OUR SURPRISING FRIEND: REJECTION

The mind of man is forever confronted by the mind of God. The mind of church-man is especially confronted by the mind of God. It is easier to abstain from thinking by a slick move of becoming judgmental. It is much easier to be the critic of a thinker than to think for oneself for learning new ideas is surely a strain on man's lazy and mediocre tradition.

When I initially wrote the manuscript for The Holy Spirit Makes No Earthly Sense (which is now rewritten under the name Empowering the Ordinary), I sent it off to two of my good friends at Gospel Advocate publishing in Nashville for their review. Later I traveled to that city to meet with these good men as to the possibility of them printing the book.

They explained they believed what I wrote but could not print it for it would cost them business. They expressed the hope I would understand. I didn't. They reiterated they just could not print such a work. So, Alton Howard of Howard Publishing jumped at the manuscript. The book became so popular the Gospel Advocate later pictured it in their catalog and evidently made a profit from it.

What I want you to get is the certainty that the truth is the truth regardless of who or how many join together to say it is not. Be free to accept rejection. It isn't the end of the world but the beginning of a new opportunity. Each time we have a dream or vision and it is shut down, we haven't experienced loss. We have wonderfully eliminated something that won't work. So, we try again.

The Holy Spirit book is now being rewritten for a third time. More and more believers are accumulating the courage to stand with the Word of God; the Holy Spirit does operate directly in a Christian's life. When it is the truth; we are free to accept rejection...even from our close friends.