Radical Acts

A Renewed Focus

2007-07-03T18:45:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody, since I still have this blog and it's updated to a new template I figure I may as well put it use. This will be where I document the work I do toward my Master of Arts in Pastoral Ministry: Concentration in Conflict Management. As I complete courses, I'll keep you updated. As I have random thoughts specific to that work, I'll keep you updated. I may even post a paper or two - just to see how they are received.

Pray for me as I begin this next chapter.

Talk to you soon,
Sean

Licensing Paper - Part 7 - View of Scripture

2004-08-13T15:45:00.000-07:00

I believe that the Bible, written by men and inspired by God, is the only authoritative source for Christian doctrine and teaching. Through careful study of scripture, we learn about God and we learn about ourselves. With the help of the Holy Spirit, the Christian comes to understand the truths found there.

Licensing Paper - Part 6 - Role of the Minister

2004-08-13T15:44:00.000-07:00

2 Cor. 3:5-6 says that we are all ministers: “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant…” A minister is a person that trains and equips people to share in the responsibility of sharing the gospel and serving other. A minister needs to lead by example, not only teaching Christian truths, morals, and principles, but living them as well. “If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.” (emphasis mine). I read recently a quote that gave me some comfort when considering my ability to minister. It read, “God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called.”

“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever.” 1 Peter 4:10-11

Licensing Paper - Part 5 - ABC-USA

2004-08-13T15:43:00.000-07:00

Personal Commitment to the American Baptist Churches USA and West

I have only been a member of two churches in my life; both belong to American Baptist Churches of the West and ABC-USA. I am committed to our denomination and region. Though less active in recent years, I used to participate regularly in regional activities and meetings. At some, I was a delegate for First Baptist Clovis. I have watched our region go through difficult times and make hard choices, including a meeting I attended where a number of churches were asked to leave the region. I have every intention of continuing this relationship and supporting their work in whatever capacity I am able.

Licensing Paper - Part 4 - The Sacraments

2004-08-13T15:42:00.000-07:00

Sacraments are outward signs of inward grace, instituted by Christ for our sanctification. God can and does give grace to men in answer to their internal aspirations and prayers without the use of any external sign or ceremony. This will always be possible, because God, grace, and the soul are spiritual beings. God is not restricted to the use of material, visible symbols in dealing with men. At the same time, we as American Baptists believe that two ordinances are demonstrated in the New Testament.

Baptism

Baptism is a symbol, nothing more, of obedience. It represents a believer’s death to sin and his or her “resurrection” and decision to accept new life in Jesus Christ. Baptism is a public testimony to Christ’s death and resurrection. While baptism is not required for salvation, we obey the symbolism as we are lowered into the water and raised back out, we are “dead” to our old life and “born again” to a new life in Christ.

The Lord’s Supper
The second of the two Protestant sacraments is the Lord's Supper, which Jesus instituted on the night before his crucifixion. That event is recorded in each of the Gospels and in 1 Corinthians. The Lord's Supper is a continuing sacrament that should be observed again and again (“as often as you drink it”) throughout the Christian life. In the Lord's Supper we look back to the Lord's death. We remember his sacrifice with the broken bread representing the Lord's broken body, and the wine representing his shed blood.

Licensing Paper - Part 3 - The Church

2004-08-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

The Bible tells us that the church is the body of Christ in the world today. The New Testament tells us the church is a local body of baptized believers. The head of the church is Jesus Christ. The biblical purposes of the church (worship, evangelism, fellowship, discipleship and ministry to others) are summed up best in Matt. 28:19-20 and the command to “…go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you….” The church is responsible for the spiritual growth of its members and for taking the message of God’s love to the world.

Licensing Paper - Part 2 - God

2004-08-13T15:38:00.000-07:00

God

Everyone has different ideas about the nature of God, about who God is. Everyone comes from different backgrounds with different histories and different experiences. As a result, it’s not surprising that we all see God differently. The bottom line, however, is that when it comes to our Creator, it doesn’t matter who we think God is. The Bible is the only trustworthy source for understanding Him. God is God. Scripture teaches that God created everything we can see -- and even everything we can’t see – out of nothing.
As a new Christian in high school, I remember being overwhelmed by this new aspect to my life. There was so much to learn. As part of that learning process I learned three new words and to this day they remain, for me, the best definition of God.

God is:

Omnipotent – “almighty, having absolute power over all”. God has no limitations except those He places upon Himself. He created everything from nothing, rules over His creation, and provides for His creations.
Omnipresent – “present in all places at all time”. The Samaritan woman learned that “God is spirit”. God is independent of time and space. He exists, I believe the Scripture says, everywhere and in every time. God is eternal.
Omniscient – “having infinite awareness, understanding, and insight”. There are no limits to God’s knowledge. God knows all.

The Bible, as God's inspired and inerrant Word, is of final authority in faith and life. Based on this Word, I believe in one God, existing eternally in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ

I believe that Jesus Christ is God’s Son and an equal of the Father. He has existed from the beginning of time, but lived on earth during the first century A.D. Throughout His earthly life, he was completely God and completely human at the same time. After living a perfect, sinless life, Jesus offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice for every human being who has ever lived by dying on a Roman cross. After three days in the grave, he defeated sin and death by rising from the grave. He then ascended to Heaven and will return to earth one day to reign as King.

Holy Spirit

I believe the Holy Spirit is a full and equal part of the Trinity. He works in the world to make all people understand their need for Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit lives inside every follower of Jesus from the moment they decide to follow Him. The Spirit is our power source for life, ministry, and spiritual growth. To tap into that power, we must continually yield to the Holy Spirit.

Licensing Paper - Part 1 - Background

2004-08-13T15:35:00.000-07:00

To fully understand who Sean W. Cooney is, you really have to go farther back than high school graduation. I discovered two things of great importance in my four years at Huntington Beach High School. One was the importance of punctuality and discipline. This was literally "drilled" into me as a member of the Marching Band. Mr. Vogel, the band teacher, had a saying that has stuck with me ever since, "If you are early, you are on time. If you are on time, you are late." To this day, I would rather arrive somewhere thirty minutes early than five minutes late. The other great impact on my teenage years was in the area of science. There was a teacher (and you will forgive me for forgetting his name) who opened my eyes to the tremendous amount of knowledge out there. It was in his biology class my junior year that I developed the intense desire to constantly be learning something. "The more you learn, the more you realize how little you know." The person I am today and the way I view life and learning really began with those two people.

It was also in high school that religion became a valid part of my life. I did not grow up in a Christian home, but a number of factors led to my acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior. Not the least of these was a young man, a classmate actually, named Mark Bartel. It was Mark that first presented God and Jesus to me in the 7th grade. It was probably no accident that Mark was with me the night I accepted Christ in a little chapel in Yosemite Valley. Mark was also instrumental in teaching me the basics of Christianity over the following few years. I remember with fond memories the afternoons we would meet with others as a small group in various parks around Southern California.

Graduation in 1978 marked the end of that time. As classmates, we all went different directions and I began attending Long Beach State. Looking back now, I recognize that I had absolutely no plan, focus, or goal. This explains why my life took a decidedly "casual" turn, as I concentrated on pool, backgammon, karate, and exploring large parts of California. I was good at those, but was seldom actually in class. My Christian life followed that same path. I still attended church from time to time, but I was "busy". I had things to do and places to go. God was not, I realized later, high on my list of priorities.

In 1981, at the age of 21, I moved away from home and into my first apartment. This was the beginning of my life as a "grown-up". I transferred to Fresno State, found a part-time job, and discovered very quickly how hard it was to survive in the real world. Less than a year later, I had dropped out of school, gotten a full-time job as an usher in a movie theater, and found a roommate to help out with the rent. I didn't know that my life was about to change forever. January 1st, 1982 I met a girl.

I was working the ticket booth and Nona had been re-hired and started that night. It turned out to be one of the busiest nights of the year. She tells me now that I sang cartoons to her most of the night. I didn't know then that I was smitten and eighteen months later we would be married. Early in our relationship, Nona invited me to church. This would mark another milestone in my spiritual life. I had not been attending any church regularly for a couple of years and I began attending her church, First Baptist Church of Clovis. I began to see those parts of my life that had been absent for some time. By observing Nona's family, I began to learn what it meant to be a family. By attending her church, I began to learn what going to church actually meant. It became clear that there was more to Christianity than just accepting Christ and reading the Bible once in a while.

We were married in July 1983 and began to build our lives together. We lived in Southern California for a while, but then returned to Clovis when Nona's family was involved in a serious traffic accident. Again, this served as a lesson on what it really meant to be a family. The very idea of picking up our lives and moving 300 miles north to help family members would have been foreign to me had I not gotten to know her family. We both found full-time jobs quickly and rented a small apartment. I began to mature as an adult. I was beginning to learn who I was in the "real world".

I read recently that the average adult changes jobs ten times and careers five times in their life. In 1985, I decided (prompted by my wife) to return to school and get a degree that would allow me to make my first change of career. I was working evenings at a convenience store at the time. I got off work one night at 11pm and, one hour later, the clerk who replaced me was stabbed in a robbery and died in the parking lot. Two years later, I completed my Associate's Degree in Electronic Technology and was able to leave the store.
Up to that point in my life, I was simply trying to exist. I have looked back and can see now that I was evolving. But returning to college was really the turning point, in that it was the first real indicator of executing a plan where the result would be advancement in my learning and position in life. I established a goal, developed the plan to reach that goal, executed the plan, and accomplished the goal. It was about time. My first daughter, Lillian, was born in the spring of 1989 and Elizabeth, in the summer of 1992. Now, life was beginning to get interesting. I had a good full-time job, we had purchased our first home, and I was beginning to be more active in the church. The mid-nineties saw the real emergence of my potential as a leader in the church.

I never intended to pursue leadership roles, but it all started with music. I had, since the third grade, been active in music. My father, before his early death, had been a musician. My mother was and is gifted musically. I discovered early that I had inherited a proficiency for music. In third grade, I played the accordion. (I'm sorry; it just happened.) In the fourth grade I moved to violin. Fifth grade saw a switch from strings to brass as I started the trumpet, but that only lasted a couple of months as the band teacher quickly saw the possibilities and switched me to the French Horn. That was to become my love all through high school and beyond. In the seventh grade I began classical piano training and was, at one time, nationally ranked in my age group.
So it should have been no surprise that, when I asked the choir director if I could be the narrator in the Christmas cantata, she would accept only if I joined the choir. This, for the first time in church, put me up in front of people and my skills there were quickly recognized. I was soon asked to serve on the Diaconate Board as the Chairman of Worship and Music. This was another milestone in my personal development. I was all of a sudden looked upon as a leader whose opinions were respected and desired. I began to really look at who I was, what gifts God had given me, and how I could use them for my church. I had to learn fast because I would soon be tested severely.

Our church went through a difficult time in the mid-nineties as different groups fought to gain control of the church. Many followed the pastor at the time. Some, myself included, felt that the direction he was leading us was not where God wanted us to go. Don't misunderstand me: I was not alone in my views. The division that occurred followed, in large part, age lines. The young preacher attracted the young families but the people who saw where he was leading us and saw his motives, were generally the older members of the church. I found myself in the middle of the battle for control. As the Chairman of Worship & Music, I became the principle voice for those members who were the foundation of the church. These were the people who could see the personal agendas of those who were trying to split us apart. Ultimately, the preacher was forced to resign. Unfortunately, many of the members followed him.

During 1995-1996, I had an increasing role in the leadership of the church. We were trying to sort out who we were and why this terrible thing had happened to us. We knew that we had obeyed God. We knew that we had been faithful and had done what had to be done, but many were deeply hurt. Many found they simply could not forgive the former pastor and some of the former members for their actions. Increasingly, I found myself at the podium on Sunday mornings reading announcements, offering prayers, and leading worship. A very good friend, former senior pastor, and man I respect immensely would later write in a letter to me, "I will never forget how you pitched in and assisted in leading worship when there was almost no one left to do so. You shared from your heart and challenged the church to persevere in the incidental comments that you would make from the pulpit. You assisted in leading the choir when almost no one was left to sing in the choir. And now, thankfully, we are seeing a thriving and growing church thanks in part to your faithful service when the going was rough."

It is amazing to me to look back and see that I had been a Christian for twenty years, but was only then learning what that really meant. It meant standing up for what you believed in. It meant relying on God when there was nothing else left to rely on. It meant forgiving people for the horrible things they said and did to you and your family. For two years, we searched for a new leader to guide us. During that time, I grew as a leader as well. I led the choir. I was a part of the Pastoral Search Committee. I was on the Pastoral Relations Committee. We were growing as a church. But God wasn’t done with me yet.

At a weekend Christian retreat in 1999, God spoke to me. As plain as if He had been sitting in the pew next to me, God asked me when I was going to start working for Him. Shocked, I realized that the entire weekend had been working to deliver one message to me – God loved me. At that prayer service I finally realized that and God’s message to me was “What are you going to do about it?”

I have now graduated from Fresno Pacific University (FPU) with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Christian Ministries. I am writing this paper to prepare for licensing with the American Baptist Churches of the West. I am completing my application to return to FPU and begin my work toward a Master’s degree in Peacekeeping and Conflict Studies with an emphasis on church conflict. My goal is to prepare myself to be used by God to help other churches as they experience internal conflicts. I’ve lived through those conflicts and, as my pastor has pointed out before, “God never wastes a hurt.” As a pastor, licensed by the American Baptist Churches of the West, I know that God will use my gifts and talents to help heal, at least in part, His church.

At last, home I go.

2004-06-04T13:02:00.000-07:00

*whew* I'm tired. I arrived in PA on May 18th and now, one state, four classes, and three weeks later, I get to go home. The classes went fine, though I learned more about the internal workings of Verizon than I really wanted to know. I was worried, what with it being over ten years since I've taught a class, but I was reminded how much I love doing this. It's tough trying to keep everyone's attention for three days at a time - especially with this being a dry, boring subject, but I try to keep things lively. Even still, I saw people nodding from time to time.

Anyway, I'm going to relax tonight, sleep late tomorrow, take my time packing, and head for the airport about 10am in the morning. My boss says I get to take Monday off. Whoo-hoo!

See you from home.

Rain in Philly

2004-05-31T15:12:00.000-07:00

Yup, been raining all day. Only light this morning, so I did go exploring Washington Crossing (the site where George crossed the Delaware) and the little town of New Hope. Much heavier later. I spent yesterday in Atlantic City on the Boardwalk.

And now, a long weekend in Philadelphia

2004-05-28T13:52:00.000-07:00

Two weeks and three classes down, one week and one class to go. It's Friday night, May 28th and I just wrapped up the Pittsburgh class. Tomorrow morning I pack up and head to Philly for a four-day Memorial Day weekend. I am going to explore the Old City and wander back through history. I may go down to Washington DC. I may go to Atlantic City.

I really like this Pontiac Grand Prix I'm renting.

One week down...

2004-05-22T16:22:00.000-07:00

Wrapped up the class in Stroudsburg, PA. Easier then I feared it would be. It has, after all, been ten years since I taught a Dantel class. Had a little trouble keeping their attention at times, but that was more a result of factors outside of my control. Dantel equipment has been pretty much ignored for the better part of this century. (That sounds impressive, huh?)

Anyway, Pennsylvania is beautiful. I had all day to get from the Poconos to Harrisburg, so I took the real long way. Saw some great little towns. Not sure if I'd want to live here though. It's pretty muggy, and yardwork would become a REAL chore here. Everything grows so fast, you have to mow every couple of days!

So one class and one week down, three classes and two weeks to go.

Update to lost luggage...

2004-05-18T18:52:00.000-07:00

It's 10pm EST and they've found my stuff. I don't know where it is, but it's on its way here. The drive here was uneventful, though I didn't anticipate the traffic out of Philly. Growing up in LA, I should have.

Lots of trees in PA.

The trip to Philly was fine...

2004-05-18T18:28:00.000-07:00

Yeah, the flight from Fresno to San Francisco to Philadelphia was fine. Maybe I should have been warned by run I had to make to make my connection at SF. Yeah, I made it. Too bad my luggage didn't.

So. I'm in Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania with no luggage. I have to start teaching a class in the morning and I just got back from WalMart with just enough for tomorrow. The airline says they have no way of tracking my wayward bag but they hope they can get it to me by midnight.

I better go try and find the phone number of baggage claim....

So what is Radical Acts?

2004-05-11T15:01:00.000-07:00

I always thought Radical Acts would be a great name for a Christian praise band. Think "radical acts of kindness", right? Chuckle at the double meaning. Acts, the actions. Acts as in a stage act? Right? Well, maybe it's only funny to me.

And so it starts...

2004-05-11T14:31:00.000-07:00

The first entry into this blog thing. What the heck?