Meeting Transcripts

Opening Remarks

Greeting

We appreciate each of you coming, and don’t take for granted the fact that doing so involves time and expense. We thank God for the support we receive in these meetings—in our services, as well as in these ministers’ meetings. It means a lot to each one of us and to the saints who gather here. We also welcome those who are watching online. These sessions will be archived and made available later on the Minister Resources Page of our website, so those who cannot watch it live view it at their convenience. Again, thanks so much.

Agenda

You see our schedule for the day. For the benefit of those online, we will cover some business and policy details in the first hour. During the second hour, Brother Pierre Hancock will speak to us about the properties of language. For the third hour, Brother Mark Staller will cover style aspects of The Elements of Public Speaking. There’s one section not yet covered, and there’s hope that we can have him cover that eventually—it relates to the delivery process. So we will see how that goes in the coming year if the Lord tarries.

Minister’s Manual

Someone gave me a copy of the earliest Minister’s Manual that I have seen. This is it. It has no publication date. It covers Doctrines beginning on page 5, Church Government on page 13, Property and Finances on page 19, The Ministry on page 25, Public Worship on page 31, Conducting the Ordinances on page 43, Forms of Ceremonies on page 49. It has sixty pages total. 

You are more familiar with this one, the current Minister’s Manual. It has four hundred pages. Forty percent of this book is Doctrine and The Ministry—a section which includes the call to preach, qualifications, conduct, and tasks of the minister (including ten pages of the how, what, when, why, and where of preaching). Sixty percent of our current manual concerns administrative details, similar to that first manual of sixty pages—how to organize, buy property, run meetings, and things like that. Uninspiring topics really, but it is necessary to understand how we operate as an organization. Understanding the organizational aspects help us to be unified throughout the world. It is necessary both for the sake of unity and working together, but also legally, so we can declare that this is how the Apostolic Faith operates. Those who are interested in becoming Apostolic Faith are very interested in those aspects because they want to be a part of this work.

As we have said many times, we do not embrace everyone who says they want to be part of the Apostolic Faith. We read a request earlier this week that came in through the website that said, “We want to be one with you.” They really don’t know if they want to be one with us or not. We know they don’t know that, even if they don’t know they don’t know that! So we correspond with them and encourage them to come and see what we are all about.

Our goal has never been motivated by numbers, or how many there are of us. We have even gotten away from using the word “affiliate.” I don’t really know what “to affiliate with us” means. You are either Apostolic Faith or you are not. I understand the benefits of affiliation: they can ride on our coattails, so to speak, and gain some sense of credibility at their location. But to be affiliated is not the same as being Apostolic Faith. We want people to understand what it means to be Apostolic Faith. When they have had plenty of time to understand, then we take the next step.

Our approach is kind of similar to what happens when two people say they want to be married. We will not perform that wedding if they show up one day and say, “Will you marry us next week?” We would tell them, “You need to learn to know what each of you is all about.” We require a series of sessions where we meet with each couple over a long period of time. That precludes us from performing ceremonies for those who just randomly call up and say, “We want to use your church and your ministry to perform the wedding.”

The purpose for a new manual is basically to revise and expand what we have in the original manual. The purpose of having a manual is to provide general operational instructions for all ministers, pastors, and leaders of Apostolic Faith churches worldwide. We want to update the verbiage. The first edition of this manual was published in 1950. There were four hundred copies printed. We had nineteen churches at that time, according to the list printed in the Light of Hope magazines of that year. We used to list where our churches were located. In addition to the domestic list, there were addresses given for a few churches abroad, so people could contact an Apostolic Faith church in those locations. The work was very small and loosely organized. There probably wasn’t even a legal charter among the nineteen U.S. churches, let alone the ones abroad, that would have authorized them technically to be part of the Apostolic Faith Church of Portland, Oregon. We have been working on that over the past decade, trying to make sure that our churches are organized appropriately.

This new manual that we are working on is part of recognizing the global reach of the Apostolic Faith today, and addressing the fact that it needs to instruct people as to what it takes to become part of the Apostolic Faith Church.

I have not looked at what percentage of the new manual is doctrinal or on ministerial conduct versus how much is administrative. The percentage weight is likely similar to the original manual; probably forty percent doctrinal and ministerial conduct and sixty percent administrative. That is necessary.

Even the doctrinal section, which is what is being posted online currently, is not intended to be a thorough study of each doctrine. It is intended to give an overview of the doctrines, with hopefully more specific and detailed instructions available through other publications. It’s not intended to be, therefore, a book of theology or a book of preaching, though it highlights some of those. It is intended to be broader in scope addressing the wide spectrum of what it takes to be Apostolic Faith. The target audience certainly includes new emerging works that continue to grow, as well as new ministers, but it is good for all of us to read the material so we have a common understanding of what it takes to be Apostolic Faith.

When I started preaching, I was handed a Minister’s Manual and told that I should read it through once a year along with the tracts. I won’t tell you how well I did on that. I will tell you that the first few years I did what I was told to do. Nobody has told me to do that since, so I can’t say that I’ve done it since. However, we should be immersed in it. Those of you who are not immersed in it, I encourage you to get immersed by reviewing the online postings.

We do take advantage of the comments that are offered through that means, and are integrating them into that final draft that you will see when it is ready. Then that final draft will be posted online for a period of time before we put the book into print, because other issues may come up and be brought to our attention as different ministers and pastors read it. It may come to us that we also need to include other topic ideas that are brought to our attention along the way. So we’ll see how that goes. Eventually, Lord willing, we hope to put the Minister’s Manual into a bound format similar to this current manual (although it will be a different size), because we do not want to convey that it is something that is randomly altered to accommodate the changing times and changing audiences. We are Apostolic Faith. We make no apologies for it. We are proud to be Apostolic Faith and we want to convey a sense of permanence with respect to how we conduct ourselves and what we stand for.

On the other hand, we do recognize that we are dealing with issues today that were unheard of in the 1950s. If those who put this manual together in 1950 were alive and knew that evangelical churches were voting on how to approach same-sex marriages, they would be stunned that our so-called Christian nation is even having a conversation about such immorality. We’re stunned, too.

Be sure to take advantage of the weekly postings simply to refresh your memory, or to learn what we are as an organization. We anticipate finishing the first postings of the entire manual by late spring. So by late spring, we will have put together the new manual in draft form—perhaps even what we would call final draft form. However, since the initial documents were posted, we have taken your ministerial submissions and integrated them into what you have seen posted; most of you have not seen that draft. For that reason, we will post the documents again and see what comes about in terms of input. Take advantage of that opportunity to offer your thoughts and suggestions.

Safe Church Policy

We’re also working on a safe church policy. After 9/11 we actually had the FBI come and evaluate our security measures. Since then, we have had fire chiefs come and look at our fire safety measures. We have had lawyers look at what we have in written form. Without exception, they have found that we have exceeded what would be expected of a church. So we appreciate that.

Just yesterday a question arose regarding new workers applying for the opportunity to go to the juvenile detention center here in Portland within Multnomah County. First, prospective workers need my approval. Since I know our workers, they will have my approval, but that is what qualifies them to go to Multnomah County and go through the county’s application process, which takes a period of months. The question arose, what is our church worker application process, which we are formalizing? The answer was that every volunteer needs to submit a Worker Application form and have it approved, even before Multnomah County’s process is initiated. Our people all qualify from the church standard, but they need to fill out our Worker Application form before starting volunteer work.

We are in the process of compiling our safety precautions into one formal operational and procedural manual. It will be a written policy designed for a church the size of Portland. You will be asked as pastors and leaders to adapt the policy to your branch church. It will cover such items as facility security and safety, transportation safety, risk management policies concerning children and youth, emergency procedures for potential crisis situations such as fire, earthquake, medical, or accident situations, and what to do in case of a missing child, violent intruders, and more.

The safety program will include staff training requirements and online certification. That’s a test that I will also be required to take—self-imposed. That way, if anyone complains about the requirement, it can be said, “Even Brother Lee has taken the test.” If someone objects to it, that’s fine. Nobody will be forced to go through the application process, but they cannot participate in the work if they do not. That is their prerogative, certainly.

We actually did background checks a few years ago, and one person in Portland objected. That’s fine. We’re not trying to intrude into someone’s personal life without permission. However, anyone who wants to participate in any aspect of volunteering in the Apostolic Faith work will go through the application process and subject themselves to the procedure.

We have to do that. These procedures protect us, we have benefited in the past because we have had adequate—and not just adequate, but more than adequate—procedures in place over the decades. It has stood us in good stead years later. So we, in turn, must make sure we have the measures in place that will safeguard whatever might come up twenty or thirty years from now.

The law doesn’t recognize how a church like the Apostolic Faith works. A judge would not realize that before anyone would be asked to participate in the work, they would be a person who is well known to the church. A person does not just show up in the Apostolic Faith Church one week, and ask to sing a solo or teach Sunday school the next week. We simply would not allow that. But the law doesn’t know how we operate. As a result, we must have written documentation of our policy, and that is what I am talking about here. The Worker Application form includes personal references and questions about whether the individual has ever been convicted of a crime or been the subject of a child abuse investigation. It also includes authorization to perform a background check. That’s something that I will subject myself to as well, including personal references, so that we have something on file.

These safety procedures will be applicable to all of our churches. Be prepared to do some reading, and also to ask your workers to do the same when the time comes. We want to implement this part of our safety policy before our summertime youth camps.

There will be questions, but we won’t take time for that today. At camp meeting we may have a question-and-answer session for the pastors and leaders to attend. You can also submit your questions ahead of time and direct them to Sister Karen Barrett who will compile them, and then we’ll have an idea of what kind of answers and guidance needs to be provided. If there is something that needs attention before then, we will give it the attention needed.

Cabin Clusters

You have seen the clusters on the campground. There are eight ten-by-twenty square foot units per cluster—sixteen units now. With these we are addressing the fact that we have deteriorating cabins that were built in the 1960s. There is a reason why those cabins haven’t been upgraded. Why? Building code is one. Economics is another. The Lord has provided funds to begin construction. Those funds came from an unknown donor, if you can imagine. Someone donated money, and nobody I know recognizes the name, or knows how that person knew about the Apostolic Faith. Those funds will provide for a majority of the cost of building these first units, but that’s all. We expect these first units to be complete by the end of May.

We’d like to continue the building process. In order to do so, we need to do something different than was done for the cabins. We want to recover the cost of building those units. The way to recover the cost is to rent the units out. If you rent one or someone asks about doing this, think of it as investing in the future of the campground for the benefit of our children and our grandchildren. The alternative is to do nothing further, as we would face the same economic challenges that we have faced for sixty years since the first cabins were built. We would just wait until the cabins fall down, and hope for the Rapture to take place before they do!

The City of Portland is currently supportive of our desire to modernize. That being the case, we will get permits for the next two clusters—the second set of sixteen units—and will start construction on them after camp meeting. We will do it in increments, just the minimal amount of work that will keep the permit active. That may mean just pouring the concrete footings, and stopping at that point for a year. We’ll proceed like we have seen done in Nigeria and other places. They take years to complete a project because they do it as the funds come in. Maybe some other unknown donor will leave a donation, or maybe someone who loves the Apostolic Faith and is wealthy will step forward who wants to see the completion of the modernization. We will see.

We are content with what God provides. We are content with those old cabins, in fact. They will still exist if Jesus tarries for some time to come, and people can still come and stay in them. I don’t think there would be much of a market for renting them. We want people to come to camp meeting, so the idea of renting out the cluster units is kind of a dilemma. We want—we depend upon—our people coming and supporting the camp meeting. We know they go to the expense of getting here, in lost wages or vacation time, and we don’t want to add to that, but we have to recognize the fact that those cabins are not going to stand forever. So we will take these steps, praying that God’s people will be supportive of the dilemma and understand that we have little recourse.

The cost to rent a unit for camp meeting will be $900. That’s a $900 investment in the future of the campground. Those funds will all go toward building the next set of units. So imagine people standing proudly at camp meeting and declaring, “I helped build that unit!!”

Campground Restaurant

We had said that we might have the camp restaurant done in time for this camp meeting, but the permit process took a little bit longer than we had hoped. We are kind of happy that it took a bit longer because our desire was to capitalize on volunteer help when we could. There are people who want to volunteer. If we are under a time crunch, we can’t accommodate their schedules, making it more expensive to do the project. So, all things being equal, it has worked out for the best, we believe. That being the case, the camp restaurant seating area remodel will begin after this camp meeting, if the Lord tarries.

Again, remember that we currently have a favorable city environment, unlike what existed a few years ago when we did the RV park. They are going to allow us to enclose what is currently the patio area and put a roof over the whole seating area. For all practical purposes, the current seating area will be demolished. Even the snack bar area will be reconfigured. This will change the seating area of the restaurant, not counting the snack bar, from 2200 square feet to 2700 square feet. Really the same square footage we currently have including the patio, but it will all be indoors. It will be very nice and include air conditioning, a sprinkler system, and a fireplace, making it conducive for year-round use.

Duke Street Duplex

You have seen a duplex next to where Ivon and Hazel Wilson currently live, the Duke Street duplex. That also was built with economics in mind, with the idea that the cost will be recovered through rents. As it turns out, Don and Pat Wolfe are going to rent the downstairs unit, which is about 1200 square feet, and Howard and Linda Spinas will rent the upstairs unit, which is around 800 square feet. As we recover the cost of building that unit, we will have opportunity to develop other areas around the campground. Eventually the proceeds will go toward this global work after everything is built and maintained, but of course that will take a while.

As an organization, we are not profit driven. We are a non-profit organization and we want to have finances to do what we have always done. That is to reach out beyond our borders, particularly in third world countries where they depend upon us, not only to present and preserve sound doctrine, but also in some limited measure, to assist economically.

The Apostolic Faith

“And when they had appointed him a day there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the Law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not” (Acts 28:23-24).

Introduction

In Acts, chapter 28, we see that Paul ended up in Rome. At a certain point in time, he asked the Jewish leaders to come where he was imprisoned to confer with him. The Jewish leaders came to Rome. Paul did not bring them together to offer a defense of himself. In verse 23, we read three phrases describing what he did: he expounded, he testified, and he persuaded. He did so from morning to evening—something like a filibuster, except he came with a very serious message, and that message was from God.

Commissioned

We have a message. There is a difference between a speech and a message. We have a very specific message, which we will refer to in a moment. 

The response to Paul’s message was mixed. Some believed, and some did not. The Book of Acts begins with a revival and it ends with somewhat of a spirit of disinterest. By the end of that first century, the level of interest in Christianity was certainly not what it had been on the day of Pentecost and the weeks that followed it.

Our commission is to deliver a message. On your handout, it says, “. . . all men shall speak well of you.” Who said that? Jesus said that—in a way. Luke 6:26 says exactly those words, but they are preceded by “Woe unto you, when . . .” The verse reads, “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.”

All men did not speak well of Paul. He was slandered. They said his letters were weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence was weak and his speech contemptible. Now Paul was no academic slouch, but they could find no fault with his moral conduct, so they attempted to attack him personally.

Adam Clark’s view of the verse I just paraphrased, 2 Corinthians 10:10, is as follows: “When you behold the man [Paul], you find him feeble . . . his person, matter, and manner, are altogether uninteresting, unimpressive, and too contemptible to be valued by the wise and the learned.” Those who don’t like the message, attack the messenger, which is what they were prone to do.

We are messengers, and we’re messengers with a message. We don’t dignify personal attacks by responding to them. Nor did Paul. He was intent on conveying his message without regard to what others thought of him or his message. He was not responsible for their response; he was responsible for delivering the message. Some believed, some did not believe. The fact that some did not believe did not prevent him from, in verse 23, expounding, testifying, and persuading.

He was true to his message without regard to the response. We read in 2 Timothy 1:15 that he wrote to Timothy, “All they which are in Asia be turned away from me.” And speaking in 2 Timothy 4:16 of his experience in Rome, “At my first answer, no man stood with me but all men forsook me.” Nevertheless, he also referred to those who apparently were saved in the house of Caesar. So there certainly was some success.

Organized

We live in a day when organized religion is being more and more frowned upon. Long ago, churches conveyed themselves as more non-denominational. It’s really ironic that people would go away from organized religion to disorganized religion, or to non-denominational religion.

What do the following Portland churches have in common? Discovery Church, Voice of Hope Christian Church, Turning Point Church, Portland Christian Center, The Groves, Hillside Christian Fellowship, Family Christian Center, and Columbia Life Church. What do you think they have in common? They are all Assemblies of God. This is not intended to discredit the Assemblies of God, by any means; we wouldn’t do that. It is to illustrate the selling point of conveying yourself as non-denominational when in fact, there is no such thing. Paul’s assignment to Titus was to organize the church. “Left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders . . .” (Titus 1:5).  He was basically telling them to organize!

A popular movement today is to have home churches operating within the mega-churches, purporting to follow the way it was originally when there were no edifices but people simply met in different homes. It is also to address the idea of non-organizational approach to worship. But, what is the first thing you need to do when you have church in your home? You must establish the time. You must establish the agenda. If someone is bringing refreshments, you must know who and what. So what do you do? You organize it! And eventually, you must establish what you stand for.

I have a relative who participated in such a group for a while; I don’t know if they do anymore. That person mentioned to my spouse that someone was coming to the home group who really didn’t fit with the profile of the professional people who were used to coming together. They were trying to figure out how to uninvite this person who didn’t fit. I don’t know how they solved it; I’m not interested in all of that. I am interested in us. I am interested in us being the Apostolic Faith of Portland, Oregon. I love our denomination.

We are a denomination, and we are not ashamed to declare it. Someone in our denomination, years ago, was putting up a sign and wanted to know if they could use a name other than that of our denomination. He gave me a preferred name. But why not “Apostolic Faith”? That’s creative! Some may say that it is hard to pronounce, but we are Apostolic Faith. We are not just a community church, we are Apostolic Faith. If, due to doctrinal distinction you need to add Trinitarian or Trinity to the name Apostolic Faith, there is certainly no objection to that. But we’re a denomination. Everyone is a denomination. Even if they meet in their home with just three people and determine they don’t want to be accountable to any superior, they are still a denomination, and those three people will still have to determine who is in charge.

That is what drives this. Some will say they prefer the beauty of going out on the lakes in their boat, just fishing and worshipping God. All they have to do is get along with the boat and the fish. Or some go out and sit under a tree, and get along with the tree. However, God has called us to organize—to have an established order. We covered sermon arrangement earlier, noting that a speech has order to it. God took chaos at creation and put it in order, and our scientists still depend upon the order that God established. Order is a good thing.

Unified   

Nowadays it is fashionable to be spiritual and even religious, but not so much Christian. My daughter went to Norway a month ago. My wife had an appointment, so I went to pick up our grandson from his third grade class. As I was waiting outside his room at dismissal time, a song was being sung by the class—the teacher was filling time until the 3:00 o’clock dismissal. Here is the song that my grandson, Henry, was being taught in that class. “I thank the earth for feeding my body. I thank the sun for warming my bones. I thank the trees for the air I breathe. I thank the water for nourishing my soul.” I’ve forgotten to tell my daughter about this and certainly haven’t made any comments about it to my grandson. But do you see how students are being indoctrinated to be spiritual? There is a big distinction between spirituality, or even being religious, and being a Christian.

God has called us to serve Him in the Apostolic Faith for our entire lives. What that means is order, a system of accountability and subjection. When we rub elbows with others, over time we get to know each other very well. We get to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and we understand the value of coming together in a setting like this. I heard Brother Loyce Carver say years ago in one of my first ministers’ meetings, that when we came to camp meeting, among other things we weigh one another’s spirits. Well, we are subject one to another. We’re accountable to each other. We’re all accountable to God and I’m accountable to more people than you’re accountable to, because I’m accountable to all of you—and am happy to be so!

By virtue of that proximity, there will be challenges that arise between us. We address any internal conflict productively and end up stronger, more unified, and have more victory than we would have had if that conflict never arisen. That is true when we deal with people in our branch churches. We speak highly of those who just stick it out over a period of a lifetime, and who learn to work together with people who are different from themselves.

We have variety in the ministry as well. We pastors are not cut out of the same cloth by any means. We have different perspectives, and we must learn over time to work with other pastors who think way differently about certain things than we think. But we are stronger for it, not weaker because of it.

We had one—actually, more than one along the way—who expressed different views to me.  I have been very candid when individuals write about different policies or procedures. In the end, I just let it be known in a non-combative way, “You don’t have to like it that we stand for this as an organization; you just have to subject yourself to it.” You can have a different view, but you certainly cannot spread disharmony or be propagating that different view if it is contrary. If you have a personal sense that you would rather it be different, that is all right. It doesn’t preclude the necessity of you being subject, and we’re stronger as a result.

 We deal with differing viewpoints in our committee meetings all the time in the editorial process. When we go over the Higher Way magazine, the Minister’s Manual, or other material that has been submitted, a variety of views are expressed. Should it be this way, or should it be that way? We have differing views, and we express them. One may state, “I don’t like the way this sermon is stated”—not inferring that we did not like the sermon itself, but perhaps the way it ended up in print is problematic. We discuss it and reach a conclusion. We deal with the same thing as ministers.

Conservative

Sometimes we are told, “You’ve got to give the people what they want.” We do that with our granddaughter. We stayed with Randy and Ashley a while back and saw that the youngest grandchild, Margaux, who is almost two, was given a great big marshmallow. Then, when Randy and Ashley were gone and we were babysitting, Debbie gave Margaux another marshmallow. Later on, Margaux started to get cranky and, when Debbie wasn’t looking, I gave her a marshmallow. You’ve got to give them what they want, right? We give them marshmallows and chocolate chips, and they’re just as happy as can be with grandma and grandpa.

Well, nowadays that philosophy has led to church attendance in shorts and flip-flops, rather than a suit and tie. It has led to a casual attitude toward worship. That’s what the people want. Maybe when they leave church, they’re going to the beach or to the park, so they favor a casual approach rather than a reverent approach. So there are cappuccinos and rock music in many churches . . . but not ours.

An usher at camp meeting asked, “What do I do about so-and-so, who brings their coffee into the tabernacle?” Well, I could have said, “You’re the usher,” but I didn’t. I just said, “Well, let’s wait and see. They probably won’t do so tomorrow because nobody else has one in the sanctuary.” For the most part, that works. Coffee in the sanctuary is obviously inappropriate, and it should not be done, but we will hope the individual catches on, rather than offending them by saying something. Our first option would be to address it in a general sense by stressing reverence.

We also hear of smoke machines, and of drama teams taking teenage girls and putting them on the platform to do displays of interpretive dance. We do not do that in our services—it is so inappropriate. That is show time trumping prayer time. I like the way worship is conducted in the Apostolic Faith Church, and we are obviously going to keep doing it that way. It is under no threat; we do not want to give the people what they want. What we want to do is give the people what they need. And a lot of people want what they need. So, we deliver the message in a conservative manner.

Delivering God’s Message

A speech is a public discourse designed to inform or inspire. A message is different in the sense that our message is not an academic approach; it is a message that God has given us to deliver. The Bible says, “The letter killeth; the spirit giveth life.” Yes, a speech can be inspiring and motivational. Brother Mark (who taught on public speaking) mentioned the boredom of language or grammar classes in jest, no doubt. Brother Pierre (who taught on grammar) might mock the speech instructor. Years ago, as part of my continuing education in income tax law, I heard very inspiring and motivational CPAs instruct regarding tax law. It is true! I have a book entitled “Fifty Speeches that Changed the World”—inspiring speeches given by George Washington, Napoleon, Lincoln, Chamberlain, Hitler, Churchill, General Patton, General MacArthur, John Kennedy, and Martin Luther King. Speeches can move audiences, but we are not giving a speech when we stand behind the pulpit. We are delivering a message, and it is God’s message.

Paul expounded—that is, he explained or set forth, using the Word of God as his basis. Where do you get your message? You get it on your knees, or you may get it from an inspired sermon that you heard. Someone said that the quality or inspiration of the sermon can be measured by how many sermons spring from it by the ministers who are listening! You expound, you explain, and you set forth. You testify. That is what Paul did in Acts 23. He testified. He spoke of his personal experience. We see that throughout his sermons. We can also refer to the testimony of others, because this faith is something that is experienced. It is one thing to preach the Latter Rain Gospel or hear the Latter Rain Gospel, and another thing to experience it. We are not content to only declare it, we want people to experience it! So we expound, we testify, we persuade—a word which conveys a sense of urgency—so that individuals will act now upon the message. It is not our message; we are simply delivering it.

A speech does not declare God’s message. It has been awhile since I have read what General Patton said in his speech to the troops prior to the Normandy invasion. That was inspiring and motivating, but it was his message. What we are delivering is not our message; It is God’s message. What we have to say is not that impressive. What Adam Clark said of Paul could be said of any of us, but it is not about us. It is about what God says—delivering God’s message.

I refer to Brother Marty Girard from time to time. He was the pastor when I stepped into my first Apostolic Faith meeting in 1974 in Roseburg, Oregon. I do not think anyone would say that Brother Marty was an eloquent speaker—he was simply a common man with a message. He delivered it. I heard it and experienced what he spoke of. The message that we have comes from God.

Rooted in Holiness

With respect to the Apostolic Faith, our message is very unique, and it is very specific, too. It is the message of the Latter Rain Gospel. When we use that phrase “Latter Rain Gospel,” we often hearken back to what happened at Asuza Street. But our message has roots that precede what happened at Asuza Street. The foundation of our message is obviously in the Bible.

What we stand for and what we teach and believe has roots in the holiness movement—both doctrinally and in our practices. It is important. It is why we exist as an organization. There are other holiness works in the world today—mostly perhaps in what used to be called the Bible Belt. For the most part, those teachings have been abandoned even by denominations that sprang from those teachings or held to those teachings for a long, long time. There is value in us remembering where our message came from.

I have a number of books that give teachings that precede the Asuza street movement. This book is part of a six-volume series, Great Holiness Classics. This book happens to be Volume 3; it is titled Leading Wesleyan Thinkers. These are sermons that were given, for the most part, by Methodist preachers of the 1800s. Preachers from some other denominations are included as well, but the collection is heavily weighted toward the old Methodist preachers. Volume I is Holiness Teaching New Testament Times to Wesley; Volume 2 is The Wesley Century; Volume 3 is Leading Wesleyan Thinkers; Volume 4 is The Nineteeth Century Holiness Movement; Volume 5 is Holiness Preachers and Preaching; Volume 6 is Holiness Teaching Today. If we are grounded in holiness understanding and Biblical theology, we will appreciate even more what the Apostolic Faith sprang from and what the Apostolic Faith stands for.

Here is a three-volume set. Years ago, after reading Richard Taylor’s books The Right Conception of Sin and Preaching Holiness Today, I googled Richard S. Taylor. One of these volumes appeared under his name, because he edited some of these volumes. Then, I began to see other names that I recognized that were of holiness denominations. That led me to this three-volume series. Volume 1 is titled Exploring Christian Holiness, the Biblical Foundations. Volume Two is titled The Historical Development, and Volume Three by Richard Taylor, The Theological Formulation.

We obtain our understanding of Bible theology from these holiness teachers who preceded William Seymour and Florence Crawford and other names that we would recognize from the last century. This theology goes back to earlier centuries. There are so many resources available for Kindles, iPads, and other electronic readers, and for so little money, that there is no excuse for not having a good holiness understanding.

Here are some books available for the Kindle editions: Christian Theology, two volumes by H. Orton Wiley; expositions of different books of the Bible by Alexander McClaren; William Seymour and his Asuza sermons. Some of these are free; some were $1.99. For fifty dollars you will have enough reading material to keep you reading for the rest of the year. Some other resources are Sermons on Isaiah by P. F. Bresee; Entire Sanctification by C.B. Jernigan; Bible Holiness by E. P. Ellyson; Love to the Uttermost by F.  B. Meyer; Security, the False and the True, by W.T. Purkiser. You should be well read. Many of you already have Like as By Fire, which is a set of the first volumes of the Apostolic Faith paper that were published from Asuza Street. They are available online as well.

We need to be well read because it helps us appreciate and understand what we stand for—why we exist. God has called us to hold to these teachings and to be faithful to them. Our message is permeated with the sound doctrine of the Bible and the understanding that these holiness people gave to those who followed them. It is invaluable; it is unique to the church world. There is a famine for a true understanding of the Word of God, and here we have a banquet every time we come to the house of the Lord. We do not need a smoke machine or dance teams. We have a simple Gospel message that can be conveyed in high speech and simplicity at the same time. We are not afraid to educate our audience.

Message-driven

We just had a conversation a day or two ago at the headquarters office as to what word to use in a certain publication. I gained a whole new vocabulary in 1974. The cursing went out, and words that I had never used before, such as consecration, restitution, propitiation, and even the names of the books of the Bible such as Ecclesiastes (though I could not pronounce it) became part of my vocabulary. Initially, those words were a different language to me. We are not afraid to preach on entire sanctification being experienced when you are entirely consecrated. You can be entirely sanctified. It is our message.

Someone asked why nearly every sermon is on salvation, sanctification, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost. I actually looked back at my last sermons and very few of them were on those topics. But it is okay for that language to saturate our sermons, because that is what we are testifying to—that people can have a personal experience. If you understand the two-fold nature of sin, you understand better the two-fold remedy for sin.

The common Christian doesn’t even understand that language. Every few years there is another crop of teenagers who must be taught, challenged, and encouraged. They must learn the difference between humanity and carnality, as explained by some very good holiness writers. They must learn the difference between maturity and purity, and between sin and temptation. These are concepts that our young people need to understand so that when the old devil sends a thought through their minds, they understand that the thought is based in humanity rather than carnality unless it springs from the heart—then it is carnality rather than humanity. Carnality is evidenced in the fact that sin emerges.

These are not original thoughts even by Richard S. Taylor. The old sermons from earlier centuries convey those same thoughts. That is our message in a general sense. In a specific sense, of course, you do not want to take the shotgun approach and put it all out there in one sermon. You will fail miserably; your audience will not know what you preached on. So, in a specific sense, when you are on your knees and a Scripture or a thought comes to you, that is the message that God would have you convey in an anointed manner. That is the difference also between a speech and a message.

The speech of General Patton was not anointed, even if it was inspiring. When it is God’s message, it is anointed and it is presented in different styles. I would not want Brother Marty to be anyone other than Brother Marty. I won’t try to be Brother Marty. I cannot be him, nor would I try to be Brother Mark. I will be myself; I would want you to be yourself. When I sit and listen to a preacher, you can be sure that I am not performing an analysis as to their success or failure, because I know that I am going to get up there eventually and I want them to have mercy upon me! I think we all feel the same way; we are saying “Amen.” That does not mean we do not recognize when a message falls a little short of what the preacher hoped it would. We all recognize that we do not hit too many home runs. To continue the baseball analogy, I always was content to be a singles man—to just get one base! Maybe somebody can move me up to second, and then eventually I will score, even if I am slow.

We are going to deliver the message that God has called us to deliver. And, God has called us to do it! Paul’s words in Acts 28:30-31 state, “And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.” Who was Paul confident in? He delivered his message with all confidence, but that confidence was not in himself. He was a captive—a prisoner; he was being held hostage in a sense. In the eyes of the world, this “contemptible” man had failed. He wasn’t feeling like a home-run hitter as he sat and penned those letters to the churches that we now benefit from. He was hitting home runs and didn’t know it! But he was delivering the message, and that is our call as well.

Whatever state you find yourself in, either geographically or in a symbolic sense, deliver the message. Whether there be many or few, whether it is received or not, deliver the message. We are not audience driven—we are message driven! In the Apostolic Faith organization, we understand what God has called us to do, and that is why we do what we do with great confidence. That is why we will step into the meeting tonight, if Jesus tarries, just happy to do so—happy to have the preacher get up and be himself or herself and deliver what God has disclosed to him or her. Some will believe. In our circles, most will believe! Most will respond. Most will go to prayer. Some will not, but whether the Spirit of God moves around the altars in a visible way or not, you can be sure the Spirit of God is moving. To that extent, we thank God that we are successful, and we pray that God will continue to help us to be faithful in the days ahead until Jesus tarries.

Before long it will be camp meeting. It is not too many weeks away. We pray between now and then a revival will spring up and we will see souls saved, not only in Apostolic Faith churches, but in America as a whole.

That concludes this session, and our sessions for this morning. Now we are going to have prayer and a blessing over the meal.