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Hello everyone, I'm Mark Foley, and this is The Journey. The work I'm engaged in involves change, change driven by purpose. So I think a lot about discovery or rediscovery of purpose, the tools of change driven by it, and the effectiveness of that effort. So I look at the American experience through those same lenses, purpose and effectiveness, and I observe a great nation angrily gnawing on itself, seemingly oblivious to its grand purpose and opportunity, a purpose so beautifully expressed in the words of a pledge, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Have we evolved into a lust for power rather than a noble search for purpose? And this in a nation that was established with the active hope of honoring God written into its charters and laws. It is clear to me that American culture has steadily and intentionally separated itself from the ideals woven into the fabric of its creation. And it has happened under the leadership of both political parties. All the while, God's instructions are clear. His stated expectation is that those of us who carry his name will be active and effective representatives of his way among people. Salt and light, as Jesus phrased it, influencers upon the culture demonstrating specific evidences of God. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Yet it seems our effectiveness in salting and illuminating the culture with those virtues is grossly lacking. Perhaps we, the intended influencers, have ourselves become distracted and compromised. And here's my point. If those who represent the things of God in a land are not doing so, who will? That answer is clear. No one. And the results are readily before us in the Daily News. Even so, it is not too late. This is, I am convinced, the opportunity for a turning point. I enjoy reading history, particularly the history of the Second World War. I was born just after that conflict, and I grew up in awe of those who sailed and marched and flew. They truly are my heroes. I recently read a book by Winston Groom entitled The Allies. It was an exploration of three leaders in World War II: Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin. Grook care to identify what each of those leaders considered to be the key turning point of the war. It was different for each, but I was particularly interested in the American Pacific theater. My father was there, and Roosevelt's decisions impacted his life and, by extension, the begetting and shaping of my own. Historians agree that the turning point in the Pacific War was the Battle of Midway. But here's the thing I want you to grasp. A close examination of that conflict reveals that the real turning point in the battle was a moment. A moment in which one pilot decided to change direction. You may not have heard of Wade McCluskey. He was an admiral of the United States Navy who lived out his years in Virginia and died in 1976 at age 74. But in June 1942, Wade McCluske was a 40-year-old air group commander on the aircraft carrier Enterprise on station in the Central Pacific. At 7.50 on Thursday morning, June 4, 1942, McCluskey launched from the deck of the Enterprise. He was leading a flight of Dauntless dive bombers in search of a very strong and very effective Japanese force of four aircraft carriers and a number of other significant surface ships that were targeting Midway Island. A victory there would have given Japan control of most of the Pacific with ease of access to the west coast of the United States. American commanders knew the Japanese force was near and that it outnumbered them in ships and aircraft. But they also knew that they had the element of surprise. The presence of the three American aircraft carriers was unknown to the Japanese. The problem for the American command was that they did not know the exact location of the Japanese fleet. McCluskey's job was to find them. He was flying his assigned search trajectory, but as he extended his group farther along that vector into the vast emptiness of the Pacific Ocean, something was gnawing at him. He was convinced that he was looking in the wrong place. Knowing the critical nature of his mission and with his fuel gauge moving steadily toward empty, McCluskey made a critical decision. He ordered his flight to a 90-degree left turn and began an extended search in a different direction. And here's the thing to grasp: it was that moment, a moment in which a decision was made by an individual to do something different in order to fulfill his mission. And it was that moment that became the turning point in the Pacific War. Shortly after the turn, McCluskey saw a white streak in the ocean. It was the wake of what he knew had to be a Japanese ship, and he followed that wake to the Japanese fleet. The battle that ensued was costly for both sides. In the end, American forces prevailed, and the Japanese expansion into Pacific halted and became a slow retreat. One individual, one moment, one decision, a turning point upon which everything changed. Turning points are important. A moment that can be identified and will be remembered, a life marker. All of us have them, births, weddings, deaths, events, encounters. But when looked back upon, they are clear turning points in which a decision was made to go a different direction. For me, it was a conversation and a question. I was 35 years old, married, two kids, living in our hometown in North Central Texas. I owned a business and I was miserable, unfulfilled professionally. I knew something needed to change. I asked an older friend if we could meet. Wayne was 30 years older than I. He had built and sold a successful business, and I knew him to be serious about his faith. As I explained my situation, Wayne asked me, What do you do well? I responded with things related to my faith and my ability to communicate it. After listening for a while, Wayne said, You've just described what could be a minister. Why are you in the trucking business? I'll never forget that moment. Or the question. It was a turning point. I knew the answer to his question. I was a third generation resident of that city and a third generation small business owner. I was doing what I thought I was expected to do, but not what I was designed to do. I made a course change that twelve years later led to a college presidency in Mobile, Alabama. And not to put too fine a point on it, to you listening to this story today. I'm asking you to consider the importance of a turning point personally and the impact it can have on the rest of your life and upon the patch of America for which you are responsible. There was a day in the life of another businessman, a commercial fisherman named Simon. It was a day that had started like many others in that business. Simon figured that he and his brother Andrew would spend it either catching fish, selling fish, or repairing fishing equipment, the everyday basics of commercial fishing. But Andrew wanted Simon to meet someone. Someone special, he said. The one we've been waiting for, he said. Simon thought about it and decided there was time for a short break. So based upon his respect for his brother and his experience as a Jewish man in ancient Roman-occupied Israel looking for a savior, he went with Andrew to meet a man named Jesus. It was a decision that is viewed as a marker in the history of Christian faith. One man, one moment, one decision, a turning point upon which everything changed. When the men stepped into the presence of Jesus, Jesus fixed his intense gaze upon Simon. They'd never met. Yet Jesus, with the fullness of his understanding and purpose, said, You're Simon, you're John's son, but you will be called Peter the Rock. You are, but you will be. Imagine Jesus saying that to you right now, as his representative in a drifting nation, a turning point, a purpose, a new course, a new mission. What are the possibilities? Here's some things I want you to know about such a moment. First, turning points are intentional. Listen, God knows what he's doing and you can trust him with it. Further, he knows you. Listen to this from Psalm 139. Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up, you know my thoughts, even when I'm far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I'm going to say, even before I say it. Lord, I can never escape from your spirit. I can never get away from your presence. Listen, when God gets ready to bring you to a turning point, it is according to his complete and intimate knowledge of you and his purpose for you. So a turning point is an intentional act of God. Second, turning points occur in the presence of God, just like Simon, in his presence and staying there. Jesus called it remaining in him. In an intense teaching time with his men, just before he was arrested and put on trial, he said to them, Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. The fruit of which Jesus spoke is his influence in and through those men and in and through us. He welded it to the concept of remaining in his presence. The God influence so missing in our land will be the result of followers remaining in the presence of Jesus. Remaining is an essential concept in the life of a follower. It keeps you close and properly positioned to receive and understand directional and operational assignments at the point of the turn and beyond. Effectiveness is dependent upon remaining. Third, turning points are personal. Like Simon, one-on-one with Jesus. And here's a very undertaught fact. The scripture is clear that when one receives and believes the truth of Jesus, his sacrificial death, his resurrection, his reality, his gift of saving from sin and its consequences, that one is indwelled by the Spirit of Jesus. It says so directly in Colossians 1.37. And this is the secret, Paul said. Christ lives in you. And this gives you assurance of sharing his glory. It doesn't get more personal than that. The Holy Spirit becomes the source, identifying the turning point and empowering the followers' courage to follow through with it, even when you can't immediately see the outcome. Listen to this from Ephesians 3:16. I pray that from his glorious unlimited resources, he will empower you with inner strength through his spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong, and may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. One-on-one with Jesus, it is very personal. And fourth, turning points define you. Once you find God's courage, once you make the turn, nothing is the same. You are defined by that turn. You know about Wade McCluskey because of a decision to turn his flight to a new heading. It defined his career. You know about Simon because of a meeting with Jesus in which Jesus identified a new direction. You are, but you will be. Jesus marked that turning point by giving Simon a nickname. Rocky, Peter the Rock. And we've known him by that name ever since. Listen, each of us who follow Jesus today are descendants of Peter and others who turn to Jesus on that day. So it will be with you. You will be defined by the turn, and others will be influenced by your example. The way I see it, you have a choice. You can continue to conduct your daily affairs in the same manner, the same patterns, the same attitudes, the same mindset with which you have become comfortable, and nothing will change. Or you can ask Jesus what he wants you to do differently, a turning point. Just imagine the fulfillment, the purpose, the challenge, the provision, the hope, the influence to be extended, the difference to be made, all from a moment in which Jesus looks at you and says, You are, but you will be. God will take care of the expansion of influence. All you have to do is follow him through the turn. Like Commander McCluskey, knowing the critical nature of his mission, and with time running out, so may it be with you. In the courage only God can give, seek that turning point. One final thing. Here is a prayer, an attitude of surrender to God that always precedes a turning point. It's found in Psalm 139, verse 23. Listen to this. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. You are, but you will be. May it be so with you. A nation is at stake. Hey, thanks for checking in. I'll see you next time on the journey.