Attribute 37: He Cleanses

Recently (at City Church at the Octagon) Arnold Bell has begun a new series looking at 1 John. The overarching theme is "things we can be certain of". Firstly we saw how Jesus was fully God and fully man in one unique person. Last week we looked at the concept of God as light - realising that before John identifies God as love, he calls Him light, exposing the truth.

Yesterday, we heard clearly how Jesus' blood "cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). This post uses the salient points which I came away with as a basis.

We are cleansed from our sin by His blood. Verse 9 gives us a link between God as light and God as purifier: "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." When we choose to confess sin we shed light on it - light comes from God. And following that, there is cleansing.

However, the reality is that we are not without sin, and that we do sin. How do we deal with this reality?

Arnold led us through to see that to expect the battle of faith against sin to go away is not only unrealistic, but unbiblical. We can respond after a meeting for help with an ongoing problem, and expect the very temptation itself to go away. The battle is already won, yes, but the reality is that the battle is still on. So the battle still rages, but by God's grace the battles we face on a day-to-day basis are now winnable. Indeed, we are guaranteed eventual victory.

In some ways, to desire an ending of temptation - an ending of the battle itself is to desire an answer from within ourselves. If the battle is gone, we have confidence no longer in Him, but in the fact that we ourselves are not facing a battle. We find the answer in ourselves, not in Him.

The solution is the blood of Jesus, himself the propitiation for our sins. The battle is still on, yes, but by his grace it is now thoroughly winnable.

Some Thoughts For A Saturday

Even those of us in the middle of a stint of exams and deadlines need breaks! In fact my run of exams is almost over - only one more on Monday morning, then I have a week to catch up with people and get a head start on my dissertation for this term.

This weekend Bournemouth Family Church are hosting the first weekend of Terry Virgo's book tour with The Tide Is Turning. Yesterday evening was a ticketed event for younger people, with jazz and snacks, and this morning there was a leaders' session, for anyone in any level of leadership at all. I think a number from Life Church Southampton were planning on going.

Tonight there is a celebration meeting which is open to all and then Terry will be with Bournemouth Family Church on Sunday morning. All of this is taking place at the former B&Q warehouse in Bournemouth - a high profile venue in the town, which the church is temporarily occupying. Read the local press's coverage of their move to this building here.

Times like these are invaluable, particularly for those who might still be catching the heart of Newfrontiers.

I have written before about how I regularly use Closer To God (featuring many Newfrontiers writers) as a tool in my times with God. Since January I have also been using Through The Bible Through The Year by John Stott. It's not the sort of thing I would usually buy (the promotional material made a big meal over how it follows the "official" church calendar for example and works with all the major Anglican festivals) but it has been fascinating to see how surprisingly often Closer To God similar structure and set themes for the week.

Today Stott's final paragraph for the day (on the good Samaritan) really related very well to Dan's latest post looking at Wayne Grudem's two most recent books. Dr Grudem has expressed that he will not be writing any more on the subject of complementarianism (or deconstructing egalitarianism), and this subject-fatigue is something Dan has himself felt. I don't want to comment on it too much (go read his post!), but here is what John Stott has to say:

"Though there are almost no Samaritans left in the world today, there are many people way may be tempted to despise and reject. I am thinking of people of another race, colour or culture; homosexual persons who are victims of homophobia; or people of another faith, such as Muslims. Jesus's parable challenges us to overcome all such racial, social, sexual, and religious prejudices. I am not suggesting that we compromise our Christian beliefs and morals, but rather that we do not allow these to impede our active love for our neighbor. This is what "go and do likewise" (Luke 10:25-37) will mean for us."

Attribute 36: He Creates

At the foundation of all things before we can get to the story of the gospel we must have an awareness at foundation of God as creator. In fact to be accurate (because the reality is that many will not have this understanding), God as creator must feature in our telling of the gospel.

Israel had a gospel. In Isaiah we actually have the phrase "good news" used for the first time. And what was that gospel? "The Lord reigns": God is King. Yahweh rules over all. So had you asked an Israelite what their message was to the rest of the world: why could they be so confident? The answer would probably come back: "because our God reigns."

Jesus came into a Hebrew world which had at its foundation that there is a God who reigns. If you have that conviction, it's not inconceivable then to assume that the earth belongs to this God and therefore originates from Him.

Today the gospel meets a very different audience in this respect. Many people's indignation about the fact that there is a God who judges and has the right to punish, I believe comes from a foundational belief that it is not God's world. So if I had a non-Christian friend who was curious about God, but found the idea of His right to judge my life difficult, the probability is that they have not understood that part of our message is that God created the world.

We cannot move away from this truth. To do so would be to undermine the gospel.

Exploring Family On A Mission

The name of this blog has changed. The url will stay the same, but from now on it will be known as exploring family on a mission.

The name "Luke Wood: Southampton, Sheffield & Bournemouth" is now outdated for many reasons. One of those reasons is that when I first set up the blog (with no readers and no set theme), I wanted something pompous that might make me look more important than I actually am. Well, that's just honest I suppose. Now it has a theme (exploring family on a mission) and it has one or two readers.

Two years ago my life was pretty well split between Chandlers Ford (Southampton), Sheffield and Bournemouth. In the last six months the Bournemouth part has fallen pretty spectacularly of the edge, and the Southampton part has become more significant than I ever thought it would be. And it won't be long until the Sheffield part is superfluous as well (as much as it pains me to say it). So it is time for a change. I have redesigned the bloggerhead too (using a picture I took on that holiday in Portugal).

The new title reflects what this blog (and my life, actually) have become primarily about. I don't think it marks a change in direction as much as it reflects the direction I'm already going.

There is one change though. There will be no more posts about politics. I think we can all say hallelujah for that.

Attribute 35: He Forgets

When yesterday I was transcribing some of Terry Virgo's latest sermon at CCK, it occured to me to save some of it up for today. I'd encourage you to go back and read what Terry said about forgiveness before you read what follows, on forgetting:

"I want to encourage you... don't waste your life. Don't let a mystery of last year, or some years ago, really stop your ability to run into what God has for you, and what God is about to do... on a grand scale in this nation.

I believe God is about a new thing in the land... Don't miss it. Don't think "well I tried before, it didn't work for me"...

The Bible says this: a root of bitterness can grow up and spoil many. It's a very tragic thing when a Christian lives with bitterness. Sometimes people carry that in their lives.

We can say "I'll forgive, but I won't forget." I was at a conference in the States last year and the speakers were Charles Simpson and Bob Mumford. It was a high privilege to be on the same platform, but to honest they had somewhat advanced in years... The conference was called Reconciliation, and it appeared that these two quite prominent preachers of a few years ago had never been on the same platform for twenty years. They'd had some kind of fallout.

Charles Simpson said publicly "I felt God said to me 'The theme is renconciliation... and you're to invite Bob Mumford' " ... he felt God dealt with him and was very public about it. "The great thing about getting older" he said, "is this: some people say 'I'll forgive but I'll never forget!' ... just give yourself a bit of time! ... The advantage with age is this: you can't remember what the problem was!"

Beloved, don't wait twenty years until you can't remember the problem. It would be better to be a bit more robust wouldn't it? You say "No, I freely forgive."

The reality is that once God has forgiven our sins, he actively chooses to remember them no more. The question is often raised: isn't forgetting a sign of weakness? Surely God, of all people, cannot forget if He is to remain omniscient?

Cleary, the difference is in the choosing. Our God chooses to remember our sins no more. We humans do not have that advantage!

A few years ago I was talking to a pastor friend of mine. We were talking about how you practically deal with knowing so much about other peoples' lives. Reflecting on what a burden it might otherwise be to not only care for a church, but to retain all that knowledge about people forever, he said this (in summary):

"I've been blessed with an amazing forgettory. Some have a great memory, I have a great forgettory. There have been people I've seen for various issues, specific prophetic words I've brought that can be quite personal. But often, someone will come and say "do you remember saying this to me about this issue?" I won't even remember what the issue was, or what the what the encouragement was either."

This person counted a forgettory as a gift: an entirely positive thing. With all the pressures of day-to-day life, life would be made that much more difficult if you just couldn't forget about other people's problems. And while God is omniscient and would have no such difficulty, perhaps this is the way we are to approach the fact that he forgets. It is a positive thing. It has benefitted us so much, after all. It is no weakness. As is the case with my friend, it is an immense strength. Made possible by what Jesus has done, he can forget our sins and remember them no more.

So we must apply this too. It is not simply enough to resolve to forgive and subsequently re-hash it over and over. We must forget. To finish with Terry:

"The root of bitterness spoils many... Let's make that choice, "I will leave it behind... Lord, I just release them. And in doing so, I release myself to walk away free."

Attribute 34: He Forgives

Out of all the words we could use to sum up our relationship with God, I don't believe there is another quite like forgiveness. The concept that there is something inherently wrong with humanity in our current state is absolutely foundational to everything else, and it's only when we see truly how awful we are in comparison with God, that we can start to appreciate this forgiveness.

This forgiveness isn't simply sweeping our sin under the carpet. It's not like the relationship of a doddering grandfather doting on his favourite grandson: the child does something wrong, the grandfather gives a wry smile, turns the other way and pretends not to have seen. Nothing could be further from the forgiveness God has in mind.

His forgiveness appreciates totally, and understands like no one else, the depths to which we've sunk. And He doesn't simply pretend it never happened. He bears in mind that it has happened, but sees through it to forgive us anyway because of what Jesus achieved.

As we'll later see, He does choose to remember our sin no more. But that does not mean that He doesn't know exactly how awful it is, or that He can just "let it go". He has enabled Himself to forgive through requiring payment from someone else: namely Jesus. His incarnation, birth, life, death, resurrection, ascention and His current status, reigning over all things, mean that the Father sees us in our sin, and maintaining all justice, wholeheartedly forgive us.

Yesterday, when writing about Mark Stibbe's new book, I included a quote from a talk Terry Virgo recently gave at Church of Christ the King in Brighton. In another part of the talk, we find a challenge from Terry to let go of unforgiveness in our own hearts. Surely the response of the forgiveness of the Father towards us releases us to forgive others, so let's hear this challenge and respond appropriately:

"Sometimes people carry a lot of pain, and I want to encourage you... will you let go of it? Don't carry pain; don't carry unforgiveness. Because sometimes we feel we've got the upper hand; if we won't forgive we feel like we've got power over people. You say "no I won't forgive them, I'm not going to let them off, I'm not going to let go." You [should] say, "No, I freely forgive."

Will you do it? It's a choice, you know. The Godly life has a lot to do with making good choices, not only in places you go and what you do with your money, but choices about attitude, forgiving people, letting them off the hook, not carrying it with you through your life... are you still carrying unforgiveness towards anybody? Are you going to carry it through this year as well? I want to appeal to you... let's deal with it."

One Touch From The King Changes Everything by Mark Stibbe

Mark Stibbe has written a new book: One Touch From The King Changes Everything.

In line with his previous writings Mark Stibbe is once again challenging us to expect more in terms of the supernatural: helping the unsaved to hear God's voice to them and pursuing healing.

The publishers, Authentic have made the first chapter available as a free sample. You can download it here.

Terry Virgo recently preached at Church of Christ the King, and (explaining why he'd chosen Exodus 4 to speak on) said:

"I honestly come to this passage because I believe that God is doing a wonderful new thing in the earth today, and especially in our own nation, with churches enjoying fresh breakthroughs, new numbers, multiplied healings and miracles, signs, manifestations such as most of us have not been familiar with through a long Christian life.

I had the privilege just before the Christmas break to host a get-together of some of the leading ministers in this country and right across the board one could hear quite remarkable stories of breakthrough.

I just yesterday read the manuscript of a new book by Mark Stibbe who you may have heard of, where they're seeing increasing signs, wonders, breakthrough of God ... and on many many sides there's the sense that God's saying "a new thing is breaking out - I'm about to move in a new way." "

This fresh move of God is being spoken of a lot, and it is people like Mark Stibbe who are not only pioneering the way ahead for us, but also helping those of us who are attempting to follow, to do it well. And this new book with accompanying CD (of course available from NewGen Books - had to get it in somewhere!) is surely one of those resources which will help us do that.

You can't read Dan's blog for long without seeing that longing and prophetic statement of a new move of God being expressed. It's everywhere! Prophetic men and women (including Julian Adams and Jon Cressey) are sensing something of God in a new season - we need to listen carefully to these prophetic voices, in accordance with scripture as we seek to prepare for and understand what is about to happen.

How about finishing with another Terry-quote - it's a great way to approach the New Year:

"When we gathered all our Newfrontiers pastors for prayer and fasting last year again there's that note: God is about to break out freshly, and I look forward to this year with eager anticipation, the sense God is saying "Come on! You're going to get caught up with me in what I am about to do." "

City Church at the Octagon

In three days' time, City Church Sheffield will take up residence at The Octagon Centre, Sheffield University's best-known conference facility, for the spring term.

As the church grows, we are making changes to our building, the Jubilee Centre, which require us to be out of the building for 10 weeks. For most of the that time, we will be meeting at the Octagon, with one or two Sundays elsewhere, including Firth Hall.

If you've never been to church before, or wonder what a church which meets in the Octagon could look like, why not come along this Sunday at 10:30am, we'll be pleased to see you there.

We will be having church on campus. How refreshing does that sound? Listen, one more time: church - on - campus. Even now, I can't quite believe it. We hope we can make an impact and work towards seeing our city transformed. See you there?

Mobilise 2007 - promotional video from Newfrontiers

Couldn't have put it better myself.

Together On A Mission 07 with Mobilise

Newfrontiers have launched the booking system for this year's overlapping leadership and student conferences.

What can I say about it that hasn't already been said?

These conferences have so impacted my life over many years. The name has changed a few times, but as I approach my sixth Brighton conference I am reminded of previous times of envisioning and refreshing.

Mobilise 2005 was typically amazing, and a particular highlight was watching some of my student friends in Sheffield being introduced to Newfrontiers for the first time.

Mobilise 2006 is still fresh in my memory. It's great going back through the talks at the last conference as I write about them. Having just returned from a weekend away with other people from the Southampton church plant, the things God did at Mobilise 06 are still at the front of my mind. More and more of everything I'm involved in is being built around what I heard from God in that moment.

This page will form a kind of index of everything I write about the Brighton Conference this year.

It's an exciting privelege to be a living part of a living body. And such an honour to be a part of a sub-family which is intent on building one another up. It is worth sacrificing the comforts of life for the sake of putting yourself in the place of encouragement!

16/05/2007: Watch the Mobilise 2007 video.

09/06/2007: Watch the Offering Video for Together On A Mission 07