New Wine Magazine - Issue 55 - Summer 2012

Summer

Better or worse?

How is the local Church measuring up?

Evangelical Alliance Director Steve Clifford

Encourages us to get our eyes tested,

And have another look

p.22 Teaching

Stories

Culture

Confidence in the Gospel Learning to catch the thermals of the Spirit p.26

Through the Lens of Persecution Clear vision for the persecuted Church p.32

Stop the Olympic Traffick Winning the race to stop human trafficking p.46

Tune in, discover Inspiring, Uplifting, Rejoicing, Radio.

DAB DIgITAl RADIo www.pRemIeR.oRg.Uk DowNloAD THe App FReevIew 725 Sky DIgITAl 0123 IN loNDoN: 1305 1332 1413 mw

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News Teaching Stories Culture

Summer 12 Issue 55

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Editor Mark Melluish Magazine Manager Diana Mackie Commissioning Editor Clare Rogers Advertising & Classifieds Jeremy Geake Creative Tom Morton Print Halcyon Get In Touch Find us: 4a Ridley Avenue Ealing London W13 9XW Phone us: 0845 437 8656 Email us: mag@new-wine.org Visit our website: www.new-wine.org facebook.com/newwineuk youtube.com/newwinetube twitter.com/newwineuk

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What’s happening.

Learn together.

Our God at work.

Looking at our world.

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22

32

40

Is the Church half empty, or half full?

Are we opting out of God’s presence and power?

When it’s dangerous to believe

A new initiative to get alongside the nation’s parents

A note from John Coles

Getting Church in Focus

Through the Lens of Persecution

06

North & East Region A new church sets about loving its neighbour

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London & South East Region

44 26

36

Roger Simpson is not ashamed

Carl Beech on men taking a hit for the gospel

Confidence in the Gospel

Called to the Fight of your Life

Living on a North London estate

Bringing Heaven to Earth

20

In Brief News, stories, facts and more

Tough Questions Where is God when it hurts?

46

Stop the Olympic Traffick

16

Central & South West Region

Parenting: Pressure or Pleasure?

Steve Chalke on the dark side of the Games

28

Finding the Father Heart of God Lin Button encourages us to keep searching

38

Faith at Work John Archer has faith in magic

51

Recommended Resources Helpful material for you, your small group or church

NEWS

A note from John Coles Dear Friends How full is your glass? We all know the pessimist will say that a glass is half empty, while the optimist (and the beer lover) will consider it half full.

It’s often the same when people talk about the state of the Church.

Some will look at the empty seats in church buildings, or be aware of the changing tide of opinion in Parliament about the Church’s right to influence law-making. Others will focus on the large numbers of people attending Alpha courses, hear visionary leaders speaking about the power of God to change broken lives, and be aware of the growing numbers of Christians becoming MPs. Not only does our personality predispose us to draw conclusions; so too does our own local church situation. Every church goes through seasons, and is set in a particular climate. It may be winter for your church, where there is no apparent growth, or alternatively it may be high summer with everything blooming. In general, the West has seen a climate of growing secularism and hostility towards Christian faith, while the climate of the developing world has often encouraged church growth.

However, the Western climate is changing. There is a philosophical shift towards recognising the ‘transrational’ – realities which lie beyond human reason. Also, the scale of the breakdown of family and society has led many to re-examine the significance of faith in restoring stability and cohesion. Recent research has shown that 81% of evangelical Christians do voluntary work at least once a month, compared with 26% for the population at large. Christians make a difference.

Our magazine has always aimed to tell the story of what God is doing around the country, and around the world. In this edition we are giving additional space to tell that story regionally. Our hope is that wherever you are, you don’t have far to look to see the difference that the Church is making, and that you will be inspired by others’ stories to believe that God can use you and your church to change your community.

Enjoy the read, and remember that God is in the business of filling the glass, not emptying it.

With very best wishes

John John Coles Director of New Wine

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New Wine’s vision To see the nation changed through Christians experiencing the joy of worshipping God, the freedom of following Jesus, and the power of being filled with the Spirit.

To see churches renewed, strengthened and planted, living out the word of God in every aspect of life, serving God by reaching the lost, broken and poor, and demonstrating the good news of the kingdom of God to all.

New Wine’s values Continuity & Change – we want to be faithful guardians of an unchanging message about the person and work of Jesus, and the need for personal salvation and sanctification, while also adapting ways of worship, teaching, being church and doing mission according to culture and context.

Cross & Resurrection – we want to honour all that Jesus has done for us on the cross, and to embrace the way of the cross for ourselves, while also knowing the power of his resurrection to set us free.

Gracious & Truthful – we want to be kind and generous in the way we think and speak about others whether they agree or disagree with us, while also clearly communicating what we believe and why we believe it.

Leadership & Every-member Ministry – we want to train and deploy anointed, courageous and missional church leaders, while also equipping every Christian to serve like Jesus in their home, church, work and life-place.

Mission & Community – we want to see the church become a missionary movement to love and reach the lost, to care for the poor and to bring justice to our homes, neighbourhoods, workplaces and nations, while also being a gracefilled community in which people can find relationship, healing, faith, hope and love.

Natural & Supernatural – we want to see every Christian using all the natural reason, wisdom and skill that they can, while also learning to operate in the supernatural gifts of the Spirit to minister to others in love and power as Jesus did.

Now & Not yet of the Kingdom – we want to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God and to see that confirmed by miraculous signs and wonders, while also ministering grace to all, knowing that suffering will be part of life until Jesus returns and makes all things new.

Transcendence & Presence – we want to live lives that celebrate God’s awesome power, transcendent majesty and sovereign work, while at the same time experiencing his intimate presence as we encounter him in heartfelt worship.

Unity & Diversity – we want to work with everyone who holds these values in open, mutually accountable friendship, while also acknowledging and honouring differences in leadership style, church characteristics and denominational emphasis.

Word & Spirit – we want to derive all we believe, teach and do from the Bible as the written word of God, while also learning to hear and obey the voice of the Spirit speaking to us individually and collectively.

UPCOMING EVENTS

RESPITE CARE

offers a break to individuals and their caregivers.

April 2012 Learning to Heal Training Day 28 April Blackburn, Lancashire

May 2012

W

e cosset the individuals and their caregivers can go on holiday, or simply relax at home, knowing their special person is enjoying life and the company of others, and is in the very best hands.

Learning to Heal Training Day 12 May Boston, Lincolnshire 12 May Oldbury, West Midlands 12 May Cherry Burton, Lincolnshire 12 May Beverley, Hull

You can choose from a range of locations – from the beautiful countryside of Wellsborough, to the fresh seaside air of the Essex Coast (Ernest Luff Homes) to the ancient port town of Plymouth (Bethany Christian Care Home).

Third Person Prayer Day 12 May London

To enquire about availability, email. info@pilgrimsfriend.org.uk or go online at www.pilgrimsfriend.org.uk or telephone 0300 303 1400

HeartHeadHands Worship Conference 19 May Cheltenham National Leadership Conference 28–30 May Harrogate

June 2012 Learning to Heal Training Day 23 June Felixstowe

July / August 2012

challenges sponsored – with a difference!

Tanzania, september 2012

Learning to Heal Training Day 7 July Scarborough Summer Conference LONDON & SOUTH EAST 21–27 July Shepton Mallet

Climb Kilimanjaro and be inspired by disabled craftspeople.

NORTH & EAST 28 July – 3 August Newark CENTRAL & SOUTH WEST 29 July – 4 August Shepton Mallet

nepal, october 2012 Trek the Himalayas and share God’s love with street children.

Also in 2012:

Look out for Kingdom Theology Taster Days and other local events To find out more about all our events and to book, go to www.new-wine.org/events

peru, april 2013 www.cms-uk.org

Trek to Machu Picchu and participate in a life-changing play project.

See the world and make a difference in it.

Contact Hannah on 01865 78 7521 or at hannah.caroe@cms-uk.org

N&E REGIONAL NEWS

NEWS

AREA FOCUS

I hope you find encouragement in this North and East section of the magazine.

Do read the story of Glo – a brand new church which is already seeing one small area of our nation changed.

Cinderella with Amnesia was Michael Griffiths’ poignant description of the Church in the West, in his book of the same title, written more than 30 years ago.

Forgotten by the world, and oblivious to her true identity and destiny, the Church sits passively on the sidelines. The book was a summons to recover her dynamic calling and identity and to be the kind of Church which the world desperately needs. Its message is just as relevant today.

Among the many dynamic titles for the Church in Scripture, none quickens my pulse more than ‘the body of Christ’. It reminds us that we are the physical representation of Jesus on Earth, filled with his Spirit, bearers of his presence, and commissioned and equipped by him to do all that he did during his own time on Earth. It reminds us that we carry within us the potential to see communities and nations changed. It alerts us to the fact that just like Jesus, we are not called to be passive and reactive, but to be those who proactively shape the world around us.

It reminds us that we will know that we are being authentic when the least and the lost are drawn to us, and find welcome and healing.

The hostility of the world and the tyranny of traditionalism both represent potent threats to the Church’s vitality and effectiveness. It’s time to ignore these threats, and to find our identity once again in glorious biblical pictures such as ‘the body of Christ’. That’s the kind of Church the world is longing for.

In Christ,

Ian Parkinson Regional Director, New Wine North & East

N&E SUMMER CONFERENCE

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Newark 2012 promises to be the most exciting North and East summer conference ever! We look forward to a rich feast of worship, teaching and ministry to equip us for every aspect of life. Gary Best (Vineyard, Canada) and Kenny Borthwick (CLAN, Scotland) will be our morning Bible teachers in the Meeting Place and Impact venues, with worship led by Nicole Brown, Gareth Robinson, Pete James, Chris Sayburn and Aaron Keyes.

delegates to live out their discipleship at work more fruitfully, faithfully and boldly. Our exceptional children’s and youth teams will be back to lead an incredible range of activities for the under 18s, with Our Place catering for those with special needs. For those who want to keep up to date with events from London 2012, our dedicated Olympics themed café will be broadcasting live coverage of events throughout the week.

‘Burn’ is our new evening celebration for young adults, with a range of exciting speakers lined up and a dynamic, creative team hosting.

In addition to a varied seminar programme, we will once again be running week-long schools of prophetic ministry, evangelism, and, for the first time, a school of workplace ministry, which will seek, under the leadership of Mark Greene (LICC), to enable

And what better way to end the day than in one of our two after-hours entertainment venues, with a great mix of music, comedy and other events? Top comedian Andy Kind will be keeping us entertained in the Tearfund evening café, where there will be opportunities for up-and-coming artists to do a turn - if you are an aspiring performer and wish to be considered for a slot, please email info@new-wine.org.

NEWS

ReflectION Luke Smith calls on the younger generation to act their age A friend said to me recently, ‘I’m so angry about all the injustice in the world. It’s making me question whether God really cares - if he is there at all.’ When I asked him what he was doing to tackle the situations that grieved him so much, he looked surprised. ‘Nothing. What can I do?’

This sort of response is not unusual within the 18-30s generation - but it should be. There is a virulent strain of ‘slacktivism’ eating away at the energy of our young adults.

The notion of ‘I want to change the world, but I can’t be bothered’ is rife.

‘ There is a virulent strain of ‘slacktivism’ eating away at the energy of our young adults. The notion of ‘I want to change the world, but I can’t be bothered’ is rife’ He rebukes them, saying, ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either new venue at our Summer Conference in Newark, called ‘Burn’. Anyone is welcome, but its purpose is to model and fuel church that works for 18-30s.

My hope is that God will use this venue to ignite people into holy fireballs; that it will incinerate apathy and raise white-hot faith within a generation of change-makers. I pray that people will encounter the living Jesus so tangibly, they will lay down their lives for him.

Apathy like this freezes activity, hope and passion; and I believe that we, the Church, are responsible to call an end to it.

From slacktivists to world-changers

Usually, it is in the first half of adult life that God envisions his people with world-changing dreams. New Wine’s vision is to see local churches changing nations, so it is imperative that we become adept at equipping, preparing and releasing young adults to be and bring that change. We need to launch a generation while they still have the audacity to believe that things can shift.

In Revelation 3:14-22, Jesus slaps the wrist of the church in Laodicea.

one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth.’ This is very serious, and I believe that there are many similarities between the church in Laodicea and the 18-30s generation.

We need to wake up and take note.

The time has come for change. It is time to call a generation to burn with a passion for Jesus that will set the world on fire for him. Let’s blaze with God’s all-sustaining love for a hopeless world that affects every nation on the earth. Let’s act on injustice with our merciful Master.

Break-time is over. It’s time to start firing on all cylinders.

Holy fireballs

That is why I have joined the New Wine North and East leadership team, and why we are launching a

Luke Smith Luke works for Fusion, helping churches all over the UK to connect with a student generation. He is also a leader at G2, part of St Michael le Belfrey church, York. Luke is married to Hannah and they have a little lad called Morgan.

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N&E REGIONAL NEWS

NEWS

AREA FOCUS

N&E Feature Cultivating a healthy glow Gareth Robinson describes the early days of a church plant called ‘God Loves Offerton’ – or ‘Glo’ for short

‘How do you define a successful church plant?’

A friend asked me this question a few days ago. The answer is easy - a long-term, self-sustainable, indigenous church - but we are just at the beginning of this journey.

Less than a year ago, the Bishop of Stockport signed a Bishop’s Mission Order (BMO) to allow All Saint’s Marple to plant into east Offerton, their next-door parish.

Lizzy and I had moved back from the US to build a team and lead this plant, who moved into the area covered by the BMO. Our past experience of planting missional communities in Sheffield, Phoenix and Omaha provided a clear strategy: discipleship and community engagement.

Other than that, we had no plan.

All bets were off. The Lord kept reminding us to find out what he was doing and join in, not to replicate what others were doing. He also gave us these words from 1 Corinthians 13:13: faith, hope and love. This is what we were to bring to Offerton: to encourage those with faith; offer hope that in Christ there is new life; and love those who have no hope, without strings attached, the way God loves us in Christ. We called the plant ‘Glo’ - ‘God Loves Offerton’.

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Find your partner

Some wise friends experienced in church planting encouraged us early on to do church ‘with the community, not for the community’. This has rung true throughout, and we have sought to follow Jesus’ strategy from Luke 10, when he told his disciples to accept the hospitality of ‘someone who promotes peace’ on the mission field (v 6). We aimed to work with those who were willing to help us fulfil God’s mission. Who, in Offerton, were willing partners?

Early on we were struck by the vision the council had for the social housing estate within our BMO, where indices associated with poverty are high. They began to treat it as a UPA (Urban Priority Area), and their priorities lined up with Kingdom values: help people off substance abuse, get people into work, help those in abusive relationships, help people out of debt; so we began to work together. Working with other

NEWS

‘ Some wise friends experienced in church planting encouraged us early on to do church ‘with the community, not for the community’ agencies isn’t necessarily easy, but we have been so blessed by the positive relationships developed with many of the council workers and other local residents.

Care for the community

we pick up litter, do gardening, decorating, and so on, for free. We now have 17 people on the leadership team, many of whom have moved house to help us plant - the rest already lived here and joined us.

We had to move our worship from our conservatory into the local primary school as we’d outgrown it.

We have set up a charity to help with the community engagement, and now have around 20 kids in our children’s work; we have a youth group, a young men’s Bible study and a women’s coffee morning - all committed to bringing faith, hope and love

Lizzy hosts a young mums’ group at the Children’s Centre; we use our garage to store and give away baby clothes, and more, to families in need; we hold serve days where

to Offerton through community engagement and discipleship. We are launching internships this September, and would love to hear from you if you’re 18-25 and want to give a year to live and work with us.

We’re a long way yet from the self-sustaining, indigenous plant, but that is our destination and everything we do is committed to passing things on to those whom the Lord is calling. It’s an exciting adventure, and we’re grateful for the generosity of All Saints, for the bishop, for our amazing team, and that the Lord called us on this journey!

Gareth Robinson Gareth was previously worship leader at St Thomas, Sheffield, and then in the USA. He continues to train worship leaders as well as leading a new Anglican church in Stockport with his wife Lizzy. They have three children.

More at www.glochurch.org and www.garethrobinson.net.

Prepare for uni life, find a church, connect with freshers, keep growing with God, share your faith, arrive confident and equipped.

Connecting Church to Student and Student to Church

Linkup now at www.fusion.uk.com 9

Special NeedS Special MiNiStry

Saturday 10 November 2012 all Saints’ church inmans row Woodford Green

a one-day conference for parents, carers, workers, church volunteers and leaders.

Working with those who have special needs, enabling them to meet with Jesus and grow in faith.

Marriage needs you C4M.org.uk “I support the legal defInItIon of marrIage whIch Is the voluntary unIon for lIfe of one man and one woman to the exclusIon of all others. I oppose any attempt to redefIne It.”

Supported by:

C o uragEOus

Living dangerouSLy DangerousLy – rejecting reJecting MeDiocrity

A day for men who want to make a difference SpeakerS incLude: Carl Beech, Anthony Delaney and Mark Melluish

London Saturday 6 october 2012 St Paul’s, Hammersmith

Southampton Saturday 24 november 2012 Kings Community Church

BriStoL Saturday 20 october 2012 Woodlands Church

mancheSter Saturday 26 January 2013 Venue tbc

‘Join us for a day of learning, inspiration, encouragement and friendship.’

Find out more and book online at www.new-wine.org

Imagine how God could use you at

Haven of Peace Academy

Theology for Life Theology, Urban Ministry, Children’s Ministry, Cross-cultural Ministry, Youth & Community Work

in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Are you a qualified teacher or school administrator?

Are you flexible and teachable, and willing to let God use you in new ways?

Do you have a desire to play a vital role in African missions and in shaping future African leaders?

Do you have a heart for missionary kids and a vision to see Hindu and Muslim kids and their families come to know Christ?

Then we would love to hear from you!

Haven of Peace Academy (HOPAC), an international Christian K-12 school overlooking the Indian Ocean in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, is recruiting experienced, Christian teachers and administrators.

Contact the Personnel Coordinator at personnel@hopac.net for more information or visit www.hopac.net.

110 St James Road Glasgow G4 OPS

0141 552 4040 www.icc.ac.uk

LSE REGIONAL NEWS

NEWS

AREA FOCUS

Have you ever felt like giving up? I asked someone recently about joining one of our church’s ‘life groups’; they replied that they’d been there, done that, and it wasn’t for them. I was left a little sad. You see, it’s not all about being ‘for us’, but about what we can offer to others.

Sometimes in life we just have to persevere to achieve what we are called to.

In the kingdom of God we are assured that ultimately, God’s will is done. In other words, he wins. I sometimes wonder if all Christians believe this. We have an assurance of his Kingdom coming. Wow, what a promise! So it is in this light that we don’t give up, but rather get stuck in and involve ourselves in the lives of others, knowing that through our offering we are helping to see his Kingdom come.

In this London and South East section of the magazine you will read two very different stories: one of a new church being set up on an estate, and another of a church working in and through the local school. Both authors will be at the LSE conference this summer, bringing their stories to share with us all. I hope you will be inspired as you read on.

Mark Melluish Regional Director, New Wine London South East

LSE SUMMER CONFERENCE It’s going to be a great year! When was the last time you were invited to a party with about 12,000 others?

That’s exactly what will happen on the last night of the London and South East summer conference this year. The final meetings will be held at 4pm, and then everyone is invited to re-gather in Venue One, Venue 2 or the Olympics Venue to watch the opening night of the Olympics and party together.

But I’ve got to the end too soon!

The party will start on the first night.

We have an excellent line-up of speakers, including Mike Pilavachi, Francis Chan, Julian Richards, Shane Claiborne, Celia Apeagyei-Collins, Pete Hughes, Steve Clifford, Patrick Sookhdeo, Yemi Adedji, and Ken Costa, to name just a few. We are praying that each one will in some way invite us into the party of God. One of the great highlights of last year was the Gospel night in Venue One. So many of you commented on this, that this year we have invited Sam Blake back - but not just to do one night.

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He is going to be our second principle worship leader alongside Nick and Becky Drake. We are hoping that there will be dancing in the aisles every night, and perhaps even in the morning as well. There is another opportunity for Bible reading at 9.15am, and Andy Hawthorne will be teaching each morning in Hungry, with drama, worship and a desire to simply seek after God for more of his presence.

If you are from the LSE region then don’t miss what will be a year to remember!

NEWS

Life-changing mentoring Jenni Spargo describes how one church set out to reach teenagers in the local comprehensive Years ago I heard Jackie Pullinger say, ‘Christians are called to have soft hearts and hard feet – not the other way round’, and the thought has stayed with me. But how do we do that? How do we reach out to the marginalised in our local community, crossing the cultural boundaries that separate us? How can we start to be good news in our local area?

As a church in South West London we have been exploring this question over the past few years. One response has been to set up a community mentoring scheme, in a partnership between our church and one of our local comprehensive schools. In the past two years, 28 trained mentors, all church members, have been matched with pupils ranging from 12–18 years. They meet on average for an hour every fortnight. Our role as mentors is to be a ‘friend with a purpose’, helping these young people to identify their own goals and go on

asylum seekers; some are on the path to school exclusion. They value the space and time to develop a relationship with an adult who is neither parent nor teacher, but brings them compassion and a new set of values. ‘This is the only place where I can really be me,’ said one angry and

‘ Our role as mentors is to be a friend with a purpose, helping these young people to identify their own goals and go on to achieve them’

see the impact, but the school keeps telling us about it!

We are ordinary volunteers, not youth workers, but using an accredited scheme called COACH (Creating Opportunity and Casting Hope) has given us the skills and ongoing support that we need.

One unexpected benefit is that it’s drawing men into the church – two thirds of our mentors are male.

In many ways it seems so simple, yet as Mother Teresa said, ‘We cannot do great things; but only small things with great love’.

disruptive teenager, who needed the opportunity to talk about her chaotic home life. As a result her GCSE grades smashed expectations – she went on to college to start fulfilling her dreams. We may not always to achieve them. Goals have ranged from getting up on time, to getting to college, to getting into a football academy (and staying there).

About a third of the mentors have met with the same young people for two years now, and are becoming their close confidants. Many of the young people have difficult home situations - parental divorce, bereavement, being unaccompanied

Jenni Spargo Jenni is a member of St Michael’s Church Southfields.

She works part time as a GP, and has set up and co-ordinates a community mentoring project for young people and families in the area. Find out more about COACH at www.coachprogramme.org.

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LSE REGIONAL NEWS

NEWS

AREA FOCUS

LSE Feature Strawberry Vale forever Lots of food, clapping, tears, and mobile phones going off – a new church finds its feet on a North London estate Church@five, a new congregation of St Barnabas North Finchley, meets in a community centre on the relatively deprived Strawberry Vale estate.

This church started in September 2010, after my husband Mark and I moved onto the estate with our family in January 2008. Eighteen months ago, the congregation consisted of one table of women, who came to pray faithfully for their community every week (and still do). Now, there are five or six tables of both men and women, half of whom are in their early twenties, and a bunch of toddlers and children in the groups provided for them upstairs.

The service is a relatively short one and there’s more chat, more shifting about and more mobile phones going off than you might expect in a church; but there’s also loads of hugging, praying for each other, and tears. There’s audience participation, with people chipping in, calling out and clapping.

There’s always lots of clapping.

Come and see

This is still a regular slot in the service, with most people taking turns to talk. Everybody prays for everybody else, and it’s not unusual for the tears to flow as the Holy Spirit moves around the community centre.

How did the numbers grow? Word got around that something new was happening on the estate; that we were moving in to make a difference. So people began to ‘come and see’. One youth came and saw. He liked it, so he invited his brother, who invited his other brother, then his sister and her boyfriend, then their friends…

What they saw was church as they hadn’t experienced it before: informality instead of ‘Sunday best’; a good spread of food instead of the statutory ‘cuppa’; and a genuine concern for the community, instead of a polite nod and a smile. Everyone was welcomed exactly as they were, because, after all, that’s how Jesus invites us to come.

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Prayer, baptisms...and food

Prayer has always been foundational to the service. At first, it was led from the front. Then a different member of the congregation was invited to report back each Sunday about what they’d prayed for during the week.

Where there are new Christians, there are always baptisms; and Church@five has had a fair few.

The whole church gathers around the pool and calls out what they feel God is saying, both adults and children alike. The younger children look on with excitement as the twenty year olds they’ve always looked up to are immersed in the water and come up talking of new hope.

One highlight of our first year was the outing to the New Wine Summer

NEWS

Of course, Church@five wouldn’t be Church@five without its tea. Everyone joins around the table to eat, to talk estate news, to discuss the service and, often, to continue praying for each other. Not that it’s always peaceful.

Arguments sometimes break out and there was once a fight, when someone gate-crashed the centre to cause trouble. Yet even then, everyone pulled together and joined hands to pray for peace and protection for the estate.

Conference, where Venue One saw the whole of Church@five go down to the front en masse to pray, sing and dance. I think that was the first time many of the congregation saw each other cry and it cemented many relationships.

There’s a lot of hard work that goes on during the week, with separate groups for toddlers, boys, girls and teenagers, and team members supporting families through the various issues they’re facing.

Through mentoring, new Christians are learning to follow Jesus by example, by seeing the attitudes of Christians whose lives have already been changed by his love. It’s all about an open invitation to join in and do life together.

Helen Shannon Since moving onto the Strawberry Vale estate in 2008, Helen and her husband Mark have pioneered many new projects as well as launching Church@five. They are determined to live intentionally missional lives and are ‘in it for the long haul’. Helen was ordained in 2010 and is now a pioneer curate at St Barnabas Church, North London.

FRIENDS • FAMILIES • KIDS • SINGLES • COUPLES • GROUPS • MINISTRY • YOUNG & OLD

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CSW REGIONAL NEWS

NEWS

AREA FOCUS

I was very concerned to read an article recently about the increasing number of people who struggle to put food on their tables. I found it especially alarming that this was not in an international setting, but right here, under my nose, in the United Kingdom. Increasing numbers of families lack enough money to feed themselves.

The article found that many households have financial problems which force them to miss meals on a regular basis.

Recently, someone told me that as they sat down for a family evening meal, one of their children asked, ‘Do we have to pray for dinner tonight?’ in a whiny, ‘this is such a hassle’ voice. That little encounter between father and son immediately reminded me of the article I had read, and I found myself reflecting on the importance of living with thankfulness. It seems that many of us find it so easy to take what we have for granted.

I have come away with a renewed commitment, both to make a difference in the lives of those around me, and to live each moment in gratitude for what I have. I have a fresh sense that the Spirit is calling me, and perhaps all of us in New Wine, to reflect God’s goodness and provision in our lives. It may be a fresh gratitude for our families and friends, our jobs (if we are fortunate enough to have one), our homes, our health, our local churches, New Wine and all that awaits us in the coming year within the networks and the Summer Conference - and yes, even our food.

Enjoy the spiritual nourishment in this section of the magazine - Jon Soper’s words on prayer, and Rich Johnson on how we can achieve spiritual fitness. And then I’d invite you to wonder: what blessings from God do we take for granted in our lives?

With my love and prayers

Mark Bailey Regional Director, New Wine Central & South West

CSW SUMMER CONFERENCE The Central and South West Summer Conference, one of the high points of our year, enables us once again to gather as a community of people who are committed to discovering the ‘more’ that God has for us, and what it means to grow in our commitment to following Jesus.

As always, we will be running the Hungry venue, a place for worship, intercessory prayer and pressing into God. We’ll be screening comprehensive coverage of all the Olympic events in

the Sports Café. Mark Marx will be getting us out on the streets to pray for healing, and Tim Hughes, Luke Hellebronth and Chris Jones will be leading worship in Venue 2.

There will be morning messages from David Parker and Alan Scott; speakers joining the New Wine team for evening celebrations will include Danielle Strickland, Mike Pilavachi, Pete Grieg, J John, and many more. A whole host of seminar speakers are coming from around the world, as well as the CSW region; programmes will run for all ages, including loads of late night fun and entertainment.

If you’re looking for a transformational encounter with God, and want to become clearer about the call on your life to reflect his powerful, missionshaping nature, then the CSW Summer Conference is the place for you!

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REFLECTION Fit for fruitfulness: Rich Johnson suggests a fitness regime for the body of Christ Is the Church dying, or is she fighting fit? Both!

Statistics on church involvement show a sustained decline across Europe. Our post-Christian context no longer gives the Church an assumed position of influence on matters cultural, social or political.

Yet there are clearly signs of life in parts of the Church that should give us cause for confidence. We are seeing local churches experiencing a renewed spiritual vitality and passion for mission, leading to increases in numbers of people getting involved and coming to faith.

The New Testament calls us to be ‘fruitful’. A fit and healthy church then, is one bearing fruit for the kingdom of God. While numbers are not the only valid indicator of this, we can expect that a healthy church will grow numerically.

Healthy churches are ones that regularly exercise their calling to mission and discipleship that Christ has given us, not allowing ourselves just to be blessed, but seeking always to be a blessing to others. We’re invited to exercise our gifts and godly influence in order to proclaim and reveal Christ and the Kingdom through how we live and love, despite any hostility that comes our way.

Healthy churches are often those committed to the long haul, persevering when the going gets, or remains, tough. Physical fitness comes at the cost of pain and suffering, and so too does church fitness. Jesus calls us to faithfulness and perseverance, promising in John 15 that he will bear fruit through us if we do.

‘ Healthy churches are often those committed to the long haul, persevering when the going gets, or remains, tough. Physical fitness comes at the cost of pain and suffering, and so too does church fitness’ May we be churches that seek to remain fighting fit, confident that as we faithfully love and serve others, God is able to work through us, bringing life, hope and transformation to all.

So how do we nurture healthy churches? It strikes me that the three things I must do to be fighting fit can also be applied to the Church: diet, exercise and perseverance. Churches that buck the statistical trend are most likely paying attention to these three things.

‘ The New Testament calls us to be fruitful.

A fit and healthy church then, is one bearing fruit for the kingdom of God’ Diet, exercise and perseverance

Healthy churches pay attention to their diet. Are we people whose hunger and thirst is satisfied with the riches of Christ and his Kingdom?

We must allow the Spirit of God to nourish us with the delights of the gospel of grace, and help us live in and from the love of the Father, gifted and empowered by the Spirit for works of mission and service in the world.

Rich Johnson Rich is Vicar of All Saints Worcester, a multi-site and multi-congregation church with a vision to be a vibrant expression of God’s kingdom in the city and the region.

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CSW REGIONAL NEWS

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AREA FOCUS

CSW Feature Standing in the overlap When does Heaven meet Earth? When we pray. Jon Soper explains Celtic Christians speak about ‘thin places’, and Pentecostals of an ‘open Heaven’; both phrases are trying to describe the wonderful and essential experience of the tangible presence of God with us, and the nearby resources of Heaven available to us.

As we pursue this, we realise that we can’t be in the presence of God and not be changed, or at least have the resources to change some things around us.

I’ve been thinking recently about what is happening when we pray; specifically when we pray, ‘Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven’ (Matt 6:10).

Praying this prayer, in every sphere of our lives, implies that we are standing in the overlap between Earth and Heaven (visualise the overlapping circles of Venn diagrams from maths at school), asking with authority and confidence for the resources of Heaven to be available right now on this small patch of our planet. To put it another way, we get the goodies from God to change us and the world around us.

Seeing Heaven invade

We’ve been experiencing this in a number of ways recently in our church, Exeter Network Church.

We’ve been actively pursuing the tangible presence of the Spirit when we gather together and pray ‘as in Heaven, so on Earth’. Praying from

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Heaven to Earth is a great change of mindset. For example, I pray with a group of about 15 men early on Wednesday mornings, specifically to pray Heaven into the spheres of influence we are involved in during the week. It’s been amazing to see God at work in and through men’s lives, whether facing an Ofsted inspection, new clients, exams or essays. We pray blessing into workplaces, neighbourhoods and families and it helps to keep us alert to the Holy Spirit’s activity during the day.

‘ It’s been amazing to see God at work in and through men’s lives, whether facing an Ofsted inspection, new clients, exams or essays’ Since May last year we’ve also been doing ‘Healing on the Streets’, asking for the presence of God outside Barclay’s Bank on Exeter high street. One young man the team prayed for had a lump on his leg from a sporting injury. His mates gathered around to watch, thinking this was a bit of a laugh. After two minutes of fairly quiet but authoritative prayer, speaking healing from Heaven, he

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‘ For us, experiencing the tangible presence of God encourages and empowers us to keep pursuing Jesus and his Kingdom’ suddenly leapt up and swore loudly, adding ‘It’s gone!’ The lump had completely disappeared and the young man and his friends were gobsmacked that God had invaded their space. It’s been amazing seeing God pouring out patches of Heaven in unlikely places.

Not only does praying ‘as in Heaven, so on Earth...’ ask for blessing from Heaven now, it also asks for the will of God to be done. Much of the will

of God is expressed in ‘destroying the works of the evil one’, and it’s been exciting to see God exchanging his good stuff from Heaven with our bad stuff. One man in our church spoke about how he had been gripped for years by wanting to take revenge for a terrible physical assault. God has now not only destroyed the desire for revenge, but has replaced it with great generosity and kindness. A woman also recently spoke of how she had been overwhelmed with despair when she lost her money, her home and even her eyesight; God invaded her life with

his presence and activity, and not only is she now filled with hope, she is also praying Heaven into people around her who are in similar troubles.

For us, experiencing the tangible presence of God encourages and empowers us to keep pursuing Jesus and his Kingdom. We’re learning that consciously praying in the overlap of Heaven and Earth is the most incredible privilege, and is also a foretaste of the full meshing of God’s dimension and ours when Jesus returns.

Jon Soper Jon with his wife Jo, leads Exeter Network Church. He enjoys movies, wild swimming and toast, preferably all on the same day.

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IN BRIEF

NEWS SNIPPETS, GOD STORIES AND A PRIZE-WINNING QUESTION

Do Christians face discrimination in the UK? Christians in Parliament have released a report in response to the growing number of Christians appearing in court (such as Owen and Eunice Johns, who were barred from fostering because of their beliefs about homosexuality). ‘Clearing the Ground’ was released in February by Christians in Parliament, an All-Party Parliamentary group, and facilitated by the Evangelical Alliance. It finds that although Christians in this country are not actually persecuted, they do face problems living out their faith as a result of social, cultural and legal changes over the last decade. It describes ‘a high level of religious illiteracy... religious belief is misunderstood and subsequently restricted’. The report

also finds that many employers are not willing to accommodate employees’ beliefs, requiring them ‘to participate in activities which would infringe their convictions’.

Recommendations include changes in the law, better guidance for government departments and local authorities on dealing with faith groups (regarding Christian families and adoption, for instance) and a review of human rights legislation.

The report has bracing words for the Church as well: ‘too often the Church is defined by what it opposes rather than what it stands for. It is essential that Christians once again provide hope and a vision for society that goes beyond defending their own interests and includes the good of all’.

Give a year to Jesus Could you dedicate a year to developing your relationship with the Lord, exploring his teaching, and putting it into practice? New Wine is launching a new Discipleship Year for 18-24 year olds. The purpose is to equip, encourage and empower young leaders, through a syllabus of biblical teaching including Kingdom lifestyle, leadership and character development, and will involve local church internships. The scheme will be rolled out across a national network of New Wine-approved training centres. For those willing to invest the time, the Discipleship Year could provide the foundation for a life-long adventure of faith.

Look out for more details on this course in the very near future.

Free Wine Tasting!

New Wine is inviting church leaders, who have not yet experienced a Summer Conference, to come along for a first taste at a day hosted by the Church Leaders’ Network (CLN). These free introduction days, held across all weeks, will give those in senior church leadership a chance to see the Conference in full swing, attend seminars, talks and enjoy a behind-thescenes tour of the site.

You could gain insight into New Wine’s kids and youth work, the special needs venue ‘Our Place’, and visit a camping church community to find out first-hand what it is like to experience the Summer Conference.

Leaders will also have the chance to meet other leaders from your region in the CLN venue, to find extra ways in which your ministry can be supported.

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John Coles says, ‘This day is about demonstrating how bringing your church to the Summer Conference could have an impact on the whole church community, and equip it for more effective mission throughout the rest of the year’.

To find out more, email the Church Leaders’ Network at cln@new-wine.org.

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DID YOU KNOW? Did you know what it takes to make the Summer Conferences happen?

Here are a few examples:

GET IN TOUCH But roughly how many tea bags do we get through in just one week on site?

• 120 microphones • 14,500m of electric cabling • 30,000m2 of carpet • 6.5 tonnes of black-out curtain • 8 ,860 tents • 2,700 caravans • 4,730 team members • and 24,500 of YOU!

Email your answer to mag@new-wine.org before 31 May 2012. One entry per person.

The closest answer will receive the teaching CD of their choice from the 2011 Summer Conference.

Back in line with God’s healing ‘ I was born with a curvature of the lower spine, which has caused me many problems over the years. I have also suffered from severe migraines since childhood. Last year at a meeting at the LSE Summer Conference I had a bad migraine, and like many times before – despite prayer – I felt dreadful.

It was announced from the front that God particularly wanted to heal backs that evening. My husband asked me if I wanted to go forward for prayer, but I replied that I felt much too ill. Besides, God had never healed me before so I had little faith that he would heal me now. I sat with my head in my hands feeling sorry for myself, when I became aware of my husband’s hand on my

back. To show willing I opened my hands, but I didn’t even think about what was going on, until suddenly I felt my spine arch and move in an S-shape. For the next ten minutes a very gentle but firm pressure pushed my spine outwards from the inside.

I knew it was being straightened out.

It was an amazing feeling. Since then I’ve had no problems with my back and it’s demonstrably straighter than it used to be. I know that there’s lots more healing to happen with my migraines, but I’m really grateful for what God has already done.

Email us at mag@new-wine.org

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Being part of a miracle

has risen and the Bible has become more amazing! Last week my pastor was unable to come to home group, and asked me to lead a Bible study. It was my first time, but the Holy Spirit just took over, giving me ideas as I went along. Now, rather than ‘doing things for God’, I am more interested in what God can do through me. I can see for the first time that the Holy Spirit’s work in us is how his Kingdom comes on Earth. A big thank you to Jesus, and thank you New Wine!

‘ For the last two years I’ve had problems with my right wrist and I’ve sprained it many times. On Monday 12 March I was pushed into a wall in a PE lesson, and I was diagnosed with yet another sprained wrist but also with damaged tendons.

I had to wear a tubi-grip and moving my hand was agony. I had an English exam that Friday and it had to be written for me. Then I came to the New Wine Women’s Day in Poole the next day with my mother and grandmother. I had given up praying because I never got answered by God. Then Anne Coles said she felt someone in the room had a bad left shoulder and could they stand up.

We prayed for this woman and she could move her arms above her head – she had been part of a miracle! I thought, ‘That’s amazing’. Then Anne she asked all the under thirties to stand up. I stood up, as I am twelve, and my grandmother held my hand while everyone prayed. She said she felt a tingling, then a warmth, in her hand and then my wrist felt warm.

I moved it and it felt better than it has for two years. I started crying and my mum realised what was happening.

I had been part of a miracle! I was touched by God. I never have felt so alive and I believe again.

Catherine Third Person Prayer Day, London

Imogen Women’s Day, Poole

Rosalie LSE Summer Conference

My life has been transformed ‘ I received prayer for more of the Holy Spirit at the Third Person Conference in London this January. I was feeling peaceful, when I suddenly found myself crying out as the Holy Spirit touched something that needed healing. He did such deep work in me that day and my life has been transformed. My prayer life has taken off, with speaking in tongues flowing like never before. I now pray for people using the model described at the conference. It’s powerful, and people experience the Holy Spirit in new ways. Witnessing comes naturally. I have a constant deep sense of peace and joy, my faith

We love to hear your feedback and ideas of how we can improve the magazine, so don’t hesitate to get in touch with any stories, jokes, questions, tips or advice.

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Is the Church in this country dying?

That’s the perception for some.

Evangelical Alliance director Steve Clifford

encourages us to get our eyes tested,

and have another look

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Inspired to act

I was reminded of this incident a few months later when a crowd of us gathered in the Jubilee Room at the Palace of Westminster. It was the annual Inspire Awards (sponsored by the Evangelical Alliance and Inspire magazine), designed to recognise individuals, organisations and churches who – inspired by their Christian faith – are making a difference to their communities. It was a great event with some wonderful stories. Among those shortlisted were Green Pastures in Southport, who have housed more than 200 formerly homeless people, and the Ark in Ayr, who reached more than 12,000 young people last year through an alcohol-free club and youth centre.

‘ On average an evangelical Christian volunteers for two hours per week in their community. This represents hundreds of millions of pounds’ worth of work’ But for me the highlight was the award to Christine Deponio. Eight years ago, Christine and her husband Ray set up Emmanuel House for those with terminal cancer. They run a day centre offering all kinds of great services for those preparing to die. They purchased three country homes so that patients and families can have time together, often to say their goodbyes. It was amazing to hear from this wonderful Christian couple – but it was even more powerful to realise that both Christine and Ray are blind.

Distorted vision

I don’t know whether you have noticed, but it seems to me that in 21st Century Britain we are bombarded with negative images of Christians and the Church. Virtually every Christian minister in a TV drama is weird or

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t a recent meeting, I heard a government minister speaking very eloquently about the Church’s valuable contribution to communities all over the country, and just how necessary faith communities are to the government’s vision for Big Society. I had taken a small group of Christian leaders to meet Andrew Stunnell MP, one of the ministers at the Department for Communities and Local Government, and it was my turn to speak next. I thanked the minister for his recognition of the Church’s work, but I politely commented that this is what the Church had been doing for centuries, way before the Prime Minister discovered ‘Big Society’. This is what the Church has been doing and will continue to do, regardless of government policy or directive.

dysfunctional in some way, while the wider media finds it almost impossible to portray Christians as anything other than boring, irrelevant or homophobic. Now I know we don’t always get it right, and we can be a bit strange at times – but overall my experience of Christians and the Church is very different.

I’ve just had what I can quite literally describe as an eye-opening experience. After years of resisting it, making do with a pair of £3.50 reading specs, and seeing friends go off and come back wearing glasses, I eventually gave in. Eye tests aren’t what they used to be when I was at primary school, with a few letters on the wall – now there are computers, photos, special lenses and a ‘close encounter’ with an optician. Eventually, I emerged with two pairs of glasses: one for driving, the other for reading.

And suddenly the world was different. Road signs were clearer, and books didn’t need to be held at arm’s length.

The truth is that we all see the world with distorted vision, and we see ourselves and the Church with similar distortion. In Ephesians 1 the apostle Paul prays for the small Christian community surrounded by the power of the Roman Empire and the great religious institution in the city of Ephesus. He says this: ‘I pray also that the eyes of your heart might be enlightened (opened), in order that you might know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints’ (v 18). Paul is praying that they might see things as they really are – he wants their eyesight ‘sorted’, to see themselves, and to see the Church as God sees it. And he wants them to hope.

On a recent visit to the UK, the North American writer and speaker Jim Wallis reflected on the cynicism which pervades UK society, particularly the media. He challenged us by saying ‘the big choice is between hope and cynicism’. I have often reflected on this challenge.

Of all people, we have to be the hope-filled ones. Hope in a God who has not abandoned us. Hope in God’s mission (a new Heaven and a new Earth). Hope in God’s commitment to his people, his Church.

Under the radar

In my role at the Evangelical Alliance I get to see the Church at work right across the UK, and it’s amazing!

All over the country, in churches large and small, there are foodbanks, debt counselling centres, street pastors (9000 trained volunteers in over 250 teams around the United Kingdom), schools, academies, prison ministries, employment schemes, help for those who are pregnant and not sure what to do, support for those who are addicted and for those who are homeless. And let’s not forget all that is going on for children and young people (the Church is the largest provider of youth work in the country) and support for the elderly. Where do you stop? There are also the parenting, marriage, money management and bereavement courses. You name it; the Church seems to be offering courses for it.

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This is the Church being the Church. In the 2010 21st Century Evangelicals faith survey of 17,000 Christians conducted by the Evangelical Alliance and Christian Research, we’ve discovered that on average an evangelical Christian volunteers for two hours per week in their community. This represents hundreds of millions of pounds’ worth of work delivered by Christians. With all this as a backdrop, we mustn’t forget so many who know that they are called to their place of work, looking to

‘ Of all people, we have to be the hope-filled ones. Hope in a God who has not abandoned us. Hope in God’s mission (a new Heaven and a new Earth). Hope in God’s commitment to his people, his Church’

God for Alpha (17 million have completed a course so far), Christianity Explored, Hope, More than Gold and a number of other initiatives which are helping us as the Church to communicate our faith. I’m sure like me you would like to see more – particularly our friends, family, neighbours and workmates – coming to a saving faith in Jesus. Maybe there is a fresh confidence for us to find in the words of the gospel as well as the actions.

The great hopes of the 20th Century haven’t delivered what they promised. Secular humanism, consumerism and free market capitalism have all failed us. We have lost confidence in the great institutions which have held power, whether financial, political, media or indeed religious. The beginning of the 21st Century has seen a great shaking of so much which appeared so strong and powerful. This has to be a time for us as God’s people to pray what the apostle Paul prayed over the Ephesian Christians – that our eyes might be opened, so that we will see things as they really are; praying that we will know the great hope which we are called to – and working to see that hope become a reality.

make a difference whether in education, healthcare, the media, arts or business – people who go to work not just to pay the bills but with a sense of God’s calling. This is the Church at work and increasingly it is the Church working collaboratively across villages, towns and cities, regardless of the denomination or network label. All over the country, often under the radar, unity movements are emerging as Christian leaders (not just church leaders) are connecting, building relationships, praying, planning and engaging in joint action to see transformation brought to our communities spiritually, socially and physically.

Unity and hope

I am convinced that this is a God movement. This is the John 17 prayer of Jesus being answered. This is about unity, not for unity’s sake, but for the sake of God’s mission ( John 17:23: ‘to let the world know that you sent me’). And let’s not be ashamed of our calling to be bringers of good news through our words as well as our actions. Thank

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Steve Clifford Steve Clifford is General Director of the Evangelical Alliance. Previously he chaired Hope 08 and Soul Survivor, Soul in the City London, and March for Jesus International. Steve lives and attends church in West London, and is married to Ann.

DON’T HAVE A FILLING STATION NEAR YOU?

THE FILLING STATION exists to help bring Spiritual renewal and evangelism to your area. Using informal mid-week monthly celebration meetings, we have seen many come to faith, healings occur and the Christian population of an area strengthened in their confidence and purpose. The Filling Station is not a new Church denomination, rather a group of Christians who want to help you live better.

The Filling Station currently has meetings taking place in Devon, Somerset, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Surrey, Kent, Bedfordshire, Suffolk, Derbyshire Scotland an France. Find your nearest Filling Station online:

Wanting more? Need a credible place to bring your friends to meet God? Feel like you are alone in your area as a Spirit-filled Christian? We can help.

Contact the Filling Station Director, Rev Richard Fothergill about starting your own local meeting. We will be able to help you launch a relevant, accessible, informal meeting where people encounter God.

thefillingstation.org.uk Contact Rev Richard Fothergill 01225 832806 or 07835263706

New Wine is backing

RuNNiNg a paReNtiNg couRse? Register with the National Parenting Initiative today at www.thenpi.org.uk , featuring the New Wine Family Time course. www.new-wine.org/resources/family-time

‘The Kingdom of God’ Saturday 12 May 2012 St Mary’s Church, Bryanston Square, London

A day focused on ministry and how to pray for people in the power of the Spirit.

Help others to encounter God and learn to teach people to minister as Jesus did.

Featuring guest speaker Darren Rouanzoin.

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IN NEED OF FUEL? TOP UP SPIRITUALLY AT A FILLING STATION NEAR YOU!

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Confidence Roger Simpson, Archbishop’s Evangelist to the North, gives us reasons to be shameless

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any of us would agree that the good news of Jesus Christ is powerful and life-changing; that we are ‘not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes’ (Rom 1:16). In practice, though, do we actually have that confidence? Are we confidently holding out the word of God as churches and individuals, or have we been discouraged by missions that seemed fruitless, and by the fear of looking foolish? If so, how can we regain our confidence in the gospel?

Create mission conditions

I recently led a week of mission at St Andrews University in Scotland, at the invitation of our son David, the Christian Union evangelism coordinator. I was later surprised to find that Michael Green, having spoken to one of our team members, had written an account of this mission in his recent book Compelled by Joy: A Lifelong Passion for Evangelism. It’s worth including his description of the mission here: It began with a remarkable outpouring of the Holy Spirit at a house party in the vacation before the mission, where students really fell in love with Jesus.

This was crucial, and led to fervent prayer among them before the mission, continuing into 24/7 prayer throughout the mission itself. The chief student leader gathered around himself people with a big vision for the university, clever networkers, and students with wide circles of non-Christian friends. The outcome was highly creative.

For one thing, they opted for a lot of decentralised events which really made the week come alive. There was no single ‘big-name’ evangelist, but the diverse gifts of the assistants (‘CU guests’, as they were called) were used to the full. They went into the houses of the students and spoke at dinner parties, tea parties, events where Christians were grilled by all comers, film evenings, pudding parties and so forth. At these parties the host explained that there would be a fiveminute talk after the meal, followed by discussion and coffee – often far into the night. The main missioner acted more as an encourager and father figure to the team than as the single oracle, in striking contrast

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in the

Gospel

to the way these things are usually done. A student friend of mine, who was an assistant on this mission, tells me that she had the chance to speak to more than 200 students about the good news of Jesus during the week, because of the initiative students took in inviting friends to small events, and also because of the trust and freedom given them by the main missioner.

Naturally, they had the normal lunch and major evening events as well. But daily they ran a lot of street questionnaires helped by the desire of a local newspaper to publish a survey of 1,000 students about God. So the assistant missioners had plenty to do during the day, and, by taking students with them, they developed the timid and boosted the confidence of younger Christians. They organised ‘whitewash teams’ which went to clean grubby student kitchens and bathrooms, serving the community by showing the love of Christ in a practical way. The visiting team lived among the students, which was very important for establishing and developing relationships, many of which bore fruit in conversions as the week progressed. Needless to say, after a mission of this quality they had many takers for the follow-up course which began the next week.1 It seems to me that Michael’s description highlights the essential elements that we need, if we’re going to regain our confidence in the gospel: • Persistent prayer before and during a mission • Creativity when organising different events • Targeting different networks of people • Using apologetics as well as proclamation in evangelism It is also important to run groups both for those who have decided to follow Christ, and those who are interested but not yet persuaded.

‘ The main missioner acted more as an encourager and father figure to the team than as the single oracle, in striking contrast to the way these things are usually done’ Use the thermals of the Spirit

At last year’s New Wine week in Newark I was praying about the transformation of the North, and I felt God challenging me to think and pray ‘big prayers’ for the towns and cities in this part of England. Since coming back from that conference it’s been so exciting to receive invitations to lead mission teams to Hull, Scarborough, Middlesbrough, Doncaster and Sheffield, as well as to universities and parishes in the North.

I used to live in East Africa and we would often watch the eagles catching the thermals in the Rift Valley.

They would soar, carried effortlessly by the hot air rising under their wings. We need to look for the thermals of God’s Spirit, and align our work with his.

Doug Greenfield, who used to work with influential 20th century church leader David Watson, always asked three questions of an area to which David was invited. First of all, was there united prayer for the town or city? Secondly, were there signs of God’s Spirit at work, with numbers of people coming to faith? And thirdly, were they willing to pay the cost, spiritually, of being involved in the work of mission? It seems to me that the development of prayer networks all over the country, where leaders are getting together to pray for the transformation of their towns and cities, is extremely significant and suggests that there are thermals of the Holy Spirit rising all over the country. One of these is ‘Gather’, at www.wegather.co.uk.

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Be a jackass for Jesus

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the incarnation and the fact that Jesus came to us in great weakness and humility. His becoming human underlines the importance of our humanity. I think our evangelism needs to reflect this same humility and the willingness to work out of weakness. We need to stress our humanity in all that we do. We need to ask what sort of gatherings our non-Christian friends would enjoy coming to. Where would they feel relaxed so that they can hear the good news of the gospel? It may well involve food and drink, laughter and creativity. It will probably involve us feeling weak and inadequate.

I was on a mission to a parish church down in the South and we’d been out visiting around the streets and ‘on the doors’. Most people had been a bit suspicious of us even though we said we were from the Church of England. We got back late that afternoon and I was chatting about it with the vicar. He said a very interesting thing to me: ‘I think most of what we do is, on the face of it, weak and ineffective. We often feel as if we’re making jackasses of ourselves, whether that’s visiting or having meetings in the street with barbecues and so on, but God looks down from Heaven and says to himself, “Those are my kind of people. They’re willing to be foolish in the eyes of the world. I will send them people that I’m working in.” And the result is that many of them come to faith.’

The gospel is powerful and effective. We can have great confidence in it to change and transform people. It’s as we step out in faith (often in great fear and trembling) that God meets us. Three weeks ago we booked our local pub to run

‘ They would soar, carried effortlessly by the hot air rising under their wings.’ another ‘Alpha Male’ course. We thought no-one was coming. We’d given out invitations but we hadn’t had any definite replies. Twenty-eight men arrived! The following week there were thirty. As we tucked into our meat pies and mushy peas I found myself thanking God yet again for his faithfulness in answering our prayers.

For a chance to win a free copy of the book quoted in this article, Compelled by Joy, email the title to mag@new-wine.org before 31 May 2012 (one entry per person).

Roger Simpson Roger was Vicar of St Michael le Belfrey in York for twelve years. He is now Associate Minister, and Archbishop’s Evangelist to the North. He takes teams to towns and cities as well as to universities and parishes. He and his wife, Ursula, are enthusiastic members of the speaking team of New Wine North.

1 This extract from Compelled by Joy p.101–102, published by Inter-Varsity Press,

Nottingham England, 2011. Used by permission.

For further information go to: www.thinkivp.com/9781844745425.

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Finding the Father Heart of God

an we call God ‘Father’?

In scripture, it appears to be his favourite name. The gospels record that Jesus called God ‘Father’ over 200 times; 150 times in the gospel of John alone.

Jesus invites us into the same relationship when he begins to teach us how to pray - with the phrase ‘Our Father’. He is embracing us and inviting us, together with him, into this intimate relationship, into the Father heart of God.

Distorted images

Yet there are difficulties. I had been a Christian for ten years, and had been praying for people to be healed for at least eight, before I was challenged to examine my own perception of God. I was listening to a sermon in which the speaker prayed that God would show us some of the distorted imagery we had of him in our hearts. What I saw was a shadowy, distant person.

I always knew my earthly father loved me and I had accepted that God loved me, but my earthly father was emotionally absent; and in my heart, God was absent. He was shadowy and distant. Despite the fact that I could quote endless scriptures about God being near me and never leaving me, my heart was playing a different tune.

‘ God was absent. He was shadowy and distant’

We may think we know God as father, but what is really happening in our hearts?

Lin Button probes the nation’s ‘father wound’

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I began to pray that God would heal my heart, and I asked my prayer partner to pray for me. I prayed that God would enter into the fatherless places in my heart and help me to receive more of him. I used Psalm 68:5 - that God would be a Father to the fatherless. One of my difficulties was that my heart’s capacity to desire was limited; I had always managed with little emotional attention, so in the same way that a stomach cannot immediately digest a lot of food if you haven’t eaten for a long time, I couldn’t ‘stomach’

This split between the God that I knew through Scripture and the imagery in my heart could be called, in poetic language, the split between the head and heart. The philosopher Pascal said, ‘The heart has its reasons that reason knows nothing about’. Our heads may be very clear about what God is like, while our hearts hold distorted pictures. We therefore need to ask God for the healing of our hearts.

How we see God and the truth of his character profoundly affects how we see ourselves. The two lenses through which we view life are these: the way we see God, and the way we see ourselves. For instance, if our parents were judgemental, critical or made us feel ‘not good enough’, we often continually judge and measure ourselves, thinking God is the same as our parents.

Radical statement

We are so familiar with the idea of God being our Father that we no longer really celebrate it. Yet Jesus telling us to call God ‘Abba’, which means ‘Papa’ or ‘Daddy’ is a truly radical statement. The Jews at that time would have no more dared to address God in this manner than we would call the Queen of England ‘Mummy’.

God, as our Father, has adopted us into the royal household. There may be unplanned pregnancies but there are no unplanned adoptions!

This is God’s plan for us: he has adopted us so we can experience his Father heart, and he is a father who is faithful, generous and attentive

to us; a father who protects, accepts and affirms us. None of us, of course, have experienced a perfect father and so we need, with the help of friends, to ask for healing. There are many different healings needed, but the most common is for the father’s affirmation. One man’s story illustrates this very well: ‘I was the only child of undemonstrative parents, and I spent a lot of my formative years in a boys’ prep school. I saw my first pornographic images when I was nine. By 2001, despite being married, my pornography habit had become an addiction. It shaped my personality, making me self-obsessed, self-hating, paranoid, resenting and hating women, including my wife.

I did not feel accepted by God, so I threw myself into church work, trying to earn his approval.

‘My journey to healing included a lot of prayer ministry, but one turning point was hearing a talk on Luke 3, where Father God says to Jesus, ‘You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased’ (v 22). The speaker pointed out that at the time of his baptism Jesus hadn’t done anything other than live a normal human life, but God still loved him and was pleased with him. She was preaching on the fatherhood of God, and the sense of being spiritual orphans that is so prevalent among Christians. With my God-given desire for love and acceptance, and lack of affection as a child, I had been looking for what I needed in all the wrong places.

Since that talk I have been stronger in my battle against temptation, and growing in appreciation of being a loved, adopted child of God.’

Father God is not silent

God’s words at Jesus’ baptism, quoted in the story above, demonstrate what a father’s affirmation is like. We live in a performance-orientated world; acceptance is usually conditional, such as, ‘if you make the football team’, ‘if you get your GCSEs’, ‘if you get into university’...if, if, if!

And we think God is like that. I once heard John Wimber, founder of the Vineyard movement, speak magnificently about his grandchildren.

He described how he couldn’t wait for them to visit. When they finally arrived they would rush in and sit on his lap. He would read them a story, and if he looked away to talk to anyone else they would cover his ears, and turn his face back to the story. He went on to say that if they had come to visit him and said, ‘We must mow the lawn or empty your bin so that you will love us’, it would have broken his heart.

TEACHING

more. So I prayed, ‘As a deer pants for the living water, so my soul longs after you’ (Ps 42:1-2). I confessed that I was not hungry and thirsty, and asked God to create hunger and thirst for him in me. Slowly, over months, I began to believe in my heart that God loved and even liked me; as this newfound security became a reality I was naturally hungry for more of his Father love.

‘ God, as our Father, has adopted us into the royal household. There may be unplanned pregnancies but there are no unplanned adoptions!’

We so often think of God in the same way, and believe if we do this or that he will love us. We too are breaking his heart because he has done everything he can to say, ‘I love you now. I love you as you are. You haven’t got to do anything to earn my love’. God speaks his acceptance to us. It is not secret.

God speaks to us and intended our earthly fathers to speak blessings over us; he does not want fathers to be silent. When Jesus was baptised in the River Jordan, God spoke.

This was no secret affirmation; he demonstrated that he wanted every one of us to hear that kind of blessing from our fathers.

Our perception of God and therefore of ourselves is deeply affected by an inability among human fathers to express love. In this country we have a crisis in masculinity which is cultural and generational. Over the years at conferences when I teach about the lack of our earthly father’s affirmation, thousands have responded to the need for this wound to be healed.

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TEACHING

We cannot go back and be parented again; but we can respond now to the Father heart of God and ask him to come and speak, or even sing his affirmation over us: ‘He will rejoice over you with great gladness. With his love he will calm all your fears.

He will exalt over you by singing a happy song’ (Zeph 3:17, NLT).

‘ Let’s not hold back. God is ready and waiting to speak his affirmation and embrace us as his children’

us faithfulness, generosity, protection, affection and attention? In the areas where we are lacking, we need to look up relevant scriptures with a trusted friend or prayer partner, and ask God to make them a reality in our hearts. Let’s not hold back.

God is ready and waiting to speak his affirmation and embrace us as his children: forgiven, adopted and unconditionally loved.

For more on healing the father wound please see Lin Button’s book ‘Father Matters’.

For the healing of our own hearts we need to ask God to show us in which areas we have suffered a ‘father wound’. Did our fathers show

New Wine

Summer 12 LSE & CSW

Shepton Mallet, Somerset 21-27 July & 28 July-3 August 2011

The purpose of ‘The Gallery’ exhibition is to celebrate our God-given creativity, encourage the artists in our church communities, allow God to speak through artists’ work and create a space for people to relax and reflect.

We are inviting submissions of high-quality work from all aspects of artistic expression: painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, short films, poetry, pottery, textiles.

Lin has been involved in healing prayer for more than thirty years through teaching, prayer ministry and counselling.

Fit For LiFE

There’s a world to win. Is God calling you to play a key role in reaching it?

With full time and part time BA programmes specialising in leadership, mission and crosscultural ministry as well as biblical studies and theology, Mattersey Hall is the best place to discover and refine your gifts and to be equipped for serving God in the 21st century.

Call for a prospectus today on 01777 817663 or see our website.

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The closing date for submissions is SATURDAY 16 JUNE. If your work is selected you must be able to deliver it (and to collect it if not sold) to Shepton Mallet. You may want to insure your own work.

Email your name, details (title, medium, dimensions) and good quality photos or recordings of the work (max 8 pieces) to: marketplace@new-wine.org (FAO Jeremy Geake).

Lin Button

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STORIES

Following an appeal at last year’s summer conference, New Wine delegates gave a staggering £186,000 to Open Doors’ Operation Rainbow, to strengthen the persecuted Church in Pakistan. Kenny and Morag Borthwick travelled there to find out more

T

he worship at the evening celebration had been glorious, and I was settling back in my seat to enjoy the preaching of God’s word. It was last year’s New Wine Summer Conference, and the speaker was Bishop Zac from Uganda. He said he was going to speak about the idols that exist in Western Christianity.

My preacher’s brain (small, but perfectly – and arrogantly – formed) began working out how the sermon would unfold – the idol of money would of course come first, probably followed by the idol of success... within a few seconds, however, I was jolted out of my craft of sermon prediction by what Bishop Zac actually said. He said that one of the idols in the hearts of Christians in the UK was the idol of safety. He explained that many Christians who wanted to come out to Uganda and visit him to see what God was doing would frequently ask, ‘Is it safe?’

I will never forget the look on Bishop Zac’s face as he acted out his answer: ‘No, it is not safe!’ My wife Morag and I knew that God was speaking, and there and then we took down the idol of safety.

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Willing to die

Fast forwarding a few months, both of us were out of our familiar setting of church in Edinburgh and the UK renewal scene. Instead we were in Pakistan, walking into a conference for pastors, church leaders and workers from countries where Christians experience persecution.

The same night that we had heard Bishop Zac speak, New Wine delegates had given wonderfully generously to support the work of Open Doors’ partners in Pakistan.

We were there as part of an Open Doors team linking up with one of these partners, ALIVE. We could not understand the words of the song that was sung in worship, but we later found out that it had been written by a theological professor especially for the conference. The theme of the song was: ‘Lord, we have suffered much for you and are willing to suffer more. We are willing even to die for you’.

It is hard to describe what it is like to suddenly find yourself hearing Christians speak about their friends and colleagues who have been killed for the sake of Jesus Christ. The shock factor was immense. By the end of our trip we had tasted in a small way what many of these dear brothers and

I don’t know how much God did through us on the trip; but I know

‘ Our first Sunday back in the UK was difficult. How could we be worshipping in such freedom, when brothers and sisters in the Lord were facing such tension?’

A Kingdom of justice

First of all, my understanding of the Kingdom of God has grown.

I was reminded in Pakistan that a vision of the Kingdom is much more vital, basic and biblical in emphasis than is laboured in typical renewal conferences. It is overwhelmingly about justice for the oppressed and for those whose voice needs to be heard.

This is what Jesus, the King of the

be humanity in its most basic need: ‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’.

STORIES

sisters face on a daily basis. Armed guards at churches, outside homes and even outside restaurants became a familiar sight to us, although I am not sure whether their presence reassured us or made us more nervous. We became particularly aware of the vulnerability of church leaders and prominent Christians in secular life – and their children – since kidnapping and assassination are distinct possibilities. The persecution is happening against a general background of great instability that we have all seen on our TV screens in recent months; it felt like a tinderbox that could ignite at any moment. Our first Sunday back in the UK was difficult. How could we be worshipping in such freedom, when brothers and sisters in the Lord were facing such tension?

In Pakistan we met people of great courage, but also heard tales of great injustice and vulnerability.

We met some of the highest in the land whose stand for Jesus makes them potential targets of hatred; and some of the very poorest, in whom hope had almost died, were it not for people demonstrating the love of God to them. We saw the most amazing courage and compassion in action by local people. One of the highlights of the trip was seeing a graduation day at a literacy and sewing school run by ALIVE. It was incredibly moving to see the change in the faces of the girls as they received their graduation scrolls in their hands. They had worth and value after all. Someone had believed in them. Hundreds of people were applauding them. There is much wonderful work going on, but the gratitude felt towards the support of Open Doors was tangible. I thank God for ministries like this and the respectful way in which it draws alongside what God is already doing.

As those only very recently involved, we benefited from the huge favour of well established relationships that Open Doors has built up.

A Bible for the persecuted

that God did a lot of work in us through the amazing people we met from Pakistan and other countries.

I have been left with memories and thoughts that will not go away, and they have changed me as much as any experience of the Spirit, if not more so. Let me share them with you.

Kingdom, is concerned about. In Isaiah 42 we are told, ‘He will not falter or lose heart until justice prevails throughout the Earth’ (v 4).

Matthew 25:40 seems to tell us that on judgement day the only witness summoned to confirm the genuineness of our faith in Jesus will

The second thought that keeps coming to mind is how much of the Bible has taken on a new meaning for me. It was a thrill to hear one of the Open Doors team, Dr. Ron Boyd MacMillan, speak about various books of the Bible through the lens of persecution. The hope is that Open Doors will create DVD material looking at each book of the Bible from that perspective. What a magnificent resource that would be for the persecuted Church – and indeed for the whole Church. I have been thinking about some of the most familiar Bible passages with a fresh perspective ever since. Let me give you one example. The assurance of a love from which nothing can ever separate us (Romans 8) was written for people ‘being given up to death all day long’ (v 36). In my Book of Common Order for funeral services, that phrase is left out of the reading.

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STORIES

Perhaps it was this assurance that caused another happening we will never forget from our time in Pakistan – people giving their lives to Jesus Christ. Along with the deep human longing for justice there is a deep yearning for the love of God. When the Spirit of God is working it becomes clear that the longing for that love is stronger than the fear of reprisal. To be loved by God is the deepest cry of humanity the world over.

A cleared vision

The third thought? Can more believers be encouraged to give up the idol of safety, question the smallness of the most prevalent Charismatic concerns, and become alive to what God is doing in the world of the persecuted Church? If anything in this article has begun to do that for you, finding out about Open Doors would be a good starting point to try and discover with more clarity what God is seeking to say to you.

What difference did your gift to Operation Rainbow make?

Stephen Rand of Open Doors reports Open Doors’ focus in Pakistan is on encouraging church leaders, helping poor Christians earn a living, and running literacy programmes, to create a strong Church in a hostile environment. The following is an example from just one of our projects that was helped by New Wine’s gift: ‘ When we first moved here not a single Christian had a decent job.

No-one would share a work space with Christians, and many of our people were illiterate and alcoholic. Now two young men have got good jobs! The project taught them vital lifestyle skills, like how to look presentable; they are no longer dependent on alcohol and have overcome their fear of the outside world; they know how to read and write. They also learned what really opens doors: to read God’s word and pray. Literacy has made all the difference to this community’

Miss Niyamat from inner city Lahore You can explore further at www.opendoorsuk.org, email inspire@opendoorsuk.org or call 01993 777300

Kenny Borthwick Kenny has been a Church of Scotland minister for almost 30 years. He is Senior Minister of Holy Trinity Church of Scotland in Wester Hailes, an urban priority area. He is also Chairman of New Wine Scotland. He is married to Morag and they have two grown up children.

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Arrow put mission back at the top of the list.

The passion for mission which underpins every module really inspired me to get out there and encourage my congregation to do the same.

Having children at the local school gives me a great opportunity to share Jesus’ love with other families, with a weekly event at church after the school run. We’ve also started doing Messy Church, where more people can explore the Bible in fun and creative ways.

STORIES

It is reassuring to know that not only has God planned our lives and our ‘works’ for us, but He has also given us all we need to do them. And, importantly, our times are in His hands. (Psalm 31:15).

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STORIES

L

ast winter New Wine and Christian Vision for Men (CVM) joined forces to set up the popular ‘Men’s Days’ which ran in Watford and Manchester. Calling it a ‘match made in heaven between the might of New Wine and the grassroots of CVM’, Carl Beech says he is genuinely humbled by the new partnership. We asked Carl to tell us more about CVM’s vision, and about men…

How did you come to Christ?

The first Bible I owned was from the Gideons. It had those ultra-thin pages, so I smoked it from Revelation back to Hebrews – I took God’s word in quite deeply!

I was 18, doing my A-levels, and had a burning ambition to join the army. One day an English teacher asked us, ‘are there any born-again Christians in this class?’ When my mate put up his hand I was horrified.

I mocked him for months. One time when I was taking the mick out of him in front of a group of girls, he punched me in the chest and said, ‘If you don’t come to church on Sunday you’re a chicken’. So I had to go.

I kept going, and when I heard the gospel I knew it was God speaking to me, calling me as his son. I stood up in response and cried for 45 minutes. On the way home I realised all these people around me, black, white, tall, short, whatever – they’re all God’s kids and they’ve got to know. I didn’t join the army; instead I planted a church at the age of 24 from scratch.

You’re now director of CVM, and you talk about your passion for reaching men with the gospel. Why men?

The statistics say that UK congregations are on average 65% female.* Does this mean the gospel is more for women than for men? Or is there something wrong with Church culture, or with the way we are communicating the gospel? Why do you rarely see white working class men in church? Where are the plumbers and the van drivers? What on earth is going on there?

Part of my calling is to contextualise the gospel for men, and work out how, for instance, I can reach builders as well as academics.

Your vision is to reach a million men for Christ – how?

New Wine magazine talks to Carl Beech, director of Christian Vision for Men (CVM).

We discover that men like burning things and watching Top Gear - but they can also use their testosterone for the good of society

36

I asked God, ‘what do you want me to do?’ and the answer was, ‘kick-start a movement that will affect a nation.’ It sounds a bit grand, but CVM is not a personality cult, it’s a fast-growing grassroots movement. You can do evangelism by hiring out Wembley, and at most you’ll get perhaps 20,000 non-Christians hearing the message. We’ve reached 250,000 non-Christians through our networks and 500-plus small groups in the last year alone. That’s grassroots revolutionary power! For example, we’ve got an office on Belfast’s Shankhill / Falls Road peace line, and men from both sides are coming to Christ.

Imagine a scale where zero is a man who only thinks about church if he’s burying someone, and ten is an on-fire Christian - the Alpha course is only helpful for those at seven to eight because they are ready for a conversation. 80% of men come to Christ through their friends, but 90% of men don’t know how to do small talk.

So we run small groups to help get men talking by doing stuff together. We’ve also got resources, like a debating game you can play in a pub, which tries to capture the moment where every bloke is an expert. Men have come to faith on the back of that. But anything that moves them up the scale is great – then they might be ready for something like Alpha. Any bloke can do this. Get guys around you, get in touch with us, and set up a group through your local church. We have loads of materials, and evangelists who can come and speak. Our DVD, Men, explains our strategy for reaching guys.

Is it true that you’ve said men shouldn’t have to sing worship songs about loving Jesus?

I’m often misquoted on this one. Some people think I’m saying that men can’t be emotional. I think that men are highly emotional. I’ve seen men with tears in their eyes about a whole range of issues. But Jesus is not just the Son of God, he’s also a man. I find songs that say to him ‘You’re my lover’ a bit odd; the language is almost sexualised. When a man gets chatting with Christian mates down the pub, then comes to church, do we expect him to sing about running into the arms of a bloke he’s never met? I love Jesus, but not with an Eros-type love.

Intimacy is good, but let’s think missionally, and recast the language. See my blog post, ‘Jesus is my boyfriend and the culture of the God snog song’, on the CVM website.

What effect would reaching men have on society as a whole?

If you want to tackle violence against women, and see brothels closed, pornography and sex trafficking stopped – then you want to see men transformed by the power of Jesus. We need prosecutions and enforcement, yes, but we need to change men’s hearts. If a million men came to faith, I think the country would look different. You’d see men being less apathetic, and taking more responsibility at home with the kids. There are alarming statistics on the impact of fathers missing from families. Men are a great power in their homes for good or for ill. If kids are disconnected from fathers, it has a disproportionate effect, but if they are connected, kids really take off.

Do men need to hear the gospel in a different way to women?

STORIES

Our groups fulfil men’s need to meet together – to be a ‘band of brothers’. That’s why 100 million men watch Top Gear. It’s not about cars – it’s about being in a gang. Any evangelism that involves doing things together – burning stuff, breaking stuff, eating stuff – combats the epidemic of loneliness that there is among men. In the end people want to work with us because they see our culture. We’re a bunch of mates.

Men and women are wired differently. Men have ten times more testosterone than women. We’re bigger on the whole and build bigger muscles. Spiritually and physically, men need to find a purpose for their strength, or they get frustrated. I’m saying, ‘get involved in the fight of your life. Take a hit for the gospel!’ I never preach an easy gospel. I make it really difficult and try to put them off. Men need to hear a ‘movement-based’ gospel – and women are energised by it too. It’s a call to action.

Set captives free, give sight to those who are blind – it’s all about getting out there, getting some scars. In my view of scripture, healing is a by-product. You journey with Jesus; you may find healing on the way and get your relationships sorted out, but that’s never the focus. Sadly, the gospel has become needs-based, attracting needy people, without calling them into action. Nine of the twelve apostles were martyred – now nine out of twelve Christians want to be hugged.

CVM runs this camp for men. I preach the gospel on the Saturday night. I get a few hefty fellas up the front and say, ‘If you want to give your life to Jesus, you will have to die to self, and it will hit your wallet, your time, and more. But if you want to change society with your life – if you really want in – come forward and shake the hand of one of these men. We’ll pray for you, then we’ll buy you a beer and a cigar’. Men come running forward, in tears. Then we make a bonfire the size of a transit van. We saw dozens of men meet Jesus last year at this event.

What’s your message to any man reading this?

Please get involved. The biggest problem I face is apathy.

Men are like sleeping lions. If you want to change the nation, it’s time to stand up, demonstrate radical, costly love, be prayerful, engaged with the Bible, and learn how to make life count. The gospel is not, ‘Come to Jesus so he hugs and strokes you’ – we’re called to walk a narrow path that hits your time, skills and money. Become the man you know you need to be deep down. Jesus can do that in you. It’s costly, but better than arriving in Heaven as spoilt brats without any battle scars. You can change things if you get off your backside and do something.

I’m an ordinary bloke from Romford, just having a go.

God needs people like you to have a go. Just join in. * Churchgoing in the UK, Tearfund (2007)

Carl Beech Carl has been a banker, church planter and team leader of a large multi-congregational church. He now leads CVM (www.cvm.org.uk) and is the founder of the Codelife movement. He is also on the councils of the EA and Fusion.

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STORIES

Faith at Work John Archer is a sought-after comedy magician who performs internationally.

He has won The Magic Circle Stage Magician of The Year AWARD, IS A Member of The Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star, and thinks he may even be the best comedy magician in his house

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STORIES

What do you do?

I’m a comedy magician. I perform magic tricks to entertain people and make them laugh.

What’s a typical day like for you?

There really isn’t a typical day, which is why I love my job so much. Every day is different. I could be at home in my office answering interview questions one day, driving to a small Methodist church in the middle of nowhere to entertain 50 farmers another; and the next I could be getting on a plane to fly to the USA to lecture to other magicians.

What do you most enjoy about your work?

I love the fact that my working life is so varied. I write for television, I host and appear at private parties and corporate events, and I lecture and perform for magicians around the world. I’ve also toured with my best friend, comedian Tim Vine. I’ve performed on cruise ships including the old QE2, and entertained troops around the world. I have also spent a lot of time working with churches on social and outreach events. Binding it all together is a love of making people laugh. Inspiring others is a great joy. Another thing that makes my job special is having so many friends from around the country and worldwide, both Christians and non-Christians.

What are some of the challenges and how do you deal with them?

The challenges are as varied as the work – it all depends on what I’m doing. One constant is the challenge of travel. I drive around 40,000 miles per year. I often spend five or more hours in the car for several days in a

row. How do I deal with it? Well, I spend more than I can afford on a nice car, and I have learnt to enjoy the journey. I make phone calls to friends, listen to the radio, vary the route, split the journeys up. I even chat to God a little.

How do you try to live out your faith through your work?

I do feel very strongly that God wants people to laugh. I think laughter is God’s invention, and so what I do is very much part of his plan. In the same way that every Christian does, I try to be Christ-like, and I regularly fail. I can’t abuse my position in front of an audience to evangelise, unless that’s why I’ve been booked, so I just try to be open to what God has planned for me each day.

To see John’s live show, or to keep up to date with what he’s up to and where he’s performing, visit his website at www.john-archer.com or follow him on twitter www.twitter.com/thearchini

Can you think of a particular time when you’ve experienced God with you in your work?

I often wonder if what I do is actually of any value, but God regularly reminds me that it is. Once I was

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performing at a large Christian festival, to mainly 30-40 year olds, but there was one lady sitting at the front who looked to be in her late 60s.

As the show went on I started to pick on her a little, teasing her and speaking loudly as though I thought she was deaf. I always try to be careful when singling out audience members but I could see that she was laughing out loud and enjoying being involved. When the show was over the arts coordinator approached me and began to challenge me for picking on the older lady at the front.

At that moment she approached us.

‘Excuse me’, she said, ‘I’m sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to thank you. My husband died six months ago and tonight was the first time I have been able to laugh since then’.

Needless to say the arts coordinator shut up, and I went back to the dressing room for a quiet cry.

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Parenting: Pressure or Pleasure?

Introducing the National Parenting Initiative: Ken Costa, with Mark and Lindsay Melluish, call us to join them in the transformation of family life across the nation

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n 11 January 2012 over 200 people gathered at Holy Trinity Brompton in London to launch the National Parenting Initiative (NPI) to church leaders. The issue of parenting has recently come to the forefront of the UK media, thanks to events such as last summer’s riots, and the publication of the Children’s Society’s Good Childhood Report. The riots were linked to the UK having the ‘worst record in family breakdown in Europe’, according to national newspapers, while the Archbishop of York’s foreword to the Children’s Society’s report described the discovery of 500,000 unhappy children in the UK as ‘a wake-up call to us all’.

Why parenting courses for all?

Children do not arrive with an instruction manual and parenting is arguably the most important role anyone can undertake. Parents today, whether they are parenting as a couple, parenting on their own or are step-parents, are facing many new pressures: •G reater geographical mobility has meant the loss of support from the extended family •M any mothers with newborn babies and young children are isolated at the very moment when they are most in need of advice and support •P arents who work full-time outside the home struggle with the pressure on their time •P arents need encouragement from others in a similar situation but many couples with young children are living on the margins of their social lives •T hose parenting on their own face even greater pressures and many children are growing up without any close relationship with their father • There are more step-parents than ever before.

Step-parenting involves new, and often challenging, family dynamics 40

‘ The Archbishop of York described the discovery of 500,000 unhappy children in the UK as “a wake-up call to us all”’ Alongside these factors is a general loss of trust in authority figures. Respect for authority begins in the home but many parents have lost confidence in setting boundaries and passing on important values to their children. They may not have had a model of a parent combining love and firmness in their own upbringing and don’t know what good parenting looks like.

Parenting courses equip parents with practical skills so that they can love and care for their children with greater confidence. These responses are typical: ‘The course gave really helpful ways of dealing with seemingly impossible situations’; ‘The course helped to build my confidence as a parent’; ‘It has given me ways to communicate effectively with my kids’; ‘Hearing other parents is reassuring, and finding the tools to use is brilliant’; ‘It’s helped tremendously in many ways, like seeing some of my children’s behaviour as just child-like and not losing my cool over it’; ‘We’ve been given the tools to communicate better with our teenagers’; ‘We don’t have children yet but it has prepared us very well for when the baby comes.’

When parents discover they are not alone in the challenges they face and can be part of a group where they pick up tips and share experiences with other parents, it can make a huge difference to their family life.

What is the opportunity for the Church?

The NPI is seeking to help the Church in the UK across every denomination and network to grasp the opportunity to connect with parents in their communities and support family life in a practical way. In the words of Kay Warren, ‘The Church – with all its warts and flaws – has advantages over every other institution in society.

Churches are part of a grassroots networking system...

The Church has been around for nearly two thousand

The Church is uniquely placed to make a huge difference.

The NPI is an initiative that gives a simple organisational framework to local churches, whether rural, inner city or suburban, to be part of this movement through running a parenting course for parents and carers of children and teenagers in their local community as well as for the congregation.

Churches that are already running, or are planning to run, a parenting course are being invited to register their course – however small – on the new NPI website. Some courses will involve a few parents meeting in a home. Others will be larger courses run in community centres, kids’ clubs, youth centres, cafés after hours, schools or church rooms.

The vision of the NPI is that soon, with a few clicks on the website, every parent in the UK will be able to find a parenting course run by a church near them.

How do we change the culture?

others at a similar stage of parenting to themselves. You do not have to be a professional to run these courses. They can be hosted by congregation members who have a heart and a passion to support parents and families. Inviting a few friends and neighbours is a great way to get started and to familiarise themselves with the resources.

The NPI will also list every church running a parenting course from another source, so long as it has a proven track record of helping parents in the community.

‘ The course helped tremendously in many ways, like seeing some of my children’s behaviour as just child-like and not losing my cool over it’ Get involved!

We need your support.

For many people today, attending a parenting course is seen as a sign of failure. By having hundreds of courses running all over the country we can change the culture so that it becomes normal for every parent. It is not dissimilar to the change in perception about wearing a seat belt. In the UK it became compulsory to wear a seat belt in a car in 1984. The evidence showed it could save up to 1,000 lives and 10,000 injuries every year. Even then it took a sustained campaign by the government for people to realise this was a sensible thing to do. The perception about going on a parenting course will be changed when enough people pass on the same message: doing a course is fun, beneficial and a sensible thing to do.

The NPI was launched on 18 March, Mothering Sunday, with hundreds of churches already registered on the website as running or intending to run a course in 2012.

Through many churches working together, the NPI is attracting the interest of the government and the media to help spread that message and change the culture.

To find out more, log on to thenpi.org.uk

Who is involved?

Baptists, Catholics, Methodists, Pentecostals, Anglicans, New Wine, Alpha, Care for the Family, the Family Caring Trust, Hillsong, the Vineyard, Audacious Manchester, New Frontiers, Pioneer, AOG, the Redeemed Church of God, the Evangelical Alliance and The Salvation Army are some of the organisations, churches and church networks involved in promoting the NPI. On the NPI website a range of well-established parenting resources and their providers is listed for those wanting to get involved: • 21st Century Parenting by Care for the Family • Relationship Central from Alpha International • Family Time by New Wine • The Family Caring Trust Many of the available resources are easy for volunteers to run, consisting of ready-to-use DVD sets, guest manuals and step-by-step leaders’ guides. The guests watch a session on DVD and then discuss what they have heard with

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years; it certainly isn’t a fly-by-night operation. It has a track record of caring for the sick, helping the poor, and leading people to Jesus Christ. The Church offers love as the motivation for everything we do’.

If you are already running a parenting course, join this exciting initiative by registering your course on the NPI website. If you are not currently running a course but would like to get involved, register your intention to start a course sometime in 2012. You can decide which course, when and where at a later date.

Together, we can come alongside thousands and thousands of parents all over the nation, to support them and help them to strengthen their family life. The potential is vast!

John Coles writes

‘ In my experience no-one is really prepared for the demanding task of parenting; we all need help from others! The tried and tested Family Time course has already given many couples fresh insight and fresh hope. Now the NPI gives a wonderful opportunity for churches all around the country to offer this help to their communities and to help shape the nation’s family life.’

Ken Costa Ken has worked for more than 30 years in the UK’s financial services, including as chairman of leading institution Lazard International. He is a regular speaker at international conferences dealing with the current financial crisis, and chairman of Alpha International.

Mark and Lindsay Melluish Mark and Lindsay are the New Wine London & South East Regional Leaders. They lead St Paul’s Ealing, a vibrant and lively church, and wrote and pioneered the Family Time Parenting Children course.

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TOUGH QUESTIONS

Where is God when it

E

verybody hurts sometimes.

So REM famously sang in 1992. The number of cover versions that have been made of this song over the years bears testimony to the way in which the lyric resonates with our human condition. It speaks to people who have had too much of what life has to throw at them and feel like letting go. The song encourages us to take comfort from our friends and to recognise that we are not alone.

As Christians we know that we are not alone. There are some who will argue that being a Christian exempts us from times of pain, but thankfully they are few and far between, as experience, as well as stories about the heroes of scripture and of Church history, teaches us only too rapidly.

Such a utopian view has no basis in reality. Only yesterday I met with two faithful, prayerful Christians who are living through pain and stress, caused in the one case by the death in the womb at full term of a much-wanted baby, and on the other hand by the severe illness and dependency of a young relative.

Each reader will come to this topic with their own hurts: past experiences that remain raw, present pains that have turned life upside down, or the fear of future trials. My most significant for this discussion is the death of my first wife in 2007 at the age of just 41. Early in 2006 Rosie was diagnosed with an aggressive cancerous brain tumour, which had already started to affect her speech and the use of her right

44

hand. Intensive radiotherapy, several rounds of chemotherapy, a complex cocktail of drugs – and hours of persistent prayer by thousands of people around the world – were not able to arrest the advancement of the tumour. It robbed her of her speech, her mobility, her independence and ultimately, on 16 April 2007, her life.

‘ Our challenge is to feel concern about evil more deeply; most of our experience is at arm’s length’ Drawing closer

So where was God through the trauma of adjustment, the pain of decline and dependency, the heartbreak of disappointment and the anguish of bereavement? It is easy to lift chunks of scripture and remind ourselves that God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us (words to Joshua in Josh 1:5), and that he will be with us to the very end of the age ( Jesus’ words to his disciples in Matt 28:20). These truths are not to be disputed, but what difference do they make? Perhaps the right question to ask is not ‘where is God when it hurts?’ but ‘how do I find God in the midst of hurt’?

Let me answer first on behalf of Rosie. I genuinely believe that, through her terminal illness, she drew not away from God but closer to him. Although she, at times,

grew frustrated with her increasing disability, she remarkably never became bitter, responding to those who lamented that this shouldn’t happen to someone as lovely as her with, ‘Well, who should it happen to then?’ As the disease progressively robbed her of her ability to communicate with me and with her friends, it could not steal from her her ability to communicate with her heavenly Father, and she spent increasing amounts of time in silent prayer and study of God’s Word.

She lived through her illness as one who, if she was not to be healed, knew exactly where she was going.

I had the painful privilege of being by her side at the end of her earthly life. She had been unconscious with her eyes closed for five days, but, surrounded by friends, her eyes opened wide and she stared straight ahead for a minute or so. Then she simply stopped breathing. I believe she was given a glimpse of the glory to which she was heading.

Shifting perspective

That is surely one of the places in which we can find God when it hurts – in the perspective of our destination. Maurice Chevalier famously said that old age isn’t so bad when you consider the alternative. But as Christians we know that the alternative is very good indeed: our future is secure and we will get out of this life alive.

Life on this earth has a short span, and our days are like grass (Ps 103), and our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (Rom 8:18).

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? ‘ In Jesus God endured the very worst that life could throw at anyone and has come through in triumph’ A second perspective is that of the cross. In Jesus God endured the very worst that life could throw at anyone and has come through in triumph. We know that he doesn’t stand remotely and unfeelingly above our suffering. Paul even said that he wanted to participate in his sufferings and thereby know the power of the resurrection (Phil 3:10).

A third perspective is that of the body.

We are together the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27), and at different times, we are called both to give and to receive comfort and support as Christ’s representatives. Sometimes this is very practical in the form of lifts, meals, child care and so on, and sometimes it is in the form of a shoulder to cry on or a piece of gentle advice. But, in each case, it is as part of a functioning body of Christ. When life was at its toughest for me, I encountered God through meals on my doorstep, through friends I could weep with, but just as importantly through friends who would lift my spirit by just having a good laugh with me.

We also find God when we stop pretending. Many of the Psalms are excellent examples of this. Psalm 13 shows us honest frustration and

anger with God, giving way to an attitude of belligerent trust – showing your Christian ‘but’, as I like to call it! The temptation when faced with suffering is either to try to go round it or to get stuck in the middle of it.

The Psalms help us to travel honestly through suffering and out the other side, as lament gives way to trust.

A fifth perspective is that of praise.

The day after Rosie’s death I attended a friend’s licensing service, where I was confronted with the need to sing the song ‘Blessed be your name’. I recognised at that point that if I couldn’t sing it (and mean it) ‘on the road marked with suffering’, I had no right to sing it ‘when the sun is shining down on me’. I believe that praise was a lifesaver for me. God calls us to bring him a sacrifice of praise, not for his benefit but for ours. The discipline of praising him for all that he is and thanking him for all that he has done lifts our spirits and allows us to meet God even in the midst of great anguish and uncertainty – just look at Paul and Silas in Philippi (Acts 16:24-25).

Rob Bewley wonders if it’s time to change the question

Lastly, is the perspective of grace.

How many times have you heard it said, ‘I just couldn’t cope with what that person is going through’? I had it said to me on many occasions. And yet I did cope, and many other friends have also coped with their own pains.

Surely God pours his grace into our lives to keep us going, whether we recognise his support or not.

None of these perspectives is an answer in itself, but I believe that together they allow us not to get bitter but better, and even to grow through the hurt, so that suffering, though never welcome, really can lead to endurance, character and hope (Rom 5:3-4). In that way, to quote words which were very important to Rosie and me, when we walk through the waters he will be with us, the rivers will not overwhelm us and the flames will not consume us (Isa 43:2). After all, everybody hurts sometimes.

Revd Dr Rob Bewley Rob is Vicar of the Church of Christ the King in Kettering, Northamptonshire, and a regular seminar speaker at New Wine Summer Conferences. After being widowed in 2007, in 2010 he was given the wonderful gift of marriage to the beautiful Anushka.

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Stop the Olympic Traffick Who’s going to win at this year’s Olympics? Steve Chalke hopes it won’t be the criminals who traffick humans for profit, and invites us all to make it stop 6 July 2005 was a day to remember. The announcement that London would host the 2012 Olympic Games is still fresh in my mind. There was an overwhelming excitement that this historic sporting event was coming to the UK – and to London.

Since the announcement was first made, excitement has continued to grow. Businesses talk about increases of trade; educators hail the Games as an opportunity to re-engage a generation with sport and achievement; and politicians talk of their hopes for long-awaited regeneration in parts of East London. In fact, the expectations of the Games are so great that Prime Minster David Cameron recently declared that they would play a crucial role in restoring growth to the UK economy.

Some of this can probably be dismissed as ‘hype’, but there is genuinely every reason to be hopeful. During the Games, it is estimated that four million people will visit London, creating huge opportunities for the retail and tourism trade, and new jobs for a broad range of people.

But among the excitement and anticipation of the countless people travelling to the city, there is a more worrying story to tell: the story of people for whom the Olympics could signal the beginning of a life of slavery.

Every year, millions of people are tricked into leaving their home by the promise of a better life elsewhere.

When they arrive at their destination, however, they discover that they have been deceived into becoming a modern-day slave. This crime is known as ‘human trafficking’, and the fact that London is hosting the Olympics can only add to its appeal as a lucrative destination for traffickers. We know that there are people all over the world who are already looking forward to a once-in-a lifetime visit to our iconic capital; what no one knows is how many are doing so for criminal reasons.

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What is human trafficking?

Ellen (not her real name), 21, comes from South London.

Over the course of three years she was befriended, wined and dined by the man she fell in love with. He offered to take her on a weekend’s break in France. They spent a romantic few days together in Paris, but as Ellen prepared to fly back to London, suddenly everything changed. Her boyfriend coldly explained that he had stolen her passport and that she was now his slave. She would work for him as a prostitute. And, if she tried to escape, her parents would both be dead before she ever reached home. Ellen would spend almost a year forced to work on the streets before she was finally rescued.

‘ Suddenly everything changed. Her boyfriend coldly explained that he had stolen her passport and that she was now his slave’ Human trafficking can take a number of different forms, including domestic servitude, forced labour, forced street crime and sexual exploitation. Whatever the differences in the ultimate exploitation, trafficking tends to begin in a similar way: people are tricked, or taken against their will, and transported. It might be that parents are deceived into releasing their children, or into selling them for as little as £12, to a local gangmaster or organised international trafficking ring, convinced that they are giving them the chance of ‘a better life’.

Though we don’t know for sure how many people are affected by trafficking, it is estimated to be the second biggest form of crime in the world after the illegal arms trade, and it is growing. Up to 2.4 million men, women and children are trafficked across borders or within their own country every year. In fact, as an overall industry, business analysts have estimated that traffickers earn as much as companies like Coca Cola.

Yet the act of trafficking is not only a fundamental abuse of human rights; victims usually go on to suffer repeated physical abuse, torture, and threats to the safety of their

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‘ In the midst of our excitement, it is important to be mindful of the global responsibilities that come with hosting a major, international sporting event’ What can we do?

families back home. All this serves to further break their spirits and turn them into saleable commodities.

One of the many misconceptions about trafficking is that it only takes place in developing countries. The facts are very different. Trafficking is from everywhere, to everywhere – it involves every country around the globe.

What difference do the Olympics make?

Given the international attention focused on the Olympic Games, London is likely to become an even greater target for traffickers than ever before. This may sound a little far-fetched, but we have the experience of previous other major sporting events to draw on.

During the Games in Athens in 2004, the Greek Ministry of Public Safety reported a 95% increase in the number of human trafficking victims identified.

The potential risk of an increase in trafficked sex workers was a major cause of concern for the organisers of Newport’s 2010 Ryder Cup. There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence suggesting that human trafficking took place at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and ahead of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa in 2010.

Of course, ahead of the event actually starting, it is impossible to know for certain just how big a problem this could become, but we have a duty to be vigilant.

As former Olympics minister Tessa Jowell said, ‘Even one woman trafficked because of the 2012 Olympics is one too many’.

As Christians, we believe that every person – man, woman and child – is created in the image of God. It’s therefore completely intolerable that, in 2012, people continue to be turned into modern-day slaves.

But it is only by working together that we can make a difference. By getting involved in the work of the STOP THE TRAFFIK coalition, which has teamed up with the United Nations to raise awareness of the threat in the run up to and during the Olympics, Christians and churches can help make a real difference – and save lives this summer.

The UN.GIFT campaign

Human trafficking is fundamentally an act of deception, a reality that will be creatively illustrated through STOP THE TRAFFIK’s campaign featuring giant gift boxes located in cathedrals and in key locations elsewhere across London from 13 July - 12 August. On the outside, these walk-in pieces of public art have the look and feel of intriguing gifts, symbolising the enticing promises made by traffickers. However, on the inside they will contain a three dimensional, interactive experience that will introduce visitors to the reality of human trafficking, as well as suggesting ways to help to end it.

But to really make this work, we need your help. The gift boxes need to be manned by volunteers who care about the cause and would be able to answer visitors’ questions.

Can you give a week or more to help make a difference?

For more information visit www.ungiftbox.org.

Of course, not everyone will be able to spend their summer volunteering in this way, but through the work of STOP THE TRAFFIK, there are a number of other ways that local churches can take up the fight against this growing abuse of human rights.

47

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ACT now!

One way is to form a local Active Communities against Trafficking (ACT) group which can help tackle the problem at grass roots level. STOP THE TRAFFIK provides ACT groups with all the necessary information to start fundraising, campaigning and educating others, as well as sharing tips and experiences on the best ways of making an impact.

Use your talents

Perhaps you’re a talented musician? Maybe you’d like to try your hand at stand-up comedy? If so, why not join forces with some other like-minded people, put on a show, sell tickets and fundraise? Churches are often in a great place to run these events as you have a ready-made guest list.

Young people can take part in Start Freedom

Trafficking is a problem that destroys the lives of countless children and young people, but there are special ways that the younger generation here in the UK can get involved to make a difference. Start Freedom is a resource for youth groups that helps young people campaign, write to MPs and fundraise.

Students, teachers, youth leaders, clubs or society Advert bottom members can allattake part.of page

Giving money

Not everyone has the time to be part of the fight against human trafficking personally, but by donating to STOP THE TRAFFIK you can help make a real change in people’s lives. Your donation will help us to protect women who are trafficked for sexual exploitation; create

Reach your community with budgeting skills

communities where it is harder for traffickers to hide themselves and their victims; bring an end to child trafficking in the cocoa industry; empower the world’s young people to keep those at risk safe; and provide education for girls vulnerable to trafficking.

An Olympics to be proud of

When such an iconic event as the Olympic Games comes to your home country, there is every reason to be excited.

However, in the midst of our excitement, it is important to be mindful of the global responsibilities that come with hosting a major, international sporting event. The risk is high – especially to some of the most vulnerable people in the world. But by working together we can play our part in ensuring that the 2012 Games are not tainted by the opportunism of criminals. Instead, I hope we look back with pride at our role in hosting an Olympics where the athletes, not the traffickers, were the winners.

For more information on STOP THE TRAFFIK and how to get involved in the areas mentioned in this article visit www.stopthetraffik.org .

Steve Chalke MBE Steve is the Global Founder of Oasis and the UN Special Advisor on Community Action Against Human Trafficking.

He also founded STOP THE TRAFFIK. For more information please visit www.stopthetraffik.org.

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sponsored by Israel Government Tourist Office, UK

Walk Where Jesus Walked

CULTURE

Recommended Resources All available to buy from www.standrewsbookshop.co.uk

The Liberating Truth: How Jesus Empowers Women

Erasing Hell

‘Bold, engaging and uncomfortable’ describe this book. Part One highlights the many ways in which women are oppressed and abused in various cultures around the world. It is shocking, but does contain stories of hope. In Part Two, Danielle considers what the Bible says about women, including passages often used to justify limiting authority for women. She writes persuasively about context and language, supported by scholars’ quotes and, where unable to give exhaustive arguments, invites deeper study. Jesus’ striking affirmation and empowerment of women is brought to the fore. The author wants change at every level, from hearts to systems. Appalling abuse, acceptable in some cultures, is considered alongside the West’s legacy of disempowering and discriminating against women, inhibiting their freedom to be who God intended them to be. I sense this is deliberate: both are examples of gender-based oppression. The challenge is to do something about it.

Lindsay Tanner is involved in the leadership of her church in North Yorkshire.

I don’t normally read a book with a pen in my hand, but I wanted to get every last ounce out of this one. Asking the big questions about hell, or as the authors put it, ‘what God said about eternity, and the things we made up’, Erasing Hell has a close look at what the Bible really says about hell and judgement. Pointing out that Scripture challenges our natural way of thinking, the authors discuss different interpretations of the original Greek text, and the views on hell which were widely held during Jesus’ lifetime. They consider in detail what the Old Testament really says about hell, what Jesus’ teaching was and what Paul did (or didn’t) say. They conclude that hell does exist and that it is a reality facing us all; that we can’t recreate God in our own image, to do whatever we think is right, loving or merciful. There is also a helpful appendix answering some objections that people have to Christianity. If you have struggled with the notion of hell, and if you are serious about wanting to examine the Bible closely, then grab a pen and get reading. You may be on an enlightening journey.

James Riddiough is a member of St Dunstan’s, East Acton.

Danielle Strickland

Parenting Children for a Life of Faith: Helping Children Meet and Know God Rachel Turner

This book is a breath of fresh air. Rachel Turner travels the country to provide training and support for churches, parents, children and youth workers. Her vision, set out in Parenting Children for a Life of Faith, is to empower parents and carers to make home the primary place for children to develop their relationship with God. Being a parent herself, her advice is neither patronising nor unachievable, but increases your confidence to be able to lead children to God. The highlights of this book are Rachel’s practical tips for parents on how to model their relationship with God, and how to help those children that find it difficult to connect with him. It can help children not just learn about God but know him personally. I would recommend it to any parent, carer, children’s worker, youth worker or church leader.

Jessica McLeod is a trainee Children’s Pastor at St Barnabas Church in North Finchley.

Standing at the Cross

Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle

Courageous

Directed by Alex Kendrick

Courageous was released on DVD in the UK in February after a successful run in US cinemas. It follows the lives of four police officers as they deal with their jobs, families and responsibilities as fathers. As tragedy strikes one of the four, his life changes and he realises that he has to change as well. We see the four men grow as they learn about fears, fatherhood and faith. Life doesn’t get easier, but by holding each other to account, the men live with a new purpose. This film deals with some hard-hitting issues and preaches Christian morals without apology. It highlights the importance of a father’s influence on his family, holding up God as the perfect example. Unfortunately, Courageous gains a cheesy American ‘Bible Belt’ feel that alienates those who don’t live it. I also felt the film lacked quality in performance and script writing. It’s not one I’d rush to watch in the cinema, but it could nevertheless be a worthwhile teaching resource for the Church.

Mark Dighe is a member of St Mary’s Bryanston Square where he leads the children’s and schools work.

Pete James

Standing at the Cross, live from St Thomas’ Church Philadelphia in Sheffield, conveys a sense of freedom and thankfulness. We Have Come to Worship sets the tone brilliantly for a night of heart-felt worship. A church engaging in unified praise is always a beautiful sound, and Pete finds a healthy balance between high energy and authentic intimacy. Fill Me and God, You Are My God open with fresh-sounding melodies that speak of a genuine pursuit of God. Pete’s Jesus Loves Me also resonates powerfully with the Father heart of God. This album is a reminder to the Church that unified worship is a powerful force that we should never take for granted.

For those of you who are hungry for more of God’s presence, Standing at the Cross is a great album to get hold of.

Sam Bailey is worship leader at Trinity Cheltenham.

RESOURCES GIVEAWAY! Simply email the title of one of the above resources to mag@new-wine.org for your chance to win a copy. One entry per person. Winners will be chosen at random and notified by email by the end of May 2012.

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NORTHUMBERLAND Cottage, sleeps 4. Peaceful with amazing views. Visit Holy Island, Alnwick Castle etc. Further Details: www.cottageguide.co.uk/ kypieview Phone: 0191 281 2309 ISLE OF WIGHT Two family-friendly, 4 star rural cottages located near coast on family run pottery (pottery painting included). Sleeping 6&7, Emma Bridgewater crockery, cream teas, high chairs & cots available. See www.littlestables.co.uk LOVELY COTTAGES ON A DEVON FARM sleeping 2-14.

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going to a new wine festival this summer? you can now hire a tent or have one pitched for you.

2 man tent hire £40, pitched £70 4 man tent hire £83, pitched £140 other sizes of tents available. camp beds, sleeping bags, tables, chairs & lights available too.

DO YOU HAVE a job vacancy to fill?

How can I help change this nation?

New Wine is a movement of churches working together to do just that!

This includes working with our network of church leaders, hosting summer conferences, delivering training events and providing resources.

If you would like to help us change our nation – and are prepared to support us financially for as little as £3 per month – we would love you to become a New Wine Friend.

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THERE’S NOW A SUCCESSFUL ‘FIND A JOB’ SERVICE ON THE NEW WINE WEBSITE. Find a Job gives churches (and other organisations) a quick and easy way to advertise jobs, with access to a large target audience.

You can use this service to advertise church leaders’ appointments, as well as all other roles within the church (including worship, youth, children’s and community work, internships, managerial, administrators and other support roles).

And if you’re a member of our Church Leaders’ Network, you’ll receive a 50% discount on each advertisement.

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Be equipped to help others effectively Introduction to Biblical Care and Counselling Mon–Fri: 28 May – 1 June or 13–17 August Understand people from a biblical perspective and help them get to the roots of their problems.

BA (Hons) Counselling 4–5 years part time, starting in August Benefit from our proven training with a Christian world-view to degree level.

FREE Counselling Training Open Afternoon

‘Counselling training that’s God centred is really important to me.’

Applying God’s Word to everyday life and relationships

Fri 15 June, 2–5pm Meet the tutors, hear about our BA programme, have your questions answered and enjoy a taster training session.

Find out more at www.cwr.org.uk Waverley Training & Events, CWR, Waverley Abbey House, Waverley Lane, Farnham, Surrey GU9 8EP

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SUMMER 2012: UNLEASHED Join us for an unforgettable week to get inspired, empowered and fired up to change lives, communities and the nation!

Conference speakers include:

Francis Chan

shane Claiborne

Mike pilavachi

a sneak preview: For the sports Fans:

UNLEASHED

Don’t worry, you don’t need to miss out on the Games as we’ll be bringing you live, large-screen action in our dedicated venues.

London & south east Main Bible readings will be led by Francis Chan (Author of Crazy Love and former pastor of Cornerstone Community Church, California).

L&se update...

Come and hear: • Celia apeagyei-Collins (The Rehoboth Foundation) • Yemi adedji (HOPE, Jesus House) • Ken Costa (Alpha UK) Other confirmed speakers include shane Claiborne (‘The Simple Way’, Pennsylvania), Mike pilavachi (Soul Survivor), anthony Delaney (Ivy Manchester).

London & south east

Saturday 21 – Friday 27 July 2012 Royal Bath and West Showground, Somerset

north & east

Saturday 28 July – Friday 3 August 2012 Newark and Nottinghamshire County Showground, Newark

Central & south West

Sunday 29 July – Saturday 4 August 2012 Royal Bath and West Showground, Somerset

www.new-wine.org/summer 54

Gary Best

Kenny Borthwick

Mark Greene

David parker

J John

Danielle strickland

north & east Main Bible readings will be led by Gary Best (National Team Leader, Vineyard Churches Canada) and Kenny Borthwick (Leader, CLAN: New Wine Scotland). n&e update...

Come and hear: • Mark Greene (LICC) • andy hawthorne and roger simpson (School of Evangelism) • rosie and tim Bunn (School of Prophecy) Other confirmed speakers include Bob and Mary hopkins (Fresh Expressions), sarah richards (Cornerstone Church, Swansea), Jon and helen scammon (St Thomas’, Lancaster).

Central & south West Main Bible readings will be led by David parker (Lead Pastor of Desert Vineyard, Southern California) and alan scott (Leader of Causeway Coast Vineyard, Northern Ireland).

C&sW update...

Come and hear: • J John (The Philo Trust) • Danielle strickland (The Salvation Army) • Mark Marx (Healing on the Streets) Other confirmed speakers include pete Greig (24-7 Prayer), agu Irukwu (Jesus House, London), Mike pilavachi (Soul Survivor).

NatioNal leadership CoNfereNCe REACTIVATING THE MISSIONAL CHURCH

harrogate InternatIonal conference centre Monday 28 - Wednesday 30 May 2012 For anyone involved in leadership in the local church If you are wrestlIng wIth how to be mIssIonal as a church In the 21st century, don’t mIss thIs opportunIty! Guest speaker: alan hirsch

Over 40% discOunt fOr under 30s

Bible reader: anne Maclaurin

‘Alan Hirsch is a prophet to the Western Church. He is faithful to Scripture, open to the Spirit and passionate about mission’ Mike Pilavachi ‘Alan is a profound theologian and experienced local church practitioner – his unpacking of the relationship between discipleship and mission in the New Testament is exciting, compelling and enabling’ Ian Parkinson