This update is from Kalengule Kaoma, a native of Zambia who serves as a GCI mission developer in Africa.
On July 14, Dr. Inyambo Nyumbu, GCI-Zambia National Director and I met at the Lusaka airport to receive a team of six missionaries from the U.S. The team was on a short-term mission trip to Zambia coordinated by Grace Missions—a GCI-Generations Ministries mission organization. Team members, shown in the picture below, left were (L to R): Joel Clevenger, Dustin and Rachel Lampe,Tyler Long, Melyssa White and Mike Lockard. The team came to Zambia to assist GCI members with several projects that are described in comments from the team members below.
Before coming to Zambia, we had no idea what to expect. What we knew is that we were going to give out eyeglasses and start the foundation of GCI’s Central Church. But God does amazing things not necessarily part of the original plan.
One of the moments that stuck out to me was when we were giving out eyeglasses. We are not eye doctors and didn’t know what we were doing. But God shone a light through us and gave us knowledge of figuring out the right prescription for each of the eyeglasses. The thrill came when we helped the first person. Seeing the expression of satisfaction and happiness on her face because she was able to see clearly filled my heart with joy. God had just done an amazing thing.
Giving out glasses made an impact on people who saw an act of God’s love. After that experience, Zambian pastor Kennedy enlightened us that our presence in the community will help him and his team evangelize: “These people have seen us together with you. They have seen that God has helped you with your journey. They have seen God help them through you. I am positive that they will receive us when we go to evangelize in their villages.”
Working side-by-side with Zambian members made a huge difference in our outlook. I’m happy I came to Zambia! I can’t thank God enough for giving me the opportunity to see what he is doing across the world.
We were greeted by the most hospitable loving arms. Our “home” was set up so comfortably that even the water shortages did not give us reason to complain. We worked on the construction of Central Church. It began with a beautiful ceremony of dedicating the building project to be under God’s protection, provision, and blessing. This was symbolized by laying the cornerstone of the church. I still hear the song “Tulemitotela” (“Thank you Lord”) ringing out in reverence to what the Lord provided.
Our trip back to the U.S. came far too soon. I built many relationships, and became fonder of my African home away from home. God is working strong in the heart of Zambia, and I can’t wait to see what more he has in store for them.
I learned that we are all breathing the same air, all walking on the same earth. We live with similar problems and issues, the same human nature. The church in Zambia worships joyfully, prays with intention and seeks God. We have the same Holy Spirit, the same Jesus Christ living in us. We are in the same family of God, covered in grace and mercy and love. While at a gathering of folks from several different villages, Kalengule said, “We are from many different cultures… share your culture…but remember, we are all living in God’s culture of love and grace.”
The world has become smaller for me but God’s Kingdom has grown exponentially.
ACCM recently announced that beginning in November, it will offer its 10-week-long Christian Leadership course in a format that includes a three-day intensive held in Dallas, Texas, on December 10-12. The class, titled Christian Leadership: Foundational Perspectives, Principles & Practices for Lifelong Growth as a Leader, will be taught by Charles Fleming and Greg Williams, who provide this comment:
As your instructors and fellow lifelong-learners, we will help participants in the class reflect on key foundational elements that contribute to growing as leaders across a lifetime. As Christ followers in a world of radical, adaptive change, what are the perspectives we need to have? In what ways do our imaginations need to be re-framed for effective engagement with an increasingly secular world? What principles and practices can help us cultivate the conditions for people to encounter Christ in transformative ways? And, vitally important, what formational practices do we need to make a part of our personal lives if we are to avoid burnout and, instead, live a kingdom-flourishing life?
Recently, one of our pastors received a pop-up warning on his computer that said something about Windows being broken and that he needed to contact a Microsoft support person immediately, giving him a phone number to do just that. Unfortunately, it was a scam. He allowed them to access his computer where they did major damage to Windows and then demanded money to “fix” his computer. Fortunately, he got suspicious at this point and decided to call us before he went further. It took a few hours, but we were able to repair most of the damage and get him running again. It could have been much worse.
So, we’d like you to be aware that Microsoft never initiates contact with computer users to fix a computer. They won’t pop up a warning window on the computer. They won’t call you on the phone. They won’t email you. So if someone does these things claiming to be Microsoft, you can assume it’s a scam.
If you suspect you might already be infected with something, make sure your antivirus is up-to-date and scan your computer. To go further, download the free program Malwarebytes AntiMalware from www.malwarebytes.org/downloads/ and scan your computer with that. You can assume everything it finds is good to remove. And if you as a pastor or treasurer need help beyond that, feel free to call our IT help desk at (626) 650-2340 or (800) 350-4466.
Following is an essay from Dr. Gary Deddo titled “What Christian Revelation Understands About Reality and Relationships (that secular culture does not).”
Creation of Adam (detail) by Michelangelo public domain via Wikimedia Commons
It’s easy to under-appreciate what God has revealed to humanity—a revelation that began with Israel and came to fullness and consummation in the self-revelation and self-giving of God in Jesus Christ. That revelation, which is preserved for us in the Bible, is centered on the person and work of Jesus. It’s a revelation not merely about religion, morality, or even God and salvation, but about the very nature of reality itself—a reality grounded in God’s nature, purposes, mind, heart and relationship with creation, along with the nature of humanity and humanity’s relationship with God, one another, and all creation.
Foundational realities
Like the letters of the alphabet, we tend to assume, even overlook the basics of what God has revealed. So it’s good to examine those basics in detail from time to time. To help us do so, I’ve compiled below a list of what I consider to be the foundational realities of God’s revelation. All have Jesus at the center, for he is the Logos (the “Word”)meaning rationality and intelligibility (John 1:1-5), the source of all “wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). Here is the list:
There is a God.
This God is knowable by human beings because this God is capable of revealing himself, of making himself known, to human beings in a definitive, actual and real way.
This God is the creator of everything that is other than God.
This God is good and all that this God does is good.
This God interacts with the creation he has made.
This God is the source of life and existence. Nothing would exist and nothing would have life if God did not give and sustain its life and existence.
All things God created have been given a purpose, a meaning, and that purpose/meaning is good.
Created things have natures, that is, a design, form or shape. Those natures cohere with the purpose assigned by God to those created things.
God created a vast range of kinds of things with differing natures. The multiplicity and distinct differences of the nature of things are essential to the goodness of those things and to God’s purposes for them.
The creation, with its multiplicity of kinds of things with their distinct natures, were created to interact with each other in harmonious and fruitful ways that maintain and lead to abundant life. Such harmonious relationships among the variety of created things with their respective natures, involve a kind of synergy that is productive.
Created things are given appropriate creaturely freedom. The freedom of creaturely things is to express their nature fully so that it reaches their purpose for being created.
Human beings are one of those “things” that God created for a good purpose. That God-given good purpose corresponds to the kind of nature with which human beings are created.
The freedom of a human being is to live out its God-given purpose according to its God-given nature.
Essential to the ultimate purpose and nature of a human being is to be in relationship with God. Without that relationship, human being would have no being and would not and could not realize its purpose.
Human beings then are not autonomous beings—they have their being by being in relationship to God, first by virtue of being created and sustained in existence, and second as the redeemed creatures of God.
God is Lord and Savior of all humanity.
Human beings, created to live in a worship relationship with God, their Creator and Redeemer, are beings who are becoming—living towards their ultimate purpose in relationship to God. No human being is yet fully who God intends them to be.
Human beings live in a dynamic history of relationship to God that has a destiny, a designated good and a glorious endpoint (telos). In and through that relationship, they become who God intends them to be in relationship, first to himself.
That relationship with God is rightly characterized as one of love in fellowship (communion).
But that love has a distinct form, shape and meaning. Its clearest, most concrete demonstration and definition is expressed in the person and actions of Jesus Christ. That relationship is most comprehensively understood as a relationship of worship.
This worship relationship can be further characterized as a relationship of holy love. A particular Greek word used in the New Testament to refer to God’s kind of love as embodied in Jesus Christ is agape. That word is to be distinguished from other forms of love indicated by the Greek words eros and philia. In the Old Testament, agape is expressed by the words aheb and hesed, meaning covenant love. This covenant love was fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
God’s good, harmonious, fruitful and life-giving creation became fallen and corrupted from its earliest days. As a result, every relationship within all creation is now distorted, broken and diseased to some degree. All relationships, at every level, are in need of a repair, reconciliation and regeneration in their very natures that only God the Creator can provide.
God pledged himself from the beginning to make all things right and to regenerate all creation, thereby restoring everything to right relationship and bringing about a renewed harmony and life-giving productiveness to it. God’s promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, our Reconciler and Redeemer.
Evidences of Christ’s finished work can be found in this “present evil age” by the working of the Holy Spirit. Though that work is the first fruit, down payment, pledge, guarantee and seal of “the age to come,” the full and glorious effects of Christ’s work will not be consummated until he returns, bringing his kingdom in fullness and establishing a fully renewed heaven and earth in right relationship with God.
Because creation is fallen, we cannot know with clarity or certainty who God is or what his ultimate purposes for his creation are by surveying creation.
We humans, in all our capacities (including our moral judgments and reason) are fallen and thus naturally distrustful of God, further preventing us from truly and accurately knowing God and his will for us. Such knowledge comes to us only by the grace of God’s self-revelation in Jesus Christ, the Living Word of God.
Implications
Because our increasingly secular world tends to ignore or even deny these foundational realities, it’s important that we, as followers of Jesus, examine their Christ-centered implications carefully. To that end I offer below thoughts about the foundational realities that are related to a Christian understanding of humanity (a theological anthropology). These thoughts move from reflecting on the nature of humanity in general to focus more particularly on God’s purposes for human sexuality (including gender distinctions) and the related topics of marriage and parenting.
– Created for worship and holy love
We begin by noting again that human beings were created for relationship with God and people, relationships that reflect a certain kind of love, namely agape love (God’s holy love). God gave humanity a nature that corresponds to that purpose. In accordance with that nature, God our Creator and Redeemer, out of his love and grace, commands human beings first to love him with all their hearts, minds, souls and strength, and then to love their neighbors. In that way, human beings live first in a worship relationship with God and second in a relationship with others that reflects, bears witness to and corresponds to their primary worship relationship to God. We can refer to these secondary relationships with humans as ones of witness for they bear witness to (reflect) the primary worship relationship humans have with God as God, Lord and Savior.
Being in a right, loving (agape) relationship of worship with God involves all of who and what we are as humans: our heart, soul, mind and strength/body—the entirety of our being (nature). The entire biblical revelation, including its directives or commandments, indicates the same since they cover the whole range of human life and activity. Indeed, every aspect and dimension of human life is to be ordered first in relationship to God and then in relationship with other people and finally with all creation.
Note that the bodily aspect is specifically included as essential to our worship relationship with God. All human action involves a bodily aspect, and most biblical commandments refer to some sort of bodily action. The body was created good and has a moral and spiritual meaning and purpose—it can be used in a right and loving way or in a wrong or abusive way. The body is to be honored according to God’s good purposes in accord with the human nature that God has given it. This bodily aspect of relationship is particularly included in passages of Scripture that deal with human sexuality (more about that later).
Of crucial importance is the fact that human beings have not only an outer life but also an inner life. And there is a dynamic relationship between the inward and the outward bodily aspect of human nature. We indicate the inward aspect by using concepts such as mind, will, spirit, soul (psyche), desires and affections. In God’s design and purpose the inward aspects of a human life are to be coordinated with and harmonized with the outward aspects of the body and its speech and acts. But in this fallen world this relationship between the internal and external dimensions of human life are also broken and distorted and in need of healing and restoration so that they are properly related and work together in a fruitful, life-giving way that enable us to participate in fulfilling God’s purpose for humanity.
– Created for loving relationships
In his person, teaching and actions, Jesus reveals that there are three levels of relationship. Though comparable and interconnected, they are not in any sense identical:
The Trinitarian level. Jesus explicitly reveals that he has been loved by the Father (in the Spirit) from all eternity. These eternal relationships internal to the being of God are Trinitarian relationships of holy communion.
The Christological level. Jesus teaches and demonstrates in word and deed that as the Father has loved him, so he has loved us. This is the Christological relationship—God’s relationship with us through his Son. Jesus loves us with a love comparable to the love between the Trinitarian persons. Though Jesus’ love for us is not love between equals, it is no less loving for that. God’s love for us, in Christ, mirrors the intra-Trinitarian holy love that is its source.
The human (ethical) level. Jesus teaches that, in a way comparable to his love for us, we are to love each other (John 13:34). This kind of love is the essence of human relationship. This intra-human love is similar, though not identical to Jesus’ divine love for us (humans are not equal in ontological status with Jesus Christ).
All three levels of relationship can be called loving. Indeed, by God’s design, all three are agape relationships. However, the particular forms of expression of that love are different at each level due to the different natures of those involved at each level. At each level, what is truly loving takes into full account the differences of nature of the beings in the relationships. Doing so makes these relationships dynamic, harmonious, and fruitful, leading to the abundant life God intends.
Without such differences the love expressed in those relationships would and could not demonstrate the fruitfulness, productivity, and life-giving dynamics that reflect the inner life of holy love in God the Trinity. Indeed, they could not fulfill their God-given purpose to glorify God by showing forth his kind of relational goodness. Consequently, they would not be able to provide a “place” where humans would experience that goodness through participation in the relationship.
Loving relationships require differences if there is to be, in and through those relationships, a truly loving, life-giving exchange. In the unity of the Trinity the difference is found in the distinct and non-interchangeable divine Persons. In Jesus there is the difference between his divine and human natures that are united in his one undivided Person. Concerning human beings, recall the apostle Paul’s description of the Body of Christ with its oneness in the Lord and yet difference of persons and gifts.
– Given one nature expressed through human differences
Humans were created for relationship with God, though they have an infinitely different nature (being) than God. Humans also were created for relationship with other humans who share the same being (human nature). The New Testament refers to this nature/being as flesh (sarx in Greek). By God’s design, it is expressed by each human as a distinct person with a unique origin, a separate body (including the spaces and locations that go with that body), a distinct mind, human spirit (psyche), will and history. Thus humans share one humanity (nature) but as distinct (different) individuals.
These human differences contribute to, rather than take away from, our shared humanity when the human relationships we enter into are carried out in ways that reflect God’s agape (holy love), being moved and directed by a worship relationship with God. We find such relationships most clearly and fully revealed to us in the New Testament depiction of and directions given to the many-membered Body of Christ.
– God’s purpose for gender differences
One of the differences within humanity that contributes significantly to abundant life when ordered by God’s agape (holy love) is that of gender or sex. By God’s design, humanity is made up of both men and women (men or women). By God’s decree, this difference is good—it’s God’s gift to humanity and represents a God-given task for humanity. Gender distinction is built into what it means to be a human being.
As an essential part of human being, becoming and flourishing, gender distinction shares in the process of our maturing spiritually—our growing up into Christ, becoming fully who God intends us to be as his beloved creatures. And like every other aspect of human activity gender distinction is an aspect of life that we are called to use for God’s purposes and according to God’s good design. Being gendered or sexual beings means we actively and deliberately participate in its transformation, its sanctification.
The goodness of gender distinction becomes apparent only when the relationships between men and women (whether married or unmarried) are governed by God’s agape (holy love) and thus ordered according to God’s purposes related to the natures God has given to us. It is the nature of humanity to exist in the polarity of being differentiated by gender. But that nature needs to mature as directed by its proper use and transformation under Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of the sexuality of all human beings.
Given that human beings are beings who are becoming in right relationship with each other, the relationships between men and women, as men and women, are included in this becoming. The differentiation of humanity into the polarity of two distinct sexes or genders is for the good of humanity and essential to individuals in their becoming who they are in right relationship to each other as men and women (men or women) whether single or married, as parents and children and as neighbors one to another. This process involves all human beings.
– God’s purpose for marriage
When a man and woman enter into a covenant relationship with each other and so into a special form of God’s agape (holy) kind of love, there is a unique and special purpose for that unique relationship which, more generically, we refer to as marriage. Marriage in the church among Christians, is not fundamentally a legal relationship—ultimately and foundationally, its purpose is spiritual. That is, it finds its meaning and significance in relationship to God as a particular way to glorify and make known God’s own goodness and glory as extended to human beings.
Marriage is a gift given by God. Its special purpose is to reflect God’s covenant relationship with humanity, which in turn reflects the internal and eternal relationship of love among the members of the Trinity. Human marriage grounded in covenant love witnesses to the truth of the relationship of God through Jesus Christ to his bride, the church. Through it we are directed in a unique way to God’s covenant relationship with all humanity. Covenant marriage between a man and woman has a unique moral and spiritual meaning by which we can glorify the Triune God. The special form of agape (holy or covenant love) exhibited in marriage is to be life-long because it is to bear witness to God’s unbreakable covenant love and faithfulness to humanity.
– God’s purpose for children and parents
The special form of human love exhibited in the covenant of marriage is ordained by God to be the unique “place” where the productivity (fruitfulness) of love results in children who are uniquely related to their parents. Such children are historically, biologically, psychologically, sociologically and even spiritually united to their parents. Children, born of two parents of different sexes/genders united in covenant love, bear witness to the unique kind of relationship human beings have with God as God’s children. The parent-child relationship is irrevocable, permanent, and bears unique witness to our union with God in Christ. In our union with Jesus Christ we are joined by the Spirit to Jesus’ humanity, which he shares with us in a union that is biological, historical, social, and spiritual. The parent-child relationship uniquely mirrors this union.
The parent-child relationship also uniquely bears witness to the deepest fruitfulness of the loving covenantal relationship between God and humanity—a relationship between two distinct and ontologically different beings. It bears witness to our being born from above—to the power of our becoming really and actually children of God who share in Jesus’ own sonship to the Father in the Spirit. As one of us, Jesus truly is our “kinsman redeemer” (goel in Hebrew). We truly are his brothers and sisters in flesh and blood. The parent-child relationship then has a moral and spiritual meaning and significance by which we can glorify the Triune God.
Note: What is said here about parenting does not address, nor does it seek to cast negative light on, the topics of adoption or involuntary or voluntary childlessness. Those relationships have somewhat different significance and meaning, and exploring them is beyond the scope of this essay, which focuses on just a few of the implications extending from the most fundamental assumptions of biblical revelation. We’ll address these other important topics at another time.
Conclusion
It is important to remember that the entire universe is fallen—to one degree or another it is imperfect, incomplete and distorted. That means that every relationship, of every kind and at every level, needs repair, healing, restoration and even regeneration. The distortions, brokenness and corruptions that we experience in every relationship in this fallen world hinder our attempts to live out the purpose and to experience the full goodness of the God-given being (human nature) we have been given. The good news, however, is that the grace of God has broken in and we can live here and now in ways that demonstrate hope for the healing and restoration that serves as a sign or as a down-payment of God’s complete restoration that is coming with the new heaven and new earth.
As the people of God, we live knowing that all creation is fallen (and that includes all relationships). But we also live with hope, knowing of the in-breaking of God’s grace now and the promise that, ultimately, God will make all things right, including all relationships. These are some of the fundamental assumptions conveyed to us in the Bible concerning the reality in which we live and move and have our being—a being that, in Christ, by the Spirit, is in right relationship with God and with others.
Here is information about two gatherings for women coming up in the United States this fall.
Alabama retreat: Eyes Fixed on Jesus
Grace Covenant Fellowship, a GCI congregation near Birmingham, Alabama, is hosting a retreat for women on October 9-11 in Cullman, Alabama. Titled Eyes Fixed on Jesus (based on Hebrews 12:2), the retreat will take place at the St. Bernard Retreat Center in Cullman (www.stbernardabbey.com). The weekend will provide fun, fellowship and inspiration, with speakers Tammy Tkach, Ginny Rice, Pat Halford, Gerrie Bayley, Barbara Dahlgren, Mary Jo Leaver and Ruth Miller. Music will be provided by Ann Hartmann (pictured at right), a singer, songwriter and speaker who focuses on spreading the gospel of God’s unconditional love in Jesus. Seven of Ann’s songs have reached the number one position on independent Christian-Country charts, and she is the recipient of numerous awards (learn more at www.annhartmann.com).
The cost for the retreat is $125 per person, including registration, lodging for two nights and four meals. For more information and to register, email Ruth Miller at ruth.miller@gci.org or call (205) 663-7979.
Ohio conference: Unlocking the Treasure Within
Christ Community Church, a GCI congregation near Cincinnati, Ohio, is hosting a conference for women on November 6-8 in Milford, Ohio. Titled Unlocking the Treasure Within, the conference begins Friday evening at 7:00 and ends at noon on Sunday. The featured conference speakers and worship leader are noted below. The registration fee (which covers some meals) is $70/person (a $60 early bird rate applies until October 16). To download the conference brochure, go to http://www.cincyccc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Conference-2015-brochure.pdf.
If I were to ask you that question, you’d know I have something important to say, and you’d want to learn more. When asked in a movie or TV show, that question typically indicates a plot turn as suspense mounts. Words are powerful. As the proverb says, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver” (Proverbs 25:11 ESV).
Yes, affirming and encouraging words uplift, but negative words tear down. I remember a conversation I had with a classmate who always seemed to be in trouble. She lamented, “It doesn’t matter what I say or do, people are down on me. What’s the use?” At the time I thought of Ephesians 4:29: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” I prayed those closest to her would let her know she is valued and loved.
People often use many words to say very little. A case in point is the recent debate of Republican candidates for U.S. president. Each had 60 seconds to answer a specific question, and the others had 30 seconds to dispute that answer. As I heard the questions, answers and disputes, I wondered how anyone could possibly determine what is true. After each candidate proclaimed how he or she would “fix” the country, leading it back to a safe and secure place, the others proclaimed why that plan will not work. A lot of words were spoken, many promises made, and our problems as a society continue.
Words, of course, convey ideas. Sometimes lots of words are used to convey the most trivial ideas. In 1945 the U.S. Department of Agriculture used 26,000 words to set standards for grading cabbage! In contrast, few words were needed to convey these profound ideas:
Pythagoras’ Theorem: ………………………………….24 words
Lord’s Prayer: ……………………………………………….66 words
Archimedes’ Principle: ………………………………….67 words
Ten Commandments:……………………………………179 words
Gettysburg Address:……………………………………..286 words
U.S. Declaration of Independence: ………………1,300 words
U.S. Constitution with 27 Amendments: …….7,818 words
Prince of Peace by Greg Olsen used with permission
Though human words can’t solve our problems, we know a divine Word who can and does—the Living Word of God, the Logos (spokesman or speech of God), who became incarnate for us in the person of Jesus. Because Jesus Christ is the full and final revelation of God to us, we can, without reservation or doubt, place our trust in him. In his divine freedom, the Living Word of God came to humanity as a human being to challenge every idea we possess about everything. Jesus, through his life, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension, personally fulfilled ancient Israel’s covenant, represented us before the Father, and sends the Holy Spirit to indwell us. As the God-man he continues to be the Word of God with us and for us.
Gutenberg Bible
Although it cannot capture all that Jesus Christ is, the written word of God (which we refer to as the Bible), faithfully directs us to the Living Word of God. The Bible must never be separated from the person of Jesus who appointed and authorized those who preached and wrote about him and his gospel and continues to speak in and through Scripture by the Holy Spirit, who he sends to his people. In that way, the Bible is and remains his word. We do not worship the Bible, but we do worship the One it uniquely, authoritatively and infallibly points to. As the church, it is our calling to proclaim the Living Word of God, and we do so by teaching the written word of God (note here the three-in-one aspect of God’s Word: Jesus, Scripture and the proclamation of the church).
Though I don’t place my trust and hope in the words of politicians, I do trust Jesus, the Living Word of God. He is our hope of a new day that has come, and one day will come in all its fullness. Though I’m discouraged by spoken and written words that misrepresent the Living Word of God, I’m never discouraged about who that Word is, and I’m constantly inspired in studying the written word that points me to him—to Jesus, the One who continually gives us assurance and hope.
Through Scripture, and by his Spirit, Jesus shows us a whole new way of seeing everything. It’s only through the Living Word of God that we have a rational basis to understand both the created order and our place of freedom within it. Jesus calls us to be a new creation and to participate in the unfolding of a new heaven and new earth. Whether we realize it or not, we live right now in the grace and truth of this Living Word, and when we embrace his unconditional love for us and all humanity, we will experience a new way of being and living—a way that lasts forever.
Grateful for the Word,
Joseph Tkach
PS: In thinking about various ways the gospel is being proclaimed in our world, I came across a tongue-in-cheek comparison (all in good fun, I hope you get a chuckle):
Evangelical: God thinks you’re despicable. But Jesus loves you!
Liberal Protestant: God thinks you’re wonderful. Here’s a crayon drawing I did earlier to show you.
Progressive: I have not the faintest idea of what God, if there is a God, thinks about you. And if any of you disagrees with me, God thinks you’re an arrogant fundamentalist, and I agree.
Roman Catholic: I know many different things that God thinks on various matters. Here are nine of them, in no particular order.
Orthodox: We Orthodox are absolutely certain about what God thinks. But here instead is a story about something that happened to me the other day.
Pentecostal: God doesn’t think, God feels. And how does God feel about you? Great!
Presbyterian scholar: I—that is to say, myself, the ego, the first-person speaker whom Paul so poignantly yet so ambiguously names in Romans 7—know—meaning that I perceive it, not only by way of intellectual comprehension but as something that I grasp and apprehend with my whole being, in the way that “Adam knew Eve his wife” (Genesis 4:1 KJV)—what God thinks—that is to say, not just the content of the divine mind but the entire mode by which God apprehends created things, what one commentator has aptly called God’s “sapiential omniscience.”
Itinerant evangelist: God is thinking about that ten dollar bill that you’ve got hidden in the bottom of your pocket.
GCI-USA Regional Pastor Ted Johnston requests prayer for his family. Michael Harris, 26-year-old son of Ted’s sister Jan (Johnston) Harris, died on September 7 as the result of a boating accident near Catalina Island in Southern California. Four others were on the boat with Michael—one has not been found and is presumed dead. The other three, including Michael’s girlfriend Kelly, are hospitalized with minor injuries. Michael had recently received a Master’s degree in psychology and was working as a high school counselor and basketball coach in Atherton, California. He is survived by his mother Jan, his father Peter (former president and CEO of the San Francisco 49ers), and younger brothers David and Richard.
Harris family (L to R): Richard, David, Jan, Michael and Peter.
This report is from Jeff McSwain, national coordinator of the GCI-USA Intern Program.
We held our second annual intern orientation at The Reality Center (home of Reality Ministries) in Durham, North Carolina on August 17-21. Our prayer before and during the event was Come Holy Spirit! He’s always there, of course, but “showed up and showed out” as we like to say! It was a rich time—my favorite part was watching the three first-year interns interact with the “newbies.” As the number of interns grows, this interactive culture within the program will only be more powerful. Having seasoned ministry veterans on hand for teaching and support provided its own critical element to the mix.
We welcomed nine new interns into the fold this year from all corners of the country: Southern California, Sacramento, Portland, Boston, Princeton, and Durham. Most of them are preparing to start classes at Grace Communion Seminary, although we are admitting three interns this year who are students elsewhere: two at Duke Divinity School and one at Princeton Theological Seminary (these three were recommended to us by GCI pastors). The Lord is answering our prayers to raise up young leaders for his budding work in and through GCI! I am so thankful! Pictured above and below is the group at this year’s orientation. Also below are quotations from a few of the interns. What they say provides a good sense of what happened at the intern orientation.
Participants in the intern orientation (bottom row, left to right): Corey Lewis, Eddie Lowe, Cory O’Neal, Lakeisha Blake, Jaron Sanders, Patrick Quinn, Cara Garrity, Remille Shipman, Sangwon Yang, Anthony Walton (top row left to right): Jeff McSwain, Anthony Mullins, Andy Rooney, Zac Slay, Joe Brannen, Mike Rasmussen, Mike Swagerty, Tim Sitterley, Charles Albrecht, Jillian Caranto, Greg Williams, Jacqueem Winston, Bermie Dizon, Mat Morgan.
They Said It!
First Year Intern: “The time to fellowship with the other interns was incredible. I loved learning about where everyone came from and where God is bringing them. One of my favorite things was simply playing games with everyone during breaks and at night. It is so life-giving to me to share life with others in such simple ways. That face to face time with the other interns was important for me in building a foundation for us to encourage each other as a team of interns, especially since we are all from a different corner of the US. Having the intern pastors participate in the conference was also a great blessing. It is encouraging to see leaders in GCI investing in my generation of the church.”
First Year Intern: “My favorite part from our time together was the people and the fellowship. Gathering a group together of young and more experienced people to work through Trinitarian theology and thought in a ministerial context was a powerful experience.”
Second Year Intern: “I am really blessed by the racial and gender diversity.”
GCI Pastor: “The greatest blessing was the diversity of folks present. God is surely a God of variety! Seeing so many young adults interested in ministry inspired this old man!”
First Year Intern: “I felt a sense of family, camaraderie, and common purpose among the group. The food was great! I’m SO grateful to GCI for treating us to such great meals. It was nice not having to think about what or where we were going to eat.”
Second Year Intern: “Music is such an integral part of our lives and so having the time set aside each morning to convene together and experience communion through music was precious to me.”
First Year Intern: “Worshiping together was, as always, a great blessing to me. The morning devotionals were uplifting and encouraging. Also, being able to discuss difficult issues, like ethics and policy, was very helpful. Hearing the gospel and talking about our identity in Christ was refreshing and uplifting.”
This update is from Rod Matthews, GCI’s mission director in Southern Asia, New Zealand and the Pacific.
In recent weeks, many areas of Asia have experienced disastrous flooding as a result of an intense low pressure weather system that brought huge volumes of rain in a short time. The rugged, underdeveloped Chin Hills area of Myanmar was severely affected. GCI has a congregation there and it’s home for a number of our ministry partners. Tluang Kung, whom we helped gain his seminary education and who later translated our Discipleship Course into Burmese, wrote this:
Thank you for your concern for us. We are safe here in Yangon but my relatives in Tahan, Kalay and Chin Hills are the worst victims of this disaster. It is the worst within 64 years of Myanmar history. More than 600,000 acres of rice fields have been destroyed, many bridges taken away and hundreds of houses, especially in Chin Hills, collapsed by landslides. With the main road cut, transportation is possible only by helicopter in the Chin Hills. Food security is the highest level of risk—one bag of rice in Chin Hills which usually cost as little as 25,000 Kyat now costs 120,000 Kyat [approximately $100].
Tluang Kung said that even that price for a bag of rice is continuing to rise, and he and his family are concerned that the same will happen to prices in the capital, Yangon, where he lives, even though it wasn’t flooded to the same extent as in the northern and western states. He sent these photographs of the situation in the worst-hit parts of Myanmar:
Good news in the midst of disaster
Wong Mein Kong
In the midst of this natural disaster that is affecting millions of people, there is some good news. God is using our fellowship to touch the lives of an increasing number of people through the decision by a network of congregations headed by Chan Thleng to become part of GCI (click here to read my previous update on this development). Just recently, Chan Thleng responded to a message from our Southeast Asian Coordinator, Wong Mein Kong, asking how he had fared during the floods, and added more encouraging news about the value, impact and development of using our material in the churches who have joined us. Here are excerpts from what Chan Thleng wrote:
Flooding does not make any distinction between the rich and poor in Myanmar. People run to house-tops or other places of safety. The poor are badly hit as their mud houses collapse in rain and the mud is carried away by flood water. The villages and fields in the catchment area are all submerged under water in Hmawbi Township. Relief parties, voluntary institutions, and governments come to help the flood-stricken people. Rice and other things are provided to them in various ways. Our church also is arranging supplies for them such as rice, clothes, and other things in the most seriously affected area to assist further—especially in Yangon, Matupi and Rakhine state. In Matupi the house of one of our leaders was completely under water.
In Rakhine State, our church planter has been serving since 2013. We are sorry because we can’t contact him. In many Rakhine townships and areas people are still in relief camps and unable to return home according to the report. We all have concern for him and his family.
Our church has developed a close working relationship with one village using GCI material. We hope to wins soul if God helps us. Three families (Karen people) want to join to us. We pray for them that God would open the hearts that they may be given the eyes to see that their hope is found in Jesus. I plan to send our leader there next year.
We plan to celebrate our new name (GCI) in October in Yangon and Chin State. We all are so excited to belong to a new church as we had been praying for a church.
Some materials I have translated into our Matu Chin language. We pray that we will become a model everywhere in Yangon and Chin State to turn to God from animism to serve the living and true God in the future. I gave much time for translation.
At every home cell-group service, I am sharing GCI material to our church members and sometimes to our ladies prayer group and non-Christians of our neighborhood. One lady said, “GCI has helped me to understand the Bible better and given me my spiritual maturity.” One man said, “GCI helped me and my family to understand the Christian faith.” Our church members said, “All the writers of GCI material will touch the realities of our people if GCI material is available in our own language. One man said, “I like to thank GCI teams for producing such wonderful material. It has become my daily spiritual food.”
Our leaders and members [in the Matupi church] are so excited to be a part of GCI and are looking forward to celebrating a new name (GCI) in October. One leader said, “My members shout joyfully; we shall belong to a new name, never heard before; GCI is a beautiful name; GCI will be our second gate of heaven.” Rev. Tlou Cawng said, “We shall have a new name. We will hold GCI doctrine; we look forward to GCI material being available in our own language. We shall never be the same BP church” [their previous name]. One leader said that two families have already joined our church—they are from an animist background and their children have a great interest in reading the Bible story.
We thank God for his grace and encouragement in being able to help this group with the wonderful biblical material he has given us, and to see their excitement as they grasp the burden-lifting reality of the gospel. While many groups make contact in the hope that we can offer them financial support, this group has focused on what we actually can offer. It is a mutually exhilarating relationship.
GCI Disaster Relief Fund
From time to time we’re contacted about helping members impacted by major disasters like the recent one in Myanmar. If your congregation has a heart to help members in this way, probably the best way to do so is to send donations to the GCI Disaster Relief Fund. The Fund was established to help provide members in disaster areas with emergency needs such as food, water, medicine, clothing, temporary housing, home and/or church hall repairs, temporary local pastoral salary expenses and other emergency needs. Monies received into the Fund that are not immediately needed will remain in the Fund to be allocated in future disasters.
In previous years, money from this Fund has been used to help members recover from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, storms and flooding in Bangladesh, an earthquake and tsunami in the Solomon Islands, typhoons in the Philippines and an earthquake in Haiti.
On behalf of all those who have been helped by the Fund, I wish to express sincere appreciation to the congregations and individuals who have generously provided financial assistance.
If your congregation would like to donate to the GCI Disaster Relief Fund, your treasurer can set up a one time or monthly donation through the GCI Online system (http://online.gci.org) by logging in and selecting Church Giving under the Treasurer tab.
If your congregation prefers to send a check, make it out to Grace Communion International, indicating on the memo line that the donation is for the GCI Disaster Relief Fund. The donation should be sent to:
GCI Disaster Relief Fund Grace Communion International P.O Box 5005 Glendora, California 91740
