Come Ye Aparty

The basic meaning of holiness is "separateness". When people in the holiness tradition want to make a moral argument against something they say, "we are called to be separate". This has led to the exclusiveness of the christian bubble, our irrelevance to people and our ineffectiveness in healing the world.

I do believe that God's Spirit indwelling a person will dramatically change one's behavior because of their heart being purified. Yet the end goal is not to never drink, smoke or play the lottery.

Holiness is separateness FOR something. We are sanctified for sacred USE.

Jesus, without sin, partied with sinners and was accused of being a drunk and glutton. He was divinely used to teach others to live, laugh and learn about God's promised abundant life.

So, will you Come Ye Apart or Come Ye Aparty???

What is the Church???

The Church of the Nazarene updated the language on the mission of the church. Here is article XI.

We believe in the Church, the community that confesses Jesus Christ as Lord, the covenant people of God made new in Christ, the Body of Christ called together by the Holy Spirit through the Word.
God calls the Church to express its life in the unity and fellowship of the Spirit; in worship through the preaching of the Word, observance of the sacraments, and ministry in His name; by obedience to Christ and mutual accountability.
The mission of the Church in the world is to continue the redemptive work of Christ in the power of the Spirit by making disciples through evangelism, education, showing compassion, working for justice, and bearing witness to the kingdom of God. (new language in bold)
The Church is a historical reality, which organizes itself in culturally conditioned forms; exists both as local congregations and as a universal body; sets apart persons called of God for specific ministries. God calls the Church to live under His rule in anticipation of the consummation at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(Exodus 19:3; Jeremiah 31:33; Matthew 8:11; 10:7; 16:13-19, 24; 18:15-20; 28:19-20; John 17:14-26; 20:21-23; Acts 1:7-8; 2:32-47; 6:1-2; 13:1; 14:23; Romans 2:28-29; 4:16; 10:9-15; 11:13-32; 12:1-8; 15:1-3; 1 Corinthians 3:5-9; 7:17; 11:1, 17-33; 12:3, 12-31; 14:26-40; 2 Corinthians 5:11-6:1; Galatians 5:6, 13-14; 6:1-5, 15; Ephesians 4:1-17; 5:25-27; Philippians 2:1-16; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12; 1 Timothy 4:13; Hebrews 10:19-25; 1 Peter 1:1-2, 13; 2:4-12, 21; 4:1-2, 10-11; 1 John 4:17; Jude 24; Revelation 5:9-10)

My thoughts...

Church is a…
1. Confession – Jesus is Messiah
Matthew 16:13-19
2. Covenant – Mutual love
Matthew 18:15-20
3. Calling – Mission to be/make disciples
Matthew 28:19-20
4. Context – Meaning of the message to the surroundings
Matthew 2:1-12

Pope Bowling Rescinds - New Pope Toler

Following the opening devotional and prayer time before the Thursday session, General Superintendent Jesse C. Middendorf introduced Bowling, who was elected to the Board of General Superintendents on Tuesday. Bowling addressed the Assembly, stating he had awakened at 3:00 A.M. and felt "checked" by God. He said he was conflicted about his decision to accept the superintendent assignment. He considered how Eugenio Duarte and David W. Graves had been elected to this Board, accepting their elections with an obvious peace. He, however, did not feel that peace. With emotion, he indicated he felt he should rescind his election to the Board of General Superintendents."Out of love and respect, I apologize to you all," Bowling said while asking for forgiveness. Bowling becomes the first individual in Nazarene history to decline the superintendency twice (2005, 2009).

Stan Toler was elected Southwest Oklahoma District Superintendent on June 4, an election which was to be effective approximately 30 days from that time.He has been serving as pastor of Oklahoma City Trinity since May of 1997. He also served as pastor for Nashville (Tennessee) First, and Oklahoma City First.He is a graduate of Circleville Bible College (Bachelor of Theology), Southern Nazarene University (Bachelor of Arts), Florida Beacon Bible College (Master of Theology, Doctor of Divinity), and Marantha Seminary (Doctor of Ministry).For several years he taught seminars for John Maxwell's INJOY Group, a leadership development institute. Toler has written over 70 books, including his best-sellers, God Has Never Failed Me, But He's Sure Scared Me to Death a Few Times; The Buzzards Are Circling, But God's Not Finished With Me Yet; God's Never Late, He's Seldom Early, He's Always Right on Time; The Secret Blend; Practical Guide to Pastoral Ministry; Total Quality Life, and his popular Minute Motivator series. His latest book, ReThink Your Life, debuted at No. 23 on the CBA Christian Living Best Sellers list.

White Smoke - 6 Popes!

The Church of the Nazarene has 6 leaders of the denomination called general superintendents. 3 retired this year and so the general assembly elected 3 new people.

Cunningham, Gunter (first woman GS) and Deihl are out.

Duarte (first GS elected from outside USAmerica), Bowling and Graves are in.

Duarte (pronounced dwart) has been a pastor, district superintendent and the Africa regional director. Duarte holds a master's degree in leadership from California's Azusa Pacific University and speaks at least five languages, including English and three of the major African languages. He has a gentle spirit, is a firm leader, and has a good understanding of mission philosophy.

Bowling has been a pastor, college faculty and university president. The dude is smart or least has more degrees than a thermometer. Bowling was also elected general superintendent in 2005, but graciously declined the election to return to Olivet. He gladly accepted this time.

Graves has been a pastor and Sunday School Ministries Director at Nazarene Headquarters. Graves is the third consecutive pastor from Olathe College Church to be elected general superintendent. Graves replaced J.K. Warrick, who was elected to the Board of General Superintendents at Indianapolis 2005. Warrick succeeded Paul G. Cunningham as pastor at the church after Cunningham was elected to the Board in 1993. Warrick began his service at the church in January 1994; Graves in September 2006.

Duarte, Bowling, and Graves will join re-elected superintendents Jerry D. Porter, Jesse C. Middendorf, and J.K. Warrick to comprise the Board for the next quadrennium.

The question remains... In the midst of denominational division between Nazarenes concerned about fundamentals and Nazarenes concerned about missional living, where/how will this group lead?

Do you facebook, myspace or twitter?

Found on Scot McKnight's blog. What is your disease...ADHD, Narcissim or Stalking?

Annual Pastor's Report

This past weekend was the Arizona District Assembly. All the Nazarene churches on the district (about 60) gather and give a report on what God is doing in their local congregation. The biggest part of policy passed was a change in the district budget amount. There has been a confusing formula that dictated how much each church contributed to the denomination, now each church gives a straight 10% from all income. Here is my report...

Dr. Porter, Dr. Schortinghouse and Assembly,
At last assembly we changed our name from Desert Hills Fellowship to NorthGate. The intent was to better reflect our membership and mission area. We followed this up by articulating a vision to make Christlike disciples in our context. This was a year of risk and reward.
My staff and I compiled two resources to equip our people for evangelism and discipleship. The first we titled “The I.M.A.G.E. Profile”. This is to help people discover the truth that they are created in the image of God and have dignity. The second resource is “The Spiritual Life Coach”. We defined a discipleship lifestyle as, A Jesus Community – always seeking to know God, connect with people and serve others. The Life Coach is a reference guide for spiritual practices that are means of grace in healing the image of God in people.
Desiring to be missional and chase the vision, we planned on spending 5 weeks in a new movie theater to reach an adjacent neighborhood to the church building. Attendance rose and we decided to spend another month there for a total of 9 weeks. It was a fitting place to celebrate the Church of the Nazarene’s centennial birthday. A man named Mitch who lost his wife to cancer donated $500 to sponsor a Sunday in the theater. He wasn’t a church attender but after visiting a worship service he is now faithful to Christ and the Church.
God is still moving,

Pastor Jimmy Farley

Grand Canyon Hike

A group of 25 from NorthGate travelled to the Grand Canyon on Memorial Day weekend. Lanny and Michelle organized the trip and talked all of us into doing something we normally wouldn't dream of...hike from rim to rim in one day. The trip is 24 miles, just short of a marathon and if you haven't seen it, the canyon is kinda deep.

4 guys (Lanny, James, Ryan and Scott) left at 8 pm to hike from the south rim in the rain and darkness to meet us on the north rim. We met them at 6:30 a.m. The weather was perfect for me. It was cloudy, rained when I was sweating, sunny when I needed to dry off, and hailing the last 1.5 miles. Lanny and James turned around and hiked it again. James made it out by 8 pm to reach his goal of getting out in 24 hours. Lanny after having diarrhea on the first way across was a stud and waited to get a man 84 years old out at 11:30 pm. My brother in law, Brent, set a monster pace for me and we got out in 10 hours. I feel good!

Lessons Learned...

1. Be prepared
2. Hike with a partner
3. Watch out for donkey dung and piss
4. Thank Jesus for the little things on the journey
5. Life is not a highway, it is a kick butt, make you wanna cuss canyon but you'll make it out if you don't give up