There were fun moments as laughter filled the room, with the “oohs and the aahs” and the loud “Amens!” Then there were moments of silence and deep contemplation as hearts were gripped by the powerful messages delivered through God’s messengers. Shown on some faces were the resolved looks of those who had broken through and were ready to charge forward with the Lord. Yet there were those who came somewhat heavy-burdened because they needed an answer and clarity from God when they returned home. They were tired of “doing church” and maintaining status quo. Hence they found themselves at this crossroads, a decision point where the future of their families and ministries would hinge on the decision made here.
Such was the heightened atmosphere of the recently-concluded Cornerstone Global Network (CGN) Summit where 70 participants from 18 nations came together over three days. It was a time of engaging and catching up with the network pastors from around the world. The theme of this year’s CGN Summit was “Consolidating the Vision” and Pastor Yang reiterated the Cornerstone Vision and gave a fresh charge to the pastors to lay hold of our calling as an apostolic church that carries a prophetic voice, to be the “pattern” for others to follow – spiritually, pastorally and operationally; amongst other core values. It was a time where vision and values were re-aligned to the mandate that God has given to Cornerstone.
My heart goes out to the pastors who are at the crossroads of their lives and ministries right now. Many had forsaken the comforts of this life to embrace the cry of the nations. The agony of being in the “valley of decisions” – of choosing to pursue God regardless of their circumstances and to launch out into the deep; or to stay status quo and serve in their current environments knowing that the difference in values and direction were becoming more obvious. I remember praying over one of them saying, “Your clarity shall be your courage!” Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who’s willing to act in spite of his fear.
I don’t think the CGN pastors were the only ones at the crossroads of their lives. I believe some of you in Cornerstone are also standing at your crossroads. You may be deciding how much of yourselves and your time to give to God. Whatever your circumstances are, I pray that you’ll choose to serve God and His mission whole-heartedly and unreservedly, with your family and children in tow. We’ve to realise that coming to church weekend after weekend doesn’t make you a Christian i.e. “a follower of Christ”. It’s the “living and working out” of your faith, your walk, your relationship with Jesus that means most to Him. He doesn’t just want to be your Saviour… He wants to be Lord!
Pastor Yang often exhorts us with this saying, “If the pastor is on fire, the church is on fire. If the church is on fire, you can do two things – either get on fire or fire the pastor!” Cornerstone is a church on fire for the Lord and our leadership guards this fire jealously and zealously. That means your only option if you’re staying in Cornerstone is to get on fire!
One of the songs that shook me as a young Christian, and it still does today whenever I listen to it, was sung by the late Keith Green, entitled, “Asleep in The Light”. Part of the song goes like this:
“The world is sleeping in the dark,
That the church just can’t fight,
‘cause it’s asleep in the light!
How can you be so dead?!
When you’ve been so well-fed
Jesus rose from the grave,
And you!
You can’t even get out of bed!”
The world wants to put you to sleep with its soothing lullabies of comfort and compromise. But the Spirit is saying, “Awake and arise! Take up your positions in Christ and man your posts!”
