Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever,\u201d the apostolic writer declared in Hebrews 13:8 (NKJV). It stands in relationship to the earlier observation in Hebrews 12:1, \u201c\u2026we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cloud of witnesses includes people from every generation who have served in the kingdom of God. They include the faithful named and unnamed in Genesis 2\u201311. They include those who followed the faith of Abraham, the account of the promise which begins in Genesis 12 and continued throughout the Old Testament era, and even into our time.<\/p>\n
The cloud of witnesses also includes those who believed in the revelation of God found in Abraham\u2019s descendant, Jesus of Nazareth. They include the faithful of the past 2,000 years as the gospel has spread around the world. For many of us, they include our parents, siblings, friends, and colleagues who are gathered with Christ around the throne of God.<\/p>\n
This Spring we are beginning the IPHC quadrennial conferences in the United States. Delegates will gather in the coming months across this nation to select conference leaders for the next four years. The members of the Executive Committee will stand before you and lead in the installation service of new conference councils.<\/p>\n
In that service, I often reflect upon Hebrews 13:8 and its context related to leaders. Among the items mentioned in that context, 13:8 calls us to \u201cremember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hebrews 13:17 again refers to rulers (the same word used in verse 8) when it says: \u201cObey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
These verses about leadership have the assurance of Hebrews 13:8 concerning Jesus as the sure foundation, link, and hope concerning human leadership in the church.
\nIn a sense, all who have led the work of God through the ages, whether Israel as a light to the nations, or the church as the body of Christ, share in the promise that Jesus Christ is Lord over each generation of leaders and followers. Technology and methods often change; but His authority and His mission remain the same.<\/p>\n
Leaders must live as those who declare the Word of God. We must live as those whose lives are on public display; our lives should inspire others to follow Jesus as we have followed Him. Hebrews 13:17 is a warning to leaders\u2014challenging us to humility, godliness and prayer. We must give an account to Jesus for how we have led. We must hear the voice from heaven, and have eyes that discern and understand the world in which our flocks live.<\/p>\n
Those who follow us in our seasons and assignments of leadership are challenged to \u201cremember\u201d us and to follow in such a way as to not cause \u201cgrief.\u201d The Greek word translated \u201cgrief\u201d in the New King James Version means to sigh, to groan. How many of us as leaders have groaned or sighed at the challenges we face! I suspect there are times the sheep in our flock sigh at us!<\/p>\n
As a student of history, I find joy in reading about the well-known and the less-known periods of God\u2019s actions in the world. One of the books I\u2019m reading is Constantine and the Bishops: The Politics of Intolerance by H.A. Drake (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002).<\/p>\n
I\u2019m learning a lot from reading this: the nuances of age and conflicts that have shaped so much of our world, the dynamic interplay of spiritual and earthly powers, the dangers of over-simplifying church history, an appreciation that the same Holy Spirit in our lives today was at work in their lives 1,700 years ago. A book like this reminds me that Jesus Christ really is \u201cthe same yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n
But I\u2019m also very aware that Jesus is \u201cthe same today.\u201d At the close of January, the IPHC Executive Committee met in our home for a light dinner and prayer. We prayed for the IPHC, for the world, for one another.<\/p>\n
Bishop McGhee, whose Discipleship Ministries department is now leading much of our core value emphasis on \u201cAll Generations,\u201d observed that the four members of the executive committee were all sons of IPHC pastors and preachers. Someone then remarked that the four wives were all daughters of IPHC laity. It really caused all of us to give thanks for our parents and their faithfulness to Christ that continues to live through us.<\/p>\n
Finally, I am thankful that Jesus Christ is \u201cthe same forever.\u201d That \u201cforever\u201d is the open door to our tomorrows.<\/p>\n
Recently I was in Argentina for an event arranged by The Awakening. Several hundred young adult leaders from across Latin America gathered to meet, be mentored, and grow in the Word and prayer. As I watched them earnestly seeking God at the altars, I was so thankful for these men and women who serve Christ now and will serve in a future that transcends my time on this earth.<\/p>\n
Their time will not transcend Jesus\u2019 time! We know that the Son of God, the Living Word, the second person of the Godhead, has existed throughout eternity. Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, of the redemptive purposes of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As the One who \u201cis the same yesterday, today, and forever,\u201d He transcends time, but is manifest in time.<\/p>\n
Jesus, who was present in the early Christian centuries, who is present with us now, will be present in the tomorrows as we await His return!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
By Doug Beacham<\/strong><\/p>\n This article was published in\u00a0the March 2018 issue of Encourage<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2023,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[510,45,134,46,290,289],"class_list":{"0":"post-2011","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bishops-blog","8":"category-general","9":"tag-510","10":"tag-bishop","11":"tag-bishops-blog","12":"tag-doug-beacham","13":"tag-iphc-general-superintendent","14":"tag-march","15":"entry"},"title_es":"El trabajo de Dios se extiende a todas las generaciones","content_es":"Los vers\u00edculos en Efesios 3: 16-21 son especiales para m\u00ed. Son especiales porque fue una oraci\u00f3n que mi padre rez\u00f3 por m\u00ed durante la reuni\u00f3n del campamento de la Conferencia de Georgia a mediados de la d\u00e9cada de 1990. Mi amigo Bane James me hab\u00eda pedido que hablara en una de las sesiones de la ma\u00f1ana. Al final, Bane le pidi\u00f3 a mi padre que viniera a orar por m\u00ed. Pap\u00e1 me impuso las manos y cerr\u00f3 su oraci\u00f3n citando la oraci\u00f3n de Pablo en Efesios 3. Poco sab\u00eda que mi padre estar\u00eda con el Se\u00f1or en unos pocos a\u00f1os. Poco despu\u00e9s fui nombrado superintendente de la Conferencia de Georgia. Desde 2001, he tenido el privilegio de servir al IPHC en varios puestos de liderazgo general de la iglesia: Ministerios de Discipulado, Ministerios de Misiones Mundiales y ahora como Superintendente General. Pero estoy muy consciente de los veinticuatro a\u00f1os del servicio eclesi\u00e1stico general que mi padre proporcion\u00f3 como Tesorero General y Secretario-Tesorero General. A menudo estoy en reuniones en lo que era su oficina en Oklahoma City. A menudo veo y toco documentos que firm\u00f3 en su papel oficial para la IPHC. El valor principal de IPHC relacionado con todas las generaciones, que es nuestro enfoque este a\u00f1o, me ha dado la oportunidad de reflexionar sobre el pasado, el presente y el futuro. Fui estudiante de historia en la Universidad de Georgia. El estudio de la historia todav\u00eda me entusiasma, est\u00e9 donde est\u00e9. \u00bfHas visto esos marcadores hist\u00f3ricos al costado de las carreteras? \u00a1Ese soy yo disminuyendo la velocidad para leerlos! Me encanta leer peri\u00f3dicos viejos o viejos documentos. Mi pap\u00e1 mantuvo excelentes registros, y en un momento todav\u00eda ten\u00edamos registros de cheques personales de los a\u00f1os 1940 y 1950. \u00a1No es una mala manera de ver c\u00f3mo una familia gast\u00f3 dinero en el pasado! Recuerdo que a mediados de la d\u00e9cada de 1960, cuando las oficinas generales de IPHC a\u00fan se encontraban en Franklin Springs, Georgia, se rob\u00f3 la iglesia segura en la oficina de pap\u00e1. Fue encontrado unos d\u00edas despu\u00e9s en un campo a varias millas de distancia. Cuando era adolescente, fui con mi pap\u00e1 a encontrarme con el sheriff y a reclamar los papeles que hab\u00edan sido esparcidos desde la caja fuerte, que se hab\u00eda abierto. \u00a1Los ladrones pensaron que hab\u00eda dinero en la caja fuerte, pero estaban decepcionados! En cambio, los ladrones encontraron documentos que no ten\u00edan ning\u00fan valor para ellos. En algunos casos, los documentos eran ininteligibles, como los que recog\u00ed esparcidos por el campo y escritos con caracteres extra\u00f1os. Le pregunt\u00e9 a mi pap\u00e1, \"\u00bfQu\u00e9 son estos?\" \u00c9l respondi\u00f3: \"Esos son t\u00edtulos chinos de propiedad de IPHC en China que fueron confiscados por los comunistas despu\u00e9s de 1949. Los guardamos para el futuro\". Todo ese pasado, ya sea personal o no, sigue teniendo un impacto en mi vida. Esas experiencias con mi padre ayudaron a dar forma a mi comprensi\u00f3n del presente y el futuro. Me recuerdan que mis acciones de hoy son parte de algo que Dios ha estado haciendo en las generaciones anteriores a m\u00ed. Me recuerda que aquellos que ser\u00e1n las figuras de acci\u00f3n del ma\u00f1ana ser\u00e1n parte del trabajo continuo de Dios en Efesios 3:20, Dios \"puede hacer mucho m\u00e1s que lo que pedimos o pensamos\" (KJV). Dos veces en Efesios 3 Pablo comenz\u00f3 oraciones con, \"Por esta raz\u00f3n ...\" (3: 1, 14, NKJV). La obra de Dios \"para todas las generaciones\" (3:21) encuentra su raz\u00f3n en Efesios 1-3. All\u00ed los prop\u00f3sitos eternos de Dios se revelan en Jesucristo. El pecado que ha alienado a la humanidad de Dios, y a los unos de los otros, se reconcilia a trav\u00e9s de la cruz de Jesucristo. El destino del jud\u00edo para bendecir al gentil alienado se une en lo que Pablo llama el \"misterio\" (1: 9; 3: 3, 4, 9), que el jud\u00edo y el gentil est\u00e1n juntos en Jesucristo. Me gusta la versi\u00f3n anterior de King James Version de \"Por esta causa\", en Efesios 3: 1 y 14. Me recuerda una frase similar en 1 Samuel 17:29, donde el joven pastor David, frente a un arrogante, profano, y impotente filisteo, llama a este desaf\u00edo: \"\u00bfNo hay una causa?\" Es por \"esta causa\", expresada en la reconciliaci\u00f3n del mundo con Dios en Cristo, que cada generaci\u00f3n lleva a cabo su misi\u00f3n evang\u00e9lica. \"Por esta causa ...\": 1. Cada generaci\u00f3n conf\u00eda en la fortaleza divina, \"seg\u00fan las riquezas de su gloria\" (3:16). 2. Cada generaci\u00f3n conf\u00eda en que Cristo habita \"en sus corazones por la fe\" (3:17). 3. Cada generaci\u00f3n descubre de nuevo el poder del amor de Cristo, \"que pasa conocimiento\" (3: 17-19). 4. Cada generaci\u00f3n por la fe descubre que Cristo \"puede hacer much\u00edsimo m\u00e1s de lo que pedimos o pensamos\" por medio del Esp\u00edritu Santo \"que obra en nosotros\" (3:20). Cada vez que estoy con un grupo de adultos j\u00f3venes, ya sea en una congregaci\u00f3n local, YouthQuest, Accelerant, March for Life o con mis propios hijos y nietos, a menudo escucho la voz de mi padre rezando Efesios 3 sobre m\u00ed y sobre ellos. Siento su mano sobre mi hombro y mi cabeza. Intuyo desde su esp\u00edritu una generaci\u00f3n intencionalmente, y literalmente, entregando \"esta causa\" a otra generaci\u00f3n. Es nuestra causa y nuestro tiempo invit\u00e1ndonos a renovar la fe y el amor en Cristo, \"a todas las generaciones\". Por Doug Beacham<\/strong> Este art\u00edculo fue publicado en el n\u00famero de febrero de 2018 de Encourage<\/a> .<\/em>","author_name":"","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/03\/Dr.-Beacham-Featured-Image-e1520978320236.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb62Bx-wr","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}