Colworth (CU) - Punk Monk

David had offered to lead today's Christian Union meeting. He based it on a section from the book 'Punk Monk'. David told the remarkable story of a young girl in Malaysia healed through prayer after a serious accident involving a van.

The section from the book was entitled 'The ancient art of breathing' and was written by Pete Greig, the head of 24/7. He described the 'hongi', the touching of noses and foreheads by Maoris after which a person is no longer considered a visitor, but a person who belongs in the land and shares the hopes and goals of the people.

Like the hongi, prayer is a reciprocal activity. We need to be unconditionally attentive, like Mary at Jesus' feet.

There is the 'hongi of community' (1 John 4:20). We can reciprocate in community, community is messy in a way that teams are not. Community is free-form in nature, teams are not.

There's a 'hongi of hospitality' in which we reach out and offer a welcome. Christian communities are a 'welcome waiting to happen'.

Colworth (CU) - Mission

I had volunteered to bring a topic to Christian Union this week, and as mission has been very much on my heart recently, I decided to open a conversation around that.

I shared some points that I felt are important as background for mission, things that perhaps need to be in place in our lives to prepare us for looking outwards more. These include involvement at a heart level with one or two other people; involvement in at least one local expression of church on a larger scale; and involvement in a group of others interested in the practicalities of mission. This third group would normally be drawn from a slightly wider area. And finally, I explained that it's necessary to notice opportunities to reach people who do not already believe. I also mentioned the idea of looking for a house of peace and suggesting such people should bring their friends and family together to learn about Yahshua.

David said that it's important to put the nets out in the right place. He referred to passages like Luke 5:4-11 and John 21:2-6. This is absolutely right! If we are going to be 'fishers of men' and catch people we need to hear Yahshua's instructions and follow them. We need to put the nets out in the right place. We need to listen more and our closeness to him will increase. It's our job to listen, he will make sure that we hear.

I read Luke 10:1-12 and we talked about it for a while. Some of the things we noticed are

• That the disciples were sent out in pairs.
• That we should ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers.
• That we are commanded to go, and that we are like lambs among wolves.
• That we shouldn't take what we need with us.
• We are not to greet people on the way.
• When we go into a house we are to speak peace over it.
• We are to stay in the house, eating and drinking what we are given.
• We are not to go from house to house.
• We should heal the sick.
• The Kingdom of the Almighty is near for those that welcome us and also for those that do not.

Finally we ended in prayer for one another, for reaching our work colleagues, our neighbours, for more labourers to be sent. and for our ears and eyes to be open.

Colworth (CU) - Get out of jail free

At today's meeting, Dud brought some thoughts from the Evangelical Alliance's 'Friday Night Theology' series. Both the articles we heard about were well written and thought provoking.

First we looked at 'A brief theology of anger' which quoted Matthew 5:22, that anger aimed at another puts one under judgement. But in Matthew 21:12-13 we see Jesus himself showing anger at the moneychangers in the Temple. What are we to think?

The idea of good and bad anger is raised. We should never be hatefully angry, good anger is never hateful. Not only is it wrong, but this sort of response doesn't achieve anything useful. The Almighty himself displays anger, but it is always controlled (Romans 2: 5-8, Psalm 103:8-9).

I pointed out that it would be wrong not to feel angry when we see a neglected, starving child. Dud mentioned Ephesians 4:26 which teaches us that we must not let our anger lead us into sin.

Next we heard about 'Get out of jail free' which prompted us to think about the meaning and guiding principles of religion. Living our lives is the litmus test. We need to be doing what we say we believe, in other words we need to be proving that we believe. Other religions, maybe all religions, contain some good and useful moral teaching. But moral teaching isn't enough, we have to live right.

Colworth (CU) - A servant heart

Steph brought some thoughts based around Lent, traditionally a time of fasting and preparation for remembering Jesus' death and return to life.

The first thought she brought was about grace, something we receive freely and undeservedly, in his graciousness the Almighty doesn't expect us to earn the right to the good things we receive. We don't deserve life, but if we follow his Son we will certainly receive it. We are actually a royal priesthood, Christ is our King and also our Great High Priest and we are therefore of his royal and priestly family. Therefore we reign with him and through him, and we have access to the Almighty through grace.

Steph read the Anglican Confession, very familiar to some of us and perhaps less so to others.

Then we returned to thoughts about grace. The gospel (the good news) is bearing fruit in us. In a sense we are the fruit of the gospel. Psalm 139 shows that Yahweh knows everything about us. Grace comes to us free, without conditions, without strings.

We also though about the attitude of Christ and how we should have this same attitude in our own lives. He encourages us, we have peace, joy and love because of him. If we are like him we will always look to the interests of others. This is the nature of a servant. He humbled himself to come as a servant, in the same way we should always be ready to serve one another.

Colworth (CU) - The ladder

I had prepared a topic for today's meeting. We discussed Bernard of Clairvaux's 'Ladder of Love'. This extract from an earlier meeting in St Neots gives the background.

Bernard of Clairvaux's treatise 'On Loving God' describes a 'ladder' of love. The steps are first 'loving self for self's sake', then 'loving God for self's sake', thirdly 'loving God for God's sake', and finally 'loving self for God's sake'. The Bishop of Huntingdon, David Thomson, wrote about this recently in his blog. The original passage from Bernard of Clairvaux's work is in Chapter XV. 

We began by considering the idea of 'Loving self for self's sake' and agreed that this is always the starting point. Everyone has a built-in urge for self-preservation, we are often selfish (though not always) but even at our best we are likely to avoid danger whenever possible.

'Loving God for self's sake' takes this to a new level. Once we realise that Jesus is able to save us we can begin to love him for our own safety and preservation. Dud mentioned how the world can accuse believers of using their faith as a sort of crutch to lean on. And the world is right! We talked about how we can know that there is a creator. Something as amazing and beautiful as a bird may engender real wonder in our hearts. Whether we think the mechanism was evolution or a six day period of creation is neither here nor there, the important fact is that we are observing something amazing that cannot be merely accidental. Once we know he is real and is holy, self preservation may be enough to make us cling to him.

Thinking about 'Loving God for God's sake' brought us onto comfortable ground. This is no longer about having our needs met, it's now a matter of understanding what our Father is really like. We read 1 Corinthians 13 (especially verses 4 to 7) and Galatians 5:22-26. These passages tell us so much about the Lord's nature. They describe the One we love for his own sake.

Then we turned to the most difficult part, 'Loving self for God's sake'. If Bernard had lived in our day he might have called his study a 'four quadrant model'. Effectively he discovered this part by noticing the empty 'quadrant'.

Felix made the point that it's a matter of loving ourselves as God loves us. We can become the person he wants us to be, and then we are in a place where we can begin to give love to others. In other words, if Jesus loves me (and he does) who am I to say I cannot and do not love myself? Unless I can accept that I am loved how can I expect others to accept that they are loved?

As we were coming to the end of the meeting, Dud shared a profound and beautiful picture with us. He saw a person on the ladder, trying to climb to the higher levels. But they were wearing a harness with a loosely held rope attached to it. Right away, he could see that the harness will stop us from falling if we slip. And if we do manage to progress a little higher, the rope will prevent us from going back down again.

We prayed for one another, for continued progress on the ladder and a right mind to see ourselves as the Lord sees us.

Colworth (CU) - Worship

No topic was planned for this week, so we met and began chatting about the past weekend and what we had been doing.

I explained about the Moggerhanger meeting and how without anyone leading us, the open meeting had been so wonderful, full of praise and singing and words from the Lord.

David had also been at a meeting, in his case a youth camp near Matlock in Derbyshire. He felt that the key to a great meeting is that everyone present should be focussed on Jesus.

Dud described a service at Canterbury Cathedral. He had expected that it might be a little impersonal but on the contrary found a marvellous welcome by the local people, a really good Bible message, and a group of African bishops in the congregation. It had been a really good service.

Andy told us how he, too, had felt especially welcomed at a church in Lincoln, not far from the cathedral.

We talked about worship, and agreed it's something that happens in our hearts and may result in praise, singing, meditation and so on. But those things are not worship in themselves. So it doesn't always make sense to talk about a worship song, a worship service, a time of worship, a place of worship, or a worship band; we can easily experience all those things without worshiping.

Colworth (CU) - comfort from love

Today, Steph led the meeting on the topic 'What is the Mind of Christ?' This was based in part on a recent e-bulletin from Christians at Work.

With the recent Haitian earthquake fresh in our minds we asked ourselves whether the Lord causes earthquakes or simply allows them. And in either case, is there some sense in which he is displaying his anger when events like this happen?

I explained that this is a view that I, personally, have never been able to accept. It seems very clear to me that we are living on a battlefield and we should expect bad things to happen from time to time. Yahshua is in us, but the enemy is against us, that much is clear. Earthquakes are a necessary part of the process that builds continents and mountains, without these processes the Earth would have been relatively featureless and an ocean world with perhaps no land at all.

Steph moved us on to consider the fragrant aroma mentioned by Brian Allenby in the e-bulletin...

God is utterly perfect, even handed and above all loving in His outlook upon the world. He wants the best for us. But He also wants us to live a life that is pleasing to Him, to be the fragrant aroma, that we so often read about in our Bibles.

We are to be that aroma. However, we can't simply imitate the Lord, if we are to be truly fragrant we must have him within us.

Another aspect Brian Allenby mentions is the need to be humble. He quotes Paul...

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:1-4)

The Lord does not call us to be strong on his behalf, he calls us in our weakness to allow him to be strong in us and through us.

Colworth (CU) - Dysciples

Today, David brought some thoughts on 'Dysciples', he read from Krish Kandiah's book of the same name. David's chosen extract was about feeling dissatisfied and posed the question, 'Do we lose passion as we age?'

There is no way to tweak the truth, Jesus knows what he's getting but he chooses us anyway. He chose the twelve because he wanted to transform them (Matthew 4:12-22). We're impatient, we want everything now. But Jesus is patient. We feel dissatisfied because of our slow progress.

Jesus is our king and we need to obey him. If we're dissatisfied we need a change of perspective and behaviour (Ezekiel 14:6)

David reminded us that we need to be more on fire, more active. He told us that sometimes he feels guilty about this. I asked if we should be growing in the fruits of the Spirit, because it's really about character, not just what we do.

I had a vision of a map which I shared. I saw a map of a route, it was partly covered by a sheet of paper and I realised that more would be revealed as we needed it on our journey through life. Father has a good and safe plan for us and we need to follow it as he reveals it. David explained that we are like clay pots with treasure inside. We might not look like much, but the true value is in what is hidden!

Colworth (CU) - Gone back to fishing

I had volunteered to bring something for today's meeting and decided to use John 8 as I'd already made notes on it for the Scilla Blog. There, I've been sharing a thought from a chapter of John each day.

I explained how some verses of John 8 had jumped out at me as I read the chapter, and how a quick inspection had identified nine ways in which the Father does something for the Son. There is some repetition of these points, but there are nine unique thoughts. Looking at them further they fell naturally into three groups of three. These groups deal with the Father's position in relation to the Son, the communication between Father and Son, and the Father's approval of the Son. You can see the detail from the original blog post.

After I'd shared these details, Dud suggested reading the chapter through. This was an interesting exercise as it put things into context and made the Lord's interaction with the Jewish authorities seem very real. His words would have been rather arrogant if anyone else had spoken them. Nonetheless, coming from him it's just the plain truth!

We discussed the chapter. One of the thoughts we had was that many people at the time struggled to understand what Yahshua meant by some of the things he said. This was especially true before the Holy Spirit began to work in the believers from Pentecost onwards. (Acts 2:1-4)

Aby pointed out that after the crucifixion, Peter and the other disciples went back to fishing. John 21:1-3. Although the Lord had told them, 'I will make you fishers of men', they were at a loss as to what to do next. They so much needed encouragement at that time, and Yahshua appeared on the beach with some grilled fish and gave them just the challenges and encouragement that they needed.

We thought about Saul's conversion on the Damascus road (Acts 9:1-19). If Saul had been present he would have agreed with the Jewish authorities during the discussion in John 8. Later he was a prime persecutor of the church. But then everything changed and the renewed Paul was mightily used in spreading the early church through the Greek world.

We also had the thought that often we don't wait for the Lord to show us what to do. We should do! It's always better than heading off to do our own thing in our own way.

We finished with prayer before heading back to work.

Colworth (CU) - The Good Samaritan

Nothing had been arranged for today's meeting, so we met and chatted for a while. We talked about the way we feel when we see something wrong - a car in the ditch, somebody lying on the ground. Normally we slow down, but we may be past the incident before we have decided what to do. If there are other people already helping we may just continue on our way, especially if there are official helpers present - the police, an ambulance etc.

But if we're first on the scene, how do we react? Obviously we need to investigate and offer help if we can. But what if we see a beggar asking for money, or a man hitting a child? We know what we should do, but what would we actually do?

This led us on to read the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) which we discussed before finishing with prayer.

Colworth (CU) - Our calling

Steph Whitney led the meeting today. She had prepared some material on various aspects of our personal calling. She explained that she and Ron are part of a small group that meets regularly at home, for prayer, Bible study, and to be led and guided by the Holy Spirit. Steph based today's session around a series of Bible verses and short extracts.

Hebrews 3:1, Ephesians 1:18, 2 Timothy 1:9, and 2 Thessalonians 1:11 explain that our calling is something that we need to discover. I believe this is true, and for me these verses speak powerfully about the fact that we have been called out of darkness into Jesus who is the light of the world.

We thought about the fact that we need to be faithful to the Lord, we need to be worthy and fulfill all that he has for us. Our hearts need enlightening. There are practical aspects to this as well, for example finding a framework for Bible study that is right for us.

1 Peter 2:9 shows us that it's about sharing in a group, not just an individual matter. We are part of a priesthood, we are part of a holy nation. And it's not merely up to us (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, 2 Peter 1:1-11).

Colworth (CU) - Love languages

Andy took today's meeting, basing it on 1 Corinthians 13 and parts of Gary Chapman's book 'The Five Love Languages'. Andy used the audio book version and played a couple of sections to us.

According to Gary the five love languages are quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. Each of us will major in one of these, showing love mainly in this particular way and looking for it to be returned in the same way. When we and our partner have different primary love languages we may both have difficulty feeling loved. We need to learn to 'speak one another's language'.

Kevin explained that he and his wife run a marriage preparation course at their church and have used the five love language principles very effectively with many young people.

Colworth (CU) - Church of Two

I had volunteered to take today's Christian Union meeting. I'd mentioned the idea of Church of Two (CO2) briefly before, but decided to share it more fully now that Sean and I have been testing it for a couple of weeks.

I introduced the idea in outline, explaining that it is simply two (or three) people agreeing to meet daily to do two short exercises together. The whole daily session may take as little as ten minutes, but the frequency and the nature of the disciplines encourages openness to one another and to the Lord.

We read Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 which emphasises that two are better than one. And we also considered how Jesus sent his disciples out in twos, and how they are listed as pairs in the gospels.

I briefly explained the SASHET and VIRKLER disciplines. SASHET stands for Sad, Angry, Scared, Happy, Excited, Tender. The idea is that the partners in the CO2 take turns to discuss their feelings under those headings, focusing on the way each feels today. The other partner listens without offering advice, though asking for clarification is OK. In this way, both partners learn to share their feelings more freely and at the same time hear about the feelings of the other.

VIRKLER is a simple technique to help a person listen to the Lord. It consists of four steps done before the CO2 meeting each day. First it's necessary to clear worldly issues from the mind. The second step is then to focus on Jesus. Then, with the focus where it ought to be, pay attention to the thoughts, ideas, pictures etc that pass through the mind. Finally, note these things down as they present themselves and consider what the Spirit of Christ is saying to you today. The conclusions can be shared when the partners meet and may guide a time of prayer.

It seems likely that at least one other person from CU will now try CO2, and he already has a friend in mind. If so, it was well worth sharing.

There is much more information online. Read more about CO2 from the following resources...

• The CO2 Flyer
• Stories from the Revolution

Colworth (CU) - Advent

Dud led today's meeting and chose the topic of 'Advent'. He explained that it's an extra opportunity to reach people and that it's useful to consider how to approach different sorts of people.

Atheists, for example, have to decide whether to celebrate or ignore Christmas. In either case Christ is not central as far as they are concerned. They may be irritated, even angered, by the impression that believers are 'muscling in' on a festival that for most people is not about Christ at all. They might prefer that every person should decide for themselves.

Believers on the other hand will often be searching for ways of 'putting Christ back into Christmas'. If we want to avoid the excesses of present giving, card sending, eating, drinking and partying, here are some ideas that Dud had to offer.

• Instead of or as well as giving Christmas cards, why not pray for the people we give them to? Make a note to pray specifically for them. Some people give Advent cards instead to encourage their friends to look beyond the snow, the robin, and the holly.
  
  
• Read the Bible as a family, encourage each family member to read out their favourite passage.
  
  
• Put Jesus back quite literally by making sure he is in everything you do or say.
  
  
• Connect with your faith. Remember that Jesus was born in a simple way, and that his birth holds meaning and is highly significnt.
  
  
• Go to a candle lit service. Remember that Christ is the Light in the darkness of our lives.
  

There's a welcome for every believer as an adopted son or daughter. We have a share in the life of Christ! This is indeed Good News! We read Matthew 1:1-17 and thought about the way the Lord had used all kinds of people in Jesus' family tree - many of them of rather dubious morals!

He clearly had no problem with human flaws or weaknesses, nobody is too bad to become one of his followers. All are welcome. We need to learn to let go of our flaws and give them to Jesus.

Finally we read Ruth 1:3-18 and thought about the utter faithfullness of this woman who was a Moabite (not even an Israelite).

Colworth (CU) - Money and stewardship

There was no plan for today's meeting so we did what we usually do in this situation, just enjoyed some good time chatting about life and about Jesus. We decided we'd like to make a CU lunchdate for 22nd January (probably) and meet for food and fellowship at a local pub.

Andy dipped into some notes he happened to have with him and read out thoughts on love languages and how important it is to understand one another's ways of thinking. Not only does this apply to married couples, but also to us as brothers and sisters when we meet. Expressing our care for one another in a way that works for that person is so important.

Then we discussed stewardship. Luke 16:2 was mentioned and we read verses 1-8. It's clear that any steward needs to take care of the owner and of the owner's property and business transactions. How true that  the people of this world are shrewder than the people of the light! Worldly advantages can be gained by ignoring what is right and caring little for the Lord's business.

1 Corinthians 4 clearly shows us that everything we have comes from the Almighty. We need to look to the future. Sometimes we may need to take risks for the Master's benefit. However we should never look to our own benefit.

Colworth (CU) - Julia Fisher

It was my turn to lead this week, I had agreed to talk about Julia Fisher's work in Israel and began with a potted history of her involvement which is summarised below.

In 1998 she became interested in the need for women to have short, inspiring breaks from routine. She helped with two women's tours visiting Israel in June and November of 1998 and on the flight home from the second trip, the Lord told her she would return in six weeks.

She was unexpectedly invited to report on millenium preparations by the Israeli Government Tourist Office. She soon heard about a pastor's meeting in Jerusalem but had no idea who to contact, then the night before the flight she was given a phone number that turned out to be that of the chairman of the meeting!

So in this rather amazing way, Julia was given an opportunity to meet church leaders in Jerusalem. They were able to put her in touch with many others in Israel and she has conducted interviews and written books about the extraordinary reconciliation currently happening between Jewish and Arab believers.

We used this as a stepping stone to discuss the ways in which we, too, are guided day by day, moment by moment. We can be encouraged to hear and do the Lord's will. Andy explained how he'd given his testimony and how it is necessary to know and seize the right time. David related how he'd once been given the same verse by a variety of people and how this had influenced him and encouraged him.

Andy then mentioned love languages, how we are all different and individually need the right approach. And I commented that indeed we can all see evidence that our father in heaven loves us and treats us all individually according to our needs. We have good reason to be encouraged, he is always ready to touch us and guide us.

Colworth (CU) - Chat and prayer

We had nothing planned today, but four of us met and discussed various issues at work and also some old friends who have retired or moved to other jobs. We thought about the possibility of having a bring and share lunch and/or a pub lunch, maybe in the new year. We prayed together before heading back to work.

Colworth (CU) - Resurrection

Dave brought some thoughts from 1 Corinthians 15:1-20, he would have liked to cover the entire chapter but felt this section was all we could manage in the time available. We read the passage through and then had an open conversation about it. Some of the main points are set out briefly below.

Paul clearly relished the opportunity to present the gospel at every opportunity.

It is striking that Jesus appeared to more than five hundred of his followers at one time. First of all, who were these followers? Far more than the disciples and the women who also travelled with him. And the apostles evidently saw him more than once, two occasions are mentioned here. Paul also mentions that many of the five hundred were still alive at the time of writing, there could be little doubt of the resurrection.

Another point we noted was that Jesus didn't just return to life merely to die again later (like, for example, Lazarus who lived out his days at Larnaca in Cyprus). Jesus, in contrast, actually defeated death itself. Death, therefore, is much less of an issue for us now. I wondered if there were some Sadducees at Corinth. We know that Jews lived all over the Roman world and that Paul had the habit of always declaring the gospel first in the synagogue. Maybe the teaching that there was no resurrection came from some local Sadducees.

Dud thought it was most unlikely that the Romans would have allowed Jesus' body to be stolen. Historically it seems almost harder to disprove the resurrection than to prove it. Dave asked what difference the resurrection makes in our own lives and we agreed that it makes all the difference. We can spell it out by considering the converse of what Paul says in verse 17, 'And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.' In other words if Christ has been raised our faith is effective and we are free from sin.

Dud pointed out that verse 20 sums everything up very succinctly. We too are going to be raised - so why don't we live like it?!

Dave mentioned the song 'You are the King of every heart' by the band 'One Hundred Hours', the lyrics seemed relevant. 'Your love is bigger than our fear. You are the King of every heart.' All possible because Christ could not be held by death because he himself is life!

Colworth (CU) - Be wise

Andy brought some thoughts on the topic 'Wisdom' based on readings from United Christian Broadcasters Ltd (UCB). The comments covered Deuteronomy 32:29 and were published on 29th and 30th October. We read verses 24-47 for context.

Andy reminded us that wisdom is needed in deciding where to put our effort and how to spend whatever resources we have. In many ways it's the art of knowing what to overlook since we simply cannot aspire to do everything that might be possible. We need to avoid doing petty things and instead focus our energy and time on  what will be useful.

Colworth (CU) - a house of love

We considered chapter nine of Neil Carter's book 'Christ in Y'all'. Usually someone leads our CU sessions and I'd volunteered today.

I thought this chapter would be a real spur to some useful discussion; and so it proved. I read the first three pages and then we shared our thoughts.

Dudley was impressed by the simplicity of Neil Carter's approach. He's right, and I think this is one of the strengths of the entire book.

Andy pointed out that human involvement adds complication. He gave the example of Methodist 'stationing'. Those looking for a ministry make a written statement of their objective. Congregations looking for a minister also write such a statement. Then an attempt is made to match up the people with the posts. This a complex arrangement, the only way through is to trust the Lord.

We were struck by the thought that love is active, it's not just a feeling. One of us mentioned that when his daughter says, 'Love me Daddy', she means she wants a hug.

Another thought was that we sometimes see non-believers displaying selfless love, but we are looking to love one another with Christ's love, and this is an entirely different matter. Neil Carter quotes Dietrich Bonhoeffer who wrote, 'There is a human love of one's neighbour...Human love is directed to the other person for his own sake, spiritaul love loves him for Christ's sake.'