Saturday 31 January 2015

A Man (of God) or a Mouse?

Before any female colleagues suspect me of being sexists I hope to put your mind at rest.   The title of this post came about because of a recent experience I had that has caused me to ponder on my own service for God.

It started not long after I had run a Microsoft upgrade programme.  Until then everything on my laptop computer had been working fairly well.  I had been slowly archiving various documents and accounts to clear space.  I had also upgraded my broadband to optical fibre.  When the problem followed these activities I wondered whether any had contributed but that didn't seem logical.  A perfectly ordinary USB mouse had developed an intermittent fault.  One minute the cursor would move smoothly across the screen, the next it froze and the computer ‘gerdonged’.  Then suddenly it ‘gerdonged’ again and started working normally.  I heaved a sigh of relief, but almost immediately the cursor froze once more on the screen.

Consulting a technical support group failed to produce any help.  Googling revealed that others running Windows 7 had experienced the same problem. I read through a variety of suggestion and carefully checked mouse drivers and the power supply to USB ports.  All to no avail!  I tried the mouse in my tablet and it seemed to work OK for that brief trial.  I was beginning to think it was time to spend on a new laptop.  As a last resort I spent £9.99 on a new USB mouse, though I suspected this would be a waste of money.

It proved £9.99 well spent and the old mouse has now gone for recycling. “Are you a man or a mouse?” is a well-known phrase but it suddenly had a new meaning for me.  I wonder whether my mouse problem was symbolic of how God feels trying to use me.  I know that sometimes I work very well, but that suddenly (and possibly without warning) I probably fail to move in the direction God wants.  I might occasionally stick like my malfunctioning mouse.

At this stage I want to invite the women back in as I reflected on malfunctioning ‘men of God’ in scripture.  There are quite a few.  Jonah (obviously), and David made a mess of things despite once being a man after God’s heart.  What about Moses getting impatient and striking the rock twice when he was told to do it once?  Then there was that prophet who was told not to allow himself to be distracted but did exactly what he was told not to do.  Then there’s Saul who tried to compromise under the excuse of doing God a favour.  I could go on!  In the New Testament there are also examples, such as Demas (one moment praised and the next moment…. Well!).  And what about you John Mark on that first missionary journey!

Others might come to mind, but try to find a similar list of women of God and you will find that is an entirely different matter.  I don’t think that Lot’s wife or Sapphira fir the category.  There are several notable women of God in both the Old and New Testaments but the evidence seems to suggest they were more consistent than the men.  In the light of the steady increase in the numbers of female Christian leaders in many churches, not to mention the preferment of Libby last Monday, is this cause for encouragement?

The God who chose to be humiliated
In the light of recent items in the news demonstrating the anger of Muslims over cartoons of Mohamed it occurred to me what a contrast this is to Jesus.  The Bible reveals the divine nature of Jesus as Emmanuel – God with us.  But we do not have an untouchable God.  We have one who walks dusty roads, touches the ‘unclean’, washes others feet, and allows himself to be humiliated.

The Ethiopian that Philip encountered in Acts 8 is found reading Isaiah 53.  In the version he used it reads, “In his humiliation he was deprived of justice”. An earlier part of the same chapter in Isaiah describes our Saviour as “despised and rejected by mankind”  Isaiah 50:6 reads, “I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.”  How amazing is this God who chose a cross rather than a throne!

Recent Prayer Outreach Mission
As part of the Hope in our Villages programme in the villages of Yelvertoft, Crick and Lilbourne we held a special Week of Prayer from 18th to 25th January.  Seven churches were involved.  1200 homes received letters to let people know we would be praying for them and an opportunity to submit a prayer request.  Space for private prayer was provided in three church buildings throughout the week. Prayer meetings were held each day when prayer requests were shared.  We also covered the life of our communities in prayer by taking various topics for each day (e.g. schools, doctors, councillors, farmers, etc).  More details are on the church website.

Rural Mission Webinars
We plan to hold an online seminar late February.  Please look out for details coming your way.

From the diary
  • January 9-11 I attended a training weekend in order to provide support and guidance for those interested in a vocational pathway within the Congregational Federation.  It was an enjoyable and helpful weekend.
  • January 14 my broadband connection was upgraded for an extra £5 per month.  Fibre will ensure better connections during Webinars.
  • January 21 I spent the morning and afternoon at the William Booth College teaching on the Salvation Army’s safeguarding course.
  • January 18 – 25 The Prayer Outreach (see above).  On 25th I was invited to preach at our local Catholic Church and welcomed the opportunity.
  • January 28 Sunrise Ministries Trustees Video Conference.
  • January 29 I took part in an Editorial Meeting for Country Way. Have you seen the latest edition?  You can sign up for this inspiring and helpful magazine designed especially for rural Christians and churches. Please contact me.
  • February 1 Yelvertoft Congregational Church, Northants.
  • February 4 Pastoral Care Board, Nottingham
  • Much of my time this year has been spent on aspects relating to the Week of Prayer.  Consequently there is a great deal of other administration needing my attention this week.
Thank you for your fellowship in prayer.
Barry

Saturday 3 January 2015

Evidence of faith

Welcome to a number of new readers.  I hope that you all have had a good Christmas as we remember again God's gift that is too wonderful for words.

On New Year’s Day Bible Gateway made their text for the day 2Corinthians 5:17. "If anyone is in Christ the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here".  I was suddenly struck by the phrase, "the old has gone".  I wondered for a moment or two whether Paul, writing this letter to Christians at Corinth was being overly optimistic.  After all he was a man with a great vision for what the Christian life is supposed to be like. In what way did he mean that the old had gone?

I'm sure you will have heard the question, "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" Being a Christian is not about making someone 'holier than thou', or even a slightly better person; it is about fundamental change. 

A few years ago a row of Council houses in a village in Warwickshire were radically changed.  They had looked perfectly good to me before, and I wondered why they had started demolishing them. Roofs were stripped, walls knocked down, until what was left could hardly be called a shell. Then what looked like identical houses were built in their place.  Apparently some metal rods in the original buildings had started to corrode and the old buildings would have rapidly become dangerous.  While the new houses looked identical to the natural eye, they were essentially different.  A radical change had taken place. What happens when someone welcomes Jesus Christ into their lives is that a construction firm moves in and starts to make essential changes.  The old, that stood condemned goes and a new situation has taken its place in which transforming work is being undertaken.  The 'new' me is not yet complete and perfect.  The difference to the old me is that now transformation is taking place.  I am a construction site!

The question I need to ask is whether there is evidence of my faith because I am being changed.

Thinking about this radical change also linked with other thoughts I had over Christmas regarding our attitudes to others. I have been personally challenged by Philippi 2:3/4, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”  

How might that look if we applied it to our relationship with other churches that are different from ourselves?  One of the most common areas of concern I hear about from churches in rural areas is poor ecumenical relationships.  Where there is a strong and active evangelical non-conformist church in a village, neighbouring Anglican sometimes feel they are treated with disdain.  On the other hand many non-conformist churches feel that they are treated as a kind of supporting act to the ‘main thing’ by the Parish Church.

Is there evidence of our faith in the way churches or Christian organisations relate to one another?  You probably know the joke where the question is, “What is the height of frustration?” and the answer is, “Two Christians wanting to pass through a doorway at the same time!” (i.e. each saying to the other, “After you”.).  John the Baptist set the standard when some of his disciples left him to follow Jesus.  He said of Jesus, “He must increase and I must decrease”.  What might it look and work like if we considered one another better in 2015?

From the Diary

January looks like being very busy which means not only lots of meetings but also a lot of preparation and follow up activity.  Here are some immediate diary entries:

Sunday 4th – Yelvertoft Congregational Church (Covenant Service)
Monday 5th – School Assembly Planning Meeting
Tuesday 6th – HMP Gartree. (Please pray, as we have had an influx of men wanting to join the choir and this has brought some behavioural problems.  Please pray for wisdom and grace.)
Thursday 8th – Inter-Church Bible Discussion Meeting
Friday 9th to Sunday 11th I will be attending a Congregational Federation Training Weekend on behalf of the Pastoral Care Board with a view to discussing vocational issues with students

The weekend activity will mean that the next Praise & Prayer News will come after the weekend.

Among other activities this week will be scheduling and promoting the next on-line seminar, preparing a Prayer Outreach Mission for 18-25 January, and arranging a local Rural Mission Support meeting for the East Midlands.

Thank you for your prayers.  Doreen and I are grateful for the many cards and messages over Christmas.  Please keep in touch.

Barry