Eternal Echoes

Thinking.....

Developing a missional heart- a look at the fruits of the Spirit- my thoughts

7 DEADLY SINS... and more...

Yes that's right... you'll need flash 8

but watch this clip Gandhi's 7 deadly sins

And this ....Slow Down Week.... we are a bit late for it ...but....

Friday Five- What I believe

This is a deep one for a Friday Five  but here goes 5 things I believe:

1. I believe that this world shows evidence of careful plan and design- there are too many amazing things in it for this not to be the case. My scientist friends can explain far more than I can... but  look at these images...

and tell me differently....

2. I believe that God reveals him/ herself through the mystery of the Trinity... I do not understand the wonder or the depths of God, but Iknow by experience that I am loved and accepted... this is the best news in the world, and it is for the world..

3. I beleive that redemption and salvation encompasses the whole of creation not simply individual people...Gods heart is for the whole of creation... fathering God, mothering creation...

4. I beleive that Jesus Christ revealed God to us being somehow both human and divine and that he calls us to follow his ways... for he also revealed to us what it is to be fully human, body, mind and spirit...

5. I believe that the Holy Spirit comes to guide, draw, challenge, equip, and empower us ... the biggest challenge is are we ready to change...

I believe many more things...

God always hears our prayers

Hugs are essential

So is laughter

that dark chocolate and good coffee were created for one another...

that good red wine is a balm for the soul... but not too much...

Shopping is not a good therapy!

Flowers prove that God is not entirely practical

... so do cats, and dogs....

Sunsets sing, so do the stars...

I believe that the best way to walk on a beach is in bare feet... not in Janurary in the UK... or in Texas in August...

I could go on and on.....

Design

Yes I know I have been playing around with my blog design again- I guess that that is because I want it to say something about who I am- which may lead you to think that I am not sure who I am... I guess there is no easy answer to that!!!

I am a seeker at heart... and I had to include a picture of the beach because it represents a thin place to me, somewhere that heaven touches earth... and I didn't want bright colours- though that might change next week...

So there you are I guess the answer is you can tell my mood, by the design I am currently using...

Long day...

It has been a long day today, lots to do, and lots done...I  have finished two out of the three assignments that I need to get in by the 18th June, that is a relief, still having problems over gaining accreditation from St Johns Nottingham, getting Universities to speak to each other is torturous! Handed it all over to Esther now, she will probably have more clout than me being head of the new degree ... wait and see, I'm not holding my breath.... I am still feeling my way forward I started with ERMC half way through the year, and it has taken months to get stuff rolling, I still don't have a training agreement as nobody know which learning outcomes would be good for me to look at... I have too much experience apparently. It is odd joining a course when it is well underway and I feel a bit like a fish out of water, not least because I think differently to many, having a world view which I guess could be described as post-modern though I think that is a very overrated word!

I'm also working on an article on Wisdom in Luke as a part of a project with spiritual seekers in mind- challenging and I need to get that done by next Thursday....

I've had conversations with two ministers who want to look at Mind Body Soul Exhibitions, one encouraging , the other will need a lot of talking round!!!

I am preaching on Sunday and leading worship- so the hymns had to be in today!!! Organists self destruct if they do not have enough notice- not that I blame them, it is just that there are times when I hate choosing hymns... today is one of those days.

Then I forgot it is my turn to write the letter for the Circuit magazine... the editor wanted it today... so I wrote a letter... actually it was an adapted post from here... guess which one...

I also cut the grass (one lawn anyway), did some weeding and made homemade pizza...

I want to sleep but can't, my to do list is long... two exciting things especially the prayer tent for Downham Festival- we called it Soul Space last year and that attracted attention, we had over 200 visitors over the afternoon, anyway I need to get that finalised over the next couple of days, the tent goes up 7am Monday, and I have 3 hours to dress it before the Festival gets underway. Then I have teaching to prepare for the Church Army Summer School in June, I am looking forward to that, it is a bit of a confirmation of my ministry that I have been asked to teach there...

... and therein lies a struggle, I have had to write an assignment about my call to ministry, that is hard because I am in full time ministry already, I do almost everything the ordained ministers do even funerals... so for me this is not a huge step but a subtle adjustment of role. I am passionate about equipping the laity and feel Lay ministry both voluntary and paid is vital for the survival of the church, I find that people feel they need permission from someone they perceive has the authority to release them... this is the call I am following, that and the recognition the representation is essential in our communities, people need to know they have someone to turn to when disaster strikes... odd sense of vocation but there you are, tough to write 3,00 words when you want to say I am already doing it!

Another good thing I have to do is to redesign White-Fields publicity material and web-site with our Charity Details, a major cause for celebration but more work! Three years of hard work preparing the Trust documents vision statements etc have all come good, I don't know whether to laugh, cry or run away!

Tomorrow is my day off, not sure what to do, I sense a need to keep working but also know the dangers of in-balance... also this house needs cleaning... and I want to do some reading for me, not for study, not for work but for me, and if the weather is OK I will get the bike out again... another 10 mile ride coming up...it is wonderful to get out into the middle of nowhere.

I need the break, Jo and Jon have started their AS levels which means they are on study leave, teenagers take up huge amounts of space! Jon has a hospital appt. tomorrow at diabetic clinic, he needs blood tests as usual so we need to get there in good time. Chris is really fed up, trying to get him to exercise but he sees little point with another op coming up. Em has her final concert at Canterbury next week, it is actually during the weekend I am away with ERMC so I am going to the rehearsal on Thursday, can't believe she has completed 3 years! She is coming home for the summer then plans to move back to Canterbury to study for the Guildhall Diploma, then off to Manchester the Royal Northern for a string specialists course.

All of this family activity makes me feel exhausted and I wonder if I am mad studying, then I remind myself that  I am not that old, Paul was born when I was 19 (not planned! but loved and received) and so we decided that having children while we were young was OK, I really did not want 2 families if  that makes sense, so here I am trying to juggle study and work and family...HELP.

I can do this, I want to do this but right now I am feeling overwhelmed and a bit scattered... my parents were enjoying a bit of freedom from responsibility at my age, Tim's (ever looking forward) were planning for retirement, and I am making a mad career change. Is this simple a sign of the times, are we less content or more motivated and I am certainly not content to settle for stagnation...

There I am entering the loop again, this post could go round and round so I will stop... bit of photography down at the beach... my thin place and all will be well for a while...

Returning to Gods embrace...

What does it mean to be real, to be open , to acknowledge at one and the same time our inner brokenness whilst embracing our spirituality and seek a route towards wholeness?

These are questions I grapple with, I cannot tell my faith story from a standpoint of strength because I fail on a daily basis, I do not have a high standard yard stick which I feel I must clear on a daily basis in order to be a success, I mean I fail at the little things, in attitude and through forgetfulness... sometimes I fail at the bigger stuff too

Do I fail because I am weak?  Well yes, but this weakness is not peculiar to me it is part of my inner being, where love and selfishness vie with one another, where greed and generosity jostle for position, where demands sometimes overrule mercy and grace...it is part of my humanity and when we are in a place where we can be real and open, it is a part of our humanity that we voice these struggles. If we fail to do so we wear masks!

We all wear masks at different times, sometimes out of necessity for a given situation, sometimes out of fear, fear of being seen for who we are, and for fear of the other... The other; he who expresses his journey in a way that is unfamiliar to me, she who questions my path and my motivation... she who challenges my assumptions and questions my creeds. To drop the mask would necessitate a revealing of self...

Jesus both revealed self and accepted the other, he was not riddled with flaws as I am, but certainly opened himself to criticism, abut his friendships, his cleanliness and his eating habits! He received the clean and the unclean alike, touching both (often to the horror of the former)...

How weak as I am can I pattern my life after his?

First I must accept his embrace:

"The Father interrupted the sons strategy for return....The int eruption ... performed a transformation. After failure in the distant country the son reconstructed his identity as a "son not worthy to be called a son". By the sheer joy of his fathers embrace, without a word his identity starts to be changed again. The son made his confession but right at the point where his strategy dictate that he inform his father about the new identity he has constructed for himself.... the father interrupts him again. The confession made to the father who embraced him has taken his identity in relation to the father out of his hands and placed it into the hands of the father. With a command to the slaves, the father reconstructed the prodigals identity. He ordered a robe the best one- put on him, a ring placed on his finger, as the prodigal was transformed before our eyes he called him son of mine. First he symbolically remade the "son who is not worthy to be called a son" into the "son he could be proud" of, then he named him "son of mine". The secret, the father would not let his son, his lost and dead son out of his hearts embrace."- Volf Exclusion and Embrace

God does not let us out of His embrace, She treasurers our very being in Her heart, He waits for us patiently, arms and heart ready to receive... despite our frailty, our weakness and our brokenness we are received, we need no masks, we have no need to construct a new identity for ourselves (it will be rejected anyway).

Once we have received the embrace of God, truly received it we will be changed, and we will find ourselves able to love and accept others...

The problem is we leave home often, sometimes without realising it, we wander away and when we meet others in need of embrace we reject them because they are other... at that moment what is sorely needed is for us to return home and receive the embrace of the Father, the kiss of the Mother.

As children grow, they come to believe that they no longer need touch, no longer need to be embraced.... they are wrong, just as we are when we leave home and stray away from the loving arms of God...

Go peaceful, in gentleness, through the violence of these days,

Give freely show tenderness in all your ways...

Through darkness in troubled times, let holiness be your aim,

Seek wisdom, let faithfulness burn like a flame...

Be righteous, speak truthfully, in a world of greed and lies,

Show kindness, see everyone through heavens eyes.

God speed you, God lead you, and keep you wrapped around his heart,

May you be known by love...

.... may you be known by love.... - Paul Field

The big picture- journey towards wholeness...

Two recent posts from Pam , and from Richard have got me thinking... how big is the God we say we know, how big is the God we speak of, do we see his arms wide open to embrace us as the father receiving his prodigal home, running to meet us throwing all decorum aside ... or do we to quote Richard see God as a divine miser, one who is narrow and intent upon judgement...

Every debt, no matter how small, must be paid for. Every account must be settled. The books must be kept straight, even if that means extracting the price from his own son.* To misquote Cowper, “Behind a smiling providence / He hides a frowning face”. Such a god has much to commend him. He is at least unbendingly fair. But he is not the God that Jesus proclaimed, pointed to and embodied.

How big is our God... Paul prays in Ephesians that we might catch a full picture of God, that we might be filled with love and awed just as he is...

Ephes. 3:14-21 (MsgB) 
    My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength— that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.
    God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

        Glory to God in the church!
        Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
        Glory down all the generations!
        Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!

He is caught up in wonder and glories in the picture that this God is over all and in all and through all...

How big is your God, how wonderful, how rich in mercy how full of grace... a good friend of mine used to say that love will draw people further than dynamite can blow them...

I am out of words to express the sense of wonder that I feel, for every so often my eyes are opened to see that my God is too small, and the reality is that she is all encompassing and all knowing, ever present and is love...

It is in response to this that my soul comes alive and sings again, that hope is restored and faith renewed... Jesus called people to see, he calls us to see, to see beyond our own prejudices and to embrace life in all its fullness....that we might live beyond the labels of denomination and creed that enclose hold us in...

Ron Feurgeson describes an early morning epiphany in India...

It is hard to describe the sense of eternity. The vastness of the terrain, the sense of Indias history make us feel very small -and yet at one with it all. A bird swoops effortlessly and slowly, like a soul released. The silence is tangible. Death itself seems almost natural, a moving into that deeper oneness. It is impossible to sit here, sensing the communion, and not feel in some way changed.

It strikes me then that protestantism has too narrow a base, at least the protestantism I have known...

It strikes me then that my life has too parochial a base...

....

God is disclosed in a new way. Whatever God refers to, She is not Presbyterian, or Christian, or Buddhist or Hindu. Or anything else we can label or contain...

No God simply is.... and

"Earth is crammed with heaven

and every common bush afire with God,

But only he who sees

takes off his shoes"-    Elizabeth Barret Browning

Mind Body and soul/ spirit Exhibition Outreach...

There have been a lot of posts recently about MBS outreach, .

Ben Edson  and the Moot team along with Jonny Baker are all putting on a big effort for the London exhibition this week...

.. on one level I think this is great because it is where I believe churches must go, we must put ourselves into the spiritual supermarket alongside all the other spiritualities on offer. On another level I think that big and well resourced projects like this can make  smaller less well off groups feel that this is something though interesting , that they simply cannot do.

Think again ....MBS exhibitions are popping up all over the place, they range from big and expensive to spiritual car boot sales, and it is worth going. I work with a net-work of small groups right across the UK to put stalls into these exhibitions, each group has specific gifts and talents, creative thinking and boldness are needed and prayer is our greatest tool and resource...

Here are some stories from 2004

The

Newark

Stall. A.  March 2004

Newark

produced an interactive stall using sand, mirrors, water and prayer leaves as tools to engage people creatively. They also commissioned a painting of a door which was full of symbolism and provided a good talking point. All of this was very effective though a little cluttered. The most effective tool was the Scripture mobile very attractive in blue and lilac it caught people’s eyes and we were able to engage folk in conversation by asking which scripture they felt drawn to.

The stall was staffed by people from a number of different churches each taking a 2 or 3 hour slot. The regular turnover of staff captured the attention of the organisers who were impressed by the number of folk involved and how time had been given for nothing, and lastly though not least by the love for one another that was apparent, the result was that a number of stallholders came asking for prayer.

Newark

Stall B. Sept 2004.

Having gained in experience and with a few lessons learned the Newark group booked another stall for September, this stall was larger giving more room and space for selling a few well chosen books and CD’s . They also booked a seminar slot; this took the form of a lead meditation with a chance for people to ask questions. The response to this was good with 25+ people attending and several folk staying to talk afterwards.

Colchester

Stall September 2004

With the benefit of experience the Colchester group again concentrated on offering prayer but also offered some items for sale this included some attractive prints from Lindisfarne Scriptorium. The leaflets from the previous year had been revised and reviewed, and another added to back up the Life Mapping seminar designed and led by Rose. The seminar was a success with 20 people attending and two volunteering to take part in a life mapping exercise. Life mapping was also offered on the stall. Good contacts were made and a number of people are being followed up with a low key relational approach, through providing a Labyrinth experience and a continuation of the Storytelling parties

Brighton Stall October 2004

Led by a group of churches in

Brighton

the stall was professionally presented (they had a shop front designer on the team). They had chosen to sell a variety of books, CD’s and craft items. The stall was busy over the 2 days with a number of contacts made and good conversations taking place. Again the stall was manned by people taking 2 hour shifts over the weekend.

Brighton

also booked a seminar slot which Sally led. It was early in the morning and required a

climb to the top of the Racecourse complex to get there. Eight people attended the session which again was a led meditation followed by a chance to talk. Although for no apparent reason this was a very difficult seminar to lead the presence of God was powerful in the room so much so that at times it was hard to speak. He stepped in and everyone there experienced his touch. One lady asked who and what she had experienced and received prayer, we are still in touch.

Linton

Cambridge

Stall October 2004

The Linton group booked a small stall that was well and sensitively stocked. They also used scripture cards and laid them out in various patterns. These cards were to prove a very effective tool as people were asked which card they felt drawn to. Many folk would hold their hands over the cards until they felt one “calling” to them and then be happy to talk about the verse on the card, prayer was offered if appropriate and many were engaged in profitable conversations.

The stall was well staffed the impact of this being the 3^rd JIW stall with this particular organisation this year had a significant impact especially as once again roughly 20 volunteers manned the stall over the weekend doing 2 hour shifts.

Prayer

Prayer played a significant and vital part to the organisation and set up of each of these groups, indeed it was vital. Each one appointed a prayer co-ordinator who kept everyone in touch with what was going on in their area and organised and facilitated prayer meetings, prayer was the key, provided the vision and encouragement as each group sought to walk in the Lords way.

Stories

Meeting Jesus whilst Astral travelling!!!

Chris picked up one of the scripture cards at Linton and was delighted with the words; “these are the Masters words …you know Jesus” he said. We asked him how he knew the Masters words,

“I’ve been meeting him recently while I’ve been travelling” he said,

A conversation developed and we discovered that in his quest for peace and harmony Chris had been Astral Travelling and here is where he keeps meeting Jesus and talking with him. We asked him what the Master had said to him and he said that the Master had told him he needed to follow, and that he would be shown the way…

We are still in touch…

Words of Knowledge

A number of us felt impressed by God to speak words of knowledge over the weekend, we adopted a sensitive approach by saying to folk I don’t know if this means anything to you but…

We saw God move powerfully in peoples live, this was truly a stepping out in faith.

Scripture

Mobile

The mobile proved so popular people were taking hands full of matching scripture cards so they could make a mobile to have at home. The result has been the Sarah from

Newark

is going to produce mobile kits for the next exhibition.

Hurts and Pains

Over the last year we have been struck by the number of people who have been hurt by the insensitive remarks and actions of ministers and church members. One lady in particular stands out, in a wheel chair from a terrible motorbike accident she had been told by her church that her own sin accounted for the lack of healing she had experienced, coupled with little help she left the church and found acceptance in the New Age Community, she still loves Jesus.

From 2005

Kings Lynn May 2005

A quiet day for all the stall holders, we sold nothing but concentrated on talking to people and offering prayer for healing, many people came for prayer and took away information... it was worth going , we are still in touch with a number of these people...

Peterborough October 2005

A small exhibition and a small team, we decided to use both the scripture cards and also the Jesus deck to give free readings, also a seminar slot on Grace and freedom in the Spirit which I led. The Jesus deck imitates Tarot, but contains gospel images from all four gospels, it is like having the Bilble in picture form to speak from... people were genuinely touched by the words spoken and many recieved prayer as a result. The seminar was well attended and many people stayed afterwards to talk and recieve prayer.

In 2006 there are plans for a futher 3 stalls bringing the total up to 9 groups operating on a small scale around the country, rooted in local churches, the main qualification the group leaders have is a willingness to learn and a love for the spiritual seekers they are wanting to connect with... I tell this story for nothing is impossible with God. I am passionaetely concerned that this type of outreach should not be carried out by small groups of experts...my job (yes this is my work as a White-Fields Evangelist ) is to help to equip and facilitate these groups. We take Acts 17 as our pattern listening to the culture and as Paul did using it as a springboard for the gospel message, we go boldly and sensitevely, with grace and compassion but we do go...

And our fellow stall holders, they are plaesed to see us there .... we often pray for them at the end of the day! They happily recieve our prayers.

A privilege

It has been a long day, a good day but a long day... a day when a bridge has been built....

This morning I had the privilege of showing a group of young children (5 &6's) around our church building, they wanted to see where the special things were kept and to understand a bit about what we did and why, I had small groups act out different types of service e.g. baptism, communion etc explaining what the different parts of the service were all about. One small group climbed into the pulpit and were delighted they could see everyone from there, they went up into the choir stalls, saw where we keep the communion cups and plates for the bread and "wine"....

But children delightfully being children they wanted to know special things like why did we have a first aid kit, ..... did people get hurt in church.... what were the different microphones for and who worked the sound.... and one little girl trumped the lot of them with the exciting disclosure ... I know where the toilets are!!! She comes to Junior Church, this awed her class mates, and we all had to go and see....

We looked at the window and talked about the special books- Bibles and hymn books and worship books, and why we use lots of strange words... how it was OK to pray standing up and sitting down and kneeling, why we sometimes shut our eyes and sometimes keep them open.

We talked about hearing from God and had a great discussion about why the cross was empty, and how it helped us to remember how much Jesus loves us, and that he is alive....

I am so grateful for the chance to open the doors and welcome our local schools, I am grateful for the openness of the staff and the simple honesty of the children, I am grateful that for many of them now church is not a strange and bewildering place but something they know about, and will feel welcome in.... and I am grateful that the teacher felt able to ask if it was OK for her to bring her daughter along next week, and grateful that I was able to say yes... we will welcome you...

Thank you Lord for the freedom we have, help me never to take it for granted.

A pet service...

Never work with children or animals... well my last post was about the joys of children's ministry, and Songbird had a delightful post today that reminded me of a Pet Service I was assisting at...

Now get a stiff drink and sit tight...

It seemed like a great idea as part of the Mission week up in Newburn, we'd been invited by the local church to work with them for a special week of outreach to the community...

We went into the schools everyday and ran a children's club in the afternoons, held coffee mornings and discussion groups, went out to visit elderly folk in their homes hosted dinners and a barn dance... all great stuff well attended and fruitful work... many were prayed for and some for the first time made a step of commitment in their life of faith...

The children talked about their pets, and we'd picked that up in our pre-mission visits, so a special service of blessing was arranged for pets and their owners...

Posters and fliers were made and handed out/ posted...

We planned well, expecting a young congregation we included a couple of action songs a sketch board story and an interactive talk after which we were going to bless the pets, it seemed good to include a pet story, an experienced team member offed to tell her story... all seemed well..

The day came and the church started to fill up... with mostly elderly people and their beloved pets... not a child in sight!

The pets included cats and dogs, a couple of rabbits and a hamster and guinea pigs (thankfully in a cage)... also a chicken in a wire cage who was placed thoughtfully on top of the font... so he could see. In the pew just by the chicken a couple sat quite happily holding a ferret... the chicken was disturbed and spent the whole time clucking and running in circles...

We sang, the congregation obligingly joined in the action songs... we told the story, they listened intently... our team member stood to tell her story... of how as a young girl she had lived on a farm, and when the cat had litter after litter of kittens her dad drowned them... she sat down... the animal lovers were open mouthed... we prayed trying to rescue the disaster...

We sang a more traditional hymn...R spoke well... then came the blessing, a hush fell, one by one we laid hands on the pets and prayed Gods blessing upon them, the ferret collapsed in a soft heap and rolled over, the chicken went quiet, two elderly people sobbed because nobody had ever prayed for their pets before and these were their best friends...

Everyone stayed and talked, they would like more services like this!!! (really)...

R and I bemused headed for the local pub to think things over.... God truly works in mysterious ways!