?This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: ?In repentance and rest is your salvation,

in quietness and trust is your strength.?     Isaiah 30:15

MINISTRY UPDATE

Dear ministry friends & partners,

With Corona virus spreading across the globe, every sector of life has been impacted. We know the elderly and health-compromised are particularly at risk. Grocery store shelves have been stripped bare of essential items in many cities. Toilet paper has become a precious commodity, scarcely found anywhere, and in many states shops and restaurants have been closed for the foreseeable future. We are facing such a dynamic situation in that a matter of days could drastically shift where we are today and what we understand about the Corona virus and its many implications for health and the economy.

For the UMC there are particular concerns about the much anticipated 2020 General Conference and the decisions that will be made with regard to a new Orthodox denomination. The logistics of gathering 800+ delegates from around the world to vote on the separation of a worldwide denomination that has been battling over polar perspectives of human sexuality and basic orthodoxy for more than 40 years are daunting.

For many of us travel for work and ministry have been canceled. Many places of employment have either temporarily closed or people have been able to shift their work to a home office. While there are obvious fears, major disruptions, and the tragedy of loss of life and loved ones, I?ve also been reflecting on how the cancellation of travel events, shifts in work schedules and far more time at home has felt more connecting for me and Melissa. Particularly with our kids and the more concentrated time I have with them, as well as the friends who live with us. I wonder if anyone else reading this feels some of the same dynamic?we wouldn?t ever choose for ourselves or others to go through this, and while there is much grief, pain and fear associated with this worldwide pandemic there are also ways that God can use this tragedy.

I?m convinced that the pace most of us have learned to maintain is not something we?ve actually been designed for. The ability to work long hours and wring out ?maximum productivity? is more of an illusion than reality. I remember years ago being asked by a boss what the difference was between being efficient and being effective. I thought it was a dumb question at the time because I didn?t see the difference; I mistook having a plate full of tasks that I was feverishly accomplishing as being both efficient and effective. In reality I may have been efficient, but often lacked in real effectiveness. Often, our spouse and kids pay the price for the pace we maintain. Many of us have a chance to change that now.

If we resist the urge to just binge-watch more Netflix (or some other equally worthless pastime), this forced slowdown could have an incredibly positive impact on families reconnecting, and Christ-followers becoming still and knowing (again) that God is God? Psalm 46:10 ?Cease striving and know that I am God?? I read or heard years ago that kids spell love: TIME. Whatever our circumstance; married or single, let?s make the most of some new time and opportunities for those who need our attention and love.

I?m convinced there will be large-scale changes adopted because of the Corona virus that will leave a lasting impact on our nation and world. Not all of those changes will be negative. Tragedy and massive disruption have a way of re-orienting our priorities in ways that lesser circumstances do not. We typically learn to pivot and take on more accumulated responsibility. It can all be so gradual that we don?t recognize how all the margin (the wide open space) around the way we live our life is completely gone.

I read a brief article posted on March 7, 2020 (The National Day of Prayer) written by Len Munsil, President of Arizona Christian University. I was blessed by what he shared and want to pass this along.

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Reflections on what we should pray for on this National Day of Prayer  

          

?In modern America most of us live with the illusion of control over our earthly lives. Constant improvements in medicine, health and safety standards, along with peace and prosperity at home ? these things together have allowed us to minimize risk. (Those living in poverty anywhere or deployed to war zones abroad have no such illusions.) So it is that most of us are disrupted by occasional weather tragedies, untimely celebrity deaths, airplane crashes, or the cancer diagnosis of a friend or family member ? we are briefly jarred out of the illusion of safety. But how quickly and easily we return to that false comfort.

A worldwide pandemic has laid bare these illusions. The resulting panic has also laid bare the effect of a nation?s retreat from a biblical worldview. Quite simply ? as a people, we are fearful of the wrong thing.

The Bible teaches us that life is a vapor, a mere breath (James 4:14). The Bible teaches us that it is appointed to man once to die, and then judgment (Hebrews 9:27).

Jesus Himself tells us what to fear, and what not to fear: ?I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.? (Luke 12:4-5).

And this is why we are in a panic ? we fear a virus that can kill our body, but so many of us in our nation today no longer fear the God who will determine our fate for eternity.

Throughout history, from the time of the Apostles, Christians have faced danger and death with confidence due to the promises of God. The death rate of Mayflower passengers was more than 40 percent during their first winter of 1620-21, but by virtue of their Christian faith they are known for starting our tradition of giving Thanksgiving to God for his goodness as they formed what would become a new nation.

During the Civil War, 2.5 percent of all Americans lost their lives ? the equivalent of more than 8 million Americans today, far beyond even the worst-case scenarios for this pandemic from the scariest Drudge headlines. In March of 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a ?Proclamation Appointing a National Fast Day? ? and while of course he asked Americans to fast and pray for an end to the ?awful calamity? of the Civil War, he also wrote that we had become proud and powerful and ?forgotten God? ? ?Intoxicated with our unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!?

Lincoln specifically called Americans to return to God and to repent of our individual and national sins ? especially the horrific moral evil of slavery.

On this National Day of Prayer, I hope we are praying for much more than an end to this crisis. I hope we are praying for more than protection and provision for our time on earth. As Lincoln asked ? I hope we are also repenting of our individual and national sins, and praying that the people of our nation would return to the faith of their fathers.

?For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.? (John 3:16).

It?s pretty simple, actually. Death entered the world through sin, which is rebellion against God. Given free will, we chose to go our own way in defiance of our Creator and the rules He gave us for our good. Unable to achieve perfect holiness on our own, we had no way to reconnect with a holy God ? until He sent His son Jesus to live a perfect, holy life. Jesus loved people, spoke truth, healed the sick ? and challenged the religious and secular authorities of His day, who put Him to death. He went willingly, even though He could have commanded thousands of angels to intervene (Matthew 26:53). He did so to give us an opportunity ? through faith in Jesus ? to reconnect with God and live forever in His presence in the perfect world to come. When Jesus rose from the dead, He showed us what will happen when we die on earth ? if we believe in Him. As Jesus said, ?I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?? (John 11:25-26).

That is the central question today. Do you believe this?

If you do, there is no reason to fear a virus. If not, there is plenty of reason to be fearful ? and because we live in a nation where fewer and fewer believe in Jesus, we can understand why there is palpable panic and fear all around us. What an opportunity to be vessels of calmness, peace, and service to those around us, while pointing the world to the truth of the Gospel.

And yet there is opportunity ? ?Behold, now is ?the acceptable time,? behold, now is ?the day of salvation?.? 2 Corinthians 6:2.

On this National Day of Prayer, let?s pray for the sick and the grieving. Let?s pray for our health care workers and government leaders. Let?s pray for God to supernaturally intervene and stop this virus.

But let?s also pray that many around the world, and in our nation, will come to know the one true God, will understand the sacrifice He made to save us and draw us to Him, and that nothing can separate us from His love.

?Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ? I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.?

God longs for us to spend eternity with Him in a place where all wrongs are made right, where all sickness is healed, and where there is no more pain, tears or death. (Revelation 21:4) If you have any doubts about your future, turn to Jesus Christ today.?

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When the Corona virus passes, I wonder if we will be any wiser and more prudent for the experience? Will the fresh reality of our real lack of control and a new opportunity to consider our true dependency on Jesus for every breath we breathe provide even a speed bump in the road of our lives? Will we consider in a new way the great importance of how we steward our body and the way that God calls us to honor and care for our body, and the inner person this home contains?

When the Corona virus passes and fades into history, will we reconsider how we?ve been living? Something much bigger and more pervasive than a physical pandemic is the reality that every man, woman, boy and girl have been created as relational and sexual beings, made in the very image of our Creator. Our bodies are meant to glorify God, rather than function as an artificial way of meeting our needs through emotionally broken dependency and relating with others, or illicit sexual behavior: 1 Cor 6:20, ?for you have been bought with a price therefore glorify God in your body.?

True emotional, spiritual and physical well-being is compromised by sexual expression outside the good design of God; one man and one woman bound together in covenant marriage for life. On the other hand, God is so good that even when we have made a mess of our lives, even when we have hidden for years in dark places of sin and secrecy He is only waiting for us to turn back to Him. He is waiting for our surrender, for us to get out of the way and let Him work to bring true meaning, true redemption to our lives. We see the heart of God in the story that Jesus tells about his Father in Luke 15 when He explains the parable of the ?prodigal.?

I am incredibly blessed to share with you the testimony of my dear friend. I love the man who shares his story in this ministry update. He has become a true friend and brother. I hope his life and story are as much of a challenge and blessing to you as He has been to me.

TESTIMONY- JOSEPH

?My name is Joseph and this is my testimony. My story starts like most others really? You know? Birth  and it has been a true salvation process. I?ll be the first to say I have no idea how this sharing process really works. Honestly, I wish more messages and testimonies started like that? ?I have no idea how this works so let?s just talk about it?.

Growing up in the church I?ve honestly felt like I had a relationship with God all my life. I was raised in a world centered on faith and continued to hold onto it even into my adulthood. Unfortunately, whether it was church culture, familial culture, personal ignorance, or just plain pride or fear, I held onto and hid things that I shouldn?t have.

Mainly my issue was same-sex attraction and how I let it alter my behaviors and choices. It?s hard to live with because I don?t know where it comes from. The best answer I can give is it?s how my own personal struggle with the human condition manifested. Being born into fallen humanity means that something will manifest in our lives that we will have to contend against. I never dealt with these desires because I didn?t know how to.

The ?pray it away? attitude from religion wasn?t working. But taking it on as an identity didn?t feel right either. What I needed to do was to tell someone and seek godly counsel. Unfortunately, by the time I hit adulthood I didn?t feel safe enough to tell anyone, and that was my near-fatal mistake.

This is where it gets really complicated. At some point in my life I began building two lives. One, which most people saw, I worked at the church, went to school, maintained relationships (friends, family, and romantic). It was a life I wanted and it was the life I planned to pursue. My other life was for the most part hidden, rather than dealing with my brokenness I satisfied it. In this life I engaged in every behavior I wanted, that I couldn?t do out in the open, these things brought both pleasure and shame, and I quickly realized I had an addictive disposition. It went from porn to actually talking to and meeting guys. I did not create one life so I could cover up the other, I just wanted it all.

I?m not the only who does this. Brothers and sisters, please catch this part of what I?m sharing, if nothing else. If you are hiding something in your life out of fear of losing something else you are in very serious danger. Your details may be different from mine, but the model is still exactly the same. So I lived for years in a cycle of double-living and covering my tracks. As the consequences of sin always do, they eventually caught up to me, as with everyone who won?t repent and seek help, Proverbs 28:13.

In life #1, I?m a brand new school counselor ready to start a life with an amazing girl that I truly cared for. In life #2, my last and final conversation with a guy was over a month ago. I?m thinking this life is done, I?m going to propose, get married and phase out this struggle. Then the lines got blurred. A guy I had connected with in the past sent one of our conversations to my brand new fiancé. The next day I jumped from a 90ft bridge to the ground below.

This is where it becomes especially difficult to talk about my story. There?s about 48hrs of which I don?t have any memory. I know what happened based off of what people have told me. Up to this point I own every decision I made; I lied, broke promises, compromised myself and others sexually, ignored God?s clear sexual and relational guardrails, gave into substance abuse, lacked integrity, and it all came from my own pride. I made every one of those decisions.

But it?s hard to own those two days. I don?t remember celebrating my engagement. I don?t remember starting to make plans for a wedding. I don?t remember spending hours talking to my fiancé about this horribly graphic conversation and everything in my life that led up to it. I don?t remember picking that bridge. I don?t remember writing a note. I don?t remember jumping. About two months later I began to wake up and realized the condition I was in.

At the bridge though, if there was something external influencing me (and I believe at that point there was) then it was already factored into a bigger plan. Brothers and sisters, the ?devil on my shoulder? excuse is a tired refrain. We have to start owning our decisions in this life. However, when we have compromised ourselves enough and become wrapped up lies, confusion and despair, the enemy is ready to seal the deal. After all, Jesus Himself told us that ?the thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy.? John 10:10.

It wasn?t the first time I was rescued by the shepherd who never took his eyes off me, but it was definitely the biggest intervention I know of? I fell 90ft and it did do damage. I broke my neck in a few spots and I?m technically a quadriplegic. I?m totally wheelchair and bed-bound? but only for the moment.

Like I said, there is a bigger plan. There absolutely is a God and He rescued every part of me: body, mind, and spirit. He has a plan to rescue this world, not to destroy it, but destroy the evil and injustice in it. I have to be a part of that plan. I have more desire to live following Jesus now than I ever have in my life because I know now more than ever that every truly good thing comes from Him. If we want what is truly good in our lives we have to let God set that standard, get honest about our sin struggles, and actually practice a life of surrender to the one who gave everything to redeem us.?

 These are incredibly trying times for everyone. We want you to know how much we value and need new and ongoing partnerships to strengthen and grow our opportunities to equip Christian leaders and churches with the hope-filled, life-saving message of God?s design for our identity and sexuality. We each thrive as we lean into the way we were designed by God. Counterfeits are destructive; promising freedom while leading us into sin, hopelessness and bondage.

In this time of slow-down, cancelled travel and speaking, we are working on projects that were already on our heart, that God has been casting vision for. Garry is now offering online video training tailored to the topics and number of sessions desired by the pastors and leaders who understand the need to prepare and equip their teams.

This can be a very cost-effective way to pour into your leaders and people in need of sound, Biblical teaching. These live video-teaching opportunities include specific topics on restoring relational and sexual wholeness and also provide a time for Q&A. This open dialog of Q&A is an essential opportunity for real-time discussion regarding the specifics those on the video call are concerned about in their families, ministries and spheres of influence.High quality, online curriculum is another essential need that God has been stirring us to tackle. Whereas, video trainings would be live and allow for discussion/Q&A, our online curriculum will be accessible 24/7 from anywhere.

While in-person ministry, preaching, teaching, retreats, conferences, etc., will often continue to be the desired model of ministry, the internet offers a cost-effective, time-efficient platform for equipping, training and ministering on many different levels. We need your prayer covering and financial partnership to develop these tools, particularly professional online curriculum, involving written content and video teaching, as well as testimonies and panel discussion video clips for multiple teaching pieces. Quality video production and editing is not inexpensive. Please pray for us and prayerfully consider supporting the work of Transforming Congregations.

Always grateful for you and your partnership, especially in trying times!

PARTNERSHIP

I?m incredibly privileged to share and teach in many churches around the country and I?m very encouraged by what I see happening in The United Methodist Church and other parts of the body of Christ.

Will you help us continue to share the true gospel and hope of life-change? Our message is being suppressed or ridiculed in every corner of culture and by many United Methodist Church leaders. We exist to encourage and equip The United Methodist Church to love in truth, to believe in the more that God can do in all areas of restoring sexual and relational wholeness in the lives of His sons and daughters.

 

*Please note: when giving online, after entering your first and last name, please type ?Transforming Congregations? into the [Company] field so your gift will be designated to us.

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To give by check please make that out to Transforming Congregations & mail to: 

Transforming Congregations

PO Box 132076

The Woodlands, TX 77393-2076