Hello Folks,
Over the next 7-8 weeks we will be hearing much about the Presidential election that is going to take place. It seems to me that whatever the outcome Christians have to ask themselves a very simple question and it is whether they have been faithful to God. I realize that in our lives we have a lot of other pressures on us and that our allegiance can be shaped by many other factors. What I would like to do is to bring to our minds that we should be voting Christian values.
I think that most of us have come to the place where politics, and often politicians, have become rather distasteful to us. It appears that many in positions of power are only interested in maintaining their positions thus they support the platform of their party more than they support their promises or their publicly stated values. So what is a Christian to do in cases like that? I think that most of us make the choice of voting for what we call "the lesser of the two evils."
Here is something that you might want to consider as a follower of Christ. What about voting your Christian values as best represented by the politican that is being voted on in this election. Who supports the most things, or the things of "higher value"? Since life is a basic value of Christians which one supports life from the "womb to the tomb?" Which politican supports biblical marriage? Which politican supports freedom of religion and our right to voice Jesus and biblical truth in the public arena?
God has placed us here at this time and place for "such a time as this." I wonder if we will be "weighed in the balances and found wanting?" I guess each one of us will answer to God for our actions, our voices, and our votes.
Have a Great Day,
HGRudd
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Hello Folks,
This past Sunday Phyllis Newby from Haiti preached in our a.m. worship. Whenever she is here I find myself thinking about the great sacrifice she has made to serve the Haitian people and God. I also think about the amazing fruit that has come from that ministry and sacrifice. She has served there now for over 40 years and God has used her for His glory. Two orphanages, one hospital, health clinics, 240 congregations of the Church of God, elementary and secondary schools as well as a school to train people in particular areas of skills and much more could be added. As she preached here she spoke about prayer and being empowered by the Spirit and I for one felt that God had spoken through her. Please pray for her as she returns to her ministry this week and ask God to continue to use this woman for His glory. Also pray that He will awaken us to be people of sacrifice and ministry so His message can be spread to our world.
Yesterday was my 61st birthday and I find myself wondering how much longer do I have in this world. How much more time will I be able to do the ministry that I have given over 32 years of my life to? I guess as a person sees their body deteriorate they begin to realize that their own life is limited and that there is always an end to what we do in this life. Yet I want to be used by God as long as He can use me. So I ask you to pray that I will give myself to Him to bring glory to His name and His church! Pray that I would continue to fight the fight of faith and that I would recognize temptation and flee from it. God is good and he has given me many wonderful things in my life so I ask that my life continue to be used for Him.
Bless you all,
HGRudd
This past Sunday Phyllis Newby from Haiti preached in our a.m. worship. Whenever she is here I find myself thinking about the great sacrifice she has made to serve the Haitian people and God. I also think about the amazing fruit that has come from that ministry and sacrifice. She has served there now for over 40 years and God has used her for His glory. Two orphanages, one hospital, health clinics, 240 congregations of the Church of God, elementary and secondary schools as well as a school to train people in particular areas of skills and much more could be added. As she preached here she spoke about prayer and being empowered by the Spirit and I for one felt that God had spoken through her. Please pray for her as she returns to her ministry this week and ask God to continue to use this woman for His glory. Also pray that He will awaken us to be people of sacrifice and ministry so His message can be spread to our world.
Yesterday was my 61st birthday and I find myself wondering how much longer do I have in this world. How much more time will I be able to do the ministry that I have given over 32 years of my life to? I guess as a person sees their body deteriorate they begin to realize that their own life is limited and that there is always an end to what we do in this life. Yet I want to be used by God as long as He can use me. So I ask you to pray that I will give myself to Him to bring glory to His name and His church! Pray that I would continue to fight the fight of faith and that I would recognize temptation and flee from it. God is good and he has given me many wonderful things in my life so I ask that my life continue to be used for Him.
Bless you all,
HGRudd
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Hello Folks,
This past week the Church of God Reformation Movement in Tennessee met for our annual State Assembly meeting. It was a time when I got to see friends that I had not seen in quite a while and also meet some new people who are doing ministry in Tennessee. David Sebastian, the Dean of the School of Theology at Anderson University was the speaker and he did an excellent job of preaching the Word. My heart was filled joy at hearing God's Word presented in such a fashion and I was challenged by the insight that was provided. I am thankful that God still speaks through His messengers and I pray that all who were there were helped through that time.
We also presented an amended Credentials Manual 2011 for approval by the state ministers. There were a couple things that I noted. First, that the greater majority probably never read the manual so they did not know what they were approving. Second, that those who were there were placing their future in the hands of those who were making the presentation. I think I understand the trust that is given to each other but I wonder if it is wise. It may be that a person can have the best of intent and be absolutely wrong or they may not have considered what could be in the future. I just wonder how many state assemblies have approved the 2011 Credentials Manual without having read it and if they would be happy if they would consider the implications of what it states. Oh, Church of God will look less and less like the body of people who saw the Church as a glorious organism that was brought into being through the blood of Jesus or will we wind up being another organization that is strangled by a structure that began with good intents but ended up as "lords" over the body of Christ?
May the Lord bless you all.
HGRudd
This past week the Church of God Reformation Movement in Tennessee met for our annual State Assembly meeting. It was a time when I got to see friends that I had not seen in quite a while and also meet some new people who are doing ministry in Tennessee. David Sebastian, the Dean of the School of Theology at Anderson University was the speaker and he did an excellent job of preaching the Word. My heart was filled joy at hearing God's Word presented in such a fashion and I was challenged by the insight that was provided. I am thankful that God still speaks through His messengers and I pray that all who were there were helped through that time.
We also presented an amended Credentials Manual 2011 for approval by the state ministers. There were a couple things that I noted. First, that the greater majority probably never read the manual so they did not know what they were approving. Second, that those who were there were placing their future in the hands of those who were making the presentation. I think I understand the trust that is given to each other but I wonder if it is wise. It may be that a person can have the best of intent and be absolutely wrong or they may not have considered what could be in the future. I just wonder how many state assemblies have approved the 2011 Credentials Manual without having read it and if they would be happy if they would consider the implications of what it states. Oh, Church of God will look less and less like the body of people who saw the Church as a glorious organism that was brought into being through the blood of Jesus or will we wind up being another organization that is strangled by a structure that began with good intents but ended up as "lords" over the body of Christ?
May the Lord bless you all.
HGRudd
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Hello Folks,
Two Sunday nights ago I started a series on the Beatitudes and have found them to be very interesting, at least for me. One of the tidbits that I came across was the thought that the term blessed could be translated as "Oh the bliss" so in Matt 5:3 it would read "Oh the bliss of the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." It is seen as a present reality rather than just a future hope. Jesus is actually giving to us the message that we are kings in His kingdom and it is our bliss to currently be participants and recipients of His wonderful grace. Oh the bliss of the person who walks in the kingdom of God.
One of the questions that is circulating among pastors is who will be the new General Director of the Church of God Reformation Movement. There is a committee in place that is working on this providing the right answer to this question. They have interviewed numerous leaders and groups within the church as well as providing a questionaire for anyone to answer that would so desire to do so. While I have no doubt about the good intents and the tremendous efforts that are in place to do this right I am also convinced that unless the church prays we will not see the right results. Man's efforts are expected and needed but only God can place someone in the body where He would have them to be. I ask you to pray concerning this issue.
Recently I received a call from someone about an individual who had used my name as a reference. It was an interesting conversation and during that time I had found that the leadership of the local congregation had given permission to their state ministries to make the final decision of who would be their pastor. I wonder if this is a good precedent to set into place. Is this the method that God would have us use where the governance of the local church body is concerned? I realize that many are calling for the end of the autonomy of the local congregation but I would warn each of us to be gravely concerned about what we allow to take the place of autonomy. I wonder what we will look like in a couple of generations?
Have a great day,
H. G. Rudd
Two Sunday nights ago I started a series on the Beatitudes and have found them to be very interesting, at least for me. One of the tidbits that I came across was the thought that the term blessed could be translated as "Oh the bliss" so in Matt 5:3 it would read "Oh the bliss of the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." It is seen as a present reality rather than just a future hope. Jesus is actually giving to us the message that we are kings in His kingdom and it is our bliss to currently be participants and recipients of His wonderful grace. Oh the bliss of the person who walks in the kingdom of God.
One of the questions that is circulating among pastors is who will be the new General Director of the Church of God Reformation Movement. There is a committee in place that is working on this providing the right answer to this question. They have interviewed numerous leaders and groups within the church as well as providing a questionaire for anyone to answer that would so desire to do so. While I have no doubt about the good intents and the tremendous efforts that are in place to do this right I am also convinced that unless the church prays we will not see the right results. Man's efforts are expected and needed but only God can place someone in the body where He would have them to be. I ask you to pray concerning this issue.
Recently I received a call from someone about an individual who had used my name as a reference. It was an interesting conversation and during that time I had found that the leadership of the local congregation had given permission to their state ministries to make the final decision of who would be their pastor. I wonder if this is a good precedent to set into place. Is this the method that God would have us use where the governance of the local church body is concerned? I realize that many are calling for the end of the autonomy of the local congregation but I would warn each of us to be gravely concerned about what we allow to take the place of autonomy. I wonder what we will look like in a couple of generations?
Have a great day,
H. G. Rudd
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Hello Folks,
School is back in session around here and we are getting ready to move into fall and winter. It seems to me that time has gone quickly and that there are numerous things that we will be doing here in the church. One item that is very important is the vision planning that is in place. When we have our Stewards meeting on Sept 12 we will be considering the items that were presented during our vision meeting in August. We thought it best to be praying about those things before we committed the effort and resources to attempting to bring them about. I ask you to pray with us to make sure that we have heard the voice of God and that we merely attempt to accomplish what He desires. There are some really challenging pieces to what we are considering that will demand not just our efforts but our faith.
One thing that is very pleasing to me is that the leadership of this congregation made a decision to leave a position empty because we did not have an appropriate person for it. We will be presenting that person for ratification come Sept. 12 to the congregation in a short business meeting. It seems to me that this reveals the desire of leadership to only do what God would have us to do in this congregation. It would have been easy to get a name for the position but we were seeking the person that God desired for us. The person's name will be made public come Sept. 12 which is the same manner that we do for our annual business meeting. I am thankful for our leaders here.
My wife and I are considering putting our house up for sale. I am hoping that we can move into a house that is smaller and demands less effort for upkeep. It was our plan to do this when we built the house but the housing market has been a big factor in not doing something sooner. Please pray that we will know if this is the right thing for us to do or not.
Have a great day,
HGRudd
School is back in session around here and we are getting ready to move into fall and winter. It seems to me that time has gone quickly and that there are numerous things that we will be doing here in the church. One item that is very important is the vision planning that is in place. When we have our Stewards meeting on Sept 12 we will be considering the items that were presented during our vision meeting in August. We thought it best to be praying about those things before we committed the effort and resources to attempting to bring them about. I ask you to pray with us to make sure that we have heard the voice of God and that we merely attempt to accomplish what He desires. There are some really challenging pieces to what we are considering that will demand not just our efforts but our faith.
One thing that is very pleasing to me is that the leadership of this congregation made a decision to leave a position empty because we did not have an appropriate person for it. We will be presenting that person for ratification come Sept. 12 to the congregation in a short business meeting. It seems to me that this reveals the desire of leadership to only do what God would have us to do in this congregation. It would have been easy to get a name for the position but we were seeking the person that God desired for us. The person's name will be made public come Sept. 12 which is the same manner that we do for our annual business meeting. I am thankful for our leaders here.
My wife and I are considering putting our house up for sale. I am hoping that we can move into a house that is smaller and demands less effort for upkeep. It was our plan to do this when we built the house but the housing market has been a big factor in not doing something sooner. Please pray that we will know if this is the right thing for us to do or not.
Have a great day,
HGRudd
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Hello Folks,
This past week-end was one of great joy in the life of our congregation. It was Faith Promise Sunday and our speaker was Bill Konstontoupolous (?) or as I have known him for years Bill K. God used him to lead our congregation to a great victory. Over the past year and especially since June Kim Trantham, our Steward of Worship and her team, have done everything possible to inform the congregation about the projects that we are going to invest in throughout the world. From Haiti to Equador to Turkey this congregation will send offerings to help in the ministries that take place in those countries and many other countries as well. The goal was $30,000 and the total promised was $44,000. Praise be to God that, along with out tithe will mean that lives will changed, congregations started, children fed and educated, homes built and numerous others will be introduced to Christ. As the pastor of this congregation I give thanks to God for your faith!
I have been reading a book by Dennis Kinlaw and John N. Oswalt called Lectures In Old Testament Theology that has been extremely rich even though I have only read about 20 pages so far. It is not the normal dry book written by theologians who have little experience out side of academia but it is written by someone who appears to have a sense of the need of people! So in its pages one of the matters that is presented is that of what the term knowing in the bible means. They clearly state that the meaning of the biblical term knowing is not "knowing about" but "knowing of." It is the idea of having relationship with someone and even, as they say, communion. I would encourage anyone to read this book. the first chapter is worth the cost of it and I look forward to the rest of it as well.
May He bless you all.
H. G. Rudd
This past week-end was one of great joy in the life of our congregation. It was Faith Promise Sunday and our speaker was Bill Konstontoupolous (?) or as I have known him for years Bill K. God used him to lead our congregation to a great victory. Over the past year and especially since June Kim Trantham, our Steward of Worship and her team, have done everything possible to inform the congregation about the projects that we are going to invest in throughout the world. From Haiti to Equador to Turkey this congregation will send offerings to help in the ministries that take place in those countries and many other countries as well. The goal was $30,000 and the total promised was $44,000. Praise be to God that, along with out tithe will mean that lives will changed, congregations started, children fed and educated, homes built and numerous others will be introduced to Christ. As the pastor of this congregation I give thanks to God for your faith!
I have been reading a book by Dennis Kinlaw and John N. Oswalt called Lectures In Old Testament Theology that has been extremely rich even though I have only read about 20 pages so far. It is not the normal dry book written by theologians who have little experience out side of academia but it is written by someone who appears to have a sense of the need of people! So in its pages one of the matters that is presented is that of what the term knowing in the bible means. They clearly state that the meaning of the biblical term knowing is not "knowing about" but "knowing of." It is the idea of having relationship with someone and even, as they say, communion. I would encourage anyone to read this book. the first chapter is worth the cost of it and I look forward to the rest of it as well.
May He bless you all.
H. G. Rudd
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Hello Folks,
This past Sunday was a time of God's presence in our worship. In both of our worship services, a.m. and p.m., it seemed to me that our congregation was very open to God speaking to them. I must admit that the preaching seemed to be very easy and that the attentiveness was extremely high. It was as if all of us were waiting on God to speak to us and He did exactly that. I pray that all who were there felt that same sense of His presence.
Tonight is the annual business meeting of our congregation. It is a time when the overall budget is presented and names will be presented for ratification for our Board of Stewards. The current board has been very insistent that we make sure that we have the right people in place and while there are 4 positions open we will only be presenting 3 names until we come up with the right person to fill the fourth position. We all believe that we are far better off waiting on God to give us the right person than just presenting a name so we can fill a position. I believe God will honor that!
This coming Sunday we will have our Faith Promise Campaign. We will see what our congregation will believe God to do among us. This group of people have invested themselves into missions over the years and the impact of their commitment will only be known in eternity. I look forward to what He will do here.
Have a great day,
HGRudd
This past Sunday was a time of God's presence in our worship. In both of our worship services, a.m. and p.m., it seemed to me that our congregation was very open to God speaking to them. I must admit that the preaching seemed to be very easy and that the attentiveness was extremely high. It was as if all of us were waiting on God to speak to us and He did exactly that. I pray that all who were there felt that same sense of His presence.
Tonight is the annual business meeting of our congregation. It is a time when the overall budget is presented and names will be presented for ratification for our Board of Stewards. The current board has been very insistent that we make sure that we have the right people in place and while there are 4 positions open we will only be presenting 3 names until we come up with the right person to fill the fourth position. We all believe that we are far better off waiting on God to give us the right person than just presenting a name so we can fill a position. I believe God will honor that!
This coming Sunday we will have our Faith Promise Campaign. We will see what our congregation will believe God to do among us. This group of people have invested themselves into missions over the years and the impact of their commitment will only be known in eternity. I look forward to what He will do here.
Have a great day,
HGRudd
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