stu alred's notes

Photos from Sunday...

2012-01-25T01:53:00.000-08:00

Massive thank you to Ali Taylor for taking these photos. www.alitaylorphotography.co.uk

On Sunday I was appointed as a Church Leader...

2012-01-24T02:29:00.000-08:00

What a Day!

Sunday was a day which I will remember for the rest of my life. I'm not very good at these occasions traditionally. I did not bother going to my graduation, I'm not one to have big birthday parties and I find events which I am involved with a difficult to enjoy. This was different.

Thank You Jesus

It felt like a great opportunity to reflect on what Jesus has done for me among all those who I love. Jesus has changed everything for me. Personal achievement was my main goal in life, following after people like Jonny Wilkinson, trying to make any talent I had go as far as it could. This was my greatest joy and my greatest cause of anxiety. Now my main goal is to know the giver of life himself, following Jesus, who gives me help and strength seeing where he wants to take me. I will go with all my might but I have have more of a sense of 'being alive' than I ever have been. Whatever vocation I have the goal will remain the same.

Family & Friends

I was deeply moved by the efforts of friends and family to travel to be with us for the service. School friends from Bristol, Uni friends from Birmingham, Guildford, Essex, Plymouth, and Andover made the journey. My sister and sister in law came down - both working hard at the moment but made the effort to come. Mum and Dad came down and so did my in-laws from Northampton. Chloe and I put on sandwiches for these guys who made such an effort - most of these would not normally go to Church but came to support me. These people being there made a huge contribution to making the day special for me. Thank you.

Brothers and Sisters

Our Church was amazing. Many volunteers put much effort in to make the service work. Music, Welcome, Sound, Visuals, Cupcakes. To all those who helped - thanks for making this day one of the best days of my life. :-) I was unable to chat to many people on the day. After the service we had a photo shoot for the paper and then I was mindful of friends who were leaving soon. I am so grateful for those who came to support Andy and I. 'Old boys' came from all over. People from Hailsham, Oxford, Bristol and Plymouth came up as well as many from Andy's family. Leaders from other Churches came to support us on the day. It really was very moving for all of us involved in Frontiers Church Exeter.

I have received many kind and encouraging messages from different people within our Church. People have mentioned how God seems to have used me to help them in life and faith etc. Others expressing there support for this new chapter together. There is nothing that I would rather do than lead and stand with those in my Church. I've had a few tears as I've read some of these messages. It's been emotional.

I'm looking forward now to gathering on Wednesday as we seek God and pray together. I know a few leaders from the region are planning on joining us for this evening. All this is quite overwhelming. Together on a Mission. X

40 Days - I'm hungry

2012-01-18T02:48:00.000-08:00

So we reach day 8 in our 40 days series. Today is our second day of prayer and fasting.

Last week was pumping

Last week we prayed, fasted and gathered in the evening for a time of worship and corporate prayer. I think it was the best prayer meeting I have been to in my life. Matt and the band were pumping, people were more passionate than Exeter City fans and people brought gifts of the Spirit as willingly as they gave gifts at Christmas! I praying for more of the same this evening. We are in a critical season of transition and it is vital that we stand together and ask God for grace for all He is calling us to.

God is Holy

I'm really looking forward to another gathering this evening. Our theme this week is God and his greatness. I preached Isaiah 6 this Sunday. Tonight we gather to make our requests to the God who made all things, including the stars in the sky. Our readings have been connected to this theme. We will focus part of our evening on asking God for greater revelation of who He is.

Let's do it

This is our last meeting before the leadership handover moment. On Sunday Matt Partridge and Andy Arscott will lay hands on me and pray for me as I'm recognised publicly as the leader of the Church. As this new season begins I feel hungry to play my part well, hungry to build teams, hungry to empower others and hungry to make an everlasting contribution in our city. There is nothing like being a Christian.

40 Days - Day 1 Let's go!

2012-01-11T02:04:00.000-08:00

Today we begin our 40 Days of prayer and fasting.

Acts 14v19-23

Chloe and I read through the given text this morning. It's amazing how Paul was stoned, nearly died and then continued with all that God had called him to. No doubt he was quite a sight being so blooded and bruised.

In the context of extreme challenge after new leaders were appointed, the disciples, "with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord."

It was a moment of leadership transition and so the apostles spent a time of intense praying and seeking God. Richard Foster describes fasting as, "voluntary denial of an otherwise normal function for the sake of intense spiritual activity."

Fasting Today

I will be among many today enjoying 'intense' prayer by using fasting. As I become the new leader of this Church we are looking for God to help us in what he calls us to. Though we do not face the same opposition as Paul we face our own challenges which we will need his help with for sure! I'm looking forward to joining with the rest of the Church tonight to be together to worship, pray and celebrate together.

If you are part of our Church and don't yet have your booklet, you can find one here. Alternatively grab one tonight.

Today I'll be particularly praying for:

For our Church family to 'own' this moment together.
For God to re-ignite hearts towards Him and His mission.
For a sense of His presence with us.
For grace upon our Eldership team as we face many questions together.

40 Days Kicks off Tomorrow! Video Update/Leadership Transition

2012-01-10T07:10:00.000-08:00

Vision Update [January 2012] from frontierschurchexeter on Vimeo.

Becoming a Church Leader - Jan 22nd

2012-01-04T06:54:00.000-08:00

New Leader. New Season. from frontierschurchexeter on Vimeo.

End of Year Reflection

2011-12-21T04:36:00.000-08:00

What a year!

What a year it has been! I feel like I'm just about to step off the adrenaline train for a change of scenery this winter. For me personally it has been quite a year of transition. We had our daughter Mabel, I became an elder and as a Church we have been working through me becoming lead-elder in January. We reduced our staffing and have moved venues what seems like more times than I can remember. My role and priorities have been re-ordered on almost a weekly basis! I do feel like we are getting more clarity now. The number of members in our Church has remained steady but the number of people who have joined and left feel high to me. I've met and also said goodbye to loads of people! Both venues have enjoyed dozens of new people demonstrating the value of meeting across sites. We have sent many to new ventures and Church planting and others seem to have come to a natural end to their time with us. A change in leadership has that effect I'm told!??!

Money Matters

This time last year we were under financial pressure as a Church. After a year of re-structuring and reshaping teams we were able to hit all our targets in the first quarter and raise an addition £9,000 for a 0-11's worker who we will look to employ into the new year. I am pleased that our foundation is now clear and secure as we look to build into the new year as we look to launch into more kingdom building adventures.

3x10's

Our goals of 10 power hour prayer meetings, 10 'celebration' or 'high sundays' and the raising of £10,000 have been interesting. I have enjoyed the renewed focus on prayer. There have been seasonal fluctuations in attendance but overall I have been pleased and our people seem hungry to me. I might look to wrap those meetings in a little more teaching into the New Year.

This term we enjoyed baptising 6 people. We baptised 3 people at our Church weekend and 3 people on a high sunday. I felt it was great to hear the stories of those being baptized and also those who shared some of the journey with them. We're looking at ways to get our next baptism sharper in March. Christmas this year was our best yet I think. Around 300 people and many guests enjoyed a family service in the afternoon and our carol service in the evening. Many felt that this was the best event we have ever done as a Church and a couple of people have expressed an interest in Alpha while others have come to Church.

Going Through Changes

This term we saw 2 great people give their lives to Jesus! As a Church we have had another 6 babies added this term. Carnage. I loved our Church Weekend away, laughed lots and felt that we created some good memories together. Dressing up as my team mate Dan was more fun than I thought it would be and I was glad that many demonstrated the ability to laugh at themselves as they were mocked all night long! I felt it was important in that context to preach 'Growth Changes Everything' to help prepare our people for some of the challenges ahead.

New Year - 40 Days

We'll be welcoming in the New Year through a period of 40days of teaching, prayer and fasting. I'll be preaching vision on the 8th Jan and then will be pressing full steam ahead. Our Leadership Transition Service will be held at Belmont on the 22nd January as Andy hands on the baton to myself. Bring your friends - all are welcome! We have much ahead of us.

Video Update - Merry Christmas!

2011-12-15T06:45:00.001-08:00

Growth Changes Everything - Sunday Sermon

2011-11-28T11:30:00.000-08:00

Here is my message from Sunday morning in case anybody wants to catch up. :-)

Video Update - Church Leadership & Baby Lily...

2011-11-17T08:09:00.001-08:00

Book now for Westpoint!

2011-10-28T03:17:00.000-07:00

Camping

Chloe and I are going to have a go at camping this year. (Deep breath) But we are within a stones through if it goes bad for us. I hope my kids don't go insane! A number of us in Church are throwing our hats into the ring in a greater measure this year...

Cheaper Bookings

Cheap rate bookings end on Tuesday so book now.

http://www.regonline.co.uk/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=993728

I honestly can't wait...

We'll get a marquee, eat together, have a lot of fun and I expect to be built up.

I'm particularly looking forward to hearing from PJ Smyth who is an inspirational leader and great communicator. Bring it.

Hannah was healed by Jesus

2011-10-27T07:46:00.000-07:00

Adrian Holloway interviews Hannah Simm at Newday from Newfrontiers on Vimeo.

Video update to Church - Gift Day & Venue Move...

2011-10-13T08:54:00.000-07:00

Here is our second go at a video update to and for our Church. Hope it helps to keep people 'in the loop'.

Power Hour 2 - another venue move...

2011-10-06T01:56:00.000-07:00

Last night nearly 70 people gathered together to seek God and ask Him for some big things.

As Elders this year we are looking to prioritise corporate prayer and have committed to 10 'Power Hour' prayer meetings as one expression of this.

We sung our praises to the Lord and asked Him for blessing. We spent time praying for our loved ones, others in the room and for those who God has sent us to serve and bless.

We closed with two big items:

Venue Challenge

Having been given four weeks notice in the Thistle Hotel our last meeting there will be October 16th. We have looked for alternatives and considered multi meeting options. Currently our preference is that we stay at two meetings (Thistle site & St Sidwells site) for the next season. Therefore we are proposing as a short term measure that we explore the possibility of a move to St Peter's School. Currently Vineyard meet there in the morning as so for us it would mean a 3.30pm meeting.

Our staff team are going to go up have a look. We face a financial challenge as St Peters is more expensive and we also face a storage challenge. An afternoon meeting will be a very different experience for our people. Last night it was good to share and make our requests known to God. We're asking our people to walk with us through the journey in prayerful and open discussion as we go.

Gift Day

As Elders we are looking for £10,000 for a 0-11s worker. The initial brief for this person will be starting with 0-4s to support, resource and make our Sunday meeting exceptionally helpful for young families. We are looking for the role to grow and including primary school age. The details on this position and process of employment is subject to discussion with our Trustees.

We feel we want to resource and bless this group of people that God has given us. A good base of families will additionally help us resource and multiply other ministries across the Church.

After Sunday we are around half way towards our target. We have a big Sunday ahead of us as we look to hit this target. Lord make us generous!

Looking for wisdom...

2011-09-28T03:32:00.000-07:00

Walking with Jesus and seeking to build His Church is not boring.

Venue Challenge

After our recent venue move to the Thistle Hotel we have been given four weeks notice. We are seeking clarity and a conversation over exactly why this is. It seems to be related to the Council and the use of the hotel for civil ceremonies. As a leadership team we have been praying together and we are looking to sketch a couple of options to pray through as a Church.

Will we stay?
Another venue?
Another time?
Multi meetings?

Staff Team Challenge

This year we have needed to reduce our core expenditure and therefore our staff team is just Andy, Dan and myself. Dan's workload has increased significantly and therefore our planning and prioritising has had to improve significantly. We had made our processes far more effective particularly when it comes to processing finances which is now part of Dan's role. We are streets ahead of where we were this time last year.

We are still in a process of adjustment and working out exactly how much we can carry as we are now.

Pressing On

It's a big Sunday for us this week as a Church. We are looking for £10,000 to be raised for a 0-11's worker. We are still having a conversation over the exact role and the experience needed for the role. We are all persuaded that this is an area which needs investment and more leadership. Wherever we will be meeting in the future we want this ministry area to be well resourced.

Next generation.
Families needing support.
Outstanding opportunity.

I love the opportunity to give over and above my regular giving. I want to overflow with generosity like my God. My wife has a phrase written in our living room which I like, 'live simply, give extravagantly.'

Wider Family Input

As an Eldership team we have invited Matt Partridge and Grant Van Schalkwyk to join us for some outside input. As a team we are in a season of transition and so we'll be gathering tonight to add more clarity to this process. It's amazing being part of a wider family. I feel increasingly humbled by the willingness to serve and the attention that these men are willing to give us. :-)

Video Update to Church

2011-09-14T03:09:00.000-07:00

As part of an effort to improve communication within Church we are exploring the option of video messages and updates. I have in my mind particularly young parents, those who serve on Sundays, shift workers and returning students. I really hope this helps our guys. This video is for members of our Church intended to catch them up with some practical information.

I've not done any video before as you can probably tell. Hopefully we'll get better as we look to post a message on a monthly basis. Due to busy diaries and volume of work we agreed that we would do this in one take... so we did.

Feedback welcome. (I think!)

'LXI' Missionary Training Tracks...

2011-09-13T06:16:00.000-07:00

Love Explain Invite

As a Church our goal is to, 'Love, Explain, Invite'. The Love of God has transformed us so much that we are compelled to love and serve others as He has amazingly served us. If given the opportunity we want to explain how and why this has happened. If people are interested, we want to invite them to join the party!

LXI Training Tracks

This year as we kick off 'LXI' 2011/12 as a Church we are running missionary training tracks to help us kick start the year. These tracks will be held at Belmont Chapel 7.30pm Wednesday 14th & 21st September. The tracks are as follows...

'Marriage on a Mission'

If you are married, your marriage is the important team in your life. If we don't get this right, everything else suffers. If our marriages are good, much blessing flows! Andy and Jane are running this track with much fun, wisdom and around 40 years experience. If you would like to participate in this track the best thing to do is contact the Church office. You will need specific instructions for this track.

'Our Father - The One Who Sends'

God the Father is the one who sends Jesus for us. All love and mission comes from His heart. Dave Bish will be teaching two sessions for us on this subject. Dave has a great teaching gift and will thoroughly get his teeth into this subject I'm sure bringing much depth and insight.

'Pursuing Spiritual Gifts'

God wants to equip His people with gifts and power from the Holy Spirit to live out all that we are called to. Steve Blake will be leading this track as we gather to ask Him for help and empowerment. Steve is passionate about this area.

'One to One With Jesus'

When you have a close relationship with someone you want to connect and chat everyday. The more you think of them the more you will enjoy this time! The Bible says that Jesus is alive and by His Spirit we can talk to Him through prayer and listen to Him speak through the Bible by the Spirit. I'll be looking at 'the quiet time' with Jesus. For this track you will need a Bible (that you don't mind writing on) a pencil, pen, highlighter and note book. I'll be leading this track.

It's on. We'll be gathering together at 7.30pm for a time together and then we'll split into smaller groups for hour long sessions. :-)

Venue Move - This Week! (& where to park...)

2011-09-06T02:53:00.000-07:00

This Sunday we are moving our morning meeting from The Maynard School to The Thistle Hotel. This is a great move for us as a Church.

Real blessings

We are looking forward to benefiting from now having two sites in the heart of the city. We have storage in the hotel which will bless many volunteers who have been carrying heavy boxes for the last 5 years! The environment is far more helpful as we are seeking to be more and more hospitable through our High Sundays in particular. The room is slightly bigger and by the grace of God we have been given a good deal.

Park it.

As with any event in the centre of Exeter parking will be a challenge. We all have some local knowledge and our favourite places to park without paying. I'm wondering if anyone else knows the spots that I'm thinking of! Cycling is a great way of getting around Exeter. I cycle to work each day which is a blessing in many ways.

Chloe and I will look to walk I think initially and see how we (and the weather) go. The car park options around the hotel are not massively appealing to be honest. They get quite expensive if you want to stay for 3hours. Here is a helpful guide to parking in Exeter. I think the best bet for us might be to drop the family at The Thistle and then head to park at the Howell Road Car Park. There you can get 3hours for £1.70 and enjoy a prayer walk through town before meeting the Church!

New Year - New Season - New Goals

2011-09-01T06:32:00.001-07:00

Last year our Church was marked by Matt Giles writing exceptional music. Additionally Dan Partridge joined us on staff and many of our young married couples are now having babies. We now have around 20babies in our Church family! This year we are looking to gather and grow as we seek to make a big lasting difference in Exeter.

Our mission as a Church is to 'Love - Explain - Invite'. Motivated by love, we want to love and serve others. At some point we want to explain something of our story, how Jesus is alive and generally awesome, and ultimately offer an invitation to meet Him!

This year we are looking to hit 'Three10s' to help us with this...

10 High Sundays

On certain Sundays we gather to celebrate special occasions such as new life (dedications) new faith (baptisms) and Christ coming (Christmas). On these Sundays we'd like to invite as many people as possible to join the party! We'll put on our best band, have a short talk, enjoy our time together, ask God to bless us and give an opportunity to find out more.

10 Power Hours

It's the privilege of Christians to talk to the maker of the universe. He even asks us to make requests and promises to answer us! We're going to gather as a Church to ask God for some big stuff this coming year. We'll be meeting the first Wednesday of each month. First Power Hour Wednesday 7th September.

£10,000

We would like to continue to resource and support our ministries in Frontiers Church Exeter. This season we particularly want to invest in and resource our young families and initially children of 0-11 years old. We're currently discussing the role and job description as well as the skills we believe are needed for this potential position while we look to raise money!

I will be sharing headlines of our Three10s this Sunday. Our first 'Power Hour' will be Wednesday 7th September 7.30pm St Sidwells School. More detail of why we are going for this and how you can make a meaningful contribution will be shared through preaching and gift days on the 2nd & 9th of October.

Westpoint Gathers Pace

2011-08-24T01:41:00.000-07:00

Westpoint 2011

New Frontiers Churches in the South & West regions gathered together last weekend under the leadership of Guy Miller and his team. This is the second time that we have gathered together and man it has kicked on!

Great Teaching

This year Terry Virgo came and was brilliant by all accounts. My wife was particularly blessed. Guy Miller spoke on 'remember the poor' which was a challenging word for local Churches particularly at this time in our nation and in places like Kenya. Next year PJ Smyth will be among us. Bring it on!

Good Time Together

Of our Church around 70 people came for at least one day. I had a great time on Friday just hanging out, chatting among friends and catching up. I was particularly impressed by the caravan brigade and the birth of a new nickname for one particular Church member. It was a lot of fun.

Other Leaders

As a pastor it was good to hang out with some of the guys from other Churches. I had one or two chats with other leaders which was really good. I do feel increasingly part of a wider family as we share life over time and look forward to being together more in the future.

It's really exciting to be part of such a vibrant family of Churches. With all our faults and shortcomings I love all that we are seeking to do and am seeing much evidence of the grace of God on us! :-)

Back for another go!

2011-08-18T07:02:00.000-07:00

Times change

When I was single I did what I wanted to do on holiday. When I got married I started to do more what Chloe wanted to do on holidays. Chloe likes to be 'out and about' on holiday going for trips and enjoying coffee shops. I prefer to be asleep in the sun or in the gym. Now that we have kids we do what neither of us like to do!

New joy

It's funny how kids change every area of your life. Early mornings, seal sanctuaries, short beach trips, and throwing stones into rivers were all part of our break this year. It's a good day if we've been able to bless the babies and then we get joy from their enjoyment! My wife is awesome. She was able to release me to go for a run every day. We went on holiday with close friends again this year who were a massive blessing and we even had a couple of sleep ins! :-) We also took the opportunity to see both sides of our wider family.

Energy for holidays

I had a lot of fun with my family and it was special to be able to invest time day after day. Two year old's have a lot of energy so I have to remind myself that I cannot binge holiday any more. (Overwork and then sleep for two weeks.) I really want to create good memories for our family as our kids grow up.

New term

I'm now back in the office with some fresh reflections. I have read two or three books (in part) over the last couple of weeks and I think I have some greater clarity over areas of strength and weakness in my leadership from last year. I'm looking forward to another year of learning and grateful for the next couple weeks preparation time and a chance to catch up with people more thoroughly.

Westpoint (Regional New Frontiers Conference) begins tonight. Will be good to be with a couple of thousand Christians singing to and looking to hear from God as we seek to live for Him in the West! Let's get it on...

Signing off for the year...

2011-07-29T07:56:00.000-07:00

Well what a year it has been... Tomorrow I head to Cornwall with family and some close friends to invest time and create memories! I'm glad to hit this finish line.

Family Growth

This year has been a year of growth and learning in many ways. The most significant addition for us personally was the birth of Mabel. We have now made the stretch from husband and wife, to husband and wife with Rufus, to husband and wife with Rufus and Mabel! I'm told that to go from one baby to two is one of the more difficult transitions to make and so far I think we are doing okay. The addition of Mabel has changed all of our relationships within the family. Chloe and I face a different challenge - There is always someone who needs help! Chloe and Rufus now are no longer alone together for longer periods of time and quality time between anyone requires far more planning. We are adjusting all the time but after three months we feel life is manageable again. It has been another year of amazing blessing and fun for us a family.

Church Growth

Our Church has experienced growth this year. We have had around forty people join us. I have had the privilege of meeting and getting to know many new people. I love the way people make themselves at home in our Church so quickly. Many have gone home over the summer and I look forward to catching up at the start of next term. Across the Church we have also had another 13 babies born and we're expecting I think another 8 or so. New people and new babies would suggest a time of blessing!

New Staff

The staff team this year have been a real joy. I think we have served well, worked hard and laughed lots. We had a really good time at Brighton together at the New Frontiers Leadership Conference. I have enjoyed genuine friendship among our team which includes Andy, Matt, Dan & Laura. Matt Giles has written an album packed with truth from the letter of Ephesians which has fed me well and we have had a new website built. Dan Partridge particularly has been an outstanding addition. He is a good young man who is learning lots and a man that I would want on any bus on which I'm travelling! I can't really imagine working without him.

New Responsibilities

I became an elder (or senior leader) in our Church in Feb. My role has been evolving more and more. I now take more responsibility for preaching, Church vision, leading in team contexts, overseeing some outstanding ministry/small group leaders, and Church finances. We also planted a second meeting on a different site! I have enjoyed the transition and the increased 'weight' which I have been able to carry. It was through somewhat of a financial challenge that we decided I would take responsibility for this area and I thoroughly enjoyed leading the Church through the process. I get a lot of energy and enthusiasm from challenging situations and I look forward to more in the future.

I will enjoy my break and look forward to teaming up with the guys and being back with the Church in a couple of weeks time for another year of adventure.

Looking Good - Reflections

2011-07-19T06:21:00.000-07:00

Preaching every week

We are into the final week of our 'Looking Good' series at Church. This is the first time that I have preached four weeks running. (Five weeks if you include the final talk from the previous series.)

It has been an interesting learning experience. I have appreciated the continuity of thought and prayer in preparing and also the opportunity to build from week to week. I have also appreciated the encouraging feedback from various members of our Church.

Pride vs humility

During the series we have built on two definitions:

Pride: Self exaltation. (Making yourself look good.)
Humility: Serving others for the glory of God. (Making Him look good, because He is good!)

Going deeper

Here are some reflection questions for those who have enjoyed the series:

How well do youcelebrate the success of others?

How well do you pray for the success of others?
How much do you look to encourage others?

How willing are you to ‘step up’ and take a risk?
How willing are you to ‘step back’ and take a back seat?

How do you respond totrials? Faith/Frustration?
How well do you respond to correction?

How grateful are you?
How good are you at laughing at yourself?

How much do you value God?
How much do you value him being made known?

If you want to check out this series you can find it here.

A Family on a Mission

2011-06-28T05:41:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I preached our last message from our Ephesians series.

Paul's closing thoughts are insightful as he paints something of a picture of the blessing of being part of a family of Churches. Here are some further resources for those who are interested.

This is Newfrontiers from Jubilee Church Leamington on Vimeo.

http://www.newfrontierstogether.org/

http://www.togetheratwestpoint.org.uk

http://blog.terryvirgo.org/category/apostles/

July Preaching series - 'Looking Good'

2011-06-22T03:17:00.000-07:00

Starting July 3rd I'll be preaching a four-part series called 'Looking Good.'

People invest much time and effort in beauty and self image. As people we spend much of our time promoting various lifestyle choices, activities, heroes and sometimes ourselves(!). We express appreciation for things which we desire and by our choices make certain things look good.

The aim of the Christian is to make Jesus look good - because he is good! The Christian life is to demonstrate and illustrate the goodness and greatness of God. I hope over next month or so our Church will receive a renewed enthusiasm to live for him.

Alongside the preaching series and home group studies we'll recommending that our people read and go through CJ Mahaney's book on humility. Much of the material in the sermons and studies will be based on this text. We've made these books available at our morning meeting.

Some thoughts on sleep...

2011-06-15T05:05:00.000-07:00

It's strange to think that during our lives we will have spent many years sleeping.

Here are some loose thoughts which I have been pondering when I was very much without sleep.

1) God gives sleep as a gift.

When we are working hard, trusting God and receiving wisdom from God human beings will generally sleep well. (There are of course exceptions.) It's stupid to work harder and sleep less without looking to God. Psalm 127v2 Psalm 4v8 Proverbs 3v24. I love sleeping. Thank you for this gift. The benefits of sleeping well are obvious.

2) My need for sleep reminds me that I am not God.

God does not need anything or anyone else. God does not need sleep. Psalm 121v3&4. I am created and I am dependant on other things much to my dismay. During times of sleeplessness I am reminded of my utter need and dependence on God and to honour the way that He has made me. Prolonged planned periods of sleeplessness will stop me from functioning! Grumpy, groggy and without a memory is not a state which I enjoy. Sleeplessness has brought me to my knees in every way. I obviously needed that.

3) There is a time not to sleep.

Sleeping at the wrong time or too much is criticised by Jesus is scripture. We have a measure of control to stay awake and chose when to rest and when to work. There is a time for both. During some seasons, for example if one has young children, getting sleep seems to require more planning and flexibility than others! Proverbs 20v13 Matt 26v45

4) Sleeping well requires wisdom.

Faith, baby books, planning, 20min 'power naps', a regular 'bed time' and 'wake up time' as well as less technology in the bedroom can apparently all help. I recently took a sleep survey which told me that my sleeping was only 40% optimised. I hope as Mabel (Our 7week old baby) gets older and I implement some more wisdom this will improve...

Playing rugby again... just for fun.

2011-06-10T04:09:00.000-07:00

This year I've decided to start playing rugby again. I have agreed to join Exmouth RFC for pre-season and see how I go. I hope it goes well and that we can work it into our family and Church commitments. I'm going to play for fun with some guys who I already know from when I played previously. Here is an article in the local paper. Here are my reasons for playing this year:

1. When I played before, it was too big in my life.

From the age of 16 all I wanted was to play rugby full time. My whole life felt like it was riding on it. I worked hard and carried huge expectations from within and from others in part because of Dad. On reflection I think Rugby was an idol in my life and therefore I did not play it or enjoy it as I could have done. I feel now I might be able to play and enjoy it for what it is.

2. I need better balance in my life.

Wiser leaders have recommended having other interests and activities in my life. Church, work and friends are all one thing for me! This a blessing but also brings challenges.

3. I want to be around different people.

My job is about people. The more people I am around from different walks of life the more I am able listen and learn. Rugby is one of those sports which holds together the bricklayer and the lawyer in the same team. Life is so much more enriching when I spend time around different people. No doubt this will inform the way I do things at Church.

4. The lifestyle is good.

I'm back in the gym and we have reviewed my diet. I'm feeling better, fitter and have more energy even though our baby Mabel is only 7 weeks old! Training well is helpful for the rest of life. It teaches me to keep going through the pain barrier as a habit and I hope will increase my capacity in life.

5. I want to make a contribution.

I want to make a contribution in a community outside of Church. I hope I get in the team, play well and share a bit of life with these guys. I'm looking to be a blessing and make a positive contribution.

Give me some space!

2011-06-03T03:22:00.000-07:00

"And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone..."
(Matthew 14:23 ESV)

Jesus often withdrew from the crowds and his people to have time on his own praying.

Monthly 'Mountain Time'...

I enjoy reading the Bible and praying daily. However my favourite time of speaking to God is when I book in the diary a couple of hours, then go to pray on my own in a place of outstanding natural beauty.

God speaks to His people

God invites us to offload all our fears and concerns to Him. It's so good to do this! I have often received impressions and outstanding wisdom in this context which has been invaluable and specific for situations which I would then go and face. I am confident that He is speaking to me and shaping me through these times.

When I feel God is speaking to me I will open my Bible, look up that theme and see if it is something that God has already said which the Spirit is applying to my heart in the moment. This week I was blown away. :-)

With Him, I can...

I find these times refreshing and deeply encouraging. I love my 'mountain time'. I love being a Christian knowing that God cares about me, that he speaks to me and that he does genuinely give me strength and courage for all that life brings.

Steve Tibbert... bit of a hero to me.

2011-05-22T10:14:00.000-07:00

I came home early this week from Leadership Training because my wife is unwell. She seems a little better today. I have been looking after the babies therefore I did not get to church.

At Leadership Trainining I did manage to catch the group time with Steve Tibbert. Steve leads the Catford Church and has quickly become a man who inspires me like few other.

Steve leads Catford which is a church of I think around 1000 members. Catford hosts New Frontiers Leadership Training Advanced.

Attention to detail

Steve took our group of trainees round the three sites which are now owned by kings Church. One of the things that struck me is that Steve has very impressive attention to detail. He has a thought through philosphy of ministry and he applies it rigorously. It appears that he has his goals in mind and will stop and nothing to do all he can to implement them. I have had the privilege of learning a little bit about Jonny Wilkinson's attitiude to detail through my Dad over the years. Steve is the first Christian leader who I have come across who reminds me of stories that my Dad has shared over the years.

Attitude to learning

To me Steve's attitude to learning was another element of his leadership which I found very impressive. He is a student first. He is currently seeking to find people who are a few steps ahead of him. He wants to learn, he pursues wisdom and you can see the fruit in his ministry. Steve takes the initiative to go get what he needs for the next step in his journey. I can't imagine him procrastinating for one moment!

A bit of banter

I also like the way Steve is quite funny. He is honest and speaks openly about his experiences. He makes his teaching time light by throwing in banter and making big statements. I like this in a leader. I do not believe him when he says he is a 'natural athlete' but the way he views his life to be organised as an athelete resonates with me.

Steve is a leader and he is very strategic. He thinks logically and his approach to ministry is one which I find closest to my own aspirations than any other Christian leader. I'm glad God has blessed him with his gift. I am glad that his Church is going well and I'm glad I've been able to learn some stuff from a distance.

I won't be putting any posters up or making any T-shirts but I will look forward to three days of training with Steve Tibbert next year as part of my final year of training. I might even buy his book.

Back to work... It's a new day.

2011-05-17T05:05:00.000-07:00

It's a new day. I'm back at my desk today after what seems like a very long time away...

Back to it

It was great to de-brief with the staff team this morning. I have been able to clear most of my emails and plan something of a shape for the next couple of weeks to include upcoming preaching engagements. It will be good to touch base with the other elders this evening. We have some significant decisions being worked through at the moment.

Away this week

I travel to Leadership Training tomorrow. I'm very much looking forward to being with the others for our last time this year. Steve Tibbert is doing some stuff as well. I always find him stimulating and motivating. :-)

Tired & Fresh

Personally I feel strangely stretched and kind of fresh at the same time. I am lacking sleep a bit but I also feel like I have a blank sheet of paper in front of me in many areas of Church life. I feel like I am coming to old situations with fresh eyes and fresh enthusiasm to re-engage with ministry areas. I am grateful for a renewed appreciation of my wife and a greater need for help!

Renewed appreciation

My respect and admiration for my wife is currently sky high. She works very very hard as do many in raising kids. It's her first day week with me at work this week. She is amazing. I've realised from my time at home that those who are homeward in orientation receive very little praise or 'well dones' from the little ones who they care for so well. Encouragement is few and far between when compared to working in other contexts. It's down to me to thank her and point out grace in her life so we can celebrate what God is doing together.

Renewed sense of dependence

I have been humbled by having our second child. If I am to even in part live up to that which God is asking me for in terms of how I speak to people, experience of joy etc I really need help. His standards are quite frankly beyond me. I am experiencing a new level of need. I am glad that he forgives me and glad that He empowers me. I am asking God more for His help and power. If I go a day without deeply requesting His help my wife will notice by my mood! I guess this is a good place to be in terms of learning about walking with God but it is not an easy place to be.

Like father like son?!

2011-05-09T14:17:00.000-07:00

First this...

and then this...

Watch Dan & John get baptised...

2011-05-09T13:50:00.000-07:00

Last night we had our first Baptism at our Central site. It was a lot of fun to hear these guys speak of their journey to Christ. I spoke briefly and then Andy led us through the Baptism. Here is a video which I took randomly on my phone.

Baptism is the way to start following Christ

If you want to follow Jesus, he says we are to believe and trust him. The first step that we are asked to take is to be baptised. (Matt 28v19 Acts 2v38)

It's awesome that in being baptised we get to live out something that Christ asked us to do and also do what he himself did. We read of 'coming up out of the water...' (Matt 3v16) It's awesome that his teaching and example flowed out from Jerusalem across the Roman Empire, through Europe, across the world and down the generations all the way down to Exeter, Devon 2011.

Baptism is powerful

Baptism is for believers. It's a powerful portrayal of dramatic inward change in the person being baptised. It speaks of union with Christ in his death as we are plunged under water, and union with Christ as he is raised to new life, as we come out of the water. We are declaring our old lives buried and the beginning of our new lives in Christ.

Our culture is confusing

Baptism is married with the decision to follow Christ in the New Testament. Sadly there is much confusion over baptism in our nation and historically. Strangely sometimes we 'baptise' those who have no faith. 'Christenings' are still common for those in and outside of the Church. I personally find this very odd. Some people who don't want to follow Jesus think they are baptised. Others who do want to follow Christ in this way are later told that there is no need! I think believers are massively short-changed when they are taught not to follow Christ in this simple and beautiful declaration.

Sunday was great :-)

I left Sunday night with a real sense of joy. It's so good to obey Christ. It was great for us as a site. It was great for us as a Church to enjoy this one together. It was great for my good mates who pour themselves out for other people to have the joy of baptising and of course it was great for Dan and John who nailed their colours to the mast.

We have a new born baby... help please!

2011-05-05T06:50:00.000-07:00

Baby Mabel is just over a week old. We are slowly adjusting to having two babies in our home. World news has been dramatic and people are voting, meanwhile we're walking around like a couple of zombies! It's funny the second time around realising how differently we are handling Mabel compared to Rufus. We were very very clueless the first time around. This time we have a few more clues.

The blessing of community

Our friends, family and Church have been amazing. Our Church are providing evening meals for us for two weeks! This means that we have one less thing to think about. We can concentrate on feeding and bathing and getting the kids ready for bed and then a generous person brings round a hot meal in the evening. What a blessing. On a couple of occasions when I have found this season really stretching, the simple good company of close friends have been rejuvenating for me.

We've been listening to Rachel

My wife is not really into the Gina Ford stuff. This time around however we have been drawing a lot from Rachel Waddilove. She spoke to our Church parents a month or so back. She is warm, loving and very affectionate. We bought both her books and have found them very very helpful. We have adopted Rachel's 'flexible routine'. It has been a huge blessing to us as we try and manage two babies. Obviously we are still learning loads and it's very early days butIhave particularly appreciated her practical help. I wish we had done this first time around! Clearly every child is different as is every parenting team however I think she is well worth checking out.

Getting a vision

Over the last couple of days I have also been re-reading 'Shepherding a Child's heart' by Tedd Tripp. It's so refreshing to catch God's heart for families and his call on parents again. It's easy to slip into survival mode with kids I think. I've been spending a lot of time with Rufus over the last week. I don't just want to fill the day and entertain him. I want more for him and God is asking for more from me. I expect to be visiting and re-visiting this book. 10mins reading a day can change everything.

New arrival... Mabel Jennifer Alred

2011-04-29T10:51:00.000-07:00

We've been at home for two nights now. Chlo & Mabel came home from hospital just a few hours after giving birth.

On the morning of the birth, Chlo came down to tell me that 'it's started.' I immediately went into organisational mode much to her distress. Chlo's mum came over to take Rufus, (she has been gold) while Chloe was having contractions every minute or so. We had contractions on the door step, in the car, in the car park, in corridors and then finally into the room with the birthing pool. We got there around 8.00am.

The labour was fast. We had baby in arms by 9.40am! She was 9.11lbs. By 12.45 we were driving home from the hospital.

It was great to introduce Mabel to Rufus and then later more friends and family. Two days in so far and we are going well. Mabel is feeding well and sleeping for a couple of hours at times. My friend told me that by the end of the first week you have some idea about how you are going to actually cope with caring for two little ones. I hope he is right! :-)

Have you been substituted yet?

2011-04-22T03:06:00.000-07:00

A couple of times during my short lived rugby career I was playing so badly that I got substituted. I remember one particularly bad experience during a BUSA quarter final vs. Hartpury College when I got taken off at half time. I had a kicked charged down and dropped a ball, giving the opposition a two score head start. It was not good.

For the sake of everyone I was taken off the pitch! Someone else came on to take my place. It was a humbling experience.

The essence of Good Friday is an offer of a substitution. It's amazing how familiar the sight of a Roman cross is these days. It's common in jewellery of course and features in many tattoos and other forms of art. Yet the cross was a brutal means by which the Romans would torture people to death.

Worse than my performance in some rugby matches, (and of course with far more serious implications) the behaviour of humanity before God is, according to the Bible, horrendous. The Bible describes us as God's enemies. The Bible describes us as those who live in God's world receiving good gifts and yet ignoring the giver. The Bible attributes the suffering and evil in the world to our choices as a race against God. Each one of us plays our part and each one of us is responsible according to scripture.

If we don't think that God is serious about our offence, or that he is not serious about his love for us, we have to look no further than the cross.

Jesus came into history to pay our debt. He paid so that we might not have to. He faced the anger of God as a substitute for us. He offers this act to people as a gift so that we can get to know God again. He pays so that we don't have to. The word he uses is 'ransom'.

Humanity is divided between those who have accepted Jesus as their substitute and those who will face Jesus as his enemy. I wonder if this Easter might be a time to consider where we stand at the moment.

Here is a great series for those who want to ponder once more the mystery of the cross by CJ Mahaney. If you're a Christian I recommend a long walk and a listen to these on your iPod and talk to your God who died for you. He died in my place, for my sins, so that I can know and love him as I was made to.

Porn is the norm.

2011-04-21T06:25:00.000-07:00

I lived my first twenty odd years my life my way. I have lived the last six years as someone who follows Jesus.It has been quite a transition. Some Christian values are widely accepted as being good and right. In some ways our culture is aligned with Jesus.

There are however, many teachings of Christ which have been widely rejected and ignored. I think that this is particularly true when it comes to sex and sexuality. It is certainly true when it comes to pornography. When I was growing up I'd say that porn was normal and an expected part of life. Whether online or videos or late night freeview. TNS surveyed 1,057 adults aged 18-24 for the research between 18 March and 21 March 2011 as illustrated above From BBC Website. It's interesting reading how views are developing on this one.

The teaching of Jesus collides head on with what is now accepted as the norm.

But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Matthew 5:28 ESV

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.

Colossians 3:5-6 ESV

But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.Ephesians 5:3 ESV

To enjoy porn (drawing sexual pleasure from someone who is not your wife or husband) in scripture is to be unfaithful to your wife, to anger God and it should not even be hinted at among Christians.

This sharp contrast is really the tip of the iceberg in terms of different values. As a Christian I am standing on and working out the following:

1. This is God's world and it's for him to say what is good and what is not.
2. I have got it wrong.
3. He died for me and invites me to learn to walk His way with His power and patience.
4. People are made in his image and are valuable to be honoured and respected.
5. Sex is designed to be exclusively enjoyed in marriage.
6. Great marriages include great sex for years and years. This will not happen without work. This bookbelow is awesome. :-) I think married couples should have a glass of wine and read it through together. There are application points for each chapter. (!) I have also enjoyed reading 'Sex, romance and the glory of God' by CJ Mahaney. A must for husbands.
7. Sexual satisfaction, thoughts and imagination are to be given to my wife alone.
8. Porn robs people from enjoying sex in the way for which it was designed.
9. We have some work to do.

Waiting for number 2...

2011-04-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

Our second baby is due April 23rd. My wife looks like she could go pop at any moment. It's been strange thinking back to the early days when Rufus was first born. Here is a picture when he was just a couple of months old.

I can't wait to meet my daughter. She moves around a lot. I wonder if she will be dark or blonde. Rufus started dark and now is really blonde! I'm praying for a safe and successful birth.

I think it took me about six months to feel like I could start to do stuff in life and not just survive after Rufus. I wonder how long it will take with two babies to feel like I can cope! I guess every parent feels a mixture of excitement and also aware of the daunting nature of the task ahead. I guess also we will take each day as it comes and work hard together. Grateful that God is actively involved in all that I do, that I am in a Church family and have wider family who are willing to help.

A mixture of paternity leave, bank holidays and Leadership Training means that I will not be at the Church office very much in May. I have a couple of important commitments to honour but other than that I will be largely on home base, then I aim to travel to Catford for Leadership Training May 18th.

I'm looking forward to standing with my wife and being with my family over the coming weeks while at the same time feeling like I am just about to start running a marathon!

Matt Chandler on suffering - deep

2011-04-08T04:28:00.000-07:00

Asking for a flood

2011-04-08T03:54:00.000-07:00

Ask for God

Walking with Jesus starts with, and is continued by the power of the Holy Spirit. God dynamically dwells within His people. Amazingly in the Bible, we find invitations to ask for 'more of Him'! It appears He is willing to give more and that we can ask.

On Sunday

I'm praying for many to ask for and encounter God in any and every way this Sunday as we preach through Ephesians 5v18-21 where Paul tells believers not get drunk on wine, but be filled with the Spirit.

The Bible describes the impact on believers as 'rivers of living water' which can flow from people. Charles Spurgeon wrote hungry for a flood of the Spirit for his people:

"What a wonderful thing a flood is! Go down to the river, look over the bridge, and see the barges and other craft lying in the mud. All the king's horses and all the king's men cannot tug them out to sea. There they lie, dead and motionless as the mud itself.

What shall we do with them? What machinery can move them? Have we a great engineer among us who will devise a scheme for lifting these vessels and bearing them down to the river's mouth? No, it cannot be done.

Wait till the tide comes in! What a change! Each vessel walks the water like a thing of life. What a difference between the low tide and high tide. You cannot stir the boats when the water is gone; but when the tide is full, see how readily they move, a little child may push them with with his hand.

Oh, for a flood of grace.The Lord send to our Churches a great springtide!

Then the indolent will be active enough, and those who were half dead will be full of energy. I know that in this particular dock, several vessels are lying that I should like to float, but I cannot stir them. They neither work for God nor come out to our prayer meetings, nor give of their substance to spread the gospel. If the flood would come, you would see what they are capable of: they would be active, fervent, generous, abounding in every good word and work. So may it be! So may it be!"

So may it be.

Biblical womanhood/wives...

2011-03-27T14:55:00.000-07:00

Chloe and I had fun today teaching and sharing on biblical womanhood and submission in marriage. You get check out the sermon here. We're working out for us what it means to apply a Biblical blueprint to our marriage.

Here are a couple of study books which Chloe has found particularly helpful with this whole area of womanhood and what the Bible says. They are produced by the Good Book company.

In the past as a Church we have recommended Sharon James' work as well. I think this is great and very thorough. My wife particularly appreciates Carolyn Mahaney and her influence. Her book feminine appeal is similar material to that which she shares in the 'According to plan' set.

My wife has also found the 'girl talk blog' a huge encouragement.

Rest is part of God's design

2011-03-27T06:20:00.000-07:00

To rest or not to rest?

Let me get straight to the point - in the end, if we choose not to rest I think we are either arrogant or idolaters. Apart from exceptional circumstances, God has woven rest into His design for humanity.

In the Bible God models and has given us a Sabbath to rest one day in seven. He also gave different festivals and holidays as a break from the routine of work.

Learning lessons

As a pastor in my second year of ministry I made the mistake last year of not taking all my holidays. I enjoyed the ones I took, but did not take them all. At times I suffer from arrogance. At times I deny my need of sleep and rest and believe that I can do all that I want for as long as I want. I also struggle at times with an over-enthusiasm for ministry and all that I could be doing. When I think about it carefully I think the reason I did not take my holiday last year was idolatry. I was holding up ministry ahead of what God was asking of me.

I love working for the Church but I love God more! An older pastor who I know was sharing about his Church and their positive attitude towards holidays. You get commended for taking your holiday because God has designed us to enjoy them. Our lead elder has a similar attitude.

It's a faith issue

Personally I find it takes faith to take a holiday. It takes faith to believe that God cares about and will continue to build his Church without you. It takes faith to leave people who have needs, and projects which you can contribute towards in the hands of others. It takes faith to not feel guilty taking a rest when others are working hard. It takes faith to be around tired people and not feel bad for feeling rested and sharp.

I have just finished reading 'Going the distance'. It's been good for me. My wife and I have reviewed our annual pattern and have decided that a week off in March is a good place to start. :-) This week we'll be having a week off. We're going to visit friends and then spend three nights away in Cornwall. I can't wait. I'm filled with faith to receive it is a gift. I refuse to feel guilty. I believe I am being obedient to Jesus.

On holiday this week :-)

I am pleased that we have drafted a good annual pattern and that I have been able to learn and improve my leadership of my home in this area. Next week I'm going to read, sleep, spend time with my son (kicking a football and wrestling predominantly) and look to bless my wife as much as I can. Thank you Lord Jesus for ongoing patience and provision for me and my family.

What should wives do?

2011-03-25T04:18:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I will be preaching through Ephesians 5v22-33 looking at the role of wives.

This text contains those infamous words, "Wives submit to your husbands..."

This topic always provokes a range of responses. On Sunday I'm looking to punch through 9 observations which I have made from scripture and then interview my wife Chloe.

I like John Pipers definition: “Submission is a divine calling of a wife to honour and affirm her husbands leadership and carry it through according to her gifts.”

1.Biblical submission is not assigning different value, it’s assigning different roles.

2.Biblical submission is not just a cultural expression, it’s an eternal value.

3.Biblical submission is not primarily a response to your husband, it’s a response to Jesus.

4.Biblical submission is not passive, it’s active.

5.Biblical submission is not absolute, but it is genuine.

6.Biblical submission does not allow abuse, it’s part of Church life.

7.Biblical submission is not for husbands to enforce, it’s a call on the wife.

8.Biblical submission is not easy, but it is powerful.

9.Biblical submission is not popular, but it is beautiful.

Chloe and I are seeking to build our marriage according to God's blueprint. I'll be asking her the following questions:

1) How would you have described yourself as a single Christian girl?

2) What was it like getting to know me?

3) How did you feel about the biblical model of marriage?

4) How have you found trying to build according to God’s blueprint over the last four years?

5) Can you think of any examples where you have had to choose to submit?

Husbands, hear this...

2011-03-24T07:04:00.000-07:00

There is no room for abuse in the Church of Jesus Christ.

What should husbands do?

2011-03-22T05:30:00.000-07:00

Sexuality, gender and roles within marriage are topics which always draw quite a response. There is much speculation and debate in our day over how we should or should not build our relationships.

In the Bible, the calling on husbands is amazing. We are called to lay our lives down in servant leadership just like Jesus. We are called to provide and to protect. I felt Andy preached brilliantly at both of our sites on Sunday.

Personally I feel challenged again to be intentional about loving my wife as I am called. I want to be quick to learn, quick to change and quick to say sorry where I have not been as I should.

CJ Mahaney encourages his men to cultivate a 'pattern of sacrifice' in their lives.

Husbands, what can we do each day to demonstrate sacrificial love for our wives?

What can we do today, that costs us, and blesses our wives?
Big things or small things, what can we do?

How can we lead our wives spiritually today?
What have you prayed for your wife today?
How will you expose her and encourage her in the word of God today?

How hard are you working today to provide for your family?

If you are a man who is not yet married, how can you start building towards this calling?

Further listening:

A Christian conference?!

2011-03-15T05:47:00.000-07:00

Up until a few years ago I had never been to a Christian conference. I'd only been to a local Church meeting.

My first time

I'd heard that my local Church was part of something bigger which helps us and gives us a sense of security but that was the extent of my insight. One summer I decided to go to the New Frontiers 'Brighton Conference'. It was the first time I'd been in a room with thousands of people who loved Jesus and were passionate about walking his path. It was the first time I'd seen so many different men and women with different styles and gifting working together for the same ends. It was the first time I'd been exposed to different wisdom in different areas and experienced the strength of something of authentic relationships at this level. It was the first time I'd danced the night away to music while being completely sober! The truths of scripture and the calling of God to plant Churches were illuminated in my heart in a powerful way.

The week in Brighton completely changed my perception of what we were building as a local Church and all that we are part of. It made me want to give my life to work within this movement. We are a family on a mission!

Not just a conference

I'm not really a fan of Christian conferences per se. I think that the specific purpose is important. What are we trying to do together? I enjoy being exposed to good Bible teaching and/or a specific gift but in the end I'm looking for more when Christians gather together in this kind of context. I think we're looking to be part of a movement led by the Spirit of God.

Some of our students were catching something of who we are a couple of weeks back. It looks like the Bude Weekend for Students and 20's could be a good fixture on our calender in the future. It was great for them to see a little more of who we are and to see there obvious enthusiasm with all that they had seen and heard.

The times are changing

New Frontiers is changing and the Brighton Conference will end this summer. As a family we are looking to different spheres for relationship and corporate vision so therefore for us in Exeter Together at Westpoint is vital. I felt is was a little rough around the edges last year however I am utterly convinced about what we are trying to do together. I'm sure the guys will have learnt loads and I'm really looking forward to gathering again this summer at something which is far more than a conference.

This is New Frontiers

2011-03-09T04:24:00.000-08:00

I have often been asked, "Who are New Frontiers?" "What kind of Church do you belong to?" Here is a helpful little video which gives a little of the history of our movement.

(Christians) What will your life say today?

2011-03-04T01:18:00.000-08:00

"You are writing a gospel
a chapter each day
by the words that you say
and the works that you do.

Men read what you write
disturbing or true.
What is the gospel
according to you?"

My wife and I were praying this morning that we may not waste today. What will we write? What will we say? What will the Church do today across our city I wonder?

'Are you serious about hell...?!' Some considerations

2011-03-03T02:12:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday I had a look at the (un)popular(?!) subject of hell. The most unpopular and yet frequently asked about subject. I spent some time looking at Luke 16v19-31. I found it an emotional and difficult subject to speak on such a text. At one point during the morning sermon I paused while I wept. Part of me felt vulnerable and uneasy but I do feel that it is an appropriate and 'real' response when handling a topic like this.

This topic is part of the central message of Christianity and has been a view held by biblical Churches throughout Church history. I also added 5 considerations which I think we need to have an awareness of as we think through this difficult subject.

1) This is Jesus talking.

To reject something which Jesus talks about on moral grounds is making quite a claim about our own wisdom and moral judgement.

Tim Keller writes: “We must come to grips with the fact that Jesus said more about hell than Daniel, Isaiah, Paul, John, Peter put together. Before we dismiss this, we have to realize we are saying to Jesus, the pre-eminent teacher of love and grace in history, "I am less barbaric than you, Jesus--I am more compassionate and wiser than you." Surely that should give us pause!”

2) Jesus cares deeply.

Some people find the idea of Jesus/God being angry almost impossible reconcile with the idea that God is loving. However, in scripture, it is because he is loving that he is angry! An unloving response to all the abuse, injustice, crime, selfishness and general mess in the world would be indifference.

Jesus cares passionately about how you treat me and about how I treat you. When people are mistreated - he gets angry. This is because he is good.

3) This is very personal.

If I was in your house eating your food, enjoying your furniture, music, etc and treated your house as I pleased, without speaking to you or honouring you as my host I guess you would be offended.

We live in God's world. He made it. We didn't. We'll all die and the world will keep on spinning. We are not in control of and we did not design creation. The best we do is study and work with that which is already there. The whole of creation belongs to God.

When we reject God and abuse His creation we are personally offensive to God in his world.

4) God is that valuable.

When I was living in my old flat, my car was parked on the street and someone threw a brick through the back windscreen. I found this offensive. However the offence was less that it would have been if someone had thrown a brick at my wife! Why is that? Same action?

As the value of the object increases, the offence increases. Chloe is more valuable than my car so I the action is more serious and more offensive.

Is eternal punishment an overreaction?

Well I think we have to ask the following questions:

How valuable is God?
Therefore how serious are our crimes?

Scripture speaks of an everlasting God who is of infinite value. To offend and reject something of such value is a very scary reality.

5) The offer of God

God has offered to pay our price himself. Jesus offers himself to be our 'wrath absorber' or 'wrath diverter'. He offers to be our great substitute so that we can know God and walk with Him rather than being against Him. His offer is open today.

The only way people can get to a place of punishment is to trample over and reject the cross of Christ.

"Are you serious about hell? Some people have never even heard..."

2011-02-25T09:57:00.000-08:00

It must be the most unpopular subject to speak about yet ironically one of the most asked about. It certainly was asked a lot in our survey...

The time has come to take some time to consider what the Bible has to say...

At both sites I'll be offering some personal reflections, looking at what the Bible says and offering 5 considerations when handling this topic.

"Are you serious about hell?! Some people have never even heard..."

Move that body!

2011-02-23T03:42:00.000-08:00

I find at times I know something to be true, but my experience and feelings do not match that conviction. Do you know what I mean? For example, sometimes I know I can do a task, but I don't feel confident in the moment. As a Christian I say that I love God but often I do not feel the affection and joy which I hope that I would given how great God is.

Is my mind and heart connected?! Am I cold hearted? How can I be more human?! How can I do big things when I am nervous but I know I am called to it?!

At leadership training last week Irene Brooks from CCK briefly referenced recent studies in psychotherapy which focussed on the body's impact on the mind. (This as opposed to the impact of the mind on the body.)

Perhaps we are now in the realms of subliminal learning? My Dad has worked hard on this area as part of his Phd in 'performing under pressure' and keeps suggesting the I read the book 'blink' by Malcolm Gladwell. (It is on my list!) It appears that one of the results for Dad has been a huge emphasis on body language and posture. If you are not feeling confident, stand up straight and put your shoulders back!! If you know something to be true in your mind, that you are struggling to live out... set your body first! This is a powerful tool.

Both Dad and Irene seem to be saying that the body and the mind are far more integrated than I would think. It seems that God has made us in a way which means we can lead our whole selves with our bodies.

I find this very interesting. Andrew Wilson referenced this in a lecture a couple of years back. He commented on how you can lead your heart towards God through your actions. He talked about the psalms and giving among other activities...

Psalm 134:2 Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the LORD!

Psalm 33:1 Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous!

Mat 6:20-21 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

These verses call for action! I think God is great, and here I'm asked to set my body as a response. I don't think that I have to work myself up or try and manufacture anything. I do not need to wait to feel anything either. With my body, I have an opportunity to lead my heart and my affection towards where I want them to go.

When I want to praise and worship or even just talk to God I can stand and lift my hands... when I'm called to lead his people I can stand with my shoulders back knowing what he has promised me and I can take hold of what I know to be true. I can lead myself by setting my body in line with scripture!

Not very English but perhaps this will be a helpful insight for a tired daddy. X

Sending of our best...

2011-02-15T05:04:00.000-08:00

Christians are by definition 'sent' people. We are called to 'go' and to love, explain and invite people to meet with our maker through Jesus.

Ever since the book of Acts Christians have moved to new towns and cities with the motive of being effective on this mission.

John and Hannah Fielder are great personal friends to Chloe and I. We have known them for years now and have found them to be great people. They are both very gifted and it has been a joy to have them in our Church in Exeter.They fill us with enthusiasm for life and challenge us to stand up and be all we can be. Chlo has looked after Bethan twice a week and my son has been quite taken by her! They giggle and smile whenever they see each other. It's very cute even if I do say so myself. :-)

This Sunday will be their last with us as members. They are now moving to Birmingham. They aspire to Church planting and will be joining up with Jonathan Bell to serve him, with a view to planting in the future. Matt Partridge has been very helpful in linking these guys up as they are looking to be involved in an urban context.

Both John and Hannah are passionate and have demonstrated exemplary humility on many occasions. It is this that gives me confidence as I look ahead to the future with these guys. We will miss them sorely week to week but we're also excited about this next chapter and very much looking to stand with our friends during this time.

A Special day...

2011-02-10T07:23:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday was a special day for me. I was appointed as a senior leader or to use a biblical word/office an 'elder' at Frontiers Church Exeter.

Family Matters

I was so pleased that my family was able to come and share the day with me. My Mum, Dad and Sister came down as well and Chloe's parents who took a day trip down from Northampton. I felt very much loved and supported by my family as well as my Church family. My best man and his wife also made a surprise visit! :-)

Apostolic input

Matt Partridge who leads Emmanuel Church Oxford and helps oversee our Church taught from Peter's first letter. He pointed out 7 hallmarks of elders in the Church. Here are a few things that I noted.

1) Shepherds of people. People are the priority for God's shepherds.

2) Elders are to be willing. You need desire.

3) Not greedy for gain but greedy to serve.

4) They lead by example. The man must embody his message.

5) Humility.

6) Must keep alert and demonstrate self control.

7) Never, never give up. Do the simple things well. Fight.

Reflection

Today I am very aware that I am just one piece in the jigsaw of His Church. It seems strange to have had a whole service for this. (Though it was great for the whole Church to be clear on all that we are doing and to celebrate.) I have had two meet ups this morning with great leaders in our Church and am very pleased with the student team which we are working with right now. I am currently involved with several ministry teams. It's in these areas where I find real joy in my role. I love being with our people, I love building teams, developing leaders and looking to accomplish things together with Jesus. I feel very, very blessed to be able to play my part along side so many people who I admire and respect.

Becoming an elder...

2011-02-03T03:32:00.000-08:00

God willing, this Sunday I will be publicly recognised and appointed as an elder for Frontiers Church Exeter. I will be joining a team of three elders, Andy Rob and Steve.

It is a very exciting time for me personally. I feel that God has blessed me hugely and is asking me to carry more responsibility into the future here in Exeter. Over the last month I have begun to feel more of a responsibility as we have faced various challenges as a church. I am confident that I can make a positive contribution for the team while remaining equally sure that I am on rather steep learning curve!

Paul writes to a young Timothy in the context of Church leadership to endure like a soldier, work hard like a farmer, and remain disciplined like an athlete. When I started leadership training two years ago, we were told that statistically not all of us would survive ministry. A few months later the guy sat next to me crashed out. Success rates seem to be around 30% due to the unique challenges and pressures of Church leadership. I am looking to work hard and find a sustainable pace for fruitful ministry in the coming years.

This Sunday will be a special day for me. I'll be thanking God for all the work He has done in my life and I'm really glad that my family will be there to share the experience with me.

In the New Testament Paul and Peter outline the qualifications for Eldership within the Church.

1 Tim 3v1 -7 "The saying is v trustworthy: If anyone aspires to w the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore x an overseer [1] must be above reproach, y the husband of one wife, [2] z sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, a hospitable, b able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but c gentle, not quarrelsome, d not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity e keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for w God's church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may f become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of byg outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into h a snare of the devil."

Titus 1v 5 o "This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, andp appoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6 q if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, [3] and his children are believers and not open to the charge ofr debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer, [4] s as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not t be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent u or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, v and disciplined.9 He must w hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in x sound [5] doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it."

1 Peter 5v1-5 "So I exhort the elders among you, m as a fellow elder and n a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 o shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, [1] p not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; [2] q not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 notr domineering over those in your charge, but s being examples to the flock. 4 And when t the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the u unfading v crown of glory. 5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. w Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for x “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Question Everything - The results

2011-01-25T07:33:00.000-08:00

As a team we worked through a few hundred questions which we received in our survey. Over the next few weeks at both sites, we'll be preaching through the following questions/topics.

"You created a world that fell apart... what were you thinking?!"

Sun 30th Jan. 10.00am & 6.30pm. John Hosier will be looking at this question for us. John is an experienced Bible teacher. He has travelled internationally and written several books. John has recently moved to Bournemouth and continues to lecture on New Frontiers Leadership Training.

"If you're so great, why doesn't everyone love you?"

Sun 13th Feb. 10.00am & 6.30pm. John Fielder will be looking at this question. John is an aspiring Church planter, gifted preacher and good friend. Him and his wife Hannah are moving to Birmingham with a view to planting a Church in the near future. This will be his final sermon as a member of Frontiers Church Exeter.

We will also be baptising some at the morning meeting.

"Are you serious about hell? Some people have never even heard of you..."

Sun 27th Feb. 10.00am & 6.30pm. I'll be looking at this question. This is a difficult topic for everyone. I particularly find this tough as many of my loved ones do not yet follow Jesus. I will do my best to outline a response as I see from scripture.

"When a child is abused, why don't you step in?"

Sun 3rd March. 10.00am & 6.30pm. Our senior pastor Andy Arscott will be looking at this emotive question.

We're looking forward to the series. All are welcome to come and join us as we wrestle through some of these difficult subjects. We will be kicking off an Alpha Course on March 6th for anyone who would like to have more time looking at the Christian faith.

I hope to see you there! :-)

Holding it together

2011-01-05T04:47:00.000-08:00

Chloe and I had really good break this Christmas. I feel thoroughly blessed by family and friends. Meals with old friends was a particular highlight for me.

I think we're equally pleased to be back at home in Exeter. It's always nice to sleep in your own bed when you have been away for a couple of weeks.

At Church on Andy preached 'Jesus My Sustainer'. One illustration struck me particularly...

If I was to make model or a sculpture, I would work on it and then stand back and admire my handiwork. (!) The model would then stand of its own accord. However, when I make sound with my mouth, I begin the sound and I also sustain the sound. At any moment I can stop and the sound would cease to exist.

According to the bible the latter is like the relationship Jesus Christ has with creation. God, through Jesus, not only created the universe and all we know, he also actively sustains it every second. Were he to withdraw his active part, existence of creation would cease. This claim stands among the many monumental claims of biblical Christianity.

Colossians 1v16b-17 "...all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

Hebrews 1v3 "He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power."

How this claim possibly be substantiated? What did Jesus do on earth to demonstrate this kind of power?

If this is true, nothing is more important than learning about Him. There is no-one I'm wiser learning from, admiring and indeed worshipping! There is simply nothing of more value than Him. One of my goals this year is to spend more time in prayer and reflection seeking to listen to Him who sustains all things.

Exploring multi-site church 2

2010-12-08T12:51:00.000-08:00

'One Church, One Vision, Two Sites...'

This season

As a team for the next season we want to recognise this as a blessing and look to God for us to grow as one Church, with one vision, meeting across two sites. Both sites are under the authority of the same eldership team. You will find the same preaching, same doctrine, same leadership philosophy, same values, same emphasis in worship and same family news. On Sundays one site will be at Maynard’s School meeting at 10.00am while the other will meet at St Sidwell’s School at 6.30pm.

One Church

We recognise we have a challenge to cultivate ‘oneness’ across both sites. Our Church will continue to have one ID Course, an integrated homegroup system, a church weekend away, monthly ‘Church together’ evenings, and other special times where we all join together to praise God!

One Family

Our morning meeting will continue to run kids work, youth work, crèche, sound, PA and have a full band. We will therefore encourage members who attend the evening meeting to join volunteer teams, and meet with leaders to help with the morning meeting.

One Mission

We believe that God is calling us to prioritise and seek to bless those who do yet know Jesus. We are ‘sent people’. Although moving to two sites will mean change and challenge, to follow Jesus we want to put the needs of others ahead of ourselves. It is therefore with real joy and expectation that we look to explore our second site, ‘Frontiers Church Central’. We will enjoy the adventure this term and review in the New Year.

Exploring multi-site church

2010-12-07T13:42:00.000-08:00

‘One Church, One Vision, Two Sites.’

Frontiers Church Exeter is a Church led by one team, with one vision and one set of values. As a team we want to lead our Church to introduce as many people to Jesus as possible.

The story so far

Last year we outgrew our Sunday morning meeting venue. We have asked God and looked for a bigger building which we have not yet been given. In an effort to create more room for growth, last year we ran two big morning meetings back-to-back. We found this method good but the demands on our volunteers were not sustainable. We did not grow quickly enough to find more volunteers to help!

This year we have been running one morning meeting and an evening meeting. This meeting has been much lighter in terms of volunteers needed but has blessed many people. Week 4 saw 61 people attend. This included over 35 people who were not at the morning meeting. Across the two meetings we had 220 people with room to grow at both sites. We are now recognising Frontiers Church Central as its own site.

The same sermon is being preached at both sites. And while both meetings will carry the same values, you will experience a different flavour at each. Central is a stripped back, raw meeting with low lights, a sermon, acoustic worship and a trip to a local pub afterwards. Believers and unbelievers who would not have come to our morning meeting have come and enjoyed being with us during these meetings. Our intention over time is to cultivate diversity at both meetings.

I am very much looking forward to gathering our growing 'Central Team' to pray and look ahead together into the new year.

What are you looking for @Christmas this year?

2010-12-03T08:52:00.000-08:00

I swing from being like Scrooge wanting to avoid Christmas to wanting Christmas as above longing with child-like hope!

Having said that I am looking forward to our Christmas celebration at Church this year. We are having ours on Dec 12th this year. It will good to meet. be together, welcome guests and look for more from Christmas than even Sainsbury's can offer!

This is a great opportunity to invite friends and family to come and join us as we explore together. There will be mince pies, hot drinks, Christmas songs and a thought provoking message.

As always we'll be meeting at both sites. 9.30am@Maynards & 6.30pm@Central. www.frontiers-exeter.org.uk

Safer Sex Ball?

2010-11-30T04:20:00.000-08:00

It's one of the most talked about social events on the student calender at Exeter. People are willing to wait for hours to get their tickets. This year all the 2,800 tickets were sold in around an hour. It is billed as an event to raise awareness for World Aids Day - The Safer Sex Ball.

Each year you hear the stories of people dressing erotically and getting drunk beyond recognition. I remember in my year a guy wrapped himself in cling film and went dressed as a condom! Apparently he had a long cold naked walk home.

As a pastor who works with students, I am sometimes asked, "Do you think Christians should go to the Safer Sex Ball?" Here are some thoughts...

As a Christian guy the main question I want to ask is, How can I walk with Jesus most effectively? Walking with Him means loving people, but it does not mean that I participate in all other people do. It means being involved in culture but not being 'of' the culture.

As I ponder how I can live for Christ best, I'm not sure what good can come out of me going to something like this. I don't want to see the (future) wife of another man dressed in this way. I don't want my mind to be filled with sexual images which should be reserved for marriage. I trust Him with sex! I want to keep myself for my partner for life.

I do however want to share life, get to know people and have fun in life. I want to bless and help wherever I can. I'm sure I can live for Christ without putting myself in a position which is particularly unhelpful. There are plenty of good opportunities which do not have such a cost.

So my advice is to give it a miss... particularly if you are a Christian guy... give it a miss!

Carrying burdens

2010-11-25T06:46:00.000-08:00

Christians are called to live differently.

One of the key areas of life in which we get to express this is through generosity. I'm told statistically that generosity is not linked to wealth. It is all to do with who you are.

Jonathan Edwards writes a great essay on charitable giving. One of the most challenging things I found was him writing about giving when it costs you.

"In many cases, we may, by the rules of the gospel, be obliged to give to others, when we cannot do it without suffering ourselves. As if our neighbor’s difficulties and necessities be much greater than our own, and we see that he is not like to be otherwise relieved, we should be willing to suffer with him, and to take part of his burden on ourselves. Else how is that rule of bearing one another’s burdens fulfilled? If we be never obliged to relieve others’ burdens, but when we can do it without burdening ourselves, then how do we bear our neighbor’s burdens, when we bear no burden at all?"

I'm glad Christ took my burden on his shoulders on the cross. I'll be looking for opportunities to walk in his foosteps as I become more like him :-)

I hope by the end of my life...

2010-11-24T02:52:00.000-08:00

I hope by the end of my life at least some of these qualities will be evident in my life. I used this in the introduction to my sermon on Sunday. It's a description of some of the earliest Christians in the Epistle of Diognetus...

“They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honour; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred.”

nice Bish!

It is with your life you gamble...

2010-11-18T02:37:00.000-08:00

Sometimes we don't ask enough questions.

What am I living for? Why? How did I get here? Where did others go as they followed this path? Who am I trusting? Why?

It is with our own lives we gamble.

In January we want to ask some questions of the God of the Bible to see how he compares with other choices people are taking.

We are asking the question, "If you could ask God one question, what would it be?" We are looking to ask as many people as possible for honest answers and then build our January teaching around these questions.

I think we all have questions for God whoever we are.

So, If you could ask God one question, what would it be?

Snapped Tendon

2010-11-17T05:55:00.000-08:00

"Can't believe you played touch rugby and ended up in hospital. You've changed."

Yes I snapped a tendon in my right ring finger playing tag rugby. Rubbish. I had surgery on Monday. They found the tendon at the bottom of finger and were able to re-attach it. It seemed to go well. I have never been under for an op before.

Other than waking up Tuesday morning in considerable pain its been fine. My sister in law has been amazing and others have been very helpful. My hand is now in a ridiculously large protective cast. Big kit for one finger! Have an appointment on Friday. Full recovery likely to take three months.

I'm typing with one hand... planning and accommodating for a different three months to the ones I anticipated.

Thus says the Lord...

2010-11-11T03:23:00.000-08:00

On what authority do you say that?! It's an odd concept to have someone in a room with you who is speaking on the assumption that they are bringing the words of God. 'God would say...' 'God says....' etc etc. In our Church meetings every week people stand and bring words with a real sense of confidence that they are bringing the words of God. Who do we think we are?! God?

Dynamic relationship

Jesus promises that His people will have God the Holy Spirit living and active within them. The Holy Spirit speaks to us in many ways. One of these ways is to bring a spontaneous truth or impression from the Father that He wants to communicate in a specific moment. This is known in the New Testament as prophecy. Prophecy is when God speaks. The Spirit inspires a person, a person shares, and others are encouraged.

'L' plates are on

Learning to walk with the Spirit and sense His leading and promptings I have found is like learning to speak any language. You don't learn it all overnight, there is always more to learn and you enjoy breakthrough moments along the way!

Deeply blessed

Many brothers and sisters have brought prophetic words to me. Some have been very specific, others have been very simple. "God wants you to know that he really does love you and he will never leave you..." There have been times when I really needed to hear that. I have drawn strength from words like this on many occasions.

Ask

All Christians are called to pursue the gift of prophecy. Paul writes, "Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy." and again, "So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy." 1Cor14v39 & 1Cor14v1 Therefore we are to be running after this gift. We are to be asking God for something to share with our brothers and sisters.

Weigh

The Bible is very helpful in helping us handle prophetic words. We weigh all that is given. How do we know if this is from God? We test it against what has been written in the word. We are all under the authority of scripture. 1Thess 5v19-21 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good.
I find it helpful to ask the following questions in the sharing of prophecy...
1) Is this true? Where do I find this truth spoken in the Bible?
2) Will this edify? This is the purpose of the gift. It is given to build up others.
3) Is the timing right? In a meeting or when speaking to someone, when is the best time to offer what I feel.
If someone offers me a word I will ask the following questions...
1) Is this true?
2) What do my leaders feel about this? (Seeking Godly wisdom)
3) How do I apply this?

The more we are familiar with the character of God in the Bible, the more effectively we will be able to give and receive prophecy. As people grow in prophetic gifting they may share more specific revelation and speak specifically into the future. This is very exciting. Prophets operate under the authority of elders and are accountable in terms their character and the content of what is said. Trust and gifting seems to be built over time for a blessing to all.

Greg Haslam has written a great book on prophecy called, Moving in Prophetic which I would recommend. I have found this very helpful. You can also listen to some teaching online. 'Prophesying in power' could be a good place to start. For others Surprised by the Power of the Spirit by Jack Deere is a great read.

I long for more prophecy in our Church. I'm also keen for those with prophetic gifts to pursue a greater depth to bring 'weightier' words of truth and power which demonstrate that God is truly with us.

Everybody needs more apostles...

2010-11-10T02:41:00.000-08:00

“Let me give you a biblical picture of an apostle: he is a weak little chap with a poor voice (2 Corinthians 10:10), a jailbird (Acts 16:23). He looks under-nourished and his clothing is disreputable (1 Corinthians 4:11). If you look at his hands, they are stained and cracked by the hard work of softening skins and sewing them into tents, for that is his livelihood (Acts 18:3). At times he is very ill, even despairing of life (2 Corinthians 1:8-11; Galatians 4:13; 2 Corinthians 11:30). Perhaps these infirmities have come from the terrible sufferings which he has undergone (2 Corinthians 11:23-28)”.*

I feel the need

I am a young pastor aspiring to make a positive contribution in the context of my local Church. I love my Church. I have the privilege of preaching every other week and leading volunteer teams throughout the church. As I serve on our leadership team and increasingly take on responsibility I am more and more aware of the need for apostolic ministry. Our team needs apostolic input. Personally I need it and the Bible is clear that the church needs it.

Genuine relationships

As part of New Frontiers we are part of an apostolic family on a mission. Our movement is in a period of transition. Within the UK we are looking to develop and cultivate multiple apostolic spheres. These spheres look to be largely regional. It is easier to have genuine relationship with those who live closer to you. I hope that within the transition we leave a lot of space for relationships to be preserved and blossom across different parts of the country. Words from PJ Smyth stick in my mind that we are to 'honour gifting, honour relationships and let mission motivate.'

What do we mean by 'apostle'?

Generally the word 'apostle' simply means 'sent one'. Jesus is referred to as 'the apostle' in Hebrews 3v1.In the context of the New Testament it seems there are two further legitimate uses of the word.

1) Apostle. Big 'A' Apostle. The office.

These were men who had seen the risen Jesus and had been specifically commissioned by Jesus himself to be Apostles. (Acts1v21-26) These men had a unique call. They were a limited number of men called to pass on the teaching of Christ authoritatively in part through writing scripture. They brought a body of teaching. (Acts 2v42) They were seen as 'master builders' (1Cor3v10) laying the foundations of Churches (Ephesians 2v20) they had something of a motivation to 'go' to the nations (Rom1v5) They appointed elders (Acts14v23 & Acts20v28) and they were very much seen as Father figures with much affection for the Churches.

2) The gift of apostle. Little 'a' apostle.

There were more than the 12(+1) apostles in scripture. This means more men were recognised as having an apostolic gift to the church. (Acts14v14 Gal1v9) While scripture writing is complete, we still need these men who make no addition to scripture but plant churches, lay foundations, bring teaching, motivate us to 'go' beyond our comfort zones, bring an outside voice, help our teams of elders, appoint new elders, care for and the churches. Terry Virgo is helpful on his blog and PJ Smyth has a great PDF called 'The world needs more apostles'. *This is where the above quote can be found.

Jesus gives apostles

To have men like this among and in our churches is a must. If we are to grow up into 'mature manhood' and be the Church which Christ is calling us to be, we need more apostles. If we are to be effective in being a real blessing to our cities and towns and to the nations we need more apostles.

Ultimately it is Jesus who gives apostles. They are a gift to the Church. It seems that our part would be to ask Jesus, look for and encourage those with gifts in this lane, give generously, and look to actively participate in the sending and receiving of apostolic ministry. Surely we are to look for apostolic ministry to emerge from within our own ranks if we are to see more apostles. I find the description at the top challenging. I don't want to miss out on apostolic ministry because of my own pre-conceived ideas of what an apostolic ministry should look like.

Our church currently has good relationships with Matt Partridge (Oxford) Guy Miller (Bournemouth) as well as our regional team lead by Grant Van Schalkwyk (Plymouth). I'm visiting Matt next week to shadow him, listen and learn and he plans to come visit and preach in Exeter on December 5th. I look forward to receiving him.

Our lead elder Andy Arscott is currently involved in helping Andrew Sampson who has recently planted in Truro, he is looking to gather and help a small team in Barnstaple and also looking to support Steve and Joy in Crediton. I think Andy will offer more and more to other Churches in the months and years to come.

Bodybuilding

2010-11-09T09:53:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday I continued to preach through Ephesians as part of our series 'Bodybuilding'. I was glad to use an Olympic lift as an illustration!

As we read the text we saw that Jesus has given gifts to every part of His body. We all have a part to play. We are one team or one body with Jesus as the head!

We're asking our people to respond at three levels:

1) As part of the family. (We all help with one foundational team - this is like doing the washing up!)
2) Pursue a passion. (Sign up for something that you want to explore - something which you desire to do.)
3) Invest and specialise. (Pick up further reading/research/pray/approach others who are gifted in the specific area that you are passionate about.)

It might be helpful to think through the following...

Gift survey:

Romans 12v6-8
1 Corinthians 7v7

1 Corinthians 12v8-10
1 Corinthians 12v28
Ephesians 4v11
1 Peter 4v9-10
1 Timothy 2v1-2

Which gifts do you have within you?
(Ignited by the Spirit and applied to the building of the Church.)
Which gifts have others recognised in you?
Which gifts do you desire to talk hold of?
Where do you have a passion to serve?
Where can you learn and develop your gifts?

Lament for a son

2010-10-28T02:37:00.000-07:00

I don't want to waste these years with my wife and young family. Chloe read me this the other day and it made me check again my priorities the amount of quality time I am giving. This is written by Nicholas Wolterstorff who writes about the loss of his son.

"What do I do now with my regrets - over the time I neglected to take him along hiking, over the times I placed work ahead of being with him, over the times I postponed writing letters, over the times I unreasonably got angry with him - over all the times I hurt him, times I noticed the hurt and times I didn't but should have. Over the the times he was sad and I saw, but did little or nothing to console. Over all the times I did not prize the inscape of the image of God in our midst which was he; and over all the other times I did but did not tell him so. Over all the times he was something wonderful or did something fine and I was oblivious or silent - sometimes because my own projects were my single minded pursuit, sometimes because my own worries were my single minded concern. And sometimes because I did not want his excellence to "go to his head."

What do I do with this basket of regrets? What do I do with my regret that I did not warn him more often and more firmly with the dangers of climbing? When the person is living we can make amends - can say sorry, if our pride is not too large to swallow; can change our ways, if our projects are not loved more than the other person. But when the person is dead, what do we do with our regrets?

A friend warned me against this question. Don't rehearse your regrets, he said. But they come to mind unrehearsed. Should I try to stop them? Should I undertake some discipline of memory to stop this parade of all I wish had been different?

No I will not do that. Putting it out of my mind is not my way.

I believe God forgives me. I do not doubt that. The matter between me and God is closed. But what about the matter between me and Eric? For my regrets remain. What do I do with my God-forgiven regrets? Maybe some of what I regret doesn't even need forgiving; maybe sometimes I did as well as I could. Full love isn't always possible in this fallen world of ours. Still, I regret.

I shall live with them. I shall accept my regrets as part of my life, to be numbered among my self inflicted wounds. But I will not endlessly gaze at them. I shall allow the memory to prod me into doing better with those still living. And I shall allow them to sharpen the vision and intensify the hope for that Great Day coming when we can all throw ourselves into each other's arms and say, "I'm sorry."

The God of love will surely grant us such a day. Love needs that."

Bootcamp begins...

2010-10-20T03:55:00.000-07:00

This week we began our young men's discipleship bootcamp. My learning curve continues as I look for new ways to gather men together for openness, honesty and spiritual growth.

Inspired by Matt Hatch of Mosaic Church Leeds, this year we are running seven week high intensity discipleship boot camps.

Six of us met for our first session this week. The sessions are running from 6.30am to 8.30am. This is quite early for students! The sessions include participation, studies, stories, prayer and memory verses and set reading.

In our first session we discussed expectations from ourselves and from each other. I gave a framework and we also opened the Bible together. I am pleased with the way the guys responded and am really looking forward to being together again next week.

Over the seven weeks some of the themes we will be looking at will include Handling the sword; Self Leadership; Sexual Purity; True Greatness and Biblical Masculinity.

We met in the house of some of our guys. At around 7am one of their house mates walked in. His face was one of utter bewilderment. Initially he thought we were still sat up from the night before. Then he realised we were not and he was even more confused. He finally remarked, 'this is horrible' and walked away with apparent disgust and confusion. It was very funny. :-)

God Heals

2010-10-19T06:57:00.000-07:00

Some people are up for anything. Some people are up for crystal gazing, fortune tellers, spiritualism and faith healings. Some people seem to think that statues of Mary bring physical healing. Others would regard this type of thing as ridiculous. Many people who I know would view all 'supernatural activity' with huge suspicion. Many would seem to dismiss all without taking the time to consider any possibility that there something other than physical matter.

A number of people in our Church at the moment are praying for people to be healed and are claiming that God is healing people through Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. I have heard stories of cysts disappearing from ovaries, pain removed and fingernails growing back!

For those who claim to be 'scientifically minded' one cannot dismiss claims without a thoughtful investigation. We have to lay blind faith to one side and take time to consider all sides and look at the medical evidence. I hope that is what we do in our Church. I am inspired by people in our Church who are praying for many people and seeing some healed. I expect to see more testimonies and look forward to seeing x-ray pictures of before and after!

I believe Jesus was killed. On weight of evidence I also believe that he was seen alive afterwards. I believe that he proved that he is God. I believe that through his people he brings his kingdom which includes healing from illness. I believe that Jesus heals people as a 'sign' to point people to himself.

There seems to be a variety of views on healing even within the Church. It seems that traditionally those who are up for healing are not very good at reading their Bibles. People can be stereotyped as unhelpful and experience driven without a love for the word of God. On the other hand people who read their Bibles thoroughly and study hard appear to lack the power of the disciples in the Bible when it comes to signs and wonders.

The Apostle Paul in particular seemed to walk a 'radical middle'. He knew the Word and lived in the power of the Spirit through extreme suffering! I love the Bible and want to see God move like He does in the Bible. Here is a good paper which may help bring some clarity and challenge Christians to look for God to move more.

Money Talks...

2010-10-13T03:10:00.000-07:00

I still find it quite strange talking about money in the context of Church. For me it conjures images of all types of horrible television preachers with silver hair and gold teeth, while at the same time rather strangely reminding me of door to door fund raisers asking me for money through a guilt trip.

When it comes to asking our people in Church to give I find it an interesting one. Jesus talks about money loads in the Bible. He seems to link money very closely to our hearts. Among people generally we seem to recognise that money is somewhat of a vehicle by which we express love, commitment, trust and faith in a particular direction. We know people are serious when then put 'their money where their mouth is.' We always care about our investments and so it seems money has the power to some degree to lead our hearts and our affections.

As we walk through recession it's interesting to see how our hearts are revealed. In our nation football seems to be recession proof according to one article I recently read on the BBC website. Recession raises all kinds of questions for us as Christians. Some of them are answered by one of my favourite preachers John Piper in a breathtaking sermon.

As a Church this year we are behind in our giving targets after month 1. This raises the question, how much are we giving? Why? Why not? What is our view of money? How do we seek to improve this area? As a young man with a wife, son and another baby on the way I decided that this summer I wanted to develop a more robust theology of money. As recommended by many I took time to read Money, Possessions and Eternity by Randy Alcorn. I found it to be a truly amazing read. Very helpful, very deep and very shaping for me as I seek to lead my household. I'd recommend this for anyone who is asking questions over money particularly in the current climate, particularly in our Church! :-)

Leaders Training

2010-10-06T03:01:00.000-07:00

One of our current discussions among our elders is how to help and coach our leaders most effectively in Church. We were pondering the content of our small group leaders training which has led us into this broader discussion.

Looking at the life of Jesus we are looking to initiate, cultivate and continue to build along the following lines...

Heart sharing

We are looking for Spirit led inspiration, a depth of conviction and a real sense of faith in our relationships. Jesus spent all night in prayer before approaching his apostles. Jesus took the initiative in making the 'big ask' and was looking for a genuine response in those he asked. We are looking for a sense of mutual faith and genuine chemistry in our relationships where we can.

Life sharing

Jesus took his disciples on a real adventure. They were with him at weddings, they ate with him, they saw him angry, they travelled with him, they saw him teaching, they asked questions and had times of prayer. We are looking to ask the question, 'how can we journey with our leaders?' Which areas of life can we invite our leaders to share with us? Where are we walking with God which others could share and participate and learn from?

Coaching wheel

In the context of a heart conviction and a depth of relationship we are looking to help develop the skills and gifts of our leaders.

Our coaching wheel consists of the following:

Commissioning. Goals, expectations, framework, planning etc.
Listening. How did it go? Thorough assessment.
Celebration. We're looking to identify and celebrate evidences of God's grace in every circumstance.
'You could be more effective if...' We're looking to give practical 'how to's' to help people get better at what they do.
Offer/Resource. We are looking to cross pollinate. We will invite from others in the team, suggest reading, training and outside help to facilitate the learning of our leaders.

The wheel will continue to roll!

We discussed this at the weekend and I'm sure we'll evolve the process as we try to serve our people with all our might!

Week 2 - Frontiers Church Central

2010-10-05T07:30:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we enjoyed our second ever Frontiers Church Central. We saw around 45 people gather to hear teaching about Jesus, worship him and spend time together.

I was glad to be let into the building early this week so that Dan and I were able to see the room and have a chat. The team arrived and we continued to set up. We blacked out the windows, put up the low lights, set up the projector and started to get ready. The chairs were out, the banner was up and people began to arrive. The 'feel' of the evening is very low key and relaxed.

I preached part 1 of our three part series 'LXI'. My hope is that our students and 20's will increasingly catch up and take hold of our main thrust as a Church.

It was quite special for me on Sunday serving among some of my good friends. Matt Giles led worship for us. He was brilliant. Anna Giles came with a view to help with the discipleship of our women leaders. Ben and Leah Arscott were faithfully part of the team even though feeling a bit under the weather. Dan Partridge was such a blessing from start to finish, and it was good to be working along side Rach Harrison. We have a great team and many other people I could mention.

The worship time saw many contributions. We had tongues, interpretation, prophetic words, prayers and communion. I felt a huge blessing from God as we joined together to sing our praises. As a group we have made a commitment not only to God but to each other. It was good to see so many of us at the pub afterwards. I enjoyed the opportunity to speak with newcomers and have a good catch up with our team.

With our Sunday mornings full it seems that this may naturally grow into a second meeting for us. This is one of our discussion points for our elders meeting tonight. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us.

New Series - Bodybuilding

2010-10-02T14:06:00.000-07:00

Really looking forward to kicking off our new series in Ephesians this week at Church. It's been a bit of a crazy week.

Thoroughly enjoyed preaching at ECU on Tuesday night. A couple of people became Christians and many people stood to restart with the Lord.

I have been in London for lectures wed, thurs, fri. We had a great elders day today. Really good stuff. Big day tomorrow with new series and our second meeting of Frontiers Church Central. What an adventure!

Frontiers Church Exeter - Dedication Service

2010-09-28T08:12:00.000-07:00

Frontiers Church Exeter from Custom Creative Solutions on Vimeo.

New Term, New Team

2010-09-28T06:48:00.000-07:00

One of the funny things about being involved with student work is the pace and turnover of students. It feels like I was just getting to know and enjoying sharing life with last years team. Now they have all left!

So this new term is marked by a new student leaders team. They are a great bunch and I look forward to getting to know all of them better over the coming months. The girls seem just as keen to babysit as the team last year which is a result for my marriage!

Last week we spent two days apart at Rora House. We ate together, laughed together, worshipped together, prayed together and planned together. I did some teaching and we played some poker. :-) Day 1 was focussed on walking with the Lord and I looked to equip our guys to handle the Bible well as part of our daily devotions. It was a very practical session and I pray it will release power as the team explore using these tools this year.

Day 2 was about the student work. We prayed for our team, our students and our friends who don't know Jesus. I particularly enjoyed our sprint prayer time. I hope we can repeat this many times throughout the year. I laid out some vision and we finished the day with some nuts and bolts.

When I got home I was shattered! I didn't realise it would take so much out of me. I thoroughly enjoyed the time with the team. One of the boys took a fair amount of abuse for his recent romance and another of the guys spent a fair amount of time talking about Trago Mills. See you there?!

I am grateful and humbled by all the work our volunteers do. I was particularly pleased and grateful for Matt Melachrino who led our worship times so well and Anna Giles who came down to have dinner and meet the girls in the evening.

Frontiers Church Central

2010-09-17T07:05:00.000-07:00

‘The evening will particularly serve students & 20s, while all are welcome.’

Sharing vision

During October we will be teaching through our Church vision ‘LXI’. This series was taught throughout the Church in September and is a great opportunity to catch up for students, 20s and others who have not yet heard the series.

Time with God

Each week we will break bread together and be led in a time of low key acoustic worship. Matt Giles will be leading us through this time.

Time to meet others

There will be a relaxed feel to the evening and afterwards we will all go out for a drink and/or pudding at a local pub. Central is an opportunity to meet in the evening, seek God together and socialise. We feel in time this event will be a great place to bring people who would not usually go to church.

Our first meeting will be Sunday 26th September. 6.30pm - 8.00pm. St Sidwells School EX4 6PG. We will begin teaching on October 3rd.

6 Marks of our mission

2010-09-16T05:03:00.000-07:00

Last night as we gathered together we continued with our focus on 'LXI'. I have thoroughly enjoyed leading us through this season. I feel people are being increasingly mobilised!

On Sunday I preached from 2 Corinthians 4 concluding briefly with some of the implications of the nature of our mission. Here are 6 marks of our mission as I see it:

1) We do not lose heart. This mission has been given to us as grace gift to participate in with God. The joy of walking with Him is the motive which will sustain us regardless of the results.

2) We are servants. Our posture is to be one of serving people in the best way that we can. Some people will suggest that all we need is an outbreak of signs and wonders. Others suggest that we need arguments prepared while others still say that we need practical acts of love. As I read the Bible I see mixed responses to healings and arguments and I know many people who have been well loved but have not become Christians. The key in my mind is that I am a servant and I will serve people in whatever way God calls me to and however people can be blessed. Whether healing, reason or practical acts of love, I want all to flow from my life. I don't think there is one silver bullet here. I want to be like Jesus.

3) We are humble. Ultimately we are aware that the reason we are Christians is not down to us. To have any sense of superiority demonstrates a lack of understanding of the nature of the human condition. We could not see without God.

4) We are people of prayer. Knowing our role and God's role helps us to ask God for both. We know that we need strength and fire to keep going and we also know that God needs to actually open eyes in the end. We are totally dependent on the Holy Spirit doing his work!

5) We are people who celebrate. When people respond to Jesus we recognise God's hand at work and rejoice together. It was great last night to applaud and celebrate God's work through us as we heard person after person speak about coming to know Jesus.

6) We do not beat ourselves up. When all is said and done, we will pour ourselves out to bless people and help in every way, but if people do not respond its not our fault! We must not carry a responsibility that does not belong to us. We will learn and listen and repent along the way but some people will not come to know Christ and I don't think that this is for us to carry.

Let's talk about...

2010-09-15T05:58:00.000-07:00

"There are two words that scare everyone. One is cancer, the other is evangelism." This week in our current series 'LXI' we are looking at 'explain'. If you missed the one you can catch it here.

Human beings seem to overflow with enthusiasm for what they love and enjoy. People will recommend coffee, films, and holiday destinations naturally, sensitively and helpfully. When someone falls in love they usually tell you more than they should about the person they are seeing!

I think if Christians genuinely love Jesus, as they share life and look to bless people, they will not be able to stop speaking something of what they have seen and heard.

The most loving thing I can do for people who I care about is to share the thing which I have which is of most value. Jesus Christ is of infinite value. He is the best thing I can offer people who I care about.

On Sunday I took some time dwelling on 2 Corinthians 4v1-7 to help us as we seek to cultivate a lifestyle of walking with Jesus.

My eye sight is not that good. As a schoolboy, much to my despair, I was told that I needed to wear glasses. I refused to wear them except for when I was in lessons. This vanity led me into a little trouble at times. I once thought I saw a lady I knew across the road. I called out her name and waved. She did not respond so I shouted louder. She still did not respond so I walked half way across the road. I then realised that it was not her and had to apologise and rather sheepishly went on my way. Up close she looked petrified!

Our human rebellion against God (as recorded in the Bible) has left us with our spiritual eyes distorted. (2 Cor 4v4) painfully describes us as being blinded by Satan. Satan has pulled off his greatest trick to a large degree by making people believe that he does not exist. Meanwhile he continues to do his work of keeping people blinded.

God in his mercy has called people to walk with him. Part of walking with him is to become like him and participate in his glorious mission of reconciling people to himself. In this mission Christians are called to be open and honest. Christians are called to be straight with people about our message. Christians are called to be sensitive and loving but not to be cowards. (2Cor4v2)

The heart posture is to be one of serving others for the sake of Jesus. (2Cor4v5) Christians are servants of others sent by Jesus. As servants we will look to do all we can in every way. We will look to pray, help, reason in an effort to introduce people to the greatest being in the universe.

In the end only God can open blind spiritual eyes. It is him who spoke the sun and world into being and him who uses all kinds of different circumstances experiences and teaching to show himself to people. (2Cor4v6) It’s a miracle when people look at Jesus and see God. Humans are not spiritually able to do this according to this text.

I think this means as a people we will be marked by prayer, celebration, and humility. It also means that we will love people and pray for people and sometimes they will not come to know Jesus. This is not our fault. x

LXI: What's your story?

2010-09-09T06:02:00.000-07:00

If you looking to live like Jesus, we want to know how you're going.

What is going well? What steps have you taken? What can we celebrate together?

Equally, what questions do you have? What challenges are you facing? How can we support each other?

We'd love you to email your stories for us to share and respond to more and more... email us at mystory@frontiers-exeter.org.uk

LXI: What does it look like for you?

2010-09-09T02:03:00.000-07:00

Last night @our church together evening we had a great time. We sang to Jesus and broke bread together. We then recapped the message from Sunday and asked the question, 'What does it look like for you to be on mission with Jesus?'

We heard from a student, church worker, teacher and doctors something of what it looks like in their own lives. We spent some time praying for each other and left pondering the following suggestions:

As we look to walk like Jesus we might want to...

Share meals. Lunch@work, evenings etc.
Talk. Take an interest in people. Ask questions. Share life.
Listen. What are people facing? Where can you offer to help?
Hobby. What can you do to meet new people?
Pray. Where do the people you love need God's help?
Walk slowly. Take time to stop and speak to neighbours!

I'm challenged again myself as to how I organise my life. I'm very pleased to be part of a Church which is hungry to follow Jesus and I look forward to sharing and hearing stories from our people as we walk this together.

Who wrote the Bible?

2010-09-08T02:12:00.000-07:00

After our vision series this September we'll be returning to our next episode of our journey through Paul's letter to the Ephesians.

Ephesians, like many letters in the New Testament, is written by the apostle Paul.

I was watching a sermon the other day and was reminded of a helpful question to ask when handling Paul's letters. There is some debate over authorship of some of the letters, but the whole world agrees that Paul wrote half of them! The preacher advised that we start with this half and begin to ask our questions...

Paul's claims are outrageous. He says that God has spoken to Him, and that God had called him to speak about Him. Paul claims supernatural experience and commissioning from God. C.S. Lewis uses the following argument to ponder Jesus which is also helpful when we come to Paul. It seems given the nature of his claims we really only have three options.

Who is this man Paul?

Was he a liar? Was he deliberately writing things that he knew were not true? Was he manipulating people? He lost everything for this cause. Would he do this for a deception? What kind of a man is he?

Was he a lunatic? Did he believe what he was writing but was mentally unstable? Was he deluded? Was he a madman like many before him and many after him who thought that God was speaking to Him when God does not even exist!

Or was he an authorized truth teller? Did God reveal himself to Paul and inspire him to write under the influence of the Holy Spirit? Are the letters that we have 'breathed out' by our maker?

I think the only thing we can do in light of his claims is to read his letters and make the best decision we can. I think we should decide for ourselves. Personally I think this is worth exploring. If he is who he says he is, surely our lives will never be the same again. We can pick up the best selling book in history, read it and see what we think. We'll be studying and preaching from this letter next term...

When I read his insight, wisdom, theology, love, and see the impact of this book on the lives of millions of people, I am compelled to invite others to read and explore these amazing letters of the Bible.

Vision launch catch up

2010-09-07T04:49:00.000-07:00

For those of us who were not there on Sunday for our new vision launch...

Here is an opportunity to catch up before next week.

New Vision - Love

2010-09-05T09:03:00.000-07:00

This morning I kicked off our mini series, 'Love, Explain, Invite.' or 'L X I'.

I'm looking forward to sharing more and building upon this over the coming Wednesday nights and next Sunday.

The was part 1 - 'Love'. At the end we asked people to sign up if they wanted to be missionaries with this Church to this city. We will be asking people to sign up all month.

Unlike our usual style it was more of a thematic talk. Here are really skinny rough notes. I hope it will be online soon. A fair amount of people were away at a wedding.

1) God Loves

God is love. He is three in one and awesome. He powerful creates all things. He makes humanity as the high point of his creation. The loving, powerful fountain overflows as his creates. Yet we fall and reject the most valuable being in the universe. We deserve eternal punishment for this crime. Yet he still loves. He is just so he cannot overlook this crime, but he is gracious so he pays the price himself. He dies as our substitution on the cross. This is of first importance. This is the gospel.

2) Sent to love

Christ died and is raised. He offers us adoption into Sonship. Our eternal destiny is changed as we trust him. As we walk with Him, our heart begins to align with what God the Father cares about. It changes what we rejoice in and celebrate. We empowered by His Spirit to walk with God on His mission. As we walk with Him we learn more and more about his heart and mission to create a people for himself. God loves a fallen world of broken rebels. Jesus directly hands the baton onto his followers. John 17v18. We are a sent people. This begins by loving people practically. Genuine love and concern leads to action.

3) Going to love?

Imagine that you sign up as a missionary and land in another nation to tell people about Jesus. What would you do? What would your attitude be like? Where would you spend your time? Money? Acts 17v26 has says that God has written that today you live where you live, and work where you work. In that place you are called to be a missionary right here, right now. Will you join us? Can we walk this path together. Can we help each other along the way as we leave our comfort zones behind us? Looking to live like Jesus...

Web evolution continues...

2010-09-03T08:38:00.000-07:00

The web and branding evolution continues for us as a church.

Our new website is now live...

Thanks to Vicki at Sound in Theory and Steve Grant for getting us over the finish line today. :-)

New Vision

2010-09-01T06:57:00.000-07:00

The Academy draws to a close

2010-09-01T05:52:00.000-07:00

As a Church we have just finished our summer series which we called 'The Academy'.

We had a mix of men with varying degrees of experience preach a parable each over the summer. I was very pleased with what our men said and did. All of the guys have Godly characters and have something of a passion to lead and preach.

We feel that we need more preachers, if we are to plant more Churches and reach more people. We therefore feel strongly to provide a platform for them to grow. Learning is always ugly and we have been prepared to make a mess. We were convinced of the broader vision and overall the guys did well.

Members were asked to receive each preacher with grace and to search for and draw good from each message. I feel on the whole people responded well. We will be getting together next week for a de-brief and feedback.

This summer we spent time going through each sermon (all except one I think!) and offering feedback and help before they preached before the Church. This takes a lot of humility and flexibility and the guys all did well.

I'm really excited about what God is doing among us as a people. We have a lot of gifted men. Its a privilege to serve along side them. We'll be looking to create more opportunities as we look to the future.

Growth plans or life plans?

2010-08-27T01:49:00.000-07:00

Ed Stetzer in his book Planting Missional Churches shares something of the journey of Atalanta Church Planter Danny Presten.

Church growth plan 1: Cool preacher and cool music.

His plan was this: Put together, “cool worship band and a cool speaker.” (himself) “people would come. They weren’t going to church because it wasn’t cool enough – I thought.” Presten found out by talking to people in the area that downtown residents weren’t interested in going to any Church and weren’t really interested in Christianity either.

Conclusion:“We figured out that all the attractional stuff might draw Christian friends because it was a little cooler than their church. But that’s not why we came here. We’re here to reach lost people.”

Church growth plan 2: Good venue, great events.

“So Presten shifted his strategy to renting a storefront and staging different events every night that would attract the different subcultures – skateboarding competitions for skaters, poetry readings and concerts for the artists, etc.” Presten’s place would be where the various subcultures of people wanted to hang out and a church would eventually result. That too, ended up to be flawed thinking, according to Presten.

Conclusion: “We started looking for a storefront property and realised all those things were already going on around us.” He said. “There was already a skating place where they had competitions all the time. There already were three concert venues on one block. Did we really need a fourth that was owned by a Christian?”

Church growth plan 3: Live like Jesus

Instead they took up jobs and spent time becoming 'insiders' in various communities. They won trust, shared life and gradually spoke about Jesus.
Presten himself got a job at a motorcycle shop. In two weeks of working at the shop, Presten built deeper relationships with people than six or seven months of "outsider" ministry had produced.

Conclusion: I guess people walk with Jesus and become like Him. The Father loves it as we follow the footsteps of his son. In the case of Danny Presten, they now have a Church of 6,000. Thank you Lord.

"These Churches define themselves much more by how many people they serve and how "members" live out their faith in their particular circles all week long. It is not a "come and see" approach, but it is rather a "go and tell."

Hugh Halter insightfully writes, "The biggest assumption we had to get rid of is: If we build it, they will come to us, if we do it well enough." "We had to start assuming that they are not going to come. The only ones that are going to be drawn to our programs are Christians."

I find this very provocative. I know that Jesus came to us. I know that he sent someone to speak to me about Him and I know that I would never have gone to Church otherwise.

New Matt Giles Track

2010-08-25T01:38:00.000-07:00

One highlight this weekend was learning and singing another Matt Giles song. I felt he led particularly well at Westpoint. Good to see my old mate doing so well.

Here is a rough recording of 'Our God is King'. C'mon Church, what shall we say....

For music, lyrics and more from Matt click here.

Parenting #4 You're in charge

2010-08-22T13:52:00.000-07:00

Christians should experience and trust that true freedom is found, not with no master, but with the best master!

Like a fish 'restricted' to water is how I feel when I live within the commands of God.

Under God's commands, parents, receive authority from God, over their children. I find this amazing to ponder. God has set my wife and I 'over' my son. What a responsibility he has given us.

We therefore respond to the loving commands of God. Tedd Tripp writes, "You (parents) act at his (God's) command. You discharge a duty that he has given. You may not try to shape the lives of your children as pleases you, but as pleases him."

I will answer to God for how I have answered his call to me as a parent.

He calls us to be in charge. Yep.

"You must undertake all your instruction, your care and nurture, your correction and discipline, because God has called you to."

Parents, under the authority of God are called to be in authority over their children. God really calls parents to be in charge of their children. Ephesians 6

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 t “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, u but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

PJ Smyth writes, "With the anti-leader, child-centred, men-are-just-the-same-as-women, don't-you-dare-lay-a-finger-on-a-child culture we live in, parents need to be confident that they are called and commissioned to lovingly but firmly train and disciple their children."

Roles and goals

This is something of our role. However, authority is not given by God with no purpose. Authority is not given by God without also giving a manner by which we are to behave and a goal to which we are to lead to.

He calls us to take responsibility and also gives us goals to aim for and methods to use... I do like to 'let the paint dry' here for now. This makes me pray more, like right now!

Together@Westpoint

2010-08-19T02:18:00.000-07:00

Westpoint kicks off tonight and I am really excited. I'm expecting to catching something of the heart of Guy Miller and Dave Stroud as they speak about God and His mission. I'm looking forward to singing to the Lord with thousands of people and I expect we'll win the football tournament.

It will be special for us as a Church with Matt Giles leading worship. He is a good friend who is a very gifted worship leader. It's exciting to see him being raised up and used to bless many people.

Weekends like create memories, build friendships and shape lives as we seek to live for him together. Chloe and I are moving into our friends house for the weekend so that we can share babysitters and many people who I have spoken to are growing in anticipation.

I am sceptical of hype and I do get a little tired of the jargon and hot air which appears to be recycled at times in contexts like this. However, away from the event I see men and women who hunger for Jesus and are walking with Him and learning what it means to follow Him. As we gather together therefore, knowing that the Father is so willing to bless, I am in good faith that many people will receive deposits which will see fruit in the grit of local Church missionary life. I think we will actually see the kingdom advance in our nation!

Leaders who last

2010-08-17T13:18:00.000-07:00

A few of the guys in my Church read this recently. I have to say that I found it really helpful.

I have re-shaped the start of each week as a result of this book and feel a little sharper on what the Lord is calling me to.

Time for a rest

2010-07-30T02:28:00.000-07:00

I'm going on holiday for two weeks. :-)

I'm glad that rest is something that God did (Genesis 2v1-3) and something that he commands! (Exodus 20v11) Jesus took times away from the crowds to rest.

Steve Tibbert writes, "I believe that if we rest more we will be stronger in God, we will be more effective in caring for our families and will be more churches we lead.

Many of us think that if we worked a little harder we would be more fruitful - I'm saying that rest is the critical factor." He writes a good paper which is worth a read.

I'm looking forward to investing time with my family and doing a bit of reading. We'll be by his sea in Cornwall. "The sea is his, for he made it." Psalm 95v5. We're also planning on spending time with some old friends and family. Can't wait. :-)

Parenting #3 For Dads

2010-07-29T03:31:00.000-07:00

This is a moment of reflection for Dads. God calls me to be a Dad. This will not apply to every family set up, but to those in my position...

The call

God holds men accountable for their households. (Genesis 3v9 1 Timothy 3v4-5 Ephesians 6v4.) God addresses the man first as leader on moral decisions, the overall running of the home and for parenting.

The Bible addresses parenting commands to Dad, not mum.

This is not to deny or minimize the crucial, society transforming role of mothers. Instead, this is a call for men to take God given responsibility and also heart posture towards mum. Often she carries out much of the task day to day but he has overall responsibility. (Titus 2v4-5) This shapes my prayer, my listening, my sharing of burdens, my priorities, my time away and my appreciation of my wife.

My repentance

After reading this chapter from Farley I confessed and apologised to my wife for making her feel like Rufus was her responsibility and that I am gracious to help her out. Nothing could be further from the truth. She is my team mate who is helping build my home which I am responsible for. I am to help, support, release her in her talents and receive her as a precious gift from God.

Influence of Dad

Farley writes, "God holds fathers accountable for parenting because he gives them inordinate influence over their children."

He refers to a study published in Touchstone in 2003 and concludes, "The father's spiritual example was the primary tool that shaped his children's desire to embrace religion. The mother's spiritual commitments were less decisive."

If only mum goes to Church, no matter how faithfully only 2% of children ended up going.

If Dad goes to Church, regardless of mum, over 33% of children ended up going to Church.

Touchstone wrote, "The results are shocking, but they should not be surprising. They are politically incorrect as it is possible to be; but they simply confirm what psychologists, criminologists, educationalists, and traditional Christians know. You cannot buck the biology of the created order. Father's influence, from the determination of a child's sex by the implantation of his seed to the funerary rites surrounding his passing is all out of proportion to his allotted, and severely diminished role, in Western liberal society."

Influence of Dad (2)

Fatherhood initiative wrote: "Teens from fatherless homes are: 5 times more likely to run away, 20times more likely to have behavioural disorders, 14 times more likely to commit rape, 9 times more likely to drop out of school, 10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances, 9 times more likely to end up in a state operated institution, and 20 times more likely to end up in prison."

They also note that interestingly these results do not hold when the Father dies. It seems children understand that this is outside of his control and can compensate emotionally Farley observes.

Three thoughts:

1) My role and the weight of the responsibility which God calls me to. In the end this is my first responsibility. I am on my knees for myself and I need to be more so!

2) My brothers. I hope me and my brothers will help each other on this journey and that God leads us to be the best Dads we can be.

3) The distance we are right now in culture and the raw, passionate opposition which this kind of data and reflection may induce in our culture. My heart breaks for the gulf between the gracious blueprint we have and the values promoted in this day. Really I am deeply saddened by this.

We are going to be missionaries

2010-07-28T01:34:00.000-07:00

The Bible is a story about God's mission to save people for himself through Jesus.

If I believe the Bible, I am to play my part in God's great mission. It seems that at the heart of the Church we are a 'sent people'. John 17v18 1Pt2v9

I have been re-reading Total Church by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis. They sometimes ask people to imagine that they are part of a church planting team in a cross cultural situation. They conclude the paragraph by saying, "Mission is central to us wherever we are. These are the kind of questions we should be asking wherever we are."

So I have been pondering and trying to apply these questions as I seek to love my city Exeter.

What criteria would you use to decide where to live?
How would you approach secular employment?
What standard of living would you expect as pioneer missionaries?
What would you spend your time doing?
What opportunities would you be looking for?
What would your prayers be like?
What would you be trying to do with your new friends?
What kind of a team would you want around you?
How would you conduct your meetings together?

Parenting #2 - Marriage talks

2010-07-27T08:04:00.000-07:00

'First principle of parenting' was the title of the chapter. I was reading Gospel Powered Parenting and expecting to get to the practical bits.

It was somewhat of a surprise when William P Farley started talking about marriage. I guess it is obvious when you think about it. Here are some reflections.

Marriage talks, so lets talk marriage

For those in my position trying to build biblical marriages of headship and submission from Ephesians 5, our great hope is that we will in some way be a picture of Christ and the Church. This is why marriage was created. I like the way Farley puts it, "human marriage exists to point men and angels to the eternal marriage of Christ and his Church."

My son has a front row seat to see and hear the message coming from my marriage. My marriage is my first opportunity to show him something of the gospel. This message will either attract or repel my son from the message which comes from my mouth. The first thing I can do to help my parenting is to work hard on my marriage.

Dad

I have an opportunity to demonstrate a pattern of sacrifice which displays to my son something of the love and affection that Jesus Christ has for his Church. As I cherish, value, compliment and delight in my wife so my son might see something of the delight Christ has in his Church. As I pray for and lead my wife in Bible reading and prayer so my son might see something of Christ's sanctifying grace towards His church. This is a high calling.

I once heard CJ Mahaney ask himself something to the effect of, "Will I take advantage of my wife's godliness or will I model myself on Jesus Christ and his love for the Church." This kind of chat improves my prayer life!

Mum

Chloe has an opportunity to support and help and submit to my godly sacrificial leadership. I realise this is a can of worms. We do not take this lightly. This is going to take some wisdom and discernment! Again we found CJ and Carolyn Mahaney teaching on this very helpful and clarifying. As she trusts me joyfully she is showing our son how the Church is to be to Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5v22-24. What a beautiful picture God wants to paint with our marriage.

Gospel

We know we will fall short. We will need to ask for forgiveness and repent. We will need to confess in front of our children openly and honestly. However as we walk with Him, as he changes us little by little, I hope my son will see our intentions, our aspirations which point Him to Jesus and also the power of God as he gradually changes us.

Sweeter than honey

2010-07-23T06:35:00.000-07:00

Sweeter than honey and to be desired more than Gold is how David describes the words of God. I have had a number of conversations recently with people about how to read the Bible and draw treasure from it.

How do I read it?
How do I apply it to my life?
How do I grow in this area?

I have compiled this loose framework from various sources including friends, 'Leading better Bible studies' and from Matt Chandlers recent session which you can find here. I hope some find it helpful.

I am particularly enjoying this tool kit at the moment.

Toolkit:

Pencil
Highlighter
Moleskin
ESV Bible (Which you don't mind writing on.)
According to plan, Graeme Goldsworthy

Ask – We can’t see anything without Him. 1Cor2v14

1.Look – What does the text say?

With a pencil in hand I circle, underline and observe as much as I can for 5-10mins.

Context: Verse/passage/context/book/genre/Testament (Goldsworthy)
Who, What, When, Where, Why?
Repetitions, contrasts, progressions, illustrations...
Link words
Look up and follow questions (ESV Study Bible)

2.Think – What did the text mean to its original audience?

Awareness of genre and features
Awareness of Biblical Theology/progressive revelation (Graeme Goldsworthy)
Harmony of scripture. Process of elimination from what is clear.
The Bible is about God.
What is the point?(s)

3.Listen – What is God calling you to do?

· I highlight one or two verses which I feel God is leading me to.

· I write in my journal for 10mins+.
Write contrasts comparisons and examples.
I write how this speaks to me.

· I write down things to do as obedience.

What was God’s concern?
Where does this speak into your life?

What does it reveal/affirm?

What will you do in response to what God is saying?
When will you do it?
What will help you?
What will hinder you?
James 1v22-25

4.Talk - What do you want to talk to God about?

· I spend time (10mins) singing (Worship music on iPhone) praying and speaking to God about what he has shown me and other stuff on my heart.

What has God spoken to you about?
What do you want to thank him for?
Where do you need to confess?
Where do you need help?

Walk - Do it.

Takes me 25-30mins each day and I love drawing close to God through His means of grace.

Parenting #1 - Gospel parenting

2010-07-21T02:08:00.000-07:00

I have been a Dad for just over a year. Rufus is getting more and more active and fun.

I have read a few books, listened to different teachers, and watched different people. I have gathered a few thoughts which I wanted to draw together. Clearly I am not an expert. I am a faltering young Dad! However I think I have picked up a few simple things which have helped me.

Parenting is worship

The life of a Christian is a joyful response to who God is and what he has done for us. I want to live for him and live in a way which delights my Father in heaven. His opinion is the most important one in my life. Not expectations of others, not the latest research, and not what other parents think. Parenting is now one facet of my worship to God.

A big call

After reading around the subject it is clear that God calls me to a certain role with certain responsibilities to my wife and son. The bar is high. Looking after my Son all day is amazing and challenging for Chloe and carrying the leadership of the home before God is not something that I am taking lightly. According the scripture the buck stops with me.

I fall short

I want to be the perfect Dad! However I know that I am not. Sometimes I am selfish and sometimes I am lazy. Sometimes I don't do what I should do and sometimes I do what I should not do. Knowing God's call on Dads and my love for my wife and son I find this particularly painful. Should I give up? Or should I settle for pursuing less than the picture God paints for me?

He has paid for me

The good news for me, as a faltering Dad is Jesus has paid already for all my parenting blunders. He lived the perfect life and died on the cross and my substitute. God has forgiven me. He shows that He loves me and is for me and He has made many promises to me.

He is changing me

I am so grateful that God had promised to be working in my heart and changing my character. He has promised that as I walk with Him I will become more loving, more patient, more kind, and more joyful. This is good news for my wife and son! I also hope to display humility before my family. I expect my home to be a place of confession, forgiveness and yet progressive transformation and joy. I look to God who calls me to an amazing role, forgives my shortcomings and yet empowers me to be a better man.

It is well...

2010-07-17T01:36:00.000-07:00

I really like this version from Mars Hill. I think this song is one of my favourites. It is a song that I hope to sing all the days of my life. Written by Horatio G. Spafford 1873. Here are the original lyrics.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
- Refrain:
  It is well, with my soul,
  It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!
And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

New Frontiers - Hearts for Transition

2010-07-13T06:34:00.000-07:00

I had a good time at together on a mission 2010.

It finished on a poignant note with news of PJ's cancer. PJ has started to blog about his experience. As a personal hero who I have drawn from I find this deeply emotional and at the same time fortifying. http://pjsmyth.tumblr.com/

As a young pastor I am looking to take on more responsibility and therefore increasingly concerned about receiving apostolic input to help our church. This season of New Frontiers therefore particularly draws my attention. I found Steven Van Rhyn particularly helpful. God spoke to me and I will stand on this word.

Acts 20v17-38

Mission motivates
Paul faced the following:

Uncertainty
Vulnerability v22 v29
Lack of resources at times v35 (&1Thess2v9)
Relational complexity v36 - v38

The primary challenge: Will Paul/we let these secondary issues hamper the primary purpose of mission?

No season of consolidation.
Together on a mission.
Apostolic gifts are for mission.

Necessity of elders
Paul with eldership team. Apostles and elders working together through transition.

Leadership teams - Acts14 - Holy Spirit appointed - for the purpose of gospel advance.

What do you do when founder/apostolic relationship ends? Through change/growth/death?
Elders/teams:
1) Watch ourselves. v28 'What you people need most is your personal holiness.'
2) Keep watch over the Church. v28 Jesus gave himself for the Church.
3) Watch each other. Mark 9&10 Disciples were going after position and seats at certain tables.
We must aim for servant leadership not entitlement.
The need to be first is a sign of immature leadership.

Succession plan
No names. No specifics. Foundational level for more advance.

1) Jesus is building his Church. v32 Phil 1v6
He is the sustainer.
He is building his Church.
Any of us could be taken at any time. It is God who builds His church.
Jesus is the saviour.
Jesus is the great Apostle.
Jesus is far reaching.
Jesus is available to all.
Jesus is where we place our hope.
Paul commends them to God.
(God is better than Terry!)

2) We hold onto the gospel.
'the word of his grace'.
Gospel of first importance.
Gospel changes lives.
Gospel is the power.
1 Cor 15v3-4

3) Hearts of generosity v35
Work hard & provide for others.
No hording! Give, give, give... in transition.
Don't let uncertainty stop you giving.
Help others and help other churches.
In this soil, apostolic gifts will grow. As they did needing and seeing good discernment Rev 2.

Toam 2010

2010-07-10T01:44:00.000-07:00

TOAM Highlights 2010 from Newfrontiers on Vimeo.

I had a great time this year. Terry Virgo was brilliant. Personally I found Stephen Van Rhyn very helpful and Joel Virgo finished the week off well. I had some great time reflecting and praying with my wife about our future and the kind of home we want to build and the kind of parents we want to be. I also caught up with my best mate which was awesome. I'm looking forward to catching seminars online next week.