I have my last ever Woolworth’s Christmas ‘pick and mix’ pot on my desk. It is an icon of my childhood and indeed my adult life of family Christmas times over the last 24 years or so. Now even Woolworth’s is closing. Is nothing certain!
Everything in life can feel very fragile and vulnerable. In reality, if it were not for God it all would be. Our health in all aspects: physical, emotional and mental. Our financial provision and employment, family well being, our houses, cars, laptops, clothes, friendships, churches, travel and abilities. God provides ‘daily bread’ of all kinds. The list of all that could be vulnerable is endless. In Job we are told of God ‘if it were his will and he withdrew his Spirit all mankind would perish together’ Our next breath is not just natural, it is the gracious provision of a sustaining God. Therefore I say ‘thank you Jesus for all your provision over the last year’
I write these things as looking back over 2008 there are many things I wish were different, many things I wish had not happened, many things I wonder why I have had to deal with this. But when put in perspective. I have had health, provision, grace and guidance to deal with everything life has brought my way. As again Scripture says ‘his divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness’.
Have I grown in God? Have we as a church? Have we as a family? Have I done all God required of me, being faithful to his calling? I suppose ‘yes’ and ‘no’ would both be true. I feel I have spent more time reacting to things than initiating things. I rarely meet people who do not feel in some ways like this. Sometimes we realise our personal world has a magnifying glass on it and when we step back and see the vastness of the world and God’s purposes being outworked, whilst we are not insignificant we are smaller than we think when we reflect on ourselves with ‘sober judgement’ as we are advised to do. This brings appropriate humility and a worship of Jesus who is higher than all. I am grateful to have had another year to love and serve him. I am grateful to have had another year of a wonderful family sharing life with me. I am grateful I have not yet finished ‘that for which Christ took hold of me’ as I am still here and ‘pressing on’. And what of 2009? The best is yet to be! And afterwards eternity!
Tuesday, 30 December 2008
Thursday, 4 December 2008
Fascination with God
I often wonder about what love for God means? What does it mean when I hear someone say, ‘I love Jesus’? I have come to the conclusion that a good way to describe this love in a way that as a man I can more readily relate to and quantify is to say that I am fascinated with God. I find Jesus fascinating. What is he doing? , what is he like in his character and attitude towards this situation of this person? How will he solve this, what does he think about this?
In fact much like a small child awestruck at a superhero or a football player. I find myself constantly engrossed in watching Jesus every move. I am always amazed at how kind, loving, strong, powerful, holy, clear, compassionate, honest, strong or brave he is. How is takes times to talk to those in need of counsel, heals those who are sick, encourages those who are weary, has clear goals and purposes that nothing can dissuade him from achieving.
I am just glad that I get to hang around him. I cannot think of ever wanting not to know him or be around him. It is a bit like finding that you are the object of the bullies’ attention in the playground, then just before the bully lands his first punch. I can turn to him and say pointing behind me ‘I’m with him’ one sight of Jesus on my side will deter any unwanted attention from enemies.
I owe a lot in my early Christian life to ‘the navigators’. This organisation produced many helpful tools to help learn how to meditate on Scripture. I owe a lot to a book by Campbell Mcalpine called ‘how to meditate on Scripture’. These tools helped me access scripture making it to me like reading a super hero comic book or reading rather than watching an adventure about an amazing person who always does the right thing. I would learn to chew over aspects of God’s character until I had got them so into my conception of how he is. My relationship with him was based on truth and not on my previous misconceptions. Just as a young child would then imitate his hero. I found myself wanting to be like my hero.
This fascination with God has never left me. It is the only reason when it all boils down to it that I lead a church and seek to plant other new ones. It is out of engagement with this person who still engrosses me. How he has gone through what he has in order to cleanse and forgive me amazes me, why should he do this, what was he thinking whilst he died for you and me?
We often hear the lament ‘where are the men in church life’. Women seem in the majority. Perhaps some of this in our culture might be addressed by encouraging more men to become fascinated by and with God, initially in some ways stirring their hunger as it would be by some piece of engineering or passing comment on a good football match as they watch skilful players.
This then can lead to intimacy and close relationship with God himself as a personal relationship which actually is just as much a manly trait as a womanly one.
I trust I will always be fascinated with God and close to him. One of the most fascinating things is of course for some strange reason he is fascinated with me and desire to have a close relationship to me – fascinating?
In fact much like a small child awestruck at a superhero or a football player. I find myself constantly engrossed in watching Jesus every move. I am always amazed at how kind, loving, strong, powerful, holy, clear, compassionate, honest, strong or brave he is. How is takes times to talk to those in need of counsel, heals those who are sick, encourages those who are weary, has clear goals and purposes that nothing can dissuade him from achieving.
I am just glad that I get to hang around him. I cannot think of ever wanting not to know him or be around him. It is a bit like finding that you are the object of the bullies’ attention in the playground, then just before the bully lands his first punch. I can turn to him and say pointing behind me ‘I’m with him’ one sight of Jesus on my side will deter any unwanted attention from enemies.
I owe a lot in my early Christian life to ‘the navigators’. This organisation produced many helpful tools to help learn how to meditate on Scripture. I owe a lot to a book by Campbell Mcalpine called ‘how to meditate on Scripture’. These tools helped me access scripture making it to me like reading a super hero comic book or reading rather than watching an adventure about an amazing person who always does the right thing. I would learn to chew over aspects of God’s character until I had got them so into my conception of how he is. My relationship with him was based on truth and not on my previous misconceptions. Just as a young child would then imitate his hero. I found myself wanting to be like my hero.
This fascination with God has never left me. It is the only reason when it all boils down to it that I lead a church and seek to plant other new ones. It is out of engagement with this person who still engrosses me. How he has gone through what he has in order to cleanse and forgive me amazes me, why should he do this, what was he thinking whilst he died for you and me?
We often hear the lament ‘where are the men in church life’. Women seem in the majority. Perhaps some of this in our culture might be addressed by encouraging more men to become fascinated by and with God, initially in some ways stirring their hunger as it would be by some piece of engineering or passing comment on a good football match as they watch skilful players.
This then can lead to intimacy and close relationship with God himself as a personal relationship which actually is just as much a manly trait as a womanly one.
I trust I will always be fascinated with God and close to him. One of the most fascinating things is of course for some strange reason he is fascinated with me and desire to have a close relationship to me – fascinating?
Saturday, 8 November 2008
the door of healing
I cannot help but say it now. My caution in not wanting to speak out to quickly has been overcome. I have to say that over this last little while I am now convinced the 'trickle' of occassional healings is becoming a small stream. It is delicate and would be easily stemmed in its flow, but it is here and it is growing without doubt. It is also accompanied usually with responses to the gospel which is how it should be. It is a sign!
In various recent meetings over the last few weeks I have seen sudden immediate and complete healings of clear and tangible issues not vague but clear. Sometimes these are through the laying on of hands in response to a prophetic word, sometimes they are when folk in the congregation standing near the person in pain or with illness place there hands on them and simply command the pain or sickness to go, whilst the person unwell places their hand on the area of pain or illness. I would also observe that sometimes one or two healings might occur. Then rather than stopping at that and celebrating if we press through and go again for the same thing we get even more.
This new thing we are seeing is not about technique, it seems to be about spending time doing it, growing in expectation God will come and simply the fact we are in a season of increase in healing activity. I long to see more healed as we are not seeing the big stuff yet. Why should we pray for the sick regularly? because we should hate seeing people in pain, unable to enjoy life in some way or another, preoccupied and weighed down, drained by pain, sickness or disability. Jesus hates it, we all must hate it! It is the result of a fallen world not the working of a God of love. He uses it, turning it for good as he is always a redeemer, there is nothing he cannot redeem. 'All things work together for the good of those that love God' - Jesus can do that as he is wise and mighty. It does not mean he wants people to be sick.
There is a mystery with healing and always will be. We live in the tension of the kingdom having come but not yet fully come. Some get healed and rejoice, some leave the meeting having to handle another bout of dissapointment.
We must entrust our questions to God who is always good and always wants people to be well. I have learnt to live in the tension of unanswered questions. Some things are too big for my tiny brain I entrust them to him.
I want to be part of an atmosphere where we love and care for those in pain and pray for them whenever they want to, rejoice when they are healed, weep and help them when they are dissaapointed. I want to kick the healing door open now it has swung open just a jar! Let the stream become a river!
In various recent meetings over the last few weeks I have seen sudden immediate and complete healings of clear and tangible issues not vague but clear. Sometimes these are through the laying on of hands in response to a prophetic word, sometimes they are when folk in the congregation standing near the person in pain or with illness place there hands on them and simply command the pain or sickness to go, whilst the person unwell places their hand on the area of pain or illness. I would also observe that sometimes one or two healings might occur. Then rather than stopping at that and celebrating if we press through and go again for the same thing we get even more.
This new thing we are seeing is not about technique, it seems to be about spending time doing it, growing in expectation God will come and simply the fact we are in a season of increase in healing activity. I long to see more healed as we are not seeing the big stuff yet. Why should we pray for the sick regularly? because we should hate seeing people in pain, unable to enjoy life in some way or another, preoccupied and weighed down, drained by pain, sickness or disability. Jesus hates it, we all must hate it! It is the result of a fallen world not the working of a God of love. He uses it, turning it for good as he is always a redeemer, there is nothing he cannot redeem. 'All things work together for the good of those that love God' - Jesus can do that as he is wise and mighty. It does not mean he wants people to be sick.
There is a mystery with healing and always will be. We live in the tension of the kingdom having come but not yet fully come. Some get healed and rejoice, some leave the meeting having to handle another bout of dissapointment.
We must entrust our questions to God who is always good and always wants people to be well. I have learnt to live in the tension of unanswered questions. Some things are too big for my tiny brain I entrust them to him.
I want to be part of an atmosphere where we love and care for those in pain and pray for them whenever they want to, rejoice when they are healed, weep and help them when they are dissaapointed. I want to kick the healing door open now it has swung open just a jar! Let the stream become a river!
Saturday, 1 November 2008
Recent events
I have been quite busy recently and the blog has been a bit neglected. This is not good as it is a helpful vehicle for news and views. Anyway some recent things for me of great significance were firstly. In October we held our Copenhagen 2008 leadership conference. This is now our fourth I believe and in my view they get better each time. We had around 75 leaders and other folk serving churches from Denmark, Sweden, Latvia, Estonia, Canada, Poland, Germany, Holland, UK, Switzerland, Lapland and Turkey. I am sure there were more I have missed!
Once again the teaching, worship and prophetic ministry were of high quality. The thing however of great note to me is the depth of relationships forming across the nations.
This event links well to the one just after in my home town of Lowestoft as the churches we serve in Europe as a team we are now seeking to bring together into common mission and resource with the churches in the East of England we also serve as a team. In this way we end up with one larger area of influence which we can serve more effectively by supplying ministry to the churches we have, gaining momentum into new plants both in the UK and Europe and even further afield. Also the momentum of more churches and people in common mission helps propel us into the nations with greater impact as we play our part in the new frontiers family of churches.
Last weekend saw our first ‘Together at the East of England’ event. Some 1300+ booked in for this. Amongst the highlights for me
1- Turning on the radio in my car and hearing worship songs being broadcast to my home town from the event. Apparently the numbers listening grew through the weekend.
2- The sense of togetherness across the region
3- Some great healings in a number of the meetings. I was especially encouraged in the session Julian Adams and I did on ‘enjoying the Spirit’ which we did. Several people got healed as folk in the session laid hands on those who indicated they had any pain of illness. This was so encouraging as it was the whole church doing the stuff not just a few on a stage
4- 16 first time responses to the gospel and 21 recommitments in the youth meeting
5- Great worship and prophetic input
6- The great encouragement passed on to us by so many people
In the entire whole thing was great I felt, though no doubt we can improve on some areas as we were trying things out for the first time. I reflected that over 25 years ago now I was in a youth group of three people in a church in the Town. I stood in this large gathering and thought I would never have believed that in my home town we would see such vibrant representation of what God is doing in our little part of his church in New Frontiers in the East of England.
This weekend we have John Ifeanyi with us. John is an evangelist from the Bristol New Frontiers church plant. I am looking forward to his visit
Next weekend I and a small team go to serve the Klippan church in Sweden for their annual church camp. They have around 100 coming this year. This church is growing steadily each year and it is a joy to go back again for the camp and see the progress being made.
I feel we are seeing such advance on all sides. It is steady rather than fast. But in the end this is often easier to consolidate into church growth and advance for the future.
Once again the teaching, worship and prophetic ministry were of high quality. The thing however of great note to me is the depth of relationships forming across the nations.
This event links well to the one just after in my home town of Lowestoft as the churches we serve in Europe as a team we are now seeking to bring together into common mission and resource with the churches in the East of England we also serve as a team. In this way we end up with one larger area of influence which we can serve more effectively by supplying ministry to the churches we have, gaining momentum into new plants both in the UK and Europe and even further afield. Also the momentum of more churches and people in common mission helps propel us into the nations with greater impact as we play our part in the new frontiers family of churches.
Last weekend saw our first ‘Together at the East of England’ event. Some 1300+ booked in for this. Amongst the highlights for me
1- Turning on the radio in my car and hearing worship songs being broadcast to my home town from the event. Apparently the numbers listening grew through the weekend.
2- The sense of togetherness across the region
3- Some great healings in a number of the meetings. I was especially encouraged in the session Julian Adams and I did on ‘enjoying the Spirit’ which we did. Several people got healed as folk in the session laid hands on those who indicated they had any pain of illness. This was so encouraging as it was the whole church doing the stuff not just a few on a stage
4- 16 first time responses to the gospel and 21 recommitments in the youth meeting
5- Great worship and prophetic input
6- The great encouragement passed on to us by so many people
In the entire whole thing was great I felt, though no doubt we can improve on some areas as we were trying things out for the first time. I reflected that over 25 years ago now I was in a youth group of three people in a church in the Town. I stood in this large gathering and thought I would never have believed that in my home town we would see such vibrant representation of what God is doing in our little part of his church in New Frontiers in the East of England.
This weekend we have John Ifeanyi with us. John is an evangelist from the Bristol New Frontiers church plant. I am looking forward to his visit
Next weekend I and a small team go to serve the Klippan church in Sweden for their annual church camp. They have around 100 coming this year. This church is growing steadily each year and it is a joy to go back again for the camp and see the progress being made.
I feel we are seeing such advance on all sides. It is steady rather than fast. But in the end this is often easier to consolidate into church growth and advance for the future.
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