I went for a walk this morning, and thought about my present thinking. What do I want? In which direction am I heading? This is what I came up with:
I want to spend times of quality with my Heavenly Father. Those times will be spent honoring and glorifying His Precious Son, the Lord Jesus Christ - He will be the centre of all thinking. We will be led in all things by the Holy Spirit and no-one else.
That's it. End of. (As the boss would say!). There is nothing else and therefore, nothing else matters.
Can I, will I, find it? Here in Leicester? Or is it wishful thinking? We'll see.
I do not believe God creates a desire in someone without the opportunity to achieve it....
Sunday 24 October 2010
Monday 18 October 2010
There's Some Good Food Going!
The boss and I visited a local congregation on Sunday, where a good friend was preaching. We also met some old friends which is always pleasant and encouraging to know that they are still 'going on' and being blessed.
The leader of the congregation read the words 'Taste and see that the Lord is good'....and it caught my attention. Familiar words, read many times. As I meditated on them, I felt the Lord saying to me that we must move on from that. 'Tasting' is an experience for the unconvinced, those who are distanced and need the flavour to invite them in. I've been to tastings in restaurants - and you don't get much!
I felt the Lord saying that we are nearer to Him than that. We are in the dining room, the banqueting hall. We are not 'tasting' - we are convinced! We tasted and found Him to be good. Very good. And now we are invited to feast on Him. There's plenty to go around, and we will not run out! We can eat as much as we like.
We have to enter in to the dining room. We have to sit down. We have to reach out and help ourselves....He will eat with us, break bread with us, and satisfy us completely.
Good, eh? My appetite is growing.....
The leader of the congregation read the words 'Taste and see that the Lord is good'....and it caught my attention. Familiar words, read many times. As I meditated on them, I felt the Lord saying to me that we must move on from that. 'Tasting' is an experience for the unconvinced, those who are distanced and need the flavour to invite them in. I've been to tastings in restaurants - and you don't get much!
I felt the Lord saying that we are nearer to Him than that. We are in the dining room, the banqueting hall. We are not 'tasting' - we are convinced! We tasted and found Him to be good. Very good. And now we are invited to feast on Him. There's plenty to go around, and we will not run out! We can eat as much as we like.
We have to enter in to the dining room. We have to sit down. We have to reach out and help ourselves....He will eat with us, break bread with us, and satisfy us completely.
Good, eh? My appetite is growing.....
Monday 11 October 2010
Church - The Non-negotiables....
'Non-negotiable'....that's a bit strong I hear you think. Surely most things are negotiable? Not at all. I have a few non-negotiables I wish to share with you. You are free to disagree, but make sure (for your own good) that you are on solid biblical ground before you do. Any other foundation is at best suspect, and at worst, heretical.
My first Non-negotiable for church life may surprise you. The early church gathered pretty well exclusively in homes. So must we. The Acts of the Apostles gives us a clear mandate for insisiting that the church meets in the homes of the believers, or a person of goodwill to the church. There is no biblical mandate for buildings erected for 'church services'. Indeed the whole emphasis of scripture is against that model. There are a number of reasons for this:
They are expensive. I read somewhere that if all religious buildings were to be sold, the poor would have every need met in the entire world. A church meeting in a house can give 90% of their income away. Expensive to build and expensive to maintain. A drain on resources.
They foster and tend the view, that we 'go to church'. This plants in our mind that we turn up for a couple of hours on a Sunday and that's it. Church is 24/7/52. No less.
They mean 100's can turn up and spectate, whilst a few 'gifted' and paid people do all the work in presenting us with some stuff to respond to. Totally unbiblical. End of.
In a home, a handful of people can gather, share what they have brought to build one another up. They can eat together, pray together, share together, support one another, give and receive. A family, indeed!
Just as it was, and was always meant to be.
I am beginning to arrive at the conclusion, that here in the UK, the church which has lost this truth will be driven back to this biblical blueprint for gathering in the not too distant future. It may have to be persecuted to bring it about...so be it. If a child is not obedient, after a number of warnings, there has to be pain. It was always so.
Every single move of God over the centuries, has started in homes. Only as they have grown have they gravitated to buildings.
In passing, as I cease this rant, let me say this. I visit church buildings. I see 'foundation stones' inscribed with the words 'To The Glory of God'. Underneath I see the name of the person who laid the stone. To whom is the glory really given? Buildings have, since Babel, been to man's glory and no-one elses.
That's enough for now, more later.
My first Non-negotiable for church life may surprise you. The early church gathered pretty well exclusively in homes. So must we. The Acts of the Apostles gives us a clear mandate for insisiting that the church meets in the homes of the believers, or a person of goodwill to the church. There is no biblical mandate for buildings erected for 'church services'. Indeed the whole emphasis of scripture is against that model. There are a number of reasons for this:
They are expensive. I read somewhere that if all religious buildings were to be sold, the poor would have every need met in the entire world. A church meeting in a house can give 90% of their income away. Expensive to build and expensive to maintain. A drain on resources.
They foster and tend the view, that we 'go to church'. This plants in our mind that we turn up for a couple of hours on a Sunday and that's it. Church is 24/7/52. No less.
They mean 100's can turn up and spectate, whilst a few 'gifted' and paid people do all the work in presenting us with some stuff to respond to. Totally unbiblical. End of.
In a home, a handful of people can gather, share what they have brought to build one another up. They can eat together, pray together, share together, support one another, give and receive. A family, indeed!
Just as it was, and was always meant to be.
I am beginning to arrive at the conclusion, that here in the UK, the church which has lost this truth will be driven back to this biblical blueprint for gathering in the not too distant future. It may have to be persecuted to bring it about...so be it. If a child is not obedient, after a number of warnings, there has to be pain. It was always so.
Every single move of God over the centuries, has started in homes. Only as they have grown have they gravitated to buildings.
In passing, as I cease this rant, let me say this. I visit church buildings. I see 'foundation stones' inscribed with the words 'To The Glory of God'. Underneath I see the name of the person who laid the stone. To whom is the glory really given? Buildings have, since Babel, been to man's glory and no-one elses.
That's enough for now, more later.
Thursday 7 October 2010
Team Work....
I had this thought. Yes, a lonely experience! Thinking about Jesus and His relationships with people - and His 'team'. He spent time on His own. He spent time with 3 selected men. He spent time with the multitude, with crowds, with hangers-on. But the picture we have of Him, and the stuff He did mostly, was with 'The Twelve'. Men, chosen largely because of their potential, from a fairly wide background. One was even a thief. Some older, some young. Some educated and some not so. But that is not my point. 12 is.
Since then all sporting activities have teams of 11 -15 mostly. Yes, there are '5's and 7's - and I know we have 'the bench' and so on. But broadly speaking we have teams of around the 12 in number. Interesting. Now in sporting events, we have the team 'performing' and the crowds 'spectating'...paying their money and watching.
Bit like church, really. When they met in homes 12 - 15 would probably have been the number of those gathering.....then they started to grow and the ambition of a few was to build larger - rather than more. When they had 12, they all brought what they had to the communal gathering and contributed to the body. Everybody 'feeds' - everybody is 'fed'. Simple, beautiful....and effective.
Nowadays, a few present something to the spectators. Few participate, few contribute. We pay our money, takes our choice, walk away. Jesus obviously got it right. He always did. Sporting teams know that 12 is a good number for strong relationship activity.
Where are we going wrong?
Since then all sporting activities have teams of 11 -15 mostly. Yes, there are '5's and 7's - and I know we have 'the bench' and so on. But broadly speaking we have teams of around the 12 in number. Interesting. Now in sporting events, we have the team 'performing' and the crowds 'spectating'...paying their money and watching.
Bit like church, really. When they met in homes 12 - 15 would probably have been the number of those gathering.....then they started to grow and the ambition of a few was to build larger - rather than more. When they had 12, they all brought what they had to the communal gathering and contributed to the body. Everybody 'feeds' - everybody is 'fed'. Simple, beautiful....and effective.
Nowadays, a few present something to the spectators. Few participate, few contribute. We pay our money, takes our choice, walk away. Jesus obviously got it right. He always did. Sporting teams know that 12 is a good number for strong relationship activity.
Where are we going wrong?
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