Jesus’ disciples had delusions of self-importance, writes Pastor General Joseph Tkach.

They once asked Jesus, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

It is a good question, and Jesus used it to make an important point: "Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Pages 6 & 7.

If we are forgiven already, what’s to stop us from continuing to sin? writes Mike Feazell in Obeying God. Pages 8 to 11.

Conversion is a work of God, writes Randal Dick. Yet, he chooses to use Christians in the conversion of others.

This was true in the time of the early church, and it is true today. See Enthusiasts: Denominational Treasures in Window on the World. Pages 12 & 13.

Last year was significant for the Worldwide Church of God in Canada for several reasons, writes regional director Gary Moore.

Our focus as a fellowship took a big step in moving from reacting to our past, to looking ahead and planning for our future. Pages 14 & 15.

Others have asked me, "Why do you love the Worldwide Church of God so much?" writes Geoff Pittman.

"Couldn’t you just as well go to any other church?" Pages 16 & 17.

Roughly half of American Christians made the decision to become Christians when they were between the ages of 8 and 13, writes Jeb Egbert, SEP director, quoting researcher George Barna. See Youth Ministry: Before It’s Too Late. Page 18.

Cordell Cochran, a sophomore at Brackenridge High School, was named player of the week by Channel 4 and the San Antonio, Texas, Press News. Page 18.

Michael and Emily Ward of Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, have established a direct route for people to support the children of Madagascar’s Le Triomphe orphanage that allows for tax deductible contributions. Page 21.

As we close the book on the first month of a new year, we received just over $1.25 million in regular mail donations, down 12 percent from last January, writes controller Ronald Kelly. Page 24.

Can’t get enough grace

I just wanted to take the time to thank you [Mike Feazell] for all your writings over the last few years.

Every time I read what you’ve written I have to tell my wife: "He did it again. He’s put the thoughts I’ve been having into words."

I can’t get enough on the subject of grace. God has immersed us in his grace. How can people come up with the thought that grace is license to sin. There is no such thing as license to sin. If you understand the depths of God’s grace the thought of license to sin never enters your mind.

"No Other Name" [December and January WN] is the best I’ve read on the subject of salvation and judgment. My wife and I were just discussing that very theme, of all the people who have lived and died. God did not create us only to lose us, and Christ’s sacrifice was not in vain for anyone to be lost. Nothing is impossible for God even after a person dies.

Evans Whyte

Orange Park, Florida

I very much appreciated Mike Feazell’s January article, "No Other Name," part two. I also believe that the Bible leaves open the possibility that some people will be converted in the realm of death.

I believe that people who have never heard the name of Jesus, and people who have heard, but were turned off because of the human frailties so obvious even in Christians, or because of other reasons, could, when they actually stand before the King and Judge, fall down in worship, just as Thomas did in John 20:24-29.

I picture Jesus accepting all of previously unbelieving humanity just as he accepted unbelieving Thomas, possibly with the same gentle rebuke, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Mary Fish

Cerritos, California

Thank you for exposing God’s awesome grace in the way you have. Your article, "No Other Name," will certainly push many people’s envelopes even further—notwithstanding I thank God that he is not limited by our ideas of how he can, cannot, will or will not save his creation by his love.

You express in far greater detail what I have long believed, even before coming into the WCG. A God of love will never condemn one person to hell—whatever one wishes to say it is—simply because that person was never given a chance to hear how to be saved. Billions have never even heard the name Jesus, never had the opportunity to say yes or no to God’s outrageous offer of grace.

Clarence Walker

Jackson, Mississippi

Wonderful part of God’s family

More than a year ago I was invited by a friend of mine to attend a luncheon for people 50 and over called Silver Wings.

This monthly event is conducted at the Family of Jesus Fellowship Church in Ravenna, Ohio. I have continued to attend the monthly gathering of Silver Wings, where I have encountered a wonderful congregation of God’s family.

At one of the gatherings I shared with the pastor the wonderful changes our great God has brought about in the WCG. In turn he shared with me the many prayers over the years that have been brought before God’s throne for the WCG and other denominations that do not know the wonderful grace of God.

Also the women of the Family of Jesus Fellowship invited the women from the WCG Akron-Canton congregation to join them in their women’s fall retreat in October. Thirteen of our women attended and had a wonderful time getting to know our sisters in the Lord.

I asked Pastor Greg Goebel if he would write about this subject for The Worldwide News.

[Pastor Goebel’s letter follows.]

Fran Stevens

Akron, Ohio

Answered prayers for the WCG

Opening the church mailbox one afternoon, I leafed through the mail only to discover nothing but junk mail. Later that day, as I rounded our building headed for my car, I noticed a small card in the mail. It was from the PT. As a child, my father had always discouraged me from picking up a free copy at the grocery store. I understood why later when I studied the doctrines of various churches. Yet this card showed that The PT was now being endorsed by prominent evangelical leaders. It declared that the Worldwide Church of God had completed a turn-about that ended in an affirmation of salvation by grace. I had previously heard rumors, but this was my first confirmation.

As I discussed this with my dad, who is the senior pastor of our church, I reflected that our prayer and desire had been for these sincere people to find their way to the truth of God. We both agreed that this was a cause of celebration. Our prayers had been answered!

There is an awful part of our human flesh that pushes us to demand unending proof of repentance. There is also an inborn cynicism that cannot easily accept God’s miraculous undertakings. However, the Holy Spirit put a joy in my heart at that moment. I confidently believed that our prayers were answered and that God had brought a people out of darkness and into the glorious light of his grace.

Since that day the reports and personal encounters concerning this movement have continued to be encouraging. My friendship with Fran Stevens has only served to confirm that God is truly working.

Our Fellowship has welcomed the new friendship that has emerged.

Through this marvelous happening I perceived that the Worldwide Church of God did not conform to Evangelicalism or mainstream orthodox Christianity. Instead, they aligned themselves with the Word of God.

No one group is perfectly lined up with his Word, yet few have courage enough to stand up for the Scriptures even when it means rejecting past traditions. What faithfulness to God!

I believe the attitude that those of us who are looking in from the outside should not be one of I-told-you-so but a joy of pure relief that those who strayed have come home. It is to the Shepherd that the sheep return, but the whole flock can rejoice together.

Pastor Greg Goebel

Family of Jesus Fellowship Church

She was driving a 17-foot U-Haul truck with a full trailer behind it carrying her car. As she left Omaha, she called to say she was on the way. "We prayed for armor around her and Brandy Brown, a foster daughter, who was accompanying her," Mrs. Ashworth said. "We also prayed for angels around the truck and trailer."

They stopped that night at a motel, but woke up early. They started out again not realizing how dark it was. They drove down the highway, struggling to see in the dark countryside. The highway turned, but they went straight. They realized they were on a narrow, two-lane country road. Suddenly, a flash of light appeared in the darkness. Looking in her rear-view mirror, Jackie saw a semi-trailer with a lighted cross on the radiator.

Overwhelmed by this sign of God’s love, she prayed her thanks to him, while attempting to see where she was going. The road had no boundary stripes.

Now she became aware of another large truck passing both the semi and her rig. This truck pulled in front of her with all kinds of lights on the rear of the trailer.

It is a good question, and Jesus used it to make an important point: "Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (verse 3).

The disciples must have been surprised, even puzzled. Perhaps they had been thinking of people such as Elijah, who called down fire from heaven to consume some enemies, or a zealous person like Phinehas, who killed compromisers (Numbers 25:7-8). Were they the greatest in the history of God’s people?

But their idea of greatness was misguided. Jesus said that what God wants most in his people is not bravado, not spectacular works, but childlikeness. In fact, if we do not become like little children, we will not be in the kingdom at all!

In what way are we to be like children? Are we to be immature, childish, uninformed? No. We are to put childish ways behind us (1 Cor. 13:11). We are to discard some characteristics of children, while keeping others.

One characteristic we need is humility, as Jesus says in verse 4: "Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." The humble person is, in God’s way of thinking, the greatest—the best example of what God wants in his people.

This is because humility is characteristic of God himself. God is willing to give up his privileges for our salvation. What Jesus did in becoming flesh was not some anomaly in God’s nature—it was a revelation of what God is really like all the time. God wants us to be like Christ, willing to give up privileges to serve others.

Some children are humble; others are not. Jesus used one particular child to make a point: we are to see ourselves in certain respects as like children—particularly in our relationship to God.

Jesus also pointed out that as children, we ought to welcome children (verse 5), and he probably meant this both literally and figuratively. We adults should be attentive to and respectful of young people. We should also welcome and respect people who are young in the faith, immature in their relationship to God and in their understanding of Christian doctrine. Our humility involves not only our relationship with God, but also with other people.

Abba, Father

Jesus knew that he had a unique relationship with God. Only he knew the Father well enough to reveal him to others (Matt. 11:27). Jesus called God by the Aramaic word Abba, an affectionate word that children and adults used for their fathers. Perhaps the best modern equivalent is "Dad."

In prayer, Jesus talked to his Dad, asking him for help and giving him thanks for whatever he had. Jesus says that we do not have to flatter our way into an audience with the King. He’s our Dad, and we can talk to him because he is our Dad. He has given us that right, so we can be confident that he hears us.

Although we are not children of God in exactly the same way that Jesus is the Son, Jesus taught his disciples to pray to God as Abba. Many years later, Paul could assume that the Roman church, more than a thousand miles from Aramaic-speaking lands, called God by the Aramaic word Abba (Rom. 8:15).

Using the word Abba isn’t required in prayers today, but the widespread use of the word in the early church shows that it made an impression on the disciples. They had been given an especially close relationship with God, a relationship that gave them guaranteed access to God through Jesus Christ. The word Abba was distinctive. Other Jews didn’t pray like that, but the disciples of Jesus did. They knew that God was their Dad. They were children of the King, not just members of a chosen nation.

Rebirth and adoption

The apostles used several metaphors to help communicate the new fellowship that believers have with God. A term like redemption conveyed the idea that we become God’s property. We were redeemed from the slave-market of sin through an enormous price—the death of Jesus Christ. The "price" wasn’t paid to anyone in particular, but it did convey the idea that there was a cost involved in our salvation.

A term such as reconciliation emphasized the fact that we were once enemies of God, and are now restored to friendship through Jesus Christ. His death allowed our sins, which separated us from God, to be wiped off the record. God did this for us, because we were completely unable to do it ourselves.

The analogies that Scripture gives us are analogies, and the fact that several are used indicates that none of them gives us the complete picture. This is especially true when it comes to two analogies that would otherwise be mutually contradictory: first, that we are born from above as children of God, and then, that we are adopted.

Both these analogies tell us something important about our salvation. Being born again tells us that there is a radical change in who we are as human beings, a change that begins small and grows in our lives. We are new creations, new people, living in a new age.

Adoption tells us that we were once strangers to the kingdom, but now, by God’s decision, attested by the Holy Spirit, we are declared God’s children, with full rights of inheritance and identity. We who were once far off have been brought near through the saving work of Jesus Christ. In him we die, yet because of him we do not have to die. In him we live, yet it is not we who live, but new people, being created by the Spirit of God.

Each metaphor has its value, and each has its weakness. Nothing in the physical or social world can fully convey what God is doing in our lives. But these are the analogies he has given us, and one of the most consistent images that Scripture uses is that we are children of God.

Become as children

God is Creator, Sustainer and King, but far more importantly for us, he is Dad. It’s an intimate bond, expressed in the most important relationship of first-century culture.

In that society, you were known by your dad. Your name was, for example, Joseph son of Eli. Your place in society was determined by your dad. Your economic status, your occupation, your future spouse, were determined by your dad. If you inherited anything, it was from your dad.

In modern society, mothers play a more prominent role, and many people today have a better relationship with mom than with dad. If the Bible were being written today, maternal metaphors might be equally common. But in Bible times, father metaphors were more important.

God sometimes reveals himself with maternal characteristics, but he always calls himself a Father. If our relationship with our dad is good, then the analogy works well. But if our relationship with our dad is bad, then we will have to think harder to see what God is trying to communicate to us.

We are not to judge God as no better than the father we know, but to think more creatively, to the idealized parental relationship that no human being ever matches up to. God is better than the best.

* We have confidence and courage. We can preach with boldness, without fear of persecution. Even though we may be killed, we do not fear, for we have a Dad no one can take away from us.

You’re worried that if we put too much stock in grace, people won’t care how they behave?

"Yes, I guess I am."

You know, I have never met a Christian who did not care about how he or she behaves. It just comes with the territory—Christians care about how they behave. But I have met lots of Christians who have serious trouble believing God could keep on loving them and forgiving them in spite of how rotten they continue to behave.

Most of us Christians have an easy time seeing our sins and trying to do better. What we have trouble with is handing off our deep sense of guilt and failure to Christ. Most of us are always and ever struggling to overcome something, but our moments of deep peace and guiltless rest in God’s total and unconditional love for us are few and far between.

"Well, that supports my point. If we would quit sinning, then we wouldn’t have to suffer from guilt."

You said you realized that even our goodness is tainted with sin, and you are right about that. It is. If we are honest with ourselves, and as Christians, we ought to feel free to be honest with ourselves, we know we are never guilt-free. But in Christ, we are guilt-free, not because of us, but because of him. God accounts us righteous in Christ. All we can do is believe it, because we can’t see actual evidence of it. We might see a little, or even a lot, of improvement in this or that aspect of our lives, but we never see anything close to perfection (unless we are delusional).

In other words, yes, we should fight sin in our lives, and because Christ lives in us, we do. But we should never measure God’s love for us by our success levels in achieving sinlessness. God wants us to trust him to be our righteousness.

When we trust him to be our righteousness three things happen: 1) We realize we are not righteous (that is, we are sinners in need of mercy; that’s what we mean by repentance—admitting we are sinners in need of mercy). 2) We realize his Word, his promise to forgive us and save us, is good. 3) We rest in him.

Have you ever noticed that when God got the hottest with Israel it was not over moral lapses, but over unbelief (Psalm 106:6-7, 21, 24; Hebrews 3:9, 12, 19)?

They would not trust him to do what he said he would do for them, which was, specifically, to save them, to be their salvation, to take care of them. Instead of trusting him, they would make treaties with neighboring countries, or sacrifice to the gods of other nations, or trust in their own military strength.

(And hand in hand with their untrust, they would oppress the poor and weak among them. Not trusting God to take care of us always leads to walking all over the poor and weak. That is because when you try to make your own way in the world, you have to adopt the ways of the world, play by the world’s rules—survival of the fittest.)

Trusting in God means that when we are hurt or taken advantage of, or when problems arise or tragedy strikes, all is not lost, because Christ was raised from the dead for us. It means that we know we have nothing to lose because everything we have was given to us by God in the first place.

It means we can cast all our cares on him because he cares for us. And that takes faith, because God’s deliverance from the many things that fall upon us in this life very seldom comes in ways that make sense to us.

Sometimes deliverance doesn’t come in this life at all. In the same way, overcoming all our sins doesn’t come in this life, which means we have to trust him when he says he doesn’t count our sins against us (Romans 4:1-8) and that our new lives are hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3).

Holy in Christ

Sin is our enemy as well as God’s enemy. It destroys the creation, including us. But God has moved powerfully, decisively and once for all in Christ to redeem the creation, including us, from the corruption of sin. The outcome of the war with sin has already been determined through the death and resurrection of the incarnate Son of God. The devil, along with the sin and death he champions, has already been defeated, but he still exercises influence in the world until Christ returns.

By God’s grace, we are God’s children. Our hearts are turned to him, devoted to him and sanctified by him. We have tasted his goodness and experienced his love, and we have given our allegiance to him. We fight sin in our lives and strive to walk in righteousness because he lives in us.

Christ’s victory is our victory. In other words, what Christ did, he did for us, and he stands for us with God. We are holy because, and only because, we are in Christ. That is something we can see only with the eyes of faith—we have to trust God that it is so.

Christian life a paradox

Here is another way of putting it: God has given us an active part in Christ’s victory. We stand clean and forgiven in Christ’s blood even while we seek, but fail, to live in harmony with God’s perfect love. A repentant heart and commitment to obedience characterize our lives of faith in Christ, yet we routinely fall far short of Christ’s ideal.

When we fail, which is continually, we can trust in the forgiveness of our God who loves us so much that he gave his Son to redeem us. In Christ, we stand, and we stand only because we are in Christ, who is for us, as opposed to against us.

In Christ, even though we are sinners, we are righteous. Even when our commitment flags, Christ’s commitment to us does not—God is faithful even when we falter (2 Timothy 2:13). There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Romans 8:1).

Now if all this sounds like a crazy paradox, it is. At least, it is from our perspective. But from God’s perspective, it is the way the universe is put together. God loves and redeems, and he has made all things new in Christ. We are dead in sin, yet we are alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:5; Colossians 2:13). We still sin, yet God no longer considers us sinners (Romans 4:8). Our real lives, which are a new creation, are hidden in God with Christ (Colossians 3:3). Just as the old creation is judged, the new creation is saved.

Does that make sin OK? The question misses the point. Sin is not OK. It is never OK. But it is defeated. Its teeth have been pulled. It is on its last legs. It still slaps you around and might even kill you, but God has you covered forever.

Jesus confirms the ideals of the life of the kingdom in Matthew 5. The old categories of the law of Moses are transcended by Jesus’ description of the transformed heart that reflects the new life in him.

It is a heart that puts others ahead of self, that not only avoids hurting others but also actively loves others. It is a pattern of life that cannot be measured by mere outward appearances, but flows instead from a new creation, a new interior, a new birth.

It is the heart of Christ. And as such, it is a heart we are given, not one that we work up with moral energy and personal commitment.

"Why does Jesus say that anyone who does not keep the whole law and teach it will be called least in the kingdom of heaven?"

Because it is true. But remember, it is in Jesus that we keep the whole law, not in ourselves. It is Jesus who has kept it for us. The law condemns us because we cannot help but fail to keep it (Galatians 3:10-14). In Christ, there is no condemnation.

We become law keepers only by putting our faith in Jesus, who himself alone is our righteousness. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. We don’t begin to have what it takes to stand righteous in the presence of God. Jesus does, and the gospel is God’s good news that God has in Christ made us everything he wants us to be.

Because we can’t see, if we are honest, any physical evidence of that, we can know it only by faith in the One who gives us the gift (Galatians 3:22). That’s why God pleads, "Trust me!"

And one other point, while we’re on the topic. When Jesus refers to the law here in Matthew 5, he is obviously not talking about the whole old covenant law. Otherwise we would all be wearing blue tassels and phylacteries (not too wide we hope) and sacrificing lambs.

Whatever way Jesus is defining "law" here, we are law keepers only through faith in him, not through our ever-bungling efforts to avoid sin.

Devotion born of trust

Jesus is our Savior, Lord and Teacher. We can start with the confidence that we are indeed forgiven and saved, purely as God’s free gift to us through his Son. Jesus is our Savior.

With that sure trust in God’s true word of grace, and because his love is growing in us from the moment we believed him, we can (in his strength) devote ourselves to doing whatever he says. Jesus is our Lord, which also means he is our Master, our King, our Ruler.

We come to know God better and understand his will more fully by listening to what he has given us about himself in the Bible. Some of the ways we listen to him are: reading the Bible, listening to our teachers in the church (Ephesians 4:11-14), reading devotional writing by Christian teachers, as well as "listening" to God’s prompting of our wills during prayer. Jesus is our Teacher.

"So, you’re saying that obedience really is important?"

Yes. We are commanded to obey God. If we believe in God’s mercy and love through Christ, then the Holy Spirit works in us to lead us to desire to obey God, and to actually obey him.

"So, that’s what we mean by ‘bearing fruit’?"

Exactly. We bear fruit, but it is not really that we are doing it ourselves. It is the Holy Spirit working in us to bear it. But the beauty is that the Spirit makes us able to cooperate with his work in such a way that we are indeed pleasing God and bring glory to him through Christ.

"But, back to the original problem. We fall short a lot."

Yes, we do. But again, we can rest in the confidence that God has already forgiven us, already saved us and already made us his saints. In that confidence we don’t have to languish in discouragement; we can get up and continue our struggle against sin, resting in the sure and unlimited love of God. Our failures, lapses and sins are not the measure of who we are in Christ; his faithful word and his victory for us are.

"So, we really are in a battle against sin."

Of course we are. But the victory does not depend on us; it depends on Christ, and he has already won. We are living out the implications of his victory in our personal struggles, and because the victory is already his, our God-given part in his victory is not at stake.

Our part has already been secured by the Son of God. By God’s gracious will for us, we are indeed safe in Christ, and we can take joy and rest in God’s presence if we believe his word about that. (If we won’t believe God’s word about that, then, of course, we won’t be able to rest in his joy. God doesn’t force people not to stew in hell, but hell is not his choice for them.)

Teaching right living

"But shouldn’t the church teach people right ways to live?"

Yes, it should. And as it does so, it needs to keep in mind that teaching right ways to live is not the same as teaching people how to be loved by God or how to be saved. The two must be kept separate.

God already loves us and has already saved us, even though we are sinners. Right living can help us avoid loads of trouble, pain and heartache, but it can’t make God love us or save us any more than he already has.

"But doesn’t it please God when we live right?"

Yes, it does. It pleases God because he loves to see us living in tune with him and with the persons he has made us to be in Christ. Likewise, he hates to see us torturing ourselves and living in fear and despair, out of harmony with the new creation he has made of us in Christ. Do we stop loving our children when they ignore our rules and warnings and get themselves hurt? God loves us even more than we are able to love our children.

We need to understand that with the new covenant in Christ, God has eclipsed the old system of reward for righteousness and punishment for sin (Hebrews 10:9-10). That system bound everybody under sin and death (Galatians 3:21-22).

Because of our utter helplessness, weakness and bondage, he has taken on himself for us the punishment for sin, and he, as the righteous Human for all humans, shares with us the rewards of his righteousness. Those rewards for righteousness are reconciliation and unity with God. We receive everything Christ has done for us only one way: in faith, and without faith, or trust in God that his word of the gospel is true, we will not accept his love, reconciliation and eternal life.

What this means is that we must get rid of the notion that our behavior determines how God feels about us. God alone determines how God feels about us, not our good works or our bad works. God decided before all time that he loves us, and his Son is the perfect Human for us in our place so that God’s love for us may be complete and eternal precisely because its essence is his love for his Son. He will be faithful even when we are not faithful, because in Christ we are reconciled with the Father, and it is in Christ that he loves us for the sake of Christ.

So, when we teach people to live rightly, we are teaching them, and ourselves, how to live free of the bondage and pain that accompanies sin. We are not teaching how to be better than others, more loved of God than others, more important to God than others, or even more righteous than others. That is because our righteousness is only in Christ, and we walk in that righteousness only by faith in him, not by avoiding illicit drugs, sex and violence.

To be sure, life is indescribably smoother if we do avoid illicit sex, drugs and violence. But we need to remember that the blood of Jesus is just as necessary for indifference, laziness, stubbornness, selfishness, gossip, judgmentalness, secret envy and the like as it is for blatant adultery, grand theft, heroin trafficking and murder. We are all sinners, regardless of how much success we achieve in right living, and we all stand in need of mercy at the foot of Jesus’ cross.

Faith in the faithful One

Still, the church does have the role of teaching right living, and every one of us does have an obligation to God to commit ourselves to doing everything God wants us to do. God gives us all this instruction about right living because it is good for us, and because it reflects the way he is toward us. The more we trust in God to save us from our sins, the more we desire to turn away from sin. Yet it is God himself, reigning in his divine freedom to save sinners in Christ, who actually delivers us from sin.

When we pore over pornography or engage in casual sex, we are reinforcing empty illusions about human intimacy that corrupt our ability to find real and fulfilling intimacy. In other words, we are robbing ourselves of the very thing that led us to the porn site or the one night stand in the first place, the need for an honest, trusting, intimate relationship.

Besides that, we are defrauding and taking advantage of other children of God for our own gratification, whether by in-dulging in photographic images of their shame and ignorance, or by participating with them in their own painful journey of humiliation and indignity. We are ignoring God’s warning to avoid the attractive but dangerous trap door in our quest for the real thing he made us to need and desire.

When we resort to fraud or larceny, petty or otherwise, we are turning our backs on God’s promise to be our provider and see us through. We are finding our own solutions to our needs or wants, overlooking the consequences our actions will bring to others, and robbing ourselves of the peace of heart that God wants us to experience with him through the deepening trust that comes of patience.

Church of forgiven sinners

Whatever instruction the church gives in paths of right living needs to be framed in humility and love. The same Bible from which we draw God’s pearls of wisdom about human conduct provides us his testimony about his Son who died to save us from our failure to heed perfectly such instruction.

Every teacher of the Bible is himself or herself a sinner. As fellow sinners with the world, then, we must guard against the tendency of the church to allow its proclamation to descend into a mere rattle of condemnation against people who don’t walk in the precepts of the Bible. To become a voice of condemnation does violence to the gospel and reduces the Christian proclamation into merely another religion vainly trying to hold together a powerless façade of human morality.

The church (I’m talking about the people, not the buildings) is the place in the world where the gospel visibly intersects human history. It is the place where sinners have found out they are clean and forgiven, and where these forgiven sinners continually offer to God their worship, praises and thanksgiving.

It is where this good news of the gospel is celebrated and affirmed for everyone who will listen. It is where the love of Christ can take root in the world. It is where men, women and children of faith have been made able, by their Savior and Lord in whom they trust, to be like him in the world—a friend of despised people and sinners.

Wherever the church comes into contact with the world, the world should be the better for it. The poor should be hearing good news. Prisoners should be hearing about the release that transcends physical freedom. People in bondage to personal and societal sin should be finding mercy, kindness and hope.

The cleansing, purifying light of Christ’s truth and love and peace should be finding its way into dark fears, lost hopes and tortured souls. And this should be happening because the crucified Christ is risen and living in his people, not because the church found an ancient book of laws it can use to more effectively declare sinners condemned.

Jesus did not come to condemn the world, but to save it (John 3:17). That is why the gospel is good news! How sweet it is when the proclamation of the church is the same good news.

This was true in the time of the early church, and it is true today. We participate as best we can, yielding to the love and authority of Jesus Christ in our lives.

John Hayward of the University of Glamorgan, in Wales, wrote a significant article for the Quadrant, the journal of the Christian Research Institute in Great Britain.

Since most of you do not have access to this journal, I would like to share some of his findings regarding patterns and cycles that re-occur in the Christian church in Britain over the last century.

One of Dr. Hayward’s findings that struck a particular chord with me is the identification of a particular category of church member, whom he calls an enthusiast.

Dr. Hayward says that "growth [of a church] ends for lack of contacts with unbelievers, not lack of enthusiasm [of the church members]. The growth eventually ceases because the enthusiasts spend proportionately less time ‘infecting’ the shrinking pool of unbelievers. Only if unbelievers are deliberately sought out will growth last."

Dr. Hayward categorizes the growth of the church as being similar to "an epidemic of a disease. It has small beginnings that lead to substantial growth, which eventually slows down."

Whenever we find times of revival growth, we also find these enthusiasts present. I find this corroborated in our own experience.

In the latter half of the ’60s, we experienced explosive growth in the church. Enthusiasts abounded. Even though we encouraged them not to, they continually shared their excitement with friends and relatives.

Who are these enigmatic enthusiasts, and what can we learn about them? My guess is that nearly all of us know, or at least have known enthusiasts. Some of us probably used to be enthusiasts, and I pray that some of you reading this now find that you are enthusiasts.

Enthusiasts are often relatively new Christians. They may or may not be spiritually mature. Sometimes they don’t know much about the Bible.

But we must remember what their role is: they infect other people with their enthusiasm. They have experienced the love of God in a way that is obviously genuine and is apparent to those who know them well.

The new work that the Holy Spirit is doing in the lives of the enthusiasts can be extremely magnetic to unbelievers who are searching for meaning in their lives.

It is important to be clear about what the enthusiast does well. He or she may not be able to teach and ground a person in the faith. But the enthusiasts have something that draws people to come and see for themselves. When Jesus healed lame people and they went cavorting through the streets to their homes, they drew crowds.

In the same way when people see someone who was spiritually lame now whole and full of hope, that can cause a person to want to see for themselves. This gives the rest of the Body the opportunity to express Christ’s love and acceptance.

So, the enthusiast’s value is not necessarily seen within the congregation. They do their best work outside the congregation in the presence of unbelievers.

Quality over quantity

A small number of enthusiasts who have something spiritually worthwhile to offer will have great effect. Again, this is because the enthusiasts’ lives have been touched by God in such a way that is a) obvious and b) causes unbelievers to see a glimmer of hope that they might benefit as well. This stimulates unbelievers to want to find out more.

A major threat to enthusiasts is the fact that the church in the West has become so institutionalized. Even our contact with unbelievers tends to be turned into an outreach program of one kind or another.

Good works are good for the Christian, but do not necessarily lead others to reach out to Christ. They are of redemptive value only if they illuminate and lead to the One who is truly good. These programs can be unintentionally destructive when they occupy the time and energy of the few enthusiasts who may exist, and keep the enthusiasts tied up in institutionalized service or outreach.

So, when the rare new enthusiast comes along, we can’t wait to plug him or her into some ministry within the church. This is often driven by a desire to relieve the pressure a little on the 20 percent of a typical congregation who statistically carry the ministry burden for the 80 percent who statistically do little or nothing.

It is critical that we may be running the risk of ministering ourselves to death. A congregation can have so many ministries (inreach or outreach) that no one has any time to live a simple, transparent, transformed life in authentic relationship with the unbelievers who are part of the daily orbit of the enthusiast. It is also important to understand that the enthusiast does not have the same impact when part of a church’s ministry as he or she will have when in close personal contact with unbelievers they know.

The enthusiast is at his or her best when in personal relationship with those people who know him or her well and who would recognize the miracle that is taking place in the enthusiast’s life. This allows Christ to manifest himself as a personal Lord who engages the personal life of people who cannot save themselves.

My father was an enthusiast. He and mom were two people who were so determined to respond to what God was doing in their lives that he hopped a train halfway across the country and appeared in Pasadena to check out this church that he couldn’t seem to get any information about.

A few years later, we were living in Pasadena, where my dad had become a student at Ambassador College. Our house was a zoo. You never knew what stranger dad had run into and would bring home for dinner. In a few cases those who came for a meal turned into an extended stay with us.

Most of these people were brand new prospective members, who, like mom and dad, were determined to find out what this church was all about.

My parents were not yet mature Christians, they were still learning themselves. But their enthusiasm was so infectious that many of those they influenced went on to become mature Christians.

In some cases they later became pillars and leaders in the church, names many of you would recognize.

My parents did not remain enthusiasts forever; no one does. As they matured in the faith, more and more of their friends and relatives also either became converted, or drew a line and wanted nothing to do with religion.

But for a period of time in our history one generation of enthusiasts produced another that followed. While explosive growth is spiritually driven, nonetheless, enthusiasts abound and play a major part in the growth cycle.

We have precious few enthusiasts today in the Worldwide Church of God. I’ve met a few, and perceive that sometimes we, the more "mature ones" in the congregation, chalk up their enthusiasm to immaturity.

Our focus as a fellowship took a big step in moving from reacting to our past, to looking ahead and planning for our future. Though income is still a great challenge, 2000 was not significantly below 1999 in income. A big factor was a substantial increase in estate donations. This was the first year that had not seen a significant decrease in income for more than a decade.

Last year evidenced a growing realization that we need to focus on reaching our youths for Jesus Christ. We saw a marked increase in youth activities and involvement in many of our congregations. Increasing numbers of our youths are committing their lives to Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior and are taking the step of baptism.

As members have a more Christ-centered focus, marvelous fruit is being born. Individual members and congregations are getting involved in service and in sharing the gospel with others.

Vision and mission statements

Many of our congregations have worked hard to develop vision and mission statements. This has proven to be a fruitful exercise in focusing attention on the commission Jesus gave to his body. It is helping congregations make plans to more effectively carry out the Christian mission in their regions.

We are of course encouraging a great deal of prayer in this process. It is only when such an activity is truly bathed in prayer that we find the guiding hand of God. To be successful, a congregation must seek to find what is God’s vision for them. As they pursue that vision, they can be assured of God’s guidance and blessing. That way, the kingdom of God is truly being advanced—not just a human agenda.

To create a structure that will support these critical congregational activities, we are moving to link congregational financial donation levels to the amount of money available for their budgets. Though this is causing some painful adjustments, we feel that in the long run, this system will enable congregations to determine the amount of money that will be available to pursue their goals.

This stems from the recognition that the engine for preaching the gospel is no longer the highly centralized media operation we once relied upon. Rather, it is the individual Christian and the congregation that are the primary means by which the commission to the church is expressed. As a direct consequence, we need to adjust our denominational systems—including our financial system—to support this.

We still recognize the need to support one another. We still process donations at our central office, be they mailed in or gathered in congregational collections.

We still use a portion of the money, beyond denominational overheads, to help out congregations unable to meet their costs. However, the amount available is less than it used to be. More of the money is being directed to the congregations from which it was donated.

We still have a strong desire to retain close denominational ties, at the national level, and to our world body. We have walked a similar path, and retain a real interest in what is occurring in other parts of the WCG.

Spiritually healthy congregations

The WCG Canada recognizes that the members of a spiritually healthy congregation should be involved in representing Jesus to the world and drawing people to him. Further, the congregation itself should be a place where believers are led to become committed, lifelong disciples of Christ.

As maturing disciples, they will then become empowered and enabled to use their gifts to reach out to others.

Scriptural mandate

In this way, a congregation can be actively engaged in the scriptural mandate given to the body of Christ. I believe this vision is becoming an increasing reality throughout our 75 congregations.

The vision of the WCG Canada was developed about four years ago, as a response to the implications our doctrinal changes were having on our understanding of Christianity.

Essentially that vision serves as a description of what we were coming to understand a healthy church would look like. From that vision, decisions regarding how we ought to structure our denomination in Canada, including our national office, naturally flowed. We have come a long way in implementing that new vision, though we still have work to do to complete the plan. We have a strong sense of where we need to go to be effective in the service of Jesus Christ.

One of the most effective tools we have developed over the past few years is Northern Light magazine. The magazine is produced 10 times a year, and serves as a tool that edifies our membership, and as well keeps us linked together by including articles about our fellowship throughout Canada, as well as in other parts of the world.

We were pleased when the November-December issue of Faith Today included an article from Northern Light. Faith Today is the primary magazine of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, and is widely circulated. The article featured one of the members of our Halifax, Nova Scotia, congregation, Grace Whitman.

The Faith Today article was picked up by the popular Canadian Broadcasting Corp. talk show Morningside, and was aired twice on their coast to coast radio show. The segment included an interview with Pastor Owen Willis, as well as an interview with Mrs. Whitman herself. It was exciting to see the growing effect of our denominational magazine. It also underlines the amazing ways in which God will use his children as a witness to the world. The interviewer was highly impressed by the loving affection for God and his word expressed by Mrs. Whitman.

Pluralistic society

Contemporary Canada is a multi-cultural mosaic of people from different parts of the earth, and is pluralistic and tolerant. That is good in many ways, but presents a challenge when presenting the gospel. The claim that absolute truths are at the core of Christianity is viewed with increasing skepticism.

It takes much longer to build confidence in people, and longer for them to become fully grounded in the truths of salvation. We cannot presume a base of generally agreed upon truths. Though most people in Canada say they believe in God, and a surprisingly high percentage say they have faith in the Christian message, many have little to undergird those professed beliefs. Even a rudimentary knowledge of the Bible is missing, as we have a generation that, unlike the previous generation, had little religious teaching growing up. People are skeptical of organized religion and they mistrust religious leaders.

Spiritual hunger

On the other hand, people have a real spiritual hunger. Youths seem to have an openness to spiritual answers much greater than even a decade ago. A church congregation that is genuine in its Christianity, offers a loving, caring community and exhibits patience and tolerance over things that aren’t sin, can do much to reach this sort of society with the life-giving gospel.

The key word seems to be authenticity. People will respond when they see a genuine faith, reflected in a humble, caring heart. We know we aren’t perfect, and never will be, in the flesh. In every sense of the word we are saved by the graciousness of God. But as we yield to Jesus Christ and allow him to live his life in us through the transformational work of the Holy Spirit, we know great things can happen.

As U.S. President Dwight David Eisenhower (1953-1961) warned, "Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him."

I get this from friends, family, former church members, current church members, other pastors and basically people all around. It’s not just those outside the WCG, but also those inside who don’t understand why people stay, even themselves.

Sharing my heart

I think the main question here is, "Why do I love the WCG?" It’s a question I’ve continually asked myself, asked God and been asked of by others. For this reason I write to share my heart and part of my journey in this with you, as you may ask yourself, "Why do I love the WCG?"

I could begin to say that you in the WCG are my people. I’m a Worldwidian practically by birth, being raised in the church by parents who came in right about the time I was born. I’ve been through fasting and pagan bashing, matzos and not eating Ho-Hos, and Sabbath days that kept me from sports, not keeping holidays and watching what we put on our food trays.

I say all of these things with a big smile on my face as even the hardest-sounding memories bring joy to me because I had so much fun as a child. It wasn’t the activities, the lessons or any programs that are the most fond to me, but the people, the community and the sense of belonging that are imprinted in my mind.

It was right around the time of The Changes that I gave my life to Christ. As a teenager in the church, we had no youth group or even youths, but the love of the adults in the congregation kept me coming, even while my parents had stopped.

With the help of our pastor and others in the church, I had learned the gospel, what it meant to be a Christian and finally, I decided to be baptized.

What joy it was! Even in a cow trough in someone’s basement, I felt as if I was with some of the most important people in the world, making the most important decision of my life. Those people surrounded me like a family, and began to raise me up in the faith, helping me along the way.

While finishing high school and continuing in my walk with God, I felt his calling on my life to be a pastor. I was going to many churches at the time, as well as the WCG, and started having connections with other pastors and youth pastors. Some put me in leadership positions over youth groups that out-numbered my whole congregation, and more and more talked of internships at major churches with good pay and good training.

At the same time I had been going to the Summer Educational Program camp for the summers. It was my main youth connection with our church, since we didn’t have much in my congregation. I started to feel some of the same things happening there that I felt in the other larger churches back home, but even better!

I was growing in Christ and helping others grow just by what went on there and how the camp was run. It was there that my confidence in the Lord was boosted, and a lot of my training began. Even more important though, is that it was there where my true love for WCG was hatched.

Through the SEP leaders, campers and staff, I felt the need and realized the part God had for me there. It hit me that many in those other churches could do my job, but not many had the specific skills I had for the work cut out there. It’s not so much the skills but the heart, and mine was beginning to develop for our church.

I liked the process going on in our denomination about theology and structure. I could see how headquarters was doing a lot of good things, and was full of great leaders for this church.

Spark fanned into flames

One thing touched me at camp that blew my spark of love for this church into flames.

In the continuing battle inside of me of whether to stay or not, to work here or there, I started to seek the Lord in prayer more and more. I wanted to know where he wanted me and why. It didn’t make much sense logically to me or others around me to stay with the WCG, yet something inside of me was keeping me and I couldn’t figure it out.

One night at camp, as all of this built up and was weighing on my soul, we had a praise and worship session. It was the usual joy and worship going on in the room with us all, as I could feel God’s presence in the room and especially in my heart. I write this with tears, as I can still remember and feel what I felt even then, as the worship leader spoke a quick word before a song that dropped me to my knees.

The song started to play, the words started to speak, and I knew I was getting my answer. "I have heard my people calling to me. Whom shall I send?" So the song went, and it was a question directly to me.

The tears flooded down my face as I slipped to the back of the room to hide from those who might see. God continued to churn inside of me what he wanted me to see, and through my blurred eyes I began to see the people in that room. They weren’t merely numbers or bodies or faces, but lives. I could see names and stories, and hurts and joys, all of them, and all that they needed, and all that God wanted them to have was what I saw.

Kids in desperate situations

"Whom shall I send?" was the question now asked. I knew how desperate the situation was in most cases. Kids who didn’t have much for them back home, who had so many struggles and needs, people with wounds that needed healing and questions that needed answering were all around me.

It was the scriptures from Isaiah 6 that this worship song came from, and so the song continued to answer back: "Here I am Lord. I will go." I walked out of the place with all of the people still on my mind, not able to see anything else when I closed my eyes.

It was there at camp that I realized just what or who the WCG really is. It’s not the size, the suits, the singing or even SEP. It’s not the programs, the preachers, the pews, the past or the problems. The WCG is the people. That night I realized who it was, instead of what it was that I loved.

I said: "Wouldn’t it be a lot easier to just go somewhere else? Dear God, this job is too hard. The task is too great!" But he answered me: "These are my people. I’ve heard their crying. Who can I send?"

I opened my Bible and it flipped right to a quote from Isaiah, the same book from which the song came from. The quote was in Luke 4:18-19: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor."

Right away I knew this was the message God was giving for those who were going to be his workers in our church, not just pastors, but all who would have this heart in them for the people. I could see the poor in that room, the prisoners, the blind and the oppressed. Those words in the Scripture each had pictures with faces on them now, but the message was that he would be with us. He has a plan for our people and our church, and right then I felt his love for the WCG, the people.

Here I am Lord, I will go

It was that night listening to my people, watching my people worship the Lord, and feeling his burden for them, that I said to the Father: "Here I am, Lord. I will go!" I go to church now and don’t worry about how good the service is, or if my wants are being met, but instead to look at those faces and see Jesus. It is this mind-set that has radically changed my life.

I can go to any WCG church all around and know that I’m welcomed and loved. I have a family here, a people that need me and whom I need. I feel like God is calling out to all of us, to be the ones he sends. We have a task that we’ve been created for, a history that has molded us for God’s purposes and a mission from him that we are to carry out.

I have a love for all people, for all lost and for all saved. Yet just as the apostle Paul had a special place in his heart for the Hebrew people, so I’ve got a special place in mine for the Worldwide Church of God. Forget all the wrongs you’ve done and the wrongs done to you, leave them at the cross of Jesus and look with him at what lies ahead.

I think you’ll see with me, just as God sees, just why we love the WCG. It’s because of you that I love this church, and for that I say: "Here I am, Lord. I will go!"

Several years back, George Barna wrote a book titled Generation Next. In it he wrote: "Churches spend the vast majority of their evangelistic dollars (more than 70 percent of it, by some of our preliminary research) on trying to penetrate the adult market. After decades and decades of such toil, we can confidently announce the results: such efforts bear little fruit."

Meanwhile, Barna’s research points to more fertile soil. "About three-quarters of all people who have consciously, intentionally and personally chosen to embrace Jesus Christ as their Savior did so before their 18th birthday."

He goes on to write that roughly half of American Christians made the decision to become Christians when they were between the ages of 8 and 13.

Guest Jim Blackwell led the praise and worship and discussion sessions throughout the weekend.

Friday night, Jan. 5, began with a praise service followed by a viewing of the Summer Educational Program video, get-acquainted games, and a message by Pastor Jim on how God can use things we might consider worthless to his glory.

Saturday began with a praise and worship service with several of the youths conducting special music, readings and a skit.

Pastor Jim then led the teens through the book of Esther pointing out that God is not mentioned once in the entire book, but it soon becomes evident that God is definitely working behind the scenes influencing the events that save Queen Esther and her people from death.

Jeramie Johnson, 18, from Alexandria, Louisiana, said, "I really appreciated learning how to recognize when God is working in our own lives."

Later everyone broke into groups to create and perform skits showing the difference between people who live without the hope of Christ in their lives vs. those who do have that hope. A couple of groups showed ways to share the gospel with others.

A formal banquet and dance took place Saturday evening, and on Sunday the group visited a nursing home, sang praise and worship songs and visited with many of the patients.

Mollie Scordill, 16, from Slidell, Louisiana, said, "It makes you feel good to help brighten their day."

The weekend ended with miniature golf and laser tag.

Emily Newkirk and Hannah Orsburn led worship, while a number of teens played in a praise band. Speakers included Jonathan James, Daniel Fischelli and John Henry. Holly Lewandowski read the announcements from a bulletin designed and prepared by Jesse Hebert and Michael Lewandowski.

Several teens presented a humorous skit, "Final Answer," written by Jesse Hebert. He acted in the skit as Regal Shoe-In, host of "Who Wants to Be a True Millionaire," a game show designed to lead contestants toward the true riches of accepting Jesus as their personal Savior. Ryan Dusek played the winning contestant.

An ensemble performed an interpretive dance to a song about repentance. Later, some of the teens assisted young children to the front of the church to watch a puppet show consisting of songs and skits about worshiping God. All the teens came onstage to sing "Here I Am, Lord."

At the end of the service, Pastor Lynn Hebert, the elders and other church leaders prayed over the teens. In attendance were Jeb and Barb Egbert, directors of the Summer Educational Program, whose sons John and James played in the band.

"The fruit is being borne—young people are coming to Jesus," Dr. Egbert said.

While hope always springs eternal, reality is what we have to live with. As we close the book on the first month of a new year, we received just over $1.25 million in regular mail donations. Last year, we received $1.43 million in January. That’s about a 12 percent decrease.

When we add special offerings and other sources of income, total income for the month was about $1.6 million compared to $1.75 million for January 2000.

Accurate picture

I pray that reporting these figures does not cause you to be discouraged. It is our intent to be open and forthright so that all of you will have an accurate picture of church finances. In that light, I certainly want to thank the thousands of you who have placed financial stewardship as a high priority in your life. Sharing the blessings you receive so that the work of your church can move forward is something we all appreciate so much.

From time to time people ask me, "How do you like your job as church controller?" I have a ready answer, "Well, if we had an annual income of $40 million, I would have the best job in the world." However, our income last year was $31 million.

Now that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy my job. For I truly do. It’s just that we had expenses of more than $34 million last year, so juggling the expense budgets and dipping into the reserve fund are constant realities. It would really be exciting if in the future sometime we could actually increase departmental budgets, provide pay raises to pastors and have significant funds available for local outreach and evangelism. That is my regular prayer.

However, as we prepared our 2001 budget, we continue to allocate funds from the reserve account to maintain our current level of ministers, employees and congregations. And we keep looking for the completion of the property sale so that we can earnestly begin our reorganization plan.

Property sale

Last year at this time, it looked as though that sale would have been completed by now. But these things have a life of their own, and a sale of this magnitude has many complicated twists and turns.

One major milepost in the sale was the preparation and release of the environmental impact report. That has been competed, and as I write this column the public is having opportunity to comment on the report. The city commission will then review public concerns and hopefully resolve any uncertainties that are raised.

New office facility

If all goes well with city planners and the developers, we look for a close of escrow sometime between late April and the middle of the summer months. In the meantime we are continuing our search for a new office facility to house the international headquarters of the Worldwide Church of God. Those plans are coming along, but of course we cannot enter into a final contract to purchase a new building until the close of escrow on our current property is secured.

If God’s grace is always larger than our sin, should we go through the work of changing our ways? If our salvation doesn’t depend on our work, should we simply remain the way we were? Is it OK for us to continue to sin?

"By no means!" Paul exclaims. We should quit sin, even though our salvation does not depend on our success in quitting sin. Obedience cannot earn us salvation, but it does have a purpose.

Death of the sinful self

"We died to sin," Paul says. "How can we live in it any longer?" (v. 2). What does Paul mean? Sin does tempt us, and we struggle against it. But sin makes no sense in our lives. It is self-contradictory to want salvation, to want to escape the death that sin causes, and yet want to sin.

"Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?" (v. 3). What this question needs, Paul says, is knowledge about what Christian baptism does. A person who is baptized into Christ is baptized into his death. But baptism doesn’t make all our sinful desires disappear, so what has died?

Jesus died, and in baptism, we died with him. The penalty for our sins is fully paid. Through faith, we are united with Jesus in his death and in his burial. Paul then explains the purpose: "in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life" (v. 4).

We were baptized/buried with Christ for this purpose: that we might live a new life. We do not continue life the way it was—we change. Baptism unites us not only with Jesus’ death but also his life (v. 5). We were symbolically buried so that we might also rise to a new way of life.

But why would anyone want to live in sin and live with Christ? This combination makes no sense. Why would anyone want to live forever with righteousness, if they want to live in sin right now?

"For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with" (v. 6). Our old person was a body under the power of sin, and it was killed on the cross.

Why? "... that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin" (vs. 6-7). In baptism, our old selves die, so we can escape the bondage of sin. Sin has no more authority over us. When we are united to Christ, we terminate the old life, leave sin behind and live a new life.

In making this point, Paul introduces new imagery: slavery and freedom. Sin is not just something we choose to do—it is a power that works against us. When we die with Christ, we are liberated from this evil slavemaster. We do not continue serving it, but we live a new life. We do not live perfectly, but we are to live in a new way.

Alive to God

"Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him" (v. 8). In this chapter, Paul is dealing with life right now. Do we continue in sin? No—we live with Jesus.

"For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him" (v. 9). Jesus has been freed from death and sin, and as we are united with Christ, we are freed from those powers, too. They have no authority over us. Sin may attract us at times, but it cannot force us to do its will. We are no longer slaves of sin.

"The death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God" (v. 10). This is the choice set before us: We can serve sin, or we can serve God. Paul tells us to copy what Christ does: "In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus" (v. 11). When sin tempts us, we are to count ourselves dead. We can say, No, my desire for that is dead.

This isn’t automatic, or else Paul wouldn’t have to tell us to do it. Our bodies may still have some life in them for sin, but we are to count ourselves as dead to sin. We must remind ourselves that we are really in Christ. We are to resist sin day by day.

But the Christian life is not simply a matter of refusing sin, of playing dead. We are to be alive—alive to God. Our desire to live for him should be vigorously alive!

"Therefore," Paul writes, "do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires" (v. 12). Of course, we do sin, but we know that Christ has paid the penalty. Our salvation is not in jeopardy, but we are still told to obey God and quit sinning.

A battle rages for control of our bodies. The old slavemaster, sin, has been defeated by Christ, but it still continues to attack us. It tries to recapture us, so we must resist it.

"Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness" (v. 13).

Who will win the battle? Let God win, Paul says, because you have been brought from death to life. That is what baptism pictures. You don’t have to let sin rule. Instead, let God rule.

We shouldn’t let sin use our body parts as tools to make us more wicked. Instead, we need to let God use our bodies as weapons of righteousness, as people who work for his kingdom.

"For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace" (v. 14). Under the law, we’d be condemned to die. But the penalty of sin has been paid, the power of sin has been broken, the captives of sin have been set free. Christ’s mercy has triumphed over the penalty prescribed by the law.

And because we are under grace, sin is not our master. Going back to sin is stupid—like running back to our old slavemaster, like a prisoner who has been pardoned running back to the old jail cell. It makes no sense to seek salvation at the same time as seeking sin. Either we want to get away from it, or not. Grace makes it possible for us to escape.

Slaves of righteousness

"What then?" Paul asks. "Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!" (v. 15). Paul tackles the question again. In this half of the chapter, he gives another way to arrive at the same answer. He develops the analogy of slavery.

"Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?" (v. 16).

If you choose sin, you are enslaving yourself to a master who will beat you and work you to death. Instead, choose to be a slave of doing right. The rewards are much better.

The Roman Christians made the right choice, Paul said. "But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness" (vs. 17-18). They obeyed the gospel.

"I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness" (v. 19). How did Paul know that the Romans were weak? Because all Christians are weak, in their natural selves.

The Romans had become slaves of righteousness, but they needed to be exhorted to continue. If we don’t resist sin, it gets worse and worse—ever-increasing wickedness. Instead, we want the habit of doing good. When we do that, it gets better and better—righteousness leading to holiness.

"When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!" (vs. 20-21). When we sin, it might look like we are free from outside control, but we are really enslaved. Sin produces death, and we do not want to serve that kind of master.

"But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life" (v. 22). As shown in baptism, Christ has set us free from sin—but we are also under obligation. We are slaves to God, and his benefits are infinitely better: holiness and eternal life.

How is eternal life the "result" of being set free from sin? In earlier chapters, Paul vigorously denied that our obedience causes or earns our salvation—salvation is a gift, based on faith, not works. Here, Paul makes a contrast: sin leads to shame and death; obedience leads to holiness and eternal life.

Why should we fight sin? Here is Paul’s summary: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (v. 23). Sin has bad results. It gives us what we deserve. New life in Christ, on the other hand, has wonderful results, in this life and in the future. It is not a miserly payout—it is a generous gift, given in advance.

Choose life, Paul says. Let righteousness reign! Be alive in Christ!

This theme will be emphasized throughout the worship and activities, and promises to be a time of renewal for the whole family. As in past years, we have tried to spread the sites across the country to make travel as convenient as possible.

Summer Festival 2001 will join the seven denominationally sponsored fall festival sites and will be conducted in Athens, Ohio. This new opportunity for celebration will take place on the campus of Ohio University, 90 minutes from Columbus.

The summer festival is scheduled at a time when many children can join in the celebration without missing school. It is Church Administration’s intent to vary location and time in coming years to provide similar opportunities for people in other parts of the country.

The seven festival sites join the Caribbean Festival cruise, and the tour of Turkey mentioned on the following page. Registration and tour information for these latter two events are available by calling Travel Gallery at 1-800-858-6999.

As in past years with the festival, the focus of this year’s conference will be a Celebration of Christ in worship and in praise. In addition to group celebrations, plans are for lectures, workshops and activities for the whole family, all conducted while maintaining times for fellowship.

According to Dan Rogers, superintendent of ministers: "We are excited about the addition of the summer festival. The Ohio University campus is a great facility within driving distance of many of our members. It will provide the family with a wonderful opportunity for discipleship, fellowship and relaxation."

Mr. Rogers took an inspection tour of the site with area pastors and Church Administration staff in February. One goal of this festival is to support our young people in their walk with Christ. Mr. Rogers continued: "We intend to have a good bit of focus on our young people, not only providing support and discipleship, but also teen activities. It is encouraging to see how the fire for our Lord has spread in our young people."

Ohio University enables us to provide many different activities for members of all ages. Adults may attend the Christ-centered lectures, presentations and ministry training for their spiritual enrichment. In addition to teen events, our pre-teens will receive Christ-centered teaching and activities during the Vacation Bible School. Pre-schoolers will have daily, age-appropriate instruction.

For registration information about Summer Festival 2001, call 1-800-972-9043.

The Ohio University campus is home to 20,000 students. It is within a tight geographical area and is within walking distance to the restaurants, shops and coffee houses of Athens. It will provide an atmosphere of worship and fellowship. The campus itself has a large range of recreation opportunities such as a movie theatre, golf course, bowling alley and its own extensive ropes challenge course.

Church Administration will mail a letter to all member households that will include further information and a schedule of fees for festival registration. Registration and further details are also available on our website at www.wcg.org/festival

As different types of celebrations are planned this year, please note that the dates fluctuate. The dates and locations for the festival sites are in the table below.

We understand that because of work or other obligations, members may choose not to attend one of the 2001 festival sites. All members are also invited to attend one of our district weekend conferences sponsored by Church Administration.

In whatever you do, we pray your daily walk will be filled with joy and that it will continue to demonstrate a celebration of Christ in your life.

Weekend fall festival sites

Riverside, California               Sept. 27 – Oct. 1              Larry Dietrich

Davenport, Iowa                           Oct. 3 - 6                                John Bailey

          Seaside, Oregon                          Oct. 3 - 7                               Joel Lillengreen

          Hot Springs, Arkansas                 Oct. 4 - 7                               Mike Booze

          Saratoga Springs, New York       Oct. 5 - 8                               Dan Bierer

KAHUKU-Oahu, Hawaii

For room reservations, call the Turtle Bay Hilton at 1-808-293-8811 or send fax to 1-808-293-9147. Rooms are $130 a night plus taxes for single or double occupancy. The group name is Worldwide Church of God.

To register, please send your full name; names of family members attending with you; mailing address; daytime telephone number; e-mail address if available; and T-shirt size to Convention Hawaii 2001; c/o Todd Southworth; 60 N. Beretania Street, No. PHA8; Honolulu, Hawaii, 96817. Mail checks or money orders payable to Convention Hawaii 2001. Register today, as seating is limited.

Lido di Jesolo, Italy

The church in Italy invites guests to the festival (Oct. 1 to 10) in Lido di Jesolo, a summer resort on the Adriatic Sea, east of Venice. Attendance will be about 200 to 250.

Languages spoken will be Italian, German and English. Simultaneous translations will be provided in these languages. In addition to worship services, prayer meetings and seminars, activities will include a dance, an evening of entertainment and tours to the Postojna Caves in Slovenia, and Trieste, Verona, Padua and Treviso. Venice can be visited any time during the festival.

Hotels are in walking distance of the meeting hall. An application fee to cover hall costs and general festival expenses will be $80 for a single adult and $130 for a family. Lodging costs in a four-star hotel on the beach with breakfast and dinner will be about $360 per person for nine nights. A three star hotel is about $250.

Being able to attend the conference was an answer to much prayer. The St. Joseph, Missouri, and Topeka, Kansas, congregations agreed to provide financial support for the trip.

The conference was not just a conference, it was a city reaching experience. For four days and evenings we worshiped together, heard Spirit-filled messages and prayed