Stay On Mission – 22nd October 2018

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1. Seek!
“For the son of man came to seek and to save what was lost” Luke 19:10
Recently, thanks to the amazing generosity of some very special friends, my wife Lynn, and I were able to spend a week together at Pensacola Beach in Florida.
The first couple of days were dominated by the frequent updates regarding Hurricane Michael that was heading for the Florida Panhandle. We were fortunate, as Michael headed east from where we were and made landfall at Mexico Beach. My heart goes out to so many people whose lives have been impacted in ways that are unimaginable, please pray for them!
The day after the Hurricane had passed the sun rose on a beautiful day so Lynn and I decided to go for a long walk along the beach, a place of amazing beauty. As we walked along we began to notice so many things that had been washed ashore as a result of the hurricane. We saw dozens of enormous Jelly Fish, Starfish, slugs and worms as well as many other things that we didn’t recognize. We also saw thousand of sea shells of all shapes and sizes so Lynn decided that she would make a collection of the best ones that she could find.
She made an announcement ‘I am going to look for the best sea shells and take them home with me’. Having made the announcement she began to do what she said and our walk slowed down considerably as she went from place to place and closely examined piles and piles of shells.
As I watched her doing this I was reminded of the verse in Luke chapter 19 and the amazing truth that Jesus, the son of man, came to SEEK the lost. As Lynn was on her knees and up to her arms in shells it struck me again that Jesus, when he became a man, went looking for the lost. He didn’t wait for them to come inside a building but he went to find them.
Over the next few weeks I will share some of the very simple, but deeply profound things that Lynn experienced as she was looking for the shells that she wanted. Many of these deep and profound truths are very similar to the things that we will experience as we join Jesus in His Mission and go looking for the people that Jesus came to seek and to save.
This week, take a moment to reflect upon your witness as a follower of Jesus and please think about this simple question: ‘Who am I seeking so that they will come to know Jesus?’.

Stay On Mission – 30th September 2018

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4. Don’t be foolish!
“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” Galatians 2:19-21
It is clear that Paul is passionate about what he is writing in this letter. He is so passionate because he knows that the message and mission of Jesus are at stake. If the church ‘sets aside the grace of God’ and returns to the law then there will be no message to share with the world.
His passion leads him to make an incredibly direct accusation just a few verses after those included above:
‘You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or be believing what you heard? Galatians 3:1-2
Paul accuses the believers in Galatia of being foolish. The definition of a fool is somebody who knows what they should do but then doesn’t do it. Have you ever found yourself speaking with a family member or close friend who has done something that they know is wrong yet they did it anyway? Did you find yourself wanting to scream something like “What were you thinking?”
If we could hear Paul saying these words aloud I am sure that is how they would be expressed: “YOU FOOLISH GALATIANS!”
They were foolish because they knew what they should be doing – ‘living by the Spirit’ but they were now doing something different ‘trusting their works of the law for salvation’. This ‘foolishness’ was resulting in the transforming power and life of Jesus that was available to them being replaced by them conforming to a host of rituals and human regulations that Jesus came to set them free from.
It is not conforming to rules and regulations that will help us to become like Jesus, is it the power of the Holy Spirit living in us. He is available to us because of two acts of crucifixion that Paul refers to:
‘Before your very eyes Jesus was clearly portrayed as crucified’.
‘I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me’.
Jesus was crucified for us and if we are to know His presence and power in our lives we must die to self (die to our selfish and earthly desires) and allow His life in us to be the power that enables us to become like Him and be used by Him.
So, let me ask you a question with the same passion that Paul expressed in his accusation against the church in Galatia: ‘Are you being foolish?’
Are you continually dying to self or have you settled at a place where you are now just trying not to do anything wrong and hope that your good works will get you heaven?

Stay On Mission – 25th September 2018

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3. Don’t step backwards!
“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” Galatians 2:19-21
One of the things that I find so interesting about the Bible is how openly it tells the story of the failings of the people that God used in remarkable ways.
There is probably no better example of this than Peter of whom Jesus said ‘And on this rock I will build my church’. Peter, a close disciple and apostle who walked with Jesus throughout His ministry and then, having been sent to make disciples among ‘all nations’ later had an encounter with God on The Rooftop (Acts 10) that helped the early church to see that the gospel was for all including the gentiles. This remarkable pioneer of the early church didn’t always make progress! Sometimes he went backwards even more rapidly than he went forwards. Look at what Paul says about Peter just a few verses earlier in chapter 2 of Galatians:
‘For before certain men came from James, he (Peter) used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group’. Galatians 2:12
Peter, the remarkable pioneer was now becoming a hindrance to the spread of the gospel! This ‘step backwards’ was as a result of something that seems to have been a constant problem for Peter, as Paul wrote: ‘he (Peter) began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group’
His fear was such that in spite of all that he knew of God and all of the remarkable things he had experienced, he stopped making progress and reverted back to a place where he would not have to live ‘in fear’ of people.
I think that all of us are very much like Peter! We so easily compromise on what we firmly believe the Lord wants us to do. We do this because we are afraid of what others will think of us if we continue to do what God wants! We step back to a place where we feel more comfortable and settle for, if I can dare say it ‘an easier life’. This does not only impact us, but as we all step back, it makes the ‘comfortable place’ the norm and others feel afraid to step outside of it.
This stepping back means that we are less effective in joining Jesus in His Mission.
It is because of his dedication to the mission of Jesus that Paul writes so passionately about the peril of conforming to an understanding of the gospel that replaces the grace of God with human effort and conforming to the expectations of others. That is why he writes:
‘The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me’.
Put simply, it is ALL about Jesus!
This week, take some time to reflect upon your walk with Jesus. Have you ‘stepped back’ because of fear of what others may think? If you have then ask the Lord to do a work in your heart and renew your passion for Jesus.

Stay On Mission – 17th September 2018

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2. Only Jesus!
“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” Galatians 2:19-21

I think that the reason that grace is such a motivation for joining Jesus in His mission is that when we grasp that Jesus has done EVERYTHING that is required for us to become children of God, children who can call God Abba, Father, then we are so grateful to Him that we want others to discover this amazing truth.

When, on the other hand, we allow ourselves to think that our salvation is built in part upon our own goodness and observance of the law, we then begin to think that we must work to ‘earn’ God’s love and forgiveness. This then becomes an endless battle against guilt and failure on the one hand or a slipping into an acceptance that ‘I am not a very good Christian’ on the other. The outcome of both of these is that we are not passionate about sharing what we have discovered with others.

To a group of Christians who were being persuaded to rely upon their goodness as opposed to God’s grace, Paul writes:

“I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

A little later in this letter Paul becomes very sharp and pointed about this but here, in chapter 2, he makes the point clearly and more gently but it is still made with deep conviction. His message is unmistakably clear and, to put it into my words, I would say his message is:

‘If we could earn our own salvation by keeping the law then the death of Jesus on our behalf is a waste of time”.

It was this, movement away from ‘Jesus did it all’ to ‘I must do this’ that was at the heart of what Paul was addressing to this church. However, his words are not only applicable to the church in Galatia, they are relevant to us all.

This week, I ask you to imagine that these words from Paul were not addressed to a group called ‘The Galatians’ (people from Galatia). Rather, this was a personal letter to you, from a friend. Your friend is pointing out that the joy you once had as a result of the grace you had received seems to have evaporated and been replaced by a sense of needing to ‘get it right’ and the joy that is now absent has been replaced by a feeling of guilt and failure.
If you were to receive this letter, would it be valid and, if so, what woud you do?

Stay On Mission – 10th September 2018

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1. Amazing Grace.
“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” Galatians 2:19-21

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul writes:

“I do not set aside the grace of God”.

Do you remember when you became a Christian? You may be able to recall the ‘moment’ or perhaps it was a more gradual process that reached a point where you understood the remarkable truth that God loved you and, because of His extravagant grace, had sent His one and only son to die in your place? Do you remember a time when you saw grace as truly ‘Amazing’? As the words of the hymn say:

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.

Grasping the amazingness and generosity of grace is a powerful incentive to Join Jesus in His Mission because when we discover something wonderful we want others to hear about it.
I remember the time that I became a Christian and the immediate passion that flooded through me to tell everybody I could about this ‘Amazing Grace’. I also remember, not too long after I was baptized, I told the people in the church that I was part of that ‘I just want to tell everybody about Jesus’. The response that I received from many in the church was something like:

‘Oh that’s good, but it will wear off’.

I am pleased to say that it hasn’t worn off but I wonder if that is your story?

The next verse in the hymn says:

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.

I ask you, this week, to reflect upon this amazing grace and ask the Lord to help you if the preciousness that it had in the hour that you first believed has been lost. Without the motivation of grace it is unlikely that you will effectively stay on mission with Jesus.

Stay On Mission – 13th August 2018

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Woe to you who are complacent in Zion. Amos 6:1
4. God’s perspective.
These challenging words from Amos deal with two very human things that can so easily prevent us from staying on Mission with Jesus. The first, that I have been looking at over the past few weeks, is apathy or complacency, the second is, in many ways, even more dangerous than the first – it is pride!
Later in Amos Chapter 6, we read:
The Sovereign LORD has sworn by himself—the LORD God Almighty declares:
“I abhor the pride of Jacob
and detest his fortresses;
I will deliver up the city
and everything in it. Amos 6:8
It is clear that God is angry with His people. In fact the word used here is ‘abhor’ which means: ‘To regard with disgust and hatred’.
The pride of these people that are so full of themselves is not something that God can simply overlook. But His people seem to be oblivious to How He is viewing them. Look at these words!:
You put off the day of disaster
and bring near a reign of terror.
You lie on beds adorned with ivory
and lounge on your couches.
You dine on choice lambs
and fattened calves.
You strum away on your harps like David
and improvise on musical instruments.
You drink wine by the bowlful
and use the finest lotions,
but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. Amos 6: 3-6
They had replaced the purposes of God with satisfaction in their own achievements. They didn’t care about what God wanted, their focus was upon themselves. They were so wrapped up in their own comforts and achievements and had become proud of their success. In the midst of this, they continued to attend the temple for worship but they weren’t truly worshiping because they had lost any sense of God’s perspective.
I find it impossible not to be hugely challenged by these words and am convinced that if you and I are to stay on Mission with Jesus it is vital that we do not allow anything other than Jesus to become the focus of our attention. We can so easily become proud of our achievements or the achievements of the church or organization we are part of and then forget that it is all about Jesus. We can focus on temporary benefits and forget about the eternal kingdom that is to come.
Jesus Himself is the greatest example of how best to stay on Mission, the apostle Paul writes about Him in the following way:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; (Philippians 2:6)
These are simple and uncomplicated words! It is not hard to understand them but ‘doing what they say’ is far more challenging!
This week, I encourage you to take some time to meditate on these words and be open with the Lord about areas in your life where, once again, you need to surrender in humility to His will and purpose.

Stay On Mission – July 29th 2018

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Woe to you who are complacent in Zion. Amos 6:1
3. Worship must be real!
I don’t know if you are like me and find some expressions that are commonly used within the church frustrating – even annoying!?
One expression that I really dislike is when Christians say ‘Let’s have a time of worship’. The reason that I so dislike this expression is because it represents the view that ‘worship’ is only happening when we are in a place filled with other Christians and singing. This continues to lead many who attend church regularly to be comfortable in the knowledge that they have worshipped God for the week!
I would much prefer to hear the expression ‘time of worship’ being used to describe how we are living for God and joining Jesus in His Mission each and every day because every moment of every day is ‘time for worship’, not just singing, but by living for Jesus in the world where He has placed us -this is ‘real’ worship!
God spoke some enormously challenging words about ‘real’ worship through the prophet Amos:
   “I hate, I despise your religious festivals;
     your assemblies are a stench to me.
    Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
    I will not accept them.
    Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
    I will have no regard for them.
   Away with the noise of your songs!
   I will not listen to the music of your harps.
   But let justice roll on like a river,
   righteousness like a never-failing stream! Amos 5:21-24
God is not happy with ‘worship’ that is just an act and that does not flow out into the way that we live our lives. In fact, these words display that God is more than unhappy, He is angry! He is not content with listening to us sing to Him, He wants us to live for Him. This does not mean that singing to God is inappropriate, it means that singing to Him should be a part of a life spent in worship.
In the New Testament Paul writes:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12:1
This week, I encourage you as you seek to stay on mission with Jesus to see everything that you do as a ‘time of worship’!

Stay On Mission – 23rd July 2018

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2. Seek Me and Live!
I began this short series with a comment that I would imagine many of us agree with: Staying on Mission is not the ‘easy’ way to live!
It is not easy because there are so many things that distract us from making Jesus and His mission our daily focus.
It is relatively easy to attend a church gathering on a frequent basis, even participate in or even lead church-based activities. What is more of a challenge for many, is to ‘be on mission with Jesus’ in the daily routine of our lives. The challenge is that this often results in us having what some refer to as ‘God Time’ and then the rest of our lives is filled with such things as ‘work time’ ‘family time’ and ‘me time’. While it is true that most of us have to spend time at work and want to spend time with family and in doing things that we enjoy, I wonder if this way of dividing up our time is either helpful or even biblical?
The people of God that Amos prophesied to certainly paid attention to attending religious meetings and performing religious rituals. The problem was that attendance at and participation in these things did not result in them being about the things that are important to God when they were away from the meetings.
This failure to live the life that they professed is seen in the words that God speaks through Amos in chapter 5 verse 4:
This is what the LORD says to Israel: “Seek me and live”.
God is not a part of our lives, He is our life. Of course, we still have to work, love, lead and serve our family and participate in leisure. The crux of the words of Amos is that God is in all of these things, He is in us and with us wherever we are and how we live in every part of our lives is intended to bring glory to Him.
This is not just an ‘Old Testament’ idea, Jesus said:
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it”. Matthew 16:24-25
Staying on Mission with Jesus requires that all of our life is given to Him, then- anything is possible!

Stay On Mission – 16th July 2018

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Woe to you who are complacent in Zion. Amos 6:1

1.      Have you become complacent?

Staying on Mission is not the ‘easy’ way to live!

I am writing this article from Newtown, Sierra Leone a country that is extremely poor and where many are hungry and sick.  I have been staying in the home of Pastor Elijah Valcarcel who has just joined The Rooftop as the National Pioneer for Sierra Leone.

During a morning conversation we were talking about the unreached peoples of Sierra Leone who live in the regions of the country that are far from the cities.  He spoke with passion about the tragic reality that these people remain largely unreached because the Christians will not go to them.  They will not go because it would mean leaving behind the comforts of living in the city and most are just not prepared to do it.

As Elijah shared these things with me I confess that the ‘comforts’ that he spoke about people leaving behind in Freetown would most likely not be considered comforts to most of the people where I live in the UK.  Then it occurred to me that wherever we live, even as followers of Jesus Christ, our tendency is to want to be comfortable and safe!  However much or little we have we never want to be without it! The challenge is that we will never be effectively joining Jesus in His Mission if we are determined to stay comfortable. Joining Him in His Mission will take us outside of our comfort zone.

Amos spoke enormously challenging words to the people of God.  He said ‘Woe to you who are complacent’. 

Other Translations of the bible convey the challenge in even greater sharpness:

What sorrow awaits you who lounge in luxury in Jerusalem.  New Living Translation.

 Woe to you who think you live on easy street in Zion.  The Message

Of course, the words of Amos applied to the people of God who were neglecting their calling to be His people.  However, they are just as applicable to those of us who are following Christ. Expressions like ‘luxury’ and ‘living in easy street’ help us to get a deeper feel of what is meant by being ‘complacent’.  The people of God in the time of Amos had lost sight of God’s will and purpose for them.  Rather they were focused solely on this life and wanted to have the best and be the best.  As a result, they were no longer being a people that God could use to fulfil his purposes.

Is it possible that you have stopped joining Jesus because you have become comfortable with your life as a Christian?  Is the ‘comfort’ that you have become so used to preventing you from joining Jesus in His Mission?

This week, whatever your financial or material circumstances take time with God and ask Him to challenge you to step outside of those things that have caused you to focus on what is comfortable rather than on His Mission.

Stay On Mission – 9th July 2018

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1. Celebration.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14

The world cup football finals are continuing and now, as the teams reach the closing stages, it is staggering to see the celebrations across the world as countries qualify for the next round! Vast crowds of people dancing and singing and shouting and cheering- often covered in face paint that denotes the country they are supporting along with national dress or the football shirt of their country. Across the world people are celebrating because their team is winning football matches. It is not only the fans that are celebrating, the players and coaches are celebrating too, piling onto each other and forming human mounds of celebration as arms and legs wave in all directions – they have won!!

The Apostle Paul, in this letter to the Philippians writes:
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

For Paul, his life as a follower of Jesus meant everything! He did not see Jesus as a ‘bonus’ to his life but as the very reason for his life! His goal, or ‘purpose’, or perhaps ‘ambition’ was to win the prize!

Paul knew that our eternal salvation is not something that we can earn by the things that we do but, because of the enormity and generosity of God’s grace, he was motivated to press on to win the prize – eternal glory.

Have you ever imagined what it will be like to celebrate in eternity – to see God face-to-face, to be beyond a life filled with pain and suffering and death – to cross the line into ‘forever’ and to cheer on as others cross the line – what a celebration!
Paul is different from so many Christians that I meet because of one very important thing! He lived life here with an eternal perspective, he knew that the best was yet to come, the great celebration is coming and, in the meantime, we work through the struggles of this life in preparation for what is to come.

As he says a little later in this letter:
What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ. Philippians 3:8

In football there is a phrase that describes the whole-hearted commitment of a footballer. The phrase is ‘He left nothing on the pitch’. This describes a footballer who gave everything, every ounce of sweat and energy, took the knocks, stayed true to the belief that ‘we can win’ regardless of the obstacles – absolutely spent, but victorious!

Surely, if we are to stay on Mission with Jesus, we must be prepared to ‘leave nothing on the pitch’ to ‘be spent for His sake’ as we live life here – loving, serving, sharing so that we may be used by God to reach others who will, like us, receive the greatest of all gifts and enjoy the most wonderful of all celebrations.

This week, I encourage you to pray and ask the Lord to give you a vision of eternity!

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21: 1-4