The Power of Testimony

Earlier this week one of my friends, Emma who is a Congregational student, tweeted that she had been to a rehearsal for the Opening Event of the Olympics.  She stated that it was amazing.  Previous to this I had not been very motivated and had felt that I had been over-exposed to pre-Olympic hype.  But this personal testimony intrigued me, so I watched the whole event from start to finish on TV.  I was not disappointed, and enjoyed the fun, was amazed at the chimneys rising out of the ground, and deeply moved by the young people who took on the role of lighting the flame.  I am grateful for Emma's testimony.  Testimonies are powerful things.

The four writers of the gospels each present the great commission differently.  Matthew's emphasis is on discipling; Mark is on telling the story; John emphasises the apostolic nature - being sent; but Luke records the challenge to be witnesses for Jesus.  I have far too often heard people talk about being a 'silent witness'.  Often village Christians will state that people know what we stand for and our lives are a witness.  I have even heard one conference speaker state that the presence of the church building is sufficient evangelism.  But all those comments fail to grasp the fact that implicit in the word translated witness is the sense of testifying.

Imagine what would happen if someone is called as a witness for the defence of someone in court.  Would the fact that they simply appeared in court be sufficient?  Of course not.  To be a witness means to speak out.  Of course our life and our lips have to have integrity.  But life alone or words alone do not suffice.  Both are necessary.

When Jesus said "You will be my witnesses..." in Acts 1 we need to take that seriously.  He did not suggest it was an option.  He did not suggest that it was something that might happen.  He said, "You will be my witnesses.  So the question we need to ask ourselves is "What kind of a witness are we giving?"  There is no neutrality.  If we do not speak up for Jesus, or if our lives are not holy, then our witness is negative.  What might have been my reaction if Emma had stated that the Olympic rehearsal was disappointing, or if I knew she had gone but she had remained silent!  However she witnessed to her experience of getting a taste of the event in advance, that testimony would have power.  Power to excite interest or discourage it.  How will you witness this week?


There is not a great deal to share from this past week.  On Monday I took part in a planning meeting for an international conference next year.  The next 48 hours I seemed to have picked up a bug as I became very light headed and at times this caused nausea.  The remainder of the week has been spent on book keeping as I have sought to bring my accounts up to date.  In my busy life and without admin support I find that claiming expenses gets overlooked and this quickly mounts up.  I finally managed all the account entries by this evening!


Sunday 29th I am taking the service at HMP Gartree at 9.00am.  Afterwards there is a time of prayer and a time of informal fellowship.  My theme is an adapted message used a few weeks ago in Nottingham - "Excuses".  Please pray that God will use the ministry and that his word will bring fruit.  Even if you read this after the event I will still value your prayers for the move of God's Spirit within the prison.


The remainder of the week is set aside for essential administration, for work on my research programme, and for pastoral ministry.  But I might need to return to Sussex at short notice.  I shall also be working in the prison on Tuesday.


I close by bearing witness to how good God is.  Long before ever I came to know him, he knew me, loved me and Jesus died for me.  I enjoy getting to know Jesus more and more.  It is like finding a seam of gold in a mine.  What a treasure!  There is no one like Jesus.  Discovering what it means to be forgiven and reconciled to God - brought into union with him is life itself.  He has never disappointed me since I dedicated my life to him almost 50 years ago.  Not one word of all his promises have ever failed.  If you already know him you can add your own 'Amen'.  If as yet you haven't got to know him, why not do what i did after reading what Emma had written - try it out yourself.


Barry
PS  If you don't know how to get to know God personally I would love to help you.

The Benefits of Teamwork

Just about all my ministry activity has been teamwork.  I started out working in a small mission organisation and over the following 25 years planned and led hundreds of short term outreaches where I worked in a team.  Apart from the planning, my main role was as the song-leader.  Someone else did much of the preaching, while others undertook children's work, youth work, work with senior citizens.  and had musical roles.  Other team members had many skills and for the main part we knew one another well and worked fairly easily together.

Also behind the scenes there were many valued team members.  I recall Graham Silver and Philip Stainer who looked after finances, and David Woodward and Trevor Rye and many others who made up the admin team.  Then there were several who have supplied much valued personal secretarial help, all of whom I keep in touch with, with the exception of Jenny Burgess.  Jenny married a young man who then trained for the Anglican ministry and I can't remember his name!  But the teamwork is remembered.

More recently there is the Sunrise Ministries team which, in addition to my colleague, Monica, includes others such as trustees and support groups.  Then there are the prayer partners, those who give regularly to keep us on the road, and most importantly - Doreen who is my most important human team member.

Colleagues within the Congregational Federation's Boards and Committees and national office holders are an enormous blessing.  Then there are those who make up the various churches where I have served in the past and serve now.  Teamwork is certainly a description of those ministries.  Then even more recently there are those within Action for Christ (formerly Mission for Christ) - the organisation I have recently agreed to help.  Since this is the organisation with which I started I guess it has now gone full circle, though the people have changed.

Over the past few weeks I have been asking you to pray for this aspect of my activities so it is about time I introduced you to the team.  Elizabeth Ingram and Terry Martin are my fellow trustees.  Elizabeth is an old friend and a Lay Canon in the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham.  She is our chairperson.  Terry Martin is a most gracious and experienced minister from within the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches. We have a staff of two in the office: Heather and Mary.  Once again, it is a good team.

Over recent years the organisation has served several small churches through generous grants and the provision of free design and print services.  Current circumstances have necessitated some changes and an opportunity to review future direction.  We hope that this can be carried out quite quickly and with the minimum inconvenience to others.  Please pray for wisdom and guidance for the trustees through this period.

Brief general news
A highlight of the week was our latest choir concert at Gartree Prison.  The choir members were excellent and the singing was of a high standard.  It's just a shame that they perform to such a limited audience as they are certainly good enough to go on the road.  But of course, that is never going to happen to these men who are serving life sentences.  Pray for 'M' with whom I had difficulty at the final practice and have now had to formerly request to be taken out of the choir.  I greatly regret such a situation and hope that he will realise the problem.

Your prayers for the ministry and other activities through this week are - as always - very much appreciated.

Everyone who prays for our ministries, and those churches and individuals that give what they can to help us serving in rural mission work are team members with us.

Quick Closing Comments
I would like to encourage you to pray for this country's dairy farmers at this time.  Most are struggling to keep going.  Pray also for our friends in the Farm Crisis Network.

If anyone is looking for sheltered retirement accommodation we have two excellent Christian projects in this part of the country and I would be very happy to pass on information.

The Lord abundantly bless you.

Barry

Total Salvation

Over the last few days I have had the words of an old gospel song running through my head. The song is simply called "Why" and is based upon the words of Colossians 2:13-15 "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, ¹⁴ having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."


When a debt was owed the person owing the debt would sign a record of that indebtedness and in the time when this was written it might be recorded on a clay or perhaps a wax tablet.  When Paul wants to communicate the power of the forgiveness we gain through the death of Christ he puts three images together.  The record is blotted out - this suggests the way in which a wax tablet could be reused by simply melting the wax so that not a trace of the letters could be seen, creating as it were a clean slate.  Then Paul uses the expression "taken away".  This also brings to mind the image of the scapegoat over whom sins were confessed and it was then driven away (Leviticus 16) and also Psalm 103:12 "As far as the east is from the west so far has God removed our transgressions from us".  Then he uses an image for declaring a debt to have been cleared - a nail would be driven through the record.


The hymn "When peace like a river" picks this up with the words "My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought, My sin, not in part but the whole, Is nailed to his cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul."  And the refrain of the song running through my head goes:

All my iniquities on him were laid

He nailed them all to the tree
Jesus, the debt of my sin fully paid
He paid the ransom for me

I hope you have a wonderful awareness of what it means to be so fully forgiven and free.

The past week has been tiring.  We started with a lovely time of fellowship at Yelvertoft.  Debbie, a student on the Congregational Federation's training course joined us and is considering doing a six month placement with us.  She has another possible location so please pray as she seeks the Lord's guidance.

On Monday it was my last school assembly this school year at Lubenham.  It is so wonderful to see the interest of the children during these assemblies.  The year six pupils will now move to a large secondary school and I pray they will remember and treasure their primary school experiences.

On Tuesday I met with others in the morning for the final planning meeting of the Holiday at Home summer outreach activity week.  We already have a good number booked in.  It was good to welcome Brian, my Methodist colleague, back after a sabbatical.  Then it was off to prison for choir practice.  Our concert is this Wednesday and there are still many rough edges.

On Wednesday I met in Northamptonshire with representatives of some other mission organisations to explore possible areas of cooperation.  I then drove to Battle, East Sussex for a meeting with my colleague Monica Cook.

On Thursday I travelled to Peasmarsh, East Sussex, and spent the day working with Action for Christ.  A further short meeting and series of important phone calls followed on Friday morning and afternoon as I made my way back to Market Harborough.

This Sunday Elaine is joining us at Yelvertoft.  Elaine is a ministry colleague who is helping us commence some children's work. On Tuesday we have our final practice before the choir concert at HMP Gartree on Wednesday.  Thursday and Friday are set aside for some important aspects of work but I am unable to explain details at present.  Then next Sunday 22nd we will have our special Thanksgiving Service at Yelvertoft to boost the funds needed for our much needed alterations.  We have a target of around £20,000 to raise as quickly as possible.

Praise God for safe travelling throughout the past week, for the joy of good Christian fellowship, for successful meetings, and just for the wonderful and good God who cares for us.

Pray for guidance for Debbie, for the children who have sat under our ministry for the past year, for the Holiday at Home plans, for the choir and the concert on Wednesday early evening, for important meetings scheduled for Thursday and Friday, and for the church at Yelvertoft as we face the challenge of finding £20,000.  Someone once said that God's work undertaken in God's way will never lack God's supply.

I believe that the God who loved us so much that he gave his Son to die for you and me has a heart more generous than we will ever fully grasp.  And my trust is in him.  I hope yours is there too.

Barry

"You don't normally have to pray yourselves out of what you prayed yourself into"

The last few days have found me back in  Nottingham.  This time I was there as part of the Pastoral Care Board of the Congregational Federation.  Part of the Board's role is to conduct interviews for those at the higher levels of the Integrated Training Course and others seeking ministerial recognition.  The CF sets high standards and while it is always our natural instinct to open the way to others in ministry, we have a duty of care in this matter, both to the Federation and to those exploring their vocation.  Consequently, the work dome between 11.00am on Friday and 3.00pm on Saturday is demanding.

I value the prayer support that you gave to this.  It was certainly needed.  The candidates attend various essential sessions, undergo an intensive interview and engage in some group activities.  Following this the PCB deliberate carefully, reviewing all we have observed, references received and more.  We are deeply conscious that not only are the future of these men and women in our hands, so also are potential churches.  I am reminded of the wise advice of a friend many years ago:  "What you pray yourself into you do not normally have to pray yourself out of!"

I am looking forward to being with my beloved congregation at Yelvertoft this Sunday.  With all the rushing around and the activity of last Sunday I miss them terribly.  On this occasion a friend called Debbie will be joining us.  She is a mature student with the Congregational Federation and has to arrange a placement.  This Sunday gives her and the church the opportunity to look at one another!  Debbie has an alternative location for this placement (part of her training) and she will have to visit them also.

Finally, thanks also for your prayers for the support I am giving as a trustee of the mission I worked in for 25 years from 1963.  This is a new and demanding situation.  Hopefully you will have picked up on some of the story in my news last weekend.  The organisation has been acting extremely generously supporting small churches but much more generously that it could really afford.  So we are engaging in a complete review of activities and a major cost-cutting exercise.

The trustees need wisdom though this process.  We may have to disappoint a few churches that have expected further financial support as we put our house in order.  We also need cooperation with various people in order to bring affairs under control as soon as possible.  Please pray for the Lord to prepare the way in these negotiations.

Meanwhile this extra urgent activity helping that organisation, though probably only for a season, means it is harder to attend to my own rural mission work.  So please bear with me if letters are not immediately answered.  I am still looking for remote administrative assistance.  Do you know of anyone with skills, a little time, and who could work from home networked to my office?  I have been giving serious thought to creating a part time paid post but this would mean raising at least £4,000 per year and we have already been operating with a negative budget during these years since the credit crunch.  Again your prayers will be appreciated.

I did write 'Finally', but may I add one request linked to the prison choir.  In the past you have prayed for 'C' who used to be a problem at times.  He then improved massively but his conduct deteriorated when 'M' joined.  They were two of a kind.  'C' then got into trouble and might not be able to come back to the choir.  'M' has not understood either the need to be a choir member rather than a diva, and has some difficulty with authority.  Please pray for both.  Frankly I would not be sorry if 'M' leaves the choir (he was not with us last week), though this would mean him losing losing out.

Thanks,

Barry

Helping to prepare others for ministry

Dear praying friends,

I am starting to write this at almost midnight on Saturday 30^th June and I apologise to those who like to look it up on the internet on Saturday evenings.  I am sitting in a hotel room in Nottingham and my only link with the internet is via my mobile phone so I am not sure whether the connection will be good enough for sending out the emailed version.  So if this comes to you late please understand and forgive me.

A busy week has culminated with a weekend of activity with students on the Congregational Federation’s Integrated Training Course.  It started at 7.30pm on Friday and part of my responsibilities was to lead the opening worship.  I had felt that the Lord wanted me to speak on “Why are you here?” and encourage the very mixed group to reflect on how we engage with God’s purposes.  The question was one of three questions that three Dannite spies put to an isolated un-named Levite who had got himself engaged as a private priest and compromised with idolatry.  I think he could not have given the questions much thought as he was later taken by the same spies and turned into a tame priest for their purposes and still embroiled in idolatry. 

A similar question was put to Elijah after he had fled in fear from Jezebel and saw no point to living, feeling that he was the only one who feared the Lord.  How wrong he was and how blind to the fact that God was still enacting his purposes to bring his people back to himself.  We reflected on the twin dangers of drifting aimlessly and/or allowing discouragement to rob us of victory and joy.

On Saturday morning and afternoon a colleague from an urban context and I jointly engaged in a shared discussion on rural and inner-city ministry and mission, while the audience of tutors and students interacted with us with considerable enthusiasm.  This covered two 90 minute sessions and worked well.

Now I am putting the finishing touches to the service plan for the morning meeting here in Nottingham with the students, tutors and members of the local church.  The theme I have felt led to is one that looks at excuses.  We use far too many as we seek to justify ourselves before God.

I hope you managed to catch the 5 seconds of me conducting the choir on Channel 4 on Monday or Tuesday.  It was a shame that the piece they recorded of the choir singing in beautiful harmony ended on the cutting room floor and showed instead a rather rough rendition of a carol!  Still the film would have given a little idea of what a lifers prison experience is – though many of us felt it failed to tell much that would have been of value.

On Tuesday I took the school assembly at Yelvertoft before going into prison.  Then that evening I travelled to London ready to speak at the Salvation Army Training College on Wednesday.  After the morning and afternoon sessions I sat a while and talked about scripture with a special advisor to the House of Lords.  Then it was on a train again heading for East Sussex.

Many reading this as an email attachment will know that my first 25 years of Christian ministry were partly spent in a rural evangelistic mission.  After I left the organisation certain matters came to light that ultimately led to the founder/director of that mission serving a prison sentence for shameful acts.  After the court hearing I did what I could to help the trustees understand how the organisation’s culture and management had contributed to multiple acts of abuse.  Resulting from this a friend who had been one of the co-writers with me of Time for Action had been invited to become a trustee and had ultimately become the Chair of Trustees.  Two weeks ago I received a phone call in which she asked if I would join her and the only other active trustee in seeking to sort out problems into which the organisation has more recently found itself.  I was soon to realise how critical the situation was, calling for some urgent decisions and actions.  So it was that Wednesday evening and most of Thursday was spent exploring the scope of the problems and exploring how the problems might be resolved.

So it was a very full week yet again, and I am sure that were it not for your prayers it would have been even more challenging.

Praise God

·        for safe and smooth travel, especially in a week when the weather made travel difficult for thousands;

·        for the attentiveness of children and staff at the school assembly;

·        for yet another good session with prisoners in Gartree;

·        for a really positive time with Salvation Army cadets as we tackled the difficult subject of sexual abuse in a Christian context, how to reduce risk and support victims;

·        for the commitment of trustees and staff in the mission I am helping;

·        for the wonderful fellowship at Nottingham with students and tutors and for my fellow guest speaker who shared the two Saturday sessions.

Please Pray…

·        for the life of Yelvertoft School and the team from the local churches as we take assemblies.  Pray that young hearts will see Jesus in us and be drawn to him.  We cannot use these occasions for preaching or evangelism, but we share the good news through our relationship with the children and school;

·        for the members of Gartree Male Voice Choir.  A prisoner (R) who was recently transferred back to Gartree and who was and is again a member of the choir has served almost twice the length of his tariff (minimum sentence) and is perplexed why he is in this situation.  For most of the prisoners the choir is the most positive part of their weekly life;

·        for the Salvation Army Cadets who this weekend will be commissioned and go out as new officers to various SA churches;

·        for wisdom for the trustees of that mission organisation;

·        for the Congregational students as they explore their vocations and work through the training programme;

·        for my work in prison on this Tuesday;

·        for an important discussion in which I will be involved on Wednesday;

·        for meetings on Friday and Saturday in Nottingham when some of those on the training course will come before the Pastoral Care Board, with some hoping to be approved to become ministers.

Prayer is so important.  We dare not serve God and his people in our own strength.  Please pray for me and Doreen; it will be good to have more time together this week.  Pray that God will continue to sustain us spiritually, and in every other way.

Thank you.

Barry