Clyde Kilough Roy O. Holladay
Chairman President

Dear Brethren around the world,

One of the first collaborations between Roy Holladay and me, as we assumed new duties a few weeks ago, was to develop a schedule for systematically communicating to you on behalf of the home office and Council of Elders, respectively. The Home Office Update and President’s Letter will usually highlight news and developments in the Church, while the Council’s letter will normally lean toward spiritual trends and issues. Frequent interaction is always important to the health of any family, and especially now as the Church family is still relatively scattered and small in numbers. We will strive the best we can through these written words to keep everyone informed, encouraged, connected and unified.

It is hard to believe, in some ways, that the United Church of God has now moved into its eighth year of existence! As we look back on the various events in the spring and summer of 1995 that drew us together, it’s hard to pinpoint a precise historical marker for our beginning, but we really don’t have to feel compelled to do so. After all, we realize that the greater anniversary we emphasize in church history was our beginnings back in the 30s—not the 1930s, but the 30s!—specifically 31 A.D. when Christ established His Church on the Day of Pentecost.

In the short term, though, it’s reasonable to ask, "How do you evaluate the last seven years?" That’s quite subjective, of course, but most of us would probably agree that the last decade has been an emotional and spiritual roller coaster of trials and blessings. In all honesty, in some areas God surely has been well pleased with us, and in other things we have muddled our way through, grateful for His mercy and patience. And, just as we can observe that of ourselves as a Church, we can probably observe the same of ourselves as individuals, and are thus spared the temptation to be too critical of others.

It is essential in life to regularly take an honest view of where we have been and where we are going. Knowing our strengths makes us confident. Forgetting our weaknesses makes us vulnerable.

The value in looking back lies in three successive steps: 1) analyzing what we have done well and what we done poorly, 2) learning the correct lessons, then 3) zealously implementing the changes that will make our future different and better than our past.

Looking back holds certain dangers, too. Some people look back and analyze but fail to learn the correct lessons. Some look back and forget to look forward again. Some look back, become discouraged and give up. The past is a good place to visit—but we don’t want to live there!

This leads to a more important question: Are you a visionary? God the Father is, Jesus Christ is, the prophets and apostles were, the kings and priests of the Kingdom will be. The work of God will survive and thrive, but only with visionaries, because that is the mindset in which the Spirit of God can effectively work.

True visionaries are rare. They have the capacity to keep the big picture in mind, and do not sacrifice their futures just because they run into frustrations and disappointments in the present. One of the great lessons of the Bible, and one repeated in the last few years, is this: We cannot allow short-term events to distract us from our long-term goals.

True visionaries grasp the inherent value of something as simple as Jesus’ instructions on how to pray. It is significant that He began and ended the "model prayer" with the long-term view of life—"Your kingdom come. Your will be done," and, "for Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen" (Matthew 6:10, 13). Sandwiched in between are the legitimate, short-term requests ("give us this day our daily bread," whatever that may be), but the order of His words is designed to keep our minds on the larger issues—God’s Kingdom, God’s will and God’s power and authority. Jesus continued this theme rather emphatically in verses 19 to 34, summarizing powerfully and succinctly: "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

Visionaries will share His zeal. Visionaries will share His faith (think about it—is it not short-term thinking that erodes faith?). Visionaries will share His keen perception and see through the temptations that our adversary, the devil, lays in our paths. Satan is the king of short-term thinking, and he has honed that tactic to a fine art in his dealings with humanity. The world’s problems—be they political, economic, environmental, etc.—exist primarily because of the short-term thinking that induces selfishness and greed. Visionaries will see past those pulls of the "passing pleasures of sin," like Moses did (Hebrews 11:25).

Visionaries do not lose heart in the face of otherwise discouraging circumstances, or "become weary or discouraged in [their] souls" (Hebrews 12:3). Why? Because they see the great "cloud of witnesses"—fellow visionaries (verse 1)—and they are, "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who [here comes the visionary part of His outlook on life] for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (verse 2).

God has called us to be visionaries not only for our personal sakes, but also to represent Him on this earth before Christ returns. Only visionaries will do that zealously and wholeheartedly. Very few, if any, of us distinguished ourselves in the world as great leaders and visionaries before God called us. We didn’t possess visionary instincts of and by ourselves, yet we know He has indeed called us to become the true visionaries and leaders of life as He meant it to be lived. He promises to give us that spirit of vision, and surely we must have learned by now how much we utterly depend on Him for it.

Last week we celebrated here in the United States the Fourth of July, the historical marker for our nation’s beginning. Even amateur historians quickly realize the Founding Fathers were unique and most remarkable for their visionary leadership in desperately difficult times. One of them, John Adams, wrote:

His words, and the similar sentiments of others like him, were not the empty rhetoric of cheerleaders and chest-thumping braggarts. They were the words of statesmen who were personally convicted and thus able to rally and stir the souls of their fellow citizens.

Such statesmen are rare on the world scene today—individuals who are able to lift the eyes of their nations to higher ideals. We had on the Fourth of July a lot of "pomp and parade…bonfires and illuminations," but precious few "solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty" (judges would probably quickly deem them illegal). Sadly, very few leaders seem to see that all of humanity is in a terrible war, a subtle war, not between nations, but a spiritual war that is leading the entire world deeper and deeper into the short-term thinking of secularism and materialism that destroys character and purpose.

It is into that world that God tells us to, "Go! Be the light of the world, preach the gospel, prepare to rule in My coming Kingdom!" To visionaries, how big or small we are, how much income we have, how young or old we may be, doesn’t determine our level of zeal or commitment. God never changes His focus or vision, and visionaries are attuned to the way He thinks. So, brethren, as we look back on all the changes of the last few years, amid all the lessons learned, let us look forward with the mind of God, with His zeal, faith, courage and confidence, to be true visionaries befitting the calling He has given us.