THE JOURNEY: Wearing God’s Love

By General Secretary Dan Coleman

People never forget love in action, especially in a time of need. In fact, your kindness will live longer than you will, and people today are desperate for it. A word. A prayer. A call. A touch. The need for the ministry of apologetics (a rational defense of the gospel) cannot be overstated. But the ultimate apologetic for the gospel is the love of God flowing out of us.

The Apostle Paul laid out the clear standard for our conduct as believers. “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do” (Colossians 3:12-13). We’re to wear God’s love like a garment. It is the “finishing touch” of our conduct and character.

We wear God’s love when we put the interest of Christ and the interest of others above our own. In Sunday school, we were taught a wonderful way to spell joy: Jesus-Others-and You. How simple, and how simply vital, to get the order right. Loving God and loving others, according to Jesus, boils down to this: “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31). 

We wear God’s love when we forgive. Life sees to it that we have plenty of opportunities to forgive others. Because of deep wounds and severe injustices, many people are filled with bitterness. There’s no denying the legitimacy of their reasons for pain. 

At the same time, we all have our stories of injustice to tell. It’s part of living in a fallen world. But refusing to forgive carries consequences. Unforgiveness is extremely costly. In fact, one might say it is a “luxury item.” Perhaps that is why some people seem to delight in it, not stopping to realize that they will pay for it in long, expensive installments. Part of that payment is that unforgivesness forces one’s point of reference for life to always be in the past. It’s like a ball and chain that prevents you from running toward the future. 

God doesn’t want your life to literally be eaten away by unforgiveness. Forgiveness is not always easy, but it is liberating. We’re able to forgive because we’ve been forgiven. God’s grace, which forgave our offenses against Him, now becomes the grace we draw on to forgive those who’ve offended us.

We wear God’s love when we share the gospel. The best way to wear God’s love is to share the gospel with those who need its life-giving message. Bill Bright who founded Campus Crusade for Christ wrote, “The love of Jesus Christ for us, and our love for Him, compel us to tell others about Him.”

Fanny Crosby was an American mission worker, poet, and composer who died in 1915. What is unique about her accomplishments is that Fanny was blind from early childhood. Yet she refused to let her blindness define her. She became one of the most prolific writers of hymns and gospel songs in church history, writing more than 8,000 songs with more than 100 million copies printed, despite being blind from shortly after birth. Her songs include “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior,” “Blessed Assurance,” and “To God Be the Glory,” to name just a few. Often this blind little lady would stand on the street corner handing out gospel tracts to anyone who would take them. Who knows how many people we will meet in Heaven because of her faithful witness for Christ? Fanny modeled God’s love, tying kindness to the sharing of the gospel. Fanny’s call to urgent gospel witness spoke through her song, “Rescue the Perishing.” Once she was asked which of her thousands of verses of songs she considered her best. Pausing to reflect, this small giant of a saint replied, “I think it’s this one”:

Down in the human heart, crushed by the Tempter,

Feelings lie buried that grace can restore.

Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness,

Chords that were broken will vibrate once more.

Rescue the perishing; care for the dying.

Jesus is merciful; Jesus will save.

God has gone to the very limits of boundless love to prevent humankind from perishing. The cross of Christ is the roadblock thrown down by a loving God as we race toward eternal ruin. We are on a rescue mission with eternal consequences. If people are lost without Christ (and they are), and if faith in Christ is the only avenue of salvation (and it is), what could possibly be a higher priority than getting the gospel message out?

As those who know Jesus Christ, we’re invited to draw on His love and park our lives there. “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love” (John 15:9).

One Mission. One Movement.

PCG Local - Lost and Found: Guiding the Lost & Baptizing the Found

By Rev. Pat Lockwood

When I was asked to write an article about a recent baptismal service, I struggled to find the right words. It’s easy to say this service was conducted by the Calvary Pentecostal Church of God in Winchester, Virginia, and provide a few details. What’s more difficult is to convey the feeling and impact of that service, as well as the series of events that led up to it. Among my thoughts: How could I possibly describe what the Holy Spirit is birthing? After all, God’s work is not a formula to be explained. Nor is it about what any of us are doing. It’s really all about the person of Jesus Christ who is being revealed through our lives to a lost and dying world. 

The Backstory

I have always had a burden for the lost, but key experiences over the past few years have guided me to another remarkable path of ministry. In May 2014, a deep, heart-rending passion for souls gripped my heart when God let me experience the emotional feeling of a soul being hopelessly and eternally lost in Hell. Then, in September 2015, God opened the door for me to minister one-on-one to the ladies at the local jail.

A young woman (now in her 20s), who had attended Sunday school as a child, was drawn back to our church and received Christ as her Savior. Unfortunately, she found herself in trouble with the law—a probation violation due to a drug addiction—and was incarcerated again. During my visits with this young woman, God began to do a work in her heart, which was evidenced by her cellmates. Soon, she began giving me names of others who also wanted to talk with me. As I shared the love of God with them, and the plan that Jesus had for their lives, many of them accepted Him as their Savior. 

Never lacking for anyone to share with, I have ministered personally to more than 50 inmates during the last two years. Oftentimes, I would feel very low as I pressed through demonic forces to make my visits every Friday. But when a soul was born into the Kingdom of God, I would go home flying high as a kite!

Many who lived in the Winchester area told me they were going to attend our church once released, yet they were drawn back into their sinful lifestyles. Satan tried to discourage me with reports that people were only receiving “jailhouse religion” while incarcerated. However, I knew that God had given me a burden for souls, and my only responsibility was to tell them about Jesus. What they did with Jesus was their choice.

Then, a few months ago, the Holy Spirit penetrated the darkness and two ladies who had been released from jail began attending our church. They are so excited about Jesus and what He is doing in their lives. The mother to one of them even started accompanying her to church. This 72-year-old mother, who had never been born again, received Christ into her heart. The Holy Spirit is infusing new life into our congregation and others are being born again!

A Special Baptism

When several people expressed a desire to be baptized in water, I contacted Rev. Randall Lawrence, our district bishop, for some welcomed assistance. Eleven people presented themselves for baptism. Five were new converts, while the others had previously been baptized but wanted a spiritual refreshing. No words can justly describe the anointing on that service as the new converts shared how Jesus had changed their lives. 

One lady disclosed that she had been molested as a child. At the age of 12, she experienced a change in her heart, but in the ensuing years she strayed from the Lord. During her incarceration, she made a commitment to follow the Lord with all her heart, and she is now living a beautiful, Christian life.

Another lady told how Jesus had manifested Himself to her through a bright light while she was lying in her cell bed. This light of Jesus Christ drove all the darkness out of her soul and filled her with joy, peace, and love.

One gentleman shared how Jesus had delivered him from alcohol and cigarettes. Additionally, a 10-year-old boy was slain in the Spirit and received a genuine conversion as he wept his way through to old-time repentance. He now feels that God has something GREAT for him to accomplish. The blood of Jesus has never lost its power!

The dynamic, powerful anointing that energized Brother Lawrence as he delivered God’s Word penetrated the hard hearts of many of the candidates’ family members in attendance. No doubt the seed of God’s Word was planted that day. It will be watered with our tears and prayers, and God will give the increase.

I have no idea where the Holy Spirit is leading the Calvary Pentecostal Church of God, but I know that God has been preparing and developing this body of believers for a great harvest of souls. I believe God is going to use us to help plunder Hell! TO GOD BE ALL THE PRAISE, GLORY, AND HONOR!

Rev. Pat Lockwood is the current pastor of Calvary Pentecostal Church of God in Winchester, Virginia. Her diverse ministry experience spans more than 60 years and includes service as a worship leader, church secretary, evangelist’s wife, Sunday school teacher, VBS director, and pastor’s spouse. From tent revivals to van ministry and, more recently, jail ministry, Rev. Lockwood has traveled countless miles to many unique locations to spread the gospel. A PCG-credentialed minister, she was ordained in 2015.

One Mission. One Movement.

- Dr. Wayman Ming Jr.

Loved ones, in less than two years, our PCG family from across the country and around the globe will gather  together in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex to “celebrate our past” and “seize our destiny.” A new chapter will be written—the “First Chapter of a 2^nd-CENTURY PCG.”

The night before Kimberly and I were elected to serve the PCG in the general bishop’s office, our Heavenly Father began downloading an overwhelming call to four words: One Mission—One Movement. With clarity, He began to say, “Become a voice for One Mission—One Movement and express the prophetic utterance that the PCG started as a missional movement in 1919, and must live again as a missional movement in 2019.”

Down through the years, I have studied our PCG history. When I served in the general secretary’s office, I notated the highlights of every convention written in the archives from 1919 to the present. In fact, when I studied the notes of our founding meeting held December 29-30 on Halstead Street in Chicago, Illinois, I noticed our undeniable and unwavering commitment to move toward God’s mission on earth.

The Notes – 1919 Founding Meeting in Chicago, IL 

(1) The name became “The Pentecostal Assemblies of the USA”

         (2) The Pentecostal Herald was recognized as the official paper with a circulation of perhaps three times that of any other Pentecostal
paper and was especially committed to “taking the gospel to those outside of Pentecost.”

(3) Delegates were seated with a voice and vote as representatives of their local assemblies.

(4) Ida Tribett was the first person ordained.

(5) Right hand of fellowship was extended to “The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada.”

(6) Went on record to disapprove of any issues that divide and confuse God’s people to no profit and decided that “aggressive evangelism”
             be our motto.

(7) Resolved that “we shall not be confined…to those who are affiliated with us, and that we shall not discriminate against any member of the
             Body of Christ…”

(8) Resolved that we create a fund, which shall be known as the Home Missionary Fund, for the purpose of opening up works in new
              districts in the United States and supporting them until such time as the work can be put on a self-supporting basis and that this fund 
              shall be distributed at the discretion of the Executive Committee.

(9) Resolved that due attention be given to the foreign missionary work, and that by every available means through the General  Assembly
             and the Local Assemblies, we encourage and  assist the Foreign Missionary enterprise. The primary Scripture emphasized was
             “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).

(Reference: PCG Archives & Our Story, Aaron Wilson, pp. 75-82)

When we reflect on this first gathering, phrases such as “taking the gospel to those outside of Pentecost” and “aggressive evangelism” affirm our passion to live as an inclusive, grassroots movement of people committed to the mission of Christ. The statements of resolve that specified we would “open up works in new districts in the United States” and pursue “foreign missionary work,” clearly and specifically affirm our commitment to planting churches and reaching the world with the gospel. 

WHAT IS “ONE MISSION?”

The phrase “One Mission” is not novel or new because our PCG mission’s emphasis has been One Mission for the last few years. In essence, One Mission is not too complex and could be defined as…

• To win the lost and equip and send the found; to embody the
  mission of Christ in our world.

We simply engage our neighborhoods, communities, and world as Jesus did in the first century. We literally become salt and light (Matthew 5:14-16). Spiritually speaking, we live God’s mission statement to our world. 

Many churches and organizations have developed mission statements and rightly so, but what I am suggesting is that we’re not seeking to write a mission statement but rather live a mission statement. What would the PCG look like if every person, every church, every district, and every nation would embody the mission of Christ in their world?

When Kimberly and I were in Dallas, Texas, for the 2011 General Convention six years ago, our Father spoke ten words to us that forever changed our lives: “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” So I resigned from the general secretary’s office and followed God to figure out what those words really meant. Candidly, I didn’t really understand those words! I had pastored for years, traveled to over 40 nations of the world, and served in denominational leadership, but I didn’t really have a missional heart. I was “oiling the machinery” more than “moving in the mission” of Christ.

So God began to do such a work in my heart that I couldn’t help but share my faith. I would drive through my neighborhood and pray that every house would be baptized with the fire of God. I started teaching a Higher Living class that challenged people to move from their “head knowledge OF Christ” to a “heart passion IN Christ.” I was enthralled with challenging people to transition from seeing Jesus as their Savior to knowing Jesus as their Lord. I started closing just about every message I preached with a call to salvation. 

Through a commitment to personal evangelism, I introduced my next-door neighbor to Christ. Here was a man who grew up in the Church of the Latter Day Saints as a child and hadn’t donned the door of a church for over 40 years. He often chided, “If I ever attend a church, the church will be flattened by an earthquake.” Thankfully, my good friend accepted Christ five years ago and is still attending church to this day.

Over the past few months, I have been asking the question, “Do we have an organizational machine or a missional movement?” If the former is true, how do we change it?

Personally, I continue to be grieved when I come to our biennial conventions and hear reports that we have lost constituents, ministers, and churches from the previous biennium. If we truly look at the numbers, we haven’t gained ground over the past 50 years; we have lost ground.

How does each church and district relate over the last 5-10 years? Are we growing or declining? What is the high-water mark for the past five years? Is it right now or in the past? So again I must ask, “Are we living as an organizational machine or a missional movement?” Whatever the answer is, we must engage in a reformative process to become and live as a missional movement.  

In the month of November, I encouraged our denominational leaders and boards to begin with the following:

(1) We must seek God for a missional heart. 

Can we engage in some spiritual heart surgery until Christ awakens us with a missional heart? As the people of God, we must make a decision that anything less than sharing our faith and engaging in the mission of Christ is unacceptable. Consequently, all decisions and processes must begin filtering through the grid of winning the lost and equipping and sending the found. The solution that we seek in the Spirit must remain tethered to a missional heart.

(2) We must implement a strategic plan to multiply ministers and churches. 

Allow me to affirm the notion that “accidental church growth doesn’t work.” We must act intentionally to multiply our ministers and missionaries, plant new churches, and grow our existing churches.

(3) We must engage in every church’s and district’s growth. 

We must actively commit to not only seeing OUR churches and districts grow, but seeing ALL the churches and districts growing. We must move past the “me mindset” to the “we mindset.” The PCG will not experience reformation if we continue down a path of “my church, my district, and my movement.”

Several years ago, I made a conscious decision to get rid of the pronoun “my” and “mine” when talking about the mission of Christ. I stopped saying “my church” because it really wasn’t mine; it was His. I stopped saying, “my district” because it’s really wasn’t mine; it was His. I stopped saying, “my movement” because it really wasn’t mine; it was His. Fortunately, I realized that when I stopped saying “my” or “mine,” I removed the implication that others needed to come through me to be a part of “my” church, “my” district, or “my” movement. Most people truly desire to be a part of “our church,” “our district,” and “our movement” that ultimately belongs to Him. 

WHAT IS “ONE MOVEMENT?”

From the government’s perspective, we are a denomination. From a business perspective, we are an organization. From a church perspective, we are an affiliation. Yet, many of our leaders and pastors refer to the PCG as a “movement.” Ultimately, when the word “movement” is used, people get bright-eyed and sit forward in their chairs. The excitement of living as a grassroots movement of people who embody the mission of God in our world becomes palpable. Movement speaks to movement—moving toward God, moving in His mission, and moving with His Spirit.

Our history punctuates the notion that the PCG existed as a movement because of two essential characteristics—the unity and power of the Spirit. Earlier the theme verse of the 1919 founding meeting in Chicago was written: “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). 

If we unveil the Greek meaning of this verse, the word “endeavor” (Gr. spoudazo) refers to a passionate pursuit or an accelerated pace. In other words, the Apostle Paul was challenging the Ephesian church to an all-out pursuit or purposeful expediency in keeping or preserving the unity of the Spirit. 

Furthermore, the word “unity” relates to our English word “unison.” Those who sing a verse and chorus of music in unison sing the same song on the same notes. Is it possible that we can sing the same song with the same notes? Is it possible that we can be so unified that we are living the mission of Christ in unison? Our PCG forefathers thought so because they emphasized the importance of accelerating our pace toward the unity of the Spirit.

The other primary component included the “power of the Spirit.” The PCG wasn’t birthed as any kind of movement, but as a “Pentecostal movement.” A theological rubric was formed that placed the power of the Holy Spirit at the epicenter of faith and practice. In other words, mission did not move without power—His power! The proclamation of the gospel was confirmed through signs and wonders.

So the definition of “One Mission—One Movement” is not really complex. It refers to a “unified movement of people who live the mission of Christ in our world through the power of the Spirit.” Or allow me to state it this way:

• The PCG must live as a unified movement of people who live the mission of Christ in our world through the power of 

  the Spirit.

For the last few years, we have said, “We are PCG.” This is a wonderful statement that speaks to our identity, but not to our destiny. As a 2^nd-Century PCG, we must return to our roots and live as a missional movement. Each person is a mission. Every church is a mission, and every PCG district or nation is a mission. So today…

Join with me as we: (1) Seek God for a missional heart; (2) implement a strategic plan to multiply ministers and missionaries; and (3) engage in every church’s and district’s growth. 

Join with me as we pursue “aggressive evangelism,” taking the gospel to those outside of Pentecost, opening up works in new districts in the United States, and “foreign missionary work.” 

Join with me as we become “a unified movement of people who live the mission of Christ in our world through the power of the Spirit.” Or, live as 

One Mission—One Movement.