It is universally agreed that the office of Apostle belongs first on the list of functions in the life of the True Church. It will not be twisted into a shape like so many people want it, just to serve their own personal case. Read more…

“[Jesus] called the twelve apostles, sent them out two by two, and gave them authority over evil spirits. He instructed them to take nothing along on the trip except a walking stick. They were not to take any food, a traveling bag, or money in their pockets. They could wear sandals but could not take along a change of clothes” (Mark 6:7-9 God’s Word©). Read more…

Okay, somehow it has been neither easy nor hard for me to seek justice for God’s children. It just is the way God leads. But that is not enough, if you can imagine. Read more…

Has your congregation ever searched for a pastor?

In many denominations the search includes building a profile or description of the congregation, the community it serves and writing a job description. These things can take as long as months before being approved.

Then the position is advertised. Applications are assessed. Interviews follow. The pastor may be invited to “preach for the call” or committee members may travel to where the pastor now serves to critique worship and report back to home base. Read more…

For five years I served as the Conference Parliamentarian. That meant I was the expert in church law, and if any question or challenge arose it was my function to immediately give the President reference to the relevant section of church law in order to make a ruling. So I am intimately acquainted with the hundreds of pages of laws and by-laws and regulations and protocols and practices and policies of The United Church of Canada. Serving as an Anglican priest I became familiar with canon law. Serving in a Presbyterian congregation I learned the Book of Forms (for all the good it did me).

But none of these even reflect, much less constitute, the divine expectation for the Body of Christ. Read more…

The early followers of Jesus referred to their cause as The Way which we know from a legal argument Paul made in court: “These people cannot even prove their accusations to you. But I’ll admit to you that I’m a follower of the way {of Christ}, which they call a sect” (Acts 24:13-14 God’s Word). The Jewish leadership called it the “Nazarene sect”, certainly a pejorative term containing both ethnic and religious bigotry.

Today we use the term “Christianity” to refer to people who belong to that religion which has roots in Jesus Christ. Read more…