Looking forward to the future

I don’t know if the following quote is from Tim Stevens or from Tim Stevens quoting Andy Stanley at the latest Catalyst conference, but it rang a bell for me:

"When your memories exceed your dreams, the end is near. You look back with smiles and lots to celebrate, but you don’t have a lot to work forward to."

I remember the good old days pretty well. When I am willing to be honest with myself I realize they weren’t that "good." However, there was a period when I was in the learning and discovering phase of an entire new area of thinking and doing. I was devouring material on church planting, church growth and evangelism. I was learning how to minister in the power of the Holy Spirit. For me these good old days ran from about 1990 to 1995. It was in the late fall of 1995 that my voyage of discovery led me to become a pastor. It was really an accident. I often look back to that Spirit-orchestrated event and wonder what it was all about.

I have written about those three years at other times, but if they were dreams, they were of the nightmare quality. Ultimately all of these things crashed and since about 1998 I have been rebuilding, my psyche, and my vocation. Around that time, in the fall of 1998, I got clear instructions about my ministry activities for the next season and those have borne the predicted fruit.

Another quote from the Tim Stevens post:

"The best idea for reaching the next generation isn’t going to come from the existing generation, it’s going to come from the next generation.

• If you are over 45 years old, you aren’t going to have any good ideas. It’s your job to recognize the good ideas.
• Don’t do to the next generation what the previous generation did to you.
• Be a student, not a critic."

I think it is fair to say that I learned this lesson early. Next-Wave is an outgrowth of that learning. For the next few years I will be joining the readers of Next-Wave in learning from Scott Bane, Next-Wave’s new editor. Scott is one of the new generation of practitioners who are trying to figure out what it means to follow Jesus in our day and age.

A father of four, Scott, and his wife Sheryl, give me a lot of hope for the future of Christianity. I met Scott a couple of years ago when I was working with Steve Sjogren and his publishing and web activities. Scott embodies all of the leadership qualities I wish I had at his age. He is generous and willing to serve and he is smart. He is listening hard for the voice of the Holy Spirit in his life. He is a good friend. I can’t wait to see what happens with Next-Wave under his leadership.

I must take time to thank Bob Hyatt for serving Next-Wave as editor over the last two years. For those of you who don’t check in at bob’s blog, he is lead pastor of a faith community in Portland, Oregon. From all I read he is an attentive father and husband and has an "apostolic" heart to see new expressions of faith started throughout his city and the US. His insights into the life of a practicing church planter and pastor have been helpful to many readers of Next-Wave over the last couple of years. Editing Next-Wave is a labor of love. It is a "pay-free" position. I think the true thanks for Bob will come someday when he can see clearly the influence his words and efforts have had for the kingdom.