Time

Kingdom time

Time for one of my more abstract ponderings. Time really is difficult to get your head around when you start to ponder it. As I type Phil is in America, five hours behind the UK so he is just thinking about what to do before his lunch whilst I am typing this not long from tea time and our son Paul living in Australia is ‘hopefully’ tucked up in bed ten hours ahead having completed this day. The sun is shining, for a change, here but heading for the horizon, shining in the middle of the sky for Phil and nowhere to be seen for Paul. Weird to say the least.

Before we had the clocks I understand sun dials were the way to decide what the time was and before that it really was a case of where the sun and moon were but even that needed clear instruction as they would appear at different points depending on the seasons, complicated thing time.

The time of day really dictates so much of our lives, I wonder how many of us have clocks on our walls and in how many rooms as well as wrist watches and other ways to tell us the time, on the bottom of the computer screen, clock towers out in the street, even the front of the DVD player tells the time. How much of what we do is controlled by the clock. It is said that Western society moves so quickly, running to time of the tick tock from the alarm clock to the checking if it is time to go to bed yet. When I worked full time as a solicitor we had to record every six minutes of time spent in the office in order to bill each client according to time spent on their matter, not the only profession that needs to keep an eye on the clock. How many times a day do we check the clock to either hope the day ends a bit quicker or slow down. Certainly whilst Phil is away I am hoping for time to speed up but he is no doubt hoping it would slow down so he can enjoy every minute. Shame we haven’t got that translocation stuff sorted.

What would my world look like if I said I would get up when I woke up, met folk for lunch when I was hungry and went to bed when I was tired? Chaos probably. So does the clock bring us closer to order or does it control our every minute. I didn’t wear a watch for a few years on the basis that I was surrounded by them having one on my wrist seemed unnecessary but now I am no longer in an office I find I can lose track of time easily and looking out of the window for the sun is not the most effective way to tell the time.

My ponderings on time lead to me to think about time for God who is beyond time, outside of time, the creator of days and nights. As he knows the end from the beginning, considers a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day and he does not grow old or change then how does time affect him? I doubt in the same way as the ticking of a clock but he is involved in the times we live in, he knows when I wake, when I sleep and to the timing of the outworking of his plans for the earth. We say he has perfect timing because he knows exactly what we need when we need it. Jesus said the time had come, the Kingdom of God was at hand, so clearly God is involved in time but not in the same way as how I work out my day. As we are his children can we have a view of time that it is not there to control us but is an assistant to it? Can we avoid running our day according to the time on the clock and live to a different sort of time, perhaps responding to the whisper that knows how the day will end more rather than wondering if we can fit Him in at all?

Living and moving to a different rhythm other than the tick tock. Perhaps learning to live and move in the unforced rhythm of grace.

USA Tour: Day Four

A day of travel, singing, laughing and eating!

We left Atlanta this morning after Godfrey had been, on his own, into the O.M. offices to do a short 15 minute slot with the students who are on their mission course. We had a breakfast at "Cracker Barrel" of eggs and bacon to fortify us for the rigours of the 339 mile drive on the American highway to Charleston, SC. We had a blast in the car for 5 hours or so. Loads of laughter, and drunken glory while listening to "The Beach Boys", "Brian Wilson's SMILE" and some "Frank Zappa" - I'd not heard any Zappa before but apparently "One Size Fits All" is rare in that it's clean lyrically and the musicianship was, frankly, stunning. I may have to buy that one. You've got to listen to American music when you're on a road-trip in the 'states - to do otherwise would be rude!

Dave, our Monk in Residence, had another policy proposal for us – and that was to ‘graze’ our way across the ‘states and eat everything and everywhere, to try every restaurant chain we could at least once. As we pulled of the interstate for gas around 2pm and with about a hundred miles to go we pondered what to have for lunch. Godfrey is a big fan of Krispy Kreme donuts, even though he doesn’t like any other kind of donut, so we asked the oracle suction cupped onto the windscreen to tell us if there were any nearby and there was one three miles from where we were and the next one was over sixty miles away. God blesses us in the little trivial things as well as the big things. So lunch was a healthy serving of a box containing a dozen assorted Krispy Kreme donuts with coffee. Godfrey told us that the simple original glazed ones were the best but we rebels refused to bow to superior wisdom and we chose some others too. He was right – the simple glazed originals were by far and away the best.

The long drive through mostly pretty dull scenery was given a much needed boost after lunch when Godfrey spotted some flashing blue lights tearing up far behind us – our first thought was “Is he after us, are we speeding?” but we weren’t and he wasn’t. Ahead of him was a silver sedan (A Buick ‘Le Sabre’ I think) that was giving it some serious beans. Within a few seconds he passed us with the police car not far behind. The silver car was dodging in and out of the lanes trying to get ahead as quickly as possible and taking some crazy risks. Godfrey eased off the gas a lot to let them get ahead, not just in case they caused a huge pile up but in case someone in the silver car started shooting backwards towards the police car and inadvertently hit us. It was just like an episode of “World’s Wildest Police Chases”. As the interstate is so straight we could see the pursuit heading off into the distance for a minute or two and the last thing we saw was a huge truck pull out to overtake another truck just after the silver car had got past leaving the police car weaving back and forth across the two lanes trying to make the truck driver get out of the way, which he did eventually. By the time we’d caught the trucks there was no sign of either the pursuer or the pursued. Maybe they’d taken an off-ramp and where now tearing around the suburbs of a small town! We were all as excited as a bunch of ten year olds.

As we neared Charleston we started singing the oldest choruses we could remember – and fell about laughing as we dredged up one or two real stinkers from our memories. It was scary how many we all knew though. It was only a short drive in from the interstate to the hotel that had been booked for us. It looked really nice (a Hampton Hotel) and they were about to start serving free drinks (alcoholic and soft) and free meatballs and snacks! As we weren’t going to eat for an hour or two we decided Dave’s grazing policy applied and we checked in and dumped our bags in the rooms and had a small bite to keep us going. Godfrey then needed to pop out with one of the guys organizing the “British Invasion of Glory” conference (http://www.abundantlifecharleston.com) to get a kick drum for him to use so Dave and I took the chance to shower and unpack before we all went out for a meal with Woody the pastor of the church.

When Woody, his wife Jodie and their worship pastor Paul  came back with Godfrey we were immediately hit by wave after wave of the heavy intoxication of heaven. It took us quite some time just to decide where to eat and get to the cars. There was a LOT of joy on the party – if you know what I mean! I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard for so long in my entire life. The drive to the restaurant was a shing ding glory trip and it just got messier as the evening progressed! Dave latched onto Paul and had his arms locked around him speaking truth over him and into him and then switched places with me so he and Woody could have a little drinky together. The meal was at a place called Gilligans and it was superb, Seafood and Steak, and our waitress Dee was more patient than you could image especially as she was dealing with six increasingly drunk and giggly people. There was an immediate connection between us and I could see why Godfrey spoke so highly of Woody and his church; they love the new wine and aren’t afraid to drink deep. I think the rehearsal tomorrow will be amazing let alone the start of the conference on Thursday. These guys are going to be instrumental in seeing the USA crack open and the new wine pour out across this amazing nation. There’s no hint of the old hag of religion in them! I KNOW I’ll be coming back here again – hopefully with the whole family next time.

USA Tour: Day Three

A relaxing morning today, I went for a good walk in the freezing morning air and then Godfrey I went for a drive to a couple of music stores – a drum store and a Guitar Center. I got a nice pair of ProMark lightweight sticks and a couple of things for my kids back home. If you’re reading this Rachel & Ethan you’ll have to wait and see what I got you! Godfrey then took me out to lunch at a “Cracker Barrel” restaurant, (http://www.crackerbarrel.com/menu-fancyfixins.cfm?doc_id=899) and I had the Cracker Barrel Sampler; this was our first proper American meal since we got here. Wow – there was NOTHING green on the plate. I doubt you’d live long if you eat it regularly but it sure was tasty!

I spent a few hours this afternoon preparing the PowerPoint file for the Charlotte, Charleston & Nashville dates so we avoided a repeat of the problems the first night in Atlanta. Then we headed out to the Bethel Atlanta School Of Ministry. There were a lot less people than on Sunday as it’s not an open public meeting but a school people have signed up to and paid to attend. However the atmosphere was hungry, expectant and open. Amazingly Dave Vaughan from Emerge Wales arrived just as we were about to start – we didn’t expect him until it was all over. He was tired but full of the Holy Spirit and pretty drunk as usual. Godfrey introduced him before we got going and Dave told the meeting about some revelations God had given him regarding an out-pouring of his Spirit that was coming to the East Coast of the USA. The expectancy in the room cranked up a notch immediately – you could feel the draw on heaven before we’d even sang a note. Godfrey started off with “I Will Set My Face” and the room took off – it was like we started from the place we’d got to on Sunday rather than having to start all over again…we followed that with “Lift Up Your Heads” and the room popped! We used the song to pray over Atlanta to hear the word of the Lord and it was powerful stuff. People we already reeling from the glorious presence of Jesus when Godfrey pulled Dave up again and told everyone that he would impart the Welsh wild-fire to anyone who wanted it and pray for them so to come forward if you wanted that but it was OK to stay where you were if you weren’t sure. There was no need for a second call – it was like a flash-mob in action! Pretty much the whole room surged to the front to surround Godfrey and Dave and as Dave started working his way round the 4 row deep semi-circle of hungry Jesus lovers laying hands on them Godfrey lead us into “Jesus Faithful and True” – the guys from Bethel would have sung the refrain of “Fly to breathtaking heights” all night I think. The band did a cracking job following the flow of the Holy Spirit and the meeting was wrecked! Sadly they had a guest speaker from South Africa booked to speak so when Dave had worked his way round all the folks wanting an impartation we had to stop to let him take over. We packed up (just sticks into a bag for me – what a blessing not to have to dismantle and pack a drum kit!) and headed off out for meal leaving the guys to the rest of their school night. I think if Dave & Godfrey had been able to have the whole evening we could really have gone somewhere pretty special but it was still a great night and I’m sure they’ll want them back again and give them more space and time to help the guys crack things open wider than ever.

Dave had just got off an eight hour flight from Heathrow and had been on the go for sixteen hours but you’d never have known – he was his usual mischievous, lovable, glory filled self.

We went out to a good restaurant that Graham knew and had a lovely meal courtesy of the marvellous Mr. Birtill. Root Beer to drink and a blue cheese topped burger cooked medium rare so it was good and pink/red in the middle. Awesome.

Dave’s keen for us to make a pact to not back off at all and pursue the drunken glory to its fullest extent while we’re on the road together. Considering we’ve hardly stopped laughing since he arrived and the guy serving us in the restaurant must have thought we were hammered drunk already I think we can safely say we’re off to a good start. Dave’s stated aim is to make sure John Scotland looks like the sober one of the four of us. I told him – count me in! Help us Jesus – we’re gonna need it. Tomorrow we set off to Charleston on the coast which according to Google Maps is a five and a half hour drive. Wednesday night Godfrey and I rehearse with the band and the conference starts on Thursday with John Scotland joining us on Friday. Shing-Boing-Hey!

USA Tour: Day Two

We were at Bethel Atlanta today. Wow. A young church in both senses, they’ve only be going about two and a half years and a lot of the church is young people. We arrived at about 8:30 to set up and sound check for a 10am start but due to a snafu with the words, which weren’t typed up into PowerPoint, we started a bit late. A guy called Ryan pulled out all the stops to get the words cut & pasted from an email into something that could be projected on the screen…it added a bit of stress into the mix but it all worked out OK. The reception for Godfrey was so open and warm and there was no sense that we were cutting across anything or anyone – but that we were drawing alongside and running together. The crowd of several hundred (I’m no good at estimating numbers but I guess maybe 300+ or so) sang “Praise My Soul The King Of Heaven” with all gusto to start – and I doubt many of them knew it. Then after a bit of an intro we got into the flow with “Lift Up Your Heads” and it popped! I’ve not seen anywhere respond so enthusiastically other than “Emerge Wales”. “R U Ready” went down a storm and the bass player and keyboard players were really in the groove.

Once the worship time was over some folk came out to share some testimonies and they were brilliant. One guy was driving between two towns and was running really late but stopped at a “Wendy’s” for some lunch and the Holy Spirit told him to have lunch with an older man who was in there. He said to God “I can’t today I’m running really late” and got his food in a take-out bag and headed back to his car with the Holy Spirit prompting him a few more times to stay and have lunch with the older guy and his wife. He resisted and set off out of the car park and then the Spirit said “I want to heal the guy’s wife” so he turned round and went back! He approached the couple and said “Would it be OK if I eat my lunch with you?” and they seemed welcoming but as they were at a table for two it was a bit awkward and the conversation stalled a little so he said “The Holy Spirit is really on you two and I just wanted to sit with you” and that didn’t help at all and things got quite uncomfortable. Eventually he said “Can I pray for you?” to the old lady and her husband jumped in first and said “You tell the nice young man what’s wrong with you honey, he wants to pray for you” so she started reeling off a list including her only remaining kidney was packing in, her liver was playing up, her heart hurt but they couldn’t find anything wrong and she had crippling arthritis in her hands. He asked to hold her hand and prayed a simple prayer and she said, when asked if she felt any better, that she didn’t physically but that felt God’s presence and knew God loved her because he’d had the young guy turn around and come back to pray for her. He said “Well that’s good and all, but I really think Jesus wants to heal you” so he explained about praying again and then he prayed again. The husband suddenly said “Look at your hand – the swelling’s gone right down” and she held her hand up to her face and declared that it really had. She made a fist and wiggled her fingers and said that she couldn’t have done that earlier. He then noticed the hand he was holding had the fingers fixed folded right back across her palm and the knuckles were hugely swollen. So he prayed again and the swelling just started to go down and her fingers straightened out. She said she also felt a lot better inside and was sure that Jesus was working on her liver, heart and kidney. With that the place erupted in cheers and praise of Jesus.

After a couple of other testimonies about awesome healings, a guys with kidney stones who got pain free and passed them pain free(!!) and an atheist who called up a girl in the church to pray for his Dad who was dying who was then discharged from the hospital within days perfectly well, a girl who looked about 17 called Lacey Thompson got up to preach. She isn’t 17 apparently, she and her husband Scott have kids and work with Jesus Culture, and she spoke really well about the encounter of the Holy Spirit and the relationship we can have with him. Loads of people came forward to declare their desire for a deeper relationship with him and she and a few other started praying for people and ministering. Godfrey went up and started playing his guitar quietly and it gradually built up so I joined him on the drums and it all kicked off again. This is a church that knows how to worship – to turn the attention of their hearts onto Jesus and to pour out their love to him.

We had a restful afternoon and evening with our hosts Graham and Linda and are going to do a bit of sight-seeing tomorrow during the day and then we’re back to lead the worship at their equivalent of School Of The Spirit tomorrow night. I think that will really explode as these guys are ready, ready ready!

Oh and for those that are interested the drum-kit was a really nice Gretch four-piece with reasonable cymbals. I re-tuned the snare ‘cos it was awful, to my taste, but the toms sounded sweet.

USA Tour: Day One

Well the first day of the tour to the USA with Godfrey is drawing to a close. It's 9:30 here so my body thinks it's 2:30am on Sunday morning. A bit of a crazy day but more good than bad. We set off at 6:30 to Manchester Airport and experienced some great favour when we got unexpectedly 'fast-tracked' through the all security checks and passport controls and jumped the HUGE queue completely. The plane took off more-or-less on time with a female pilot and two male co-pilots at the controls. This should encourage my daughter who really wants to be an airline pilot - but they must be few and far between as this is the first time I've heard a woman's voice from the flight deck welcoming me on board. The flight was pretty bumpy and occasionally very bumpy. They postponed serving food for over an hour as there was too much turbulence to do it safely and we had the 'seat-belt' light on for over half the trip. After three dreadful movies (I only watched the middle one and that was a waste of time) we finally landed in Atlanta at 2pm local time. The female captain told us she was going to try for a super-smooth landing despite the cross winds as her husband was on board. She failed only 6 out of 10 for the landing. Then the madness started.

We did the passport control OK (my border guard was particularly bored, rude and grumpy) but then after the baggage claim was done and we thought we were done and heading for the car rental we discovered all passengers, not just those transiting to additional flights, had to re-check their hold luggage and go through a whole additional full security check. The chaos of this was a site to behold, four or five flight loads of people all trying to drop off hold luggage at three conveyors then having to re-queue up to be scanned, x-rayed and frisked just to LEAVE the airport in a country where you can buy ammo for your gun in Wal-Mart and a semi-automatic assault rifle is considered 'personal protection'! Once through the second, paranoia-fueled, security you needed to get a train over ½ a mile to another baggage claim area and collect your luggage again! Both times Godfrey’s guitar had to be dropped off and then picked up in a completely different place to the suitcases! We got a different train to the Car Rental Zone and arrived there at about 4pm. Both of us pretty ratty and frazzled and utterly bewildered by the climate of fear that seems to have gripped certain parts of this nation. We could browse a wide range of cars in cars in our ‘class’ and pick one we liked but sadly Godfrey’s going to have to do all the driving to add me to the insurance would have cost an extra $200! We’re in a big Ford Edge 4x4 – it’s great.

The SatNav took us to an industrial estate a few miles from the airport (right road and number, wrong district of the town!) then froze, crashed and needed some time to reboot. We couldn't contact our hosts to get the correct address for a while but at least got the district so headed in that direction. We missed them once more but only by half a mile or so and received a delightful warm welcome and an English meal of Shepherd's Pie, and my personal highlight a decent mug of tea! Awesome.

We the went out to meet the bass and keyboard players and let Godfrey run through the songs with them at the O.M. base where our host works. They picked up the songs really quick, but sadly there was no kit for me to join in on for tonight. I'm promised one for tomorrow at Bethel Atlanta - but they were all teasing me about how cheap and nasty it's going to be. I bet it isn't but you like I will have to wait until tomorrow to find out! I think tomorrow is going to be fantastic - there was already a real worship 'vibe' as we did the run through. It's SO good to be focused on Jesus.

After returning to our lovely hosts I was supplied with more tea and a fabulous bedroom with a lovely comfy double bed all to myself. And with that I'm off to sleep. Night all.

The emerging church and revival or vs revival?.

I am wondering if the emerging church is the new wine skin and questioning where is the new wine and could it be that the emerging church is just a rearranging of the deck chairs? Is the emerging church and revival the same thing or are they in competition for time resources and attention?

For years we talked of, dreamed of, believed even, prophecies about the Wild fire rising from Wales, being released across the nation and into Europe and now where there appears to be something of the wild being experienced we wonder if it is what we were looking for. Maybe as John the Baptist had his moment in prison, we too think it looks so different from what we had in mind can it really be God? The raw love of Jesus let loose, maybe like a wild goose? So much joy and love, stories of healing and deliverance, the lost being impacted by songs of the revolution, can it be the Wild fire is rising?

Having read some articles and books about the emerging church it seems to be the latest shape for those who no longer want to be subject to the ways of Empire, who want to return to social justice and impact their locality, improving the society they live in, social transformation rather than cosy clubs, prepared to pay the price for the lost, true believers in the absolute need for justice. We look to verses about feeding the poor, looking after the widow, the story of the sheep and the goats. To infiltrate and influence society, look to slowly but surely influence our friends and society to a better way of life and hope that one day some will say the ‘the prayer’.

What of revival, is this now something we no longer believe in. It is something of the past or for different nations, perhaps 100,000 folk being saved in India recently is just for them but could not happen here. Perhaps as our generation has not experienced it we now change the words and look to transformation instead and give reasons why revivals are not really the plan anymore and don’t have any value? Have we given up on God and decided to sort out society for ourselves.

History tells us that no revivals have ever happened without prayer, people calling out for God to come, to turn the nation, to save them. Stories tell us of regions completely transformed by the power of God, men kneeling in fields sobbing and crawling into churches asking for help. Pubs closing, sporting events cancelled, a renewed sense of community and churches packed. These stories are from our own set of islands not too long ago. The story of the three years of ministry could be seen as a revival, thousands coming to listen to a man on a mountainside, if we saw that today would we say it was a revival? The kingdom of heaven is at hand he said, he healed the sick, he delivered, he taught, he walked on water, he didn’t have many civil words for the establishment or the religious and he set the scene for what was possible. He loved the unloved and accepted those that the religious had rejected. He ate with the despised and taught about a kingdom of forgiveness and love and prayed that we would be fully united with him. He told us that we would only be fruitful if we abided in him. We talk of the great commission which has at its core discipleship to make followers of Jesus, to live as Jesus lived, to be like Jesus and I wonder if we have taken a well meaning detour and decided to disciple but not so much like Jesus. He was a bit intense after all!

I wouldn’t want to think revival was off the cards and social transformation now the reason for the church. I think there must be a way through for both but fear when we focus only on social transformation we are leaving God out of the world he loves so much. I believe he still wants to ravish this world with his love and wants to use us to do it and so I think we need the new wine which maybe brings revival or we will have a very tiring wineskin.

New Years Honours list

As the New Year honours list has been issued and the queen has set out those she considers worthy of honour, I thought I would take a moment to honour some folk who I believe are worthy of honourable note in the last year.
Firstly the Dyke family. All year they have walked a journey that has expressed the true meaning of family. They have constantly supported each other emotionally, spiritually and physically. Despite the distance in miles between them they have shown that love knows no distance and will not be contained by any barrier. Their testimony to the power of God to comfort and strengthen and their determined hope to trust Him ‘come what may’ has and will continue to have a life changing impact on all who know them.
I have a few friends who struggle with depression. They have this year continued to battle despite the crushing desire to give up. They have pushed through to continue to engage with the world around them, looking for ways to encourage others and been determined not to sink. They are all to be honoured for their strength and their hope.
One friend has persevered through incredibly tough times at work. She has turned up every day despite the overwhelming stress and lack of support, determined to do her best for her clients and to honour her employers. She has refused to lose herself to the pressure and I hope she has been able to end the year with a sense of success.
Another couple are walking a path so close to her own painful story that I am amazed that they are getting out of bed and continuing to believe the best of God.
Honour to those I know who choose to walk the narrow path facing uncertainty, misunderstanding and isolation. They are to be honoured for daring to dream and doing something about it. Dreams can only become reality if we make choices in line with the seemingly impossible.
Most of my friends struggle with sickness in one form or another. Courageously they deal with their allergies, their aches and pains, their lack of diagnosis, their limitations and their difficulties. I am praying this year for breakthrough for them and I honour them for their courage and determination to get the best of life and trust in the one who loves them the most.
The majority of the people I know are pursuing an extraordinary life, looking for opportunities to make a positive contribution to their community and endeavouring to be good people to their friends and family. They are to be honoured for continuing to run the race even when sometimes it feels like they are alone on the track.

Honour to those who the world does not know, the unsung, unknown heroes of my life.