"On July 24, 2008 a personal message in the form of an email was sent from Dr. Ronald V. Duncan, General Director of Church of God Ministries to all Pastors, churches, Area Administrators, and recent General Assembly delegates."
That's the intro to a script of an email with video links apparently sent out to "all Pastors, churches, Area Administrators, and recent General Assembly delegates."
You can find the link to it- what I'm certain we were meant to receive here and the total video here. Central Community's been affiliated with the church of God, Anderson, IN, since 1932... our inception in the heart of the great depression. So I'm guessing they must have just overlooked us... it's easy to do.
No harm - no foul.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
an encouraging word
Central Community works on the streets of Los Angeles each week, in our 20th year at it, through our ministry to the homeless: Jackets for Jesus. We also work in Mexico- in our 10th year- through our church and children's home: Siempre Para Los Ninos. I send out pretty regular updates and it's always nice to hear an encouraging word in response. Today, a church of God pastor who'd never heard of our work dropped me a line just to say thanks... pretty cool.
God's blessed us and so many of our blessings have come through the prayers, support and encouragement of people across the church of God. Each note is like a card from home- hits the heart in a special way.
thanks brother- for today,
Eric
God's blessed us and so many of our blessings have come through the prayers, support and encouragement of people across the church of God. Each note is like a card from home- hits the heart in a special way.
thanks brother- for today,
Eric
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
it's a good thing
That clean cut looking guy is Lloyd Moritz, Area Administer - Pacific Northwest Association of the Church of God... or something like that... he's also moderator of a blog on the church of God titled chogblog, (chog- church of God - get it?), you should check it out. He updates it occasionally and includes a long list of links to blogs and web sites pertinent to some things having to do with the church of God, Anderson, IN.
I cruise by the site at least once a day when I'm online just to see what's up.
check it out!
Eric
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Like I Would Know...
You might find this link to info on the church of God, Anderson IN, interesting. I did. Wikipedia is obviously not the best source of knowledge on the planet... just the same... interesting to see what's changed in "our" church.
"Church polity is autonomous and congregational, with various state and regional assemblies offering some basic support for pastors and congregations."
Guess that one's under fire. My favorite reference to autonomy in the church these days is "sinful autonomy." Hundreds of millions of children sleep without shelter or food each night. Ten's of thousands die each day from preventable diseases and "leaders" are condemning autonomy. Just a tad off message.
But hey, that's just me.
I liked this section from Wikipedia:
"Below is a list of teachings that the Church of God(Anderson) now no longer teaches:"
Outward adornment: wedding rings, ear rings, lipstick on women, following worldly fashions
Entertainment such as movies, books with written material that contained writing such as was against Holiness, Holy Living and God.
Fellowship with teachings that they viewed as Babylonian, or false Christianity
Women who wear clothing that pertains to men, or women who now wear pants.
Divine Healing: the belief that God will heal those who love him
Ministers who are not paid a salary
No Musical Instruments (such as a piano or organ) in the worship service
No Divorce allowed
Much of the above is probably true in the church at large... with some BIG exceptions... the one that hits me hardest is on Divine Healing. I'm preaching on divine healing this weekend. We still teach it around Central Community. But we also still believe in autonomy of the local church. It was written in our bylaws decades before I arrived - and I've been here over 20 years.
Impossible to control what "the world" (whether you consider that "Babylon" or not) says about us. But with so many people searching online for spiritual truth these days... and since Wikipedia is easily edited, updated and corrected... might be wise for someone from the national ministry team to occasionally scan our definition.
or not.
blessings,
Eric
"Church polity is autonomous and congregational, with various state and regional assemblies offering some basic support for pastors and congregations."
Guess that one's under fire. My favorite reference to autonomy in the church these days is "sinful autonomy." Hundreds of millions of children sleep without shelter or food each night. Ten's of thousands die each day from preventable diseases and "leaders" are condemning autonomy. Just a tad off message.
But hey, that's just me.
I liked this section from Wikipedia:
"Below is a list of teachings that the Church of God(Anderson) now no longer teaches:"
Outward adornment: wedding rings, ear rings, lipstick on women, following worldly fashions
Entertainment such as movies, books with written material that contained writing such as was against Holiness, Holy Living and God.
Fellowship with teachings that they viewed as Babylonian, or false Christianity
Women who wear clothing that pertains to men, or women who now wear pants.
Divine Healing: the belief that God will heal those who love him
Ministers who are not paid a salary
No Musical Instruments (such as a piano or organ) in the worship service
No Divorce allowed
Much of the above is probably true in the church at large... with some BIG exceptions... the one that hits me hardest is on Divine Healing. I'm preaching on divine healing this weekend. We still teach it around Central Community. But we also still believe in autonomy of the local church. It was written in our bylaws decades before I arrived - and I've been here over 20 years.
Impossible to control what "the world" (whether you consider that "Babylon" or not) says about us. But with so many people searching online for spiritual truth these days... and since Wikipedia is easily edited, updated and corrected... might be wise for someone from the national ministry team to occasionally scan our definition.
or not.
blessings,
Eric
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