It will take a couple of days to get straight.
It's our fifth move in twenty years.
This time?
To Manchester.
Dawn and I were so tired last night. So, we rigged up the TV and fired Netflix onto the screen. The new TV stand hasn't arrived so the 65 inch slab of black rested on the floor.
We flipped through the watch options.
We settled on a comedy.
Eurovision: The story of Fire Saga.
It's a family thing to watch Eurovision every year.
So
We loved every minute of this film.
And
You have to watch it!
The story focuses on a pair of friends who have grown up in the tiny mesmeric village of Husavik in Iceland. The guy makes it his lifes goal to win Eurovision. The girl, supremely talented would love to be in it, but isn't struck on winning. She just wants to win the guys heart.
I won't tell you the rest of the story, I am not a spoiler!
But
One thing I will say, it has a spine tingling ending.
Spine tingling because they sing a song about their hometown.
A breathtaking song actually sung by the brilliant Swedish voice over artist and singer, Molly Sanden.
Wow I was touched beyond reason.
There is a line in this song that says, "I had to get away, to realise I had to stay."
This resonated with me in stunning high definition.
As I prepare to take the reigns of a new project for us in trying to transform a small inner City Church in central Manchester housed in a massive building into a powerhouse of Christian love and mission, something Dawn and I are used to from our past appointments together. I realised why I had to resign in 2015.
I had to get away from the SA to realise I actually had to stay.
Being brutally honest, and please I mean no disrespect by what I am about to say, really I don't, it's just me, and my feelings alone, but I just not into tradition, brass bands, songsters, flags, uniforms, officers retreats, councils, people who still think wearing a hat is relevant, and all the many other trappings of traditionalism that the SA hang on to for dear life. So, why come back then? I can hear you saying it now! Well I'm with you on that. It's something I struggled with in private as I argued with God about coming back.
But
I also respect that there are those who love those things too.
And
There are so many beautiful people in the SA that have been so good to me, I wouldn't want to disrespect them either.
Yet!
I had to come back.
Why?
Because being away helped me to realise that I still believed in the purpose of the SA.
To touch the lives of millions through the love of Jesus.
And
Despite my misgivings about the traditions, and my not wanting to upset anyone who holds them dear?
And
Despite me not being a really good fit, and knowing that many people think that, and seem to love to let me know!
God called me back
And
Opened the way for me to do so.
I said to God, "if I get through the process of coming back then I will."
And
Miraculously
I'm here now.
Ready
Not for tradition
But to help as many people as I can discover the amazing love of an astonishing Saviour.
And
On a recent reconnaissance trip around the streets of central Manchester, I saw the need. I saw the opportunity, and I felt the purpose.
Once again I feel excited, something I never thought I would feel in the Salvation Army again. I know Dawn and I will have to lovingly turn Manchester Central on its head and that is a massive task.
But
God is with us.
And I realised something
The Salvation Army with God as it's leader, and the world wide mission field is my hometown.
It's where my family has lived for five generations, it's where I have served my whole life.
And
It is where I want to be right now.
My hometown
Be blessed
Gaz
