President Steve Brown reminds us in the first writing who we are as Chaplains and our responsibility before God and others as an ordained clergy. Concepts which focus on our duty before a holy God and not on what is popular or the latest political fad. The second article is from our National Field representative Pat Doney. Pat brings us an edifying missive on God our Father and how it relates to Father's Day. Even though Father's Day has past, it reminds us what a Father is and how God our Father loves us.
With that said, enjoy this months' articles. Read and meditate on God's goodness and pray for our country. God bless.
The Definition of a Chaplain- by Steve Brown, President AGC (CAPT-ret, USN)
Background:
Well over 100 Endorsing Agencies send "Chaplains" to serve in
the Military Services, Hospitals, Prisons, and Public Safety Departments.
The "Religious Requirements" to be endorsed as a Chaplain vary
with each Endorsing Agency. Some Endorsing Agencies do not require
ordination (the military services do not require this either). Some
Agencies endorse women. Some view serving as a chaplain as a lesser
ministry than that of a Pastor, and so they place a lesser requirement on their
Chaplains. A Pastor once said of a Chaplain Candidate, he does not
meet the Biblical standard to be a Pastor, but I would recommend him to be a
Military Chaplain.
Every
AGC Chaplain is first a God-called Pastor who has been ordained
(set apart) for the Gospel ministry. You are a Pastor in Uniform.
We pray that you will excel in this calling as a Pastor (serving now for
a time as a Chaplain). While not every tour of duty will require the
traditional and repetitive Preaching/Teaching responsibilities of a local church
Pastor, you are always a Pastor. It is God who called you into the Gospel
ministry whether you serve in uniform or in civilian garb. His calling is
what really matters. It is that calling that will sustain you when (not if) the
going gets tough!
AGC
Endorsement requires Ordination, and Ordination is the work of a Local Church.
While "the AGC" has the capability to "ordain," we
will use this capability only as a last resort and always in support of a local
church we represent. Ordination is a local church's prerogative to
recognize and celebrate God's call on the life of a man, culminating in his
public "setting apart" to the Gospel Ministry.
Biblically,
a candidate for ordination must not only be doctrinally sounds, but according
to the apostle Paul, a person desiring the office of "bishop" and/or
seeking the pastorate must meet the following qualifications (drawn from I
Timothy 3 and Titus 1):
A desire to serve - Blameless
- Husband of one wife
- Temperate - self-disciplined
- Sober-minded - contemplative and not given to irrational or
irresponsible thinking / behavior
- Good behavior
- Hospitable - friendly, compassionate, and welcoming
- Able to teach
- Not given to wine
- Not violent - should not be abusive
- Not greedy for money
- Gentle and not quarrelsome
- Not covetous
- One who rules his own house well
- Not a "novice" - the pastor should be spiritually and
emotionally mature
- Solid testimony and reputation
In
summary, while there are varied interpretations of the I Timothy 3/Titus 1
list above, and the Pastor is never a "perfect man," the Pastor
clearly ought to be an exemplary Christian Leader in his Private, Public, and
Pastoral Life. He should be a model for others to follow.
An
AGC Chaplain is not a second class, throttled-back, version of a Pastor, a sort
of "Pastor-Lite." He is a Pastor in Uniform, on loan
from a local church, accountable to that church even though he is represented
by the AGC to the Military, a hospital, a prison, or a Public Safety
Department.
BLUF:
Every AGC Chaplain is a Pastor who meets a local church's biblical requirements
to be ordained to serve as a Pastor, Elder, or Bishop (all three are used
interchangeably). The Pastoral Standard while variously interpreted is
intentionally high, placed there by God Himself in the inspired Text.
May
we be empowered by His grace to serve in such a way that others cannot help but
see the difference (Titus 2:10-15) and desire the One we serve.
Be
wise as a Serpent and Harmless as a Dove!
On June 16, we celebrate Father's Day. This is a wonderful and meaningful American tradition. God's Word has a lot to say about fatherhood: of the Devil, human fatherhood, and the fatherhood of God Himself. Jesus told His critics in John 8:44, "You are of your father the Devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it." The LORD Jesus has given us a thumbnail sketch of our Adversary the Devil who Peter warns us Believers not to take lightly: "...your Adversary, the Devil, walks about seeking whom he may devour..." If that sounds scary, it is! For sure, we fathers need to ensure that we are a full 180 degrees away from this terrible example of fatherhood. Moving on to our role as human fathers, we are told in Psalm 105:13, "Like as a father pities his children, so the LORD pities them that fear Him" So we fathers are to be like our Heavenly Father, full of compassion and tender mercies. The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 6:4, "And you fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the LORD." The story of the so-called Prodigal Son is such a great example of a father's love and compassion to a son: "...This, my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost, and is found..." Luke 15:11-32. The father also has the responsibility of discipline: notice Hebrews12:7,ff, "...for what son is he whom the father chastens not..." Being a good Dad requires mentoring which we can get from our own dads, but more importantly from our Heavenly Father. And He is our Father; Galatians 3:26 says, "For you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." (This debunks the old ideas of the universal fatherhood of God, and the universal brotherhood of man.) In Romans 8:14,15, Paul reminds us that we are adopted into the family of God because of Jesus Christ, and we can call Him, "Abba Father." This is a term of endearment which demonstrates the intimate relationship we have because of our being born again by the Holy Spirit of God. I Peter 1:23 says, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God which lives and abides forever." In 1:19, Peter makes it clear that our relationship to the Heavenly Father is through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus tells his disciples to speak to their Father saying when they pray, "Our Father, who art in Heaven..." This is about our relationship to the Almighty, Creator God. On this Father's Day, let’s get a renewed look at our relationships, not only to our dads and children, but to our loving Heavenly Father who sent His blessed Son, Jesus Christ, to vicariously atone for our sins, and to adopt us into the family of God, so that now we can come boldly to the Throne of Grace and find mercy to help in time of need, and say with confidence, ABBA FATHER. Happy Father's Day!
