I am feeling more than a little raw, I have been to yet another meeting where I have been challenged about the difficulty of the changes that are facing the church. Again there is a harking back to the glory days when everyone held different values, the Sunday Schools were full and all was well. Nice people came to church, nice people filled the pews and their nice children were well dressed and well behaved, because people knew what values were....
Today I am burying those nice people, and on the whole their children are nowhere to be seen, when I do meet them their stories are mixed, some look back at Sunday School days with fondness, others look back almost angrily....
Hardly any of them consider that the Church has anything relevant to say to them today, and though many have a belief in God they do not find the same meaning in Church that their parents did...
I cannot ciriticise them for this for there are many signs that what we are trying to maintain today is not a vibrant living vessel of faith but a crusty and dry hymn singing club...
....but there are many signs of life and glimmers of hope withing, people are beginning to respond to the call to do different...
...and so of course there is a backlash from those who want to maintain the monument and prevent the movement...
...I know I am not alone amongst those who are called to minister into this place of tension, but I have to say that it is an uncomfortable and thankless place to be. To speak the word of God into these places can be tough, again and again I found myself captivated by the challenge of the gospels and the fire of the prophets, I must speak thse words and expond their message for they burn within me, and when expounded they are as popular now as they were when they were fist spoken. Some receivie them gladly, but many run like scalded cats from the light they shed upon our condition...
...I say our condition because I am speaking of the condition of the western church, we are entrenched in too many places within our traditions and comforts, we scratch our heads at our state but few can see how we got here... those who can, and those who long to move on speak truth and are never popular for speaking it...but it would be a lie to run away...
I'm not sure why it always goes downhill
Why broken cisterns never could stay filled
I've spent ten years singing gravity away
But the water keeps on falling from the sky
And here tonight while the stars are blacking out
With every hope and dream I've ever had in doubt
I've spent ten years trying to sing these doubts away
But the water keeps on falling from my eyes
And heaven knows ... heaven knows
I tried to find a cure for the pain
Oh my Lord, to suffer like You do
It would be a lie to run away
So blood is fire pulsing through our veins
We're either riders or fools behind the reins
I've spent ten years trying to sing it all away
But the water keeps on falling from my tries
And heaven knows ... heaven knows
I tried to find a cure for the pain
Oh my Lord, to suffer like You do
It would be a lie to run away
A lie to run
It would be a lie
It would be a lie to run away
It keeps on falling
It keeps on falling
It keeps on falling
It keeps on falling
The water keeps on falling from my eyes
And heaven knows ... heaven knows
I tried to find a cure for the pain
Oh my Lord, to suffer like You do
It would be a lie to run away
It would be a lie to run away
It would be a lie to run away
