They think they are God's gift...

I BEGIN this long overdue blog post by explaining my unique position for those from all over, who don’t know me personally. Apparently there are people in America and Australia reading this blog now, as well as the Malaysian faithful. Thanks, by the way, it’s awesome that you take the time.

When it comes to roles in church I have held the title and responsibility of being a senior leader in the church my husband and I planted.

Through a God-ordained set of circumstances we gave away that role and position to come under the authority of two people who we consider to be world-class leaders and pastors. This brought with it a new privilege of being a ‘campus pastor’. We still lead, but under the authority of our senior pastors.

I also ‘do the work of an evangelist’ for a Christian charity, and both my husband and I though two years apart in age and reared hundreds of miles away from each other, both received a public and indisputable call to ministry age 13.

Ministry, and all that goes with it, is in my blood.

But just like other things that at times infiltrate your bloodstream, ministry, unless you’ve been there, and walked the path, and carried the weight, and experienced the joy, and celebrated the highs, and cried in the lows, is something many people don’t ‘get’. And why would you?

While we aren’t all called to walk in the same shoes, or tread the same path as those who God has appointed to be our leaders, I believe whole-heartedly that we have a responsibility to take the time to understand what that ‘looks like’ for them.

After all, how can I pray for my leaders (Heb 13:18) if I haven’t taken the time to gain the slightest bit of insight into who they are and what their lives look like?

So if it’s okay with you I want to share some insights I’ve picked up over the years.

Why?

Because Jesus himself gave you your leaders (Eph 4:11) as a gift to the church.

That’s right, they don’t just think they’re God’s gift, they ARE God’s gift, and as such I don’t believe we have any right to question that, but instead to value the gift, to treasure it, to make sure it’s a well-looked after gift.

It will also be highly unlikely that your senior leader can ‘raise you up for works of service’ (also Eph 4:11) if you have heart issues with your leader. I’m not saying you do have issues… but just in case you know someone who does…

Here we go. It’s not bullet-pointed and it doesn’t have quirky headings. I just felt God prompt me to write this.

Being a pastor is the greatest of joys and the heaviest of burdens.

It says in 1 Peter 5:2 (The Message (MSG)

5 ^1-3 I have a special concern for you church leaders. I know what it’s like to be a leader, in on Christ’s sufferings as well as the coming glory. Here’s my concern: that you care for God’s flock with all the diligence of a shepherd. Not because you have to, but because you want to please God. Not calculating what you can get out of it, but acting spontaneously. Not bossily telling others what to do, but tenderly showing them the way.”

There are some days when you simply have no other reflex but to thank God for Him choosing you to be a ‘looker after-er of His people’.

Babies are delivered to couples who you’ve prayed for years to have that blessing, marriages are restored, prodigals return, the most unlikely of people surrender to Jesus and on top of all that God grants your family a financial miracle.

There are the days when every seat is full, hands, hands and more hands are raised heavenward in worship and in response the Gospel, and it would seem that every prayer prayed is fact a prayer answered.

Among the great privileges, though, are some very dark days indeed. Burying a young man, crying with a family as they lose a child, seeing God meet his promise of healing by taking a person home to eternity to name but a few. It’s always an honour to minister in those times. But I can tell you first hand it’s an honour that breaks your heart.

There are ample opportunities to get bitter too. People you invest it walk away.

Actually let me unpack that a bit more.

I once said to someone – ‘it’s so hard when you give your all and that person walks away.’ Their reply I will never forget. ‘But, isn’t that your job?.’

Well, it is, of course. But just like a fireman being hurt in a fire, that’s not the purpose of the job. And when you sit down as a family and decide that God and the building of His church (that’s people… always people) comes before everything else, it hurts, no, it wounds and can often kill, many a pastor, when people step out of your life as easily as they walked in.

Consider this. There isn’t another organisation in the world where you can receive direct investment...

(people speaking into your life, praying with you, crying over your situation, petitioning God on your behalf, pleading with God for a word from Heaven to bring to church on a Sunday, giving up own finance to help you when it’s needed, rarely having a holiday that extends over two Sundays, dedicating your kids, baptising your children, teaching you to budget, sowing to have a CAP centre in the church, building a church so great the world’s very best preachers and teachers WANT to speak into your life, creating an environment where you can forget about the pressures of the world for a few hours and come in and grow, believing your future is better than your past, forgetting your past so you can believe for your future, opening up their home to bring counsel and wisdom, sacrificing their own kids’ bedtime so they can grow themselves as leaders, challenge when it’s necessary, encouragement when you need it even if they need it too…)

...then just walk away, with the full benefit of that investment and no requirement to pay it back. Even Lord Sugar asks for his investment back if the Apprentice decides they are no longer in need of him.

And I say all that simply referring to those who up sticks and ‘move house’ to another church. As much as that stings, the best pastors will find some comfort in the fact those who have gone are still walking with the Lord.

When Instagram starts boasting of their new growth and happiness somewhere else there’s always a moment when even the most beautifully humble of leaders need a check in their spirit, but none of that comes close to when people not only walk away from church, but also from Jesus.

Pastors know that salvation belongs to God. But they also know they stand account for YOUR LIFE. Imagine if you had to give a life account for your child. And not just your child but all the children in your street? Daunting isn’t it.

I can honestly say, before God, that I never more fulfilled than when I serve Him by serving his people. I love to preach and see people come to an understanding of the Good News, and I am thrilled when the broken start to find a home to be restored. But there have been times when it seems like a pointless and fruitless journey.

Forgive my honesty, but I have counselled people into the wee small hours of the morning, cried out to God, fasted and begged for a miracle on their behalf and haven’t even had a Christmas card in return.

I didn’t go into ministry for that reason, and neither did your leader. But encouragement is something we are all called to do.

Listen to this: Hebrews 13:17 (The Message (MSG)

¹⁷ Be responsive to your pastoral leaders. Listen to their counsel. They are alert to the condition of your lives and work under the strict supervision of God. Contribute to the joy of their leadership, not its drudgery. Why would you want to make things harder for them?

‘Contribute to the joy of their leadership’… wow. That’s an ‘ouch’ for me. I know I am guilty of adding to the weight on the shoulders of my pastors, not increasing their joy.

Incidentally, and I would hazard a guess this applies to most pastors, the greatest contribution you can make to their leadership is not your tithe. It’s not even building an awesome team, it’s not the ‘that’s greats’ whenever they preach, thankful though we are for that, it’s simply found in being there.

That’s right. The best way I can contribute and add to my leaders’ joy is to turn up. And keep turning up.

I remember once taking about 16 hours over a two week period to cultivate teaching for a leaders’ night. I missed my sons’ bedtimes, I didn’t  go to a friend’s hen party, I sacrificed a date night and the house was a tip. Three people turned up.

I appreciated the three, don’t get me wrong. From memory I think I may have spiritualised the number three to make them, and me, feel better. But in all honesty, I was gutted.

And just to clarify, not because of what I had given up, but because I had prepared with the people in mind. I had set aside time honestly believing that this teaching would not only help build our church but would help them build their lives and families too.

Our church has a slogan: everyone cares, everyone contributes, everyone’s a soul winner.

Just as a wee challenge – it’s easy to do that for the broken and the visibly in need of God – maybe this week can I encourage you to extend that caring and contribution to your leaders?

Going back to the verse from Hebrews, it’s probably the reason I got thinking about this blog actually.

I’ve heard it used and used it myself over the years, as from different versions it can imply that in ‘increasing the joy’ of our leaders we can make our own lives easier.

Read it again, this time from the New International Version - UK (NIVUK):

¹⁷ Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.

This is clearer and more understandable. We cannot thrive under someone who is weighted down and finding ministry a drudge. But is there more to this verse?

This time from the Greek:

17   Πείθεσθε  τοῖς  ἡγουμένοις  ὑμῶν  καὶ  ὑπείκετε,  αὐτοὶ  γὰρ  ἀγρυπνοῦσιν  ὑπὲρ  τῶν  ψυχῶν  ὑμῶν  ὡς  λόγον  ἀποδώσοντες,  ἵνα  μετὰ  χαρᾶς  τοῦτο  ποιῶσιν  καὶ  μὴ  στενάζοντες·  ἀλυσιτελὲς  γὰρ  ὑμῖν  τοῦτο. 

Translated:

Obey the leaders of you, and be submissive; they indeed watch for the souls of you, as account about you to give; that with joy this they might do, and not groaning, unprofitable indeed for you (would be) this

I claim to be no Greek expert, but perhaps the point of this is simply that the way we maintain and conduct our relationship with our leaders has greater impact than we at first imagined.

This verse basically says:

‘Do what your leaders instruct you to do because they have responsibility to look after your souls – and they need to give an account on the state of your soul.'

It then adds, ‘baring that in mind, make sure that it’s with joy they can give an account (to God) and not groaning, because that would be unprofitable to you’.

If your leader was asked, right now, to give God an account of your life would it be with joy or with groaning? Interesting eh? And how would God respond to us causing our leaders to groan?

Now listen, I’m not suggesting for a minute that we can lose our salvation or anything similar because we have a bad attitude towards our pastors, but what I am saying is that we each have a responsibility to grow in our own journey with God so that our leader can give a joyful account to God about us. And the way we outwork our own journey so as to give our pastor joy is to… ‘listen and do what your leader says’.

If every pastor in the land received a pound today for all the ‘I told you sos’ they could say, but haven’t, the Forbes Rich List would be entirely made up of clergy.

Here’s a couple of verses that may help us all relate and understand the weight our leaders carry.

Acts 20:28-31 (The Message (MSG)

²⁸ “Now it’s up to you. Be on your toes—both for yourselves and your congregation of sheep. The Holy Spirit has put you in charge of these people—God’s people they are—to guard and protect them. God himself thought they were worth dying for.

^29-31 “I know that as soon as I’m gone, vicious wolves are going to show up and rip into this flock, men from your very own ranks twisting words so as to seduce disciples into following them instead of Jesus. So stay awake and keep up your guard. Remember those three years I kept at it with you, never letting up, pouring my heart out with you, one after another."

Briefly: Pastors are to guard and protect you.

What does that look like?

- speak into your life when they see a pattern of behaviour that could be destructive.

- They won’t just let any loose-tongued Larry speak from the platform in church. What is spoken into you and over you is taken very seriously. As a ‘by the way’ that’s why, often, leaders don’t just let anyone ‘give a word’ or prophecy.

- They won’t just give you rank or position just because you want it. On the flip side they might remove that too.

That verse goes on to say that people who your leaders have helped nourish may also rise up, cause a split and encourage people to follow them.

Imagine if  that was in the job description:

Wanted: gifted communicator, excellent time management, counsellor, leader, management skills, runs own household well, adored by own family, responsible for raising up leaders, championing children, releasing others and protecting people.

Person must also be willing to be betrayed by those closest!

What? Exactly.

Another verse:

1 Thessalonians 5:14 (The Message (MSG)

This one details the way your leaders should conduct themselves. (No pressure pastors!)

^13-15 Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet.

Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. And be careful that when you get on each other’s nerves you don’t snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.”

Ha ha.

Get along. Your leader is called to get along with you. Now that you know that, what can you do to make that an easy not impossible task?

They must warn freeloaders to get a move on! So the next time you see someone, or maybe it’s you, being encouraged to not just ‘fill a seat’ but to contribute or serve, understand there’s a Biblical mandate on them to move you from being a ‘taker’ to a ‘giver’.

Encourage stragglers. Easier said than done. But even when it’s thrown back in their face, when ‘I just need space’ is the standard reply, your leader has a God-call to bring encouragement. It’s a tough one, I can tell you. That’s before we get to pulling the exhausted back to their feet.

Just as an aside – this may not be your senior leader doing this himself. He or she, because they care for you, may well appoint a team to do this.

The last little bit leads on to the next.

“Look for the best in each other.”

If only we afforded our leaders the same grace they give us when it comes to this.

In James 3:1 (The Message (MSG)

It says: 3 ^1-2 Don’t be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you’d have a perfect person, in perfect control of life.”

Just wrapping this epic post up, can I just say, that in the times when things have been most difficult for me, it’s when two things have happened. One – my words have been taken out of context, and two – when it’s as though a person doesn’t really know me.

It’s a very easy thing to read social media and assume you understand the heart and tone of a 140-character message. And just as easy to write a person off because of it.

I want to be honest and say, I’ve done the same thing. My pastors’ will verify that I am more than guilty of over thinking and being ‘hurt’ by statements never intended to do so. In actual fact had I taken the time to think, ‘but is my pastor really going to mean that?’ I wouldn’t have got so worked up.

Just going back to that ‘Look for the best in each other’ – can we extend that to our leaders?

Can we see their passionate hearts, not just the correction that can often bring?

Can we see their commitment and faithfulness, not just feel like they expect too much?

Can we see their generosity of resource and character, even when it brings a sting of challenge to us?

Can we see their dedication and diligence to the word of God, not just decide we don’t agree with their points?

Can we see how they humbly handle their hurts and burdens, not moan when they occasionally snap?

Can we see the weight they carry (still with a smile and still turning up), not expect the world to stop and revolve around us when we have an issue?

Can we see their vulnerability, not see weakness?

Can we see their God-anointing, not doubt their ability?

Finally, can we choose to serve the man and woman of God, chosen and gifted to us by the King of Kings, understanding that it’s the way God intended it?

We won’t always agree.

We won’t always feel like it.

We won’t always want to.

But neither will they. The difference is what we expect of them.

I hope you hear my heart in all of this. I’m not a senior leader any more, so this is really not about me. Nor am I addressing some problem in our church. Quite the opposite. Today I woke up with a great appreciate of my pastors, Jon and Dee Cook (www.mynclc.co.uk) and had prompt from God to not only tell them that but to encourage us all to remember the blessing, and burden, that ministry can be.

Hope it’s helpful.

Linz x

 

 

 

Signs and Blunders, erm, I mean Wonders.

ON more than one occasion, recently, I have described myself as an 'old school Penty'.
 
I became a Christian in a small-ish Pentecostal Church built on the faith of people saved in legendary revivals which had impacted the central belt of Scotland. The fact the building was a former pool hall should say it all.
I made the decision to give my life to Jesus when someone pointed me out of the crowd and said 'God wants to use you', and for years I was the first in line for EVERY backsliders' appeal. A weekly question asked, by an ageing, but broad Scots' evangelist, was 'are you gled yer saved?'. What I had been given by God was not easily forgotten. Watching 'A Thief in the Night' sealed the deal.

Having no Christian background really, getting 'saved' just as the Toronto Blessing hit our shores was an interesting time. I recall getting in a mini-bus to go to a larger church in another town to hear the mighty Don Fransico sing, before the worshippers fell to the floor like some invisible - but hilarious - battle had taken place and all the Christians in the place had been slain.

I say all this, although a little tongue-in-cheek, because I want you to understand my context.
My heritage as a Christian is as an Assemblies of God, Pentecostal, Spirit-filled believer. In case I get complacent about the impact the Holy Spirit can have on people's lives I constantly live in the book of Acts and read and re-read The Cross and the Switchblade every single year.

There have been times in my life when the words of Romans 8:26 ans 27

(In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.)

have been so real and evident and obvious that I could not deny the comforting, necessary, role of the Holy Spirit in my life and relationship with God. You don't have five miscarriages without going in a huff with God. Isn't it an interesting dichotomy that in our hardest moments we want to reject and yet need more-than-ever the love of the Father?

Even within my own ministry I have a conviction that people need, not that they should opt in or out, but NEED a baptism in the Holy Spirit. Don't misunderstand me, this isn't so we can stick to a list of fundamentals pedantically certain of what the evidence of the Holy Spirit infilling is. No, I mean, I am convinced that we NEED our lives to be empowered by the Holy Spirit just to navigate this 21st Century world we live in, and that's before we even think through the tools needed to evangelise a post modern / pre-Christian / Faith-eist world. How can we even begin to live out His Kingdom rule without a measure of Him dominant in our lives?
So I still make room for people to experience the Holy Spirit, to seek His gifts and to exercise speaking in tongues among other things, to both build up themselves and others.

This is who I am.

I am a local church girl, who believes the Holy Spirit moves and acts and empowers and equips and fills up and blesses and gifts and leads and comforts and drives me, and others, on today and until Christ returns.

I am no way anti-Holy Spirit.
I am however, a teensy bit Charis-sceptic.
No, I am not sceptical of the Holy Spirit. I am, and you can blame the journalism background if you like, left wondering why all of-a-sudden we back in the days of wanting to wallow in the Spirit?

Here's what got me thinking about it.
I was brushing my teeth and looking in the mirror. Over my shoulder I saw my small son putting on his shoes. "he's so clever,' I thought, 'doing that all on his own.' And for a brief moment I marvelled at how incredible God was both for my giving me this child and for designing him so marvellously in the first place.
I looked at him with awe (not always the case - and certainly not so at 5am this morning) and genuinely took a moment to thank God for him.

And then, who knows how my brain works, it jumped to a second train of thought that could be summed up like this:
"I wonder if God is sad that we feel at times we NEED a touch from Him, or a word from Him, or a freaky, hairs-on-the-back-of-your-neck-standing-on-end meeting to continue to believe in Him?"

See, when we give our lives to Jesus, put simply, through the Holy Spirit, He lives in us.
He is there.
No, wherever you are, He is HERE.

The psalmist writes, "where can I go to escape your presence," and yet, because we are 21stC people, over stimulated in every way (we cannot even wait the four minutes for a pot noodle without getting bored and giving up), despite the fact we live in a world, so outrageously well designed, that we can enjoy via the miracle that is our senses and our bodies, also 'knitted together' so well, we can at times question and dare to ask, 'are you really there God, because I can't feel you?

Excuse my over active imagination, but I like to think God gets annoyed by such immature nonsense. "You can't feel me???" he might say, "no wonder... I gave you my Word and it says I inhabit your PRAISE. Stop moaning and worship!"

Or what about, "God, I need a word from you?".
No, you need a relationship with Him. Maybe if we devoted ourselves to Him and His word that we would be so full of truth (truth that He loves us, that he has plans for us, that He wants us to serve him, that we have a mandate to remain faithful, that we are empowered to reach out to a lost and dying world to bring them the truth and the Good News of Jesus) and hope and love and life that we wouldn't need to constantly HEAR from Him but we would instead KNOW Him. I don't need my now late grandad to be with me 24-7 for me to know what he wanted for my life. I knew him and he knew me. As a child he instilled it in me, all those values and expectations. As an adult it was there. In me.

So come on, baby Christians, we need to grow up.

I long for the day when the Church will be full of genuine miracles. People being healed and set free from addictions, minds renewed, bodies transformed... but not so that makes ME feel good. Dear God, let this never be about how it makes ME feel. As if the work of the Holy Spirit is ALL about me?

Oh wait, is that what we've been thinking?

That when Jesus

(who came to seek and save the lost, to buy us back from a life separated from God and who gave his life for OTHERS, and whose final commission to us was to go out and make disciples of all men in all places)

said he was sending 'another of the same' (paraclete John 14:16) - we have taken that to mean that he was sending another who is completely different?

That instead of having the outward focusing redemptive mission of Christ, the Spirit comes to be our cosmic comfort blanket assuring us, Michael Jackson style, that 'you are not alone, I am here with you.'

That when Jesus said to the disciples - wait here until you are clothed with power from on high - we have taken that to mean, in the Greek of course, that it's not so much about power as it is reassurance, not so much about mission as it is about blessing...

Please, please, please Spirit people... stop doubting your faith and start using it.
Stop wanting more of Him... for you... and instead use what you have of Him serving others and then let Him fill you back up.
Please begin to seek God's Spirit and presence and gifts, not to get you through a dry patch or a dark place but to equip you to 'run the race', to 'fight the good fight' and to see God move through you as you bring hope to others.

Determine that you CAN.
Set your heart for His cause.
Let's see lives miraculously shaped by the Holy Spirit - because we flippin' CAN.
Am I the only one daft enough to want a move of the Spirit, not to fuel a TV channel's content but to make God famous in our land?

I'll leave you with the words of a new Hillsong worship track from the Zion album. The song it titled 'Oceans' It sums up these thoughts of mine today - we have the privilege of a Spirit-filled life, let's use it for His Glory, not just for oursleves.

Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand
Will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now

So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Saviour

What will it take...

AS well as being a pastor, a wife, a mum and a writer, I have added 'charity worker' to my list of things to juggle in any one day.

My particular charity seeks to come alongside the most at risk women and young people, trapped in abuse, poverty, addiction and exploitation. It will come as no surprise that my job is to talk! Talk about our work - and talk about Jesus.

Just today I met a new girl. She is currently still a 'working girl'. She is working to pay for her partner's drug habit. She reminded me, painfully, of the girl mentioned in Acts 16:16.

16 One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a demon-possessed slave girl. She was a fortune-teller who earned a lot of money for her masters. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.”

18 This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon within her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And instantly it left her.
19 Her masters’ hopes of wealth were now shattered, so they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace. 20 “The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews!” they shouted to the city officials. 21 “They are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to practice.”
²² A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. ²³ They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. ²⁴ So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.

²⁵ Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. ²⁶ Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! ²⁷ The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. ²⁸ But Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!”
 ²⁹ The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ Then 
he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

Here is a woman who is being exploited by a syndicate of men because of her vulnerability. She makes money, it says, for her masters.

The sad reality is that all across the world and in every corner of this United Kingdom there are women just like this one.
The may not be 'possessed' in the same way as the girl in Acts but make no mistake they are controlled, dominated and just as fearful. Many of the girls I am talking about will be victims of human trafficking, moved across International Borders and treated as slaves or possessions of their own 'masters'.
Others, like the girls I now see on a daily basis remain in the one location, where their abuse is carried out day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.

I want you to notice something powerful about the passage of scripture.
This woman cried out time and time again, but it wasn't until Paul was 'exasperated' that he finally did something about it.

I couldn't help but think, what will it take for us to get so exasperated, so annoyed, so disturbed and interrupted that we will STOP, and do something about it?

Notice also when Jesus is brought into the picture there is suddenly a whole new normal. A NEW NORMAL.

She was once bound, under the control of something else, exploited and used.
Jesus comes in and her life is transformed and set free... IN AN INSTANT.

Friends, the scars will be there for a lifetime. But Jesus was the answer.It caused some problems, the men who made money from her didn't like it, but Jesus is all about the one. Her life matters.

Can I just encourage you today to stop. To read the news. To read your Bible and then to join the dots of the two. There is a cry going out in this nation, and as long as the church is tied up arguing about if and when woman should speak or teach or whatever... there will be other women left ignored.

Visit www.thea21campaign.org www.hopeforjustice.org.uk or www.awayout.co.uk for a local perspective. But do something. Get annoyed, get exasperated, get JESUS into the situation.

Please.

Christmas musings

On the 12th month of this year, these words just came to me...

 

twelve months of saving,

eleven Christmas dinners

ten times more heating,

nine lots of wrapping

eight (too much chocolate)

seven days of slobbing

six festive parties

five - prawn - rings

four bulging Bruces

three carol concerts

two excited kids

and some presents around a bald tree

 

But is that it? Is Christmas, no - being a Christian, just about singing and eating and busyness?

 

I actually stopped to think while listening to the 'big kids' Christmas service at my sons' school (Carol service number four already). Two things stood out from that jam-packed gym hall Christmas presentation.

 

The first is the Year Six girls who got the giggles mid-prayer. While Nathan was trying to film it, I was trying to sneak a look at the head mistress's face. One was not amused.

 

The other 'stand out' moment was a second prayer. This time a younger girl, who beautifully memorised her words, asked God to help us not be swept up in consumerism this Christmas.

 

A big word, for a wee red-cheeked lassie.

 

Consumerism.

 

According to the dictionary it's the concept that an ever-expanding consumption of goods is a good thing for the economy.

 

Hmmmm.

 

It got me thinking.

 

See, just like a dog, it's not just for Christmas.

 

I think it's a culture infiltrating most areas of our lives. And as Christians if we are not careful we can skip right past Paul's wisdom when he says in Philippians 4 that he's learnt how to be CONTENT whether he has little or much. Consumerism is the polar opposite to contentment. It's a peace stealer. It's a church wrecker. It puts ME before HE.

 

Take a moment to transfer the definition into the Kingdom. Let's re-read it:

"the concept that an ever-expanding consumption of what's on offer is a good thing for the Kingdom?"

 

Takes on a new form eh?

What might it look like?

 

It looks like teenagers feeling like they are missing out on something if they don't date the entire youth group.

 

It looks like churches buying into whatever new wave (however relevant or otherwise it is or isn't for where they are actually planted) is hitting the shores of the world's churches next.

 

It looks like worldly thinking on sex and relationships creeping into the House of God. "Well I can't not sleep with him before I marry him, how will I know if we are compatible?"

 

You may think I'm bit a bit over sensitive, but this 'try before you buy' attitude isn't Kingdom and it's also not helpful.

 

Consumerism is basically, at its heart, a me-centric way of living.

A consumerist John the Baptist would have had a very different cry...

"More for me, from you Lord." Instead of the iconic and true-gospel banner, "Less of me, more of you, Lord."

 

A consumerist attitude says 'I am the most important entity around, and as such I should be able to indulge myself any way I wish.' So what am I saying, should you not be able to 'do what you want?' well you can, but you are neither a disciple or under submission if all you ever do is what you want.

 

Do I always want to get my kids up at 7.30am every Sunday morning so we can be at our church set-up? No, of course not. But I am committed not just to my part but to also being an example for others. Consumerism, by the way, doesn't care about others.

 

Revert it back to the Christmas shopping analogy. Consumerism only cares about the amount spent. It cares not for who is hurt in the process. So while the big department store does a roaring trend, the small business might be impacted.

 

Flip it back again. Consumerist Christians are only concerned for what's best for them. They don't care who is else affected.

 

Please don't misunderstand me. I have had more than one moment of opting to be 'me, me, me'. Just this week I had a 'debate', shall we say, although very one-sided, with the big man. Sometimes you do need to take time to look after and nurture yourself, your family and your relationship with God. But even that decision should be rooted in the responsibility we carry and the lives we affect by our decisions.

 

When it gets ugly is when the God card is played.

 

- now before I go on I will answer the questions that will inevitable follow:

 

have people ever left the church I help lead - yes.

did it hurt me personally - yes.

should it have - the jury's out.

has it shaped my thinking on this subject - absolutely.

 

so I'll move on anyway.

 

The God card.

 

It looks like this.

 

"I'm just taking time out of church for now, I feel the Lord has told me to do it." You can delete and amend this as appropriate for 'leaving this church', 'joining your church' etc etc.

 

Is this an genuine sentiment, almost certainly. Is it Godly? I just don't know. Call me old fashioned but I have my beliefs rooted in the Word and not just in my feelings. And when I say that, I am willing to admit, that at times in my life I have misunderstood the voice of God for the voice of me, and so I have to 'back up' whatever I 'feel' God may be saying with the scripture (what he has actually said.)

 

Can I be honest for a minute? I've found the last season a real tough one. There have been times, on more than one occasion where I have had to take myself off to one side and have a word with myself. To 'fan into flame' the gift that's within me. To reaffirm my belief that 'the same power that conquered the grave, lives in me'.

 

So when people tell me God has told them to leave church, forgive me if my face shows disbelief. I believe they think it. It's not scriptural.

 

In Hebrews we are told to 'not stop meeting together as some have already done', our function as Christians, within the commission Christ gave us, is outworked through the church. Whatever else you think your destiny is, it's primary function is to make disciples. How can you do that if you aren't in church?

 

And is our God consumerist? Does he go along with the idea the more things we buy and try the better? I just don't think so. Does God tell people to leave one church and go to another? Honestly, I don't think He does. In all honesty, I reckon we just make that decision ourselves and God is just happy if we decide to keep worshipping. So maybe we mistake 'his voice' or 'his peace' for his delight that we haven't left Him.

 

I couldn't with confidence say God told Nathan and I to leave our last church to plant one in Middlesbrough. I reckon he allowed us the freedom to make that decision ourselves and having made the decision to go, he then led us to our next step. Did we up sticks before that direction? No way. We stayed and served. Was that an easy few months? No, not really. But another thing I've learned from scripture is that obedience is better than sacrifice. 

 

Actually, if we are going to talk about being consumed - maybe we should look at Psalm 69:9 when it says 'passion for your house has consumed me'. Man, if we are going to be consumed by anything surely it should be for the love of the one thing Christ still builds in our nation? And if we love the Church, and we understand submission - why move, why not just knuckle down?

 

Now let me be frank, I've actually thanked God at times when someone 'leaves' or takes time out, when God is part of the reasoning. In a funny way, it's an answer to my prayer that they would include God in their life, way back before he was ever a factor, let alone Lord.

 

But alternatively, why don't we move from being consumed by being consumers, to being invested in being investors. People who put others first, who proactively look for ways to give, to sow, to build and to bless; Who can be disciplined enough to put down their own feelings - even if it's just for a time - to help see others move forward and through?

 

I spoke to the girls at our Sisterhood just last week from Colossians 3:^{13 "}Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others."

 

I love that concept that when we 'budget' our time and in our lives we need to make allowances for each other to make mistakes. Investors do that. They see past 'glitches' and work on ways to move forward. Together. Consumers take it personally.Like after a bad coffee in Starbucks, they move to Costa.

 

Until Starbucks bring in something new.

 

Just in finishing, I want to take you back to the carol service at my wee boy's school. Afterwards I got chatting to one of the mums. We have been friends now for six years. Our kids are the same age, our husbands like football. We both also happen to be pastors in Teesside. The conversation got round to the fact that someone from my church is leaving to join hers.

 

Awkward.

 

And that's just it. That decision is not just about the person leaving. It doesn't affect one group of people, it affects two. It doesn't just affect them and their Sunday worship, a couple of steps down the line a friendship is also touched.

 

Now don't worry about me. Me and my friend will survive. I just reckon this last week has made me all the more determined that I cannot be someone who gets up or lies down, moves forward or retreats, by a consumerist feeling, but instead my decision making has to come from being someone invested in the House and Kingdom of God.

 

So yes, year six girl in the grey dress. Please keep praying, that we don't get swept up in consumerism, and instead we keep Jesus at the centre of it all. Not me. Him. Thy will, not my will.

 

Merry Christmas everybody, let's see our villages, towns and cities changed for the better, not by a consumerist economy but the investment of Christ, through us.

 

 

 

 

 

This IS my revelation

So I have this recurring dream. I'm standing in front of lots of people - I can't quite 'see' where.

And I'm doing what you might know as the Salvation Call.

It's not slick, in the dream, it's messy. It's not articulate, but as I speak the words, people, one after the other light up like lightbulbs.

They were grey but then they glow. One after the other.

Then I wake up and all I can think about is an image of Jesus outstretched on the cross... but on the fingertips of each hand there is power coming out, like electricity in a thunder storm.

Oprah calls it an 'aha' moment. If I were to be immortalised in a comic book a flashing bulb would appear above my head, for the leadership gurus among you it would be the moment of a paradigm shift, or for me, it was simply just 'revelation'.

You get this thought. No, it's more than a thought, it's like an instantaneous belief that you don't need to work through, it's just in there.

You know it, you feel it, you ache to articulate it... revelation.

Something of God has been revealed - not to your head, although it's now found a home there too, but this now lives in your heart. And not just the emotive heart - the engine room. The part of you that gets you up in the morning, it resides in the 'override' button of your soul by passing logic and rationality and often reason, giving you cause to keep going.

It's the time when you move from knowing 'of' God to feeling like you had the 2am moment with the man of your dreams and your relationship moved from tick boxes of shared interests to 'knowing' how he ticks.

That dream for me, like the amazing song Rise on Hillsong's Cornerstone album, is my revelation.

It's not the first of its kind.

When I was 17 I had a similar line in the sand moment when I understood that God was my source. I had 'known' that. But then I KNEW it. It changed everything. I couldn't not tithe after that. God gave it to me, after all, the least I could do was honour him with the first fruits.

The simplest of concepts can be life altering if it arrives as revelation.

Like understanding that we are all in need of a Saviour. Like, all of us. All.

That was a revelation.

And from the strangest of sources. I was watching the war film, Enemy at the Gates.

And as my heart saddened, as it always does when it comes to war and humanity trying to bring about peace through violence (stupid! I mean, stupid) I found myself wanting the book to be thrown at the 'baddy'. The same thing happens when you watch the news and you hear of an awful assault on humanity and before your head has a chance to engage with your heart you find yourself wanting people 'strung up'.

And yet we have the audacity to believe that God shouldn't do the same to us. That he should somehow include us in his household because we acknowledge him once a year at a carol service or because we do something for charity, when the rest of the time our choices, decisions, beliefs and behaviour do anything but include God. Sin, simply, is believing we know better than God.

But when you KNOW that you were made to be in relationship with him, you KNOW you haven't always made room for him, so then you KNOW you need a way to restore that relationship - even though he has every right not to have us back - so you KNOW you need an advocate...

And the thing about revelation in this context - it's not for you - it's direction is toward God.

See, that dream isn't to make me think about me and my role in it, or at least that's not how it's been 'revealed' to me. Rather, it was the unveiling of who God is and what he does through Christ.

Listen to this from the book of Job Chapter 9:

³³ Oh, that^[a] there were a mediator between us;
he would lay his hand on both of us,
³⁴ remove his rod from me,

I love this image. I love that as Jesus is extended on the cross - he answers the age-old cry, 'if only there was someone who could go between me and God, who can out one hand on me and one hand on him...' Like a cosmic parent and child counselling session - needing the 'go between' to somehow right the differences and reunite the family.

I love that as Jesus reaches out to humanity as the Son of Man we resonate with his pain and his hurt and rejection and shame - and he, according to his word, understands what it means to be tried and tempted, what it means to be human. But that same Jesus, is not only Son of Man but also Son of God, the embodiment of the deity - incomprehensible - and as he stretches out he connects humanity back to its creator.

It's the dream. People 'switched off, lacking their 'power source' suddenly brought to life by understanding Jesus is the only mediator between man and God (1 Tim 2:5) and that the only way to really live is through Jesus himself (John 10:10).

And the other thing about revelation is that it brings change. So I was thinking, if we are to be 'Jesus' to a world who doesn't recognise him, with my hand firmly connected to God (through Christ) who is my other hand extending to? Whose life am I touching to help bring Jesus into the equation?

Am I looking for the most broken at the expense of the people in my world?

Am I overlooking the broken in favour of my world because I don't want to touch the untouchables?

 

I guess the final thing about revelation is that it’s the coming together of what you already know. By that I mean to say – don’t expect to get some big revelation of what God wants or has for you, or even about his own character if you aren’t seeking to know him now.


Faith comes by hearing… and hearing from the word of God. The best way for God to reveal himself to you is by you devouring what he has left of himself.


Amidst the chaos and tragedy of natural disasters I believe God is love. It was revealed to me through the cosmic love story of salvation and redemption unfolding in the Word.


Through grieving I have hope, not just because my heart holds Jesus, but because I know the story of a defeated grave and a resurrection promise – from His Word.


In despondency and fatigue I can rise – as Christ rose from the grave – because, as the song goes… this is my revelation.

What's yours?

 

What are we not?

Tuesday, 8 May 2012
What are we not?
Every night in the Bruce household ends the same way for my children. Nathan or I pray and we finish like this: "and thank you God that Micah / Corban is..." and they reply (at varying speeds depending on enthusiasm / tiredness / moodiness), "a mighty man of God, the head and not the tail, above and not beneath, a leader not just a follower, amen."



But this week the bedtime mantra was given an extra line. Specifically for my seven year old.



"And what are we not?" I prompt.


"Victims," he replies.


"Why?" I ask.


"Because God is on our side!"


Now this came about after a day of moaning. Apparently in a 12-hour period his brother was out to get him, we were making his life hard, his teacher made him work harder than anyone else, his friends were deliberately playing games he didn't like and to top it all off we know he doesn't like tomatoes on pizza and yet we put them there, and I quote, to annoy him.


Enter mum with the "we are people of a good report" speech and a talk about his victim mentality.


Now, I may be way off here, and certainly this won't help anyone in NCLC :)

But just in case... Here's a few thoughts on this. I have to stress it's not a reaction to anything, so just in case you get your 'victim' on before we even begin, this is written purely from my perspective. If you relate, great.


Here we go:

1) the devil is not God.


I think I kind of grew up with this kind of image in my head that the world was held together
In a kind of cosmic boxing match between God and the devil, like they were of equal abilities but God sort of had the upper hand. But as I read the Word more and understood a few things I came to realise this kind of theology only adds to the victim mentality we can easily take hold off. Here's why.


Satan is a created being just like me and you. He is not everywhere, only God is omnipresent. He has power, yes, but God is still God. He is sovereign. Nothing happens without his say so.
And a belief that you are under attack all the time does a few things.


- it elevates the enemy over God. Is God not on your side? Romans 8:31 - is the one in you not greater than the one of the world? 1john 4:4. Is it not FINISHED? John 19:30? Now listen I'm not taking away from the fiery darts (I'll show you the scorch marks) - nor the fact we are not fighting flesh and blood but principalities and powers... But simply, and hear my heart, it's not all about you! And if Satan is, literally, after you... Kudos. You must be kicking some kingdom of darkness butt my friend. If he's with you he is with no-one else. Good news for the rest of us as well :)


Another thing about being a victim - you have made life about, well, you! It's this kind of belief that probably came from someone like me who gave an emotional salvation appeal around the fact that if you were the only one on the earth Jesus would have still died for you...


Now listen, I believe that. But that's not the whole story. Our old faithful John 3:16 says it best... for God so loved the WORLD. Doh! It's not just about me. Me getting saved is in context of many... So what does this mean? Is being on team not a chance for ME to flourish? Is the message not for ME? Is giving not so I can receive? Well actually it is about you... But having a me-centered approach to life takes away the fact that the correct order of things has Jesus at the centre. And it's fundamentally the wrong posture to approach God. If we make it about what will be added to MY life we can start to think we deserve or are entitled to who knows what. In actual fact we come to God, through Christ, hopefully daily, understanding we owe him EVERYTHING. Romans 12:1... Lay your WHOLE life down. Yep.


Finally - for today at least - my personal favourite. And this one is personal. If you have the victim thing going on you could, with a sincere heart, Start feeling like whatever goes on, from the smallest detail (wording on a church email) to the the largest event is somehow a chance to get at you. With the greatest of respect, stop looking in a mirror and start seeing the big picture.


I can't speak in exact terms for my pastors on this one, but I can for Nathan and I.


When we turn up on a Sunday the back story is this... We quit our jobs and did Theology degrees, racking up £25k of debt between us to have the knowledge and confidence to stand before you for 25 minutes each week. That comment in the preach wasn't to get your back up, believe it or not, it was to see you grow, live a fulfilled life and see the Kingdom advance.


Quite honestly there are easier ways to 'get at you' than by serving in ministry for 10 years while holding down other jobs, being the first to arrive at 8am on a Sunday morning, spending 14-hour days every Sunday and opening our home whenever is necessary.


Now I'd be lying if I said I hadn't jumped on the treadmill of 'woe is me'. If I'm honest some Sundays I spend most of the day making it about me. What did I do right? What have I done wrong? What do they think of ME? But it is a treadmill. It keeps ME in one place and exhausted.


And so I finish this today with the words of my son.


"If I think about me mum it's like forget there's other people here."


Exactly.


And what a shame if Jesus went to all the bother of giving his life for you, offering a fulfilled life, the forgiveness to share an eternity with God, the Grace to forgive others, the power to see his Kingdom established on earth as it is in Heaven, the hope to see past death and the purpose to keep going... If we Spend our days rebuking a fallen enemy, reducing our salvation to a personal life (after death) insurance plan and and nursing bitterness over the words of friends.


What are we not?

I don't get it...

My seven year old has picked up a new phrase; "I don't get it". He uses it randomly, haphazardly,rarely correctly but he is persistent in his claim that he doesn't get 'it'. The other day - after telling him to stop saying it for about the 10th time - he asked whether there was anything I "didn't get".

Do you want to hear them? (these are not what I told my son. Answered him by saying "I don't get why someone so clever like you would keep telling me they don't get it!")

Top three "I don't get its".

in at number one: Disconnecting because you feel disconnected.

This is a head scratcher for me every time. Usual scenario is someone pulling back from church life for various, often right, reasons. Very shortly - because they no longer attend connect group / teams nights / Sundays / vision nights / serving on team (*delete as appropriate*) they start to feel - and rightly so - disconnected. I mean, why would you feel any other way? All the people in your world, your friends from church etc, haven't changed their focus. They are still trying to juggle family, work, church and serving - so the time you used to have with them at connect group / teams nights / Sundays / vision nights / serving on team (*delete as appropriate *) isn't happening an more. Result - feeling disconnected.

But what would be the best solution to this issue?
And excuse my facetious tone for a moment - remember, "I don't get it."
Well for me, it would be to try and reconnect. Get plugged back in. One step at a time, for sure, but definitely to scratch the itch. What wouldn't be the solution would be to disconnect further - leave the church maybe - or attend services by arriving two minutes after it starts and leaving as soon as the music kicks in again at the end.

Tell me - how is this helping you feel more connected? Honestly, I don't get it.

Have I Ever felt disconnected? Absolutely. Have I done the above? I'm the master of retreat! Did it work? Never! In recent months - being based in Teesside, an hour away from other leaders in our church there's every reason to 'feel' disconnected. When I had a baby and couldn't get to everything I wanted I definitely 'felt' disconnected. Here's what I now "get..."

Feeling connected is not the same as being connected. If you were genuinely part of church life aside from your role etc - a break won't change that. But it's a two way thing. If you have ever even thought the words "why should I always be the one to text / ring / email" then you aren't waiting on a friend getting in touch - you are already feeling you are owed something. What are you contributing? What does the Bible say? In 1 Tim 5:8 we are told that we need to put the interests of our family first - if we can't run our homes why should we have a say in our churches? So yes, there are times when we need a break, need to do less, need to be at home more. But Hebrews 10:25 adds in this killer line: "do not stop meeting together as some have done".

Basically - if you want to feel connected - connect. If you want to feel disconnected - disconnect. You decide.



This is long, hey? Next two will be more brief.

Number two: I won't know as many people in a big church!


Now, actually, a kinda get this. But that doesn't mean it's not stupid.
Here's the deal - they reckon you can only really relate to about 100 people in any group / business / church etc really well. 100 people. So that's all the people in a small church (Teesside campus for example) - and a percentage of people in a bigger congregation. Agreed? Cool. So here's the real issue... If we can only ever really relate to 100 people we will be relating to exacly the same amount of people in a church of 10,000 as we would be in a church of 120 right? So is it that we won't know as many people - or that we won't know ALL the people? Or more likely, is it that most of the people won't know us? Ouchy. Ps - ideal church scenario - more new people than existing ones. It's the great commission after all (Matthew 28).

Finally - in at number three

I've never been pastored by the pastor

Now this one I really, really don't get. The biblical word for pastor literally translates as shepherd. So there's two aspects to this. 1- if what you meant by pastor was 'cared for' then simply, why do you want to be cared for by one of the busiest people you know. Would you not rather someone else - a couple maybe - offer you that love, time and attention instead of five minutes between services from the senior leaders? On that though - most senior pastors, out of a love and a care and because they pay attention to you, will want to make sure you are cared for and so because they know they can't be everywhere all at once, they allow other people to help with that.

But 2- if pastor actually means shepherd - maybe what you are expecting from your pastor is all wrong. What does a shepherd do...

Leads the flock
Protects the flock
Let's them wander (what - no midnight pastoral intervention???) at times then hooks them back in
Is above the flock (he is a man - they are sheep ) so he can practically oversee them
Provides an environment where they will be fed and watered

But answer me this, what happened in the parable of the lost sheep when one sheep wandered off? The shepherd went after it. Thank God NCLC you do have senior pastors, and campus pastors, and pastoral team, and youth pastors, and connect group pastors who all go after the one who got away. But check this out - when the shepherd was doing the 'looking' for the lost, who was looking after the flock? Erm... The flock! if you want to feel pastored - stay with the flock and help look after someone else.

Phew. All done. Rant over.