Journeys Pt 5

John Newton (1725-1807) was a journeyman who travelled theworld visiting places that few of us will ever see.  He also had a remarkable career.

As a young man John was, by his own admission, not a nice manto know.  He was brutal, tough, a heavydrinker, womaniser and blasphemer.  Heonce claimed that he could corrupt the heart of any man within 30 minutes offirst meeting him.

Having joined the navy he rose to prominence and eventuallybecame the captain of his own ship, earning a lot of money through theabominable slave trade that helped to build the wealth of our country.  But it was on the journey that he encounteredGod and the amazing grace of Jesus that was to transform his life just as ithas transformed ours.

There are not many of us who have sinned in the way John did(at least not in our own minds), for God does not grade sin and ‘all havesinned and fall short of the glory of God’. We know that ‘the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternallife in Christ Jesus’.

This is the transformation for so many of us, including JohnNewton, who went on to serve God so powerfully for the rest of his life’sjourney, leaving behind a legacy of service and words of praise, including“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that save a wretch like me”.

Journeys Part 4

At our Central Prayer meeting in February, Rich Webb stated thatit was not necessarily the departure point or destination that is important butthe encounters we have on the journey that were important. 

In the context of what he was talking about he was, of course,absolutely right but for me the journey started at the Cross and that is alwaysimportant.  For it is at the Cross thatwe encounter the true nature of God, His overwhelming love for each of us, Hisgrace, His mercy and His purpose for our lives. It is at the Cross that we encounter light, life and truth, and forthose of us who have chosen to follow Him it is the start of an incrediblejourney.

Each of us is on a unique and personal journey although we doshare it with others along the way but the journey is never about us but aboutthe opportunities it gives us to share the gospel message, to feed the hungry,bring gifts to the poor, reach out to the lost and bring healing to the sick.

This is reflected in the journey of Tychicus, from Rome to Colosse.  In the first century this would have been anarduous and dangerous journey by land and sea but Paul has the confidence tosay “Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, afaithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord”.  Tychicus recognised that the journey was notabout him but his purpose was to tell the Colossian church the news about Paul,who was imprisoned in Rome .  How many of us would want to talk about ourown journey in such circumstances?  It isnot about us, it has never been about us but about those we are called toserve!

We can never underestimate what God is doing in our lives as wecontinue our journey and we need to focus on the opportunities He provides forus.  However, it doesn’t hurt to considerthe final destination.  If we do so ithelps us to live in the reality of our salvation.

Journeys Part 3

I have a fuel inefficient Honda Accord, made worse by the factthat most of my driving is around Scunthorpe .  To help save fuel I often knock it intoneutral to coast down hills and it seems to work. Some of you may disapprove ofthis strange driving style but it is not as bad as ‘coasting’ on my spiritualjourney.

This is why I am finding our latest teaching (non) series‘Shifting Gear’ so encouraging.  Whereverwe are on our only personal journey with Jesus it inspires us to move upanother gear and go for it. 

Of course, we could shift down a gear or even go into reversebut, with Rich’s latest anointing and the increased power of his teaching sincePalm Sunday, you would have to be totally resistant to the Spirit in order toachieve that.

I am excited and challenged by the teaching.  I am also excited by the next stage in myjourney with Jesus as I now have a mentor (we all should have one really) and Ijust know that as well as the support and guidance I shall receive it is reallythe challenge and accountability that I need.

I am mindful of Jesus’ great prayer for His disciples (that’sus now) recorded in John’s Gospel where he says to His Father, ‘Asyou sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.’  He has sent us into the world for a purposeand to have influence in our community. We can only do that by fully engaging with our community, with ourneighbours, with our work colleagues and our friends.  We need to share the gospel at everyopportunity, showing love and giving practical help through projects likeFoodbank and CAP.  This will be thecurrent focus on my journey with Jesus.  

Change of direction

Yesterday I was meeting with a couple of pastors to talk about church and leadership strategy.  One of them shared something as an unconnected aside.  I thought it was awesome, so I thought I would share it.

It is not unusual for ancient cities to have large walls and sturdy gates.  They existed to keep the city safe.  By controlling the flow of people, they protected those on the inside.  Very often they were used to prevent people from entering completely, such as in times of war.

Towards the end of Ezekiel there is a description of how things are to be arranged in the future.  The descriptions of the land, temple and city can be seen as descriptions of the coming Kingdom as well as the obvious description of a physical future reality.  In Ezekiel 48:30 onwards the details are given of the gates of this future city.  However, the interesting thing is that in that verse they are not referred to as 'gates', but 'exits'.

Could it be that where before the emphasis was on controlling and defining the inward flowing of outsiders, the emphasis now is on encouraging and releasing the outward flow of insiders!  What does this mean for us today?  Let's see your comments and thoughts.

Rich.

Journeys Part 2

During his message ‘The Power of a God Encounter’, Brian Houston told the story of Biju Thampy as he was travelling around Mumbai in a tuktuk (3 wheeled taxi).  As it stopped at a junction to give way to other traffic (which I understand is a miracle in itself!), Biju noticed a young street girl aged about 6 begging for food.  This was not one of the children you may have seen in Slum Dog who live in very poor conditions – this was a child on her own with nothing.

Biju had compassion on her and gave her some money for food. As his tuktuk pulled away he looked back in time to see a man step out of the crowd and mug the girl for the money.  In his anger and frustration Biju cried out to God and said, ‘Lord, why do you allow this to happen. Do something’.

He immediately felt the Spirit come upon him and speak into his heart.  He said, ‘You do something’.

Five years later Biju’s ministry, Vision Rescue, is having an impact on the lives of the 300,000 street children in Mumbai.

My own journey with Jesus is nowhere near as dramatic as Biju’s but has some similarity.  I used to work for a local college that decided it could no longer afford to employ a chaplain, leaving the students with no one to turn to for spiritual guidance.  I felt something should bedone by our church but didn’t know what. Should our Chaplain and her team offer to take over the role?  Should our Youth or Discipleship Leaders get their teams involved?  Then God seemed to say ‘You do something’.

So Julie and I sought permission to run the Journeys course which proved so popular that we followed it with a version of Student Alpha.  We now have a core group of nine students who turned up every week wanting to know more about God and His creation.  OK, so it’s only 9 out of 1700 students but each one is precious to Jesus and each of them is on their own journey. 

The work is not something that comes natural to us.  There is a two generation age gap, they live very different lives to us and have different outlooks.  We have had to invest a lot of time, energy and some money into doing it.  It can be uncomfortable and scary stuff but Rich is always inspirational in his teaching (Feel the fear and do it anyway comes to mind).

It has been a real privilege to start this work and we pray that we will continueto have such encounters on our journey with Jesus.

Tony

Journeys Part 1

Recently, I had the opportunity to again watch Brian Houston’s message, ‘The Power of a God Encounter’, which he brought to last year’s Hillsong Conference.

Part of the message reminded me that Jesus was always on the move, always coming from or going somewhere. And it is on a journey that we are most likely to truly encounter God in an awesome and life changing way.

Luke records that it was on the road to Emmaus that Jesus opened the eyes of two of his followers to the power of scripture; it was on a journey near Caesarea Philippi where God revealed to Peter that Jesus was the Christ; it was on the Desert Road that Philip had a meaningful conversation about the words of Isaiah that led to the Ethiopian eunuch becoming a baptised believer; and it was on a journey to Damascus that a God encounter not only changed the life of Saul but potentially for all humanity.

The current phase of our own journey started when Julie and I first came to SBC in September 2008. After just a couple of weeks Rich Webb was bringing a message when suddenly he seemed to be speaking directly to me and said, ‘You have become content with things that you were never meant to becontent with!’. I can’t remember much else from that message as I was stunned – those words became written on my very soul. How can I or any of us ever be content when we are surrounded by ‘the least, the lost, the broken’? How can we be content when our community is riddled with poverty, hunger, loneliness, pain, injustice and apathy towards our Creator God? How can we just close ourselves away inside a comfortable, secure building each Sunday and be almost oblivious to the needs of others?

Jesus said that we are the ‘Salt of the earth’. Whether we interpret that salt is for preservation and to prevent corruption, whether we consider that salt is there to bring savour or have some other interpretation it doesn't really matter. The salt has to be applied or has to be totally absorbed to have any impact – if it remains in the salt cellar it has no relevance at all. An Outward Focused Congregation would offer an ideal opportunity to pour out the salt! That has to be my next destination on this remarkable journey with Jesus.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!

A football players dream is to play on the biggest stage possible, and today is the cut off date for Fabio Capello to name the England football team for the Wold Cup in South Africa 2010, starting in less than two weeks! He has to cut down the squad of players from 30 to just 23, a very difficult decision, one that will be heartbreaking for 7 individuals.

We all have very difficult decisions to make in our lives, and often they will have an impact on other people as well as ourselves. It is also true that during these hard moments, we often forget to consider what God might be saying or doing in our lives. How much do you trust in God through your decision making? In my experience when I have sought after God in a decision, I have no made the most obvious or my natural decision, but it has worked out for the best. Why not make God your number one call when you are making a decision?

God bless

Tom