One of the news reports in this month's "Southern Cross" tells of the arrival in New York of the Rev. John Mason and his wife. John, who was the Rector of St. Clement's, Mosman, and is the son of a former Rector of St Mark's, has gone to minister at a Presbyterian Church in the Big Apple. According to the article, John has found a constantly recurring phrase among the business community in New York: "There has to be more to life". Many are beginning to realise that there is more to life than money.

The message of Jesus is clearly that He said "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full". (John 10:10) He also said: "What good will it be for a man if he gain the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?" (Matthew 16:26). Unfortunately, much of the church today seems to have lost sight of that life that is in Jesus, and is turning back to the world.

Even where the Church does acknowledge the new life that is in Jesus, as people are born again through faith in Him, the change in their lifestyle is often minimal. Especially is this so where people are not encouraged to experience the Holy Spirit. More and more Christians are beginning to say: "There must be something more."

I am printing below the message from Edwina Thomas, the Director of SOMA, USA, which refers to her spiritual journey following the Episcopal Church General Convention last year, where the Church moved sharply away from its Biblical foundations. I found this message both encouraging and challenging.

"Immediately after General Convention last year, I went away to meet with God. "God, where are you? I am so tired and weary. What would you say to me? Where are you leading me and leading SOMA?" Yes, there was a little desperation, lots of weeping and not many answers. Almost a year has passed, and I want to share more of my journey.

My pain last year came from seeing my brothers and sisters adapting God's word and truth to fit and undergird the "experience" and "social reality" of our modern culture. In the intervening year, God began to show me how I have done the same thing. My prayer has become, "Lord, I don't want to make the Word line up with my experience; I want my experience to line up with the Word."

Do I really believe what God says in His Word? Do I function that way? Yes, but the gulf is wide and I grieve.

Our world is not fine. Our lives are not fine. Our churches are not fine. When we look at the "not fine", do we shrug our shoulders and say, "Well, that is the way it is." Perhaps, like me, you have been working hard for the Kingdom. But working hard isn't producing results that change within our world. Can we live with the status quo? Does God want us to?

I recently stood in a crowd of several thousand people as we corporately prayed for God to move among the nations. I became aware that SOMA possibly has more opportunity to change the world for Jesus than most. I burst into tears, not because of pride, but because surely God wants us to be more effective and have a greater impact than we have even believed possible.

I think the answer lies not in doing more, but in being more aligned with His love and compassion for the world and His willingness and joy to release the power of the Holy Spirit through us. Maybe He is waiting for me/us to "close the gulf" between the unbelief of my experience and real faith in God as the world's only answer.

So, I cry out for greater faith, for the gift of faith. I want more of God. I want to experience more of what it means to abide. I am passionate about this. I desperately seek His manifest presence, His presence in which all things are possible."

I trust that we also may be encouraged to walk this path.

John Davies
12 August 2001