What is the problem with evangelism ministry? Part 1 Church Discipline

     I love evangelism. It is in my blood. Ever since I got saved, I wanted to be ‘out there’ telling other people about Jesus. I was that guy that offended friends and family members because of my passion for Jesus and the way that he saved me. I look back on that guy and I want his passion, but I also realize that the passion that I had needed to be tempered and taught and fashioned, because in some ways it was zeal without knowledge. This is not to say that we do not know enough as Christians to be able to share our faith and the truth that I am a sinner and God saved me through Christ, I am simply saying that discipleship helps us grow, mature, and temper our methodology. And a little Bible knowledge never hurt.

    I tell this little story because there is one more aspect that is true about passion for ministry. Passion for ministry in my life has taken me down a road where no one could speak to me about the unbalanced life that it created. It put me on an island that split me from some friends, family, and, I believe, contributed to the destruction of my first marriage and a total breakdown of my relationship with my oldest child. These are problems that were created by me being fooled into thinking that ministry is the most important, that serving God and following Jesus means that you must abandon all else that God has placed into your life, indeed, that certain Bible passages did not apply to me because I was serving God.

    Herein lies the problem: The institutional church that I was pastoring practiced church discipline, but it was a strong, passionate Pastor (me) with a strong personality of influence. The elders in the church did not see a problem until it blew up in their faces. My story is a cautionary tale because it took an overseeing body to come in and remove my mantel of leadership and practice the discipline that our little church could not. Here I sit, nearly four years later, a little wiser following a divorce where my ex-wife left me, I lost the church where I was pastoring, and I am no longer in formal ministry.

Church discipline worked. I repented of my sin, I sought and still seek out help. I was restored by the Church, and now have a little better understanding of who I am and why I failed. This came after much pain. I had to go through it in order for God to mold me into the person He wanted. I am now qualified again to minister, however, I am still trying to find that balance that does not take me over the edge.

My story is important, because it demonstrates the grace of God in church discipline. It is also important because it is indicative of a subculture within the church that is coming to the forefront today in a movement of evangelists. These are passionate men and women, like me, who want to tell the world about Jesus. However, within the movement there are many who, like me, abandon their God- given responsibility of their family. There are some that abandon the church as well and create their own churches simply because the church they were a part of does not move quick enough to respond to their passion. Others abandon any friends and family members who do not subscribe to or understand their own particular brand of ministry. Most become part of bands of preachers, para-church ministries, and event evangelism  which  have little or no church oversight. Even those who have strong church oversight do not have sufficient oversight in the lives of the evangelists to determine if they are truly fit for ministry.

What is the problem that is at the center of the culture that is evangelism ministry? I can only speak for myself; In my case, it was spiritual pride, followed by a good dose of respect in the eyes of my peers. When I was teaching, training, preaching, and writing in the context of discernment and evangelism ministry, I was at the top of my game. My saying after days of ministry that sometimes lasted sixteen hours or more was that you could sleep when you were dead. There were times that my motives were pure, to be sure. I believe that God used me, my teachings, and writings. People got saved hearing the message. Brothers and sisters were built up and encouraged to press forward in the ministry. But evangelism ministry was like a powerful drug to me, and there were times that it reared its ugly head in the form of sarcasm and less than gracious speech. It also caused me to be blind to the needs of my ex-wife, my family, and sometimes even my young church plant. I was spread too thin. But I found respect and excitement and amazing camaraderie of fellowship with those of like mind. My church and family relationships were dying, but I never felt more alive.

My other problem was that I believed that the proper hierarchy was loving God then wife than family than myself. In practice, this looked like that loving God was doing ministry, and therefore, if evangelism was doing ministry, it was in truth more important than my wife and my family.  I am afraid that while I knew and we could say that this is not the truth, that in practice it was the truth. Ministry, in my case, became idolatrous as it had become synonymous with God in my practice. It also was a false picture of God, because the word of God tells us that we are to love our wives in the same way as Christ loves the church. That means we are to lay down our lives for our wives, in the same way that Christ laid down His life for the church. We are NEVER told in scripture to lay down our lives for the church- Christ has already done this. When ministry supersedes the husband-wife relationship, it is in wrong position. When the family is in trouble, necessarily, you are not qualified to be in biblical church ministry. And while it is the call of every believer to share their faith, when the sharing of faith is done to the detriment of your primary responsibility in the family, you are in fact blaspheming God by misrepresenting His character and nature.

The truly sad thing was that I was so deceived that I believed God needed me in ministry so badly, and that evangelism was so important that it was my wife and my children that were the ones who were sinning when they told me to come home and get my priorities in order. It was my ex-wife who was seen as wrong by the evangelism community I was a part of when she rightly recognized that my priorities were out of balance. This is a dangerous precedent when the church and the family see things out of balance but the para church ministry welcomes the participation of people who are in sin. There is no excuse for ministries to welcome a person who is under church discipline.

I am vexed at this problem because of what it says to the world about Jesus. In my case, nobody knew what was going on behind the scenes with my family, least of all me. I knew very well, but I didn’t see it because I did not want to see it.  Everybody knew that I had a family and a church and several jobs to keep it all afloat. I would hear things like “man you are gone a lot” “how does your family do it” “don’t your kids miss you” but I did not listen. All warning signs. I can only imagine the tongue wagging that was going on behind my back in the town when my ex-wife abandoned me. I did not have to imagine it because it happened in public after I was restored and I returned to evangelistic  ministry. When people mocked, they used phrases with knowledge. Even though I had been restored in the church, in the eyes of the world, I was still a failure because I failed at the most important human relationship. Restoration can be a powerful testimony, when done in the context of good church discipline in the midst of a loving church and good relationships.

The word discipline is a lot like discipleship, and that is what Biblical church discipline is. Many people upon hearing discipline immediately have a negative connotation of the word. However,  Biblical Church Discipline is for the purpose of the building up and edification of both the one being disciplined as well as the rest of the Church. Indeed, the primary role of the Church is to create disciples. The starting point is repentance and belief in Christ as Savior. Through justification by faith and redemption, people become adopted children of God. Discipleship is the process by which people in the church, according to their gifts, and  in concert with the Holy Spirit, train Christians in the faith with the goal of conforming them to the image of Christ. This, in turn, builds the church into maturity. Discipleship allows the power of the Gospel to change lives for the better, bringing glory to God through these changed lives. This also separates the church from the world as an agent of real and permanent life change, and this brings the Church to a new place of honor and respect in the community. This simply cannot and does not happen within para-church organizations or within most ‘event’ evangelism. Anybody who desires to sign up and has a modicum of knowledge how to answer the questions that some actually ask are given entrance to participate.

The textbook that must be used for discipleship is the scripture. After all, we are not interested in building followers of a specific church, theology,or even the individuals who are doing the discipleship. Least of all, we are not building followers of the culture. We are building followers of Jesus Christ. It is from within the scripture that we find what the Christian walk is to look like. Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:16:

16All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

The location for discipline and discipleship is in the local church. The main problem in the para-church or event-evangelism community is that they are not the church, and they are not walking in the lives of the people who are participating in the events. In my case, many of these events were hundreds, even thousands of miles away from my community, family, and church. I would see these people for a week at the longest. And though they were friends of mine, I could hide truth from them long enough to complete the event. So the participants in the event may not be qualified to minister even in the streets. The discipline and discipleship is not the focus of the para church or event evangelism ministry, so people are not being discipled to walk in the light, because the leadership of the event is either fearful of man, or the organizers and leaders fears man more than they fear God. all that they can see is the pragmatic need to minister, all while they bring shame to the name of Christ.

 

    I was part of a para church ministry that did great work, but was nearly destroyed some three years ago from within. There was a great deal of sin within the leadership that was not exposed until someone was brave enough to bring the sin to light. They had no idea how deep it had gotten. The reality was that the leader, the pastor, had no real accountability and had almost a cult leader like power over his leadership team. It was a real situation of spiritual abuse and warfare, all because proper Biblical leadership was not in place. Discipleship and discipline could be practiced, but out of the oversight of a true church. This turned into spiritual abuse of a kind that I do not want to speak about here. Though the ministry is on a path to healing and growth after church discipline was applied, they, like other ministries, are in the cross hairs of those who wish to bring them down. Now, more than ever, evangelism ministries must be above reproach and very careful about self-examination and vetting of their participants. The stakes are too high to take shortcuts when it comes to the reputation of Christ and His Church.

 

It is my desire today to warn individuals and ministries when I see the warning signs that I wish people would have seen in me. I also hope to help them divide the right from the wrong. The glory of God is of primary importance. The gospel being proclaimed rightly in the home, the local church, and on the street  bring glory to God. When one is not taking care of business in the home or the local church, all the proclamations suffer, and the reputation of Christ is brought into ill repute by those who claim to love Him and the people observing the disaster. The warning in Luke 8:17 is pertinent here: For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. The longer the sin festers the more destruction happens when it is brought to light. I am fearful that ministries that I have participated in and contributed to will be destroyed from within if they refuse to use discernment or discipline within their membership.

The next blog post will be on the qualifications for evangelistic ministry. 

Hate Crime Committed at Hillsong 'Church'

      The recent stories coming out about Hillsong church and the back and forth over the recent revelations that a unrepentant homosexual couple is ministering in music- one leading, the other in a choir. The statements below are both from October 2014: 

NOTE: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT TAKEN FROM PRESS CONFERENCE AUDIO  

Michael Paulson, The New York Times: Can I ask you to clarify something you said in regard to the relevance question? You brought up the subject of same sex marriage, and I wasn’t sure what you were saying. You’re now operating in New York and California where same sex marriage is legal. Can your pastors preside at same-sex marriages?

Brian Houston, Senior pastor of Hillsong Church: It can be challenging for churches to stay relevant. Because many mainstream churches upheld what they would believe is the long established view of what the Bible says about homosexuality. But the world has changed around and about them. On the subject, I always feel like there’s three things. There’s the world we live in, there’s the weight we live with, and there’s the word we live by. The world, the weight, and the word.

And to me, the world we live in, whether we like it or not is changing around and about us. Homosexual marriage is legal in [New York City] and will be probably in most Western world countries within a short time. So the world’s changing and we want to stay relevant as a church. So that’s a vexing thing. You think, “How do we not become a pariah?” So that’s the world we live in.

Then the weight we live with is the reality that in churches like ours and virtually any other church, there are young people who have serious questions about their sexuality. And who maybe, hypothetically speak to a youth pastor and says, “I think, you know, I’m gay.” And maybe they feel a sense of rejection there. Or maybe even their own Christian parents can’t handle it and exclude them at the time when they are most vulnerable in their life.

So you can have churches—not just our church, but churches—young people who are literally are depressed, maybe even suicidal and, sadly, often times grow up to hate the church because they feel that the church rejected them. So there’s the world we live in, the weight we live with, and then the word we live by.

The word we live by is what the Bible says. And it would be much easier if you could feel like all of those three just easily lined up. But they don’t necessarily. And that’s what Carl [Lentz] always says for us, it’s a conversation. For us, it’s easy to reduce what you think about homosexuality to just a public statement. And that would keep a lot of people happy. But we feel at this point, it is an ongoing conversation, that the real issues in people’s lives are too important for us to just reduce it down to a “yes” or “no” answer in a media outlet.

So we’re on the journey with it, aren’t we?

         Source  

Josh's Pastor, Carl Lentz, weighs in:  

Carl Lentz, pastor of Hillsong’s New York City location, made similar statements on CNN in June, saying Hillsong in New York City has “a lot of gay men and women” and he hopes it stays that way. But he declines to address the matter in public because, in part, Jesus never did. 

“Jesus was in the thick of an era where homosexuality, just like it is today, was widely prevalent,” Lentz told CNN. “And I’m still waiting for someone to show me the quote where Jesus addressed it on the record in front of people.  You won’t find it because he never did.” 

Lentz’s wife, Laura, chimed in: “It’s not our place to tell anyone how they should live. That’s their journey. 

Source

Which seem to agree with the testimony of Josh Canfield, seen in this twitter post from him: 

We’re writing this post in response to so many of you who have kindly reached out. You’ve been wondering why we have been getting so many hateful comments on all of our social media in the past week, in which some of you have been tagged or engaged.

The drama that is unfolding at the moment all revolves around the fact that we have been heavily involved in our church, Hillsong NYC. Josh has been with Hillsong for eight years in a variety of ways: choir director, vocal director, and worship team. I've been there since the beginning of our relationship, over three years ago, and eventually began singing in the choir and opening my apartment as the gathering place for a connect group for Hillsong members in the Broadway and theatrical communities.

We have been open and forthright about our relationship from the get-go.Due to our openness and very public appearance together on CBC’s “Survivor”, we have been in conversation with Hillsong NYC's lead pastors regarding the church's non-LGBT affirming stance. Hillsong has many campuses around the world, many in places where gay marriage is now legal, so this has been an ongoing dialogue trying to figure out how and where we, as part of the LGBT community, fit in. As a church family, we have been wading through these uncharted waters of shifting culture and social change. 

     So for the past eight years, Josh Canfield has been in a conversation with his pastors, who have stated  that "Hillsong in New York City has “a lot of gay men and women” and he hopes it stays that way." The Pastor's wife argues “It’s not our place to tell anyone how they should live. That’s their journey". 

     This is in opposition to scripture. A hate crime is being committed at Hillsong. 

     And it is not the only 'church' in which hate crimes are being committed in the name of relevance in a changing culture. Both my wife and I have personally experienced similar hate crimes in churches that we used to attend. We were personally and directly offended and affected by the lifestyle sins of others, and both of our (separate) pastors stated, as Laura Lentz stated above, "Its not our place to tell anyone how they should live. Thats their journey."

     It is clear that though Brian Houston has stated recently that he agrees with the teachings of the Apostle Paul that he and Pastor Lentz disagree with the ecclesiology of the Apostle Paul: 

1 Corinthians 5: 9-13 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you"

1. The Hate Crime that the Hillsong Church is committing is towards God Himself: This is called blasphemy. It is saying something about God, or Jesus, that is simply not true. When you affirm that someone is a Christian (bears the name of brother) by allowing a 'conversation' (translation: keep coming to church while we figure out if XYZ is sin or not) or when you refuse to judge someone in your church who is living an unrepentant and immoral lifestyle, you are blaspheming God- as are they by calling themselves Christians while they continue to live in unrepentant lifestyle. And this is not just about homosexuals- it is all sexual immorality (adultery, fornication)- as well as greedy people, idolaters, swindlers, drunkards- if these things mark the lifestyle of a person who calls themselves a Christian they are blaspheming God. If the church refuses to deal with it directly, they are also blaspheming God. 

2. The second hate crime is refusing to judge those who are in the body. Paul commands that we are not to judge or treat outsiders in this way, but those who are in the Church who are being immoral we are to judge, because it is a loving thing to do! It is loving to the sinner, for the hope of church discipline is that they will repent (Vs 5). It is also loving to the church as a whole for a little leaven - a little impurity- affects the whole body (Vs 6). So the disease of sin spreads, and weakens the entire body.  

3. The third hate crime is against scripture itself: Brian Houston equates  the world- culture- and the weight- the impact of how we deal with people- to the gravity and importance of scripture (the Word). In the church, the Word stands supreme as the unchanging standard. The culture shifts, the way people respond and feel shifts, but the Word of God stands firm. The church is a unique place in the world. By the nature of the church we are counter-cultural. We are not called to "stay relevant"- to compromise with the world system, we are called to be different (sanctified, set apart, holy 1 Peter 1:15-17, 2:9-12) because we are the Bride of Christ. The harshest penalties for God's people in the Old Testament is when they played the whore/adulteress with the cultures around them (God's words, not mine). The same is true with the Bride of Christ. We are called to be holy, separate, and unique. We are not to love the world (system of values opposed to Christ) or the things in the world (1 John 2:15). 

4. The fourth Hate Crime is against the sinner who is fooled into thinking he/she can still be a Christian and live in unrepentant sin. let us look at 1 Corinthians 6:9-10:

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 

When we try and compromise, and refuse to tell the truth as Pastors and ministers, we are shirking our sacred responsibility. We are joining hands with the deceiver. It is as though Carl Lentz and Brian Houston are saying "go ahead and be deceived for a while while we decide from the world and the weight whether God's Word has changed". In essence, Pastor Houston and Lentz and any other minister who refuses to warn people who are in their flocks are keeping them from the good news of the Gospel. It is not a conversation, or a negotiation- God commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30) and obey the Gospel (2 Thessalonians 1:8). Obedience is a result of repentance and belief in Jesus. Obedience flows out of a heart that is grateful and filled with the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 6 continues with the good news result of the Gospel: 

11And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

It is the good news: We used to be that way, but when we repent and obey/believe the Gospel, we are washed clean of our sin, set apart for holy use, as we are declared NOT GUILTY of all the things we have done. We are also given the power of the Holy Spirit who indwells and empowers our new character and nature (2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 2:10) so that we are no longer enslaved and controlled by sin. 

Before that can happen, however, we need to quit having conversations about what sin is and is not, and just put ourselves under the authority of the Word of God. However, too many churches have decided to fear man (this is where compromise and conversation come in) instead of God. Many modern mega churches have put their trust in the methodologies and methods of man to grow their churches (Hillsong is one of many). While this could be an amazing platform to proclaim the truth of the Gospel, the same methods produce the fear that if you don't compromise, or if you do proclaim the Word of God as written, you will lose members. The fear of man causes us to make small, incremental compromises with culture which soon leaven the entire lump, and at that point, they are no longer a Christian church. 

How do you fix this? 

1. Stand on the Word of God: When it comes to the Church, the Word of God is the only standard of faith and practice. We do not have to deal with the World, for we are not of the World. We do not have to deal with weight; for God will deal with those that are outside the church (and God the Holy Spirit is already doing His work on them).
2. Practice church discipline: When someone is living a lifestyle that belies the fact that they are a Christian or behaving in a manner which brings dishonor to Christ, we are called to confront them, and if they will not repent, put them out of our fellowship. It is with the hope that they will be restored.
3. Preach the Whole Counsel of God: Do not cherry pick various verses to support your theology (belief about God) but rather preach the whole counsel of God, which includes themes like sin, hell, judgment, wrath- as well as repentance, Gospel, regeneration (being Born Again) forgiveness and grace. 
4. Proclaim the Gospel: That man is dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1-3) but that God is rich in mercy (Ephesians 2:4) and sent his Son Jesus to live a perfect, sinless life, die a sinners death, and be resurrected on the third day (1 Corinthians 15) so that we may be born again (John 3:3, 5, 16-17) if we will repent (turn from our sins, turn to Christ) (Mark 1:15) and place our entire trust in Christ we can be saved (Romans 5:1, 10:9-10,
   2 Corinthians 5:17, 21). 

Brian Houston has issued a new statement; Let us read it with the eyes of scripture:

I wish to correct reports that Hillsong church has “an openly gay couple directing a choir” at our New York City campus. Hillsong’s position on homosexuality and gay marriage has not changed and is consistent with Scripture. As I have stated previously, I believe the writings of Paul are clear on this subject. Several months ago when one of our choir directors made an unexpected public statement regarding his engagement to a man who sometimes sang in the choir, it was a complete surprise to us as well. It is my understanding that they have not been involved in an active leadership or ministry role since. That said, we still love them and acknowledge that they – like all of us – are on a journey, and our role as a church is to assist them on this journey with grace and compassion.

Now let us consider how Paul, using scripture, might have written this statement: 

God's Word is clear on the sin of homosexuality (as well as all other sexual sins). Let us make something quite clear: If you are in a lifestyle of sin- any sin, our position is clear: We will confront you privately, remove you from ministry immediately, and observe you consistently before you are restored. The scripture is clear on the fact that we are to judge those within our fellowship. This is for the glory of God and the benefit of the other members. The members in question are on a journey in rebellion against God. It is the role of the church to shine the light of the Gospel on them and command them to repent- that is to turn from the journey they are on and turn to Christ. We will do so with grace and compassion so that we will not fall into sin ourselves. If they will repent, we will restore them. If they repent not, they will be on the outside looking in. 



The two men in question are still singing at the church, and encouraging their gay friends to remain and participate at Hillsong church. This is a tragedy, for clearly, there is not enough preaching the whole counsel of God that these men will feel uncomfortable and perhaps repent of their particular lifestyle sin. I suspect there are many greedy, swindlers, drunkards, and liars that feel very comfortable that their sin will remain hidden and blessed by their church. 

   

Women in Ministry- Where to Draw the Line? Part 1: The Great Commission

This article was first written in April 2013 in response to a book called "Should She Preach?"

In my current season of ministry, I labor as an itinerant evangelist with a small fellowship of people under the headship of Mark 1:15 ministries. In my role as a leader in this band of evangelists, I am often approached to join hands with other individuals and groups that are going forth to proclaim the Gospel. We do have standards of accountability, methodology, and theology that no one formally adheres to, but evangelists are observed and known before they go out with our group. There are a few standards that we demand of our members. They must be born again believers in Jesus Christ who faithfully attend church. They are all under the care and leadership of elders. They must demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit in their lives and ministry. They must have the approval of their spouses if they are married. If they are married with children, their first priority is ministry at home. There are a few other minor issues that we demand, including methodology of using sound biblical evangelism of the law to the proud and grace to the humble.

I was challenged this week about one other issue, the issue of gender. I have thought this through before, and have studied the scripture, but never have I written down a formal stand on the issue of women as evangelists on the street. There are a few groups of Evangelists that have gender-based standards, and that list is growing. It is going to become a point of contention in evangelism circles if it has not already. I am going to challenge thinking on both sides of the issue, but I am going to do so based on sound biblical exegesis.

15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. (Mark 16:15, ESV)

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20, ESV)

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8, ESV)

15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, (1 Peter 3:15, ESV)

These commands come after the first evangelist – Does anyone know who this is?- proclaimed the good news.  The evangel- the good news- that Christ died for our sins according to the scripture, was buried- and on the third day rose again- according to the scripture. (1 Corinthians 15) Again, according to this standard, who was the first post- resurrection evangelist?

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her. (John 20:11-18, ESV)

John and Peter observed- John believed- but both returned to their homes, no proclamation, no evangel, no good news. Mary stayed behind, she had been to the tomb, she first noticed that Jesus was not there, she got John and Peter. Now, she stayed behind in mourning. Jesus revealed Himself to her, and commanded her to go- to tell the good news- that He had risen and would ascend. He trusted this news to a woman- the gender whom the Jewish males would pray thus about: ‘thank you God that I was not born a gentile, Samaritan…or a woman’. This woman who could not even testify in court- she was entrusted with the first good news by Jesus Himself- post death and resurrection.

Having said all of this, notice in all of the scriptures that contain the Great Commission, there is no gender announcement. We know that Jesus’ disciples- not the apostles who were to be those who would be responsible for establishing and leading the church- but the disciples of Jesus which included the 12, but also at least 120-500 men and women at this time. If you contend that the Great Commission was only given to the 11 apostles, then you contend that there is no responsibility for Christians today to proclaim the Gospel. If you contend (rightly so) that those to whom the command was given included both apostles and disciples, you must include women in the equation. So from the time of the Great Commission, both faithful men and faithful women were commanded to proclaim the evangel- to be evangelists.

Of course, as we look in the book of Acts, the history of the establishment of the church and the early fulfillment of the Great Commission, we see the giants of the faith- Peter, Paul, Stephen, Phillip, Timothy, Mark- all men- all front and center. Is this to say that there were no women involved? Clearly, there was. Again, we must consider the culture, especially of the Jewish Church. Women were not reliable witnesses in that culture. We do not argue from silence in the scripture, and I will not do so here. We do not see Luke chronicling female evangelists. That does not mean there were not any, and it certainly does not mean that there was a gender restriction on the command.

So what is the issue? The issue gets convoluted when we begin to look into the epistles of Paul as he looks at the church- those who are part of the invisible and universal body of Christ- and the gender roles within the church. And this is what we will look at in the next article. Please prayerfully consider the scripture and respond and correct as we go by using the scripture.

Renouncing my Baptism and Confirmation

I was baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal Church. However, because of their rebellion against God reemphasized today I again publicly renounce my baptism and confirmation.

In doing so, I still love people who call this their spiritual home. I do not hate people in the Episcopal Church- which include members of my family- however, I HATE what the institution has become. 

It breaks my heart, because I love my heritage. I have so many friends I grew up with that are still a part of the abomination the Institutional Episcopal Church has become. God was gracious to me in that all the scripture I learned from a young age came from the Book of Common Prayer. My theology was largely shaped by the Catechism I learned in that book. 

Please members of the Episcopal Church go back to your book of Common Prayer and read all the scripture in it and ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes- specifically, the Catechism- 

Q.	Where in the Old Testament is God's will for us shown most clearly?
A.	God's will for us is shown most clearly in the Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments

See pages 317 and 350.

Q.	What are the Ten Commandments?
A.	The Ten Commandments are the laws give to Moses and the people of Israel.
Q.	What do we learn from these commandments?
A.	We learn two things: our duty to God, and our duty to our neighbors.
Q.	What is our duty to God?
A.	Our duty is to believe and trust in God;
	I	To love and obey God and to bring others to know him;
	II	To put nothing in the place of God;
	III	To show God respect in thought, word, and deed;
	IV	And to set aside regular times for worship, prayer, and the study of God's ways.

Catechism     847

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Q.	What is our duty to our neighbors?
A.	Our duty to our neighbors is to love them as ourselves, and to do to other people as we wish them to do to us;
	V	To love, honor, and help our parents and family; to honor those in authority, and to meet their just demands;
	VI	To show respect for the life God has given us; to work and pray for peace; to bear no malice, prejudice, or hatred in our hearts; and to be kind to all the creatures of God;
	VII	To use our bodily desires as God intended;
	VIII	To be honest and fair in our dealings; to seek justice, freedom, and the necessities of life for all people; and to use our talents and possessions as ones who must answer for them to God;
	IX	To speak the truth, and not to mislead others by our silence;
	X	To resist temptations to envy, greed, and jealousy; to rejoice in other people's gifts and graces; and to do our duty for the love of God, who has called us into fellowship with him.
Q.	What is the purpose of the Ten Commandments?
A.	The Ten Commandments were given to define our relationship with God and our neighbors.
Q.	Since we do not fully obey them, are they useful at all?
A.	Since we do not fully obey them, we see more clearly our sin and our need for redemption.

Sin and Redemption

Q.	What is sin?
A.	Sin is the seeking of our own will instead of the will of God, thus distorting our relationship with God, with other people, and with all creation.

The Episcopal church is itself in sin as defined in her Catechism, seeking its own will instead of the will of God. God revealed His will for us in the written word of God which has essentially been abandoned by the Episcopal Church. The Word is meaningless, though it is throughout the Book of Common Prayer and the Pastoral Offices. Look with me into the Episcopal marriage ceremony:

Dearly beloved: We have come together in the presence of 
God to witness and bless the joining together of this man and 
this woman in Holy Matrimony.  The bond and covenant of 
marriage was established by God in creation, and our Lord 
Jesus Christ adorned this manner of life by his presence and 
first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee.  It signifies to us 
the mystery of the union between Christ and his Church, and 
Holy Scripture commends it to be honored among all people.

The union of husband and wife in heart, body, and mind is 
intended by God for their mutual joy; for the help and comfort 
given one another in prosperity and adversity; and, when it is 
God's will, for the procreation of children and their nurture 
in the knowledge and love of the Lord.  Therefore marriage is 
not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, 
deliberately, and in accordance with the purposes for which it 
was instituted by God.

Note that in the current version, the Episcopal church has it right according to scripture- acknowledging that God instituted marriage, between man and a woman. It goes on to acknowledge the  union between man and woman (Ephesians 5:25-32) is a picture of the spiritual union between Christ and the Church, and that it should not be entered into lightly- but reverently- in accordance with the purposes for which it was instituted by God. 

These purposes are revealed in the scripture, both Old and New Testaments that is published in the section called the Ministry of the Word:

The Ministry of the Word
The Celebrant then says to the people

                The Lord be with you.People        And also with you.

Let us pray.

O gracious and everliving God, you have created us male and
female in your image: Look mercifully upon this man and this
woman who come to you seeking your blessing, and assist
them with your grace, that with true fidelity and steadfast love
they may honor and keep the promises and vows they make;
through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with
you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

Marriage     425

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Then one or more of the following passages from Holy Scripture is read.  If
there is to be a Communion, a passage from the Gospel always concludes
the Readings.Genesis 1:26-28 (Male and female he created them)

Genesis 2:4-9, 15-24 (A man cleaves to his wife and they become one flesh) 

                The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ
                according to __________.People        Glory to you, Lord Christ.Matthew 5:1-10 (The Beatitudes)
Matthew 5:13-16 (You are the light...Let your light so shine)
Matthew 7:21,24-29 (Like a wise man who built his house upon the rock)
Mark 10:6-9,13-16 (They are no longer two but one)
John 15:9-12 (Love one another as I have loved you)

Let us take a look at these passages: 

Genesis 1:26-28Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

27So God created man in his own image,in the image of God he created him;male and female he created them.

28And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 

Note, God did create man and woman, and part of the purpose of Marriage was to procreate. This is not successful in 100% of the marriages; there is infertility etc, however from when God created marriage his command was to be fruitful and multiply. You need a man and a woman to do this. 

To continue:

Genesis 2:23-25Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bonesand flesh of my flesh;she shall be called Woman,because she was taken out of Man.”

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

When God created marriage, it was between the two beings he created. This may seem a pedantic question, but do you suppose that God in creating the first humans could have created two men, each with the ability to procreate? Instead, God created complementary human beings, each with unique parts and personalities that were beneficial to each other, allowing an intimacy (that is beyond sexual) that could allow them to be one flesh- illustrating the unity between the Godhead (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit- Three persons, One God- Unity in will, substance, and purpose- yet Three persons) and the Mystery of the union between Christ and His church.

Finally, Christ reiterates this purpose:

Mark 10:6-9But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’  7‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,  8and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh.  9What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”10And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her,12and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”  

Many people in the debate over homosexual marriage claim that Christ never speaks about homosexual marriage. Here in this passage he affirmed that marriage is between one man and woman- and it is quoted right in the Pastoral Offices.  This is the frustration that I have with the Episcopal Church and other denominations that began so well: They have departed from the clear teaching of the Word of God that they had clung to for so long in favor of cultural relevance and approval from the world. This is why I believe my baptism and confirmation hold no water whatsoever for the scripture promises they are based upon are used falsely and to the Institutional church they Scripture has become no more than suggestion. The foundation of the Institutional Episcopal church is therefore sand.

I urge the members of the Episcopal Church go back to your book of Common Prayer and read all the scripture in it and ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes- and do not stop there. Go to the source- the Bible- and allow God's Word to reveal the truth about God and about You. As it says in your Catechism, start with the Ten Commandments, and examine yourself in the light of God's moral law written on your heart. At that point you will become aware of your need for a Savior. He is Christ- and He wants to save you individually from your sin. When He saves you, there is always the Anglican Church (US) that holds to the Standard of God's Word. 

I encourage an exodus, as ICABOD (The glory of the LORD has departed) has been long written over the Episcopal Church USA.