Rivers Not Reservoirs
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March 31st, 2014

3/31/2014

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Because of the Blockage of access to my Blog from Nigeria, I have been unable to Post over the past 10 days. I imagine this is for some a welcome relief to your email inbox. To those of you who have looked for them, as they say in Nigeria.... 'Sorry-O'

Meet one of 'His Rivers'

On my just completed trip to Lagos Nigeria and the campus of West Africa Theological Seminary, I had the honor of spending some time with several of 'His Rivers'. These men and women are - called of God - in many cases living in a foreign land - sacrificing much - yet daily walking in obedience to the Holy Spirit. Time or space do not permit the telling of all their stories.  Yet, I want to share some of them with you over the next few posts. 

In Africa 
You get your burnin’ and then you get your learnin’.
With learnin’ the burnin’ becomes a blaze !
Meet one whose becoming a blaze for God.


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Meet NIXON

Many of you know Nixon. A student at WATS, who moved to Nigeria a number of years ago with his father and sister. His father Frederick came to WATS to receive his learnin’ – at the age of 50+. Frederick has now graduated and returned to Cameroon along with his daughter to be a ‘blaze for Christ’ in that country.

Spring 2013

The Call was given to all WATS students to sign up for a six week ‘assignment’ in missions called Springboard. Among the locations for assignment was a dangerous part of Northern Nigeria where Christians are being persecuted and killed. This assignment was to go and live/work among a village that had been driven out by the Muslim  controlled civic authorities because of the people’s unwillingness to conform to Muslim practices. 

Nixon signed up along with four or five others.

May 2013

Time was fast approaching to leave. One by one, those who had signed up to go began dropping out because of fear. Some were married, and did not want to risk the possibility of being killed, and leaving their families without a father.  Others had various  ‘reasons’.  Nixon struggled with the same fears – mostly of the unknown. But God revealed strongly to him, that he was TO GO.  He and one other prayed and prepared .

June 2013

They left by bus for a 15 hour ride to a City they had never been to, and where weekly reports were coming of Christians being killed. They arrived only to realize that the ‘missionary’ who was to meet them, and take them on the remainder of their journey was nowhere to be found. They ended up spending the night there, praying that God would ‘connect them’ with their ‘host’.

Morning came, and they were connected with their host and began a several hour journey via motorcycle to the village where they would spend the next six weeks.

Next Six Weeks

Living in mud huts
No Power or generators
No Water ( except a small bore hole – see picture)
No Bathrooms
Very little food – and certainly nothing he had ever seen or tasted before
People worked from sun up to sun down in the fields
No furniture except for mats to sleep on

So how do we ‘minister’?

So for six weeks, Nixon and his friend …

Became RIVERS of God to these people.

Every day they took their plows and went to the fields and worked alongside them in 100+ degree heat
Every day they drank the water and ate their food with them
Every night they slept on a mat on the floor of the mud hut
Every day they loved them, prayed for, laughed with, and cried with them
They scrounged up some wood and made benches for them to sit on
They fed the chickens
They met with the Children and told Bible Stories
And they ‘worshiped’ God together

And God protected them – No sickness, No persecution, Nothing that He didn’t give them the strength to endure.

The spark that God placed in Nixon’s heart of love for these people continues to grow into a blaze. 
His life will never be the same. And because God used him as a RIVER to ‘deliver’ 
His grace and mercy to them, they will likewise never be the same. 

THANK YOU NIXON – THANK YOU LORD

Pictures are worth a Thousand Words
Traveling
Feed the Chickens
A drink of water
Ready for another day
Ready to GO
Hard soil
Work, work, work
Cattle
Plow in hand
Goodnight
With the Children
Baby Dedication
Fresh clean water?
Looks delicious?
This is not a Holiday Inn


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RIVERS NOT RESERVOIRS
7982 Hillcrest Trail
Jonesboro, Georgia 30236
404.784.4618

ARTICLES, RESOURCES, ETC.
CLICK HERE
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March 19th, 2014

3/19/2014

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West Africa Theological Seminary
Ipaja, Lagos, Nigeria
Thursday March 20, 2014

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As you read this I am in Lagos, Nigeria. Actually, Ipaja - a suburb - where West Africa Theological Seminary is located. Several of you have been there. This makes my 15th trip in the last 4+ years. It is always a reminder to me that God is at work everywhere !  He is certainly at work at WATS.

I am here to work with the staff in the Library, the Administration, and the Faculty on three projects. I will also be meeting with the students in the Masters in Intercultural Studies program focused on Muslim Evangelization.

Over the next three 'postings' I hope to bring you some pictures and stories of what God is doing here. I appreciate your prayers for myself, but even more for all of these dear people who have and are sacrificing so much to answer the call of God.

A friend of mine once told me the difference between a seminary in the US and a seminary in AFRICA is as follows:

In the US  - You get your learnin' - then you get your burnin'. 

In AFRICA - You get your burnin' - then you get your learnin'. 

I hope to tell you some stories of 'the burnin' that is taking place within the lives of these 
God's called servants   - Stay tuned !!

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RIVERS NOT RESERVOIRS
7982 Hillcrest Trail
Jonesboro, Georgia 30236
404.784.4618

ARTICLES, RESOURCES, ETC.
CLICK HERE

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March 15th, 2014

3/15/2014

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Charles E. Lindberg
Cinnamon Rolls
& The Bears

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Another of my father's memories reminding me of the journey we are all on. Enjoy

"To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, 
just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne"  - Rev 3:24
Charles E. Lindberg’s solo flight across the Atlantic was fixed in my memory by the smell of cinnamon rolls. My mother had a few chickens and frequently would sell some eggs to several friends who had standing orders for them. On this particular day my mother had called me in and insisted that I clean up so I would be presentable when I delivered some eggs to the Bears. That almost sounds like the story of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears". The Bears weren't really bears but were actually a couple that lived close by the grain elevator. Mr. Bear was the manager of the elevator and the house they lived in was convenient to his work.

As I delivered the eggs I was invited in and Mrs. Bear who had been baking bread and cinnamon rolls asked me to sit down and have a cinnamon roll. They were just out of the oven and the smell was irresistible. She had a radio playing, and that of itself was quite a novelty because they weren't owned by everyone at that time. At least we didn't have one yet! At that moment the program was interrupted, and the announcer came on with the report that Charles E. Lindberg had just successfully completed his solo crossing of the Atlantic and had landed in Paris, France. I was listening to history but was too young to comprehend the extent of this moment for the future. But the smell of fresh cinnamon rolls still reminds me of that event.

Years later I read Lindberg’s autobiography of his flight. He wrote of the building of the Spirit of St. Louis and the planning that went into fitting it out for the flight. Every single comfort feature was eliminated so that the equivalent weight in gasoline could be added. The plane was loaded to a dangerous overload state to provide enough gas for the perilous journey.

His story told of the dangerous and hazardous take-off and then the flight itself. Before the flight had even begun he had gone many hours without sleep, and because the plane had no guidance system except a compass he had to stay awake until he landed. His greatest problem beginning almost immediately was sleepiness. He recounted that only a few hours into the flight he was fighting to keep his eyes open.

After several perilous escapes when he found himself but a few feet above the waves, he started telling himself that the alternative to staying awake was death and failure.

I won't go into further details of that flight but would suggest to you that for us as Christians in our journey of life which we hope will end in heaven, there are many perils just as there were for Lindberg. 


We are constantly fighting the sleep that wants to overtake us in our flight of service, our chores of obedience, and our love for people. We bow our head and close our eyes to the needs about us and say it is now the turn for someone else. 

But, we have not yet landed, we have not finished or completed our journey. We have not arrived at our destination – Heaven. I am so sleepy! But, there is no alternative for us but to stay awake and keep at the task. The alternative is death and failure.

And to this day, the sweet smell of cinnamon rolls reminds me of Lindberg and the heavenly journey that I am on.  “Lord, keep me awake to the heavenly possibilities so upon my arrival in heaven it may be to
the applause of the crowd of heaven awaiting .


Thanks Dad 
To my earthly one for this reminder
and 
To my heavenly one who keeps me awake !


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RIVERS NOT RESERVOIRS
7982 Hillcrest Trail
Jonesboro, Georgia 30236
404.784.4618

ARTICLES, RESOURCES, ETC.
CLICK HERE

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March 12th, 2014

3/12/2014

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The Love of God
It cannot be measured


Those four letters - Love -  in that four word phrase - The Love of God -
are greater than anything that our human minds can comprehend.

Listen and View the song Below


The Love of God

Written by Frederick M Lehman, 1917.

Verse 3 was penciled on the wall of a narrow room in an 
American insane asylum by a man said to have been demented. 
The profound lines were discovered when they laid him in his coffin.
Verse 1:

The love of God is greater far

Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
and reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled, 
And pardoned from his sin.
Refrain:

Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure-
The saints' and angels' song.
Verse 2:

When hoary time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God's love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong,
Redeeming grace to Adam's race - 
The saints' and angels' song.

Verse 3:

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made.
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

"The love of God, how measureless and strong'

THINK ABOUT IT - MEDITATE ON IT - RECEIVE IT

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RIVER NOT RESERVOIRS
7982 Hillcrest Trail
Jonesboro, Georgia 30236
404.784.4618

ARTICLES, RESOURCES, AUDIOS & VIDEOS
CLICK HERE

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March 08th, 2014

3/8/2014

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TL : DR
“Too Long : Don’t Read”


This is a term from the 'blogosphere'.  Now, be honest, you have been there. You get these ‘epistles’ from guys like Mark – Rivers Not Reservoirs, and others – and you, at best, read a few words – rarely the whole article. 

I am with you. I subscribe to several blog sites, devotionals, and follow others on Twitter, Facebook etc. I could spend my entire day reading ‘all that stuff’. And I choose not to.  No problem !

 But then I asked myself the question – actually, I think God asked me the question:

Am I living my life as a ‘TL:DR Christian’?

Too busy to read the whole chapter of His Word. (It takes TL) 
Too busy to ‘listen’. (It takes TL) 
Too busy to Intercede in prayer (It takes TL)

 Too busy, Too busy, Too busy.  Too busy to _____________ (fill in the blank)

Something to THINK about? 
Probably!
And if I am not too busy - to ACT on!
Hopefully!

I trust this posting was not a TL:DR



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Rivers Not Reservoirs
7982 Hillcrest Trail
Jonesboro, Georgia
404.784.4618
http://www.hisrivers.org

ARTICLES, RESOURCES etc.
CLICK HERE

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March 04th, 2014

3/4/2014

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What's your Mindset

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RIVER?



OR
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RESERVOIR?

“The earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.” 
Psalm 50:1

Simply put, a River doesn’t ‘keep’ anything'. 
A river is merely a channel through which water flows, 
coming from the source on  its way to its destination.

 A Reservoir, however, ‘holds’ the water  from the source, 
and the ‘keeper’ of the reservoir determines its destination. 

In past articles I have quoted theologian Miroslav Volf and his thoughts from his book 
Free of Charge.  I have included some of his thoughts below.

A Reservoir Mindset?
 “But I’ve worked very hard. I’ve learned my multiplication tables and done my piano lessons; I’ve finished college and gotten a fine job; I’ve furnished a house, raised a family, and supported the poor. I’ve received a great deal, but I’ve achieved something too! Though I am not ‘a self-made man’, I’ve made something out of myself! Can’t I give to God from what I myself have attained?.

The very existence of human beings comes from God. We live, not so much on a borrowed, but on a given breath. We work, we create, we give, but the very ability and willingness to work, along with life itself, are gifts from God."

A River Mindset?
"Moreover, these are not just gifts we can take and then run with on our own. They are gifts that, like breath, must be given over and over for us even to exist, let alone accomplish anything. “What do you have that you did not receive?” asked the apostle Paul rhetorically (1 Corinthians 4:7). The answer is: nothing, absolutely nothing.”

“Most of us don’t quite “get” the extent of God’s gift giving, even if we grasp it intellectually. We live more or less like Raleigh Hays, the hero of Michael Malone’s novel Handling Sin. He was a decent citizen and a responsible family man who “obeyed the law and tried to do the right thing” and who thought he had secured for himself the decent middle-class life he led. He was wrong. Through a series of unlikely events, he had to be shaken into awareness that some “grace had given him, for no earthly reason, like surprise presents, everything, absolutely everything, he’d thought he earned, and sustained by his own will, and deserved. To come to believe that God has given us “absolutely everything” is to know what it means that, as creator, God is a giver.”

So, the thought for today?

God is the SOURCE of the ‘flow'  – He is the source of EVERYTHING.

Now, will I be a River or a Reservoir?

This is not a new thought to most of us. Yet, it is a reminder, that I need to
act and obey in response to what I know to do.

‘Lord, may I recognize that you are the ‘giver of all’. 
May I be obedient to be a River and not a Reservoir’.


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Rivers Not Reservoirs
7982 Hillcrest Trail
Jonesboro, Georgia 30236
404.784.4618

ARTICLES, RESOURCES, AUDIO & VIDEO
CLICK HERE


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March 02nd, 2014

3/2/2014

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"Let us therefore come bodily unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need"  Hebrews 4:16

Conduits for Christ


I was recently going through some old books and things from my father. I had forgotten that he had written two short devotional 'books' about his memories and stories of his life. These were self published, but each of them are as precious to me and my siblings, as any NY Times bestseller. The titles are: Living with the Lantern Lit and Keep your candle burning. I began reading through them again, and came to a short one entitled "Conduits for Christ". 

Doesn't that sound an awful lot like "Rivers Not Reservoirs"? You know, my Dad was a pretty smart guy! He was also a Conduit for Christ - a River Not a Reservoir. His article is below. I hope it speaks to you as it did to me. 

Conduits for Christ! 
Letting Him Flow through Us!
"It was only a board but it was an altar where God met me. It was only the steering wheel of my car but it was an altar where God met me. It was only my pillow but it was an altar where God met me. It was a shovel and a pick but it was an altar where God met me.

The most unlikely places have at times been where God moved close and touched my heart. They were times when my heart was reaching out for God. I needed him! I always do, but sometimes I am more aware of my need than at other times. I am more desperate! My human weakness is more apparent. The task or responsibility is greater than I know I can handle. I must go to the source of strength. I must go to the source of wisdom. I must go to the One who will stand with me.

Finally, I came to the place where I realized that any task for God is greater than my human effort can accomplish. I have come to believe that when the awards are given out in heaven it will be 'Well done, as you have allowed me to flow through you. You have been my conduit,' Only when I allow the Holy Spirit complete unrestricted flow through my life will I see the miraculous accomplishments that only He can produce. How foolish we are to think that we can take credit for any of it.

I had a plumbing problem in my little house in Yuma, AZ. When I took out the pipe, I found that it was almost totally closed off by the minerals in the water and was only allowing a tiny stream of water to flow.

Sometimes the carotid arteries taking blood to our brains clog up much the same way as the plumbing in my house. This results in impaired thinking, dizziness, and confusion. We can make irrational and wrong decisions because of it.  

If we are to be the conduits that the Lord wants us to be, it will require the intentional and habitual walking in His presence. It will require the ‘cleaning out’ of the plumbing, and the wrong thinking and it will require intentional frequenting of the "altars" along the journey.

How awesome it is that he has told us to come boldly to him and we will find grace and mercy to help in our time of need. Will you join me in seeking out these 'altars' Will you join me in praying the following:

"Lord flow through me. Flow through me with understanding. Flow through me with compassion. Flow through me with the love that only can come from the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. Clear out of my life anything that would hinder your flow through me.” And make me a ‘Conduit’ of it all. "  


Rev. Elvin D. Leavell  1993

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Rivers Not Reservoirs
7982 Hillcrest Trail
Jonesboro, Georgia 30236
404.784.4618
www.hisrivers.org 


ARTICLES, RESOURCES, AUDIO & VIDEO
CLICK HERE

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    Mark Leavell

    Follower of Christ, Husband, Father, and Grandfather. Mark is the husband of Marybeth, the father of two sons , Alan  (wife Lenore) and John (wife Jen) and 5 Grandchildren. (Brianna, Keegan, Callie, Elijah and Gabriel.) He resides in Jonesboro, Georgia. 

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