A straight line? Of course

I am where I am because of the journey I took. Now that is so profound I almost need to take a breather. It is, of course, an obvious truism, but what we do not always own up to is that we could not have predicted back then where the journey would lead us. Steve and Kathy Lowton are here with us for a week with their two youngest, and meeting with them seems to always bring about a sense of ‘this is where we have come from’. One year ago we met them in Madrid, there over Gayle’s birthday, praying into the politics of Spain and Europe we coincidentally met a British political journalist. It was when we there that Steve’s statement that ‘Scotty still believes what he has always believes’ came out, provoking a few posts on that theme.

Twenty years ago I travelled to Leeds (the Lowtons home city) and met with a group of church leaders from across the city. I had been praying for weeks for invitations to come from the cities of the UK. I saw that there really was ‘the church in the locality’ that had been positioned there for the wellbeing of the locality, for its transformation. One morning while both asking for cities to open and also expressing my frustration with nothing shifting, I sensed the Lord prompt me with the thought as to how many cities I could travel to at one time. Obvious answer ‘one’. So my prayer changed that morning to ‘Lord open up one city to me.’ Within a short period of time Steve called me and invited me to come meet with those leaders. Something connected, and Leeds opened her door. From there I never asked for an invite, but from that city one after another opened, and for the next 10 years I travelled with others in that way.

Twenty years ago (March 1998) I donned sackcloth, as one would, and clothed in that way was graciously invited to address a conference. I knew that something catalytic was taking place in those years. Convention had got us to where we were, but the ‘train’ was terminating there. If we wanted to move forward we would have to get off the train, put on new clothing, the clothing of humility, step beyond the walls we had built and we would find travelling companions that we had not met before; that we would move beyond relationships birthed out of common identity and discover relationships for the sake of territory.

Those months were formative for me, but far more formative than one realised. Looking back there was a ‘before’ and an ‘after’.

I can see how I am where I am. I can see that ‘Scotty still believes’, yet so much has changed. Back in 1998 as cities began to open I could see a straight line. Prayer and the prophetic would open things up, salvations would abound and a new manifestation of ‘mega church’ would come, church across a region, not necessarily mega in the sense of mega congregations but mega in the sense of the united body of Christ across an area. I no longer expect nor hope for that. One interpretation could be that I have lost hope along the way… another is that virtually all expectations are misplaced, that the fulfilment is different to the expectation.

Ten years ago in this month I was making a crazy mental mind shift. I was working much more in mainland Europe and anticipated that at some level I would make a move in that direction. I had travelled just a little to Spain; then because of a relational commitment I tentatively committed myself to a one year (temporary) change of address. To a place I had never travelled to – Mallorca. Within weeks I had visited Holy Island and maybe connecting with the ancient Celtic saints as clear as any audible voice could be I heard – you are not going for 1 year but for 3. Stepping outside my geographical setting was one aspect, but a three year move meant the acceleration of the process of stepping outside my easy-to-define church work. Twenty years ago dressed in sackcloth I could not see what would be my changing context of 10 years ago. And from that vantage point I could not have seen our focus of today. Looking back – a straight line. But this has been no predictable straight line.

There are always key relationships and influences along the way. Change comes from heaven and our response but human interactions and also the contextual situations are the means through which changes are provoked, catalysed or confirmed. Steve & Kathy represent two people among scores of others who have been very important. But Gayle has been more than a travelling companion, and a while back I had a dream that I was to receive an impartation of youthfulness ‘because I was with Gayle’. The important part for me was not that the final phrase was incidental, but that I had to ensure I was with her. Of course we are with each other, but the key for my future was to be with her. The priority was the ground she was standing on, and I know that she has helped catalyse more changes in me these past (almost) 10 years.

Not really a straight line, and at the times of unexpected curves on the road, and particularly the times when the wheels come off, it seems ultra important to respond to what the Lord is doing inside us. Even if those times are well represented by the Jonah and the sea monster experiences. Those three days of change in the belly of the whale so prepare us for the 3 days of walking our Ninevah with the message the Lord has given.

Expectations of 20 years ago have given way to expectations of ten years ago. Today those are manifesting as a hope for the transformation from the effects of the deep history of this land, the opening of Europe for something that will resonate deeply with the Pauline gospel. Helping lead people to finding faith in Jesus, prayer for shifts, prophesying to the powers – all remain central… but the context has enlarged beyond anything I could see 20 years ago. It seems the ‘train’ of 20 years ago terminated, and other transport became available, but those methods of transportation likewise have come to a stop. This is the time to walk, let the land rise up to greet us, look the Babels in the eye, for if humility has been embraced at any level, we will not be seen so easily in return, and through the multiplicity of the small at grass roots, and the richness of diversity that results from journeys of 20, 10 or 2 years we can gain sight that will give us energy in return for this next phase.

By the end of 2020 our expectation is that there will be much more of a level playing field. That the contexts in which we will find ourselves will not be so weighted against us due to the excess of historical buildup, that we will not be pushing up hill but the pushes will move something forward.

Twenty years ago as a young 42 year old I stepped out; now as a only-slightly-not-so-young 62 year old I can still hear the passion of heaven for this world. Expectations are still present for these next 10 and 20 years. I will of course claim yet again that I arrived there following the ever-so-obvious straight line. Then a slight pause for reflection will show there were some amazing curves in that road, and will also reveal that some old connections and some people I have not met to date were incredibly influential in provoking just enough flexibility to change.