spiritual space 2

last night was great. I was invited to a thanksgiving service for DECA. It is a coming together of 16 churches and 3 other ministries in Dundee. These churches signed a covenant together to pray and support each other so that the Kingdom might advance. The worship was great and Jim Clark from central Baptist preached. As people shared ,as brothers and sisters in Christ there was a real sense of the presence of God. Is God calling us to highlight what unites us rather than what separates? In this time of change we need to be seen, by the world, to love one another.

Spiritual space

I am back from a trip to Tuscany. While there we visited Pisa, and went to look at the cathedral and baptistery. It was a tremendously interesting visit.As i looked around i was struck by two different groups gathered for different reasons. A couple came in , knelt and then went to light a candle before praying silently. the woman was in tears. At the same time there was a group of tourists busy flashing the digital cameras and moving swiftly on. I am not sure they even noticed the couple. It was the spiritual and the secular together in the one instant. For the devout and needy a mystery for those rushing on ?. Is there such a thing as spiritual space, places that have been invested in centuries of prayer and reflection. Is anywhere potentially spiritual because it can be inhabited by the Spirit? Is it only those with eyes to see and ears to hear who really get it?
Like a lot of things in the spiritual journey i find myself asking questions without having any answers.

hope

I am about to take a few days of . There has been a lot of pressures recently and i am glad to be having a break. On Friday i was at the Meeting of the core team for Hope 2008. I really feel that this may be a great opportunity for Churches to work together in mission and gain strength from one another. the biggest question will be whether people are willing to set aside something of themselves for the wider work of the Kingdom. How seriously to we as churches take the idea of servanthood? Is it possible that building our church becomes more important than extending the kingdom of God?

Burma

Do you feel as helpless as i do about this situation? It reminds me so much of the demonstrations in China a few years ago. Poor people struggling for a voice. people drawn together with a common desire for dignity and hope. And yet fear and violence lurk in the shadows and the authority crushing hope is a very real one.
Where is Jesus in all this? Is He in the longing within the human heart for freedom and justice. Is he in the courage and struggle? What does this situation say to the church in the world?
These questions have been gong around in my head all day. I don't have any clear answers. i guess i will start by praying for peace and justice.

i'm back

For a few reasons i have not been posting for a while. But i am back and hoping to keep this going. last week was really interesting. i got the chance to speak at three thins , all different but with similar stuff going on. I was at a leaders day where about 15 church leaders interested in missional church came together for a day of sharing and prayer. It was really helpful and i enjoyed the chance to hear about what issues people where wrestling with. things like the nature of church, transforming communities etc. Then i spoke at the United Free church ministers gathering. the bible in a post- Christendom Scotland was the title and it was interesting to share in a conversation on how much confidence, or not leaders had in the power of the the gospel. Do we really believe that God still speaks and can transform. Lastly, i was at a day in Chryston parish church. it was to give thanks for the ministry of Martin and Ann Allan. It was a privilege to speak at that event. Martin and Ann have been a great encouragement to me and the values of their ministry; prayer, teaching and mission with a humility and compassion, have been a great example to me. I spoke on lessons from our past that can help us shape our future missionally. I believe that mission is the magnet which is drawing people together today. Unexpected and exciting conversations are taking place.
on a more serious note i noticed that it was national speak like a pirate day last week. Har Har. Why did the depressed pirate go to the opera? because he wanted to hear the high Cs.

Clan

i am really looking forward to this week. i am spending a couple of days at Clan. On Wednesday i am going to the leaders lunch and on Thursday i am doing an All That Jazz seminar. I am really looking to what God might be saying and i am praying for discernment. All that Jazz has created a fair bit of interest and i have been doing some interview stuff. It also felt good to see my article for Christianity in print.Look out for the August edition.
I was down in Cumnock at the weekend at a family wedding. It was great to catch up with folks and I hope that the Lord uses Amy and Peter in the tears to come/

What do you want me to do for you 2

Since the last post i have been thinking about the question Jesus asked James and John, " what do you want me to do for you?" I said in the last post that i wondered how we might answer that question. If Jesus were to ask us the same thing today then what is really on our hearts. Would our answer show a passion for salvation, justice, personal holiness or some other secret hope or desire. Then i began to wonder what Jesus would say if i were to ask Him what he wanted me to do for Him. I think it is worth reflecting upon. What is Jesus desire for me and my life? What would he have me do today? What is the Lord's will for your life at this point?

what do you want me to do?

I have been preparing some stuff for preaching on Sunday and then do seminars over the summer at Clan and other places. The study for the preaching is good as it gets me away from the "All that Jazz" stuff for a little while. I have been thinking about the passage in Mark 10 when James and John come to Jesus and ask a favour. Jesus replies with "what do you want me to do for you?" What a question. I wondered how you might answer it. Would our answers be ones that actually warm the heart of God? James and John kind of blew it because they wanted a little bit of power or prestige. i guess they wanted something for themselves rather than for the Kingdom. I can identify with that. I am not sure my first response to Jesus question would be for His glory rather than for mine. It seems to me that our requests may shine some light on our real passions and ambitions.
what do you think?

we all stand together

I have been away at a staff get together for a couple of days. It was pretty good. It is encouraging to hear what god is doing in Ireland and wales. It is also great to catch up with brothers and sisters from other parts of the UK. It is amazing the way in which we just click with some folks, you can not see people for a while and yet there is a connection whenever you get together. I guess it is a sign of grace, tat God gives us people who enable us to be encouraged and also help to remind us that to follow Jesus can be fun.
On a side issue what is it with Christians and ceilidhs. The team planned a staff social night which they spent a lot of time on.However, it was a ceilidh. I wish i had a pound for every Christian event/conference/camp that has ended with a ceiliidh, I don't get it. Do we think that tere is something spiritual about it- perhaps Colomba danced it in a celtic form hundreds of years ago. Maybe there is a theology behinfd dancing the Gay Gordons i give up.
Anyway, the good thing of the time away was the real sense that God is at work, sometimes in really exciting and unexpected ways. We get involved in the work best when we work together.

graduation

This weekend was a really interesting one. On Friday i did an interview with Premier radio,on "All that Jazz" then i drove up to St Andrews. Joel Edwards was receiving an honorary doctorate and he invited me to be a guest. It was a strange experience. it was not really my scene, singing in Latin and all that stuff but it was great to see a friend honoured for making a difference. When everything else is said and done it seems to me that as a Christian that my calling is to make a difference. To help transform lives, or communities so that they are better. It is easier to make a difference in the church than in the world but that is where we meet with the unexpected presence of Jesus.

At work

Today i was in Edinburgh and i had a coffee with Kenny Borthwick. He is a really thoughtful guy, and is doing some interesting work in Westerhailes. It is good to hear of the ways in which the spirit is active in the midst of difficulty and brokenness. He told me that about 16 folks are going to join the church on Sunday. I write this for your encouragement God is gracious. We also chatted about leadership and the gifts needed in the church to move forward. i wonder what you think are the most important qualities required to lead the church in the next 5 years.

passion

Over the last couple of days i have met people with a real passion for reaching out into the world with the good news of Jesus. On thursday i met with Robert Bell who works for Herald trust and shared with me his passion to create a generation of evangelists who can share faith in meaningful ways. As part of that he plans to have Luis Palau to do 3 leadership seminars in September. Today i met with Ian Black who runs Dundee for Jesus. He is a guy with a passion for networking and encouraging others.
It is good to meet people with real desire for change. What is it that sustains passion? and what dilutes it until it becomes apathy?

catching up

this has been an interesting week. On Tuesday i was at a mission Scotland meeting and we were thinking about how we could enable churches to understand their local cultures better. It was a good discussion and is ongoing.
Yesterday i was at an EA directors meeting and we were looking at the way in which we are moving forward. Today saw me chair the Hope 2008 meeting for Glasgow. It is clear that decline and difficulty has led many church leaders in the city to a place of tiredness and for some a little despondency. if we can lift peoples heads up to see that the fields are white then perhaps we would be people of hope, spreading hope.
It was also fun to see my new book in print and to answer some questions about it-more later

At last, i have managed to get this up and running. My hope is to write every couple of days and let folks know a little about where and what i am doing. Today i was at a hope 2008 meeting in Glasgow. the aim is to see churches working together locally to get involved in what God is doing in the community and make a difference. While the meeting was fairly positive it left a couple of questions with me. Some people wanted a clear list of what we wanted done and found the idea of "from the grass roots up" a hard one one to grasp. Others could see a local working but could not see that what was done locally was part of transforming the nation. how do we create a spiritual climate where it is alright to enjoy following Jesus and just doing stuff? How do we get folk to believe that by engaging in God's mission locally they are having a bigger impact than they know?