Welcome to The Oak Project, A space where I share my reflections, ideas and stories as I enter a phase in my life where it’s about rebuilding things that had been broken long before I knew they were there.
The name the oak project comes from a part in Isaiah 61:3 that reads;
They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendour.
Now the whole of Isaiah 61 is a foundational scripture for me because it carries the promise that has seen me through some tough patches in life even before I recommitted my life to Jesus and knew what I know now. As I heal and rebuild myself by the grace of God, I want to invite you to grab on to a story, a reflection or a conversation that you resonate with and find your way into your own rebuilding season.
We were not created to mourn forever or wallow in despair. We were created to rule and have dominion over creation, to display the glory of God and to stand tall as beacons of light in our communities. I hope and pray you find the story, reflection, observation or conversation that will catalyse your move from victim to victor.
Love Always,
Often I have asked, where Gods heart is in the matter. It is Jesus who says, ‘come to me all you who are heavy laden’… and I have seen the weight that those that have come out to me carry. The self-hate, the self-erasure the insecurity… they have been fighting so hard just to exist within themselves, I have no heart to add the weight of shallow prejudice on their backs. Truth be told, I want to hug and hide you in places where nothing can come at you anymore, where maybe, Jesus can do what he intended to do when he invited us who carry heavy burdens to come to him. Yes I include myself in this story because I also carry the kind of identity shattering brokenness, it’s just that these things show up in different ways and we really aren’t that different. I believe strongly that God will move in big ways within this and many other marginalized communities because, that’s who He is.
The sad part of this situation is that the endemic silence of the church over times past when her voice was needed the most, and then followed by a slow and steady dilution of the word and reverence for the word and for the name of Jesus, have played a major role in the mockery... The other thing about this wave of mockery is that it is a sign of the times both within the church and outside the church
The prophet Elijah is known for speaking truth to power. The truth is, that things are not well. The fathers have spat on and cursed their children, the children have run away from home and only come back to destroy and take what they were denied in their youth. And here remember I am talking to every parent, every father in the land, every leader who has had people or a people entrusted to them. Take a break from finger pointing and take a long hard look at yourself. Hard conversations need to be had
Was my coming into this world such a terrible burden and you couldn’t bring yourself to admit it? I get it, there’s a way a man is expected to be… but a child always sees beyond the veil of expectations despite the lack of language to express it.