Called to Serve Summer 2016

Assemblies of God Ministers Letter Called to Serve • Summer 2016 • FROM THE GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT The Battle for Religious Liberty By George O. Wo...
Author: Lisa Carpenter
3 downloads 4 Views 1MB Size
Assemblies of God Ministers Letter

Called to Serve • Summer 2016 •

FROM THE GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT

The Battle for Religious Liberty By George O. Wood

I

Certainly the pending act (as of this feel impelled to write you this most writing) in the California legislature should unusual pastoral letter. I do it out of wake us up. The California Senate passed deep concern and I ask you to hear Senate Bill 1146 which would either force my heart. schools like our own Vanguard UniverWe are on the precipice of losing sity to radically change their mission or critical religious liberty protections in close down. The bill seeks both to shame our country. Over the past twenty-five faith-based colleges and universities and years, the Supreme Court has severely to declare their students unworthy of limited the traditional understanding benefits that are made available by the of the First Amendment to the Consti— First Amendment to the state to every other similar institution tution. While matters like selection of United States Constitution in California. Vanguard’s president, Dr. ministers and internal doctrinal issues Mike Beals, stated: “This means that are probably not under near-term mission-based aspects of religious colthreat, the Constitution is no longer leges and universities, which include prayer in classes, chapel interpreted by courts to give people of faith, as well as the services, spiritual formation activities and faith-infused curschools and service ministries we form, the protection we need riculum, as well as requiring a statement of faith for admission in order to fully live out the implications of our most cherished and requiring ministry-based service experiences would be beliefs. Meanwhile state courts, legislatures, and city councils at risk if Senate Bill 1146 is passed as is.” The bill is an intenaround the country have moved to further narrow the protectional and all-out assault on our religious distinctives. tions granted for religious liberty, as their citizens must choose As I write, the bill is under consideration by a House combetween adherence to religious faith and full participation in mittee. The fact that it passed the state Senate and is under the public square. consideration by the state House should ring a ten-alarm bell. The threats to religious freedom that are now upon us can be If the attempt to gut religious liberty for colleges and univerlikened to the frog put into a pan of water placed on the stove. sities is successful in California, you can be sure other domiThe water warms gradually and the frog does not realize its noes will fall in California and across the country. peril until it is too late to jump out of the pan. The secularists in our society seek to redefine the First AmendMany evangelical and Pentecostal believers and leaders have ment protection of the “free exercise” of religion as a mere not been previously alarmed at how the “pan” has been graduright of worship. In other words, their view is: “If you are going ally heated in the assault against religious liberty. For example, to be bigoted in your pro-life views or your view that marriage in our own Fellowship I and district offices contacted nearly two is between a man and a woman and that fornication (both hetthousand credentialed ministers to support a religious freedom erosexual and homosexual) is morally wrong—then you must bill just a month ago that was before a committee in the Missouri confine your views within the four walls of your sanctuary. But House of Representatives. Less than 15 percent of them even don’t bring your bigotry into the public square.” A society that bothered to respond. The bill failed in committee and significant adopts such a view may be setting the stage for a future day religious liberty protections were lost. We are like the situation when even a defense of biblical teaching on human sexuality described by Jesus in the parable of the weeds and the wheat: from the pulpit will bring with it the risk of punishment by the “But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed government such as in the loss of our long-held tax-exempt weeds among the wheat” (Matthew 13:25). We have largely been status without which many ministries would not survive. sleeping. Have we awakened too late? At a recent meeting I attended in Washington, D.C. that I trust not.

Summer 2016

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof …

1

AG.ORG

dealt with the protection of religious liberty, the keynote speaker stated: “We are in mortal combat in this country over religious liberty.” Don’t believe me? Consider what Harvard Law School professor Mark Tushnet has written: No conservatives demonstrated any interest in trading off recognition of LGBT rights for “religious liberty” protections. Only now that they’ve lost the battle over LGBT rights, have they made those protections central– seeing them, I suppose, as a new front in the culture wars…. [T]aking a hard line (“You lost, live with it”) is better than trying to accommodate the losers…. Trying to be nice to the losers didn’t work well after the Civil War, nor after Brown [v. Board of Education]. (And taking a hard line seemed to work reasonably well in Germany and Japan after 1945.)… [T]he war’s over, and we won…. [T]aking a hard line means opposing on both policy and constitutional grounds freestanding so-called “religious liberty” laws…. It also means being pretty leery about … agreement by Christian conservatives to support extending general nondiscrimination laws to cover the LGBT community in exchange for including “religious liberty” exemptions. On this analogy, people of faith are as bad as the Confederates and Jim Crow segregationists, as bad as World War II-era German Nazis and Japanese militarists. And notice that Tushnet is not just opposing religious freedom protections in nondiscrimination laws, he’s also opposing “free-standing so-called ‘religious liberty’ laws.” This kind of derision, by a prominent professor at an elite law school, is troubling. How did we reach the place where we are? Let me suggest the following four steps are taking place which have brought us to this point.

the subject of broad societal consensus, are in fact unjustifiable shields for “bigoted” religious people and institutions that must not be tolerated.

MARGINALIZATION

Once the caricature is drawn, then it becomes easy to move to the next step: marginalization. Think of this, for example, why is it that there is no evangelical on the Supreme Court? Evangelicals are one of the largest minorities in the United States. But, our pro-life position and views on marriage are regarded as not acceptable and militate against an appointment to the Supreme Court—and beyond that, to appellate courts and district courts. Our views are simply unacceptable to the political powers that be and we are sidelined from the public square— marginalized. Ask yourself when you vote in the 2016 election: Would this candidate for president or the Senate be more likely to appoint or vote to confirm a person with a pro-life and pro-marriage position as between a man and a woman? Would the presidential candidate be more likely to appoint people who will uphold the protection of the free exercise of religion, or erode it further? Since the Supreme Court has now become a super-legislature in our country, my vote for president and Congressional candidates will depend entirely on the answers to the above questions in view of the fact that the next president will shape the Supreme Court, lower courts, and the culture of America for the next several decades. It would be a step forward for truer diversity with evangelicals on the Supreme Court as well as other federal and state courts and in the executive branch of government. But even more important is the appointment of men and women of whatever faith, who understand and respect the value of religious freedom. Otherwise, we will continually be forced out of the public square and marginalized into smaller and smaller spaces that Christians can live in.

We are on the precipice of losing critical religious liberty protections in our country.

CARICATURE

Let me illustrate what I mean by caricature. Picture a first-grade class. The teacher is a wonderful young woman in her late twenties with two small children at home. She leaves the room momentarily and the class clown goes to the blackboard or white board and draws a frowning stick figure and labels it “teacher.” The stick figure drawn bears no relation to reality except in the mind of the first grader who drew it. So, what is the caricature being given to Bible-believing Christians by the secular left? “Hateful, mean, bigoted, narrow minded” and a host of other terms. This caricature doesn’t bear any resemblance to the overwhelming majority of Christians who bring great value to society through how they live, work, and contribute to the public good. Someone has said, “If I can define you, I can confine you.” Once the caricature above attaches to believing Christians, we become identified through that false lens. Thus, for example, when we attempt to support religious freedom bills in legislatures, we are immediately defined as “haters.” Big businesses and the media target legislative members and engender public support for the idea that core religious rights that were long

Summer 2016

DISCRIMINATION

Once you can make a caricature of a group and marginalize them, you can discriminate against them. The biggest examples of that, from a legal point of view, are the recent cases before the Supreme Court of Hobby Lobby and the Little Sisters of the Poor. In both cases, the present administration forcefully sought to discriminate against persons who, because of religious belief, did not want to facilitate abortions. Those decisions hung by a slim thread in the Supreme Court. Hobby Lobby won by a 5-4 vote, and the Little Sisters of the Poor case was sent back down to the lower courts, in all likelihood, because a majority of opinion could not be reached on a divided 4-4 Court. The appointment of one more pro-abortion judge to the Supreme Court will result in a far different result. Are you concerned about that? Do you want Hobby Lobby owners (who are Assemblies of God members) to be forced to

2

AG.ORG

go out of business because of their commitment to Jesus or the Little Sisters of the Poor to disband and stop serving the poor because of their convictions on life? Another example that is impacting Assemblies of God colleges and universities as well as all schools who are members of the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) is a recent change in the Department of Education (DOE). President Obama’s DOE leadership was bothered that schools like our own are exempt from Title IX provisions that permit religious educational institutions to decline admittance to or retention of students on the basis of same-sex behavior or gender identity. The DOE headlined their policy change with the caption: “Hidden Discrimination.” Every school that applies for the exception (even though a valid legal argument exists that an exemption to Title IX is provided to religious schools without their having to apply for the exemption) is then publicly listed. The intent is to shame these schools for being “discriminatory.” In other words, Christian institutions are discriminated against because they hold to biblical teaching on sexual morality. The discrimination plays out in different ways. For example, a Christian college president in the northeast co-signed a letter organized by a centrist group of religious leaders asking that a then-pending executive order by President Obama on LGBT rights leave schools like his in the same legal position as before. It was polite and gracious. The community in which the college was located became enraged that the college had that position. The local school board made a decision that it would no longer accept student teachers from that college, and various public facilities were denied for usage by the college. Next on the horizon is the possibility that accrediting associations will determine that a school which has behavioral standards for students regarding same-sex behavior or gender identity is a school not worthy of accreditation, and/or that companies, school boards, and graduate schools will not admit or employ graduates of schools who “discriminate” on the basis of sexual orientation and identity. Schools will either be forced to accept standards imposed on them or go out of business.

even requirements that employees, faculty, or students profess a Christian commitment. The local church itself will be the last domino to fall in terms of persecution. Tax-exempt status may be lost. Ministers could lose the ministerial housing allowance. Donors may not be able to deduct charitable contributions. Churches which utilize their facilities for public events and compassion ministry, in addition to their times of worship, will be declared public places of accommodation and forced to provide marriage services to same-sex couples. If you say, “Oh, that can never happen in America,” then let me remind you that we never thought a day would come when the White House would be lit up with the rainbow flag to celebrate a decision by the Supreme Court to legalize same-sex marriage. I have never written anything like I am writing to you now. I realize that what I am writing paints a very dark picture. You are now asking yourself, but what can we do? Here are some suggestions.

The secularists in our society seek to redefine the First Amendment protection of the “free exercise of religion,” to a mere right of worship.

Pray There may be some who are cynical about a call to pray. But, we know the Lord hears the prayers of His people. Let’s take to heart 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, who are called by name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” We must pray for a third Great Awakening to come to America. Prayers of gratitude for the religious liberty we have enjoyed, and prayers of petition for its future protection should be an ongoing and regular part of our personal and corporate prayer life. Engage Use whatever means possible to exert your influence on our culture and political system. Be informed as a voter. Run as a candidate for office if you sense the Spirit asking that of you. Let your elected representatives hear from you on issues such as religious liberty protection. It’s also vital that we understand that we advocate religious liberty for others, not just ourselves. It is against our religion to impose our religion. When we find persons, organizations, or religious bodies who stand with us on the First Amendment protection of the free exercise of religion, then we welcome their advocacy alongside our own. Of course, being engaged requires being informed; helping those who worship in our churches every week to understand the nature of the challenges we face, honestly but without overstating, is a critical first step. Had Christians across Missouri truly understood what was at stake in the religious liberty bill that failed in that state legislature earlier this year, the outcome may have been different. We must educate in order to inspire action.

PERSECUTION

Step one: make a caricature of persons committed to scriptural teaching on morality. Step two: marginalize them. Step three: discriminate against them. Finally, the last stage: persecute them. This is what is pending in the California legislature as I write—the outright persecution of Christian institutions by a state that says, “We will attempt to humiliate and marginalize you if you don’t give in.” What’s next? Unless present trends are reversed, I can envision a day not too far off in which faith-based parachurch educational and compassion institutions are forced to close if they retain biblical standards of sexual conduct for employment, or

Summer 2016

3

AG.ORG

Watch Your Spirit There’s a fascinating verse in Jude 9 that says, “But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’ ” In other words, Michael did not behave like the devil in fighting the devil. We must take to heart the admonition of the apostle Paul, “The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, . . . Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 2:24–25). Let’s be gracious as we take our stand on issues that concern us.

any reason to identify us a “haters” or “bigots.” The world will not be won by Christians who are shaking their fists at sinners. Something is a truism when it is true. This truism is true: “We must hate the sin and love the sinner.” “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand” (Ephesians 6:12–13).

Rejoice Nothing happening has caught the Lord by surprise. He told us we would be persecuted because of our loyalty to Him. But, we are not to be angry about that or downcast. Instead, Jesus said: “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10–12). Thank you for letting me share my heart with you on this vital matter of religious liberty. In every dark time, believers have learned to say anew, “The Lord reigns!”

Do Good The world may not agree with our beliefs, but they cannot deny when we do good. As individual believers and as a church together we must continue to serve others. We must be known as people of compassion and mercy. We are for the just treatment of others and we help the poor, the needy, the addicted, the wounded, the lonely, and the downtrodden. Keep Doing the Main Things Our first and foremost call is to preach and live the gospel. Let’s keep the main things the plain things, and the plain things the main things. We must fulfill both the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18–20) and the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37–39). That’s our priority! Let’s never substitute evangelism and discipleship with political action. Let’s keep eternal matters and temporal matters in perspective. Our Battle Is Spiritual God loved the world and so must we. We cannot give others

George O. Wood is general superintendent of the Assemblies of God (USA) and chair of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship.

SAVE THE DATE!

57th General Council

Anaheim Convention Center

OF THE ASSEMBLIES OF GOD

August 7-11, 2017 Anaheim, California

Influence Conference August 7-8 n General Council August 8-11 n Fine Arts Festival August 7-11 n

Summer 2016

4

AG.ORG

A PILGRIM’S JOURNEY

in the land depended upon their obedience to God (Deuteronomy 8:7–20). Their ability to hold onto the land required their trust in God to sustain them at the crossroads. Besides its strategic geographical significance, the land provided a classroom for God to reveal Himself to the children of Israel. The two great river civilizations in Egypt and Mesopotamia possessed developed cultures and religions. There was By Marc Turnage no place in those cultures for God to reveal Himself and teach Abraham and his descendants His ways. The land of Canaan “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to didn’t have such developed cultures and religions, and by taking the land that I will show you.” Genesis 12:1 Abraham and his children into this land—the crossroads—God had a better environment to teach them about trusting Him and ave you ever wondered why God led Abraham and to help them understand His uniqueness among all of the deihis descendants to the land of Israel and settled them ties of the ancient Near East. Israel struggled at the crossroads; it there? Why there? Why not somewhere else, like, say, wasn’t easy. The outside influences Hawaii or Switzerland? While this affected Israel’s trust in and obedimight seem a deeply theological ence to God; yet He didn’t let them question to some, it really isn’t. isolate themselves. He wanted to It’s simply a question of geograreveal Himself to the world through phy. Look at a map of the ancient the descendants of Abraham and Near East and notice the two great His relationship with them. river civilizations. In the north When the Adversary came between the Tigris and Euphrates, before God at the beginning of you see the area known as MesoJob, God thrust Job into the arena potamia (“the land between the to be seen by all. God put Job on rivers”), where the great civilizadisplay. In the land of Israel, Abrations of Sumer, Assyria, Babylon, ham and his descendants were on and Persia resided. To the south, display, just as you and I are on along the Nile River, lay the great display to our world today. God civilization of Egypt, the land of doesn’t want us to isolate ourselves Pharaohs. In the west of your map from the world. Yes, sometimes is the Mediterranean Sea, and Jerusalem at the Center of the World—published in 1581 by it’s tough to live at the crossroads, south of Mesopotamia is the great Arabian Desert. Now, find the land the German Heinrich Bünting. The map shows Jerusa- but God still desires to reveal Himlem as the crossroads of the continents of Asia, Africa, self to people and to teach them of Israel on your map, and ask the and Europe underscoring its role as the “Land Between.” about Himself. Living at the crossquestion again: Why this land? Quite simply, the land of Israel roads requires that we trust God provides the best navigable land bridge between the continents to sustain us. It also requires that we obey Him in order to demof Asia and Africa. It sits at the juncture of the two great river onstrate to the world who He is: “Let your light so shine before civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt, the land between the men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your crossroads of the ancient world. Whoever controlled the land of Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Israel controlled international travel, communication, and comExcerpted from A Pilgrim’s Journey by Marc Turnage. Copyright © merce. Israel has never lived in isolation. It was a highly coveted 2016 by Marc Turnage. Used by permission of The General Council piece of real estate in the ancient world. By virtue of its location, of the Assemblies of God. Israel’s flora, fauna, and wildlife blend together the species and habitats of Africa and Asia. In a similar manner, the cultures of the major civilizations of the ancient world blended in the land of Marc Turnage holds an MA in Jewish History and New Testament Backgrounds from Jerusalem University College. He is currently finishIsrael. Throughout the Old Testament, this provided a challenge ing his Ph.D. at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel, under the for the people of Israel. supervision of professor Esther Eshel. He has served on the faculties of So why this land? If you owned a business and wanted to let Missouri State University, Evangel University, Drury University, and the others know about it, where would you locate your advertiseAssemblies of God Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Amy, have ment? You would place it at the crossroads where the most guided groups of visitors through Israel for over twenty years. In 2009, people would see it. God placed Israel at the crossroads of the he was appointed the director of the Center for Holy Lands Studies ancient world where they could be His greatest advertisement. (CHLS), a historic endeavor by The General Council of the Assemblies The children of Israel didn’t live in an isolated backwater, but at of God to educate constituents in the physical, historical, and cultural the place where cultures convened and collided. This provided settings of the Bible. Marc and his family reside in Springfield, Missouri. Israel with incredible challenges because their ability to remain

Living at the Crossroads

H

Summer 2016

5

AG.ORG

AS ONE WITH

AUTHORITY ISRAEL TOUR JANUARY 17 – 26, 2017

EXPLORING BIBLICAL LEADERSHIP MARC TURNAGE

CHRIS RAILEY

DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR HOLY LANDS STUDIES

SENIOR DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR LEADERSHIP AND CHURCH DEVELOPMENT, ASSEMBLIES OF GOD

THIS TOUR IS FOR PASTORS, LEADERS, CHURCH PLANTERS, AND MINISTRY LEADERSHIP STUDENTS.

Visit HolyLandsStudies.org/AsOnewithAuthorityTour to register or learn more.

C ENTER FOR HOLY LANDS STUDIES ™

6

National Church Planting Day By John Davidson

O

n September 18, 2016, the Assemblies of God will celebrate National Church Planting Sunday, a day to highlight the importance of starting new churches and to support church planters in their efforts. The date of our celebration coincides with what has become one of the most popular days on the calendar to launch a new church. Church planters have found that the second or third Sunday of September is a particularly effective day to launch since school is back in session and families are beginning to settle into their fall routines. This year, the Church Multiplication Network (CMN) expects dozens of churches to launch on September 18, in cities all across the United States, bringing new hope to individuals, families, and communities. Starting new churches has been a priority for the Assemblies of God (USA) since its inception, and it continues to be so today. In just the last eight years, 2,592 AG churches have been planted. Right now, 17 percent of all AG churches in the United States are eight years old or less. As of June 19, 2016, 216 churches have already chartered this year. This ongoing momentum in church planting has contributed to twenty-six years of continuous numerical growth in Assemblies of God (USA) adherents, allowing the growth of the AG to outpace general population growth during that period. In spite of this increase in new churches and the consistent growth of the Assemblies of God in the United States, America still needs more churches. Recent research reveals at least twenty thousand communities in the United States have no Assemblies of God church. While many of those towns and cities have multiple churches, most do not have a healthy, vibrant Pentecostal church. We believe there should be a healthy church in every community so that every person in America has access to a Spirit-filled family of believers. Thousands more churches need to be started strategically in those communities to make this a reality. To this end, CMN is coordinating with church planters, parent churches, and planting networks to identify and target those communities for new churches. We encourage you to make plans now to celebrate National Church Planting Sunday on September 18. Here are some of the ways you might use that day to raise awareness about the need for new churches and to support planters in their mission: • Invite a church planter to be a part of your service that Sunday.

Executive Leadership Team George O. Wood General Superintendent

L. Alton Garrison

Assistant General Superintendent

James T. Bradford General Secretary

Douglas E. Clay

General Treasurer

Zollie L. Smith, Jr.

Executive Director, Assemblies of God U.S. Missions

Gregory M. Mundis

Executive Director, Assemblies of God World Missions

Executive Presbytery Warren D. Bullock Northwest Area

T. Ray Rachels Southwest Area

Clarence W. St. John North Central Area

J. Don George

South Central Area

Larry H. Griswold Great Lakes Area

Rodney K. Loy Gulf Area

Duane P. Durst Northeast Area

C. Dan Betzer Southeast Area

Wilfredo De Jesus

Language Area – East Spanish

• Preach about the need for new churches in America so more people can hear the gospel.

Jesse Miranda, Jr.

• Give those in your church an opportunity to respond to the call to plant a church.

Nam Soo Kim

• Consider parenting a new church and using September 18 to share that vision with your church.

John E. Maracle

• Take an offering to support the work of church planting in the Assemblies of God through the Church Multiplication Network. You can donate easily and quickly online at giving.ag.org. Enter account number 245001 (AGTrust Church Planting). Donated funds will be used to assist in the planting of churches through the CMN Matching Fund.

Brian C. Schmidgall

John Davidson, Ph.D. is director of Discovery and Development at the Assemblies of God National Leadership and Resource Center in Springfield, Missouri.

Summer 2016

7

Language Area – West Spanish Language Area – Other Ethnic Fellowships Ordained Minister under 40

A. Elizabeth Grant Ordained Female

The General Council of the Assemblies of God 1445 N. Boonville Avenue Springfield, MO 65802-1894

AG.ORG