Down the street from the home office of GCI, there is a storefront church nestled in among a couple other businesses. Underneath the name of the church, their sign includes this slogan, “Belong, Believe, Become.” I like the phrase, especially because it is in the right order.
Belong
All of humanity belongs because of Jesus. He is the creator of every person who has ever lived. He is also our Redeemer and active mediator. The first chapter of Ephesians eloquently describes our adopted status through Jesus.
He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace Ephesians 1:5-9 NRSVA
Jesus, who is the beloved of the Father, has made us the beloved. The beautiful picture of adoption is that he chose us. Being chosen makes you feel special and satisfies the longing to belong.
In our acceptance, we are free to believe and explore. It is within the believing that we also receive.
But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12 NLT
As children of God, we believe that Jesus is the unique begotten Son of the Father and that he set aside his glory to take on flesh and blood. We believe that he was both man and God and walked among us proclaiming the kingdom of God. We believe that he demonstrated his godly love by going to the cross and dying in our stead. We believe he arose in glory from the tomb on the third day, that he ascended to the right hand of the Father, and that he will return to establish his unending kingdom. We believe!
We also believe that Jesus draws us to himself in personal relationships. We believe as the old hymn says, “He walks with me, and he talks to me, and he tells me I am his own.” There is a factual knowing of Jesus that may help us if there is a pop-up quiz, and there is a relational knowing of Jesus that leads us through the valley of the shadow of death, by the still waters and green pastures, and everything in between.
Become
Through the relational exploration that we share with Jesus, we become more like him. Jesus is the influencer of all influencers. Walking and talking with him, being open and aware of his presence, shapes and grows us.
I love the imagery Jesus uses when he stands above Jerusalem and expresses his desire to gather the people, like a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But alas, the chicks scatter about and refuse to be gathered. I am often a maverick chick scurrying about. My best response in all circumstances is to slow down, take a breath, and know that Christ is Lord and is near.
Our becoming that is taking place in Christ is beautifully expressed in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NRSV
Brothers and sisters, it is within the context of belonging, believing, and becoming that the Lord is transforming us from one degree of glory to another one, a greater one, an eternal one.
As Jesus was sharing the good news about the kingdom of God with his disciples, he shared the following:
He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’” (Luke 5:36-39 NIV)
What Jesus was saying is simple: you can’t take the arrival of Jesus and his kingdom and simply put it on top of the Jewish Pharisaic system and traditions. It won’t fit.
Something new was happening. There was a new covenant. The old covenant paved the way with sacrificial and ceremonial laws constantly pointing toward the need for a Messiah/Savior. And when Jesus the Messiah/Savior came, he referenced the old, and he accomplished what the symbols can only point toward
His classic teaching is the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus didn’t abolish the law, he said he was the fulfillment of the law. (He alone was perfect and without sin.) He reminded the audience of what they were told in the past under Moses, and that now he was moving beyond the letter of the law to the spirit of the law. The new covenant and law of love that Jesus was bringing couldn’t be absorbed totally by the old. There had to be a new and better agreement – hence the idea of new wine.
By extension, you can’t have Christ and squeeze him into your old life and expect that to work. As the apostle Paul explains, when you are in Christ you become a new creation. You are forgiven of past sins. And by the power of the Spirit, you are being transformed into the image of Jesus, day-by-day. He spells this out for the Corinthian church.
But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11 NIV)
Paul is saying you are forgiven, transformed (moving from glory to glory) and made the righteousness of God because you are in Jesus. An old, dried out wineskin cannot contain this. It demands a new, flexible, expandable wineskin.
When GCI (formerly Worldwide Church of God) came to Jesus and the understanding of the new covenant, did we think Jesus could fit into our old containers, our old system and traditions? We certainly tried to retrofit Jesus into the old traditions, especially holding onto our Sabbath-keeping and Old Testament Holy Days.
Thank God that he has enlightened us to adopt the Christian calendar that displays Jesus as the center of the center. As we cycle through the year, we are constantly remembering our center – Jesus.
We worship him for his incarnation; Immanuel, God with us.
We worship him for his endurance through the passion week and his sacrificial death on the cross.
We worship him for his triumphal resurrection on Easter Sunday.
We worship him for ascension to heaven where he continually intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father.
We worship him for his earthly ministry, where he revealed the Father, proclaimed his eternal kingdom, and made the way for the Holy Spirit to be poured out at Pentecost.
We worship him for establishing his church and being the head over the church for all ages. We worship him as we anticipate his glorious return and setting up the eternal kingdom.
See the theme here? We worship Jesus. As washed, set apart disciples of Jesus, we embrace him as the new wine. We remember and receive him every time we gather at the Lord’s Table. And as he said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. Take and drink.” May we be the flexible, expandable wineskins who gladly receive Jesus and worship him in all seasons.
Embracing and enjoying the new wine, Greg Williams
When we turn to Scripture for biblical instruction about mentoring, we often look to the life of the apostle Paul. One passage that stands out is in Paul’s second letter to his young protégé Timothy.
And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 2 Timothy 2:2 NKJV
What you have learned from me is not exclusively for you, Paul is pointing out. As a pastor and overseer of the church, Timothy is to pour into others. He is to teach what he has learned from Paul, which is grounded in the life and person of Jesus. He is to teach “sound doctrine,” not myths or speculations. He is to be a guardian and preacher of the good news of Jesus. He is to keep the message and teaching pure and unstained.
Timothy’s doctrine was grounded in what he was given from Paul, and I would strongly suggest that his pastoral skills were shaped by what he learned from Paul as well. Paul’s mantra was, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” In other words, take on the Christ-like ways you see me operating and treating others, and cast away anything that is not Christ-like. This is the relational aspect of ministry skills and practices, which are caught more than taught. This is what is called “the special sauce,” the secret ingredient of mentoring that can only take place in relationships and over time. To learn more, don’t miss our new series, The Art of Mentoring.
Let’s be clear that Timothy and all Christian ministers are to preach the gospel to everybody, but take note to whom Timothy was to pass along the ministry treasures he had received from Paul — to faithful individuals. It doesn’t say popular, smart, good-looking, etc. It says to mentor those who are demonstrating the faithfulness of Jesus in their lives. It is from this passage that we latched onto the acronym FATE. Is this emerging leader, pastor, Avenue champion flowing in the Faith of Christ? Is this candidate Available? Is this individual Teachable? Does this person demonstrate Enthusiasm for the ministry of Jesus? This short checklist proves time and time again to be helpful.
If Timothy is diligently pouring into others in the same way Paul poured into him, what would be the expected outcome? The ones who have been mentored well would then become mentors who pour into others. Does this remind you of the Coaching Triangle I often refer to? Sound teaching is foundational, yet good information alone does not transform. It takes the imitation of Christ-centered leaders to produce more Christ-centered leaders. The multiplication of ministry leaders becomes normal to the life of the church. Wherever you observe this happening, you will be witnessing a healthy church.
Paul spends time encouraging Timothy (the mentee who will become the mentor) in the surrounding verses. In verse 1, Paul exhorts Timothy to “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” This is one of the times that Paul tells Timothy to be strong in Jesus. Timothy seemed to have had a personality that was naturally timid and prone to shrink back. It is through and in Jesus that Timothy was empowered to do all things. Great responsibilities were thrust upon Timothy, and dependency and trust in Jesus was the only way forward.
In verse 3, Paul tells Timothy, “…endure hardship as a good soldier in Jesus Christ.” Paul did not sugarcoat ministry. There would be hardships – personal temptations, difficult people, false doctrines, poverty, and the highs and lows that come with the experience of being human. Being a “good soldier” starts with keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus, then having a realistic mindset that this will not be easy, but it will be good. To grow into the brave, courageous soldier of Jesus Christ, it begins with proper training and preparation, just like what Paul afforded Timothy.
I see this being one of the greatest challenges facing us in GCI. As ministry leaders, are we willing to be intentional and sacrificial in the way we pour into the younger ones coming behind us? We need to be if we want to continue on our path toward healthy church. Do you have a protégé like Timothy that you can call your son or daughter in the faith? Do you have a mentor like Paul? My continual prayer is that our leaders will have the courage to seek out such relationships and pour out their lives for the development of others.
The December 20 issue of Update was a recap of the year. It featured a word cloud showing the most frequently used words in my 2023 letters. By a wide margin, “Jesus” was the most used word. He is the radiance of the Father, and if you have seen him, you have seen the Father. In GCI, we stand on the truth of the triune God revealed in the person of Jesus.
The 2023 word cloud did not show me using the words trinity or triune frequently. Please understand, this does not infer that we are moving away from our bedrock Incarnational Trinitarian Theology. In fact, our direction in GCI is to see what we do in ministry fully dependent on how we relate to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
God is three personal realities; these three do not exist in isolation. Rather, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are always interweaving and interpenetrating each other, are pure oneness in thought, purpose, and action, and are perfection and beauty—one God in three persons eternally in relationship. (This might be a good spot to pause and worship.)
The story of creation and subsequent salvation of fallen humanity tells us that God goes out from God’s self in love. The triune God is intentionally sharing a communion of life and love with his created children.
In the Christmas season, we set our minds on the miracle of the Incarnation. The Father sends his only begotten Son to take on flesh and blood and to be a child of a humble Jewish couple from Nazareth. The word “sends” does not mean condemned as some like to interpret, or that God sent an unwilling Son.
A modern vernacular might be parents sending their children to college. In the 1940s, the term was often used in the U.S. as parents “sent” their children to fight for the country they loved. There is an implied agreement in the sending. The point is, the second member of the eternal Godhead set aside his divine prerogative to become the second Adam, who was both human and divine, for the primary purposes of revealing the Father, going to the cross as the Savior of the world, and sending the Spirit in his stead. The Incarnation is God going out from himself in love.
During this Easter season, I am smitten by the powerful statement of Jesus, “When I am lifted up, I will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32 NIV). Taking his place as the true prince of the world, Jesus emphatically says “I” will attract, invite, and draw all people to myself. Everybody. God is going out from himself in love.
As we plumb the depths of the triune God revealed in Jesus, our image of God is shaped. We come to see a God who always acts out of love; a God who is for us, not against us; a God who saves and not condemns. The realization of God’s nature, and the truth that he goes out from himself in love, impacts us deeply. It impacts how we commune with God in our personal lives and devotion. As a body of believers who experience and know the triune God, it impacts how ministry flows from this collective body called the church.
Just as God is faithful to go out from himself in love, may the church, in its communion and reliance on the triune God, go out from itself in love as well. May we join and participate with Jesus in attracting, inviting, and drawing all people to him.
In the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Greg Williams
When I attend National Association of Evangelical (NAE) events, I get to sit next to denominational leaders, Christian organizational leaders, and presidents of Christian seminaries. There is a wealth of experience and knowledge in this esteemed group, and I am humbled and enriched to sit among them.
In a recent gathering, I sat next to Richard Stearns, former director of World Vision. World Vision started in the 1950s and has a long history of working around the world to help hurting communities lift themselves out of poverty. Richard, who has recently retired from his position at World Vision, is also a published author and highly respected among his peers. It was unexpected that we ended up at the same table and in conversation.
During our NAE gathering, we listened to a session entitled “Leading from the Deepest Place.” It was a prompt for us to think about what is most important to us in this stage of life and ministry. Another prompt was, “How do we decompress from the pressure of our jobs?” I found Richard’s answer humorous for both questions. He said that retirement was his new stage of life and his method of decompression. That rang true for many of the attendees.
As we went into a time of silence, I noticed all the participants were leaning in and fully engaged. The silence was followed by roundtable sharing. It was somewhat surprising and refreshing not to hear talk about executive teams, ministry strategies, or the next hill to climb. Rather, we heard story after story about heartfelt concern for adult children and grandchildren. The hopes and prayers were that family members would fall in love with Jesus and be committed followers. We discussed how we, as leaders, can be more present in the lives of our dear families and how we can be more intentional to point them to the life and love of Jesus. Lord, help us!
NAE President Walter Kim recognized this session as a holy moment. Many of the sessions are informative and helpful, which is great. However, Christian leaders need ministering to as much as the staff they guide, the audiences they serve, and the causes they champion. I am deeply grateful for Walter taking a pastoral stance in his leadership of the NAE. I am grateful and proud to represent GCI at these gatherings.
The most notable attribute that I observe as I periodically gather with these leaders from across the body of Christ is humility. This transparency and honesty testify to the Spirit’s work, and it gives me hope for the church amid the challenges that are rampant in our society.
The church of Jesus Christ is the hope of the world, and GCI has its part to play.
Greg Williams
P.S. Jeff Broadnax represented GCI when the NAE hosted its first Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) retreat. Be sure to read his article about the retreat.
Back in July I had an interesting weekend involving two separate occasions with two people with whom I was able to engage in what I call “Jesus conversations.”
The first event was a Saturday golf tournament where my playing partner was an 80-year-old who was new to the neighborhood. It was a hot day, and the tournament lasted six long hours. Waiting between shots gave us ample time for extended conversations. We spoke of family, travel, fine wine, his time as a Navy aviator. Then he queried me about GCI. What kind of church is GCI? What was my seminary training? I enjoy talking about GCI, but I enjoy talking about Jesus more so.
My golf partner was harkening back to his college days when he had taken a class on Christianity and an overview of the Bible. His family of origin was Lutheran, and his wife’s family of origin was Methodist, so for most of their church-going time they went to a Presbyterian church (that makes sense). He had been stationed in foreign countries, like Japan and Saudi Arabia, so he had been exposed to other world religions. Now at age 80, he was having a heightened curiosity about Jesus and Christianity. We conversed how most other world religions require you to sacrifice and appease their gods through all sorts of ritual and idolatry, where our God took on flesh and came into our world to live and die for us.
We went deeper into the matter of salvation by grace alone. Apparently, he was impressed by how I had been treating him. He is older and, on top of that, he has had double knee replacement surgery. The course was quite hilly so often I would offer to pick up his stray golf ball and bring it to the cart. He would say, “Aren’t you a gentleman?” It was a great opportunity to turn the glory back to Jesus.
We talked about the apostle Paul’s comments in the letter to the church at Rome where he says that he knew what was right, desired to do what was right, but often failed and felt wretched about this human condition. Paul then asked and answered the key question, “Who shall deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 7:24b-25a NKJV) I told my new friend that any good action of kindness that he sees in me is all due to Christ who lives in me. He acknowledged that salvation by grace and through Christ alone is the only thing that makes sense to him as well. I hope to continue the friendship and conversations with him.
The second experience that same weekend was an impromptu drop-in with our good friends across the street. This couple have become like family to Susan and me, and it warms our hearts to see how they have become more active in their home church, especially as their granddaughter participates in the life of the church.
My dear friend and I have a history of engaging in rather deep conversations. He is a retired chiropractor and a well-read individual. He often circles back to one question. “Which came first, religion or civilization?” So, we spent almost two hours on his back patio unpacking this question. I was able to share with him about how Father, Son, and Spirit – the triune God – is a relational union of three in one. They abide in a harmonious flow of perfect love and perfect union. And because of who we are as children of God, made in his image, we were created for relationship as well. The structures of government and religion fall back to rules that dictate right and wrong behavior, and because of the fall, even God’s chosen nation of Israel could not live up to the regulations and standards delivered to them through Moses. The entire history of Israel pointed to the need for a Messiah/Savior.
Our conversation progressed toward the notion of division between the sacred and secular (back to civilization and religion). What did I mean by sacred versus secular? My simple explanation was compartmentalizing your life where you spend a couple of hours on Sunday tending to sacred matters and then living your life for the other six days in the secular realm. I asked him if he had experienced Jesus in his work as a chiropractor. This opened his mind to a whole new way of thinking.
He had spent his life’s work helping people who were bent, broken, and in pain to begin a process of healing and to live a more productive life. He began to muse about a lesson he had learned from a mentor years ago: chiropractic medicine is a hands-on discipline that involves touch. I seem to recall that Jesus touched people, even ones deemed untouchable. He also spoke about a flow – the flow equated to the gift he had received to be a doctor and the flow that goes out from him to his patient. So, I asked, “Haven’t you been participating with Jesus all along in the care and healing of hundreds of people who have needed help?” My question resonated with him. What a joy to see where Christ has been present and working all along.
Concluding thoughts
I am coming to believe that our neighbors do not need us to challenge their values and then engage in a battle of wills. Nor should our highest priority be attempting to discern their perceived needs and develop programs accordingly. They need neighbors who are true believers and who, through the love of Jesus, demonstrate and proclaim the goodness of Jesus, regularly and repetitiously.
It is then through the credibility of these genuine relationships we can invite people into a new reality that is to be a new creation in Christ and to become a citizen and representative of the kingdom of God—to experience the kingdom life now.
The expectation in GCI is that when people join a gathering of true believers, whether a Sunday service or a Love Avenue connect group, they will come into an environment where Jesus is worshipped. That means he is talked about, he is adored, he gets the glory, and his presence is experienced.
An old rock and roll artist from my era, Alice Cooper, said this, “I’ll tell you one thing, when Jesus opens your eyes, and you finally realize who you are and who he is, it’s a whole different world.” Amen, Alice!
Romans 1:16 gives us something to really think about. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (NRSVA)
The gospel was certainly powerful for Alice Cooper. It was powerful for my friends on that weekend in July, and I believe it is also powerful for your friends and neighbors, too. Jump in and have those Jesus conversations and see where they go!
In February 2020 I wrote an article explaining the concept of health related to the life of a congregation. You have heard me and other denominational leaders expressing our desire to seek Healthy Church through the three Avenues of Hope, Love, and Faith.
Hope Avenue – Worship: A congregation where all who attend find Christ-centered worship and inspiration.
Love Avenue – Witness: A congregation devoted to getting outside the walls of the church to demonstrate the love of Jesus to their neighbors and to proclaim the good news when neighbors ask.
The Faith Avenue – Discipleship: A congregation where members, young and old, are growing in relationship with Jesus and deepening their bonds with each other.
We want to see these ministries flow from teams of believers and be guided by the careful leadership of Christlike pastoral leadership. These vibrant expressions are the pathway toward congregational health.
Our U.S. leadership team is continually asking the question, “How do we become a more vibrant expression of denominational health?” This is the right question as we work through the difficult stage of reclassification of congregations and determine how we need to shift to provide meaningful oversight.
I applaud our U.S. Regional Directors (R.D.) for their commitment to meet with so many of our scattered small group leaders, to listen to their concerns, and then do their best to explain why we are shifting. These R.D.s have shared their lives with you and love you deeply. They truly are “helpers of your joy.” This is true even when tough decisions are necessary. As hard as it may be, we are in this together, and we must resist the arrows of the enemy that are intended to divide us and put us at odds. Through the power of the Spirit, unity can be maintained.
We who serve as denominational leaders are aware that we have a strong body of congregations to serve as we focus on our various jobs and responsibilities. Because of this broad collection of congregations whom we oversee and serve, we continually pray for guidance as we ask, “How can we serve more intentionally and more effectively?”
Our philosophy of service is High Support, High Challenge – Grace Always. This statement is a core value that helps us at each step of the journey and continues to govern the process. It keeps us following in the steps of Jesus.
In the past several years we have focused our efforts on the consistent vision of Healthy Church, and our high support is evident in our writing, media tools and training. We have stayed on track, and this vision is just as important today as it was when I wrote about it three years ago.
Our congregations are learning as they make efforts to move from concepts to practice, and our denominational leaders are making discoveries, too. Our Team Based – Pastor Led training sessions, and the subsequent teachings around the Faith, Hope, and Love Avenues, have been wonderfully designed and backed up with useful material that is clear and comprehensible, and being used by many of our congregations. The follow-up coaching resource has also been built out and has proven to be quite helpful. I am pleased to say that we have a strong team of able coaches. The “aha moment” for our denominational leaders is that we have observed that we have attempted to move from training to practice at a pace that is not reasonable.
Learning new concepts and transferring these into new practices takes longer than we originally calculated. We must add a stage for consulting and deeper learning as new practices are being tried and refined. We are also learning that we need to reconsider how the services of training, consulting, coaching, and supervising flow and how the denominational leaders interact to bring the highest level of support possible. This is causing us to enter a season of new design on how our U.S. team is configured, and then to have a follow-up season of experimentation to test-drive the new design. These seasons will run the course of 2024, and we solicit your prayers during this period of adjusting and learning.
I am seeing how the Spirit is already out in front of us, and I am confident as the U.S. team is prayerfully and cautiously moving through these seasons of adjustments and refitting, that we will ultimately become a healthier denomination.
The Lord is gracefully supporting and challenging us as we yield to his leadership.
This issue of Update is dedicated to reflecting on the past year. The image above is a word cloud, generated by combining all the 2023 Update letters from our president. A word cloud is a graphic that shows us which words were repeated frequently. The larger the size of the word, the more often it was used.
The words in the image reflect the most important GCI themes in 2023.
Read on to hear from Greg and look ahead to 2024.
Have a meaningful and merry Christmas, Elizabeth Mullins Update Editor
As we approach the end of 2023, there’s much to celebrate and be thankful for in our GCI journey! During my recent travels, I’ve been truly blessed to witness firsthand the remarkable ways the Spirit is moving in and through GCI and is moving us forward in unity.
Looking ahead to the coming year, I’m thrilled about the prospect of visiting four of our six global regions and attending regional gatherings across the United States. It’s a privilege to connect with many of you during these events, and I’m looking forward to sharing inspiring stories from across GCI through the GCI Update.
In addition to keeping you informed about GCI news, the letters, and stories you’ll find in the upcoming Update issues will center around our 2024 theme: Faith, Hope, and Love Integrated. This might sound familiar, as we’ve emphasized these values throughout this year.
Our ongoing pursuit of a Healthy Church involves a transformative journey to deepen our engagement with the neighborhoods where GCI congregations are present. We’re making progress, recognizing that becoming our healthiest expression takes time. It requires continuous learning, practice, reflection, adjustments, and execution—all guided by discernment of what is good to the Spirit and to us.
Throughout this period, our focus remains on a theological and practical orientation toward a holistic and interconnected approach to ministry. We firmly believe that this approach will help pastors and Avenue champions understand and execute the harmonious flow of ministry, reflecting the interdependent relationship of the Father, Son, and Spirit.
As always, Christ will be the only foundation we build from.
Christ’s first love given to us—because of his love we are filled and compelled to witness.
Christ’s faith imparted to us—because of his faith we are empowered for great commandment living and great commission sharing.
Christ who is our source of hope—because our hope is rooted in him, we can be the church, the hope of the world.
As we look forward to the coming year, stay tuned for the development of resources and articles that align with our Faith, Hope, and Love Integrated theme. Your continued support and participation are essential as we navigate this exciting and transformative path together.
Wishing you all a joyous conclusion to 2023 and anticipating a year ahead filled with growth, connection, and shared inspiration.
