MILESTONE WORDS - PART 1 (c) Morris E. Ruddick
Note: About a month ago, I was uniquely led to go
back and review milestone words the Lord has imparted to me over the years. I found it a riveting experience. Our natural tendency is to be either overwhelmed or side-tracked with short-sighted minutiae, rather than keeping our eyes on God's big-picture goals.
Those at the forefront need to overcompensate
for the seductive traps, whether personal, cultural or doctrinal. The bar has been raised. Imparting righteous power in corrupt, defiled settings is not possible without God. We've entered a season in which the Western hop-skip-halleluiah model will fall short. May these words from my journey stir you in yours. Morris________________________________
"Is not My word like a fire?" says the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?" Jer 23:29
The heroes of faith operated in oneness with
the priorities and issues of God's heart, without any vestige of variation between Truth and what they heard from the Spirit.
Their impact on history was defined by their view of things from a big-picture God perspective. They heard from God and they embraced His word, regardless the cost. That's commitment that requires discipline. It's also the foundation for maturity.
While intimately concerned with the details impacting the lives of individuals, the Lord's priorities are strategic. He orchestrates things from the stance of generations and the community of His people within a generation.
As I look back over four decades of walking with the Lord; that walk has been shaped by a series of milestone words God has imparted that have raised the bar with a long-term, big-picture perspective.
My walk with the Lord began in the early
70s with a dramatic encounter as I was seeking to know Him, to really know Him. I was serious and understood the realities.
At that juncture, I had spent over two years of my life in heavy combat as a US Marine. I understood what it meant to believe in something bigger than myself and I understood the importance of the dynamics of discipline and commitment.
With the years that have passed since my
salvation experience, I recently was prompted to outline key words the Lord has spoken to me over the years; personal milestone words shaping my calling, my priorities and who I am. As one of my mentors during those days once shared with me; if we can just get the door open sufficiently to capture a glimmer spiritually from God's perspective, it will be enough.
The Priority
That first encounter; the first time I ever heard
the voice of the Lord came from a time of spiritual seeking. Having been brought up in the church, I understood basic precepts of faith, but while I knew about Him, I really didn't know God.
Having met people who did, I was hungry for that reality. An old combat friend, Ted Gatchel, wisely just stuffed a New Testament in my shirt pocket, telling me that I'd find what I was looking for in God's word of truth.
My spiritual hunger increased. Finally, I began
plowing through Matthew, then Mark, Luke and John. After starting the book of Acts, I found myself pausing as I read the story of Stephen. Stephen was facing a life and death situation without hesitation or waffling. It was a commitment I could relate to. He knew what he believed in.
The combat encounters I had had in which I didn't
know whether I would come out of them alive probably numbered more than three dozen. As I reflected on Stephen's story, one of a man willing to die for what he believed in, I began reflecting on what I believed in; what I had been willing to die for: my country, my Marine Corps, to be remembered for being able to face the ultimate test with honor.
At that point, I heard the voice of the Lord for
the first time. In light of what had been going through my mind at the time, He simply asked me: "Would you be willing to do that for Me?" With that question, I understood who Jesus was and what was being asked of me; was I willing to make the Lord the priority I had made as a US Marine. Knowing the cost and commitment, my response was immediate: "Yes Sir!"
The Mission
My encounter with the Lord had taken place on
a training mission in the Caribbean. Upon arriving home, I found that remarkably my wife Carol had had a similar personal, life-changing encounter with the Lord. Spiritually, we were like sponges. Then, having found an active Bible-believing church, we read great swaths of the Word of God, attended Bible studies, participated in fellowship gatherings and counseled with our pastor.
At that juncture, I came in contact with a simple
phrase that became like a fire in my soul: "God has a perfect plan for your life." I had chosen a good plan, one that I'd been excelling in with my military career; but what God began holding out before me was the prospect of a higher purpose, a plan for my life that would redirect my mission to one that served Him directly.
I really didn't know what God had in store for me,
other than the fact that I would be serving Him. I suspected my future and my calling might involve a role within what was at the time becoming known as the "para-church ministry," but the reality is that when I resigned my Marine Corps commission, what Carol and I stepped into was something akin to an Abrahamic journey.
Knowing the importance of preparing, although I
already had a college degree, I enrolled in Oral Roberts University where I could dig deeper into God's word and be immersed in a Christian culture. In the interim, we served as full-time trainee-ministers for a small AG ministry, participated in intense Bible training and helped start a coffee-house ministry.
The time at Oral Roberts University was filled with studies, activities and relationships that laid the foundation.
At the core of this setting was the mantle to "Train up young people who hear God's voice to go to where God's light is dim." Additionally, the value of my time at ORU was punctuated by two mentors, Paul McClendon and Harold Fisher. These incredible men of the Spirit had prayer lives, a strategic outlook and a spiritual maturity that set the standard for what lay ahead. Toward the end of the year we spent at ORU, the Lord led me to enroll in a graduate program at a local secular university. Not long into this program, I began to realize I may have bitten off more than I could chew.
The Gift
The program I was in had required courses in statistics,
which I had no background in. Somehow the school had overlooked this with my entrance into the program. I soon found myself scrambling and going to the professor for extra help.
Then in the midst of what seemed as sinking sands I was
encountering with this required course work in research designs and statistics, the Lord spoke a clear word to me from Psalm 119. That word was: "I'll make you wiser than your teachers."
Yet, my efforts didn't begin to approach what this
word suggested. Despite rapt attention during classes, fervent study, getting extra help and praying, I was not grasping the subject matter. Then far too quickly, we were facing a mid-term exam.
My faith shaken, I began to think that somehow I had
misfired with what I thought I had heard from God to enroll in this program. The night before the exam, having done all I knew to do, I repented for my presumption. The next day I felt no better as I walked into the exam. I placed my name on the exam paper and read the first question. The only way I can describe what happened was that it was like curtains were pulled back and I had complete understanding of what the question asked.
I went through the entire exam that way. As I read
each question, not the answer but understanding was imparted. I was pretty excited as I turned in my paper and left the room. Outside were some of the better students in the class, complaining about how hard the exam was. The star pupil stated he thought it was the hardest test in the subject he had ever had. Doubt encroached at my door and my faith went through the floor.
A week later the professor, with a scowl on his face,
entered the classroom with our graded papers in hand. He growled that the median grade was a 62 and he then proceeded to call out the name of each student along with their grade, as he handed the graded exams out.
One doctoral candidate had a 29. The class star had a 73.
Finally he called my name and stopped. He looked down again at the paper and then at me and back at the paper. I had a 98. Clearly something supernatural had taken place. Fulfilling the word from Psalm 119 I had to take independent studies in multivariate statistics and psychometric designs to complete the task I had embraced for my thesis. God had given me a gift that would become foundational in the work I was to do.
The Gateway
During this time, we had developed a unique relationship
with a man who was a partner in a media ministry in South Africa. Our friend Peter Church had been visiting the US to gather information to help with his plans for a Christian media production and entertainment center. I had been invited to become General Manager of this operation upon completion of my graduate program coursework. Then with a matter of weeks before our intended departure, Peter's plans changed. He and his partner had a falling out and Peter and his family had decided to immigrate to the land of milk and money (the US).
So, here I was having left a stable career in which I was excelling;
approaching the end of my time of retooling, without any prospects whatsoever before me. While in prayer, I asked the Lord for an answer to what I should be expecting. He gave me one. With clarity, I heard Him say that I was going to be a consultant. Without even a realistic idea of what that meant and without any formal background in business, this word strangely gave me great peace.
Then, having put this "word" on a shelf, I found myself
becoming very practical with the need to obtain employment to support my family. Following up on an interest in the advertising world, I learned from one executive I spoke with of an opening that existed within a firm that he seemed convinced that I'd be perfect for. His conclusion was based on the "gift" God had given me with research designs.
So, without really understanding what I was pursuing,
I followed up on his suggestion. What unfolded was something of a whirlwind that resulted in my being hired by this firm. What I didn't realize during this process was that I had just been hired by a research-based consulting firm.
The Calling
During those early days in my new "career," again I was in prayer
trying to grasp how this all fit together on this pathway, this adventure that was unfolding with the Lord at the helm. At that juncture, the Lord spoke a word to me that riveted me and subsequently defined the path of my calling. The words the Lord spoke to me were:
"Just as in the days of Joseph and Daniel, I am going to
bring out mighty works at your hand. As you are led into the midst of the world, kings, rulers and leaders will be converted and humbled. You'll work beside them and your counsel will be heeded for their good."
Once again, I had received a word that I didn't fully
understand. However, I knew that I had heard from the Lord and it brought great peace.
The Spiritual Gift
Then came another unexpected word that has
complemented the natural gift the Lord had given me. While on a business trip for my employer, I checked into my hotel. As I went into the room to drop my bags, I noticed an open Gideon Bible on a table across the room. The thought passed through my mind: "I wonder if the Lord has a word for me." So I went over to this open Bible and my eyes fell upon Jeremiah 51:20:
"You are My battle-ax and weapon of war; for with
you I will break nations in pieces;
with you I will destroy kingdoms and
strongholds."
I was gripped by this word, but couldn't seem to see
its application in what the Lord had been telling me that I was to do. I left for the meetings I had set up. That evening, I opened my own Bible to read and it just happened to fall open to Jeremiah 51:20. I pondered it and prayed. The next morning as I opened my Bible; to spend some time in the word to start my day, it again opened to Jeremiah 51:20. I knew God was telling me something, but I just wasn't sure what it was.
Upon returning from this business trip, we met with
some friends who we prayed with who were older and much wiser in the things of God than we were. I shared my Jeremiah 51:20 experience. Connie replied that "Maybe the Lord is leading you into some type of intercession ministry." My off-the-cuff response was "I know, but there's something more to it than that." Actually I hadn't "known" that, but the process was serving as a catalyst to unveiling a prophetic and authority dimension to my calling as a consultant that would become very key in the days ahead.
During the next three years, I began learning the tools of the trade; the trade of being a consultant.
Faith and Risk
I then had a most unique encounter that I describe
in the last chapter of my "God's Economy" book. The Lord told me I was to start my own business. That first year of business I felt like Peter who had stepped out of the boat to walk on the water and had started sinking. Again, I was taking on something that was far beyond my experience level. I began realizing that faith involves risk and risk carries a cost.
I traveled the country, gave presentations and attended
conferences. Yet, during that first year of being in business for myself, very little of what I did seemed to take root. I managed to sell one (underpriced) assignment during that time, along with compiling sufficient debt to seriously wonder if we were going to lose our home.
Then in a week in time came a most remarkable breakthrough.
It began a time of favor and growth. The next several years the greatest challenge was in keeping up with the growth. We grew to have offices in three cities and 27 full-time employees. I was also beginning to realize the fulfillment of the words God had spoken to me before entering the consulting world about being called like Joseph and the influence I would have on my clientele.
I was doing assignments for Fortune 100 companies,
as well as a number of respected media ministries. My firm was like a David amidst a group of Goliaths in terms of our competitors, consulting firms like Arthur D. Little and Booze Allen Hamilton. My role as the head of my firm resulted in exploits far beyond my natural abilities.
For example, in work I did for Xerox during the early 80s,
I recommended that they enter the facsimile business. It proved to be their most profitable division. Feedback from clients included statements such as: "It's like your recommendations were prophetic." Such were the words that God had spoken to me years prior: "Your counsel will be heeded for their good." Such is the calling of a modern-day Joseph.
The Shaking
There was a wonderful season of an upward spiral of opportunity and fast growth. But then came a sudden turn and the bottom dropped out of the primary marketwe served. We didn't seem able to back-pedal and downsize fast enough. Sadly we eventually shut down this amazing God-birthed phenomenon. We shut down honorably, but not without much pain in the process.
Simultaneously one of my clients in the banking industry
took over as President of a statewide financial institution with 34 branch locations that had just undergone serious losses the year before he joined them. He reached out to me to join him as his SVP of Marketing and Planning in his as chief architect of a corporate turnaround. I'm still not sure which was the frying pan and which was the fire; between what I had left behind and this new "opportunity." Details on that stage in my career are also found in my "God's Economy" book.
We completed a successful corporate turnaround,
putting the organization back in touch with the marketplace and restoring profitability. Then came the subtlety of corporate politics; the games people at my peer level had played that had brought this firm to the place where they needed the corporate turnaround in the first place. So it was that the man, who had recruited me and corporately had become my mentor, became the victim of the ambitions of a dog-eat-dog culture. Being on the wrong side of this political infighting, I also found myself without a job.
Note: Part 2 will describe New Horizons; Raising the Bar;
Applications for Change; Set Times; Convergence and Preparedness; and The Discipline: Actively Hearing God and Obeying. Part 2 will be posted to the SIGN list in roughly two weeks; or can be finished by picking up at the New Horizons section atwhere the full piece is already published.___________________________________________________
Morris Ruddick has been a forerunner and spokesman for the call of God in the marketplace since the mid-90s. As founder of Global Initiatives Foundation and designer of the God's Economy Entrepreneurial Equippers Program, Mr. Ruddick imparts hope and equips economic community builders where God's light is dim in both the Western and non-Western world.
He is author of "The Joseph-Daniel Calling;"
"Gods Economy, Israel and the Nations;" "The Heart of a King;" "Something More;" and "Righteous Power in a Corrupt World," which address the mobilization of business and governmental leaders called to impact their communities with God's blessings. They are available in print and e-versions from Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and other popular outlets.
Global Initiatives Foundation (www.strategic-initiatives.org) is a
tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 non-profit whose efforts are enabled by the generosity of a remnant of faithful friends and contributors whose vision aligns with God's heart to mobilize the least of these our brethren. Checks on US banks should be made out to Global Initiatives and mailed to PO Box 370291, Denver CO 80237 or email us at sign@strategicintercession.org for access information on our secure web-site.
2013 Copyright Morris Ruddick - sign@strategicintercession.org
Reproduction is prohibited unless permission is given by a SIGN advisor.
Since 1996, the Strategic Intercession Global Network (SIGN) has mobilized prophetic intercessors committed to targeting strategic-level issues impacting the Body on a global basis. For previous posts or more i |
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