The Free Methodist Church in Canada

Values Exercise - what are we reflecting?

2008-10-24T10:13:00.002-04:00

I’ve been pondering the phrase ‘recovering freedom’ for the last few weeks – what that means and how it relates to leadership development. I went back to the basics and revisited the five ‘frees’. I won’t review them all here as Bishop Keith has addressed them in his article. If, however, you turned to this page first when you received your copy of the Mosaic (hey – a girl can dream!), then please do read Bishop Keith’s piece.

As I studied the ‘frees’, I began to think of them as principles, standards or ideals: in other words, values. We all have values, the things or people in our lives that we regard as important, as useful and as having worth. These five ‘frees’, these values, became part of who we were as Free Methodists. They were part of our identity. That brought me to a question: Is that true of us today?

I have worked through a values activity with high school students, most recently in September. Each student was presented with 52 cards. Each card had a word on it that represented something good worth valuing: competence, honesty, integrity, leisure, athletics, cooperation, family, relationship with God – with Scriptural support. They had to do a quick sort of the 52 cards into 3 categories: Very important to me, Somewhat important to me and Not Important to Me at All. The only other stipulation was there could only be eight cards in their ‘very important to me’ pile. When they finished that – and for most it was not an easy task – they had to take those top eight and rank them from most to least important.

That in itself is an interesting activity. I’ve done it and it’s not easy. As I picked my top 8, I realized how some of mine were very different from a typical high school student simply because I was at a very different stage in time. Our season of life can affect what we value.

That brings me to my question. Are the five values still true for us or has that changed because of our season(s) of life? That query is followed by another one: How would we know?
I asked the high school group the same question. Together we agreed that in order for us to truly value something, there needs to be evidence of it in our lives. It has to be reflected in our behaviour. If I say I value physical fitness yet eat a high-fat, high-salt diet and never exercise, then it’s not a value. If I say I value risk-taking and never take a chance on anything, then it’s not a value. A look at our behaviour will reveal what it is that we value and two really good indicators are how we spend our time and where we spend our money. We spent some time as a group seeing if we could identify people by using the lists of eight values, based on how well we knew their behaviours. That was an interesting activity as well!

As I look at our five values, I’m impressed by two in particular as they relate to us as Christ-followers and as leaders. The first is we can be ‘free from the domination of sin’ through the renewing activity of the Holy Spirit and the faithful adherence to spiritual disciplines. As I connect this value to behaviours, then disciplines such as prayer, fasting, meditation on Scripture and Sabbath rest should be evident in our walk. I don’t know if the original Free Methodists observed Sabbath rest as a spiritual discipline, but God has expressed His opinion on it, as a commandment(Exodus 20: 8-11). Observing a regular time for rest and worship demonstrates how much we value God and allows us to be refreshed in body and spirit. God makes provision for our spiritual and physical health in His word, and also provides protection for us; protection against exhaustion, nasty attitudes, illness or burnout. It’s there for us to put into action in our lives, for in His protection and provision there is freedom for us.

The second value is that we can be free from secret societies so that our loyalty isn’t divided. As I connect that value to behaviour, I see that displayed as openness, honesty and transparency so that it’s evident where our loyalties are. No masks. There is freedom to be who we are created to be in Christ; fear of failure or fear of rejection no longer need to guide our choices or behaviours. We can let down our masks and discover that people will still love us – they might even still like us! One way that we demonstrate that value is by having an accountability partner who will ask the important and perhaps tough questions, encourage us and be willing to hold our feet to the fire as needed. In mutual accountability, we also need to be ready to ask the important questions and if we’re holding someone’s feet to the fire, be prepared to get warm hands! To learn to drop the mask is to learn to value transparency and to experience freedom in being who God created us to be: healthy, whole people designed in His image.

As Christ-followers and leaders we can claim these two ideals to be true values for us by living them out. That answers my second question of ‘how would we know?’ We know because our lives bear the fruit of those values for all to see. As for my first question, whether these values reflect a season of life…I don’t believe they do. I do believe that for healthy churches and healthy leaders, they should be our lifestyle - in or out of season!

Rev. Kim Henderson is Director of Leadership Development for The Free Methodist Church in Canada.

Training leaders in Cambodia

2008-03-12T17:25:00.000-04:00

Last November, 33 pastors and Christian leaders attended a two week training module at Tahas Bible Institute (TBI), an interdenominational college led by Canadian FM missionary, Rev. Sok Em. Most of the participants are lay leaders in village churches. They came from five different denominations and travelled from five provinces in Cambodia to Kampong Chnang, where TBI is located.

Although almost 50 people had registered for the module, some leaders were not able to attend for a variety of reasons, the most common being a lack of financial resources. The college only charges the equivalent of $5.00 USD for food and study materials for the two-week program.

This amount, however, is equal to four days of labour for farmers. Plus, students would have to pay $5 to $10 for their travel costs.

If you would like to receive the Ems newsletter please contact them at: tbibleinstitute@gmail.com

Missional Living in Niamey, Niger

2008-03-12T16:40:00.001-04:00

The old gentleman was insistent as we walked through the craft market. In fact he followed Dave and Jennifer Wright and myself for quite a while trying to persuade us to purchase his product – in this case a particular kind of ‘spiritual’ medicine. He had a small plastic bag with little black beads in it. Since my language and his language weren’t connecting he tried to demonstrate his product for me. He pulled out a piece of paper with writing on it that I recognized as Arabic -- a bit unusual since Arabic is not an official language in Niger. He proceeded to show me that this was a page from the Quran, the Muslim holy book. He had copied a similar page in ink, then had painstakingly scraped the dried ink off the page and rolled the residue up into tiny little black beads that were to be ingested orally. This was the ‘medicine’ he was offering me. While I hesitated to make my purchase, others around me were definitely interested.

This little episode gives a glimpse into the cultural context of ministry in Niamey, Niger where the Wrights are settling into their church planting assignment. Although most Nigeriens would claim to be Muslims, this kind of ‘folk Islam’ as practiced by my ‘medicine man’ would be more typical of many in Niger. In this setting, where there are very few Christians, the work that David and Jennifer and their boys have to do, is really to just begin developing friendships with their neighbours.

In this city of almost 1 million people, the Wrights have moved into a newly developing neighbourhood near the north edge of the city. In Niamey there are few Christian churches and most have 40-60 people that worship together. There are no gatherings of Christians in the district (quartier) of the city where the Wrights live. During my time with the Wrights in December, we discussed the challenges of ‘starting from scratch’ to develop a gathering of new Jesus-followers.

In a recent posting on their blog [www.niameywrights.blogspot.com], Jennifer wrote: "One of the things that came out of that discussion falls under the acronym BELLS, which stands for Blessing, Eating, Listening, Learning and Sending. This is part of our weekly tasks, so for the "blessing" we are to find a way to bless one person within the church and one that is outside of the church each week; "eating" is similar, we are to eat a meal with a believer and a non-believer. With "listening" we are to spend a solid hour of time each week in listening/meditative prayer where the goal is to hear from God. "Learning" refers to an hour a week where you study God’s word with a small group or in a discipling relationship.

"Sending" isn’t quite what it sounds, but refers to the fact that when God sends us to do His work, He not only prepares us, but He goes before us. So by "sending", we are to spend time journal writing each day in order to record where we have been seeing God at work. All of these become interrelated, so that our blessing, eating and learning are all directed by what we see God doing and what we are hearing him say to us. So you can be praying for us as we start to try to put some of these new disciplines in place in our lives and maybe you could try to put these disciplines in place in your lives and ministries too!"

Living A Missional Life - Be intentional with the help of a Gift Plan

2008-03-12T16:01:00.002-04:00

Sometimes I think the word "missional" should be a verb. By that I mean for me the essence of living a missional life means to act. It means taking my thoughts and feelings about how God wants me to live and putting them into action. For instance, I know from scripture that Jesus wants me to help meet the needs of the poor. And I can feel that the elimination of poverty is a worthy cause. But if that is where it ends, then I’ve fallen short. It is in the act of doing that I live a missional life.

It seems in our busy, self-indulgent, debt-ridden society, often our good intentions end up being just that – intentions. Tomorrow becomes the day that we will take action. But tomorrow turns into today…

If we want to be sure to do something, we need to plan for it. A Gift Plan can help us turn our good intentions into acts of generosity. As we start into a new year, I want to encourage you and your family to develop a gift plan. If this is your first time doing this, start out by focusing on what you can do in 2008. An annual gift plan simply outlines what, how and to whom you and your family will give of your time, talents and treasure.

Step One: What?
Sit down with your family and talk through what each of you is passionate about. Consider all the possibilities such as:
• Evangelism • Poverty relief • Missions – local and international
• Youth ministries • Leadership development • Children, women, family issues
• Church planting • Camping ministries • The homeless
• Recovery programs

Listen to your children and hear where their interests lie. This is a great way to get them involved in giving. Pray together about each of the causes that you’ve identified. Ask God to direct you as you seek to determine how best you can make an impact in these areas. Ask God to challenge you as you seek to determine what time, talent and treasure you will commit this year.

Step Two: How?
Now that you’ve identified the needs you would like to address in your 2008 gift plan, it’s time to determine how you can make an impact. Consider each of they ways you can give:
• Time – can I make an impact in this area by giving my time? How much time each week or each month can I give?
• Talent – do I have skills and abilities that I can use to make an impact?
• Treasure – will the gift of money or other financial resources make an impact? How much can we commit to giving this year?
• Any combination of the above

Step Three: Who and Where?
Now it’s time to figure out where to give. One of the wonderful things about the body of Christ is that we can accomplish more together than each of us can on our own. Take some time to identify organizations through which you can give.

Start with your local church. Find out what your church is doing in the areas of need you have identified as a family. Consider your neighbourhood and your community. How can you minister to the people close to you by meeting their needs?

Find out what The Free Methodist Church in Canada is doing in each of these areas. Visit our website at www.fmc-canada.org and check out each of the ministry areas including:

• Global Ministries • Growth Ministries • Leadership Development
• Stewardship Ministries • Student Ministries
Also look at the Giving Streams information under Administration to find out about ways to give to the ongoing work across Canada and around the world.
You will also see a link on our home page to Affiliated Ministries. Take a look here and find out more about ministries such as:
• International Child Care Ministries • Clergy Care Network
• The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada • World Relief

Through our local churches, our national initiatives and our affiliated ministries, The Free Methodist Church in Canada can help your family find the best ways to give. And if God is leading you to meet a need outside of what the FMCIC is doing, there are many wonderful para-church organizations through which you can give.

Make today the day you turn your good intentions into action. Make "missional" a verb as you write the story of your life each day.

Joanne Bell is the Stewardship Development Director for The Free Methodist Church in Canada. To find out more you can visit the website www.generoussteward.org or contact Joanne by email bellj@fmc-canada.org.

Leadership for the Missional Church

2008-03-12T15:39:00.002-04:00

This past fall I taught a course at Tyndale Seminary on the role of pastoral leadership in helping their congregations live out their "Faith in the Marketplace." The students were all involved in full-time ministry, most as pastors. They are all in the third year of their MDiv program. Most of these students [experienced pastoral leaders] have had profound periods of dissonance as they have come to understand more fully the missional character of the Church. They have been "disturbed" because a biblical view of the nature and mission of the Church doesn’t match up with their experience of church as found in the congregations they serve.

Richard Lovelace, a church historian, made this comment almost thirty years ago:
"It is still true that the model of congregational life in the minds of most clergy and laity is one in which the minister is the dominant pastoral superstar who specializes in the spiritual concerns of the Christian community, while laity are spectators, critics, and recipients of pastoral care, free to go about their own business because the pastor is taking care of the business of the kingdom." (1979)
This insightful statement captures the struggle of the students in my course. Church is not what it should be. Pastors are not what they should be. The people of God are not what they should be. Something is profoundly wrong.

What is a missional church?
We need to start with the notion that God is on a mission to restore humanity, and the earth we inhabit [missio dei], back to what the Trinity originally intended – human beings in wholistic relationship with the Creator [shalom]. It should follow, then, that the people of God, who are openly committed to belief in Jesus, would recognize that we, too, are on that mission with God.
God placed the substantial fulfillment of missio dei in the hands of his son Jesus, who then passed the assignment on to those people who make up his continuing presence in the world – the Body of Christ, the Church [ekklesia]. So, God’s mission is now our mission. This means that the basic assignment of the church is to take the good news of God’s intention to those who still need to hear of the possibility of restoration and wholeness in Jesus.

People in need of wholeness, meet Jesus – most often through the influence of other Jesus-followers – and are transformed in the encounter. They are incorporated into the fellowship of a local group of Jesus-followers. They are mended, established, and equipped as kingdom people to go back out and introduce more people to Jesus. These are the simple rhythms of the church on a mission. By this definition a "missional" church is just a Christian community that lives its life with these simple rhythms – a church on a mission.

In the current environment there is a lot of "static" about "missional" – that is, "what’s all the hype; and isn’t this going to be just another passing fad?" I would like to suggest that rather than a passing fad, this present emphasis is really a recovery of the vital dynamic of early Christianity – not in forms of church, but in the essential passions. In fact, Wesleyan scholar and missiologist, George Hunter suggests that "the recovery of the truth, life and power of earliest Christianity and the expansion of that kind of Christianity" was the fundamental "cause" that stirred the passion, habits and methods of early Methodists. So, again, what does a missional church look like?

A missional church is organized around its mission, the Missio Dei; the restoration of shalom through the expanding influence of the Kingdom of God on earth. The church exists for the benefit of the world, and has a purpose in the world for the glory of God.

The missional church’s ministry is incarnational, not attractional. The church is the continuing presence of Jesus who was sent to introduce the kingdom of God among the peoples of the earth. There is a greater concern for getting the people of the church out among the people of the world, than there is to get the people of the world in among the people of the church.

But let’s face it – most of our churches are organized around nurturing and establishing Christians – not around the mission. And most of our churches are organized to attract people to our building and our programs, rather than to going out among those who still need to meet Jesus. So what we need are some pastoral leaders who can take local groups of Jesus-followers down a different path.

How does a missional pastor lead?
Missional leaders need to clearly identify the focal point of the church – its missional nature – and organize their ministry around the most important dimension – the outward orientation. A way of leading is required that takes seriously the creation of a covenant community of Jesus-followers as sign and foretaste, as agent and instrument of the reign of God in the earth. All the while, the missional leader is living and modeling face to face relationships with those who still need Jesus in the hustle and bustle of his or her neighbourhood.

Over the past decade, Alan Roxburgh, an experienced Canadian pastor and missiologist, has produced a body of writings that explore the practical issues of providing missional leadership [see titles below]. He gives us three faces of the missional pastor:

The pastor/poet; poets are the articulators of experience and the remember-ers of tradition; the poet listens to the pain and questioning and knows these are cries that long to be connected to a Word that calls them beyond themselves into a place of belonging. "There will be no vision of a missionary people without the poet/pastor living within the congregation’s experience and giving voice to its desire for transformation and renewal." (1997, 59)

The pastor/prophet; the prophetic imagination directs the poetic dialogue of the people toward a vision of God’s purposes for them in the world at this time; addresses the hard side of discipleship where we must face the reality that in God’s kingdom we are not at the centre of the universe. The prophet speaks a Word which engenders hope out of which arises authentic missional engagement. [1997, 60-61]

The pastor/apostle; pastors must lead congregations in places where old maps no longer work. Discipling and equipping require a leadership that demonstrates encounter with the culture in action, not just teaching and sending. In our present mission situation pastors must be in the world not just among the believers. "The pastor/apostle is one who forms congregations into mission groups shaped by encounters with the gospel and culture – structuring the congregations shape into forms that lead people outward into a missionary encounter." [1997, 62-66]

So how would we translate these ideas into the practical realities of everyday pastoral ministry? When we craft our job descriptions we talk about major categories and prioritized responsibilities. What would missional leadership look like if we tried to craft a job description in this manner?

Major Category 1
Telling the Jesus Story – poet
Missional pastors must give their attention to understanding, experiencing and communicating the story of God’s plan for healing and restoring our personal and social environments.
Prioritized Responsibilities
• personal spiritual development – devotional life
• understanding the Jesus story – study
• understanding the people of their community – research and conversation
• utilizing effective communication models for Christ-followers and for the wider community – research, conversation and experimentation

Major Category 2
Forming the Community – prophet
Missional pastors must develop committed communities of faithful, growing Christ- followers who understand their place as of agents of Spirit-guided transformation.
Prioritized Responsibilities
• giving shape to the community’s worship environment
• forming a community of missionally-committed individuals and families
• modeling/apprenticing and multiplying wholistic change-agents (disciples)
• modeling and multiplying; nurturing, and establishing; accountability groups

Major Category 3
Living the Story – apostle
Missional pastors must lead their congregations into authentic encounter with the lives of those who still need to know the Jesus story.
Prioritized Responsibilities
• Modeling authentic personal engagement with their community context
• Apprenticing learners in the context of ministry involvement
• Multiplying ministry involvement through apprenticed leaders
• Giving direction to a team of co-labourers based on emergent missional authority

A job description that looked something like this would describe a pastoral leader who "gets missional" and is working in a gradual, disciplined manner, with a long-term perspective, to lead her congregation to an outward-oriented, incarnational place in their community.

But we have been living with Christendom models of church for so long which are designed to attract unbelievers to what we do as Christians in our "community centres." Jesus, for the most part, is the centre of what we do in our gathering places; that is, we organize ministry so that we can grow to be like Jesus in our values and behaviours and create a community where we care for one another wholistically. It is quite possible, however, that we may have domesticated Jesus to suit our concerns, rather than following him outside our gathering places – to those people who are still needing good news, who will never be attracted by what "we" are offering.

As those leaders with authentic, mission-shaped, authority cultivate missional practices in a congregation, they enable the development of a missional identity among their people. These leaders say with Paul, "live according to the pattern we gave you" [Phil 3:17] and "follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ" [1 Cor. 11:1]. The place of leadership is to be at the front of the community, living out the implications and actions of the missional people of God, so all can see what it looks like to be the people of God [1998,186].

Back to my students at Tyndale… Its seems that when we get "disturbed" by what we see around us, we may in fact be most open to change and transformation in our beliefs, values and practices. A number of students have actually left the pastoral assignments they had when they started the MDiv three years ago. They realized they had no hope of bringing about change from a Christendom model, to a missional congregation. Starting from "scratch" somewhere else seemed the most hopeful thing they could do. Others have settled in for the long haul required to turn an inward-oriented congregation to an outward, missional, orientation.

[p.s. I have been working with a number of pastors in the last couple of years to figure out what this might look like in everyday practices. If that sounds attractive to you and/or your leadership team, give me a shout!]

Notes
Most of this article was first posted in Dan’s blog in October 2005
@ http://sheffield.typepad.com/dansheffield/2005/10/index.html
It was reposted in Charles Ware’s NextWave e-zine in November 2005 @
www.the-next-wave-ezine.info/issue83/index.cfm?id=6&ref=ARTICLES%5FMISSIONAL%5F90

Rev. Dan Sheffield is the Director of Intercultural and Global Ministries for The Free Methodist Church in Canada

Rev. Kim Henderson appointed as new FMCIC Director of Personnel

2008-03-12T15:36:00.000-04:00

The Board of Administration of The Free Methodist Church in Canada has appointed Rev. Kimberley (Kim) Henderson as Director of Personnel for The Free Methodist Church in Canada effective February 16, 2008.

Kim is an ordained minister of the FMCiC who has served on the pastoral staff of New Horizons FMC in Sarnia for the past seven years. Prior to joining the staff of New Horizons, she was a secondary school teacher for 11 years in the Sarnia, Ontario area, the last four of which she served as Department Head of a staff of 10 science teachers. Kim has a B.Ed (University of Toronto), a M.Ed in Administration (University of Windsor) with additional special training to be a Principal (Brock University) and a MTS (Tyndale Seminary). Kim is 42 years old and single.

Kim’s references describe her as a mature Christian who has an authentic walk with the Lord Jesus. She is passionate about developing healthy, godly, competent leaders. While being very personable, she has also demonstrated strong administrative and leadership capabilities. She understands leadership theory and has applied those understandings well in her leadership responsibilities as an educator and more recently in her role as a pastor.

Kim possesses good interpersonal skills. She is able to interact easily with people, to interject some humour and to put them at ease. She enjoys meeting new people and hearing their stories. As a department head, she learned to listen to and care for people in a way that has helped her in ministry as well. She works at balancing care with challenge while all the time encouraging people to move along and make progress with problems or issues that they are facing.

Bishop Elford says that the Search Committee believes that Kim has been uniquely prepared through her life experiences and training in education, administration and theological studies to further develop the innovations that have been made in the Personnel department of the FMCiC during the last decade and to make a valuable contribution as a member of the National Leadership Team.
He writes, "I am very pleased to introduce Kim to The Free Methodist Church in Canada and I hope that all God’s people will join me in welcoming her to the National Leadership Team and in praying for her as she assumes her new responsibilities."

Local Churches in Transition have a "Window of Opportunity" to evaluate

2008-03-12T15:33:00.002-04:00

A visit with Alan Roxburgh
A few months ago the NLT [National Leadership Team] had an opportunity to spend four hours with Alan Roxburgh, author of The Missional Leader. I remember one key comment from him that was stunning in its simplicity: "If the church is going to become what God wants it to be in the world, that change will not come through the pastor." That is my paraphrase, but the important thought was, "change will not come through the pastor."

When I began ministry in the FMCiC it was all about the pastor having a vision from God that he presented to the board and congregation to follow. It was like Moses bringing down the tablets from on high, carved in stone that everyone will buy into and give praise to the pastor for his God-given insight. We still need vision, but it’s not written in stone on two tablets, nor is it announced and unquestioned by the congregation. There is no ownership in pastoral announcements imposed on the congregation. Vision and mission will be owned by the congregation only if the congregation has a voice in what that vision is going to be, in the context of the community where they live.
What I took from Dr. Roxburgh is that the entire process needs to start with the congregation. And sometimes it’s better if the pastor isn’t there so that the congregation won’t behave the way they’ve become accustomed: asking the pastor what he thinks, first.

The pastor is important; she must be a leader and a communicator of vision and mission. He needs to be a builder of leaders to accomplish any God-given vision. She needs to build teams involved in the mission, and have a clear idea of where the congregation is headed. He needs to assure the vision and mission are biblical and attainable with the team God has provided, in the context of their own community.

I am not minimizing the role of the pastor as much as I want us to not minimize the role of congregational "buy in" to the vision that leads to Godly mission in the local church.
Any congregation while in transition can assess for itself how well it is fulfilling God’s call to living together and their witness in the world.

The Ministry Map is a tool that Jared Siebert has developed in his area of responsibility. Jared and I have done the Ministry Map in a half dozen churches throughout the fall of 2007. We partnered our two areas, personnel and church development, to take this assessment tool to churches in transition. The response was positive but there were local official boards that felt it didn’t represent them quite accurately. Regardless of the full accuracy, it did give the board, and on some occasions the congregation, a chance to evaluate their ministry according to Ephesians 2:1-10. You can find the Ministry Map at www.lifecycleproject.org/?q=node/135

It’s not a miracle cure, it’s not a program, nor is it something you try once. It’s just an assessment that can be used in the way the local church sees fit. It can be repeated annually, like a check-up with your doctor.

A test is just a test until you do something with it
I have known for a year now that I am a Type II diabetic. I took a blood test and the results revealed that my glucose reading was too high, in the diabetic range. I could get mad at the doctor for telling me the results. That’s not going to help me. I could argue that the test was wrong and I want another test to verify the findings. However, if the findings are correct I have to make some decisions. Those decisions may require that I make some changes. The glucose blood test is not a program of change. It simply tells me where I’m at and if I want to lower my glucose I need to decide what I want to do about it: What should I start doing? What should I stop doing? What should I keep on doing?

The answer to those questions is the program. Start by eating better "on the road" and exercising in a disciplined way. Stop eating bad carbohydrates and sweets. (At least make smarter choices.) Keep eating a balanced diet and exercise the way you do at home.

In the same way, the Ministry Map is an assessment tool and not a program. The local congregation gets to decide what to do with the results…maybe something…maybe nothing. The program will be the changes the local church makes after answering these questions: What should we start doing? What should we stop doing? What should we keep on doing?

These questions applied to a local church are more difficult. It’s not a single patient in this instance. The congregation is the patient and it needs to have some say in what should or should not change.
If used during a transitional time the Ministry Map allows a congregation to evaluate their mission and vision without the influence of a pastor. It is an opportunity in the life of your local church to get a picture that reflects the biblical passions of your congregation. If the congregation takes this assessment tool seriously it could create a deeper ownership of the mission God is giving to your local church. This is very different from the tablets of stone coming down from on high with the pastor.

Congratulations to Rev. Kim Henderson on her appointment as Director of Personnel. As part of the interview team, as the incumbent director, I sensed that God had put his hand on Kim for this position. I look forward to the time we will work together during this transition to assure that the baton is passed well.

Rev. Alan Retzman
Editor’s note: This is Alan Retzman’s last article as acting Director of Personnel. Alan joined the National Leadership Team in August of 1999. We pray for God’s blessing and thank him for faithfully serving the FMCIC.

The Missional Church

2008-03-12T14:56:00.002-04:00

Alan Hirsch, author of "The Forgotten Ways" and contemporary Missional Church thinker, says the current church has itself turned around backwards. The natural flow of the gospel that a proper Christology [understanding of Christ] gives rise to a compelling Missiology [understanding of our mission] which needs a proper Ecclesiology [understanding of the church] to support that Christ inspired mission. According to Hirsch much of the church growth movement starts with Ecclesiology, and finds a Missiology to grow and support the church, in an effort to move closer to Christ. In this model, evangelism and/or "missions" becomes a program of the church and not its reason for existence. Hirsch proposes that church must recover the natural flow of the gospel [Christology->Missiology->Ecclesiology].

Historically, the gospel was flowing in the right direction in the Methodist church. Wesley’s revival began with a series of encounters with Christ that compelled his evangelistic campaigns. From that mission the Methodist church was born to support Methodists as they spread the gospel further and deeper into the world. This trend did not end with the Methodists but was rediscovered in the work of the early Free Methodist movement. An overwhelming majority of our churches were planted to support the success of Free Methodist revival meetings in the end of the 1800s and first part of the 1900s.

In light of the present state of the church, Hirsch and many of his contemporaries are calling for the church to become "Missional". "Missional" is a term and way of thinking developed by Lesslie Newbigin which demands that the church exists for the purpose of its Christ-compelled mission. Not the other way around. While the word "Missional" suffers from buzzword status in much of the broader evangelical world, it should never suffer a similar fate inside the Free Methodist Church. Historically and traditionally speaking, to be truly Free Methodist is to be "Missional".
So how do we recover the natural flow of the gospel in our movement? Here are a few suggestions:
Rediscover Christ

This may sound trite but is absolutely essential. We serve a missionary God. We should become a missionary people. We serve a sent-out Saviour. We should be sent out as well if we’re following in his footsteps.

We must make a long term, concerted, and consistent attempt to reshape our church culture.
As a movement we have not grown significantly for nearly 70 years. We are resting on the laurels of our missionary past. While that is beginning to turn around, our churches are currently dominated by a culture focused on maintenance and care rather than our mission in Canada. To change this we will need to take a fearless look at ourselves! That will mean a consistent and public "taking stock" of where most of our time, energy, and resources are being focused. Is it on ourselves? Is it on our mission to those not in the family of God? We will also need regular congregation wide conversations about how we can start re-aligning our values and hearts around the missionary task our missionary God is leading us into.

Recover and heed the voice of the apostles, prophets and evangelists among us.
The Bible talks about the Holy Spirit giving the church apostles, prophets, evangelists, preachers, and teachers for its on-going vitality and health. The church tends to go into maintenance mode when the preachers and teachers become the dominant leaders. Why? Because their spiritual gift is the care and nurture of the flock. While they are necessary to the on-going health of the flock they do little to advance the church beyond its four walls. God has given us a complete gift-set among us but we are responsible to give them a voice and listen to what they have to say.

A commitment to church planting.
The truth is the Free Methodist revival meetings began to lose their effectiveness somewhere around the 1930s. This led to a slow down in our growth; a fact we have only recently begun to recover from. After the mid 90s restructuring of our movement, and the hiring of Ron Bonar to keep church planting on the forefront of our national agenda, we have begun to see a long-term downward trend begin to reverse. Church plants by their very nature tend to embody the natural flow of the gospel. An encounter with Christ leads many among us to feel a burden for a unreached group of people in our society. That burden leads to compulsion to a "do something about it". When something effective and useful is "done about it" a church is born. If we can maintain a commitment to seeing every church plant a church we will see a new day in The Free Methodist Church in Canada. We will see a resurgence of the best of our traditions and history.

I am convinced that we are currently taking some of the right steps to see our denomination become "missional". However, it’s going to take time and patience. It will take all of our churches taking God’s mission as their own. It will take courage as we face the brutal facts about our attitudes toward the needs of our neighbours and our choice to focus instead on ourselves. It will take action and prayer as we work to live in more Christ-shaped ways. Most importantly, it will take Jesus keeping His long standing promise to build His church.

Rev. Jared Siebert is the Director of Growth Ministries for The Free Methodist Church in Canada. Resources are available at www.lifecycleproject.org

It’s hard to live in two worlds

2008-03-12T14:54:00.001-04:00

In early December, after spending some time in prayer, I began to have an uneasy feeling that 2008 was going to be a challenging year for me. I say that I felt uneasy because, like many, I am a creature of comfort and I am not used to being troubled with problems that can’t be solved easily. Your car is older than your neighbour’s car? Buy a new one! Tired of the clothes you are wearing? Go shopping! Don’t feel like cooking tonight? Go out to eat! As Canadians we live in a world of convenience and we have padded ourselves with "stuff" that makes our lives effortless – painless.

And so when I felt impressed by God that he wanted to teach me about "inconvenience," I cringed a little, wondering what I’d have to give up. The answer to that question was, of course, everything.

Matthew 10:38-39 says, "If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me."
[The Message]

I know we’ve all heard this verse before, but when I really began to consider the ramifications of practically applying it to my life, it seemed pretty radical – even harsh. Forget about myself? But for how long? This is where the dichotomy began for me. How much would I have to surrender to Christ’s example of self-sacrifice and servanthood while still maintaining a self-indulgent life?

The simple truth is that in a world and society that tells us our main goal is to buy, collect, and save as much as we can, we, as the body of Christ, must live as alternatives to the world of materialism and model the Kingdom of God by living lives of justice, compassion, mercy, and discipleship.

"Freeing" ourselves to be used of God, instead of the inward focus which the world ascribes to, is the starting point at which a discussion on being "missional" becomes relevant. Without casting off worldly priorities we will never see the need that surrounds us, or feel any responsibility to meet it.

So I begin again [Our gracious God is constantly offering me forgiveness and a second chance] with this new perspective, knowing that with every "inconvenience" that I willingly accept for Jesus’ sake, I take a step closer to the heart of God.

Lisa Howden
Managing Editor

"To be" or "Not to be" Missional is NOT the Question!

2008-03-12T14:42:00.002-04:00

There’s a buzz word that has been around long enough for me to think that I’m catching on to a fresh articulation of a great concept, and long enough for the cynics and smart guys to call it a "flavour-of-the-month fad" that is now tired and passé. I’m talking about the more recent emphasis on a term introduced by Lesslie Newbigin, a godly British missionary whom God used in India.

The term is "missional" and, though it was coined by a missionary, it is not limited in scope to the idea of cross-cultural-in-another-language-on-another-continent service for Jesus. It has to do with what increasingly preoccupies any maturing Christian’s mindset when they think deeply about what it means to allow the Holy Spirit to engrain the teachings, character and example of the Lord Jesus into how they think about life and the way they live life.

As I understand it, to be "missional" is to understand and identify with what was in Jesus’ heart when he laid aside His divine glory as the eternal Son of God, emptied Himself and came among us as a joyful servant. It’s to embrace His attitude of not positioning oneself for more occasions to be noticed and doted on by others, but rather to see Jesus in the eyes of others and to serve and to give of what one is, and what one has, in meaningful ways to them. This requires inner transformation and the inward shifts that come with ongoing discipleship. One must also have a willingness to hear and see what the Lord Jesus wants to show him/her about the world and to have the courage to respond in obedience.

To help me in this regard, I’ve been doing some reflection on where Jesus starts in the foundational collection of his teachings in what is known as the Sermon on the Mount. It’s called this because at least the first part, known as the Beatitudes (Matt. 5: 1 – 12), was delivered to his disciples on a hillside with a large crowd listening in.

I love what Fred Craddock has to say about this. He writes, "Jesus is addressing his followers. But it seems that the disciples are being instructed in the context of a larger audience. The presence of the multitudes keeps the disciples honest as to who they are and what price is to be paid for their commitments. The crowds serve also to remind the reader that the invitation to join the circle of disciples is always open provided we are willing to submit to the discipline of God’s reign. After all, the church is a community, not a ghetto, and it is always open to and aware of the world."

And what does Jesus want this community of disciples (then and now) to have the capacity to see? Poverty in spirit, deep heartbreak about life’s sadness and suffering, meekness, hunger and thirst for wholesome living. Jesus says that there is blessing when people find themselves in these circumstances which Eugene Peterson describes in The Message as being "at the end of your rope… when you feel you have lost what is most dear to you…." etc.

It’s in circumstances like these, when hope is out of sight, that there is room for God to act and for Jesus, that is a place of blessing. Sometimes He acts in miraculous ways in the here and now; sometimes He plants deep hope that will only be fully realized in eternity. At other times, He acts through disciples who see Him in the eyes of those that He calls "one of the least of these my brothers" and these disciples become channels of hope to broken people and communities that formerly they might not have even noticed.

I’ve been thinking about the promise that "those who hunger and thirst for righteousness" will be filled. It occurs to me that this may mean more than wanting to be a better Christian. Was Jesus drawing attention to desperate people who long deeply for the possibility of living in wholesome, healthy freedom and are tempted to just quit? Perhaps "the filling" comes as some Christ follower becomes a channel of grace to them - seeing them, listening to their stories, walking with them, not giving up ……

Jesus’ last four Beatitudes focus on mercy, heart purity, peacemaking, and the courage to endure persecution because of one’s open identification with Jesus in the world. Tod Lindberg in his book The Political Teachings of Jesus suggests that "the Beatitudes are organized according to a scale running from passivity and paralysis in this world, through increasing levels of engagement with it in accordance with what Jesus is teaching, up to a pinnacle of earthly conduct Jesus describes. The categories he delineates describe people we can recognize in our own day, from homeless shelters and nursing homes to the halls of power, at least on those occasions when people rise above their private ambitions and work for the public good".

He also makes an interesting suggestion about how to more deeply grasp what Jesus is saying is important for His disciples.

He writes, "The character of the Beatitudes becomes clearer if we view the categories Jesus calls "blessed" in light of their opposites: the spiritually self-confident in contrast to the p oor in spirit, the persecutors of those who follow Jesus’ teaching in contrast to those persecuted.…. those who offer the lowest of the low only their own sense of superiority; those unmoved by or contemptuous of people suffering from great loss or adversity; those whose response when they encounter the meek and gentle is to lord it over them; those who embrace a doctrine defending their position of privilege at the expense of others; those in a position of power who show no mercy to the powerless; those corruptly seeking advantage over others; those obstructing a just peace or fomenting conflict…."
Let me finish off with what has been perhaps the newest insight for me as I have been thinking about the Beatitudes in light of the mission of Jesus and His disciples in the world. The first set of four Beatitudes describes people in great need - poverty in spirit, deep heartbreak, meekness, hunger and thirst for wholesome living. These are circumstances that exist everywhere in the world. (Co-incidentally, it’s situations like these that often mature and deepen a disciple.)

The second set of four Beatitudes provides the answer to the needs of the first. Mercy needs an object, pure hearts that really see God will also see the pain He sees in the world, peacemakers are only peacemakers when they are helping people in conflict, persecution for Christ’s sake only comes when one is acting or speaking with prophetic saltiness.

I’m not particularly interested in "being missional" for the sake of "being missional". On the other hand, what Jesus was talking about on the hillside as always being of first importance to his disciples (then and now), well, that’s a different matter!!

Rev. Keith Elford is Bishop of The Free Methodist Church in Canada.

Wesley’s Life Remembered in Picton Celebration

2008-02-11T11:35:00.000-05:00

SING! A Musical Tribute to Charles Wesley’s 300th

Because 2007 was the 300th anniversary of the birth of the great Anglican/Methodist hymn writer, Charles Wesley, we focused our efforts in celebrating the life of this marvelous Christian, by organizing a concert to share Charles Wesley’s musical heritage in a celebration of faith.

At a reception in the Ottawa area, I had met Phyllis Deeks, the Choral director of an outstanding choir in the nation’s capital - the Sanctuary Choir of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church of Ottawa. After speaking with Phyllis about the possibility of her choir coming to Picton for a Wesley 300th concert, she took it under advisement, discussed it with her choir members, and they decided that they would come to Picton to celebrate the Tercentenary of Charles Wesley.

The concert which was a highlight of 2007, was held on Saturday, October 27th, in the beautiful sanctuary of St. Mary Magdalene Anglican Church in Picton ,with c250 in attendance. With its superb Casavant organ, beautiful grand piano, and exceptional acoustics, the church was the perfect setting for this musical tribute.

It was a moving experience to hear the choir and the soloists, and more than once, one could hear a collective appreciative sigh from the audience. Gloria Jean Nagy’s (pronounced Naage) presentation of Georges Bizet’s “Agneus Dei”(Lamb of God) accompanied by organ, piano and oboe, was so expressive that, when she finished there was a hush, and you could hear several people giving thanks to God.

A choral medley included “Praise the Lord Who Reigns Above”, “Sing With Glad Anticipation”, “Rejoice The Lord Is King”, and “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing” .The collection included six Wesley hymn texts chosen for their messages: worship, love, thanksgiving, service, life

The audience was thrilled with Baritone Clive Talbot’s rendering of “The Lord is My Light and My Salvation”, and the applause was extraordinarily enthusiastic. Peggy Wilson-Botting, oboist with the National Capital Concert Band, played Handel’s Oboe Concerto, and it was a truly an outstanding rendition. It should be noted that Handel was a friend of Charles Wesley, and is said to

Jeanette Arsenault, a well known Canadian and Prince Edward County composer and singer, sang two numbers – “Yea, Though I Walk” based on Psalms 23 and 27, and Jeanette’s own composition, “The Lord’s Prayer”.

Phyllis Deeks at the grand piano, and Ross Dixon at the Casavant organ, played a beautiful duet, “Like A River Glorious” and one could almost hear the silence as people enveloped themselves in the music.

For the closing several people from the St. Mary Magdalene choir and others added to the St.Paul’s Choir for the final two selections, “Amazing Grace” and “How Great Thou Art”.

The evening was a tremendous success, and those in attendance were doubly blessed; encouraged by hearing once again, the great hymns of the faith, which are rapidly disappearing from evangelical and Free Methodist churches in the quest to be modern and contemporary; and thrilled with the uplifting nature of the evening.

The Rector of St. Mary Magdalene Church, inwardly reflecting on the Spirit’s presence, gave the closing Benediction and Prayer. He then went home to finish his sermon, expressing gratitude that he had set it aside long enough to join the concert audience.

The Lecture Series, a Christian endeavour in Picton, Ontario began in 2004. That year in January, the Museum of Civilization in Ottawa brought from Israel a display of the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered at Qumran in 1947. The Scrolls (DSS) generated a huge interest and response from the Ottawa public for presentations given at the museum by the leading Canadian expert and scrolls translator, Dr. Peter Flint. While in Ottawa Dr. Flint was staying at the Laurentian Leadership Centre (LLC). Dr. Flint’s host and the Executive Director at the LLC, Dr. Paul Wilson, had grown up in Picton. At our request, Paul asked Dr. Flint if he would give his scrolls presentation in Picton, and he agreed. Our local committee, Deacon Bill Gervais, of St. Gregory’s Church, Rev. David Mitchell, and Robert Wilson, reserved The Regent Theatre, and on February 18, 2004, Dr. Flint gave his Picton presentation to a “sold out” theatre.

This success was followed at the Regent Theatre in:

2005 – A presentation on the 60th Anniversary of the end of the war with an oral presentation followed by the showing of the classic film “The Hiding Place” – the story of Corrie ten Boom

2006 – A lecture by Dr. Brian Stiller, President of Tyndale University,College and Seminary, “Christians in the Public Square”

Robert C. Wilson
Picton, Ontario

If you had been there?

2007-12-20T12:59:00.000-05:00

With the Season of Christmas now upon us, many are busy getting ready. There's cleaning, cooking, baking, shopping, wrapping, shipping, giving, receiving, many events to attend, and of course the eating.

But before we get lost in all the events and stuff of Christmas, take a few moments and in your thoughts come back with me to that first Christmas.

Remember the “Predictions of Promise” that are recorded in scriptures by men like Isaiah who wrote:
“All right then, the Lord himself will choose the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel--`God is with us.'”(Isaiah 7:14, NLT)

And, “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. And the government will rest on his shoulders. These will be his royal titles: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”(Isaiah 9:6,
NLT)

There was also Micah who was the one who wrote:
"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."(Micah 5:2, NIV)

Remarkable words, recorded over 700 years before the event took place.

Come back with me to the night when God's Promise arrived, His Son, Jesus, coming as a baby, was born as it had been previously foretold in Bethlehem, to a virgin and laid in a manger.

His birth heralded by Angels to Shepherds, who upon hearing this news responded with obedience and travelled to Bethlehem to find "The Promised One." And when they did, scripture tells us "they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child" (Luke 2:17b).

The Wisemen, or Magi, travelled a great distance to Bethlehem based solely on the appearance of the star and a prophecy of scripture. When they found Him, we’re told "… they fell down before him and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” (Matthew 2:11, NLT)

Think about how ten kilometres away from Bethlehem, in Jerusalem we find King Herod. Herod was so wrapped up in the fear of losing his position as king that he became obsessed with protecting his throne at all cost. It was that fear which led to mass murder. The Bible states that: “Herod was furious when he learned that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, because the wise men had told him the star first appeared to them about two years earlier.” (Matthew 2:16, NLT)

Then there was the Innkeeper, whose name is not even mentioned in scripture, but we presume there must have been one, as someone had to make the manger available to Mary and Joseph. And so the Innkeeper is cast as an individual that was so busy that he misses both the miracle and his part in it, which took place a short distance away (perhaps only mere feet).

And let us not forget Mary and Joseph. From scripture we learn that they were God followers. Mary was greeted by an angel as one "who was highly favored," and Joseph we're told "was a righteous man." In spite the odds, and the likely negative public opinion they submitted their wills to God. The result - the arrival of Jesus - the greatest Christmas present ever!

Various players took part in this first Christmas, some named, some not. The rich, the poor and those in between. Each had the same opportunity, but had different responses.

Here's the thought I leave you with to ponder. If you had been there, if you were one of the "major" players we often see portrayed in Nativity scenes, "WHO WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN?" And perhaps the bigger question, "WHO DO YOU DESIRE TO BE?"

This Christmas may we seek after the answer to that second question, and in so doing, share the greatest gift of Christmas with others.

May the presence of Christ in your life, enrich this Christmas for you and for others.

“But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children” (Galatians 4:4-5, NLT).

Rev. Will Keller is Senior Pastor of Harrowsmith Free Methodist Church.

A Great Light has entered the world

2007-12-04T09:10:00.000-05:00

Why would God give the gift of His son to me? That is the question I ask myself most at Christmas time. What makes Almighty God decide to come to earth in our form – be born in cold and stark surroundings and live among his creation? Perfect love – that’s what. God’s love for us is intense, passionate, without conditions . . . simply perfect.

Perfect love, it sounds too good to be true – and that is what we tell ourselves, isn’t it? We live in a world filled with conditions that we understand because we see them functioning all around us. However, God operates differently and demonstrates this by freely giving his son to us – no strings attached – no ‘ands’ or ‘buts’ – we are perfectly love – period.

A few year’s ago the song, “How great is your love” was released and sung in many of our churches. The chorus asks, “How high and how wide. How deep and how long. How sweet and how strong is your love. How lavish your grace. How faithful your ways. How great is your love, oh Lord?” I remember singing this song and feeling overwhelmed by God’s incredible love for me.

This is undoubtedly a busy time of the year. With long shopping lists, office parties, family gatherings, decorating and cooking it is easy to become distracted from what is really important.

This is the true meaning of Christmas for me: here, lying in a stable surrounded by animals and straw, is our Promise. All we could ever hope for or imagine, he is. All the wisdom, power and virtue of God contained in this baby. And so now, we are all invited to gather around the manger and witness once again this perfect love that has entered the world to redeem us.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. [Isaiah 9:6]

Lisa Howden
Communications Coordinator for
The Free Methodist Church in Canada

My Sri lanka experience — a time of personal discovery

2007-11-07T09:32:00.000-05:00

Encounter Sri Lanka 2007 will be marked as an incredible milestone in my Christian walk. I knew this trip was going to be different right from the start. Unlike the Sri Lanka trip I had taken the summer before, Encounter Sri Lanka 2007 was wrought with obstacles, difficulties and sometimes indecision. For starters I found myself severely cash strapped, struggling to recover from my trip expenditures the year before. I weighed the decision whether to go, and decided if God wanted me to be a part of the team carrying out the job before us, he would make a way.

And make a way he did. I miraculously received a $500 cheque return from the purchase of my home 2 years ago the week of the required $500 deposit for the trip. One month before stepping on the plane Onika Brown (another member of the team from Wesley Chapel) and myself set out to plan and deliver a fundraising dinner and auction, all while getting ready to end the school year as professional teachers. Family and friends rallied to help us and at the end of the night we had raised the targeted $2000 and served a fine meal of food that came mostly from the generosity of saints. It was beginning to be clear that God wanted me on the Encounter Sri Lanka team.

The days leading up to the actual departure were fun-filled though not necessarily stress free. We would spend many hours into the night planning and re-planning the many activities and lessons that would make up the children’s camp that the Sri Lankan pastors had requested — as well as the first ever teacher training sessions. I was tired and looking forward to the long flight so I could catch up on my sleep. But God had something else in store.

During the two day cultural sensitivity training at the national ministry centre of the FMCiC I felt God calling me to go deeper; things I had seen and heard before were taking on new shape and meaning. I started seeing and learning things about myself and life that were incredible. God had me reading scripture late at night or writing thoughts in what seemed like never-ending streams, frequently throughout those two preparatory days. This pattern continued during the trip, with periods of self-exploration being triggered by almost anything, from our daily devotions, to the unsuspecting words of a fellow team member.

In the end it became clear that God’s will would be done, whether I wanted to be a willing part of the process or not. We are called to be his instruments but if we are stubborn and refuse he will find another way to achieve HIS goal and we are the ones that will be left without the blessing of the experience. That realization made me think about my life at home. How business had often times kept me from truly enjoying a close relationship with God. How often I had taken matters into my own hands and tried to get things "fixed" instead of seeking HIM first and ended up with more stress on my plate. It is funny, I left my home to meet and share with my Sri Lankan friends this summer, and little did I know how much personal receiving I would be doing along with the planned sessions of teaching.

The school year has started, and though I had a week’s break to get over my jet lag it seems like I stepped right off the plane and into my first parent-teacher interview. But God reminded me through the wisdom of scripture and friends – it’s not about me. I need to seek him first and get ready for the wonderful year of discovery that is ahead.

Sheryl Murray attends Wesley Chapel in Toronto, one of the partner churches for FM ministry in Sri Lanka. Sheryl is a teacher at Crescent School and has served on the Official Board of Wesley Chapel. These are her reflections on her recent ministry trip to Sri Lanka with our Encounter team. [pictured on the far right in the image above]

An Attitude of Sabbath

2007-11-07T09:19:00.000-05:00

Without a doubt, this has been the busiest summer of my life...
The first two weeks were filled from morning to night as I taught the Disciples in Training Course at Circle Square Ranch in Arden, Ontario. Then, without a day to recoup, I headed off to Sherbrooke, Quebec for a five day Vacation Bible School [VBS] Missions Trip. After arriving home on Thursday, I managed to squeeze in a counselling session for a couple I was to marry, a birthday supper for my sister, lunch with another youth pastor, Sunday Worship, and I convinced one of my teens to help me with the final details for Mission Rochester, which started on Tuesday. Tuesday came and I packed up four teens and myself and headed to Trulls Road FMC to meet up with the rest of the team who were joining us. Six days later, after an amazing experience of God’s faithfulness, I arrived home to prepare for the wedding I was performing on Saturday and to get ready for my vacation, which started on Sunday. Vacation this year included whipping around in a boat at a friend’s cottage, house swapping with my cousin, four days in New York City with my mom and watching Phantom of the Opera at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

Three days after I came home from vacation I headed off to Echo Lake Camp for a week of teen camp. To finish things off, I took a busload of teens to Canada’s Wonderland to help get them plugged back into the youth program, which was scheduled to start in two weeks.

I’m sure you might be thinking that I might have packed a little too much into my summer … but I have a secret, it’s called "Sabbath". Sabbath is a concept that is repeated throughout the Scriptures: from the very beginning in Genesis 2:2 when God rested from all his labours to Revelation 14:13 when we are told that those who die in the Lord will rest from their labour. We also know, that in Mark 2:27, Jesus taught how the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So, it would seem to me, that since the Sabbath concept runs throughout Scripture, it must be important!

I believe that God has given us the concept of Sabbath in order that we would have the strength to do all that He has called us to do in this life. Isaiah 30:15-16 (RSV), says, "For thus says the LORD God, the Holy One of Israel, ‘In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.’" The secret to my sanity was keeping God first, and I did this by maintaining an attitude of Sabbath. So, even though I was crazy busy, I made sure to meet with the Lord every day and rest whenever possible. Each morning, time was spent in prayer, re-dedicating my thoughts, words, actions and heart to the Lord and His purposes - every morning. Each day, I read from the Word - each day as the bible says, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." (Matt 4:4 NIV)By making Scripture a priority, I managed to read through: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations and Ezekiel. The Lord taught me so much this summer about praise, wisdom, the unbelievable life of His prophets as well as how He speaks to us through pain. Daily devotions were key to making sure that I remained focussed over the last two months. I knew that if I went without praying or reading Scripture - even for one day, I would feel as if I was missing out on something that God wanted to tell me - like I was starving myself spiritually. Not only were prayer and Scripture reading a priority, so was rest. When I talk of rest, I’m not just talking about having a nap - even though that was a very key part. I’m talking about taking a break from the normal schedule of life in order to connect with God and to renew my strength. Psalm 23:2 says, "He makes me lie down in green pastures, and leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul." I knew that if I wanted to restore my soul, I needed to be still. So, whenever there was a break from the craziness of ministry I would rest. I would often take time to be alone at Circle Square and Echo Lake Camps instead of hanging out with people all the time. In Sherbrooke, we made a mandatory rest hour each afternoon to refuel ourselves for the evening events. During Mission Rochester, we would stop for half hour each afternoon after VBS for an ice cream break in the Rose Garden so we could collect our thoughts and gain some energy before heading to Hope Initiatives for the afternoon. In New York City, there were also moments when I caught some rest. A bird on the bush beside me reminded me that if God sees this little sparrow, then He sees me too! Even at Canada’s Wonderland, amid all the noise of the rides, I managed to find a green spot, lie down and focus on the Lord - who at that point reminded me that He knows all about the Fall program and He would let me in on it when I was ready.

It wasn’t just Scripture, prayer and brief periods of rest that sustained me. I also made the most of my days off. These days were often spent quietly, focussing on prayer, fasting, meditation, naps, spiritual reading and simply being with the Lord. James 4:8 in the NKJV says, "Draw near to God, He will draw near to you."

This summer, it was confirmed, time and time again, that when I spent time with the Lord, the Lord drew near to me. The Lord restored me, He refreshed me, He renewed me and He reminded me that He saw me, knew what I needed and promised to provide it. As a result, I was more patient and rarely overreacted when things didn’t go my way. I could see the Lord’s hand in several situations that came up and I had a sense of peace, which I knew could only come from the Lord.

By making Scripture, prayer and rest a priority in my life, I was able to carry out the ministry that I felt that God called me to do this summer.

Jennifer Wagar is the Youth Pastor at Verona Free Methodist Church [Ontario].

What's your mentality? Moving from scarcity to abundance

2007-11-06T11:48:00.000-05:00

When I worked in the field of fundraising I attended conferences to develop my skills and abilities. At every conference I went to, I remember presenters focused on the fact that there are a limited number of people with a limited number of dollars willing to donate to charities. So as a fundraiser, you have be the best at finding those people with those dollars. You have to be the best at communicating your message to those potential donors so that you would receive those dollars to allow you to do what you want to do.

Steven Covey calls this a scarcity mentality. He contends that people with a scarcity mentality tend to see everything in terms of win-lose. There is only so much; and if someone else has it, that means there will be less for me.

People with a scarcity mentality have difficulty sharing recognition, credit, power, or profit. They also have a tough time being genuinely happy for the success of other people. It’s almost as if something were being taken from them when someone else receives special recognition or success.

People with a scarcity mentality either hoard their money because they are afraid of what will happen to them in the future, or they spend now because if they don’t they might not have another opportunity to make that purchase. They tend to be stingy – with their time, their money and themselves.

A church with a scarcity mentality sees itself as competing with other churches for people and other ministries for money. If there is a budget surplus the first reaction would be to hold onto the money because you just never know if you might need it in the future.

But there is an alternative – abundance mentality. Biblical Stewardship is consistent with an abundance mentality. Our God is a God of abundance. He is the creator, the owner, the provider. Philippians 4:19 says, "My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

People with an abundance mentality celebrate the success of others. They are truly happy when someone else receives recognition. They don’t see themselves in competition with others. They prefer collaboration. tThey understand there is enough… enough for everyone. They rest on the Sabbath because they believe God has provided them with enough time. And people with an abundance mentality are generous.

Churches with an abundance mentality are generous. They are pleased to see other churches growing. They trust that God will direct people to their church and when they arrive, they look after them well. They seek out opportunities to meet needs in their communities and beyond.
So how do we move from a scarcity mentality to an abundance mentality? First, we need to deepen our understanding of God. We tend to shrink him down and box him in, but as we get to know him, we begin to catch a glimpse of just how big God is.

Secondly – We need to give as God directs. The act of giving in obedience to God sets a number of things in motion – good things. As we give, our faith in God is deepened. Matthew 6:21 comes to life for us: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." We begin to care more about meeting the needs of others rather than fulfilling our own desires.

Thirdly – We need to broaden our worldview. Rather than comparing ourselves and our own situation to others in North America, let’s compare ourselves to the rest of the world.

• If your income is $25,000 Canadian or more you are in the top 10.64% of the richest people in the world

• Only 8% of the people in the world own cars

• Almost two in three people lacking access to clean water survive on less than $2 a day, with one in three living on less than $1 a day.
A simple change in focus can be powerfully effective. Canadians in general are a very blessed people. I’m not saying there isn’t economic disparity in Canada – there is. And those of us who have been blessed need to respond to decrease the gap between the rich and the poor – in Canada and around the world.

"What I’m trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don’t be afraid of missing out. You’re my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself."
Luke 12;29-32 The Message

Joanne Bell is the Stewardship Development Director for The Free Methodist Church in Canada. Please contact her at bellj@fmc-canada.org or visit the website:
http://www.generoussteward.org/

Counselling for Pastors

2007-11-06T11:38:00.001-05:00

Tiger Woods hires the best coach in the world, Butch Harmon, to ensure that his swing is working well. Why? Because he wants to be the best golfer that he can be.

The largest companies in Canada hire the best consultants in the country to help them do Strategic Planning and to solve their business problems. As proud as executives can be, they still know that it pays to hire professional help because they want to win at the game of business.

The richest families in Canada hire the best Financial Advisors in the country to help them manage their wealth so that it keeps growing. They know that wealth management is a difficult job, so they rely on the experts.

These people and organizations also pay the highest fees to receive the help they need because they understand the benefits of good help.
What about pastors?

Isn’t it interesting then, that pastors, who I believe have the most difficult and demanding job in the world, seldom turn to others for help. In the Free Methodist denomination, Bishop Keith Elford advises me that there is funding available for professional counselling, but it is one of the most underutilized programs in the area of pastoral benefits.

Is a pastor’s job tough?
It sure is. Show me an occupation that has the range of responsibilities and demands that are regularly experienced by a pastor. Pastors not only spend copious hours researching and preparing excellent sermons for preaching on Sunday mornings, but they also lead their staff as head of the team. They are expected to shepherd their congregants, responding on short notice to handle emotional crises, including funerals. They get involved in the preparation and marrying of church members, and they need to encourage in the touchy area of financial giving so that the bills can be paid. They need to be visionaries, understanding the trends in society to ensure that the church remains relevant. They need to plan events, provide good administration of church affairs, be accountable for everything that happens at the church, while smoothly working with difficult people, handling criticism and inspiring those around them.

In addition to all the time consuming work, the pastor has the task of dealing with unrealistic expectations. In business there is a rule that you learn and I learned it the hard way. Never work for two bosses. Experience shows that each boss will expect you to give 100% and as a result neither boss will be happy. Well pastors are in the impossible situation of having more than two bosses. They have expectations coming from the Board, the key families in the congregation, the denomination hierarchy, the public in the community around them, the elderly, the youth, the singles, the staff and this does not even take into account the important expectations of family, including spouse and children. If a pastor has never learned the skill of managing boundaries, then the job can be overwhelming.

Given the reality of a pastor’s life, it is truly remarkable that more pastors are not burning out. Maybe the truth is that more pastors burn out than churches realize and maybe more pastors are burned out and they don’t realize it themselves.

Life at the top
When I worked in the business world (28 years), I noticed an interesting phenomenon. An organization would figure out that their people were in need of learning certain skills or new ways of doing business. Management would then mandate a training program to help their staff to become competent in this new skill or ability. A consultant would be hired to teach and train the group. The staff would go away to a resort or hotel to learn the latest about customer service, teamwork, quality control or whatever the felt need was at the time. Invariably the staff would dutifully attend and there would be good things to learn. The interesting observation is that the person who seldom attended these seminars or training sessions was the boss. It seemed like the boss knew what was good for others, but somehow did not need the training for him/herself. I always wondered what the logic was behind the absence of the senior person. Is the President too busy for this training? Is the executive already knowledgeable in this area and does not need to waste time with such basic material? Would the boss’s attendance signal a deficiency that would somehow diminish the image of the executive? Is the word boss or superior indicative of a "pride" that inhibits the participation of the person in the activity? In other words, are they above it? Or is it the job of the person at the top to tell others what to do and therefore they are excluded because they are the ones giving the orders? I do not know which is the right explanations. Maybe it varied in each situation. But I do know that the people at the top did not attend the training sessions.

The Pastor’s Life At The Top
I am wondering if there is a variation of this syndrome in churches where the pastor is expected to be at the top of the chain of helping others and therefore is above needing help him/herself. In fact, in a church, the culture may have an even stronger influence than in business. If the pastor preaches all the wise words on Sunday, he or she must know all about humility, love, gentleness, kindness, serving and joy. As the spiritual leaders, pastors must be the most saved, transformed, whole, pure and holy of the flock. In most churches, the congregation wants this to be true. Also, it is easy for the pastor to buy into the belief that he/she must provide the example of being a new creation who is experiencing the joy of God’s salvation by smiling and happily helping. Either way, the pressure is there for the pastor to be perfect. While grace can be a wonderful thing, often pastors do not receive grace when they make mistakes. The expectations on a pastor are so high that a pastor may just find it easier to hide personal imperfections instead of dealing with them. What happens if members of the congregation find out that their pastor is not the epitome of love? Will they give less financially? Will they volunteer less? Will running the church be more difficult if people find out that the pastor is not perfect? What church wants a grouchy pastor? Aren’t pastors supposed to lead their flock to the promised land of freedom and ecstatic joy?

This problem doesn’t just exist for pastors. One of the challenges of the church is authenticity. How is it that people at church dress well, smile nicely, greet each other with enthusiasm week after week and tell each other that everything is going well, and yet, behind the scenes there are all kinds of problems. There is a tension between God being the solution, bringing joy and happiness, and the problems of daily life. If church is just a twelve step program where everybody is hanging out all their dirty laundry, where would the attraction be to draw new members? So the question is "How is one to be authentic and honest and still demonstrate the full life that Jesus wants us to experience?"

The Pastor’s Dilemma
If the pastor has a personal problem and the focus of the church shifts to dealing with the pastor’s problem, then everything is turned upside down. The church is then taking care of the pastor instead of the pastor taking care of the church. When a pastor shares personally from his/her life experience, it is therefore more beneficial to provide an example where God has helped the pastor overcome an issue in the past and now life is full and abundant as God has promised. Sharing in this way provides an opportunity to be both authentic and to also prove the benefits of Jesus’ amazing love. The pastor can share that there was a problem in the past, and now the problem is gone so the congregation does not need to concern itself with the pastor being broken. Sharing past issues can be great opportunities for demonstrating God’s love. Sharing current problems can become problematic.

The Confidentiality of Counselling
Guess what? Pastors are human beings just like everybody else. Pastors experience grief when there is a loss, pain when there is a hurt, resentment and anger when they are frustrated and spurned, anxiety when overwhelmed and worry when things are not going well. Pastors are not perfect people. They are people. And like any other person they need help from time to time. The key to pastor help is confidentiality. It is not helpful for the congregation to be regularly focusing on helping the pastor. The congregation really does need the pastor to be the positive, enthusiastic, happy, spiritual leader who demonstrates the benefits of Jesus transforming love. So, pastors need a safe, confidential place to go and deal with their very real human issues. That is one of the benefits of professional counselling. It is totally confidential. Any issue can be discussed and it will not get back to the congregation. Is this being authentic? Maybe not, but it is realistic.

Secrecy
One of the problems that pastors experience is dealing with issues on their own. Pastors learn to be strong. They learn to cope and continue to fight the good fight. The truth is that when a person keeps a problem to his/herself, the problem only gets worse. If a person keeps a secret, Jesus is not invited into that room in the mind and then Satan is able to bring more darkness and help make the problem worse. An example is pornography. Some denominations have research showing that 35% of the pastors are addicted to pornography. My theory is that pastors are under a lot of stress. They are trying to carry a big load on their shoulders. When the problems become too much, one solution is to find a little pleasure or reward to take away some of the pain of life. Pornography is one way of escaping into what is initially believed to be pleasure. Of course, any Christian who looks at pornography is committing the sins of adultery and lustful thinking. Along with pornography comes guilt because the viewing is always done in private and in secrecy. Ted Haggart is an example of how keeping a secret can feed the addiction. Since pastors are supposed to be holy, once pornography has been viewed, Satan helps lure the individual into the guilty pleasure again and again until eventually it is a big hidden secret.

The Benefit of Counselling
One of the main ways of dealing with sin is confession. A Christian counsellor is an ideal person to use as your confession partner because of the confidentiality of the relationship. Once confession has occurred, it is no longer a secret. Confession brings the sin out into the light where Jesus can help. Secrecy and confidentiality are different. Secrecy means that nobody knows. One of my clients held on to a secret for 25 years and when he shared it with me the relief of getting it out was real. A load was lifted. We then went to the Lord in prayer and found out that the words in his head had been a lie and he had been living with the consequences of that lie for 25 years. In trying to deal with the issue in the privacy of his own mind, the man was blinded to truth. He could not think clearly and the actions that flowed from the thinking negatively affected his life and his marriage.

Other Ways of Using A Counsellor
Christian counsellors can fulfill many functions. One way I work with pastors is as a spiritual director. One pastor comes for a regular spiritual checkup. We are able to pray together. Did you know that psychologists are not allowed to pray with their clients? An associate of mine gave up her PHD in psychology, went back to seminary and became a spiritual director. Spiritual directors help their clients to read and meditate on scripture. They encourage the person to listen to the still small voice of God and they pray together. The emphasis is on allowing the Holy Spirit to be involved in the process.

Another way of working with a Christian counsellor is to use the counsellor as a mentor. It is an opportunity for the pastor to ask questions and hear another opinion about issues. In the past, the image of visiting a therapist was a negative thing. A person who needed to see a therapist was seen as "sick" and it was a terribly serious thing to be "sick". Today seeing a counsellor is a normal thing to do. I have one business man who uses me as his Board of Directors. He regularly bounces ideas off me and I mentor him based on my experience.

Another way of using a Christian counsellor is as a coach. A coach is different from a mentor in that a coach is an accountability partner. The coach will help you set goals and then hold you to them. The coach will help you plan, manage your time effectively, help you evaluate the results and then encourage you to reorganize to do it better the next time. A coach never goes on the playing field. The pastor is the one who is in the field and from time to time needs to leave the game and talk with someone who is objectively viewing from the sidelines. One of the dilemmas of being alone in your head is that you can lose objectivity. It can be very helpful to just talk with another person who is not inside your head. The old expressions that more heads are better than one is true. Your coach is there on your side to help you win. His sole function is to help you be better and to help you see options and alternatives that you might never have considered.

As a Certified Marriage and Family Therapist, one of my roles is to help advise about marriages and relationships. Many people come to talk to a counsellor because it is beneficial to work through issues related to the marriage relationship. Did you know that you go through at least six different marriages with your same spouse over a lifetime? Each stage requires change, learning and growth. How you cope with each stage will affect the marriage relationship

Stages of Marriage
1) marriage as a free young couple unencumbered with children
2) marriage coping with no sleep and bringing up young children
3) marriage dealing with teenagers
4) marriage of the empty nest as the children leave
5) marriage when retirement occurs
6) marriage when one partner is ill

If you are stuck at any of these stages, it would be helpful for you to talk to a trained marriage counsellor.

Yet another role that a Christian counsellor can play is that of assisting in what I call Inner Freedom. Whenever a person experiences emotional pain of any sort, it is possible to go back to memories that are the root of the feeling and Jesus can transform the memory. When Jesus brings his truth, whether past memories or current thinking, his truth will set you free. I do a lot of this type of one-on-one work. Pastors need to do this work too, just like everybody else.
Whenever you are frustrated, hurting, overwhelmed, grieving, or just in need of talking to a safe caring friend, think about calling a professional Christian counsellor. They are there waiting to help you and you have every right in the world to receive that help.

Conclusion
There is no obligation for you to be alone in dealing with your life issues. Other people turn to the best professional help and it is OK. We have come a long way from the days when seeing a therapist meant that you were "sick". Today, receiving professional help is not only normal, but wise. Turn to those safe, confidential support people around you to help you be the best you can be as you do your work in the Kingdom for God.

Alfred C.W. Davis (MBA, M.Div) has a Christian counselling practice based in Oakville, Ontario [Agape Healing International Inc.] and is the author of two books Free to Be Me and The Training Manual for Christian Counseling and Christ-Centred Transformation and Inner Healing. He holds a Master of Divinity degree majoring in Counselling [Tyndale Seminary].

Past, present and future

2007-11-06T11:33:00.000-05:00

Glenn Gibson, my coach in the early days of my current ministry once said, that time orientation has everything to do with church health. Churches tend to focus on either the past, the present or the future. Churches focused on the past are seeking to recover the glory days. Churches focused on the present are often "so busy mopping the floor, they don’t have time to turn off the tap". Churches focused on the future are convinced that God has placed their best days ahead of them. Since the major currency in any church is hope ("for in this hope we were saved." Romans 8:20) a healthy future orientation is a more positive and healthy stance. As leaders it is our responsibility to preserve and grow our congregation’s hope in God. No matter what direction your congregation is facing… past, present or future… we can help them find hope.

Hope in my past…
If your church is looking back to the glory days there are lots of things we can do to preserve and grow hope for our future. To do this you will have to explore and honour the past. First ask yourselves what was so glorious about the glory days? What were we doing back then? What were we focused on? What did we believe in? What were we passionate about? What were we willing to sacrifice and fight for? The past, if the days truly were glorious is an amazing resource for generating hope in a congregation’s future. Once you have a picture of the past, begin to ask how those passions, attitudes, self-sacrifice, and unity of purpose would look like in your church if they were evident today. What are you willing to do, change, or challenge to make all of this your current reality?

We stand on the shoulders of giants. Those that have gone before us are the inspiration (not the mold) for our present and future selves. Those that have gone before us are now "the great cloud of witnesses" that cheer us on to victory. We have no need to fight the past. The past can be a boundless source of encouragement and strength and most importantly hope. Hope, however, cannot live in the past, hope belongs in the future.

Hope for today…

If your church is overly focused on the present there are important choices we can make to preserve and grow future hope. It can seem counter-intuitive, even irresponsible when there are so many fires burning to take time to get some perspective. Getting stuck in the moment can rob us of our energy and eventually our hope. We can begin to believe that this is just the way this church always was, always is, and always will be. However, that kind of thinking does not mesh well with God’s plan for his church. So how do you get perspective? Well begin by asking each other questions like, "What is the purpose of all of this activity?" "What is all of this leading toward?" "What is God’s plan for this church in the future?" "Who are we becoming?" The present is the only time that exists, therefore, it is only in the present that we can make our hope for the future take shape. Churches that have a present, pointing toward God’s future for them, are healthy and robust. They may not be any less busy than a present focused church, but their hope rests in what lies ahead.

Back to the future…
If your church is focused on the future there are important things you can do to ensure you continue to preserve and grow hope.

1. Be transparent. Avoid projecting that your present is better than it actually is. The mistakes you are making and problems that you currently have can prompt recurring discussions about God’s future for you.

2. Keep it simple. Keep your church structures as simple and pliable as possible. This helps you stay on target: focused on God’s future.

3. Take the time to celebrate. Make sure that you celebrate and mark the important moments that come your way as you follow God. This can be honouring the past. Celebrating what’s going on right now. Or pre-celebrating the future that God has in store.

Jared Siebert is the Director of Growth Ministries for The Free Methodist Church in Canada. For more information on church planting and current projects visit the http://www.lifecycleproject.org/.

Do any of us have the option NOT to be in Mission?

2007-11-06T11:22:00.001-05:00

How are you, really?" I’ve been asked this by empathetic friends and people wishing me well. I’m a little surprised by the question until I remember that Bishop Keith said "health reasons" have brought me to announce my retirement as Director of Personnel, December 31, 2007. In February 2007 I discovered I am a Type II diabetic. I try to stay humorous about this. I probably should join a support group: "Hi, my name is Alan and I’m a diabetic. I’ve been off ‘Sour Kids’ for six months." Then I could confess sins of gluttony of glucose. "I fell off the wagon when I had a waffle cone with one scoop of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough that was virtually a pint of ice cream."

I’ve agonized over the decision to go into transition. When I left my work as a pastor in 1992 I agonized over that as well. This is major stuff. The call of God is not to be taken lightly at any stage in life. I looked for a new challenge from God in 1992 when I left pastoral ministry. As well, in 1999 when I agonized over leaving medical social work to serve the FMCiC. There was a similar "ring" each time that God graciously granted through the affirmation of the Holy Spirit, my wife, and trusted friends. This time there is something different going on, something added to all the above in this transtion:

The need for replenishment. I preach this to my Bishop who is also my friend. I want it for him as much as I need it for myself. Though replenishment is needed for anyone working passionately in a very high calling, I have found it harder at my age) to get replenished. The passion is there, but it’s like my passion is running on ahead, then turning around, to see my body lagging behind.
We can’t live in the margins all the time without some consequences. Signs started showing up, emotionally (like, free floating anxiety, sleep disruption) and physically that I have not listened to well. The type II diabetes scared me. The day before flying to Calgary for the Pastor’s Conference, I buried a family member who had undetected diabetes at age 55, and suffered a long cognitive and physical decline to age 70. He was a devoted uncle to our daughters when they were very young, a man I respected highly, and I grieve the loss of him. I did not want to repeat his path.

It takes longer to recover than it did even two years ago. This position, like most of yours, requires high energy and resiliency. I could do that but now not as easily. Normally, I see my attitude as, "bring it on, hit me with another challenge or problem to solve." I still love that kind of life! Yet, I am not getting recovered as quickly, I can get feelings of panic (and I don’t think I have space to describe that feeling. The attitude of "bring it on," has often become, "stop, that’s enough!"
I like what I do. I feel called to this work, or work similar to it. I heard a person say about slowing down, "even Nolan Ryan’s fast ball lost a few KPH after he hit forty." Roger Clemons’ fast ball has slowed down a bit as well, but enough with the sports analogies. Abraham slowed down…uh, I can’t go there. I am aware, I’m slowing down, I’m sixty. BUT:

What is God up to now? I don’t have an option, NOT to be in mission. I don’t mean Mission, British Columbia, as nice as it is there. My call is to my friend, Jesus.

I have loved my work in the FMCiC. I have loved working on this National Leadership Team. Bishop Keith is the best boss I’ve ever had. WE are very fortunate to have him. Dan Sheffiled and I have worked together in Niagara Falls in the 1990’s. Jared is a breath of fresh air. Norm Bull kept me accountable and now Mark is doing the same. But it’s a full time job needing full time energy. I’ve sensed a release, but it’s a very difficult decision. I’m giving up something very good.

I have some FMCiC work lined up. So you may see me around. Bishop Keith wants me to help make General Conference plans with the National Ministerial Guidance and Placement Committee (NMEGaP) in February 2008.

Dan Sheffield has asked me to go with the Sri Lanka Team in February, 2008 as well, which I have done for 5 years now. I hope to serve the FMCiC part time, and I am not looking outside the FMCiC for other part time ministry.

I anticipate that the FMCiC part time work will, "dry up," after General Conference and the new Director of Personnel is oriented. If there is more, that would be fine, but I don’t have that expectation. I will trust Jesus for the next steps. I know what I can handle and what I can’t, now.

I am open to how Jesus will lead. That may sound like a platitude, cheap language. For me it means asking: "What is God up to now in my life?" "Who and what will God bring into my life that I may not have earlier paid attention to?"

I had an opportunity to go sailing for three days with four other guys from Niagara Falls, Ontario. The friend who invited me told the others he had invited, "a pastor." So at first I think they wondered what I might do if they used swear words. Maybe walk on water to scare them? I don’t know. I felt like these guys were brothers after three days. I had conversations with one of them about Donald Miller’s book, Blue Like Jazz. I started finding things in common with them, besides living in the same city. They are not my project but that is mission at it’s best.

My wife Ellen and I have found friends through her teaching connection. I started going fishing with the husband of Ellen’s teaching friend. Ellen has started a group in our home for this guy’s wife and some neighbors. We are making plans to take a Spring Break together to go see their son pitch. He’s been signed by the Seattle Mariners. I feel God is opening new relationships. These new friends are teaching me something about relationship—I see God in them already.

In Gordon Mac Donald’s, The Resilient Life, he writes about having a vital Christian walk throughout the whole span of life. Gordon is about 66, much older than I! (Smile.) He made a projection that is etched in my heart. He said, "I believe that my most significant ministry may be in my 60’s." I resonate with that projection. This may be the most significant ministry that is yet uncharted ahead, diabetes and all. Taking more time to replenish and not doing everything I use to do will be no deterrent.

I came across Matthew 5:9, "You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family." That is going to be my verse for the decade of my 60’s. Cooperating with God’s mission. Look at the big result: you will discover who you really are and where you fit best. For me, this describes a great mission!

Alan Retzman is the Director of Personnel for The Free Methodist Church in Canada

It's healthy to clean up your thoughts

2007-11-06T10:48:00.000-05:00

Recently, as part of a prayer exercise, I spent a whole day keeping track of the conversations I had. I wrote down everything that I said and everything I thought for the entire day. There’s something about having to write down your conversations and your personal mind-ramblings that makes you more accountable than you would normally be.

One of the things that really struck me when I read through the notes I had made about my day was how negative my thinking could be at times. Instead of keeping my eyes fixed on Jesus and allowing my faith to grow, I was letting my mind wander through all the possible ways things could fall apart and not work out. It worked subtly in my mind until, overtime, like a wagon travelling over the same path – grooves formed and it became an established way of thinking for me. Now, before I go any further, let me assure you that I’m not speaking of anything sinister – these are struggles that I am sure we can all relate to and have at some point had to overcome.

Can I say that to some extent, the way you feel is dictated by the way you think, without someone assuming that I’m trying to write my own chapter of "The Secret"? Because we are fooling ourselves if we believe that the way we think does not impact our spiritual, physical and mental health. I’m sure we could all relay personal stories of negative or anxious thoughts affecting our feelings, our mood, causing headaches, etc . . . not to mention the spiritual repercussions.

Once I acknowledge that my mind needs to be constantly renewed by Christ it becomes a question of discipline and re-training. I have to be honest, at times it feels as if I’m completely at the mercy of my thoughts (or more correctly, my un-Christlike patterns of thinking) – getting the wheel out of the groove is hard work – but it’s not impossible!

None of us will ever be able to say that "we’ve arrived" – that our thoughts are always centered on Christ and His desires for our lives. But perhaps that’s not such a bad thing. It keeps us dependent on Jesus, accountable to each other and humble, knowing that we don’t have it all figured out. Let me finish with this scripture which has lately become quite meaningful to me;

Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. Philippians 4:8 (The Message)

Lisa Howden
Managing Editor

What is it like to be healthy?

2007-11-06T10:41:00.000-05:00

When I was in either Grade nine or ten at Uxbridge Secondary, I signed up for a First Aid course with Mr. Cascomb, one the gym teachers at our high school. We learned a lot about ways to treat injuries and even save lives. Yet, the one thing that I remember most is where he started out in the training. It wasn’t with a long list of the things that could happen that would cause pain, disability or even death; it was a definition of physical fitness.

Here’s what he came up with: "A person is physically fit when he/she is able to care for all the responsibilities of his/her day and have some reserves of strength left for emergencies." As an adolescent with boundless energy, I didn’t really grasp the implications of what he was he was saying, but 40 years later, I think I get it.

He may have been just talking about rest and exercise, but now we think about health in a wholistic

way. We have to talk about living with healthy habits and wise boundaries so that the reserves of all the dimensions of our lives (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, relational) are continually being replenished and there are at least modest margins of surplus most of the time. Though stress and conflict and hard work are part of life, we were not created to live in exhaustion and depletion.
This is especially important in the life of spiritual leaders. In this edition, we are talking about Clergy health. If we are going to have healthy churches, they must be led by healthy leaders. So where do we go to find out how to live a godly, balanced life on this planet? I suspect that the reason that Jesus took on human form and walked among us, is to give us some understanding as to how to live the "Great Commandment" to love the Lord our God first with all our being and then others as ourselves.

Early in my ministry, I embraced the notion that the way to JOY was Jesus first, Others second and Yourself last. But, though self-denial and self-giving sacrifice is a central part of the life the scriptures teach, if we watch closely, the definition of JOY would be more like Jesus first, Others and Yourself second.

The key to healthy living is balance. This is how the reserves of our lives are replenished. And this doesn’t happen without us taking responsibility for ourselves and paying attention. If we drive a car without paying attention, we run out of gas, the oil light comes on and the engine burns out, we crash into others, we take curves too quickly and roll over – you get the picture don’t you? And not just about driving!

As I meet people who seem to be healthy, I notice two things: First, they have a quality of healthy adaptability that enables them to shift and adapt to maintain margins in their lives and after seasons of high pressure, to re-gain them.

For example, because he knew that both are necessary parts of life, Jesus experienced both life draining stress (butting heads with the Pharisees and responding to the human need around him that drained life out of him) and life replenishing solitude (the times alone when they had to go looking to find him, the pause to sit on the well alone while the disciples went into town for groceries).

The second thing I have noticed about people who seem to be healthy is that they are not in deep conflict with their life situation. (Naturally, they encounter conflicts and frustrations, but these are taken in stride, because these individuals live with a sense that they are where they are supposed to be, doing what they are supposed to be doing. They keep focused on what Jesus taught as important, shake off distractions, and steer around activities, unhealthy relational expectations, temptations and life habits that entrap and bind.) I’ve noticed the following about people who are in harmony with their life context:

• Physically, they are not in conflict with excess weight and fatigue because they maintain a realistic level of physical fitness and self control.

• Financially, they are not in conflict with their lifestyle and when they make financial mistakes or face reverses, they can get back on track because they live by a plan that is shaped by what they understand as their life priorities.

• Emotionally, they live in calm most of the time and are rewiring their "hot buttons" with a healthy sense of humour. This is because they have made the effort to understand where they have come from and they have come to terms with wounds from their past.

• Mentally, they are not intimidated by the more "gifted" nor "annoyed" by the "less insightful" because they understand their own capabilities and are open to both humbly learn from and graciously coach others.

• Relationally, they are not conflicted by the expectations of others. While they are respectful and kind to all, they understand their relational capacities (how many close friends they can keep up with), their relational makeup - whether being with people energizes them (meet the extroverts) or drains them (meet the introverts) and they understand how to set and graciously maintain boundaries.

• Spiritually, they are at peace with God and have an integrated, spiritual graciousness about them that is deeper than good manners and expected piety. They are spiritually disciplined without being dogmatic or legalistic. They are sacrificial without complaining or expecting commendation. They take responsibility to build a deepening relationship with Jesus. They understand the importance of centering during the daily "pause" in his presence, of rest and re-orientation in a weekly sabbath, and of spiritual renewal several times a year through lingering with him in solitude for a whole day.

My deep desire is to see this kind of wholistic health among God’s people and especially among those called to guide his people to holy, wholesome maturity. At the same time, I need to be honest and paraphrase the Apostle Paul’s words and confess that I have not already obtained this life of integrated maturity nor have I already reached the goal, but I press on…..

Rev. Keith Elford is Bishop of The Free Methodist Church in Canada.

To learn more visit the "WHO WE ARE" section of the website.

Honouring Lois Meredith, Missionary to Africa

2007-08-07T09:52:00.000-04:00

Lois is one of the most organized and efficient people I have ever met. She gets things done! She gave of herself and her means, often personally meeting people’s expenses or giving them something extra, because she knew they ‘needed’ it. She genuinely loved and lived out her love in her own way. And, the people knew it. The kingdom is better off in Africa, Lois, because you have been there.
Henry Church, Africa Area Director, FMWM

Lois Meredith has served Free Methodist World Missions for 37 years, primarily in Christian education and bookkeeping in Burundi, Rwanda, and most recently, Kenya. Throughout her ministry, Lois has endeavored to help equip people to better serve God, which she’s carried out through training national bookkeepers and Sunday school teachers. She officially retired as a long-term missionary, May 31, 2007.

Lois grew up near Wallaceburg, in southwestern Ontario, on the farm of her parents, Don and Eva Meredith. She attended a one room school with her siblings, Betty, Bill and Donna. Their whole family attended the Charlemont Free Methodist Church.

In 1959 Lois graduated from London Teacher’s College and accepted a teaching position at an elementary school in Brantford, Ontario. While living in Brantford she attended North Park Free Methodist Church (now Freedom Christian Community) where she taught Sunday School. Lois still has her membership at Freedom and she has maintained connections there over many years.

Lois began her missionary work under the VISA program in 1969 when she served as teacher of missionary children, in addition to bookkeeper, in Burundi. After three years in Africa she returned to Canada and taught in London, Ontario. During that year, however, she realized her calling was not to teach privileged children in Canada, so in 1973 she returned to Central Africa as a long-term missionary.

Over the years Lois has assumed various areas of responsibility, caring for mission visitors and
personnel, women’s ministry, bookkeeping, auditing financial records, arranging conferences, mentoring indigenous leaders, and so on.

In 1994, Lois was living in Rwanda when the genocide took place. She lost everything but her life. After this she moved to serve in Kenya, based in Nairobi, a city of 4 million people.
Although retiring from career missionary service, she is not retiring from God’s work. Lois has plans to serve as a short-term missionary in Ethiopia, helping with International Child Care Ministries.

written by Betty Humphrey and Dan Sheffield

Discovering the joy in sharing your faith

2007-08-07T09:46:00.000-04:00

"I’ll tell the world how great and good you are, I’ll shout Hallelujah all day, every day." Psalm 35:28 [The Message]

One of my favourite elements of the Methodist ethos is that we have a passion for evangelism. John Wesley exemplified what it meant to possess a zeal for saving the lost. He boldly preached "The Good News" unashamedly wherever he went. Sharing our faith is essential.

Charles Spurgeon in answering a student’s question, ‘Will the heathen who have not heard the Gospel be saved?’ remarked " It is more a question with me whether we, who have the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not, can be saved." This is true and yet evangelism shouldn’t be something that we do begrudgingly out of divine obligation. Instead it should flow from our experience of having met Jesus.

One of my best-loved biblical pictures is that of the formerly demon-possessed man turned evangelist. Following his encounter with Jesus he is charged with the following task: "Return home and tell how much God has done for you." And so we are told, that this is what he did.

"The man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him." Luke 8:39 (NIV) Scripture doesn’t tell us how much God accomplished through the testimony of this man, but I can imagine that it was significant.

May we likewise be prepared to joyfully tell how much God has done for us.

Andrew Brown, Student Ministries Director andrew@fmdog.ca www.fmdog.ca

______________________________________________

In my Christian life, I have always felt a bit different. Ever since I first became a follower of Christ at the age of 12, I had this huge passion to share Jesus with everyone I met so that they could experience the fullness of knowing Him too. It did not matter where I was or even if I knew the person or not. It was effortless and easy to talk to people about Jesus. For years I never fully understood the depth of my passion and the intensity that drove my desires to share the Gospel. About fourteen years ago I completed a spiritual gift assessment offered through my church. Through this assessment, I discovered that one of my strongest spiritual gifts was evangelism. This totally put things into perspective for me. I now understood that this was a gift from God and He wired me up to share Jesus with everyone. It was in His plan all along and I played one small part in this master plan. This plan included the body of believers as a whole; a team united together, each using their individual spiritual gifts to complement each other to bring glory to God and further His kingdom.

A few years ago, I remember sitting in a hospital waiting room — my husband’s grandmother was passing away after devoting a long and faithful life to our Father. While I was in the waiting room, I noticed this woman sitting alone and quite distressed. I remember praying to God asking Him to use me in any way to help her. Before I knew it, I was sitting beside her; praying with her and seeing her accept Jesus back into her life. Over the next few months that followed, I thought about her and prayed for her many times, really wishing I would have gotten her telephone number so I could follow up with her to see how she was doing. As time went on, a close friend of mine was shopping at a grocery store and was waiting in line to pay for her purchases. A woman standing in line behind started a conversation with her. She commented on the unique cross necklace my friend was wearing. She then asked my friend if she knew of a church called Northview and if she knew a woman named Belinda. My friend said that she attended Northview and that Belinda was a friend of hers. It turns out that this woman was the person I had a conversation with many months ago in that hospital waiting room. As a result of that conversation, she became on fire again for God, went back to her home church and was living a life that glorified God. I was blessed to get a glimpse of how God used me in His overall plan. One of my favorite verses I love is from Matthew 7:7-8 "ASK and it will be given to you; SEEK and you will find; KNOCK and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, The Door Will Be Opened" Matthew 7:7-8

My journey today has taken me into the role of Pastor of Young People at our church. For quite a few years, we have hosted annual ‘all-nighter’ events at our church that are an outreach to the youth of our church and surrounding neighborhoods This year’s event theme was called ‘MySpace’ which by the end of the night turned into ‘GodSpace’. There were approximately 68 teens attending and by the next morning, eight teens gave their lives to Christ (one of them being a former Jehovah’s Witness). One boy, who is in my son’s grade eight class at school, attended this event. He comes from a dysfunctional home life which lacks direction. That night, he gave his life to Christ while talking and praying with one of the youth leaders. He later asked if I could pray with him in the Prayer Room, which I did. When I finished praying, he immediately prayed for me. The following week, we presented him with a Bible.

God is at work in my life daily. Understanding how He has wired me up has changed me. My desire is not only to see people come to Christ, but I want them to get hooked up with Him for the rest of their lives.

Belinda Leibel, Pastor of Young People
Northview Community Church, Regina, SK

Finding the right funding partner

2007-08-07T09:41:00.000-04:00

Have you ever wanted to start a new ministry or expand an existing one but have been limited due to lack of finances? I think I just heard a very loud collective "yes" across our movement. Every church has faced this situation, for some perhaps many times.

New and expanded ministries usually require additional funds. To increase the possibility of funding opportunities, The Free Methodist Church in Canada has purchased a subscription that provides us access to thousands of Canadian foundations. Through this subscription we are able to conduct searches of over 9,000 foundations that may be interested in providing funding to your project.

Obtaining a grant from a foundation is not an easy process – it requires time to find the right foundation, research the foundation, develop a proposal and a relationship with the foundation. While we can’t help with every step of the process, we can certainly help at the critical point of identifying which foundations would be most receptive to your proposal.

When we receive a Search Request Form from a church, we are provided with details about the project that enable us to narrow our focus and exclude foundations that don’t make a good match with the project. The criteria we look for includes:

Geography – where does the foundation provide funding?
If a project is located in Saskatchewan but the foundation only funds projects in British Columbia, they are excluded
Many foundations fund projects across Canada
Funding Interests – what types of projects does the foundation fund?
If a project is focused on meeting the needs of children, then foundations that don’t fund projects for children will be excluded
Application Guidelines – is the foundation accepting proposals?
Some foundations do not accept proposals and therefore would be excluded
Funding History – what has the foundation done in the past?
We examine what organizations have received funding in the past, how much have they received and when?
If a foundation has not given grants to similar organizations we may exclude them
If a foundation has not given out grants in recent years, they may be excluded
If the grant sizes are not close to what the project requires, the foundation may be excluded

Our goal is to provide you with the best possible chance at success in approaching foundations that will be receptive to your project. The more detail you can give us about your project, the better the information we provide to you.

I want to encourage each church to consider taking advantage of this service. For more information about the foundation search service and to obtain a request form, visit the generous stewards website at www.generoussteward.org. Click on the Leaders link and then go to Project Funding.

Joanne Bell, Stewardship
Development Director
bellj@fmc-canada.org

Seeing the world through a Wesleyan lens

2007-08-07T09:25:00.000-04:00

How do Christians see the world? With what lens?
"I see the world biblically," some will say. "I have a Christian worldview."
But "Christian" worldviews vary widely. Not all lenses are the same. Some are clearer than others; some distort more than others; some block out part of the biblical vision, filtering out part of the spectrum.

There is a particularly Wesleyan way of looking at the world and everything in it. The strength of the Wesleyan lens is its comprehensiveness.

Seven aspects of Wesley’s wide-angle way of seeing the world are especially important. Together they give us a broad biblical view of the world—a more comprehensive view than we commonly find today. Wesley no doubt had his blind spots, but his large vision was remarkable.

Several unique advantages elevated Wesley’s vision beyond that of most figures in Christian history. John Wesley was blessed with a well-informed Christian upbringing, especially with a wise mother who helped him think deeply. He had a both/and rather than an either/or mind, both rational and poetic, fascinated by language, alert to metaphor and paradox, yet interested in logic and in scientific discovery (both right-brained and left-brained, we would say today). He was a voracious reader with broad and eclectic tastes. His grounding in the Anglican via media of Scripture, reason, and tradition, gave him historical and theological breadth. He studied at Oxford during the rediscovery of early Christian sources. He lived at the height of the Age of Reason, but also at the beginning of new interest in human experience and emotion or "enthusiasm." He read of the discoveries coming from the "New World" and England’s far-flung empire. He experienced the Industrial Revolution. Through the influence of the Pietist Movement, particularly the Moravian Brethren, his heart was "strangely warmed" by God, igniting a deeper spirituality and a new passion for evangelism and church renewal. Finally, Wesley was physically vigorous and lived a long life (1703 to 1791), his mind alert, inquiring, and deeply devout to his last hours.

This rare combination is found in no one else in church history. Wesley viewed these advantages as testimony to the active providence of God.

For all these reasons, Wesley’s way of looking at the world, and God’s purposes within it, has lasting significance. So we examine the Wesleyan way of looking at the world, highlighting especially his accents on Scripture, the image of God, the wisdom of God in creation, salvation as renewal of God’s image, audacious hope, a renewed church, and the restoration of all things.

I. The Lens of Scripture
John Wesley was, famously, "a man of one book." Of course he was a man of thousands of books, not to mention newspapers, journals, and pamphlets. But he was clear about biblical authority.
For Wesley, the Bible was the touchstone of authority on all matters of faith and practice. It was in fact his lens for viewing reality; his worldview (as we would say today); the revealed, authoritative narrative of what God had accomplished, promised to accomplish, and surely would yet accomplish. This is absolutely key, and we misunderstand Wesley if we fail to grasp this. We may debate Wesley’s interpretations on specific points, but his conviction and intent were clear.

Wesley viewed and used Scripture in a particular way. The Bible is the authoritative narrative of salvation. It is not primarily a compendium of doctrine but the story of creation, sin, and redemption through Jesus Christ.

Wesley said the Bible should be interpreted according to the "analogy of faith" (Rom. 12:6), comparing Scripture with Scripture. This was Wesley’s key principle—"the agreement of every part of [Scripture] with every other," as he put it (Sermon 62, "The End of Christ’s Coming," III.5). Grasping this overall biblical "agreement" requires, of course, a master narrative—a story line by which every passage is interpreted. Wesley was increasingly clear throughout his life as to that story line: God in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit is reconciling the world to himself, restoring "all things."

Wesley’s sermons illustrate this. His 151 published sermons often don’t exposit Scripture systematically, but typically a third or more of a Wesley sermon is either paraphrase or direct quotation from Scripture.

Seeing the world through a Wesleyan lens means seeing everything—our lives, the church, and God’s kingdom plan—through the authoritative lens of Scripture, interpreted in the light of God’s redemptive work in Jesus Christ.

II. Seeing the Image of God
Viewing the world in a Wesleyan way means seeing the image of God in every person. The Wesleyan worldview is marked by this positive note: Every human being, man or woman, is God-imaged, a God-bearer.

Wesley saw how defaced the image of God had become in human beings and society because of sin. But for Wesley, sin has neither the first nor the last word. Wesley’s sermons "On the Fall of Man" and "The Mystery of Iniquity" detail the disfiguring effects of sin. But Wesley believed also in "God’s Approbation of His Works" in creation, a "General Deliverance," and "The New Creation" (to cite some key sermon titles).

The Wesleyan lens starts with good news: A good God created good people in a total creation that God pronounced "very good." In the Wesleyan telling, the gospel story moves from the good news of creation in God’s image, to the bad news of sin and distortion, to the even better news of redemption and new creation through Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit.

This is not uniquely Wesleyan, of course. It is biblical and should be true of all faithful Christianity. In the Wesleyan understanding, however, three points are especially important:

First, creation in God’s image means that all people reflect God’s character and human capacity for goodness, wisdom, creativity, justice, and holy love. This is why bad people can sometimes do good things; why parents, though "evil, know how to give good gifts to [their] children" (Mt. 7:11).

All human beings bear something of the character of God. This is our glory; our potential; the inherent possibility that God’s grace grasps when we turn to Jesus Christ and by the Spirit open ourselves to God’s transforming power.

Second, this is a social image. God is Trinity, and humankind is compatibly male and female, made for family and community. We don’t find our true identity as isolated "individuals" any more than Jesus Christ found his true identity separate from the Father and the Spirit. To be God-imaged is to be social, communal. The person and character of God is Triune. Sociality and community form the nature of personhood—first in God, and hence in humankind.

Third, in Wesley’s view the image of God connects us to, rather than separates us from, the rest of creation. Here the Wesleyan view clashes with much popular Christianity.

It is important to understand Wesley here, because his comprehensive view of salvation hinges upon it. Creation in the image of God means we are both like and unlike God, and it means we are both like and unlike the rest of creation. God is infinite; we are not, and we have been marred by sin. Like God’s other earthly creatures, we are finite and we exist in a space-time world, this good earth. Like other creatures, we are dependent on food, water, air, and earth. God made us this way: Interdependent, all sharing the same earth ecology.

Wesley understood this. That’s partly why he was so interested in gardens, all earth’s creatures, and in how we treat animals.

Wesley saw human beings as reflecting God’s image in a primary sense, and all creation as reflecting God in a secondary sense. Humans are unique because of their unique capacity to respond to God self-consciously, willingly, and responsibly. Therefore they have a unique calling as stewards of all creation. Men and women are "capable of God" (as both Wesleys said) in ways that God’s other earthly creatures are not. Yet the horse, the dog, the bird, the tree, the flower, even rocks of the field and pebbles of the seashore reflect the image of God in a more remote sense. They depend upon God for their existence and preservation. Their design, order, intricacy, and interdependence all reveal something of God. All fits into the larger ecology of God’s creative and redemptive work.

Like his contemporaries, John Wesley used the ancient idea of a "great chain of being" descending in near-infinite gradation from God to the minutest particle to express this interconnectedness. But Wesley understood this "chain" biblically, not philosophically. He was clear about God’s sovereignty, human uniqueness and sinfulness, and the need for redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ. He saw the whole scheme of salvation, however, in this interconnected way. God will redeem the whole creation, not only the human part of it, because God has vested interest in the whole creation.

Seeing the world through a Wesleyan lens, then, means seeing every person and the whole creation as bearing, in appropriate degree, the image of God.

III. The Wisdom of God in Creation
Wesley liked the phrase "the wisdom of God in creation" so much that he issued a whole book on the subject, A Survey of the Wisdom of God in Creation (abridged from another author). God’s wisdom in creation has practical meaning: Worship, certainly, but also moral instruction and the call to stewardship. Wesley said in one sermon, "God is in all things, and . . . we are to see the Creator in the glass of every creature; . . . we should use and look upon nothing as separate from God, which indeed is a kind of practical atheism; but with a true magnificence of thought survey heaven and earth and all that is therein as contained by God in the hollow of his hand, who by his intimate presence holds them all in being, who pervades and actuates the whole created frame, and is in a true sense the soul of the universe" (Sermon 23, "Upon our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, Discourse III," I.11).

In his Survey Wesley wrote, "Life subsisting in millions of different forms, shows the vast diffusion of [God’s] animating power, and death the infinite disproportion between him and every living thing. . . . Even the actions of animals are an eloquent and a pathetic language. . . . Thus it is, that every part of nature directs us to nature’s God."

God’s image in human beings, and more remotely in the whole creation, displays his wisdom in creation and so lays the basis for God’s wisdom in redemption and new creation. It is all of one piece, one story, for Wesley.

Seeing the wisdom God in creation moves us not only to praise but also to care and to understand God’s intent and the breathtaking breadth of redemption. In keeping with the Great Tradition of Christian teaching, Wesley affirmed that what God had created, preserves, and cares for is being redeemed through Jesus Christ whom God has "appointed heir of all things" (Heb. 1:2).

IV. Salvation as the Restoration of God’s Image
Jesus Christ is the perfect living, loving image of God, and salvation is the restoration of that image. This was a consistent and insistent theme in Wesley’s approach. Through Jesus Christ Christians are "restored to the image of God" (Sermon 85, "On Working Out Our Own Salvation," II.1).

Wesley described "true Christianity" as having the mind of Christ, being renewed after Christ’s image, and walking as Jesus walked. Real Christianity is practical Christlikeness enabled by the Holy Spirit. Wesley preached justification by faith and the necessity of the new birth. But the goal of salvation is more than justification; it is sanctification—thorough transformation into the image and mind of Christ.

So the new birth is entrance into a new, relational way of living. It establishes a new love relationship with God the Trinity; with the Christian family, the church; with our neighbors, near and far; and in fact with all creation. Growth in holiness is growth in Christlikeness, not only individually but together in community as the whole church grows up into the "fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:12–16).
This is hugely practical. Wesley understood that believers can help each other come to know Jesus Christ deeply through the infilling of the Spirit and through life together in Christian community. This is the spring then for redemptive, Christ-like mission in the world. Wesley spoke of "all inward and outward holiness"—loving God with heart, strength, soul, and mind, and our neighbors (near and far) as ourselves.

Since the image of God is social and relational, salvation means the restoration of true community. Wesley called this "social Christianity" or "social holiness." He meant not primarily social justice but rather that salvation itself is social. True faith is social because God is Trinity, because his image in humankind is social, and because God’s plan is the restoration of healthy community, shalom, throughout his whole creation.

The image of God uniquely present in humankind but also more remotely present in all creation gives Wesley the theological basis for salvation as the "restitution" (KJV) or "restoration" of all things (cf. Mt. 17:11, Acts 3:21). Salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ, and especially through his resurrection, means that God is creating a new heaven and earth. God is bringing a total restoration of creation that is more glorious and flourishing than the original prototype.

For Wesley, this is a present reality and a present mission, not just a future expectation. Restorative salvation means that men and women can now, by the Spirit, fulfill their original calling as stewards. In "The Good Steward" Wesley wrote, "no character more exactly agrees with the present state of man than that of a steward... This appellation is exactly expressive of his situation in the present world, specifying the kind of servant he is to God, and what kind of service his divine master expects of him."

If salvation means "walking as Jesus walked," this has immense ethical meaning for our discipleship. God’s people are not only the recipients of God’s restoration but also, joined to Jesus by the Spirit in his body, the agents of this restoration, this plan of God to "reconcile . . . all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven" (Col. 1:20).

V. Audacious, Gracious Hope
John Wesley’s understanding of what God is up to in the world is thus audaciously optimistic. Albert Outler spoke of Wesley’s "optimism of grace." Commenting on Wesley’s sermon "The New Creation," Outler cites Wesley’s "unfaltering optimism, . . . an optimism of grace rather than of nature."
Wesleyan theology is saturated with hope, expectancy, optimism of grace and the grace of optimism. This hope is based not on human intelligence or technology but on Jesus’ resurrection, God’s promise, and the present work of the Spirit.

In Wesley’s view, God’s "economy" of salvation is rooted in the personal, loving character of God and in the correspondence between the divine nature, human nature, and the created order. In contrast to Augustine and Calvin, Wesley balanced the emphasis on original sin with a dynamic optimism about the possibilities of God’s loving grace in human experience and in society.

Perhaps the frequent failure of the church to transform the world through the power of Jesus’ gospel is above all a failure of hope—a failure really to believe that God will keep his promises and thus a failure to act in hope so that God’s will may be done on earth as in heaven.

Romans 8:20-21 reminds us that "The creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God." If "the creation waits in eager expectation" (Rom. 8:19), so should we. If Satan convinces us the world is hopeless, we become hopeless in our witness and ministry. Or we reduce hope unbiblically, expecting only the salvation of souls for a disembodied eternity in heaven. We forget God’s plan through Jesus Christ "to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross" (Col. 1:20).

That divine plan defines our mission. And that mission is irrepressibly one of hope—the audacious, gracious hope that comes not from self-confidence or technology or money but from God’s promises.
Here Wesleyan theology clashes sharply with contemporary North American (or at least U.S.) evangelicalism. The optimism of grace gets undermined in two ways: By a discontinuous, disjunctive eschatology that makes too sharp a break between this age and the age to come (the kingdom of God in its fullness), and by a dualistic worldview. Many Christians see life on earth as an inferior, lower plane, and view disembodied spiritual existence on a higher, totally other plane. They see no real link between the two except through prayer and occasional miracles (or through tongues-speaking, if one is Pentecostal or charismatic).

This was not Wesley’s view. It isn’t the biblical view. "All things . . . in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible" (Col. 1:16), things present and things to come (Rom. 8:38, 1 Cor. 3:22), are part of the one world (and one worldview) that the Bible reveals and describes. This one God-created world is the stage upon which God is bringing to fulfillment the great drama of redemption and new creation.

If we don’t believe—don’t have the audacious hope—that God’s will really can be done on earth as it is in heaven in all dimensions of life, society, and culture, we won’t act with the audacious hope that God uses as a key means in fulfilling Jesus’ prayer, "may your kingdom come" on earth now. And so we will fail to see, at least in our time and place, the visible realization of God’s "intent . . . that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenlies" (Eph. 3:10). For lack of faith we fail effectively to be God’s mission in the world.
Seeing the world through a Wesleyan lens and acting in the world in a Wesleyan way means living the audacious, gracious hope that we experience through the powerful resurrection of Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:18-23).

VI. A Renewed, Missional Church
Methodists trace their beginnings to John Wesley’s heart-warming experience at Aldersgate on May 24, 1738. But long before Aldersgate, Wesley yearned for the renewal of the church. The question was how. Touched by God’s Spirit at Aldersgate, Wesley found the power, and then the vital means, for the renewal he had long envisioned.

Wesley saw the depths into which much of his beloved Church of England had fallen. He longed to see it become vital and missional (as we say today), a church that would transform England and then the world. Wesley’s intent was always church renewal for the sake of mission. He saw Methodism itself as a renewal movement. The mission of Methodism was to be God’s instrument for returning the church to the vitality God intended—the vitality of earliest Christianity.

Seeing the world through a Wesleyan lens means a vision for church renewal; an expectancy for a vital, missional church. In the Wesleyan perspective, virtually no church is beyond hope for renewal. God intends to renew his church—from the local congregation to denominations everywhere; the whole people of God worldwide.

Wesley believed a renewed church is more than a congregation where people have faith and live pious lives. A renewed church is marked by a potent combination of worship, evangelism, loving discipleship, and a witness of justice and mercy in the world. A renewed church is God’s instrument for renewing society. A renewed church is a vital community that practices the New Testament "one another" passages, building up one another, encouraging and equipping one another, and growing up into Jesus (Eph. 4:11-16). It is a discipling community that by the Spirit exhibits and practices a range of spiritual gifts through which the church fulfills its mission of justice, mercy, and peace in the world.

Seeing the world through a Wesleyan lens means never giving up on the church. We know that dry bones can live again; that resurrection is possible; that even the deadest-looking tree trunk may still have life deep in its roots. Renewal can come if people return to their first love and center their lives and witness in Jesus Christ and the power of the Spirit.

VII. The Restoration of All Creation
Seeing the world through a Wesleyan lens means seeing the New Creation that God is bringing through Jesus Christ.

God’s promise to "restore everything" was a key element of John Wesley’s theology. Wesley’s hopeful certainty was based not on a few scattered biblical references but on the whole thrust of the biblical story, beginning to end. His sermons "The New Creation," "The General Deliverance," and "The General Spread of the Gospel" highlight key Scriptures: Romans 8:19-22 on the liberation of the whole creation being from its "bondage to decay," Isaiah 11:9 on the earth being full of the knowledge of the Lord, and Revelation 21:5, "Behold, I make all things new."

For Wesley, salvation was all about restoration. Salvation is healing from the disease of sin. The true "religion of Jesus Christ" is "God’s method of healing a soul" that is diseased by sin. "Hereby the great Physician of souls applies medicines to heal this sickness, to restore human nature, totally corrupted in all its faculties" (Sermon 44, "Original Sin," III.3). As he grew older, Wesley increasingly emphasized salvation as the healing of the whole created order.

Seeing the world through a Wesleyan lens means seeing the New Creation now, through eyes of faith, based on Holy Scripture, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Heb. 11:1). By the eyes of faith, we see "a new heaven and a new earth." We foresee the fulfillment of the promise, "God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God" (Rev. 21:1-3). By faith we now see, anticipate, and hope for the New Creation, the "reconciliation of all things." And we have now received the Holy Spirit, the anticipatory present experience of the final new creation (Eph. 1:13-14). When we come to know God through Jesus Christ, we experience the firstfruits of that total restoration that Paul describes in Romans 8, Isaiah pictures, and that the Book of Revelation shows us so movingly.

Conclusion
Our television and computer screens, our billboards and newspapers, our movie theatres and magazines incessantly offer us ways of viewing the world. They present a vision of reality. But it is distorted reality; a twisted worldview and a suicidal narrative, "the path that leads to destruction."
Seeing the world through a Wesleyan lens means an expansive, audacious vision. More than a worldview, this is a way of living out God’s plan in the world and engaging in the mission of the one who said, "As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you" (John 20:21).

A Wesleyan worldview means living in "eager expectation" of God’s full salvation, the time of "general restoration," the time when all things are brought to fulfillment and the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is glorified in all things forever. With that vision and expectation, we seek to "live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God" (Col. 1:10). Filled with the Spirit, we become agents of the reality we see through the gift of faith.

Dr. Howard A. Snyder serves as the Chair of Wesley Studies at Tyndale Seminary. Visit his website at wineskins.net

Church Development: Methodist Style

2007-08-07T09:19:00.000-04:00

Much study has gone into why the Methodist Movement was so successful. Methodism is impressive not only for its rapid global expansion but also for its depth of disciple making. What follows here is a compendium of key features that many feel made the Methodist Movement unique.

APOSTOLIC URGENCY
"Scriptural Christianity, as beginning to exist in individuals; as spreading from one to another; as covering the earth." – John Wesley

Wesley saw the world as his parish. He worked in his parish with sacrificial commitment and powerful effectiveness. He demanded the same of anyone that called one’s self a Methodist. It was this sense of urgency that drove the Methodist movement into every corner of the globe. The Methodist movement was built through its passion for seeing people awakened to Christ, made whole and holy, and then withholding nothing of themselves in spreading that to others.
This Apostlic Urgency permeated all areas of the movement:

It affected the qualifications for leadership
Do they know God? –This may seem like an obvious qualification but many contemporaries of the Methodists, and movements since, have neglected this qualification to their own peril. After all there is a big difference between knowing God and knowing about God. The impossible goal of Methodism was to see the spread of the gospel from person to person, covering the earth. This is primarily a work of passion not just know-how.

Do they have the gifts and graces? – Saint Peter mentioned that possessing the Christian gifts and graces helps us avoid becoming "unproductive in our knowledge of God". Methodist leaders needed to demonstrate that their knowledge of God had fundamentally altered their character and produced a life that looked like Jesus’.

Have they fruit? – "Fruit" for Methodists meant a demonstrated capacity in spreading one’s faith to others. Movements that have neglected this qualification often produce chaplains for people who are already Christians, more often than producing single-minded kingdom builders.

It affected how Methodists defined success
"I began speaking severally to the members of the society, and was well pleased to find so great a number of them much alive to God. One consequence of this, is, that the society is larger than it has been for several years: And no wonder, for where the real power of God is, it naturally spreads wider and wider." – John Wesley

Methodists placed a high value on growth, both numerical and spiritual. The Methodists did not suffer from our modern false dichotomy between the two. Numbers were important. Spiritual depth was important. There was no separating the two in the minds of Methodists. Wesley was known to eject the spiritually lazy and stagnant members of a Society as much as he was known to intervene in Societies where numbers showed a consistent pattern of stagnation or decline.

METHODICAL TRAINING AND ACTION
True to their name, Methodists were "methodical" in their approach to training and deploying people. Their method flowed from Wesley’s theology of Salvation, Justification, and Sanctification (Outler calls this his "Ordu Salutis" or "Order of Salvation" for those of you scoring at home). The method looked something like this:

Awaken People - Most often this was accomplished through open air revival meetings. While Wesley, or one of the other evangelists was preaching, Methodists leaders would wander through the crowd to see who was affected by the message. Those who were being "awakened" were personally invited to a class meeting (a local, lay-led redemptive cell group) usually held that night or within days.

Involve Awakening People in Classes and Bands – classes and bands were focused on helping people work out an understanding of their need for God and begin their pursuit of holiness. Members in good standing and well on the way were then recommended for membership in a Society (usually within 3 months).

Teach and Train Involved People in Societies – Regional groupings of classes were called Societies. Societies focused on teaching people to expect and experience justification.

Deploy Justified People in God’s Ongoing Work of Sanctification – Sanctified people or those that have been "set apart by God" were employed in God’s work. Methodists in this group were expected to submit to leaders, give all they had, save what they needed for survival, and to put their hands to one of the many things Methodists did to improve the lives of others: creating education programs, abolition of slavery, alleviating poverty, etc…

SANCTIFIED PRAGMATISM
"I would inquire, What is the end of all ecclesiastical order? Is it not to bring souls from the power of Satan to God, and to build up in His fear and love. Order, then, is so far valuable as it answers these ends; and if it answers them not, it is worth nothing."
- John Wesley

George Hunter, in his article "John Wesley as Church Growth Strategist" identified Sanctified Pragmatism as a key feature of Methodism. While Methodists gave their energy entirely to the work of God they were also pragmatic in where that energy was spent. Here is the general shape of their decision making process, in Wesley’s own words:

Question: Where should we endeavor to preach the most?
Answer: 1} Where there is the greatest number of quiet and willing hearers.
2} Where there is most fruit....

Question: Ought we not diligently to observe in what places God is pleased at any
time to pour out his Spirit more abundantly?
Answer: We ought; and at that time to send more laborers than usual into that
part of the harvest.

Wesley would not engage in evangelistic preaching where he could not establish a class. "The devil himself desires nothing more than this, that the people of any place should be half awakened and then left to themselves to fall asleep again. Therefore, I determine by the grace of God not to strike one stroke in any place where I cannot follow the blow."

Methodist energy was spent in areas where the people were receptive; they only reaped in ripe fields. However, the concept of "prevenient grace" (the Holy Spirit ripening hearts everywhere and in everyone) meant that there were always ripe fields. Methodists need only find where God was working and then follow it up with workers.

Many books have been written on the success and genius of the Methodist Movement. What I have provided here is a brief description of some of the high points. I find them all personally challenging. If we are going to become full participants in God’s work here in Canada we must rediscover our Apostolic Urgency, Methodical Training and Action, and Sanctified Pragmatism.

Jared Siebert is the Director of Growth Ministries for The Free Methodist Church in Canada

NOTES
For further Reading on this topic may I suggest:
http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyan_theology/theojrnl/21-25/21-02.htm
http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyan_theology/theojrnl/31-35/31-1-09.htm
Methodism: Empire of the Spirit by David Hempton (recommended by Dan Sheffield)

How much do you know about our history? Take the Quiz!

2007-08-07T09:11:00.000-04:00

CORRECTION:
Some of the answers posted in the 2007 summer issue of the MOSAIC were incorrect. Please scroll down to view the correct answers.

[1] Where did the birthplace of Free Methodism take place?
[a] Azusa Street, Los Angeles in 1906
[b] Pekin, New York in 1860
[c] Oxford University, England in 1729
[d] Elmira, New York in 1890

[2] Who is William Willberforce?
[a] An English political figure to whom John Wesley wrote a letter on slavery just before his death
[b] A powerful Anglican who forbade John from preaching inside churches
[c] The man whom John Wesley chose as his successor
[d] The affectionate name that John gave his horse

[3] What are the Core Values of The Free Methodist Church in Canada?
[a] Community, Communion, Compassion, Creativity
[b] Pray, Give, Connect, Serve, Lead
[c] Persons, Church, Team, Connection, Integrity, Learning, Growth
[d] Worshiping, Witnessing, Generous, Global-Minded

[4] When did The Free Methodist Church in Canada become self-governing?
[a] 1987 [b] 1876 [c] 1959 [d] 1990

[5] Which of the following is NOT one of the original "Free’s"
[a] Individual Freedom (opposing slavery)
[b] Freedom for women (opposing the tradition that women should not serve as ministers)
[c] Free seats (opposing the selling or renting of pews)
[d] Freedom from oaths of secrecy (opposing the division of loyalties toward their Christian commitments)

[6] Who is George Whitefield?
[a] A preacher who convinced John Wesley to preach in the fields
[b] A government official to whom John Wesley wrote a letter on slavery just before his death
[c] An English cartoonist who drew Methodists as full of "Credulity, Superstition, and Fanaticism"
[d] A Moravian who influenced Wesley concerning prevenient grace

If asked, could you state the purpose, vision and mission of The Free Methodist Church in Canada?

Scroll down for the answers . . . .

Answers:
1. [b] Pekin, New York in 1860
2. [a] An English political figure to whom John Wesley wrote a letter on slavery just before his death
3. [c] Persons, Church, Team, Connection, Integrity, Learning, Growth
4. [a] 1987
5. [b] Freedom for women (opposing the tradition that women should not serve as ministers)
6. [a] A preacher who convinced John Wesley to preach in the fields

Wesley's Third Alternative

2007-08-07T09:08:00.000-04:00

Several years ago I read Leadership in the Wesleyan Spirit, by Lovett H. Weems, Jr. I have forgotten most of it, not because it wasn’t good but because I forget many good and important things. I have forgotten Administrative Assistants’ Day for the last two years even though Susan puts it in my electronic calendar every year. She’s given up on me. (This is my public confession!) It is striking that I remembered this section in Weems book for years. The idea is called "Wesley’s Third Alternative for Solutions." I picked a few excerpts to share with you:

The Concept
Tension was never an end in itself for Wesley. It resulted in large part from Wesley’s preference for "third alternative" solutions. This is a concept that I first learned from Albert Outler. He felt that Wesley utilized a way of "third alternative theologizing" that amounted to "a special method all its own." For Outler, understanding this method was "crucial for any really fruitful interpretation of Wesley as theologian." Wesley’s theology provides third alternatives to "all the barren polarities generated by centuries of polemic."

Third alternative refers to Wesley’s refusal to see competing claims as the only options. Neither was mere compromise a solution. Compromises are often weak and finally unacceptable to everyone. Compromise usually postpones the real issue. Rather the task is to create a new option. This third alternative seeks to preserve, not weaken, the key strengths. At the same time it endeavors to avoid weaknesses of the competing positions.
Leadership in the Wesleyan Spirit, p. 85

I grew up liking many kinds of music, from the folk music of Peter Paul and Mary and the Kingston Trio, to the Beatles rock and roll, and on to classical, like Richard Strauss’s Tone Poem, "Death and Transfiguration." I refused to choose one style over the other, while some "purist" friends felt I was a "sell out." Elton John, however, showed it was possible to be trained at The Juilliard School of Music and create a most compelling sound for lovers of rock. It was new.

Integration, Not Compromise
…one should resist the temptation to mistake compromise for the true integration of a third alternative. The greatest deficiency of compromise is that there is no real change in one’s own thinking. Integration, on the other hand, guards against what Mill called the "deep slumber of a decided opinion." …"There is nothing so dangerous as an answer—if it is the only one you have!" One of the great advantages of integration is the personal change that takes place. We come to understand and appreciate the ideas and values of others. Partisanship, says Follett, "starves our nature." We are so intent on our own values that other values are starved out of us.
Leadership in the Wesleyan Spirit, p. 87

While I was a practicing social worker it was common for colleagues to inquire of each other "what type" we were practicing. They wanted to know if your approach was family systems, narrative therapy, or solution-focused, among other. Most would respond by saying their approach was "integrated." That usually wasn’t true because integration meant you knew the theory and had practiced enough in each to know the difference. The truth was that we were more eclectic, taking bits from each pragmatically, rather than integrated. Those that were integrated had many years experience and clinical bumps and bruises to show for it.

Finding God’s New Creation
Leaders in the Wesleyan spirit neither fear nor glamorize tension. They understand that tension is the natural arena for leadership. The task of leaders is not to resolve the tension through victory for one side or through compromise. Leaders see the tension interspersed throughout with the presence and wisdom of God, just waiting for God’s new creation to emerge. Often a third alternative becomes the "new thing" God is doing in our midst.
Leadership in the Wesleyan Spirit, p. 92

Imagine that we had a third alternative to traditional and contemporary worship styles in our churches. Imagine if moderns and post-moderns had a third alternative to the mission of the church. We’d be looking for the new creation to emerge. It would sound silly to be just trying to "win points for our side."

Alan Retzman is the Director of Personnel for The Free Methodist Church in Canada

Sanctification is an ongoing process

2007-08-07T09:04:00.000-04:00

If you were to ask me what I like most about my car, I would have to confess that it’s the horn. I love my horn and I use it all the time.

Recently, a friend and I were on our way, in my car, to have some lunch. We were chatting about a particular mentor of mine and the impact he has had on my life.

"What do you think is the most valuable lesson you have learned from him?" she asked. Without hesitating I gave her my response, "Patience. He has taught me a lot about being patient with people."

Sounds like a great conversation, doesn’t it? Well, it would have been, if not for the driver in the car directly ahead of me, who seemed to be incapable of merging into a moving lane!

So, what my friend beside me heard was . . . "Patience," immediately followed by a long horn blast [HONK!]. "He has taught me [HONK!] a lot about being patient with [HONK! HONK!] people."

The timing could not have been more perfect had it been scripted. There was about a five second pause while we both took in all that had just happened – we then started laughing [my laugh was more out of sheer embarrassment] and it lasted all the way to the restaurant.

I found this quote from John Wesley, "The longer I live, the larger allowances I make for human infirmities. I exact more from myself and less from others."

When I think about this quote I’m reminded of how often the reverse seems to be working in some areas of my life - I’m very patient with my own shortcomings and intolerant when I see the faults of others. I make excuses when it comes to my own mistakes and focus on the positive things that aren’t a struggle for me. This way I won’t have to change and I can go on justifying my actions.

Sounds pretty sad, doesn’t it? That’s because it is . . . but don’t judge me too quickly though – I’m pretty sure I’m not standing alone.

Preferring one another in Christ is a choice we have to make every day. We live in a society that tells us we are deserving, that we have to fight to get ahead and, in my case, that we shouldn’t be held up by slow drivers in front of us. I have to make a conscious decision to die to self so that God’s purpose can be alive in me.

Lately my prayer has been, "Lord, help me to be as patient with others [especially while I’m driving] as I am with myself." I’ll be honest with you, it’s been really hard! Partly because we see the "spiritual" side of our lives as separate from the normal day-to-day things we do. For example, under the spiritual column we would probably list: praying, going to church, worshipping, etc. Under the "things we do" column we would find, driving, waiting in line at the grocery store, walking the dog... When in reality there are no columns! We need to view everything we do as an act of worship - it can be, if we allow it.

Change is never easy and I’m thankful for the God of infinite mercy who has chosen to be patient while I work at allowing more of His character to be developed in me. It’s a daily struggle . . . but this week I’m happy to report that I used my horn much less!

Lisa Howden
Managing Editor

Common qualities of Wesleyan Cousins at their best!

2007-08-07T08:58:00.000-04:00

Have you ever been a visitor to a gathering of somebody else’s extended family – perhaps a wedding or a funeral or maybe you just lucked out and got invited to a family reunion – and stayed with the group long enough to get a sense of what they are like as an extended family? Some families are so laid back that they live on the edge of chaos while other clans can be so uptight that they live on the edge of panic attacks. Most are somewhere else along the spectrum. Of course, you can notice that some family units within an extended family are somewhat different by the choices they make, but even so, there are always common family characteristics.

In this issue, we are talking about the worldview of our extended Wesleyan family, when it is at its best.1 When we speak of the worldview [or ethos] of our movement, in summary, we are talking about what we believe on key doctrinal issues [these are very important] in combination with the behaviour patterns we actually live out as Christ followers as a consequence of what we believe. [James would say that the latter are even more important.]

So if we fellowship in the circles of people who have a healthy Wesleyan worldview, what will we see, hear and sense? Foundationally, we will find orthodox Christians who are uncompromising on the key truths of the Christian faith as enunciated by the historic creeds but catholic in spirit, meaning that they live out their convictions in gracious humility. In fellowship with other Christians, the attitude is: "in essentials we have unity, in nonessentials we have liberty, and in all things we have charity [old English for love].2"

If we press a little further, we will find that Wesleyans treasure the important recoveries of the Protestant reformation - sola fide [that is, we are saved by grace through faith alone] and sola scriptura [i.e. scripture is the primary authority for what we believe and how we live].

If it takes its cues from the foundational truths of the primacy of the scripture and of salvation by grace, it is not surprising that healthy Wesleyans insist on four emphases:

1] All people must be saved. [We are evangelicals.]

2] All people may be saved. [We believe in a universal atonement.]

3] All people may know that they are saved. [We believe in the witness of the Spirit.]

4] All people may be saved fully. [We believe in a deeper work of sanctifying grace in which the Holy Spirit renews us after the likeness of God, changing us through crises and process from one degree of glory to another and conforming us to the image of Christ.]3

In a healthy Wesleyan worldview, the wonderful reality of God’s gracious work is seen through and through. The reality of grace is undivided: it is the outpouring of the love of God in Christ Jesus through the gift of the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. But this same grace can be seen from different angles, depending on the results that it produces in persons at different stages of their response to that grace, and depending on the different situations in which that grace can be experienced. In every part of grace’s effect on us, God provides the gift with which we might cooperate, but against which we might tragically resist. A Wesleyan worldview speaks of the following dimensions of grace:

Prevenient grace – God at work to offer our will the restored capacity to respond to grace;
Convicting grace – God at work, drawing us to himself;
Justifying grace – restoring us in our relationship with God and releasing us from the guilt of sin;
Sanctifying grace – see my comments above in [4];

Glorifying grace – the grace to enter into the presence of God after this life and become fully like him, for we shall see him as he is.

Thomas Oden talks about another dimension of a Wesleyan worldview which I believe we are seeing first signs of recovering in our movement. He talks about "eschatological responsibility" in which we are "called to understand our present ecological accountability within creation as a final accountability to which we will be called on the last day."4

In other words, healthy Wesleyans think about ecology and justice and poverty as concerns that are always important to the Lord of all creation to whom we will ultimately be accountable on judgment day. They welcome the current attention that is being given to these issues and earnestly hope that they will be more than just passing fads.

So these are themes that flow in a healthy Wesleyan worldview. Obviously, they are shared generally with the wider Christian family, but you’ll notice that there are combinations of perspective and emphasis that make the Wesleyan family what it is in its ethos.

So, if this is what healthy Wesleyans fundamentally believe, and if faith and works [or talk and walk, or theology and practice] are always to be integrated into a healthy relationship with each other, what attitudinal and behavioral patterns should one see in the movement? The implications are profound and far reaching. I‘ll mention these and you can read more in the positional papers section of the FMCiC website at: www.fmc-canada.org/who/positional_papers.html [and specifically: www.fmc-canada.org/who/papers/The-Elements-of-a-Methodist-Ethos.pdf ].

• Catholicity of spirit speaks to grace filled relationships within and beyond the movement.

• A respect for the historic faith coupled with an openness to the gracious movement of the Holy
Spirit fosters "both and" approaches in congregational life – particularly in corporate worship.

• If all people need to be saved, godly grace says that all people need to hear the good news.

• If the Holy Scriptures are the primary authority for what Wesleyans believe and how they live, its message calls people to be wholesome and Christlike.

• An understanding of true eschatological responsibility speaks to how we use and share the earth’s resources.

In case you are wondering, I’m an enthusiastic Wesleyan. I am first of all a devoted follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, but I love how Wesleyans view life!

Rev. Keith Elford is Bishop of The Free Methodist Church in Canada

1 Several years ago, the Study Commission on Doctrine developed a document to define the elements of a Methodist ethos. The resulting work is on the FMCIC website [www.fmc-canada.org ] in the "Who We Are" section and I draw heavily from it in several places in this article.
2 A statement first attributed to St. Augustine
3 Taken from the new FM statement on sanctification
4 John Wesley’s Scriptural Christianity by Thomas Oden (Zondervan Publishing House, 1994), p.130

Little Country Church Sends First New Missionaries in a Decade

2007-07-24T12:09:00.000-04:00

In the afternoon of Sunday, July 15, representatives from more than 10 congregations gathered in Caistor Centre, Ontario to commission David and Jennifer Wright as new missionaries to Niger.

David is an Ordained Minister in The Free Methodist Church in Canada and previously pastored the Caister Centre FMC for five years. The Wrights, along with their two sons, Cole and Ben, left that pastorate in 2004 to spend two years in Niamey, Niger working with SIM in educational ministries.

During their time in Niamey they identified the need for more Christian outreach opportunities in this Muslim country with an extremely underdeveloped economy. The idea of The Free Methodist Church initiating ministry in Niger was broached to other mission groups who were very receptive as the need for more workers and church plantings is enormous.

Upon returning to Canada in 2006, David and Jennifer began discussing how they might go back to Niger as long-term workers. Since they were already trained for this ministry and have both pastoral and cross-cultural ministry experience, the key component was to identify those Canadian FM churches who would be involved in sending them.

Caistor Centre FMC was their most logical starting point, since they had invested 5 years of ministry there. But Caistor Centre is a small country church with about 50 or so persons in regular attendance. It seemed obvious that other churches would need to help support the Wrights. And so a number of other congregations in southern Ontario – about 15 to 20 – have also partnered together with Caistor Centre to send David and Jennifer and the boys.

However, Pastor Raymond Hartman, who replaced David as pastor at Caistor Centre, and the congregation, decided to do as much as possible. Just a couple months ago, Pastor Hartman let me know that Caistor Centre has pledged $8000 per year for the Wrights. This figure amounts to almost 10% of the Wrights ministry support budget. A tremendous feat!

This also highlights our conviction that the sending of missionaries needs to proceed from local church vision and commitment to what God is calling them to do. Caistor Centre has proven that size does not matter, at least in this equation.

Dan Sheffield
Director of Global and Intercultural Ministries

FOR MORE PICTURES visit: Wrights Commissioning Service

When God says no

2007-06-12T13:42:00.000-04:00

We have been studying the book of Daniel in the OT. And what we have been studying is the decision Daniel and his friends made in chapter one – not to defile themselves or dishonour God. They determined that with the help of God and each other they were going to live God-honoring lives no matter what life threw at them and no matter what that stand cost them. And life throws quite a bit at these guys after this decision. Some real challenging stuff happens that tests their resolve. That kind of stuff happens to us too – stuff that makes us ask questions and make hard choices. So we look at their lives – both to be challenged to a higher standard of living and to see that it is possible to live a life that is honouring to God. It is possible to honour God no matter what happens in life.

In chapter three of Daniel we find that King Nebuchadnezzar (for a number of reasons) has decided to build a huge statue for people to worship. It is 90 feet high made out of gold, so it is very impressive. In fact, the whole scene surrounding this statue is quiet impressive. The king goes to a lot of effort to make this a memorable occasion, one that is meant to inspire awe, devotion and worship. As you read Daniel chapter 3, you will notice that there is a long list of instruments (and that list shows up more than once). All of that detail is in there not because the writer had a minimum word limit he had to meet (like a 500 word essay). It is there to tell the reader, “This is a big deal. The king was pulling out all the stops for this one”. The same holds true for the long list of leaders. “This is the most impressive gathering of leaders. Anyone who is anyone is there”. And if all of that were not enough to inspire awe and wonder and move people to worship, Nebuchadnezzar adds further motivation to inspire people. Worship or visit the furnace. And that probably worked best of all because as soon as the music started there was a race to see who could bow the lowest and who could get there the fastest.

But it does not all go smoothly. Eventually there is a ripple that runs through the crowd – people start to notice something and a bit of a murmur goes up. Because, just over there in that area, there are at least three guys still standing. People notice that, and people know if they get caught, it’s off to the furnace for them. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind what happens next for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. And sure enough they get turned in, and they get taken before the King, and he gives them another chance. But he does threaten them. He asks what he thinks to be a rhetorical question, “Who do you think can pull you out of this if you don’t bow?” In Nebuchadnezzar’s mind the answer is nobody.

But S, M and A gave this tremendous answer that we could spend a whole lot of time and space on (and maybe should a little more in our lives.) They say, “Our God is able”. No matter what the problem, situation or circumstance, God is able. The Bible is filled with story after story that underline that God is able. And it’s not just in the Bible. In every church there are stories that underline the truth about the ability of God to make a difference in life – marriages that have been repaired, relationships that have been restored, forgiveness that has been received, wisdom and guidance that has been given, hope and joy and peace that have been rekindled, needs that have been met.

God is able. But here is the thing. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego continue – and that is where we get challenged in all of this. Verse 18 starts out with the words, “Even if He does not.”

Understand that building this 90 foot gold statue didn’t happen over night. And these impressive plans of the kings were not thrown together at the last minute. This had taken weeks, probably even months to pull together. So S,M, and A knew this moment was coming. They would have first heard of the kings plan early on and from what we know of them (and of Daniel) they probably started praying about it right then – “Oh God, please don’t let him go through with this”. And as they prayed together I’m sure they resolved once again to honour God no matter what the cost. “We will not bow down”, they say together. As the building continues and the plan unfolds and the information about the furnace gets out, I’m sure they kept praying that the king would come to his senses. But he didn’t. And then maybe they prayed that it wouldn’t really be mandatory. But it was. And then maybe they prayed that the Jews would be excused because of the influence of Daniel. But they weren’t. And then maybe even as they stood there they prayed that nobody would notice or tell, but people saw and they were exposed. Don’t miss what happened here. At every turn in this story God says no to their prayers.

All they way through God says no to their prayers. And now they face the furnace. Again, we could spend a lot of time and space talking about why God says no. Because sometimes He does. Sometimes He says no because our requests are wrong or selfish or sinful. Sometimes He says no because He wants us to wait or learn. Sometimes He says no because of something in our lives. And, here is the hardest one of all, sometimes God says no for reasons that we can’t and may never understand. Sometimes God’s answer is no. He said no to S, M, and A – and yet they stick to their resolve. “God can save us. But even if He doesn’t, even if He says no – we will not bow down and we will not dishonour God. We will continue to be faithful to Him – no matter what the cost”.

Here is the question for us: how do we respond when God says no? How do I respond when life doesn’t go the way I want it to – even if I pray really really hard? We say that we want to be disciples or Christ followers, but do we only worship when things are going our way? What happens when God says no? What happens to our serving and our giving and our obeying? Do we stick to our resolve and honour Him with our whole lives, no matter what? Or when we start to feel a little heat, do we bow the knee to something else other then God?

God is able. To bring good even out of the furnace experiences of our lives. To change what seemed like loss into victory for His kingdom sake. Even to influence others around us if we hang on to Him through the furnace. Worked on the King (read the whole story to find all this). God is able – even in the furnace. Think about what would have happened if S, M, and A had walked away from God when He first said no. Think about all they would have missed out on. They would have missed out on the very presence of God with them and the power of God at work in their lives and their situations.

So once again here is the standard we are being called too. It is not wrong to pray and ask for stuff. And God is able to answer all our prayers and handle everything that life throws at us. And it’s kind of easy to follow Him and praise Him when that is happening. The call – the challenge for all of us – is to stay faithful to God even if He says no, to honour Him with our lives (our words, thoughts and actions) even when we don’t get everything we want, or understand where he is leading us. But God reminds us also that He meets us in the furnace and brings us through it.

Marc McAlister
Lead Pastor, Sault Ste. Marie FMC
Sault Ste Marie Website

Thai-Cambodian Experience: A Journal

2007-05-09T12:30:00.000-04:00

[Thursday January 11] Some people have wondered why in the world would I head to Thailand and Cambodia? What does that have to do with Ecclesiax? Short answer… people. Other part of that answer: Ecclesiax is not the centre of the universe God loves ALL people…

[Sunday January 14] Attended a sister, Thai church in Bangkok. These people are exuberant and they pay a significant price to live as Christians in a Buddhist majority. The church asked me to step forward and say a few words through a translator. I smiled and said: Ecclesiax in Ottawa sends you much love and greetings! I also requested that they pray for their sister church in Ottawa, Canada which is praying blessings upon them right now.

[Monday January 15] Spent the morning discussing Thailand and the church here with Dan, Greg and Erin Elford. The four of us then went out on one of the main streets for lunch. A real culinary adventure there.You can eat a large lunch for less than a dollar, drink included!

[Tuesday January 16] Wanted to go for a walk and get some fresh air, which is impossible to do in Bangkok. There is no fresh air. Walked around the 30 or so market stalls that set up right in front of the church building. Raw pig’s heads being chopped up, all kinds of fish flopping around, unusual vegetables I have never seen before. Crowds of people doing their shopping. Trucks, hundreds of motor scooters, cars, bicycles, all whizzing past on the street next to this spontaneous market. People eeking out a living in a poorer section of Bangkok away from the tourist areas, and this is where the church is. I see the sense of it.

[Wednesday January 17] Meeting for day long sessions with the Thai church leaders. The Thai leaders said they were so happy we were there showing solidarity with them. It feels lonely at times, they said. Discouragement can come - they struggle. At the end of the day, we all prayed together and then one Thai leader asked me to share my greatest difficulty and joy in planting Ecclesiax. I answered that my difficulty was often imagining that my ideas were great without talking to God. Then I shared my greatest joy. Seeing people who had zero church background embracing faith in God. This resonated with the Thai leaders. They all nodded with smiles as the words were translated for them. They then asked me how they could pray for me and Ecclesiax? Got a lump in my throat at that one. How humbled I was at that very moment. That is going to be a highlight of Bangkok for me.

[Thursday January 18] Heading to Bangkok international airport 5:30 am to board our charter flight to Cambodia - they tell me it is like going back in time 50 or 60 years. Got ready to head out to the actual Killing Fields memorial. Nothing could prepare me for the vibe that was there. Mass graves with plaques explaining what each section of the death camp did 30 years ago. I walked around it all slowly. Even now I am having trouble with this. It has left a mark on me. I went back outside and stood alone for a few minutes and just breathed. Had dinner with Dan and we talked about the day. About Cambodia. About God. About what God might be saying to us? Walked back down the main street with thousands of people rushing here and there. I tried laying in one of the traditional Cambodian hammocks . The rocking motion is nice, but my body feels like it is being shaped into a curved banana. Instead I try sleeping on a traditional Cambodian floor mat - it’s a little hard, but my body is not being molded into a new shape. The room is nowhere near as hot as I had thought it would be. It is actually pleasant.

[Saturday January 20] Was asked to lead the group of 40+ Cambodian church leaders in a lesson from the Bible. That brought back memories from 20 years ago, of teaching Cambodian refugees English in Hamilton. I stood up front and bowed with my hands clasped together as a sign of respect and greeting, they bowed back to me. Big smiles as I spoke. Dan teaches on urban church planting…

[Sunday January 21] Back in Phnom Penh proper we head over to the Khmer church. Dan is asked to share the God story. Meet a young church planter, also named Daniel, who tells a wild story about his neighbour trying to shoot him because he intervened in the beating the neighbour gave his wife. Daniel is able to stop that, but the husband a soldier, pulls out his service pistol and says: "What is this to you? Now I am going to kill you!" Daniel tells this story like it is normal. My jaw hits the ground. I look at him wide eyed and say: "I have no stories about planting a church that sound like that."

Rev. Joseph Moreau is Lead Pastor at Ecclesiax FMC in Ottawa, Ontario

Killing fields become harvest fields

2007-05-09T12:29:00.000-04:00

Pastor Sok Em in Kampong Chnang, Cambodia recently sent a report from the Evangelical Fellowship of Cambodia. The General Secretary stated that there are over 2000 churches in Cambodia [15 million] and 235 churches in Phnom Penh, the capital [1.7 million]. That’s roughly one church for every 7-8,000 people. This is phenomenal growth when you consider there were probably only a handful of churches in 1990 when Cambodia first began to open up to the outside world.

For comparison, Quebec has one evangelical church for every 10,000 people; Ontario has one church for 3,500, while the rest of Canada is roughly one church for 2,000.

Rev. Heng Cheng, the General Secretary went on to say that less than 2% of those churches are able to support a full-time pastor, and that of all the persons identified as pastors of these congregations, at least 80% would have to be regarded as inadequate Christian leaders.
He mentions a pastor who came to register his church with the EFC. When interviewed it was apparent that the man had very little knowledge of God or the Bible. Rev. Heng asked him how he came to be a pastor. The man replied, because there was no one to lead this particular group of people and so he stepped up and everyone in the group appointed him as pastor.

In the same report Rev.Heng told another story about a particular church in Kampong Som province. There was a lady in that church who was sick and the pastor and other leaders thought that she was demon-possessed. They tied her arms and legs and whipped her to drive the demon out of her. Somehow the woman escaped and reported to the authorities that her pastor and elders had whipped her. Serious problems ensued for that church.

This is the context of a recent visit to Cambodia by myself and Pastor Joseph Moreau from Ecclesiax FMC in Ottawa. We were spending a few days becoming acquainted with the current ministry of the Free Methodist Church in Cambodia. In conferring with Rev. Joel Margin, the FM team leader, an experienced pastor from the Philippines who has lived in Cambodia for the last eight years, he confirmed the above report. There are more Christians and churches than there are trained leaders to disciple them – and it is resulting in serious concerns.

Enter Pastor Sok and Savy Em. It was Pastor Sok who began the Free Methodist church planting work in Cambodia in the early 90s, while still living and pastoring in Canada. He and his wife Savy have recently left their grown children behind in Canada and moved to the city of Kampong Chnang, about two hours north of Phnom Penh. Working with other mature Christian leaders they are establishing a modular training program for lay pastors. A high-quality, three-year, interdenominational, residential bible college program in Phnom Penh is graduating a steady flow of trained pastors, but the flow is just not adequate for the number of churches that need trained leaders. The Tahas Bible Institute, on the other hand, is designed to offer 2-3 week practical programs in bible knowledge and pastoral skills at the training centre in Kampong Chnang, every couple of months. Lay pastors will continue working in their home villages, sustaining their personal needs. Pastor Sok Em will go out to visit these pastors in the surrounding region providing coaching in their own ministry situations.

Sok Em’s role and ministry plan is a bit unconventional but it is addressing the specific situation in Cambodia at this present time. Although an Ordained Minister in The Free Methodist Church in Canada, he is released for ministry to work with Mission to Unreached Peoples [MUP] in Cambodia, a small para-church mission organization. This is the organization to whom he is accountable for his finances and ministry objectives.

The support of the Ems’ ministry assignment in Cambodia will be through churches and individuals who have a desire to see this kind of training contribute to the growth of the kingdom of God in Cambodia. In light of our long-term involvement with Pastor Sok Em and the FM work in Cambodia we are approving him and Savy as short-term missionaries of The Free Methodist Church in Canada. You will find information about them and their ministry needs on our website. [www.fmc-canada.org]

In November 2006, Pastor Em conducted a weeklong course with 10 Free Methodist pastors and leaders on "Pastoral Ministry Practices." The course was taught in Prek Thei, Sok’s home village and the location of the first Free Methodist church he planted in Cambodia. Joel Margin, the FM team leader, reported that having a mature Christian leader teach a course like that in the Khmer language and cultural framework is a tremendous asset for their leaders. This leadership development partnership between Sok Em and The Free Methodist Church in Cambodia promises well for the future.

Rev. Dan Sheffield is the Director of Global and Intercultural Ministries for The Free Methodist Church in Canada

Thoughts and concerns about emerging ideas

2007-05-09T12:27:00.000-04:00

These are some thoughts that I, a 30 year old youth pastor, have been thinking about in terms of the emerging church. I hesitate to dip my toe into the deep waters, but I might as well jump in head first. The following are my thoughts and concerns that come out of my desire to grasp how God is moving in our world. If there is an indictment here it is of myself – because I have, at one point or another, ascribed my thinking to all the issues that follow.

Revisiting the past
I hear from emerging church leaders that the key to our future will be found in revisiting the past. If we would only look to what the "ancient" church did we will see a window into Jesus’ intent for what we really should be as a community. It is an "ancient-future" mindset. Basically, it is a wholesale rejection of the modern form of church and a desire to pick up where the Renaissance left off.

Revisiting ancient worship
Some seek to connect our current culture with "ancient" worship experiences. This often provides the participant with a profound mystical worship experience. It is an otherworldly retreat from the hectic pace of our North American culture.

It may be dangerous to assume that we can have a concept today of the reality of ancient forms of worship. At best we have our own self constructed feeling of what it was like. We also have no idea if those forms of worship served to focus the church on mission, or simply contributed to a growing sense of disengagement and separation of the laity from the form and function of Church ministry.

Secondly, the desire to recreate ancient forms of worship can tend towards the desire to find integrity and authenticity out of a seeming participation in an ancient faith, rather than a church that seeks after the reality of God’s current movements within our own culture. It is a playing at older forms of dress, language and movement. If our authenticity is found in what we do, as opposed to who we truly are, then worship becomes theatre as we seek to act in ways that make us appear to have travelled through time to call the church back to "the way it was."

Thirdly, we may be placing the reality of Christian experience in a constructed ancient culture which may constrain our faith to a separate constructed reality. If our worship and faith experience is founded in a culture that no longer exists, then we have a faith that gets lost in the grind of daily life in the 21st century. The problem that the emerging church is attempting to avoid – a modern church disconnected from current cultural realities – is compounded by an even more culturally distant and self-created expression of divine encounter.

This expression of ancient in modern is typified by a recent emerging church video that I saw in which someone played the U2 video "Vertigo." For the first ¾ of the video they had included frenetic images of our current reality [downtown New York, Iraq war images, smog, cars on a freeway, etc.] The last ¼ was overlaid with images from some Jesus movie with Jesus slowly walking through the desert saying nice things, all the while U2 playing heavy in the background. This was presented as a great "post-modern" expression connecting Jesus with today’s reality. The problem was that Jesus could not have seemed any more disconnected from the loud, industrialized frenzy of modern society. How could someone caught in the midst of all the chaos see a white guy walking the desert 2000 years ago as someone who understands and empathizes with them?

Where is our modern reality of Jesus? Where is the Jesus who drives a car? Where is the Jesus who knows what it is to be "downsized" by a faceless corporation? If we don’t a have a reality of Jesus in this culture, then this culture will never embrace the reality of Jesus. Sorry for the bumper sticker formulation of the last statement. I believe in a Jesus who 2000 years ago died on a cross and rose from the dead, but that can’t be the end of it. To truly be the church we need to believe in a Jesus who is manifested here and now. If we can’t see him now, we will never effectively communicate him now.

Revisiting Art
There was a time, not so long ago, when I bought into the phrase "O for the days when the church was the greatest patron of the arts." It didn’t take a long look at church history to see that those were the days when the church became so focused on attaining beauty and wealth for themselves that they completely disengaged from doing the ministry that Jesus modelled. How many were starving and dying when the church was pouring their resources into paintings, sculpture and music? Don’t get me wrong, I like and appreciate art. I just hope that if it comes to having a new piece of art or feeding the homeless guy on the church steps, that I will always, always choose the latter.
If our churches are about art, music, or anything other than the mission that God has called us to we will cease to be a church and instead become a storehouse of earthly treasure. We will become like the great big beautiful ancient churches of Europe where the insides are adorned with every kind of priceless artifact. They lack nothing but the most priceless artifact of all, people.

Function or Form?
I have a feeling that the "emerging church" is not as far from the mega-church model as it tends to think. I am concerned, in talking to many emerging church planters, that there is a very modern church response to the question "What does your church do?" I hear responses like:
"We are a house church." "We are an arts church."
"We are a pub church." "We use a lectionary."
"We are music driven." "We don’t use a lectionary."
"We never do music." "We don’t preach."

My concern is that the "emerging church" is leaning heavily towards form over function. The search for relevancy is being found in the externals.

Willow Creek Church is often used as an example for the emerging church of a "customer" driven, all flash and little substance type of church. If the emerging church focuses its energy on doing Sunday differently to draw people in our culture, then they are doing that which they denigrate. I feel strongly that God is calling young men and women to be Christ to a community and let that community organically find their expression of worship to God. I do not believe that God calls us to worship him in a set way and then see if anyone comes. Jesus’ function in the world was not to worship God as ministry, but to worship God in ministry. If God’s desire was for us to solely worship Him, he would make us do it. God desires men and women who, out of a transforming relationship with Him, seek to love and serve the world. That is our greatest act of worship. Our form should never dictate our function, it’s the other way around.

A new church plant should invest every bit of their time into who God is calling them to and how God is calling them to reach those people. A church plant that discusses Sunday morning before it discusses Sunday afternoon to Saturday night is looking to cater to its own personal liturgical preferences. It is more a reaction to modern Christianity than it is a theology for a given culture.

Paul Millar is the Youth Pastor at Arlington Woods FMC in Ottawa, Ontario.

generoussteward.org unveiled!

2007-05-09T12:24:00.000-04:00

Information – it can be a blessing and a curse. In today’s information age, we have the ability to find out just about anything using a variety of ways. And while having access to information is wonderful, it can sometimes be so overwhelming. We often find ourselves spending time dealing with the information itself rather than putting what we’ve learned into practice. Downloading, printing, reading, filing… you know the drill.

One of the goals of our stewardship ministry is to provide you with relevant, reliable information to help you on your journey to becoming a faithful steward. We are constantly searching for information, sifting through the myriad of available sources and bringing you the best.

To help disseminate this information in an effective, cost efficient way, we have launched our new Generous Steward website at www.generoussteward.org. This site is still in the preliminary stages and will continue to grow as we have the resources to do so.

We’ve designed the website to provide pastors and ministry leaders with valuable information on how to develop and implement a stewardship ministry in their local church. Whether you are looking for resources for children or adults, you will find it here… and so much more.Individuals and families will also find generoussteward.org a valuable source of information. Most importantly, you will learn what God wants for you in the area of stewardship of time, talent and treasure. We have practical resources to help you begin to budget and how to stay on track.

Parents will find useful information for teaching their children and teens how to manage money.
For those of you who are interested in finding out ways to give back to God utilizing methods other than cash, we are compiling information on various planned giving options including bequests, gifts of life insurance, securities and other assets as well annuities and charitable remainder trusts.

The website will also have a section where we can celebrate generosity. We are looking for your stories – stories of generosity. Perhaps you were the recipient of an unexpected gift. We want to hear how it impacted you. When we experience the generosity of others – whether its time, talents or money – it can change our lives.

The sharing of stories is for the purpose of encouragement – encouraging each other towards greater generosity. When Jesus recounted the story of the widow’s mite in Luke 21:1-4, he did so to make a point, to encourage others to live and give like her.

Remember to bookmark generoussteward.org in your internet browser and visit it often. We will be adding information on a regular basis. Please feel free to send us your comments and suggestions for information you would like to see.

Joanne Bell is the Stewardship Ministries Director for The Free Methodist Church in Canada

Norm Bull Retires: having served as Director of Administrative Services for thirteen years

2007-05-09T12:19:00.000-04:00

When I think of Norm Bull’s retirement from the responsibilities of Administrative Services in The Free Methodist Church in Canada my mind goes back to those years when we worked together on the National Leadership Team. During the latter half of the 90s during the changes that were happening at that time, two words that were tossed around a lot were "effective" and "efficient." Norm Bull, with his background in financial institutions brought meaning to both of these words in his work in Administrative Services. With his no-nonsense conscientious approach to his work Norm always helped to keep the standard high in the stewardship of time, money and other resources. The record stands as evidence.

As a team member Norm added a neat sense of humor and personal warmth that kept us sane through difficult times. While he worked hard and long, he modeled balance through his involvement in his church, curling, golf, running and an occasional time of vacation. In addition to these the quality of his commitment to family continues to be an inspiration to anyone who notices.

From what I can tell at this distance Norm’s commitment to serve his Lord and the church continues into his days of retirement.
Rev. Dennis Camplin

____________________________________________________________________

Norm Bull arrived at The Free Methodist Church in Canada Ministry Centre in 1994 during a period of transition. Over the next number of years he did an exceptional job of redeveloping the ‘business’ functions of The Free Methodist Church in Canada.

Norm’s expertise with and knowledge of The Free Methodist Church in Canada was invaluable as Director of Administrative Services.

Whether reporting to the Board of Administration or responding to inquiries from treasurers, pastors or lay persons of local congregations, Norm was always prompt, efficient and thorough. Everyone with whom he dealt respected him.

It was always a pleasure to work with Norm from a Board of Administration and Management Committee perspective. His knowledge on pensions, investments, legal and financial matters, audits, and general administrative functions and procedures was exceptional.

I appreciate Norm for his strong Christian faith, his commitment to his local church and his valued friendship, and wish him a blessed retirement.
Brian R. Cooke

____________________________________________________________________

For the past 13 years, Norm Bull has given careful and conscientious oversight to the administrative aspect of the ministry of The Free Methodist Church in Canada.

Pastors and local congregations have appreciated his efficient, helpful and thorough responses to their questions regarding payroll, church mortgages, pension and many other administrative matters. Lorne Park Foundation has appreciated his assistance and his service to the Board of Directors. The Free Methodist Foundation in Canada relied heavily on his knowledge of the legal and investment aspect of its ministry.

But more than that, every conversation with Norm revealed his genuine interest and concern for you as a person and your ministry.

We thank Norm for his life and ministry and wish him a long and happy retirement with thanksgiving to God for his faithful stewardship to The Free Methodist Church in Canada as Director of Administrative Services.
Rev. Lloyd R. Eyre, Lead Pastor at Peterborough FMC
____________________________________________________________________

Someone once said, "When some people retire, it’s going to be mighty hard to be able to tell the difference." That will certainly not be the case with Norm Bull. At the Ministry Cetnre we have all experienced Norm’s very dry sense of humour - he would often make us laugh recounting stories of working at the bank, playing on his curling team and growing up as a pastor’s kid in rural Ontario. He also took great pleasure in teasing newcomers to the staff, announcing, "I’m going out for a smoke." It took little persuading to assure them that he was, in fact, joking! Congratulations Norm! We are so very happy for you and pray that your next steps will be full and blessed. We miss you already, so don’t forget about us!
Lisa Howden

Thinking about the future of the church today

2007-05-09T12:13:00.000-04:00

For Lent this year, I decided to give up politics. In the past I had given up caffeine, chocolate, television, and even NHL hockey playoffs but this year I decided to step back from following politics; which is something I spend too much time thinking and reading about. Of course this meant trying to ignore the Quebec election of which I had some success in doing. On Monday, March 27th, I was agonizing over the final edits of this article, which was supposed to be about the future of the church. I decided to take a brief television break and was confronted with some really boring choices. While surfing channels, I found myself watching CTV Newsnet and seeing what the talking heads were saying about the Quebec election. Before I caught myself, I heard the panel chortling to themselves over the comment, "Who could have predicted that this result was going to happen to Jean Charest?" I remember the exact same comment being said during former Saskatchewan Premier Roy Romanow’s final election when he was handed a minority. A couple of hours before that I remember a well known political commentator leading off his networks coverage with, "Is there anything that will stand between the NDP and another strong majority? No there isn’t". Well the prognosticators were wrong that evening as well.

The phrase made me think about a book I had read a couple of years ago by Canadian political scientist Thomas Homer-Dixon called The Ingenuity Gap. One of the book’s recurring themes is that we live in a world with a tremendous amount of variables which are overwhelming and make it very difficult to predict the outcome of our decisions. The book goes to show how complex our inter-connected world is and how poorly we understand how it works despite our proclamations to the opposite. From the food chain in the English Channel, to water planning in Las Vegas, to international markets during the Asian currency crisis; time and time again experts missed something that invalidated all their calculations for the future. Not only is it hard to know all of the variables that will influence our future, we are constantly hit by fads that while they seem important, really aren’t [like election news stories over which tie color resonates best with voters].

As I returned to edit my article for Mosaic, I realized that I was probably making the exact same mistake. There are too many variables, too many things that can change. If the all knowing pollsters and Mike Duffy can’t forecast a 40 day election, how do we talk about the future of the church farther than that? All of the variables of culture plus the complexities of denominations and local church dynamics make it hard to predict any future.

So what can we talk about? Instead of talking about the future, it may be helpful to discuss the factors that are happening now that will impact the future. Too often organizations live in the past, as it is easier to understand, and don’t have the needed conversations on what is happening in the present that will shape their future.

Post-Christian Canada and the West
In a couple of books I have read in the last year, they have referenced some recent studies that point out that by 2040, under 5% of people in England may be Christian [only 9.4% are attending church now] According to church statistics, the four main UK denominations, the Church of England, the Roman Catholic, the Methodist, and United Reformed Churches, are all suffering from a long-term decline in attendance figures. The good thing is that they realize this and are trying new ideas to reverse the decline. The Anglican and Methodist Churches have started their Fresh Expressions initiative[www.freshexpressions.org.uk] which encourages new expressions of church, like alternative worship, and even the Archbishop of Canterbury plans to be broadcasting his sermons on YouTube [www.youtube.com/lambethpress] in an acknowledgment that more and more Anglicans just aren’t in church on Sundays. While some of the initiatives talked about as other "Fresh Initiatives" seemed a little off the mark, it is encouraging that the Church of England and the Methodist Church in England are acknowledging that something has to change.

In Australia, things aren’t that much more encouraging but in a recent book called The Forgotten Ways [www.theforgottenways.org], missiologist Alan Hirsch sees it this way:

A combination of recent research in Australia indicates that about 10-15 percent of that population is attracted to what we call the contemporary church growth model. In other words, this model has significant "market appeal" to about 12 percent of our population. The more successful forms of this model tend to be large, highly professionalized, and overwhelmingly middle class, and express themselves culturally using contemporary, "seeker friendly" language and middle-of-the-road music forms. They structure themselves around "family ministry" and therefore offer multi-generational services. Demographically speaking, they tend to cater largely to what might be called the "family-values-segment"--good, solid, well-educated citizens who don’t abuse their kids, who pay their taxes, and who live largely, what can be called a suburban lifestyle.

Not only is this type of church largely made up of Christian people who fit this profile, the research indicates that these churches can also be very effective in reaching non-Christian people fitting the same demographic description--the people within their cultural reach. That is, the church does not have to cross any significant cultural barriers in order to communicate the gospel to that cultural context. [pg 35]

In the United States, the number attracted to the idea of church may be as high as 35%. Canadian polls suggest that about 20 - 30% of Canadians may share values that would be open to going to church [approximately 20% of people say they attend church regularly but that number may be inflated]. That number is both a blessing and a curse. It shows that at least six to seven million Canadians are open to the values articulated by the church which do provide a large pool of Canadians for the church to draw on. But even that is difficult as pollster George Barna sees the family values segment of the population falling by half in approximately fifteen years.

Nothing is wrong with those within that segment – most of us as Free Methodists would be there – and really, we are not an offensive people group. Six million Canadians is nothing to sneeze at and does provide a significant opportunity for the church, but that is only part of the story.

Of course what do we make of the people outside of that family values segment? Depending on how one looks at the numbers, anywhere from 65% to 85% of Canadians are removed by various degrees from that category and from those values. They make up the vast bulk of Canadians that have to overcome some obstacles to come to our churches as the church is not even on their radar.

According to what Alan Hirsch writes in The Forgotten Ways, in addition to not being on the radar for most people, a large percentage are at some level alienated by the church. From bad experiences, to strong preconceived ideas about Christianity or from a cultural context that is hostile to Christianity, it would be as hard for them to be a part of a church as it would be many Free Methodists to join a non-Christian religion. Doing "church" better; PowerPoint, better music, wittier or more theologically astute sermons probably won’t make any impact on those that are outside the church because they are unlikely to bother entering the doors in the first place.

Another factor in society is that there has been a breakdown in the mass markets. Where at one point a church used to pick a neighborhood and then put down its roots and if church was "done right", it had a good chance to reach their area for Christ. Depending on the church, property values actually rose if you were closer to a church. A middle class neighborhood would have middle class people in it with middle class values. Today that is changing where traditional people groups have segmented and segmented again. The mass market is shrinking and those neighborhoods are made up of a variety of sub-groups.

What does that mean for The Future of the Church?
While it is popular to lament the loss of the Christian fabric in Canadian culture and condemn those that don’t share our values, that probably won’t do anything to reverse the change. Complaining that people don’t go to church anymore won’t change anything.

When Anglican Bishop and missionary, Leslie Newbiggin came back to England at the age of 65 after spending most of his career in India, this is what he found.

Ministry in England, he discovered, "is much harder than anything I met in India. There is a cold contempt for the Gospel which is harder to face than opposition. . . . England is a pagan society and the development of a truly missionary encounter with this very tough form of paganism is the greatest intellectual and practical task facing the Church" [Unfinished Agenda].

It is hard, Newbiggin knew, for a Hindu or a Muslim to come to worship Christ. For an Englishman, it
would seem, it had become even harder.

What is life for the church going to be like in a post-Christian Canada. A world in which we are seen as more and more irrelevant? There isn’t a definite roadmap or program to follow and I think the mass segmentation will force the church for the first time in a long time to chart their own paths as we enter into new territory. That being said, there are some that have been at this for a little longer and have adjusted to their own contexts.

• The Freeway [www.frwy.ca] in downtown Hamilton is both a church community and coffee shop serving both those looking for coffee and a place to connect online as well as the urban poor.

• Three Nails in Pittsburgh [www.threenails.org] is an Episcopal church plant that has embedded itself into the community by meeting a need that I never would have thought of; making really good New York City-style hot dogs. They helped open a restaurant that used to be called Hot Dogma but was sued over the name so now they are called Franktuary. [http://franktuary.com/] Their motto in case you are wondering is "And the meat shall inherit the earth."

• Harambee in Pasadena, California [www.harambee.org]. Back in 1982, Navarro Avenue in Pasadena, California had the highest daytime crime rate in Southern California. Believing that the only way they could make a difference was to move into the neighborhood, Dr. John Perkins started a ministry on "blood corner" [named because of the drive by shootings]. Twenty five years later it had largely changed the neighborhood and curbed the violence. It had prepared two generations of church leaders on a campus that is essentially four small houses with a common backyard. It doesn’t take much to change the world.

• The same can be said about emerging congregations and church plants in the Free Methodist Church. Ecclesiax [www.ecclesiax.com] and ThirdSpace [www.thethirdspace.net] reach artists and creative types in different ways because their local contexts are different.

• Some Anglican churches in London, England empowered and nurtured new faith communities who met in their own buildings. Often with no staff or clergy, these communities formed what is now called alternative worship and are engaging a portion of England’s population that would never enter into a traditional worship context. At the same time they give new life to traditional congregations.

• Some churches in urban areas are looking at what Paragraph NY [www.paragraphny.com] did, which is create a place that is essentially a gym, into a place for writers and creative types to work. They looked at a lot of unused space, got a good coffee maker, and wireless Internet, opened up the doors and people came in.

At the end of the day, the church is going to have to learn to reconnect with their community as opposed to relying on the community to come to them. Whether or not churches can do that will largely determine how long a future they have.

The Future of Theological Education
I remember being at a conference years ago when the comparison was made between the average income of baby boomers measured against things like education, mortgage, and transportation. Then they compared my generation. Everything was more expensive but especially education and at that moment I realized that the Freedom 55 commercials were not targeted at me. The presenter forecasted what it meant for the church. To go to seminaries like Wheaton or Fuller, it meant that you either had to be older and saved up some money, come from a wealthy family, or willing to take on a large amount of student loan debt. This has affected even smaller Bible Colleges who are faced with an aging donor base and less contributions resulting in higher tuitions.

The costs associated with education keep many interested learners at arm’s length. A building costs money; faculty need to be paid and they expect certain privileges associated with their position. Beyond that, the physical space of education limits the number of students who can participate [those who can get to the location, those who can fit into the facilities]. After a while the school’s priorities shift toward the necessities of taking care of the building and faculty, and these begin to displace the original educational goals.

This starts to impact the wider church in a couple of ways as it also influences students. As I heard one seminary faculty member say it, whether the student or his family is footing the expensive cost of seminary education, it makes students less inclined or less able to enter the mission field or enter into a ministry context that does not provide a certain amount of money or safety.
The long term consequences of that happening to more church leaders is easy to see. Only wealthy churches have access to quality theological thinkers and the church may have to withdraw from areas that cannot afford a certain level of compensation.

There have been others who have seen this happening and are working to create an alternative future. City Seminary of New York [www.cityseminaryny.org] is a collaborative project of churches across New York City that brings in theologians and speakers to help church leaders in their local contexts. Fees are as low as $10 [to cover meals]. The Alternative Seminary in Philadelphia is developing training materials and offering classes for those that can not afford it. Closer to home, in Kingston there is the Invisible College [www.invisiblecollege.ca] which tackles big issues from a Christian worldview. Topics like globalization and how technology impacts our lives have been past topics. Resonate has hosted several local discussions with theologians and thinkers over the last three years in Toronto and Hamilton, all for free.

While seminaries and many local churches have been slower to adopt this model in favor of selling content, more and more universities are giving away their lectures, course work, and even tests for free over the Internet. M.I.T.’s OpenCourseWare allows you to tap into M.I.T.’s vast teaching resources as a teacher or self-learner for free. It doesn’t grant you a degree or credits but it does share the wisdom. TED, a world leading conference of big thinkers has recently used Google Video to make their entire conference available for free online. While I questioned the Archbishop of Canterbury’s use of YouTube when the idea was floated, almost 8000 people have watched his latest video in three weeks, far more than what would have heard him speaking in a church and that number will keep climbing.

While the Free Methodist Church in Canada’s Foundational Courses and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s efforts come from a denomination, many of the other alternative forms of theological education are coming from the grassroots of the church. Motivated local church leaders striving to make a difference in their communities. Whether that will be online or offline in churches and third spaces, in partnership with existing educational institutions or creating new ones, how it shapes up and how we decide to view new forms of education will go a long way in shaping how we see church.

The Future of Discipleship
This is related to the discussion on theological education but we can’t ignore the issue of discipleship or lack of it in local churches.

In his book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience, Ron Sider points out that evangelicals do a rather poor job of living out what we preach. In fact in some areas that evangelicals profess to care about, we tend to live worse then those we profess to want to "save". Robert Webber writes on this topic in his book, Ancient Future Evangelism where he suggests that discipleship is a forgotten practice in many churches, a theme which is echoed in Dallas Willard’s book which is aptly named, The Great Omission. Duke University’s, Stanley Hauerwas suggests that we have confused North American values with Christianity and reduced being a Christian to being a good neighbor and good American [or Canadian]. Eugene Peterson simply asks "How can we know so much and live so badly?" Both Eugene Peterson and Dallas Willard talk about church services.

Eugene Peterson says this,
The operating biblical metaphor regarding worship is sacrifice. We bring ourselves to the altar and let God do to us what God will. We bring ourselves to the eucharistic table, entering into that grand fourfold shape of the liturgy that shapes us: taking, blessing, breaking, giving—the life of Jesus taken and blessed, broken and distributed; and that eucharistic life now shapes our lives as we give ourselves, Christ in us, to be taken, blessed, broken and distributed in lives of witness and service, justice and healing.

But this is not the American way. The major American innovation in the congregation is to turn it into a consumer enterprise. Americans have developed a culture of acquisition, an economy that is dependent on wanting and requiring more. We have a huge advertising industry designed to stir up appetites we didn’t even know we had. We are insatiable. It didn’t take long for some of our colleagues to develop consumer congregations. If we have a nation of consumers, obviously the quickest and most effective way to get them into our churches is to identify what they want and offer it to them. Satisfy their fantasies, promise them the moon, recast the gospel into consumer terms—entertainment, satisfaction, excitement and adventure, problem-solving, whatever. We are the world’s champion consumers, so why shouldn’t we have state-of-the-art consumer churches?
Dallas Willard says something similar but in just three sentences,

We must flatly say that one of the greatest contemporary barriers to meaningful spiritual formation in Christlikeness is overconfidence in the spiritual efficacy of ‘regular church services,’ of whatever kind they may be. Though they are vital, they are not enough. It is that simple.

Even if we get every other aspect of church right and people do engage with us again, what do they get when they get here? An entire "discipleship industry" has formed within the church trying to sell me an answer to that question and there are a lot of different opinions.

As technology and culture change, it changes the world in which we learn in. What would have been considered deviant behaviour a generation ago isn’t questioned today as being abnormal. I remember reading a book on how young Christians needed to act and it concentrated on issues like how long should your hair be and if sideburns are okay. It was as funny to read then as it is today but it does go a long way in determining what we saw as important issues back then. Today, things have changed. A friend showed me his high school son’s instant messenger buddy list. Every single one of them was a sexual reference. While we were talking about that, a song came over by an underage artist talking about sex acts with her boyfriend. What does the church look like in a culture that is changing, materialistic, confused, and intolerant of how it sees the church being intolerant? While much of the discussion centers on the forms we use for discipling, statements from many theologians suggest that we may have to rethink what a Christian is in today’s world.

If there is good news in all of this, it is that many Free Methodists are having these kinds of discussions all over the place, both formally [like at last years Ecclesiology Study Commission] and informally. Many of those voices will go into papers and ideas to presented at the next General Conference and of course are being discussed in local churches. As I told a colleague not that long ago, some of us are too young to have experienced the "good old days" of the church but this is the time that God wanted us to be here for and there is something exciting about that.

Jordon Cooper is on the leadership team of the Church of the Exiles, a church plant in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Jordon spent over a decade as the pastor of Lakeland Community Church in Spiritwood, Saskatchewan and has also served on the staff of Lakeview Church in Saskatoon. He is a founding member of Resonate, a network of emerging church leaders across Canada and a member of the Emergent Co-ordinating Group. He is married to Wendy and they have a son.

Opening Doors in the Community

2007-05-09T12:09:00.000-04:00

It’s a small world after all. Living in Canada you often don’t have to look any farther than your own street to reach out and touch the other side of the whole world. The small world phenomenon is no longer just an urban reality but true for small towns and tiny communities as well. This story Doug Dawson is about to share proves we no longer have to get on a plane to go on a "missions trip".

Jared Siebert, Director of Growth Ministries for The Free Methodist Church in Canada

When God closes one door He often opens another. When the door to the Dominican Republic was closed to Canadian short term missions, another door seemed to open up. That door was right here in Tillsonburg. A group of likeminded people came together from areas of South Western Ontario and began dreaming and planning for an outreach to the Spanish speaking migrant workers who come to this area in the summer and fall. In the summer of 2005 the Dawson family in Tillsonburg, the Peterson family from Sarnia, the Gurrola family from Durango, Mexico along with a few others from the New Horizons Church in Sarnia were involved in Friday afternoon street evangelism in Tillsonburg. We were somewhat overwhelmed at the positive response from the migrant workers, most of whom were from Mexico. As the cold weather came in October, the street ministry came to a close and ideas and plans were made for this past summer and fall.

How could we be more effective? Could we find a "permanent" location on the main street of Tillsonburg? Who was going to pay for rent, Bibles, tracts, etc. How could we connect workers with churches in Mexico? How could we make a lasting difference in the lives of those who came to our community?
Over the winter of 2005/2006 a committee called the South Western Ontario Spanish-Initiative was formed and work began. A couple of churches began to catch the vision and supported the work financially. God began to weave together a wonderful plan.

Spanish speaking volunteers were needed. We contacted a man in the Dominican Republic who expressed a desire to come and help us. We interceded on his behalf to the Canadian Embassy , but after three failed attempts he was denied the opportunity to come to Canada. No particular reason was given.

Around the same time God opened some more doors. A new pastor from a Spanish speaking church in Aylmer, about 30 minutes from Tillsonburg, heard about us and contacted us. Through an interpreter we found that he had just arrived from Cuba and was looking for opportunities to evangelize. He volunteered to help us out. The interpreter and her husband were excited by what they heard and they also came on board. Three Spanish speaking people from the Tillsonburg area contacted us and wanted to help. Along with Barb and Lloyd Peterson we were developing a good core of Spanish speaking volunteers.

Next came a place to meet. The migrant workers from the area farms usually only have from 4pm to 8pm on Fridays to come to town and shop, eat, etc. A place had to be found that was located on the main street, was easily accessible, had cheap rent and utilities and was available from August through to the end of October. After walking the main street and praying I called a number that was displayed in a vacant window and found myself speaking to a familiar voice. My friend Peter owned the building and was willing to let us rent it for less than half the usual price, utilites included. Praise God.

We cleaned out the building, prepared signs and ordered Spanish Bibles. We were given a good refrigerator and stocked it with cold pop. We ordered a temporary phone line so that the Mexicans could call home with calling cards to speak to their families with some degree of privacy. The phone was paid for by the Tillsonburg Ministerial Association. We came up with the name: Brazos Abiertos, Centro de Hositalidad: "Open Arms Hospitality Centre". A church in Tillsonburg which seldom connected with other churches approached us and offered to supply all of the Spanish tracts we needed. They even bought a beautiful rotating display rack for the Centre.

The grand opening, complete with ribbon cutting, cake and reporters came on the second Friday of August. Over the next three months hundreds of migrant workers walked through the doors. We served coffee, pop, lots of homemade cookies and tortillas. We even celebrated Mexican Independence Day with a beautifully decorated cake and music. We were even able to rent a bus each Friday to pick up workers and transport them to and from the Centre. Each visitor who came to the Centre used a pushpin to locate his home in Mexico. We were then able to arrange follow-up contacts with pastors/missionaries in Mexico.
After we were accepted by the Mexicans, after all, "who are these gringos who are doing all of this for us?" God began to open hearts. There was a demand to meet more often so we started having Sunday afternoon services in Spanish.

Did any of this make a difference? I think Sergio’s story will answer that question. Sergio was walking along Broadway St. in Tillsonburg and saw a man holding a sign written in his native language. It was an invitation to come to Brazos Abiertos. Curiosity and a warm greeting in Spanish compelled Sergio to come in. He stayed for a while, spoke to some of the volunteers, enjoyed a Coke and some cookies and left a while later with a Spanish New Testament and a tract. When I walked down the street later I saw Sergio sitting on a bench reading his new Bible.

The next Friday Sergio came back to the Centre. He was smiling. He shared with us that he had read the four Gospels that week, read the tract and had given his life to Jesus. We rejoiced with him, prayed with him and began answering questions that he had. The following week Sergio was bringing new people with him to hear the Good News and experience hospitality and unconditional love. Each week Sergio came back and continued to grow spiritually. When Sergio Muniz Murga, was returning to Mexico, he asked for someone who could help him to grow spiritually. Since he was returning to Durango, we referred him to Victor Gurrola a leader and local pastor in the evangelical church in Durango. Sergio had an address for the bank where Victor was a manager and a phone number for Victor’s home. One Thursday afternoon, Victor was about a half hour late leaving for his lunch break at home with his family.

Sergio entered the bank and asked for Victor, saying, "You don’t know me but I was told to look for you when I arrived in Durango". Sergio had arrived in Durango early that morning and in the afternoon sought out Victor. First he discovered that Victor was now working in a different bank but he was directed to the correct branch. Then Victor was late leaving. Lloyd Peterson who was visiting Mexico and who first invited Sergio to enter the drop in hospitality centre in Tillsonburg arrived at the same time to drive Victor and Sergio to Victor’s home. Was it just a coincidence that Victor left work late that day, or that Sergio actually arrived at the right branch of the bank or that he arrived the week that Lloyd and Barb Peterson were in Durango as part of their mission trip to Mexico? No! As Sergio joined Victor’s family for the noon meal, and as Victor answered his questions about the relationship between Jesus and God, it was clear that God had directed all of the events that brought Sergio to a mentor like Victor.

The first day Sergio was in his country even before connecting with his wife and children he learned of a service and congregation in the area where he and his family would re-locate. Once Sergio had a small map for Sector 1, he left for his hotel room, showered and changed and came to the service. Before preaching about God’s love and our need to share that love, Barb Peterson spoke to the congregation outlining the ministry in Canada and indicating that Sergio was a product of that ministry who might soon be a member of the congregation. Sergio arrived and shared testimony of God working in his life while in Canada. People from the congregation welcomed him eagerly and looked forward to meeting his wife and two daughters.

While the Petersons were in Mexico they hoped to meet Sergio’s family. On a Saturday morning they set out for El Salto about 1-1/2 hours from Durango. It was easy for them to find 16th of September Street; it was the main street, but the house number was a real challenge. Houses and businesses on the street did not have numbers. Finally someone asked who they were lookling for and they went up three flight of stairs to a small apartment. There they met Petita, Sergio’s wife. She was shy and quiet but open to their visit and had prepared a hot drink and bananas. She could see a difference in spirit in Sergio and they had a long talk about the change in him. She seemed receptive as they spent a little more than an hour with her. They prayed twice for the family and Sergio said he would be in touch with Victor as soon as he was back to Durango for work.

Yes, the work in Tillsonburg and similar works in Forest and other small communities in Southern Ontario are having an impact. Lives are being reached and changed for Christ. So where do we go from here? Well, in Tillsonburg we have started Spanish classes for us gringos so that next summer we will be better prepared. We would still love to have Angelo from the Dominican Republic come so that we will have someone available every day to help us reach out to the workers on the farms. What can you do? You can come and help us in Tillsonburg. You can pray that many more like Sergio will be changed by the Good News. You can pray that we will be able to set up a good network of contacts in Mexico who can follow up with the work that is done here. You can give financially so that we can have a location next summer, a bus, Bibles, a full time helper and more. You can be willing to open your hearts so that when a missions opportunity arises in your community you too will be ready to open the doors to those who are seeking.

Rev. Doug Dawson is Pastor of Open Door Church in Tillsonburg, ON

Emerging Church: For Pastors who join our movement in Sri Lanka, character is still the most important thing

2007-05-09T12:05:00.000-04:00

Matthew 7:15-16. "Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don’t be impressed with charisma: look for character." The Message

II Peter 1:5. "So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character…." The Message

Sri Lanka, February-March 2007
We drove 3,000 kilometers, visited 14 churches, preached or taught daily. Pastor Sritharan Jeyarajah, ["Jey"] of Mississauga Tamil Church and I traveled for 12 days and then we were joined by Rev. Ben Gomez, from Christian Horizons, who attends Wesley Chapel Free Methodist Church. This is a story about the character of one young pastor in Sri Lanka, Michael Ligory.

Character and Money
Character is the key trait that attracts candidates for ministry to our movement in Sri Lanka. Our discernment process and the relationships we have built with pastors there helps us to know who is coming into the movement for the right reasons. Character is displayed in the everyday life particularly when money is involved.

How pastors procure money reveals character. In February, 2006, one pastor got very angry with me for not giving him money now that he was ordained in our movement. Caution lights came on. February 2007, we found out he had been ordained a second time, in a different denomination. He was after more money than we were giving him. This pastor is no longer with our movement. The issue was his character not his need for money. But, this pastor used deception to get more money.

A little from Canada goes a long way in Sri Lanka
Frequently individuals from Canada send small financial gifts with us to Sri Lanka and instructed us to, "use this wherever it is needed, you decide." These are gifts of $200-$400 Can. [Canadian Funds.] That amount may supply the needs of a pastor with a family for 2-3 months.
Michael Ligory is the pastor at Oruthota Gospel Church, in the Kandy Province. He has just become a Ministerial Candidate [MC] and his church has received Fellowship Status through the FMC-SL BOA. [Free Methodist Church Sri Lanka, Board of Administration]

Question 9
In the MC interview every candidate is asked Question 9: "Do you realize that the FMC-SL does not pay pastors a salary?" And the follow-up question in #9, "Are you still wanting to become part of us?" Michael answered yes to both questions. Michael, as with all candidates, must build relationship with us by coming to at least 3 of our retreats, which means almost two years. He talked with his congregation as well as his board about affiliating with us. They all received training in their church from Pastor Jeyarajah.

As an MC he is not eligible for submitting a small project [up to $500 CDN] until August 2007 and would receive it, if we can raise the money, in February 2008. Michael has good character, and money is needed right now to help him, but he accepted the policies and would wait.

A divinely appointed gift
Near the end of our trip, Jey, Ben and myself decided to give Michael a small gift from one of these individuals who said, "use it where you think best." We could see Michael at the Bible school the next day and give him $100 CDN.

The next day, we saw him as planned at the Bible school. Pastor Jey met with him privately and gave him the gift and made it clear, "This is not from the FMC-SL BOA, because you are not eligible for a project yet. It is a gift from a person back in Canada who wants to help a pastor."
I was in the classroom of the school taking pictures after class when Michael came over to me. It looked like he had been crying. He said, "Thank you, thank you very much." He repeated those words again, we embraced, and I said, "You are welcome." I was glad he was so thankful but didn’t know much else.

Pastor Jey told me, "Michael said that it was God who had been speaking to us. He said that last night he had no money for milk for their baby. He had no money for lunch at school today." Michael has two young children and has adopted two orphans, as well.

I had no idea of just how immediate was his need for a blessing, but God knew.

That wasn’t all. Pastor Jey was at Michael’s church for the service the previous day. Jey reported to me that Michael’s offering from the congregation was very low, RS 350 [Sri Lankan rupees,] about $3.15 CDN. Jey said, "He gave RS 150 to his assistant pastor for bus fare to travel to a village where natives live a primitive lifestyle and a ministry has begun. He put RS 100 towards church expenses and kept RS 100 for his family for the week." It is not often in my life that the timing of knowing a need and meeting a need came so divinely close together.

Money in God’s Plan
Our team decided to give him another $100 CDN once we found out how desperate was his need. Pastor Jey’s church tries to help relatives, friends, and orphans every time he goes to visit Sri Lanka. The needs are greater than we can meet. God’s plan is for us to be generous in every way that we can, though we are faced with more needs than we can possibly handle.

Character in Action
This is character in action. Michael had a great need. He did not get angry with the BOA or with us from Canada. He did not keep the offering for himself, though he could have without any question. Instead he made sure his assistant could get to the unreached natives 120 kms away. He did not lie or deceive to get money. What we gave him would be enough to get him through for a couple of months. Normally his offerings are bigger, but some busses, the main public transportation in Sri Lanka, were unable to deliver many church members that day which complicated his financial need.

We can build a strong foundation for a church if we can continue to attract, train, and educate pastors like Michael. Character is built over a lifetime. It starts early, and as Peter wrote in his letter to those growing in faith, "complement your basic faith," your life changing faith, "with good character." God is forming character in us, and it’s key to building his church.

Rev. Alan Retzman is the Director of Personnel for The Free Methodist Church in Canada.

What do living generously and dandelions have in common?

2007-05-09T12:03:00.000-04:00

One of my responsibilities at the Ministry Centre is to provide design support as needed. So when I first heard the theme for our next General Conference in 2008, [You’ve been treated generously, so live generously – that’s so like Jesus.] my thoughts jumped immediately to the best way it could be graphically explained. I thought about it . . . and then I thought about it some more - what image(s) could I use to express "living generously"? I had a few ideas, but to be honest, I was not excited about any of them.

That’s when I started thinking about the dandelion. Now, I know what you are thinking, "Lisa! Dandelions are weeds popping up in our nicely manicured lawns and gardens!" But does that not reflect something in us as Christians? Isn’t that "popping up" behaviour exactly the kind of life that Jesus calls us to lead? We are not part of the mainstream . . . we swim against the flow . . . we are "not of this world". Doesn’t the world often see us as different? Shouldn’t they?

The dandelion is one of the first flowers to appear when the sun begins to warm the earth. After a time of maturation, when the season is right, it is transformed and releases its influence through seeds as far as the wind will carry them. When I think about living generously, this is the imagery that becomes most vivid to me. There is a resiliency that dandelions possess that I quite admire – their ability to grow and flourish in adverse conditions reminds me of brothers and sisters living in countries generously sharing the Gospel at great personal sacrifice.

Generous living is not a quality that is readily adopted by society – the pursuit of personal success and achievement; bigger homes and better cars are the sought after items – the new status symbols. Recently, "The Real Estate & Wealth Expo" with keynote speaker Donald Trump took place in Toronto and was completely sold out. Individuals who have "arrived" materially are viewed as leaders to emulate.

By contrast, living generously is about reaching out to others in practical ways to bring about change. It is a conscious decision that we need to make everyday. Sometimes I fear that I may fill my days with so much "stuff" that I miss the opportunities God has placed before me – I’m simply too preoccupied to see them. Living simply, investing in people and projects that will allow me to give myself away – I think that is generous living.

Lisa Howden
Managing Editor

General Conference Theme 2008

2007-05-09T11:49:00.000-04:00

You've been treated generously so, live generously- that's so like Jesus!

If you were asked to strike the theme of the next General Conference, what would you choose? We’ve had some great General Conferences in the past with some wonderful themes – "Called to declare Jesus—anywhere, any time, in all kinds of ways" [2005]; "Our Passion: Jesus and Those He Loves" [2002]; "Empowered by Christ: Growing His Kingdom" [1999], etc. – but now it’s time to get focused on General Conference 2008. Here is what we have come up with for its theme: "You’ve been treated generously so live generously….That’s so like Jesus."

"So it’s about money, eh? And what fundraiser came up with that ‘ditty’?," you may ask.

Actually, it’s not about money. It’s about Jesus and what he said in his closing comments to the twelve disciples when he sent them out on their first foray. The story is in Matthew 10 and the key verse that the General Conference theme focuses on is Matthew 10:8b. You may know it as "Freely you have received, freely give." [NIV]

When you read the phrase in context in Eugene Peterson’s The Message, it reads, "Jesus sent his twelve harvest hands out with this charge: ‘Don’t begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And don’t try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously.’"

So you can see that our focus will have little to do with money and a lot to do with a passionate generosity of spirit that is preoccupied with what preoccupied Jesus. When we struck the theme, we chose the phrase, "You’ve been treated generously, so live generously" and then we added the comment, "That’s so like Jesus!" to ensure that our understanding of generosity centred on the One who best exemplifies "generosity of spirit."

This all got started last Fall when the Board of Administration [BOA] took time to wrestle with this question: Why do we have General Conferences? They came up with the following six goals for the 2008 General Conference:

• To worship and pray together as leaders
• To inspire involvement and build momentum in our movement
• To teach leaders and influencers
• To build relationships
• To celebrate our diversity and what God has accomplished
• To attend to matters of the Corporation

I like those reasons for a meeting! The General Conference Planning Committee and the National Leadership Team have been trusting God to help us in our planning so that when General Conference 2008 is over, pastors and local church leaders from all across Canada will go back to their congregations and communities committed to live generously – like Jesus did when he walked among us. [Generosity of spirit is actually a theme that we find all through the scriptures. Every time they speak of grace, they describe what we are talking about – generosity of spirit.]

To work with these reasons for meeting seriously meant that the General Conference Planning Committee needed to propose some adjustments to how the General Conference will function when it meets. We realized that if we were going to have time for "teaching sessions," we couldn’t have as many Study Teams. This brought about a crisis of setting priorities. If time is limited, what are the essential topics that a General Conference needs to discuss if The Free Methodist Church in Canada is going to be a healthy movement of God? Here are the Study Teams that the Board of Administration has approved:

• Healthy Churches – Here and Beyond
• Developing Godly, Competent Leaders for
Today and Tomorrow
[Ministerial Education, Guidance and Placement Committee]
• Generosity – A Way of Life
• Careful Thinking about God’s Truth
[Study Commission on Doctrine]

With this change in the number of Study Teams, there will be more room in the schedule for extended teaching times. Rev. Bruxy Cavey, the Teaching Pastor of The Meeting House, a multiple-site Brethren in Christ church in the greater Toronto area, has agreed to come as our guest speaker. If you have not heard of him, he is a Canadian communicator that the Lord is using on university campuses, in high schools, at church leadership conferences, and churches throughout North America. He has also been a guest on various television and radio programs where he ably speaks to topics that are challenging and controversial—always with the conviction that the message of Jesus is uniquely relevant, relational and transforming. He is the author of a book entitled The End of Religion.

We also hope to have a time for general questions and answers in the Conference agenda. Of course, one of the ways this can be set in motion is through Resolutions sent in by local churches or individual members prior to the Conference.

For more information, please go to the General Conference website: www.fmc-canada.org/gen_conf/conference_index.html. There you will find more information about the General Conference as it becomes available. The dates are May 16-19, 2008 and the location is the Toronto Airport Marriott Hotel.

I invite you to join us in praying that God’s generous presence will be upon everything that has to do with this important event.

Rev. Keith Elford is Bishop of The Free Methodist Church in Canada.

2006 World Relief Annual Report for The Free Methodist Church in Canada

2007-03-28T10:27:00.000-04:00

Thank you for partnering with us to provide funds for programming in Relief and Development projects around the world. You have made a dramatic difference in changing the lives of those in need. We are pleased to provide an update of the international projects you are supporting through your World Relief Sunday gifts, ‘Church Adopted Programs’ and special appeal offerings.

We are able to work in the world’s poorest countries to meet the physical, spiritual and emotional needs of impoverished people by working together with you, the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and with our overseas church partners.

Our overseas church partners are successful because of your prayer and financial support. Poverty, famine, AIDS, and conflict are very real challenges. We need renewed commitment as well as God given strength and direction to pursue holistic ministry throughout the world.

Partnership Activities
The participation of the Free Methodist Church in Canada in World Relief Sunday and other projects continues to provide us with the means to deliver hope to those facing despair. This past year’s theme “Hope is Within Reach” was a challenge to help provide hope and a future to those reaching out. We continue to help people in poverty and hunger to see hope for their lives and experience the love of Jesus. Below is a list of the thousands of people your churches are a part of supporting:

Bangladesh - Microfinance and Food Relief - 47,200 people
Cambodia - Microfinance and Health Education - 47,400 people
China - Water supply - 4,200 people
Eritrea - Food Relief - 15,000 people
India - Agriculture, Water Supply, Relief and Rehabilitation - 43,350 people
Indonesia - Reconstruction and Rehabilitation - 1,000 people
Kenya - Food Relief - 3,000 people
Liberia - Microfinance and Rehabilitation - 72,900 people
Malawi - Relief and Rehabilitation - 5,000 people
Mali - Agriculture and Water Supply - 1,500 people
Mozambique - Microfinance - 18,915 people
Rwanda Microfinance - 23,500 people
Sierra Leone - Agricultural Rehabilitation - 1,800 people
Sudan - Food Relief - 31,000
Vietnam - Microfinance and Water Supply - 4,500 people
Zimbabwe - Food Relief - 6,750 people

If you would like further information on World Relief Canada or any of these specific projects please contact Desiree Frost at our head office at:1-800-567-8190 extension 216, or e-mail her at dfrost@wrcanada.org

____________________________________________________________

Word Relief Sunday 2007
Cultivating hope, Growing communities

This year, World Relief Sunday is set for September 30. However, that is just a suggestion. Many pastors choose to participate anytime throughout the fall and/or winter. The important thing is for each of our partners to select a time that would best allow them the opportunity to focus their attention on Christ’s call to reach out and share with those who are less fortunate. We need the help of your churches in responding to poverty, hunger, and pain so that together we can shine the light of Jesus Christ in places of great spiritual darkness.

World Relief Canada does not rely on significant media or fundraising campaigns. We rely on the generous gifts of individuals and evangelical congregations to provide the resources for relief and development programs around the world.

Our unique partnership offers you the opportunity to have your gifts multiplied through generous matching dollars from CIDA and the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.

In His great cause,

Laurie Cook,
CEO
Word Relief Canada

Carrying hope into the future

2007-02-26T11:44:00.000-05:00

If you are like me, this time of year always causes me to become very reflective. I spend a lot of time thinking about the past – performing a “searching moral inventory” of myself. I reflect on where I was this time last year and ask myself: “Have I become more Christ-like? How many opportunities did I miss? Did I catch all the God moments? Did I make right decisions and choices? Did I keep my focus on Christ, or was I only interested in my own selfish desires and wishes? Did I screw up? Was I so caught up in my own situation and life that I failed to see those around me and their need? Did I get involved in God’s work?

It’s a good thing to do an inventory. Oswald Chambers writes that "God is the God of our yesterdays and He allows the memory of them to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual growth for our future. God reminds us of the past to protect us from a very shallow security in the present". So, it is a good thing to reflect and learn from the past – to be honest with ourselves and face the future head on. To admit our failures and shortcomings. To come clean about things. To let God shine His light in the dark places of our hearts. To then to ask for and receive His forgiveness, accepting His love. Laying all the garbage of the past at the foot of the cross and leaving it there – taking with us only what we have learned, what He has revealed to us. If we let them, the insights and lessons learned in the past will shape our future and protect us from repeating the same mistakes.

We cannot change what has gone before. I love this quote from A Christmas Carol - "These are the shadows of the things that have been, that they are what they are do not blame me". And to quote Oswald again: "And God’s hand reaches back to the past, settling all the claims against our conscience. Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him." Our past failures and sins are wiped clean. We can step into this day with new insight, lessons learned – the past behind us.

And as we reflect on God’s faithfulness and goodness to us we can also step into the future with hope.

Perhaps the past was filled with very challenging circumstances . . . death, illness, broken relationships, financial burdens, families in distress, shattered dreams, disappointments, sadness – crisis after crisis.

Perhaps there were times when we thought we would be crushed under the burden of it all. Times when we asked God to just take us home – we were so done here. We could not face another day! But oh, how in those dark times, God’s goodness came through for us. How He sustained us during our trials. How His Love shone through all the turmoil. How we felt His care and comfort. How we could see His faithfulness to us. He did not abandon us. He walked with us through every crisis faced. He provided the peace and comfort we needed – if only we reached for His hand. He will keep the family of believers together – in spite of the battle that rages around us both individually and corporately. We are still here, thanks to the grace of God. And this gives us hope for the future.The future is known to God, but unknown to us. Some us woke up this morning to find that our circumstances have not changed . . . they may even have gotten worse! It might feel like we are walking in a fog.I want to share an excerpt from my journal: "I have no idea what the next year will bring – right now it’s confusion, uncertainty, like walking in a dense fog. But I just need to keep taking steps and moving forward. It is enough that You know the way and that You know each place I put my feet. And if I stumble on the path because I cannot see clearly, well - You are there to pick me up, dust me off and set me on my feet again. You have faithfully walked with me these past years and I know You will continue to guide my steps. I only ask that if I am straying to the left or the right, that you would pull me back onto the path You have prepared for me. Wherever that leads and I don’t really need to know because if I did it would not be a life of faith nor a life of adventure!

And so I will keep walking, my eyes fixed on You – the author and finisher of my faith."

So here we are, facing the future. The past is gone . . . done. What will we take from it with us? Will we take new insights, lessons learned. Will we take hope?

This is my list of desires for this new day (and they can only be if I keep my eyes on Jesus.): To live passionately and on purpose for my God. To not become complacent about the life He has given me. To seize each day with wonder and awe. To capture every God-moment. To not miss opportunities to share about Jesus through word and works. To get involved in His work. To walk by faith. To live with my heart beating with His. To dance in His arms. To be compassionate and forgiving. To be a valiant warrior for Him. To be strong and courageous. To be bold. To be a risk taker for God. To not settle for less than His best for me. To encourage others not to settle. To learn from the past. To not be afraid of the future. To live in an intimate love relationship with God as my Saviour, Lord and Romancer.

What are your desires for the future? Can we make a commitment to each other that we will walk together as a community, caring and loving for each other, encouraging and supporting, and praying for one another – no matter where the path leads us? Can we make a commitment to not be "lukewarm", but to be "on fire for Jesus" living radically changed lives, being real, raw and experiencing Him daily? Can we make a commitment to get beyond ourselves and see a bigger picture . . . getting involved in our church, our community and beyond; bringing God’s message of healing to hurting people, freedom for those struggling, love, peace and restoration.
We only have one shot at life. This life is short. Let’s not waste it – let’s seize every moment God has given us.

So I say we jump into the future with both feet, arms wide open shouting “bring it on”! For we have the God who created all things walking with us. We have nothing to fear, and everything to live for . . . everything to hope for.

Written by Susan Phillips, Associate Pastor at New Heights Community Church in Mission, BC.

Empowering Mission Initiatives

2007-02-23T11:44:00.000-05:00

I’ve just recently returned from a seven day visit to Accra, Ghana, a city of 2.5 million people in West Africa. The purpose of the trip was to spend mentoring time with John-Mark and Loreli Cockram and their two girls, Mallory and Sophia. The Cockrams are from the Barrie FMC and are doing a two year assignment in Ghana. Their job description is to help Ghana FM leaders in achieving their ministry goals.

One aspect of my visit was to finalize a partnership arrangement. The finished product talks about an agreement between Barrie Free Methodist Church, Ghana Mission District, The Free Methodist Church in Canada and Free Methodist World Missions (US FM mission dept.). That is a pretty unique arrangement, all things being considered! The relationship is primarily between Barrie FMC and leaders in the Ghana Mission District; the other two partners only play a support role.

I am often asked about what “head office” is doing regarding global ministries. When I look at our local churches across the country that are actively involved in global ministries, the answer is simple. The national Ministry Centre’s role is to help local churches reach their vision goals.

With Barrie FMC the process started in the fall of 2004, when local mission team members invited me to do a workshop with leadership in their church. Out of this process the church discerned their interest in ministry in West Africa. I was able to share with them various opportunities through FM ministries in a half dozen countries in that region. They settled on Ghana. My next step was to help them make connections with Pastor Charles Tetteh, the leader of FM work in Accra, Ghana.

In the summer of 2005, the church sent an exploratory team to Accra, to further investigate ministry partnership possibilities. During that visit, a commitment was made to help the Ghana FM leaders to plant a new church and develop a school in a community just outside Accra.

By August 2006, Barrie was sending a family to Ghana to be their link in this partnership for the next two years. Hence, my visit to the Cockrams in Accra. Again, the national Ministry Centre’s role has been to facilitate training, build connections, provide information, and mentoring where requested – not to control or direct, or give a stamp of legitimacy.

For several years New Horizon Community Church in Sarnia, ON along with Trulls Road FMC in Courtice, ON and Crossroads FMC in Salmon Arm, BC, have been involved in a church planting partnership in Hyderabad, India. This fall Pastor Vern Frudd from Centennial Chapel in Kamloops, BC joined Pastor Doug Griffin from Sarnia to provide Wesleyan Theology training for groups of pastors in India over a three week period.

The Hyderabad partnership has developed with minimal involvement from the national Ministry Centre – just a little bit of advice and some seed money every once in a while. In 2007, however, we are moving to a new level where the churches in this partnership are requesting a larger financial involvement from our Global Ministries Giving Stream to help fund more church planters and encourage the momentum of active ministry in India. That is, other FM churches can join this partnership by supporting “India” ministries through Giving Streams.

In January I travelled to Thailand with Pastor Greg and Erin Elford, from Mission, BC. This church in the Fraser Valley, has already sent two teams to Thailand in the past couple of years, through natural connections in their own congregation – a local church initiative. Now they are looking at building a more intentional relationship with FM leaders in Thailand. Our visit together allowed them to spend several days with these Thai leaders in strategic planning sessions.

Through numerous conversations we discussed the role of Canadian congregations sensitively encouraging national ministry initiatives. So, what is the national Ministry Centre doing? We’re working with churches that have a vision of what God has called them to do in the world.

At the same time, many of our churches have an interest in global ministries, but are not ready for taking on their own initiatives. These churches continue to give actively to the Global Ministries Giving Stream, collectively supporting our long-term missionaries in Central Africa – Lois Meredith, Linda Stryker and Debbie Hogeboom. Other undesignated funds are directed toward some of these partnerships mentioned above.

If you are interested in learning more about these partnerships, many of them are listed under Mission Projects in the Global Ministries section of our website. www.fmc-canada.org/global/and-beyond.html

If you would like more information about developing your own global ministries initiative feel free to contact me. sheffieldd@fmc-canada.org

Rev. Dan Sheffield is Director of Intercultural and Global Missions for The Free Methodist Church in Canada

B.Ed. Application Approved: NEW TEACHERS COLLEGE AT TYNDALE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

2007-02-23T11:42:00.000-05:00

New Faculty Will Enhance Tyndale’s Reputation as a Leading Christian Institution of Higher Education

TORONTO (January 12, 2007) – David Zimmer, MPP Willowdale was joined by Dr. Brian C. Stiller, President of Tyndale University College, to announce the approval by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities for Tyndale to apply to operate a teachers college.

Tyndale University College plans to start a one-year consecutive Bachelor of Education program in January 2008, subject to accreditation by the Ontario College of Teachers.

“Tyndale University College is a symbol of academic excellence and a jewel in the Willowdale community,” said MPP David Zimmer. “The approval for Tyndale to pursue the opening of its own Teacher’s College supports and respects the unique, quality education that Tyndale has provided in Toronto and Willowdale for over a century.”

Starting in January 2008, the proposed new program will provide more spaces for students to pursue post-professional opportunities with a particular focus on graduating teachers able to teach in the French language. The Tyndale Bachelor of Education program recognizes the current demand for qualified teachers of French language in Ontario schools. Therefore the proposed program is designed to offer teacher candidates the methodological foundation and appropriate practice required assuming that the teacher candidates enter the program with the necessary French language competency.

“This is an important step in the 113-year history of Tyndale in providing outstanding valued education to the Ontario community,” said President Stiller. “Through Tyndale’s efforts, and thanks to the outstanding leadership of our MPP David Zimmer, we have been able to achieve this important milestone.”

“I applaud the McGuinty government in awarding Tyndale this exciting opportunity to offer a Bachelor of Education degree,” noted Dr. Charles Price, Senior Minister of The Peoples Church in Willowdale. “As such, it will provide enormous service to our community.”

The Rev. Samuel Chan, Senior Pastor, Richmond Hill Chinese Community Church echoed the same approvals and noted that “We are pleased that the government is supporting Tyndale in allowing this degree. Tyndale has for years been important to our church community and the B.Ed. program will be of great value to our people.” More than 50 community leaders were on hand to celebrate this announcement.

A snapshot of the "Kingdom on earth" entrusted to us

2007-02-23T11:39:00.000-05:00

Leadership development is a biblical mandate. It is also the best way to express personnel work in The Free Methodist Church in Canada (FMCiC.) To have healthy churches requires healthy pastors, and more of them. Pastoral leaders among others (apostles, prophets, and evangelists, Eph 4 11,) have a clear calling: “Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ,” (Eph 4:12). Are we becoming a movement that is growing in God’s mission to reach all people or just an institution that warmly remembers a glorious past when God was at work. I want to be part of a movement where God is at work. Here’s the snapshot.

MEGaP Interviews. A big thanks to the Ministerial Education Guidance and Placement (MEGaP) committee. These are dedicated and hard working interview teams of 34 pastors and lay people. In 2006, there were 120 people ready for MEGaP interviews. We could only interview 55. This is a problem, but a good one. It means that we have men and women in our churches taking the next step in carrying out their call to ministry. For 2007, almost 70 candidates are ready for interviews and MEGaP has capacity to interview 55 again. These include church planters, inter-cultural pastors, cross-cultural workers (missionaries), transfers in, second career candidates, and those wanting to serve in existing Canadian local churches.

New People Tracking. All followers of Christ have a call. We define “tracking” as candidates in the FMCiC accepting a call to a higher level of accountability and training. We’ve wondered if this is “catch up,” or a regular flow of candidates tracking from 2004 and previous years. We only have accurate statistics of those who starting tracking since 2004. In 2004, there were over 50 who started tracking. This is not catch up because we had 32 new people start tracking in 2005, and 34 started in 2006. Is this going to be a new trend? It’s too early to tell, but we know that there is a regular flow of new people in our tracking each year. We are thankful.

Foundational Courses continue to grow. All candidates need to take the Foundational Course, “Heart of Canadian Free Methodism.” This course helps candidates decide if their hearts beat with the heart of our movement. All Foundational Courses are offered by us on weekends across the country. However, students may take Introduction to Bible and Introduction to Doctrine as equivalency courses at a bible college or seminary.

Wesleyan Theology. Rev. David Ashton will teach Wesleyan Theology on April 27-29, 2007. This may be the last time you can take this great course from David due to his retirement. The BOA, Lorne Park College Foundation and MEGaP have Wesleyan scholarship on the top of their agenda. We will have two Canadian graduate students attend the course as Prof. Ashton’s teaching assistants. We are preparing now for a future crop of teachers to keep a high standard in Wesleyan studies in Canada.

Ethos of Generosity. MEGaP has added a new Foundational Course that is vital to our movement. All new candidates tracking with us as of May 30, 2007 will need complete this course. All pastors will take this course as a Continuing Education Unit within the next 5 years. It will be offering help in personal finances and building generous hearts towards the needs of others.

Members of Conference. Our vision in the FMCiC is “A healthy church within the reach of all Canadians and beyond.” One of the markers is the increase in members of conference. Between 1999 and 2002 we updated the conference records. The accurate membership was 223. In 2006 we have a total of 158 people tracking for ministry of which 70 are ordination candidates. In 2006 we stand at 227 members. In 2008 factoring in probable deaths and transfers out per year, we anticipate that our membership could be at 287 by next General Conference.

National MEGaP and Leadership Development Plan (LDP). This is a “seed” experiment that has been germinating since 2004. There are 12-14 pastoral leaders who have demonstrated local capacity to live out Ephesians 4:12, “Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.” (New Living Translation) In concert with National MEGaP, these LDP churches are being trained to do interviewing locally for their own candidates. MEGaP is guiding the interviewing process. The NMEGaP will always be the main delivery system for credentialing candidates; it is not expected that all local churches will have capacity to take on an LDP function. As MEGaP empowers LDP local churches, it will keep us from expanding the number of people on MEGaP to meet the current demand.

Kingdom on Earth. The Lord’s Prayer says, “Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” That means the renewed earth will resemble heaven and the body of Christ on earth will resemble heaven. Are we becoming a vital movement in the Body of Christ? Yes. Are we there yet? No. Eph 4:13 says it’s God’s purpose to bring unity in the whole body, it will resemble heaven, on earth. The kingdom on earth will have a Body of vital followers of Jesus, caring about those whom Jesus loves, in areas we are called to serve. As we become a movement, it will be because Jesus is fulfilling his promise, “I will build my church.” As a movement we pray earnestly the Lord’s Prayer, “your kingdom come on earth.” That’s a great reason to be a movement. It’s a great purpose for our lives.

Rev. Alan Retzman is Director of Personnel for The Free Methodist Church in Canada

Introducing people to the God of compassion

2007-02-23T11:25:00.000-05:00

Editor’s Note: We all have a role to play in influencing the areas in which we work and live. This article focuses primarily on one way individuals are making a difference in the lives of people facing terrible circumstances. I think there are larger lessons incorporated in these experiences that we can draw on and apply to our own lives in our efforts to engage our communities. Let’s accept the challenge as to how we too can practically bring Christ’s love to others.

He was dying, fearful of what was next, scrambling through his jumbled thoughts to make sense out of his diagnosis, and what his life had been all about. His heart was heavy as he questioned the existence of God and the afterlife, and then troubled at the thought of it all being real. Like many people facing a life-threatening diagnosis he began a spiritual journey that one Sunday morning led him to a small church, one he had often passed by without a second glance. He was desperate to obtain some peace for his troubled soul. Week after week he returned to the same church finding a momentary reprieve in the midst of the music and preaching, from his fears and anxiety.

One Sunday he conjured up enough courage to approach the pastor. Nervously he disclosed his HIV status, knowing from the past the negative repercussions it could have. This time though instead of being questioned about how he contracted HIV, the pastor with a sincere expression thanked him for trusting him with this painful secret and assured him that he was welcome in the church and that he would no longer have to journey alone. The pastor and this small congregation crossed over the barriers of fear, ignorance and prejudice, and instead demonstrated God’s love and compassion to a man dying of AIDS. This one act of compassion seeded the beginnings of the hospice I now direct, (Philip Aziz Centre), which over the past 11 years has served hundreds of people like this man, Philip, helping to make a difficult life journey more manageable and meaningful.

I recall joining the team of Board members and the Director to start the Centre from a small endowment Philip had entrusted to the church, with the request that they would continue to unconditionally reach out and support people living with HIV, like himself. At the time we began, HIV was predominantly affecting the gay community in Toronto and I struggled about how this small Christian organization could reach out to them genuinely and compassionately, and be trusted. We slowly built relationships with other AIDS service agencies and hospices, learning from their experiences as well as informing them of our endeavours. We recruited and trained volunteers and developed our hospice programs. Serving with excellence and compassion was our objective. We set up a spiritual care program to support others like Philip who needed to talk with someone about their spiritual concerns; someone who would listen without judging, preaching or moralizing. Compassion, education, a wash cloth and basin were our ministry tools and means by which we demonstrated God’s love for people. Philip Aziz, before he died, found the peaceful place in his life he had sought and said goodbye to the world with these passing words…. “at last I know I have the love of my creator.” Over the years I have heard those words spoken, cried, prayed and shouted in various ways from countless precious people who have experienced God’s love through the hospice services provided by our volunteers and staff.

“No one should die alone,” were the convicting words spoken by a young man I had the privilege of journeying with near the end of his life. This man was blessed with the support of family, close friends and hospice volunteers, who stayed by him throughout his battle with AIDS. But sadness and frustration invaded his voice one day when he recalled to me the situation his friends back home faced…they too had AIDS but were silenced by the fear of discrimination that only brought with it isolation, judgment and shame. Following his death, I visited this region of the world and was confronted by the painful truth of what this young man in Canada had shared with me. There I met a teenage transsexual living with AIDS who was ostracized by his family, because of sexuality. When I inquired about his support system, who was there for him….he shuffled and stared disconcertedly. His confusion grew when I pressed him further about spiritual care, wondering if he had struggled with the tough questions or thought of seeking out some of his religious leaders for direction. He laughed sarcastically. “I could never talk with them…look at me. I’m a reject (outcast) for them. Trash!” “That’s what they call people like me. I already feel bad enough – why would I go to them to feel worse?” Overwhelmed by his obvious pain, I blurted out: “Trash? No. God does not create trash.” I then began to share with him what I believed about God. “God does not breathe life into trash, but rather into human beings made in His own image, which you are. Life has purpose and meaning. You were created to be loved and to reciprocate that love.” Tears filled the young man’s eyes as he listened to my words about a God who loved him and understood his pain and confusion. His sad expression changed as he suddenly realized what this meant…he was not alone…nor would he die alone and unloved, even though those who had loved him, had walked away.

As I left, I was challenged in my own heart, and wondered what message I send people through my words, deeds, looks or indifference . . . what message does my Christian community send to people who feel ostracized, different, marginalized, or just unfamiliar , uncertain or skeptical about the church? Do I have hidden prejudices that cause me to judge people, instead of freely demonstrating respect and God’s love towards them? Mother Teresa said, “You can’t love those who you’ve already judged..” Judgment builds barriers, love alone will build bridges.

At first glance, she was not unlike any other girl her age; energetic, playing with friends and Barbie’s, laughing and dreaming about all the things she wanted to do when she grew up. If you looked closer however, you would notice a sadness in her eyes that disguised the pain of a secret she guarded with her life. Her mother had warned her that if her friends ever discovered her secret they would never play with her again. This little girl has AIDS. Her father and several other family members back in her home country have died because of it. I remember the day her mother and I sat together and she told her young daughter that the two of them had AIDS. She cried at first and then asked me if we could pray that God would not let them die until there was a cure. She is in high school now, knows her illness does not define who she is or devalue her worth and with this positive attitude she assists us in our hospice by helping other children in her predicament.

Her eyes were welled with tears, and through the sobs she tried to speak clearly though her English was weak…I strained to hear her as her words were directed downward and noticed how she was nervously trying to stop her hands from trembling by clasping them together on her lap. I touched her hands and smiled, assuring her that it was okay to talk and her story would be kept in confidence. She had carried the pain and secrets alone too long. This was the first time she felt she could talk to someone.

She began by expressing her thankfulness to God for allowing her to come to Canada, where she now had the opportunity to start a new life with hope for her children’s future. The journey to get here had been long and torturous, but now was her chance for happiness, security, freedom and health. However, lately her hopeful attitude had been interrupted by horrific images of her past, nightmares to which she could only helplessly respond to with tears. No matter how intentionally she repressed the memories, they erupted without warning and stirred a simmering anger just beneath her skin. Her nurse had called our hospice for support, recognizing that this woman was in spiritual distress and needed to talk.

I sat in a tattered chair across from her in a tiny, sparsely furnished basement apartment which she shared with her two teenage sons. After the small talk she opened up and began to share about her late husband, whom she missed dearly, and the horror she felt when she witnessed his murder. She confessed that only God could have helped her escape from the hands of her husbands murderers who took her as a slave for six months and left her with AIDS. She then stopped mid sentence, as if feeling guilty for the anger she felt towards these people and God, to say again how thankful she was to God for getting her out. After all it was God who gave her strength to endure the slavery, torture, physical and emotional pain. Then she started to cry….and asked sheepishly, “Why?” The fact she had any faith left astounded me. I wonder where I would be at if I had to endure such humiliation, pain and loss. Her faith had been challenged to the core, but she was still hanging on by a thread. Anger, guilt and sadness intermittently overwhelmed her and attacked the faith she had left. She didn’t want to lose her faith; it was the one thing she had left to hang onto from home, besides her children. I listened, careful not to offer a lame pat answer that would only shut her down or belittle her present struggle to make sense out of her past.

She lay in her bed reaching for the tray of McDonald’s food I had just picked up for her. It was her favourite. She lived alone in her apartment. It was a nicely decorated place, pictures of her daughters and her amateur paintings hung prominently on the walls. She had come a long way from the crack house where I first met her. Her daughters rarely visited, except to borrow money. She blamed herself, understanding their anger towards her as she had not been the mother they needed and had surrendered care of them to Children’s Aid when unable to nurture them or herself. She never had a real mother herself. Her only family had become the few volunteers from the hospice who visited weekly and an old friend who seemed to be more concerned with what he could take rather than what he could give her. Tossing back her thinning hair, a smile lit across her sunken cheeks as she boldly and with conviction said, “I know I’m beautiful, because God loves me. I don’t hate so much anymore, but my only regret is that my daughters won’t give me this one more chance to see I’ve changed…I want them to know I love them and pray for them. I guess I’ve conned them too many times that they’re tired of me crying wolf.” She asked me to pray that they would one day forgive her. She showed me a diary filled with letters she had written them, and asked that we make sure they get them at her funeral. It wasn’t always this way…..this young woman who was peacefully waiting for God was once a bitter, angry, violent and vengeful person. She was forced by her mother to go on the streets at 12 years old and there learned all the tricks for survival. She grew up hating and distrusting everyone – even herself. Her mother and the men she met told her she was trash, so she began to believe it and treated others the same. She had beat everything and everyone that got in her way, but against AIDS she was powerless. No amount of manipulation or drugs would make it go away. God softened this woman’s heart through the hospice volunteers who faithfully visited her when she was too ill to leave the house, and this opened the doors to her spiritual journey, which would lead her safely home.

The stories I have shared are some of the very real places in my life I have encountered God… Why? Because He is near the broken hearted, the misunderstood, the forgotten, the poor, the grieving, the lonely, the marginalized, the wounded, the ill, those struggling for answers. When I am near them I feel the closest to Him. AIDS is a devastating illness, a gaping wound across the face of our planet that festers with injustice, poverty, loss, disease, discrimination and gender inequality. It leaves a trail of broken dreams, hearts, lives, families and communities. It tests the church’s stand on compassion…do we do what we preach? In all the years I have been involved in hospice ministry I’ve never seen anyone, guilted, shamed, blamed or hated into the kingdom, but always loved. Love is not just a heartfelt emotion – it is the conviction to get involved. Do you remember the story of the Good Samaritan in the gospel of Luke, where an expert in the law approached Jesus and inquired how he could be assured of eternal life? Jesus replied… “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind and your neighbour as yourself.” The lawyer was not satisfied and questioned Jesus further by asking “who exactly is my neigbour?” Jesus responded with the story of the Good Samaritan. Allow me to paraphrase . . . A man was walking along the road from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of thieves who beat him savagely, stole all his money and clothes and left him helpless to die in a puddle of blood. Two religious leaders simultaneously walked by and saw the man, but ignored his plight. Perhaps their religious reputations were on the line, or they didn’t want to be inconvenienced, or they were just simply indifferent or in a hurry. Then along came a Samaritan who saw this wounded man…he was moved with compassion and stopped to help. Jesus, upon completing the parable turned to the lawyer and asked who was the neigbour? The lawyer confessed it was the Samaritan…the one who showed compassion, who didn’t just express pity, cry a few tears, but rather got involved.

What’s interesting about this parable is we are told nothing about the guy lying half dead in the puddle of blood. We don’t know what beliefs he held…his views on religion, gay marriage, war in Iraq, abortion, euthanasia….etc. All we know is what Jesus makes clear to us…the initiative to reach out is up to us who have the ability to help the person who is hurting. We cannot judge someone and then label them and then determine by our comfort level with that label, how we will treat or ignore them. We are called to love everyone. We all have different gifts, but love is available to all and commanded to be expressed by all who call themselves children of God. Love is the demonstration of God’s kingdom in action through His church…His church in action! People, regardless of who they are or where they have come from, are candidates for God’s mercy and love, just as we were. We don’t know what road has led people to where they are today, only God knows – that’s why judging is up to him. We are not called to separate the wheat from the weeds, that’s God job. But we are called to see the image of God in every human being. No one is beyond His loving reach.

I have seen Jesus many times in the faces of the people I’ve had the privilege of journeying with. Do you want to be closer to God? Get involved where He is already at work. Do you want to find life and life more abundantly? Begin to give love away. All that is not given, in the end is lost. “Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and clothed you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you? The King will reply ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine you did for me.’”

God has so loved us and demonstrated his mercy and forgiveness towards us. How can we not freely share such a wonderful love with others? God is love and that is the mark of those who believe in Him. The world will not know we are Christians by the size of churches, style of worship, theological distinctives, preaching or colourful bulletins . . . they will know we are Christians by our LOVE.

Mother Teresa said: “I am but a small pencil in the hand of a writing God sending a love letter to the world.” What does God want to write through your life? Don’t leave the page blank.
“At last I know I have the love of my creator.”

Rev. Rauni Salminen is the Executive Director of the Philip Aziz Centre.
www.philipazizcentre.ca

Hints for contributing a letter

2007-02-23T11:18:00.000-05:00

Council debates application for gay pride parade…
Statistics show increase in abortions in health region…
More couples choose cohabitation over marriage…

These are examples of headlines that could run in any newspaper across our country.

They are headlines that as Christian, we know address not only media items, but matters of morality — matters of faith.

But could we do more than merely respond to those media items with a shake of the head or perhaps a quick comment to a family member? I’d like to challenge us to do so.

As the editor of a small daily newspaper, I am the one who sorts through the letters to the editor, prepares them for print and sees them placed on the layout.

My community, like every other Canadian city or town, has social issues that we struggle to address.

But I almost never get letters on these issues from Christians. And when I do, they are often combative, long and difficult to mold to the space we have in a newspaper.I would love to see this change — to see our positions being shared as part of the public forum.

Here are some hints for contributing a letter:• Read the newspaper’s guidelines for submissions to the editor and follow them.

• Keep your message simple. It is not likely you will be writing the definitive statement on a heated issue like gay marriage or abortion. But you can make an important contribution with a well crafted, carefully thought out statement.

• Use a kind, respectful tone. It is easy to feel outraged and to write with a quality of anger. But I have found a letter that seems to be lashing out is easily disregarded by opponents and less-convinced observers.

• Don’t assume the newspaper will not welcome your letter because it is from an Evangelical or Christian perspective. I get calls from people who make this assumption on a regular basis. Some of them are downright rude. Most editors want to run strong letters from a variety of viewpoints.

• Pray that God will guide you as you write and give you the strength and courage to speak out in this way.

There are, thankfully, some Christians who step forward to interact with my newspaper. There is one local pastor who regularly writes a column that is accessible, full of down-to-earth examples and has a clear sense of grace. And when a young columnist wrote a column about how life can feel hopeless at times, one wonderful Christian woman sent him an email inviting him to church.
These cases keep me encouraged.

It’s not easy to step forward and open ourselves — and our faith — up to scrutiny and criticism. But I believe we have an important truth to share with others in our communities in our newspapers. Don’t fear picking up a pen or sending off an e-mail.

Heather Persson is the Managing Editor of the Prince Albert Daily Herald in Saskatchewan.

Giving more can cost less than you think

2007-02-23T10:34:00.000-05:00

The following article has been adapted with permission from the February 2006 Canadian National Christian Foundation (CNCF) monthly e-Newsletter.

One of the simplest ways of supporting ministries and charities while we live is to give gifts of cash or investments. Although this may be an easy way to give your tithe or other gifts, there are definitely efficient and effective ways of accomplishing this; some of which may be new to you. Following are some suggestions about which you may wish to speak with your financial advisor.

Giving Cash Gifts
For the purpose of receiving a tax credit, a donor may make a cash gift of up to 75% of the donor’s annual income. The resulting tax credit may reduce federal and provincial tax by as much as $500 for each $1,000 donation. The tax credit may be used against tax payable in the year of the donation, or in any of the following five years. In the year of death and in the year preceding death, the gift may be up to 100% of the donor’s income. An estate may also apply to recover tax paid in the year preceding death.

Giving Non-Cash Gifts
A public foundation can receive non-cash donations, including shares of both private and public corporations. Gifts of publicly traded shares made to a public foundation result in a significantly better tax credit than would the same gift if made to a private foundation. Gifts of shares of private companies made to private foundations are so legally complex that they rarely make sense; however, the same shares can be given to a public foundation with much less complexity.

When non-cash gifts are given to a public foundation, Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) deems that the donor has disposed of the property at the time of the donation. The donor may have a capital gain on the property if its value at the time of donation exceeds its value at the time the donor acquired it. Normally, 50% of the capital gain must be treated as taxable income, even if the donation was given to a private foundation. However, if publicly traded shares are donated to a public foundation then only 25% of the capital gain will be treated as taxable income.

By way of example, assume a donor (with a marginal tax rate of 50%) has publicly-traded shares with a fair market value of $50,000 and an original cost of $10,000. The donor will have a taxable capital gain of $40,000 upon either the donation or sale of the shares. However, the gain subject to tax will be less if the shares are donated to a public foundation than if the shares are sold and the cash proceeds are donated.

In the case of the sale of the shares, 50% of the capital gain will be taxable to the donor ($20,000*). In the case of donation of the shares to a public foundation, 25% of the capital gain is taxable to the donor ($10,000*). Taxation on the sale therefore at his/her 50% marginal tax rate will cost the donor $10,000*. Taxation on the donation of the shares will cost only $5,000, yielding a savings of $5,000*. The $5,000 tax advantage would not arise if the shares were donated directly to a private foundation.

The Canadian National Christian Foundation as well as The Free Methodist Foundation in Canada are both public foundations that can accept gifts of shares and provide donors with the tax savings as outlined above. For more information about the donation of shares or other planned giving options, please contact the Stewardship Ministries and the Free Methodist Foundation at http://www.fmc-canada.org/ or the Canadian National Christian Foundation at www.cncf.ca.

If you are looking for a Christian financial advisor, you can contact the Canadian National Christian Foundation. Through their Advisors with Purpose program they can connect you with an advisor in your area.

*actual amount depends upon tax bracket and province of residence.

Joanne Bell, Stewardship Director for The Free Methodist Church in Canada.

Our Mission equals God's Mission

2007-02-23T10:32:00.000-05:00

Do you know what the stated dream/goal/vision of The Free Methodist Church in Canada is? It’s “To See a Healthy Church within the Reach of All Canadians and Beyond.” We’ve been using that tiny little sentence for many years now. It’s on our website. It’s on some of our stationery and letterhead. It’s referred to in the talks that we in the National Leadership Team give in local churches. I’m even thinking of having Cindy Gibson cross stitch it into a laptop cover for my iBook.

Have you ever stopped to consider the significance of that sentence? In a lot of organizations a mission statement like that is merely the product of reading one too many business books on the power of vision statements. Vision statements can be the result of a General Conference “make-work” project, a marketing campaign, or a bit of branding. Sentences like that are often easily forgotten. But it seems that God has something more important in mind with our little sentence. As a result I think we should have something more important in mind too. Here is what we are noticing, in all the departments at the Ministry Centre, that led us to believe that God has every intention of helping move us toward our goal/dream/vision…

We have an unprecedented number of new pastors on track toward ordination. This has been going on for two years. At this point it’s too early to tell if it’s a just a blip or a trend. Either way MEGaP(the group that oversees our pastors) has never been so busy. This year and next they will be at their limit interviewing and guiding these new pastors. This size of group is all on a scale that we haven’t seen in recent memory or perhaps ever in Canadian history. So, what does God have in mind for this group of men and women? What are they all being trained to do? What new vision and abilities will they be bringing to the table?

We are seeing a developing ability to respond to the diversity of Canada. Thanks to the openness of existing churches and the planting of new kinds of churches, Canadians from all walks of life, from all income levels, and from all parts of the globe are finding a home among us. This is not the result of some well planned strategic movements drafted at the Ministry Centre (although we do work for this kind of stuff). These people, projects, and plants are working from a vision that God gave them — a vision that is in complete harmony with that little sentence. If this trend of openness and effective cultural response continues it will change the face of our denomination. Imagine a General Conference in the future where all the cultures of Canada are represented. When we wrote that sentence this was a dream few dared believe in. If this keeps up, in a few years it could be a reality.

We are seeing deeper, more personal, and lasting connections to projects and people beyond Canada’s borders. Churches have increased their giving of money, time, and energy to overseas projects. What increased role is God preparing us to play in the wider world?

Whether we expected it or believed it ourselves, God is working with us to accomplish what we wrote down in that tiny little sentence. His response to us has been so overwhelming that it begs a new response from us. In response to God we are going to need: bigger dreams (we need to have something inspiring for all those new pastors to do), increased prayer support (join others across the country as the Bishop leads us in fasting and prayer), more courageous giving (last year we had less than half of what was needed by our new churches), and to live fearlessly devoted lives as we participate in God’s mission to Canada. If God was able to accomplish all he has in recent history with a sentence and the openness of our hearts… imagine what he could do with the rest of us!

Jared Siebert is the Director of Growth Ministries for The Free Methodist Church in Canada. For more information on church planting initiatives visitwww.lifecycleproject.org

Tax collectors, outcasts and prostitutes . . . what was Jesus thinking?

2007-02-23T10:26:00.000-05:00

“Later Jesus and his disciples were at home having supper with a collection of disreputable guests. Unlikely as it seems, more than a few of them had become followers. The religion scholars and Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company and lit into his disciples: ‘What kind of example is this, acting cozy with the riffraff?’” Mark 2:15-16, The Message

What a reputation Jesus was earning for Himself! Jesus begins his public ministry and sets his own standard for us to follow – a new hands-on approach. His response to the “social issues” of his day was in direct contrast to the “norm” which the Pharisees had established.

The word reputation is defined as, “the general estimation that the public has for a person.” It is a judgment of how we see people behaving – it reflects outward behaviour. Jesus’ whole message to us primarily involves our inner selves – the lives we live when no one is looking, or in another words, Jesus calls us to a life of integrity. Integrity is described as having moral soundness – it comprises the personal inner sense of “wholeness” deriving from honesty and consistent uprightness of character.

I believe that Jesus did not care about his reputation (which could be described as scandalous) – his concern was for the souls of those around him, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I’m here inviting the sin-sick, not the spiritually-fit.” Mark 2:17, The Message

The second sentence in the opening passage intrigues me, “Unlikely as it seems, more than a few of them had become followers.” I think it is safe to assume that some of these guests had not become followers, but just enjoyed being around Jesus. I don’t believe that Jesus treated them any differently from the others who were gathered. He continued to extend the Kingdom of God by being among them and accepting them without requiring that they clean up their lives first.
Jesus was showing us, through his own example, how to be light in very dark places. That is what this issue of the MOSAIC focuses on – expanding our circles of influence in order to share the love of Christ unconditionally with others.

Lisa Howden, Managing Editor

What if Jesus were mayor and board chair

2007-02-23T10:22:00.000-05:00

“What would Jesus do if he were mayor?” is the central question of a book I am reading by Bob Moffitt, entitled If Jesus Were Mayor. Moffitt also puts the question another way, “What would happen if next Monday morning starting at 9:00 a.m., everyone in our community started to live as God intends?”

“Not gonna happen? No point in talking about such foolishness? What’s the point of asking a question like that?” I agree that at first I found the question a little off-putting, but the longer I think about it, the more it gives me perspective for thinking about some biblical passages that routinely disturb me. More about those later, but first let me tell you a story.

Last month when I was in British Columbia, I met Ben Deyo’s parents, Rob and Debbie; and we talked about the adventure that their family, in fact, their whole church (New Heights Church, a FMC in Mission, B.C.) is on. After a season of wrestling with God, Ben, 19 years of age, had made up his mind and couldn’t be dissuaded. He was to leave his nice life at home, where he had become quite comfortable with his job and his new car, to live among the street people on East Hastings Street, the toughest neighbourhood in Vancouver. He knew that God had called him; he was sure of it!

At first, his parents, Pastor Greg and his friends all questioned his “call.” After all, East Hastings is a very rough neighbourhood. It was especially tough for Rob and Debbie, but as they talked and prayed, God gave them assurance that he was indeed calling their son. The following Sunday, Debbie told the church family that if we preach a radical gospel to our people, we have to expect that God might call one of our own. Then she added, “Maybe someone is praying specifically for someone like our son.”

The next day, Ben left on the train for Vancouver. He took only a sleeping bag and a warm coat (thinking he might be sleeping on the street), a cell phone (for the sake of his parents’ sanity) and the prayers of his family and church. He had a strange assurance that he’d know what to do when he got there and started by looking up the only contact he had – Community Builders, a Christian organization that he had heard helped “street people” find housing – and walked in and told them that God had called him to the area.

Can you imagine the director’s reaction? Galina listened to Ben’s story, but found it difficult to believe what she was hearing. So she asked for Ben’s pastor’s phone number to check him out. As it turned out, Ben’s father and the pastor just happened to be together when she called, so she was able to hear Ben’s story from both of them. She told them that she had been praying for someone like Ben who could help them with janitorial and maintenance responsibilities in the buildings where they house street people, but they did not have adequate resources to hire anyone. Then she said, “When we met Ben, it was as if all our prayers (on that topic) had been answered.” I believe it.

Not all of us will be called as Ben was, but his story and Bob Moffitt’s book challenge us to think seriously about themes in the scriptures that remind us of God’s concern to bring shalom (holy, wholesome, wholeness) to heal the brokenness of individuals, families, and communities.

Now, let’s consider some of those troubling passages – passages that were embraced wholeheartedly and lived out authentically by John Wesley (the founder of Methodism) and Benjamin Roberts (the first Free Methodist bishop). They prayed Jesus’ words, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” and didn’t just leave it there. They read the “salt and light” principles of personal and social holiness in Matthew 5-7; soberly understood Jesus’ warning that “not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven but only he who does the will of my father who is in heaven”; and influenced their movement to be people who were generous in spirit and worked, not only for the conversion of self-centered hearts, but also for the transformation of communities. (Those are two of the passages that disturb me.)

Bob Moffitt asks in his book, “What is God’s role for the church? What contribution is the church to make to the society in which God places it? Is it primarily to bring the lost to Christ? Is it to instruct and encourage believers in spiritual discipleship? Is it to advocate for the vulnerable of society, minister to suffering humanity, or to address the social injustices that God abhors? Or does the church have a broad purpose that begins with spiritual salvation but continues on to transform its culture?”

A few pages later, he gives a summary answer to his question: “God’s strategy is for both proclamation – and demonstration – of the Good News” – an answer that I am pondering in light of The Free Methodist Church in Canada’s vision of healthy churches.

This brings me to a third disturbing passage – Matthew 25:31-46. We all know the passage is there. We know that the sheep are separated from the goats – sheep on the right and goats on the left. We all know that God blesses those who feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, love and accept the stranger, clothe the destitute, and give compassionate attention to the sick and imprisoned. We also note that Jesus, in essence, tells people to “go to hell” who are indifferent to the plight of the poor and oppressed. And one can almost hear the protests of people, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, drive out demons…perform many miracles….” (Matthew 7:21-23). But Jesus calls them “evil doers” and summarily dismisses them!

What intrigues me is that I cannot think of any parallel passage of judgment and condemnation around the issue of gospel proclamation (witnessing, discipling, church planting). No one is told that they are going to hell for not doing it, and this makes this passage on gospel demonstration even more disturbing! When you put it all together, it seems to me that “talk” (proclamation) is cheap if it is not preceded and followed by “compassionate attitudes and actions” (demonstration).

This is not new to us as Methodists. There was no doubt that as an evangelist, John Wesley was “for” saving souls and “for” planting churches, but his mantra was also “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can.”

I think that the Lord has something to say to us as The Free Methodist Church in Canada on the matter of recovering balance in our understanding of the gospel mandate. So, how about if we seriously take on this question as a movement: “What would happen if Jesus were mayor of your community, a member of your congregation, and chair of your official board?” How would he use his influence? Would you still want to be a member of your congregation if he was chair of the board?

Rev. Keith Elford is Bishop of The Free Methodist Church in Canada.

A delay is not a denial

2007-02-05T11:40:00.000-05:00

WHEN GOD? WHEN EXACTLY? WHEN?
If your plans are postponed, or hindered for a time, even if your plans are coming to pass but very slowly, or they get stopped altogether - these can all be classified as delays. Perhaps you have been thinking . . . “I have waited for days; weeks; months and even years . . . it seems as if I have been waiting forever!”

“Where are you Father the maker of heaven and earth? Where are you Abba - while l am searching for you day and night and cannot find you? I am now getting discouraged, disappointed, and growing weary. Where exactly can I find you Jesus so that you can answer my prayers?”

One morning after praying and crying out to God for help, l said these words. “Father, I am weary of living miserably as I have been. I am tired of crying day and night without getting any response from you. My tears have now become my food day and night. I have wrestled constantly with my own thoughts. Help me, oh God!” God spoke to me very clearly that morning, “A delay is not a denial. Things can never happen when you think they should, but in my own time.” I began to feel peace within me. My attitude immediately changed, my way of thinking changed too, and I knew that I had been demanding results from God, instead of asking. I was telling God the time that I wanted things to be done and how they should be done. This was very wrong, but thank God for revealing to me that we should not demand from God - instead we should ask and then wait for his response. We should always wait for his time and not our own.

THE WAITING PERIOD
It is difficult to wait for anything or for something, but if we truly know who we are in Christ and to whom we belong then the struggle becomes easy. Everyone finds themselves in waiting rooms from time to time. It maybe a doctor’s office, dentist’s office, you can wait in a queue in the bank too, or in a grocery store at the cashier’s desk. How about waiting at the airport, at the bus stop, you can even wait at a traffic light or when driving your own car. It is all about waiting, life is about waiting. If we are not patient enough to wait for the issues that we deal with in our every day life, how will it be possible to wait for God? I am not very patient in dealing with the delays in everyday life, and to be very honest, that is why it is difficult for me to wait on God. But God revealed to me that if I can not wait for the things that I see with my own eyes it will be difficult to develop patience when waiting for God’s plan to unfold. I did consider everything to be a delay, whereas now, I know, in Jesus Christ all these circumstances were being used to shape me - even if we don’t get what we want when we want it, if God has promised it - a delay is not a denial.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2,11 teaches us about the different kinds of seasons in a year and that there are also different kinds of seasons in our lives. Jesus Christ died once and for all he will never die again. There are certain things that happen in our lives that will never happen again. Once God opens his door for us then no one can close that door. In other words what we need is a breakthrough to be the people whom God created us to be. Joshua, in the book of 1 Kings 18:43, was promised that it was going to rain, but he was never told when. Joshua waited patiently, because he knew that if God says he can do something he will do it. Our God is a faithful God who will never lie to his children. So during our times of waiting we should always wait with joy, expecting that God will do what he said he will do.

YOUR ENVIROMENT
People around us play a very important role in our lives, especially if things are not going well for us. Being around negative people will make us disappointed, discouraged, and sometimes even cause us to give up on our dreams. Friends, family members, our church family even co-workers can sometimes mislead us - not intentionally, but unknowingly. If God has put a dream inside us we must be very careful to guard it. There is a lot of truth in this, David’s brother tried to mislead him, but he did not listen because he knew whom he was and what God wanted to do with his life. 1 Samuel 17:28 “When Eliab, David’s brother heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked? ‘Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is, you came down only to watch the battle.” People can discourage you. This is a very good lesson for us, there is nothing wrong with people advising us but we should be very careful not to lose our dreams.

NEVER GIVE UP
Our Lord God is the author of everything. He is the beginning and the ending. If he begins something in our lives he will make sure that whatever it is gets finished. Starting something for selfish reasons usually makes people give up before their goals are accomplished. Our true character can only be discovered by not giving up on our dreams. No matter how long it takes to make it, be patient and wait expecting that God will truly do what he said he will do. A delay is not a denial!
Let me encourage you. I have been there, I know what it is like; never ever give up on your dreams no matter how long it takes to get there. God is in control of our lives, so whatever we go through he knows everything about it, he knew us before we were even born. God has great plans for us, wonderful plans for his children to prosper. My dear brothers and sisters whatever delay you are facing in your life, it might be ongoing sickness, you might be searching for a job, you might be looking for a partner, I have good news for you . . . hang in there everything will be alright!
Written by Pasator Sandrah Mashingaidze, Assistant Pastor at Malvern Methodist Church - Toronto, Ontario.

Shattered Dreams

2007-01-02T14:57:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! Buh Humbug!!! That’s how I felt a few months ago. Nearing the last quarter of the year, we tend to take stock of the year and begin to think about the year ahead. Plans need to be made! I didn’t want to think about setting goals and building the strategies that need to follow them. To be quite honest, why? Why bother with goals and strategies when all can be shattered in one fell swoop.

I had a pretty tough ministry year in 2006 and I was feeling as though all was lost. For a forward thinking person, such as myself, this is not a good place to be. Knowing this, I began to pray and ask God to show me something of Himself during this advent season. The birth of Jesus can become somewhat familiar and at times, we can miss the rich mysteries of God.
This article is to be have a flavor of for the New Year, but come with me once more into Christ’s birth, so that, we can look forward in 2007.

There is a Kingdom principle at work……..those who are lost will be found, those who seek will find…...within the shattered dreams and broken pieces of our lives, there lies within God’s purest and most Holy purpose. God beckons our attention to look beyond ruins and lets us in on what He is about to do. He turned my attention and I began to this question, “What are you going to birth within us as your chosen community…….a community of sent people?” It seemed that the birth of Jesus saved me once again.

Christmas is all about Jesus. The cast of characters associated with Jesus’ birth is colorful and memorable. God had a plan and each one had a dramatic purpose.
• the Angels announce the birth of the Savior. They appear to Joseph to announce that the name of the child would be Jesus.
• The mysterious visit of Gabriel to Mary and the unforgettable conversation they had.
• An angelic choir interrupts the shepherds with their song of peace, “Glory to God in the highest…...”
• Mary offers her beautiful hymn, "My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoices in God my Savior. For He is mindful of the humble state of His servant…”
• The wise men are desperately search to find this king and prepared to give treasures and present Him with gifts of worship. "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."
• The shepherds became the first evangelists chosen to announce the baby Jesus birth. "Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child…”

It struck me oddly that Joseph had no speaking part recorded. He is the lone silent member of the cast and often not our great focus. I began to think of how all this must have shattered his life. Think about it, he did have at this point his life planned out. He was in love with Mary. Once pledged, he began to plan his every day around the time when he would be with her. He built his home, his business, and his hopes in this dream.

Then, it what seems like a slow motion movie, all was shattered. All that he built, all he hoped in, and dreamed of, gone in a matter of Mary saying, “be it unto me as you have said.” Life as he knew it changed. Joseph is silenced. No notable lines are attributed to him. No sound bites. No quotes, only silence.

However, it was in Joseph’s silence, I began to see something crucial to about the birth. Here was the answer to my heart’s questioning: It is through Joseph, that God protected the unborn life of Jesus and he was instrumental in preserving the very human life of my Savior, Jesus! I found this incomprehendable, and like any good Free Methodist, my heart was strangely warmed!

Joseph was the man. Could it be, that God protects His unborn purposes and promises of Christ in our lives? In your life and in my life right now, there is something inside waiting to be unleashed. An aspect of unknown will, a promise yet to be fulfilled—a moving of God ready to burst forth. I was getting excited as I read through Jesus’ birth. I was amazed again for the first time.

Amy Carmichael said this about life, “Nothing in life can ultimately harm you, only your response to it.” These are hard and fast truthful words. Joseph could have reacted in many different ways, but he acted in mercy, in faith, and in obedience. Each are equally important to see through the broken and shattered pieces.

Joseph’s Mercy: In the middle of an unwelcome nightmare, he shows mercy and trusts in God completely for the unseen outcome. He didn’t surrender Mary to shame or a public stoning of her death. He puts aside his emotional pain and responds in love to protect what God is about to do. His response is born of solid character.

Joseph’s Faith: The unborn plans of God are also protected by faith. Joseph turned his attention to what he could not see and averted his attention from what he could see. It’s as if he closed his eyes to the seen circumstances he was in. His faith seemed to propel his willingness to believe in God. Hard to do when all seems lost.

The drama continued. God was ready to let Joseph in on the future plans. The God who watches over His plans and purposes for our lives wants us to know who He is and who we are in Him. I went from having my heart strangely warmed to being amazed!

In this New Year, I want to keep focusing on solidifying more deeply who I am in Christ Jesus. In this world of discontinuous change, my identity of who I am and what I am being called to do is essential.

Ephesians 1:18-19 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power…

Do you take enough time understanding who you are in Christ and the hope of your calling? I know, I didn’t! I was too busy making plans and strategies and being disappointed. That’s got to change church! The world will not know that God sent His Son through our silly plans and strategies. No! We can come into the confidence of His working through our shattered circumstances to His perfect purpose! Something must be unleashed—our passionate spirituality as God’s chosen and sent community! Back to our story………

In the same way, God assured Joseph that he did not have to be afraid. Fear is the enemy of faith and steals our hope. Joseph took stock of his dilemma and hoped even when it seemed impossible.

God gave Joseph direction. He took Mary as his wife and he became Father to the child, whom he would give the name – Jesus. He was teachable and open to instruction. “Live close to Me”, says our Father! Live close.

God assured Joseph of His divine involvement. God’s message to Joseph was the confirmation that this was God’s doing. I know, at times, it’s hard to understand that out of the pain of brokenness is birthed God’s plan. It’s in these times we tend to shake our fist, “Where and what are You doing to me God?”

Joseph looked upon the shattered pieces of his life and saw a plan. Yes, different from what he first thought and strove for, but he saw something wonderful, glorious…….he saw a life with Mary and God assured him of new purposes.

Faith is God informing us peacefully through what we cannot imagine or see within our present circumstances.

Joseph’s obedience: Yes, obedience plays into this plan of God’s. Obedience is our response to faith. Now informed, Joseph rises up and he obeys like never before. He burst’s forward into God’s planned future, with reverential fear and unexplainable faith.

When you think about it, obeying at this point is easy. When you solidify in your heart to walk by faith, obeying is easy. When you smash through your barriers of doubt, disappointment, and disillusionment, you begin to walk over the shattered pieces of your circumstance without cutting your feet.

When you are in this place of obedience, nothing can touch you. Herod tried to destroy God’s plan…..tried to kill the Savior. But, he did not accomplish it. When you are in the centre of obedience, God protects. Even though things look bad and it looks devastating, God’s new life springs forth.

The place of the “in-between” is not easy. The place between a decision to obey and seeing fulfillment of what God promises is a hard, and often times, a lonely place. But realize, it’s a place of finding out who God really is and who you really are. Be reminded, God preserves your life in this place—nothing can touch you.

So, about the New Year! I’ve decided not to set big goals and strategies. I am, however, following closely to what God has begun to do in my context. I am going to continue to be faithful to what God has entrusted me with. I am going to keep close and discover that part of the gospel God has asked me to protect and birth. I am anticipating new life, new works of service. It is certainly different than what I envisioned a year ago, but I am endeavoring to look beyond the shattered pieces with hope.

Are you waiting on a particular promise? Are you looking for a soon answer to hopeful prayer? What are you looking forward to this New Year? God has also entrusted you with the gospel—Jesus within bursting forth. We are more than a collection of individuals. We are the body of Christ! His presence is our present for the future……unleash His gift.

By Jennifer Anderson
Lead Pastor at Queensway Free Methodist Church

Will Gillan's Dilemma

2006-12-21T12:56:00.000-05:00

Willard Gillan went to his bench in the corner of the basement. He had gone to the little workshop almost every evening of November. With each passing hour, his satisfaction had been growing.

Willard (or Will as his friends called him) was an artisan of sorts. He worked with paint brushes, wood chisels, sandpaper, and saws. He followed the carpenter's son from Nazareth but lived on a tough side of Chicago.

A picture had been in his mind, and now it stood almost life-size in his little work area. There was Joseph, Mary, the straw-filled manger, four shepherds huddled together, two sheep, and three bowing kings. The only thing lacking was the Christ Child.

Will had decided to go for realism. The baby would look like a normal middle-eastern infant-a baby with dark hair, not blond, and jet-black eyes, not blue. After all, the child had been bom in Israel to Jewish parents.

All month he had thought about where he would place the nativity scene. All along his idea had been to put it outside in the darkness of the street and light it up. A deeper darkness characterized his neighborhood than that which came when the sun went down and the neon beer sign flickered on across the street. It was to that deeper darkness that shadows human hearts that he had wanted to bring light and beauty, yet simplicity.

He had done the same thing last year. It hadn't been as nicely crafted as this group. Will's wife had been ill with cancer (she died in the spring), so he had not had as much time to put into it. This year there had been lots of time.

You may ask why he didn't just put up the old one. Why go to all the bother of making a new and even better holy family? That's what had him in turmoil. Frustrated vandals had come one night last year with fluorescent orange paint cans and sprayed sexual obscenities all over the virgin's face.

A few nights later they twisted Joseph's head off. Will had patched it up, but on Christmas Eve they hacked the shepherds to pieces and stole the little baby. In his place in the manger, they had thrust a plastic toy pig.

The police had come. Neighbors had come around too, the same folks who had "ooed and aahed" when he had first set it up. That night they were nervous and quiet and conveniently blind. No one had heard or seen anything.

Though there wasn't a basin, the constable turned his back on the mess, walked away, and "washed his hands." He knew what he should do but he couldn't. The splintered wood was laid to rest in a dumpster.

Yet light was desperately needed in the darkness of the street. So Will had begun again. Yet he had also been going back and forth in his mind about where he was going to place the manger scene this year so that it would be safe.

Could he somehow protect it behind heavy gauge wire? What about plexi-glass? Was there a place up higher-out of the reach of the darkness - perhaps on the little balcony?

All these thoughts had been rummaging around in his heart. There had to be a safe place. Why should he risk its getting ripped apart again?

This year's work was his finest. He had even momentarily thought of keeping it inside . . . for himself . . . where it was safe.

And then he had read the Book. It said, "Being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a human, [Jesus] humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross!"

Then he knew that he had no choice as to where the manger scene was to be placed.

written in 1993 by Bishop Keith Elford, who was serving as pastor of First Free Methodist Church in Moose Jaw at the time.

All time favourite CD's

2006-11-21T10:10:00.000-05:00

Music is my passion. I enjoy worshiping God with it, but I can't deny its ubiquitous nature in the world around us. It is everywhere, and it moves people emotionally (both in the positive and negative). I think this is why I tend to gravitate toward music that speaks to me about God, but does it in such a way that is highly musical, creative and is generally making some positive and spiritual cultural impact. What is generally thought of as Contemporary Christian (CCM) and especially the popular worship genre is everywhere in the Christian culture, but has left hardly a dent on the rest of the world. Jesus said something about being salt (what's the point if it's tasteless) and light (what's the point if it is hidden under a bushel). Here are a few of my top picks (mostly current) that you may not find at the local Christian bookstore, but move me towards God. Hopefully they will do the same for you and some of your friends. CD's are listed from newest to oldest.

Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings the Flood [2006] Neko's voice compells the listener. Her songwriting stirs the soul. "John Saw that Number" lights up those old time gospel feelings, "A Widow's Toast" tells it like it is, and she calls the listener to "Hold on, Hold on" to what is true. A modern masterpiece.

Calexico / Iron & Wine – "In the Reins" [2005] A southwestern band and a folk artist combine for an incredible well written and performed EP. The title track "He Lays In The Reins" is worth the price of admission, or at least a $.99 download from iTunes.

Nickel Creek – Why Should the Fire Die? [2005] Although most of the songwriting content focuses on love lost, this young bluegrass/pop outfit delivers with passion and fun. "Doubting Thomas" strikes the heart with the challenges of belief and unbelief, while other songs might have you dancing a jig in your kitchen.

Bill Mallonee – Dear Life [2004] The former front man for Vigilantes of Love (VOL) draws an honest picture of life as a struggling Christian with a true heart towards God. The songwriting is great and you may find "Kidz on Drugz (or Life)" to be on repeat for many days.

Johnny Cash – American Recordings (I) - [2002] The first (and I believe the best) of many Cash CD's produced by Rick Rubin. Johnny comes back raw and rasping out old favourites like "Why Me Lord" from an older perspective. "Redemption" tell the story and the "Beast In Me" cuts a clear path of repentance for Johnny and the listener.

Emmylou Harris – Wrecking Ball [1995] "Wrecking Ball" is probably the finest example of what I would call a great album. Produced by Daniel Lanois it also features Neil Young, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, and Larry Mullen, Jr. Musically, it takes high marks and respect from the artistic world. Emmylou's voice trembles with sweet emotion. Spiritually, it takes you closer to Jesus and to the heart of what it means to be human and live in this world. This CD is both light and salt. Featuring songs like "All My Tears", "Every Grain of Sand" and "Orphan Girl." One of the best Christian CD's you will ever find, not found in your local Christian bookstore.

Jason Johnston is a Church Planter in Mississauga, ON <<www.housechurch.ca>>

Churches Partnering in Mission

2006-11-21T09:49:00.000-05:00

“God bless you greatly, it is very pleasing for us to have the power to include you each year and we thank you for your aid.” Those are the words of Pastor Nito Castro Vilarino, a Spanish Free Methodist church planter in Madrid. This summer, for the second year, a Canadian team of young adults worked alongside Nito and his wife Lili in their outreach to marginalized youth in a suburban park.
This partnership began three years ago when a Canadian FM exploratory team met with Nito and Lili to understand their vision for ministry. For the past two years the Free Methodist Church in Westport, Ontario, has sent team leaders Ike and Kathy Doornekamp to continue building the relationship and contribute to their ministry. Chris Crozier, the son of Westport pastor Rusty Crozier, was with the Encounter team in 2005 and is back in Madrid spending 6 months working alongside Nito and Lili.
In the current global situation we need to realize that the centre of the Christian world has moved to the southern hemisphere. Post-modern, post-Christendom, North American Christians are steadily losing any influence we had just because we were “Western Christians.” Latin American, African, Asian Christians are taking the lead in evangelizing their own countries and people groups. What’s different about their approach, however, is that they are asking to work at this task together with North American Christians, rather than independently.
Paul Gupta, president of the Hindustan Bible Institute in India says, “If we are going to develop healthier environments of interdependency we must understand we are all on the same page; we are all dependent, must have a global mindset and must find ways of working together in order to create a synergy that will make a difference. We must develop systems of mutual trust and accountability.”
The underlying missiological principles in the partnership model are 1) that God gives vision, gifts and resources to all parts of his body, whether in Canada or in Cambodia; 2) that the Great Commission – to take the Jesus story to all people groups – is given to all believers, whether in Canada or in Cameroon. Therefore in our present globalized world, the whole family of Jesus-followers needs to be involved, working together, in the mission of the Church. Each part of the family brings vision, gifts and resources to the table.
A developmental partnership in Christian ministry is a cooperative relationship between two autonomous bodies whereby each enables the other to grow in its capacity to initiate and carry out change for the sake of the gospel. Our experience has shown that Canadian churches involved in partnerships gain as much from the partnership as their international partners.
Developmental partnerships have three characteristics: relationship, vision, and results. Relationship is the means by which trust, communication, and collaboration are made possible – “do we know each other well enough to respect and trust each partner’s contribution to the whole?” Vision is a compelling picture of what the partnership can achieve and how it is going to get there – “what can be done together for the Kingdom and how are we going to do it?” Results describes the partnership’s capacity to deliver tangible outcomes – “what are we getting done?”
Partnerships between local congregations and international ministries represent a unique opportunity for church involvement in mission. These partnerships take all the available mission education, intercultural sensitivity, and mobilization resources of a local church and Global Ministries input, and integrates them into a comprehensive expression of the life of a local church in mission.
In the summer of 2006, Ricelawn FMC in Welland, ON sent Senior Pastor Bob Snider, ministerial intern Chris Payk and his wife Terri, as well as board member Germain Coloumbe, to Taipei, Taiwan on an exploratory trip. Ricelawn Church is investigating the possibility of a long-term partnership with a church in Taipei, one of our identified Gateway Cities. Chris and Terri spent 6 weeks working alongside Pastor Daniel Lo in the Mu Cha FMC, while Bob and Germain spent a couple weeks in Taipei and outlying regions. From this initial visit a 3-5 year ministry partnership is developing.
Barrie FMC sent an exploratory team to Accra, Ghana, last summer, and this year John-Mark and Loreli Cockram [ministry leaders at Barrie] have moved to Ghana for a two year assignment in partnership with the national church-planting team there.
Ecclesiax FMC in Ottawa has been sending teams to northern Quebec for a number of years, partnering with aboriginal Christians to encourage wholeness and healing in several First Nations communities.
Trull’s Road FMC in Courtice, ON sent a team to Hyderabad, India this summer as part of the ongoing partnership between them, New Horizons FMC in Sarnia, ON, and the Hyderabad Mission District. This year’s team included retired Tyndale Seminary professor, Roy Matheson who conducted Spiritual Warfare seminars with pastors and lay leaders.
Speaking of Trull’s Road’s partnership in India, Pastor Barry Taylor suggests that “a lot of time can be spent in just getting things done locally towards the great commission. The trouble with that kind of thinking is that it creates too much selfishness, even if it is dealing with kingdom work. Seeing how as a church we can strive to be strategic and intentional about our kingdom work locally and globally keeps us from getting entrenched in our own problems and needs.”
Wesley Chapel, Toronto, ON and Northview FMC, Regina, SK have been partnering in Sri Lanka along with Mississauga Tamil FMC, for several years now. This summer’s team included 3 from Wesley Chapel and 4 from Northview.
Each of these partnerships has developed over a period of several years. Getting their local church vision aligned with ministry possibilities beyond their doors is the first step. But then diving into the risk-taking exploratory visits, developing workable partnerships between people of different cultures, then embarking on long-term investments of people and resources.
Sometimes churches are intimidated by the idea of developing an international partnership. Pastor Barry Taylor feels that “we are by no means perfect in this endeavour. We are striving to improve and be more effective, less self-focused. One of the best ways that we can be effective in battling this pull towards self has been to see where in the world God is at work and join him there. Through the leading of the Holy Spirit and some seasoned workers (like Pastor Doug Griffin of New Horizons, in Sarnia) we began a partnership with the Free Methodist Church in India, specifically the Hyderabad Free Methodist Mission District. Even though it is the furthest away our church has ever partnered, we are finding people’s hearts turning to see what they can do. They are seeing the world from a broader reality.”
“We have done two trips – one in September of 2004 when I travelled to Hyderabad with Doug Griffin (kind of a fact finding trip). This past August we had a team of 6 people go to resource and teach pastors there. We have given funds to support pastors, raised money to help purchase ministry property and helped develop existing property. This involvement, in turn, has helped us to see that God is at work around the world. It has been encouraging to know that our going and offering encouragement has blessed the church there. But perhaps in greater ways we are blessed by them and their incredible faith.”

Rev. Dan Sheffield is the Director Intercultural and Global Ministries for The Free Methodist Church in Canada