Cracked

When we’re secure with who we are, we tend to exude humility. Identity is the key to humility. Knowing who you are, and being satisfied with who you are equals humility. Who am I? What am I worth? The Gospel answers these questions head on.

You’re a piece of art. You’re one-of-a-kind. You were created and given life as an expression of love and the very creative genius of God. But… like ALL of creation, you and I were born into a corrupt system, a world undone by the curse and consequences of sin. We’re born INTO it, we’re affected BY it, and we inevitably contribute TO it. No matter how hard we may try to deny it, we all experience it and are plagued by the shame and the brokenness that are the result of it (i.e., our sin).

This phenomenon leaves us wedged between a Rock and a hard place. We look at the world, we look at ourselves, and we feel,’We can do better! We should do better! We were MADE to do better! I’m meant for greater things!’ And no sooner than the feeling becomes a thought, sin is there to spoil the plot. Greatness?! Ha! Great?! You’re not even GOOD! You’re disgusting! You’re worth NOTHING! Lie to yourself all you want. You know that if anyone could see the real you, the sick, self-centred, prideful, insecure, perverted cesspool that you call a soul, you, no one, including God, could ever love you! And thus begins the great cover up.

My little boy, Isaac, loves to hide under the blanket. I think he thinks he’s actually invisible under our blanket. When it comes to sin, we’re the same way. Some of us attempt to burry ourselves under the blanket of denial. Sin’s not real. God’s not real. Shame’s not real! I’m a good person! I’M A GOOD PERSON! I’M A GOOD PERSON!!! Some of us on the other hand struggle to enjoy such blissful delusion. So we set about simply fixing ourselves. This is a perfectly human thing to do. This is why man invented religion. The idea’s as simple as sucking air. We all feel like we could/should be doing just a little “better,” like we’re all just slightly inadequate. And if anyone’s going to love us, including God, it’s because we’ve worked pretty damn for it. We do this in every way imaginable. And we call it: morality, self-actuality, spirituality… or for the more traditioal, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, religion, etc. It’s as natural as earning a merit badge – the more you get, the better you are; and surely everyone, including God, loves the boy or girl with the most badges (or at least some badges!) In other words, do good, be better, win friends, and feel secure about who you are. The “fix” is ancient and universal. Young or old, we all do this. It’s perfectly natural, but tragically flawed.

It seems reasonable, but it’s not. It’s about as reasonable as spending £1000 to paint an old rusted out car. You know the thing’s still junk on the inside. All you’ve done is just add a layer to it. Of course it does help for a while. It’s an improvement. It’s better than nothing. People do seem to like you a bit more. But you know it was just a surface job. No one else may know it, but you do. Then one night, late at night, you’re lying in bed awake, and you begin to feel it again… you’re not good enough. People are no longer impressed. The rust is starting to show. Shame! Inadequacy! Quick, slap another layer on! And round and round we go! Caught in an epic fail-cycle, spinning so fast you feel like you might explode. Ultimately, this emotional twister will land you in one of two places: either you master the religion of do-better-ianity and revel in your moral accolades like a self-righteous prat, or… you suck at it, so instead you just learn to live in a perpetual state of adding more layers to a shell that’s ultimately destined to crack.

Is there any hope for all the crackpots out there (like me)? What if there was a Way, instead of merely slapping another layer on the old rust bucket, we could get a new engine instead? Sure, the exterior may not be much to look at, but on the inside… that soul’s destined to win races!

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. – 2 Cor. 4:16-18

A Letter to My Church

The following letter is something that I wrote after much discussion, prayer and honest reflection regarding the current health of our fellowship, the Every Nation 6pm, in London. The night I read this out loud at our Sunday service, there were many more words spoken. For those of you who weren’t there that night, my prayer is that not any of what I’ve written is misconstrued as condemnation or even disappointment. I love our church family and have GREAT expectations and hope for our future. (Because when we are weak, He is strong!) My heart in what I’ve written is purely one of honesty and repentance. My motivation in sharing this is to hopefully provoke my brothers and sisters in Christ to also test their own hearts and join me as we continue to follow Jesus together into even greater things to come.

To my church,

Over the past several weeks and months I have felt the subtle, yet growing conviction from the Holy Spirit to honestly assess the health of our spiritual family; our church community that we so affectionately refer to as the “6pm.” The apostle Paul instructed the church in Corinth to “test” themselves. (2 Cor. 13:5) As I, along with others of you, have prayerfully and painstakingly held up this church, our church, to the loving and honest scrutiny of God’s Word, I have found myself deeply unsettled. Have we failed the test?! Have we laboured in vain? By God’s grace, we have not. We have not failed, nor do I believe we will, because our God will not fail – He is faithful even when we are not. Still… I cannot deny our many weaknesses as we have striven to be the church that He has called us to truly become.

God has given us everything we need to be His church, His sign, evidence that His Kingdom is being established at Imperial College, and in our great city, London. He’s given us a venue, a budget, a band, gear, food, leaders, teams, a pastor, HIS SPIRIT! But to what end have we laboured??? What have we done with it all? God has blessed us with some fruit, some amazing fruit. But I fear that our church, Jesus’ church, has in many ways become little more than a meeting that happens to take place at 6pm on Sunday nights. I love our church! I love us! I love doing Sunday services with you. But unless I’m greatly mistaken (and I wish I was), THIS is not going to change anything! Simply sitting in a tiny hall, “doing” church isn’t going to provoke anyone, inside or outside of this room, to even consider the truth about Jesus Christ! As it stands now, the thing that provokes me is the fact that there’s hardly anything provoking about what we’re doing here at all!

The love, compassion, generosity, humility, devotion that Jesus’ followers should have towards one another, the radical devotion that Jesus himself demonstrated for us in giving himself wholly on the cross, I believe, for us, to a great extent, is little more than a good idea – an idea that sounds wonderful, one that we all nod in agreement with, yet is still just an idea. Look at our fruit… practically, we are just as, if not much more, devoted to our coursework, our careers, our social lives, our love lives, our sport, our sitcoms, our whatever than we are to one another… than we are to the fellowship… to this family of God. The world is watching… we’re all watching… waiting, hoping to see a “truth” that really matters. Words no longer mean anything… they’re ALL relative! People need to see the truth lived out… in loving, devoted, I’ll-lay-my-life-down-for-you relationships. Only then will then will the commentary make sense. Only then will our friends and our family be provoked to even listen.

I’m not innocent. I know I’m preaching, but I stand here as guilty as the next. Everyday I feel the pull to build my own personal empire. My family, my money, my ministry, my calling, my stuff… I’m devoted to the people who I like or at least to those who can maybe help me along on my way. But my devotion to the fellowship? God’s family? This family? I struggle.

Lord, I’m sorry. Help me. Help us to be your people – those who might live radically for the sake of one another. Regardless of how much it might cost me personally, provoke us to live devoted to your cause, as brothers and sisters in Christ, that our lives together might provoke others to look up and ask themselves: what or who is responsible for such extraordinary love?

Devoted,

 

Jonah: God’s love for the great city

This post is a little compilation of the notes from our current series on the book of Jonah. Recordings (w/ slides) are available here: downloads If you’ve got comments, I’d love to interact a bit.

part 2: the storm (Jonah 1:3-16)

God calls.
Jonah runs…

Most of us are like Jonah. God calls. We run. Very few of us will admit it. Very few of us even realize we’re doing it. It’s part of our sinful nature. Our ancient predecessors, Adam and Eve, hid from God, and so do we. (Gen. 3:8)

Sometimes we do it knowingly. We’ll feel God call or prompt us in some way… to sacrifice for someone, to give up something, to serve in some way, to speak to someone, to repent of some sin or habit, etc… And then for a million different wonderful reasons, we run. Of course most of us don’t have the nerve (or humility) to admit it (even to ourselves), so we call it something else.

Before I committed my life to Jesus I ran. I had convinced myself that I had all of these brilliant philosophical excuses; that I ‘would’ believe if it weren’t for certain unanswered questions that I still had. Really… my ‘questions’ were more just excuses.

Consider this: the very essence of God’s character is LOVE. Love requires that its object have the ability to respond, either for or against (that’s free will). But… with the ability to respond, come great response-ability. I.e. with choice comes the responsibility for the consequences of our choices. And our choices, especially whether or not to run to or from God, will have great consequences; not only for our own life, but also for everyone in the boat with us.

Looking at the consequences of Jonah choice to run from the call of God…

1. Jonah’s napping while his fellow passengers are drowning. Are we sleeping while our city’s sinking?!
2. Everyone gets religious in a storm. Who’s your God in the storm? Lottery god? Or Father God?
3. Even after Jonah volunteers to give us his own life for the sake of the crew, the men chose to just row harder. How often do we resist God’s mercy because we’re so determined to do it on our own? This is why some reject Jesus today.
4. Finally, the men gave in and surrendered their efforts to God.
5. Although it was Jonah’s decision to run from God, and thus Jonah’s doing that brought the storm upon himself and the crew, it was God’s judgment that ultimately led to the salvation of those men. God judges because He loves us. Hmmm. (Hebrew 9:26-28)

Closing questions:

Are you running from God today? In any way?

Do you realize what’s at stake? Relationships, marriages, families, even our great city, London… our choice to run to or from God will impact lives for generations to come!

Are you in a storm?

Or are you asleep? (Maybe you’re pretending to sleep.)

Or maybe you’re wide awake, rowing with all your might; boat  and all your mates slowly going down.

Will you humble yourself today, receive his mercy, stop running from Him, and rather turn and run into His open arms?

Final thought: When God causes/allows a storm, it ALWAYS comes with a rainbow on the other side. Don’t forget the rainbow. (John 16:33)

part 1: the call

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” – Jonah 1:1-2 (ESV)

God “called” Jonah to arise and go. This is something we see God doing all throughout the Scriptures. He calls people to rise up and go. Abraham, Moses, Gideon, Isaiah, the disciples, Paul… to name but just a few. Likewise, as disciples of Jesus, we too have been called by God to fulfil specific works that He’s already prepared for us to do. Like Jonah, YOU and I have God-given callings. What do we know about “the call?”

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. - Romans 8:28-30

CONFORMED to the image

God’s purpose for our calling is primarily about who we are (or are becoming). Our natural tendency is to equate calling with some great accomplishment; we think of it more in terms of doing. But God is always more interesting in our being than he is our doing. This is a difficult one for us because mainstream culture often tells us otherwise (especially celebrity culture): character and “private” matters are irrelevant; simply delivering the goods is what really counts. God however, knows and loves us enough to deal with us on the inside before entrusting us with the responsibility of accomplishing great things for his Kingdom. Calling begins with being conformed to the image of Jesus. (John 3:30, Eph. 4:1-4, 1 Tim. 1:12, Isaiah 6:8, Col. 1:15)

JUSTIFIED for the calling

Normally when we hear the word “justified” in a biblical sense, we think of being made right with God. This is a right association of the word, however there’s more to it than just that. Beyond the “moment” of justification, we must remind ourselves that the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit that we experience upon receiving Jesus, is the same  power that continues to work in and through us as we walk out our new lives in Christ. I.e., we are given POWER to fulfil our calling. We MUST have God’s POWER to fulfil our calling. Our Christlike calling is TOO BIG to fulfil with this POWER!

Question: What can you imagine to be your calling? Can you imagine fulfilling it given your personal strength, determination, cleverness, experience, charisma, etc? If the answer’s yes, then it’s not GOD’S calling for your life. Your God-given calling will require you to rely on God. (Romans 8:11,26; Gal. 3:3; Eph. 1:19-20)

GLORIFIED to be a blessing

God has called you to be glorified with Christ (provided we suffer with him). God desires to bless you, promote you, use you, and make you GREAT. This truth goes back to a promise that God made to our spiritual father, Abraham. God said to Abraham that if he’d trust Him, He’d bless him and make his name great. As spiritual heirs of Abraham, that same promise applies to us.

Question: why? Why did God promise to bless Abraham? Why does He promise to bless you today? SO THAT YOU WILL BE A BLESSING. We are called to be a great and blessed people so that God can use us to be a blessing to those around us. Whether it’s through wealth, fame, power or influence, we are called to spread God’s love and to be a blessing. (Romans 8:17; Gen. 12:1-2)

Thinking about sex…

Last night we had perhaps one of the most controversial Every Nation 6pm services yet! LoveLife part 5 – Sex On Fire. “On fire” may have been a bit of an understatement. Words got used and things got said that probably left more than a few feeling less than comfortable. And so I think a few follow-up comments are in order.

1.   Although some of the topics brought up during the Q&A may have been shocking (to hear spoken of in church anyway), our intention last night, as well as at any point during the LoveLife series, was not to shock or stir up controversy simply for the sake of it. We (Shirley and I in particular) have no interest in degrading romance and sex by exploiting our culture’s perverse obsession with controversy (especially of a sexual nature). Our desire has and is always to speak honestly, plainly and appropriately about real-life issues in ways that will honour God and help people to come to grips with some very challenging aspects of living for Him.

2.   If you’ve been following any of the LoveLife series (specifically regarding my sermons), you will undoubtedly have had at least one or two moments of relative panic and/or confusion. Based on some honest feedback that I’ve received along the way, I’m very much aware of some of the more ambiguous (and in some cases borderline “unorthodox”) statements that I’ve made about sexual intimacy, namely within the context of pre-marriage. Let it be known: I’m not biblically confused, nor am I intentionally trying to confuse anyone. As much as I can appreciate the legitimate and sincere desire to find simple, straightforward answers to real questions (e.g. Is it a sin to masturbate?), I’m also aware of the potential threat of undermining the process of seriously engaging with these issues on a personal level by simply being spoon-fed overly simplistic pat-answers to some very big questions. In other words, I’ve been purposely resisting the temptation to give black-and-white answers in hopes that you will be provoked to search the Scriptures for yourself and discover our Father’s heart on such matters as our sexuality.

3.   That said, now let me bring some clarity…

• Sex is a gift from God. (and God only gives GOOD gifts).
• Like all gifts, if abused, perverted or simply used in the wrong way, what was intended as a gift can become a terrible curse.
• Sex is ONLY good (i.e. God-honouring and partner-loving) within the marriage relationship.
• Sexual intimacy outside of the marriage relationship is SIN.
• The Bible doesn’t provide us with a simple list of what is and isn’t “allowed” before marriage. (e.g., kissing, caressing, mutual masturbation, oral, penetration, etc.)
• Your boundaries regarding sexual intimacy must flow out of a personal and BIBLICAL revelation of God’s heart towards our bodies, sexuality, Christlike love, and lifelong covenant relationship (i.e., marriage).
• This makes the whole subject of sex wonderfully  complicated and real. I know we’d all love to squeeze our religion into a nifty little box with no question marks. But real life’s not like that… nor is God.
• Ultimately, the desire to say yes to righteous-living and no to sin must flow out of a relationship with God (by grace through faith in Jesus), and never simply a heartless list of rules that we’ve been “told” to adhere to. Sorry.

Well my friends, I hope that was helpful!
Loving life,
Simon

ps – If you haven’t seen the LoveLife promo video yet, it’s definitely a must see!

the GOSPEL

You’ve heard it.
You know it.
But do you live it?
What is this message we call the Gospel?
Does it’s content really hold the key to changing the world?
Has it changed yours?
Is it changing yours?

During all five Sundays in August, the Every Nation 6pm will be sharing, hearing, discussing and responding to the gospel as it’s presented by five different individuals (one each Sunday), in their own words, through their own stories.

Our service will be taking place OUTDOORS in Hyde Park each week. (just to the right of the Royal Albert Memorial).
In case of last minute changes due to weather, we’ll be sending out a text with new location details.
If you’re not already on the 6pm mobile phone list, text your name to: 0775 172 7659

Bring a blanket, picnic and friends.
Service begins at 6pm. Although feel free to come anytime from 4pm… we’ll be hanging out.

UNCOMMON DESTINY

‘I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread – if the young men have kept themselves from women.’ And David answered the priest, ‘Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even then it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?’ – 1 Samuel 21:4-5

The Lord has extraordinary sustenance (i.e. no common bread) for the man who’s on an extraordinary expedition. David understood the necessity of holiness in relation to the mission. He insisted on sexual purity even on merely “ordinary journeys.”

The holy bread offered to David was in fact synonymous with the very presence of God. David so understood his God’s extreme holy nature, that he always made sure to keep himself and his men sexually pure, so as to not attempt the journey without God’s presence.

Do you realise how great is the journey that YOU’RE  on?! You, disciple of Jesus, your’s is an uncommon destiny. You must not attempt this journey without the extraordinary provision of God’s presence!

JOIN A GANG!

The biggest lesson I ever learned from Satan… JOIN A GANG. Jesus explains in Luke 11:26 how if a demon is overpowered and cast out, it will leave but only to later return with seven other demons even more powerful then itself. There’s a lot to be learned from that bit of info, but one lesson in particular is this: MANY ARE STRONGER THAN ONE.

“…and with him went men of valour whose hearts God had touched.” – 1 Samuel 10:26

As you fight the fight of faith, who do you have around you who’ve got your back? Man or woman of God, you need a spiritual posse, a band of brothers, men of valour to surround you and to fight with you as you continue to press on.

Don’t Give Up!!!

What would it take to get you to quit on your marriage? Your family? Your dreams? Your ministry? Your church? Your life?

Money problems? Sexual temptation? Fear of failure? Fear in general? Past mistakes? Present mistakes? Lack of motivation? Physical obstacles?

What in this world, whether taken away or simply withheld, would get you to give up? Figure out what that is and attack it! Attack it like a pitbull gone mad.

The Enemy Will Provide

It seems to me that our world (or at least the world I live in) is becoming more and more obsessed with getting their present needs met. I need a new car. I need a new job. I need a girlfriend. I need more money. I need a bigger flat. I need… We all have needs – legitimate needs (mostly), which is normal and fine. But the problem I see with our current state of neediness and our tendency to obsess is our seemingly complete lack of patience in simply waiting for our needs to be met.

Here’s what I observe time and time again…
Person has a legitimate need (e.g. a spouse).
Person can hardly wait to meet future spouse. (actually, the person can’t wait to meet the unrealistic non-existent fantasy-version of their future spouse, which is another issue all together)
Person is offered immediate satisfaction.
Person ends up regretting their decision not to wait.

I came across this exact same scenario in the book of Joshua yesterday. The people of Israel were in the middle of a long season of warfare. They were undoubtedly tired, hungry, a bit sick of fighting. And then out of nowhere… come the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites were enemies of Israel who had disguised themselves as innocent travellers who had come to make peace with them. Long story short, the Gibeonites offered Israel provisions and nice break from fighting. But it was a trick! Israel enjoyed their little bit of dry bread, a short break from fighting, but then only a few days later realised their mistake and ended up regretting it for many, many years to come.

“So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the LORD.” –  Joshua 9:14

They made the same mistake that so many of us make all the time. The enemy offers to meet a legitimate need. We naturally take the bait, but then end up regretting it in the end. THE ENEMY WILL PROVIDE. To avoid making such mistakes, we mustn’t ever assume that all provision is from God. It’s not. Satan has no problem with meeting our needs, as long as he can use it to reap havoc in our lives later. We would be wise to patiently first ask God: is this provision from you, or am I simply looking to get my need met as soon as possible?

“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:19

Still Fighting

I’ve never been much of a fighter. I’ve never actually been in a real fight… like an actual fist fight. For many years I kind of felt ashamed for never having been in a fight. I suppose somewhere along the line I came to the conclusion that real men can kick ass when necessary. And since I’ve never kicked anyone’s ass (or even tried for that matter) (never had my ass kicked either… thankfully), it kind of left me questioning my manhood.

Anyway, over time I think I started subconsciously compensating for my shame and insecurity by taking pride in my passivity (or pacificism as I preferred to think of it as). I began to look down on all the “tough” guys as testosterone-driven brutes who, if they had any sense of decency, should really be more like me. (although deep down I still dreamt of kicking ass someday – if it were ever necessary)

In more recent years, I think I’ve become much more comfortable with the way that I am. I’m not a kick-ass kind of guy. I don’t enjoy watching UFC. And

I actually rather hope that never do find myself in a situation where it just may be necessary for me to kick some ass. I admire good fighters and greatly respect anyone who has the courage to stand up to a bully, even if it means going to blows. Because unfortunately, physical confrontation is sometimes (although rarely) the best way to love someone.

Here’s what I’ve learned though… the reason I struggled as a boy to reconcile my insecurities about not being a fighter is because something deep down inside me was telling me that I should be prepared to fight – not physically, but spiritually.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.” – 2 Corinthians 10:3-4

All throughout scripture we find stuff like this. Pick up your weapons… Put on your armour… Fight the good fight! God made me/us to fight. We have an enemy. We are in a fight. And we have a mighty King who leads us triumphantly into battle. It’s not a battle for power or domination, but for building others up and tearing the kingdom of darkness down.

Brothers and sisters, Satan and his demons have come to steal, kill and destroy. But their schemes are futile against the power, courage and authority that our God and King, Jesus, has given us do battle as we march together in the wake of His victorious might. FIGHT!!!!