stonepavement

Moved - AFRICA

2006-09-03T09:07:00.000+01:00

Many are the plans of a man's heart, but the Lord determines his steps....

LiveAfrica

please add this link and join me as the Lord continues to lead..

Time Out

2005-09-22T11:17:00.000+01:00

Well! Blogging.. it's proved to be a part of my schedule I have had to let go for a while and one I will miss in the interim.

The workload of lecturing for the first time in my life has proved meteoric.

Combine this with starting a Post Grad in education then...

Moving more and more into the ministry team of our fellowship here in Stow means some things have to go for a while.

Future projects. The church website will be up over the next few months and enrolement in Spurgeons Bible College to kick off my distance learning will happen before Christmas...

It's a privilege to know God is ordering our steps and for me it's proving a very steep learning curve...a curve of absolute committment to what God wants for each minute of my day...many of those minutes and hours will be as a husband and father to an amazing family..

So here's to the next set of chapters as God kicks up the fire, purges and proves me as He leads each day...an amazing journey.

I will continue to read my blogging favourites....God Bless

2 weeks no blog?

2005-09-05T20:44:00.000+01:00

I never thought this would happen..such a gap...but life is life and the time has been full...

It started just after my last post...I had the privilege to preach in our church, an opportunity to be repeated more often towards Christmas as our Pastor has asked Karen and myself to be an integral of the ministry team...

70th - My Dad was 70 on the same weekend and we celebrated with a family photo...what an amazing weekend..

The new job (Lecturing)...it started...daunted by the thought that in less than a week now the new students will be sitting in front of me listening! I hope...

And more beside as we had our 2nd youth night...what amazing times...crazy games, music, drama and exploring "faith in Jesus" and all it means... you can see the photos here Youth4Youth

So I commit to renewed online writings as the days unfold.....one last word..

New Orleans...the British Media seems to want to lambast Bush personally for the events following the Katirna Storm....STOP! He's God's man with a team he has to trust...they'll work it out...and learn from it. What we all need to learn from it is that life is fragile, just one storm and the world reels in shock global petrol prices rise and we see the fragility of life...onlookers should take stock...life is so so fragile and can be taken from us in a blink of an eye.

is Britain Great?

2005-08-25T07:21:00.000+01:00

Not any more...we're morally bankrupt, but this is only a symptom of being bankrupt of faith - faith is Jesus Christ. We've lost for a long time now the understanding of the gospel and that the Good News of Jesus Christ is the only answer to our many many problems. Problems which stem from turning our backs on God...we still as nation have our culture firmly turned away from wanting to turn to Christ.

Winning the Olympics will not bring us greatness, winning the Ashes Test Cricket will not bring us greatness...only by turning our lives in surrender to the person of Jesus Christ will we know greatness again.

Billy Graham said "I do not believe that any man can solve the problems of life without Jesus Christ" He said this in California in 1949...and it hasn;t changed since then nor since the 1st century church.....

Our challenge is to be His ambassadors today, right now and to be used as a channel of the gospel through our testimony, and life lived out.....

taking ground this weekend

2005-08-21T22:14:00.000+01:00

It happened but not as we imagined...20 young people on the first night...!

Great icebreaker games; time to hang out, discuss and make music in the first night....

I don't think we could have imagined it going better. First of all God blew our hopes out of the water and has us redefining and preparing again for growth at a rate we never thought possible..

The feedback so far has been really positive and we give all the glory to God.

My week break from work which starts anew in lecturing tomorrow turned out to be a full week of stuff. Painting a sign for the village Christian book shop is nearly finished. Preparing for last night which was amazing and general running around helping friends and family do those things that need help.. a fulfilling week....

...also a week of battle, as last night (Saturday) loomed up so did circumstance to distract and depress... our foe is a past master at bringing us down. My "take" on the this is "good" the heat is rising so we're going the right way into the fire, forward on the front line..this weekend God didn't take an inch at a time..which sometimes we have to do but He took us a giant leap into growth...

...so now a new target is set... 50 by Christmas...with strength, depth and changed lives...

20 by christmas..

2005-08-17T14:12:00.000+01:00

Ryan, Sarah, Fran and Charis are just the first 4 to be part of a new work in Stow-on-the-Wold Baptist Church Youth...they don't know it yet, but a vision of 20 of them by this Christmas is the target..

I think my nerves at entering again the arena of youth work is formost in my mind than enything else...will we engage them? will the time be interesting and provoke thought?...will the ice breaker and fun time be pitched right? all these questions and I know it's so totally out of my control..and totally in God's hands. I think from experience youth work on the night is very well ordered, but perceived chaos...and then it's over...

Well it happens for real this Saturday between 6:30 - 9:00pm...if you want to check how it goes, check back on the weekend..

SAFEHOUSE http://safeh.blogspot.com theme on the night:poverty

celebration today - another year!

2005-08-16T10:47:00.000+01:00

Happy Brithday Sis....

I left home when I was 18 and my sister 5 and family life kind of ended for our relationship until much later in our lives...I went through college, married had children and slowly Nae caught up with me and we've now a wonderful friendship...thanks to my wife Karen who always kept a strong link.

Nae works and ministers in Trinity in Cheltenham and has God given gifting in worship...and we now live just 30 minutes drive from each other..

It's her day today...she's on her way to us to have a birthday tea with her 6 nieces and nephews and some jelly and icecream for desert...seeing God work out His plans in her life these days when a life is surrendered to Him is really exciting and encouraging to see...

Visit her blog and wish her happy birthday....Happy Birthday Nae...

walking in His will

2005-08-15T09:14:00.000+01:00

God has ordained good works for us to do as Paul reminded the Ephesians in ch2. We are as believers called to walk in the way He has perfectly prepared...whatever that means this week, it's so important to embrace it...

such Grace and Mercy

2005-08-12T09:30:00.000+01:00

I'm spending a short few days in between jobs and I am getting the time to sit and reflect and think over the past and towards the future. In a couple of weeks time about 2 weeks away on the 28th my pastor has opened the pulpit to me.

Preparing for such a privilege as this, is something that sends me deep into reflection on the enormity of Grace and Mercy which has been poured out onto my life in the 39 years I've breathed air on this earth.

The reality of God's grace in every minute is too large to put my finite mind around. It's wonder that best describes the adoration and surrender I feel and want to know.

Mat Redman put this way in his song "Breathing the Breath"

"We have nothing to give
That didn't first come from Your hands
We have nothing to offer You
Which You did not provide
Every good, perfect gift comes from
Your kind and gracious heart
And all we do is give back to You
What always has been Yours"

When I think of the places we've travelled as a family, the diversity of the people we've met, the persecution we've seen in our brothers and sisters and their sacrifice, it leaves me in awe of a God who wants me to live in the truth of His word...

Lord, take me again and use me, make me a channel of your love and your life. Lord may I truely be your fragrance that others might see life and want to know you....Amen

"Who has given to You
That it should be paid back to him?
Who has given to You
As if You needed anything?
From You, and to You, and through You
Come all things, O Lord
And all we do is give back to You
What always has been Yours"

Who am I?

2005-08-10T10:24:00.000+01:00

Our two younger boys...amazing little lives, full of life and hope and all that lies before them..I love them...standing next to the off-road Range Rover...a boys dream..

Looking at this photo I am moved again by the words of one of my favourite albums by Casting Crowns "Who am I"

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You're

Chorus:
I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours

Who Am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love and watch me rise again
Who Am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me

I am Yours
Whom shall I fear
Whom shall I fear
'Cause I am Yours
I am Yours

reflection on John the Baptist

2005-08-09T08:21:00.000+01:00

The Old Testament testifies to the coming messiah (Saviour). Jesus appeared as the perfect embodiment of the truth, which he illustrated in His own sinless life. We see slow deliberate clues in the early Old Testament turned to specific promises later on that a messiah would come to deliver the Children of Israel through a final sacrifice in which all mankind would benefit (Isaiah 49:6)

...then John the Baptist arrives into history..

What’s interesting to see in John ch1 is that John the Baptist’s mission was his identity. He deflected all attention from himself to Jesus. He refused to allow anyone to acknowledge anything about himself except his message. He ate locusts and honey, he lived rough..his physical appearance was so different to the expected prophesied messenger referred to in Isaiah 40:3-5

Erwin McManus puts it this way in his book The Barbarian Way:

“John’s faith was raw and untamed. There was nothing civilised about him….If you were looking for a reed swayed by the wind (someone easily moulded by the expectations of the civilised) or a man dressed in fine clothes (someone to impress the political or religious elite), you were looking in the wrong place. But if you went out to see a prophet, John was your man. And he was more than a prophet. He was the one whom God chose to prepare the way of the coming of His Son. Of all the men born of women- and that pretty much covers everybody but Adam- John was the greatest. Jesus by the way was born of God. The assumption was that for such a job, God would choose someone with polish and refinement.

Jesus wanted to make clear that the greater the kingdom responsibility, the more barbarian is required. But then He added something that opened a floodgate of possibilities for the rest of us. Jesus said “Yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” Matthew 11:11

Question: If you were to remove your Christian witness to unbelievers, how different would your life be? Do the people in your life (sphere of influence) know you are a believer/follower of Christ/Christian?

Reflect: Today ask the Lord for a single opportunity to have a conversation that is directed towards Jesus. Seek a John the Baptist opportunity to engage someone in a life challenging moment.

Read: 2 Cor 14b… “…and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him”

Pray: Make a personal list of 3 people who during a week you meet and sometimes strike up a conversation. Seek to know the right words to say to them that engages and provokes their need of Christ.

...............................................

Dad I need to pack!

2005-08-08T13:01:00.000+01:00

I've been remis over the last 2 weekends with my writing here. Life has caused me to concetrate and focus on the reality in living rather than writing. As much as I find my blog a stimulating process and a record of the journey of life, so as we serve I find the reality of work, home and family takes priority and is a joy.

I walked downstairs this morning to find Matthew and Jacob sitting leisurely in the lounge in their regular morning routine of cartoon watching...I think they phase into the day waking up to the reality of another summers vacation day.

Normally they don't notice me other than to say..."Dad can I have a bowl of cereal?" I oblige and they go back to the lounge...but this morning was different....
...Matthew turned to me and said "Dad I need to pack!" his look was urgent, he had an expression that said - I need to do it now, I need to be ready...I'm going somewhere...He didn't want to watch, he wanted to pack....sure enough our 2 youngest boys are going to their grand parents this week in South Wales. As soon as they knew they were going they wanted to pack instantly. Karen said, let's do it the day before we go and you can help me....

What struck me:
1. Matthew wanted to go - right away
2. He felt things were not ok until he has done something towards leaving....
3. His usual routine was second to where he wanted to go...he had a purpose today...
4. He was ready to put aside what he considered fun in order to pack....
5. Matthew remembered his Mum had said the day before we can pack together...he was ready waiting..it was on his mind.

His change this morning really made me think how much of our routine dulls us into lack of action...we do "this" and a do "that" and this is scheduled and that is arranged and slowly the hours, days and weeks pass and we are conditioned into a dangerous place of "sameness"......Every day is a new day, a day of individual purpose with plans laid before us that God wants us to walk in......are we ready everyday to be in the frame of mind I met Matthew in? It challenges me.

When did you last break out of the routine and stop..listen...and act? Or you know that time the Holy Spirit prompted you to call that person? Remember? have you done it yet? Was it a word of encouragement? or something that was hindering your fellowship between freinds/family....

....don't waste any more time here...pick the phone up.

....email them...comment on their blog.

....encourage, engage....it's character building......I am!

attack of the bloggers!@~#!

2005-08-04T14:39:00.000+01:00

I've been reading several blogs over the weeks that have passed since I started to blog and have come to the conclusion that blog forums have a tendency to distract our time..time spent discussing the "ins" and "outs" of our theological persuasion consume inordinate amounts of time. This time is spent arguing and thrashing points of view around the world with fellow bloggers who we don't really know personally other than what we read.....(I'm not devalueing the friendships and encouragement gained from blogging)

The greatest rule of all within the blog world has to be "let the gift of Grace be evident in all we write"

This clearly is not the case when issues cause heated responses. Another underlying trend I've noticed is the sarcasm displayed when proponents of one emphasis are challenged from the other viewpoint.

This then escalates into a semi personal attack on integrity of one belief.

A recent example of this is from the EmergentNo team where the authors are very clear of their intent to proclaim the herecy of a movement.

"Challies" by the nature of the freedom it offers to post also provides a well bed of theological discussion from every spectrum of reason....

"Pyromaniac" ...manages to keep his views edged with Grace, though by his own admission he is oppinionated. He still manages to stay on the right side of christian comment.

I sympathise most of all with Dan and "Cerulean Sanctum". Dan doesn't attack, Dan comments and we are drawn in empathy to cry from the heart that rings..."Lord take your place here in this world of comment"

For those of us who are sideliners in an often frantic catch-up of reading in lives spent more in the real world than the theoretical blog world, take heart! We do not need to be so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good...let's get balanced

...b a l a n c e!!!

it's time to educate!

2005-08-03T17:27:00.000+01:00

I picked up the phone it was on silent mode and buzzing on the desk. "Hello Andrew? can you speak it's Gloscat. ....I have the pleasure of offering you the Lecturers post here with us in the college!"

"Many are the plans of a mans heart, but it is the Lord's purposes that prevail" Proverbs 19:21

In 3 weeks I see a job change!... I got the job, I now embark on a journey as an educator in the Higher Education College of Gloucester (Gloscat). Incredible, last week I knew it was time to move on, then I get an interview request, Monday the interview and today the job offer...QUICK...I like this kind of guidance!!. The salary though only slightly higher is irrelevant...what is significant is this:

1. Gloscat will train me to educate (PGCE training starts in a couple of months)
2. I'll be educating 16-19 years olds in a profession...the profession the Lord led me into...Civil Engineering.
3. Being able to mentor young people with a Christian viewpoint...a privilege
4. 50 days vacation a year - the time to support the work of our fellowship in Stow-on-the-Wold..
5. Time to study in the open learning Spurgeons Degree programme...
6. Time to serve.

...it's all about His will, direction and purposes prevailing....encouraging day..Thank you Lord.

the believers rule of three

2005-08-02T07:16:00.000+01:00

Over the last few days the opportunities God has brought my way have been exciting and interesting...

Over the weekend I was preparing for an interview with the regional Higher Education College for a role as a lecturer in construction. To join other educators training young people from 16-19 years old in a career in building and construction. It culminated in 5 hours at the college yesterday where I had to do a "mini-teach" in front of the interviewing panel and then a case study and a formal interview...I'll know today or tomorrow if this is the opportunity God wants for me to take..I was shortlisted during the day to the last 2 candidates...

Another privilege is the new youth work which my wife and I are preparing to launch later this month....praying and talking to our core youth of about 5 students it's a time of visioning and preparing how it will glorify God and establish a safe place for young people to explore the reality of a life submitted to and relationship with Christ..

And last but not least..I was in the church sanctuary last night moving and setting up the pc and projector so we can worship without the Overhead Projector..I ended up putting the screen on the seat of the 100 year old organ(we don't use it at present)..I'm not sure the Dissenters if they saw the screen would mind..their sole purpose was to worship the Lord freely and live in the truth of the priesthood of all believers...

I've been reading Spurgeon this week.. a book my Mum gave me called "Prayer & Spiritual Warfare" In the chapter "The Power of Prayer and the Pleasure of Praise" Spurgeon writes....

talking about Paul he says "We find him computing by the Believers Rule of Three: he argues from the past to the present and from the present to things yet to come.....1 Cor 1:10 "Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us". Because God is "the same yesterday, and today, and forever" (Heb 12:13)

Listen to what Spurgeon says next:

"His love in time past is an infallible assurance of His kindness today, and an eqaully certain pledge of His faithfulness tomorrow, whatever our circumstances may be, however perplexing our path may be, and however dark our horizon".

Amen, Amen, Amen....

indoor fruit baseball!

2005-07-29T13:52:00.000+01:00

It was explained to me when I arrived home last night..Matthew now better from the bang on his head and his brother Jacob (who threw the rock) decided while Karen was upstairs cleaning that they would play indoor baseball! Ok so that's not a good start and they know this is not the right behaviour for indoor recreation. Even their older sisters couldn't work out how they rationalised this behaviour as "ok", or even as something they would not be caught for doing.

Anyway, the plot thickens, they decide that the baseball will be substituted for an apple an orange and a banana in rotation until these fruits are smashed to pulp and the pulp of these fruit is stuck on the tv, sofa, lounge desk and carpet floor.

In place of the bat they used their sister's musical recorder...great choice..!

When Karen came back downstairs....Well you can imagine the scene, smashed pulp all over the lounge walls, floor and furniture and the boys with an expression on their faces like; "it was his idea as they look at each other"......after an explanation and disciplining they are ordered to get in the bath and get clean...(they were also covered in fruit).

They walk upstairs and get on with their bath...Karen starts to clean up in the aftermath...about 15 minutes later while in the kitchen Karen hears water running, but it sounds close by, like in the next room, but there are no appliances going, no dishwasher or washing machine turned on...so where in the water coming from???

You guessed it...water is leaking through the ceiling in the ground floor shower room!! Karen runs upstairs only to catch Matthew in the act! He's standing on the back edge of the bath against the bathroom wall preparing for another record breaking jump slide down the back bath side into the bath which each time causes a tidal wave to overflow the bath sides onto the floor, they had been improvising again for a fun park high slide!!

.......the rest is history...another day in the summer vacation of our house...only 1 week since school broke up so far!!!!

"shaking the church!"

2005-07-28T09:49:00.000+01:00

Earlier this week I walked in to our home after returning from work and the family were all gathered in the front lounge and looking rather pale faced. Our long time friend Jan (now retired - a former nurse) was sitting in the room aswell. As I looked around I realised that Matthew our youngest was stretched out on the sofa with a towel and ice pack on his head....

..."Okay so what happened" I asked?

Karen looked at me and relayed the saga of how Jacob, Matthew's next older brother threw a rock into our tree in the back garden, the rock however didn't feel the need to stay in the tree and fell back out with the sharp edge landing on the front crown of his Matthew's head - well; springs of living blood gushed from his hair and every member of the family responded differently the instant after the accident:

Alexander the eldest boy(9) ran around in a panick.
Jacob, who threw the rock looked on with disbelief at what had happened to his little bro' by his own hands.
Esther, she screamed!
Charis and Sarah our two older daugthers ran straight for towels and ice and placed them squarely on Matt's head...stemming the blood flow..

NB* Matthew was fine - but as a family the whole event lasting just minutes had shaken them all quite a lot.

Hebrews 12:26-29 "At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire." "

God at this moment in history is shaking His church only to be left with that which cannot be shaken. God carries out this shaking process by presenting His church and individuals with problems. These problems are not designed to cause His people to fall from grace but to get to grips with the things in their lives which need to be sorted out and the things that need to be changed in the church structures that they build. We need to understand that everything is shakeable except for God and God wants us to understand that we can only put our confidence in Him.

God wants to be left with mature, fruitful, righteous and effective servants who will not fall appart or let Him down when He needs them. He also is looking for churches that will be left with the right structure and programmes that will enable His will to be done and not hinder it.

Luke 18:7-8 "And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

resignation & disqualification!

2005-07-27T15:01:00.000+01:00

"And as Christ's soldier, do not let yourself become tied up in the affairs of this life, for then you cannot satisfy the one who has enlisted you in his army. Follow the Lord's rules for doing his work, just as an athlete either follows the rules or is disqualified and wins no prize" New Living Translation 2 Tim 2: 4-5

"Soldiers on duty don't work at outside jobs. They try only to please their commanding officer. No one wins an athletic contest without obeying the rules" Contemporary English 2 Tim 2: 4-5

"No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer. Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules." NIV 2 Tim 2: 4-5

Resignation and disqualification - I currently have been working in recruitment for the last 2+ months and it's not for me. So I'm about to resign. I've reflected on the situation for a while:

1. You don't know what profession/work is right for you until you try it.

2. Any work for me is "tent making", whilst the main thrust of life is centred around being used in ministry whatever shape or form or kind of anonymous service this takes.

3. Recruitment is a cut throat industry, no trust, just profit. It's dressed in the guise of providing clients with a "high level of service" and "adding value" to the recruitment process for corporate companies. Then those in the business sue each other for stepping on each others "turf"...no thanks.

So in the next few days I will be explaining to the branch manager that this just isn't for me. scary!..but necessary. We need to be true to the prompting God gives us and I'm so not called to be a recruitment consultant...

Paul warned Timothy that not running the race because of distraction in the world could lead to disqualification..in all areas of our life the calling God places on us needs to be held in front of us as we travel and not placed aside for any reason other than directed by God.

So the next few weeks will prove a new test of faith as I seek new employ and step into the unknown again...

Winston Churchill

2005-07-26T17:50:00.000+01:00

"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." Winston Churchill

18 weeks to christmas!

2005-07-25T10:57:00.000+01:00

"Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain." ~Author Unknown

Rainy days, showers and dark clouds and it's only 18 weeks to Christmas! I know, summer in the British Isles doesn't last that long. As the year draws closer to Autumn and those rainy days get more frequent...it's good to know the spiritual reality of our days doesn't change.

New life happens every day, a new day is a new challenge and new test. Paul talks about our life situation like this...

Colossians 2 :14-15 "Having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross"

Paul also said in 2 Corinthinas 2:14 "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him."

It's true, being led in triumph means all our enemies have been triumphed over. When a Roman General was victorious in battle he was given a triumph by Caesar and arrived back in Rome with all he had captured in procession behind him - all captured soldiers and prisoners were led behind him. Here Paul reminds us that we too in reality live in this triumph that Jesus provided for us and leads us in continually...not just once, but continually.

We don't need the gimmicks of "positive mental attitude" and the self helps that promote independence from everyone (inc God), we have the reality of triumph and this triumph has a beautiful aroma of the knowledge of Him and the Good News He brings...Praise God..

everyday matters!

2005-07-23T10:51:00.000+01:00

“If ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious: unto whom coming, a living stone, rejected indeed of men, but with God elect, precious, ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter Ch2:3-5

I am continually challenged by the opportunities we face every day of our lives and how we handle them. For me, the daily fact that the Grace of God (unmerited favour) is sufficient in all my circumstances always prompts me to submit and surrender to His will and daily purpose for my life.

Franklin D. Roosevelt said “never before have we had so little time in which to do so much.” I’m sure he had some pressing moments in his generation of war and tension.

It’s our privilege to be called “living stones” and with these the Lord is building a spiritual house. This house has a purpose, one that brings Him glory. Jesus repeatedly says in John’s gospel that His purpose is to do the will of my Father in heaven. As we start every new day this to is our purpose.

Franklin Roosevelt was up against the clock in his life circumstances – the stark reality is that we are too. We have the lasting and powerful words of the Lord Jesus – “As the Father has sent me so I am sending you” Jn20:21

Our “quiet times” of personal and group study serve as food to nourish and restore our hearts and minds. Our witness in our daily walk is the point at which we are “spent” for the Lord, where tensions and troubles will often come across our path. Many men and women have gone before us and have been subject to prejudiced scrutiny and often misunderstood in their day – BUT – their obedience in spite of opposition has brought us a heritage and an example we can follow. I think of the disciples who after being so close to Jesus received the His words in vs.21 above but then in Jn20:22 Jesus breathed on them and said “receive the Holy Spirit”. We too have the Holy Spirit as God’s comforter and source of heavenly power working through our lives - according to the degree by which we surrender to Him daily – Praise God

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy” - Martin Luther King, Jr.

guidance newsflash!

2005-07-22T15:31:00.000+01:00

Procrastination is a time killer....

Sometimes we know what we have to do and don't!

"time" - an unfinished project

2005-07-21T15:40:00.000+01:00

Last year while church planting life was the most hectic it has ever been....time was a premium, both Karen and myself were privileged to be doing what we were doing and found that the use of our time was key to a simpler week. Each Monday morning we would put down our weeks committments, work out who was where and who had to be in the right place at the right time. Slowly we worked a good system. I found that the men/women in ministry I had met up to this time struggled with the management of their time, prioritizing it and using it.

Inherent in ministry is conflict with time. Many calls on time are made to the men and women who minister in the Kingdom. One day we had a mission team with us in Canada up from Kentucky (they are now life long friends) and I joked with the Director of Missions about writing a book for Pastors about time management. I've been trained in my profession to optimise time and to "plan the work, work the plan" you name it, it would seem I've be trained in it.. What seems to happen though, is we don't apply such beneficial learning and understanding of the stewardship of time in our ministry life and calling.

So last Autumn I started to write. The book is planned out and roughed ready for 21 chapters. 6 chapters are complete in draft form and the remaining 15 ready to complete...and now I restart. When we knew the Lord was calling us back to England last Autumn I stopped to pack the house...and put "on hold" the project. Now it's time to begin again and aim at late summer to complete the work. Excerpt from chapter 1

"A Godly Respect of Time"
"There are three kinds of driving forces behind our use of time; briefly we’ll look at what they are and which one of these we need to focus on.

1. Time governed by our circumstances - Circumstance Driven Time
In this place you will find the circumstances of your life dictate how you use the majority of your time. You find yourself bouncing between appointments, late for meetings, letting down significant people in your life and sometimes missing the important family times. It seems the interruptions and demands on your time are in control. If some of this rings a bell in your thought process, then quite possibly your time is circumstance driven.

2. Time governed by your desires – Desire Driven Time
Are you addicted to certain things in your life, which waste your time? Here our desires dominate our priorities even where we are sometimes tempted. Do you have parts of your week where you have idle time, giving rise to temptation and fulfilling the fleshly desires? Maybe it’s a sport you have to watch? Can’t turn the TV of all night since the football game is on? These traits are those of time driven by our desires.

3. Time governed by our values – Value Driven Time
Here our values govern the use of our time, allowing us to set the important times of our days and week aside for family, our son’s and daughters, without pressure distracting us to the commitments of others. We can see daily and weekly that our time is being spent on the priorities God has set out in lives, those He has set out in His calling on our lives and we are able to see that our week has made steps towards these goals.

As we work through the disciplines and steps to reach a well ordered and managed agenda and use of our time, this book will help you start towards seeing Value Driven Time as the prominent characteristic in your life. As you seek and rely on the Holy Spirits power and wisdom to enlighten and give you the committment to change then the changes will slowly take effect. (According to the commitment you are prepared to give.)"

I'll let you know when it's completed...

living true to your calling

2005-07-20T10:56:00.000+01:00

"A called person should never serve a need or a denomination first" Bob Gordon

A calling from God has within it a recognition that we will be equipped for the call. Even though we may feel inadequate and unworthy (and we all do from time to time) we need to know that in God we will be supplied with what it takes to respond fully to the call. We also will be able to be disciplined and trained in it.

With a call comes an anointing of God which enables leaders to fulfil their call. It is the Holy Spirit working through you and He should be in control. Certain activities in your life will receive anointing and you need to learn to operate in those areas where the anointing of the Lord will be released through you E.g; praise and worship, prayer, teaching, etc...

A call must be lived - and not just left on the shelf. God is looking for faithful people who will walk in obedience to Him, and we need to operate in our calling in order for God to sharpen it and make it more effective..Sometimes when you're mentored you may come across what I call a "Bird Nest Leader", someone who mentors, trains and then leaves you in the nest and doesn't launch you,..... "yes" there will be some near misses and "yes" the odd bumpy ride, but that's how reliance and trust in God come and how His calling on your life is fulfilled through supportive launching...

Warnings:

1. Laziness - will work against a call where we expect God to do everything instead of stewarding the talent the Lord has given us. (Matthew 25:14-30)
2. Busy Lives - can work against your calling if we allow our lives to be swamped with other things and fail our calling.
3. Spreading too thin - Do you pastor now and find yourself covering a multitude of callings, some not yours? Stop and unravel your calling and release other people into their ministry. This will enable the church to function as an interdependent, effective body that God intended..

Called people:

...know their God (Ephesians 4:4-6)
...know that God put's His hand upon their life and that He is committed to them (Romans 8:28; 1 Thess 5:23-24)
...see themselves as God sees them (Romans 9:20; 1 Samuel 16:7)
...know they are owned by God (1 Cor 6:19-20)
...know their purpose in God and are unshakeably committed to this (Philippians 3:12-14)

16th century church plant

2005-07-19T14:06:00.000+01:00

345 years ago a group of non-conformists challenged by the Holy Spirit, broke English law and met to preach the gospel and worship as a community without a lisence, without the common prayer book and without a Bishop! here in the Cotswolds. They risked fines of upto 1 years salary.

They challenged the law and for the rest of the centruy up to the 1689 until Parliament passed the Toleration Act, they met privately and started to build the church we now worship in. Our Pastor (Rev Ken Davies) this week reminded us of the price they were prepared to pay for the freedom to worship. Early Dissenters suffered ruiness fines, break up of their worship and even times in jail.

For what? To freely worship God. They proposed the simple use of English, prayers that came from the heart (not a worshipbook), hymns sung by the congregation, and sermons not written and read by professional sermonwriters in the bishop's employ but sermons crafted by the local preacher out of his deep and prayerful study of scripture.

As a church today the old 16th century hall is now the back hall. As the church grew they planted and sponsered new church plants in sight of the Hill on which Stow-on-the-Wold stands. They funded and supported new church plants impacting the rural community for miles around. When mission forms the central priority of any church, blessing will follow. As God's own give themselves away in obedience, He builds His kingdom.

Today: The Hills of the Cotswolds, which saw Wesley preach from surrounding fields in a horse and cart is praying again that new life and growth will come...as their people remain faithful in outreach....Many older churches, small in size are in a situation that resembles the stresses and pressures of new church plants...the needs are the same, (excluding maybe a building)..the unbelieving community is the same,...and the demand on ministry is the same...we just need the workers...people, who with no thought for themselves will abandon their ambitions on this earth for those of the next...Amen

Luke 10:1-3 "After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves."