I was ordained July 10, 1987, when General Superintendent, Dr. Earle Wilson, laid hands on me, shook my hand, and declared, "Take Thou Authority to Preach the Word!" I was thinking about that recently, and began to wonder how far back I could go with the succession of my ordination. So, I did a little research. I was ordained by Earle Wilson Earle Wilson was ordained by Pilgrim Holiness General Superintendent, William Neff William Neff was ordained by the Pilgrim founder, Seth Rees Seth Rees was ordained by Nazarene founder, Phineas Bresee Phineas Bresee was ordained by Methodist Bishop, Levi Scott Levi Scott was ordained by Elijah Hedding. Elijah Hedding was ordained by Francis Asbury Francis Asbury was ordained by a renegade Anglican priest named John Wesley John Wesley was ordained by Anglican Bishop (of Oxford) John Potter. From Potter -- there's a trail all the way back to St. Peter!! You can see the chart here. (Potter is at the bottom of the page #90. Now, how abo...
It is most likely because these 4 had a strong mentor in the church growing up. At least the ones I have talked with that stay close to the Lord in their young adults lives, have had at least one person from the church truly invest in them, especially in their early teen years. Also we need, myself included, to learn how to better communicate love to our young people. Many are receiving love, but it isn't connecting the way it should. This is difficult to watch as a youth pastor. I would recommend the book "The Five Love Languages of Teenagers”, by Gary Chapman. It applies to parents, youthworkers, etc. And it has helped me to see more clearly how Jesus "communicated love", and how we can learn and apply these principles. In parting, we do need to recognize why we are losing the 6 out of 10, but focus and build on how and why we are keeping, and connecting Christ with the 4 that stay close in their walk!
ReplyDelete