The Bible in a year!!

I thought I would try it again reading the Bible in a year!! Now that I have the YOU VERSION app on my phone it should be so much easier - you can even set yourself a reminder. I have given myself a head start by starting on 26th December :D 

Today I read Genesis 6 and found a very interesting verse that got me thinking!!

Genesis 6:4

New International Version (NIV)

4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

So I googled Nephilim to see who this interesting race was that existed at the same time as the human race 

This is what I found :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephilim - very interesting reading if you like that kind of thing.

I just found it interesting that after 37 reading the Bible (maybe not all of those years all the time) I had not really thought of their existence. I had heard the thought that their were giants around a some point and maybe that Goliath was one of them but I had never thought of them has being another race and that 'the sons of God' might also be different to human beings.

Interesting stuff anyway and its not even New Year yet :)

Putting it into practice - don't stagnate GROW!!

How true this quote is....... In my own life I know this to be so true. When I was 22 I decided to get baptised and until that point I didn't really feel I had to be baptised. I was a stubborn teenager and thought that it didn't prove that I was better Christian. I remember going to a baptism and feeling very strongly that I should do it!! After being a Christian for 13 years I finally took the plunge but it was after my baptism that I really started to be convicted again about my gifts and what my purpose as a Christian was. I can remember going to a gift finding seminar and they just could not fit me into one of their boxes, which was usually the case for me at anything like that. They decided I was a 'pioneering pastor' which kind of confirmed what I felt God was saying to me when I was 15 at Spring Harvest one year. I remember a sermon on Ephesians 4 v 11 onwards hitting me like a ton of bricks, and I needed to know what my gifts were. Anyway after my baptism when I was 22 I felt really overwhelmed with the sense that I needed to know what my calling was and I just was not satisfied with the Status Quo and my everyday life in the office. It was then I went to Bible School and ended up working there. I soon found my gifts then and developed some gifts that I didn't know I had. Serving is essential to the Christian life. If we don't serve we stagnate.

It wasn't until I started to serve that I started to grow as a human being. This is my experience and I just wish it could be the experience of so many Christians. I am very passionate about seeing Christians reach their full potential. Christians were not meant to just sit in church every Sunday and pray during the week. The Great Commission says GO!!!.. into all the world. There is movement!! God's church is a movement it should never stay still it should always be moving forward, following God's vision and helping people move closer to him. I feel so sad when I see a church full of spectators, going to church on a Sunday and hearing God's word, sometimes even twice on a Sunday. They need some exercise they need to put what they have learnt from the sermon on Sunday into action on a Monday Tuesday Wednesday etc.

 Someone once said (well probably a few people said it) 'we only know as much of the Bible as we act upon!' In other words if what you read from the Bible is just head knowledge and you don't put it into practice you don't really know it!! You are not really experiencing it!! Studies have shown that we take far more in of what we learn in actions than we do by just listening to a lecture. I think we remember about 10% of what we hear 30% of what we write down and 60% of what we act out. There is no use just listening to sermons or just reading your Bible you have to act upon what you have learnt before you can grow and really say you know God's Word!! Ask God to show you what your purpose is, what your gifts are, and how he wants you to serve HIM!! You are his ambassadors. When he back to Heaven he passed the baton on to you and expects you, as a Christian to do His job for him, be his representative here on earth. He has given you gifts and everything you need to serve HIM!!

5 Reasons to Believe in Jesus this Christmas!!

1.  God provides the best explanation of the origin of the universe.  Given the scientific evidence we have about our universe and its origins, and bolstered by arguments presented by philosophers for centuries, it is highly probable that the universe had an absolute beginning. Since the universe, like everything else, could not have merely popped into being without a cause, there must exist a transcendent reality beyond time and space that brought the universe into existence. This entity must therefore be enormously powerful. Only a transcendent, unembodied mind suitably fits that description.

2.  God provides the best explanation for the fine-tuning of the universe. Contemporary physics has established that the universe is fine-tuned for the existence of intelligent, interactive life.  That is to say, in order for intelligent, interactive life to exist, the fundamental constants and quantities of nature must fall into an incomprehensibly narrow life-permitting range.  There are three competing explanations of this remarkable fine-tuning: physical necessity, chance, or design. The first two are highly implausible, given the independence of the fundamental constants and quantities from nature's laws and the desperate maneuvers needed to save the hypothesis of chance. That leaves design as the best explanation.

3.  God provides the best explanation of objective moral values and duties. Even atheists recognize that some things, for example, the Holocaust, are objectively evil. But if atheism is true, what basis is there for the objectivity of the moral values we affirm? Evolution? Social conditioning? These factors may at best produce in us the subjective feeling that there are objective moral values and duties, but they do nothing to provide a basis for them. If human evolution had taken a different path, a very different set of moral feelings might have evolved. By contrast, God Himself serves as the paradigm of goodness, and His commandments constitute our moral duties. Thus, theism provides a better explanation of objective moral values and duties.

4.  God provides the best explanation of the historical facts concerning Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.  Historians have reached something of consensus that the historical Jesus thought that in himself God’s Kingdom had broken into human history, and he carried out a ministry of miracle-working and exorcisms as evidence of that fact.  Moreover, most historical scholars agree that after his crucifixion Jesus’ tomb was discovered empty by a group of female disciples, that various individuals and groups saw appearances of Jesus alive after his death, and that the original disciples suddenly and sincerely came to believe in Jesus’ resurrection despite their every predisposition to the contrary. I can think of no better explanation of these facts than the one the original disciples gave:  God raised Jesus from the dead.

5.  God can be personally known and experienced.  The proof of the pudding is in the tasting. Down through history Christians have found through Jesus a personal acquaintance with God that has transformed their lives.

The good thing is that atheists tend to be very passionate people and want to believe in something. If they would only put aside the slogans for a moment and reexamine their worldview in light of the best philosophical, scientific, and historical evidence we have today, then they, too, would find Christmas worth celebrating!

The GOSPEL vs RELIGION a Christmas message.

This Christmas I would really love people, especially those who are churchophobic to break through some miss conceptions of Christianity or the Christian faith. Christmas is based on Christ!! or should be. So it is important to look again at Christianity. I am under no illusion that this festival that Christians have taken over to celebrate the birth of Jesus was not originally Christian, but Christians had a habit at one time of taking over pagan festivals and claiming them for their own!! That can, in my eyes, only be a good thing! I just wanted to be clear about some misconceptions of what we are actually celebrating. The birth of Jesus is the beginning of God News!! God's rescue plan!! It doesn't matter to me what time of year Jesus was born, its rumoured it was round about September, its the message to me that is the important thing!!

The great reformer Martin Luther rightly said that, as sinners, we are prone to pursue a relationship with God in one of two ways. The first is religion/spirituality and the second is the gospel. The two are antithetical in every way.

Religion says that if we obey God He will love us. The gospel says that it is because God has loved us through Jesus that we can obey.

Religion says that the world is filled with good people and bad people. The gospel says that the world is filled with people made in God's imagine who are either repentant or unrepentant. The image of God in us is a shadow that is darkened by sin.

Religion says that you should trust in what you do as a good moral person. The gospel says that you should trust in the perfectly sinless life of Jesus because He alone is the only good and truly moral person who will ever live.

The goal of religion is to get from God such things as health, wealth, insight, power, and control. The goal of the gospel is not the gifts God gives, but rather God as the gift given to us by grace.

Religion is about what I have to do. The gospel is about what I get to do. Religion sees hardship in life as punishment from God. The gospel sees hardship in life as sanctifying affliction that reminds us of Jesus’ sufferings and is used by God in love to make us more like Jesus. Religion is about me. The gospel is about Jesus.

Religion leads to an uncertainty about my standing before God because I never know if I have done enough to please God. The gospel leads to a certainty about my standing before God because of the finished work of Jesus on my behalf on the cross.

Religion ends in either pride (because I think I am better than other people) or despair (because I continually fall short of God’s commands). The gospel ends in humble and confident joy because of the power of Jesus at work for me, in me, through me, and sometimes in spite of me.

THAT'S GOOD NEWS!! (Gospel) I just wish people could receive it this Christmas!!

HOW SERIOUS IS IT???? something I wrote over 4 years ago

HOW SERIOUS IS IT??

There are times when our bodies give up under the strain and God sets you aside because you need to rest and in my time of rest this morning I was writing in my journal and it was as if God just took over my pen – this is what I wrote :

June 21^st 2009 - the longest day!

How can I get across the seriousness of what you want to do GOD at West End Impact? This is your church Lord and its serious stuff, you lead me to read Ezekiel 22v30 the other day where you saw a nation in ruin and you were looking for a man to STAND in the GAP and you found no-one who was willing to stand up against it and help fight the injustice, and wrong doing, and destruction that was going on in that nation, and to rebuild the ruins so you had no other choice than to destroy it.

Well my hope is that you will look down on Morecambe and see West End Impact you will see an organisation a church Morecambe Community Church, willing to stand in the Gap! I see and know that the government is failing and that has been a real heart ache for me to see good initiatives failing and in financial difficulty. You see organisations that are proud and just want to stand up and look good and say they have a monopoly on everything, but none of this will work, only YOU can make the difference LORD GOD!! Ultimately only YOUR people who are prepared to stand up against the wrong evil ways in this area willing to stand firm, make a sacrifice and get their hands dirty will see God’s plans fulfilled. Only those living righteous, upright God filled lives will see God working through their lives. Only those prepared to get on their knees before God regularly in prayer will see answers to prayer on a daily basis. Only those prepared to really serve God will experience His fullness. Only those who are prepared to make a difference will see a difference, only those wanting to see others blessed will be blessed. Only those who are truly giving, even when it hurts, will receive in abundance from GOD.

Those who want to carry on living their own life, their own way in their own little world will do exactly that, but don’t expect God to come into that world with you, because HE has bigger, better plans. He will surely pick someone else if you’re not prepared to follow! Don’t expect God to change your life if you want to build your own kingdom and carry on down the path of destruction, addiction, greed, self-pity, jealousy, apathy, or not even be prepared to trust GOD with your life.

Wake up! God wants you to step into HIS ways and plans – but YOU have to take action. GOD’s not going to force you to change your ways – but do you just want to sit their planning your own little selfish world, while the rest of the world lies in ruins? Or are you prepared to make a change to step up and step out, and make your life count in Jesus plan of Salvation in a needy world.

Think it through, don’t take it lightly, because it will mean, sacrifice, tiredness, feelings of helplessness, frustration, disappointment, desperation, feeling like the load is too hard to bare, times of weeping, anger and almost giving up, but its an amazing adventure of fulfilment, passion, knowing God’s pleasure, His protection, and His joy. Miracles are seen on a regular basis, and we see God’s plans slowly unfold and lives start to be changed, affected and transformed by the living GOD. We start to see the ‘dry bones get flesh on them and some are even having God’s breath of LIFE breathed into them’ (as in Ezekiel 37) We want to see more LORD, but you are looking for men and women prepared to STAND in the GAP.

When I look at some of the issues we face on a weekly basis at IMPACT it’s overwhelming, but I know with GOD’s help and much prayer it is possible to make a difference. Issues like addiction, people who have been involved in serious crime, homelessness, abuse, mental illness, bitterness, guilt, fear, debt, feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness, unemployment, people who feel everyone’s just out to get them, people who don’t trust anyone, loneliness, anger, people who don’t know how to be a parent because they never had any, people who’s lives are falling apart around them, people who don’t seem to have any problems but who are just muddling through the routine of a life full of material things and empty stuff and there is much more Lord. We are dealing with real life issues and only you GOD can truly breakthrough!! No government strategy, no new project or fancy plan, only GOD’s healing power and transforming work and that’s why we make IMPACT available for you GOD to facilitate that plan of Salvation, but we know GOD is looking for more people who are prepared to STAND in the GAP and make an IMPACT. 

10 reasons why people don't go to church!!

Now I've set myself a challenge because I have to think of 10 reasons now :) I know a few off the top of my head but am sure I will think of a few more as I write :- 

1. It's boring is the main reason I guess - or I tried it and didn't like it
2. It's a subculture they speak a different language
3. I used to go but I got really hurt by what someone said to me
4. It's irrelevant to the 21st century
5. It's full of hypocrites
6. I don't want to be bashed on the head with a Bible
7. I don't want to be looked down upon
8. If I have a different opinion I will be beheaded 
9. I don't really understand what's going on and why so much singing?
10. I am not sure if people will like me

Actually I could think of a few more. The above gives us a lot to go on though!! Some of the above can't be avoided and there is nothing we can do about them but there are others that can be changed.People will always go off past experience and expect your church to be the same. We need to break through a lot of misconceptions. It's a hard job!! We could make it less boring though and we could watch our language so we don't use Christian jargon that no-one else understands. The fact that someone got hurt before we can do nothing about, we can be loving and accepting but people who are hurt  by church will usually tar you with the same brush, and expect the same from you. No matter how you try sometimes it won't make a difference. We are all human Christians do let people down intentionally or unintentionally. God will never let us down. We have to try and make sure we portray who God is through our actions but we are only human!! We all have our bad days!!

We have to make church more relevant = Jesus was relevant to his culture - the message stays the same but the way we present it can be as modern as our audience needs it to be. 

We may seem hypocritical and just maybe sometimes we are but if we try not to be who's to judge us. I guess Christians are always going to pick and chose what they see as important in the Bible to fit their culture but we need to be careful. We need to get a balance looking at the whole bible on a certain subject to get a big picture of God's opinion is. Stay open minded!! We will never know it all and its ok to say we don't!!

We should be careful not always to assume that new comers are Christians and we should make no attempt to force our faith upon anyone. Usually its more important that people belong to a community before they start to believe in the Jesus that makes us who we are. They will know we are Christians by our love!! I think the church should be one of the most accepting places in the world. Everyone should be invited and made welcome. 

If someone has another opinion its ok to disagree but also not to make that person feel small and all gang up on them because they have a different view on things. Discussion is always good that's what the first church in Acts 2 did daily!!

We need to look at our congregation and their needs and cater to those needs without compromising the message of Jesus Christ and him dying to save us, rising again to dwell among us and for us to repent, be baptised, follow and bear fruit by spreading his message to others. Make sure we go out of our way to like and love people for who they are - its not our job to try and change people that's God's job!!

If you don't go to church for any of the 10 reasons I'm sorry - you should really try again or you may just really miss out!! :)

Your song- Ellie Goulding acoustic cover

My daughter Amy at Greenbelt 40!!! Somone has to pomote her!! :) very proud just a shame she had her hands on the microphone x

Writing a book

I have had an idea for a book brewing in my head for a while now and I have actually made a start!! I have around 6,000 words so far, but the problem is I'm a novice. I always imagined the first book I would write would be a biography of our life in 'full time ministry' as we call it.That would be easier to write as it would come from straight from my thoughts. That isn't the subject matter at all, although what I am writing about is taken from my experiences of church a lot. I have no idea how to structure a book or indeed how many chapters it should have and how long an average book is. At least I've made a start so you never know, but there is still a bit of research to be done. I have found so far that some of what I have written in pretty cynical - but I guess that is partly what I am are far as some things are in church.I hope it doesn't come across too negative though. Anyway I will probably write more on this post when I have researched 'How to Write a book' online and looked through any youtube clips I might find. I hope I don't look back on this post in years to come and say oh dear it never came to anything - but then again I have already crystalised a lot of my own thoughts whilst writing so I guess it will never be wasted.

http://scottberkun.com/2007/how-to-write-a-book-the-short-honest-truth/

Well this looks interesting :)

Greenbelt 2013

Just had a great weekend at GREENBELT and want to share some of my hightlights - one being seeing my daughter Amy perform on the ROOTS stage of course :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjsoiEHBaEo&feature=share Hanging out with Harry Bird and the Rubber Wellies (namely Christophe and Jamie) was a real blessing. What lovely people just wish I could bottle them and  bring them out every time I get a little discouraged. The Boxettes were amazing!! Harry Barker was again just fantastic and so much more was great!! Was a little disappointed with Lamar :( but it was good to see him. Milton Jones was great as always and so true what he shared :) and the food well just amazing

I went to Greenbelt feeling pretty discouraged as its been a long 11 years doing what we are doing now. In fact its been a long 18 years when you think of what we went through before that, but I don't want to lament because we just did have a great weekend. Steve Chalke's talk was one of my highlights as he talked about his continue work with the OASIS trust and how they are expanding in the country. I remember being Steve Chalke's secretary for a week at Capernwray, he was hard work!! I guess he won't remember me though. Anyway his talk was very confirming and reassured me that what we are doing through Morecambe Community Church and West End Impact are pretty much on the ball as far as what he feels GOD is saying for this country as Christians. We need to get right back into society in our 'post-welfare' state and get stuck in as the church. That this time that we live in is an ideal opportunity for the Church as Jesus intended it to be to get their hands dirty and take over this land for God. Government is failing, the welfare is failing and as they have taken the responsibility off the church from the 1960's they are now starting to realise that they can't cope. So now is the time for the church to reclaim its responsibility. OASIS have taken over schools, shops, and various other buildings and establishment to run them with a Christian ethos (I should have looked at their website first for more details before I wrote) http://www.oasisuk.org/ but that is my dream for MCC that we will have an amazing IMPACT on Morecambe through the relationships that we build through the council, police etc and that we take over buildings and establishments to do God's work!!

I am not interested in building a congregation of singers on a Sunday (although worship is good) I am interested in building a team of activists for Jesus who are willing to get their hands dirty and make opportunity for God to change the world!!

My dilemma is how to envision people how to get them involved, how to get people saying 'yes this is where we want to go'. I found it difficult coming back from Lanzarote as I was still tired even exhausted. My tiredness comes from a feeling of being discouraged and criticized for doing what I believe God is telling me to do. Normal church people who are used to the church of the 70's 80's and even 90's find the concept of MCC/West End Impact hard to grasp. Some even see it as a distraction of how they feel church should be thinking it unGodly or not spiritual enough. Steve Chalke confirmed to me in his talk that I should just not listen and that I should stay true to myself and true to what GOD is doing through me and us and some of the team!! I was accused recently of 'running the church like a business'. Unfortunately I was not quick enough to say YES actually that is what GOD has gifted me to do and that is why our church has grown so much over the last 10 years. He has given me the skills to make things happen with finances and projects and business plans and funding bids etc. and if he had not given me those skills and I hadn't used them MCC/WEI would have only lasted about 2 years probably. We should always stay true to ourselves and who God made us and use the skills he has given us to further God's kingdom. Just wish that people who don't see that wouldn't criticize so much and be stuck in the stereotypical thinking of how church should be. I wish we knew more about what the church was when it first started. Steve Chalke reckons the synagogues of that day were very different places to the way we imagine. I wish I knew where he got his research from. Anyway basically we need to show people GOOD NEWS and set up community projects to bring GOOD practical NEWS to people as well as spiritual - we need an WHOLEistic approach :) Help me LORD to envision people and get a like-minded team together this year - help us to make it very clear to people what we are doing and why!! and thanks Steve Chalke for being bold. I am also just so short that we are so on the cutting edge of what God is doing without even realising it until we go to something like Greenbelt and see it happening in other part of the country and world.

How do we know what's Right and Wrong??

I know this is a deep moral, ethical and theological subject, but for me I think it is one of the proofs that there is a GOD - these are all my own thoughts and I should really look deeper into philosophical books and at other religions besides my own Christian faith for the answers, but on this occasion I'm not. Not yet anyway, because I do just purely want to share my own thoughts. My thoughts have evolved from a time of some doubts of the existence of GOD over the years. Yes I have had tiny glimmers of doubt but I am sure if every Christian is honest we all have tiny glimmers of doubt. These doubts can grow our faith and allow to think things through more deeply. Thomas had doubts that ultimately strengthened his faith and belief in GOD. Anyway this is a question of morals, how do we know what is right and wrong??

When I look at society today and what is socially acceptable now and what was socially acceptable 60 years ago it is astonishing what a difference there is. In my opinion society is going slowly down hill with regards to what is now socially acceptable compared to what was acceptable 60 years ago. Someone smoking cannabis was generally unheard of, sex before marriage was rare, being in a civil partnership was unacceptable and even divorce was shunned.

So what is different now?? What has made these things socially acceptable?? Well I could say as a Christian that its because people have stopped following the Bible and its principals and I do feel partly that this is the key. All the laws of the land were based on Christianity and people did consciously or subconsciously follow the laws of this land. Looking back in history even further than 60 years though things were terrible morally for example in 1500's when they hung people and cut them up in quarters, placing some of the body parts in the streets. You don't see that anymore. Although supposedly the church was a massive power base at that time. I think though that although morals have been based on Christianity over the years this isn't the real issue. The real issue to me is that GOD made us to know what is right and wrong, he created us that way. We instinctively know what is right and what is wrong, and that remains whether we are a Christian or not, as we were made in God's image. It's part of our make-up to instinctively know what is right or wrong. Although if we don't get to know GOD and follow him this instinct can be over shadowed by various things. So it only takes a few people to decide 'actually its ok to have 5 wifes' and a group of people may start to think 'actually there is nothing to say that that is wrong', but deep down in their soul do they really believe that its right. I don't think so........They may have it drummed into them by some religious sect that it is acceptable, or they may come from an African tribe that doesn't know any better, but still instinctively I don't think they can be 100% convinced. So in society today what are our biggest influences? the Media? Our peers and friends, our family? Government? The Church? well I think the media is one of the strongest and the hope is that our family and friends are too. In today's society though there are children who are 3rd and 4th generation of broken marriages and joblessness and drug abuse etc etc. Still I hold to it that everyone has a conscience that is God given and when that conscience collides with the Holy Spirit we become more aware of what is right and wrong. Our conscience is heightened.

The Holy Spirit part of God meets with our spirit and soul and we become more aware of who we really are and who we really should be. We know more clearly what is right and wrong and our sense of purpose comes into line with what God wants for our lives. Of course there are still outside influences that long to lie to us and steer us off tract but our sense of what God wants this world to be is born. The things that are against God's will and purpose become more obvious and we see the dangers of not following God's will. We hurt for the lost and those who are going against God's will and we long for them to get on track and to also have the Holy Spirits guidance. It's frustrating that people have a choice to follow God's will and received the Holy Spirit prompting in their lives as we can see what damage is done and what is lost and destroyed in someones life when they don't. It saddens us to see lost potential and the damage that continually losing a sense of conscience does to someone as a person. Guilt comes, as their conscious is still there, though buried in a mask of coping mechanisms. People think that things are ok because society and the media continually tells them its ok but in reality they are believing a lie and deep deep down they know it but choose to ignore it. This is why people who aren't Christians can live a perfectly normally life and seem to manage without God, they have learnt some coping mechanisms that help them truly believe the lie that their conscience is clear. So what tells them what is right and wrong well their conscience is still there and maybe there still is some Christian influence that has been passed down through the generations and through society who's morals were based on Christianity, but the Holy Spirit has not collided with their conscience so they are not truly alive, and they are not truly follow their full potential in Christ. So I do believe we would be in a better world if we followed the Bible and its influence but I also believe that our conscience is part of our make-up because we are made in God's imagine. The thing is is it heightened by God's Holy Spirit or is it deadened by lies of all the influences around us??

So What's Next???

As a visionary I am always looking forward - always looking for the next thing. As an overseer though I also see that attention to detail is need for any organisation to rule well. So guess there is always that tension in my life. I want to do things well with excellence to best of our ability but I also want things to grow and quick. I only have one life and I want to achieve as much as I can as quickly as possible. I want my life to count and I want to follow God and his will. How I see it though is that God's will is to transform the face of Morecambe which is where he has planted us (for now!) It is frustrating me right now that there is an empty property sat right next to our at West End Impact's building and what we could do with that building is immense. We would have more space for church on Sunday's which is soon going to be needed - We could have retail units for social enterprises!! this would bring money into the organisation, teach new skills and provide jobs for the unemployed. We could two flats to house people urgently until they can be rehoused and rehabilitated with the support they need. We would have a space for offices that we could work in and rent out. We would have space for life skills seminars, and training and Alpha courses, and activities for kids, youth club etc. We would have a music and arts studio!! We'd create employment for builders and semi-skilled handy men/women to do up Morecambes' run down properties and shops. Of course we would still have the old building so we could have the cafe open more, and drop-ins for the homeless would still remain. We'd have more storage for the food bank and maybe have some start up packs for people we re-house. Probably a whole lot more would be possible - with God all things are possible.

The thing is I know it takes time and there are certain structures and people and resources that need to put into place first. We need people with the know how and strength and willingness to carry the vision alongside us. We need to have time to mentor and train people, and write job descriptions and do volunteer training so people know where they are and what their role is. We need to have meetings to discuss how things can be improved and what teams can be put in place. We need to pray with people and pull them along sometimes when they are struggling!! We need to have the conversations that will show people they can do something rather than them feeling they can't do anything. We need make sure that all our policies, procedures, and structures are up-to-date and working - if they're not working they need changing. We also sometimes have to have the hard conversation of telling someone they aren't doing something well and perhaps they should think of another path. To keep the balance between the vision and the carrying out of the vision is sometimes difficult to take, and prayer is the key through it all. We also need to disciple people and teach God's word and spur each other on to good works and service. It's massive but God seems to think we can do it!!! I sometimes ask God why he can't make it easier, why everything has to be such an uphill struggle but as yet I haven't had many answers. I guess God has lessons for us to learn along the way. My prayer is that God will continue to use us to fulfill his vision in Morecambe and that he will open up the floodgates of heaven and Holy Spirit to enable us to do it!!

The Reality of the West End

Last Thursday I witnessed a tragedy that really moved me and I also heard some news that angered and disturbed me!! I saw a fight in the West End just outside the chemist across from IMPACT with a guy who had a metal bar and a Staffordshire terrier it was brutal. I also learnt that we had a 'Loan Shark' coming into IMPACT lending people money and then setting gangs on people when they didn't pay double and triple the amount back within a week or two!! It brought home to me the deprivation in the lives of the people living on our doorstep at MCC/IMPACT. To them this was just life, normal, and to be expected. To me it was shocking and it enraged me and I have been praying about every since. It has left me with a sense of helplessness of not being able to show these people that that is not what life is about - that its not normal its not how life is or should be. We are on the frontline here guys and we need some way of showing these people GOD and who he is. For those of us who live lifes where fear every day is not the norm, its hard to believe that people live like this on our doorstep, where fighting and people chasing you for money you owe is an everyday issue. A life of survival. For us where life is safe and secure and middle class God doesn't also make a radical difference to our lives - for them GOD would absolutely blow their worlds apart - so join me in prayer on how on earth we are going to reach them!!! THANKS

West End Impact 4-10 Heysham Road Morecambe

What to pray for!!!

If you want to pray for what the early church prayed for . . .

I think that we often just come to GOD with a shopping list and expect miracles - so I just wanted to share a few points on prayer from the BIBLE taken from an article by John Piper of Grace Community Church. I found this a great start on prayer as its all in the BIBLE so is hard to argue with really. I think if we were to pray for these things our prayer life would be very different and actually some of the things that we feel we ought to pray for would be fulfilled anyway in the list below!! I'm not suggesting that we ignore praying for an urgent personal need for ourselves or for another but I do feel the verses below cover an awful lot more than we could imagine......... It will certainly challenge my prayer life!!!

Pray that God would exalt his name in the world.

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” (Matthew 6:9)

Pray that God would extend his kingdom in the world.

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)

Pray that the gospel would speed ahead and be honored.

Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you. (2 Thessalonians 3:1)

Pray for the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:13; cf. Ephesians 3:19)

Pray that God would vindicate his people in their cause.

And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? (Luke 18:7rsv)

Pray that God would save unbelievers.

Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. (Romans 10:1)

Pray that God would direct the use of the sword.

Take . . . the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. (Ephesians 6:17-18)

Pray for boldness in proclamation.

Praying at all times in the Spirit . . . and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel. (Ephesians 6:18-19)

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness. (Acts 4:29)

Pray for signs and wonders.

And now, Lord, . . . grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness . . . while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus. (Acts 4:29-30)

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. (James 5:17-18)

Pray for the healing of wounded comrades.

Let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. (James 5:14-15)

Pray for the healing of unbelievers.

It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him healed him. (Acts 28:8)

Pray for the casting out of demons.

And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” (Mark 9:29)

Pray for miraculous deliverances.

So Peter was kept in prison; but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church . . . When he realized [he had been freed], he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. (Acts 12:5, 12)

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake. (Acts 16:25-26)

Pray for the raising of the dead.

But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, rise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. (Acts 9:40)

Pray that God would supply his troops with necessities.

Give us this day our daily bread. (Matthew 6:11)

Pray for strategic wisdom.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. (James 1:5)

Pray that God would establish leadership in the outposts.

And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. (Acts 14:23)

Pray that God would send out reinforcements.

Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. (Matthew 9:38)

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. (Acts 13:2-3)

Pray for the success of other missionaries.

I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints. (Romans 15:30-31)

Pray for unity and harmony in the ranks.

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:20-21)

Pray for the encouragement of togetherness.

We pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith. (1 Thessalonians 3:10)

Pray for a mind of discernment.

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. (Philippians 1:9-10)

Pray for a knowledge of his will.

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. (Colossians 1:9)

Pray to know God better.

[We have not ceased to pray for you to be] increasing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:10; cf. Ephesians 1:17)

Pray for power to comprehend the love of Christ.

I bow my knees before the Father . . . [that you] may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge. (Ephesians 3:14, 18-19)

Pray for a deeper sense of assured hope.

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers . . . that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. (Ephesians 1:16, 18)

Pray for strength and endurance.

[We have not ceased to pray for you to be] strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy. (Colossians 1:11; cf. Ephesians 3:16)

Pray deeper sense of his power within them.

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers . . . that you may know . . . what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe. (Ephesians 1:16, 18-19)

Pray that your faith not be destroyed.

I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren. (Luke 22:32)

But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man. (Luke 21:36)

Pray for greater faith.

Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24; cf. Ephesians 3:17)

Pray that you might not fall into temptation.

Lead us not into temptation. (Matthew 6:13)

Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. (Matthew 26:41)

Pray that God would complete your good resolves.

To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power. (2 Thessalonians 1:11)

Pray that you would do good works.

[We have not ceased to pray for you that you] walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work. (Colossians 1:10)

Pray for the forgiveness of your sins.

Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (Matthew 6:12)

Pray for protection from the evil one.

Deliver us from evil. (Matthew 6

CHANGE IS A MUST - How people deal with CHANGE!!

We have been meeting in the new building for our Sunday services for 18 months now - which is great but will soon be too small!! (Good problem to have) West End Impact however has moved in to the new premises on the 28th February when the rest of the building was finished, apart from reasonable DIY. What I have been absolutely astonished by though is the insecurity, negativity and questioning this small move has brought on for quite a few people. It has shocked me as a person who, I suppose thrives on change, and I have found it quite interesting how people have or have NOT cope with it!! As a leader I see a problem and immediately am looking for a solution, so I find it intriguing how some people can not overcome the smallest of issues sometimes - I don't want to criticise or put anyone down, but I sometimes wonder how people cope with bigger problems when they cope so badly with the little problems. I know sometimes its lack of self esteem and confidence issues that cause people to question, and I strive to build this up in my volunteers!!!

 I read a book a few years ago that talks about this very issue of how people deal with change - it's called Who moved my Cheese by Spencer Johnson MD and I highly recommend people read it, what ever organisation or situation you find yourself in that is dealing with any level of change. It's a parable and it has 4 different characters in it, who all deal with change very differently. I guess its essential to know within any organisation who you're people are and what capacity they have to deal with issues problems and circumstances, especially when it comes to leadership and management. Change is essential for any organisation to grow no matter how big or small it is and when something is not moving forward or growing, it is obviously becoming stagnant, as that's what things do when they stand still. For an organisation to grow it has to be on the move - but it's how we implement that change which is essential. On the one hand we can not allow 'Late Adopters' as the book calls them, to hold an organisation from moving forward, but on the other hand if you have change for changes sake you confuse people and make them insecure and they can't cope.  I have tried hard in the move of our premises to move things as slowly as most people can manage with but still some people have found it really hard. Some people will be left behind and we can only try and nurture them into the new change but if they dig their heals in and refused to be moved forward they will miss out and probably go - but the ones that don't will realise, either quite quickly, or eventually, that change just has to happen!! Change is the biggest constant of any organisation!! It's not negative its good and can open things up to new opportunities and growth - don't fight embrace it and learn to deal with, or you will remain stagnant and miss out!!

Haven't written for ages - loads to write!!!

Just because I haven't written a blog for ages doesn't mean I have nothing to write about - it just means things are far too busy!!! West End Impact is  now in it's new building as from the 28th February and it was quite a journey getting there. Still have no phone line but I can still be reached on the normal number which very cleverly diverts to my mobile. We have an Official opening OPEN DAY on Monday 15th April from 2pm - 8pm for everyone to come and have a look around. We will then start our cafe on Tuesdays from 10am till 1pm until we get going and then hopefully we will start to serve light lunches. Lunches will be served on the open day too!!  The idea will be to pilot the community cafe with the parent cafe and when that is running well we will look at open for other session too. We hope to open on Friday evening for an older youth cafe, and on Sunday's before and after church. Then there will be room for maybe one evening and one other day a week when the cafe will be open. It is a great way to reach more people and help from many agencies will be available during cafe opening times. It is also a great way to make some money to help our organisation become more self sufficient. It's all very exciting but with greater things comes greater responsibility. I am really feeling the strain of that responsibility at the moment - we have two problems that the move and losing the old building has caused, one being the lack of storage space the other being the fact that we ran out of money before we finished the toilet block which will need a disabled toilet. Anyway we go on working with excellence, doing the best we can with what we have. As God gives us more we need to be good stewards of more and especially when it comes to working with the many vulnerable people that God sends our way and places into our care. We have some cases that social services and our NHS and council are finding it difficult to deal with but these people are still engaging in our services. One of the reasons for that is that they feel accepted when coming in to West End Impact. Our Value of acceptance is very apparent all the way through our organisation as a church and community centre. We as a church are serving our community and we will continue to do that with excellence!! As we expand we hope to reach many more people and we hope many more will be spiritually helped as well as practically. God wants to see people in a better place he wants to see people whole, healed and following in his footsteps towards a better more fulfilled life!! So that has to be our aim too!! There are many lonely people in Morecambe who have lost hope and need a friend. There is so much poverty not just financial but spiritual and one person at I time we can show them in many different ways that there is hope...........