REVIEW - The Jesus Virus

The Jesus Virus is a blog by Ross Rohde about planting small, organic churches. I've just read his latest post 'Another Story from the Harvest' and once again I really like what I read. I'm recommending this post and indeed the entire blog because it's full of life and energy and it reports real events as they happen. I think anyone who follows Jesus will find Ross's posts encouraging and enlightening.

In 'Another Story from the Harvest', Ross explains how things don't always go the way we expect. It's clear that we need to be wary of pattern and methods - certainly in the sense that they may sometimes go against the things that Jesus really wants to do in a situation.

Ross provides a recent example of this. Best to go and read it for yourself!

Ross's blog is not like anything else I've come across. It's very matter of fact, thought provoking, and full of stories about real people. There are so many sites out there that are essentially teaching a doctrine or a method or inviting us to join them in what they are doing.

But this site draws readers into the excitement about what Jesus is doing, and then encourages them to taste and see for themselves. Ross knows that for the church to grow, Jesus must do the building as he promised he would. That means I (and you) must get out of his way. I can add nothing to the work he is doing. If I won't do what he tells me I will not become part of his work. If I do what I judge to be good in my own eyes I will probably hinder his work by acting against him.

Meeting Ben Taylor from Somerton

Today Ben Taylor visited me from Somerton in the West Country. It was good to have the afternoon together before he left to spend some time with another friend in Great Gransden.

I originally met Ben and Cath at a meeting in Chepstow. Ben came on his own this time and we walked down to Cornerstone through the Riverside Park as the weather was fine. When we arrived Jim was there and he sat with us for a while, the conversation was good. How encouraging it is to spend time comparing notes with others on similar journeys!

Ben shared a picture of a bee's sting, and he told me that the Lord would use me to soothe and heal people who'd been 'stung' or hurt in various ways. This is most certainly accurate.

We discovered we have a lot in common. We both come from a Plymouth Brethren background, we have both been led out of more structured forms of church life and are now trying to reach people in a variety of everyday situations.

I've put Ben and Cath in touch with my friends in North Somerset, and Ben tells me he's also kept in touch with Mark in South Wales.

FAMILY - Fireworks and soup

Donna and I travelled up to York to see Debbie and Steve, Beth and Paz, and their families. We joined them at Thorganby for the fireworks on Saturday 6th, and then had lunch in Fulford on 7th before travelling home.

It's always good to see the grandchildren! I discovered that Aidan is almost too large to carry on my shoulders now, but he still likes us to read stories. Aidan and Meredith are both getting rather good at writing their names, while Sara and Verity are too small for that. Sara is getting to grips with conversation and Verity is, in her Mum's words, 'a poppet'.

The weather seemed too warm for fireworks, Bonfire Night is normally much colder in my memory. The bonfire was huge with flames leaping to perhaps seven metres or so. And the fireworks were magnificent, quite a grand display for a small village.

We stayed the night at Debbie and Steve's and then had a walk in the autumn countryside after breakfast. This was followed by a lunchtime feast at Beth and Paz's. Paz had made an awesome soup, a sort of thicker version of minestrone crammed with all sorts of good things. Perhaps we should name it Pazestrone Soup!

Eaton Ford (day) - Psalm 66

There were three of us this morning, Paul, Roger and me. We worked through SASHET (CO2) together and discussed the value of the Virkler component.

We talked and prayed for a while about a friend's forthcoming court case. It's about a very minor offence caused, not deliberately, but by mistake - if indeed the law was broken at all. But the anxiety and emotional strain being caused far outweighs any penalty that might be imposed. Everything seems to be out of balance, things have blown out of proportion. The distress, however, is very real.

Roger read Psalm 66 which is full of praise and worship. It lifted my spirits for sure! HalleluYah!

THOUGHT - This, not that

I responded to a post on 'Simply Church' a few days ago, the post had piqued my interest for two reasons. Firstly, the topic being dealt with has been in my mind a lot recently, and secondly it reminded me of the meetings we used to have in the 1970s.

As I started to write I felt the Holy Spirit taking charge of my thoughts and the words just flowed. That's always a good sign!

The 'Simply Church' post was called 'Who is in control when we gather?'. Follow the link to see the original post and the comments. I duly sent off my response and later had an interesting reply by email. As I wrote back the Holy Spirit took control again and words appeared almost without any effort on my part.

The Spirit is always ready to lead us if we will just let him. But first we need to turn to focus fully on Christ. The Holy Spirit is after all the Spirit of Christ, he is Christ in us (the hope of glory)! (Colossians 1:27) When Jesus is full and central in our hearts and minds then we may begin to see what he is doing and hear what he is saying. He reveals the father to us (John 14:7) so that we can shout out Abba (Daddy) (Romans 8:15) and run to him with arms outstretched knowing he will pick us up and whirl us around.

Jesus said, 'I only do what I see the Father do (John 5:19), I only say what I hear him say (John 12:49-50).' Frankly, if that was good enough for him it should certainly be good enough for us. We really do need to stop what we are doing, keep quiet, watch and listen, and then do and say the things we are shown.

As I wrote he gave me a list of short phrases along the lines of 'this, not that'. The more I think about them the more helpful they seem to be. In particular they are challenging me and reminding me, not my way Lord but yours, not my will Lord but yours, not my words Lord but yours. I'll just list them below, then expand one or two of them.

• Life, not structures
• People, not things
• Community, not organisation
• The Spirit of Christ, not our own reasoning
• Love, not deeds
• Stillness, not busyness
• Hope, not despair
• Acceptance, not rejection
• Grace, not offendedness
• Gentleness, not strength
• Service, not leadership

It's a list that could go on and on and on. Those things are not really opposites, some of them are but it's not as simple as that. For example, the opposite of life is death, not structures. But structures are apt to cause a sort of death or at least a paralysis.

There is no real opposite to the concept of 'People', and if there was it wouldn't be 'things'. But the things in our lives sometimes prevent us reaching and touching the people around us. This is especially true for the precious things we cling to (events, ideas, hobbies, memories, chores as well as possessions).

And how many of us have become frustrated, even angry, about organisations yet have an unfilled space in our hearts for real community?

Maybe the best way to summarise it is to say that we need to avoid everything that stifles our ability to walk arm in arm with Jesus.

I'd be interested to hear your response so go ahead and comment. In particular it would be good to see comments that suggest more 'this, not that' pairs. And also it would be good to see some comments that expand more of the pairs. What do they say to you? How do they challenge you?

St Neots (Cornerstone) - Meeting at the corner

This evening we decided to meet at Cornerstone Cafe and Books because Pam was planning to do some cleaning there. We all worked for a while, had a coffee, then met, and finally did a little more work before heading home.

We chatted for a while as we often do. Jim asked me what I'd been doing during the day and I mentioned waxing one of our new doors at home. Then I shared how I'd read 1 Corinthians 13 and how it is perhaps my all time favourite chapter, and how I'd read Psalm 7 today too. I read out the last verse in which David relies on Yahweh's righteousness, not his own.

Jim told us that he's been reading Hebrews and how the people seemed to be starting to drift away from Christ. The author is saying, 'Hey, get back to the truth about Jesus!' Someone he knows had spoken about Jehoshaphat who ahead of battle had spent time praising the Lord instead of preparing his weapons. We have to have the same frame of mind, the real priorities are not always the obvious ones.

Sean told us about a dream he had. He was in an old Anglican church and the vicar was going through the service. Sean became bored and began praising and worshipping loudly. The people in the church tried to stop him but couldn't. They were prevented from interfering.

Jim and Sean then discussed how, without revelation, the gospel is a mystery and may even repel people. In the end it's all about the supremacy of Jesus, not about the law, rules, and regulations.

I thought that we're just like the prodigal son, but we sometimes overlook the fact that the father in the parable was also prodigal. He poured out abundant mercy, grace and love upon the returning son. We have only to turn back towards our Father and he runs out to meet us and throws his arms around us.

I felt I should speak out the words of the old song...

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in his wonderful face.
And the things of Earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace.

Jim was surprised and encouraged by this as it was the second time today that someone had shared those words with him. And of course I found that encouraging too!