Jesus Walks

I'm off to stay at Castlewellan, and am speaking with the young people at Castlewellan Christian Holiday week for the Methodist Church in Ireland. Tracy and the boys will be with me for the week and then we are all staying on in Belfast for an extra weeks holiday.

The Methodists in Ireland are fantastic supporters of all we do here and it's a privilege to be able to put something back.

We are staying in this Castle, which should be fun.

My theme for the week is Jesus Walks, based on this Kayne West song....

Ambulance trouble

Tonight the galleno (private medical company) have been following us they took a guy of us last week who didn't want to go with them he slept his stupor off in their centre and then they charged him 480 euros!! this is an injustice. We are not medically trained but if we ever find someone unconscious we call and ambulance. If they have puke on them and just can't get a taxi we take them home. These are the kind of guys we help the most, they are on their own or with a friend, to drunk to make it home in a cab with vomiting but no where near in enough of a state to need a hospital.

Tonight we had a call from a bar to help a girl who was alone and vomiting we took her to the taxi rank but they wouldn't take her. So I rocked up in the van to drop her at her hotel. The Galleno where also there they wanted to take her but she didn't want to go with them, they were very insistent but I refused to let them take a girl, they then blocked me with in the street their ambulance and called the police. I got so angry I tried to reverse out, one of the galleno guys stood in the way, thumped van & accused me of hitting him!

Thankfully the police came, and after assessing the situation told them to move, the Galleno argued but had to go in the end. The Galleno are unjust they prey on the drunk and vulnerable to make money. The police were not impressed with the whole situation, they have better things to do with their time, but they stood up for us.

I am concerned that times are hard and they are getting more ruthless and predatory, they don't like us because we steal business, except we do all we do for free. Which messes with their heads and they don't really believe us.

Handbags at dawn, but it unsettled me. Darkness biting back......

Dance Differently

We all dance differently, we have different national dances, different music we like to dance to. At different times we dance to different rhythms.

Some of us were even told it was wrong to dance!

Life is a dance.

Micah 6: 8 "and what does the Lord require of you. To act justly and love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

This is the rhythm that has captured my life, this is the music that I want to dance to.

Mixed up in this verse is a rhythm, a rhythm that is good, a rhythm that is pure.

A multi layered rhythm that I choose to move my life to.

A rhythm of prayer, mission and justice.

That’s why I love 24-7 prayer. It’s a movement, a movement that moves to rhythm of prayer, mission and justice.

The Baseline

The baseline of this movement, this dance, I have chosen to enter is “prayer.”

Walking humbly is a walk of prayer. I may not be great at prayer but the more I tap out this base line in my life the better I get.

Prayer changes things. Prayer changed my life when I decided I would dance to it’s beat. That I would pray more than watch big brother!

Prayer is the beat of all we do, it’s dangerous, can alter the course of our lives, it is a wild, exciting rhythm that we need to dance to.

The Melody

Another layer to this rhythm is “Loving Mercy”

A rhythm of mercy is a rhythm of “mission.” I feel the beat of mercy on my own life and want others to feel it as well.

I want others to dance to the rhythm that has captured my heart.

Therefore I am compelled to go. I will go without, I will live wherever, I will sacrifice, I will push through I will allow the rhythm of mission to move and guide me.

We will dance to this rhythm wherever it takes us.

In Isaiah 6 we see the prophet move from the baseline of prayer and intimacy to the response of “Here I am send me” he let the rhythm move him.

The Harmony

Then I see another layer, another strand, “Act Justly” that strand is “Justice”.

Justice is not just a strand for hippies dancing around a pole in some forest to the beat of some weird African tribal drum.

Justice is an essential part of the Christians dance.

The strand that shows how to do what is right. To move right.

Here’s the justice part of the dance: Isaiah 58: 5-6

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to lose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yokeIs it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?. ”

So yes, we will dance, we will dance with all our might, we will move to this rhythm and we will dance to it wherever it takes us and whenever the Lord of the dance asks us to.

And we dance for the king and His kingdom with the hope that our dance ushers it into being.

We need air!

Forty people at our little service last night which was really excellent. I wanted to say it was cool but it wasn't the place was absolutely roasting so today I am off to get a price on an air conditioning unit, we need a large one! We do have a real sense that God is with us and there is a lovely atmosphere in the meetings.



The format is 2 songs, a little talk, another song and a closing prayer. Takes about 35 - 40 minutes and I reckon I sweated out half my body weight last night.



We need air in our centre hence todays little shots of sky, air and moisture.

Images of Ibiza

I took these on Friday, this one is my favourite



I like deterioration shots!



My sons are in the UK at the moment so it's a bit weird for Tracy and I. It's nice doing the streets together something we don't do a lot.

Beautiful

My friend Clare put me on to this guy, he is called Nick Brandt and his photography is truly stunning.

If I could live another life, it would be taking photographs of wild animals like this.

This particular composition is so strong and balanced, the contrast is fantastic evoking a real sense of heat, married with a feeling of power and grace. All of which draws the viewer into another world through an image they will very rarely get the opportunity to experience in their own world. A photographer who in one single image succeeds in communicating a wild, controlled, dry journey must be pretty good, in fact it doesn't get much better than this.

I love beautiful photography.

You won't be dancing like this in hell!

Had an interesting comment on my blog today from an old post I wrote about christian clubbing here it is:

"Great ANother Blog post giving young christians a great excuse to go clubbing, i guess what you talk about and waht you think about most really just shows the deepest desires of your heart. Im not saying christians CANT go clubbing, but what i am saying is theres far much more greater things in store with Gods plan for your life.

Romans 13:14 (ESV) - But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh
Eph 5:3 - But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.

Now i think theres more than a hint of sexual immorality in clubs... Lets not be deceived and fool ourselves. Why are we drinking piss water from the toilet when Jesus promised us A well of water flowing into eternal life in him... We can be great evangelists outside of the evil world systems which are controlled by Satan:

Hebrews 12:2 "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus" some of us cant get passed worshipping the DJ and the music... "

Thank you for your contribution to the debate anonymous. I must admit I can see were you are coming from but I totally disagree with you. Why was Jesus accused of being a "drunkard and a glutton"? Was it the company he kept, the places he went, the people he was seen with, I think so.

I want to write more but I haven't got the energy, only to say really if you have had a bad experience with clubbing yourself, please don't make us all pay by trying to tell us to stay out of the darkness or the light.

God is with us, He will go where we go and I am pretty sure Jesus would have loved clubbing. I can picture him now glow stick in hand, arms raised high grinding his body to some cool beats and giving it all up to God the creator who made life to be celebrated and music to be danced to.

Religion

This is a beautiful sufi poem from a classical lebanese poet - khalil gibran

Religion

And an old priest said, 'Speak to us of Religion.'

And he said:

Have I spoken this day of aught else?

Is not religion all deeds and all reflection,

And that which is neither deed nor reflection, but a wonder and a surprise ever springing in the soul, even while the hands hew the stone or tend the loom?

Who can separate his faith from his actions, or his belief from his occupations?

Who can spread his hours before him, saying, 'This for God and this for myself; This for my soul, and this other for my body?'

All your hours are wings that beat through space from self to self.

He who wears his morality but as his best garment were better naked.

The wind and the sun will tear no holes in his skin.

And he who defines his conduct by ethics imprisons his song-bird in a cage.

The freest song comes not through bars and wires.

And he to whom worshipping is a window, to open but also to shut, has not yet visited the house of his soul whose windows are from dawn to dawn.

Your daily life is your temple and your religion.

Whenever you enter into it take with you your all.

Take the plough and the forge and the mallet and the lute,

The things you have fashioned in necessity or for delight.

For in revery you cannot rise above your achievements nor fall lower than your failures.

And take with you all men:

For in adoration you cannot fly higher than their hopes nor humble yourself lower than their despair.

And if you would know God be not therefore a solver of riddles.

Rather look about you and you shall see Him playing with your children.

And look into space; you shall see Him walking in the cloud, outstretching His arms in the lightning and descending in rain.

You shall see Him smiling in flowers, then rising and waving His hands in trees.

Celebrate

This is the moment just after Spain won the world cup. Sometimes you just have to embrace the madness.

Bad back

Had a mad weekend someone slashed two tires of our vomit van on Friday night, which was a complete pain. We eventually got the tires replaced yesterday. In the lifting and moving of the tires I stretched awkwardly with my lower back and have been in absolute agony, the pain is still there but it has eased considerably. I have never had a proper back pain in my life but I feel for the people I know who do have bad backs it must be so debilitating and frustrating.

I'm hoping mine slowly gets better.

I was reading Matthew this morning
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

By the way I am enjoying Carla Hardings Blog she has started to blog regularly again, I missed her.

There are also a few articles about Ibiza on the 24-7prayer website check them out!

A song for San Antonio

Claire sang this in our service last night, I sat behind and looked out at our eclectic little gathering and was moved to tears as I watched the group absorb these lyrics.

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Pastor and emerging church terminology

When I led a church in the UK I remember a couple of the elderly ladies who wanted to call me Pastor! One of them said to me they felt "Pastor Brian" suited me. Obviously I fought against being tagged with such a label, for me the word pastor had so many connotations and also quite a few misinterpretations. Pastor as a one off gift I get, but as the all singing all dancing church leader role I don't think it really covers it. A lot of bigger churches have pastoral teams who are a lot better at covering the pastoring than the "pastor" I always preferred the term "team leader".

The team led the church and the team leader led the team.

Anyway we now have our little sunday evening service which last week had 30 people show up and this week 22, 7 of the congregation are west african prostitutes. and they like to call me "pastor!!!!!!".

Here's the funny thing; I don't care, if that helps them put a frame work around my role then I am happy. In fact the more people who aren't christians that attend our meetings the less I care about emerging church terminology.

I have said it before and I will say it again there are certain groupings within the church more hung up on what to call things and how to define things than people outside of the church. In fact this is a debate I have been part of for a few years and I think I have been wrong.

Have we really spent that long in our middle class, beer drinking, cigar smoking, reflective styled, ambient music, candle lit cohorts that we have forgot about the people we are meant to reach. Have been more hung up on labels and terminology than the lost.

Do the books we read have more to say about emerging theology than the drifting lost?

Call me pastor, come to church, lets have fellowship call it whatever you want to call it as long as it is the Bride of Christ the Church living actively and breathing being involved in reaching and loving the lost.

On Call

Been a good week, although extremely hot and draining.

I am on call tonight, this is my least favourite part of what we do. I think it's because you try to get asleep and then the phone rings you go from sleep to madness in about 20 minutes.

Basically it involves something like this, phone rings I answer "hello 24-7 Ibiza" they tell me the problem and I say "we'll be there in about 20 minutes" normally I add "if they get better or get other help can you call me back" this doesn't happen much but we do turn up and the drunk or drugged person is gone. On another level I don't mind that they have gone because the biggest witness is then to the worker who calls us. It says if you call we will come!!!

I have found the best way to get asleep on a night when you are on call is to say in your head "I won't get a call" If you go to bad thinking the phone could ring any minute you never actually get to sleep.

My prediction is for a 4 o'clock call tonight, I hope thats what happens.

is it early or late?

Just finished a hectic night on the street, got in 5 minutes ago the sun is properly up and I have been awake for 22 hours, it's 7.04 am!

Is this ok as a blog post? I'm too tired for anything else.

Not even a picture.

Acceptance

Obviously massive celebrations here, we went and watched the match on a big screen in town. It was fantastic, I ended up in the fountains having a little dance. Truly awesome to be in a country whose team win the world cup, and to watch it surrounded by thousands of Spaniards who went ballistic when they scored. I could hardly speak this morning, after they lifted the trophy we drove round with the boys for about an hour beeping our horn and waving a spanish flag out the window, mental.

The word that sprung to mind this morning totally unrelated to football was acceptance, I love this word.

We had 30 people at our service last night which was conveniently timed to end 30 minutes before kick off. I looked around at the mixture of people in the room and the word acceptance came to mind. We had Germans, Americans, Irish, English, Nigerian, Australians all in the room. Christians and people who would say they didn't have a faith. Drinkers and abstainers, young and old, fat and skinny, prostitutes and church workers, strip club workers and school teachers, youth workers and dancers, all in all a very eclectic mix of people.

Then I thought about God and the word that He had for our diverse little gathering of people was "acceptance".

I'm going

24-7 prayer are having there international gathering in Edinburgh this year.

This should be fun, if you haven't already booked you should. There are some great preachers this year, especially George Verwer of Operation Mobilization, I like him a lot.

Actually thinking about it I haven't booked in yet, must do that this week.

Edinburgh is not the cheapest city in the world but there are some ok accommodation options on the 24-7 prayer site.

It would be great to see you there....

I'm worried we don't need God anymore

I read this great quote today "It's difficult to get the same fruit as the early church when we value the book they didn't have more than the Holy Spirit they did have"

I wonder if it goes deeper than that, I wonder if somewhere along the line we have substituted a living active community of Jesus followers outworking their faith in their everyday lives for something else?

I'm not sure what that something else is. This isn't rant against any form of church, we all outwork our faith in a faith community in so many different ways and I would hate to be so arrogant as to think that my ideas on how it should be done are anywhere close to being the only answer.

I've arrived at a much more content place when it comes to other expressions of church, there is more than one right answer, more than one right way of doing things. Yet I still live with a niggle, something just under my skin.

It's not really a "there must be more than this?" niggle anymore. If this is all there is then I am happy, I am pretty sure it is not all there is, but I am content, not striving, not driven, yet somehow I remain restless. Is it ok to be grown up and restless?

My restlessness does not make me want to move or change how I do things, the external hows and whys of church activity will always present me with a platter of likes and dislikes. We have to learn to be happy with diversity and randomness.

This inner restlessness is more to do with us, our own position, how we process and outwork our faith. I know this all sounds incredibly individualistic but we have to find an inner peace that can invoke a calm that enables us to deal with outer turmoil and frustration. Moving and changing the externals won't do that. Remain frustrated with how a certain church chooses to outwork it's community activity will get you nowhere. Inner peace and the uptake of our own personal responsibility to live our lives as effective disciples of Jesus within which ever faith community we find ourselves in, will.

I'm worried we don't need God anymore because we have so much external activity and busy-ness around the workings of church and our communities that we can actually look very Godly and live very faithfully without any real spiritual depth. If we are consumers the 21st century church sure has provided us with enough consumables to keep us busy for years.

Just thoughts

Drugs are for mugs and mugs are for coffee...

What a great saying, we walked a guy home tonight from Dublin, well not actually from Dublin just from the westend to his hotel and that was his little saying.

Team 2 are here and it is going great guns, the bibles are flying out of our hands and people are not only taking them because they are trendy but also to read, which is reassuring. I will get the team to write some stories and publish them soon.

It was a crazy fun night, good vibes in the air after Spain beat Germany to qualify for the world cup final. I so want them to win. We must have walked about 10 people home. We bandaged and literally washed bloody feet in the west end. One guy prayed with two of our team members by kneeling down in the street. We took a girl to hospital with her ever so sweet friends who really just wanted her to be ok. Dropped some other guys of who also were helping there drunk friend home.

Most evenings we pray that people would look out for each other and this definitely happened tonight.

It's 5 in the morning I am sitting outside in my back garden as i type this, the birds are starting to sing and a new dawn beckons. I want to see a new dawn beckon for this generation. A dawn of hope, a dawn of helpfulness, a dawn of selflessness, I get glimmers and whispers of a new dawn for this generation I occasionally hear the birds heralding this new dawn, I want it to grow to a crescendo a loud bright transformation of a generation.

Shine on you crazy diamonds

Ireland adventure

I have just had a great few days in Ireland, there is so much going on there and it was lovely to hang out with old friends and make some new ones.

The funniest thing I had to do was take a seminar on prayer spaces in schools, just funny because it's not something I know lots about. Tash who is part of our 24-7 Ireland team did a great job and I just added some theological padding......

We were hosting a prayer space at a huge gathering called Summer Madness, it was so well done and Summer madness is a truly amazing gathering. Loads of fantastic speakers and great worship leaders. I was also impressed by Rachel and the guys from Romance Academy and organisation helping young people find their true identity.

I heard a really great band called The Rend Collective, I think they have the potential and the humility to become a very popular band. They also had a guy called Ben Cantelon he is like a young Matt Redman pretty boy clone. I am sure he is a lovely chap, but it all sounds much of a muchness to me.

It was great to hang out with friends from Emmanuel church Lurgan, catch up with Aidy, hang out with Gillian Best and Helen and then finish up with friends in Newtonards. Generally I ate too much but felt like I had connected with loads of people, which is all good.

I also stayed in Belfast Bible College where both my parents went in the 70's, which was cool I found their class photos on the wall.

Belfast bound

I'm off to Belfast for a few days, I'll try and blog whilst away but may not manage it. I will be back in Ibiza next Tuesday evening.

I love Belfast

In fact I could live there