Does the Trinity affect your life?

I’ve recently read Donald Macleod’s book shared life in which he argues succinctly and understandably that we need to be mindful of the three persons of the trinity in our worship life.  To worship God the father without acknowledging the salvation brought through the Son or the guiding of the Holy Spirit is severely lacking..

Some oft used phrases can mislead us to thinking that only one member of the trinity is resident in our lives such as “God shaped hole”, “Invite Jesus into your heart” and “Indwelling of the holy spirit”, but Donald argues that scripture points to all three persons being resident in the redeemed soul.

The implication of this triune dwelling is security, power and ability to always be in the presence of God.  We share (through adoption, by grace) the special relationship that Christ enjoys with his Father and the Spirit… just think about that for a minute!

In his book Donald also provides an overview of the doctrine of the trinity and some observations about the differences with  Judiasm, Islam, Jehovah’s witnesses and mormonism.
For anyone confused with what the trinity is, and why it’s important to every Christian, I heartily recommend his book. Shared life.

Genuinely loving AND making disciples

 

Jesus Saves

Salvation is a sovereign work of God alone through Jesus (John 2:2.) There is nothing that we can do of ourselves to bring someone to Christ. Jesus, is the way, the truth and the life. (John 14:6) This enables us to concentrate on being the salt and light that we are, ensuring that Christ is visible in our thoughts, words and deeds.

Make disciples

The mission from Christ is clear:  Go into all the world and make disciples (Matthew 28:19) and for many a year this has formed within us a strategy of seeing every person, every encounter as a God opportunity to win someone for Himself.  Being aware of this great commission while undertaking our daily activities is foundationally helpful, so we remain focussed on living a worshipful life and looking for opportunities, not letting them pass by.  But we must be clear that making disciples isn’t the same as converting people to Christ. Making disciples is journeying together towards Christ, it’s living life in the scrutiny of others, mutually following Christ and leading others to do the same. Maturing in Christ then encouraging others to mature. 

Love one another

The hallmark of being a follower of Jesus is that we love one another (John 13:35). It is in how we love, submit, serve, carry burdens, stand with, do good, support, care for, and encourage each other that it becomes easy to see that we are governed not by the desire to reach others for Christ, but by our desire to be Christ-like.  If our motivations for interactions with people are because we genuinely love them, that relationship will endure long after their decision to come to Christ for themselves.  Wouldn’t it be devastating to us if, once we came to Christ, he abandoned us to go find someone else to be friends with? So our motivation cannot be simply to reach people for Christ without wanting to be an eternally loving family.

• It is possible for a while for me to fake love.  I can act loving, draw from experiences where I've been loved or felt loved and act that way towards others, but in the end my well of love will run dry, it will become a thankless task that will make my heart sad.  
• It’s possible to assume that it is Christ’s love that will enable me to love people, and that in someway my own emotions and feelings won’t come into play because I'm about the Lord’s work, but love cannot be inferred from another. it will be my arms, my ears, my actions that will express love to another. It will be from my heart that the measure of love will be communicated.   
• It’s possible to assume that I can determine when I'm leading others and maturing in faith and when I'm taking a day off, but whether I'm consciously engaging with others or being observed from afar, I'm still leading, Christ is still within me and I'm still a son of God.  If we could step out of his gaze, or the salvation won for us, I would be very worried indeed. If we are to diminish in stature for Christ to increase in us, should it not be that we are always ‘on duty’? Always worshipping, always caring, always loving?

If then I choose to be outside of my ivory tower or homestead castle, and live on the front line, everything I do, every day, matters.   Perhaps it is difficult to genuinely love others and make disciples if I'm not mindful of living a worshipful life 24/7. It can’t be something I pick and choose to do.  It is tiring and endless.  Jesus would retire regularly to pray and recharge with his father.  This is somewhat different to the ‘I need a holiday’ mentality i can sometimes take to get away from my responsibilities and ‘switch off’ and please myself.

Almighty God, my heavenly Father, I have sinned against you, through my own fault, in thought, word and deed, by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. For the sake of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, forgive all my offenses, and grant that I may serve you in newness of life, to the glory of your name, Amen.

(The Book of Common Prayer)

This is our God (Your Grace is enough)

 

I think it would be good to learn this song in the near future:

This is Our God (your grace is enough)

Your grace is enough, more than I need
At Your word I will believe
I wait for You, draw near again
Let Your Spirit make me new
And I will fall at Your feet
I will fall at Your feet
And I will worship You here

Your presence in me, Jesus light the way
By the power of Your word
I am restored, I am redeemed
By Your Spirit I am free

Freely You gave it all for us
Surrendered Your life upon that cross
Great is the love poured out for all
This is our God
Lifted on high from death to life
Forever our God is glorified
Servant and King rescued the world
This is our God

FrontEdge: Sunday 10th October

 

An opportunity to see the sick healed and lives changed.

Read what has happened at other FrontEdge events here and here.

Come along to Rugeley Community Church, 10:00am

Directions can be found here

Everyone welcome!

Four seasons

As I was drinking today, I read an article on what to look out for in the garden this autumn.  What struck me were the words ‘it’s not all death and decay’ and I became distinctly aware that each season has a purpose.

• Autumn is when plants that thrived in the summer, begin to decay, the rotting flesh is consumed by bugs and detrivores and the nutrients returned to the soil. Other plants are pruned to endure the winter and be ready for spring growth.
• Winter is a resting period where little grows but where ground work and fertilizing prepares for planting in the spring
• Spring is a time of planting, watering, fertilizing, pruning and new growth.  Bed rotations and other plans are enacted in this period
• Summer is a time for watering, feeding and enjoying the fruits of labours undertaken throughout the year. It’s an attractive time.

It struck me that each season was essential to the health of the garden, and in the same way, the same seasons may be helpful for us.

• There is a time for preparation and rest (winter)
• There is a time for pruning and fertilizing (spring)
• There is a time for enjoying the growth and warmth (summer)
• There is a time for sowing into others and training new growth (Autumn)

Keener gardeners than I, or people that have experienced many more seasons than I may find this news all too familiar, and as I write this down it seems all so simple and totally knowable that I’m sure this is no great revelation to anyone…  but as I was thinking about it, I felt that we often attempt to skip seasons.   In the garden the seasons come and go, and there is nothing that the garden itself can do to affect the season. But the gardener can attempt to grow out of season by artificially creating an environment (like a greenhouse) to cocoon a part of the garden and initiate a warmer season (say) than it really is and promote growth before its normal growing time.  In the same way we expect when we shop that foods that are out of season for the UK are still available to us because the shop can bring them in from other countries…    But I noticed something in the garden this year….

For three years we’ve attempted to grow tomatoes.  We’ve tried them in summer in the raised beds, we’ve tried them in grow bags, we’ve tried them in the conservatory.. each year they have really not come to much.   This year I noticed something in the ‘fallow’ bed (we leave at least one bed fallow each year for it to rest)  there was one solitary tomato plant that grew of it’s own (left over no doubt from either the  compost or from a previous year plant). I left it to itself expecting it to die off like all the others have.  But this little plant, battered by the rain, the wind and left untended by me, actually grew to be a totally self supporting plant (no stakes) and has produced some lovely fruity tomatoes. 

What I’m fumbling around attempting to say is that we need the different seasons. And attempting to short cut them by leaving out the winter season (say) where we ‘seem’ unproductive or where nothing is growing, or a pruning season where we tidy up weeds or train growth or tie off decaying ends etc, may leave us distinctly worse off, and may produce weaker growth (and perhaps damaged growth) instead of hardy, resilient, fruit producing growth. 

In our modern 24/7 always on world, it’s too easy to stay up past natural bed times, cram activities that are too strenuous into timeframes that don’t allow recuperation for exertion, race around at full pelt ‘doing things’ and expecting to operate at the same intensity all the time.  But, like the yearly seasons, there are times in the day when we have to act differently.  Rest is as important as do, and needn’t be a passive activity.  Just like soaking a pan before washing or fertilizing ground before the spring you can’t see anything happen until you then do the activity that follows, where it is then generally easier to clean or grow respectively.  In the same way, if we do not rest sufficiently, if we do not prepare, if we do not prune, if we do not learn, if we do not sow into others we will continue to burn each other out, and may replicate damaged growth in others..   It is rare that we will go through the day without eating by choice or because we are too busy, but it is quite possible for us to go through the day without feeding on God’s word.  It is also rare that we will go through a day without speaking to someone else, yet it is quite possible that we will choose not to speak anything to the Lord. Though Christ is our head gardener, we are responsible for our own nourishment and weeds.  We need to tend the garden of our lives responsibly to enable us to grow. There are seasons where we might need to do more of one thing than another (even if that one thing is rest), but all must be done to make the garden healthy…

Things to ask yourself

• What season are you in right now?  How do you know?
• When was the last time you chose to rest?
• Do you regularly fertilize yourself by reading, meditating or discussing godly wisdom?
• Are there things in your schedule that you have become a slave to that may be unhelpful in maintaining your life garden? (such as overspending, eating out, gossiping (spreading weeds), always saying yes to things?)
• When you last examined the fruit of your activity were you really satisfied with the result? – What actions produced the good/poor result?

Transitions

“Constant change is here to stay”

I’m hearing the word transition a lot recently.  The Newfrontiers leadership conference used the word a lot as shorthand for Terry Virgo releasing new apostolic spheres (new people who will take responsibility for regions) and there’s transition in RCC in how we conduct our meetings, the shape of the leadership team, and our band structures. At work I’m transitioning from a hands on IT dude to a project manager, at home Francine is transitioning from stay-at-home mom to full time student,  So it seems it’s all change, everywhere… or is it?

Most big things, with the exception of redundancy or long term sickness, happen pretty much in our control. We determine where we live (or the spending habits which force us to be evicted) or where we work, who our friends are or what we do with our time. Where we shop, what we eat, what we wear and our mode of transportation.  We don’t live in perpetual fear, We don’t need to be restricted by draconian law, you can say pretty much what you like, and you are not barred from entry into any area of the country, except some places for your own safety or national security.  What I’m getting at is that what happens from the start to the end of your days is pretty much under your control and is a consequence most often of your direct choices.  Some consequences are immediate, and are over in an instance, some take longer to mature and can affect much of your life. But very little is thrust on you, or requires you to be deal with unexpected things, and even if you do, most of your life still remains constant whilst other things are changing.

Captain Janeway on the star ship ‘Voyager’  could have got home much faster than the 7 series it eventually took to get back to federation space and she certainly didn’t have to stop to interact with so many other people… but it would have been a pretty dull show if she didn’t. In the same way, our lives would be pretty dull if we kept ourselves out of contact with others and focussed our energies only on the destination.

Sometimes transitions feel unsettling, destabilising as we move from something known to something unknown but it’s rare that something happens that is so radically different that nothing is familiar. Sure a cataclysmic event may occur that wipes out your family, friends, house, job and way of life, but such changes are thankfully rare, and certainly very little you can do to prepare for them or prevent them by worrying. So discounting that, most other changes are going to be a move left here, or a step right there, someone entering your life or someone leaving it. New locations to explore or new jobs to get your teeth into, pretty much the rest of your life carries on around it.

So how do we deal with constant transition?

1. Do not worry:  Take a look at this link, far better than a pithy paragraph from me on it.
2. Look for the people: We will bump into people on our journey. Thank God for them, spend time with them, Love them. (see Voyager above)
3. See stability, not instability:  When things change it’s too easy to think you’re all at sea, but instead of looking at what is unstable. Focus on what is still stable. It’s too easy to let something that is changing dominate all your thoughts, but Paul encourages us to set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.
4. Enjoy the Journey: Don’t be in such a hurry to see Glory at your death, that you miss the Glory of the risen Christ in your life. See the beauty of his creation and marvel at His plans for you. 
5. Depend on the Unchanging Christ: Jesus is the same, Yesterday, Today and Forever.

“Transition is not so much a ‘temporary’ but a ‘constant’ word. We have not yet arrived at our terminus, we are no longer at our start point, we are somewhere in between the start and the end.” 

…. But change is here to stay.  

Thinking about the future: Credit Cards

For many people, ensuring that there is enough money at the end of the month to pay all the bills can be difficult to balance.

This can be more so when interest is added a large rates to credit card balances, so those of us who have been able to ‘service’ debt before may be struggling to do so now and making use of overdrafts and other things..  

For lots of reasons, how we manage our money may not be something we talk a lot about, but perhaps we need to think about being more open about it?

Here’s one reason to think about it….   in the future, Rugeley Community Church may want to expand the current building facility, move to a different location, support additional staff or undertake a project. To do this will require lump sum gifts, increases in monthly giving or both!

Each year I review what I’m giving and how I’m spending money. Sometimes despite my best plans, the situation I thought I was in, isn’t always the one I find when I’m looking at the cold hard figures… – this can be especially true with credit cards.  Credit cards work great for short term ‘cashflow’, but when the amount of money isn’t cleared each month the amount of interest that can be added in the month adds up very quickly.

This got me thinking.

Simply by changing my attitude to ‘credit’ and managing money better we might be able to free up money that would be going on paying off credit to use for kingdom purposes! In my case, on one card, interest each month is around £90. That’s £90 added every month to the balance, even if I make a payment (unless I clear the balance in full).. That would be over £1000 that could be given to something much more valuable!

It won’t happen overnight, but if I prioritise paying off the balance now instead of carrying the balance and living (albeit momentarily) above my means when we’re ready to take the next adventures of faith together my finances might be ready to respond as well as my heart?

Brighton Leaders Conference

The Main sessions and seminars from Brighton Together on a Mission conference 2010 are now online.

You can access them without a password here

It is NOT our job to love the world.

I think there is great confusion in the hearts and minds of Christians in the UK.

We have heard the great commandment and the great commission.

We have heard Pauls consideration to become all things to all men but forgotten to ‘reach them for Christ’!

But we have got lost IN the world that Jesus is trying to save.

We are familiar with the incomplete comprehension by many from the word “Church”.  We say, we’re going to Church. Do you know the church on the hill. We belong to such and such Church – all these terms are incomplete, because the Church is you and I, knitted together as living stones with Christ as the head. Not a building or an organisation but men and women, loving and serving the Lord in unity, Spirit and truth.

In the same way I think we have got confused with what the ‘world’ is, and we have assumed that because God loves the world (John 3:16) that it must mean that we also must love it.

But I contend to you, that the world in John 3:16 isn’t the fabric of the planet. It isn’t the trappings of life. But like the definition of Church, it is all about the people that populate this wondrous ‘God made’ globe.

When we love ‘the world’, we want to be like the people in it.

But we are called to be people who ‘set our mind on things above', not on earthly things. Our hearts should be towards PEOPLE, not STUFF.

1 John 2:15-17 (English Standard Version)

^15(A) Do not love the world or the things in the world.^(B) If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶For all that is in the world—^(C) the desires of the flesh and^(D) the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. ¹⁷And^(E) the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

We are so easily swayed away from living simply and honestly to reach fellow man because we are consumed with ‘not falling behind’ in appearance. – we have, in fact, NO DESIRE to live differently. We still live in houses just like them, drive cars just like them, have TV’s just like them, fine clothes just like them, hobbies and holidays just like them. In fact we live just like them.

But doesn’t Jesus call us to live differently? Not interested in sustaining a life-style that leads to destruction, but instead a lifestyle that leads to Everlasting life with God?

Philippians 4:8-9 (English Standard Version)

⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ⁹What you have learned and^(A) received and heard and seen^(B) in me—practice these things, and^(C) the God of peace will be with you.

If we are busy following the worlds pattern of behaviour, it’s way of doing life today in the UK, how on earth are people to see in us and hear from us the things that will lead them to God?

Friends, it should be obvious in all we do, all we say, what we put into practice that we are different.  Our motivation to live for God should make it evident to all that there is nothing familiar between the way we live our lives and the way the lost world lives theirs.

Now, this is not to suggest that technology isn’t useful, and not to say we shouldn’t live in houses etc,. indeed not that TV in itself is a sinful or unhelpful tool, rather the Christian life is so revolutionary because it IS different from the selfish living of the world. We are not to be people who pursue ‘gain’ now, rather our ‘gain’ is heaven. Our reward is life eternal with Christ in Glory.

If we have truly been found in Christ, If he truly is LORD as well as saviour, then we are compelled by his love to live differently. We cannot live to please ourselves any longer because our old selves are DEAD.

• If we really did love people as much as we love ourselves we could not drive past lost people without showing them the way to Christ. 
• If we really did want to serve Christ the decisions we take about what we wear, what we do, where we go, what we say, what’s important to us, what we do with our money etc would all be made with the aim of winning people to Christ at the forefront of the decision making process.

For sure, with practice it would become as easy to do or to think this way as a person who drives a car after many years, with barely a thought to what gear to select or how to manoeuvre the vehicle – but in the early days, when we are learning to drive, don’t we have to think about changing gear, and how to point the car in the direction of travel?

I think we have become complacent, not mature and experienced in living holy, Godly lives that SHOUT his praise, rather we have become reticent to speak for God (with the words he gives us) and we have attempted to ‘blend in’ to our surroundings.

We have forgotten that our primary purpose is to Love God, and Love others to reach them for His Kingdom. We have forgotten that WE ARE NO LONGER OURS, we have been bought through the blood of Christ and we are no longer slaves to Sin, but Slaves to Christ. – Our lives have never been our own yet we attempt to haul them back from Christ to live in any way we please, doing what ever seems good to us.

This is why the battle for the hearts and minds of our friends and neighbours is so easily lost. We don’t even turn up for the battle. We stand with them on the periphery of the battle field and look on wondering who will come to fight.

We’re like the Israelites facing Goliath for 40 days, knowing who they are in God, but fearful of the consequence of standing up for the faith we profess, unsure of ourselves and unsure of the God we serve. It’s pathetic.

And when a small boy comes along to show us the raging soft spot in the forehead of Goliath, we mock and scoff and get on with our ‘religious’ lives hoping no one will call us up to stand against the foe, content to have no impact and no ground won.

This MUST change.  If we are to be the Church of Christ, if we have ANY joy from knowing him, if we have any delight in being found in him and known as Christ’s sons and heirs WE MUST, without doubt, live as his Children. Not content simply to live holy-ish lives so we can feel smug about our own righteousness, but instead lives which impact our street, our towns and ultimately the nation and the world.

The disciples even in fear and trembling, selected their stones and with love in their hearts began to take the ground that was given to them in God. The message they proclaimed and lived with great suffering spread around the globe as a result. It’s time we played our part.

Suffering in itself is no indication of righteousness, but my friends I know so very few people in the UK who have suffered for the sake of Christ – why? because it is very difficult to distinguish those who live for Christ in any radical way, and those who live for themselves. – we look the same.

When I was a child I remember most days someone calling a name or highlighting something I did because I was a Christian living for God. – God boy, bishop, devil lumps all names that were used to ridicule me because I communicated the faith I professed. I wasn’t popular, and I had few friends outside of my church community – what now? Does anyone show me the same contempt?  No.

So you see I am speaking not just to you, but also to myself.  Some people see that I am different, but they do not know why. They think I am eccentric, but that is because I haven’t explained to them why I do what I do. And I rarely confront them with the reasons I live how I do (even accepting that there is more to change!) We must be people who live the life and explain why. Yes, Jesus should be evident in what we do, but people cannot understand why we are different unless we tell them.

It’s time we change.

When faith and hope matters

The most waged and bloody war is not on land, sea or air, but in the minds of those whose heart is set for Christ.  Not only do we need to contend with NOT worrying about material possessions, the plight of those we love, or the progress of our sporting heroes, but we need to concern ourselves with pressing on towards the goal of maturity in Christ.

This is no easy task.

The massive effort and the casualty to peace and contentment often encourage would be followers to abort their offensive into living in truth and settle for the quieter pastures of apathy, compromise, ambiguity and insecurity- at least (we reason) the only person we are hurting by this course of action is ourselves, and since we’re saved, the damage is momentary considering our final destination.

But if we were truly alive to the impact our lives can have for Christ NOW, perhaps we would see that the damage is far more widespread than the effect on the path of our existence. Those people who encounter us from a distance may not see Christ in our actions or conversation, those who know us well may judge us (and our faith and he that enables us) by our actions and prejudice and wavering resolve to do what all good Christians do. We may injure the attempt of those struggling to persevere by seemingly to flit through life without a care (when really we’re just hiding from reality) and we devalue the success those who have overcome and triumphed in their adversity and environment to stand for God (as if they were misguided, misinformed or mistakenly radicalised)

Some of us think that because God hasn’t perhaps called us for great things, it doesn’t matter if we don’t win the battle for our minds. It doesn’t matter if we never put in place the dedication to the word of God, or the dwelling of his spirit or the walking in the light or the speaking of the truth. We’re not called (we might say) to lead a movement, a church, a group or a family. all we have to be responsible for is our little corner of the world and does it really make all that difference if we don’t manage to make it. – besides – if I have to make it, isn’t that just an unbelievable pressure for someone who is supposed to be made righteous by the grace of God alone?

To which I would say. God knows.  He knows that he has made us righteous, and He knows what he calls us to be.

He knows that we are often weak and foolish. He knows what it is like to be tempted and to struggle. He knows what needs to be done to commune with God the father and follow his will. He knows when you are beaten by a struggle or beaten by your bed. He knows what you can accomplish if you would only attempt to live in the light of what you already know to be true (not worrying about what it is you don’t know). He knows that the secret sins you hide from the world sit as a cancour deep in your spirit, He knows that you hide him also from the world for fear, for embarrassment, for security, for no good reason. He knows that you can do more than you can ask or imagine, if only you will put your hope, trust and faith in Him.

Our perspective then is the problem. We see ourselves before we see Jesus. We see the problem not the solution. We see our failings not His success. We see difficulty and fear, yet Jesus brings hope and salvation and applies it through us.

We can make an excuse, we can cover ourselves with mitigation, we can hide in our circumstance, we can quake with fear – but those who God has called he also enables. Those whose names are written in the book of life are those who call Jesus ‘Saviour’ and LORD. If he is our lord, then aren’t we as loyal subjects to fight for his cause, and to give our life if that is what is required to bring glory to him?

You may think you might die in the struggle, – but most likely you will not. God calls very few to die for him (except to die to self – to which he calls each one of us). If only we will think less of ourselves and more of him. I’m sure if we could only see the immediate effect of our inaction and stamina on those around us and on the heart of Christ we would attend to our thoughts and actions with more vigour. But alas that too is in the mind for us to choose to look with the eyes of the spirit on the faces on those we profess to love and see the damage we cause them.

May God forgive us.

How to pick a new leader

• What do we look for in a lead elder?
• What marks a lead elder from one with elder ability?
• How do we confirm that a lead elder is God's man for now?

When a church looks for leadership it is tempting to evaluate candidates on such matters as personality, likeability, presentation and other subjective criteria. We can attempt to compare a new leaders credentials or character against another’s and resolve to understand what they might bring to enhance or be different from previous works, or we might look to ensure that a new leader works well with existing leadership teams and projects. But it seems to me this is no real way to determine who should lead.

God First:

King David was set apart by God when he was a shepherd boy. He was discounted by his Father Jesse who left David tending the sheep and was only brought forward at Samuel's request. God then instructed Samuel to anoint David with oil. 1 Samuel 16 We may look at fine candidates and determine their qualities, but what we need to hear is what does God want?

One man:

We are prone to think that like any job interview, having more than one prospective candidate to choose from is helpful as a comparison can be made. But it would seem that so often God has ONE MAN earmarked for leading in a season. (Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Saul, David, Joseph, Samson, Jonah etc etc etc )

I think this may be why New Frontiers model of church leadership is Lead Elder with plural eldership as it recognises one man who instigates and is responsible for the direction. 

It is important then that when looking for a lead elder, we find the one man that God has anointed for the job. If God has anointed a person then what role does the congregation have?

Leaders need followers

It is entirely possible to have every good leadership idea and be a useless ‘leader’ because no one follows you!  A congregations job then is to determine 2 things.

1. Has God set this man apart for leading us?
2. Will I follow?

All other considerations are secondary, even if they are important.  Change can be difficult, sometimes painful, but if we can see (even if we don’t understand) God’s anointing and clear direction then whatever reservation or concern, whatever joy or excitement we need to examine our heart and determine if we will work with God or against him.  No leader can lead if people won’t follow. It is the responsibility of the leader to ensure that they are the man for the job and that they know the direction to head. It is the job of those that recognise God’s anointing to follow the one man anointed for the task.

New Frontiers

Following last years Brighton Conference where Mark Driscoll carefully encouraged us to recognise that Terry Virgo ought to find the new ‘husband’ for New Frontiers (forgive me, I don’t have his actual words to hand) much discussion and prayer has been focussed on how New Frontiers should move forward and under what leadership structure.  New Frontiers is not quite like a denomination in that it does not issue edicts or policy which must be abided by from those who call themselves part of the family of Churches together on a mission. Rather it is built on relationships grounded on core values that are shared by all.  Though Terry brings apostolic leadership and direction to the movement, it is expressed on the ground, in local congregations in many different ways as the spirit leads. Each New Frontiers congregation then has similar values but can have a very different feel and core application according to local need and the Spirit.

Since the small beginnings the movement has grown to have relationships on many shores, and though relationships have grown to accommodate the growth, so too has the stature of those released to support the work in those nations.  It is easy to see how God has set apart one man in several places to lead the work and it would appear that New Frontiers will release those to be apostolic in their own right (like lead elders) to continue the work in those nations (including the UK).

It will be interesting to see if a new leader will be anointed by God for the task of moving New Frontiers on, or whether a council of elders might replace the input from Terry.  Certainly ‘succession’ is not the right language, even though what comes next ‘succeeds’ the former.

But it’s clear that what comes next must honour what comes before. For we must remember it’s God that appoints and directs (however we feel about it) and it is for God to vindicate or validate himself, not our opinion on the success or comparison with another leader.

VISION

So then, what one thing connects a leader (or leaders) of a movement with the leader of a local congregation? VISION.

As the proverb says’  ¹⁸Without guidance from God law and order disappear,  but God blesses everyone who obeys his Law.

It is essential then that any person who wishes to lead God’s people in any location (national, local or trans local) desires a good thing, and should be a man recognised worthy of respect according to 1 Tim 3, but that only qualifies him to stand. What identifies him as the man is God’s anointing. And God’s anointing comes with communicable vision that encourages the heart of the hearer to say YES and AMEN.

The Dry Season

To all spiritual lives there come seasons of dryness, when it seems that our spiritual growth is dormant and our desires for God grow stale. These arid times may be ushered in by grief, exhaustion, or pre-occupation with matters that distract us from our inner life. Sometimes a barrenness of spirit sets in for no apparent reason whatsoever.

As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my souls pants for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God? (Psalm 42)

This personal devotion is created to help you to acknowledge your spiritual desert and be faithful to God in it. Furthermore, I encourage you to maintain the all-important practice that Christians throughout the centuries have advised for those in a dry season: just do it.

Even when we do not feel drawn to worship or prayer, it is a sheer act of faith to continue to do the things that nurture our spirituality--such as reading this devotion! After all, it is God who is at work to instil within us the desire and ability to do God's will (Philippians 2:13). The dry season is a time to trust that God is really at work in your life.

In this personal devotion, you will find both permission to be where you are spirituality and some practical advice to use the dry season as a significant aspect of your life with Jesus.

 

You’re not on your own

In case you are feeling alone in your dryness, bear in mind the countless number of faithful women and men who have gone through their own desert of the spirit. Remember Moses' burning bush? Recall Elijah's retreat from Jezebel after calling down fire from heaven to disprove her idol worship? Don't forget Naomi, whose bitterness of soul was so deep for a season that she even changed her name to "bitterness."

So, if the dry season is so common, why is it that we Christians seldom speak of it? Actually, some traditions do address it openly. For others, it seems to be a sign of weakness or failure to admit that one's experience of God has grown powdery.

Let's go further into the matter of faith and the dry season. Is it really a sign of faltering faith when we lose our enthusiasm?

"But, what will they do here who see that after many days there is nothing but dryness, distaste, vapidness, and very little desire to come to draw water?"

--Teresa of Avila

Teresa has much to teach us about living the faith life in the desert. After all, she lived her life in the Spanish Inquisition! She pictured spirituality as "fetching water from the well," with the prayer, "and please God that it may be found." There are times, she laments, that "the well is dry."

What can we do when the well is dry? We continue sending our buckets down into the well shaft and drawing them up, as faithful gardeners. In so doing, Teresa teaches, we embrace the cross. After all, doesn't it require more faith to continue our devotion to God during these dry spells than when we are full of good feelings and excitement? You may never know the pillars of spiritual strength that you encounter in everyday life, who are faithfully living out their love for God in ways that aren't so eye-catching and spectacular.

Dangers in the Desert

"Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil."

-- Matthew 4:1

While the dry season is by no means an indication that we are doing something wrong, it can be an occasion of intense temptation. It has its own special dangers.

1. The temptation to believe that God is far away. Without the feelings of enthusiasm we once experienced in our prayer and worship times, it may feel as though there is some huge gulf between God and us. We may wonder, "Does God still love me?"
   The reality may be that God is actually deepening our faith so that we do not base our faith on feelings, but on an inner assurance that God is faithful. Believe that God is at work behind the scenes!
2. The temptation to be swayed in our beliefs. Spiritual writers throughout the centuries have described this temptation in terms of confusion or irritability. We may become doubtful of doctrine--and easy prey to those who would draw us from our faith. We may become resentful of what we perceive as God's inaction.
3. The temptation to substitute physical experience for spiritual experience. With the dearth of spiritual vitality, it is common to find that our physical desires may compensate. The dry season is often a time when our desires increase in ways that reflect our own personal weaknesses.

"We hunger for satisfaction, for real fulfilment. Not finding it, we stuff ourselves with food, and stuff our houses with gadgets and furnishings. We thirst for intimacy, to offer ourselves to someone who will receive us, who will know us to our depths and delight in us. When this proves impossible, we turn to sex and pornography in the unconscious hope that they will meet the real need that we hardly even know how to acknowledge as yet."

--David Rensberger, Thirsty for God

Of course, the internet is full of merchants waiting to capitalize on our temptations!

Surviving the Dry Season

There are three things I can recommend you pursue during your dry season.

Continue your spiritual disciplines.

Even though it may seem that your prayers bounce off the ceiling or that your Bible reading is boring, it is now more important than ever to exercise your faith rather than basing your Christian walk on feelings.

This is not to say that you should continue in the same old patterns. It may be time to learn new ways of praying and to give up the compulsions that sometimes rob our spirituality of life. A dry spiritual season often marks a significant shift in our faith from a devotional life based on habit and compulsion to one based on authenticity and freedom.

Put the extra effort into connecting with your church family.

The fellowship of other believers can be a real source of encouragement and comfort. If your circle of spiritual friends has trouble accepting your dryness and novel attempts at devotional diversity, it may be time to enlarge the circle!

Seek out a spiritual companion.

It is during such dry seasons that many Christians turn to a trusted pastor, mature Christian or a counsellor who can help them listen for the movements of the Spirit in prayer.

Here are some reflection questions to guide you in thinking through your dry season experience:

1. In what ways are you losing enthusiasm in your spiritual life?
2. List the various persons who can be supportive of you during this time?
3. With which Biblical characters do you identify most, who also experienced a dry season?
4. What temptations are you struggling with?
5. What might your particular temptations be revealing to you about your unique spiritual gifts?
6. What spiritual practices would be most helpful for you now? Prayer? Bible reading? Silent meditation? Journaling? Attending worship services? Attending a spiritual growth group? Others?

Dark Night of the Soul or Depression?

Physical disease can have an effect on our emotional and spiritual well-being. While it is common for Christians to experience dry seasons in their spiritual life, depression is an illness that has many of the same characteristics.  Though God may allow dry seasons to occur for our spiritual growth, Scripture indicates that God also provides healing for our illnesses.

Dry seasons and depression can look very similar, but have different causes. Take a look at the lists below.

Dry Season

• Lack of spiritual enthusiasm
• Questioning and searching
• Struggles with temptations
• Sleep disturbance
• Neglect of faith community

Depression

• Lack of enthusiasm for all matters
• Negative self-talk
• Loss of appetite; over-eating
• Insomnia or over-sleeping
• Social withdrawal

If your observations and feelings match more with the second list you may be depressed and I would encourage you to contact a counsellor or Doctor. Depression is very treatable!

(This article is republished (with very minor edits) from Faithnet, without expressed permission and will be removed if they object)

Hearing in the middle of the storm

There’s a lot going on right now. It’s like a storm has been brewing and now is thrashing down on the ship that is my family. There is a mixture of emotion. Some are exhilarated, some worried, some frantically attempting to steady the ship, some hypertensive, some reflective, some mourning and some afraid all is lost.

Storms (in nature) and in our lives shake everything. What is not fastened down (and built upon) is often shook loose and lost or destroyed.  Many see storms as trials to be endured – and this can often be true - but I like to see storms as the power to make sweeping changes.  So often we can invest time and energy in ‘beautifying’ mess or rotten structures in the attempt to kid ourselves and others that all is ‘GREAT’. But the refiner’s fire will not leave anything untouched that is not holy. It will burn up the chaff, and destroy that which we have attempted to make holy in our lives, that should not be. It reduces the idols we have placed in our lives to ash.

But storms can be painful. When our emotions are attached to anything but God, when we invest in building OUR lives instead of building HIS KINGDOM the loss can be devastating. Even when we love and build correctly, it is very difficult to be truly ‘content’ when much of what you know is ripped away. It is easy to ask ‘how can this be the action of a loving God?’ Yet, we must remember that EVERYTHING is His. He gives and He takes away. (Job 1:21) It’s all His, how often we forget.

Some people seem to experience more storms than others. – Some people seem to weather storms better than others. I am not able to tell why. I know that there were seasons in my life that were very stormy, and I know that as I grew older and grew in maturity there were less. – but they haven’t disappeared. This current storm is a bigger one for some in my family than it is for me, but maybe that’s just because I’ve been through a storm like this before and ‘survived’?

Whatever the reasons, my job as head of my household is to focus everyone’s attention on Christ the Rock, who, rather than being the one thing you want to avoid in a storm when you’re in a ship, is the very thing we need to lash our family too. My job is to help each one of us to tether to Christ, sink our anchor deep into the rock so we cannot move. When the storm is over, my job is to arrange to rebuild holy buildings after shoring up foundations, providing Nehemiah-like leadership, building with one hand and defending with the other whilst the walls are rebuilt.

Storms have lasting effects. What was there is gone, and even if it is rebuilt exactly as before, it is still a different structure with different materials. The foundations have proved (or not proved!) to be strong, and one might be able to predict the likelihood of what will stand in the next storm. If anything then storms encourage us to build right. To speak life and strength to each other, to remind each other to work with the master builder to craft pure gold in our lives which cannot be destroyed by fire or storms, and to lay up our treasure in heaven which cannot be eaten by moth or decay.  It encourages us to keep our eyes on God, His Kingdom, and our place with him in heaven. It urges us to remember that everything here is temporary and easily lost.

Deal with hurts before they hurt you real bad

One of the challenges of Christian life, is the damage that we do to each other in church.
The following has a lot of common sense, and tells you what to do when hurt is inflicted on you by a brother or sister in Christ. – [Courtesy of George Verwer: No turning back pg 104]
1) Keep Calm
“Be still, and know that I am God.” – Rushing about trying to correct the injury usually causes greater damage.
2) Apply direct pressure of understanding to the wound
What caused the incident? Could you have prevented it? How does the offending party feel? What if things were reversed?
3) Wash the wound thoroughly with kindness
This removes all hardness and vindictiveness.
4) Coat liberally with the ointment of love.
This will protect from infections of resentment and bitterness
5) Bandage the injury with forgiveness
This will keep it out of sight until the wound is healed
6) Don’t take the scab off
Bringing up the subject will re-open the wound. Serious dangers from infection (see no4 above) still exist which could prove fatal spiritually.
7) Beware of painful and touchy self-pity
This is often referred to as withdrawal pains, as the symptom is withdrawing from others, especially the one inflicting the injury. The remedy- accept apologies.
8) Prescription.
Take a generous does of antibiotics from the word of God several times daily, using prayer each time. This has a soothing effect and is a good painkiller.
9) Stay in close contact with the great physician at all times.
Depend on his strength, joy and peace to help you during convalescence.
10) Recovery.
Full recovery is reached when the patient is restored to complete fellowship and harmony, especially with the offending party.