Over the last four years of parenting, especially the last two as a parent of not just one but two boys, I have realized something: my response is many times the greatest component in defusing or amplifying a situation. Oh how many times my boys have been fighting and I’ve come in like a bull in a china cabinet, and now rather than two petulant children, there are three.
Right now in Adventism the children are having a ‘bit of tustle over the issue of women’s ordination. On both sides I’ve seen various degrees of incivility from the mild quip to downright meanness. I have mourned at the disrespectful dialogue in which I have heard of folk speak against our world church leaders, moving beyond disagreements over positions to personal attacks. I have blushed, no cringed to see magazines distributed around camp meetings & online that have images that provide the subtle indication that a woman who desires to be a pastor is thus desiring to be a man or a lesbian. So much of it is very shameful and petty!
We are at many levels petulant children in a squabble.
And our parents the General Conference it seems have in their response raised the temperature rather than cooling things down.
In the moments when my kids are fighting I want to remind them that they are brothers. I want to remind them of how to treat each other and how to respond to each other. It is very important then in those moments for me to be mindful of my response towards each individual child. It is important for me to be mindful of the words I speak towards them. It is EXTREMELY important that I don’t make one of them feel less than the other!
It seems our parents have struggled in all these areas. We were not immediately reminded that though we were having a disgreement, we were really on the same side and hopefully fighting for the same cause, we were initially reminded of policy. There has been a failure to draw our minds to our brotherhood and sisterhood. The words that have at times been chosen to represent the world leadership have not provided a sense of calm, but at many times have seemed threatening, even to the point where the statement, “this is not a threat” has needed to be made. Finally, through the language that has been spoken it has most definitely felt like there was a superior child and a less than child, even though as we have seen both sides have been unruly.
Let me give an example (this is only an example the two individuals to be spoken of are only representative of the children, not actually the squabbling children) We had two well recognized preachers, two friends whom have worked together in the past on common causes. Two individuals that have at the bequest of the world church stepped forward and provided spiritual guidance to the masses. They preached opposing sermons. Both sermons were against the stated General Conference position: The first against women as pastors, a position out of line with that of the General Conference. The second in favor of women’s ordination a position also out of step with the General Conference.
Our parents though in response to the latter position have used words like “position of dissension” which means “a disagreement that leads to discord.” I don’t believe either individual in preaching their sermons were seeking discord, both were simply expressing their views and interpretation of scripture that BOTH went against the official church stance. The latter position has also been viewed as a position of “ego & desire for supremecy.”
This type of language makes one child feel much less than the other. That both children being out of step with the parents directed points of views, yet one is getting a mighty slap on the wrist while to the other there is silence. Now I know one could argue that, “well one child only called for a different stance, but nothing happened. The other called for a different stance and a whole whirlwind has happened.” And I guess again I would refer to my short experience of parenting do we only deal with a situation when the outcome of wrong committed is bad, or do we deal with wrong even if there is no evident consequence.
Right now the children of our church are in a squabble and we need our parents–our 1 President, 9 Vice-Presidents, & 13 Division Uncles to see us through it, not join in the fray.
“I can’t”
those are the words my Dad spoke to me not more than 2 1/2 years ago. That was his response to a question I had asked him, “Dad will you do a Bible study with one of our contacts?”
“I can’t”
Let me tell you a little about my Dad, almost all of his adult life he has been a teacher. He taught in Adventist academies for about 6 years and then at Pacific Union College, Loma Linda University, & Andrews University Dayton, OH campus, & University of the Pacific. He has a degree in Education, Physical Therapy, and it seems like there may be something else. He has a Master’s degree, two in fact, and an earned Doctorate. He started a Master’s Physical Therapy program from scratch and was the director of it for 10+ years.
“I can’t”
Seemed like a pretty ridiculous answer!
And even more importantly than all the above, and really all that mattered, he was constantly telling me how much he loved Jesus and how much Jesus was blessing his life.
“I can’t”
Was then an even more unbelievable answer!
“I can’t”
Is the answer I hear a lot when I talk to folk about giving Bible studies to another individual.
I used to accept this answer as legit.
“I can’t”
I believed some people really couldn’t, I no longer believe that.
Why?
Because–
“I can’t”
Doesn’t fit at all with the promises of scripture–
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. –Matthew 28:19, 20.
“I can’t”
Really doesn’t go with, “I am with you always”
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” –Acts 1:8
“I can’t”
Doesn’t work with, “you shall receive power”
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” –John 14:12-14
“I can’t”
Does not correlate with, “greater works than these he will do” “whatever you ask” “If you ask anything…I will do.”
“I can’t”
Does not work with John 14:26 either,
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
So even if my Dad had zero degrees and zero teaching experience, it would seem quite silly for a man that says he loves Jesus and is blessed by Jesus to say…
“I can’t”
“I can’t”
is foolish for any of us to say.
“But it is not my gift which is why…”
“I can’t”
Knowing the Bible and sharing what you know with another person has nothing to do with gifts. Because even if you are nervous, you can have word for word what you want to say right in front of you…and yes people
“CAN”
come to Jesus this way…and they DO!
So the only way
“I can’t”
works is if that is the answer to one question, “Are you capable of caring about the eternal salvation of another human being?”
If you can say…
“I can’t”
to that, okay you’re off the hook.
But that wouldn’t go with,
“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven;” –Matthew 5:44, 45
In other words if you’re a Christian…a Jesus follower…
“I can’t”
NEVER works when it comes to sharing the truths of scripture with another human being.
So let’s be real and admit…
“I can’t”
is really
“I won’t”
and after we admit that, let’s repent of it…
And trust Jesus to help us move from…
“I can’t”
Which is…
“I won’t”
To
“I can!”
My Dad did and praise Jesus I have baptized several he has studied the Bible with.
The song is old, the clothes are old, but the good news of heaven is just as needed today as ever. Here is a beautiful testimony and moment with Joni Eareckson Tada & Vestal Goodman. Make sure you get 5 minutes in.
What a song! May we be witnesses of Jesus’ forgiveness!
I look at a lot of numbers. If you follow this blog, you know that “Church Growth” is the most tagged topic, and that naturally is about NUMBERS.
But of all the numbers I have written about I believe the numbers I am going to share with you in this blog are the most exciting thus far.
At the end of 2011 we decided to be a host site for the John Bradshaw/It Is Written evangelistic meetings being broadcast from Las Vegas.
One of our prayer warriors came to me with the idea that we get folk from in our church to pray for every single name on our membership roster and any others that we have in our “friends” list. That was a list of over 750 persons. I thought it was a great idea and so we went to our Prayer Director Kristin to see if something could be set-up. The decision was made to call folk to see if they would take a list of names to pray over.
After much calling & some emails Kristin had 7 individuals, not the number we were looking for :), that agreed to take a list of names to daily pray for. So they started with praying for all our active members.
But maybe more importantly, we began to pray for more prayer warriors!
That is a prayer we knew God wanted to answer in the affirmative, and He definitely has!
Today (ALL) just shy of 800 folk connected with our church are being prayed for daily by at last check 60 prayer warriors!
We started with 7 and we asked God to send more prayer warriors and now 5 months later we have 60 folks hitting their knees daily for their church & their church family!
I believe we have seen the difference. Between the Visalia Seventh-day Adventist Church & our northside church plant The Ark we’ve had 20 baptisms, 2 Professions of Faith (so 22 new Adventists), & 7 rebaptisms. An entire family is attending our church because they were led to do so in a dream, and 12+ more are in Bible studies.
In the past those are the things we have primarily prayed for, this year, while we have still prayed for decisions for Jesus, without much forethought our primary prayers and emphasis in church have been, “Jesus give us a greater spirit for prayer.”
The numbers the conference will look at & the numbers church growth statisticians look at are nice, but I believe that all those numbers are a direct result of the most exciting number of this year–SIXTY–60 interceding on behalf of the names on their lists.
I am so thankful for those 60 and I praise the Lord for the many more He will convict to be warriors in prayer for His people and for the city of Visalia.
Where do you live? What do your prayer warriors pray for? What would happen if you started praying less for church growth and more for prayer growth? Would your church grow anyway?
“It is a part of God’s plan to grant us, in answer to the PRAYER of faith, that which he would not bestow, did we not thus ask.” –Ellen G. White, The Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, p. 348.
I want to share with you the greatest danger regarding the issue of ordaining women that is swirling around the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
The greatest danger is not…
By ordaining women we will be opening the door to LGBT clergy. Yes, this is really an argument that is out there I have seen it with my own two eyes. I would say the vast majority of Seventh-day Adventists, even those that believe in ordaining women still hold to the truth that marriage is between a man & a woman. So this is not the greatest danger.
By ordaining women in North America we will alienate the world church, thus causing a great schism. The same countries that are against the ordination of women pastors are also against the ordination of women deacons and women elders. But to the credit of the world church they respect sticking with the denomination even when they don’t agree with all “her” rules, much better than some of us in my part of the world. So if we haven’t alienated them already, I highly doubt this issue will, no matter what the hyperbole is to the contrary. So this is not the greatest danger.
By ordaining women in North America we are embracing the feminist movement. NO! Why does a desire to have God’s calling recognized by the body of Christ have to signal an embrace of feminism? That is a sexist position. This is not the greatest danger of women’s ordination.
By ordaining women we are somehow promoting women to leave home and not be mothers as God called them to be. 75% of women participate in the labor force in the United States, making a choice to ordain women will not suddenly cause those other 25% to jump into ministry and abandon their families. Women work and women will become pastors with or without ordination. I’ve never heard one girl I know say, “well I was thinking of going into ministry, but since they don’t ordain me I’m going to stay home and have kids.” This is not the greatest danger of ordaining women.
By ordaining women we are opening the doors to the agenda of the liberal wing of the church. I’m 100% for women’s ordination and I would not consider myself a liberal (though maybe just by making that statement some of you are saying “yes you are” Trust me the liberals I know don’t agree with you:)) I want our church to be more conservative: To return to focusing on public proclamation of our foundational truths. To return to having it be a reality that the majority of SDA’s are vegetarians:) and believers in the prophetic ministry of Ellen G. White. I could go on, but the point is, I still think women should be ordained because it has nothing to do with liberal or conservative. It has to do with affirming those that God calls on an equal setting. This is not the greatest danger.
By NOT ordaining women we will completely turn off an entire generation! WRONG! My generation is already turned off and it has very little to do with the fact that we haven’t ordained women. Yes, many of us are bothered by this, but I don’t think this will cause a mass exodus from our church. Not anymore mass than has already occured. This is not the greatest danger of NOT ordaining women.
By NOT ordaining women we will miss out on some of the giftings that God has given to the church. REALLY? Doesn’t this limit God a little? Ellen White is the perfect example of if God wants to use a woman’s gifts, He’ll use a woman’s gifts! This is not the greatest danger of NOT ordaining women.
By NOT ordaining women we will not see revival. With great deference to my mentor, this is also a position I am not willing to take, because again it limits God to having His divine will being modified by the action of a committee. This is not the greatest danger of NOT ordaining women.
The GREATEST DANGER in regards to the ordination of women is that Satan will keep us talking about it to each other and in the meantime we won’t be talking about what we need to be talking about to those whom we need to be talking to: Telling a lost world about JESUS!