The Fellowship of the Unashamed

Today in the office, we were sharing some writings by Dr. Robert Moorehead, the former pastor of Seattle’s Overlake Christian Church. I was taken in by this and wanted to share it.

I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. the decision has been made. I’m a disciple of His. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still.

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotion, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won’t give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me… my banner will be clear!

Does this move us into action? What will you do?

New Years Resolution 2007

It’s late at night on January 1st, 2007 and I’m both thinking about New Year’s Resolutions and listening to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl game between Boise State and Oklahoma. I started to think about how late it was getting and I still hadn’t written down any resolutions for this new year. And while I was thinking about the impending midnight hour fast approaching, I started thinking about the days when a person bought a watch in order to just tell time. Today, people seem to need to own a wristwatch with attitude, an accessory which says something about the life to which they would like to become accustomed.

Timepieces today are skin-thin, made from fossils, luminous and come with clamp on/off attachments. You can wear them in the jacuzzi and they’ll play music to you at inconvenient intervals. If you name is James Bond, they will probably be able to blow up a Chieftain tank. Million dollar industries make genuine fakes of designer tickers to satisfy the desire to impress. View the jewelers in Bond Street, London,Kartnerstrasse, Vienna or in any shopping center in the Gulf, and you see a whole new meaning to the adage ‘Time is money.’

In the developed economies, and many parts of the developing world, this age-old saying has become the signature tune of the latter part of the 20th Century. Many professionals live with a mental timer ticking. Working days are carefully measured and billed, ‘quality time’ is planned for the family, etc. Some people seem capable of telescoping 48 hours into every 24. The world seems addicted to television shows jammed into a 24 hour time constraint.

Time seems to take on a body and personality; we feel cheated by it, threatened by the lack of it, and bullied into submitting to it.  I’ve always thought it appropriate that a watch is worn on the wrist.  It says a lot about how we view time.  Like a handcuff, we are imprisoned by it and pulled in many different directions by it.  Our hands can’t do anything without the watch capturing our attention.  No matter how beautifully we package the hours in gold, diamonds, mother of pearl or designer plastic, we are challenged by how little time we have.

During my time in Africa, I learned that much of Africa is a “watch-free-zone”.  In Africa, how much you can achieve in one day is directly proportionate to how many people you will have to greet along the way.  A ‘meeting’ in Africa means a personal encounter, not an intensive wrangle around a boardroom table.  Enter an African’s orbit, and blessedly, the world seems to slow down for a while.

The story is told about a man who wanted to explore the jungles of Africa.  He hired a group of local people to carry his equipment and personal belongings and set off to places never seen by a European.  For the first four days, the group made excellent progress over many miles.  His porters didn’t seem to be to tired and he was encouraged that they would make the anticipated journey in record time.  On day five, the porters dumped all the equipment, sat down and refused to move.  When the explorer inquired what was the matter, they replied it was necessary for them to stay in one place for a day, so that their souls would be able to catch up with them.

I have a resolution this year and a suggestion to all the watch designers of the 21st Century which will make their creations best sellers: leave off both hands on the watch face.  Then maybe our souls will be able to catch up to us and give the world the rest it needs. 

Happy New Year 2007

We just wanted to take this opportunity to say “Happy New Year!!!” From all of us here at the Oakseed Ministries Office and from all our ministry partners around the world. There are exciting things happening this upcoming year, but we wanted to take this time to thank you for all your prayers and support over this past year.

Mail Order Llamas are Misunderstood.

Most of us, most of the time, feel left out.  We feel like we’re misfits.  We feel like we’re not on the inside or that we don’t belong.  Other people always seem to be so confident.  These other people seem to be so sure of themselves.  They appear to know the ropes as only an insider would know. 

For the past 15 years, there has been a group that has been excluded from “the group”.  They have been left out and forced to watch from the outside.  On New Year’s Day, this is all going to change.  On Colorado Boulevard in Southern California during this year’s Rose Parade, Llamas from many walks of life will be able to proudly hold their heads high as they make their long awaited debut.

Luke (the biblical author), was one of the most vigorous champions of the “outsider”.  He constantly showed how Jesus included those who typically were treated as outsiders by the religious establishment of the day: women, common laborers (sheepherders), the racially different (Samaritans), and the poor.  As Luke tells the story, all of us who have found ourselves on the outside looking in on life with no hope of gaining entrance now find the doors wide open, found and welcomed by God in Jesus.

Since 1992, Oakseed Ministries has been walking in the light that Luke talks about, the light that focuses on the open door that Jesus brings to the poor and the “outsiders” of the world.  While the world may stand up on New Year’s day and applaud the inclusion of the llamas in the Rose Parade,MISIUR has been providing llamas for many years to the poor of Peru.  The llamas are given on loan to a poor family who can pay back the loan through the sale of wool.  On this Christmas, you can give a llama as a gift.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to look through the Bazaar Catalog, I’d encourage you to give a gift this Christmas that meets a real need, that offers hope and reflects Christ’s mercy. 

Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving?

The Pilgrims left Plymouth, England on September 6, 1620. Their destination? The New World. Although filled with uncertainty and peril, it offered both civil and religious liberty. For over two months, the 102 passengers braved the harsh elements of a vast storm-tossed sea. Finally, with firm purpose and a reliance on Divine Providence, the cry of “Land!” was heard.

Arriving in Massachusetts in late November, the Pilgrims sought a suitable landing place. On December 11, just before disembarking at Plymouth Rock, they signed the “Mayflower Compact” - America’s first document of civil government and the first to introduce self-government.

After a prayer service, the Pilgrims began building hasty shelters. However, unprepared for the starvation and sickness of a harsh New England winter, nearly half died before spring. Yet, persevering in prayer, and assisted by helpful Indians, they reaped a bountiful harvest the following summer.

The grateful Pilgrims then declared a three-day feast, starting on December 13, 1621, to thank God and to celebrate with their Indian friends. While this was not the first Thanksgiving in America (thanksgiving services were held in Virginia as early as 1607), it was America’s first Thanksgiving Festival.

Pilgrim Edward Winslow described the Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving in these words:

“Our harvest being gotten in, our Governor sent four men on fowling [bird hunting] so that we might, after a special manner, rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as… served the company almost a week… Many of the Indians [came] amongst us and… their greatest King, Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted; and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought… And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet BY THE GOODNESS OF GOD WE ARE… FAR FROM WANT.”

In 1789, following a proclamation issued by President George Washington, America celebrated its first Day of Thanksgiving to God under its new constitution. That same year, the Protestant Episcopal Church, of which President Washington was a member, announced that the first Thursday in November would become its regular day for giving thanks, “unless another day be appointed by the civil authorities.” Yet, despite these early national proclamations, official Thanksgiving observances usually occurred only at the State level.

Much of the credit for the adoption of a later ANNUAL national Thanksgiving Day may be attributed to Mrs. Sarah Joseph Hale, the editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book. For thirty years, she promoted the idea of a national Thanksgiving Day, contacting President after President until President Abraham Lincoln responded in 1863 by setting aside the last Thursday of November as a national Day of Thanksgiving. Over the next seventy-five years, Presidents followed Lincoln’s precedent, annually declaring a national Thanksgiving Day. Then, in 1941, Congress permanently established the fourth Thursday of each November as a national holiday.

Lincoln’s original 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation came - spiritually speaking - at a pivotal point in his life. During the first week of July of that year, the Battle of Gettysburg occurred, resulting in the loss of some 60,000 American lives. Four months later in November, Lincoln delivered his famous “Gettsysburg Address.” It was while Lincoln was walking among the thousands of graves there at Gettysburg that he committed his life to Christ. As he explained to a friend:

When I left Springfield [to assume the Presidency] I asked the people to pray for me. I was not a Christian. When I buried my son, the severest trial of my life, I was not a Christian. But when I went to Gettysburg and saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ.

As Americans celebrate Thanksgiving each year, we hope they will retain the original gratefulness to God displayed by the Pilgrims and many other founding fathers , and remember that it is to those early and courageous Pilgrims that they owe not only the traditional Thanksgiving holiday but also the concepts of self-government, the “hard-work” ethic, self-reliant communities, and devout religious faith.

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