A teapot life

Keep your heart with all vigilance, 

for from it flow the springs of life.

Proverbs 4:11

But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone."

Matthew 15:18-20

The bible uses the term "the heart" in a different way than our contemporary culture. We might equate it with good effort or a noble stab at something... ("she puts her heart and soul into it") or as a romantic driver ("the moment she told him she supported Everton, Wrexham, WCCC, The Sounders and the Mariners...his heart was won"). Bible wisdom teaches us that the heart is our teapot for life, that out of our core being (soul), everything flows. When I sang "I'm a little teapot" in play-school I didn't realise I was expounding an element of profound truth (I just thought I looked an idiot), but the super deep reality is ... that we are those (by definition of our creator and redeemer) who "pour out" life from our core being. This means a number of things...

GOOD TEAPOT GUIDE

A) We need to guard our hearts carefully and with hyper vigilant radars. (Proverbs 4:11) The state of our hearts (What we allow our lives to be driven by, motivated by, what we feed our lives on, what we allow to interfere and influence with our core beings) matters. We need new hearts of flesh from the God who specialises in redeemed heart transplants. The heart is corrupt above all things, and therefore we need him not only to remake us in new birth, but to help us grow daily in strength conditioning of our new hearts after our transplant. Biblical wisdom is more than mental clarity. It is not just about us thinking His thoughts after Him (it is that), but also instinctively feeling and being motivated in the same manner that the Living God is in His character and core being. This can only happen through (daily, repeated) humble dependent prayer and seeking first His Kingdom and Lordship over our lives. 

B) We need to be aware of wrong (unbiblical) contemporary evaluations of people when something is described as "good". The thinking of our world can infect our judgement and wisdom.

 "He has a good heart" can mean / be used for all sorts of things in lazy evaluation...(He is totally useless but intended well), or  (He causes mayhem and destruction in relationships but is too oblivious and self obsessed to realise the multiplied damage caused to others). In this second instance the core being and behavioural drivers are not good at all. I've heard of too many people excused of core sinful behaviour in churches and mission teams  by a spiritual leader who should know better. They may say something like, "I am just looking to see the good in people... like Paul's evaluation parameters (Phil 4:4-9)", which is a noble ambition, but ultimately there is a huge difference between looking for good in believers where it encourages growth, and simply making an opposite judgement to the reality of a situation which is the definition of foolish thinking. (Note also Christ's words in Matthew 12:33-35 about rotten fruit)

MAKE BIBLICAL JUDGMENTS NOT EXTERNALLY DRIVEN ONES: 

Be careful of "political movers and manoeuvres" in Christian organisations / cultures which evaluate people with a world driven (human ambition) mindset. Far too often I hear of upcoming / potential leaders who are gaining influence that "He is a good guy" when what the intended influencer really means of a young leader is that he is gifted to their liking on the outside (capable, talented, "a mover and shaker" (dreadful and foolish way to evaluate spiritual leadership) or that he has potential as an influencer in line with denominational, hierarchy/ their personal thinking). In reality, biblical evaluations for leadership are always based on character, and in accordance with God's character not our preferences. Whether we are talking about potential or historical issues with young leaders, the only thing of great significance we should be interested in is spiritual Character, and whether they have a heart after God's own heart. Key characteristics such as compassionate and gentle leadership are often seminal factors. The renovation heart training blogs will unpack this more. 

Where does this kind of wrong thinking / wrong driver for evaluation of spiritual leadership come from though ? We are taught in contemporary thinking to evaluate by personality, talent, ability, style or looks... (ie from what we see on the outside). How can some people define Boris Johnson for example (Note: no politics just an interesting observation case) by saying "he was a good prime minister" when others say " he is morally corrupt, an expert liar, and has a trail of destroyed broken relationships in his wake, due to repeated duplicity". The truth is that two people are evaluating from opposite criteria - one from their understanding of outward personality and ability to be a politician in the contemporary world, and the other looking at morality and the state of his heart relationally towards other people. 

C) Model Christ: Judge others with caution, care, humility and grace, with a desire to restore (like God's heart towards us). If it is not your role and you are not needed to pass judgement on others, don't. Private evaluations of people for wisdom calls of friendship and public expressions of evaluations are quite different dynamics. If your leadership or relational role involves guiding others on the assessment of others, do it lovingly and with compassion without losing clarity. What would Jesus do? This is helpful in so many ways when we are considering His Character. However, we do need to remember that He is LORD of all things and all peoples, and whilst the risen Christ is judge of the living and the dead... we are not. Therefore we look to keep a balance as we guard our hearts, from the extremes of being overly judgemental and blind trust or carelessly living without wisdom or alertness.

 The bible reminds us that as we point the finger at others, a greater observance simultaneously occurs on our hearts and core being. Our hearts are an open book to God. Like David (1 Sam 16:7), God looks at our hearts not our performance or personality (Luke 16:15) . Even if our world is evaluating us as "a good egg" or when people ask us how we are we say "I'm good thanks", the objective reality of our core being is not changed an iota, and we stand before a Holy God who sees all things without any impairment or inaccuracy. He has however treated us with incomprehensible grace in Christ. This doesn't mean that we never make wisdom calls and judgements about others ( a contemporary misunderstanding which doesn't stand up with scriptural thinking), but it does mean we should only talk about such when motivated by grace, and love and kindness permeate all our verbalisation of  these things. For Christian leaders following Christ, this is a super sensitive and pivotal issue. Work on it dependant on His help, It really matters that we are alert to this. Talk rightly of others and people will trust your wisdom, and respond to your grace, talk wrongly and your "good influence" can be destroyed in a moment. (Proverbs 18:21, James 3:1-11) 

D) Cry to GOD for help: 

2 Timothy 2:22:

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart

James 1:5

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

The older we get, and the closer we get to God / understand His heart, the more we know our sin and our capacity for corruption. Our china TeaPots have a great tendency to be very stained. He, however is faithful, and his mercy towards us is new every morning. He has a fresh heart of compassion for all those who transparently cry to Him and ask Him for help. He is faithful and just (1 John 1:9), and will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This is the magnitude of our great Father, and He is ready and waiting for us to come for help. Through Christ we can pray on the basis of His purity. In the very act of going to Him with honestly like this, the act of heart transformation begins and ends... His power and the life of HIS SPIRIT in us is effective to change, and HIS GRACE to receive us despite our unworthiness to come, transforms our reflected and instinctive attitudes to others. 

Lord change my heart, and make it more like yours.

4 Hard Learned Lessons (about maintaining the intentional trajectory of frontier church planting).

 1. FOCUS: The missional objective towards "all peoples" needs to be a continual mantra. 

Without such the church will gravitate to a mono cultural missional ghetto objective (confit itself for cosiness, preserved in its own fat) or split into factions of missional priorities for different groupings (be several mono cultural factions working disparately). 

We are called together to work together in different ways: The way of unity (Eph 4) is the way of diversity in the mission of Christ - this is how we maintain the unity of the saints and live "all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28) by pointing to His Lordship and the majesty of His rule and provision. 

2. TRAINING A TEAM: Future leaders are to be viewed and trained both through the lens of local maintenance and scattering expansion. 

It is tempting when leadership is reliant on ourselves or a small group to gravitate towards any who show maturing faith as prospective leaders with willingness to take on ministry responsibility. Intentionality to train in leadership objectives which see the spread of the gospel to unreached areas and other people groups however is key. Without this the passions of future leaders (and their sign up to suffering and sacrifice) cannot be tested. The least this will produce is an understanding of who is naturally more" cut out" or "wired" for static leadership sacrifice in one locality for an extended period, and those who are geared for mobile expansion sacrifice and a scattering pioneering team ministry. 

Some leaders will be a natural fit for a slow change and indigenous contexts of (slower) organic growth. Flexibility and sacrifice will be demanded in both contexts, but in different ways. One will sacrifice all that is known in comfort, the other the freedom to leave and be more flexible. The two needs/ types of leadership run parallel however when we are training a team for the future. If we only have static leadership settling into a community groove, the church becomes intransigent and immobile (early chapters of ACTS), but it we only has mobile leadership (evangelism, and flexibility to go creatively with the gospel,  without life on life discipleship, discipline and leadership) the church never sinks deeper routes for sustainable growth. We need both, but characters may fall more naturally into one camp or the other. Balance comes from keeping unity together in mission. In the dream team all people can be (maturely) all things to all peoples. 

3. OBJECTIVES AND INDUSTRY: The program of the church needs to have explicit and agreed intentional missional objectives and priorities. In short, new workers and ministries need to know what they are signing up for and fit in with God given priorities and objectives which are good for the role community and the development of scattering. Without this each new person who joins will have their own ministry passions and gifting and will gravitate towards what they love to do, without change. This may initially not seem a bad thing, we are instinctively ready to accommodate any who want to serve and lead in gospel industry,  especially in an emerging frontier context, but if every new influential worker dedicates their attention to their own passions, the joint missional objectives and critical ministry areas for the good of the wider church and witness may easily be lost. Ultimately the worker will become frustrated at best as their ministry becomes isolated or under supported, and dissonant at worst as they tug at resources and lobby for priority. This is particularly true when so many ministries are up and running that the program is full, demanding and draining for the people of God. (This is what we may consider as the season of sustaining growth/ or what PLD often call the "awkward" staged church) . We are talking about the pivotal juncture when growth momentum is severely tested. 

 A critical point will be reached whereby the objectives need to return to common goals and rationalisation for expansive mission and the planting in other locations and cultures. At this point the unity may shatter if people are ultimately prioritising / living for selfish rather than united goals in Christ. Personal passion must submit to the greater submission of the good of the new community, and dreams for the gospel must be formulated by Christ, His kingdom, and the global good of gospel expansion.

4. STICKABILITY AND MATURITY: Pioneer and frontier stations (0.00% Christianity) by nature attract pioneering and creative believers. The same readiness which called them to your situation can easily call them away again or to another mission station when times get more tough and the season is primarily one of sustainability not initiation. Many frontier situations can often have a very small leadership team even as disciples grow in their hundreds. This is not sustainable or duplicatable, especially if some of that leadership group decide to go elsewhere for the mission of God, either for good reason (calling) or because they struggle with responsibility (and inevitable wisdom calls/ tensions) as leaders of a maturing new community. Any mission director or leader worth their salt spots the red flag of a mission worker who transports between contexts (like Star Trek transportation without a vapour) without displaying some growth in responsibility or maturity in stickability. 

It may be an over generalisation, but this tension seems particularly true for those with an individualistic understanding of calling and the leading of the Holy Spirit which we might very loosely (lazily/ simplistically)  call a "charismatic understanding." of missional calling. This is the idea that God can "hotline" call me to something without anyone else being party to what God is saying or be needed to confirm its wisdom or legitimately in gifting, timing, or appropriateness.  Whereas those from a more conservative background may show a disobedience in their slowness to listen to a call, to go and get working / stuck into faith driven pioneering mission in the first place, those who individualise ministry and mission conversely may be quick to leave for "another perceived calling of The Spirit" and not stick the course to which they felt "called".  In reality those most fruitfully called to apostolic like frontiers are very deep into accountability with mature missional leadership and accountability. A word of warning however - established church networks ("denominations") may miss this missional calling due to their intransigent missional trajectory.

Of course both perspectives (the wayward pioneer and the lazy Jonah disciple slow to "go") show an immature understanding of The Spirit at work in the people of Christ and the biblical global mission of God. One is slow to trust the immensity and flexibility of His power to sustain us and equip us for His purposes, and the other minimises His Lordship over our own perspective. Both extremes limit sensitivity to other believers in the frontier context who are living obediently, in accordance with the revolutionary gospel of love (John 13:35). 

He unites us into one faith, one baptism, one Lord. Christ is the head of the church, and we are there to submit to His Lordship, objectives with mutual submission to other believers in that context. What HE reveals to us is never at odds with others who submit to His word (bible)  which He also inspired and will never contradict. The same Spirit who gives us wisdom in scripture, gives others around us to test our understanding of our calling, gifting and purpose in the body. Clear missional separations / divisions (ACTS 15:36-39) can happen by His calling. My conscience and biblical reading however is that these are rare rather than the norm. Our encouragement in these verses/ instances is that Christ's Lordship and wisdom is bigger even than these things which are so unsettling and confusing to us. 

Summary: 

MOTIVES and OBJECTIVES MATTER: Many church plants seem to reach a pivotal (tipping)  point in these things regardless of whether in frontier or more (safe) established contexts. The issue is always one of ultimate goal and both what the core team and body of new community have signed up for in the first place. We live for His kingdom and not our own.

It is therefore imperative that the original goal expressed (to be a biblical church which makes disciples who make disciples, and  plants churches which plant churches in accordance with the global gospel mandate for all peoples (including unreached peoples)) remains the initial, primary and continuing objective. It is then clear that if people leave (to start another missional objective) they have done so on the basis of personal preference / instinct, or indeed it is The Spirit's leading (and they can be affirmed, supported, encouraged and appropriately sent by the church.) 

BROKENNESS HAPPENS, BUT GOD IS BIGGER: Those who leave missional contexts on any unhelpful indivudalistic and disruptive basis hurting the church deeply, need to know that the principles and objectives of biblical mission and corporate unity in diversity are still the same.  God's unchangeable objectives and character mean that in all these things we build on the faithful rock and foundation of who He is. We are prayerfully committed to doing our very best under his prompting and biblical wisdom, knowing that He is above, around and working through all macro and micro minutiae his perfect purposes without fail. 

(Gen 2:1, Deut 32:4. John 1:3. Rev 1:8, 22:13, John 17:4. Phil 1:6, Col 2:10, James 1:4)| 

ACTS 20:24

But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God

Praying for healthy, mature church leadership teams in frontier contexts, which will be the means to overspill His grace to all peoples and other unreached contexts. 

The Lifting of Humanity: Our story, calling and delight.

 The lifting of humanity : Our calling and delight.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—  among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.  But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,  even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—  and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,  so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 

1) OUR STORY:

We live in a sub-human world. The story across our globe is the same, whether war in Ukraine, crime in Cape Town, perversion by high profilers, or greedy destruction by government.  The majesty of creation and the application of the created order is a distant and veiled memory for our cosmos. As we stand on  the station platform, or witness the fallout of arguments at the checkout, read the rising crime figures and fullness of prisons, or view the grumpiness, dysfunction and chaos of society generally … it is easy to forget that this is not always as it was.  That resignation to view or world as irredeemable would be catastrophic. When all of humanity assumes that this is the best we can do, the apathy to live self centeredly, with a passion for self absorption, self providence, and self preservation compounds the brokenness of humanity and our world as a whole. Without God we live in a hopeless world, but we are not either without him or hope because of Him. The gospel is not a pattern or system for society, it is God himself who came into our mess and redeemed it Himself, by His blood and in his love. His work complete we now witness the cosmological implications of it in our lives, through our obedience and for all peoples.

THE GOOD GOD AND A GOOD BEGINNING:

The complex symphony of the created order reminds us that humanity is exalted to reflect the glory of God, in a uniquely relational and multidimensional way. In symphonic terms... humanity takes the conductor's soaring lead, the dominating melody and main theme being not only the focal point of the entire work but revealing more of the heart behind the masterpiece.  Yet even though created humanity was to be a group of virtuoso soloists, we are still under the control, orchestration, composition and interpretational expression of the conductor (Gen 1:26-2:17). This is the only reason that we are able to work well with each other, in creation or recreation. Our greatest role and impact is under his leadership.  This role is nor passive, it requires discipline and practice. In many ways this is where the analogy ends. Part of our great role in creation for example  is our role of influence, the order to take care of all else that God has made and orchestrated, including all those whom God has made to display his image. In that sense we are like a sub-conductor or orchestra leader. The old fashioned word is that we are made to be God’s “vice-regents” over creation, representative moderators of the zone in which we are placed to rule in the way that emulates the ultimate and altogether good ruler of love and provision. However that zone is so much bigger than we can understand, and there is no greater and bigger purpose than living for God.

Part of the profound tragedy of the fall is that our relationship with society is broken in our rebellion against God. In the analogy we function more as a spoilt child who doesn't practice and sees no point to the Stradivarius in our hands.The greatest and greater catastrophe of course under God is immeasurably more tragic. Humanity has become disconnected with the very one who loves us and orders all things well for our good and his glory, both in our lives and throughout society. The world is full of dissonance and pain, each doing fit in our own eyes, each in competition and friction with others according to our non complimentary passions and priorities.

However complex both creation and the fall of humanity is - creation has a simple biblical summary, and basic purpose in God’s plan.. “it is good”. At least it was before our rebellion. Even the smallest child and least educated of society can "get" what this means, yet comprehension is not the issue, inspiration and recreation is. The same is true for you and I in our lives today as we follow Christ, we are created for good. (Ephesians 2:10, Matthew 5;16-18). However, His purposes in us are on an unfathomably higher plane and bigger scale for our world. We are destined in His purposes to be “very good”. The miracle of redemption is that the conductor is with us in our world showing us, equipping us to put the symphony right.  I guess the question you and I need to ask ourselves is… do we understand our redemptive calling and our we living up to it by His help ? Is your multidimensional life visibly good for society and the culture where you live? Is your life making a beautiful noise in a dissonant world?

2) OUR CALLING:

THE SUCCESS OF CHRIST'S REDEMPTION IMPACTS OUR WHOLE LIVES, 

Our dedication and discipline to moral and RELATIONAL PURITY

Our COMPLETE ROUTINE, 

Our PRIMARY PURPOSE IN EVERY RELATIONSHIP AND 

Our TOTAL PURPOSE FOR EVERY PART OF LIFE. 

Philippians 2:15

"that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world"

(see also Matt 5:13-16)

Are you up for this?

The majesty of Christ’s redemptive and completed work means that if you and I are reconnected with the Living God, restored to the place of relationship with Him whereby his presence (by the precious gift of His Spirit upon and working in and through his children) enables us to be redeemed in our relational and social roles. The ramifications of this are as wide as the cosmos and as profoundly beautiful. Whilst you and I might begin to grasp how big God is through the lens of creation, we haven't begun to fathom the magnitude of his character, work and accomplishment through new creation. (1 Cor 2:9. Hebrews 1:2-3, Col 1:15-23, Rev 21:1-7). Neither have we really begun to understand what HE can do through us if we were unreservedly compliant with his extensive work of redemption in our character, lives and witness.

 However, (and please forgive me, I am trying to be gently honest) from my humble / open  perspective this seems to be rarely discussed in sermons, small groups and relatively few spiritual leaders seem to prioritise or be intentional about the the primacy to prepare God’s people for works of (this wider) service in a broken society in order to glorify God on this majestic missional scale, and see his name glorified in all the earth. We seem in contemporary Christianity to be much more dominated by the other part of the Westminster Confession - to "enjoy God forever", without realising that one of the greatest ways and integral means of doing that is to see His transformation of the nations. We tend to train pastors and read Ephesians 4 as pastors with a view of equipping for the good of the church where God has placed us. I think this is an unintentional reading and unconsidered  emphasis. It's certainly far from the context of what Ephesians is about. A desire to be conscientious for redemption in our own context, unwillingly can see the world through a selfishness lens of grace, to see God's purposes only in our microcosmic context, and fall into the error of only seeing the local church as a vehicle for self service, minimising Christ's redemptive purposes and practices in our minds, hearts, and lives. (isa 59:1) (John 3:16) (Psalm 107:2-3) 

Ephesians however has God’s cosmological view in mind, dare I say... His purposes are considerably higher and more profound than the locality and wellbeing of any of our insular local church situations. He is opening our lives to live for something much bigger, greater and altogether more glorious. Our lives are to display His glory. This is not only for our culture and people, but all cultures and all peoples. He is Lord over all, all history, all generations and all peoples whether they acknowledge it or not. His Lordship is greater than the limitations of our experiences, circumstances and dreams even for the gospel.

I am sure that I have been very much party and contributor to this cultural problem and issue of limited vision. We may see our lives as "missional", but how wide is that missional vision? This needs to be something we grow in as we mature in Christ. The predominance of our gatherings together and our ambitions for them sadly gravitate often towards localised encouragement, praise and fellowship… dare I say we see them often as there to meet the needs of his people and celebrate his work of redemption here and now. The church are those whom we love with his love, but His church is not defined by our love. His love is not confined either by our understanding or our desires to do good to those we like. He loved us before we reciprocated his love goes beyond boundaries, and his love is not defined nor confined by us. We often forget that the primary calling of our lives is not to feel good, safe or provided for,  but to be the expression of God’s goodness to a broken world as we stand in the gap in the name of Christ, to take his goodness to where it is not. This is so much bigger than we realise and we need His help to even begin to see His glory and purposes. Our corporate gatherings should reflect this wider view.

However much we grow to display and enjoy His goodness it is to be a testimony to His greater goodness. However much we grow in the knowledge of Him, it is only in order to magnify and radiate his greater glory. Our primary role is to do this in a broken context which does not yet reflect or see such.

In short we are to be at least to be a significant way in which the world comprehends the goodness of God through us. Our success or failure has profound consequence. The focus of the church matters. If we are not a missional church, can we define ourselves as a church at all? This is the core DNA of what the true church of Christ is, a people of redemption, focussed on the spread of redemption for his glory. 

Are our churches so fragile that missional training and the hard work of apologetic preparation (and biblical instruction) for engagement with society would be a step too far for our characters or capacity? Are we perpetuating the cultures that we have signed up for, even if they are self serving and self centred with the goodness of God? Can we ever be a blessing when we only give a begrudging nod to the missional without the primacy of our practical and objective purpose as his redeemed people on earth ? Can we ever get the local expression of God’s people to a good place when they and we are on a trajectory which is continually distancing itself from the primacy of God's global mission and His redemptive purposes for every culture and all peoples?

The truth is that we all get into a limited zone of thinking which equates redemptive living with church, (singing, thanksgiving, belonging) and all the beauties of the new community we have been drawn to by His undeserved grace. However, we are still this side of heaven, and we see with fallen eyes. Part of the truth is that the new community displays still many elements of fallenness and selfishness. Even more profoundly, the majority of our lives are actually lived amongst those who are not part of the new community. 80% of our time may not be lived in church or believing society, and even if we could spend (or chose to live) the majority of lives with those living under the Lordship of Jesus, would this be appropriate as an intentional lifestyle ? 

Why has God in his redemptive purposes not transported us immediately to everlasting glorification at the moment of our repentant confession? Is it not that God’s greatest work and his ongoing work of redemption is shown and displayed in our lives now, as we live for him amongst unredeemed and broken lives, and impact them as a mirror and mouthpiece of Christ himself. The character and love of Christ is our world’s greatest need. This need pervades around our small lives now, and is even more apparent when we look outside our local context motivated by grace. It matters how we see our world and look into the lives and eyes of those we rub shoulders with each day.

3) OUR DELIGHT: 

He has placed you and I to be what our world needs in His purposes. We are not the saviour or Messiah, but we have been placed to be his ambassadors and point to him, in offices where we are the only Christian, the school where we are the only parent with a bible worldview, the unreached frontier country where 0.00% know Christ. What then is our priority? To live for him as an obedient and overflowing expression of thankfulness to Him and a ubiquitous expression of redemption to others. 

WHAT IS OUR FIRST STEP IN REDEMPTIVE LIVING ?

A) Lifting of humanity starts on the path of humility: (Phil 2)

Before we were lifted with Christ He had to go lower for us than we can understand. Philippians 2 reminds us that this is the order of redemption and the path we follow. The first step towards ministering to others is always taking a step away from our pride, and being willing to submit, both to God's will to love others like Christ, and engage holistically with the lives of others who are stuck in the spiritual pit. We can never see ourselves as above this ministry, we never graduate from pit ministry at the coalface, it is always our primary calling and first step of obedience if our lives are shaped by the life of Christ. We will never pay the cost that Christ paid in full, either for Sin or Suffering, He is victorious over both. What we are called to do is be willing to engage with the sin and suffering of others in order that they might see Christ as the answer to both.

Whilst you and I think we are something ("special")  or confuse our spiritual resurrection with Christ as a position of societal superiority, we are of no redemptive purpose. We are as the great preacher said, always" spiritual beggars showing others where we have found food". Pride in children of God is an anathema. Being clothed in grace does not stop us going to those living in spiritual poverty, it fills us with motivation for others to know the same. 

He knows the worst about us but loves us anyway. This is the foundation for our intentional engagement with others in humility. We point to the fact that we think and transparently know, that we are nothing special. In fact without God’s work in our lives (both in creation and new creation) we would show no glory. This impacts the way we talk about our lives, what we are proud of, what we say of our families and children, our satisfaction in work and achievements. All of it has been His goodness and we want others to know his kindness in the same way, and we are flexible to go anywhere for that to be so. One thing we should never do us live a life of isolated forgetfulness of how much he has done for us. 

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

    and all that is within me,

    bless his holy name!

2 

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

    and forget not all his benefits,

3 

who forgives all your iniquity,

    who heals all your diseases,

4 

who redeems your life from the pit,

    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy...

Psalm 103

B) Have eyes to see those He can lift, and the extent of His grace. Don't be selfish with grace. (Matthew 9:36)

( 1 Kings 22:17, Ezekiel 34:5, Zech 10:2)

THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF PEOPLE AND SITUATIONS THAT NEED LIFTING:

One of the profound things I’ve witnessed over the last two years especially is the amount of society and the world which has neither heard nor seen a redemptive lifestyle in operation under the Lordship of Christ. At the same time however what shocks me more is the intransigent nature of many who live a private “Christian” lifestyle given this backdrop. The old excuse that you don’t need to use words etc… that people will see Christ in you, can at times be an excuse for careless living without an intentional care for the brokenness and eternity of others and what they see and hear in our lives which is of critical and eternal importance to them. Eyes of grace sting with frequent tears for the mess of our world, and maybe that is why we are often tempted not to look at brokenness. Fixing our oyes on Christ does not mean that we ignore a broken world, it means that we trust his character, power and equipping to make us fruitful in it as he draws our focus towards the path of redemptive living where he has placed us, before we are with our redeemer forever and the opportunity is gone forever.

We are not called to ignore brokenness, even if it is for our emotional wellbeing, or because we are busy with church. This is not what we are redeemed for. Our world idolises emotional wellbeing and positive thinking, the bible does not and redemption in Christ is so much deeper than this veneer. We are called to intentionally engage with this worlds brokenness in Christ's name. The message of the N.T. gospels reveals the frontier mission of Christ to such. It is a glorious and undeserved thing He has included us in. Christ's mission is without boundary, and ours must be also. To write off people as "not our responsibility", to say that the hurting and broken sector of society around our church or new community location  is "not our problem", or "not part of our calling or parish" is about as un Christlike as we can be.

Christs laser criticism  reserved for the first century ghetto of religion was repelled by a reply of constant trope and spew of hate. (Luke 7:34). Even in this however, our Saviour's obedience took the hit and scorn, it did not deter him, either to redemptive relationship amongst those far away, (marginalised and "excluded") or was it a distraction to the purposes of God and the path to the cross and empty tomb. In reality these encounters where the path… they are our path as we follow Him… this is our calling before inevitable glorification. Victory in Christ is that we say "no" to marginalisation and segregation of redemption and "Yes" to His bigger purposes in our lives. We seek the lost and broken, the ill who need spiritual restoration and chief physician, the lonely who need the friend of sinners, the spiritually drowning who need a lifeline, the downhearted and downtrodden who need His power in the format of a friend, the neglected and crushed who need His faithfulness, the low and ashamed who need His restoration, the battered and ready to give up who need His new beginning. This is the glory of what we are called to in His purposes. 

Lord give me eyes to see people through your eyes.

c) TRUST HIM FOR PARABOLIC FRUITFULNESS IN REDEMPTIVE LIVING:

THERE IS NO LIMIT TO WHAT HE CAN DO: 

Lord Help me see what a person can be in your redemptive purposes.

• The gang leader has come to Christ in the township, trains for evangelism and shares the gospel non stop. The brokenness has not stopped, he and his family are in danger and the firing line (literally) but crime has fallen off a cliff since Christ came into his life, the ripples into 100's and 1000's of lives are ever increasing as the gospel spreads parabolically into hearts and homes once far away. 
• The young girls who stared at walls and remained in the confines of their room, never going out due to the shame of their rape, now stand at the front of the class teaching a rammed room full of smiles. They are confident of their identity in Christ. They tell of Christ being the only answer to our greatest needs. A new generation grows under the radiance of forgiveness, with ambitions to change the world for the glory of their rescuer. 
• The girls trafficked for prostitution, drive to the war zone to witness to their redemption story in Christ. They return with others who have been through mirrored trauma, trying to joke and laugh as they drive to safety, but the eyes which look back are empty and lifeless. When home, they tend for their unexpected guest on every level. They want to show love, commitment faithfulness and care in the name of the one who cares more than any. They wash clothes, dispose of items with bad memories, `shop for new ones, clean toilets, make beds until one day their house guest also bows the knee to Christ and the smile of joy floods to their sad faces once again. At this moment, the servant of Christ says, I would do it all again and many times more to see that smile of salvation. 
• The boys told that they had no purposes, fix the cars. They do it not for themselves, or even for great profit, but to share a word in season about how the great mechanic has resolved the greatest issues of our lives. We are made for a purpose, and only in Christ does our life work as intended according to the makers instruction. 
• The man who went to prison, and left seeking anonymity to a remote area because of the heinous nature of his crimes... now returns to his original village. He tells his story. The man who took and stole now sows and grows and here is the produce as a gift for you today. He tells of the one who gave him more than he could ever understand, a new start in His Son. A new position as a treasured person, a new openness to be shaped and nurtured, a new love for people which brings him to involuntary tears. From it comes a request to know this God, a request to learn more, a desire for him the redeemed man to pastor those who come to know this same God of new beginnings. Here the story continues. Our God loves new beginnings. 

What is your next step in a life of redemption. Trust him to enlarge your heart, to renew your vision, to widen your friendship, to provide opportunity for new missional friendship. His heart is bigger, his arm is not short to save and his priority is lost people. 

 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,  complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.  Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,  so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Lord of eternity, 

Dwells in humanity,

Kneels in humility,

And washes our feet.

Wisdom unsearchable,

God the invisible,

Love indestructible,

In frailty appears.

Lord of infinity,

Stopping so tenderly,

Lifts our humanity to the heights of His throne.

Oh what a mystery

Meekness and majesty

Bow down and worship

For this is your God

This is your God.

Encouragement and harvest through sufferring.

 Good friends and those who pray so faithfully...  

It's so good to be back and be able to give you some updates on here. During a period of (sensitive) travel and communications it is not always helpful to those we serve to draw attention to their situations online. Now we enter a season of bringing friends up to date on what God is doing for his glory, within his global and glorious purposes. There is much to report, and the overriding reality is one of thankfulness and fruitfulness which comes out of a season of suffering and hardship. From the townships of South Africa, to the bitter cold mountains of Nepal... From the urban mess of Bogota to the prisons of Asia... from the frontline of Eastern Europe to the unreached people groups of the 10/40 window...

 GOD IS AT WORK !

It is true that when our lives feel hopeless, and our circumstances  seem so uncertain, it is in such a place that we see the solidity of who Christ is and what he has accomplished more clearly. When we are humbled to feel our own fragility and vulnerability, we comprehend more of the majesty and power of his victory, over sin, death, satan, and suffering. In short, when times are so hard that we have nothing left, and in our humility trust in him alone, we see how utterly incomprehensible and immeasurably great our treasure in Christ is. When we feel like the perculiar providence of God has wiped out our stored and personal reserves that we have so easily relied on - we discover that his purposes are good and only good to show us the greater resources, purposes, and equipping we have in him.

Hebrews 13:21 reminds us that God equips us by his power. That same power which was at work in Christ to raise him from the dead...when all in the cosmos seemed defeated... (Col 2:15) works in us to do his will, in order that we might be able to do what is pleasing in his sight. This is not merely a trope we recite at the end of a formal service for "benediction", a nice thought to get us through a Monday in the office,  it is the bedrock of our very existence and sustainance through every millisecond as children of the living God. Our shepherd gave his life for us, and HE LIVES. He lives to intercede for us, to provide for us, to resource us, to use us and blessing us... make us a blessing to a broken world. 

The greatest encouragements I see during this season are from those who are going through the most testing of times, encountering the most challenging tests of faithfulness, and experiencing the most gruelling moments of endurance in a broken world which is so hostile towards the living God. God is good and only good, all his ways are good, and all his provision through Christ is perfect in timing, wisdom and implication in his missional purposes. He works for our good and his glory. 

I am overwhelmed with thankfulness today for those who are being severely persecuted for taking the gospel to those who have not heard and where the gospel has never been heard. The opposition they and their families have face and are facing, during their times of imprisonment, torture and emotional abuse have only spread the gospel more, and shone the beauty of the work of Christ in them and through them.  Be encouraged, there are so many proofs that in our moments of greatest testing, his greater resources are more than enough. 

I am encouraged today by those who run on a daily shoestring to take the gospel to the poorest areas of our world. Many communities will never have the spotlight on them, or a glamorous news crew visit them, or be highlighted for global aid programs, an internet influencer or a celebrity champion, yet in such a place where a man or woman of faith plug away in compassion and private daily dependence, miracles of provision from The Living God are surprisingly regular, and the rejoicing of heaven is seen and heard as the church flourishes in the darkness. A stream of lives are being redeemed, eternally changed and the blinding love of Christ is seen in acts of radical mercy and faithfulness. The effects are parabolic through testimonies of transformation. Be encouraged, the church is exploding amongst those who would seem far from the kingdom and unreachably off the beaten track. Where there is no hope, true hope when it arrives is unmissable. Christ specialises in such places to visit and his heart, life and way overflow in such forgotten frontiers for the gospel. He has many ambassadors in such places. 

Mostly I am encouraged by new life scattering and multiplying... especially in situations and locations where this world does everything to pin down the church and oppress them into oblivion. I cannot think of a better example of this than my dear Ukrainian family in Christ. Here are 3 encouragements.

1) THE CHURCH HAS BEEN HELPFULLY SCATTERED: Be encouraged... the displacement of those oppressed and who have lost "everything" has been incomprehensibly painful, but it has resulted in scattering of the gospel to places it would never have gone. In fact friends who are said to have lost "everything", have not - in fact they have been released of the useless baggage of what this world offers and keeps us from mobility for the gospel. This has been excruciating and brought grief, yet freedom and ultimate release. What they now possess is the heavenly interest of invested obedience to Christ in the face of static opposition. Placing their hope and treasure in Christ they discover they have way more resource than they could think or imagine. An attempt to obliterate the Ukrainian nation and particularly the evangelical church has not only failed to succeed, but has spectacularly backfired as many have gone to share the love of Christ and their testimony of God's provision, in Christ, through hardship, in warfare, without homes. Sometimes this journey has been in secret with the underground church, many times it has trod the lonely road of losing friends and family or church members. Those who trusted... have been tested and have a greater obedience, stories of his goodness, maturity and ministries for his glory.  Like the Thessalonian church (1 These 3:12) their grace and loving testimony is "overspilling" to other places (countries) previously not thriving in gospel outreach or hope in Christ. Such lives of truth are too powerful to ignore. 

2) CHURCHES ARE BEING PLANTED IN UNEXPECTED PLACES: Be encouraged, the migration from big cities (air raid targets), and education centres being the focus of "strategic destruction", have sent the church to hundreds, thousands and even millions in forgotten villages both in Ukraine and throughout Eastern Europe. In the village, the soil is fertile, everyone knows each other, everyone knows where resources, help and treasure can be located. This is why churches of 35 in their congregation before the war now run into several hundred, the bulk being young in faith having recently come to Christ or been baptised. A word in season, a coat for the winter, a meal for the hungry has led to lives redeemed and set on track for Christ, a multiplying testimony of rescue and provision. Houses are not always homes. A happy home does not consist of orderly feng shui furniture, but of knowledge that you are unconditionally and universally accepted and loved as you are. Such homes being found, people now don't want to leave... however they came to be there. Now they feel full of grace for what Christ has done for them, yet at the same time hungry for so much more of God's word, the help of those who disciple them, the company of the new community of grace and their shared missional objectives to displaced peoples. God really can use what was meant for evil for incomprehinsible good. In times of poverty and famine it is possible to discover that you are overflowing with God's kindness. 

3) YOUNG SPIRITUAL LEADERS BORN IN SUFFERING ARE LEADING THE WAY OF MATURE SERVICE AND LEADERSHIP: When young people where being trained for leadership, many assumed it would be for Ukraine. The great unreached materialistic cities of Europe where not the target but this is what God has done. Note the 3 young pastors who plant the city church to reach the young so traumatised by displacement, lost hope, discontinued education and failed dreams. Note the 2 pastors who having planted just recently have over 200 attending each Sunday in a major European city. 

In the toughest of times, where our hearts can only see the hardness of our world. the heart of GOD still overspills goodness, compassion and mercy. In the darkest of times, the church shines brightest. In the failures of governmental systems, the new community offers the only relational solution which works. When our God comes, he does not come with a system or a bullet plan, he comes himself. gives himself and rescues us by himself, investing in us all he is and the resources that are rightly his. 

Whatever you are going through today, God really does have a glorious plan to work things all together for good. Maybe in this moment and trauma, it is difficult for us to see, but be assured that when all are gathered from all locations, times, generations, cultures, backgrounds, abilities and circumstances... the song will be a united one. Our God is worthy of all praise. Our God does all things well. Our God is bigger than our problems and our failures. Our God is FOREVER GOOD. 

James 1:2-4

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, 

lacking in nothing.

2 Peter 1:2-3

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 

 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.

1	He gives us more grace when the burdens grow greater, He sends us more strength when the labours increase, To added affliction He adds His rich mercy, To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.
	His love has no limit, His grace has no measure, His power no boundary known unto men, For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He gives and gives and gives to us again.
2	When we have exhausted our store of endurance, When our strength has failed when the day is half-done, When we reach the end of our hoarded resources, Our Father’s full giving is only begun.
	His love has no limit, His grace has no measure, His power no boundary known unto men, For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He gives  and gives  and gives to us again 2 COR 4:17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Do you still think individualism and the freedom to choose is good?

 We live in a world which tells us to do what is right for us, to make life choices on the basis of what makes us happy or works for ourselves. The great irony however is that we can never make our own life choices without it having domino impact on others. In the bible there is no such thing as "a private life" (1 Sam 16:7, Psalm 139:13-14). The living God looks at the heart, and to him our identity, character and inmost being are an open book 24/7. 

Although individualism is as old as Adamic sin itself, the assertion that it is a human right to be so is very much a foundational premise of the 21st century. We live in an individualistic culture, which has been fuelled by materialism. We are somewhat a product of our age that has asserted that what we buy defines us, and that true freedom of choice has brought us into greater liberty. Our supermarket shelves are stacked with multiple brands of the same item. Our online car hypermarkets ask us to prescribe in micro-detail which model, trim, colour,  engine type, charge type, battery type of hybrid we "need". This is at the same time as the government tries to legislate how our previous generational choices (to drive diesel, fly international, package with plastic, eat too much steak, and use our heating) should be paid for by the next generation. 

It begs the question... "do we still see the freedom to chose as an intrinsically good thing ?" 

One of the most revealing conversations of the last 24 -48 hours has been the aftermath of the horrific and incomprehensibly sorrowful events at a Christian school in Nashville. There on Monday children Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, along with three adults Cynthia Peak (61), Katherine Koonce (60), and Mike Hill (61) died.

As it emerged that seven weapons had been legally bought with the right/ freedom to bear arms (and all stashed secretly in the parents house by the 28 year old), some took to twitter and social media to complain that some of us were not using the right preferred personal pronoun to describe the one who committed the act of murder. In the hierarchy of catastrophe, it struck me as an odd priority and perverse perspective. Is this really the greatest issue of the presenting situation ? However, this is the illogical place you get to when you decide that everyone has freedom to define and chose. 

In short, the reality is that all our choices impact others. Mental health when idolised and prioritised to the place of ultimate master (do what only makes you happy) ironically causes much sadness for ourselves and others.  We are the first generation to expect perfect health, happiness and no suffering as a right. Expecting to get everything in life to streamline with my choice reveals how arrogant our age has become. Past generations died young, many in childbirth, and there are some realities which cannot be changed by choice. Many millions in generations past had no expectation of perfect happiness, early retirement, or right to buy property, yet societies worked cooperatively under legal structures which protected. They did so under the basic premise that to live together there needs to be some order. Today we prioritise rights to be unprotected and unrestricted, but so sadly are the ramifications and results on the impact of our society. Just because we have greater life expectancy of course doesn't mean that we'll naturally use that extended time wisely or that society will be better. Just because we treat the world to our elongated presence will not necessarily imply the world will be a better place to live. 

In God's good order however there is protection and rescue. The 10 commandments were given in love to protect society and humanity following the rescue of a loving God. They prioritise our understanding of God, the order of goodness in life under his loving care. They are not merely recommendations or suggestions for life, but boundaries from the makers handbook, in which we are led to enjoy the covenant mercy, forgiveness, grace and salvation of the one whose character they summarise and point to. Romans 8:28-30 outlines the fact that God's rescue has been ordered. Orders are not always bad, and freedom is not always good. Freedom to reject God's way (His defined natural order) never leads anywhere good.