricted faith in him. Though they trust him for future salvation (getting into heaven), that’s pretty much it. However, when we look closely at scripture, we see that Jesus is both Savior and Commander. Jesus saves us by grace and also commands things of us. We know that our obedience to his commands does not earn us salvation, so why is obedience important? Perhaps we think that we must obey simply because our Commander says so—because he is big and powerful and we had better obey or else! Approached in this way, obedience becomes an act of sheer will in response to the might and seemingly arbitrary will of God. This is the obedience of a slave.

The problem with this approach to obedience is that it reflects a shrunken conception of Jesus and what he offers. We need to see all of who Jesus is and all of what he offers if we are to grasp all of what we can trust him for. We begin by understanding that Jesus is Lord of the whole cosmos, the entire universe; Lord of all reality. And he has a good and loving purpose for it all. He is redeeming all things and will renew heaven and earth. He is Lord and Savior over every aspect of human life and has a purpose for every dimension of our existence. It is all to be a channel of his blessing to us and through us to others. All of it, every relationship, is meant to lead to life and life abundantly. Even our eating and drinking is to reflect the very glory of our life-giving God (1 Corinthians 10:31). Every relationship is to be a fruitful gift exchange that contributes to a fullness of life and so a fullness of love. Jesus’ authority extends into every aspect of created existence, into every dimension of life at every level: mathematical, physical, chemical, biological, animal, human, social, cultural, linguistic, artistic, judicial, economic, psychological, philosophical, religious and spiritual. And all this has its origin in fellowship and communion with God through Christ. This relationship with God through Christ works its way into every avenue of life under his redeeming lordship. God’s grace has to do with everything. That’s the foundation of a Christian worldview.

So everything we receive from God we pass on to others to contribute to God’s universe-wide purposes. This is especially true in our relationships. We receive forgiveness of sins—renewing grace to start again with hope. We receive God’s generosity providing us all the fruit of the Spirit. We receive comfort, love, transforming power and a purpose and direction in life to be a sign and witness to the grace and goodness of God. We become witnesses to the truth and holy loving character of God. And all these things point to eternal life—life with God as his beloved children in holy, loving unity.

Trust and obey

Our faith is a trust in God through Christ for all these things, not just for “going to heaven” someday. Every command of God and our every act of obedience is keyed to some aspect of what we can trust God for. We forgive because we have been and will be forgiven. We love, because we are first loved by God. We love our enemies because God first loved us and also loves (wants his best) for his and our enemies. We can be generous because God is generous with us. We can be truthful and honest because God is truthful and honest and will bring out the truth in the end. We can be creative and helpful because God is creative and helpful to us. We comfort others in their grief because God comforts us in our grief. We can be patient because God is patient with us. We can be peacemakers because God is a peacemaker. We can pursue justice and right relationships at every level, because God is just and righteous. We can be reconcilers because God is a reconciler. All our doing by faith is participating in what God is doing through Christ and in the Spirit. That means all we do is fellowship and communion with Christ. We never act alone—because we are never alone but are united to Christ as his brothers and sisters and members of the family of God.

Imperatives flow from indicatives

We obey by faith when we see all of who Jesus is in any given situation, trust him to be faithful in that situation and then act as if he will be faithful. That is, we act on our faith in who he is. You will find that, connected to every command in Scripture is some kind of reference to who God is and what he can be trusted for. Seeing the connection between what God can be trusted for and what he then directs us to do generates the obedience of faith. James Torrance spoke of this by saying that every imperative of grace is built on a foundation of an indicative of grace. The reason there is always a connection is because all of God’s commands to us (the imperatives) arise out of his own character, heart, nature and purpose, including everything he has done for us in Jesus Christ (the indicatives). God is not arbitrary—his will for us always is informed and controlled by his nature and character as the Triune God who came to us in Jesus Christ that we might have fellowship and communion with him in holy love.

So faith in God’s grace arises out of a trust in God because of Jesus Christ and obedience to the God of grace arises out of a trust in God because of Jesus Christ. Thus faith and obedience have one and the same source—the faithfulness of God in Christ. They both are a response to who Christ is. They both have the same Trinitarian, Incarnational theological source. They both are the fruit of a trusting relationship with God through Christ in the Spirit.

Guidelines for preaching/teaching

Here are guidelines that I’ve developed to help keep grace and obedience together in Jesus:

Never call for an act of obedience without first showing what we can trust God for that which corresponds to that call for action. Always look for the indicatives of grace that are the foundation for the imperatives (commands) of grace in every biblical passage.
Always indicate the character of the gracious, saving, redeeming Commander. Never present God as a merely a commander with a strong will disconnected from his heart, mind, character and purpose, which we see in Jesus Christ. Always begin by answering the foundational question, Who are you Lord? Doing so makes our preaching and teaching truly Trinitarian and Incarnational.
Never simply preach to a person’s will or power of choice. Behind every act of will and choice is a desire, a hope, a love, a fear, a trust or distrust. That is, behind every act there is belief or unbelief, trust or distrust in God. Preach to persons’ hearts, their affections, their yearnings concerning the character, purpose and heart of God and his desire for our fellowship and communion with him. Preach what God can be counted on; trusted for. Feed people’s faith, hope and love for God. Obedience will flow out of that.
Do not preach: “If you…then God.” Doing so tempts people into legal obedience and works-righteousness. Instead, preach: “Since God in Christ by the Spirit…then you ____.” Or, “As you do x, y or z out of trust… you will be receiving what God offers us in Christ.” For example, say, “As we confess our sins we experience the forgiveness that God has already given us in Christ.”
Present obedience as “going to work with God”—as an act of fellowship with God that involves us in what the Spirit of God is doing.
Preach obedience as a “get to” not a “have to.” Preach it as the privilege of a child of God, not the grit-your-teeth duty of the slave of a willful God.
Do not seek to motivate others on the basis of trying to close a supposed “credibility gap” between the “reality” of this fallen world and an ideal that we suppose God hopes for. It is not our calling to build the kingdom or to make God’s ideal actual. Rather, preach the reality of who God is and what he does (and has done), and the calling we have to participate with God in making visible a bit of that reality. With this approach, our only choice is to affirm and participate in the reality that God has established in Christ by the Spirit or to deny and to refuse to participate. We have no power to change that reality, but only to choose whether or not we will freely participate.
Preach and teach the grace of God as a finished work—a reality that we can count on even if it is hidden for now. Do not teach it as a potential that God has made possible if we do x, y or z—God is not dependent upon our actions. Rather, he invites our participation in what he has done, is doing and will do. Preach like Jesus did: “The kingdom of God has come near, so repent and believe in that good news.” Preach like Peter did: “Since God has made Jesus Lord and Savior, therefore repent and believe.” Notice that the desired action is always presented as a response to who God is and what he has done.
Never preach as if God cannot be more faithful than we are—as if God is limited by what we do or don’t do. Paul says that, “If we are faithless, he [God] remains faithful” (2 Timothy 2:13). We may miss out on being involved, but God will still accomplish his good purposes. God does not need us, but he delights in having his children involved in what he is doing. We were created for fellowship (communion, partnership) with God.
Do not grant reality-making to human actions, as if what we do makes “all the difference.” Christ alone gets that credit. Our actions, whether they be great or small (as small as a cup of water, or a mustard seed of faith), amount only to a few loaves and fish to feed 5000. They are no more and no less than embodied signs, pointing to the coming kingdom of God. We are mere witnesses and our sign-acts are partial, imperfect, temporary and only provisional. But by God’s grace, the Spirit uses even these meager things to point people to Christ so that they may put their entire trust in him according to who he really is.
Realize that you will have to trust mightily in the unconditioned grace of God to bring about the obedience of faith in order to preach and teach this way and not succumb to the temptation to revert back to making it sound like God’s grace is dependent upon our response (and thus conditional upon our action).
Know that you, like Paul, will not be able to prevent some from trying to take advantage of this grace (even though taking advantage of it is not receiving it, but rejecting it!). You will also be accused by some, just like Paul was, of encouraging sin and disobedience (antinomianism)! But Paul did not change his message of grace under the pressure of such accusations. We must not attempt to prevent this rejection and abuse of grace by changing our message to a conditioned grace or an arbitrary obedience, as happened in Galatia. Making that switch would be a denial of the gospel of God in Jesus Christ.

I hope you can see how I think this biblical orientation brings together grace and obedience in an organic, personal and integrated way so that there is no “either-or” separation, nor a simplistic seesaw “both-and” juxtaposition of two different things. Those who love and trust God through Christ in the Spirit as Lord of the universe will desire to be faithful to him and with him in every dimension of life here and now, even in our current fallen condition.

St. John’s church 40th anniversary

GCI’s St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada congregation recently celebrated its 40th anniversary with 40 members in attendance (see top picture, below). Angela White, who is one of the original members, is shown in the bottom picture along with John Adams and Angela’s grandchildren. John, who is a retired GCI pastor, formerly pastored the St. John’s church, attended with his wife Edna. Also attending where Neil Earle, who pastors the Glendora, California church and his wife Susan, who serves as the registrar for Grace Communion Seminary. It was a rich celebration, with a sermon from John and an update from Neil. Former pastor David Sheridan sent a message of congratulations.

Cathy Deddo

Last week, prayer was requested for Cathy Deddo following the death of her mother. Here is a note of thanks from Cathy:

I am grateful to all those of the GCI family who have written me and have prayed for me and my family at this time of loss and grief at the passing of my mother. Thank you for including me as a member of this wonderful family. I have felt so supported and encouraged by all the loving words from everyone. Thank-you again.

Month: September 2013