Fearless

We get on the bus.

We head straight for a seat near the back of the downstairs cabin. 

I think you call it a cabin. 

I say that because I haven't caught a bus for years. 

I thought they still had conductors! 

So we sit down the bus is fairly packed. 

We are heading for Ealing Broadway in London. 

Dawn and Gary on a big red bus. 

We stop at a bus stop outside a big yellow shop. 

A guy gets on. He's drunk, he looks like he's slept a thousand nights in a bag of dirt. 

He sits down. 

Right next to?

Us. 

So he turns to Dawn and says, "Can I use your phone?" "I need to let some girl know I'm on my way."

Dawn being Dawn. 

Street wise due to a long time blessing the most needy of the UK. 

Says.

"You can't use my phone but i'll text her for you if you like."

He smiled and accepted her offer. 

He gets off the bus a stop before us. 

We get off at Ealing Broadway. 

As we step off the bus two people who weren't together, came up to us. One says "I'm so touched by what you just did for that guy." The other says " You did something good for God today, thank you."

It turns out they were both Christians, one of which walks around Ealing praying for the lost. 

We made a connection with this lady and agreed to keep in touch. 

My Mrs is fearless on the mission field. 

And being fearless. 

Opens big doors.

Even Though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; Your rod and your staff they comfort me. (Psalm 23: 4)

That verse sets a level of faith God requires. 

To rescue people from the pull of evil? 

We should try to be fearless. 

Why?

God is with us. 

If you are fearful of taking a trip into the darkest valley to reach out to someone who is trapped there?

Do not fear. 

For I am with you.

If you are trapped in the darkest valley.

Do not fear any longer. 

Help is on the way.

Be.

Fearless.  

Ealing. The beginning!

So we started work yesterday.

A new chapter.

A new challenge.

We arrived at Ealing Salvation Army. The hall is situated of Ealing broadway/ Uxbridge Road, in an extremely vibrant and busy corner of London. 

The first thing I noticed was the breathtaking depth of need. I saw straight away the homeless, the lonely, the broken. 

Everywhere. 

We spent the morning in the hall. Just trying to orientate ourselves and meet a few people as they had the hall open for lunch. 

At first glance my heart dropped. 

Lets just say that it doesn't take a visionary genius to tell the Church has seen better days. 

But one thing we have learned as we have journeyed in ministry?

is this.

You have to look past what you see. 

Constantly. 

You have to look past the initial thing you are faced with and embrace the fact that there is a future.

Ok we can't see the future. 

But when we look with Spiritual eyes. 

When we believe God is on the other side of what we see?

We see past the church to the need. 

And.

I guess it could be a fact that there are way too many people who can't see past the church. 

They sit and stare at it. 

Praying it will never change. 

Longing to have an assurance that they will never lose how it's always been. 

The problem with that?

You can't get past it.

And you can't reach the need that needs a loving church to embrace them, accept them, and show them compassion. 

It reminds me an amazing bit of scripture. 

Revelation 1: 12-13

"Then I turned round to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lamp stands, and among the lamp stands was someone like the son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash round his chest."

It seems to me that quite often we walk on, doing things like, going to church, doing a bit of churchy stuff, and we just carry on walking. God is speaking. The voice is there. But we carry on walking. We struggle to turn. 

Then.

This guy does turn to see the voice. That's an interesting statement. See the voice. I remember someone saying to me that's a typo, It should be hear the voice! 

That's no typo. 

He turned and encountered God. He knew God was speaking and wanted to see what he was hearing. 

But then he saw seven lamp stands. Those who study the bible will know that the lamp stands represent the seven churches mentioned in Revelation. But God was amongst it. Shining brighter than an ultra polished diamond.

You couldn't miss him. 

But you could if you stopped and stared at the seven lamp stands.

The church. 

When you look past the church. 

You encounter God.

Simple as. 

So here I am right at the start of a new adventure. 

With a mandate to try and turn a pretty desperate situation as far as the Salvation Army is concerned in this area. 

At first glance it looks more desperate than I've ever encountered so far. 

And if I stand and stare at that.

Thoughts will engulf me including hopelessness, listlessness and why botherness.

But I've learned.

To do two things.

Stop walking my own way and turn to see the voice. 

Look past the church to God. 

He will lead us to the need, to what he is doing. 

And when I look past what I see today. 

The excitement floods in because I know God will already be doing truly miraculous things in West London. 

And we will be in on it. 

I know the state of play now will change. 

So today if you know you are sitting staring at the church. 

Come on, you know what I mean. Getting yourself entrenched and bogged down in church controversy, religion and politics and all that jazz?

Or.

If you can hear a voice speaking to you, the voice of God, but your carrying on walking?

Turn round, walk towards the voice, look beyond the church, and I guarantee that's where you will encounter the King of Kings. 

Shipwrecked (salvaging your faith)

Back in the day I was on holiday in Majorca. My daughter Bailey persuaded me to hire a pedalo and sail out to sea, sticking fairly close to the shore. 

I am not good on boats. 

But, not wanting to let my daughter down, I agreed to sail on one. 

Dawn, Bailey and I were about twenty five yards out in about a foot of water when I started to feel a bit sea sick. 

So I had to get off and walk back to the beach. 

I love to look at the sea, but hate to be on it. 

Lately as I've been praying, the sea has been central in my mind, in every scripture I've read the sea has been mentioned. 

Especially storms.

And in particular?

Shipwrecks. 

Especially 1 Timothy 1: 18-20 (NLT)

"Timothy my son, here are the instructions for you, based on the prophetic words spoken about you earlier, may they help you fight well in the Lord's battles. Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked."

I can relate to that.

When I slip and I definitely do from time to time, what happens is sometimes I have deliberately violated my conscience. In other words I've known something is definitely not right because my conscience has told me so, so I've then gone and done it anyway! 

Come on now, anyone with me on this?

What happens every time that happens is this.

My faith hits the rocks.

My faith gets?

Shipwrecked.

It's linked to Spiritual warfare of course because Satan loves shipwrecked faith. 

He tends to use one his favorite weapons for that, guilt.

When we violate our consciences how often do we then feel guilty and then find it hard to get back to God?

Yeah?

You with me?

But the thing I need to tell someone tonight, someone who I know needs to hear this blog, is this. 

Shipwrecks can be salvaged. 

I had a mate once who worked in a salvage team who would actually go out to shipwrecks and salvage what they could. He was so passionate about it and I used to love hearing his lengthy tales of some of the amazing things he recovered from wrecks.  

And that's the thing. In every situation in life good or bad, if we stay as close to God as we can, keep trying hard to do it like It says in 1 Timothy, "Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear," then we can take the treasure out of any situation. Taking treasure means salvaging those valuable lessons that we can learn in every situation in life. 

And your faith can be salvaged. 

Because Jesus is astonishingly merciful.

So you don't need to be shipwrecked and stay that way for ever. 

Under water. 

With no chance of surfacing.

Because the Spirit of God is prompting me that someone out there is feeling just like that. 

Under water.

Shipwrecked. 

Well the Forgiveness of Christ is total.

And he will salvage your faith.

Just cling to Christ with everything you have.

No matter what's happened?

He's trying desperately to salvage your faith.

Why don't you let him?

 

Modus Operandi

Latin.

I love Latin.

I kind of study it in an amateurish kind of way. 

It helps me when I pursue my growing passion, which is, wait for it! visiting, and studying historical architecture. 

If I see an old gravestone or statue in a Cathedral or something with a bit of Latin inscribed in the stone, then I can more or less understand what it means. 

I lead such an exciting life! (I know what your thinking!)

I even have a favorite Latin term. 

Modus Operandi. 

It probably doesn't take a Latin genius to work out what it means. 

It means mode of operation. 

How one operates.

A very new Christian asked me a question this week. "How should I operate as a Christian?"

A big question. 

It could be put another way, like, "What does God require of me?"

I was trying to concoct a massive answer in my head to that massive Question. 

But.

Instead, and fortunately, my mind switched to a scripture.

Micah 6: 8

Which pretty much gives us a straight answer to that question.

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.

And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy

and to walk humbly with your God.

Justice 

Mercy

Humility

I was chatting with a volunteer from S21, the Prayer Centre Dawn and I have just left. She was telling me about Lee, a young man Who is constantly in trouble with the Police. A young man who is difficult to handle. We love him. Totally. Last Saturday he was having some trouble out on the streets. This volunteer said the best way to stay out of trouble is to stay all day with us. So he stayed the whole day at S21. A kind of safe house for the day.

Resourceful Christianity.  

And I thought to myself that's a Micah kind of Modus Operandi. 

A Modus Operandi that directly involves

Justice

Mercy

Humility.

And I thought of the big question the new Christian asked me. 

How would I operate as a Christian?

It made me search deep inside. 

What is my Modus Operandi?

There are times when I fall a bit short of the simplicity of Micah 6: 8,

But.

Nevertheless?

It's the daddy of all Spirit moved mandates. 

It's the bar that's been set by a loving God. 

It's what he requires of each of us. To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. 

So.

I've been challenged to give my Modus Operandi a shake up this week.

Maybe this scripture will challenge you to assess your Modus Operandi, your mode of operation, and check it against this simple straight requirement straight from the heart of God. 

Blessings. 

A word: Don't delay do the work.

So Richard comes up to me and says, "Can I have a private word?"

He had come up to me in the final hour of our ministry in Sanctuary 21. The place was awash with people wanting to say goodbye. A nice little table of food had been laid out by some of the best volunteers I have ever seen. It was busy, noisy and laden with emotion. 

But I was coping well.

Until.

Richard asked me for the private word!

I took him to one of the prayer rooms. 

We sat next to each other on the worn black leather sofa. 

Richard, my blog readers will know was homeless when we first met him on the streets of Durham. That first time he was drunk, cold and generally in dreadful condition in every way you could think of. He came back to our Church and came back every day since. I have been on an incredible journey with this guy. He has taught me so much. So many stories I could share with you I could probably write a book.

As our time at S21 came closer to concluding, thoughts began to surface in my head about how successful or not we had been missionally. 

How do you measure that? 

So I'm sitting on an old sofa in a prayer room with an alcoholic former homeless guy wanting to speak with me.

This is what he said. 

"I wanted to write this down, but for one reason or another didn't get chance."

Tears started to form in the corners of his eyes. 

"I'm going to miss you and Dawn. This place has saved my life. Thanks Gaz. Thanks mate for caring about me. No one ever helped me like this place has."

We shook hands. We went back into the buzz of the crowd upstairs. 

Those thoughts, those doubts in my head about what measures the success of mission all but faded. 

How do you measure the success of mission?

I think Richard said it all. 

You can't really measure it by text books on mission, conferences on mission, mission development plans, degrees in mission, DVDs on mission etc etc etc.

The only way?

Is?

The Kingdom. 

The values that only the Kingdom of God can bring which are hallmarked by love, compassion and acceptance of the whatever and whosoever. 

"This place saved my life."

I knew what Richard meant. Ultimately God is saving Richard. But the place in which he found God was teaming with people who placed way more value on Love, compassion and acceptance and then got on with the work than complex mission plans or endless conferences and meetings about mission. 

I completed my Masters degree in mission a few years back. I could have saved myself some effort and just sat with Richard! He taught me more than any eminent lecturer ever did. 

When we were seeking God whether to plant S21 in Durham or not God gave Dawn and I a scripture. 

Consider now for The Lord has chosen you to build a house as the Sanctuary. Be strong and do the work. (1 Chronicles 28: 10)

Reflecting on my time planting S21 I can see what God means.

We need to get on with the work. 

So many millions around the globe need a Sanctuary. 

Not just a building.

But the sanctuary that is the open hearts of those who would serve the poor and the marginalized, the rejected, the despised, those who don't fit in, or rather aren't allowed to fit in, the sick, the homeless, the broken hearted, those who are so lost it is almost unbelievable. 

The Spirit of God says right now stop setting up your endless meetings, plans and all those other procrastinations. Be strong and do the work. Yeah, do the work! Open your Citadels and your Church doors, yeah, but way more than that? Open up your whole being and lavish the ingredients of the kingdom, love acceptance and compassion on those who need a saviour. Turn your full attention to the deep needs of the society we live in. Don't put it off any longer. Listen to the heart of God on this one. There are lives that literally can be saved. There are voices long silenced that can be unsilenced. There are hearts of stone that can be turned soft. There are people with nothing who through open arms can gain everything. There is a world that can be changed through the most powerful love of a saviour. Put aside those pointless things that you do and step on to the highway of the saints and march into the lives of the poor needy souls that are strewn across this planet. 

Consider now for The Lord has chosen you to build a house as the Sanctuary. Be strong and do the work. (1 Chronicles 28: 10)

That?

Maybe says it all.