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As a graduate of Christian Life College and a former member of Christian Life Center (About 12 years) I had the privilege of having Rev. Kenneth Haney as my Pastor. I always knew that one day; he would lead the UPC because of his ability to lead our church. After he was elected I made sure that I was there when he preached at General Conference for the first time as the General Superintendent. I told the person that I was sitting with that it was like being home. Bro. Haney was “preaching/pastoring” as he always did on Sunday’s at CLC but now he was “preaching/pastoring” an organization. It was a great moment. He didn’t change who he was just because he was now the GS of the UPCI. He preached like he always had. I know that before he accepted this position, he prayed for God’s will just as he prayed before any other major step in his life. Is he perfect? No, but is anyone? It’s amazing that we can make judgments about people when we don’t have all the information to make that judgment. There is one thing that I do know is that he didn’t need this position to elevate him in the organization and he didn’t need this to make a name for himself. There is something that can be said for a man of God who will stand up for what he thinks is right. I have always been thankful that church was about Jesus and not about an individual. For many years, men in the UPCI tried to get him to run for G.S. but out of respect for his dad, (Clyde Haney), he never would run against Bro. Urshan or Bro. Kilgore. He has always had a great respect for the men who went before him in leading this organization. Progress is made in our culture on a daily basis so we should be able to use all the tools available to us in helping to promote the gospel. The message doesn’t change, just the tools we use to help promote it. It’s all in the attitude, what is the real reason why people do what they do. Some minister because they are called and some minister for other reasons. We need to go back to what ministry is all about, “meeting people at the point of their need”....just my 2 cents...
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