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Special guest makes appearance at Coalition breakfast
Listen for the Word and the Spirit together
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Photo of a man wearing a white wig

The Rev. Grif Vautier from the Presbytery of the Grand Canyon, aka "John 
Witherspoon" appeared at the Presbyterian Coalition Breakfast on Sunday to help 
honor Independence Day. ?Photo by Dennis Sanders.

> Posted at
> July 4, 2010 9:50 p.m.

> by Shane Whisler

Heads swiveled when the Presbyterian Coalition?s co-moderator, Nancy Cross, 
announced the entrance of John Witherspoon, signer of the Declaration of 
Independence and Presbyterian clergyman, during the group?s Sunday breakfast at 
the 219th General Assembly (2010).

Witherspoon?s portrayer, the Rev. Grif Vautier of Kingman, Ariz., donned a robe 
and Geneva collar like Witherspoon wore to the Continental Congress and 
reminded the crowd that England?s King George referred to the American 
Revolution as the ?Presbyterian Rebellion.?

?Three things don?t change: the character of God, the nature of man and the 
gospel of Jesus Christ,? said Vautier. ?We must protect the proclamation of the 
gospel. If we don?t, Christianity in this country is in danger.??

Vautier continued the theme of protecting the gospel, saying that Christians in 
the western world, though they have ears, do not listen to the voice of God. 
The Rev. Mateen Elass, pastor of First Presbyterian, Edmond, Okla., said the 
way to protect the gospel should neither be too legalistic nor too 
individualistic.

?I don?t share the same sanguine approach as some of our leadership up on the 
podium,? he said.  ?I think there is a lot more involved than just invoking the 
presence of the Holy Spirit.?

Elass was referring to the certainty he heard during General Assembly 
orientation that ?the Holy Spirit is at work and will guide us to make the 
right decision.??

He said it is hard to read the signs of the times and easy to use the language 
of hearing from the Holy Spirit to justify personal views. He navigated several 
elements and qualities the church should seek when determining what God is 
saying.

God?s character is consistent and known through Scripture because God loves to 
communicate and
?disclose himself to his people,? Elass said. He emphasized the importance of 
keeping the Word and Spirit together when discerning the will of God.

?The Spirit and the Word together lead us safely into the mind of Christ,?? he 
said. ?Not only the liberals and progressives have divided Word and Spirit, but 
those in the evangelical ranks and the conservative ranks of the Presbyterian 
church at times have divided Word and Spirit as well.??

To do this successfully, he said that one must have a strong personal 
relationship with God and be in a community of disciples who are already 
walking in obedience.