The Clearing Podcast - Where Eagles Fly

In my writing, I try to present our Christian history as a readable story. But it is more than a story. It is fact. Stuff God did. History confirmed by historians.

And that is just why I hope you will read my books, Glory Through Time–because all my stories are footnoted, and you can track my stories back to the historical research on which they are based. I believe God has led historians to research different episodes in our history, so that I could come along and string together their discoveries into a flowing story of the kingdom of God. This has been for me a great adventure of discovery. How exciting it was for me, when I stumbled across Stephen Tomkins’ book, The Clapham Sect and Owen Muelder’s book, Theodore Dwight Weld and the American Anti-Slavery Society. These books, available on Amazon’s Kindle, were like opening a doorway into an underground cavern full of long-lost treasures.

Look at this video today as a treasure map I’m giving you, and Glory Through Time Vol. 2, pages 300-400 are a pathway to the writings of these historians–and I do hope that some of you will discover these hidden treasures for yourself. Here’s the insight that I value, and I now give to you–that Jesus and the Holy Spirit have repeatedly transformed the world in which we live–and exhibit #1 is this–in the fullness of time the King directed His people to destroy the institution of slavery.

~Douglas~

My mentor, back in 1983, explained how the Second Great Awakening produced the emancipation of slaves during the nineteenth century. Yet very few writers today seem aware of that, so I have devoted a good deal of Glory Through Time detailing how this happened. My goal is to show Jesus Himself at the center of our history. The emancipation of slaves is a prime illustration of the transformational power of the Holy Spirit, working in THIS world. This video is the second in a series about how Jesus inspired the abolition movement, followed by the emancipation of slaves worldwide. Jesus sets people free.

We seem to have the idea today that Jesus is mainly good for getting people into heaven after you die. But, strictly speaking, that is not the Gospel of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God is the transformation of the earth INTO a heavenly place. That is what Jesus specifically asked us to pray for, and that is why Jesus is returning at the end of the age–“to restore all things” (Acts 3:19-21)–meaning, redeeming all Creation to become as God originally intended before Adam messed it up in league with Satan. At a certain point in the progress of Kingdom history, Jesus decided to challenge the worldwide slave industry. It didn’t fit His plans for THIS world.

If we are believers, it is important that we get our history right.

~Douglas~

Jesus the Emancipator – 1

We fight demonic deception by telling the truth. One of the great deceptions of our time is this: “Christianity is the religion of slavery.” This lie comes from the tragedy of Christians buying and selling slaves in this country. However, at that time, the buying and selling of slaves was practically universal among all nations and peoples–a fact supported by the historians who have studied and written about slavery–like Mark Meltzer and Sean Stillwell.

The reality is that something happened around the year 1800 to transform the world out of slavery. That thing was: The Second Great Awakening. What caused this great awakening? King Jesus did. It was a feature of Kingdom advance in Britain and the U.S. Jesus decided it was time to get rid of the international slave industry that had bedeviled the whole world for centuries.

In the next few newsletters, I would like to summarize what I have written in Glory Through Time about the abolition and emancipation movements, and their roots in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

To introduce this subject, I deal with the issue of why we are so often blinded from seeing what Jesus does in answer to our prayer–“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” –And why, even when we see these things, we are so quick to forget the role that Jesus has had in transforming the nations. If Jesus hadn’t done these things, we would have very few of the blessings we take for granted today.

The Power to Transform

American Christianity has chosen to focus on two of the promises Jesus gave us:

God, all along, has had a transformative impact on our world, and especially on the U.S.A., which has experienced an unbroken chain of transformational Revival tides from the start.

And by the way, I am looking for people who will review Glory Through Time Volume 2: The Forgotten Legacy of Transformational Revivals, on Amazon. And if the price that my publisher is asking for this book is too much for you, just write to me and I’ll return half, if you will write me a review. It would mean a lot to me to get your feedback.

~Doug~

IT’S BIGGER THAN YOU THINK

Most of us know that Jesus came to save us for eternal life in heaven, so that we might live and not die. And that is the starting point for most of us in our understanding of the Gospel. And yet there is so much more to it, that you hardly ever hear mentioned in Church. God’s plans are higher, bigger, more complicated, more beautiful and more complete that any of us can possibly imagine.

Doug

WHAT ABOUT CESSATIONISM?

During my research for Glory Through Time, Vol. Two, I ran into something that really surprised, even shocked me, because it was so unexpected. I discovered a powerful outpouring of a spirit of prophecy during the Scottish Reformation. I describe this in Volume Two, Chapters 1-10.

I had been taught that the leaders of the Church of Scotland in the 16th and 17th centuries were cessationists, being followers of John Calvin, who has always been presented to me as the author of cessationist doctrine. Yet the picture I was uncovering from that period of time did not match what I had been taught.

Cessationism is the belief that God decided to cut off the gifts of the Spirit after the Bible itself was completed, under the theory that “Christians don’t need the gifts of the Spirit today–we have the Bible now, and that is good enough.” Could it be that John Calvin was not really the die-hard cessationist that he is often portrayed to be? In my search for the truth, I discovered that he was not! This video explains the evidence.

I am not so much interested in stirring up doctrinal controversy. My interest is simply to ask: what did God do to advance the kingdom of God throughout the centuries? My hope is to put God squarely in the center of our story. Cessationist doctrine does not fit the picture of history that emerges from eyewitness testimony. I like to say, The mighty deeds of God are as factual as the Great Wall of China, and Abraham Lincoln’s beard. Did God cease doing anything after the Bible came into being? Look at the facts. Read Glory Through Time.

Once again, I am inviting you not only to read my books, the Glory Through Time books; but I am inviting you to sign up for my class this fall, which begins next week on Monday the 11th, and ends the first week of December. My hope is that you will be intrigued about the whole idea that we can study the mighty deeds of God, who has revealed His transformational power throughout the centuries. There have been surprisingly few people who have written about this.

In this video, I share my motivation in devoting so much of my life to studying the mighty deeds of a sovereign God.

In this video, I share my motivation in devoting so much of my life to studying the mighty deeds of a sovereign God. If you are interested in signing up for my class, here is the information you will need:

Please send your emails [email protected] if you have any further questions.

This will be a deep dive into how the Holy Spirit has moved throughout the ages to transform nations. I believe God has prepared me to help train a future generation to lead a great Revival tide by clueing people in to the vast history of God’s interventions into our world.

Dougl McMurry

Greetings,

Today I am announcing my entry into the world of Zooming professors. Beginning Sept. 11, 2023 I will become a professor in a new school just three years old, the River City School in Richmond, Virginia, an institute that encourages and trains Spirit-filled leaders. The founder of this school, Pastor Steve Stells is an old friend–we used to pray a good deal over Richmond. Both of us pastors had a vision higher than just building a successful church. We wanted to see the kingdom of God advanced in the city, so we prayed over the city, and got close to each other in the process.

When he discovered that I had written two books, Glory Through Time, Vol. One and Two, he asked me if I would teach a class, “History of Holy Spirit Movements.” So that is what I will do beginning this September.

If, after watching my video about this, you would like to sign up for my class, here is the information:

The River City website: https://rivercityschool.com/

The Admissions process: https://rivercityschool.com/apply-now/admissions/

Fall courses: https://rivercityschool.com/academics/next-semester/

This will be a deep dive into how the Holy Spirit has moved throughout the ages to transform nations. I believe God has prepared me to help train a future generation to lead a great Revival tide by clueing people in to the vast history of God’s interventions into our world.

~Doug McMurry~

First Nations

This month I am sharing with you, my friends around the world, how I became involved in praying for the First Nations of America across the continent.

For Carla and me, though, God gave a unique twist to that calling beginning in 1991–when God appointed us to pray for the Native American tribes. This video tells that story, and then next month I will try to tell how I see God answering those prayers today among the tribes.

By the way, my new book, Glory Through Time, Vol. Two, is about to receive a facelift. The people who are responsible for advertizing it on TBN decided it needed a different cover for the TV coverage, so they are designing that different cover this week, and the book may look a little different on Amazon later this month. That’s the thing I like about Trilogy books: they really do publish a book–letting people around the world know about it on TV. They do a better job of this than any other publisher I’ve worked with. I thank God for them.

–Doug

In this video, I describe the value of transformational Revivals, a piece of our history that has been terribly neglected by most historians–and as a result, most Christians are unaware of the importance of the great outpourings of the Holy Spirit. And as a result most Christians have not prayed for future outpourings of the Spirit. It is an area of blindness.

And while I’m at it, let me announce the first of several book-signing events I plan for this summer, to celebrate the publication of Glory Through Time, Volume Two: The Forgotten Legacy of Transformational Revivals. It will take place this Sunday June 4th, 2023 at my home church, The River Church in Toano, Virginia. It will be just after worship at about noon. I will have all my books available as well as my stoneware pottery (Doug’s Mugs). The River Church Toano is at 8824 Richmond Rd, Toano, VA 23168.

If you live in the area, I’d love to see you.

If you can’t make it, there will be other opportunities later in the month of June. In fact, if you would like to host a book-signing event and you live in Virginia, let me know of your interest.

I have also scheduled a second event at The BARN – 800 Broad St Rd, Manakin-Sabot, VA 23103 (Goochland, Virginia) Wednesday JUNE 14th, at 6 p.m., hosted by my friend, Rob Rhoden.

Sincere Thanks,