LIFE'S EVENTS

The events of life are tools and agents of the Almighty. He uses these to get our attention, to change our values, character, priorities, pursuits, and above all, to change our sources of trust for security and happiness.  

Does this not serve to remind us again that we are not here for ourselves, even in our pain and need? God cares for us, but we are not alone. He cares for others too, and often seeks to minister to the people around us through the character changes He is seeking to bring about through our own suffering or need.

"MAN vs MAN" - THIS MAN’S VIEW OF CONFLICT AND RESOLUTION – Part 1                 

(The context of this discussion is my experience with conflict and resolution principles in the United States versus what I see in Jamaica.  The lifestyle choices of ‘warring,’  ‘malicing (not talking with each other),’ and various other negative manifestations of conflict without resolution)

 

“Keep your tongue from sin and your lips from speaking lies. Turn away from what is sinful. Do what is good. Look for peace and follow it.”  -  Psalm 34:13-15 New Life Version (NLV)

 

THE BEGINNING

As a child, in my parents’ home in Kingston and New York, I saw several bouts of conflict with neighbors, friends and even within the home itself with my mom and dad.   One obvious aspect of the conflicts that I saw and understood was that I never experienced violence or what we would term ‘warring’ as a result of these episodes.  My parents and their friends were uniquely different in that there was no ignoring the problem, no ignoring the person, it was always handling it and getting over it. 
 
Because of that foundation, I cannot really remember having a problem with brother or sister that had caused us to be alienated from each other.  We had a good relationship, still do, and differences were handled through communication without a ‘war.’   That method had been a lifestyle for me, I may be in disagreement with my peers but I strive to not be disagreeable.  Many times taking the wrong when I believe I am right.  Those with whom I may be in conflict assume that I have taken a position because I believe I was in the wrong, rather, I do what I do because of the scripture listed above.  We must “seek peace and pursue it.”

So when I am met with a vindictive nature, retaliatory and deceiving attitudes and coercive actions I am significantly challenged.   And, unfortunately I see that in the lives of those that should be leaders and Christian mentors for our people.

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION
I was with a small group of teens and twenty year olds and asked them to tell me how they viewed, handled and lived with conflict in their lives.  It was an interesting and engaging discussion that I will be using for this series.  We shared these main points that we will elaborate on in later discussions:
 

1.            Conflict in our Spiritual Life

2.            Conflict in our Work Life
3.            Conflict in our Personal Life (family and friends)

 

 
It was evident to all that a lot of us have the ability to compartmentalize the various areas mentioined and deal with them separately but there is a place where these three areas converge that can cause some difficulty for us. For example, when we work with the same people that we live with, and may also worship with.    This causes a higher level of conflict resolution and accountability for our personal interaction with the world around us.
 
MEN AND WOMEN
Now, also realize that men and women do have different ways of handling conflict and that is also influenced by cultural norms, expectations and experience.   A man’s approach, from his natural instinct is to conquer  and defeat the enemy.  He is apt to be physical, loud and animated with other men in conflict.  Conflict with women may be another scenario altogether where he is docile or to another extreme can be physically abusive. 

However we deal with conflict, there must be a biblical foundation to the process that we employ in:
 

a)  our daily (routine),

b)  in our communication;  and

c)  in handling those situations that can be incendiary for good reason or for no reason at all.    

THE GROUPS OBSERVATION

The group offered another observation from their experience in home, school and community:  Conflict begins and is processed through these basic steps:

                1.            Offence (internal perception of a wrong done to you)

                2.            Verbal argument ensues

                3.            Physical escalation of the argument

                4.            Malice (ignoring the person for a season)

A GOOD POINT

One teenager made a very interesting observation.  He said, “Rev.  It is usually our friends or those close to us that we have these problems with and not our enemies.  Then our enemies sit back and watch us and laugh because we are unable to handle our relationship in a better way.”
 
MENTORING AND GUIDING THROUGH CONFLICT
We can use teaching, experience or just sheer brute force to thrust us through a season of conflict.  I see  a variety of options at our disposal but I have discovered that witin the arsenal of good weaponry there are some not so good ones that I need to discuss also.  
 
For example, “attempting to influence through emotional blackmail or coercion.”   This I believe is not usually the man’s way of dealing with conflict but I do think that that the matriarchal influence has resulted in an emasculation of young men. Now, our methods of handling relationships is floundering from God’s and a man’s natural instincts in interpersonal conflict resolution

[END PART 1]

 

 

 

               

 

 

 

 

JAMAICA’S 1860 REVIVAL

After delivering his messages in Bethel Town, the missionary proposed a prayer gathering at dawn to be held on Monday morning. Five hundred people attended. Another meeting was then announced for Monday evening, presided over by a local preacher.

At the conclusion of the service, and just as the final petition was presented, “the Spirit was poured out, and the mighty rev...ival movement had commenced in real earnest,” it was said. The people would not leave the chapel. The missionary was notified and he hastened back on Wednesday evening to witness unforgettable scenes, with as many as one hundred hardened sinners prostrated at once. A dozen couples “living in sin” published “the banns” for legal marriage in a Christian ceremony.

At Mount Carey chapel a crowd of twelve hundred people gathered by 11 a.m. the gathering of with many standing outside. A sensation was caused when about seven hearers were prostrated, much to the alarm of the local leadership. In these three places, 3,000 sinners were spiritually “awakened.” They were typical of scenes throughout the island. . (from “EVENT OF THE CENTURY by J Edwin Orr)

JAMAICA’S 1860 REVIVAL

The most notable feature of this awakening was prayer. People whose lips seemed solely accustomed to curse and to swear now prayed as fluently as if such petition had been the daily employment of their lives.

The prayer meetings seemed to generate a supernatural force which carried the multitudes along on a wave of irresistible power which, in turn, produced passionate rep...entance, astonishing moral reformation and fervent longing to know and love and serve the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is one very exciting private journal of the period, penned by a Moravian missionary, the Rev. Theodor Sonderman, which gives us a glimpse into the beginnings of the revival movement. When he visited Clifton he was told that a strange meeting was going on, so he rode on until he met a crowd of people, some weeping for joy, others under deep conviction, and others bewildered by the events.

He tried to allay excitement, but while himself engaged in prayer, his own feelings overpowered him, so he felt it wise ‘to leave them to the direction of the Holy Spirit.’     From J EDWIN ORR’S “Event of the Century”

JAMAICA'S 1860 REVIVAL: REVIVAL BEGINNINGS

It was during September 1860, that this unprecedented evangelical awakening began among the Moravians in St. Elizabeth Parish, in the southwest. It soon spread like wild fire, first to the three parishes of St. James, Hanover, and Westmoreland, causing a sensation in local congregations, regardless of denomination. Eastwards the movement quickened Mandevi...lle and spread along the coast to villages and hamlets, eventually affecting the entire island - from Montego Bay to St. Thomas, from St. Ann’s Bay to Savanna-la-Mar.

There was widespread conviction of sin, crime lessened, ethical standards were raised, old superstitions lost their power, broken marriages were healed, many left their lovers and returned to their families, and thousands of co-habiting couples were united in Christian marriage.

Drunkards became abstainers, former blasphemers invoked the name of God with respect and holy fear, rum shops and gambling houses were closed and prodigal children were reclaimed. The moral landscape of the nation was dramatically transformed during these months of the revival.

(Excerpted from J EDWIN ORR'S "Events of the Century")

JAMAICA REVIVAL 1860 - Part 2

JAMAICA’S 1860 REVIVAL: By early 1860 there had developed a confident expectation that God would soon visit the Jamaican church, but no one anticipated the ‘copious showers’ that were soon to fall, for two glorious years. Soon the pattern of earnest prayer, followed by the conviction of sins and painful penitence, and then outright conversions, commenced. What began with small revival prayer meeti...ngs became an awakening of the masses.

Almost every place of worship was crowded to capacity, for it seemed the whole population wanted to hear the good news of Christ. Backsliders returned. Thousands were converted and baptized. Great numbers sought admission to church membership, including more young people than one missionary had seen in 30 years. Reading of the Bible, praise, prayer, and preaching became the norm during the first phase of revival.

JAMAICA REVIVAL 1860 - Part 1

The Jamaican Revival (1860): As news of the Laymen’s Prayer Revival in America reached the Caribbean island nation of Jamaica, churches began praying for a similar outpouring. “Peep of day” (dawn) prayer meetings were organized across the islands so Christians could gather for prayer before going out into the fields to work.

Most of these prayer meetings were organized at plantations and were well attended. As people prayed, anticipation of an imminent revival heightened. By 1860, most Christians believed God would send them revival by year’s end, but none anticipated the intensity of the showers of blessing they were about to receive. (Excerpt from the book "10 Greatest Revivals in the Earth")