Operation World

At Keswick this year I got a copy of the new, 7th edition, of Operation World. So my old 6th edition has now entered its rest, or it recycling!

I think every Christian should have a copy and use this resource regularly to pray for the world.

You can purchase copies of the book at the web site - here.

In using the book I am repeatedly saddened by the church statistics given. For example:
Japan - 1.54% Christian; Denominations - 2 Orthodox; 1 Catholic; 1 Anglican; 155 Protestant and 37 Independent
Malawi - 76% Christian; Denominations - 1 Orthodox; 1 Catholic; 1 Anglican; 62 Protestant and 331 Independent

Now I know that we would want to count Anglican as Protestant, but that only makes things worse. How can we not be ashamed of this division and disunity between Protestants. And just in case you think the UK is any better
UK - 59% Christian; Denominations - 20 Orthodox; 6 Catholic; 4 Anglican; 194 Protestant and 279 Independent.
This is not a complaint against Operation World, rather with thanks for making this information available a call to prayer and work for greater Protestant unity and an end to making new denominations!

Church in Europe, following or leading?

Another interesting post on the blogsphere from Krish Kandiah at What's Next.

Good question, Krish.

The state of the church in Europe is not encouraging. But, is this post-Christian situation one that all churches, whatever their present situation, will in time have to go through? Often we reflect on the growth of the church in Asia, South America and Africa and ask what lessons do we need to learn for ourselves in Europe. (Often, but not often enough or seriously enough I think!)

But what if this post-Christian cultural context is an natural cultural development flowing from a strong Christian church with deep roots in a culture?
If this is the case then we in Europe should not be seeking to 'return' to church situations we presently see modelled in other contexts, but we should follow Jesus and press through into the glorious future he has for his church.

Kingdom Come - day 4

This morning, on the final day of the Kingdom Come conference, Dr Trevor Morrow spoke on the title of 'What might God be saying to the nation?'

Trevor acknowledged that within evangelicalism there is a range of opinion on the nations, from an Erastianism in which the church and nation are synonymous through to a Menonite position where the church is the city on the hill set apart from the nation.

Taking a lead from NT Wright, Trevor identified the exile in Babylon as the controlling narrative for the synoptic gospels - something I am also persuaded of having read NTW. Looking then into the prophets of the exilic period, Ezekiel, Daniel, Jeremiah, Zephaniah and others, Trevor discerned the two great themes of i) tear down, and ii) build up.

It is time to tear down the idols.
Before starting on the idols of the nation, Trevor spoke of the frequently carved idols of evangelicalism - I hope all who own this title will take the time to consider this carefully:
we build the idols of:
1 - reformed orthodoxy - where our orthodoxy, as we understand it, is all that matters, and we are saved not by Christ but by our correct and pure understanding of all the heads of reformed doctrine.
2 - ministry success - we worship the attendence at our meetings, the building in which we gather, the cash which we raise.
3 - preaching (or whatever gift God has given us) - we use our gifts as though our exercise of them will be our justification before God.
4 - an experience of God - we have exchanged God for an experience of God, and we are breaking his heart.
Before we can call others to tear down their idols, must we not tear down those we worship?

Idolatry in the nation:
1 - nationalism - God has become a resource we use to bless and give success to our nationalism.
2 - technological and economic success.
How often in the church do we implicitly approve of the cult of more money, more stuff, more power, more things?

It is also time to build up, to find hope:
A people in exile, such as spoken of in Jer 33:14-16, seek:
justice, right relationships and peace with God.
The hope we offer is that after our exile, the city where we will be led to live shall be called 'The Lord our righteousness.'
We need radical, authentic testimonies to the life of the Kingdom which alone can offer hope to a people in exile seeking to come home.

Kingdom Come has been a great conference, the talks will be available to order on line, they are all well worth hearing.

Kingdom Come - Day 3, post 1

The powerful and prophetic message given to the Kingdom Come conference this morning by Heather Morris deserves a post all to itself.

Heather Morris is a Methodist Minister and Director of Ministry at Edgehill Theological College, Belfast.

Heather was asked to address the question, 'What might God be saying to the church?' I think everyone present was made aware during Heather's address that she has listened very carefully for what God would say in answer to this question and then spoke with great power and grace those things our God would have us hear from him.

From Judges 6, where Gideon is called into ministry service Heather identified some key words which the Lord spoke to Israel and today would speak to his church.

Feeling distant from God and under pressure the people went into retreat and took to hiding in caves in the hills. God would say - stop hiding! Be strong!

To the people when they had heard God calling them to repent and they refused to listen, God would continue to say - repent of your sins.

God calls his people to repentance to make them holy, to have them model the character of God. Every child of God made holy by God is a marker that God is at work in our town/city/nation.

When Gideon asks the Lord, 'Why has this happened to us?' (and in passing how many in recent months in Scotland have asked this of the Lord?) The Lord replies as it were, 'Wrestle with me;

When Gideon says, 'I am the least' God says - I am sending you. We forget that God is God and so we diminish the wonder of being sent by God. God sends the church because he loves the world. The church would be transformed, and so we would be agents of transformation within our communities, if we felt only an echo of God's love for the world.

What challenging words that God is speaking to his church. Thank you Heather for your faithfulness in ministry in so powerfully bringing God's word to us this morning.

Kingdom Come

Day 2 at Kingdom Come continued the high standard set on the first evening.

Bishop Ken Clark gave the morning bible reading: 2 Peter 3:18 - But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Too often Christians, and Christian leaders, specialise in cover up and we turn our backs upon the grace/compassion filled eyes of Jesus.

There is a great need for 3G leaders:
Grace - we have replaced gracious living with merely obedient living.
Gratitude - if you have joy in your heart, please inform your face!
Generosity - a real need to live generously, the church is the only group where you can be savaged by sheep. Shepherds need to remember a lesson from farming, the sheep get fed every day and only get shorn once each year.

A really good session which held up the challange to Christian leaders to answer the question, 'What motivates me?'

Mark Russell and Harold Miller led a seminar session on the title 'Is the church an obstable to mission?' I think the answer is that it often is but shouldn't be.
On changing an institutional church it was offered that you can, eventually turn around a large ocean liner more easily than a large flotilla of smaller vessels.
Church is (or should be) what happens when people come together in community to celebrate Jesus and share his love with those around them.
Churches, both I think at denominational and congregational level, swamp their leaders with the task of being chaplain to Christians rather than being missionaries or evangelists. And then wonder why the church isn't growing???

To the well known triad of Belong, then Become, then Believe, we could add in the first place Bless. If the Christians serve their community to bless them will they not be attracted to belong ...

In the evening session Gordon MacDonald spoke on Depth, following last nights address on Defence. Taking Col 2:6 as his text - Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established is the faith, just as your were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Depth happens in the regular daily routine of living as disciples of Christ. A long-term relationship, such as being disciples of the Lord Jesus requires regular (daily) renewal. What a challenge this is to us! A frozen institutional faith is not going to be deep.

Another good day in Belfast with much to feed on over again in the days to come.

Total Church = Total Community

More from this excellent book.

Chester and Timmis are totally into community. This is the big challenge to church as we've always known it. It isn't enough to speak to new people who come on a Sunday, for Total Church community is much more than that.

On p. 48 we read of how identity as Christians is found in a Christian community, and this Christian community is Christ's new community.

For many of us experiences of church are different from what we hope Christ's new community will be like. We find the old ways of being in community - competition, aggression, fear, gossiping - all the old destructive patterns of life. It is not a new challenge that the church should be a new community, a new kind of community (perhaps for a new kind of Christian!). We have all felt the force of this challenge before. I think in this book it comes with a fresh power and import.

Where do we seek our identity? In Christ. Well Jesus is usually the answer. But, what does this mean? It cannot mean less than the church becoming a whole life community in which we find our new identity in Christ.

I really like the thought on p. 38. A weakness exists in building my own identity rather than receiving one constructed by God's grace.

What freedom there is in not having to find myself, in not needing to be affirmed by any other than God in his grace. This I think is one of the most frightening ideas in the book, I must almost give up my own identity to receive a new one in grace.

No doubt this is included in cross bearing self-denial, but does not demean self or diminsh the worth placed upon me by a God whose Son died for me.

If only church could be a place where genuine grace shaped identity is born and nurtured in a community of those growing in the new, grace-given identities.