There has never been a better time to be in the Worldwide Church of God! Yes, we are still quite imperfect, and we have a long road ahead of coming out of our past legalism, but Jesus is leading us powerfully to the Father's throne of grace. By the grace of God, this church will never be what it was before. God has transformed us from the inside out, and there is no turning back.
Whatever happens from this point on, we have already been given by God the most important thing we could ever have been given--salvation! We've been born again by the grace of God through faith in his Son, and nothing can take us out of the hand of our Savior.
Spiritually, our church has never been stronger. More people in our church have come to saving faith in Christ this year than ever before. And by his truth and love, we are now able to truly walk by faith and not by sight. We don't know what the next year holds. But we do know that God is good, and he will make a way for us even where there seems to be no way. He works in ways we cannot see. There is always hope, even when things seem hopeless. We are in God's hands. And there is no better or safer place to be.
Spiritually, things have never been better. Physically, we face serious challenges. Contributions in August fell below budget to a daily average of $137,000. This means that cutbacks are again necessary. This time, I'm sorry to say, it will mean some layoffs of ministers in addition to layoffs at headquarters.
Ambassador's financial support from the church was eliminated in August.
PTM is actually more than just the PT. It is the former Media Operations, and as such, it is an integral part of the church because it still handles all the church's mail processing, including all donation processing, and prepress preparation for The Worldwide News, as it always did. The church must provide enough support to PTM to carry out those functions. (In reality, PTM is a part of what we should call Media Services. Media Services is a church department that does vital work specifically for the church, and PTM is a part of it that serves as the church's media outreach.)
The Pasadena property is up for sale, and we are investigating various options on the best use of the property until it sells.
At the same time, God is providing Spirit-led leaders in our congregations who will be able to provide pastoral leadership and care into the new millennium.
God always makes a way. He is in control, and he knows what is happening. He will take care of the ministers and others we have to lay off. He will take care of the congregations. He will take care of the magazine. He will take care of Ambassador University.
We will all have to put our faith completely in him. But he will see us through according to his plan. None of us would have chosen this path. But our loving and all-powerful Father in heaven knows what we need. He knows what is best. And through it all, he is shaping us, molding us, conforming us to the image of his Son (Romans 8:29) that we might bring glory and honor and praise to his holy name!
This work is indeed a work of faith. This church must also be a church of faith. We rely not on ourselves, not on our own expertise or intellect or training, but on the Lord our God. God has called us to live in his presence, and to commit our lives, our hopes, our plans, our passions, to him. We are his property, his first-fruits, his own people, and more than that, his own children by the blood of Christ.
Are the times ahead dark? Only for those who do not have the eyes of faith. God has not brought us to the edge of the Red Sea to allow us to be destroyed by the advancing Egyptian army.
He will make a way. It may not be the way we expect or the way we would choose. But it will be the Lord's way. In our brokenness, we won't proceed perfectly along the path God has chosen for us, but God will never leave us nor forsake us. As long as our hearts are open to him, listening to him, trusting him, desiring him, knowing our need for him, and willingly following him, he will lead us forward in spite of our weaknesses and our failings.
I believe pain produces growth if we allow it to. I believe our greatest strength comes when we are weakest and most acutely aware of our desperate need for our God. I believe God knows us, knows our needs, and provides us exactly what we need. The end product will be to the glory of God.
Someone may ask, "How can we lay off ministers and expect the church to grow and donations to increase?"
I believe God would have us focus our resources onto the training and equipping of pastors, both our new lay pastors and our remaining full-time pastors. And a major part of that training will focus on training pastors to train and equip the members in their care for leadership and personal ministry. I believe this process can revitalize our members and prepare them for ministry and evangelism.
God has called us together to be the body of Christ. Wherever God's people are drawn together, there is the body of Christ. Whether it is a small church or a big one, it is the body of Christ.
The whole universal church is the body of Christ, and every single congregation and every small group around the world is each the body of Christ. But no one of us alone is the body of Christ. We are called into the fellowship of the saints, and we are told plainly that the whole body must work together, and that each part must do its work: "From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work" (Ephesians 4:16).
I praise God for his mercy and goodness toward us! Won't you join me in redoubled prayer for the future of our church?
Some of our members have said they have no sense of mission or purpose. I understand how they feel. But I grieve for them, because our church has had a misguided mission and false purpose for so long that they can't see the true and real mission and purpose though it is right before them. To preach Christ and him crucified is just "ho hum" to people who have been intoxicated on the drug of false doctrine. But God holds the cure.
I believe God wants us to pray every day especially for our brothers and sisters who still haven't come to the powerful and life-changing faith in Jesus, which brings such depths of joy and riches of assurance that our lives and our outlook are never the same!
The devil wants to keep them in the dark, but God has given us the weapons to stand against his onslaught. Read again Ephesians 6:10-17, about the warfare in which we are engaged, and the description of the armor of God. Now read verse 18: "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for the saints."
Can we do that? Every congregation, every small group, needs to make it a priority to pray for all the saints. And right now, in our church, we need to pray for those whose hearts are still covered by the veil when they read the old covenant (2 Corinthians 3:15-16). Pray that they will turn to the Lord, and that the veil will be removed. Let this be our collective mission and priority.
Praise be to God! His army marches onward! He is with you and will bless and keep you secure in his grace.
September 17, 1996, Worldwide News, page one
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