GCI district and church pastor Glen Weber and his wife Connie, who live in Southern California, have been blessed with the birth of two grandsons this year:
Jason Lawrence Weber (pictured at right) was born on November 12 to the Weber’s son Dennis and his wife Carolyn who live in Anaheim Hills, California.
Simon Bryant Weber was born on April 13 to their son Paul and his wife, Katie in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Simon is shown in the photo below with his older sister Mollie and his brother Anderson.
GCI pastor Ted and Lila Millhuff of Grace of God Fellowship in Tucson, Arizona are pleased to announce the birth of their third great grandchild. Addison Elise Millhuff arrived November 6 at 9 pounds and 24 inches. The happy parents are Thales Darwin III and Katelyn Millhuff.
Please pray for Bob Druien and his wife Betty. Bob is retiring from serving as the bi-vocational pastor of GCI’s Bowling Green, Kentucky congregation in order to take care of Betty, who has Alzheimer’s. Her health has deteriorated to the point that Bob is no longer able to pastor the church as well provide the care Betty needs. They are moving to the Louisville, Kentucky area to be near their daughter.
We thank Bob for his many years of service as a pastor and our prayers are with both Bob and Betty in this difficult time in their lives. If you’d like to leave them a message of encouragement, you may use the comment feature below (sign-in required).
In the last two issues of Weekly Update our focus has been on the topic of grace (please read Gary Deddo’s important article about law and grace in last week’s edition). Because this week Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, it seems like a good time to talk about a different kind of “grace”—the custom of asking a blessing at a meal. Many Americans will say grace before getting down to the serious business of consuming their Thanksgiving turkey.
Of course, saying grace is not the same as saving grace, although for some it may seem almost that important. Some may feel the need to ask God to remove impurities from the food, or to protect them from harmful ingredients. Personally, I never pray in that way, as I wonder how it makes the person who prepared the meal feel. However, it is always appropriate to remind ourselves of our dependency on God for every aspect of our lives. And that is what saying grace at a meal is all about. The English word “grace,” when used in this context, is derived from the Latin gratiarum actio, an “act of thanks.” If you speak Spanish, you will recognize the similarity to the word gracias.
Most Christian families have their own tradition for saying grace before meals. The Bible provides no “rules” concerning this custom—it does not specify what to say or how long to pray. My grandfather often prayed in Russian and my mom, sisters and I didn’t understand most of it. He would finish in about 30 seconds. But not so for my dad. When he said grace before the meal, we often had to remind him that the food was getting cold!
Some Christians say grace when eating in restaurants. It’s fine to do so, but some discretion is called for, though a brief, unobtrusive prayer thanking God for a meal in a restaurant is unlikely to offend. You’ll remember that Jesus criticized the Pharisees for praying in public, but his concern was not that they prayed in public, but that they were praying to be seen as “righteous.”
Most cultures and all major religions have traditions of praying before or after meals. The Christian tradition comes from ancient Judaism, where the typical custom was to offer a blessing before, but, more often, following the meal. Rather than “blessing” the food, these prayers of thanksgiving acknowledged God as a generous provider. This custom originated in a command given to Israel in the Law of Moses, known among the Jews as birkat hamazon: “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you” (Deuteronomy 8:10). This is one of 613 commandments (called mitzvot) found in the Torah. Sadly, some Jews applied it in legalistic ways, adding all sorts of requirements as to when and how to pray.
We know that Jesus followed Jewish prayer customs, at least to some extent. For example, he gave thanks before distributing the loaves and fishes to the five thousand (Matthew 15:36). The fastidious Pharisees, who did everything according to the letter of the Law of Moses, criticized Jesus’ disciples for eating without washing their hands in accordance with the specified Torah rituals. It is thus likely that they neglected other requirements related to prayer.
Of course, Jesus was not promoting poor hygiene, nor was he promoting ingratitude. However, he did use every opportunity to wean his disciples away from a performance-based relationship with God. He wanted them to know what the apostle Paul later wrote to the Christians in Rome: “The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). Let us remember that in all aspects of our lives, including when we say grace at meals.
As my family sits down for our Thanksgiving meal, I will be offering to God a prayer of gratitude both before and after we eat.
GCI in Colombia held its annual seminar in the city of Bogotá in early November with 76 members attending from the Bogotá and Barranquilla congregations.
The seminar theme was “The Heart of a Disciple.” Guest lecturer Hanz Daza from the Colombian Bible League provided instruction concerning disciple making.
This update is a follow-up to an earlier prayer request for Arnold Clauson from his wife Trish.
Arnold Clauson
Arnold is at home, continuing the arduous process of outpatient dialysis. Though he was making good progress toward greater mobility, on November 18 the pain in his leg returned, causing him to become immobile again. He also lost all strength in his right shoulder. Although the dialysis is keeping Arnold alive, it interferes with treatment of his cancer.
We know that God holds Arnold’s future entirely in his hands. James says that it is the “trying of our faith” that produces perseverance. By remembering who God is, we continue to persevere. Our prayers are filled with requests that God will grant us the wisdom we need to know how to navigate each day. At times like this, Scripture becomes our anchor and not just mere words.
Thank you again for your prayers and cards. There is much power in the love they convey. And please know that our prayers are with others who are in need.
-Trish
Cards may be sent to:
Arnold and Trish Clauson 109 Melrose Circle Denison, Texas 75020
District pastor Rick Shallenberger and regional pastor Randy Bloom met with part of Rick’s district in Memphis, Tennessee on November 1. It was the first time the group had met together since restructuring some of the US church districts. The four churches represented at the meeting were Memphis and Jackson Tennessee; and Batesville and Jonesboro, Arkansas. Several members of the Memphis congregation also joined the meeting.
After opening with worship and communion, each person present shared a bit about their journey with Jesus. Discussion then turned to the four congregations with each pastor sharing celebrations and challenges. Then each congregation was prayed for. Rick then updated the group about the denomination and talked about the purpose of our GCnext focus.
“My wife and I were victims of an armed robbery in a grocery store,” shares Charles Young, pastor of Living Hope Christian Fellowship, one of GCI’s congregations in the Atlanta, Georgia area.
“My wife once worked as a cashier at a major local grocery store. At the time she was six months pregnant. Masked gunmen entered the store before it was open to the public. I had just dropped Debbie off for work, and I was sitting in my car just about to return home. One of the gunmen approached me, showed me his gun and told me to get out of my car.
“I was told to enter the store through one of the side doors. When we entered, another gunman had me help him carry bags of money to another area of the store. (So technically, I took part in an armed robbery.) Then one of them led me to an area where there was a walk-in meat cooler. The door was opened. My wife and several of her co-workers had already been placed in the cooler. I was told to get in with them.
“For what seemed like an eternity I stood in that cooler, holding my wife. We didn’t know what was going to happen next. We all wondered if our lives would end there. But by God’s grace, after some time another employee arrived. As he was going about his duties he opened the cooler and we were able to escape. That experience showed us God’s amazing grace and faithfulness in a very real way. A few weeks later in a similar type of hold-up, some of the employees were shot and killed.”
Fortunately, Charles’ life hasn’t always been quite as dramatic. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, where he attended school all the way through college. “I am from a very large family, six brothers and five sisters. We are a very close family. We have annual family gatherings and most of my siblings live near each other.”
Charles was introduced to WCG/GCI through his mother. “She began listening to the radio broadcast and subscribing to the church’s literature in the early 60s. She wanted to join the church, but we didn’t live near a congregation at the time. So my mother had church with my siblings and me at home, using the church’s literature. My mom was my first pastor and she taught me and my siblings to love the Lord. I wanted to be a part of WCG because of what I was taught about God and the church at an early age.”
In the midst of this, Charles met and married Debbie. “I met my wife Debbie while we were in high school. I was a sophomore and she was a freshman. I don’t know if there is such a thing as love at first sight. If not, she was certainly someone that I wanted to spend a whole lot of time with. A year after we met, Debbie and I became high school sweethearts. We were married a year after she graduated from high school. During that time I was in college and I worked for an airline.
Charles and Debby have now been married for 39 years and have two sons, Robert and Michael and five grandchildren. It was after the birth of their two sons that Charles and Debbie started attending church regularly. “The first church service that I attended was the Chicago south-side congregation.” Then in 1982, after a job transfer to Atlanta, Georgia, Charles and Debbie started attending the Atlanta congregation. “Within a couple of years the Atlanta church gave birth to three other churches in the area.”
Charles was ordained a deacon and became a pastor in 1997. “I was given the opportunity to serve as a bi-vocational pastor after completing the ministerial training in Pasadena.” He and Debbie share the ministry together. “My wife is my best friend and greatest prayer warrior. She helps chiefly by praying for me daily. She goes on every visit with me and has since day one. Being an excellent cook, Debbie often prepares meals for our members and non-members as a ministry. Debbie is one of our primary worship leaders and on occasion gives messages. My wife is my biggest cheerleader, counselor and confidant.”
What Charles enjoys most about being a pastor is helping people. “It’s truly amazing to see how God is able to touch people through my life. If I can help people see Jesus Christ through my words and works, to me that’s pretty awesome.” And what he enjoys most about being part of GCI is “the sense of being a part of a large extended family. I’m from a large family and being a part of GCI is like being a part of a huge worldwide family. That sense of family is experienced every time we have church services, district meetings and especially when we have our international conferences.”
Living Hope Christian Fellowship church building
Charles shared that his most memorable moment as a pastor was when the congregation “marched into our new church building for our first worship service. We have been blessed with the opportunity to build our own church building. During its construction there were many obstacles we had to overcome. The county, the contractors, the bank, all provided challenges that we had to deal with. At one juncture, it seemed like the church project just wasn’t going to be completed. But God prevailed.
“The day we were finally able to hold our first worship service, the whole church, beginning with our oldest member down to the youngest, all marched into our new building while praising God for the good things he has done.”
Charles gives credit to Al Barr for being a mentor. “Pastor Barr baptized me back in 1979. He was my pastor in two different congregations and my first District Superintendent when I became a pastor. Now he is a retired pastor and member of my congregation. I still look to him for advice and counsel.”
When asked about his passion, Charles gave a similar answer to why he loves to pastor: “Simply helping people come to know and experience the amazing grace and the indescribable love of our Great God.”
When does he feel closest to God? “Solitude is when I feel closest to God. When I’m alone in our church sanctuary kneeling in prayer at the altar, or just sitting alone silently in his presence, that’s when I feel closest to God.”
Christian author and speaker Becky Tirabassi will be speaking at an event in Tyler, Texas on Saturday, January 18, 2014. Tammy Tkach, who directs GCI Women’s Ministry, will attend and give the closing prayer. Please see event details below (click the image to enlarge). For additional information, contact Debbie Wood at 903-574-3927 or at debbieawood@sbcglobal.net.
GCI district and church pastor Glen Weber and his wife Connie, who live in Southern California, have been blessed with the birth of two grandsons this year:
