Should Students Tithe Their Student Loans?

I recently attended a great conference for student workers organised by the family of churches I belong to, where the above question came up in a Q&A session. Admittedly I was surprised by the response from some on the panel. This has prompted me to open up the Bible and think in more detail about what I believe on this issue. Here are some of my thoughts:

What is a student loan?
A student loan is an amount of money (somewhere around £10,000 depending on the length of course) lent to a university student by the Student Loans Company, paid to a student in installments throughout their university education.

Repayments begin once a graduate reaches a certain level of income and these are paid in a similar way to National Insurance contributions. However, many students choose to pay off the loan earlier than the timescale allotted by the organisers, which is not far off a lifetime in length.

Why do students need a loan? Because the grant system has been abolished and tuition fees have been introduced, have subsequently risen, and could be about to rise again. For most students it is essential to accept the loan. It buys them an education, just as a mortgage buys you a house.

I have often jokingly referred to my student loan as my "student mortgage", reflecting the fact that the amount I will owe upon graduating is not far off the mortgage value of my parents' first house in Chester. The only difference was, in exchange for their money they got a house. I get an education (which, by the way, my Dad and his contemporaries got for free!).

These developments have troubled many. In January 2006 Alan Preston gave the final talk in a series of three oustanding sermons on finance at Church of Christ the King in Brighton. I'll refer to this talk throughout this post because I've found Alan's provocations very helpful, and nowhere have I heard such practical teaching on finance in a church's Sunday morning meeting. In the opening few sentences of his talk, he used the following quote from the Consumer Credit Counselling Service:

"The greater availability of credit has meant that younger people in particular have become desensitised to debt. Credit cards have blurred the distinction between borrowing and spending and for many people, especially those with students loans, borrowing has become normal."

What is tithing?
Tithing was a part of the law of the Old Covenant and represents a tenth of one's income which was allocated as being "God's". At the time the Old Testament was written, this meant that a tenth of all harvested food and animals belonged to God: a tenth of all earnings.

This has been a point of comparison between Christianity/Judaism and Isalm - a Muslim must give a fortieth out of everything they own (not earn) every lunar year. So it has very little to do with income, and a great deal to do with what you have.

For the most part, there tends to be little difference in the amount this means Muslims give compared with Jews (or Christians who observe the tenth-principle).

Jesus of course, came to fulfil the law on our behalf. He successfully transferred the requirement on us to fulfil the law ourselves, onto Himself. So our burden to fulfil this requirement is no longer applicable.

But in redeeming us by grace Jesus raised the bar - not of expectations but of opportunity. The law stands fulfilled: we are dead to it, and so now the question is not "how much must I give?" but "how much may I give?" The attitude has fundamentally changed.

So there is no longer a requirement on us to fulfil the law through tithing. But we are taught that a natural expression of our faith will be to freely give, just as we have freely received.

At this point, looking at the question Should Students Tithe Their Student Loans? we see that actually the question is invalid for two reasons:

Firstly, that under a New Covenant, especially in matters relating to the Old Testament law, we cannot tolerate the "should"s. Grace demands that we do not place these kind of rules or cleverly diguised "principles" on people.

Secondly, that under a New Covenant, tithing is not Biblical anyway. At the very least it's a starting block for an overflow of generosity inspired by what God has done for us.

"Okay," you might say "so take these words out and ask 'can [not should] students give [not tithe] out of their student loan?" Of course! We have seen that there is no requirement to give of a loan, but the beauty of grace is that we are free to go beyond the written code, and free to go beyond even the extra rules, "principles" [or "should"s] which others might put in in addition to the law (e.g. "students should give out of their student loan").

Let me be up-front and say that my answer to "should students tithe their student loan?" would be "no". The question is obviously one of technical requirements as we are clearly under grace, not law, or a compulsion to give. So, as long as the questioner is not trying to find a surreptitious way of alleviating themselves of the opportunity to give, then no, there is no sense in which a tithe is demanded from money one borrows. There is no requirement, even under the law, to give out of borrowed money. So to say "students should give out of their student loan" seems fairly pharisaical (in other words, adding extra requirements to the law, which even the law with its high demands did not require).

Homeowners do not give out of their mortgage (ie. give a proportion of what the bank lends). Car owners do not give a sum to "cover" the finance they take out on a car. And surely no one, when taking out a personal loan from a bank, would straightaway give a proportion to their church. There is nothing stopping those people doing those things. But they understand the Biblical principles enough to know that it would be an entirely upside-down way of doing things. Could they give in this way if they so desired? Of course! But the reality is that they won't. Surely the student loan question fits into this same category.

And if you think it doesn't, is there a chance that the system has "got" you? To use Alan Preston's language, has the ready availability of credit desensitised you to debt? Has the distinction between borrowing and spending become blurred? Borrowing is borrowing is borrowing. There's no getting around it.

"Ah," you might say. "The student loan is simply a mechanism to enable me to live my normal life during university. A normal part of my life is giving to God. Are you saying I should quit doing what the Bible teaches I should do?" Well, as we have seen, the Bible doesn't teach that God delights in our giving of other peoples' money. No, there is nothing to stop you using the money to give if God so moves you. But I don't think we should be treating that as the norm, or placing that expectation on our students.

Perhaps the most helpful thing would be for the leader of a church to say "we don't want your borrowed money!" Or as Alan Preston put it:

"Our advice to university students is consistent. Please do not give out of your student loan. It would seem silly to borrow money from the student loan company or Barclays to get into further debt, to give to the church. That will only increase your debt. What we would say to you is give from your earned income. Give from your holiday job. Give from your weekly employment if you have any."

We must resist the temptation to create an expectation where the Bible creates none. That seems to be a little warped. We are free from such niggly limitations and expectations; grace equips us to demolish them through outrageous generosity and a heart of giving.

Newfrontiers Student Worker Day 07 (3) - Q&A

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.

After the seminars we had one final session all together. This was allocated as a Q&A session, based on question which had been submitted throughout the day. There was a variety of questions from "How can I preach the gospel to my friends in a culturally relevant way?" to "Can a single man be an elder?"

I won't reproduce the conversations here for two reasons:

1) If I'd taken enough notes on it, I probably wouldn't have absorbed as much as I could.
2) I want you to be at the next equipping event like this, and perhaps sharing everything in detail wouldn't ncourage you to be there!

But I will say that I was surprised which question got me most interested, and it had to do with tithing and whether students should tithe out of their student loan. Various members of "the panel" were divided on this issue which fascinated me. I found myself reacting strongly, and subsequently writing several pages of notes on the subject on the train home. These will form the skeleton of a new post I will shortly be writing on the issue. Keep reading for more!

I will also say that the final question led to Tom Shaw asserting again that it is too small a thing for us to be simply concerned with the UK. And that more and more Mobilise will be focusing on the nations. Furthermore, that this was the final Student Worker Day and that from next year we who are student workers will be blessed with the same opportunity the Newfrontiers youth workers have had for years: a weekend away all together. Very exciting!

Newfrontiers Student Worker Day 07 (2) - Andrew Wilson

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.

After the main session and lunch came a choice of three seminars.

• Apologetics: Defending The Faith
• Preparing For Graduation: What Next?
• Sex, Women, Baptism & CUs: Finding Answers To Tough Issues

I chose the first, which Andrew Wilson had renamed Scarecrows & Scripture. Andrew is an elder at King's Church Eastbourne and is an excellent teacher - ironically, even having done FP Impact which Andrew helps oversee, I don't know this from my GAP year experience. More from other contexts.

He started by quoting an idea from Francis Schaeffer of an "intellectual staircase" - the idea that the philosophers and thinkers in a society start to produce new ideas (or mostly rehashed ones in a new format) and given time, these trickle down into art and music, and eventually affect education and finally the culture at large. This can take decades. It's important for us to be able to engage with new ideas as they emerge so that in 15 years time when the big arguments in the culture start, we've already know the pros and cons, the arguments for and against.

Putting his title in context, he said that scarecrows are being put up in the culture which scare people away from the Bible and Jesus. These scarecrows tend to look scarier than they are. And the first indication that a person has been influenced by a scarecrow is that they can't give a reason why they believe (or don't believe in) something.

The seminar was split into two, looking at a culturally popular book in each half: The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown and The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. It was very fast moving and contained more information than I could process (think Wayne Grudem's main session at Together On A Mission 06), let alone write down!

But his purpose wasn't to convey information, but to stir faith. To look at the information (on The God Delusion) he said, look at his new book Deluded By Dawkins (I first heard about this at Tim Suffield's blog) which engages with the factual innaccuracies in Dawkins' work.

One of Dawkins' biggest mistakes is to move from his strength in science and rationality to embark on a critique of the Bible, which is, by academic standards, done shockingly. It is good to see Christians not making the same mistake. By sticking to our strengths (the Bible and our knowledge of it) it is far easier to show Dawkins' work for what it really is.

So, this post has not been in any way a representation of what Andrew said, but a brief summary. He succeeded in stirring faith in me, and also hungry to engage people in discussion of Dawkins' book.

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.

Christian Books: What To Read Next?

During the process of setting up an online Christian bookshop, I have naturally ended up talking to quite a number of people about their reading habits. I haven't particularly gone out of my way to tell anyone what I'm doing, but as the topic has come up in conversation I can see the experiment igniting people's imagination.

It doesn't take long until I get to hear an insight into a person's "reading life". How they choose what to read next, and what grabs their imagination. So what are people's priorities when selecting which Christian book to read next?

Recommendations always feature pretty highly. Popular writers, church leaders and friends all seem to be influential in the average person's choosing of a new book. Are you using your influence among your friends to recommend resources for their blessing? It is a privelege to recommend books and have people follow you up on it, and people are often more responsive than we expect.

If you're a blogger: are you using your influence to offer up quality resources to your readers? Are you motivated to build up those who take time to read your thoughts? Then recommend books!

If you're a leader: do you regularly take the trouble to review books your followers might find helpful? This not only means reading the best books, but some of the worst too. It's a commitment, but one they will appreciate as they dig into the material you do recommend.

If you have friends, you are the most influential of all. That means all of us. Each one of us has a vast amount of influence if only we used it. Mentioning the most helpful book you've read recently will speak far more to your friends than a blogger's recommendation, or even a leader's.

An unread library is a great tragedy, but often a motivation for which book a person will read next. I myself have a large number of books I've bought yet never read. I often hear friends say "I can't buy any more books until I've read the ones I've got." I tell myself the same thing every year as the summer conferences approach. Very rarely do I keep to it.

Why are we more ready to buy another book than to read the ones we already have? I believe most do this with the best of intentions. It reveals is a hungry heart, ready to toil in the pages of a book for the sake of our encouragement in God. So perhaps we should be asking, not "how long shall I prohibit myself from buying the next Christian book?" but "how can I creatively allow more time for my growth in God?" The issue isn't how much knowledge we can stuff in our heads, or how much time we spend, but how we can continue to grow into the mature family God intends us to be.

How could you creatively allow more time for your growth in God? Why not start by reading one of the quality books already on your bookshelf?

Attribute 39: He Rebuilds.

Is one of God's attributes the desire to restore and rebuild? This post, in line with my aim in starting this series, is more a group of questions than statements. Perhaps if you feel you have something to add you will make a comment.

Let's assume it is in God's nature to want to restore: to rebuild. So just as He is an inherently creative God, so He is inherently a restorer. But surely there would be no need for the terminology of "restoring" or "rebuilding" if the fall had not occured. Human kind would not need to be restored into a relationship with God.

On the other hand, we do know that "of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end." Isn't this an act of restoration on God's behalf? That even in eternity His government and peace will still be increasing? So perhaps restoration doesn't have entirely to do with the fall of man: if God's desire to restore is one of His attributes then that never changes! So it must go on for ever. Which means restoration [as much as being about the rebuilding of individuals' lives and the restoration of the whole Church] has to do with the never-ending [and ever-increasing] nature of God's rule and reign.

If this is the case, restoration doesn't focus on [but at the same time doesn't belittle] sin. But it helps us to appreciate the nature of God's glory as ever-increasing. And when we see this ever-increasing-glory as an act of restoration it gives us a new perspective as to what "restoration" might mean.

Such a perspective [that restoration isn't simply about the fall, our sinfulness and the state of the church] would give God more glory. It is not man-centered. If God was always restorative [and even when His restoring work in our lives and the Church is complete He will still be restoring in the sense of His ever-increasing-glory] then the desire to rebuild and restore is one of God's attributes. Or at the very least, the attribute which is behind His desire to restore all things is also behind His passion for His never-ending rule.

Suffice it to say that God being God, He is passionate for His own glory. And thankfully for us that means we get to be restored into a relationship with Him and made more and more into His image.

A Family On A Mission Needs Encouragement.

A Christian family working as an army together on a mission, needs strong and consistent encouragement. Over the last few years I have felt God teaching me that it is my responsibility to put myself in "the place of encouragement". And that I also need to take responsibility to encourage others. A family on a mission needs encouragement!

Encouraging Stories.
Connect is the UK newsletter for Newfrontiers churches which is distributed quarterly. In January the UK team launched Connect e*news which is a monthly update on all the latest news including testimonies of healing, people turning to God and church planting.

The February edition was released this week and includes updates on what many churches did to serve their communities over Christmas. There are also two articles on two of the latest Newfrontiers church plants, one of which is written by myself, which you can also see on this site.

There is nothing better than being part of a loving and growing family. I highly recommend Connect e*news for those who would put themselves in the place of encouragement because stories are a great form of encouragement. Subscribe by clicking here or by clicking the graphic.

The Newfrontiers magazine is another great resource which Dan Bowen has recently commented on.

Encouraging Contemporaries.
Connect e*news points you towards Andy Moyles' blog adventuresofachurchplanter.com - the blog about planting in King's Lynn. It will be interesting to watch this blog grow as the church does. It's great to be in a situation where as a church planting group, we at Life Church know we are not on our own!

We have encouragement from the very fact that there are others around us engaged in the same activity with the same aims and challenges. We are part of a much bigger thing working into all kinds of areas. Encouragement from contemporaries is a powerful thing! The Newfrontiers Student Worker Day offers this type of encouragement in addition to many others!

Prophetic Encouragement.
Jon Cressey is a great friend and encourager of me personally and a fellow member of City Church Sheffield. He runs the site called Prophetic Reformation and has just started a new blog called The Days Are Coming - prophetic encouragement for weary hearts. Anything that comes from this man's heart is worth reading. So go check it out, because prophetic encouragement is a source of comfort and strength!

Encouragement Through Exhortation.
I pointed out a year ago that a ChristChurch London Podcast was on its way. I'm thrilled that it is now here. There is a long list of podcasts and sermons I make time to listen to each week [note though that these never replace the primary-feeding-time which takes place every week in my local church!].

These have become a great way for me to put myself in the place of encouragement. Exhortation from Godly leaders is a much-needed method of encouragement. I anticipate that these editions from ChristChurch will achieve much the same thing. They are a valuable addition!

Other audio I regularly make use of includes:

Winchester Family Church
Life Church Southampton "Vision Bites"
Church of Christ the King, Brighton
Desiring God Radio
The Albert Mohler Program
New Community Church, South East London

Encouraging Gatherings.
Why do I prioritise summer conferences? For the same reason that I prioritise my local church gatherings on a Sunday and midweek! Because gathering together for encouragement is a Biblical thing. There seems to be an attitude around that "an event will never change anything" or "why put on another event?". And it is easy to fall into that kind of cynicism.

The reality is that gathering together for encouragement is a foundation for our lives as Christians. And talking to the men and women behind your local Sunday gathering, or a national conference, will soon reveal that our hope is not in events. Our hope is in Jesus!

Let's start with the conviction that, though mountain-top experiences may not be the everyday norm, they are a vital part of our encouragement in God. We then discover that commitment to the gatherings of the church we are part of is foundational. You can't get to the top of the mountain without toiling on the lower heights.

That is not to say our Christian lives are aimed at giving us mountatin-top experiences. That would be to say that the only real part of the mountain is its top (or to use Biblical language, that one part of the body is better than another). But our attitude to such experiences will reflect how much value we put on encouragement.

I know my heart grows easily weary. That is why I eagerly seek out "the place of encouragement". It is the reason I am part of City Church. It is why I make visits to other places. It's why Newfrontiers Prayer & Fasting is vital. And it's why I'm already booked into Mobilise 07 (only £25 for full time students if you books before the end of this month!).

This isn't about building up to an event. It's about (as I told our students recently) forearming yourself for the battle. And nothing girds you like encouragement, especially when it comes from the Heavenly Father.

Free To Live

"God can do anything, absolutely anything! He can heal the sick, he can heal the mentally sick and he can set the drug addict free!"

This quote transformed the life of Liesl Alexander. I recently found her website free2live.org.uk where there is a video you can watch which tells the story of how Liesl was set free from mental illness and drug addiction. Click here to watch it.

As well as running her own ministry, Free To Live, Liesl is the wife of the Vicar of St Andrews Church in Oakington, Cambridgeshire. As a child I lived in this village and attended this church for three years. They were amazingly happy years. I always remember Liesl used to play the drum kit, but although I was aware she had her own ministry, I never really knew her story. It's an amazing one. Watch the video or read her book to find out what God has done in her!

Attribute 38: He Restores

Attribute 94 is "He Restores The Failure" so in this post I will briefly refer to God's willingness to restore, particularly with reference to His Church. I will look at God's act of restoration through salvation in number 94 (I didn't choose the order!).

This blog is called "exploring family on a mission" which reflects the fact that much of what I write here refers to my being a part of Newfrontiers. And Newfrontiers has been referred to as a "Restoration Movement". This came out of the way the Church in the United Kingdom reacted to a move of the Holy Spirit in this country in the 70s and 80s.

Out of the group which believed the gifts are for today, two sub-groups emerged: Renewal and Restoration. Renewal sought to renew and replenish the existing church structures to make room for the Spirit, wheras those labelled "Restorationists" tended to start over and build brand new churches around the Holy Spirit's presence. The fact that Newfrontiers is known as a Restorationist movement is reflected in Terry's statement: "Church is where the Spirit of God is!"

These differing views are still around today, with men like David E Carr stating boldly at the Newfrontiers Leadership Conference 04 that God had told him that He was going to renew His church, but that it would "come from within, not without". Received with grace, we still believe God has called us to "change the expression of Christianity around the world".

The misconception is that "Restorationists" believe life is only to be found in the "new churches". The reality is that we believe God wants to restore His whole Church to New Testament norms. And our being "outside" of the established churches is simply a contribution to the restoration of the whole Church. But we do have a contribution to make.

So the idea that it is one group vs another to see who will experience revival first completely misses the point. This would be backed up by Smith Wigglesworth's prophecy from 1947 (quoted in my previous post) which talks about the new churches being on the decline before Word and Spirit come together which will spark a massive blessing. And it is for God's whole church.

Terry Virgo (in much earlier days than I was in Newfrontiers - perhaps before I was even born!) taught on the story of Joseph being a type of the church at that time. The message was that perhaps we were being unfairly marginalised (we were). But that we have such weighty promises and are perhaps brash and raw with them. But that in the end God's blessing on Joseph would save his wider family: he could provide for them, despite having been shunned and experienced hallowing times alone.

To say that only we have a contribution to make is unfair. But it is interesting to hear Terry Virgo's comments on some new relationships starting up, and how this is part of God's plan for the church. Speaking to Ginny Burgin reveals a very similar message: God has mighty things for us, but they very much include and influence the wider Christian scene.

It is interesting that not many, cessationist, renewalist or restorationist, believe that the sun is setting on the Church in the UK. We are in agreement that the best is yet to come! God is restoring His whole Church. That is something to be excited about!

All The Latest

The end of my exams a week ago last Monday for some reason meant a pause blog-wise. I suddenly was very busy with other things which took up entire days. Perhaps a routined life means a more consistent blogging life, I don't know. But I'm back now, and about to embark on another semester of routine! (I do love it really). But what were those things filling the pause?

York
I visited York for a day which was great - I had never been there before and was a little confused when I saw a sign directing one to the "Station Chaplain". Since when have train stations had chaplains, and why would they need one?

Reading
I finished reading Planting Mission-Shaped Churches Today by Martin Robinson. It was an excellent way to use the lull between semesters and it spoke confidently and appropriately into my current state-of-being as a church planter in preparation!

Although towards the end Robinson has an emphasis on forms of church I am not familiar with ("Simple Church"), those forms simply seem to be a version of the house churches which formed the beginnings of Newfrontiers. And so having tried the home-based model of church I find it interesting that we are comfortable as a movement with the "massive barns" God is giving us all over.

I am now (inspired by Prayer & Fasting, see below) reading Believing God by RT Kendall. It's amazing! And I'm not even halfway through!

City Church Students
There was also some planning for this semester of student goings-on at City Church, including making the final preparations for our weekend away which starts today! The titles are:

Encountering the Grace of God
Encountering the Power of God
Encountering the Word of God

Just reading the list gets me excited, and I'm confident there are great things in front of us as students in Sheffield, both for this academic year and for those who will be around years into the future.



Prayer & Fasting
Tuesday was another opportunity to join in with another tremendous gathering of Newfrontiers leaders for a time of prayer and fasting in Derby. It was great to catch up with some fellow Southampton church-planters along with others from Wessex and from outside.

One of those was a brief conversation with Sarah D. Before you continue reading it might help you to read Sarah D's blog about prayer and fasting. It gives a good picture of how in the first two hours we simply stopped to give Jesus glory. Terry Virgo later said "if that's 'all' we did through these two days, it would be thoroughly worth it!"

Friends from Winchester, Hedge End and elsewhere gathered around us church-planters during the prayer for church-planting and that in itself was a strong reminder that we are not doing this alone! It is in His power, but alongside a company of people He has joined us to. Would we want to do it any other way?

"They are warming to us"
Terry's time of sharing was again strongly impacting. Using the title "Having Faith For The Advance Of Christ's Rule" he encouraged us and consolidated the theme I had been challenged by all day: faith (the reason I'm now reading Believing God by RT Kendall).

Sharing how God is leading him to build more and more friendships across boundaries (and mentioning that CJ is doing a similar thing in the States with T4G) he used this phrase: "they are warming to us".

That's the phrase that stood out at me the most. Who are "they"? Those who historically would be more defined by Word than by Spirit. Some things in Newfrontiers have changed over the years. A prime example is our attitude to buildings, which is a topic we prayed for at this gathering. But other things have not changed: our devotion to Word and our devotion to Spirit.

Why are "they" warming to us? Our devotion to the Word. Terry gave a number of interesting examples. UCCF was one. Wheras at one stage "we" would have been excluded, now we are finding a welcome that wasn't there before.

For example, next year Terry will find himself on a stage with D A Carson and John Piper at the UCCF's request, at a new conference they are launching instead of their Spring Harvest ties. Penal Substitution has been a huge issue and this has led to the founding of this new conference, to be established in Spring 2008. Can I now see myself attending a UCCF conference? Definitely. What a line-up!

Another example relates to Terry's book No Well-Worn Paths:

"At one point I was asked to speak at the Westminster Fellowship held at Westminster Chapel, a fraternal for pastors formerly hosted by Dr Martin Lloyd Jones... My talk was followed by a question time from the gathered pastors. To say that the questioning was hostile would be something of an understatement, but I tried to answer the brothers honestly... Question after question communicated strong criticism. Because I had argued for the ongoing role of the apostle in today's church, I was accused of making myself equal to the apostle Paul."

The example Terry gave was of a recent encounter with a Bournemouth pastor, who identified himself as being the man who accused Terry of this. Terry spoke of a warm conversation with this FIEC pastor and mentioned the possibility of his speaking at one of FIEC's conferences soon. Compare this with the small group (not the majority) of FIEC men who refused to attend a John Piper event a number of years ago because Piper had spoken at CCK! What a change.

"When the new church phase in on the wane..."
"During the next few decades there will be two distinct moves of the Holy Spirit across the church in Great Britain. The first move will affect every church that is open to receive it, and will be characterised by a restoration of the baptism and gifts of the Holy Spirit.

"The second move of the Holy Spirit will result in people leaving historic churches and planting new churches.

"In the duration of each of these moves, the people who are involved will say, 'This is a great revival.' But the Lord says, 'No, neither is this the great revival but both are steps towards it.'

"When the new church phase is on the wane, there will be evidence in the churches of something that has not been seen before: a coming together of those with an emphasis on the word and those with an emphasis on the Spirit. When the word and the Spirit come together, there will be the biggest move of the Holy Spirit that the nation, and indeed, the world has ever seen. It will mark the beginning of a revival that will eclipse anything that has been witnessed within these shores, even the Wesleyan and Welsh revivals of former years. The outpouring of God’s Spirit will flow over from the United Kingdom to mainland Europe, and from there, will begin a missionary move to the ends of the earth."

Many will recognise this prophecy from Smith Wigglesworth in 1947. Terry referred to the above relationships which are growing, in the context of this: seeking the beginning of "a revival that will eclipse anything that has been witnessed within these shores".

But this phrase "when the new church phase in on the wane" is an intriguing one, Terry said. But then he pointed us to the latest research from Dr Peter Brierly which does indeed suggest that the new churches are now edging into decline. As a family of churches we are starting to become unique in relation to the growth God is blessing us with. What we are experiencing is not typical across the new churches.

Bringing together those of the Word and the Spirit is important to us, and nowhere is this more clearly evidenced than at Together On A Mission in Brighton.

Training
On of Terry's points concerned the training of leaders. We heard about the new Newfrontiers training website (www.training.xtn.org). Exciting stuff for those wanting to be stretched!

Prime Minister's Questions
Prayer and Fasting was followed by another privelege: visiting the House of Commons to watch Prime Minister's Questions. Shilpa Shetty was sat in the row behind me. It was fascinating to watch the pantomime of exchanges take place from behind a massive glass screen.

Beaufort Court
Visiting Hertfordshire in 6 inches of snow was fun, but tiring. Dissertation research in the snow; it was not what I had expected! But I did get some great pictures.