The previous Praise & Prayer News on the importance of behaviour provoked a good number of positive responses and obviously there is common concern that this is a topic that needs more airing. While replying to one email received from friends I found myself pondering on the challenge for Christians to be light and salt in the world. Some years ago a well known evangelical Anglican wrote a book for rural Christians in which he presented the opinion that in rural contexts evangelism is better though of as being salt than light. But Jesus didn't give the option. In Matthew 5:13 he states, "You are the salt of the earth...", and in Matthew 5:14 he states, "You are the light of the world...
I note that he does not say that he wants his disciples to be salt and light. WeARE both. Many writers and preachers have used these verses to illustrate how we evangelise. Light is clearly obvious and immediately distinct. Salt is more subtle. I suppose that if there was an option and we drew a straight line and wrote "light" at one end and "salt" at the other we might be able to plot somewhere along that line where we see ourselves (you might like to try that). Some of us might put our position right in the middle, but that is not how we are to understand our calling. We are to be fully light and fully salt.
Also, anyone who suggests that salt can only be understood as subtle has clearly never had the displeasure of tasting something that is too salty. It is possible to have too much light and be blinded and too much salt and be sick. Of course, we could consider that Jesus was thinking about salt in a preservative sense. This would be quite reasonable. Also, historically, salt has been found to have certain medical benefits. In food salt suppresses bitterness, increases sweetness and enhances odours. Adding salt to food does make it better. Salt is actually vital for life. The body cannot make it so we need to take it. But again getting the right amount is important.
So, using salt in appropriate measure and in appropriate circumstances is vital, whether to assist our eating, preserve against corruption, help relieve pain and bring healing, or simply vital for life. Frankly, we cannot live without it. Christians therefore should be making the world a sweeter place, and a source of healing and a counter to corruption.
Salt in Jesus' day was not pure Sodium Chloride. Sodium Chloride never loses its saltiness but if household salt was exposed to water it is the sodium chloride that would dissolve and drain out. What was left would neither taste the same or have the same benefits. Similarly if salt became contaminated by contact with another chemical it would become unpleasant. Jesus's message was about the danger of something that should be good becoming useless. We need to take care that our Christian life is not watered down or contaminated in any way.
The analogy of light needs little comment. Verse 16 makes it clear that Jesus is talking about how other
people perceive our lives. But we shouldn't be doing good because we know it is what we ought to do; we should be doing good because God's life in us makes the difference. What we have to do is to let people see the difference that having the Holy Spirit in our lives makes.
So I ask, "Are these analogies anything to do with evangelism which is about telling out the good news?" The answer is that they are not anything to do with the method of evangelism but they are about the importance of integrity. Every Christian is called to share the good news concerning Jesus. Some have the special gift of being an evangelist. But we must all share in telling others. But unless this is demonstrated by transformed lives that are still being transformed then our message will lose its power. The analogies are not so much about what we do but who we really are. Our lives already witness to the beliefs we have and the message we share. We must take care not to lose our essential saltiness or our light to become obscured.
Sunrise Ministries and Rural Mission Solutions
Sunrise Ministries is the official name of the Charity under which most of my rural ministry is conducted. Rural Mission Solutions is the primary aspect of Sunrise Ministries. Recently the Lord called home my long-term friend and colleague, Monica Cook. What does the immediate future look like for Sunrise Ministries?
Firstly, we are continuing the aspects of our ministry that Monica established. We have a small amount of funds in hand that were contributed to support Monica's ministry in the UK. The trustees wish to honour this so we are looking to appoint someone to continue her ministry. We hope that many of those who have supported Monica in the past will continue supporting the ministry she exercised. This includes child evangelism and working with rural churches to help them develop their own sustainable appropriate and effective programmes that help children come to faith and grow in discipleship.
Secondly we now have a small team so that we can continue our programme of regular webinars (online seminars). You will find a list of topics on our website. We are happy to consider adding to these topics anything that might help mission especially in rural areas. This uses modern technology to enable our core vision of enabling churches to develop sustainable, appropriate and effective programmes of mission and evangelism.
Thirdly, we are considering ways in which the same technology can be used. A sister organisation has run Sunday School by Post for children in isolated rural settings. Once we have a new children's worker in place we will explore the possibility of running regular online events for rural children. We are also aware that many rural Christians do not have much in the way of Bible teaching so we are thinking about how best to use the technology for that.
Fourthly (but not actually finally because we want to stay open to respond to need and answer God's call) we will be continuing to offer local consultations, working with colleagues in the Rural Evangelism Network, offering to run Church Away days on mission and evangelism and more. Alongside this we will continually look for men and women who love Jesus and have a heart for rural ministry who we can enable in any way.
None of the above will happen, and certainly will not be blessed without prayer and financial support. We need to grow both aspects of support and need your prayers now. Anyone who would like to know more about how they can help in any of the aspects mentioned here are invited to contact me please.
New Readers from Sunrise Ministries
If you are receiving this e-letter for the first time you will see that it contains a biblical reflection and some news with items for praise and prayer. You need to take care that it does not disappear into your spam folder or anywhere other than your in-box. Some systems identify it as marketing! Past issues are available on the blog.
If you do not wish to receive it regularly you can click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this page. That will take you off this list but not off the Sunrise Ministries database. If you are a past supporter of Monica Cook and, for any reason, you no longer wish to stay in contact with Sunrise Ministries please click here.
Other Related Ministry
New readers may not be aware of other activities in which I am involved. Many of these complement one another. Here's a short summary:
Yelvertoft Congregational Church - Having a pastoral/leadership ministry in a rural church keeps my feet on the ground and should give confidence to others that I am not just a theorist. Apart from that it keeps me accountable and I love pastoral ministry and Bible teaching. See website.
HMP Gartree - This is the largest UK prison for men on life sentences. Most Tuesday afternoons I run a small choir which brings me into contact and opens up pastoral and ministry opportunities. I also conduct occasional Sunday and mid-week services. The prison is like a village in many ways. The music aspect also provides me with a recreational activity.
Safeguarding and Pastoral Care - I have shared in writing two significant publications about the pastoral care of people who have suffered sexual abuse. Occasionally I am asked to speak on this subject, and I teach regularly on the Salvation Army's Safeguarding programme. Education on this topic is the best way to keep people safe.
Denominational Responsibilities - I have never been comfortable with any ministry that is not accountable both within and beyond their local church. This brings with it some responsibility and I serve on two national Boards for the Congregational Federation. These are the Pastoral care Board and the Inter-Church Board. The latter brings me aware of what is happening across the wider church. At a regional level I share responsibility for our mission enabler (another to be appointed soon).
Prayer is valued enormously for all aspects and activities.
Current items for praise & prayer
Sunday - Yelvertoft Congregational Church
Monday - Hope in our Villages Planning meeting (three villages and 8 churches involved)
Tuesday - HMP Gartree
Wednesday to Friday - various meetings and activities in Kent and Sussex
Saturday - CF Regional mission support meeting (might be deferred)
Pray for wisdom as I help draft constitutional documents for the Free Churches Group and also a village church in Kent. I also value prayer as over the next few days I will be preparing several talks, writing articles and planning activities for August.
Please pray that we will get sufficient regular support to enable the employment of a children's worker to build on the ministry of my late colleague.
Thank you.
Barry
I note that he does not say that he wants his disciples to be salt and light. WeARE both. Many writers and preachers have used these verses to illustrate how we evangelise. Light is clearly obvious and immediately distinct. Salt is more subtle. I suppose that if there was an option and we drew a straight line and wrote "light" at one end and "salt" at the other we might be able to plot somewhere along that line where we see ourselves (you might like to try that). Some of us might put our position right in the middle, but that is not how we are to understand our calling. We are to be fully light and fully salt.
Also, anyone who suggests that salt can only be understood as subtle has clearly never had the displeasure of tasting something that is too salty. It is possible to have too much light and be blinded and too much salt and be sick. Of course, we could consider that Jesus was thinking about salt in a preservative sense. This would be quite reasonable. Also, historically, salt has been found to have certain medical benefits. In food salt suppresses bitterness, increases sweetness and enhances odours. Adding salt to food does make it better. Salt is actually vital for life. The body cannot make it so we need to take it. But again getting the right amount is important.
So, using salt in appropriate measure and in appropriate circumstances is vital, whether to assist our eating, preserve against corruption, help relieve pain and bring healing, or simply vital for life. Frankly, we cannot live without it. Christians therefore should be making the world a sweeter place, and a source of healing and a counter to corruption.
Salt in Jesus' day was not pure Sodium Chloride. Sodium Chloride never loses its saltiness but if household salt was exposed to water it is the sodium chloride that would dissolve and drain out. What was left would neither taste the same or have the same benefits. Similarly if salt became contaminated by contact with another chemical it would become unpleasant. Jesus's message was about the danger of something that should be good becoming useless. We need to take care that our Christian life is not watered down or contaminated in any way.
The analogy of light needs little comment. Verse 16 makes it clear that Jesus is talking about how other
people perceive our lives. But we shouldn't be doing good because we know it is what we ought to do; we should be doing good because God's life in us makes the difference. What we have to do is to let people see the difference that having the Holy Spirit in our lives makes.So I ask, "Are these analogies anything to do with evangelism which is about telling out the good news?" The answer is that they are not anything to do with the method of evangelism but they are about the importance of integrity. Every Christian is called to share the good news concerning Jesus. Some have the special gift of being an evangelist. But we must all share in telling others. But unless this is demonstrated by transformed lives that are still being transformed then our message will lose its power. The analogies are not so much about what we do but who we really are. Our lives already witness to the beliefs we have and the message we share. We must take care not to lose our essential saltiness or our light to become obscured.
Sunrise Ministries and Rural Mission Solutions
Sunrise Ministries is the official name of the Charity under which most of my rural ministry is conducted. Rural Mission Solutions is the primary aspect of Sunrise Ministries. Recently the Lord called home my long-term friend and colleague, Monica Cook. What does the immediate future look like for Sunrise Ministries?Firstly, we are continuing the aspects of our ministry that Monica established. We have a small amount of funds in hand that were contributed to support Monica's ministry in the UK. The trustees wish to honour this so we are looking to appoint someone to continue her ministry. We hope that many of those who have supported Monica in the past will continue supporting the ministry she exercised. This includes child evangelism and working with rural churches to help them develop their own sustainable appropriate and effective programmes that help children come to faith and grow in discipleship.
Secondly we now have a small team so that we can continue our programme of regular webinars (online seminars). You will find a list of topics on our website. We are happy to consider adding to these topics anything that might help mission especially in rural areas. This uses modern technology to enable our core vision of enabling churches to develop sustainable, appropriate and effective programmes of mission and evangelism.
Thirdly, we are considering ways in which the same technology can be used. A sister organisation has run Sunday School by Post for children in isolated rural settings. Once we have a new children's worker in place we will explore the possibility of running regular online events for rural children. We are also aware that many rural Christians do not have much in the way of Bible teaching so we are thinking about how best to use the technology for that.
Fourthly (but not actually finally because we want to stay open to respond to need and answer God's call) we will be continuing to offer local consultations, working with colleagues in the Rural Evangelism Network, offering to run Church Away days on mission and evangelism and more. Alongside this we will continually look for men and women who love Jesus and have a heart for rural ministry who we can enable in any way.
None of the above will happen, and certainly will not be blessed without prayer and financial support. We need to grow both aspects of support and need your prayers now. Anyone who would like to know more about how they can help in any of the aspects mentioned here are invited to contact me please.
New Readers from Sunrise Ministries
If you are receiving this e-letter for the first time you will see that it contains a biblical reflection and some news with items for praise and prayer. You need to take care that it does not disappear into your spam folder or anywhere other than your in-box. Some systems identify it as marketing! Past issues are available on the blog.
If you do not wish to receive it regularly you can click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this page. That will take you off this list but not off the Sunrise Ministries database. If you are a past supporter of Monica Cook and, for any reason, you no longer wish to stay in contact with Sunrise Ministries please click here.
Other Related Ministry
New readers may not be aware of other activities in which I am involved. Many of these complement one another. Here's a short summary:
Yelvertoft Congregational Church - Having a pastoral/leadership ministry in a rural church keeps my feet on the ground and should give confidence to others that I am not just a theorist. Apart from that it keeps me accountable and I love pastoral ministry and Bible teaching. See website.
HMP Gartree - This is the largest UK prison for men on life sentences. Most Tuesday afternoons I run a small choir which brings me into contact and opens up pastoral and ministry opportunities. I also conduct occasional Sunday and mid-week services. The prison is like a village in many ways. The music aspect also provides me with a recreational activity.
Safeguarding and Pastoral Care - I have shared in writing two significant publications about the pastoral care of people who have suffered sexual abuse. Occasionally I am asked to speak on this subject, and I teach regularly on the Salvation Army's Safeguarding programme. Education on this topic is the best way to keep people safe.
Denominational Responsibilities - I have never been comfortable with any ministry that is not accountable both within and beyond their local church. This brings with it some responsibility and I serve on two national Boards for the Congregational Federation. These are the Pastoral care Board and the Inter-Church Board. The latter brings me aware of what is happening across the wider church. At a regional level I share responsibility for our mission enabler (another to be appointed soon).
Prayer is valued enormously for all aspects and activities.
Current items for praise & prayer
Sunday - Yelvertoft Congregational Church
Monday - Hope in our Villages Planning meeting (three villages and 8 churches involved)
Tuesday - HMP Gartree
Wednesday to Friday - various meetings and activities in Kent and Sussex
Saturday - CF Regional mission support meeting (might be deferred)
Pray for wisdom as I help draft constitutional documents for the Free Churches Group and also a village church in Kent. I also value prayer as over the next few days I will be preparing several talks, writing articles and planning activities for August.
Please pray that we will get sufficient regular support to enable the employment of a children's worker to build on the ministry of my late colleague.
Thank you.
Barry
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