Random acts of Kindness

www.r-a-k.org.uk

This is a short blog entry describing something which has been on my heart for a long time now as a Christian, namely what is commonly referred to as "random acts of kindness". It is clear from any quick web search that there are a number of people involved in this, I was quite surprised when I looked and this is great. For a long time now I have felt led to just do something off my own back and get out and show kindness to people who are not expecting it.

I don't want to spend the next 30 odd years of my life just feeling comfortable and content going to Church once a week on a Sunday with little interest or contact with the world out there. I know from my own experience too that unless I am doing something or at least trying to go out and do something different then my own christian life can become stale.

It seems God has put this on my heart and really I don't know where it is going to lead, but together with my small group from Hope Church Ipswich (www.hopechurchipswich.org.uk), we are going to step out and give it go. The initial idea is to go out a give out free umbrellas on a high street one Saturday morning, we are not out to bible-bash or preach to them, if a conversation starts as to "why?" then great. We have a website domain that will be printed on the umbrella's and the idea is that the recipients might take a look at that but also that as they walk around doing their shopping others might see it and go home a look it up themselves. On the website there will be some basic information about who we are and why were doing it and also a few links, one to a John Piper YouTube link to "the gospel in 6 minutes" and we hope to add to the website as we move forward with the project.

Last Christmas I was in a shop and a retired lady about to pay in front of me had forgotten her purse, she was only buying some knitting needle or something for about 3 quid and I just said I'll pay for that. She was really shocked for a couple of seconds but then really grateful, in fact after she had gone the shopkeeper said "go on, I'll pay half.." and looking back on that tiny little event it was also clear that others can also get involved if you do something first. So with this in mind we hope that others will join with us from whatever church background to go out and show kindness to others without hindrance or cost. It's early days but I hope that it can in some very small way bring blessing and glory to God on this earth.

Lack of blogging

I have to admit that there has been a distinct lack of blogging of late, it's been a busy time with a lot going on together with the arrival of a new baby girl who is one next month. I do want to start the blog moving along again so please check it out from time to time if you feel so inclined!

Together at East of England (Part 2)

The sermons from all the main sessions have been made available online for free, I have downloaded them and will upload them to Youtube (with a link from this blog) when I get a minute as they will likely disappear at some point in the future for their current location.

The Saturday evening meeting was awesome, Terry Virgo continued from 1 Kings 17 and Elijah. Call to trust God. Faith. Obedience. Elijah modelled a life very much like Abraham. God says, follow me and I will make you live better, part of a culture that believes what God is saying. Pharisee's were moral but didn't believe in Jesus. God is the thing that makes sense of your life. Model of Faith. Leaves the choices to God; matter of faith & obedience. Elijah obedience based on humility.

Elijah; Go hide yourself (first), Go show yourself (later). Part of Terry's preach which I found really encouraging. Don't despise the secret seasons, the training seasons. Elijah's Faith; first go the brook.. Seasons of foundation. Dealing with things. Be Patient. Don't faint. Sometimes we try to take the wheel back ourselves. Leave choices to God. "I've commanded the ravens to feed you there..". But we will get there. When Elijah got there something supernatural. Don't allow anxious thoughts to project into where grace has not arrived yet. Get to the place where revelation is. God doesn't speak to me ? Try the Bible first. i.e .."the machine doesn't work !... have you tried plugging it in ?.." Walk by faith don't worry about the exit strategy.

The sermon was followed by a call to respond, in faith and for more faith, when many went forward for prayer and ministry, myself included. The brother who prayed with me and laid hands was surprising as it turned out to be Peter, the father of Owain(see blog entry on Owain's Journey) and I hope were both blessed by this. It was definitely in my mind a God moment and no mere chance. I was so pleased to be able to just encourage him also, having been through some very difficult times with Owain's cancer treatments over the last year. The whole family was at the conference and I did meet Owain on the Monday morning tucking into his bacon for breakfast, I didn't really know what to say, but just felt I wanted to say God bless you guys. The Saturday evening worship was really great, I felt the Lord's manifest presence in the room, we were sitting toward the back this time and from a little way behind us a sister opened up with a Tongue which was followed by an interpretation from Julian Adams that really took my breath away in it's content. I know for sure I was not the only one with tears in my eyes as we stood in awe of a God who loves so much to hear our voices and to receive our responses to his great Love, it really was an amazing session.

Together at East of England 2009

Together at East of England Conference 2009.

Just back from this weekend conference bringing together churches from Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambs in the East of England. The churches represented are mainly from the New Frontiers International (NFI) grouping of churches with some representation from other independent churches in the region. Having gone with the family (toddler of 3 years+ and 5 month old baby) we felt pretty tired at the end and I know for sure we were not the only ones, as is often the case on these types of weekend events, when so much gets packed into the programme.

I was very much looking forward to hearing Terry Virgo preach for the first time in the flesh having listened to many of his sermons online and read two of his books. He certainly did not disappoint with his series looking at Elijah and he was well preceded by a croaky Mike Betts who preached on a theme of God Moments.

Here are some blog entries and the key points from Terry Virgo’s sermons and the meetings themselves.

Friday 23rd Oct.

Arrived a little bit early and managed to get the key to the chalet which was a bonus. It always amazes me how much stuff you have to bring with children, and babies of course; bottles, sterilizer, milk, nappies etc. Booked in and collected the information for the Children’s clubs that were being run, we had one of ours booked into ‘Sparkers’ and ‘Tiddlywinks’. We then went for tea and avoided too much of the waiting that was to become a theme for the weekend.

A great feature of this weekend, like last years, was the radio station being run by guys from some of the churches represented, this gave the local population of Lowestoft coverage of the event and 24 hour Christian music and content. It was also a platform for interviews to take place that there would not have been space for in the meetings themselves and also from a practical point of view allowed those with children in bed and in the chalets coverage of the evening meeting.

There was as far as I understand 800-900 people booked in, down a little on the 1200 odd last year which perhaps is not that surprising given the recession and price increases. I did wonder whether going for an online booking system may have put some people off but there is no way of telling. It still felt like a large gathering and was certainly as vibrant as last years and was well organised in the main meetings. One of the features toward the beginning of the meetings was a five minute slot called ‘on the sofa’ with Maurice Nightingale (Aylsham Community Church) when he interviewed a number of overseas and UK church plants. This was a very worthwhile thing to do and as Mike Betts commented on in the final session it is far better to see and hear from these people in the flesh as opposed to a photo on a notice board with a piece of red cotton wool pointing to a map. Some of the interviews over the course of the weekend were with Kosciól Laski (Grace Church) Gdansk Poland, Antakya (Antioch) Turkey, Mosaic Christian Church Lethbridge Canada – this interview was shown as a live link to Canada. One of the UK church plants covered was the Thetford Church Plant which was of particular interest to me as Nigel Worth (and Glenda) was an elder of a church near Braintree called at that time Notley Baptist Fellowship that I used to attend many years ago. Nigel and Glenda are moving from Kings Community Church in Braintree (NFI) after 22 years living and raising their family in Braintree to Thetford to start up this Church Plant (More info here: http://www.thetfordchurchplant.com/welcome.html)

Saturday 24th October.

Up for breakfast, not the best nights sleep in the world but anyway. Had breakfast, got the Children booked into their groups before the main meeting. Sue Latham and all the team did a fantastic job all weekend with ‘Sparklers’, all very well organised and our little un’ seemed to really enjoy it. They came out with some really great crafts that they had made and I thought to myself this is better than he produces in Nursery at home.

Morning Meeting, main speaker Terry Virgo.

Recalled a recent visit to Zimbabwe and a meeting bringing many pastors together, building at foundation of a broken country (Mugabe etc..). Mentioned a Telegraph article talking about 1,000 new churches in the UK in the last seven years, against the background of previous Church decline.

Reading 1 Kings 17 v 1-up

Elijah a man just like us, a prophet of God, bible silent on his background, spoke with authority.
Bible prophets – not students of history, but people who got revelation from heaven, Gods’ mouthpiece. Tended not to speak to all the nations. Israel, a chosen nation, a special treasure, God’s affection for Israel. Jealousy in God, is borne out of Love, total love. Not to be associated with negative aspects (of Jealousy, i.e. not jealousy as many would understand it). For a season Israel seemed to understand that (e.g. under David).

BUT… in 58 years, 7 kings come and go, each getting worse, by the time Elijah arrived it was illegal to worship YAHWEH, prophets at this point hiding in caves. Israel starting to follow Baal. God Angry with them and they lost their way. Israel a picture of the human race. “Futile in their speculations…” (Romans 1 v 21 “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened”). Terry then quoted Dawkins who claims “we are just dancing to our DNA” along the same theme.

It was interesting to be reminded about the time frame involved here in terms of Solomon’s reign and approx 58 years later, worship was illegal. Not a dissimilar period in years from the Coronation of our Queen (when she read from the Bible amongst other things as the head of the Church of England and our Monarch). What will this country be like in another 58 years? Elijah a Post Christian prophet. We live in such a time. We need to Plant churches, effect our culture. Devote our skills / gifts to the Lord. What is Britishness ? Fish and chips ? Almost not allowed to mention God as it might be deemed divisive.

Elijah – confronted people with reality. Reminded them of their heritage. Almost from another culture. Be people who come standing before the Lord. Ezekiel “fell on my face” (meeting God), Joshua “fell on my face”, John (Revelation) “fell at this feet”, Paul (Acts) falls to the ground, met with “Paul, Arise, Stand on your Feet”. Elijah, stood against the culture. Stand before God.

That’s a quick summary from some scribbling I managed. The meeting was terrific the worship was fresh and lively with a real intention to get straight into things. I did not make notes of other contributions from the floor but there were a number interspersed throughout and a memorable one tomorrow.

To be continued. (Part 2)

East of England Conference

Together at East of England - Pakefield

Very much looking forward to the conference this weekend, having attended the first conference last year, it will be interesting to see what has happened in the last 12 months in terms of Church plants and outreach here and abroad.

There was hardly any blogging on the Conference last year, so I am going to try and do some on my return next week. I doubt I will get chance to blog live what with a 3 year old and 5 month old baby to manage. It will be great to hear Terry Virgo preach for the first time having heard many of his talks online and having read a couple of his books.

The worship was brilliant last year, well organised and with 1200 people going for it and responding to God, it was pretty inspiring. They are also doing the conference radio again, which worked well last year and was a pretty neat idea both for engaging the local population and also those in the chalets who were not in the conference centre (eg evening's looking after children). I wonder if the first meal will be gammon and chips again...and chips!

Baptism

I felt privileged last Sunday to be able to witness my wife’s baptism together with five other people also being ‘dunked’ at Orwell Church Ipswich. It is a joy to witness any Baptism but I wondered how many husbands have witnessed their wives Baptisms, as often people would be baptised earlier in life maybe in their early teens or younger in some cases. Not all cases of course, there are plenty of stories of childhood sweethearts who grew up in the same church and were baptised in the same church, or the older couple who both got saved and then go on to get baptised together. For me though it felt a privilege that I was able to witness Her Baptism even though my Wife could not witness mine all those years ago and also that our Son who is three and half was also there for Mummy’s Baptism too (probably even less children who have witnessed a Parents Baptism)

It was great to see both young and old being baptised and I am sure it is also a great encouragement to any local church when a believer takes that step of obedience and follows in the footsteps of our Lord. It is fantastic to see and hear of many other baptisms taking place of late such as Kings Gate Church, Bury St Edmunds “During the months of July and August we had the privilege of baptising 19 people – young and old - (including some Latvians youth who were with us for a week over the Summer) all of whom have, in recent weeks (at the New Day event in the Norwich showground) or recent months (through the on-going work of the local church), have responded to the good news of Jesus. And this is not something that is exclusively happening at Kingsgate church – but at least two other churches in the area have had similar experiences (The Christians Resource Centre and Christchurch Morton Hall). “ Norman Blows, lead elder Kings Gate.

Baptisms are great, they are that next step for many in their early Christian lives and for others are that step of obedience which never took place or which they feel needs to be done (even though they may have been Christians a number of years, perhaps been christened and/or confirmed). For all, it is a time of great joy as we share in the hope and knowledge that death and sin has been defeated and as we are reminded back to our own baptisms years ago. It is an opportunity for people to leave a lot of stuff in the water and Baptisms can also prove useful for those that really want to say from now on I want to walk closer with the Lord.

For many churches the practicalities of Baptisms may sometimes prove a challenge. At Orwell it consists of a very large round pool with steps and I sat wondering the mess this would make if it did leak – a very large volume of water on a second floor, not good, but thankfully no leaks! I know of New Wine Church in Sheringham that did some of their baptisms in the summer in the North Sea (what an outreach tool too) and others in a children’s paddling pool - remember to bend your legs!!).

Where there are such practicalities to consider then there is often the necessary delay in doing baptisms with often a number of people waiting to all get baptised at the same time. But delay in the absence of such practical restraints to my mind is not entirely helpful either for the local church and most importantly the individual. The Bible seems pretty clear to me that there need not be delay, we see in the New Testament many being baptised “that Day” e.g. the 3,000 believers we read of in Acts. It is a great shame that there are many churches that have the baptistery in the floor that has not be used for years or seem reluctant to open it up, perhaps requiring attendance of baptism classes or having to read this or that book first. Yes of course some explanation of what baptism represents is certainly something that should be done and can be done in various ways. It would be a shame however, if practices actually get in the way of someone with a real desire and enthusiasm to take this step only for them to be told to have a think about it and to jump through a few hoops first, often a source of great discouragement for all concerned and for some who may decide they no longer want to do it. Let’s no put stumbling blocks in the way of new Christians or any Believer for that matter who want to follow in the footsteps of our Lord. The message was a simple one 'Believe and be baptised'.

Robbing the piggybank

" The number of people out of work in the UK has risen again, taking the jobless rate to 7.9%, official figures show. The number of people unemployed increased by 210,000 to 2.47 million in the three months to July, according to the Office for National Statistics.Claims for unemployment benefit in August grew by 24,400 from July to 1.61m, the highest since May 1997."

The news today brings home how the current economic climate is really beginning to effect large parts of the population in this country and from all different walks of life. I think most people now either know someone who have lost their job or know somebody who is searching for new employment.

People with families and responsibilities struggling to pay the bills and in the developed west we have all been guility to some degree of taking things for granted. We also operate within a society which is very materalistic and we are all tied-in to an environment that means most of us have to earn X amount, to support X amount of mortgage, or have to earn X amount to support mortagage applications. House prices are still high comparative to earnings and whilst many of us might like to explore an alternative lifestyle it is very much limited to having to find the money each month to put a roof over our heads.

This story here made me think http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8257198.stm

"It's so hard to go down from earning to having nothing. I didn't think I'd lose my job, it's all such a bad dream," he says, standing in his kitchen in a comfortable suburb of Haverhill in Suffolk. Peter is literally counting out the pennies on the kitchen counter. The coins are from his kids' piggy banks and cups of loose change around the house. The money, he says, will help feed the electricity meter or pay for his petrol. Six weeks earlier, he had been earning £19 an hour.
"This is what it's come down to, pinching it out of my daughter's tin to put it all together. It's ridiculous that the cash flow has just gone."

How many of us if we are honest borrow the odd pound coin from the children's piggy bank - I admit I have and thinking that any of us could be forced into doing that to survive is a pretty uncomfortable thought. It was pleasing though to hear in this story how a Christian Charity is helping people like this and I was quite impressed with what the the Trussell Trust are doing. Here is their website http://www.trusselltrust.org/content/home/home.htm

I know there are other similar Charities doing this type of work and good for all of them, there is much that can be done as Christians to show love and compassion on others, some of us struggle to find an outlet to do this even though we would like to. Perhaps contributing some food stuffs to such a cause is a small way of helping. I for one will be contacting the new one being set up in Colchester - maybe there is one near you?

Stuart Townend - The King of Love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWahRoxiMV8