Easier Simple Rules

Easier Simple Rules

I am writing this on Friday morning following the sudden announcement of new regulations for people in the northern parts of the UK.  As people are reeling from the lack of advance notice, and quickly changing their plans to comply with the new regulations, interviews with local people quite often express a wish that the rules could be made more simple.

While that would be desirable, the task of simplifying them is  itself complex.  In this current situation, the latest rule changes are designed both to keep people safe and to avoid a complete lockdown.  They have also been introduced because of apparent failures to comply with social distancing, though this may have been complicated by housing issues in some places.  Where I live it is impressive how most people in the small town respectfully step aside to allow others sufficient safe space.  At the same time, I still see groups of young people carelessly moving around in small mobs.  Would they behave differently, I wonder, if someone in their peer group was struggling to survive or had already lost the battle?

Interestingly, the Bible has something to say on the topic of keeping the rules simple.  In the times of Jesus on earth, the Pharisees had a reputation for creating complexity regarding the Law of Moses and how this was to be interpreted.  Matthew 22:37-40 and Luke 10:25-37 record similar incidents where Jesus was asked to provide clarity in understanding the Law.  On both occasions Jesus points to the simple summary, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind... and love your neighbour as yourself”

In the account in Luke, the answer Jesus provided to his question failed to satisfy the enquirer.  Clearly insufficient detail for a lawyer!  He sought greater clarification, which then led to possibly the best known of all the parables Jesus told.  We know it as the Parable of the Good Samaritan.  In the story, two men who could have been expected to act with compassion towards a badly injured man, especially because of their familiarity with the law, passed by the injured man with no offer of help.  One even came for a closer look, but still passed by.

Then a man who might not have been expected to act with compassion, did so at considerable personal cost.  At last, the lawyer got the point.  We too are expected to get the point, but sometimes sermons develop the allegory beyond usefulness, and we can miss its fundamental purpose.  It is a simple story to illustrate the effectiveness of the shorthand version of the Law of Moses.

On the issue of loving your neighbours as you love yourself.  I wonder whether the rules for managing the Covid-19 virus could be simplified to respect the needs of others for protection as if you yourself were highly vulnerable and likely to die from this disease if you were to catch it.  I am sure that the majority of teenagers do not understand what it means to be “asymptomatic” and a risk to others.  If they did understand they would surely modify their careless behaviour.  What is clear is that alongside all the work of medical scientists, doctors and nurses, the ‘great British public’ could help enormously if we loved our neighbours as ourselves.  Now that’s a simple rule we should all be capable of understanding.

As is often the case, there is a punchline we need to note in Luke 10:37 “Go and do likewise”!

Items for praise and prayer

We are delighted to tell you that Lowenna, the five year old granddaughter of our Chairman, who a few weeks ago was in a life or death situation resulting from a bleed on her brain, is now making consistent progress.  She is more able to sit and stand unaided for short periods, tried to demonstrate ballet moves to the nurses, is managing some colouring, and there are signs of speech returning. Please keep all the family in your prayers.

We receive many encouraging comments from those who have been attending the online services and Bible studies we run each week.  Some who have been attending are now going back to their church buildings, or following more local online services.  We believe there remains a need, and plan to continue these.  Click here to go to our website where you will find details and links.  You are very welcome to join us and to invite others.

Rural Mission Solutions has a need to grow the core team.  This could be done either by someone exploring a call to Christian ministry or someone with experience but sufficient time to take on at least part time work.  This is so important that I considered suggesting periods of prayer with fasting.  We are looking for someone with a love for Jesus, a sense of a call from God, an interest in rural life, and possibly technical abilities.  Please feel free to pass this information to anyone you think might be interested.  Meanwhile please pray earnestly.

Please give thanks for those who have used the link at the foot of our Praise & Prayer News in order to help us to keep going.  

Please pray for wisdom as we seek to reshape our information and training webinars and videos to fit the new situation as we come out of lockdown.

Please stay safe and stay blessed.

The Power Of a Passing Thought

The Power of a Passing Thought
It’s Saturday morning, and I woke a full hour earlier than I intended and felt that I needed.  But already my head was buzzing with things that had to be done today.  Various jobs had been piling up through the week, and some, like writing Praise & Prayer News, seemed challenging.  Usually, I have a clear sense of what I would write by the middle of the week.  But not this week.  Then, as my mind was juggling with how to plan the day and get important tasks completed on time, two things happened almost simultaneously.

The first was reading the words that a ministry colleague had written as part of a series the Congregational Federation has been publishing entitled”A Secluded Place”.  Various authors contributed to the series, and some I had appreciated more than others.  I sat on the edge of the bed, and without much enthusiasm, scrolled through the short piece that Elaine had written about a worship song in Spanish that another colleague had brought back from one of her trips abroad.  I identified with her comments about the difficulty of learning worship songs in foreign languages and how often they fail to engage and inspire in the way intended.

Clearly Elaine and her husband had not allowed the difficulty to cause the simple song to be cast aside.  She wrote about how she sang the song “to herself” (or did she mean to God as a personal act of worship?).  She had included a YouTube link so, by then intrigued to hear the words in Spanish and English, I clicked the link.  As I listened to the long forgotten tune I found myself singing along in an act of quiet worship, sensing God’s presence, and realising that in a busy day not finding time to spend in worship is foolish.

What might have been no more than a passing thought (and I had certainly not expected to give it much time) had taken hold and claimed its rightful place front and centre. 

My other passing thought was a phrase in one of Paul’s letters to Timothy.  The second letter to Timothy is full of encouragement and exhortation to be faithful in his ministry as time when many had proved unfaithful, and some in Ephesus were actually opposing the gospel Paul had faithfully taught.  While there are some verses in this letter that have found universal application, there is much that seems so specific to Timothy that it only comes to our attention at times such as the induction of a new priest or minister.

Tucked among this list of important things that Timothy was to ‘get on and do’ are the words, “... do the work of an evangelist…”.  It is one of only three references to the ministry of an evangelist that we find in the New Testament.  To me, it seems like a passing thought, a “by the way” comment.  But perhaps among all the other duties and responsibility\s to be borne by the younger man (and also by us), care was needed not to forget something that was essential.

In busy times, when there is much that is needed to be done, some things are too important to be left as passing thoughts.  To press on working through our ‘to do’ list without making time first to be still and consciously spend time enjoying and worshipping God is both wrong and foolish.  Time so spent is an investment in our lives.  At the same time to allow all that we have to do today to squeeze out our responsibility to say something about our faith and who is at its centre, is to treat lightly all that Christ suffered for us and our salvation.  The story is not ours to keep it is God’s and he wants us to share it with others.

Just a thought… but don’t let it pass.

14 Miles of Woms

The Cost of Parenting
Yesterday I was given a generous slice of birthday cake.  It was Jud's second birthday and the air was filled with the noise of children and parents having fun next door.  Covid-19 restrictions having been eased, some relatives were able to come and join in the fun.  All kinds of items such as miniature tractors, footballs, goal posts, balloons, and much, much more were scattered over the lawn.  If I had hoped for a quiet afternoon, I was obviously going to be disappointed.

This got me wondering about just how much it costs to bring up a child - not in monetary terms, though that's pretty scary - but all that time and energy demanded of a parent.  The average cost of raising a child in the UK is calculated at £230,000 or around £12,000 per year.  Add to that all the sweat and tears and the cost of parenting is demanding.  The birds that frequent my garden face a similar challenge.  Each young robin requires around 14ft of earthworms during its nest life, and earth worms are not its main food.Parental responsibilities should not be taken lightly. Watching over children as they are growing up, caring for them through illness, helping them reach their potential, comforting them when they are sad.  The list goes on and on.

We have a heavenly Father, with an incredibly large family, who watches over each of his children every day, guarding them from harm, supplying their needs, listening to their prayers.  Each one is loved far more than they will ever know.  Many forget to say thank you, but he goes on loving and caring for them just the same. His fatherly love and care is not limited to twenty years; it lasts a lifetime. Aren't you thankful?

Blasts From The Past
I was fortunate to grow up in an age when Sunday Schools were the norm - though I did not think so at the time. The weekly afternoon hour of singing hymns, choruses and Bible teaching was supplemented by 30 minutes of a church service on Sunday mornings , and the annual terror of the National Sunday School Union exams.  Yes! We used to get examined to see how much we had learned.  The free church Sunday Schools in the town competed for a prize for the best results.  But, looking, back, I am grateful for the loving and faithful teachers who willingly gave their time for or benefit.  It was in this context that I learned about Jesus dying for my salvation, and came to love the Bible stories, and was inspired by visits from missionaries home on furlough, and the missionary story books that we were given as prizes.  I wonder now whether any of those teachers had hopes and dreams that what they were sowing would bring such a harvest in and through my life.

This Sunday I will be leading the Online Sunday Service (click the link above) and drawing on some of that early knowledge, presenting "An Unlikely Host" which is the latest in a series on God's unusual choices.  As I was preparing and thinking about appropriate hymns and songs I remembered a favourite from my Sunday School days.  I plan to use it and have searched the internet for a good recording that included all the verses.There are six verses in "It is a Thing Most Wonderful". Sadly, the verse most recordings omitted goes as follows:]

I sometimes think about the cross,
And shut my eyes and try to see
The cruel nails and crown of thorns,
And Jesus crucified for me

You see, that is precisely what I did.  And it is what I still do today, indeed did just now.  It is the vision that has inspired and driven my life for most of my 74 years.  But William Walsham How included another verse;

But even could I see him die,
I would but see a little part
Of that great love, which like a fire
Is always burning in his heart

How profound is that!  The love that caused Jesus to come into this world and enabled him to give his life as a sacrifice to set me free, that love - that sacrificial love - is what is constant in time and eternity. Every day "it is new every morning".  When I slip up and mess up, it's still that same wonderful ocean filling love. And it's for me! And it's for you!  Did I hear a "hallelujah"?  How,an evangelical Anglican priest and bishop includes the words "His love must be most wonderful, if he could die my love to win".

Any way, that's enough for me for now.  I have a service to prepare and I want all that good stuff that my Sunday School teachers patiently pored into me, and all the wonderful words from Walsham How, to overflow in blessing those who connect to the internet from their homes to morrow at 9.00.  I had better get on preparing.

Thank you for taking time to read.  Thank you for your prayers, and your love and partnership as we seek to spread the good news to others within the 10,000,000 people who live in rural UK.

Stay safe, and stay blessed,

Rev Barry Osborne
CEO,Rural Mission Solutions
411h July 2020   

Because you praed! Discover the power of your prayers

Because You Prayed

Prayer is not just a privilege, it is extremely powerful.  One of my favourite passages of scripture is Acts chapter 12 verse 5 where we read “So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.”  Herod was determined to stamp out Christianity, as the followers of Jesus became known.  He had already had James, the brother of John, killed.  Discovering that this was a popular political move, he had targeted Peter, who was probably seen as the leader of this new religious movement.

Peter was arrested, put into jail behind two locked doors, soldiers chained to his right and left sides, and two more soldiers on guard at the gates.  To avoid the soldiers becoming weary and careless, they were changed every six hours.  The writer of the Acts of the Apostles clearly wants us to understand that this is an impossible situation.  Within a few hours, Peter would certainly be killed. BUT...  (How I love this verse).  It neatly falls into two halves.  The first half declares the impossibility of the situation.  The second half explains that all things are possible when we pray. Peter was miraculously delivered out of this impossible situation and the writer wants us to know what made that happen.

Quite frequently, I hear older and sometimes infirm Christians declare that they “can only pray”, as if this is a tiny contribution to the ministry.  Pastors, evangelists, and pioneer missionaries all bear witness to the value of having faithful prayer warriors.  The apostle Paul, amongst these, specifically urges people to pray for him in at least six of his letters. No wonder that we do the same today.

Because you have prayed we have seen difficulties rolled out of the way, problems resolved, people brought to a saving knowledge of Jesus, Christians motivated to share the gospel, and so much more.  Because you prayed.

Back in 2013 I was asked if I would come to the aid of the mission in which I had spent the first 25 years of my ministry.  Having been blighted by illegal acts of two successive trustees, what was once a significant force in rural evangelism had become largely denuded.  There were no longer any staff evangelists, its support base drastically reduced, and its financial assets almost fully spent.  Linked with this was the trusteeship of a house and land which had been left to the Mission in 1979 but which remained occupied by the daughter of the former governing body member whose Will provided the legacy. Thirty four years on, what was intended as an asset had become a significant liability.

A few weeks ago I felt it was important to ask you to pray for a resolution to this dilemma.  The house and land were badly neglected because the trustees of the Will were left no funds to manage the estate.  The first request for prayer, a few years ago led to a request from two neighbours who wished to purchase small plots of land to extend their gardens.  That enabled accumulated debts to be paid off, leaving a tiny balance at the bank.  Then, as prayer continued, the opportunity to sell the property and invest the funds seemed possible.  But the plan was thwarted by opposition from the daughter, even after she had to go into full time care.

More prayer was requested.  Last October, the Court brought the opposition to an end and this week the property was finally sold, lifting a heavy burden from the shoulders of a fellow trustee and me.  It was sold for more than we had imagined, because of the neglected state of the house and land.  Someone saw its potential.  The funds from the sale remain in a private trust for now but at some time in the future (currently unknown) they will provide a useful asset that will bring fresh life to what is currently inactive.

Because you prayed.

A few weeks ago, we brought the news that the five year old granddaughter of our Chair of Trustees in Rural Mission Solutions had suffered a stroke and had been airlifted from Cornwall to a Bristol Hospital.  Her condition at that time seemed hopeless, BUT prayer was made for her recovery.  I suggested setting up a prayer network using WhatsApp, an communication application available to modern mobile phones.  As the news went out, friends around the country also shared it through their own churches and friends, just as we also shared the situation with you.  Since that day, scores of people have been praying for Lowenna through every day.

WhatsApp has served to keep us informed, and we have been excited to learn that against the odds, Lowenna has made amazing progress.  She is not yet “out of the woods” but various parts of her body are waking up so that she has some movement and can breathe unaided for much of each day.  The target now is to see her able to take food through her mouth in the normal way.  Doctors are amazed, family members have been encouraged, and I have shed a few tears of joy along the way.  Because you prayed.

When we pray impossibilities turn into practical experience.  So, here are this week’s prayer requests.

Firstly, let us give thanks for all God’s blessing and the many answers to prayer we all experience.  Give thanks for the two answers to prayer described above.

Please keep praying for little Lowenna.  Don’t give up.  Pray for her two younger sisters still in Cornwall with grandparents.  Pray for Dan and Tracy as they try to balance being in Bristol to support Lowenna and in Cornwall for the other two children.  The physical, mental, emotional and spiritual stress on them has been enormous.  Pray that they will experience a deep sense of God’s presence and help.  Pray also for Gordon and Jane Banks, our partners in Rural Mission Solutions.

Pray for Elizabeth and me, as trustees of the Will, as we seek to look after the funds from the house sale.  It may be several years before any of this money will be available for the Lord’s work, so we have to invest it wisely.

Give thanks for blessings on our ministry over recent weeks. Our regular online ministry is being well received and we continue to receive messages about how the talks and songs have touched those who watch and listen.  We plan to continue the early Sunday Morning  Services for the immediate future.  Pray for guidance as we plan these.  Pray that God will bless his word to the hearts of the online congregation.  Give thanks too for the effective teaching ministry on safeguarding given to Salvation Army cadets this week.

Pray that we will find the people God is wanting to work with us for the continuance of our ministry.  This may be people coming into Christian ministry who can develop understanding and skills in the form of an ‘apprenticeship’.  But God may have other plans. This is an urgent matter.  It seems impossible But…..

Please keep praying that our support base (both in prayer and finance) will grow.  We are thankful for donations and one new regular supporter through the work of Stewardship.  See the link at the end of this e-letter.  Rural Mission Solutions benefits from the relatively cost-free ministry of those of us currently working in the organisation.  But if we engage younger people in this ministry costs will rise beyond our current means.  As you give thanks for answers to prayer, please pray that God will continue to meet our needs as we step out in faith to engage others in this ministry.

Every day I find myself challenged by the millions of men, women and young people who live in the rural areas of the UK.  Most do not even know about the cross and God’s saving power.  We need thousands of existing rural churches to become appropriately missional, living out God’s call to share in his mission.  Please pray for all aspects of our online ministry both now in the current circumstances and as we move out of lockdown.

Miracles will happen…. Because you prayed.

Thank you.  Keep safe and keep blessed,

Barry