Visioning for Change

I'm just settling in, getting house and office set up. Ordered a desk so I could set up my computer at home. So for a moment my focus is on the present. Even the past is somewhat in the rear view. We think of Santa Barbara, our beautiful former home town, and the fires that are effecting our former neighborhood. We think of our friends in Lompoc, and the ministry we engaged in while there. But like I said, for the moment the focus is on the now and not the past.

I was told, don't look back. Don't regret moves or decisions. Make the most of the opportunity. And, so we will. As we dig out from the present, we will begin to look outward, see what is possible and more. It will be time to look for where God is at work. I've long appreciated the writings of Jurgen Moltmann for precisely this reason. He reminds us that God is out front of us, at work in the world. God isn't in the past. Instead, God is really in the future beckoning us forward.

As I begin my new ministry, I can see where we must begin working. I know that change is in the wind. That is why they called me from so far away, this is a church that while not ready at all points to make major changes, knows that change is in the offing. The question this and all churches must ask is this: What is God doing and how might we participate?