By Bishop Charles ScottI 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 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.
