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...

glasgow @ worship (4)

The final of the Australian Open may have had an impact on Scottish Church attendance this morning but you would never had known it at Queen’s Park. The church building was well filled and the congregation was alive in worship. 
                                                                                                                                 

Church: Queen’s Park Baptist Church

Denomination: Baptist

Date: January 27 2013

Time: 10.30am

Service: Morning Service

Congregational Make-Up: There is a real family feel to the church fellowship. It is great to see all ages worshipping together.

Central Feature(s): I very much appreciated the welcome I was given as I entered the church. I was warmly welcomed at the church door; welcomed again with a newsletter and on entering the sanctuary there is a “welcome desk” with information about the church as well as a tea/coffee station. The lady at this point again was helpful and interested to make me feel at home. This is such a vital dimension of church life; first impressions are crucial.

The current teaching series is entitled “Rhythms of Life” and the theme this morning was “Consuming or Contributing” from Mark 1. One of the big ideas in the preaching was the transformation that ought to take place in a disciple’s life. This subject carried over into the service as a whole though worship and testimony. One woman was interviewed and spoke of inner difference she experienced through coming to faith in Christ at an Alpha course. The church is about to launch Alpha again so there was a strong emphasis on this course and an encouragement to the fellowship to ask family and friends to this introduction to the Christian faith.

Stand-Out Moment: After the preaching (given by the retired pastor), the current pastor invited the church to respond. Some made a commitment to Christ for the first time; others rededicated their lives to God. I was struck by the fact that what took place this morning in church could be used by God to change the future direction of people’s lives.

Conclusion: Careful planning, challenging preaching and openness to the Spirit seemed to mark what took place today. These are essential elements. We can plan and prepare (and we should) but we must allow God room to do what only he can – transform people’s hearts.