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University of the Nations
International Provost
Letter to all U of N Staff
May 18, 2006 - Volume 2
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Dear Friends,
My daily reading was in the Book of the Kings at one point last year, and one day I found myself reading I Kings 12. As I read the well-known story of Rehoboam, I felt the Lord was underlining the importance of the principles of the chapter to us as a mission at this particular time. This conviction grew over the next days.
Here are the parallels that have come to me:
- fragility in the kingdom, despite every sign that it was the most solid country in the world (I have had the impression for the past several months that YWAM was much more fragile than it seems, and Lynn Green's saying pretty much the same thing was a confirmation for me)
-- a new generation of followers, not ready to continue on in their fathers' ways of doing things
-- a cry from that generation for the rulers to change their ways
-- the temptation to see listening and adapting to the new generation as weakness, leading to:
-- a rejection of real servant leadership
-- listening to the wrong counselors
-- uncomprehending and harsh communication
-- refusal to listen either to the new generation or to the Lord, resulting in:
-- extreme temptation for the new generation, then:
-- division of the kingdom, and then:
-- God's plan for the nations put on hold once more.
I am praying for me first, and for all of us, that we would learn to ". . . be a servant to those people today, and serve them, and respond to them with kind words . . ." (v. 7, Tanakh Jewish Study Bible).
If we will do this in our respective spheres, the promise at the end of the verse ("then they will be your servants always") is for us: the postmoderns will come on board fully, the other generations making up our mission will unite in a new way, and YWAM will go into the next years in true intergenerational partnership. If that happens, Nations, watch out!
I submit these impressions to you,
Tom Bloomer
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