general director designate announced€¦ · recall renowned christian illusionist jared hall from...

1 April 2013CHOGnews

April 2013

In this issueGeneral Director Designate

Announced, 1

Extreme Love, an Extreme Success, 1

Gearing Up for the Global Gathering, 2

We Don’t Need a Building, 3

The More We Get Together: Gospel Music Unity Services Spread, 4

Rev. Don Mink on Family Ties, Testament, and Turtles, 5

New Book Examines Women in Ministry, 6

CCCU Honors Warner Pacific with Andringa Award for Advancing Racial Harmony, 7

AU Senior Rawlin Kegley Receives Christian Education Scholarship, 8

For Leaven’s Sake, 11

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The Ministries Council of the Church of God is proud to present Rev. Jim Lyon to the General Assembly as the

general director designate and as candidate for ratification. Throughout his ministry, Rev. Lyon has demonstrated his love for God’s church. He is a faithful servant who has always been willing to employ unconven-tional means in order to reach those who are powerless and voiceless in a hurting world. He is a man with vision and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.

Rev. Lyon is not a stranger to the Church of God. As spokesperson for Christians Broad-casting Hope (CBH), a speaker at the North American Convention, and an ambassador for Christ in his travels around the world, he has touched the lives of many. He pastored Fair-view Church of God in Seattle, Washington, for more than twelve years and has served as senior pastor at Madison Park Church of God for the past twenty-two years. Rev. Lyon and his wife Maureen have been married for thirty-five years and have dedicated their lives to compassionate ministry to others.

We have provided materials detailing Rev. Lyon’s background and experience as a testament to his preparedness for the assign-ment of general director (see www.chog.org/gdd). We are also providing an e-mail address through which you can pose questions to Rev. Lyon. Please forward your questions to [email protected] on or before April 26, 2013. We will be compil-ing your questions and Rev. Lyon’s responses to share with the General Assembly the week of May 6, 2013.

General Director Designate Announced

Jim Lyon

Hundreds of churches embarked on a journey of “Extreme Love” during the forty days leading up to Easter.

The goal was to focus on God’s extreme love through prayer and fasting in order that it might be shared between believers and dem-onstrated with those who have yet to know

the extreme love of God. As in years past, miracles have been reported.

One pastor shared a story about a mar-ried couple that had been separated since December. The husband had actually left his wedding ring at the altar one Sunday, but the

Extreme Love, an Extreme SuccessBy Melissa Pratt

continued on page 10


Gearing Up for the Global GatheringBy Carl Stagner

It will be the first world conference of the Church of God held in the United States since 1980. This kind

of opportunity just doesn’t come around very often. As preparations are finalized for the Global Gathering, the Church of God is gearing up for a family reunion of brothers and sisters in Christ from sev-enty countries in which the Church of God has a presence. Will you be there?

Distance and the price of gas aren’t keeping people from making plans to attend the Global Gathering. For David Shrout, the expense of cross-country travel to the Global Gathering is mini-mal compared to the blessing he expects to receive. He’ll be there, and he encourages fellow believers from Oregon to be there. “It’s about the opportunity to develop relationships with people you may never again see again this side of heaven. I remember when it was the one hundredth anniversary of Global Missions. It was one of the most powerful experiences I’ve had at NAC. I believe the Global Gathering will be a taste of heaven.”

Pastor James Malbone won’t let the distance between Arizona and Indiana get in the way of his family’s attendance at the Global Gathering. He’ll be there, and he’s bringing several members of Valley Community Church of God with him. “It’s important for us to real-ize that the church is bigger than just our congregation, that we all are a part of the same family and need to be sup-portive of each other. Most of us look at the Church of God as being an American church. I really think that the fact that we get to see and meet people from all over the world is exciting.”

Che-Che Mobley plans to make the

trek from Florida to Indiana for the Global Gathering because it’s just not good enough to watch the services online. According to Mobley, you have to be there in person to fully experience it. “Online I’m sure is good, but there’s just no way you can possibly have that same feeling of connectivity and fellow-ship sitting in your office. At home, I’m only an observer, but when I’m actu-ally there, I can participate. Online, you can’t ask questions. You can’t feel the person’s spirit. You can’t react with others to what’s going on. Where two or three gathered, there’s nothing like

being there live.” Mob-ley also believes that we must not deprive others of the contribution we bring by being physically present. “It’s not always about what we get for us, but what we can give to others by being there.” Che-Che Mobley will be there.

Will you, too? Will you be there to experi-ence worship in a variety

of languages and cultural styles? To hear impassioned preaching represent-ing leaders from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and the Middle East, North and South America, and the Caribbean? At the Global Gathering, you’ll participate in discussion on topics that apply to Christians everywhere, such as evange-lism and discipleship. Together we won’t just talk about the needs of the world; we’ll do something about it. Attendees of all ages will be encouraged to help reach a goal of packing 250,000 meals to combat global hunger. We’ll also learn how we can provide clean water for those who don’t have it. Children won’t be left out; there’s another action-packed, missions-focused Kid’s Place on the schedule. Ask your teenagers if they

recall renowned Christian illusionist Jared Hall from IYC 2012; he’ll be back for the Global Gathering!

International delegates and guests from far beyond Arizona, Florida, and Oregon have made this summer’s fam-ily reunion a priority. It’s not too late for you to make arrangements to attend the Global Gathering, June 22–25, in Anderson. Visit www.chog.org/global gathering to learn more and to register, or call 800-848-2464, ext. 2130.


We Don’t Need a BuildingBy Carl Stagner

His office is a coffee shop. His conference room, a soccer field. Their fellowship hall is

a neighbor’s kitchen. And their sanc-tuary—currently—a nearby resource center for homeless teens. Ministry leader Matt Klovdahl and the Transfor-mation Communities—Yakima are by no means your traditional pastor and church. And they have no intention of ever becoming that.

“Traditionally, churches have been about gathering; that is, getting together for worship, preaching, learning, etc.,” Klovdahl notes on the church’s website. “Much of the focus is internal, and on keeping the institution functioning. Fol-lowing the model of the church in the first century, Transforming Communi-ties exists not for ourselves, but for the world around us. We are sent by God to make a difference!”

The need for a new approach to ministry is observed in the culture this church seeks to transform. Klovdahl explains that many people in the North-

west are living in a post-Christian world where the church is generally viewed as irrelevant, sometimes hypocritical and abusive, and out of touch with modern society. So on the first Saturday of each month, Transformation Communi-ties meets for a night of fellowship—a social connection designed to attract nonbelievers. On the second Sunday, the group comes together for breakfast and a contemporary worship service to celebrate what God has done through their ministry. On the third Saturday of each month, they work together on a community service project. Then on the final Saturday of the month, Trans-formation Communities focuses on discipleship.

The church teaches the importance of wholehearted devotion to Christ, and they keep each other accountable. “We ask people to bless at least three people each week, and one has to be a nonbe-liever,” Klovdahl says. “The blessing can be a meal, a helping hand, and so on.” Individuals are also expected to consis-

tently read Scripture and follow along with a Bible reading plan to encourage spiritual growth.

At this point, the church has no inten-tions of acquiring a building. They don’t even plan to remain as a single group with aspirations to grow in one location. That’s why they’re called Transforma-tion Communities. Though they just have one group now, the long term goal is to establish multiple missional communi-ties throughout the Yakima Valley, and all will unite together on the second Sunday of each month for worship and celebration.

Matt Klovdahl and his family came from a growing contemporary church in Lacey, Washington. As a former youth pastor, things are much different in this new approach to ministry. “We left family, friends, a church we were a part of for nine years. But the biggest thing we wrestled with is deprogramming ourselves from the pace of activity that happens in traditional church activities.

Transformation Communities on a day of community service (Matt Klov-dahl pictured far right).

Transformation Communities member serving at Rod’s House, the local homeless shelter for teens.

continued on page 9


The More We Get Together: Gospel Music Unity Services SpreadBy Carl Stagner

Unity services are not altogether a relic of the past. In recent years, more churches are dis-

covering they can do more together than apart. Some are coming together for fellowship and worship; others are realizing the greater impact of joint service projects in their communities. Ultimately, what brings them together isn’t the point; the fact that they are getting together reflects a foundational oneness of the body of Christ that can’t be divided by distance, cultural chasm, or generational gap. The love of the Lord and good old gospel music are bringing congregations from several Midwest states together for times of spiritual refreshment and revival.

As a Church of God pastor who has served in positions at the local, state, and national level, Mitchell Burch has made an impact on a wide spectrum of ministry. Though his primary ministry role is currently senior pastor of the Towne Boulevard Church of God in Middletown, Ohio, pastoral ministry is not the only thing he enjoys doing. From an early age, this inf luential leader born to Church of God pas-tors in the hills of West Virginia had a hankering for southern gospel music. Over the years, he has sung baritone and lead for a variety of groups. A few years ago, he had the vision to host several Church of God gospel artists at Towne Boulevard for a weekend of

Gaither Homecoming-style concerts.Burch’s original intention was to plan

such a gala each Memorial Day week-end for his home church. But after the first event, he says, “The overwhelm-ing momentum of the first Southern Gospel Gathering was contagious and people who attended the first event went home and started talking about it. We started getting calls from pastors and local church people asking me to con-sider bringing the SGG family to their region.”

The enthusiasm for the Southern Gospel Gathering—featuring Burch’s group the Townesmen and Shelly, as well as the Little Paint Quartet, Even-tide, Common Bond Quartet, and the Profitts—continues to grow as more and more churches catch wind of the opportunity. Churches come from miles around to unite in worship for a weekend of concerts and hymn sing-ing. Saxophonist Scott Snyder, dubbed the Kenny G of the Church of God, has added further appeal to the seasoned lineup of artists.

The first Southern Gospel Gather-ing attracted thirty-five congregations from seven different denominations. Everywhere the SGG hosts a gospel

music weekend, the response is equally impressive. These congregations want to worship and fellowship together, and each time they do, they spend time with the family of God that is so much larger than their local church. “We are finding that Southern Gospel Gather-ing events are likely the largest regional unity gatherings currently taking place in the Church of God,” Burch explains. “A uniqueness is that all the groups are servants in local congregations of the Church of God. It is different in that the artists are not full-time, on-the-road groups, and the cost of bringing an SGG does not demand a stadium or huge arena, but are for the most part done in larger local churches and regions where the Church of God is strong.”

The next Southern Gospel Gathering will be held in Middletown, Ohio, at the Towne Boulevard Church of God, May 25–26, 2013. Another SGG is scheduled at First Church of God in Morehead, Kentucky, September 20–21, 2013. Unity services like these continue to be added to the calendar. For more information about Southern Gospel Gatherings, visit www.townesmenandshelly.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 513-422-1021.

SGG special guest Jim Hill, writer of “What a Day That Will Be.”

Mitchell Burch hosts a Southern Gospel Gathering.


Rev. Don Mink on Family Ties, Testament, and TurtlesBy Denice PhillipsTimes-Herald Writer

Reverend Don Mink came to Alli-ance [Nebraska], he said, “On the last day of 1970,” and has

become a familiar and welcoming pres-ence here over the last forty-two years.

Born in Missouri, Mink attended school in Texas and, along with his wife Patricia and their family, has spent most of his life devoted to the Indian Mission Church of God, working to make a difference in the lives of others in the community through his ministry and practice of Christian faith and teachings.

With soft-spoken and gentle nature, Mink states simply, “I am a minister. My primary job is to share the love of Jesus, the message of Jesus,” and he enjoys many meaningful friendships with the people he ministers to.

“We’ve made a thoughtful com-mitment to the very poor in the community.”

Mink retired about five years ago, though he assists his daughter Linda Abold as co-pastor, and continues to remain very active in the daily tasks of the church.

“I’m still happy to be here and doing what I’m doing.”

He and Patricia have been married for fifty-eight years, bringing up two daughters, an adopted daughter and adopted son who is of Native American heritage.

“The Lord has been good to us—we had love to share, resources to share,” he said of their choice to adopt children, expressing his feeling that in nurturing a blended family of their own, it has created a common bond with the mem-bers of the church, many of whom, he explained, also have interracial relationships.

“We’ve had a good life—we really are part of the family.”

Mink is recognized for his tireless efforts to offer rides to families in need of transportation as necessary for business meetings, errands, doctor appointments, or funerals, for example.

“I usually leave the house about 5:45 each morning, giving rides to workers and school children,” he said, describing his daily routine.

“We take about thirty kids to school every day.”

“We found out that if the children have a ride they are more likely to go to school than if they don’t have a ride.”

“It’s really important they stay in school,” he said.

“I try to rest for an hour in the afternoon, then I go until about nine o’clock,”—even making trips to the emergency room in the middle of the night if need be. At the age of seventy-seven, he has hardly slowed down since his retirement.

“The needs are so great,” said Mink, explaining that this past year has been especially difficult for many families in his care.

“They just can’t make ends meet to afford a car.”

“Over the years we’ve seen that bodies go back to the reservation [for burials], and we try to make a trip there twice a month — a lot of our families have relatives there.”

“Back in the ’80s we were on the reservation for three-and-a half years,” which helped Mink and his family begin and maintain the special connection with the people living at Pine Ridge.

“The children,” he said, “call me grandpa, and call my wife grandma.”

Offerings from parishioners, friends, and local churches assist with fuel expenses. “Recycling aluminum cans is one of our sources of revenue.”

“We are a ministry of faith,” said Mink, noting that whatever is needed, is provided in due course.

“I really do enjoy my work. That’s a pretty good thing when you can like what you do.”

Mink offers an analogy about being recognized for his contribution to the community:

“When you see a turtle on top of a fence post, you know he didn’t get there by himself—someone had to help him get up there.”

“I’ve had a lot of help along the way.”

Article used by permission of the Alliance Times-Herald. Originally published on Feb-ruary 11, 2013.

Rev. Don Mink. Photo courtesy Denice Phillips.

CHOG Fast Fact

Barney Warren’s “A Child of God” was penned in 1907. Today, it’s one of the

most popular heritage songs. “A Child of God Around

the World” will be presented during Sunday evening’s worship service at the Global Gathering.

www.chog.org/globalgathering


New Book Examines Women in Ministry

June 22–25, 2013Anderson, Indianachog.org/globalgathering

StandingTogether!Being the Body of Christ inA Changing World

GLOBALGATHERING2013

Warner Press, Inc., has pub-lished a second edition of the book Called to Minister,

Empowered to Serve, which examines the role of women ministers in the Church of God. First compiled for the 1989 National Consultation on Women in Ministry and Mission, the book has been thoroughly updated with current statis-tics and chapters by several of today’s leading ministers.

“There has long been a precedent for clergywomen in the Church of God,” general editor MaryAnn Hawkins writes. “It is a vital part of our DNA as a reformation movement. This affirma-tion of gift-based leadership, rather than gender-based leadership, is rooted deeply in our heritage and our theology.”

However, some Church of God congregations now exclude women

“Every serious disciple of Christ should read The Life-Changing Power of God’s Word. It will refresh, illuminate, encourage, and challenge any believer to dig deeper into the Word of God.” Dr. Stan Toler Best-Selling Author

“If you are serious about seeing your life changed by the Word of God, I encourage you to read this book.” Pastor H. Gerald Rudd Greeneville, TN

Toll-Free in USA: 800-741-7721Online: www.warnerpress.org

A “Must Read”

from pastoral leadership. A study conducted by Dr. Hawkins in 2000–2003 revealed that many women who had applied for pastoral openings were not considered, simply because they were women. “Even more alarming,” she writes, “several local Church of God congrega-tions have, since 2005, moved to change their bylaws to for-bid women from serving on pastoral staff or as congrega-tional elders” (p. 159).

Called to Minister, Empow-ered to Serve includes chapters by Cheryl Sanders, Kimberly Majeski, Arnetta McNeese Bailey, Kathi Sellers, and other leading women ministers of the Church of God. They reflect on the history of women evan-gelists and pastors in the movement, explore scriptures concerning women in church leadership, and consider how

women ministers are vital to the future direction of the movement.

The book may be ordered online at http://alturl.com/yfmx2 or by calling Warner Press at 800-741-7721.

7 April 2013CHOGnews continued on page 9

CCCU Honors Warner Pacific with Andringa Award for Advancing Racial Harmony

Warner Paci f ic Col lege received the 2013 Rob-ert and Susan Andringa

Award for Advancing Racial Harmony at the thirty-seventh Annual Presidents Conference for the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) held January 30–February 1, in Washington, DC.

Warner Pacific College was cho-sen for the award in recognition of its programs in the area of racial and ethnic diversity, including the innova-tive Urban Service Track of the Act Six Leadership and Scholarship Initiative, which welcomes cadres of students from diverse backgrounds to the Warner Pacific community, providing academic support and full-need scholarships to the next generation of urban leaders.

The college was also commended for embracing an urban and diverse identity through a newly retooled mission state-ment. Over the last ten years, Warner Pacific College has seen the number of students of color grow from 13 percent to 28 percent, well above the CCCU standard. The Warner Pacific Human Resources Department is also dedicated

to recruiting and hiring faculty and staff members who fully embrace the mis-sion of the college and reflect the rich diversity of the student body. This com-mitment to diverse hiring practices was evidenced over the past year, as 43 per-cent of new hires were persons of color.

Warner Pacific recognizes that a commitment to diversity cannot stop at enrollment. That is why the college works with each student to ensure that their needs are being met financially, academically, socially, and spiritually. To support this work, Warner Pacific

College is implementing a multifaceted plan that addresses poverty and prepares students to be servant leaders in the city of Portland and beyond through:

• Increasing access to urban liberal arts education for students who never before could hope to attain an educa-tion from a Christ-centered, private institution.

• Reducing barriers to higher educa-tion opportunities by, among other things, controlling tuition so that it remains 35 percent lower than our peer group institutions.

• Identifying emerging urban scholar-leaders annually and providing ten full-tuition, full-need, four-year schol-arships to these students through the Act Six Leadership and Scholarship Initiative.

• Improving persistence and achieve-ment by provid ing academic, spiritual, vocational support, and mentoring so that students not only enroll but succeed in graduating.

• Developing skills and capacity for meaningful service as students are immersed in citywide internships, community service, and other urban engagement opportunities.

Dr. Andrea Cook receives the Andringa Award.


Rawlin Kegley, a senior at Anderson University major-ing in youth ministries, from

Brookville, Ohio, was recently selected as the 2013 recipient of the Billie Roy and Pearl Toon Smith Endowed Chris-tian Education Scholarship Award. The $5,300 scholarship was presented to Kegley on April 8 by the Department of

Religious Studies dur-ing a luncheon in the Olt Student Center.

The purpose of the scholarship is to sup-port, enhance, and promote the academ-ic study of Christian education and assist Christian education student scholars in their academic work as they prepare for careers and lives of service in the acad-emy, the church, and the world.

“Rawlin has taken seriously the chal-lenges of his academic work,” said Dr. Alan Overstreet, associate professor of Christian education and minis-try and chair of the Department of Reli-gious Studies. “He has worked to understand

the ministry context in which he has served while also addressing its needs in light of his experience, his course work, and the practices of ministry in which he has been engaged.”

Kegley was a member of the Ander-son University baseball team and participated in intramural sports and Bible studies on campus. He volunteered at Eastside Church of God and served

as a hall chaplain during his junior year. He also participat-ed in Operation Foundation, a student-led organization that serves the Anderson com-munity. He plans to pursue seminary after graduation while pursuing a youth min-istry position in the Church of God.

“I am completely humbled to have been selected as the recipient of this scholarship,” said Kegley. “I consider it a high honor and I am extreme-ly grateful to the families involved in helping make it possible for me to pursue further education. The gen-erosity of those involved has gone a long way in helping not only me, but others in the past, and I am excited to be a part of such a prestigious group. I hope that I can be a faithful steward of their gift and in turn make a faithful impact and be a blessing in the lives of others.”

Originally from Alabama, Billie Roy Smith felt a call to ministry in 1946 and moved with Pearl and their young daughter to Anderson, Indiana, where he enrolled at Anderson College. Pearl supported the family by working second shift at Guide Lamp. The family attended Park Place Church of God, where Pearl was touched by the teaching of Carl Kardatzke in their Sunday school class. Kardatzke’s classes created a desire in Pearl to study Chris-tian education, and she decided to take several classes sponsored by the Church of God. Over the years, Pearl taught Sunday school and served on the state board of Christian education for the Alabama Women of the Church of God.

In 1996 Billie Roy Smith, B. Th. ’49, honored the life and memory of his wife of f ifty-four years, Pearl Toon Smith, by endowing a Christian edu-cation lectureship. From 1997 to 2007, renowned Christian education scholars and practitioners presented lectures and discussions in their areas of expertise to university students, faculty, pastors, church leaders, and others interested in the field of Christian education. In 2007, the Smith and Stephens family convert-ed the lecture series into an endowed scholarship honoring the stewardship and the dedicated and faithful Christian

AU Senior Rawlin Kegley Receives Christian Education Scholarship

continued on page 10

ATTENTION PA

STORS!

Please forward this e-newsletter as an encouragem

ent to your church.

Rawlin Kegley (center) is pictured with his parents (on left), Rev. Timothy Kegley ’80, MRE ’85, and Ronda Kegley ’80, Christie Smith Stephens BA ’65, and Dr. Stanley Stephens BA ’65, professor emeritus of mathematics.

From left: Dr. Alan Overstreet, associate professor of Chris-tian education/ministry; Rawlin Kegley; Dr. Merle Strege, professor of historical theology; and Sheila MacMurray, office manager in the Department of Religious Studies.


Andringa Awardcontinued from page 7

• Enhancing faculty member skills and awareness in addressing the learning needs of low-income, first-generation students.

• Providing teaching strategies to address the needs of students com-ing from generational, working class, situational, and immigrant poverty.

“At Warner Pacific College, we are committed to ensuring that students from diverse backgrounds have the tools and opportunities they need to achieve their goals of higher education,” said Dr. Andrea P. Cook, president of Warner Pacific College. “As followers of Christ, we engage and embrace the city, with its wounds and extraordinary potential. Warner Pacific is a commu-nity that practices an ethic of inclusivity and diversity while addressing issues of regional injustice and educational chal-lenges. We desire to serve as a force for positive change.”

The Robert and Susan Andringa Award for Advancing Racial Harmony celebrates the achievements of CCCU campuses in making progress in the areas of diversity, racial harmony, and reconciliation. It was first awarded in 2000 as the Racial Harmony Award and

was renamed at the 2006 International Forum in honor of Dr. Andringa, who retired that year. The award is consistent with the aims of the CCCU’s Com-mission for Advancing Intercultural Competencies, which focuses on issues that include racial/ethnic diversity.

The Council for Christian Colleges and Universities is a higher education association of 185 intentionally Christ-centered institutions around the world. The 116 member campuses in North America are all fully accredited, com-prehensive colleges and universities with curricula rooted in the arts and sci-ences. In addition, 69 affiliate campuses from twenty-five countries are part of the CCCU. The Council’s mission is to advance the cause of Christ-centered higher education and to help its insti-tutions transform lives by faithfully relating scholarship and service to bibli-cal truth.

Founded in 1937 in Spokane, Wash-ington, as Pacific Bible College, Warner Pacific is a Christ-centered, urban, lib-eral arts college dedicated to providing students from diverse backgrounds an education that prepares them to engage actively in a constantly changing world. Learn more at www.warnerpacific.edu.

The pace of life here in this model of ministry is a lot slower because it’s so focused on relational development. We don’t have a large church where people will stop in and visit because they see our building. It’s an adjustment, but there’s a healthy rhythm of life now between rest and work, and a real opportunity to focus on connection.”

Every day in the traditional church model brought ritual and comfortable expectation of what would come down the pike. At the helm of Transforma-tion Communities, there is no sense of structure. “Here, every day I wake up and ask, ‘What am I going to do today? Who will I connect with? What will I say to them?’ It’s exciting trying to com-municate that concept to the people in our communities. Do you live with that kind of intentionality each day? Are you expecting each day to connect with people? Or do we walk through life on autopilot?”

For the Church of God in Yakima, a restart was just what the doctor ordered. “Starting fresh gives us freedom to really examine and look at everything we do. What are things that get in the way? What’s hard for a lot of people is that possibly even your Sunday morning worship service is getting in the way of people coming to Christ. But in every cultural context, it’s going to be differ-ent. Our focus is like that of author Mike Breen (Building a Discipling Culture), who writes that when building a church, you won’t always make disciples; but when building disciples, you’ll always have the church.

The theme for this year’s Faith Promise is “The Church Has Left the Building.” We encourage churches to reach beyond the four walls of their building to make an impact for Christ in their communities. Discover ways to exercise this kind of extreme love in your community by visiting www.chog.org/extreme-love.

Buildingcontinued from page 3


Extreme Lovecontinued from page 1

pastor had kept it safe. During the sec-ond week of Focus 40, they walked into the church together during the week. The pastor retrieved the ring, and the couple renewed their vows

Another pastor shared a story that had been a year in the making. During Focus 40 2012, their church had focused on praying for the lost. Someone in their church carried the name of a young, single mom in her pocket for the entire forty days, but that single mom made no move toward God. However, the person who had her name maintained a commitment to pray for her throughout the year. As Easter 2013 rolled around, the young mother was in attendance over the Easter weekend. When the invitation was given, the single mom ran down the aisle to receive Christ as Savior!

In another church, eight people were baptized on Easter. One of those persons was a sixty-seven-year-old man who had

never previously made a commitment to Christ. The pastor reported how the Extreme Love campaign, along with a prayer and fasting effort, transformed their church members into “marketplace messengers” for the gospel. It was the intentional way the church members

were living out the message of love in their daily lives that caused the sixty-seven-year-old man to go to the pastor’s office and start asking spiritual ques-tions that led to his salvation.

In one church, more than one hun-dred people participated in small groups via the Extreme Love Bible study book, which was a new feature for this year’s Focus 40. Group members were chal-

lenged to develop an Extreme Love project that would enable them to show extreme love to a person or group of people in their community. Projects ranged from visiting shut-ins and provid-ing quarters to people in Laundromats, to providing Easter dinner and a new Easter outfit for a restaurant server.

There is power in agreement (Matt 18:19). What could be more transform-ing in our communities than agreeing to know and share the love of God with those who need to experience it? Let’s not stop leading with love, but let us carry the emphasis of Focus 40 2013 into each coming day in an effort to truly be the body of Christ on a mission of love.

Learn more about the church-wide opportu-nity to exercise extreme love, Global Service Day (October 5, 2013) at www.chog.org/globalserviceday.

lives and ministries of both Billie Roy and Pearl Toon Smith.

Past recipients of the scholarship award include Xen Riggs, Hannah Adams Ingram, Suzanne (Drayer) Kel-lam, Keith Sayer, and Daniel Kelsey.

“The generous vision of the Smith and Stephens families has contributed significantly to Christian education for several years,” said Overstreet. “The lecture series was of great benefit to all who shared in it, and the scholarship award provides ongoing support to stu-dents in their academic and ministry careers. The Department of Religious Studies appreciates deeply this support and the fruit that it bears.”

Anderson University is a private Christian university of about 2,600 undergraduate and graduate students in central Indiana. Anderson University

Christian Education Scholarshipcontinued from page 8

continues to be recognized as one of America’s top colleges by U.S. News and World Report, The Princeton Review, and Forbes. Established in 1917 by the Church

of God, Anderson University offers more than sixty-five undergraduate majors and graduate programs in business, music, nursing, and theology.


Situational ChameleonsBy Sam Collins

According to the birth records of Jefferson County, Kentucky, my mother was blessed with

but one child. There were times, how-ever, when the poor woman must have felt that she was parenting a litter of caffeine-fueled octuplets.

It was not that I was such a bad kid; I just had a smidgen of mischief oozing out of my pours. For one thing, unlike my adult self, I liked to talk a little bit—which is like saying that, in the course of a year, a drop or two of water dribbles over Niagara Falls.

So you can imagine my parents’ reaction when they met with my grade school teacher and she observed that I was the quietest, most docile child she had encountered in over thirty years of teaching. They were as shocked as the Hitlers might have been had they been informed that little Adolf just loved to share his blocks with the other children down at the Greater European Day Care Center.

My parents should not have been all that surprised to find that the same child who rattled like a machine gun could also be as silent as the Sphinx after a rad-ical laryngectomy. For while there are definite patterns to individual human personalities, most of us alter our behav-ior—even if ever so slightly—depending on the circumstances in which we find ourselves.

Most people are, to some extent, situ-ational chameleons. Take Simon Peter as a case in point. When the solders came

to arrest Jesus, Peter was full of sword-swinging swagger. Later that evening, when it became clear that Jesus was in danger of summary execution, Peter’s bravado suddenly declared bankruptcy; he denied even knowing the man from Nazareth.

Personality fluctuations are not nec-essarily sinister symptoms of duplicity or a character disorder. It is only natural that we feel confident, chatty, and brave on some occasions and insecure, reti-cent, and as chicken as a Rhode Island Red on others. The problem comes when, in a calculated way, we “dress up” in differing, deceptive personas the way a Paris jewel thief might don a variety of disguises to elude the Inspector General.

It behooves the Christian to be self-aware enough to recognize the diverse cast of characters that make up his or her personality. Perhaps a lack of internal awareness was part of Peter’s problem early on. For when we truly know all the selves that populate our psyche, we can more readily ask God to help us become increasingly steady, consistent, integrated, and guileless in the ways we act and react to life.

The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of Church of God Ministries or, at points, even the writer, but are written with tongue firmly planted in cheek to hope-fully provoke a leavening bit of laughter and a smidgen of thought.

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©2013 Kevin Spear www.kevinspear.com [email protected]

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