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.

NEWS - CO2 is spreading like a virus

It's time to mention Church of Two (CO2) again. As far as I'm aware nobody was doing CO2 in the UK until I brought it here from Dallas in September 2009. I'd like to outline the history of it since then.

Infections follow a pattern that is true for viruses, bacteria, trees, rabbits, and even us humans. The stages of this pattern are...

Infection > Latency > Spread > Symptoms > Impact > Dieback

Lets look at these one by one.

Infection - In this stage an active form spreads to a new home. With a cold virus, you might breathe in virus laden particles after someone with a cold sneezed. Or you might touch a contaminated object and then transfer the virus to your mouth or eyes.

The active form of CO2 is the knowledge of what it is, how to do it, and the value it brings. By the time I returned from Dallas I was already infected.

Latency - This is the time during which nothing much seems to happen. The cold virus has to enter a living cell, a seed takes time to absorb water and germinate. During the latent period something essential has to happen but there is no sign of it yet.

In the case of CO2 I needed to find someone who wanted to hear about it and do it with me. Until I found that person, the CO2 virus was present in the UK - but latent.

Spread - With the cold virus this is the time during which more and more people are becoming infected. It's like a chain reaction. A person is infected, becomes a mobile latent infection, and begins sneezing at home, at work, on the bus, and in the shops.

For CO2 this is the phase we are in right now in the UK. A number of people are using it daily and are starting to pass it on to others. CO2 is spreading!

Symptoms - With a cold, people hardly notice the early signs (the first few sneezes). But as the virus takes hold in a major way there are clear and unpleasant signs that something is going on. Sufferers feel unwell, they might run a slight temperature, breathing is more difficult, they may have a sore throat, a cough, a headache.

In the case of CO2 the symptoms often include a growing desire to read and understand the Bible, more prayer time, a deeper understanding of one another, a greater sense of the Lord's purpose, an increasing desire to grow spiritually, greater peace, joy and love, a new sense of the journey, and a growing drive to reach others with the good news.

I certainly have some of these symptoms and more are appearing all the time. CO2 is beginning to facilitate significant change in me. It's also having a similar impact in my CO2 partners.

Impact - As a cold virus takes hold in the population there's a change in society over and above the symptoms of individuals. People might start to avoid crowds, buy more cough medicine, stay away from work, this in turn might affect the short term profitability of companies, or cause staff shortages in schools, hospitals etc.

For CO2 the longer term impact in the UK is not yet known. The possibilities include wider scale outreach and mission, increased church planting and growth, revival, improved care for the elderly, sick, and disadvantaged in society, and more.

This is a lot to expect from such a simple thing as CO2. But that is exactly the point, a virus is simple. This simplicity makes it hard for doctors to treat. It spreads easily and quickly, very few drugs can interfere with its spread or its impact on patients. The simplicity of CO2 makes it easy to learn, easy to teach, and easy to do.

Dieback - In most cases, a virus peaks and then dies away because people develop immunity. Anything that interferes with transmission or infection will cause a virus to fade away. A cold epidemic fades as more and more people become immune.

Will CO2 die away in the same way? Maybe, and in the longer term it's quite likely. But I hope not because it's a very beneficial virus! There is no known immunity against CO2 so far and that is a good sign. And CO2 doesn't appear to be harmful in any way. Perhaps it will do what some viruses have managed to do, become part of the genome of its host, people who follow Jesus. In that case its long term future would be assured.

Meanwhile, we in the UK are in the very earliest stages of spread. I will do all I can to encourage more infections to spring up.

Here's progress so far...

Chris > Sean
Chris > Paul
..Sean > Hamish (may not have taken)
Chris and Paul > Roger
..Paul > Pete (may not have taken)
../..Roger > Ruth
Chris, Paul and Roger > David
..Paul > Jules
Chris > Tim

Likely further transfer...
Chris > Dave
Chris > Tony
Chris > Rob
..Tim > Tammy

This shows that secondary spread has begun and there are signs of tertiary spread starting. If spread is faster than dieback (and so far it has been), CO2 will spread. If dieback exceeds spread it will fade away. To some degree it's up to us.

USA thinks open source is piracy!

Now here is a very strange thing. It seems that the USA considers Canada to be guilty of a sort of intellectual property theft, or if not exactly theft then at least some sort of underhanded anti-competitive practice.

The argument seems to be that if I write a piece of useful software and decide to give it away instead of selling it, I somehow undermine free enterprise. So things like Linux, Wikipedia, Media Monkey, the Gimp, Microsoft Bing, Google Maps, and thousands of other items used daily by millions of people are undermining free enterprise.

No. I must have misunderstood. Surely?

Well, take a look for yourself.

• Read this article by Michael Geist.
• Now read this more recent article from the Guardian.

What is going on here? I mean - really? It will all be sorted out quite quickly once the Office of the United States Trade Representative thinks it through more carefully, right?

I thought the USA stood on the side of freedom. So if I write some software, or a book, I can give it away if I choose to do so. And if I want to use free software written by someone else I may do that too. How would that 'undermine intellectual property rights'?

I must have missed something...

Has the GNU project missed it too? Is Linux in the wrong? And Ubuntu? What about Open Office? Scribd? Wikipedia?

Has anyone told the Free Software Foundation?

Great Doddington - Knowledge and wisdom

Jim, Sean and I decided to visit the Great Doddington meeting this week, so Peter and Jody's living room was pretty full. It was a rich meeting, I haven't captured everything in this account.

We began by standing in a circle in prayer, then Peter read James 4. Peter went on to say that we need to seek the Lord's guidance in everything, not set our hearts on some goal and then drive for it. We have to remember who is in charge here! Jim mentioned that James is very direct. Sue felt that in some ways he is a little bit scary and not her favourite New Testament writer.

Rachael explained that the difference between knowledge and wisdom is critical. It's the difference between knowing that a tomato is a fruit and not putting it in a fruit salad. This made us laugh. Jim and Jody both talked about the fact that some things that are legal to do in man's eyes are not acceptable in the Lord's eyes. But we are not called to judge, we are called to love. I mentioned that although James seems hard, he writes that 'mercy triumphs over judgement' (2:13) We also considered how the church seems to thrive under persecution, for example in China, Korea, or North India.

Sean shared a prophecy, 'Jesus goes to church! Sometimes he stands just outside and says, "I'm here." He goes wherever people are hurting.' Glenn told us two stories, one about prayer for healing in the market place, and one about another healing experience.

Jody also prophesied, 'My word will not return to me empty. It's not just about social reforms, it's a matter of depending on the Lord.' Sean descibed a vision of a small girl. Jesus went to comfort her and told Sean to do the same. He doesn't believe he has seen this girl yet (other than in the vision). This prompted Glenn to share another story, this time of a small girl who woke in the middle of the night and left the house with her Bible. In the park she saw a man sleeping on a bench and called to him, 'Wakey-wakey, rise and shine.' The man awoke and told her that he'd been sleeping for a very long time, waiting for someone to wake him, and that he was the Angel of the North. The angel of Revival. Sean found some surprising parallels between Glenn's story and his own life.

Rachael also had a picture to share. The first part had been given to her three weeks ago and she had seen crowds of aggressive people in the streets rioting and shouting. Now tonight she has seen more. The people were running towards a second mob who were also running, there was going to be a clash. And then she saw that there was a huge mirror between the two, it was only one mob intent on fighting it's own reflection. They were being aggressive towards themselves! And she understood that Jesus removes the mirror and frees people from fighting against themselves.

Jim told us that we are drawing nearer to God and he is drawing nearer to us. We are approaching a meeting place with God, but we tend to run in fear. When we wake up to the truth we'll see that we have a most amazing future in him. And then I had a picture to share too. I saw an inky black night and knew that in the darkness nobody can work because nobody can see. But as the rising sun reached closer to the horizon a glow developed and got brighter and brighter as daylight came. And Father said, 'In you my Son will find his completeness - in him you will find yours.' I also saw a tomato with deep splits in its skin, but as I watched the splits narrowed, healed, and left the skin smooth and undamaged. And Father said, 'You can't do that - but I can.'

THOUGHT - Follow the Shepherd

This is the second in a series of thoughts from the Lord. Sometimes we feel pressure from others to conform in some way to their expectations; this can be obvious or it can be so subtle that we hardly notice. In the same way we can bring similar pressure to bear on others from time to time. Perhaps it's better if we don't!

Today, the Spirit of Christ whispered these thoughts to me and I feel I should share them.

I have particular things for you to do. I choose specific things for each of my children, things they will be able to do because their personality and gifting suits them to it. Don't try to do what you see others do, do instead what you see ME do. I will show you. My sheep hear my voice and follow me.

Nor should you try to persuade others to do what I lead you to do, my call on them may be different from my call on you. Follow me, and leave others to do the same. Don't be pressured or persuaded onto a different course, don't allow anyone to tell you what to do or how to do it. Simply follow me and do what I do for that is obedience and I will bless you abundantly in obedience.

Don't criticise others, always encourage and build up.

Walk in my ways, on the path I take, keep your eyes on me, don't be anxious. Walk joyfully, walk in peace, but walk resolutely and with courage for I am with you.

Here are some more thoughts on sheep and shepherds based on John 10. Notice that 'his sheep follow him because they recognise his voice' (John 10:4).

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.

NEWS - Latest H2H e-letter

The latest issue of the House2House (H2H) e-letter dropped into my inbox this morning. I always look forward to these arriving!

In this issue Tony and Felicity Dale take a look at the underlying characteristics that result in rapidly growing, self-replicating churches. They mention simplicity, truth, relationships, and mission as essential elements. The e-letter links to other useful resources from David Garrison, David Watson, Wolfgang Simson, and the Mather family.

If you've never sampled an H2H e-letter before, now would be a great time to take a look. They're published every week or two, are always worth reading, and are kept deliberately brief to make them easy to read and absorb.

You can always find a link to H2H in the sidebar of 'All About Jesus'. It's a great resource so I like to make sure everyone can browse to it easily. Hint: you can sign up to receive the e-letters by email too, so you always see new ones right away without checking the website.

THOUGHT - Our inheritance

The following thoughts were from the Lord to me this morning. Every day I try to spend some time listening and this is what I think I heard today. I plan to share these thoughts from time to time when I consider they might be useful to others. Take whatever seems good or helpful.

My ways are higher than yours, I hold the entire universe open, if I let go it would collapse and be gone. Without me there is nothing, but if you have me you have everything.

Be bold, be brave, find safety in me for you won't find it anywhere else. I'm calling you to create something out of nothing too because you are the very image of me. Your nature derives from my nature, your heart is no longer the heart of stone you were born with but it's the heart of flesh I placed in you as you were born again into new life in me.

I created something out of nothing, now it's your turn. Follow me. Be a light in the darkness, salt in a flavourless world, peace in the place of struggling, truth where before lies prevailed. I have called you to do my work because you are like me and I enjoy having you as companions in my journey. Don't cling to this world because you no longer belong here, you belong with me for all eternity. I am your King and your Inheritance. Everything I have is yours.

Eaton Ford (day) - Beauty in nature

We began this morning with a chat over coffee, then shared CO2 together. Paul and Jules are planning to do this together for a week or two or longer if they feel they should continue, so we were able to demonstrate it for Jules and he joined in too. It took quite a long time to work through this as there were four of us - Paul, Roger, Jules, and me.

As a result of the issues we'd just shared it seemed very natural to go into a time of prayer. We prayed for the things in our own lives that were causing concern, sadness, excitement, or tenderness; and we prayed for friends who are ill or grieving.

Paul spoke about the beauty of the natural world around us that reminds us daily of our Father's presence and power and love.

Roger read Psalm 46 and we talked about it for a while. And finally, James 2 was on my heart so I read through it without understanding its significance until I came to the end of verse 13, 'Mercy triumphs over judgement'. This almost jumped off the page and seemed especially relevant for one of the friends we had talked about and prayed for earlier.

Moggerhanger - Trusting the Lord

Jim had invited me to join the Moggerhanger Park staff prayer meeting and today for the first time I was able to do so. It was lovely. We met around a table and there were two other visitors this morning, a couple who plan to hold their wedding reception at the Park. The three of us almost outnumbered the staff!

Jim began by reading from Proverbs 3:5, then sharing about trusting the Lord. The entire chapter puts the verse in context. There is a section on wisdom, and trusting the Almighty is an important aspect of wisdom!)

We prayed for a number of sick friends, and listened as the Spirit encouraged us. He said that this house is a holy place because it is filled by his holy people. And he said that we would receive what we hoped to receive from him but that he would also surprise us with what we do not expect.

Afterwards Jim and I were able to spend a few minutes together with tea and coffee before I had to head back for a day working at home.

UPDATE - Better Place rolls out first trial

Here's the latest on Shai Agassi's Better Place company. The trial rollout of a few hundred cars has begun in Israel.



See main article >

Little Paxton - Ten pin bowling

Jim and Sean have been reading through Acts, Jim mentioned Acts 16 which had made quite an impression on him because it shows that Paul was very human and came to the end of his tether with the slave girl (verse 18).

But when they were whipped and thrown into prison, they didn't lose heart but were praying and singing in their cell. Not only that, when the order came for their release they even protested to the magistrates about their mistreatment. Paul could also be very bold!

Sean reminded us that on another occasion Paul actually ran away (Acts 14:5-7). here Paul shows a very human side, escaping when afraid.

After this, Sean and I spent some time explaining what we had seen and heard on Friday in Nottingham.

We also drove to town and booked the bowling alley for 6th April. This will be a great opportunity to encourage the kids from last years camp, get to know the parents better, and have some fun together. Perhaps we can also use it as an opportunity to announce the date for this years camp (the weekend of the 25th of July).

And finally Jim encouraged me to be bold in sharing the good news about Jesus. He suggests that I make a good start but don't really follow it through. I think he's right - perhaps there's room for improvement!

Hebrew origins - recent evidence

A pottery shard found in 2008 may be the earliest known text in an early form of Hebrew and dates to the 10th century BC. This is around the time of King David and would push the archaeological record of the language back by about 400 years from the previous oldest recorded sample.

The new evidence may also support the idea that parts of the Bible were written far earlier than previously thought. The piece of pottery recently unearthed at Khirbet Qeiyafa carries an ink inscription. As recently interpreted by Gershon Galil it closely resembles several Bible passages from Exodus, Psalms, and Isaiah. Earlier translations are less clear.

Gershon Galil's version reads

You shall not do [it], but worship the [Lord]. Judge the sla[ve] and the wid[ow] / Judge the orph[an] [and] the stranger. [Pl]ead for the infant / plead for the po[or and] the widow. Rehabilitate [the poor] at the hands of the king. Protect the po[or and] the slave / [supp]ort the stranger.

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.

NEWS - Victor Choudrie speaks out

Victor Choudhrie is a man who has given up a prestigious career as a surgeon in order to devote himself to following Yahshua. This post on the Simple Church Journal is challenging, provocative, brief, gripping, and important. Every believer should read it!

Victor Choudhrie is behind a huge growth in house churches in several countries, especially India. In this article he outlines some of the history of the church and suggests that the fifty-year-long revival in China is now struggling because of the return of foreign influence. Today he sees a rapid return of the house churches in China, India, and other areas, including North America.

If you have an appetite for more, the full document is online at the House2House website.

The TED Conference - Microsoft's mapping

Microsoft seems to be making great strides with online mapping and the integration of such things as user imagery and even live video. Fascinating to see how they're tying it all together in a most remarkable way.

Blaise Aguera y Arcas demonstrates some of this stuff at the TED conference.

Shai Agassi - Joined-up thinking

Shai Agassi, the Israeli/American alternative energy entrepreneur is thinking big. he can't help it, it's in his nature! The most valuable things he has brought to the table involve lateral thinking, sudden leaps that change everything, paradigm shifts.

Where most of us are content to tweak the status quo, Shai Agassi understands that to make a real change we need to look at our problems with open minds, recognising that the solutions may sometimes be there right before our eyes but that 'tweak the status quo' may blind us to them. We often look without seeing.

Shai's solution to battery powered motoring is close to rollout in a major way, first in Israel, then Denmark, then Australia, and with a range of other places queuing up to follow the lead of these three. Banks are beginning to believe in the business model of his company, Better Place, and are starting to provide loans to enable the infrastructure to be built. Governments are also backing the idea with funding. Car manufacturers, electricity companies and even oil companies and chains of petrol stations are joining in too. This is an idea that is starting to fly.

But if that's not enough, Shai Agassi is also pointing out that we need joined up thinking on electrical energy. Wind farms, electric motor vehicles, battery exchange systems all face issues, but build them all on a large scale and they help one another out in significant ways.

Listen to Shai as he explains.



You can also watch Shai explain his battery swap technology (recorded in 2009).



See update >

Nottingham - Gathering the regions

Peter Farmer had invited us to Nottingham for a national meeting to consider simple church growth, mission, and networking. I collected David, then Sean, and we set off up the A1. As we passed Stamford the traffic seized up and the satnav recommended leaving the A1 and heading north through Stamford and Bourne so that is what we did. (We learned later that there'd been a major accident on the A1.)

When we arrived in Grantham there were more holdups, then a closed slip road, and we were very late arriving at the meeting. What should have been one and a half hours or so took at least two and a half!

(Caveat: what follows is based on my personal notes taken during the meeting. They don't always represent my own view or opinion, sometimes I'm reporting what I heard rather than what I think myself.)

After a coffee and chat, people from six regions of the UK shared on organic church growth and activity in their areas. Pete began house church meetings two years ago and is aware of ten or twelve groups in Nottingham. They are starting to plant amongst non-believers. Johnny and Steve also began meeting in smaller groups two years ago in the South-West, they're meeting with unchurched people too. Rob and Mim are in London in a mixed community with large numbers of Muslims, they have seen that we need to see people as loved by God, not as potential 'converts'. Tim, Tammy and Aaron all reported from the Midlands, they want to plant churches that will plant churches and are learning how to listen to Jesus and obey. Alistair from North-East Scotland is working amongst friends and mentioned the annual Clan gathering at St Andrews. Sean, David and I shared about the network of groups meetings in parts of the East.

During a time of open sharing, I stressed that we need to hear and then obey. Obedience without first hearing is not possible, and blessing comes when we are obedient. But the question of how we hear can be problematic. Sometimes we struggle with this.

The Lord also gave me a picture. I saw a jelly mould but I only had a small cup of jelly. The Lord said, 'Pour it into the mould.' So I did, and when it was set and turned out it was in the shape of a foot. He said the same to others and out came part of ear, then a nose. And I knew that when the mould was completely filled it would reveal the pattern, a rabbit. Meanwhile, all we could see were our individual parts, we all tend to think that our little part is right and the others are wrong. But they are all necessary.

After this we heard from Pete and Marsha about church planting movements. Some topics covered included making disciples, intentional outreach, spearheading, taking ground, prayer walking, and finding a person of peace.

More generally, some things that struck me as important were that a sovereign move of the Lord would be required, multiplication would be necessary if we are to disciple the nation, we need new spiritual fire, an experience of power, and resolute fasting and prayer. It will cost us more than we can imagine, we will require holiness, fire, a willingness to 'spy out' the land. We will also need to work together, partnering with other churches and ministries. We should look for viral growth.

Intentional evangelism was expanded, Pete suggested we might list 100 ways to evangelise and then use them all. He added that we need to sow abundantly otherwise there will be no disciples. We should also decide which group of people we are called to and ask ourselves, 'How can I catch these particular fish?'

Towards the end of the meeting we were asked to consider our goals and share them so that we can ask others to hold us to account. We need multiplication in terms of people, churches, networks and more.

A further meeting was pencilled in for Friday 14th May, and a Newforms Gathering is being planned for April 16th to 18th. For details of these meetings please check Peter's website.

Brampton - On a pathway

We began by discussing the Moggerhanger meeting last Sunday, what a great time that was! And we also spent a while considering the coming meeting at Nottingham on Friday 12th. It will be good to see like-minded people from other parts of the UK and hear their stories.

We talked about the X-treme Camp last summer and considered ways to reach out to the families. We would still like to arrange a bowling evening for the kids and their parents. We though a good time to do this would be the Easter school holidays.

The three of us ran through CO2 together, spending quite a long time on it as there was a lot to share. Sean described a picture in which Jesus was carrying him up a path, but every time they came to a crossroads Sean was anxious because he couldn't see which direction they had taken. But the important thing was to focus on Jesus, not on knowing the way.

Jim invited us to a Jeff Lucas event with the Saltmine Theatre Company in Kettering. Sounds great!

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.