The Church: Serving the poor

In my blog entitled ‘Pinky and the Brain’ I spoke of the three main purposes of the Church; to worship God, to bless the believer and to serve this lost and broken world. I’ve been stirred to ask myself ‘how am I fulfilling the purposes to which I have been called to?’ Today I want to look at how I’m reaching out to the needy and broken in my society:

God is really stirring me about this one lately.  I’ve been reading a book by Tim Keller called Ministries of Mercy - it is a dense book that has taken me months to digest, study and learn from.  It is jam packed with great wisdom about how we as a Church are called to love the lost, serve the broken and help the disadvantaged and has challenged by heart. 

Who are the poor?  They are those who are disempowered from making the choices that God wants them to make and this isn’t always about money or materials. This may include people who are physically disempowered through sickness and disease or those who are disempowered through circumstances that have happened to them.  It may include those who are spiritually disempowered and trapped in addiction or unbelief or it may include those who are emotionally disempowered through depression and low self esteem. 

For me my passion is for those who are relationally disempowered.  This is often overlooked when thinking about the poor but as a Church we should be aiming to serve those who are lonely, those who struggle to make friends, those who have no family to rely on and those who are marginalised by society. 

Those of you who know me, know that I have a big heart for young people and I believe that in our culture, media and society, young people are being disempowered.  This generation has been labelled as the lost generation.  They have been written off.  University fees have become a stumbling block to further education and self improvement, the Anti-Social behaviour act has helped to criminalise a generation and large scale unrest by the minority (such as the London riots) have caused them to be labelled as rebellious and unruly.

In my own town of Bishops Stortford, Young People are pushed to the fringes of the community.  They congregate in groups in the dark places in our town (car parks and fields) out of everyone’s way.  They instigate their own rules and live up to the reputation that society has given them.  This is not what God wants for the Young People of Bishosp Stortford.

For me I want to serve the young people of Bishops Stortford better than we are and that is why we are looking to launch a Youth Cafe in the town.  Thirst (www.thirstcafe.com) will be a warm, friendly, funky environment where young people can come and be themselves, find security and simply chill out.  It will be a place right in the middle of the town centre for all to see (76 South Street is the venue we are trying to secure the lease on) and it will be a place that looks to honour, love and bless the young people of Bishops Stortford.

Young people are my passion and I could talk about them all day…but what’s yours and what are you doing about it?  The bottom line is this; we’re called to serve the poor so let’s do it.  Find your passion…find your gifting and go for it.

I’ll finish with a quote from Bill Wilson: When people care more for themselves than the people around them, society beings to crumble.  My question this week is this:  Are we more concerned about ourselves or about others? 

What if the 'Big Show' wasn't God's idea?

Every year I lead a team of 20 leaders and 50 young people to an amazing event called Newday!  It's a similar event to Soul Survivor and the like and over 7000 people gather with the sole purpose to engage with God and be changed by Him and for Him.  Last year 305 young people made a first time committment to follow Jesus...it truly is an amazing week.

However last year I got into a big discussion with some of our young people about whether or not lighting...staging...and amplification actually helped or hindered our worship?  It was an interesting discussion but we ultimately disagreed with the young people thinking it was a help while I felt it might in fact hinder true worship!  For me it's not about how it 'feels' but rather is it inline with scripture? 

Yesterday I read this article and it stirred in me the same thoughts that I had during the discussion at Newday. 

Give it a read and let me know what you think...is the 'Big Show' a help or a hinderance?

MURDER!!

I love to follow the news but it is often hard to keep up to date with all that is going on and that is why my home page on my internet explorer is ‘The Week’…a website and magazine that takes all the weeks notable news and condenses it into small bite sized information so that you can capture all the weeks interesting information in half the time!  As I logged on to it today, two stories leaped out at me:

The first was a story about a Colombian drug trafficker called Griseblda Blanco known as the “queen of cocaine.”  It was being reported that she had shot dead by two gunmen as she left a butcher’s in Medellin, Colombia.  She was 69.  In the 1970s and 80s she was at the centre of the cocaine trade in New York and Miami, reportedly making $8m a month and responsible for the murders of numerous rivals.  One of the investigating officers almost justified the killing when he said these words: 'When you kill so many and hurt so many people like she did, it’s only a matter of time before they find you and try to even the score.’

The second was a story about Andrew and Tracey Ferrie who shot and injured two out of the four burglars who had broken into their home.  They were arrested by police on suspicion of causing GBH.  Their local MP has thrown his hat in the ring by defending the couple’s actions as ‘just.’

The reason that these two stories stood out for me is that they both essentially justified violence.  They both say that revenge is ok.  They both teach us that an eye for eye is ok.

As a society do we really believe that?  Do we really think that if some assaults my wife I should be able to assault theirs?  Of if someone steals from me I’m aloud to steal from them? 

In fact in the case of Mr and Mrs Ferrie they upped the stakes…they were stolen from but they repaid their loss by causing GBH.

The Bible does say ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’ in the Old Testament but what many people seem ignorant of is that Jesus actually redefined many things about life in the New Testament.  About these words He actually said:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”

Don’t hear what I’m not saying.  I personally believe that there can be such a thing as a just war.  There are times when authority needs to be fought against.  If a regime is oppressive and violent, then I do believe they need to be stopped. 

However I do find it very sad whenever I hear about people being killed as a punishment for their behaviour.  I may be alone on this one but when Saddam Hussein was hanged I was saddened.  When Osama Bin Laden was killed I didn’t rejoice.  Not because these people don’t deserve justice, they do.  Quite simply because I can’t agree with the attitude that killing someone, or indeed injuring someone for a crime or a wrong doing is ever right.

The gospel is this:  I sinned against God.  This sin was worse than burglary or drug trafficking and the punishment was death.  But God loved me so much that He sent someone else, Jesus Christ, to die in my place so that my sins and wrongdoings can be forgiven.

I’m not saying that we should just overlook people’s crimes…but I don’t think it is our job to decide when someone’s life should be ended, especially when basing this upon their actions.  I think our job, as the Church, is to imitate Christ: to love unconditionally, without prejudice and not based upon a person’s actions but looking at their hearts.

I’m so grateful God didn’t treat me as my actions deserved.

 

Becoming a Dad!

Fatherhood

Four years ago I got married to an amazing woman who has blessed me in so many ways that it overwhelms me.  However, nine months ago she gave me the best present a man could ask for and we were lucky enough to become proud parents to a gorgeous baby boy whom we named Joash John William Lines. 

I've learnt a lot in those nine months, from how to change a nappy, to what different cries mean, but I wanted to blog on three things I think every man should know before they venture into fatherhood.

 1. You have to become self-LESS

Before Joash was born I thought I was quite a well-balanced and servant hearted kind of guy…but post Joash being born I realised just how wrong my self-analysis was!!

I think we live in a fairly selfish world…consider social networking for a minute. I have been researching the meteoric rise of social networking in the last few days and have come to the conclusion that it has simply itched where we are scratching:

Facebook is simply me telling the world about me; Twitter is about me telling the world what I'm thinking and Instagram is simply me showing the world what I'm doing! 

Take one look at our society and we realise that we’re all (self-included) a lot more self-seeking that we might have first thought…a look at the banking crisis, the increase in abortion rates and the decrease in marriage rates confirm my thinking.

Becoming a dad helped me to realise this but it is also causing me to change my ways as I can no longer just drop everything and do what I want.  Of course this is what marriage is actually all about…laying aside your own desires for the benefit of another and I can’t help but realise that this is what parenthood is about too.  Joash is completely dependent on Amy and I, and relies on us choosing him and his needs over our own.

2. You need bags of energy

I’m a fairly fit guy…I run regularly…I play sport…I try to eat and drink right…yet becoming a dad has completely wiped me out at times!  Not just physically but emotionally too! 

After a while, getting up three times during the night takes its toll…there’s a reason why sleep deprivation is used as a torture technique!!  But it’s not just the lack of sleep…when Joash is awake he’s incredibly active and Amy and I spend most of our time chasing after him, pulling things out of his mouth that he shouldn’t be eating or changing his nappy!!  It’s constant! 

Remove the physical tiredness for a minute though and consider the emotional tiredness.  Joash is pretty good at giving cuddles, but 90% of his time is about taking!! He hasn’t quite mastered how to do the chores yet; wash the car, put the washing on or tidy the mess he’s just created in the living room!  But he is very good at requiring all your energy to figure out what he wants, when he wants it and how he wants it done!!

This is why I have huge respect for all mums out there!!  Amy is around Joash 24 hours a day, seven days a week…this means that she is on the go all the time, again not just physically but emotionally too.

As parents we both need to work harder at getting time to refresh and refill our tanks.

3.    It’s all completely worth it!

People often ask me how being a dad is and I quite often start off with a negative…in fact just as I have done in this blog post, and Amy quite rightly corrects me!  Being a dad is hard work, it is tiring, it does cause you to put your own needs further down the pecking order…but I cannot stress this enough:  I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Being a dad really is the most rewarding, exhilarating, exciting and special job I have ever had the privilege of doing.  It might not always be that easy but it’s true.

Just last night Joash woke up at 4am…yes 4am!!  Rather than him wanting a quick cuddle and his dummy, he wanted to get up!!  As I was holding him I was overwhelmed just how amazing he is and just how blessed I am.  I appreciate that there are many people, (some who are very close friends of mine) who want children but can’t have them.  It reminds me that children are a blessing…not an inconvenience, even if they do wake you up at silly o’clock.

As I was holding Joash I was also reminded that there is a God in heaven who loves me and you.  He is the ultimate and perfect Father and loves to hold us, enjoys being with us and has made a way for us to come into relationship with Him through His own son, Jesus Christ.

For me, I want to be the best dad I can possibly be and although I no longer have an earthly dad to look to for help and advice, I do have the most amazing Dad in heaven that I can look to and learn from as I continue along this journey of parenthood.

Whilst I thank God every day for the amazing blessing that Joash is to Amy and I…I also pray for more energy and a less selfish heart!

www.Goddle.com

If you could ask God one question what would it be?

I read an article today that told the story of a 6 year who wrote a letter to God asking Him how he was invented.  The letter found its way (via school teachers and parents) to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams who answered the question extremely well.  He explained that no one actually invented God but rather people have and still do discover Him through such things as nature, prayer, inner peace and through the person of Jesus Christ.

This got me thinking – what would I ask God? 

In Acts 15 we read about the Apostles and Elders coming together at Jerusalem to discuss the importance, if any, of circumcision.  What we can draw from this account is that it is good and right to ask questions and have in-depth discussions about subjects we might not fully understand.  Jesus Himself never ran away from a good discussion or argument and probably asked more questions than anyone else in the Bible.

There will always be things in this life that we don’t understand – if you have a faith or not, and the Bible, like the aforementioned article, encourages us to ask those tough questions.  I think it’s very easy for us to ignore our questions and doubts even though this can be unhelpful.

So…What would you ask God?  You never know He might just give you an answer.

Is God angry?

I work for Bishops Stortford Community Church and so almost every Sunday morning, that is where you will find me.  However recently I had a week off and so had the privilege of visiting one of the other congregations in the town.

I enjoyed the service, and the change was nice even though it was not the flavour of church I would like on a regular basis.  In fact it made me even more grateful for my community at BSCC. 

So why am I telling you this?  Well something during the service, if I’m honest, disturbed me.  One of the prayers that were said went like this:

“…we acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we from time to time most grievously have committed, by thought, word and deed, against thy Divine Majesty, provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us…”

When I read this I was pretty shocked.  If we have accepted Jesus into our lives and tasted true salvation by confessing with our mouths and believing in our hearts (Romans 10) then does God still get angry with us?  When we as Christians sin, which we all do (1 John 1:8-9) then does God turn into an angry and aggressive Dad looking to punish at every slip?!

The Bible is pretty clear: we are to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and might (Duet 6:5), but the truth is that we have all love other things more than God.  This is what sin is…it is dishonouring God by loving other things over Him and acting on those preferences.  That’s why the Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of His glory (Romans 3:23).  Sin defames God and He can’t simply sweep it under the carpet and ultimately because He is a just God, our sins need to be dealt with…punished and corrected.

But the love of God offers us a solution in the very person of Jesus, for He came into this world and took the punishment that we deserved.  When Jesus died on the cross, He absorbed the wrath of God (Romans 3:25) and He took the punishment that needed to be paid because of our failings (Galatians 3:13).

So is God angry with us?  If you have accepted Jesus into your life then quite clearly: No.  Jesus ABSORDED the wrath of God, He didn’t just cancel it or divert it (1 John 4:10), He took it.  The fullness of God’s wrath was completely put on Jesus so that you and I might know His love, compassion and mercy so that we never need to come to Him fearing punishment or rejection.

So...don't give into the lie that God is angry.  As Thomas Paine says 'Belief in an angry God makes a cruel man.'

Unity is more important than theology!

HTB Leadership conference 2012

I spent Monday and Tuesday this week at the Royal Albert Hall…no not to listen to Opera or to attend some fancy award ceremony but rather to worship God and be equipped to go and build His Church in this country.

Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) hosted and led their annual Leadership Conference at this extraordinary venue and I was one of 4,300 delegates booked in.  These delegates came from over 900 difference churches and organisations and from 52 different countries.  How fitting that a conference about building the Church of God was attended by such a beautiful picture of what the Church is meant to be.  

As I’ve reflected on the conference, I think I can honestly say that this has been one of the most powerful conferences I’ve ever been too.  The calibre of speakers (Tony Blair, The Bishop of London, Christine Cain, Dr Rick Warren, Judah Smith…) was outstanding, the organisation was excellent, the content and topics were prophetic and inspired and as already said the venue couldn’t have been better.

However what made it so special for me was the diversity of the whole event, which was beautiful and yet uncompromising!   Theological differences weren’t issues as brothers and sisters in Christ came together with one purpose: to honour God.  For two days it didn’t matter what I thought about baptism in the Holy Spirit or church structure.  It didn’t matter that I didn’t have a dog collar on nor did it matter how I prayed!  It was such a refreshing and freeing environment to be in.

This is my dream for the Church.  That we might be united in the truest sense of the word.  That, as Jesus prayed in John 13, we would be one with each other as He is One with the Father.  That we would realise that unity is more important than Theology (Mark 13:24-25).  That we would understand that it’s ok to disagree with one another and still worship the same God in the same building!

I feel equipped, challenged and changed by this conference and I'm so grateful to God that HTB were able to host and led such a historic event. 

So…please let me encourage you:  Get booked in for HTB Leadership conference 2013!  More information can be found at http://leadershipconference.htb.org.uk/