let the prophets speak (1)

We have just completed a series of three Sunday evening services at my home church under the title, 'Let the prophets speak.' Our idea was to invite individuals who we believed would have a message to communicate to the church in Scotland today. I would like to capture the essence of these talks over the next few blogs.

David Robertson, minister of St Peter's Free Church, Dundee (picture above) and director of Solas, spoke under the title, ‘Secular Scotland – is Christianity past its sell-buy date?’

I was struck by the two contrasting pictures he painted of Scottish church and society. On the one hand, he highlighted the rapid secularisation that has taken place in Scotland. By this he means the effort to privatise religion and argue that it should not play any part in public or civic life. It is his belief, speaking as a historian, that Scotland has secularised quicker than any other nation in history, especially over the past decade.

Alongside this there has been a significant decline in church membership. For example, he stated that in the 1950s 1.2 million people were members of the Church of Scotland. Today this has dipped below 400, 000 and the church is losing around 20, 000 members a year. This story of decline is replicated across many streams of the church. Indeed, David said that he has been a minister for 27 years and reckons if we were to plant 7000 churches of 100 members we would only be back to position the church was in at start of his ministry. A loss of 700, 000 members in 27 years!

He argued that this rapid decline in church membership is the result of three things - concession, compromise and confusion. In contrast to the dynamism of the early church it is David's contention that we are far too easily influenced by the culture around us. He also believes that there has been a rise in biblical illiteracy that is the result of an experienced-based approach to faith.

On the other hand, David spoke with great optimism. Right at the beginning of his sermon he made the bold statement that God is clearly at work in Scotland. He believes that people are more open to the gospel than at any time in the past in the past 25 years. He also senses a spiritual hunger in the nation.

So how should the church respond? According to David Robertson we firstly need, conviction (about the truth of the Bible and the gospel), secondly, compassion (learning to care), and thirdly, Christ (discovering his supreme character).

David finished his sermon, having reviewed the spiritual and cultural landscape of the nation with the following challenge - ask God to give you his burden for the people of Scotland. He maintains it is only when we start to pray that things will begin to happen...   

read all about it (pt. 2)

Sheep and Goats by Lewis Gordon

Vagabond Press

Sheep and Goats speaks about adolescent life in its raw form but does so with an authentic voice. Lewis captures the nonchalance of youth culture (with a shrug of the shoulders or a ‘mibbe’), the challenge of social conformity, the competing tribes and the transitory nature of this stage between childhood and adult life. There is also a good mix of humour and one liners in contrast to some bleaker aspects of the storyline. For example, one of the characters starts to play ‘White Riot’ on his Walkman and attempts to walk at the pace of the drums but quickly ends up exhausted. This conjures up a great mental picture!

I am particularly drawn to Nicky, a young church goer, who tries to balance this side of life with the counter-culture offered by his circle of friends. He is endlessly teased about his faith, is nicknamed ‘The Messiah,’ and tries meekly to deflect their attempts to get him to drink alcohol, take drugs or sleep with his girlfriend, Ruth. It is clear that Nicky wants to go to church and the youth group associated with it. However, the steady drip of insults (and his own sexual awakenings) leads in a direction away from this community. Mack, his youth leader, offers counsel and support but his voice is drowned by the competing chatter from the mixed bag of characters that Nicky associates with most of the time.

This is a decent novel (Lewis’s first); the narrative drew me in and I found resonance with its central character. I have since reflected (because I am a Christian and Youth Pastor) about why I strive to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and subsequently choose to swim against the tide of the prevailing culture.

Some early ideas…

• Jesus Christ offers, I believe, the most compelling vision of how life should be lived.
• This life is centred on his character (vividly illustrated in the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 6 - "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control").
• His life, death and resurrection give it an enduring framework.
• The community of the church provides the support, encouragement and engagement needed for the journey.
• His call to ‘love God & neighbour’ lifts life out of selfishness into service.

read all about it (pt. 1)

Gatecrashing by Brian Heasley

The island of Ibiza has the dubious reputation of having more pubs, clubs and bars per square mile than almost anywhere else in Europe. As a result, hundreds of thousands of young people come every year with the aim of having the best holiday possible. This has led to many stories of excess, violence and incapacity. Gatecrashing is the account of how an organisation called ‘24-7 Prayer’ set up a base in San Antonia and quite simply began to pray. There are many heart-warming stories of how God led the team to support and help people in the community.

I have lifted the following quotes from the book because I believe they capture something of the essence of 24-7 Prayer and what it can teach individuals and the local church about the foundational ministry of prayer.

‘The reason these kinds of things happened and keep happening (stories of people they met and ministered to) is to do with a life of prayer and connectedness. You see, before we went out every evening, we prayed – I mean we really prayed. In fact our summers were immersed in prayer.’

Prayer ought to be at the heart of local church life.

‘Out of the place of prayer, mission has always happened.’

Prayer gives the church an outward focus.

‘A healthy community will have a healthy corporate prayer life but will also be full of people who have healthy personal prayer lives. People who are persevering privately are great to have on board when you are persevering corporately.’

A praying community will become a spiritually healthy community.

‘We live in a results-driven world: if we don’t see results, we can feel that we have failed. Yet so often prayer is the long haul or prayer is the secret place. When we pray with people, we get the opportunity to be involved in their secret history. We may never see the end result but when we pray, we have to trust that God is at work and that every time we pray something happens. We sow seeds in prayer that grow over time; sometimes we see the results, other times we don’t – but because we don’t see results doesn’t mean nothing has happened.’

We are called to persevere in prayer both as an acknowledgement of our trust in God and a conviction that he knows what he is doing!

glasgow @ worship (5)

My excitement at going to church reached new levels this morning! I have spent the last month thinking through the whole issue of discipleship and have focused on how we make disciples and how we create a culture of discipleship in church. The sermon that the minister gave this morning was entitled, "Building a Culture of Discipleship." His opening sentence was, "Jesus is here to make disciples who make disciples." I sensed God's blessing and encouragement through this message.    

Church: Whiteinch Church of Scotland

Denomination: Presbyterian

Date: February 3 2013

Time: 10.30am

Service: Morning Service

Congregational Make-Up: Whiteinch Church is a small family fellowship (approx. 55 members) that is clearly making inroads into its local community.

Central Feature(s): Whiteinch Church of Scotland has a strong charismatic undergirding to what takes place in worship. There is a real sense of immediacy in the worship - "God is here...here to bless...here to heal...here to save..." The ministry team were present at the end to pray for people to strengthen that conviction. Although it is a small church they are led by passionate worshippers. A woman (and some children) had banners waving as an expression of worship. During the service testimonies were shared as to the way God had led the church. For example, they have been able to open a “Christians Against Poverty” (CAP) Centre in spite of having little money four months ago.

The service takes place in "The Whiteinch Centre." As I left the building the cafe at the front of the centre was busy with local people. I thought it was significant that here is a community of Christians meeting to worship in close proximity to their friends and neighbours. This is what the church should be about!

Stand-Out Moment: After a time of worship a woman led the church in prayer. There was strong sense of the heart that this group of believers has for the community of Whiteinch. The church prayed for God to bless businesses, the schools, and the people of the area.

Conclusion: As I look back over the last four weeks I feel that I am a very privileged person. I have met some good people, appreciated worshipping in a number of church traditions and have had the opportunity to study central issues of church life. The minister's main teaching points this morning from Mark 1:21-2:12 were:

Intimacy with the Father is essential.

Jesus is full of compassion and willing and able to heal.

Jesus is the man in charge of all things.

Taking those thoughts into a new season of ministry would be a very good starting point...