NEWS - Interviews, meetings, CO2

This week there are five news items to mention.

• The next meeting in the Moggerhanger series is planned for 6th June. Add it to your diary! It's not going to be at Moggerhanger this time, instead we've booked a room at Hinchingbrooke Park on the edge of Huntingdon.
  
  There'll be a full article about this in the next day or two - so watch this space. (See the report of the last meeting.)
  
  
• Frank Viola has interviewed Felicity Dale about her book 'An Army of Ordinary People'. It contains encouraging and challenging stories of real-life people involved in organic church life and growth. This book was originally published ten years ago but is just now being republished in an updated version.
  
  
• Wolfgang Simson has announced a 'Starfish Unconference' in Helsinki, Finland. You'll have to move fast on this one if you want to go, it takes place on 15th and 16th May.
  Read on Scribd...
  

• The latest 'Nomad Extra' podcast is an interview with Beth Keith (part of the 'Fresh Expressions' Team.
  
  
• And finally, CO2 has made it to Australia. This excellent tool for hearing one another's heart feelings and hearing the Lord's heart has gone truly global. I encourage everyone to find a partner to try this with.
  

MISSION - The Kingdom

This evening we watched the DVD of Wolfgang Simson speaking to the House2House Conference in September 2008. His theme was the Kingdom of Heaven, and how we can't live in the Kingdom without obeying the King.

We discussed what this means to us. The Kingdom stuff surely can't be ignored - are we going to live as people under the King's command or are we going to do our own thing? Only obedience brings blessing!

We thought that next week we should spend our time in prayer and listening.

Offord - Chosen and loved

We met at Roger's again this week, but ate lunch indoors this time as it was too cold in the garden. We met before lunch, and then Ruth joined us for the meal.

We all shared CO2 first, this is a really good way to get the ball rolling. It quickly brings us up-to-date with one another's heart feelings and significant events in life, and it's good to share what we each feel the Lord has been saying to us.

As we continued in worship and prayer, Paul had a word for us, 'God says he doesn't need us, but he wants us.' I prayed for more labourers for the harvest, both in the Offords and in connection with Paul's youth work. Paul prayed that we'd hear Jesus and accept the changes that we find hard. He also mentioned the need to forgive people who may hurt us sometimes.

I had a picture of someone watering a pot plant, but to my surprise I quickly saw that they were pouring out hot, sticky tar - not cool, fresh water! It wouldn't work, of course. The plant would die. And I understood that we need to give people the rivers of living water that come from Yahshua. If we give them something other than living water they will be unable to grow.

Roger read Ephesians 6:10-13, how we need to stand and live fully in the light! And finally Paul read Ephesians 3:14-19 about the width, length, height and depth of God's love over us. We can be filled, not according to our way of measuring full, but according to his measurement of full (far, far exceeding our own)!

RESPONSE - The dirt on organic leadership

Brian Hofmeister has tried organic church and found it difficult. He writes about his experiences in a report in Christianity Today - Leadership. Brian's conclusion is that leading organic church was just too onerous, and was not achievable without some degree of professional input.

However, this has not been my experience, nor that of many others. And I don't believe it was the experience of the early church either. There's little evidence of paid leadership in the New Testament.

So what went wrong for Brian and the people he met with? To answer that we need to go right back to define what is and is not organic church. The word 'organic' implies an organism, whereas much of our experience of church comes from organisations. An organisation usually has a top-down management structure and a hierarchical authority structure. Something which is organic begins from a seed and grows until it reaches maturity and produces more seeds which grow in their turn.

In this way, one tiny seed may produce not just a tree, but an entire forest. It takes a certain amount of time, but it speeds up dramatically with each generation and will eventually fill the space available. Trees and forests can be managed, but they don't have to be. There were very successful forests in many parts of the world before human explorers arrrived to manage them!

I think that Brian simply tried too hard to manage and guide and educate and persuade. But that's not organic. The seed that germinates and grows amongst a small group of people is the expectation that Yahshua himself will do the managing, guiding, educating, and persuading. He said, 'I will build my church.' And he really meant it! He is the only one who truly knows how to do it.

Church is a community of people who love one another because Christ has first loved them. When we come together to meet it's just the tip of a giant, hidden core of fellowship and community. When we meet, Yahshua is there at the centre. He is with us because we are his and he loves to bless us and guide us. But he's also with us day by day as we live our lives, he is with us in defeat and in victory, in sorrow and in joy.

A group of new believers, if they focus on Jesus, will help one another along the road to maturity. The wiser and more mature will look out for the others. There will be problems, but rather than training programmes and theological studies the believers need to discover how to be disciples. They need to be walking with the Lord, listening to what he says and watching what he does. Reading the Bible together will provide a lot of useful guidance. Eating together when possible, helping one another with practical things, and having good, family fun together will help too. Encouraging one another, praying for one another, all these things help to build community.

But the key is listening to the Lord and doing what he says. Out of this will come mission, church growth, and all the rest.

Brian tried an alternative model of church and found it wanting. But it wasn't really organic church. My advice to him would be try again but to do a whole lot less while expecting Yahshua to do a whole lot more!

For some practical advice, browse through the 'Useful links' in the right hand sidebar, these will lead to other useful material - books, mp3s, DVDs, videos and more. But above all pray and ask Jesus himself to guide you, he won't let you down.

NEWS - Latest newsletters

This week there are two really encouraging newsletter updates out there. I encourage you to read them both. What is the Spirit saying to you as you pay attention to the stories and thoughts in these newsletters?

Harvest Now - Steve and Marilyn Hill report on the violent change in government in Kyrgyzstan and the possibility that the new interim leader follows Jesus. This is very rare in a predominantly Muslim society.

In neighbouring Tajikistan they write, 'A new follower of Jesus tells her story how she was visiting family when they began to talk to her about Jesus. She was frightened that they should pray to any one than Allah but their story of freedom caught her attention. She says that while listening "I felt immediately pain in my kidneys and fell down...' (visit their article to read the rest of this wonderfully encouraging story).

House2House - Tony and Felicity Dale write about getting stranded in the UK because of volcanic dust, and then share some great thoughts about spiritual warfare, recognising that the battle is already won, and standing firm.

They share some useful links and then ask their readers to consider the house church conference in September. I joined last year's conference and highly recommend it. If anyone is reading this and thinking of going, please get in touch with me (chris@scilla.org.uk).

Eaton Ford - Salt and light

We chatted over tea and coffee for a while until Jim took us right into spiritual matters with the question, 'What does it mean to be salt and light?' (Matthew 5:13-16) It's clear that these terms refer to making a difference, but Jim wanted to go deeper.

Acts 1:8 shows us that the Holy Spirit comes so that we can be witnesses. Are we really witnessing with 'fire in our bellies' as we should?

Sean had been thinking about the fruit of the Spirit and realised that these fruits are like food for people. We all agreed, it's not about mission fields or saying particular things to particular people - it's about the fruit, grace in our daily lives, joy, kindness etc.

I sensed that in order to be victorious in this spiritual Kngdom we must first be utterly defeated. To succeed we must first fail. Unless our human weaknesses are overcome, we will be unable to be living witnesses of the kind we need to be.

Sean prayed for the fire to burn up everything worthless, but he's afraid there'll be nothing left, nothing will remain. I had a word from the Lord about this, 'A seed will remain, and it's a seed that will grow.' Although we will lose ourselves, we will also begin to gain our real selves in the process. And it will be the beginning of real growth.

Science and faith - war or peace?

The origin of the universe, the origin of life, evolution - these are some of the topics that seem to be endlessly debated across the science/faith divide. Why does this happen, what are the root causes of the sometimes strongly-worded arguments? Perhaps it's time to take a fresh look.

Science is based on such things as reason, deduction, inference, and testing by experiment. At the most fundamental level science is simply a formal way of observing how things are. And it has an excellent track-record. We depend daily on the technologies that science has made possible. We drive our cars, watch TV, depend on medical help when we are sick or injured. All of these things and many more are rooted in generations of observation, hypothesis, and testing.

On the other hand faith is not based on observation and experiment but on assertion, often about matters that are untestable and are unknowable in the scientific sense. The existence of a powerful personality outside the universe and this personality's influence within it are not things science can investigate. Science doesn't reject faith (indeed it might investigate faith as a phenomenon) but it does not (and cannot) investigate the claims of faith.

There is therefore no reason for science and faith to do battle with one another, but historically this has happened repeatedly. An example of past 'warfare' concerns whether the earth or the sun is the centre of the solar system, one current skirmish centres on the origin of life and on evolution, another one on theories about the origin of the universe.

The usual pattern is that science draws a conclusion that offends people of faith in some way. Instead of understanding the scientific arguments and accommodating them within the framework of faith, believers often try to find holes in the science. Scientists continually refine our understanding in a formal way, believers sometimes lash out at new ideas they don't like.

How can we take this forward? Here is some advice for scientists and believers who have become embroiled in debates of this sort.

Scientists - Don't become angry, recognise that if the science is sound you have demonstrable facts on your side. State these straightforwardly and point detractors to the evidence calmly. If you are vilified and your integrity is questioned, recognise that these are the actions of desperate people who have not yet understood that facts are a form of truth. The battle will rarely centre on those facts, instead it will usually focus on attempts to discredit the people involved. Don't engage with these attempts.

Believers - Don't interpret statements from scientists as provocation, they are simply sharing factual information. Respect the people even if you don't like their thinking. Christ called you to love so speak in love, not in anger. Look at the scientific claims calmly, facts about the world cannot possibly contradict truth. Look for ways of accepting the science within your framework of faith. Remember the battles about the place of the earth in astronomy, why is that no longer an issue? Understand that if the Almighty exists, scientific and spiritual truth will be able to coexist, because he is the author of both.

Where there appear to be contradictions there is an opportunity for mutual understanding. Science deals with the realm of materials and energy, faith deals with the realm of the spirit. There is no overlap in subject matter and there is no clash of ideas that can't be accommodated.

MISSION - Wisdom

Sean explained that he'd been reading Proverbs 24 which is about wisdom. Verses 11-12 particularly stood out and spoke to him about mission. It's what we're here for! Salvation for those in peril! I agree with him about this.

As we were talking about it I mentioned that it is 'the Prime Directive', and Sean suggested instead that the prime directive for us is loving God and everything flows from that. This makes sense to me.

Like Moses, who didn't enter into the promised land, we will continue on our journey to the end of this life. But Moses was there on the mountain talking with Jesus and Elijah. One day we will be with him too.

The Moggerhanger meeting in February and the Newforms meeting in April were mountaintop experiences for both of us, they were so exciting, so encouraging. But we're not meant to be there all the time. Sean pointed out that if we were able to choose our mountaintops, we'd most likely be there for the experience, not simply for the Lord's sake.

I had a picture of colour spinners, the sort children used to make from a disc of card with two holes and a piece of string. Colouring them with segments of the primary colours red, yellow and blue and then spinning them by pulling the string, there was a magical effect. The coloured segments would vanish and be replaced by a neutral, dull grey. When we spin our colour discs we make a dirty grey, but when the Lord spins his colour wheel it makes a glorious, brilliant white too bright to look at at. I thought that this is how he takes our different abilities and natures and somehow creates something wonderful out of our ordinaryness.

Sean explained that when they were young, his children could draw, but not nearly as well as he could. They were always amazed at the things he could draw that they could not. He felt that we are like that. He can do so much better than we can, he can spin a colour wheel to produce true white light, our attempts are rather poor by comparison. And we are amazed!

Offord - Lunch in the garden

Paul and I travelled to meet in Offord d'Arcy today as Roger had an injury and was unable to drive.

We sat in the garden for a salad lunch, it was delightful to be able to do that so early in the year. James (the cat) sat with us and enjoyed small pieces of cocktail sausage and sultanas from the fruit cake.

We shared CO2 together and prayed for some of the people who were on our hearts today. We just enjoyed conversation centred on the Lord and I returned home feeling refreshed and encouraged.

Little Paxton - Salvation and reward

Jim read Matthew 5:8, 'Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God'. He asked us to consider what it might mean to 'see God'.

On the face of it this is a very simple question, but Sean and I were both unsure how to answer, Jim certainly got us thinking! If you're reading this you might like to consider the question for yourself. What does it mean to 'see' the Almighty?

We decided there is certainly a need for humility.

Moving on, we also wondered what it really means to be a disciple. We know that once we understand that Yahshua truly is the Son of the Most High and that he is the Lamb, the one and only sacrifice necessary for our sin to be forgiven, when we accept him and depend on him, we begin living a new life. I thought that this in itself doesn't make us a disciple because we need to move from new life to actually following Yahshua daily, finding out what he wants and doing it. In other words it may be possible to make it into eternal life but without any reward or crown. (See 1 Cor 3:11-15)

Jim referred to Luke 6:23, our response to being rejected because of Christ is to jump for joy! And I thought of Matthew 5:23-24. The gift at the altar was the offering. But Christ himself is our offering, our sacrifice. In a very real sense Yahshua is our gift. There was nothing sufficient that we could supply, but he supplied our need. We cannot really offer Christ as our sacrifice without first putting things right with our brother.

St Neots - Passion for Souls

Six of us met this evening to discuss an aspect of the work being done by Passion for Souls, a charity run by Paul and Michele Shinners to support the mission work they've been doing in parts of Africa. More recently, Paul has felt the need to reach out here in the UK, and specifically in St Neots and the area round about. We were a mixed group around our dining room table, from several parts of the church in the town.

A series of interesting and encouraging circumstances were uncovered as we met. For example, one couple had viewed our house before we had bought it, and they'd considered buying it themselves at the time! An African crafts connection (Spring of Hope) had been made independently by Paul and by Donna. The Spirit gave me a thought about city walls which resonated with Claire, reminding her of other times of prayer for the town.

We listened to Paul as he outlined his ideas and the reasons for them. We had a chance to ask questions and hear answers from Paul and from Jim. We spent some time in prayer and all felt very encouraged and excited.

The next step is to give ourselves time to consider what to do. I am already confident that the Lord wants me to be part of this new development in the town and I think perhaps we all are.

As things go forward I should be able to be much more specific about the details, meanwhile - watch this space.

NEWS - Westminster2010

I won't normally post about politics on this blog, so perhaps this news item is the exception that proves the rule.

With a general election almost upon us many of us will be deciding how we should vote. If you haven't already seen the Westminster2010 website I'd strongly urge you to take a quick look. It provides some very useful links for learning more about your local candidates and current MP, and it invites you to sign a declaration which you may wish to consider.

Allow the Holy Spirit to lead you in this. Don't miss your only opportunity to influence the outcome unless you are sure that is what he wants. If you vote, I'd also urge you to vote on the basis of the best available information. Take a look at Westminster2010 and follow some of the links, pray about your personal decision, and then get along to the polling station and mark an X for the candidate Jesus leads you to vote for.

Nottingham - Newforms Conference Session 1

Although we weren't registered and won't be present for the Newforms Saturday and Sunday sessions, Sean and I were able to stay on for the first evening after the excellent pre-conference during the day.

Marsha Farmer opened the meeting and Peter Farmer followed up with further information. We heard about 'Broken Britain' where there are now very few churchgoers.

Peter introduced Tony Dale (visiting from the USA) and he spoke simply and quietly without notes, but to great effect. He began by asking how we might birth churches that consist mostly of people who are initially non-believers. Tony explained that Felicity had been unable to make the trip despite the intention that both of them would have been with us. They prefer whenever possible to share the work and for both to speak.

We heard about Victor Choudhrie's work and the very powerful move currently underway in India.

Tony made one remark that particularly stood out for me, I made a note of it. He said, 'The less successful we are, the more we need God'. This seems to me so true, in fact fundamental. We need to be driven by the teachings of Jesus, the encouragement of our peers, and by our own experiences to throw ourselves upon the Lord - not merely for help, but for basic direction day by day, moment by moment. If he doesn't build the house everything we do will be wasted.

Nottingham - Newforms pre-conference

Sean and I travelled up to Nottingham for the day to join Peter and Marsha Farmer and other simple church leaders for the Newforms Conference pre-meeting. We didn't plan to stay for the main conference on Saturday and Sunday, but we were able to stay for the opening session on Friday evening.

We began by going around the room and saying a little about ourselves by way of introduction. There were, I think, eighteen of us. We came from all around the UK but mainly England. Peter Farmer then spoke for a while on the interesting topic of church planting movements and we spent some time in open prayer and sharing. Mim reminded us that Jesus is the King, Marsha prayed for emotional healing, especially for women who have so often been hurt by being overlooked or even at worst despised in church life and particularly in church leadership. I shared some things about the sheer privilege of being disciples and about Jesus' call to Peter to 'feed my sheep'.

Tony Dale joined us a little late due to some travelling difficulties, but we were glad to know that he made it into the UK before volcanic ash closed the airports. Felicity was unable to come due to an unexpected family commitment and although it was disappointing not to see her, at least we had one Dale with us!

Tony began by asking us what books and authors had particularly impacted our views on church life. Wolfgang Simson, Neil Cole, the Dale's own books, George Barna, Frank Viola, and Rad Zdero were mentioned, I added Paul Vieira and Bruxy Cavey to the list. many of these and more are listed on the House2House 'Books' page.

Tony then told us something of the background to their move to the USA and some of the events that had shaped their journey. He mention big and little church working in harmony, he described how the Lord has a destiny in mind for his people, and he pointed out that it is clear he's preparing us for something big.

He stressed that movements start rather small and multiplication is very slow to begin with. Tony also mentioned that we need expressions of church that are relevant to each culture and people group that we can identify.

Next, he considered the requirements for a movement to begin in Western Society. God has chosen to work through people, but we must choose to co-operate. Some kind of infrastructure is necessary too, to provide useful tools. Online social networks like Twitter play a very important part here. Ideas are essential and stories are a great way of getting them across. We need to 'tell a new story'. We also need to consider the language we use, for example 'Christian' carries various kinds of baggage for most non-believers.

We should think of church as a new way of life, not an event. Also it is imperative to ask Jesus and then do what we hear him say. We are meant to to be followers, a disciple is someone who recognises Jesus and does what he says (John 10:1-4). This is very significant in terms of mission! The Holy Spirit will lead us to the person of peace. We can teach anyone to listen and do.

Jesus always released people back into their sphere of influence (for example the Samaritan woman). Movements don't grow and divide, but they grow and send out again and again. Tony illustrated this by telling us a story from an Asian country in which great moves of the Lord were happening regularly. We need to dare to let our best people go if there to be any chance of a movement beginning.

Tony also touched on spiritual warfare, we need to 'be not ignorant of the Evil One's devices'. Something that had helped Tony and Felicity was to pray through the Psalms. At one point they had read that they should pray until the enemy was unable even to lift up his head, and in that way they found victory in a particularly difficult and trying time.

Another topic he covered was the place of women in ministry. This is a very important battleground and he and Felicity always minister together if possible. There is another principle that he mentioned, one that seems to me to be true and worth remembering. Tony said, 'What God did last tends to persecute what he does next. We need to forgive.'

What I've written above are just highlights here and there, things I wanted to jot down to keep. There was much, much more, it was a wonderful day!

REVIEW - Brain McLaren interviewed on Nomad

I've just listened to the latest Nomad Podcast, an interview with Brian McLaren.

Like most of the podcasts, this one is an open and friendly discussion. Brian McLaren is a sometimes controversial figure and the Nomad podcaster (Nick) wisely presents difficult questions without becoming personally involved. Phrases like 'some people say xyz' are widely employed and enable hard questions to be addressed without arousing defensive resonses. This is one of the things I like best about these podcasts.

Brain McLaren is often seen as an important figure in the emerging church. He was pastor of a small church for 24 years and during that time heard many questions that needed to be grappled with. Some of them came from non-Christians. For example, 'Does God sanction violence and the destruction of innocent men, women and children?', 'Is the Bible about spiritual rescue or is it about social action?'

McLaren suspects these questions have not been widely tackled because they're sometimes seen as encouraging doubt instead of faith. Religious leaders are often busy and don't have time to deal with questions, and also most denominations have a list of required beliefs and questioning those may be unwelcome.

Some people have become unhappy with internal denominational debates and are finding they can learn things from others with different views. This seems to be a beneficial development. Some people want to deal with the practicalities of church but not get involved with theology. Others want to delve deeply into theology. Yet others wish to be involved in both, to bridge the differences. McLaren sees himself as part of this third group.

He suggests that Jesus' message about the Kingdom is not just about how to get into heaven, but has a great deal to do with Father's will being done on earth as it already is in heaven. Mission is not just evangelism, it involves reaching out in terms of helping the poor, being peacemakers, and so on.

Ultimately, Brian McLaren's desire was to become more Christ-like, and to follow the Master wherever he might lead.

In the discussion at the end of the podcast, the team look at some of the ideas presented in McLaren's latest book. For example, they talk about the difficulties that arise when we view the Bible as recording progress in man's understanding of the Almighty. This may be a way of dealing with some of the difficulties we have about wrath and anger in his character. Is he really like that or is it just how people at that time perceived him? On the one hand we may struggle with such a view of Yahweh's nature, but on the other we want to accept the Bible fully - even the passages we find hard to understand. We can't dodge issues like these. We must think them through and make choices or find a way of integrating both aspects.

The interview with Brian McLaren, the Nomad discussion that follows, and the comments on McLaren's book are all worth hearing and helped me understand some aspects of the emergent church more clearly. It's thought-provoking and challenging stuff, and these are issues we should all have an working knowledge of. Listen to the podcast and decide for yourself.

Eaton Ford (day) - Healing a mother-in-law

Roger and Julian were unable to come this week so Paul and I went ahead without them. We began by running through CO2. As part of that I explained that the Lord had been showing me that I should be like a little child, they are innocent, straightforward and trusting.

Paul pointed out that once they reach five or six-years-old they are already capable of cheating and telling lies, so when Jesus tells us we should be like little children, he really does mean 'little'. But Paul also mentioned that we can ask anything of Jesus at any time, he never turns us away. What a wonderful truth!

I said that Yahshua has a plan for each one of us and he is working it out day by day and even moment by moment. I had a picture in which I was standing on the top of a hill with  the Lord. I could see a brilliantly lit cloudscape below, it must have been a grey, foggy day down in the valley. Up here everything was bright sunshine and glorious. But Yahshua said, 'I have X-ray eyes, you don't. I can see the road we are following together as it winds down the hill and across the valley. And I can see everything you'll see along the way when you are there - but you can't see them yet, not from here, not under the clouds.'

'Walk with me each day. I know where we're going. You don't.'

We spent some time in prayer and then we returned to Mark 1 which we've been working through from time to time. We read from Mark 1:21-28 about the casting out of an evil (unclean) spirit. Paul noticed that we're used to doctors who can sometimes cure physical ailments, but to the people of his day it must have been astonishing to see Jesus cast out an evil spirit instantly like this.

Reading of the healing of Simon's mother-in-law in verses 29-34 we thought how amazed we are when we see similar things. A good example of this was the way Paul was able to be so active physically during last year's X-treme Camp and was relatively free of pain. It was unasked for, unexpected, but so, so encouraging. We are asking for the same again this year!

I shared a bit about why Yahshua wouldn't allow the demons to speak. Very often when we intend to spread the good news about him, we begin by telling people who he is. But this was not the way Yahshua did it, he didn't want people to know who he was. He began by simply loving people and caring for them, meeting their needs, and then he told them about his Father and challenged them to come in line with heavenly standards, not earthly ones. People started to ask, 'Who is this man, even the demons obey him?' We should learn from him, we are doing it all back to front! People first need to know that he is good, then they will want to know more about him.

Verses 35-39 show the Son wanting to hear the Father. When they told him, 'Everyone is looking for you!' he said, 'Let's go somewhere else.' Is this what we would do? Probably not! He was always full of surprises, the disciples must have been puzzled on many occasions.

Mark 1:40-45 is very significant. Yahshua heals a Jew of leprosy. This is the first of the so-called Messianic miracles, the religious authorities believed and taught that only the Messiah would be able to perform such a healing. It was not unusual for people to be healed or demons cast out by prayer, but some things had never happened before and this was one of them. Naaman had been healed of leprosy by Elisha, but he was not a Jew, he was an Aramean.

This is why the healing was so significant and why it caused such an uproar. Now people were starting to seriously wonder if this Yahshua from Nazareth might be the Messiah. The religious leaders would start to take a major interest in what he was doing. The healed man was supposed to make the prescribed offering but not tell the priest (or anyone else) who had healed him.

NEWS - The latest House2House Newsletter

The latest House2House newsletter from Tony and Felicity Dale is now available. This issue covers some important topics.

The main item is about women in the church and things we can all do to encourage and release women to serve in the church more fully. Tony recommends two books, a post from Katie Driver's blog, and a link to Hosanna Freedom.

He also mentions the Newforms meeting at Nottingham here in the UK, as well as some meetings in the USA including the Labour Day weekend H2H Conference in Dallas. I went to the H2H Conference last year - it was brilliant! Highly recommended.

St Neots - X-treme Bowling

This evening was a reunion for the young people and their parents. We had arranged a bowling night with pizza and chips, and we had about thirty people there on the night. It was great fun, I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

There are several more photos online, if you were there perhaps you can find yourself in one of them!

During the evening Jim described the background to X-treme Camps in Eynesbury and I announced the dates for this summer's X-treme Camp, Friday 23rd July to Sunday 25th July 2010. Don't miss it! More details from me, Chris, by email.

ANNOUNCEMENT - Newforms UK Gathering

This is to remind everyone about the Newforms UK Gathering due to take place in Nottingham from Friday 16th April until Sunday 18th April 2010.

The gathering has been arranged by Peter and Marsha Farmer who live in the city and have been active in mission and church planting locally.

It's not too late to book your place if you're not already signed up, and Nottingham is a good, central location for access from all parts of the UK.

THOUGHT - Enthusiasm!

Someone shared this video with me earlier today, it shows real enthusiasm for Jesus in the lives of some students in the USA.

Watch it and see what you think, how do you feel about the student's attitudes? Encouraged? Challenged? Horrified? Amused? Upset? Emotional? Excited? Rejoicing? How does this make you feel about your own life? Leave a comment to let us know.

Student CPx rough intro from Erik Fish on Vimeo.

Great Doddington - Hard to find the way

Sean was away so Jim and I decided to visit Great Doddington this evening. We chatted over hot drinks and shared news until Jody encouraged us to focus more intentionally on the Lord.

I had a picture of a large sheet of paper rolled up tightly. It was a map, but instead of being rolled with the map on the inside, it was rolled so that part of the map showed on the outside. The Spirit said, 'This is a picture of the plan I have for your lives, it is hard to unroll and mostly you can only see a small strip of the map. However, the plan is complete even though you don't yet see it all.

Jody pictured a winding and twisty path and was walking with a hole in her shoe. She realised that sometimes we need a rest on the journey. When we're not sure of the way he picks us up or he lets us take his hand. Sometimes it's misty, sometimes the way forward is unclear, like the rolled-up map. We need to hear from him, he knows the way even when we don't.

Jim read Luke 12:22-34 and then spoke about the importance of wearing the right kind of shoes. What we have on our feet when we walk is rather important. he also mentioned the disappointments we face in life, like a failed house sale. But verse 31 tells us that we must seek the Kingdom first and everything else will be OK, even when it's not what we wanted. We aim to arrive at the mountain top, but sometimes we just end up in a valley of despair.

I pointed out that our treasure is the thing above all that we're not prepared to lose. It might be money, it might be Yahshua, it might be anything, but where our treasure is, there our heart will be too.

Jim added a story he'd heard about a vicar and a taxi driver who arrived together at the gates of Heaven. The taxi driver was put in a seat at the front, much to the surprise of the vicar. Then the vicar was given a seat at the back and felt he had to complain, or at least ask for an explanation. Peter said, 'Well, it's like this. You bored people with your sermons and instead of being saved they simply dozed off. But the taxi driver frightened people so much by his driving that many of them prayed fervently.'

Jody shared a prophecy, that people are like embers. If they are glowing you can be certain that they're hot and still on fire. If they're grey and dusty it's hard to tell, but you may still feel some warmth. I added a few thoughts about faith, hope and love. Love is the source of faith because the Almighty is love! If we think faith is the most important thing we're badly mistaken. Paul compares them and tells us that love is greater than both faith and hope.

Peter read Hebrews 12:1-13 (especially verse 12) and reminded us that we really need to help one another. It's often a simple thing to encourage and lift one another up, we should always do this.

Looking back we all agreed that this was an exceptional meeting in which there had been a very clear and sustained thread. Yahshua had been present and had guided us by his Spirit. We all felt uplifted, strengthened, and encouraged.

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'.

St Neots (Open Door small group) - The greatest thing

There was no meeting at the Priory Centre this morning as it was not available for Open Door to use. Instead, Donna's Small Group came over to our house for breakfast.

Not everyone could make it so in the end there were just five of us, but it was good fun, relaxing, and we had some really good conversation. The photo shows Barbara, Tony and Clive - evidently all enjoying themselves.

As we sat and chatted together the subject of love was raised. I mentioned the idea that faith - often regarded as the greatest thing to find and cherish - is not only subordinate to love but is, indeed, the result of love. I explained that in Victorian times Henry Drummond had written a great treatise on love. He called it 'The Greatest Thing in the World'. Tony wasn't aware of Drummond or his writings, so I printed a copy a few days later and gave it to him.

If you haven't read 'The Greatest Thing in the World' I strongly recommend it. It's dropped out of popularity which is a shame. I think every follower of Jesus should have the chance to read this short, inspiring work.

Eaton Ford (day) - On the shore of Galilee

Roger, Paul and I began by running through CO2 together. We shared hopes and fears, successes and difficulties, and some of the events and issues in our own lives as well as those of some of our friends. We spent some time praying through these things.

We shared a simple lunch afterwards, sausage, chips and onion rings from the local chippie. Roger needed to get home promptly so he left after we'd eaten but Paul and I read Mark 1:9-20, discussing it as we went along.

We noticed how Jesus was baptised and the Father spoke confirming and encouraging words to him in a short time, perhaps just a matter of seconds or minutes. Then, immediately afterwards, the Spirit sent him into the desert for a far longer period of time (40 days) during which the enemy speaks words of distraction and temptation to him.

In verses 14 and 15 we see Jesus beginning his work before the first disciples are called. It's interesting how he called them. He followed the same procedure as other Jewish rabbis saying, 'Come, follow me'. These words would normally be used as an invitation to the best students to come and follow a particular rabbi. Young men who didn't come up to scratch were rejected and sent home to follow their father's trade.

But Jesus invites the rejected men to follow him! He calls fishermen. They were fishermen because no rabbi had thought them worth calling, but Jesus does! No wonder they followed him, it was an amazing offer, too good to be true, better grab it now before it's withdrawn again!

THOUGHT - Revival

Every picture tells a story, or so they say. This one certainly does!

Walking along a country road near my workplace yesterday I noticed little green shoots at the base of the hedge. I took this close-up shot.

This living green shoot is growing up from the root after a long winter. It is alive, it is healthy, it is fragile, and it is surrounded by the dead and dried debris of last summers growth.

This green shoot speaks to me about revival. Revival must always come direct from the root, that is where the life remains, preserved through the cold, harsh winter. Revival is never a matter of persuading the old, dead leaves to grow again. That's simply not possible. Those dead leaves are no longer connected to the tree, there is no potential for new growth. Old leaves have the shape of life yet they are dead.

In church life we need to see the difference between what lies on the surface with the shape of last years life and what may be hidden below the surface, connected to the living root. When this hidden life bursts up through the dead remains we will recognise it for what it is. The new leaves are vivid and vibrant, the old ones are dull and decaying.

Revival will always look like this. Vivid, vibrant, fragile, tender, soft, pliable, and growing.

Thank you, Father, for times of refreshment and glorious revival. In Jesus' name we ask for revival in our day. Fresh, new shoots that are bursting with life and energy, living because they're attached to and nourished by the root. They're there already - believe me, I'm beginning to see them all around!

Click on the image for a larger version, and read about this wild arum on Wikipedia.

Little Paxton - Neighbours and community

Jim and I met at his home, just the two of us as Sean is on holiday. As we talked about life and work and following Jesus it became clear that both of us have been feeling the need to be more focussed on Christ and on him alone. Everything else (work, interests, home) must take its place at some lower level in our thinking and particularly in our hearts. What we are and what we do must come from relationship with Jesus first.

Jim read a section from 'Permission Evangelism', a book he's been finding encouraging and challenging.

We need such a deep vision of Jesus and his love for his people and for the lost. We need to learn to touch people, build them up, and encourage them. It's not primarily about how we meet (in small groups, in the home, in a hired hall, or a purpose built auditorium). What really matters is the foundation that we are resting upon. If that foundation is Christ we will do well. Everything we are and do, all we stand for, our reaction to circumstances, our response to our neighbours and our community, all of it springs from the Life of Christ within us.

Eaton Ford (day) - In the library

We began as we usually do these days by checking in for CO2. We were interrupted when the BT engineer arrived to investigate a fault with Paul's broadband connection. After he'd gone we finished CO2, ate lunch and then prayed for some of the issues that had been shared.

Roger read Psalm 62 and picked out verses one to two and five to seven as particularly relevant. This was especially so considering recent events and situations in the lives of some of our friends and contacts. We prayed for some of them, read a letter from one, and then talked about society's offendedness on behalf of others.

Examples of this abound in Britain, it's not acceptable to say this or do that because someone might be offended. Roger told us about a situation in a local library where someone was refused permission to put up a notice for the Women's World Day of Prayer because 'it might offend Muslims and people of other faiths'. The library management only changed their mind when the local Imam complained about the lack of permission and explained that it was not offensive. Such overreaction is not uncommon among government and public bodies, it happens over and over again.

We also shared some simple stories of how we first began to follow Jesus.

Roger had heard a radio programme about Job and because of his interest in poetry, began to read it for himself. Then he found the Psalms to his taste as well, and this led him to faith.

I was broadly atheist in my views when I was young, but started reading the Bible because I wanted to find out why so many people seemed to find it true. Clearly it wouldn't take long to work out why so many were misled by reading it. I began in Genesis and worked systematically until I got bored in Leviticus or Deuteronomy and turned to the gospels. Then I moved on to Acts and gradually came to see that there was amazing truth in the Bible's pages.

Paul knew the basic facts from Sunday School. But it didn't begin to mean much to him until his army days. When he suffered an illness and almost died he began to read Matthew and was convinced that Jesus is the one and only way to the Father.

MISSION - A picture of a toddler

Sean and I met again to discuss mission. We talked about the importance of the fruit of the Spirit. If we are to touch people's lives in ways that are remotely useful, if we are going to be a blessing to people rather than being irrelevant at best and perhaps even a curse at worst, we are going to need plenty of spiritual fruit in our lives.

Paul describes the fruit of the Spirit in his letter to the Galatians. If we are growing spiritually we should be increasing in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self control. He points out that there's no law against things like these!

Sean had a picture of a toddler. He mentioned how amazing it is as a parent to see your child walking for the very first time. It's a wonderful, wonderful feeling! And he understood that this same sense of excitement is what our Father feels. He really gets very excited about seeing our growth and development. He's thinking, 'Wow! My child has just pulled himself up by holding onto the couch!'

REVIEW - Web places to visit

This morning I'm sharing some websites that I've used in the last few days, sites that have been heart-warming, eye-opening, or mind-blowing.

• First off is the Nomad Podcast, a place with good blog posts and... some excellent podcasts. Here's one that I particularly recommend, Andy Hawthorne from Manchester taking about community, church, and mission.
  
  Jim, Sean and I listened to part of it last night. It's both challenging and helpful. I'd encourage everyone to listen to these podcasts. I've only heard a few so far, but they were all very good. Amazing what a small group of energetic people can achieve. If they can do this, why not us? Pray for direct guidance from Father in your own life as an individual or as a church, how will he choose to use you?
  
  
• The latest e-letter from House2House is good (as always) and includes some links that are well worth following. Take a look at them. If your church is not already on the House2House directory I suggest you add it as soon as you can.
  
  
• First Fruit Inc is one of the links provided by H2H - and it's a good one. You might find their page on Global Trends interesting, informative, and challenging. Collecting this data has been hard work. Are there ways you can use it to inform and benefit the life of your own church and mission?
  
  
• Measure by Measure is another good site, in particular this article on moving to organic church. Do his points make sense to you? If so how? If not - why not?
  
  
• Stories from the Revolution continues to inspire us with some great stories from people around the globe. Hear first hand from people and groups using CO2 and finding that it is deepening relationships, helping people hear from the Lord for themselves, and prompting mission in a variety of ways. These stories might help you to focus more on the most important aspects of hearing from the Almighty and from one another.
  
  
• And finally, Bill Heroman's NT/History Blog in which he carefully considers the timings of events in the New Testament and how they relate together. Slowly, Bill is building a timeline of events, and in the process he asks (and attempts to answer) many interesting questions. Here's a good introductory article he wrote about himself and what he is doing.

Does anyone have thoughts on what Bill writes? If so he'd love to hear from you.

Brampton - A bare table

We began with a cup of coffee and a chat about the idea of mission growing from hearing. Jim has been reading the book 'Permission Evangelism' and is finding it very good. He shared with us how security is important to people. Some find it in property or possessions, owning a home, or having money in the bank. But real security is spiritual, in the heart. He reminded us of the parable about the man who wanted to build one more barn to store even more harvest so he could take life easy. But he died! There is no security in physical things.

I played the the third Nomad podcast and we all listened to the first section together. Mission comes from seeing (noticing opportunities) and hearing (direction from the Lord).

Jim read Acts 27:33-38 about Paul on the ship during the storm. Paul encouraged 276 people and told them they'd be safe. We are constantly on a journey. Our mission is partly to encourage one another. When it became clear the ship would sink Paul didn't say, 'I told you so'. Instead he said, 'We're tired. Eat and be encouraged, we're going to make it!'

Jim also shared some exciting news about plans for a new church facility in St Neots. It's in the early stages but probably will go ahead.

I had a picture of people sitting at a table. They had empty plates and cups, the table was otherwise bare. As I watched, Yahshua came in through the door and opened a large, walk-in cupboard. It was full of good things to eat and drink! The people were huungry and would have starved to death, yet there in the same room and within easy reach was more than enough for all of them.

Jim said that Jesus is the best grocer in the world! And he can come in and sit with us even without a door! His abundance is complete. He said it's as if we've lost the key to the cupboard. We needed to pray to be shown the key and how to use it to open the cupboard.

Sean asked an unusual question, 'What does a mercy fruit look like?' We didn't find an answer, but the question lingers in our minds.

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.

MISSION - Sheep and goats

We met at Sean's, just Sean and me. We began with an informal chat about anything that seemed useful.

We considered what the word 'religious' really means. Is it a helpful or unhelpful thing to be thought of as 'religious'? We agreed that we'd prefer to be thought of more straightforwardly, perhaps simply as 'followers of Jesus'.

We agreed that we need to pray for our neighbours and that the coming Passion Play is a great opportunity and that we should pray for that too.

I had a picture of the ground being rotated under us as we walked. We didn't need to know the way, we just needed to walk forwards. Father rotated the ground so that forward was always the right direction to go. Like a train on a track, there is no need to steer. This is encouraging. Our job is to walk, his job is to guide us.

Father said, 'I didn't choose you because you are great orators, because you are persuasive, or celebrities. I chose you because you are humble and will follow me and keep me fully central in your hearts and minds. Think of Moses, Isaiah, Elijah, and all the other people who were poor speakers, helpless, afraid, or unclean.

He also spoke about sheep and goats. We feel like lost sheep, but we're not, we're found sheep! We recognise the Shepherd's voice, when he calls we run to him. When we come across lost sheep they will form a flock but the goats won't (they're independent minded). When we go towards the Shepherd the lost sheep will go too. We can't separate the sheep from the goats (middle eastern sheep looked very like goats). But we don't need to, they will separate themselves!

We prayed to the Lord to send more labourers into the harvest. This is a direct command from Yahshua himself and we feel it's hugely important. We briefly discussed the basis for mission in Luke 10:2 and thought about the steps involved and some ways in which we have already been presented with things to do as part of the process.

Eaton Ford (day) - Sharing a pizza

Roger, Paul and I met at lunchtime, continuing into the afternoon. We began with an excellent pizza, accompanied by couscous with vegetables.

We spent some time sharing information about friends, and then prayed for them. We also used CO2 to focus on what the Lord has been saying to each of us and to share our feelings and emotions.

Roger shared extracts from Psalm 103:1, 9-12, but verse one in particular. He explained that we are who we are, and that includes every aspect of our lives, everything in us, even the illnesses, bad thoughts, and wrong deeds. All of it is involved. Because of Father's love for us and his grace towards us, his acceptance doesn't depend on how good or bad we have been but on whether we accept Jesus and follow him.

In addition, Roger is feeling more confident that they have been hearing correctly about the way forward in the Offords, he senses that there is some early evidence of change and there are several promising signs.

Climate change - An update

There is really no room for doubt that we are affecting the world's climate in a wide variety of harmful ways. A new report from the Met Office finds the evidence has stacked up even more strongly since the IPCC report in 2007. Read the BBC's news item on the Met Office report.

There's more Met Office information on their climate change page. Well worth a look if you want to know more.

(This update is intended to add new information to my earrlier blog 'Climate change - Truth or deception?')

NEWS - Explosive potential

Roger Thoman writes 'The Simple Church Journal', a blog about simple, organic church life.

His most recent post examines the potential for mission which he argues is inherent in small, organic forms of meeting.

Roger asks

Could a small (but growing) movement of simple/organic church-lifers lead to a revolutionary impact upon world missions? There is something deep inside of me that says the answer to this question could be a resounding “YES.”

I agree with him! Something deep inside of me resonates with that loud, exclamatory 'Yes!' My own experience recently has been that the very smallest forms of church life are generally the easiest to spread and the hardest to stamp out. They tend to be deeply relational, focussed, and zealous in everything they do. They tend to consist of people who listen to the Spirit because they want to hear his voice and follow his direction and receive his encouragement. Small groups often reach out to the world, not to suck people in to the group but to birth new groups. How exciting is that?!

Roger is right to imagine how these small expressions of church might transform societies and cultures. They have the potential to do exactly that.

But small groups can run aground and stick fast just like larger groups can. It's not size that causes a boat to hit a reef or sandbar, it's navigating into shallow water. As long as we float deep in the things of the Lord supported only by the water we will go where the wind of the Spirit takes us. But the moment we take our eyes off Yahshua and fix them instead on growth in numbers, church finances, patterns of worship, forms of church governance, offices, structure, and the rest we are bound to stick fast and stop travelling.

Although this can (and does) happen to groups of any size, there is no doubt in my mind that smaller groups are less likely to be trapped and more likely to be refloatable in the event they do run aground.

And the smallest of all (CO2) is perhaps the most nimble of the lot. After all, what are the chances of running aground in an inflatable ring?

The Human Genome Project - Ten years on

The first human genome was sequenced ten years ago. It was a huge and expensive project that could be repeated today 500 times as fast at 100 000th of the cost. That's an indication of the rate of change of sequencing technology.

But what benefits has the project brought?

A very great deal! In the studies of diabetes and obesity alone, the existence of the sequence has enabled much more rapid progress in research and this will feed into improvements in medical treatments more and more in the future.

But there are still considerable areas where we lack understanding and larger scale studies sequencing the genomes of thousands of people are now underway. These will hopefully fill in further gaps in our knowledge and set the scene for even more novel and useful treatments in future.

For more detail, read Jonathan Wood's post on Oxford University's website.

Kettering - Jeff Lucas and Saltmine

We visited the Church of Christ the King in Kettering for a Saltmine Theatre Company production with Jeff Lucas as the main speaker for the evening.

Saltmine very cleverly integrated Jeff into the production, beginning by introducing him as George Lucas and enquiring if any members of the audience were wearing Star Wars outfits in his honour. Needless to say this caused a lot of laughter!

The evening was fun though best-suited to an older audience. This was fine because there were relatively few young people there.

But the message Jeff and the team put across was clear. Although it was expressed in an entertaining way, the point was made that the church often treats outsiders in ways that make them uncomfortable and more likely to stay away than to come close enough to find out what it's all about.

We went home entertained, but thoughtful.

THOUGHT - Growing and spreading

I took this photo during my lunch break, just outside the office. When I got back to my desk I took some time to be quiet and intentionally spend time with Yahshua and listen to him.

I aim to do this daily as part of CO2. This is a transcript of the notes I made. I've decided to share them as they may also speak to others.

I saw a colony of beautiful, yellow, winter aconites growing under a tree. Thinking about them now I feel Father is saying -

'I created that colony in my mind before the universe was made, my Son brought into being everything just as I had imagined it. But the mechanism by which it was made was that the first few aconites were planted by the gardener and now, left to their own devices over the years, they have spread to make a large carpet of beauty every March.'

'That's the way I work. Take note of it! I place the ability to reproduce within every living thing and I speak my blessing over them - go out, multiply, and fill the earth.'

'I have placed the ability to multiply in my gathered people, each gathering is like an aconite, it has the ability to reproduce. I speak my blessing over them - go out, multiply, and fill the earth.'

'Don't be anxious, just go. Didn't I tell you that I would be with you? Don't you see my hand in all that's happening to you? Doesn't your heart leap within you like the hearts of the two on the Emmaus road? Don't you say to yourselves that this must be Yahshua at work?'

'It is the wind that carries the seeds of the dandelion and the maple. It is the wind that carries the pollen of the pine and the grass. My Spirit will be with you on the Road and will carry the message of Truth and Life into the hearts of all who will receive him. I AM the Road, the Truth, and the Life. I AM the Road you are travelling, the Truth you are carrying, and the Life you are imparting. I am doing it. I am doing it through you.'

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.

Climate change - Truth or deception?

Most scientists are agreed, we have a serious problem on our hands. Possibly less severe than we fear but just as possibly more severe than we fear. Meanwhile there are plenty of sceptics who claim the data has been fixed or incorrectly analysed.

It's no good speculating and it's no good just crossing our fingers. We need to know whether the science is sound or not. It makes a difference. Do we need to stop releasing CO2 and methane or can we safely continue as we've been going?

Whichever side of the debate you are on, I strongly urge you to take a good look at Dan Satterfield's latest blog post. He has no doubt which side he is on. I agree with him and I really want to encourage everyone to read his post and its two main references and draw their own conclusions. This is one of the best posts on this topic that I have seen.

St Neots (Open Door) - Spirit and Word

During a time of praise and worship Tony shared a call from the Lord about the need to rejoice. This struck me as straight from Yahweh's heart.

There was an announcement about 'Hit the Streets' in Rushden, it will be a day of training in 'Treasure Huntiing' run by the Kings Arms from Bedford.

Scott from Biggleswade had been invited to speak this morning and began by telling us a little about his forthcoming move to Leicester, a very diverse city in terms of people groups.

His main address was based on Hebrews 1:1-3. He asked whether a church can be both Spirit based and Word based, many seem to be one or the other while some try to be both but end up with little power in either. The church in Acts was birthed by the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-21), but they also devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching. For maturity we need a balance between Word and Spirit.

Scott quoted from AW Tozer who said, 'We must not pick passages, the only thing that can make a whole Christian is a whole Bible.'

Next, Scott worked through the Bible systematically. In the Old Testament we see the creation, the fall, and then the fact that Adam and Eve hide from the Lord and have to leave the garden, but we also read that the woman's offspring will crush the enemy (Genesis 3:13-14). We read of Noah and Abraham, the exodus and the law, the covenant and the phophets who speak about holiness. There are three main themes throughout - holiness, covenant, and the coming King.

In the New Testament the gospels describe Jesus' life. In Acts we read of Peter's first message which is really a theological treatise! (Acts 2:14-41) The letters unpack the detail and then Revelation goes back to speak once more of the coming King.

Understanding it in our own wisdom and learning only, we get a rather blurry view of the Bible, but when we put on the 'sight correcting spectacles' of Christ and look through him we see clearly.

Hebrews 1:1-3 shows that jesus has spoken with all authority. He is our revelation. he is the Word and we are called to be devoted to him. He fulfilled the law completely. He display's the Father's glory. he is the representation of the Father. He healed people and set them free. He upholds everything, he maintains us in life as a gift of grace. He died on the cross (the only necessary sacrifice), so we are now free. He rose again. He sits with the Father, when we go into the world we carry his presence and authority.

Anyone who teaches must focus on Jesus, we should read the whole Bible as a record of covenant love. Allow the truths of Hebrews 1:1-3 to set you free. And keep it all in balance, don't focus on anything or anyone but Jesus.

MISSION - An experiment

Sean and I have been invited to join an experiment, initially for a period of three months. During that time we plan to meet weekly with the main objectives being mission-focussed through intentionally hearing from the Holy Spirit, paying attention to one another's hearts, and praying together.

We'll be using some of the ideas and methods we've been learning through CO2 to help us in practical ways, and we'll be comparing notes with other people taking part in the same experiment. It will be a huge help and encouragement to be on the same journey with people in other places.

In my own mind I'm quite clear that I don't want anything I do or think to detract from hearing and seeing what Yahshua will show me (and Sean) through the Spirit. The only thing I can be sure about is that the Lord knows better than I do. I'm expecting him to demonstrate while I watch, and then coach me while I try to follow him.

Today was our first meeting as part of the experiment. So far we have agreed that we feel an urgent need to be reaching people in the area around St Neots and Huntingdon and that we need to pray - together and separately. We have made a list of people we feel led to visit and have begun making contacts. And we have started communicating with our fellow experimenters.

We plan to get together weekly and I may be posting here again after some of those sessions.