Following Our Lord
Wed/15/Oct 2008
I was privileged yesterday to spend a few hours with one of the elder statesmen of the Church of God. Dr. Barry Callen, Professor Emeritus at Anderson University, was the guest of honor at a luncheon held for Church of God students at Asbury Seminary. Dr. Callen is a prolific writer (over 30 books and counting) and has long since been considered the leading expert on pretty much anything related to the Church of God. When Dr. Callen speaks, the Church of God listens.
He presented all of us with a copy of his latest volume titled, “Following Our Lord: Understanding the Beliefs and Practices of the Church of God Movement (Anderson).” The book is designed to be a primer on what the Church of God has traditionally believed concerning everything from basic doctrine to hot button issues like abortion, homosexuality, free-masonry, etc. Some might describe it as a very loosely written ‘book of discipline’ for the Church of God. Dr. Callen wrote this book in large part because of an increasing lack of connection with our past that is occurring in our churches. The majority of the Church of God has no tangible understanding of how we were formed or where we have historically stood on some of the important social concerns of our culture. It is a book that in my opinion is long overdue.
What makes this book different from other denominational “handbooks” is that it is not written in a legislative manner. In other words, it does not provide a hard and fast list of “how the Church of God does things.” Rather, it provides a context for how the Church of God has historically understood certain issues; complete with classic quotes from important leaders of the past. In this way, the book stays true to our desire to always be a movement; to resist falling into a legalistic “my way or the highway” look at issues. Dr. Callen put it to us this way, “We believe we must remain a movement, because we follow Christ, and Christ is moving forward.”
If you are part of the Church of God, or are interested in learning more, this book is a great place to start. Every pastor should have a copy.
