When will we ever learn ..... seriously !!!!!! How close is Jesus' return ?

One of the interesting things these days is the intentionality of people, especially in the church, to try new things.

New forms of ministry are emerging, but not just that, people are more intentional about contact. Today I received an SMS from one of our key guys to just check in and see if I was ok... I never hear from him any other time. Fantastic.

So the big question is what will we go back to when its over ?

One of the worst things we could do is go back to the same old same old.... mostly that hasn't worked for years.

We did an online prayer meeting last Saturday, we had around 100 people connect in, normally in the physical prayer gatherings we get around 30 - 40.

The same at a Corps prayer meeting recently online... normally they get 5 or 6, but this time online it was 11.

And what about outside the church....  people are walking as families more, they say hello when they walk past... normally I don't even get a grunt from those walking past me.

Now personally.... I am ploughing through books...I have read and finished 4 books in the past 4 weeks.... My prayer time/quiet time has doubled.... 

My leg doesn't ache anymore from all the driving...  

SO why oh why would we want to go back to the old ways and get stuck back in that rut ?????  I am not convinced that the older ways actually did much for us. 

I wonder whether we have been distracted by the mundane, by the rituals, by the duty ... by our form ?  ( I have always held this view that our function is more important than our form) ( Form = what we look like, Function = who we are and what we do)

What about you ? 

I personally want to see The Salvation Army completely transformed and revived and I seriously believe it could happen though this forced "scattered" experience.

we would be stupid to go back and do things the old ways, especially seeing we were in decline as a result of that.

( to clarify that statement: everything we have done in the past has led us to the condition we find ourselves in now...how could it not ? So...if we want a different result than what we had before shutting everything down, then we need to change what we have been doing to something new and opposite to get a different  result. that is not rocket science)

That's a basic rule for life, not just TSA.

We cant ignore the changes we are seeing around us. Its like the world is getting a reset.

The Venice canals are clear. (the human influence is diminished)

You can see the Himalayas from 200 kms away (smog has decreased)

Animals walk around the streets. (UK)

and people I believe are praying in unity more than ever before...

why would we ever want to go back to the old ways that didn't work ?  Are we so naive and blind to think  that everything should just go back to the way it was ?

Maybe God is saying something to us about the way we have lived out our role as the CHURCH .

Well, I guess the big question is what we will learn from this.

I cant hug my grandson right now.... can only really chat with him online.

My daughter is unwell, and I cant hug her....(these bits break my heart actually)

My older friends and family cant be visited or hugged.

And people are at home alone incredibly lonely.

When will we ever learn what God told us to be and do..... and not make it about what it was never meant to be made about.

The bible tells us that our world will be in a horrid state before Jesus returns. 

Are we not in a horrid state right now ? 

What will we do with this unprecedented time of learning and renewing of who we are ?

I pray for revival in our land and in TSA.  

For Jesus Sake.