The Lion Hath Roared! Reflections Of The COGIC 107th Annual Holy Convocation

Amos 3:8 ~ The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?

New, New, New 

Can You Ride A Donkey Pt. 1 ~ Supt. Earl Carter

Can You Ride A Donkey Pt. 2 ~ Supt. Earl Carter

New, New, New

Normally, I do an article prior to the annual Holy Convocation of the Church Of God In Christ outlining some points of interest and some fairly hot issues that the Saints, in general, should or could address in their largest annual meeting of the year.  

Since 2007 it has been the mission of this ministry to shine a bright light on the issues of sexual abuse and the lack of effort of the church, and more specifically the Church Of God In Christ in providing any respite, healing or reparation to victims of sexual abuse and church related abuse other than opening a checkbook, and implementing gag orders.  

Fast Forward

Not to labor on any ongoing or current efforts by me or this ministry, through I Am My Brother's Keeper Christian Advocacy Council, this year I want to note that God, being the God that he is, sent his word through another vessel, calling the church's attention to issues of integrity, morality and sexual purity within the church at higher levels. 

For those of us Bishops, Pastors, and Elders who were present last year at the 106th Annual Holy Convocation, we remember that it was Larry Stockstill through his book, "The Remnant; Restoring The Call to Personal Integrity" [Charisma House 2008] who was invited to speak to thousands of us delivering a simple message of restoration in the areas of sexual relationships and integrity within ministry in general. 

Supt. Dr. E. Carter

"How many Convocations you need before you get delivered? How many notes you need to take? How many prayer meetings?"  ~ Supt. Dr. Earl Carter 11/9/2014 COGIC Holy Convocation

This year the message of "Can You Ride A Donkey" (I gave it that name) and "get right church" came even closer and was more pronounced through a message delivered by Supt. Earl Carter who was the highlight speaker Saturday night Nov. 9th.  For your reference and as of this writing, Dr. Carter's message IS NOT available for download at OneCOGIC.org which provides instant messages of all of those who spoke at the Holy Convocation...(In other words, you will not find Dr. Carter's message on the COGIC site)

Nevertheless, Dr. Carter took the time to outline some of the problems associated with disintegrating values towards holiness and personal accountability focusing on the modern acceptance of homosexuality and other forms of sexual impurity among those of us who have been called out of darkness and into HIS light that serve within the church. Yes, his message certainly was for all, but it was specifically directed towards COGIC and COGIC leaders and leadership. 

Dr. Carter exclaimed that some preachers are no more than "Candy-men" trying to "make the world taste good" (a takeoff on a an early 70's Sammy Davis Jr. hit song) by dressing up the acceptance of homosexuality and sexual immorality within the church under the guise of love, care and concern. Further, Dr. Carter stated that too many preachers within our church have lost their integrity due to financial kickback and perks such as cars, houses and church salaries asking "how much is that pastor in the window?" (a takeoff on the old song, "How much is that doggy in the window?" sang by the late Patti Page) and stating that even though some pastors can ride in the finest of automobiles and off of accounts set up by the church for them to live, can they "ride a donkey?" like the Lord did when he triumphed over sin.  

In all Dr. Carter's message resonated with many due to his boldness in addressing serious issues that are normally left unspoken during the church's largest annual meeting. Even though COGIC may have scrubbed the message, one can click the above links or go HERE and HERE for the FREE audio of Dr. Carter's message and judge for one's self the effectiveness and depth of the word and whether or not he should have said what he said.   

To The Detractors

It is amazing to me to see the dissent or cognitive dissidence of people when the truth is preached. There will always be some who don't like the message or what is said but this message came with a whole host of controversy. First, the message is and was controversial for at least 4 primary reasons as I assess them:

1- Because the message was directed at and towards clergy it is claimed that it was disrespectful, after all, the clergy are "God's business" to handle right?

2- Because the message was directed in a pronounced manner towards homosexuals and homosexual sin so strongly it is claimed that it was bigoted and hate speech, especially calling folk "sissies"

3- Because some say that because it didn't go far enough calling out all "COGIC sins", that it was a waste of time, and merely a way to get attention. 

4- Then finally, because some say that it (the message) will not be accepted that it will not effect change (as the critic critically asserts) it should have been kept to itself. 

All I can say to these and other criticism is WHATEVER! NONE of those things are reasons to not pronounce or set forth the truth among men and or mankind. In fact we are called to preach the truth because of those instances and thoughts, not in spite of them.  

Then there are other so called concerns. They are the concerns of the "seeker sensitive" crowd, who have no understanding of the teaching of holiness or the method of teaching and preaching holiness, as outlined within the bible, and why the true gospel message and method is different than other message and methods embraced within society. The seeker sensitives would probably say, "What would Jesus have said or done?" This comes with the assumption that Jesus would have taken a much more measured, compassionate, and subdued approach in telling the truth. 

I beg to differ greatly...The Jesus of scripture was anything but a Jesus that conformed to the standards of care of this world...Here are some examples of what I mean:

• Jesus called those who judge unjustly "hypocrites" (Mt 7:5) and workers of hypocrisy (Lk. 12:1) 
• Jesus called detractors such as the Sadducee and Pharisees and other such religious elites, hypocrites (Mt. 16:3, 22:18, 23:13, 14, 15, 23,25,27,29.; Mk. 7:6; Lk.12:56)
• Jesus called the Sadducee and Pharisees a "wicked and adulterous generation" (Mt. 16:4) 
• Jesus called many of the same religious leaders vipers (Mt. 3:7)
• Jesus called many religious leaders a "brood" (or offspring) of vipers (or devils) (Mt. 12:34)
• Jesus called the followers of Pharisaic "hypocrites", "twofold children of hell" (Mt. 23:15)
• Jesus calls the scribes and Pharisees, the religious and social leaders of his day, liars and bearers of false witness, even at one point claiming that their "father" was the devil himself (John 8:44) based not on their nationality or race, but on their acts and what was coming from their hearts through their actions and acts. 
• Jesus beat the money changers out of the temple on at least 2 occasions (John 2:15, Mk. 11:15. Mt. 21:12)...Was this a calm, casual, love and accept anything Jesus? Or was this a righteously indignant Jesus indignant because of the sin and abuse of the people?
• Jesus chastises Peter, right after commending him for his spiritual insight, calling him satan (Mk. 8:33, Mt. 16:23,)
• Jesus called people who were "seeking" him, unfit for his service because they wanted to go home and address their families (Lk. 9:62) 

So the question of "What would Jesus say?" or that Jesus would have been "more kind and compassionate" is kind of settled since Jesus didn't mince words but called things, situations and people as they really were in spite of individual and or group feelings on the issues. Agreement with his assessment or with truth was not an issue for the truth; meaning that one did not have to agree with what was said for the truth to be told and for truth to be effective.

In addition, I find it the most irrational criticism to say that telling the truth was senseless or useless. In other words, because some "may not change, don't tell the truth"??? that is a silly notion that has no practicality in preaching the gospel. To question the messenger as one who is simply seeking attention, is about as STUPID as one can get...There are all kinds of ways to get attention other than preaching a message with such a deep and riveting impact such as this one. 

In short, the attitude of the detractors in dissent, whatever that dissent may be based upon, is not a compelling reason to deny the effectiveness of what was said, preached and delivered not only to the church, but to the world through this message. The fact that those entangled with the world is a sure sign that the message was sent from God, because the world does not understand, love or want Jesus as long as they want their idolatry too.  

The TRUTH Shall Make You Free (Jn. 8:32)

Ezekiel 33: 7- 9 ~ 7-“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 8-When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for a their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 9-But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved.

At least 2 places in Ezekiel (Ezekiel 3:16-19 and 33:7-9)  the prophet emphatically warns the preacher to warn the sinner of his sins and if the sinner repented that a soul would be saved. The prophet also warned that if one did not warn, the sinner would die in his sins, but the blood of them lost would be on the prophets hands. In other words, the forth-telling of God's word includes warning to the sinner of both their sins and the consequences of their sins. 

The interesting thing is that the world is so morally weak, that it cannot take correction and or truth and screams, like the devils that many of them are controlled by, when the anointing truly happens and is sent to address and deliver them from their sins. 

I find that only them that love their sins, were offended by Dr. Carter's message. Did he go far enough? YES! He went as far as god allowed him to go. To question otherwise relegates the pulpit to an instrument of men rather than the edict or sacred desk of God. People questioning whether he said enough question whether God is God and whether he can speak to HIS people as he deems. 

Sinners, or those who practice sin, can repent only when there is truth and that truth has struck its target. We are in need of mass restoration in this church and the Christian community in general. Only TRUTH will make the sinner repent and we saw shades of that repentance that night. 

Conclusion & Commission

As to why others haven't spoken so boldly...First, we don't know that they haven't. Plenty of others have told the unadulterated truth at each and every opportunity, some without the benefit of being broadcast in a setting such as the Holy Convocation. However, we know others haven't been so bold. To that I would suggest that maybe they weren't commissioned as Dr. Carter was. Who knows the mind and God and why he uses who he uses when he uses them? All we can do is be ready and hear what God is saying, for in that we do save our souls and the souls of countless of them that are counting on us as a source for truth, inspiration and encouragement in the Lord.

No matter how the message came, I am wondering will we hear what the message is saying? Forget the vessel for a minute. What about the truth? The fact is that HOLINESS is right and that when we stand before God, we shall all give an account for the things done in our body (Heb. 14:3, 2 Cor. 5:10) After all the debate, what will we do with that? Shall we stand in righteousness or cower in obscurity? That is the question.     

Rev. 2:7 ~  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Blessed!