FAST Day 6/40--Why is this important?

Following Jesus to Confront Corruption
Take a Stand--Speak Out--Live in Integrity
Pod-Post 2

Only the dishonest fear the truth!
Insert glued on the front page of free Bibles distributed
 via YWAM's Bibles for Mexico project, circa 1977-1980.

It’s who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. 

Your true being brims over into true words and deeds.
Jesus Christ

Luke 6:45 The Message

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#integrityFAST  #CMCtoo  #HealUsToo

Warm greetings!

Here are some reflections on Day 6 for why am I doing FAST. 
(combined food FAst and hunger Strike)

1. It’s not too late. As  I shared in the first post and podcast, the purpose of the Into Integrity (In2) FAST "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).” Consider well your ways! (Haggai 1) It’s not too late.

2. Don't give up. The response to the ongoing requests for assistance within the CMC regarding the NCI fraud has been minimal at best. Nonetheless I remain resolute. This FAST is part of a continuous effort using different means such as petitions, weblogs, web sites, emails, articles, and personal contact--calling specific people and organizations in the CMC especially into public account and verifiable transparency. Confronting corruption, speaking truth to power, prophetic summons to repentance—these are long-term not short-term, acts of commitment—loving truth, peace, and people (Zech 8:19). I am not giving up.  (see the one minute video by Transparency International about what it takes to confront corruption)

3. Obey the Spirit. For nearly 12 years I have kept in my heart--even treasured--the privilege of one day doing something like this. Since July 2007, we began to publicly confront the fraud and whistle blow with others only to see the sad emergence of three core components of corruption: coverups, collusion, cowardice. Note that parts of the NCI fraud story and our dismissals are interwoven, as documented in Rand Guebert’s Professional Review. So I sense now is the time for FAST. I want to obey the Spirit.

4.  Truth is our greatest ally. I had always been taught, like so many of us, that being honest is best, developing virtue is crucial. During my early and ongoing experience in Youth With A Mission (YWAM) for example (1977-2007), personal character was emphasized more than ministry-work. In fact it was essential for effective ministry-work—for our “witness.” And one specific character lesson I was taught from YWAM was found written on the inserts we glued into free bibles: Only the dishonest fear the truth (see image above). This is a lesson and a truth which continue to guide and goad me, and which I hope and pray will guide and  goad others in the organizations affected by NCI, including YWAM and its leaders. Don’t be afraid. Don't adjust the "truth" with self-serving rationalizations. Truth is our greatest ally. (see my reflections on being honest and my time in YWAM).

5. Help people to be on the right side of moral history. My job in FAST is to pray, post, and podcast. And in so doing to exhort again a)  specific organizations, leaders, and people affected by the NCI fraud (more background and links to names in Part Two of our recent PETRA People weblog postings) and b) leaders who have dismissed us from specific organizations, positions, and responsibilities especially, but not only YWAM and the World Evangelical Alliance-Mission Commission: Reconsider your actions and your course. Are you living up to your stated good practice principles and core values, external good financial practice codes, and Biblical principles? (excerpts from various values statements and perspectives on descending into deception and ascending from deception HERE). It’s important to be on the right side of moral history.

6. Love never ceases. I love the international Church-Mission Community. I want to see its tarnished reputation, compromised integrity, and marred witness healed. Love is a command to cherish and obey. Love never ceases. (see excerpts on integrity in the Lausanne Movement’s Cape Town Commitment)

7. And finally, know Christ, for His glory. I don’t seek or expect any personal gain from FAST. But I do hope to experience the grace to know Christ crucified, my Lord (I Cor 2) and to count all things as loss in order to know Him (Phil 3). Please join with me to use these posts-pods in preparing ourselves for the day when as the spotless Bride, we will know fully even as we are fully known. (2 Cor 11:2, Eph 5:27, I Cor 13:12). For his glory.

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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.

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.

Kelly

Notes

--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)