The Necessity of Gathering

At last week’s Global Gathering, a powerful thought captured my attention:  as people of faith, we need each other to survive.

Sudipta and his family
Sudipta and his family

Pastor Jerry, Connie, and I had the privilege of meeting Sudipta Nanda, the church leader from northern India whose attendance at the Global Gathering our congregation helped to support.  We met Brother Sudipta along with the pastors of our sister churches, Rev. Shannon New Spangler (Harvest Point Church of God, Lordstown, Ohio) and Rev. Jonathan Frymire (Orchard View Church of God, Grand Rapids, Michigan).  Sudipta is a warm and compassionate man with a strong heart for Jesus Christ.  He and his young family are committed to sharing the gospel among the millions of people in northern India.  His presentation showed us many of the challenges he faces:  other religions that are firmly entrenched in his region, social and community problems that oppress individuals and families, and physical needs that face everyone on a daily basis.  As pastor of a congregation and overseer of over 700 others, Sudipta has a tremendous amount of work.

And yet, on many occasions, he expressed his gratitude to us for helping him to come to Anderson.  This experience of gathering with other believers from around the world was a powerful, meaningful experience for Sudipta.

Personally speaking, this Global Gathering served an important purpose for me, as well.  I was refreshed and renewed through rekindling relationships with some very dear friends of mine, including the two pastors mentioned above.  We have always taken the opportunity to spend time together at this annual convention.  Often, we have stayed up late into the night talking about important issues of life and ministry – and, to be very honest, simply having a lot of fun together, too.

But this year, I came away with another impression.  I can imagine how vital it was for Sudipta to come to this Global Gathering; his ministry will surely benefit from his experiences.  For me, I am learning that this kind of connection is indispensible; I would not be who I am today if I did not meet regularly with these important individuals who can speak truth and joy into my life.  Going to Anderson is an annual spiritual pilgrimage, not for the location but for those whom I meet there.

Do you have meaningful relationships like these in your life?  Are there people who help you make sense of life and without whom you would feel lost?  How often do you get to see them, to be refreshed by them, and to be spiritual refreshment in their lives?

Are you fortunate enough to worship in the same congregation with any of those individuals?  How important it is for the saints of God to come together each week for refreshment, nurture, and companionship!

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:25 NIV)

Global Gathering

During the last week of June, the Church of God came together for a “Global Gathering” in which delegates from 63 countries came to Anderson, Indiana, for a week of worship, celebration, prayer, fellowship, and encouragement.  I was blessed to attend the majority of this gathering, and I’d like to share with you some highlights from the week.

  • The major theme of the Global Gathering was “Standing Together” – a testament to our convictions about Christian unity.  Regardless of our nationalities, ethnicities, and languages, we practiced loving, accepting, and encouraging each other because of our common faith in Jesus Christ.  This too was an important theme through the week:  that Jesus Christ is at the center of who we are as the people of God.  Perhaps the most moving experience of this truth was at the opening worship service, in which all the delegates from around the world entered the convention hall behind their respective nations’ flags, accompanied by a sustained standing ovation by everyone else.
  • Each day, we all came together for three worship services – morning, afternoon, and evening – and each service had a preacher from a different part of the world.  We heard the Word of God preached by individuals from Russia, Zambia, Brazil, Jamaica, Australia, Ghana, India, Paraguay, and the United States.  The diversity of life experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives on life was amazing!  And there are some fantastic preachers in our movement around the world! (Remember, you can watch the services online at www.chog.org/gg-media.)
  • All week long, we gave offerings out of love and thankfulness to our Lord.  Now, in the past, the offerings for the North American Convention have gone to cover the costs of the convention itself, or to support other components of the Church of God structure.  Not so this year.  All of the offerings – every dollar and penny – were given directly to an organization called Water4 (www.water4.org).
    • water4This not-for-profit has the goal of eliminating the current world water crisis.  (There are millions of people on the planet who cannot just turn the faucet and get clean drinking water; instead, many must drink from unsanitary, infested pools located sometimes miles from home.)  Water4 exists to train, equip, and support local individuals as they learn to dig freshwater pressure wells in their own communities using simple, cost-effective materials.  From beginning to end, one well costs just $1,000 through this organization.
    • The goal at the Global Gathering was for us to raise $100,000 for Water4.  An anonymous donor made a challenge:  up to this amount, he or she would donate $4 for every $1 that we gave.  This encouraged us to give even more, and by the end of the week, we had given over $106,000 – meaning that the total donation to Water4 from our group was over half a million dollars.  This will sponsor 500 new freshwater wells throughout the world.  Thanks be to God!

This Global Gathering was a tremendous experience.  I am already looking forward to next year, even though it will be back to our regular North American Convention!

You know, you can come along too, even for just a weekend or for part of the week.  This is our convention!

–Pastor David

Jesus is the Subject

This Wednesday, at the annual national-level General Assembly meeting of the Church of God, we ratified our new General Director, Rev. Jim Lyon.  He will take up the reins of leadership in this movement upon the retirement of Rev. Dr. Ron Duncan later this summer.  For various reasons, I have wavered back and forth in my support of this nomination, but in the past few weeks I have come to see the value and importance of Rev. Lyon’s appointment to this post, at this particular time in our movement’s history.

Rev. Jim Lyon
Rev. Jim Lyon

I’d like to share with you one of the most important pieces of my growing sense of support for Rev. Lyon.  This begins with a concern that many people in the movement have:  the Church of God needs a singular identity, something around which to rally ourselves, a message to proclaim to the broader church and to the world.  (If you participated in the Revelation Bible study on Sunday nights last year, you may remember that this question came up frequently.  That’s because the identity the Church of God had 100 years ago – related to a specific interpretation of Revelation – is no longer accepted broadly today.  However, nothing that strong has risen up in its place in the past few decades.)

After his ratification, Rev. Lyon spoke to the General Assembly for a good half hour.  During this talk, he reminded us that he does not come to this position with an agenda, a crystal-clear vision, or a list of programs to implement.  Instead, he comes with a singular conviction.  As he talked about this conviction, I realized he had written about this in his public responses to questions earlier this year:

To move forward, the unity of our own church family must be cemented. There are factions, subsets, splinters, and tribes within the Movement, all held loosely together but sometimes moving in different directions. All of us need to embrace the truth that Jesus is the subject. The church is not the subject.

When we are in right relationship to Jesus, the church will be fine. If we are not in right relationship to Jesus, no program, doctrine, distinctive, or emphasis in the church will be healthy. Who Jesus is. What Jesus thinks. What Jesus cares about. What Jesus died for. What Jesus calls us to do. How Jesus loves. How Jesus forgives. How Jesus walked and would have us walk. This is the stuff of unity. Focusing along these lines is our only hope to realize our Heaven-sent destiny as a Movement.

The Church of God, perhaps more than any other part of the larger Christian family, is hinged on relationships, grounded in the Word. We must nurture relationships with each other, tethered by this truth: Jesus is the subject. Supremely. When we obey Him, we love Him. When we see Him, we see the Father. When we follow Him, we find life.

My first object will be to bring Jesus into view, to focus, insofar as I am able, the church on its Lord.

Friends, this is good stuff.  I can rally around this core conviction.  It may not be a full vision for the Church of God, but that’s ok – it’s a wonderful starting point.  It’s something that can spark our movement’s quest for identity and purpose.  I look forward to thinking and moving with you and with Rev. Lyon in the days ahead as we reflect on the impact of this truth:  Jesus is the subject.

–Pastor David

What is Ordination?

Last October, I reported to you that the Credentials Committee of the Church of God in Michigan had approved me for ordination.  I was indeed ordained at the state’s General Assembly meeting in November, and now we are in the midst of planning for my formal ordination service at Mt. Haley on May 25, one month from today.  Through a couple of conversations, it became apparent to me that it might be helpful for you to know exactly what this process has entailed and what it means for my ministry.

Miller Chapel, Anderson University School of Theology
Miller Chapel, Anderson University School of Theology

The Church of God ordains pastors on a state-by-state basis.  I began the ordination process in 2007 while I was in seminary in Indiana.  I met with Indiana’s Credentials Committee twice, took a Bible content exam, and began reading a selection of required books.  This was in addition to my seminary reading list:  over five years, I took ninety hours of graduate courses to earn a Master of Divinity degree.  Also, as part of the ordination process, I wrote and defended fourteen theological statements (which are available on our website, if you’re interested to read them).  All of this preparation was to ensure that I am theologically sound and at least somewhat prepared to enter a ministry position.

During this time, I moved through the first two phases of the ordination process.  In Indiana and Michigan (and most states), the Church of God classifies ministers as “commissioned,” “licensed,” and finally “ordained,” in increasing order of call, trust, and responsibility.  At the beginning of my process, I was “commissioned” in Indiana; that was a recognition of the fact that I sensed a call to enter ministry – and that it seemed right to the committee as well.  After I completed the work listed in the previous paragraph, I became “licensed.”  This allowed the world to consider me a minister from a legal perspective:  I could perform wedding ceremonies and file taxes as a minister.  For all intents and purposes, a licensed minister can do anything you’d expect a fully ordained minister to do.

All of this happened in Indiana.  Then, when Mt. Haley called me to become its senior pastor and Tara and I moved to Michigan, my ministerial credentials were transferred to the Church of God in Michigan.  Since that time, I have met with Michigan’s Credentials Committee twice so they could review my theological statements, get to know my call to ministry, and prepare me for full ordination.

Another part of that preparation is a relationship with a “supervising mentor.”  Rev. Dr. Kevin Earley, pastor of the Metropolitan Church of God in Detroit, was assigned to serve in this role for me.  We were acquaintances from seminary – he earned his doctorate while I worked on my master’s – and in the past year we have had a handful of phone conversations about pastoral ministry, its challenges, and its opportunities.

photo by ToniVC
photo by ToniVC

Another component is a document called a “Life and Ministry Plan,” which is like a personal mission statement for pastors.  This “LAMP” is a living, growing document that is to inform and adapt to my life and ministry over the course of my life.  This requirement was waived in my case because I am currently working on my “LAMP” with my “SHAPE” group (“Sustaining Health And Pastoral Excellence”), a group of five pastors who meet each month for connection, support, and mutual growth.  (My “LAMP” should be completed sometime this year.)

All of this culminated in the Credentials Committee’s recommendation that I be presented for ordination at the state General Assembly meeting last November.  At that meeting, four other candidates and I were presented to the assembly.  We each gave a three-minute testimony/summary of our call to ministry, and then the gathered ministers and church representatives voted whether or not to ordain each of us.  The rules state that if six “no” votes are received for any candidate, then his or her ordination is withheld for further consideration.  That did not happen in my case, so my ordination was technically approved in November.

What remains is a formal ordination service, which we have scheduled for May 25.  At this service I will be given my official certificate of ordination, and the whole process will finally be complete.

Ordination is a call to ministry in the church.  If I were not serving in an official ministry position, I could not be ordained.  And in the future if I should not have a ministry position for a significant length of time, my ordination credentials could be revoked.  Ordination means that I am fully recognized as a minister in the Church of God, but it also means that I am fully accountable as a minister in the Church of God.  I am welcome to serve as pastor, but I am not free to do whatever I wish.  I am trusted to serve the church well, but I must not abuse that trust.  I have the support of the Church of God movement behind me, but that is not license for me to go astray from what God intends for my life and ministry.

The Bible is full of examples of priests and Levites who were called to serve God.  Many of them served faithfully for their whole lives, while others went astray and were censured by God and by the faith community.  I intend to be found in the “faithful” group when the final tally is counted.

If you have any questions about the ordination process or what it means for me or for Mt. Haley, please feel free to ask me!

–Pastor David

Life Without a Pope

As I type these words tonight, there is no Pope heading up the Roman Catholic Church.  This is rather significant in terms of world affairs and religious news:  only once in a long while is there a transition of power in this position, and never in the past several generations has there been a Pope who has resigned, like Benedict XVI has done.  This is the kind of thing that gets my religion-antennae perked up!

source: www.vatican.va
source: www.vatican.va

The Church of God has had a mixed view of the Roman Catholic Church (which I’ll abbreviate RCC) since our inception in the late 1800s.  Originally, we viewed the RCC as an evil institution, one which embodied some of the most evil and grotesque images in the book of Revelation.  This was rather fundamental to our identity as the Church of God and, for a while, seemed to be the primary way for us to view that group.

Our view toward Catholics has become much more generous, generally speaking, in the past few decades.  We are becoming more and more aware that many true, honest Christian believers exist within the vast 1.2 billion adherents that the RCC claims.  Personally, one of my high school friends grew up as a United Methodist but converted to the RCC when she married one of my Catholic friends.  Both are firm, fully-committed believers in Jesus Christ and are raising their children to know and love the Lord.

Now, you’ll notice that I have not pursued priesthood in the RCC.  I serve as a pastor in the Church of God movement on purpose, and I’m not about to switch loyalties.  After all, my view of Christianity allows for a great deal of diversity of denomination.  To quote one of our heritage hymns (by modifying its intent), “we reach our hands in fellowship to every blood-washed one.”  I believe we must be very gracious in distinguishing who, in fact, is washed by the blood of the Lamb.

So how should we react to the RCC being between Popes and struggling to search for a leader?  For all its problems (and I believe there are many), the RCC is very important to a large number of honest Christian believers.  To that end – and that end alone should be enough to convince us – we should pray for our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters during this time of transition.

After all, we too are in a period of transition in the Church of God.  Our current General Director, Dr. Ron Duncan, is retiring soon, and a search team is working hard to interview candidates and to make a recommendation for Dr. Duncan’s successor.  (There are a few somewhat insignificant parallels between this process and the RCC’s Conclave to choose the next Pope.  In short, though, our General Director is not our Pope.)  Just as we should pray for God’s wisdom in guiding those who will select a leader for our group, which numbers about a million people, so too we should pray for God’s wisdom among those who will select the spiritual leader for a group one thousand times larger than ours.

We live without a Pope all the time; we live under the reign of Jesus Christ alone, and we journey freely in his kingdom with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.  But for those brothers and sisters in Christ who live in a system that normally has a Pope but does not right now – for these people, let us pray.  (1 Thessalonians 5:25)

–Pastor David

On Being Ordained

Yesterday, I met with the credentials committee of the Church of God in Michigan.  This second interview was intended to determine whether or not the committee will recommend me for ordination at this November’s state General Assembly meeting in Lansing.  I received word last night that they, in fact, are recommending me for ordination, so this will indeed take place on Saturday morning, November 10.

This is a great honor for me, to be brought into the larger fold of pastors and ministers in the Church of God and in the Christian movement in general.  This comes as the culmination of a long process that began, for me, while I was in seminary in Indiana.  The process involved reading several books, taking a Bible content exam, writing theological statements on fourteen different topics, defending those statements in front of the credentials committee, and meeting with a mentoring pastor.  Also, in the next several months I will complete a LAMP (“Life and Ministry Plan”) with the help of my SHAPE (“Sustaining Health and Pastoral Excellence”) group – a group of five local Church of God pastors that meets monthly for support, encouragement, and growth.

These tasks only have meaning, however, because of the ministry that I am privileged to do with you at Mt. Haley Church of God.  It is because of this relationship between pastor and church that I do all these things – that I even pursue ordination.  The ordination of a pastor is not a rite of passage that simply makes the pastor look or feel good; it is a process that strengthens the pastor’s call, encourages him or her in the work of ministry, and validates the ministry of the local church in which he or she serves.  I will be honored to serve Mt. Haley Church of God as an ordained minister starting on Sunday, November 11.

We will host a special ordination service at Mt. Haley sometime after this November’s General Assembly meeting.  There is no rush for this; we may wait until our snowbirds return in the spring.  Just as we celebrated my installation as pastor at Mt. Haley two years ago, I will be grateful to celebrate with you my ordination as a minister in the Church of God sometime in the near future.

in Christ’s service,

–Pastor David

Revelation: Why It’s Important

This fall, our Sunday evening adult Bible study is focusing on the book of Revelation.  We are three weeks into the study, and let me tell you this:  I am really excited about this book and about your interest in it!  We have had strong attendance and good conversations in these first few sessions.  Just a reminder – it’s not too late to jump into this study!  We will gather in the Fellowship Hall every Sunday evening at 6pm, usually for 90 minutes or two hours, to study this complicated book together.

image © Kristina Gehrmann, www.mondhase.de

So why am I so excited about this?  Why is this book so important?  As someone said to me recently, “We have enough trouble understanding and following the other 65 books of the Bible… why all the interest in the last book?”  I see at least three reasons for us to invest in a study of this book during this season.

  1. Revelation is part of Scripture.  It forms part of the Christian canon, those books that we understand to be inspired by God and useful for instruction, training, discipline, and guidance.  This book tells us something particular about the salvation work of Jesus Christ, and as a result we should learn from our Lord through it.  This book was important to the first few generations of Christians, so by studying it (and them) we increase our connection with the work of God throughout the centuries.
  2. Revelation informed our movement’s history.  The Church of God reformation movement, of which we are a part, developed a unique self-understanding early in its existence (in the early 20th century).  This self-understanding was very closely tied to a particular interpretation of the book of Revelation.  We don’t hold to that understanding any more, but by studying Revelation we can learn more about who we were – and we can ask who we should be instead.
  3. Revelation gets us talking about the future.  Many believers today, including some of us, have deep-seated fears and questions about what lies ahead in the future.  Are we in the “end times”?  Is the return of Christ near?  What about the “signs and wonders” that we see?  By studying Revelation – and what it meant to its original audience, who asked similar questions – we will discover the word of hope that God has for his people in this book.  This will directly impact how we approach our own situation in the world.

The book of Revelation is a confusing, controversial, divisive book of scripture.  But we should not be afraid of it; instead, with a mixture of boldness and humility, we will learn from it together in the weeks that lie ahead.  I hope you are as excited about this as I am!  And if you have not yet come on a Sunday evening, I hope you feel welcome to try it out!

–Pastor David

The Importance of Connecting
photo by lumaxart

Last week, I had the privilege of attending the 126th annual North American Convention of the Church of God.  This week spent with friends, family, and colleagues reminded me of an important truth:  we need to be connected to each other to fulfill God’s plan for the church.

As Church of God people, we place a high premium on a theological principle called “unity.”  This doesn’t mean “hanging out with people who are like us” or even “accepting people who are different from us.”  It doesn’t have to do with worship styles, Bible translations, labels on church buildings, or anything of that sort.  Instead, unity has a great deal to do with our need to be connected to each other in order to accomplish God’s will for us.

In John 17:20-21, Jesus prayed for those who would believe in him in the future – even including us.  He specifically prayed that we might all be one to illustrate the unity between Jesus and God the Father.  And the purpose of that unity is so that the world might believe in the entire sweep of salvation history, culminating in the redemption made possible through Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  Our unity – or lack thereof – has tremendous implications!

Last week’s convention in Anderson reminded me that we at Mt. Haley are not lone rangers; we are not isolated; we do not carry alone the torch of Christianity in general (or of the Church of God in particular).  What’s more, I was reminded through a series of meaningful conversations that God calls not just individuals but also groups into his service.  For instance, Abram was called to follow God into unknown territory in Genesis 12:1-3 – but his call extended to include his yet-unborn descendants, the Israelites.  The boy Samuel was called by God (in 1 Samuel 3) to be a prophet, but he would also anoint the first two kings of Israel, namely, Saul and David.  Even the early disciples were called individually to follow Jesus as a group, and these twelve disciples were the kernel through which the early church began to grow in the book of Acts.

I am still processing the concept of God calling groups of people into his service, but I believe there is something useful to be gained by studying this idea.  We as a congregation, we as Mt. Haley Church of God have been called together by God – for what purpose? to what end? for whose glory?  How can we encourage one another and spur each other on to become more like Christ?  What difference will we, as a group, make for the kingdom of God in our local community and around the world?  How does God desire to make himself known to the world through our expressions of unity with each other and other believers?

I know at least one thing is true:  we need to be connected to each other to fulfill God’s plan for the church.  Let’s practice this Christ-centered unity together!

–Pastor David

Leadership Transition

Our congregation is associated with the Christian group formally known as the Church of God Reformation Movement.  We balk at calling ourselves a denomination, but in the grand scheme of things, that’s what we are.  And for the past several years, this denomination has been guided along its course by our current General Director, a man named Dr. Ron Duncan.

Dr. Duncan is an excellent leader with a pastor’s heart and a servant’s attitude.  I have had a few conversations with him over the past few years, and I have always walked away grateful that he is providing such good leadership for this movement.  Yet his retirement is just around the corner, and the necessary questions are being asked now:  what kind of person do we want as our next General Director?

This is extremely significant for us as a movement, because the General Director gives voice to our collective vision.  He or she works with other leaders in our movement to strengthen congregations and to help us move forward in our mission, which is to spread the message of Jesus Christ throughout the world in a way that resonates with our theological emphases on personal holiness and the unity of all believers.  The next General Director will shape the course of this movement for years to come.

I was privileged to participate in a focus group yesterday regarding this very issue.  Several friends and colleagues of mine – we were called “young theologians” by the organizers of this group – had a 90-minute conference call with the team that will eventually search for a new General Director.  We were asked to give our thoughts on the current state of the Church of God, the challenges facing the next General Director, and the opportunities facing the next General Director.

This was an incredibly encouraging phone conversation for me!  I appreciated being reminded that there are many leaders in the Church of God who are concerned that this movement actually move somewhere, that we clearly express our vision for ministry in the present-day world.  Many individuals commented on the importance of understanding and articulating our identity in a way that drives us to service and ministry in our local communities in the name of social holiness.  Several mentioned the need for Christians to partner with other believers across denominational lines to do the work of the kingdom of God in our local communities in the name of Christian unity.

The Church of God won’t have a new General Director for another eighteen months or so.  The search process is very involved!  But rest assured that the Church of God currently has many young leaders who are committed to seeing this movement fulfill God’s purposes in the present generation.

–Pastor David

Ash Wednesday
photo by Sarah Korf

Today is Ash Wednesday, which falls forty days (excluding Sundays) before Easter Sunday.  Traditionally, this begins the season called Lent, an intentional time of prayer, fasting, repentance, contemplation, and meditation on Jesus’s death and resurrection.  A broad majority of Christians begin that season today.

You may notice some folks with smudges on their foreheads; those are ashes that have been applied to believers’ foreheads as a sign of their repentance and humility before God.  I remember seeing a college student of mine some years ago come into math class with ashes in the shape of a cross on her forehead.  She was always kind and respectful in class, but her demeanor seemed even more sincere and thoughtful on that day.

The Church of God does not always make a big deal of Ash Wednesday.  In fact, this will be the second year that our movement engages in a new program called “Focus 40,” which begins next Wednesday and counts forty days (including Sundays) through Easter Sunday.  You will hear more about Focus 40 very soon!

Why is Ash Wednesday so important?  What’s the big deal about ashes on the forehead, anyway?  The whole practice has to do with a correct understanding of ourselves.  All of us have sinned, and we all fall short of God’s glory.  The death and resurrection of Jesus is an event to celebrate, to be sure, but it also encourages us to be mindful of ourselves as sinful people who have been redeemed at great cost.

Just after Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, God sent them out of the garden and explained the curses that would follow them for the rest of their lives.  In Adam’s curse, God states that the man will have to toil and labor as he works the ground for food.  This is because Adam was taken from the ground; “for dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19 NIV).

Friends, remember that our need to work hard in this world is a result of our sinfulness before God.  Our sins have real consequences that affect our lives.  And our sins had real consequences for Jesus, as well, who went to the cross on our behalf so that our sins might be forgiven and that we might live holy, God-pleasing lives.

Perhaps it would be good for us to wear ashes on our foreheads all the time, if that would help us remember our position before God.  Be blessed in this season of preparation for Easter.

–Pastor David