Welcome
Thanks so much for coming. We appreciate it very much. It is not special meetings unless we have company. Whether you were able to spring away for today, for a meeting or two, or for several meetings, we appreciate your presence. It is a huge boost to all of us here in Portland and the Lord has indeed blessed each service, so we thank Him for that.
We would also like to express appreciation to the brothers who selected the theme, the subject matter, and the speakers for the June pastors’ meeting and the July ministers’ meeting. Brother Bill McKibben chaired the group, with Brothers Clif Kasper and Randy Macomber helping coordinate the sessions. We appreciate all their work.
Agenda
Today’s schedule includes three other speakers after this first hour. We will hear from Brother Ivon Wilson and Brother Rene Cassell before lunch, and Brother Mark Staller after lunch. You will see that Brother Mark has a session on “From Acts to Azusa,” and then in July Brother Joe Bishop will cover “Azusa to Today.” We will hopefully learn a little and/or refresh our memories on the historical account, not just of the Apostolic Faith Church, but of the Christian movement from Acts to today.
Minister/Pastor Update
I have a few details I need to cover. If any of your personal information has changed, such as address, phone number, or email address, please fill out a form that is provided for you on the back desk.
No doubt you are interested in the state of Brother Randy’s health. I spoke with him and Sister Denise yesterday. He is picking up steam a little bit slower than he would like, but he is making headway. Keep praying for them. I assured them both that we would be asking for prayers on their behalf. Brother Randy was out to meeting on Sunday, and is carrying on to a degree, but he has had a hard time getting his strength back. Continue to pray that God will do a work there.
Brother Larry Friesen has settled in Medford and is pitching in as he can there, so we appreciate Brother Larry being here with us today and have assured him of our continued prayers.
The Downeys have settled in Dallas, and the Chasteens in Port Angeles. The Butlers are scheduled to go to Woodlake in June, and the Macombers are scheduled to move in May, but that is probably hanging over them like a shadow right now. I told them that we are not worried about May, we are worried about March, so just pray for them to get the victory and then moving in May won’t be an issue.
Study Series
You have in front of you the Deepening our Discipleship series. This is similar to the Ready for Revival series, which we produced one year ago. This series includes seven lessons with accompanying questions and teachers’ helps. In addition, you have been given the first booklets in the Bible Doctrine series, which cover the three basic experiences of salvation, sanctification, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Lord willing, we will continue and produce booklets on the rest of the doctrines in the future. The lessons in these three booklets are designed for Bible study use. In Portland, we will implement this in our Sunday school classes. If you choose to implement it similarly to Ready for Revival, I suspect many of you will use it during your weeknight Bible study, which is terrific. In Portland, we will start the new quarter with the Bible Doctrine series. The last three lessons of Deepening Our Discipleship will be covered during the three Sundays of camp meeting. So if you use any of this before camp meeting, which would be fine, your congregation will get a second dose at camp. But it wouldn’t hurt anything if we all got a double portion of self-denial, would it? So that’s the plan. Each pastor will receive a full set of these materials, which can be used for copying and distributing in the branch churches. Obviously, we will send the booklets also. In addition, they will be available to download from our website.
We have had a lot of good response to the Daybreak material, and now we have a period of time when we need to catch up and produce more. We expect the next unit of Daybreak to be ready in the fall. I am curious, how many here have participated in writing for the website Daybreak or daily devotional? Raise your hands good and high so that we can see them. All right, that is a lot of hands. Well, we couldn’t have done it without you, as you can clearly tell. We do appreciate your help. We have had many positive responses to that material from those who view it on the web and use it outside of our Apostolic Faith circle. So it is a wonderful way to do two things: provide a systematic Bible study for our own people, and also provide the world with a Pentecostal, holiness view of the Bible, which certainly complies with our mission statement. So let’s keep praying for one another as we continue to work on going through the Bible.
The Campground
Here’s an update on the Cooper Street RV area. We have selected an attorney to represent us in negotiating with the City. The attorney believes that we have a good case toward removing the shadow that has hung over us since we annexed the entire campgrounds property into the City many years ago. Some things work in our favor. First of all, the City has been aware of, and has allowed us to use that area as an RV park for thirty years. Furthermore, different departments of the City have given us permits to improve the RV Park, including the sewer hookup. We anticipate this negotiation period to extend over a period of many months. We do not expect it to impact our RV use this coming camp meeting. In addition, the City has been well aware of our system and how we use our campground. Another positive thing is that we have consistent documentation with the City in getting permits and going through the processes with the different departments of the City. So all these items, from the attorney’s point of view, stack up significantly in our favor. The City began talking to us as a result of an unrelated party implementing negotiation against the City regarding some of his neighbors. This is what has triggered our current situation. The City is really on our side, as they don’t want to be viewed as fighting against a church. It is amazing to see how the Lord may have worked all of this out to where we are better off than we ever dreamed that we could be. The key issue for this coming camp meeting is that there is no change with respect to visitors coming to camp meeting and bringing their RVs.
Sanctuary Carpet
Our sanctuary carpet replacement and pew recovering has been scheduled during camp meeting, because that is when our carpet layers will be here. As you can see, it has been replaced in here already, but now we need to take the pews out to install the carpet in the sanctuary. That being the case, it seemed appropriate to also recover the pews at the same time. When can we do that? When we have enough people here to help, which is at camp meeting. As a result, after the Monday night concert the pews will be taken out and the carpet removed. Then the carpet layers will go in there and get a quadruple blessing on top of the blessing of attending camp meeting. Because of this project, we will adapt our Sunday school opening exercises the second and third Sundays of camp meeting to take place in the tabernacle. Also, the weekday Young People’s Meetings will be moved to the West Chapel. That is where they were held when I came into the church. They will move in a little platform over there and hold probably the best midweek Young People’s Meetings that we have had in years, because it will be something new and different. Those meetings will be limited to those under forty years of age, which is how it was when I first came in as well.
Guest Preachers
It has been suggested that I again remind the pastors to consult with the appropriate peer pastor before asking a minister to come and preach in their church. Really, that doesn’t only apply to visiting ministers—it also applies to any workers, musicians, or speakers that we use from time to time. Check with the pastor just because it is the appropriate thing to do. Historically, the only exception to that has been some of our retired pastors to whom we give license to do whatever they want. The polite thing to do is to coordinate with the pastor, but you are not going to get in trouble if you ask Brother Dick Taylor or Brother Earl Phillips to come. They live above the law in grace so they can do what they want.
Song Leading
Some comments have come to me regarding the leading of the congregational singing. A lot of the congregational song leaders are not ministers, but many are. I am not going to tell you how to lead the congregational singing because I am not a musician—I will refer you to Brother Don Wolfe or some of the others who know about that. But I jotted down a few things that I do know. I am confident that there should only be one sermon per meeting, and that should come at sermon time, not during congregational singing. I am also confident that the more you say, the less impact your words will have, not just in song leading but even in presentations like the one that I am giving right now. The less you say, the more impact your words will have. So don’t distract from what you are trying to say by talking too much. The third thing is that we need to let the words of the songs do the speaking. I understand that we all have different personalities and we want everyone to be themselves. But I have never heard anyone complain about a song leader who doesn’t talk enough.
“And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening. And when Moses’ father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, what is this thing that thou doest to the people? Why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even? And Moses said unto his father in law, because the people came unto me to enquire of God: When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws. And Moses’ father in law said unto him, the thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee…” (Exodus 18:13-18).
Introduction
My section for today is entitled “Ministers’ Meeting” and the theme is “Hold the Fort.” We will look at the account of Moses and Jethro, his father-in-law, which you are very familiar with. I want you to pay special attention to Jethro’s references to the people. In this case, I suppose the one most capable of imparting the statutes of God was Moses. After all, he had been on the mountain and had received the tables of the Commandments of God and had spoken to the Lord. However, as we see from his father-in-law’s advice, more was at stake than just the possibility of Moses carrying too heavy a burden. The people were in jeopardy. I will be honest with you that I do feel like it is to the benefit of the saints worldwide that more individuals participate in leadership roles in our organization. We want to be well served.
Leadership Appointments
It has occurred to me that the best time to address distributing leadership responsibilities is when we don’t have to. You should have already received a copy of a memorandum dated December 28, 2003, from your pastor. I have enclosed it here anyway. After this memo was sent, one of your wives called my wife and asked if we were okay. Debbie laughed and then told me, and I laughed too. Yes, we are okay. Well, we are as okay as we have ever been, so you be the judge whether we are okay or not! It is just better to explore these options when we don’t have to rather than waiting until an emergency arises and then suddenly asking ourselves what we are going to do. So that is precisely what we are doing.
As the memo states, Brother Bob Downey will now be the primary contact person for the pastors. This appointment will help you be better served. I know this is so because often when I get phone calls or personal communications from pastors, they are apologetic and mention that they know I am so busy. That tells me they think I am so busy that really, they shouldn’t be contacting me. That does not serve the pastors well. We want the pastors to be able to have a contact person whom they can feel comfortable calling. Brother Bob is one that you can be confident will be your contact person any hour of the day or night. He is sitting in an easy chair just waiting for your call. The first time that you communicate with him, he will do a great job.
Pastors, do your best to keep Brother Bob apprised of what is going on in your church. That is what I heard in ministers’ meetings before I ever became a pastor. Let him know the encouraging things, let him know the discouraging things. Let him know what is going on in your home and family when there is anything out of the ordinary—keep him plugged in. He will keep me plugged in as well. I am confident that this is going to be a great blessing to the work in every way.
The memo also announced Brother Bill McKibben’s appointment as Director of Asia Work. This is not an overnight decision. If one thinks about it, this has been ten to fifteen years in the making. It goes way back. In fact, I remember when Brother Harold Barrett came through Dallas, and later to Eureka, putting out feelers and being concerned about the work in Asia. I knew that his next stop was where Brother Bill was located. Obviously, I would have done whatever I was asked to do at that time, but it fell on Brother Bill for whatever reason, and way back then he gained an interest. Brother Bill was saved, of course, under Brother Harold’s inspiration. So now we come to this point where it seems appropriate for him to assume the role of Director. He has already assumed that role for Japan and the Philippines and will do so for Korea before long.
Thinking along those lines, we are continually aware of the need to spread the leadership load both in Portland and around the world. It occurs to me that if the next appointment is ten to fifteen years in the making, then we must get started by keeping our eyes open and being alert. By the grace of God that is our goal. We will be stronger as an organization as more individuals bear the load.
Cherishing Our Traditions
Next is a letter excerpt. This letter is a portion of a response that I have given three different times in the past year. It is designed to counterbalance the mentality that devalues church tradition. I don’t think this letter is the best product in the world, but it is an example, and it addresses two things. First, since questions arise regarding the Scriptural basis for certain doctrines that we have, I am providing the Scriptural basis for what guides me personally. Forgive me if I refer to myself now. Secondly, I am expressing appreciation to the veterans, who have bought and paid for what I enjoy personally. It is implied that they also have bought and paid for what you enjoy. I used to have the pleasurable experience of supporting Brother Loyce Carver and Brother Dwight Baltzell in their leadership roles, and I enjoyed that, I really did. I was loyal to them. I was happy with how the Lord led through them and the counsel provided by them, and I did not concern myself about matters. I didn’t think too much about too much, I just enjoyed serving the Lord. But now it falls upon me to answer questions that arise. So that was my goal in this letter.
2 Thessalonians 2:15 says, “Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.” We see in society what happens when we automatically discount traditional ways of operating. If you have the stomach for it, which I don’t, you can go downtown and stand across from the Multnomah County Court House and see how the traditional family has been devalued. This is all through society; there is no basis in their minds for the traditional values, because the basis of those values is the Word of God. Once there has been departure from the Word of God, what is the basis? So, society teaches us to devalue traditions.
It occurs to me that perhaps there is a distinction between church tradition and church policy. Church tradition is a way of life. Go to the Acts of the Apostles to learn the way of life of the Apostles. We can understand why Paul exhorted them to stand fast and hold to the traditions that they had been taught. He wanted them to be unified. Sister Melissa Zetter, knowing only today’s theme and theme song, has used part of the verse found in Philippians 1:27 in the activity room, “Whether I come and see you, or else be absent . . . stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.” Paul, when writing to those in Philippi, didn’t know if he would get to see them, but he hoped to at least hear that they were standing together in unity. In addition to what we may learn, that is the one purpose of our getting together in sessions like this. We want to be going the same direction with one heart and one soul in unity. I believe that we are.
In Acts 2:42 we read: “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” They were continuing in the Temple, praising and blessing God. “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart” (Acts 2:46). The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul. Everything revolved around the house of God. Everything revolved around church and prayer meetings and preaching and evangelism. It was their way of life. So Paul exhorted them to hold to that way of life. I think that is what we want. We want people to come and embrace Christianity, and sometimes we hope to make it easier for them to embrace it, but making it easier for them to embrace the Gospel doesn’t ensure that they will. Suppose someone is mixing orange juice and would like to stretch it, so instead of three cans of water they add three-and-a-half cans of water. It makes more orange juice, doesn’t it? It also lasts longer because nobody wants to drink it. The quality has deteriorated and it sits in the back of the refrigerator. We can’t reduce the Gospel and expect people to find it more appealing. We want to continue in the tradition of Christianity that we have been taught.
1 Timothy 6:20 says, “Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust.” I was partly reluctant to include this letter excerpt, because in it I cite the names of some of our veterans. I used different names in the three responses that I have given. The names that I have used are intentional, depending upon whom I was writing to. For instance, in one case, four young ladies talked to me cordially and had some questions. I said, “Let me write to you.” When I wrote to them, I cited the names of their grandparents whom they love. Those grandparents have sacrificed something. Their response was overwhelmingly positive and we pray that God will help that to be the case as they go forward. 2 Timothy 3:14 is also cited on the second page of this document, “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them.”
The last paragraph deals with the question, “What do we tell the kids at school?” When someone asks me how they should reply to one who questions our teachings, I suggest that they simply tell them the truth. We need not apologize for what we stand for. We have a wonderful Gospel. We should not put ourselves under some type of pressure; we should just tell the truth. What is the truth? The truth is that the Bible instructs us to hold firmly to the holiness teachings that we have received. Some will receive it and some won’t. We are not surprised that a few do not understand. In addition, we are not surprised when some have great respect for our desire to be a part of the holiness Gospel. Some people do respond very positively and respectfully.
If a young person comes to you with a question such as the one mentioned, and you go to your notebook and photocopy this letter and say, “Here is what Brother Darrel says,” that will go over like a lead balloon. They really don’t care what I say. They want to know what you say. They want to know what you believe. Somehow you have to ask God to help you express what is in your heart, because they don’t know me, but they know you. They know your heart, they know you are kind and gentle and loving, and they will respond to that. As ministers, sometimes we think it helps to say, “This is what Portland says and this is what we are going to do.” In fact, I spoke to a person this week who said that. Sometimes you may have to do that, but in this next document you will see how that can also work against you. So somehow, it is really better if you can find a way to express it out of your own heart.
The next document, “One Follow-up Note,” is just that—a follow-up note. It was a response to one who was acting as an advocate for someone else who had become discouraged and disgruntled with our church along the way. This person apparently had no answer when the accusation was made that I was personally some sort of a “Pope.” This goes to show that saying, “We will do whatever Portland wants us to do,” may not always be beneficial. Unfortunately, that automatically projects an image which we may not want to project, so we need to be careful.
To summarize this incident, I was basically told that my answers had not inspired someone. Here again, it was someone who didn’t know me. Maybe if they had known me it would have been worse, I don’t know. But I feel badly every time I hear of someone who has grown weary of the way he or she once loved. Something changed—that person changed. I feel good every time someone comes along and embraces what I love. But neither of those two events really influence me to deviate from the commission that I believe we have, which I tried to state in the response. I would love it if everybody jumped up and down every time a decision was made or when they heard the Gospel. But whether or not they jump up and down is secondary to the fact that God has commissioned us to do what we are doing. The second paragraph covers the fact that some want me to be a “Pope,” if it pleases them. I am not going to be one. I am going to be guided by the Word of God and the veterans who have bought and paid for what thrills us. The third paragraph restates the fact that my reliance is upon the Holy Ghost to lead through the counsel of the veterans who have spent a lifetime loving the Apostolic Faith Church. I simply refuse to abandon them. The Holy Ghost leads through their examples and counsel, which I solicit regularly. All around the world, we have quiet, faithful, content saints of God who have devoted their lives to providing a holy atmosphere from which we have all benefited. Our charge is to be loyal to them and to the truth that they have handed down to us. If we are going to react to somebody, we will react to those quiet, faithful, content saints of God who love what we enjoy. We need to respond to them, not to the mixed multitude that comes across strongly and firmly. We wish we could satisfy them. But we are bound by God and by our commission to keep what has been entrusted to us.
The last paragraph covers the fact that it is alarming how our society has drifted so far from the generally accepted moral bearings of fifty years ago. And this was before the recent events of deviant lifestyles struck upon us. Churches have drifted far from the godly teachings embraced by previous holiness movements. They are far away from where they were fifty years ago. Why have they abandoned their traditional ways of operation? The Word of God clearly and repeatedly teaches that we are stewards of something very precious. If we are faithful, we will avoid joining the ranks of those who lost their bearings, and newcomers will continue to feel what many of us felt when we stepped into our first Apostolic Faith meeting. So we are not going to turn our backs on what we have been taught, and we are not going to abandon those who taught us.
Next is an email reply to a question related to standards. This response is meant to counterbalance those who have taken an entirely legalistic approach to enforcing standards of holiness living. This approach is designed to negate those who make standards and church policy their Gospel. It still happens, surprisingly. They want to get the focus off the Gospel of Jesus Christ and onto the peripheral. As noted, my response assumed that their questions on standards related to church guidelines on modesty, jewelry, makeup, etc. They wanted to know if we had any document that addressed all of those specific things. My answer was that we do not. I recognize that, over a fifty-year period, a change takes place in how situations are addressed. Society changes in terms of the temperament of the people. In the past, leaders could be demanding and military like, because they were dealing with a generation that had come out of the military. Today’s generation is softer and if we treat them like they came out of the military, they may leave us and join the military and find it easier. So our approach has to be different. This is related to policy. We don’t have a publication that covers all the details, and we don’t intend to have one.
In the third paragraph, I restate that our goal is to print Gospel literature that is timeless in nature and appropriate to any culture and for any generation. The Biblical principles of modesty, holiness, purity, and temperance form the basis of specific standards that are timeless and appropriate for everyone. That is the beauty of the Daybreak material which provides for the saints of God a systematic format of studying the Word of God. By the time they get through Leviticus, which they may not have otherwise studied, they will understand the holiness of God and God’s demand for holiness in His people. It is a beautiful book, as is the whole Bible. The Bible speaks to all of these subjects, and if we systematically cover the Bible from cover to cover in three years, we will address by nature the underlying Gospel teachings that will speak to specific situations.
The last paragraph suggests that specific problems can be addressed more effectively on a one-on-one basis with the pastor, or someone whom he or she appoints to take care of the matter. That is absolutely true. Don’t make the Gospel meetings a format to air your pet peeves. Instead, if there is an individual out of a congregation of fifty that you need to address an issue with, simply go to coffee with that individual (unless the individual is the opposite sex, then you find another way to discuss the matter). You may chicken-out the first time you talk to him or her, but you will gain some sort of a rapport with the individual. A month later, if the matter still persists, you will have to say something, but we find that nine times out of ten the person is willing to listen and comply, and that the Lord has already helped in the matter.
There is an additional way that we can perhaps cover some of these matters. We are considering a series of lessons like Ready for Revival on topics such as “Maintaining Modesty,” “Building Boundaries,” and “Monitoring Media.” Incidentally, what is media? It could be TV. We received an email asking what the church position was on The Passion of the Christ. This was brought to me and I thought, what shall I answer? Finally, I just answered, “We believe in it.” Thank God for the passion of the Christ and for His Resurrection. Of course, I knew that what he really wanted to know was what we thought about the movie being shown in the movie theatres. What is the church position on these things? The church position on such matters is that the parents have a responsibility to teach godly living in the home. It becomes a parental responsibility, a parental decision, and ultimately an individual decision. If we allowed it, we would get asked what the church position should be on the curfew for a seventeen-year-old. The church’s position is that it is the responsibility of the parents to figure that out. Of course, the church’s position could be that the curfew should be midnight on Friday night and nine o’clock on Saturday night so they could be up for Sunday school in the morning. However, no matter what time would be “allowed,” it would be rejected anyway. So why give them the church’s position? That is roughly the answer on the The Passion of the Christ; we threw it right back to the inquirer. We are individually responsible to ensure that we are living a godly life. Frankly, I am more concerned about the type of programs that the children watch every night, and more worried about the magazines that they might subscribe to or the novels that they might read. We must teach morality and holy behavior in every aspect of life and not let ourselves be diverted from that.
A question came up from the young people approximately one year ago, about whether it is appropriate to do certain things. So I gave John Musgrave a memo to read in which I gave them a short answer. He read the question and before the short answer could be read, all the kids answered the question. I don’t know if he ever read my answer, but the point is that the kids know. You are being set up; people already know the answer. Don’t let yourself be set up.
Hold the Fort
“Hold the Fort” is the theme that was selected for these ministers’ sessions, and it occurs to me that “Hold the Fort” doesn’t mean “Circle the Wagons.” If we have a healthy and a strong point of reference, which we do, we can be very optimistic about our way of life going forward. We have a Christian way of life. I guess I am trying to emphasize today the Christian way of life rather than the Apostolic Faith way of life. We are Christians, God has entrusted to us the Christian way of life, and it is a good one. Some will always view this Gospel as antiquated. In fact, just for kicks, yesterday (I already had my material prepared) I looked back at the first ministers’ meeting that I attended on March 9, 1978. Brother Carver read a text and said, “You have preached on this.” Well, I hadn’t preached on it, I had only preached one sermon and that wasn’t the text I’d used. But he covered a lot of things. They are the same things that we are covering today and have covered in these meetings for the last several years. In fact, he apologized for being repetitious. But if repetition is needed, then so be it. We want to have a strong and healthy point of reference. If we have that, and we do, then we can be optimistic about our way of life going forward.
I am curious, by a show of hands, how many in here have preached their first sermon in the past two years? Raise your hands. Okay, maybe six. How many here are age seventy-five or above? Roughly the same number, coincidentally. When I announced to the Portland congregation that the Butlers were moving to Woodlake, I reminded them that five of the branch church pastors serving now were sent out of Portland in the decade that ended in 2003. By the way, you may sit in Portland meetings and see a huge crowd; we obviously have a bigger pool to draw from than some of our branch churches. But believe me that throughout the year we face the same challenges as those in a congregation of twenty or forty or sixty. It is just magnified. The blessings are magnified but so are the challenges. So imagine sending not just five pastors, but five families, out of any one church, no matter how big it is. In each case, the question was asked, “Who is going to step up and fill in the gap?” But in each case, someone has, which is the result of a strong base to draw from. We thank God for that, but now we start a new decade, and if the Lord tarries the Butlers will leave. So I asked the Portland congregation, “Could it be possible that five families will be sent out from Portland during the next decade if Jesus tarries?” Of course, we gasp at the thought. But they would have gasped ten years ago at the thought, and God did it.
I thought of our Chehalis church which sent out three families in that same period of time. I am sure that put a challenge upon their congregation. Is it a bad thing if any congregation, big or small, feels some sort of desperation to evangelize and to gain souls for the kingdom? That is our commission—to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. We have a strong base, but we are not about to circle the wagons and just hold tight. Not at all, and we haven’t. May we be challenged to evangelize as the Lord gives us opportunity, and not just to wait for that opportunity, but to create something by the grace of God.
Recently, I told Brother Seis Arechy that he needs to face Honolulu as a missionary endeavor. What about you and me where we are? We should face it no differently. We should do what we did when we drove a bus route; on Saturday night we called the children on our route to make sure that they would be ready for Sunday morning. When we taught little kids in Sunday School, we called the home, sometimes Sunday morning, to make sure that they were coming to Sunday School. Would they have come without that phone call? Perhaps not. So we must be personally involved in people’s lives. Brother Seis makes those phone calls now in Honolulu. Furthermore, he goes out and gets them. It is easy to see how others should be missionaries where they are, and more difficult to see that we need to be missionaries where we are. However, that is our role as we go forward.
We think we need miracles. We do need miracles, but sometimes we just need the mechanics of getting involved in people’s lives. I thought of a man by the name of Stan Zelinski. Brother Ivon has invested years into that man’s life. I don’t know if he has ever been to our church (his wife comes). Soon after I came to Portland I went and visited this man, whom I did not know, and told him who I was and where I was from. I identified myself as being from Brother Ivon’s church because I knew that he knew Brother Ivon. After we had chatted for a moment, I asked him, “Can I pray with you?” “No,” he said, he’d rather I didn’t. So I didn’t. I learned a lesson, which I am not sure applies in every case. Stan Zelinski taught me that when I go into the hospital to pray for somebody, I need not ask the person, “Can I pray for you?” The next time I went, I didn’t ask him. I just greeted him and talked to him and then I said, “Let’s pray,” and bowed my head and quickly started praying. I went back to the hospital two weeks or so ago and told him again who I was since I hadn’t seen him for probably four years. When I mentioned Brother Ivon’s church, he remembered who I was. I started to chat with him just a little bit. He tried to communicate with me, but couldn’t speak, yet he formed the words with his mouth, “Pray for me,” so I prayed for him. What is that a result of? Not of my labors, but Brother Ivon’s labors. He has invested years into this man and now we see somewhat of a turning. That is the opportunity we must take advantage of. We must reach out here and there even though it may involve taking some risks. I told my wife a few times that she took a big risk in marrying me when she did. On our wedding day, I had only been saved a month short of two years. She agreed. Think about it, Brother Nolan took a risk in asking me to preach. Brother Carver took a risk in asking Brother Nolan to pastor. If we wait until everything just lines up perfectly, we will never do anything. So we must take some risks along the way to evangelize.
When I was in Eureka, I asked Brother Floyd Kasper to help me with something. I formed a nice letter from our church and placed it with a Higher Way magazine. We thought we would be paperboys and deliver them. We did deliver hundreds of them early one morning. We didn’t put them in mailboxes—we knew not to do that—we just placed them at people’s front doors. We just can’t pray, and pray, and pray, and sit back and expect something to happen. We’ve got to do something to reach out and try to evangelize. So we did that and got really only one response, which was a phone call from a man who was mad at me (because I had signed the letter) for littering at his door. Well, that really wasn’t the best way to do it anyway because it was not very personal. But we had to try something.
A better way is like the man at the mall here in Portland. I was sitting on a bench at the mall one day, while Debbie did her shopping, and this man came up and chatted with me. He said, “Let me ask you something. If you were to leave this mall and go out and cross the street and unexpectedly get hit by a car and die, would you go to Heaven?” Now, that is personal contact. That is a lot more effective than leaving a paper at somebody’s door. Anyway, we had a nice conversation. I told him that I was saved, but didn’t tell him that I was a minister. I told him how I was saved, and that yes, I expected to go to Heaven. We chatted a little bit, but he didn’t waste too much time chatting after he got my answer. He moved along because he was a man on a mission. I could tell that he was going to the next guy. He eventually got to Brother Al Friesen, and also Brother Tyler Kaady. He is a one-man missionary team at Clackamas Town Center.
We must be challenged. We must ask God to help us reach out. We may think that we are taking risks, but really, what do we have to lose? We have eternal life to gain for some soul on the way and that is what we want to strive to do.
New Trustee
I am going a bit over my allotted time, but there is just one more issue to address. Brother Elmer Luka has requested to retire from the Board of Trustees. Brother Elmer has recently encountered some physical problems; he has Paget’s disease, which gets into the bones, and he feels discomfort from that. He feels that the uncertainty surrounding his diagnosis and his age are enough reason to retire. His heart for the Gospel, however, is still going strong and he is still available for whatever support is needed along the way. We want to express appreciation to Brother Elmer for his faithfulness. God has blessed us with his testimony, and we appreciate that very much. I feel we should acknowledge him this morning. We will also acknowledge him tonight during the meeting. Thank you, Brother Elmer. God bless you.
According to the bylaws of our organization, it falls upon me to recommend a replacement to the Board of Trustees. They, in turn, have the responsibility to vote to approve or disapprove my recommendations. The five-member Board of Trustees includes Brother John Friesen, Brother Rob Wakefield, Brother Elmer Luka, Brother Bob Downey, and myself. The legal act of appointing the replacement occurs within that Board of Trustees. After careful consideration and upon consulting with at least a couple of veterans, I made my recommendation to the Board. In so doing, I felt that I could have recommended any of you. That is the one hesitation I have by isolating one individual when I would almost like to put every name in the hat and say, “Lord, draw the right name.” That didn’t seem the practical or the appropriate way to do it, so approaching it prayerfully, I recommended to them that Brother Bill McKibben fill the role that Brother Elmer held. Brother Bill has experience in a variety of areas that suit him well for this appointment, not the least of which is a career in finances before he became a pastor.
We will distribute, this morning and tonight, the document that explains the role of the Board of Trustees versus the role of the Board of Elders (who are generally the current and retired pastors). Much of the technical and legal role of the Board of Trustees revolves around making decisions. We need to have a “body” that is appropriate to make decisions. So Brother Bill’s financial background seems particularly helpful at this time. He is also a pastor, is involved in the foreign work in Asia, and has helped in the Daybreak and website writing assignments. He has a faithful and stable wife, which is key, so we thank God for that. In addition, no one would question Brother Bill’s loyalty to the organization. The Board of Trustees was unanimous in its support of the appointment for Brother Bill to fill Brother Elmer’s spot, so they have legally approved that appointment which takes effect today. Brother Elmer, by the way, participated in that vote since he was a board member as of that day. If you would like voice your support for that decision to add Brother Bill McKibben to the Board of Trustees, please say, “Amen.” [“AMEN!”]
Thank you so much. Historically, we have prayed over board members, so Brother Bill, if you will come up we will ask the remaining board members to come here, including Brother Elmer, and lay hands on you. We know that Brother Bill will be faithful in his responsibility, which is not unlike the responsibility that all of us have; to uphold the Gospel that God has committed to us. So let’s all pray.
Welcome and Agenda
Thanks so much for coming. We are happy to have some guests from far away and we will introduce them later. In front of you are the three inserts for your binders for each of today’s sessions. If you did not bring your binder with you, simply take the inserts home. For future reference, binders will be used for special meetings and during camp meeting.
Brother Bill McKibben has placed some books, previously owned by Brother Allen Crabtree, in the library at the headquarters office. If any of you are interested in looking through those books, feel free to do so, and you may claim them as your own.
In today’s session, I will make a few remarks to open, Brother Bob Downey will give a presentation on “Practical Money Management,” and Brother Nolan Roby will conduct the session on “How to Help our Marriages.” In addition, later this morning, Brother Paul Akazue will give a Power-Point presentation on the Crawford University project and the Igbesa campgrounds. We should conclude our sessions before noon, if the Lord wills. Before we proceed any further, let’s open with prayer. Perhaps, we could all stand for that.
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
Introduction
We really appreciate all of you coming. What a boost it is for the worldwide work to have you here! We pray that it will be a boost for each one of you as an individual.
I realize that you did not come to camp meeting to get rested up physically, but hopefully, you will find rest for your souls. The phrase I would like to briefly focus on is the first part of verse 29, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me.” Learn of Me. We want camp meeting to be a learning experience and we want to be open to being taught. Many will give teachings and sermons that regard giving, but we never want to get beyond the point where we are learning. To paraphrase verse 29, Jesus said, “Team up with me and I will help you learn.”
Ask for Help
A couple of weeks ago, I spoke to Brother Dave Andersen, the President of Andersen construction, and told him that I needed help with a perspective. In response, he told me a story about attending a professional seminar. At that seminar, blindfolded men, in their forties, were led single file to an outdoor area that was partitioned off and had only one exit. They were told to find their way out while blindfolded. They were told that if they needed help at any time, they should stop and raise their hand, someone would come to their aid. As they were led into the area, Brother Dave heard, “It’s this way,” “Over here,” “I know the way.” Suddenly, it occurred to him to let others pass and then raise his hand. Someone came, removed his blindfold, and took him to an area where six others were standing and watching the remainder of the men stumble along. Before long, they were all told to stop and take off their blindfolds. The moral of the story was that sometimes, though in executive positions, we need to stop and ask for help.
All of us here today should not have any trouble stopping and asking for help along the way. That is part of the experience of camp meeting. In school, some people in class were always quick to raise their hands. Some of us never did raise our hands. The ones that did got help and the rest of us stumbled around aimlessly. We have some educators in here that can attest to that. We don’t want to do that this camp meeting. We want to be open in our hearts to receive the help of the Lord. We want to be yoked with Jesus, because He said to take His yoke upon us and to learn of Him. A yoke, as you know, is the wooden frame fitted around the necks of a pair of oxen that are teamed together. We are to be teamed up with Jesus so that we might learn of Him.
We have come to be helped. It is a great help just having all of you at camp meeting, because we are all part of a great team. Certainly, we have opportunity to be helped in these ministerial sessions, which is what they were designed for. When we think of camp meeting, though, we can be greatly helped by taking advantage of soaking in the sermons, the teachings, and the altar services. What a boost it can be to us and to those who have come from our locations.
Be of Help
We have come to be helped, but we have also come to be of some help. Again, the fact that you are here is a tremendous help to everyone else here, and to those also who have come to observe and see the unity that we enjoy. What a help that is to a worldwide organization, even though only a small percentage of the whole are able to be here physically. Apostolic Faith churches throughout the whole world focus their attention our way during camp meeting. Somehow, they glean strength from knowing that camp meeting is going on, though perhaps many of them wish that they could be here in person. We can also be of help by pitching in, and we do appreciate how everyone pitches in, participating in the different areas that need help. Some of you are overextended, no doubt about it, but we do appreciate all your help.
Our example at the altar is important. By praying faithfully at the altars, we are helping in more ways than are quickly evident. We are helping by showing that we put a priority on prayer. We don’t just tell people how to pray; we pray ourselves. If all fifty or sixty of us in this room were to earnestly pray throughout camp meeting, it would be infectious. Other people would pray, because they would see that we put a premium on it. There is a lot of fellowship to be obtained and a lot of work to be done, but we certainly want to focus on making prayer a priority.
Be a Lifelong Learner
Jesus was our example in terms of being helped in learning. When He was twelve, they found Him in the Temple both listening and asking questions. So there was Jesus, learning. We read in Hebrews 5:8, “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.” We all know that in the financial realm, the lessons of the greatest impact are those that cost us money. The concept is the same in our spiritual walk. We learn most effectively through the trials, hardships, and challenges that come our way. Jesus, though He was a son, learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
Luke 6:40 says, “The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.” If Jesus was a student, then we will ever be students. We are called “disciples.” The meaning of the Greek word for disciple is “a learner.” It would be just as accurate to call ourselves “learners” as it would be to call ourselves “disciples.”
In our early years as children, we developed and grew quickly. When we reached about age twenty, we stopped developing and growing in the physical sense—though we might have re-proportioned ourselves. We began a steady decline at roughly age twenty. Our minds also developed rapidly when we were younger. They didn’t start their decline as early as our physical bodies, but as we got older, it became harder for us to learn. That is why we must study and be more attentive. We must be ready to learn. I remember that when Brother Nolan came to Dallas, he said there are those who are pillars in the church—always in the way and never moved. May God help us not to be pillars in that sense. We won’t be, because we are ready to learn.
Closing
There is a verse that was mentioned twice by Paul to Timothy, where he said that the bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, and apt to teach. I always assumed that meant being able to be taught, but as I researched it, I found that it means being capable of teaching. We cannot be capable of teaching unless we are capable of learning. So we want the Lord to help us during this camp meeting. “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me.” Let’s ask the Lord to help us to be good students and examples by being just that.
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