You'll Never Walk Alone

You'll never walk alone. Something of an anthem for Liverpool Football Club and synonymous with both the highs and lows of their history. Celtic are partial to a bit of it too... Even I have stood on the terraces and sung along. However, it is much more than a rousing football anthem; it contains grains of truth that can speak to us in our walk with Jesus today. I have always loved music; it's featured a great deal in my life and as a musician and a worshipper, continually speaks to me, moves me and captures my mood in an audible form. It always has and always will play a big part in my life. God has wired me that way...

Sorry Reds but You'll Never Walk Alone did not originate with you. Originally, it was written by Rogers and Hammerstein in 1949 and featured as part of their musical Carousel. The song was sung to a wife grieving for her dead husband. Since then it has been recorded multiple times, starting with Frank Sinatra and was 'adopted' by Liverpool fans in the 1960s when the official DJ would play the top ten albums overt the recently installed tannoy system, prior to the match for the enjoyment of the fans. During one particular week, this song was number one and the following weeks was sung by the fans...the rest, as they say, is history. Let's remind ourselves of the words to this song...

When you walk through a storm hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark
At the end of the storm is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.

Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Though your dreams be tossed and blown,
Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart
And You'll never walk alone,
You'll never walk alone!

The sentiment expressed in this song is admirable and I suspect the writers were referring to the support and care offered by other people, in the midst of catastrophe and disaster. However, the Lord reminded me that I can never be alone because He is with me. It sounds so simple but the depth and implications of this truth will take a lifetime to fully comprehend, grasp and live out; God is with you. And He can walk with you because He knows what it is like to walk this earth in all his Deity but all His humanity as well. The hyper static union confirms that Jesus was both God AND Man simultaneously. How often we reflect on His Deity - the Son of God in whom all the fullness of God dwells. Yest He is also fully human and completely au fait with the difficulties, challenges and suffering of humanity.

You'll never walk alone because He is with you. Moreover, He is not some distant, ignorant God but Someone for Whom humanity has provided a covering for His own perfection. He understands and He knows and He will truly be the eternal companion through everything this world throws at us.

Walk on with hope in your heart today - a living hope: Jesus Christ.

Worship Central

Last night was a full worship team meeting. These occasional sessions bring together all those involved in the BCC worship ministry and are always very fruitful times. Despite some sickness keeping a few people away, there was a good turnout and our time of worship at the end brought us right into the throne room of God - His presence was tangible. As part of the evening I sketched out a few things for 2010. It is clear to me that God is doing something very powerful through the worship of His Saints at this time; every Sunday so far has been characterised by a completely unpredictable time of worship that has ranged from the powerful to the intimate, sometimes changing in a matter of seconds. There has been prophetic life and a deep desire from God's people to reach out and touch Him. On many occasions, this has taken the meeting in a totally fresh direction and acted as a springboard for ministry and further revelation.

I have been reading through Numbers in the last few months. It is now drawing to an end. In Numbers 28-29, Moses records a list of extremely important festivals which, essentially, represent different expressions of worship across the entire Israelite community. This year, I believe we can learn some valuable lessons about the nature of this new worship work in BCC through these passages of old...

1. Worship is positioned in Community
The first thing to note is the focus on corporate worship; a quiet, private quiet time this is not. It is about every believer coming together and expressing this belief through a group activity and in some of the offerings required through Chapters 28-29, it requires a holy gathering ('Holy Convocation' ESV); a coming together of all the individual parts as one. This year, God is calling us to focus on those corporate moments of worship together as a Church; something is going to emerge from that place of united devotion.

2. Worship is sacrificial
In every instance, their united expression of worship costs them something. Western Churches have forgotten that worship is not about what you get but what you give. As we come and offer God our praise and adoration, regardless of our circumstances, we will see and feel the force of faith released into our lives; our weakness is transformed into His strength. Worship is the catalyst for this spiritual process. At times, the force of praise emanating from the people has pushed things forward in our times of worship together. People come ready to make an offering; to rise above circumstances, feelings, disappointments and more in order to reach out to the Lord. In return, God never disappoints.

3. Worship is Centred on God
All through these Chapters, the central focus of worship is God. Today, some worship has become very man-focused. We look to ourselves and our own humanity, when the true nature of worship is Jesus, not us. This year, we are learning once again to "fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2), to turn away from ourselves and to look exclusively to Him.

4. Worship will recapture the Spirit of David
In my prayers recently, I heard this simple phrase in my mind "there will be a release of the spirit of David in your worship". As you probably know, David was a man after God's own heart and "The Sweet Psalmist of Israel". He was given the blueprints for God's proper 'home' in the Old Testament, the Temple and David's deep, passionate, uncompromising, unremitting devotion to God characterised his entire life and ministry. My mind went to the moment when David celebrated return of God's ark (the place where He dwelt) to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6 especially verses 5 and 20-23). David loved God's presence and his worship was unrestrained and undignified. This year we will see that same spirit emerge once again into His Church, a deep, passionate, uncompromising, no-holes-barred expression of faith and love to the One and Only God of Love.

Don't go away!

Friendly Fire

Something is stirring in our worship times at the moment. Yesterday's meeting was another landmark encounter with the Lord as we let Him take control of the meeting and once again, this intimacy in worship led us to a deeper place. Bringing a prophetic edge through worship is something that has been on our hearts in the Worship Team for a while. During one section of yesterday's meeting, I really felt the Holy Spirit prompt me to begin singing prophetically, moving away from singing a "standard song". It is a great blessing to play and minister with sensitive, competent musicians and in moments like that, being able to go 'off road' and know that your music team will follow you all the way, allows us the freedom to do just that. More about worship in bcc in another blog entry this week.

I was thinking the other day that anyone who really means business with God will always make enemies. Interestingly, those enemies are rarely from the world who, as you would expect, care little for the things of God or His people, no, these are people inside the Church; they are believers themselves. I love what God is doing here in BCC and it seems to me that this work is a new wineskin for His purposes in His Church today. However, it does not surprise me that this will attract opposition. Vociferous, poisonous and sustained opposition.

George Whitfield lived in the 1700s. He was used by God in a truly extraordinary way, preaching fiery sermons calling crowds of thousands to be 'born again', in huge open air meetings with no public address system other than his voice and a prevailing wind. Today he is hailed as a true apostle of faith and one of the greatest preachers and evangelists of all times. Not so at the time of his ministry. Whitefield had to endure some truly terrible criticisms, verbal assaults and slanderous accusations all from people professing to be Christians; it was spiritual 'friendly fire'.

"One clergyman attacked him by a scurrilous pamphlet...and others from the
pulpit. Gillies says, "Pulpits rang with invectives against him, and the parish
priests threatened some of their parishioners with prosecutions, for letting him
expound and pray in their houses."" (Taken from The Life and Times of George
Whitefield by Robert Philip at p.78)

What was Whitefield's response? Prayer and praise. He did not resort to lawsuits, defending himself or polarising the Christian community around himself. He simply got on with what God called him to do and let the fruit speak for itself. Let's do the same!

Hallo Homegroup

After an extended break due to Christmas, New Year, Socials, Snow and Ice, our homegroup reconvened for 2010. Meeting at Jon and Jaqui Steer's home due to Ian and Alison's being a literal building site, this, our first 'proper' meeting of the new year and new decade, got off to a great start as Jaqui dispensed homemade cake (Happy Birthday Jon Steer!), the Basket of Treats (as it is known) and unlimited supplies of tea, coffee and other drinks.

Pastor John and Linda made a surprise but most welcome visit and we heard more about some of the key issues of the moment like the use of authority, the importance of discernment, the necessity of truth in our lives, what it means to be righteous and a lot more. We also set the scene for our forthcoming season of study centred around John Bevere's book Extraordinary. At the Home Group Leaders' Meeting on Monday night, a number of other groups will be dipping into one or more of his books and it should be an excellent time of sparking fresh revelation and insight into some of the weightier matters of God's Kingdom.

For us, one of the Home Group will be facilitating a session each week, using one Chapter from the book. We were encouraged not to try and cram too much into each session as there is so much to consider in every chapter (one of the real strengths of Bevere's writing), but instead we should read and reflect, listening to the Holy Spirit for the key point or area which carries true, authentic spiritual life. This can then be brought to the group for further exploration, prayer and so on. I have also bought the Devotional Book that accompanies Extraordinary so anyone struggling for ideas or structure is more than welcome to borrow it and use it if required.

It was just good to be together. After preaching on 'Fellowship First' a few weeks ago and then to be hit by the snow with limited opportunities for fellowship, I've really missed everyone and greatly enjoyed being together once again.

Be A Brandon

On Tuesday, I went to speak at St. Mary Redcliffe's Sixth Form Christian Union. One of the young people in Energy is involved in running the CU and asked me (at rather short notice, I hasten to add!), if I would like to come in and speak. I really enjoy this sort of opportunity; it helps me keep my speaking skills sharp and encouraging young people in their own school environment is very important. What I have realised though, is the importance of equipping and empowering young people to be salt and light in their schools. For many years, the mentality was getting people (mainly adults) to go into the school on a regular basis and run events such as assemblies, lessons and so on. Now, the emphasis is on working with the Christian young people themselves who are already in the school and far more able to have an impact than we are. For too long, these young people were made dependant on outsiders coming in and doing their job for them! These days it is all about working with them so they can do the job themselves.

In recent years, I have noticed that BCC Youth have started to care about their non-Christian friends a lot more. Some have got involved in their Christian Unions and one or two have even started up one themselves! I used to do a lot of schools' work but the fruit was limited. It excites me to see the young people actually getting a vision for their own schools and wanting to do something about it. Of course, being a Christian in school is more than just going to a meeting. We challenge them to not just 'talk the talk', but also to 'walk the talk' in every aspect of their school interactions: homework, attitude to staff, behaviour, language, relationships and so on.

I read a story in a book given to me for my birthday called "Jesus Culture" written by the Youth Pastor at Bill Johnson's Church is Redding, California: Banning Liebscher (yes...that's really his name!). It's quite long but I'm sure you'll find it to be worthwhile...

"Brandon Smith is a senior in high school at a top-level school in the San Fransisco Bay Area in California. His school has one of the top basketball teams in the nation and Brandon was on the varsity team as a freshman - the youngest player on the team. Early one morning after a practice, Brandon was in the locker room dressing for school when the senior captain of the team, along with other teammates, approached him and his friend (who was the only other freshman on the team). The captain of the the team asked Brandon if he was a virgin. Without shrinking back at all, Brandon proudly proclaimed, "Yes, I am a virgin. And proud of that. It is something that is precious to me and I'm saving it until my marriage."

"The team was shocked at his answer and looked at him like he was crazy. there was even chuckling as the guys walked away. During that day, different young men came up and told him how much they respected his decision and how they wish they had done the same. But the label of "virgin" stuck with him throughout his high school years, so much so that a couple of years later at a game with their local rival school, Brandon was on the free throw line and the crowd was chanting, "He's a virgin! He's a virgin!" Brandon wanted to shout back, "I'm proud if it! I'm proud of it!"

"God truly is raising up a new breed who refuse to believe they are insignificant. Brandon knew he wasn't called to just survive and be ashamed of who he was. He was called to stand out, not fit in. Even though he was nervous and even though he knew it could cost him approval from his peers, he accepted that it was worth it. Brandon felt secure in his identity in God and had no need for others to tell him who he was. He had established his life in intimacy with the Lord and was not agitated by the pressure to seek acceptance or relevance in the eyes of the world."

We need more young people who love God and are willing to live this message as well as speak this message into the Schools of this Nation. Those of us who work with young people would do well to consider how we can lead, equip, encourage, disciple and teach these younger generations to do this in the best ways possible.

Yun Fun

After all the snow, things seem to be getting back to normal now and yesterday's meeting was no exception; like last week, the Bourne was packed and the Holy Spirit got hold of things and led us through, what turned out to be, another exceptional time. I always seem to start my Monday blogs with these sorts of entries but we do genuinely have consistently powerful times together! The new song we did ("For Who You Are" by Hillsong) seemed to connect with people; this is not always the case though and communion, our first of 2010, was an excellent moment of declaring our love and unity once again.

Pastor John's message, 'The Lordship of Christ', was extremely thought provoking. It is now available to download from the website and definitely worth another listen. We were reminded that Jesus is not just our Friend and Saviour but He is also our Lord. This is not always clearly expressed when evangelists preach the Gospel, but is an essential component of being a disciple of Jesus none the less. There has been an overemphasis on friendship at the expense of Lordship.

Pastor John said, "sometimes we are not very discerning [of God's sovereign will] and need to submit to somebody who is." I have been reflecting on this statement in the light of something written in Brother Yun's recent book Living Water. His book has really spoken to me and reinforced much of what we have been taught in recent years. However, some of the content of Chapter 25 ("A New Wineskin") concerned me. Essentially, he argues against a pyramidic form of Church leadership as this simply reflects the world's system and promotes a 'lording it over people' attitude (p.258-259). It seems that Brother Yun advocates a 'free for all' where every believer simply depends on their own personal relationship with God, with scant regard for anyone or anything else and simply follows these 'leadings'. Ironically, it sounds like a form of spiritual communism! He writes (p.259), "The spirit of the world has crept into the church as well and millions of believers are controlled and dominated by manipulative shepherds, most of whom do not even realise they are doing it."

Sadly, I think this reflects Brother Yun's own experience of poorly handled, abusive authority both in China by 'secular' authorities and in The Church via Pastors and Leadership Teams. The whole nature of being in a Kingdom is one of authority that flows from the King 'downwards' to His subjects; 'hierarchy' is not a dirty word. John Bevere has written extensively on this and makes a valuable point that all authority is Godly but not all authority is used in a Godly way. My own feeling is that Brother Yun has gone too far and, based on extremely bad experiences at the hand of 'The Authorities' in his own life, has thrown the baby out with the bath water.

I need to be under authority. I need to submit my life to people who can help me hear and discern what God is saying. This spiritual authority is highly empowering, creative and protective; it does not crush and stifle but actually keeps me secure and on the right path. It is an expression of Christ's Lordship here on earth.

Prayer Partners

Prayer is an important part of any Christian's life. James 5:16 (NLT) says, "The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results." In 1995 during the dedication service of the Bourne Chapel, Rob Scott-Cook spoke prophetically over us that we would be a 'House of Prayer' and as we have grown and matured in our revelation of and love for God, so has our prayer life. Ever since then, coupled with the truth of the above verse, there has been an increasing expression of a vibrant, situation-changing, faith-building prayer life across the Church's entire operations. We long to see it change our own lives and through us, change the lives of those in the this world who so desperately need God.

So what has been happening? A couple of years ago, we had 40 days of prayer and fasting as well as a new early morning prayer meeting on Wednesdays. Our Saturday morning prayer times consistently bring us in the heart and mind of God, from which we pray powerfully and effectively. The Young People have been leaning more about prayer and through specific events and strategies have started to use prayer as a weapon in fighting the battles of faith in their own lives, wherever they may be. Prayer is powerful.

In the last year or two, the application of God's word as an expression of prayer has characterised my own devotional times with the Lord. Taking Scriptures, drawing from them the Truth contained therein and speaking them into the spiritual realms in faith has opened up a whole new dimension of prayer in my walk with God. The Personalised Promise Bible has really taught me some valuable principles in this area.

One other significant factor in the rise of prayer in BCC has been the 'Prayer Partner' strategy, primarily instigated through Contend and Unique, the Church's ministry to men and women respectively. Pastor Neil is my prayer partner and, on a weekly basis, for a number of months, we met regularly to pray and seek God. These were extremely fruitful times and looking back I realised recently just how many of those prayers God has answered. At times, it was freezing cold and we would sit in Neil's caravan early on Wednesday mornings shivering more from cold than a deep spiritual encounter! However, it worked.

For various reasons, we let this discipline slip and did not meet for a while. God always speaks and when He wants something done, He will always let you know, you just have to make sure you're listening. Thankfully we were and we reconvened our Prayer Partnership this morning, in the comfort of Neil's living room! Let me encourage you to persists and persevere with your own prayer partner. Have you stopped to look and see just how potent your past prayers have been and how effective they have been in dealing with problems, situations, people and difficulties? But then this should not be a surprise to us as, "the earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results."

But then you knew that anyway didn't you??!! No blog for me tomorrow, (you had five entries last week due to the snow so you've got your money's worth!), so I'll blog off and see you all again on Monday. Enjoy the weekend and I hope to see some of you on Saturday for the prayer meeting and / or Sunday for the meeting!

Waiting Room

I stumbled across a truly marvellous Scripture today. Yes, I know they're all marvellous but I'm talking about that moment when you read a verse which you've read dozens of times before and it suddenly 'comes to life' in your hands and illuminates your soul in a way its not done before. Psalm 130 is one such passage. I've read it many times before but I came across it this morning as I was finishing up Brother Yun's book Living Waters. Here's Psalm 130 ...

"Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities." (ESV)

Waiting has been a real theme of my life with God in the last year or so. I went to Lee Abbey (see previous Blog entries on that) back in April 2009 and all I got was 'wait patiently' (Psalm 40). Oh how easy it is to push doors and 'make things happen' all under the guise of working for God when the place of waiting is one of relentless spiritual activity and character refinement. The world says we should be busy because then we are productive, worthwhile and important; it determines the value of who we are. However, God works in seasons and there are times when He wants us to focus on the relentless pursuit of His Presence rather then expending time, effort and energy on the pursuit of matters pertaining to that Presence.

The verse that stood out for me is v6, "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning." During times of expectant waiting, the fuel for our fire is God's Word. I have been reminding myself of who I am in Him, what He has said to me in the past and continuing to remind myself of these truths so my faith remains strong (Romans 10:17).

The above verse also demonstrates that waiting is designed to draw from us the deeper reservoirs of passion and love for God; far from being a passive place, waiting is something designed to engage, stimulate and challenge our faith in ways that 'the good times' cannot. Finally, we see that waiting has a purpose: to see God move. It is so important that we don;t hurry Him because we will never know if what we are pursuing has truly been engineered by the Lord and when things do start to happen, we risk the sin of self-aggrandisement as we congratulate ourselves on doing something that really belongs to the Lord.

Wait. Don't rush and don't panic; God has not left you. Instead He wants you to seek Him and let Him see what really lies in the deep places of your heart and character. Waiting is not for the immature.

Farcebook

The founder of Face Book, the global social networking site that currently boasts over 350 million members, is called Mark Zuckerberg. In a recent interview, he made an astonishing claim which, if true, represents a cultural shift of staggering proportions in 21st Century society. He said that privacy was no longer a "social norm." He continues, "People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people." You can read more of this interview by clicking on the link below. In the meantime, his comments may be some sort of attempt at justifying his recent decision to change the privacy setting across the Facebook network, from relatively high to relatively low, making it YOUR responsibility to protect yourself from unwelcome voyeurs flicking through your personal details unbeknown to you.

I have no problem with social networking sites and I think it is important that Christians have a vibrant, dynamic presence on the internet which shows people there is 'another way' of living in this world. My problem is with Zuckerberg's notion that culture has now 'evolved' to a point where privacy is simply an obsolete concept. Information can be an expression of intimacy and influence. I know things about the lives of my friends which other people do not and it is precisely this exchange that differentiates me from other people who would be classified as 'strangers'. In John 15:16 (The Message Version) Jesus says, "I'm no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father." What we disclose to others says a great deal about who they are in relation to us.

I think Face Book has taken this important ideal and turned it into a cheap form of friendship that, like so much of what is peddled by our culture, is simply transient, superficial and meaningless. Come on, how many of your 'friends' on Face Book are actually friends in the true sense of the word?! This recent development now goes even further as people who have no formal contact with you in the real world can access personal information about you (including photos, interests, relationship details etc). Doesn't this render the decision to accept or decline people's requests to be 'friends' as obsolete when the security setting is automatically set at such a low level in the first place?

Apart from the obvious child protection issues, I think Face Book's action is another nail in the coffin of truly authentic relationships in a world already obsessed with trivia and trivialities. One of the things I noticed when I became a Christian was how meaningful my relationships and friendships suddenly became with other believers; Christ joined us together in a way that nothing else could. Friendship with God delivers a depth and authenticity of friendship with others that is unparalleled by anything the world has to offer, even the social networking 'Goliath' that is Face Book.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jan/11/facebook-privacy

Get Your Own!

We had an awesome time in Church yesterday as 6 people were baptised and made that public declaration that Jesus is the Lord of their lives and they want to follow Him. I really enjoyed the service; it is always encouraging to see the Bourne Chapel completely packed with standing room only at the back and their was a really great atmosphere of faith present throughout the entire morning. Those being baptised had also invited friends and family along and seeing some new faces amongst the 'regulars' was also extremely encouraging. Many congratulations to all those who were baptised; it is such an important expression of faith and a must for all Christians who mean business with God. There were two things which stood out for me over the course of the baptism service which I wanted to blog about today...

The Impact of Faith Camp
Did you notice how many of the youth/older children being baptised cited Faith Camp as an important contributor towards their own spiritual awakening? All of them stated that there had been some very significant moments in their meetings at Faith Camp which had made God real to them. For example, one was baptised in the Spirit and began to speak in tongues, another responded to an invitation to give their life to Jesus and still another simply 'felt' God's presence in a meeting in a way he had not done so before that confirmed an encounter with God that had taken place at Soul Survivor some years previously. I have always been impressed with the kids' and youth work at Faith Camp, not least because it is uncompromising in what it delivers and does not pander to this dumbed down spiritual culture that can infect so much of Church life today.

A Living, Personal Faith
It has been a privilege to know most of these young people and kids since they were born or from a very young age. They have had their ups and downs but what matters is all of them have their own faith in Jesus. I have observed that those who stick it out in this Church (i.e. the place in which God has strategically positioned them) will see the Lord achieve His purposes in and through them. All of the younger baptism candidates had developed their own, personal, living relationship with Jesus. It is so important that kids grow up to secure their own faith in Jesus that is independent of their parents' belief. Baptising them from that position of personal faith is an awesome testimony to the work of God in BCC and His grace over those long suffering parents who have all done a great job bringing up their kids to know and love the Lord.

Bring on the next baptisms!

Testing Times

Yesterday evening, I came home to find my toilet bowl had got a large chip smashed out of it and a big crack had appeared down one side. It seemed that one of my aftershave bottles had fallen off the shelf, had its rapid descent cushioned by the toilet bowl and ended up on the floor...in one piece - yes, I use powerful cologne these days! Rather irritatingly, the toilet bowl leaks when you flush it and will have to replaced, costing money that I'd rather not be spending after a very expensive December.

My first reaction to all this was not one of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, instead there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth! (slight exaggeration but you get the idea). Looking back over the previous few months or so, I realised that there have been lots of little challenges that, unless handled properly in God, can so easily become irritations that distract me from the bigger picture. Moaning can become my default setting and this is extremely bad news as faith is all but extinguished in the presence of such negative talk.

After my initial (fleshly) reaction, I got down on my knees and started to talk to God. All I kept hearing was, "I am testing you, I am testing you." The Bible has much to say about testing. We may assume that the sorts of tests are the really 'big' ones; the sort of tests that persecuted Christians in far away lands have to endure, ones that can literally be a matter of life and death. Yet, I think a test is a test and God can use anyone and anything to draw from us the desired result; don't despise the day of small tests!

James 1:2-4 (New Living Translation) says, "Whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow, for when endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything....God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." I particularly like The Message version of James 1:2 which says, "You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colours."

Yesterday, God taught me a number of lessons through these small tests of character and faith. I discovered that God is interested in the small things of my life. When I turn to Him He will always turn to me. His Holy Spirit can provide a peace and joy that supercedes any earthly irritations. He wants me to develop patience in my life so I can learn to wait and see His provision and perfect timing in the small things of domestic life as well as the big promises yet to be fulfilled in my adventure of faith with Him. He is wonderfully patient with my mistakes and failures.

Not bad for a chipped toilet bowl is it?

White Out and Whitefield

Happy Snow Year! The much hyped 'extreme weather' finally hit Bristol last night and I woke up to a scene that looked like it had been taken straight out of a WH Smith pack of overpriced christmas cards. Living near to the Office as I do, it was easy to walk into work today so I managed to make it into Blog Land for your daily fix of all things BCC all from the comfort of your warm, comfortable home. I am currently dipping into an 18th Century biography of George Whitefield. This man saw the Christiani message spread across the UK and America in a truly miraculous way and it changed and transformed the lives of thousands and thousands of people. I am only at the start of this book so I'll be referring back to it as things come up in the course of my reading.

At the moment, the author is focussing on his early years and what interested me about Whitefield was his rather religious approach to his faith as a teenager and in to his early twenties. It seems that he understood his faith in terms of religious activity to be completed rather than a living relationship to be enjoyed. At times it sounded like a real grind and it was only his youthful zeal that kept him going. It wasn't until someone lent him a book called 'The Life of God in the Soul of Man'. Whitefield writes,

"At my first reading [sic] it, I wondered what the author meant by saying, 'That some falsely placed religion in going to Church, doing hurt to no one, being constant in the duties of the [prayer] closet, and now and then reaching out their hands to give alms to their poor neighbours.' Alas! thought I, if this be not religion, what is? God soon showed me; for in reading a few lines further, 'that true religion was a union of the soul with God, and Christ formed within us,' a ray of divine light was instantaneously darted in upon my soul, and from that moment, but not till then, did I know that I must be a new creature."

This hit me like a er...snowball in the face. So many non-Christians in the world view Christianity as just going to Church, praying, being a 'good' person all seasoned with some occasional philanthropic gestures towards those 'poor people'. Some Christians even view their faith in this manner. Being a Christian is first and foremost, 'a union of the soul with God and Christ formed within us'. I LOVE that definition. It speaks both of the Lordship of Christ over us, His followers as well as the transformative nature of that relationship upon our regenerated souls - we become like Jesus. It prompts us to reach out to God's reaching towards us and develop our own personal, genuine faith in Christ that is not simply following the lead of loved ones like family and friends. Our dead, religious activity achieves nothing, instead it is through this living, dynamic, life-changing relationship with God through Jesus that unlocks the power of Holy Spirit in us to make us 'new creations' (2 Cor 5:17). The joy that comes from being truly 'born again' then motivates us to serve and please God and this can be expressed through faith actions like prayer, fellowship with other Saints, ministry to the poor and so on. It is born of out revelation not obligation.

Aren't you glad that today is another day of being able to enjoy a living, dynamic relationship with the living, powerful Saviour who has saved you from yourself? That will motivate you to please Him, serve Him, love Him and become like Him. Throw that religion away like a er...snowball!

The Mind of Christ

***First of all, please note that there will be NO PRAYER MEETING TOMORROW (WEDNESDAY 6 JAN 2010). We decided to cancel it due to the potentially treacherous weather conditions and icy roads so please stay in and keep warm!***

Over the Christmas Holidays I watched a deeply moving programme on Channel 4 called, "Tsunami: Caught on Camera". Based on eye witness accounts and video footage of the events which killed 250 000 people in Asia back on Boxing Day 2005, this extremely distressing but strangely fascinating documentary gave a little taster of the catastrophic nature of this natural disaster. Special effects and digital camera trickery this was not. No, this was human life, human death and human tragedy in the face of a sheer, mountainous wall of unrelenting, unmerciful, unforgiving water http://www.channel4.com/programmes/tsunami-caught-on-camera/4od#3020365

As I watched some of the images of these events unfolding before my eyes, I was affected by the genuine cries and screams of people caught up in this monstrous wave; it was truly apocalyptic in nature. The Bible speaks a lot about the 'Last Days'. I am not interested in discussing the finer points of pre-millennial dispensationalism with people who should spend more time living today than worrying about tomorrow and, at the end of the day (pardon the pun), it simply doesn't matter. All that matters is the Jesus is returning, His followers need to be ready and for those who have rejected Him, a truly awful fate awaits them.

This program reminded me of what 'the end of the world' might be like; seeing and hearing people affected by this tsunami shows, once again, how small we are and how fragile our lives and existence is on this planet. The loss of a quarter of a million lives is a true tragedy. I do not believe it is a 'judgment' on them or their nations. I do no believe there are easy, sound byte answers available to address some of the deeper theological and moral issues raised by such an event. What I do know is that trying to 'make sense' of such an event using earthly reason and logic, trying to understand the perfect ways of an unexplainable God Who is outside the boundaries and parameters of human cognitive function is a waste of time and simply leads us down the path of deception and destruction.

It is only through the deployment of a regenerated mind: 'the mind of Christ', that we can ever make sense of such an event and, in fact, is the first port of call for all who suffer and struggle in this life. The Bible is punctuated by people who suffer and struggle to 'make sense of it'. Today, this same earthly wisdom has crept into the pulpits of the Churches of this nation and God's people are being fed a diet of human wisdom and understanding which is so far removed from the Truth of His Word. Culture and human reason now govern the interpretation of the Bible rather than the Bible being the ultimate authority in all matters of life, even when it doesn't make sense.

I do not seek to minimise the sufferings and struggles of those caught in the middle of catastrophic natural disasters like the Tsunami of 2005. All I wish to convey is the need for us to understand the true nature of the end times in which we live and to have a sound biblical approach to understanding these matters without it ultimately undermining our faith. Without the mind of Christ we will never get to grips with the deeper issues of this life.

New Year/New Decade/New Look

Happy New Year and a Happy New Decade to you all! I hope you had a really good break and are all set for another awesome year walking with God. As you may have noticed, I decided to give my blog a bit of a new look for a new decade: what do you think?Yesterday was our first meeting of the year and it was really good to gather together in God's presence and start the year as we mean to go on. We can really take things for granted sometimes. Seeing everyone again after the holidays really stirred a genuine appreciation of who we are and what we have in the Lord. It's not about how big a church is or even how many are becoming Christians; what matters is the spirit behind a Church and primarily its leadership. Everything is spiritual (Ephesians 6:10-18) and a Church, like everything else, will demonstrate and manifest the Spirit behind it. As we gathered yesterday I was genuinely pleased to see everyone again but it was more than just that, after all people who are not Christians can be pleased to people again! No, it's the Holy Spirit within people which I esteem, value and raise up. He dwells in us (1 Cor 6:19-20) and as we gather together it is His presence which pours out (or for some of us drips out!) creating that unique, Christ-owned, God-centred BCC dynamic which so many of us know and love.

As we being a new year and a new decade stop and thank God for all He is doing in and through us. Thanks God that we do genuinely miss that living, flowing presence in each one of us when we are not together and rejoice that there is a special BCC-shaped expression of the Kingdom of God here on this earth and you are a part of it!