FAST Day 12/40--Father's Day: Honoring or Profaning God's Name?

Following Jesus to Confront Corruption

Take a Stand--Speak Out--Live in Integrity
Pod-Post 4

Scene from Jesus of Nazareth, 1977

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxCcvCZkaJc

Is it not written,
"My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations"?
But you have made it a robbers den.

Jesus Christ, Mark 11:17 

As it is written:
“God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." Romans 2:24

…but I honor the Father, and you dishonor Me.
Jesus Christ, John 8:4

Listen to the podcast here 
#integrityFAST  #CMCtoo  #HealUsToo

Warm greetings!

A reminder of the purpose of my Into Integrity FAST. It is to call attention to--and confront--the lack of disclosures by specific organizations/leaders/people affected by the international Nordic Capital Investment KB fraud (NCI) as well as the related dismissals that Michele (my wife) and I have received. I am fasting for genuine contrition and striking for resolute action within the Church Mission Community (CMC).of you. (Romans 2:24) …but I honor the Father, and you dishonor Me. (John 8:49)

Reflections on FAST Day 12

(combined food FAst and hunger Strike)

It’s Fathers Day on the third Sunday of June  in many countries: Argentina, Canada, Chile, France, Japan, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States. It’ a special day to remember our fathers, to express appreciation for them and to honor them.  

This short episode is about honoring God our Father. It’s always the Father’s Day!

Previous Podcast--Posting

The previous podcast-posting was on “Praying good for people and naming names for good." It was about seeking good for others: God’s mercy that will lead to contrition, changing course, and taking moral action, specifically regarding the lack of response to the corruption and the dismissals Michele and I have received.

I shared examples from Paul’s life, where he named names of people who abandoned him, opposed him, and a few who stood with him (2 Timothy 4). And also how he publicly confronted the Apostle Peter to his face for hypocrisy (Galatians 2). And I named names of specific organizations and leaders who have been asked for assistance over the years in three important documents: Shine the Light-Together petition, PETRA Statement, and the Petra People weblog. I encourage you see the previous weblog to review the names.

Take aways: It is entirely appropriate at times for the sake of the good and to protect others and the integrity of the gospel, to publicly name names and to publicly confront. And in so doing, being very  careful of one’s own hypocrisy and propensity towards self-righteousness.

It’s About God

But I want you to understand this really important and central message in this short podcast/posting: It is not just about naming people’s names. It is about naming God’s Name, and to honor it, and to stop profaning it through our actions (ill-advised or intentionally devised) that discredit the gospel and character of God.

The Into Integrity FAST is fundamentally not only about specific people, a protracted fraud, and dismissals. Rather Into Integrity is fundamentally about honoring God, His holy Name, and seeing Him glorified. And the result? His character is better understood and His name honored among the peoples, nations, tribes, and tongues. It is absolutely NOT solely or primarily about you, me, or them. Listen to God’s words through the prophet Ezekiel, as applicable to us today and through the ages as it was back in the 7th century BC:

This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes. Ezekiel 36:22-23

Final Thoughts

I find it amazing that God entrusts us to use is Name and to represent Him on the earth. May we do so wisely, in the fear of the Lord. For His glory.

As emphasized in the previous posting and podcasts regarding the corruption and dismissals: It’s not too late. Obey the Spirit. Truth is your greatest ally. Make sure you are on the right side of moral history. Love never ceases.

Honor the Father. Every day is the Father’s Day.

Take a stand, Speak up. Live in integrity 
And spread the word.

Kelly

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I am doing FAST in the spirit of the consecrated fast and repentance called for by the prophet Joel (Joel 1:14).  And I am doing it in line with the concerns and requests in the Shine the Light-Together petition and by its signatories.

Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and support. I will be regularly sharing updates via brief posts and podcasts in the coming days. Please spread the word.

Notes

--Integrity is moral wholeness—living consistently in moral wholeness. Corruption is moral rottenness, the opposite of integrity--the distortion, perversion, and deterioration of moral goodness, resulting in the exploitation of people.

--For information/updates on NCI and anti-corruption resources, see the latest postings from the PETRA People Network.

--A Summons to a Global Integrity Movement: Fighting Self-Deception and Corruption, our article  in the Lausanne Global Analysis, March 2018. "In this article we distill some of the lessons we have learned over the past 15 years in promoting integrity and confronting corruption. Why is it hard to live up to our moral and ethical aspirations? We reflect on the reality of dysfunction and deviance, highlight the challenge of self-deception, describe anti-corruption resources, and summon the church-mission community (CMC) to a global integrity movement marked by righteousness and relevance.

--Jesus' words in Luke 6: 17-49 and Mathew 10: 16-42 (The Message) have been so helpful to me, providing  instructions, warnings, perspectives, and motive checks especially about hypocrisy. Some excerpts: 

"Don’t be intimidated. Eventually everything is going to be out in the open, and everyone will know how things really are. So don’t hesitate to go public now. Don’t be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands. (Matthew 10:26-28). Your task is to be true, not popular….It’s who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds” (Luke 6:26,45)