15 May Words from 1929 for 2009

While reading from Trial and Triumphs: History of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, I came across a quote from our Bishop’s quadrennial report of 1929:

“We stand in need of a great spiritual awakening throughout the Church. A greater emphasis should be placed upon the actual presence of God in the person of the Holy Spirit in the lives of our people. A consciousness of the intervention of God…is the only antidote which will counteract the poison of materialistic teaching which is everywhere pouring in upon Christianity, killing the spirituality of the church and rendering the lives of thousands barren and unfruitful.”

Wow!  That could have been written about the Church in 2009 as well.

07 May Reclaiming a Piece of UB History

Our lobby at Healthy Ministry Resources looks different. We added something new: a stained glass window from our former national office. Let me tell you its history.

Way back in 1834, the United Brethren denomination bought printing equipment for a new publishing house in Circleville, Ohio. In 1853, the publishing house moved to Dayton, Ohio, where the denominational headquarters was located.

After the division in 1889, our group lost everything. We had a temporary publishing operation in Dayton for a while. Then, in 1897, everything moved to Huntington, Ind.

Initially, we used a building on South Jefferson. But after 20 years, we built a new, multi-story brick building at the corner of Franklin and Warren Streets to house the publishing operation and the denominational offices. It was dedicated on May 2, 1917, by Bishop Fermin Hoskins.

Above the main entrance they installed this beautiful stained glass window that said “Publishing Establishment of the United Brethren in Christ.” We relocated the offices to the current location in 1976, selling the other building to a local businessman. However, that stained glass window was still there 30 years later when I became bishop.

I thought we needed to reclaim that window. So we talked with the building’s owner. He said we could have it, as long as we paid to have it removed and paid for a replacement. No problem.

And so, the window was removed, and we had it restored to pristine condition. Then a local contractor mounted it in this beautiful wooden case, which takes up most of a wall in our lobby. It is lighted from behind, and looks gorgeous.

30 Apr Book: God’s War on Terror

I am reading a new book, God’s War on Terror, written by Walid Shoebat (Executive Media). Walid is a converted Muslim. Technically the book, in my opinion, is not edited very well, but as far as getting the point across, it is power-packed.

He says that the Bible is Futurology 101: “It is a detailed roadmap of so much evidence that God exists and His design from time immemorial regarding man’s destiny with many details concerning the future, especially the coming war with an Islamic coalition against Christianity and Israel.”

He believes that the nations that God goes to war against in the end time are all Muslim nations. His arguments are pretty convincing.

The book has 98 chapters and 490 pages. So you can see there are a lot of short chapters.

This is not devotional reading, but I think it is worth the read. Has anyone else out there read it? If so,I would be interested in your take!

14 Apr Tell Me About Your Easter

The Easter season is always exciting for churches. That’s when we see some of our biggest attendances, and it’s when a lot of ministry occurs.

So tell me what happened during the Easter season at your church, so I can share it here with others. Or, just leave a comment.

09 Apr A Real Passover Meal

Tim and Tara Hallman, who serve Anchor UB church (Fort Wayne, Ind.), were invited by some Jewish friends to observe Passover with them. It was a great experience. Tim wrote about it on his blog.

07 Apr Book: The Monkey and the Fish

“The Monkey and the Fish” is about leadership and church health. The Christian market has many such books. This one hits some different chords.

Dave Gibbons, an Asian American who founded Newsong, a multi-site megachurch in California, is a refreshing voice. Too many Christian writers seemingly think the American church, and our interpretation of what church should be, is God’s definitive word for the world. Gibbons takes a world view, and his words open up whole new possibilities. No, he’s not in the emergent crowd; many of them would view Gibbons as tame. But for me, a traditional evangelical from the United Brethren mold, his thoughts stretch me aplenty.

A theme Gibbons develops throughout the book builds on the question asked of Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus responded by telling the story of the Good Samaritan, which is about two people who normally wouldn’t have anything to do with each other–a Samaritan and a Jew.

Gibbons writes, “Jesus was telling the religious leader that his neighbor, instead of being someone like him, was someone not like him at all, someone he would be uncomfortable with or even hate.”

He says churches need to seek out people who are different from them, not just like them. “There’s something truly divine about a movement of people who reach out to love others and be with others whom they find difficult to understand or love to be with.”

This is more than theory to Gibbons and Newsong Church. It’s a concept that permeates the church, as they intentionally pursue marginalized people, outsiders, people on the fringes of society. And he cautions, “It may very well mean that the church doesn’t grow numerically nearly as quickly as it otherwise might.” Imagine that–adopting a strategy which you know will slow your growth…just because you think it’s the way Jesus might do things.

Church growth exalts the “homogeneity” principle–that you attract people like you. United Brethren, for instance, are good at targeting other white, middle class folks. And that does, indeed, work. But that doesn’t mean it’s the way of Jesus. Gibbons illuminates another way to view our neighbors, and I find it engaging (partly, I’m sure, because it relates so well to me and my own church).

04 Apr Get Rid of It!

Adam Will, pastor of Eden UB in southern Ohio, included the following in a recent blog post on his blog.

If there is something in your life that causes you to either sin or weakens your faith, GET RID OF IT! I am dead serious about this! If you’re a recovering alcoholic, you’d be STUPID to live in an apartment over a bar.

The same logic applies to our walk with God. If you are addicted to your iPod, get rid of it. If you can’t read your Bible because you’re watching TV, cancel the cable or Dish! Why would we be so stupid to give up an incredible walk with Jesus simply because we love to watch a certain TV show?

02 Apr Book: Inside the Revolution

I have been reading a new book by Joel C. Rosenberg, Inside the Revolution. He divides the book into three sections.

1. The radical element of Islam.
2. Reformers within Islam.
3. Revivalists within Islam.

This is a very fascinating and informative book. We hear mostly about the Radical element of Islam. They are the ones making the news on our TV, radio and newspapers. We hear less about the reformers–those who are Muslim but do not take the radical position of expanding by terror.

All of the sections were revealing and very informative. But the section on the revival that is taking place within the Muslim world gripped my heart. Joel reports that thousands responding to the message of faith in Jesus. I felt as though I were reading a new chapter in the book of Acts. Some of the stories of how people are coming to Christ literally gave me goosebumps and made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. We’re talking direct intervention by Jesus as he reveals himself to many people. We’re talking about New Testament stuff here.

I strongly recommend that you read Inside the Revolution. It is a large hardback book and is relatively expensive. Possibly you could check out a copy from a local library. If they don’t have it, encourage them to get it. Another possibility is that your local church could purchase a copy or two to loan out to members of that body. Or find a friend who has it and see if you can read theirs.

I believe this is a must read for United States Christians. We need to know the content of this book, which we will never get from our media. It would make you feel better to read the third section first, although I recommend reading the book as it is written. Also, you might want to re-read the books of Daniel, Ezekiel, Matthew 23 and 25, Acts, and Revelation.

And by the way, I’d read anything I can get my hands on from Joel C. Rosenberg. He has written a series of five works of fiction that is his interpretation of the “last days.” He also wrote a non-fiction work, Epicenter that contains all the information and research he did for the works of fiction.

01 Apr Church Reports: Update

March has passed, and we’re still waiting for a number of reports from churches. Out of 193 churches:

27 Mar Jane Seely Celebrates the Big _0

Jane Seely, our newest employee, yesterday celebrated a significant birthday ending in a 0, and thereby merited a desk adorned with numerous black balloons, not to mention a beautiful bouquet of flowers from her husband.

And then there was the visit from her brother, Mike Caley, who made a surprise visit from Michigan. Mike is senior pastor of Banner of Christ UB church in Byron Center, Mich. He was in town for a meeting at Huntington University.

We all gathered in the break room and sang “Happy Birthday” to Jane. Then Mike, in a manner reminiscent of Tim Conway, doddered into the room wearing an old hat and overcoat.  He was hunched over a wooden cane, carrying a package and muttering about being old, terribly old.

So that was fun.