by: Kip Mckean
“But while [the prodigal son] was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him. He ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him…The father said to his servants…Let’s have a feast and celebrate, for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ’’
Luke 15:20-24
Welcome to the inaugural service of the City of Angels International Christian Church! Sent out by the Spirit from the Portland International Church of Christ, our 42 member mission team arrived in Los Angeles on the first of April. To gain a vision for this lost city of 20 million people, all of us hiked up Mount Hollywood. Then after a “sermon on the mount,” we prayed to the “Lord of Harvest.” Our father has more than answered our prayers as our attendance soared last Sunday to 168! Amazingly, during this chaotic month of finding jobs, being blown away by the prices of housing and learning not to travel on the “405″ at 5:00 pm, “the Lord added to our number” 4 baptisms, 11 restorations and 16 placing membership! And to God be the glory!
Perhaps you have asked the question, “Why another church in Los Angeles when there are churches seemingly on every street corner?” Our collective convictions are unique; we believe our Savior Jesus is the Son of God risen from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:1-4); the Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16); “sold-out” baptized disciples compose God’s church universal, of which we are striving to be a part (Acts 2:41-42); every member is called by God to participate in daily discipling relationships, thus creating family (Hebrews 3:12-13); the mission of each disciple is to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20); and we believe wholeheartedly in building a movement of “like-minded” congregations (1 Corinthians 4:17) whose motivating vision is the evangelization of the nations in this generation. (Romans 16:25-27)
Kip McKean
Our historical roots can be traced from the Reformation Movement of Martin Luther in the 1500’s, to the Restoration Movement (mainline Churches of Christ) of Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone in the 1800’s, to the Crossroads Campus Movement (Total Commitment Movement) of Chuck Lucas in the 1960’s and 70’s, and finally to the Boston Movement initiated in 1979, of which many would consider me the “founder.” In 1994 the Boston Movement officially became known as the International Churches of Christ (ICOC). Then this past year after most ICOC leaders rejected and opposed our efforts to call out a remnant to revive the ICOC, God put on the hearts of my dear brother Steve Johnson and many others to urge me to begin again. So last fall we officially initiated the new Portland Discipling Movement or as some would call us, the “Sold-out Movement.”
In the past few years, it has deeply saddened Elena’s and my heart to see many leaders of the ICOC return to a more mainline Church of Christ theology. This was signaled by most ICOC congregations in the United States dropping the “International” from their name, so as not to be distinctive from the mainline Churches of Christ. As in the mainline Churches of Christ, the ICOC in their “Unity Letter” states their church government is “hyper-autonomy,” where all final decisions rest with the local congregation. This doctrine effectively ends a sense of movement and the joy of traveling from one ICOC congregation to another and finding the same spirit and commitment. Also officially rejected was the dream to evangelize the world in a generation. These decisions to depart from the core convictions of the early days of the Boston Movement proved the proverb true, “Without vision the people perish.” (Proverbs 29:18 KJV)
From 1990 to 2001, God blessed Elena and me to oversee the building of the LA ICOC to 10,000 disciples. While on our sabbatical in 2002, the LA ICOC leadership was at the forefront of calling all ICOC leaders to a more mainline theology. Then in April 2003, the LA leadership asked us to leave the ministry, since we no longer shared the same vision and convictions. After publicly apologizing for our sins and shortcomings in the open letter, Revolution through Restoration III,, God sent us to Portland, Oregon to be healed and rekindle our faith! There God reminded us what we did right for all the years of the Boston Movement as well as teaching us where we had sinned and made mistakes. Though devastated in 2003 like most ICOC congregations, the Portland International Church of Christ grew from our first midweek of 25 disciples to over 500 on Sundays in just three years! This last year, God blessed us with 104 baptisms!
Never a day passed that I did not feel a deep responsibility as the “father of faith” for all ICOC Churches. Therefore once the Portland Church became an example, in love I challenged the lukewarmness in most churches, yet this was labeled as “unwholesome talk.” Then, when small groups of disciples in several congregations came to a conviction that they could not change the lukewarmness and lack of discipling from the “inside,” they came out and started “new churches” that desired Portland’s discipling and shared our core dreams and convictions. At this point I was labeled “divisive.” God, through this pouring of “new wine into old wineskins,” created a new movement with new churches in Chicago, Phoenix, Honolulu, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Manila (Philippines), Toronto (Canada), Mumbai (India), Kiev (Ukraine), London (England), San Pedro Sula (Honduras), Brisbane (Australia) and of course Los Angeles, just to name a few.
During our time in “rainy” Portland, though we were highly criticized, more and more people moved there from all over the United States to find spiritual revival. Among them were DJ and Kacie Comisford, who gave up everything and moved from Ohio. They wrote the following song telling their story.
DJ & Kacie Comisford
The Portland Song
By DJ & Kacie Comisford
Wasted—away here
When it was suddenly revealed
That we couldn’t make it here without rain
What a shame
Patiently waiting begging God Constantly praying
Please lead us to greener pastures
God is there anywhere to go?
Is there any hope to grow again?
Where are the people that still dream?
Please bring us times of refreshin’
Then He sent hope from the West Coast
There’s plenty of rain on the West Coast
Welcome to Portland, Oregon
Where the rain is pourin’
Hope your soul feels at home
All the people criticizing
But we are just baptizing
Got plenty of H20
And you say hey-o welcome home
And you say hey-o welcome home
Came here with nothing
But with the faith
God could do something great
Now this was more than we asked for
That’s for sure
You shared your faith
You shared your dreams
Gave us love
Helped us to believe
You were the answer to our prayer
God provided a place to go
He gave us hope to grow again
And here are the people that still dream
Now are the times of refreshin’
And we found hope on the West Coast
There’s plenty of rain on the West Coast
Welcome to Portland, Oregon
Where the rain is pourin’
Hope your soul feels at home
All the people criticizing
But we are just baptizing
Got plenty of H2O
And you say hey-o welcome home
And you say hey-o welcome home
Today we say, “Welcome Home” to the City of Angels Church! As God in the parable of the prodigal son rushed to hug and greet his lost son returning home, so we welcome all those who have fallen away and missed our Father and His family. To those who are like DJ and Kacie who remained with the Lord, but are wandering in a spiritual desert of lukewarmness and apathy, we also say “Welcome Home!” Prayerfully together we will now fulfill Jesus’ dream and evangelize Los Angeles, the United States and the world in this generation! Then, someday we will surely hear a heavenly welcome home, “Well done good and faithful servant.”
Kip McKean
World Missions Evangelist
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