June 2001 Contents

This is our June cover

In this issue

Ambassador Center

Four Ambassador Center students received their bachelor of arts degrees at Azusa Pacific University’s commencement exercises May 5.

The graduates and their fields of study are Eric Alvarez, Spanish; Steve Ramos, Christian ministries; Alexandra T. Snyder, international business; and Rhonda West, English. Page 3.

Conference

Nearly 400 people from the North Central, Central and Mid-South districts attended a regional conference in St. Louis, May 4 to 6, according to Dave Fiedler, superintendent of the North Central district.

The conference was a time of worship, fellowship and networking with members from a wide section of Mid-America. Page 4.

All who believe in Jesus Christ will be saved (Acts 16:31), writes Pastor General Joseph Tkach in this month’s Personal.

But what does it mean to believe in Jesus Christ? Page 6.

Believing the gospel

Many of us Christians are afraid of the gospel, writes J. Michael Feazell in Believing the Gospel. We are afraid of the gospel because it is too good. Page 8.

Men's ministry

The Atlanta, Georgia, men’s ministry was host for its third annual men’s revival, MENistry 2001—One in Christ, April 27 to 29.

Men from North Carolina and Georgia met in the mountains of north Georgia for a weekend of fun, fellowship and revival.

Guest speaker was Curtis May, director of the Office of Reconciliation Ministries (ORM). Page 11.

Statement of Beliefs

The Worldwide Church of God has released an updated Statement of Beliefs.

"The Spirit of God leads the church into all truth (John 16:13). Accordingly this Statement of Beliefs is not a closed creed. The Worldwide Church of God constantly renews its commitment to truth and deeper understanding and responds to God’s guidance in its beliefs and practices." Page 12.

Youth ministry

Teen Discovery Weekends took place in Arkansas and Georgia, March 30 to April 1. The Dallas, Texas, Central church had its monthly youth service and teens in Buffalo, New York, took part in World Vision’s 30-hour famine. Pages 18 & 19.

Christian Beliefs

Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" writes Michael Morrison in his Basic Christian Beliefs column about Jesus Christ.

The Christian faith centers on Jesus Christ. We need to understand what kind of person he is. Page 20.

Financial Report

The process of selling the headquarters property plods along, writes controller Ron Kelly. The close of escrow looks like September or October.

Church finances are near projections, down 11.5 percent compared to last year. Page 27.

Azusa Pacific
University
commencement

AZUSA, California—Four Ambassador Center students received their bachelor of arts degrees at Azusa Pacific University’s commencement exercises May 5.

The graduates and their fields of study are Eric Alvarez, Spanish; Steve Ramos, Christian ministries; Alexandra T. Snyder, international business (cum laude); and Rhonda West, English (cum laude).

Mr. Ramos serves as a pastoral intern in the Pasadena Spanish congregation.

The commencement address was given by Bill Hybels, senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church north of Chicago, Illinois. He spoke on spiritual excellence and giving our best to God. Mr. Hybels’ son, Todd, was a member of the graduating class.

For more information about the Ambassador Center, call 1-626-815-3874, send e-mail to acenter@ apu.edu or write to the Ambassador Center, Azusa Pacific University, 901 E. Alosta Ave., P.O. Box 7000, Azusa, California, 91702-7000.

The Azusa Pacific University website is www.apu.edu, and the Ambassador Center website is www. wcg.org/acenter

CLASS OF 2001—The class of 2001
enters Cougar Stadium at the start of
commencement exercises.
[Photos by Thomas C. Hanson]

AMBASSADOR CENTER GRADS—
From left: Eric Alvarez, Steve Ramos
and Rhonda West.

DECEMBER GRAD—
Alexandra T. Snyder of the
Denver, Colorado, South congregation,
completed her bachelor of science degree
in international business in December.
She returned to participate in commencement
exercises, May 5. [Photo by Tim Snyder]

Stuart Meier retires
after 35 years of service
to church

Stuart Meier retired in May after 35 years of service to the church in the Personal Correspondence and Legal departments. Mr. Meier is a 1966 Ambassador College graduate. His wife, Ivy, attended Ambassador from 1958 to 1962 and worked in the Transportation Department.

   
RETIREMENT PARTY—From left: Stuart Meier and Ralph Helge, the church’s legal counsel; Stuart and Ivy Meier; Mike Feazell, director of denominational publications, and Stuart Meier. [Photos by Thomas C. Hanson]

Tri-district
conference in St. Louis

By Dave Fiedler

ST. LOUIS, Missouri—Nearly 400 people from the North Central, Central and Mid-South districts attended a regional conference in St. Louis, Friday, May 4, to Sunday, May 6. The event took place at the Doubletree Hotel and Conference Center in the St. Louis suburb of Chesterfield.

The main presentations included those by Pastor General Joseph Tkach titled, "Do You See What I See?"; two by Dan Rogers, superintendent of ministers, on stewardship and disciple-making; and one on the new financial model by controller Ronald Kelly.

Carn Catherwood, South Central district superintendent, discussed reconciliation along with Willard High, Chicago South pastor.

A number of breakout sessions were available, including the subjects of women in ministry, principles of conflict resolution, youth ministry, and small church worship techniques. Also included were open forums for pastors and members from the three districts represented: North Central, superintendent Dave Fiedler; Central, Randy Bloom; and Mid-South, Bob Taylor.

The conference was a time of worship, fellowship and networking with members from a wide section of Mid-America. An evening of praise and worship took place Saturday night, and the conference closed with a worship service and communion on Sunday. Mr. Rogers’ message, "Do This in Remembrance of Me," showed the significance of Christian celebrations.

"This was not just another conference," said Brad Rosenquist, assistant pastor of the Nashville, Tennessee, church. "That became more than just apparent by the middle of the first presentation by Ron Kelly. As he carefully laid out the shifts in responsibilities for finance to the local congregation, the future ministry of our local membership to the community around us unfolded before me.

"The implications for fulfilling the great commission took on monumental proportions. Suddenly our people were major decision makers and shakers in the kingdom of God. How we planned, strategized and prayed would now directly affect the impact of the gospel in our neighborhoods to the unchurched.

"As the two days progressed it became so obvious that God’s Spirit was opening vistas of responsibilities as never before. It was a wonderful series of spiritual eye-opening insights into evangelism and stewardship."

Mr. Rosenquist continued: "Each of us in our congregation, our small grouping of saints in Nashville, would be shown an open door of huge potential under the dutiful care of our own leadership, right here at home."

Personal from Joseph Tkach

Faith

All who believe in Jesus Christ will be saved (Acts 16:31). But what does it mean to believe in Jesus Christ? Even the devil believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. He doesn’t like it, but he knows it’s true. Moreover, the devil knows that God exists and that he rewards those who seek him (Heb. 11:6).

So what is the difference between our belief and the devil’s belief? Many of us know an answer from James: True faith is shown by action (James 2:18-19). Behavior can be evidence of faith—but some people obey for wrong reasons. Even the devil operates within constraints imposed by God. He doesn’t like to, but he does.

So what is faith, and how does it differ from belief?

The simplest explanation, I think, is that saving faith is trust. We trust God to take care of us, to do good for us rather than evil, to give us eternal life.

Trust means knowing that God exists, knowing that he is good, knowing that he has the power to do what he wants, and trusting that he will use it to do whatever is best for us. Trust means a willingness to put ourselves under him, to be willing to obey not out of fear but out of love. When we trust God, we love him.

Trust is shown by what we do. But the action is not the trust, and it does not create the trust—it is only the result of trust. True faith is, at its core, trust in Jesus Christ.

Where does this kind of trust come from? It is not something we can work up for ourselves. We cannot talk ourselves into it or use human logic to build an airtight case. We will never have the time to cover all the possible objections, all the philosophical arguments about God. But we are forced to make a choice each day: will we trust God, or not? Trying to delay the decision is a decision in itself: we do not yet trust him.

Each Christian has at some point or another made a decision to trust in Christ. For some, it was a well-thought-out decision. For others, it was an illogical decision, made for wrong reasons—but the right decision anyway. We could trust no one else, not even ourselves. On our own, we would mess our lives up. Nor could we trust other human authorities. For some of us, faith was a choice of desperation—we had nowhere else to go but to Christ (John 6:68).

It is normal that our first faith is an immature faith—a good start, but not a good place to stay. We need to grow in our faith. As one man said to Jesus, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24). The disciples themselves, even after worshiping the resurrected Jesus, had some doubts (Matt. 28:17).

So where does faith come from? It is a gift of God. Ephesians 2:8 tells us that salvation is a gift of God, which means that the faith that leads to salvation must also be his gift. In Acts 15:9 we are told that God purified the believers’ hearts by faith. God was at work in their hearts. He is the one who "opened the door of faith" (Acts 14:27). God did it, because he is the one who enables whatever faith we have.

We would not trust God unless God himself gave us the ability to trust him. Humans have been too corrupted by sin to believe or trust in God on our own strength or wisdom. That is why faith is not a "work" that qualifies us for salvation. We get no credit for meeting the qualification—faith is merely receiving the gift, being thankful for the gift. God gives us the ability to receive his gift, to enjoy his gift.

God has good reason to give us faith, for there is someone completely trustworthy for us to believe in and be saved by. The faith he gives us is rooted in his Son, who became flesh for our salvation.

We have good reason to have faith, for we have a Savior who has purchased our salvation for us. He has done all that it takes, once for all, signed, sealed and being delivered. Our faith has a firm foundation: Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith (Heb. 12:2), but he does not work alone. Jesus does only what the Father wants, and he works by the Holy Spirit in our hearts. The Holy Spirit teaches us, convicts us, and gives us faith (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:10).

How does God (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) give us faith? It is usually through the preached word. "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ" (Rom. 10:17). The message is in the written word, the Bible, and it is in the spoken word, whether a sermon at church or a simple testimony of one person to another.

The word of the gospel tells us about Jesus, the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit uses this word to enlighten us, and somehow allows us to trust ourselves to this word. This is sometimes called "the witness of the Holy Spirit," but it is not like a courtroom witness we can ask questions of.

It is more like an internal switch inside us that is flipped, allowing us to accept the good news that is preached. It feels right; though we may still have questions, we believe that we can live in this message. We can base our lives on it, we can make decisions based on it. It makes sense. It is the best possible choice.

God gives us the ability to trust him. He also gives us the ability to grow in faith. The down payment of faith is a seed that grows. It prepares and enables our minds and our emotions to understand more and more of the gospel. It helps us understand more about God as he reveals himself to us in Jesus Christ. To use an Old Testament metaphor, we begin to walk with God. We live in him, think in him, believe in him.

But most Christians struggle with faith at some time or another. Our growth is not always smooth and steady—it comes through trials and questions. For some, doubts come because of a tragedy or severe suffering. For others, it is prosperity or good times that subtly tempt us to rely on material things instead of God. Many of us will face both sorts of challenges to our faith.

Poor people often have stronger faith than rich people do. People beset by constant trials often know they have no hope except God, no choice but to trust him. Statistics show that poor people give a higher percentage of their income to the church than rich people do. It seems that their faith (even though not perfect) is more consistent.

The greatest enemy of faith, it seems, is when all goes well. People are tempted to think that it was by their strength or their intelligence that they achieved as much as they have. They lose their sense of child-like dependence on God.

Poor people are in a better position to learn that life on this planet is full of questions, and God is the least questionable thing they have. They trust in him because all else has proven itself to be untrustworthy. Money, health and friends are all fickle. We cannot depend on them.

Only God is dependable, but even so, we don’t always have the evidence we would like. So we have to trust him. As Job said, even though he kills me, I will trust him (Job 13:15). Only he offers the hope of eternal life. Only he offers a hope that life makes any sense or has any purpose.

But still, we sometimes wrestle with doubts. That is simply part of the process of growing in faith, of learning to trust God with yet more of life. We face the choices set before us and once again choose God as the best choice.

As Blaise Pascal said centuries ago, if we believe for no other reason, then at least we ought to believe because God is the best bet. If we follow him and he does not exist, then we have lost nothing. But if we do not follow him and he does exist, we have lost everything. So we have nothing to lose and everything to gain by believing in God, by living and thinking that he is the surest reality in the universe.

This does not mean that we will understand everything. No, we will never understand everything. Faith means trusting in God even though we do not always understand. We can worship him even when we have doubts (Matt. 28:17).

Salvation is not an intelligence contest. The faith that saves does not come from philosophical arguments that answer every doubt. Faith comes from God. If we rely on having answers to every question, we are not relying on God.

And if I might digress a bit here, I think that many of us in the Worldwide Church of God relied too much on arguments and physical evidences. In particular, many of us relied on our obedience. If judgment day came and someone asked us why we should be allowed into the kingdom, we might say, Because I kept the Sabbath, because I was faithful to this law, that law—the laws that other people ignored. But that would be a bad reason.

The only reason we can be in God’s kingdom is by grace, through faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ. If we rely on our obedience, then we are relying on the wrong thing, an unreliable thing.

And when our crutches were kicked out from under us, and it was pointed out that our law-keeping didn’t really matter, our faith was severely challenged. We had to re-form our faith (allowing God to re-form our faith) into Christ, and him alone. Laws, even good laws, cannot be the basis of our salvation. Obedience, even to new covenant commands, cannot be our source of assurance. Only Christ is trustworthy.

As we grow in spiritual maturity, we often become more aware of our own sins, and our own sinfulness. We realize how far we are from Christ, and this can lead us to doubts, too, that God would really send his Son to die for people as perverse as we are.

The doubt, no matter how real, should lead us back to greater faith in Christ, for only in him do we have any chance at all. There is no other place to go. In his words and his actions, we see that he knew quite well how perverse we were before he came to die for us.

The better we see ourselves, the more we see the need to cast ourselves into the mercy of God. Only he is good enough to save us from ourselves, and only he will save us from our doubts.

It is by faith that we have a fruitful relationship with God. It is by faith that we pray, by faith that we worship, by faith that we hear his words in sermons and fellowship. Faith enables us to participate in fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is by faith that we are enabled to give our allegiance to God, through our Savior Jesus Christ, by means of the Holy Spirit working in our hearts.

It is by faith that we can love other people. Faith frees us from the fear of ridicule and rejection. We can love others without worrying about what they will do to us, because we trust in Christ to reward us generously. Through faith in God, we can be generous with others.

Through faith in God, we can put him first in our lives. When we believe God is as good as he says he is, then we will treasure him above all else, and be willing to make the sacrifices that he asks of us. We will trust him, and it is by that trust that we will experience the joys of salvation. Christian life is, from first to last, a matter of trusting God.

Believing the Gospel

By J. Michael Feazell

Many of us Christians are afraid of the gospel. We are afraid of the gospel because it is too good. Many of us are more comfortable with religion than we are with the gospel. We prefer to read the Bible as a divine rulebook that guards the entrance to the kingdom than to read it as God’s witness to his redemption of the whole cosmos through his Son.

We prefer to think that when God breathed the life of his Word into the Bible, he was merely creating a religion—a divine formula to show humans what things to do and not to do in order to get on God’s good side and stay there.

But the gospel is not a new and improved religion. The gospel is an affront to religion. It is the end of religion, the end of all systems of works designed to make us acceptable to God.

The gospel, by contrast, tells us that God himself has already, through Jesus Christ, made us acceptable. The gospel is good news; religion is bad news; and the gospel wins. Christ is victorious. Sin is vanquished.

We are overcomers in Christ alone, not in our overcoming anything. We are sinners, always have been and will continue to be to the day we die. Whatever we may have overcome is like removing a spoonful of sand from the beach.

Unless and until we are found in Christ, we remain dead in our sins. And we are found in Christ only by trusting him to be for us who he says he is and to do for us what he says he does. Only when we trust him will we accept his gift of mercy and life, and only when we wake up to our sinfulness will we trust him.

As long as we think we are "doing OK," or that we "aren’t all that bad" or that we are "making progress" or even that we will never be "good enough," we will not trust him.

All such thinking is trusting not him, but ourselves. It is thinking that his acceptance of us is based on how well we behave. It is thinking that if we do better, then he will accept us, or conversely, that he accepts us because we have been overcoming.

God accepts us because he wants to accept us, and not because we have measured up. God dealt with our sin by the blood of Christ, not by giving us a new and improved law code.

We are justified because God justified us himself, personally, through his Son. God did for us in Christ what we could not do for ourselves, and he calls on us to trust him to be our righteousness.

That means we do not have righteousness. It is not just a matter that we "have got some problems." It is not just a matter that we have "a few things to overcome." It is not even a matter of "putting sin out of our lives."

It is a matter of understanding that we are hopeless losers, sinners through and through, and that even our "good" deeds are thoroughly laced with selfish impurity. Until we see that, until we see ourselves for what we really are, we will not trust him who alone saves sinners.

Many Christians are afraid of the gospel because it puts everybody on the same level—"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). That means we, being sinners ourselves, have no ground to feel spiritually superior to people who do things that disgust and offend us.

Others are afraid of the gospel because the gospel requires them to believe that God will save them in spite of their sins. We have a hard time trusting God to do exactly what he promised to do—forgive us our sins.

We want to prove to him we can "do it." We want to show him we’ll be faithful, that we will be obedient, that we will be "good Christians." But the truth is, we won’t be. We will sin, and we will sin again, and again. And until we believe the gospel, instead of some fairy tale about having to please God before he will accept us, we will not enter God’s rest. God saves us; our changed behavior does not.

We can live in misery, struggling to be found worthy by perfect obedience and constantly failing and fearing that God is waiting to squash us like flies, or we can trust his Word. (Or even worse, we can live in appalling arrogance, actually believing that we are worthily obeying God and trusting him to accept us for our "holy deeds.")

God is our salvation; our improved behavior is not. To repent is to turn to God and away from ourselves. It is to concede that we are sinners and that we need God’s mercy. It is to trust God to be faithful to his word of grace spoken in his Son before the world began. It is to remove our little homemade crown and hand it over to our Maker, the author of eternal salvation.

God is our righteousness; our illusion of good behavior is not. When we come to see our righteousness as filthy rags, as indeed it is, then we can begin to see our need for God’s grace and mercy. When we believe his word of salvation in his Son, then we can begin to trust him to forgive all our sins and save us.

Why is it so hard to trust God to forgive us and to make us his perfectly righteous children in Christ? Perhaps one reason is because we can’t stand to think of ourselves as, or to think that others might think of us as, bald-faced sinners.

We prefer the façade of pretending to be good, decent folks. But we are not good, decent folks. Nobody is good, decent folks. At best, we are less destructive and wicked than we could be if we let ourselves go entirely.

Have you ever noticed that if you behave decently for a day or two, you begin to feel like you are a pretty good person after all?

And conversely, if your natural self gets loose for few minutes and you behave like the ratbag you are, then you feel depressed, disappointed and frustrated that you are not as grand as you had been imagining?

But what is there to be disappointed about? Why, given what you are, were you expecting not to behave accordingly from time to time? Our disappointment ought to be in our failure to honor the God of our salvation, not in our failure to look impeccable to ourselves and others. If it were, then we would be free to see more clearly that in spite of our sin, we can rest in the atonement of Christ, for our sins are forgiven in him.

The reason we need a Savior is because we need saving. The gospel declares that God has indeed saved us through Christ. In fact, Christ died for us ungodly people while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8).

Now please don’t start telling me that we "were" sinners, but now we are not to be sinners anymore. Please drop the rhetoric. We are sinners. We do still sin after conversion.

Every Christian who ever lived continues to sin after conversion. That doesn’t make sin OK. It doesn’t condone sin. It is simply a fact, and one we would all do much better to just admit and quit pretending that if we try hard enough we will become sinless.

There is one way, of course, in which we are not sinners. As believers we are in Christ, and as such we are not sinners in the sense that God does not count our sins against us (Romans 4:8).

In other words, when we do not pretend that we are not sinners, but instead put our trust in Jesus Christ who saves sinners, God does not count our sins against us (compare 1 Timothy 1:15).

What must we do about sin? We must trust God to forgive our sins. We must trust him! He is our only hope. We are sinners, and unless God forgives our sins, we come under the condemnation all sinners deserve.

We are not going to stop being sinners. I’m sure you have tried, like I have, and discovered that despite occasional bouts of improvement, sin is still alive and well in your life.

But God says that if we trust him he will take care of our sins and he will count us righteous in Christ who, for our sakes, became the perfect human.

The Bible is not a rulebook for new and improved religion. It is the Word of God, God’s chosen revelation of himself to us, declaring to us that in Jesus Christ he has dealt with the sins of the world so that whoever trusts him will be saved. That is good news. It is the gospel. It is not religion. Don’t be afraid of it.

I know. You’re still waiting for me to say something about the importance of behaving right. But I’m not going to. At least not in the way you are probably used to. We are overcomers in Christ alone; when it comes to godly overcoming, there is no other way to be an overcomer.

When you trust Christ to be your righteousness, your behavior will be set by the Holy Spirit on the road to improvement, regardless of whether you constantly set "overcoming goals" for yourself. But if you try to improve your behavior without trusting Christ to be your only righteousness, you may or may not be successful, and whether or not you are won’t make a hill of beans of difference in terms of your standing with God.

In other words, salvation is not based on what you do; it is based on what God has already done. When you trust God, you are in Christ, and when you are in Christ God does not count your sins against you. If you do not trust God, you are still in your sins, because you are not in Christ.

Here’s a gospel tip: don’t make behaving better your main goal in life. If you do, you’ll always be frustrated, disappointed in yourself and miserable, not to mention a judgmental and obnoxious prig. You’re welcome to it if you want it, of course. But will-powering yourself into a better you is a no-win life goal. Will-power goodness is the root of religion; it has no place in the gospel.

Instead, make your main goal in life knowing and trusting in the Lord your God for absolutely everything, including your behavior. When you do that, your preoccupation with yourself and how good you are will fade, and your eyes will begin to open to the righteousness of God and the joy and peace of his kingdom.

The Holy Spirit will reorder your priorities, and the pain your sins naturally cause in your life will more readily drive you to God for mercy and help to overcome.

Let me say it another way: Work on yourself and make every effort to change for the better—but not because you think it will make you less a sinner and get you in good with God. Take overcoming seriously. Do it because God wants you to, because Jesus Christ gave you a new life, because it is right, because everybody who loves you wants you to, and because it will make your life infinitely more blessed, rewarding, peaceful and pleasant. But don’t do it because you think that’s how you will get into the kingdom of God. It isn’t.

Regardless of how much you improve (and you need a lot of improvement—I know you; you’re just like me), you are still a sinner, and the only hope of salvation you’ve got is the mercy of God along with his word that in Christ he extends it to you. Trust him, not your good life, when it comes to salvation.

When it comes to salvation, trust the word of God that in Christ it is a fait accompli; when it comes to behavior, trust yourself to the supervision of the Holy Spirit and put your heart into overcoming.

Don’t think that good behavior results in salvation; but know that salvation results in good behavior. But don’t let that make you think that poor behavior equals unsaved and good behavior equals saved.

It simply does not work that way; don’t forget that we all still sin. Sin involves not merely acts but attitudes, and God knows even the deepest secrets of our hearts.

Rest in this: God loves you; he’s proven it in Christ, and he will make you into what he wants you to be. You can trust him to do it. Get to know him. Spend time with him. Put your confidence in him. Make him the priority in your life, and you will begin to find his love influencing the way you live in the world and the way you interact with others.

Whether we experience hardship or ease, prosperity or poverty, bad times or good times (and Christians experience them all), our ability to cope with what comes our way will depend on our trust in God. But all the while, because we are in Christ, our salvation is not in question. We are saved by God’s grace through faith, and even our faith is God’s gracious gift to us.

Remember, the gospel is good news. It is "the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16). Therefore, as Hebrews 10:23 encourages us, "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."

Men's Ministry

MENistry 2001--
One in Christ

By Emmanuel Andrews

ATLANTA, Georgia—The Atlanta men’s ministry was host for its third annual men’s revival MENistry 2001—One in Christ, April 27 to 29.

Men from North Carolina and Georgia met in the mountains of north Georgia for a weekend of fun, fellowship and revival.

William Crowe, men’s ministry president, welcomed everyone on Friday, April 27, and introduced the agenda for the weekend.

The tone was set that evening with praise and worship and an introduction of the first workshop, which was given by Curtis May, director of the Office of Reconciliation Ministries (ORM).

Mr. May spoke about ORM, then introduced the movie Remember the Titans. After the movie the men had a lively and honest discussion about race relations in the country and the WCG. The discussion ran late into the evening.

Saturday morning began with breakfast at 8, then, after praise, worship and prayer, the men went to a workshop presented by Mr. May on reconciliation (racial and otherwise). Mr. May showed the new ORM video, and once again the men had a frank, honest and lively discussion on race matters in the country and the WCG.

The men broke for lunch and enjoyed some of the activities offered by Cohutta Lodge, such as horseback riding, miniature golf, nature hikes, board games and various other activities. Some took time to enjoy the beauty of the mountain.

The men returned for more praise and worship and a workshop presented by Martin Manuel, pastor of the Charlotte, North Carolina, congregation, on evangelism and disciple making.

Saturday evening the men gathered for a bonfire, and most told what the weekend had meant for them.

Sunday morning after breakfast the men gathered for praise and worship and to take communion led by Charles Young, pastor of the Atlanta, Georgia, congregation. The men paired off and prayed for each other as they took the symbols of our Lord’s sacrifice. They then gathered for one last song and the closing prayer.

As the men were preparing to leave the mountain and head back to the valley there was a lingering and genuine desire to be there. They were revived and equipped to get down the mountain to put into practice the things they learned.

Statement of Beliefs
of the Worldwide
Church of God

The Worldwide Church of God has members in more than 120 countries and territories. As part of the body of Christ, our mission is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world and to help members grow spiritually (Matthew 28:19-20).

As a Spirit-led body of believers, the church is exhorted, "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18). The Spirit of God leads the church into all truth (John 16:13). Accordingly, this Statement of Beliefs is not a closed creed. The Worldwide Church of God constantly renews its commitment to truth and deeper understanding and responds to God’s guidance in its beliefs and practices.

l In one holy, loving, all-powerful, and gracious Creator God who exists in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

l That the Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of God, fully authoritative for all matters of faith and practice.

l That Jesus Christ, born of the virgin Mary, fully God and fully human, is both Lord and Savior.

l That Jesus Christ suffered and died on the cross for human sin, that he was raised bodily on the third day, and that he ascended to heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father.

l That Jesus Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead and to reign over all things.

l In the Holy Spirit, who brings sinners to repentance, who gives eternal life to believers, and who lives in them to conform them to the image of Jesus Christ.

l That Christians should gather in regular fellowship and live lives of faith that make evident the good news that humans enter the kingdom of God by putting their trust in Jesus Christ.

l In the spiritual unity of all believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.

l That salvation comes not by works, but only by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

l In the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

God, by the testimony of Scripture, is one divine Being in three eternal, co-essential, yet distinct Persons —Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is the one true God, eternal, immutable, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He is Creator of heaven and earth, Sustainer of the universe, and Source of human salvation. Though transcendent, God is directly and personally involved with human beings. God is love and infinite goodness.

(Mark 12:29; 1 Timothy 1:17; Ephesians 4:6; Matthew 28:19; 1 John 4:8; 5:20; Titus 2:11; John 16:27; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6)

God the Father is the first Person of the Godhead, the Unoriginate, of whom the Son is eternally begotten and from whom the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds through the Son. The Father, who made all things seen and unseen through the Son, sends the Son for our salvation and gives the Holy Spirit for our regeneration and adoption as children of God.

(John 1:1, 14, 18; Romans 15:6; Colossians 1:15-16; John 3:16; 14:26; 15:26; Romans 8:14-17; Acts 17:28)

God the Son is the second Person of the Godhead, eternally begotten of the Father. He is the Word and the express image of the Father, by whom and for whom all things were created. He was sent by the Father as Jesus Christ to be God revealed in the flesh for our salvation. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, fully God and fully human, two natures in one Person. He is the Son of God and Lord of all, worthy of worship, honor and reverence. As the prophesied Savior of humanity, he died for our sins, was raised bodily from the dead, and ascended to heaven, from where he mediates between humanity and God. He will come again in glory to reign as King of kings over all nations in the kingdom of God.

(John 1:1, 10, 14; Colossians 1:15-16; Hebrews 1:3; John 3:16; Titus 2:13; Matthew 1:20; Acts 10:36; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Hebrews 1:8; Revelation 19:16)

God the Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Godhead, eternally proceeding from the Father through the Son. He is the Comforter promised by Jesus Christ, given by the Father to all believers. The Holy Spirit lives in us, unites us with the Father and the Son, and transforms us into the image of Christ through regeneration, repentance, sanctification, and continual renewal. The Holy Spirit is the Source of inspiration and prophecy throughout the Scriptures, and the Source of unity and communion in the church. He provides spiritual gifts for the work of the gospel, and is the Christian’s constant Guide into all truth.

(John 14:16; 15:26; Acts 2:4, 17-19, 38; Matthew 28:19; John 14:17-26, 23; 1 Peter 1:2; Titus 3:5; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 Corinthians 12:13; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; Acts 20:28; John 16:13)

The kingdom of God in the broadest sense is God’s supreme sovereignty. God’s reign is now manifest in the church and in the life of each believer who is submissive to his will. The kingdom of God will be fully manifest over the whole world after the return of Jesus Christ when all things will become subject to it.

(Psalms 2:6-9; 93:1-2; Luke 17:20-21; Daniel 2:44; Mark 1:14-15; 1 Corinthians 15:24-28; Revelation 11:15; 21:3, 22-27; 22:1-5)

God created humanity male and female in the image and likeness of God. God blessed them, telling them to multiply and fill the earth. In love, the Lord gave humans power as stewards to subdue the earth and rule its creatures. In Genesis, humanity is the crown of creation; Adam is the first human. Typified by Adam who sinned, humanity lives in rebellion against its Creator, thus spreading sin and death in the world. Despite human sinfulness, humanity continues in and is defined by God’s image. Thus all humans, collectively and individually, deserve love, honor, and respect. The eternally perfect image of God is the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the last Adam. God creates through Jesus Christ the new humanity over which sin and death have no power. In Christ, humanity will bear perfectly the image of God.

(Genesis 1:26-28; Psalm 8:3-8; Romans 5:12-21; Colossians 1:15; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22; Romans 8:29; 1 Corinthians 15:47-49; 1 John 3:2)

The Holy Scriptures are the inspired Word of God, the faithful witness to the gospel, and the true and accurate record of God’s revelation to humanity. As such, the Holy Scriptures are infallible and are foundational to the church in all matters of doctrine and godly living.

(2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; John 17:17)

The church, the Body of Christ, consists of all who have faith in Jesus Christ and in whom the Holy Spirit abides. The church is commissioned to preach the gospel, to teach all that Christ commanded, to baptize, and to nurture the flock. In fulfilling its mission, the church is directed by the Holy Scriptures, led by the Holy Spirit, and looks continually to Jesus Christ, its living Head.

(1 Corinthians 12:13; Romans 8:9; Matthew 28:19-20; Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 1:22)

The Christian is any person who trusts in Jesus Christ. The Christian experiences a new birth through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit and is placed through adoption into a right relationship with God and fellow humans by God’s grace. The Christian’s life is characterized by the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

(Romans 10:9-13; Galatians 2:20; John 3:5-7; Mark 8:34; John 1:12-13; 3:16-17; Romans 5:1; Romans 8:9, 14-15; John 13:35; Galatians 5:22-23)

Angels are created ministering spirits, endowed with free will. The holy angels serve God as messengers and agents, are appointed to attend to those who will obtain salvation, and will accompany Christ at his return. The disobedient angels are called demons, evil spirits, and unclean spirits.

(Hebrews 1:14; Revelation 1:1; 22:6; Matthew 25:31; 2 Peter 2:4; Mark 1:23; Matthew 10:1)

Satan is a fallen angel who heads the evil forces in the spirit realm. The Bible refers to him with such terms as the devil, adversary, evil one, murderer, liar, thief, tempter, accuser of the brethren, prince of demons, and god of this world. He is in constant rebellion against God. Through his influence, Satan generates discord, deception, and disobedience among human beings. In Christ, Satan is already defeated, and his dominion and influence as god of this world will cease at Christ’s return.

(Luke 10:18; Revelation 12:9; 1 Peter 5:8; John 8:44; Job 1:6-12; Zechariah 3:1-2; Revelation 12:10; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 20:1-3; Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8)

The gospel is the good news of salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ. It is the message that Christ died for our sins, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, that he appeared to his disciples, and that he ascended to the right hand of the Father. It is the good news that through the saving work of Jesus Christ we may enter the kingdom of God.

(1 Corinthians 15:1-5; Acts 5:31; Luke 24:46-48; John 3:16; Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 1:14-15; Acts 8:12; 28:30-31)

Christian conduct is characterized by trust in and loving allegiance to our Savior, who loved us and gave himself for us. Trust in Jesus Christ is expressed by belief in the gospel and by works of love. Through the Holy Spirit, Christ transforms the hearts of believers, producing in them love, joy, peace, faithfulness, meekness, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control, righteousness, and truth.

(1 John 3:23-24; 4:20-21; 2 Corinthians 5:15; Galatians 5:6, 22-23; Ephesians 5:9)

God’s grace is the free, unmerited favor God has chosen to bestow on his entire creation. In its broadest sense, God’s grace is expressed in every act of his self-disclosure. By grace, humanity and the entire cosmos have been redeemed from sin and death through Jesus Christ, and by grace, humans are empowered to know and love God and Jesus Christ and enter the joy of eternal salvation in the kingdom of God.

(Colossians 1:20; 1 John 2:1-2; Romans 8:19-21; 3:24; 5:2, 15-17, 21; John 1:12; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:7)

Sin is lawlessness, that is, a state or condition of rebellion against God. From the time sin entered the human race through Adam and Eve, humanity has been under its yoke—a yoke that can only be removed by God’s grace through Jesus Christ. The sinful condition of humanity is manifested in the tendency to choose self and self-interests over God and God’s will. Sin causes alienation from God, and suffering and death. Because all humans are sinners, all humans need the salvation God offers through his Son.

(1 John 3:4; Romans 5:12; 7:24-25; Mark 7:21-23; Galatians 5:19-21; Romans 6:23; 3:23-24)

Faith in God is a gift of God, rooted in his incarnate Son and enlightened by his eternal Word through the witness of the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures. Faith in God prepares and enables our minds and emotions to understand and receive God’s gracious gift of salvation. It empowers us to participate in spiritual fellowship and committed allegiance to God our Father through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is the author and perfecter of our faith, and it is through faith and not by works that we are saved by grace.

(Ephesians 2:8; Acts 15:9; 14:27; Romans 12:3; John 1:1, 4; Acts 3:16; Romans 10:17; Hebrews 11:1; Romans 5:1-2; 1:17; 3:21-28; 11:6; Ephesians 3:12; 1 Corinthians 2:5; Hebrews 12:2)

Salvation is the restoration of human fellowship with God and the deliverance of the entire creation from the bondage of sin and death. God gives salvation, not only for the present life, but for eternity, to every person who accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This is the gift of God, by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not earned by personal merit or good works.

(Ephesians 2:4-10; 1 Corinthians 1:9; Romans 8:21-23; 6:18, 22-23)

The Bible affirms that all whose faith remains in Jesus Christ will be saved, and that nothing can snatch them out of his hand. The Bible emphasizes the infinite faithfulness of the Lord, the total sufficiency of Jesus Christ for our salvation, the dynamic love of God for all peoples, and the gospel as the power of God for the salvation of all who believe. Having such assurance of salvation, believers are urged to remain firm in the faith and to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

(John 10:27-29; 2 Corinthians 1:20-22; 2 Timothy 1:9; 1 Corinthians 15:2; Hebrews 6:4-6; John 3:16; Romans 1:16; Hebrews 4:14; 2 Peter 3:18)

The Christian Sabbath is life in Jesus Christ, in whom every believer finds true rest. The weekly seventh-day Sabbath, which was enjoined upon Israel in the Ten Commandments, was a shadow that prefigured the true Reality to whom it pointed—our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

(Hebrews 4:3, 8-10; Matthew 11:28-30; Exodus 20:8-11; Colossians 2:16-17)

Repentance toward a gracious God is a change of mind and attitude, prompted by the Holy Spirit and grounded in the Word of God. It includes an awareness of personal sinfulness and accompanies a new life sanctified through faith in Jesus Christ.

(Acts 2:38; Romans 2:4; 10:17; Romans 12:2)

Justification is God’s gracious act in and through Jesus Christ to pronounce and establish a believer as righteous in his sight. Thus, humanity experiences through faith in Jesus Christ divine forgiveness and peace with its Savior and Lord.

(Romans 3:21-31; 4:1-8; 5:1, 9; Galatians 2:16)

Sanctification is God’s gracious act of accounting and imparting the righteousness and holiness of Jesus Christ to the believer. It is experienced through faith in Jesus Christ and accomplished through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

(Romans 6:11; 1 John 1:8-9; Romans 6:22; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Galatians 5:22-23)

Worship is the divinely created response to the glory of God. It is motivated by divine love and springs from God’s revelation of himself in communion with his creation. In worship, believers commune with God the Father through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. Worship involves humbly and joyfully giving God priority in all things and is expressed in such actions and attitudes as prayer, praise, celebration, generosity, acts of mercy, and repentance.

(John 4:23; 1 John 4:19; Philippians 2:5-11; 1 Peter 2:9-10; Ephesians 5:18-20; Colossians 3:16-17; Romans 5:8-11; 12:1; Hebrews 12:28; 13:15-16)

Water baptism, which signifies a believer’s repentance and acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, is a participation in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Baptism of the Spirit and fire refers to the regenerating and purifying work of the Holy Spirit. The Worldwide Church of God baptizes by immersion.

(Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38; Romans 6:4-5; Luke 3:16; 1 Corinthians 12:13; 1 Peter 1:3-9; Matthew 3:16)

The evening before Jesus was crucified, he took bread and the cup, saying, "This is my body, which is for you… This cup is the new covenant in my blood." Whenever we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we partake of bread and the cup in remembrance of our Savior, proclaiming his death until he comes. The Lord’s Supper is a participation in the death and resurrection of our Lord, who gave his body and shed his blood so that we might be forgiven.

(1 Corinthians 11:23-26; 10:16; Matthew 26:26-28)

Christian financial stewardship is the management of personal resources in a manner that reflects the love and generosity of God. It includes the responsibility of offering a portion of one’s financial resources to the work of the church. Donations fund the God-given mission of the church to preach the gospel and feed the flock. Such giving reflects the believer’s worship, faith, obedience, and love for God, who is the Source of salvation and Giver of all good things.

(1 Peter 4:10; 1 Corinthians 9:1-14; 2 Corinthians 9:6-11)

The Head of the church is Jesus Christ, who reveals the will of the Father to the church through the Holy Spirit. Through the Scriptures the Holy Spirit instructs and empowers the church to serve the needs of congregations. The Worldwide Church of God seeks to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit in serving its congregations as it ordains elders, deacons and deaconesses and appoints ministry leaders.

(Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 1:15-23; John 16:13-15; Ephesians 4:11-16)

Bible prophecy reveals God and his will and purpose for humanity. In Bible prophecy, God declares that human sinfulness is forgiven through repentance and faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ. Prophecy proclaims God as Sovereign Creator and Judge of all, assures humanity of his love, mercy, and faithfulness, and motivates the believer to live a godly life in Jesus Christ.

(Isaiah 46:9-11; Luke 24:44-48; Daniel 4:17; Jude 14-15; 2 Peter 3:14)

Jesus Christ, as he promised, will return to earth to judge and reign over all nations in the kingdom of God. His second coming will be visible, and in power and glory. This event inaugurates the resurrection and reward of the saints.

(John 14:3; Revelation 1:7; Matthew 24:30; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; Revelation 22:12)

The inheritance of believers is salvation and eternal life in Christ as children of God in communion with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father conveys believers even now into the kingdom of his Son, and their inheritance is reserved in heaven to be bestowed fully at the second coming of Christ. The resurrected saints reign with Christ in the kingdom of God.

(1 John 3:1-2; 1 John 2:25; Romans 8:16-21; Colossians 1:13; Daniel 7:27; 1 Peter 1:3-5; Revelation 5:10)

At the end of the age, God will gather all the living and the dead before the heavenly throne of Christ for judgment. The righteous will receive eternal glory, and the wicked will be condemned to the lake of fire. In Christ the Lord makes gracious and just provision for all, even for those who at death appear not to have believed the gospel.

(Matthew 25:31-32; Acts 24:15; John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:11-15; 1 Timothy 2:3-6; 2 Peter 3:9; Acts 10:43; John 12:32; 1 Corinthians 15:22-28)

Hell is the separation and alienation from God chosen by incorrigible sinners. In the New Testament, hell is referred to by the terms "lake of fire," "darkness," and Gehenna (a gorge outside Jerusalem where garbage was burned). Hell is characterized by punishment, torment, anguish, weeping and gnashing of teeth, and eternal destruction. The biblical terms Sheol and Hades, often translated "hell" or "the grave," refer to the realm of the dead. The Bible teaches that unrepentant sinners will suffer the second death in the lake of fire, but it does not make absolutely clear whether this means annihilation or conscious spiritual alienation form God.

(2 Thessalonians 1:8-9; Matthew 10:28; 25:41, 46; Revelation 20:14-15; 21:8; Matthew 13:42; Psalm 49:14-15)

Heaven is a biblical term applied to the chosen dwelling place of God and the eternal destiny of all God’s redeemed children. To be in heaven is to remain in Christ in the presence of God, where death, mourning, crying, and pain will be no more. Heaven is characterized by everlasting joy, blessed peace, and the righteousness of God.

(1 Kings 8:27-30; Deuteronomy 26:15; Matthew 6:9; Acts 7:55-56; John 14:2-3; Revelation 21:3-4; 22:1-5; 2 Peter 3:13)

The intermediate state is the condition of the dead until the resurrection of the body. Christians hold various viewpoints on the nature of the intermediate state based on their interpretation of relevant biblical passages. Some passages suggest a conscious intermediate state, and others an unconscious state. The Worldwide Church of God believes both views should be respected.

(Isaiah 14:9-10; Ezekiel 32:21; Luke 16:19-31; 23:43; 2 Corinthians 5:1-8; Philippians 1:21-24; Revelation 6:9-11; Psalms 6:5; 88:10-12; 115:17; Ecclesiastes 3:19-21; 9:5, 10; Isaiah 38:18; John 11:11-14; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14)

The Millennium is the time span described in the book of Revelation during which Christian martyrs reign with Jesus Christ. After the Millennium, when all enemies have been put under his feet, and all things made subject to him, Christ will deliver the kingdom to God the Father, and heaven and earth will be made new. Some Christian traditions interpret the Millennium as a literal 1000 years to precede or follow the return of Jesus, while others believe that the scriptural evidence points to a figurative interpretation: an indeterminate time span commencing with Jesus’ resurrection and concluding with his return.

(Revelation 20:1-15; 21:1, 5; Acts 3:19-21; Revelation 11:15; 1 Corinthians 15:24-25)

A creed is a brief statement of faith used to enumerate important truths, to clarify doctrinal points, and to distinguish truth from error. Creeds are usually worded to be easily memorized. The word creed comes from the Latin word credo, meaning, "I believe." The Bible contains a number of creed-like passages. For example, Jews used the Shema, based on Deuteronomy 6:4-9, as a creed. Paul wrote simple creed-like statements in 1 Corinthians 8:6; 12:3; and 15:3-4. 1 Timothy 3:16 also appears as a creed, a concise statement of belief.

As the early church spread, there was a practical need for a statement of faith to help believers focus on the most important doctrines of their Christian faith. The Apostles’ Creed is appropriately named not because the original apostles wrote it, but because it accurately reflects the teaching of the apostles. Church fathers Tertullian, Augustine, and other leaders had slightly different versions of the Apostles’ Creed, but the text of Pirminius in A.D. 750 was eventually accepted as the standard form.

As the church grew, heresies also grew, and the early Christians needed to clarify the defining boundaries of the faith. In the early 300s, before the canon of the New Testament had been finalized, controversy developed over the divinity of Jesus Christ. At the request of Emperor Constantine, Christian bishops from across the Roman Empire met at the town of Nicea in 325 to discuss the matter. They wrote their consensus in the form of a creed, called the Creed of Nicea. In 381, another major council was held at Constantinople at which the Creed of Nicea was slightly revised to include a few more doctrines. The resulting Creed is called the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, or more commonly, the Nicene Creed.

In the next century, church leaders met in the city of Chalcedon to discuss, among other things, questions about the divine and human natures of Jesus Christ. The result was a Definition of Faith they believed to be true to the gospel, true to apostolic teaching, and true to the Scriptures. This statement is called the Definition of Chalcedon or the Faith of Chalcedon.

Regrettably, creeds can become formal, complex, abstract, and sometimes equated with Scripture. When properly used, however, they facilitate a concise basis for teaching, safeguard correct biblical doctrine, and create a focus for church fellowship. These three creeds are widely accepted among Christians as consistent with the Bible and as statements of true Christian orthodoxy, or right teaching.

The Nicene Creed (A.D. 381)

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets.

We believe in one holy, all-embracing and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

(Translation based on The Book of Common Prayer, 1979)

The Apostles’ Creed (c. A.D. 700)

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy all-embracing Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

(Translation based on I Believe by Alister McGrath, Downer’s Grove, Il.: InterVarsity Press, 1997)

(Council of Chalcedon, A.D. 451)

Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach people to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in humanness, truly God and truly human, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance (homoousios) with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his humanity; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his humanity begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer (Theotokos); one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the Fathers has handed down to us.

(Translation from The Book of Common Prayer, 1979)

The new Statement of Beliefs will be printed as a booklet and sent to all member households in July. The new Statement is also available on our website ( www.wcg.org/lit/aboutus/beliefs/default.htm ) with the text of all the scriptures cited and with links to articles related to each subject.

 

Arkansas has teen
discovery weekend

SEARCY, Arkansas—More than 100 people traveled to Searcy for the first Arkansas Discovery Teen Weekend March 30 to April 1.

Youths from eight states participated in worship led by Redeemed, a praise team from Fellowship Christian Center (the WCG congregation in Sherwood, Arkansas), gospel and discipleship messages from David Hopkins, a community pastor at Axxess, a church plant of Pantego Bible Church in Arlington, Texas, and games and activities for spiritual and relational growth.

Student ministers were encouraged by Barbara Egbert’s testimony of the miraculous transition she has witnessed firsthand in our young people. Ken Shackelford, program director for Camp Wyldewood, shared the importance of our reliance on God’s saving hand in ministry.

James Griffin, student minister at Fellowship Christian Center, discussed the need for sacrifice in developmental ministry to students. Randy Bloom, district superintendent, concluded by encouraging everyone to go and be encouraged in their work.

Participants attended the Sunday worship service at Fellowship Christian Center before heading for home.

"I can’t wait for the next teen weekend," exclaimed Ashley Brooks of Sherwood. Letters and e-mails of good report continue to come in, resounding the blessings of the gathering. James Griffin.

No Limit Teens
in Christ present
Discovery Weekend

ATLANTA, Georgia—The No Limit Teens in Christ from Atlanta were hosts for a Discovery Weekend March 30 to April 1 at the Woodland Christian Camp in Temple, Georgia, for teens from Alabama and Georgia.

The weekend began Friday night with a welcome and pizza dinner. The teens were divided into six teams for the weekend, and points were awarded to teams as members participated in events.

After the pizza dinner, the teens gathered in the chapel for the first round of games. The games were based on two television game shows. In "Who Wants to Be a Christian" teens answered questions as they moved to the top to be declared a Christian. In another game, teens removed sins as they answered questions about the Bible, Christianity and facts about the WCG.

Saturday was full of activities such as volleyball, basketball, canoeing, paddleboating, fishing and nature walks. Dwight Allen, a member from Atlanta, gave a workshop on education and how to begin to decide on a career.

Allan Barr, district superintendent, did a workshop on Victory in Jesus. Two Atlanta teens led praise and worship. Teens and adults gave testimonials in which they discussed their Christian walk. Many of the teens called for the Discovery Weekend to be an annual event.

A touching moment came when Wendel Cox from Atlanta discussed the debate he had been having with himself, and announced he was ready to give his life to Jesus—there were few dry eyes in the house. The night ended with a dance and talent show.

Sunday began with praise and worship and communion led by Mr. Barr. Then Joe Williams, youth minister, thanked those who helped to make the weekend a success. He gave awards to the team that had the most points. Awards were also given to the male and female (Latora Crowe and Javier Johnson) who participated the most. The weekend was punctuated with group and individual prayers. Bibles were given to each of those who attended. Emmanuel Andrews.

DALLAS, Texas—Ten youths and several adults from the Dallas Central church attended a Mark Matlock youth conference in Fort Worth, Texas, in March.

Sherry Hebert, wife of Pastor Lynn Hebert, said, "Many skits brought home bringing Jesus into your life and making him known to others."

Peter Gordon, a Dallas youth pastor, said that the conference urged participants to pray for the 10/40 window, an area from 10 degrees north to 40 degrees south latitude that hasn’t been evangelized. Mrs. Hebert added that four Dallas Central youths rededicated their lives to Jesus. Frank Lewandowski.

Buffalo teens
help fight hunger
at 30-hour famine

BUFFALO, New York—Twelve young people and two adults from the Buffalo area went without food for 30 hours Feb. 23 and 24 to help fight hunger and poverty around the world. They joined thousands of others across the United States and around the world in World Vision’s annual 30-hour famine.

Each day 32,000 children die from hunger and hunger-related illnesses. The participants in the 30-hour famine experience hunger and raise lifesaving funds for suffering children and families throughout the world.

Buffalo participants raised more than $300 by asking sponsors for pledges and with a moving party fund-raiser. Through videos, games, Bible studies and community service projects, teens learned about hunger and what they can do to help others.

As part of the famine, teens and other members of the Buffalo South congregation served at the Union Presbyterian church soup kitchen in Blasdell, New York. After cooking and serving a meal of sloppy joes, salad, vegetables and more, Andrea Ferguson provided dinner music with classical pieces performed on the viola. After dinner, the Buffalo South Teen Praise Band, with Matthew Knaack, Garret Hussak and Christina Holdsworth, provided worship music for guests.

The group ended the famine with a meal of soup, tacos and sloppy joes. Teens prayed and served each other in humility as the 30 hours finished.

To contact World Vision, call 1-800-7-FAMINE or visit their web site at www.30hourfamine.org

You can also e-mail the Buffalo teen group at mjkoenig@juno.com Martin J. Koenig.

BUFFALO TEENS—From bottom left:
Martin Koenig, Derek Ferguson, Matthew Knaack.
Standing, from left: Sarah Page, Kim Thompson,
Sarah Knaack, Andrea Ferguson, Christina Holdsworth,
Garret Hussak, Beth Koenig, Diane Solberg,
Carl Holt and Scott McSparron.

SERVICE—Buffalo teens serve at
Union Presbyterian soup kitchen.

Dallas Central
conducts youth service

DALLAS, Texas—Jeff Fischelli gave an impassioned, heart-to-heart testimony at Dallas Central’s monthly youth service May 6. He described loving the church as he was growing up but drifting into other priorities in his late teens.

"I quit attending church," he recalled. "The world offers our young people false hopes and false dreams." He explained how he had declined to make long-term decisions and how he had desired independence but not responsibility.

Mr. Fischelli described how after several years God convicted him of the need to change. One night he poured out his heart to God and re-established a relationship with him. He urged the teens: "Don’t wait to act on your knowledge of Jesus. Don’t serve Satan and the world. Serve God. We were created to serve Jesus. He wants you, and he won’t let anyone else have you."

He admonished parents to set good examples by daily walking with God and not being too busy to be involved with their children.

Worship leaders included Daniel Fischelli, Alexa Wilson and Hannah Orsburn, backed by a teen chorus. Alexa also did a scripture reading describing how God chose David as a youth and how God looks on the heart rather than judging by outward appearances.

John Henry conducted intercessory prayer, and Hannah Orsburn performed a flute solo.

Several youths were commended for their accomplishments, including Daniel Fischelli, who received the most improved award for his trumpet playing in the school band; Laniece Miller for placing in the top 100 taking the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test in Garland, Texas, and for competing with her school orchestra in Panama City, Florida; and Cathy Miller for her dance team’s taking first place for tap and jazz in a state competition. Frank Lewandowski.

Basic Christian Beliefs

Who is this man?

By Michael Morrison

Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" The question confronts us, too: Who is this man? What authority does he have? Why should we trust him?

The Christian faith centers on Jesus Christ. We need to understand what kind of person he is.

Jesus was born in the normal way, grew in the normal way, got hungry and thirsty and tired, ate and drank and slept. He looked normal, talked in ordinary language, and walked in the normal way. He had emotions like compassion, surprise, sorrow and apprehension (Matt. 9:36; Luke 7:9; John 11:38; Matt. 26:37). He prayed to God, as humans need to. He called himself a man and other people called him a man. He was a human.

But Jesus was such an extraordinary human that after he ascended to heaven, some people claimed he was not human after all (2 John 7). They thought that Jesus was so holy that surely he would have nothing to do with flesh, with its dirt, sweat, digestive functions and imperfections. Perhaps he merely appeared to be human, in the way that angels sometimes appeared as humans, without actually becoming human.

So the New Testament makes it clear that Jesus was really a human. John tells us, "The Word became flesh" (John 1:14). He didn’t just appear as flesh, or clothe himself in flesh. He became flesh. "Jesus Christ has come in the flesh" (1 John 4:2). We know, says John, because we saw him and touched him (1 John 1:1-2).

Paul said that Jesus was "made in human likeness" (Phil. 2:7), "born under the law" (Gal. 4:4), "in the likeness of sinful man" (Rom. 8:3). Since he came to save humans, the author of Hebrews reasons, it was necessary that he "shared in their humanity" (Heb. 2:14-17).

Our salvation depends on the reality of Jesus’ humanity. His role as our intercessor, our high priest, depends on his experience as a human (Heb. 4:15). Even after his resurrection, Jesus had flesh and bones (John 20:27; Luke 24:39). Even in heavenly glory, he continues to be a human (1 Tim. 2:5).

"Who is this fellow?" asked the Pharisees when they heard Jesus forgive sins. "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" (Luke 5:21). Sin is an offense against God, so how could a human speak for God and say the offense is taken off the record? It was blasphemy, they said. Jesus knew what they thought about it, but he forgave sins anyway. He even implied that he had no sins of his own (John 8:46).

Jesus said he would sit at God’s right hand in heaven—another claim that the Jewish leaders thought blasphemous (Matt. 26:63-65). He claimed to be the Son of God—another blasphemy, they said, since in that culture it implied equality with God (John 5:18; 19:7).

Jesus claimed to be in such perfect communication with God that he did only what God wanted (John 5:19). He claimed to be one with the Father (10:30), which the Jewish leaders again said was blasphemous (10:33). He claimed to be so much like God that people should look at him to see the Father (John 14:9; 1:18). He claimed to be able to send God’s Spirit (John 16:7). He claimed that he had angels he could send (Matt. 13:41).

He knew that God was the judge of the world, but he also claimed to be the judge (John 5:22). He said he could raise the dead, even himself (John 5:21; 6:40; 10:18). He said that everyone’s eternal life depended on their relationship with him (Matt. 7:23). He said that the words of Moses were not enough (Matt. 5:21-48), He claimed to be the Lord of the Sabbath—the Lord of a God-given law! (Matt. 12:8). If he were merely a human, his teaching was arrogant and sinful.

But Jesus backed up his words with some amazing works. "Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles" (John 14:11). Miracles can’t force anyone to believe, but they can provide powerful supporting evidence.

To show that he had the authority to forgive sins, Jesus healed a paralyzed man (Luke 5:23-25). His miracles give evidence that what he said about himself is true. He has more-than-human power, because he is more than a human. The claims that would have been blasphemous in anyone else were true for Jesus. He could speak like God and act like God because he was God in the flesh.

Jesus had a clear sense of self-identity. Even at age 12, he had a special relationship with his Father in heaven (Luke 2:49). At his baptism, he heard a voice from heaven say that he was God’s Son (Luke 3:22). He knew he had a mission to perform (Luke 4:43; 9:22; 13:33; 22:37).

When Peter said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," Jesus answered, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven" (Matt. 16:16-17). Jesus was the Son of God. He was the Christ, the Messiah—the person uniquely anointed by God for a special mission.

When Jesus called 12 disciples, one for each tribe of Israel, he did not count himself among the 12. He was above them, for he was above all Israel. He was the maker and builder of the new Israel. At the last Supper, he proclaimed himself to be the basis of the new covenant, a new relationship with God. He saw himself as the focal point of what God was doing in the world.

Jesus spoke boldly against traditions, against laws, against the temple, against religious leaders. He demanded that his followers abandon everything to follow him, to put him first in their lives, to give him complete allegiance. He spoke with the authority of God—but he spoke on his own authority.

Jesus believed that he was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. He was the suffering servant who would die to ransom the people from their sins (Isaiah 53:4-5, 12; Matt. 26:24; Mark 9:12; Luke 22:37; 24:46). He was the king of peace who would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey (Zech. 9:9-10; Matt. 21:1-9). He was the son of man who would be given all power and authority (Dan. 7:13-14; Matt. 26:64).

Jesus claimed to be alive before Abraham was born: "I tell you the truth," he said, "before Abraham was born, I am!" (John 8:58). The Jewish leaders thought that Jesus was claiming something divine, and they wanted to stone him to death (v. 59). The phrase "I AM" is an echo of Ex. 3:14, where God revealed his name to Moses: "This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ " Jesus used this name for himself.

Jesus said he shared glory with God before the world began (John 17:5). John tells us that he existed even in the beginning of time, as the Word (John 1:1).

John tells us that the universe was made through the Word (John 1:3). The Father was the Designer, and the Word was the Creator who carried out the design. "All things were created by him and for him" (Col. 1:16; 1 Cor. 8:6). Hebrews 1:2 says that God made the universe through the Son.

Both Hebrews and Colossians tell us that the Son sustains the universe (Heb. 1:3; Col. 1:17). Both tell us that he is "the image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15), "the exact representation of his being" (Heb. 1:3).

Who is Jesus? He is a divine being who became flesh. He was in the beginning with God; he was the creator of all, the author of life (Acts 3:15). He looks exactly like God, has glory like God, and has powers that only God has. Little wonder that the disciples concluded that he was God, even in the flesh.

Jesus was conceived in a supernatural way (Matt. 1:20; Luke 1:35). He lived without ever sinning (Heb. 4:15). He was blameless, without impurity (Heb. 7:26; 9:14). He committed no sin (1 Pet. 2:22); in him there was no sin (1 John 3:5); he knew no sin (2 Cor. 5:21). No matter how tempting the sin was, Jesus always had a greater desire to obey God. His mission was to do God’s will (Heb. 10:7).

On several occasions, people worshiped Jesus (Matt. 14:33; 28:9, 17; John 9:38). Angels refuse worship (Rev. 19:10), but Jesus did not. Indeed, even the angels worship the Son of God (Heb. 1:6). Some prayers are addressed to Jesus (Acts 7:59-60; 2 Cor. 12:8; Rev. 22:20).

The New Testament gives elaborate praises to Jesus Christ, with doxologies that are normally reserved for God: "To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen" (2 Tim. 4:18; 2 Pet 3:18; Rev. 1:6). He has the highest title that can ever be given (Eph. 1:20-21). Even if we call him God, that title is not too high.

In Revelation, equal praise is given to God and to the Lamb, implying equality: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" (Rev. 5:13). The Son must be given equal honor with the Father (John 5:23). Both God and Jesus are called the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and end of everything (Rev. 1:8, 17; 21:6; 22:13).

The New Testament often uses Old Testament passages about God and applies them to Jesus Christ. One of the most striking is this passage about worship: "God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:9-11, quoting Isa. 45:23). Jesus will get the honor and respect that Isaiah said would be given to God.

Isaiah says there is only one Savior—God (Isa. 43:11; 45:21). Paul just as clearly says that God is Savior and Jesus is Savior (Titus 1:3-4; 2:10, 13). So, is there one Savior, or two? Early Christians concluded that the Father is God and Jesus is God, even though there is only one God, only one Savior. The Father and Son are the same in essence (God), but different in person.

Several other New Testament verses also call Jesus God. John 1:1 says, "the Word was God." Verse 18 says, "No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known." Jesus is the God who made the Father known. After the resurrection, Thomas recognized Jesus as God: "Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ " (John 20:28).

Paul says that the patriarchs are great because "from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen" (Rom. 9:5). In Hebrews, God himself is said to call Jesus God: "About the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever’ " (Heb. 1:8).

"In Christ," Paul said, "all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form" (Col. 2:9). Jesus Christ is fully divine, and even now has bodily form. He is the exact representation of God—God made flesh. If Jesus were only a human, it would be wrong to put our trust in him. But because he is divine, we are commanded to trust in him. He is utterly trustworthy, because he is God.

However, it can be misleading to say "Jesus is God," as if there were a simple equality between the two words. For one, Jesus was also a man, and secondly, Jesus is not all of God. We cannot say that "God is Jesus."

In most cases, "God" means "the Father," and that is why the Bible so rarely calls Jesus God. But the word can legitimately be used for Jesus, for Jesus is divine. As the Son of God, he is a person in the triune Godhead. Jesus is the unique person in which God and humanity are joined.

The divinity of Jesus is crucial for us, for only if he is divine could he accurately reveal God to us (John 1:18; 14:9). Only a divine person could forgive our sins, redeem us, and reconcile us to God. Only a divine person could be the object of our faith, the Lord to whom we give complete allegiance, the Savior we worship in song and prayer.

As you can see from the scripture references cited above, the biblical information about Jesus is scattered throughout the New Testament. The picture is consistent, but it is not all drawn together in one place. The early church had to put the facts together. They drew these conclusions from the biblical revelation:

l Jesus is genuinely divine.

l Jesus is genuinely human.

l There is only one God.

l Jesus is a person in that one God.

The council of Nicea (A.D. 325) declared that Jesus, the Son of God, was divine, of the same essence as the Father. The council of Chalcedon (A.D. 451) explained that he was also human:

"Our Lord Jesus Christ is one and the same Son; the same perfect in Godhead and the same perfect in manhood, truly God and truly man ... begotten of the Father before all ages as regards his Godhead and ... begotten of the Virgin Mary the Theotokos as regards his manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only-begotten, made known in two natures ... the difference of the natures being by no means removed because of the union but the property of each nature being preserved and coalescing in one person."

The last part was included because some people said that the divine nature so overpowered Jesus’ human nature that he wasn’t really human. Others said that the two natures combined to form a third nature, so that Jesus was neither human nor divine. No, the biblical data says that he was truly human, and truly divine, and this is what the church must say, too.

Our salvation depends on Jesus being both human and divine. But how can this be? How can someone infinite become finite? How can the holy Son of God become a human, in the likeness of sinful flesh?

Our question comes mainly because the only humanity that we can see now is woefully corrupt. But this is not the way God made it. Jesus shows us what true humanity is. For one thing, he shows us a person who is completely dependent on the Father. This is the way humanity ought to be.

Jesus also shows us what God is capable of doing. He is able to become part of his creation. He can bridge the gap between the uncreated and the created, between the holy and the sinful. What we might think is impossible, is possible with God.

Jesus also shows us what humanity will be in the new creation. When he returns and we are resurrected, we will look like him (1 John 3:2). We will have bodies like his glorious body (1 Cor. 15:42-49).

Jesus is our trailblazer, showing us that the way to God is through Jesus. Because he is human, he sympathizes with our weaknesses, and because he is divine, he effectively intercedes for us at God’s right hand. With Jesus as our Savior, we can be confident that our salvation is secure.

For further reading

Michael Green, Who Is This Jesus? Nelson, 1992.

Murray Harris, Three Crucial Questions About Jesus. Baker, 1994.

Alister McGrath, Understanding Jesus. Zondervan, 1987.

Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ. Zondervan, 1998.

Millard Erickson, Introducing Christian Doctrine. Baker, 1992. Chapters 23-25.

I. Howard Marshall, The Origins of New Testament Christology. InterVarsity, 1990.

Ben Witherington III, The Jesus Quest. InterVarsity, 1995.

Philippines has first
national women's
conference

Daphne Sidney

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines—More than 400 women attended the first national women’s conference at the Teachers Camp in Baguio City March 30 to April 1.

Women's conference
set for
New Concord, Ohio

CAMBRIDGE, Ohio—The third conference for the Cambridge women’s ministry will take place July 6 to 8 on the campus of Muskingum College.

The women will again this year attend a performance of The Living Word. This is an outdoor performance depicting the life of Jesus Christ.

The conference will also include a seminar on rape prevention, prayer and communion.

The cost is $75, which includes lodging and meals. A nonrefundable deposit of $35 is due by June 14. Late registrations cannot be accepted.

For more information please contact Lyn Mills, 5354 Skyline Drive, Cambridge, Ohio, 43725; call 1-740-439-7037; or send e-mail to sherrymillsbrooklyn@yahoo.com

Update from Finance & Planning

Spring offerings
above projection,
mail income down

By Ron Kelly

As I write, we have passed through the first third of 2001.

In many ways, time has passed quickly. Yet in other ways, especially the completion of the Pasadena property sale, time has seemed to drag.

The good news is that the sale process is still plodding along. Both the city planning commission and the city council have a variety of business issues to address. They address these issues in public meetings—but the process isn’t moving at the pace we prefer. The not-so-good news is that escrow is starting to look more like a September or even an October close.

In the meantime church finances are near projections. As I have reported, we are experiencing a progressive decline in regular member donations. So far, through four months this year, we are down 11.5 percent when member contributions are compared to the same period last year.

On the positive side, the spring offerings were generous. We have received more than $1 million in special offerings—and that’s above our budget projections for festival offerings (as noted, however, regular mail donations are down.)

All special or seasonal offerings from late April to early June will be counted as Pentecost offerings. After Pentecost, we will probably tabulate all offerings in one category. In other words, we will delete the category of special, festival or seasonal offerings. Many of our congregations will now take up weekly offerings, so we will not keep track of what are regular mail offerings and what are festival offerings.

To give you a slightly different idea about understanding church finances, our budget for the year was projected to average $77,236 per banking day. The daily average so far is $74,875. That $2,361 daily shortfall would leave us more than a half million dollars in deficit by the end of the year. And that is in addition to the $4 million we planned to take from reserves to avoid further employee and program reductions. That also doesn’t include the $700,000 per month budget deficit we will experience from July 1 till the close of escrow.

As one of our administrative leaders put it so well, "If escrow does not close until the end of 2001, the budget deficit to reserves this year will essentially consume the total sale price of the Big Sandy campus last year." But at least we can be thankful the Big Sandy sale has made it possible for us to maintain a better sense of equilibrium.

We are also striving to do all we can to keep our expenses at a minimum. So far this year our budget teams have managed to keep expenses about 10 percent below budget allowances. All in all we are thankful that our reserve fund is still maintained at a level we can live with.

Our legal office has informed us that a couple of estate donations are expected to be completed in the near future. This will be a good boost to our declining regular donations. However, the key to future financial good health will be the consistent and generous offerings in all our congregations. So please pray with us for willing hearts and generous spirits as we continue both our spiritual and financial transitions.

Statement of Income and Expenses for

WCG and PTM combined for April 2001

                                                        For the Month                 For the Year-to-Date

Income

            Mail Income                                $ 1,395,481                             $ 5,841,596

            Festival offerings                             621,072                                   1,038,661

            Other income       &nbs