I want to encourage your prayers for those Christians caught up in some areas of political turmoil, whether this is in parts of Africa, the Middle East or Eastern Europe. I have mentioned before our links with church leaders in Syria, one of whom is in Aleppo where there has been significant conflict and casualties. Please pray for Haroutune Selieman and the Armenian Evangelical Church of Syria.
A few years ago I made contact with the Evangelical Baptist Union of Ukraine, asking them to provide some hospitality and support for a Christian friend who was prayer walking through that country. This they did gladly. We then had some correspondence regarding sharing our experience in rural evangelism with them. This had followed the adaptation of some of my writing by the Lutheran Church in Germany. Over recent days I have been in touch again with one of their office staff and they have asked our prayers for peace and unity. They are concerned over feelings of anger and desire for revenge. They seek to be instruments of peace in a troubled nation. Please pray.
The current Interim President of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov, is a Baptist Pastor and much respected. I cannot imagine how stressful the situation is for him, Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, and others in the Ukraine leadership at present. You may have seen the Ukrainian Orthodox priest who took a stand and has sought to prevent violence at an army camp under siege. Please pray for our sisters and brothers in Christ as they seek to act appropriately in this difficult situation. Pray too for wisdom on both sides of the situation in Crimea.
I find it difficult to imagine how political leaders manage in situations where there is considerable unrest. The natural skills required are considerable. This brings me to the topic of Vision.
Proverbs 29:18 in the Authorised Version is often a favourite text of evangelicals, "Without a vision the people perish". Usually "the people" in that context is taken to mean those who have yet to hear the gospel. A better translation of the Hebrew text might be "Without guidance from God law and order disappear". Or we might say that where there is no revelation of God's truth there is no moral constraint, leading to degeneration and chaos. But leaving aside the possible misunderstanding of the meaning of the text, I would like to take a little space here to reflect on the importance of vision.
When I did my management studies back in the eighties one of the university tutors used the expression "Helicopter management" by which he meant having the ability to rise above the immediate problem to perceive the bigger picture and see the solution, the descending again to take appropriate action. Sometimes we can be so immersed in our present circumstances that our vision is impaired. In 1Corinthians chapter 12 Paul lists various spiritual gifts within the Church and includes what might be translated as "government|" or "administration" or "forms of leadership" or "guidance". The word in the Greek text is commonly used for a pilot of a ship. It implies someone who knows the way ahead and how to get there safely.
Every local congregation could do with someone who has such skills. Without a vision of what could be and where the church should be progressing there is danger of becoming moribund, anachronistic, or moving in the wrong direction. But it is not enough to have a vision of where to go, there is also the need to know how to arrive there safely and, for church progress, to arrive there together.
We often use the concept of vision related to what could be. One of my favourite quotations is Robert Kennedy's slight adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's statement. The Kennedy version is "There are those who look at things the way they are and ask why... I dream of things that never were and ask why not". The prophet Joel foretold the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and declared that "...young men will see visions and old men dream dreams" It would be easy to think that the young men have the vision of what could be while the old men dream of what might have been. But that would not be an accurate understanding of the text. God gave prophetic dreams in both Old Testament and New Testament times. The emphasis within the text is about relative maturity. The Hebrew for old men implies those that are bearded and have become wiser with years. It does not mean the over sixties exclusively! Similarly, young men does not mean those that are immature; rather it refers to those who are adults but probably still unmarried younger men. Joel's prophecy encompasses men and women, young and old..
So fundamentally there is no significant distinction between dreams and visions. I think that the first disciples became excited about what could be as they experienced life in the Holy Spirit. How does that compare with us today and our experience as Christians and within our churches. Are there dreams and visions of what could be that inspire and motivate us ever forward, or are we blindly wandering around in ever decreasing circles?
Furthermore, since Joel's prophecy encompasses male and female, young and old, are we, within our churches, encouraging everyone to move into living out experientially this prophecy. Of course, there might well be an element of chaos, but perhaps if more felt released into a greater visionary forward looking attitude we might just possibly discover those who have that special gift in leadership that knows both the way ahead and how to get there safely. Sadly, all too often, the enthusiastic vision of youth meets with the attitude of older Christians who have forgotten how to dream dreams.
So here's the challenge. Over the next few weeks spend some time dreaming of things that could be and asking "why not?" Ask God to give you a vision of where you think your personal Christian growth should take you and ask for a vision for how your church should progress. Then humbly share your vision and dreams with those appointed to leadership in the church (or if you are appointed to leadership you could share it with your church) as you seek God's guidance. This is not an opportunity for pushing private personal agendas, so humility is essential!
Back in 1963 when, as a teenager, I became involved first in rural ministry, we had a slide presentation entitled A Vision Fulfilled. Twenty five years later when I left that organisation the vision had only been partly fulfilled as there was still so much more to be done in rural evangelism. In 1988 there was a new vision that led Doreen and I together with Monica Cook to start Sunrise Ministries,under which my work of Rural Mission Solutions operates. The new vision was for local rural churches to develop their own bespoke sustainable strategies for mission and evangelism. Twenty five years on again and there is still a long way to go before such a vision could be fulfilled. But I still have a dream of truly missional churches that fires me up and gives me a passion to share it with others.
From the diary:
Barry
A few years ago I made contact with the Evangelical Baptist Union of Ukraine, asking them to provide some hospitality and support for a Christian friend who was prayer walking through that country. This they did gladly. We then had some correspondence regarding sharing our experience in rural evangelism with them. This had followed the adaptation of some of my writing by the Lutheran Church in Germany. Over recent days I have been in touch again with one of their office staff and they have asked our prayers for peace and unity. They are concerned over feelings of anger and desire for revenge. They seek to be instruments of peace in a troubled nation. Please pray.
The current Interim President of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov, is a Baptist Pastor and much respected. I cannot imagine how stressful the situation is for him, Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, and others in the Ukraine leadership at present. You may have seen the Ukrainian Orthodox priest who took a stand and has sought to prevent violence at an army camp under siege. Please pray for our sisters and brothers in Christ as they seek to act appropriately in this difficult situation. Pray too for wisdom on both sides of the situation in Crimea.
I find it difficult to imagine how political leaders manage in situations where there is considerable unrest. The natural skills required are considerable. This brings me to the topic of Vision.
Proverbs 29:18 in the Authorised Version is often a favourite text of evangelicals, "Without a vision the people perish". Usually "the people" in that context is taken to mean those who have yet to hear the gospel. A better translation of the Hebrew text might be "Without guidance from God law and order disappear". Or we might say that where there is no revelation of God's truth there is no moral constraint, leading to degeneration and chaos. But leaving aside the possible misunderstanding of the meaning of the text, I would like to take a little space here to reflect on the importance of vision.
When I did my management studies back in the eighties one of the university tutors used the expression "Helicopter management" by which he meant having the ability to rise above the immediate problem to perceive the bigger picture and see the solution, the descending again to take appropriate action. Sometimes we can be so immersed in our present circumstances that our vision is impaired. In 1Corinthians chapter 12 Paul lists various spiritual gifts within the Church and includes what might be translated as "government|" or "administration" or "forms of leadership" or "guidance". The word in the Greek text is commonly used for a pilot of a ship. It implies someone who knows the way ahead and how to get there safely.
Every local congregation could do with someone who has such skills. Without a vision of what could be and where the church should be progressing there is danger of becoming moribund, anachronistic, or moving in the wrong direction. But it is not enough to have a vision of where to go, there is also the need to know how to arrive there safely and, for church progress, to arrive there together.
We often use the concept of vision related to what could be. One of my favourite quotations is Robert Kennedy's slight adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's statement. The Kennedy version is "There are those who look at things the way they are and ask why... I dream of things that never were and ask why not". The prophet Joel foretold the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and declared that "...young men will see visions and old men dream dreams" It would be easy to think that the young men have the vision of what could be while the old men dream of what might have been. But that would not be an accurate understanding of the text. God gave prophetic dreams in both Old Testament and New Testament times. The emphasis within the text is about relative maturity. The Hebrew for old men implies those that are bearded and have become wiser with years. It does not mean the over sixties exclusively! Similarly, young men does not mean those that are immature; rather it refers to those who are adults but probably still unmarried younger men. Joel's prophecy encompasses men and women, young and old..
So fundamentally there is no significant distinction between dreams and visions. I think that the first disciples became excited about what could be as they experienced life in the Holy Spirit. How does that compare with us today and our experience as Christians and within our churches. Are there dreams and visions of what could be that inspire and motivate us ever forward, or are we blindly wandering around in ever decreasing circles?
Furthermore, since Joel's prophecy encompasses male and female, young and old, are we, within our churches, encouraging everyone to move into living out experientially this prophecy. Of course, there might well be an element of chaos, but perhaps if more felt released into a greater visionary forward looking attitude we might just possibly discover those who have that special gift in leadership that knows both the way ahead and how to get there safely. Sadly, all too often, the enthusiastic vision of youth meets with the attitude of older Christians who have forgotten how to dream dreams.
So here's the challenge. Over the next few weeks spend some time dreaming of things that could be and asking "why not?" Ask God to give you a vision of where you think your personal Christian growth should take you and ask for a vision for how your church should progress. Then humbly share your vision and dreams with those appointed to leadership in the church (or if you are appointed to leadership you could share it with your church) as you seek God's guidance. This is not an opportunity for pushing private personal agendas, so humility is essential!
Back in 1963 when, as a teenager, I became involved first in rural ministry, we had a slide presentation entitled A Vision Fulfilled. Twenty five years later when I left that organisation the vision had only been partly fulfilled as there was still so much more to be done in rural evangelism. In 1988 there was a new vision that led Doreen and I together with Monica Cook to start Sunrise Ministries,under which my work of Rural Mission Solutions operates. The new vision was for local rural churches to develop their own bespoke sustainable strategies for mission and evangelism. Twenty five years on again and there is still a long way to go before such a vision could be fulfilled. But I still have a dream of truly missional churches that fires me up and gives me a passion to share it with others.
From the diary:
- At Yelvertoft we held our third Messy Church on 22nd February and followed this with our first Family Service the next day.
- The fortnightly inter-church Bible discussion meetings at Yelvertoft, that never cease to inspire me,are this week moving into a Lent programme every Thursday where we are exploring elements from the Nicene Creed.
- We held a Rural Mission and Ministry Support meeting for rural church leaders in north Northamptonshire, south Leicestershire and Rutland recently. There were several new leaders present and we are now building on this to give these occasions added value. I hope to see the Rugby area group restarted soon.
- I am now progressing the research into how evangelism is understood and practised in rural England.
- On Tuesday 4th March, following my regular work with life sentence prisoners at Gartree I will be travelling to Bolton where I will be teaching on Wednesday within the Salvation Army Division as part of the Army's Safe and Sound programme to protect the vulnerable.
- On Thursday 6th March I am leading a communion service for staff and volunteers at the Torch Trust for the Blind in Market Harborough before leading the first of our Lent Bible Discussion Meetings in Yelvertoft.
- Sunday 8th March Ministry in Yelvertoft. Sunday 16th - Yelvertoft and Nuneaton.
- Monday 10th - Wednesday 12th March I will be in Scotland working with the Salvation Army with my main input on Tuesday.
- Friday 14th and Saturday 15th March I will be representing the Congregational Federation at Churches Together in England's Enabling Group in Leeds.
Barry
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