I remember when...

Just recently my wife, teenage daughter and I walked around the village where I was born. Although my family moved to a nearby town at an early age, this is where I spent a good deal of my childhood, staying with my paternal grandmother.
As we walked familiar views conjured up warm feelings of long hot summer days fishing in the brook that ran alongside my grandmothers cottage and the smell of the countryside drifting in through the open gable end, attic window, which was my bedroom for the duration of my stay.
At the end of the street is the building which housed the Methodist Church youth club where I would spend hours running around the maze of corridors and rooms stopping occasionally to roll a ball on the snooker table or bash the ping pong ball. Further along the street, past the the "White Horse" (the local watering hole) is the village playing field, or probably better described as a field that you can play in. Where I could see in my mind the beaten up, crunched, burnt out car wrecks, the remains of the latest stock car meet as memories of climbing over the bonnet of the nearest car in the vain hope that it had some life left in it and that the engine would magically spring into life allowing me to drive at breakneck speed around the track, came flooding back.
From what I recall this never happened but that I was content to scramble in and out of the cars, pull on the steering wheels and and imagine the noise and the smell of the local demolition derby.

As I was giving my daughter a running commentary of these things whilst snapping away with my idiot proof camera the memories faded and the stark realism of the present day knocked into me with enough force to wind me and jolt me back into 2011.
The brook water was dirty and full of weed, no sign of fish only a couple of coke cans. The attic with its gable end window now belonged to someone else, the Methodist Church buildings looked derelict with the little bridge across the brook blocked off because it is unsafe and the playing field now has two goal posts and a rotting set of portacabins that were once changing rooms, with no stockcars in sight.

Now, I am not in the habit of drifting off into sentimental daydreams, in fact I have often taught that trips into nostalgia are the products of a mind that is unable to cope with the reality of living in the present. So what was this all about.
I had been giving a lot of thought just recently to some Christians from a UK Church who are constantly wishing that the movement they are a part of (that was once a living organism now more an organisation)  recovers the values and ways of the past. This type of regressive thinking is dangerous and doesn't bring about growth. It can cause movements that were once radical (meaning from the root) being unable to interpret those radical values in the light of the new day.
For those who are part of this particular Church and others like it, this is reflected in the structure of their Church life, especially in the administration where keeping the system running smoothly takes precedence over caring for the people, where loving the people becomes secondary to the facts and figures of administration and where the administrators are so out of touch with the present that their application of the system falls short of peoples needs.

Often evangelism is carried out using tried and tested outdated methods, with the usual lack of response being quickly covered up with phrases like "well we sowed some seeds today" or "this is a really hard area" or my all time favorite "we met lots of old friends". Surely the purpose of outreach is to make NEW friends, old friends are taken care of within the pastoral structure of the Church/group, although sadly they had probably voted with their feet a long time ago.
I have no doubt that God is alive, well and active amongst His prime creation human beings and is about the business of building His Church. I have serious doubts however as to the life and well being of parts of His Church or called out people who have become as organised as the institutions they left behind when the Holy Spirit gave them a wake up call so many years ago.

What is it about humans that so desperately want to box up the creator, give Him a label and tell Him how he should be running His Church?
We see His power, which is spelt LOVE, at work amongst us. We then design a system for that power to function within and expect Him to perform within our own prescribed boundaries.
As CS Lewis once penned "Aslan is on the move" whilst reminding us that "He isn't a Tame lion" (Chronicles of Narnia)

The creator is not responsible for the lack of growth in the parts of His Church that are less than they ought to be, it is our responsibility, so we must stop trying to tame the lion.

This is not a problem that just happens in some of the older groups or denominations, some of the so called new Churches have succumbed to the problem of administrators and administration, and in doing so have lost the ability to interpret the values, that caused them to be so radical in the first place, in the light of the new day.

This is a time to let Aslan roam free among us, to be open to fresh ways, to flow with the Holy Spirit. To deal once and for all with the fear of change and to sack, get rid of, kick into touch (or alternativley pray for them and counsel them) dominant administrators and their administrations.

It is interesting to note that administrators don't appear in the list of the people gifts that Jesus gives to His Church (Eph4:11-12). It does seem that the Church was meant to be able to train, minister and be built up without their input. In the light of (1Cor12:) and (Rom12:) the administrator may come under gifts of service but is still to be subject to the Apostle and Prophet, an apostolic administrator is the invention of a very fertile imagination and would come under the heading of extra biblical, but then so would a lot of things.
Administration is sometimes necessary, should never be controlling and should never determine faith and practice.

 Memories can be good and if so should be filed away for those special moments when we are allowed the luxury of them. The bad memories are to be handed over to the King of Kings who renews our mind.
Jesus is Lord!

Sentimental Hogwash

Just recently at home we started to switch on the DAB radio in the kitchen . There was a conscious decision made that we would "tune in" to a Christian station rather than listen to self indulgent hogwash that comes from most other music stations. The noise buzzed in the background for most of the time with the occasional item catching my attention, that is until the beginning of December when this particular station started its Christmas programme.
Suddenly I was gripped, and started to listen with my attention-o-meter rising to it's highest level.
It began to dawn on me that I was listening to the biggest portion of sentimental hogwash that I had been served up in a long time.
Songs about snowmen, chestnuts, open fires and the mythical character santa clause had replaced the music that was Jesus focused, honouring, praising and declaring the King of Kings.
Short talks using dubious illustrations and making dubious points to fit in with the coming season made up the rest of this seasonal cheese sandwich.

Why is it that some Christians, not all,  find it difficult to use this celebration to love and serve humanity in the name and strength of the one who's birth is being celebrated,  instead getting drawn into the sentimental hogwash of self indulgent, glutenous celebration?

Maybe the problems that Roman emperor Constantine experienced in the 3rd century A.D. are similar to the situation today. He discovered that he had a lot of unconverted converts on his hands, who had  found it economically and politically expedient to convert to the religion of the empire but desperately missed the partying of two of the main celebrations of their time.
The restless and complaining masses caused Constantine, in his desperation to please the people, to declare two new celebrations to take place at the same time as the old celebrations, one in December to celebrate the birth of Jesus and one in the spring to celebrate his resurrection.
Everything calmed down as the people realised that they could still have their two main party times, albeit with different names and a bit of religion thrown in, party to excess was still going to happen, and it most excessively did!! ( you will need to check for yourself to see how Romans partied)

Maybe for the converted convert NOW is time the time to keep the celebration simple, to love the poor, to be a friend to the lonely, to visit the elderly or the sick, to make a place at your table for the homeless or the addicted, to move away from the mountains of food, the stacks of presents and the crates of alcohol, in favour of  "a world full of starving, deprived people who are silently and invisibly looking in on the self indulgent, sentimental hogwash, begging for a scrap of food, a rag to keep them from shivering to death, and an answer to their misery, suffering, and oppression" (Keith Green 1979)

Indulge yourself in the true meaning of the season, give yourself to the work of spreading the Gospel! Proclaiming freedom to the captives! Giving them bread to eat and pointing them to the bread of life.

Oh, don't ignore it, Christmas that is, don't join the bury your head in the sand brigade, grasp the nettle, quickly (stings less) and do something positive and purposeful.

Fear based retro thinking.

For many years now I have made a point of staying in touch with international and national news on a daily basis. This is a leftover from my days as a youth evangelist with YFC and affiliated groups. It was and still is important to be aware of the the world around us, especially if your life is constantly rubbing shoulders with those outside of the Church.
Of course you may well feel comfortable in your Christian bubble and spend your time avoiding contact with the world around you, afraid that the grime might rub off, or the temptation to sin might prove to strong and your demise as a child of the King will be the final outcome.

"Take heart" said Jesus, "I have overcome the world"(the Bible).
I guess that means.. BE ENCOURAGED, DON'T BE AFRAID, BREAKOUT OF YOUR BUBBLE, DON'T LET FEAR HOLD YOU BACK.

One of the most difficult things to watch is a brother or sister who hasn't allowed the fear breaking truth spoken by Jesus to impact their lives.
And while others are moving forward taking the good foundations of the past with them, they spend energies on trying to maintain the statusquo while attempting to re-establish things that have long ago served their purpose. This is motivated by the same fear that was crushed into oblivion on the cross of liberation, by the same Jesus who said "Take Heart-I have overcome".

Many of these brothers and sisters are in key positions in local or national Church ,and the result of their fear driven digging in of heels means that the foot soldier is not only fighting the advance but is also being bogged down in the mud and mire of tradition and misplaced loyalty to things of the past.

So come on you who are stuck in fear based retro thinking, have a look around you, see what God is doing and realise the liberty of following His NOW word.

A long six months.

We are coming to the end of the six month period that we imposed on our self, where we haven't travelled to any of Churches long distance meetings, instead using the time to recover from the harsh experiences at the end of 2009. This six month break has also given us the opportunity to try to repair some of the damaged parts of our natural family, namely our children.
We have had a small amount of success being able to provide a home for the last three months for our six year old grandaughter while the SS sort out her long term future (with their limited resources, lack of ability and downright useless behaviour).

During this time Caroline & I have visited Christian groups and Churches around Suffolk, something we havn't had the time to do in the past.
We have found many genuine and devoted followers of Jesus, a lot of good works and a whole load of stuf that has nothing to do with the Jesus that I know. I still conclude that although many of these Churches and groups are doing great things there is still nothing as radical and revolutionary as Jesus Fellowship Church. In my opinion we are the most imperfect Church in the UK, but I see that as a positive thing which gives us the edge in making radical disciples. And so we are still feeling the pain of exile at the moment, but are looking forward to the next six months as the adventure unfolds, the journey continues and the bond that we have with our distant brethren strengthens. In my thoughts at the moment are those members and leaders of the mJa who have experienced ongoing dissapointment,being let down by those whom they have invested their live in, yet still hold open welcoming arms when the wanderers return...such grace, it's outrageous, it's as though it comes from the very heart of GOD. Wow that a radical thought!1

Changes

Our grangaughters short term fostering placement is getting near it's end. The SS (remember them) are looking for carers for the long haul. Our experiance of the last 3 months tells me that they will need to be extra special people, and thats just to deal with the SS let alone our grandaughter.
It's only when we had a chance to take stock of our live's that we realised that the last 29 years of childcare (we still have a 12 year old at home) have left us very little in reserve, and we don't have the energy to cope with a troubled, difficult six year old.
Apart from that, and the one still at home, an emerging teenager (both female) clash constantly.. leaving us with the more than occaisional feeling that WW3 is about to break out.

upto-date.

It's around two months since my last post so a quick summary is in order.
We have Lauryn our six year old grandaughter staying with us under a sec 20 order from the SS (that's social services, some say it's difficult to tell the differance). Our ninth and tenth grandchildren have been born, and we are completely Knac.......d, (worn out). In the space of two months we have visited five or so differant Christian groups in Suffolk, trying to discover what is emerging, has emerged or who hasn't gotta clue. Most havn't gotta clue.

There is a general feeling of being in exile from our Church and even the community, knowing that there is very little else in existance that is as radical in nature and life giving brotherhood.

We begin to see why we had to return to Ipswich and why the timing of our move away was wrong, so as we wade through the swamp, we are looking to the future with a degree of expectation and a sense that a forty hour week at Skaino would be more restfull than our current occupation. Hmm.

Reformed or Reforming... uhmm.

Last few Sunday mornings have had an intersting slant to them, Toni, Caroline Myself have been visiting the C of E community Church that meets at the end of the road that our daughter Sam has just moved into. The Church plant happened some 20 years ago but ran into dificulties in the early days. It is placed in the middle of a local authority housing area that is known by its justly earned dodgy reputation. A great place to be Church. But as seems usual in many of these community based C of E Churches it consists mainley of a middle class group of parishoners led by their educated vicar, who in this case is female. I have no particular axe to grind about women in ministry but the last seven or so years of female headship in this parish has produced a very feminized congregation, giving opportunity to individuals of ultra feministic persuasion to assert themselves in the running of the parish.The vicar is about to retire so it will be interesting to see what will happen during the interregnum (between rulers), maybe the Men will rise to the challenge and a balance of rule will arrive. Caroline & I have decided to observe this group of believers during the six months of our time out period. We plan to attend some Sunday gatherings and a fortnightly home group as well as try to build up some relationships among the congregation. They have agreed to this with enthusiasm despite my resevations of all things C of E. You see I dont think they ever properly reformed and are probably still under the rulership of Rome, except for the lady vicar bit. A communion service in the local community hall (thats where they meet) would help to explain. A robed up vicar officiating at the fold up table doing the magic bits, and the liturgy projected from a computer onto a large screen only modernises things rather than reforms them. Despite my resevations a lot of these folk love Jesus so although they practise their Christianity differantly we have choosen to make friends and join in occaisionally with their borderline charismatic meetings and attend their very retro home groups. Why?? well because they are lovely and genuine folk and most importantly they are missional, although I'm not sure they would have the same meaning for the word as we do.