Page 30 - 2018 Annual Report | Catalyst Magazine

uates who want to spend a summer, semester, or year grounding them- selves in the Word to have a Biblical lter before entering college; individu- als called to ministry and want practi- cal ministry training; and laymen who want to take their depth and intimacy with Jesus and their Biblical under- standing to another level. Summer in- ternships, much like the original evan- gelist intern program Stephen began, are still available for those who desire to spend a summer immersing them- selves in the Word of God and learn- ing servant-hearted ministry through practical hands-on experience.Stephen, now in his 70s, has joked that he has been doing things backwards. Often pastors retire into evangelism but he has been slowly moving out of evangelism to become a full-time pas- tor. Stephen still travels in evangelism, averaging one meeting a month and several camps throughout the sum- mer, but his focus has become the church, school, and community with- in Lebanon, Tennessee. If you were to ask him when he might consider retir- ing for good, he would respond with a smirk and tell you it will never happen. And after a lifetime of full-time min- istry, you might think burnout might become an issue, but long ago Ste- phen found the solution for burnout: getting into the Word of God. As he says, you never hear a pastor or lead- er express how exhausted he/she is, and follow that with “let me tell you of the riches I’ve been discovering in the Word, how Jesus has been trans- forming my life, and the intimacy I’ve been experiencing with Him.” Burnout is impossible when one’s life is built upon the foundation of the Word and intimacy with Jesus.For Stephen, his life is wrapped up in a total saturation of Jesus and the Wordof God. Time in the Word is more than an activity or duty to schedule in his day. It is the delight of his heart and the focus throughout his day because it draws him deeper into intimacy with Jesus Christ. He wants his “mo- ment-by-moments” saturated with the Person of Jesus and the Word. He longs for Jesus to ever increase and expand in and through His life.Stephen’s life, testimony, and preach- ing has been used throughout the last six decades to touch, in uence, and transform the lives of countless peo- ple around the world. But in honest humility, Stephen downplays himself in order to lift up and “push” Jesus. His life is not his own; it is the stage upon which Christ acts, the glove Jesus wears, the voice through which Jesus proclaims Himself to the world, the hands Jesus uses to touch, minister, and love a hurting and needy world. Stephen is a Jesus pusher. He has no other focus than Christ.“Jesus is present in every situation of my life. There is no conversation in which I do not feel His presence. He participates in all my recreation. He is everywhere I go. Who would want to be without Him? He is the protec- tion for my life. He is the fragrance I constantly smell. He is the ow of my spiritual blood giving me life. He is my constant nutrition making me healthy. I cannot survive without Him. I am a Jesus pusher!!!!I want to push Him on you. I want you to join me in this obsession. You do not have to work at it; it is not a discipline. It is as natural as breathing. Please let Him pull you to His heart.”–Stephen Manley*Article written by Nathan Johnson and Jeremiah Bolich *30 CITYLIGHT | CROSS STYLE | ECUMENICAL CHURCH & UNIVERSITYSTEPHEN MANLEY