clearing out the dead wood

My wife and family will happily tell you of my mild OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) tendencies. Timing every Dog walk for instance, and  finding golf balls and remembering how many I’ve found in Graves Park each week and month are 2 of my quirky traits. The latest one on the dog walk is clearing dead wood. I hasten to add that it is dead wood. I hate the vandalism caused by those  who rip off  living branches (almost as much as the mindless who hang  full dog pooh bags from trees in the park like some bizarre Christmas decoration, definitely one for Room 101).

 

Ellie the dog and I do  a lot of our walking off the main routes through the park and its here I’ve discovered old branches stuck in living trees, and  dead wood attached or hanging off trees. I’m now in the methodical business of clearing light and space by getting rid of the dead wood.

 

Now there’s a thought; at least another dog walking divine moment for me!  Preparing the way of the Lord is a bit like clearing away the dead wood attached to our lives. It cuts out the light, restricts growth, and blocks or restricts the way forward. There’s so much dead wood in my life. Stuff that once was living and vibrant but is about what was not what is or what will be in my life and calling. What about you?  Is it time you cleared away the dead wood in your life that is so unproductive so new life can flourish?

Inside out

As we come to the end of 2008 I’ve started to reflect on Hope08 in Sheffield. Like most things there are encouraging and disappointing aspects to this reflections. Bad news first  (I always ask for it that way round when I have an option to get it out of the way).

 

I am disappointed that some churches didn’t seem to grasp the relevance or opportunity that Hope08 provided us all. There is a reluctance in many churches to work with other churches whose beliefs or way of doing things are different from their own. When we were all in our Hope t-shirts you couldn’t tell whether we were reformed, catholic, charismatic, Baptist or Anglican; we were just a bunch of believers going about doing good! Hope08 was not a doctrinal debate on purity but an opportunity to be salt and light in society and when dogma  gets in the way of that there is something pharisaical about that in my opinion! Another sadness for me was that some churches only showed enthusiasm when they were beneficiaries. If the activity was on their patch they were  “in”, but elsewhere in the city   was not their problem. This is another driver in many churches, we’ll only invest in something with time and finances if  we get something out of it in the end. The kingdom of God often asks us to give stuff away without ever expecting anything in return: “to give and not to count the cost”!  The final frustration in helping to organise and facilitate the city wide stuff we did was the enthusiasm and big promises that were made by some people at the start of the year that were not delivered by them throughout the year. Enthusiasm wanes so easily as we chase the next big thing. Hope 08 was a real marathon event not a sprint, and we now need to reflect on how we continue to encourage and sustain  community action in the city in 09 and beyond.

 

Now for the good news! I thank God for the impact on the ground of so many projects across the city and how as a result we’ve opened doors, created opportunities  and built and forged friendships with communities and council organisations. Also for the 2 community awards we’ve won. In our own area the 2 Days of Kindness and the Whit event have been so well received and made a real difference.

 

 At the start of the year I had a picture of a church building. I was sitting in a beautiful old building staring up at stained glass windows and enjoying the beauty of them. I realised that this beauty was not apparent from the outside of the building where all you could see was darkened glass. My picture was of the churches’ windows being turned “inside out” so that the light from inside the building now shone out rather than in and the images on the stained glass were now seen in all their glory on the outside rather than the inside. As we allowed it to, Hope08 helped turn the church “inside out” and (hopefully!) the glory and majesty of  our faith became visible to those outside of the church walls in a very real way. MCF has played a huge part in the success of Hope08. Thanks for all who have taken this year of mission seriously.

 

He who has ears let him hear

To be fair to me it was a horrible wet and cold morning the other day but a dog still needs a walk. Rain or shine Ellie is always ready for the off.

So, whilst muttering about who’s idea it was to have a dog in the first place (it was mine), and wrapping myself in layers of clothing I got ready for the off.

Whilst a dog is a great companion, you can’t really have a conversation with one on the walk. (Although I’ve been known to do so, Ellie being the only one in the family who doesn’t answer back). God bless the ipod! Background music warms the soul whilst the hands and nose are freezing. So imagine my consternation this morning when it wasn’t working.

I know it was fully charged, it came on fine and the track showed it was playing but no sound. I tried another track, (perhaps that one was duff?), no sound. I checked whether the headphones were plugged in properly, yes they were but still no sound. Now pessimism kicks in, my natural reaction in these circumstances. (“that’s it, they’ve broken I’ll need new headphones, woe is me..)

 

It was then I noticed a particularly important omission.. I hadn’t put the headphones in my ears! Everything had been working fine except my brain. At least I was able to laugh at a typical Dunningism!!

 

On the walk I reflected on this incident. When it comes to hearing God’s voice we more than often believe that the problem lies with God not communicating rather than us not being plugged into His Voice. All too often the distractions of life, the weather of our disposition, are the things that get in the way and we just don’t take the trouble to put the headphones  in and shut out the noise of the world.

Isaiah writes of God “He wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears and I have not drawn back..” (Isaiah 50vs4-5).

As Jesus often said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear…”

 

count your blessings

A few days at Unit3 we had a visit of over 20 german pastors and bible college students who are in Sheffield looking at “fresh Expressions” of church. As they approached the front of the building we were told afterwards one of them wanted to know why they were coming to us as “its not a proper church”. We were asked to show them around the premises and then tell our story  of how we ended up in a shopping precinct and what we do.

During the questions and answers a number of them were incredulous about the thousands of hours per year as a church community we invest in the variety of projects we do both at Unit3 and MCF. It became apparent that mobilising Christians in the churches they attend on this basis was foreign to them. I guess it’s the cork in the bottle mentality. The man or woman at the top and any paid staff team do the work. To me that’s such  a limiting model and a serious problem for churches whose ecclesiology has a strong priest/laity divide.

The role of leadership in any area should be to encourage, facilitate, and release others to do ministry. This seems to be the clear message of Ephesians chapter 4.

It made me count my blessings to be involved in such  a committed community of faith at MCF

Meekness the forgotten fruit

Walking Ellie the dog is certainly a challenge at times! The thing that most gets between us is squirrels. She can be calmly walking alongside me when she spots one of those cute little rodents and then its 0-60mph in 2 seconds, my arm is almost wrenched out of its socket and I’m plunged headlong into briars or bushes. The key thing is to anticipate the moment otherwise you’re off!! The result can become some sort of tug of war between a Boxer/Staffordshire bull terrier who looks as if she’s been on steroids and an overweight pastor struggling to preserve a modicum of apparent control.

 

Now power can be great but it needs to be controlled or it’s a dangerous thing in the wrong hands. I remember a lecturer at Bible College giving me a definition of meekness that has always struck me. Meekness is not weakness or passivity, its “controlled strength”. It conjures up the idea of a horse or an oxen which has been tamed and bridled. Its power is undiminished but its now controlled. Scripture tells us in Timothy that “God has not given us a spirit of timidity but of love, power and self discipline”. Jesus encourages us to take His Yoke upon us and learn from Him.

 

We do need to exhibit this gentle strength in our service of God, whatever we are doing. Headstrong dynamism that is uncontrolled and is going off all over the place is certainly an exciting roller coaster of a ride but the energy is more like that of a firework display than a boiler. Our example in the use of  power and manifestation of our gifts is that of Jesus. If we learn and listen to Him we won’t go far wrong.

Charles Simpson one liners

Last week Roland and I were able to listen to Charles Simpson at Nettle Hill. I’d heard about Charles, (one of the “discipleship Movement” leaders along with Ern Baxter, Don Basham, Bob Mumford and Derek Prince), but never heard him in person.

These are some of his “one-liners” for the day to provoke and stimulate you, but not necessarily for you to agree with!!  Obviously any  one liner is taken out of context of  the presentation as a whole.

The Lord wants to show us the “Because” of Luke 4vs18 on a personal level”  (The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me Because He has anointed me..)

Without perspective you can do something foolish. (Seasoned wisdom born of a sense of history)

Our trust is in the Lord not in answers. Most answers are temporary.

Arminians should read Romans, Calvinists should read James.

We get unfocussed by ministering to the felt needs of others.

We need to give up doing everything so we can do the something we should.

We need to take off the things God has not asked us to do to do the things God has asked us to do.

Jesus didn’t catch a wave He made waves. Today we look for a new wave but are no longer making waves.

People sometimes have to go through bad stuff to be usable

My memory has got so bad I’ve got a clear conscience.

People who don’t get caught have never fallen!!

If He who knew no sin was able to communicate with sinners then we should have no problem!

Revivals attract people.

Worship without mission is deception. Mission brings joy.

One of the hardest things is to cook for people who are not hungry (church members are often spiritually overfed with no spiritual exercise)

Church is the place to celebrate whats happening in the field

The most effective thing we can do is to care.

The average church member has far more than they know they’ve got.

 

when all is not as it seems part two..

Well summer is  drawing to a close, so I thought I’d lighten the mood with another “all is not as it seems” story from a few years ago….

It was a beautiful sunny summer’s day on the North Yorkshire coast (that of itself is remarkable!), and I was on the front with my wife and young children.

We’d just had an ice cream (I had enjoyed a Cornetto), and were about to move on when I spied a lump of icecream on my t-shirt. There it was, about to slide down my front, the ice cream glistening, the melted chocolate glistening. I just had to reach out with  a finger and scoop it into my mouth before it did any more damage to the shirt.

Only it wasn’t ice cream, it was really a present from a seagull!

If ever you’ve wondered what seagull poo tastes like, (and I bet it keeps you awake at night), think fish paste and you won’t be far wrong!

Remember don’t judge too quickly. Outwardly something may look very appealing but don’t be too hasty to swallow everything you see!

Enabled or disabled?

One of the wonderful opportunities given at Soul Survivor is the space ad generosity to pray and minister blessing into one anothers lives. The lack of chairs allows one to move around and at each meeting there was opportunity to pray for one another. All credit to Mike Pilavachi and his  team for that.  Mike’s statement that the requirement for praying (for the sick) is “loving Jesus and being alive” sums up a wonderful value. On one occasion at Soul Survivor though our group did run into a little trouble..

“Enablers” are the people with badges at Soul Survivor. Their job was to check that the ministry being done among 11000 teenagers  was appropriate and helpful. Most thankfully did what was on the label (ronseal ministries) but there is always a danger with badges that they go to people’s heads and bypass their spirits! On one occasion as one of our capable young men was praying for someone he was “disabled” by the enabler who informed him he shouldn’t pray in that particular way, but should have his eyes open. No, he wasn’t praying some heretical prayer, or pushing someone over, shaking him, or working himself up into a frenzy, he simply had closed his eyes…

 

What is it with Christians and labels? Some of us would make great traffic wardens “you’ve been parked on the floor there far too long now, move on or I’ll give you a ticket”.

Ministry in its purest form is all about enabling and releasing others in the enabling power of Gods Spirit. Its not about controlling an environment or a group of people which is actually disabling and limiting. To be fair Soul Survivor seemed to adjust the problem quickly and I’d put it on record as the most releasing conference I’ve ever been to in trusting people and freeing them up to move out in prayer and prophesy etc.

 

Of course its not the only time or event I’ve run into this type of thing. “I can pray for the sick cos I’ve got a badge ministries”  is very popular in charismatic circles. We do it to safeguard and protect the vulnerable and the weak, but unless those given the badge are enabled by God’s Spirit to discern with  humility and a servant heart that facilitating prayer is very different from controlling it you can occasionally run into problems. Delegated authority must be received lightly and operated with  a gentle touch.

The disciples once asked Jesus whether they should stop a group doing stuff in Jesus Name who were not part of their gang and probably as a result doing things differently in some ways. Jesus was much more comfortable to allow this to continue than His followers seemed to be!!

 

Lets truly enable one another in the Spirit of Christ and not disable something/someone just because its not done the same way as we would wish it or its outside the orbit of our control.

 

When all is not as it seems..

Soul Survivor was a great experience. I’ve done a bog cast (sorry podcast!) outlining what I think are the great values for me as a 49yr old with a bad back of being there.

One incident that stood out happened in the bogs (sorry toilets, can’t get away from the mud anywhere!)

I couldn’t get over the hand driers in the loos. I’d stand there patiently thrusting my dripping hands under them and nothing came out. I always made sure the switch next to them was turned on but nothing happened. Prayer, commanding them in the name of Jesus, Singing “blow four winds of heaven” you name it they steadfastly and defiantly wouldn’t work.

Half way through the camp I commented to one of the cleaners about this problem.

“Aah but you see sir, they’re paper towel dispensers!”

The clues to be honest were there for me, blue paper strewn all over the floor, but I was on auto pilot. The machine looked like a hand drier to me  so I assumed it was one. I was expecting it to do something it was never meant to do. I did feel more than  a little stupid!

 

As Christians we quickly jump to assumptions about so many things, and people. We make value judgements and can “box” or limit people to roles that they may never be supposed to play. There are signs “in the Spirit”  if we look for them, but if we have convinced ourselves in our minds we are right about something we can even miss the most obvious ones!

Things aren’t always as they seem. Be ready for surprises!

soul friends

We ran a men’s retreat earlier this week. I was amazed by the positive take up and the way the spaces I’d booked at the conference centre quickly booked up. There is obviously a real hunger for men to get together.

We had a brilliant time together exploring mentoring with Tony Horsfall and Rick Lewis, 2 guys I know well. What really struck me was spending time with an old friend and colleague called Carl. We’d worked together years ago, laughed and cried, shared moments of great triumph and real frustration (often with each other!), but we’d just not seen each other for probably over 10 years.

In the few minutes we had together over our 24 hour stay  it was great to connect again. As Christians there are deep bonds forged when we open ourselves up to one another, soul friendships is a term that’s often used. I realised that although we don’t keep in touch now , we still have a real bond, it was so easy to talk together. Brothers in Christ is what we truly are and seeing my old friend again did me good.

Tragically often as men we never bond at significant times and in significant ways  and our lives are the poorer for it. I learnt a lesson this week. We’ve both moved on but in our hearts there is still a genuine knitting that God’s Spirit has forged between us when we walked the road together. God bless you Carl, thanks for the memory  

sails and ballast

A lot of my best thoughts come in conversations with others, may be it’s a case of “iron sharpens iron” as Scripture says.

Ian ( a church friend), had opened up  a conversation on the new testament concept of eldership not being specifically linked (in Paul’s teaching) with the ministry gifts as outlined in his letters. I likened it in some ways for the needs in sailing ships not only for the sails to propel you forward (catching and utilising the winds power), but also the ballast to keep the ship stable and balanced on its journey. Both are vital otherwise in stormy seas you capsize! Ian knows far more about sailing than me so I’ll stop the analogy here before I shipwreck!

I’m writing this from a room at Bawtry Hall during a  Men’s retreat on mentoring which I’ve organised. I think the analogy works at two other levels also. In our personal life unless the “unseen” we have a solid foundation of integrity of character worked on by God’s Holy Spirit then we lack spiritual stability and credibility ourselves. Our works of service can also be affected in that we can be all over the place in our storms, struggling to keep it together. It also occurs to me that in our community or fellowship life within church that visitors or newcomers are often struck by what they see immediately, the sails, the activity, the direction, but unless we fundamentally as churches are stable “down below” at the deeper levels of  generosity of spirit, forgiveness, loving and believing the best in one another and promoting one another over ourselves once again we are undermined and unstable at the centre of who we are together.

I’m excited by “catching the wind”  but I’m convinced unless we our holds have ballast in them we shall struggle at times to stay afloat.

Glory in the Pub

On Monday evening in the upstairs room of the Big Tree  pub in Woodseats (which was in full swing down below) about 60 christians from a variety of churches met together in an upstairs room with the windows open to worship God. Its in this room that the Sheffield  Healing Rooms takes place offering prayer for healing to whosoever would like it. Godfrey Birtill led us in 90 minutes of raucous and sometimes wild  (goose) worship and intercession for our city. There’s someone wonderful about taking our faith out of our buildings and into the areas we so often don’t reach. This won’t be the last time a group of us will worship and pray together in that room. My expectation is that more and more we need to be flexible in how  where and when we do church and not confined to times and places. The declaration and demonstration of the kingdom of God needs fresh and creative ways and means of expression. This Saturday our church will host probably up to 200 christians from across the city doing acts of kindness on the streets of our local housing estate. Litter picking, painting, gardening, prayer and kids events will all be happening. God wants to continue to turn our churches inside out so that His Spirit is released beyond the church scene and into the world He created loves and actively through His people wants to redeem. Are you ready ready ready??

partnership costs

Here at Meadowhead Christian Fellowship we promote the value of seeking to work wherever and whenever we can with our fellow Christians from different denominations. We have learnt to value diversity and understand that unity isn’t uniformity. We can choose to “agree to disagree” on style, and practise and still seek to partner together where ever we can. I think its very important that when you work together with Christians from different congregations you don’t do so with the motivation of “what am I going to get out of this?”  Sadly I meet  Christians who seem to work with others only when it appears convenient or helpful to achieve their own goals or promote their “ministries”. I really believe we de-value and diminish partnership when we enter into it on such terms. There’s an old prayer which has the line “to give and not to count the cost”, and although it’s a challenging value to live by its what gives the added value to our common life together. You can’t have a successful marriage on the basis of putting yourself first, and any partnership asks the same questions of us. The kingdom of God demands no less. Hope08 remains a big challenge to all the church as it asks these questions of the quality of our partnerships together.

 

one man and his dog

You’ve heard the story of the dyslexic agnostic insomniac who lay awake at night wondering whether or not there is a dog? Probably!

That’s got nothing to do with the story but a good place to start.

Last year in a moment of impetuous madness for which I’m famed we acquired a dog called Ellie from the RSPCA  (which I think may be an acronym for  “Really Stupid Pets Causing Anarchy”). We’d never owned a dog before and were assured she was just what we were looking for; (someone saw us coming).  Dog owning certainly changes your life so in that respect is very much like becoming a Christian!

Last summer I got an email from a friend suggesting that God wanted to speak to me about the pastoral ministry through my interaction with Ellie. I’ve waited patiently for her to speak to me (well God spoke through a donkey once),  or even for her to scrawl some message with her paw in the dust, but neither has happened so I’m assuming that God may wish to speak to me through the experiences of a dog owner. So here is the wisdom of a pedigree chum(p) which could help you winalot of friends should you ever have to care for others in the Body of Christ, (and lets be honest, shouldn’t we all be doing that?), or it may put you off dog owning for life!!

1. You’ll be responsible to clear up the mess the dog leaves. Don’t leave it for others to tread in please! (and please don’t hang it in plastic bags on trees for all to see.. where did that habit come from which litters our local park in Sheffield?). Mess is to be dealt with discreetly but you may well be left to pick things up you’d rather leave for someone else. The dog will not take responsibility for its own mess but likes sniffing around the stuff other dogs leave behind. Pastoral ministry does require this ability to clear up mess.
2. No matter how well you feed a dog it’ll always be after a tasty morsel from elsewhere and always want more. It could make the dog sick but it’ll just carry on. It’ll never seem to be satisfied with what you offer it and always want more. Dogs are pretty demanding in this respect. As a pastor you face the challenge that however much you give its probably never enough for some.
3.  You can take the dog on a great journey and walk  but if it thinks something is more interesting than you elsewhere it’ll be off to investigate and come back in its own time. (You can tell I’m good at this recall stuff!!). Pastoral ministry challenges your attitude as your level of commitment is often not reciprocated by those you care for, but you’ve got to keep giving..
4. You still love the dog despite all its antics. Its amazing the bond that develops and despite all the demands and frustrations you wouldn’t part with the dog. You love it. I suggest the difference between  a true pastor and a “hireling” is this love that enables you to keep giving and loving when the going is tough.

 

I just want to add that the members of MCF are nothing like Ellie, (none of them have tails for a start!), but here are general parallels with the way we as humans interact with one another. Scripture refers to the Shepherd and the sheep so an analogy from the animal kingdom already appears in scripture. Maybe we can all learn lessons from life as we reflect upon it.

Oh well got to dash, the dog needs a walk….

 

The day the fire fell...

Last Sunday the fire fell at our church. We’d been conducting a weekend of continuous prayer under the headings or “Hope and Healing” which had just come to a close. Unfortunately the candles were left alight in the prayer room and some paper caught alight. Result fire and smoke in the prayer room. Maybe God took our prayers too literally? The good news first. No-one was in the room at the time, and the fire alarm works perfectly… however the fire drill was less successful.

No-one in the building moved or showed any concern or urgency, (even as the shutter to the kitchen was coming down people were trying to get their teas and coffees). The fire wardens sought to clear the room but their pleas fell on deaf ears. (don’t worry health and safety addicts, we are intending to address this immediately!). I guess everyone was thinking, “false alarm, no-one is going to interrupt my chat, fair trade coffee and digestive biscuit”, but it got me thinking…

In these days of rumours of revival, what happens if the “fire of God does fall” ? How are we going to act? Will we be willing to respond and react to what God is doing, or will we be reticent to alter our well worn ways of doing things? (“Please Lord, I’m very happy for You to move as long as its at the appropriate time of our service that we have a measure of control of, and please don’t interrupt our after service drinks”.

There’s a cost and incovenience that often accompanies the “suddenly” of God. Coffees off, the fire’s come, its time to move…