Legacy Institute: Get a Mission and the Vision

Although it is still not at its website, Legacy Institutes’ latest letter arrived at my home last night.

In it, Leon Sexton writes:

Why don’t we sometimes know where we are going or how to get there? Have some Churches of God become stagnant and lackluster in energy?…

If we are confused about MISSION, we will never gain a clear understanding of VISION…Mission is our goal. Vision is how we get there!…

The Church is the instrument Jesus uses in this age to fulfill His mission. He accomplishes this by sending forth the Church to preach the Gospel to the nations and help bring them back to God.

That is our mission…

The only way we can stay focused is if LEADERSHIP continuously brings us back to the mission and vision of the Church…

Satan will be working overtime–all the time–to get the people of God focused INWARD — on the SELF!…

The first century Apostles understood the vision. They had no confusion as to what they should be doing.

While the comments I quoted above from Leon Sexton are correct and I admire his dedication, it is sad that he refused to listen to any Church leadership above him so HE could do his own self-directed work.

If Leon Sexton would not have changed the Gospel focus and certain other doctrines (one odd statement from him earlier was “Brethren, we are living in the time of the fullness of the Gentiles and NOT the calling of Israel“), he could have approached groups like LCG (who had and I believe still has, the largest COG presence in Southern Asia) or UCG and could have accomplished more than he has.

However, he, like many this age, have decided against the type of Philadelphia Era governance that Herbert W. Armstrong emphasized so clearly in the last several years of his life. By not being part of LCG, for example, he minimizes the total impact that the COGs could have had in Southern Asia.

What Legacy is doing could have been done in a group like LCG. If any have doubts, realize that the COGwriter is receiving over 100,000 hits in a month and though I am in LCG, I do have the type of autonomy that many probably think was not possible in a hierarchical COG.

While Leon Sexton is essentially correct about the mission, there are many parts of it–some of which he seems to ignore (for an expanded multi-part mission, please see the article There are Many COGs: Why Support the Living Church of God?).

Several articles of related interest may include:

Teachings and Practices of Legacy Institute Works mainly in Asia and is led by Leon Sexton.
Should the Church Still Try to Place its Top Priority on Proclaiming the Gospel or Did Herbert Armstrong Change that Priority for the Work? Some say the Church should mainly feed the flock now as that is what Herbert Armstrong reportedly said. Is that what he said? Is that what the Bible says? What did Paul and HWA expect from evangelists?
Did You Know What the First Changes the Tkach Administration Made?Some have said healing, others other subjects, but probably the first change had to do with eliminating being part of the Philadelphia era. This article documents what those changes were and compares the Tkach list of restored truths to HWA’s list of restored truths.
The Laodicean Church Era was predominant circa 1986 A.D. to present.