Meeting Transcripts

‍Opening Remarks

Welcome

We are happy to welcome you on this Friday morning in Portland at the beginning of our 2022 Camp Meeting. It has finally arrived, and we thank the Lord for the high expectations everyone has. We also welcome those of you who have joined us by way of the webcast.

New Publications

On Sunday, if Jesus tarries, I will announce that the latest issue of our flagship publication, The Apostolic Faith, magazine is available. It is already online, and those of you who have signed up for notifications are aware of that. I will also announce that we have ten new tracts. Samples are available at the back of the room where George Yellott is videotaping. For now, here is one titled “From Muslim Traditions to Faith in Christ.” It is the testimony of a brother who is seated in this room. It is very inspiring and encouraging.

These tracts are for evangelistic purposes. Remember that our magazine is designed primarily for our own people. They are not designed to be used as tracts. With that in mind, we have developed these new tracts, and they will be available to you in bulk quantities. If you want just a handful of each, you can get those in the tabernacle. However, if you want some quantity, contact Catey Hinkle, the managing editor at the headquarters office. She will help you get the amount you need.  

We want this material in your hands! If you are not receiving enough magazines or tracts, let us know. We don’t want to go to the time and effort of producing material just to have it sit in a file somewhere on our server. We want it to be used. Of course, we continue to encourage digital printing at different locations. This is due to the cost of shipping more than it is to the cost of printing. It is very expensive to ship materials. That is why it is helpful for you to take what you need while you are here. So, let us know what you need and avail yourself of our publications.

Agenda

Today we will speak on the topic of “Christian Courage.” This follows up on what was presented in March, the transcript of which was made available to you in a link. It was also sent in an email to those who have signed up for ministerial notifications. If you did not get a notice and want to be signed up, contact either Alicia Parker or Catey Hinkle, and they will help you.

When it came to titling this, I first thought to use “Ministerial Courage,” but instead chose “Christian Courage.” The reason is that if we inspire our congregations to be the kind of Christians God would have them to be, there will be no issue with the Lord raising up ministers from those Christians. To use a sports analogy, we don’t have a deep bench, so we must inspire Christians to be consecrated, dedicated, and devoted to God. If we succeed in that, there will be no issue seeing ministers and workers raised up from that pool of consecrated individuals. So, Christian courage is what we are after. If we achieve that, ministerial courage will follow.

Christian Courage

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest” (Joshua 1:9).

What is Courage?

Notice in the first chapter of Joshua, the repetition in God’s Words to Joshua after the death of Moses. In verse 6 He said, “Be strong and of a good courage.” Then in verse 7, “Only be thou strong and very courageous.” And in verse 9, “Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

Courage is usually thought of as facing challenges in a fearless manner. The military bestows medals of honor on those who go beyond the call of duty in combat, recognizing them for their courage and fearlessness. Synonyms of fearless include bold, brave, undaunted, valiant. We generally think of these attributes as belonging to one who is of great courage. However, does having courage mean there is a lack of fear? No, courage is only required when there is something to fear. So, courage does not equate to fearlessness.

Paul’s words to Timothy lead us to ask if Timothy experienced feelings or emotions of fear. Paul said in 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Timothy is sometimes characterized as being timid or lacking courage, but fear is not necessarily a bad attribute. We would rather be cautious than reckless.   

Courage is a moral quality of personal character; it is moral strength—that is where Christian character or ministerial character comes in. It empowers us to persevere when faced with what we would deem as daunting circumstances or great challenges.

We all have courage, but perhaps we must be reminded to use it. Maybe that is what Paul was doing for Timothy. Among Paul’s last words to him were, “. . . be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus,” and, “. . . endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:1, 3). So, we may need to be reminded to use the courage God has given us. It took courage to step up to the pulpit the first time. Most of us did not volunteer for the assignments we have been given along the way, but God put His finger on us and we did what we needed to do.

Courage through Confidence in God

Moses showed courage in the face of fear. We would not initially think of him as having been fearless. When God called him, he said, “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11). Gideon had a similar reaction, saying, “. . . wherewith shall I save Israel?” (Judges 6:15). In addition, Jeremiah responded, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child” (Jeremiah 1:6).

These men all feared their assignments, but to each of them and to others we could cite, the Lord gave assurances. To Moses, He said, “Certainly I will be with thee” (Exodus 3:12); to Gideon, He said, “Surely I will be with thee” (Judges 6:16); and to Jeremiah, “I am with thee to deliver thee” (Jeremiah 1:8).

These three were not counted courageous because they believed in themselves; they were counted courageous because they believed in God! God is faithful. He promised to be with them, and we have evidence through the Scriptures that He indeed was. He will be with us as well. He will help us!

In Paul’s reminder to the church at Corinth, he was conscious of his own limitations. He said, “And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Corinthians 2:3-4). Paul did not boast in his own strength, but in the power of God. May we also have confidence in the Lord, realizing that He uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things.

Courage Consecrates

When I think of courage, I remember Sister Olive. For those of you who don’t know of her, she was the sister of Audrey Wallace. When I was a new covert attending our church in Roseburg, Oregon, she was the pastor’s wife, married to Marty Girard. One day, I heard her say, “There is one place I will never go and that is to Hawaii.” Well, Brother Marty was asked to go to Hawaii and pastor the church in Honolulu. What did they do? They relocated, and they were in Hawaii for a few years before returning to the mainland. It took courage for Sister Olive to go where she did not want to.

I wonder if Sarah ever said to Abraham, “There is one place I won’t go . . .” Abraham did not even know where God would lead them, but he was a man of courage, and Sarah had courage also, so they went. Though they stopped along the way before finally relocating to the Land of Canaan.

The account of Abraham and Sarah relocating causes us to think of pastoral assignments and transfers, which some of us have been a part of. I was first asked to pastor in Dallas, Oregon, where Debbie and I had met and married and started a family. At that time, we had been married for eleven years and had both lived in Dallas for even longer. After five years of pastoring, Brother Loyce Carver asked us to relocate to Eureka, California. Our challenge was not in wondering where we were going—we knew the destination was Eureka. It was concerning our children who had gone through grade school in Dallas. We were in a conservative location, and it was a very good school. One of our children viewed the move as an adventure while the other dreaded it. Ironically, once we got to Eureka, their roles reversed, but God helped them both. We were there nearly four years, and we loved it. We would have been happy to remain there, but we were asked to move again, and we did.

Becoming a pastor and later relocating took courage. It was necessary to consecrate, and we did. The transition was a little more difficult each time. When we were first asked to pastor in Dallas, we stepped forward without hesitation because we felt the call of God. Then when we were asked to move to Eureka, it did not come as a complete surprise. We had been in Dallas for a long time, and I had sensed that it might be better for the congregation to have a change. It was different when we were asked to move from Eureka; we wanted to stay longer. However, the call came, and we answered. There does come a point where it is for the benefit of the congregation, even if it is not to the benefit of the pastor and his family to relocate. Courage is needed to go where God leads.

Brother Gary Riler called a song last night with these lyrics:

Follow, follow, I would follow Jesus!

Anywhere, everywhere, I would follow on!

Follow, follow, I would follow Jesus!

Everywhere He leads me I would follow on!

Each of these statements is very declarative and emphatic. Every sentence ends with an exclamation point. There is another old song that says, “I’ll go where you want me to go, dear Lord!” We sing it. Will we do it?

Courage Confronts Sin

Courage is required, not just as ministers, but as Christians. David was courageous when he faced Goliath, but not in the matter of Bathsheba. The difference was that in the latter situation, he was no longer a man after God’s own heart. Though he returned to God, he never recovered from his failure. His family was fractured from that point forward, and his kingdom ended up fractured as well. It fell to the prophet Nathan to confront David about his sin, and that took courage. Nathan could have been executed, and he was likely very anxious, but he told David, “Thou art the man.”

Courage Extends Candor

It takes courage to confront a sinner, and it also takes courage to confront a friend, a saint. However, we do those we love no favor by holding our peace when they are better served by us privately speaking up. In Proverbs 27:5-6 we read, “Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”

The other perspective of Proverbs 27:5-6 is that we don’t want people around us who will tell us what they think we want to hear. It is better to have people around us who will be courageously candid. If we are surrounded by enough of those people, we will hear conflicting perspectives, and that is a good thing.

Our editorial staff is an example of people who offer candor. The materials that appear in our magazine—the sermons, testimonies, and articles, start in a rough format. The sermons, for instance, are transcribed as preached. Then they are polished a bit to remove such things as slang before going through an editorial process that is even stronger. After that, a committee gets together and reviews the material. They will dissect it, making comments like, “This is out of context” or “This thought is not complete.” On occasion, they will say, “This won’t work at all, throw it out.” Are they ruthless? No, they are gracious. They are watching our backs. If we say something extemporaneously that is not completely sound doctrinally, we don’t want to put that in writing and publish it. So all materials are edited and then oftentimes, Sister Catey will send the final product to the one who delivered the message to get feedback. She is very gracious about it. She doesn’t say, “We’ve pulled together your sermon and now it is useable.” The speakers are gracious also. Almost with one voice, they come back with, “I didn’t know I could sound so good.”

 Courage Accepts Correction

It is one thing to offer candor, but it is another to accept it. You have heard me say many times that we learn more from our critics than from our loyalists. It is the absolute truth. If our natural response to our critics is to be defensive, excusing, or justifying, that is not a good moral quality. It is better that we hold our peace, assimilate what has been delivered to us, and see what merit exists in it. There is something to learn from every criticism, even when we think there is no merit in it. Hebrews 12:11 tells us, “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”

Courage Refuses Compromise

We cannot operate with a fear of reprisal. John the Baptist did not compromise when he told Herod it was not lawful for him to have the wife of his brother Phillip. He knew he was at risk.

I subscribe online to Christian History magazine. Every day they send an email of some event that has happened on that day during the Church dispensation. Oftentimes, the email tells of someone who was martyred. I marvel at the courage of those who have stood firm in the face of compromise. They simply refused to compromise, and they “died in the triumphs of the living faith,” as Brother Allen Crabtree used to say.

We also don’t compromise. That doesn’t mean we are unbending in procedural or unimportant matters. We need to be flexible at times. The saints of God give everything they have. They are working, and with a commute, some are working fifty or more hours a week. We want their help. They are doing their best to support us. We want them to realize that we know they are supporting us and we appreciate it. So, let’s not reject every perspective or idea. There is a difference between refusing to compromise the Gospel and being stubbornly inflexible.

Courage Meets the Moment

I grew up in a sinner’s home where there were seven children. Dad was a milkman who worked at Umpqua Dairy for about three decades. There was a family who lived not too far from us whose dad also worked at Umpqua Dairy. When I was not yet a teenager, that man secured a job working for a beer distributor at higher pay. Dad was recruited also, because he was a good employee. They wanted him to join the team and drive a truck to deliver beer to grocery stores and wherever else it was sold. Dad was an unsaved man with seven children to feed, but he refused the job! It was because he thought, I am an example to them. To me, that demonstrated courage. He was willing to be deprived of financial gain to keep from setting a bad example for his children. In this situation, courage met the moment.

The moment where courage is needed will appear in our lives as well, and it will appear multiple times. Situations where courage is needed come suddenly, unexpectedly, and from out of nowhere. In those moments, whatever is within us will be manifested. It is important that we have that moral quality of courage within to guide us. If we have it, the Lord will help us as we meet those moments.