Newfrontiers Student Worker Day 07 (1) - Tom Shaw

In what was the last Student Worker Day from Newfrontiers, the Holy Spirit inspired hearts and the Word of God was taught faithfully. There were the usual opportunities to meet new people and renew old friendships, and all of this made in a fantastic day in Oxford.

Last year I attempted a similar round-up post which gained more attention than I ever anticipated, thanks to the UCCF bloggers [who as far as I can see have infinitely more bloggers in their ranks than the Newfrontiers age group called Mobilise]. I can't guarantee that this year's will create the same amount of attention, but thankfully that isn't what I'm aiming for. As always my aim is to help myself to process what has happened by writing stuff down. And if other people want to read it then that's just fine.

The day started and ended in worship to our God and King as we contemplated again His finished work of salvation. Tongues and interpretations, singing, praying out and prophecy all made for a very New Testament time of corporate worship to God.

Tom Shaw took the platform as he spoke from his heart on John 5:19-24. Reminding us that God has amazing things for this nation, and that students are an intrinsic part of that, we were prompted to think about what our attitude should be to the amazing promises of God, even in the wake of practical difficulties?

We were provoked that the answer is "authority". To be those full of authority and clarity. And and the same time not letting that translate into arrogance or over-confidence.

1. We Are Under Authority
In the gospel of John we see clearly the relationship between the Father and Son.

Someone Surrendered
A son can only do what he sees his father doing. A father in the time of writing would have trained a son in his trade. Joseph would have taught Jesus carpentry.

But the first step in receiving that is recognising that we are under authority. We can do nothing of our own accord. We need to admit that we have no idea what we're doing without God!

If Jesus knew He had to submit to the Father's will, how much more do we need to?

1 Peter 5:5 says we need to clothe ourselves in humility. Not "pray that God will make you humble", but "humble yourself". A little humility goes a long way. All our success is by His grace - something which defines Newfrontiers more than anything else - let's make sure that is outworked in humility.

Do we make an effort to make a demonstration of humility? Are we ready to admit when things aren't going as well as we'd like, when that could damage our image? We need to go out of our way to build bridges with people.

Someone Seeking
"only what he sees his father doing" - it's not just passivity. It's actively following what you see the Father doing, and having a laser-like focus on that.

In this passage Jesus is referring to Himself and His own relationship with the Father. But as we are now co-heirs with Christ, adopted as sons and friends of God, so we need to follow in Jesus' footsteps. We are apprentices of Jesus.

We are not our own. Our boss is radically different to the world's, and we need to learn to discern when things please Him, and when they don't.

In seeking to answer the question "well, what does God think about CUs taking their SUs to court?" Tom said "I don't know". But certainly, we do know that we have no rights at all other than "the right to become children of God". And that right is not like the world's. It's not out for what it can get. It's the right to take up your cross and follow, even in the face of difficulty.

The normal Christian life is to be one of causing 'Godly trouble'. Surely if this is not the norm, the question we should be asking is "why haven't CUs been chucked out before?!" Jesus wasn't afraid of such trouble and neither should we be.

Are you someone who is cultivating listening to God?

2. In Authority
"the son does likewise" - operating on behalf of the father - his delegate. In Luke 9:1-2 Jesus gave the disciples power and authority.

But don't misunderstand. "In authority" doesn't mean you become a judge. No-one with a criminal record can, in British law, become a judge. And we who have had our punishment laid on someone else and set free cannot become judges either. There is only one judge.

The disciples' authority was "over all demons and to cure diseases". Signs and wonders were a part of their daily life. If we're truly under authority, we have tremendous authority to advance the Kingdom. His authority is all we need. We do not need SU approval to advance the Kingdom! If we start seeing this as a requirement it will distract from the ultimate goal of the gospel.

There is a feeling that God could be initiating a new strategy with respect to influencing universities. In a similar contrast to that bewteen the US's approach to the Vietnam war (in-your-face, all-guns-blazing) and Vietnam's (stealth, knowing the territory inside out, broken down into smaller groups) perhaps this is the future for mission on campus. Not as a poor-hearted retreat, but as a God-given change of strategy. The Vietnamese held their territory and the US couldn't gain ground, such was the hidden strength of the Vietnamese strategy. It's covert as well as overt.

We are an army with authority. And it may be quiet and understated, but it's His authority.

Tom then shared prophetic words given to Newfrontiers by two men who have never met and are both from other places in the world (Hong Kong and Canada). Rob Rufus and Keith Hazel were both mightily used by God in 2006 to encourage us. These are serious words helping us to prepare for the next stage.