Window of Opportunity

My main prayer time each day is when I go out into the local countryside on my bike with Amos and Shadow my sheepdogs. We go whatever the weather, but I prefer it when it is not raining. So, blogging today will have to wait until it is raining later!

Are you a Settler or a Pioneer?

Take a look at this highly entertaining piece on Guy Muse's blog about settlers and pioneers.

Where are you in the wild west?

Muttering

What is Muttering?

A dictionary definition:

mut·ter (mtr)
v. mut·tered, mut·ter·ing, mut·ters
v.intr.
1. To speak indistinctly in low tones.
2. To complain or grumble morosely.
v.tr.
To utter or say in low indistinct tones.
n.
A low grumble or indistinct utterance.

On the day I was licensed as priest in charge at St. Mark's Bishop Geoff leant out the pulpit, wagged his finger at the congregation and said "No muttering". Apparently the congregation had a reputation for grumbling and complaining. I suspect that some have reverted back into this old habit, but as it is "a low grumble of indistinct utterance" I never quite hear it first hand. I just get second-hand reports and see the effects of this when people "vote with their feet".

Why Do People Mutter?

We mutter for a variety of reasons: because we don't get what we want; or we don't get what we expect; or we don't like what we get; or we just don't like the discomfort caused by change. A few years ago I heard the former Bishop of Durham say, "I was shocked by the selfishness of people in the churches!" He found it very difficult to bring about the change that he could so clearly see was necessary for the future health of the church in his Diocese.

The Danger of Unbelief

The people of Israel used to mutter and grumble about Moses and Aaron. In Numbers 14 they even wanted to go back to Egypt rather than enter the Promised Land. It got so bad at one point that it turned to anger and "the whole assembly talked about stoning them" (v10). God was not pleased with their contempt for His promises and their lack of faith. They then had to endure 40 years wandering in the wilderness. I hope the Church in Bredbury will not make the same mistake. I hope we will heed the warning of Hebrews 3:7-19

7 So, as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, 9 where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. 10 That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ 11 So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ” 12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. 15 As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” 16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

Indifference about the Lost Sheep

In Luke 15 the Pharisees were muttering about Jesus. "This man," they said, "welcomes sinners and eats with them!" So Jesus told a few stories. One was a story about a shepherd who cared so much about a single lost sheep that he left the other 99 (who were not lost) to look after themselves while he went searching.

Jesus doesn't elaborate about the bleating that went on while the shepherd was away. Here in Bredbury I suspect that I may have upset a few folk when I reminded them at the last Annual Meeting that we are Parish of 10,000 people with a church membership of 150. As I have the cure of souls for the whole Parish if I were to apportion my time fairly, based on a 50 hour working week, I would be spending 45 minutes a week with them. I did try to reassure everyone that they would be getting more time than this, but I was trying to make the point that we church folk can be very wrapped up in ourselves, our services and what we want, when Jesus is calling us to journey out to meet the people who don't want to come to church.

Earlier this year we also started a fortnightly "Interactive" cafe-style church service on Sunday mornings at the same time as the normal Anglican hymn-sandwich style service. This means that on one Sunday a month I am not in the "Victorian" building. I suspect that a big part of the grumbling and muttering that occurred over the summer was because the people who put the money on the plate don't think they are getting their money's worth at their preferred service. The fact that the "Interactive" service is proving to be a haven for lost sheep doesn't seem to have sunk in yet.

Missing Out on the Party

Jesus went on in Luke 15 to tell the story of a Father with two sons. One son left home and was wasting his life away. The other stayed at home and "slaved" for his Father. When the lost son came home the Father threw a huge party to celebrate, but the older son would not join in. He was too angry.

There are a couple of sad things about this story. Firstly, the older son never shared his Father's compassion for his lost brother. He was just critical and condemning. Secondly, the older son felt like a slave. He was serving his Father out of duty rather than love. Both sons were lost, but only one of them realised it.

Many church people are missing out on the party because they have not yet made the journey from servanthood to sonship. There are some who have not experienced the transforming love of the Father for themselves and so they do not share his generous heart for the lost.

O Lord have mercy on your church!

New Wine is becoming the Old Wine

As I lay on the floor of an agricultural exhibition hall near Newark this summer soaking up the love of my heavenly Father there was a stray thought in my head. Why is it that only thirty out of the 2500 people in this hall are making use of this multi-sensory worship area? I love this. Why can’t church be like this all the time? Let’s get the pews out and have cushions and comfy sofas!

The “traditional” New Wine evening celebration was different that evening. Now you have to bear in mind that 90% of New Winos are Anglican (and you all know how Anglicans hate change). Normally we have 40 minutes of singing whilst standing too close to someone who hasn’t had a shower for three days (which is really bad news in a charismatic setting where armpits are exposed). Instead on this particular evening we had a couple of songs and then some prayers and a couple more songs and some more prayers. It was led by Alex and Hannah Absalom from St.Thomas Philadelphia in Sheffield along the lines of what they might do in their Sunday evening Kairos service.

I loved it. The congregational prayers were led using the Lord’s prayer as a framework (as in the Hexagon Lifeshape). Powerpoint pictures on the projector screens were used to visually stimulate our prayers. In the multi-sensory areas there were cushions and a number of prayer/meditation stations. There was a picture of the prodigal son being welcomed home by his Father to help us to meditate on the Father’s love. There was bread to eat to remember that God provides our daily bread. There were bowls of water so we could symbolically wash away our sin as we were forgiven and as we forgave others. There were little scrolls of St.Patrick’s Breastplate to use as we thought about being delivered from evil.

Over the next couple of days I heard mixed responses to the evening. Some people felt cheated. It wasn’t what they had come for! It struck me that Jesus was very wise when he said “You can’t put new wine into an old wineskin” … and even wiser when he said, “and no-one after drinking the old wine wants the new, for he says, “The old wine is better.”” (Luke 5:37-39).

New wine needs a new wineskin where it can mature. As wine matures it becomes old wine, and for those who like it it does indeed taste better than the new. Whilst Jesus was probably having a go at the Pharisees with his aphorism I believe it can be read in a positive way. ie Don’t criticize the good new thing that God is doing. Allow it to co-exist with your way of doing church. In time it too will mature and become old wine and something else new will come along. Let’s not break the old wineskins, and let’s not lose the new wine with all its enthusiasm and lack of finesse. In God’s mixed economy there is a place for both.

The end is nigh?

I stumbled across the Rapture Index today. Isn't it amazing what variety there is within the body of Christ? Apparently we are in a "fasten your seat belts" phase of "prophetic activity". A quotation from the site to whet your appetite:

You could say the Rapture index is a Dow Jones Industrial Average of end time activity, but I think it would be better if you viewed it as prophetic speedometer. The higher the number, the faster we're moving towards the occurrence of pre-tribulation rapture.

Reality check

The Spiritual temperature of St. Mark’s is cooler than I would like it to be. On a couple of occasions recently it has become clear to me just what a low ebb we are at spiritually, and how much work I need to put in if I am to call the whole church into renewal. And yet some folk are really on fire for the Lord at the moment. It is just that there are about seven times as many who are very cool about spiritual things. It is a bit like a bath of cold water with a scalding hot patch at one end.

I don’t want to become critical or judgmental, but the level of enthusiasm for prayer seems to be at the lower end of the temperature gauge. I struggled a bit to not be discouraged when there were only three other people present at the start of our day of prayer on Saturday 2nd September. At about 10.20am a handful of others showed up which was good. At one stage there were over 15 people present and in total it was attended by about 25-30 members, including at least two from the 9am BCP congregation.

To be fair to those who did not attend, the weather was dreadful and will probably have discouraged a number of the older ladies from venturing out. Also it did happen very soon after the holiday period, so some folk may not have realised it was happening.

While praying about the lower than hoped for attendance I felt that it would be good to give the rest of the church another opportunity. So on Saturday 7th October we will be having another day of prayer.

Yesterday our Alpha Prayer was attended by ten church members plus myself. We enjoyed a powerful time of praise and prayer. The Spirit was with us. But surely out of a membership of about 150 people you would have expected more people to attend? Allowing for the fact that this was a midweek meeting and taking into account that some of our folk are active in other ministries I would not expect everyone to come. But just ten? What does this say about the spiritual temperature of the church? Is there no desire to see the lost saved?

I don’t fully understand quite why it is important for lots of people to gather for prayer. I am sure we can’t force God’s hand by sheer weight of numbers. But it is an assumption in evangelical circles that spiritual things happen when lots of people pray often.

This is probably because praying brings us closer to God. We become more passionate, more inspired, more enthusiastic and this passion and enthusiasm is contagious. It spurs others on. It releases energy. Also as we pray we discern the heart of God and we bring our wills in line with his. We see where we have been half-hearted or lazy or selfish. We present ourselves to be the living sacrifices that will be used by God to bring his Kingdom rule into our sphere of influence.

I am praying for a renewal of spiritual passion. Send the fire, Lord!!

Starfish

A Parable of the Kingdom

I heard a story once about a man who was walking along a beach where thousands of starfish had been washed ashore by a storm. The man saw a little boy who was picking up the starfishes one by one and throwing them back into the sea.

"What is the point of doing that?" the man asked, "What difference will it make anyway?"

Holding up one of the starfish the little boy replied, "I can't save them all, but I can make a difference to this one." With that he threw the starfish back into the sea.

Making a difference

I am not able to save the world, but I can make a difference to a few. This week I am praising God for the opportunities I have had this week to share the Good News - with families bringing children for Baptism, with a lady who came to church for the first time a couple of weeks ago, with a cyclist on the towpath whose wife has cancer.

Good News for the Lost Sheep

I already have two people signed up for the next Alpha course and we are hoping for a good crowd at Back to Church Sunday on 24th September. Although this is overtly attractional church (see earlier discussions) it could result in a few more workers in the harvest field, so it is worth doing.

Making Disciples

I now have the dates of the huddles sorted out for the Autumn with 18 people in three groups ready to begin honing their own walk with the Lord and their disciple-making skills. One group starts on Wednesday 13th. The others will meet on Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th.

Purgatory

On Monday I went to say some opening prayers at "THE SHOP" but I arrived a minute late and was swept away by a human tsunami as the bargain hunters flowed in through the Parish Hall front doors. I was overwhelmed by an irresistable desire to do some paperwork, so I retreated back to my study and threw my life away.

Actually, I threw my sermons away ... along with six other black bin bags of paper that had been cluttering up my study for the past few years. I have not yet stated on the filing cabinet. I'll save that for another day.

Throwing away my sermons was a bereavement. Every one was jam-packed with precious treasures (Matthew 13:52) because I only ever preach what I believe the Lord has given me to preach. His word is life-giving and life-changing. BUT the bubble has been popped and the only reason for keeping them was PRIDE! Somehow, I don't think my published sermons would be read as avidly as Wesley's.

Before the purge, my study looked like this

I was a victim of my own administration

Now I am in a post-chaotic phase, but I don't expect it to last very long.

Loss of Power

I came across this quotation by Charles Ringma on the URBANarmy blog today:

"There is little point for Christians to pine for a return to the good old days when Christianity was more dominant in Western culture. Furthermore, there is little point in blaming the Enlightenment or science or technology or urbanization. The way forward is both to recognize that the church in the past has also failed and that the present difficulty may well be a blessing in disguise. There is a new opportunity for the church, stripped of a previous power and influence, to exercise the power of authentically living the gospel. A humbled church, like the humiliated Christ, may be able to be a greater witness in our world than the church as the guardian of Christendom."

The true power of the gospel is revealed in our weakness. When we are weak the Glory goes to God. When we are powerful we don't need God. When we have everything we need and when we are in control life is easy ... but it is also easy to drift away from the Father. When we are crying out to him and clinging to him and depending on him we are spiritually connected.

As members of the Church of England we inherit a history of social domination of the masses by the elite. Many of the wealthier elite, and many of the clergy in the past were from the landed gentry or from that sector of society. These people wielded their financial and social power in the name of God for generations. Over the past 200 years the working classes have gradually shaken off these shackles. Sadly they have thrown the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to Christianity.

I would like us to pray about this issue which afflicts our nation and our neighbourhood in particular. Maybe we need a healing of the land with some form of public repentance by the church?

Church Planners or Church Planters?

Three months ago I was challenged by reading a post on Guy Muse's blog about people who talk about church planting but fail to get on with doing it. see link : The M Blog: Church Planners or Church Planters?

As a visionary who likes to start new things I have been energised by the vision of seeing or rather being involved in the beginning of a church planting movement (CPM) here in England. The challenge to me comes from the fact that despite catching the vision most of my time and energy is still being taken up on other things .. and there is as yet no real plan in place to plant a church or recruit and train church planters.

I was looking at my archives from May to see whether I blogged about this when I first read Guy's challenge. To be honest, I think I have mainly been praying about it and processing what the Holy Spirit is saying to me.

Popping the Bubble

It has taken over three months for the Lord to work this one through in me, but I now realise that in March I just replaced one dream with another. The dream of becoming the leader of a significant large Charismatic (New Wine style) Church was the picture I had in my head when the Lord called me to be ordained. I finally let go of this around January this year when I realised that my gifting was more suited to an apostolic ministry.

Unfortunately, I have a "super-ego" that confuses my limited (but nevertheless still significant) calling with God's mega plans to save the world. My growing awareness of this megalomania has been the reason for my nagging doubts. I am pleased to say that this spiritual pride has now been nailed on the cross where it belongs. The bubble has been popped.

Doing the work that God calls me to do

So, here I am, back at work after an interesting summer. A by-product of my coming down to earth has been a growing confidence that my heavenly Father is with me in my daily work. This has led me to appreciate the good of what I have been able to do here as vicar of Bredbury (rather than always feeling disappointed that it is not like one of the bigger New Wine churches). I blogged about the early stages of this realignment in May. (click here to read)

Knowing who I am (the real me, not the super-ego) means I have also felt able to take a stand against one of the spiritual strongholds afflicting the church here in Bredbury. I feel that I am a rock that is firmly rooted on The Rock (psalm 18). The opposition is like the waves of the sea that break upon the rocks. Sadly this stand has upset a few of the more traditional church members and I have been spending quite a bit of time and spiritual energy on smoothing some ruffled feathers.

One of the verses that the Lord drew to my attention this summer was "Be sure you know the condition of your flocks" (Proverbs 27:23). In obedience to this I have been working to improve the quallity of pastoral care in the church and I am starting to mend some of the damage caused by my brokenness and frustration with the church over the past few years.

So what about the Gentiles?

I remain hopeful. I believe that God really does want the Good News to go out to the Gentiles of this land. I am carving out a bit of time here and there to meet with people who rarely darken the doors of the church. I am still hopeful that as St. Mark's settles down with their considerably more realistic vicar there will be opportunities to release some people into a Church Planting ministry. I believe I will play a part in my little corner of the world. I am a yeast cell amongst many that the Lord is energising at this time.

Part of my hope for the Gentiles is that as a church we will begin praying into the problem that was shown to us in April 2005. The problem is that many local working class people have experienced the church as snobby rich people disapproving of "the likes of them." This was more of an issue in earlier generations, but I suspect that this has resulted in a sub-conscious resistance to church being endemic in the local population. I suspect that this has become a spiritual power that needs to be prayed against. Watch this space for more on this subject.

Abiding and Fruitfulness

One of the lifeshapes is the semi-circle. This represents the arc of a pendulum swinging back and forth. Our lives are in a good rhythm if we work from rest, and if we have times of abiding in Christ (John 15). Abiding leads to fruitfulness.

I am in a time of abiding at the moment. I have had New Wine and holiday and a week of healing. I intend to keep abiding for the next few weeks as I plan the diary for the coming year and prepare for the busy time ahead when we will be starting up our huddles, Alpha, youth outreach, and the teaching programme for the Autumn.

This is one of the reasons why I am not in favour of holding an annual sale of second-hand goods in the last week of August. For the past 20 years this has been an institution at St.Mark's. For weeks during the summer all manner of unwanted stuff fills up our parish hall. This week people are going out all day and every evening to collect items in preparation for the big sale that starts on Bank holiday Monday. As you can imagine, those who take part are very tired by the end of it all. I will pop in and say hello, but I am not joining in.

Today has largely been a day of prayer and reflection during which I have received inspiration for the Autumn sermon series. We are going to look at the Good News as told by Luke, starting with the message of John the Baptist in Luke 3. God wants us to repent from our unfruitful lives. It is no good relying on our religious heritage ("we are children of Abraham").

True repentence is reflected in good deeds that make the world a better place (eg sharing your surplus goods with those in need). John the Baptist warns us that those trees that are not bearing fruit will be cut down (Luke 3:9). The good news is this - that those who want to be part of God's Kingdom can participate. All we need is repentence ie we need to agree with God's way of doing things rather than assuming that our old ways are correct.

The problem with preaching this is that not everyone likes to repent. Poor old John ended up in prison because Herod felt criticized.

Evil deeds in Cheadle

Jane is very upset today because she read in the Daily Telegraph this morning that three children from her school were found murdered. One of them was due to be in her class in September. The father of the children is missing and his car has been found abandoned at Heathrow airport. The murder has been on the news all day.

All Quiet on the Blogging Front

I am just back from a week's camping in Wales. Next I am going to Living Waters for a week of healing and teaching about healing.

Servanthood

Where have I been? Why is it so quiet on the blogging front?

New Wine North

From 21st-29th July I was at New Wine North in Newark working as a Steward. It was a humbling experience to be part of the team which was there to serve the other 5000 people who came to be spiritually recharged and refreshed.

As often happens in the New Wine week we experienced a heatwave. It was amazing that I managed to get through the week without getting heatstroke. It was really hard work, but very enjoyable.

As well as the fellowship of the team, I also enjoyed fellowship around the campfire with members of St.Mark's (including Tony and Lorna who are at theological college).

One of the highlights of the week was the free afternoon when I spent two hours answering questions about the Old Testament with three students from Leeds. I felt like a Rabbi sitting in the Temple colonades interacting with the people who had come up to the festival. I then spent a further hour or so with Craig looking at what the bible had to say about Abraham and Ishmael. I love teaching when people want to learn.

No time to blog!

I have so much I want to blog about, but I don't seem to have the time!

Huddles

A few weeks ago I said I would blog about out discipleship plans. I may fill this out sometime, but essentially we have decided to convert our cell leaders meetings into huddles along the lines of the leadership development model used by St.Thoms in Sheffield. This will help us to apply and develop the use of the Lifeshapes which we began last year with the circle and taught about after Christmas.

Vision for St.Mark's

As you know, I have been struggling to know whether I can in all good conscience continue as a vicar of an attractional church. For the moment I hear God telling me to stay and treat this as my "day job" while working at pioneering mission in my spare time. In addition I hear God calling me to give St.Mark's some clear leadership. The vision of the tree and the sapling is still valid. Also the Lord has given me Isaiah 54:2 as a verse for the church. I may post a church magazine article to explain this. In essence the call is to allow fresh expressions of church to grow up on the fringe of the St.Mark's family under the "tent flaps". I blogged a bit about this in March. see link

Leadership

As Moses was called to lead the Hebrew slaves in a journey with the LORD, so I sense God calling me to lead the church here to have faith in God's ability to provide. This means I will be trying to wean the church away from fund-raising. I have heard the Lord say so much about this in recent days that I need to buy new pages for my prayer journal!

The Gentiles

What about the Gentiles? Well praise the Lord! On Tuesday night I went to see Woodley Sports give Stockport County a worrying 89 minutes. As the match ended I spotted a family who I believe will be the first "people of peace" that I will spend more time with in the Mill Lane area of Woodley. We had a lovely chat for about 15 minutes and then I helped push mum's wheelchair up the hill home. I met this wonderful family a few years ago when I did Dad's funeral. There are 7 children and more grandchildren than can be remembered. Mum is a real matriarch and her home is the hub of a huge community. I now need to pray about who will come with me when I visit after New Wine.

Emerging Church

I am going to an Emerging Church day on Monday in Manchester. What is emerging church you ask? It is something that happens (a bit like the fungus that springs up in the woods - but generally more pleasant) because there are people out there being moved by the Holy Spirit to become church rather than to attend church.

For an interesting blog about "ermergent theology for emerging churches" have a read of this article by Dr Ray Anderson.

There is however a certain pretentiousness about parts of the emerging church network (a bit like the fungus that springs up in the woods) especially those parts that blog a lot. However it is good that there is some self awareness about this as the following joke displays: so, How many Emerging Church bloggers does it take to change a lightbulb?

Hobnobbing with the Gentiles

On Saturday I went to see Woodley Sports play Stalybridge Celtic in a pre-season friendly. I have been vicar of Woodley and Bredbury for 10 years this month and this was the first time I had been to see the local team play.

The club steward treated me to a complimentary coffee in the Executive box. I promised to attend more often. I'll be back next Tuesday when Woodley take on Stockport County.

Listless

The wind has been taken out of our sails. We are all hot and weary. We need a time of refreshing.

I think I will give up the fantasy football and spend more time blogging!

Wracked nerves

Yet another nerve-wracking performance by England. It's just like watching City except we keep winning.

I hope you folk in Ecuador are not too distressed.

To the pub

When Nick came to work with me in Bredbury two years ago we decided to lead the Church into a more missional phase of its life. Our plan was to become a "Mission-Shaped Church" or to do some mission knowing that it would shape the church.

In addition to the Church initiatives, we made a pact, to get out and meet people and to lead by example. We agreed that each of us would pursue a hobby which would allow us to make friends with normal people who don't come to church.

For several months this was just good intentions. Then last summer I actually took myself down to the local branch of the Manchester City FC Supporters Club. Since August last year I have been going to games at the City of Manchester stadium and drinking beer with the lads in the Conservative CLub where we have been meeting before the match.

Recently we changed venues so we now meet in The Crown which has lots of big TV screens. So tonight I'll be there in my England shirt cheering on our boys in Cologne.

No doubt my pal, Holy Spirit will be there too. We will be alert for any Kingdom opportunities as we enjoy being the church in the midst of the people.