WHY I STOPPED SAYING‘THE BEST IS YET TO COME’ by Roy Todd
‘The BEST is yet to come!’. Who coined this phrase? Many preachers have claimed it as their own. But my understanding is that it was originated by an old English preacher called John Wesley who said ‘The best is yet to be‘.
Whatever it’s origins, I’ve stopped saying it. No, it’s not because I don’t believe it anymore. Nor is it because I’ve given up being positive. The reason I ceased saying it is for the sake of my sanity. Let me explain.
You see, too often, our hopes for the future can drown out the highlights of today. This struck me very strongly recently when I was reflecting on our journey at the Junction Church. Back at the beginning, the idea of hundreds of people meeting across three campuses was just a dream. Today, this is a reality…and it’s growing. Yet the visionary part of me kept forgetting to celebrate today’s blessings. I forgot what it felt like at the start. Instead, I was thinking of reaching more people. I was pondering more locations. I was looking at all the things we have yet to see. Nothing wrong with incessant optimism. But for life to be truly appreciated, we need to afford ourselves the space to slow down and breathe.
It’s like planning to eat at a fine Michelin star restaurant. When you arrive and the meal is eventually presented, you relish it. You eat it slowly. You enjoy the occasion. You don’t just gobble it down with an optimistic grin that says ‘the best is yet to come!’. What would be the point of that? Yet sometimes, that’s just what we Christians can be like. We forget to LOVE the journey because we’re so fixated on the future!! Chill!!!
Ephesians 1:3 says ‘we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ’. Notice, this statement is present tense, not future tense. In other words, we are blessed right here, right now. We’re living it and breathing it and eating it and sleeping it!! Perhaps our challenge is that we just don’t see how blessed we actually are?
My vision for the future is as strong as ever, My dreams are crazier than ever before too. But I’m also determined to enjoy life more. Dreams are healthy. But drivenness is not. That’s why I’ve stopped saying ‘The Best is yet to come’. This statement, whilst sounding noble and right, can actually rob us of joy.
For me, I’m living in God’s best right now. And tomorrow, I’ll be living in God’s best too. That’s my journey. If you’ll open your eyes, you’ll find that it’s yours too. Enjoy!
Check out the Junction Church Loughborough, Leicester & Nottingham.
in church / church in leicester / church in loughborough / church in nottingham / Culture / faith / General / Leadership / words
0 comments
by Roy Todd
‘The BEST is yet to come!’. Who coined this phrase? Many preachers have claimed it as their own. But my understanding is that it was originated by an old English preacher called John Wesley who said ‘The best is yet to be‘.
Whatever it’s origins, I’ve stopped saying it. No, it’s not because I don’t believe it anymore. Nor is it because I’ve given up being positive. The reason I ceased saying it is for the sake of my sanity. Let me explain.
You see, too often, our hopes for the future can drown out the highlights of today. This struck me very strongly recently when I was reflecting on our journey at the Junction Church. Back at the beginning, the idea of hundreds of people meeting across three campuses was just a dream. Today, this is a reality…and it’s growing. Yet the visionary part of me kept forgetting to celebrate today’s blessings. I forgot what it felt like at the start. Instead, I was thinking of reaching more people. I was pondering more locations. I was looking at all the things we have yet to see. Nothing wrong with incessant optimism. But for life to be truly appreciated, we need to afford ourselves the space to slow down and breathe.
It’s like planning to eat at a fine Michelin star restaurant. When you arrive and the meal is eventually presented, you relish it. You eat it slowly. You enjoy the occasion. You don’t just gobble it down with an optimistic grin that says ‘the best is yet to come!’. What would be the point of that? Yet sometimes, that’s just what we Christians can be like. We forget to LOVE the journey because we’re so fixated on the future!! Chill!!!
Ephesians 1:3 says ‘we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ’. Notice, this statement is present tense, not future tense. In other words, we are blessed right here, right now. We’re living it and breathing it and eating it and sleeping it!! Perhaps our challenge is that we just don’t see how blessed we actually are?
My vision for the future is as strong as ever, My dreams are crazier than ever before too. But I’m also determined to enjoy life more. Dreams are healthy. But drivenness is not. That’s why I’ve stopped saying ‘The Best is yet to come’. This statement, whilst sounding noble and right, can actually rob us of joy.
For me, I’m living in God’s best right now. And tomorrow, I’ll be living in God’s best too. That’s my journey. If you’ll open your eyes, you’ll find that it’s yours too. Enjoy!
Check out the Junction Church Loughborough, Leicester & Nottingham.
in church / church in leicester / church in loughborough / church in nottingham / Culture / faith / General / Leadership / words
0 comments
Have you noticed that the fear industry is booming at the moment? These are good days for things like suspicion, cynicism and gloom. They prey on people’s worst instincts, creating an atmosphere that is thick with the toxicity of distrust. It’s contagion blows into key aspects of society including politics, media and education, and it spreads confusion over a hurting nation. Church is not exempt from it. If you are the type of person whose disposition leans more towards negativism, then the sinister climate that hangs overhead will simply encourage unbelief.
Personally though, I’m resisting it. In fact, I find myself battling to protect against a pessimistic default. It could be the easiest thing for me to slip into a downward spiral of doom and despair. That’s why I choose my friends very carefully. It is never helpful to keep company with a vibe that panders to the prevailing culture and rolls with it’s hateful jibes. Better to acquaint with faith than fear.
Fear feeds negative culture and starves faith of it’s vitality. Religion loves fear because it provides an opportunity to manipulate and control people. That’s why Jesus reserved his most ferocious words for the religious establishment of his day. They thrived off the power that fear afforded them, playing on people’s anxieties with subtle yet brutal precision. The Pharisees hatred of Jesus was venomous because Jesus exposed their hypocritical legalism and preached a message of freedom instead. His word hasn’t changed. But neither has the spirit of religion.
When we understand the difference between religion and relationship, it changes everything. One controls you. The other empowers you. One holds you back. The other releases you into your God given potential. One leads to hate while the other to love. Interestingly, Jesus was never into religion. His message was totally relational. He came to set us free from the grip of fear, and into the loving embrace of God’s amazing grace.
In his letter to Timothy, Paul says ‘God has not given us a spirit of fear’ (2 Timothy 1:7). This verse is a massive statement. It tells us something about the culture that God wants us to carry in our everyday lives, and which changes the atmosphere around us. It is FearLESS, not fearful. It is FaithFUL, not faithless. The threat of fear can only be expelled by the power of love. That’s why the bible teaches us that ‘love drives out fear‘ (1 John 4:18).
LOUGHBOROUGH
We have two Sunday morning services in Loughborough - 9.30am and 11:00am. These all take place in the Main Hall at De Lisle College, Thorpe Hill, Loughborough, LE11 4SQ. Kids church takes place during the 9:30am service.
LEICESTER
We meet in Leicester every Sunday at 2:30pm. The venue is: De Montfort Students' Union, Campus Centre Building, Mill Lane, LE2 7DR. We have great worship and outstanding teaching.
NOTTINGHAM
Our 6:30pm Sunday service in Nottingham takes place in the main hall at Nottingham Girls School, 9 Arboretum St, Nottingham NG1 4JB. You'll enjoy great worship, teaching and community!
Here at the Junction Church, we’re passionate about championing a rising generation. This is far more than a platitude. It’s a reality that is happening week after week. For me, this is part of our divine remit. Nothing encourages my heart more than seeing young adults finding their feet and walking in God given confidence.
The other day, I happened to read an article which lamented ‘millennials’ in today’s Church (universal), with particular emphasis on the influence of Hillsong music. The article urged churches to return to the spirit of the 80’s / 90’s during which period, worship was more ‘authentic’. As I read the blog, I found myself thinking ‘what’s so authentic about walking backwards?’ Besides, there were plenty of voices back then which deplored what was happening! You see, the problem with the good old days is….they were never THAT good.
As someone who has reached the dizzy heights of ‘middle age’, I am all too aware that I could very easily settle into middle life listening to classical music and 1990’s hits (ok, mainly classical music). The temptation is to comfortably live off some pretty decent memories of years gone by. But as much as some great things happened back in the day, we must be sure not to allow the sentiment of hindsight to blind our perspective. Our greatest gift is to cheer on those who are younger than us. This is an honour…and the BEST way to stay fresh and young at heart.
There is a rising generation, whether we see it or not. Get to know their heart and you’ll find they are authentic and fresh…in their way. Church leaders would be wise to give them space to express worship that helps them connect with God, not impose our stylistic preferences upon them. This rising generation are the future. The reason large sections of the Christian Church are struggling so desperately is because of the sheer disconnect with this generation – and a failure to invest in them. You’d think we’d learn, hey?
Is what is happening today perfect? No. But it wasn’t perfect 20 years ago either…or 100 years ago…or 500 years ago. But we have every reason to have hope and optimism for the future. A generation is on the rise. World, you’d better watch out.
Check out the Junction Church Loughborough here.
Leadership in any sphere of life can be a lonely experience. It’s not that a leader isn’t surrounded by amazing people. No, it’s that the buck must stop somewhere. This is where true leaders step up.
In the late 1970’s, there was a British Prime Minister called Jim Callaghan. He was a decent man with a chirpy demeanour who the tabloid media nick-named ‘Sunny Jim’. Yet behind the seemingly relaxed exterior was a burdened soul who carried the weight of heavy criticism. Many historians today accept that Callaghan was unfairly blamed for a national crisis. During his twice weekly performance at Prime Ministers Questions (an unforgiving environment at the best of times), he always asked his wife Audrey to accompany him. She would sit in the public gallery and Jim would regularly look up to her for comfort and reassurance. You see, she was the one person who came anywhere close to grasping the loneliness of what he had to bear.
In the good times, leaders resist credit and instead share it with others. In the tough times, leaders get out onto the front line and embrace responsibility, often receiving far more flack than they deserve. Yet any leader worth their salt will never complain about this apparent injustice. They simply accept it as part of the price a leader must pay. The worst kind of leadership is that which deflects and blames others. This produces toxic culture which eventually ends up with an implosion of trust. People will never flourish in an environment like that.
If you should aspire to leadership in life, my advice is to quickly ditch any notions of privilege and position. Leadership is lonely. No-matter how prestigious others think it might appear, you will rarely ‘feel’ it. But you will be all too aware of how vulnerable and weak you are. Criticism will come at an incredibly fast pace. Thats why faithfulness matters. In our weakness, Christ’s strength is made perfect.
The ultimate example of leadership is Jesus. He held no position and occupied no office. Instead, he made himself of no reputation and carried a servant heart (Phil 2:5-11). He embraced the responsibility of our sin and covered the cost, a travesty of justice which he bore with grace and love. Despite the loneliness and misunderstanding, Jesus went all the way. This is REAL leadership.
Check out our very LATEST campus – the Junction Church Nottingham here.
At the wedding of Harry & Meghan, something happened which caused quite a stir. A bishop by the name of Michael Curry preached a brilliant sermon which had some real conviction & passion. These are things you don’t always find amidst the formal pomp and circumstance of a British royal wedding.
The response to Bishop Curry’s message by the stiff upper lip types was monotonously predictable. There was a great deal of murmuring from those who can’t bring themselves to recognise any different expression of church other than the established one. The BBC commentator patronisingly described Bishop Curry’s sermon as ‘forceful and uplifting‘. Say what?? Mr BBC man was uttering verbal clap trap of the most condescending kind. Honestly….the BBC…bless. Bishop Michael was different…and surely this should be well and truly celebrated?!!! He wasn’t being ‘forceful‘ at all. He simply sounded like a man who believed what he was talking about. That’s a good thing!!!
As I watched Bishop Curry preaching his brilliant message and the awkward reaction afterwards, my mind was drawn back to something that happened when we first planted the Junction Church in Loughborough. I’ll never forget chatting to a brand new Christian who’d been journeying with us. This zealous person had gone into town giving out flyers advertising our new church (something which we had not asked them to do). After receiving lots of positive feedback from passers by, a church minister who happened to walk by (wearing a collar) took one of the flyers and rudely asked what this was all about. As the new Christian naively tried to explain our heart, the minister then proceeded to scrunch up the flyer and grumbled words to the effect ‘we don’t need another church in this town‘ before abruptly walking off. The new Christian could hardly believe what had just happened. Truly shocking stuff…yet that’s just one story!! Surely it would have been far better to just celebrate a different kind of church instead of criticising it?
Anyway…back to Bishop Curry. I loved his sermon. I love it that he was different. I love the fact that he dared to bring some warm passion into a context which can be cold and clinical. This is exactly what the UK Church needs more of. It’s something to be celebrated, not frowned upon. This is a new day and there’s change in the air. A new generation is rising up. It’s time to get with it. God bless Bishop Michael!!
CHECK OUT OUR LATEST CAMPUS – THE JUNCTION CHURCH NOTTINGHAM HERE.
Recently at the Junction Church, we had a ‘Let’s Talk Church’ day. We don’t do many of these because if they happen too regularly, they tend to become naval gazing and self congratulatory. Yet, it’s important to afford ourselves moments to look back and reflect on how far we’ve come in just over five years of existence. This is not only encouraging but it also gives us some perspective regarding the why behind our what.
When we planted the Junction Church in 2012, there was just a small handful of people. Today, there are literally hundreds of people who call it their spiritual home. Our Sunday services have grown very significantly. But what is most encouraging is the type of growth that’s happening. The vast majority of people in our church community are recent Christians. This creates a freshness in the atmosphere. There’s also an obvious hunger for a real relationship with Christ that is free from religious pretence. As a pastor, I find this profoundly healthy.
Here are some recent facts:
- Since January, Loughborough has seen 78 people deciding to follow Christ (as of 11 March 2018)
- Since January, Leicester has seen 28 people deciding to follow Christ (as of 11 March 2018)
- We’ve recently baptised 28 people (with more to come)
- There are over 40 nations represented in our community
The church is by no means perfect. Seems silly to even say this since our imperfections are glaringly obvious. Yet as we lean into God’s grace, it creates an opportunity for people to encounter Jesus. It’s unforced. It’s unpressurised. This is the grace we carry. It doesn’t matter what the service theme is. Everything we do seeks to exude God’s love.
I really love being part of a church where people feel comfortable to bring their unchurched friends along to any service or event. It’s not embarrassing. Nor is it cringy. It’s raw. It’s real. Yet people are more open to Christianity than I’ve ever seen before. These are momentous times – days of God’s amazing grace. Our message is loud and clear. Religion is NOT the answer. A personal relationship with Jesus Christ is. It’s HIS grace which makes all the difference. This is the grace we’re privileged to carry.
Listen to a recent podcast called ‘Let’s Talk Church’
Many years ago, I spent some time teaching at churches and colleges in India. After one particularly rough bout of illness which lasted a couple of days, we got on the road again to speak at an event that evening. En route, I was powerfully overcome with hunger the like of which I’ve never experienced before. My body craved food to the point of desperation since I hadn’t eaten for the past 48 hours. Strangely enough, I really fancied a slice of pizza. But in rural India, there’s never a pizza joint around when you need one…at least that’s what I thought. Yet as we drove along that lonely country bypass, suddenly in the distance a sign appeared which looked like it said ‘PIZZA HUT’. I seriously wondered if I was just hallucinating at first. But true enough, it was an actual pizza restaurant. I quickly requested the driver to pull in…and all I can say is that I consumed the finest slice of the round stuff I’ve ever eaten in my life. My gosh it was good!
Hunger is a powerful feeling. It alerts us to what we need. Jesus spoke about hunger in his famous ‘beatitudes’. He said ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.’ (Matt 5:6).
When you’re physically hungry, you don’t have to be told to eat. No, you actively search for food. The same is true for spiritual hunger. I believe God is looking for a generation who are hungry enough to seek him, to serve his purpose, to grow in faith and to make a difference.
Apathy is the sign of a lack of hunger. It has no appetite and is therefore uninterested in experiencing real fulfilment. It disengages from seeking because it is self-satisfied. There’s nothing more uninspiring than being in a culture which has no interest in seeing more.
At the Junction Church, I don’t ever want us to become apathetic. I really like being around people who have a hunger to learn and develop. It’s the most refreshing thing to do life with those who are really hungry for growth. That’s the kind of environment where fulfilment is found.
As we start out on a brand new year, my prayer is that we will experience a greater hunger than ever before to see our towns and cities impacted with the life giving power of the gospel. I’m hungry to see more salvations, more healings, more miracles, more breakthrough’s. How about you?
Jesus promises that those who hunger for what’s right will not only be blessed, but they’ll be fulfilled. How hungry are you?
CHECK OUT THE JUNCTION CHURCH NOTTINGHAM HERE.
It’s far better to define yourself by what you’re for rather than against. There are plenty of negative voices out there which can effortlessly articulate what they dislike. But people who make a real difference in life contribute to solutions rather than complaining about ‘problems’.
Simply being against stuff is not only unhelpful, but it’s profoundly lazy and extremely unproductive. You see, any fool can criticise. There’s nothing brilliant about offering strong opinions from the aloofness of a sedentary position. In the end though, the question we are wise to ask ourselves is; what are we doing to make things better?
At the Junction Church, our heart is to create an environment that is positive and encouraging. Having served in churches for over 20 years, I am only too aware of how negative and cynical God’s children can sometimes become. This is nothing new. Even in the Old Testament after Moses led God’s people to deliverance from the oppression of Egypt, there was grumbling and murmuring. Yet it should never be this way. Church ought to be the most positive, upbeat, faith building, hope restoring & life giving community around.
Being defined by what you’re against immediately establishes negative vibes around your life. Ultimately, you can’t lovingly build anything better when what you hate forms your outlook. This will always lead to a downbeat pessimism which does nothing to inspire faith. If you find that this is your default setting in life, then how about resetting your heart to focus on what you’re FOR? Just one degree of difference changes everything. Instead of being anti, suddenly you find yourself being being pro…for hope, for encouraging, for celebrating others, for reaching people with the greatest news on the planet, for doing whatever it takes to help others….the list goes on.
So…are you a for or against kind of person? I strongly encourage you to embrace the former. It will make a world of difference to your year.
CHECK OUT THE JUNCTION CHURCH NOTTINGHAM LAUNCHING WITH LIFE GROUPS IN 2018.
The relational dynamic between the Old Testament prophet Elijah and his successor Elisha is always fascinating to observe. Elijah was a charismatic firebrand. His servant Elisha was an introverted thinker. Yet when Elisha knew he had a chance to pursue God’s call on his life, he ran at the opportunity…literally (1 Kings 19:20).
The idea of running denotes determination & commitment. You see, there are some things in life which require us to move fast. The privilege of serving God’s purpose is one of them.
It’s interesting to note that it wasn’t the mentor Elijah who ran after his student Elisha. It had to be the other way around. Elisha refused to rest on his laurels or become complacent with a sense of arrogant entitlement. Complacency is a dreadful hindrance to divine destiny. Elisha certainly couldn’t be accused of being apathetic. No, he ran after the man of God with focussed intent. By honouring the past, he was paving the way for the future. This is critically important when it comes to fulfilling God’s purpose for our lives.
There’s a time to wait patiently, but there’s also a time to run vigorously. The latter means taking initiative, embracing inconvenience, committing to the long haul and refusing to be distracted. To the very end, Elisha pursued Elijah, not taking his eyes off the goal. At the moment when Elijah was taken into the presence of God, Elisha carried on the mandate and accomplished even greater things.
So what about you? How much do you want God to use your life? Are you running for it? Really running? There is no need to wait before you serve. No need to pray before you do it either. What God’s Church needs today are people who get on with it, passionate about running to get the prize of the most high call.
CHECK OUT THE JUNCTION CHURCH NOTTINGHAM HERE.
