Back to the Basics, Part 3

Cliffdale Christian Center’s core values form an acronym: W.O.R.D. We’re keeping it simple. Here are the core values at Cx3:

“W” is for “Worship”: We will be a worshiping community wherein Christ is glorified.

“O” is for “Outreach”: We’re going back to being aggressively involved with outreach, be it in our own community or other places in the world. It used to be that when people talked about Cliffdale Christian Center, two characteristics of our church were always mentioned. I can even ask people who’ve been at Cx3 for any length of time: “Why did you come, and why did you stay?” Invariably, the answers are the teaching of the Word of God and the outreach.

I could go in places in the community and people wouldn’t know who I was, and I would mention Cliffdale or someone else might bring up the name, or ask me where I go to church. The response generally was, “Oh yeah, I’ve heard about that church. They do so much outreach.” We were radical about outreach. I mean downright radical. And today I can still say that I’d rather get crazy about outreach than just sit in church and do nothing.

Yes, we did some foolish things. I don’t know if I ever concluded the story about the night I was arrested. I told part of that story to a group of people recently. Anyway, I was acquitted of all charges as we appealed the case when it went to Superior Court. You may not know what I am talking about; that’s probably a good thing. Then again, just in case you’ve heard part of that story . . . I was actually defending our youth pastor. I was standing in the gap; of course we both got arrested, and thankfully, both were acquitted.

I can tell you this: I’d rather be radical than lifeless. And we’re gonna get radical again. I hope you’re ready for some radical Christianity and outreach in our community. It doesn’t mean that you have to get arrested. I’ll be the first one to take that hit.

Repent and do the first works.

“R” is for “Relationship”: We’re committing to building solid, loving relationships within the Body of Christ. And it doesn’t only have to be people in our fellowship; in fact, I’ll submit to you that it doesn’t only have to be with Christians. I have asked, “How many unsaved friends do you have,” and I get a response that sounds like, “Oh, touch not the unclean.”

I remember Pastor Bill handing me a book right after I got baptized in the Holy Ghost, and he said, “Read this book.” It was called, “Soul Winning Out Where The Sinners Are,” and man, I got so radical about soul winning out where sinners were. Wow!

Oftentimes I look at the congregation at Cliffdale, and I think, “Where are the missionaries? Where are they?” “Oh, you don’t understand, Pastor.” Yeah, I do. I had a very secure job at the power plant in Crystal River, Florida. I had the proverbial house, two cars, dog, and boat. “How do you just take two kids to the mission field”? Well, you just do it. “How do you live in a place like that when you have children? Don’t you care about them”? Look at my kids today. I don’t prove that I care about my children by giving them everything they want. And again, this is not a condemning word.

That also reminds me of when I came home from my very first one-week mission trip in June of 1981. I had just gone through Bible school, and we were offered an optional trip to Haiti. Not for vacation, but to do missions work. That’s where I preached my first real sermon. We were up on a mountain, probably about six thousand feet high. It was a place where they raised and ate guinea pigs, and some of them had never seen a Caucasian.

Pastor Bill looked at me and said, “Are you ready to preach, son?” I didn’t even know I was supposed to preach that night. I said, “Pastor, I . . . I,” and before I could finish he said, “Just go tell them about the love of Jesus. Go tell ‘em what God’s done in your life.” And I did. When I finished sharing and gave an altar call, they had me pressed against a wall trying to get me to pray for them. I said, “My goodness sakes, something’s going on here.”

I want you to experience things like that. I know everybody can’t go, but like Keith Green sang when he was alive, “It ought to be the exception if we stay.” All of us can go somewhere. All of us can do something. If we’ll not be ashamed of the Lord Jesus, we can make a big difference where we work, where we go to school, and where we fellowship in the community. We can all make a difference!

NOTE: I’ll conclude the “D” of “WORD” in my next blog. Thanks so much for being such a great part of who we are at Cx3. We’re out to make a difference in our community and in this world!

~ PG

Back to the Basics, Part 2

In my last blog, I referenced something that the Lord spoke in Revelation, "Remember therefore from where you have fallen." I began to think about some of the things the Lord had done for me, not only recently, but also in my B.C. life (before Christ). He has always remained faithful to me, even when I haven't done the same.

You have to understand that when the Lord found me, He found me on the dump of life. I was in the gutter. So I began to recount where I had come from and reflect upon what I had come in to, and how remarkably my life had changed. I remember being baptized in the Holy Ghost on Good Friday of 1982, and almost exactly two years later found myself full-time on the mission field in Haiti. And then I considered some of the experiences I had in Haiti, and then again what my life looks like today. Wow! And again, not just what the Lord had brought me through, but what He had brought me to!

I was thinking about all of these things and then the Lord said, "Consider it. Think about it. Remember." And then He said, "Repent and do the first works." Repent. Now the Lord doesn't tell us to repent if we don't need to. I needed to repent on my behalf and on that of the church. Not an ambiguous repentance, "Oh Lord, forgive the entire Church." No, forgive Cliffdale. Forgive me as a leader."

You say, "Why did you have to repent?" Because we had stopped doing many of the works that we used to do that had such a significant impact on the lives of people in this community and around the world, and we had turned inward. We had become an introverted church, something to which I've always been vehemently opposed. We had become the very thing that we said we would never be. So I said, "God, I truly am sorry. I see." But repentance is not only words; it's a change of heart and mind. It's a change of direction, isn't that what we teach?

So we have to change direction. We have to go back to doing many of the things that made us strong, healthy, alive, and have made a difference in the lives of people, not only within our own community of faith, but also outside of our walls. I went into our Sanctuary and looked at the pictures of Thailand on the back wall. I think overall we helped plant/build over fifteen churches in the remote jungles of Thailand. Cliffdale did that! The people did that! Yes, God did it through us, but we had the audacity to believe God and say, "Yes, Lord, we will do this." And we did it!

And as a result, hundreds, even thousands of lives are being touched in the most remote areas of the jungle. These are places that previously did not have a church nor had ever heard the Gospel. Do we realize that there are some six billion people alive in the world today? Six billion people! And two-thirds of them do not know Christ! If we do the math, that is two-thirds of the world's population . . . approximately four billion people . . . who don't know Christ as "the way." They may have never even heard that there was a way.

I want us to be reminded today of the Words of Jesus: "I am the way, the truth, and the life." He didn't say, "I am one of many ways. You choose how you want to find Me." He said, "I am THE way." THE WAY! Not A way, the ONLY way. There's only one! "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh to the Father except through Me. I'm the only way you can truly know your Father in heaven."

Now folks, this is not a condemning word. I'm just sharing my heart with you. I'm simply communicating what I've been experiencing the last few weeks, perhaps longer. You can ask my wife. We've had several conversations in the last few weeks and months about doing some stuff. Changing direction. Changing course. Making sure that our lives are on track with the will of God.

The American church has preached a message of Christian comfort, and it's caused the church to lose its impact on the world in which we live. It's as though we believe that God blesses and prospers us just so that we can have more stuff and live more comfortable lives. Our purpose for being here is for glorifying God and influencing the culture in which we live. I submit to you that the first culture that has to change is the culture of the church. Remember from where you have fallen. Repent and do the first works, or else I'll come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place.

We are establishing some very clear core values here at Cliffdale, and I want every person who hears me to understand that. They are very simple and easy to comprehend. If we're going to be a Word church, then let's be a Word church! I'll write more about Cx3's core values in my upcoming blogs.

~ PG