I've been sent to Coventry.

Teaching of English to people who are new to the UK is an important part of our programme. Last Saturday saw volunteers from all five Jesus Centres (Coventry, Northampton and London are up and running, Sheffield is nearly open and Birmingham is in preparation) coming together to receive training and share experience. Although I am not directly involved in teaching or running a group it was exciting to see so much commitment and enthusiasm  in one room. I was really impressed by the depth of understanding for our visitors and their difficulties which was shown by those leading sessions; and from accounts of how people are being helped it is clear that the teaching of English is being used as a channel for God's love to many.
The growing Jesus Centre movement is certainly being true to it's motto: 'Compassion in action.'
(In a role play I did have to give a demonstration of how not to do it, I hope the group who had to suffer it are not too traumatised!)...we also had a great lunch-thanks CJC.

"...we can do what we want."

Cycle on the pavement?...we can do what we want.
Break the speed limit?...we can do what we want.
Lie to our customers?...we can do what we want.
Raid the pension fund?...we can do what we want.
Set fire to the bus?...we can do what we want.
Go through red lights?...we can do what we want.
Exploit our workers?...we can do what we want.
Clear out P.C.world?...we can do what we want.
Re-write God's word?...we can do what we want.
Screw who we like?...we can do what we want.
Eat that fruit?...

The Watershed. Part Three: Down the Mountain the rivers flow..

So where do we go if we move away from the Biblical basis for our faith? Below I am simply listing the trends that are emerging and which I understand to be particularly important.

* Faith based on subjective feelings rather than objective truth.
* Putting man first rather than God.
* Not understanding that God exists outside of His creation.
* Not recognising the gravity of sin and man's hopeless state outside of the Gospel.
* The belief that there is something of God in everyone that can be stimulated by spiritual exercises.
* Setting of God's love over and against His other attributes.
* The erosion of the substitutionary nature of the Atonement.
* The unique nature of Christ and salvation in His name alone is denied.
* Syncretism.
* Universalism.

Personal footnote: I am writing as one who has had a radical conversion experience (37 years ago) as a result of reading the Bible for literary purposes. I have been involved in a wide range of ministry from Aberdeen to Weymouth in just about every sort of church you can think of. In my early days I had to take big decisions because of my experience of the Holy Spirit. For the past five years I have been involved in setting up and running the London Jesus Centre which has caused me to consider many current social issues in the light of communicating  the Gospel and, has brought me into contact with many people and organisations including a wide range of faith based ones.
I have read widely across the range of theological thought seeking to find balance. I have seriously explored the Roman Catholic Church seeing that, if the doctrinal differences have been resolved, there is really no further ground for division. So, here I am still convinced of the historic Christian faith that sustained the martyrs, motivated the Reformers and inspired missionaries-I can do no other!

The Watershed. Part Two: the Ridge.

The vital issue facing believers in these days is to discern what constitutes the ridge. Christians are called to move in unity but, that can never justify compromising truth. However, the zeal for truth in essentials must be tempered by charity in those things that are not certain. Even when we are convinced that an individual or party are mistaken we should not descend into vituperation and ad hominem attacks, which has been a regrettable tendency throughout Church history, but we should assume the good will and sincerity of others while recognising that being sincere does not guarantee being right. (I fully appreciate that concepts such as 'truth' and 'right and wrong' are currently unfashionable: it is but a passing fashion.)
I see the ridge as being essentially on the line of our understanding of what the Bible is. Is the Bible in its entirety the inspired Word of God containing the complete revelation of what the Church needs to know? Or is it a basically human document that might here and there contain useful insights into God and His dealings with humanity? I am convinced that the first is the only consistent and tenable one. We must be clear that this is no simplistic literalism but it demands intelligent study dependant on the Holy Spirit, with an understanding of literary forms, context and honest scholarship. There is a vast resource of Biblical study that confirms the integrity of the Scriptures: which can robustly withstand the unbelief of the past 200 years that basically is a new re-statement of the age old question:'Has God said?'

The Watershed-a parable from nature. Part One.

The writer and teacher Francis Schaeffer lived in Switzerland for a large part of his life and in one of his books (I did have a bargain set of his complete works, but they have gone in one of my periodic clear outs so I cannot check the reference) he gives a compelling illustration. Near where he lived there was a sharply defined ridge; through the winter it was covered in snow and had a uniform appearance - one blanket of snow. In the spring, though, as the thaw came the snow melted and what been one became two along the line of the ridge. The melted waters on one side joined stream that entered the river Rhone that flows into the Mediterranean. The waters on the other side followed their course to the Rhine ending up in the North Sea.
The picture is clear showing how things that are apparently unified and, indeed are impossible to differentiate at one stage, can end up in very different destinations. At this time of massive rapid change in the world in every sphere of life, I believe it is a watershed moment. In Christianity and Christendom where we can all be using the same words and seem to have the same aims and purposes we can start to see on what side of the ridge things are and where they lead to.

What a refreshing change!

Like most charitable set ups we spend quite a lot of time and effort finding sources of funding. This is a time consuming process: researching among the hundreds of trusts to find those who are not offended by the name of Jesus, who are not doing homelessness this year or do not give funds to anything in central London. Then, on finding a possible match there are never ending forms to fill in, the on line ones normally clearing all your information just before you are ready to hit 'send'. Not unreasonably the donor may want progress reports on how the money has been spent with ominous threats if a penny goes anything outside of their narrow focus. How delightful, then to find a sprinkling of Christians who set up trusts which they administer personally. We recently received a donation from just such a trust,  Pauline (LJC fund raiser and my wife) wrote a simple letter out- lining our work and asking for £500 towards our healing prayer service, back comes a cheque for £2,500 with a positive letter saying; 'spend it how you think most fit'.
True philanthropy is open handed, oh that there was more of it about. Do Christians need to waste time with stunts and arm twisting in order to support the Lord's work? When William Booth wanted to know the spiritual temperature of a Salvation Army Corps he would ask what the financial giving was like. We need to put our money where are mouths are.

Another new link- Great value and atmosphere when visiting the West End.

Word Tea Room Facebook page.

New Link-great rooms for hire in the West End of London.

.Link to LJC Meeting Rooms for Hire on Facebook.

Jesus Army-London Jesus Centre IT suite update.

Follow the link to this Westminster City Council site:
LJC IT News

Forwards.

The LJC is now approaching its third birthday and some of us have been living in the building for six years. I know it is very obvious to say time flies but it really does. Well, it does after you have gone through it, I know that the period of the refurbishment seemed interminable while it was happening but now it is just a dim, dusty memory.
A recent bit of reflection by the Community here helped me re-call the amazing way that God enabled us to obtain the building. It is truly remarkable that the Jesus Fellowship Church and Jesus Army Charitable Trust should have such a centrally located place for their work.
A good foundation has been laid in the Centre and many people are benefiting from its ministry. Material needs are met, housing and employment has been found for some, but, best of all, people find friendship regaining dignity and confidence. A good number of people have found faith in Jesus Christ and are in Covenant Membership with us, some of these are now exploring the possibility of living in Christian Community.
The big challenge ahead is how to keep the work moving forwards, reaching more people and offering a wider range of services. We desperately need more workers and more finance. Please stand with us in prayer to see this Kingdom work advance.

Catching up.

Having again failed to successfully up-load video I am resorting to words alone. We were not directly affected by last Saturday's events, although three helicopters droning over head all day got to be rather distracting. It was amazing to see on Sunday morning, around 8.00am how quickly everything was being cleared up. We enjoy great freedom to make protests or declare our beliefs (see the amazing MJA event every summer in Trafalgar Square, preceded by a march) it is very troubling when such freedom is marred by violence and damage to property. However strongly we might hold a view I cannot see that lawless behaviour helps; just laws protect society, a lawless society is one where the strongest and most ruthless will trample their way to the top. Perhaps the anarchist tendency should reckon up the cost of their behaviour: damage, police time, loss of trade to business(not just the ones they don't like) and a large amount of VAT.

Speaking of law and justice I recently was involved in supporting someone facing trial for a fairly serious criminal offence. One could not fail to be impressed at the fairness and humanity of the judge involved, the caring work of the defence lawyer and even the kind understanding of the prosecuting counsel. I do not suppose for a minute that it is always as good as this but we should look to the good standards in our public life to shame the bad rather than seek to denigrate everything in order to replace it with nothing.
The New Testament has quite a bit to say about the place of the authority of rulers which would benefit all of us whether rulers or those who are ruled.

Twitter.

In my continuing attempts to get connected here is my Twitter address:roblogextra@twitter.com

A Growing Vision.

The Jesus Army Charitable Trust which sets up and runs Jesus Centres has a vision to open more centres as funding and capacity allows. Pauline and I we privileged to make a trip up to Sheffield on last Friday and Saturday to share a bit of our experience. On the Friday Pauline held a Fund-raising Workshop which was surprisingly well attended, considering fund-raising is not the most popular subject, with lots of thoughtful contributions from those taking part. It was really encouraging to hear how much has been raised in grants for energy saving features in the refurbishment.
On Saturday morning we were able to share on how the Jesus Centre is playing a major part in the life of the Jesus Fellowship in London. Despite the challenges of making a big project succeed and the strain that inevitably puts on the committed members, the benefits are massive as a centre expands the ministry of the church throughout the week reaching a wider range of people and providing new opportunities for involvement.
We had the opportunity for a quick look round the building and it struck me that if you made a shopping list for what is needed you would come up with the building that God has provided.
It was great to see what is happening in Sheffield and I am sure it's going to be an amazing fourth Jesus Centre.
Plans are well on the way for Number 5 in Birmingham. Praise God for growth!

Mysteries.

I must admit (and I think I may have mentioned this before) that I am not the most IT literate person around but I am puzzled. I recently posted two videos in my journal series by pressing the one touch You Tube upload option of the idiot proof soft ware that comes with the idiot proof camera. Where are they now?
There was a brief introduction to the 'Meet the Staff' episode and a riveting think piece set in Regent's Park about the impact of the discovery of Black Swans and its impact on western thought.
If you see these floating about in cyberspace please let me know.

Meet the staff.

More video.

On the move!

There seem to be seasons in our lives and this is true for churches too. Here in the Jesus Fellowship in London and the London Jesus Centre we are seeing a time of God moving in many ways, lots of people coming to faith in Christ and getting baptised-more on the way this week.
Today we received a grant of £5,000 from a Trust, I got this news as I was at Southwark Crown Court supporting someone who has got themselves into trouble and who has been  in custody on remand for the past three months. She was convinced that  God had told her that she would be released today at her hearing and she was! I must admit that I was a bit sceptical but a very understanding Judge, conscientious lawyers (the prosecution barrister was really helpful) and a word or two about our support meant that she has been granted bail without even need to report to the Police.
'Word' (the tea room)continues to be busy, with lots of spiritual conversations and happenings.
...so it goes on: God is good-all the time!

Now with moving pictures!

See the Video.....

New Year: a time for resolution.

Apologies for not keeping up the blog last year, it's probably a bit of an age thing and scepticism about all this 'e' and 'i' stuff. However, we all have to come to terms with the new, so 'farewell' hand writing,the smell of print on paper and time to reflect. It is time for me to welcome instant and widespread communication with the opportunity for dialogue. So, I will make every effort to get something interesting on this every week (shouldn't be too hard as LJC is an exciting place to be) as long as some of you out there in cyberspace make the effort to read the thing.
Is that a deal?
Rob