Matt Richards
Isaiah 43:18 Do not [earnestly] remember the former things; neither consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
I love church history, I love Pentecostal church history, revival history; and my walk with Jesus history for that matter, I love it and I'm proud of it. I even love the good, the bad, and the ugly of Radical history. We have had some absolutely amazing times. There is a danger, however, that we can become obsessed with a style, a culture, or a tradition of doing things in a certain way. This can then make us inflexible, even resistant to something new. We always want to go back to how it was. Go back to the good old days. And I can understand that totally. But I want to move with the cloud. I want to be directed by the Holy Spirit. I don't want to limit God to the methods and traditions where I have experienced Him. He's God and I'm not. What if God wants to do something new? What if He wants a New Wineskin for Church? What if He no longer wants church in a building? I don't want to then try to go back to the old, if God has moved on. You see I could social distance people, video stream, bath in alcohol gel, and even mime in the worship all in attempts to do the 'same thing' and make it work. But what if God was saying "hey I want to do something new. Take it to the streets, the beaches, the fields?" What if God is saying do something new. Are you, am I up for it? It means risk, it means challenge, it means uncomfortable. But this could be the greatest adventure in your church history. Don't be part of a missed opportunity. Be a history maker. Follow the cloud not the crowd. Prayer:
Father You are God and I'm not. I give You full permission to direct my steps even if it means new challenges. Have Your way in my life, do what only You can do I submit to Your will today in Jesus' name, Amen.
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