Chernobyl, "Wormwood", and Prophecy

      Within Christianity, and especially amongst Pentecostals, there has always been an intense interest in any present or future event which could be identified as a marker or clue that we are approaching the climax of the human age as we know it. Naturally, the primary source for prophetic utterances for the church community is the Bible. Within the Bible are several Old Testament books which deal heavily in prophecy, much of it geared toward Israel and its centuries-old struggle for survival. Many of these prophecies we have lived to see fulfilled even in this modern age. 

      What piques the interest of many church goers these days are prophecies concerning what we euphemistically call “the end of the world,” although it is far from that. Most of the clues concerning this time frame are found in the last book of the Bible, Revelation. Interestingly, when we think of Revelation, we think its primary purpose is to reveal the events of the end time, but John the Revelator, the author of the book, entitled his tome “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” in the first verse, indicating that the experiences he would described, although they would offer a chronology of events leading toward the end, were designed primarily to reveal to the world the true power and majesty of Jesus Christ. 

       Replete with imageries, metaphors, analogies, similes, visions, and colorful descriptions of cataclysmic events, the book of Revelation has been a source of intense discussion, controversy, and argument for centuries. Nowhere else in the Scriptures has interpretation of verses been so varied, and conclusions so jumbled as has been in the hosts of analyses of Revelation. I must confess to you…usually when the subject turns to prophecy and future events, I tend to get a little bored. It’s not that I have no concern, it’s just that I have found that people who are really into the study of prophecy tend to be like Republicans and Democrats, conservative and liberals, or Keynesian and Smith economists. They are dead set in their opinions, and to them, every scripture of prophecy is crystal clear in its meaning and there is neither negotiation nor compromise. My personal contention (and of course I won’t compromise, either) is that there is very little that is crystal clear in politics or economics…and especially prophecy. An additional reason I tend to breeze through prophecy is that I feel if a person maintains an active relationship with God, He has promised He will see us though every problem. So, whatever may come in the future, He has already said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the earth.” 

      The late Rev. Ervin Baxter was a renowned student of prophecy. Rev. Baxter had delved into Revelation for the better part of forty years and had developed a tremendous following because of his astute analyses of the events of biblical prophecy. He was analytical, thorough, articulate, and made his presentations in a manner that grabbed your attention and yet drove home the primary point that our first priority as living souls is to ensure that we have a relationship with God. Not just knowledge or awareness, but true personal communion with the Almighty. His subject for one of his seminars was “The Seven Trumpets” as described in Revelations 8-11. Another confession on my part: I had not read too much about the seven trumpets, so being a good servant, I decided to do a little homework in preparation for the lesson. I was surprised when, after looking at several reference discussions of Revelation, the consensus was the seven trumpets, each signifying a catastrophic event, were expected to occur sometime after the tribulation period, but no commentator was willing to hazard what each one meant. The plot thickened when Brother Baxter offered his take on the subject. 

      Rev. Baxter was a somewhat familiar face as he approached the podium. Especially since I subscribed to his weekly online newsletter where he gave analyses of current news which were a lot more astute than some I heard on CNN and FOX. Quickly getting into the subject at hand, the Seven Trumpets, he began to offer evidence that perhaps the seven trumpets as described in Revelations would not occur in rapid succession at the end time, but perhaps had already begun, starting with the first trumpet prophesying the events of the First World War, and the second trumpet describing the Second World War. I thought these were novel ideals, but he was able to offer some backup evidence, such as the second trumpet describing a conflict where one-third of the ships were sunk. Coincidentally, in WWII, out of over 100,000 ships from all the nations involved in the conflict, almost exactly one-third were sunk in combat. Interesting, I thought. But it was the third trumpet which caught my attention in earnest. Revelation 8: 10… “And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from Heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon a third part of the rivers and upon the fountain of waters. And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the waters because they were made bitter.” 

      Brother Baxter then made the statement, “In the Russian language ‘chernobyl’ means ‘wormwood.’” This scripture, he said, was describing the nuclear disaster which occurred in Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1986. At that time the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Russia) was the dominant power and our Cold War enemy and was the controlling force in the area which is now independent Ukraine. On that day in 1986, a titanic explosion ripped through the Number Four reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant, blowing a 100-ton roof completely off and sending radioactive debris over a mile into the air and instantly contaminating everything within a thirty-mile radius, including the city of Chernobyl. The Soviet Union, with its security paranoia, did not announce the disaster to the world until the contamination began to drift over Europe. Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated from the Chernobyl area, but death and sickness from radiation prevailed. The Soviets dubbed the area the “Zone of Alienation,” sealing the area off from anyone except those who were required to attempt the cleanup, thus sealing their own fates to radiation sickness. 

      On my cell phone I have a language application which can translate several different languages to any of several other languages. Since I have an interest and some experience in the Russian language, I quickly began to try to verify that “chernobyl” did in fact mean “wormwood.” No luck. I tried English-Russian, Russian-English, English-Ukranian, etc. with no success. I also have an application on my phone that has 26 versions of the Bible convertible into 25 different languages, including three Russian-produced versions of the Bible. I went to the Russian versions and found that полынь, or “polin” with an accent on the last syllable was the word for “wormwood.” Brother Baxter continued with his viewpoints on the other trumpets, but to be honest, I was researching everywhere I could find on my phone trying to find a chernobyl-wormwood connection. That afternoon I spent time on my computer trying to find the connection, and I was successful. “Chernobyl” is the Russian word for artemesia vulgaris, which refers to a plant which grows to a height of 3-4 feet in the area of Chernobyl. In English the plant is known as mugwort or “common wormwood.” 

      Prior to 1986 both Russian and Ukranian dictionaries included wormwood as a secondary definition for chernobyl, but since that year, coincidentally the year of the disaster, the secondary definition of wormwood for chernobyl has been expunged from Russian and Ukrainian dictionaries. Additionally, Revelation refers to a star falling from the sky. The Greek word for star also refers to “strewn over the sky” as in radiating. Could what John have described as a star actually been a radiating explosion? In 1992, a Russian research center, the Kurchatov Institute, issued a “manifest” (statement) describing the official version of events surrounding the explosion of 1986 and the subsequent relocation of citizens. In it the statement is made that “polin” is a Russian word and means “chernobyl.” Since “polin” translates to “wormwood” in English, the connection can be loosely made that “chernobyl” means “wormwood.” Connecting Chernobyl to wormwood is noteworthy, but something else I discovered is much more amazing. 

      In 1986 after the explosion, the Soviets embarked on a massive cleanup operation of the Chernobyl area. The city of Chernobyl became a ghost town and thousands of inhabitants had to be relocated to safe areas. For years after the disaster the “Zone of Alienation” was restricted with no access allowed. Due to the magnitude of the buildup and the knowledge that the process would take years, the Soviets gave the cleanup an all-encompassing name…Проект Полынь…Project Polin, or Project Wormwood. I find that fact to be astounding. The Soviets and their military in those days were our adversaries, and yet like all military machines, there were many remarkable similarities in operations. Even today, the U.S. military gives each of its activities a special name, such as “Operation Overlord” and “Operation Freedom.” However, during the years of the Cold War, if the operation was somewhat secretive and not to be publicized, operative names were usually dictionary words which were not used in normal conversation to avoid compromising the activity. “Wormwood” was not a commonly used word and sufficed to identify an operation which the Soviets did not wish to publicize. 

      We know that there have been Pentecostals in Russia since the early 20th century. With the Communist Party firmly in charge after the October Revolution of 1917, most Christians went underground but managed to survive even during the Stalinist Purges. Somewhere in the heart of the Russian military or scientific command after the explosion at Chernobyl, there was a committee which made the decisions concerning the cleanup of Chernobyl. That committee made a decision to name their work “Project Wormwood.” Think about this…only one of the 21 apocalyptic events described in Revelation was given a proper noun as a name by John the Revelator, and it was an unusual, obscure name at that…Wormwood. What are the odds that the name associated with the single worst disaster ever created by man just coincidentally carries that same name as its dictionary definition and is the same name as mentioned in Revelation 8:11? Could there have been on that Soviet science committee in charge of cleaning up the disaster a “closet” Christian who understood the book of Revelation and recognized the enormity of the Chernobyl disaster? Or was the committee an unknowing pawn in the progression of God’s will and were merely fulfilling the prophecy written two thousand years before? This prophecy thing may be more interesting than I thought! 

      P.S. Fascinating facts about Chernobyl: Today, 40 years after the explosion, the area around Chernobyl has become the largest wildlife sanctuary in Europe. It is a flourishing and sometimes unearthly wilderness teeming with large animals and birds, many of them members of rare and endangered species. Many people, elderly and sick from radiation and homesickness, have moved back into their abandoned homes and are continuing to live. The forests, fields, water, people, and animals are all radioactive. Cesium-137 is packed in their muscles and strontium-90 is packed in their bones, and yet all are not just surviving, but are thriving. Tourists and scientists visit the area on a regular basis, securely covered in radiation-proof clothing and carrying radiation meters. Chernobyl has become a testament to Earth’s ability to withstand the most devastating calamity.

An Unusual Church Service

      This little essay is meant primarily for those church-going folk of the Pentecostal ilk; however, if you consider yourself to be a believer who enjoys a somewhat spontaneous church service and thinks that God can actually take an active, personal interest in your wellbeing, you’re welcome to read on. It is a description of a recent church service I had the privilege to attend and a few personal observations about what it tells me about the church in general and the direction it is going. The Pentecostal faith in general is blessed with pastors and evangelists who are dedicated, passionate, and truly concerned about the souls in whom they come in contact. Their messages to the various congregations are usually intense, uplifting, and designed to help their followers to walk the straight and narrow in our quest for salvation. Services are usually concluded with the congregation feeling encouraged, blessed, and forgiven. Occasionally, services end differently…not badly, but differently. 

      It was an evening service not too long ago. The minister, an evangelist, stepped to the pulpit and delivered a soul-searching message to the listeners. This time however, at the end of his message there was not the usual loud praising and shouting accompanied by the obligatory cacophonic music. Rather, while preaching of dedication, commitment, and sacrifice, he broached on the concept of “travailing” in one’s search for God’s will. “Travail” can be a noun or verb, but its primary meaning is “very hard work.” The Scriptures use the word “travail” when describing a woman giving birth or when a soul is experiencing a period of extreme adversity. It also uses the same term when describing the “travailing” church as it gives birth to new souls born into the Kingdom. As the evangelist begin to reach the end of his sermon, there was an interesting process of events. Listeners from all over the congregation began to walk to the front altar area to kneel and pray. No music…no order or plea from the pulpit to come forward…just an instantaneous response from those who wished to draw closer to their God. Within a few moments a strange sound began to rise from those in the altar area. It was not the sound of loud praise or joyous shouting, but more of a low moaning or a loud groaning. It reached a crescendo that filled the large auditorium. 

      At this point, I have a confession…I did not go to the front. I was anticipating surgery in a few weeks, and I was in such pain I could barely walk, so I was sitting in the back row of the church, praying as fervently as I could. As I was sitting there, I looked up just as a woman sat down next to me. This lady, middle aged, had been a respected member of the church for a few years, but compared to us grizzled old veterans, was still relatively new (anything under 15 years is new) to the church. I was stunned at the question she asked me. “Brother Downing,” she asked intensely, “what is happening? Are we in mourning for something? Why are so many crying? I have never been in a service like this.” It was clear she did not recognize the soul searching that many people were experiencing at the moment. In a few words, I attempted to explain to her that those who were weeping or appeared distraught were not expressing grief but were simply reaching out to God in a spirit of sacrifice and deeper worship. She seemed relieved and expressed again that she had never been in such a service. 

       In talking with some of my fellow oldsters later, the service and its impact was the topic of discussion, and the general consensus was that this kind of service which calls a person to go beyond the standard level of praise was occurring less and less often with the unfortunate result being we have church goers who have never progressed beyond the infancy stage in their spiritual maturity. Why are we experiencing fewer services and sermons which call the members to a higher level of dedication and service? 

      I think the reason is very clear, and, to put it into a somewhat youthful vernacular…these types of services are not “fun.” Think about these facts: The primary demographic target of any sort of church outreach is the 18–25-year-old age bracket. Most church music is written by 20-somethings for 20-somethings. Most church services are choreographed to be high energy, high active, pulsating periods of praise. And why not? The youth live for excitement and activity, and the best way to draw them to church is to offer the same level of energy. Besides, joyous praise is inherent in a Christian’s walk with God anyway. It would be hard to experience “joy unspeakable” as described in the Scriptures without some sort of active praise. This essay is not to denigrate nor minimize the need for enthusiastic praise in any way. The song says it clearly, “When I think of the goodness of Jesus and all He has done for me, my soul cries out ‘hallelujah!’ Praise God for saving me!” A sinner saved by the grace of God cannot help but praise. But the service which calls us to offer sacrifice, travail, or greater spiritual dedication does not cause us to shout, dance, scream, yell, or praise, and therein lies the problem. A call to sacrifice is not a popular sermon for a minister and it does not appeal to our normal human instinct of self-preservation. It is not popular because it requires both minister and member to go beyond praise and into the realm of worship. The process of worship goes far beyond what we refer to as praise, and the words are not interchangeable. 

       A recent Pentecostal Herald magazine had as its primary subject the need for praise and worship in our churches, and I was astounded to discover that in most of the articles the writers didn’t have the foggiest idea that there was any difference in the two. Writers emphasized the need for worship while quoting scriptures which discussed praise and vice versa. And yet the two concepts are worlds apart. Praise is the enthusiastic recognition of God’s blessings and is evidenced in practically every book in the Bible. Psalm 150:6 “Praise Him with the psaltery…harp…timbrel…dance…stringed instruments…organ…loud cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!” It’s hard to praise quietly. Worship involves an active dedication to God. It is not a measurement of decibels but a measurement of your actions. I Chronicles 16:29 “Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” Psalm 95:6 “Oh come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel.” Matthew 2:11 “And when they were come into the house, they…fell down and worshipped him.” 

      Every instance of worship mentioned in the Bible involved some combination of altar, bowing, and dedication. It was a reverential act of commitment. Worship is much more intense, personal, and introspective, and occurs only when we have gone beyond the level of simple praise. It is through the communion of worship that we both gain strength to face adversity and truly communicate with our God. Praise alone will not sustain a soul bent on being faithful to God. In Ecclesiastes 3:1, the preacher eloquently tells us “To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” He lists a litany of events which each of us faces during our human existence on this earth. Being careful not to add to the scriptures, I would like to offer this also: There is a time to praise and a time to worship. We need both.

The Concert

     We entered the large auditorium well before the time the special events were to begin, but the musicians were already preparing for the evening’s activities.  The dimly lit stage was prepared as one would expect…heavy dark curtains accented with blue backlighting.  Electronic gear was everywhere, dominated by the sound system featuring speakers with blue lighting accents and the capacity to split an eardrum at 200 yards.  In anticipation of the coming live music presentation, a soundtrack was playing featuring the popular music of the day, replete with canned enthusiastic roars from some appreciative audience from a concert gone past.  In a few minutes, the musicians themselves began firing up their basses, keyboards, and drums in anticipation of the night’s work, and the singers began to assemble and review the procedures for their performances.                                              

      By zero hour, most ticket holders had taken their seats, and the musicians had found their places, At the stroke of the appointed time, the master of ceremonies blasted the audience with a confusing blend of a welcome to the show and a call to arms…all at maximum decibels.  According to him, this was not an evening to sit back and enjoy the show but a time to jump, shout, yell, clap, and show unbridled enthusiasm for the message about to be delivered.                                                                                             For the next 40 minutes, our ears were assaulted with a cacophony of deafening thunder blended with various unintelligible voices, accompanied by the master of ceremonies constantly bantering the audience to get more actively involved.  These were the “warm-up” performers…those whose job is to get the audience into a festive mood before the headline performer comes on stage.  The music ranged from hard rock to heavy metal, to blues, to soul, to ghetto rap, with the crowning achievement occurring when a young African-American, dressed stylishly casual and wearing either shades or highly reflective glasses, began rapping in both Spanish and English. By the time the young rapper had wrapped up, the crowd had been deemed properly primed for the main event.  And up to the microphone the main attraction strode…a minister.                                                                  

     What I have described up to this point is not what you may have imagined the event was.  I have not recently gone to any concerts featuring the great musical groups of the day.  The event which I described above was an officially sanctioned church conference sponsored by the United Pentecostal Church, International.  I purposely chose not to identify the location of the “conference” nor the main participants because it is not my intention to throw rocks at or embarrass (if that’s possible) any particular persons or churches.  What I have described above is probably representative of hundreds of assemblies, services, and conferences which are becoming highly prevalent in modern society and in our churches, and so what I am reacting to is a movement, a direction, which I see the UPCI heading.           Pentecostals for decades have followed the biblical mantra for the church of “be ye separate.”  I will be the first to admit that we have in the past sometimes taken that philosophy to the extreme, and alienated people unnecessarily with our separatist, “holier than thou” attitude.  However, I am willing to argue the point that the pendulum has now swung far to the opposite side, and we as a church have now adopted the strategy of “to save them, you’ve got to be like them.”  It does not mesh with the message that we thankfully still hear from our pulpits.  Our ministers hammer away with the message that when a person is saved, he/she becomes separate from the world and a “new creature in Christ.”  However, to entice the unsuspecting souls into our church, we show them that we can be just as cosmopolitan as they in our choices of music, just as disrespectfully casual as they in our choices of church clothing, and just as worldly as they in our level of conversation.                                  

    Today, when listening to allegedly Christian music via radio, television, CD, or, regretfully, churches, someone with the ability to filter out the words and listen only to the music would be unable to distinguish the sound…and the spirit… from any other rock, country, popular, alternative music source available, and yet, music itself projects an attitude and can be a stimulus for physical action.  Accomplished musicians know this and use this tool to excite an audience…and the spirit of God can be a million miles away from the action.  But the people are moving around, and that’s what the objective is…get them moving.  There is a growing group of churches and musicians who confuse this musical stimulus as “worship.”                                                                                        

    There was a time when a church…or as we pompously like to say occasionally, “the house of God,” was more than a simple building but was considered a place of respect and shown such through our entrance of its doors with a quiet, reverent attitude and in our manner of dress.  We spoke quietly and entered prayerfully, while dressing modestly in our most dignified and reverential clothing.  The building, after all, was “the house of God,” a place of spiritual refreshing and encouragement.  Today ministers and saints take great pride in casual, “down to earth” attire.  Ministers preach from the pulpit and musicians strut across the rostrum in jeans, tee shirts, and sneakers, all in an effort to “make the church more accessible to the masses.”  Yet, our manner of dress reflects our level of respect for ourselves and for others, including the church.                                                                      

    Want to know what the latest NFL or MLB scores are?  Want to know how the local Little League team is doing? Most frighteningly…want to know what the latest Hollywood blockbuster movie (probably R-rated) is like?  Just hang around the vestibule of one of our churches just before church time and you’ll probably get your answers.  You will hear very little discussion of the upcoming church service.  Churches have learned the lingo of the lost…and through their embrace of conversations not relative to salvation, have given church visitors the message that a church membership does not require a change of spiritual heart…nor speech.                                    

   Sadly, this “be like them” strategy is promulgated by the very people who preach against it…the pastors, and it is done so with the most selfish of reasons…simply to build church numbers.  Pastoral competition is alive and well in the 21^st century, and the top dog is the guy with the biggest church.  As it has been since the beginning, we equate success with numbers.  The next morning after the above-mentioned service, I happen to be at a table enjoying breakfast when I overheard two pastors talking at the next table from me.  These two men are probably considered “bright stars” in the UPCI realms, having started churches fairly recently and shown a tremendous level of success (numbers, again.)  What caught my ear was what one said to the other, “Everything we do in our outreach is geared for the ages 17-25.  It’s the group you can have the greatest success with.”  In two sentences, the pastor explained the entire strategy for church growth which appears to be nearly universally adopted by UPCI churches.  It explains the music, dress, and attitude of new converts. It also explains why mature, older, devoutly Pentecostal adults leave church services unfulfilled and frustrated, having received no spiritual food for the soul, and perhaps also why older members have a tendency to drift from church to church, seeking a level of worship which is on a somewhat higher plane than a Taylor Swift concert.

The Vanishing Pastor

 

     At the appointed time for the service to begin, the pastor approached the pulpit.  With a welcoming voice, he greeted the gathered congregation and exhorted them to stand and pray for God’s presence to be in the service and for God to anoint the singers, musicians, preachers, and congregation to join in one mind and one accord in worship to God.  Once the opening prayer was ended, the pastor invited the song leader to come to the pulpit and lead the congregation in a series of worship songs from a hymnal which contained musical worship, some of which had been written by dedicated song writers over one hundred years ago.  The songs themselves were testaments of the power of God and His promises to the church and were representative of the core values on which the church had been established.
      With the enthusiasm shown by the dedicated song leader and musicians, the congregation quickly began to rejoice in the songs of Zion, and soon a worshipful, praising spirit saturated the auditorium.  By the time the song leader sat down, there was a spirit of expectancy in the air concerning what other uplifting events were about to take place in the service.

     The pastor, returning to the pulpit, reinforced the spirit of worship and praise and after a few minutes asked the audience to stand.  He then gave them an opportunity to offer any prayer requests they may have had for which the church could pray.  After all requests were made know, the pastor led the church in community prayer for each request.  Once the prayers had subsided and the congregation had sat down, the pastor gave members of the congregation opportunities to give personal testimonies of what God had done for them.  Many times, a congregational member was invited to the pulpit to “lead the testimony service.”  After giving a personal testimony, he/she would invite others to testify who wished to stand and offer their own brief praise to God.

     After a few minutes of testimonies, the pastor returned to the pulpit and invited the singers who had been asked to sing a “special song” to come and present their music.  Sometimes it was a soloist, sometimes a duet, trio, or quartet.  Regardless, the song presented was a song of praise and worship, and many times the audience would respond with corresponding praise.  

    Afterward, the pastor again returned to the pulpit and generally offered any pertinent church announcements which may have been newsworthy for the congregation.  About this time, an offering was taken from the congregation, and tithes and donations were freely given by congregants who wished to support the church.  Additionally, if there were members in the audience who had special needs, be they in the areas of health, finances, or situations, they were invited to come forward to the front of the church, and the pastor along with elders of the church would anoint them with a touch of oil and pray God’s divine intervention on each particular need.

    Eventually, the time came for the sermon to be given.  The pastor took his Bible and opened to particular scriptures which he felt God had laid on his heart.  The congregation would stand, and the scriptures would be read.  Once read, the pastor admonished the congregation to join him in praying that God would give him the words to speak which would encourage, strengthen, and guide the spiritual flock for which he was the shepherd.  The sermon then went forth, sometimes encouraging, sometimes admonishing, sometimes condemning, but always with a pastoral love which was evident in his concern for his church family.

     After delivering the sermon he felt God had laid on his heart, the pastor gave an invitation for those who wished to pray to come forward either to make a commitment or to renew a consecration.  He circulated amongst the praying souls, admonishing, encouraging, and blessing.

    As the service dismissed, the pastor made an effort to greet each congregant as they were leaving, to continue a personal and spiritual relationship with each of his members, and in doing so, encourage each one to “keep the faith."

   

     What I have just described to you is a church service which is rarely seen in contemporary churches. Under normal circumstances, a church has someone designated as “pastor,” the person who is responsible for the spiritual welfare of the church members, and, because of his/her leadership, is financially supported by the members.  It is a symbiotic relationship; both congregation and pastor need the other to successfully maintain a spiritual relationship to God.  It is interesting that the term “pastor’ is only mentioned nine times in the Bible, and of those, eight appear in one chapter of Jeremiah and once in the New Testament in Ephesians 4:11.  

    In Jeremiah, the prophet establishes what a pastor should be.  He compares a pastor to a shepherd, and even refers in Jeremiah 23:2 to the people a pastor leads to a “flock.”  He describes a pastor as someone “…which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” Jeremiah 3:15.   Jeremiah was also to quickly condemn pastors who did not fulfill their pastoral obligation: “Ye have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not visited them.” Jeremiah 23:2   And in Jeremiah 23:1: “Woe to the pastors that destroy and scatter.” 

    If a pastor is to be like a shepherd, what are the requirements to serve as a competent keeper of the sheep (the congregation?)  It is noteworthy that a shepherd’s job is usually a lonely task.  Surrounded many times by predators who desire to destroy the sheep, the shepherd must be continually alert to surrounding dangers.  Once those dangers are realized, the shepherd moves swiftly to protect the sheep.  He keeps them in sight, closely grouped together, and attentive to his voice.  The sheep are comforted by his soothing voice and visual presence, and, should the sheep sense danger, they are magnetically attracted to the shepherd, expecting protection and encouragement.

   What the shepherd never does, however, is turn his responsibilities and job over to another person because the shepherd knows that no one else will have the dedication and commitment to protect and lead the sheep as he.

    We read in the scriptures of the Parable of the Lost Sheep how the shepherd searched diligently to find the lost lamb.  A shepherd watches for those lambs who may be about to stray and does everything in his power to bring them back into the flock. The competent shepherd is constantly monitoring his flock, ensuring that each lamb is within the circle of safety, well fed, and comfortable.  The good shepherd does not look at his position as a job, but he serves out of a love for his flock.

    Consider now the “contemporary” church service.  The pastor is nowhere to be seen.  As the appointed time draws near, musicians and singers take their places, and the lights of the church dim slightly.  Suddenly a cacophony of noise from drums, keyboards, stringed instruments begins to build until, amongst the singers, a voice begins to loudly proclaim that it’s a time of celebration.  For the next forty-five minutes, the thundering music and deafening voices work feverishly to get the audience worked up to a fever pitch.  The congregation is not expected to sing along; enthusiastic handclapping is the order of the day.  There is a display of words on a screen that lets the audience know what is being sung, but the singers and music drown each other out so that the words are indecipherable, anyway.  But at least there aren’t many words; most song phrases are repeated over and over.

  After the singers and musicians have exhausted themselves, an assistant to the pastor comes to the pulpit and leads the congregation in prayer for the sick or needy, but verbal request are not taken because all requests must be submitted in writing before the service.  They will not be read; just acknowledged.  Afterward, another assistant will come to the pulpit and call for the ushers to receive the offering, followed by the assistant reviewing any announcements which may be pertinent to the congregation.

   Finally, after the hour or so of preliminaries, the pastor takes the pulpit and delivers his sermon.  Following the sermon, there may be praying around the altars.  Once dismissal occurs, the pastor disappears to the confines of his office; there is very little mingling with the congregation.

    The two church services I have described give a clue as to why the spiritual footprint of the pastor of a church has become smaller, and his influence on his congregation weaker.  By the very fact that he was much more visible, the pastor in the first example was able to establish a rapport with his flock, not just as a pastor but also as friend who showed concern for a fellow member.  As a result, his church members were much more loyal to him and his church and far less likely to hop from church to church.  The pastor that you see for one hour per week at a distance of one hundred feet is hardly one with which you will feel any connection.

   I find it interesting that, beginning with Matthew 28:19 when Jesus admonished his disciples to “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations…” he was commissioning them to become preachers and spread the Gospel.  Every scripture which refers to evangelism and spreading the Word is aimed at the ministry, and yet in recent years the ministry has skillfully slid that responsibility off their backs to the common church member who is just trying to stay saved.  Those who should be leading the charge to spread the news of salvation are rather in the background admonishing the spiritual troops to advance.  There was a day when a church had just a pastor; only on rare situations was there an assistant pastor.  Today it is not uncommon for there to be several licensed ministers in a congregation, even in a church of modest size.

   I have to wonder; How can a person be “called to preach” and then have no desire to go preach?  We have churches in our area with no pastors, and yet we have “ministers” taking up offerings.  I know of many great ministers of the past who were called to preach at an early age and without training, without a seminary degree, and without monetary support started evangelizing and preaching because they had the burning desire to answer the call they had received.  The UPCI has seen a tremendous drop in the number of ministers willing to evangelize, while at the same time our churches are overstocked with preachers. Why?  No desire to “Go ye therefore…”

   The same thing, I believe, applies to pastoring.  We have pastors who like to have the honor of being a pastor, but do not care to fulfill the duties of a pastor.  Content to accept the respect a pastor deserves, they at the same time delegate as many pastoral duties to preacher wanna-bes as possible, and therefore reap the rewards without the hardships.  Content to preach…but not pastor, they show up at church for their grand entrances, then slip quietly away when the spotlight is turned off.  I am convinced after years of observation of this fact: to be a pastor you need to be a preacher, but many preachers are not qualified to be pastors.

    Does all this rambling get me off the hook as a common church member? Absolutely not.  The scriptures are very clear how we as church members should live and conduct ourselves.  We pray for guidance. We are faithful to church, both in attendance and offerings.  We honor our pastor and those in positions of responsibility.  We represent the church to our friends and loved ones and encourage them to seek out their salvation. We lift up and encourage one another.  If we see one of us straying, we gently try to nudge that person back into the fold.  Most of all, we stick together and follow our shepherd.  Someday we…and our shepherd…will answer for our deeds.

More Than Friends

    In the early years of our sixty-five-year marriage, Shirley and I were wanderers.  Not aimlessly…usually with purpose.  We spent a few years in the military and then after college graduation worked for Sears, Roebuck and Company when it was the top dog in the retail industry.  With Sears during this period, any promotion meant a required move…so we moved.  In the first thirty years of our marriage, we moved twenty-seven times.  I will admit there may have been a tad of wanderlust evident, but usually each move was for a good reason.  It’s hard to believe now, but in those really early years (before children), Shirley and I could put everything we owned into our car…and head to the next adventure.

      Because we were both children of devout Pentecostal parents, there was one constant with every location we moved into…we always found a local United Pentecostal Church, International to attend.  This was back when UPCI churches had a common doctrine, a common standard, and a common spirit, and when we walked into a new UPCI church, we were immediately surrounded with friends of like spirit and a surrogate home for us to enjoy.  The UPCI of today no longer displays those common attributes in its churches.

    The only downside to all this traveling, however, was when the time came to say goodbye.  It seemed that just as we were getting well acquainted with our new Pentecostal friends and ministers, it was time to move on.  The saying, “Parting is such sweet sorry,” may be true, but sometimes it’s just plain sorrowful.  We remember with great fondness many of our former pastors and church members we have had the privilege to meet along the way of life.

    After we retired, moved away from our ancestral home of Baytown, Texas, and settled in our home in Spring, we as usual settled also into our new church.  It was a far larger church than we had been accustomed to, but as time has passed, we gained new friends.  Unfortunately, Shirley and I were also at that stage of life when friends whom we had learned to love even since our move to Spring were suddenly being taken from us due to the advancement of years.  As a result, we valued our friends more because we had become acutely aware that we have no promise of tomorrow.

     Our church had a class on Sunday morning for all senior citizens over the age of sixty.  In the first couple of years after we arrived, there was a potpourri of teachers who led our class.  Things did not really become established until the arrival of Reverend Carl and Sister Shirley Boothe.  The Boothes had been attending the church long before we arrived, serving in various capacities, but it was not until they assumed leadership of our Senior Class that their spirituality and influence came to the fore.

     The story of their early years is the stuff of Pentecostal history.  Brother Boothe had been called to preach before they married.  They were married on one weekend, and they hit the evangelistic trail the next weekend…launching out into the ministry with only a calling to preach, a dream, and a wife by his side.  With no Bible college credentials, no parental influence to smooth the road ahead, and no backup financial plan, the young couple spread the gospel around the parishes of Louisiana.  Sister Boothe became a minister/teacher in her own right and together they have pastored, evangelized, and influenced a generation of Pentecostals.

     When the Boothes became our Senior Class teachers, Shirley and I quickly began to appreciate their depth of spirit, teaching skills, and obvious concern for their class members.  Brother Boothe was a country boy who did well, and Sister Boothe was a gregarious city girl who said what she thought.  They were a perfect match, and their team teaching was outstanding.  They were examples of true Christian holiness and ministers without reproach.

     Shirley and I have now been church goers for over seventy years.  In our walks with God, we have discovered there are two types of ministers: those who are called to preach and do so very capably…and those who are called to preach and do so very capably, but in addition God has instilled in them the heart of a pastor.  A pastor is more than a minister; a pastor is a shepherd leading a flock of saints toward heaven, and like a shepherd, a pastor has concern for his flock, guards his flock, and nurtures his flock even as he is led of God.  It is abundantly clear that not all ministers are qualified to be pastors.

    Seven years ago, the Boothes announced to our class that they had felt the leading of the Lord to accept the pastorship of a church in Mississippi, and soon we bade goodbye to our dear friends.  With the infinite wisdom that comes sometimes with church management, it was decided that a separate senior class was no longer needed, and that the seniors could be simply stirred in with the rest of the congregation during the Sunday School hour.  Thus, the close camaraderie the seniors enjoyed was eliminated. Though we were happy that they were following the leading of God, our hearts were broken because we knew we would sorely miss their love, concern, and wisdom.  Over the years we have truly appreciated their phone calls, texts, and visits whenever they were concerned about our well-being.   I have said this jokingly more than once, “Whenever I get the sniffles, I can expect a phone call from Brother Boothe.”

   The Boothes continue to be our valued friends and teachers, but more so our long-distant pastors, perhaps not in an official capacity, but certainly in spirit and deed.  For these and many other reasons, we miss them.  When they left, Shirley and I wished the Boothes every possible blessing as they began a new, exciting chapter in their service for the Kingdom.  No doubt the folks in Pulaski, Mississippi, have realized by now how tremendously God blessed their church with the coming of their new pastors.

   

Men's Conference, 2019...The Swan Song

     The month of May always brings with it two momentous events: my birthday (May 5) and the annual Men's Conference of the South Texas District of the United Pentecostal Church, United. Held in San Antonio around the first weekend of the month, the conference is a gathering where men of like-minded faith can get together and share a common spirit, gain strength and encouragement, and renew a commitment to God.  I have written previously of high moments (See https://bobdowning.blogspot.com/2015/05/mens-conference-2015.html ) and low  moments (See https://bobdowning.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-concert.html ) in the conferences, but the positives far outweigh the negatives, so it was with anticipation that we group of old veterans headed west toward the Promised Land again on Friday, May 3.

    As usual, and for the fourth time in the last seven years, it was Brothers Jerry Steward, John Cook, and me in Brother John’s venerable Honda Pilot…and as usual, we left Houston after having breakfast at our favorite Denny’s Restaurant…the Denny’s where we have enjoyed breakfast every Friday for the last five years.  The place where, when we walk in the door, the coffee is already at our favorite table, waiting for our first sip.  They take care of us; they should…we tip pretty well.

    Unfortunately, we were missing Brother Prentiss Smith, John’s father-in-law, who backed out at the last minute for undisclosed reasons.  I’ve said it before…it’s always good when you’re in the company of Brother Smith because he is a man of such impeccable character that some of his respectability sort of rubs off on common old church members like me.  However, this past year Brother Jerry Stewart was chosen as a certified board member of Bethel Tabernacle, and, with John Cook already being a board member, I am still surrounded by Men of Impeccable Character…I couldn’t sin even if I wanted to.

    Anyway, we left Denny’s under threatening skies which opened up as we headed west on Interstate 10.  From Katy to Columbus, it was heavy rain and dark clouds, but as we sailed by Columbus, the weather began to lighten and we made an uneventful trip to our destination, The Drury Hotel at I-10 and Loop 1604 in Northwest San Antonio, arriving around 4:00 p.m.  Jerry and I shared a room, and John was left out in the cold, all alone.  He had to wing it alone in his room because his father-in-law had backed out.  I offered to get an extra bed in our room, but he declined…probably because I had told him Jerry snored like a freight train…or at least, someone in our room does.

    Drury offers free evening and morning buffets, so downstairs we went after the obligatory naps for some tacos and salad.  They were not five-star tacos, but they were sufficient for the moment.  While we three were dining, Pastor David Fauss came in and joined us for a bit of conversation.  In his new position as Superintendent of the South Texas District, he was constantly being tapped on the shoulder by passersbys who wanted to say hello.  Such is the price of fame and responsibility.

    Brother Fauss is the newly elected superintendent of the newly formed South Texas District.  Actually, the name is the same as before, but where the South Texas District once ranged from Beaumont to Brownsville, it has now been split roughly on a line from Austin to San Antonio into the South Central District (San Antonio to Brownsville) and South Texas District (east of that line to the Louisiana border.)  I can’t give you the exact boundaries because no one knows what they are; the boundaries have never been published, documented, or publicized.  The UPCI, from its national headquarters to the local church organization, is highly secretive.  If you read Pentecostal Life, the official publication of the UPCI, you will read wonderful inspiring sermons and testimonies, but very little about the administration of the organization.  The local and state districts carry on that policy.  The original South Texas District, which split from the original Texas District, has now been split into the aforementioned two districts, and rumors have abounded as to the reasons for the action.  Nowhere can you read or hear of the new boundaries or the reasoning for the divide.  The pattern of non-information is carried to the local churches.

     About 7:30 p.m., the lights of The Hope Church, Rev. Scoggins, Pastor, dimmed and the service began…or rather, the show began.  There was suddenly a cacophony of rolling drums, blinking lights, wailing keyboards, and blasting voices, accompanied by flashing psychedelic images on two large screens.  Someone needs to watch the Michael Caine movie The Ipcress File (1965).  In that movie, those same procedures were used as torture for captured prisoners in an attempt to break down their resistance to questioning. It was standard questioning procedure during the Cold War period of the fifties and sixties.  To complement the entertainment, there was also the obligatory lead singer yelling at the top of his/her voice.  We also received a heavy dose of good old Christian rap (that is an oxymoron, my friends).  However, I am not going to dwell on this negative aspect of the conference; I have made my opinion known before (see above blog “The Concert,”) but I will make this one statement and use a term I have heard two ministers use recently; albeit, they were using it in reference to the world. Pentecostal music has gone to hell in a handbasket.  The music may bring in people, but it destroys the spirit and cheapens the church experience.  ‘Nuf sed.

     We were blessed to have as our main speaker, Brother Stan Gleason, who is the Assistant General Superintendent of the UPCI, Western Division.  He preached an outstanding sermon concerning the role of men in the church and the responsibilities we have as men to represent Christ and the church.  It was powerful, positive, and inspiring, and most of us wound up somewhere around the altars reconsecrating ourselves to the work of God after the sermon.

    There is an unwritten rule amongst Pentecostals…after church…we go eat.  Fortunately, in the Drury Hotel complex is an Applebee’s, and that was and is our usual stopping place after service.  By that time, we had other great friends join us, Brothers Melvin Hogan and his son and Carl Boothe…who is more than a brother. Brother Boothe is a minister and leader/teacher of our Senior Bible Class at Bethel Tabernacle.  We had a great visit at Applebee’s, and it was after midnight before we left the restaurant, primarily because Brother Hogan can eat more…and slower…than any person I have seen recently.  But it was OK.

     The next morning, bright and fairly early, we were downstairs for the Drury breakfast which was full course and pretty tasty.  We made it to the church about 9:00, and, thankfully, the weather had brightened considerably after yesterday’s rain and storms.  Revs. Donnie Huslage and Roger Blackburn preached briefly but eloquently on the subject “Men at the Gate.”  Then it was time again for Brother Gleason.

    Brother Gleason’s sermon that morning was worth the $50.00 price of the conference.  His subject was “Be Famous with your Family!”  His most noteworthy statement to our group of men was,” If you have to choose between saving your church or saving your family…save your family.”   He used examples of ministers who are so wrapped up in building churches, they neglect their own families, and men who try hard to provide for their families, yet they forget their families’ spiritual welfare.  “Do not be afraid,” he said, “to say ‘I love you’ and ‘I’m sorry.’”  The sermon created some serious soul-searching and re-committing among many listeners.

    Shortly after noon, John Cook headed the Pilot back eastward toward Houston.  We had one more obligatory stop to make: at Chili’s in Seguin, Texas.  The food is good, and we were ready to eat, but it’s the chocolate volcano dessert which made me want to make the stop.  If you’ve never had a “chocolate volcano,” it’s a big chunk of fudgy chocolate cake (hot) with a great scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Chili’s chocolate volcano is huge and comes with 3-4 spoons, depending on the number of participants.  Sadly, another memory has been tarnished a bit.  This time the cake was not very fudgy…more like a regular lightweight chocolate cake.  It was OK, but you didn’t get the usual chocolate overload with each bite.

    After one more brief stop for fuel, John delivered Jerry and me to our respective homes about 5:00 and another enjoyable conference was in the books.  Next year, the two now-separate districts will each offer its own men’s conference, so whether we ever return to the Drury Inn or San Antonio is unknown at this time.  Personally, I enjoy the trip traveling with my good friends nearly as much as I enjoy the conference itself.  The idea of driving across Houston to a conference is not as appealing.  We’ll see.

A Voice from the Past...Rev. V.A. Guidroz

 

    A few days ago, Shirley and I were enjoying some reminiscing and visiting with our good friends, Reverend Ronny and Jerry Guidroz.  Actually, they are more than just friends.  Shirley and Jerry are stepsisters which I guess makes Ronny and me stepbrothers-in-law.  We have all basically grown up together. In our visiting on this particular day, Ronny

Rev. V. A. Guidroz

mentioned he had several old reel to reel tapes of his dad, Rev. V.A. Guidroz, preaching many of his memorable sermons.  Two tapes that he presently had with him were two morning devotional services that Brother Guidroz had conducted in August 1961, at the Texas District Camp Meeting of the United Pentecostal Church in Lufkin Texas.  Even in those early years, Brother Guidroz was known for his powerful morning devotionals.  

    Ronny expressed a wish that he could find someone to update those tapes to a CD, and, since I happen to have that skill and computer capabilities, I quickly volunteered to take on the task.  For the next couple of days, in the quiet of my den sitting at my computer with Brother Guidroz’s tapes running, I listened to a voice from the past.

    Brother V.A. Guidroz was the pastor of my childhood.  My parents joined Peace Tabernacle in 1950, and Brother Guidroz became our family’s spiritual leader.  (See “In Memory of Pastor V. A. Guidroz” https://www.bobdowning.blogspot.com/2010/07/in-memory-of-pastor-va-guidroz.html)  His influence on my parents and us kids was immense, because those were the days when pastors took an intense interest in the spiritual well-being of their church members, and in turn the church members actually listened to their pastors and followed their guidance.  

    The two tapes I converted were the Thursday and Friday morning devotionals of the camp meeting.  In 1961, the main tabernacle of the camp meeting was a round-roofed large structure capable of sitting approximately two thousand people. By today’s standards, it was rustic: no air conditioning, NO WALLS except front and rear of the building, sawdust floor, and wood plank seating.  During times of shouting and excited praising, a light cloud of fine sawdust would rise up from the floor.  At the end of night services in those days, if you didn’t have a light coating of dust on your clothing and a little sweat to match, you must have been sitting quietly.  This was old time camp meeting.  People stayed on the campgrounds in tents, campers, cabins (upper class!) and even in backs of cars and carrying a web-shaped fan to give one a little breeze in the stifling day-time heat was the order of the day.  Restrooms were small buildings a fair walk away from the tabernacle.  And yet no one complained…contemporary Christians would probably refuse to attend such primitive facilities.

    Brother Guidroz’s morning devotions at camp began at 6:30, so it took hardy souls to even make the services.  However, even at that early hour, several hundred saints (members) would be gathered.  As I listened to the tapes, it was brought to me so forcefully how our churches, and in particular the United Pentecostal Church in general, have changed over the last 55+ years.  Please be aware, this blog is not going to be a rant concerning how the church has lost its direction or how I feel about the music: I have made my opinions concerning such subjects in other blogs.  I will simply describe what I heard and felt on the tapes, and you can draw your own conclusions.

 

L-R: Revs. Ron Guidroz, Steve Galloway, Milton Ford, V.A. Guidroz, Lloyd Moreau

   I was struck by the simplicity of each service. Brother Guidroz was the only speaker for the entire nearly hour and a half.  He led the prayers, led the singing, taught the lesson, and preached the sermon.  Behind him, furnishing the music, was an organist…that was it.  No “praise” singers, no song leader, no other musicians at all.  A couple of days after I converted the first tape, I called Ronny to tell him how I had enjoyed the devotional, and he told me that the person on the organ was none other than my future mother-in-law, Anniedeen Creel.  At that time, she was Sister Anniedeen Bateman, another member of our Peace Tabernacle church in Baytown, Texas.  In the mid-fifties she had attempted to teach me how to play the piano, but she gave up after a year or so when I discovered the guitar.

    The Thursday service began with a timeless hymn, “Sweet Hour of Prayer.”  Brother Guidroz was not a singer, but he led the song and set the tone for the service.  His words thereafter created a spirit of deep worship as he discussed “Your Desert Place.”  He spoke as befitting his position as the District Superintendent of the Texas District.  He encouraged, cajoled, admonished, and advised saints, sinners, preachers, and pastors in his audience.  He, as many ministers of the day, did not mince words; he was direct and clear in his admonishments.  A noteworthy quote to the ministers: “Do not spend all your time preaching to those who will not listen…preach and be a pastor those who will.”  

     Brother Guidroz was representative of many ministers of those days.  With limited education and no finances, he began preaching at an early age because he felt God’s calling on his life.  He did not go to Bible college to get his license to preach, nor did he have a license bestowed on him because he had church influence.  He and Sister Guidroz traveled and preached with only their faith in God to depend on.  He told of the time during the depression days when he preached for weeks in an area where the people told him up front they had no money, but he felt the need to be there.  Early ministers were determined to spread the gospel, not amass a financial estate.  In 1959, when Brother Guidroz resigned his church in Baytown to become full time district superintendent, he walked away from a church he had spent over twenty-five years building up from scratch…no financial compensation, no retaining a financial interest…he left it all.

   Reviewing to the tapes, I noted that 

Peace Tabernacle, 1956

as the audience sat and listened, there were moments during the sermons when Brother Guidroz would call everyone to worship, and a chorus of hundreds of voices would rise up in a season of prayer.  There were no calls to “give God a handclap of praise” as is so prevalent today...because it was not done.  In those days, applause was what you gave performers and actors; it was not in the church.  Oh, there was handclapping during singing and when praying, but not applause.  Applause became prevalent first via the television preachers whose studio audiences were encouraged to applaud every singer and every time the televangelist said something profound.  When Shirley and I moved back to Texas in 1991, we were surprised to see the practice had infiltrated even Pentecostal churches.

    After over an hour of ministering, the audience had moved into a deep worshipful period, and Brother Guidroz invited those who desired to come to the front and pray.  The sound of a great number of people praying lasted several minutes…no screaming, no yelling, no singing, no blasting drums or music…just deep, powerful prayer.  By this time, I was praying with tears in my eyes right along with the folks on the tape.  It was the type of prayer that is rarely heard in churches today.        (Read “An Unusual Church Service” https://www.bobdowning.blogspot.com/2014/02/an-unusual-church-service.html) 

     After listening to the two devotionals three times apiece and putting over forty other Guidroz sermons on CD, I am a little nostalgic for those uncomplicated days of yesteryear.   Things were simpler then.  Life was uncomplicated and even trying to live a Christian life was less...challenging.  A pastor told you how to live based on his following the scriptures, and saints believed and followed willingly without challenging every detail.  We put faith in our leaders and faith in God.  And we were happier.