This week most of us in the U.S. will celebrate Thanksgiving. This annual holiday isn’t unique to us here—many other countries have Thanksgiving celebrations. Though rituals and customs differ, the reason is pretty much the same—to give thanks to God. In the U.S., Thanksgiving Day rituals include a turkey dinner with all the trimmings—according to the National Turkey Federation, 95% of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving.
Before or after the Thanksgiving meal, many gather around the TV to watch football. Football on Thanksgiving is a tradition that dates back to 1876 when the first intercollegiate football championship was held on Thanksgiving Day. One reporter called Thanksgiving “a holiday granted by the State and the Nation to see a game of football.” Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. is also known for parades. Many communities hold parades and more than 46 million people watch the most famous of them all—Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City, which began in 1924.
The true purpose of Thanksgiving, of course, is to give thanks to God. These days, we don’t praise him for the fall harvest as much as people did in times past and as much as many do in other parts of the world today. But we do praise God for our families, friends and the many other blessings we’ve received over the past year. From pre-meal prayers to laughing with family, to providing meals to the homeless, Thanksgiving is truly a celebration of praise and thanks.
Jennie Augusta Brownscombe, The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth, 1914, Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth, Massachusetts (picture from Wikipedia Commons)
Each year during Thanksgiving I’m reminded of Paul’s exhortation to the church at Philippi: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4). Thanksgiving reminds us that we have many reasons to rejoice. When families gather at the Thanksgiving table, the question is often asked, “What are you thankful for?” Then each person shares their answer. When it’s my turn, I look around the table to see the many reasons for which I am thankful. And it’s all because of the One who loves us, as T.F. Torrance notes so eloquently in The Mediation of Christ:
God loves you so utterly and completely that he has given himself for you in Jesus Christ his beloved Son, and has thereby pledged his very being as God for your salvation. In Jesus Christ God has actualized his unconditional love for you in your human nature in such a once for all way, that he cannot go back upon it without undoing the Incarnation and the Cross and thereby denying himself. Jesus Christ died for you precisely because you are sinful and utterly unworthy of him, and has thereby already made you his own before and apart from your ever believing in him. He has bound you to himself by his love in a way that he will never let you go, for even if you refuse him and damn yourself in hell his love will never cease. Therefore, repent and believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior (p. 94).
Amen and Happy Thanksgiving! Joseph Tkach
Tammy Tkach (left) and Senior Pulley
PS: Tammy and I recently participated in the 40th anniversary of our congregation in Bermuda. It was a joy to be with this delightful church family pastored by Cecil Pulley and his wife Senior. The celebration was held at their church building (pictured below). During the week they rent part of the building to a day care operation and the parking lot to a neighboring grocery store. Please join me in extending congratulations to the Bermuda church for 40 years of faithful service.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Sometimes we are so excited about celebrating the Incarnation of the Son of God at Christmas that we neglect Advent, the season that begins the annual Christian worship calendar. Spanning the four Sundays preceding Christmas, Advent this year begins November 30. The word “advent” is from adventus (Latin), meaning “coming” or “arrival.” Advent celebrates Jesus’ three “comings” (typically in reverse order): future (Jesus’ return), present (in the Spirit) and past (Jesus’ incarnation/birth).
Advent wreath with the Christ candle surrounded by candles for hope, peace, joy and love (photo from Wikimedia Commons)
Our understanding of Advent is enriched when we note how these three comings interrelate. The author of Hebrews used this phrase: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Jesus came in the Incarnation (yesterday), he lives in us now through the Spirit (today) and will return as King of kings and Lord of lords (forever). Another way to look at this is in terms of the kingdom of God. Jesus’ incarnation brought the kingdom to humanity (yesterday), he invites believers to enter in and participate in that kingdom (today) and when he returns, he will reveal the already-existing kingdom to all humanity (forever).
Jesus used several parables to explain the kingdom that he was establishing: the parable of the seed, which grows invisibly and quietly (Mark 4:26-29); the parable of the mustard seed, which grows from a small seed to a large bush (Mark 4:30-32); and the parable of the yeast, which leavened all the flour (Matthew 13:33). These parables show that the kingdom was brought to earth at the Incarnation and still exists as a reality today. Jesus also said, “If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God [which he did], then the kingdom of heaven has come to you” (Matthew 12:28; Luke 11:20). The kingdom is here, he said, and the proof is in the exorcisms and other good works of the church.
The power of God is continually manifest through believers who live in the reality of the kingdom. Jesus Christ is the head of the church yesterday, today and forever. Just as the kingdom was present in the ministry of Jesus, it is present now (though not yet fully) in the ministry of his church. The King is among us; his spiritual power is in us, even though his kingdom is not yet operating in full power. Martin Luther analogized that Jesus has bound Satan but with a long chain: “He [Satan] can do no more than a bad dog on a chain, which may bark, run here and there, and tear at the chain.”
The fullness of the kingdom will come—that is the “forever” we hope for. We know no matter how much we try to live in a way that reflects God, we cannot transform the entire world into God’s kingdom today. Only Jesus can do that, and he will at his glorious return. So while the kingdom has a present reality, its fullness is in the future. Though largely hidden today, the kingdom will be completely manifested at Jesus’ final advent.
Paul spoke often of the kingdom in its future sense. He warned against the things that prevent people from “inheriting the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 15:50; Galatians 5:21; Ephesians 5:5). As his language often reflected, Paul predominantly thought of the kingdom as realized at the end of the age (1 Thessalonians 2:12; 2 Thessalonians 1:5; Colossians 4:11; 2 Timothy 4:1, 18). However, he also understood that wherever Jesus is, his kingdom is now present, even in what he called “this present evil age” (Galatians 1:4). Since Jesus lives in us now, the kingdom is now present and, as Paul taught, we are now citizens of the kingdom of heaven (Philippians 3:20).
Advent is also spoken of in terms of our salvation, which the New Testament refers to in three tenses: past, present and future. The past tense is our finished salvation. It is what Jesus accomplished in his first coming—through his life, death, resurrection and ascension. The present tense is what we have now—Jesus living in us and inviting us to participate in his kingdom work. The future tense is the fullness of salvation, which we will experience when Jesus visibly returns and God is all in all.
It’s interesting to note that the Bible emphasizes the visibility of Jesus’ first coming and final coming. In between the “yesterday” and “forever,” Jesus’ present coming is invisible in that we do not see him walking around as they did in the first century. However, because we are now ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20), we are called to represent the reality of Christ and his kingdom. So while Jesus may not be visible, we know he is with us and will never leave or forsake us, and others can see Jesus through us. We are called to make visible some of the glories of the kingdom—doing so by allowing the fruit of the Spirit to flow through us and by keeping Jesus’ new commandment to love one another (John 13:34-35).
When we understand that Advent focuses on Jesus yesterday, today and forever, we are better able to understand the four traditional Advent themes (represented in the wreath pictured above): hope, peace, joy and love. As the Messiah the prophets spoke of, Jesus is the reality of the hope that sustained God’s people. He did not come as a warrior or conquering king but as the Prince of peace, showing that God’s plan was to bring peace. The theme of joy focuses on the joyous anticipation of the birth and return of our Savior. And love is what God is all about. God, who is love, loved us yesterday (before the foundation of the world) and continues to love us (individually and intimately) both today and forever.
I pray your Advent season is filled with Jesus’ hope, peace and joy along with daily reminders through the Spirit of just how much he loves you.
Trusting Jesus yesterday, today and forever, Joseph Tkach
PS: For more on the present and future reality of the kingdom of God, see the article “The Present and Future Kingdom of God” at www.gci.org/gospel/kingdom and the series of articles in GCI Weekly Update on the kingdom of God by Gary Deddo that begins at update.gci.org/2014/02/the-kingdom-of-god-part-1/.
Unless Tammy is travelling with me, I never know whom I’ll be sitting next to when I fly. Most seatmates don’t seem to want much conversation, especially after they ask me, “What do you do?” If I reply, “I’m a pastor,” there is often a polite comment made as they put on their headphones and/or open a book to read. If I say “I supervise missionary work,” a bit more conversation ensues. On a recent flight, after the initial courteous exchanges, my seatmate paused, then asked, “How big do you think hell is?”
As we talked, it became clear that he was wondering how many people are now in hell and will go there. Will hell be larger than we imagine and heaven smaller? It’s interesting he didn’t ask about my definition of hell, or what the Bible says about hell. He just wanted to know how big it is.
I joked with him and asked if he was familiar with the pictures of Dante’s Inferno. He said no, and I said, “Well, he makes it look as though hell is already full.” I went on to explain that this topic seems to suffer from more misinformation circulating about hell than is realized.
Dante’s Inferno by Bartolomeo Di Fruosino (Wikimedia Commons)
Most are surprised to learn that the early church did not dogmatize the topic of hell, nor was there a singular view of the subject. In fact, hell is not mentioned in either the Apostle’s Creed or the Nicene Creed. Perhaps this was because the early church fathers realized humans aren’t qualified to judge such matters of eternal consequence—only Jesus Christ is (a good realization, indeed!) .
If we take Jesus seriously when he teaches about mercy, we should also take him seriously when he teaches about punishment. After all, mercy only has meaning if we are escaping a real punishment. Jesus used a variety of word-pictures for the punishment of those who refuse the loving mercy of God: fire, darkness, pain and destruction. Jesus is describing the result of a life of perpetual resistance to God’s love. Whatever hell is, it is a state of alienation from God for those who refuse his unconditional love, grace and mercy. However, this does not mean that God is the one who dispenses the pain and anguish. It is not the equivalent of parents who spank or abuse their children.
Tragically, the all-too-common misperception of God dispensing pain arises from a faulty view of God’s nature. It ignores the eternal relationship between the Father, Son and Spirit, which is lived out in the life of Jesus. It misses the point of God’s kind of humility, which is expressed in mutual self-deference to the other. We should always bear in mind that Jesus said he came to reveal the Father (Matthew 11:27; John 17:25-26). And the Holy Spirit was sent to reveal Jesus’ mission (Hebrews 10:15-16). Jesus taught that when the Spirit comes, he’ll not bear witness to himself but to Jesus (John 15:26). We see that mutual, reciprocal love in Jesus’ teaching about his purpose for coming to earth, saying he did not come to condemn the world but to save or rescue it (John 3:17).
Even more tragically, many people view God as if he suffers from manic depression or a multiple personality disorder. They struggle with the idea that on the one side, God is a being of wrath and then on the other he is a God of love. Some go so far as saying the Father has wrath, but Jesus came to bring love. But if Jesus is the “exact representation” of the Father (Hebrews 1:3) we cannot separate the Father’s nature from the Son’s nature or the Son’s nature from the Father’s. The same is true of the Spirit. Rather than seeing God in such an inconsistent and dissected manner, it is vital to realize that wrath and love are two aspects of a single attribute that is the fundamental character of God. Our talk about God is only accurate when based on the reality of Jesus Christ. He came from the Father to reveal the Father. And what we see in his life and ministry, including at the cross, is that God’s love and God’s wrath are not finally separate.
At the cross, God’s love in Christ is patently real, but so is God’s hatred toward sin. It isn’t that God loves the elect and hates the reprobate—rather, he loves us all, but hates the sin in our lives. Therefore we should think of hell in the same framework as we think of heaven by relating both to the love of God in Christ. God tells us to love our enemies and does no less himself. Because he loves us, he must be against whatever is against us—whatever damages us, harms us and ruins our relationships with God and with others. Anything less would not be loving. The sin in us is the object of God’s wrath because we are objects of his love.
At the cross, we see that the wrath of God has been meted out against human sin, guilt and alienation. Sin was literally put to death there. And it is of paramount importance to see that Christ assumed our broken, diseased humanity, turned it back to God and took on himself the judgment against our sin and guilt. As a result, we have been rescued from our sin, while our sin is condemned and sent away. The punishment due sin was (note the past tense) endured on the cross and does not take place in hell.
Systematic theologian Colin Gunton uses an interesting analogy to understand the love of God on the cross. He equates it to the cosmos suffering from cancer and Jesus taking all of that cancer into his being to heal it. His point is this: at the cross we see both God’s judgment against evil and God’s love for sinners. Since God loves sinners, our understanding of hell must account for both the judgment and the love of God that takes place at the cross.
A person who rejects God’s love is not going to enjoy heaven, and God is not going to force them to be part of the heavenly celebration. Even if he did, they would not enjoy it or experience its benefits. Instead, he permits those who repudiate his mercy to follow their own direction—one decisively shaped by their rejection of God’s love and their perpetual choosing of evil. They cannot see love and mercy as a good choice since they insist on having their own way, saving their pride, no matter what the consequences. Hell is therefore created by those who eternally resist God’s love—it is for those who will not and thus cannot be in the presence of God’s holy love. C.S. Lewis describes this understanding well in his novella, The Great Divorce:
There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” All that are in hell, choose to be there. Without that self-choice there could be no hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened.
When we talk about the glories of heaven compared to the agonies of hell, we should bear in mind that we really cannot conceive the reality of either. It is, to paraphrase the apostle Paul, what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard and what no mind has conceived. The best way to contrast heaven and hell is the way C.S. Lewis described it:
And yet all loneliness, angers, hatreds, envies, and itchings that it [hell] contains, if rolled into one single experience and put into the scale against the least moment of the joy that is felt by the least in heaven, would have no weight that could be registered at all. Bad cannot succeed even in being bad as truly as good is good.
We’ve all experienced loneliness in feeling separate from God and we’ve all experienced joy in understand that we are loved, forgiven, adopted and included by God in the love and life shared by the Father, Son and Spirit. One simply cannot compare one experience with the other.
Here is a final thought to bear in mind when we think of hell as the culmination of judgment: Not only should we see that hell is related to the love of God, but that heaven is also part of the judgment of God. Those who turn to Christ are overjoyed and overwhelmed in realizing that Jesus is the real Judge, a judge who died for the people he judges. “The Father judges no one,” said Jesus, “but has entrusted all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22). Jesus, our Judge, has paid the penalty for the sin of all. Being in heaven means being in fellowship and communion with the Judge who saves by means of his judgment.
The one who judges the righteous, the unevangelized and the wicked, is the one who gave his life so that others might live eternally. Jesus Christ already has taken the judgment of sin and sinfulness upon himself. Therefore judgment should signal a time of joy for everyone, as it will usher in the glory of the everlasting kingdom of God where evil is banished forever and nothing but goodness will exist throughout eternity. Those who want to live with Christ in that goodness will be able to; those who do not want to will not be forced to.
Our hope is in God who sent his Son who ministered to the cosmos through the Spirit to make hell a smaller, rather than a larger place. The real answer to my seatmate’s question is this: Only God knows how big hell will be. And he has done everything he can to make it as small as possible. Given who God is in Jesus Christ, there is no good reason for anyone to go to hell—only the foolish “reason” of repudiating God’s love and forgiveness in order to keep one’s pride.
For several decades, the prevailing view in cosmology was called the “steady state” theory, the idea that the universe has always existed and retains its uniform density through continuous creation of matter. But by the 1980s, that theory was largely abandoned in favor of what is known as the “big bang” theory, the idea (shown in the diagram below) that the universe began with a single massive explosion (“big bang”) followed immediately by inflation—expansion bursting from point zero to near the current size of the universe in a trillionth of a trillionth of a trillionth (10 to the minus 32) of a second.
Picture credit: http://langitselatan.comIn March 2014, these scientists presented new evidence that a split-second after the big bang, the expansion of the cosmos got a powerful-jump start. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
In the 1960s, the big bang theory found support in the discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation, a discovery Stephen Hawking called “the final nail in the coffin of steady state theory.” Einstein’s theory of general relativity predicted this radiation, relating it to waves of gravity that leave ripples in the fabric of an expanding universe like the ripples left in the sand by waves pounding the seashore. Earlier this year, the scientists pictured at right (along with others) discovered what seems to be new evidence for this radiation. One report said that the scientific community is “cautiously exultant,” hailing this discovery as “one of the biggest…of the past two decades.”
Viewing early evidence for the big bang, atheist-turned-agnostic astronomer Fred Hoyle famously stated, “A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super-intellect has monkeyed with physics.” We know that “super-intellect” to be none other than our Creator God. I’m delighted that scientific exploration continues—discoveries about the fabric of our universe provide us with a detailed view of God’s awesome handiwork.
The reason such discoveries are being made is that the beautiful and elegant laws of physics created by God make the universe intelligible. Cosmologists are like detectives in a quest to answer the question that God posed long ago to Job: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the world?” I find it exhilarating to study the discoveries being made by scientists. As I was reading about the recent ones, I found myself humming a worship song most of you know (here are the lyrics—give thanks that you can’t hear me humming!):
Blessing and honor, glory and power, be unto the Ancient of Days From every nation, all of creation, bow before the Ancient of Days
I hope the scientific discoveries being made will help people see that God never intended Genesis to be read as though it is a science textbook presenting details of the processes by which the universe began and now operates. Genesis makes no mention of the big bang and cosmic inflation. What it does tell us is that the universe was created by God out of what was “formless”—like a ball of energy and light appearing suddenly out of nothing. Genesis gives, in brief, the story line of an amazing creation event. The big bang theory, which resonates with that story line, fills in the details, addressing what developed once there was something brought into existence by the Word of God from no preexisting matter.
Let me share with you what some world-famous physicists have said of the recent discoveries related to the big bang and inflation:
“I would say it’s very likely to be correct that we are seeing a signal from inflation,” said Adrian Lee, a University of California at Berkeley cosmologist who is a leader of PolarBear, an experiment based on a mountaintop in Chile that is also searching for evidence of inflation. “But it’s such a hard measurement that we really would like to see it measured with different experiments, with different techniques, looking at different parts of the sky, to have confidence that this is really a signal from the beginning of the universe.”
“If real, it’s magnificent,” said Harvard astrophysicist Lisa Randall.
“Inflation—the idea of a very big burst of inflation very early on—is the most important idea in cosmology since the big bang itself,” said Michael Turner, a University of Chicago cosmologist. “If correct, this burst is the dynamite behind our big bang.”
Princeton University astrophysicist David Spergel said after Monday’s announcement, “If true, this has revolutionary impacts for our understanding of the physics of the early universe and gives us insight into physics on really small scales.”
Lawrence Krauss, an Arizona State University theoretical physicist, said of the new result, “It gives us a new window on the universe that takes us back to almost the very beginning of time, allowing us to turn previously metaphysical questions about our origins into scientific ones.”
Cambridge University cosmologist professor Steven Hawking wrote, “The actual point of creation lies outside the scope of presently known laws of physics.”
According to Professor Joseph Silk of the University of California, author of a recent book on modern cosmology, “The big bang is the modern version of the creation of the universe.”
Professor Paul Dirac, a Nobel laureate from Cambridge University and a leading physicist of the 20th century, also an avowed atheist, said: “It is certain that the universe began at a definite time through an act of creation.” In reply, Jewish cosmologist professor Nathan Aviezer of Bar-Ilan University said: “It’s an example of Divine irony that it took atheistic scientists like Dirac…to point out the truth of the Torah. At this point I think we can say that creation is a scientific fact.”
Though most scientists do not attribute creation to the transcendent, personal agency of God as do the Bible and Christian theology, I believe that what science is discovering is compatible with the biblical account of creation. Recent discoveries in cosmology affirm that the universe had a point of beginning, which raises the question: Who or what initiated the big bang and the inflation that followed? By its very nature, science cannot answer that question, but the Bible can, and does. And so I’m smiling as I continue to hum…
Every tongue in heaven and earth, shall declare your glory Every knee shall bow at your throne, in worship You will be exalted oh God, and your kingdom shall not pass away Oh Ancient of Days!
Several of our pastors and ministry leaders met recently in Dallas to discuss our progress as a church planting movement. While there, the group toured the Dallas Cowboy football stadium. Here’s a picture of the group on the field, where they later knelt in prayer. Based on the Cowboy’s recent struggles, they apparently forgot to pray for the football team! (Apologies to Cowboys fans ☺)
As Gary Deddo points out, when it comes to searching out answers to life’s big questions, it’s vital to begin with the most important question of all: “Who is God?” Doing so reflects the apostle Paul’s teaching that God determines reality, “for in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
God’s continuing mission is to help all people live according to that reality—to come into right relationship (communion) with him. This mission begins with God’s own perichoresis, meaning “mutual indwelling.” The word was coined by early church teachers to represent the unique oneness of the triune God. Jesus described it this way: “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (John 14:10-11; 17:21). The Father’s life is with and in the Son and the Son’s life is with and in the Father. The Father, Son and Spirit are with, in and for each other. The three Divine Persons are so united in being that they act as one, pursuing together a mission to draw humanity (and all the cosmos) into their triune communion.
God calls the church to participate with him in that mission. In Worship, Community and the Triune God of Grace, James B. Torrance put it this way: “Through our union with Christ we share in his communion with the Father and in his mission from the Father to bring others into that communion… The mission of the church is the gift of participating through the Holy Spirit in the Son’s mission from the Father to the world.” In Atonement: the Person and Work of Christ, Thomas F. Torrance put it this way: “Because the church is filled with the one universal Spirit of divine love, it is caught up in the universal movement of that love that ceaselessly flows from God through Jesus Christ out into all the world.”
The problems we see in the world stem from living and thinking in ways not oriented toward God. God, who is love (1 John 4:8) is who we need. If we lived into that reality, most problems would quickly diminish. God, in love, reaches out to draw humanity into communion with himself. Toward that end, he has formed the church to be his representatives in leading creation to worship him as Creator, Reconciler and Redeemer. God calls the church together to receive from him his life with praise, prayer and thanksgiving and then sends them out to the world to pass on what they have received. In that way, the church serves as a living sign that points to the great reconciling and redemptive work that the Father has accomplished in Christ.
The church participates with God in this mission as it leads people to faith in God—a faith that leads them to share in a worshiping community that gathers together then reaches out to the world. In GCI, we describe our participation in that mission as Living and sharing the gospel, which brings forth All kinds of churches for all kinds of people in all kinds of places. Though we are small, God has given us a wide reach. We have churches in jungles, prisons, refugee camps and even a garbage dump. God has made us a church that lives and shares the gospel in all kinds of places!
As churches, our ministries are true participation in the mission of God as they communicate in word and deed the reality of who God is and what he is doing. That reality is good news (gospel) from beginning to end. Sadly, some churches stray from the gospel by falling into one of two ditches. The first is legalism—thinking that the gospel is about a transaction in which we earn something from God. The second ditch is approaching the gospel as an esoteric, mystical system that is inaccessible to outsiders. Those in the first ditch tend to speak of mission in business terms. An example is the health and wealth gospel, which often manipulates people using false hope and guilt. Those in the second ditch often speak of mission using esoteric terms. I’m not referring here to the appropriate use of theological terms, but to the use of strange-sounding, in-speak phrases such as, “The Lord spoke to me.” Though such phrases might make sense to us, they are easily misunderstood by non-Christians and thus tend to obscure the nature of God (see Gary Deddo’s article on the Holy Spirit linked under the Church Development category at left) and unhelpfully complicate (and even obscure) the simplicity of the gospel message that we are called to proclaim.
In times past, many of us spent time in one or the other (and sometimes both) ditches. We erroneously tried to build our fellowship using a transactional, business model. We referred to our ministries as “programs” and our pastors as “college representatives.” Also, we often used esoteric phrases unintelligible outside our fellowship. I recall when one of my neighbors accompanied Tammy and me to church. On the drive home he asked, “Joe, I know what a tithe is, but what is second tithe?” He also asked, “What is the Feast of Tabernacles? and “What kind of restaurant could stay in business serving unclean meat?”
I thank God we’re no longer in those ditches. Today our mission is to live and share the gospel in ways that lead to all kinds of churches for all kinds of people in all kinds of places. I pray we all grow in our participation in that mission. That all our churches have opportunity to do so became clearer to me in a recent conversation with Greg Williams, who in January will become director of GCI-USA Church Administration and Development (CAD). Greg noted that we’ve tended to look at church planting as the responsibility of our Church Multiplication Ministries (CMM) group led by Randy Bloom. CMM has laid for us a solid foundation for church planting. However, rather than looking at one ministry and a small group of people as the focus of our church planting, we need to see that church planting is a fundamental focus of the mission that we all are called to share in. In short, we need to see ourselves as church planters—partners in a church planting movement.
Every congregation, no matter its size, age distribution, financial resources, or other limiting circumstances, can be a partner in this movement. Each can make a valuable contribution. Notice here my emphasis on what we do together on mission—participating as one church family with Jesus as he engages humanity, drawing them to himself. Note also that mission precedes and leads to ministry (but ministry doesn’t always lead to mission). That’s why I want us to emphasize mission. Let’s examine everything we do at the congregational and denominational levels from the viewpoint of mission. Let’s ask: How does this ministry (program, publication, etc.) contribute to sharing in God’s mission to the world?
At times we’ve referred affectionately to our very small, often aging congregations as “legacy churches.” We’ve stopped doing so because it implies that they don’t have a meaningful, ongoing part in the mission of God. But that’s not what we believe. We value every congregation, no matter how small and no matter the age of its members. We value every member, no matter their age or other limiting circumstances. We believe that each congregation and every member can play a meaningful, important part in what God is doing to make of us a church planting movement. In fact, he already has! Note what Greg wrote recently:
Our U.S. congregations already are partners in this church planting movement through the income they provide to the denomination through our apportionment system. A growing number also partner through participation in a church planting network and donations to our GCnext domestic mission fund. Others are providing a home base for one of our interns. Some are directly starting new churches (serving as a “mother church” in the movement). Others help staff our Generations Ministries camps and mission trips where emerging leaders are helped to hear God’s call into mission. All are included. All have a part. All are important.
Greg and his team recently came up with a guiding motto for CAD: We are a team of churches and ministries partnered together in a church-planting movement. This excites me, because it speaks to our union and communion with the triune God, and our participation in what Jesus is doing in the power of the Spirit to fulfill the Father’s mission to the world. I’m confident this church planting focus will excite you too, as together we participate in the mission of God.
Living in his reality, Joseph Tkach
P.S. This issue focuses on our calling to participate in God’s mission to the world. Gary Deddo addresses this topic as he concludes his series on the Holy Spirit, and note Dan Rogers’ comments on the topic in a video at http://youtu.be/oXF4uMNZb0k. Concerning our progress toward being a church planting movement, I recently participated in the first anniversary celebration at Grace Communion Fellowship. This GCI congregation was planted in Southern California a year ago by Angie and Saddie Tabin, with active participation from CMM and multiple GCI congregations partnered in one of our church planting networks. About 100 people attended the anniversary celebration—here are some pictures:
While it is with a heavy heart that I share with you that our brother John Halford lost his battle with cancer, I rejoice that the battle is over and John has won the race. Click here for related information, including an announcement from John’s daughter, Becki Halford Brown. In this letter, I’ll share several tributes to our dear friend and colleague.
I first met John when I was 14, living in Pasadena, California. John and his wife Pat were our neighbors. One day I was doing gardening chores and John stopped to talk with me. I was a bit amazed that he took notice. Most adults seemed to believe that children are to be seen, not heard. John made a comment about the good work I was doing, shared a few thoughts, then went on. Who would have guessed that I’d be working with John many years later, first learning from him and then serving as his boss (though I’ve never felt anyone could truly be John’s boss!). It’s been a blessing beyond words to know John since my youth, and to worked so closely with him the past several years.
John’s impact on our denomination was vast. He is perhaps best known for the many insightful, thought-provoking articles he wrote for our publications, often finding stories in places no one else would even look. John served as editor and/or adviser for many of our international publications and his expertise will be greatly missed. John’s service to the church also included serving as head of campaigns in Australia and regional director in the UK. He also taught at Ambassador University and Imperial Schools and worked for The World Tomorrow program for a number of years.
I visited John a couple of weeks ago while he was still in the hospital. We shared stories and prayed together. Though he couldn’t communicate much, he still tried to get me and others in the room to laugh. Humor was one of his greatest gifts. What struck me most during the visit was hearing the many stories that came in from around the world from people in whose lives John made a personal investment. John encouraged many Ambassador students to participate in one of our international projects (in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Jordan and China). Many of these former students shared how his encouragement made the difference. They now feel they can never repay John for the support he so freely gave them. As an example, John recently encouraged two young women, Carrie Smith and Kayla (Shallenberger) Elliott, to travel to Africa where they taught school for six months. Both benefited greatly, crediting John for making a big difference in their lives.
Chugait Garmolgomut, a former Ambassador student who lives in Thailand, shared how John’s investment in him inspired Chugait to start a school. Over the years one school became many, and John participated in the dedication of several (see picture below). Chugait says that he owes it all to John and his investment in him. Chugait is working on a new project that will honor John and his investment (it’s too early to share the details).
Rick Shallenberger, John’s pastor for the past 12 years, has compiled testimonies from people around the world who have been deeply impacted by John. Rick recently shared some of them with me and his congregation, showing how one person can make a big difference in the lives of many. Rick read many of them to John while he was bedridden. As John listened to one, he looked at Rick and said, “Amazing.” Rick replied, “John, you are amazed because you didn’t see yourself as doing anything out of the ordinary and you weren’t trying to impress anyone. You were simply being the person God created you to be.” John smiled and nodded. Here are several of those tributes:
– From Mike Feazell (recently retired as GCI vice-president):
John has, I expect, simply by being himself, generated more goodwill and had more positive impact on the widest range of people than any other single person in the annals of WCG/GCI. He is much loved and will be sorely missed. A mentor, a colleague and a friend.
– From Jeff Broadnax (GCI pastor in Columbus, Ohio):
John richly invested in me, empowered me, believed in me and has spent my entire adult life blessing me and challenging me to see with the fresh eyes that God provides. There are few people on the planet who have touched my life as much as John Halford. He means so much to my family and me. He not only officiated at our wedding 27 years ago, he never stopped supporting us.
– From Rod Matthews (GCI mission developer for Asia and the South Pacific):
I have known John for 47 years. He was one of God’s exceptional gifts to our fellowship, and his legacy resides in thousands of lives around the world, mine especially. I owe him much as a very personal and loyal friend, mentor, encourager and guide. He would have no idea how much he taught me, or how he helped me learn to see through masks, and to develop discernment. And I so much enjoyed his capacity to bring down the high, and lift up the poor. Our senses of humor were very compatible.
John had a brilliant, unshackled and exploring mind, coupled with unmatched skills in communicating with common men and women, a remarkable capacity to utilize repartee and humor to highlight truth and reality in the midst of swirling mists of ideas, facts and personal agendas. He excelled at cross-cultural relationships, always upholding those in need of support, seeing potential and opportunities with uncanny accuracy. His perceptive wisdom and experience helped build and enhance our mission activities—especially in the UK, Europe, Australia and Asia where he had lived and served. Many of us are staring down a very big hole in our lives right now. May God’s comfort and blessings, including the ‘hugs’ of our worldwide family be with Pat, Becki, Judy and their families.
– From James Henderson (GCI mission developer for Europe and the UK):
John, one day you’ll read this and I think you’ll laugh because it sounds over the top and perhaps too sentimental. You’ll no doubt want to edit it, and you’d do so seamlessly and beautifully. You’ll probably say: “What was all the fuss about?’ Tears are streaming down our faces as we compose this message. Who would have thought that all over the world people are crying over you right now? You touched so many lives.
C.S. Lewis said that grief is part of the joy of having known someone, and it’s been such a joy to know you. Thanks for being who you are. Thanks for being a friend in good times and in bad. I remember our early morning walks together at conferences when we’d have coffee and share each other’s views about what was going on. You’d keep me grounded and help me see things more clearly. We’d laugh a lot. Your incisive mind saw the funny side of life, and you had a knack of bringing this out in your speaking and writing. You drew us in through your wit and held us captive while you made your point. You’d challenge the way we think. You wrote your words on our hearts and minds, and they are still there.
So many people have personal stories about you. They have anecdotes to tell of what you did for them or of what you said to them. You were kind. You’d help others behind the scenes, away from public view. You were gentle and comforting to those in distress. You reached out to the underdogs when others abandoned them. Your compassion was tangible. Of course, like most of us, you could be argumentative, and infuriatingly so at times, but that was the fun of knowing you. Always your Christianity and humanity shone through. Shirley and I love you and we miss you already.
– From Charles Fleming(GCI mission developer for the Caribbean):
Truly a loss to many of us. John was a larger than life presence among us. I cherish many memories of our times together over the years as we negotiated our renewal period and moved into this wonderful season of peace. May the Lord’s peace be with Pat and the family.
One person shared how a single encounter with John changed him. He and John were walking in a park when they came upon a clearly drunk man. John’ companion referred to the man as “scum,” to which John replied, “And a child of God!” John was like that—he looked on each person as valuable and worthy of respect and investment. We praise God that John invested in so many.
Many other tributes can be read on John’s Facebook page. Many of us could add our own, telling how John invested in our lives, or made us laugh. One of John’s great gifts was his ability to find humor in almost any situation, then make people laugh about it. On one occasion he said he couldn’t understand why the greatest spiritual gift was not listed in Scripture—the gift of wit and sarcasm. Perhaps God saved that gift for John. Through his infectious humor and in many other ways, John had a great impact in our lives. As Rick noted, he did so simply being the person God created him to be. I pray that we will do so as well.
John’s daughters shared with me that their father always taught them to be genuine and to pay attention to others. I think that’s good advice for us all. We need to use the gifts and talents God has given us to invest in the lives of others. Even when those investments are relatively small, they can make big differences in the lives of many. Most of us will be as surprised as John was when we start to see the fruit of those investments.
John’s memory will live long in our lives, and may his example live even longer.
Always praising God for relationships, Joseph Tkach
I’ve often heard worship leaders begin a service by declaring, “God is good,” to which the congregation replies, “all the time.” “And all the time,” the leader continues, to which the audience replies, “God is good.” This statement about God is, of course, true. Most Christians believe it fervently. But many, in the privacy of their own thoughts, wonder, “If God truly is good, why is there so much pain in the world?” It’s difficult to reconcile belief in God’s goodness with the presence of pain in the world, even if we believe that, in the end, our good Creator gives the kingdom of heaven as the ultimate solution to pain.
Though I can’t address all aspects of this challenging topic in one letter, here is some food for thought.
First, we note that evil, the opposite of God’s goodness and source of much of the pain in the world, originates with Satan, “the father of lies” (John 8:44). As the deceiver and destroyer, Satan is vehemently opposed to God and likes to get others to join with him—we see his tactics at work in the Garden of Eden where Satan led humankind into sin, resulting in the fall. Today, Satan continues to sow the seeds of deceit and distrust toward God because he knows the only way for us to escape evil is to respond to God’s love toward us in Jesus through the Spirit. The good news is that Satan is a defeated foe. Jesus, the Victor, conquered Satan and thus the evil he brings (Colossians 2:15). But in accordance with God’s good plan for humankind, Satan’s influence continues for a time.
C.S. Lewis (photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Not understanding this reality, people often frame the problem of pain with questions that lead to false conclusions. For example, an agnostic might ask, “What was God doing during the Holocaust of World War II—was he taking a coffee break?” Or, “If God is all-knowing and all-powerful, why does he allow suffering to continue—and at seemingly higher levels of repetition?” In his book The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis frames the agnostic objection this way:
If God were good, he would wish to make his creatures perfectly happy, and if God were almighty he would be able to do what he wished. But the creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either goodness, or power, or both.
In addressing this objection, Lewis shines the light of Christ on the problem of pain. He does so out of his own personal encounter with Christ during times of suffering in which he came to understand that there is much more to the story than often realized. He learned that God is not finished with us—he has a good plan for humankind, one that makes place for pain in ways that ultimately bring forth good, not evil. Lewis addressed that plan in one of the most-often quoted passages in the book:
Used with permission: Chris Cantrell, chronologyofchris.wordpress.com
Lewis knew that making things right in the world requires far more than magic or fairy dust; far more than making people into mindless puppets. Instead, it requires transformation of our very natures and our relationship with God. God needs to get our attention to accomplish in us the deep and lasting good that he desires for all his creation.
Sadly, some misunderstand God’s love to be nothing more than a cosmic kindness that would never allow pain. But we face pain because of God’s love, because of his ultimate plan for us—to live in relationship with him, sharing in the communion of the Father, Son and Spirit. The truth is that God is conforming us to the image of Jesus—a transformation that involves pain as we let go of ourselves, of making ourselves the center of everything, and of insisting on having things our way, and so coming to see his way is good and leads to life. So first we need to see that the love and goodness of God are more than an escape from suffering any pain.
We must also recognize that pain is not totally evil. Pain is helpful in that it is a built-in warning system that something is wrong. If living things did not have pain, they would have a difficult time surviving. Pain teaches us that we are not self-sufficient, and that we cannot always do things our way. Pain stops us from hurting ourselves further. We learn through experience that pain can be positive as well as negative.
When I go to the dentist and he numbs my mouth to do a root canal, I feel the pain of the numbing shot. But I am grateful because the minor pain I feel from the shot is not comparable to the pain I would feel if he did the root canal without the shot. The minor pain saves me from far greater pain. Moreover, I am then reminded (warned) if I eat anything shortly after the root canal, I need to chew carefully, because with all that numbness, I could chew my tongue up in the process.
Pain is real, but to think of all pain as evil completely misses the point of pain. Pain gets our attention. It opens our eyes to a reality we may be missing. It can motivate us to look at our relationship with God and ask if we are moving closer to him or farther away. Pain often helps prevent further pain. It can get us to look beyond the present and see what we need to do to stop the pain from becoming worse. Knowing that God is good, we can surmise that God’s definition of goodness includes human pain. Recognizing this helps us to see that the existence of pain in the world is not a credible argument for the non-existence or non-beneficence of God.
Pain often occurs because of wrong choices and wrong behavior. Sometimes (perhaps often) those choices are made by others and are beyond our control. But the purpose is still the same: pain opens our minds to see a new reality we might be missing. Our way does not work. Life without God is not the answer. Life without love is not the answer. God is continually getting us to focus on the answer—Jesus and his way. Jesus suffered and went through pain for us in order to help us look past the pain and toward him. The author of Hebrews put it like this; “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:18).
Of course, Satan tries to keep people from responding to God’s love. One of his tactics is to lead people into believing that pain in the world is caused by the only one who can remove it. When we are tempted to ask, “Where is God?” we do well to remember that God, being omnipresent, is always with us when we are in pain. Note these words from the apostle Peter: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:12-13). And note these words from the apostle Paul: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5).
Jesus said his sacrifice would set us free—free from guilt and shame; free from fear and anxiety; and ultimately free from tears and pain. Our faith and prayer has an impact on our quality of life. In the midst of our most difficult times, we can be assured that our pain is not pointless. We can trust that God has a great purpose for our suffering. Pain isn’t pleasant, but its purpose is always to get us to look to God. He promises a time when there will be no more pain and suffering (Revelation 21:4), when evil is entirely eradicated and all things are made new.
Trusting God’s greater purpose, Joseph Tkach
P.S. October is clergy appreciation month in the U.S. Though all of us at the GCI office in Glendora are grateful for our pastors every month and day of the year, we extend special thanks this month (click on the link under “announcements,” above left).
Today’s common wisdom says we must strive to make a name for ourselves in order to meet our own needs. It seems there is an insatiable search for personal identity and significance. But Jesus said this: “Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39). As a church fellowship we’ve learned this truth well. Since 2009 our name, Grace Communion International, has pointed to our true identity and significance, which are found in Christ, not in ourselves. Let’s unpack each word to see what it conveys.
Grace
Grace is the first word in our name because it perfectly describes our individual and collective journey to God in Jesus Christ by the Spirit. “It is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved” (Acts 15:11). We are justified by grace “through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). By grace, God gives us, in Christ, a share in his own righteousness—his right relationship. The Bible consistently teaches that the gospel is a message about God’s grace (Acts 14:3; 20:24, 32).
God has always related to humanity on the basis of his grace and truth. While the law was an expression of those qualities, God’s grace and truth have their full expression in Jesus. We are saved by the grace of God in Jesus Christ, not by keeping the law. The law, by which every human is condemned, is not God’s final word—Jesus is. He is the complete and personal revelation of God’s grace and truth freely given for humanity.
Even though our condemnation under the law is just and right, since we all fall short, God is not a prisoner of his law and justice. God operates in perfect divine freedom according to his will, which first and foremost is one of grace and redemption. The apostle Paul put it this way: “If righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:21). The only alternative, wrote Paul in verse 21, is “the grace of God.” Rather than a commodity that can be quantified and handed over like a package, grace is the living, active kindness of God by which he pursues and transforms human hearts and minds. In his letter to the churches in Rome, Paul wrote that the only thing we are able to gain through our own efforts is “the wages of sin,” which is “death.” That’s the bad news. But the very good news (the gospel!) is that “the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23 NASB). Jesus is God’s grace, he is God’s salvation freely given for all.
Communion
Communion is the second word in our name because we are called into genuine relationship with the Father through the Son in the communion of the Holy Spirit. In Christ we have real communion with God and one another. James Torrance put it this way: “The triune God is in the business of creating community, in such a way that we are never more truly human, never more truly persons, than when we find our true being in communion” (Worship, Community and the Triune God of Grace, p. 74).
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one being in perfect communion, and Jesus prayed that his disciples would share in that relationship and reflect it to the world (John 14:20; 17:23). The apostle John defined this fellowship as being rooted in love, which John defines as the eternal communion of the Father, Son and Spirit. True fellowship is being in communion with Christ in the love of the Father by the Holy Spirit (1 John 4:8).
It often is said that being a Christian is about a personal relationship with Jesus. The Bible uses several analogies to describe that relationship. One is of a lord (master) relating to his slave. Though this analogy is correct (we should honor, reverence and obey our perfect and good Lord, Jesus Christ), it is not the only nor the predominant picture. Jesus said to his followers: “I no longer call you servants [slaves], because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends” (John 15:15). Another picture of this relationship is of a father relating to his children (John 1:12-13). Reaching back into the Old Testament, Jesus used the analogy of a bridegroom relating to his bride (Matthew 9:15) and Paul wrote about a husband relating to his wife (Ephesians 5). In the book of Hebrews Jesus is said to unashamedly call us his brothers and sisters (Hebrews 2:11). All these images—slave, friend, child, spouse, sibling—convey the idea of deep, positive personal belonging to each other. But these are mere images. Our Triune God is the Source and the Reality of this relationship—this communion. It is a fellowship that he graciously shares with us, mere creatures.
Jesus prayed that we would be with him where he is, for eternity, enjoying his glory (John 17:24). In that prayer he invited us to participate in his communion with the Father and to be in communion with one another. When Jesus ascended, he took us—those he calls his friends—with him into the communion he shares with the Father and the Spirit. Paul says there is a way, by the Holy Spirit, in which we are now seated with the ascended Christ in the presence of the Father (Ephesians 2:6). We can begin to experience this communion with God and with one another here and now, though its fullness comes when Christ returns to fully reveal and establish his rule and reign. For all these reasons, communion is an important part of who we are as a church. Our identity, now and forever, is in Christ and in the communion that God shares as Father, Son and Spirit.
International
International is the third word in our name because GCI is truly an international community. Our community reaches across racial, cultural and national boundaries; indeed, it reaches around the world. Though we are small in number, we have members in every state in the U.S., as well as in Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and the islands of the Pacific. We have more than 50,000 members in more than 70 countries formed into more than 900 churches.
God has drawn us together in this international fellowship. It’s a blessing that we are large enough to have opportunities to work together, yet small enough that those opportunities can be personal. In GCI, friendships are continually built across national and cultural boundaries that more often than not create division in our world. That’s surely a sign of God’s grace!
As a church fellowship, Grace Communion International is dedicated to living and sharing the gospel wherever God places us. Experiencing the richness of his freely-given grace and love motivates us to share the gospel with others. We want others to enjoy the same relationship that we enjoy with Jesus Christ. We cannot keep this precious understanding a secret. We want all to know God’s grace and to share in his triune communion. This is the message God has given us to share with the world. Thus, we are Grace Communion International.
Living in his identity and significance, Joseph Tkach
PS: I encourage our pastors and teachers to give occasional sermons that unpack the meaning of our name—I hope my letter will give you some ideas. For some additional ideas on the topic of our true identity see a previous Update post at https://update.gci.org/2014/07/our-true-identity/.
For many years, I fasted on Yom Kippur, the Jewish High Day referred to as the Day of Atonement. I did so wrongly thinking that abstaining from food and drink on that day was reconciling me to God. Many of you recall that erroneous reasoning. But no matter how it was presented to us at the time, fasting on Yom Kippur for that purpose meant trying to maintain our Atonement (at-one-ment) with God through our own works. We were practicing a religious system of grace plus works—one that overlooked the reality that Jesus is our Atonement.
Perhaps you recall my letter from two weeks ago concerning Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year celebration referred to as the Feast of Trumpets. I noted that Jesus has blown the trumpet once and for all, and that he is the head of the year—indeed, the head of all time. As the fulfillment of God’s covenant with Israel (the old covenant), Jesus, the creator of time, changed all time, forever. This is the new covenant perspective on Rosh Hashanah. And when we view Yom Kippur with new covenant eyes, we understand that Jesus is our Atonement. As is the case with all of Israel’s worship festivals, the Day of Atonement points to the person and work of Jesus for our salvation. He is the embodiment of ancient Israel’s worship system.
Though we now understand that the Hebrew calendar pointed forward to Jesus’ coming, and thus is now obsolete because Jesus has come and inaugurated the new covenant, we acknowledge that God used that calendar to help us see who Jesus truly is. Today, our focus is on the four major “Christ events”—the birth, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Yom Kippur pointed forward to Jesus’ death. When we seek to understand what the New Testament teaches us concerning that death, we bear in mind the Old Testament patterns of understanding and worship provided within God’s covenant with Israel (the old covenant). We do this because Jesus said that it all testifies about him (John 5:39-40).
In other words, Jesus is the lens through which we properly interpret the entire Bible. We interpret the Old Testament (which includes the old covenant) through the lens of the New Testament (with its new covenant fulfilled in Jesus Christ). If we do this interpreting in the reverse order, we end up with false ideas like thinking that the New Covenant does not begin until Jesus’ return. That was a fundamental error in Herbert Armstrong’s reasoning, and the reason that he focused so much on the worship calendar of Israel. He wrongly believed that we were in a time between the old and new covenants, and thus still obligated to observe the sacred Hebrew calendar.
During his earthly ministry, Jesus explained the temporary nature of Israel’s worship system. Even though God gave Israel a specific pattern of worship to follow, Jesus taught that it would change through himself. He emphasized this in the conversation he had with a woman at a well in Samaria (John 4:1-25). To paraphrase Jesus, he told her that the worship of the people of God would no longer have a physical, material center in Jerusalem or any other geographical location. In another place he promised that wherever two or three would gather in his name, he would be present in their midst (Matthew 18:20). Jesus told the Samaritan woman that there would no longer be such thing as a single “holy place” at the conclusion of his earthly ministry. Note his words to her:
“A time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem…. A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth…” (John 4:21-24).
With this statement, Jesus was eliminating the significance of Israel’s worship system—a system described in the Law of Moses (the old covenant). Jesus did so because he embodied, and thus fulfilled, that system since almost every aspect of it was, in one way or another, centered on the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus’ statement to the Samaritan woman indicates that a wide range of worship practices are no longer required in the same literal way. If Jesus’ true worshipers would not be worshiping at Jerusalem, they could not be taking their cues for worship as it was established in the Law of Moses, since that worship system was dependent on the existence and use of the physical building of the temple.
So, as we pass beyond the Old Testament language to Jesus himself, we move from the shadows into the reality. That means allowing the person of Jesus and his work as the one Mediator between God and humanity to shape our understanding of the Atonement. As the Son of God, Jesus came into the situation long prepared for him in Israel and acted critically and creatively to fulfill the entire old covenant, including the Day of Atonement. In the book Incarnation,the Person and Life of Christ,T.F. Torrance explains how Jesus accomplished our Atonement with God:
Jesus did not repudiate the preaching of John the Baptist, the proclamation of judgment: on the contrary he continued it, and as we have seen he searched the soul of man with the fire of divine judgment, but in Jesus that is subsidiary to—and only arises out of—the gospel of grace and vicarious suffering and atonement. In the incarnate life of Jesus, and above all in his death, God does not execute his judgment on evil simply by smiting it violently away by a stroke of his hand, but by entering into it from within, into the very heart of the blackest evil, and making its sorrow and guilt and suffering his own. And it is because it is God himself who enters in, in order to let the whole of human evil go over him, that his intervention in meekness has violent and explosive force. It is the very power of God. And so the cross with all its indelible meekness and patience and compassion is no deed of passive and beautiful heroism simply, but the most potent and aggressive deed that heaven and earth have ever known: the attack of God’s holy love upon the inhumanity of man and the tyranny of evil, upon all the piled up contradiction of sin (p. 150).
Viewing the Atonement solely as a legal transaction related to “getting right with God” leads to a flawed understanding that, sadly, many Christians hold to in our time. Such a view misses the depth of what Jesus has already accomplished on our behalf. As sinners, we are in need of more than mere freedom from the penalty of sin. We need sin itself to be dealt a deathblow and thus eradicated from our nature.
That is exactly what Jesus did. Rather than just dealing with the symptoms of our sin, he went to the cause of it in a way very much like the title of one of Baxter Kruger’s booklets indicates: The Undoing of Adam. This title speaks of what Jesus actually accomplished in reconciling us to the Father. Yes, Jesus paid the penalty for our sin. But he did far more—he performed “cosmic surgery.” He gave our fallen, sin-sick humanity a heart transplant! That new heart is a heart of reconciliation. It is the heart of Jesus—the one who as both God and man is the one Mediator and High Priest, our Savior and elder brother. Through the Holy Spirit, just as God promised through the prophets Ezekiel and Joel, Jesus creates new life in our dry bones, giving us new hearts. In him, we are a new creation!
Last week was an important and positive milestone in the history and future of GCI. Thirty-three men and women gathered in Dallas, Texas to finalize a new structure for our U.S. Church Administration and Development (CAD) team. That structure will be implemented in January 2015. In early October, we’ll announce the details in a letter to all U.S. pastors and provide a summary here in GCI Weekly Update.
A highlight of the Dallas gathering occurred when CAD director Dan Rogers “passed the baton” of CAD leadership to Greg Williams (see picture at left). Greg will become the new CAD director when Dan retires at the end of this year. During the ceremony, Dan quoted Paul’s words to his protégé Timothy: “You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:1-2).
As depicted in the cartoon below, our plans sometimes (often?) don’t work out as initially envisioned. What looked like “smooth sailing” on the drawing board, eventually collides with unforeseen reality. However, as we follow the Spirit into and through that reality, we have assurance that he will lead us into the fullness of God’s plans for us. I’m particularly grateful for the way the Spirit has led us through what have been remarkably smooth leadership transitions. Those include the recent hand-off from Dan to Greg and the leadership transitions occurring in several of our congregations where senior pastors reaching retirement are handing the baton of lead pastor to others. My thanks to all involved!
Greg and Susan Williams arrived here in Glendora this week (moving from North Carolina) and Dan and Barbara Rogers are relocating to Henderson, Nevada. We pray for smooth transitions for both couples and also for the rest of the CAD team as the new structure is implemented. God has answered in wonderfully positive ways our many prayers for these transitions. We continue to pray about and plan for additional transitions as the “age wave” washes over our fellowship. Many of our denominational leaders and lead pastors are mentoring their replacements. For that I extend my deep gratitude.
One of the reasons these transitions are going so smoothly is that the Spirit has led us to focus on relationships as the foundation of our ministry. Doing so is vital, for if our ministry practice would fail to line up with our theology, we’d be nothing but the intolerable noise that Paul warned about: “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1).
Relationships grounded in God’s love are the heart and core of our participation in ministry with the relational, Triune God of love. I’m convinced that our relational approach to ministry is the reason many independent churches in far-flung locations around the world have recently joined us, and many more desire to do so. In thinking about this, I’m reminded of a favorite phrase of my dad’s: “We are family.” He used that phrase to speak about unity in our church—unity that was not just about doctrine or practice, but about loving, family-like relationships. I envision my dad and Herbert Armstrong watching us from heaven, rejoicing with the Father, Son and Spirit in our progress. I too rejoice in seeing our continuing journey from “survival mode” to “maintenance mode” and then to following the Spirit into “missional mode”—active participation with Jesus in the Father’s mission to the world. That amazing transformation is ongoing.
From an organizational perspective, churches have life-cycles that end, on average, after about 70 years. Some have wondered if GCI’s life-cycle is about to end. But God apparently has a different plan for us. We believe that his desire is that we live on as a denomination with a missional focus—a church joined with Jesus in his ministry to the world. Living into God’s plan for us is giving us new life (a new life-cycle?). I believe that as our congregations embrace this missional focus, many will be reborn.
Thinking about this reminds me of good news/bad news jokes about life and death. Here are two:
Doctor: I have some good news and I have some bad news. Patient: What’s the good news? Doctor: The good news is that the tests you took showed that you have 24 hours to live. Patient: That’s the good news? What’s the bad news? Doctor: The bad news is that I forgot to call you yesterday!
Gallery Owner: I have some good news and some bad news. Artist: What’s the good news? Gallery Owner: The good news is that a man came in here today asking if the price of your paintings would go up after you die. When I told him they would, he bought every one of your paintings. Artist: That’s great! What’s the bad news? Gallery Owner: The bad news is that man was your doctor!
Here’s a good news/bad news joke of my own. It speaks to our growth and development as a denomination:
Me: I have some good news and bad news. Reporter: What’s the good news? Me: GCI is growing all over the world. Reporter: What’s the bad news? Me: Some feel too old and too tired to grow.
All churches contend with good news/bad news realities. As a result, some will grow numerically and some will not. Some will have active youth ministries and some will not. We do not expect every congregation to be the same and we realize that some will close in the years ahead. That’s nothing to be ashamed of and when one closes, we celebrate their faithful participation in what God has done in and through them. We also realize that our congregations will continue to differ in abilities and resources to participate in mission. But no matter what the limitations, each and every congregation is an important partner in what God is doing in, with and through GCI (I’ll write more on this in the near future).
I thank God that because we have followed the lead of the Spirit in mission, there is much good news to celebrate and more on the way. Several GCI church plants are “in the works” in various places around the world. Church Multiplication Ministries (CMM) recently updated us about GCI church planting activity in the U.S. Here from mission developer Kalengule Kaoma is a list of new GCI churches in Africa:
Liberia: seven new churches (several more in process)
Burundi: five new churches
Rwanda: one new church (plus four possibilities)
Uganda: four new churches (10 in the works)
Tanzania: fifteen new churches (plus 15 more in the works)
Ghana: one new church
Kenya: five new churches (with numerous others in the discussion phase). Also in Kenya, eight leaders representing several Sabbatarian churches have asked for a one-week long teaching conference on the topic of grace.
God has called us to live and share the gospel. That is the mission in which we all are partners. Thank you for your part, including your prayers for growth and for additional smooth transitions.
This week most of us in the U.S. will celebrate Thanksgiving. This annual holiday isn’t unique to us here—many other countries have Thanksgiving celebrations. Though rituals and customs differ, the reason is pretty much the same—to give thanks to God. In the U.S., Thanksgiving Day rituals include a turkey dinner with all the trimmings—according to the National Turkey Federation, 95% of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving.
