What is Evangelism?

Link - What is Evangelism

Here's something worth watching, especially if you're fed up with the likes of Brand and Ross and your hope is for the world to get back to God and good.

Love

John

Prayer Works

You'll remember that one of the lads we've been talking to is now in jail. He'd written to Phil saying that he had given his mum a VO (Visting Order) for Phil so that he'd be able to go and see him. Tonight we went to the house to see whether it had arrived, but we found only the lad's father there, who invited the four of us in for a cup of tea. It turned out that the mum was in church! A 'Travellers'' church near to Slough.

Phil and George visited the family home a month or so back and the mother explained then that she had once been a Christian but due to a falling out with someone she felt an unforgiveness that made it difficult for her to keep going. Phil and George following their visit both prayed that she would be able to overcome that - tonight they found out that their prayers had been answered.

Tonight we found the father in reflective mood, asking us questions, expressing a belief in God, knowing too that there's a devil, not quite grasping that the Gospel message was for him too. This has to be the current main prayer focus for those who support our work. Will you do that for him, please?

Please pray too for next Tuesday evening when we hope to hold a bbq in the Gloster Road area - we want to invite local people to come along. We'd like to invite you, too. If you want to see what it's like to go out but don't want to make a commitment without knowing more, then perhaps this would be a good opportunity for you to get a feel of what goes on. If you can't come then your prayers for good weather would be appreciated. Tonight was the first wet Tuesday evening since April, so we have plenty to be thankful for, but it would be good if the weather next week could be conducive to a good turnout.

Lots of love

John

Because They're Worth It

What with one thing and another I've not been out to the youngsters for a couple of weeks and it's surprising how a) I've missed it and b) the fear's built up. How crazy is it that when the time's rolling up to 6pm on a Monday, you find yourself simultaneously looking forward to seeing what'll happen and hoping from the depths of your heart that something else will crop up (trip and break a leg perhaps :o)) so that you'll have a great excuse for not going out? Talk about mixed feelings!

I've been tied to my pc today trying to work through the charity stuff - only a few forms really but they may as well be in Chinese. Without the help and advice of a good solicitor and accountant friend I'd be stuck up the Basingstoke Canal without a paddle. He provides.

All of which my brothers and sisters reminded me, suggests we're probably on the right path. It's when we're at our weakest that the Lord uses us the most.

Tonight there were 15 kids, unbelievable given the cold, as usual hanging around the car park, playing football. My thoughts were as much for the neighbouring residents as for the kids themselves. The kids don't mean to be thoughtless, they just are and it's really frustrating that at the moment we can't offer them an alternative that's away from the houses. Despite that, we again had some really good conversations with young people. They were genuinely pleased to see us.

Hopefully things will change soon. Meanwhile there doesn't seem much option other than to keep on going. We'd like to encourage others who feel God's talking to them about young people, to come out with us. A number of people are convinced that God's moving His church out of the comfort-zone of Sunday church, into the war-zone. Won't you join us? Mixed feelings guaranteed. But this could be your best chance yet of finding out what it's really like to walk with the Lord - because they're worth it.

Love

JD

Actions, Not Words - It's Good to Make Mistakes

I've just noticed this in The Temptation of Jesus - Luke 4: "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil".   

I think that we can take some encouragement from this. There are times when we feel we're up against all kinds of difficulties - e.g. barriers that get in the way of our works, and we attribute these to Satan; so then we pray to our God to protect us from him. From personal experience this kind of situation might also lead to self-questioning - "I keep taking the wrong path and seem to be getting a lot of things wrong" type of thing. This can then cause us to ask whether that means we're not led by the Spirit; whereas maybe it's realistic to consider that it's actually sometimes God leading us toward the precipice, perhaps as a test, perhaps to show us what we're up against? Are we inclined to forget the Victory has already been won?

As an adjunct, here's a situation where Jesus is led by the Spirit toward a place where the devil can tempt him with all kinds of inducements, and in effect offers Jesus an easy way out. The devil then cleverly uses Scripture to try and justify Jesus jumping so that He'll be caught by angels. Does he sometimes do that with us too - perhaps giving us a dodgy interpretation of something we've read in order that we might confuse ourselves or, worse, confuse someone else? Is this the reason that, sometimes, people develop many different tests of their own before doing what the Lord has laid on their hearts? Or might it be the case that the tests are a simple device to get out of what they've promised to do? The thing here is that Jesus followed the Spirit into the desert and there he met with the devil. He didn't stay at home with his mug of hot, sweet tea watching Corrie. In the desert he resisted the devil and thus demonstrated His integrity - ok this isn't what actually happened, apart from anything else it's an anachronism but you can see what I'm driving at here, I hope.

Words, words, words… Is there something you promised to God that you would do that is still waiting to be done? Consider before God whether it’s time to take action and how. (This paragraph taken rom today's Scripture Union Notes)

God bless

John
PS I'm nobody, certainly not a theologian and I've almost certainly got everything wrong above according to conventional biblical wisdom. If I have done that today then I apologise - but I suspect that if that's the case then perhaps making a mistake is a good thing because it may well have prompted you or someone else to think - we should all be prepared to make mistakes. All of which reminds me that there's urgent stuff I must now do for Outside Light and have been putting off. Nobody's perfect ;o)

Steady As She Goes

Yet another mild evening - for 5 months now we've been blessed with good weather on all but one Monday evening, and for 7 months every Tuesday evening has been fine too! 

This evening Phil and I met with the Elders at New Life Church who wanted an update on what progress we were making, as well as assuring us of their support for our work. We are thankful to them for suggesting we consider the means by which we deal with our spiritual accountability - which we think amounts to us finding someone to whom we can take our spiritual issues as they arise. They feel that we need someone in authority - perhaps someone already formally appointed elsewhere. To Phil and me there is great wisdom in this and therefore it'll be very much a subject for prayer these coming weeks. 

This evening was the first using the new format that arose out of our recent prayer evenings. Back at base there were two of our team who prayed the whole of the time that we were out. When Phil and I finished our meeting with the Elders, we joined up with the team at Alexandra Gardens where they had been playing football in the MUGA (multi-use games area) which is at present unlit except for the streetlights that are some distance away - so it's not ideal. George's first comment was that the evening had been really peaceful, with plenty of hot chocolate handed out and really good conversations with soft-hearted young people. We all felt that the sense of peace there was very much down to the prayer support back at base. We're hopeful that the residents this evening would have noticed a difference too.

Working with prayer support back at base was possible because of the size of the team we had this evening. It's really important to us to maintain the that prayer support while we're out on Mondays and Tuesdays. Prayer while we are out is a priority and any suggestions how this might be achieved would be very much appreciated.

Please in the meantime pray for tomorrow evening.

Love

John

Play Interrupts Prayer

Funny how all the time since getting involved with the Old Woking team - since April - it's not rained once on a Tuesday evening, so we've never had a 'rain interrupts play' situation. But ready to greet us this evening when we met for prayer at New Life Church there were four young people waiting for us, anxious for our attention, wanting to chat, play and drink hot chocolate.

So prayer didn't get started for a while, instead we played a couple of ball-games with them in the large room upstairs. But we were torn because of our commitment to pray this evening, between playing and praying; so we explained what we wanted to do and suggested that they might go home. However, they didn't want to go, so instead they agreed to come and and listen to our prayer. I told them a story, read a bit from the Bible, then Phil, Helen and Nancy prayed for them. Afterwards they went home.

There was a feeling that this was one of those appointments that might well turn out to be quite a defining experience in the formation of Outside Light? These kids were a little giggly, but bearing in mind three didn't know us and we didn't know them, praying and reading from the Bible could have been quite a risky thing to do - they could have been totally disrespectful, which might have left us wondering what else we might have done with them and whether we had done the right thing. Instead they seemed quite touched by the story and prayers and they left in a calmer mood than when they arrived. All very interesting.

Is it possible, maybe, that praying and worship will become a regular and organised part of Outside Light? It's something to pray for.

Much love and thanks for your prayers. We know you're supporting us in that way and really grateful for that.

John

Thought this worth sharing

I thought the quote below could apply to a few of us. Is it natural to draw attention to what you think, who you are, what you believe; or is it easier to sit quietly in the corner? I know that for me I was a corner-sitter for many years. The guy who moved the chairs back after a meeting, the bod who would help with the washing up. The person who said, and probably therefore, thought nothing. Is there a sense that we need permission to speak? Maybe since we were children, we've been keeping quiet "while there are adults around" - "being seen and not heard'? What benefit was there to anyone as a result? Well, over the years there were a lot of chairs stacked and a line of dishes that could reach from here to the moon. But as for defining me as a human being, and a child of God...?

And now the quote...

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Used by Nelson Mandela in his 1994 inaugural speech

I've heard it said that the purpose of religion is to control the masses. Actually I'd say that the opposite is true. Certainly what underlies Christianity is love which leads to freedom. As Christians we're free, we're not slaves. We're therefore called to explore the many freedoms available to us. Freedom to serve for example. 

Are you frightened, still?

Nothing to do with me!

Hi all

I've been away so please  forgive the lack of communication. George has, though, penned some words about recent evenings out, a little further down. 

There's a growing sense that we need to step back from going out this Monday and Tuesday, so that instead we can devote the whole of both evenings to prayer. Whether we pray outside, prayer-walking, or inside isn't yet decided but there is a sense that we have to pray and reinforce that firm foundation for our future work outside. Of course we pray every time we go out, every time we come back and very often while we're out as well. BUT there are times when we feel we need to spend the whole of an evening devoted to prayer, thanking Him for what He's done for us and for our work, seeking renewal and guidance too. It's our relationship with God and trust in Him that gives us the strength to GO and Do. We need that as surely as we need water to drink.

Here's a question. If you feel that you're being called OUT to where the people are, do you wait for God to tell you where, specifically, or do you just GO? Bear in mind, please, it's not as though Going is a new and radical idea. "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations", seems pretty clear to me.

I strongly suspect there are very many good people who wait for the registered letter, BUT I wonder if that's right - are they missing the point? I'm no theologian but I strongly suspect that if God lays a burden on you to go out to people where they are, it's a little like the sergeant major telling you to jump. You don't ask 'when?'. You probably don't even ask 'how high?' You just drop everything else you're doing and JUMP!

From experience (speaking as someone who for many years ignored God), just GOing is all that He asks to begin with. It starts small - like giving someone a glass of water - then grows. I have the confidence in Him to reassure anyone who is called and Goes in obedience, that they'll never regret it. If you really want a close relationship with God and to SEE him working, then just GO! Almost inevitably there will be sacrifice involved of one sort or another - but just GO and see what happens. God will either be with you (or not). If He's laid something on your heart it'd be quite a surprise if, after GOing, you were to return disappointed.

How do I put this more plainly... GO!

http://www.livingwaterunity.org/music-program/Hymns/here-i-am-lord.htm

Much love

John

From George...

It is so easy to get distracted and knocked off course! Earlier this week I had a really good night with Outside Light but I had also been feeling discouraged that gospel conversations weren't always resulting in the outcome I wanted. Then Phil reminded me this is not my job, I have been tasked with proclaiming the truth not achieving results, not the way people react. It is a bit like working in a restaurant and being told to peel the potatoes and then getting upset that people aren't eating the carrots.

Jesus told us to GO into all the world and proclaim the gospel, that's it, he does the rest! Thanks for the reminder, Phil.

Last Monday I had a really clear gospel conversation and the boy asked me for the next bit to the story, "I really want to know the next bit, what do I have to do.." I pray that he went home that night and got on his knees and prayed.

If anyone reading this feels that they are being called to GO and proclaim, as the Bible asks us all to do, then there are some dates you might like to note down for your diary... as below.

These are primarily for outreach and equipping - so just need the people now!

11th Oct - 10.00am outreach at St Johns (meet at church - go out and talk to people)
12th Oct - 11.30 am equipping session and valuable teaching
1st Nov - Outreach, at St Johns (meet at church - go out and talk to people)
16th Nov - Asif Mall, sharing your faith with Muslims @11.30am St Johns

George

PS from John - anyone who hasn't been on one of these training days might like to give it a try. It's easier than you think to talk to strangers and to share the Gospel with them. Again this isn't something that I thought would come naturally, but really it's not that hard