Four years and five Newdays later, and I have that surreal feeling of the heavens having been shaken, and eternity having been changed. I'm not exaggerating. When Jesus gets a hold of a life, something beautiful and mysterious happens as hope and life fill them. That's my story. From ruin to redemption, from death to life. From youth to leader, and yet Jesus stays the same, and the Good News is still incredibly and outrageously good.
A few days on, and life in the normal world resumes but all across the country are thousands of people living for something different. Then I listen to the news and hear of riots breaking out in every city. I hear countless voices suggesting solutions and yet their thoughts are futile. You cannot change the heart of a nation by providing police to rule the streets, and you cannot encourage change with a Prime Minister that threatens law and punishment. The answer for our nation is Jesus. The God of transformation and redemption, who deals with the heart and not just your actions.
I was incredibly struck whilst away, by this quote by William Booth, the guy who began the Salvation Army. He said this...
| “While women weep, as they do now, I'll fight; while children go hungry, as they do now I'll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now, I'll fight; while there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, while there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I'll fight, I'll fight to the very end!” As I've been back home, pondering Newday and all that happened, I have come to realise that it is not just something that happens for a week in a field. Instead, it's about mobilising thousands of young men and women to live for Jesus, and in doing so, bringing about transformation across every sphere of society. Our nation needs a new day, where life has value, and love is a strong, fighting force, and not the feeble emotion it is portrayed to be. Jesus, the hope for all. Always. xo | |
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