In the last blog I wrote, I intimated that ‘change’ was coming. I think most of us accept that and will be keen to embrace it at different levels in our lives.This week I’ve been thinking more about ‘why’ change happens and why a God who never changes seems to be absolutely committed to it. So why do things shift in our lives? Why do we experience the pain of ‘growth? My conclusion is simply that God really likes us, in fact he really loves us, he thinks the world of us and believes we can be better than we were yesterday. It seems that our lives are a journey of discovering what we were always created to be in the first place. The people God had in mind.
He doesn’t want us just to be ‘good’ he wants us to be ‘great’. Being ‘great’ must not be confused with being great at things. Being successful in our vocations is of course very subjective and usually measured through a secular eye piece, but that cannot be put anywhere on the same scale as being ‘great’ in the eyes of God. The people who I admire the most seem to be comfortable in their skin, realistic about their reason for being on the planet, love God and have a radical ‘upside-down’ approach to the meaning of true ‘greatness’. There is a huge temptation in our Christian culture right now to confuse ‘good’ with ‘God’. We have tricked ourselves into believing that filling our lives constantly with doing ‘good’ will get us to God. ‘Bad’ is not the enemy of good, but good is the enemy of ‘great’.
So, how do we be great and why should we bother? It’s right in the very storm of transition that we get an incredible opportunity to stop, think, re-shape, re-define and ask God in all his kindness to bring his holy soldering iron to us for an extensive re-wire. OUCH! I do not like the idea of that on my flesh. I do not like the idea of hot coals placed on my lips Isaiah style. I do not like to be fixed, it’s not good for my pride and ego but ‘good’ is not an option anymore because this planet needs people who understand the greatness of God and who are willing to surrender everything in their ‘flesh’ to be magnificent followers of Christ. But it’s in this ‘in betweeness’, space and rest that we find the gold.
Again William Bridges refers to it as the ‘neutral zone’.
1. This is a time that seems “built-in” to the structure of transition. It is the germination time between an ending and the birth of a beginning. It is difficult for modern, fast paced, technological people to embrace and value. For us, emptiness and aloneness only represent the absence of things. We try to replace missing elements ASAP (thus the adage “on the rebound”). We have a difficult time seeing what is gained (perspective, the chance for personal transformation, etc.) during these times. To employ a metaphor, we want to get across the street ASAP, we cannot fathom that there would be any usefulness in the middle of the street. However, it is interesting that though we have this innate suspicion, most people find that during a transition they need temporary isolation away from familiar distractions in order to think.
2. We need to learn to not be defensive about this apparently unproductive (other than intolerance, unproductiveness is perhaps the biggest societal sin one could commit) time-out at turning points in our lives.
3. The neutral zone is meant to be a moratorium from the conventional activity of our everyday existence. It is a gift—a space—for doing important inner business, the kind that leads to extraordinary kinds of personal and God-awareness.
4. In the neutral zone we can often wonder if we are going crazy or experiencing enlightenment as we unlearn old self-images and take on new ones. The old is now transparent (what it really was-- good and bad), but nothing new feels solid yet.
5. In the neutral zone we learn to surrender: to give in to the process through trusting God. It is inviting God to act. Though we fear this may lead to chaos, the chaos envisioned here is not a mess; it is the primal state of pure energy--God’s kind of energy--that leads to God’s kind of creation. It is only from the perspective of the old form that chaos looks fearful—from any other perspective it looks like life in the making, soon to be shaped by new purpose and identity.
(Taken from ‘Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes’ (Publisher: Da Capo Press)
I certainly do not feel intelligent enough to understand all of this, nor am I in the strongest emotional place to even process this, as right now I am in that ‘zone’ myself. But what I am learning is the meaning of ‘surrender’. To feel out of control and yet to trust in God is the beginning of greatness in his eyes. It’s a daily choice that is not easy but will bear much fruit in the long term. My 4 year old Ruby said this week that she is ‘allergic’ to school. It’s her first year and she doesn’t like the ‘bigness’. If we’re honest we’re allergic to change as we put our feet into a bigger set of shoes and try walking like we used to. The blisters always come as part of the process but in the end we get to run like the wind.
I was always useless at soldering guitar cables, but when done properly you can hear the difference believe me. As the hot iron goes into my heart I can feel the rewiring beginning. And you know what, I can already hear the difference.
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You may have already heard about the fan Facebook campaign to get a Delirious? single into the UK mainstream charts.
It all started with a couple of groups. Inspired by the fact that the power of social networking managed to put Rage Against The Machine at the top of the UK charts last Christmas, a few fans got to thinking: why not get a profoundly Christian song in the news and up the charts at Easter? In fact, two groups sprung up at the same time independently of each other, both passionate about seeing Delirious? back in the charts.
That was a couple of weeks ago. Now both those Facebook groups have merged and the count of fans is rising – 26,159 at the time of writing. And after a few discussions with Kingsway Music, we’re pleased to announce that two versions of the HistoryMaker single will be available for download between March 28th and April 3rd 2010. Fans will be able to choose between the original studio version or the live version taken from the band’s up and coming release ‘Farewell Show – Live in London’, due out April 19th (May 18th in North America). Please note, only downloads from UK-based fans will count towards the UK chart.
Says Kingsway’s press office: ‘Delirious? have always been about the fans – and that will never change. So we’re pleased to do all we can to support them as they continue to wave the flag for a generation. We wish the fans every success.’
See the group for yourself at www.facebook.com/invadetheairwaves
Delirious? will be donating all their profits from the UK downloads to charity projects supported by CompassionArt - Creating Freedom from Poverty www.compassionart.tv.
Many of you know that things are changing. I don’t mean the surface things like an impending change of government, the price of US dollars or the fact that Mary-Anna, my 2 year old is starting nursery school in September.
No. I’m talking about a spiritual ‘shift’ and whenever this happens the tidal wave it produces always destroys and rebuilds the culture we live in. Let’s bring this down to earth a bit. We have enjoyed 30 years of ‘free’ western capitalism but frankly, we now do not have the money to pay the rent.
I’m quite excited though, because I believe in God. I believe in a God who gave us hundreds of stories about about the moments when he showed up just at the right time and in the right place. Moses at the red sea, Gideon and his ‘jam jar’ firelights, even sending his own son Jesus to open the eyes of a blind man.
I’m very excited because I believe that God is coming and he will not be late.
When the world is changing, we simply have to fix our eyes on Jesus who is unchangeable and unshakeable.
I have been incredibly inspired by an article I read by William Bridges. He says,
‘Change, especially in these complex times, can seem like “launching out from a riverside dock to cross to a landing on the other shore—only to discover in midstream that the landing is no longer there. (And when we look back at the other shore, we see that the dock we left from has just broken loose and is heading downstream!) We are often stuck in transition between situations, relationships, and identities that are themselves in transition.” This is the nature of contemporary life.
Transitions “begin” with an ending (i.e. marriage is the end of singleness; a promotion is the end of a former job, routine and friendships, etc.). Transitions move next into a confusing, stressed nowhere of in-betweenness (think of college grads who have not landed a job) and finally morph into a new beginning.
Unacknowledged, unprocessed endings stand in the way of moving forward to new beginnings. We have to let go of the old thing before we can pick up the new—not just outwardly, but inwardly, where we keep our connections to the people and places that act as definers of who we are. Even positive changes (being accepted to the school of your choice or having a baby) produce these unexpected losses because to an extent that we seldom realize, we come to identify our selves with the circumstances of our lives’
Good stuff eh!
I have a hunch about something. In all our business, In all the ‘good’ we do. In all the empire building of big ministry and brand driven churches it’s time to press the pause button. Those of you who are brave may even want to press the ‘stop’ button.
Let’s be with Jesus. I say that I love him and adore him, in fact I built a career around singing about it but in all the ‘good’ I forgot to do it. I forgot to sit on a hill and talk to Jesus. I stopped climbing trees just to sing him my songs, read him my love letters. I had learnt to go to battle in the Kings ‘armour’ when deep down I was always just a shepherd boy with a sling.
I am learning that ‘good’ is not ‘great’.
If there is no ‘great’ beneath the ‘good’ then we will die.
How do we be great?
We spend time with someone who is greater.
When all around is moving, shifting and the future uncertain there is no need to panic.
If we find Jesus again we will be so enthralled, so happy that we will forget we are in transition anyway. If we have him inside our lives then the ‘good’ we worried about will lose it’s appeal anyway in the light of ‘his’ face.
In 2 Samuel ch 19 we read that when David was re instated as king, he offered Mephibosheth acres of fields in return for his commitment. The invalid boy had no interest in the land because in that moment all he cared about was being with the king.
Mephibosheth said. "I am content just to have you safely back again, my lord the king!"
I’m learning that God doesn’t want my voice, he just wants me.
It’s great to be back.
Martin Smith 10.03.10
Release: 19th April 2010 (19th May 2010 USA)
Format: 2CD, DVD & Blu-ray
Pre-order now: UK & Europe - (available with tour T-shirt and souvenir tour programme)
North America – Available soon
Where do you start when the ending is like this? How do you begin to do justice to a seventeen year voyage of discovery that has invited all of us along? What do you say when this Dove-award wining, Grammy nominated, RIAA Certified-Gold-selling band have already had so much written about them?
For the five thousand fans who squeezed into London’s HMV Hammersmith Apollo at the end of November 2009, this one night was the last ever chance to experience Delirious? live and in concert. With expectations high, one thing above all else was clear: this was a time for worship.
Worship has always been at the heart of what goes on when Delirious? get up on stage. Sunday 29th November was no different. Running throughout each of these three releases (one with two CDs, and the other that adds a beautifully shot, full-length DVD of the show into mix, the third that offers all the above in breathtaking Blu-ray) – is a sense that the crowd (and the band) is there to do something more than belt out a few tunes and soak up the atmosphere. They are there – all of them – to connect with someone far bigger than any of them.
And so the night became the ultimate Delirious? gig. It started – just as the band themselves began – with the Cutting Edge Band. On came Tim, Stu G, Martin, Paul and Jon, dressed down but ready to lift the abandonment up high. All those songs that they taught us in school halls and leisure centers were there: I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever, Thankyou For Saving Me, Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble?, and – by popular demand – The Happy Song. It was like old times again; the band on stage simply adding a little extra noise and rhythm as the crowd surged upward with their worship.
Then, after the interval, the evening changed. Out came Delirious? – with all their lights and their suits and their ability to plug the crowd right into the mains. The screens fired up, the epic anthems unloaded and the whole venue found itself whipped up into a Rain Down/Historymaking/Town-painting/Deeper-Going/Majesty-singing frenzy. And when it came time for the intergalactic glory of Investigate, one drummer was simply not enough, and out came Stew Smith, joining Evans for an 8-minute adventure that will last a lifetime.
The evening was larger than any press release can capture, yet across the double CD, the DVD and the Blu-ray, there’s every bit of the sense of passion and excitement that this celebration of Delirious? evoked. And its heart beats with the same force that has been in play whenever the band has stepped up to the microphone. It sends us up and it sends us out, giving the historymakers something to go and get excited about.
“Fabula est vestri” said Martin Smith on the night. “The story is yours.” He’s right. After nearly two decades of giving the church fresh words and tunes to sing, the time is now right for Delirious? to step back and allow the next generation of stories to come through. It’s time, like the song says, to raise the flag again.
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