I hope you will enjoy this challenging article as much as I did:

“I have learned something in recent years. People come to cherish words like atonement and justification when you expose them to other words like bloodguilt and reckoning.

I’ve tried to teach gospel-centric words effectively as stand-alone concepts. It has produced a few amens, yet lives were not radically altered toward God and the good works he has prepared for us to do. I was serving coffee at breakfast, rather than arriving with cool water as people fled from within a burning building.”

Read more at  Challenging the Powers of Death with the Gospel of Life – The Gospel Coalition Blog.

It is almost 100 years since Roland Allen published his at the time intensely controversial book, Missionary Methods, ours or St Pauls?  It is a book that has been strikingly influential with today both those from the “missional” wing of the church and is still cited and read both by those who advocate a return to the “New Testament Model of the Church” and modern day apostles.  It is a book that is well worth reading, but it is one that even if you have not read it, the chances are high that you have been influenced by ideas made popular by it:

More than likely, you have been influenced by Roland Allen if you:

have ever talked about church planting movements

have pondered church multiplication

believe churches can be indigenous from the moment of their birth

have considered the role of the Holy Spirit in new churches and in missionaries

have despised the thought of supporting paternalism

have realized that church leaders can be both thoroughly biblical and effective without lengthy periods of training (divorced from their people) and without financial support from sources beyond their churches

have advocated that Spirit-empowered national believers generally are able to carry the gospel farther and faster than missionaries can among those nationals

have believed the missionary practices of the New Testament Church reveal principles that are applicable today, and not simply a description of an Age long gone

READ MORE at Missiologically Thinking » Roland Allen: Part 1, The Man.

Adrian’s blog has done a great job of both tracking and encouraging the growth in the number of Christians, churches and ministries that are willing and eager to own the two labels of charismatic and reformed.

The apostle Paul was someone we could describe as being both reformed and charismatic. He wrote Romans 9, and spoke in tongues more than you do (1 Cor 14:8). He was also, perhaps above everything else, a missionary.

Following his example, ministries like New Frontiers are wanting to hold together moving in the gifts and the power of the holy Spirit whilst remaining firmly anchored in the doctrines of grace, all the while seeking to further the mission of making disciples of all nations. It’s how Paul did it after all.

One aspect of the life of Paul that perhaps isn’t being celebrated or advertised quite so prevalently though, is Paul’s economics, namely, how did he fund his mission?

We might expect him to be supported by his church, or perhaps to have drawn a healthy income from the conference or speaking circuit… what we actually find though (for example in 1 Corinthians 9, and 1 Thessalonians 2) is lots of hours of manual labour, tent making actually, to pay the bills. Why did he do it this way?

4 Big Reasons Paul Self Funded:

1) So as not to put an obstacle in the way of the gospel. Paul made it so no one could say to him, “You’re only telling me this because you’re paid to.”

2) To make the medium of the preaching plus the message of free grace match up. He brought a gospel of free, unmerited, unearned and unpaid for grace. He therefore chose not to charge for the bringing of that message.

3) To incarnate into the culture he was trying to reach. Paul wasn’t a weird missionary from abroad in a suit, he was the guy you just bought a tent from. His connections through business were surely one part of his mission, and an easy introduction into the city he was trying to reach.

4) He was giving an example to imitate. For all the young guys in the new church who were still sponging off their parents, Paul said, ‘do what I do’. Graft, sweat, earn your own bread.

There are other reasons we could cite, like not wanting to be a burden on the church, or being able to support others himself. Self funding was key to Paul’s strategy.

Perhaps to complete the Great Commission task, and see our continents of America and Europe re-won, the next missionary surge is going to have to include multitudes of missionaries who aren’t only reformed and charismatic but who also graft and sweat to fund themselves and the mission.

Reformed? Great! Charismatic? Praise God! Missional? Go for it!

Just one thing, who’s paying the bills?

Andrew Brims is helping a Salt & Light church plant in Badajoz, Spain. He works as an english teacher, and blogs at www.andrewbrims.wordpress.com.

My friend Brian Mowrey writes:

“In my last post, I mentioned we (Jubilee Church St Louis) have spent more money on evangelism in the past, yet were less effective at reaching the lost and adding them into our community than we are now. The main reason why that’s true is because we focused most of our energy on DOING evangelism versus BEING an evangelistic community . . .

When you’re focused on doing evangelism, the goal is to get people to act out certain behaviors or to do activities (passing out tracks, prayer walks, street evangelism, etc), while being an evangelistic community is about living out an identity that goes well beyond the activity itself. You can teach people to evangelize and they can go out and do it, but never know the heart behind evangelism . . .

An evangelistic community is one that is built around the mission of Jesus to seek and save sinners (Luke 19:10). . . a key component is being a community that is built to attract and welcome in sinners. When part of the identity of the entire church is to be a place that welcomes sinners amongst them, that becomes a very powerful witness and very attractive to those who do not yet believe. You become the kind of church that NATURALLY attracts sinners versus one that almost needs to pretend to attract sinners.”

 

More at Building an Evangelistic Community

In a sermon from the series  The Christian’s Duty in a Hostile World, John MacArthur connects two glorious truths: the centrality of Jesus’ resurrection and that “faith cannot be removed or detached from the realm of real life.”

It is no great surprise to me that I enjoyed Bob’s book so much,  or that he seems to be enjoying mine.  For while their subjects may seem disconnected at first glance, in reality they have everything to do with each other!

The truth that lies behind Bob’s view of both the individual’s need for transformation and the need for the church to impact society is well expressed by MacArthur:

Salvation is not just forgiveness for sins. Salvation is a new order of life . . . when we understand salvation in a biblical way, we must understand that salvation effects a whole transformation of life. It is not just the forgiveness of sins, it is the transformation of life.

MacArthur goes on to explain that our woeful neglect of the resurrection has led to a terrible misunderstanding:

You might be interested to know that as central as the cross is in Christianity, it was not really the central focus of the early church. The early church saw much more in salvation than just the moment at which Christ atoned for sins, the moment in which He died on the cross. The early church saw salvation in much broader terms than that. The early church saw salvation as something that only began with the forgiveness of sins and led to a life transformed into obedience and consummated in the glory with Jesus Christ. It is interesting that even history sort of reflects this. In his book, Civilization, author Kenneth Clark shows that the cross as such was a very late symbol in Christian art and Christian culture. When we think about Christianity, we think immediately about the cross as the symbol of our faith. You might be interested to know that as far as that book, Civilization, determined the first appearance of the cross in Christian art or culture occurred in A.D. 430, all the way into the fifth century, on the doors of the church at Santa Sobina(?) and that that cross was a very small little cross inset into some piece of Christian art.

The early church did not focus on the cross. The early church focused on what great event? The resurrection. It focused its attention on the resurrection. And consequently its preoccupation was not with the point at which sin is forgiven, but the point at which new life begins. And the resurrection is that point. We, of course, died in Christ spiritually and in that death the penalty of sin was paid. But we also arose in Christ, says Paul, to walk in newness of life. To be saved then to the early church, and surely to us as well, was not just to have your sin forgiven. It was not just some transaction which dealt with your guilt. But rather to be saved was to be delivered from the power of darkness and to be translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. In other words, it was to enter in to an entirely new kind of life, to enter into a new sphere of existence. Salvation is not just atonement. Salvation is not just forgiveness. Salvation is regeneration. It is transformation. It is the imparting of a new kind of life, the life of God in the soul of man.

Why do so few Christian preachers today grasp this fully?

But MacArthur doesn’t leave us there.  He goes on to explain that if life transformation has happened in you, then good works are the inevitable result.  As Bob Roberts likes to put it “We serve not to convert but because we are converted.”

MacArthur then explains that every single Christian has a unique contribution to make to the Kingdom effort.  I can almost hear Bob talking about using your job to connect to the nations:

So you have a special gift. It’s a combination of the colors, as it were, on the palette of giftedness that come together to make you unique and there’s nobody like you, absolutely no one like you . . . So you take that unique gift in a unique ministry with a unique effect with a measured amount of grace and a measured amount of faith and then you add your physical capabilities, your training, your background, your opportunities, your environment and all your influences and you function like nobody else…nobody else. That’s why there’s nobody to replace you if you don’t function. That’s the extent of spiritual gifts.

So there you have it: Because salvation is not only about forgiveness of sins but the start of a new life begun by the resurrection of Jesus, Christians have a duty in this world to spread that new life, not only by preaching but also by acts of kindness that stem from a transformed heart.

I am sometimes just a little embarrassed these days about the so-called “Warnie Awards.” They are something of a reminder of the good old days of Christian blogging, when almost all of us knew each other, especially the ones that were not political bloggers. Sometimes back then the online blogging community felt more connected. There were certainly a lot more links and interactions with each others posts flying around. It was of course much smaller, and basically much friendlier. With my tongue-in-cheek I started something called “The Warnies.” Basically the idea was to recognize blogging excellence in others and to continue my mission to point out great resources to my readers. Sometimes we really rose to the fun behind the idea and people even posted mock acceptance speeches. These days the Warnies largely live on as a gadget in my sidebar that automatically promotes links to individual posts on the sites of previous winners. It is very rare for me to award a new Warnie, not least because I don’t want to swamp you. I find that I look at it myself most days to check up on what my favorite bloggers are saying. But from today a new blog has the award and will be appearing in the side bar: GlocalNet.

In the past week I have had the privilege of meeting Bob Roberts who is an extraordinary man. He is the pastor of a Texas mega-church which has several daughter churches. But that is not the most remarkable thing about him. Through a series of God-ordained co-incidences and the guiding of the Spirit, Bob has found himself moving in worlds he never imagined he would. He has some incredible friends, and has made a remarkable impact as he has laid aside ingrained fears and prejudices to work to demonstrate the love of God to people that Texans are really not “meant” to get along with! But more remarkable even than that is Bob the person. I have not spent very long with him, but I instantly recognized him as a brother. He is humble, passionate, and clearly loves the Lord, loves Christians of different backgrounds, and loves the varied people of this world who do not yet know Jesus. Bob is now a new friend of mine, and I am very sure that you will find his blog posts edifying and at times challenging to you. I have already started reading one of his books, and I am sure that they are going to also prove very helpful.

I am continuing to enjoy the installments of Terry’s video series.  This segment talks about the various ways in which we can find ourselves drifting away from absolute Biblical truth.  I do encourage you to watch all these videos.  Here are some extracts from today’s video:

“In an endeavor to be relevant . . . not just quaint and supposedly out of date…it is possible to move away from the unchanging truth. It is important to hold to Scriptures relevance…we have to work hard to translate Bible stories into the present world. Or it could be in an endeavor to give more time to worship, enjoying the presence of God, charismatic experience, you think we don’t have time for the preaching. We have always worked hard at being Spirit and Word. The experience of the Spirits presence, but also the preaching of truth. Without this we would be vulnerable to drift. . . You can find yourself being pushed away from biblical norms into reflecting the culture, being more acceptable to the man on the street, more plausible, therefore you leave some of the more difficult parts of Scripture . . . The Bible is an objective, authentic authority, it is not really for us to make choices about our preferences. . . We have tried hard to submit ourselves to what the Bible says. . . What men and women need is to know what God thinks and what God says, and the Bible perfectly expresses that for us”

Lex, who has been my friend for twenty years recently wrote the following article for the Lausanne website about Jubilee Church Capet Town. I can also let you know today that on 31st October this year I will be preaching in their evening service. Pray for me as it will be my first trip to Africa. I want a little bit of Africa to get inside me. I love Africa as it gave me both my wife and my pastor!

Since the birth of the new South Africa in 1994, the country has been affectionately referred to as the Rainbow Nation. This represents a celebration of the rich diversity of cultures, languages and races that make up the nation. Over the centuries Cape Town has become a real melting pot of cultures, and Jubilee Community Church reflects and celebrates this diversity as a local church community. . .

via Urban Mission and Reconciliation – Jubilee Community Church, Cape Town | The Lausanne Global Conversation.

Simon Pettit once preached a movement transforming sermon here at this conference on remembering the poor. Dave asked the question, how have we done since?

1 in 4 families struggle go get food on their table in the USA.

In the UK inner cities half of the children live near the poverty line.

Dave took us to Isaiah 58.

What is the broad context?

Everyone was expected to be involved in the care of the needy. There was no welfare state.

We are told to give the poor whatever they need. Deuteronomy 15. Personal and civic life is meant to be marked by generosity. The poor were meant to stop being poor. The freedom from poverty that the year of jubilee represented was not just about a handout. They were given grain and or livestock to help them take responsibility for themselves. Concern in OT is not just individual righteousness but social righteousness. OT asks what has the people as a whole done wrong. Corporate sin is discussed. How have you cared for others?

Broad context is that the poor are cared for. We are meant to be an example of what it would be like if God lived among his people.

What is the immediate context?

They look like they are doing the right things. They pray a lot. Seek God. Long for his presence. Fast a lot. But there is a big problem. They do not care for the poor. We tend to think ministry to the poor is a secondary role to get to when we can. Isaiah puts a much higher priority on it. He says it is an indication of where your hearts are at.

What is our motivation to be for caring for the poor?

A clue is in the term fasting. Our first motivation is worship. When you come to the cross, you understand the heart of the gospel: he who was rich became poor so we who are poor could become rich. When you care for someone who can’t pay you back, it draws you closer to the Father. Giving money causes us to rejoice. Again, it’s because we draw close to God. Prayer, fasting, giving and caring for the unlovely should be characteristics of the people of God.

It enables us to avoid Gods judgment. Paul warns the Corinthians that their lack of care for each other had led to judgment. If we do not care for the needy, and instead horde our blessings, God may lift his hand of blessing. This should therefore be at the heart of our discipleship

How do we go about it?

Isaiah says, v6. Loose chains of Injustice. If anything is stopping people getting clothing shelter and food it should be challenged. Break every yoke.

If men and women are treated like animals it must be stopped. Where structures or laws are unjust they need to be changed. Good laws and systems foster good behavior and bad laws foster bad behavior. For example the slave trade was legal, so many were involved in it. Only for 100 years have women been allowed to vote in the UK. That previous unjust law brought problems between the sexes.

Salt must be as pervasive as sin. Sin get into structures. We must be aware of injustice in our society. Some must learn to bring change.

We get filled with the Spirit so that we can burst out of our churches and into the world.

V7 care for individuals. Share your food with the hungry. Care for your own family first.

1 Tim 5:8. If you don’t care for your family Paul says you have denied the faith.

V10 spend yourself. Personal involvement. What about your street, workplace or school?

God is after your heart primarily.

Ultimate expression of love is the preaching of the gospel. But that is not an excuse for not caring for the poor. Bible assumes we will do both. You can care for the poor without putting at risk everything else you are doing. Sometimes it’s fear that holds us back.

We extend mercy but demand responsibility. Don’t just continue to bail people out. Rather help someone take responsibility for their own life.

If we would do what the prophet asks what might happen?

• God promises to work in you. V8 healing appears quickly. Our needs will be satisfied in a desert v11. Even when it’s difficult God can help us be like an oasis
• God promises to work though you. Light will shine to the Gentiles. People will be drawn to us. As we care for the poor authorities ask what are you doing. Nobody else expects transformed lives. If you want to build relationships with your local authorities then care for the poor. More influence and evangelistic strength results.
• God promises to go with you: like a reputation going before us.
• God promises to create something together with us. Corporate blessing. Rebuilding the ruins. That God would dwell with men. Communities that are known for their love for the poor. Not just mercy but transformed lives. Expressing love. Showing the heart of the gospel.

Is that center place in our hearts?

As we gathered to worship, here at the Newfrontiers Together On A Mission conference, once again God blessed us with a sweet sense of His presence. Drawing away from the challenges of daily life and to a crowd of thousands of people, it is amazing how God intimately connects with us as individuals. A prophetic word came about our expectations of what God would say and do here. We were asked to lay down those expectations and look for him in unexpected ways. We were urged not to miss what God would do.  CLICK HERE FOR MORE TOAM10 POSTS

It was then announced that at this years conference there are 38 nations represented. There are a lot of people twittering also, you can follow them all with this search I put together. If you are here, make sure you use one of the key words or tags included in this search and your tweets should appear.

Scott Marques preached on Matthew 16:13-19.

1. Gods’ passion for the poor and the lost

The revelation of who Christ is forms a fundamental foundation for the kingdom. This stirs up a passion for reaching the poor and the lost. Jesus is God with us. Our more than overwhelming need has been met by his more than overwhelming provision. Jesus tells Peter that even the fact that Peter understands who he is is a gift from God. As Luther says we contribute nothing to our salvation except the sin that God so graciously forgives.

As we reflect Christs mission to reach the poor and needy we demonstrate that Jesus work of grace has lifted us and set us in a brand new place. More than anything we can do for others has already been done for us. Dirty hands, clean hearts. Look for the toughest work we can get our hands on and get stuck into it.

Don’t be immersed in the things of the world. But we must keep in the world so we can reach them. God wants us to reach out and help the needy. We can meet a physical need and point people to Jesus. An example of this is farming Gods way. So the church in Africa is helping people to know that simply planting seed earlier can lead to a massive increase in productivity. If 2 million Zimbabweans plant on time this year, the country will not need food aid next year!

2. Gods passion for the church.

Jesus goes on to say on this rock I will build my Church. Jesus is an active participant in forming the goal of history. God knows your name. He loves you. When you understand who God is you can fulfill the purpose of your life. I can build my Church with you and this revolutionary knowledge.

The Church needs to be active in all spheres of public life. The purpose of our life is to know him and love him and serve him. Allow God to work in you to build his Church.

Are you laying a brick? Building a wall? Or building a cathedral?

3. Gods passion for the nations

God is an expansive God. He is huge. Has a purpose for every atom in the universe. He holds it all in his hand and he holds it all together. God promised to bring blessing to every nation through Abraham. Be expansive. Work for your boss as though he was Jesus. Love your wife like Christ loves the Church.

Dream about change that could come to your community, city and possibly a city far from you.  CLICK HERE FOR MORE TOAM10 POSTS

The following sermon is by Ed Stetzer preaching at Jubilee Church. The video follows my brief notes.

Engaging the culture: What does it mean for us to be on mission ?

In Acts 17 Paul finds a space within the culture to proclaim the gospel. He uses this as a bridge to share Jesus. We want to avoid being stained by the world. We must not do certain things and go certain places. But it is also true that holiness is not about being separated from people. We must engage.

Paul acknowledged their spiritual questions. Just like today the world was believing in everything. Paul understands their views and then bring Jesus. He also did this in Acts 13. Here he was speaking with the Jews and he starts in a very different place, but ends in exactly the same way. The pattern is building a bridge from culture to a bloody cross and an empty tomb. Clear and uncompromising proclamation. See Acts 14:11 in Lystra he speaks of seasons and this tied in with their religion. All people ask why are we here and what must we do? Paul did not adopt their religious beliefs or say they were ok, however. He calls them to repentance. What people find in their quest is not good. Paul was troubled. Jesus is better than the idols. Context matters. The how of ministry is in some ways determined by the who when and where of people. Look to understand the actual questions people are asking. Be ready to give an answer.

Paul understood Athens. Culture is their air we breathe. We cannot preach against culture. It’s just where we live. We don’t adopt everything. There are some things in every culture that are positive and we should adopt. Eg family. Other things we can adapt, eg clothing and music. We can live different and look similar to the world. And there are parts of every culture we must reject. Jude 3 tells us to contend for our faith. Eg what Jesus does for us. 1 Corinthians 9:22. Says become all things to all people. So we don’t compromise but we do contextualize. Some people all they do is contend. Others only contextualize and change beliefs so they seem more tolerant and less judgmental. We should cry out give me London or I die.

Acknowledged the positive and rebuked the negative things. We inhabit culture so we can be agents of reconciliation. Many go to far and never stand for the truth. But we mustn’t go the other way and not go far enough. We don’t own the gospel so we can’t change it. We can change our music style or clothing, but the message is unchanging. Paul proclaims to them. He quotes a poet. It would be like us quoting a song or film. Later he says they are ignorant. He affirms them first, but says the things people don’t want to hear. The world will never like the gospel. The world has no problem if we believe in Jesus it has a problem that we think they should to. But Jesus says no one comes to God except through him. Cross is a stumbling point. Every religion says Keller is “I obey therefore I am accepted,” but we say “I am accepted therefore I obey.” Many apparent Christians have accepted moralism not Jesus. God commands everyone to repent. People are far from God but hungry for him. People consistently create gods for themselves. We live in a world that is deeply idolatrous. They will always hate our gospel but we must proclaim it anyway.

We must inhabit and engage the gospel with Jesus. Join Jesus in his mission to seek and save the lost. Can we live sent? Go to our neighbours learn who they are and what they believe and tell them Jesus loves then and died for them and wants a relationship with then?

Downloads: Audio LoDef DVD HiDef

Terry Virgo founded Newfrontiers back in the mid 1970s. He was church planting before it was cool. He formed a missional network before the phrase was coined. There are now over 700 Newfrontiers churches spread out on every continent. Most of these began as house churches. But many of them have grown to become warehouse churches. Each of these churches and the movement as a whole is founded on prayer. It is a movement that has aimed to reconstruct a New Testament model of church, convinced from the outset that the old wineskins of formal church life simply will not do any more.

Newfrontiers embodied some of the values of the emerging church, such as being very relational, decades before Emergent began. It is charismatic, without a seatbelt, but with the brake of Biblical conviction. Yet it’s leaders were young restless and reformed in the last century, and an army of doctrine-loving, spirit-filled, missional pioneers have been arising in waves ever since. A godly pragmaticism has led to a discerning welcoming of influences from the alpha course, and the church growth movement among others.  Cell groups, missional communities, lively worship, seeker-aware meetings, and old-school mission crusades have all found their place. Newfrontiers embraces the input of many external ministries, but identifies exclusively with none of them. Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology is the doctrine textbook of choice for the movement, and Piper, Lloyd-Jones and Carson have also all been frequently read over the years.

Newfrontiers is not perfect. It has it’s weaknesses. But it is the group that I am so glad to call my home, and the family of churches that my church, Jubilee, is a part of. Terry’s sermon on prayer remains the most popular video on my blog by a country mile. It is no wonder that many American’s are keen to find our more about a movement which in the UK has shaped the meaning of the word “charismatic.”

Ed managed to crystallize this interest in a short pithy interview that is a fantastic introduction to Terry.  See also Ed’s post from which this video came for some more links:

Watch on Vimeo.

Ed lays out well the missional challenge that London represents. Could God be calling YOU to come over and help us? The world lives in this great city of mine. If you want to reach people from all over the world with the gospel of Jesus you can come here to to do it!

Watch on vimeo

At the outset of this series, I do want to make a few points.  Firstly, this whole set of posts represents merely my own point of view. I would not want you to assume that everyone in the local church I attend agrees with, or should agree with, what I am about to say.  Nor would I want you to think that anything I say implies that all Christians should hold to these opinions.  In the UK we have a long history of Christians supporting and being involved in all the major political parties, and I strongly believe that should continue.

Finally, these posts should not be interpreted as a wholesale endorsement of the Conservative party.  I am not a member of the party, nor a lifelong Conservative voter. I have voted LibDem before as a protest vote, and it is very possible I voted Labour when Tony Blair entered Downing Street (believe it or not, I cannot remember!)  Certainly, I was glad when Blair won and supported many of his policies, such as for example giving the Bank of England the responsibility to set interest rates, which was considered a brave and radical step at the time. If I follow through on my plans to write a little more about politics, I will be a critical friend of the Conservatives, not a fawning “right-wing blogger.”

It is very unlike me to make public my intention on how to vote.  Somehow it is almost “unBritish.”  So far in this campaign I have only spoken with two of my friends about how I or they will vote. I do not know how the other leaders at Jubilee will vote. In fact, I don’t think I know for sure how any of my social circle will vote. So it is at least possible that this public endorsement of one party, at least for this election, will cause me to become a pariah!  Actually, that is not the case, as for most British people our political views are held very lightly and it is very easy to be friends with people who support other parties.

It should already be obvious to my US readers from this post that UK Christians are far from united in their political views.  Not for us a reflex vote in favor of the most Conservative, right-wing party. There is a strong history in the UK of Christian support for the Labour movement, and Liberal Democrats.  This is because of a desire for fairness, and a support of the rights of workers not to be exploited or treated almost like slaves.  Much good was done through the early union movement.  We believe as Christians that we should help the poor.  Many would argue that historically that Labour offered the best policies to support the marginalized in our society.

Social justice is, however, the first major reason why I am voting Conservative this time round.  Brown has repeatedly seemed to overlook the needs of the poorest in our society. There was the nonsense of abolishing the lowest rate of tax, leading to a tax rise for the poorest working people. That alone is enough to torpedo Brown’s right to say he is building a fairer society. But Brown has also presided over a system that has increased the perverse incentives on people not to marry, not to work, and to remain on sick leave.

The Conservative policy on social justice in this election has benefited from input given to it by a friend of mine, Philippa Stroud, who is standing as a Conservative candidate in Sutton and Cheam. Philippa is also the Executive Director of the Centre for Social Justice (http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk)  and Director of the Conservative’s Social Justice policy group. New Conservative policies as a direct result focus on finding ways to lift people out of poverty and into productive lifestyles in society wherever possible. Just for one example, there is a renewed commitment to providing residential rehab for drug and alcohol addicts to help them beat their problems. This is such an important issue for our society as the last few years has seen a massive reduction in the availability of these facilities which can quite literally save a life, and can prevent the collapse of a whole family. We have to work towards building society and helping people take responsibility for the wellbeing of others. The Conservatives also seem to be committed to providing better opportunities for church and other community groups to get involved in service provision, and encouraging engagement in the community by individuals.

In addition, ending the post-code lottery and arbitrary national refusal to fund some important new medications is also a vital social justice in my opinion. The Conservatives promise to allow access to cancer medications for all patients when their doctor thinks they will be helped by them. They are also the only party to guarantee the NHS will be saved from the cuts to public expenditure that are inevitably coming whoever we vote in.

Thus social justice is one reason I am voting Conservative on this occasion, and it is perhaps one reason why some Christians would previously have struggled with such a decision. I will speak about more reasons later in the week.

I have had a great time here in St. Joseph, Missouri.  I traveled down with two men who I now call dear friends, Jeff Gates, the pastor at Living Hope Church, St. Joseph and Ben Roed, who with his lovely wife Peggy, are serving in Living Hope and are being well trained by Jeff. It was wonderful to see how clearly Peggy and Ben complement each other. They are relatively newly married, but it was obvious to see how much of a support Peggy is to him, and how her strengths will continue to complement and at times hide his weaknesses! A wife who will make you look better than you are is a gift from God.

Single men, if you think you may have God’s hand on you, make sure you marry such a godly woman who will help you achieve everything God has for you. Quite frankly, such a wife will be more important than anyone else in helping to shape you, all the time doing so in a submissive and honoring way. Beware, however, that as much as a good woman can make you, the wrong kind of woman can completely ruin you for any significant work for God.  The women I have met here, including Jeff’s wife, have all impressed me with their commitment to the cause, their warmth, and their loving support for their husbands. Anyone who claims that the women in our churches are somehow not valued and not given room to serve their Lord has not spoken to some of the incredible women we have in our family of churches, fully caught up in God’s mission and playing very significant roles.

All this, of course, makes me miss my own better half even more.  If ever a woman has had to put up with a busy husband who has needed a lot of help, a lot of “releasing” to do things like go on a two-week trip to the USA, and  a whole bunch of raw edges in him for her to lovingly confront,  it is Mrs. Andrée Warnock.  Thank you darling for being such a good wife to me, far better than I deserve.  I pray that I may be an ever better husband to you, and I long for our reunion!

Another woman I have met here was Gail Robins, who together with her husband Chris, have served me wonderfully by opening their lovely home to me.  Her passion to open a consignment store made me think of Proverbs 31:

An excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life . . .

She opens her hand to the poor
and reaches out her hands to the needy.

I was also impressed by the many Christians I met here both socially and during the meeting that was organized for me to speak on the resurrection.  Nobody anywhere has yet disagreed with my claim that we have all been neglecting the resurrection.  Yet we saw in the resurrection yesterday a wonderful tool to bring unity. As one of the  leaders of the three campus organizations that cancelled their own meetings to attend the meeting co-sponsored by Living Hope and Frederick Boulevard Church, St. Joseph’s said, “How could we refuse to listen to a talk on the resurrection of Jesus?”

Speaking of Frederick Boulevard, meeting their pastor Micah Fries was an absolute delight. One of many things that has impressed me about Jeff Gates this week is his eagerness to reach out and partner with other churches and Christian groups. Micah certainly seems to have needed no encouragement to make such a connection. He is sharp, bright, self-deprecating, willing to speak of what he sees as his own denomination’s strengths and weaknesses, and eager to learn from others. Being placed on a list of ten influential young Baptist pastors has not turned his head. I saw in this man a servant of the Lord, and it was enjoyable to spend some time connecting with him. I feel that God has given us this opportunity to meet for a purpose. I hope we can serve the Lord together in some capacity, even if it’s just engaging with each other’s online material.

It has been a great time, and as I prepare to leave for Kansas (known to me mainly in my youth for the Wizard of Oz!), I have many great memories from my time in St. Joseph. I am very keen on God’s work being done in big cities. Though this place is not a big city, however, God is also very interested in towns like this. Even its residents would admit that there is not much that marks out this place as very different from many other American cities. They were the home of the Pony Express, and a place where trade happened in early times with local native Americans, but there are few other major claims to fame. God is very committed to a place like this. He takes the weak things to shame the strong, and the things that are not to shame those who think they are something special.

I met many people who God has made to be very special indeed. This place will always have room in my heart. This is not least because it is the very first town outside my own country where God has taken me to proclaim his word. Seeing a mix of students and older adults getting excited about the significance of the resurrection we have all so failed to celebrate  was obviously the highlight of my trip so far. Please pray with me that those who heard me last night will continue to study the wondrous implications of Christ’s resurrection, and that we all may be better equipped by our Lord to share the full gospel with those we meet.

On my recent visit to northern England, I was able to interview the leader of the Newfrontiers North team. I was deeply impressed with what I saw and heard during the day as his team of around 100 people gathered. God is doing a great work in the North of England and many healthy growing churches have been planted. There was also an amazing sense of community and true friendship in the room. It was wonderful to see a group of leaders with very different gifts and personalities fused together into a team. The team laughed, but clearly also had a serious edge as they work hard together to continue the wonderful mission of seeing people meet with Jesus and be transformed by joining Christ’s church.   It was at the end of a day which excited me about what God is doing that I was delighted to film the following interview:

Yesterday I spoke about our responsibility to help people who have been affected by the disaster in Haiti. Today I am able to share with you an interview I recorded with the USA head of World Vision, a major Christian aid agency with a strong presence of 800 people on the ground in Haiti even before the earthquake.

DOWNLOAD THE MP3 HERE

Richard Stearns spoke with me today. Based in Seattle, WA, he is the president of World Vision U.S. and the author of a challenging book on the need for churches to get more involved in social justice.

We discussed the joined-up relief efforts that are happening now in Haiti. He explained what the long-term rebuilding efforts will likely entail. He also talked about the generosity of people who have been giving, but stressed the need for a long-term commitment. Towards the end of the interview we spoke about potential church adoptions that might be helpful in the future.

After the interview, I looked up the website for his book,  The Hole In Our Gospel, and found  this description of how God had convicted him through an encounter with the poor of Africa:

My sadness that day was replaced by repentance. Despite what the Bible had told me so clearly, I had turned a blind eye to the poor. Now my heart was filled with anger, first at myself, and then toward the world. Why wasn’t Richard’s story being told? The media overflowed with celebrity dramas, stock market updates, and Bill Clinton’s impending impeachment hearings. But where were the headlines and magazine covers about Africa? Twelve million orphans, and no one noticed? But what sickened me most was this question: where was the Church? Indeed, where were the followers of Jesus Christ in the midst of perhaps the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time? Surely the Church should have been caring for these “orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27). Shouldn’t the pulpits across America have flamed with exhortations to rush to the front lines of compassion? Shouldn’t they be flaming today? Shouldn’t churches be reaching out to care for children in such desperate need? How could the great tragedy of these orphans get drowned out by choruses of praise music in hundreds of thousands of churches across our country? Sitting in a hut in Rakai, I remember thinking, How have we missed it so tragically, when even rock stars and Hollywood actors seem to understand?

While the nearest thing to a hospital the Haitians have right now is outdoorsand hundreds of thousands have been displaced, how can we not reach out and help in some way? One Christian couple is blogging about their experience.

High resolution versions of photos from Haiti (all copyright World Vision; used with permission and cleared for use in church services, etc.)

• collapsed church
• Woman in pink shirt
• Outside Medical Care

Radio One chat shows in the UK are not exactly known for being pro Christian. But this video has commentary from Chris Moyles for six minutes with his team talking about his very positive reaction to watching a televised service that was a bit different to your average church (HT Peter O):

Terry Virgo has been blogging a series entitled Remember the Poor. He begins by talking about the extraordinary sense of togetherness that was experienced by the early church. I suppose I would characterize it as a sense of “brothers in arms.” There was a missional purpose that was accompanied by a relational togetherness. Sadly, we often miss one or the other of these aspects in our churches, or even both of them. The family of the church is meant to be a family fighting alongside each other in the trenches, not sipping tea together in front of a roaring fire in a cozy house. Here is an extract from Terry’s post:

The birth of the church was associated with an extraordinary splurge of generosity and freedom from possessiveness; being together seemed more important. Their needs became common. If you need it and I’ve got it, I guess you should have it. Amazing!

This has not got much to do with giving 10% to a weekly offering to uphold the minister and his needs and pay for the building not to fall down. This was radical common life. They were in fellowship, which did not mean they shared a cup of coffee after the meeting for a few minutes.

Koinonia is a fascinating Greek word. Among other things, it means partnership. It’s not strictly a religious word, but the church flooded it with fresh life and colour. Before they ever met Jesus, Peter, Andrew, James, and John were in koinonia. They were partners in a fishing firm. They owned it together. If one was in problems with breaking nets, the others would rush to help. This was not a religious response, it was a partnership reality.

That partnership or common ownership lifestyle gripped the early believers.”

Read more . . .

I’ve been sharing a number of quotes from Spurgeon’s The Soul Winner. Today I thought I’d share one which is quite striking. It argues that since conversion is a miracle, it is by a trail of such miracles we can know if someone is called to preach.

“A new and heavenly mind must be created by omnipotence, or the man must abide in death. You see, then, that we have before us a mighty work, for which we are of ourselves totally incapable. No minister living can save a soul; nor can all of us together, nor all the saints on earth or in heaven, work regeneration in a single person. The whole business on our part is the height of absurdity unless we regard ourselves as used by the Holy Ghost, and filled with His power. On the other hand, the marvels of regeneration which attend our ministry are the best seals and witnesses of our commission. Whereas the apostles could appeal to the miracles of Christ, and to those which they wrought in His name, we appeal to the miracles of the Holy Ghost, which are as divine and as real as those of our Lord Himself. These miracles are the creation of a new life in the human bosom, and the total change of the whole being of those upon whom the Spirit descends.”

— C.H. Spurgeon