Doug Arthur recently wrote about the separation of the Portland Church of Christ from Kip McKean and his formerly titled Portland movement now called the sold out churches. Here he shares about his recent trip to encourage the Portland disciples.
I walked in the door expecting to find a relatively tranquil setting. I had traveled thousands of miles to see old friends and talk to some mature leaders about plans for the future. As I opened the door, the Johnsons’ house was filled with people of all ages. The women were studying in the basement and the men were upstairs as they counted the cost with a young couple who had decided to become Christians.
The Portland congregation’s elders and their wives arrived for our meeting as chili and rice were being offered to anyone and everyone willing to join in the feasting and fellowship. After 14 long hours of travel I was quickly refreshed by seeing friends and experiencing the chaos that so often accompanies conversions. The atmosphere was a familiar mixture of excitement and unpredictability as Chris & D’auna decided that their time had come. They did not want to risk another day separated from God. They were urgent to be baptized “at that hour of the night,” like their Philippian brother so many years ago (Acts 16:33). The rest of the evening was filled with celebration and serious conversations; it was a night I will long treasure.
The Portland congregation is a church with a long history of doing battle for God. They have seen victory and defeat, but this band of over 200 disciples are focused on their mission and excited by the stream of good will and encouragement they have received in recent weeks. It was apparent from my first night with the elders; Bob Bertalot, Greg Gaumond, and Mike Mathis, that they are men of clear convictions and a strong faith in God’s sovereignty. They have guided the congregation through a storm and have emerged stronger for the experience. They are resolute about their vision for the future and their convictions about God’s church. Over several days of discussions with the leadership team we covered many topics including:
Commitment to Missions “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” Mark 16:15
Commitment to the Poor “All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.” Galatians 6:10
God sometimes takes us to dramatic places to give us a visual image of a spiritual reality. That is how I felt about our visit to Mount Saint Helens. Steve and I traveled to a lookout where you could see the crater caused by a volcanic eruption on Sunday May 18, 1980 at 8:32am. The devastation that day killed 57 people and flattened nearly 230 square miles of forest which was then covered in volcanic debris. Now nearly 30 years later the view is crystal clear and the forest has recovered to the point that you have to look closely to see signs of the earlier catastrophe. The crater still stands and is a spectacular reminder of the power of God. Steve and I sat on a bench and prayed together as we looked out over the mountain, I couldn’t help seeing that with time God can heal even the greatest of eruptions.
Douglas Arthur
Click here for Pray for Peace in Portland