Jude 2

Shepherd, please inform us of the specific works that TCOG is performing in the following areas that were pointed out by the Assembly promo that you directed us towards.

1. Anxiety and fear our nation specifically is plagued with these problems; how is TCoG working to combat them

2. Financial turmoil are there classes now being taught in TCOG circles to teach people proper economics, budgeting, etc. are these classes taught locally or through BTI?

3. Poverty always there has been and as Jesus said the poor will always be with us. What specifically is TCoG doing to help poverty stricken peoples around the world and here in the USA?

4. Domestic Abuse what programs have TCOG aligned themselves with that helped battered women and if none what programs have TCOG initiated to help battered women?

5. Depression how is TCoG specifically and expressly helping the thousands of men, women, and children that are depressed? Who heads up this ministry? Who trains those that engage in this field of ministry? Who teaches these training classes and what are their qualifications?

6. Marital problems What is the divorce rate among TCoG members and how does that compare positively to the divorce rate in the USA as a whole?

I really am interested in hearing this because these are real avenues of ministry and IF TCoG is now turning towards the hurting then I am glad but I wonder how so and where is the training coming from. The Spirit inspires and enables but where is the training coming from. We justify bible colleges, BTI, etc. to train pastors, evangelists, and teachers so surely the same mindset would say train the counselors.

The promo also mentioned that there are roughly 195 nations in the present world and that TCoG is in about 25% of those. I believe the caption said the mission of taking the gospel to the world was 25% complete. Is TCOG saying that of the 49 nations they currently have operations in that ALL the peoples of said nations have been presented with the entire truth of God's Word. Paul mentioned that all of Asia had heard the Word during his ministry. Asia was more specifically the Macedonian area and not the entire continent that we know of but what Paul said was good enough to God to be put into print by his Spirit. Can we weigh the mentioned statistic in such a way?

I am sure that you agree that primarily Christ is the answer in each area that you mentioned. Interest and involvement in personal soul-winning is at an all-time high in The Church of God.

On the other hand, I share your concerns. A part of our problem is moolah. We have a little over 20,000 members in 49 countries. Most of this mission work is sponsored by members in the United States. We need to broaden our base of membership in the states so that we can have more funds for these needed and important ministries.

A part of the vision for our Media Department is to offer quality video training in areas of ministry.

Don't get me wrong, I am impressed with the media team. Grayson is a great guy.

Christ is the answer indeed! The sad part is that MOST individuals need more than some anointing oil, a whoop, holler, and a jig to get through depression and some of these other issues. Marital problems will not be left at an altar if one party is not a Christian. Poverty certainly will not be fixed in a prayer meeting either.

We all know that camps and revivals produce lots of interest and the evangelists almost always report that the same individuals needed prayer for the same issues in their lives year after year. Well if they got the victory through prayer in the first place then why the need next year except that Christ is found not only in a prayer session but in counseling and Bible Study.

I agree. Too often, marital counseling is not Christian. Sadly, I think that has turned a lot of people off to biblical counseling. BTW, both Grayson and I have some training in that area. I wish I had more.

I would like to hijack this thread and say how much I respect Shepherd's spirit and attitude...

Sis,

I still get quite frustrated at times. I asked the Lord for more patience and he has sent me to Haiti 27 times. That has helped, but I still need to take a few more trips.

Recently some of the brethren went to Haiti and one of the brethren's grandsons told people, his granddad was in Hades...hahahahahahahaha!

Full Quiver wrote:Don't get me wrong, I am impressed with the media team. Grayson is a great guy.

Thanks y'all for the kind words. I'm still in the learning process in alot of the areas that are required to create a professional-grade site. Slowly, but surely, we are progressing along.

We actually just released the site (yeah! at 4:40 in the morning... this media guy hasn't figured out how to work sleep into his schedule yet) in Spanish if anyone is interested in checking it out.