PLEASE PRAY

Just a quick post.

If you are reading this and you don't read Brian's blog, then listen up.

Our church is trying to obtain a building, and there is a specific building that we would like. The new owners of this building have arranged a meeting with the trustees of our church tomorrow, the 30th of March and they would like to sell it............... for much more than we can afford!

Please please pray REALLY HARD. If it's God will we should have the building then I'm sure He will obtain it for us!
Thanks

Community

Community.

I have to be honest, I didn't really get what the big deal was regarding community until recently. A few things have got me thinking about it....

1.) My sister and bro-in-law decided to buy a house with another couple and move in together, to have community in their home. I didn't really get it, but it sounded cool. And it is.

2.) I am part of a church which has 3 principles around which we gravitate..
Commune, Community and Mission. Being incorporated into this group of folk has been awesome, if challenging at times.

I know that my brother in law read blue like jazz (Donald miller) a while back and I now wonder whether this was something that spurred them onto living in community. Here is what he has to say on the issue...

"Rick told me a little later, I should be living in community. He said I should have people bugging me and getting under my skin because without people I could not grow - I could not grow in God and I could not grow as a human. We are born into families, he said, and we are needy at first as children because God wants us together, living among one another, not hiding ourselves under logs like fungus. You are not a fungus, he told me, you are human, and you need other people in your life in order to be healthy"

His initial thoughts on community also mirrored mine.......

"I didn't know what to think about the idea of living in community at first. I had lived on my own for about 6 years, and the idea of moving in with a bunch of slobs didn't appeal to me. Living in community sounded so, um, odd. Cults do that sort of thing, you know. First you live in community, and then you drink punch and die"

Community is a buzz-word in our church. At first I was like, whatever, community, yawn. Now I need it, it helps me to remain healthy, it keeps me accountable, and prevents people in our church from being alone. Obviously we need to do that bit better, but it's a start. I love my community.

Wrestling with God

This morning I was sitting in a coffee shop, reading my bible, listening to music, normal morning routine. Then something happened to upset my happy medium of introspection.....

A lady walked in and sat down, acting rather ruffled. I unfortunately have a bad habit of people watching and so, well, watched for a little while.

As soon as she sat down she pulled out her mobile phone and started making phone calls. It was quite early and the coffee shop was still quiet, so it was very difficult not to over hear "They found something in my liver..... on the ultrasound scan". I kept on listening as she made numerous calls, obviously upset by this news.

This is where my "normal" morning became slightly less normal.

"Go over and offer to pray for her" I hear a voice inside me saying
"Is that You God?" I ask.

No answer.

Gnawing feeling that I really SHOULD go over and offer to pray for this lady.

Over the next 20 minutes or so a battle ensues inside me, surely God wasn't asking me, in public, to go over and actually PRAY for this woman? Getting very frustrated at my lack of courage, man I am wimp when it comes to stuff like this, I pack up my things and head to the toilet to prepare myself for the conversation.......... and this is how it went.

"Hi, my name's Andy, I'm sorry to bother you and I don't normally do this, but I was sitting behind you over there and I felt God was asking me to pray for you" I said.

Pause.

"Are you a madman?" the lady replies

"I don't think so" I said (knowing perfectly well that if I WERE insane I would probably have no insight into the fact) "But I happen to work for a local church and couldn't help overhearing you, and I just feel that God was prompting me to pray for you, maybe if you could tell me your first name and I'll pray for you over the next week or so"

By this point I had chickened out of praying for her on the spot.

"Oh, I am a christian as well, that's very kind of you, maybe you could pray for my work and that I would be physically well"

At that I quickly got her first name and practically ran out of the coffee shop.

It's odd how DIFFICULT it can be to do things that are not "normal", for fear of being a weirdo or out of place. God has really been convicting me over the last little while about my desire to blend in, to be a "cool" Christian. Instead he calls us to a life where we are to "conform no longer to the pattern of this world" - something which is so much easier to say than to do.

Please keep me accountable to pray for this lady, Suzy is her name. I hope God will heal her and bring her to a relationship with Jesus.

Peace

ever get that heavy feeling?

ever get that heavy feeling when you can't figure out if you're being attacked, convicted or you've just drunk too much caffeine?

well I have it, and the worst thing is that it could be due to numerous issues.

One thing I've been thinking about recently is the youth band that I'm involved with. Not long ago I kind of made the decision that I was probably not going to carry on with it, and since then I felt SOOOO heavy about it. Basically, I suck at it. In an attempt to engage with them I seem to regress back into the self-centered teenager that I THOUGHT I had left behind sometime during my early university years. I get obsessed with bragging about the stuff I've done or got or whatever, in an attempt to "connect" with the young people I'm working with. I also lack patience with them, and time to commit to making real friendships with them. I just feel like I'm failing at the whole thing and so I reckon "Hey, this is clearly not my gift, I tried it, but now I gotta get out". Problem is there is no one to take over so.............. Am I feeling heavy cause I'm supposed to carry on? Or heavy cause I just wanna offload a burden that I am not carrying well? Or it has nothing to do with this and I'm just feeling guilty?

Along with this I am feeling more and more convinced that I live my life in a bubble of Christianity and, even more disturbing, churchianity. It's time to step out of the comfort zone and head into the real world, where the gospel is needed, where there are people who don't know Jesus, or any love at all, and really need Him.

Anyway, I'm really praying God will give me some guidance on these issues.

I hate the heavy feeling, but often God seems to speak to me out of these times. And stuff happens.

Peace.

Re:Treat

Got rebuked the other day for not blogging about re:treat - our church re:treat this last weekend.

It was good.

It was really very good.

Considering it was the church's first attempt at a retreat there are a number of good things that need to be highlighted:

1.) the food was REALLY good
2.) the teaching was spot on.... challenged and convicted (but not TOO much :)
3.) Great banter, good games, fantastic community building

I lost to Tim at cowtrader but managed to whoop is butt at ping-pong, which made the fact that he was continuously nipple-crippling me slightly easier to bear ("you cause me great paid Irishman but I take solace in ping-pong)

Very good and I heartily recommend it whenever the next one arises.

Check out the video HERE

Peace.