Thoughts From The Road

My daughters Baptism!

One of the proudest days of my life!

Interesting Questions

A friend of ours who we met through Street Pastors, recently posed some question on her blog and asked me to answer them. I did it very quickly. Maybe with more time I might have had a better stab but I record it here as I posted it. How would you answer them?

A question for Christians (possibly part one of many!)

OK,seeing as a good few of my blog followers seem to be Christians, I figured I'd just go ahead and ask this straight out. It's kind of a personal question though, so please don't feel like you have to answer.

I'm curious as to how individual people made the jump to being able/willing to believe/ believe in all the little 'bits' that make up mainstream Christianity, and whether it was always a 'package' in your mind or whether you've come to have faith in each of the seperate 'bits' individually?

For example, in my head, there's lot's of seperate 'beliefs' that make up Christianity. The 'main'/important ones seem to be .....

• Jesus existed as a flesh human being.
• Jesus was born to a virgin mother.
• Jesus died on the cross as pennance for man's sins.
• God exists and created the world.
• The Holy spirit exists.
• The bible is the whole, complete & inspired word of God.
• Life after death for believers.
• The second coming of Jesus.

I've probably missed something off this list, appologies if I have, I hope it doesn't offend you.

So, what I want to know is, if you came to the church/christianity initially through believing one (or some) of the things above, how did you come to accept them all? If you had the 'package' presented to you, were you happy that everything 'made sense' or did you struggle to believe any part of the 'package'. Is this what 'faith' is, and if so, where's the line between faith and brainless 'tag-along' acceptance?

I'm really looking forward to reading your replies - you're welcome to reply as 'anonymous' if you feel you'd like to. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

POSTED BY CAROLYN AT 15:36

1 COMMENTS:

Gary Smith said...

What an interesting set of questions! My story has been one of revelation really. I was part of the last generation of kids sent to Sunday School my non-believing parents because it was the "thing to do". Probably as a result, I have never had a period of my life when I have not believed in God and that Jesus was the son of God. This however, dod not make me a Christian, people of many faiths believe in God. In fact even the devil believes in God and knows Jesus is the son of God! In my late teens, early 20's I began to mix with people whose faith on God was so significant it was vibrant and seemed to be more intimate and real than anything I had experienced. As a result, I offered up to God the Lordship of my life. That I would try to do things His way, rather than mine. To be fair my take on it at this point would have been quite liberal when it came to say believing in all it said in the bible. However, God was patient and allowed me to explore His claims for myself. For instance there is tons of evidence that Jesus existed, so no issue there. My personal experience and that of my friends provided enough proof that Jesus was who he claimed to be, the son of God. If God created the universe, then its entirely possible that His son could be born of a virgin. That he died to fulfil prophecy that he would take away the sins of the world. His death on the cross meant that there was no the chance for people to have a relationship with God.

The more I explored my own faith, the more I found the bible to be the reliable, complete, inspired word of God. I moved from a liberal standpoint to what would be called an evangelical position. It seemed to be that the bible was all true or not. I opt for all!

Similarly, my relationship with the Holy Spirit has been progressive. Initially I was unsure of the role of the HS in the trinity. Through reading, discussion and experience I realised that the HS was a person (in the manner of God and Jesus) and not a thing. 

My point is that I did not accept a package. I did not understand the package as well as you presented it. I just knew this Jesus was the way the truth and the life. That is what I opted into. Everything else has come later. There was a sense of turning my back on my old life and making a statement that I wanted to go "his way". but the reality of all of what that means has been constantly been revealing ever since. This is in common with the first believers. They left there fishing nets in order to follow Jesus. They did not totally get the theology, benefits or cost., they just took a step of faith. That is all that Jesus wants of us. He did not sent them away to learn more or train. He said "follow me and i will MAKE you fishers of men"

So we sometimes struggle to make sense of the bible and "the package" My start point is this. If it is presented in the package, I know want to know if it's in the bible. If its in the bible then I have to ask for the faith to see it through!

If you love questions, study and challenging thinking then Christianity is never just a "tag-along" experience BUT it is always a matter of faith.....

Wow, that was a long answer!

15 NOVEMBER 2009 17:08

I had that Bill Gaither in the back of my cab

Today I am in Belfast with Bill Gaither and the homecoming friends. My mate Trevor King and I are putting shows on here and in Glasgow and London. They have all sold well, praise God! I have been hanging at the venue doing whatever I could to help Trevor. The most daunting thing was to take his 7 seater MPV to the hotel to collect Bill and Gloria. Little did they know that I had no idea where the venue was. I was worried that I might get separated from the van I was following. Fortunately it was all fine. Had a chat with Mr Gaither and we discussed the possibility of a show in cardiff at some point. Well I am going now to check out the show. Currently they are playing for longer than Springsteen!

Catch up!

It has been a while since I updated my blog. The kidney stones really knocked me out for a few weeks. Now I am back and seemingly at full strength, thank you God!

Some recent highlights include selling out the Southbank Centre for the London Gaither Homecoming. 2,300 tickets sold. We have now released to choir stalls and the artists have promised to turn around a few times! U@ are performing in the round and now so is Bill Gaither, what a legend!

Last weekend Lesley and I travelled up to London to attend the wedding of Naomi Hill to Andy Hutchison http://andyhutch.com/ Nigel and Gill were there along with Anita and David and two of our former interns, Lois and Meghan. The legend that is Les Moir made up at our table at the reception and this ensured a good time was had by all. In fact it was an incredible wedding. We loved the music. Worship was lead by Tim Hughes and Martin Smith. Cathy Burton performed and tracks by Elvis Costello and Dexys Midnight Runners all featured. I freely admit to struggling to hold the tears back during the speeches..........a lovely day.

Yesterday I spoke a couple of times at the Impact The nations conference. it must have gone ok because yet again I heard the slightly back-handed compliment "I did not know you could speak like that".... I met for the first time Simon Barrington the CEO of Samaritans Purse and Billy Graham organisation. This, I think will be a great contact, particularly for Ignite in Liberia.

Last night we went to visit Mark and Carina Galozzi Hibbert and their gorgeous new baby, Eliah.

Tonight will be the 3rd Street Pastors commissioning service. Another 8 Street Pastors are been added to the rotas. In addition to Chief Superintendent Josh Jones, we are also expecting Jenny Randserson AM and Jenny Willot MP at the service.

God is good!

Cheesed Off!

So last week I returned to hospital with another kidney stone on the move. I have been so grateful for the calls, emails and facebook comments offering me sympathy. The facts are that at least a couple of times a day I am in quite a lot of pain. The solution is to take pain killers that knock me out. As a result I am not able to go to the office and only work in short bursts. I do not have the concentration levels to read a book or watch a movie.

This means I am cheesed off because I love to be active, healthy, engaged and busy! I am praying that the stone will pass VERY quickly now!

Being and Doing

I have just spent the end of last week in hospital. Having been discharged by the urology consultant a couple of weeks ago with a clean bill of health, I was shocked to feel the familiar pain of a kidney stone on the move on 

Wednesday morning. I got myself from the shower, got dressed and Lesley took me to the UHW hospital. I then spent 26hrs on a trolley waiting for a bed before being admitted into a ward. 

To be honest it was very inconvenient. I am really busy and have got lots to do. More than that the team at Ignite are really busy and I did not want them to be working really hard and for me to be just laid up! Often we are defined by what we do. It was helpful to listen to some teaching from the Abundant Life Church in Bradford that helped give some clarity on this.

The bible says "Be Still and Know that I am God". Psalm 46:10. It is not in doing that we get to know God it is being still. However, then reality is that "being still" is not just about spending time alone and in contemplation it is about being in God. Knowing Him and getting to understand Him. Remember the time when Jesus calmed the storm? (Mark 4: 35-40)

 ³⁵That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." ³⁶Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. ³⁷A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.³⁸Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

 ³⁹He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

 ⁴⁰He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

One of the reasons it has been suggested why Jesus was not afraid is because he had stated where they were going (to the other side). Whatever came against them was not going to stop this happening. However, the disciples seemed to either forget what the destination was or they did not have faith in the declaration of Jesus. 

How many times have we got confidence in the plans and promises of God until something in our circumstances or our situation seem to say something different? I am conscious of the belief that God is my provider but then looking at our situation with one salary and two mortgages it is easier to consider our circumstances than those promises! At times like this it important to stand on the word of God rather than the falseness of that which seems to be all around us. Of course that looks like reality BUT this should not shape our thinking as God has promised to be our provider. So at times like this what do I want to focus on? How about:

" But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15)

Or

"whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." (Phil 4:8)

Better to fill our minds with positive, biblical thoughts than the false thinking of our perceived situation.

As disciples it important to know God enough to transcend our circumstances. 

Gaither Homecoming Show - London, Update

With more than a month to go until the Gaither homecoming friends visit London, we have sold almost 2,000 tickets. This is such a refreshing change! So often we are worried whether enough ticket will sell, but with this show, it almost certain to be a sell-out. My advice? If you want to come, book now! 

You can buy tickets online at http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/. If you buy them online there is a transaction fee of £1.45. You can buy them in person at the Southbank Centre (where there is NO transaction fee) or finally by calling 0871 663 2500. For telephone, fax, postal and group bookings there is a £2.50 transaction fee.

CONFIRMED LINEUP...
GLORIA GAITHER
GAITHER VOCAL BAND
WES HAMPTON
BILL GAITHER
DAVID PHELPS
MICHAEL ENGLISH 
MARK LOWRY
ERNIE HAASE & SIGNATURE SOUND
BUDDY GREENE
JANET PASCHAL
LYNDA RANDLE
GORDON MOTE
KEVIN WILLIAMS
GREG RITCHIE

 

John Piper on the prosperity "gospel"

I found this challenging when I saw it. What about you?

Kenneth Branagh as Henry V making the "Band of Brothers" Speech

Band of Brothers - Shakespeare, life and the Men's ministry at City Temple

In the last year I have been honoured to be part of the Men's Ministry in my local church. It's leader has become a great mate of mine. Mark Lyndon Jones shows inspirational leadership of the disparate bunch of blokes. In the last few weeks I have been facing a number of challenges and it has made me reflect on what is means to be part of a "Band of Brothers"

The phrase was originally coined to the bard himself, William Shakespeare in the play Henry V. On re-reading it I have discovered that as i get my head around the language it sums up what it means to "do life together" Here it is:

What's he that wishes so? 
    My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin; 
    If we are mark'd to die, we are enow 
    To do our country loss; and if to live, 
    The fewer men, the greater share of honour. 
    God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more. 
    By Jove, I am not covetous for gold, 
    Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost; 
    It yearns me not if men my garments wear; 
    Such outward things dwell not in my desires. 
    But if it be a sin to covet honour, 
    I am the most offending soul alive. 
    No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England. 
    God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour 
    As one man more methinks would share from me 
    For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more! 
    Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host, 
    That he which hath no stomach to this fight, 
    Let him depart; his passport shall be made, 
    And crowns for convoy put into his purse; 
    We would not die in that man's company 
    That fears his fellowship to die with us. 
    This day is call'd the feast of Crispian. 
    He that outlives this day, and comes safe home, 
    Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd, 
    And rouse him at the name of Crispian. 
    He that shall live this day, and see old age, 
    Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours, 
    And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.' 
    Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars, 
    And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.' 
    Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot, 
    But he'll remember, with advantages, 
    What feats he did that day. Then shall our names, 
    Familiar in his mouth as household words- 
    Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter, 
    Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester- 
    Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red. 
    This story shall the good man teach his son; 
    And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, 
    From this day to the ending of the world, 
    But we in it shall be remembered- 
    We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; 
    For he to-day that sheds his blood with me 
    Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile, 
    This day shall gentle his condition; 
    And gentlemen in England now-a-bed 
    Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here, 
    And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks 
    That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

It is clear that a band of brothers is built through battle and conflict and standing alongside one another. I look forward to the coming season and how God will use it.

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