Tag Archives: Living

Excited about Gospel Communities

In the verses that most of us have read a thousand times of Acts 2:42-47, we find ourselves peering into a world that seems quite alien and far from us in our culture.When the verses read -

“  And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:42-47 ESV)

I don’t know about you but when I read that my heart beats faster and I have a longing there, a deep thirst  for such community and interaction. Even an introvert like me desires this kind of community because I know that I wasn’t made to be on my own – I was made for relationship and relationship with people who are different to me. There is so much packed in this verse, so much is happening in this church – devotion to teaching and fellowship, breaking bread, praying together, seeing signs and wonders, having things in common, making sure nobody was in need, coming together DAY by DAY going to the temple, breaking bread – having generous hearts and praising God. And people were added to them daily. It seems so far from what happens in the western culture, in some cultures we see more of a glimpse of this and after being in Peru for a year I was hungry for this.

When reading Everyday Church by Steve Timmis and Tim chester, I caught a glimpse of what these verses might look like in our culture today – people meeting together and doing life together. It seems so simple – we wash up, cook, eat, go to the pub, open scriptures etc together. But also have a driven focus to include those who don’t know Christ into that community, to invite people to be a part of everyday life of the church – where we care and love people and share the Gospel.

The reason why I am so excited about this is because at the church I go to in Plymouth, we are going to start doing this. The elders have been caught by the same vision that Steve Timmis had and whats written in Acts 2. We are going to have communities that are sharing life together and have a missional focus. I think it will be hard, I think it will be messy – because we are messy people! But I think it will be fun as well and my prayer is that we will see more and more people become Christians and added to the church. Its a chance to gather all sorts of people together, those who are sick, healthy, rich or poor, student or families to be included into a church community and to be looked after or look after others, to serve and to gather non christian friends to meet Christ.

That’s not to say this is the only way nor the best way of doing it, but it seems this is what God is calling our church to do at the moment and I am excited to see how it unfolds and how God uses this. But again I always have to watch my heart – it’s so easy to be hard-hearted towards change and things  not meeting my expectations. I know that the Holy Spirit will have to keep warming my heart to Christ because as we rub shoulders with people who are different to us it can cause friction and as these groups start-up it may cause some wobbles. But Christ works in our weaknesses all the time! Im looking forward to seeing what Christ does through all of this!

Christianity ought to touch the whole of Life…

“I would say if Christianity is truth, it ought to touch on the whole life” – Francis Schaeffer

Francis Schaeffer is a bit of a hero of mine, I read his biography a while back and was captivated by his attitude to Christianity, apologetics and serving. To my great delight while in Oxford I met a man named Joe who knew and worked with Francis Schaeffer in Switzerland. I was quite excited to hear stories and hear his wisdom. It was truly remarkable!

But what Schaeffer is saying here is so true. He is sure that if Christianity is true then we cannot box it or put it into a category and leave it untouched. We are introduced with Schaeffer the reality of Christianity that penetrates his life – the kind that digs deep at our soul and gets under our skin. If Jesus is real, if we not only believe but follow and thus a disciple then it ought to touch our whole life. Not just part of it.

Can we perhaps see the ripples of Christ in our life already? You will find that you cannot hold light and darkness together, you cannot hold truth and lies together. You cannot hold Christ as Lord and you as Lord in the same hand. One must go. Either you live for yourself and walk on the path of death or you embrace Christ and lose yourself and find that you are given eternal life. If this is true – then should it not affect every spectrum, inch, moment, thought, action of your life and my life?

I have been thinking how this affects me everyday. Perhaps it should touch how I watch TV, movies or read books. How I talk to people or don’t talk to people, how I love others, how I see the world, How I see death and life, church and friendship. How I see what is moral or what the world believes to be true. How I view white lies, how I view myself, how I judge others and how I show the love of Christ to others…

Christianity is not just for Sundays, but it’s for the Monday morning and the evening in the pub with workmates and the sitting in front of the TV and the walk to church and the listening to friends and the reading of the newspaper and sitting on the train and the love for people from different countries, religions and worldviews. It’s for the days that have rain or humid heat, the time we spend eating or the time we spend daydreaming. It’s when we read our bible or when we read science fiction, it’s when we listen to rock music or dance to the tango… “it ought to touch the whole of life”.

Online friendships

The virtual world is creating a new dimension for us to think about. How real is the online world? How much should we engage with it and connect with it? Are their real people at the other side of the screen or just a misty glaze of a real person, always out of reach?

Tim Chester wrote a really good blog post about facebook, in fact he is writing a series of them which are really thought-provoking. I do always want to be careful how we engage with our culture and with facebook/twitter so embedded in our British culture, we need to be careful to not simply dismiss it out of hand. I think facebook can be used in a good way, we can redeem it for good but the lines are always blurry.

The real question is how real are the friendships we make online? Especially where we rarely make face to face contact, but most of the interaction is done through the computer screen? Are they real?

The danger perhaps is that its very easy to be more vulnerable online then it is face to face, because really no one can see your face if all you are doing is tapping away on a keyboard creating sentences. It’s easy to pour your heart out more and soon the person on the other side knows more about you then your friends in real life. But the difference is that they don’t really know you, because they don’t see your actions, your tone, the way you act in situations etc. I was in this situation not so long ago where through facebook chat I made a friend with a lady my age and doing a very similar job to me – we became close friends through facebook chat and we did meet up but mostly at conferences and the occasional visit. We became close friends very quickly because it was a lot easier to chat on facebook then it was to chat with someone face to face – she knew what I was thinking about at that moment in time and on some superficial level she knew me and I knew her. But in reality I don’t think it was a real friendship and I look back now and I think there were some real unhealthy attachments there which aren’t good and aren’t really based on reality. It got to a point where we realised that this wasn’t a friendship.

Why? Because it isn’t the same as going to the pub with someone and laughing together, crying together and sharing stories together. It isn’t the same as I meet up with a friend nearly every week for coffee and I watch how she interacts with her daughter and her husband and where they invite us for dinner and we share food together and encourage each other with the Gospel. It’s not the same as a couple of weeks ago I went to the house of a lovely lady and we chatted deep theology and spiritual things while drinking coffee and eating chocolate which was rounded off with some great time of praying for each other. You can’t do that on facebook.

Facebook and online communities may speed up “deep” friendships, but it misses out the important process for how we make friendships, how we connect and how we develop those friendships. Which can only properly be done face to face, with real life meetings.

Tim Chester’s says:

Facebook encourages you to live elsewhere. The gospel encourages you to live life here and now.

  •      You can tend your Farmville farm or you can get an allotment.
  •      You can catch up with friends on Facebook or you can go out on a cold, dark night to see real friends.
  •      You can catch up with “Friends” by watching the latest episode on the television or you can serve your neighbours.
  •      You can build a new city on Sims or you can be the city of God set on a hill with your Christian community.

Facebook is good for the on the surface stuff like arranging of meetings. But humans live to connect with the reality, the real life, the flesh! And community won’t ever really thrive through a computer screen, but through face to face.

Now the question that is on the back of my mind is – what about those that can’t get out the house? Where actually Twitter and facebook is a lifeline to connect with people? I would be interested to hear any comments on that. My hope and prayer is that there is a community around you that visits you, that connects with you. Does that happen?

The need for christian artists

A wonderful quote from Tim Keller that I would like to share with you:

“The Church needs artists because without art we cannot reach the world. The simple fact is that the imagination ‘gets you,’ even when your reason is completely against the idea of God. ‘Imagination communicates,’ as Arthur Danto says, ‘indefinable but inescapable truth.’ Those who read a book or listen to music expose themselves to that inescapable truth. There is a sort of schizophrenia that occurs if you are listening to Bach and you hear the glory of God and yet your mind says there is no God and there is no meaning. You are committed to believing nothing means anything and yet the music comes in and takes you over with your imagination. When you listen to great music, you can’t believe life is meaningless. Your heart knows what your mind is denying. We need Christian artists because we are never going to reach the world without great Christian art to go with great Christian talk.“

I think Keller highlights something really important here about Christians and Art. He is echoing CS Lewis and Francis Schaeffer on this as well. But great music and great art can’t lead you to believe life is meaningless because they express something of the reality we are in – the need of a saviour. What better people to show them the true saviour then christian artists in our churches?

Yet we often celebrate those that can stand up and preach, those that can stand up and lead sung worship on Sunday and those that do cold contact evangelism. I am drawing a distinction between those that lead sung worship and those that play in pubs/clubs etc because I think the audience is different and perhaps the purpose as well. Although they are both artists. But what I am really thinking about is what about our artists in the world? Those that draw, take photographs, cook great food, write poetry, write novels, sketch, make models etc for the world to see…yet they often get the back seat. But the church needs them, because these people are speaking into the culture we are in and they are engaging with it in a different way. The are reaching people who the preacher alone could never reach.

But it’s also not about creating a christian sub-culture with your t-shirts and wrist bands, but it’s about creating art that speaks truth and hope into a culture that needs and wants a saviour.

Lets celebrate our christian artists and encourage them. Lets get the church releasing them into the world so that they can speak truth through their art.

He makes me smile

Now reflecting on our first year of marriage I have had some insights into what Husbands do. This is just a bit of fun, but it is also a mark of some of the things my husband does which makes me smile and which I am very grateful for!

  1. Catching and getting rid of monster spiders that lurk in the corners of your house!
  2. Making phone calls to people who I don’t want to talk to (phone company, sky etc)
  3. Pushing the trolley in Tescos and carrying heavy shopping bags
  4. Makes me coffee first thing in the morning to wake me up! ( I need it)
  5. Gives lots of hugs when needed
  6. He often says he is praying for me which really encourages me
  7. Make me laugh with silly faces and noises
  8. Writes to me “Good morning” messages when he goes off to work or writes notes with my lunch!
  9. He runs and grabs the washing when it starts to rain.
  10. He picks me up from evening meetings and waits there while I am late…or very late
  11. He allows me to choose a movie which may mean a really girly movie!
  12. He often reminds me of Gods Grace

I must admit and not to sound cheesy at all, but since being married I have seen more of Gods Grace and love then I did before. This is so evident in times where I am pretty rotten and sinful and yet my husband still loves me and shows me such patience and love when I don’t deserve it. It is in those times I see just a glimpse of the love of Christ towards me and it reminds me that while I was far off and rejecting him, he died for me and won me back. Pretty amazing.

The Joy of the Lord

“It is the consciousness of the threefold joy of the Lord, His joy in ransoming us, His joy in dwelling within us as our Saviour and Power for fruitbearing and His joy in possessing us, as His Bride and His delight; it is the consciousness of this joy which is our real strength. Our joy in Him may be a fluctuating thing: His joy in us knows no change.” – Hudson Taylor

Have you ever tried to concentrate so hard to have joy in the Lord that you thought you would explode? Maybe you gave up. Days where you feel like you cant put any more effort into trying to muster up feelings of joy. Remember that verse – The joy of the Lord is your strength (Neh 8). And you think – HOW DOES THAT WORK!? How do I get that joy?? How do I get that strength? I dont feel joy and I dont feel strength.

Maybe we are working this from the wrong place. We always think this is talking about us but what if it wasn’t about your joy in Him? Or the effort you put into doing things for him?

What if its about the Father’s joy in us through Christ? What if it’s about what Christ has done and not what you are doing or have done? I dont know about you, but its a relief to know that its all about Jesus and not me and the Father gets Joy from his son and from all all those that are in His son. I think Hudson Taylor is right – Our joy in Him is fluctuating and unsteady, but his joy in us doesnt change and doesn’t that give us strength? When my joy dips to a low I have no need to muster up energy to find joy, but I can rest in Christ whom places great joy in me.

So the Joy that Christ has in me is my strength. Rather then the Joy I have in Christ is my strength. The joy of the LORD is my strength. Not the Joy I have in the LORD is my strength.

It changes things. This isnt dependant on me but the Lords Joy in me… and all those that are in Christ, the Father says to them:

“This is my son, whom I am well pleased” Mark 1:11.

On Rest and Mixed Messages

Today is Saturday and I always look forward to the weekends. I know we shouldnt live for the weekends, but I do look forward to them as they are times where I can spend time with my husband, spend time reading books that aren’t work related, go out for the day and not have to get up for 7:30.

I often wonder what it means to rest well or even to rest. As Christians we have so many mixed messages about how we should use our time and we also try to have the sabbath but to be honest there are so many different opinions about the sabbath that I don’t think anyone knows what to do with it or even if we should have it! There are so many demands on our time or even for our attention but perhaps not ourselves. Twitter and Facebook demand our attention but cares less about our minds and souls, it envelopes you in until you have finished clicking all the “likes, retweets, photos, messages etc” and then spits you back out into reality feeling slightly disoriented. Do these things aid or hinder my rest? Then people say that we spend too much time on these social networking things and we should get out in the real world, except the real world is also in front of their screens pressing the “like” button…

Ok, so what about TV? I like watching TV, sometimes this does cause me to rest especially watching films. I love watching films and a box set series. But then is that rest? People say that we watch too much TV and we shouldnt and we should get off our sofas and get out there in the wind and rain and kick a bag of air around. And when you watch that TV don’t you sometimes feel that nagging of  “does God think this is a good use of my time…?”

Perhaps your rest time should be a Sunday Sabbath where you go to church morning and evening… but then sometimes church doesn’t feel like rest.

Maybe your rest should be just reading your bible… but sometimes that doesn’t feel like a rest either. I love reading my bible but sometimes I need to read something else.

Its funny isn’t it? People say all sorts of different things and then you have the silent rules of christianity (I mean, it is about Grace but of course there are those silent noonespeaksabout rules that you must keep…). Have you ever found that?

Well, this is what I like to do when I need to rest:

I like to stay in bed till mid morning. I like to read a sci-fi/fantasy book. I like to watch films. Sometimes I like to chat with a friend or see a friend – sometimes I don’t. I like bake and cook and I like to cross stitch. I also like to play my guitar and also take pictures and pretend I am a photographer. I like to write. I also like to play on the Wii fit so that I feel like I am doing exercise but not in the rain. I like to have friends over for dinner. I also like to do all of these things with my husband.

None of these seem spiritual or holy. Maybe you disapprove. Maybe God is Lord of everything and delights that his children enjoy such things that arent prayer meetings or anything stamped with “Christian” on the front?

What do you like to do when you are resting?

Introverts in the Church (pt1)

I have been reading a really interesting book recently called “Introverts in the Church” by Adam S.McHugh which is what it is about: introverts in the church. His website is here. The book has been somewhat a comfort to me as its revealed a lot about what I find uncomfortable with church and general Christian gatherings because I am more introverted and find some activities more draining then others. So I want to share with you some of what the book has been saying and also some of my own thoughts, if you are an introvert and find some things uncomfortable and you have not known why, you should have a read of this book! If you are not an introvert, you should read this book anyway, it may be really insightful for you.

Firstly it is good to identify what is an introvert and what is an extrovert. Most people may think that introverts are shy, timid, awkward people and extroverts are loud, life of the party, flourishing in conversation and life. Although perhaps some of that is true, actually it is more to do with energy and where you get your energy from, for an extrovert they tend to get their energy from people and are able to be in social situations for long periods of time and find it gives them abundance life and energy, they find that being on their own for long periods of time is a nightmare and very draining and lonely. Where as an introvert it is the opposite, introverts can spend long periods of time on their own, thinking, gaining their energy from being alone where as being in a social situation for long periods of time can be draining and just sucks the energy out of them.

I wonder where you fit? Perhaps you are a bit of both or perhaps you fit perfectly in one camp. Maybe think about how you feel after long periods of social interaction  – are you full of energy or drained?

I know where I fit. I fit into the introvert circle, I find long periods of social interaction quite draining and things like coffee time at church can be quite overwhelming for me. I love time to be on my own to reflect, read or write. There is also a dialogue going on in my head and it takes me forever to think and speak, so most people think I am quiet when actually I am just processing everything in my head. These are some of the things that this book addresses and it really hit the mark for me and showed me why I find some situations in church or in Christian circles quite difficult. (not just true for Christian circles of course)

And the main reason why it is hard is that most churches that are more charismatic lean more towards those that are extroverted. The book explains this is a huge factor in American churches, but it is also true for British Churches and I don’t just mean the church I am at now, but a lot of charismatic/evangelical churches across the UK are more geared up for extroverts. You may think I am being unfair and disagree with me, or you may be reading this and some of the pieces fit together as to why you have been feeling on the edge of church community.

An interesting quote from the book:

“Sometimes our value for community life can become a substitute for our relationship with God. Psychology professor Richard Beck says that for some churches spirituality is equated with sociability. The mark of a progressing faith is familiarity with a growing number of people and participation in an  increasing number of activities.” pg20

I think there are huge expectations in churches for the congregation and also for the Pastor to be a continual social butterfly, tending to all the needs of the church, being able to attend all the social activities, being very sociable during church time, attending various groups and activities, being able to serve in as many areas as possible, being able to worship in a loud outward way with no room for quietness and reflection… it makes it hard for introverts to fit in, in a way that doesn’t make people think you are anti-social.

Another quote from the book:

“Emotionally one would have to say that evangelicalism is a much more “up front” form of piety, and very talkative, whereas in some church traditions you enter a sanctuary in a spirit of quiet reverence, in evangelical churches you walk into what feels like a non-alcoholic cocktail party. There is a chatty, mingling informality to evangelicalism, where words flow like wine” pg 21

I don’t think this is always a bad thing and churches can lean-to one extreme or the other. Which makes it difficult to fit in and be able to use your gifts in either extreme. What is needed is a balance and space for both types of people, however its difficult to get there if the church itself still thinks Christians need to be extrovert type people to serve well and effectively and the whole ambience of church is for the expression of extroverts rather than introverts…

Tomorrow we will be looking at this some more…stay tuned! Would love to know what you think, please do comment!

Heaven and our noisy iPod

If you are a Christian:

“This is one reason why death will be the supreme, joyous adventured. Right now we’re like people walking through the woods with a noisy walkman*. Outside the birds are singing, but there’s too much noise pumping into our ears, and we can’t hear them at all. Then suddenly the batteries go dead…and for the first time we hear what’s really there!

So when the heart stops and we close our eyes for the last time to this world, and open them to the eternal universe… we shall suddenly see where we’ve been living, see the forces that matter: that overwhelming cosmos of angels and demons, God and satan, powers of heaven and hell that we’ve been wandering blindly amongst all this time. It will undoubtedly come as a shock; we’ll see what misdirected priorities, concerns and fears we had! But it’s going to be good; for above all we’ll see Jesus…”

Pete Lowman : “Gateways to God”

 

*Or iPod…