Medical blog

To save endless emails and answering the same questions repeatedly, I am using my blog to update everyone on my medical situation.It will enable many of you to pray more accurately and purposefully.

On Friday 24th April I was told that I have a cancerous tumour in my oesophagus. Oesophageal cancer is particularly aggressive. If it has spread to the extent that surgery is impossible, I have 6-9 months to live. If an operation is possible, and successful, average life expectancy is 18 months. Either way, the prognosis is pretty grim! We immediately asked for prayer from loads of people.

To determine whether my cancer is operable, there are three tests. I had a CT scan on 29th April, which suggested that the cancer has NOT spread significantly - great news!

I will have a PET scan on Friday 8th May, then a laparoscopy on Tuesday 12th May. If these both show that the cancer has not spread too far, I will start with chemotherapy before the operation to remove my oesophagus and part of my stomach - a more serious operation than open heart surgery!

So there you go - if you haven't already started, get praying!

Timothy Church

In 2 Timothy 2:2, Paul writes, "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others". Do you see the process? Paul encourages Timothy to teach what Paul taught him to reliable people who will in turn teach others  - 4 generations!

I recently heard about the concept of a "Timothy Church" - one in which that same idea of generational growth (and therefore multiplication) is part of its DNA. It could also be called a training church, but that suggests we will be sitting in a classroom discussing Church Planting theory. Far from it - in a Timothy Church we learn how to plant multiplying churches by being a multiplying church. We don't talk about what a multiplying church might look like, we model it. So what will we do?

Initially we learn some vital skills - how to connect with people in our neighbourhood - those we know well and those we don't know at all. We learn how to identify "people and homes of peace" - God-prepared people, and how to share the Gospel with them. We learn how to train others in these same skills, and how to gather new believers into new churches.

As we meet as a Timothy Church, we learn by experiencing what someone recently called "Missional liturgy" - which includes worship, a time of mutual care and accountability, inductive Bible Study, practising what we have learned, then goal setting and prayer - a formula which has proven to be effective in aiding multiplying church planting movements across the world. I anticipate we will meet fortnightly, with the alternate week being spent out in the harvest. 

So what are we trying to achieve? Imagine six of us gathering as Timothy Church, and after a few weeks we have each planted a church in the homes of people we meet - six new churches. A couple of months later each of those churches has in turn planted a new church, and one has planted two - 13 new churches. In addition between us we have started a couple more Timothy churches, which plant six more churches - we are up to 25 now! Over time the multiplication DNA continues to be passed on - some people leave Auckland and move to other parts of the country or overseas, where they plant churches. Our vision for New Zealand is 2020 new churches planted by 2020 - and it has to start somewhere!

We will gather on Wednesday evenings - come any time after 5pm for food, then we'll dive into the serious stuff at 7pm. First one is on 18th February, then 4th March, 18th March, 1st April etc. If you have any questions, ask away. But don't come to just have a look - only come if you genuinely feel called to church plant, and to equip others to do the same.

Strong or dead?

An African friend of mine recently posted on Facebook "It takes a strong man to swim against the current; any dead fish will float with it". How very true.

Our daughter Emily recently had her car written off - not her fault I hasten to add - so bought a new one. She needed a roomier car, to carry displays etc. for her work as a brand ambassador, one with good all round-viewing for the driver, reasonably economical to run, new enough to probably not need too many repairs, reliable, and cool and stylish. She found one which perfectly fitted all the criteria, except the cool and stylish bit - and it was for sale at under market value.



Personally I look for functionality as my over-riding criteria, but I realise that for younger people this is not always the case. Content over-style wins for me, as anybody observing my dress-sense (or lack thereof) will agree, style over content is a more common mantra. One of the joys of growing older (more mature?) is genuinely being less concerned with what other people think!

But as I consider trends in politics, often it is personalty-driven politics rather than policy-driven. Many of today's most popular and adored figures are well known only for being well known it seems. And churches too often fall into the trap of putting style over Godly, Biblical, obedience-focussed content.

So well done Emily - your style, panache, flair and utter coolness extend far beyond the metal box you use to transport you from one place to another. And well done politicians who actually stand up for their beliefs and standards and principles whether or not they catch the eye. And well done those rare folk who massively contribute to society without caring if they gain shallow praise. And well done those churches who are faithful in proclaiming good news, celebrating Jesus' life, death and resurrection, and his active presence among his people today, and serving those in greatest need, even if they will never appear on today's list of ten must-visit churches.

A Decade of Mission - Some Starting Points

My speaking debut at General Synod/Te Hinota Whanui was pretty much a non-event. It was the kind of motion - calling for a Decade of Mission - that nobody was very excited about, but equally, nobody could be seen to vote against! Synod was focussed very much on the same-sex issues, and worked incredibly hard to find a way forward which would keep us together.

My perspective is that if we don't make a significant, passionate, creative, energetic, faith-filled intentional response to the Decade of Mission, then by 2015 there will be little left to hold together. Yes, good things are happening here and there, but the overall picture for the Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand is decidedly gloomy, whatever gloss our excellent communications team put on the situation. And I am a compulsive optimist.

So I will step out and make my suggestions for four starting points for this Decade of Mission.

1. We need a clear understanding of the Gospel. The definition of Anglican Mission as "doing something nice for someone and hoping they guess why" simply will not do. The Gospel has never been, is not, and never can be about what I or you do; it must be about what Jesus has done. We do not have a self-help Gospel - that is no good news at all; our Gospel contains an offer of a whole new life which we can accept and live out together. This new life comes exclusively from the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, without which we have nothing, absolutely nothing to offer to a needy world.   

2. A clear focus on discipleship. I have publicly stated a number of times that the greatest challenge facing the church in NZ is not evangelism, but discipleship. We have taught that discipleship is about knowledge and understanding, when in fact it is about obedience. Disobedience to God is sin.To not fulfil the Great Commission - to go and make disciples - is sin. There is no discipleship without obedience - not a slavish, fear-filled obedience, but rather an obedience which is feely offered as a joyful response to the ridiculous love, grace, mercy, purpose and abundant life which we have each received.

3. A genuine embracing of every member ministry and every member responsibility. As was stated from the one of the elected members of synod, if we do not each commit to the Decade of Mission ourselves, then voting in favour of the motion is meaningless and hypocritical. (Well, he kind of said that!) Mission is not an option for those 'who like that kind of thing' while the majority look on  (and in ten years time look back and say "I knew it would not make any difference.") The need is for all of God's people to be fully engaged in God's mission, at home, among their neighbours, in the workplace, and college and school and yes, even in church.

4. We must do some things very, very differently. As someone said, "If we keep doing what we've always done, we'll keep getting what we've always got." The message remains the same, the means of communicating changes. We continue to gather, but what happens when we come together changes. We remain committed to justice and social action, but we learn to lead the way, not meekly follow. This calls for courageous leadership - not just leaders who give permission and keep their distance, but leaders who walk alongside and constantly affirm those risk-takers and ground-breakers among us.

Church Army New Zealand is committed to doing all we can to make this happen. Will you join us, and how can we best serve you?

Liturgy - the good and the bad

Liturgy has been described as " A prescribed form or set of forms for public religious worship", but often is understood as being the written down bits that we join in with! Having been brought up in the relatively liturgy-free zone of the Methodist Church in UK, it was a shock to start my training with the Church Army and be confronted with a daily dose of the ASB (Alternative service Book). 

Attending a service yesterday brought home to me why I both struggle with liturgy, and also rejoice in it! My biggest gripe is that it can be used thoughtlessly, and this was superbly illustrated when an extra letter 't' appeared on the page to create a sentence reading "...whether tour tomorrows be filled with good or ill...", with the majority of the congregation reading this out thoughtlessly, including the 't'which made the sentence meaningless! 

But let me hastily add some balance...the service took place in a Diocese which would self-identify as being considerably more theologically liberal than I am (not difficult), so I loved the bold liturgical statements in the Great Thanksgiving..."You sent your son to give his life, to release us from our sin, His cross has taken our guilt away...We your people remember your Son. We thank you for his cross and rising again..." and much more! Certain, unequivocal truth joyfully asserted.

Don't say it too loudly, but maybe I'm reasonably Anglican after all!

Brave New World

Our table at church yesterday contained people whose Mother tongues were Mandarin, Cantonese, German, Japanese, Korean and English - out of 9, two were Kiwis! That is the reality of life in Auckland, a reality we ignore at our peril. We will soon be a majority/minority city - where the majority of people come from minority groups.

It provides us with an enormous opportunity of course - as people settling in a new country and culture often have a genuine openness to new ideas, and to exploring the local religion - perceived in NZ as being Christianity. Forget overseas mission, we can fulfil the Great Commission in our own communities!

But we need to practice two things. The first is that we need to go! Our local community contains an Islamic Centre, a massive Hindu Temple, a Sikh temple, a Tibetan Buddhist centre...and probably many more! But to the majority of people in Avondale, these buildings are as irrelevant as local churches - if we are waiting for people to come knocking on our (usually locked) doors, we may as well give up now.

Monika helps at an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) class, and in order to recruit some new members they went out door-knocking! They met plenty of interested people, so hosted an end of term meal, to which 6 new people came. Last week the new term started, 6 new people came to the established ESOL class, and 17 new people came to the beginners class! My assumption is that on any given day,there will be people in my community hungry to meet with God - I just need to go and find them.

The second thing we need to practice is simplicity, or KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid!). Read the Gospels - for every great discourse Jesus told many stories. This is not an anti-intellectual argument, but there is a time and a place...I have intentionally focussed on expressing myself in fairly basic language when I speak, but sometimes it seems preachers try to impress with their extensive vocabulary and beautifully crafted sermons, and forget that the aim of speaking is to effectively communicate to minds and hearts. For ESOL folk, and to be honest, for many Kiwis who only speak English, a simple communication of the Gospel works best.

Go...and be simple. Most of us can manage that!

#ChristiansBeingSaltandLight

I am writing from a New Zealand perspective, but I am pretty sure that what I say will apply to other "Western" nations also.

I have been extremely saddened to see the way that religion, and Christianity in particular, has been heavily criticised, ridiculed and written off as way past its sell-by date in the national press. Social media has been largely the same - I have rarely seen such an aggressive and consistent display of bigotry and hatred directed to those who sincerely seek to follow Jesus as best they can - ironic really, as the usual accusation is that we are the hate filled bigots when it comes to homosexuals!

So how do we respond - defensively, by withdrawing back into our (Church) shells?  Do we go on the attack and seek to re-impose our Christian values on a largely secular nation? How does Jesus want to us to engage with the people around us?

Well here's my proposal - we need to love them into the Kingdom. We need to be salt and light, as Jesus said we would be - not arsenic and wet blankets! We need to live out love-filled lives, and then shout about the reason we do so - not because we are "good people", but because being followers of Jesus compels us to do so.

It is a great discipline, at the end of each day, to ask - what have I done today to bless my neighbours as a result of being a follower of Jesus? In doing so, we are not saying we are better than anybody else - but we are better people, and the world is a better place, because we have Jesus in our lives.

To take it further - the world needs to hear the practical ways in which our faith informs and transforms our daily lives. So if you are involved with social media - facebook or twitter, then I challenge you to publicly complete this sentence each day - "today, because I am a follower of Jesus, I..."

Imagine facebook and twitter being swamped day after day with Christians being salt and light - living it and showing it. If you understand hastags - how about #ChristiansBeingSaltandLight