If you have even an ounce of concern for the Church of Jesus Christ in the new
millennium, I would like to recommend a book to you by Leonard Sweet. In the second of a
trilogy of books he is writing in 1999, he is taking a bold, significant and creative look
into the future of the church.

All three books are very important to read…if…you are one of those who dares to be
concerned in any way for the church of the future.

The title of this book is, "Soultsunami." A tsunami is a tidal wave. It comes
whether you want it to or not…once forces are set in motion.

It is an apt title for what will be happening with the church in the next 20 years.
This is a book of radical caution and radical enthusiasm. It brings us all to
think…ponder…consider…and move into sharing the timeless Gospel in ways that we need
to be thinking…pondering…considering…and moving.

Please get and read this book. This is what www.amazon.com
was made for.

When I went into www.leonardsweet.com
recently I found this by him.

He was inspired by John Wesley and by what was originally penned by an African martyred
pastor, and it was first mentioned in a book by Brennan Manning.

John Wesley wrote in a "Covenant Prayer"–

I am no longer my own, but Yours.

Put to me what you will.

Put me to doing.

Put me to suffering.

Let me be employed for You,

or laid aside for You.

Exhalted for You,

or brought low for You.

Let me be full.

Let me be empty.

Let me have all things.

Let me have nothing!

And now, O Father,

You are mine and I am Yours.

So be it.

And the covenant I am making on earth,

let it be ratified in heaven.

Amen.

Leonard writes what he calls "A Magna Charta of Trust by an Out-of-Control
Disciple." Ponder well, my friend…..this has been very good for me to read at this
particular point in my own life:

I am part of the Church of the Out-of-Control.

I once was a control junkie, but now am an Out-of-Control Disciple.

I’ve given up my control to God.

I trust and obey the Spirit.

I’ve jumped off the fence,

I’ve stepped over the line,

I’ve pulled out all the stops.

There’s no turning back,

looking around,

slowing down,

backing away,

letting up,

or shutting up.

It’s life against the odds,

outside the box,

over the wall,

the game of life played without goal lines

other than "Thy will be done…."

I am not here to please the dominant culture.

I live to please my Lord and Saviour.

My spiritual taste-buds have graduated

from fizz to froth to fire and ice.

Sometimes I’m called to sharpen the cutting edge.

Don’t give me that old-time religion.

Don’t give me that new-time religion.

Give me that all-time religion

that’s as hard as rock and as soft as snow.

I’ve stopped trying to make life work,

and started trying to make life sing.

I am finished with second-hand sensations,

third-rate dreams,

low-risk high-rise trades

and goose-stepping, flag-waving crusades.

I no longer live by and for anything

but everything God-breathed,

Christ-centered,

and Spirit-driven.

I can’t be bought by any personalities or perks,

positions or prizes.

I won’t give up,

though I may give in…

to openness of mind,

humbleness of heart,

and generosity of spirit.

In the face of adversity

no longer will I hang in there.

I will stand in there,

I will run in there,

I will pray in there,

I will sacrifice in there,

I will endure in there–

in fact, I will do everything

in there but hang.

My face is upward,

my feet are forward,

my eyes are focused,

my way is cloudy,

my knees are worn,

my seat uncreased,

my heart burdened,

my spirit light,

my road narrow,

my mission wide.

I won’t be seduced by popularity,

traduced by criticism,

travestied by hypocrisy,

or trivialized by mediocrity.

I am organized religion’s best friend and worst nightmare.

I won’t back down,

slow down,

shut down,

or let down until I’m preached out,

teached out,

healed out,

or hauled out

of God’s mission in the world

entrusted to members

of the Church of the Out-of Control…

to bind the confined,

whether they’re the downtrodden

or the upscale,

the overlooked

or the underrepresented.

My fundamental identity is as a disciple

of Jesus who lives in Christ,

who doesn’t walk through history simply

"in His steps,"

but seeks to travel more deeply

IN HIS SPIRIT.

Until He comes again or calls me home,

you can find me filling not killing time

so that one day He will pick me out

in the lineup of the ages

as one of His own.

And then…

it will be worth it all…

to hear these words,

the most precious words

I can ever hear:

"Well done, thou good and faithful…Out-of-Control Disciple."

Wes Roberts