GCI Church Administration and Development announced the following list of recently ordained elders:
Congratulations to these men and women.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Last Monday the United States celebrated Memorial Day. Formerly known as Decoration Day, this holiday originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen soldiers of the Union Army. Since then, Memorial Day has been expanded to honor all who have served in the U.S. military to preserve our freedom and way of life. Many countries have similar celebrations. They are sobering reminders that human history has been a long and continuing story of war and conflict.
Though many view Memorial Day as no more than an unofficial celebration of the beginning of summer, veterans take it seriously. They form up on parade once more and remember their fallen comrades in commemorative services and ceremonies. Memorial Day is a poignant reminder of a time in their lives when they were called on to serve in an extraordinary way.
Many of these veterans are elderly men and women now. The uniforms are faded and the marching no longer has the crisp precision of former times. But they hold their heads high and wear their rows of medals with pride. Others are younger, but their experiences have made them old before their time. And there are those in wheelchairs, or who hobble along on crutches – their bodies, and perhaps their minds, still showing the scars of war.
Veterans have told me that war is a bittersweet experience. There are many moments of trauma, fear and uncertainty. But the experience of combat also forges some strong relationships that last long after the fighting stops. War has a way of bringing out the best and the worst in us.
There is a greater irony in this. The wars that cause people to band together in new relationships are a result of the breakdown of relationships. Carl Philipp Gottfried von Clausewitz who died in November 1831 was a Prussian soldier and German military theorist who made a deep study of the moral, psychological and political aspects of war. He wrote a careful, systematic, philosophical examination of war in all its aspects. The result was his principal work entitled On War, which was not completely finished by the time of his death.
Clausewitz is often remembered for his shrewd observation that “War is…the continuation of politics by other means.” To put it another way, war is the tragic outcome of the breakdown of relationships.
The first chapters of Genesis tell us how, at the beginning of human history, the relationship between God and humanity was fractured. That broken relationship spawned even more broken relationships between humankind. It does not take much for nations and tribes to find an excuse to start a war. In 1969, two Central American nations actually went to war over the result of a soccer match. And in the 18th century, Britain and Spain fought each other because a Spanish sea captain cut off the ear of his British counterpart. The epistle of James tells us where this madness originates:
Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it. You wouldn’t think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you’d be asking for what you have no right to. You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way (James 4:1-3 The Message Bible).
The grim history of war demonstrates that humanity cannot reconcile disputes without resorting to the “continuation of politics by other means.” How then, can reconciliation be accomplished?
It required God’s own intervention to bring about reconciliation, and that is exactly what he did in sending Jesus. Jesus came among us as the ultimate freedom fighter of all space and time. Jesus gets at the root causes of sin and death. He conquers all evil that destroys life and establishes justice, making everything right. He brings permanent solutions of sustained forgiveness, eternal reconciliation and healed relationships.
This is something to remember when we honor the men and women who have given so much in the cause of freedom. We can appreciate their heroism and sacrifice that war has demanded of them. But as we honor them, those who have fully experienced its horrors do not ask us to glorify war. They, of all people, appreciate Isaiah’s prophecy of a world at peace:
He will judge between the nations, and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore (Isaiah 2:4).
Though the fullness of this vision unfolds at Jesus’ return, in knowing Jesus and having him live in us, we experience that world now. As followers of Jesus, we share in our Lord’s ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18), and that, to paraphrase von Clausewitz, is the resolution of conflict by other means.
With love, in Christ’s service,
Joseph Tkach
Recently, Johnny and Mollie Weatherman (alumni of GCI’s Crossing Borders mission trip) were interviewed on A Time to Reconcile, a radio program hosted by Tom Pickett (GCI pastor in Fort Worth, TX). You can listen to the two-part interview about their Crossing Borders experience by clicking on these links:
A couple of years ago, Jonathan Henderson, then assistant and youth pastor in a non-denominational church in Alabama, approached GCI ministry developer Ted Johnston to discuss his plans to become a chaplain in the U.S. Navy. Jonathan had learned about GCI from Ted’s daughter and son-in-law and was wondering if GCI would endorse him when he became a chaplain. Ted replied that though GCI was not registered with the U.S. Department of Defense to provide endorsements, it was taking steps in that direction.
It turned out that those steps were quite lengthy. In the meantime, Jonathan became a Navy chaplain and was endorsed by another evangelical organization while GCI worked its way through the registration process. That process was completed recently, and GCI is now set up to use services provided by the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) to endorse appropriately qualified U.S. military chaplains.
Upon learning that the denomination was ready, Jonathan again asked GCI to endorse him. We joyfully agreed to do so, and worked through the process with the NAE, the Navy and GCI Church Administration and Development (CAD). Then, in a ceremony during a worship service at the GCI congregation in Coventry, Rhode Island, Jonathan was ordained a GCI elder, serving as a chaplain in the U.S. military with GCI endorsement.
As shown in the photo below, Jonathan (in uniform) was accompanied at the ordination ceremony by his wife Nashisha and their four children. Also present were Jonathan’s supervisory chaplain, Commander Carl Trost (at left) and GCI district and church pastor Paul David (PD) Kurts (at right). On behalf of CAD, PD coordinates GCI’s endorsement and other forms of support for military chaplains.
Jonathan received his Master of Divinity degree from Asbury Theological Seminary in 2004. He worked in corporate management for a few years and then served in pastoral ministry in a non-denominational church in Gulf Shores, Alabama, until he became a chaplain in the U.S. Navy about a year ago. He currently is stationed at the Naval Station in Newport, Rhode Island.
Please pray for Jonathan and his family in their ministry serving members of the U.S. military. During this time of extended warfare, chaplains are essential for the spiritual care and support of the nation’s military. If you know of other existing or prospective U.S. military chaplains who might be interested in GCI endorsement, please contact PD at paul.d.kurts@gci.org.
The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) recently launched The Good Story Project. Its purpose is to tell stories of the Kingdom work being accomplished by nonprofits. In soliciting these stories, ECFA gives three necessary pieces of a compelling story. They provide a good outline to use when we tell our stories in sermons, Bible studies, articles, etc.
Let’s tell our stories!
GCI’s SEP camp in Luzon, Philippines was held in May. Participants in the six-day camp included 103 campers and 40 staff members. Staffers included Jenny and Wayne Straub from SEP Canada.
The camp theme was The Joyride – Awesome God, Amazing Journey. This theme aligned with GCI Philippines’ 50th anniversary theme, depicting our continuing journey with God. Though the journey has valleys as well as peaks, we can find joy and assurance knowing that God is in full control.
Camp activities included daily devotionals, Christian living classes, community service, basketball, volleyball, swimming and ballroom dancing, acting workshops, trekking and Ultimate Frisbee. Camp evenings were highlighted by team-building games, movie night, bonfire, an entertaining variety show, and the much-anticipated banquet and dance night. A highlight of the camp was the baptism of 19 campers on the last day.
Parents and churches are challenged to adapt to the communication styles and technologies of young people who rely heavily on digital media. The following related information is from a recent issue of the Mission America newsletter.
A new Pew Research survey about the future of the Internet finds many young people are growing up hyper-connected to each other and the mobile Web. They are counting on the Internet as their external brain to be nimble, making them quick-acting multitaskers who will do well in key respects. However, many analysts argue it is a myth that Millennials have a special aptitude for digital media because they’ve grown up digital. Good research has shown that even especially bright kids are less productive when multitasking, a finding resisted by plenty of grown-ups as well. The immersive nature of 24/7 connectedness creates the illusion that Millennials can somehow tap into a form of collective intelligence just by being online while looking impatiently for messages every 3 minutes. (Center for Media Research Brief 3/14/12)
Consumers in their 20s switch media venues about 27 times per nonworking hour – the equivalent of more than 13 times during a standard half-hour TV show according to a recent Time Inc. study by Innerscope Research. In contrast, digital immigrants (consumers who grew up with TV, radio and print and adapted to new technologies) switched media venues just 17 times per nonworking hour. Put another way, natives switch about 35% more than immigrants. (Advertising Age 4/9/12)
There are now 146 million “Social Networkers” in the U.S. – adults age 18 and older who have used a social networking site at least once in the last month. 36% use it to stay in touch, 25% for entertainment, 20% for information, 15% for self expression and 4% for dating. (Center for Media Research Brief 4/16/12)
63% of U.S. teens were text-messaging daily as of 7/11, up from 54% in 9/09. The volume of texting has also grown from 50 messages a day to 60 for the typical teen. Much of that increase is among older teens (14-17) ramping up from a median of 60 texts in 2009 to 100 last year. The daily exchange of texts among almost two-thirds of teens far surpasses other types of daily communication, including calling by cell phone (39%), face-to-face socializing outside of school (35%), social network messaging (29%), instant messaging (22%), talking via landline (19%), and emailing (6%). (Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project 3/12)
An estimated 15% of children under 11 own a mobile phone, and that number is expected to grow to 22% by 2015. (Adweek 3/26/12)
Molecular biologist John Medina is author of the best-selling book Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School.
Medina offers insights concerning how to make presentations that work with, rather than against, how our brains are “wired.” His insights are relevant to giving sermons, Bible Studies, seminar presentations and the like.
For an interview with Medina that summarizes the key points of his book, go to http://brainrules.blogspot.com/2012/01/brain-rules-for-meetings.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BrainRules+%28Brain+Rules%29
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
In the Peanuts cartoon strip below, Lucy is like so many people today who are stressed out about what they see happening in the world. Linus reassures her with some sound, Bible-based theology.
Sound theology is important, for unsound theology distorts our understanding of God and our relationship with him. However, it’s important to note that we are not saved by theology. And so we need to keep it in perspective.
Christianity has never been theologically or doctrinally perfect. We often hear preachers urging people to “get back to the faith once delivered.” By this, they usually mean the early apostolic church, which they assume had a complete and uncorrupted understanding of the faith. However, those apostolic churches were not perfect. They too had to grow in their understanding of what was “sound doctrine.”
In fact, much of the New Testament is polemic – meaning that it was written to correct various wrong ideas. In Corinth, for example, some Christians were tolerating incest, suing one another in court, offending each other by their understanding of what they were permitted to eat and becoming drunk at the Lord’s Supper. Some thought they should be celibate even if married and others thought they should divorce their non-Christian spouses. Paul had to correct these ideas, and history tells us that he had only limited success. But the people were Christian despite their lack of complete doctrinal understanding.
There are many examples of the disciples failing to understand Jesus, even when he was with them. For example, after Jesus miraculously fed thousands of people, he and the disciples got into a boat and Jesus warned them, “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod” (Mark 8:14). The disciples concluded that Jesus meant that, since they hadn’t brought any bread they would have to buy some on the other shore; moreover, they shouldn’t buy any bread from a Pharisee or Herodian because something was incorrect about the yeast they used.
Why didn’t they just ask Jesus what he meant? Perhaps because they were afraid of looking foolish (that happens today, too!). Jesus chided them for not understanding something that they should have been able to grasp. The disciples didn’t need to worry about bread or yeast. Jesus had just shown that he could make bread miraculously. They could remember facts (verses 19-20), but they didn’t always draw right conclusions from those facts. The miracle of the loaves was not just a way to save money — it also had a much deeper meaning that the disciples had failed to understand (Mark 6:52). It figuratively symbolized the fact that Jesus is our source of life.
I am encouraged to know that Jesus’ own disciples frequently didn’t fully comprehend what he was doing. Nevertheless, Jesus still co-ministered with them, as he does with us. It demonstrates that any “success” we have is the result of God’s guidance, not our human ability to figure things out exactly.
Those first disciples were thrown into confusion by Jesus’ death even though he explained it to them more than once. But, like us, they could only absorb so much at a time. If you follow the flow of the conversation at the Last Supper, you can see by their questions and frequent attempts to change the subject that the disciples did not understand what was going on. So Jesus told them, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:12-13).
After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples and instructed them for 40 days, after which he ascended to heaven. While with them, he said, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:4-5).
Jesus’ words were fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. And as we read in Acts 2:4, the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and through his guidance, what had been isolated facts and an unsound theology came together in a new and exciting way. The apostle Peter preached his first public sermon, urging his audience to repent, to believe in Jesus Christ as their Messiah and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (verse 38). On that day, some 3,000 people were baptized and became the people of God (verse 41). The church had been born.
From that day on, the Holy Spirit has continued to guide the church into “all the truth,” helping her to “prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:9). The New Testament writers, led by the Holy Spirit, showed those first Christians how to live godly lives in the turbulent environment of the first century. He is doing the same with us today, as we struggle to “get it right” while facing the complex and controversial challenges of our time.
We need to remember then, that the ultimate object of our faith and the only object of our worship is our Triune God, not our theological statements. We want to tune our theological understandings as best we can to do nothing less and nothing more than serve our faith in and worship of the Father, Son and Spirit. By the Spirit and the Word our theological understandings can be continually sanctified. This coming week on Pentecost Sunday we celebrate the descent of the Spirit that gave birth to the church. While not yet perfect, the children of God have been given the good and perfect gift of the Spirit, who will in the end enable all of us to share in Jesus’ own perfection!
With love, in Christ’s service,
Joseph Tkach
This update is from Mark McCulley, a district and church pastor in the Denver, CO area.
A day-long seminar in spiritual formation called A Deeper Walk was recently sponsored by Living Grace Christian Fellowship in Denver, CO. The seminar was led by GCI district and church pastor Larry Hinkle, and Caribbean Mission Developer Charles Fleming and his wife Carmen, each of whom have spent many years in the study of spiritual formation and prayer.
During the seminar we discussed and practiced lectio divina (spiritual reading of Scripture), examination of consciousness and healing prayer. The training counted toward CEUs in GCI’s continuing education program for pastors. Participants included GCI pastors in the Rocky Mountain district along with members of Living Grace and a few other GCI congregations.
Several participants gave positive feedback. John Barry, associate pastor of the Green River, WY congregation said that the seminar offered him “new understanding about how to look at Scripture, take it in and allow it to sink in deeply.” My wife Joanne McCulley said that the seminar was an answer to prayer in that she had been praying for a long time about the need for a ministry of healing prayer.
Our district is considering hosting a full three-day Odyssey in Christ spiritual renewal retreat next year. For information about this retreat, see http://www.odysseyinchrist.com. For additional detail contact me at mark.mcculley@gci.org or Larry Hinkle at larry.hinkle@gci.org.
