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Pastor's Desk
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Unfinished Business ~
I have found over
the course of my 24 years of pastoring that many
people are living with unfinished business in
their lives. I am a living witness that one can
go for years with unfinished business in their
lives. For many years I lived with the traumas
and the hurts of my past haunting me from time
to time especially during those times when I
faced challenges in my life. That unfinished
business surfaced in many ways during those
times when I needed them least to show up.
There was the memory of the violence that I saw
and experienced as I was growing up, I saw the
abuse, the addictions, the discord and
in-fighting in the church, the racism and the
words, yes the hurtful and damaging words that
people say about you, and the evil and devious
deeds of people that hurt so deeply. I learned
how to medicate and stuff my feelings, in fact I
became pretty good at stuffing and ignoring my
feelings. Especially when I was told that
Christians shouldn’t react to life situations
based on their feelings. But the ironic part of
that is there were still those times of outrage
and very deep anger that were a direct result of
feelings and emotions. Interestingly enough,
this type of reaction also causes one to make
unwise decisions and choices in their lives and
I was no exception. I compensated by moving to
the opposite end of the spectrum where I made
myself to be very calloused and passive about
life situations and lived on the energy that it
produced.
It was through
various close friends, caring people, even
strangers, and my wife who helped walk with me
on this journey through to my healing. I can
now look back over my life’s experiences and
because of what I have been through, am able to
reach back and help others deal with the pain in
their lives and see them be healed. This
journey is what “Man-Up” is all about, to
provide a caring, listening support system for
people, where they will not be judged,
criticized or categorized for who and what they
share about themselves. But it is a place and
time for those who want to complete the business
in their lives to come and be made whole.
I believe that the
more people who complete the business in their
lives and who are supported by those who are
internally healthy, the more we will see a
decline in Domestic Violence, Gang Violence and
any other type of Violence and oppressive
behaviors against others.
“Man-up”
is a mentor-protégé type of relationship where
we do our main work in small focus groups called
Huddles. The huddles are conducted in two
phases, the first phase is the open, candid and
intimate conversations, it is a time or
releasing and letting go, and the second phase
is the prayer and meditations with and within
the support group.
Man-Up is open to
everybody regardless of age, sex, gender,
religion, race, ethnicity or any other
classification that someone may choose. We have
both men and women’s huddles. We include
everybody and exclude nobody.
We want and
welcome both the people who are still dealing
with their “Unfinished Business”
and those who have walked the road to healing,
who can help others through the process. If you
have or have had any
unfinished business in your life, Man-Up
is for you.
Pastor Cliff
Chappell, M.Div.
St. Johns all Nations Church Of God In Christ
9486 N. Buchanan Ave., Portland, OR 97203
Co-Director -
L.E.A.P. of Faith
Advisory Council Member – New Wine New Wineskins
360-281-5205
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