Field of Dreams: Peace they lack

As I began to write this series on the movie "Field of Dreams", I never realized the journey I would go on. Much of what I have written has been born out of my personal journey. The heartache of failure, missed opportunities, and friendships that have let me down. Nothing truly prepared me for this journey of redemption.

When you say yes to following something or someone, it always seems to produce in you a loyalty and energy that cannot be derailed. Over time the fire begins to fizzle and you lose heart, at least until something or someone else comes along with the newest and greatest.
We all find ourselves with a longing to belong. A dire need to be a part of something greater than ourselves. Where it gets hard however, is when we realize that thing that we have devoted our lives to, is actually greater than ourselves. We feel overwhelmed and out of control, and we lose heart. Resigned to the fact that greatness has escaped us once more, we put our head down and drudge through life lacking purpose and hope. Looking at every new opportunity through our cynical lens and casting pessimism on anyone who thinks they've found it.
How did this happen? How did we grow for so many years and only progress so little? All is lost.....Right?
As I started the greatest journey of my life, I realized the next greatest thing. Someone or something, had been waiting patiently with His arms wide open. No condemnation, no judgement, no settling for second best, but unconditional love. No strings attached, no effort given to earn it, just freedom.
As a believer in Jesus Christ and the "Good News", I am astonished at how far away I stayed from the truth of the Messiah or what a Savior really meant in my life. Late in my teens, I had said yes to Jesus, and heaven everlasting was my reward. I've done it, I've called upon the name of the Lord, and now I'm saved from the perils of Hell. But did I really believe Jesus wanted more?
I didn't do anything, except say "Yes" when He called my name. On the sound of the breeze He whispered, "Brad....If you build it He will come."
I stepped back with a certain awe and wonder. Could He really be talking to me? What should I do? Why would He speak to me? Doesn't He know the failure I am? Doesn't He know how far away from Him I have fallen? Doesn't He know my past? Isn't He Holy, and pure? Why should He defile His Kingdom with the likes of me?
By all rights as creator God, He could have commanded anything, but with a gentle whisper He said, "If you trust me with everything, I will take care of everything."
Jesus didn't want my feet just inside the protection of heaven, He wanted me to love Him with an unconditional surrender, so that He may give me life.
Soon after saying "yes" to Jesus, those who were the closest to me, became my adversary. Why would they not just love me? Why do they have to oppress me with their judgement? I couldn't see how scared they were.
Change always bring discomfort on those who travel in your comfort zone, because their comfort zone is changed. They can't understand and continue to ridicule. They even attack those who support you because they are scared those people are leading astray. They even begin to think you've brainwashed your kids to believe your lies. It broke my heart. He loves me, but they reject me. Fear is so powerful, it will destroy you if you let it.
Then I heard God whisper gently again, "Ease his pain." What I realized was He said, "This call is not just for you, there are others who lack hope."
So with wide eyes I began to search. What's funny is, He never asked me to do the searching.
Full of confusion and grief, I began to question if I'd been asked to do anything.
Ready to walk away from it all because of the constant rejection and condemnation from others, He whispered again,....."Go the distance." "Don't give up. It's going to get real hard. You're going to have to walk through the fire if you want to be really useful."
Along the way I met many who are on the same journey. Suddenly, I didn't feel so alone. Suddenly, there was hope. Suddenly there were others who found the courage to listen because of me. Really? What did I do?
Oswald Chambers writes in My Utmost for His Highest, that a true Saint will be completely unaware of how God is using them to change the lives of those around them.
In February of 2014 my family was commissioned by Greater Europe Mission to be missionaries to Europe and bring the "Good News" to all the peoples there.
How did this happen? We applied, but my past should have disqualified me, right? What does God want me to do now?

"People will come"

I have taken some liberties with the famous speech by Terence Mann who was portrayed by James Earl Jones, but I think this is the crux of the whole movie for me:

People will come. They'll come to you for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up to hear the message not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll walk up to you as innocent as children, longing for peace. Of course, we won't mind if join our story, you'll say. It's only $30 per month. They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the Kingdom; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have a reserved blanket somewhere along one of the riverbanks, where they sat when they were children and dreamed of their heroes. And they'll feel the love of Christ and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come. The one constant through all the years, has been Jesus. Humanity has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But Jesus has marked the time. His Kingdom, His love: it's a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come. People will most definitely come.

Listen closely to the whispers of redemption. God's bigger story. Eden reborn. The Kingdom of God.
Once we understand the importance of standing firm on the decisions we've made, we become galvanized to expect the unexpected. We become determined to never give up.
Archie Graham had gotten his wish of playing against big league pitchers, but now his true calling comes to life when Ray's daughter falls and begins to choke. He rescues Ray's little girl.
Through the tragedy of her injury, Ray's wife's family finally sees the supernatural, and realizes how wrong they were. They become determined as well.
Once they saw the miracle, they become determined to find the means to support any way necessary.
But more often then not, families never make it this far. Many never support the call of God that you feel so convicted to follow.
Henri Nouwen writes in his book "Making All Things New":

"To set our hearts on the Kingdom therefore means to make the life of the Spirit within and among us the center of all we think, say, or do."

He then goes on in another book, "A Spirituality of Fundraising", that fundraising is a very concrete way to help the Kingdom of God come about. The Kingdom of God is where He provides for all that we need. It is the realm of sufficiency where we are no longer pulled here and there by anxiety about having enough. Even a seemingly small act of generosity can grow into something far beyond what we could ever ask or imagine.
When you welcome people into this realm of the Kingdom, in a sense, you are giving them the very thing Terence Mann was talking about. "For money they have, and peace they lack."
The Kingdom of God is a collaborative effort of those doing the work, those seeking to be a part, and those supporting out of there God given resources.
Nouwen says, if we raise funds for the creation of a community of love, we are helping God build the Kingdom.
The call to follow God through His whispers has never been about us, it's always been about others. Submitting ourselves in such a way that we become useful for the Kingdom. Note: I didn't say make ourselves useful, but surrendering to our creator so that out of our humility we become a conquering warrior.

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8

"People will come....."

Field of Dreams: It's going to get hard.

As Ray was sitting in the seats at Fenway Park with Terence, he hears the voice whisper, "Go the distance," and then he sees the scoreboard flash up some random statistic about a ballplayer from the 20's;
Archibald "Moonlight" Graham.
He turns to Terence and asks whether he saw the message, and his friend tells him he saw nothing.
Confused, he takes Terence back to his house and decides Terence wasn't supposed to be a part of this story.
That's what it is like on the road to redemption. Sometimes we meet people or think of people who need permission to see what we see, but when they are too scared to recognize it, we feel our efforts have failed.
What Ray soon discovers is that Terence did see the message; he was just too scared to admit what he couldn't explain.
"It's alright to admit it," Ray says, "it's what told me to find you." Ray finally doesn't feel so alone. What a breakthrough, Terence must know what it means, right? All Terence could say was, "We're going to Minnesota to find "Moonlight" Graham."
When the eyes are opened by God, something remarkable happens. We are no longer loners on a road to nowhere, we are now in a fellowship that believes.
Even though this is the most excited Ray has been in a while, he still knows he can't leave his wife behind. A quick call home should keep her in the loop, he thinks. Little does he know the pressure she is facing at home.
Her family, still blind to the calling, threaten her and her security by telling what a foolish thing it is to stand by and support her husband. They think they know what's best, and her husband clearly does not.
She couldn't bring herself to douse the flames of her husbands excitement, so she bears the burden herself.
Ray and Terence travel from Boston to Chisholm, Minnesota in hopes of gaining some insight to who this next sojourner may be.
When they arrive in Minnesota to find "Moonlight" Graham, they learned he became a medical doctor. They also discovered Doc Graham had died in 1972, some 15 years before they arrived.
Why would the story take them to see a man 15 years after he died, and what is so special about this guy that they had to travel so far to find out?
Terence does some research, but what happens to Ray is one of my favorite parts of the story.
Ray is shifted back to 1972 and meets Doc "Moonlight" Graham. What is happening? Is he dreaming?
Ray soon finds out that  Doc Graham a wise old sage who came close to his dreams and missed them, only to feel like the ship has sailed on those dreams.
He tells Ray about getting to the Major Leagues for a half of an inning, but never getting to hit. When he was sent back to the Minors he was devastated. He couldn't imagine another season of disappointment. "It's like coming this close to your dreams, and then watch them brush past you like a stranger in the crowd."
Ray, like all of us on this sacred path asks a great question, "If you could do anything or have any wish?"
"Are you the type of man that could grant me that wish?" Doc asks. "I don't know, I'm just asking" said Ray
As Doc tells Ray what he's always wanted and wished for, Ray tells him of such a place it can come true.
Doc thinks for a bit and then says, "This is my most special place in all the world, Ray. Once a place touches you like this, the wind never blows so cold again. You feel for it, like it was your child. I can't leave Chisholm"
Ray is now adamant that Doc must go with them. "But your wish?" Ray asks. Doc says he has no regrets, it will have to stay a wish.
"50 years ago you came within five minutes of your wish. It will kill some men to get that close to their dream and not touch it. They'd consider it a tragedy." Doc says,"Son, if I'd only gotten to be a doctor for five minutes, now that would be a tragedy."
It's funny how in our zealous energy we feel it's our place to point out the smallness of people's faith. We want for them to truly have life, but sadly we miss what the man said.
Doc had come to terms with what was really important. Following selfish ambition is fun, but investing in the lives of others was a dream come true.
Ray goes back and reflects to Terence, "Maybe we're not supposed to take him with us."
Meanwhile, Ray calls his wife and she breaks the news that her brother has bought the note on their home. "If we don't pay, my brother and his partners are going to foreclose." Ray feels he is met a dead end, tells her they're coming home.
Ending their journey and coming home seems the only logical thing to do, but Ray and Terence are left with more questions then answers. Then it happens, something supernatural.
On their way home, they meet a young hitchhiker looking for a ride. He is looking to catch on with a baseball team, and wanted to just ride along for a while. His name is.....Archie Graham.
The pair are dumbfounded. What possibly lies ahead for them?
Ray begins to talk about his dad to Terence, and how much pain he felt he'd caused his father. He reflects on how much he regrets the last thing he said to his dad, before he left home for good. He incriminated his dad's hero. "I could never respect a man, whose hero was a criminal." Ray told his father.
Ray has never forgave himself for being seventeen and rebelling. Terence tells him maybe all of the whispers have been to bring back the past and right what went wrong. Terence, now is left wondering his part in the bigger story.
When they arrive back at the farm in Iowa, Terence finally gets to experience what Ray had been talking about, and he is mesmerized. He can't believe what he sees before him. Heroes from days gone by, playing the game of baseball on this magical field.
Then "Shoeless" Joe Jackson grabs young Archie Graham, and tells him to suit up and play.
"Unbelievable" says Terrance. "It's more than that, it's perfect." says Ray
This feels like Discipleship.
Everyone is on a journey to find answers, some find the author and some find the deceiver, but all seek the truth. When traveling on your road, be sure to invite those you meet to come with you, they may just be looking for permission to believe. You are never too young or too old, you just have to go.

"For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him." 

2 Chronicles 16:9a(a)