CIRCUIT RIDE II-C: LAST MINUTE UPDATE

So here we are, boys and girls, on the Eve of my launch of the completion of my Second Circuit Ride to the Great Northwest Territories (been watching a lot of ‘Wagon Train’ lately). I am strongly sensing your prayers, so thank you for that great thrust forward.

Here are a few reminders.

GROUND RULES. A few Protocols that have developed over the 8,000 miles or so logged thus far, that include the following considerations.

• VISITS. If you desire a visit from me, EMAIL OR TEXT ME (Name, Address, Cell Phone) to make adequate plans to stop and stay in your town for the night. I normally pre-book a motel room in the area and pay it myself.

• SIZE. I can meet with individuals or small groups of folks, depending on your particular location and preference. If there are a few friends in your area, it is a great idea to coordinate with them for a one-time early evening meeting.

• PLACE. It has worked wonderfully to meet at a local restaurant, since I love to eat at the end of a long day on the road. PREFERENCES: Noodles; Cracker Barrell; Panera; MacDonald’s; Chick-fil-A; KFC; Taco Bell.

• COVID-19. Except for medical exceptions or emergencies, I will generally not meet with The Unvaccinated. Though deaths and hospitalizations are way down, and I just received my Pfizer Booster #2, I still need to take precautions and stand on the ‘Love Your Neighbor Principle’ – “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” – JESUS OF NAZARETH, MARK 12:31

• CDC UPDATE. COVID-19 as of June 1, 2022, is six times higher than this time last year (Colorado, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada and Utah). MONKEY POX ALERT. “The Outbreak, which has already resulted in over 200 confirmed and over 100 suspected cases in over 20 different countries has prompted the Center for Disease Control to move its travel advisory from Level 1 to Level 2. ALERT LEVEL 2 corresponds to ‘Practice Enhanced Precautions.’

TENTATIVE ITINERARY. Below is my proposed Travel Schedule, state by state. NOTE: I will be traveling through SIX (6) HIGH INCIDENCE STATES. Therefore, intercede accordingly by this Common Prayer for Travels.

PSALM 91:4-6, AMPC. “[Then] He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust and find refuge; His truth and His faithfulness are a shield and a buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of the arrow (the evil plots and slanders of the wicked) that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor of the destruction and sudden death that surprise and lay waste at noonday.”

• WED JUNE 1: NEBRASKA. I know at least one Fellowship family that I will visit in central Nebraska for an overnight stay (Mason City).

• THU JUNE 2: IOWA. I plan to visit another Fellowship family on my second night, located again in the south-central part of the state (Pleasant Hill).

• FRI JUNE 3: THE DAKOTAS. So far, I have no one scheduled to visit in either of these two states or that region.

• SAT JUNE 4: MONTANA. I have plans to lay over one night to visit friends who I mentored a bit before they married. An Air Force helicopter pilot and his wife (Great Falls).

• SUN JUNE 5 – WASHINGTON STATE. Have plans already to stay in Washington near the Coast (sort of) for the night to visit with two Fellowship friends (Kent).

• MON JUNE 6: OREGON-NEVADA. Will stop for a visit with a friend and grad from my Regent University days in Oregon (Portland). Then on to overnight in Nevada to visit a Focus on the Family mom and her kids (Reno).

• TUE-WED JUNE 7-8: NO. CALIFORNIA. Plans to visit the elderly wife of the man who mentored me in the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship International. Will also visit my wife’s Filipino relatives there for another day (Stockton).

• THU-FRI JUNE 9-10: SO. CALIFORNIA-ARIZONA. Possible stop to see an old high school friend (San Diego). Then on to visit a Fellowship friend in either California or Arizona, depending on schedules and availability (Joshua Tree or Bullhead City).

• SAT JUNE 11: NEW MEXICO. Rest and recovery on the way home somewhere in the state for a layover in the north country, hopefully (Santa Fe).

• SUN JUNE 12: COLORADO! Home the next day to prepare for some medical tests that are pretty important on the following Wednesday June 15. Prayers very welcome for this as well.

FRANCIS ASBURY. So that’s it. I am truly looking forward to this Next Ride, since I so strongly sense that both the Lord and we all are in it together. A favorite Graphic chosen for this announcement is that of the intrepid, Francis Asbury, “America’s Bishop,” arguably the most successful Circuit Rider in American History who nearly single-handedly inspired the Second Great Awakening.

Methodist author and youth pastor JEREMY STEELE offers us “10 FACTS” about Bishop Asbury worth noting as we begin to close (‘UMC Resource,’ ret. May 30, 2022; edited). NOTE: These men were largely Dissidents from the Anglican Church, in their pursuit of Methodism, a legacy of sorts The Remnants always share.

1. HAD LITTLE FORMAL EDUCATION BUT FOUNDED SEVERAL SCHOOLS. Asbury was born into a working-class family in England. Though he learned to read the Bible by age 7, he had to drop out of formal education at age 12. While he was not as well educated as many of his peers in the early Methodist movement, he nonetheless valued education highly and founded several schools in North America. Asbury was also a pioneer in the Sunday school movement that sought to provide education to children who would not have access to it otherwise. He started the first Sunday school in North America in Hanover County, Virginia.

2. WAS A BAD PREACHER. According to John Wigger, author of “American Saint: Francis Asbury and the Methodists,” Asbury was a terrible preacher. This is particularly interesting as Asbury lived in a time when Methodist pastors were judged primarily on their ability to speak in public. Rather than being eloquent, his sermons were disjointed and almost impossible to follow. This lack of ability and comfort with public speaking extended to the annual conference gatherings. Addressing a room full of preachers intimidated him. He shied away from the spotlight in those settings (cf. Communication Reticence research).

3. REJECTED WESLEY’S ORDINATION AS GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT. In 1784, John Wesley ordained Thomas Coke as General Superintendent (later to be called Bishop) and sent him to North America with instructions to ordain Asbury also as a General Superintendent. Asbury rejected the idea. He asserted that the Methodists in America were founding an independent denomination and its leaders needed to echo the Democratic Ethos in the emerging American culture. To that end, Coke and Asbury gathered all the Methodist preachers at a general conference in Baltimore that Christmas. Those gathered voted to form an independent church and elected Coke and Asbury (Co-Superintendent and Bishop) as its leaders.

4. LIVED A LIFE OF VOLUNTARY POVERTY. Asbury rarely owned much more than he could carry on horseback and fought to keep the wages for the Methodist ministers low. His own salary never rose above $80 a year. He believed that voluntary poverty kept him honest and practiced consistency. He took this to the extreme, often setting off on a journey without enough money to complete it trusting that God would supply what he needed. He once set out on a trip from New York to Boston refusing to take more than three dollars with him. This voluntary poverty shielded him against criticism especially during his later years when Methodist ministers began to be more affluent.

5. TRAVELED OVER 130,000 MILES. Asbury was relentless in his quest to spread scriptural holiness across the entirety of North America. To that end, he rode over 130,000 miles [about 5,200 days on horseback, or 14.24 years traveling], crisscrossing the Appalachian mountains 60 times on horseback. His drive and commitment continued until the end when he would still outpace ministers less than half his age.

6. LACK OF A PRIVATE LIFE UNDERSCORED HIS PIETy. Asbury’s life of simplicity and extensive travel meant he spent most of his days on horseback and most of his nights as a house guest. This underscores the legitimacy of the claims of his piety as everyday people saw him in his weakest moments when he was tired, sick or both. Though Asbury lived his life with little privacy or time out of the public eye, people continually remarked on his ‘holiness’ – i.e., he indeed practiced what he preached. His life didn’t change when he left the pulpit and went home.

7. WAS MORE WIDELY RECOGNIZED THAN EITHER THOMAS JEFFERSON OR GEORGE WASHINGTON. Due to his wide and frequent travels to even the most remote parts of the Frontier, more people would recognize Asbury on the street than Thomas Jefferson or George Washington. “Landlords, lords and tavern keepers knew him on sight in every region, and parents named more than a thousand children after him,” John Wiggers writes (‘American Saint,’ 2009).

8. ASBURY BROKE DOWN RACIAL AND GENDER BARRIERS. One of the most incredible things that Asbury accomplished was tearing down the walls of separation between the Gospel of freedom and those who were less than free in early America. Throughout his ministry, Asbury made places for men and women regardless of race or social standing to exhort believers, pray and even preach (he hated Slavery). His readiness to challenge the status quo was not without its complications, but his willingness to stand up for justice was central in empowering Richard Allen and James Varrick to found African-American branches of Methodism.

9. HIS WAS THE 15TH EQUESTRIAN STATUE UNVEILED IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

Asbury’s influence was celebrated by President Calvin Coolidge on Oct. 15, 1924, when an equestrian statue was unveiled in his honor. It was the 15th such statue in the nation’s Capital. Previous ones depicted the likes of George Washington and Joan of Arc. On that day, President Coolidge said, “How many temples of worship dot our landscape; how many institutions of learning, some of them rejoicing in the name of Wesley, all trace the inspiration of their existence to the sacrifice and service of this ‘lone circuit rider!’ He is entitled to rank as one of the builders of our nation.”

10. DURING HIS LEADERSHIP, AMERICAN METHODISM GREW FROM 600 TO OVER 200,000. Asbury was 26 when he answered the call from John Wesley to come to North America as a missionary. When he arrived in 1771, the Methodists were a small group. Through his incredible dedication that led to preaching over 10,000 sermons and ordaining over 2,000 preachers, those ranks swelled to over 200,000 people in North America by the time he died. One out of every 36 Americans in that day called themselves Methodists.

CODA. Some still wonder why I teach and preach so furiously. Perhaps part of the answer is found in a telling quote from Bishop Asbury: “Preach as if you had seen Heaven and its celestial inhabitants, and had hovered over the Bottomless Pit, and beheld the tortures, and heard the groans of the damned.”

A PSALM OF DEDICATION. Just this morning, once again, I was led to a passage that fits this mission of ours like a sacerdotal glove.

“Through and with God we shall do valiantly [by the Captain of the Host], for He it is Who shall tread down our adversaries.” – PSALM 108:13, AMPC

We are so very near to the End of the Age, beloved. I can simply do no other. It is what has been appointed to me by the One who sends me. God help me to never fail Him or you in this priceless charge. DK

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