ONESIMUS REVOLUTION

Run the race with perseverance

2007-09-07T15:49:00.000Z

"Run with endurance the race that God has set before you”

I am thinking about entering a triathlon next year. Swim 2 miles, run 6 miles, cycle 20 miles - ouch. I am no way in shape to do that but I want to be.

I had a moment of truth yesterday because I want to enter the race but the only thing that is holding me back is whether or not I have a training buddy. I so know I need that. There are two guys who are keen to do the race together but are unsure whether they can commit to train together due to work shifts and other commitments.

Strange isn't it how my sole concern is that I have someone to run with me, make sure I follow through on my big statements, eat well, sleep well, and then actually get in the car at the end and drive to London!

Such is the Kingdom of God - the way we run the race set before us is directly linked to those who can run with us (separate race) but next to you nevertheless.

Trusting God

2007-08-20T13:07:00.001Z

My late gran used to talk about trusting God and whenever she did she had a lovely naivity and would use phrases like 'God works in mysterious ways', and she would apparently see God's hand in everything. I assumed it was part of her being elderly and Welsh!

Increasingly I believe that child like ruthless trust is what we are called into. I struggle with this concvept because I prefer control and to be able to be master of my own destiny but as it is I find myself out on a limb having embarked on anew businesses (with a business plan of course), but being wholly dependent on God to open and close doors as he sees fit. (Isaiah 22:22).

A life of desire

2007-07-19T07:14:00.000Z

I spent last Tuesday afternoon with Rob SC and I have come away grappling even more and recognizing that there are no answers, because we are supposed to follow and embrace a person, NOT a set of values or rules, however noble or lovely they may appear.

My questions were:

How does someone live wholeheartedly for Jesus in the place of business and corporate prosperity?
How much should such a person give/keep?
How to we discern between freedom (to enjoy what gives us), and compromise where our slippery hearts find a way to justify anything?

I also shared the Onesimus vision which I know is still evolving but asking that rhetorical question 'what if......'

Rob took me to Psalm 37 where it says: 'Dwell in the land and feed on his faithfullness'. You expect it to say feed on the barley and wheat you grow there, but it doesn't, it says dwell in the land, (the natural), BUT our supply is his faithfulness. In other words we touch what is temporal but our own drive and motivation is something 'other than', something eternal, the very character of God. It is character and our dependence on His character that may cause us to believe for extaordinary things.

That scripture then goes on to say, 'Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart'. Rob said he believed that everything in our life was to be birthed out of desire. Many read that and believe that if they follow Jesus they will get the porsch, hot tub (their desires) etc, but the reality is that as we delight in Him alone our hearts are so changed that our needs/wants change and invariably through church history it has been towards a simpler life where our treasures become people and the presence of God. Our desires become the same as Jesus'.

R & P live very simply indeed, one friend told me they live off the equivalent of benefits because big meals and fancy restaurants don't add anything for them. I tried to press Rob to give me some guidelines I could take away and he wouldn't and he describes it as putting Saul's armour on David, in that God has been shaping him for longer so he does many things out of desire, effortlessly and we are not called to copy people but to dleight in God and let him shape us in His time and in his unique way.

He gave me an interesting example. Were I to drive to Cribb's Causeway he could either give me directions, a long list, left, right, second round-about........and off I go on my own, OR, he could jump in the car with me.

Jesus wants to jump in the car with us ........

and keep us trusting minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day in an adaptable, flexible, spontaneous life. That way he gets ot have us near to Him, (which is Jesus's heart cry In John 17, (I pray that where I am, they may be also). If we are making decisions based on inner promptings then who knows what will happen.....could be all we have, our own lives! One of the religious reasons we love rules about tithing is so that we know exactly how much we have left to squander on ourselves!

So, no guidleines, no rules - just a call to practice the presence of God and delight in Him with all our heart, mind, strength so that we can hear those promptings of the spirit and follow them.

things I love

2007-04-27T10:03:00.000Z

I was re-reading the "onesimus trust" post and started thinking...

I was thinking and dreaming about the things believers have done that I admire, and connecting this with the premiss behind the onesimus devotion. I'll list a few...

I love IHOP, and the motivation and spirit behind it. An all encompasing devotion to worshiping the king, putting the first commandment first, interceeding and seeking God's face, and longing for His presence. Spiritual boredom, burnout, lack of power should be swept away.

I love Opportunity International. This is my favourite charitable enterprise, started by a guy dumped in front of an orphanage, who later became a millionaire, but devoted his life to an idea... of giving the poor and hopeless a chance. By seeking for the God-given entrapranerial spirit in the slums, giving cheap loans and training, and the chance to trade their way to a better life. Millions of people have been touched by this.

I love a true missionary spirit. Those that bring a true gospel of real grace, repentance and devotion, and bring it with love and power. I met a family in kansas who were doing this - coming from a conservative baptist background, received a real annointing of the spirit (despite not looking for it) and brought Gods salvation message with power. Healings, miraculous signs, and revival came as a result.

I love those, like George Muller, who meet the need of their time and place. better than the UN - someone who uses the resources of God to solve a problem.

I love those who change unjust systems. Wilberforce springs to mind.

Wouldn't it be amazing to combine these things somehow. Obviously it will be this way in many places - but often, either in church or organisations, one aspect is focussed on at the expense of others.

Hopefully this dodgy picture illustrates what I mean without need for explanation.

It strikes me that only the "Davids" and "Josephs" can bring these things together, with orgaisation, finances, vision and passion.

Onesimus Trust

2007-03-28T16:19:00.000Z

What if there were a new breed?

A generation of men and women who moved in and out of all the spheres of life including the business world and they could say

'All I have I give you'.

This is the wedding vow and Revelation 19 tells the story of our destiny and that one day we will love as we are loved and know Him as we are known. Any crowns we might have will be thrown at His feet anyhow.

What if we were able to say those words now. Lets face it they are being uttered by believers all over the world in times of crisis and persecution but lay it all down nevertheless.

I have a dream.......

Business entrepreneurs with that same heart and being like Cyrus in Isaiah 45 who God appointed and anointed as a Gentile King to fulfill his purposes with Israel (which include the promises to Abraham - 'you will be a blessing to the nations') and did it all without reward or cost.

Business people who say of their businesses ' Its all yours God'.

I love generosity but I have been challenged by Galations 2:20 in that if anyone is in christ he no longer lives....but christ lives in Him. The very act of giving infers its 'mine', is that scriptual?

What if set apart people came into places of influence and it was all for the Kingdom. I don't mean church buildings or anything like that but certainly dedicated to the things God cares most about - I expect this would mean the poor - widows and orphans - the marginalized. Would it not spead God's glory radically?

I have a dream.........

The Onesimus Trust - a vehicle for those who would make such a dedication/devotion. Like Cyrus - to serve God in this ministry of business without reward or cost. No more 'giving; to the Gospel, but rather allign to the truth that it is all His and as disciples we do not touch it unless He says so.

I love Wesley who said that if he died with any money at all he should be remembered as a liar and a thief!

"Unless a person gives up everything he has, he cannot be my disciple". - Carpenters son

Tapestry of love

2007-03-27T17:23:00.000Z

The last 14 days have been a roller coaster.

I resigned last Tuesday from Lyons Davidson having been made an Associate 3 days earlier. I am only two and a half years qualified so it is a real honour and represents a fast track up to partnership. But, I was so excited because I wasn't tempted in the slightest. In fact the Partner said he knew it wasn't worth trying to offer more money etc because since I returned 'to the cage' from America as an Onesimus I have not asked for anything. On a beach in New Zealand the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said not to negotiate as I should go to Him as my shepherd. Ever since then I have tried to do everything wholeheartedly without complaining, (hard at times).

There are two key prophecies from a few years ago which actually happened this last week.

7 years for heart's desire - Jacob and Rachel Genesis 31.

At IHOP Bob H said that for me I would receive the 'Jacob' revelation. Its not what I do but who I do it for. That Jacob worked for 7 years for his bride and it felt like only a few days because of his love and that I was on that journey.

My business is to launch on 1 July 2007 which Haze pointed out on Saturday is our 7 year wedding anniversary. I will have been in the workforce doing 'wrong fitting' jobs for 7 years when I start this venture God appears to be birthing. I love that! God loves times and numbers.

End of slavery

It has been an ongoing theme for sometime that I was called for a season to be like Onesimus and be a slave (not what I do but who I do it for), and let my identity rest in Christ alone. Onesimus means profitable but Paul told him to go and be a slave.

In Feb 2005 Bob H told me that I had been trapped before and would be trapped again but that it was ok because God was in it and there would be a grace. That all happened. A second promise to me that I felt God lay on my heart was that the age of 30 would be significant. Floyd said the first 30 years of my life would be about identity and the next 30-40 about ministry. I had the age of 30 highlighted in my mind as a key date for this slave to enter into ministry and to see the unravelling of all those dreams I always talk about.

Well, Sunday 25th March was my 30th birthday and in the afternoon Haze showed me an article saying that the same date was the 200 year anniversary for the end of slavery, (which happened in bristol)!! http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/slavery/index.htm?cids=Google_PPC&cre=Slavery&gclid=CJyQuKXWlYsCFSF_XgodlXkwQg

The dates are crazy because if there was one word to describe what God has been doing it would revolve round that word slave and one key date it would be the 25th March. I am overwhelmed still and it makes me feel that maybe, just maybe God might be involved in all of this.

It feels to me like God's ways are so perfect and that he takes a billion threads and weaves them together into a tapestry of love. He doesn;t have to, he just can't help himself because he wants to love us extrvagantly. Who else have I ever met who would be so extravagant.

Influence - a Holy motivation for business?

2007-03-08T17:05:00.000Z

Today I have been pondering the nature of influence. We all know the evils - money, sex and power. I think disciples sometimes run away from all three. Should we do that or embrace all three with an undivided heart without mixture?

Things are moving on in my journey to starting my own business and all sorts of questions have been asked. Why - is the main one? Why does anyone go into business? Is profit ok with God?

As I walked home I thought about the scripture which says the knowlege of the glory (weight) of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. In Isaiah 55 there is a stratling promise about the mercies of david which has fascinated me since I was 16. I had just been sharing my hope in jesus with a friend who was in a dark place linked to the occult and I felt the spirit hovering on us as we talked. I said to God 'make an everlasting covenant with me that you will make it possible for me to love you like this all the days of my life'. I'm not sure what I really meant but I think I was feeling ' God, make my life make people love you, let me be significant, don;t let me drift into meaninglessness' A bit like that well quoted prayer of Jabez.

As I walked back the boarding school a scripture reference fell into my head (first time that had happened) - Isaiah 55:3 - and it begins 'I will make an everlasting covenant with you........ It freaked me out because those words are not pasted all over the place in scripture. the promise goes on to describe the promises to david as a model for the way he deals with us. There is a promise there ' that surely you will summon nations you know not and nations you do not know will hasten to you because the Lord your God the Hold one of Israel will endow you with splendour, (glory/weight).

I then reflect on the models in scripture who have gone before us and how they embraced the secular to reveal the sacred. they worked with the carnal so that they could reveal the spiritual. They built in the temporal so that they might point to the eternal. They ruled in the visible to declare the invisible.

David - with a one thing heart filled natural coffers thorugh war to build a place of worship on the natural earth. It was about God's glory but fixed in the natural as well. A meeting point for the created to love the creator.

Solomon - aquired unsurpassed wealth and dedicated it to the temple. It was all about using the natural resources to build worship on the earth.

Jeremiah - a bricks and mortar man to secure the place of worship. he used his influence as a cup bearer to the King to re-build the walls.

Joseph - was a mother to Pharaoh and used wheat, bricks, etc to enable Israel to grow from a family to a nation and see the expansion/fulfillment of the promise to Abraham. He was endowed with splendour to build a family of worshippers.

Back to this question of influence. We should crave nothing but Jesus and his glory but it seems to me that He will add weight to our lives to that we can live and move in the natural, temporal, secular to bring about the realization of that promise that one day God's glory will cover the earth and the waters cover the sea. So maybe we should stop coming up with phrases like 'God doesn't need our money' and start to realize we no linger live but Christ lives in us. He wants to use what is His to establish His throne! If I viewed everything in my life as sacred and His then I could stop running in fear from the natural things and actually spread some Glory. I think part of the fear is legitimate because so many believers start off well and end up in compromise and aquiring the hot tubs, BMW's etc. there is another way i believe.

I think the key is to do with having a Psalm 27 heart, which has onething in mind. I once read some words

"to the heart without mixture I will give the spirit without measure".

More to come along these lines.......

property

2007-02-03T07:40:00.000Z

Thought I'd retrace some of the trail that now finds us looking for a house/land to subdivide. This is as much for my benefit - just some key events and attitude changes, some you'll know and some you wont.

I'd never really thought much about what I'd want my life to amount to until a month long series on money at my church at the start of 2000. One speaker, Ron Syder spoke about giving to the needy. Another guy, a controvesial business man, basically said 'you'd better figure out what your life is about and get after it quick, or it'll all be a waste of time'. Although most people didn't like him, it really got to me, and I started thinking about my future plans. Later that year I went to Bristol and some people I worked with started talking about property, and from that I started thinking about it. In 2001 I came back with an interest. But in the meantime, I'd sensed God say not to buy a house for 2 years - but that it would be part of my future. There was a massive property boom from 99-2000, lasting till about 2004. It was big news through that time - prices were soring, a lot of people wrote books on how to prosper with property, and my parents were bugging me to buy a house. I knew I was missing out - any dummy who bought a house in my area would easily be $100k+ richer now, but had no doubt I was to wait. So up to 2003, I'd read, investigated and prayed a fair bit about property. I'd only considered the main 2 methods of prop investing of buying for capital growth, or buying for income.

During this time I'd been sensing that prayer should be a focus for me (wont go into any of this now) and by the start of 2003 I'd put 2 and 2 together and thought maybe God wanted me to invest hard to free up time to pray and give. I did really sense God was leading in this direction, so I gave God an ultimatum and asked for a sign. I'd just got a small payrise, but said to God that if he did want me to do this I'd need more money so He must give me another bigger rise. This seemed to please God and I got an amount to ask for, and a cuttoff - that if they gave me over this amount, then that would be the confirmation. To cut a long story short, I ended up with a rise over 20%, (25% when including the earlier one) - well above the cuttoff, all back-paid 4 months. Ever since I've been confident this is the right direction for me.

After that, I nearly bought a few times, but always backed off, generally due to fear - looking back, the 2 or 3 I was seriously looking at would have worked out fine, but thats in the past. By now (mid 2003) the boom was mostly over. I was trying to figure out how to make capital which I could then invest for income, which is what I need at the end of the day to cut back on being a wage slave. So my next line of thinking was to buy land, and build a house and sell, as I noticed in some locations there was a gap between the cost of doing this and the sale price. This is how I came across the block in portland. It had the cheapest land I could find, but was a coastal town that seemed undervalued, and with a wind farm development about to go in nearby (large employment increase). I could buy it for cash so I did that - finally I'd bought something! In the meantime I'd received the opportunity to go to the UK again (a good opportunity to save money). We first heard in September 2003, but didn't leave til Aug 04.

In amongst this, friends and I often talked about the possibility of a business, and for some reason I can't explain this entered my sights whilst in the UK. But really the only go-ahead I'd had from God was for property, and that to phacilitate prayer and giving. Anyway, I got swept up in this a bit, and for a while almost forgot about property. Really I was looking at anything that would get me out of a job I didn't like. This included shares - I put a heap of money into shares (back in Aus now), and I remember asking God for wisdom, but sensing God saying - 'you'll never do it with shares'.

But then I went to IHOP in May 06. I thought this was going to be some launching pad for business success where God would reveal His chosen business plan for me - just like Bob! But alas it wasn't to be. There was an opportunity to ask for wisdom from a few experienced guys, including Bob F. Within a few minutes he'd summed me up, and basically said gently "I'm not sure you're as entrapranuerial as you think - maybe property?" And another of the group suggested property as a means of fulfilling my goals. I was a bit shattered and went to the prayer room and cried. God brought a whole heap of stuff back to my mind - that prayer etc is the reason and predominant concern for me, and the leading I'd had with property all along. I'd gotten off track.

So I arrive back in Aus refocussed on property, and a few things happen - I start to notice property suitable for subdivision - and a friend buys a corner block, subdivides and makes a lot of money ($80k), so I start to look into it. The numbers seem to make sense - quite simple really if it comes off. You buy a house on a large block with sufficient open space - where the house is sitting on one half - buy, subdivide, sell land. The value of both after subdivision will alway be greater than as a whole. The main risks are that there is no guarentee the council will approve the subdivision (although this can be checked out pretty well prior to buying), or that unforeseen costs will come up re subdivision. Here's one example of someone else who's done it: http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=o&id=103717083&f=0&p=30&t=res&ty=&fmt=&header=&c=30253335&s=vic&snf=ras&tm=1170505092
If you zoom in on the map you'll notice quite a few blocks are kind of cut in half with a drive way up the side. I think I remember this house being for sale a while ago as a whole for 320+. During the time last year when I started thinking about this, a few things happened that I think were pointers from God - just to look in this area. But perhaps a bit... tenuous, so I'll tell you in person. In any case it seems to make sense, and is do-able for me.

more decisions

2007-02-01T11:32:00.000Z

Thinking about decision and prayer, I did some searches through the gospels trying to find the times Jesus withdrew to pray alone. obviously He prayed a lot in public and with His disciples but when did He pray completely alone. Luke says jesus often withdrew to pray, but there are a limited number of times actually recorded. Note this was done using some word searching on the computer, so there may be some missed out.

I found this mentioned 11 times in all the gospels, but with some things repeated, so from that - 4 separate times were recorded as Jesus being alone to pray (until He chose to come back). Often all night by the way.

1 Dealing with grief
He sought seclusion after hearing about John the Baptist death. (Must have been devastating given the connection - the only man who really understood him.) This was interrupted by a crowd of 5000 which He feed, but He then dismissed them and sent the discipled away.

2 Getting strength to obey
In gethsemene before facing the Cross

3 Decision ??
He prayed all night before choosing the 12

4 Decision ??
He prayed alone before asking the Disciples who they thought He was, and Peters subsequent confession. It also marked a dramatic shift in His teaching and direction (toward Jeruselum and death)

As an aside, it is interesting the way Jesus dealt with grief (extreme grief), no counseling sessions, but alone with His Dad. And similarly whilst facing the cross.

Regarding 3 & 4, when I think about it, it could be argued they probably were the main decisions as such that He had to make. Given that He knew what He was on earth for all His life, choosing the main carriers of the message, and when it was time to go to His death are quite crucial. He did it by spending the night with God

Come to me

2007-01-28T21:49:00.000Z

Come to me, all you who are troubled and weighted down with care, and I will give you rest

I have been thinking about the first 3 words this week end. I like the rest of it too. He knows we get weighed down and he sees, cares and can do something about it! But, I am interested in the invitation to go to Him.

I enjoyed the last post and will probably be chewing it over for sometime. How does God guide us - dreams, visions, common sense, friends, etc. But Jesus again and again presents Himself as the answer to everything. Like Rev 3:20 "Here I am, I stand at the door".

It seems to me that Jesus invades our lives with his lovely presence but comes only so close so that we get to go to Him. Lets face it, in the standing at the door verse, the inference is that Jesus has done all the travelling to our home, where he finds us locked up and closed off and all we need to do is open the door. All we need to do to find rest is to 'come to me'. Our side of the deal is just too small, too simple, too understated but despite how much God does for us - he will not do our bit. Actually, thats not true - sometimes he even invades that but only because he knows I want him too!

The words' come to me', stand out because I know he is always there and I find myself going to people, church, Christian books - and find something of his after glow in those places but why do I not go to him directly and plainly?

And 2 more thoughts:

In HIM we live and move and have our being
I can do all things THROUGH CHRIST who strengthens me

It is when we go to Him that we receive what we need - spiritual food, spiritual guidance, spiritual revelation,guidance, life, joy, patience, perpective, wisdom.

Flesg gives birth to flesh and spirit gives birth to spirit. ONLY Jesus can give us the spiritual stuff.

decisions decisions

2007-01-28T12:18:00.000Z

How do we make decisions? How do we know if we are having holy doubts or backing off out of fear?

I keep thinking of the joke where an old pastor is on his roof while a flood sweeps in around him - a man in a canoe paddles up and asks if he needs help but the pastor says "no thank you, God will save me." The waters rise, and a bit later a boat comes along and offers help, but he says again "no thank you, God will save me." The waters rise, and a bit later a chopper comes and offers help, but again "no thank you, God will save me." Eventually the waters rise and he drowns. He enters heaven and angrily questions God "why didn't you save me", and God replies "well I sent you a canoe, a boat and a chopper, what more do you want?"

Silly, but does is carry some truth? Makes me wonder about some of the opportunities that have come and gone - were they God's will? Some times I feel a peace, and even a faint whisper in my splirit to go or it - but I was waiting for... something. To be honest I'm not sure what.

I may not be looking in the right place but the bible doesn't seem to be brimming with instruction about how to get guidance. There's a lot of "Davaid enquired of the Lord..." - "and God said..." I'm told pulling rocks out of pockets and casting lots isn't the done thing anymore (sometimes I wish it was...) and I don't know who the resident prophet is.

Dreams, visions etc are wonderful but are we to bank of these miraculous events for all major decisions?

One of the hardest things for is to trust that God will speak in some clear way. This is an extension of faith. In Rees Howels life he would pray, fast etc until he had an assurance. At which time there was not an ounce of doubt of the thing being accomplished or the direction to take. I have at times tried at times to live my life this way, but often its doubt that stops me at the outset. A doubting that the assurance or answer or direction will ever come. So, often I just make up a number of hours to pray etc - or in the case of direction, plow on regardless and pray "God if this isn't right You'd better stop me". But surely theres a better way? Maybe the answer is to treat direction like asking for any other thing or miricle. To seek until... This takes a huge step of faith though - to decide we will seek and wait at the outset. I believe this is one of Davids key characteristics.

Having said all that, there must still be a place for Godly wisdom and common sense. Why would God bother with Proverbs if this wasn't the case. I know it must be "both and" and not "either or". But I do struggle with this. My current thinking (which is immature and easily changed!) is that we should seek God's intimate counsil alongside but before looking to wisdom. Hopefully this leaves room for God to speak what might seem foolish, or to bring out things in our 'due dilligence" we otherwise would have missed.

Bless you mate.

Whats in a name?

2006-07-15T16:40:00.000Z

Holding my son for the first time was overwhelming. The contrast between his vulnerability but looking at him and considering his potential. This little boy will one day know Jesus for himself. He will love well and walk as one who is loved. A lilly of the valleys who touches the heart of God like few do. I wept and held him near to my chest. My son with whom I am well pleased. Perfect in everyway before he can even open his eyes.

As I held him I felt worship and gratitude bubble up out of my heart and I whispered to Jesus, "thank you, he is yours. I know he has only just arrived but I want you to know I give him to you right now. All that he is, is for you and about you. I want you to know that I don't take this lightly"

Whats in a name? God often changed people's names. You have been called......but I will call you......The inference being that they had been given the wrong name which was out of sync with who they were going to be. When they were knit together by God in their mother's womb God had laid his hand on them with thoughts concerning them outnumbering the sand on the beach. Haze and I therefore took the naming of our child as no light matter. It started with the question, 'God, who are you blessing us with!

One of the most profound character descriptions in all the Bible is ascribed to Barnabas: "He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith" (Acts 11:24). That passage continues, "And a great number of people were brought to the Lord ...," no doubt in part because of Barnabas' encouragement and peacemaking mission. Haze tells me that only two people are described as good in the bible. One of them is Barnabas, the other is Jesus. That said he is not one of the most talked about people. The 'popular' guys are Peter, James, John and Paul. Barnabas is more in the background until you start piecing it all together.

Barnabas was a man of encouragement (Acts 4:36). His real name was Joseph the Levite, yet as the result of his attitudes and actions, the disciples surnamed him Barnabas, which means "Son of Encouragement." Wherever Barnabas is mentioned in the Bible, there is always the activity of encouragement (Acts 11:23; 14:22; 15:31). The term encouragement is derived from the Greek parakaleo. That word comes from the same root that Jesus used to describe the Holy Spirit when he said, "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor . . . ." (John 14:16).

Barnabas was a man who rejoiced. Acts 11:23 and 15:3 reveal that he brought great joy to all the church. I picture Barnabas as a fun guy who knew how to have a good time but always took very seriously the fact that Jesus had placed his hand upon him. So, he was no doubt at the parties but probably looking for the guy standing on his own.

Barnabas was full of the Holy Spirit Because Barnabas was a man full of the Holy Spirit, his peacemaking impact was a natural consequence of God at work in his life. I pray that Barny knows the sweetness/weight of God on his life. I have experienced it since I was about 16-17 and it means everything to me. Jesus has been my encourager and motivation. Without him I would be nothing.

Barnabas was a man of courage When the disciples were skeptical of the Apostle Paul's conversion, it was Barnabas who took a calculated risk. He had the courage to bring the disciples together with Paul, the former terrorist of the Christian faith. Its a bit like me being asked to go and meet Osama bin laden who has recently had a 'spiritual experience'!! Barnabas is not a 'nice' guy who says 'nice' things to people but is otherwise a bit bland. No, he was a soldier for Christ.

Barnabas was a man of perseverance (Acts 13:50; 14:21-24). He never gave up on people or situations. When the going got tough he remained focused on people and was really quite selfless. After being pressured to leave Lystra because of the rioting crowd, Paul and Barnabas waited for a reasonable length of time and then returned to complete the task of "strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith" (Acts 14:22).

Barnabas was accepting (Acts 11:22-23). Unlike many Jewish Christians, he did not shun the Gentile Christians, but rather rejoiced that God reached out to include them in his covenant. I pray that Barny is one who receives people no matter where they come from and refuses to Judge people no matter what state they are in. He will see what God sees and learn to discern a man's heart.

Barnabas believed in people to the end just like Jesus. Barnabas recognized when John Mark was not ready for the mission field (see Acts 13:13). Unlike Paul, however, he did not consider John Mark a permanent liability but a late-bloomer. I find it fascinating that the great hero Paul gave up on John Mark for the sake of the mission but Barnabas believed in him and was willing to jeopardize the 'mission' for the sake of loving this unreliable man. It is fortunate that Barnabas recognized the timing needed for John's development since John Mark later helped Peter write his epistles! John Mark also became useful to Paul in Paul's twilight years (2 Tim. 4:11).

Barnabas was willing to confront others (Acts 15:2,36-37). Barnabas confronted Paul about John Mark in Acts 15:36-37 and was temporarily wounded by separation from the man who was his best friend. Later, however, perhaps thanks to Barnabas, Paul and John Mark were reconciled (see 2 Tim 4:11).

This courage to confront may expose little Barny to misunderstanding and rejection, but it provides God with a channel through which He can work to bring about repentance and reconciliation.

Barnabas was discerning (Acts 11:22). It was Barnabas who was selected by the Jerusalem church to evaluate the validity of the Christian movement in Antioch. The Jerusalem elders who sent Barnabas to Antioch were confident of his discernment and peacemaking skills. A man of discernment looks at motives as well as facts. I pray that Barny will be a man of understanding and be like David in the way he enquires of God (not man) all the days of his life.

Barnabas was submissive and accountable to others (Acts 4:36-37). He was a man of status (a Roman citizen) and means (a property owner), yet he was willing to share his personal wealth by denying himself and giving to a higher cause. Obviously, Barnabas felt accountable to God. Not only was Barnabas submissive to God, he was also submissive to God's people! I ask God for Barny to be able to say, "I no longer live but Christ lives in me" and that he would be a team player albeit one who will know his unique God given place on that team.

Barnabas was trustworthy (Acts 11:27-30). The Gentile Christians at Antioch raised funds to provide relief for the famine-stricken Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. Barnabas may have initiated that collection and was therefore 'safe hands' when it came to this usual stumbling block of money. I pray that Barny will be free from materialism and that there may be something about him which is 'easy come easy go'. Whether he has much or little will be of little significance to him because his identity would be so rooted in how loved he is.

Barnabas was humble (Acts 14:8-14). I pray that like Barnabas Barny will have a servant heart and find that place of rest at the bottom of the table where Jesus is to be found sitting. I pray that he has a confidence but not linked to his place in the world's system. This will give him such freedom to move in and out of circles and to bring words of life to people.

Barnabas was a man of faith (Acts 11:24). Those who please God and who are used by Him must have faith (Heb. 11). I believe Barny will be one who leans on God's promises to him despite challenging circumstances. As my gran Megan Mills used to say and sing, "trust and obey for theres no other way, to be happy in Jesus, you must trust and obey'.

Barnabas was anointed by God (Acts 13:2-4). God called and anointed Barnabas and Paul for missionary work. God enables His servants to do His work. I believe Barny will be one with that special something on his life. A touch of God and a weight which cannot be attributed to human abilities.

Barnabas was a person of prayer. Philippians 4:6-7 speaks of the "peace of God which transcends all understanding...."I believe and pray that Barny will be one who prays without ceasing at all times and in different ways but constantly placing himself in that place of weakness before his all poweful God.

Barnabas was a man of rest and Peace His feet are shod "with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace" (Eph. 6:15). I believe little Barny is one who will be a man of rest and peace. A pilgrim heart who has fountains of living waters on the inside. He will be an anchor to many in their place of turmoil and bring God's words of peace and life to them.

More about Finn next time.

Barnabas

2006-07-15T09:02:00.000Z

Barnabas - son of encouragement - welcome to the world!

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You don't know it yet but you are an incredible blessing, and incredibly blessed. A blessing because you are the gift of the one true God, the creator of the universe, to two of His humble servants. And blessed because you were given to two of the most beautiful people I've ever known. They will love and nurture you, pray for you, and put your hand into the hand of the King who will guide you through life.

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To Mum and Dad and the rest of us you are a new gift, but God has been waiting for this moment for thousands of years. I can imagine Him, with a twinkle in his eye he proudly announces to His Son, "see that child Barnabas... he's going to be quite a man some day." The King has never stopped thinking about you - how precious are His thoughts concerning you, how vast is the sum of them, like the grains of sand on a beach. I can picture Him announcing your arrival to His angels with such excitement. The joy and uproar in heaven at 1.45pm the other day would have been unbelievable. How do I know? Well I live on the other side of the world, but He woke me up with 4 prank calls / wrong numbers in 5 minutes at about 11.05-10pm my time (1.40pm your time) - right before you were born. My wife and I knew it was something to do with you and your parents, but didn't know what - I guess God just wanted a quick prayer, or for us to be awake when it happened - Barnabas had arrived.

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Now, I'd like to pray for you...

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God, I commit Barnabas Finn Askew into Your hands.
May he grow up healthy and strong.
I pray that he would be a man after Your own heart.
Give him the spirit of wisdom and revelation
that he may know you intimately
and may he be in constant communion with You.
Give him the courage to love and obey you,
no matter the cost, every day of his life.
And open up Your word to him.
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Bless his character with love, honesty, generosity, humility,
joy, determination, wisdom, and encouragement.
And may the fruit and gifts of the Spirit be abundant in his life.
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Give him many great friends who can share the journey of life
true friends that stick closer than a brother.
People that support him, challenge him, and spur him on in You.
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Prepare for him a Godly, beautiful and loving wife
prepare them both for each other even now.
Keep their hearts free of distraction and hurt
and may they love and serve each other their whole lives.
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Bless the work of his hands.
May it be fulfilling and rewarding.
Give him ability, success, passion and contentment.
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And as he grows, may he be a blessing to his family
and give them many smiles and much joy.
Let him be a baby that settles easily and sleeps through the night.
Bless his parents and keep them strong in You.
Protect their marriage and give them patience, perseverance and love.
And wisdom as they nurture and discipline their child.
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And now Barnabas
May the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn His face toward you, and give you peace.

Bless you Barnabas. Can't wait to meet you one day...

Lessons on the allotment

2006-07-09T21:31:00.000Z

Matt Clements

I have been loving my times on the allotment. As a kid I used to love digging holes and I don;t get to do much of that in commercial litigation! On the allotment I get to dig to my hearts content and plant, harvest weed etc.

It all started about 3 years ago when Matt, (above), my brother-in-law, brother in Christ, and friend had an allotment in Manchester with Kate, (his wife). It had never occurred to me to go after such a pursuit since most my friends go out for a beer and watch football on big screens.

I have shared an allotment with Sarah and Joshua since October last year and it has been one of the most rewarding things.

I go there early in the mornings to pray. By that I mean wander round, be still, and let God pick his way through the things sitting on my heart and if anything comes up I might be specific. I also think alot there about scripture and God's unfolding purposes in my life and on planet earth as a whole.

The thing I have loved about it has been the lessons I have learnt about spiritual principles which are set out in the Bible but perhaps I have never understood the agricultural imagery until now.

Here are some examples:

Weeds

They will grow, and appear in great numbers. I cannot stop them growing but what I have to do is uproot them before thet strangle my sweet corn. Maybe it is similar with my life, where weeds are describes as the love of money and the desire for 'other' things. These distractions will grow up in my life but I must make sure I am diligent and deal with them before they choke God's purposed in my life.

Growth

I ploughed the soil, planted the seeds and put out slug pellets but I could not make the plants grow. Such is the Kingdom of God....How often do I take responsibilty for 'fruitfulness' rather than just making sure my heart if fertile soil, planting the seed of His word in it and then inviting the radiance of God's countenance to shine on me. If you abide in me you will bear much fruit.

The sun/Son.

What if the Creation was put together in such a way as to point to the sun as the centre of everything.

John 1: 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood[a] it.

Well, needless to say on our little farm the sun has the final say. I planted two tomato plants at the end of te brussel sprouts with the view of them growing in one particular direction to full a space. Well, they wanted to grow the other way, towards the sunlight and mess up my aesthetic master plan.

Similarly with the runner beans. They reached the top of the poles in no time without any intervention from Joshua or myself and then I decided to twist them so they run down the bamboo and fill a space, (away from the sun). They disagreed and died within the week.

These are just some simple lessons I have learnt from the land. Matt has been an inspiration to me in photography, writing, and horticulture. I thank God for him and his diligent pursuit of God. He is much like you Mitch in the weight on his life leaning into the place of prayer. A secret place but attracting an eternal glory.

Wholehearted

2006-07-07T21:51:00.000Z

Colossians 3: 22Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Ch 4, .....

9He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you ( slave)

More thoughts on wholehearted devotion to God. I have been thinking about the God of all of life as opposed to the somewhat limited God of church programme and culture.

I remember Billy Graham writing not too long ago that he considered the next big evangelistic move of God to be in the workplace. It rings true. People who don't follow Jesus usually don't go to church but most of them go to work. How then can we transform the secular, even profane into a sacred space? Wherever God is, is sacred and holy. How do we invite his presence into these otherwise mundane and ordinary situations like a law firm?

In a conversation with my friend Tom Hope earlier this week it all suddenly fitted together. We need to be wholehearted in everything we do. More often than not I am most aware of God when I am waiting for him and looking for him in everything I do. This might be why we experience God in church but not work - simply because we switch off at other times. Tom was telling me about his recent trip to Syria and Lebanon and a couple of divine encounters which surfacd out of seemingly nowhere. One involved a man offering to help him climb up some rocks. It resulted in the sharing of his lifestory and prayer. It was not 'ministry' but simply Tom being wholehearted in his walk along the promenade. What a challenge to us.

I love what Paul says in opening the door as wide as it will go. 'whatever you do, ....(badminton, sewing, suing, designing, cleaning, loving, cooking, gardening, walking, washing, preaching, prophesying, singing, listening), do it with all your heart for Jesus.

This passage is set in a context of winning the respect of outsiders. Perhaps outsiders will be won over when they see a passionate life, a passionate father, husband and employee. What if everything we did was wholehearted? What if there was nothing bland in our lives because we considered every little act to be worship and devotion for which God would reward us. Sometimes, just sometimes christians have been labelled boring. Is God boring?

As you know I have become well aquainted with Mr Onesimus. He was trapped before and would be trapped again. He was defined as nothing in his world system, (a slave, lowly employee equivalent), but God defined him in love. Its not what you do, its who you do it for. I love this passage and this is what I am building up to, the crescendo. This teaching which we have all heard so many times is written by Paul and he knows what he is talking about. I just imagine him writing the letter at his desk with his mission companions around him, praying, talking, fixing the tea and one of those companions is......

Onesimus! The very one who God re-defined in love and sent him back to be trapped but to be wholehearted as a slave. I think of the discussions Onesimus would have had with Paul the night before and this letter flows out of the clear close relationship. I imagine Paul thinking at the back of his mind, 'wow, what if all the church followed Onesimus' example'. He has just told them to be wholehearted in whatever they do and then adds (remember), Onesimus is one of you.

Reebok say 'the world is your playground', What if we could say the 'world is God's footstool, sanctuary'. A place of rest for him. The organizations, structures, systems, departments could become sacred space and maybe what Brother Billy said might actually happen.

Onesimus Revolution

2006-07-03T21:07:00.000Z

Psalm 138:8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me.

I love watching God's plans and purposes unfold. Sometimes it feels like we are supposed to go after God's plans and then battle through to make it happen. My experience is more about being passenger than driver. Watching it unfold and being quite passive.

To inadequatley summarize a very long and multi-layered story...I returned from Kansas City with the dream of Philemon. Being like Onesimus whose name means profitable but he had become a cause of financial loss of Philemon. He was sent back to be a 'slave' but no longer as a slave but as a brother. In Christ we are all slaves (to Christ), and all free from passing labels.

For me this worked itself out as being going back to my Law firm, a place i had run from, albeit I believe God was in it and fulfilling his purpose in my leaving as much as in my returning. I found myself at the same firm, same department, same secretary, dare I say ut some of the same ongoing cases! I received a prophecy in February 2005 that I had been trapped before and I would be trapped again. For me this was going back to the previous employer like Philemon in the story. There was also to be an available grace.

I won't talk now about some of the wonderful people I have met there and whos elives are being transformed by a real living and interactive Jesus, but this is part of that outflowing grace mentioned above.

IN the last 6 months it has become progressively harder at work to keep doing it for Jesus. The song on my lips had been, 'its not what I do, it is who I do it for'. But that is difficult to maintain when you are in an environment that is at times very self-seeking, political and quite frankly unfair. For example, one colleague 'a fellow slave' had become a supervisor whilst I was away and now used this position to apparently damage as opposed to serve. I would work with all my heart for jesus and the credit would be taken. I would keep my case load up to date and then I would receive a 'hospital pass' and deal with problems. There were countless other things which so damaged the moral in the team and dented my own courage.

It was almost as if God was testing what he had written on my heart. If I am doing it for Jesus alone then these things shouldn't present any problems. The truth is, I was obviously still looking for human reward.

One particular colleage was/is struggling so much and I found her being targeted rather than loved and encouraged. In fact things were happening that could actually damage her career overall.

about 2 weeks ago I hit rock bottom because it all felt unjust. I related to the things David said, about why do the wicked prosper? How do they become supervisors?? It feels unjust. Haze and I were talking about it and she was challenging me to speak up for myself to the big boss about what was really going on in the department and to fight my case.

No guy wants his wife to think he is a door mat and weak. But, I have been thinking about meekness alot these last 6-9 months. I wanted to be a bit like david who could have killed his enemy saul but wanted God to fight his battles. People say meekness isn;t weakness. I disagree. I think it is voluntary weakness and place of foolishness. The meek will inherit the earth but right now they get a pretty tough time of it. Like Paul said, if there were no resurrection and 'after' then the here and now is all a bit ridiculous. To follow God we need to be pegged to the after.

Well, I decided not to fight my corner and be weak and frustrated. I can;t say I walked into it joyfully and full of peace either. It just felt right.

Well, the very next day 12 hours later, the boss called me in on another matter we ended up talking and he said he had been wanting to speka to me for weeks about me leading a team. He said he had seen the way I looked after people and knew I would excel in that kind of position. I was shocked and overwhelemed. I then got to fight for my struggling colleague to paint a pictue other than the one that had been painted by a supervisor. I was able to say that I believed in her and that she needed encouragement.

One thing led to another and within 7 days I have a team of 6 people and I have been given another office in another building away from the politics. And My colleague who has been making things difficult now has only one team member because most of them have been placed under my supervision. Amazing.

And, the project i have been given is to make a historically loss making type of work profitable. IN law almost everything is profitable. The one non profitable department has been given to me to turn around. Amazing. Onesimus means profitable and he was sent back and Paul promised he would be profitable. This means that it is going to work and we are going to be profitable!!

I feel once again amazed at the wisdom of God. he takes foolish things and does extraordinary things with them. I am so excited at the prospect of loving these 6 people well. creating a working environment if prayer unlike any they have ever experienced. A place of compassion, laughter and encouragement. Maybe, just maybe they will come to Know Jesus for themselves. I started off by saying I have been a passenger in all this stuff and it carries on. That is not some kind of humilty but the real truth. I had no idea what God was up to.

The story continues....

Everlasting to Everlasting

2006-06-08T06:17:00.000Z

Psalm 90
A prayer of Moses the man of God. 1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You turn men back to dust, saying, "Return to dust, O sons of men."
4 For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.

I think, from time to time about the eternity of God and how big He is. It strikes me that I am more inward focussed and self-centred than I realize.

I personalize srcipture which is a good thing to do and treat it as a love letter to me. The problem with this is that I become a mini God in my universe and I lose sight of the real God, of all generations. I forget about that cloud of witnesses that have gone before me, and the elderly who are still with me. They have each encountered something of you. Its a bit like feeling i know my neighbourhood when I walk round at night and standing under a lamp post and to be in it's light. Then one day I am in Kruger Park safari with haze and we look up at the night sky and it shocks, scares, intimidates me that there are these constellations, so vast. My familiarity with the neighbourhood suddenly seems to tiddly.

Rather unusual analogy but I think it is simialr with the knowlege of God. So much of my study has been 'me' driven.

My freedom,
My destiny
My calling
My wholeness
My vision
My struggles/victories
My My My etc...

Then I read a book like Ephesians which uses the word 'you' alot and I hear 'Brad' when in fact the 'you' was aimed at the church, a body, family with no singular heroes. Very counter our present culture. Its amazing what a different read it is when you see the bigger picture, the eternal context and purpose.

I think Psalm 90 is great for this. Man is dust, even if he is a christian. Even if he makes it on to the shelves of the christian book store autobiography section! Our lives are like a vapour and they will soon vanish. The only thing that will remain will be God's remembering us in his Kingdom when all things are made new and whole.

Before the mountains were called forth, before Gen 1, 'you were from everlasting to everlasting'. Everlasting back and everlasting forward. My mind overloads at trying to figure that out. What was he doing all that time? It also puts an interesting spin on my understanding of time and how focussed I am on 'me today' as opposed to God forever. If Only I could grasp the eternity fo God in my heart, then I am sure I would make my little decisions, and deal with the affairs of the day diferently.

A precious vapour
Though it appears for a moment, then is no more
I am precious in your sight.
One breath of air in the winds of change
but it silences the corridors of heaven
It turns your face to look upon me.
Your beautiful one. I am yours and Your desire is for me.
For this reason this vapour will be remembered.

Flying under the radar

2006-06-05T21:42:00.000Z

Those were fantastic thoughts. I got so excited reading of what the Spirit is teaching that I read it to Haze!

Its all about love. Its all about a wedding. Its all about a bride being beautiful for her groom. Its all about beauty. Its all about love.

I remember the passage in Collossians which i read one lunch hour last week in the message and how it says 'after beginning with the spirit, are you now trying to accomplish your goals by human effort', and how that spirit groans in us for Jesus. A groaning of desire at times but also sometimes adeep awareness of living in a dry and weary land where there is no water and needing to come to Jesus as the fountain of water to wash over us and to drink of Him.

If love and deep affection for the man Christ Jesus is removed from the picture then I do not think we have much left. We love Him because he first loved us. I liked the way you linked those passages and how Paul so focussed these young people on the love of Christ rather than a deep mentorship programme etc. It was all about that love which would propel some of them into remarkable feats for Jesus but for them it would all be about love. Like Phil 3:10 ' It is my determined purpose that I might Know Him', (what he prayed for others) and the power of his resurrection, and to share in his sufferings.

I have had this thought many times in the last 2 months, that to go after the things you talk about, Prayer, love for Jesus often in secret, we need to be willing to fly under the radar of much of church life. The reality of course is that we are to live to please Jesus only. Will I do whatever he says and be faithful to the 2-3 people who I feel are to be looked after by me and covered in prayer in this next season. It doesn;t look like a 'ministry', but I know of God's pleasure.

I was blown away by the story of Catt at Joco and what the Spirit said through Bob H. It reminds me that Jesus really is other than, holy, and quite different to us. he does not assess things the way we do. He would see Catt looking after those elderly men and women as sacred and there is a reward in that. Coming back to england like you know was for us a taking hold of Jesus' new deffinition of love over us and letting go of the old dreams, vision, purposes, callings which had so become everything. Now for me to live is Christ and the overwhelming fact that he loved me. Coinciding with this revelation has been the most remarkable thing. As I have beheld 'the God who sees me and cares', like Hagar, I have started seeing people and caring in a way that I didn;t before. People are not 'church', 'ministry time', or whatever, but it feels more sacred, time is more available, and I have started to love people more than I did before.

We need to fly under the radar more Mitch. No books will be written about Bob hartley and as you said a while back, who has ever heard of the Moravians? But the truth is the Shulamite in Song of Songs live dout of the reality of knowing the intimacy of Jesus and led the way for others to follow into that place. Just like david, who made others jealous. And Joseph....

Not my most comprehensive blog, more a bundle of thoughts arising out of your post.

My challenge is to become more hungry and thirsty for God and to actually want wisdom and revelation. That thirst comes and goes but my feeling is that I quench that longing with secondary stuff. One of the big reasons the last 18 months has been so significant for me with revelation etc, is because of the principles of fasted living as taught to me in IHOP. It is really no different to arranging date nights with Haze to help me know her better.

I am still pondering the stuff you shared on your next steps, calling, business/prayer divide and will come back to you on that when things crystallize a bit more!

Pauls Prayers

2006-05-31T04:07:00.000Z

The day after we got back from the USA, on saturday evening, catt and I were feeling pretty tired. She went to bed at 8.30 and I stayed up reading and praying a bit, but very tired. I was reading psalm 16, and then I get this thought to read Peter's speech in Acts 2. After this the thought comes to read Rev ch2, 3 times. The message to the first church, Ephesus was standing out. They were doing lots of good stuff, believing lots of good theology, and standing against evil. But Jesus says if you don't repent and find your first love I'm going to remove your lampstand - I think lampstand = a church, so that means remove the church altogether. This hits me as a 'type' of church today.

So I went to Ephesians and started reading the summaries. I know Ephesians is held alongside Romans as the great theological explanations of grace and holy living. The summary in my bible mentions 2 prayers and I felt prompted to look into these.

The first prayer is Eph 1:15-23. It begins with "for this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in Jesus, and love for the saints", so I look at the preceeding section. It basically says - they were saved. v13 says they heard the word, believed and received the Spirit as a seal. I sense that that is the link to the Acts 2 speech. I know there is no real link, but sense God saying, the point is, they were saved - thats it. Its weird that Paul says "since I heard" as he was there for 3 years I think? So there must have been lots of new believers or something??. Then he says he "keeps praying that God will give them then spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that they may know him better. WOW I thought. It just struck me that the first thing Paul prays after they are saved is for the spirit of wisdom and revelation to know God better. Then he prays that the eyes of their heart would be open to know the hope, inheritance and power that is in them.

The second prayer is Eph 3:14-19. It again begins with "for this reason", which is referring to the end of Ch2 (ch3v2-13 is a sidetrack). It says they are being built up to be Gods dwelling place. Because of that he kneels - so this is a big deal - and prays that God will cause Christ to dwell in their hearts, ie receive more of God's presence, and have power to grasp more of God's love. Obviously I've read all these thing 1000 times, but it just hits me that after these people get saved, the first things that Paul prays is that they get revelation etc to know God better, and know the hope, inheritance, power thats in them. Then to have more of the presence of God and grasp his love more. It skrikes me for 2 reasons - first that what he prays is exactly what Jesus said they needed to change in Rev 2 (in it Jesus only says love, but really the first things paul prays will lead to love). Secondly that this is so different to what we see now. Think about what he doesn't pray... Its as if in the first 3 chapters he's saying, "you're saved - thats great. Now what I want is for you to get the spirit of rev to know God better, and the hope, inheritance, power in you. By the way what actually happened to you was grace (ch2) and you're now in it with us jews, trying to be presence carriers, so what I really, really want is more of God's presence for you, and you to grasp God's love more." Ch2 is generally considered the main chapter, but I don't think it was to Paul. Ch2 is what has happened - but it happened whether they understood it or not. What Paul is really concerned about is in his prayers - and rev 2 is the proof.

I then start to think about Pauls other letters, and what he prayed to different churches...

Phil 1:9-11 "that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, SO THAT you may be able to descern what is best and may be pure and blameless ... filled with the fruit of righteousness..." Here Paul makes the connection between greater knowledge of, and love for/with God - and purity. I know all this is obvious, but don't you think its funny that this is what he prays. However in Phillipians he doesn't say anything like "I have heard ... for this reason I pray", so it is what it is and thats all.

Col 1:9-14 "for this reason ... we have not stopped ... asking God to fill you with knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom ..."
This prayer is quite different than for Ephesus, and I think its because of what preceeds "for this reason". V4 Paul says he's heard of their faith in Jesus and love for the saints (just like Ephesus)... V5 "the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven ..." Its as if Paul is acknowledging that what he prayed for Ephesus in the first prayer - the collosians have got it. I'm taking the phrase in V5 to be a 'tag-line' for the prayer for the Ephesians. By that I mean Paul is saying - you know what - you collosians are saved, but more than that, you have some of the spirit of rev to know God, his hope, inheritance and power - and out of that place you have grasped some of the love of God. Therefore I feel safe praying that you know that will of God for you. Paul never prayed that the Ephesian would know the will of God.

1 Thess 3:11-13 "May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other..." I can't get quite as much from this, but in 1 Thess 1:3 Paul speaks of their work and labor prompted by love, inspired by hope. Its almost like they've got what he prayed for both the Ephesian and the Collosians - Spirit of rev to know God, hope, love, etc, and know, and are doing the will of God. So Paul simply says - let the love increase and overflow... and keep your heart pure.

I think there is a little progression going on here - with the Ephesians, Collosians and Thesselonians.

This experience was weird and wonderful for me. It started with me being tired at 9pm, but by 9.15 was alert and my heart was on fire - with this strange awareness that the Spirit was about to open up something to me. Minute by minute new things were jumping out, but I had no way of keeping up, remembering or writing everything down. 5 minutes later it was 1.15am - you know what I mean I'm sure...

joco

2006-03-08T01:28:00.000Z

Had a great time in Canberra last weekend with Bob Fraser/Hartley speaking. Very strange - as I went there by myself, and had no idea what to expect. It was just a friday night, and all day/night saturday. They basically did a cut down version of the full retreat that you did. Over the past few months I've spent a lot of time praying that God would speak both at this event and in May when we're in Kansas. I realise there's nothing magic about these places/events, but I wanted to give these times completely to God, and use them as special times of seeking God's presense.

As I was walking to the place on friday night I was thinking pretty negatively. Just asking myself why I'd bothered to come all this way to this thing. I was thinking: "I've spent all this money booking flights to america and here, to hear some people I don't know. They're probably just normal guys, and Brads already given me the gist of it - its not as if they'll be levitating or anything..." As I walked into the building I thought, "this is stupid I'm wasting my time." They were starting with some worship, and funnily enough, the very first words of the worship leader were "hands up who's from interstate... well you're not wasting your time coming here - God honours every small step we take towards him..." I took that as a direct answer to my poor attitude.

I think the main thing for me was an amazing sense of the presence of God - an answer to prayer that I'm so grateful for - God really met me there. As I said we started with worship, just a guitarist and keyboard that could barely play at all, let alone with each other... So there was no chance of sensationalising anything. During the worship and Bob Frasers first session, I was pretty much crying the whole time... Very weird. First time I've cried in a few years. Its hard to put into words what was going on. I mean, he was talking about God in the marketplace - businesses etc - not exactly an emotional subject! But I think God was really touching my heart, and confirming the direction I thought he was leading me in. In a strange way it was like I was home ??

I was so touched by both Bob's also. You know how you can just tell sometimes when someone is dwelling in God's presense - like I've mentioned with Rob Scott-Cook. Different to seeing a dynamic speaker or leader. A humility and gentleness that you can tell isn't of themselves.

I had decided that no matter what, I was going to have a talk with one or both of them, and share my situation - at least so they could pray for me, and know who I was before going to kansas in May. I think also becuase I knew that most of the 150 people were just there because it was a good thing to go to. But for me this was a big deal - almost like a culmination - of several years seeking / struggling and God leading. I was getting pretty up-tight about it (You may not know, but I'm quite shy, and meeting people is hard). Also, I had no idea what Bob Hartley did, but when he starting prophecying over people, that only made it worse. I was saying to God - thats it, you've got to speak to me through a prophetic word! That night I had a dream: I was in a room after a meeting had finished and I was desperate to talk to, and be noticed by, some people. So I went up and talked to them, but they responded with "oh, why do you want to talk to us? what do you need that for?" I left bewildered with the realisation that firstly I knew what I had to do so didn't really need their direction/prayer, secondly, that my real motive was to be noticed. That dream really hit me with just how much I "need" adulation. A combination of pride, yet lack of confidence and surity about what I'm doing, its like a cancer in my heart - God help me...

The main thing that I really want, that Bob Fraser talked about, was in receiving direction, business ideas, etc in the place of intimacy with God. I want that!!! But I will have to change so much in seeking that. Spend heaps more time with God, and give up a lot of stuff. That reminds me... Over the past month or 2 I've been convicted about my love of sport - I love watching football, cricket, tennis etc. During one of Hartleys sessions, he got a bit annoyed, almost raised his voice - and out of nowhere says "why do you waste so much time with sport!". I'm taking that as a direct word from God to me - I need to change.

There were other small ways that God spoke, and I surer than ever what my focus should be, and what I am aiming for. So all in all it was awesome. Obviuosly the teaching was amazing, but you know about that. And this was only a day and a half. Can't wait for May!

It would be great to have a "house of prayer" in Aus. Somewhere that people who want to seek Gods presence can centre around. In his prophecies for Australia as a whole, Hartley said we needed one. So if you ever feel like moving to Aus we could start a business and house of prayer - that would be fun! :)

The Absent Captain

2006-03-05T15:11:00.000Z

The thing that fascinated me growing up was knowing God. I heard about people being his friend and knowing him in a very real way. I read about these heroes of the faith that gave up everything for Him because they knew Him. I always wanted to know Him and walk in his footsteps and to hear his voice. I really never wanted to stand up and talk about it.

No bright ideas or 5 year plans for how I will impact this world. Just a heart in deep affection for this man. I have entertained intellectual arguments as to why God should not exist and discussed exactly what God feels about this and about that but somewhere in there is a very unfortunate trade off where I reduce God to a concept to be played with and to grapple with and lose that ever present closeness of knowing God.

I love Phillipians 3:10, which says ' It is my determined purpose that I would know him and the power of his resurrection. Again, number one is knowing him, Psalm 27 and number 2 is to see the outworking of that. Loving God then loving the neigbour.

Where is the captain? A few friends and I started a darts club a few years ago and all had darts names, 'silver jackal', 'slider', etc, and as i recall we only played darts twice but this community went on for so long. we really enjoyed it. As all great societies Ben decided that we needed a larger than life history and founding member. This is where the 'Captain' was birthed. He would be mentioned here and there as a great man, noble, and awe inspiring in life and deed. Of course the whole thing was one big joke but it caught on. We need a 'captain' so that when we go for a beer we can raise the glass and make mention of this deeper reason for our evening out.

Why do I tell this story? I think God, in my life becomes this 'captain'. Noble, great stories to tell, all in the past tense. But speak about him as 'daddy, or my precious friend' and it becomes a bit uncomfortable.

I have found in the last couple of weeks that the thiings of God become synonymous with God himself. I have been doing Alpha, homegroup, pastorate, chruch, and involved with people alot and these things do satisfy in part, but then suddenly I hear these words in my spirit, 'the absent Captain'. As john Piper said, 'God is most satisfied in us when we are most satisfied in Him'. How quickly I love the praise of people and see the well worn channels in church structure to move onwards and upwards into more influence but I get terrified because I am nothing. I know it, and I am not trying to be humble, I am trying to be honest.

I have so little of myself to give that I dare not mention it. I love the way God has been speaking to me in dreams, when I have been asleep! I so desire that this would continue and I might share what God is saying with no understanding of what I am saying so that God might be seen as the hero. I love human heroes and know that I want a human King other than God. Just like the people of Israel, I want to point to a Mike Bickle, John Wimber and identify with them, WHY? because in my life the captain is absent. It was prophesied in isaiah, 'I wish you were all prophets', and 'I will write write my law on their hearts', . God is desperate for each of us to know his voice and for him to be ever present no human 'captain'

Finally, a weird interesting hypothetical thought......'If God ceased to exist, for how long would things go on as usual?' Church, charity etc... I want to be so leaning on Jesus that I cannot get outof bed without Him. I cannot walk to work unless I know he is with me. I do not say anything 'spiritual' unless I have heard Jesus say it to me, and I do not do anything, whether parking duty or prophesy without having heard Jesus say for me to do that. This is the whole message of Jeremiah - the weeping, forgotten and jealous God - to paraphrase ' you always do your own thing but you forget about how I feel about it all'.

What about the needs we see? What about duty to community and obligations? good questions but I see Jesus meeting needs but also running away from the crowds to be with his daddy. One moment he says to a paralytic ' get up and walk', the next minute he is saying to Peter, 'quick Peter paddle, before the crowds get here!'.

I guess this all comes back to meekness. Am I the answer or just a priest who points to everything I have seen and heard in that secret place? Moses was the leader tof the armies of Egypt and was therefore the Donal Rumsfeld of the day but he became the meekest man alive. He told God he could not speak. I hear people say he had a stutter. I doubt it. Raised in Egypt, leader of the armies of the greatest civilization on earth and second to Pharoah in that household, but he later could not speak.

In Prince of Egypt, they depict Moses speaking out to pharoah ' let my people Go', but he did not. He whispered to aaron and he was the mouth piece.

I think it takes spiritual violence to cut out the things that mean it is no longer noticed when the presence of Jesus isn't there.

2006-01-31T01:57:00.000Z

Hmmm, sorry I was a bit bullish in the last post. Did the paragraph about love make sense? I was really only meaning that it needs to be 1 Cor 13 love and not just 'days of our lives' love. I assume you get that show over there...

Regarding Sauls first dissobedience, Henry's commentary says the following

"Saul offered sacrifice without Samuel, and did it himself, though he was neither priest nor prophet. When charged with disobedience, he justified himself in what he had done, and gave no sign of repentance for it. He would have this act of disobedience pass for an instance of his prudence, and as a proof of his piety. Men destitute of inward piety, often lay great stress on the outward performances of religion. Samuel charges Saul with being an enemy to himself. Those that disobey the commandments of God, do foolishly for themselves. Sin is folly, and the greatest sinners are the greatest fools. Our disposition to obey or disobey God, will often be proved by our behaviour in things which appear small. Men see nothing but Saul's outward act, which seems small; but God saw that he did this with unbelief and distrust of his providence, with contempt of his authority and justice, and with rebellion against the light of his own conscience."

Another aspect to David and Sual, perhaps an offshoot of trust, is fear. When Saul is making excuses for his second mistake he says: "I have sinned. I violated the LORD's command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them." Just after this he says: "I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God." Firstly, before he sinned, he was more afraid of his subjects than of his God. And second, after being caught, he still seems more worried about his reputation, than of what God thinks. David on the other hand never showed much fear of man, right from the time he took on Goliath, despite the chastisement of his brothers.

Also, you don't get the impression Saul cares that much that he disobeyed the Lord. After the first mistake there is no repentance mentioned - I assume they would have noted it if it was substantial, then the second mistake brings excuses and face saving. Compare this with Psalm 51 when David is confronted with his sin.

There are a lot of differences in action, and they reveal a big difference in the state of the heart of both men. I think you're right... David's love for God is the source of these differences. His love for God far exceeded Sauls. But more importantly, it went well beyond his love of others, which took away his fear of man and concern for reputation. Later, faced with his own sin he could say "You and You only have I sinned" - He feared God far more than anything or anyone else. Only intense love could drive out the fear that is so human when facing a Goliath, and give the 'second nature' trust in his God.

Bless you guys... Please pray that this is the month for Catt and I (if you know what I mean)

saul, david and phinehas

2006-01-29T08:04:00.000Z

Had a look saul and david, and it says a lot we need to hear.

First of all I just like to say, when we make comments like, all that counts is our love for God - my response is, well that depends on what is meant by love. If it is all encompassing - assuming passion, obedience, faith, and a few other things, then yes - all that really counts is a heart of love for God. However if by love we mean a heart-felt passion for God, I would have to say... well I think scripture says God wants more.

Anyway, moving on. I looked at how both men started - what were they both like at the beginning.

Saul:
starts out looking for donkeys... doesn't mention God until he runs into Samuel. God had chosen him. He was from the least of the tribes (Ben), and the least of the clans within that. God's continuing pattern of chosing the lowly is shown again- probably a shock to Israel. He's annointed, and Samuel gives him 4 instructions - (3 signs, and 1 command) The 3 signs all happen, which must have been pretty cool for Saul. He is filled with the Spirit many times from here on. The 1 command - to wait for samuel at Gilgel (for 7 days) for him to do the sacrifice, before going to war. This is the first thing God, via Samuel asks him to do... and he almost does it... sounds like there was just a few hours in it. I wonder how history might have changed if he had of waited... but probably it was an indication of his heart. Was it sloppiness, arrogance, impatience, a lack of respect or fear? At that time a word from Samuel was equivilent to a word from God. But not sure if we can really know the exact state of his heart at this point. Samuel has very harsh word - God would have established his kingdom for all time, but not anymore, and God has someone else in mind who has a heart after His own. All because he didn't obey that 1 command. Then when Samuel gives instruction 5 - a command to go and destroy the amalekites - he almost gets it right, but takes it upon himself to give a bit of plunder to the men, and even to sacrifice to God. Samuel and God hate what he did, and that is the end of his reign - it was just a matter of time from then on. God was grieved that He made Saul king - ouch. Did God not know he'd disobey like this?

David:
He starts in a similar place of lowliness, this time sheep instead of donkeys - but they are both pretty dumb. Seems like a strange twist of 'fate' that David is sent to play for Saul - perhaps God wanted him to see what 'kingship' is like, a learning experience, or just to make himself known prior to his first real appearance. I think its significant that the first real time we hear from David is in the incident with Goliath. 1 Sam 17: 26 he reveals part of his heart: "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" Then a few verses later "The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this philistine". Then when he meets Goliath: "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty..."

I'm not sure we can say there was one single thing David had and Saul didn't. Its clear Saul was dissobedient - he got things 90% right, but the 10% failure was crucial to God. We've talked a lot about David's heart love for God -the psalms are full of it. And David seems to have that almost more than any other in the bible. But I'd like to look elsewhere. I see 2 main things here. Zeal and trust. I think these are the key. Zeal comes out in that he hated the fact that someone would dare dishonour his God. And Trust - he just assumes his God will come through. For him, intimacy with God, and trusing, assuming He will help him fight for God, merge into one...

Phinehas:
I'd like to mention Phinehas, son of Eleazer. I was reading Ps 106. v30 says "But Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was checked. This was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come." This was referring back to Numbers 25. Israel was sinning by fooling around with midianite women, and many were dying by a plague of punishment God had sent. Then an israelite brazenly brought a midinite women before the whole camp, into his tent. Phinehas took a spear and drove it through both of them, and the plague stopped. God then said to Moses: "Phinehas ... has turned my anger away from the Israelites; for he was as zealous as I am for my honor among them, so that in my zeal I did not put an end to them. Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace with him. He and his descendents will have have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honor of his God..."

I think this is significant as there are only a handfull of people who have had such adulation from God. I see a similar thing in David.

Regarding trust. In reading the psalms, apart from the intimacy, the crying out for God's presence, and the love for his God, David trusted his Father. I read Ps 146&147 yesterday - Its just hit me how much he says things like: "Do not put your trust in princes ... Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God", and "His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man; the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love."

We love God - we want to have a heart after his, but will we trust him and his promises. I think thats what I was referring to in the last post re the persistant widow and intimate child. I know we don't want fruit to be the focus, but that shouldn't be an excuse not to trust Him.

How does God evaluate things?

2006-01-28T23:01:00.000Z

Thanks for your thoughts. I agree we need to really treat all weakness as a grace to lean on God in a greater measure through prayer.

A scripture that has impacted me so much this last 12 months is this:

1 Samuel 16
When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD's anointed stands here before the LORD."
7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

Forget for a minute about the things we think are important, I am still baffled by that short statement which must become a lense for looking at everything in scripture and in all of life. God does not see things the way I see them. We must let that sink in. We must become students of the bible and ask questions. How do i see things? How does God see things? Is there a difference?

We look at the external, fruit, outward, appearance, image, and are consumed with the way a person or situation looks. Based on that King Saul would have been great but God didn;t see it that way. God had rejected him because he valued sacrifice (maybe service) above obedience. Samuel the prophet brought te word that the God of heaven is not looking for a butler but for a people who would obey, love and follow in a reverent way. David was the shepherd after God's heart who's life record looked very poor compared to Saul. We do not read about Saul committing the same number of blunders but God rejected him.

God is looking for something in our heart. Paul urges us to 'learn what pleases God', and I think the life of David is a place where we can learn what it is that tickles God's heart and makes him smile. Isaiah 55 says that David was made a witness to the nations. A witness to what God is after.

How exciting! As I spoke to our new friends (Dave and jen) tonight they really shared our feeling of frustration from delay in God fulfilling promises. In fact, our coming back to Bristol is the exact opposite direction to what I thought God should do. But, this evening I felt encouraged that God was looking at our hearts. Could it be that the ONLY assessment God will make of our lives is the amount of love that moves from our hearts to his heart? The only thing I care about in my marriage to Haze is the quality of love that passes between us in a very hidden place. Maybe that is a picture of God's heart too.

I pray that we might become shepherds after God's heart. Like David, then we will be able to love people well. Interesting who David's mighty men were before they were mighty men.

1 Samuel 22:2

1So David got away and escaped to the Cave of Adullam. When his brothers and others associated with his family heard where he was, they came down and joined him. 2Not only that, but all who were down on their luck came around--losers and vagrants and misfits of all sorts. David became their leader. There were about four hundred in all.