WHEN THE PAST RUINS THE PRESENT

A wise man once said, ‘When your memories of the past obscures your vision of the future, it leaves you bankrupt in the present.’

I’ve been involved with ‘the church’ for most of my life. I was part of a great Quaker, I was Ordained as a Calvary Chapel Pastor in 1977, helped found the flagship church of the Vineyard Movement and now serve at Faith
Community Church in Thousand Palms as the Outreach and Worship pastor.

I have so many great memories each of the places I have been and have been fortunate to be a part of some wonderful times of great blessing. I am thankful for that, BUT, I don’t want to go back there!
Over and over again I hear people in the church pining for days gone by. ‘Gosh remember when the worship was…. fill in the blank.’ ‘Remember when the church was so small you knew every ones name.’ The list is endless. Why do we always think the past is better than the present or the future?

The fact is things change, they grow, they improve, I’m sorry but in my opinion they get better. I have written songs that were widely used in churches throughout the world over the past two or three decades, but I don’t believe there is one of them that compares to the songs that Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Paul Balouche and others are writing today. The worship music has improved so much over the past twenty years and I am blessed by the growth and change.

It’s not that the past isn’t relevant , nor do we discard the richness of our heritage, but it is important to keep things in perspective. We should know our roots, understand the past, but rather than hold us back it should be foundational to what we are doing today and prepares us for where we are going in the future.

So we celebrate the past, and embrace the present with thanksgiving, which prepares us to mover forward embracing the vision God gives us for the future.