Meeting Transcripts

Opening Remarks

Welcome

Brother Darrel Lee: Thank you so much for coming here this morning and for coming to camp meeting. Some of you have been here for one week already, while some of you have just arrived and are in for a good week to come. We do appreciate all of you.

Announcements

I would like to make a few announcements before I begin. If your personal information has changed since last year, in terms of address or email address, please fill out the form on the back table and turn it in so that we can keep accurate records at the headquarters office.  

During the break, please check your binder to make sure that you have all four inserts. These are available on the back table. The first one is entitled “Funeral Protocol.” That topic was covered by Brother Earl Phillips at the pastors’ meeting. The second insert is entitled “Pastors’ Meeting,” and includes materials that were covered at the pastors’ meeting. In addition, it includes the comments I made to the Portland young people just before camp meeting along with the notes from the past three Portland ordinance business-type meetings. You are welcome to all that information. Our third insert is a more complete version of the handout Brother Dick Taylor used at our March special meetings during the session he held on “Marriage and the American Family.” If you were not present at that session, please be sure to pick up your copy. If you were, please substitute this one for the previous one. The fourth insert is Brother Joe Bishop’s “Scriptural Study,” including material that he will cover in his session today.

If you do not own Fundamentals of the Faith, you can purchase one here today for $l0.00. There are also some Music in the Balance books left over from one year ago. They are also $10.00. If you are interested in purchasing a video of this meeting, please let us know and we will make sure that you get one.

For the pastors who are present here today, I would like to follow up on a comment I made at the pastors’ meeting with regard to the letters I receive from you. When you see part of your letter printed in the One Accord, that is because there was good news in your letter. I lift out that particular portion and make it available for the One Accord. I do not circulate your letters through the office; I only take the positive, victorious information that you send and print it for others to be encouraged by it. 

Today, I would especially like to request prayer for Brother John McElveen and his family. Brother John just retired as pastor of the Washington, D.C., church, and his wife, Sister Ruth, passed away within the last twenty-four hours. Please remember their family in prayer. Also, please pray for Sister Ruth Steele’s husband. He has been in and out of the hospital with afflictions over the last couple of years. Sister Ruth pastored in Century for many years.  

Pastors, if you have any green hymnals that you are not using, perhaps tucked away in a back room somewhere, please let us know. We would like to increase our inventory since some of the hymnals we have are getting quite weary and worn.

Today, my session will go until about 10:30 a.m. and then we will take a ten-minute break. Brother Joe’s session will go until 11:30 a.m. or shortly thereafter. Brother Rene Cassell was scheduled to speak today, however he had to go home to attend to the funeral plans for his mother. He did get the flight out that he was hoping to get, so let’s pray for the family.

There is a lot of material to leaf through in the binder that you have. If you were not here at special meetings, your binder has the inserts that we covered at that time. If you were here but forgot to bring your binder, you can pick up the inserts from those sessions and add them to your binder when you get home. There is no sense taking more binders than you need. If you are interested in taking some binders for your branch church ministers, check with Sister Rodica Musgrave at the end of the day. 

Loyalty     

“Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands” (2 Timothy 1:6).

“Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us” (2 Timothy 1:13-14).

“But continue thou in the things which thou has learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:14-15).

Introduction

Paul called Timothy to remember the faith, the unfeigned faith that was in his grandmother Lois at first, and then in his mother, Eunice. Paul was persuaded that uncompromising faith was also in Timothy but found it necessary to call him to remember those who had walked before him.

Loyalty to Gospel Veterans

The veterans of the Gospel that are in this room today have a strong sense of loyalty to people like Sister Crawford, Brothers Crawford, Robbins, Frost, Rodman, and Clasper—individuals whom many of us never met. We have read some of their sermons and heard some of their tapes, but we can only capture the spirit of the veterans here who hearken back to their uncompromising faith. Even so, we who have come along later feel a strong sense of loyalty to those who have passed on whom we did know. It is interesting that even in our congregation, there is a group of young people who never knew Brother Loyce Carver, who has not been gone very long. Shocking, yes. However, those of us who knew him have a sense of loyalty to him, as well as to others that we knew like Brother Norman Allen and Brother Forrest Damron. That sense of loyalty is invaluable.

We heard Brother Robert Moore say not to buy a tape and stay home and listen to it to save the expense of travel. The same principle applies in the same way to these meetings. It is true that these meetings are available on video, but you and I know that it is not quite the same as being here. There is value in coming to camp meeting and it is in more than what we learn. It is in the capturing of the spirit of one another, rubbing shoulders with each other, having fellowship and developing a rapport and loyalty to each other. In fact, it has been thrilling to see those who have come and have already gone, who were here for the first time, or here for the first time in many years. I am thinking of Brother Dwane Ross and his wife. When they got ready to go, they were bubbling over. We do not really know what kind of feeling people will have when they step on the grounds, and we wonder, Will they feel isolated, or will they feel like they stick out? However, it has been refreshing to have them come in and leave on fire and enthused, which is what we want. We thank God for that. I suppose that does not happen in every case because the devil comes to camp meeting as well and tries to subvert all the good intentions of the children of God. But our eyes are focused on the Lord, and we thank Him for the Spirit that we feel in this camp meeting.  

Loyalty to Each Other

Over the last few weeks, I have seen loyalty and I would like to focus on that during the first part of this session. I appreciate the loyalty that has been shown to me, but I am not just talking about that. I am talking about loyalty to each other. This was greatly illustrated by one veteran who came to me after the morning teaching and told me that he had to run out of town quickly, but that he would be back for the night meeting. I appreciated that. At first it startled me because I would not have known he had done anything different. But he had been trained to keep in touch and keep his pastor or leader informed, so that is what he does. I have also seen that even here in Portland with the veterans who still live and labor here.

I feel a strong sense of loyalty to those who have gone on before, but also to those who are still here. I think of Brother Roy Frymire. During my first camp meeting, I ended up in the snack bar department, making milkshakes with him. Actually, I spent several years working next to Brother Roy. Though I did not know it at the time, that was a coveted job and somehow I ended up with it. We worked together a couple of meals per day. Brother Roy was unflappable. Twenty-five years ago they did things differently, and we used to get lots of orders. At first, I wondered how one could keep track, but Brother Roy just did his job so methodically and consistently, you could never rattle the guy. I appreciated that. This is Brother Roy’s church.

Also, I think of Brother Ivon Wilson, who is sitting here today. He has been in Portland for many years. Often, when a family has a crisis or funeral, who do they call? They call Brother Ivon. Over the years, Brother Ivon has seen different things. In fact, I observed Brother Ivon during the transition of Brother Carver retiring and Brother Dwight Baltzell assuming the leadership. Brother Carver had become ill somewhat suddenly, and Brother Ivon filled in for him during a week of prayer meetings. When Brother Ivon was there reading the prayer requests, he provided such a sense of stability, like an anchor. Even when he was on the Lower Light, he was typically in the background taking care of that ship. Looking at that stability, I feel a loyalty towards Brother Ivon. This is Brother Ivon’s church.

I could go on and name others that are stable, levelheaded, cautious people. These are the people that when something happens, you do not expect them to be impetuous or to have an impulsive reaction. These are the people that I would go to in the time of need, in terms of making decisions, because I trust them. This is their church! I feel like that with all the veterans of this Gospel. It is not my church; it is their church. They just let me come here. I appreciate that. I believe we need to have that sense of loyalty toward those who have gone on before us, but also toward the veterans who are still among us today.

Loyalty to This Gospel

We accepted a charge. Paul referred to it when he laid hands on Timothy. Those who have been ordained have had the veterans lay hands on them and ordain them, but even if you are not ordained, you have accepted the charge to uphold the Gospel that the old timers have upheld. We want that sense of loyalty. Sometimes loyalty is sharing a different perspective. It is not always just saying, “Yes.” Loyalty may be going to an individual and telling him what you think he does not want to hear. Well, we do want to hear, and we want God to help us. That is loyalty.

Recently, I received a letter that related some frustrations that have occurred in one of our branch churches. The letter came from a person who has never attended our church, but is related to someone who attends where there has been some trouble. Apparently, he was writing in that person’s defense. He was very harsh and critical of many of the brethren who tried to help the situation. He began his letter by trying to win points with me by saying that I was a holy man of God. Then, he proceeded by blasting away at others who have been faithful supporters of this work. When a person compliments one and makes derogatory comments about another in the same organization, they may be complimenting the one who instated the policy while complaining about the one who followed through on it. It doesn’t make any sense. This man and his relatives have issues with those who have been in leadership roles in the past. If someone has issues with our faithful leaders who have helped this wonderful ministry move forward, then they have issues with me. My response to his letter was this: “I am very disappointed with the content of the letter that you have written to me and the spirit in which it was written. In short, you have spoken evil of the leaders that God has put into place and thereby have lifted up your heart against the Lord’s anointed. Furthermore, I suspect that you have departed from the teachings of your father [He had referred to his father as being a lifelong Apostolic] whose name you revoked in this letter by refusing to submit yourself to God’s authority. Your only recourse from here is to humble yourself and submit to those whom God has placed over you. I will know that you have done that when I receive word from [the ministers involved] that you have apologized to them for the unkind things that you wrote about them to me. Until I hear that word from them there is no profit in you contacting me again.”

Not everyone shares the sense of loyalty that we do. There are those who want to call themselves “Apostolic” but do not wish to subject themselves to the leadership of this work. They often will want to come in through a back door and try to benefit from the work of the Lord without accepting the responsibilities that come with being a follower of God. What they are doing is refusing to submit to the leadership that God has placed over them, and they are lifting their hearts against the Lord’s anointed ones, in addition to departing from the teachings of the Apostolic Faith.

Loyalty to God’s Order

Others will do anything to pursue their own personal ambitions. On the outside they seem noble. What is wrong with wanting to expand the work of the Lord? However, when they preach the Bible, they miss the very key elements of it. They forget the Bible verse that talks about remembering those who have the rule over you and obeying those who have the authority over you, and they try to defame those who are loyal to this Gospel, whom God has placed in roles of authority.

One cannot be a leader until he learns to be a follower. We want leaders who are eager to follow the Lord and reach out to hungry souls. However, it does not work when someone will not subject himself to authority. The harmony, unity, and the beauty of this Gospel would be nonexistent then. We need to treasure the unity, fellowship, and loyalty, which makes us unique. When people come into our meetings, they notice it and they are startled by it. Brother John Musgrave had one young man visit from Romania. He was here for just two days, but when he left, he felt like the Queen of Sheba in that the half had not been told to him. He went away almost shaken by what he saw. We live in it, and we wonder, What did he see? Well, he saw the beauty of harmony, unity, and loyalty working together. We need to thank God for it, and we do. That is why we are here.

Typically, some of these types of issues open with: “The Lord showed me,” or, “The Spirit told me.” Well, the Lord showed me in His Word to “obey them that have rule over you, and submit yourselves” (Hebrews 13:17). I am never impressed when somebody who says, “The Lord showed me,” or, “The Spirit told me.” If the Lord showed you or the Spirit told you, then leave that part off and do what you think the Lord showed you. If it really is true, the puzzle pieces will fall together without you trying to make it happen. God is faithful to show us things, but God will not show somebody something that conflicts with His Word. When one forges ahead despite the counsel of all leadership, he is saying that everybody up until now was wrong but he is right. However, even if everybody up to now was wrong and he is right, if he would fall into line with God’s Word and be obedient to it, God would overrule all the counsel up to now and honor him for laying aside his personal ambitions and desires.

Improper Email Communication

Email can be a great blessing, but it can also be a horrible curse. At times, I receive emails from individuals who are under the jurisdiction of a district superintendent. They will recount certain events, point out some errors, and maybe even call somebody a liar. Then they will send copies of the email to other pastors, without sending it to their district superintendent. When I get it, I look at it and the first thing I see is that they did not send a copy to the person they were talking about. That is the first mistake. The second mistake I see is that copies were sent to other pastors when they should have first sent one to their district superintendent. If they would have sent it to him, there would have been no need to send it to the others. The only recourse in this type of situation is for the person who sent the email to turn and ask forgiveness of the district superintendent and of the other pastors to whom the email was sent. Then, I am sure, God will freely forgive.

Often when things get passed around through email, the information gets distorted, blown out of proportion, and family members hear about thirty percent of the whole story. It is unfortunate that they usually hear the thirty percent that poisons them. However, we are not going to tell them the other seventy percent, because we commit that to God. We hope that they have a strong enough sense of loyalty and trust in their pastors and ministers that they can rise above their disappointment. Often, they end up feeling that “the church” mishandled the matter. I would rather they named names than use “the church” as a catch all. Nevertheless, our desire remains that they somehow rally in spite of their distorted view of what has happened. So the lessons that we can learn are that one must follow before he will ever be qualified to lead.

Another lesson we can learn from all this is to not get caught in the loop of forwarding email. If you get a derogatory email from somebody, do not forward it to the next guy. In fact, when I get an email and I have to discuss it with another person involved, I do not give him a copy of it. I may discuss the content with him, but I do not pass the email along. The email may have also been sent to four other pastors, and I would have the right to copy it since the other pastors are leaders and often have to help solve the problem. Even so, I want to err on the side of holding back to illustrate loyalty.

If someone sends you an email that is garbage, you really have a responsibility before God to go back to that person and say, “Please leave me out of this loop.” Support your fellow pastors as best you can. If someone comes to you about a fault with a pastor, be careful. Do not allow someone else to manipulate you. If we want to help that individual, we ask him, “Have you expressed your thoughts to that pastor?” We want to encourage that one by telling him to go to that pastor, and remind him that the pastor is not perfect, but not impossible to work with either. Then, we will pray that God will help that pastor be open to criticism and input, or whatever. We cannot facilitate the cowardly conduct of people by relieving them of their burden. That burden should have gone to somebody else, not to you. If somebody comes to me, I try my best to say, “Have you expressed this to the person that you are talking about?” We cannot always totally cut people off because of the responsibility we have to listen and facilitate an agreement, but we must be very careful.

Loyalty Over Ability

Another lesson to learn is that loyalty is more important than ability. This could come up in the roles of the music director, the Sunday School Department Heads or teachers, etc. Sometimes a great deal of ability can be hindered by a lack of loyalty. One can have all the ability in the world, but if he cannot learn to subject himself to the leader and walk shoulder to shoulder with his peers, God has to overcome that. So loyalty is very critical.

Respect

Another lesson revolves around respect. In the Bible, even hard masters were to be obeyed. Servants were to be subject to their masters with all fear, “not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward” (1 Peter 2:18). I do not believe our leaders are hard people. Sometimes they do have to make a decisive move, but even if they were hard people, God would honor those who show respect because that is Scriptural. Some may object because of a difference in personalities, but that is not a valid objection because God is still working on that individual, the same as He is working on you. Not liking someone because he is too harsh is not a valid objection either, though we ask the Lord to help us not to be too harsh.

We want to be loyal to our leaders, because in time we will need their loyalty. Over time, I will have heard something negative about everybody in this room, but I do not take it too much to heart because I do not expect anybody in this room to be perfect. Furthermore, I know that over time, everybody in this room will have heard something negative about me. I want to try my best to be loyal because I need everybody else’s loyalty. In 2 Timothy 2:24-25, the Bible states: “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing . . .” and so on.

In the beginning, when we accepted the call to preach, it was deemed that we were teachable, patient, meek, and open. We probably said, “Please help me and tell me if I am doing something I ought not to do.” So what happens between that point and the point when someone is suddenly assertive and frankly arrogant and stubborn? Well, something entered in. Authority is challenged because pride and arrogance have entered in, along with a refusal to simply be patient and let God work it out. If we are persuaded that we are right, we should commit it all to God to deliver our souls, throw it on the table, and walk away. We are free to speak to whomever we need to speak to, and if it does not go the way we thought it ought to go, we must remember that the pastor may be getting a different perspective. In the world, it is guaranteed that in every decision made, somebody will be left unhappy. We are all different personalities and different human beings who come from different backgrounds, and our only safety is having loyalty to where we can say, “Well, it did not go my way, but glory to God.” God can overrule that if it is to be, and God will do that from time to time with all of us. 

Support Each Other

We can show our support one to another, and we should show support to our pastors. Keep in touch with what is going on. If you are not going to be in a meeting, let your pastor know. Do not make him say, “I don’t know,” when someone asks him where you are. That puts him on the spot, so keep in touch. Participate in non-church events like potlucks and family nights. You need to rub shoulders with those who attend church. That is how they get to know you. This is a challenge in Portland where the schedule is so intense. There are only a few times a year when we have the opportunity, and it is often a major undertaking to have a family night. In a branch church it is not that challenging, so by all means, be loyal because you are being loyal to your pastor and to the people of the congregation, and when you get up to preach they will know you as a fellow parishioner.

We can also be loyal by saying, “Amen,” when the preacher preaches the Word. If he says something that you agree with, say, “Amen.” We are Pentecostal people and think of the baptism as the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire. Fire may be shut up in our bones, but do not leave it there. Let it come out! Try your best to say, “Amen,” and support the preacher as he stands up there, so he does not feel like he is on his own. We want him to know that we are right with him, backing him. That is one way we can demonstrate loyalty.

Another way we can demonstrate loyalty is to pray out loud at the altars. We do not want the Apostolic Faith Church to look and sound like a funeral home. We must pray out loud. That captures the Spirit of God. I do not mean to holler to draw attention to yourself but pray in a spirit of prayer. It will also help you keep focused. When you pray out loud, you do not want to be saying, “I am looking forward to pizza after the meeting.” You want to say something that makes sense, is intelligible, and is a help to those you are praying with. Be in the prayer room; pray out loud in the prayer room. Be at the altar and carry the altar service. We are supposed to be workers. That is why we became preachers. At one time, we were workers and not preachers, and we were found to be faithful. We were found to be in the prayer room and around the altar. Now, we are preachers, and we still want to be found doing those things.

We Were Called to This Gospel

Sometimes we hear questions like, “Why can’t we be more like other churches in respect to style of worship, programs, and more contemporary music?” The answer is because God has not called us to be like other churches. He really has not. The Scripture that comes to my mind is Acts 15:21, “For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.” There were those who were trying to bring the new Church under the bondage of the Law, and the determination made in Acts 15 was that they already had the Law being preached everywhere; this was a new dispensation that God had committed to them. Why would we want to be like everybody else? Somebody who wants what everybody else has can go where everybody else is. That is not what we want. We want to appreciate the fact that God has given us something very unique and precious. You cannot find it everywhere else. Why would we take that and dilute it to be like what you can find everywhere else? Aside from the fact that God did not call us to be like that, it really does not make sense. So we will continue to have our music emphasize a symphony orchestra sound as opposed to the style that leads by a heavy beat. We understand that everyone cannot have what we have at headquarters, since you may only have twenty or fifty people who attend your church. However, the direction we come from and are going in is very clear. Our goal is to maintain what God has given us.

It was very inspiring to go to Africa and visit thirteen churches. Each one had a symphony orchestra. If one instrument were to dominate the music program, pretty soon the person playing the lesser instrument would think, Why bother? They cannot hear me anyway. So we want to be very careful of that. In Africa, when we came out on the platform from the prayer room, we knelt and prayed as the orchestra began playing, and then we sat up and the prelude continued. Then we held meeting, had testimonies, even two-minute testimonies. In Africa—two-minute testimonies! I do not know if it is always done that way, but it was done like that when we were there. Then the preacher preached, the altar call was given, and people come around and prayed at the altar. It felt like being in an Apostolic Faith meeting.

Around the world, it is all the same. You cannot get that anywhere else, so we want to guard it. Just remember, this is not only your church. This church also belongs to the veterans that sweat blood and tears to give us what we have. Furthermore, there are many people in the world who are starved for what we have. We have people come through and join in, and by their response they let us know that we are right on track. In America, people are probably less starved for it than in other places. But still, there are people who are hungry and will respond to it.

Question and Answer Session

In the next few minutes, I will cover a couple of things that we covered at the pastors’ meetings. It is the question-and-answer formatted material, which you have in your insert. You do not need to refer to it right now, since I will go through it quickly.

1: You are on a road trip with your children in the back seat. Your best avenues of discussing a frustrating church matter are:

·         Discuss them in the same manner you would if your children were not present.

·         Whisper softly.

·         Consider changing the subject.

This issue could be compared to carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide is invisible, and people have been poisoned by it without knowing and have died. It is deadly because you cannot see it, and because it accumulates over time. That is the way it is with discussing things while your children are present. Many children become slowly, but systematically, disillusioned with the church and the people of the church by what they hear from their parents. We want our children to love and respect the saints of God, although they, like us, are quite human.

2: One of the mothers complains to you that your child has stuck bubblegum in her child’s violin case. Which of the following is your best way to respond:

·         “Your child isn’t exactly an angel.”

·         Laugh hysterically.

·         Cry hysterically.

·         Remember Proverbs 26:20, “Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out.”

Obviously, the point to be made is that it does not pay to fight your children’s battles, whether your children are a couple of six-year-olds quarreling, a couple of teenagers, or a couple of forty-year-olds. It is best to keep out of it. Your children are always your children, but they have to sort things out on their own. If you get in the fray, what happens? The other parent needs to get in the fray. If that parent gets involved, you might want to tell your grandmothers and get them in. Then the other grandmothers will get in, and the cousins, and the uncles, and the brothers, and the sisters. You will end up with a wild party, won’t you? Another thing to remember as a pastor is that you will be living there for a while. That is also true of all the ministers here today. Since you will be at that location, do not burn any bridges.

3: You have an individual in the work who is doing a poor job of upholding the standard of holiness. You are a minister in the church, so you say,

·         “The Lord has laid it on my heart to line up the saints the next time I preach.”

That is not your job. It is the pastor’s job, so leave it alone! In fact, stay away from it. The other thing to remember is that you can line up the saints, but if you do that, you will not get the desired result. What was your desired result? You were not trying to correct the problem, you were trying to let the people know how you felt about the problem. That is not right; the pulpit is not the place to air your feelings. You must preach the Word of God. Preach something safe, like Daniel in the lions’ den.

One time, there was a case where the preacher said something outlandish and then turned to me and said, “I didn’t know I was going to say that.” He said that to the whole audience but was looking at me. What he was saying was that since he did not think before he spoke, and it came out, it must have come straight from Heaven. My thinking was, “You should have left that alone.” Just because you did not think of it ahead, does not mean that it came from Heaven. It came from your heart. It came because you have been dwelling on it and thinking about it, and you had an opportunity to let it out and it came out. The end of the matter will be that you will not make headway, so do not go there to begin with.

Also, do not address the teens for something that is the responsibility of the parents. That is the way they were raised. You should not make them choose between their loyalty to you and to their parents. Believe me, they are going to side with their parents. We ask God to help those who have the responsibility to address the matter privately, rather than it being addressed from the pulpit. Publicly correcting the group for the faults of one or two individuals leaves the group discouraged and the one or two unaffected. 

4: What about the situation where people consistently attend our church but are not “Apostolic”?

We have a lot of people who attend the Portland church, and some of them are not saved. Sometimes people from branch churches visit and see somebody attending the Portland church, maybe for the first time, who is dressed inappropriately. They might go away saying, “Portland does not have it like they used to.” Well, what if I went to your church and saw that one person in that one meeting and said, “That church doesn’t have it like they used to”? Of course, we do not want to do that. We want these people to come. When they come, we do not blast away at them. We want to inspire them to take action. They may come thirty weeks in a row and still not be “Apostolic.” What do we do then? We keep inspiring them. The first time you blast away at them is the last time they will come, and then they will also go and tell their mother and their brother and everybody else, “I don’t like that church.” We want to inspire them with God’s Word and it will do the job. For some people it takes longer than others. Some people will say to me, “That person was not raised Apostolic.” I was not raised Apostolic, yet I am Apostolic. Nevertheless, we need to be patient with people. God knows about it, and we just keep plugging away and we thank God that they are here. Be careful; do not scare them off or send them away.

5: I feel isolated from headquarters with respect to the flow of information on what is happening in our work. What shall I do?

Be sure to read the One Accord and check our website; they will keep you plugged in. Come when you can to the March special meetings, to camp meeting, to Century, and to Midwest. We realize that it is not always possible, so we are not critical when we do not see you. Some people can only come once in a lifetime. The One Accord is available at all the branch churches, and the pastors have been told that if they need more they can let us know and we will send them more. If you haven’t seen a One Accord in your church for a while, go to your pastor and let him or her know.  

6: My operating style is a bit unique compared to my peers. A senior minister at my branch church has commented that I am too unique. What shall I do?

Change your style! You are teachable and open. If one veteran tells you that your style is too unique, go to another and ask him. If they agree, by all means, change your style. We need to have the approval and the blessing of those whom we serve. We need to adapt. Of all the people, we need to be teachable and pliable. We cannot isolate ourselves, even from one another. If we isolate, it is a gradual process that resembles the carbon monoxide poisoning we talked about earlier. None of us can afford to be isolated. None of us can afford to operate in a manner that is independent of our peers. We are all subject one to another. That is God’s way of keeping us in balance. We are all different, and we all bring our uniqueness to the table, so that part of “unique” is okay. We want to be part of the whole and operate in the middle of the road as best we can.

7: I have an individual in my congregation whom I feel is called to preach. Do I speak with headquarters first, or with the individual?

You should call headquarters first. When you call, I might ask some questions—and these are the questions that were asked when you answered the call to preach. I would ask: Does the individual pray at the altar? Is he in the prayer room before meeting? Is he faithful in attending services? Does God bless his testimony when he gives it? Is he teachable and is he willing to accept instructions? Will the congregation be surprised at seeing him step to the pulpit for the first time or have they been expecting it? Is his wife stable? Are his children respectful? Obviously, our children may grow up and rebel, because they are free to make their own choices. That has happened to some in this room where circumstances did not go the way we thought they would. We have to ask God to help us overcome our limitation in that respect. For a new preacher, those are the things that we ask. We must do our best to continue on in the things that caused us to answer the call to begin with.

8: The Catholics claim to have a zero-tolerance policy for their most egregious offenders in sexual misconduct matters. What is our policy in similar offenses?

Truthfully, I have not kept up on what is happening in the Catholic Church. Our policy on comparable offenses is this: “One strike and you are out.” This means that if it was discovered that one of our workers was guilty of molesting a child, he would never participate in our work in that area again. It is likely that he would never participate in any area of our work again. However, it is possible that if he really repented, he could have some role in an area not involving children. This would be only if he felt he was unworthy to even assume that role. If he were demanding and said, “You are too harsh on me, I should be used,” he would not be used in any area, because forgiveness does not negate consequence. Part of the acceptance of responsibility for misconduct is to be humble and feel unworthy to even attend the place to begin with. Those are the things that we would look for.

If one of our ministers was found guilty of adultery, he would never preach in our church again. He could repent and get saved and get straightened out, but he would never be allowed to stand behind the pulpit, because he betrayed everyone’s trust. If he came back, it would take a long time to regain that trust. If he really repented and found God, he would accept that. He would know that the level of offense demanded a certain level of performance afterward. If he came back stubborn and demanding, he didn’t get saved. I will temper that and say, “It would appear that he hadn’t gotten saved.” God knows the heart. 

True or False Questions

1. In preaching, there is a difference between persuasion and denunciation.

True. Preaching as a result of frustration usually results in denunciation. Preaching that springs from inspiration usually results in persuasion. 

2. Be open with your disappointments, grumble about being overworked, reject criticism and expect compliments.

False, of course. The Minister’s Manual says just the opposite.

3. A good sermon has a good beginning and a good ending and these are not too far apart.

True. The Minister’s Manual has that statement. A successful sermon also makes one point that people will remember the next day. Sometimes we succeed and sometimes we fail.

4. One should keep his shoes shined and his suit pressed.

True. Also, he should also use a clean handkerchief when at the pulpit.

5. Be too big to be slain or injured with little pebbles of fault finding.

That is certainly true. Everybody is not going to just come up to you and say, “You are doing a great job, Brother. We just admire you and think you are a holy man of God.”

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