Pocast Number 4!!!

Great news, I passed my driving test!!
Tune in this week for some great chat and a request theme tune!!

I don't think the correct ID tags went on to this MP3 so I hope it works via iTunes!!!

Bye for now

John

Driving test

I have my driving test on Friday 11th November at 3:02 pm.
Please pray for me that I pass!
Thanks

Catching up

Oh man, I have not posted for so long. I don't know why. I think it has to do with the fact that I am trying to wait to pst on particular topics rather than just blogging about my life. Anyway this post is very much just a catch up blog of what has been going on.

The Gap Team have settled in now and I am trying to increase the pace and quality of what we do together. I see myself as the spiritual father of the team and am trying to impart as much of what I have as possible. I am praying for them that they will catch the vision and the heart we have for God and Cornwall. I am concious that I did not start this year as well as i could, I was in a dry spell as they say! However I fell like I am coming back online more now and am trying to do better!

Prayer is back on the agenda in my heart in a big way. Martin Scott's emails from Brazil have been inspirational to me especially in the area of prayer and prophecy. I am so keen to "see" more!

Suprglu

How about this for a site that collects all the things I have an involvement in and feeds it into the one page!!
Very cool

Slack

I am so slack at keeping up with blogging! Lots to say but...

One things is the Saturday Night Service that I am helping to lead. See here for details about this event.

If you are in Cornwall on Nove 5th at 8pm the please come along to worship God with us at Elim Church Camborne!

Podcast Number 3

Hello and welcome to the third podcast from here in Cornwall. This week, as usual there are many great theme tunes!! And an exclusive interview with Mr Andy Frost!

An article I posted on Steve Cottons Website

Revival is a misused and misunderstood word. In this brief essay I will be using the term as shorthand for a move of God's Spirit. This is the definition that has come to be used for the concept of Revival. In reality revival speaks of giving life back to something which is dead, a state which, despite it's difficulties, the church in this nation is still avoiding. A sovereign move of God's spirit does little to revive the church but much to reinvigorate the purposes of God for a nation, even for continents.

Students and witnesses of revivals from around to world tell of remarkable events, miraculous happenings, wondrous encounters with the living God that fill us with awe and excitement. How we long to see these things in our midst, how desperate we become to live amidst the wind and power of the Spirit, how hard we press in prayer to see these scenes of joy and conversion. Yet how long have we waited for revival to come? How long, how hard, how urgently must we pray to see that which we hope for?

Over the last 10 years I have come to change my view of what we are actually praying for. I no longer expect that my street will be set ablaze with the gospel of Christ. My hope has gone when I think of my town under the pressing glory of God. This nation may never again burn with the fires of revival. I say these things because society has changed. How well do we know our neighbours? The family across the street, that bloke who walks his dog past our house every night? Not as well as I might. The social structure of the UK has fragmented. It has become increasingly tribal, each to his own social group focused around interests rather that location. We simply do not have the same community spirit that once could be found across the land.

This is proving to be a stumbling block for the gospel carrying church. We struggle to create events, occasions, situations that allow us to meet people, make friends and hopefully share the gospel with. How will the flames of revival spread in a community where no one talks to each other, where the links are simply not there? Revival may tarry because there is no fuel to add to the fire.

BUT, universities (colleges and schools) may be different. Surely on university campuses we find exactly the close knit communities through which revival can spread like wildfire? In an environment where everyone knows everyone surely a spark of the Holy Spirit can cause an outbreak of contagious conversion? Has there not been revival in the prison system? In the Gypsy community? Both examples of communities like universities that have a large population in a specific location.

Another factor may well be the susceptibility of students to the gospel. The university age is a very influencable age, an impressionable age. Your university days are filled with exploration and discovery, everyone (more or less) has an open mind to new things. This may even include the gospel!

I believe that God is calling for students like you to be the tinder for a great revival. God's heart for the lost remains as fiery and as jealous as ever. He wants and needs people to be set ablaze with His holy passion for the people of this nation, to be changed into contagious carriers of an infectious gospel. He is requiring a people who are so intimate with Him that His very presence in their lives affects others, that the Spirit of God would bring conviction and conversion. He is looking, searching for those who are willing to stand up and be counted for His Kingdom, saying "here I am, take me and use me". He cries out to see His people walk in faith that He is the Almighty, that there is nothing that He cannot do, that He will be with them always wherever He asks them to go.

So will you be on of those few?, will you answer God's call?

I believe that revival is coming to university campuses around this nation. I believe that God will do extraordinary things through ordinary people. I believe that God will send the sparks of ignition right now if you ask Him. And if you walk in intimacy and faith in His power, He will change the course of a nation, the course of a continent and even the course of history.

Podcast Number 2

Hi guys, please follow the title link to download my latest podcast. Again it is full of TV Theme tunes taken largely from tv.cream.org.
Once i have got a few silly podcasts out of my system then I intend to make some slighty more serious ones where I talk about issues of importance and relevance to my journey as a christian.
Thanks

First Podcast Proper (it's only a laugh)

Hello and welcome to my first ever proper attempt to do a podcast. I am afraid I got a bit carried away with all the great theme tunes I downloaded (see my delicious site for details). Anyway it's alla bit of fun.

On a more serious note I have been thinking about how much leadership to give the girls on the Gap Team and of what sort. I am caught between letting them get on with things themselves and really investing heavily in them in terms of prayer and the prophetic etc.

I suppose I am starting to lean more to the increased involvement side of things but we'll see...

Gapy Year and the New Term

Just started back at school for the new term, very busy and a lot more responsibility now! But in a strange way it is good to be back.

The Gap year team has now stated with Zoe and Terri living with us as part of their year in Cornwall. You can keep up to cate with their adventures on their blog here. You can get a feed from their for their podcast!! The podcast is also listed (with this site as well) in the ITunes directory of podcasts under christianity! Cool

Ethan is in hospital at the moment with bronciolitis. He may be releasde later today and has improved a bit overnight but after last week with Esther and the hot potato incident...

I am reading a book which is the most significant book for a long time at the moment called "Threshold of the Future" by Mike Riddell. There are some really excellent and very challenging chapters in there! More on that later, I am sure! It really reminds me of, and explains more fully, some of the things i discussed with Joff and Elaine Day a few weeks ago.

Any way...

New Seasons

In a short week I am starting back at school! I am also starting a new position having just been promoted at the very end of last term. I am now the KS3 coordinator in science and will be paid a bit more money for my trouble. (A financial blessing?)

Also on the 10th September Terri and Zoe start here as part of the Gap Year Cornwall that we are running for SJI. They will be living with us (bringing in a small amount for board and lodgings - more financial blessing?) and working with several local churches and organisations to serve God in Cornwall. We will make regular podcasts to enlighten people as to what they are up to. A feed for this can be found here.

September is often a start to a new season and this year will be very much different to loast year for us. There is a great deal happening in Cornwall and I am so excited to be playing even a small role in God's plans.

Finally just a quick note to those people who comment on this blog. My brother in law Dan (seen here on the interweb) suggested that I remove the facility for people to comment anonymously on this blog. However I do not intend to do so as I feel that people may feel more able to say things anonymously than they would if their identity was known. I do not want people to stop reading and commenting on this blog and fear they might if they could not continue to comment anonymously.

Tithing

Just a quick post to note how much of a reaction I have had about the subject of tithing. There have been several comments about tithing on the posts below. It is interesting to see there is so much difference of opinion.

If it all the same to those commentators who are opposed to tithing I am still going to go for it!

I would also like to point out that I fully agree with all those who say we should not give just 10% but extravagantly. For me this is a lifestyle choice of honouring God with our finances and depending on Him for His provision. I already have testimonies about the financial blessings God can bring but this is not what I am seeking. I want to know the giver not just get the gift. I want to build a history with God, a history of dependence and provision, a history of testimonies and miracles, a history of knowing God as provider, Lord and friend. I am not satisfied right now with the level of dependence I have on Him, or how well I know Him, or my experience of Him. I am desperate for more of God! It is in this spirit and with a hungry heart that I am putting lifestyle changes in place for me and my family, not because I have to to earn that which I seek, but because I want to, because I believe God deserves it (at the very least!) and that I believe God will enjoy it! (I know already how much he enjoys me right now too!)

As I am getting better now at regular posting I hope that I can blog the story of this particular aspect of my journey with God! Please keep reading!

23:23

Many times over recent months I have seen the number 23. On digital clocks, buses etc. I have, in the past also seen 22 a great deal as have a number of other people (I posted on this issue some months ago). I always assumed that 23 was just missing out on 22 but I have just read Matt 23:23 that Helen pointed out to me after recent comments on this blog about tithing. Any way I laughed out loud at the coincidence that the verse was about tithing and lifestyle when that is the very thing God has been speaking to us about.

Podcasting

Here goes!

Fasting

I am going to enter a three month season of prayer and fasting. I really want to see my intimacy with Jesus and Father deepen and I want to walk in a level of Holy Spirit power that sees greater works.

I am still praying about what forms the fast will take but I am excited about the next few months!

Joff and Elaine Day have helped me see that I do not need to earn, nor indeed can I ever hope to achieve, the approval of God, it is already there. I do not need to qualify myself in to getting Him to bless me. This fast is more about pursuing Him, seeking Him and training myself to rely more on Him. I don't need to do this but I want to. There is a real sense that I must train myself and learn myself what it is to see what the father is doing and rely on Him to do that myself.

Martin Scott says that if Jesus had ever written a book it would only have said "I only do what I see the Father do". If we are to do this then we must learn to see what he is doing!

He must increase and I must decrease!

(Also we have another COPP day with Martin on 3rd September)

Catch Up

There is a lot to catch up on so this post is going to be a little bit "bitty".

First off, Helen and I have recently heard a teaching tape by a man called Clive Pick. It was very challenging and all about finances. We have made, as a response to the conviction we felt, a commitment to sort our finances out once and for all. We have been doing a great deal better recently. One major thing is that we have become regular tithers. We have done this occaisionally in the past and always been amazed at the financial blessing that God brings in response to it! Last time we tithed on our monthly income we were given a brand new car (or the promise of! We actually picked it up yesterday!) Since deciding to go for this we have already been blessed financiallly with gifts and open heaven type incidents where we are seemingly walking in God's blessing and provision. I cannot wait to tithe next month and I will try to record all the testimonies I may have.

Next, progress is still being made on the India trip. My friend Justin Blake is getting excited about coming with us and our relationship deepens with sister Janaki. The best news is that Helen is planning on coming as well, we will leave the kids at my mum's.

Also concerning Justin, Andy Frost and I along with JT and Chris Frost are planning to take the VOW together. Justin has agreed to help us to do this which I am very excited about as he was one of the main guys to research it all and prophetically see that this is the time to bring that sort of thing back in to the mix!

Road Trip is stil going and i have got one or two words for them to encourage them which I will post on the journal site (see post below for link).

As Andy is away I do not know how things are shaping up with the house at Land's End.

Rugby season starts soon and I am well excited abouth this, having fully recovered from my injury that put me out of the end of last season.

Our new car is great!!!

Road Trip Mission

Hi, I am on a holiday at the moment staying with both sets of our parents. Back soon and I will have a greater chance to write some stuff here. Just to mention though that Andy's mission called Road Trip has now started and can be read about here.

Walking on Water

I must write fully about last week where I led the SJI event called Walk on Water. Basically we had an incredible time and I especially got so much from it. However more later...

Share Jesus House

This is just a quick post to make sure that I have the things that are happening on record so that in future days I can look back and learn.
Share Jesus International have been given a house (an old farmhouse) with a bit of land and the remains of a few farm buildings. This is very exciting as they can do with it what they want. The really cool thing is the location of the house which is just outside St Just and on a hill that overlooks Land's End. There is an uniterrupted view of the lighthouse and rocks there! So we are pressing into to hear what God would have us do with the place. This is an extract from an email that I sent to Andy Frost with my own thoughts and vision for the place:

The vision that I have for the house and land is this (similar in lots of ways to the transit course on the boiler room site)

I want to see a community created there that is focussed on prayer and mission, on intimacy and power much like we have been talking about this week! Imagine 60 people living in a permanent community like we had at walk on water. I want to see the site used to make money to support the community. People would be living in a rhythm of life that is monastic, work, prayer and mission. The place could be a modern day Hernhut community with the prayer birthing missionaries from there to go to the nation and nations (like India!) I would have visiting speakers to come and bring not sessions of teaching but rather themselves for a small period of time. So Martin Scott (eg) could come down for a week and invest what he has in that community, being part of it for the time he was there. We could run specific events from there such as DP, wow, Destiny and all that small scale type stuff that fits in to our heart for prayer and mission. We could also have people who come in to the community for shorter spaces of time, either a few months to do a course like Transit (see Boiler rooms site) or just for a while to have a retreat and renewal type experience. But overall I see there should be a permanent community of people who live, work to support themselves on site, pray and go on mission from there. It will be a monastery, a base for prayer and mission. This would still leave it open for all the extra stuff like conferences, training and church weekends away. That could be another source of income and work for the guys! It will be a centre of excellence! The other really exciting thing about what I feel is the idea of recreating (in this new time) the Moravian community at hernhut. Remember what Justin said about the 24-7 movement and the Methodist Church. This place could combine those 2 and amazing things could happen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited about all of this and the whole India thing. This is definitely a time of acceleration towards the things of God. My heart is for Intimacy and Power. In fact I want to do some writing now about all that so check my blog out for my thoughts as I try to describe all that I feel God is laying on my heart.

Andy then said that his friend John had invited him to come and help out at a worship event in Hernhut in October!
I am taking around a gut that financially supports SJI on Friday this week so we will see what happens!

(Also there is other stuff that I cannot record here but I write this to remind myself that it is there!)

India: Excitement Grows

I spoke with my friend Justin Blake last night and am very excited about what he said! We speak about once evry 2 months and catch up on what is happening and so last night I was telling him the story about India (see post below for the story). When I had finished he was very excited and said that just that week he had been chewing things over and was on the verge of speaking to me and Andy about setting up a missions trip to a poor nation such as Africa or India. Because Justin is so prophetic this fills me with faith and a buzz! Justin also said that he may even be possibly able to come with us!! Amazing, Andy and I are so excited about that!
The other cool thing is that on Walk on Water this week we had 2 girls that have been or are going to India and 1 girl who went to Mumbai and is now setting up a project to raise money for the street children feeding programme that she saw! So the connections continue to build. Oh yeah, I was emailing the 24-7 office to register the WoW prayer room and a girl in the office, Becca Horsley, who I sort of know and she is telling me about the Dehli mission team and all the pryare rooms that have been set up there!! Cool.
Hang on, even more cool is that I just spoke to Ruth Horsely who I have been with this week in WoW and she was in my small group and everything. She even stayed round our house last night as she was ill! Any was just a I was writing this i noticed that Becca Horsley had the same surname as Ruth so I just phoned Ruth and she said they were sisiters!!! Unbelievable.
I am soooooo excited and buzzing right now about all the things that are happening. Please read more posts soon about the other cool stuff that is going on here!!

Galatians 5:16

Live by the Spirit is the command. What does this mean? How can I do it? How does it work? Obviously the purpose of this is to bear the fruit v22.

I guess that for me this is a time of re-examining the role of the Holy Spirit in my life. Do I walk with him? Do I allow him to guide me? or do I seek his voice throughout the day?

v25 since we live by the Spirit let us keep in step with Him. Our walk must be a full relationship. The NIV study notes say that the "live by" verb is continual, to go on living by the Spirit, living by the promptings and power of the spirit. This is easily enough done if I keep my mind on listening out for Him! This is key to conquering the sinful desires of the flesh.

Rom 8:2 and 4. That chapter is a description of a life walking in the fulness of the spirit! To live by the spirit is to be Rom 8!! Oswald Chambers speaks of Rom 8 as being the highest pinnacle of christian life (or something like that)

2Cor 5:17 we are new creations once we have the spirit!

And my favourite verse purely for its poetry John 3:8. What a challenge that is, to live like the wind being blown by the spirit with noone knowing which way it will blow!

1 Samuel 15

The basic message that I read into this was that of obedience to what God has laid before me. Saul did not completely destroy the Amelakites but rather saves the King and keeps the best cattle for a sacrifice. But God tells Samuel that he is not happy with that. There have been many times in my life (including recently) that I have not fully obeyed God and even times when I have refused to completely destroy something from my life, to cut it all out, some root has always remained. But that is disobedience. It keeps me from being the person that I could be.
God says in verse 22 that he prefers obedience to sacrifice, he likes us to do what he knows is best rather than what we think he wants!
The call is for obedience, this will allow me to fullfill my purpose and destiny in God! I should be totally sold out for acomplishing the things God has laid before me and not hold back until that has been achieved.

Studies

Been having a great couple of days with God and the word and am really going for it at the moment after a quiet spell, (why am I so up and down?).

I wanted to make a few notes here about some of the things I have been reading and praying through for further future reference.

Ouch

Man I have been so busy in the last few weeks. I have been camping with the school and organising a science fair as well as having my vasectomy, ouch! Still all better now!

Funnies in the Times

I read some hilarious things in the Times T2 section today. They were remarks apprently made in American courts that were recoreded word for word by court reporters.
1. Q: Are you sexually active?
A: No, I just lie there
2. Q: All your responses must be oral, ok? What school did you go to?
A: Oral
3. Q: How was your first marriage terminated?
A: By death
Q: And by whose death was it terminated?
4. Q: Now Doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
A: Did you actually pass the Bar exam?

How I laughed!

Biology Smart Crowd

I am taking part in an online conference at school this week that is looking at the use of technology in education. There have been some wonderfully interesting papers submitted. One such paper was about how different technologies can create smart crowds. This is a group of people that interact in some way (blog or forum etc) and each contributes some of their own knowledge, information or learning. The central blog then becomes a source of great info and knowledge as more and more people share this creating a smarter crowd.
So I thought this was such a great idea I set a biology blog up to develop such a smart crowd (especially in my A-Level students!).
See here for the blog!

India on my Mind

Just a quick post to say that God is keeping India on my mind. I was surfing the net and checking out the Order of the Mustard Seed site and found a link from there to the Operation World Site who have a daily bit about a given part of the world for prayer. Anyway today it was coincidentally not only India that was on there but the very region of India that I have been to and have on my heart, the Himachal Pradesh. Unbelievable!

What things to change?

Thinking about my last post I was wondering what sort of things I want to change in my life. There are probably many. However it is usually beneficial to focus on one or two areas.
In no particular order these for me would be:
1. Financial skills and budgeting
2. Diet and fitness
3. Maturity in Christ (stepping up to the next level)

Time to make a difference

I believe that we are in a particular season, a kairos season. This season is all about having grace and mercy in order to achieve something or to put it another way this is a "time to make a difference".
The number 5 is the number of grace (see here). This is 2005. The recent UK elections were held on the 5th day of the 5th month. (Incidentally I believe that Labour got in by the grace of God and only on order that they complete the things God has set for them to do. It seemed as even though the electorate were giving Blair a "bloddy nose" they still wanted more of Labour).
The other major sign is the G8 summit and all the press that surrounds it. Many significant people are calling out for 2005 to be the year that we made a difference for world poverty. (see here). The number 8 is significant here. The G8 summit and Live8. The number 8 in the bible is all about new life or a new beginning.
So I believe that this is a time of grace in order that we can make a difference and to create a new beginning.
This means individually, corporately, nationally and internationally.
There are things that the world can achieve at this time (I think particularly of the chance to change trade rules etc).
Nationally there are things that we can see happen as Tony Blair pushes into an historic third term.
Corporately we can see breakthrough in our churches (I sense that this is a key year of decision for many people about the new emerging church and accompanying theology maybe ending with a recognised new beginning in terms of the way many of us see and do church.)
Individually we have the chance in this season to change some things.
This is a time of grace in order that we can make a difference.

Dangerous Places

We had a great party yesterday as Esther and Helen celebrated their birthdays aloha style! At our church meeting this morning Chris was talking about Luke 5. (Download the teaching here - a password is needed!) One thing he said really caught my heart and that was this:

When do we put ourselves in situations where, if God does not step in, we would look totally stupid? The dude who was lowered from the roof by his mates would have been so embarrased and gutted if Jesus did not step in and heal him (after forgiving him!). In fact Jesus loved the faith that they had just to even try and get away with that!

I am sure that Jesus loves it when our faith takes us in to some dangerous places. Maybe they are not physically dangerous but they are ego damagingly dangerous!

My friend Andy Frost sets himself the challenge to scare himself once a week (in terms of exercising his faith). Maybe I should try to get in to some of these dangerous places myself?

Walk on Water.

God is looking across the face of the Earth for people who will serve Him. He is searching for people who will stop to hear His voice and act on what He says. He is calling out for people who will give their lives to His purposes. God is looking for you. God is calling out your name. Will you respond?

If there is a “YES!” in your spirit to the call of God on your life then Walk on Water is a week for you.

Taking the heroes of the Bible as a starting point we will study how ordinary men and women can do extra-ordinary things when the Spirit of God moves them. We will look at how modern day heroes, like Wesley and Wigglesworth, came to lead lives that were ablaze with the glory and power of God, how they came to walk in the presence of God in a radical way.

As well as in depth and inspirational bible study there will be a chance to receive practical teaching in a range of seminars designed to train and equip you in your pursuit of God. We will look in particular at aspects of our walk with God that require a step of faith, for this is a week where God is calling us to step out of the boat and walk on the water.

There will also be the opportunity to visit some of Cornwall’s most famous and historic sites of Christian heritage. Sites like Gwennap Pit where John Wesley preached to thousands, Billy Bray’s Chapel a place of intensity and passion, Carn Brea and St. Agnes beacon, sites of much intercession with prayers sown deep into the land, and Land’s End the first and last place in the nation.

This week will be characterised by intense worship, passionate intercession, encouraging discipleship, deep friendship and intimacy with our Father God.

God is looking for people to rise up for the sake of His Kingdom, to stand for His purposes and live in His ways. If not you then who? If not now then when?

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

The Raven
by Edgar Allan Poe

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore--While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door."'Tis some visiter," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door-- Only this and nothing more."


Please read the comments for the full text of this great poem.

Emerging Church

Yesterday Helen and I met with Joff Day and his wife Elaine. I was put in touch with them by Justin Blake. We had a great time with them and some really good conversation. Most of our talk centred around their journey into the emerging church. What they said to us was both challenging and exciting. They also spoke to us prophetically and suggested that we were at the point where we now could take a step of faith into maturity and after that point it would be inapproriate to go back. It reminded me of something Gerald Coates aid to me which at the time was rather random. "Be careful as you are further on than you think." So we are now talking about what all of this will mean for us. Is God calling us out of organised church and int a greater maturity and a very different walk with him? They also suggested that I go down to Land's End to pray and thought that God would reveal himsl;ef to me in a new way. All very exciting and a little daunting!

If by Rudyard Kipling

If
If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or, being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with triumph and disaster And treat those two imposters just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to broken, And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breath a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch; If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you; If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run - Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

One Thing

This verse has a great deal to say to me about how much I need to devote my time and energy towards an intimate relationship with Father.

"One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple."

Lord may I be more like David, who desired you with his whole being, his whole energy.
May this be the one thing that I desire also.

At this point I ask myself the question, looking at my life what would I say the one thing I desire is?

What's yours?

Blaze Church Men's Weekend

This weekend I have been away on the Blaze Church Men's weekend. It was really great. There were many things that God spoke to me about during the weekend through all that was said and done. Primarliy the weekend was about responsibility.

"The price of greatness is responsibility" Sir Winston Churchill.

I want to record some of the thoughts and resolutions from the weekend here. SO watch this space.

India and the Call of the Lord

Last summer I went to India for a just over 4 weeks. It was a revelation to me, no matter how much I had been expecting it, that the contrast between my culture and Indian culture was so huge. Ever since my visit I have had a special place in my heart for India, I have often prayed for India, began to read up on her history and generally had India in the back of my mind. This became more apparent since my move to Cornwall and settling in down here. Over the last few weeks I have begun to think and pray about going back to India on a missions trip. I even looked up flight costs and started to search for local in country churches to work with.

Yesterday evening during a chat with my friend Andy Frost I ventured to ask him whether he would like to come with me and a small team to India on a missions trip. (Normally it is Andy that does the asking!)



He said he would like to and we talked about his one Indian contact (I have none) a man called Peter Perrera. So we agreed to make some tentative suggestions and see where it went.

Then today Andy sent me an email that he recieved at lunchtime from a pastor in India asking him to come over and preach the gospel!! When I read it I was stunned, but at first assumed he was asking for money, but then I got through it and the pastor was actually asking for... "Dear Friend, If it is possible to you please come to India and share the love of Christ with the needy and spread the word of God as you led by the Lord ". The pastor then explained why he had written to Andy..."Dear Friend I am writing this letter to you by the leading of the Lord for your prayers, encouragements and fellowship for leading this lord’s ministry in Jesus name."

Unbelievable. I was totally shocked and stunned, this sort of thing only happens in great stories! So we have contacted the pastor back and who knows, this could be the start of an amazing adventure with Jesus! Praise God!

What I want to be excellent at.

1. Surfing
2. Rugby
3. Being a Dad
4. Prophecy
5. Preaching/speaking
6. Knowing God
7. Knowing the Word
8. Loving

Heroes of the Faith

I have just begun to re-read some of my books about Smith Wigglesworth. I have already been so inspired to live a life ablaze with the power and presence of God. I am so conscious of my mediocrity and compromise and I seem paralysed to do anything about it most of the time. So I want to commit myself to becoming more like those people, more like Jesus! Living a life that is characterised by the presence of God.

RSS

I have just discovered a fantastic new web tool (thanks Dan!). It is called RSS which stands for (so they say) Really Simple Syndication. It is absolutley brilliant and you can find out about it for yourselves it here (the BBC version of events). Also you can use it in these 15 Ways. This site called delicious will help you to create an online list of bookmarks, great fun to search around on!!

Saturday Night Service

Last night I spoke at a Youth event called The Saturday Night Service in Camborne. I spoke on how much God loves us. You can download the talk from here.

The Bride of Christ

This is an article that I am working on for the Share Jesus Website.

One of the descriptions that scripture gives to the people of God is "the Bride of Christ". John the Baptist is the first in the New Testament to call Jesus the bridegroom and his people the bride (John 3:29), Jesus refers to himself as the bridegroom (Mat 9:15) and John the Apostle has the great vision of the Bride in the wedding of the lamb (Rev 21:2).
These titles of Bride and Bridegroom relate to particular perspectives of the relationship between Jesus and his people. And it is these perspectives on which I will focus. Much can be said about the whole imagery of husband and wife, bride and bridegroom throughout Scripture but I want to concentrate on those images that refer directly to the relationship of passion and desire that exists between Jesus and His people, His bride.
The first and most important point to recognise is that Jesus is passionately in love with His people. He is truly, madly, deeply in love with us. This is true both at the individual level and at the corporate level. It is vital that we get a hold of this truth! Jesus loves us, Jesus is passionate about us, Jesus longs for us, Jesus is desperate for us. He loves his people so much that he gave his own life for us (Eph 5:25) in order that we might one day be presented before him spotless and blameless and without blemish, a perfect bride for a perfect bridegroom. (Eph 5:26-27, Rev 21:2).
I remember my own wedding day. I was so excited and nervous, looking forward to the day when I would marry the woman that I loved. I remember the hustle and bustle of the morning, the business and the anticipation. And then, all too quickly I was standing at the front of the Church, waiting for my bride. I remember the hush that fell as the congregation realised she had arrived. I remember the music beginning to play as she made her way down the aisle toward me. I remember not turning round to see her, but rather choosing to wait until she stood beside me before looking into her eyes for the first time that day.
I remember that I could not bear it any longer, that I just had to turn and glimpse her, and she arrived next to me as I did. My heart felt as though it stopped, my stomach involuntarily jumped, I gasped with amazement at the beauty of my bride, I was overcome with emotion and wept right there. My bride was here; she was so lovely, so beautiful and standing at my side ready to be married. I was so much in love (and still am) with my bride. That first glimpse of her ravished my heart. Jesus feels like this about us, in fact he feels this even more intensely. "You have ravished my heart with just one glance of your eyes" Song of Songs 4:9.

(Please read the comment for the end of this post)

Election

Today is the day when we will elct the next government. I am praying that whoever gets in will be honest and true to the promises that they have made. I assume that it will be Labour.

Wild Men

I have been away for the last 2 days with Paul Hatecher, Mark Wood and a couple of other guys. We wanted to explore some of the themes in a book called "Wild at Heart" by John Eldredge. We were in the fantastic setting of Snowdonia, at the foot of a mountain called Tryfan. We walked, talked, ate and prayed together and it was so much fun. Very wild.

Big Wave Surfing

Helen and I watched "Billabong Odyssey" last night. It was immense!! I loved it. The story is of a team of top big wave surfers who go round the world like delta force looking for the biggest waves to ride. It ends with a huge session at Jaws and this one guy catching an enormous wave. It is so cool. http://www.billabongodyssey.com/

An Emerging View of Church

God is speaking to His church. He is calling us to see church differently and then to be church differently. In this post modern world attendance in the traditional, mainstream denominations of the western church is falling. Questions are being asked about whether the future even has a church. The old structures and methods seem to be failing the culture of the new millennium. Society in a post modern age does not see the need or value of the traditional church. But people like Jim Thwaites and Pete Ward are seeing new shapes of church emerging. The church that they are describing is radically different to anything you have ever dreamt of or imagined. It is a church that reaches out into every sphere of creation and brings God’s goodness and light. This church is the body of Christ, but seen from a different viewpoint.

Click on the Comments to read on...

Behind my house there is a hill

Behind my house there is a hill. And on the top of that hill there are some rocks. And when I clamber to stand astride that stone I gaze out on a wondrous scene. There, stretching away beneath me is the Atlantic Ocean. “A dark illimitable ocean without bound, without dimension, where length, breadth and highth and time and place are lost.”* Is it any wonder that I feel closer to God my Father here? For it is here that I glimpse the ocean of love that he has for me, that same love, so limitless it passes our earthly understanding (Eph 3:18-19), that is made so real and obvious by this tiny corner of creation.

My Father in heaven is a God who has created beautiful things and has done so on an epic scale. As I stare from the hill behind my house I can turn from one Cornish coast to the other and it truly stirs my soul to worship the one who made this. I feel so close to Him when I look out on to His creation, absorbing images of the things that He first imagined then sculpted. When I am up high on hills or mountains it feels as though I am finally seeing His world from His perspective.

Last summer I trekked through a region of the Himalaya. Never have I seen beauty and wonder on such a stage. The uncompromising enormity of those landscapes and the breathtaking glory of the mountains will never leave me. And when I lay upon the grass of the campsites and stared out into space to see uncountable numbers of stars, a view unhindered by man’s night lights, I found myself contemplating with amazement my Father God who is big enough to fill all of creation.

This is the God who meets me atop my small Cornish hill. This is He who I meet on the summit of Himalayan peaks, and when I walk in His creation. This is the God who calms turbulent oceans and softens violent winds. This is the God whose love for me is without end, who gave His own and only son to die in my place, undeserving as I am. This is the God that draws close to me and this is the God who, in my own very small way, I love back.

* from “Paradise Lost” by Milton

Marrakech

We recently had a great holiday in Marrakech. It was so nice to get away as a family and enjoy end explore new surroundings!

New Site

I have just put together a few pages about me and my family.( see The Rodgers) Included on it are copies of the now defunct other blogs that I ran. This means that I am now going to write everything on to this one blog!!

So, wait for a report on Easter People and an update on things that are on my mind!

Thanks
John

Lovesick

I watched Mike Bickle on the God Chanel last Sunday and he gave a great talk about intimacy and the bridegroom.
He ended with a call to have a vision for 5 things. They were...

1) A vision to be wholehearted
2) A vision to be great in heaven
3) A vision for fullness
4) A vision to fast and pray
5) A Vision to equip your heart for the other 4 things.

The last point is perhaps the most exiting and definitley the most important. Encounters with intimacy will keep me in the place of achieving the 4 visions. I must pursue intimacy with God at the heart level.


Love Sick Bride
I want this blog to have a series of studies in to the area of becoming more and more lovesick for Jesus Christ. He is the bridegroom and the church is the bride. I know that He is desperatley in love with us as his bride and that leads me to a place of response where I am a lovesick worshipper, a bride that is desperate for the bridegroom.
Jesus, I love you.