Pumpkin Pie Publishing

Welcome to 2008! Everything that we desire lies ahead, and everything in our past is but a moot point. A few years ago, I stopped making New Year’s resolutions. The bitter disappointment of facing the end of the year weighing more and accomplishing less, year in and year out, finally became too much for me to bear. However, as 2007 was ending, an idea was placed on my heart. What if I took what up until now has been a very personal mission and created a public challenge and open dialogue? This mission is called The Nineveh Movement, so named because of the power that one person, following the direction God provided, wielded peace and healing to a troubled land. If a one-person movement can make such a profound change in a place where wickedness has run amok and peace has no place, imagine how a group of people, following only the purpose given them by the Creator, can literally change the world. The words below are a manifesto. Take it, ingest it, and let it become a part of you. Then, share it with others who could use a few encouraging words, or a no-holds-barred call to action. 1. We believe that God’s call always requires that we move toward promise and new beginnings. God told Jonah to travel east (toward a rising sun and new day) to Nineveh. Jonah initially chose to travel west (toward the setting sun and an ending) rather than heed God’s call. While God gives us the freedom to choose which direction we go – 2. We believe that God will not let us stray too far off-course, and will come to our rescue in unexpected ways. When Jonah had resigned himself to death by being thrown into the raging waters by the sailors, God intervened by providing a whale to swallow Jonah, and keep him for three days and three nights. Some of us have been so off-course with God’s will for us, that we don’t even recognize that we have been provided temporary rescue, and still have hope for the greatness that lies within. Our holding pattern – be it the job that pays bills but doesn’t fulfill, the relationship that won’t come together the way we want, the dream of home ownership that is just not feasible right now – is a temporary shelter from the storm that rages all around. Take this time to talk and listen to God. Start a conversation. 3. We believe that communication with God will always bring us back to His/Her purpose for our lives. When Jonah prays inside the belly of the whale, he is telling God that he is ready to be taken out of the holding pattern. He is ready to face the temptations of the world and walk boldly in the direction of his destiny. “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple…And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” (Jonah 2:7, 10) 4. We believe that under the direction of God, small actions lead to big results. Jonah’s rally to the people of Nineveh consisted of seven words. His seven words created a change in the hearts and minds of the people, from the king of Nineveh to the lowest peasant. Seven words healed a people and spared a troubled land. We believe that we are the movement that heals nations. Use Your Words.