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| Saturday, June 21, 2008 |
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Love One Another
Church of God Ministries, Church of God - General
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Duncan challenges believers
By Joseph D. Allison
 Though smaller than those of recent years, the Saturday night crowd of the North American Convention was nonetheless enthusiastic as Curtis Ferrell, the Thulin Family, and other musicians led them in worship. The service focused upon the convention theme, “Celebrate Unity.”
Ronald V. Duncan, executive director of Church of God Ministries, Inc., delivered a sermon based on Ephesians 4:1–6. He recalled meeting a woman who shared the pain of being rejected by her local church because she had borne a child out of wedlock. She then asked him, “What kind of church do you have?” Dr. Duncan said the question was troubling. It made him realize that many Christians do not demonstrate the love of Christ to one another, much less to strangers.
The apostle Paul challenged the early Christians to show forth the love of Christ through humility, gentleness, patience, and accepting one another in love. “When Christ does not see us treating other people in these ways, don’t you suppose he weeps?” Dr. Duncan asked.
In his forty-two years in Christian ministry, he has often seen conflict erupt among people who were earnestly trying to serve the Lord. “We are contending with ourselves rather than against evil,” Dr. Duncan said. “But Jesus came to save the lost, not to referee church fights!” He challenged his listeners to ask themselves: What kind of church do I attend? What kind of unity do I demonstrate by the way I love? Am I loving others as Christ loved me?
In a simple yet powerful way, four Church of God leaders concluded the service by washing the feet of four men representing people of other faith communions. The footwashing was conducted by executives of the Partners in Ministry of the Church of God: Robert Davis, Sr., of the National Association; Marcos Garcia, of the Hispanic Council; Sam Johnson, of the American Indian Council; and Dr. Duncan, of Church of God Ministries, Inc.
They washed the feet of leaders from the Church of the Nazarene, the Evangelical Church in North America, and the Wesleyan Church, as well as Robert Moss, chairman of the General Assembly of the Church of God, who represented other faith communions.
A version of this article appears in the Sunday, June 22, 2008, edition of the NAC roundup/08 newsletter. To view the newsletter in its entirety, click here (3.80 MB). The document is in PDF format and requires Adobe Acrobat in order to read and/or print it. If you do not have Acrobat installed on your computer, you can download a free copy of Acrobat Reader here.
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