So great a Cloud of Witnesses

"You Will Be Discouraged..."

After we were commissioned Tuesday evening, Bob Edwards told us the above quote. But after telling us that we will be discouraged, he said this, "And when you are, remember this night, and remember this cloud of witnesses."

Of course he was talking about the men and women who comprised the 1000+ member audience.

Of course he was also talking about the famous passage of Hebrews 11.

Hebrews 11 lists the "hall of fame of the faith," as it's been called,  telling the stories of many men and women of (biblical) antiquity who lived and died as martyrs, that is, witnesses.

The various heroes listed have one thing in common: They lived their lives having Faith in God, and being faithful to God's calling upon their lives, no matter the outcome.

Similarly, the audience was comprised of many great men and women. Granted, I don't know who everyone was, but I do know who many of them were.

There were many of my personal heroes in that crowd, individuals who've faithfully given YEARS to ministerial service; individuals who've faithfully given YEARS to faithful worship and obedience to Christ; not to mention couples who've demonstrated how to faithfully love and honour one another for YEARS.

I am not naive or inexperienced enough to think that we will never be discouraged. I know that Bob shared wisdom when he promised that discouragement will come.

But Christy and I will never forget the night in June 2012 when we were Commissioned to serve as Missionaries. And when we think of that night, we will remember our friends and family who sacrificed to invest in our lives and afford us the opportunities we've had; and we will remember our friends and family who sacrificed their time to celebrate with us, to pray for us, and to send us out in Faith.

Thank you for being in our cloud!

Anointed & Sent Out

Anointed.

Just what does that word mean?

Throughout this day, I personally heard this word used many times. In different ways.

This afternoon, I helped lead a conference @ NAC with Jared Fields and the Camp-Meeting speaker himself, David Aukerman!

The conference was on interpreting "Difficult Texts of the Bible," and we looked at the story of Judges 11:29-40: Jepthah's Daughter.

Amongst many other things, we talked about what it meant for Jepthah to have "the Spirit of the LORD upon him."

We noted the distinction between the role of the Spirit in the Hebrew Testament and the role of the Spirit in our day and age, beginning in Acts 2. In contrast to the ongoing indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers, the ancient Israelite understanding was that the Spirit's presence was more of a transient experience.

It could be here today, gone tomorrow.

Using King Saul as an example, Jared noted how he was clearly appointed by God to serve as King, for a time. But then later he was not "God's man" anymore. In both the Hebraic and Pentecost-al view of the Spirit's presence, "anointing" is the symbol.

After Saul, when David (the shepherd boy, not Brother Aukerman) was chosen by God to serve as the next King of Ancient Israel, Nathan the Prophet visited him in his father's house and he...anointed him.

The oil used in the practice of anointing was to be symbolic of the Spirit of God choosing that individual.

This evening's service saw the Reverend Diana Swoope bringing the Word!

But before this, the worship leader read from James 5, and invited any who desired to be Anointed to make their way to designated individuals who were waiting to anoint & pray over people.

Many people got up and received anointing for a multitude of reasons, I'm sure.

Then when Diana approached the pulpit, she read from Luke chapter 4: The words of the Isaiah Scroll that Jesus read to his hometown congregation.

In this reading, Jesus stated that "the Spirit of the LORD was upon him, for he had been anointed to proclaim good news to the poor..."

She proclaimed to us "The Holy Spirit does not anoint us just to sing to ourselves or make us comfortable." Rather, "The Holy Spirit anoints us to send us out to be a help to this world."

Picking up on the phrase, "the poor," Diana made this interesting statement:

"In the Holy Spirit, there is no Third-World Country."


I can't begin to tell you how many conversations I've had recently about Christy and I being called to serve God in the Netherlands. In this, many times people have commented about this location not being one riddled by poverty and, therefore, "great need."

First off, in stark contrast to the lack of physical poverty, the spiritual poverty is huge.

How do you convince someone they need God when all their needs are met, and they are comfortable?

How do you help them realize God's love for them when life is already going good?

This is precisely one of the main reasons why the Church of God does need the 3 Worlds team plugging away in Europe. Because we, too, have been anointed to proclaim good news to the poor!

Secondly, for Christy and I, today is a big day. Today, Tuesday June 26th, we will officially be Commissioned by the Church to serve as Missionaries.

Why this is important is because it allows the Community of Faith to recognize what God has already done! The Spirit of the LORD has already Anointed us to serve in this purpose and to be sent out as a help to the world!

The Greek word "apostello" translates as "one who is commissioned, one who is sent out with a purpose." And so we are. In 18 hours we will be commissioned so that we can be sent out with this purpose.

Radical Obedience...

I (Daniel) will confess: I love NAC. Really. That sounds like the punchline for a "You Might Be a Pastor/Bible-Nerd If..." Here's My Sign, I guess.

After a service of praise and worship and great preaching, the interactions with friends old and new, I was already on Cloud Nine.

But then it was that time again...the time every summer for the past several that I look forward to so that I can "get my blessing," or find complete Rest and get re-charged: The Heritage Hymn Sing.

It's always such a wonderful time to gather with hundreds+ of (mostly) old folks singing cherished hymns of faith and listening to guys like Arlo Newell tell tales of bygone heroes, men and women of CHOG renown. But this year I actually missed part of it. But it was worth it to see God move.

A friend, who shall remain nameless, aside from the description of being "a poor college kid," came in and tapped me on the shoulder. He saw me and wanted to say "hi" and congratulations on the due-any-week-now baby. Knowing that he would be quite excited to hear about the other big piece of news in our lives, I jumped up and took him outside to talk for a few minutes.

I quickly filled him in on what God was doing and where we were at with it all.

And then he did something I could not have expected.

We talked for a moment about how Hector Gonzalez had spoken of surrendering 100% to Christ, not 50%, not 99%, but 100%.

And he told me how he was learning to do that.

He told me that he felt God telling him to give me whatever was in his wallet to go towards our fund-raising.

And then he opened his wallet and pulled out a wad of cash and put it in my hand.

I quickly shoved it in my pocket and told him that I couldn't even look at it now or count it, or I'd start crying. But I knew that God would bless him beyond all measure for his obedience.

I didn't know the amount, and that's irrelevant. The point is he gave all he had, not because it was some magical amount that "we needed," and not because it was some magical amount that would qualify him to be described as an Elite level of supporter. He gave it all because that is what his Lord directed him to do.

I love when Followers of Christ actually follow Christ. It's so refreshing. Even when it doesn't make sense.

That one act of radical obedience was more than enough to encourage me and send me back out into the world. All from a poor college kid. Maybe my friend, Justin Wallace, is right: "If we're going to change the world it has to start with the college campus."

Anyway, long-story short, I just got home and counted it. Unbelievable. For a poor college kid, working his tail off to pay for school, this was certainly more than just a "widow's mite."

God bless my friend, and all, who actually practice Radical Obedience.

We Have Name Badges!!!

North American Convention in Anderson has finally arrived. It's been a whirlwind day filled with meetings and gatherings of various sorts. The day has already been a great blessing to rub shoulders with many friends new and old, and with many folks who have invested in us over the years, and really have a large part in helping us get to the point we are at today.

The day began with us getting official Name Badges!!! Well, officially getting name badges---the "official" name badges are due to arrive Monday. Anyway, we have badges that say our names and "Missionary Elect to the Netherlands!"

The excitement has really hit that this is actually happening!

Many people have asked us "WHAT will you be doing?" So here's a brief introduction.

First, let me preface this by saying that this is all new to us as well, and we can't succinctly define what we'll be doing. However, we will be members of the Three Worlds team of missionaries to Europe & The Middle East. This is a really revolutionary approach to global ministry. We will be partnering with many other missionary couples in the region to host various events: student groups, internships, conferences, youth camps, etc. Also, we will function as a team providing support and accountability to one another as we journey together to expand the breadth of the Kingdom of God.

Secondly, Christy and I will be working to support the National Leadership of the Church of God in the Netherlands. Additionally, we will be providing theological training and pastoral mentoring to emerging leaders. We are quite excited about these opportunities to partner with those already in leadership, and offer any support and encouragement we can.

In a nutshell, that is what we will be doing. Of course that doesn't do justice to it, but as with all ministry, much of our work will be relational, and therefore, not easily quantifiable or objective. Please feel free to contact us, as we would be more than happy to answer any questions and share more in private conversations!

Lastly, but also importantly, we are in need of support. Please lift us up in prayer that God will open doors for us to continue down this path.  Also, we are in need of financial support. I know, I know...but in fairness, you had to know this was coming! Since we are commissioned by the Church of God, all funding is channeled through Global Missions of the Church of God. Our Project # is:  42.10041. Please contact Debbie Taylor, Living Link administrator, at DTaylor@chog.org or (800) 848-2464, ext. 2129.