Foundations for Facing Forward is a booklet written by General Overseer Randall E. Howard and was distributed to delegates of the 95th International Assembly during the General Overseer's Report on August 12, 2007.
The greatest days for the Kingdom of God are ahead. So the greatest days for the Church of God of Prophecy are ahead as well. From all that I know as a third-generation minister in this Church, I can say God has brought us to this point for such a time as this. From all that I know having spent the last 15 years traveling around the world observing, as well as reading about the work of God, I can say God is up to something. He is at work in this world in very special ways not seen before in Christian history. And the most wonderful part is, this Church has the tremendous opportunity to participate and contribute in significant ways during these last days.
I do not believe, however, that we should forget all we have experienced in the journey to this point, abandoning those things to run pell-mell into this great harvest. God has purpose for
wilderness journeys, and the lessons learned there always prove useful for the achievements that lie ahead in one’s promised land. The decades ahead will reveal the promised land God has
intended for the Church of God of Prophecy, and we will maximize our effectiveness there by carrying with us the core truths that God has been working into this Movement for this very moment. They are not baggage to be discarded; they are now tools to aid us in accomplishing our destiny that has been in the mind of God since the foundations of eternity.
It is my conviction that God has given specific callings to every Movement and ministry that He has brought to birth. Like the parts of the body that each has different functions, the various parts of the body of Christ also have differing callings and purposes.
And when each contributes these to the greater work of the family of God in the world, the advance of His glory is carried ahead graciously on target and on time. Our challenge today, in the fellowship of the Church of God of Prophecy, is to embrace afresh our callings that have been sown into this Movement like DNA, which is present in the conception of a new being. To contribute to God’s global work and to fulfill our destiny, we must embrace and engage our God-given purposes.
One objective of this material is to name many of those foundations that have been given to us by God. It is the foundation that predicts the building to come, and so our foundations project our ministry and contribution here at God’s great last-day surge. Many names can be used for these elements, such as Strengths, Heritage, Foundations, Purposes, Callings, and DNA. All combined, they make up what we as a people have received from God and must now live out through commitment and obedience in ministry. They are our identity—who we are as a people.
In crime investigation today, the most accurate and lasting form of identification is DNA. So God has placed His future design into our Movement like DNA that forms our identity. Yes, in past decades, some of these elements of God’s design may have been misunderstood and interpreted incorrectly, but that did not make the foundations wrong or useless to be discarded. They were given by God.
Today we have the great privilege of embracing these callings from God with new interpretations and applications, inspired by God for this day. And the grace that is released as we minister through these callings will move us over the threshold and into the Promised Land God has always intended for us. Our participation and contribution to the worldwide work of God is dependent on this understanding.
As the Spirit inspires, I invite pastors to meditate on the foundations and vision ideals found in this booklet. God may lead many to proclaim them in sermons to their people. I feel strongly about these inspirations; and as the Spirit carries these, they will help unite us all in our callings, purposes, and core values. With this in mind, we offer this material for reflection among all leaders of the Church of God of Prophecy.
Over the next two years, we, the international leaders of this Church, will be seeking God for how these foundations will guide and support us into future ministry paths. Our callings must inform our vision. So in the later pages of this material, you will find the beginning applications of vision development for the International Offices. By the next Assembly, it is our hope that God will have given more clarity so that we can declare such vision ideals for the entire Church of God of Prophecy to affirm and apply.
As a small hint of that vision declaration, today the leaders of this Movement feel strongly that God has not removed the call to harvest that He placed upon us so strongly in the last decade. We believe if anything that God is reinforcing this call and seeking to empower greater harvesting than we have ever known before.
We believe God is drawing all of His children toward a world harvest that could usher in His return. Harvest weighs heavily upon our hearts as we see the immense opportunities and sense
this call even more surely.