Decisions on Women in Ministry Issues

After much contemplation, I have decided (with my wife's input) to remain at Santa Ana. The gentleman who has a problem with Women in Ministry also remains there, however, he is very humbled.

On Easter Sunday I confronted both he and his wife concerning his actions concerning the woman who preached on the Sunday I was gone. He was mortified. He had no idea I knew why or even that he was gone on that Sunday. When I told him his wife had communicated his reasons, he looked at her and searched for an answer why she would tell. Her reply? "They asked. I wasn't going to lie for you!" He was stunned. At that point his apologies began. When I told how insulted both my wife and the guest speaker was, the color left his face. Following our conversation, wherein he apologized to me and could not even find the verses he believed gave him Biblical evidence for his position, he made a bee-line to Joanie and apologized to her. That week he contacted the woman who spoke and wrote her a letter of apology.

I am still working to get him to understand things from a different direction than his Calvary Chapel theological leanings, but it is a process. He has assured me that the attitude is his and does not reflect the attitude of either the church or his family members.

I have a book about Women in Ministry and a tape put out by the Church of God to give him. We will see if he remains open to understanding the Word or whether he remains stuck in an old paradigm. Time will tell.

For those curious about this issue, here are a few Internet resources you might find interesting or helpful. The first link is from the Church of God. The other two are just ones I ran across on the web:

http://www.chog.org/MinistriesandPrograms/WomeninMinistry/BiblicalRationale/tabid/446/Default.aspx

http://watkins.gospelcom.net/women.htm

http://www.gracecentered.com/women_in_ministry.htm

It's Nice to Be Wanted, Barnabas

Everybody needs to be needed - it's a basic human, well, need. All of us know about rejection. Some of us have lived lives full of rejection:

• A parent who rejected you by abandoning you and your family early in life
• A mate who walked out and said they didn't love you any more and rejected you and your love
• A boss who rejected your work and fired you from a job
• A teacher who rejected your creativity or unique way of doing things and said you would never amount to much or who rejected you by not giving you an opportunity you deserved
• A Christian who disagreed with your theology and rejected not only your position but you as well
• The dog who ran away rather than be your pet!

Most of us have degrees in rejection. Some people seem to specialize in rejecting others (I know someone named Carla who does this all the time - did it to Joanie and me) and get a perverse joy out creating havoc in other's lives and spirits. Others are so sick themselves that they can only feel well by making others sick - kind of like "Munchausen by proxy" for the sick soul. So, when you have those moments where you are accepted rather than rejected; when you are appreciated rather than denounced; when you are built up rather than torn down - these are the times you should celebrate and these are the days you should remember.
Today I went to a luncheon for some of the Adjunct Faculty at Fuller. Since I am teaching two classes this quarter, I am considered an visiting member of the Fuller faculty. It was a nice luncheon and a good time. After it was over, the director who works with the Adjunct Faculty in the hiring of them for these positions approached me to ask if I would be able to teach again this summer. I told her I would. She then asked if she could put me on the schedule for the Fall and keep me going in this direction. Man, its nice to be wanted!
When the Apostle Paul was rejected by the early church because of their fear of his persecution tactics, Paul left Jerusalem and nearly was lost to the church. But someone remembered him. His name was Barnabas. Barnabas found Paul, put him back on the ministry track, and took him with his group on their first Missionary Journey. Ah, if it hadn't been for Barnabas there would have been no Paul.
Someone once told me everyone should have a "Timothy" - someone in whom you are investing your life and pouring out yourself. They also said everyone should be a Barnabas - someone who believes in someone else and helps them in their mission and ministry. Linda Peacore, the director who works with Adjuncts, is being my Barnabas. Everyone needs a Barnabas. Who's yours? And, if you have that person or not, in whom are you investing yourself? Even a pat on the back can make a difference. Who are you encouraging?

We Are Virginia Tech

I watched Virginia Tech English Professor Nikki Giovanni give a powerful and emotional conclusion to the memorial gathering on the Virginia Tech campus last week. It was a well crafted and well delivered conclusion to a sad day, a day of mourning. In it she made mention of the fact that "we did nothing to deserve this tragedy". It is a powerful statement and one that each of us should ponder.

As I have counseled people over the years who have been hit with tragedies and as I have faced tragedies (albeit considerably less powerful than the Virginia Tech shootings) I have noticed that one of the reactions common to all is that of blame. We often wonder what we could have done to prevent the problem. One of my brothers felt great guilt at the sudden death of my father from a heart attack because he felt we should have "forced" my Dad to have more drastic procedures that might have saved his life. He expressed that basic human fantasy we all share - a fantasy that says we should divine the future because we have hindsight. We can no more predict and understand the implications of natural disasters or man made tragedies than we can predict which case holds the million dollars on "Deal or No Deal" before the numbers are revealed.

One of the old hymns we have sung in the Church of God says, "The future lies unseen ahead, it holds I know not what. But still I know I need not dread, for Jesus faileth not." The Apostle Paul in talking about eternity says, "We see through a glass darkly". Both of these sentiments agree that we are no good at soothsaying. We are terrible at predicting the future, especially future tragedies that we could prevent.

Rather than live in a sea of guilt maybe we should learn to live each day with greater joy. I got up and my back hurt today. So what? Should that ruin my day? Life if too precious to waste it on either foolish guilt or bad moods. Live today as though you have no promise of tomorrow. Come to think of it, you don't have a promise of tomorrow. Makes how you live today seem more important, huh? Good. Live life. Remember, we are Virginia Tech.

One Down, One to Go

They posted grades last week. My final grade for Hebrew was...(drum roll, please) - well, I'll get to that in a minute. After spending 20 weeks studying this ancient language, I know two things.
First, I know that it takes a lot more than 20 weeks to become familiar with another language that you only read and study with your eyes. Unless you are immersed in a language and forced to speak it on a daily basis, it all seems academic to you. So, after 20 weeks, I can't speak the language nor can I sit and read it with understanding.
Second, I know that Hebrew is a more complicated language than we were led to believe when we started. Letters are dropped from words on a regular basis; words are joined together at both the front and back of root words - words that easily get lost in the mix. Our instructor didn't ask us to really memorize the vowel pointings but just have an idea which sounded like a, e, i, o, or u. Then we had so many words that were changed in meaning and context by having one point (or dot) that changed or didn't change. In order to handle Hebrew, it would require a much deeper introduction to the whole language than what we received.
Having said that, I am now prepared to take the same class over again. At least, that's what most of the members of my class did. Almost everyone in the class had as much knowledge of Hebrew that I have now when they started the class back in September. Considering the disadvantage that I faced going into the class, I am quite proud of my grade - and really glad to be done with the language requirement. Since I passed the class, I am no longer a "probationary admit" to the Seminary. I have fulfilled all the requirements for my entrance to the Ph.D. program. I am a full, regular student!
By the way, first quarter I received an A- for the class. Second quarter, though, I received... and A-! Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One language down, and one more to go. This summer - Latin for 10 weeks. Hmmm. I can hardly wait.

Choices

A friend sent me an email (thanks Patty) about chioces. So, for all you folks out there who have yet to begin a family or who are considering changing your circumstances of the empty nest syndrome, here are your choices:

Should you get a dog?

Or should you invite the grandchildren over for a few days?

Speaking of Women

Here we go again! Speaking of women, I had a most disturbing event take place last Sunday. I was out of the state at a meeting in Indiana, so I asked a friend and fellow Church of God minister to fill the pulpit for me in Santa Ana. I never, in my wildest dreams, thought that this would create a problem either for her of for anyone in this small, 15-20 member congregation. Oh, how wrong I was. One guy, a prominent and key leader in this small band of folks, didn't show up for service and his wife, who did, promptly told my wife and the guest pastor that he didn't show up because he didn't believe in sitting under a woman in the pulpit!

You should also know that my wife is an ordained minister in the Church of God. In two congregations of the Church of God, my wife has been devalued because she is a woman who is called to ministry. In the church we pastored in Indiana, the decided to pick on her as a way to get to me. They tried to tell her that she was not a "real" minister and that she was not doing a good job (neither of which were true then or now). In our last pastorate in Fresno, the congregation actually voted on hiring her part-time and voted not to - not because she was not qualified or talented, but because she was a woman and married to the pastor. All this in a church that has a 127 year tradition of having women in ministry.

As I teach and assist in classes here at Fuller, I am astounded by the number of women who have horror stories from just about every denominational group you can imagine. Here they are preparing to follow the call of God on their lives for ministry only to be devalued and repressed by their own narrow minded denominational authorities. I hope to be able to find a job following my PhD studies teaching preaching in a seminary. Wherever I teach, there will be women in the classroom preparing for pastoral ministry. How do I justify continuing to preach in a place where such an attitude exists? I am tempted to resign and not go back. And, that may be my course of action. I will talk to this man face to face and share with him both my frustration at his "biblical interpretation" and my disappointment in how he has treated my wife and someone who is called of God. If he responds with some sense of understanding and contrition, I may stay. If he is adamant, I will leave rather than compromise the principles I teach and live with.

Oh, did I mention that after the service was over, the church was having a fellowship time (coffee and cookies) and, lo and behold, this guy showed up! He wouldn't sit under her ministry, but he came to break bread with her and join her in fellowship. How pathetic is that? Ah, well, the church has a long way to go. But there are times, like tonight, that I grow impatient and weary of the little progress that seems to be made. Maranatha, Lord Jesus, Maranatha.

Who Are We?

Unless you have some familiarity with the Church of God (Anderson), this won't mean much. But if you do have more than a passing interest, this may mean a whole lot. I am attempting to try and answer a question about the Church of God. The question is, "Who are we?" Ever since I started into ministry, I have both been confronted by that question and have struggled with the same. Yesterday, Joanie and I went to a local sandwich shop that just opened. Eager to meet new customers, one of the guys in the shop noticed my notebook and the religious overtones suggested by it. He remarked on it, asked to sit down and struck up a conversation about our relationship to God. Quickly he got to the question about our church affiliation. When I told him Church of God, he asked me the question. THE question: "Church of God? Who are they?" How do you answer that?

I tried to give an analogy - we are close to the Nazarene Church or the Wesleyan Church. Of course, unless you know those churches, that doesn't mean much. I could have told him we were out of the Pietistic Movement and had both Arminian and Wesleyan theological roots, but I don't know if that would help most (it didn't help him). I could pull out the old name dropper idea - the church of Bill Gaither and Sandi Patti. But you would have to know them to know what I was talking about and even knowing who they are, how does that define who the Church of God is? Do I give a list of doctrines? Do I explain how a normal service is structured (how is a normal Church of God service structured, anyway?) or talk about what we preach? Does anyone outside of a deep Christian experience understand what it means when we say we are a holiness movement? So, I ask again, who are we?

I know we live in a soundbite era and that the gospel resists being reduced to a soundbite, but what do you say when someone with limited Christian awareness asks who we are? How do you describe the Church to someone who doesn't have an intimate experience with a local church? How do you describe belief to those who don't have a vocabulary of religious terms? Well, I need some help. As a matter of fact, I will be dedicating the next several years of my life to try and figure out how to help this Movement called the Church of God to find some effective way of describing itself or understanding itself.

Will you help me? If you have any insights to give, give them to me. Post them here. If you don't have a strong biblical or local church background, help me understand what you want to know when you ask someone what their church is all about or what you want to know when you ask someone where they go to church. If you are part of the Church of God, how do you answer that question when it gets posed to you? Help me learn. I await your answers, questions, insights, and ramblings.

Sincerely,

A Fellow Struggler

The Bottom of the Barrel

I probably shouldn't write this, but...what else is a blog for other than writing what you think about. So, here goes.

It's in the news, again. I am willing to admit that it might have been there all along and people just didn't hear about it because we didn't have CNN, Fox News, and other 24-hour news outlets, but I never heard so much about it before! Hear about what, you ask? Women doing brutal crimes.

Today, Fox is reporting about the murder of a "father, 28, [who] was found hanging by a yellow nylon rope from a second-floor banister... The children — girls ages 9, 4 and 1, and a 3-year-old boy — were found in beds completely covered with sheets and blankets pulled over their heads." From the article it appears that they are looking for the missing mother/wife as the chief suspect. Yesterday, the news reported on a woman who killed her husband by having him drink antifreeze (she was already in prison for killing another husband). The reports of children in our schools being molested recently has been, seemingly, all female teachers who have been having sex with young boys. So, how is that equality thing working out, ladies?

Now, don't get me wrong. I am all for women's equality. I believe passionately in it. I am in an institution that believes firmly in the equality of women and in the ordination of women in ministry. My wife is an ordained minister and the bread winner of the family. This is not a rant about the importance or meaning of equality. It is about the sad state of human affairs that we live in today. It used to be men that were violent and women that were nurturing. Granted, that was probably a stereotype, but it seemed to be true. Then came abortion on demand, lax attitudes toward "recreational" drug use, day care out of economic necessity for women to compete in the workforce, and feminist ideologies that say that women are equal to or superior to men in all things. Well, women have arrived. You are now just as depraved as men. Congratulations, you have found the bottom of the moral, ethical barrel. We men have been living down here a long time. We have grown accustomed to war, battles, depravity, sexual lusts, carnal ideas, and moral debasement. Don't worry, the longer you are all down here with us, the more comfortable you will become.

As a pastor I noticed that the very backbone of the church was women. They held the institution together. They flooded the choir, taught in the Sunday Schools, served on the committees, sang the solos, filled up the pews, and did most of the ministry and serving in and around the church. Men were relegated to being Ushers (why men have to do that I don't know) and serving on the Board of Trustees. Those were manly things to do! Now, I fear that the decreases in the life of the church are being felt not from men leaving the church, as they have done for the past half century, but now it is women leaving the church. Why? I fear they have found the basement and are living down were Eve has trod. As a society we are less tolerant of others, less nurturing, less patient with the shortcomings of others. As men, we have lost touch with our feminine side. And I fear that the women are getting more and more in touch with their masculine, debased side.

What does this all mean? It means that the Bible was right all along. It doesn't matter whether you are male or female - sin is an equal opportunity employer. Being spiritually "lost" is not a gender issue, it is a human issue. Equality of the sexes is not the point. Finding our true selves in Christ is. Ladies, I stand up for your rights! Now, please, help us all to stand up for what is right.

And all the men said, "Amen"!

The Real Meanning of "What Would Jesus Do?"

When Jesus hung on the Cross he cried out, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do", he showed us what it means to be a lover of souls and a forgiver of sins. Imagine the grace and character it takes to forgive the very people who are responsible for your torture and murder. It is one of the statements Jesus makes that reveals to us his divine character. It is a powerful witness to the world about his message and the reality and depth of his belief in it. But how do we, his body, live out this call to forgiveness to others? I fear that this lesson is all too often lost in the church/congregational world of today. We are quick to adopt sound business principles as to how to run a church organization but we are slow to pick up on sound spiritual principles that show us how to live our lives together. Fortunately, there are examples to remind us of how we should live and who God really is.
A few months ago the news was filled with tragedy that took place in Amish Country. As one who has visited the Amish areas in Pennsylvania on numerous occasions, I know first hand that the Amish are quiet, reserved, hard working, savvy, devout believers for whom their Christian faith is not ancillary to their lives but is central to who they are and how they live. Faith is not show but something to be lived out no matter what the circumstance. The text came to Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania last October when Charles Carl Roberts IV, a depressed and angry area resident whom the Amish community knew but who, himself, was not Amish, marched into a one-room schoolhouse and took 10 children, ages 6-13, all girls, and shot them all before committing suicide. Five of the girls died immediately, one died some days later, and the other four girls are still recovering. The effect was devastating for the families and the community. Five funerals were held within two days for the fallen girls, each funeral procession of Amish buggies passing by the house of the killer on the way to the cemetery. How do you forgive someone who has done something like this to your loved ones and to your community? While it is a trite and worn expression that fits easily on wrists or t-shirts these days, the question must still be asked, "What would Jesus do?"
The answer to that question came in the form of 35 people, all Amish members of the community. In the midst of their grief and the devastation of the murder of their children, 35 men, women, and children - some of them related to the murdered girls - attended three days of funerals, not two. Not only did they attend the funeral services for their own girls: Marian Fisher, 13, Naomi Rose Ebersol, 7, Anna Mae Stoltzfusand, 12, and sisters Mary Liz Miller, 8, and Lena Miller, 7 but they attended one more. They attended the grave side service at a local Methodist Cemetery of Charles Carl Roberts IV, the shooter of the girls. They went to comfort Robert's wife, Marie, and their three small children. One mourner, Bruce Porter, who had come all the way from Colorado said, "It's the love, the forgiveness, the heartfelt forgiveness they have toward the family. I broke down and cried seeing it displayed." We may sit around and debate long and hard what real forgiveness is, but I know of two instances where it was lived out. One was on the Cross of Calvary as Jesus hung dying unjustly. The other was in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, in an Amish community that believes that forgiveness is showing love in the most difficult moments of life.

What does the Church Look Like?

Joanie and I went to church on Sunday - twice as a matter of fact. We attended two churches. Sunday morning I preached in Santa Ana. It was a nice service and, for that group, well attended. A couple of new people showed up. In a congregation that has been devastated by ethical problems and a church split, it is quite obvious and very encouraging to have any new people show up (hard to miss when there less than 20 people at the service!). We sang hymns, prayed, gave an offering, shared the Word, and gave testimony and witness to Jesus Christ. It was a good service.

One of the visitors was a new friend of ours whom I met at the Southern Cal Association Ministers Meeting. She is ministering as a Chaplain at a Hospice Center. We had an instant connection and she wanted to travel with us and worship together. Joanie had a similar kind of connection after meeting her and spending the afternoon together. It was very easy to talk and relate.

So, when she talked about being involved in a home bible study on Sunday nights and described it, we took up her invitation to go. However, it was not a bible study. It was a church. Packed into an apartment living room, we had nearly the same amount of people as we had on Sunday morning. We sang hymns, shared the Word, prayed together, ate together, and gave our witness of Jesus Christ. It was most interesting. It made me wonder. What does the Church really look like?

The Church of the first century didn't look anything like what we think the church of the 21st century looks like. They had no buildings and few of the elements and rituals that we have come to expect at church. The only thing that bridges that gap was the fact that when we gathered and when they gathered back in biblical days, we both gave witness to our faith in Jesus Christ. Reality says that the church changes it's look more than Madonna has. We don't look the same today as we did when I was born. The church always changes. It's the message that doesn't change. It's the witness that remains consistent. House Church, Sanctuary, Wooded Glens, Campgrounds, Caves, even an Apollo capsule on the way back from the Moon have been sanctuaries - places of worship. It's not the look of the church that defines us. It's the vision and witness of the people that reflects who Jesus is and what the church really should be.

Things Are Not What They Appear to Be

If I've learned anything over the past few months (years, too, I'm sure) it is that what we know is a lot like the warnings they used to put on side view mirrors - "Things appear larger than what they seem"; at least I can say that, "Things are not always what they appear to be". Now, that may not be earth shattering news, but it has been revolutionary in my thinking. Tied up in this idea is the whole debate that is going on in academic circles about the change in society from a modernistic view of the world to what is being called postmodernism. Let me try and explain.
Modernism is what you and I have grown up with. In our world, things are ordered; they can be explained by scientific theories and experiments; knowledge is key in the modern view - we can understand anything (from how peas are grown to how to go to the Moon and back) as long as we can break it down and explain how it functions. Our world is based on modernism. It is comfortable, hopeful, and logical. It is also based on a false premise (maybe several false premises!).
The first premise is that we can be objective when it comes to knowledge. The whole scientific method is based on this principle. If you ever watch Gil Grissom on "CSI" you will hear him say things like, "The evidence is neither good nor bad, it's the evidence". What does he mean? He means that, as a scientist, he can objectively find out what has happened by looking objectively at what the inanimate evidence reports. He has no opinion nor does he affect the materials, he only discovers what they are "saying" through experimentation. Sounds good, doesn't it? The problem is it just doesn't meet its own scientific fact. Below is a link to a Google video piece that may explain this even better. Before you watch it, let me explain a bit. Albert Einstein discovered the theory of quantum physics. What is quantum physics? Well, I'm sure I don't know. But it does tell us one thing. No one is objective. Everyone who observes something and reports on what they observe changes and affects what they observe. Take a look:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4237751840526284618&q=%22double+slit

Did you get it? I hope so. The first time I saw it, I was dumbfounded. It seems to say (and prove) that nothing is what is seems. Everything is affected by how I live, what my prejudices are, what I think or believe, and that nothing is really objective at all. Is this relativism (that there is nothing true and that everything is relative to the situation - a kind of situation ethics)? Hardly, it just recognizes the reality that, as human beings, we affect everything we come into contact with and with which we interact. In reality, this is exactly what the Bible says. The Bible teaches that as Christians we have an influence on everyone and everything. The Bible calls that witness or testimony. How we live effects the world around us. The decisions we make effect the people we know. Nothing takes place in a vacuum. We are inexorably tied to one another. What I do with my life matters. Therefore, things may not be what they seem but they may be greater than what we assume. Today, as you live your life, you will effect the way life is lived for yourself, your family, your co-workers, fellow students, and the idiot that cuts you off in traffic. The question is not will you effect, the question is how you will effect life. Think about it!

A Box of Chocolates

Forrest Gump was right. "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're goin' to get." Life seems full of surprises. Some are exciting, others not so. But you never know what you are going to find:

1. Surgery - Joanie has been diagnosed with advanced arthritis in her left hip. The cartelidge is all gone and bone is rubbing on bone. After seeing a surgeon (the third doctor that has confirmed the arthritis diagnosis) he is recommending hip replacement surgery. He is booked 4-6 months ahead, so we are unsure when the surgery will be scheduled. The condition has grown more and more problematic and painful for Joanie. She finally has medical insurance (six months getting that straightened out) and will be having the surgery through Kaiser. We have had good experiences with them and were very impressed by the surgeon and his reputation. Rehabilitation will take 6-12 weeks following the surgery. Our biggest concern is being able to get to Joel and Shafali's for the birth of our first grandchild in September. We are praying things all work out.


2. Although there are other factors, this certainly sealed the deal that Joanie will teach again in Gardena next year. She has already informed her Principle and the Senior Pastor about both the surgery and her intent to return. Both are sad about the surgical aspect but excited to have her come back. She is doing a great job and they are all very happy to have someone of her gifts and quality, commitment and attitude coming back to the school.


3. I walked into class last Thursday to listen to three students preach in our small group preaching session (I listen to them preach and then critique their sermons). As I approached the room, I found that a movie crew was there. They had received permission to follow one of my students for the next 18 months as they prepare for ministry. So, they filmed for this documentary not only the student they were following, but the two other students scheduled to preach that day (both of whom had preached exactly once before in their lives, and that was in this same small group a couple of weeks ago). Then the crew filmed the feedback session. Later that day, I saw the director on campus and she asked me if they could interview me for the documentary (the title is, "Called" and deals with people called to ministry and their preparation for it).

So, somewhere in 2009-10 I will be in a documentary from PBS. Or, I will end up on the cutting room floor (more likely). But, life is like a box of chocolates . . .