originally published on the Kingdom Business Blog – October 17th, 2008
Update for The Africa Project: Regent Center for Entrepreneurship’s Tom Stansbury visited Opportunity International’s Board of Governors’ meeting in Chicago earlier this month. RCE has begun partnering with Os Hillman of MarketplaceLeaders.org, who sends 160,000 Marketplace Meditations each day to Christians in business worldwide. Dr. John Mulford and Tom Stansbury will be in Dallas October 18th to the 28th networking with Kingdom business leaders and holding an RCE Roundtable event on the 27th. If you are interested in attending, or feel called to give to the Africa Project, contact Skye at the RCE office (rce@regent.edu).
Spiritual Convergence
The Miriam-Webster definition of ‘Converge’ is:
- : to tend or move toward one point or one another : come together : meet http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meet
- : to come together and unite in a common interest or focus
I am amazed at how God moves when what is often referred to as ‘convergence’ happens in a Kingdom leader’s life. When our calling in God; our gifts, abilities, and talents; our past experiences (good and bad); AND an outpouring of the Holy Spirit is released in and through us—when all this ‘comes together and unites’ all at the same time, it’s spiritual convergance. It often happens when we go through a season of difficulty or suffering, sometimes paying the consequences of our own mistakes. It can happen even when we are at the most difficult time it seems ever in our lives. As John Madden would say during a football game, ‘BOOM! – It happens!’ When it seems all is lost and we are just about ready to give up, something breaks in the Spirit, circumstances suddenly change, and victory is achieved!
Did you ever see Band of Brothers? It’s the HBO series based on a story of a group of soldiers in World War 2. There is a point in the war that their group is faced with the most difficult circumstances ever – cold snowy conditions, no food or blankets, the enemy is pounding them to a pulp. After a long series of battles already under their belt they are faced with the darkest and deepest depression probably they ever had faced in their lives – ‘It happens.’ There is a scene in the series when, at the darkest moment, a small victory becomes a ‘turning point’ and all of a sudden the enemy begins to flee. The sky clears. Within a few short hours the Band of Brothers are on their way through Berlin to the Eagles Nest where Hitler had a mountain top villa. They even find themselves drinking some of the finest wines in Europe with probably the deepest sense of fulfillment and wonder how events suddenly turned in their favor – just at the time when all seemed lost.
I am sure the Apostles felt the same way when in the beginning of the book of Acts Jesus tells them to go to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit – that they would receive all power to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth. Here is a ‘Band of Brothers’ who have just been beaten down, their leader killed and all their hopes dashed. Fear had set in and many of them probably felt they had failed miserably. It was, perhaps, the darkest moment in their lives. “Boom – It happens,’ and God intervenes. Convergence happens.
These rag tag apparent ‘losers’ suddenly see thousands of Jews repent and give their lives to Christ after the Holy Spirit falls on them; Peter gets up and now has the courage to stand up and answer the call of God on his life, walking in a new dimension of faith, in a place of victory. It had been days and weeks since he had denied Christ three times and his ‘world’ had come crashing down – now he is boldly proclaiming the Gospel of how Jesus rose from the dead. As this Convergence unfolds, there are a series of divine appointments that ultimately lead to the Gospel going to the ends of the earth, and the future of the entire world is changed forever – by a group of 12 ordinary men who were willing to ‘lose their life in order to gain it.’
This season of uncertainty today in our country – for many of us – is ‘such a time as this,’ as the financial markets are in turmoil and many have lost much of their life savings – some even their livelihood. For many, fear has set in and the worldly system of relying on an ever-increasing debt load to sustain not only our individual lives, but even the entire US economy, appears to be unraveling, unsustainable. Yes, for many, this is a difficult season and a time of turmoil – but let me encourage you, it is not a time to allow fear to set in and go on the defensive. This is a time to go on the offensive and win that small battle in your life, find the ‘turning point’ that will lead to a ‘Boom – It happens’ experience. You begin to walk in a new dimension of faith with divine appointments occurring each day. You deeply know in your gut there is a ‘God in Heaven who sits on the throne and all is well.’
Over the course of the past few years, Spiritual Convergence has begun to happen for me in my own life and walk with the Lord. I overcame some dark moments, hit a ‘turning point’ and have been launched on a great adventure of faith that literally had changed me to the core of my being, knowing how intricately involved the Lord is in my life.
This partnership with RCE and ICCC in The Africa Project and the ICCC Global Trade Center, I believe, is part of a move of the Holy Spirit in the global marketplace central to the Kingdom Business Movement worldwide. I am so grateful that God has allowed me to be a ‘herald’ of this adventure in the marketplace.
As the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Regent’s Center for Entrepreneurship, I am asking each of you to join us on this great adventure of faith. We are on an adventure in God – and through this Kingdom Business Blog I hope to take you on this journey of faith together with us and the team – a ‘Band of Brothers (and sisters – no gender bias here!).’ My heart is that you will begin to see Spiritual Convergence happen in your life as it has happened in my life – and in the lives of those connected to this Kingdom Business Movement we are all called to participate in. I know in my deepest heart of hearts the course of history is being changed.
Strength and Honor,
Tom Stansbury