Friday 28 August 2009

Wake up call

Now to that Irish preacher story.

This preacher apparently is known for his preaching props that make an impact.

Well, on this occasion he put a bed on the platform and got into it. When everyone arrived at church they were understandably bemused at what was going on. He then jumped out of bed, and began to preach about the church being asleep!

Thursday 27 August 2009

Thursday Thoughts

I wondered what you'd make of this clip from a David Wilkerson sermon. A couple of people have sent it to me. Love to hear your thoughts.

Wednesday 26 August 2009

A voice says "Yawp" And I said "What shall I yawp?" Isaiah 40v6 (JGV)

I spent some time yesterday talking to a young preacher. We discussed various aspects of the art. One of the elements that I think makes for great preaching is when the preacher finds his own voice. That is key. I used the above to illustrate my point.
It's a great clip and in many ways it illustrates how the preacher begins to find his own voice and also the preacher's task of unlocking what God has put in other people.

Tuesday 25 August 2009

A travelling angel?

Something a bit unusual happened today. I was sitting at my desk busy changing the world by e-mail when I saw a guy come up to the front door of the church. I opened the door and asked if I could help.

He wanted to know if the church was a Pentecostal church. Then he asked if all Pentecostal churches were the same. When I said that there were some differences. He asked why there were differences. I thought it was too complicated to talk about church government, initial evidence, etc., so I said that there were often different Pentecostal churches because people are human beings and they sometimes fall out with each other.

I was amazed at his response. He said that he had never heard anyone admit that before!

I invited him into the church office and it turned out he was a traveller from Ireland. It so happened that he knew of William Lee and had heard him preach and he told me some fantastic stories of what God is doing amongst the travelling community. Unfortunately, he himself had lost his way a bit.

After a few minutes his brother called him on his mobile and he was gone. What a great interruption to a Tuesday afternoon. (I'll tell you a great story he told me about a preacher in Ireland another day)

Saturday 22 August 2009

Beating our ploughshares into golf clubs

Opposite the primary school I attended lay a huge estate owned by the government. It was enclosed by a stone wall and out of bounds to everyone, but those who worked there or did business there.

It was used for commercial farming and agricultural experiments. No doubt the aim was to develop approaches to farming that increased yields and efficiency. In other words, it was all about food production.

Now it is mainly devoted to leisure and tourism, and the farming element is greatly reduced. Some of the land has even been turned into a golf course. We had a walk around the lake and our children played in the park.

I wonder what that says about us as a society? Does it say anything? Can I really conclude that we are now more concerned with leisure than we are with food production? I wonder how someone from the developing world would interpret this. Perhaps I just need to be a bit less serious and enjoy an angst free holiday.

Thursday 20 August 2009

Two great churches. One great cause.

Most of my readers will know by now that my family and I are moving from Crawley to Glasgow in the autumn.

The last few weeks have been taken up with discussion, prayer and planning the move northwards.

We are very excited about the door that God has opened for us in Glasgow and have felt very welcomed by the church and its leaders. It's an incredible church with a great heritage stretching back to the early days of the Pentecostal movement.

It wasn't an easy decision to leave Crawley. Our lives have been so enriched by the people of Elim Church Crawley. We have had eleven and a half wonderful years serving this church and seeing God do so many new and exciting things. We'll never forget the Crawley years and hope that our friendships forged there will continue throughout our lives. Thanks to all you Crawley guys who have been so supportive of our decision.

So it's all change. New location, but same objectives: to reach people with the Good News and help them to become wholehearted followers of Jesus.

Glasgow Elim Church. Elim Church Crawley. Two great churches. One great cause.

Daily Offerings

Thought I'd post a few holiday reflections while I have the chance.

I was sitting in Starbucks the other day - "What's new?" you might be asking - when one of their promotions caught my eye: "Daily Offerings: Strawberries and Creme". Initially it was the strawberries and creme (I think that is the same as "cream" but the French spelling creates a more exotic impression) that captured my imagination. However, the vision of this particular daily offering was interrupted by the thought that a daily offering had some kind of biblical resonance.

And indeed it has. Numbers 29.6 talks about a daily burnt offering (NIV and KJV). Paul calls us to live sacrificially for Christ in Romans 12.2 in language that echoes that applied to burnt offerings:

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship."

And here's the rub. We're trying to live sacrificially for Christ and teach others to do so in a culture that uses the language of sacrifice to flog strawberries and cream - sorry creme!

I'm not sure Starbucks set out to use a biblical allusion to promote their product. I can't imagine that they did. Though somehow, more broadly, deliberately or otherwise the value of sacrifice has been displaced in Western culture by the sale of indulgence.

ps. came across a Bible study site I hadn't seen before while checking my scriptures. Check it out here