The Road to "Elder" ado

Shrewsbury Food Bank

2012-01-20T08:48:00.004Z

For more than a decade the food bank at our Church has given out thousands and thousands of pounds of food to local people disadvantaged through all sorts of different circumstances.

Starting out primarily as a debt relief project the ethos has morphed to include crisis help, especially for people who are caught before their benefits starts to kick in.

All kinds of agencies refer people to us, and we give them enough food for a week.

As food has got more expensive so the food parcels have got more expensive and yet the work still grows, and in this economic climate we can only see it continuing in one direction. 20-30 people a week get around £30 of groceries.

For years it was called "Basics bank" but now we have changed the name to make it easier for people to find and understand what it is.

www.shrewsburyfoodbank.org

A couple of years ago the guy who set it up won a "Pride of Shropshire" award from the local newspaper / council for services to the community.

There is a big bin at the back of our main hall and people bring donations of food every Sunday. We receive all sorts of stuff from Harvest Festivals at other Churches. We go to supermarkets and ask for donations.

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat" jumps out of my Bible and this project gives me a way to live it out.

Why blog?

2011-12-15T11:04:00.003Z

This much discussed subject came up at dinner with friends last night when I was asked the same question.

The underlying concern was that it appeals to our vanity and sense of worth trying to gain following.

This was not an accusation against me, but rather a general comment.

And the more I think about it, the more I kind of agree.

When I started this blog I wanted it to be me making an honest assessment of my own journey in Church leadership.

In it I have tried to be real about some of the more personal elements of my life, while also celebrating the great things God is doing in and through our Church.

I don't want to use this as a medium to throw stones at others, as some bloggers sadly do.

Nor do I want it to be a one sided propaganda tool for either my own ministry, my Church or my movement of Churches.

"Hey, everything is amazing and we are brilliant" is never the whole story.

I want it to be real.

And then for times I don't write much, because I don't really have anything to say.

Then at other times I may have a specific subject or situation I am working through.

The more I read other people the more I think people are either just trying to provoke a reaction or gain traffic. I don't want to fall into that trap.

We had 389 bums on seats across our two services on Sunday. I don't know them all. Not properly. I could give you the names of every one of our 275 adult members, but not necessarily all their children. Nor do they know me.

My friends know me. The people I work closely with know me. My midweek group know me. But as the Church grows and new people join I find my blog is actually a useful way to allow people to get inside my head and see the kinds of things I think about and stand for. New people regularly view it as they research our Church, and it does not seem to put them off, in fact they feel they know me better because they have found out more about my life and personality than they could do in normal circumstances.

So all in all, I am confident in what I am doing writing this, and ever more confident in why I don't write more.

Gift Day

2011-11-25T10:14:00.003Z

God has been speaking to our Church recently about gearing up for growth.

We need to do something about facilities because we are pretty well full at our current site.

So in order for us to explore our options we are opening a Building Development Fund.

We have no plans yet.

We have no building we want to buy.

We have not decided to alter our current premises to fit more people in.

We just know we have to do something.

So we called a gift day.

You don't take gift days just before Christmas.

You don't ask people to give if you have not got a clear vision of what they are giving to.

Well we don't know what it will be for and we did it last week: so to hear our Church have generously given £47,916 (with more pledged) was really exciting.

It also means we can give 10% away as we always do, shared this time between our family of Churches, a national debt advice charity, our local Youth for Christ Centre and a recently launched Street Pastors initiative.

International & national mission, national social action, local mission, local social action.

And we now have a fighting fund to start exploring the next practical steps in our journey as a Church.

Not blogging as much

2011-11-18T09:30:00.000Z

With a 4 month old daughter, an amazing Church and a few hobbies I have not been blogging much recently.

Which I guess the bishop of Shrewsbury would approve of?

I was at the launch of our Street Pastors initiative and the Bishop Mark Rylands made these remarks...

"More words have been used since the years 2000 than all history before. This is because of the vast overload of information, fuelled by the internet, and people churn out more and more and more.

We are too busy writing blogs and uploading things to websites that we don't have time to listen.

We have less time to actually do things.

And because of that our words have become devalued.

God sent His one and only Son to live with us. He did not send a memo!"

Cage Football in Shrewsbury

2011-11-16T15:51:00.003Z

We have just launched our Cage Football project in Shrewsbury.

A couple of weeks back we had it in use at our half term fun day.

On Saturday we took it out to a local village where a couple from the Church run a youth club.

Next week the NOMAD team from YFC are coming to help us do a big launch; in 4 schools and 4 youth clubs (3 Church, one council) and then at Shrewsbury Town's stadium before the afternoon match.

All in all, it is a really exciting opportunity to go and be involved in our local community, by giving the local young people a fun, free activity, and dovetail in with the work already being done by a variety of community agencies.

Time to pray

2011-10-19T14:13:00.003+01:00

Our Church is undergoing a huge change.

God is asking us the think bigger.

With that in mind we have called a week of prayer and fasting.

At our lunchtime prayer meeting today there were 44 adults and 5 children.

I am humbled and excited about so many people caught up in the vision God is placing before us.

It does make me wonder what can be achieved in the kingdom if we do really give ourselves to prayer.

There are prayer meetings and there are prayer meetings.

This one was spiritually ablaze.

We had worship, we had spiritual songs, there was praying in tongues and in English, people had scriptures and pictures from the Holy Spirit to help us to pray.

If anything is going to happen it is down to God. So we are not going to focus on just buildings and people and practicalities, matter as they do.

We are going to pray.

Playing God

2011-10-02T15:27:00.003+01:00

Fresh back from holiday I was asked this morning before the service if I was willing to play a part in a small drama being used by our visiting speaker.

"Yes" I replied, "as long as I don't have to play the devil"

You see a few months ago on our Freedom in Christ course I was cast in a similar talk illustration, as sin.

Talk about playing the "bad guy", I was sin itself!

So today I waited anxiously to find out which "character" I was going to have to play. I missed out on "Father God", and got a bit nervous as "man" was introduced but that part went to someone else and I ended up being Jesus!

Bonus!

What I did not realise, and nor did the person who got volunteers beforehand was that in the sermon illustration the three of us were stood on chairs and man crosses via Jesus to Father God.

Great illustration, clear, straightforward, the "bridge diagram" using real people. What could go wrong?

They had picked, shall we say, three "bigger" lads, quite by accident, and speaking of accidents how we avoided a major one I will never know, as we shuffled and changed places on these chairs!

A few years back I wrote the working copy of our working at height risk assessment, so I may have been Jesus but I still broke out into a cold sweat!

Holidays

2011-09-30T11:44:00.001+01:00

It has been quiet on here this week because we are away on holiday.

A family affair with 9 of us across three generations in a Herefordshire cottage.

And what great weather!

This time 2 years so we were in Lanzarote.

This week it is warmer in Herefordshire than it is in Lanzarote!

Priorities

2011-09-23T12:11:00.004+01:00

God has been really speaking powerfully to our Church recently and opening up a new vision for the future.

Last night was our "Church Together" meeting, where we gather to worship and pray.

You know God is doing something exciting when you are not far off 150 adults for a Church prayer meeting.

There are ten key areas we are looking to develop in. These were displayed right the way around our main hall for people to go and choose which to pray for.

The results of where people went were fascinating!

1) By far the biggest contingent went to "Spirit level": that we would experience a greater empowerment of the Holy Spirit for all the things God is laying before us and that our worship would be in His presence.

2) Next up Social Action gathered many people praying for the Church expressing the love of God to the hurt and vulnerable locally and nationally.

3) Third in terms of number were people seeking God for healings and miracles: that the gospel be proven through signs and wonders.

All the other stuff is really important too! And many people moved around and everything was thoroughly prayed for! It was so humbling to see people kneeling and quietly praying, or standing and shouting out, whatever, however, calling on God for the future of the Church and ultimately for the glory of Christ; that the Gospel goes forth and people come to Him, become disciples and join His bride.

It was interesting in the three areas mentioned that above all else the desire was for more of God in our hearts and lives, to see more of God demonstrated in power, and express more of God to a hurting world.

That is my kind of Church.

New Media Awards

2011-09-20T14:21:00.002+01:00

This blog has been shortlisted by Premier Christian Radio for their New Media Awards within the "Most inspiring Leadership Blog" category.

I am chuffed with that.

Simply because if this blog is a blessing to people then it is doing what I set out to do.

Looking at the shortlist in my category I can see different Christians from around the country all using blogging to encourage others. In doing so we all make a small contribution.

It is interesting to see the different styles: some of us are blogging about preaching specifically, others, like this one, is more a diary entry/things going around in my head kind of effort.

Last year people like Dave Gilpin and Adrian Warnock were shortlisted, which kind of makes this blog look like a primary school kid scribbling on a scrap of paper, but there you go!

There is an awards ceremony in London for the top two in each section which sounds quite exciting.

Whatever happens moving forwards it has been a real encouragement.

Reading my blog

2011-09-17T09:49:00.003+01:00

A lady came up to me on Sunday morning who has been living abroad.

I did not know her that well, but she seemed to know me!

It turns out she reads this blog, and has read it, pretty well all of it while being away.

And has recommended it to friends.

Yet again my series on miscarriage appears to have been a blessing, and has been shared with others.

I set out writing this blog in the hope of allowing people in our Sunday congregation of 300 or so to see inside my mind a little bit more and get an impression of who I really am.

I also wanted to chart my ups and downs in my journey in Church leadership for some of my peers who know me across the country.

And to blow away some of the misconceptions by being as open and down to earth as I possibly can.

It is a real priviledge when a real person with a real life comes up and says reading this blog was a real blessing to them.

The great danger of blogging is that either you are talking to yourself, or you are trying to stir up a debate to get readers.

Hopefully I do neither, but just for the record, why are you reading this post today?

I can see my blog statistics and can see almost everyone who reads it does not comment.

But on this post alone, please reply!

Henry Olonga, Blood, Sweat and Treason

2011-09-16T17:08:00.004+01:00

Something is happening in Shrewsbury.

On Wednesday night over 300 people attended an event at Shrewsbury Abbey, the thousand year old Church building just around the corner from our Church centre.

Five Churches had chipped in some money to invite Henry Olonga to Shrewsbury, for a joint event that was a pre-alpha social.

He was outstanding. He shared his story of how his faith encouraged him to stand up to Robert Mugabe by wearing a balck armband in the cricket world cup.

He was funny, engaging, humble, honest, and my goodness the man can sing.

Guests were invited to receive an Alpha invitation to one of the courses at one of seven participating Churches, who are running courses this Autumn.

One of those courses is a joint course between Shrewsbury Baptist Church and Shrewsbury Abbey's sister Church St Peter's, the first such collaboration between the two Churches.

The vicar of the Abbey made that point in his welcome on the night to spontaneous applause.

Joint events. Joint publicity. Joint introductory courses.

In Psalm 133 King David asserts

" 1 How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!
2 It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
down on the collar of his robe.
3 It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the LORD bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore. "

There is still further to travel on this journey, but step by step we will reach our town with one voice.

I am excited!

And if you ever get the chance to go and hear Henry Olonga, grab it with both hands.

The way to end a meeting...

2011-09-11T23:11:00.002+01:00

Members meetings are often billed as the scourge of ministers, especially amongst friends of mine who serve in different Church groups around the country.

I have heard of some full on disagreement, slanging matches, and generally really horrible stuff coming out in members meetings.

I have never been to a members meeting like that and never want to.

Tonight we had a members meeting.

And it was one of the most profound experiences of my life as God opened a new chapter in the life of our Church.

Everything changes, as God laid a huge challenge before us as a people, as a family.

And there was such togetherness.

Such positivity.

Such kindness in the things said, especially towards us as three elders.

And then we sung a worship song to close.

After the closing song there was a spontaneous outbreak of people just praying out in the spirit and in tongues. There was too much momentum and excitement in the Spirit to stop there, something overflowed.

Then after a concluding prayer by our lead elder Martin Charlesworth there was a spontaneous round of applause.

Spontaneous prayer, and spontaneous applause. Beautiful.

Things will never be the same again.

A new car

2011-08-24T11:33:00.003+01:00

In November last year someone in the Church was planning to scrap their car but offered it to me first.

The worst winter for ages kicked in and I was grateful every morning to have a form of transport with a roof.

I am very grateful for that provision but for a while now have begun to think about maybe getting something more suitable for me.

Fast forward to August and someone else offered another car, which would be more suitable for me. Result!

I thought about scrapping the first car but decided to post on Facebook if anyone wanted it.

Straight away someone else from Church responded.

They have a new job and need a car urgently so that they can get to work, and had prayed over the weekend for God to open up an opportunity to get a cheap car.

So I received a car and was really grateful. It served me well and just passed its MOT. At the point I started to think about a different car something else opened up. That allowed me to pass the blessing I had received on to someone else.

And all the way through not a penny has changed hands; people have been blessed (2 by giving, 1 by receiving, and me in the middle who could do both), useable cars have not been scrapped and God has provided.

We have a "Community of goods" scheme active in the Church which is a noticeboard where people can post up stuff they want to give away or stuff they need. A sort of Freecycle within the Church. Why get a few quid off ebay or dump it on the doorstep of a charity shop if someone you know and love could actually use it?

More and more I think we need to make brave decisions about ownership and sharing to explore more fully what "having everything in common" can really mean in a western affluent society.

Not least, because that way everyone wins.

How I passed my A-levels, but failed at life

2011-08-18T14:18:00.005+01:00

Tim Simmonds has helpfully blogged about how his A-Level results day was not exactly a pinnacle of joy and the lessons he learned.

From what I can see of that story, he did a few very good things.

1) He took time out and did not make a panic decision
2) He got stuck in at Church and in so doing he was in an environment where He could get the perspective he needed
3) He did not give up on education, later completing a degree

But I bet it still hurt.

My story is the opposite of that. At 6th form I was friends with a group of really nice Christian people and by and large we worked hard. No punk bands for me, as I was president of the Christian Union and the 6th Form College Council. Although like him, the party lifestyle opening up was certainly a distraction.

With the help of some Lett's guides and quite a big chunk of hard work I left 6th form with A grades in History, German (distinction), Business Studies and General Studies. Wanting to do a vocational degree that would prepare me for the Business World I went off to university business school with my head held high and again despite some quite shameful run ins with hedonism I graduated with a first and the school prize.

Now that sounds all boastful writing it like that and in a dark part of my soul it probably still is, but the truth of the matter is that it nearly killed me. When I say killed me, I mean the man God had shaped, called, and prepared got lost on the journey and the friendships, the nightclubs, the academic success became layer upon layer of distraction and confusion.

I left university with a job offer with Accenture, and a hole in my heart big enough to drive a Range Rover through. I was no longer sitting on the fence. In this big tug of war between God and the world, the world had won. Not that I would admit it at the time. Not that I consciously knew. The two worlds I had tried to keep spinning in tandem collided and out of the wreckage I came back to Shrewsbury for my year out. My year out serving the Church.

I vividly remember a conversation with Terry Hotchkiss, my old youth leader and now fellow elder, about doing a year out. He put me under no pressure but gently persuaded me as to the merits of it. He was right. As I put out chairs, gave lifts to senior citizens, cleaned toddler toys and was part of a year team, did some training, rubbed shoulders with people from all over the country doing the FP year, met some great Church leaders from around the country my relationship with God grew, and my understanding of my identity before God changed.

No longer was my faith an academic exercise in success and failure. It was a relationship. I was accepted. Not through my own merit. Not because I had worked hard. Not because I had made my parents proud or got into the university I wanted to or had a shiny certificate, but because of what Jesus had done.

My head knowledge faith turned into the fruit of discipleship and slowly but surely the other Dave was suffocated and finally I sent the letter to Accenture before I even started telling them I was now going to work for the Church instead.

Not that Church work is better per se, but it was God's plan for me and my success blinded me to this.

And when I now think of the trajectory my exams results left me on, I see myself on the way to becoming a lonely, insecure, outwardly successful and alcohol dependant Dave still trying to make people smile to cover his own broken heart.

But I am not that person. I am me. And I am His.

The day of my greatest success sowed the seeds of my greatest failure, when I became the story not the servant.

So if you have done well today, well done. And remember who the story is about, and it is not you.

Spare the Rod

2011-08-11T11:30:00.001+01:00

Someone I really respect recently posted on Facebook

Governments that effectively prohibit a parent using a rod (Proverbs 13:24) on a child, will discover that they are increasingly having police officers needing to use them on adults!

I am certain that there is a level of humour intended, and I certainly agree that a lack of discipline is a problem in our society. I can also see the link between a generation of young people who have little respect for authority and the riots on our streets this last week.

But it reminded me of Phil's excellent post on the subject of smacking which got me thinking.

On that post I commented:

"I am ever more confused by some of the assertions regarding physical discipline using that verse in Proverbs.

Whatever happened to aligning things with the new covenant, looking at the life of Jesus and the example of the early Church?

Seems a bit odd to hinge a whole doctrine on a piece of advice and make it sound like a command.

If Esther is nagging me I don't go and sit on the corner of a roof!

I wonder what the funniest "taking a proverb literally" doctrine could end up being?

I just don't think it is meant like that.

Is there not far more biblical evidence that a child should be swaddled when sleeping: because that after all is the example of Jesus?"

This post is not a judgement on people who smack their kids per se. I know and love many people who do.

It is a question to those who say, or perhaps more subtley imply, that I should.

In England if I use a rod, that is against the law. You are not allowed to use another object. I don't know anyone who quotes this verse in Proverbs and actually uses a rod.

Therefore I would probably use my hand. Which is already changing the command from rod to a hand. I am instantly making a value judgement and using my own chosen method of "force".

Where does that end? If we get to choose? Smacking with a hand? Shaking? All we have done is impose a value judgement onto what "acceptable" force is based on our own worldview, which is not exactly submiting to the Scripture.

I am absolutely 100% committed to the effective discipline of my children. Just as I am 100% commited to their welfare, their physical and emotional needs. I am certain people who smack and people who don't smack are equally determined to get it right.

I guess my question is for people who do believe that Proverbs holds fast as a biblical reasoning to smack your children:

Do you go and sit on the corner of your roof when your spouse nags you? (Pr 21:9)
Or go and live in the wilderness? (Pr 21:19)
When someone mocks you do you flog / hit them? (Pr 19:25)
Or if someone is foolish (Pr 19:29)
And what is your favourite method of sanctification? (Pr 20:30)
And finally, out of Proverbs and with a with a cheeky grin, do you Swaddle your baby? (Luke 2:7)
And was your son circumsized?

I think Proverbs is very clear about discipline. The child who is truly loved is disciplined for their overall benefit. No-one doubts that. But I feel am not convinced that Proverbs 13:24 gives Christians a mandate to actually smack our children, not at all.

I can see the line of thinking that it gives us permission, should we choose to. What I am challenging is the notion that it means we ought to.

Proverbs always gives us good advice. Which is why I will finish with Proverbs 21:2.

A person may think their own ways are right, but the LORD weighs the heart.

I am not judging another person's choice of discipline. I have not fully made my own mind up yet for methods we will use. I am just thinking this stuff through. And as the verse above suggests, I am pretty sure as with most things what really interests God is what is on our hearts.

We may choose non violent methods of discipline but have anger and revenge in our hearts.

So no outward methodology is going to be the simple answer.

A Grand Day Out

2011-08-03T13:10:00.005+01:00

Yesterday I had a brilliant day out taking the chance to swing by Soul Survivor A in Stafford for their final night.

I have always loved Soul Survivor.

I went there as a teenager several times, and I still see many hallmarks of that foundation in my Christian walk today.

Mike Pilavachi is an absolute legend and I had the privieldge of telling him that a while back.

The day was great. For several reasons.

If evangelical charismatic Christianity in the UK is a river then to my mind Soul Survivor is plumb centre of the river.

In the middle you get quite deep water. You see some slightly weird looking fish from the other side of the river that you don't normally see (which is probably why they look weird to you).

It was refreshing to sit in the middle of the river. To see the vitality and the variety of what God is doing amongst different groups, movements and organisations across the country.

The language is of what unites us, not of our distinctives. Our distinctives are what make us who we are, yet I wonder what the Church would look like if we were distinctive by what unites us?

This means they basically just talk about Jesus. Lots and lots of Jesus. Come and follow Jesus. Day by day, response after response. Hundreds and hundreds of teenagers.

The atmosphere was great. The worship was great. The talks really seemed to engage the youth.

That evening there was fancy dress as disney characters and literally hundreds had dressed up. Watching Mike Pilavachi conduct a whole meeting dressed as Buzz Lightyear is one of the most surreal, humorous, and engaging things I have ever seen.

No-one else on this earth that I know of could maintain a level of spiritual oversight and gently lead a public gathering of thousands while dressed as a cartoon character.

In many ways they have been instrumental in bringing us Matt Redman, Tim Hughes and others. They have also shown how you can do "youth" well. The whole event is a million times cooler than anything the Churches in our town can manage.

They just seem to "get" it, and in turn thousands of young people across 19 years have "got" Christ, and I stand in that number.

Cage Football in Shrewsbury

2011-07-26T15:55:00.004+01:00

Sometime in the next couple of weeks a Football Cage is arriving in Shrewsbury!

It has been quite a long slog to get here, with the usual highs and lows, setbacks and successes.

But now we are about to launch a really high profile community project looking to encourage young people across the town and help the different agencies serving young people to have a bridge to connect to them with.

So we can go out with the fire service and the cage to an area where the young people might be bored and setting fire to stuff.

We can go into schools and help run citizenship lessons and PSE activities using the cage.

We can go with the Police to a community fun day and gather young people and give them information about drugs awareness.

Preventing a public nuisance. Teamwork. Healthy eating. The Church, other local community agencies, the public services, all working together for the good of our society.

There are already 5 Churches looking to use the Cage: 2 Anglican, 2 newfrontiers and one Baptist.

Let's do it!

A very important 10 minutes

2011-07-20T15:30:00.000+01:00

The ten minutes from 44 minutes on in Dave Stroud's talk here is absolutely spot on.

When talking about our theological positions:

1) We must not be "Sloppy in our attitudes, language or use of media"

2) We should not "Create a culture that does not actually back the doctrinal position we stand upon"

3) and "we can encourage men without a cost to us in other areas"

He quotes from Tim Keller, who holds a very (in my view) well balanced view of complimentarianism.

Dave then talked about how we have in some ways moved to the edge of evangelicalism.

I agree.

He says we love the WHOLE body of Christ. But we have not always been as smart as we could be in how we have communicated it. I agree.

He says there should be no air of superiority. No exclusiveness. We should love people without agreeing with them. We should be more generous.

"Amen" does not even come close to covering it!

A real shame

2011-07-20T13:25:00.003+01:00

As alluded to in my previous post, yet again Mark Driscoll caused an online furore over facebook comments.

The question "So what story do you have about the most effeminate anatomically male worship leader you've ever personally witnessed" was completely inappropriate. In content, in tone, and in context.

Driscoll has since made a statement suggesting that the elders at Mars Hill have "had a word" which is good news. Although it is a great shame that the "word" they have had did not cause another word.

Sorry.

Dave Stroud did an excellent talk at Together on a Mission which I will blog on next when he addressed issues surrounding the discussion on gender (44 mins onwards), and he uses expressions like "Sloppy in our attitudes, language or use of media", "Create a culture that does not actually back the doctrinal position we stand upon" and "we can encourage men without a cost to us in other areas".

He was talking internally within Newfrontiers but I can certainly see the parallels.

There are many problems with the conversation Mark Driscoll started.

Firstly that he was so flippant (his word) about something so serious, so important, and so sensitive. And with thousands of people watching his every move: people both for him and against him on many issues.

Secondly, he resorted to stereotype. Many people his side of the fence on these issues resent being stereotyped by those holding egalitarian views. Do unto others as you would have done to you. And you reap what you sow.

Thirdly, in doing so he brings shame on anyone who happens to hold onto elements of a similar theological construction regarding the created order, gender and leadership in the local Church by going about it in this way.

Finally, when he came to the newfrontiers conference a couple of years back he was very clear, outspoken and positive about his experience of our corporate worship. He praised us for it.

The worship at the conference is led by different men and women. Kate Simmonds and Lou Fellingham stand out as excellent worship leaders. Whatever the attributes of the women who led worship and helped contribute towards the amazing worship he experienced: they must have displayed feminine characteristics.

Yet an "effeminate" guy leading worship is a figure of fun?

The guy who presumably when leading worship shows the same feminine attributes (gentleness, kindness and sensitivity?) as the women worship leaders who are to be praised?

Not only does that cause offence, it does not even make sense.

Being a real "man"

2011-07-15T12:11:00.004+01:00

Yet again Mark Driscoll is in the public eye for shooting his mouth off before engaging his brain.

Interestingly some people have used this as an excuse to raise questions about Newfrontiers, because Mark Driscoll spoke at our conference in 2009 (As well as a weekend church planting conference in Northern Ireland in 2010). Terry Virgo tweeted a word of thanks recently for his insights in 2009 that really challenged us and have been the precursor to great change regarding Terry Virgo handing on much of his oversight role to new teams of leaders.

It seems a bit odd to have to defend yourself from the actions of a speaker at a conference two years ago, whose total input into your movement of Churches specifically amounts to a little over 3 hours.

3 hours spent talking about the work of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts and common problems Church movements face.

Sure, some individuals within Newfrontiers are very influenced by Mark Driscoll, alongside Bill Johnson, Tim Keller, Bill Hybels etc. Amongst the people I know and work with someone like Tim Keller gets a lot more respect, air time and has his books quoted.

Who was the last person I heard at a Newfrontiers conference talking about men?

Carl Beech.

Who gives a good, clear counter to some of the hot air crossing the Atlantic just now. It says it is not pointed at "One man" but it certainly rings true of a counter to several Driscollisms.

Points 2 and 3 really nail it for me:

"2) I believe there is no one-way of being a man. Portraying stereotypes is unhelpful and shallow. Human beings are far more complex than any stereotype. People hear my accent and see my build and assume I’m into everything that’s macho and despise anything that looks weak or wimpy. Assumption is the mother of all catastrophe. I play piano, write poems and don’t like football. I also love to cook and don’t mind watching a chick flick with the girls. However, it is true I also love gadgets, shooting stuff, meat, fire and loud music. Big deal. I have testosterone. Some of my mates who also of course have testosterone like none of these things. Big deal. Lets get on with the real task in hand. Millions are dying without Christ. We need all our talents, eccentricities and personalities on task.

3) Projecting ‘macho” as the only type of man speaks to me of deep inadequacy and insecurity. If you were truly a man (of whatever type) you wouldn’t keep needing to talk about it. You would simply live it, demonstrate you are truly comfortable in your own skin and point beyond yourself to Jesus. We tend to bleat on about what we struggle with most. Be mindful of this next time you get a hobby horse!"

There is a guy in our Church who is really creative, and he makes handbags. I encourage him in this hobby. They are beautiful. He recently brought in a painting he had done of Calvary. We used it within our worship in our Good Friday meeting and it is now displayed in our main coffee lounge.

In November 2009 I wrote of Mark Driscoll "The flip side is that whenever I hear a message from him he always makes a comment of some sort I am certain aged 50 he will regret."

Not much has changed since then, for me (except to be more and more frustrated by Driscoll's ability to start a fight in a phonebox), or sadly, for him.

One final point: criticising Terry Virgo for his links with Mark Driscoll is not only plainly unfair, it is also very self defeating. If anything Driscoll needs people like Terry Virgo speaking into his life, now more than ever.

Naming a Child

2011-06-30T21:38:00.002+01:00

The Bible is full of people being named a certain way for a certain reason.

People even get renamed as they enter God's purposes. Abram - Abraham, Saul - Paul, your name is important.

So we just had the massive privilege, and slightly scary responsibility of naming our child.

When we had a hard time in our journey to starting a family we held on to the words of the Psalmist: Psalm 30 verse 5, "weeping may remain for a night, but joy comes in the morning."

We listened to this Jesus Culture song over and over again.

and in doing so, we decided, long before we were pregnant again, that if we had a little girl her name would be "Joy".

Because God is good, and because through Him Joy comes.

Two friends came over for dinner. Before they left they asked to pray for us. As they were praying for us to conceive, the guy just stopped, and in a loud voice said "I want to prophecy in Jesus name that Joy is coming to this household".

Esther squeezed my hand.

That was it.

Joy.

God had spoken.

When we went for a dating scan we found that the pregnancy had started the same weekend we were prophecied over.

God was at work.

Further to all this her great grandmother on her Mum's side was called Joy. Accounts of those who knew her describe her as a strong willed, kind and godly lady. That is three things we want for Joy.

God has promised.

God has spoken.

And God has given our family a heritage.

Joy it is.

Joy has come...

2011-06-29T10:07:00.004+01:00

On Friday morning at 6am our first child, Joy Lindsay Matthias was born.

She was born at home in a pool of water.

As she popped up out of the water, that was it, life changes. A new chapter starts.

I know it is Daddy's perogative to say his daughter is beautiful, and she is!

And so our journey continues.

We have had a lot of support from family and friends and we're very very thankful to God.

Newfrontiers Borderlands Review

2011-06-20T10:13:00.003+01:00

What an amazing weekend!

We were in a static caravan with some good friends with their 6 month old baby. I wanted Esther to be in comfort as she hit 38 weeks pregnant on the Sunday, so other accommodation options didn't fit the bill.

We had food up at one of the chalet's where the rest of our midweek group were staying: it was great to hang out with people and spend time together. It is interesting because in a weekend of great teaching, worship etc one of my abiding memories will be in a room of people, maybe 20 there, with a glass of wine, playing various games. There is a pureness to fellowship like that which can never be programmed in but when it happens it is brilliant.

Jeremy Simpkins did two talks from song of songs which was both brave and fascinating. Jules Burt and a team from Brighton led worship excellently, and I loved one of Stuart Townend's new songs! We will hear that a lot more over the next few years. Jules really impressed me, very sensitive, with spiritual songs and supporting different contributions that were coming from the front.

There was lots of prophetic stuff coming out, especially about Church Planting. We prayed for a couple looking to plant in Deeside and my old buddy Phil Whittall who with his family is moving to Sweden to plant into Stockholm.

There were a couple of major words for our Church that are going to take a bit of weighing and working out: but fit in with other stuff we have had recently.

I would love Jeremy's exhortation that we start Churches to bring more glory to Christ to make it onto youtube because it helps put to bed some of the misunderstandings in that area.

Add it altogether and it was a profound experience as a weekend.

Newfrontiers Borderlands

2011-06-17T08:30:00.002+01:00

The time of year has come, 500 people across 7 Churches looking to reach an area with the gospel of Jesus, building Churches, blessing communities, planting Churches.

I have enjoyed previous years here, here and here.

As alluded to in the third post, the one from last year, my Borderlands experience was rather clouded in personal circumstances.

We found out conclusively on the Friday that a pregnancy had failed. The miscarriage was yet to happen. So I spent the weekend with Esther and I was dazed and confused and not quite able to get my brain around the fact everything was still inside her.

That was a start of a painful journey that led me into the loving arms of God in quite a profound way.

But now we are going back.

It is a little bit like going back to the scene of a crime.

And I am a bit nervous.

And when we go Esther will be two weeks off her due date for our baby. Which is most exciting!

The circle of life continues, but I really don't know how to get my head around it all?

We'll go to the places where we wept and where we wrestled with God and comforted one another. We will drive the drive the drove with heartache and sadness from the hospital up to mid wales.

We will be with the people who shared our pain as they now share our joy.

And I want to be happy.

But it still hurts.

Because what makes this now so right is what made that so utterly wrong.

Because something good does not make something bad go away.

So this weekend is going to be a big one for us. We're caught up in an apostolic led mission to reach a nation and we're passionate about our local area.

And we're vulnerable humans who grieve and anticipate in equal measure.