Newfrontiers article

This year we're looking to launch an exciting project in our Town Centre (I will be posting more about the project in the coming months).  Attached is a link to an article I have written for the Newfrontiers (the family of churches we're part of) website asking for help and support!  Why not give it a read...


http://newfrontiersuk.org/news-and-events/article/bishops_stortford

Making a difference

Film Review: Freedom writers

I watched this film last night with Amy (my wife) and wanted to quickly blog on it.

'Freedom Writers' is a true story about how one woman made a difference.  Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank) takes a job teaching inner-city kids raised on drive-by shootings and huge racial divides in the midst of the L.A riots.  As people around her, including her husband and father, tell her that these kids are 'unteachable' she makes a difference and helps them to reclaim their lives and identities.  It's a powerful film of how one person really can make a difference.

Two things really stood out for me in the film:

Firstly, being a pioneer means sacrifice
Erin Gruwell, or Mrs G as she was affectionately called by her class, wanted to make an impact.  She wanted to change the lives of 30 young men and women and in order to do this is meant working long hours, taking three jobs and selflessly putting her own desires to one side.  For her it cost her her reputation, her time, her energy and her relationships with those closest to her.

As I watched and reflected it made me think of other pionners; Mandela, Wilberforce, Luther King, and how they had to make huge sacrifices in their lives.  Mandela was impriosoned for over 30 years, Wilberforce battled through sickness and huge opposition and of course King was assasinated.

Secondly it reminded me that people don't like change
Whenever you see a pioneer you always see opposition.  Trying to make an impact is never easy.  Mrs G didn't have the support of her family, of the other teachers at the school or of the parents of the kids she was teaching.  Ultimately this is why people like Mandela spent years behind bars and King was murdered.

Mrs G was swimming against the tide but rather than giving in, she fought.  She did something about her situation rather than letting her situation dictate her life.  She refused to settle for something that wasn't right.  She did something that has changed the lives of 30 young people, something that can never be taken away, something lasting that they will always have.  She believed in them and gave them hope and a future. 

She sacrificed and refused to give into the opposition.

It got me thinking...what's the story I'm writing? 

If there was to be a film made about my life what would the morale of the story be?  Would there be people lined up saying 'this man has changed my life?'  I desperately want to change this world for the better.  I want to be someone who breaks new ground; someone who breaks the mould and someone who doens't allow the circumstances around me dictate how I live my life.

So the questions I find asking myself are: Am I willing to pay the price, whether it be time, money or reputation?  And am I willing to stand in the face of oppostion and see the obstacles as opportunites for something great?

The question is are you? 

It's a great film that I'd highly recommend and f you want to get it, just click here!

Seven tips for better Bible study

Mark Driscoll has posted seven tips for better Bible reading (link below).  I think it's excellent and if you want to read the Bible for all it's worth you should check it out!

Here is my favourite tip: Don’t think you need more knowledge. Often you need more obedience to the knowledge you already have!

Happy reading.

http://pastormark.tv/2012/04/17/7-tips-for-better-bible-study

Loving the unlovable

Book review: Whose Child is this by Bill Wilson

Wow.  What a book this is. 

Bill Wilson is the founder and Senior Pastor of Metro Ministries; America’s largest ministry to children, gathering around 20,000 kids every week to their Sunday school meetings.  The movement is international, with branches of the ministry in several other nations and the model is used in Churches everywhere.

The book is Bills story from orphan to orphan rescuer.  He was abandoned by both parents as a teenager and after being taken in by a faithful Christian family he went on to launch and establish the ministry in one of New York’s hardest areas, Bushwick.  At a time when the police had even stopped responding to calls to the area and would only send in Special Forces teams, Bill decided to move into the ghetto.  He was the only white man in town and faced rejected, failure, abuse, muggings and physical attacks. 

It’s an inspirational story; I found myself in tears several times reading some of the things that he saw and indeed experienced.  There are three things stood out for me in this book and that I want to share as they’ve stirred me and challenged me on how I do life and ministry:

1. One person can make a difference

Bill Wilson certainly has.  He is impacting thousands, if not millions of lives through his ministry.  Personally I want to change the world.  I want to be someone who impacts this little planet called earth.  I want to do something that changes people’s lives.  This book has reminded me and inspired me to push on with my dreams and goals because it is possible.

2. The need is the call

So often we think we need a lightning bolt revelation, a flash of inspiration or an invitation to help and impact things around us but this couldn’t be further from the truth.  Bill Wilson reminds us that we are called to serve the need that we see around us.  If a poor man is homeless and hungry don’t wait to be told…do.  If a child is alone and dying don’t wait for an invitation…act.

3.  People need to know that you care

The ministry that Bill Wilson leads visit 20,000 families each week.  They give up their time to care for the families and children that no one else wants to spend time with.  They show that they care before they try and tell them what they know.  They try to help with practical and physical needs before preaching at them.  They first and foremost love those they serve.

 This book profoundly challenged me and has stirred me to look again at my own life and ask myself how am I making a difference; am I serving the need and do the people I serve know that I love them?

I want to marry a Horse!

At the end of March I had a wonderful discussion surrounding the issue of gay marriage on my Facebook page!  The discussion drew interest and input from the gay community, the straight community, those with faith and those without faith. I summed up my views on the discussion (and indeed closed the debate) with the following input:

“For me I can see and understand both sides of the debate without being for or against either. I haven't signed either of the petitions going around!! My personal opinion is that governments cannot change hearts and laws simply rearrange problems rather than solve them. For example by introducing gay marriage do we think it will solve the equality issue people have in their hearts?

I also think the debate is less about the gay community more about marriage.  The best way that I can explain this is through an example:

When I was in the Police I was issued a new style of shirt for my uniform. Instead of the traditional white collared shirt I was issued a black sports type t-shirt. The shirt was (and still is) black. However upon issue, the shirt was called graphite. Graphite is not the colour of the shirt I was issued.  Graphite is a dark grey colour. Upon further probing, Herts police didn't want to call them black for fear of offending. There used to be racist group called the blank shirts with whom they didn't want to associate with.

In my mind they simply changed the definition of a word (graphite) to suit them in order to be politically correct and not offend.

That’s the way I see the debate. It's not about gay marriage; it's about the definition of what marriage is.

If as a culture we're happy to change definition of such fundamental words then fine, but I personally believe that this is the argument: What is marriage?  It is not an attack on homosexuality.

 If we don't have a solid definition of marriage then what's to stop me challenging the system so I can have two, three or even four wives? Or marrying a horse? If I’m not allowed to express myself in this why, am I being discriminated against?

So that's where I stand: what is marriage. It's not about equality it’s about a definition.”

 I’d love to hear your thoughts?

Word and Spirit?

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 blessing the believer:

I fully believe that the Church should be a place where we worship God in Word and Spirit (John 4:23) but the question is what does that look like?  What did Jesus mean when He said Word and Spirit?

My passion is for Churches that hold and honour BOTH the word and the Spirit in equal importance.  One without the other doesn’t work.  Just think, a Church where the Word of God is central but is without the Spirit of God to bring it alive you’ll find dry Christians, thirsty for a touch and filling of the Spirit.  Or a Church without a foundation built on the Word you’ll find immature Christians open to every wind of teaching (Ephesians 4:14).

Worshipping through Word and Spirit is not about activity but a way of living.  So often we think that the musical worship time is our ‘Spirit’ worship and that the preach is our ‘word’ worship!  Although there is some truth this view is fundamentally wrong! 

When we gather on a Sunday morning to worship together through music it should be worship full of both Word and Spirit.  The songs we choose should be based on scriptural truth, the Bible should be publically read and contributions should be based on theological truths.  The way we lead should be done in a God honouring way. Likewise, when we preach the Word of God should be honoured but so to should the Spirit.  Preachers we need to make room for the Spirit in what we preach and teach. 

A worship time without the Word is like a like a Plane without a Pilot and a Preach without the Spirit is like a car without the fuel.

I love to preach.  It’s one of my main passions.  Why?  Because I love building up and blessing the Church.  Like I’ve said several times already in previous blogs, the local Church is the hope of the world.  I have a desire to teach the Church biblical truths that help them in their everyday lives to honour and exalt God; Biblical truths that will help our musical worship be grounded on scripture; and Biblical truths that will stir them to love and honour the Word and Spirit of God.

Smoking, gambling and homosexuality

Everyone loves a controversial Blog title don’t
they?! 

I love the Church.  It’s what I live for, it’s what I’ve given my working life too and I believe 100% that it is the hope of the world.  The best laws, policy and governance will never be the solution to this world’s problem’s because they can never change the heart of a man...I believe only the Church can do this.

If the Church is functioning correctly Jesus should be at the very centre of it all, changing hearts, impacting lives and bringing freedom quite simply because that is what He does.

However, in my experience that’s not always the case.  Whether it is through my own personal experience of through shared experiences of others I have spoken to, the Church fails to do this on a regular basis.  Now this is not to criticise Churches, leaders or even members of Churches.  It’s simply to acknowledge the truth. 

The single biggest cause of atheism today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny them with their lives (DC Talk).  I have many friends who like the idea of Jesus but are hung up on the judgemental nature of the Church.  I have friends who have been rejected by the church because of their lifestyle.  Friends who openly critiscise the Church for double standards.  Friends who think the Church is outdated and irrelevant.

Why is this the case?  I believe  it is because as Christians we're sometimes too quick to judge...too quick to see the sin and not the person.  Too quick to want to keep our Churches neat and tidy and without drama.

Something that has really bugged me in the last two years (since I started to work full time for the Church) is how the Church perceives those who aren’t in the church? 

I often think to myself on a Sunday morning, how would my friends feel in this place?  Friends who smoke, gamble and who are in gay relationships.  Friends who I care about, respect, honour and want to bless.

Now this isn’t a theological blog about what I think about these subjects…although I do think there is a lot to be said about these things from a Biblical perspective (especially on smoking and gambling!).  It is simply posing the question to church goers:  ARE OUR CHURCHES INCLUSIVE?

The one subject that has really got me thinking of late is homosexuality.  Now again, I’m not going to go into details of my beliefs on the subject (although I do love debating it), but it breaks my heart that the Church community and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community are so far apart in terms of accepting one another.

This is not what Jesus would want for His Church. 

Jesus is an all-inclusive Saviour and God.  This blog could be about any contentious issue.  It could be about alcoholics, covicted criminals or abortion. The Bible clearly states that He wants every single person to be accepted and welcomed into His family (1 Timothy 2:4) and as a Church we have a responsibility to serve with this mentality in mind.  That doesn't mean I agree with everything that all our guests believe, in fact there are many christians that I disagree with!  But it does mean that we should love everyone who comes through our doors...in the way we think about them, view them and engage with them.  Gay or straight.

So Church, think…would you dwell in an environment where you’re made to feel unwelcome and uncomfortable whether passively or actively?  I know I wouldn’t.

I would love to see Churches all over this nation that love and embrace everyone regardless of their background, faith or lifestyles.  Straight or gay.  Addicted or not.  I love the vision of the Church that Jesus painted for us in Revelation 21 and my prayer and hope is that we see this sooner rather than later.