Change is here to stay

Some years ago, as part of my Open University Management Studies, one of the modules dealt with the management of change.  A catch phrase in those days was “Change is here to stay”.  I thought then, and have done since, that this ought to be a banner or poster put up inside every church.  As we enter into this New Year I find myself reflecting on the topic once again, most importantly as far as it relates to my own life.

New Year has traditionally been a time for making resolutions.  Most of these express aspirations for personal change.  I could think of dozens of changes that that are needed in my life but, knowing how hard it is to maintain such needed changes I plan to keep them all in mind and do the best I can through the year without actually encapsulating them into a resolution.  I certainly do not intend to bore you with a long list of things in my life that need improvement!

Something I read recently did make me think about the fact that some Christians will have resolved to do more for God or make more time for in 2015.  It was, “We are not saved by the promises we make to God, but by trusting the promises he has made to us”. Sometimes we try too hard to make ourselves more spiritual or holy, when the desired outcome cannot be achieved by self-effort.  

I remember at a time as a teenager, vexed by what I saw as besetting sin, I was sitting on Hastings’ sea front watching the incoming waves.  There are a number of granite groins along the beach that stretch into the sea functioning as breakwaters.  As I prayed I seemed to hear God say,” Watch the waves.” As watched I noticed that as the wave first encountered the breakwater it washed over to the other side.  But as the wave got further up the beach it was no longer washing over but had become separated from the other side.  I then felt God saying that sanctification was achieved not by self-effort to change but by pressing ever closer into union with God.  This wave (me) is still pressing forward with some way to go!

We have an unchanging and unchangeable God who is in the business of changing people.  In our relationship with God change will always be here to stay until that ultimate moment when we shall be so changed that we find ourselves in his presence and like our wonderful Saviour.  Doreen, my wife, reflects that, prior to her responding to Gods offer of forgiveness and salvation, her speech was marked by constant swearing which had given her notoriety.   After some time, she suddenly realised she no longer swore.  In 40 years of marriage I have never heard her swear. It was a token of the change God brings when we open ourselves up to him.

Sometimes we get worked up by the lack of change within the organisational life of our churches where, far too often, things have to be done the way they have ‘always been done’.  Doubtless we all know that the last words of a dying church were “We have always done it this way!”.  When responding to a request to serve what became our second church, I asked the small congregation whether they were open to change.  I was immediately asked in what way I wanted them to change, and had to point out that was not the issue.  What mattered was whether the congregation was open to hear from God and act in obedience as that always brings change.  Happily, they assured Doreen and me that they were and so began one of the most exciting phases in 50 years of Christian ministry.

So my New Year’s challenge (to myself and to you) is to start now by opening ourselves up more and more to God, enjoying sharing his life and his sharing in ours.  A man stood watching a sculptor as he worked away on a large block of stone to produce a statue of a horse. The man watched fascinated as the sculptor seemed to chip away bits of stone slowly revealing the form of the horse.  “How do you do that?” he asked in wonder.  The sculptor replied, I just remove anything that doesn’t look like a horse!”

Be patient, God isn’t finished with me yet!

Items for Praise

• Give thanks for God graciously using a still imperfect servant through the past year.  Give thanks for all who have found salvation or moved closer to God.
• Give thanks for God’s faithfulness in providing for our needs and keeping us safe in our journeys.
• Give thanks for the band of good friends who care about us and pray for us.
• Give thanks for blessings received personally while serving in four pastorates in Hastings, Herstmonceux, Theddingworth, and Yelvertoft, and for the good folk that continue the work in those churches.

Items for prayer

• That I will be so filled with the Holy Spirit that wherever I go something of God spills from my life to bless others.
• That I will always be open to God and able to hear his voice.
• For guidance in Sunrise Ministries as we seek to fill staff gaps and look to God that the vision he gave might yet become reality, which might not be in my lifetime, of course.
• For guidance in the trusteeship of Action for Christ (formerly Mission for Christ) as we continue on the pathway of recovering from the deep crisis into which it was plunged by earlier mismanagement.  2016 will be an important year of decision for this organisation.
• For wisdom in time management.  During 2016 I expect to lay down some responsibilities as I wish to focus on fewer things but do them better.  This includes being a better husband to Doreen and a better friend to others.
• For yourself as I depend on you in the Lord.  We are partners in the mission of God.  Serving God is an enormous privilege and we cannot do it alone.

And coming up in January…

• Regular ministry in Yelvertoft including facilitating a process of seeking God’s purposes for the church after my upcoming retirement.
• Schools ministry never fails to bless me as I seek to share God’s truth in creative and effective ways.
• My work in HMP Gartree and the men serving life sentences with whom I work.  We are still looking for another full time Christian chaplain on the team.
• My work with the Salvation Army and elsewhere helping make churches safer places for the vulnerable and better carers both for victims and perpetrators.
• The networking with rural church leaders and others engaged in rural mission, especially through the Rural Evangelism Network.  There is room for improvement in this area of ministry and aspects of service that depend upon this.

Yours in his service,

Barry