We invite you to join us for the 2017 GCI Denominational Conference in Orlando, Florida, on August 2-6, 2017. The conference is open to all GCI members and their families and friends—all are welcome, and we urge pastors, elders, treasurers, and ministry leaders to participate in this triennial conference that gathers GCI leaders and members from around the world.
With the theme, We are GCI, the conference will be held at beautiful Lake Buena Vista Hilton hotel in Orlando (pictured above—it’s next door to Disney World). The conference schedule will include plenary sessions and workshops, with blocks of free time to socialize (including sharing dinner on or off-site in small groups—there will be no conference group dinners).
Note to lead pastors, fellowship group facilitators, pastoral team coordinators, pastoral residents and interns: Please plan to arrive at the conference in time for a special meeting of pastoral leaders that will begin at 1:00 PM on August 1.
Note to families: This conference will be particularly family-friendly, with special tracks for children and teens (allowing parents to attend all conference sessions while others care for their children).
Registration is now open! To register, click here(login required).
Here is a chart with conference costs (and if your congregation has extra funds and can help others attend, we encourage you to do so):
The October issue of Equipper is now online. It has seven articles (linked below), with most addressing the theme of developing the leaders in our congregations. Current and past issues of Equipper are always available at http://equipper.gci.org.
Building the leaders around you We summarize an article and offer a video that show how you can utilize Jesus’ methods in building the leaders in your church.
Sermon video: Safe and Sound This month we share a video about the Parable of the Prodigal Son. It provides a good basis for a sermon.
Kids Korner: What about Halloween? This month we address the topic of Halloween. What’s the best way to approach this holiday in Children’s Church?
New Beginnings Christian Fellowship, GCI’s congregation in Texarkana, Arkansas, will celebrate its 50th anniversary on Sunday, October 16. They will have a special service that day, followed by a catered lunch. We invite you to attend—email Pastor Jerome Ellard (at JeromeHelen2002@aol.com) for time and location. If you’d like to express your congratulations for this milestone, email Jerome or send cards and notes to:
New Beginnings Christian Fellowship PO Box 1312 Texarkana, TX 75501
Prayer is requested for those recovering from the devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew, and those still in the path of this powerful storm as it slowly travels north.
According to Charles Fleming, GCI Mission Developer for the Caribbean, our members in St Lucia and St Vincent escaped the hurricane with minimal damage. Jamaica had some flooding, but as one member there said, “We are rejoicing.” We are awaiting news about our members in Haiti, which suffered significant damage. The big concern now is for the Bahamas and the East Coast of the US where evacuations have begun. For an update on the hurricane, click here.
This update is from Gabriel Ojih who pastors Pathway of Grace, GCI’s congregation in Mesquite, Texas (in the Dallas metro area).
Four of our senior-aged members are using part of their retirement time to benefit young people in their community by helping elementary school students who are challenged in reading (due to English being their second language and certain mental health issues).
Once a week for the past two school years, Leo Burnett, Dick Rutter, Mike Read and Jack Zvorak have been visiting the Larry G. Smith Elementary School, across the street from where our congregation meets. The time is spent reading one-on-one with individual students who need to improve their reading. The seniors patiently help with pronunciation and comprehension, encouraging and supporting them in their efforts to overcome their reading obstacles.
Leo Burnett (left) with Chief Internal Auditor Mike Singleton and one of the Roaring Readers
As Mike remarks, “It is also a wonderful opportunity to positively impact the lives of these young people—speaking love and encouragement into their lives.”
The school sees Pathway’s volunteers as an integral part of their Roaring Readers program. Recently, the program received a $1000 donation from the district’s chief internal auditor. The school requested a representative from Pathway to be on hand as they received the donation and Leo was happy to oblige.
So far this year I’ve attended seven regional conferences in the US, an international conference (for Spanish-speaking elders) in Bogotá, Colombia, and just recently I returned from a ministerial conference in the UK. When I add to these trips my other travels in the US and abroad, I must say how blessed I am to meet so many GCI pastors, elders and other members. It’s not only a thrill to get to know them, I’m blessed to call them friends.
North American churches set aside October for showing honor, thanks and appreciation to their clergy and their families. In GCI, our clergy are our elders, and most of these men and women serve as pastors—some lead pastors, others associate or assistant pastors. As we enter October, I want to share how much I appreciate each of our pastors and elders. Their faithful, heartfelt service to God’s beloved sons and daughters is something I thank God for as I pray for a small group of them by name each day.
What a journey we’ve been on in GCI over the last 20+ years! Most of you serving as pastors have travelled most, if not all, that distance, and I must say how elated I am for your willingness to follow where God has led our fellowship. Along the way, most of you encountered significant losses in attendance and income in the congregations you pastored. Yet, you remained faithful to our Lord’s call to ministry. Some of you struggled at first to understand our changes, yet you persevered through many hours of prayer and Bible study and came to see the amazing triune nature of God who loves you and loves every person you serve. Through all the changes we’ve encountered in GCI, you continued to equip the saints for their work of ministry. For that, I give you my sincere thanks.
I also thank you for all the meals you’ve missed because you were on the phone, or had to run out the door to visit someone at the hospital. I thank you for the many nights your sleep was cut short because of a phone call. I thank you for the many times you gave up personal plans in order to fit a wedding into your schedule, or to officiate at a funeral. I thank you for the numerous evenings you spent at a church function, a ministry meeting, or to visit someone rather than being at home. I thank you for continuing to study and take classes and attend training sessions so you can be more effective in pastoring your congregation. I thank you for the hours you have spent on your knees or on a walk, praying to God on behalf of your members, for our fellowship, and for the advance of God’s kingdom.
I also thank the wives whose husbands serve as pastors. Thanks for your faithful, selfless service in the often-challenging role of pastor’s wife (thanks also to the men whose wives are pastors). As a source of encouragement to pastors’ wives, I recommend an NAE podcast featuring Kay Warren, who with her husband Rick, founded Saddleback Church. You’ll find the podcast at http://nae.net/warrenpodcast/.
To all our elders, I extend heartfelt appreciation for learning how the work of an elder should be done, and then being faithful to God’s call to that important office of service in the body of Christ. Ultimately, all thanks goes to God for his mercy and grace that disciplines us, but I want to thank you for being submissive to the Spirit’s lead as you have devoted your life to joining Jesus in his ministry.
Pastors, let me encourage you to not let your church responsibilities become greater than your responsibilities at home to your spouse, children, grandchildren, and other family members. Please set aside one day a week to be free from phone calls and other church-related interruptions. You need this time for your own physical and spiritual renewal. I also encourage you to go on vacation with your family and leave behind the textbooks, turn off the cell phone, not check your email, and just be present with your family and friends. Your congregation will be fine without you for a week or two.
For all of you reading this letter who are blessed to be loved and served by one of our pastors, I encourage you to take time this month to show them your thanks. Send a card or other small gift of appreciation to encourage and affirm them. He or she needs you as much as you need them.
Praising God for the good work of our pastors and elders,
Prayer is requested for GCI-Liberia National Director Robert Browne II. He was admitted to JFK Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia, where he was found to be developing heart failure. His body blood volume had fallen to a dangerously low level, and he required five pints of blood.
This report on recent developments in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is from John McLean who serves as National Director and Mission Developer for GCI-Australia.
Australia looks after the pastoral care and development of GCI’s congregation at Mt. Wilhelm in the remote highlands of PNG. Mark Latham and Rod Dean (pastor of our congregation in Sydney, Australia) recently completed a trip there to assist with development of congregational leaders and to help out with local community development, including working with the many children in the community.
“The Child in the Midst” was the theme of the talks Mark and Rod presented at the “study center” set up at Mt. Wilhelm. Instead of the expected 18-22 children in attendance, there were 66! Mt. Wilhelm is a church with an exciting future. The young people there have ambitions to become doctors, nurses, primary and high school teachers, office managers, lawyers, business persons, even ministers.
Children at the study centerStudents at the local high school
Mark visited the local high school to give classes and offer words of encouragement to the 122 year-12 students. The lack of support these young people receive concerning their future is disheartening. This made the contrast with the opportunities at our study center more stark. Mark also visited the local technical college to see what opportunities were there for young people.
Other activities on the trip included resourcing the local ministry and teaching on such subjects as worship, computer skills, public speaking, the GenMin “Celebrate the Grip” curriculum, the way God has worked with women in very different circumstances, the importance of Shalom, using the image of “the little child in the midst,” and women’s and men’s ministry. The team also held counselling sessions to learn about the needs of the community.
Rod Dean delivering ministry resource materials
On the way to and from Mt. Wilhelm the team purchased supplies for the congregation, the study center and an area orphanage. Rod stated, “We are very grateful for the on-going support for these trips that make such purchases possible.”
Mt. Wilhelm is an isolated and challenging destination, and the work done there over the years has been outstanding. A huge thank you goes to Mark and Rod for their dedication, commitment to and loving care for our brothers and sisters in PNG. Please continue to pray for our members there.
We were saddened to learn of the recent death of Marilyn Canup, a graduate and employee of Ambassador College, and a long-time member of GCI’s congregation in Big Sandy, Texas.
Marilyn Canup
Marilyn was born on March 1, 1941 to Arta and Susie Russell, and grew up in Angelina County, Texas. She attended Ambassador College in California where she graduated in 1963. When Ambassador opened its Big Sandy campus, she journeyed back to Texas to work as the college’s first campus librarian. She loved bookkeeping and worked in that field for many years. After retiring, she continued that passion, serving as treasurer for the GCI congregation in Big Sandy (New Beginnings Fellowship). She also served in the congregation’s ministries to young adults and Silver Ambassadors.
Marilyn served the Big Sandy community as a member and officer of the Big Sandy Ministerial Alliance, treasurer of the Agape House Ministries (overseen by the Alliance), and as a volunteer at the Big Sandy City Hall. Marilyn was chosen as Big Sandy Woman of the Year in 2014.
Marilyn with her husband Dwayne and some of their grandchildren
Marilyn is survived by her husband of 49 years, Dwayne Canup; their children Leron Canup (Amy) and Shana Curd (Paul); five grandchildren; her sister Judith Omasta (wife of GCI elder Larry Omasta); and her brother-in-law, GCI pastor Tom Pickett. Marilyn was preceded in death by her sister Adrienne Pickett (Tom’s wife); nephew Andrew Pickett (Tom and Adrienne’s son); and her brother Thad Russell.
A celebration of life/memorial service will be held at 2:00pm on October 7 at McWhorter Funeral Home in Gilmer, Texas. A potluck meal will follow at New Beginnings Fellowship Church in Big Sandy.
Did my title get your attention? I’ve chosen to write about kissing, not to help you improve your marriage (though more kissing might help), but because the Bible talks about a holy kiss, and kissing is one of the most common things we do in life. We start kissing our children at birth, and often kiss people in their last moments. By God’s design, kissing has great power and value.
In the lyrics to the song “As Time Goes By,” popularized by Louis Armstrong’s record and the movie Casablanca (“Play it again, Sam”), song-writer Herman Hupfeld famously declares that “a kiss is just a kiss.” But as research in our day indicates, there’s much more to it than that.
You may have heard that about 400,000 tourists visit Cork, Ireland each year to kiss what’s called the Blarney Stone. Legend has it that if you bend over backward and kiss it, you’ll be rewarded with the “gift of the gab.” Though this is clearly superstition, and few of us would want to bend over backward to kiss a stone, as I note below, research shows that kissing is good for our health.
Kissing the Blarney Stone (public domain, Wikimedia Commons)
One study showed that the exercise involved in kissing helps prevent facial wrinkles. A “peck on the cheek” uses only about two muscles, but a full-on, passionate kiss can involve as many as 23 to 34 facial muscles and 112 postural muscles (note the diagram at left).
Other research indicates several other benefits: kissing three times a day significantly reduces your weight (kissing burns about 2-3 calories per minute); long, passionate kissing helps regulate your heartbeat and lower your blood pressure. Kissing strengthens the immune system, relieves aches and pains, and even prevents cavities!
Research also shows that men who kiss their wives before heading out to work live five years longer than men who don’t. Perhaps Italians get the greatest benefit here—though only about 50% of the world’s lovers are passionate kissers, 75% of Italians are (besamemucho!).Talk about “much kissing”—according to the Guinness World Book of Records, Ekkachai and Laksana Tiranarat of Thailand hold the record for the world’s longest kiss. They locked lips for a total of 58 hours, 35 minutes and 58 seconds!
The language of kissing in science and scripture
In the language of science, the study of kissing is called philematology and the person who studies it is called an osculologist. Perhaps those of us who enjoy studying the Greek and Hebrew words for kissing qualify as osculologists! The Hebrew word for kiss is nāshaq, also translated “brushing against” (as in the gentle contact of the living creatures’ wings in Ezekiel 3:13). The Greek words for kiss are phileō, philēma, and kataphileō. In the New Testament, the Greek verb phileō is usually translated love, but when associated with the strengthened form kataphileō (meaning kiss repeatedly, effusively), it’s translated kiss, and the noun philēma is always translated that way.
The Judas Kiss by Gustave Dore (public domain, Wikimedia Commons)
The apostle Paul refers to the “holy kiss” (en philemati haio) in four passages: Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 13:12, 16:20; and 1 Thessalonians 5:26, and the apostle Peter refers to the “kiss of love” (en philemati agapēs) in 1 Peter 5:14. The Greek words in these verses denote a kiss that is sacred—physically pure and morally blameless. Such a kiss is called “holy” to distinguish it from a sexual one, and from hypocritical and deceitful ones like Joab gave Amasa (2 Samuel 20:9), and Judas gave Jesus in betraying him (Matthew 26:49). In New Testament times, the holy kiss was a sign of greeting, much like our modern handshake. Commentator R. Kent Hughes puts it this way:
Paul’s injunction was brilliant. First, because to call another person “brother” was a breach of Roman protocol, as it was unlawful to call people brothers or sisters who were not of one’s family. Thus the everyday language of Christianity asserted that Christians were family in spiritual relationship. Second, the kiss was an expression of affection among family members—a token of deepest relationship and unity. (Preaching the Word: 2 Corinthians—Power in Weakness)
We’re part of one, spiritual family
Though I’m not suggesting we give up shaking hands and start holy kissing each other when we meet, I do think we should give thought to the meaning behind what Paul calls the holy kiss and what Peter calls the kiss of love. We’re part of a spiritual family. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we love each other as family and treat each other as family, valuing our relationships and unity. As we spend time together, we affirm each other and we encourage each other—iron sharpening iron, together.
Together we worship the one, triune God
One of the Greek words used for worship in the New Testament and Septuagint (Greek translation of Old Testament) is poskuneou, which is translated kneel down, bow down, bend one’s knee, prostrate, pay homage, fall down in reverence, and occasionally, kiss or adore. Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary defines the word as, “literally, to kiss toward someone, to throw a kiss in token of respect or homage.” This definition may suggest to many of us what we call “blowing a kiss.” I remember when my two children were very young and would blow a kiss to Tammy or me. That was over 25 years ago, but I remember it as if it was just yesterday.
It’s a pleasant thought to consider that when we worship the one, triune God, we are bowing our hearts in reverence to him, and in that sense, “blowing a kiss” toward God in recognition of his greatness and holiness. In worship we express our love, appreciation and respect toward our God, and that, dear family, is a real holy kiss!
Delighting (on multiple levels) in God’s gift of kissing, Joseph Tkach
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John McKenna
PS: Our thoughts and prayers are with our friend Dr. John McKenna, one of the professors at Grace Communion Seminary. Despite his recent health struggles, John is writing a book on Genesis, and is further developing his earlier work on the sixth-century Alexandrian scientist, Coptic Christian John Philoponus. Dr. McKenna’s focus is on how Philoponus’ impetus theory concerning the dynamic nature of light, relates to the singularity theory of the hot big bang black hole beginning that is posited by physicists and cosmologists in our day. Philoponus’ revolutionary insights were grounded in his understanding of the triune God as uncreated light with us. Because Dr. McKenna’s work on Philoponus is highly regarded by the Christian Coptic Church, one of their scholars recently sent John this note of appreciation:
Dear Dr. McKenna,
Your heroic sacrifices to defend our beloved Johannes Philoponus will never be forgotten, and for your name to shine for 13 million Copts in Egypt and 2 million in the Diaspora, we have a plan to translate your Arbiter book into Arabic, so that all Copts will forever pray for those who stood with the truth of John’s faith.
I am also in Cairo, as our first project has just started, translating Christ in Christian Tradition, The Church of Alexandria, with Nubia and Ethiopia, after 451. It would be completed next June. I sincerely hope that all I wrote about John transmits the brilliance and diffuses the fragrance of your research, restoring the orthodoxy of his Alexandrine faith confession.
