Covenant Church

It is not often that I share my challenges. This time I will.

Last night I searched for a measuring tool and could not find it. The son of a carpenter, my brothers all carpenters, I too have tools. Among my tools there is a variety intended to measure distance and quantity. Yet, I possess no tool that could measure the object that was being assessed.

Let me ask you: How do you measure JOY? What do you suggest that can accurately and wonderfully report to you the sum total of JOY? Have you ever succeeded in measuring JOY? How do you put your arms around JOY? Please tell me.

Elders of Covenant met last evening for more than three hours. First, allow me to share that one of the greatest areas of challenge for any pastor is working with Elders. If there is one Elder difficult in attitude it can sour a whole batch. If there is one Elder who comes to every meeting determined to make the life of the pastor miserable, it is a nightmare.

Nightmare? Many (maybe most) wives of pastors live in dread fear to hear the conclusion of an Elders’ meeting. The husband can come home bleached, discouraged, battle-worn and battle-torn.

Not so at Covenant. Elders are not pastel. They have their opinions. They are not hesitant to address issues. They own the conversation with prayer and duty. Yet, they speak in respectful terms. The issues are Kingdom related, not personal. If correction is needed wisdom is exercised, not judgment of an individual.

The purpose is to make sure that a local congregation is biblically-based, evangelistically driven, and Holy Spirit empowered. Every Elders’ meeting in every church should be held with the awareness that the Church belongs to Jesus. We are servants. We seek to glorify Jesus. We are privileged to serve.

Last night’s meeting of Covenant Elders was edifying. It was also the conclusion of a weekend that was stellar….off the charts…so full of goodness…so powerful…so inspiring…so community-spirited…so visionary…so connected…so coordinated…so relationship-oriented…so much JOY it could not be measured.

We had a total of 40 missionaries and families present as our guests. Thirty-six stayed in homes of parishioners. We had other homes that wanted to keep missionaries. It is not a sacrifice to host in our homes servants of the Lord. Relationships are built. Life-time friendships established.

All international missionary students and most of the families (except two due to sickness) of the Pentecostal Theological Seminary (COG) traveled caravan-style 450 miles one-way to be with us. They represented Haiti, Dominican Republic, China, Congo, Tanzania, Zambia, Korea, Italy, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Philippines, Cambodia, Guatemala, Barbados, India, and Canada. We should also mention the young student from Oklahoma who carried luggage for the group in his pickup and Dr. Jimmy DuPree and son, Sam, from Tennessee. Dr. DuPree is Director of Student Services at the PTS.

Saturday a.m. Pastor Bare and Tobey and Brandy Bouch, co-chairs of the mission committee, met with missionaries in a seminar. Issues directly related to missionary challenges were addressed, e.g., family, finances, counseling, intimacy, integrity, etc. Part of the session men and women were divided, with Brandy hosting the women’s session.

More than 300 were present for our Saturday night banquet. Dr. Lovell Cary and Ginny, his wife, were with us. Dr. Cary was keynote speaker. His missionary experiences, especially being in Haiti when the earthquake happened, deeply moved the participants.

Sunday Rev. Orlando Valenzuela preached his first message in English to the 8:30 a.m. congregation. Rev. Daniel Oscar preached the second service. Both messages were powerful and challenging.

Grady Murphy, of Church of God World Missions was present for the weekend to film the conference for promotional purposes.

After the 10:45a.m. service, missionaries were sent on their way with boxed lunches, gifts, and prayers.

Tobey did a power point presentation that helped us. The question is what can be done by one church/people/congregation, by the power of the Holy Spirit that will make a difference in a life, a home, a village, a missionary?

The answer: We must give our JOY away! Don’t hug it and keep it. Give it away. Tell it. Sing it. Share it!

Pastor Bare

“Whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s shall have it” (Mark 8:35)