Desert faithfulness

 Lets agree is that a spiritual desert is an environment which lacks:

 

• evidence of God’s powerful activity
• awareness of his presence
• faith for change

 All these are modelled in the Dry Bone Valley.They are the kind of attractions we should expect in the places we we will be dropped off in when we feel the hand of the LORD on us.

 

Isaiah provides an example—totally against expectation. God will make himself known to Egypt, they will draw in Assyria to worship with them and together with Israel—unlikely partners—they will become a blessing to the earth.  That’s transformation.

 

I have spent the last year or so looking at the significant numbers of young people who are leaving churches like ours.  Lots of my generation who experienced renewal a generation ago are losing heart too are moving away, too.  They feel that current experiences of renewal do not seem to have all that much connection with God’s mission in the world.  They may be right but sadly–along with the dirty bath water of the way we charismatics like to do things–they are in danger of losing the baby, too.

 

What do I mean by bath water.  It’s all the church stuff that surrounds the living, breathing presence of God among us.  Bath water needs changing.  It gets contaminated if you keep it around.  

 

The issue of long term faithfulness has already been raised.

 

There is a very real danger of losing faith in a desert situation.  There’s an excellent article by Earl Creps that we have found energising.

 

Ezekiel was on the edge of being negative and arguably, Elijah completely lost it in his desert.  Building a new road in the desert with declining expectation that the LORD will turn up is a short step from adding to the dry bones.

 

Then there is the question of singing to the well—a foundational idea for the Transform meetings.

 

There is also the issue of spiritual warfare.  I wonder whether that is more likely to happen in the desert working for the Kingdom, than staying back and building the church.

 

For now that’s where this series stops.  I haven’t tried to deal with objections, though lots have occurred to me and more will have struck you.  If we get a conversation going we will no doubt get chance to refine my thinking.  If not, its helped me to prepare a talk and I am even more excited about the prospect of a slow-burn, Emmaus Road type, Egypt style awakening theat will see the wells flowing and authentic transformation occurring in the places where we live.