epistle for Sept. 14, 2001
Posted by: ccfmo <ccfmo@...>
Weekly ministry letter (successor to "The Whetstone" ) from Christian Civic Foundation
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Dr. Curt Scarborough, President September 14, 2001
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In this issue:
Sermon: I Samuel 3:10
Bible Study: "Is There Any Word From the Lord?"
Lifeskills in Scripture
FreeWay Project . . . 19%
Speak to Me, Lord . . . I'm Listening
It was noon, August 8, 1991. I was stretched out on my bed in a room at Windermere Baptist Assembly. I was meditating on my devotional reading for the day, while wrestling with the possiblilty of moving to pastor a church on the campus of one of the world's premiere universities located in New England. I desired to return to local church ministry and to serve as senior pastor of that great church with so much potential for impacting the lives of America's future movers and shakers.
The verse the Holy Spirit quickened to me that day was II Kings 6:6, "Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron (axhead) float."
As I pondered God's will for me, I began to sense in my spirit that He was speaking to me personally. Now, I had received "words" and "impressions" from the Holy Spirit before, but this was different. The "words" were vividly clear to me:
"Son, you are My stick ... My purpose for you is to bring axheads to the surface..., your shape and function in My kingdom is unique; be content in the role I have given to you to play."
The boy, Samuel, had a similar experience of hearing God's voice, recorded in I Samuel, chapter three.
Samuel's mother had dedicated him for service unto the Lord. He began to serve God in a limited capacity because of his immaturity. His mentor, Eli, could take Samuel only so far as he, himself, had gone with God.
Samuel had been dedicated to God; had been serving God; had been growing as a servant ... yet, did not know the Lord intimately.
Many of us, spiritually speaking, are mere boys like Samuel. We've been dedicated to the service; we've served for some time; we've been growing ... yet, we've not had an up-close-and-personal encounter with God. Perhaps we've understood the truths of God's Word, but it has yet to blaze off the page, branding our heart with a personal word from God.
It may be that the Lord has spoken our name before. Perhaps we mistook the source, or misunderstood the purpose, or misread the circumstances ... therefore, we missed God. If this describes your life, please hear these words of wise counsel:
1. Get alone; in your closet (Matthew 6:6).
2. Disengage from your normal workload.
3. Rest in the Lord; schedule a "quiet time."
4. Expect to hear from the Lord.
5. Choose in advance to obey what He says.
6. Be teachable; open to His instruction.
7. Listen with faith, believing that He will speak.
What will happen?
1. The Lord will come ... a personal visitation.
2. The Lord will stand ... He'll abide near you.
3. The Lord will speak to you personally ... by name.
4. The Lord will give you a vision of His purpose ...
the destiny He's planned for you.
Usually, such up-close-and-personal encounters are very private and we are wise not to share details with others ... unless the Lord instructs us to pass along a prophetic word as in the case of Samuel and Eli. Even then, we should be sensitive to His timing.
Such an up-close-and-personal encounter with the Lord seems typical of many of the Spiritual leaders throughout Christian history. It may be as simple as Samuel's encounter or as dramatic as Paul's. But in every case, the encounter is life-changing and continuous.
This up-close-and-personal encounter of "hearing God's voice" is not a sign of spiritual maturity. Indeed, it is rather a starting place for a new perspective, a growing communion with God. Look at the results of "hearing God's voice" recorded in I Samuel 3:19-4:1:
1. Samuel continued to grow ... so will we.
2. The Lord continued to be with Samuel ... He
promises to abide with us as well.
3. None of his words fell to the ground, God spoke
to Samuel ... He will speak to us.
4. God's people recognized Samuel as a God-called
leader ... may it be so with us.
5. The Lord reappeared again, after many years of
spiritual darkness ... perhaps through us God will
bring renewal, revival, refreshing.
6. The Lord revealed Himself to Samuel not only
through direct revelation, but also through His
written Word. (A word of caution: Personal "words"
are secondary in authority to the Bible and are totally
invalid if they contradict the teaching or principles of
the Bible.)
7. The entire nation was affected by one man who heard
the voice of God ... who will be the one God chooses to
impact lives in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the uttermost
parts of the earth?
As a stick in God's hand, I have already seen a portion of God's divine purpose fulfilled in my life. The Pillsbury Institute of Applied Christianity is a direct result of my personal encounter with God at Windermere in 1991.
Is There Any Word From The Lord?
True spiritual prophesy . . . a genuine and reliable word from the Lord:
1. Never contradicts Biblical teaching.
2. Is of lesser weight than Scripture.
3. Is not infallible; is subject to human error and misinterpretation.
4. Is subject to evaluation by other prophets in the church, I Cor. 14:29.
5. Operates only in the spirit of love, not in arrogance, I Cor. 13:2.
6. Usually is very personal, Jn. 10:4; not to give directions to others, not
to manipulate circumstances.
7. Always builds up, stirs up, or lifts up (edifications, exhortation,
or encouragement), I Cor. 14:3.
8. Almost always is given so the prophet receiving the "word" may better
enter into intercessory prayer.
9. Requires mature, spiritual discernment because "words" may be demonic
and/or of the flesh, I Jn. 4:1; II Thes. 2:11.
10. Even prophesy given in Jesus' name, accompanied by various miracles, may
not be true or valid, Mt. 7:21-23.
References: I Cor. 2:1-16; 13:2; 14:3, 29; I Jn. 4:1
Jn. 5:19, 30; 8:28-29; 10:1-14; 16:13-14
Mt. 7:21-23; 16:16-17; 24:24; II Thes. 2:11
Personal & Practical
Devotional Lifeskills
1. Fasting: at least one meal each week
Matt. 6:16-18; Matt. 17:20-21; Isa. 58:3-7
2. Praying: confession and intercession, "without ceasing" . . .
at least three times daily . . . using the Model Prayer
Psa. 55:17; I Thes. 5:17; Matt. 6:9-13; I Jn. 1:9
3. Singing: psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs . . .
making melody in your heart continually
Eph. 5:18; Col. 3:16; Jas. 5:13
4. Praising: speaking words to magnify the Lord,
at least seven times daily
Psa. 119: 164; Psa. 150:1-6; Heb. 13:15; Rev. 19:5
5. Reading: God's word daily . . . through the entire Bible annually
II Tim. 3:16; Heb. 4:12
6. Meditating: daily on the spiritual truths and implications
in each chosen Scripture passage
Psa. 19:14; Phil. 4:8
7. Receiving: the Holy Spirit's fullness, enlightenment,
revelation, renewal, refreshing, and power daily
Jn. 14:26; Eph. 1:17-19; 5:18; Jas. 1:5; I Jn. 2:20, 27
8. Journaling: daily writing personal reflections, revelations,
experiences, and spiritual applications
Deut. 17:18-20; Jer. 30:2; Hab. 2:2
(Note: These devotional lifeskills are at the core of the Spiritual Mentoring track of the
Pillsbury Institute of Applied Christianity.)
Study shows CCF's FreeWay Project reduces drug
use in Missouri public schools by 19%
Results of a scientific study conducted under the auspices of Missouri Baptist College in St. Louis reveal that the FreeWay Project, financially under-written by the Christian Civic Foundation, is making a positive, significant difference in the lives of public school students in the state, according to Dr. Curt Scarborough, CCF president.
J.B. Boren, PhD., CCES, chair of Natural and Health Sciences at the college, supervised the survey and wrote the official report on the results. According to Boren, the survey included 1,070 students, grades 4 through 8, in 18 representative public school districts across the state. Twelve of these districts were serviced by the FreeWay Project; six districts served as a control group. (In the 1998-99 school year, FreeWay served 230 of Missouri's 525 public school districts.)
The objective of the survey was to compare the percentage of drug-free students who did sign a FreeWay non-use pledge card during the 1997-98 school year with the percentage of drug-free students who did not sign a pledge card. In March 1999, Boren and his colleagues gathered information designed to measure the effectiveness of the alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention activities conducted by the FreeWay Project, a statewide agency with headquarters in St. Louis County.
The questionaire used in both the FreeWay Project districts and in the control districts was identical. Students were asked to identify themselves only by gender and grade level. For the survey, "drug-free" meant total non-use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (except for medical purposes) during the present school year. Students were asked to respond to the following two statements:
1. I signed a FreeWay card last school year, pledging to live drug-free. (check one: yes or no)
2. I have lived a drug-free live this school year. (check one: yes or no)
According to Dr. Boren, non-pledging students in grades 4-8 were 67.7% drug-free during the twelve months preceding the study. Students who did sign a FreeWay non-use pledge card in these same schools were 86.8% durg-free. That's a 19.1% difference.
"On a typical day in a school, a FreeWay prevention specialist will lead at least 100 students to sign a non-use pledge card. One year later, 87 of them will be drug-free. But if FreeWay had not taught in that school and challenged those 100 students to make a pledge of non-use, only 68 of them would be drug-free," said Scarborough.
In other words, according to this study, the FreeWay Project makes a positive difference in the lives of 19 out of every 100 students taught. FreeWay changes the ratio from 32 drug users per 100 students to 13 drug users per 100 students.
Focusing only on the 7th and 8th grade students in the survey, 65.8% of the students not served by the FreeWay Project were drug-free in the preceding year. Among non-pledging 7th and 8th grade students in schools, which the FreeWay Project did serve, 64.3% remained drug-free. Some of these non-pledging students received FreeWay training; most did not.
The Missouri Baptist College study compared the above statistical results with the 79.2% of the 7th and 8th grade students who had signed FreeWay pledges the preceding year and who were still drug-free 12 months after their initial commitment, when they were 6th and 7th graders.
This 11.5% to 14.9% difference was an unexpected result because the percentage of non-users usually drops off dramatically between elementary school (grade 6) and junior high school (grade 7). This usually expected increase in alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use from grade to grade, according to researchers, is due to the increasing negative peer pressure among teenage students.
According to Boren, the study has a 95% level of reliability. Gender was the only non-significant factor in the study, indicating that it does not matter if one is male or female with regards to the beginning of substance abuse in each grade level.
The most significant factor in reducing the percentage of students who chose not to initiate substance use was the FreeWay Project pledge card. The card is titled, "I Declare Myself Free!" Students were urged to sign this pledge: "I agree that the most happy and healthful life is one free from the harmful effects of alcohol and other drugs, and I am declaring myself free from alcohol and other drugs, so that I can enjoy my life to the fullest! I choose to "Take the FreeWay" . . . free from alcohol and other drugs, I'll urge my friends to "Take the FreeWay" too."
Since the pledge card is an integral part of the FreeWay Project curriculum and presentation, the two are highly interrelated. Boren stated, "Probably a high degree of confounding exists, and these should not be separated."
The FreeWay Project offers Missouri public school districts, free of any charge, a trained, professional prevention specialist for up to four days in classrooms (no assembly programs). In addition, participating districts are given complimentary copies of the 6-volume FreeWay curriculum, which contains 16 lessons on each grade level, grouped according to these units: Values and Self-esteem, Coping and Problem-solving, Communications and Conflict Resolution, and Decision-making and Leisure Activities.
This study shows that drug use increases as a function of grade level (i.e. it increases from grade to grade), regardless of intervention. However, the FreeWay Project (namely the pledge not to use) significantly slowed the increase in use, but did not reverse it, according to Boren.
In the executive summary of the study, Boren emphasized these factual results:
1. The percentage of students who received extended (4 day) FreeWay Project
education, signed a pledge card, and remained drug-free for at least one
year is a significantly higher percentage than for those students who did not
receive FreeWay instruction or sign a pledge card.
2. This positive result was true of pledging and non-pledging students within
the same school districts, as well as within other "control" school districts
throughout the state.
The complete study is available by email at boren@mobap.edu or by telephoning Dr. Boren at Missouri Baptist College (314-392-2282) or Dr. Sharon Bartlett, executive officer of the FreeWay Project (314-739-1194).