By J. Michael Feazell
As Pastor General Joseph Tkach has said, this is the best of times and the worst of times.
It is the best of times spiritually, and the worst of times physically. But we walk by faith, not by sight.
None of us is happy about layoffs, but we have faith that God will provide for those who must find other employment and that he will also provide Spirit-led lay pastors.
While on one hand, we have no choice but to live within the budget we have, we also recognize that this is forcing us to move forward with the development and commissioning of many new leaders whom God will raise up.
Our fundamental priority in Church Administration is always to provide and maintain Spirit-led pastoral leadership in all our congregations. We are now in the process of screening potential lay pastors for congregations that do not have a resident pastor (for further information see article on page 8).
The next step will be an intensive training session in Pasadena from Dec. 26 to 31, followed by commissioning of those who are selected. Follow-up intensive training sessions will be conducted at least twice a year for at least two years.
It is our hope that most lay pastors will be commissioned in their home congregation. But some may need to relocate. In any case, we plan to be sure that the receiving congregation is willing to accept the new pastor before he will be officially assigned.
We plan to mail the first in-service training class to all pastors just after the Feast of Tabernacles. Commissioned lay pastors will receive copies of the class at the close of their training session in December.
The primary focus of training for all pastors, lay and full-time, will be on teaching the word of God, as well as on training leaders for small groups and developing leadership in general among the members.
The current level of income, which averaged $137,000 per day during August, may require the termination of several full-time ministerial positions over the next six to twelve weeks.
We will also, among other cuts, be laying off several positions in Church Administration and other departments, and combining some congregations in metropolitan areas.
New opportunities for leadership are exciting and positive. But changing jobs can be frightening and depressing. Focused training for pastors and development of leadership in our congregations is positive and exciting. But losing a full-time pastor can be discouraging and frustrating.
If we go purely by sight, the physical facts of our situation may look bleak. But the spiritual reality could not be brighter. "Come to me," Jesus says, "all you who are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest."
We have come to him, and we stand in his rest. He has shown us his mercy and grace. We are in his personal care, and he loves us with an indescribable love.
Every member and every minister can look at the future of the church in one of two ways: negatively, with fear and discouragement, or positively, with vision and hope.
I think we all know how God would have us look at the future. And he will give us the courage, the peace, the assurance and the hope--if we desire it from him, if we come to him for it.
He is not afraid, he is not distraught, he is not worried and he is not depressed. He doesn't want us to be either. He has everything completely under control. He simply wants us to trust him.
He wants us to put our hope and faith in him and in nothing else. He wants us to know our need for him and to rest in his presence and let him work on our behalf.
Our church, and our lives, belong to our Lord. He is with us, and he reigns supreme. He will see us through--his way, not our way. He knows our needs, and he will provide them. He is "able to accomplish abundantly for more than all we can ask or imagine" (Ephesians 3:30).
Our God knows his plan for us, and it is good! Just as he told the Jewish exiles in Babylon, " `For I know the plans I have for you' declares the Lord, `plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future' " (Jeremiah 29:11).
Our Father feels exactly the same way about us. And since those words were written, he has powerfully demonstrated his love and power by giving his Son to die for us and raising him again to life that we might live anew in him.
In times of stress, he is with us. In times of fear, he is with us. In times of pain, he is with us. He will bring to completion his plan for us, his plan to give us hope and a future.
Friends, God is at work in all our lives. He is with us. He will never leave us nor forsake us. He will make a way even when there seems to be no way. He is the Chief Shepherd and Bishop of our souls.
Indeed, the God of the present, the past, and the future is with us. He fills his people with vision and hope. We praise and thank him for his goodness, for giving his Son for our redemption and salvation.
Mr. Tkach asked that we all give ourselves to daily prayer for those in our fellowship whose hearts are not yet fully committed to our Lord and Savior. Let that prayer be on our lips in every small group, in every worship service, and in every private prayer.
Our discouraged and grieving brothers and sisters desperately need the surpassing joy of the gospel, and the most important thing we can do for them is lift them before God in heartfelt prayer, even as we maintain personal, caring contact with them.
I believe God knew what he was doing when he called this group together. He didn't call us to errors, exclusivity or unchristian behavior. He didn't call us to misinterpretation of Scripture or to false doctrine.
Those are real, and they are a sad part of our history. But I believe he did call us together, especially those who still remain in our church today.
He called us together into a fellowship that, by his grace already at work in us, honored the Bible even though it misunderstood important parts of it, that honored Jesus Christ even though it hadn't yet come to know him face to face, that honored God as supreme Lord of all though it didn't yet grasp the magnitude of his grace, and that was committed to obeying God at all costs even though it didn't yet understand his will very clearly.
I believe this church was on a path of redemption that the loving God in heaven, who knows the end from the beginning, had set it on. I believe he called us together with all our peculiarities, prejudices, preconceptions and passions into a church that catered to our ideas of what Christianity ought to be, that he might reveal his glory through us by bringing us to redemption.
The errors and sins are ours. The glory is God's. And that's just the point. God is the Redeemer. And he has redeemed us. But not all of us have yet tasted that joy, assurance and faith.
Some still need to turn to Christ and have the veil removed. And who better understands their grief, their pain, their struggle, their confusion, and is therefore better equipped than we are, to pray for them?
Physical conditions are temporary. But the spiritual condition God gives his children is forever. Let's see the vision God has. Let's stand in the hope he sets before us. And let's weather this physical storm with the spiritual resources only Jesus can provide.
Sept. 17, 1996, Worldwide News, page one
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