Category: Hear From the President

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I marvel at the way God created humanity in his own image, giving us rich and vivid imaginations and creativity. We can use this power of imagination and creativity to the praise and honor of God. Unfortunately, some use their God-given abilities to imagine God does not exist and they try to find ever more creative ways to prove it.

There have always been people who do not believe in God. However, in recent years, a small group who refer to themselves as the “New Atheists,” have been growing in influence. Writers like Daniel Dennet, Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris have become household names. They are vociferous in insisting that God does not exist and they ridicule anyone who believes otherwise. Some of the New Atheists are highly educated and advance what seem to be persuasive arguments. This can be disconcerting to believers, but it should not be. In fact, there is nothing new about their “new” arguments.

I have read many of the New Atheists’ books. They are usually well written, and some are quite entertaining, although others cannot disguise their anger. However, they share a common fault.

These atheists attack theism (belief in God) on the grounds that you cannot prove scientifically, beyond any doubt, that God exists. While that may be true, it does not mean the atheists have won the argument. Their job is to prove that God does not exist. If they are to be successful, they must offer a convincing and scientifically viable alternative to “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

That does not give us an excuse to hide behind the simplistic arguments of Christian fundamentalism. Our astounding advances in understanding the natural world certainly take the question of where it all came from to new levels of sophistication. However, we still cannot explain how “something” came out of “nothing.” There have been some imaginative and creative ideas, but that is all they are. There is not a shred of genuine evidence to support them.

Richard Dawkins is perhaps the best known of the New Atheists. He is a distinguished professor and scientist at Oxford University and has written several books arguing for atheism. According to Dawkins, belief in God is silly. In interviews, he says on a scale of one to seven, with one being 100% certainty in the existence of God and seven being 100% certainty that he does not exist, he places himself at six. Hmm—that actually makes him an agnostic rather than an atheist.

Before we say, “I told you so!” Dawkins explains: “I am agnostic only to the extent that I am agnostic about fairies at the bottom of the garden.” However, that sidesteps the question. His task is not to prove there are no fairies at the bottom of his garden. It is to prove conclusively that God does not exist.

Dawkins does not even interact with the arguments for God’s existence. It appears that his most formidable retort is “if God designed the universe, then who designed God?” While that might be, for an agnostic, a reasonable question, it is not a knockout blow to belief in God. In fact, it’s the wrong question (a category mistake) because such a question assumes that God is a creation, a creature—and the Christian God is not. His question is like asking, “What color is the number five?” Dawkins’ anger against religion often seems to cloud his judgment and his work is faulted scientifically by his own peers—both Christian and non-Christian.

Another New Atheist, Daniel Dennett tries to explain religion in terms of evolutionary theory. He fits into the broad tradition of naturalist explanations of religion, a tradition that includes Ludwig Feuerbach, Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud. Dennett believes that the benefits of religion originate entirely inside human minds. He asserts that there are no spiritual realities existing inside or outside of us. He advances naturalist explanations for the origins of the belief in God and gods. It is the same old circular argument, which presupposes its conclusions. Since only natural things exist then any explanation for a supposed supernatural God must be the product of purely natural causes. Dennett builds upon a suggestion of his angry fellow, Richard Dawkins, that something they call “memes” exist. These are ideas or concepts or beliefs that arise and then are passed on to others. Like genes, memes are assumed to act like a sort of cultural genetic replicator that keeps us believing in God.

Most scientists say that there is no evidence for these things. As pointed out by Simon Conway Morris, professor of evolutionary paleobiology at Cambridge, memes seem to have no place in serious scientific reflection. “Memes are trivial, to be banished by simple mental exercises. In any wider context, they are hopelessly, if not hilariously, simplistic.”

The New Atheists have convinced themselves that all Christians are trapped in false belief. They don’t like it when the flaws in their own reasoning are pointed out. They like it even less when that criticism comes from their own ranks. The late philosophy professor, Anthony Flew, had been a leading champion of atheism for more than a half-century. But in one of his last books, he came to a scientific conclusion that atheism is not logically sustainable. He held on to a kind of deism and did not go all the way and embrace the God of the Bible, but I imagine he does now.

The existence (or not) of the God of the Bible does not stand or fall on scientific proof that begins and ends with nature or creation. God is not interested in having his existence demonstrated as the result of a successful experiment. He wants a successful relationship with us as our Creator and Reconciler, and he proved himself to us through the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Our eternal relationship is secure in him. And—however much the New Atheists might deny it—so is theirs.

Your brother in Christ’s service,

Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

You probably know about the 1815 Battle of New Orleans, in which the Americans resoundingly defeated the British. But do you know that this battle was fought two weeks after the signing of a peace treaty ending the War of 1812?

News traveled slowly 200 years ago—but not today! We are kept on constant alert about everything and anything. Competing news channels are desperate to attract and keep our attention. They try to convince us that we have a right—even a duty—to be informed, and they feed us a steady stream of “breaking news.”

In this hyped-up media environment, an international crisis or major natural disaster must compete for attention with “news” that Lady Gaga has gained 15 pounds. Accuracy and objectivity are often casualties. Reality TV confronts us with the bizarre and offbeat. Entire channels are devoted to fringe diets and fads. You don’t know what to believe!

This barrage of media keeps many in a state of tension and anxiety. According to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), anxiety disorders have increased 1,200 percent since 1980. That year it was estimated that 2 to 4% of Americans were suffering from an anxiety disorder. A 2009 study put the figure at 49.5% (about 117 million adults)!

I suspect that one reason for this increase is the increase in the number of 24/7 news programs on radio and TV. In the 40-minute drive from my home to the office, I can hear several news stories repeated, each time with slightly more “information” than before. It is as if I am being force fed the news, like a goose being prepared for pâté de foie gras. So I often find peace by turning off the news. It is not that I want to stick my head in the sand. On the contrary, I find I need to get my mind above all the trivia and conflicting details so that I can see the big picture.

And whenever we talk about the big picture, our focus returns to Jesus. Focusing on him isn’t religious escapism–he was and is a real person in time and space. Jesus pitched his tent with humanity when he became human. And now, following his death, resurrection and ascension, he lives in us. Unlike the shifting priorities of the media, Jesus is “the same, yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

It is certainly appropriate to call Jesus the Lord of history. He is a source of information that we can rely on, as we struggle to make sense of our frustrating and uncertain times. He promised us peace, but not as the world gives it (John 14:27).

In view of Jesus’ Lordship, the apostle Paul confidently gave this advice: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7). Peter gave similar advice: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

My comfort and peace comes in knowing the good news, and by this, I mean the genuine, cosmic good news of what Jesus has already done. The Gospel confronts us with that reality—not the contrived hype of so-called Reality TV.

I pray daily for the peace that transcends understanding to be upon you all, my brothers and sisters in Christ.

In Christ’s service,

Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This week, in the US, we will celebrate the national holiday of Thanksgiving. Though not a biblical holiday, Thanksgiving is most certainly a biblical idea. Most Christians, whether or not they live in the US, celebrate Thanksgiving more often than perhaps they realize.

A celebration common to Christians is the ceremony or sacrament we call Communion or the Lord’s Supper. Some churches call this the Eucharist, from the Greek word εὐχαριστία (eucharistia), which means—you guessed it—thanksgiving. So wherever we are, and whoever we are, when we take the symbols of the body and blood of Jesus, we are giving thanks and celebrating our life in Christ.

Here is something else you may find interesting. As you know, the simple ceremony we call the Lord’s Supper has its roots in the Jewish Passover. Part of the traditional Jewish Passover celebration is to sing a hymn titled Dayenu, (from a Hebrew word that means, essentially, “it would have been enough”). With fifteen stanzas, Dayenu recounts the saving acts of God in Israel’s history—parting the Red Sea, giving the Sabbath, completing the Temple, etc. The idea is that if God had given just one of these many blessings, “it would have been enough.”

God’s interventions in Israel’s history are powerful reminders of his saving actions on behalf of us all through Jesus Christ. Just as God saved Israel in parting the Red Sea, he saved us, through Christ, from drowning in our sin. Just as he gave Israel the Sabbath, he gave us rest in our new life in Christ. And just as he completed the Temple by taking up residence in it, Christ lives in us through the Holy Spirit. This being so, we too can say, “if he had only given us one of these many blessings, it would have been enough.”

Our national Thanksgiving Day is a good time to stop and say our own version of Dayenu—acknowledging that God has done “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20). God the Father gave his Son, the one of whom he said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). In obedience to the Father, Jesus went to the cross, was crucified, died and was buried. Then Jesus rose from the grave, defeated death and ascended to the Father, taking us with him!

I believe that God, who did all this, continues to move on our behalf, far beyond anything we can imagine. And while there is benefit in reading about God’s interventions in ancient Israel, we should often reflect on the mercies of Jesus Christ in our lives now. Just as Jews sing a rising crescendo of thanksgiving with Dayenu, may our gratitude as Christians be a crescendo of thanks to the one who is worthy of our praise.

As we contemplate our Thanksgiving meals, I am reminded of a poem, in the form of a prayer, attributed to Scotland’s favorite poet, Robert Burns:

Some hae meat and canna eat,

And some wad eat that want it;

But we hae meat, and we can eat,

Sae let the Lord be thankit.

I pray that you all have an enjoyable and inspiring Thanksgiving holiday,

Your brother in Christ’s service,

Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Gary Deddo, who recently joined us as a full-time employee, has been a speaker at more than a dozen of our regional conferences. Gary told me recently that when he and his wife Cathy go to one of these conferences they feel like they are attending a class reunion.

I have often had others tell me this. Perhaps we are used to it and thus take it for granted. So it is always good to hear it from someone who is new to our fellowship. It is a strong characteristic of our denomination—we like each other and enjoy being together. We take our work together seriously, but that does not mean we should not have fun.

God created us to be relational beings and relating to others has always been and still is at the heart of Grace Communion International. I notice this as I travel, both around the United States and internationally. After all, our vision statement is “all kinds of churches for all kinds of people in all kinds of places.” I pray that all our congregations reflect that vision.

Many studies have sought to pinpoint what leads visitors to return to a church. A key factor is the friendliness of the people. This is reflected in the experience of a man who visited eighteen churches on successive Sundays, seeking to learn what these churches were really like. Here is his report:

“I sat near the front. After the service, I walked slowly to the rear, then returned to the front and went back to the foyer using another aisle. I smiled and was neatly dressed. I asked one person to direct me to a specific place: a fellowship hall, pastor’s study, etc. I remained for coffee, if served. I used a scale to rate the reception I received. I awarded points on the following basis:

• 10 for a smile from a worshiper
• 10 for a greeting from someone sitting nearby
• 100 for an exchange of names
• 200 for an invitation to have coffee
• 200 for an invitation to return
• 1000 for an introduction to another worshiper
• 2000 for an invitation to meet the pastor

On this scale, eleven of the eighteen churches earned fewer than 100 points. Five actually received less than 20.”

Though all of these churches likely had uplifting music and biblically-sound, inspiring preaching, most lacked ways to show visitors that people cared that they were there. As a result, it is unlikely that visitors will return. In contrast, churches that openly reflect the relational aspect of God’s nature give visitors great encouragement to return. You could sum it up by saying that people are looking for a place to belong not just a group with shared beliefs.

Several years ago, I read a story told by a Baptist pastor whose name I cannot recall. But it was the story of a surgeon who specializes in reattaching fingers. When he entered the operating room, he knew he faced many hours of squinting into a microscope, sorting out and stitching together the snarl of nerves, tendons and blood vessels—many finer than a human hair. A single mistake and the patient could permanently lose movement or sensation.

On one occasion, the surgeon received an emergency call at three in the morning. He was not looking forward to undertaking an intricate procedure at that early hour. To help him focus, he decided to dedicate that surgery to his father who had recently died. For the next several hours, he imagined his father standing beside him, encouraging him with a hand on his shoulder.

This technique worked so well that he began dedicating all his surgeries to other people he knew. Then one day he realized that as a Christian, he should offer his life to God in the same way. All the little routine things of his day—answering phone calls, dealing with staff, seeing patients, scheduling surgeries—remained the same, but somehow they were different. The task of living a life for God now began to overshadow his days and he soon began to treat others with more respect and care.

We may not be surgeons, but God calls us to co-minister with Jesus who is the ultimate surgeon—repairing broken lives. Wouldn’t it be marvelous if we could dedicate each day to the Lord, imagining him standing beside us with a hand on our shoulders, watching us, guiding us, counseling us and walking with us? And the truth is that it is not just a product of one’s imagination. God is omnipresent and by his Spirit is personally with us. He has called us to co-minister with him in both simple and profound ways, from offering a smile to performing neurosurgery.

When we live with this perspective, we discover that even the ordinary and routine things in our lives will become saturated with a sense of his holy presence with us. I realize some of us are naturally more outgoing than others. But never underestimate the importance of showing yourself friendly. When new people visit our congregations they are probably more nervous about you than you are about them. They don’t know what to expect and when they find that they are welcome and accepted, it is a powerful incentive to return.

Your brother in Christ,

Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the millions of people still struggling in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy. Reports from GCI pastors in affected areas in the Eastern US and the Caribbean region indicate that our members were largely spared the worst (see the update linked at left). For that we are most grateful, though our hearts ache for the thousands who lost loved ones and property.

This week the US presidential election was held and President Barack Obama was re-elected in a bitterly-contested, often divisive election. Isn’t it ironic how elections can bring out the worst in people, while natural disasters like Sandy can bring out the best? It seems that when confronted with catastrophe, we set aside partisan politics to come to the aid of others. In the wake of Sandy, there were many heartwarming stories of selflessness, generosity and genuine heroism (though, sadly, there were also stories of looting and other selfish acts).

These positive reactions give us hope in the midst of appalling loss—pointing us to the time when loving one’s neighbor as oneself will not make news because it will be the way lived by all. Acts of selflessness and reconciliation are the heartbeat—the agenda—of Jesus’ Kingdom of love. And Jesus has commissioned us as his followers to share now, through the Spirit, in his Kingdom way of being and living. As we do, we give to the world powerful testimony to the way things can be.

I’m reminded of a letter written in the second century to a man named Diognetus. Though we don’t know who wrote it, or who Diognetus was, it is a powerful example of the testimony of the Christian life—in this case during a time when Christians were being terribly persecuted. Here is an excerpt:

Christians are indistinguishable from other men either by nationality, language or customs. They do not inhabit separate cities of their own, or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life. Their teaching is not based upon reveries inspired by the curiosity of men. Unlike some other people, they champion no purely human doctrine. With regard to dress, food and manner of life in general, they follow the customs of whatever city they happen to be living in, whether it is Greek or foreign.

And yet there is something extraordinary about their lives. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through. They play their full role as citizens, but labor under all the disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country. Like others, they marry and have children, but they do not expose them. They share their meals, but not their wives.

They live in the flesh, but they are not governed by the desires of the flesh. They pass their days upon earth, but they are citizens of heaven. Obedient to the laws, they yet live on a level that transcends the law. Christians love all men, but all men persecute them. Condemned because they are not understood, they are put to death, but raised to life again. They live in poverty, but enrich many; they are totally destitute, but possess an abundance of everything. They suffer dishonor, but that is their glory. They are defamed, but vindicated. A blessing is their answer to abuse, deference their response to insult. For the good they do they receive the punishment of malefactors, but even then they rejoice, as though receiving the gift of life. They are attacked by the Jews as aliens, they are persecuted by the Greeks, yet no one can explain the reason for this hatred.

To speak in general terms, we may say that the Christian is to the world what the soul is to the body. As the soul is present in every part of the body, while remaining distinct from it, so Christians are found in all the cities of the world, but cannot be identified with the world. As the visible body contains the invisible soul, so Christians are seen living in the world, but their religious life remains unseen. The body hates the soul and wars against it, not because of any injury the soul has done it, but because of the restriction the soul places on its pleasures. Similarly, the world hates the Christians, not because they have done it any wrong, but because they are opposed to its enjoyments.

Christians love those who hate them just as the soul loves the body and all its members despite the body’s hatred. It is by the soul, enclosed within the body, that the body is held together, and similarly, it is by the Christians, detained in the world as in a prison, that the world is held together. The soul, though immortal, has a mortal dwelling place; and Christians also live for a time amidst perishable things, while awaiting the freedom from change and decay that will be theirs in heaven. As the soul benefits from the deprivation of food and drink, so Christians flourish under persecution. Such is the Christian’s lofty and divinely appointed function, from which he is not permitted to excuse himself.

[From The Apostolic Fathers, ed. Michael Holmes, p. 541]

Your brother in Christ’s service,

Joseph Tkach

P.S. Last week, following the GCI conference in the UK, I visited our French church’s Festival of the Kingdom held in Evian on the shores of Lake Geneva. European mission director James Henderson and his wife, Shirley accompanied me. As usual it was an encouraging and uplifting experience. Just before the festival, Gerard Stevenin retired from his various official roles in the church. We thank Gerard and his wife, Francoise, for many years of selfless service. The members of the church met in a special assembly while in Evian and unanimously nominated Dominique Alcindor to serve as president of Eglise Universelle de Dieuthe, the GCI association in France; and Marie-Angelique Picard to serve as president of Prudentielle, the business arm of the association. Just before we left, James and I offered a prayer of thanksgiving for the new leadership and for GCI in the nation of France.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As I write this letter from France (where I’m attending an annual GCI worship celebration), my thoughts and prayers are with the many people who have been devastated by what is being called “monster storm Sandy, which traveled through the Caribbean, then up the US East coast with landfall in New Jersey. Dozens of lives have been lost, millions are without power and the property damage is unimaginable.

Please pray for all those suffering in Sandy’s wake, likely including some GCI members and pastors. As reports come in, we’ll update you on their circumstances and any needs for help (watch the comments section).

Before traveling to France, I was with Gary Deddo in England. We attended a European ministry leaders’ meeting, an Elders’ conference and services in area GCI congregations (see pictures below). We thoroughly enjoyed our time with our brothers and sisters in jolly olde England!

Pastor appreciation

As you probably know, October is Pastor Appreciation Month in the US and Canada. I hope all of you reading this who are pastors know that you are deeply appreciated—every month of the year!

Peter Drucker, who spent much of his life studying leadership, once said that the four hardest jobs in America are the US President, a university president, a hospital CEO, and a church pastor. Though some might disagree with Drucker’s assessment, I doubt that many of our pastors would.

Being a pastor is a high calling. However, it is often a great challenge—one that is sometimes made even greater by unrealistic expectations placed upon them (as humorously illustrated in the cartoons at left and below).

According to the Barna organization, about 85% of the churches in the US have less than 200 people, 60% have less than 100 and the average size is 89. But even in small congregations, the demands placed on pastors are experienced 24/7.

It seems that pastors are expected to be theologians, Bible teachers, accountants, vision-setters, counselors, public speakers, worship directors, prayer warriors, leadership developers and fundraisers. Given these expectations, I’m sure that those serving as pastors closely identify with what Paul wrote to the church at Corinth:

Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful. If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken…While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!… So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us (2 Corinthians 4:5-17, The Message Bible).

I don’t know whose idea it was to designate October as Pastor Appreciation Month. Some say in jest that it was the apostle Paul or Hallmark Cards! Maybe it was Focus on the Family. In any case, I think it’s a good idea, and before the month is over, I want to express to all our pastors my deep appreciation and thanks for all that they do in service to our Lord and his children. My feelings about our pastors are expressed eloquently by Paul in his letter to his coworkers in the church in Philippi:

Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now (Philippians 1:3-5, NLT).

Your brother in Christ’s service,

Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Do you ever play Monopoly? This board game has two stacks of cards from which to draw when your token lands on the right space. One of the cards is the “get out of jail, free” card shown below. In Monopoly, an unlucky roll of the dice lands you in jail and this card is your pass to freedom.

I often think of this card when reading certain Bible verses, perhaps because I used to have a stack of similar size cards that helped me memorize scriptures. Looking back, this approach may have been less helpful than intended. Many of the scriptures that became embedded in my memory gave me a wrong understanding, because the scripture cards isolated these verses from their context. When we do this, we run the risk of proof-texting – using a particular verse to support a predetermined conclusion or belief.

Many of the verses that I committed to memory now make a much greater emotional impact on me. For example, today when I read 2 Corinthians 5:17 I feel both joy and sadness. It says: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (ESV). In union with Jesus Christ as Lord, the Christian has been made into something new.

I feel joy reading this verse, reassured that before we have even tried to live well, before we became one of his disciples, Jesus extended his life and forgiveness to us. The author of life, who we killed, was resurrected and gave us new life. The Father handed us the masterpiece of his Son and told us that when he looks at us he sees perfection. By the grace of God through the power of the Holy Spirit we are given the gift of participating in the relationship between Father and the Son.

As the apostle Paul explained, all things have life, breath and movement in Jesus. He also explained that when Jesus died, all died. Now he is resurrected and we all have new life. He has reconciled us and we can now share actively in a relationship with God through Jesus. Jesus has freed all humanity, even though not all know it or live it out yet. Knowing that anyone can walk out of that prison gives me great joy.

When Jesus redeemed us, he returned us to our original and rightful owner. Salvation is sharing in the life—the communion—that Jesus has with the Father. We miss out on the peace, joy, love and other benefits of our salvation if we resist or deny that reality. And a fact that should not be overlooked is that we cannot reflect the relationship with God that Jesus has with the Father if we don’t live in that relationship. Jesus’ whole saving ministry is to take us to the Father and send us the Holy Spirit so that we might live in the fullness of life and fellowship with God that he gives to us.

But my joy in this is mixed with sadness. I remember how I used to understand scriptures like 2 Corinthians 5:17, having learned them as proof-texts used to reinforce legalism. Sadly, many do this—teaching that our relationship with God is like a business transaction that must be negotiated and then constantly maintained by our good behavior. People who embrace this false idea are like the poor guy in the cartoon above—sitting in jail, not realizing that Jesus has given them a “get out of jail, free” card. As a result, they remain in a prison of ignorance, disbelief and, at times, rebellion against their own freedom.

As it says in the book of Revelation, Jesus stands at the door and knocks. But he is knocking at a door that he has already unlocked. Our mission is to join the Holy Spirit who is with people in prison and help them see that the door is open so that they might walk out into the light and life that is theirs in union and communion with our Triune God.

Your brother in Christ,

Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As you may know, Grace Communion International in the United States is a member of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). I serve on its board of directors. Some have asked about this organization. Since I will be attending the NAE board meeting this week in Colorado Springs, Colorado, this is a good opportunity to explain what the organization does, and the advantages that NAE membership brings to GCI.

Through NAE membership, we join with other evangelical denominations to have a larger impact than any single denomination could have by itself. The NAE serves a constituency of millions of people and represents more than 45,000 local churches and 40 denominations.

The NAE includes Reformed, Holiness, Anabaptist, Pentecostal, Charismatic and other evangelical Christian traditions. This diverse and vibrant group is united by NAE’s core theological convictions, while acknowledging and respecting the diversity of its membership. Together, NAE members stand on God’s revelation in Scripture of redemption only in Jesus Christ the Son of God, by grace through faith. Found within NAE member denominations and churches is a commitment to dynamic unity that works toward a vision of all things made new, of all God’s people reconciled and of a lost world saved.

The NAE provides a forum where evangelicals work together to preserve religious liberty, nurture families and children, protect the sanctity of human life, seek justice for the poor, promote human rights, work for peace and care for God’s creation. Evangelical Christians do not always agree on the details of policy proposals or on the best strategies for reform. However, in a spirit of humility, we seek to learn from one another — and indeed from those of other faiths and those with no faith. Where possible, we seek common ground while remaining true to our own denominational beliefs and convictions.

The NAE writes position papers on a variety of issues, in order to represent the evangelical perspective accurately to the media. At times, this perspective has been hijacked by some megachurch personalities, who may have high profiles, but do not represent the views of most of us. Thankfully, the NAE has become the more respected and representative voice from within the evangelical community.

The Christian humanitarian arm of the NAE is the World Relief Organization, which provides churches a platform to engage the great causes of our day. From refugees fleeing to our shores, to the sudden onset of disasters, to the global health crises of HIV/AIDS and malaria, World Relief exists to help the church fulfill its mandate to serve those in need.

Here are a few announcements from a recent NAE Update. They illustrate the kind of work and extended reach that we have through our NAE membership.

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Release of Pastor Nadarkhani from Iranian Prison

Nadarkhani, the head of a network of Christian house churches in Iran, was sentenced to death by hanging in September 2010 for apostasy. The Iranian Supreme Court upheld Nadarkhani’s conviction in July 2011, while offering to rescind the conviction if Nadarkhani would deny his Christian faith. A lesser conviction remains on the books. International pressure for Nadarkhani’s release has been strong with condemnation of his conviction from U.S. political leaders, as well as many human rights and religious freedom advocacy organizations. The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) welcomes the announcement that Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has been acquitted and freed after nearly three years in an Iranian prison on charges of apostasy. The NAE continues to advocate for increased religious freedom in Iran and around the world. “We are relieved for Pastor Nadarkhani, and pleased with this good decision of the Iranian government,” said Leith Anderson, NAE president. “We watch as laws are increasingly being used by governments against religious minorities, and we pray and press for more outcomes like this.”

Humanitarian Relief for Sudan

Directed to members of the United Nations Security Council, the NAE joined with over 120 human rights, faith-based, public interest and ethnic organizations in calling for decisive U.N. action to press Sudan to allow humanitarian access to the Sudanese states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile, as well as Darfur.

Human Trafficking

As the world’s second-largest, fastest-growing criminal industry, human trafficking has led to the enslavement of more than 20 million people around the world. To meet the demand in the United States, a person is trafficked over U.S. borders every ten minutes. World Relief has been active in the fight against human trafficking in the United States since 2004 in the areas of partnership building, victim service provision and community outreach and awareness support. In 2008, World Relief launched an initiative to reduce and prevent the exploitation and abuse of women and children in Cambodia. This program is designed to address the root causes of trafficking of vulnerable adults, adolescents and children through community-level training.

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I feel privileged to represent all of us in Grace Communion International as a member of the NAE board. It is a reminder that God’s work is larger than any one group or denomination. Please join me in praying for a useful board meeting and the continued success of the NAE in its mission.

Your brother in Christ’s service,

Joseph Tkach

P.S. You might be interested in viewing the Microsoft advertisement currently playing on TV—it was filmed on the former Ambassador College campus in Pasadena. Click on the picture below or go to http://youtu.be/8mSckyoAMHg.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Learning more about the nature of God has dominated my Bible study for the last decade and I find it to be more and more fascinating. Having the correct perspective of who God is cannot be overestimated. Viewing his sovereignty over eternity and the nature of his being orders all of our doctrinal understandings.

I love the following quote from Charles Haddon Spurgeon, England’s best-known preacher for most of the second half of the nineteenth century:

The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father. There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity.

I am sometimes asked, “What’s so special about Trinitarian theology—don’t most orthodox churches believe in the Trinity?” Yes, they do. In fact, belief in the Trinity is considered the hallmark of authentic Christian doctrine. It was our acceptance of the Trinity that brought our denomination “in out of the cold,” allowing us to break free from being considered a cult.

As I studied what various churches believe about the Trinity, I observed that while most consent to the doctrine, it does not have a central role in their faith. Many consider the Trinity to be an abstract idea, of interest to theologians but not really of much use to the rest of us. This is sad because when the Trinity is not at the center, shaping all other doctrines, strange ideas and distortions arise. For example, those who proclaim a health/wealth/prosperity gospel tend to view God as a divine “vending machine.” Others tend to view God as a mechanistic version of fate who has determined everything from before creation—including who will be saved and who will be damned. I find it particularly hard to accept a God who creates billions of people just for the purpose of condemning and damning them for eternity!

Trinitarian theology puts the Trinity at the center of all doctrinal understanding, influencing everything we believe and understand about God. As theologian Catherine LaCugna wrote in her book God for Us:

The doctrine of the Trinity is, ultimately…a teaching not about the abstract nature of God, nor about God in isolation from everything other than God, but a teaching about God’s life with us and our life with each other. Trinitarian theology could be described as par excellence a theology of relationship, which explores the mysteries of love, relationship, personhood and communion within the framework of God’s self-revelation in the person of Christ and the activity of the Spirit. [Note: While I appreciate much of what is in this book, I don’t agree with all of it.]

We know of this triune life of God from Jesus who is God’s self-revelation in person. It should be our rule that anything we say about the Trinity must come from Jesus’ life, teaching, death, resurrection, ascension and promised return.

I have seen many diagrams that attempt to explain the Trinity. The best of them fall short and some are confusing. It is, of course, impossible to explain the nature of God in a diagram. However, a good one can help us grasp some aspects of the doctrine. You may find helpful the diagram shown at right. It summarizes early church teaching, pointing out that correct biblical understanding concerning the nature of God upholds three essential beliefs about God. It also indicates that we end up denying that God is Triune when even one of these beliefs is rejected.

The three sides of the triangle in the diagram represent these three essential beliefs, and the point of the triangle across from each side represents the corresponding error when that particular belief is denied:

• Denial of the Three Persons results in Modalism (sometimes referred to as the Oneness teaching), the erroneous belief that God appears to us in three ways or modes, wears three hats, acts in three different roles or just has three different names.
• Denial of the Equality of Persons results in Subordinationism, the erroneous belief that one of the divine Persons is less than fully and truly God.
• Denial of Monotheism (the idea of the Unity of God) results in Polytheism, the erroneous belief in two or more separate gods (including the error of tri-theism—a belief in three gods).

When we are careful to uphold all three of these essential beliefs about God, we avoid the corresponding false teachings and thus bear faithful witness to the glorious mystery of the Trinity.

I thank God daily for answering our many prayers to reveal to us greater truth. His revealing himself to each of us as the Triune God was a miraculous moment for each one of us.

Your brother in Christ’s service,

Joseph Tkach

P.S. Last week the computer servers that host this blog crashed. We apologize for this inconvenience. As you can see, the system is now back online. If you missed reading some of the posts from last week, click on “archives” above and there you will find listed all past Update articles, including those you might have been unable to read last week.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Commenting on the differences between men and women, comedian Pam Stone noted that, “Men and women have always had problems relating. As children, men were told, ‘Be a man; don’t cry!’ And women were told, ‘Let it out. Cry; you’ll feel better!’” Then she concluded, “And that is why women become emotional and men become snipers!”

Funny, yes; but also a reminder of a growing “Wild Wild West” culture within America where violence is rampant.

As an officer in the U.S. Army and a professor of psychology at West Point, Dr. David Grossman spent nearly a quarter of a century teaching soldiers how to kill. In his book On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, he noted that most soldiers have a built-in inhibition against killing and thus must be taught to kill. Following the Civil War battle of Gettysburg, 90% of the guns retrieved had not been fired. Soldiers on both sides were willing to die for their beliefs but not kill for them. Dr. Grossman’s job was to break down such inhibitions. Today, U.S. troops have a 90% kill rate. However, Dr. Grossman pointed out that if you use these psychological techniques to train men and women to kill, you must also build in internal restraints.

Sadly, such restraints are often lacking in our world, where violence reflects a shocking lack of respect for others. What is needed is an internal moral compass based on an understanding that human existence is contingent upon the life that flows to us from God through Christ. That truth leads us to understand that we are answerable to God who created us. As the Bible teaches, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10 NKJV).

Nevertheless, “macho-man” voices within some Christian circles decry what they see as the “feminization” of our culture. One such teacher, who is famous for proclaiming, “God hates you!” fears that both the dominant culture and the church are becoming feminized. He calls for macho, “manly men” to rise up and assert leadership.

It seems that some evangelical Christians like to think of Jesus as the ultimate “alpha male.” They ridicule images of Jesus that show any hint of “wimpiness.” But Jesus was not afraid to show compassion. On one occasion, he said that he felt like a “mother hen” in his desire to gather sinners to himself (Luke 13:34).

We must be careful not to build a one-dimensional picture of Jesus. He had a godly sensitivity that the church should exemplify. The church is, after all, pictured as the bride of Christ—not his hunting companion or golf partner.

Jesus was clear concerning the approach to leadership that he expected from his followers: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you…” (Matthew 20:25-26 NKJV).

Bullying, fighting and killing are not among the spiritual gifts listed in Scripture. If compassion, gentleness and concern for others are perceived as feminization, then let’s have more of it! Of course, these characteristics are neither exclusively masculine nor feminine, but come from God and so are expressed in the life of the man Jesus.

I pray that the Holy Spirit will help us follow our Lord in this area.

I am reminded of my mom’s favorite proverb, “A soft answer turns away wrath” (Proverbs 15:1 NKJV). She taught me this at an early age, and I was a firsthand witness to her ability to deliver soft answers. I confess that I have not always followed her example, but I have learned that it is a blessing to interact with humility, consideration, grace and gratitude. The way of Jesus gives tremendous peace of mind.

This reminds me of the story of Abigail. Her ungracious, inconsiderate and vain husband, Nabal, had refused food for David and his men and sent them away (1 Samuel 25:4-12). One of Nabal’s assistants reported this incident to Abigail. He said that Nabal had “reviled them” (verse 14 NKJV). Apparently, David was not in a gracious mood either because he gathered 400 of his men, and set out to “persuade” Nabal to rethink his response. Abigail must have known the wisdom of the proverb, because she went to intercept David. Her soft answer turned away the wrath that David had toward Nabal (verses 18-35).

I don’t think anyone could have accused Paul of being a wimp. He lived, as we do, in a time when aggression and violence were part of daily life. Thus we who serve as elders need to give careful heed to Paul’s instruction that church overseers be “not a bully but gentle, not quarrelsome, not greedy” (1 Timothy 3:3, HCSB). This strength of character comes from our Lord Jesus Christ, who in loving compassion gave his life for us and continues to serve us.

With love, in Christ’s service,

Joseph Tkach