Link: http://gso.iphc.org/bishop.html

General Board of Administration Adopts
Resolution Regarding Same-Sex Marriage

The General Board of Administration (GBA) of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, convening November 3-5, 2008, in Greensboro, North Carolina, went on record opposing same-sex marriage. In response to the prevailing social climate in the United States and around the world, the Board unanimously adopted the following statement

After prayerful search of the Bible and the International Pentecostal Holiness Church Manual (2005-2009), it is the decision of this Board and is hereby resolved that, as a matter of ecclesiastical rule and polity, ministers, licensed and ordained by the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, shall not preside at or perform any marriage ceremony of persons of the same sex (meaning a marriage ceremony that has the intent and purpose of uniting a man to another man or a woman to another woman) or any ceremony related thereto. Furthermore, no same-sex marriage ceremony, or any ceremony related thereto, shall be allowed to take place on any property owned, held in trust, leased, or otherwise possessed by the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, its Conferences, or local churches.

Presiding Bishop James D. Leggett assured the Board that the statement had been drafted in consultation with legal counsel.  A PDF version of the resolution may be downloaded here.

Ten years ago, Bobby Goodman wanted nothing to do with church.  But that changed when he heard about Christian Heritage Church's annual Biker Sunday event. Today, Bobby is a leader in his church and helps coordinate several events including Biker Sunday.  

During the event, he shared his testimony with me.  Watch below as he shares how God used Biker Sunday to transform his life. 

Christian Heritage Church is pastored by Rev. Gary Burd, who also directs Mission M25, an IPHC outreach to non-traditional people groups in the U.S.

This is Part 4 in a series on the Pew Forum U.S. Religious Landscape Survey released earlier this year. 
Read [ Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 ].

The label Christian was first used in Antioch, where Saul (later Paul) and Barnabas were laboring, with the result that large numbers were won over to the Lord (Acts 11.22-25).  It is interesting to note that the name was coined by non-believing opponents of the believers and was probably a term of derision.  The name christian comes from the Greek Christianoi, i.e., “Christ followers,” or “those of the household of Christ”.

Apparently, the early church preferred not to use the new name, as evidenced by the writers of the New Testament epistles.  The word christianoi is used in only three places in the New Testament:  in Acts 11.16 where the name is first given to believers; in Acts 26.28 by Agrippa when he said to Paul,  “With a little more of your persuasion you will make a Christian of me.”; and finally by Peter in 1Peter 4.16 where he wrote, “However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.” supporting the idea that the name was probably intended to insult.  The predominant term the writers of New Testament books preferred was the Way.

History has shown that to go by the name “Christian” in the first century meant putting your very life on the line.  At a time when Ceasar was deified, being a Christian meant that Jesus was your God, not Ceasar.  By making that statement, tens of thousands of Christians lost their lives to wild beasts as a form of entertainment for unbelievers, while others were tied to stakes, doused with flammable pitch and set on fire to provide lighting for the evening’s festivities!

During medieval Europe, being Christian meant that you went to war against other Christians. “An important turning point came after the Reformation. The split in the medieval church had fractured the religious unity of Christendom, yet both sides continued to hold a territorial view of the church. They simply assumed that everyone living within a certain nation or geographical region should belong to the same religion. As a result, for more than a hundred years, beginning in the late sixteenth century and continuing throughout most of the seventeenth century, Europe found itself embroiled in religious wars.”*

Christians were willing to shed blood over religious differences.  Even in modern times, you don’t have to look very hard for religious conflicts involving Catholics and Protestants.

The name Christian today means whatever the user wants it to mean.  Mostly, it means that a person is not Buddhist or Muslim.  It seems to be a generic term that means a person belongs to a broad cultural group that could include most of western civilization.  Often, you will see the name used with one or more modifiers, like “evangelical Christian,” or “orthodox Christian.”

When you see a survey report that says that XX% of the population is Christian,  the first thing to ask yourself is:  “What, exactly, does that mean?”  In a recent Gallup Poll taken earlier this year, Gallup concluded that 92% of Americans identify themselves with a Christian religion.  In a similar study done by the Baylor Institute on Religion, American Piety in the 21st Century, they found that 81.8% can be classified as having a Christian affiliation.  

Pew Forum’s study U.S. Religious Landscape, released earlier this year, showed that only 78.4% of Americans identify themselves as belonging to a Christian church.  Any of these survey results indicate an overwhelming majority of people call themselves Christian.  And yet there is little agreement in public discussions about critical social issues on which the Scriptures speak clearly like abortion, divorce, sexuality, gay marriage, etc.

Like most unaffiliated non-believers in our secular culture, it appears that many Christians have been duped into building their own personal world-view, regardless of what their church teaches as doctrine or what the authors of the New Testament may have written.  Take a little Pentecostal theology; a little charismatic prosperity doctrine; a tad of the eastern meditation (nothing like an empty head to get one really focused); some scientology self-help; a little bit of mother gaia from feminist mythology; some pop psychology for self-esteem; a dab of tree spirits from the new age; and, last, but not least, some holy war insights from the Koran.  Voilla! A personal world-view unlike any other’s.

According to the Pew Forum reports, American Christians (those who attend traditional mainstream Christian denominations) overwhelmingly (72%) agree that there are many different paths to eternal life.  Only 21% agree that Christianity is the only way to eternal life.  National averages are 70% and 24%, respectively.  Evangelicals show slightly better figures, but still have 57% of its members who believe there are many routes to eternal life; only one-third (36%) believe that faith in Jesus is the only way.   Jesus did say, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except by me.” ^   I don’t think political correctness allows us to alter the Father’s intentions. (See table below)

On the issue of abortion, similar results can be seen with one-third (33%) of evangelicals agreeing that abortions should be legal in “All” or “Most” situations.  The average for American Christians as a whole is 57% in favor of abortion in all or most cases.  The national average is 51% in favor.  While the majority of evangelicals still oppose abortion (61%), a minority of American Christians oppose it (39%); the national average opposed to abortion is only 43%. (See table below)

When the Church began nearly 2000 years ago, the opponents of the Way named the Christ-followers Christians; today, in our society, people give themselves the name Christian with little thought to its original meaning.  If opponents of the faith were to give us a new name today, I wonder what it would be?  Whatever it might be, I think it would once again be a name of derision.

(*)Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity by Nancy Pearcey. (Crossway, 2004).
(^)John 14.6.

The Pew Forum survey may be reviewed in its entirety online.

Evangelism Leaders Discuss Reaching Changing Cultures


Minneapolis, Minn., Oct. 10 -- More than 120 ministry leaders who gathered in Minneapolis this week heard a challenge to rethink evangelism strategy to reach younger generations.

Miles McPherson, pastor of the The Rock Church in San Diego, Calif., addressed the Mission America Coalition (MAC) gathering of evangelism leaders from around the country on Wednesday.

"If you want to get people to be fired up about evangelism and if you want to reach young people," McPherson said, "we have to think of the starting point of evangelism….Instead of telling your story, listen to the cries of a broken world."

Recent statistics show that 88 percent of churched young adults leave the church after leaving home (Lifeway) and 61 percent of people in their 20s who were once churched are now disengaged (Barna). McPherson's church is an anomaly, thriving with 11,000 young worshippers in their teens, 20s, and 30s.

McPherson referenced Exodus 3:7 by noting that God always sent His deliverers at the response of someone crying out. He encouraged the MAC gathering to listen to the cries of the younger generation.

"Respond to someone's pain," he told the pastors, ministry leaders, and cityreachers attending. "Don't assume you know their pain. Go listen. If we go to church and don't deal with that, God says, 'What good are you?'"

"Kids want to know how to stand up for righteousness," he assured. "They want to be challenged and do stuff that we won't do anymore. They have no fear....These kids are ready, they are willing. God made them to serve Him."


Kids Who Keep Their Faith
Other speakers to the conference brought a message that resonated with McPherson's.

Kara Powell, executive director of the Center for Youth and Family Ministry at
Fuller Theological Seminary, shared Fuller Youth Institute research with the Mission America group. She identified commonalties among college students who do keep their faith. One common ground was their understanding of God.

"They know that God is close and caring," she said. She also reported that kids who kept their faith had experienced the opportunity to ask questions.

"Students who have a long-term faith…felt the freedom and had the opportunity to explore doubt. It gives them the roots and the wings that they need for all of the turbulence that awaits them in college," she said.

Also, the more students were involved in intergenerational worship before graduation, the better they held to their faith in college, according to Powell. Worship with adults of all ages offers opportunities for young people to experience the support and encouragement of many in the church, not just other youth or a youth leader, she said.

Powell also brought up the issue that young people who go off to college do not know how to find a church. Jeff Schadt, founder of the Youth Transition Network, added that 93 percent of students leaving a high school youth ministry do not know the name of any college Christian ministry.

"We send our fruit off into enemy territory alone, with no connection to the Body of Christ—and then we are shocked at the outcome," Schadt said.

Reaching Millennials
In a panel discussion with a spectrum of youth leaders from across the country, panelists discussed how greatly technology defines kids' lives.

"They don't respond to email. They text, they twitter, and they talk on their phones," said Chuck Klein, director of Venture Media for Campus Crusade for Christ. "They are not techies, they are just technology users."

Klein said that young people are driven by extreme relational needs. "Inclusion is primary; who you know gives you esteem. Tolerance is needed to maintain relationships." As a result, he said, the demographic called millennials (born between 1982 and 2000) are the most tolerant generation that America has ever had.

"They are not just relativistic, they are extreme amorality; there is no truth or right from wrong that is better than another," he said. He also said they have a great potential to reach others for Christ.

"They are all are aspiring actors and actresses; they are bold," Klein said. "They have the capacity to take the gospel to the end of the earth. They are sometimes called the 'broken generation'… and God uses the broken."

In response to a question about how to connect with the millennial generation, panelists agreed: Start texting with your cell phone and participate in their technology.

"They don't expect us to live there," said Mark Fey, director of Christian Worldview and The Truth Project for Focus on the Family, "but they expect us to show up there."

Panelists also suggested that churches build outreach plans that depend on student leaders.

"Let youth own the ministry. Let them make major decisions. [You] just supervise it," said Chue Tou D. Vue, youth pastor of the St. Paul, Minn., Hmong Alliance Church and liaison for youth for the Hmong District of the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination.

"Involve them in our services and don't be so worried about quality control," agreed Paul Fleischmann, president of the National Network of Youth Ministries. "Take them camping and get them up in front of people [to tell about it]. Don't worry about what they say."

Ron Luce, founder of Teen Mania ministries, one of the world's largest Christian youth organizations, offered a hopeful challenge. He pointed out that most people come to Christ before the age of 20, and only half of millennials are over 20.

"Make it hard for them to go to Hell," he encouraged those gathered. "We don't have to be cool, we can be the strategists. When we dream for them they will come. If MTV and BET are the only ones who dream for them, that's where they'll go."

"Whoever owns their heart has the most authority in their lives," he said, urging parents to "build a culture in your home stronger than the culture destroying your kids."

State of the Church
The conference closed with Dave Olson, founder of the American Church Research Project, discussing his current research. Olson reported that only the largest churches (more than 2,000 in attendance) and smallest churches (up to 49 in attendance) are growing. The vast majority of churches are shrinking according to his research, which is based on church statistics, not surveys of churchgoers.

"The smallest churches have intimacy—if you don't show up, someone calls you," he explained. "Large churches have money and resources and people to do really good ministry. Middle churches are too big to be intimate and too small to have money and resources."

Olson identified the significant need for church planting. "Just as young people inject incredible energy into the human race, new churches inject incredible energy into the American church."

"More well-conceived, new churches have to be the number one mission focus for every denomination and missional church," he said. "We have to think of new ways to plant churches."

He said the contemporary church is off-pitch in its culture. "We are discordant to our culture," he said. "We say the gospel and do things in our churches and we are close [to the mark] but not quite because we don't really love this culture that we live in."

"A missionary needs to love its culture," he said.

He depicted a long bridge with three pillars holding it up. The pillars represented doctrine, morality, and social ethics; the roadway was the message and mission of Jesus.

"We've made the mistake of mixing up the pillars with the road," he illustrated. "Nobody becomes a Christian because of doctrine. People become Christians because they become captivated by Christ. In our interaction with the world, focus on the mission and message of Jesus," he encouraged.

Dave Olson's research and presentation on the state of the church is available at www.theamericanchurch.org.

Dr. Paul Cedar, chairman of the Mission America Coalition, was encouraged by this week's meeting. "This was one of the most effective meetings for the Mission America Coalition in our history. Our major focus was on how we can reach out to the younger generations of our society with the love and grace of Jesus Christ with the prayer-care-share lifestyle. The response of leaders representing denominational, city, marketplace, and other Christian ministries was outstanding."

The Mission America Coalition is a network of national church leaders, representing denominations, ministries, and other key Christian leaders with a shared vision to collaborate in prayer, evangelism, and revival. Since its inception, leaders from 81 denominations, more than 400 ministries, and dozens of ministry networks have been involved in the Coalition. Mrs. Vonette Bright (Campus Crusade for Christ), Dr. Billy Graham (Billy Graham Evangelistic Association), and Dr. John Perkins (Christian Community Development Association) serve as honorary co-chairs. The Mission America Coalition is the U.S. Lausanne Committee on World Evangelization.

--
By Susan Brill
Director of Communications
Mission America Coalition

IPHC Ministries is a partner church in the Mission America Coalition.

As people walk into the church, an usher greets them at the door and hands out bulletins.  Families say hello and catch up on the week's events while children play around them.  As people make their way to their seats, the worship team begins to play. 

Sounds normal, right?  Just like your church?  Well, imagine this: 90% of the congregation - including the pastor - is decked out head-to-toe in biker gear.  

Welcome to the ninth annual Biker Sunday at Christian Heritage Church.

The event is held in conjunction with a Toys For Tots drive with local Marines.  The weekend begins with a Saturday swap meet, where vendors sell their goods in the church parking lot and youth hall.  The church also sells raffle tickets for a Big Dog bike, and all the proceeds go to Free Camp.  

On Sunday, the church is packed with worshipers wearing their "biker clothes."  Pastor Gary Burd wears jeans and a leather shirt; his brother Keith, who organizes the event, is wearing leather chaps and a leather vest that says "Hard Core Ministries" on the back. Hard Core is the church's biker ministry.  Many other Christian "patches" are in the congregation today, including a Hispanic ministry called "Los Perdonados" - The Forgiven. But as the worship service begins, it is obvious that today is a day to celebrate as one Body of Christ. 

The service concludes with a special event.  Over 20 bikes are parked in the sanctuary.  The congregation takes communion together; then, the riders rev their engines and ride their bikes out of the church to kick off the annual biker parade and Toys For Tots drive.  They drive to a local bar, where other bikers are waiting to join them.  For the next hour, the church talkes to men and women from all backgrounds.  Some are in gangs; some ride for fun.  They all have toys strapped to their bikes.  

At 1:00, the parade kicks off.  Over 720 motorcycles ride an 8-mile route through town.  When they arrive at the church grounds, a crowd of people line the street, waving American flags and cheering them on.  Then they line up to deliver their gifts to the Toys For Tots truck.  

Then comes the fun.  The church property transforms into a bike-themed carnival.  There are bike competitions: the potato race, a slow race, the burnout competition, and drag racing.  There are stunt riders who perform daredevil tricks for the crowd.  The local radio station, whose D.J. attends the church, comes out to promote the event.  There is even a concert by a local rock/blues band.  The church motorcycle ministry also performs "biker blessings," where they pray for God's guidance and protection over a rider and his/her bike.  

At the end of the day, the crowd gathers for the final event.  Pastor Gary introduces Ox, his longtime friend and evangelist to the biker community.   Ox shares the Gospel with the crowd.  Then they sing "Amazing Grace" together.  As they sing, "Thu' many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come; 'tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home" many in the crowd close their eyes or raise their hands in worship.  

Afte the devotion, the church hands out awards for the bike games, then has one final event - the bike giveaway.  The winner receives a free Harley-Davidson motorcycle.  

The entire event, including the Harley-Davidson giveaway, is free to the public.  It's quite an investment for the church, but check out the return: 

• 720 bikes in the parade
• 3,000 event attendees
• 20 biker blessings 
• Over $29,000 in Toys for Tots gifts
• $9,300 raised for Free Camp

But here is the best return of all: a woman who had been involved in the Wiccan relgion (witchcraft) gave her heart to the Lord that day.  

Biker Sunday reminds us all that the church is not made up of a sanctuary and a fellowship hall.  The church is the Body of Christ. It's time for us to go outside the walls of our building and reach out to our community.  

Let's do as Jesus did - as Pastor Gary and Christian Heritage Church did - and go into all the world.  

Click here to see more event pictures.