This is a guest article By C Stagner about one of the conferences at the North American Convention of the Church of God, beginning this Friday in Anderson, Indiana.
One World, One Mission: Missions on the Edge
by C. Stagner
What would it look like to be a Church of God congregation fully engaged in missions? How can a Church of God congregation be more fully involved in the global mandate of world evangelism and discipleship? Can Global Missions provide a platform to help you and your church live missions on the edge, entering the flow of what God is doing in the world? Yes, Global Missions can!
Global Missions will host One World, One Mission: Missions on the Edge on Saturday, June 25, in the Newberry Room at Park Place Church of God from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. The $25 registration fee includes registration, a book, all materials, and lunch.
At the conference you will meet missionaries, international guests, missions pastors, and lead pastors with a heart that beats passionately for the world that God loves. Pastors and missions leaders from Church of God congregations will tell stories of how their involvement in Living Link (supporting missionaries), Project Link (supporting projects), and Eye on the World (global ministry trips) has influenced their church and given them a vibrant connection to global evangelism and discipleship.
When you attend this conference you will hear from people like yourself who have a global impact. You will get ideas as to how you and your church can enlarge your mission vision and participation. You will hear about cutting-edge ideas that are changing the way we do missions. You will receive a book and other materials to assist you in your mission involvement. You will enjoy lunch in the company of folks who are passionate about missions that fulfill our calling to global evangelism and discipleship.
Dr. Bob Edwards, director of the Global Ministries Group at Church of God Ministries, will introduce the guests and presenters at the conference and give an introduction to the day’s events. He will also give the latest information on the Global Gathering, a coming together of Church of God people from around the world that will take place in Anderson, Indiana, in June 2013. Guests from three churches will give presentations and share how their involvement in missions and partnership with Global Missions has given their churches energy, vision, and mission opportunities. There will be an opportunity for the audience to interact with the presenters.
Nathan Tatman, of County Line Church of God, in Auburn, Indiana, will present what his church is learning through the cohort his church and several other churches have developed to support and be involved in the ministry of Dave and Kathy Simpson, missionaries to Bulgaria. He will guide the audience to explore the concept and possibilities of cohorts and how they might affect involvement in missions.
You are invited to come, experience, participate, think, and learn in ways that will touch your heart and open doors of opportunity. To register, contact Candy Power at Global Missions: CPower@chog.org or 765 648-2129. You can also register online at www.chog.org; click on Events/North American Convention.
Rick's Note: I will be one of the presenters at this conference! I hope you can come!
I'm Rick Blumenberg,...and That's My View from Tanner Creek.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Yeast in the Bread of Society
My parents grew up as a part of the Church of God reformation movement, also known as the Church of God, Anderson, Indiana, which identifies us according to where our national offices are located, and as opposed to other groups that use the name Church of God, with denominational offices in Ohio or Tennessee and elsewhere. When Mom married Dad, a divorced man, they apparently felt they didn't fit any more and in the early years of my life our family didn’t go to church on a regular basis.
My first church memory and experience came at a Baptist Church in the Southern California town of Ontario. At that time it was a small, sleepy town rather than the bustling metropolis it has become. There, a neighbor took me to church and I was saved as a kindergartner at an altar of prayer. Although it was genuine, and had a permanent effect on my life, when we moved back to Southeast Missouri and the family didn't attend church, I didn't either, except occasionally. Dad started attending the Dogwood Methodist Church, near our Bertrand, Missouri home and my siblings and I attended with him. He even taught a Sunday School class for young boys. He wasn't really a born again Christian yet, but everyone assumed he was, because he was such a good man.
Later, my parents got serious about church attendance when we moved to Pinhook, a rural community near Pulltight, in Mississippi County, Missouri. We then began to attend church regularly at the little Pulltight Church of God where Mom and Dad had attended as young people when their families lived on nearby farms in the community. Before long, my Dad was saved at a revival service when my mom's brother Linvel Arington was the evangelist. My Mom also renewed her relationship with the Lord and they were both baptized in one of the local ditches at an outdoor service.
I gave my heart permanently to the Lord at the age of fifteen in a revival service at Mounds Church of God, where my cousin, Alan Hendrix was pastor. Our Uncle, Linvel Arington, brother to both our mothers, was the evangelist. All these events changed our lives in marvelous ways. I thank God that His Spirit continues to work in our lives even when we think we've turned our backs on him. My parents got away from the church for a while, but they could never get totally away from the influence of godly parents and church family and friends. When the time was right, God's Spirit, in His always perfect timing, drew them back to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his salvation. Their lives were blessed and they blessed the lives of countless others.
You can see from the family involved in our conversions, that our family was a religious one. Preachers are so common that family gatherings are one place where preachers, although respected, are just treated like one of the family—because they are. Our families can be our greatest spiritual heritage. If, as you read this, you are a new Christian who didn’t grow up in a Christian home, don’t despair. Just realize that something special has begun in you that will transform for good the lives of your descendants, neighbors, friends and family. You will be the yeast in the bread of society and because of what God has done in you, the whole loaf of society around you will rise and be better because of what God has done in your life.
If you aren’t yet a Christian, didn’t grow up in a Christian home and feel totally left out of the word picture I have drawn, you need to realize that you too, have a godly heritage. God, our heavenly Father, who is Creator of the heavens and the earth, is also your heavenly Father. He loves you and even though you are now a prodigal, he wants you to come home to him and to the rest of the family. When you accept Christ as Savior and Lord, you also accept his family, which includes people of every nation and tribe, denomination, race, and society. With all its flaws and failures, yes, but also with all its glory and good. And, you can be the beginning of a heritage of godliness that will last for generations to come and be a blessing both here and in eternity.
I'm Rick Blumenberg . . .and that's My View from Tanner Creek.
My first church memory and experience came at a Baptist Church in the Southern California town of Ontario. At that time it was a small, sleepy town rather than the bustling metropolis it has become. There, a neighbor took me to church and I was saved as a kindergartner at an altar of prayer. Although it was genuine, and had a permanent effect on my life, when we moved back to Southeast Missouri and the family didn't attend church, I didn't either, except occasionally. Dad started attending the Dogwood Methodist Church, near our Bertrand, Missouri home and my siblings and I attended with him. He even taught a Sunday School class for young boys. He wasn't really a born again Christian yet, but everyone assumed he was, because he was such a good man.
Later, my parents got serious about church attendance when we moved to Pinhook, a rural community near Pulltight, in Mississippi County, Missouri. We then began to attend church regularly at the little Pulltight Church of God where Mom and Dad had attended as young people when their families lived on nearby farms in the community. Before long, my Dad was saved at a revival service when my mom's brother Linvel Arington was the evangelist. My Mom also renewed her relationship with the Lord and they were both baptized in one of the local ditches at an outdoor service.
I gave my heart permanently to the Lord at the age of fifteen in a revival service at Mounds Church of God, where my cousin, Alan Hendrix was pastor. Our Uncle, Linvel Arington, brother to both our mothers, was the evangelist. All these events changed our lives in marvelous ways. I thank God that His Spirit continues to work in our lives even when we think we've turned our backs on him. My parents got away from the church for a while, but they could never get totally away from the influence of godly parents and church family and friends. When the time was right, God's Spirit, in His always perfect timing, drew them back to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his salvation. Their lives were blessed and they blessed the lives of countless others.
You can see from the family involved in our conversions, that our family was a religious one. Preachers are so common that family gatherings are one place where preachers, although respected, are just treated like one of the family—because they are. Our families can be our greatest spiritual heritage. If, as you read this, you are a new Christian who didn’t grow up in a Christian home, don’t despair. Just realize that something special has begun in you that will transform for good the lives of your descendants, neighbors, friends and family. You will be the yeast in the bread of society and because of what God has done in you, the whole loaf of society around you will rise and be better because of what God has done in your life.
If you aren’t yet a Christian, didn’t grow up in a Christian home and feel totally left out of the word picture I have drawn, you need to realize that you too, have a godly heritage. God, our heavenly Father, who is Creator of the heavens and the earth, is also your heavenly Father. He loves you and even though you are now a prodigal, he wants you to come home to him and to the rest of the family. When you accept Christ as Savior and Lord, you also accept his family, which includes people of every nation and tribe, denomination, race, and society. With all its flaws and failures, yes, but also with all its glory and good. And, you can be the beginning of a heritage of godliness that will last for generations to come and be a blessing both here and in eternity.
I'm Rick Blumenberg . . .and that's My View from Tanner Creek.
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