Water Walking

There is a phrase (and title of an excellent book) which says, "If you want to walk on the water, you've got to get out of the boat." Alluding to Peter stepping out of his storm-battered boat and making it across a few waves to Jesus' outstretched hand, this is an analogy for all of us seeking to grow, stretch and challenge our faith today. See Matthew 14:29 for more details.

Yesterday's Guest Service was full of people 'getting out of the boat and walking on the water'. Nathan stepped up to the mike and, for the first time, led worship without the usual youth band suspects. At one point, Nathan, Samuel and Esther were all playing in the band at the same time - a truly family affair.

Becca, Mark, Claire and Stevie all did a 5-minute 'mini preach' responding to the question, "Does God heal today?" It was truly miraculous how God used these four water-walkers to share four totally different but linked responses to this important question. They covered faith, the character of God, the biblical basis for healing, the practical outworking of this and what to do with the practical challenges that may accompany it. The Holy Spirit put all this together as I'd not told any of them what to say and the final outcome was a superb 20-minute spiritually-inspired synopsis on this hot topic.

We also enjoyed Jackie's outstanding Gospel preach. God had challenged her to 'step out of the boat' at the start of the week and within 24 hours she'd received 'The Call' asking her to preach on Sunday. Be careful what you pray for! Having never preached in a BCC Sunday Meeting before, this was always going to be a big ask but God worked in a very deep way and the result was full of life, clear and an excellent example for others (not just the Ladies) of how it should be done. Don't tell me God does not want women preaching and teaching in the Church.

Finally, our meeting was laced with the Christmas-flavoured vocal talents of Boney M - playing Mary's Boy Child at the start of the Service was another BCC first...any requests for next week?!

The Crying Game

All through this year, Psalm 40 consistently reappears in my times with the Lord. Back in April I went to Lee Abbey for a couple of days' retreat and it featured heavily in my devotional times. All through the summer and into the Autumn, I've felt the Lord speak to me through different aspects of this Psalm. This morning I was praying and once again it came back to me. What particularly grabbed me was the first verse, "I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry" (my emphasis). I believe there are times when we need to cry out to the Lord. This cry can be an expression of faith, of pain, of challenge or hurt. It represents a hungry soul seeking nourishment from the only Source Who truly satisfies.

There are many examples of people crying out to the Lord in the Bible. The Israelites cried out to the Lord (Ex22:23), Elijah cried out (1 Kings 17:22), Job cried out to God in the midst of truly faith-defying circumstances (Job 30:20), the Psalms are full of impassioned cries to God (Psalm 3:4, 5:2, 6:9, 22:2, 88:13 etc). Even the Lord Jesus cried out on the Cross (Mark 15:37).

There are times when a simple, sanitised prayer will not suffice; a full-on, gut-wrenching, soul-straining explosion of faith needs to break out of our lives, break through our naturally reserved demeanour and shake heaven with its passion and intensity. It is a cry that means business and cares not about the reactions of others in so doing. Many natural things on earth invoke cries. Liverpool were knocked out of the Champions' League on Tuesday and will face next season in the UEFA Cup. Their supporters' cries could be heard all the way back in Anfield.

I like the idea of being able to cry out to God. I love the fact that in our naturally non-demonstrative culture our Father in heaven expects and indeed positively encourages holy moments of vocal attention-seeking (in a non-pejorative sense!). It is both humbling and exhilarating. It rouses us from the depth of our spiritual slumbers and focuses the soul on what really matters. It releases emotion, stress, anger and most importantly faith. It shows we are serious about what we are doing and Who we are following.

God draws near. We assume that James 4:8 involves a gentle drawing near. It can but I also see it as moments of intensely expressed shouts and cries to God. Humanity has the capacity to demonstrate these sorts of emotions and outbursts and I believe they can be transferred into expressions of faith towards God Himself.

This week I received a little note from one of the young people, the contents of which greatly blessed me. In this note, the teenager stated that they had been crying out to God; deep cries of faith and passion and desire to follow Him, love Him and serve Him for the rest of their days. It moved me and I believe it moved God too. After all, God 'heard [his] cry' in Psalm 40. He'll hear yours too.

Over The Shoulder

Let me tell you about our Home Group Meeting last night because it turned out to be a bit of a cracker! I really enjoy going along to our Home Group; it is pretty relaxed and informal but still packs a spiritual punch. After the usual staggered start consisting of people arriving, having a drink and tucking into a selection of chocolates and biscuits, we transitioned from notices to a time of worship. Despite Nathan's best efforts, we did not seem to be engaging with this and rather sensibly, he highlighted this and challenged us to do something about it!

It took us a few minutes but it was clear that we needed to be still and know God. It's funny how spiritual 'activity' (speaking in tongues, singing and so on) can sometimes distract us from really turning our eyes upon Jesus . Don't get me wrong - I'm all for spiritual engagement but in this particular moment Holy Spirit led us to be silent and still. As we stood in His Presence, I felt the whole atmosphere of the meeting change; God turned up. As faith began to rise, we caught hold of the real agenda for the evening and people began to pray very powerfully into situations and circumstances. We prayed for health, especially for some of the children and we also prayed for a couple of homegroup members, one of whom reported a powerful healing of his shoulder as a direct result of prayer!

The faith levels in the room were getting stronger and stronger. Mark then led us into communion and we broke bread together as a mark of our commitment to one another and to the Lord. It was not forced or contrived but a supernatural overflow of Holy Spirit's clear direction and guidance. In conclusion, we invited Ian and Alison to sit in the middle of the room and receive prayer as the anointed Leaders of this work. We stirred up the prophetic gift within each one of us and one member of the group even sang a powerful prophetic song over them as we prayed and waited on God. He spoke and as people shared, His word began to affect things.

What was going to be a 'short time of worship', turned into an hour and a quarter. I love the fact that we don't have to be limited by a programme and if we create a simple structure and let God fill it, He is only too pleased to do so thereby creating a totally absorbing, engaging and spiritually stimulating time for all involved.

The Cross of Christ

I am simply going to quote an amazing passage from John Stott's book The Cross of Christ. I read it this morning and it really gave me something to think about.


"I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. The only God I believe in is the One Nietzsche ridiculed as 'God on the cross'. In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of the Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time after a while I have had to turn away. And in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in God-forsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings became more manageable in the light of his. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross which symbolises divine suffering" (p.387).

Are You Bovvered?

We really enjoyed another tremendous time in yesterday's meeting: welcoming in some new people who have recently completed our Power for Living Course, Pastor Richard's fiery preach and a flood of positive, faith-building testimonies proved, once again, that letting God set the agenda for our meetings produces the most exciting times imaginable. Who said Church is boring??

I have been left reflecting on a continuing prophetic theme emerging in recent times: do you care? All great leaders genuinely care. This year has been a timely reminder from the Lord about what and/or who I care about. At times it is easy to get bogged down in the minutiae of Church life: handling pastoral 'problems', keeping motivated during quieter seasons, dealing with disappointment, persisting in prayer and pursuing God through it all. What underpins these moments is whether we care or not.

Care is not some sort of sentimental expression of sickly-sweet feelings all wrapped up in a big group hug (!), instead it simply means we care about what God cares about and react accordingly. I am currently working my way through Numbers and I have got to the section where the Israelites begin to moan, complain and rebel after they choose to listen to the negative report of the Promised Land rather than Joshua and Caleb's unwavering belief that faith and trust in God will deliver this land into their hands (Numbers 13:26-14:38).

Interestingly, Moses appeals to the Lord who, quite rightly, thinks it's time to get rid of these moaning, ungrateful, selfish people who seemed to have forgotten the HUGE back catalogue of signs, wonders and miracles done by Him on their behalf. Moses' appeal is worth a read as the spirit beneath it is one of care. He cares about the Lord's reputation; he cares about the testimony that will be spread if He does wipe out the Israelites and he cares about the people who, while foolish and unrepentant, are still chosen by God for the display of His splendour.

If you were Moses, what would you have done? I suspect some of us would have simply agreed with the Lord, sent the ungrateful moaners a 'Happy Judgment Day' text and settled down in a comfy chair and waited for the BBQ to really get going. As Pastor John said on Saturday morning, "frustration leads to aggression" but not so with Moses; he cared and so must we.

This week is a brand new, fresh opportunity to walk with the Lord. Give Him time to tell you what He cares about and then position that revelation at the top of your priority list. Those of you in positions of leadership: homegroup leaders, youth, children's ministry, preachers and so on, get on your knees and seek God because selfish leadership is spiritual poison in the House of God. How many of us allow self-interest to touch our lives and influence our motives? How many of us care about what we want with scant regard for what God wants? I know this is quite a hard message for today's blog but let's start the week with some fire in our bellies and some passion in our hearts: are you bovvered? YOU SHOULD BE!!??

Christmas Is Coming

There are only 35 days until Christmas! Now that Halloween, Bonfire Night and er...my birthday are out of the way, I start to feel a bit more festive. I have resisted the temptation to crack open the Christmas Carol Playlist on my itunes (although we have had a few little musical treats in the office) but the Christmas Puddings are made, I've started to buy one or two bits and pieces and I'm really enjoying the run up to, what is probably, my favourite time of year. You done your Christmas shopping yet? Have you worked out what you will be doing this year? Here's what we will be doing in BCC..

As well as the many festive get-togethers taking place across Home Groups, kids' ministry teams, youth, the Christmas Fair (5 Dec from 10am-2pm in the Bourne Chapel) and so on, there is a lot going on but there are two high profile events which we hope will attract as many non-Christian visitors as possible...

Kids' Christmas Celebration
On Sunday 20 December from 10am-12.30pm we will be running an extra special service for all kids and their families celebrating the real meaning of Christmas. It will last about an hour and will be full of life, fun, games, singing and more. The Puppet Team have written a special sketch and this will be premiered during the service. We will also be taking an offering for Zambian children. The Team putting this together has discovered a real flow of life as we have tapped into what the Holy Spirit wants and lots of different people from BCC are involved in some way or another. Tickets are FREE and all those kids attending the Service will be eligible for a free bounce in Castaways afterwards. People can obtain these tickets from the Office or via Castaways and it will be first come, first served! Last year we had to turn people away and there were over 200 people in the Bourne - a wonderful sight!

Star of Wonder
Run entirely by the young people of Bristol Community Church, this Service will adopt a relaxed, cafe-style approach and will feature Louie Giglio's DVD "How Great is Our God". This will be followed by a live Q+A Session using a panel of 'experts' as well as some festive music and refreshments. It is totally different from anything we have ever done before and there will not be a Carol or Reading in sight! Esther and Mike are spearheading this project and we aim to involve as many of the youth as possible. Although led and run by the teens, it is open to everyone aged 11+ (kids should come to the morning meeting). Again, tickets are FREE and available from the Office but NOT Castaways.

At the time of blogging, our special professionally-designed invites are at the printers and will be available for distribution from next Sunday (29 November). As usual, they are done to a high standard as we want them to be attractive to potential visitors. Representatives from each of the organising teams will be briefing all of us on these Christmas Services during the Guest Service on that day.

**Tickets for both events will be available from Monday 30 November and will be on a first come, first served basis. Please pray and invite friends along. We are also hoping to go out and hand out the invites during a Saturday morning - more information to follow so watch this space!**

Youth Open House

On Tuesday Night ENERGY ran their own 'Open House'. With nearly 50 people in attendance (including 20 'Guests'), it was a resounding success. Throughout the course of the evening, lots of the young people were involved and their contributions ranged from setting up, doing the talky bit, helping out with the cafe, talking to guests, welcoming people as they arrived, running a quiz, hosting the event and so much more.

One of the best parts of my job is seeing these young people 'ACTIVATE THEIR GIFTS'. When they take hold of something themselves and run with it, their whole attitude and approach changes; they own it so they are committed to it. It is so important that we do not become an insular group of christian teens, simply meeting together for a good time. God is birthing in them a heart for the Lost and I heard of numerous stories of the youth praying and then inviting their friends to come along. They really took this seriously and in some ways can set the example for us as a Church.

Do you remember Ben's word from last Sunday's meeting? Put simply, it was a prophetic push for us to be bold and reach out to the lost. This young man practiced what he preached and, on Tuesday evening, brought along a friend from school who really enjoyed himself. There were also some challenges too: one of the young people thought about 12 of her friends were coming but at the lats minute they withdrew after someone else had made some rather unfair comments about the Open House evenings. One of them still came and had a good time.

All of these experiences give the young people opportunities to find God and grow in their faith whether things are running "smoothly" or not! It is also a big learning curve for the Team (me especially) as we are so used to leading from the front that to make space for them to 'do the stuff' requires a very different way of working. However, the young people never cease to amaze me and they deliver on what they say they're going to do.

Please keep praying for them and encourage them especially as we begin to build up towards Christmas (they will be running a special evangelistic event called 'Star of Wonder' during the evening of Sunday 20 December - invites will be available from next Sunday).

Speak Up!

Last night we had our first ever "Speaker Training Session". Over 25 people crammed into the lounge and were a wonderful mix of young, old, male, female, experienced communicators and people who were 'just looking'. For some time, as a Leadership Team we have sought to identify and bring forward new people to share the Word of God. Sunday mornings are not always the best forum for people to 'have a go' as this is the key meeting of the week and it is not dis-similar to throwing people in at the deep end with no lifebelt! However, there are plenty of opportunities in Homegroups, Unique, Contend and for short contributions on a Sunday that will help people grow and develop in their communication gifts.

After some coffee and cakes we settled down to hear Pastor John deliver a keynote word. It was truly inspiring and sketched out some essential principles for all of us who seek to communicate God's Word to the Church in these last days. Here is a brief summary...

-Bring what you have - don't compare youself to others.
-It takes time to develop these skills so be patient and work hard.
-Women are important! We must have them share and teach in the Church.
-Different styles of preachers: "The Impressionist Preacher", "The Hammer and Nails Preacher", "The Shotgun Preacher", "The Thematic Preacher" and "The Clinical Preacher".

1. The Word of God is relational and our preaching should model this - Jesus is the Word and we relate to Him relationally. It is not intellecutal or coginitive. What we share in the public place must be an overflow of our relational walk with God in the private place.

2. Motives are very important - we need to care about the people. Too much preaching in Churches today can be fleshly self-aggrandisement. We must not perform or be hungry for people-approval.

3. Gifting is important - we must work hard at exercising these spiritual 'muscles' through research, reading good quality books and literature, meditating on our messages, checking with other more experienced and seasoned preachers for mentoring and advice and being diligent and taking seriously the responsibility we have...those who presume to be teachers will be judged more harshly.

After this, we broke into smaller groups combining more experienced people with those who had done little or no preaching. There were some very fruitful discussions and people were able to listen and learn from one another. All in all it was a hugely important evening and we will see how God takes this forward in the future.

Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday to me...etc Before you wonder, no it's not today, the actual day was last Saturday. I had a really good weekend though, got loads of cards and pressies and spent time celebrating with friends. Thanks so much to those of you who helped make it such a good one.

I was completely blown away by yesterday's meeting. Strangely, when we started at 10am it was a bit of a cosy 'sing along' but suddenly God broke in. Someone got up to share about wanting more of God and invited everyone to join her is crying out to Him for more. This triggered a powerful outpouring of love, adoration and faith from the people. At one point nearly 95% of the Church were kneeling before God, simply seeking his face and longing to touch and be touched by Him; truly awesome.

In recent times of worship leading, I have been more and more aware of this power dynamic; we worship the most powerful God there is. Were this not the case then He could not claim to be 'Lord of Lords and King of Kings'. Last Friday night we were being lashed by storms, high winds and driving rain. At about 3am I was woken by a loud BANG! It might have been thunder but no lightening or thunder followed it. Immediately, the Lord spoke to me, "My voice is like thunder". I know this is from a Psalm and the next morning I looked it up. Is is part of Psalm 29:1-11 and was written by the Holy Spirit through King David. Commentators believe he was watching a storm come in at the time and this inspired him to write a song of praise to God by way of a response. I think this is one dimension of this Psalm.

As I meditated on this Psalm (i.e. concentrated on filling my mind with Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit) I felt Him say to me that "My Voice is in you". If you look closely at Palm 29 you will see that it talks about God's voice and I realised that God's voice does not make silly noises, He speaks WORDS. I believe that what we see here is a picture of what happens in the spiritual world when we integrate God's Word (His written AND spoken Word) into our lives. The Bible makes clear that God's word is VERY powerful. Hebrews 4:12 (The Message) says,

"God means what He says. What He says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a
surgeon's scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying
us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God's Word. We
can't get away from it - no matter what."

It makes sense that when we allow Holy Spirit to activate this Word in us as we read it, meditate on it, study it, learn it and most importantly DO IT (Matthew 7:24-27, John 14, 1 John 5:3), then our lives will carry the 'thunder' of His voice speaking through us and against spiritual forces opposing us (Ephesians 6:12), sickness which hinders us, sin which entangles us (Hebrews 12:1) and Satan who seeks to destroy us (John 10:10).

Stir up a storm in your life today!

Fast Track

As mentioned yesterday, ENERGY (BCC Youth Ministry) had a 48 hour prayer and fast session at the start of this week. Driven by the young people themselves, this was designed to help them focus on Jesus, hear God's Word for their lives and pray/intercede for upcoming events. Included in the areas for prayer were forthcoming evangelistic events like our 'Open House' night next Tuesday as well as our special 'Star Of Wonder' Christmas Evening Service on 20 December (watch out out for Esther and Mike who will be explaining more about this during the main meeting on Sunday 29 November). They also prayed for other Church ministries, their schools and decisions about future career paths.

There are many sorts of fast and we considered some creative alternatives to the usual 'water only' approach. Some decided to miss just one meal, others decided to fast from all forms of secular media and still others did the whole lot! They are a remarkable bunch of motivated, passionate teens who, despite the usual adolescent ups and downs, continually provoke and encourage me all at the same time. God is at work in their lives and I believe that the spiritual environment created by Holy Spirit life in them as well as us makes for a formidable ground pushing them towards growth, maturity and the reality of His Presence in their lives.

Initially, I'd decided not to fast from food as I'm marathon training but I really felt the Lord say I needed to 'make a sacrifice' and He would honour me if I honoured Him. Matthew 6:33 kept coming to mind. In light of this, we began on Sunday night at 9pm. By the time I got to Tuesday morning I was feeling tired, nauseous and fatigued. I kept gagging and at one point nearly packed it all in and headed for the fridge! Despite these challenges, I really wanted to stand with the Young People and persevere. I asked God to help me and battled through. You look after God's business and He looks after yours!

The 48 Hour Fast culminated with our Prayer Zone on Tuesday Night and I was blown away by the commitment from the Youth to get it set up and organised; on Monday evening 10 of them arrived and spent two hours putting it altogether. Wow! In the past it had been me and a couple of Team Members fiddling about with net curtains, pegs and masking tape, trying to get everything together in time for the Young People's arrival but now the roles were reversed. The actual time of prayer was extremely fruitful and I felt God's tangible presence and pleasure over what they were doing. This was not just young people engaging in some sort of 'positive activity' but a truly memorable encounter time between these precious young saints and the One and Only Holy, Living God.

I always find a fresh flow of spiritual life when I fast and this time was no exception. In recent years I have often asked the question, 'Lord, why is this work so small? What we have is so good that I want more and more young people to enjoy it!". As I prayed this through, I realised that the Lord was helping me see this ministry in a whole new light; it was small in size but big in influence. Moreover, these young people would go on to change the lives of millions for Jesus Christ. I wonder if the person who led Heidi Baker to Jesus or the person who invested in the life of Billy Graham or the woman who prayed for Smith Wigglesworth knew the fruit that would come from those small, simple acts of obedience? I wonder if they knew the millions of lives who would be affected by the actions of those people? I doubt it.

As I look at ENERGY, I know we have some 'Heidi Bakers', 'Billy Grahams' and 'Smith Wigglesworths' amongst us. I know that these young saints will grow up to impact the lives of millions through the calling that has been placed upon their lives by God. We may be small in numbers but I believe, through faith, that Christ's influence through these lives will be truly global. Have a great weekend.

Prayer Meeting: 7.30am in the King's Rooms on Saturday.
Main BCC Meeting: 10am in the Bourne Chapel on Sunday.

John BeVere's 'Extraordinary' Book

Last week, a kindly person treated me to John BeVere's new book Extraordinary and I have been dipping into it ever since. Like a fine wine, you need to take your time with a JBV book; savour it, don't gulp it down like cheap cider (not that I'd know, obviously!). This book does touch on some previous themes covered far more extensively in other books but I don't think that is a bad thing; we need to be reminded of truth or else we forget! At the time of blogging, I am only up to Chapter 8 but I keep getting a feeling of deja vu: has JBV has been listening to Pastor John's preaches and reading his notes?! Here is a brief synopsis of some of the themes of JBV's book so far...

• God's unconditional love v. God's conditional favour
• The Fear of the Lord
• Judgement Day and the link with rewards for obedience
• The Danger of Deception
• Our Projected Image / Perceived Image / Actual Image (i.e. the 'Keeping Up Appearances' Syndrome that taints the lives of so many Christians today).
• The anaemic nature of so much preaching today in contrast with the true power and nature of God's Word.
• The true nature of grace.

Many of these topics have been covered by Pastor John and others during Sunday messages here in the Church and it is exciting to hear the affirmation and confirmation of these words coming through the pages of a book from someone like John BeVere for whom we have a great deal of respect. I know in my own life how his book Under Cover radically impacted my life when I first read it several years ago; it kept me on the right path!

BCC may not be the most popular Church in the UK; we may not have the glossiest leaflets, the slickest music team or the poshest coffee. But that matters not one jot. Scratch away the surface of BCC and what you find is the living, pulsing, dynamic, prophetic Word of God delivered by passionate, committed and anointed men and women of God who are full of the Holy Spirit and pursuing a spiritually confrontational life of no compromise in this world today.

Thank you John BeVere for being used by the Lord to encourage us to continue to preach messages that do more than simply increase knowledge or tickle ears (2 Tim 4:3) but, under the inspiration and intervention of Holy Spirit, speak prophetically and with great authority into the lives of those who have ears to hear (Hebrews 4:12, Revelation 2:7ff).

Simon Ponsonby in Bristol

This morning I attended a special city-wide gathering of leaders to hear Simon Ponsonby speak. This Anglican priest is based at the thriving St. Aldate's in Oxford and is both an academic, theologian, writer, preacher and deeply devoted follower of Jesus Christ. Having read his book 'More', I was looking forward to hearing what he had to say. The venue was Woodlands Christian Centre in Clifton and it was an extremely attended event, as you would expect with a visitor of Simon's calibre and pedigree. I spent an enjoyable few minutes catching up with some old friends with whom I had lost touch and settled down for, what turned out to be, a solid 80 minute message.

Essentially, Simon drew deeply from the content of his book but it was not a convoluted advert to go and buy it, instead I picked up his heart and spirit and his deep desire to see all Christians find and receive the real 'more' of God's Kingdom in their lives. His pastor's heart shone through as did his giant intellect and high-class skills as both orator, teacher and prophet. It was an inspiring time and although I forgot to take a notebook (d'oh!), he touched on many themes that have been coming through BCC in recent years: the importance of rooting our lives in the Bible coupled with a dynamic, daily regenerative intimate relationship with Christ. He touched on the importance of merging word AND Spirit and the dangers which ensue when one aspect is emphasised at the expense of the other.

Of the many things that stood out for me was the simple fact that this man was teaching us the Word of God under the anointing of the Spirit of God. A '10 Easy Steps to Grow Your Church' it was not. Life coaching and worldly management speak dressed up in religious clothes it was not. He based everything on the Bible but drew us to the Person behind the words of the Bible, once again bringing it all back to a living, genuine relationship with the Lord and the cost that goes with this. This week I've been dipping into John BeVere's book Extraordinary and he writes (p.33), "Many pastors focus more on being life coaches rather than bona fide fivefold ministers. Their messages are formulated from secular leadership principles or psychology, with scriptures found to conform to these views."

Not so with Simon Ponsonby.

Carl Beech from CVM in Bristol

Sorry for the lack of blogging this week; I had a 48 hour media fast with the young people at the start of the week (more about that in a later blog entry) and as I'm at school on Wednesday, today is the first time I've been online for a while! Thanks for checking back though and to reward your interest, I've got a double entry for you today AND tomorrow. I know...I'm so good to you. Let's get on with it...

Last Friday evening we had our Men's Meeting: Contend. This excellent ministry is headed up by Pastor Neil and has been running for a couple of years with considerable success: it provides a focus for all the men in BCC, it has an evangelistic edge, we have enjoyed some great teaching both from speakers within the Church and without, we get to eat an assortment of tasty food and many of the men meet regularly in pairs for prayer and support. Find out more about this by clicking on the link below.

Carl Beech, who heads up CVM (a Christian ministry aimed at reaching the millions of men across this country with the awesome message of Jesus) was our guest speaker. Again, check out their fully-loaded website by clicking on the link below for more information. We have never had Carl come to BCC before but he was superb and ferociously anointed. He joined us for food (I think the lasagne went down well: good work Tim!) and then shared for about 45 minutes using a combination of attention-getting film clips, personal testimony, gentle humour, real-life examples and hearty Bible teaching. At times we were laughing and then we were facing up to the sharp prophetic message emanating from his preach. He reminded us that we are in a violent spiritual battle against a human-hating, God-despising enemy who is not here to win friends and influence people (John 10:10). This is especially relevant in light of Pastor John's message last Sunday morning. Use the link to download it now!

It was so good to hear someone preach the word with passion, anointing and good humour. It didn't really feel like a 'sermon', just a chat with a mate in the pub! Needless to say, the delivery was relaxed and informal but the message was inspired. Thanks Carl - come back and see us again sometime! If you were there and want to leave a comment then please feel free.

http://www.bristolcommunitychurch.org/contend.asp
http://www.cvmen.org.uk/
http://www.bristolcommunitychurch.org/podcasts.asp

Body Parts

This week marks the drawing to a close of our membership course: Power for Living. Running annually since the inception of BCC 25 years ago, this course is the formal 'gateway' into the Church. On Tuesday I met our current cohort and I came away feeling extremely positive; there were all sorts of different personalities and people, equipped with different gifts and at different stages of their lives in Christ. The one thing that always stands out for me is that people never 'drift' into BCC: either they want to be here or not. This, for me, is important as it shows that joining any Church is an important decision and not to be taken lightly. The question is not "can you see yourself here?" but rather, "is God placing you here?"

Power for Living covers all the basic foundational truths, upon which BCC is based. Running for about 6 weeks, issues like Salvation, Baptism in water and the Holy Spirit, the vision of BCC, Finance and Authority are all explored through teaching and discussion. It also provides potential members with an opportunity to meet some of the Leadership and get to know one another in a more comfortable and relaxed manner where anyone can ask any question they wish. At the end of the Course, there are some short 'interviews' (don't worry, they sound far more formal than they actually are) and this gives an opportunity for the individual (or couple) to share their own convictions about joining the Church and for them to receive feedback from the Pastors as well.

One of the topics covered on the Course is 'The Covenant Community' and it explores what it means to be a part of The Church. The Message brings out the real imagery of being a spiritual 'body part'. Here are a couple of passages taken from 1 Corinthians 12... "The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't, the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into exuberance" (v24). Again, "We see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it" (v18).

It is important to know whether joining BCC is what God wants because (according to the above Scripture)He is the one who joins people! By committing to the Church you commit to the people and the Pastors. You come under spiritual authority and receive the life of the Church through faith. You too have an important job to do as well; work that only you can do in the right place at the right time with the right poeple. When people are formally 'entered in' during a Sunday meeting, we are making a commitment to one another before God to 'do everything we can to bring that person into all God has for them'. This is reciprocated from the person joining the Church too.

We know that actively pursuing a formal 'membership' in BCC matters to God. I make no comment about what other churches do, needless to say we have found Power for Living an extremely important, spiritual and fruitful Course that really orientates people to the pursuit of God's perfect plan and purposes in their lives.

For the next selection of Body Parts joining us here at BCC - we welcome you!

Maximise Your Potential

We had an awesome homegroup last night (and not just because of my freshly-baked smarties cookies either! lol) and I must apologise if some of that discussion features in my blog but masquerades as my own work! The phrase 'maximise your potential' has become a cultural cliche and is regularly used in describing a positive-thinking approach to life that seeks to 'bring out the best' in people and see them develop into better people.

The Dictionary defines potential as 'capable of coming into being or action; latent...the capacity for use or development; possibility...usable resources." I believe that every Christian has 'potential' placed in them by God and I really like the notion of being a carrier of 'usable resources'. Each of us is given a huge collection of skills, gifts, abilities and talents by the Lord but it is up to us do something with it (James 1:17, Matthew 25).

By way of an example, we had our youth meeting on Tuesday night of this week. There are between 25-30 coming along each week and all of them are at different ages and stages of their lives in Christ. I see so much potential in them; every different sort of gift and ability is represented from sport to music to media to design, to drama to writing to leading and more. Some of them are involved in serving on Sundays through all sorts of different ministries like Stewarding, Children's Work, Worship, Preaching, sharing and more. Some are setting up Christian Unions in their Schools. Others are creating 'Kingdom Connections' with others through sport, Saturday jobs and more. Even our own times together on Tuesdays have changed....

Since the start of term they have been leading sessions and organising their own programme; as Leaders our jobs have been more to facilitate this process than 'lead from the front'; we're learning alot of new things too! From this Sunday they will be doing a 48 hour fast (this can include media as well as food) and next Tuesday we will be bringing it all together with a Prayer Zone; seeking God for key areas including evangelism, future, events and the Church. Notes are available as a download...FastingNotes%28Amended%29.doc All of them are so much further down the line of faith than I ever was at 14.

Another way of putting it is Kingdom potential is turning into Kingdom fruit; they're 'realising' that potential through Holy-Spirit led opportunity. God has given us a job to do: to realise and release His life in ours, to truly achieve kingdom potential. This is very different from the world's view of potential in so far as the entire focus is on Jesus Christ and not us. It is His life, using His gifts for His glory in our lives. It is, and was never intended to be, an exercise in self-aggrandisement.

Secondly, we talk alot about 'round pegs in round holes'. For example, people who are good with words and speaking 'in public will naturally make good preachers and teachers. It makes sense doesn't it? However, that is not always the case; sometimes God uses people to do something for which they have neither the natural talent or necessary competencies. He likes round pegs being in round holes but He can change your shape to fit! This is so different from the world who view things in a far more rational, logical, carnal way; they do not have the benefit of faith. God always uses the foolish things of this world to shame the wise and the weak things to shame the strong (1 Corinthians 1:27-29). Why? So He gets all the glory and praise.

The danger for people who are naturally gifted in certain areas is they can simply do things in their own strength or charisma. These God-given gifts must be completely submitted otherwise they will become gods themselves. People who are used very powerfully by the Lord are people who know they can't do it 'in the natural' and need His supernatural equipping and anointing to realise this potential. That is not to discount those who already carry a high degree of natural gifting but the pitfalls for them can be greater.

Finally, Kingdom potential is an ever unfolding process of revelation in the life of the individual concerned and it can never be exhausted. There is potential in me which, at the time of writing, is unrealised and dormant; I don't even know it exists! As I continue to walk by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit, those new areas will come into my awareness and God will lead that potential to be released as I obey Him.

What an awesome adventure and what an awesome God!

DON'T FORGET THIS SUNDAY IS REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY: PLEASE BUY A POPPY AND SUPPORT ALL THOSE WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES IN WAR.

Ascend the Summit

Last week, not enough sections of the media carried the story of Lance Corporal Jonathon Le Galloudec; a British soldier serving in Iraq who was shot in the spine by a sniper two years ago. He was told by Doctors he would never walk again. Three months later he walked out of hospital and decided that he was going to climb Mount Kilimanjaro (all 5986 metres of it) with four other fellow soldiers to raise money for the Help the Heroes charity. Last week, he completed this goal. This is far more newsworthy than X Factor nonsense but it seems the press disagree!

Courtesy of two generous friends (thanks D+N!), I now have a copy of John BeVere's new book Extraordinary. He writes (p.2), "How intriguing that the balk of the most popular movies of all time are not love stories, murder mysteries, espionage thrillers, war movies, true life accounts, sports flicks, westerns, police stories, or dramas of friendship, family or life in general. No, top box office draws are films that center on extraordinary characters doing remarkable feats, with a good number of them possessing beyond-human abilities or powers. Why? Because "extraordinary" is how we were created to live. It was God's plan from the beginning."

All of us are called to this adventure of faith. Our daily lives should be littered with the supernatural advancement of God's Kingdom in and through us; after all it is meant to be an advancing Kingdom. This expression of life comes in every situation and through every walk of life: pastor, teacher, friend, husband/wife, parent, home, work, play the list is endless as are those opportunities to see God work in and through us.

I was impressed with Lance Corporal Jonathon Le Galloudec's achievement against the backdrop of seemingly impossible odds; his tenacity and commitment driving him up that mountain despite having had a bullet in his spine and being told he'd never walk again. Without disrespecting his achievement in any way, I would like to use his example as a metaphor for our own Christian lives: we too have mountains to climb in our lives, work to be done, tasks to be achieved for God. It truly is the adventure of our lives. This is a message that we need men to hear, engage with and understand; we must show that following Christ is a cause worth dying for, a Hero worth following, a man worth emulating, a life that transforms and influences other even in the more mundane, domestic existence of lives. I suspect this message will attract more men to a Church that can sometimes be at risk of becoming over-feminised.

A final thought in this metaphor: God always has a new summit for us to ascend. I was talking with Pastor Neil last week and he recounted a situation where he felt completely out of his depth and simply did not know what to do. In recent weeks I have been struggling to recapture those 'Kingdom Connections' through exercising the gifts of the Holy Spirit with real people in the real world. It was so easy and now it's so hard! Through considering Lance Corporal Jonathon Le Galloudec's example, my conversation with Pastor Neil and John BeVere's new book I realise that once again God is speaking to me: just when you get to the top of one summit you see there's a whole load more to be climbed. He never lets us get comfortable and continues to shape and change our character regardless of our comfort!

The Single Issue

There are moments in meetings when you simply know what God wants you to do. In yesterday's meeting we had one of those moments when Holy Spirit spoke to me about praying for all the single people who believed God had a perfect partner for them and wanted to respond to this in prayer. In all the years of being at BCC I don't remember doing this before; certainly not during a Sunday meeting. As about a dozen people came forward, including a couple of youth, I felt the surge of God's power as people gathered around and prayed. There was a spiritual electricity in the room and the whole dynamic of the meeting changed. Two people prayed for me and the prophetic word of God was stirred up amongst us all. It was a very precious time.

I love the fact that God knows what we need in order to serve Him most effectively. As I look over my life I see that He has wanted me single, for what has proved to be, a very long season! There have been some truly wonderful blessings involved in a single life: complete freedom to be devoted to the Lord's affairs, a straightforward domestic and practical life, enjoying other people's kids and then handing them back afterwards, independence in many areas of life and plenty of time. I care little for people who constantly moan and complain about being single and idolise marriage as some sort of panacea for all their problems. We must learn to be content with what God gives us and seek Him wholeheartedly whether we are single or married (1 Tim 6:6).

However, I do believe that seasons come to an end and sometimes we decide in our own hearts that it is time to be married (note Jesus' words in Matthew 19:12 where the decision to remain single or not is very much down to the individual and not to the Lord!). This shift in season often begins first through faith; we are sure of what we hope for and certain of what we cannot see (Hebrews 11:1). This is a spiritual matter and comes through revelation only. Whilst I have no problems with Christians using Godly 'dating' agencies, singles' events and so on, at the heart of this single issue is the heart of the single themselves; what is your motivation?

As an aside, many young people can be pressured into having a boyfriend or girlfriend because all their friends do. Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not 'against' young people having relationships, however, there needs to be real revelation, faith and accountability for all those involved in this. Without this, young people simply reflect the world's way of doing relationships: serial dating, sexual immorality, a focus on the flesh rather than the Spirit and a great deal of time and effort spent on something that may prove to be a hindrance rather than a help. Over the years of youth pastoring, it is this issue more than any other that shipwrecks young people's faith and causes all sorts of problems. Clearly, joining ourselves through relationships with non-Christians is not a good idea (2 Corinthians 6:14-16) but even Christians dating Christians can obfuscate the real issue of ensuring there is an equal 'yoking' and God owns what is going on! Building godly friendships with friends who are girls and boys is the way forward. God will allow the rest to develop if there is a future in it.

For adults too, a fear of being 'left on the shelf' or facing loneliness and being in on Saturday nights can be the true motives for pursuing a relationship. It is all to easy to be governed by rational logic and worldly wisdom when it comes to matters of the heart instead of trusting God and making sure we do it His way, using His wisdom in His timing. Over my years of singleness, God has looked after me time and time again. He has placed me in families and blessed me with wonderful relationships with kids. Psalm 68:6 is true. He has provided people in my life who have a 'wifely' role in my life who help me with practical wisdom, handling people and seeing things from a different perspective and offer some great fashion advice!

What drives this blog today is my belief that this season of singleness is coming to an end. I need and want a wife for the next chapter of my life in the Lord. This is a faith exercise, driven by revelation and a recognition that I'm ready. I don't know where this will go but I need you to stand with me and pray. You can help realise these promises over my life (and those who responded yesterday). I pray for my wife. I will get it right and do it God's way without resorting to worldly wisdom and fleshly strategies (James 3:13-18). I have seen God do this in the lives of many other BCC members who prayed the same prayers as me and I know He will do it.

Watch this space.

She is on her way...