Good news...

I never did finish blogging on my Lithuanian adventure and that now seems such a long time ago. On reflection it was an outstanding three days with a man whom I respect and admire, but more than that, a weekend where I saw afresh the vast reach of the global church of which i am part. To go to a place that geographically I couldn't put a pin, and to be welcomed so warmly, helped me to see beyond the end of my nose. I am definitely one who focuses on the things that are immediate!!!

Since, B and I spent the week at a youth camp, joining with Newfrontiers churches around the country. We saw young people inspired by hearing about their God and seeing him at work, as well as going out and helping local churches in their communities. As a church we took 12-16 year olds with us and saw three of those respond to the invitation to follow Jesus. We also saw three of them healed of varying ailments. What a joy it is to see 350+ youth respond to the gospel, especially knowing that 3 of them are people you can share the moment with.

However God is not constrained to do things just at big meetings. Even yesterday, Darren, a new friend of mine from the last Alpha course came in to the office and committed his life to Jesus. He rang the bell with the understanding that his God was rejoicing at his turning to follow Jesus.

It may be the Great British getaway time of year, but God is not on holiday and He is still revealing his love and grace to people in Reading and He has a people here ready to respond in leading those he has chosen into a new life, birthed by the Spirit, lived for Jesus, to bring glory to the Father.

Enjoying fatherhood

Sean spoke today on fatherhood today at church. 6 months ago I would only have been looking forward to what it could be like to be a father. I would have been listening to Sean's talk and taking notes for the time that I would be a father.

Today I sat and drank up all that he had to say, knowing that I now have a little girl who is growing fast. It was great to hear about the fact that I need to love her and to think about the priorities afresh, however the most important thing I will take from this morning will be that I am my daughters priest. I am the one who needs to intercede for her before God. I am not her High Priest as that would be Jesus, but I am her priest. For her, as she grows up to see me reading the bible and praying, knowing that part of that is prayer for her alerted me once more to the great call of fatherhood.

There was so much other good stuff that Sean said this morning and I recommend listening to it here. I know that I have so much to learn but I know that I want to be the father that God is calling me to be and the one that my daughter needs me to be!

Thoughts from three weeks ago!

Going away on holiday is always good and a week down in North Devon enjoying the company of B, Rachel and my parents was no exception. Holidays have now taken a different turn, they will now feel very different as I have come to realise, but it was a break none-the-less. Spending time together and doing things that you would not normally be able to do in the course of a working week.

Since being back, there is the small matter of catching up on all the things that have accumulated over a week and there is also new things to be thinking about. The new Alpha course needs to be planned for September; the current Alpha course remains on track and still has a great turn out; the new interns for next year are coming in for a visit and the current interns are nearing the end of their time working in the office; there are weddings to be celebrated and people who are ill or struggling who need prayer and care. There are baptisms to be planned and a fun day to be implemented.

Life is busy and long be it so, but in the midst of all of this I hear the voice of God saying be still and know that I am God.

Life group and joy

We had a great life group meeting last night. Although it all felt a little relaxed and even dare I say, lethargic, I know we met with God. After a brief but enlightening welcome we delved into worship. B had organised paper and drawing materials for us to draw or write whatever our hearts were reminded about Jesus.

It resulted in some pictures, a poem and a page full of song lyrics that give honour to Him. There was a picture of an ocean; magnificent, enormous, full of life, with power in abundance, but the ability to soothe even the most troubled soul. A picture of dark and light, showing what we have been saved from and saved into, with a poem that said something similar. An easel with a picture being painted of the world reminding us that God did not create haphazardly, but he designed, he knew what it would look like; a picture of the cross already painted next to it, reminding us that the cross was always the plan. There was also a picture of lilies helping us to see that we should not worry but seek first the kingdom of God!

All these things helped us to concentrate and focus upon our wonderful Saviour. In the The Fruitful Life there is a chapter on joy and it reminds us that we are commanded to be joyful, not just be joyful when we feel like it. Jerry Bridges does unpack this and one of the ways that he says we can live this joy is to give thanks in all circumstances. When we consider all of the above, we know we have so much to be thankful for and it has challenged me to follow the command to be joyful - in all circumstances!!!

I don't want to worry about the sudden disasters!

Well panic really seems to have set in regarding the financial turmoil the world finds itself in. The FTSE 100 finished 9% down the lowest since 1987 I am led to believe.

We are now living in uncertain times when it comes to the money markets, banks and governments. Are our mortgages now in danger, what about savings and pensions? Will our insurances be worth anything? Basically will I be able to look after my wife and my child that is on the way in the next year? How will all of this affect us as a church financially? Will people whom I love and care for lose their jobs, will redundancies become a thing that we expect? How will we as God's people help each other?

These are all legitimate questions that we can ask - they are all things that are real concerns. However I cannot get away from the verse that has had me thinking for a while now - it is found in Proverbs 3:25-26:

"Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared."

I do not wish to be trite or glib, but I cannot read this and then go back to being consumed with what-ifs regarding the economic crisis that rages on. I must focus on Jesus, on bringing glory to Him. It says in the Bible in Matthew 6:33-34;

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Maybe we will be in a place where we will emulate the early church in Acts 2 by selling possessions so that others amongst us can eat, if that is the case let's be those who do it with joy and not let that which the world is so panicked about rob us of faith and hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. Yes let's be diligent, but let's also keep a generous spirit and watch out for those around us who may need help.

The Reason for God, Willow Creek and Alpha!!!

A lot has been going over this past few days. I have really started to read The Reason For God by Tim Keller. I must say, I am not finding it the easiest of reads because he has obviously got a much sharper mind than my own. However, his understanding of the culture in which he lives and how he has managed to distill objections and then give calm, gentle, humble answers is fantastic. I do find sometimes though that I can be tied in knots in my thinking when looking at what he has written which means I have to read and re-read (not a bad thing but as I say his sharpness is his brilliance amongst other things). What I am left with as I read is that I always want to have an answer when someone asks me why I follow Jesus - obvious I know, but so important. After all it's all about Jesus.

I have also spent two great days with Sean Green at the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit. It was great to go and focus on leadership skills and be inspired by people that are passionate about their vision for what God has given them to do; also those who have just taken knocks and upsets but have still continued and let those knocks shape them and their future. The one thing I came away with was the same as that of Sean (see his blog here) and that was a call to be a full-time follower of Christ - to chase after Him and not anything else. In all that lies before us as a church, I want to be someone who is going for God and as a result everything I do will be for Him and not for any other reason.

Thirdly Alpha. The first official week took place last night at the Glo Bar in Reading town centre - a great venue by the way. We did have three new guests but they were not the same three from the Alpha launch night. I would dearly love to see more people coming to this course as I believe that God is using this particular medium to see people saved. however I am also acutely aware through this that God is in control and who we have is those that He has planned to be there since the beginning of time.

In all three of these things that I have written about, it highlights to me that I need to be a Christian who isn't just wearing a badge, but someone who is engaging with those around me in a way that they can understand; this coming out of my love of Him as I spend time with Him and continually rediscover that love which set me free from bondage to sin; resulting in me seeing the bigger picture and trusting that in all things, God is in control!

Money markets collapse, but Jesus reigns

As I turn on the radio or TV these days there is always a news report telling of the woes of the financial markets. It's true that things are not looking great at the moment in that respect. The two major banks in Belgium have hit major problems, Spanish banks seem to be buying up many other European banks, the senate have had to sanction a massive rescue package for the US banks. If you focus on these things you cannot help but start to worry about your own finances. We have a mortgage and we have savings; we both have pensions and we have insurances for all the things that you would expect.

However, I cannot get away from the teaching on money that we find in the bible.

For starters we are not supposed to trust in money. We are told that we cannot serve two masters and that refers to money or God. I follow God, I want to serve only him!

When Jesus talks about not worrying about tomorrow, it is in the context of clothing ourselves and feeding the family - he makes the point that God makes sure that the birds of the air can eat and that the lilies of the field are clothed in splendour and that because of this how much more will he provide for us.

I know for me and my house we will continue to trust in God. Yes there are real problems with the worlds economy, but I am not going to let that detract from the fact that my God is bigger than the world economy and He will do what needs to be done.

In some ways I want to take the opportunity at this time to bring people hope in a world that is in turmoil. At the end of the day, those that have trusted in finance have seen that fail and are looking beyond the money markets. I pray that they will find people who will introduce them to Jesus so they may know what real hope is.

As I sat tonight with B with my hand laid across her tummy where BT is laying, I had a random thought about how we will survive on one wage in this current climate - the answer came quickly:

'So do not worry, saying "what shall I eat?" or "What shall I drink?" or "What shall I wear?" For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.' Matthew 6:31-34

I don't mean to trot this out glibly, but I have to believe that God is in control and that he knows what is happening and that he will ensure that we as a family will survive through it, whatever that surviving looks like!

Update on BT

The 1st of October has roiled around - where has this year gone? B and I are now half way through the pregnancy which will see us become parents for the first time. We had the 20 week scan on Monday and all was well. Baby Taylor is growing as a baby should and Barbie is healthy. She has felt lots of movement and her bump is slowly growing. I get very excited at the prospect of being a father and holding our little one in my arms.

It is truly incredible to see our 23cm long child moving in B's womb, stretching legs, drinking and generally being a baby! It's incredible because as a Christian, I know that this is not some chance happening, but this is the work of my God. We read in Psalm 139:13-15:

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mothers womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place."

In Jeremiah 1:5 we read:

"Before I formed you in your mothers womb I knew you before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as prophet to the nations."

Our child is beautiful already and I am almost in count down to February 12th mode already! But I also want this pregnancy to be a reminder of the awesome creative power of my Father in heaven. It is Him who opens the womb and brings forth life and therefore I will praise Him for giving us this precious gift of Baby Taylor. I love the fact it's not all chance but that this is God's sovereign creative delight to give us this joy.

Week of prayer

Next week sees the church embarking on a week of prayer and fasting. There is so much to pray about. Reading, the UK, Amsterdam, Zimbabwe, Russia, Pakistan; we need to pray for Alpha, salvation, growth, both in maturity and in numbers, the marriage course; church finances and the current world wide money market problems are areas we will seek God's face on.

We are prepared for five days of seeking God's face and have organised a few central events to help us focus in on prayer:

Monday - 6 am-7am - Men's prayer meeting
Tuesday - 6 am-7am - Women's prayer meeting
Wednesday - 7:45-9:45 - Cell group prayer walk
Thursday - 7:45-9:45 - Cell group prayer walk
Midnight Thursday - midnight Friday - 24 hours of prayer (watch this space for details)

All the meetings will at least start at the church office!

My prayer this week is that this week would not pass anyone by. That as a church we will all be part of praying and fasting for this term ahead in Reading, the nation and the nations. In Luke chapter 11 v 9-0, Jesus says:

'So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened to.'

Let's gather together, asking, seeking and knocking and let's see glory brought to God the Father as prayers are answered.

An attitude of humility and submission.

I have been reading 'The Winning Attitude' by John C Maxwell. It has been both insightful and timely. In it e highlights how our attitudes affect our actions and that there are so many factors that comprise our attitudes. He however says that we should have a positive attitude. He says that we should be like Paul who, although faced many circumstances that were hard, facing disappointment, persecution, shipwrecks and the like, he still pressed on towards the goal. Maxwell says that if we keep good attitudes we grow through trial and discouragement, through criticism and painful words. If we have a bad attitude we sink in a mire of self pity and woe.

Paul makes the point in Philippians that we should have the attitude of Christ Jesus:

'Who being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above all other names,
that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow,
in heaven and on earth,
and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.'
(Philippians 2:5-11)

This comes off the back of Paul saying:

'Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.' (Philippians 2:4)

Paul basically showed us that Jesus' attitude was one of humility and submission. Considering others above ourselves. Jesus didn't even see his equality with God something to be grasped - he submitted to the Father's will in coming to this earth; he submitted to his Father's will in all he did in life; he submitted to his Father's will even going to the cross. This is Jesus who in very nature is God, who is the radiance of God's glory, the exact representation of his being. He humbled himself and submitted.

How often I can find myself wanting my agenda. How often I want my will to be done. I long to have an attitude of humility and submission to God, to my wife, to my fellow elders, to RFC and to everyone I meet. I don't want to be a door mat, but I do want to be a man who does not think of himself more highly than he should. I want to be a man acquainted with my limitations and not overconfident in them. My prayer is that I can look at the attitude of Jesus and learn what humility and submission are, that I may be a man that can say to my God I want your will to be done and not mine.

The End of the world... I don't think so!!!

"The Earth is the LORD's and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
for he established it upon the seas and established it upon the waters." Psalm 24

Today as scientists endeavour to recreate the so called 'big bang' in Switzerland, these verses stand out. These verses remind us that He, that being the One True God, created and established the earth and that it all belongs to Him. As humans we can do all the experiments in the world but we cannot recreate that which God did when He spoke the world into being.

Incredible as this experiment may be in magnitude and financial outlay and indeed in danger, it can neither show how the world began, nor indeed end the world. Only God has the power to do both of these. We as humans find this so hard because we don't want to humble ourselves before an almighty God. We want to have explanations that ignore God because then we don't ever have to be called to judgement for our behaviour and our attitudes. We can live for ourselves and that seems right because we can ignore God.

I say ignore because He is always there, breathing new life into wombs, making it rain, bringing crops, allowing there to always be air to breath, making the sun and moon to rise each day. This is called God's general grace in theological terms and it means that he is in control. More specifically it is actually Jesus - we read in Hebrews chapter 1 that Jesus is the sustainer of all things; the bible also says in Colossians chapter 1 that Jesus creates all things whether seen or unseen, for Him. It then goes on to say that he holds all things together. You see God is in control and the experiment today is a way of showing our ignoring of Him.

It is almost preposterous to say that God created everything but we happy for a mother nature to be involved or worse still that it was just a bunch of chance happenings that explains why we are as we are. The universe points to an intelligent designer who is is control. I am no scientist, I also don't despise science - science has brought many great things to this world, I just think that as a society we believe blindly in theories, accepting them as fact, because some plausible men on television and periodicals tell us it's true.

Jesus is true and I am going to believe in Him, on the final day that's the only thing that will matter and it will be Him that brings about the final day, not some scientists in Switzerland!

Looking forward in anticipation

It's been great to get away and refresh a little, but I'm now excited to back and raring to go. This is a big term starting next week with the arrival of three new year teamers. You will no doubt hear the names of Andrew, Hannah and Sam (Samantha) over the coming months, but just to say they are all quality people who we are looking forward to having on board.

This term will also see us running Alpha again (more details in a later post), foundations and for the first time, the marriage course. We will hopefully be partnering with Reading Girls School to put on a carol concert at the school as well as meeting for Christmas day in the church office.

The preaching series this term will be Gathering and Going which will see us teaching into what it is to gather as a church in different contexts and then subsequently how we are to go into our local community and the nations. This will, as always, be based in scripture and will build towards Sean and Liz moving to Amsterdam to start the church.

There will be people At RFC that will hear the call to go to Amsterdam with Sean and Liz and we will be taking up an offering to support Sean and Liz in setting up the Church Plant as a gift to them.

Sunday mornings will be back in Reading Girls School from the 14th September when the children's work will all start again. There will be some recruiting of personnel going on between now and then, no doubt, particularly in the area of creche. The students will return at the beginning of October which will mean a return to student lunches each week.

We will be having Ben Davies, Tony Thompson and Mark Landreth-Smith come and visit and preach with us. We will see Richard come into eldership and the church leadership handed over.

there is so much happening this term that it could be easy to take our eyes off of Jesus. We must be those in the coming weeks and months, who, regardless of what is happening around us, must look to the cross and know that we are Christians not for our comfort but for his glory. We as a church are not gathered to be a cosy community, but a radical community who live for something other than ourselves. In this busy time lets remember the author and perfecter of our faith and run hard for him. My prayer is that no one will be left behind in all the changes; that we will all be caught up in this great mission of starting two new chapters, that God has called us on.

Newday musings

Yesterday saw, B, Nicola, Beckie Chard and I travel to Uttoxeter racecourse to visit the youth for the day. We arrived at about 12:00, just in time to wave the youth off as they went to serve in a park in Derby clearing paths for the local community. What I loved was seeing that our youth is made up not just of church kids but of children from the local estate here in Reading, who are regulars at our Friday night youth meetings. The way they had bonded was excellent and a joy to see.

As the afternoon unfolded there was a chance to shoot some hoops with Sitho and some lads who were far younger, fitter and more talented than we were. B and I spent some time meeting old friends and making new ones and I went for a walk with Andy Martin, a man I respect greatly. This was all wonderful stuff.

However the evening surpassed it all. The evening meeting started with high anticipation as to what God was going to do. 5000+ people jammed into the big top to worship God and hear the good news of Jesus preached. During the sung praise time, Adrian Holloway got 4 guys who were healed last year to bring their story and then he prayed a prayer of healing. Straight away people were healed, I could see one girl near us burst into tears and jump up and down controlably, seemingly any pain that she had had was eradicated by the miraculous healing power of the Holy Spirit.

Adrian then preached the gospel. He used many props and made it extremely relevant. He is an outstanding communicator and story teller. When he uncovered the full size guillotine there was a general hush over the crowd - his point being, this was the sort of instrument of death that Jesus died on, not what we now see as our gold and silver crosses that are worn whether you are a Christian or not. (He of course made the point that Jesus did die on a crucifix not a guillotine!!!) His presentation was powerful, and was then followed by the now slightly famous dance drama set to the music of Lighthouse (see here for a you tube version).

Once again an hush descended as people watched the dance and many were moved, including myself. Then Adrian made the call. Kids from all over the big top came streaming forward including two from our youth. They were going forward to accept the invitation to follow Christ, to make him the number one priority in their lives, to seek him for forgiveness, to look to him to be their confidence. It was an incredible sight. As I have read the Billy Graham book listed to the side, I have wondered what it would be like to be in a context like that of the New Testament where it's not just one or two committing their lives to follow Jesus but hundreds - last night I caught a glimpse of it and it was beautiful.

I am overwhelmed with joy at the fact that I am going to be a father. As Father God looked on last night he must have been elated to see so many new Christian births, people coming to him and saying daddy I want to follow you.

I want to see more of this; as I wept last night watching everyone flowing forward I realised that I wasn't just full of joy, but also of sadness at all those who didn't respond; I know now on reflection that my tears were also a stirring of hatred once more of sin and the Devil and knowing how some will never see the truth. My tears are to remind me again that the job is only just starting here in Reading. There is a town here who predominantly do not know Jesus and it is our responsibility, privilege and joy to be able to let them know, through friendship, Alpha's, marriage courses, cell social events, cell cluster events.

Jesus is alive, he will return and all will be judged. Let's find as many of God's elect as we possibly can, by telling as many people about the good news of Jesus as we can.

God is in control

As a busy week unfolds, including: a trip to Newday, the Newfrontiers youth camp at Uttoxeter race course; a membership interview; and the joy of preparing a sermon for Sunday looking Gen 39 v 1-20; it's so good to remember that God is in control. Those words continue to ring in my ears. It is the major lesson that I feel that I have been learning for about 6 months now. There is nothing that I can do aside from what he wants me to do. He is totally sovereign. Yes he has given me free will and i can make mistakes, but even through those mistakes he uses them to bring about his purposes.

The fact that I will be leading the team from the end of November, Sean and Liz leave in January and we have a child in February is all in God's timing not mine. He is in control and he knows what his plans are in all of these things. In this week I know that I want to lay myself open once more to him declaring 'speak Lord your servant is listening' and 'here I am send me'. I want to be full of his word and his Spirit that I may live a life that honours him. I want to give him my fears and my apprehensions and learn to lean into him as my rock and my fortress, knowing that at times there will be bumpy roads ahead.

Philippians 3 v 17 - 4 v 1:

" Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!"

Home from conference...

I am now home after 4 great days in Brighton and there is so much to reflect on from the week. I am very tired and feel spiritually full. God really met with me at the end of the last session and reminded me once again of the wonderful sacrifice that Jesus made on my behalf. It's incredible to think that he would pour his life out for someone like me. As tears trickled down my face I couldn't help but be filled with joy.

There were many highlights, including a memorable session yesterday afternoon, which should be downloaded from the resources page of Newfrontiers (link in the side bar) by everyone who is part of Newfrontiers. Other highlights include seeing people of Reading Family Church visibly growing in the Lord before your very eyes; having a team of 30 men and women from the church with Sean and I; as always worshipping Jesus with dance and song and praying for the nations was magnificent last night and something in the region of 1.1 million was raised in the offering to support the work with the poor, the building of church plants and the ministry of the apostolic teams.

I'm sure as the days go by and the dust settles, God will show us what it is that we need to be taking on board for us as a church. However what I do know right now is that I have been instilled with fresh faith for the days and months ahead and that God wants our church to continue to grow and reach the town of Reading in which we live.

Saying 'no' to pride

"Pride also brings down leaders. "Pride ruins pastors and churches more than any other thing," Mike Reinhan has written. "It is more insidious in the church than radon in the home." When you read about the next public figure to fall, remember Proverbs 16:18 - "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." That person's situation might appear circumstantially complicated, but at root it's not: Pride goes before a fall."

C J Mahaney, Humility, page 35

I want these words to haunt me, to be there when I am tempted to think of myself better than I ought. When I am tempted to think that my way is the only way. When I am tempted to think that somehow I am achieving things without the help of my Father. It is only by God's grace that I can say no to pride when it arises in my life and only by his Spirit that I can live a life of humility in submission to him.