SPEAKER_00 0:15

Hello everyone, I'm Mark Foley, and this is The Journey. So you listened to the turning point. Good. I'm grateful. And you learned about a man named McCluskey, a naval aviator, on June 4th, 1942, stationed on the American aircraft carrier Enterprise in the Central Pacific. And now you know that the turning point in the Battle of Midway and in the Pacific Theater in World War II was one moment in which McCluskey decided to fly in a different direction than he supposed to be right. Now you've heard the old saying, attributed to Albert Einstein, the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over, expecting something different to happen. So I want you to put yourself in McCluskey's seat in that dauntless dive bomber on the deck of the Enterprise before the turning point. You're an experienced naval officer. You're recognized for your capability in the role you play and in your handling of assignments. You're confident in the piece of equipment you're about to take into the air and in the system that built and maintained it. You are confident in your ability to fly it and to employ it in fulfillment of your assignment. You're sold out to the cause you represent. That's recognized by those who command you and by those you lead. More to the point, you know that you are sacrificially committed to that cause. As they say about you, you talk the talk and you walk the walk of a committed representative of your country. You know the critical nature of your assignment. You're more than eager to perform it successfully, for you know the importance of doing so and you know the consequences upon those for whom you care should you fail. Your training has caused you to know in fine detail exactly what step you will take, where you will take it, and when you will take it. You know what to do with the equipment, you know what to expect in the engagement, and you know what it may cost to accomplish success. Your engine is warm, the controls and indicators on your aircraft respond exactly as they should, and you are ready to launch this mission. In short, you are perfectly positioned to act in fact as you have been trained to act in order to accomplish the mission. The launch order is given. You advance the throttle to strain that powerful engine with which your aircraft is equipped. You release the brakes, and four seconds later, you feel the wings lift you clear of the deck. All of your training, all of your skill, all of your experience, all of your confidence in the decisions that outline the actions you will take all carry you forward with a sense of rightness and determination. Now, hold that thought. As a Christian and as a citizen of the United States of America, experienced with the things of God, mature in my understanding, steeped in the traditions of my church, patriotic in my views, political in my opinions, convinced of the rightness of it all, and very much wanting to impact a nation in turmoil. I am very much like Commander McCluskey when he launched. Maybe you can relate. As McCluskey led his flight further along the assigned search vector, deeper and deeper into a vast expanse of blue Pacific on that summer morning, committed to his mission to find the Japanese fleet, but seeing nothing and running ever lower on fuel, something slowly began to stir in his mind. I should have seen a trace of those ships by now. What have I missed? Did I make a mistake? Did I veer off track? Have I misthought something? What is wrong here? Then the answer began to dawn. No. No, I'm not off course. I'm on the wrong course. Our suppositions were off. I'm looking in the wrong place. Wade McCluskey arrived at a turning point. So have I. I am convinced in the rightness of faith in Jesus the Christ, the creator, master, and commander of all that is or ever will be, and I will never be shaken from it. I'm also convinced in the rightness of his clearly stated assignment to follow him closely, wherever and however he leads, surrendered to the power of his spirit, guiding my unreserved and active obedience, obedience to his nature, to his mission, to his ethic, to his reality, and to his leading, however he assigns it. It is the right mission. But I am also a product of religious and political suppositions, firm interpretations of how that mission should be conducted, and having obediently followed those suppositions, farther and farther into mission ineffectiveness, I've concluded, though the mission is spot on correct, the suppositions of how it should be done, however well intended, however effective they once were, are no longer so. As evidence, I offer the tumultuous condition of the land in which we live the very place I am assigned to influence. I am at a turning point. But turn to what? Am I to turn to yet another set of religious or political suppositions? I find no wisdom or hope there. What then? What will put me on a proper and effective course to fulfill a mission to which I am fully committed? The answer is simple. I must rely upon the mission to guide the turn to an effective course. My mission is not to follow a supposed course of action. My mission is to follow Jesus, to follow the leading of God's Spirit and the instruction of his word, guiding my unreserved and responsive obedience to what he reveals. And here's the turning point prayer again. It's in Psalm 139, verses 23 and 24. Listen to this. Search me, O God, know my heart, test me, know my anxious thoughts, point out anything in me that offends you. Lead me along the path of everlasting life. Now it takes no small amount of courage and faith to honestly ask God to conduct that kind of extensive evaluation, to willingly surrender to his change in the way I think, to his reassignment of my passion, to his prioritization of my time and resources, to his loving interruption of my comfortable patterns and opinions in favor of his own. But the alternative is just not acceptable. And my time is now short. Now, suppose there are two of you listening to this who are moved by God's Spirit to honestly pray that prayer, to honestly ask God to do whatever he wishes to do to bring his influence upon the patch of America in which you live? Now, what if there are seven? What if twelve? What if those few use their influence to invite others to ask God to evaluate the effectiveness of their lives and show them the way he wants to influence in the patch of America for which they have responsibility? What if a thousand people around the country did the same thing, or three thousand or ten thousand? McCluskey made the turn. And for a long while he saw nothing. Then, scanning the blue chop of the empty Pacific yet again, increasingly desperate to find a way to fulfill his mission, he saw an anomaly on the surface. Looking away to clear his vision, then returning to look carefully at the place that appeared different. He realized that he was seeing a vague white streak, the bubbling remains of a ship's wake. He had found the Japanese fleet. So will it be with men and women of faith in Jesus who find the courage to follow God to his fresh definition of effective thought and action, empowered by his spirit, consistent with his word. He will lead you to his intended place of engagement. The question is, do you have the courage to ask? More to the point, do you have the courage to follow him through the turn? I pray so. A nation is at stake. If you find that courage, send this podcast link to friends who share your concern. Ask them to share it with their friends. Spread the idea of a turning point and all that will be discovered in a new course that abandons stale politics and religion in favor of the effectiveness that God has already promised to reveal. As he said to a king a long time ago, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to every prayer made in this place. You see, the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over, expecting something different to happen. The definition of effectiveness is following Jesus through the turn. Hey, thanks for checking in. I'll see you next time on the journey.