Doin' It Big

For anyone affiliated with the Alliance denomination in Canada in any way, I hope you read this post. I think this is honestly the first time that I am feeling incredibly positive and optimistic about where this denomination is heading. It's really rare for me to be this worked up about the church that I've been brought up in, so I think that by posting about it, it's at least worth looking at.

Here's why -

This past year, I've been given the tremendous privilege to be a part of and witness several changes in some vital leaderships throughout the Alliance circles.

First of all, David Hearn was elected the new president of the C&MA in Canada. I've been blessed to hear him speak four times now, and I only have amazing things to say about him and where he's leading the denomination. His personality is so contagious, and having heard his heart on the different occasions has me absolutely sold on what he's doing as president. If you don't know him but have an opportunity to hear him, I think that you absolutely need to jump on that chance and go listen. I almost never recommend things so strongly, but with him, I do. Also, I got to have lunch with him this past Sunday, so I've already connected with him. (Bahaha!)

Ambrose has also brought in a new president, Gordon Smith. He's an absolute visionary. I haven't heard him speak as many times, but he's right on par with where Dave is in where he wants to take the school and the denomination.

I've also been present at, heard of, or am aware of several other position changes in leadership throughout the districts that I've been part of. Two of them happened to be lead pastors resigning at the churches that I've attended. While it's saddening to see some incredible people step down from their positions, I think it's really lining up with where God is taking Alliance churches in Canada. EDIT: I guess I should've expanded on this a little bit. I think that having churches really desiring that their pastors are relational and empowering types of pastors now, it opens up the pathway for many of those who are (albeit quite rare) of that type to really take the church and spark the fire in its heart. Some of the pastors who have resigned did not have their strengths in that relational aspect, their strenghts were in something else, so that might be a reason to why such decisions were made. Either way, many churches now have an opportunity to really take off with the direction God is taking them.

I also really love that the focus is so emphasized on the person of Jesus. Christ is, after all, the very reason our faith exists. So, I know that I've been down on several churches over the past couple years; but now that I've been given the chance to be a part of so many of these changes and listening to where we want to be as a church, I am very excited. I can't say for certain that I know what exactly these changes will mean for the denomination, but it is going to be insanely exciting to be part of the movement of the church. Something is definitely brewing!

So please do not lose hope in the local church. I know many of us experienced some rougher times in the last while, but we are on the brink of something big. God's definitely going to be taking churches in Canada to a whole different level. We've often talked about a revival, something that's going to be seeping into our churches, through our lives and out into the neighborhoods, something that is going to fire us up and move us into action. Well, I think that if there ever is going to be a time that this is going to happen, it's going to be the next 5 to 10 years. God's placed some incredible people into leadership, and along with some of the things that are already happening in so many local churches, it's only going to get more exciting.

Again, I really don't get worked up over things like this very often, but I really feel this time that it is worth it.

The real deal.