Have you given much thought lately to the power of the words that you speak? If you are like me, you find yourself constantly talking about one thing or another, and at times you’ve talked so much you can’t hardly remember what you said.
Earlier this week, I found myself explaining the events surrounding our General Assembly business sessions over and over. Every other phone call, and those who dropped in to the office wanted to discuss what was enacted, what the surrounding philosophy of the changes were, and just how it would affect our churches in Tennessee.
If you’ve been on another planet, or just plain “out of the loop” you are probably scratching your head and wondering what I’m even talking about. If you will bear with me for a moment, I will try to explain.
In our recent General Assembly conducted in Nashville, the Committee of Bible Doctrine and Polity presented the findings of a study that has been taking place officially for about four years, and unofficially since the turn of the 20th century. It deals with the theological stance of the Church of God of Prophecy on the subject of divorce and remarriage.
Now, granted, it might be easier for me to just stay silent, or avoid discussion all together, however, because of integrity and moral conviction, I feel compelled to continue the dialogue.
It is my firm conviction that we have found the proper interpretation of the Scriptures in question, and for the most part, I feel like we have the proper practical application as well.
We stated several things in the report:
That we believe God’s perfect will is for marriage to be a covenant relationship between one man and one woman for life. We do not believe in the practice of polygamy or same-sex marriage.
We believe that ministers must be held to a higher standard than the laity, and that they should be taught how to counsel people before and during marriage.
We believe that the definition of fornication in the New Testament is much broader than what we have TRADITIONALLY taught as far back as 1923, when former General Overseer, Bishop A.J. Tomlinson gave an illustration on his understanding of the subject.
Now, let me remind you that the Church of God of Prophecy has as its core values a commitment to the New Testament as our only rule of faith, practice, government and discipline. That means we do NOT accept men’s creeds, traditions or opinions....we walk in the light of God’s word (1 John 1:7) as it is illuminated upon our paths. In short, that means that we have an OPEN Bible and an OPEN heart. We want to hear what the Spirit says to the church. As we sit together as the General Assemblies of the Church of God of Prophecy, we come not to reinforce personal opinions, but rather to ACCEPT all that the Lord has said.
Not too many days ago, I received a call from a church member stating that they wanted their name removed from the church roll. After explaining that such action is taken place at the local church level, I decided to ask what had brought them to such a decision. “I read about the General Assembly in the newspaper and I don’t agree with the business.” came the reply.
When I asked which particular part of the business he was referring to, his answer was, “I don’t know....just what the paper said about divorce.” As I inquired further, asking if he had read the assembly reports, he replied, “no, I read the paper and that’s enough.”
I have to be honest with you, if it wasn’t so sad, it would be laughable. To make decisions affecting your spiritual and emotional well-being based on something you read in the paper is sad.
I tried to help him understand that there was a lot of good, sound theological exegesis in the reports, but he refused to hear anything I said. After a moment, I said, “why don’t we go to the Scriptures?” Again, his reply was the same, “ no, I read the paper and that’s enough.” That’s a tragic decision, don’t you think? That the newspaper would be your choice for information, rather than reading the Bible for yourself?
In the coming weeks and months, those who see the Church of God of Prophecy as their “mission-field” will be trying to influence people’s opinions are going to tell you everything bad about the reports accepted, and in some cases, they will pass on incorrect information. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if some find themselves reading these very words, downloaded, printed and disseminated to try to pull people away from our church.
For those of you who faithfully read this blog, I make a solemn promise to you...I will do my best to keep you informed, and in all that I do, I will try to point you back to the Scriptures...the only place where we have “...a more sure word of prophecy.” (2 Peter 1:19) Whose report will you believe? I choose to believe the report of GOD’S WORD!
Having said all of that, remember you have the power of life or death in the power of your tongue. (see Proverbs 18:21) I challenge you to choose life and not death!
Thank you for stopping by today, I appreciate you very much. May God bless and keep you.
Earlier this week, I found myself explaining the events surrounding our General Assembly business sessions over and over. Every other phone call, and those who dropped in to the office wanted to discuss what was enacted, what the surrounding philosophy of the changes were, and just how it would affect our churches in Tennessee.
If you’ve been on another planet, or just plain “out of the loop” you are probably scratching your head and wondering what I’m even talking about. If you will bear with me for a moment, I will try to explain.
In our recent General Assembly conducted in Nashville, the Committee of Bible Doctrine and Polity presented the findings of a study that has been taking place officially for about four years, and unofficially since the turn of the 20th century. It deals with the theological stance of the Church of God of Prophecy on the subject of divorce and remarriage.
Now, granted, it might be easier for me to just stay silent, or avoid discussion all together, however, because of integrity and moral conviction, I feel compelled to continue the dialogue.
It is my firm conviction that we have found the proper interpretation of the Scriptures in question, and for the most part, I feel like we have the proper practical application as well.
We stated several things in the report:
That we believe God’s perfect will is for marriage to be a covenant relationship between one man and one woman for life. We do not believe in the practice of polygamy or same-sex marriage.
We believe that ministers must be held to a higher standard than the laity, and that they should be taught how to counsel people before and during marriage.
We believe that the definition of fornication in the New Testament is much broader than what we have TRADITIONALLY taught as far back as 1923, when former General Overseer, Bishop A.J. Tomlinson gave an illustration on his understanding of the subject.
Now, let me remind you that the Church of God of Prophecy has as its core values a commitment to the New Testament as our only rule of faith, practice, government and discipline. That means we do NOT accept men’s creeds, traditions or opinions....we walk in the light of God’s word (1 John 1:7) as it is illuminated upon our paths. In short, that means that we have an OPEN Bible and an OPEN heart. We want to hear what the Spirit says to the church. As we sit together as the General Assemblies of the Church of God of Prophecy, we come not to reinforce personal opinions, but rather to ACCEPT all that the Lord has said.
Not too many days ago, I received a call from a church member stating that they wanted their name removed from the church roll. After explaining that such action is taken place at the local church level, I decided to ask what had brought them to such a decision. “I read about the General Assembly in the newspaper and I don’t agree with the business.” came the reply.
When I asked which particular part of the business he was referring to, his answer was, “I don’t know....just what the paper said about divorce.” As I inquired further, asking if he had read the assembly reports, he replied, “no, I read the paper and that’s enough.”
I have to be honest with you, if it wasn’t so sad, it would be laughable. To make decisions affecting your spiritual and emotional well-being based on something you read in the paper is sad.
I tried to help him understand that there was a lot of good, sound theological exegesis in the reports, but he refused to hear anything I said. After a moment, I said, “why don’t we go to the Scriptures?” Again, his reply was the same, “ no, I read the paper and that’s enough.” That’s a tragic decision, don’t you think? That the newspaper would be your choice for information, rather than reading the Bible for yourself?
In the coming weeks and months, those who see the Church of God of Prophecy as their “mission-field” will be trying to influence people’s opinions are going to tell you everything bad about the reports accepted, and in some cases, they will pass on incorrect information. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if some find themselves reading these very words, downloaded, printed and disseminated to try to pull people away from our church.
For those of you who faithfully read this blog, I make a solemn promise to you...I will do my best to keep you informed, and in all that I do, I will try to point you back to the Scriptures...the only place where we have “...a more sure word of prophecy.” (2 Peter 1:19) Whose report will you believe? I choose to believe the report of GOD’S WORD!
Having said all of that, remember you have the power of life or death in the power of your tongue. (see Proverbs 18:21) I challenge you to choose life and not death!
Thank you for stopping by today, I appreciate you very much. May God bless and keep you.
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