[I am thankful: Part III]
The second time I heard the voice of God was as I knelt by my bed for evening prayer a few weeks after the first experience. I have never been rebellious against God. “I don’t smoke, drink, or chew, nor go with the girls that do.” Yet after God spoke to me about His grace in my life I lived with a growing awareness I was not walking as close with Him as I should. I was convicted and I felt His absence in my life. I found myself frequently praying for assurance of God’s favor. As I knelt in my basement bedroom, I earnestly wanted to feel God’s presence and I cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why can’t I feel you in my life?” I was not expecting the words I heard echo in my head, “I have not moved.”
It was childish and misguided for me to blame God for my spiritual condition. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He stands at the door and knocks; He will come in and sup with anyone who invites Him. His invitation welcomes who-so-ever-will to enter into His fellowship. I was not forsaken. I had failed to walk close with Him. He is the ground of His own Being, the foundation of the universe; He is God, unmovable, unshakable. He is faithful; He is steadfast. We walk with Him the same way we first came to rest in Him, by faith.
In truth, I have prayed the Gethsemane prayer from time to time. There have been trials and tribulations when I felt abandoned by God. Even when I was walking in faith, I have at times felt abandoned. Yet every time I have instinctively prayed that prayer, I have been reminded of God’s voice so long ago; He has not moved. I can depend on Him. I will find His presence. Thanks be to God, who changes not.
Cleveland, Tennessee
January 3, 2010
JDJ
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
I am thankful for the grace of God.
The first time I heard the voice of God was shortly after my seventeenth birthday in the fall of 1970. I was in my regular spot at the Huffman Church of God in Birmingham, Alabama, end of the pew, half-way up on the left hand side of the sanctuary. The preacher went through a litany of sinners bound for hell: adulterers, fornicators, drunkards, gamblers, and idolaters, etc. I prayed a simple, inner prayer of sincere thanksgiving, “Lord, I thank you I am not one of those people going to that place.” A voice rose up from my chest burning into my brain, “But for my grace that is exactly who you would be and where you would be going.”
I knew I had just heard the voice of God. It was from within and yet from beyond. It was exact, specific, and verbal without being audible. It was in the first-person, singular. He spoke to me, about me and what He had to say surprised and disturbed me. No one was aware of my encounter with the divine. I gave no outward response and it was in fact years before I spoke of the event.
I was not aware I was depending on my goodness to please God. Intellectually, I "knew" all salvation is by grace. But in that moment I knew there was an element of pride in me and that I was relying on my own goodness to make me acceptable to God. What I had understood now became woven into my being, salvation is entirely a gift, a gift that makes us pleasing to God. Therein lies the challenge of Christian living; I must live my life in response to the grace of God which gives and sustains my life.
Years later I had this first lesson renewed through a vision. This vision only lasted a few seconds. I was going through a great trial. Unable to sleep I went downstairs and sat at the dining room table. As I moaned a complaint of “why me?” and whispered a plea for God’s help, I saw myself streaming down a dark hill accelerating past road signs such as “Loving,” “Good,” “Kind,” “Gentle,” “Faithful,” etc. As I suddenly stopped and settled into an abyss of total darkness having left behind the signs of who I had thought I was I became acutely aware that without God I am nothing; I do not exist except that God chooses for me to be. Suddenly, I began to ascend through the darkness accelerating past other signs: “hatred,” “envy,” “bitterness,” covetous,” etc. In that traverse of a split second I heard a whisper, “By my grace neither are you these.”
I am thankful for God’s grace. By grace He formed me in my mother’s womb. By grace He gave me life, caused me to be. He sustains my existence. He has held back the power of sin to destroy me. He prepared me to accept the gift of salvation and He keeps me in the knowledge of His name and presence. By His grace I have heard His voice and responded to His call.
Cleveland, Tennessee
January 2, 2010
JDJ
I knew I had just heard the voice of God. It was from within and yet from beyond. It was exact, specific, and verbal without being audible. It was in the first-person, singular. He spoke to me, about me and what He had to say surprised and disturbed me. No one was aware of my encounter with the divine. I gave no outward response and it was in fact years before I spoke of the event.
I was not aware I was depending on my goodness to please God. Intellectually, I "knew" all salvation is by grace. But in that moment I knew there was an element of pride in me and that I was relying on my own goodness to make me acceptable to God. What I had understood now became woven into my being, salvation is entirely a gift, a gift that makes us pleasing to God. Therein lies the challenge of Christian living; I must live my life in response to the grace of God which gives and sustains my life.
Years later I had this first lesson renewed through a vision. This vision only lasted a few seconds. I was going through a great trial. Unable to sleep I went downstairs and sat at the dining room table. As I moaned a complaint of “why me?” and whispered a plea for God’s help, I saw myself streaming down a dark hill accelerating past road signs such as “Loving,” “Good,” “Kind,” “Gentle,” “Faithful,” etc. As I suddenly stopped and settled into an abyss of total darkness having left behind the signs of who I had thought I was I became acutely aware that without God I am nothing; I do not exist except that God chooses for me to be. Suddenly, I began to ascend through the darkness accelerating past other signs: “hatred,” “envy,” “bitterness,” covetous,” etc. In that traverse of a split second I heard a whisper, “By my grace neither are you these.”
I am thankful for God’s grace. By grace He formed me in my mother’s womb. By grace He gave me life, caused me to be. He sustains my existence. He has held back the power of sin to destroy me. He prepared me to accept the gift of salvation and He keeps me in the knowledge of His name and presence. By His grace I have heard His voice and responded to His call.
Cleveland, Tennessee
January 2, 2010
JDJ
Friday, January 1, 2010
I Am Thankful
Last November leading up to Thanksgiving my sister, Shirley, wrote everyday on FB something for which she was thankful. I was challenged in my spirit to be more thankful and the thought came that it would be a challenge in 2010 to list everyday at least one thing for which I am thankful. I think this will be one of the greatest challenges of my life. I have plenty for which to be thankful, but there are days... So here goes.
I am thankful for the voice of God. When I was small I wanted to hear God speak or to see some supernatural manifestation of His presence. An evangelist would say something like “Raise your hands and wave them around; you just might bump into an angel.” I would stand in my seat and wave vigorously hoping for a brush with heaven. It never happened. In the Pentecostal environment there were ubiquitous references to God speaking to individuals. He revealed sin, promised healing, gave direction, and answered prayers. I wanted to hear His voice, to know He was real and He was aware of me.
I had to wait until I was seventeen for that experience. Since then I have heard Him speak to me on many occasions. He speaks with specific words. Once it seemed audible as though spoken into my right ear. Most often it is a simple clause or complete sentence formed in my innermost being. In my experience, God does not speak directly to me in response to questions or petitions, with the exception that on one occasion He did explicitly respond to an inquiry (prayed silently) through tongues and interpretation given by others. He speaks when I am not expecting Him to speak. Often it is during a time of prayer, but not always. His words change my direction or my theology. They are often corrective, but He has also spoken warnings and promises.
When He speaks I just know it is the voice of God. The thought is not what I was hoping for or expecting. It is not always pleasing, but it is always comforting. My Father in Heaven has His eye on me and He has a Word for me. I am thankful for the comforting, convicting, corrective, instructive, sovereign voice of God.
More on the voice of God tomorrow.
January 1, 2010
Haymarket, Virginia
JDJ
I am thankful for the voice of God. When I was small I wanted to hear God speak or to see some supernatural manifestation of His presence. An evangelist would say something like “Raise your hands and wave them around; you just might bump into an angel.” I would stand in my seat and wave vigorously hoping for a brush with heaven. It never happened. In the Pentecostal environment there were ubiquitous references to God speaking to individuals. He revealed sin, promised healing, gave direction, and answered prayers. I wanted to hear His voice, to know He was real and He was aware of me.
I had to wait until I was seventeen for that experience. Since then I have heard Him speak to me on many occasions. He speaks with specific words. Once it seemed audible as though spoken into my right ear. Most often it is a simple clause or complete sentence formed in my innermost being. In my experience, God does not speak directly to me in response to questions or petitions, with the exception that on one occasion He did explicitly respond to an inquiry (prayed silently) through tongues and interpretation given by others. He speaks when I am not expecting Him to speak. Often it is during a time of prayer, but not always. His words change my direction or my theology. They are often corrective, but He has also spoken warnings and promises.
When He speaks I just know it is the voice of God. The thought is not what I was hoping for or expecting. It is not always pleasing, but it is always comforting. My Father in Heaven has His eye on me and He has a Word for me. I am thankful for the comforting, convicting, corrective, instructive, sovereign voice of God.
More on the voice of God tomorrow.
January 1, 2010
Haymarket, Virginia
JDJ
Sunday, November 22, 2009
I Am Not Therapist
The first motto we adopted for the New Covenant Church of God was “Reaching Out to Hurting People.” That theme proved highly relevant and numerically successful. In a matter of weeks we grew from four to over forty. Everyone was in a Covenant Life Group where we were seeking to discover and fulfill what it truly meant to be the people of God, to “give tangible expression to being the body of Christ.” We started with two groups and soon added another, each led by me. The groups were effective in building a sense of community and in helping people get in touch with their pain but less effective in helping them find healing for deep, longstanding wounds. As pastor and group elder, I threw myself into the task of helping people find the healing provided for them in the atonement. I became a therapist, counseling with a dozen or more people every week. These were not light problems. They included several women trying to find healing from childhood sexual abuse, a young man struggling to come out of homosexuality, others with sexual identity problems, women suffering spousal abuse, dysfunctional families, people getting divorce due to infidelity, families and individuals deeply wounded by pastors and other Christian leaders, etc.
This was rewarding, exhilarating and exhausting. I loved counseling (and still do). I followed a “Rogerian” approach. Carl Rogers developed this method built on the assumption that the individual has the resources within to resolve their inner struggles; they just need a little help. What a person needs is a friend who can help them hear and clarify their own inner processes. The therapist serves as an active listener who reflects back to the client the client’s own words concerning their problem. The counselor attempts to be value neutral, non-directive, and simply help the individual hear their own thoughts. Make no mistake about it, this is hard work. The counselor must listen intensely, trying to accurately interpret the underlying meaning of what is said without adding to it and simultaneously thinking of creative ways to mirror the thoughts back to the client, “What I hear you saying is….” For most people, all they need is a friend to serve as a sounding board.
However, there are wounds and issues that are just too deep for Rogerian therapy. Rogerian therapy works because of the prevenient grace of God at work in all of creation. This preventative grace of God is in every human being arresting the destructive power of sin and serving to preserve and enhance morality, reason, affection, and the capacity for self-improvement. This grace is designed to bring the individual to faith in Christ and knowledge of God; it is not the grace of redemption, regeneration, sanctification, deliverance, or healing. There are some diseases, including some mental and emotional wounds that require intervention. My assumption had been that the Covenant Life Groups and worship services would provide the ministry context for these deeper hurts to find healing. In the context of a caring community, people would risk sharing their inner pain and once it was surfaced it could be addressed through the council and prayers of the group and/or pastoral counseling. What I discovered was (1) some wounds are accompanied by great shame making it too risky to share them even in a small, caring community, and (2) some wounds have festered to the point they have been woven into the psyche of the individual as a spirit of bitterness that takes comfort and vindication in the wound itself.
During those early years of pastoring New Covenant I learned that Rogerian counseling could actually be a stumbling block for discipleship. I can be a little slow to figure some things out, but in his goodness God occasionally gives me a direct word that changes my belief system. One of those words caused me to radically alter my approach to pastoral ministry. For almost two years I had met weekly with a young man who had been saved out of homosexuality but continued to struggle with issues of identity. I became frustrated as I saw him struggle with ungodly desires and fail to make progress in spiritual growth. I was seeking God on his behalf asking why he couldn’t get victory over the underlying hurt that had deeply scarred his self-image. “Father, why can I not get through to him? Why can I not help him find healing and get grounded in Christ?” To my surprise, I heard a non-audible but specific verbal response, “Because I called you to be his pastor and not his therapist.” In an instant I understood my approach to counseling had defined my relationship with him (as with many in our congregation) in a way that prevented me from guiding him into spiritual maturity. I had let it all be about him when it should have been about Christ and Christ’s claim on his life. My role should have been one of nurturing his relationship with Christ by coaching him in spiritual disciplines and calling on him to give an account of his Christian walk. Suddenly, I understood that his healing was tied to his relationship with Christ and it was dependent upon his response to God’s redemptive grace.
At our next meeting I shared with him my desire to focus on his spiritual growth rather than his hurt with his father and the church. I was convinced his real need was to work on his relationship with God. I reminded him that he had already been to some outstanding therapists who were available to help him continue to work on his childhood issues. I wanted to shift our time together to prayer, Bible study and accountability. I will never forget his response, “If you don’t want to talk about the things I want to talk about, I don’t need to talk with you.” A few weeks later he phoned me and opened with “I know you know where I have been going and what I have been doing, if you were any kind of pastor you would have already turned me out of the church.” He refused to get together and talk. I advised him that according to Church of God polity I could not turn him out of the church. I would take his phone call as permission to explain to the church why he should be disfellowshipped. Without hesitation he responded “you do and I’ll sue you. Everything I have ever told you was in confidence.”
I no longer do therapeutic pastoral counseling and I avoid the word “confidentiality” stressing instead the need to keep our conversations holy. I meet with persons once or twice to hear their story and try to discern their need. In most cases a couple of sessions are sufficient to help them map out a strategy. Sometimes they choose an accountability partner or let their Covenant Life Group join them in their struggles. If we agree they need to see a counselor I help them find one appropriate to their situation and I ask to meet with them periodically to monitor their spiritual development in the process. In those sessions I am careful to not discuss their counseling sessions so as to not interfere with their therapy. I want to focus on their relationship with God as they move toward inner healing.
This was rewarding, exhilarating and exhausting. I loved counseling (and still do). I followed a “Rogerian” approach. Carl Rogers developed this method built on the assumption that the individual has the resources within to resolve their inner struggles; they just need a little help. What a person needs is a friend who can help them hear and clarify their own inner processes. The therapist serves as an active listener who reflects back to the client the client’s own words concerning their problem. The counselor attempts to be value neutral, non-directive, and simply help the individual hear their own thoughts. Make no mistake about it, this is hard work. The counselor must listen intensely, trying to accurately interpret the underlying meaning of what is said without adding to it and simultaneously thinking of creative ways to mirror the thoughts back to the client, “What I hear you saying is….” For most people, all they need is a friend to serve as a sounding board.
However, there are wounds and issues that are just too deep for Rogerian therapy. Rogerian therapy works because of the prevenient grace of God at work in all of creation. This preventative grace of God is in every human being arresting the destructive power of sin and serving to preserve and enhance morality, reason, affection, and the capacity for self-improvement. This grace is designed to bring the individual to faith in Christ and knowledge of God; it is not the grace of redemption, regeneration, sanctification, deliverance, or healing. There are some diseases, including some mental and emotional wounds that require intervention. My assumption had been that the Covenant Life Groups and worship services would provide the ministry context for these deeper hurts to find healing. In the context of a caring community, people would risk sharing their inner pain and once it was surfaced it could be addressed through the council and prayers of the group and/or pastoral counseling. What I discovered was (1) some wounds are accompanied by great shame making it too risky to share them even in a small, caring community, and (2) some wounds have festered to the point they have been woven into the psyche of the individual as a spirit of bitterness that takes comfort and vindication in the wound itself.
During those early years of pastoring New Covenant I learned that Rogerian counseling could actually be a stumbling block for discipleship. I can be a little slow to figure some things out, but in his goodness God occasionally gives me a direct word that changes my belief system. One of those words caused me to radically alter my approach to pastoral ministry. For almost two years I had met weekly with a young man who had been saved out of homosexuality but continued to struggle with issues of identity. I became frustrated as I saw him struggle with ungodly desires and fail to make progress in spiritual growth. I was seeking God on his behalf asking why he couldn’t get victory over the underlying hurt that had deeply scarred his self-image. “Father, why can I not get through to him? Why can I not help him find healing and get grounded in Christ?” To my surprise, I heard a non-audible but specific verbal response, “Because I called you to be his pastor and not his therapist.” In an instant I understood my approach to counseling had defined my relationship with him (as with many in our congregation) in a way that prevented me from guiding him into spiritual maturity. I had let it all be about him when it should have been about Christ and Christ’s claim on his life. My role should have been one of nurturing his relationship with Christ by coaching him in spiritual disciplines and calling on him to give an account of his Christian walk. Suddenly, I understood that his healing was tied to his relationship with Christ and it was dependent upon his response to God’s redemptive grace.
At our next meeting I shared with him my desire to focus on his spiritual growth rather than his hurt with his father and the church. I was convinced his real need was to work on his relationship with God. I reminded him that he had already been to some outstanding therapists who were available to help him continue to work on his childhood issues. I wanted to shift our time together to prayer, Bible study and accountability. I will never forget his response, “If you don’t want to talk about the things I want to talk about, I don’t need to talk with you.” A few weeks later he phoned me and opened with “I know you know where I have been going and what I have been doing, if you were any kind of pastor you would have already turned me out of the church.” He refused to get together and talk. I advised him that according to Church of God polity I could not turn him out of the church. I would take his phone call as permission to explain to the church why he should be disfellowshipped. Without hesitation he responded “you do and I’ll sue you. Everything I have ever told you was in confidence.”
I no longer do therapeutic pastoral counseling and I avoid the word “confidentiality” stressing instead the need to keep our conversations holy. I meet with persons once or twice to hear their story and try to discern their need. In most cases a couple of sessions are sufficient to help them map out a strategy. Sometimes they choose an accountability partner or let their Covenant Life Group join them in their struggles. If we agree they need to see a counselor I help them find one appropriate to their situation and I ask to meet with them periodically to monitor their spiritual development in the process. In those sessions I am careful to not discuss their counseling sessions so as to not interfere with their therapy. I want to focus on their relationship with God as they move toward inner healing.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
The Reception of Salvation
As noted in an earlier post I recently participated in the eighth Evangelical-Catholic Dialogue of the United States. The session met October 1-4, 2009 at St. Thomas University in St. Paul, Minnesota.
We produced an Agreed Statement of Convergence on the topic The Reception of Salvation. While the statement is a little awkward in form it represents a strong consensus on the gift of salvation.
By our common faith in Jesus Christ we acknowledge and hold as essential to the gospel these life-giving truths:
In the mercy of God, salvation is offered and received in Jesus Christ. While Evangelicals teach that justification is the imputation of Christ’s alien righteousness and Catholics teach that justification entails the infusion of sanctifying grace by which divine righteousness inheres in Christians, both traditions believe that all those who are in Christ are righteous on the basis of Christ’s work for us and that their natures are transformed through the regeneration and sanctification of the Holy Spirit. Thus while our particular doctrinal heritages regarding justification, regeneration, and sanctification differ considerably, the comprehensive picture of these expressions of divine grace, taken collectively, allows us to join together in the following affirmations:
We affirm that due to Adam’s sin, the image of God in human beings has been marred, resulting in estrangement from God.
We affirm that through faith in the saving death and resurrection of Christ, God graciously justifies the ungodly and regenerates them, imparting to them new life in Christ through the Holy Spirit.
We affirm that this new life includes participation in the divine nature, growing conformity to the image of Christ, love which is the bond of perfection, and
freedom from sin’s enslaving power.
We affirm our hope of Christ’s return in power and glory, the resurrection of the body, and the ultimate glorification of those who are in Christ.
We affirm that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the inheritance of all Christians empowering them to bear witness to Christ in service and mission to the greater glory of God.
We affirm that the Holy Spirit, the Master of the interior life, both bears witness to those who are in Christ that they are children of the Father and graciously guides them in spiritual practices so that they may come to the full measure of the stature of Christ.
These spiritual practices include those enjoined by our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount (Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 6): Prayer—those practices that nurture our communion with God; Fasting—those practices that discipline the self in the following of Christ; and Almsgiving—those practices that direct us in love to our neighbor.
We produced an Agreed Statement of Convergence on the topic The Reception of Salvation. While the statement is a little awkward in form it represents a strong consensus on the gift of salvation.
By our common faith in Jesus Christ we acknowledge and hold as essential to the gospel these life-giving truths:
In the mercy of God, salvation is offered and received in Jesus Christ. While Evangelicals teach that justification is the imputation of Christ’s alien righteousness and Catholics teach that justification entails the infusion of sanctifying grace by which divine righteousness inheres in Christians, both traditions believe that all those who are in Christ are righteous on the basis of Christ’s work for us and that their natures are transformed through the regeneration and sanctification of the Holy Spirit. Thus while our particular doctrinal heritages regarding justification, regeneration, and sanctification differ considerably, the comprehensive picture of these expressions of divine grace, taken collectively, allows us to join together in the following affirmations:
We affirm that due to Adam’s sin, the image of God in human beings has been marred, resulting in estrangement from God.
We affirm that through faith in the saving death and resurrection of Christ, God graciously justifies the ungodly and regenerates them, imparting to them new life in Christ through the Holy Spirit.
We affirm that this new life includes participation in the divine nature, growing conformity to the image of Christ, love which is the bond of perfection, and
freedom from sin’s enslaving power.
We affirm our hope of Christ’s return in power and glory, the resurrection of the body, and the ultimate glorification of those who are in Christ.
We affirm that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the inheritance of all Christians empowering them to bear witness to Christ in service and mission to the greater glory of God.
We affirm that the Holy Spirit, the Master of the interior life, both bears witness to those who are in Christ that they are children of the Father and graciously guides them in spiritual practices so that they may come to the full measure of the stature of Christ.
These spiritual practices include those enjoined by our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount (Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 6): Prayer—those practices that nurture our communion with God; Fasting—those practices that discipline the self in the following of Christ; and Almsgiving—those practices that direct us in love to our neighbor.
Monday, October 12, 2009
My Conversation with Wade H. Horton
Wade Horton was one of those larger-than-life figures in the Church of God. He was prominent in World Missions, served as a State Overseer, and as General Overseer from 1962 to 66 and again from 1974 to76. He actually spent a total of 14 years on the Executive Committee of the Church. When I entered the ministry (1973) he was the champion of holiness, the leading “conservative” in the rising battle over the “practical” teachings of the church. I admired him for the passion and clarity with which he preached. Later, my respect increased when he returned to a local church pastorate after his tenure on the Executive Committee ended in 1976 rather than maneuver into a plush political appointment.
In 1984 I moved to Cleveland to serve as Minister of Education at the Westmore Church of God where Brother Horton’s son David was serving as Minister of Music. Shortly thereafter Brother Horton entered full retirement and moved back to Cleveland. A brief time later his other son, Wade, died suddenly. It was during that period of grief I made a couple of pastoral visits to his home and had my only conversations with the giant of our faith.
We were sitting in his living room the day before his son’s funeral when Brother Horton began to speak of his concerns for the Church of God. “They’re going to destroy us. They’re after three things: holiness, the tithe, and our government. They’re after holiness now, watering down the teachings. If they get that they will go after the tithe of tithes next and cripple the church. Then they will go after our centralized government. They won’t stop until they have destroyed the Church.” I didn’t ask who “they” were and he didn’t say. My impression was that he viewed them as misguided rather than malevolent, misguided but destructive none-the-less.
I have thought often about that brief conversation. The General Assembly did re-write the Practical Commitments in a way that maintained their essence but ultimately diminished their influence. Most Church of God members have no idea what we teach about the Christian life. Holiness is no longer central to our shared identity. Last year, the General Assembly set in motion the reduction of local church support for the denomination by one third, forcing major restructuring and redirection in coming years. And, as he predicted, centralized government is now openly being challenged by some.
As Wade Horton sat on his couch grieving the death of his namesake he also grieved the pending death of the church he had loved and served for decades, the church that had been for him the church of God. In his convictions the church of God could not exist without holiness, church order, and shared mission. While I may not agree with him on the particulars, I am convinced Wade H. Horton understood well the patterns and pitfalls set before our movement. His question remains, will the Church of God be the church of God or will we disintegrate into some loose affiliation of congregations void of a passion for world evangelization? To this I add another, has the desire to be the church of God already died and if so could it be we have already ceased to be the church?
In 1984 I moved to Cleveland to serve as Minister of Education at the Westmore Church of God where Brother Horton’s son David was serving as Minister of Music. Shortly thereafter Brother Horton entered full retirement and moved back to Cleveland. A brief time later his other son, Wade, died suddenly. It was during that period of grief I made a couple of pastoral visits to his home and had my only conversations with the giant of our faith.
We were sitting in his living room the day before his son’s funeral when Brother Horton began to speak of his concerns for the Church of God. “They’re going to destroy us. They’re after three things: holiness, the tithe, and our government. They’re after holiness now, watering down the teachings. If they get that they will go after the tithe of tithes next and cripple the church. Then they will go after our centralized government. They won’t stop until they have destroyed the Church.” I didn’t ask who “they” were and he didn’t say. My impression was that he viewed them as misguided rather than malevolent, misguided but destructive none-the-less.
I have thought often about that brief conversation. The General Assembly did re-write the Practical Commitments in a way that maintained their essence but ultimately diminished their influence. Most Church of God members have no idea what we teach about the Christian life. Holiness is no longer central to our shared identity. Last year, the General Assembly set in motion the reduction of local church support for the denomination by one third, forcing major restructuring and redirection in coming years. And, as he predicted, centralized government is now openly being challenged by some.
As Wade Horton sat on his couch grieving the death of his namesake he also grieved the pending death of the church he had loved and served for decades, the church that had been for him the church of God. In his convictions the church of God could not exist without holiness, church order, and shared mission. While I may not agree with him on the particulars, I am convinced Wade H. Horton understood well the patterns and pitfalls set before our movement. His question remains, will the Church of God be the church of God or will we disintegrate into some loose affiliation of congregations void of a passion for world evangelization? To this I add another, has the desire to be the church of God already died and if so could it be we have already ceased to be the church?
Monday, October 5, 2009
Evangelical/Catholic Dialogue
I was in Minneapolis Thursday through Sunday for the Catholic/Evangelical Dialogues (USA only). I enjoy the fellowship and theological discourse.
This dialogue was interesting and frustrating. The topic was “salvation.” The Evangelical paper was presented by Glen Menzies (Assemblies of God) and the Catholic was presented by Ralph Del Colle. We focused on the central point of division during the reformation, “justification.” The frustrating part is that the evangelical team (there were seven of us) was trying to dialogue out of very diverse traditions while the Catholic team has a well established script of doctrines from which to speak. The 1999 Joint Declaration on Justification issued by Lutherans and the Catholic Church was a starting point but it was the declarations of the Council of Trent that governed the Catholic positions.
The main sticking point is that out of the reformed traditions Evangelicals understand justification as a forensic (legal) act of grace whereby God declares the sinner righteous, i.e., imputes righteousness to the unrighteous. It is a gift from God (grace) and is received by faith alone. Justification is the bases for regeneration and sanctification. For the Catholics justification embraces all of life in Christ and focuses on the transformation of the believer rather than the declaration by God. There is also a sticky point on the concept of “merit,” i.e., in what sense are the saved made worthy of life in the presence of God.
We came up with a brief and I think insightful statement of points of divergence and convergence. I will post it when I get the final copy. However, as a Pentecostal I find the Reformed forensic position somewhat stilted.
This dialogue was interesting and frustrating. The topic was “salvation.” The Evangelical paper was presented by Glen Menzies (Assemblies of God) and the Catholic was presented by Ralph Del Colle. We focused on the central point of division during the reformation, “justification.” The frustrating part is that the evangelical team (there were seven of us) was trying to dialogue out of very diverse traditions while the Catholic team has a well established script of doctrines from which to speak. The 1999 Joint Declaration on Justification issued by Lutherans and the Catholic Church was a starting point but it was the declarations of the Council of Trent that governed the Catholic positions.
The main sticking point is that out of the reformed traditions Evangelicals understand justification as a forensic (legal) act of grace whereby God declares the sinner righteous, i.e., imputes righteousness to the unrighteous. It is a gift from God (grace) and is received by faith alone. Justification is the bases for regeneration and sanctification. For the Catholics justification embraces all of life in Christ and focuses on the transformation of the believer rather than the declaration by God. There is also a sticky point on the concept of “merit,” i.e., in what sense are the saved made worthy of life in the presence of God.
We came up with a brief and I think insightful statement of points of divergence and convergence. I will post it when I get the final copy. However, as a Pentecostal I find the Reformed forensic position somewhat stilted.
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