My God Encounter - May 26, 2011

My God Encounter - May 26, 2011 

Dear Friends, Readers, and Loved-ones:

Something wonderful happened to me in May 2011.  God reached into my life with a new calling so profound that I must share it with you.  The story began Thursday afternoon, May 26^th, 2011 in my hotel room in Austin, Texas.  As a denominational bishop for the faith tradition employing me at the time, I had been in Texas to deliver an estate plan to friends in Harlingen, Texas, a community near the Mexico border six hours south of Austin.  Having returned to Austin, my flight home to Portland, Oregon would not leave until the next day, Friday, May 27^th.  Thinking about how to spend the rest of my time in Austin, I considered sightseeing but eventually decided to pass the time in my hotel room and watch TV.

Making that decision as I wrapped up lunch in my room, I suddenly sensed God’s presence filling the space around me.  Soon, the presence flooded throughout my being.  From its intensity, I knew there would be no escape from what followed.  Over the years as I have struggled to understand what happened in that moment, only the words of author and scholar C.S Lewis in his book "Surprised By Joy" have comforted me:

"You must picture me alone in that room, feeling whenever my mind lifted even for a second, the steady unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me."                                                                  ---- (paraphrased)

 From that point forward, all I know is that the encounter began around 1pm.  It lasted until I fell asleep from exhaustion around nine or ten o’clock that evening.

The encounter was unlike anything I had been through before in my life.  What I can say of the presence's effect is that it permeated me.  I became tearful, unsettled, anxious.  I kept saying, “Please don’t do this to me.  You can’t do this.  Please don’t do this.”

Despite my tears and distress and when I could no longer resist, God’s message streamed uncontrollably from my mouth.  Repeatedly the same words forced themselves out of me, “You are called to establish a church free of the encumbrances of the world.  You are called to establish a church free of the encumbrances of the world.  You are called to …….”  Over and over the words flowed out irrepressibly.  I have no idea how long this went on, but eventually the words stopped when it seemed the phrase had etched itself unforgettably on my mind.

Things didn’t stop there however.  God’s energy surged into me again and this time I pleaded through even more tears saying, “You can’t ask this of me.  Why is this necessary?  There are others much better suited for this.”  And then, like before, another phrase forced itself repeatedly out of my mouth, “You’re to do this so my apostles can return and prepare the world for my coming.  You are to do this so my apostles can return and prepare the world for my coming.  You are to do this…..”

In response, I desperately complained that I did not have the strength, intellect, skills, or stamina for such things.  Seemingly dismissive, God responded in a manner like the previous utterances, “When this has happened, then you can rest.  When this has happened, then you can rest.”  Over and over the words repeated and forced themselves out of me.

Finally when it seemed that I had no strength left and with sleep coming over me, I pleaded through what tears I had left, “Why me?  Why does this have to be me?”  As I drifted into sleep, God’s love swept gently through me and I heard, “Because your heart is pure; because your heart is pure.”

After returning home, one person with whom I shared the experience said, "This changes everything."  For me, the words were prophetic for much has changed.  The extraordinary experience led to weeks, months, and now years of soul-searching.  There has been extensive consultation with others.  Personal crises followed as have several life altering changes.  In many respects, the time and journey since the God Encounter have been wilderness wanderings all their own.

In time however, the wandering brought clarity.  With that clarity, there followed several personal decisions necessary for embracing a new call.  As some of you are aware, those decisions included me ending formal ties with the church denomination in which I had been raised and ordained and professionally employed for nearly eighteen years.  These decisions became necessary because the denomination itself is not free to embrace "church" in the manner God wants of me.  For those of us who may not know, "church" in ancient Greek simply means gathering the "called-out ones" for purposes of addressing needs of the community.    

In the years since the God Encounter, the feedback I have received the most consistently from others is the importance of discerning the words “free of encumbrances” and keeping myself open to what all the experience might mean.  What has also been expressed is the care and patience that must be exercised going forward.  On that note, one pastor shared the following: “Keep your spirit open, Brad. God may have broader and bigger plans than you think.  You don’t know what or where this will lead to -- or what it will look like.”  On another occasion, an evangelist shared with me that my God Encounter reminded him of an experience of his own -- a day when he and another individual were replacing a roof on a church. God's Spirit spoke to his mind and said, "When churches are no longer being built, it's then that I will come again and establish the kingdom."

Please know that if it was possible to specifically determine whom God is trying to reach through my sharing of the God Encounter, then I would only approach those persons.  Since that is not possible, I feel led to share about the experience as openly and broadly as possible.  If it speaks to you, then please consider it God’s invitation to you and feel free to reach out to me at brad@freeofencumbrance.net as you journey toward discovering, and living out, an unencumbered faith for an unencumbered life.

Increasingly with the passage of time, I have realized that "The God Encounter" was also about carefully considering what words like “apostles” and “free of encumbrances” and “my coming” mean if humanity is to overcome the greed and lust for power and control that plague our world today. 

Today, I realize that such words or phrases have far broader deeper more satisfying meanings.  In my heart, I therefore believe that betterment of the Common Good entails our acceptance and affirmation of all the spiritual diversity God has planted in our world.  Only then can we begin recovering and healing from the trauma we have perpetrated on one another and make our way toward the well-being God so desperately desires for you, for me, and for all Creation.

If you feel that trauma has touched your life and you seek to spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically recover and heal toward well-being, then I hope you will contact me.  Should you welcome such a journey to your life, I assure you that your journey will occur in the healthiest and most deliberate intentional and responsible manner possible, particularly given my decades of experience as a licensed psychotherapist and professional minister.

Ultimately, what this journey entails is overcoming the world’s old order and bringing forth God’s “New Earth” – a day free of encumbrances of all kinds.  For as spiritual writings witness:

Then I saw new heavens and a new earth.  The former heavens and the former earth had passed away, and the sea existed no longer.  I also saw a new Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down out of heaven from God, beautiful as a bride and groom on their wedding day.  And I heard a loud voice calling from the throne, “Look!  God’s Tabernacle is among humanity!  God will live with them; they will be God’s people, and God will be fully present among them.  The Most High will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  And death, mourning, crying, and pain will be no more, for the old order has fallen.”

The One who sat on the throne said, “Look!  I’m making everything new!” and added, “Write this, for what I am saying is trustworthy and true.”  And the One continued, “It is finished.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.  To those who are thirsty I will give drink freely from the spring of the water of life.  This is the rightful inheritance of the overcomers.  I will be their God and they will be my daughters and sons.”                                                                     

                       ---- Revelations 21:1-7, The Inclusive New                                  Testament

May the Peace of all God’s prophets, mystics, apostles, and teachers be with you -- for all are called according to the gifts of God unto them -- and that means you!

Brad Shumate, M.S., M.A., LPC, LMHC

Free of Encumbrance

brad@freeofencumbrance.net