Contents:

Mid-life Crisis, Reality Check, or Turning Point?
by Jim Durkin

The Path of Revival
by Jeff Miller

Principals to Live By
by Jim Durkin Sr.

Mid-life Crisis, Reality Check, or Turning Point?
Ask yourself this question,
"Did I simply give up my dream or
did I systematically replace it with other pursuits?"
by Jim Durkin

I was perhaps 45 and serving as the assistant pastor of a small church. On one particular Sunday we had a guest speaker, and I found myself thoroughly enjoying his message. He was speaking about some of the observations he had made regarding people he had known in his 50+ years of ministry. One of his comments was, "A considerable number of people I have known over the past 50 years, men and women who began their Christian life as a teenager or in their early twenties with such excitement and determination, found themselves in their 40's and 50's burned out, bitter, critical, frustrated, or disillusioned." His conclusion as to why this happens so often is: "they simply gave up on their dreams." Today I find myself questioning that conclusion. While it is true they lost sight of their dream, I question whether they simply gave up their dream.

The late 60's and early 70's saw an incredible outpouring of God's love on a generation of young people who knew they wanted to make a difference in the world around them. The desire to effect change caused them to challenge political, social, educational, and environmental systems. This was a generation of young people who resisted entrenched traditional values like racial segregation, women's subservient role, and a myriad of other philosophies that were forged through generations of fear and ignorance: and they demanded change. It was upon this generation that God revealed His love. It was through this generation, which was labeled by many as being rebellious, that God chose to bring change to the traditional religious system. It was these young people who dared to dream a dream of a Church that embraced differences and called them the many-faceted expressions of Christ's body. They desired to see unity and not conformity, knowing the importance of each member contributing their part, thereby causing the whole body to be built up in love. They believed their generation could reach the entire world with the gospel. They knew they were pilgrims on this earth, "just a passing thru'" as the song says. They were ambassadors of a kingdom. And so they went to cities, villages, countries, hamlets, and islands. Wherever there were people, they desired to bring the good news of Christ's love.

Today, 30 years later, where is that generation? While it is true that many are still serving God in a variety of functions, many are not. I want to dedicate the remainder of this article to those who are no longer pursuing their God-given dreams. It doesn't matter what you are doing today. You might be in full-time ministry, part of a ministry support team, a member of a congregation or home fellowship, or no longer attending any formal gathering- you might even be backslidden.

Ask yourself this question, "Did I simply give up my dream or did I systematically replace it with other pursuits?" Perhaps as you ask this question, you might discover you never even knew what your dream was.

Whatever truths we hold in our heart become the reality upon which our life is based. It is out of that reality that we live our life. In the 60s, we as a. generation rose ~ up and declared we no longer wanted to believe the values we had been taught. We said that all we need is love. Our observation of materialism and capitalism was that they became an open door for the greedy and the corrupt. It was truly survival of the fittest. (richest). We didn't need any of it; a backpack and a bed role were all we needed. We looked for community and enjoyed sharing everything. We said that each person was free to "do their own thing" and called it beautiful when they did. We expanded our minds as well as our philosophies. We traveled wherever the wind blew. Revolutionary thought became "the cause."

A few short years into our journey that same generation was introduced to Jesus, and the "Jesus People" revolution began. Whole communes were turning to Christ, witnessing teams went everywhere and daily testified of the conversions. Public beaches, street comers, city parks-wherever there was a Frisbee-throwing young person, there were those "Jesus freaks" passing out their tracks and people were bowing their heads and turning to Christ. Christian communes began to spring up everywhere, and the message of discipleship became the only message of importance.

We were taught that the ideals we tried to live by were in fact true: all the world needs is love. However, love is not a philosophy, Love is a entity: God. Simplicity is God's way, we were told as we were given examples of the rich young ruler being told to sell all he had and give to the poor, or how the converts in the book of Acts had all things in common, to prove the point. Even our desire to travel and see the world was held up as a good thing in light of the scriptures that teach we have no permanent dwelling place but are pilgrims and strangers in this world. As citizens of a heavenly kingdom, we are Christ's ambassadors to this world.

We had now come to the purpose for which we were put on this earth. We had discovered our destiny. We had tapped into the source of real change, and the great commission would be carried out in our generation. Our generation would avoid all the mistakes of the previous generations, and would not lose sight of the goal. Our teaching and even our method of building and relating is what would bring perfection to the entire church. We would preach the gospel to the whole world and then see the end come.

Now we are in our 50's and 60's and many of us find ourselves disillusioned, frustrated, bitter, or critical. Questions like, "Where did we go wrong?" or "What was that all about?" have come up in many conversations I've had over the past several years. Perhaps at this point you could ask yourself a couple of different questions:

• "Regarding the message of discipleship and taking the gospel to the ends of the earth, was it my personal heart belief that this was what God had for me, or was it a popular message the group embraced so I gave myself to it?"

• "Did I take the time to discover my dream (destiny) or did I allow others to tell me that this life style and philosophy was my purpose ( destiny)?"

• "Was destiny replaced with an office or function (i.e., Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor - Teacher)?"

• "Did I allow what began as a relationship of love and acceptance to become a challenge to live on the cutting edge of our purpose, to get the work done, and then 'we all get to go home'?"

Many of us, very much like the disciples the apostle Paul wrote to in book of Galatians, started out in grace only to quickly get off track and into works. The deep beliefs of our heart were not persuaded to change from the same beliefs that caused the revolution in the 60s (the core belief that anything having to do with the establishment was fundamentally wrong and must be changed or overthrown). This very belief is based on a judgment and is itself rebellion. Because we held onto these same core beliefs, what we embraced was not a personal destiny (dream), but a movement that popularized those beliefs into a lifestyle and motivation for Christian service and discipleship. As a result, when it was no longer popular to live that lifestyle, communes and discipleship centers shut their doors as rapidly as they sprang up just a few short years before.

For many, the exit out of that particular lifestyle became the beginning of a long journey, a search to find some sense of normalcy, and an escape from the teaching that manipulated them to sell out to a vision that was bigger than life. For us, the movement and all that was associated with it was now just part of our history. The seeds of discouragement and disillusionment were planted in our hearts. Together with the core value of rebellion and the overthrowing of anything having to do with the establishment, we found ourselves confused and searching for someone who could help us make sense out of it all.

Today a message is reaching out to our generation. In many ways, it is not new; we've heard it before. For some of us, it is the very foundation of our Christian life. But even though the teaching is not new, it is coming with new understanding. God loves you right now, right where you are. He accepts you today with all your hang-ups and failures. He has never been angry with you or frustrated because of your slip- ups. He came to set us free, and for many of us, the thing that has become the biggest bondage is religion, legalism, and performance. We are hearing a message of God's grace, and it is setting us free. It is not altogether unlike when . we first received Jesus as our savior. We were tired of our life, we were sick of the mess we had made, and we wanted to start over.

Today Jesus is saying to us, "Come unto me all you who labor and heavy-laden and I will give you rest for your souls. Take my yolk upon you and learn of me for my yolk is easy and my burden is light." The message of Grace has been called the message of individual responsibility; you are being invited to come back to the place where you first began, into relationship--not with a church or a philosophy but with a loving God. We are being called once again to discipleship, but not man's idea of discipleship. We are not being asked to submit to men, but rather to come into a relationship of trust with a loving God.

Many of us have been elders, leaders, overseers, 5-fold ministers, shepherds, fathers, and mentors. Today we say, "Been there, done that, worn the T - shirt." God's call is to none of that. He is calling you to experience Him for who He really is-perhaps for the first time or perhaps for the first time in a long time. He is calling you out of bondage and into the freedom that belongs to the sons of God. Give your heart over to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to reveal what beliefs are really written on your heart. God desires to go to the root beliefs of rebellion, fear, disillusionment, anger, discouragement, confusion, and any other form of bondage.

Allow the Holy Spirit to quiet the voices of "religion," "performance," and "legalism." Ask Him to replace those messages with the truth of the Word concerning your worth in God, His acceptance of you, and the truth that you were and are righteous by what He did on the cross. Let Him remove the feelings of failure and insignificance. Allow the Holy Spirit to give you back your sense of destiny and fill your heart with your God-given dream.

Our generation is once again experiencing an outpouring of God's love. We are again hearing the call to be "Jesus People," the called-out ones. A generation that began strong will be a generation that will finish strong, not in our own strength but in our weakness, the only place where God can be strong in us. Rest in His grace, embrace His love, know His acceptance, and let His Spirit breath on you once again.

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The Path of Revival
By Jeff Miller

It was 1967 in the Haight / Ashbury district of San Francisco, when a gathering of Hippies gave birth to something called the "Summer of Love." These young people, who were clad in bell bottom pants and flowery shirts, threw off all moral restraints and gave themselves over to free sex and smoking dope. The sounds of Scott McKenzie and other like bands filled the air as this group. of people committed themselves to fighting the "establishment" and doing it "their way." In reality, they unleashed venom in our nation that spread like gangrene through the American culture and we have never recovered from its destruction.

At the same time, 400 miles to the south, an unknown minister by the name of Chuck Smith moved to Costa Mesa to take over a very small, dying church. The church was called Calvary Chapel, and Chuck committed himself to teaching people about a loving God who accepted people right where they were. Furthermore, he modeled that love by making it the highest virtue of the church. It wasn't very long before his message began to permeate many of the people who had been affected by the hippie movement. Many young people who had given their lives over to "free sex" and drugs responded to Chuck's invitation to experience the love of God. For the first time, they experienced a loving God and saw the power of drugs broken off their lives. Jesus gave them a sense of value and worth, and they simply could not keep it to themselves. They shared their experience with everyone and, just like in the Book of Acts, supernatural miracles were a daily occurrence. Shortly they outgrew their building and began to meet in a large tent across the street. Out of this tent came a plethora of unofficial missionaries who took the message of the love of God throughout the nation in just a few short years.

I moved to Costa Mesa in 1973 to in order to pursue college studies. As a result, I had the privilege of witnessing many wonderful things at "Calvary," but at the same time I witnessed the dying of this movement. I remember observing certain things, decisions, etc., and could hear the prompting in my heart, "Remember this." Those memories serve as the underpinning of this article.

Lately, several people have asked the question, "Can we have another Jesus People Movement?" I want to say as emphatically as I can, "Yes!" What will it take to see it happen? Now that is the real question. Before I answer that, I want us to look at why it died in the first place.

In the 4th chapter of Mark, Jesus gives the parable of the sower and the seed. This parable represents four types of soil of the heart. The 3 rd type is explained in verses 18 and 19: "Still others, like the seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful."

I am suggesting that the Word of God that was planted and experienced in the Jesus Movement was choked from our hearts. It is interesting to note that Proverbs 4:23 says "Above all else guard your heart, for out of it flows the issues of life."

Those of us who were saved during the Jesus Movement experienced Jesus in every cell of our body. We simply had an abiding sense of the love of God. We never felt alone or separate from Him. We completely trusted Him and, at both a heart and an emotional level, we experienced His abiding love continually. It never occurred to us that anything else was in the realm of possibility. We never had to go witnessing; it was simply a by-product of our walk with him. It was the same way with miracles.

So what happened? Did God change? Did He decide to stop the movement? No way! What happened is that we ran into a "giant in the land." A big obstacle if you will. We began our journey trusting God, and at some point we began to emotionally experience fear and confusion. At that point we tried to solve it ourselves and failed. Giants include such things as divorce, death of a loved one, poverty, chronic sickness, depression, job loss, betrayal, etc. There is no end to the list. It can be anything that causes disillusionment and/or a crisis.

In the end, our emotions and our heart concluded, "God can't be completely trusted." Below the radar, we try and figure out the areas where God can be trusted and the areas where He can't be. This all transacts at a very deep level in our lives. Our mind and our mouth would never say those words, but that is what gets written on the "tablets of our heart." This new heart engraving comes with emotions of fear, doubt, and confusion. It is impossible for our hearts to hold two opposing beliefs, so we become afraid to totally trust God's word. We try to make up for our negative experiences-our fear and mistrust of God-with spiritual experiences. These spiritual experiences
include being slain in the spirit (falling down), receiving personal prophecies, and operating gifts of the spirit (healing, words of knowledge, prophecies, etc.), to name a few. These experiences only produce a temporary spiritual state. In the end we will return to the belief of our heart that God can't be completely trusted. This belief serves to choke the Word from its original depth in our heart and helps form a crust towards the unconditional love of God.

As a result, our daily emotional experience is no longer an abiding sense of the love of God. Our emotions reflect fear, confusion, and disappointment. The burden which was once light is now heavy, and the last thing we want to do is either witness to or pray for anyone.

This road has sidelined many who once made up the "Jesus Movement." In recent years, we have journeyed with others and have all begun our own walk out of this mire. For the first time in years, we are experiencing many of the things we experienced in the Jesus People movement. As one person exclaimed, "I have been born again, again! "

Our challenge is to help people return to a place where they have a complete and unabated trust in the love of God so that, as a result, they emotionally experience an abiding sense of, His love. This sounds simple enough; however, many people have their hearts layered with years of mistrust, doubt, and confusion.

Our journey with people tells us that people will not trust God if they don't believe that He loves them unconditionally. They will not believe that He loves them unconditionally if
they don't experience His love; they will not experience His love if they don't believe they are righteous in Jesus; they will not believe they are righteous if they believe God is mad at or disappointed in them.

Recently, we have been journeying with believers whose desire is to return to the passion and love we had for God during the Jesus People movement. This journey is taking us to the place where we are rediscovering the core beliefs we had at that time. The incredible thing is that when we choose to go on this journey, God provides the Grace (His ability) to change what our heart believes. The change is effortless, but the decision and choice to change is ours.

It is my observation and experience that at a heart level, we have moved away from four critical beliefs that were at our core as "Jesus People."

• First, we believed in an internal Jesus. Jesus came inside us when we got saved, and He brought with Him every promise in scripture. We believed that God dwelled inside of us. The Old Testament idea of God being outside of us or holding out on us simply was not a part of our belief system. 1 John 2:20-28
   

• Second, we believed in the finished work of Jesus. As a result of what Jesus accomplished at the cross, we believed we were qualified for every promise in the Bible. The idea of God having to wait until some future time to move was outside of our belief system. John 19:30, 2Cor. 1:20, Col. 1:12, 2 Peter 1:3
   

• Third, we believed we were completely righteous in Jesus; therefore, Grace (God's ability) worked in our lives. We did not believe that our righteousness was based on our performance or works. Rom. 5:17-21, Heb. 5:13, 2Cor. 5:20.

• Lastly, we possessed a "sonship" identity. This gave us a biblical sense of worth and value. As sons and daughters of God, we didn't question the inheritance that was ours in Jesus. Hebrews 2, Romans 8.

It is fair to say that we once had the "real deal" working in our lives. Years ago, though, it dried up when we allowed critical aspects of the Word to be "choked" out of our heart. Our "giants" gave the enemy all the fuel he needed to cause us to question the veracity of God and his Word. This experience caused these four fundamental beliefs to become infected with doubt and, in the end, the power of the Word that once set us free became a burden.

It is exciting to be joined with others as we emerge from this mire. Those who have come to this turning point are discovering a journey that is enabling us to return to our first love. The critical truths of the Word are being written on the "tablets of or hearts," and we are rediscovering the abiding sense of God's love that we walked in so many years ago. For the first time in years, buried dreams of the past are beginning to emerge from our heart.

God's promise for us is found in the Message Bible in the last few verses of Matthew 11. "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me---watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. 1 won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

And the funniest part of this whole thing is that most of us are 50 something!

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Principles to Live By
By Jim Durkin, Sr.

•  I cannot be everything that can be,
  Therefore, I will ask God what He wants me to be.
   

• I cannot please everyone,
  so I choose to please God and those who will be drawn to me will be my working team.
   

• I cannot do everything that people want me to do,
  so I will find out what God wants me to do and do that.
   

• I will blame no one for where I am,
  Others may have done things to me, but I am where I am because of my choices alone.
   

• I will not run,
  I will stay and face my problems and life's situations where I am. I will leave this place only when I can hold my head up high.

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