General Assembly - June 2022 - ReCharged By God's Grace

This past Sunday - June 26 - we had a full and wonderful morning of worship at Celebration-Harderwyk.  I had also just returned home from 3 days at the General Assembly of the denomination with which I am ordained.  Those days were sooooo encouraging and empowering that I was ready to share multiple stories, but promised instead to put a few on the blog for the sake of time during the service. So, here we go .  .  .

Some History Here For Me

The Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC from here on) was formed in 1981 at Ward Church in Livonia, MI.  By 1986, the First Presbyterian Church in Houma, LA, where I was serving as pastor, had transferred it's affiliation to the EPC becoming the first EPC congregation in the state of Louisiana.  In June of 1988, I moved to Michigan to pastor Mt Pleasant Community Church, an EPC congregation where I served for 12 years.  This included many trips and meetings at Ward.

For me then, attending the 42nd General Assembly of the EPC at Ward Church felt like a real homecoming. Friends from college, from communities where I have pastored, missionaries sent from our churches and colleagues in ministry from around the country for over 40 years.  I was also encouraged and energized by the new initiatives and leadership.  The meetings lived up to their theme: ReCharge - Acts 1:8 - But You Will Receive Power .  .  .

CLICK HERE for the original 3:32 YouTube Invitation video.  Pastor Scott McKee follwed me at Mt Pleasant in 1999, and later moved to Ward Church.  Under his leadership that church has had a marvelous season of ministry and engagement with metro Detroit.    CLICK HERE for the 27:08 sermon by Scott that was part of our Wednesday evening Worship Service as he teaches about praying for our grandchildren - and more.  

Andrew Brunson

Andrew was a missionary pastor of the EPC serving in Turkey who was imprisoned by their government in October 2016.  Held in deplorable conditions for just over two years, Andrew was eventually released.  He returned to the US, was reunited with his family and church for a season of recovery.  Andrew was a keynote speaker at our Pre-Assembly Leadership Conference and with the EPC has produced a series of 8 YouTube videos called to Prepare To Stand where he reflects of his captivity, what he discovered about facing persecution and how we can prepare our hearts for difficult times as believers.  CLICK HERE for the playlist of all the videos.  Even better, CLICK HERE for the EPC page that includes downloadable copies of these videos as well as a study guide.

Moderator - My Favorite Moment of the Assembly

We elected Rosemary Lukens, a lay Elder from the Seattle area, as Assembly moderator for this meeting and the upcoming year as our first order of business.  CLICK HERE to learn more about her.  Even better, CLICK HERE for a 17-minute YouTube of her nomination, investiture and vision speech.  It was inspiring for me!

Rosemary moderated the assembly through its business across several days of meetings, but her most inspiring moment of leadership came at the Wednesday evening commissioning of missionaries - our new World Outreach workers.

This commissioning service has become a highpoint of each year's assembly.  Since Andrew Brunson's imprisonment, our missionaries have included in their vows to "by God's grace remain faithful even to martyrdom," so it always a sober moment.  Because of our focus on unreached Muslim people groups, the livestream, recordings and photos of the service are stopped for the security of the people.  At the prayer of commissioning, the new missionaries with their families and representatives from their sending churchs and the Assembly all gather for the apostolic laying on of hands and a season of commissioning prayer.  It was during this time that I opened my eyes to see Rosemary - the highest officer of our denomination - on her knees and praying, having swept up several of the children who's families were beginning service as only a grandmother could.  For me to see in one person the highest officer of our movement on her knees as a grandmother in prayer leaves me weeping even as I recount the story.

CLICK HERE for the 3-page report of our outgoing Moderator Brad Strait, pastor of Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church in Englewood, CO, as he reflects on the previous year of service.

Revelation 7:9 Task Force

The work of this group is to support all EPC churchs to more likely reflect the church of Revelation 7:9 -  there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language,b standing before the thronec and before the Lamb.  CLICK HERE for documents of their report.    CLICK HERE to learn more about the 5Point7 church in Detroit and Pastor Brian Evans.  This congregation is a great example of the Rev 7:9 Task Force and our church planting resources working together.  CLICK HERE for a 5-minute YouTube that presents 5Point7 Church to the GA as this year's winner of our Hess Award for Church Ministry.

Abortion Addressed By The Supreme Court

As the Assembly was still in session on Friday, we realized that the US Supreme Court had rendered their Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v Wade and returned the matter of abortion to the legislatures of the individual states.  CLICK HERE for summary of that moment and official response from our National Leadership Team.

Closing Session - Great Is Thy Faithfulness

CLICK HERE for a 1:33 video of the closing act of this Assembly, led by Rev Glenn Meyers, our "Singing Moderator" from the previous 40th Assembly.  It was an "on-demand encore!" 

Finally

I hope you can get a sense of the refreshment that our national meeting was for Mary Lynn and I from just these few stories, and that you can find the same refreshment.  That's not always the case with national church meetings.  The EPC is not a perfect place, nor are we perfect people.  I have stories about some of that as well, but save that for another time.  Or I could tell you even more stories from last week.  Grace Abounding!!

Identifying the Real Point of Disagreement: Reflecting On the CRC's Adoption of the Human Sexuality Report

 A local TV news report on the adoption this week of the Human Sexuality Report by the General Synod of the CRCNA meeting in Grand Rapids began by saying, "The discussion has centered on beliefs surrounding the LGBTQ+ community."  I am thankful that they cast the discussion on "beliefs" rather than personal or community conflict.  If it is heard, that is helpful distinction.

To be sure, there are persons and communities that disagree here.  But these persons and communities are gathered around a particular set of beliefs that are competing with one another.  I would hope that the people involved can remain respectful, even as we figure out the consequnces of differing beliefs and learn how best to negotiate them.

Let me dig a bit deeper into this by offering a more nuanced view of the disagreement and what it may mean.

First, There Is An "Experience"

As I have pondered this situation, it seems to me that everything begins with an "experience" that a person has.  In this case, a person has an experience of Same-Sex Attraction.  That experience is real, even powerful and attractive, but in isolation, it is hard to know what to make of it.  On this level, it is simply an "experience."  No more, no less.

For discussion, let's label this as "Experience A," but I think you can use my framework to reflect on many different "experiences."  That experience is real, but it also raises a question: What do I make of that "experience," for us: "Experience A"?

Second, There Is An "Understanding" Of That "Experience"

Once a person has an experience of some type, there may be a variety of ways to "understand" that experience.  For a variety of reasons, the same experience can be understood in different ways by different people for different reasons.  What is different is not the experience itself.  The difference is the "understanding" given to that "experience."

Any particular "understanding" is developed over time from a variety of sources - previous experiences and outcomes, convictions, social connections and beliefs to name a few.

In our case, "Understanding A," for all of its reasons, considers "Experience A" to be a gift of God, and so a blessing to be affirmed and lived out if a person is to be fully themselves.  By contrast, "Understanding B" considers "Experience A" to fall short of God's intention, being a result of the brokenness in the creation.  As powerful and attractive as the experience itself may be, it also comes with some harm and risk, so is best avoided.

"Experience A," in and of itself, is the same.  But whether you view that "Experience A" through "Understanding A" or "Understanding B" has an enormous impact on the outcomes and behaviors that follow.

Then, There Will Be "Behaviors" That Follow

We move now from a single "experience," interpreted by two different, even conflcting, "understandings."  Those different understandings will lead down different paths of behavior.  "Behavior A" - in this case an example might be performing a Same-Sex wedding - follows naturally from "Understanding A" of the one "experience" even as "Behavior B" - not doing that Same-Sex wedding - follows naturally from "Understanding B" when applied to the identical "experience."  "Behavior A" and "Behavior B" will be different because the underlying "understanding" of the "experience" in question is different.

Finally, Communities Gather Around Those Different Understandings and Behaviors

There is not a particular problem when people gather together around share convictions.  That is how various sports teams have dedicated followings.

But how are we to manage life when differing communities are in conflict?  One response is for the communities to seperate from one another.  Another, is to let the conflict play out until one community has won, and the other has lost.

A better way might be to recognize that the communities are brought together by different behaviors and then try to allow for or reduce those behaviors.  A "live and let live" sort of approach.  This may work well for less important differences - like your favorite college football team - but when the different communities are formed around different behaviors that result from different understandings that are deeply held and formative, that may prove impossible or even dangerous.  For example, a totalitarian Marxist and I will not be able to get along on much of anything, because our deeply held "understandings" of the experiences of the world are simply too different to be ignored over time.

So, in my proposal, "experiences" are interpreted by "understandings" that lead to "behaviors" that eventually gather "communities.  Seeing these multiple layers help us navigate conflict and seek reconciliation.

Back to the CRC and Its Newly Adopted HSR

It seems to me that within the CRC there are now differing communities that advocate different behaviors as acceptable regarding LGBTQ+ issues.  For example, one community would support the "behavior" of Same-Sex Marriage and another would not.

The difference between these two communities and the behaviors that they find acceptable grow from two very different "understandings" applied to the "experience" of SSA.  A new question emerges: can those two differing "understandings" be reconcilied, and if not, can they even co-exist??

In my view, the point of conflict is not the experience of SSA.  That is real and as I listen, I understand that it is powerful.  The point of conflict is how are we to understand that experience.  That is where the difference between the various communities and their responses begin.  We need to pay attention to that level of difference.

A Mental Exercise

Try working through my 4-step perspective by starting with a different "experience" to be considred by different "understandings" that lead to different "behaviors" that gather different "communities."  For the exercise, make "Experience B" something like "the initial spark of sexual attraction to a person other than my spouse."

As always, I am willing to follow up with any further ideas, clarifications, questions or cups of coffee.  Feel free to contact me through the Harderwyk Ministries office so we can look for a suitable way to move forward together in conversation.

Juneteenth: The Good News Will Not Rest Until Everyone Has Heard!

This Sunday turns out to be Juneteenth, a holiday traditionally connected with the African-American community that I first became acquianted with with through colleagues and congregations that were predominantly African-American.  I am thankful and inspired to celebrate the holiday with my African-American friends.

There are many ways to engage and learn from a culture different than your own.  One important way is to learn the "formative stories" that have shaped that community.  The Exodus was a formative story for Israel.  The Plymouth Pilgrims serves(ed?) that way in the United States.  The History of Juneteenth is that formative story for African-Americans.  One that can shape us all for the better.

The Story And Some Context

On January 1, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln, in one of the most important and audacious moves in American history, declared the Emancipation Proclamation.  In effect, he declared the enslaved people of a foreign country - the Confederate Southern States - to be free.  This was in the depths of the Civil War at a time that the battle was not going well for Federal troops.

The War would continue in all it's death and fury from that day.  Ponder Chancellorsville and the death of Stonewall Jackson, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Sherman's March to the Sea and so much more.  Blood and battle for more than two years until Palm Sunday, April 9, 1865 when Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse.  Later that week, on Good Friday, President Abraham Lincoln would be assinated by John Wilkes Booth.

It would be another two more months AFTER Lincoln's assassination, on June 19, 1865 - nearly two and one-half years after the declaration of the Emancipation Proclamation - that Major General Gordon Granger and his Union Troops would arrive in Galveston, Texas and deliver the message: "The Civil War is now over!"  The Union had won and would now enforce the end of chattel slavery throughout the United States.

Having been declared free on January 1, 1863, the enslaved people and the legal structures that held them, were not finally free throughout the country until another two and one-half years of costly battle.  Juneteenth is the holiday marking the arrival of that news to all the people it was meant for and the final establishment of freedom in fact, and not just word.

"The Good News Will Not Rest Until Everyone Has Heard!"

I have heard those words, or words like them, ring out in church celebrations of Juneteenth, and I am thankful to be moved by them every time.  I am reminded of the cost and perseverance that it took to not only declare an end to chattel slavery in the United States, but to make it the law of the land.  I am sobered to see in the history that followed, how diligent we must be to maintain and extend that freedom to all people over time and circumstance.  I am saddened at how often we have failed in that diligence.

Finally, I'm reminded of the Gospel of God's Grace and how the unfinished task of the Great Commission calls me to faithful service: "The Good News Will Not Rest Until Everyone Has Heard!"  

A Sermon For The Holiday

While preparing to lead Celebration-Harderwyk in worship this Sunday coinciding with Juneteenth, I came across an address worth sharing by one of my favorite American preachers: Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.  

I recognize that the unbelieving world would only notice our differences.  We are from different generations and historical contexts.  He is Black and I am white.  Over the years of reading his books and sermons though, I have come to hear in him the voice of a senior mentor and even colleague.  We are both pastors in the local church setting.  We have each baptized people into the faith, served the Lord's Supper, exposited the Scriptures, balanced budgets, run Sunday Schools, enjoyed potlucks and repented of our ongoing sin.  He was also called to a national platform that has shaped the Gospel into me and perhaps through me into the congregations I serve.

Here is a closing paragraph from an April 25, 1957 speech by Dr. King with more information and link to the entire sermon below.  You will note that I've maintained his language and the style of reference common to that time.

The Negro leader must stress the fact that the aim of the Negro should never be to defeat or humiliate the white man, but to win his friendship and understanding. We must make it clear that it is injustice which we seek to defeat and not persons who may happen to be unjust. We have before us the glorious opportunity to inject a new dimension of love into the veins of our civilization. Our motto must be, “Freedom and justice through love.” Not through violence; not through hate; no not even through boycotts; but through love. As we struggle for freedom in America it may be necessary to boycott at times. But we must remember as we boycott that a boycott is not an end within itself; it is merely a means to awaken a sense of shame within the oppressor and challenge his false sense of superiority. But the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opposers into friends. The type of love that I stress here is not eros, a sort of esthetic or romantic love; not philia, a sort of reciprocal love between personal friends; but it is agape which is understanding goodwill for all men. It is an overflowing love which seeks nothing in return. It is the love of God working in the lives of men. This is the love that may well be the salvation of our civilization. God grant that the leadership of the Negro race will remain true to these basic principles.

• Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. - "The Role of the Church in Facing the Nation’s Chief Moral Dilemma," Address Delivered on 25 April 1957 at the Conference on Christian Faith and Human Relations in Nashville, TN.  CLICK HERE for the entire manuscript

And if you have read this far, I'll say with a smile, that another way to learn of and from another culture is to share the food that they love (and make!) around their table.  For Juneteenth, it's ribs!!  Grace Abounding to Dr. Raymond Franklin, all the brothers and sisters of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Chruch in Alexandria, LA, and to the Tuesday Night Prayer Warriors.  Thanks so much for your many invitations and grace.

Added June 24, 2024

CLICK HERE for ‘Been So Long Praying’: 4 Reasons Why I Observe Juneteenth by Steve Bateman

Some will complain that Juneteenth is too close to Independence Day, distracting from celebrating our nation’s birthday. But maybe we need this reminder that on July 4, 1776, Thomas Jefferson’s claim that “all men are created equal” didn’t include his slaves at Monticello. And no one can say that Jefferson, or any of the slaveholding founders, hadn’t been warned. Other Christians had been calling out the hypocrisy for years.

Considering both Independence Days together is a truer analogy of how the good news spread from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. The initial impediment to the gospel’s advance was ethnocentric pride. The gospel isn’t just for the Jews but also for the Gentiles, and there’s no partiality with God.

Devotional Resources For Everyday Wisdom: Harderwyk's Sermon Series for Summer 2022

Here are some resources that will add to your daily spiritual formation with the Everyday Wisdom Sermon Series:

God's Wisdom For Navigating Live by Tim & Kathy Keller - CLICK HERE for Amazon link to the book

This one-year collection of daily devotions has provided the study outline for the Summer 2022 Harderwyk Sermon Series Everyday Wisdom.  The Kellers gather themes mainly from Proverbs, but also Ecclesiastes, Job and elsewhere and provide a daily reflection, question and prayer.

The Gospel One Proverb At a Time - Paul Tripp's Bible Study - CLICK HERE for free website with videos.

Here is another trusted author for Harderwyk preachers.  Paul David Tripp is author of: 

• Lead - CLICK HERE for Amazon link
• Do You Believe? - CLICK HERE for Amazon link
• New Morning Mercies - CLICK HERE for Amazon link

This video series of 41 different 5 minute teachings through the Book of Proverbs would be a great addition to your daily learning through the couse of the sermon series.

Bible Project

We are all huge fans of the Bible Project and their memorable videos - especially for context and perspective.  For this Everyday Wisdom Series consider working these into your prayer and devotional routine:

• Proverbs Bible Book Over Video - CLICK HERE for an 8 minute video overview of Proverbs.
• Wisdom Book Collection Video Series - CLICK HERE for videos on Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Job - about 5-7 minutes each - that will help you see how together these books give you a fuller vision of Wisdom.
• Wisdom Podcast Series - CLICK HERE for an 8-episode podcast, or add Bible Project to your own podcast subscriptions.

Simply Read the Book of Proverbs - With 31 chapters you can easily assemble a daily reading plan, simply read the chapter number of Proverbs to the day of each month.  Read the first chapter on the first day of the month, chapter 2 on the second day and so on.  To dig deeper, try using the SOAPS outline for Bible medidation found on the Harderwyk Spiritual Formation Resources Page.  CLICK HERE for that.