Making history in Newport

I wonder if you watched any of the series on BBC called “Who do you think you are?” It followed a number of celebrities as they trace back their family trees. In most cases they knew about their parents and perhaps a little of their grand-parents, but any further than that was a mystery.
As they investigated the archives they learnt more and more about their family and the history that they lived through. In the end this always had a profound effect upon them because they realised that their lives, their behaviour and habits, were not isolated pieces of history. Their lives were part of a much larger story of which they were mostly ignorant but of which they were undeniably part of and playing their part.

I was reminded of this on Sunday (the day after 10% of the churches in Newport had spent a full day, all 24 hours, in prayer at FUSION) as our youth leader preached God’s Word. She reminded us that our lives are not about us, they are about Him [God]; we are part of God’s story. Our lives are God’s word still being written today because our lives are the only ‘Bible’ that some people will read.

As I thought about this I reflected on our weekend of FUSION and realised that this had been a time when we spent some serious time in the company of the ‘author and finisher of our faith’. On occasion He carried out some ‘editing’, at other times He was adding ‘footnotes’ or ‘highlighting’ passages. In each case though, it left us changed, and with a greater desire to impact history.

This was encapsulated in an old Delirious? Song that we sang during the praise and worship on Sunday. It is both our declaration and our prayer.

History Maker
Is it true today that when people pray
cloudless skies will break,
kings and queens will shake?
Yes it's true and I believe it.
I'm living for you

Is it true today that when people pray
we'll see dead men rise
and the blind set free?
Yes it's true and I believe it.
I'm living for you

I'm gonna be a history maker in this land.
I'm gonna be a speaker of truth to all mankind.
I'm gonna stand,
I'm gonna run,
into your arms,
into your arms of love

Well it's true today that when people stand
with the fire of God, and the truth in hand
we'll see miracles, we'll see angels sing
we'll see broken hearts making history.
Yes it's true and I believe it.
We're living for you.

What a gift.

My wife, Ruth, gift wraps like no one else I know. It’s inspiring.

“You mean like wrapping stuff up?” you may be thinking, “I can do that. It’s not that hard …. as long as it isn’t soft or awkwardly shaped.”
Well if you are thinking that then you have clearly never received a gift from her.

Now, I’m a tidy wrapper. All my presents have clean sharp edges, all very presentable (I have seen some dreadful wrapping, in my time, as though the gift had simply been screwed up in a ball of colourful paper).

Ruth, however, puts me to shame. At Christmas I wrap a whole load of presents in an evening, but Ruth takes her time. Each one perfectly wrapped (otherwise it is re-done) and subtly different. You know that she cares about you even before you have any idea what the gift is. In fact you don’t care what it is because you know that so much care and love has gone into wrapping it.

I am always excited when I receive a gift from my wife, and that is before I even open it up to see what’s inside; they just look beautiful. Her gifts are works of art.
On my birthday, as soon as she is awake, Ruth is desperate to give me my present(s). I sit there in bed for a moment looking at these intricately wrapped objects, each one beautifully inspiring, trying to take in as much of the detail and care as I can. I feel rich just looking at them. Despite this she gets frustrated with my appreciative delay and demands that I open them. I oblige but feel slightly guilty having to destroy so much carefully constructed artwork.

The other day I posted some thoughts around Eph 4:29 “… Say only what helps, each word a gift.”

Thinking about this I have begun to realise that I ought to take as much care over the things that I say to each one of you. In fact I should take as much care as my wife does when wrapping a present. After all what I say, the words I use, is my gift to you.

For two years in a row my dad gave me a DIY manual. Two years on the trot! I didn’t open it to discover my heart missing a beat as it did when, as a younger lad, I discovered a Snow Speeder under the tree for me one Christmas. I may have even grumbled to myself ‘great present – not’. But since receiving these books I have been able to loads of stuff around the house :o) I can even help others out with their plumbing!

Then there was another Christmas, not too long ago, which I will never forget :o) My mum had been suggesting that my dad should really have a mobile phone (especially as he cycles everywhere). My dad hates mobiles and so this suggestion was not warmly welcomed. In fact he was so concerned that someone may take mum’s suggestion to heart, and buy him a mobile for Christmas, that he began to drop as many hints as he could to the contrary.
As Christmas day came round all he could do was hope that his family had picked up on his ‘subtle’ suggestions.
And we had :o) Although mum had got my father an electric razor she thought it would be amusing to put it in a mobile phone box before wrapping it up. She wasn’t wrong, it was hilarious! Dad openned his present and as soon as his eyes fell upon the picture of a mobile phone adorning the packaging his face just dropped. I only wish we had taken a picture of it for you guys to see.
He thought it was ‘amusing’ too, although only after he realised that it wasn’t a phone after all.


How will people receive the words you say today, your gift to them?
Will they be pleased? Excited? Challenged but in the end grateful? Or upset, annoyed or cut down?

What gift we give in every conversation is up to us.

10 per cent - beyond FUSION.

This day of prayer finished with a small group of us gathering together at the foot of the cross. We prayed together, even re-dedicating ourselves to Christ. It was great.

As I glanced through the visitors book I realised that 10% of the churches in newport were represented - how great is that!? Praise be to God!
I was particularly struck by one young family who came into the prayer room; mother, father and two young girls (about 2 and 3 years old). Each parent took a child and went to each prayer zone, talked with them about it and then allowed the girls to pray what they wanted before adding their own. They then came together for communion as a family. They were only there for about half an hour (which was just right for the girls) but their children seemed to enjoy themselves being incredibly well behaved. It was inspiring to watch and was no doubt a delight to God!

The cross seemed to captivate people's attention the most, and the following passage of Scripture encapsulated what was in most of our prayers:

"So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ - that's where the action is. See things from his perspective. Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life - even though invisible to spectators - is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you'll show up, too - the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ...

... So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offence. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it. Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ - the Message - have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives - words, actions, whatever - be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way."
Col 3:1-4, 12-17 (The Message)

It has been an inspiring day in God's presence and I pray that it will have a lasting influence in our lives as we follow through on what we have prayed.

Before FUSION had finished for the day we had this email from David Kemp which really encouraged us:

Hi!

Just a note to encourage you.
The experience, though only short for me, was truly amazing.
Personally, I am profoundly inspired by this form of prayer, meditation and worship. I rarely come away having not been challenged and inspired. Please be encouraged to be stretched.

Yours, because of Jesus

David

Notes from FUSION - what are we doing?!

What is a prayer room?
What is FUSION?
It is a strange balance.
First and foremost it is about creating an environment pleasing to God, after all this is His place (and He has prepared the guest list). Then it is an environment in which people can let God speak to them in prayer, in praise, in thought, in conversation.

Who’s on the guest list?
Who knows!? [God]
That faithful, the lost, the hurt, the confused, the dazed, the rowdy, the drunk, the scholar, the mother, the child, the dancer, the artist; everyone!
It is a place in which people do not feel hindered in pouring out their hearts (in words, in writing, in thought, in song) and the lower their defences to let God fill them. We become empty to be filled afresh, if we hold on to all that we have we become stagnant.

The prayers that are prayed (in silence, in song, in writing, in tears) are serious. They are life and death! They are for loved ones; boyfriends, girlfriends, wives, husbands, family members. They are never prayed alone, they are amened by many. They may hear the prayer, read it later, see the tears staining the furniture. This house is filled with prayer, but if that were all it would be empty, a house of misery. But it is not, it is a house of hope, a place of God’s dwelling who “can do anything, you know far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us His Spirit deeply and gently within us.” (Eph 3:20 The Message).

A prayer room is a place of hope, where God shares his desires with our hearts.

Notes from FUSION - oil

Sorry it has taken me so long to put up another post on this website, I had internet issues at 5am this morning!!

I am just about to head down to the church again now, although I had intended to get there about an hour ago but the oil filter on my car decided that it needed to come off and cover the road with all my oil! Needless to say Ruth was a little surprised when I phoned her from just our side saying "I need to to get a towel, some kitchen roll and the large bottle oil from the shed. It's kind of urgent!"

Have you been down to FUSION yet?
I'm so used to going to prayer meetings that take a little time to get started, it is such a delight to find a prayer meeting that has been going on for 6 hours before you have even turned up. The atmosphere is electric! You just step into an atmosphere of prayer.
That's what I discovered when I got down there ever at 2am.
Sure I am tired and my eyes stung from not enough sleep before waking up agin, but it was beautiful! This is some of the stuff that I wrote while I was there at this crazy time in the morning:

It is now about 5am and I have been here praying with Chris (sometimes together, sometimes alone) and it has been awesome, there is such a sense of God’s closeness here. My mind is not sharp at this hour but God’s Holy Spirit is! Thank goodness :o)

When I arrived here, swapping over with Steve, Kelly and Mike who had been here for a good many hours, I had a glance through the visitors book. It really encouraged me because as I looked at the names I realised how many people were being drawn by God to himself; couples, youth, whole families, parents, husbands, wives, bands … all of them attracted to His presence.

I entered the hall looking for a place to sit, I picked the sofa … at 2am it looked very inviting. As I settled in Chris and I prayed for God’s anointing, and that is what He did. It was as though we experienced God’s Spirit infuse us from the top of our heads down to our toes! This is God’s time, He is King and we are His privileged guests here!

As I prayed and looked around the hall I felt the Holy Spirit speaking into my heart. Sure I had spent months planning this event, and the other evening getting it all ready, but as I looked and listened it was as if everything was new to me! The cross, for example, just seemed to over powering for the first time. Jesus told us that we should take up our cross and follow Him, but do we – really?
As I gazed at this rough wooden cross I felt the truth uncomfortably burning inside of me (you can’t maintain an illusion or lie in God’s presence, it just doesn’t work), am I more often than not a ‘convenient Christian’? I am comfortable for His will to be done until my control of things is threatened [because He wants it]. We are a people called to surrender! He is King; we are not. “Lord, protect me from my prayers that say ‘Your will be done (when it is convenient)’”.
There is a picture in my Good News Bible that accompanies Matthew 16, it depicts a group of believers carrying their crosses and following Christ. In this crowd are the elderly, the young, the middle aged, even children! Each one has a different cross, but they are following the same Lord! As I look at this picture I think to myself, ‘if a child can do it surely I can too.’

As I shared some of this with Chris he reminded me of the number of prophecies that had been spoken over Wales concerning ‘wild fire’, but we realised that this kind of prophecy doesn’t come to pass simply because it has been spoken. It requires us to want it, if we don’t we won’t see it. We may say that we want the fire of God but it is not a tame thing, it is ‘wild’ and threatens our reserved and ‘in control’ manner. Wild fire is not respectful, it does not stay in the fireplace or the alter. Wild fire spills out of our desire for God into our churches, homes, pubs, and street corners alike. It doesn’t care for our boundaries, God’s fire wants to burn and is looking for a vessels willing to be ignited.

We continued to pray and God’s spirit continued to stir in this place (it is an awesome atmosphere … you’ll love it).

In Matthew 5 Jesus tells us not to hide our ‘light’. He humorously says the no one lights a lamp and then puts it under a bowl, so why should we? It was dark when Chris and I drove down to Bethel and as we did God spoke to us through the car headlights that passed us.
Drivers don’t tend to notice headlights on normal beam. Yes they light things up but they are easily ignored. The same can be said when we try to live as ‘convenient Christians’ (obedient when it is convenient). However, drivers do notice when headlights aren’t working (never let you light go out!) and when you leave your FULL BEAM on! We need to be full beam Christians whose lives radiate God with such brilliance the fill passing cars will light!

We need to be wholeheartedly His to be on full beam. Sometimes His will is compatible with our, but at other times it is not, and we must sacrifice our will to His. I want to be follower that obeys God even when it is not convenient. To be of use to God in the world He wants us to be either hot (healing) or cold (refreshing), not tepid (blurgh!). Christ is calling us to ‘die to self’. This is not something that happens once and then we have graduated, it needs to be done every day. It is not easily done (I am reminded of Woody Allen who said that he wasn’t afraid of dying, he just didn’t want to be there when it happened!) but it’s result is that our lives will be ablaze with His glory!

This has been what God has been stirring in our hearts last night, but here are some of the prayers other people have wriiten down:

“Thank you for the world. It says in John 3:16 ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only son.’ So I thank you that I can live.”

“God’s Word has again showed me how he has chosen me for a specific plan and purpose and I intend living my life like a princess, chosen for such a time as this. Even though I have strayed from His path I have found that in rededicating my life to him and putting my total trust in Him He has again embraced me and set me on the right course. I pray that the young people of my church and Newport will also find their way back to the path that He has chosen for them and that through everything God’s will be done. Amen.”

“Just as Paul sent Timothy to the early Christians to stir and encourage the people let us also, in like mindedness encourage the members of our churches. I pray that your love will be evident in this place, Your sanctuary, always!!! Thank you for Your love, the love that washes over us continually. Amen.”

FUSION has begun!

Hi there, this is my first blog from the day of prayer that has begun in Newport.

There is such an air of anticipation in the place!

As the doors openned a strange mix of people began to collect, but all with one thing in common ... a hunger for God.

To be honest I couldn't stay long because I needed to be down there during the night but I had to pull myself away... there is a real sense of God drawing us.

As I left the venue there was a group of people praying together in agreement over Newport, longing for a move of God.

Along side them, in other parts of the prayer room, were people in quiet prayer. Patiently listening, allowing God to speak to them, emmersing themselves in His Word. Others were worshipping to the music that filled the air in the foyer.

People will be stirred by God in this place over the next 24 hours. This is His house and he has invited us to share some time with him.... I look forward to spending more time with Him tonight!


God bless.

FUSION is here!

The wait is over! FUSION ['Prayer for the City'] is here, our day of continual prayer over Newport starts tonight.
I am excited by what can happen, by what will happen, as God's Spirit broods over our city. This weekend I am confident that God is going to do things in people's lives; he is going to start ministries, confirm callings, plant ideas, strengthen, encourage even save souls!
Great is our God!

As this 24 hours of prayer continues I will keep this blog updated as much as I can (so keeping logging on over the next 24hrs - I'll try to include some pictures too). That way, even though you may not be at the venue all the time, you can keep up with what is going on .... and continue in your praying. After all prayer is breathing in God's presence. Naturally we breathe where ever we are, we can do the same in prayer; in a queue, on the bus, in bed, walking along it doesn't matter. Whatever we are doing we can breathe God in allowing him to transform what comes out of us.

Chris (the guy who posts out all of the posters for this event and makes sure that it is manned around the clock - he does an awesome job and God is blessing it) sent this email to me yesterday and it just excitedly brims with anticipation for this weekend:

Andrew,

The pictures are fab! I feel within my spirit that God is going to do something special in peoples lives over this weekend, over the past few days I have felt the stirrings of the Holy Spirit. It is now up to us (His Church) to allow God to have his way in us by His Holy Spirit and just to open our hearts to him. God wants to speak to us, he wants to use us too, but we spend so much of our time just being so busy that we miss what God really wants. I just thought I'll share that with you to encourage you, because God has got something to say, we need to listen to him. See you over the weekend!

God Bless
Chris Cheshire.

Ready and waiting! - 1 day to go.

Well, it's all done. Everything is ready for Friday night and it is going to awesome!
Megan, Helen, Andrew, Gareth, Ruth and I worked solidly for most of the evening but the end result was worth it. Megan sent me a sweet text after we had all gone home saying 'thank you for asking me to help'. Bless!

Just so you guys reading this can get a little feel for the work these guys have done, and what the place will look like, I took a few pictures.

This is the best picture I took all evening.
Here Megan is mastering the nuances of string handling while being perched on a ladder. At the other end of the string was Helen (see below).

Behind Helen you may notice a boat (HMS Fusion as we have come to know her). Thanks to Andrew (our Glaswegian animator/cartoonist, a very smart and funny lad that I love having around) this prayer zone looks stunning. If you look closely you may even see the smimmery water effect at work. Good work Andrew!

When we got down the church we were expecting to wait for Alan to deliver the boat for us, but instead it was already there, just sat in the middle of the main hall. That was such an odd sight, you don't usually see a boat in the middle of a church (I guess Peter and some of the other disciples would have felt at home!). Mind you, I wander how Alan even managed to get it through the doors! Some things will remain a mystery I guess.

Alan Collins, who borrowed the boat for us, is an unsung star. He's a fisherman (a proper one, one whose handshake crushes your fingers and changes your handwriting for the rest of the week) and so when the idea of getting a boat in fo rthe day of prayer I thought I'd ask him. "Al, I need your help" I said, "can you get a boat for me. A cool looking wooden one."

"OK. It's done." Was his confident reply, "Don't worry about it."

And he was right, I didn't have to worry about it. It just appeared.

Any way, back to Andrew, here's a picture of him at work. Despite the way it looks Megan did not spend all evening on his back :o) He was a fantastic help. The boat and the cross all look as good as they do thanks to his hard work and creative talents.

But don't forget about the 'sparkies'.

Gareth (senior sparkie) and Ruth (my wife and assistant sparkie). Here they are in action. Love them, they spent all evening rewiring all of the lights. Prior to her offer of help to Gareth, Ruth had never changed a plug. I don't think Gareth appreciated this and Ruth didn't let him know, but I suspect that the number of times she gouged he thumb with the screwdriver probably heightened his suspicions.

Eventually by 9:30pm (after having listening to two CDs in their entirity, Jeremy Camp and David Crowder*Band - class) we finished. All done. And, we were pleased :o)

This is us celebrating a job well done (just behind us you can see HMS Fusion). Left to right: me, Andrew, Helen, Ruth and Megan.

I can only appologise for Megan but all respect to Andrew, now that is cool :o\

To everyone who will venture into this prayer room over the weekend, you are going to have some marvellous time in God's presence. He is on the move and is stirring our hearts!

Praise God!

A rest on our pilgrimage - 2 days to go.

Fusion [or ‘Prayer for the City’] is due to start in just a few days …. Friday night, 8pm to be precise. I love seeing, and hearing about, so many brothers and sisters in Christ, from a variety different churches, all having encountered God in a new way.

“Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” Gen 28:16

As I have been preparing various materials for this weekend I have been so conscious that God has been preparing something. The nearer this weekend has got the more keenly I have become aware that god’s hand has been in it’s preparation, nothing is random. God intends to meet with people, to speak with them, inspire them, release them, direct them, restore them even perhaps save them.
Who knows what might happen when people step into this prayer room!
What is important to remember (especially for me as I have been getting things ready) is that this does not belong to us, it is God’s. This is His house, His Bethel.

His weekend is going to be exciting. God is paving the way for something new.

As I have been pottering around the house today, still trying to shake off a cold that I have had since the weekend :o( I have been listening to a CD that I purchased just the other week The Hymnal by Randall Goodgame. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea (lots of old school hymns that totally rock!) and I have just been listening to a lush rendition of ‘Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah’ – you’ll probably hear this track being played at least a few times at the prayer day. This is a hymn of pilgrimage, which is after all what our lives are all about; a journey, our walk with Chirst, our pilgrimage home to heaven.
On this journey isn’t awesome that we can rest a while at ‘Bethel’, to stay and pray a while in God’s presence. Marvellous!

We’ll be setting up the main hall in Bethel tonight, transforming it into Newport’s largest prayer room for the weekend (right next to a nightclub too!).
I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow :o)

Too much to ask? - 3 days to go.

Ruth and I did some photography for Nicola, a friend of ours, the other week. Her little baby, Sam, is growing up fast and so she naturally wanted some portraits taken of him before her baby became a little boy. He is very cute and so I hope that Nic won’t mind me posting one of Sam’s pictures here :o)



When we showed up for the photo session Nic made us a cup of tea first and so Ruth thought she’d say ‘hi’ to Sam. Instead of smiling in response to her greeting though, Sam very deliberately looked away from her. For a second Ruth couldn’t believe that this cute little baby had blanked her. She must have imagined it. But, saying hello for a second time Sam did it again; deliberately looking away from Ruth when she spoke to him.
He didn’t do it to me though hehehe :o)

Paul [the Apostle] wrote in one of his letters to Timothy, who he was mentoring, that all Scripture [everything in the Bible] is ‘God breathed’ – inspired – so that through it God will teach us; you and me.
Realising that challenges me because it means if I choose (and everything I do is really a decision one way or another) to ignore or neglect God’s Word and what he is teaching me through it I am guilty of blanking God!

I don’t want to blank my creator and saviour but sometimes what I read seems impossibly tough.

“Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.
Don't grieve God. Don't break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don't take such a gift for granted.
Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.
Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behaviour from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.”
Eph 4:29-5:2 (The Message)

At first you might think ‘No problem, I’m a well mannered guy “bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malicious behaviour” (v31 NLT) all gone!’
Dim problemo!
But alas God doesn’t stop at the easy part; “be kind to each other, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” (v32 NLT) It’s not enough that we avoid all of the negatives that crop up in relationships, God wants us to actively pursue the positive characteristics! Now come on, surely that is too much. Is God being unreasonable or does He actually know what’s best for us?

“Watch what God does, and then you do it.” (v1 Msg) God was not just tenderhearted to those who loved him. John 3:16 reminds us that God loved the world! THE WORLD! Christ was filled with a compassion for those who mocked him, who betrayed him, who tortured him, who nailed him to the cross, who watched him die without a second thought as well as those who loved him and followed him. Are we going to watch was God does and rejoice in it by the way we live? It’s a tough command, but no one said that this life was going to be easy (but it will be exciting and rewarding and fulfilling and so much more).

So, what am I going to do today? What are you going to do?
That’s our daily choice, our daily decision.
Blank God or embrace him with every fibre of our lives?
Do we want fusion or fizzle?

“… do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he is the one who has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.” (v30 NLT)

The mechanisms of church - 4 days to go (I'm sure of it this time :o)

“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all of these virtues put on love, which binds them together in perfect unity.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.”
Col 3:13-15 (NIV)

This is what holds us together as church of people. This is the only mechanism that allows us to move forward.
Fusion is not only coming to terms with God’s involvement in our lives, it is also accepting that he will also involve others in our lives (and involve us in theirs). Not in a busybody way but as a strong support.

‘Bear with each other…’ this is fusionfuel. Sounds easy, yeah?! Have you tried it recently? I’m not talking about coping with the foibles of people that you usually like. I’m talking about whether you are still able to love those in the church who you would not choose to hang out with. Are you able to speak a constructional or encouraging word into their lives, in love, no matter what? Are you able to pray for them sincerely?

At one time Jesus decided to send out all 72 of his disciples to preach the gospel. He sent them out in twos but not of their own choosing; Jesus chose who they would partner. Why did he do this? Did he not care about excellence? Surely this wouldn’t promote the smooth communication of the gospel, working with someone you didn’t know or someone you didn’t totally get on with.
Jesus’ ministry was characterised by two things, preaching redemption to the crowds and dealing directly with relationship issues among the disciples. Jesus never shied away from either, and this is what he did as he sent them out on their first preaching mission in this manner. If they didn’t get on in their partnership they had to immediately decide whether it was something they just had to bear with (and thus mature themselves) or confront because it was a serious issue that was going to harm both parties. Living and working with someone 24-7 teaches you to address things correctly. They can’t be ignored or over looked because we only see them for a few hours a week. Doing this benefits neither us nor our brother or sister or the church or those who will need to hear the Gospel through our lives.

I have been memorising the fusionfuel of Colossians 3 so that through it Christ may direct my attitudes and actions as I let it roll around in my thoughts. I hope that everyone I knows will benefit from it because “as members of one body you were called to peace.”

One way: Jesus! - 4 days to go.

“My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don't you choose to be led by the Spirit …?
… But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard--things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people…
… let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.”
Gal 5:16-18,22,25 (The Message)

I read this passage from Galatians one morning last week and it has been just rolling around in my mind and heart ever since. It’s bugging me and delighting me. It’s as though I don’t want any more, and then I can’t get enough!
I just wanted to share it with you guys (anyone reading this). Let it drift into a prayer, a living payer. One that walks around with you all week. One that, when you sit still for a moment, you realise that you are still praying. Let God’s Holy Spirit mould you in prayer.

As I have been doing this I have also found a song called One Way beating in my heart. (It is a song from a Hillsong United CD but we sing it in church every so often).
This is my battle cry for the week ahead, this is my song for fusion.
One way – Jesus!

ONE WAY
I lay my life down at your feet
You're the only one I need
I turn to you and you are always there
In troubled times it's you I seek
I put you first that's all I'll need
I humble all I am, all to you

One way, Jesus, you're the only one that I could live for
One way, Jesus, you're the only that I could live for

You are always, always there
Every how and everywhere
Your grace abounds so deeply within me
You will never ever change Yesterday, today the same
Forever 'til forever meets no end

You are the way, the truth, and the life
We live by faith and not by sight, for you
We're living all for you

Havergal, that hymnal heroine! - still 5 days to go.

Francis Havergal, the hymn writer, is just awesome!
She’s a definite fusionbabe (if we publish a calendar I will let you know ;o)

Another woman of God that I admire is Claire Burton (she’s the ‘senior’ youth leader in our church). Her passion for God is infectious and I have to admit, I honestly feel stronger in my faith after speaking with her… no matter what it is about!

However, what I don’t admire her for is her emailing etiquette :o)
Let me explain.
She is one of those people who, rather than sending you a fresh email (which isn’t that time consuming surely!), simply replies to and old one that you had sent her. This often results in you receiving very long emails which will no doubt contain lots of unrelated material (although you only realise this after you have attempted to read it all!).

I once more fell foul to this abuse as I opened a recent email from her … but this time it didn’t bother me because there were some mysterious gems hidden deep in all that forwarded material [just above the disclaimer at the end].

It would appear that I sent her an email not long after my birthday last year. For some reason (which I am none the wiser to, being as I have no recollection of ever sending the mail) I had included the following which looks as though I had copied it from my daily Bible notes (probably Our Daily Bread).

It did me good to read it again and so I thank her, on this occasion, for her lapse in emailing etiquette …. but I don’t want anyone else forwarding it on to me OK!

The woman must have had a major chocolate craving! She stopped at a Woolworth's store in London and asked for every Mars bar in stock. She paid cash for the 10,656 chocolate bars. Nobody bothered to ask why she wanted so many, but one person jokingly said, 'Perhaps she has a sweet tooth.'
The Psalmist had a 'sweet tooth' too for something far more healthy than chocolate. He loved the Word of God and found it "sweeter than honey" to his taste (Psalm 119:103).
How can we develop our spiritual tastebuds so that we have a strong craving for the sweetness of God's Word?
Read the Word. It may seem obvious, but you have to read the Word if you're going to learn to love it as the psalmist did. Set aside a few minutes each day and read a passage. Think about the words, their meaning and context. Reflect on the Word. Jot down a verse and carry it with you. Look at it often during the day. Follow the psalmist's example and make it your "meditation all the day" (Psalm 119:97).
Apply the Word. Ask God what He wants you to understand and how to apply it to your life that day. God's Word will give you a 'sweet tooth' and always satisfy it.


“Upon Thy Word I rest, so strong, so sure;
So full of comfort blest, so sweet, so pure,
Thy Word that changest not, that faileth never!
My King, I rest upon Thy Word forever.”
- Frances Havergal

Thank you Claire, you’re a star!

What difference does it make? - 5 days to go.

I have been wondering to myself what impact FUSION [or ‘Prayer for the City’] has on anything.
Do things really change because of it? Does anyone notice?...

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
Psalm 46:10 (NIV)

Read it again – mad isn’t it!
Or at least it seems that way to my limited mind. What about you?
I’m not stupid, or at least I don’t think so; I have been to university (no comments!). Despite this I just can’t begin to truly understand what God is saying here in David’s Psalm. It seems to go beyond understanding.

Is God saying that if we get to know Him more, then Newport will know Him and praise Him?
Just by getting to know Him more?! How?

Now, let’s not get mixed up here. God is not saying to us, ‘Be still and do nothing all of the time.’ He’s saying something entirely different. He is saying, ‘Pause a moment, take a breath. Let me breathe fresh life in you, then go. I am going to amaze people through you.’
God’s command to be still must assume that we are currently active [in faithful obedient living]. David was a man of action, a man after God’s own heart. He was clearly in the zone as he wrote this Psalm, worshipping God. Then, all of a sudden, God took over his song and changed the tempo; ‘Slow down a second, take a fresh look at me; look me right in the eye.’

Times of stillness lead into times of action otherwise they become stagnant. They become death rather than life.

As we become more aware of God, who he really is, what he is really like and what pleases him, we suddenly change. We want to be God-pleasers, life savers, gospel sharers. That doesn’t mean that we’re going to become some massive evangelists, but we’ll certainly be godly friends to the lost, the down trodden, the backslidden.

Fusion is a time for us to be still in and know that God is GOD, and that he loves you.
Victory flows naturally from this.

Hungry? - 6 days to go.

“The mystery [of fusion living] in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, therefore you can look forward to sharing in God's glory. It's that simple. That is the substance of our Message… To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That's what I'm working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me.”
Col 1:27,29 (The Message)

How hungry are you for God?

Our hearts desires are lived out in our actions.
I can say that I love my wife but unless that is backed up with actions it is a worthless sentiment. How would she know, how would anyone know? The [very] occasional bunch of flowers or gift (such as the wonderful Nanny McPhee on DVD) aren’t important in themselves, but they are signs that I do love and appreciate her. So does getting to knowing what she likes, what makes her smile, taking her by the hand as we stroll together through town or when I make her a little card…. I do love you, Ruth xxx

I can’t tell you how many times I have found myself telling God that I am hungry for more of Him in my life (you are probably the same) but if I do nothing, it’s worthless. Unimpressive words. God isn’t going to coo over that fact that I have said I’m hungry for him. His heart is only stirred when He sees that our hearts long for Him, when we use all our energy to seek more of Christ …

“Come near to God and he will come near to you.” James 4:8 (NIV)

Our hunger for God is our message. If people see no desire in our lives, what difference will the Gospel make to them? If we are not stirred by God, how can we expect the lost to be?

That is why I (as well as so many of you) love FUSION [or ‘Prayer for the City’] so much. Not because you are an event lover, but because you get an opportunity to abandon yourself in God’s presence. It is God we love, and we are serious in wanting Him more, wanting fusion. We may come in a pray for friends, ourselves, the city, any number of things but in reality we are hungry for Him. We are thirsty for Him. We will joyfully give up our time just to be with Him, to hear his voice.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Matt 5:6 (NIV)

Fusion is coming and it is full of promise.

Where in the Top Ten is GOD? - 7 days to go.

Eugene Peterson wrote this in his introduction to Genesis in The Message. It is where our fusion begins:

“First, God. God is the subject of life. God is foundational for living. If we don’t have a sense of the primacy of God, we will never get it right, get life right, get our lives right. Not God at the margins; not God as an option; not God on the weekends. God at centre and circumference; God first and last; God, God, God.”

Jesus, by my centre today. Amen.

Three little words - 8 days to go.

It is usually the case in our church that we have a team of three people praying through out our meetings in a small prayer room that we have just under our main hall.

This Sunday, after we were about half an hour into the service, I realised that only one person on the team, Albert (or Mr Brett), had turned up since the others were ill. So I went down to suggest that he come up and join the meeting.

Mr Brett is not a young man. In fact I wouldn’t even say he was old, he has a depth of maturity which age cannot pin down. What is more his passion for God makes it even harder to put an age on him. Love and faithfulness hides age far more than any oils or creams can.

When I got to the prayer room I found Mr Brett sat there quietly reading from Mark’s Gospel as the worship continued unabated over our heads. I quickly explained to him why the others had not shown up but instead of accepting my offer Mr Brett said that he was fine and would continue to pray.

Glad to hear his sincerity and commitment I shared a couple of things with him that he could pray for and indeed give thanks for. As our conversation came to a conclusion Mr Brett looked at me and said, “God is faithful.” Nothing more was said. I could see in his eyes, and the hushed passion in his voice, that he meant what he said; it wasn’t just a turn of phrase. It was just three words but it was clear that they were uttered with years of experience. The look in his eyes expounded on these words, extending their meaning way beyond what the words could carry on their own. In his eyes was written fusion; the combining of his story and God’s faithfulness.

I knew from the way Mr Brett looked at me that these three little words were true, without a shadow of a doubt; God is faithful.

Living deeply - 9 days to go.

“… stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we’ll be ready for him when he appears, ready to receive him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when he arrives.”
1 John 2:28 (The Message)

Are you ‘shallow’?
I’d hate to be thought of as a ‘shallow’ sort of person. But in terms of my Christian faith, I wander where I am. Am I in the shallows? Up to my waist? Or am I in the deep, surrounded by God? In this respect I am often my own worst enemy. Forget anyone else, I hinder my own faith! I amaze myself sometimes.

I read the above passage from John’s first letter his plea for us has really stuck with me … “Live deeply in Christ.” Is there something that stirs within you as you read these words? This deep living with Christ is only possible when we surrender, completely accepting his love for us and his leadership. He’s looking for fusion, where there is a melting between who he is and what we are.

Are we up to living deeply? Does it stir you?

Only You
Take my heart, I Lay it down
At the feet of you whose crowned
Take my life, I’m letting go
I lift it up to You who’s throned

And I will worship You, Lord
Only You, Lord
And I will bow down before You
Only You Lord

Take my fret, take my fear
All I have, I’m leaving here
Be all my hopes, be all my dreams
Be all my delights, be my everything

And It’s just you and me here now
Only you and me here now

You should see the view
When it’s only You

(From David Crowder*Band’s Illuminate CD)

Welcoming - 10 days to go.

“…in a humble spirit receive and welcome the Word which implanted and rooted [in your hearts] contains the power to save your souls.”
James 1:21 (Amplified)

Fusion living is all about welcoming God’s Word into our lives.
This is more than a fleeting visit. This is about residency!

I’m sure you’ve all had guests over to you house at some time. They pop over to visit. You know they are coming and so you tidy up, getting it all nice looking - just the way you like it to be every day. They come in, you entertain and then they leave. It is all very pleasant and you think, “We must have them over again”. Your guests may been thoughtful enough give you something (flowers or perhaps even a homemade bakewell tart – Gareth you know who you are and you are always more than welcome … as long as your mother’s baking accompanies you :o) just kidding) but in no time at all that all disappears and no-one would know if your guests had ever been.

When you welcome someone into your home that is a different matter. Last year we welcomed friends of ours, Claire & Lawrence, into our home. They lived with us for months as they waited for their house purchase to go though. We made the house look nice for when they arrived. They saw it at its best, but we had welcomed them in and so eventually they got to see it at its worse. They had a key and could turn up when they liked. They saw it in a mess, something no-one else would see. As they settled in some of our things moved way for theirs. We had welcomed them into our home, to make themselves at home and so that is what happens. But with them there were things that got done which we wouldn’t have done without them. (We loved having them live with us, and now we miss them even though we see them all the time – we love you guys!).

This is what it is like when we welcome God’s Word into our lives. It means that things get moved around, he sheds light on areas no one else sees. It may not always be comfortable, but it is always joyful. He always helps out and builds us up. Things happen in our lives that can only happen when we welcome God’s Word. These Holy Scriptures will have no effect if we only let it pop in for a visit. After He’s gone we move everything back. That is not fusion, that is just frustrating!

A rough guide to FUSION - 11 days to go.

What is FUSION (or ‘Prayer for the City’) all about?
It is about praying for Newport … simple as that. Does this sound daunting? Don’t worry, this isn’t a long prayer meeting (you know, a few people sat in rows praying out loud every now and again) it is simply a place of prayer. You can come in and find a place to pray quietly on your own, or you can come in as a group and pray together, all in the name of Jesus. It’s not about formality; it is about us and God – a fusion.

FUSION is about providing people with the space and time to encounter God (Yahweh). Here we are free from distractions, allowing God to speak to us, inspire us and guide us. But the thing that draws us together is not only our love of Christ (and His love for us) but also our love of Newport, our home. We can all no doubt list off people we know and love who are struggling, swept along by life, battered by storms. Of course we help, we reach out our hand, but there is also the over riding need to pray. Pray Christ into situations and lives.

If you have never been to FUSION before you may be wondering what will you see when you walk in the venue?
Let me show you …

This event takes over the whole of Bethel Community Church (it may even be the largest prayer room in Newport, and it is right in the city centre!). All the rows of chairs will be gone and instead you find secluded areas which encourage you to focus in on God. A prayer monastery.

Let’s quickly walk through each area.

THIS IS THE WAY IN
The Psalmist encourages us to ‘enter His gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise’ (Ps 100). As you walk in through the main entrance, off Stow Hill, you will find yourself in an area dedicated to worship.
Worship CDs will be playing continually allowing you to both meditate and worship. This atmosphere of worship fuels our praying just as a compass directs someone orienteering.
Enjoy God’s presence, allow your songs to mingle with His (Zeph 3:17) – a harmonious fusion.

FROM REST TO RISE
Immediately as you enter the main hall you will be reminded that there is not a moment of our lives in which God is not with us, where he is not surrounding us with his love. Can we hide in the heavens from him? Or round the corner? Can we hide under our duvet, or maybe in our busy lives or complicated decisions? No. He is faithful. He leads us from dawn to dusk; he directs our path and gives us rest.
“From the rising of the sun, To the going down of the same, The Lord’s Name is to be praised”

REFLECT
Around the hall are a number of areas (or stations, or zones, whatever you want to call them) for you to enter. Each one providing you with the space and focus to meditate and pray. In this area you are encouraged to just spend time alone with God. Allow Him sharpen your mind through his Holy Spirit, so that you will be keenly aware of His will.

THROUGH THE STORM
Are you in the middle of one of life’s storms? Has you been shaken by the thunderously dark clouds of a storm on the horizon of tomorrow? Sometimes the storms of life weigh us down, threatening to pull us under the waves. But be sure of this: We are not abandoned, Christ is with us. The Son is in charge and not the storm!
Spend time here in the presence of your Saviour. Allow Jesus to speak his peace over you (a storm-defeating, authority-filled, elements-obeying peace). When our problems melt into his peace, the fusion results in the storms power surrendering to Christ’s authority.

SALVATION’S BREAKFAST
Here is a simple but eternity changing meal; bread and wine. It reminds us of the dawn of our salvation. The moment hope broke though and lit up our life. Still today these emblems ring with significance in our lives and prayers.

THE WALL
This is a wall of prayer. We all have things in our lives, obstacles that seem to be immovable barriers, but that is not how God sees them! They are defeated in faith as we lay them before Christ.

AT THE CROSS
This reminds us of the victory that defines our lives. At times we all loose sight of this but the victory is definite and eternal. Allow the image of the cross to become bigger to you. Worship, pray, think. The cross is the birth place of hope, where our salvation is indelibly written through Christ’s sacrifice.

SHINE
We are called to radiate the presence of Christ in our every day lives. Here you can take the time to allow God’s Word to sculpt your heart in prayer. Let God breathe fresh life into you through His Word.


Whether you come in for a few minutes or a few hours I pray that you will be mightily blessed, encouraged and empowered to do God’s work in Newport with a renewed energy.

I can trust you - 2 weeks to fusion!

Yesterday morning my wife decided to take on the mantle of ‘DJ Ruthie on the discs’ as we drove into work together ( this simply means she got to choose what songs we listened to as we waited [reasonably] patiently in the traffic). She put on a Rebecca St James CD which I had bought her for Christmas: If I Had Once Chance To Tell You Something. DJ Ruthie skipped straight to track 11 emphatically declaring, “I love this one!”

I am inclined to agree with her :o) It’s an awesome song and as I sat there, watching the brake lights on the car in front flicking slowly on and off, I let the words sink in.

I Can Trust You

Yes, I know that You have paved a path for me
Yes, I know that You see what I do and don’t need
But when it comes to the deepest things
I have a hard time relinquishing control
Letting go

God, it hurts to give You what I must lay down
But when I let go, freedom’s found
God, it hurts to give You what I’ve held so dear
Because of Your love it’s clear
I can trust You with this
I can trust You with me
I can trust You

Lord, I know that You are worthy of my trust
For You have shown me time and time again
You’re faithful and yet
I’m so scared of letting go of this
Afraid of what You might do with it
How could I forget who You are like this

Me forsaking
Heart is breaking
I let go of what I’ve held so tight
Freedom’s mine now
For the taking
I move in faith, not by sight
Let Your will be done

This morning I have let this song become my prayer. Letting go I get a better grip.
Let Your will be done in my life, Lord. Amen

Smell the coffee - 15 days to go.

Remember yesterdays ‘thought for the day’?

If you had unlimited resources of money, confidence, time and personnel what would you do for God?

Whatever you thought about God has placed in you ….. how wild is that?!
He God who laid out the foundations of the earth, placed each star in it’s place (and keeps it there), who fills the universe with stuff who gave breath to every living aaaand put this dream in your heart!

I wander why he did that? Do you think He wants me to dwell on the unachievable? Or could it be that I [relying heavily on Him] could do it?
Is he taunting me or training me?

Time is such a scarse commodity. But I guess I have to wander if I treat it like the ‘gold’ it is… or do I sqwander it. Can I train myself to focus more? James did (see the post I made on Tue 7 Feb) and so is it impossible for me? I could argue that it is more complex or may be I can give in and try.

But I’m not confident I can pull it off. Now do I lack confidence in myself or God? God is God, right?! So do I think the success of whatever it is going to be because I am super confident and out-going? Or because God is? Do you remember a guy called Gideon?

It took God ages to get Gideon to the place where he’d say “OK, I don’t think it’ll work, and that scares me, but you are God after all and I’ll put my confidence in that rather than myself (after all He’s hardly likely to humiliate Himself).”

What about people, I can’t do it on my own. Is God expecting you to? If not then do I trust him enough to believe that he has placed the same desire in others. Do I have the confidence in God to step out and pray that they too will be obedient (for their sake, not mine) to God’s call.

I’m not rich, where’s the money come from?
Now if nothing else has this’ll blow the socks so far off your feet you won’t believe it. I’m still trying to find mine!
I do not think I am rich, I have to scratch around cash to go see a movie (and even then only on Orange Wednesday). How does God provide? Well consider this, God owns the cattle on a thousand hills … but what if some of those hills belong to us?
Recently God has been patiently doing some Maths with me (just like Mr Kinsella …. Although this teacher of mine had much hairer hands than I expect God has).


When I get into work I tend to get a cup of coffee form a vending machine. It costs me 60p. I can usually afford this no problem at all. In a week this costs me £3. I get about three weeks off work a year which means in a twelve month period I will have spent £147 on coffee!!!
Now watch this (no slight of hand) if I buy a little stainless steel thermos flask from Morrisons for £3.49 (which I have) and buy some nice FairTrade filter coffee now and again (approximately £1 a week) I can save almost £100 a year and still have coffee every morning …. Much nicer coffee…. And more of it! How mad is that! What can I do with this £100? Plough it back into the Kingdom, I don’t need it (I would only have spent it anyway).
By not depriving myself of anything I can give God £100!!!!!
Imagine if I decided I didn’t need coffee – steady on there!

Now here’s a bit more God maths. What would happen if I decided that rather than buy some pop corn when I went to the cinema or some other random ‘treat’, I give it to God. For me that means I could give £5 a week. A sacrifice right, but it won’t kill me. In a year – that’s all – I will have saved an astonishing £260 that I can put back into the Kingdom!
Now, let’s dream a little here. What if you had 150 people in your church and they all decided to do this. In a year the church would have raised £39,000!!!!!

What if God blesses you with a pay rise. Wasn't I coping just fine on the wages I had before? may be I can give my pay rise to God?
Money is no issue to God, that is why he has made us rich!

It’s just a thought :o)

In case you are worried I am doing the coffee thing and my wife and I are doing the £5 a week thing. My wife is even considering the pay rise thing too! Doesn't God bless us real good!

What would you do? - 16 days to go.

I was left with something to think about the other day.
It's a relatively simple but it caused my mind to whir.

If you had unlimited resources of money, confidence, time and personnel what would you do for God?

Don't say "nothing, I'm not very good at doing things"!
Think about it, let your thoughts excite your mind.

What's the point of this hypothetical question?
It simply means this; what you are thinking about right now is unlikely to be what anyone else is thinking about, and it's in you now for a purpose. This is a desire that God has already placed in you, not to taunt you but to give you pleasure.


Any way talking about things people have done for God, here (at last .... sorry it has taken me so long to post it) is the poster that Gareth has produced for 'Prayer for the City':

I love it. Good job mate!

Drifting into the Word - 17 days to go.

"Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us."
(2 Tim 3:17)

The other day I was really impressed/encouraged/challenged by a friend of mine, James.

As we drove back from house group he said that he had begun going to bed earlier. “Oh yeah” I said, trying to sound polite as I had no idea where he was going with this. Then he explained why.

He was feeling frustrated that he didn’t feel his faith had grown at all over the last year. As he prayed about this he felt God saying to him, "well it’s hardly surprising; you don’t spend any time with me. My Word is there to instruct you and build you up all the time."

Reasonably, he tried to explain [to God!] the reasons behind this; he was a single parent after all and just didn’t have the time or energy to sit down and read his Bible after everything had been done … As he used this objection he realised that it was a false excuse.

So he decided, rather than sitting in front of the TV all evening, he’d start going to bed early (9:30ish, about an hour and half after his boys) and read the Bible and pray until he drifted off to sleep. How awesome is that!

Let the Word of Christ - the Message - have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives - words, actions, whatever - be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
(Col 3:16-17)


The count down to FUSION continues.
It’s going to be a great weekend. I have been getting stuff ready for it and I just know that it is God getting ready to delight in some prime time with us ….. so that he can send us out to shine in the world. When a fusion occurs, it’s bright. I can tell you now, as James told us about his new routine, it was brightly written all over him. Praise the Lord!

Is this my offering? - 18 days to go.

I hope to post the promostional material for 'Prayer for the City' here in the next few days, so keep your eyes peeled. Gareth has done an awesome job ... trust me :o)

The poster Gareth has produced urges you to let God speak into your life. This is no mean thing. When God speaks, and we hear, and yet ignore Him .... no, I don't even want to think about it! How could I blank the one who loves me so much? How could I listen to the one who gave his life for me and then go - 'whateva!'

Ages ago I printed off Romans 12 and have kept it in the pocket of my jeans ever since. Every time I read it I am hugely challenged. It is as if I can hear the Holy Spirit passionately challenging every time, it calls me to think how I live life ... it cries out for fusion in ourlives.

Be careful what you read.

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life - and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you…

… let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren't.

If you preach, just preach God's Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don't take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don't get bossy; if you're put in charge, don't manipulate; if you're called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don't let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face. Love from the centre of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down. Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody.

Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it."
Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.

Rom 12:1-2, 6-21

Wholly yours – 19 days to go.

Here is an awesome song from the David Crowder*Band’s new CD A Collision. It gets you ready for Sunday morning :o)

Wholly Yours
I am full of earth, You are heaven’s worth.
I am stained with dirt, prone to depravity.
You are everything that is bright and clean,
The antonym of me.
You are divinity.

But a certain sign of grace is this:
From the broken earth flowers come up pushing through the dirt.

You are holy, holy, holy.
All heaven cries, “Holy, holy God.”
You are holy, holy, holy.
I want to be holy like You are.
You are everything that is bright and clean.
And you’re covering me with your majesty.

And the truest sign of grace was this:
From wounded hands redemption fell down, liberating man.

But the harder I try
the more clearly can I feel
the depth of our fall and the weight of it all.
And so this might could be the most impossible thing:
Your grandness in me is making me clean.
Glory, glory, hallelujah.

So here I am, all of me.
Finally everything.
Wholly, wholly, wholly –
I am wholly, wholly, wholly –
I am wholly, wholly, wholly … Yours.

I am full of earth and dirt and You.

…’from wounded hands redemption fell down, liberating man’, liberating me! I just want to worship you Jesus! Let’s go!

http://www.davidcrowderband.com/
http://www.grassrootsmusic.com/magazine/feature.php?feature=davidcrowder


(Why not blog here to let us know what God has done in your church today, I’d be awesome to hear about what Jesus is up to in Newport :o)

FUSION hall of fame - 20 days to go.

Frances Havergal, an awesome woman of God, wrote this [fusion] hymn:

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love;
Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.
Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King;
Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold;
Take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose.
Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart; it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love; my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.

Why'd she write it?

In December of 1874, Frances Havergal visited Worcester, England with a group of friends, consisting of “some unconverted and long prayed for, some converted but not rejoicing Christians.” Much concerned for her friends' spiritual well-being, she had prayed to the Lord that she would be able to lead each of them to a genuine and joyful experience of Christ. By the last day of her five-day visit, the gracious Lord had answered her prayer completely. Unable to contain the inward joy welling up within her, Frances could not sleep that night. Instead, she spent most of the night praising and thanking the Lord while renewing her personal consecration to Him. During that blissful evening in the Lord, she composed the six couplets of this hymn.

This woman had a heart for fusion. Three times a day she would make sure that she found some time to be alone with her Lord, and this is what she'd pray for:

Morning prayer
Watchfulness.
Guard over temper.
Consistency.
Faithfulness to opportunities.
The Holy Spirit guide and strengthen her.
A vivid love for Christ

Midday prayer
Earnestness of spirit in desire, in prayer, and in all work.
Faith, love, hope.

Evening prayer
Forgiveness.
To see my sinfulness in its true light.
Growth in grace.
Against morning sleepiness as a hinderance to time for prayer.