The Comfort of Status Quo

It has been very interesting just to see the changes and listen to the stories of what has been happening at Sefton Village in the last 6 months. It has been quite an adventure for our staff, I can tell you! They have had to make decisions, and stand by them, all by themselves.

I must say, at this point, that it seems as if there have been no major problems at Sefton. I mean, Sefton is still here, no buildings have been burned to the ground, no terrorists have kidnapped anyone and no-one has been injured or killed in the last 6 months. Praise God! In fact, generally we are very happy with the way that we find Sefton Village. The teams have done very well and I think they have grown a lot in the process. We are very proud of them if truth be told.

The Children's Home had a bit of a scare in October, and faced the possibility of closure .. all because of an administrative misunderstanding. But Marilyn and Brenda (a lovely lady from Singapore who has been here to help us) handled the situation with grace and a solution was found. The School has run very smoothly and the teachers have overcome every challenge.

The Bible School has been through the mill a wee bit. I left and Pastor Abe died on the same night. Pastor Angel was left holding the ropes, but I must say that he, along with Pastor James Bastian (our Administrator and temporary Dean) have done an exceptional job. I came home to find a great group of students who have a heart to serve the Lord.

Cornerstone Church, well this is an interesting one. When I left we had a definite vision from the Lord and we were heading a certain direction. There were some key things that the Lord had shown us and, even though it was 'out of our box' and slightly different to most churches around here, we believed that this was the way forward. I left the team with clear directions and instructions, both for the church's vision and for their own personal development.

The comfort of safeness. What dangerous few words. If you take an elastic band and stretch it, you will find that it's length and capacity is much greater. But if you release the tension or just let go, it will become just an ordinary small elastic band. That's what's happened at Cornerstone. The team have gone into maintenance mode and have embraced safety. It is far easier and, to be honest, many many churches are in maintenance mode or walking in safety; very few are really stretched and walking in a consistent and revelatory vision.

I went to church on Sunday morning. On first glance, it looks great for a 2 year old church. Good number of people there (around 150-180 between both services), good praise and worship - our young people now play every instrument and all of our original musicians have trained someone to take their place - the message was good. But I knew, deep in my heart, that things are not where they should be.

So, when I talked to the leaders at our meeting yesterday, they shared with me that it was much easier for them to maintain the church until 'Pastor Mark' comes back. Everything is still going on - the feeding programmes, the Powerhouse, Jail ministries, Youth, Mens/Womens Ministry etc., but the fresh vision stopped when I left. They wanted to put the church in the freezer until I returned. But you cannot freeze something that is alive and growing!

So now we seek the Lord for what He wants again. I think the Team have learned many things in the last few days. We prayed together and cried together yesterday. We will continue to build a Church for the Lord's glory.

How about you, how about your church. In the UK, many homes undergo safety checks. Many computer have virus safety checks. We have car safety checks. If we did a safety check on your church, how would it fare? Here are some of the questions we could ask:

1. What is the vision of your church? Is it written down, communicated and prayed about?

2. When is the last time God asked you to do something new ... and you did it?

3. Do you have a book or list of prophetic words or vision that the Lord has shown you?

4. Is your church an exciting place to be, where you don't know what is going to happen .. or is it programmed and 'same old same old'

5. When is the last time you tried .. and failed?

6. Are you walking in a progressive vision or walking in the comfort of safety?

Same in our personal lives. Twelve men saw Jesus on the water; only one went and did something that seemed impossible. Eleven men kept themselves dry; one almost drowned. Eleven men believed with their head; one trusted with his heart. Eleven men saw Jesus; one man believed in Him. Eleven men thought and remained; one thought and walked. Eleven men saw a miracle; one man experiences a miracle. Eleven men congratulated themselves on a logical and ordinary decision to the call; one man encouraged himself to walk towards an extra-ordinary calling. Eleven men watched; one man walked.

Living by faith is so easy to say but unbelievably hard to do. I know very few who truly live by faith. We all have our safety nets and excuses. Me included. But God is looking for those who will seek Him, receive a vision and dream from him and run with it. People who will be stretched. Who will leave the safety of the boat and what they have experienced.

In truth, I am not too discouraged about the church. In some ways I expected it to have changed. We are not where we should be, but we are not as bad as we could be, but by God's grace and strength, we will go where we are called to be. What we have to do now is repair the sails, encourage the crew and re-navigate our position. We will sail away from the comfort of safety into the depths of new adventure.

Don't live in the shallow comfort of safety. You will never change your world. Walk a life of living in the depths of faith, live a life of unfurling vision ... and you, and your church, will see great things.

Selah...