Pastortimteague's Blog

I just finished teaching a leadership and church government class at my church. One of my students responded to a writing assignment about Elisha and his call to ministry by dealing with 1 Kings 19.19-21 with a powerful analogy that the class talked about for over an hour. In the written response to the call of Elisha one of my students capitalized on the fact that with Elisha’s initial calling to service he killed his oxen, burned the hardware associated with the oxen and then proceeded to follow and minister to Elijah.

We began to uncover some of the “oxen” that inhibits us from serving God, following and serving leadership and can actually dissuade us from our “calling” entirely.

We discussed emotional attachments that can inhibit us. Elisha did request and was granted permission to go back and kiss his parents. But the kiss was one of saying “so long, see ya later”. The kiss wasn’t symbolic of a tie that would keep Elisha from service but one that warranted support and approval.

I can’t tell you in my 35 plus years of leading people in the faith community how many times I have seen “callings” crash and burn because of emotional ties that couldn’t be cut. In order to fully follow Christ and serve Him in complete commitment we may have to kill some analogous emotional/relational oxen.
I don’t think God calls us to destroy family relationships. God is about family and has been since He created Adam and Eve. But what He also created was the total dependence on Him and not family. In other words Elisha left the instruction, guidance and resource of family to pursue following a prophet who had a price on his head (remember Jezebel?). Family, friends, relationships can interfere with our calling and we may have to make choices to accept, deny or integrate family with our calling.

I see this more with men and women who are called into a ministry venue after marriage. The spouse didn’t enter the marriage with intentions of going “full time” in ministry. “Are you insane?” I have heard spouses ask their partners. In order to salvage family you may find yourself balancing family and calling. Does God call someone into full time ministry knowing that his or her calling will destroy their family? i don’t think so! But callings are without repentance and when He calls He is well aware of our circumstances. God expects us to work out our calling by communicating that calling with our spouse, family and friends.

Let me also say that not every person who has a calling to serve has to do so on a full time basis. This is entirely a whole new subject matter. Know this though, callings will force us to slaughter some emotional ties that could inhibit our obedience factor.

Money, as in income, can be another “oxen” we may have to slaughter. Without a doubt, when discovering your calling, rather in full time ministry or in vocational employment, you will be faced with making a choice that may point to less income, less money for your service. Many people who “take a church” or “accept a transfer/promotion” may do so and actually make less money in their new venture. I have made several ministry decisions that on the outside looked like financial gains when in reality I took less salary in my decision to relocate.

Calling isn’t about money. Calling is about the absolute will of God and trusting Him for total provision. When I left employment with General Motors in 1987 to enter full time ministry I made a covenant with God. I told God, “Get me into full time ministry and I will never depend on vocational employment again.” Over thirty years ago we stepped away from a great income with great benefits. I have seen tough times and lean times but God has never failed our covenant.

In moving to Ohio to assume our current pastorate we were met by a lady in the altar who informed me, “You will be our next pastor and you will come by paying a great personal sacrifice.” Needless to say she was on target. We had just had a house built and had lived in it for only a few months. We left Michigan just before the housing crisis of 2005. The house stayed on the market for over four years. We continued to make payments on a vacant home until we finally sold it in a short sale. We put the house on the market for $300,000 and we sold it for a mere $138,000. We lost our shirt and nearly every thing we owned. Our total lose in the scenario was over $200,000. We were certainly slaughtering some oxen!

Folks kept asking if we missed the will of God in coming to Ohio as if the will of God is painless and exempt from financial loss. We finally got it across to people that if the perfect will of God meant no pain than Jesus was out of the Father’s will by going to the cross.

We were in the center of God’s will and we were also prophetically told our choice would be at a costly personal sacrifice. I believe that at some point in our future God will restore what the enemy stole from us. My faith is in a God who holds the world in His hands, not just the housing market.

We slaughtered that oxen of financial loss. We picked up and began chasing our “Elijah” – aka Lancaster, Ohio. God has blessed our ministry here with church growth and an incredible congregation that is committed to following anointed visionary leadership. The lost money? Oh its still lost!! It hasn’t found its way back to our bank account yet. It may never. In the mean time we have a calling to engage.

Finding the will of God is sometimes costly. You may have to take a step backwards financially to see the will of God manifest in your life. But I can assure you of this, God’s word and will is at stake. He will sustain what He calls. He will resource your calling. He will uphold your calling. He will guide your calling. We first have to make a choice to “slaughter the oxen.”

There are a lot more “oxen” in relationship to calling that have to slaughtered. For each of us it could be something different. For some its the “comfort zone” of our job, our geographical location, friends, family, assets, salary, etc. The one thread of commonality in all calling is obedience. Obedience should trump everything else in our lives.

I am reminded of the cost factors Jesus spoke about in relationship to following Him.
Luke 9:59-62 And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” (60) But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” (61) Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” (62) But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Rather you are in full time ministry, part time ministry, vocationally employed as a minister or vocationally employed and serving in a church or ministry to fulfill your calling – you at some point have had to slaughter some oxen.

I would very much like for you to respond to the blog and let me know some of the “oxen” you’ve had to slaughter along the way.

The Trojan Horse Called Same Sex Marriage
The recent SCOTUS decision has caused more damage than we will ever know. When a group of court justices make a decision that defies logic and six thousand years of physical, social and moral law – one has to stop and evaluate what took place. The decision was a tragic mistake! There is no other way to define what took place. I have listened and watched both the right and the left react to the decision. Could it be a spirit of delusion has been released on the five court justices who voted to approve same sex marriage? There has to be! Nothing else can lend logic to the decision.

I understand my approach to the decision is strictly spiritual. That’s not because I am an ordained bishop. It’s because I am a dedicated follower of Jesus Christ. I was a follower of Christ long before I became an ordained bishop. So my comments rise from the deep convictions I have of placing my trust in Holy Writ. God revealed to men laws, precepts and principles that would guide His creation and if we would follow those laws as the Creator intended we would be much better of in our societal relationships.

I get the fact that homosexuality has been around for nearly six thousand years. I get the fact that sexual sin didn’t take long to manifest after the creation of Adam and Eve. Seriously! This is not just about sexual sin. There is a bigger picture at stake. I have read dozens of articles and blogs about the SCOTUS decision. I have managed my frustration with the both the far right and the far lefts absolute ignorance in reacting to the decision. To be honest, it took part of the faith community more by surprise then it did God. I am confident nothing He has seen out of His creation over the last six thousand years has taken Him by surprise. The reason He sent His Son to redeem humanity was His awareness of our sin and our inability to redeem ourselves. Jesus died for those who commit sin – not just those who are taken down the venue of sexual abomination. Let’s face it – homosexuality, lesbianism, adultery and fornication are all tagged as sin that can keep one from the kingdom of God. But God has a response to such abominable behavior.

• 1 Corinthians 6:9-11  Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Thank God we are loved by God so much that out of heart of grace and mercy He provided a means for us to find forgiveness of sin and turn from our wickedness and follow Him.

Sexual Perversion
For me, homosexuality is a perversion of creation. Simple. Out of all that men wrestle with in relationship to scripture – history, prophecy, end times, Hebrew, Greek, etc. – you would think that something so simple as the account of creation in Genesis could be understood. God created one man and one woman. God didn’t create Adam 1, 2 and 3 to have a relationship with Eve. He didn’t create Eve 1,2, and 3 to have a relationship with Adam. He didn’t create two Adam’s and He didn’t create two Eve’s. He created one woman and one man. He then created the institution of oneness of flesh and provided all the hardware to accomplish His purpose for sexual intimacy between a man and a woman. Simple. See for yourself.

• Genesis 2:21-25  So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Homosexuality is a sexual relationship scripture doesn’t tolerate. It is sin. It is a perversion of creation and God gives strict guidelines for this vulgar behavior in Leviticus 18. Again, the instructions are simple. From the most ignorant of humans to what is perceived as the most educated and intelligent among us should be able to understand the perimeters of what God intended for a man and a woman in the confines of holy covenant relationship. No where in Holy Writ does homosexuality or same sex relationships find approval. It is simply a perversion of creation. Obviously there is a group of people who either 1) can’t accept the Word of God as truth or 2) intentionally reject the Word or 3) find themselves fulfilling Romans 1 or 4) wrestle scriptures to their own destruction.
2 Peter 3:16  as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

The Trojan Horse of the Same Sex Culture
After praying about this for several days recently I begin to ask myself what’s the bigger picture in regard to the same sex agenda? This isn’t just about homosexuality. Why would Satan rattle the chains of something humanity has been exposed to for nearly six thousand years? Satan doesn’t do anything without an agenda, a strategy.

• 2 Corinthians 2:11  so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.
• Ephesians 6:11  Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

So I asked myself, “What could be the bigger picture?” For me and the conclusion I have come to it is the bigger picture of how the Lord relates to the church. From Genesis to Revelation He uses terminology that identifies the Old and New Testament “church” as having a marital or familial relationship with Him. When Israel or the church faltered or strayed from His will He claimed they went after “whores” or simply broke a covenant relationship with Him. In the New Testament Paul the apostle received revelation from the Holy Spirit that identified the church as the Bride of Christ and spoke of it as a mystery yet to be fully understood. As a matter of fact when Paul the apostle writes to the church at Ephesus about husbands and wives he reaches back to Genesis 2.24-25 and captures the intention of God regarding man, woman and ultimately the church.

Ephesians 5:28-32  So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

For me, the trojan horse Satan is using is “same sex marriage.” The bigger picture, the strategy of hell is to dissuade men and woman away from the gospel of Christ wherein they can find salvation. When Satan can discredit the Word by framing marriage around something scripture forbids – he simply confuses an understanding of the Word. Men and woman outside and inside the church who are merely carnal in their faith will begin to resist the truth. SCOTUS didn’t act on their own. They were influenced by a much darker and more evil ideology than same sex marriage. SCOTUS was used of Satan to pervert the doctrine of marriage as God intended. In so doing they have slandered the truth of God’s relationship with the church – a Bridegroom coming back for His bride.

• Revelation 19:7  “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.”
• Revelation 22:17  The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.
• Revelation 21:9  “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
• Revelation 21:2  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.

Why does Satan want to sow such seeds of confusion, division and perversion? Simple. He knows his days are limited and he will do everything he can to pollute the simple truth of scripture.

• Revelation 12:12  “…because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.”

Satan wants to rule the world. He is the god of this world and wants ultimate control. What better way to seed thoughts that are anti-Christian, received as bigoted and antiquated but to attack the marriage relationship as God intended it to be? So goes the trojan horse of same sex marriage. This isn’t about homosexuality. It’s deeper, more sophisticated and more evil than that. It’s about desecrating the sacredness and purity of the relationship Jesus, the Bridegroom, has with the church, His Bride.  To attack the validity and sacredness of the marriage covenant is to attack the ultimate message of the returning Bridegroom for His church.  We, the church, are the bride, adorning herself with purity, integrity and holiness.  We await the Bridegroom to return for us.  While we wait – we contend for the faith.  We deliver the gospel, the good news as we always have.  Jesus died on the cross to redeem mankind from the sin nature that keeps them from Him.  Jesus loves everyone and forgives everyone.  That’s the message for homosexuals, lesbians and all who live by the sin nature.  He loves and forgives when we repent.

For me, I will lay hold of the message of the Bridegroom who is returning for His Bride. I will contend for the faith. I will resist any ordinance or law devised by man that will defile the Truth of the gospel. In my contention for the faith I will equally proclaim the love of God for all sinners who need a Savior. And for that matter…a real understanding of the sacredness of marriage found in relationship with Christ.

I have been asked by folks in my church for an opinion on the Ferguson situation since the first shots were fired by a law enforcement officer who obviously felt threatened by the behavior of an individual who was a suspect in a felon committed minutes earlier. I’ve wrestled with a plethora of emotions over this since the news of the unfortunate event hit the air waves. Judicially speaking the court resolution on this has been intentionally ignored. The result of that intentional ignorance has been looting, rioting and an absolute total disregard for the judicial system and law enforcement in Ferguson. This manifestation has been provoked and encouraged by those who belong to certain “race baiter” groups – not excluding our current Presidential Administration and his “team”. I find it ironic that involvement from the White House and supporting service personnel are willing to ignore the beheading of an innocent grandmother by a raging lawless Muslim while propagating resistance to law and authority in an event deemed justifiable by the court system they are sworn to support. Instead of grief for the loss of a grandmothers life by a radical terrorist – the WH praises the mosque he was associated with just a few days later. I can’t even begin to tell you how violated my “civil rights” feel when I see this kind of intentional ignorance of moral law from our political leaders. A military general is killed in the line of duty and our President fails to attend his funeral – but is willing to make a show of force for manifest lawlessness in Ferguson. It’s no wonder we are struggling with simple obedience to law – we can’t find it in our own governmental leadership. Enough of my ranting.

I have finally arrived at a conclusion for myself on this issue. While I can’t and won’t attempt to speak for my church I will definitely speak to my church and the readers of my blog on this one.

First of all, death of a human being is something we should all grieve – regardless of the cause. Life is a gift from God and should be accepted as such. When we see a young persons life taken for any reason – it should effect all of us. I can’t imagine the emotions that Adam and Eve went through when informed of the death of one of their sons at the hand of the other. We have since then experienced the perpetual and unjust taking of lives throughout history. Just as violently as Abel lost his life we see far too many innocent and criminally guilty young people lose their lives today. Weapons designed for our protection are the issue here. Disobedience to law is. Violence for the cause of murder is something that adversely affects all of us in one way or another.
But lets stop for a moment and review the events of Ferguson. The young man who lost his life wasn’t the innocent angel the DBM claimed him to be. He was a suspected felon who was engaged in showing no respect for law enforcement and or adult authority – much less the store owner he threatened minutes prior. Evidence unknown to the offending officer would later prove his guilt. I agree, the fact he was an un-convicted felon didn’t give unjust cause for the loss of his life. His behavior as an un-convicted/suspected felon did give the officer in question the right to defend himself. Was his defense to harsh? Could he have taken a different form of defensive action? Hard to say because we were not in his shoes. He has just had his face pummeled by the suspect in question. He did what he and many of us – black or white, would have done. He acted on self defense impulse.

The court would eventually rule the loss of the life of this young man was not unjust. The officer was cleared of all misconduct and criminal behavior. The problem is now is not the event itself. The “event” – the tragic loss of life – was solved by the court. The problem now is an extended problem of irrational behavior by certain individuals who lean toward anarchy. Instead of being part of the greatest democratic nation in the world and showing pro-active behavior toward perceived injustice – they choose to act out through lawless behavior. The result is they burn their own city down. They burn down, loot and demolish the businesses of their own race – people who like every other business owner in America – work hard to make a simple living for their families. I simply don’t and will never understand this type of behavior. It is mob mentality and motivated by self-centeredness.

When I think about this event and the ensuing behavior that followed I can think of two principles that would solve about 90% of all these types of incidents. I found these two principles in Scripture – mind you I realize that scripture means nothing to the lawless minded hoodlums burning the city of Ferguson down – but to some of us – it means “life balance” as God intended it.

I refer to a simple passage of scripture that gives us two powerful principles of human behavior.
John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

The Obedience Factor
It is the opinion of this blog author that a high percentage of all police confrontations would be null and void if we would do one simple thing – obey the commands of law enforcement/civil authority. I cringe at the mockery of certain high profile NFL players who enter the playing field as immature high school children instead of adults who want to be proactive with law enforcement. As with their profession – not all NFL players beat the daylights out of their wives but the rest of us don’t mock NFL players as a whole because of the behavior of a few. Without a doubt there is a percentage of law enforcement who push their authority over the line of justice and morality. But not all law enforcement personnel do. These guys, in my humble and simple opinion were out of line. Ignorance surfaced with their behavior – not proactive support for obedience.

That being said, obedience is something that we obviously – as a civil society – have difficulty with. Obedience isn’t a race issue. Obedience isn’t an academic issue. Obedience isn’t even a religious issue. Obedience is a moral issue. To be an obedient citizen or morally balanced person one doesn’t have to have a commitment to religious faith. One simply has to understand moral values given for human behavior. Obedience doesn’t know race, religion or creed. Obedience is a moral factor given for the restraint of human behavior. A young mans life was probably lost due to his simple disobedience to authority. A law enforcement officers life will never be the same due to someones disobedience and disregard for law. Both could have been avoided by obedience and not disobedience.

Some law enforcement confrontations occur because lawless minded people judge all police activity as being wrong or unjust. We tag the justification for our misbehavior and rejection of authority as “civil discrimination”. What about my “civil rights” being violated by those who deem lawlessness as just behavior toward authority figures? This argument could go on and on with endless scenarios custom fit for all of us. The simple fact here is that we are failing to teach obedience to children in our homes. We have stopped teaching the requirement of obedience in our educational systems. We have stopped requiring obedience to employers. Instead we find ourselves negotiating our will in place of established law and order. We now negotiate with three year olds in day cares to thirty year olds on college campuses. We negotiate employee commitment based on personal and narcissistic desires. Negotiation isn’t a commitment to moral behavior. Negotiation is often a trade off from the original to self defined and applied law – “I’ll trade you my will for yours!” The standard of behavior whereby law was fixed is can never be negotiated for disobedience. We no longer can judge misbehavior or punish alleged misbehavior as being wrong and therefore we have relegated obedience to the trash can. Obedience to law and those who uphold the law has been disarmed by our own doing. I beg you to read Romans 13. For starters I will include verse 2: Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.

Resistance to established and appointed authority results disobedience for law and order from the home to the streets. We have, in America, an disobedience factor. We have in America a sin factor that can only be healed the work of Christ.

The Love Factor
Obedience is based on honor, trust and love. God gave us 10 commandments for human behavior. Most of theme have been deemed antiquated by those who oppose God as the Ultimate God of the Universe – and its starting to show in our behavior toward one another. One of those ten commandments is “Honor your father and mother” (Exodus 20.12). Honor infers obedience and respect. When we lower the standards of obedience we by default lower the standards of respect for others – much less respect for authority figures.
I may have missed it here but years ago I was taught obedience as one of many principles for moral human behavior. This doctrine of obedience came from parental influence. I loved my parents to the degree that their “commands” for me were not burdensome or hard. I loved them and wanted to show my love for them by my obedience to their “laws” or authority in the home. Our home was secure with peace and tranquility – until the laws were broken and we engaged in disobedient behavior. I have discovered when the peace and tranquility God intended for us as humans is ignored and resisted we create a culture of lawlessness. When we choose to disobey His commands we do two things: intentionally without remorse disobey law and disregard human relationships. Rather those “commands” are in relationship to societal/civil responsibility, marriage covenants, domestic relationships or familial relationships – when we engage in disobedience for law and disregard the care of relationships – we wreak chaos and violence as a result. History only needs to be studied to prove this point.

If a law enforcement officer is wrong in his/her request there is a right way to disagree and even disobey. Although the early church stated that we should obey God rather than man – their obedience was manifest in the fact they followed through with their appearance in front of the Sanhedrin court. Note something here: they responded in disagreement by their simple obedience to established law – no matter how unfair that law was. If we all refuse to obey the law – we establish anarchy based on individual and or even group resistance and biased self defined law. That is a prescription for chaos and violence. Hence the issue at Ferguson.

If the young man who lost his life would have just listened and obeyed the request of law enforcement – there would’ve been no confrontation at the police vehicle nor on the streets. Had he initially shown respect for the store owner – he may have salvaged his own life and the reputation of an entire city. Life in Ferguson itself would have been salvaged. Lies would not have had to be concocted. Businesses wouldn’t have to have been burned down. Court decisions wouldn’t have had to be disrespected. Race would not be an issue. There are certain residents in Ferguson who made the event a race issue. Obedience, again, is not a race issue. It’s a moral issue. Disobedience to law was the cause of the violence displayed in Ferguson. When Martin Luther King Jr. resisted established and culturally accepted racism and discrimination – he did it within the confines of moral and civil law. He marched – he didn’t burn cities down. He marched – he didn’t show disrespect for authority figures. He marched – he didn’t threaten the lives of other human beings who may have even proved to be his sworn enemies.

If we love this country – we will obey its laws. We will obey them in moral fashion. If there is perceived injustice within any law or command – there is a venue to process our disagreement and if need be – even engage religious disobedience. Disobedience in Ferguson wasn’t in response to a commandment or law created to effect the faith of an individual. Disobedience in Ferguson was the result of disobedience and lack of respect (love) for authority. The Ferguson type of disobedience will always be manifest in lawless behavior by those who disregard the law as good for all moral human behavior.

Let’s not kid ourselves anymore. There is a group of self centered, disobedient, anarchical, rebellious people out there that will always disrespect and disregard law. There is a segment of our populace that will always resist law – Holy Writ informs us of their existence: Romans 13.2 “Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.” Note here that its not moral law that condemns the lawbreaker – its their disobedience to established and God ordained law that condemns the lawbreaker.

These rebellious and dishonoring individuals give themselves over to lawlessness – rather God’s law or man’s law. They have no regard for law – period. They are without a doubt immoral people who know only how to serve themselves through their disobedience. How’s that working for them?

My desire for the gengap in the Church of God to diminish…

As a member in the Church of God – I can truthfully say we are in need of, as my friend Tommy Madden so thoughtfully stated, a “facelift” in the Church of God. Our Presiding Bishop, Dr. Mark Williams, stated that we were missing a great deal of our young men and women at the General Assembly. Less than 25% of those in attendance this year were under 50 years of age. We need a facelift!

There is, to reintroduce an old phrase, a generation gap in those who are attending and those who are absent from the General Assembly. This year for a variety of reasons of which only one is age, our attendance incredibly low. I am grieved over this “gengap” for several reasons and do not have an answer for eliminating it. Not having an answer and having a passion to see it eliminated are two different things. Yes! We need a facelift!

I spoke with several young men today as I walked to and from the General Council sessions and asked them their opinion on this issue. I was also privileged to share lunch with a couple of young guys I highly respect for their candid comments and sincere maturity in Christ. Across the board the sense is that the General Assembly is not “relevant” to a succeeding generation. We have in some ways created this monster ourselves. I don’t believe we did it intentionally but over time it evolved right in front of us. We have given seed to what we are now trying solve – a real gengap in our denomination. By default of who we are as an organization and our lack of desire to change how we process our methods, minutia and polity has brought us to where we are today. We need a facelift!

Here is my take on this gengap issue. I lean to the Word for support because no matter what generation we are living in, succeeding or preceding – the Word is always relevant. I see two issues here that we need to address. One is practical and business oriented and the other is spiritual and progressive in nature. Let me try to explain.

In Acts chapters one and two we can find a model for church structure that hasn’t changed for two-thousand years and it never will. In Acts chapter one Simon Peter stops a prayer meeting and holds a business meeting and leads the upper room constituents into an election. That election was to replace Judas who had fallen. The church couldn’t go any further until this balance of structure was satisfied with Old Testament prophecy’s that effected the apocalyptic end of the church as we know it. Twelve was the number God Himself fixed for the church to survive for a future kingdom of structure. In other words there was a “structure” that God ordained and it had to be followed – even if it meant having a “boring” business meeting. The business at hand had to be dealt with. Once the business at hand was dealt with the church could move into the next phase of existence – the visionary phrase.

In Acts chapter two there is a powerful statement brought to the church that indicates that the church’s young men would be visionary leaders and the old men would be dreamers. Dreams are something that may not ever come to tangible fruition. That’s why the church needs visionary leaders. Visions come to fruition much quicker than dreams. There is no “either or” issue here. We cannot exist as a church without both. We need the often times boring and necessary business meetings and we need the challenging and awakening visionary leadership found in Acts chapter two. We need a facelift!

We need the practical business side that a succeeding generation deems unnecessary, boring and not very practical at all. We also need the spiritual and visionary driven platforms for the church to exist. We need both. There is within the confines of the Church of God an older generation that sees the vital need for the structure and business of the church – even it means wrangling over a few words in a motion for an hour – as absolutely necessary. There is a succeeding generation that all but wants to ignore the business side and have already dismissed themselves from the formation of it. Again, this is not an either or issue. We can’t exist without both. The task at hand is convincing a succeeding generation of the absolute need of structure that involves polity. Notice I didn’t say politics. There is a a difference that can be debated on anohter blog at another time. We need polity to strucutre any visionary/dreamer leadershiip that God provides for us. We need a facelift!

I’m not sure what the answer for this gengap is but I am confident of one thing – we need both the business and the spiritual side of structure to complete a platform for the church to continue to exist as a vital part of a changing culture. Life and church are not what they used to be in relationship to the church, a post-modern culture that ignores the reality and need of a personal Savior and a succeeding generation of preachers of the gospel. While we may not condone a changing culture but we have an obligation to serve it as called men and women of the gospel. Denominational culture is changing – or at least trying. If we don’t stop this denominational machine called the Church of God and examine ourselves for future relevancy – we are doing ourselves an injustice. We need a facelift!

• I don’t know what the answers are to fix this gengap. But what I know is this:
  a gengap exists and we cannot ignore it
• we have a Biblical model for church structure simplified in Acts 1 and 2
• we need business (Acts 1) because it gives structure to the path of visionary and dreamer leadership (Acts 2)
• we cannot choose either or
• visionary leadership without structure is chaos and can lean toward dictatorship
• structure without visionary and dreamer leadership can lead to legalistic and binding strategies that are absent of life
• we must call leadership summits that address this issue in order to give a succeeding generation the confidence the Church of God belongs in part to them and not merely an aging generation that ignores their interests
• we don’t have a lot of time to see this issue minimized

I believe in the Church of God. I believe our future is as full of potential as we want it to be. But potentiality is engaged by intentionality.  If we are not intentional with our efforts to solve this issue – we will crush our potentiality. As someone much wiser than I said one time…”Our potentiality lives or dies with our intentionality.”

A two-fold concern…
I recently posted an editorial written by my good friend, Jim Waits, on the political, political and military history of Muslim people. I trust this was not mistaken for an outright hatred toward all Muslims. There is a two prong approach as to what should concern ourselves with in relationship to the Muslim people.

First of all, the Muslim movement is not a political machine. It is a religion that has and takes unquestionably a commanding presence in the political world arena around the world.  Even in North America as a whole the Muslim faith has made great strides in impacting and changing the political landscapes of wherever they live. Entire communities have shifted to accommodate Muslims and their faith and political influence. I hesitate to begin to bullet point a history of this effect of the faith and political influence of Muslims. I really would like to think that it speaks for itself. One only has to see what is happening all over the middle east to see what extremist Muslims have in mind for the rest of the world. They demand both political and religious rule. Muslims have an agenda. They have, for no better word to use, a target they are working toward. That target is for their faith to one day politically rule the world with sharia law.  Muslims by default are religious movement with political influence/dominance because sharia law rules over the civil, social and religious aspects of all those they hope to conquer. It is easy but yet complicated.

The second prong of the Muslim movement in the world is the spiritual nature of their heart. I had breakfast in Orlando, Florida, with a good and long time friend of mine, Bishop Fred Nichols, who has for almost twenty years been committed to winning Muslims to Christ. He made a statement that was simple in nature but yet captured my heart. He said in his travels all over the middle east and Africa – he has realized that the most powerful way to win Muslims is by simply loving them. In essence, we are being called to love our enemy.  Muslims are the enemy not of just Americans, Jews, etc. They are the enemies of Jesus Christ as the Son of God.  While they accept Jesus as a teacher or a prophet they do not accept Him as the Son of God.  It doesn’t matter if they are shia or sunni – Christians and Jews and anyone in opposition to Allah is their enemy and by default making them our enemy. They are, in spite of their religious or political aggression, our enemy. They are to be loved as any other individual who needs Jesus as Savior.

Loving our enemy is something Jesus commanded us to do. Here it is in His words: Matthew 5:44 “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” As simple as this is for most people – when you are a persecuted people it becomes incredibly difficult to love those who persecute you. Jesus set the primary example of this for us by loving and forgiving His persecuters while He was on the cross.  Jesus actually says two things here. First, He instructs us to love for our enemies.  Loving our enemies can be subjective depending on the type of enemy we have and how that enemy carries out his personal agenda against us. Loving those who declare that they are our enemy is something that Jesus commanded us to do. Period. Their behavior doesn’t determine our love. Rather their behavior toward us is passive or aggressive – we are to love them. No questions asked.

The second point Jesus makes is that we are to pray for those who persecute us. As an American – I know not persecution as my brothers and sisters do in other places of the world. Facebook, blogs and websites have posted videos and pictures of troubling and horrific levels of persecution. From beheading individuals who are yet alive to the mass murdering of those who oppose their faith – we have seen the violence of demonically driven men who worship Allah and yet have a tendency to be so violent to propagate their faith. These men are those who persecute those in my faith family around the world. These men are to be prayed for – period. We must daily call this movement out in prayer, cover them in prayer and pray that justice be done by a God of grace and mercy.

I think we have a two fold response to the Muslim movement. First, we love them with the finished work of Jesus on Calvary. Jesus died for their sin. They are lost and they are blind. As anyone else who is lost in the bondage of sin we must love all people to cross of Christ. Second, we must pray as never before for those who are bent on persecuting us only for our faith. Prayer seems to be the most difficult command of Jesus to engage but it is connected with those who would inflict pain on anyone who denies Allah. Regardless – we must pray.

This is the task at hand. Loving and praying for our enemies and those who persecute us. According to Paul the apostle those who suffer for Christ around the world are those we feel pain for. When one member suffers we all suffer. We are a suffering body of believers even though we have not been persecuted here in North America for our faith. When those around the world suffer – so do we. Therefore let us pray. Let us pray, please, pray for those who are persecuting our faith family around the world.

Below is a journalistic comment from a very good friend and brother in Christ – Jim Waits. I have received his permission to repost it here on my blog.
I couldn’t say this any better than he did. Love the finish comment he makes. Enjoy the read/post.

A Post from Jim Waits, Pickerington, Ohio
This is all factually (and historically) correct – and verifiable.

In 732 AD the Muslim Army which was moving on Paris was
defeated and turned back at Tours, France, by Charles Martell.

In 1571 AD the Muslim Army/Navy was defeated by the Italians and Austrians as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to attack southern Europe in the Battle of Lapanto.

In 1683 AD the Turkish Muslim Army, attacking eastern Europe, was finally defeated in the Battle of Vienna by German and Polish Christian Armies.

This has been going on for 1,400 years and half of the politicians don’t even know it!!! If these battles had not been won we might be speaking Arabic and Christianity could be non-existent; Judaism certainly would be. Let us not forget that Hitler was an admirer of Islam and that the Mufti of Jerusalem was Hitler’s guest in Berlin and raised Bosnian Muslim SS Divisions: the 13th and 21st Waffen SS Divisions who killed Jews, Russians, Gypsies, and any other “subhumans”.

A lot of Americans have become so insulated from reality that they imagine that America can suffer defeat without any inconvenience to themselves.

Pause a moment, reflect back. These events are actual events from history.
They really happened!!! Do you remember?:
1. In 1968, Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by a Muslim male. [Sirhan Sirhan]
2. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by Muslim males.
3. In 1972 a Pan Am 747 was hijacked and eventually diverted to Cairo where a fuse was lit on final approach, it was blown up shortly after landing by Muslim males.
4. In 1973 a Pan Am 707 was destroyed in Rome, with 33 people killed, when it was attacked with grenades by Muslim males.
5. In 1979, the US embassy in Iran was taken over by Muslim males.
6. During the 1980’s a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by Muslim males.
7. In 1983, the US Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by Muslim males.
8. In 1985, the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year old American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard in his wheelchair by Muslim males.
9. In 1985, TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a US Navy diver trying to rescue passengers was murdered by Muslim males.
10. In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by Muslim males.
11. In 1993, the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by Muslim males.
12. In 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by Muslim males.
13. On 9/11/2001, four airliners were hijacked; two were used as missiles to take down the World Trade Centers and of the remaining two, one crashed into the US Pentagon and the other was diverted and crashed by the passengers. Thousands of people were killed by Muslim males.
14. In 2002, the United States fought a war in Afghanistan against Muslim males.
15. In 2002, reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and beheaded by, you guessed it, a Muslim male.
16. In 2013, Boston Marathon Bombing 4 Innocent people including a child killed, 264 injured by Muslim males.

No, I really don’t see a pattern here to justify profiling, do you?

So, to ensure we Americans never offend anyone, particularly fanatics intent on killing us, airport security screeners will no longer be allowed to profile certain people. So, ask yourself, “Just how stupid are we???”

Absolutely, no profiling! They must conduct random searches of 80-year-old women, little kids, airline pilots with proper identification, secret service agents who are members of the President’s security detail, 85-year old, Congressmen with metal hips, and Medal of Honor Recipient and former Governor Joe Foss. But leave Muslim Males alone, lest they be guilty of profiling.

Ask yourself “Just how stupid are we?”

As the writer of the award winning story ‘Forrest Gump’ so aptly put it, ‘Stupid Is As Stupid Does’. Forrest also said “You can’t fix stupid”. Let’s hope he’s wrong on that last one … as we desperately need to fix this PC …”religion of peace” misconception.

Thanks Jim for this stirring and challenging editorial. We are in a global position of recognizing that Muslims are not a political movement – they are a religious movement.

Sharing with a two different families this afternoon and tonight – I found myself missing my father.  If I can take a moment to say that losing dad was hard for me.   I loved him dearly.  I miss him terribly.  This is one of my favorite pics of myself and dad.  Kim casually snapped this shot as dad and I were walking out to get some fresh air.   I miss him but wouldn’t bring him back to earth for any amount of money.  I love you dad.