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June 19, 1865

June 19, 2020 /

From the website http://www.juneteenth.com/history.htm

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation – which had become official January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance.

We are reminded this day of the long and painful road of reconciliation. It would be two and a half years from the time of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation until the slaves of Texas would actually be free. But even then, we know that reconciliation was and is still a long way off. Even now we long for it to come. A Psalm for this day:

Psalm 28

To you, Lord, I call;
you are my Rock,
do not turn a deaf ear to me.
For if you remain silent,
I will be like those who go down to the pit.
Hear my cry for mercy
as I call to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
toward your Most Holy Place.

Do not drag me away with the wicked,
with those who do evil,
who speak cordially with their neighbors
but harbor malice in their hearts.
Repay them for their deeds
and for their evil work;
repay them for what their hands have done
and bring back on them what they deserve.

Because they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord
and what his hands have done,
he will tear them down
and never build them up again.

Praise be to the Lord,
for he has heard my cry for mercy.
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
and with my song I praise him.

The Lord is the strength of his people,
a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
Save your people and bless your inheritance;
be their shepherd and carry them forever.

Blessings,
Stephen

 

Credit: Top image taken from a public post on Asbury Theological Seminary's Facebook page.

What God Originates

June 9, 2014 /

Dear Friends,

Having a clear vision and sense of direction from God does not eliminate the times of waiting in our lives. It will not keep us away from the desert moments when our soul will need to be converted once again to be ready for what lays ahead.

Andy Stanley’s fifth building block (and you thought I had forgotten about these . . . didn’t you?) is:

Building Block #5: What God originates, He orchestrates.

WaitingPaul’s vision to preach to the gentiles was clear, but he spent three years in the desert preparing. Moses’ vision to lead his people out of slavery in Egypt was clear, but he needed to spend forty years tending sheep in the desert before he was ready to lead the people. Joseph’s (the first one, not the father of Jesus) vision to lead his family was obvious, that the journey there would take him through slavery and an Egyptian prison was not. So it is for us. We must be willing to allow God’s timing to be God’s timing, no matter how much we may wish his timing looked a lot more like our timing. “Waiting time is not wasted time for anyone whose heart God has placed a vision. Difficult time. Painful time. Frustrating time. But not wasted time” (49).

“If the Old and New Testament teach us anything, they teach us that nothing is too difficult for God . . . When God puts something in your heart to do, he goes to work behind the scenes to ensure that it happens. In the meantime, we are to remain faithful to him and focused on the vision. You are not responsible for figuring out how to pull off God’s vision for your life. You are responsible to do what you know to do, what you can do. And then you must wait . . . If it is a just a good idea, you have to make it happen. When God gives you a vision, there’s a sense in which you stand back and watch it happen. The challenge is that sometimes you stand back for a long time” (56-57).

Staying and keeping focused on our vision keeps us focused on God as we are reminded that the only way this vision will be fulfilled is if God acts and orchestrates.

Blessings,
Stephen

===

Quotations taken from:
Stanley, Andy. Visioneering. Sisters, Or: Multnomah Publishers, 2005.

 

Are we there yet?

June 2, 2014 /

Dear Friends,

The question, “Are we there yet?” has become the stuff of legends. No family vacation could ever be considered complete without the chorus rising from the bowels of the passenger compartment: A place where reason and tranquility will never be found. On a recent road trip the following conversation took place in our car:

Child: “Are we there yet?”
Me: “Are we still driving?”
Child: “Yes.”
Me: “Then we are not there yet.”
(One minute thirteen second pause)
Child: “Are we there yet?”
Me: turns on radio . . . loud

I would bang my head on the steering wheel, but that would probably cause the airbag to deploy. If you have never had the pleasure of this yourself this video will be an inspiration to you:

Are we there yet?

“Are we there yet?” is not just a question asked on during moments of too much family closeness. It is a question we all ask in our spiritual lives.

Having a clear vision and clear call does not eliminate the times in the dessert, the times of preparation. Maxie Dunham, former President of Asbury Theological Seminary is quoted by David McKenna (another former President) as saying, “Whether we experience the desert as a geophysical fact is not important. That we experience it as the reality of being along with ourselves and God — questioning, clarifying, testing, committing, and cleansing — is absolutely necessary” (59). Being in the desert is an “Are we there yet?” moment.

When we read of Saul’s (later called Paul) conversion we tend to focus on the events occurring on the Damascus Road. We miss the other conversion; the conversion which took place in the desert.

Paul’s professional and academic credentials to preach were without question. The call and mission of his life was clear. Jesus said to the prophet Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name” (Acts 9:15-16, NIV). Even so Paul was sent to the desert for three years.

Read what Paul wrote to the people of Galatia about his call and his conversion:

“But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with [Peter] and stayed with him fifteen days” (Galatians 1:15-18, NIV).

“It took three years for [Paul] to reverse all systems, crucify all past desires, and let his mind become the mind of Christ” (McKenna 59).

Have you been to the desert? Where is God still working on you? Where do you find yourself asking “Are we there yet?” The truth is, as much as we may wish it to be otherwise, the answer may likely be “no.”

Blessings,
Stephen

===

McKenna, David L.. Christ-centered leadership: the incarnational difference. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2013. Prin

 

Waiting and Planning

March 1, 2013 /

Dear Friends,

One of the great challenges for college faculty is figuring out a way to manipulate . . . err . . . motivate students to participate in hours of seemly endless drudgery and pay for the privilege. If you happen to be a student in the religion department at a Nazarene institution, like I was, you can be sure quotes from the likes of John Wesley and Phineas F. Bresee,Breseefounder of the Church of the Nazarene, are certainly going to make their way into the motivational repertoire. One of those I heard frequently was a story of a person asking old Phiney what he would do if he were told he only had ten years to live. Phiney, lowering his voice and fixing his eyes on his poor unsuspecting inquisitor replied he would spend the first five years preparing for the last five. With that men came into the room and carried off the questioner to study in one of the many fine Nazarene institutions of higher learning. From then on no one dared asked Phiney any more questions.

Whether the story is true or legend it illustrates an important principle about the steps we take as a visions grows within our souls.

Building Block #3: Pray for opportunities and plan as if you expect God to answer your prayers.

“New visions die easily. And understandably so. There is little to go on. Praying and planning will help you keep your vision alive. And that is critical. When your vision dies, part of you dies as well. So pray. Pray for opportunities. Pray for the people who could help you launch your vision. And while you wait, plan! Develop a strategy. Dream on paper. Find the one or two things you can do and get busy” (38).

It may seem counterintuitive to pray and plan at the same time but planning is about putting ourselves in a position where we are able to respond to God when the time comes. Nehemiah had a vision for rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, but he was the cup bearer to the King of Babylon. What are some the areas that Nehemiah would have been able to plan for? He could have planned how he would respond when God softened the King’s heart and opened a door for Nehemiah to travel to Jerusalem. He could have thought about what he was going to need, the letters for travel, the supplies, etc. He might have even looked into just how a wall is built. We know that there were non-Jewish people living in the land at the time. He could have studied their languages, at least enough the ask where the bathroom is at and the directions to the nearest McDonalds. These are just a few.
Even as we plan, we should not be surprised if God uses our plans in a way we never expected.

If the opportunity came today for you to move toward your vision would we be ready? What can you do to prepare?

Blessings,
Stephen

 

Quotations taken from:
Stanley, Andy. Visioneering. Sisters, Or: Multnomah Publishers, 2005.

Hyperactive Rabbits

February 23, 2013 /

We all want to be hyperactive rabbits lacing up our red lightning bolt jogging shoes, taking our place on the starting line waiting for the moment when the starter’s pistol fires and we can careen ahead to claim the glory of victory.

When that first vision of what could be, what should be, begins to become clear in our souls it can be like the sound of a starter’s pistol in our minds and bodies. We surge ahead to claim our destiny. But, as we all know, when the smoke clears it will not be the wild rabbit who wins the race but the steady, slow, tortoise.

Rabbit and TurtleBuilding Block #2: A vision does not necessarily require immediate action.

“A vision rarely requires immediate action. It always requires patience” (20). Charging out of the starting gate too early to fulfill, even a God-ordained vision, will always result in failure, discouragement, and disillusionment. While we will talk more about the specifics of what takes place while we wait when we discuss other building blocks, for now I will say that three things happen while we wait for the vision:

First, the vision matures in us. “For a vision to survive it must be mature and healthy before being exposed to the cynical, critical, stubborn environment in which it is expected to survive” (21).

Second, we mature in preparation for the vision. Think about the story of David. He had been anointed the King of Israel. He knew his vision. He knew God’s purposes for his life. Yet he still had many years of preparation and maturing before the vision would be.

Third, God is at work behind the scenes to prepare the way. “Ultimately we are taking part in a massive assault that began one dark afternoon on a hill just outside Jerusalem. God’s vision for your life is much bigger than you. Apart from his intervention and preparation, you and I are incapable of pulling off even our small part of the operation” (24). While the Hebrew people were in slavery in Egypt they cried out to God and it appeared that he was not listening. But with the birth of a baby to be named Moses and even his being sent away for 40 years to the land of Midian, we see that God was at work all the time, behind the scenes, to fulfill a vision for saving his people. For much of the time, though, it appeared as though God was not doing anything.

Blessings,
Pastor Stephen

 

Quotations taken from:
Stanley, Andy. Visioneering. Sisters, Or: Multnomah Publishers, 2005.

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