we be church

Grill a Christian Phase 1 – Guinea Pigs Needed

Back in Oct 2009, I mentioned that I was considering building a website that supports & promotes Grill a Christian events. Grill a Christian is an event mainly run in the UK that gives the opportunity for anyone to ask a panel of Christians questions in a relaxed public setting, like a pub or club. Over the past months I have been working in my spare time on Phase 1 (see the Road Map below) which now needs some willing volunteers to test it out. If your up for that then contact me.

Road Map

Phase 1 – Event Info & Top 20 Questions. A decent site explaining what the event is all about and which collects the top 20 questions, which will then be answered by a panel, filmed and published for Phase 2.

Phase 2 – Guide & Directory. Will be a guide on setting up a Grill a Christian events as well as a public directory of events where you can go and ask your questions.

Phase 3 – Social Questioning. Ideally we want people to be able to send their questions in over the web in advance or via their mobile phone at the actual event. People can join their event group ask questions directly and see what everyone else is asking.

[Sore Thumbs] Engage the Culture Edition

Build it and they will come attitude to church doesn’t work, it requires a bit more effort. Don’t get me wrong, Sunday meets are essential for fellowship and provide a rudder to a church group but in this age people rarely pitch up at random. Instead you have to go to where the people are. Go fishing! Really the clubs, schools, universities, shopping centres have done all the hard work at gathering people so why not make use of it?? Here are a few examples of radical Christians taking Jesus to the people.

Prayer Caravan on University Campus!

They used to have a tent on the University of Surrey campus but it was rather old so the 24/7 Prayer Team there decided they needed something new. They landed on the crazy idea of having a mobile caravan and launched it at freshers week. “Over the course of five days well over 200 students must have spent time in the ‘prayer caravan’ as it had now been named. It could well have been two or three times that figure, we just don’t know. During the nights particularly, the caravan was packed – people kept coming in and asking questions, asking to be prayed for and doing artwork and prayer requests on the walls. The people we met and stories we’ve heard are too numerous to tell” Read some of the stories

Church in Trendy Bar

The Chapel. Sunday evening – 7:30pm at Baa Bar. Free drinks for visitors, Worship and Teaching. Recently I’ve been following Tim Simmond’s adventure in Manchester of starting a meeting in a trendy bar. It’s a project of Newfrontiers Church, Christ Church Manchester. “Our aim is to love God, love the city of Manchester and love each other. With this in mind, we run a meeting on Sunday evening (The Chapel) in Fallowfield because we want to see many people in this city discover Jesus and join a church.” Go to the Chapel or Read Tim’s Blog

Bridal Boutique on High Street

Closer to home, our own Church in Northumberland meeting in Bedlington is setting up a shop on our High Street. We are not 100% sure at this stage how it’s going to be used to reach people but God told us to go for it. After a prophetic word about dressing in fine act – righteous linen as bride of Christ Rev 19:8 we thought that renting the shop space formally called “JCs Bridal Boutique” was an obvious sign from God that we should be renting the shop. I’ll keep you updated!

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Sore Thumbs is a irregular post mainly of short encouraging links that stick out. If you have come across a link or resource that you think would fit on this blog then why not email it to dlee at webchurch.com

A Picture of Our Relationship with Our Father

I want to share an encouraging prophetic picture of how we need to approach and be with our Heavenly Father, Childlike. This is a photo of JFK with.. John Jr. playing under his father’s desk in the White House. (Thanks Gaz!)

President Kennedy, working late at his White House office, wears a slight smile on his face, indicating perhaps he is not completely unaware that his son, John Jr., is exploring under his desk in the Oval Office in the White House in 1963. John Jr. called the spot under the desk “my house” and was peeking from behind the “secret door.”

“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus”. Ephesians 2:6

Book Review: Great Revivals – When God Moves in Power

As author, Colin Whittaker, explains ‘I am aware that I have only managed to dip my teacup into the boundless oceans of the Holy Spirit’s refreshing‘ the book Great Revivals is a great introduction to some of the major revivals that have occurred in the past centuries. Each chapter provides historic accounts of the various major “Awakenings” located around the world. These included 17 century revivals in places like England and New England (America) involving such figures as Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield and John Wesley. This third edition of the book has also presented Colin’s delving into more recent revival in places like China, Korea, Indonesia, Africa and Latin America.

Continue reading…

No Longer Easter but 12 Evidences for the Resurrection of Jesus

So while everyone was blogging on the resurrection I was doing something else, enjoying a weeks holiday. But it doesn’t have to be an Easter week to consider the amazing gift of freedom that’s tied up in Jesus’ death and coming back to life. I thought I would present a list of evidence for the resurrection for those not so convinced and for those looking to present the case for Jesus being alive today. Taken from John Youngs ‘the case against Christ’

Continue reading…

[Sore Thumbs] The Presence-Shaped Edition

Tim Keller on Preaching, Cities, and Relating to Culture

At a recent event in London at Westminster Chapel Tim Keller delivered a very measured and well thought out combination of talks and seminars on the importance of churches in the city, preaching to change people in their seats and finally relating to surrounding culture the right way. I didn’t go but by the wonder of the internet Newfrontiers have published video of the talks for all to see. I have added the last one on Relating to culture to this post below.

Preaching the Gospel
Why Cities Matter
Cultural Transformation

Tim Keller – Cultural Transformation from Newfrontiers on Vimeo.

Terry Virgo on “Why Church Plant?”

Over at Terry’s blog he has written a two part series on why church planting.

Church planting, it has been observed, is the most effective form of evangelism. Some statisticians have done the sums and worked out that you get more individuals saved through church planting than from any other form of evangelism. Sadly, however, by simply adding up the numbers they are in danger of missing the point.

Terry makes a strong case for church groups to be “presence-shaped”.

When ‘He is here’ all things are possible. This is what makes God’s people unique – His presence goes with us.

Why church plant 1
Why church plant 2

[Sore Thumbs] The “Oh! How He Loves Us!” Edition

Every week I link to resources and sites that stand out and which are worth pointing people to, hence the name sore thumbs, “it stood out like a sore thumb”.

The love of God changes us! There is so much weight in what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:1

“If I speak in human or angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.”

How can you expect to be EFFECTIVE for God if you have not been EFFECTED by the LOVE that God has for YOU! I would rather make noise for a reason, both in praise to God and in sharing what he has done for us. These videos and article just stood out as great examples of that.

Song: How He Loves Us

Kim Walker singing How He Loves Us from the We Cry Out CD/DVD, available on jesusculture.org. This DVD was recorded live at a Jesus Culture Conference in Redding, CA.

Went Shopping for Doghnuts Saw People Healed

“Attention all Shoppers! God is in the building! And I just began to tell what God was doing.”

Mark Driscoll on Evangelism

“Evangelism is the natural overflow of a life lived in joy as a worshiper of God. Sadly, evangelism is often portrayed as something that Christians must do as a duty, rather than something that they get to do as a delight.”

Amish Paradise Lost or Paradise being Found?

Today I wandered over to the BBC iPlayer and landed on an insightful documentary on the Amish Community near Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in the US titled “Trouble in Amish Paradise” the blurb reads as followed;

When two radical Amish men, Ephraim and Jesse Stoltzfus, start to question some of the most fundamental aspects of their Amish culture, they face excommunication from their church and total rejection by their friends and family.

Setting the scene Ephraim’s and Jesse’s families hold their own prayer meetings, express their faith with those who are not Amish and a study the Bible in a language that they can actually read, not the antiquated German which is meant to be used. The local Amish church which they are apart of is threatening excommunication for these activities as it is against the rules. Eventually both men are excommunicated.

Really what the BBC have published, perhaps rather unwittingly, is a story of church persecution in the Amish community. At one point Ephraim’s daughter gets diagnosed with leukemia right after they had sold their house and given all their savings to those in need. They are people who live the gospel and hold shining faith that is dependent on Jesus. They want to hold on to the Amish way of living off the land but recognize that it has been corrupted by petty rules grown out of a legalistic religion.

The documentary ends with Ephraim struggling to find and relate to a new church that fits them culturally but I have to say from what I saw of him he had more charisma than many charismatics I have met. We might just be looking at the start of a true renewing of many Amish minds in terms of what is of God’s word. Revival in the Amish culture would be a wonderful thing to hear about, so I’m going to pray for it.

You can watch this on BBC iPlayer (only published for a short period). Also if you did not know, I used to attend a Mennonite church in Canada when I was a kid, apparently it was part of my parents training as missionary for Malawi. They were brilliant at BBQs and made mean corn on the cob.

Newday Youth Conference 09

This weekend I had the opportunity to go to the Newday Youth Conference in Sherwood Forrest, yes that’s right, the realm of robin-hood. I didn’t really know what to expect, but thankfully I was in experienced company, thanks Larry!

Looking at my notes the theme which leaps out is that God wants us to be equipped by the understanding that we are His People and to stick to the Guns of his Gospel! You would expect that to be a given but it is very easy to get bogged down or distracted from the fact as your focus. This is how we can run with the youth we are responsible for and see change in their lives.

The Talks?

(The talks will be up on the new newday website soon)

Luke preached on 1 Peter 5:5 about being humble, what true humility is and what it isn’t. Sometimes we can put ourselves above what God is doing and have that arrogant attitude and sometimes we can place our selves below what he wants to do not living up to the responsibility and gifting we are given.

Julian Adams preached on John 14:12-21, the pursuit in God is about his heart which then brings power. Also that we are Children of God, not orphans. We have an identity, an inheritance, a home, and a FATHER!

At this point we chose a seminar. We decided to go to one run by Pete Benton who heads up the Glo Youth in New Life Church East Grinstead. He showed us the need for a strong inspired vision from God and the need for a firm but adaptable structure.

Nearing the end of the conference Joel Virgo preached on Standing Before God from 1 Kings 17,18 using Elijah as an example. Standing before God in resolve, obscurity, responsibility, in truth and even in courage.

Finally Stuart Gibbs helped us look through passages that communicated what Jesus had achieved for us as to be the foundation and core of everything we do. A funny example he made was that we shouldn’t preach a mix bag but a pure bag (using cocaine as the metaphor). We should only preach to peoples hearts. Legalistic manipulation doesn’t work and doesn’t create change in people only the gospel. And yes like pure cocaine it should kill us for any alternative, the word needs to pierce hearts.

24/7 Prayer – What on Earth is all the Fuss?

So what is the 24/7 Prayer movement, how did it start? Do people really pray for 24 hours straight?! This documentary on 24/7 Prayer was originally made as part of a university dissertation and reveals how it is impacting people world wide since it’s humble beginnings (filmed in 2006).

There is a story behind the filming of the documentary. One of the student film makers producing the documentary found himself so impacted by the prayer room goings-on (combined with ‘Alpha’ and a little book called Purpose Driven Life bought by Jim) he decided to become a Christian, pretty much while on shoot. The last two scenes you see are of the moment Tom becomes a Christian, and the wonderful aftermath… Booyakasha!

I have seen for myself the outcomes of 12/7 Prayer in a Church community. It’s fantastic to see people who want to spend time with God and who want others to know about how awesome He is. Conversing, listening and loving God (prayer) really does rock socks as it helps us be who we were made to be, worshipers of Christ! To be totally honest a church without prayer is like a hamburger without the meat. It’s also possible that prayer without a truth guzzling Church becomes very wishy washy with no firm hunky holding.

In the UK alone 75% of the population apparently admit to praying at least once – many of whom don’t consider them selves followers of Jesus.