In Remembrance of Christ

Did you know that December 25th is not the actual birth date of Jesus Christ? 

Did you know that it was originally a celebration of Christ that was established by the Roman Catholic Church when they initiated a Mass during the same season that many civilizations were already engaged in various winter solstice celebrations of the sun god? 

That's how the term Christ Mass was established. It was all part of an effort to covert people to Christianity. However they failed to steer the people away from the sun god rituals in spite of the new church-initiated Mass to celebrate the Son of God.

We share this with you because many skeptics use this well established historical fact to attack Christians who are ignorant of church history. They feel that this discrepancy, concerning the birth of Christ, gives them leverage to deny the Bible and the Son of God.

We're just providing a little more understanding as to why there is so much confusion and controversy surrounding December 25th.

Many Believers already know that the Bible never says that Christ was born in December. The point is that it doesn't matter that He wasn't born on December 25th. We assert that this church-initiated celebration was never an attempt to celebrate December 25th as Christ's date of birth. 

It was intended to celebrate the REALITY and PURPOSE for His birth.

Since millions of people have come into the Faith as Protestants, they have never been aware of the history behind December 25th. Most of that history is very negative and even involves an annual persecution of Jewish people on that day.

Over the years, the Christmas (Christ Mass) celebration has embraced many not-so Christian-like traditions and those traditions have become disconnected from historical facts and understanding. Of course the history is far more complicated than this, but we really don't have space to cover every detail in a simple newsletter. Hopefully, this will get you started in pursuing answers in your own personal study.

As a side note, many Biblical historians believe that Christ was actually born at a much more significant God-ordained time (perhaps in the Spring when sheep were giving birth). However, for most Jewish people, December 25th is directly connected with a negative history of persecution, and it is a 24-hour celebration declaring that there is another way to come to Jehovah God; so they want no part of it.

Over the past few weeks, we have been offering very important points for you to consider for making Godly responses to the sun-god-worship origins of December 25th. As Community life coaches and Spiritual leaders, we have decided to provide practical answers and solutions for you and your family.

Here are the four points we asked you to consider for responding to people who are caught in the midst of this controversy:

1.) Become all things to all men - 1 Corinthians 9:18-23

2.) Don’t allow your freedom to cause your brother to stumble - 1 Corinthians 8:4-13

3.) Use the opportunity (holiday) to bless your enemies - Matthew 5:43-45; and

4.) Continue in the early church lifestyle of giving to others/ helping the poor - Acts 2: 40-47

This week we are offering the fifth response:

5.) Consider a foundational Christian celebration: Partaking of the Lord's Table in Remembrance of Christ (Luke 22:14-20).

Jesus instructed His followers to partake of the communion table in remembrance of Him (Luke 22: 14-20). The holiday season is another perfect opportunity to place emphasis on Jesus Christ by gathering to do what HE instructed us to do. That's what we choose to do every year with our Fruitful Life Learning Community.

Millions of Believers will gather in sanctuaries or in their homes to partake of Holy communion and truly reflect upon the reason Christ came into the world.

These special gatherings remind us that the Son of God is not to be merely thought of as a baby lying in a manger, but as our Savior who was brutally beaten and nailed alive to a wooden cross. We should remember that He rose again from the dead to usher all of us into the Family and Kingdom of God.

As we stated last week, we are simply trying to communicate that in spite of the historical facts, controversies and conflicts that surround December 25th, CHRIST must truly become YOUR reason for this season and all year round.

The world will continue to celebrate the sun god (in all of its many names and forms) as part of their annual winter celebrations. WE must celebrate the SON of God and give a Godly RESPONSE to our non-believing family and friends, and to our Christian brothers and sisters who may not have this insight.

Enjoy the day and enjoy the season!

Giving Is Already Our Lifestyle

In the midst of a global pandemic people are struggling trying to find a way to celebrate the holiday season. The entire year has been challenging and even as it wraps up, it still shows no sign of letting up on the relentless assault on our lives.

In years past, people of various faiths and religious beliefs have furiously battled over the appropriate way to deal with the holiday season. Even within Christianity there are debates about the way December 25th  should be celebrated, or if it should be celebrated at all.

Over the past few weeks we have been offering very important points for us to consider for making a Godly response to the pagan origins of December 25th. As Faith Leaders and Community Life CARE Coaches, we have decided to provide practical answers and solutions for you and your family.

Here are the three points we asked you to consider for responding to people who are caught in the midst of the Christmas controversy:

1.) Become all things to all men - 1 Corinthians 9:18-23 

2.) Don’t allow your freedom to cause your brother to stumble 

- 1 Corinthians 8:4-13

3.) Use the opportunity (holiday) to bless your enemies - Matthew 5:43-45

This week we are offering the fourth of five responses:

Response #4: Continue steadfast in the early church lifestyle of giving - Acts 2: 40-47

In the early church, they developed a lifestyle of sharing with others and making intentional efforts to help those in need. This was not a practice that came out of pagan rituals. The Church did this as part of the overflow of the life of Christ within them.

Never think of gift-giving and helping the needy as only a holiday thing. It's simply a Godly response. Christmas just happens to be a great time to do what should come naturally for Believers all year.

Many people claim that they give presents to others because December 25th is Jesus' birthday. Hopefully, we have made it clear that Christmas was never intended to be celebrated as the birth date of Christ, but instead, the celebration of the fact that Christ came into the world to take away the sin of humanity.

Therefore, even though the reasoning behind the gift-giving claim is a bit misguided, the practice of gift-giving is not.

Today, we are urgently trying to communicate that in spite of the historical facts, controversies and conflicts that surround December 25th, Christ must truly become YOUR reason for this season and all year round. 

The world will continue to celebrate the SUN god (in all its many names and forms) as part of their annual winter celebrations. WE must celebrate the SON of God and give a Godly RESPONSE to our non-believing family and friends, and to our Christian brothers and sisters who may not have this insight.

Many religious leaders are preaching strongly about the negative issues that surround the winter holiday season. However, we believe that it is one thing to expose all the problems with December 25th, but it is another thing to actually offer a way for people to RESPOND in this season and bring Glory to God the Father.

Yes, we must speak the truth about December 25th, but what does it matter if we cannot present TRUTH in LOVE and take advantage of the opportunity to lead people to a genuine relationship with God through Jesus Christ?

Giving gifts and helping the needy is more than a December 25th thing; it's a Godly thing. God gave us the gift of His son. For God so loved the world that He gave.....

The Gift of Forgiveness

A couple weeks ago we started discussing the controversies surrounding various December celebrations and traditions; and how we, as Believers, must stop merely REACTING to the negative origins of December 25th and begin making a wise RESPONSE to this season. 

We are offering at least Five Godly Responses to December 25th. 

So far we have presented two responses:

#1: Become All Things to All Men from 1 Corinthians 9:18-23 (NKJV)

#2: Don’t allow your freedom to cause your brother to stumble from 1 Corinthians 8:9-13 (NKJV) 

This week we’re offering response #3 - Use the opportunity (holiday) to love, bless, do good and pray for your enemies, haters and persecutors. 

In years past, (before our current Covid-19 lock downs) many people were giving in to the pressure to buy gifts and they’d run up huge credit card bills to do it. During one holiday season, we saw a celebrity on a talk show and he said the only thing he asked his family and friends to give him was a gift that doesn’t cost any money. So he simply asked for a letter, a poem, a song, a phone call, etc. It is truly amazing how one of the richest people in America has a request for the most important things in life. Meanwhile, many financially struggling people in America try to spend money. 

We plan to enjoy the holiday by spending time with one another. We are focusing on our relationships; even the relationships that are not doing so well. We encourage you to do the same. 

In Matthew 5:43-45 (NKJV), Jesus said: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." 

This may seem radical, but we believe that we can use this holiday season as an opportunity to bless those who are our enemies. 

What a marvelous time to do something so completely unexpected that it truly personifies what it means to be a child of our Father in heaven. Just like HE provides sunshine and rain (both of these are blessings) to evil and good people, we can express His goodness and mercy in a tangible way as well. 

For many of us, we don’t have to think too hard to come up with a name or two of people whom we could bless in this way. Before covid-19, many people were going to scramble through shopping malls trying to find the perfect gift for someone who is very special to them. But what if they had included in those lists, a couple of people who don’t like them very much? 

In these harsh economic times, most people don’t have very much money for purchasing gifts and the holiday season has become more of a burden of obligation. However, we encourage you to consider those who spitefully used you or even persecuted you. It might be something as simple as sending a greeting card or sending a text message or greeting. 

One year the Holy Spirit showed me that I had buried unforgiveness regarding a childhood bully. Just mentioning his name brought up old feelings of anger and resentment. So the Lord impressed upon me to start the cleansing process by sending a Christmas card with a letter. It was to be the first step in blessing someone who persecuted me long ago. 

What names and faces come into your thoughts as you consider this Godly response? Don’t hesitate. Take advantage of this season to respond like a child of God. Give the gift of forgiveness. 

Respond by blessing your enemies.

A Matter of Conscience

It might be difficult to conceive, but there are millions of people who have real issues with December 25th. 

Last week we began discussing some of the controversies surrounding December 25th and how we, as Believers, can stop merely REACTING to the negative origins of that date and begin making wise RESPONSES to this season.

We are offering at least Five Godly Responses to December 25th.

Last week we presented response #1: Become All Things to All Men, according to 1 Corinthians 9:18-23.

This week we offer Response #2: 

Don’t cause your brother to stumble - 1 Corinthians 8:4-13 (NKJV)

In his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul was dealing with a matter that was very similar to the controversial Christmas issues. Some Believers were participating in the practice of eating food that was offered to idols. They didn’t feel restricted because they knew that the idols were not real gods and they also knew that what goes into a person is not what defiles them.

It’s the same for Christian Believers today who participate in modern Christmas rituals that have proven historical foundation in idol worship. They feel, just as those early Believers, that they are free in Christ Jesus. Therefore, they have no problem with the negative origins.

However, Paul admonished those early Believers to not allow their freedom to cause another brother to stumble. He explained that due to his brother's conscience, he did not have internal permission to participate in that practice of eating food offered to idols.

If another Believer is struggling with our practices, it may wound their conscience. Paul actually says that we sin against our brother and Christ. The sin is not the practice itself, but it is in how the participation affects our brothers.

Let’s read the letter: “Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.

However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.

But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.”

We realize that even though there are many things that are okay for Chris and Carol to do, but as Spiritual coaches and spiritual leaders in this community, they are not always expedient. Some things are not wise for us to do. Some things are not beneficial for us to do. There are many things that we were at liberty to say and do in Missouri that have proven to be offensive in Pennsylvania. So we don't do them for the sake of our brothers and sisters in this region and their culture.

Why abstain? Well, because we have an extremely important mission and purpose for being in Pennsylvania. Some of our freedoms could go beyond merely offending another brother, and could actually cause them to stumble. Paul says that some of our freedoms could actually wound another brother’s conscience. Our freedoms can even cause others, who are outside of the Faith, to continue in their ungodly practices. 

So, we have learned that some things are just not worth it. Why risk losing potential brothers and sisters or wounding current brothers and sisters?

What are we saying to you today? We're saying, please be very careful of what you practice in this controversial season. Allow the Holy Spirit to give you the 'yea and nay' about what you do. Don't question Him. Just obey Him.

We cannot, do not, must not, and will not dictate what goes on in your home. We’re not the December 25th police! God knows who is in your family and He knows the people who are part of your life. You might be connected to people with whom your response is based upon what we mentioned last week ….I have become, to those who are without law, as without law.

Most of today’s December 25th practices don’t cause people any internal conflict because they have no knowledge of the history. But if you are closely connected with family members who have issues with these things, be very wise and sensitive to where they are in their conscience. They would require the response from last week's scripture .…I become to those who are under the law, as under the law.

Remember, a person’s beliefs are often deeply rooted in teachings, personal understanding, personal interpretation, cultural or familial upbringing, history and life-long experiences. 

It really is a matter of their conscience. Don’t force someone to violate their own conscience. It’s not simply a matter of whether THEY are right or wrong about December 25th. Don’t let your freedom cause your brother to stumble.

Respond with understanding, patience and love.

The Holiday Challenge

It’s that time again. It’s the holiday season. Even in the midst of a pandemic, Americans are still trying to make time for family, fellowship, food and festivities. 

Now that Thanksgiving is behind us we're going to start talking about December 25th. That's because, the day after Thanksgiving is the traditional start of the holiday shopping season. Therefore, we're going to take advantage of this annual launch to start talking about December 25th and what it truly means in America today.

Did you know that many people feel that Christmas should not be celebrated?

When you learn about some of its history you can understand why. Here are just a few reasons why it is not celebrated in many sectors of American society. You might have family or friends who feel this way:

1.) Christmas is just a capitalistic marketing ploy to manipulate the masses to spend money.

2.) There is no Christian church validation that Jesus was really born on December 25th.

3.) December 25th is a day on which Jews have been shamed, tortured and murdered.

4.) Many of the most popular Christmas customs – including Christmas trees, mistletoe, Christmas presents and Santa Claus – are modern incarnations of the most depraved pagan rituals ever practiced on earth.

5.) Most Christmas customs evolved from pagan rituals and practices and, therefore, should never be observed.

We agree that these are all very strong arguments for not participating in the festivities of the holiday. Many preachers across America will accurately and systematically destroy any reason a Christian Believer could possibly be connected to this season of the year.

However, as you know, we have built a reputation on diving into controversial topics and we’re about to add more fuel to that fire.

Many Christians and religious people have taken the position that it is wrong to embrace things that were perverted and sinful in their origins. They feel we should never attempt to use these things for God. 

However, that's exactly what God did with us. Even though we were born in sin and shaped in iniquity, Christ died for us while we were still sinners. For anyone who receives Him, He gives them the power to become children of God. He changes us and sets us apart for His purpose. He didn't allow our sinful origins to keep us away from His divine purpose.

Now, as His children, we have the opportunity to take advantage of a season that has very negative origins and highly commercialized, money-making schemes. This is one of the special times in which our families can be exposed to the reality of Jesus Christ and the true reason why He came to earth.

We believe that we must do much more than just debate about all the reasons why we should not celebrate Christmas. Most people simply REACT to the negative aspects of Christmas. We believe that we need to provide Believers Godly ways to RESPOND to this season.

Beginning this week, and up until Christmas Day, we want to give you Five Godly Responses to the Pagan Origins of December 25th.

This week we’re presenting response #1: 

Become All Things to All Men.

In 1 Corinthians 9:18-23, Paul writes, "For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you."

We see the Christmas season as the perfect opportunity to connect with many different kinds of people. This scripture does not mean that we become hypocrites and pretenders in order to indulge in secular practices. This is talking about connecting with people ON THEIR LEVEL of understanding. This is about identifying with them, the same way Christ identified with all of mankind.

Don't shun people because of what they believe or practice during this season. Don't isolate yourself from the office party or the family gathering because they may have traditions or rituals that are against your beliefs. Become all things to all men, so that you might by all means save some.

We'll give you a week to ponder over these thoughts! Please watch for next week's posting as we provide another way to avoid merely REACTING to, but instead, wisely RESPONDING to the pagan origins of December 25th.

It's Still a Matter of the Heart

Prior to the 2008, 2012 and 2016 presidential elections, we offered no political opinions. We simply presented the spiritual and moral issues that are identified in the Bible. Unfortunately, the issues and interpretations of morality, justice and equality have fallen on two different sides of the dominant political parties in America.

This dilemma causes many Believers to vote for a president who is a Democrat while others vote for Senators and Congressmen who are Republicans. Or they vote for a Republican president while others vote for Senators and Congressmen who are Democrats. This is why it’s so difficult to navigate through the political process in our country. It’s also the reason it’s so difficult to explain one’s choices to family, friends and colleagues.

Here is what we wrote nearly twelve years ago and it is incredibly amazing how it still applies to us today:

After we sent an email on the day of President Obama’s inauguration and quoted from the Bible that we are to pray for him, several pastors and leaders in this community, who opposed Obama, discontinued support and communication with this ministry and us. On the other side, friends and family who supported the new president took our email to mean that we were merely offering some form of insincere political patronizing.

We thought we were (and our intentions were) fulfilling our Pastoral leadership responsibility to bring our divided congregations together and to focus on the things that God desires to do in our nation. Our email had nothing to do with either endorsing or rejecting the President.

Here is what we sent out on January 21, 2009:

"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers and intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone---for kings, and for all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good and pleases God our Savior." ---1 Timothy 2:1-3

Make no mistake about it; yesterday (the inauguration) was a profoundly significant day. We still don’t agree with some of President Obama’s policies and agendas. Many of them conflict with Biblical teachings. However, that still doesn’t change the fact that God will use anybody to accomplish what HE wants to do in a nation.

Where did we get the idea that a political leader MUST be someone who follows all of the principles of the Bible in order for God to use that person to accomplish His purpose and plan?

Again, we're not ignoring the agenda of any particular President. We’re actually acknowledging the sovereignty of God. As flawed as we are as human beings, it’s amazing that God chooses us to do anything in this life.

God called Nebuchadnezzar His servant even though he was the emperor that destroyed Jerusalem, killed thousands of people, and carried their best and brightest into exile. God chose him to execute judgment; therefore he was God’s servant even though he wasn’t a Godly man.

Presidential elections are about more than trying to get a scripture-quoting, Bible-toting candidate in the Oval Office. This is about getting synchronized with what God is doing in our lifetime in America. If America is under judgment, (and many Christian leaders believe it is) then God will set the person in place that needs to be there at the time of judgment, repentance, recovery or rebuilding.

So we’re going to stay focused on the bigger picture. It doesn’t matter so much who sits in the Oval Office of the White House. It still comes down to who is sitting in the Oval Office of MY house.

We'll close this week's newsletter with the lyrics of a song written by a dear mentor and friend more than 40 years ago.

If you want a brand new world, you gotta have brand new people.

If you want brand new people, we've gotta have a brand new life.

If you want a brand new life, you gotta have a brand new spirit.

If you want a brand new spirit, you gotta come to Jesus Christ!

- Dr. Myles Munroe

We encourage you to cast your vote, but do not cast your cares on a human being. A potential candidate will get our votes, but only GOD gets all our confidence.

For the least of these, 

Christopher and Carol Green (D.Hon.Causa) 

I Always Saw More

 

The Lord gave me a life-altering experience over ten years ago. It was about three weeks after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. You may recall that the 7.0 magnitude quake that rocked Haiti on Jan 12, 2010 was the biggest urban disaster in modern history.  More than 200,000 people were killed, and another 1.5 million were left homeless.
            
I was lying awake after a restless night of constantly seeing the TV images of Haiti running through my mind. I'm always deeply affected by various events going on around the world, so I began to pray in the spirit and instantly fell into a kind of sleep, but I wasn’t asleep.

I felt a powerful wind come upon me and I was taken up and carried way above the Earth. Then from what seemed to be a satellite view of the Earth, my vision was focused upon the North American continent.

I was carried down out of space and another great wind came and carried me through city streets. At a speed, faster than sound or light, I was being carried from one city to another. The wind was carrying me through the streets, around buildings and through neighborhoods.

I recognized certain parts of north St. Louis, but then I realized it was not just St. Louis, but I was seeing many cities all at the same time. I was moving on the wind through one city after another, in a flash of time. It’s difficult to describe how fast it was happening and how I was in many places all at the same time.

I had a simple question, "Lord, what do you want me to do?"

Suddenly the wind carried me high into the sky and I was rocketed towards the Midwest. I realized I was flying toward St. Louis. As I was descending, I saw the stadium, but I did not quite reach the city. I stopped before I reached the boundary of the state line.

I asked the Lord, “Where do you want me to go?”

Suddenly, I was being pulled backwards. I thought: “Am I going back to Harrisburg, going to Philadelphia or New York?” But the wind suddenly shot me back up into a satellite type position, high above the Earth again.

I looked straight down and my eye sight, my vision changed to that of a satellite image. It was as if though I were looking down upon a city through the lenses of a camera. I heard the sound of a camera shutter and the image changed to another city; then another city; then another and another. The images begin to change faster and faster until it was moving at rapid-fire speed.  It was far more cities than I could possibly count.

Then the wind carried me back to the Earth and into my body. I lay there still feeling the wind moving upon me, and the Lord said: “I’m going to put YOUR name in the wind… when I do; you are to put MY name in the wind.”  Then I came out of the vision. I had never had this kind of experience in GOD. 

I did not reveal this vision to our church family until four years later, on the first Sunday of September in 2014. It was the first time I publicly spoke about it. 

Today, I share with you something that has been in my heart for many, many years. Through all of our training and experiences over the past 40 years, we have been prepared and groomed for a very specific latter-day ministry. And that ministry is starting to come alive. Could it be that it is coming forth with the advent of live-streaming through the internet? Could that be how I would be in many cities all at the same time, in a flash of time; many places at once in mere seconds?

For the past 16 years in Pennsylvania, I have always told my wife that I have not seen just a church or a church building for our ministry. I ALWAYS SAW MORE. That vision happened to me 10 years ago, and I have waited to see what it could possibly mean.

In the vision, after that brief moment of being focused on St. Louis, God launched me into a position to reach the world. And now, as you all know, the Lord has connected us to people who also have a heart to reach the world. And we have been given the technology and opportunity to do it.

He has connected us with other like-minded leaders, from around the world, who do a lot more than just TALK, but they are people of ACTION, like us. They do not procrastinate and they do not take months and years to finally decide to make the necessary steps to obey the voice of God. They are not allowing the precious time they have left on this Earth to be wasted with the petty pursuits of power through politics, religion, money, and fame.

We are sensing that the revelation of that vision and the next part of our journey has come upon us. Nearly 40 years ago, we sensed God’s timing to move from Tulsa to St. Louis to work and serve with my brother. After serving in our home church for 17 years, the Holy Spirit spoke to us about moving to South Central Pennsylvania. Now after 16 years in Pennsylvania, we sense the Lord connecting us to global opportunities, with others who have the same call to turn hearts, communities, cities, states, provinces, nations, and our world to Christ.

I still recall how, in January of 2014, the Lord spoke to us through His word where He said:

"And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens. I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.”

It is becoming more and more evident that a new season is upon us and very significant doors are being opened for Carol and me; and for those who have joined to us, who are willing to answer the call, too. 

We don't know what the remainder of 2020 holds in store for us. After the presidential election, we'll be facing unimaginable challenges, trials and sorrows that will require God's grace, favor, protection and wisdom to navigate through. 

We invite you to see MORE with us, to receive MORE, and allow the Holy Spirit to send you out to reach MORE than ever before. 

We are overcomers, moving in a new season,

Pastor Chris Green

Chris and Carol Green Named Professors, Vice Chancellors of Administrative Leadership and Professional Development

Chris and Carol Green with Chancellor Prof. Michal Pitzl and Chief Chancellor Prof. Clyde Rivers

Kampala, Uganda (UGCSI) ----Professor Clyde Rivers and Professor Michal Pitzl have announced the appointment of Chris and Carol Green as the new Professors of Searcher Education and Vice Chancellors of Administrative Leadership at United Graduate College and Seminary International (UGCSI). This couple will be positioned to lead the Professional Development of the school's global team of educators and instructors.

UGCSI is a private, fully accredited Christian College and Seminary that provides its students an e-learning education model for their ministry training. With excellent Biblical programs, as well as accelerated ministry degree programs, it is anchored by a unique staff of educators from all over the world, who offer a truly practical, well-rounded international ministry education experience.

As affiliate members and International Statesmen with iChange Nations™, Chris and Carol Green have partnered with UGCSI to provide an accelerated, ministry-accredited life coaching certification program. Their collaborative purpose and mission has been, to offer leaders, working in under-served communities, high-quality tools that empower and equip them to be more effective in their humanitarian efforts.

After successfully establishing this International Leadership Life Coaching Program in the United States, the Greens were extended this prestigious invitation from the UGCSI  Chief Chancellor and Chancellor, who had been following their progress and success.

"The Greens have been with us for a while," says Chief Chancellor Clyde Rivers. "They have worked in obscurity and just been faithful in helping us build a culture of excellence and honor."

Chris and Carol Green received formal Christian Leadership Training (a 5-year school of ministry) from Dr. Raphael Green (D.Ed.Min) who founded the Metro Christian Discipleship Academy in Saint Louis, Missouri; earning licenses and ordinations as ministers in May of 1991. To further enhance his education, Chris completed two business certification programs at the University of Missouri-St. Louis’ School of Professional and Continuing Studies. They both completed a lay-counseling certificate program from the American Association of Christian Counselors.

They continued to expand and grow in their professional development through their enrollment in United Graduate College and Seminary International (UGCSI), where they received Bachelors and Masters degrees in Christian Leadership, as well as certification as master life coaches through its Colleges of Christian Education and Divinity: Educational Department.

After completing the Master Life Coaching program, they took their certifications and began volunteering their coaching skills in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's under-served communities, and it wasn't long before local organizations began to recognize and acknowledge the high-quality work that was being invested.

In 2018, Chris and Carol Green introduced their ground-breaking CARE-Readiness Training and Certification for Providers, Mentors and Coaches. Over the course of two years, they were able to certify nearly 80 Life Coaches, which meant the positive impact of their high-quality, life-transforming program was being duplicated and distributed.

"The timing is perfect for bringing the Greens into UGCSI as Vice Chancellors and Professors," explains Chancellor Michal Pitzl. "Due to the covid-19 outbreak, we're in reset mode just like the rest of the world, but when we return, we have a special opportunity to equip and empower the leaders that both work in our school, as well as the leaders from all over Central Africa and the world, who come to us for ministry training. We're looking to PROFESSORS Chris and Carol Green to help us build a Global Leadership Professional Development Program."

As the world's leading producers of CARE-Ready Life Coaches™, Chris and Carol Green have been teaching and training community, government and education leaders, human service organizers, business visionaries, and neighborhood dreamers how to be much more effective by embracing the principles of CARE (Compassionate Accountability with Respect and Empathy) in their professional and personal lives. They LISTEN to people, LIFT people and LAUNCH people. Then they equip and empower them to do the same for others.

Many coaching, mentoring and community outreach programs employ what is known as a "deficit model" of working with people. That's where you focus on the problems (deficits) of a person, and then apply a set of pre-determined, cookie cutter steps and treatments to address their issues. The deficit-based model is what many well-meaning Helpers use, but it rarely works long-term, leaving Helpers wondering why their clients fail to break the cycles of addiction and recidivism.

However, their CARE-Ready Life Coach Training™ mirrors the principles found in the proven, Best Practice strategies of Strength-based, Solution-focused models. CARE-Ready life coaches are trained to connect with people in order to build a relationship/ partnership that empowers the client; thus allowing the client to discover the solutions that will work best for them.

While many coaching programs focus on how to target potential high-paying affluent clients, and high-paying speaking opportunities, the Greens train, equip and empower Care-Ready Providers and Coaches™, who are willing to take on the most often overlooked people of society; those who live in under-served communities, who can least afford, but benefit the most from professional guidance.

"We're very excited that the Greens accepted our invitation and this appointment," Pitzl concluded. "They will bring another level of expertise and experience to our overall global mission."

Chris and Carol Green are also recipients of honorary doctorates in Christian Leadership (Chris) and Humanities (Carol); as well as honorary doctorates in Society and Human Rights (both). They are currently candidates in the UGCSI Christian Leadership doctoral program.

A Song that Requires a Symphony of Lives to Play It and an Entire World to Sing It

Chris and Carol Green respond to the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd

There’s a lot of noise right now; a lot of noise; a lot of screaming. There are screams of pain, screams of anguish, screams of vengeance and retaliation, screams of mocking, screams of silence. I don’t like getting caught up in a lot of the noise.

For some of us, our silence doesn’t mean we’re complicit. Have you ever seen that person at the funeral who cries, but no sound comes out? They shake and convulse. They sob. But they don’t wail or scream. That’s me. My silence is pain that’s so deep, that it has no sound.

So I had to pull back before I spoke, because I wasn't interested in merely adding to noise, but to contribute to a specific sound. It’s a sound with a frequency that is beyond the human ear, and heard only by the heart. It's a sound that comes from not only pain, but from prayer, and being in God's presence. I have to worship before I speak. So now I speak.

One of our spiritual daughters (from St. Louis, MO) sent me a message this morning and said she noticed that I hadn’t said anything (publicly) about the latest police killings. I must confess that I have been so triggered that it was best for my wife and I to not say anything because we were just filled with pain and rage.

For a couple of days, I posted and re-posted all kinds of stuff on social media, but one night me and one of my sons had dreams on the same night, and I felt like God was telling us that we needed to go back and delete all that stuff and regroup. So we did.

There’s nothing else I can say that hasn’t already been said. I was sickened; I was overwhelmed by it all. It was too much, too back to back. It was a rapid fire punch, punch, punch, slam! I couldn’t breathe. Before we learned what George Floyd had said, we had all experienced it. We literally could not take another breath. We collectively, could not breathe.

It brought back everything: The last few years of police shootings; the last 52 years of futility, since Dr. King’s death. It brought back the years of our parent’s Civil Rights struggle. It brought back the cruelty of the years of my sharecropper grandparents. I say that for those who say that this was all a long time ago. But you don’t understand. For many of us, our grandparents, and certainly our great-grandparents were alive when Harriet Tubman died. It’s not ancient, forgotten history. It is the substance that is part of the sub-atomic material that makes up the DNA of the African American soul.

So when I say that we collectively could not breathe, you better believe that there are those who read what I just wrote and tears filled their eyes, because that’s what hit us, all over the United States. It’s not an ancient history. It’s an embedded soul-and-spirit-memory connection that knows no time and no distance.

It's an implicit PTSD response to:
246 years of official slavery (1619 - 1865)
99 years of Jim Crow Laws (1865 - 1964, and I was born in 1959)
86 years of Lynching (1882 - 1986) Did you get that? 1986
14 Years of Fighting for Civil Rights (1954 - 1968)
52 years of systemic incarceration and ravaging of Black families through government programs. (1968 - 2020)
401 years of Oppression (1619 - 2020)

And then there is the empirical evidence of shared experience. Black people from all walks of life, who have never met one another, have expressed, almost word-for-word, the same experiences. No one got together in a forum and put together a narrative that we would spread across the country like news reporters all reading from the same page. This is pure empirical evidence.

The problem with communication is that I have 12 different things that I need to say, all at the same time. I should be talking about my Faith in Jesus Christ and my commitment to the Kingdom of God. I should be talking about the need for love and hope in the midst of chaos. But I can only address one thing at a time. So bear with me and forgive me for what I failed to say, and just give me a minute to finish the Book my wife and I are writing right now, and then you can have at it. I can only say one thing at a time.

Today is just the introduction; the opening musical notes of a song that requires a symphony of lives to play and an entire world to sing.

The unrehearsed, collective words my sons, nieces and nephews have used have been these: “We are angry and we’re hurt. We don’t need your opinion. We don’t need your judgment. We’re just hurt.” They were not looking for sympathy or pity. They had been expecting at least a small measure of empathy. And they were shocked to learn that a lot of their White friends, co-workers, and even classmates, going back to high school, had no empathy for them.

I would ask if you would bring judgment into a conversation with a hurting friend, but I now realize that some of you would. You’d do the same with your own friends and family. You’d have no compassion, no respect and no empathy for them either.

So, many things have been stirring in us the last few days. We are people of Faith. We are people of Peace. We try to always choose wisdom's way. And now I'm getting to what we feel at liberty to say.

Carol and I wrote a speech a few years ago (2017). We shared it with an audience that was predominantly White. We were invited by two White gentleman with whom we shared a bit of our story, and they were willing to take the risk to have us share it with their supporters.

It's a speech about the value of listening to others and understanding others, and we invite you to that table to dine today.

Here is that speech: https://www.facebook.com/notes/chris-and-carol-green/it-only-take-one/2708202862749486/

Fruitful Life Relaunches WISDOM TO LEAD E-Learning Initiative During Covid-19 Shutdown

Enola, PA ---- Chris and Carol Green announced the relaunch of their Fruitful Life E-Learning initiative WISDOM TO LEAD, in an effort to provide a practical way for their ministry followers to take advantage of the opportunity to dive into the Bible and build their spiritual muscles.

"Our message to our online learners was this, explains Chris Green, "You promised yourself, 'If I ever have the time, I'll take an online class or course in Leadership, Biblical Foundations, Improving my Marriage/ Family, or Prayer.' So we have extended an invitation for them to begin fulfilling that personal goal during this time."

"Not only will students gain some critical understanding in biblical foundations," adds Carol Green, "But they will also find these lessons very timely and encouraging during this very serious moment in history."

The Fruitful Life Learning Community continues to move forward in its mission to help Believers learn  how to genuinely connect with, and successfully disciple family and friends who don't share their social, political, spiritual or cultural views and beliefs.

Chris Green shares, "It takes more than good intentions, enthusiasm, and sincerity to maturely and effectively reveal Christ in our households, neighborhoods and culture.  We must follow the biblical directives that tell us to:

Take My yoke upon you and LEARN FROM ME... Matthew 11:29a (AMP)

Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman who has no reason to be ashamed,  accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth.   ---2 Timothy 2:15

Always be ready to give a [logical] defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope and confident assurance [elicited by faith] that is within you, yet [do it] with gentleness and respect.  ---1 Peter 3:15"

Explore the Fruitful Life E-Learning classes and sessions at

www.FruitfulLifeLearning.org/wisdom-to-lead

The Fruitful Life Learning Community is a unique merging of a Life-Development Ministry with an alliance of Families, Home Groups, House Churches and Ministries.  They convene in strategically orchestrated weekly and monthly online sessions that resource, equip and empower people from all spheres and aspects of life; giving them access to healing within their own hearts and homes, and then the ability to extend their extraordinary transformation to their friends, neighborhoods, colleagues, and anyone in their world. 

As a neighborhood-supporting faith family, Fruitful Life is patterned after the 1st-century Followers of Christ, who continued steadfast in the Apostle's teaching and fellowship, in Breaking of Bread, and in Prayers. They met privately in their homes and corporately as a community on a regular basis; and they took care of widows, orphans and the poor, while experiencing miraculous signs and wonders.  In its DNA, Fruitful Life carries the Ephesians 4 directive of equipping and empowering Believers to do the work of ministry.

Before there was a religion called Christianity, there was a movement known as THE WAY.  Chris and Carol Green launched the Fruitful Life Learning Community as an intentional effort to help people of faith and Christian leaders return to that simple mission and lifestyle that demonstrates God's love and healing to hearts and homes.

COVID-19 Outbreak Did Not Catch Us Unprepared

On Friday, March 13 the word came to us that the Governor of Pennsylvania was closing schools and businesses for at least two weeks due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The following week saw the edict expand to public gatherings being reduced to 250 people, then 50 and then 10.

Suddenly there was a scramble throughout our city, state and country for many ministries, organizations and churches to formulate plans and rethink ways to conduct meetings and weekly gatherings.

For the Fruitful Life Alliance of Families, Small Groups, Churches and Ministries, there was no scramble, no panic, and no last minute planning strategies.

Why?

We were already prepared. We saw this day coming nearly six years ago. We not only saw it coming, but we made the necessary transition and have been practicing for a time when we would not be able to physically meet together.

We trained our leaders in CARE-Readiness, Life Coaching, and Home Church facilitation. We held online training, posted videos and even got our followers and supporters to adjust, by watching worship videos and teaching videos as part of their Sunday in-home gatherings.

We shifted and moved out of a church facility and into our homes. We took our ministry and outreach directly to the Harrisburg, inner city community, dropping the titles of pastors and becoming known as community life coaches.

So when the COVID-19 outbreak was announced and the gathering bans were set in motion, we simply kept doing what we have already been doing for several years, now.

We share this with you, not to boast or brag, or even to say, “We told you so.”

We share this to let you know that God is truly in control. If He can speak to us as a group, and give us detailed instruction in wisdom and preparation for this moment, then certainly HE will continue to speak to us, giving us wisdom and instructions that will carry us successfully through this.

We don’t know what the future holds, but we know the One who holds the future.

----Chris and Carol Green

Learn more about our Home Church Connection HERE.


***The Fruitful Life Learning Community is a unique merging of a Life-Development Ministry with an alliance of Families, Home Groups, House Churches and Ministries. They convene in strategically orchestrated weekly and monthly online sessions that resource, equip and empower people from all spheres and aspects of life; giving them access to healing within their own hearts and homes, and then the ability to extend their extraordinary transformation to their friends, neighborhoods, colleagues, and anyone in their world.

As a neighborhood-supporting faith family, Fruitful Life is patterned after the 1st-century Followers of Christ, who continued steadfast in the Apostle's teaching and fellowship, in Breaking of Bread, and in Prayers. They met privately in their homes and corporately as a community on a regular basis; and they took care of widows, orphans and the poor, while experiencing miraculous signs and wonders.  In its DNA, Fruitful Life carries the Ephesians 4 directive of equipping and empowering Believers to do the work of ministry.

Before there was a religion called Christianity, there was a movement known as THE WAY.  Chris and Carol Green launched the Fruitful Life Learning Community as an intentional effort to help people of faith and Christian leaders return to that simple mission and lifestyle that demonstrates God's love and healing to hearts and homes.