The observation below was from 2016….. many times since then the Spirit has moved greatly in my life, at Titus 2, at Lynn Haven UMC and big changes are on the horizon for The UMC and the global church. So many things have changed. Good things continue to be manifest in the world……I prayed on more than one occasion that I might see “the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living”…….. and I do!
“There’s been a steady stream of prayer for revival going on at our church for a while….This morning, sometime around 2-3 am, I stirred from sleep and the Lord spoke to my heart. “A move of the Spirit is beginning in the church.” I asked if God meant the “church” as in me, the ministry of Titus 2, Lynn Haven UMC, the Alabama-W. Florida Conference, the UMC, or the church universal. He didn’t give me anything more…..just “the church”. He also didn’t tell me if it would be something I’d see or if he was simply assuring me that prayers are being answered. It was a sweet experience of feeling God’s presence and assurance of prayer’s effectiveness.” 4/20/2016
Now, in 2022, I continue to see God’s goodness at work around me. My life is joyful and abundant, even in widowhood and grief. My own home congregation has been shown great favor by God in the 3.5 years since our main campus was destroyed by Hurricane Michael in October 2018. I no longer engage with The UMC at Annual Conference or national levels, as the stalemate over the Great Divide continues without my participation in its continued dysfunction. I consider myself “post-denominational,” having seen the impotent Gordian Knot of large institutional church enterprise that serves self-interest more than Christ. But even in that, God has given assurance that pruning is coming and greater fruit and flourishing will result. Dead bones will live again and deadwood will be burned by fire.