Category Archives: Worship

May 20 2013
Bible, Christianity, Church, Demons, Elijah, Evangelism, Faith, Healing, Heaven, history, Holy Spirit, Jesus, leadership, Prayer, prophecy, Religion, Theology, Worship

Fire carriers – Rachel Hickson at the Message Prayer day

rachel_hickson_800 copy

What are Fire Carriers?

People who carry presence, passion and power

Lk 3:16
We are meant to be baptised with the Holy Spirit and with fire! Fire and water mix in God’s economy.

Stay wet – monastic
And on fire – mission

When dry people carry fire it’s dangerous.

But we get wet and put our feet on Britain’s dry ground.
Isaiah 44:3
This is not just for us, it’s for our descendents.

Wet people burn!

If we are dry and we burn we get burnt out. Some people are scary for all the wrong reasons. So stay wet in the presence of God
1 Kings 18:33-38
The prophets of Baal were the new spirituality.
They set up a dry altar. Prayed to the God of fire.

Elijah says – wet it again and again. Let the water overflow. It’s seriously wet! Because you have serious challenges and God wants to put some serious fire on you. Fire that touches you touches everything around you.
Are you a fire carrier?

It’s great to touch the dry ground – but we have to be wet first.

Ps 42:2
Are you thirsty?!

Where can I go?! Ever feel that?

Acts 3:19
Change your mind and priority. Think different!
Be far more determined to be close to Jesus.

Don’t look at who you are – you can’t even preach one sermon without Him!

God has a call on you and he wants you to hit the mark. The designation on your life is different to anyone else’s.

Have a time of refreshing!

Dt 28:12
Let the rain fall – open up heaven I’ve me!

2. God wants you to be Passionate People

You will make friends, and others will hate your passion.
Nothing great was ever accomplished with Passion.

The Enemy wants to silence true passion.
Passion is irritating. It causes a response. Others get their status quo threatened and want us to calm down. Like the crowd in Mk10:48 – who tried to calm Bartimaeus’ shout.

What’s the cry in you?
The Jesus shout!

Acts 4 – here was a passionate church. And a passionate church is usually a persecuted church. History tells us this. We think miracles are all we need. But look at Acts 4:16-20

Jesus is always the name they want to shut up and spread it. But Peter & John say ‘We have a Passion for that name!’

You carry a heavenly virus
It lives on dead people
Those who have died to our name
And come alive to his name.

There will never be an innoculation that works against this virus.

Jer 20:9
There’s a fire inside you. When we yet to hold it in, we get weary. Our weariness comes because we stopped letting Jesus out. We are Jesus people.

Don’t run out of steam
Don’t lose the main thing!

3. Be Power Carriers

Isaiah 8:18
We are for signs and wonders in the land!
Let signs & wonders be the children, the twins we walk around with.

Signs and wonders are extraordinary events that make people Wonder about God!

So many people need that key of hope to unlock the gates.

Mk 16:17-18
We are to change atmospheres!
To set people free from whatever torments them.

Be people of Presence. Passion and Power to make a difference.

May 14 2013
1 Comment
Bible, Christianity, dreams, Faith, Heaven, Jesus, Prayer, REVIVAL, Worship

Dream Of A Coming Revival

Anyone who knows my wife Zoe well will know over the years she has a great prophetic gift in dreams, really insightful and occasionally scary! The wonderful thing is how they come true in detail. It’s no exaggeration to say that every major move in our life has been foretold in a dream she’s documented.

So the other night she had a dream – about a move of GOD that’s coming our way. This ties in with an increasing excitement I have been feeling, many reporting a palpable sense of the presence of God last Sunday in our service at Kingsway, a number of miraculous answers to prayer here at Ivy recently, one of our sites (the new one at Ivy Sharston) getting over 100 new people turn up last week; and reports from various sites I’m connected to of outpourings in various churches (especially that at my friend Richard Taylor’s church in Wales). It seems the spiritual temperature is being turned up! 

Here’s Zoe’s dream, from her notes. The bits in brackets are my explanatory notes.

I was with a few others (women friends/prayer partners) were in an upstairs room – when a storm was coming up outside. I told someone there how bad it looked but they weren’t at all worried by the storm (this was one of the friends who’s a mighty woman of God who has lived through revival when she was in Brazil). 


 

The sea was swelling and then a huge, enormous wave came up, not like a tidal wave – instead it was like the whole of the sea, came flooding in with tremendous force.

 wave

It flooded everywhere below us. The house shook but still my friend was not phased by it at all. 

 

When all went quiet I went and looked outside. Everywhere looked beautiful, as though the wave had washed everything and made it brighter. The shore was clean, not trashed like you’d expect after a storm.

 

I asked the person with me to cut my fringe so I could see properly. 


 

We went down to the shore which was now full of fishing boats laden with fish. An abundance! Fish of all shapes and sizes. I’d never seen so many or such variety before it was amazing.

 

There were so many that the cost of food went down and even the poor could eat well.

 

Also beautiful creatures came out of the sea, including sea lions. I showed others there that the sea lions were friendly/tame, even though they tried to bite their teeth did not puncture my skin. I held and cared for a ragged brown one.

 

Others helped at other boats, because there were so many fish. Some of the boats had landed sharks in them but no one seemed to be afraid.

 

I asked if Kohl my Grandson would see this and was told, “Yes he will – and he’ll see even more!”

 

 

Zoe says, ‘My interpretation is…

 

There’s a move of God coming that will come with all the force and power of heaven. This is not just going to crash in one area but to sweep over a vast area.

 

It will come shaking ministries. God is very much in control of it.

 

It will cleanse our land, renewing and refreshing it.

 

The Holy Spirit will clean the dirty and remove the rubbish from people’s lives.

 

Thousands will be saved, people of all different backgrounds, races, colours and creeds.

 

Cutting my hair so I can see better is obvious. (Anthony’s note; hair in dreams is often a sign of knowledge or wisdom, so here human ‘knowledge’ can get in the way of spiritual revelation).

 

The poor will eat well – obvious too!

 

God’s people will not be afraid of the creatures that bite (spiritual attack? People who seem far away from God we’re scared of?).

 

We will nurture all those who come to Christ and encourage them in all compassion and humility.

 

People that were seen as dangerous and the enemy, including many criminals and drug dealers etc. will be ‘caught’ too – and born again.

 

What do you think? I’ve never had such a hard time trying to post a blog post on WordPress. Someone doesn’t want us to get too EXCITED! Are you ready for the MOVE? Spread the word!

Let’s pray – ‘Lord, send the wave!’

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Apr 09 2013
Bible, Christianity, Evangelism, Faith, Jesus, Manchester, Prayer, Religion, wisdom, Worship

SOW MORE SEED – BILL HYBELS

From DVD of Willow Creek GLS last year – watched with staff team today.

Parable of talents. – Luke 8

Despite how bountifully the seed is sown (the good news of God’s love). Some people reject it- but don’t get discouraged. Some of it will land on good soil, too.

The maths of this is amazing for the seed rejection ratio – he says there’s a 75% rejection rate.

But then look at the maths of the tree that represents someone who says yes and has their life changed.  How much is produced by a transformed life.

We want to see more trees!

So – what must I do?

PLANT MORE SEED!

To overcome the rejection maths. Don’t just complain about the rejection rate!

Plant different kinds of seed.

We have to sow a lot more seed in our communities.

Alpha Course

Just Walk Across The Room

Experiment!!

You will see more trees.

Leader – this depends on you. The church takes its cues from you. One of the fundamental requirements of a leader is to learn, experiment and stay curious. So entropy will not occur on your watch.  Become incessant tinkerers. Keep thinking how to do it better.

Change your middle name to BETTER.

Become better.

You’d better!

And inspire everyone around you to get better.

Because trees are worth it!

 

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Mar 30 2013
Bible, Christianity, Cross, Discipleship, Easter, Failure, Faith, Friends, Good Friday, Grief, Heaven, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Manchester, Men, Prayer, Quotes, Religion, Theology, Worship

CROSSED OUT – Carpenter worth less than the wood and nails?

The cross was not jewellery – it was  an obscenity. 2000 years ago if someone carved up your chariot on the road to Milan, you’d not stick two fingers or one finger or any other creative hand gesture. You’d make the sign of the cross in their direction. What starts and finishes many people’s prayers, began with an obscenity.

It was devised to be the most terrible  and humiliating way to die,  so that to say your leader went to a cross was the worst possible way to start a movement. It was foolishness to the Greeks and anathema to the Jews to say, ‘Our guy was crucified, come and join us.’ We cannot imagine the ‘Yuk’ factor that would bring to the common mind of the Roman empire which applauded the strength and might of its heroes.

Crucifixion was invented by the Phoenicians but perfected by the Romans and intended to be the most stigmatising (it has links to what we get the word stigmatising from), debasing and humiliating and agonizing experience. The idea was that NOBODY would ever want to be associated with anyone who died on a cross. There were lots of pretended Messiahs around at the time, but after the cross – nobody bothered to talk about any of them.

The cross, crossed people out. They didn’t matter anymore.

It was a death that deliberately stripped all dignity. You were belittled. That means you were being, littled.

After the death sentence was passed, the condemned person was stripped and paraded naked through the streets of the city, so that his punishment would be seen by all. The Jewish Law required that executions be made outside the city walls and the Romans accommodated this custom with criminals prominently put to death on a hill outside of Jerusalem. They wanted executions near well-travelled roads so all could see what became of any who were not a friend of Caesar.

You probably know how they had beaten this carpenter turned preacher, Jesus of Nazareth.  They flogged him with a whip laced with bone or lead to flay off the skin and bare the internals – they stuck his back together with a rough purple horse blanket and mocked him as they placed a crown of thorns upon his head and beat it into place with a stick. When they were finally tired of scorning him, they ripped off the ‘robe’ and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.

Literary sources detailing the history indicate that the condemned person would carry to the execution site only the heavy crossbar (stipes). Wood was scarce and the vertical pole (patibulum) was kept stationary and used repeatedly. As he stumbled toward his execution the soldiers would follow closely behind, whipping him along the way.

When they arrived at the place of execution, the criminal would be both nailed and tied by rope to the cross beam. Recent archaeology indicates nails only 4.5 inches long would be used, in fact re-examination of a famous crucifixion victim may indicate that just one nail driven through one heel bone would suffice to keep a man on a cross if he were then tied with ropes. We know that Jesus’ hands were pierced but still this carpenter would be worth less than the nails and the wood – they often didn’t want to use too many nails or ruin the wood with nail marks too quickly so would often use a rope to hold the upper body. The victim would slowly die of asphyxiation just the same.

The position made it progressively difficult to exhale. The word excruciating was coined from this terrible pain. His legs were bent and his feet or heels nailed near the base of the cross—so he could push his torso a few inches and gasp for breath, until the pain in his legs became unbearable and he collapsed again.

It was not uncommon for death to take two days. Whenever the authorities decided (for whatever reason) to expedite the criminal’s death, his legs would be broken so that he could no longer push himself up for breath, and he would suffocate within a matter of minutes. Jesus died before that happened to him.

Unlike medieval art depictions, the cross didn’t tower high above the crowd. The dying would experience the torment of dangling just above the ground, at eye level, so tormentors could easily spit in his face, or set the dogs on them. The word crucify literally means ‘impale on a plank.’ Throughout the history of the Roman Empire, untold thousands were executed in this fashion. In AD70 after a rebellion they crucified so many they ran out of wood and just nailed them to the walls. We only remember one cross.

But Jesus’ cross was inconsequential. The sign above his head ‘King of the Jews’ – a bitter irony. He was nothing. Crossed out. As Jesus hung there naked, beaten and bloody, they taunted him, even the thieves he was crucified together with mocked him; his enemies watching him die helpless as the soldiers gambled for his clothes alone must have made his claim seem laughable.

Leading religious figures applauded, saying, “Let this Messiah come down off the cross so that we can see it and believe in him.”

And his friends – those who had believed in him – their worlds were spinning out right of control, and everything going wrong… they’re asking ‘WHAT IS GOING ON?!’’

What was going on? The Bible tells us what at the time only heaven could see, in Philippians 2:

When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honour of God the Father.

Jesus Christ hung there – because everything hung on it.

He was there, not as the victim of circumstances beyond his control, but because he chose to lay down his life for the sake of the world. As he had said to his friends in so many ways as he predicted the detail of what would happen: I am the good shepherd….No one can take my life from me. I lay down my life voluntarily. I have the power to lay it down when I want to and also the power to take it again. (John 10)

As Jesus was arrested, he said to his disciples, “Don’t you realise that I am able right now to call to my Father, and twelve companies—more, if I want them—of fighting angels would be here, battle-ready? But if I did that, how would the Scriptures come true that say this is the way it has to be?” (Matthew 26:53)

He was saying ‘I could save myself ANY time, but if I did, how could YOU be saved?’

Jesus could have saved himself, any minute of that long Good Friday. But He could not save himself, because He wanted to save – you. Saving us, forgiving all our sins and giving us eternal life meant that he had to die on the cross to pay the price for your sins. It was not that HE was crossed out, but our sins were crossed out, forever.

And he was willing to do whatever it took, for that to happen. For the glory of his Father, and because he thinks we were worth it.

Jesus’ death on the cross is the only one that is remembered, the death symbol that brings life – because that’s what it took to bring about our reconciliation, and that was a price he was willing to pay. In the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus prayed, “If it is possible, take this cup from me” — but it was not possible. That cup could not be taken away… someone had to drink it. Him or us…

He did what it took. He took what it took. Despite all the power available to the Son of God, the King of kings, he knew he couldn’t save himself, because he wanted to save me and you.

(This is part of my notes from our Good Friday service yesterday – the talk in full will be available soon as a free podcast at www.ivymanchester.org/podcasts)

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Mar 25 2013
1 Comment
Christianity, Discipleship, Failure, Faith, Jesus, Manchester, Prayer, Rest, stress., wisdom, Worship

‘COULD YOU NOT WATCH ONE HOUR?!’ – (My struggles with learning to pray. part 2)

Occasionally I’d have a bit of an energy burst and do some journalling (ever done that?). Some of the conferences I went to had experts saying if you didn’t journal every day you had to doubt your salvation. I got a journal. The ‘MAN’ type, leather, with a cross on the front, not the girls one with flowers. Some time later I got another one because I’d hardly written in the first one. It had ‘MY PRAYER JOURNAL’ written on the front.

But there’s still not much written in it.

prayer-journal

Actually though, Jesus didn’t journal. It really wasn’t me. I love writing, I hate journaling. I’m not even sure journalling is a word. How many ls should it have if it is? Spellchecker doesn’t like either. I read somewhere that CS Lewis STOPPED journaling when he became a Christian, because he’d done it for years before, and found it made him too self centred.

I was doing really badly from the outset at how I thought you were supposed to be growing spiritually. It never got better. It’s not like when you’re a kid and you get to see how you grow by marking it on the wall near the fridge. As a spiritual child of God, what’s the best marker?

I started to wonder whether the best way to measure people’s devotion to God is how long they pray. Is it about their ‘devotional life,‘? Or their WHOLE life? Maybe it’s not about getting heavenly flying hours or ticking off a list of spiritual activities. Could there be some better gauges? In Jesus’ day the people who’d score highest on spiritual practices were the Pharisees! First there for morning prayer- first to throw stones.

I’ve had so many people try to be travel agents for guilt trips for me over prayer, personal and corporate over the years. Here’s a good one, ‘You can tell how popular the Pastor is by how many come to Church on Sunday, but you can tell how popular JESUS is by how many come to the midweek prayer meeting.’

Well we don’t have a specific midweek prayer meeting. But I think Jesus is really popular around here, anyway. Maybe the measure of whether Ivy’s a praying church is not necessarily how many people can we get to this or that prayer meeting? Prayer meetings are great of course – but if that’s the measure, if you gauge spirituality by ‘spiritual’ activities, the Pharisees will win again.

This week hundreds of us have been galvanised as a church community to pray for little baby Cole – who died at birth and had to be resuscitated and even now struggles for life; and for dear Denise at the other end of her journey here on earth. Facebook and text messages and personal visits etc have carried these people and their situations to God.

And I think I’ve prayed everywhere, while I’ve queued, walked or shopped or drove or parked or prepared for sermons (it counts!). I’ve prayed when I woke up, went to bed and couldn’t sleep. I’ve prayed on the phone, in the church, on the loo, at the gym. How long for? I don’t know. I wasn’t counting it. But I think it all counts.

I don’t think I was storming heaven, interceding like the great men of old, being a watchman, having heaven touch earth – or any of the other ways we can subtly make it an esoteric technique. It was heart to heart not pen to paper (though if that helps you – crack on!).

I just talked with my friend – who happens to be King of the Universe, about everything that mattered to me, everywhere I was. And listened as best I could. One day I hope to learn how to pray properly – but until then I’ll keep on doing that.

(If you haven’t been too offended and would like to hear the rest of the talk I did here, you’ll find it on the website in the next couple of days for free download at http://www.ivymanchester.org/podcasts)

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Mar 23 2013
Bible, Christianity, Discipleship, Faith, Father God, Healing, Heaven, Jesus, Prayer, Religion, stress., Theology, Worship

‘Could You Not Watch One Hour?’ – Er… to be honest… no.

Matthew 26:36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. 38 Then he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.”39 And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.”40 Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? 41 Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial;[e] the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again he went away for the second time and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Years ago, when I was new to church – not long a Christian, our church put on a musical about Easter. It was pretty awful mostly. They had an old guy sing mournfully a hymn solo over and over… ‘Could you not watch one hour?’’

Over and over…

I’d invited someone to come with and I did pray a bit, mostly thanking God  that they hadn’t come…

But I also felt so bad… about prayer.

I felt so GUILTY about prayer! I was always so rubbish at it.  Anyone else?

Maybe it was working shifts in the Police? No!  It happened a lot at theological college too - maybe it was Taize chants or something, but I would regularly know just how Peter and the guys felt with those heavy eyes and often fall asleep in the prayer times in church. Head on pew in front. Trying to focus. Daydreaming away as we all just really prayed Lord for all the really lovely children Lord in the really lovely world Lord… on more than one occasion waking to see a pool of slobber below me…

Could you not watch one hour?? 

I was struggling to break through to five minutes.

I got a book called ‘The Hour That Changes The World,’ to help me pray an hour a day. Here’s how that says you get the breakthrough -

prayerwheel

Personal training for prayer! He shows you how to man up and push through an hour, splitting it up 5 minutes at a time.

‘GIMME 5!! GIMME ANOTHER 5!  Do me an Hour! Could you not do that?’

Well isn’t half an hour okay? No! What kind of a Christian are you?

‘Could you not watch, one hour with me..’ 

But I’m busy! I have all these other things going on. How do I get 25 hours in a day? I’m rubbish at praying!

So I got more and more books about prayer, all guaranteed to help me feel worse about my struggling prayer life.

Now some of you, this is your thing. You don’t understand why every Christian doesn’t find it easy to spend hours and hours in intercession.

You need to know – nobody likes you. You make us feel bad!! You make me feel guilty.

Then over the years as I’ve gone into church ministry somehow I picked up that preparing for sermons doesn’t count as praying, that’s work, not proper praying at all… (what?!)

So I had to do a lot extra… how?

Well get up an hour earlier!  All the mighty men of God do this… get up really early, apparently.

‘Could you not watch one hour…’ 

It felt fine, once or twice… but then I started to get grumpy. With my family, With myself. Even with God if I’m honest for bothering me at that time…

‘Could you not watch…’ NO!  I want to sleep Lord! I want to snuggle up..

(This is the first part of my notes for my talk tomorrow at Ivy MCR. I’ll put the rest up in the week). 

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Mar 06 2013
1 Comment
Christianity, Christmas, Faith, Healing, Holy Spirit, Manchester, Worship

CHOOSE to Change Your Mind!

I promised to put on here the fantastic jpg put together by one of our churches (Ivy Fallowfield) on how they want to live differently. This is a predominantly student area with a rep that’s hedonistic to say the least. Check out the challenge and invitation to live differently by this fantastic church community that meet every Sunday for worship in the 256 Bar on Wilmslow Rd. (And as I speak are going out every night in Lent to bless people on the streets into the early hours).

thisisivyfallowfield

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Feb 17 2013
Bible, Christianity, Church, Discipleship, Jesus, Prayer, stress., Theology, Worship

Opportunity To Rest (part 1) – from my talk at Ivy Kingsway this morning

In our Year of opportunity as a Church, I’ve called this talk, ‘Opportunity to rest,’ this is from the NT book of Hebrews, chapter 4. It says.. Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you fail to experience it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not add faith to hearing it. But we who believe do enter that rest.

(For) God rested on the seventh day from all His works… “Today, if you hear his voice,(are we listening) do not harden your hearts.” So… there remains a rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore make every effort – to enter that rest… 

(PRAY)

I read this week about a trip to the supermarket that ended with a high speed chase, a frantic call to the police, a border crossing, a ditch, and a man who’s lucky to be alive. Frank Lecerf left his home near the French city of Amiens and was making his weekly trip to the shops in his Renault Laguna. He was going at 60 mph when the car’s speedo jammed. He tried to brake, but instead of slowing, the car sped up – with each tap on the brake leading to more acceleration. It just got faster and faster till eventually, the car reached 125 mph – and then stuck there. For an hour.

Lecerf, called the police from his car – and they sent a convoy of police cars to help clear the traffic ahead of him and open the toll booths. “My life flashed before me,” Lecerf later said. “I just wanted to stop.”

Finally, thankfully, his car finally ran out of fuel and came to rest in a ditch. Look at the map. He’d driven from northern France, along the French coast up through Calais and Dunkirk, and eventually crossed into Belgium!

Wow. What a picture! Life’s going faster and faster – suddenly – it’s out of control. Even when you try to brake, it just speeds up. Anyone relate to that? It’s really possible for us to live so frantically that we’re living so far out in front of our own lives, and never giving the soul what it needs the most: rest.

On a scale of 1 to 10 – you’re a 10 for REST?

Anyone? – we’ve got 500 plus people here – anyone would say – you are a RESTED person, right now?

There was a Doctor called Meyer Friedman. He is famous because he developed the whole idea of the type-A personality. Someone like me. That kind of driven, anxious, easily irritated, fast-paced person. He was actually a cardiologist, and the idea came from the people he saw coming into his practice.

If you know the story in Genesis about Cain and Abel, they were brothers and Cain got jealous of Abel and Cain killed his brother. God described the cursed way he was going to live as a result, in Genesis 4:11-12. God said to Cain: Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for  God said:

…You will be ‘a fugitive and a restless wanderer on the earth.’ That’s a CURSED way to live. A restless soul. So many of people are restless. Scurrying around the planet, always busy, always searching – never finding. Interested in everything, but satisfied by nothing. Getting more and more information bombarding us but living no wiser. Inwardly the rev counter is running way high. Our RPM’s keep going faster. And we may try to find rest for our bodies, might even manage that sometimes – but how do people find rest for your soul? We’re anxious, tense, worried; our minds don’t shut down. Even when we try to lie down at night, our soul is a restless soul.

I read this week about this woman Susan Root who has had what they call a musical hallucination – a kind of tinnitus, she has had ‘how much is that doggie in the window’ in her head for three years! She says, “It’s like having a radio you just can’t turn off. It has not stopped. It’s especially bad at night, I have terrible trouble getting to sleep – it drives me to breaking-point at times.”

Pause for a moment – can I just ask you to be really, really honest. How many of you, I’m not saying you have that tune in your head (woof woof!) but you’re often wound up on the inside. Worrying, you find it difficult to calm down – in your soul? At night – your mind keeps whirring. Or you may be even be with the family or go on holiday, but you can’t shut it down, your mind and soul rarely, finds rest? How many of you would say that’s you? Be really, really honest, the restless soul. Because God doesn’t want us to live this way.

Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes really paint a good picture of this kind of restless life, Ecclesiastes 2:22-23, he asked this: “What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night, even at night his mind does not rest…”

And even though you’re sitting in the comfiest church seats in the world here at Ivy today, that doesn’t mean you get the kind of rest God designed you for.

We don’t want this to be an hour or so to ‘Do God,’ then move on the the next thing, a fast-food drive thru religious time where we carry our busyness and stop by and get what we need then move on – without any kind of deep, inner transformation. It doesn’t work like that – in case you’ve been wondering why it isn’t working like that for you here.

This time together isn’t meant to be your God part of life. It’s just part of you living like God wants you to live like all the time! God doesn’t want us to live like everyone else! Do you know that? He doesn’t want his people wandering restless on the earth like you’re under a curse. He doesn’t want all your days to be pain and labour and your mind spinning at night.

God’s people can live differently! If we do, it’ll be SO inviting and amazing to everyone else. They will want to know how. God has invited everyone here into a radically different kind of life than everyone else around you is living right now. Here it is. In Psalm 91:1 it says, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Everyone knows your body needs rest. But I’m talking today about a deeper need than even that – your soul needs to find rest as well. Or you’ll live like everyone else – as a restless soul on the earth.

So…where do we find rest for our souls? Only one place. You can keep on running and toiling, buying and trying a little while longer; some people come to the end of their lives (a lot faster than they ever planned to) before they find out… there’s just one place we find rest for our souls? Maybe that’s your REAL problem today? Looking for rest. But there’s no person, no experience, no holiday, no amount of money; NOTHING and NOBODY except God that can bring any human heart REST. In the essence of who I am.

When Jesus walked the earth, he looked around at the crowds, and said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Okay think about it, this is some of you; in your soul, but it comes out in your body… You started Lent by burning the Pancakes. Now you’re just stressed a lot of the time, you find it hard to show love to those you know you should love the most, because you’re tired but your soul is all revved up, you’re WEARY, tense;

The good news is, if that’s you – you qualify… “Come to me” Jesus says, “Come to me”, come to Jesus, come to the Son of God: WHO? Who can come? – Everyone! “…all- who are weary and burdened…” No matter what you’ve done… this promise is for you if you believe it and claim it…  Everybody, He said: “…I will give you rest.” For What? Not for your bodies, but you’ll find rest for your: “…souls.” Nothing else can do it. Your heart will be restless, till it finds its rest in Him.

John Ortberg speaks of a time when he recognised his life was getting more and more frantic, so he rang Dallas Willard – this wise older person who has written wonderful books, and said, “What do I need to do if I want to be spiritually healthy and alive and vital?”

There was a long pause, then he said, “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” 

Then there was another long pause, then I said, “Okay, what else – because I don’t have a lot of time and I want as much wisdom as I can get out of you in these few moments.” 

Then there was another long pause, and he said, “There is nothing else.” He said, “Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. There is a difference between being busy and being hurried. Jesus was often busy, but he was never hurried. To be hurried is a disease of the soul. To be hurried means that I’m internally so preoccupied with my worries and my own little agenda that I become unable to live in the presence of my Heavenly Father who loves me, and unable to be fully present with, listen, and love and marvel at another person. Hurry will keep you from actually experiencing God’s goodness and care for you from one moment to the next.“

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Feb 14 2013
Atheism, Bible, Christianity, Discipleship, Father God, Funerals, Healing, Heaven, Jesus, Prayer, Religion, Worship

What To Say At A Funeral?

ImageI have been invited by my friend J.John to contribute to a few books, one of the new ones will be a collection of funeral talks. I include my submission below. I have done so many hundreds of funerals but it’s always a great privilege. I offer the below to anyone who finds themselves in the position of doing a eulogy but more particularly Ministers of Religion leading services. Names and details etc have been changed.
Notes –  I am delighted to be asked to provide a talk in this collection. I believe that the opportunity to present the love, truth and hope of Christ at funerals is so great, and so often so greatly missed. Jesus must weep again at the graves of his friends as horror stories abound of Vicars forgetting the deceased person’s name etc. Not good enough! To be asked to speak at a funeral is one of the greatest privileges of ministry or indeed life. It deserves our prayerful hard work, full attention and every skill of pastoral ministry we can muster.  My old Vicar the late Alan Buckley told me to ALWAYS start by saying ‘I am very sorry,’ sincerely, at the beginning of the address – to the family. I have never forgotten to do so and it has always been well received. People don’t care what you know until they know you care.  

These notes are from the funeral some years back of a well known local pub landlady and animal lover. I had spent some time before visiting her in the hospice and preparing her for death which came as a welcome release for someone with a deep, personal faith. I always get details of the person’s biography and intersperse something of their life story and interests within the talk. There was more of that in the original talk. It makes the event less preachy and more personal.

 

I always conclude by praying for comfort for CLOSE family (and friends if appropriate) BY NAME.

 

I also as you will see at the end pray for the person by inviting everyone present to remember them ‘as you knew her..’ and painting a little word picture. I usually ask the family beforehand, ‘If you were only allowed single words not sentences, what words would you use to describe the type of person she was?’

 

I also ask, ‘If you were to picture her at her happiest, what would she be doing?’ I make notes on all this and that forms much of the content of my prayer. In doing so I invite everyone to remember with thanks the person in prayer and in some way that memory brings the person to life again…

 

 

 

 
Once again I’d like to say to Jim and the boys how sorry I was to hear that Mrs. __________ had died. It was such a privilege to get to know her, thank you for the invitation to lead the service today.I doubt that there’s a better known passage of Scripture than the 23rd Psalm. I read it to Ruth as I prayed with her and it’s kept coming to me as I’ve talked with Jim in recent weeks too. I have read this passage so many times at so many funeral services I have given, because after the death of a loved one, people need to be reminded that God walks beside you.God knew Ruth before she was born, walked with her since she was born in ____ , and he still does now.She was a remarkable lady. Brought up a farmer’s daughter with her younger sister Ann in a small village in Cambridgeshire, encouraged to know her bible and trust God from her early childhood she said yes to Jesus’ love at the age of 6 and was baptised in a bath at 10.Now I suppose the words of the 23rd Psalm have offered more comfort, calmed more fears, and encouraged more hearts than any other poem ever written, and that’s what it is: A poem written by King David, from the perspective of a sheep. I don’t know what kind of farm it was Ruth grew up on but I can’t imagine a farm without sheep. And I always picture a sheep in this Psalm as enjoying a pretty peaceful and contented life – because the sheep has the ultimate shepherd watching.King David wrote this Psalm to convince us that God has our best interest in mind- God wants to give us a fulfilling, hope-filled life, and that even extends beyond the grave. David had learned to care for people by first learning to care for animals, something you all know was true of Ruth hey?

David understood from the time he served out in the Judean fields how vital a shepherd was to the well being of the sheep.

I’m a city boy, though I’ve lived and worked in various rural settings.

I’m no sheep expert, but I’ve stayed awake counting them enough, and I do know they’re not the smartest animals in the barn and they smell pretty bad. That’s about the limit of my knowledge of sheep. But David knows his stuff when he talks about being a shepherd. This is his old stomping ground, literally. He knows what it’s like. To him, all the sheep were individuals, they all had names- he cared for each one.

Year ago as part of an outreach I’d been invited to speak at I had the opportunity to stay on a farm. A real, working farm. I’d never been that close to nature and this was something of an adventure. As I went to bed I asked the farmer to wake me up in the morning. A few minutes later it seemed I heard a knock at the door. The day on the farm starts early! We were off to go and look after the animals. I walked ahead of him to a field, and saw it was full of sheep. I didn’t know what to say to them. I nodded a ‘Good morning,’ and they all ran away!

I should have known – in The New Testament, the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, said Sheep don’t follow a stranger’s voice but flee from him. Suddenly the farmer turned up, made some strange farmer noise, and all the sheep came running to him- or more precisely to the feed in his buckets.

Where do you look for comfort – on a day like today? People look for comfort in the bottom of a bottle, or in buying something new, but there’s not much comfort there. There’s some comfort from friends who love you. And there’s great comfort in the voice of the Good Shepherd.

I wonder what your favourite line is from that well known psalm? Look what it tells us -

Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.

The Hebrew word here literally means that nothing will be lacking. Where? He goes on to say: “He makes me lie down in green pastures.” In other words, God provides a place of rest for us. // For you, me, Ruth. To get sheep to rest, they must be free from fear and sickness, there must be no worry among them, they must not be aggravated by the weather conditions, and they can’t be hungry. They have to learn to trust the shepherd for all these things. Then they can lie down, because they know the shepherd.

Verse 2: “He leads me beside quiet waters.”  God is not behind us shouting ‘go on’! He goes ahead of us bidding, inviting, “Come!” He is in front, clearing the path for us, making the way straight and safe. On the night before his death, Jesus reassured his friends, ‘Don’t be worried or afraid – I am going to prepare a place for you, so that you may be where I am.”

I love verse three: “He restores my soul.” I’ve had so many people tell me time and again (whether they would describe themselves as believers or not) that they came into this church just feeling down, sad, exhausted, but something happens in this place and they walked out like a different person with a different attitude. What happened? The Good Shepherd restored your soul. With hope. He will restore your soul today if you ask him to. He is the good shepherd.

He directs; because sheep go astray. They’re needy, defenseless, they get nervous. They are easily led. Sheep on their own are soon lost. That’s why we have the picture in the New Testament of the good shepherd leaving the ninety-nine to go and get the one.

That time I was on the farm, somehow the farmer was counting all the sheep. They just looked like a dirty cloud of hooves and teeth to me. But he said, ‘One’s missing!’ Then he marched off to the far end of the field, and looking far into the distance, I saw that missing sheep too. The farmer made that funny noise again – and the sheep set off full speed toward him, and food, and safety.

Maybe that’s why there are so many comparisons to people and sheep in the Bible. Maybe that’s why God is like a Shepherd. We can all lose our way, especially when times are hard- when we need some divine intervention from the Good Shepherd to get back on track.

Now in the first three verses of Psalm 23, God is referred to as He, but in the next three verses the focus shifts his thoughts – he calls God You. At first we were you’re seeing God from a distance, but now He’s up close and personal. Why do you think that it?

Because of where he’s going; Psalm 23:4; “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

“The valley of the shadow of death” is an actual location in Palestine. A narrow pass through a mountain range. It’s four-and-a-half miles long with sidewalls over 1000 feet high in places, while it’s only ten or twelve feet wide at the bottom. Travelling through that valley is dangerous and scary. But if you stick close to the shepherd, you have nothing to fear. There is one who will protect you, who’ll walk beside you through that temporary darkness, and bring you out into the light.

Shadows can be frightening, especially the one cast by Death. Without a shepherd we’d be entirely fearful here. But it’s just a shadow. We can struggle with other enemies like pain, suffering, disease, and injury. But we can’t make it through this valley without the Shepherd leading us.

You all know Ruth was an overcomer- she achieved amazing things in this life that will echo in eternity and in a moment we’re going to remember them and her. But no amount of courage, strength, imagination, perseverance – can finally overcome death. We can’t do that ourselves!

Here’s the hope I offer you all today. Christians believe there is one person who can walk with us through death’s dark valley and bring us safely to the other side. It’s not wishful thinking, it’s historical fact that  Jesus, our Good Shepherd, experienced the cruellest death but then conquered the grave. He’s been there! And you can trust him when He says, “I’ll take you through…”

Time and again I have been at the bedside of someone who knows they haven’t got long ahead of them in this life, as I was with Ruth in the morning of her last day here. People ask me – ‘What do you say?’

Well what would you say? What do you think happens when you die? Where is your hope? Is it just for this life?

I try to remind the person… The Lord is Your Shepherd.

Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death… David writes; I will fear no evil, (WHY?) for you are – — with me.

Who you are with makes all the difference. Thank you to all the friends here today to support the family – I know they’d want me to say it makes all the difference. We need each other. In the same way, sheep need the companionship of a shepherd. The Good Shepherd who provides for our needs, protects us through the shadow of death, and finally he promises to reward us.

Psalm 23:5b, 6: “You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

“My cup overflows.” What a lovely picture of hospitality! Bedouin shepherds have an ancient tradition that when travellers are coming through they always let the visitors stay in their house. When the travellers want something to drink, they fill their cup up to the top. But after they have worn out their welcome and stayed longer than they should, the next day, their cup will be only half filled. It’s a nice way of saying, ‘Time Gentlemen Please!’

That helps me understand what the writer of this Psalm is saying. Ruth would know it too from her years of hospitality at the Ox and Plough. “My cup overflows.” The image is that when you come to the table of the Lord, just come as you are today when we pray in a minute – he welcomes you in, and says, “Stay. Stay as long as you want.”

He keeps filling the cup full. I don’t have to rush away and he has nothing and nobody he would rather be with. The cup’s not just full, it’s overflowing.

“Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

As we commit Ruth now to that person, in that place he has prepared -

Let’s pray… (here’s how I’d start to pray)

Ruth has been described by those who knew her best as a kind, funny, thoughtful lady who always had a word of encouragement and treated people like they were welcome guests, not just customers.

Maybe you’ll picture her as you pray, standing ready to greet you at the pub, or walking her dogs around the village, or as she was at their Golden wedding celebration surrounded by her kids and grandkids…

However you remember her – why don’t you offer that picture to the Lord now, the Good Shepherd…
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Feb 09 2013
Bible, Discipleship, Faith, Jesus, leadership, philosophy, politics, Religion, Theology, wisdom, Work, Worship

James White – The Christian Mind (iDisciple conference WCAUK)

James Emery White – The Christian Mind

What is the modern (non Christian) mind?

1. MULTI-TRUTH

Pluralism. God’s like a mountain, all the religions are paths up the same mountain, and the names of God are all the same summit. Go to the multiplex, or home to Netflix, all those choices. This is NEW! Peter Berger – sociologist said Religion used to provide a sacred canopy over all of culture. Now that’s replaced by millions of umbrellas to stand under.

With the increase of options comes lots of choices of truths, all equally valid.

But if everything is true – nothing is true.

‘It’s raining.’ Either it is or isn’t. There’s a match with reality.

These days comparative religion teaches what is held in common with all religions. But you can’t be a Buddhist Christian. Ask the Dalai Lama! Their truth claims are opposite. It’s two different mountains. Same with Islam etc.

So, either you say ; someone’s right

or someone’s wrong

But you can’t say they are ALL right. That’s intellectually dishonest.

  1. TRUTHINESS

Facts don’t matter. How you feel matters. You can create truth for yourself, despite the facts. If I can convince a majority of others that’s true, it is. (Follow link for more)

2. WIKIALITY

We create our own reality, and that becomes fact for us all. There is no truth outside of what the majority want it to be. If we say 2 + 2 = 5 for us, then it does.(Follow link for more/source)

3. MISTAKERS

Nobody is a sinner. nobody sins. Sociology and psychology has pushed sin out. We are just mistakers. Or in fact there’s something good about why we did it. ‘I’m sorry you got offended…’ Nothing is wrong, wicked or evil – so..

4. MORAL RELATIVISM

Anything goes. If it makes you happy, morality is a personal choice and opinion. If you’re not hurting anyone – except judgmental people of course. They are the only wrong ones. Look at Christian Smith’s work on this.

Why contrast this mind with the Christian mind?

Well this is a little disingenious. The fact is – the modern mind has BECOME the Christian mind! We are UNDISCIPLED here!

When Jesus restated the Shema (when quoting it verbatim as a Rabbi was essential) he ADDED in loving God ‘with your MIND…’

Paul was clear how change happens. Romans 12. RENEW the mind. Continually don’t let the world adjust you so much you fit into it without thinking. We are mirroring it, not challenging. This is diabolical.

Christians have to retain a prophetic voice. that has to come from a prophetic MIND.

Prov 23:7 As a man thinks in his heart – so is he.

Harry Blamires, ‘There is no longer a Christian mind.’

We have to start thinking about the big issues of our day in the light of our faith. Not having a compartmentalised mind. Where over here you have your work life, here’s your daily reading, here’s a tweet, here’s a show… and your thinking about one doesn’t link to the other things.

So you can be a Christian, but not let that reflect that in how you think about science. About films you see, social media. Do you integrate these things in terms of a Christian worldview?

Eg., where did we come from?

There are actually very few answers.

By chance (Naturalism)

We don’t exist (Hindu)

We were created

If we believe the latter, then there is meaning, and someone outside of us to whom we are accountable and from whom we derive value. Look at how MLK challenged unjust laws in his letter from a Birmingham Jail. It was based on the value of humanity based on a law above human laws.

John Stott said our battle is ‘a battle of ideas.’

We take captive every THOUGHT to make it obedient to Christ.

OR we think like everyone else.

Thomas Cahill – ‘How the Irish saved civilisation.’ As the Roman empire fell to barbarism, the Irish took up the Labour of copying western literature. This was then taken back to Europe and they saved it! Without this Christian mind, they would also have lost the ability to think. By the way, Islam would have taken over Europe then too.

There are few Christian warriors of the mind these days. Most retreat into personal piety or good works. We follow someone who died at 33. Don’t live a life that doesn’t offend people, if we don’t live as if we don’t care if we’ll die, we will be impotent.

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