How to Please God

Hi
Thought I'd share today's Scripture Union notes with you. 

I did something different yesterday and sat toward the front of the church. The dynamic was subtly different in that I felt uplifted by those singing behind me; "the noise" of the songs felt good. At the back where I usually sit, it sounds good but you don't get the same vibe. But then this passage this morning reminded me that church isn't about that. It's about what we do for Him. Church isn't just about Sunday mornings.

Pray first

Settle down and make yourself nice and comfy. Spend a moment or two in prayer with the one who can change everything in a nanosecond.

Amos 5:18–27

‘Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!’ 

Amos 5:18-27

The Day of the LORD

 ¹⁸ Woe to you who long
       for the day of the LORD!
       Why do you long for the day of the LORD ?
       That day will be darkness, not light.

 ¹⁹ It will be as though a man fled from a lion
       only to meet a bear,
       as though he entered his house
       and rested his hand on the wall
       only to have a snake bite him.

 ²⁰ Will not the day of the LORD be darkness, not light-
       pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?

 ²¹ "I hate, I despise your religious feasts;
       I cannot stand your assemblies.

 ²² Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
       I will not accept them.
       Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
       I will have no regard for them.

 ²³ Away with the noise of your songs!
       I will not listen to the music of your harps.

 ²⁴ But let justice roll on like a river,
       righteousness like a never-failing stream!

 ²⁵ "Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
       forty years in the desert, O house of Israel?

 ²⁶ You have lifted up the shrine of your king,
       the pedestal of your idols,
       the star of your god -
       which you made for yourselves.

 ²⁷ Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,"
       says the LORD, whose name is God Almighty.

Pomp or circumstance?

The service was amazing.

The church was clean and bright, the flowers were fresh and perfectly arranged, and the musicians gave their all and raised the roof. The preacher spoke from the heart and the people listened. The prayers were said and the collection plates were heaving.

But God wasn’t having any of it.

Brennan Manning, author and priest, puts it another way: ‘The great single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyles. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.’

Honest worship

‘But let justice roll on like a river,’ Amos cries, ‘righteousness like a never-failing stream’ (v 24). He’s not talking about a one-off pledge or an occasional donation on a Sunday. He’s calling us to a different and radical existence.

In Romans 12:1, Paul defines our spiritual act of worship as the offering of ourselves – our bodies – as living sacrifices. It’s the living, breathing, walking, talking parts of ourselves that need to show our adoration for the Father. And this worship will always be pleasing to God.

What does this mean for you, right now?

Jude Adam (adapted from Daily Bread JM09) 

___________

Please don't think I'm preaching here. I wouldn't dare; I've plenty in my life to feel sorry for. BUT, I do pray that everyone of us who goes along to church of a Sunday, realises that Sacrifice is for Life, Not Just for Sundays. 

Much love

Johnny D

25 and Rising

Monday was another great night with numbers up from 17 to 25! All of these young people get on really well together and appear to enjoy each other's company. A few have started asking why we're doing this, so next week we'll probably start off with a couple of minutes' talk. It'll also give us the chance to tell them about the possibility of The Vyne opening soon, which will be a bigger venue in case the numbers continue to rise. This is being sponsored by Knaphill Residents' Association who have no problems with us talking about God. We're likely to have one of us inside of the facility, with the others outside - although using The Vyne as a base to return to if there are no kids outside (if they're all in The Vyne, in other words.) A highlight of Monday was George praying for an 18-year old lad, and the lad giving George a big hug before leaving. You just don't see that every day.

Tonight I had a call from Mary, because Chill and Chat, which normally attracts 7 or 8 young people, had 20 or so turn up, so there weren't enough adults to cope. Of course the extra kids were the 'usual suspects' who appear to have become really comfortable in The King's House. We're blessed that we have the coffee shop and Eric's support, because as a result of a regular booking, The Vyne will be opening only 3 out of 4 Mondays in the month, so it's likely that we'll open the 4th at The King's House, I suspect.

We need to pray for the 10-year old, a lad we know, who allegedly helped set fire to the derelict house in The Broadway and whose mates allegedly locked him in so that he had to be rescued and taken to hospital. We don't know the full story but we know he's recovered.

Pray too for the ongoing building of good relationships with these great kids. One of them came up to me this evening and chatted for a good 20 minutes about school, life and stuff like that. I felt really privileged. I tend not often to approach the kids in case they think I'm a bit old to chat to them, I'm happy pottering around and serving; but it's cool that they're happy to chat to me and I suspect that as we see each other's faces more often, there will be other occasions when we'll be able to chat. Please pray for that too.

Much love

John

Better in than out?

Photo King's House last night, with faces blobbed-out for Child Protection reasons

What else can I say but it never ceases to amaze me how good God is. Again last night we arrived at The King's House and there was a crowd outside, (they were a quarter hour early again), and they waited another 15 minutes while we set up and prayed. The point is, I guess, that this is surefire evidence that they long for something do do. This isn't the hopeless crowd that many adults would brand them. Neither are they perfect little angels. They're just KIDS, some of whom find relationship with adults a little challenging.

Last night, through the Lord's provision, we had five adults, plus Eric on hand if we'd needed him. George was with us, talking about God, Richard and Michelle playing Jenga with some young lads, and Mary thrashing them at cards as well as lots of snooker/air-hockey and table football. We didn't have pizza last night as a general offering so the kids brought in their own chips and the like. Naturally we had drinks for them. 

This is such a simple thing to organise and do - and it's much more fun than moaning about the way that young people 'aren't what they used to be'. I was young once and can certainly testify to that last statement - my knees are far from what they used to be.

Pray for next week please, as Eileen, Knaphill Residents' one-(wo)man mover and shaker, has organised a meeting at The Vyne to discuss moving forward using that larger facility in a way that's similar to what we've been doing for the past few weeks. 

If numbers continue to grow at the same rate as we've experienced since opening only three weeks ago then we'll need the extra space that The Vyne has to offer. However, and there's a big however, The Vyne will only work IF there are enough volunteers to cope with large numbers. That's where prayer is needed. We know the young people benefit from the provision of facilities; they wait outside in the cold for half an hour, which is proof enough - and this despite knowing that someone is likely to talk 'God' with them. BUT, if there aren't enough volunteers to help run The Vyne, then that facility won't be able to function and KRA could be left with having to limit the numbers of kids - which misses the point, unless of course, we've already peaked at 17. Please do pray.

Outside Light has committed to have one person inside The Vyne each week whick leaves other OL volunteers to go out still and walk the streets - to see who is out there and try to get them back to The Vyne. Hopefully there will be secular volunteers based at The Vyne as well, but we'd love for some of our Christian brothers and sisters to come along too and help out. 

Young people are the future of our country. It's time we adults realised that. It's something that I tried to remember last night when our closing time 9pm had passed and they were reluctant to leave. After praying, we didn't get away until 10.15 :o)

Lots of love

John

0 to 60 in 11 months

Yes folks, this is the 60th post on this blog since we started in April last year. In that time we've seen a lot of progress - 

i) we've registered as a company [reason: so that Outside Light could become a resource for any number of churches who think that young people (the outsiders) deserve a break and an opportunity to chat about their spiritual side]. 

ii) we've formed numerous policies ensuring child-safety, volunteer training, health and safety, food hygiene etc etc etc - which are available to churches to share if and when they're interested in undertaking similar work.

iii) we've defined our Aims and Objects and so on, for the eventual registration of Outside Light with the Charity Commission - we need £5,000 of giving before they will register us.

iv) but all of the above pales in comparison to the privilege we all felt this evening to have arrived on time at The King's House and found 11 young people waiting outside for us. According to Eric, they'd been there almost a quarter of an hour because we'd said last week that they would be welcome to come in and use the church coffee shop and the various games facilities that the Trustees/Chill & Chat (Thursday's group) have built up there. No way did we think there would be this number who would turn up, and there was a great atmosphere that continued as other kids joined us later. We had intended closing up at 9 but they really weren't that keen to go. This was a very successful evening in terms of a) young people being somewhere safe instead of out on the streets, b) Christians being able to demonstrate the love of Jesus in a practical way. They know who we are and Jesus' importance to us but they still turned up :o)

The kids all said they were looking forward to coming back next week - so are we.

Last Tuesday I turned up at Old Woking 20 minutes late. I really don't know how that happened, I was watching something on the box and time flew. Anyway, I arrived and found much the same had happened there. Three 17-year old lads had turned up - and they were making pancakes and kicking a ball around with Nancy, Nick and Phil. The thing is, these are the types of kid who get stereotyped into being thought of as tough, streetwise thugs, when the reality is that they're nothing of the sort. Wouldn't it be great if human beings were capable of looking at each other without making judgements about who we're looking at?

There's a real need now for more volunteer leaders. Taking this evening as an example, ideally there would be at least two of us out on the streets, as well as leaders back at The King's House. Please, if anyone is thinking about joining us, call me on 01483 474737 or drop me an email, jndurrant@gmail.com. You could come out with us and see whether or not its for you. If you're waiting for God to tell you to GO, He's done that already!

Lots of love

John

Eye-Opener Evening

Last night we were joined by Richard, the new Baptist Minister. That was a good thing because with holidays and other stuff going on, we were down to just Mary and Me, with Eric manning the fort back at the King's House.

Following a time of prayer we went out to Alexandra Gardens but nobody was there. Mary had the inspired idea though of looking in the playground to the rear of Florence Court. Sure enough, as we neared the area, there were screams and laughter coming from around a dozen or so kids. Hopefully the flats there have double-glazing that copes, otherwise times ahead will be not unlike the troubles in Alexandra Gardens last year.

We knew a few of the kids, which made them easier to approach and offer our hot chocolate. Others weren't so keen to take it - maybe they were suspicious of us, maybe they didn't realise it's really good stuff :o) Gradually more took it from us though as time went on, and we were able to chat. Also, more kids joined us so that there were probably around 15/16 of them by the time we left.

The age range, we guessed, was from about 12 up to 19. We knew the age of one of the older lads there because he was celebrating his 19th - with a case of lager. Everyone seemed safe, although the circumstances were less than ideal given the presence of booze. The lad whose birthday it was was VERY chatty. It's amazing what you can learn in the space of a few minutes, especially when someone's had a few too many. :o)

We said to those that we knew that we'd start at the King's House next week and that if they turn up we'll get the pizzas in. We'll see what happens.

Much love

John

King's House Visitors

As has happened for a few weeks now, last night we started with prayer at The King's House, with the intention of going out afterwards to see who was around. But we were really pleased when two lads we meet regularly were passing and they decided to come in and chat. They must feel easy in our company - 2 lads of 16 or so Vs 4 adults - and they were just happy to sit and natter.

Helen (Len) and I decided to take a walk to see who else was around, and on the way met with 6 more youngsters, much younger than the other lads, and suggested they'd get free hot chocolate if they dropped into The King's House. Then we continued up to Alexandra Gardens to see if anyone else was around - but there was nobody. 

Getting back to The King's House later, all of the kids were there, drinking, chatting (much of it silly chatter) but rubbing along nevertheless. The older ones weren't that keen to associate with the younger ones, but there was no animosity from either side. The older lads left and pinched one the younger lad's bikes - but we later saw up the road that they'd given it back. They were just having fun in the way that kids do.

What did come out of the nattering though was a possible child-protection issue that we must keep our eye on. But we have to be really sensitive here as well and no doubt we'll be taking advice on it. It was dark and these kids didn't look that old. I for one would really prefer to meet nobody out on the streets when it's dark. Meeting kids of this age is a worry but I guess a fact of life currently.

We think that in the coming weeks we'll probably get in some pizza and get out some of the kit that Chill & Chat uses, like their snooker table and air-hockey. Hopefully we can build up a clientelle for when The Vyne's drop-in gets going. If young people are going to be out (not at home), it's probably better for them to be somewhere safe. But we're only doing this in Knaphill one night a week, therefore we're only really scratching the surface.

Have to say again, our grateful thanks to Eric for enabling our use of The King's House. Just goes to show what a valuable facility we have in the village.

Thanks to all for your prayers

Love

John

Outside Light - Update 2009

It’s interesting that the Gloster Road Group, Outside Light’s forerunner, started four years ago but it’s only really in the last nine or so months that the wider world has cottoned on to the fact that UK society has a problem. The Princes’ Trust, London’s Mayor, New Economics Foundation and UNICEF have all now recognised that young people (the non-joiners) feel alienated and are unhappy. The consequences of this are all too obvious. Young people hang around on street corners ‘making a nuisance’ of themselves; some cause damage to property and a few cause damage to people. Our concern is that left to their own devices, with little adult input or interest, young people are in danger of falling into the wrong company and starting down a long and slippery slope.

How might Outside Light help?
There’s an obvious need for young people to feel more valued than they do at present. Ideally they would enjoy better relationship with parents/teachers and other adults who are close to them. However, for whatever reason, this doesn’t seem to happen. Outside Light therefore has several objectives, amongst which are the following:

• To engage with young people, the non-joiners – to chat with them, not to judge them
  
• To show them that adults, with whom they’re safe, value them
  
• To help them wherever possible – some need help with reading etc
  
• To kick a ball around with them and take food and drinks out to them
  
• To ensure their viewpoint is understood and considered by the authorities and others
• To provide choice in spiritual matters – most are unaware of the availability of this dimension in their lives. IS this the reason that some lack a moral compass?
  

So far this year the weather has been against us in the sense that we’ve gone out on several evenings but have met only a small number of young people – except on one recent occasion when we met 15 or so, kerb to kerb across the road as we left my home one evening. :o)

On another occasion, George, Michelle and I met just the one lad. We had a flask full of hot chocolate, enough for 20 or so cups, and it was so cold that the majority of kids must have been tucked up watching tv somewhere. Anyway, this one lad was probably 20, and a karate teacher – he’d been out all day door-to-door selling, promoting his karate lessons. We struck up conversation with him at a bus stop and he was happy to chat. George shared the Gospel with him and this lad ended up giving George a big hug - his initiative, not George's - and accepting prayer. Without any exaggeration, he was genuinely pleased that we’d stopped and given him our time.

There are perceptions about young people that are easy to understand but nevertheless, in my experience, incorrect. The first of these is that young people aren’t interested in having a spiritual dimension to their lives. The above evidence says otherwise. I’ve also video of George chatting to 15 or so younger people, all sat around him on the grass listening and debating. I believe that it's not that they're not interested in spiritual stuff - more that they just don't know that they have a spritual option.

Secondly, there’s a perception that young people in groups are to be feared. Maybe some are, but to date we’ve only met those who have charm, wit and are happy to engage with us. They’re genuinely happy to see us. Apart from the police, we think that we might be the only adults other than their parents and teachers who acknowledge them on a regular basis. Often, as I’ve said above, they have poor relationship with parents and teachers. The police aren’t always able to say anything positive to them – circumstances usually dictate the opposite. Outside Light might, therefore, be the only adult contact they have that positively affirms them.

Funding
I’ve a suspicion that most of us are fearful of mentioning Jesus for the reason that the secular world will think us ‘mad’. From the early days, however, we decided that we would be completely lacking in integrity and trust and faith if we tried to hide our beliefs and our motive for our going out to young people. We realised that our stance might affect our funding – the work we do requires money - and in a world where some authorities find the Nativity 'risky', there's a reasonable chance that we'll be seen by some as threatening and without worth. However we prayed that the value of our work would be seen for what it is and that those holding the purse strings would be able to understand that the Christian ethic is a potential benefit to young lives. Christianity promotes selflessness, love for others and other strong moral values; the precise opposite, in fact, of many behaviours that are now widely accepted as a fact of life in the secular world. Underage drinking, teenage pregnancy and illegal drugs are, sadly, everyday events that take place around the lives of many of our young people. The more exposure young people have to these, the more ‘normal’ they seem to them. All we want is to redress that balance and encourage young people to think for themselves. We're NOT in the conversion game - although naturally we're delighted when someone is able to work out for themselves the benefits of Christianity. We have applications for funding being considered at the moment. We do hope that our openness will not go against us.

Volunteers
Our numbers have reduced over the winter period – but then so has the number of occasions on which we have been able to go out. God provides according to our needs. These coming weeks, however, we shall be hoping for our numbers to increase. Ideally we should like to go through an induction period with new volunteers so that child protection training etc might be delivered before they go out. If you’re interested in joining us please give me a ring – 01483 474737 - any time soon would be wonderful.

Other Updates
The Gloster Road team has been further developing relationships with the family of the young lad who has been in prison. The lad came out of prison, things seemed to be going well but then he was arrested again last week. I’ve yet to receive an update. However the great news is that the mother’s Christian commitment appears to be growing, to the extent that she has talked about starting a cell church for travellers in the Woking area. At the moment she attends a ‘Travellers’ Church’ in Slough, which is apparently the nearest church to us that caters for the Travellers’ community.

Company Formation
Thanks to our solicitor, Mike Tinling of Barlow Robbins, Outside Light was registered as a company at the beginning of December. A recent meeting of Trustees decided to close down the Gloster Road group and transfer assets to the new Outside Light bank account. Also, the decision has now been taken to operate under our own Public Liability Insurance providing £5M cover, thus we shall no longer operate under the umbrella of the New Life Church insurance. However the church will kindly continue to provide financial support as before.

Getting Young People Indoors
Eileen Martin, Knaphill Residents Association's very own mover and shaker, has negotiated a ten-week trial use of The Vyne, the village community centre, specifically for those young people who tend to hang about on the streets. We have committed to providing one volunteer from Outside Light to assist inside the facility each week, whilst others of us will continue to go out and try to spread the word that the facility is open. If the young people take to the idea of the facility, and if it works to the satisfaction of The Vyne's managers, then there is hope that the arrangement will be allowed to continue. Naturally, our team will all work inside the facility if and when the young people all start to use it.

Before The Vyne opens as a youth facility though, The King's House Coffee Shop has kindly opened its doors to Outside Light on Monday evenings, allowing us to use that as a base, and to take young people back there for a drink if they want. Our thanks to the Trustees for their trust in us. Eric Pepper is facilitating our use of the premises until the insurers have confirmed in writing that they are happy with the arrangement - Eric, thanks again.

I wonder what will happen this year?
Will we see the acceptance of the secular world that there might be a role for an openly Christian group to engage with young people? I do hope so. We're trying to promote selflessness and a love for others. Surely that's a more positive path than they're likely to follow if they're left alone.

Will we see more volunteers joining us?

Will we see more churches joining us? Churches of different denominations?

Our most immediate need is for a new Treasurer. Our many thanks to Helen, who holds down a job that takes her from Blackpool down to the south coast, and who, despite living many miles from here in Aldershot, for four years has not only looked after the books but she's managed to go out with the Gloster Road Group on most Tuesday evenings throughout that time. Will another person come forward? We do pray so.

We have asked Woking Council to look at helping to provide a drop-in facility in Old Woking. There are potential premises that are empty and that are not unlike those that they have just provided for youngsters on the Barnsbury Estate. Please pray about this and I'll keep you updated with progress.

Your prayers would be appreciated for the above.