We were saddened to learn of the recent death of Bettie Broadnax, wife of Earl Broadnax and mother of Jeffrey Broadnax, pastor of two GCI congregations in Ohio. Here is a note from Jeffrey:
Bettie Broadnax
My first love, Bettie Broadnax, transitioned from being one who can talk to me to being one who now will speak from within me. Thank you Father in Heaven for giving my siblings and me this gem of a woman to love us. I miss you already Mom. ~your Baby Boy
Cards may be sent to Earl and Jeffrey at the addresses below:
Earl Broadnax 1739 Northcutt St Cincinnati, OH 45237
Jeffrey Broadnax 1211 Deerpath Court Grove City, OH 43123-8750
In August, a new cohort entered the GCI Intern Program (for details, click here). Over the next few weeks we’ll introduce you to some of these new interns. This week we want you to meet Jaron Sanders.
Following graduation from Bethune Cookman University in Florida, Jaron returned to his GCI home congregation in Sacramento, California, where he now is interning with Lead Pastor Mike Swagerty (pictured with Jaron at right). Here is Jaron’s testimony:
Though it took me a while to discover, I came to understand that, at the most basic level, our purpose as humans is to glorify God. It was such a relief to discover this—it freed me from beating myself over the head with “What am I supposed to do?” The answer is that I am supposed to trust and follow God—to walk in a manner pleasing to him. The details will come!
In college I studied mass communications with the intent of becoming a broadcast journalist, but it did not fulfill me. At the time, I was throwing myself into extra-curricular ministry activities, and found that this is what makes my heart beat! Eventually I realized that I was called to full-time ministry. I love seeing people experience the loving presence of Jesus.
Jaron is receiving free housing from Tim and Linda Wakeley (pictured with Jaron below), a generous couple in the Sacramento congregation.
Welcome to the GCI Intern Program, Jaron. Our prayers are with you. And Mike, Tim, Linda and the Sacramento congregation, thanks for all you are doing to support Jaron at this important time in his life and ministry with Christ.
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To learn more about the GCI Intern Program, click here.
Here is part 7 of an 8-part essay by Dr. Gary Deddo titled “The Christian life and our participation in Christ’s continuing ministry.” To read other parts, click on a number: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8. For all 8 parts combined in one article, click here.
Without Purse or Script by Liz Lemon Swindle (used with permission)
Recap of part 6
In part 6 we looked at how we ought to preach, teach and counsel others to participate in their union with Christ. The danger here is that we would highlight the commandments, simply telling people to do things for God because he said so. This leads to misrepresenting the character of God and to legalism, a wrong relationship with God. We always need to bring about the obedience of faith by showing the foundations for any call to obedience. And that foundation is built up from all the indicatives of grace that always form the basis of the obligations of grace. This time we’ll explore more of the antidote to legalism and the real meaning of grace.
Legalism
For every act of desired obedience, we must present and focus on the character of God manifest in Christ that corresponds to that imperative. That is because all obedience that gives glory to God must arise out of faith, hope and love for who God really is, both in himself and towards us. The apostle Paul says both at the beginning and the ending of Romans that his whole ministry is to bring about the “obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5; 16:26). He explains that any obedience that does not proceed from faith is sin (Romans 14:23).
We often think that legalism is the problem of someone who is committed to consistent obedience who needs to be corrected by allowing for their inconsistent obedience! But really, legalism is obedience that does not arise out of faith, hope and love in the character of the gracious Lawgiver. Legalism is obedience without faith. James Torrance often reminded his students of Calvin’s concern to avoid legal repentance (repentance without trust in the gospel of grace), focusing instead on evangelical repentance (repentance in light of the grace and forgiveness of God that is offered to sinners out of God’s sheer goodness, righteousness and mercy).
It is a grave mistake to merely preach the commandments by addressing the will of the Christian and calling for volitional conformity to the standards of God. Concentration on the requirements of God or even the ideals of God may tempt hearers to a faithless obedience. It is even more dangerous to misrepresent the character of God by speaking as if God had two sides to his character, as if God was two-faced or double minded, first offering grace and then switching to a concern for moral and spiritual conformity to his will and threatening the withdrawal of his grace. Preaching this way communicates that although we are first saved by grace, we are really sanctified by works. It says the Christian life may have begun by grace but is essentially lived out in a conditional and contractual relationship with God. Under such guidance many, I think, see their lives under a great impossible burden.
I’ve known of some who wanted to be non-believers again so they could become Christians all over, experiencing afresh the grace of God. But such admonishment, undoubtedly concerned for faithful and consistent lives, obscures the truth and actuality of Christ’s gracious and unconditioned continuing ministry and our union with him. It regards Christ as at a distance, sending us out to do for him what he is unwilling or unable to do himself, becoming somehow dependent upon us. We end up communicating that, at least subsequent to our conversion, God can no longer be more faithful than we are!
Preaching the commandments apart from the promises of the unconditional and unconditioned grace of God is like putting people in a windowless room with the door shut and the lights off and telling them, “On the count of three start enjoying the sunset!” Few have such imaginative powers! But if we could take someone to the top of Sentinel Dome on the 3000-foot-high western-facing ridge of Yosemite Valley, just at sunset, all we would need to do is declare, “Watch!” and their joy would be irrepressible.
So in preaching, only the glory and the character of God can draw out of us a faith that leads to a faithful obedience. Otherwise, our sacrificial endeavors are most often driven not by faith, hope and love, but by guilt, fear and anxiety as we are thrown back upon ourselves and our own five loaves and two fishes while standing in front of 5,000 hungry souls. Only the presentation of the heart and character of God fully revealed in Jesus Christ can bring us to the point of faithful obedience. This is why all our preaching and teaching must take as its staring point the question of who this God is, not the questions of what should we do or how should we do it. However, this is often not the starting point for preaching, teaching and counseling in connection with living the Christian life. I think that contributes to the weaknesses of our churches and burnout in the Christian life and ministry. It will also erode any of the new initiatives intended to renew the church mentioned at the beginning of this essay.
Too much grace?
There is one further concern that I have seen James Torrance respond to on numerous occasions. Some professional theologians, pastors and laypersons fear that we can preach too much grace. They would counsel that we have to somehow counterbalance grace so as to prevent people from taking advantage of grace. But what are we going to preach and teach to substitute for and counterbalance what is perceived as over-generous grace? Will we offer some new means for us to condition God into being gracious? Or preach a stingy God or a God dependent on us? A God who cannot be more faithful than we are? If so, we will end up misrepresenting the true God of the Bible for all our good intentions to get people “doing things” for God.
Grace means no exceptions
The problem with such a project is that it assumes a very inaccurate view of grace. If it were somehow possible to preach too much grace, then it isn’t really grace that’s being preached! I think that our understanding of grace is unfortunately often quite insufficient. This is in large part due to the general, cultural understanding of grace. Grace is often taken to mean making an exception to the rule. So we have “grace periods,” and we say someone is gracious when they let us off the hook of responsibility. The grace of forgiveness can be taken to mean diminishing the seriousness of sin or pretending it never happened. But we cannot take our cues from these misguided understandings.
Following in the pathway of Torrance’s understanding, I contend that real grace makes absolutely no exceptions. If it did make exceptions, it would not be gracious! Grace provides everything needed, and by the Spirit transforms our hearts and minds to be more and more like Christ’s. Grace accepts us where we are as we repent and takes us to where he is going so we may be with him forever. Grace is God’s commitment to get us, in the end, where we belong, even at God’s own cost.
As James Torrance used to point out, the unconditional grace of God means the unconditional obligations of grace. But these are the obligations of being in a gracious relationship with God through Christ, not the conditions to get God to be gracious towards us. Presuming upon grace (as if it were some kind of commodity that God doles out) is not the same as living in and receiving grace. Living in fellowship and communion with God, in union with Christ, means going where he goes and doing what he’s doing, not going where he does not go and doing the kinds of things he is not doing or involved in. The obligations of grace are spelled out as imperatives, as commands, in the New Testament. Living according to these commands is the way we continue to receive daily God’s grace.
Saying we have God’s grace and thinking there are no obligations at all, is saying there is grace but I don’t have to receive grace. Disobedience is not receiving grace and not living in our fellowship and communion with Christ. Disobedience presumes upon grace, and so amounts to actually rejecting grace!
The movie The Theory of Everything tells the compelling story of theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking. Though I respect his brilliance and the way he continues to work despite battling Lou Gehrig’s disease, it amuses me when Hawking and other scientists who are atheists claim to be smarter than and thus superior to people who hold to non-atheistic worldviews. The fact is, smart people are found everywhere (including in prison!) and intellectual ability certainly does not equate with superiority.
Stephen Hawking (Wikimedia Commons, creative commons attribution)
You’ve likely heard of Hawking’s best-selling book, A Brief History of Time, in which he seeks to explain the origin and future of the universe. A few years ago he wrote a sequel with Leonard Mlodinow titled The Grand Design, which asks, “Is the apparent ‘grand design’ of our universe evidence for a benevolent creator who set things in motion? Or does science offer another explanation?” Though the book does not break new scientific ground, it received a lot of attention because Hawking revealed his leaning toward atheism with sweeping statements like these: “Because there is a law of gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing” and “Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing…why the universe exists, why we exist.” Though thought-provoking, such statements don’t explain why there is something rather than nothing. Hawking and Mlodinow assume the existence of gravity and spontaneous creation, which then bring forth other things. This line of reasoning is like arguing that a preexisting process of carbonation brought forth Coke and Coors.
Though in times past Hawking would refer to God as “the embodiment of the laws of physics,” he now self-identifies as an atheist, saying, “There is no God” and “Religion believes in miracles, but they are not supported by science.” Being a world-class scientist, Hawking’s statements have credibility in the scientific community, but that should not blind us to his magical thinking when he refers to creation without a creator, law without a lawgiver, and grand design without a Grand Designer. When Hawking and others speak in such terms, they are making assumptions that lack scientific evidence. This is ironic when you consider that atheists often accuse Christians of believing in an imaginary God.
No scientific experiments can “prove” the assumptions that underlie Hawking’s atheistic thinking. Why? Because those assumptions have to do with realities outside the realm of science. It might interest you to know that Hawking’s mother, Isobel Hawking, pointed out the need to keep her son’s comments in perspective. In the book, Stephen Hawking: An Unfettered Mind, she is quoted as saying this:
Not all the things Stephen says probably are to be taken as gospel truth. He’s a searcher, he is looking for things. And if sometimes he may talk nonsense, well, don’t we all? The point is, people must think, they must go on thinking, they must try to extend the boundaries of knowledge; yet they don’t sometimes even know where to start. You don’t know where the boundaries are, do you?
In the book God and Stephen Hawking: Whose Design Is It Anyway? John C. Lennox, professor and emeritus fellow of mathematics at the University of Oxford notes that many of Hawking’s conclusions about origins are not only unproven—they are fundamentally unprovable. He is particularly critical of Hawking’s attempt to explain how something comes from nothing. One of Lennox’s concluding statements gave me a chuckle: “What all this goes to show is that nonsense remains nonsense, even when talked about by world-famous scientists.”
What should we do about scientists like Hawking who hold to atheistic positions? Let us pray for them, knowing that the Father, Son and Spirit continually are reaching out to all people (atheists included!) that they might come to know God and his unconditional love for them. Because I share God’s love for scientists and science, it brings me joy when brilliant scientists like Hawking come to know God and join in proclaiming the reality of God’s love and grace for all people.
Early this month, we learned that a total of 33 people were baptized in GCI congregations in Liberia and Uganda. Those baptized included a 99 year old man and a 13 year old teenager. Below are photos of the baptism ceremonies: Liberia in the top row and Uganda in the bottom row. Our congratulations to all!
Please pray for Dr. John McKenna, GCI elder and Grace Communion Seminary board and faculty member. His wife Mickey McKenna told us that John had a stroke a few days ago. Thankfully she recognized the signs and immediately took John to the hospital. Rehabilitation has been prescribed as the next step in his recovery.
Card may be sent to:
Dr. John and Mickey McKenna PO Box 3204 South Pasadena, CA 91031-6204
Church Administration and Development is pleased to announce that in 2016, GCI will hold seven regional conferences in the United States. Here are the dates and locations:
February 19-21 in Ontario, California (Los Angeles area)
March 11-13 in Portland, Oregon
April 22-24 in Northbrook, Illinois (Chicago area)
May 20-22 in Morristown, New Jersey (New York City area)
June 24-26 in Charlotte, North Carolina
July 15-17 in Dallas, Texas
August 5-7 in Orlando, Florida
Pastors, as you and your leadership teams make plans and establish budgets for 2016, please factor in these conferences. Lead pastors and one member of each pastoral team are expected to attend as part of their continuing education. We also urge church treasurers and other finance committee members to attend—we will provide special content for them, including workshops on church finances (with updates on GCI and IRS financial regulations), opportunities to network with folks from the GCI treasurer’s office, and a reception honoring church treasurers. There also will be workshops for those involved in children’s ministry (more details to come).
Further information about conference content and registration will be made available later this year. The cost for registration and lodging will be comparable to the 2014 regional conferences.
Here are reports from several recent GCI conferences.
Philippines
GCI-Philippines recently held a five-day conference in Baguio City with more than 1,000 in attendance. The theme was Celebrating Kingdom Life Now. Featured speakers included Greg Williams (pictured at right), director of US Church Administration and Development; and Larry Hinkle, US pastor and director of Odyssey in Christ ministry. For more about the event, click here.
Canada
The Toronto East and Cornerstone Christian Fellowship congregations of GCI-Canada recently hosted a conference titled Life in Christ, Life in the Trinity. Guest speakers Gary and Cathy Deddo (pictured below) gave sermons and lectures covering the basics of Incarnational Trinitarian theology and its implications in the Christian life. More than 90 people attended, including visitors from neighboring congregations.
Madagascar
Thirty GCI members from Madagascar met recently in Foulpointe on the Indian Ocean coast for a conference titled Joy of Sharing in Christ’s Glory. Activities included organized individual “quiet time,” beach and Bible games, a picnic and evening worship. Two ordinations occurred during the conference: Pastor Daniel Rakotondrabary was ordained an elder to serve members in the Antsirabe congregation, and Angele Rafirangason was ordained a deaconess to serve the Antananarivo congregation.
Nigeria
GCI’s churches in Nigeria held a four-day conference in the neighboring nation of Benin. The theme was God is faithful. God’s presence was evident in the worship with singing, praise and prayer, along with several special music performances. Various events were held, including a leader’s meeting, singles/youth forum, a women’s meeting, Bible Study, video presentations on Incarnational Trinitarian theology, a variety night and an elderly citizens’ forum. A highlight of the conference was the baptism of two teenage girls.
Denmark
GCI-Denmark recently held a conference with the theme Our Christian Journey. Sermons addressed the nature of the journey at personal and collective levels. A highlight was the baptism of 80-year-old Chresten Emil Madsen who for eight years has translated GCI publications in the Norwegian and Danish languages.
One of the most enjoyable benefits of my job is meeting many of God’s beloved children around the world—both within and outside GCI. I especially enjoy it when I’m introduced to people I’d heard of, but hadn’t yet met. This often happens when I travel internationally since many pastors and others can’t afford to travel abroad. Though I’d heard about them and their work, until I got to a conference or other event in their country, I hadn’t had opportunity to put a face to their name.
Recently on one of my international trips, a pastor I met said to me, “I’ve heard about you for years and I’ve seen your picture, but now I feel I know you.” His comment stuck with me and later I started thinking how such introductions are much like our calling to evangelism—the privilege to introduce people to someone they may have heard of, but haven’t met—Jesus Christ.
Meeting God, who is love
Rembrandt, Return of the Prodigal Son (public domain via Wikimedia Commons)
When I introduce people to Jesus, I want to be sure I give them a picture that will delight them and help them want to get to know who God truly is. That’s not hard to do, since the Bible teaches us that love is the essence of God’s being. And so I testify to the love of God. Furthermore, because we know that God the Father is the father of all people, to evangelize is to introduce people to their true Father—their Abba. Evangelism is thus sharing with others who God is and how much he loves them.
What is love?
Quite naturally, people search for love. In 2012, What is love? was the most searched-for phrase on Google. People define love in different ways: an emotion, action, state of mind, or a combination of these. Though some define it as nothing more than our biochemistry at work, most say love is much more than that, yet they struggle to find an adequate definition. Only God can accurately define what love is. Thankfully he has done so through the apostle John, who wrote, “God is love” (1 John 4:8). It’s important to note here that John is not saying “love is God”—we don’t worship love and we don’t define what love is then apply those definitions to God. In writing that God is love, John is indicating that God’s nature and character—his very being—is loving. All God does is loving, and his will is loving. God’s agape love—his holy love—is what true love is all about. In knowing that, false views of love are exposed and ruled out.
There is a strong note of truth in the song, Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places. People look for love in family, friends and in romantic relationships, but as important as these relationship are, true love (holy, agape love) is found only when a person knows its true source—our triune God. God, who is love, created us for loving relationships, including the male-female relationship that is unique to marriage. Sadly, the deeper nature of God’s agape love often is forgotten when people, searching for romantic relationships, turn love into a search for merely satisfying their erotic desires. But when we ground our thinking on the sure foundation that love is the revelation of God, everything else we think about love, and the way we go about seeking after it, will align with reality and lead to our true fulfillment.
Who is God?
Much in our secular western society reflects the sad reality that, as a people, we have not retained God in our thinking. As a result, many struggle with the question, “Who is God?” As noted above, we know that God is love as a triune communion of holy, agape love—Father, Son and Spirit. Were he not triune, God would need creation or something other than himself in order to be love, because authentic love does not exist in isolation. The stunning truth is that God, who exists eternally in a tri-personal, loving relationship, has called us to share in both his love and life through his Son Jesus, by his Spirit. In that relationship, because we understand that God is love, we trust him to be loving—we trust his plan to bring us into relationship with himself and thus to fulfill his purpose for creating us. We also trust him to be faithful, and we trust the fact that even though we don’t understand everything he does (or allows) we know that his purposes are always good, flowing from who he is and expressing his love for us.
God’s revelation
Greg Olsen, Forgiven (used with permission)
We see that God is love most clearly, powerfully and directly in the incarnation, life and self-giving of the whole God through the Son of God on the cross. Jesus is God’s love in flesh and blood, in time and space, in Person. To know God that way is far more than “head knowledge”—it’s about a relationship with God, through Jesus, by the Spirit. In and through that relationship we experience God’s love “up close and personal”—much like we do in a truly loving friendship with another human. As C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity,“ God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.” Because he loves us, God has given us himself.
Scripture tells us that the revelation of who God is involves the work of the Father, Son and Spirit. The apostle Paul tells us that as God’s adopted children we are heirs with Jesus. He tells us that the Holy Spirit both leads us into this understanding and into a loving relationship with our Father in heaven. As a fruit of that relationship, we are enabled to have loving relationships with other people, loving our enemies as Jesus did, and seeking reconciliation and right relationship whenever we encounter alienation. The apostle Peter tells us God loves us so completely and profoundly that he includes us in his life:
[God’s] divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire (2 Peter 1:3-4 ESV).
Let us think carefully about these things so that all we think and do (including our evangelism) is grounded fully in the revelation of who God is: love.
Sharing the revelation of God with others, Joseph Tkach
