The Assemblies of God Michigan District is the best!

I mean it! This is the best district I have ever been a part of. I really appreciate the forward-thinking, loving and pastoral ways of our leadership. I enjoy every bit of fellowship that we have. Inspired by our leaders, Elaine and I want to become the same kind of pastors. This week while we were on vacation we were able to drop by fellow ministers in Indian River. I wish we had both the courage and opportunity to do more of this. There is a great value to being part of a fellowship. There is oversight and accountability as well as relationship, encouragement and interaction. We need to do all we can to strengthen these ties. Keep up the good work!

If we were in charge?

What would the country look like if we (Christians) were in charge? If we had our way with everything what would it look like?

In an interview with The Minnesota Independent, Jeff Sharlet uses her association with the Assemblies of God to paint Sarah Palin as a militant Theocrat.

They actually don’t think they’re theocratic. And they have a way of getting out of that: Theocratic would be if I was a clergy person and sat down and studied the Bible and said, Okay, I’m going to pass this law because in my wisdom, I have seen this in the Bible.

That’s not what they do. They turn themselves over to the spirit. The movement she’s a part of is really holy ghost-powered. What they say is, they’re just being a vessel. A term that a wonky theologian might use is “theo-centric.”

I hope my man Barack Obama, as a man of faith, a man of prayer, would also listen to God. Does that make a person crazy or a theocrat? Does that mean that one has to be militant and intolerant?

Apparently the Assemblies of God is getting a lot of press off of Palin. From the way the A/G is portrayed I wonder 'am I'm in the same church?' I happen to be an Assemblies of God pastor and a democrat supporting Obama. How does that fit the caricature painted in the media? Rich Tatum wrote an introduction to the Assemblies of God for Christianity Today to answer some of the media imprecations.

democrats.com show a video clip from Sarah Palin speaking at a Master's Commission service. Master's Commission is a discipleship program for college age kids to give hands on training for ministry. democrats.com then applies this quote:

If you read the Vision statement (under About), you'll see:

To see young men be men who are not afraid to lead and are violent in their pursuit of righteousness

What exactly does that mean? What kind of violence are the young men being trained and encouraged to engage in?

The website that they reference is not the Assemblies of God Master's Commission but a different discipleship program from Christ Church Kirkland. They seem to have a very different theology. I hope that the wording in their vision statement is simply unfortunate.

Are voices like Sharlet and the "aggressive progressives" at democrats.com right? Is there much to fear?

Perhaps there is some temptation.

We would like things to line up with the Bible, wouldn't we? The temptation is to make the laws of the land the same as the laws of God for living. To make the holy life the only legal life. The religious right is already advocating moral legislation like this. What would it look like taken to the extreme?

Last night Elaine and I watch V for Vendetta. Would the world in which the characters live be what we Christians would create? Would the Koran be banned, owning one a criminal offense? Would homosexuality be made illegal? Would homosexuals be rounded up, imprisoned or killed? What of Justice and Mercy?

Oh God, save us from our distorted view of righteousness. Your ways are higher than our ways, your thoughts are greater. Only you can rule in righteousness with out corruption. Help we, who are progressive, to love mercy even more than change. Help we, who are Christians, to keep love before all else.

Ordination revisited

As my (and Elaine's) ordination approaches (May 8th) I once again am troubled as to what this all means. Since it is not sacramental, like Sarah's beautiful ordination to the Episcopal Priesthood, what spiritual import can I expect?

Here is what the A/G's Position paper states:

The view of ordination in the Assemblies of God is predicated upon biblical principles and is consonant with the evangelical view. The following characteristics comprise the Assemblies of God view.

Ordination can be defined as the public ceremony by which the Movement acknowledges the divine call, commission, and qualification of a person to ministry in the Assemblies of God; extends its blessings, fellowship, and opportunities; receives his pledge of dedication, faithfulness, and loyalty; and invokes divine enablement for success in life and ministry.

Ordination is held to be spiritual and functional rather than sacerdotal. It is important as a public acknowledgment of God’s prior call and commission, but it is not essential. All Christians are equal, but ministers are set apart for special, full-time Christian service and leadership. When necessary, the laity can perform all of the functions of ministry except those for which the State requires an ordained minister.

Ordination is performed only after a careful examination of the candidate as to qualification on six essential points:

1. The genuineness of his Christian experience;
2. The sufficiency of his spiritual, moral, emotional, and social maturity;
3. The reality of his divine call;
4. The correctness of his doctrine;
5. The adequacy of his preparation and practical abilities; and
6. The acceptability of his allegiance to the Movement’s policies and programs.

Authority and power for ministry are conferred directly by Christ through the Holy Spirit, not through those who perform the ordination ceremony. No particular man or group is essential to the ordination process. Those who participate are dispensable instruments. The stress is upon an immediate spiritual connection with Christ rather than a historical episcopal (apostolic) succession. The living Lord of the Church is making direct, dynamic appointments in His body today.

Ordination is held to be of concern to the whole Church, not just the local assembly. This is indicated by the fact that the apostles, whose ministry was international in scope, presided in each of the five New Testament ceremonies of ordination. Therefore, in the Assemblies of God the ordination is conducted at district level by the superintendent with the imposition of hands and prayers of the District Presbytery. It is recognized by the Executive Presbytery of the General Council and is signatured by the general superintendent and general secretary. Also, since ministers participated in each of the New Testament ceremonies, presbyters and other senior ministers are involved in Assemblies of God ordination in the laying on of hands and prayer.

The Assemblies of God stresses the importance of the spiritual quality of the ordination ceremony as opposed to a formal ritual. Typical Assemblies of God ordinations include fasting, prayer, and the laying on of hands, preaching, a charge, and other elements which were seen in the New Testament ceremonies of ordination.

This statement on the Assemblies of God view of ordination was accepted by the General Presbytery in 1976. Since then the licensed minister has been granted many of the benefits of ordination. I am still eager to experience the spiritual side. I guess I will go in expecting God to do something in the laying on of hands that he has set aside for me until this time. I think it would indeed be appropriate to fast as an expression of my expectation.

Sunday Night with Tom Trask

Man, I miss Sunday night services. They are the perfect answer to my weekly postpartum depression after preaching. So when Brad Trask sent an invitation to all Michigan credential holders to come out to a Sunday night service, I was into it. His church is only a couple hours away, and he had the Detroit Life Challenge choir singing and his dad preaching.

The service was nice. It wasn't spectacular, or extravagant, just what Sunday night services always were growing up. I wasn't surprised because Brad, and the ministers who showed up were greatly influenced by Tom Trask's ministry and were old-school A/G. Ah, my roots. How I miss a good pentecostal service with out concern for time, and much lingering at the altar. It was such a refreshing and blessing to have the congregation of Brighton A/G pray for the ministers who came out and for Bro. Trask as he moves on.

Speaking of which, when people were wondering why he was leaving, and had a hard time accepting that he just heard from God, I agreed. "Something must have got him praying in that way in the first place right?"

He talked about it a little bit, at this, his last time preaching as the General Supt., and I got the impression that God spoke to him in the course of his regular prayer time. That shouldn't be hard for us to understand, though as I have lamented before, we pentecostal can be an awfully pragmatic bunch and demand rationales for all our movements. He said that he prayed about it from Nov. to the end of July after he heard God tell him to move on, just to be sure he heard right. His description of the process gives me renewed faith in his obedience. I just thought you might want to know.

The Future of the A/G

I have long quipped that I would stay with the Assembly of God until they kick me out. I am a bit out of the ordinary. While I still hold dear our distinctives, I am a little too liberal politically, I am a neo-traditionalist (I like the power of liturgy and the richness of vintage devotion), I am a mystic, and I no longer consider myself a dispensationalist. I have desired to see the day when my generation comes to the fore and see what the A/G will look like. Will there be a place for me in it? I have always asked that question hopefully.

With the resignation of our current general superintendent, I suddenly feel that moment upon us and I am a little afraid. How will it come out? What will it mean. The announcement was a little sudden, Elaine and I hadn't planned on going to General Council as our church can't afford to send us. So now we are left out of the process of picking the next leader of our movement. I turn to the Lord in prayer and must trust him. I am greatly heartened by the messages and prayers posted on futureag.blogspot.com Thank you so much for the effort!

Initial Physical evidence

The biggest concept I have been wrestling with tonight has to do with the evidence of the baptism in the spirit. I’m not concerned presently with whether tongues is the initial physical evidence, but with what that means and should mean in our lives.

My quandary is this: if the Pentecostal revival of the past century was to mark a particular closeness to the return of Christ, and so some extra power was available to evangelize the world as we said when the A/G formed…

And if we accept that saints of old were not filled with the Spirit by lack of that evidence…

And if I am filled with the Spirit, as I have spoken with tongues,

Then why is my life marked with significantly less power than heroes of the faith, capable theologians, preachers, and reformers who were not filled?

Does the Spirit connect to the hearts of people in my congregation more than he does in the congregations of my dear brothers in other denominations?

What can I say about this doctrine which I hold dear and have experienced, since I like most practicing Pentecostals don’t seem to find use for my Spirit-filled giftings to build up the body?

Perhaps being filled with the Spirit, like sanctification, is a process. It isn't enough to have a single experience but like the mystics of old, we must practice the gifts until they work out a greater power in the body than we have seen in practice these days.

Communion and rosary

Today and tomorrow, Elaine and I are in Lansing for District Council. We got up at five a.m. to get here (I just got up from a nice nap). We got a little lost coming into Lansing, with us both being tired and cranky that wasn't fun.

We joined the morning service in time for communion but not in time to be served the elements. As Brother Leach spoke about the significance of the body and the blood, I felt I was missing it. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my plastic rosary. Elaine gave me a look; she doesn't want the other pastors thinking I'm a catholic or something. I held the crucifix, clutched in-between my thumb and fist. There was something very moving about physically holding the suffering Christ. I guess that is some of the power of communion isn't it? I wept to feel him, not just the icon of him, but Christ himself suffering for me.

Lent and rhythm of prayer

I'm ashamed that it has been so long since I've posted here. That reflects a lack of commitment to a discipline of grace. What has God been doing in me that I have missed writing about?

I've started developing a rhythm of prayer using the liturgy of the hours. I found a used edition of Vol II. It starts at lent time, but I have been using the psalmody the past few days. At first, it was more an academic exercise than prayer, but as time goes on the psalms connected with the times of day have been a comfort and joy. Praying that the light would shine in the morning and that waking or sleeping God would watch over me at night. When I feel anxious the psalms have expressed my fears as well as my highest aspirations.

I went over to Ray Orth's house before I started. He helped me understand how to use the book, and excited me deeply with stories about how his own interactions with the psalms and liturgy affected his long ministry.

One of the anxieties I've struggle with since last night has been helped by this practice of prayer. Last night I was at a parishioner's house. She expressed concern that we were participating in the community Lenten services.

"All the years I have been in the Assemblies of God we have never celebrated lent."

I tried to explain to her that lent isn't wrong and that we would not be leaving the Assemblies of God because of the influence of the community churches (apparently a very real fear). The A/G church in Bay City left the assemblies a few years back but that was because of isolation and doctrinal issues. This is the exact opposite. By participating in the community we establish our distinctiveness. We need each other for discipleship. We can offer the main liners a sense of the imminence of God and the work of the Spirit. They offer us a sense of social justice, a love for the word, a connection to a rich history. We need each other, that doesn't mean we are reduced, rather we should hold our distinctiveness high, and strive for all orthodoxy. As Chesterton describes it-following all truths to their extremes at the same time, there by being balanced.

Ah sovereign Lord, grant me peace and strength. Help me deal with this underlying anxiety that the rest of the A/G wouldn't understand my mystical bent, or my desire to explore faith from every tradition, that I would be looked down upon on worse. You are my hearts desire and yearning, that is all. Protect me my father.