Pressing On

Note I am not saying 'Business as Mission' ... but reflecting to what extent current management has influenced mission planning and whether or not this is a good thing. ie Management by objective etc etc. Personally I have found both John Kotter and Jim Collins helpful in thinking about managing the process of transformation - but always with the nagging certainty that neither God nor Kingdom building can be managed and that He is always at work doing the unexpected, that what is important to Him is often not quantifiable at all, and all we are ever doing is playing catch-up with Him! I think it was R T Kendall who wrote "The purpose of every generation is to find out what God is doing and align itself with that." There is much to reflect on but it 'pains' me when I read or hear leaders who have stated "I define the vision of the Church clearly, in other words say where the bus is going, then people can decide whether or not they want to be on the bus!&

Have just finished reading an interesting book called 'Just Courage' ... by Gary A Haugen, President and CEO of International Justice Mission (IJM). The back cover has a cry that must be that of many people ... "There must be more to the Christian life than this..." and of course there is. I do have some fundamental questions that were left unanswered in the book ... mainly along the lines of whether justice is an end in itself. It must be truly wonderful to be involved in a group that sees the emancipation of people from horrendous abuse situations and slavery - but if it is only for this life is that what Jesus is about when it comes to transformation? I would of appreciated reading more of how these expressions of Christian work impact the world in real and practical ways and how they work together with others to see people entering into the true freedom that is only found in Christ ... I am sure there are some great stories out there. What was great were the testi

I am now sat down in front of the TV watching a repeat run of Top Gear pondering how much I really want a cup of tea ... but not being bothered to get up and make it! Not what I usually do on a Friday afternoon but after a week of Leader's meetings, Trustees meetings and WEC UK Conference it is all I can muster the energy to do at this point! So what are my initial reflections ... beyond 'Wow it's tiring leading a conference!' Praise - Great, Teaching - Great, Equipping - Great, Debate - Robust and fruitful, Prayer - Moving, Business - Strategic, Fellowship - Encouraging, Weather - Cold, Biscuits - Too many! If I had to choose three things that struck me most powerfully over the week they would be ' Worship - Movement - Progress ' Worship - because there is something very moving about worshipping together with a group of people who have committed their lives to serving the Living God. Regardless of ministry, culture, age or Church background - the underlying pa

Some verses in the Bible that are difficult to understand ... requiring a lot of prayerful thought and searching out - even then the answers may not be entirely satisfying. There could be a whole host of reasons for that, but as we keep searching the Lord has a wonderful way of giving answers. Some verses, and this is today's thought, are quite easily understood, plain in meaning - but perhaps hard to comprehend/accept. Take Isaiah 13:11 where God speaks through the Prophet saying "I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless." For many, this may be difficult to reconcile together with a God of Love, Mercy and Grace. How could someone who 'Loves perfectly' do such a thing? The challenge is to maintain a balance in the whole character of God - which is threefold - He is a God of Truth, a God of Holiness and a God of Love - all in perfection, without over

"So, what do you do?" ... I consider this, then reply "I'm the UK Director of WEC International, a Christian missionary group." .... Pause .... "That's interesting..." They say ..... Then move on, find someone else!! So where's the touch point? What can they latch on to, get a handle on, know what to ask next? The issue of identity is an important one, if I said I was a Pastor or a Vicar then this gives someone in the UK a handle, albeit full of stereotypical thoughts, on what I do ... But missions Director? What's that all about? It's about encouraging, organising, equipping, strategising in order to see our final goal reached as quickly and as effectively as possible ... In WECs case that of sharing the good news of the gospel of Christ amongst those communities and people groups who are yet to hear it for the first time! Challenging of the week ... Due to population growth there are more unreached people today than ever before

Rising Generation � The Minster It all starts tomorrow at 10:30am ... watch this space!

"Repentance is godly sorrow for our sins, because of the wrong done to God, and therefore the hurt inflicted on Him (Gen 6:6) ... if there is no conscious repentance, just an acceptance of grace then there is no awareness of what we have been saved from ... which leads to a corresponding lack of depth and commitment ..." I read this in a book whilst I was at Bible College some 16 years ago. It must have struck me quite powerfully at the time as I wrote it on the inside cover of the Bible I was reading. It resonated with an experience I had recently had of being led by the Spirit into a season of repentance the like of which I had not experienced before. This did indeed lead to a deepening of my faith and a greater commitment to Jesus and the growth of His Kingdom throughout the world ... avery rich time indeed, and foundational in all that has followed. Up to that point I had been 'saved' some four years, I had experienced the wonder of forgiveness, but had not really

I guess that depends on what you do with your time!! For me it was a time for spending with the kids, swimming, cycling, playing cards etc. No screens in sight for anyone ... And so we were "forced" to talk with each other!! Good to have nothing to do with a day except whatever presents itself ... Well, for two weeks anyway... Reading also played a big part of the time - two Harlan Coben novels (weekend reads) then Hunger for Reality (G Verwer), Outpouring of Grace (Roy Goodwin), Discerning the Spirit of the Age (D Tidball) followed by the completion of The Everlasting Man (G K Chesterton) ... An excellent riposte to the wave of aggressive atheism based on the 'science' of evolution. The scientific argument may have moved on since 1925 but the underlining arguments for a creator God remain unshaken and, indeed, unanswered by science. Having space ... no emails, texts, phone calls, facebook, twitter etc ... So what happens in space? In my experience, if you a

Last week I had the privilege of spending a week with about 100 teenagers in a field! I was at WEC Teen Camp for the week ... and what I saw and experienced fills me with such hope for the future. Young men and women, despite all the 'stuff' that is going on in their lives. The world's value system that is force fed to them, that shapes their thinking and affects their daily lives ... for some in traumatic ways which are all too raw and apparent to them and, for some, in subtle ways that are damaging yet not currently apparent to them. (When the time is right the Spirit will reveal these things to them and deliver them from them ... after all He did, and still is doing it with the rest of us isn't He!) But still they worship, still they pray and still they have a passion for the Lord and for His kingdom coming to the ends of the earth ... I can't wait until it is unleashed! Lord let it be soon! The week ahead is one of relaxation and refreshment as we put all that&#

I am a pragmatic person, who wants things to be real ... I want integrity. If something promises to be life changing then I expect it to be! The gospel is no different ... I did not become a Christian because I agreed with a creed or theology - I heard a message of 'fulness of life' in Christ, along with the promise of an intimate and imminent relationship with the Living God, my Father in heaven - through faith in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. I responded and have spent the years since increasingly understanding that 'fulness' and the One who made it possible. So on that level I want integrity, but integrity works itself out on another level as well. It is great went things seem to flow and the Lord hears and talks to you. But, what about those times when it all seems like hard work? and the heavens seems as though they are a brassy, impenetrable barrier? How do we deal with that? We have to show a level of integrity at those times and acknowledge they a

Any work for God that depends on our own efforts, our own zeal, our own ability, and resources, will fail! - George Verwer. It is right to work hard, have zeal for the kingdom, apply all our God-given talents, abilities and resources to the task in hand - but never be dependent upon them ... How tragically wanting that would leave us! Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Recently I was meeting with a group of leaders who had never met together before. To start the meeting we each shared a little of our life and ministry ... Always interesting to hear a/ How Jesus draws people, from varied backgrounds and experiences, to Himself and b/ What varied directions He leads people who are willing to be led ... Fascinating, anyway, I digress! We then each shared what we felt the Lord had been saying to us recently ... And we all had the same thing to say (albeit in different words!) ... Namely; a/ A growing sense of urgency to see the great commission completed as quickly as possible! And b/ A growing sense of anticipation and imminence ... That the Lord is about to move in a amazing way here in the UK and into Europe. So, what do we say to this? Are we all wrong? Or just desperate? Or is the Lord indeed giving us each that sense of prophetic urgency? I believe the latter is most accurate ... But, as my Pastor friend shared on Sunday morning ... Let us

Luke gives us some answers to the bigger questions in life - like 'why are we here?' and 'why are we saved?'. There might be many answers to this question, but viewing it from man's perspective Luke wrote: '... that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days' (1:74) The reality of finding complete fulfilment in being a servant is in stark contrast to the idea of seeing how we can fit Jesus into an otherwise unchanged life. In the former He is enthroned as Lord, in the latter I remain enthroned as Lord of 'My life'. Where does His will fit in our list of priorities? Are we sure that what we are doing today is what the Lord has asked us to do? Have we ever asked? Jesus food was to do the will of His Father, so too it is our food ... In other words we will be malnourished if we simply go on our own way, giving no heed to His leading, or never even stopping to

Have just returned from our International Conference which was held in Thailand this time. We managed to dodge the troubles around Bangkok and saw some fires, and heard some gunfire ... but nothing dramatic on that level. Watching elephants paint ... that was something else! (See photo - believe me, the camera is not lying here!) But what did I take away from the two weeks we were together, 200 leaders from around the WEC world? The theme of the conference was 'Inspired and Compelled' ... and I certainly was, as the Spirit moved to inspire and the love of Christ for the unreached peoples of the world compelled. There was a renewing of our commitment to the core of who we are as WECers; Core passion - Christ and the gospel Core values - Faith, Holiness, Sacrifice and Fellowship Core aims - reaching people, planting churches and mobilising the body of Christ to complete the task of sharing the wonder of God's message of love, forgiveness and reconciliation in Christ. Recognis

I write this to give a little more explanation to what I posted yesterday; There are two comments that I have heard often when talking to Pastors or Church Leaders ... "I have a Church of 200 going on 20!" ... or ... "20% of the people do 80% of the work" ... they might express these ideas in different ways, but they amount to the same thing. Mobilising Christians to mission has to start by encouraging Christians to be sold out for Christ in every area of life ... Charles Finney wrote "A revival is nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God ... the first step is a deep repentence, a breaking down of heart, a getting down into the dust before God, with deep humility and a forsaking of sin." We can pray for revival as much as we like, but it will never happen until we take this work seriously. Thus Pauline's picture is a very powerful image that encourages me to pray. Here are some notes from Pauline to flesh out what I wrote yesterday ... &

I want to get this of before I go on some travels and whilst it is fresh in my mind ... What a weekend! I should imagine that there was approximately 2,500 to 3,000 people who attended the Missions festival over the course of the three days - to hear the specific challenge of "Praying for the Nations!". The ministry of Pete Greig, George Verwer and Michael Jaffarian of Operation World was challenging on all levels ... and inspiring. Only time will tell what fruit will come from the weekend, and from all the hardwork ... but can I please encourage all who went to send out through your blogs, facebook pages, twitter feeds, emails, letters etc. through all your networks, what the Lord said to you, how encouraged/challenged/inspired etc you have been ... and, perhaps more importantly, in the days, weeks and months to come what changes it has brought to your life. Keep the buzz going! Role on GO2011!! BTW - What a great team effort from the wider WEC fellowship, and all those othe

In 1991, when the Lord first spoke to Pauline and I concerning the challenge to go overseas as short-term missionaries with WEC, He used the verse in Ephesians 5:14 ' Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you’. At that point in time I had only been a believer for 18 months, and had no idea what the Lord was leading us into … but nonetheless the challenge came to me – Was I willing to wake up? To rise from my religious comfort and slumber and let the Lord be ‘Lord’ over my life, what I do, where I go etc etc? There was much I did not understand but what I did understand was that – above all else – I wanted His blessing to be poured out on me, and that waking up to His claims upon my life, and following His lead was a key to this. Thankfully the Lord gave us the grace to be obedient and 6 weeks later we were in Senegal with WEC! A few years later in 2005, after we had joined WEC as long-term workers and had returned from our second spell in Senegal in 2

I was asked to prepare some ministry on the guiding principles of WEC - Faith, Holiness, Sacrifice and Fellowship - and how they work themselves out in a contemporary world. In preparing I was encouraged by my conclusion that i n as much as the principles are based on biblical truth, then they are eternally relevant. What each generation has to grapple with is bringing His promises and His truth into their contemporary world, and come to the place of realising that we can confidently build our whole life and sphere of activity on them. Why? Because they are an expression of who He is! Let me give you a practical example of what I mean. In our principle of faith we state that ... We are totally dependent on God as supplier of every need in our lives and ministry, and totally trust in Him to bring His revealed purposes to pass in spite of opposition, difficulty and apparent impossibility ... Psalm 23:1, Mt 6:33, 2 Cor 9:8, Php 4:19, Heb 11 .... Now the passages are familiar for most Chri

I love reading! Everything from books and magazines to competitions and recipes on the side of cereal packets if I am desperate. I see this as a good thing, and being in this role - I find that people are always passing articles and books to me with the recommendation 'You should read this!' Now I read quite widely, but want to focus these thoughts on the nature of Christian books that I have been encouraged to read recently. (I should clarify that these have mostly been in the devotional genre.) These books have been both contemporary and classic - and it is this that I want to reflect on. Most of the contemporary books I have stopped reading after one, perhaps two chapters. This has been for two reasons, both of which increasingly irk me. 1/ The author has said everything they want to say in the first chapter and the rest of the book seems to be restating the same thing in different ways ... Ie - there is a lack of spiritual depth ... Instead we get sound bites! 2/ These book

I was walking home in the snow this morning, having dropped the smallest member of the family off at school, my normal habit when doing this is to walk in a straight line across a nearby common to get home ... Which I started to do this morning. This was harder work than normal due to the snow which was deeper where I wanted to go, so I found myself deviating in order to find a path that many had already used ... Thus it was well worn down, flatter and easier to walk on ... Then the challenge came to me 'Is this how I have been called to live my Christian life?' Not following the normal paths and cutting afresh into new areas is always harder work ... But it is worth it - in fact, if we are being obediant to the word of the Lord we will always be following another! It then reminded me of the time in, 1993, when the Lord gave me what I can only describe as a 'prophetic burden' ... which has been foundational in the shaping of my life and ministry since ... Occasionally

I trust that you are feeling refreshed and ready for all that the Lord has prepared in advance for you to do in 2010! As I was seeking the Lord for a word for 2010 I believe He led me to Isaiah 30:15-18, which says; This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! What struck me most powerfully from my initial reflections on this short passage was the immensity of the promise. We face many huge challenges in the coming year - some we are already aware of, others are yet to be revealed, but we can look forward with confidence as daily we learn to 'return, rest, be quiet and trust' that we might know deliverance, salvation and strength. However, as powerful as the promise is so to the sense of sadness if w