Information Related to "Conviction or Preference?"
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Ten
years ago my good friend Randy Stiver sent me an e-mail message letting
me know that he had just resigned from his job as pastor of several congregations
in Oregon. His decision was based on biblical convictions that he simply
wouldn't compromise. As a Star Trek fan, he summarized his action
as the Klingon character Worf might have put it: "It was a good day to
die." In the lead article for this issue, Randy uses the same concept
in telling the story of Custer's last stand.
The personal stand Randy took a decade ago was one that I and many fellow ministers were also taking. The reason was simple. The leadership of the church organization we were part of was forbidding us to teach what we had believed and taught for years. Although we tried to resolve our differences in a peaceful manner, in the end we had no choice but to compromise our long-held beliefs or resign.
It was time to apply the early apostles' simple but profound declaration: "We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29). We were being tested as to whether our beliefs were really convictions or only preferences.Based on our conviction to obey God, we left our former organization and continued the faith and work of the Church by founding the United Church of God, an International Association—publisher of Vertical Thought.
We began with no fiscal assets—only our convictions of the truth God had revealed to His people. Over the past 10 years it has been gratifying to see how God has steadily blessed our efforts. This magazine you are reading is a product of courage to hold onto one's spiritual convictions and the subsequent blessing from God for doing so.
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