God’s grace

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Ask 20 ministers from multiple denominations to define grace and you’ll likely get many different definitions, along with some lively discussion! Ask several GCI ministers and you’ll likely get some variety, but there will be a common core of understanding. One thing is for sure, in GCI we’ve stopped trying to force-fit grace into a framework of legalism. Thank God!

Grace defies simplistic, one-size-fits-all definitions. It’s too profound for that, which is why the Bible reminds us that God’s grace is an inexhaustible topic—one worthy of a lifetime of study. That’s why Peter admonished Christians to “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). The more I read, study, think and write about grace, the more I find my understanding expanding.

Google grace on your computer and you’ll uncover multiple definitions. Probably the best-known is this one: “Grace is God’s unmerited favor or pardon.” A. W. Tozer defined it this way: “Grace is the good pleasure of God that inclines him to bestow benefits on the undeserving.” Dutch-Reformed theologian Louis Berkhof defined grace as, “The unmerited operation of God in the heart of man, effected through the agency of the Holy Spirit.” I find the following definition from Karl Barth to be particularly profound (though as often is the case with Barth, it must be carefully read to get the full impact):

Who really knows what grace is until he has seen it at work here: as the grace which is for man when, because man is wholly and utterly a sinner before God, it can only be against him, and when in fact, even while it is for him, it is also a plaintiff and judge against him, showing him to be incapable of satisfying either God or himself? ….What takes place in this work of inconceivable mercy is, therefore, the free over-ruling of God. It is not an arbitrary overlooking and ignoring, not an artificial bridging, covering-over or hiding. It is a real closing of the breach, gulf, and abyss between God and us, for which we are responsible. At the very point where we refuse and fail, offending and provoking God, making ourselves impossible before him and in that way missing our destiny, treading under foot our dignity, forfeiting our right, losing our salvation and hopelessly compromising our creaturely being—at that very point God himself intervenes as man (Church Dogmatics, Vol. 4.1: The Doctrine of Reconciliation).

I like Barth’s expression, “inconceivable mercy.” It refers to what God, in Christ, through the Spirit, has done and is doing to write within us a new law that emancipates us from sin as well as death. Paul put it this way: “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (Romans 8:2).

The Greek word charis, usually translated “grace” in the New Testament, has multiple shades of meaning, referring to something that affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness, goodwill, loving-kindness, favor or gratitude. Scripture tells us that grace is ours by God’s initiative alone. In Christ, through the Spirit, the Father’s will for us is perfectly fulfilled. God’s grace takes us by surprise because nothing that we can do and nothing that we are earns grace. We are predestined and elected in Christ, the Lord and Savior of the whole world. The story of our lives begins and ends with God’s unfathomable, amazing grace.

When I hear or read world news, I wonder why God bothers with us at all. Our brutality, cruelty, bigotry, hypocrisy and greed boggles the mind. But God knows there is another way to live, and his purpose is to share that life with us. He loves us far too much to allow the final result of life—any life—to be determined by our own behavior. In the sovereignty of God’s grace, evil has no future. Christ is making all things new. The new heavens and earth will be established!

God’s plan is to remake us into the image of his Son as we receive his grace by our repentance and faith in him. God even enables that response—one that, by the Spirit, grows deeper throughout our lives, as Paul noted:

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified (Romans 8:29-30).

After observing what God is doing in our lives by grace, Paul proclaimed confidently that, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). God is not finished with any of us—he alone is the author and finisher of our salvation and he knows how to complete the story that he has begun writing in our lives. In Ephesians 2:10, Paul proclaimed that, “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” The Greek word here for “handiwork” is pōiema, from which we get the word “poem.” By his grace, God is writing the story of our lives—we’re a divinely written ballad, sonnet (or in some cases, a haiku!), full of ups and downs and twisting plot turns. Because of God’s grace, we look forward with hope and confidence to how the story will end.

With love in Jesus’ name,

Joseph Tkach

P.S. I recently participated in a GCI conference in Montegrotto, Italy, attended by about 110 of our Italian brothers and sisters. During the conference we ordained Francesco Bernard, pastor of the GCI congregation in the Puglia/Bari region named Acquaviva Dele Fonti (Living Water of the Well). Here is a picture, with James Henderson, GCI missions director for Europe, leading the ordination prayer.

During the conference we also re-commissioned several ministry leaders who serve GCI’s churches in Turin, Milan, Ferrara, Rome, Sardinia, Catania and Palermo, Italy (see the picture below). Our thanks and congratulations to all these servants of our God of grace.

David Botha

Botha_David_Lynne — David and Lynne Botha

David Botha’s first love was the game of cricket. Now pastoring GCI churches in Akron and Cleveland, Ohio, David doesn’t have nearly as much opportunity to play.

David’s love for cricket developed while growing up in South Africa. “Though in my early years we moved around a lot, I grew up mostly around Johannesburg. My parents met at Ambassador College in Bricket Wood, England, so I grew up in the WCG. I spent most of my time focused on cricket and field hockey. I also loved watching game in the wild and often went on vacations to game parks. A highlight of my youth was attending SEP South Africa three times.”

After high school, David applied to attend Ambassador and initially was turned down. “So I attended Rand Afrikaans University, where I studied Mechanical Engineering for a year and a half, before being accepted to Ambassador in Big Sandy. I graduated there in 1996. While there, I met Lynne Emery; we married in 1996.” David and Lynne have two daughters, Margaret, 14, and Madeline, 12.

After college, David and Lynne moved to Oregon and got involved in the local church. Soon they felt a call to get more involved locally. “We left WCG in 2002 to attend an evangelical church that was closer to where we lived. We attended there until early in 2006, when we moved to Mississippi to serve as field missionaries with Forward Edge International. We facilitated short-term mission trips doing relief work in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.”

Based out of Moss Point, Mississippi, David coordinated and facilitated the work of teams in rebuilding homes and churches. During that time, David felt God moving him back toward GCI. “While in the mission field, we were supported by, among others, two GCI congregations then pastored by Glen Weber. Frequently he would ask me what our plans were for when we would leave the mission field in Mississippi. He wanted me to serve as a pastor in his district. This calling to pastoral ministry was confirmed in another confersation with Jeff Broadnax.”

David responded to this call and was hired into full-time ministry with GCI in 2008. “In November we moved to Akron, Ohio, where I now serve as senior pastor of the Akron and Cleveland congregations. We are now working diligently on a new church plant.”

Lynne is an integral part of David’s ministry “helping,” as she puts it, “in whatever way is needed—whenever and however that looks. It could be as simple as paperwork or babysitting, or as involved as moving to another state.” Lynne visits the sick and shut-ins, and she and David double-date on counseling sessions. She fills in to preach or to handle calls when David is out of town. Lynne said she “also runs interference when David’s overwhelmed, counsels those to whom he refers me, assists in the coordination/realization of events for missions or church, and facilitates mission teams. My first duties are to care for David personally, to spend inordinate amounts of time praying for him, to raise our children and to keep our home.”

When asked what he enjoys most about being a pastor David said, “Seeing people become the mature disciple that God has called them to be.” His most memorable moment was “getting to baptize my daughter.”

Talking about GCI, David said he loves “being part of a group that actually cares about others.” Ministry helps fill David’s passion of “seeing people grow in Christ.” Asked when he feels closest to God, David replied, “When I lean on him and he uses me, beyond my capabilities, to encourage others.”

Regional conferences completed

The 2014 round of GCI regional conferences in the U.S. was completed recently in Orlando, Florida. Attendance was up overall from previous years. In addition to the Orlando site, conferences were held in Ontario, California; Vancouver, Washington; Chicago, Illinois; Somerset, New Jersey; Lexington, Kentucky; and Dallas, Texas.

The 2014 conference theme, GCnext: Sharing Jesus’ faith, love and hope, refers to our progress toward GCI’s future (GCnext), which means a Spirit-led journey forward sharing in Jesus’ own faith, love and hope. The theme scripture for the conference makes reference to this vital “faith triad”:

We continue to remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 1:3).

Plenary conference presentations were given by Dan Rogers on faith, Joseph Tkach on love, Greg Williams on hope, and Gary Deddo on how all three interrelate in the person and work of Jesus. A fourth plenary session featured GCI members sharing stories about what they see the Holy Spirit doing in and through their churches and ministries. It was a highlight of the conference to hear the variety of ways the Spirit is helping us participate in what Jesus is doing to fulfill the Father’s mission to the world. These stories showed the great resourcefulness and creativity being displayed by GCI members as, together, we journey, on mission, with Jesus.

We’ll let you know when videos of the plenary sessions are posted online. In the meantime, here are some pictures from the Dallas and Orlando conferences:

Wichita Attendees — Members who attended from the Wichita, Kansas church.

Thanks to all, like Nancy Akers, who worked behind the scenes to make these conferences possible.

Dan Rogers leads a breakout discussion group.

There were many opportunities for small group discussion.

sharing story — Michelle Fleming tells about a new GCI church in Orlando.

Orlando conference worship — Part of the band that led worship in Orlando.

Intern orientation, Jeff McSwain

The GCI Intern Program recently held an orientation conference in Durham, North Carolina, for our new GCI-employed interns and pastoral residents (pastoral residents have previous ministry education and experience) along with their pastors and support staff (pictured below). Led by Intern Program director Jeff McSwain, sessions focused on the biblical and theological underpinnings of practical ministry, especially youth ministry. Emphasis was placed on having lives and ministries rooted in Christ so that Jesus is the ground of all that we are and do, within the life of the Son, to the Father, by the Spirit. Detailed discussions were structured around the Intern Program’s three core principles: 1) incarnational connection, 2) unconditional gathering, and 3) intentional discipleship.

Intern group — Pictured, L to R (front): Jillian Caranto, Joe Brannen, Scott Reid, Andrew Rooney, Jacqueem Winston and Greg Williams; (back): Anne Stapleton, David Botha, Mike Rasmussen, Mat Morgan, Anthony Mullins, Jeff McSwain and Dave Gilbert.

Intern Program director Jeff McSwain recently began part-time employment with GCI Church Administration and Development. Previously, he served as director of Reality Ministries in Durham, North Carolina (his wife now serves as director). The intern orientation was held at the Reality Ministries facility in Durham. In the short video below, Jeff describes the Intern Program:

Watch on YouTube at http://youtu.be/S0WHfifhQw0.

Manfred Kraus

Please pray for Manfred Kraus, who at age 75, leads a GCI house church in southern Germany. Manfred was hospitalized recently due to serious intestinal bleeding. The specific cause for the bleeding has not been determined. He is home now and sees his time in the hospital as a blessing as he was able to use his stay to share the gospel with four people.

Cards may be sent to:

Manfred Kraus
Donauwörther Str. 8
86154 Augsburg
Germany