Eye 2 Eye: What's the Big Deal about Christmas?

By Bishop Charles Scott
The wise sage and noted philosopher Charlie Brown once stated to his faithful sidekick Linus, "I just don't get it. I don't feel any Christmas spirit. What's the big deal about Christmas?"

Christmas is about walking in a winter wonderland, searching for that perfect family Christmas tree, and when that tree is found, spending quality family time together bringing the tree home. Then the family trims the tree and spends those cherished moments putting up lights and decorations for Christmas. It about those special moments of Christmas; those moments that are spent sacrificing personal time, laboring for the sake of the season, risking life and limb so the family can enjoy the festive celebrations of Christmas.

Yes, these are the moments that bring special cheer to every soul at this time of the year. At these times our only thought is on the joy and peace our hard work and effort will bring to others. What's it all about? It's about the special cheer we can spread to everyone during the Christmas holidays. And no matter the effort required, we will work as hard as we must to kindle the Christmas spirit and go to whatever length required just to brighten someone else's Christmas and make their holiday even better.

Christmas is about merry days and beautiful nights. And even if we lose that Christmas spirit once in a while, we plug back in to the hope, peace and love that make Christmas that happy time of the year. For Christmas is a happy time, a time around the table with loved ones, enjoying a festive meal with those we love so dear. Anything else would be a blue, blue, blue Christmas.

Unfortunately, some do have a blue Christmas. Their bells don't jingle, their one horse has no sleigh and their chestnuts won't roast. Have you ever had to deal with the 12 Blues of Christmas? You know what I mean:

One the 12th day of Christmas my blue Christmas gave to me:
12 days of bowl games
11 bad movies
10 strings of lights
9 broken bulbs
8 in-laws visiting
7 kids a screaming
6 broken toys
5 credit cards overdrawn…
4 trips for batteries
3 days in the mall
2 kids out of school and
An empty bottle of Tylenol

What is Christmas all about? It's about an angel's song, a barnyard birth, Christ's arrival and demon's demise. It's about glad tidings to all men, Herod's fear and Immanuel – God with us. It's about joy to the world, kindness to one another and love lifting all. It's about a manger crib, a night's celebration, an omnipotent moment, peace on earth, quickening spirits, reverent occasions and shepherds' bowing. It's about the tabernacle of God on earth, salvation, victory over death, worship in the Spirit, and the excellence of God, Yahweh, Zion's eternal King.

I know what Christmas is about: Christmas is about Jesus. He was born in a cave so He could die on a cross so I could wear a crown. Christmas is about angels singing, wise men bringing, heralds ringing and shepherds clinging. It's about Heaven's conception, earth's reception, the devil's deception, God's reflection and man's perception.

On that first Christmas night, Mary's heart sang with gladness. She had everything a young lady could desire – a loving, devoted husband, a healthy baby boy and a God that favored and blessed her. She only vaguely understood that she was the mother of the King of kings. She lived and held within her the greatest secret of history: God's Son was birthed from her womb. Joseph must have felt that he had failed her in this hour: he could not locate a room for her to give birth to her baby; he hadn't even found a midwife. Mary probably smiled at him as she laid Jesus in the feeding trough of the stable and said, "It must be God's will for His Son to be born in a place like this." It was God's will for His Son to be born in a place like that, because every sacrifice was birthed in a barn, and Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, so we could see Him eye to eye.

Eye 2 Eye: Those Were the Days

By Bishop Charles Scott
I hate to admit it. I am having difficulty facing it. I am trying to deny it. I don't like it. I can't do anything about it. I'm getting old. I am staring at a new decade and it is having a drastic impact on my face. There's just something about living; you don't get any younger – you just get older. I'm even starting a "bucket list." (Hey Jon, just 19 more baseball stadiums to go!)

Something about getting more mature; the older we get the better we was. As a matter of fact, as we age, the better everything was. Now I realize I'm not old yet; I mean, Pat Wilson and dirt still have a few years on me. But I find myself looking back a bit more. Thinking about how things were and recollecting about those good ol' days.

One of my fond memories is the time right after I graduated high school. I had a dramatic conversion experience to Jesus just prior to my senior year. After graduation I had another dramatic experience: the baptism of the Holy Spirit evidenced by speaking in other tongues. I had been raised in a Southern Baptist church under the pastoral leadership of one of the greatest pastors ever, Dr. William Bennett. I had a zealous passion for Jesus, which lead me to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. That passion also lead me to a Spirit-filled church, an Assembly of God (Can I put that in The Messenger?) church in Fort Smith, AR.

A precious couple in their late 70s attended that church, Brother and Sister Craig. I soon developed a friendship with these wonderful people. I worked in a department store in the mall and their home was in short driving distance. They invited me to come to their house for lunch, and on multiple occasions I was privileged to dine on cornbread, fresh delectables from Brother Craig's garden, and sweet potato pie made only as Sister Craig was anointed to make. The real treat was sitting and listening to Sister Craig recall the weeks her family spent in Hot Springs, AR at a camp meeting that was known as a genesis for the Assemblies of God. (I did it again. Can I get by with that twice?)

Sister Craig had reached that point in life where she could remember 50 years ago better than 50 minutes ago. She recalled with explicit detail the singing, the preaching, the signs, the miracles and the lives changed by the power of God. She would re-enact for her audience of two (two physical but a cloud of unseen witnesses) the mighty move of God, describing people falling out under the power, shouting, dancing, speaking in tongues, gifts of the Spirit in operation, healings, and, most of all, men, women, boys and girls being born again and delivered from sin by the grace of God.

I would stay as long as I could. I could not get enough. I would beg her to tell me the same stories over and over. She would slightly protest but eagerly repeat the recitation. She would at times get so caught up in the moment that she would lift her hands and begin to praise the Lord until she would start speaking in tongues in ecstasy. I would drink it all in. More than 50 years separated us. Background, tastes and preferences separated us. One thing united us: a passion for Jesus.

By now you are wondering what all this has to do with an issue dedicated to prayer and worship. I know one of my weaknesses is to over-simplify, but isn't worship just an expression of the soul's passion for Jesus? Whether it was a century ago at Azusa Street or last week at church, whether it was a hymn from a songbook or a track from Israel Houghton, isn't worship a passion for Jesus? And doesn't a heartfelt passion for Jesus always receive a manifestation of the presence of God?

So I'm adding new items to my bucket list. (Just how high is Mt. Rainer, Dwayne?) Someday when my hair is gray (OK, completely gray) and I have time to piddle in my garden, I cannot think of anything better than a group of teenagers coming to the house, and Janice cooking up some fried potatoes with onions, beans 'n' cornbread and banana pudding (some things must be passed to the next generation). One of those young bright faces will shine with anticipation as they ask, "Tell us about the good ol' days. Tell us about when God visited the PCG with a revival that transformed every community in America. Tell us about when the anointing was so strong in the PCG that missionaries were sent around the world. Tell us about divine demonstrations that caused people to give their hearts to Jesus. Tell us about when the passion for Jesus was so strong in the PCG that there was no division over bylaws, no politics or power struggles, no strife over methods, just a cry for Him." I can't wait to see them eye to eye.

Eye 2 Eye: It's Hard to Believe

By Bishop Charles Scott
It was hard to believe. Looking across the landscape and viewing the Washington Monument, reading the names listed on the Vietnam Memorial, and putting my hand on the inscription for the heroes from World War II were each indescribable, emotional experiences. Actually standing on the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial and reading the Gettysburg Address and President Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address were euphoric. It was hard to believe my feet were on the actual spot where, on August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to posterity with the resounding thunder of inspiration based on a dream. Extending above it all, the sheen of the Capitol Dome reminded me of my feeble beginnings, my modest upbringing, the prices paid for my freedom, and the debt owed for the privilege to be an American.

It is hard to believe that the America founded on ideals so noble that its founders laid down their lives would in 1973 find a Supreme Court ruling in the Roe v. Wade decision that women, in consultation with their physician, have a constitutionally-protected right to have an abortion in the early stages of pregnancy – that is, before viability – free from government interference. It is hard to believe that since 1973, 48,589,993 abortions have been performed in the land of the free and the home of the brave (source: Guttmacher Institute, http://www.guttmacher.org/).

It was hard to believe the inhumanities. As our family silent visited the Holocaust Museum paying homage to the six million Jews martyred by racial prejudice and demonic hate, we were incredulous that such odium could reside in a human heart. It was the piles and piles of shoes that broke my spirit. After viewing all the atrocities of violence, my emotions could not handle any more when looking at untold thousands of infant-sized shoes and thinking of the tiny feet once bound inside their laces. They were murdered because of their ethnicity, despised because of the heritage of their family, castigated because they lacked a baptism certificate – dead because someone played God and said they had no right to live.

It is hard to believe that political conventions are determined by Golden Circle Clubs with $10,000-per-plate dinners, while the average voter pays $80 to fill a gas tank. It's hard to believe UPS or FedEx an track a package as it moves around the world but our government cannot locate an illegal immigrant who has lived here for years. It is hard to believe that 88 percent of Americans approve of the reference to "one nation under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance (http://www.americansolutions.com/), but our Congress considers its removal. It is hard to believe that anyone would disagree with the statement that most of the problems America is facing are due to her backslidden condition.

We must believe that the Pentecostal Church of God should and can make a difference. We must believe that the Holy Spirit will guide our strategies to ensure that each local PCG congregation is healthy and transforming its community. We must believe that the heart of the Lord of the harvest is to commission the planting, mothering and birthing of new, healthy congregations committed to transforming additional communities. We must believe that the PCG is endowed by its Creator to be an organized fellowship holding the hands of all colors to exalt Jesus, evangelize the world and edify the Church. We must believe that our congregations exist to nourish the unfed, clothe the unprotected, educate the unlearned, serve the underprivileged, defend the unborn, rebuke the untruthful, embrace the unwanted, perform the unbelievable, invite the unchurched, defend the unfortunate, renounce the unforgiving, refuse the unorganized and proclaim the unchanging, unbeatable, unequivocal gospel of Jesus Christ.

It's hard to believe we can't see that eye to eye.

Eye 2 Eye: "I Dont Know How to Arrive, but I Know How to Keep Going"

By Bishop Charles Scott
I was discouraged. I was tired. I was frustrated. I was ready to quit. I will never forget that time in my life. I needed a word from the Lord. The church was not growing. The services were stale. Our efforts were not succeeding. I felt like a total failure. I needed something that I could not even express.

I received great value in one simple statement: "I don't know how to arrive, but I know how to keep going." I wish it was original; it is not. I wish it had come to me in some burning-bush experience; it did not. I would like to say it came while I was on a prolonged fast, and God sent angels with these words on a stone imprinted by the hand of god; I cannot. But it came, and these words have changed my life.

It occurred at an unexpected time from an unexpected source. It was like sunshine on a cloudy day when I heard it. It was a moment forever etched in my mind, spirit and soul. I was desperate to hear God; I had to hear God; I did hear God. And those simple words re-energized my passion and have done so multiple times since.

Somewhere I got it in my mind I was supposed to "arrive" at some abstract apex of spirituality, although the Bible is clear that we are running a race. There is no arrival point here. I did not arrive when I got credentials with the PCG. I did not arrive when I got voted in to pastor a church. I did not arrive by being chosen to serve on the district board. I did not arrive when the district chose me as a youth ministries leader. I did not arrive when I got a position at the general office. I did not arrive when I got chosen to serve as general secretary or general bishop. I have not arrived.

But I am still going. I have been misunderstood; but I am still going. I have been falsely accused; but I am still going. I have been wrong; but I am still going. I have made mistakes; but I am still going. I have been mistreated; but I am still going. I haven't heard the trumpet so I am still going.

In 2009 the Pentecostal Church of God will celebrate a 90-year legacy of "Proclaiming Bible truth in Pentecostal power". We have not arrived, but we are still going. We will keep going until:

• We achieve a new level of organizational effectiveness in congregational transformation,
  
• We effectively develop servant-leaders with a trickle-down anointing,
  
• We focus on congregational reproduction and not congregational maintenance,
  
• We are a mission- and value-driven partnership,
  
• We understand the difference in being committed to grow grass rather than pull weeds,
  
• We comprehend that it is more important to be fruitful than it is to be faithful,
  
• We birth leaders of influence rather than shepherds of stagnation,
  
• We see that every minister has a mentor and a coach,
  
• We determine every activity by strategy and mission rather than tradition or bylaw, and
  
• We team with the Holy Spirit – the Church Administrator – to be an effective sending agency of five-fold ministry around the world.

We must keep going until America experiences a renewed Christian awakening. In order to do our part, the PCG will designate the first 21 days of January 2009 for fasting and prayer for Holy Ghost revival in our nation.

We must keep going until we can "impact eternity." Impacting Eternity will be observed on February 6, 2009. This is a day of fasting and prayer for the Pentecostal Church of God Missions and Ministries around the world, and worshipers are invited on this day to fast and pray and offer the cost of three regular meals to their church, district, and general ministries.

We must keep going for a refreshing, re-energizing and restoring General Convention in 2009. We will keep going through 40 days of prayer and fasting from May 18 to June 26, 2009 for the presence of the Lord to minister to our hearts and lives, and to prepare us to come together at the end of June.

We must keep going for one another. Some of you reading this today have stopped going. You know you have not arrived, but you are not going forward. Some stuff has happened and you quit. You haven't quit going to church, praying or worshiping; but inside your spirit you have stopped. You have stopped hoping, dreaming, trusting, believing and caring. You have excuses but you know deep inside it's up to you to keep going. You've been hurt, let down, disappointed... and the list goes on. But you are not going on.

Regardless of those who won't believe this, the Holy Spirit is speaking to you right now. I sent this page to the editorial staff for printing and called them at 4:30 a.m. on my way to an airport to tell them to stop – I needed to make some changes. That same day my assistant, Gabriel Espinoza, wrote me these words in an email:

Every night, Bro. Scott, I go home now asking myself, wondering why this feeling of loneliness is within many ministers. It may be a lack of Christian character and maturity; or is it that God is trying to tell me I need to work in this area of being more relational, or maybe even the PCG as a whole organization? I know that part of the process of the formation of Christian character and the price of leadership is sometimes to walk alone and feel alone. But I also know what John 13:34, 35 says: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (NIV). Speaking in general, maybe we have just lost a simple basic thing: loving one another. Have we tried to make things too technical and fancy, in a sense, and ruled out this basic principle of discipleship, fellowship? As I write to you these words, I weep, because it hurts to see that we have lost this true fellowship that Jesus described here and that the Bible describes in Acts chapter 2. I have been praying to God asking for forgiveness. Bro. Scott, I want to be more committed in serving God with all my heart and serving others as Jesus describes.

We have to keep going until the Father says we have arrived. And we see Him eye to eye.

Eye 2 Eye: Balance

By Bishop Charles Scott

P1050193, originally uploaded by rkimpeljr.

It is unknown to most people. It is not difficult to locate. It is very accessible. It is impressive. It is inspirational. It is one of the most beautiful sites in the world.

It is the Colorado National Monument. Rising from the floor of the desert and reaching above the plateau, this small area of rocks forms a scenic illustration of the power of perseverance and the handiwork of God. Capturing the imagination of the viewer is the largest free-standing rock formation in the park, Independence Monument. Rising 450 feet, the massive rock spires depict the handiwork of the Master Sculptor. The forces of wind, water, frost and time have carved distinctions into the sandstone and left an unexplainable work of art – the protective cap-rock of a perfectly balanced rock.

It should not stand. It should not exist. It cannot be explained. But it is there. It cannot be produced by man. It is a God-thing.

Balance depicts a change in spirit. Balance results from a movement from extremism toward equality. Balance is a willingness to put the common interest above personal glory. Balance is looking for the benefit of the future and not short-term expediency.

The Pentecostal Church of God must be balanced. The PCG cannot be entombed in nostalgia nor infatuated with the future. The PCG must be balanced in the now, holding the past and reaching for the future. The PCG cannot be a commemorative movement or a wistful fellowship. The PCG must be a balanced Church, appreciating the legacy and working for the future. The PCG cannot be a white church, a black church, a Hispanic church, etc. The PCG must just be Christ's Church – gender-equal, racially-balanced, and culturally, generationally and ethnically relevant.

The PCG cannot relieve itself of the responsibility of balance. We cannot envision the kind of Church we can be without looking squarely in the mirror of what we are. While equilibrium exists in some areas, we are not yet properly balanced, not yet equal. We do not promote leaders based on their gifting and calling regardless of gender, age and race. Prejudice exists within our ranks toward gender, age, race and culture. It is our responsibility to achieve biblical balance; it is righteous.

Recently our General Council visited the Glad Tidings church of God in Christ congregation in Hayward, CA. Bishop J. W. Macklin and his staff shared their vision, poured out their hospitality, and gave us the privilege to worship with their congregation. The Pentecostal church of God and the Church of God in Christ – in balance – it was a monumental moment. The keynote speaker of our inaugural Bishop's Conference was Baptist. It was commented that 50 years ago a Baptist speaker would not be allowed in a PCG meeting. Pentecostal Church of God and Baptist – in balance – it was a monumental moment.

Balanced monuments are beautiful. They will be difficult to obtain. They will take time. They will take multiple forces. They will be inspirational. They will be the work of God.