A Week at The Stillpoint

I read a definition one time about the difference between a genius and a prophet. Both are valuable. Both play important roles in our world. But they play different roles. Here’s how they differ: A genius appeared on the scene and said, “I have created something that has never been.” A prophet, on the other hand, appears on the scene and says, “You’ve heard it said, and I insist.”

We might have different examples of the genius and the prophet. I’d list Mozart as a musical genius. He took the eight notes of a musical scale and created music with them that no one else had ever done. We are grateful for his creative genius.

I’d list Martin Luther King as a prophet for justice. He took a statement that existed before him: all people are created equal. And then he insisted that it become true for all people. Slowly the world began to change underneath the weight of his prophetic power.

I've been thinking about these distinctions since joining the Oasis Rest mission at The Stillpoint. Oasis Rest existed before we moved to The Stillpoint. It’s a global ministry that existed long before we'd ever heard of it, built on prophetic power. What it says to leaders is simple, and straightforward: “You’ve heard it said that leaders should pause and rest. And we insist this must be.” The casualties among leaders who never pause are real and many, in their hearts, marriages, and in the organizations they lead. Oasis Rest’s offers an almost absurdly simple solution: Step back from the work of ministry for a few days. Rest. And we’ll provide a place to do it at no cost to you. Get there, and everything else is on us.

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Here’s why this is a powerful, classic prophetic mission: Oasis Rest did not create the idea that rest is good for the soul of leaders. They have merely taken an original idea found in the Word of God and turned it into a modern-day renewal opportunity for leaders who are running on fumes.

The idea that humans should rest is found in the first words of scripture. We read that God rested after the work of creation (Genesis 2:2). The necessity of resting so that life does not come apart was codified into moral necessity in the ten great words given to Moses in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. In a list cautioning humans against all manner of evil was the fourth word: take a God-like rest and don’t overwork. This fourth word was an antidote to the ideas floating around the Near East world surrounding Israel about humans and deities. In other religions of that time and place, humans were created as relief labor for tired deities. Scripture sets the record straight. God rested. And then he handed to humans the same delicious gift.

Later, the Psalmist imagined a world falling apart with all manner of calamity. In the middle of that broken world came the famous call to inaction: be still (Psalm 46). And the Psalmist also lauded the leadership acumen of God, the good shepherd, who guided us into rest in quiet green pastures (Psalm 23).

Even the great prophet, Isaiah got in on this idea. Here are his powerful words: “This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘Only in…resting in me will you be saved. In quietness…is your strength. But you would have none of it’” (Isaiah 30:15).

But the power of rest reaches a crescendo in the life and example of Jesus. His great invitation which in many ways seems like the heart of the heart of the gospel was simple and direct: “Come to me all who are weary and I’ll give you rest.” And he didn’t just speak about this. He acted on it in tangible ways. One busy day of ministry where his followers didn’t even have time to eat, he quieted the frenzy of the crowds and said to his depleted followers, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile” (Mark 6:31).

Modern brain science confirms what scripture insisted on four thousand years ago. Chronic, unrelieved stress physically changes the brain. It reduces decision-making functions and weakens self-control. It keeps our brain’s threat-detection system stuck on danger. Brain scientists now describe rest not an an option when you can manage to find time for it, but as a biological necessity. Here is what we can see: none of this is a new discovery. It’s a rediscovery, several thousand years behind what scripture was trying to tell us about the power of rest.

There is no doubt that the idea of rest is genius. God created it. And in our time, Oasis Rest said something profound: “Let’s offer that to exhausted and depleted leaders of ministry and mission. Let’s give a no-cost opportunity to leaders to take a break, rest, and learn how to take some of that rest back with them when they return to their places of mission and work.”

Every Oasis Rest site offers rest. Each site goes about it in different ways. At The Stillpoint, we don’t create stillness. We simply take advantage of the natural quiet zones that surround us. We point to trails where you can walk for miles in silence, surrounded by beauty. And when bodies, minds and spirits finally start to settle, there's room to explore how the Spirit of God wants to heal the wounds picked up in the work of ministry and leadership.

Nine months ago I resigned from decades of serving as a pastor, not to leave ministry, but to join a mission that has been built on a powerful prophetic mission: “You’ve heard it said that we should rest. And we insist.”

Gratefully,

— Gene

If you want more information about how an Oasis Rest might be exactly what your soul, marriage, and ministry needs, you can find out more here. If you want to find out how you can reserve space at The Stillpoint in 2027, you can find out more here.