“The only way for us to get into God’s future is to get God’s future into us,” proclaimed Dan Boone, president of Trevecca Nazarene University, during Monday evening’s opening plenary service. Boone, a descendant of the American frontiersman Daniel Boone, proved an able explorer as he guided the assembly into the unfamiliar territory of God’s future. Using Revelation 11:15-18 and 21:1-5 as starting points, Boone explained God calls us into a redemptive partnership to create a new future.

Boone contrasted this call by showing a video parody of ESPN’s World Strongest Man competition, which showed pastors laboring to singlehandedly pull large freight trucks. Boone explained that the burden of ministry can feel like the weight of the world. “How much more can you pull than what you are pulling right now?” asked Boone.

“We are always looking for ways to energize the clergy,” related Boone, but he explained that having an eschatology, a vision of God’s future reconciliation, will provide us with all the energy we need to lead with hope. “It is a magnetic pull that is full of divine energy.”

Boone went on to share how a vision of God’s future is what prompted Martin Luther King,Jr. to compose his famous “I have a Dream” speech. In a time of weakness and lack of courage, God’s vision of the future helped King stand up for righteousness.

Boone ended the service by sharing a transforming experience which happened during a 1968 General Assembly World Mission service. He participated in a teen choir which sang, We Shall Walk through the Valley of Peace. “I remember that was the night the Church of the Nazarene gave me an eschatology, a picture of the future,” proclaimed Boone. He shared how that kind of hope is what the world needs to hear.

The service ended with Dan Copp, Clergy Development director, asking for those who felt a call to the ministry to come forward. General Superintendent Paul Cunningham prayed for those that came forward, affirming and confirming their call to ministry.