Those of you that are reading from MN, if you’re finding out from this post, I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to call you yet.

I won’t be around for a few days as I am going to visit family and friends in Minnesota. I look forward to getting out of town and enjoying the time. There’s been a lot going on and I need a vacation. I also plan on taking next Saturday to be alone without a computer. I’m not sure where I’ll go, but I imagine I’ll end up driving for a long time. I enjoy that quite a bit.

I’ve been comparing quotes lately, and I have to say the entire thing makes me sad. So, here is my one and only time of saying this:

I Told You So.

I’m not saying this to everyone, but if you feel a bit offended by that expression – I am talking to you.

I asked in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, “What are we going to do about this guy?”. So far, there has been one couple leading a church that chose to speak out – they have now left the ICC. There has been one group of elders that went to Portland to talk to him. One person has personally visited churches all over in order to counter ‘old thinking’, and I applaud that. The world-wide “teachers” have written papers as is their perchant to do. I have written a bunch of things as I am want to do. Other than that, though, nothing has been done. The problem with want the so-called teachers and I have done is that we can look back on a huge volume of literature and convince ourselves that we actually did something, when in fact, we have not. We have basically spoken to an audience that is already predisposed to listen to us.

Meanwhile, there is no sadness or outrage at the folks who are going to Portland to “see why they’re so different”. Didn’t this happen back in 1979? Haven’t we seen the effects of this? Even icocinfo.org has pointed out from its membership analysis that issues with retention rates are much larger than the events of the past two years. I would say that the issues started after the effects of years of the works mentality treadmill in the early 80s. There is evidence that the retention rates were low as early as 1987.

Don’t get me wrong, I am pro-health and pro-grace. I am not anti-growth. The difference to me is similar to the differences between the Purpose Driven Church and the Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. I find that both stances are equally useful, especially having just been through 40 Days of Purpose.

However, the line has been drawn and it is called a doctrinal difference. Have we become so compliant that we do not take it seriously?

Maybe some feel like Stephen Crane when he said:

I keep wanting to throw stones at the temple. But there is no temple and there are no stones.

I can understand that feeling. However, I believe that there are things that can be done, the issue seems to be finding those willing to do them. Applying our current methodology to the Civil Rights Movement, we would still have “White Only” fountains, but we could look at decades of written material indirectly denouncing the practices of segregation, but pointing out positive change in that the military is desegregated. Meanwhile, the South would still have poll taxes, Jim Crow laws, racial purity laws, and the like. The voices clamoring for peace would inherently be tolerating these unjust and unrighteous actions, all in the name of attempting change “behind the scenes”. Change by doing what? Writing a letter to the President? It took brave men, with personal faults, to make peaceful demonstrations. It took the application of pressure on the powers that were. Why does anyone think that real change can be accomplished in less direct, unconfrontational manner? Again, the one side believes this is a matter of salvation and doctrine. If this were simply a difference of opinion, then all my previous rhetoric would be pointless exaggeration – freedom in Christ allows us to agree to disagree. This is more serious, though, it is false doctrine.

There’s more I want to say, but why bother? Some will write and say that I am taking things to an extreme. Others will write and say that this isn’t strong enough. A third group will be uncomfortable that there is no room to be in the middle and comment appropriately. Personally, I am tired of it. We missed our chance for real change. We sat around and did nothing. Solomon said, “Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions. ” (Eccl 7:10). But this is what appears to be happening in some places, and they are flying to Portland to be a part of these old days. Don’t think so? Look for the phrases “back on track” or “back to the mission”: it betrays a mentality that considers the ‘old days’ better than our present circumstances.

As someone that faces the challenges of leading a group of people, I can certainly identify with a yearning for a time when things were better, I have done it myself. It was easier when we all believed the same thing. It was easier when we were all on the same mission to reach the world. It was easier when I could suggest a passage to someone and they didn’t ask for chapter, verse, and immediate context. It was easier when we had answers to so many issues, and it was definitely easier when we were studying the Bible with two or three people at a time.

But it didn’t make it right just because it was easier. All it did was make things easier.

So, as I said, I’m off to Minnesota. I need the rest and the encouragement.