Truth on the Way

I've moved my blog

2010-05-13T18:10:00.004+01:00

Hey everyone

Just thought I'd put a quick note to say that I've moved where I'm blogging. I've set up a shiny new WordPress install on some server-space I had hanging around. Since doing it, I seem to be blogging a bit more frequently - apparently I just don't like Blogger for pushing my random thoughts out to the world.

So from now on you can get new blog posts by visiting http://truthontheway.net/. If anyone has subscribed to this blog with RSS, the new feed is published at http://feeds.feedburner.com/TruthOnTheWay.

Look forward to seeing you all there :)

"Good things happen to....

2010-04-19T11:47:00.002+01:00

I'm just listening to Andrew Owen from the Destiny church network based in Glasgow. He's preaching a series called Astronomical Grace, and his subject for this preach can probably be summed up in this phrase:

Good things happen to those who believe God loves them.

Not who love God, not who have great faith, not who know the principles of living by faith with confessions and declarations.

But those who simply trust that God is good, and He really does love us.

Now Is The Time

2010-02-08T12:28:00.002Z

I did a little gig yesterday as a support act at Sunday Night Live in Derby, and did a very new song that I've written. Thought I'd whack the lyrics up here as a bit of potted testimony to what the Father's been doing with me over the last few years as He's been revealing His grace, the power of knowing who I am in Christ and that it is no longer I who live but Christ in me. They may not be explicitly Christian enough for some evangelicals - but, oh well :)

I've been waiting in darkness, hoping and praying,
Hungry for something to change
And now I can sense the wings of the morning in flight.
There's a change in the air that awakens a craving
As things start to fall into place
For the first time in a very long time I can dare to dream.

I'm seeing more clearly, but still left with questions
I'm trusting that I will be led
I'm doubting my doubts, and faith is rising again
The time is now over to timidly tarry
Breakthrough is beckoning me
There's no time to waste, that's one of those things that can't be replaced

Now is the time to shine
To stand up and sing aloud
Now is the time to fly
I've waited so long, now is the time!

Fully accepted, and loved with abandon,
I've been graced, my fear laid to waste
No longer alone, I know that Your strength is within
Purpose is certain, momentum is growing
And passion is rising again
I'll forget the past and strive for what's coming, for what I've been saved to do

The funny thing with being raised in a Christian family

2010-01-04T00:10:00.002Z

I've just been listening to some of Steve McVey's 101 lies taught in church every Sunday, in particular the lie "When you became a Christian, God changed your life". The lie is that our life only needed a bit of renovation, whereas Jesus looks at our life outside of Him and says "There's nothing I can do with that - that life needs to die, and I'll give you My life". It's pretty much the same truth I blogged about a couple of weeks ago.

In the process of listening to it, I realised one of the funny things about being raised in a Christian family. I don't know when I can say "I was crucified with Christ" or "I died with Christ". Let me explain. My parents, and my wife, can each point to a date that they became a Christian. "I heard the gospel on this date, believed in Jesus and committed myself to Him." They can point to this date and say - that was the day I was crucified with Christ, whether I realised that's what was going on or not.

I don't know if I can give a date like that. I can give loads of potential dates. It could be when I was a child and asked my Dad to pray with me to become a Christian for the first time (I reckon I was about 5 or 6). It could be when I was 12 and went to a Crusader's event in Southampton and felt the tug of the Holy Spirit consciously for the first time to respond to the gospel being presented. This was certainly the point that I got a whole lot more serious about God, but then knowing what I know now about self-effort and the Christian life, that might not have been such a good thing! Maybe it was 1995 when I got Toronto'd on a youth camp and encountered all kinds of miraculous stuff I'd never previously accepted. It could have been 8th December 1996 when I was baptised in my local Anglican church.

The funny thing with being raised in a Christian family is that it can be difficult to point to a definite turning point because you take so much for granted. And boy does the devil play on this one!!

As you'll know, I've been on a God-directed quest to understand better my identity in Christ and live out of the good of that. It's been good, and I know I'm only just starting out - there's loads more truth and revelation to come that is going to unlock dynamite in my life, I just know it in my "knower". But at every step, the enemy has been able to use this lack of definite conversion point to cause doubts to rise up about whether it's really true of *me*. After all, if I can't even point to when it happened for me, can I be sure it happened?

Well, no more! Devil, I'm letting you know that I resist you and this means you've got to flee!! Whenever it happened, I ceased trusting in myself for salvation a long time ago, and now put all my hope in what Jesus has done for me. And whatever day that occurred, at whichever minute or hour, God alone knows. But it happened and I can rest in the finished work that occurred.

So I can know that I am justified. I can know that I am dead and that the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God. That I died and received His life. And in knowing this, I give up my striving and rest in the truth of my fellowship with Christ - confident that I am living by His life and will uncover more and more of what this means as we go on together.

As Steve McVey would put it, my Grace Walk has started and God will be faithful to complete it as I rest in His strength and receive all that He loves to give.

Here's to the rest of the journey!

I died with Christ and died to the power of sin's rule over my life

2009-12-19T19:21:00.003Z

Romans 6:1-6What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.

So often we think of ourselves as helpless with regard to sin. "This is just my little vice", "It's just who I am and I can't ever see myself changing" or other things we tells ourselves to reassure ourselves. We fight every now and again, and vow to be better, sometimes to the point of despair when we find that we can't win the battle. As Paul teaches us elsewhere, the law and our self efforts to be holy only serves to pour gasoline on the flames of temptation, as the very thing we try to use as a weapon turns on us and sides with our enemy.

Then we hear about grace and realise we don't have to worry about being better because we're already accepted despite our imperfection! We may even go the other way and flaunt our freedom from fear by recklessly sinning some more - after all, we'll show God's grace to be all the more wonderful!

Either approach - law or licence - falls short of what God offers us in the gospel. I find it interesting that Paul totally takes our eyes off ourselves and our attempts to fight sin and focuses instead on Jesus and what happened to us in Him. He doesn't say "Of course, sin still matters under grace so make sure you still work hard at defeating temptation" as so many Christians seem to say - swapping out accomplished salvation for works-based sanctification. He says "Why live in sin? You died to it!!"

Now, you may not feel like you've died to sin - especially at the point of temptation when you're weighing up whether you'll give in or not. At that point, sin feels very much alive and well to you! But the truth remains - you died to sin when Jesus was crucified on the cross. When you trusted in Him, and entered into baptism, your old life died and was buried along with Jesus. Sin no longer has power over people who died to it!

And if we died, we will surely be raised again, to live a new life free from the rule and dominion of sin. Not through our own efforts at obedience, but because we are now in Christ and live in Him by the Spirit. Turns out both law and licence get it wrong - there is a third way! Living by the life of Christ, as Col 3:3 points out - "For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God."

These are the twin freedoms in the gospel - freedom from sin's power, and freedom from the need to strive in our strength and life.

So next time you're tempted to give into sin, remember you died with Christ and you are free to say no. Victory in the battle can be yours as you live in the power of Christ's resurrection.

And next time you're tempted to renew your dedication to fight sin, remember that your dedication in this is neither here nor there - it may even be the very thing holding you captive to sin. Instead, remember that you have died to sin, and your life is hidden in Christ with God. Rejoice that the matter is settled and as this truth takes up residence in your heart and mind, you'll find the siren call of sin weakening and will experience the life that is already yours!

So, I went and got myself married...

2009-09-15T01:20:00.003+01:00

I'll not neglect my new wife for too long by writing a huge post about it, but I went and got myself hitched yesterday!

It was a great day, and it is so good to be married to the love of my life :D I'm adult enough to know it won't always be roses and sunshine, but I'm confident that it will always be love, growing every day!

So this Mr Jon Sidnell now has a wife, Mrs Laluna Sidnell!!

I have been justified

2009-08-15T19:36:00.002+01:00

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ

Justification is absolutely crucial, but I think it often gets fluffed by Evangelicals. So often it gets presented as simply "Just as if I'd never sinned", but I'm not so sure this sums it up fully.

I really like what Rob Rufus has preached about justification, saying that it's "Just as if I'd always obeyed." Justification isn't simply wiping out a debt between us and God - that's what forgiveness is. It's much more than that! It's also God declaring over us "You are righteous", and this is ours simply by faith - by trusting the offer of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

How is this possible? It is by God taking my sin and placing it upon Jesus on the Cross, and then taking Jesus' perfect innocence and obedience, and placing that upon me when I believed in Him. In a very real sense, the Father no longer sees me when He looks at me - He sees Jesus, and that is very good news!

This is the basis of my peace with God - having been freely justified by faith, I don't have to struggle and strive under the illusion that I can be good enough for God, or that I need to be good enough for God. Jesus solved both of these problems once and for all, and I can rest in the finished work that He accomplished, secure that I stand before God sinless and perfect in Christ.

Awesome!

Know who you are

2009-08-15T19:23:00.003+01:00

Today I was working on getting my old computer restored so that Laluna will have something to use when I've taken my laptop outside the house to work on the train. Please forgive the next few sentences for the less technically minded of us.

I ended up having some difficulty getting Windows XP to install - the computer would start, and it would say "Press any key to boot from the install CD", and I was pressing the keyboard several times, with no joy. I thought I'd give a Linux live CD a try, and sure enough once it had started, I was able to use the keyboard, mouse and so on. I was about to settle for installing Linux and running a system that Laluna might not know so well, when I suddenly decided "No, I'm not going to settle. I'm going to make this work with XP!" After a quick Google, I found that there might be a setting in the BIOS that would enable the keyboard to be recognised by the XP install CD and get it all working. Sure enough, I changed this setting, and it all worked :)

As co-inky-dink would have it, I was listening to Andrew Wommack speak on the positive ministry of the Holy Spirit and he talks about the need to take hold of the truth of who we are in Christ, and not just sit back passively and let difficulties, challenges, illnesses and sin dominate us. Jesus won so much for us in His life, death, resurrection, ascension and continued ministry seated at the right hand of the Father, but we remain ignorant of this and so remain impoverished where God wants to see us know the truth and have the truth set us free.

It's a bit (only a bit, mind) like changing the BIOS setting. My computer was perfectly capable of getting past the "Press any key" message, it just needed informing what to do. Similarly, my life is perfectly capable of receiving goodness from the hand of God instead of languishing in adversity and difficulties - all I need to do is know the truth, and the Holy Spirit will work in bringing that truth to life, and convincing my spirit of the truth, so that it can do me good in my life.

So, I'm going to spend some time blogging through the Neil Anderson "I am" statements that are the foundation of much of the Freedom in Christ ministry tools. Each post will take a different statement and I'll share some thoughts that come to mind as I ponder the truth.

Hope it'll be helpful for me and for you :)

Imagine redeemed by Steve McVey

2009-07-23T15:41:00.003+01:00

Steve McVey has just posted another great post on his blog, re-creating the lyrics to Imagine by John Lennon.

Imagine there’s no legalism, No struggles, no strife.
No rules to judge us, Within us only life.
Imagine all the Christians, Living really free.

Imagine grace filled churches. It isn’t hard to do
No sermons that condemn you. And no religion too.
Imagine all the pastors, Teaching grace and peace

You may say that I’m a dreamer, But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us, And know in Him, we all can live as one

Imagine no rededication. I wonder if you can
No need to make promises, To know in Him we stand
Imagine all believers, Enjoying life in Christ.

You may say that I’m a dreamer. But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us, And know in Him, we all can live as one.

Now that is a great vision statement! And one that I am making my own. No more ministry - no more worship leading, no more preaching, no more pastoral advice, no more prophesying, nothing - based on law any more. It's all about knowing Christ, the power of His death and resurrection, and who we are in Him from this point on!

We're in a time of amnesty

2009-07-04T11:17:00.003+01:00

I was looking at Derby's City Library website today when I saw that they're currently holding a "Fines Amnesty" between 1st July and 11th July. This is what they have to say:

Visit a Derby City Library and we will waive any fines that you owe us.

Reading is very important - everything begins with reading - and we want as many people in Derby as possible to use their library service.

Look at the reasoning - they want as many people as possible in Derby to use their library service. So they are removing one of the obstacles that may have kept people away, the late fees that were still on their account and would need paying the next time they wanted to use the libraries' facilities.

Let's have a look at 2 Corinthians 5:19-21:

...in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ; certain that God is appealing through us, we plead on Christ's behalf, "Be reconciled to God." He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Right now, at this very moment in history, we are in a time of God's amnesty. Just like Derby's libraries, God is not currently holding the sins of the world against it. Just like Derby's libraries, He is instead wanting everyone who will come to come to Him, be reconnected to Him, and become the righteousness of God in Christ.

Just like Derby's libraries attitude to those who stay away for fear of having to pay late fees, God is not angry with the world, poised on the edge of His seat, waiting for the time He can vent His rage and have His vengance. He is sending us out as His ministers of reconciliation, calling people to the hope that we can come to God, free of the fear of judgement, and be reconciled to Him.

The only thing keeping the people of Derby from having their late fees cancelled is not going to the library to take advantage of the offer. Some may not even know about it, since I've only found out about it randomly. Likewise, the only thing keeping people from receiving forgiveness and becoming the righteousness of God in Christ is coming to Him and saying "I'm laying down my arms, and claiming the benefits of the amnesty you're offering!" This kindness and grace of God will then lead people to repentance and a renewed lifestyle as they marvel in the wonder of what He has done(Romans 2:4; Titus 2:11).

Just like Derby's libraries, this amnesty has a sell-by date attached to it. If someone goes into the library on 12th July and says "I'm here to have my fees cancelled", they'll be told that they are sadly too late and must pay what was outstanding on their account after all.

There is coming a day when Jesus will return, and this will end the period of God's amnesty. Anyone who comes to God now can experience the free grace of God, but once Jesus has returned, anyone who stands before God without having claimed this amnesty for themselves will have to pay what was outstanding on their account before the amnesty opened.

But God isn't eager for this day to come. His attitude is still that of Exekiel 18:23 - "I take no pleasure in the destruction of the wicked. I would rather that they repent and live!" He isn't being held back from judging now by some external force that is frustrating His desire for vengance. No, His love, His compassion and His grace is leading Him to put that day off, so that people have more time to repent and find forgiveness and life in Him (2 Peter 3:9).

So, minister of reconciliation - go out and reconcile! Don't hold people's sins against them, because God isn't currently doing that. Go out, befriend, show God's love and grace, show the fruits of the freedom He was won for you by loving Jesus so much that He comes out of every pore. And let His Spirit lead you in reconciling others to Him, so that they too can benefit from the grace of God and come into the same glorious fellowship with God that is now ours by grace through faith!

The Problem With Rededication

2009-05-29T11:40:00.002+01:00

There's another grace preacher I've discovered recently called Steve McVey. I've not read a lot of his material, but I do follow his blog, which has some fantastic stuff on it. His latest post is called The Problem with Rededication, and it's well worth a read :)

Go! Check it out!

Breathe

2009-05-26T16:06:00.002+01:00

There's a Vineyard song called "Breathe" that I've tended to like in my walk with Jesus. The lyrics go a little something like this:

This is the air I breathe,
This is the air I breathe -
Your holy presence living in me.

This is my daily bread,
This is my daily bread -
Your very word spoken to me.

And I, I'm desperate for You!
And I, I'm lost without You!

So I'm just wondering, is this a new covenant song? Or is it a song that is buried within an old covenant mentality? I only ask because I think I've always invested it with old covenant meaning - it's a song I would sing when feeling far from God for one reason or another, usually sin of one sort or another. So this became my pity-party song, by which I would seek to show God how sorry I was so that maybe He'd deign to shine on me again.

But now I understand that God is always smiling on me, because He sees me exactly as He sees Jesus. Now I understand that I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. I understand that my standing before Him is no longer based on works, but on my simple trust in what He has already accomplished on my behalf in Jesus. I have to remind myself of these things at times, but that is happening less frequently as I go on!

So is there still a place for these songs of hunger and desperation for God? Or is it entirely old covenant, because we should be recognising that God is always closer than we realise, and just step into the good of that?

A fair fight between sin and grace

2009-05-07T13:35:00.002+01:00

I think it's fair to say that one of the primary concerns people have with preaching true grace is that of giving people a licence to sin. People say things like "But if we tell people that they're 100% accepted, and 100% secure, that their salvation depends wholly on God and not on themselves, won't they just go out and sin?" I've often thought similar things myself, and it's been one of the key objections that's held me back from accepting pure grace over the last 10 or 15 years.

Well, I was having breakfast in a local pub, hoping to use their free wi-fi at the same time (I'm still waiting for a phone line and broadband after moving to Derby!) and a random thought flew through my brain that I think could be significant. The thought was this:

"In a fair fight between sin and grace, grace always wins!"

Now, on one level, this sounds remarkably similar to what Rob Rufus has preached about Romans 5:20 - almost picturing a boxing match between our sin and God's grace, and how God's grace will triumph every time in us finding acceptance before God. But this was a little bit different - I've been asking God about how grace and sanctification works 'cos sanctification is where law almost always creeps back in to the life of a believer. So then this thought comes...

Applying it to sanctification, it means that God's grace *will* win out over sin - sin will not have dominion over us because we're under grace! God will be at work witihin us and change us so that we are liberated from sin's power. The intriguing thing was that phrase "in a fair fight". What could that mean?

Then it dawned on me that a dirty fight would be one person using a weapon that the other couldn't possibly use - one that gave them an unfair advantage. What is that weapon? The law!!

Sin wields the law, draws strength from it, and then uses it to accuse us and beat us down into submission. The bible tells us that the law is the strength of sin. What is more, grace can never use the law because grace is based on faith, and the law is not of faith. When sin uses the law, it disarms grace because we go back under an "I've got to earn it" mentality, that strips us of faith and leaves us weak.

This is why so much of our efforts in sanctification come to nothing! We go back under law, giving sin the upper hand and making it no longer a fair fight.

But if we disarm sin, by removing ourselves completely from being under the law, it's a fair fight and grace always wins!!

Does it make sense, or am I off-beat here?

I finally get to preach on "You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus"

2009-04-20T12:02:00.003+01:00

Those of you who listen to Rob Rufus will know what a key phrase "I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus" is! Well, yesterday, I finally got to preach these truths to the church that has been my home for the last 4 and a bit years. I was very aware of the temptation to put on a bit of Saul's Armour and try and preach it as Rob would have done, so I settled early on in my preparation that it would be me preaching. I'm not too sure how I feel it went - maybe you can listen to it and let me know any thoughts you have :)

I know there's one or two things I wish I'd said, but I'll get to say them in my summary of this weeks teaching when I preach on "So what about the law?" next Sunday :)

The preach from yesterday morning is available as an MP3 at http://tinyurl.com/hcc-grace-righteousness. Have a listen and let me have any of your comments!

All change!!

2009-04-06T14:15:00.002+01:00

OK, now that my church knows, I can post on here about all the exciting things that are happening! I knew 2009 was going to be a big year of change for me - a year where I get married, and start building a shared life with my beautiful fiancee, who will be my gorgeous bride! The preparation for this has been burning slowly in the background for the last few months, but it's about to take a huge leap forward in the next 4 weeks.

What I announced to HCC yesterday was that I am leaving Hexham in 4 weeks. I've known for a few months that I would be leaving Hexham to prepare a new place for me and Laluna, but didn't want to say anything until some more concrete details were in place.

So, I've managed to get myself a shiny new job in Leicester, working as a Software Engineer. I start there in May, and so need to move to the East Midlands by the first weekend in May to get settled in. We're actually planning on living in Derby, and being part of Community Church, Derby - a fairly big Salt & Light church that is there. It's only a short commute by train to Leicester, and I think it will work well.

I don't know if I could claim any ultra-specific prophetic words about what awaits us in Derby yet (me arriving in May, Laluna coming once we're married in September), but there is a good sense of God's blessing all over this move, and I can't wait to find out what He has prepared!!

So, that's that - April will be busy, but I know God's strength will be on me to get everything that is necessary and His grace will be with me to help me not stress about the things that aren't essential :)

I'll keep you posted as things move on!

She Must And Shall Go Free

2009-03-09T09:55:00.002Z

Yesterday finally saw the start of the preaching series on the grace of God in my church. If you fancy a listen, you can grab the MP3 at http://www.hexhamcc.com/audio/Grace%20-%20Introduction.mp3. There's also a podcast feed available at http://www.hexhamcc.com/audio/hccindex.xml so you can catch all the future parts of the series :)

I've prepared the notes for the other preachers in the series, and did the introduction yesterday. In preparing the content for the series, I've been struck by the ironic fear I have that I'll not be a good enough preacher to communicate the truth about God's grace. I've had thoughts rushing through my head like "Who am I to present this stuff? How can I possibly hope to do it justice? I just know that I'll forget important things and surely that will scupper the church entering into the full revelation of grace!"

Then, I take a look at what I've just written down and remember the truth that it will be imperfect, because I am imperfect - but God is gracious and faithful and alongside anointing what I have remembered to include, He will be faithful to supply what is missing as we follow the Spirit into the future. After all, it's not as though we get to do a 10-week series on grace and we'll all be instantly better - this is merely breaking the fallow ground, setting a stake in the ground, and hopefully altering the future we experience in God. After this series, we don't get to "move on" from grace - we need to dwell and mature in grace, and that way become the church and people God has always intended us to be.

Since yesterday, I've been fighting the temptation to castigate myself for the things I know that I forgot to say. Actually, last night God reminded me of one of the things I was planning to say and showed me how it was His work that I forgot to mention it as it would have put a stumbling block in people's way. Other things I forgot because they will fit better on later in the series.

Basically, God has been training me to trust that I said exactly what He wanted me to say, and what the church needed to hear. And that the Spirit will lead and inspire the others preaching in this series so that they will also say exactly what God wants them to say!

So, coming up over 9 sessions up until the end of May:

God and Man

A new you in Christ

It's all about Jesus

Self-righteousness and God's gift of righteousness - some of you might recognise this title ;)

So what about the law?

Getting better by grace - the way in is the way on

Grace for the obedience of faith

The Prodigal Son and the Elder Son

Grace and Antioch

Any comments, pointers, helpful quotes and so on are gratefully received!

Soaking

2009-02-01T12:28:00.004Z

I started writing this in February, but apparently never got around to posting it, so here it is...

--------------------

So there's been quite a lot of talk about 'soaking' in the blogs that I follow recently. I think Chris Welch started it by asking Dan Bowen if he did it. I had heard of it before - I think I probably first heard about it in connection with Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship in 2002/2003 and I'm sad to say that I have been prejudiced against the idea of it!

For those unfamiliar with what soaking is, basically it's waiting on God. It's coming with no agenda other than to meet with God and flow with what He wants to do. Usually music is involved, providing a back drop and helping to prepare our hearts to meet with God. Then you invite Him to come and work, and wait for Him. Sometimes He will come and start speaking to some deep issues, or work on current things that you are aware of. Most importantly, it's time to re-connect with God, seeing Him afresh and to love and worship Him in the presence of the Spirit!

In my previous, legalistic mindset, I can remember thinking "How can you meet with God by just resting, listening to some soothing music and waiting for Him to do something? Surely we need to be active! We need to be storming the gates of Heaven! We need to be seeking Him through learning good doctrine, and *then* our problems will be sorted!" Oh, what a heap of crap I used to think!

Don't get me wrong, I do believe that at times it is important to be active in intercession, study. What sort of relationship really works without movement and intent? And yet, what sort of relationship works when it is always activity, always effort, always intent? A healthy relationship (talking humanly here) includes times to rest and relax together as well as doing things together.

So, since God has been opening my eyes to believe in the gospel of His grace, and showing me that it is all about living in faith, not my own efforts, I have seen soaking in a new light. I can now see the value of taking time, sitting or lying down and saying to God "OK, I surrender myself to you - Holy Spirit, come and do with me what you want to do! Draw me closer to Jesus, and show me your agenda for this time together." What an expression of faith! To just wait on Him, and let Him come and work.

Having never put this into practice, I found myself absolutely starving for this last night! I was reading around a few sites, and found that what they were describing is what I have been longing for. In fact, I found that what they were describing is what I naturally started doing when I was first baptised in the Spirit 13 years ago. So, I returned to my first love last night...

I found some free music described as 'Live soaking session' by Alberto and Kimberley Rivera, cued it up on my computer, and dived into God's presence! It was amazing!! I'll not go into details of what God was doing with me, but I came out of the time with the love of the Lord burning in my heart and in my spirit. It's like I have breathed for the first time in years. It's everything I'd been longing to experience in worship, but have missed out on because worship in the churches and conferences I have been to have just been too busy and active. There's so much we're trying to pack in, it's like there's no room for God to move and us to wait.

I will definitely be doing more of this!

The Red Letters

2009-01-27T11:06:00.005Z

There's a new book being published by Crossway called The Red Letters. Lifted from the Crossway site, the books is said to:

Present[s] all of Jesus’ words from the Gospels, arranged by topic and rendered in the ESV translation. Jesus’ own words. Nothing more, nothing less. For everyone who would like to rediscover the heart of Christianity—or perhaps discover it for the first time—as Jesus himself communicated it.

Now, I have issues with Red Letter Bibles anyway. The idea that the words of Jesus are more inspired than the other inspired scriptures we have received in the canon is one that I can't support. Paul says that *all scripture* is inspired - not that some is more inspired than others. This means that it's not just Jesus' words that are important - it's every word in the Scriptures, without having a canon within the canon.

There is also an interview with the editor on the Crossway blog where the author says:

While the entire Gospel narrative is a vital part of Christian theology, it is Jesus’ words themselves that teach believers how to live and how faith makes a difference in their lives.

Again, I have to disagree. It isn't Jesus' words themselves that teach believers how to live and how faith makes a difference in their lives. At least, not Jesus' words in isolation. If it was Jesus' words that mattered most, God needn't have inspired Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to couch their testament to His words in narrative. He wouldn't have inspired each author to capture a different angle on the life of Jesus. This is what theologians call Narrative Theology - the teaching of Mark isn't just in the words of Jesus that he records, but in the very structure of the narrative and selection of the stories to use.

It isn't just Jesus' words that teach us how to live the Christian life. If all we needed were words, then God could have given them to any old prophet. The truth is that when God decided the time was right, He gave His only Son to live the exemplary life - an example we can see, be inspired by and follow. An example that gives life, rather than a load of rules and regulations that would strangle and kill. It's important not just that we hear Jesus, but that we see Him and the manner of life that He lived in the grace of God.

The Red Letters sounds like a good idea. It sounds like it's an honour to Jesus to treat His words as more important than the rest. However, I can't help feeling that it is ultimately a step away from fully honouring His humanity by denying the full importance of the story of His life on this earth. It also seems to me to be dis-honouring to the form of revelation that God has given in the Scriptures.

Why do we think we know better?

MP3 of "Before Abraham Was I AM - Redux pt.1"

2009-01-26T09:20:00.003Z

The audio of the first of several preaches I'm doing in the next month or so was uploaded to the church website last night! It was the first of a two-parter revisiting a sermon I gave called 'Before Abraham Was, I AM', and I focussed on John 1:1-18, Christophanies in the OT and Messianic prophecies that hint at the Messiah being more than just a human being. It's about 40 minutes long, and available as an MP3 file on the Hexham Community Church website. Or you can listen to it below:

"If you love me, you'll obey my commands..."

2009-01-24T13:46:00.003Z

OK, I have to confess to being a bit confused by the places where Jesus says 'If you love me, you will obey my commands'. It's alway's seemed to be a big support to legalism - I could hear harsh preachers shouting at their congregations about how they obviously don't love Jesus because they don't do what He says. "If you want to show your love for Jesus, get busy and do the things He tells you! If you don't, you obviously don't love Him!"

Walking home this afternoon, I realised something is awfully wrong with this! I've been imagining Jesus as the sort of skeezy boyfriend who would say to their girlfriend "If you loved me, you'd sleep with me." As though He would be someone who would look to goad us into doing something we really don't want to do using emotional blackmail.

How wrong that I've been imagining the King of Love, the Prince of Peace, the one who came with grace and truth being like this! As though Jesus would say to us "So you really love me? Come on then, prove it - put out!" No, no, no, no, no! He isn't like this!!

See, I've been putting the emphasis on what I do, and coming to the conclusion that I obviously don't love Jesus much because I keep on doing things that I know would displease Him. But what Jesus is saying is that if we love Him, from the overflow of our hearts will follow a life that pleases Him. It's not that we need to goad ourselves into good works to demonstrate that we love Him. It's that if we seek to know Him, to worship Him, to love Him and be in that relationship with Him that leads to eternal life, we will naturally do what He says. It won't be hard, it won't be a trial, even if it is sometimes accompanied with battles of motivation and an exercise of self-control by the Spirit. It will be life - real, true, vital life!

How much better is that? This way, Jesus is the one seeking to capture our hearts, not what we can do for Him. He is the lover of our souls - the One who is worthy of giving our lives to! It's *this* Jesus - the one who came to set us free and give us the power to live free by the Spirit - I pledge myself to love and seek fellowship with!!

He alone is worthy :)

Preaching a LOT!

2009-01-19T15:57:00.001Z

In other news, I've just realised that I am preaching a heck of a lot in the next 6 weeks initially, and then a bit further beyond!

To start with, in the next 6 weeks, I am preaching on 5 of the Sundays. The first four times will be a couple of mini-series about 1) good Christology and 2) the Trinity. Obviously, these are both huge mysteries of the faith, but I know that I have God's help to not muck up too much!! These two series both come from two sermons I preached last year - Before Abraham Was, I Am (MP3), and The Trinity (MP3) for which my tidied up notes are also available. Neither of them are particularly long - I think they're both in the 35 minute region.

My aim in these two series is to both bring a bit more understanding and a bit more application - expanding on some of the points made while also introducing some new material. I'm *really* looking forward to these. I absolutely love preaching, and can't believe that I'm in a church that allows a 26-year-old upstart to speak on such precious, holy-of-holies topics! I'll post links to MP3s when they're available :)

Then, on the 8th March, I am preaching the introductory message on a series that I have been organising for others to preach into - a 10 week series (at least) on grace! I got to preach on this back in October last year as an introduction to 1 Corinthians, called Grace Comes First (MP3). I got some excellent feedback from that, which makes me think the church is ready to hear more about God's grace and start living in the liberty won for us! This will probably come as no surprise to people who read this blog, but I'm dead excited about this series, because I will get the chance to lift up the foundations of the church and lay a fresh foundation of the grace of God.

There are times when I'm daunted by the enormity of what I'm doing! I'm looking to introduce a change in people's thinking, where a knowledge of God's grace will destroy the mixture of covenants that so many people are stuck in - leaving only the pure glory of the New Covenant grace that Jesus won for us in His life, death, resurrection and ascension! In so many ways, I know that a 10-week series isn't enough to do what I want it to do - just look at Rob Rufus sowing the message of grace into the church at Hong Kong weekly for the last 4-5 years! My real aim is to preach grace undiluted, and then trust that the Holy Spirit will use this series as a launchpad to affect the preaching in Hexham Community Church for the next 5-10 years!

Although Christology and the doctrine of the Trinity is important, Paul's reaction in Galatians leads me to believe that preaching about grace is the holy-of-holy-of-holies! No other doctrine leads Paul to deem people accursed or wish castration upon them!! Please pray that I will lead this series well and that those who will preach alongside me can receive a revelation of the heart of God!

It's going to be a busy, but blessed, next 5 months!

Photos of our faces :)

2009-01-19T15:24:00.001Z

As requested by Julie who blogs at Voice of Grace (as well as on other blogs!), here is a photo of me and my beautiful fiancée :D This was us in a lovely little town called Keswick on New Years Eve.

Definitely one of the better pictures of me (even with the touch of beard!)

It's been about a week and a half now since Laluna went back to Brazil. It's been a tough time, where we've both been missing each other like crazy! It really will be awesome after September when we will be married and never have to live 4000 miles apart again :)

In a bit of personal news

2008-12-22T09:52:00.004Z

Please indulge me in sharing a bit of personal news.....

Last night, at about 22:45, just after a curry with a load of young people from my church, me and Laluna went for a walk in the local park, which was all decked-out with lights for the Christmas season. I had a plan in going for the walk there, but Laluna didn't suspect a thing!

After a short while, we sat down on the park bunch, alone and under the lights. She asked me what I was thinking. I told her about how, 18 months earlier, I made a decision that I would walk a path that had challenges and difficulties, but that would end with us being together. How there wasn't even a pause for a second before I decided that I would walk that path because it would be worth it!

So I then told her I had something for her. The ring that had been in my hand for the last 5 minutes, after being subtly taken from my pocket earlier, was shown and I asked "Quer se casar comigo?" Which is Portuguese for "Will you marry me?" She said yes!!

So we prayed together, for the first time as a couple betrothed - and God was smiling!

Andrew Wommack is (yet) another grace preacher!

2008-10-29T14:59:00.001Z

I'm just listening to Andrew Wommack preach the first message in a series called "The War Is Over". It's some awesome stuff, and meshes so well with what people like Rob Rufus and Terry Virgo have been preaching about the grace of God. You can sense Andrew's hesitancy to say some of the things he is saying, because he is aware of how much it clashes with what has become standard theology in the church over the last thousand or more years.

A couple of gems really stand out:

Responding to people who've said to him "You're making light of sin! You're condoning it. People are going to hear what you're saying, and run right out and sin!". His response is "I'm not making light of sin - sin is terrible, and no child of God really wants to sin. But even if I am, you're making light of Jesus! You are making light of what Jesus did on the cross, when one drop of His blood is more powerful than all the sin in the universe!"
"Sin isn't the issue - it's all about what you're going to do with Jesus!"

The thing that interests me is something he says toward the beginning. He makes reference to how he has taught things along these lines before, but that he hasn't taught them or seen them as clearly as he is about to teach them. I'm reminded of a prophecy Rob Rufus gave at the start of this, and transcribed by Dan Bowen. In it, Rob has been led to proclaim:

"There is rapidly occuring across the earth a division between Law teaching and Grace teaching. God Himself is doing it."

There is much more in the prophecy, particularly about the reaction of legalists to this grace revolution that is promised. But listening to Andrew Wommack's comments about how he is preaching what he hasn't seen so clearly before now, it struck me that this revolution is underway!

All around the world, God is stirring people to proclaim His grace! Whether it's

Mike Pilivachi at this year's Soul Survivor,
Andrew Wommack, both in this teaching series I'm listening to and his new book, Grace: The Power Of The Gospel
Terry Virgo's blog posts and bible studies,
Rob and Ryan Rufus in City Church International, Hong Kong
Elyse Fitzpatrick who is releasing a book called "Because He Loves Me"
My friend in Leicester who touched on grace in his homegroup last night
Greg Boyd when talking about repenting of religion
Mark Driscoll talking about grace in his series on doctrine earlier this year and again when talking the two enemies of the gospel
The pastors who send in testimonies to Rob Rufus about how they have started preaching grace and are seeing God move in power like they've never know before
The grace bloggers linked to from Dan Bowen's blogroll

All over the world, in different spheres, amongst people with differing theologies, grace is being championed! The mix between old and new covenants is being thrown out, and the glory of the new is coming forward. Bring it on!!

Busy and worship last night

2008-10-10T10:18:00.002+01:00

Why do I seem so flippin' busy recently? It's like whenever anyone asks me how I'm doing, the only answer I can give is "Busy!" The day-job was all-consuming last month, with the last two weeks of September seeing about 95 hours being worked, which includes taking a half-day on the last Friday so I could sneak off to a conference with Charles Simpson speaking (who was great by the way!)

A while ago, someone gave me a prophetic word about how God wants to teach me about the times and seasons of life. "Your time is My time" God said, and that I needed to be wise in knowing when it is time to work fruitfully and when it is time to rest even when that seems wasteful! I guess I've still got a way to go on that one :)

Last night was a rare oasis of peace and no striving though. We had a worship practice at the church building. I probably need to give a bit more context. In the last few weeks and months, I've been sensing God's challenge on how I have been leading worship. I've been leading what are, in most ways, "successful" times of worship - where people thank me afterwards for sensitivity and providing a context for them to praise God; where people are becoming increasingly freed to bring words, tongues and interpretations; where the music has been of a much higher quality than we've previously known. All in all, it's seemed like the worship leaders and church are growing in worship.

There's just one problem. Whenever I've stepped off the stage, I've felt really empty. I've not felt like I've interacted with the Holy Spirit in a deep or meaningful way. I've been doing the songs that I know fit well together, and will go down well, rather than the songs that I have a sense God is anointing for a given moment. I've been following self-made formulae and getting myself nicely stuck in a rut. And I'm coming to the conclusion that this just isn't good enough! It's time to shake things up a bit...

Then last week I went to a day-conference on worship run by Salt & Light Ministries' Worship Development Team. Somewhere in the course of the day, I realised that the songs I've been using to lead worship aren't the songs I gravitate toward in my own worship of the Lord. The songs I tend to be attracted to are more intense, raw, honest songs and I got the sense that these were the kinds of songs I should be seeking to use more in the future.

So last night, I said to the band that we were just going to bash through some new songs in response to how God has been challenging me to break the rut I've been in. In the course of the evening, I started explaining a bit more about how I feel that these songs, with all their rawness and honesty, are where God is leading us to bring in some more openness and authenticity in our worship. So we did Lord I Groan (There Must Be More) by David Ruis, Here Am I A Sinner Free by Matt Redman, A Love So Amazing by Paul Oakley, I Will Rejoice by Sam Lane, River of God by Paul Oakley and some other songs I don't remember.

The stand-out moment for me though was when we did The Eyes of My Heart by Matt Redman. It was going well anyway, and halfway through I realised the music had the "Jesus, I'm in love with You, Jesus..." tag-line in it which I'd shied away from since getting all "civilised" and disdainful of 'Jesus, my girlfriend' type lyrics. I decided to just go for it, and forget any consequences! So we did, and it seemed to lift. We came to a natural close, and the presence of God was just so strong that I didn't want to open my eyes or speak at all. Thankfully, the band picked up on it and started playing again, at which point I knew what I needed to do. I sang out in tongues - the clearest tongue I've sung in a while - and then sang out what I felt the interpretation to be. In it, my heart was unveiled and my desire for more of Jesus given voice!

Once the song had finally ended, the only right response was a bit more silence and then some genuine, simple prayers being offered up. It was a holy moment, where God's presence dwelt with us, and it satisfied me!

God is good, and by His goodness and grace we'll bring some of that out of the practice and into our Sunday mornings together :)

In a dry and weary land...there is no other stream.

2008-09-09T11:02:00.003+01:00

Dan Bowen has posted, quite a while ago now, about the impact of a passage from The Silver Chair and the direct word of the Lord to Him. The post is over at his blog, Life on Wings, and it is almost the sum total of what God is saying to me this week. Aslan's words particularly hit me: "There is no other stream."

I've allowed all kinds of pressures and cares wash over me as I've busied myself with my own plans and ambitions, leaving precious little room for God to give me His priorities. And I'm tired, dried out, fearful, afflicted by guilt and doubt. It got to the point this morning where I was running late for work, and just pouring my heart out to God. I was surrendering, giving up, telling Him how I felt like a failure in so many areas, and how I would love to just step off the track I'm on - the track to leadership, the track to greater responsibility - because I don't feel like I've got it in me!

The only things I wanted to continue with this morning was my relationship with God and my relationship with Laluna. Everything else, I wish I could pass on or leave behind!

In the words of Paul in Ephesians 2...

"But GOD..."

God has been breaking in, and speaking His word. He has been opening my ears and my heart to receive from Him. He has been speaking about how I've left behind relationship with Him and instead been seeking after satisfaction in other streams. He has been peeling back the layers of fleshly ambition and showing me how I'm still consumed by a desire to prove myself to those around me, rather than be formed by God into the right person to help the people around me. He is re-affirming sonship, and saying...

"Since when did I ever want your performance? When have you ever heard My voice asking for your performance or the things you could do for me? You are my son, and all I have ever asked for is you - your devotion, your worship, your faithfulness, that you receive from Me what I have for you, and become all I have for you in my heart. Jon, I'm not that far from you - and you're not really that far from where you turned off the path. Enter in, see Me and be satisfied!"

And now. Now, I'm still tired, and still fearful, but I can sense life and light on the horizon. I know that Aslan is on the move, and is close at hand. That, in Christ, I'm accepted and His. The things I would offer Him are just hopelessly inadequate compared to what Jesus has already done and secured for me. How dare I insult His perfect work by blu-tacking on my own efforts at impressing God and those around me!

God is good :)

And, incidentally, God sent someone from my church along the road I was walking down who offered me a lift in to Newcastle by car. Meaning that I arrived in to Newcastle well ahead of the time I would have arrived had I caught the train I was running late for.

I'll say it again - God is good :)

My Planned Reading List

2008-08-09T17:34:00.004+01:00

I've just been tidying up in my room a bit, and came across a whole load of books I want to catch up on reading. So I thought I'd put it here, and commit to blogging about them as I read them - in the form of quotes, thoughts, reviews, that sort of thing. So, here's the list, in no particular order...

What On Earth Is The Church For? - David Devenish
Wesley the Preacher & Newton the Liberator - John Pollock
Great Faith: Making God Big - Wendell Smith
Your God Is Too Safe - Mark Buchanan
Baton Change - Peter Lyne
You See Bones, I See An Army - Floyd McClung
Justified Before God - Walter Klaiber
The Ragamuffin Gospel - Brennan Manning
When Heaven Invades Earth - Bill Johnson
The Tide Is Turning - Terry Virgo
The Shack - William B. Young
Orthodoxy - G. K. Chesterton
A Call To Spiritual Reformation - D. A. Carson

There are almost certainly others as well, but that'll do for starters. I may update this post with details of when I've read each one, or when the list is made longer :)

The Way of Wisdom

2008-08-06T15:36:00.002+01:00

There's an, admittedly quite old, song by Michael Card called "The Way of Wisdom" I found myself humming it while in the office kitchen today, and it just started exciting me! In my journey of learning more about God's grace and the gift of His righteousness, I've kind of let the revelation I was coming into slip a bit. I came across some other stuff that was potentially a bit legalistic, and made me question a lot of what I'd been hearing, reading and learning.

But the last couple of days, I've been listening to Rob's preaching again, and God is reviving His work of grace in me again!!

This song just came to mind at the right time and has revived my soul in a busy, stormy period of life. Here're the lyrics...

The way of wisdom starts out with a drop of holy fear
And it makes it's way along with every good word that you hear
It has to do with passion and it has to do with pain
It has to do with One who has both died and rose again
Died and rose again

CHORUS
The way of wisdom is living,
The path of peace is forgiving.
Behold the man of meaning,
Behold He is the Lord.

The way of understanding lies in not how much you know
For the pathway is a person that you come to love and so
You can stop pretending that it all depends on you
For it's not how much you love, as much as how much He loves you
How much He loves you!

CHORUS x2

The wow beckons us to find the end of fear
The perfect love pursues
For wisdom did not come simply to speak the words of truth
He's the word that makes us true!

The way of wisdom starts out with a step of holy fear
But that's only the beginning and there's much more that is clear
The path leads on to love and love is fearless in its ways
For love Himself was not afraid to die that we'd be saved
Die that we'd be saved.

CHORUS x2

I just love it! Especially "You can stop pretending that it all depends on you / For it's not how much you love, as much as how much He loves you" and the whole of that last verse!!

It sums it up - fear is the entry point to relationship with God, as we realise our guilt and God's righteous condemnation of us. But it leads on to love, which is fearless, because we then see that, in Christ, God has opened up the way and there is no need to fear or depend on ourselves because He has done it all!!!

What a great God and a glorious Saviour!

Yesterday was a good day

2008-06-30T10:51:00.003+01:00

I had a lot of fun yesterday morning! It was a regional celebration for Salt & Light in the North East, where the different Salt & Light churches based in the north east of England get together and have a big hoe-down!! There was International Harvest Church (Newcastle), Middlesbrough Community Church, Hexham Community Church (my church) meeting at The Oakwood Centre, the home of Tees Valley Community Church in Eaglescliffe.

In terms of the preacher, we had Steve Thomas with us, the lead apostle within Salt & Light in Europe. He was sharing about the need to rise up in our culture like Gideon did in his. No longer prepared to "thresh our wheat" in winepresses, huddling together for warmth and protection, but boldly seeking God as to what He wants us to do in our culture and communities to stand up for the Lord.

While he was, as usual, excellent, I was much more excited by the time of worship and ministry in the Holy Spirit - which were one and the same event!! The band was visiting from Poland, but singing English songs. From the very first moment they came on stage, there was clearly an anointing upon them for prophetic worship that would lead us into the very throne room of God. Starting with "Open The Eyes Of My Heart", we instantly launched into the presence of God. I can't think of how to express it without getting into twee cliches, which would only cheapen what happened!! Suffice it to say, God came and met with us, speaking through prophecy and words of knowledge (the most specific words of knowledge I have ever heard).

I was spontaneously prayed for by the man with the words of knowledge, and without a hint of physical necessity (i.e. I wasn't even close to being pushed!) I was flung backwards onto my seat. I was right as rain again 10 seconds afterward, but as I sat up, God started to speak words of faith and encouragement into my heart that I needed to hear.

All in all, I find myself with renewed resolve and vision for what God can do in me, through me, for me and for the world around me to glorify Jesus :)

Bring it on!!

Been busy

2008-06-25T09:44:00.002+01:00

Well, I've been busy - I know, I know, what a surprise! At least recently my time has been filled with fun things rather than just work and toil :)

My girlfriend is currently in the UK visiting me, with today pretty much being the mid-point of the trip. It's a bit annoying that I'm at work while she's still in Hexham, but we're getting to spend the evenings and all the weekend with each other and next Wednesday is my birthday (which my company gives you as a day's holiday) so we'll get to spend the whole day then as well.

I also got to preach this weekend just gone. I was preaching about Jesus, which is always a good start :) More specifically, I was talking about the pre-existence of Jesus, His deity and His humanity. It was recorded, and is now available on the Hexham Community Church podcast. I listened to it yesterday, and it's the best I've done on a Sunday morning so far, which isn't to say there's no room for improvement!!

If you're so inclined, please feel free to download it and have a listen, and give me any feedback you may have.

Random thoughts

2008-05-19T22:40:00.003+01:00

I'm feeling ever so slightly all-over-the-place at the moment! There's an awful lot going on in work, my own freelancing work, church and relationships. Through it all, I'm making headway in catching up on the series Rob Rufus has been preaching on Invading the Impossible.

It's quite strange - he is preaching things that I have actually believed for quite some time, but never really implemented or known how to pass on to others. For example, a key point in the early messages is about the significance of Jesus' humanity when related to the anointing of the Holy Spirit - that Jesus didn't use His divinity to do any of the signs and wonders. That misses the point. Jesus didn't perform signs and wonders to show what God could do. He performed them to show what ordinary human beings could do under grace and in the anointing of the Holy Spirit operating in full measure!! He did them to show us the normal Christian life - Hallelujah!!

How sub-par my Christian life has been so far... In the midst of my legalism and confusion, I've seen two or three people that I've prayed for healed. In roughly 20 years of being a Christian, only two or three people! I'm asking God for greater revelation about this stuff and the ability to lay hold of what I am learning and put it into practice. Despite being a charismatic ever since first being filled with the Spirit in 1995, I feel like I'm in a strange land, needing to learn to take baby steps again. And I couldn't be both more pleased and apprehensive!!

But I'm in faith for God to lead me through and into a greater level of revelation and anointing. And I'm so thankful for grace that means I can make my primary aim a deeper relationship with my Father, who will deal with my mistakes, messes and sins along the way :)

Isn't God good?

In other news, the teacher/leader in me is sensing a need to start collating and organising what I'm learning about grace into something that I can use to teach others. I believe God is calling me up to use the gifts He has given me to work with Him in bringing others into the freedom of grace that I'm coming in to.

A lot will obviously be inspired by Rob Rufus and Terry Virgo, and I'll give credit where it is due, but my intent will be to go back to the Scriptures for myself and present it in a way that is my own so that I won't be straight-up plagiarising. I'm hoping there's no pride at work here, but I get the sense that certainly Rob would probably prefer to inspire other teachers and leaders to preach grace in their spheres rather than have everyone just download the messages from City Church International in our church meetings! And I'm sure that is Terry Virgo's heart too.

I'll probably post portions of thoughts and preparations as they form!

Jesus and 'comfort zones'

2008-05-14T07:59:00.003+01:00

I've been thinking about what we call 'comfort zones' recently. At its best, this is a phrase that can succinctly summarise the feeling that we're stepping out of situations where we feel naturally comfortable. At its worst, it can be the most heinous kind of spiritual and emotional blackmail used to cajole people into activity and situations that they have no faith or revelation from God for.

The phrase was used at a meeting I was at recently (for the sake of clarity, they were using it in the good way), and my mind started working overtime as I reviewed the life of Jesus and found myself asking, “did Jesus have any comfort zones?” From what we have to go on in the gospels, it seems to me that Jesus regularly pushed the boundaries in his ministry – going to the excluded, touching the untouchable and loving the unlovable. Yet, there isn't a hint of the anxiety we can often feel about the idea of doing similar things, and in my experience talking about 'comfort zones' and the need to get out of them hasn't helped one bit in alleviating that anxiety and bringing me through into faith.

All of which is leading me to think that Jesus absolutely had a comfort zone - it's just that He took it with Him as He went. I believe that Jesus' comfort zone was his relationship with the Father, and that out of that relationship He never felt freer and more secure than when He was moving in faith to do His Father's work. He placed his sense of well-being and security in the hands of God the Father, and moved ahead, secure in the knowledge that the Father was with Him and that the power of the Holy Spirit was at work through Him.

See, our problem isn't comfort, as though the holy life is one at constant ill-ease and anxiety because we refuse to allow ourselves comfort. Our problem is that we seek our comfort in the broken cisterns of this world and its distractions, rather than placing our hope and sense of security in God and God alone.

So, rather than talk about 'getting out of our comfort zones' when challenging myself and others to stretch out into new territory and activity that we might not be comfortable with, I think I'm going to start reminding myself and everyone around me that God is with us. And if God is with us, why are we afraid? I'm going to focus on co-operating with the Holy Spirit to inspire faith rather than cajole people with the 'spiritual' equivalent of “What's the matter? You yellow? Just a big chicken? Come on, you wimp! Come and have a go, if you think you're hard enough!”

In fact, I'm going to do that right now...

Hey you! Yes, you, reading this right now (how's that for faith? Believing people will actually read this!).

Is God spurring you on and challenging you to step out in new ways that you've never done before? Do you feel inadequate and anxious about it, doubting that it'll go well or anything will be different? Please, stop looking at yourself and your circumstances and fix your eyes on the ever-faithful, ever-present, ever-empowering God of Heaven and Earth. Fix your eyes on Jesus and learn from His relationship with the Father, and catch the trust Jesus modelled.

As you go on this new venture, get so secure in God that He becomes your comfort zone - a comfort zone you get to take with you you on the way so that any circumstance can be faced and overcome in Christ! Go and be blessed :)

New site gone live

2008-03-28T10:59:00.002Z

This may seem a bit "off-topic", but I've just launched a new client site today. My friend runs his own PR and marketing business, called Blue Cherry and based in Leicester. He's a great guy, good at what he does and gets results for his clients! If you have any PR or marketing needs and are based around that area of the country, you could do much worse than giving him a call.

Tell him I sent you :)

Enough is enough

2008-03-26T16:57:00.002Z

I think my next major lesson to learn is what Paul talks about in Philippians - the secret of being content. The last few months have almost been characterised by accumulation - music, books, magazines, nice foods, learning resources, DVDs. I've been getting more and more, and yet feeling less and less satisfied.

I'm going to try and fast purchasing "stuff" for at least the next month or so. Not legalistically or religiously, but seriously. I can use the time not spent seeking out new stuff to actually catch up on my ever-increasing reading list, finishing off various bits of work, and most importantly seeking God for more of Him.

That's the ultimate aim of this time. To re-discover, in the midst of impoverishing myself of all the usual things I look to collect in the pursuit of happiness, that God is my soul's sole necessity - everything I need and MORE than capable of meeting my every need and bringing me satisfaction in Christ. I'm anticipating a time of revival and grace as the Holy Spirit teaches me what I need to do, and I draw closer to Jesus :)

A movement of glory

2008-03-05T10:12:00.003Z

I've just read a blog-post at Life on Wings that reports on Rob Rufus' latest sermon about a move of God coming that will shake the church out of its control, and right into the control of the Holy Spirit.

I'm feeling a rush of faith, holy fear, and boldness just thinking about it. In amongst the ups and downs of life over the last 5-6 years, I've been sensing in my spirit a stirring. There have been occasional prophetic words spoken at meetings about an outpouring of the Spirit coming that will eclipse anything we have experienced so far. There has been a sense that God is at work in the background, and that those prepared to make room for Him will be swept up into a movement of God characterised by power and truth (these days, I would add undiluted, unfiltered, unadulterated GRACE).

I don't quite have words for it, but I believe God is doing "something", and I don't want to miss it!

In other news

2008-02-28T14:07:00.003Z

Flip, it's nearly the end of February and I've only just posted the first blog of 2008! Suffice it to say, I'm not doing brilliantly in "taking my life in hand" and getting organised. But I am learning it's all about grace!

In the last few weeks, I've had some fantastic experiences of the Lord's glory, where He has touched me and other people with the Holy Spirit leading to tongues, prophecies, interpretations, prayer ministry times and a general sense of God! The best bit, is that I've not changed any of my habits, so I can't claim any credit :)

Though in true Holy Spirit-inspired style, I am finding myself praying more, thinking more about Jesus and generally exercising my "muscles" more, but these are all a fruit of the Lord's gracious dealings with me.

I'm still aware of some mind-renewing needed when it comes to leaving behind all traces of legalism, but God is more than able to help with them!

So, all in all, 2008 is looking good so far!

The bride of Christ

2008-02-28T14:00:00.004Z

I've just come across an interesting quote reported on the Spirit of God blog. It was Dave Campbell speaking at a conference about the gift of prophecy, and one of the quotes mentioned was this:

The Church is the bride of Christ. Please be careful how you speak to His wife.

As someone getting a voice in my local church, with responsibility for various bits and pieces, I pray that Jesus will give me grace to love, cherish, encourage and build up His wife rather than chastise, cajole and abuse her.

Grace

2007-11-24T09:33:00.001Z

We need to understand that we have value in God, irrespective of how much we are doing for God. Even if we never read the Bible again, never witness again, never pray again, never go to church again, God would love us exactly the same as if we were doing everything perfectly.

Living In The Grace Of God by Rob Rufus

Inspired to fear...

2007-11-22T11:56:00.000Z

I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.
Jeremiah 32:40

I need that inspiration of the Lord! What a promise from the Father, that He will give us new motives, new desires, and a fresh heart that fears Him so that we will not turn away. Truth is that I am often wayward - each day my heart, described as desperately wicked elsewhere in Jeremiah, finds a way to dishonour and disgrace Him who has honoured and graced me. I want to grow in a holiness that is of grace - worked in by the Spirit and worked out in rest.

I need to know the way of wisdom that starts out with the fear of the Lord, and praise God, He wants to give it!!

Random words

2007-11-20T12:00:00.000Z

Passion, life, fire, boldness, glory, integrity, truth, reality, weakness, strength, grounded, flying, needing, wanting, desiring, Jesus, openness, vulnerability, filled, leaking, sustained, from the inside-out, devoted, desperate.

These are all random words I'm experiencing right now. It's like my heart, long cold and distant, is being set aflame and drawn into the dangerous places with the Lord - the places where His Spirit fashions us to be more like Jesus and closer to the Father. Where things can never be the same, and the glory goes all to God.

Bring. It. On.

Driscoll and joy in loneliness

2007-10-31T11:28:00.001Z

I've just been listening to Mark Driscoll preaching on "The rebel's guide to joy in loneliness", part of the current series based on Philippians. He's really on fire as he diagnoses the loneliness epidemic at large in our culture, and how Jesus is the answer to it all. The link is directly to the MP3, so give it a listen and I hope you're encouraged.

Busy busy busy

2007-10-31T08:36:00.000Z

So not much on the update front in the last week or so. Essentially, I've been stupid-busy. There must be at least three levels of busy:

Busy
Crazy Busy
Stupid Busy

I call it Stupid Busy because it's sort of my own stupidity that's let it get this bad! Basically, I work full time for a company, then I've been doing some freelance on the side. The freelance has been taking off nicely, which is great. Except that I'm also heading up worship for my church, Hexham Community Church. Oh, and leading the 18+ group, en:gage. And speaking at youth group this week. And doing a leadership training course run by Salt & Light (the family of churches I'm part of). And, last but absolutely, by-no-means least, I'm conducting a long-distance relationship.

Now a wise, sensible person would have realised that this is far too much for one person to do. Sadly, I'm not a wise, or apparently sensible, person yet.

So last night, I fell into God's grace yet again. I confessed my need of Him, renouncing the pride that has kept me going at this on my own and in my own strength, and asking Him to fill me again with the Holy Spirit. It was a good, open and honest time with my Heavenly Dad, and I feel like He's given me some instruction for how to change things, as well as grace to cope in the interim until the wisdom He's supplied has worked its effects in my life.

Isn't He good? Actually, isn't He amazing? And loving? And gracious? And wise? And awesome?

And that little list doesn't even begin to describe Him!

Rob Rufus and grace

2007-10-19T11:40:00.000+01:00

I've noticed recently that I have been erring on the side of caution when it comes to life in the Spirit. I've been focussing more on my evangelical heritage than the charismatic. I received a prophetic word over the summer about how I have known what it is to be filled with the Spirit, and God is pleased with what I've been through so far, but that there is more He wants to give me. There is a greater fullness to come, but there's something I'm holding back on.

So, to re-dress the balance a bit, I've been sensing a need to listen to some solidly charismatic teaching that will provoke and stir my spirit to rely on the Holy Spirit, so I've decided to start listening to Rob Rufus. I'm really impressed by him so far. He's solidly grounded in grace, filled with a passion for Jesus and a desire to let the Holy Spirit's anointing to take hold of us and lead us into His glory.

In all honesty, I was a bit skeptical, 'cos all I've read is what could be conference hype on blogs. But there is both substance and passion to him and I think the Lord is going to use the messages from his site to re-ignite a passion for Him and His purposes in the world.

In Christ...

2007-10-16T16:08:00.000+01:00

You'd like to think that, having been a Christian since I was 6 years old, that I would have got the hang of this grace thing by now. Yet I can hear the Spirit of God speak to me about being accepted by God through Christ, and of all the stupid things to think I end up thinking about how I want to be acceptable 'cos I am acceptable! Which made me realise quite how wrong my thinking still is at times. It turns out that I'm still looking to build my own personal Babel - a way to reach the heavens on my own.

But, with just a moments reflection and the help of the Holy Spirit, I realise that this isn't what I really want. If nothing else, it's impossible! It's not just that I can't pay for all the bad things I've done and continue to do, it's that I can't even begin to do the right things. I need Jesus to save me from my good deeds just as much as my bad ones. And this is why Jesus is amazing.

Through Him, I am accepted into fellowship with the Lord of Hosts - the King of all creation. More than that, I'm accepted into His family, and I'm allowed to call Him Father. In fact, not just "Father", as though it were some official title that only people in the club are allowed to use, but "my father". This isn't a formal title, but a recognition of reality. God is my father! What is more, He loves me and cares for me enough to correct my thinking, attitudes and actions.

And it is all because of Jesus - what He has done on my behalf and now works in me to accomplish by the Spirit.

Hallelujah! What a Saviour!

UPDATE: Just had a further thought, that I'll try to express. The number one reason that I can't be accepted without Jesus is because it is Jesus I want to know and be accepted by! And what my pride would seek to earn, Jesus offers as a free gift by trusting in His name. If I truly want to know Christ, it's got to be on His terms, and His way is by grace through faith - as a free gift!

I say again, what a Saviour!

So what's the point?

2007-10-14T01:28:00.000+01:00

I've tried writing blogs many times before. I've started plenty, been fairly disciplined for a while, and then seem to have lost interest or something. I guess this is only to be expected given my personality that is happiest when presented with freedom rather than form and discipline.

But I believe that God is stepping things up in my life. I believe He's changing things that have been bubbling under the surface of my life, exposing pride and legalism, and bringing me into a new awareness of His grace and love. I believe He's revealing my self-sufficiency and happiness to remain in a cerebral Christianity, finding comfort in thoughts and doctrines rather than Him. I believe He's wanting to increase my commitment to the Scriptures, but also be open to the Spirit in a new way that I haven't known for a long, long, long time.

So what's the point of starting this blog? I want to keep track of the things He shows me. I want to share quotes from books I've been reading or blog posts that have impacted me. I want to talk about what He is doing and what He is teaching me. I want to be able to share frustrations with myself and the way things are that are contrary to His will. I want to be able to look back on where Jesus has taken me before, express where I am with Him now, and look to the future He has for me to walk into.

That's an awful lot of "I want"s, but it's really not about me. It's all about Him, and if you see me more than you see Jesus, let me know 'cos that would really be missing the point.