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The next example I would like to discuss took place at the 2006 Michigan District Council of the Assemblies of God. One of our special guests was Dr. Leith Anderson, pastor of “Wooddale Church” in Minneapolis, MN, and the acting head of the National Association of Evangelicals. During Dr. Anderson’s Thursday morning home missions sermon he made two comments of note.

First of all, he asked the ministers when the last time was that they attended a catholic mass or had lunch or dinner with a priest. He offered no qualifying statements to this remark, leaving me (and many others who later telephoned and e-mailed me) to wonder what he meant by this, and what he was hoping to accomplish.

The second statement had to do with his Minneapolis church’s plan to start a new congregation in the southern part of the city amongst the “politically liberal, upwardly mobile, and homosexual/lesbian” community. As with his prior statement, he offered no explanation whatsoever that would give context and perspective to the audience. Instead, his ambiguous and ill-defined words just hung there like a cloud. At an afternoon breakout session that same day, opportunity was given for the much smaller audience to ask questions. I raised my hand and distilled the two issues from the morning service into a single question. It started with, “What did you mean this morning when you said…?” Dr. Anderson chuckled slightly and said, “Why don’t we start off with something a bit more controversial?” That remark evoked a polite titter that went through to room.

To the issue of attending the Mass and lunching the Priest, there was not one doctrinal/Scriptural reason given as to why we should open up new relations with Rome. I asked whether it was a prelude to personal evangelism or something more? “We have much more in common with the Catholic Church than we have different” he said, and “Where would the Evangelical Church be on the question of abortion without the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church?” These remarks were followed by another chorus of low-keyed “amens” that moved across the audience. What does that have to do with anything? His “PE” of the church of Rome was completely pragmatic and political, and not based upon the Scriptures or church history whatsoever.

The second part of his answer was no better. When he began to address the homosexual question he remarked rather off-handedly, “Well, when you have people who are born with something that they can’t control…” and then went on. Later in the same statement he appealed to the compassionate hearts of our pastors when he said, “Which one of you, having a lesbian couple in your church with children, would counsel them to separate? Think of the affect it would have on the kids!” I nearly fell out of my chair! Why was I so flabbergasted? Not because some outside guest speaker said something that is obviously outside the witness of Holy Scripture as well as Assemblies of God doctrine, but because he went unchallenged both during or after the council by our District leadership! As Leith Anderson (the leader of the largest contingent of evangelical Christians in America) gave “active endorsement” to both Roman Catholicism and homosexuality, our leaders gave “PE” to Anderson by not challenging his remarks (even weeks after the fact). Regrettably, the sessions were not recorded so we will have to settle for eyewitness reports that (as you know) are always subject to questioning and appeals to “misunderstanding”.

Following the question and answer session I was met out in the hall by men who made remarks to me such as: “You radical!” and “Hey! Way to go brother troublemaker!” There were others though, those who were genuinely stirred and troubled; who thanked me for asking my question in public. When I broke my silence via e-mail approximately one month after the council, District Superintendent Bill Leach (one the kindest and gentlest men I know) replied simply:

“I suspect most all of our ministers who were in attendance understand that Leith Anderson is not an Assemblies of God minister. He was not representing our position in answering your question only his own. He was invited to discuss leadership and his example of church planting. I don’t believe any public response from the District Office is needed (e-mail dated Thursday, June 15, 2006).”

In my e-mailed reply I wrote:

“Thanks so much for your reply! I knew what the essence of your answer would be, but appreciate having it in print. I have echoed the spirit of it to those who have raised the question with me, and will continue to do so. I just know that if I had a guest speaker at the Embassy (the church I lead), and he made those same statements to my home crowd, I would be answering many e-mails and phone calls clarifying the fact that I did not agree with what was said. Accidental endorsement is one of the greatest challenges we face today. Be blessed and we’ll see you soon, Jeff (e-mail dated Friday, June 16, 2006)"

Do you see the dynamic of “PE” at work? Anderson’s original comments were made in a larger audience during a plenary session of the Council, and the question I raised was not (and could not be) asked until later that day. The fact that Superintendent Leach said that “He (Anderson) was not representing our (AG) position in answering your question only his own” is exactly why I’m writing this article! My question was a challenge to his uncontested statements made to the entire District Council while in session, and was not asked merely to satisfy my own curiosity! In retrospect, I guess that I should have followed up with another question directed at our leaders, asking for clarification of our District’s convictions on the same issues. It seems horribly petty, but undefined silence that assumes a position is yet another trait of this “PE” dysfunction.

Following the District Council, could there have been some kind way of communicating our position without denouncing everything said by Leith Anderson? I believe there was. As in our example of Dan Betzer and his story about Tony Campolo, “Qualified Endorsement” could be employed. For instance, Superintendent Leach could’ve stated in the June or July minister’s letter:

My fellow ministers of the Michigan District, What a glorious Council we enjoyed this past month! The Lord visited us in a powerful way in each worship service, and we were challenged by our guest speakers as well. Dr. Leith Anderson shared many inspiring testimonies of how his church body in Minnesota has parented several new congregations over the past ten years. Though we as the Assemblies of God do not hold to his views relative to the Roman Catholic Church or biological predisposition as the cause for homosexuality, I was personally challenged to pray for truly Spirit-inspired ways to reach out to our surrounding communities with the power of the Gospel! Sincerely, Superintendent Leach

Do you see? Scriptural orthodoxy is preserved while charity is extended! I believe that since the exposure and potential for controversy at the Council was small in this case (remember that the workshop had few attendees and was not recorded), it was decided to just let sleeping dogs lie. However, there were other leaders affected by this famous pastor’s comments that did not have the opportunity to speak up in public, or were afraid of being labeled a “troublemaker”. My prayer is that none of our Michigan Pastors went home and put Anderson’s example into practice. In fact, I hope that they follow in the steps of another Anderson who was in attendance at this Council; Dr. Gordon Anderson, President of North Central University in Minneapolis, MN. He recounted (in another session) that when he was approached by a group of homosexual activists demanding access to NCU’s campus, he stood his ground and would not bend to their attempts at intimidation which included the threat of using local television and print media. Over in St. Paul however, Dr. Leith Anderson opened the campus of Bethel Seminary to “dialogue” with the same group. I am thankful and proud to call NCU my alma mater when this sort of courageous leadership is modeled for the next generation of AG leaders. My heart-felt prayer is that they will still have a courageous movement in which to serve after emerging from their college studies.

This reference to academic leadership brings me to my final example of “PE”, as well as the question as to whether or not it is actually passive at all. Early on in our discussion the names Brian McClaren and Leonard Sweet were mentioned. You no doubt noticed that they resurfaced again when we examined Dan Betzer’s endorsement of Tony Campolo. Why should any Assemblies of God ministers care about what these men outside the parameters of our movement think about anything? The answer to this question is that they keep showing up in Assemblies of God circles, and are cited as authorities that should be respected and listened to. Dr. Earl Creps, PhD, professor at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary and author of Offroad Disciplines, a highly esteemed work on ministry in the postmodern/emergent era, is yet another example of a leader that fails to clearly present and defend (with Scripture) his positions. Instead, names and concepts are thrown about, being incrementally introduced into the bloodstream of seminary students and by extension, into the entire body of our fellowship if left unchallenged.

Let’s examine some of Dr. Creps’ recommended readings from his course lists that he teaches around the United States as well as at AGTS in Springfield, MO.

ASSEMBLIES OF GOD THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Continuing Education Course
2 or 3 Credit Hours
PTHE 640 MINISTRY ON THE EDGE:
THE MISSION TO POST-CHRISTIAN AMERICA

COURSE SYLLABUS
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Ministry on the Edge: The Mission to Post-Christian America is a class/conference partnership hosted by aGts in cooperation with the Rocky Mountain District Council of the Assemblies of God. It will be the site and the raw material for theological reflection on our emerging culture and the kind of church that must emerge to engage it.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
The course/conference is an arena for learning and growth of several kinds:

• Cultural exegesis: understanding and interpreting major forms of cultural influence that are creating the context in which the Christian gospel must be lived out.

• Theological reflection: hearing culture as posing critical theological questions and exercising the reflective skills needed to begin the process of developing meaningful answers.

• Personal reframing: seeing personal and corporate communicative ministry as an evolving, holistic, missional calling rather than a set of static roles played by executing a list of functions.

• Professional networking: developing relationships with other leaders devoted to the challenge of communicating the gospel in emerging culture in an environment that maximizes long-term peer learning.

• Ministry enhancement: growing in the character, skills, and gifts associated with effective ministry to emerging culture.

COURSE READINGS
(Note: Call Arlene at 1-800-467-aGts x1055, or email her at adilley@aGts.edu)
Sweet, Leonard, Brian McLaren and Jerry Haselmayer. A is for Abductive: The Language of the Emerging Church. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003. (338 pages)
________. Carpe Manana: Is Your Church Ready to Seize Tomorrow? Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001. (208 pages)
________. Postmodern Pilgrims: First Century Passion for the 21st Century Church. Broadman & Holman, 2000. (224 pages).

ASSEMBLIES OF GOD THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
www.aGts.edu
PTH 620 MINISTRY IN EMERGING CULTURE
(3 Credit Hours)
Fall 2003
Earl G. Creps 1-800-467-aGts
http://www.agts.edu/faculty/creps.html ecreps@aGts.edu

COURSE SYLLABUS

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course explores the potential of Pentecostal ministry in a rapidly evolving, globalized culture. The focus is on learning to discern culture as opportunity for cooperating with the mission of Jesus, and for discerning ministry as opportunity for Spirit-empowered expressions of that mission.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
The course is an arena for personal growth of several kinds:
• Character development: humbling ourselves as the Spirit uses the twin instruments of culture and ministry to form greater dependence on God in our hearts.
• Cultural exegesis: interpreting major forms of cultural influence that are creating the context in which the Christian gospel must be communicated.
• Theological reflection: hearing culture posing critical theological questions calling forth the reflective skills needed to develop meaningful answers that are true to Scripture and connected to context.
• Personal reframing: seeing personal and corporate ministry as an evolving, holistic, missional calling rather than a set of static roles played by using power to execute a list of functions.
• Community formation: relating to other believers in a community that simulates the way field ministry struggles to connect ministry with its context.
• Ministry enhancement: discerning opportunities to cooperate with the Spirit in the fulfillment of Christ’s mission in culture.
• Ongoing growth: equipping with self-sustaining field research skills that can feed experience and insight into all of the objectives above in future ministry.

COURSE READINGS
Required Readings:
Sweet, Leonard. Soul Tsunami: Sink or Swim in New Millennium Culture. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999. (446 pages)

ASSEMBLIES OF GOD THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Doctor of Ministry Elective
June 3-7, 2002
PTH 971 MODELS OF MINISTRY IN THE EMERGING CHURCH
Earl G. Creps, Ph.D. Summer 2002
ecreps@agseminary.edu 1-800-467-AGTS

COURSE SYLLABUS

COURSE DESCRIPTION
A discovery and understanding of the variety of ministry models developing in the emerging church.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
The course is an arena in which four kinds of personal growth are catalyzed:
Knowledge Growth…
1. The nature of emerging culture in North America and the world
2. The variety of ministry models arising to engage this culture
3. The centrality of mission to the life and work of the church
Attitude Growth…
1. That there are multiple ways to accomplish the mission of the church
2. That discovery is the most powerful way to experience truth
3. That theology, spirituality, apologetics, etc. are no longer distinct categories
Character Growth…
1. The humility required to learn from the experiences of other leaders
2. The openness to grasp the radical changes taking place in culture
3. The willingness to take chances in order to fulfill the mission of the church
Skill Growth…
1. Learnings that facilitate re-examining the assumptions of our ministry
2. Sensitization to the role of culture in determining ministry strategy
3. Renewed confidence in the supernatural dimension of ministry

COURSE TEXTBOOKS
Required Texts
McLaren, Brian D. More Ready Than You Realize: Evangelism as Dance in the Postmodern Matrix. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002. (188 pages)
Sweet, Leonard. Postmodern Pilgrims: First Century Passion for the 21st Century Church. Broadman & Holman, 2000. (224 pages)

When reading Offroad Disciplines, it becomes quickly apparent that Dr. Creps’ purpose is not to merely connect with and critique this present generation in the eternal light of Scripture and call it to Christ, but rather to call the Church to repentance from its sin of irrelevance, and to conform it to the thought patterns of this present age. Paul was considered “irrelevant” by the Athenian Philosophers when he preached the truth of the resurrection of Christ, just as he was judged to be out of step with the demands of occult leaders in Philippi. The Word of God records in 1 Corinthians 1:18-21 an accurate diagnosis of the pseudo-wisdom of both the ancient as well as “postmodern/emergent” ages:

18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent." 20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

Let us remind ourselves at this point of the main thesis of this essay; the influence of “PE” is permeating every level of the church, not just the Assemblies of God. If Dr. Creps is not debating the outlandish teachings of figures such as McClaren and Sweet in his lectures, then by default he is incorporating their philosophies into his overall message, and thus into the minds of our future leaders. I can hear the defensive cry arising from a sincere AGTS scholar, “You don’t know what you’re talking about! You’ve never studied under Dr. Creps so you cannot possibly know his heart or what he talks about in his lectures”. I sympathize with this defense. However, as a public figure who writes extensively and is held up as an example of present leadership in the Assemblies of God, he cannot claim a defense that is reserved for a low-profile Sunday School teacher with no audience outside of a handful of eleven year old boys. “To whom much is given, much is required” is a fitting proverb that applies to one who has been given a national platform. Where is the chapter in his book that repudiates the unscriptural positions of some of his favorite “cutting edge” leaders (McClaren, Sweet, etc.)? “PE” strikes again! Is it any wonder that some of our foundational doctrines and practices within the Assemblies of God are slowly fading, when we are incorporating (without critical debate) the teachings of many who do not hold to Scriptural AG values, considering them to be irrelevant?

Can you imagine Paul saying to the Galatian Church?; “At this year’s council we’re going to hear from the Judaizers from Jerusalem. I know that circumcision and the compulsory observance of the Law of Moses is not our OFFICIAL DOCTRINE, but just eat the meat and spit out the bones.” He didn’t dialogue with the synagogue rulers, but rather engaged them in open and honest debate so that hypocrisy would not spread, and that the true message of the Gospel would not be confused or discredited. In fact, if you read Galatians 2 you will see that Paul confronted Peter himself to his face… in public, because of the confusion and hypocrisy he was causing with his “PE” of the Jewish leaders sent from Jerusalem, along with the betrayal of his Gentile Christian Brothers. Today we are passively led (an onximoron) to let the Judaizers preach from our pulpits, dialogue with them to find consensus, and then if questioned simply sidestep the issue by saying that the false teachers are not “officially with us”, and leave it at that. None of the Apostles were timid when it came to marking those who had different ethics or doctrinal views of the church! What of Paul’s open reference to Hymenaeus, Philetus, and Alexander; or John’s reference to Diotrephes? These narrow-minded Apostles of Christ would definitely have a difficult time fitting into our tolerant, global community… good for them; and woe to us!

GLOBAL UPDATE FOR JULY 2007!

Please forgive this last-minute intrusion into our discussion; but sometimes new developments present themselves on a daily basis, even before I can complete one article. Just this week (July 2, 2007) I received two e-mailed newsletters that both stated that they represented the Global Pastors Network and the Billion Soul Initiative. The first was from Assemblies of God Evangelist James (Jimmy) O. Davis, who was gushing over the effort to bring in the second billion souls, thus fulfilling the Great Commission given by our Lord in Matthew 28:18-20. In his newsletter he invited all “global leaders” to a “congress” to be held in Atlanta, GA. Amazingly, in the same batch of e-mail I received one from Dr. John Maxwell, also in the name of the Global Pastors Network and the Billion Soul Initiative. In Maxwell’s epistle he spoke reassuringly to his readers that James O. Davis had resigned his position as President of the GPN (a fact confirmed by Davis in his letter as well), and in no way represented the network, nor ITS Billion Soul Initiative. Before I go any further, I’ll let you see both e-epistles for yourself.

June 22, 2007
IN THIS ISSUE:
Birth of a Vision
A Pastor-Led Initiative
Our Beliefs
Let's Get Motivated!
Our Invitation
Forward this email
www.BILLION.tv
BILLION SOUL INITIATIVE™
Continuing Together to Win the Second Billion

The Rise of Global Christianity: Today, the three countries with the most unchurched people on earth are China, India, United States. Together, let's help win the Second Billion!

January 29-31, 2008
Mt. Paran Church, Atlanta
Dear World Class Leader,
Billion Soul Greetings!
You are an important part of this global community of more than two million leaders who receive the Billion Soul updates, from Fiji to Finland, from Australia to Antilles and from Malaysia to Morocco. We are collectively working together to bring the Second Billion to faith in Jesus Christ. Thank you if you are one of the hundreds who have already signed up for the SYNERGIZE! Pastors Conference January 29-31, 2008, in Atlanta.
Last February, I announced worldwide that I resigned from GPN effective January 31. I did so to invest my life fulltime in the Initiative over which Dr. Bill Bright and I prayed just eight days before he graduated. We had experienced close to three wonderful years together to launch the Initiative. We also formed GPN. It was my great privilege to have walked with one of the greatest men who ever walked the earth.
It seems like yesterday that air conditioners whined in the August heat of a Springfield, Missouri, summer while the buzz of 350 members of the General Presbytery came to a silent stop. The venerable General Superintendent rose from his Chairman's seat before the assembly. He motioned to another statesman to take the floor and, in an unprecedented gesture, to take the Chairman's chair.

BIRTH OF A VISION

It was 2001, and Dr. Bill Bright was about to make the first public announcement of a brand new goal. To get to Springfield, he had flown on a private plane because of a debilitating illness. As he climbed the stairs, wheezing through oxygen tubes, to sit in the chair that Dr. Thomas Trask vacated, the Presbyters broke the silence with a standing ovation for the greatest soul-winner of the modern era.
Just six months earlier, on a snowy February 18th at 2:30 in the afternoon, I left a meeting in that same building with a prayer in my heart for God's vision to be fulfilled. During the short drive home, the Holy Spirit whispered, "Call Bill Bright now and tell him what I have put in your heart." Grabbing my cell phone, I placed the call.
"This is James Davis," I told his assistant, "and this call is an 8.7 out of 10 on the Richter Scale." Within an hour, Dr. Bright called and asked, "James, what is on your heart?" I told him my burden for pastors worldwide. Through my evangelistic work, I had learned that more than 90% of all ministers worldwide have no formal education. Tens of thousands drop out of ministry each year. And nearly every week, I was with another great pastor, listening to the challenges he faced. This helped develop my love for pastors that I have to this day.
One month with many days of fasting passed. On a March day in San Bernardino, California, Dr. Bright and I met and a vision was born. In August, he announced publicly for the first time in Springfield that we were in partnership to help plant five million new churches for a billion soul harvest.

Here’s the letter from John Maxwell:

Friday, June 22, 2007
Important Message from Dr. John Maxwell.

Dear Friend

There seems to be some confusion among Christian leaders about the current role of James O. Davis in GPN and its Billion Soul Initiative. Let me clear this up. James O. Davis resigned as president last January and has no role with GPN or our Billion Soul Initiative. He does not represent GPN in any capacity.

Rev. Mark Anderson was asked by the board to serve as our president and was elected January 25, 2007. He is a gifted leader with 30 years of ministry experience. He has brought a new strategy and a new life to GPN as we move forward. He is a key leader in YWAM and has earned great respect among the different streams in the Body of Christ.

There has also been some confusion about our address and our web sites. We have only one address – P.O. Box 621206. This is used for all GPN and Billion Soul Initiative communication.

GPN has two official web sites – www.gpn.tv, which serves as our pastors library, and www.call2all.org , which is used for current updates, Congress schedule and Congress registration.

We only have one GPN Congress scheduled for early 2008. The North American Congress is scheduled January 29 – February 1 at Northland: A Church Distributed, in Orlando, Florida. We would love for you to attend and you may register at the www.call2all.org site.

In conclusion, I do not want to leave any confusion on this matter. I fully endorse and pray for and will continue to support GPN and its Billion Soul Initiative. Dr. Bright, who coined the words "Billion Soul," had a special calling from God to see the great commission completed.

Your friend,

John C. Maxwell
Chairman

I find it amazingly ironic that this Global Network that will, according to the GPN faithful, fulfill the Great Commission in our lifetime and usher in the return of the Lord Jesus; is being fought over by those that are both claiming rights to the legacy of its dead founder, Bill Bright. This whole drama reminds me of the tragic story of the contentious children of Boston Red Sox slugger, Ted Williams, squabbling over his frozen remains. Jimmy Davis testifies that he spent three years with Bright and had a last minute prayer summit with him just days before his “graduation” as he put it. Maxwell, on the other hand, is standing as the defender of the true apostolic succession of the current GPN board and its new “pope” Mark Anderson. I’m so glad that all parties involved are following the sage advice of their late mentor by “laying aside their logos and their egos” (the promotional mantra of the GPN). Surely we would never see a Global law-suit over the rights to Bill Bright’s vision would we? That would most certainly be counter-productive in reaching the globe through a visible demonstration of unity in fulfillment of Jesus’ prayer in John 17!

In fact, this past May when I attended the Michigan District Council of the Assemblies of God which was held in Shelby Township at the great Assembly there led by Pastor Phil Crist, there was a conspicuous amount of advertising in the lobby via plasma video screens. The looping announcement said that Pastor Sunday Adelaja, pastor of the largest church in European history, was going to be there at Lakeside Assembly for a special “Global breakthrough, impartational, something or other”, and that everyone was encouraged to attend. I had even received an announcement in the mail prior to Council notifying me of the same event. The thing that struck me was that it was under the auspices of the Global Pastors Network! Wow! Right after the Michigan District Council we were all invited to stick around for another few days of Billion Soul Initiative breakthrough. I know that as the leader of an autonomous local Assembly, pastor Crist was well within his AG Constitutional rights to have whomever he wanted in his church over the weekend following the Michigan District Council, and that the Michigan District has no “Official” relationship with the GPN (remember the famous Reinhard Bonnke luncheon of the summer of 2005 [read “When in Rome” @ www.michianachristianembassy.com]). However, my question is then, why was evangelist and former GPN President James O. Davis given the floor during a breakout session of the Council to promote the upcoming Global weekend with Adelaja? The Michigan District must stand behind Jimmy Davis’s claim that he is the rightful successor to the mantle of Bill Bright’s Global, Billion Soul Initiative. Or perhaps we were just getting pulled into yet another “Passive Endorsement” that will, in the long run, just serve to create more confusion.

This also raises another question: what of the Assemblies of God General Superintendent, Thomas Trask, the “official” chairman over 25% of the Global Pastor’s Network training institute under the heading of “Spiritual Formation”? On which side of the debate does he find himself? Does he take an “official” position and stand with AG credential holder Jimmy Davis in his bid to succeed Bill Bright, or does he shrug off the entire controversy as just an unofficial “one of those things”? This is exactly the kind of quagmire I warned of when I wrote “When in Rome”, my article on the dangers of global ecumenism and ill-defined networks. Perhaps this little speed bump in the global road to the New Jerusalem will bring us to our senses and cause us to pull our GPS-GPN-SUV over to the side of the road and ask the Holy Spirit for directions to the true city “whose maker and builder is God”.

If anyone needs me, I’ll be in my obscure corner of Christ’s harvest field finishing a very inadequate sermon for a very insignificant crowd (by Global standards anyway). Please Lord Jesus, come quickly; we’re trying to take over again!

When to say When?

In conclusion, let me echo the question raised by my chapter heading: “When to say When?” There must come a time when those in leadership draw a line in the sand and say “this far and no further”. I have had personal conversations with men that I consider my friends, but with whom I could go no further on their chosen doctrinal or ethical path. I have great personal affection for them and their families and always will; but my pulpit will remain closed to them until they come into line with what they previously held as Truth. I am not referring to petty questions of Sabbath observance or the eating of meats, but issues of deep and far-reaching importance to the Gospel and the government of the church. As my local congregation worships together with other church bodies in our city (every first Sunday night of the month as well as other occasions), I uphold the convictions that are vital to my Pentecostal faith, while not breaking fellowship with other men of goodwill over issues of meats, Sabbaths, new moons; or even questions of pre, mid, or post Tribulation Rapture. All questions have been honestly asked and honestly answered, providing the believers of our city with a strong foundation of truth upon which to stand. Such honesty is sorely lacking in many ecumenical circles, all in the name of tolerance and unity. “When to say When?” We must each prayerfully look to the Holy Spirit and His Scriptures for wisdom and strength when answering that question. I’ll pray for you and I hope you’ll pray for me as well as we all walk this “road less traveled”. Look to our Lord, look to our courageous Apostles, even look to the orthodox giants of Church history; just don’t look for leadership from those who aspire to cultural relevance and a place at the global table of tolerance and unity at any cost!

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