Archive: Methodism After Marx

by Steve | Sep 24, 1991 | Archive - 1991

Archive: Methodism After Marx

By Mark Elliott

“We are in between the collapse of communism and the return of a state church closely tied to the government.” —Yugoslavian Methodist pastor Kitan Petreski

All across East Central Europe longsuffering Methodist congregations have seen their elation over the demise of Marxism tempered by a daunting array of pressing problems: fear of discrimination from powerful Orthodox or Catholic churches, widespread, health-threatening pollution, an onslaught of Western materialism, rising unemployment and inflation. As if that is not enough, they must also deal with layers of internal strife that tear at the soul of the church and hinder its evangelistic outreach. For example:

Politics

Pastors disagree over the extent to which accommodation with former Marxist authorities was justified. Since the East European revolutions of 1989, new Methodist superintendents have been elected in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria. In the case of Bulgaria, the change in leadership clearly involved the removal of a politically compromised superintendent. Earlier in Hungary, dissident Methodists, displeased by the extent of their church’s cooperation with the state, formed the Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship. This second Wesleyan denomination finally received government recognition in 1981.

Pentecostalism

In some Central and East European countries traditional Pentecostalism has helped to invigorate Methodist churches. Likewise, in a number of countries relations between Methodists and Pentecostals have been tolerable. Some Polish Methodist pastors come from Pentecostal ranks and the new Methodist superintendent of Czechoslovakia is charismatic.

However, in Macedonia (Yugoslavia) and Bulgaria relations between Methodists and Pentecostals are tense at best, stemming in part from Methodist charges of Pentecostal sheep-stealing. As post-Marxist governments debate the return of seized assets, Methodist-Pentecostal property disputes can become intense. The property question is further complicated in Bulgaria by many years of Marxist government manipulation which perpetuated a compromised, non-Methodist “bishop” as head of the Methodist Church. To this day a struggle continues between Bulgarian Methodists and Pentecostals for control of a number of Methodist sanctuaries, including the historic Long Memorial Methodist Church in Sofia.

Furthermore, Central and East European Methodists of all persuasions are wary of “health and wealth” prosperity theology which teaches that all true Christians will be blessed with good incomes and good health. As improbable as poor, polluted Eastern Europe would appear to be for the growth of this Pentecostal aberration, these teachings are causing divisions in Methodist ranks from Czechoslovakia to Estonia.

Theological Pluralism

As with pluralistic Western Methodism, the churches of Central and Eastern Europe face conflict between liberal and evangelical theology. Interestingly enough, Methodists in Central and Eastern Europe are more likely to be evangelical than are Methodists in Britain or the United States. This becomes increasingly apparent as one travels farther from former East Germany, which has been heavily influenced by German higher criticism of the Bible. Ironically, evangelical strength endures partly because, since 1945, most Central and East European Methodist pastors have been unable to obtain formal theological training, a common route to church liberalization in the West.

Hopeful Signs

Despite these difficulties, one can take heart from the valiant efforts of many individuals determined not to be overwhelmed by dispute and division.

• In Poland there are plans to convert a building next door to a Methodist church into the first evangelical primary school in that heavily Catholic country.
• Retired superintendent Adam Kuczma and Pastor Jerzy Markovsky carry out evangelistic campaigns and ministries of mercy across the Soviet border in Western Ukraine.
• Pastor Daniel Zajic has seen his Methodist church in Pilsen grow from 5 to 300 within the last few years, making it the largest Methodist congregation in Czechoslovakia.

Some of the most encouraging and heart-warming work is being done among Gypsies. In Hungary both the Methodist Church and the Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship are involved.

Also, a Methodist congregation of some 50 Gypsies has been established in Shumen, Bulgaria, by Pastor Simeon Popov, a victim of Marxist imprisonment who died just this past year.

In another instance, after being rebuffed by Muslims and Orthodox, spiritually searching Gypsies approached Pastor Kitan Petreski while he was serving at the Prilep Methodist Church in Macedonia, Yugoslavia. These mistrusted social outcasts feared they would be asked to leave the sanctuary, but Petreski told them, “Your soul is the same as my soul.” “Of course, our church accepted them,” he said. Today, thirty to fifty Gypsies worship regularly in their own service in Prilep and one of their leaders with a grade school education has applied for the ministry. Gypsies also worship at the Skopje Methodist Church where Pastor Petreski now serves, and in Voivodina, Yugoslavia.

What is to be Done?

This question served as the title for Lenin’s 1902 call-to-arms blueprinting a successful Marxist revolution. Today, Western Christians can ask the same question as we seek to assist believers in the East in reaching millions of their neighbors who are disillusioned with Marxism.

Six verbs summarize the possibilities: pray, read, give, visit, write, and serve. Prayer is no afterthought to effective Christian action; it, rather, is the fountain out of which flows effective witness and service. It also is the spiritual tie that binds our hearts in Christian love even across oceans. Estonian Methodist Superintendent Olav Parnamets was once asked by a Western visitor what was the single most important contribution Western believers could make to his church. This thoughtful shepherd, whose 900-member church has fewer material resources than many UM Sunday school classes in the United States, answered firmly, “Pray for us so that we will not feel that we are alone.”

In order to pray and prepare effectively for any responsible giving and service in East Central Europe, we need to read, and read widely: its history, culture, politics, and of course, the torturous path of church-state relations. (See sidebar.)

Systematic prayer and reading in tandem certainly contribute to responsible giving. And financial support for Central and East European ministry is an activity concerned Methodists should seriously consider. Wheaton’s East-West Institute has published an East European Missions Directory, listing literally hundreds of relevant para-church ministries. Perhaps even more important than the names and addresses is the directory’s introduction which details guidelines for judging organizational integrity and accountability. A recommended ministry with a heart for Central and East European Methodism is the Francis Asbury Society (PO Box 7, Wilmore, KY 40390). Also, expanding opportunities for direct giving to specific Central and East European Methodist Church needs may be pursued through annual listings of United Methodist Advanced Specials (available from the General Board of Global Ministries, United Methodist Church, 475 Riverside Dr., New York, NY 10115).

Firsthand visits for fellowship and fact finding provide an important means of encouragement for Central and East European Methodists. If not easy by Western standards, travel in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe certainly is easier today than just a few years ago. Border searches and confiscations, once common, now rarely occur. Christian literature, Sunday school audio-visuals, non-perishable food, and all manner of consumer goods make greatly appreciated gifts. At the same time, care must be taken that Western contributions do not foster dependency, so as not to humiliate recipients, and do not foster maverick “kingdoms” which undermine church leaders. Our attitude must be that we have at least as much to learn from Methodists who outlived Marxism as we have to give them.

United Methodists from the West with a heart for evangelism can also help Central and East European Methodists overcome a siege-mentality produced by decades of state hostility. Take note for example, of the spiritual outreach of attorney Joe Holland founder of Methodists in Mission to the Soviet Union, who has helped a tiny, remote Methodist congregation in Syktyvkar, capital of the Russian Republic’s Komi Autonomous Republic, launch a bold witness to representatives of the regional government, university leaders, and prison inmates.

Just as path-breaking has been the evangelistic efforts of Broadmoor United Methodist Church, (3715 Youree Dr., Shreveport, Louisiana 71105). Through visits to and from the Soviet Union, Pastor Dwight Ramsey and his congregation have been God’s human instruments in many conversions and in the establishment of a Methodist congregation in Sverdlovsk in the Russian Republic’s Ural Mountains. Pastors and laypeople with a vision for Central and Eastern Europe might write Joe Holland or Dwight Ramsey or they might invite them or other knowledgeable persons to speak in their churches.

Writing can be a valuable adjunct to person-to-person and church-to-church visits, but this outreach is more difficult to make meaningful apart from an opportunity for direct acquaintance. One exception is the possibility of becoming a pen pal with an East European English language student, either to encourage a believer or to share one’s faith with a nonbeliever.

Western Impact: For Good Or Ill?

A Jewish story from Yugoslavia tells of four angels who witnessed creation. The first angel observed God’s handiwork in awe and said, “Lord, your creation is beautiful! How did you do it?” The world view of a scientist. The second angel observed in awe and said, “Lord, your creation is beautiful! Why did you do it?” The world view of a philosopher. The third angel observed in awe and said, “Lord, your creation is beautiful! Can I have it?” The world view of a materialist. Finally, the fourth angel observed in awe and said, “Lord, your creation is beautiful! Can I help? The world view of God’s faithful.

Central and East European Methodists, who endured much at the hands of hostile Marxist regimes, now face in the era of glasnost an onslaught of Western “angels.” It is by no means certain which angels will prevail, those of mammon or those of the King of Kings.

Estonian Superintendent Parnamets was asked by a western reporter, “Is it easier to be a Christian in the West or in the Soviet Union?” After a studied pause, Parnamets replied that it was hard to judge. While Christians in the Soviet Union faced more outright persecution, Christians in the West faced more temptations. One has to wonder whether persecution or temptation is more of a threat to vital piety. Methodism in Central and Eastern Europe has outlived Marxism. Whether it will survive the questionable western influence of TV’s “Dallas,” health and wealth theology, and Playboy, remains to be seen. One thing is for sure, however, their survival depends in part upon the faithfulness of Wesley’s followers in the West.

Mark Elliott, a United Methodist, is professor of history and director of the Institute for East-West Christian Studies at Wheaton College. In 1991 he served with Rom Maczka as co-editor for Christian/Marxist Studies in United States Higher Education: A Handbook of Syllabi.

Resources To Stay Informed

Wheaton College’s Institute for East-West Christian Studies (Wheaton, IL 60187-5593) has produced a helpful guide to reading: Christianity and Marxism Worldwide: An Annotated Bibliography. Its recommendations should be supplemented by four titles released since this work was published: Kent Hill’s The Soviet Union on the Brink: An Inside Look at Christianity and Glasnost, 2nd ed., Multnomah; Michael Bourdeaux’s The Gospel’s Triumph Over Communism, Bethany House; Philip Walters’ World Christianity: Eastern Europe, MARC; and Bud Bultman’s Revolution by Candlelight, Multnomah.

Since no book can presently stay abreast of rapidly changing conditions in Central and Eastern Europe several serials are essential for keeping current on church developments: News Network International (in place of the now defunct Keston News Service, which will be sorely missed); Religion, State and Society: The Keston Journal (formerly Religion in Communist Lands); and Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe’s Report on the USSR and Report on Eastern Europe.

On Methodism, important background reading is the late Robert Wilson’s Biases and Blind Spots: Methodism and Foreign Policy Since World War II, Bristol House, Ltd., and the Asbury Theological Journal (Spring 1991): 5-47. Serials to glean include: The United Methodist Record/Reporter; the World Methodist Council’s World Parish; and the Ed Robb Evangelistic Association’s Challenge to Evangelism Today. —ME

Archive: The Passing of a Prophet

by Steve | Jul 25, 1991 | Archive - 1991

Archive: The Passing of a Prophet

By J. Wesley Bready

John Wesley’s final years were a prolonged and glorious evening, terminating in a golden sunset. If the face of the very young man had been ascetic, rigid, and slightly overbearing, that of the very old man was mellow, gracious, and beatific.

“Perfection” was the goal to which he long had aspired; and though he himself was acutely conscious of his shortcomings, the marks of his high aspiration were written unmistakably in the beauty and strength of his countenance and reflected unmistakably in the graciousness of his spirit and manner.

Resistance Wanes—Acceptance Grows

But ere the termination of his eightieth year, cloud and storm had well-nigh passed from his horizon and the veteran prophet moved largely in an atmosphere of serenity, veneration, and awe. Many who once had cursed him, now were praying for him. Not a few parsons who long had thundered against him from their pulpits, now were imploring him to preach from those same pulpits.

The stiff-necked, ecclesiastical and lay, continued to put on airs and expatiated on the “folly of enthusiasm” and the “madness of the masses.” But to multitudes Wesley finally was an honored and matchless prophet. The tide had turned. The latter years of the great evangelist’s itinerary were a series of triumphal tours. Commonly, as this veteran campaigner for God passed through towns and villages, the streets were lined with excited crowds gazing with stark admiration and wonder “as if the king were going by.” Clergymen—Nonconformist and Anglican—turned out everywhere to hear him preach. Even bishops stole sheepishly into his open-air congregations. The fury of the anti-Wesley mobs was no more.

His Vigor Remains

This patriarch-preacher’s virility as an octogenarian is one of the marvels of recorded history. Still he rose regularly at four in the morning, and generally he preached at five. Still his mental and physical powers matched, or all but matched, the vigor of his indomitable soul.

On his eighty-fifth birthday, he breaks forth in a typical strain: “What cause have I to praise God; as for a thousand spiritual blessings, so for bodily blessings also! I find some decay in my memory, with regard to names and things lately past; but not at all with regard to what I have read or heard twenty, forty, or sixty years ago. And I am not conscious of any decay in writing sermons; which I do as readily, and I believe as correctly, as ever.”

Wesley’s life extended into all the decades of the eighteenth century. To many of his followers it must have seemed incredible that ever he should leave them. His very person appeared to them the symbol and embodiment of all that was immortal. Yet the days even of holy men are numbered, and the sands of his life were fast running out. On Tuesday, February 22, 1791, he preached in the City Road Chapel and conferred with his leaders. But he was not well.

Up at four the following morning, he traveled to Leatherhead, where in the home of a magistrate he preached from the text, “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found.” It was his last sermon. On Thursday he visited an old friend, Mr. Woolf, at Balham. On Friday he was hurried back to his London rooms in the City Road, a stricken man. With difficulty he mounted the stairs to his chamber. Premonition told him he would mount those familiar stairs no more.

Immediately Bessie Ritchie had a blanket about him, and he was seated in an easy chair. Friends already were clustering around, desiring to serve him. Calmly and graciously, he bestowed upon them his blessing. Then, emphatically, he requested to be left alone. For at least half an hour, no one must enter his chamber — not even his faithful confidant Joseph Bradford or Dr. Whitehead, his physician.

The Prophet’s Reflections

For fifty-three years past, the central doctrine of Wesley’s preaching was that men are saved by faith; but the corollary of that doctrine he taught was that they would be judged by their works. And now he who had spent his long life in leading a nation to God, was himself about to stand before the eternal Judge. No sooner was the chamber door closed, than the deeper impressions of his life began to surge in rapid sequence across his mind. Time and space were gone.

Again a child of five, the old man felt himself a “brand plucked from the burning,” staring wildly from his rescuer’s arms to see the blazing roof of the Epworth parsonage crash into a furnace of flames. Again he heard his mother’s soft voice explaining to him the mysteries of the Spirit. “Your rescue from the fire, Jackie, was wrought by the hand of God. Providence has sealed you for His own!”

Charterhouse school … Oxford … the Holy Club loomed before him. Very sincere had been that band of legal zealots, struggling with monkish ardor to hammer out their salvation by ascetic habits and rites. Their faith was that of servants, not sons.

His mind sped on to Georgia … Sophy Hopkey–that capable, sprightly, lovely girl. Little had he understood her! … and his squabbles with his parishioners. The panorama swept back to England.

Then appeared Peter Bohler, with his tender patience and his quiet communion with Christ. “Preach faith till you have it!” implored the young Moravian missionary. Aye, Bohler’s example and advice had indeed been a lamp to his feet. For the thousandth time, he thanked God that the youthful pietist had crossed his path.

And now once more it was May 24, 1738, the day of his spiritual baptism, the day of his rebirth. Again he was with the little society in Aldersgate Street. The eternal glory and power of faith now flashed afresh as a mighty revelation athwart his soul. Anew, his heart was “strangely warmed,” and vividly he saw himself impelled to testify concerning the marvelous experience that there first filled his being. Struggles and difficulties were ahead; but worry, morbidity, corroding doubt—these (Heaven be praised!) were nightmares of the past. Sin still would tempt him, but never again could it conquer him. A new Power possessed him. Henceforth, he knew himself an approved ambassador of God.

And now, as his life’s work really began, the Church that had ordained him, began to disown him. “Go hence!” was Bishop Butler’s advice. “Pretending” to any special guidance of the Holy Spirit was “a horrid thing—a very horrid thing.”

It was George Whitefield who cast down the barriers. His open-air preaching to the disinherited had illumined the example and revealed the will of Christ. The brooding man now saw himself preaching on the Horse Fair, Bristol. A national crusade had been forced upon him. Thenceforth, the marketplace, the town common, and the open field were to him the temple of God.

Once more he saw the mobs “raging as lions”; sticks and stones again were hurtling round his head. “Satan was fighting furiously for his kingdoms.” But how the arm of the Lord had been revealed! What wondrous deliverances had he known! Even mob leaders had turned defenders and friends.

Abruptly the chambers of memory opened upon the itinerant and local preachers, upon the class leaders and teachers of the crusade. They now were to be numbered in thousands, “a cloud of witnesses” to the redeeming power of grace. Ah, the ways of God put the pride and snobbery of man to shame.

His memories glided on to America. Where he had failed, Whitefield had prepared the way for his disciples. Oh, the encouraging letters from Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke! In ten years the preaching circuits within the young republic had increased fivefold. He himself had hoped to visit America again, but well had his place been filled.

Soon came a group of old friends. Whitefield—dear George! With what holy abandon had he placed his life on the altar of God! “Oh, the tragedy,” thought the brooding man aloud, “that ever we had bickered. As though any creed or doctrine could encompass the wisdom or ways of God. Ah, here our hearts were purged, but hereafter our brains also will be purged.”

And brother Charles. Already his hymns were proving a blessing in the far-flung ends of the earth. And Lady Selina. She, too, had been wondrously used. And Fletcher, the saintly John Fletcher. Wesley had preached “Perfection”; but Fletcher had come nearer to its attainment than he. Even in controversy that gracious, godly man had breathed but only tender love toward his adversaries.

And England. True, the Revival had made religion once more vital and God, through Christ, both personal and real. But England’s need of spiritual vision was still great. The poor. How misunderstood were the poor! How neglected and how abused. And the African slaves. Their appalling wrongs cried aloud to Heaven for redress! Oh, man’s inhumanity to man! Yet, God be thanked, the national conscience was gradually, if slowly, awakening. Something approaching a moral revolution was under way.

But hark. The brooding, stricken man roused himself as from slumber. The great clock was striking. His half-hour of solitude was more than up. Someone was vigorously tapping on the door. Wesley’s musing ceased.

A Grace-Filled Death

The veteran preacher’s end was wholly beautiful. In death, as in life, Wesley’s example was one not only of spiritual triumph, but of continued fellowship with the poor. Often had he prayed, “Lord let me wear out, not rust out! Let me not live to be useless.” That prayer was literally fulfilled. Though in the ninth month of his eighty-eighth year he was preaching and writing even into his last week on earth. And now, on his deathbed, he called out, “Where is my sermon on ‘The Love of God?’ Take it and spread it abroad. Give it to everyone.” Then he broke into song.

But the strength of his body was being spent. Long periods of sleep ensued. Once or twice as the fever reached its zenith, he was wafted into a gentle delirium, and imagined himself preaching to the multitude or conferring with his preachers. As the fever waned his countenance would kindle and his eyes sparkle, and he would bid his friends, “pray and praise.” No murmur, no complaint escaped his lips. With the humility of saintliness, several times he cried:

“I the chief of sinners am,

But Jesus died for me.”

The lines, however, which focused his consciousness, and which again and again he sang, were:

“I’ll praise my Maker while I’ve breath,

And when my voice is lost in death,

Praise shall employ my nobler powers.”

On the evening preceding his translation, he smiled benignly on all about him, and with great effort, raising his hand, exclaimed calmly and clearly, “The best of all is, God is with us!” Instinctively all present fell on their knees, and as Joseph Bradford led in prayer, the holy man’s soul without struggle or groan sped forth to the spirit center of the kingdom of God—the kingdom which had provided the inspiration and the dynamic for his abundant labors on earth. In death his countenance reflected the supreme gladness of his exultant soul. A winsome smile enwreathed his face.

Thus, the man who had preached more than 45 thousand sermons, who had traveled (mostly on horse-back) a distance equivalent to nine times round the world, who had written 233 books and pamphlets, and helped with the writing of fully 100 more—the “grand old man” and noblest prophet of the English-speaking world—passed to his long home. No sooner was his spirit released, than those who had come to rejoice with him, burst into an anthem of praise.

The Witness of Wesley’s Funeral

Among Wesley’s funeral instructions was the request that his body be buried in nothing more costly than wool. No silk or satin was to adorn the corpse from which his spirit had fled. And his last will and testament gave final seal to the gospel he had so long and so courageously preached. “Whatever remains in my bureau and pockets at my decease,” he directed, was to be equally divided among four poor itinerants, whom he named. Then came a clause expressive both of his solicitude for the unemployed and of his efforts for funeral reform. He specially requested that neither hearse nor coach take any part in his funeral, and he desired that six poor men in need of employment be given a pound each to carry his body to the grave.

For several days, Wesley’s body lay in state in his City Road Chapel, where multitudes filed silently by, each reverently pausing a moment over the now cold, lifeless face, which so often they had seen aflame with a living fire, divine. Thousands in that multitude shed tears as they thought of all they owed to him who, in the deepest sense, was their “father in God.” But to avoid any final blockade the actual hour of interment was kept secret to the inner circle. The funeral on that memorable winter’s morning was conducted by torchlight and was concluded before dawn of day.

Dr. Whitehead, his faithful medical adviser and loyal disciple, delivered the funeral address; an itinerant preacher performed the last rites. The solemn comrades looking on knew well that “Earth to earth, ashes to ashes,” referred only to the body. Wesley already was in the land of the immortals, where always he will occupy a foremost place among the world’s worthiest leaders of men. “Do you think we shall see John Wesley in heaven?” once inquired an over-aggressive Calvinist of Whitfield. “I fear not,” replied the fellow evangelist, musing. “No, he will be so near the throne, and we at such a distance, that we shall hardly get a glimpse of him.”

Though this great gentleman and mighty prophet died without material estate, he nevertheless left behind him a heritage which has enriched beyond computation the real and abiding wealth of all mankind. For if spiritual values and spiritual attainments be the ultimate standard of greatness, few greater than this little English preacher have yet trodden the earth; and none greater has spoken the English tongue.

Reprinted with permission of Macmillan Publishing Company from England: Before and After Wesley—The Evangelical Revival and Social Reform, by J. Wesley Bready: Russell & Russell Publishers, New York, 1971.

Archive: Slaying the Dragon of Fear

by Steve | Jul 25, 1991 | Archive - 1991

Archive: Slaying the Dragon of Fear

By Ann Coker

I should have been sound asleep! Tomorrow would be a very busy, but special day. Instead, I was wide awake, thinking. No, the right word is worrying. The special occasion was the wedding of our daughter’s best friend and the wedding party, including our son and daughter, was out having some fun before the big day. That sounds innocent enough, but I envisioned recklessness, with some of the party getting hurt on the way back to the motel where we were staying. I thought of all that could happen to these young people as I temporarily lost sight of the Lord’s faithfulness. Fear kept me awake, worrying.

Fear paralyzes—emotionally, mentally, physically.

What is the remedy? There’s only one. Faith. Faith has power to sustain because of the One on whom it rests. For Christians, faith rests ultimately in God; He is our sure foundation. But how does one cross the bridge from fear to faith? Over the years I have discovered a simple formula: An increased knowledge about the character of God yields faith. This seems a bit simplistic, but it summarizes how the Lord has moved me from fear to faith through some difficult times. ‘The formula may be simple, but the process has not been easy. Why we tend to learn our faith lessons the hard way I don’t know, but most of us do. While my struggles may be different from those you have experienced, the process and lessons are similar. I have learned much more about God and myself through my experiences with fear than through psychological or medical discussions.

At one point in my life I was having trouble dealing with my emotions; they were too near the surface. I sought medical help, but the medication simply canceled my emotions. I couldn’t get a handle on the problem. Time and again I walked myself through the 139th Psalm: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts” (v.23). In other words, Lord, tell me what’s the matter. He didn’t wait long to respond. Returning home from the grocery one day, I drove the car into the garage, locked the garage door and fumbled for my keys to unlock the house. I thought, “My, how I hate to lock and unlock everything.” Then it hit me: my problem was a lack of security. The Lord had answered my question and made me aware of my overwhelming need for trust. Now I could deal with it, and I knew I had begun to learn my lesson when one morning I opened the front door to get the newspaper and found our daughter’s set of keys with the house key still in the lock. Instead of being upset, I laughed out loud, and said “Thank you, Lord.” It was a beginning.

After moving to Indiana, we prayed that our former house would be sold to someone who needed a home in just that location. Months came and went with no prospects. One evening my husband commented, “You know, the Lord doesn’t owe us the sale of our house.” That insight changed the focus of my prayers and taught me much about the relationship between a good God and His people. My attention changed from what God could do for me to who He is.

We sing the chorus: “God is so good; God is so good; God is so good. He’s so good to me.” Wait! God is not good because He does good things for me. Rather, God does good things for me because He is good. The difference affects my attitude.

We do not ascribe goodness to God due to His performance. Goodness is essential to God’s character; His nature is goodness. God is good.

In her book, The God of All Comfort, Hannah Whitall Smith said it well: “A great many things in God’s divine providences do not look like goodness to the eye of sense … But faith sits down before mysteries such as these, and says, ‘The Lord is good, therefore all He does must be good, no matter how it looks, and I can wait for His explanations.’”

While I was trying to learn this lesson, the bottom fell out. My little corner of the world was shaken; changes occurred so rapidly that I began to focus on the circumstances around me. Our future plans were uncertain. Our daughter announced her engagement, yet we had depleted our savings because of the unsold house. My doctor had advised surgery to alleviate a long-standing physical condition. My faith was not adequate for the circumstances. Fears about travel, health, finances, and ministry made me numb, and the resulting paralysis of fear showed up in the ways I acted and reacted in daily living. The slightest decisions, even about what to eat, were most difficult to make.

Again, the Lord spoke to my need through Scripture. While reading the list in Revelation 21 of those who would taste of the second death, one group stood out—and it headed the list of murderers, idolaters, and liars (v.8). It was the cowardly and the fearful who would not be among those inheriting eternal life. I did not want to be a coward and miss out on life. Psalm 38 described me quite well—folly, numbness, ill health, feelings hard to express. Was there a cure? I read on: “I confess my iniquity; I am full of anxiety because of my sin” (v.18). At once I confessed my anxiety, my fear, as sin. Then God did His work: “I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4).

I found this to be the first step in moving from fear to faith—admitting fear as sin, confessing it to God and receiving His forgiveness. Faith cannot rule unless fear is dealt this fatal blow.

Moses was afraid and doubted himself when he asked God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh?” (Exodus 3:11) God responded by giving Moses His name, “I AM WHO I AM … Thus you will say, I AM has sent me to you” (v.14). It is God’s resounding “I AM” that drowns out our weak “I can’t.” As people react with fear, God responds with assurance. Note the contrast, not only in the meaning of words but in relationship. Fear and a sense of “I can’t” center on ourselves; faith and assurance are built upon the character of God and who He is. Note the familiar 23rd Psalm, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil [harm]; for Thou art with me” (v.4). Walking without fear is possible because of God’s presence. “When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Thy consolations delight my soul” (Psalm 94:19). Again, it’s a matter of changing the focus from ourselves to God, who is completely trustworthy. The by-product of slaying the dragon of fear is receiving God’s peace. I am reminded of the promise in Philippians 4:6-7, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and sup­plication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Our daughter’s wedding plans began to unfold. The Lord provided one need after another, increasing her faith—a gift we could not have given her from a savings account. Because no risk was involved, I postponed surgery indefinitely. But I still had to deal with our future plans for ministry. I became anxious once again.

I dealt with feelings of inadequacy and asked myself, “Do I want to be that vulnerable to hurt again?” For days I repeated this question to myself. Then God spoke with definite assurance. Yes, I am inadequate for my circumstances, and I can’t project how I’ll handle the future. What matters, though, is that God is adequate. The sovereign, almighty God is there in my future, the same yesterday, today and forever. He is not “I Was” or “I Will Be,” but He is the great I AM.

In his book My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers provides an incisive commentary on Romans 8:35, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”:

God does not keep a man immune from trouble; He says—”I will be with him in trouble.” It does not matter what actual troubles in the most extreme form get hold of a man’s life, not one of them can separate him from his relationship to God. We are “more than conquerors in all these things.” Paul is not talking of imaginary things, but of things that are desperately actual; and he says we are super-victors in the midst of them, not by our ingenuity, or by our courage, or by anything other than the fact that not one of them affects our relationship to God in Jesus Christ.

I am different because of lessons learned about fear. A new freedom released me to be myself in Christ. A new trust level enables me to turn circumstances over to the Lord more easily. Situations may be out of my control, but I can control how I react internally and externally. God supplies the inward peace and He also makes me more sensitive to the hurts of others. Realizing my own struggles, I know that others travel similar paths and need to move from fear to faith.

Increased faith comes from a greater knowledge of God and His character, and that only comes through the study of His Word. One study in particular was helpful to me. In carefully researching the question “Who is like the Lord our God?” (Psalm 113:5), I found answers in such scriptures as Exodus 15:11-13; Isaiah 44:6-8; 46:5,9; 57:15; Jeremiah 10:6-16; II Samuel 7:22; 22:32-33; and Philippians 2:5-11. Explore these verses yourself; find others; prepare a catalog on the character of God. These will become a stronghold when fear threatens your faith in God.

At the first onset of fear, beware. Change your focus from yourself and your circumstances, to God and His great love. Let your prayers be spoken out of faith rather than fear, because even in the worst of circumstances, God is there. And if God is there, His great love is there also.

Oswald Chambers gives further commentary on Paul’s question, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”:

“Shall tribulation …? “Tribulation is never a noble thing; but let tribulation be what it may—exhausting, galling, fatiguing, it is not able to separate us from the love of God. Never let cares or tribulations separate you from the fact that God loves you. “Shall anguish … ?”—can God’s love hold when everything says that His love is a lie, and that there is no such thing as justice? …

 

Either Jesus Christ is a deceiver and Paul is deluded, or some extraordinary thing happens to a man who holds on to the love of God when the odds are all against God’s character. Logic is silenced in the face of every one of these things. Only one thing can account for it—the love of God in Christ Jesus.

From that night in the motel to the present, God has been doing a marvelous work in me. He has taught me to exchange my restlessness and fear for His peace.

He is faithful—and He is good.

Ann L. Coker is a pastor’s wife, freelance editor, and has four children and eight grandchildren. She was previously a part of the Good News editorial staff.

Archive: Dreaming a Church into Reality

by Steve | Jul 24, 1991 | Archive - 1991

Archive: Dreaming a Church into Reality

By Joe A. Harding & Ralph W. Mohney

Sundo Kim is a man with a vision. Years ago, the congregation was located in a building surrounded by factories and industrial buildings. A few miles away on the other side of the Han River, great high-rise buildings were being constructed to house the exploding population of Seoul. Dr. and Mrs. Kim began to search for property for a new church building to serve people where they were living.

The Kims found an ideal site for the new church in a pear orchard that literally was surrounded by buildings of the new city. Inquiries revealed that the property was not for sale. It was held by several members of a family that was not interested in the church. The Kims were not discouraged by the owners’ unwillingness to sell. Day after day they returned to the old pear orchard to kneel in the mud and pray. This continued for 30 days. They prayed that God would bless them with guidance so that they could have leadership in building a church that would glorify God and share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

After praying for 30 days, Kim went back to the owners of the property. They were still unwilling to sell. On Sunday morning, Kim shared his vision with the entire Kwang Lim congregation. The people’s hearts were touched by the vision of reaching unchurched persons for Jesus Christ in this new location. Kim invited members of the church to join him marching around the property, praying that God would help them in their mission. Members responded. They gathered on the vacant lot and began to march around the property, praying and singing as they marched. Like Joshua and the people of Israel of old, they dared to believe that the impossible could be accomplished.

Something happened! The owners suddenly reconsidered their refusal to sell. Disgruntled family members had changed their minds. Now the family was in total agreement to sell the property at a favorable price to the church.

The dream has grown beyond anyone’s expectations. Now, a beautiful new sanctuary with an excellent educational building stands on the site of the old pear orchard.

The Kwang Lim congregation has a dynamic ministry, paying pastors’ salaries in Poland and in other eastern European countries. Ministries have expanded to China, Japan, and the United States. Every year hundreds of pastors come to Kwang Lim for a spiritual renewal experience in a “Vision and Growth Seminar.” The Kwang Lim worship service is broadcast not only across Korea, but also to Hawaii and the western portion of the United States.

A young convert from Buddhism said to a visiting pastor from the United States, “I am so happy since I found this church. My friend invited me. I never knew about Jesus. I invited Jesus into my heart. I have found a new life in Jesus Christ.” The Kwang Lim congregation is an exciting demonstration of the power of yesterday’s dreams and visions that have become today’s realities.

Reprinted with permission from Vision 2000: Planning for Ministry into the Next Century (Discipleship Resources).

Archive: Seoul’s Burning Bush

by Steve | Jul 23, 1991 | Archive - 1991

Archive: Seoul’s Burning Bush

What’s Their Secret?

By Carroll Ferguson Hunt

Our tour group of Westerners cowered against the wall at the top of the stairs, intimidated by the pushing, chattering throng of Koreans pouring past us. Even though for days we had inched through Seoul’s gridlock traffic in our van, confronting a solid river of people face-to-multiplied-faces was something else again—and outside Sunday school rooms of a Methodist church yet?

Our circuits crackled on overload.

But this is no ordinary Methodist church. We were visiting Seoul’s Kwang Lim Church, one of world Methodism’s largest, with 50,000 constituents, 4 Sunday worship services, 6,000 people attending Tuesday Bible studies, multiple choirs and orchestras, plus 60 teenage Sunday school classes—whose members were keeping the timid visitors’ backs to the wall.

How can all this be? Why, in this secular, materialistic era when Methodism is declining, are the halls, the pews, the prayer meetings, and the offering baskets overflowing in Kwang Lim Methodist Church?

As soon as the stairway traffic reduces to negotiable numbers at the 11:00 a.m. service, we were ushered to front rows in the balcony and handed earphones through which we receive simultaneous English translation. (The bulletin says they also offer Japanese on another channel.)

As we look around we see people rapidly filling the bright and warm 5,000-seat sanctuary. Masses of elegantly arranged flowers frame the huge wooden pulpit and crown the altar behind it. Orchestra members surreptitiously tune their instruments during the organ prelude and every seat in the choir section is filled.

Worship proceeds through components familiar to most Christians; hymns, Scripture, responsive reading, prayers. But if you sit quietly with your ears and eyes open, with all your antennae operating, you can sense a focus, a participation by the congregation not always present in average Sunday morning crowds. As you turn over in your mind the immensity of this church and its incredible success in ministering to thousands of Seoulites and other Koreans around the world, one question demands an answer. Why? What is so special here? What’s their secret?

Pastor Sundo Kim had Malachi 3:7-12 read earlier, and as he begins his message on “The Important Lessons of Stewardship,” heads drop throughout the auditorium. You wonder, Has he lost them? Do they resent harangues about money just like we do?

Look again. People are not dozing nor inspecting their fingernails. They are looking up the Scriptures Pastor Kim refers to and taking notes on what he says about tithing. They’re even saying “Amen!”

Pastor Kim believes in his topic. “If you don’t tithe,” he says, “you are not a whole Christian.” The points of his sermon are simple and clear: 1. The Bible teaches us to tithe; 2. Tithing is practical; 3. Tithing brings blessing.

Basic stuff, wouldn’t you say?

“Ministers who don’t preach on tithing impoverish their people,” Kim asserts, and this is the sole time all year that he preaches on tithing. He makes no idyllic prosperity promises to his people, just cites God’s blessing of those who obey Him.

Does this approach work? You only have to look around you. Kwang Lim Church lacks for no good thing. State-of-the-art sound and video equipment, four-building church complex, mountain prayer retreat center, domestic and foreign mission projects, 22 associate pastors. Seventy percent of this church’s members tithe—without signing a pledge.

“Just do it,” Kim tells them. Basic, yes, but with a twist. A trust twist, if you will. Trust God to provide needed income by stimulating His people to do what He tells them to.

How does one, even a seasoned Christian leader like Sundo Kim, learn this kind of trust? What are his spiritual secrets?

Like so many Korean Christians, Kim’s spiritual formation centers on prayer. His daily prayer time stretches from 4:30 to 6:30 each morning. Saturdays he spends at Kwang Lim’s prayer retreat center, the “prayer mountain,” a concept and practice common among Korean Christians. There he prays and prepares for the four Sunday services, returning home at midnight.

Every part of Kim’s ministry is soaked in prayer. When Kwang Lim’s $7.5 million prayer center was only an idea burning inside his head, Kim prayed, expecting God to provide it all. Then, in trust, he bought land on a mountain slope an hour out of Seoul. Now among the rocks and pine trees sprawls a complex with a brick, stone, and glass auditorium that can seat 5,000, and facilities to feed and sleep 800 people.

Huge numbers, however, do not dominate the purposes of Kwang Lim ‘s prayer mountain. Scattered about the grounds are kneeling benches for private prayer. Tiny prayer cells, 104 of them, are private places with warning lights outside and doors that once closed can only be opened from the inside. Obviously, the center was designed for serious intercession.

But intercession is not the only Christian discipline in action at Kwang Lim’s prayer mountain. Pastor Kim takes one month each year for training church staff, plus deacons, elders, area leaders, evangelists; 3,360 of them, in fact.

“Without training we cannot have good leaders,” Kim asserts. Coaching his leadership staff is a priority in Kim’s ministry. In the most recent session, he talked to them about setting goals for their ministry.

“Back when our church had only 200 members,” he told them, “I set a goal of 1,000. People laughed at me and said ‘Impossible!’ But as soon as we reached 1,000, I aimed for 2,000.”

Kim’s audience listens carefully; he knows whereof he speaks since the church embraces a constituency of 50,000. “We know where we’re going,” he says. And he cites Jesus’ teaching in Luke 14:28-35 about planning. “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost…?” (NIV).

“Make a plan,” Kim tells his leadership team. “Set priorities.” Then he tells them how, and outlines the steps by means of his overhead projector.

After Kim’s lectures and after each Kwang Lim leader writes out his or her goals, sharing them with a small cluster of co-workers, they all receive communion together. As they celebrate the Savior, Pastor Kim prays for them individually, committing each one to the Lord and dedicating them to their assigned ministry.

Why does any church, even one this large, require 3,360 workers? One reason is in response to one of Kim’s tenets: “Kwang Lim may have 50,000 constituents, but it is not a big church. It is a collection of small churches. “Even small churches need leaders and if you have a collection of them—100, say—the number mounts of those responsible for nurture of each flock. And when Kim talked to his leadership team about turning goals into action he cites “prayer, visitation, development of friendships, discovery of non-Christian neighbors.” Why? To tell them about Jesus. To evangelize.

Deacons and elders, lots of them, are a way of life in Korean churches. At Kwang Lim they take their responsibilities seriously. So do the Sunday school teachers and workers, and Bible study leaders for small groups which may never grow larger than 10 participants. This restriction means there are now 400 such groups.

Kwang Lim’s constituency, members, catechists, inquirers—are divided into 17 areas. Each area is shepherded by an evangelist and three Bible women who visit and counsel and love the 1,000 families of their flock. Numerous Wesley-style class meetings meet on Friday nights in each area and this is the blueprint for lay evangelism. Christians of the Kwang Lim fellowship find it easy to invite their non-believing neighbors to a small, warm group meeting in their home, and their neighbors find it easy to accept such an invitation—a common practice among most Korean believers.

This is why, as the 11 o’clock service draws to a close, we see several people move from their seats toward the front of the auditorium. Dr. Kim has called for all new believers to meet him in front of the pulpit. The congregation applauds as ten or a dozen individuals cluster around the pastor to receive his greeting and a small gift from the church. They, by this public appearance, tell God and their world that they are beginning training for baptism and embarking on the Christian way.

As we watch that small band of men and women who have begun their first steps onto the Christian way, as we see pleasure and embarrassment merge on their faces at this public attention, what secrets for success have we learned from Pastor Kim and Kwang Lim Church?

First, we see that Jesus, God’s Son, is Lord here, and that a personal relationship to Him underlies all else. Second, we know that Pastor Kim trains his huge leadership team with care and devotion. Third, we know that Bible study, prayer, and tithing are normal disciplines for the people of Kwang Lim Church, as is evangelism among their neighbors, friends, and family.

People come from across the globe to query Sundo Kim about the success of Kwang Lim (which, incidentally, means “Burning Bush”) Church. They discover as they look and listen that the practices and principles upheld by Kim and his astonishing congregation are the simple tenets of biblical Christianity instead of some new formula they hoped to find and copy at home.

Instead of unwrapping a new secret for success created by a clever leader, we who want to know how he does it are led to the foot of the cross and told to look into the face of the Savior; then follow Him.

Why It Works!

by Carroll Ferguson Hunt

Christians from all over the world make pilgrimages to Seoul to learn from Dr. Sundo Kim and his Kwang Lim Church. No one, it seems, comes away unaffected by what is seen and observed there.

Frank Warden, author and corporate president of Trinity Bible Studies, pastors two churches near El Paso, Arkansas and has visited Kwang Lim several times where his Trinity Studies are used. He speaks of the Korean congregation’s “enthusiasm in worship,” which he found especially affecting one Sunday morning when 4,000 new members joined the church fellowship.

“The people are enthusiastic about Christ and the church,” he says. “They are Christ centered and Bible centered. It is a most amazing worship experience. A hush drops, and especially during prayer there is a sense of holiness.”

George Hunter III, Dean of Asbury Theological Seminary’s E. Stanley Jones School of Mission and Evangelism and church growth leader, discovered during his visit to Korea that “the Kwang Lim Church is an outstanding example of a church growing through meeting people’s needs; its preaching, group life, and teaching are all need-oriented. Also, they grow because they plan for growth, which is an important part of their long-range strategy.”

Anyone who visits Kwang Lim and other Korean churches, large and small, can not ignore the emphasis on prayer which permeates Christian living there. A delegation of Chinese pastors and lay leaders from Hong Kong went home determined to develop monthly all-night prayer meetings to fuel the growth and spiritual development they hunger for. American and Japanese Christian leaders carry away similar commitments when they see what can happen when God’s people pray.

Terry Faris, member of the UM Kentucky Conference for 23 years, visited Pastor Kim in Seoul and heard him discuss the secret of growth at Kwang Lim Church. Kim opened the door to a small room, his prayer closet, and said to Faris, “Here is the secret…I meet God before I meet people.”

Faris returned to apply Kim’s secret to his own ministry. “I had a junk closet off my office that was full of old bulletins and reports, but after visiting Korea I asked the custodian to clear it out and build a prayer closet.

“Our congregation also added a couple of early morning prayer meetings—on Tuesdays and Sundays at 6 a.m., whereas before we only had a Friday morning men’s prayer time. They’re well attended, too!”