Our Point Of Origin

On June 4, 1851, three men laid a stone in the west hills of Portland, Oregon that would later become known as the Willamette Stone. The Willamette Stone was used as the initial point of reference for all future land survey measurements taken in Oregon, Washington and parts of western Idaho.  This expanse of land was known as the Oregon Territory.   Present day surveyors still use these early survey notes to locate old boundary markers and to settle current land disputes.

As I studied the history of the Willamette Stone, I couldn’t help but make application to where some of the Western Church finds itself today.  We were birthed in the supernatural.  Signs, wonders and miracles became the survey marker points of our advancement through the unbelieving cultures of the first century.  This Early Church lived in an expectancy of the unexpected and when something supernatural took place their location in relationship to the original marker set on the Day of Pentecost was confirmed.

I had to ask myself, “Today, what are we using as our point of reference?”  I believe our spiritual Willamette Stone is the same one used by the Early Church.  It would have been the Day of Pentecost when the Spirit laid down the original marker and said, “Come back to this point and take all your future measurements from what happened on this day.”

All that we do today must have a point of reference outside our current experience. Without this initial marker we will eventually lose our way. If we have the courage to take this kind of measurement we will find out if what we possess really belongs to us.