The Next Post

I go off to America tomorrow to visit a number of churches. Unfortunately, I don't know if or how often I'm going to be able to update the blog. If not there will be a lot to catch up on when I return.

Empire or Kingdom

This is the title of a chapter in the book 'Let My People Grow'. The chapter asks the question of whether churches, and especially church leaders, are seeking to build the Kingdom or to build an empire. The writer then goes on to say that if we are to build the Kingdom Churches need to spend far more time in eqiupping their members to be salt and light in the homes, workplaces etc rather than getting them to just do church stuff better.
This is a comment I've heard a lot and I know that I constantly find myself in the empire building role rather than the Kingdom building one. However, I'm not yet sure anyone really knows what it would take to equip Church members to be radically live out their faith in the workplace etc. Most books on discipleship are about learning to pray, reading the Bible, fellowship etc not about how to see Kingdom values in a secular workplace or how to be a good employee!
So what does the Church need to do to provide a better base from which it's members can enter their everyday world and live for Jesus in it? Certainly at St Andrew's we need to be working on people discovering a sense of vocation to their jobs (paid or unpaid - ie home maker) and then showing that the Church values the work they do. After all it really is in the home and in the workplace that Christians have the most opportunity to witness and make a difference.
For me I know I need to keep working at changing my focus to a Kingdom mentality.

Here we go!

Well after all the months of planning and organising my sabbatical has now started and what a strange feeling it is.
Firstly, I've been overwhelmed with God's goodness. When we started to plan this we never for one minute thought we would raise enough money to be able to do even half of what we wanted to do and yet through all sorts of ways God has provided for us. I have been amazed at how generous the people of St Andrew's have been to us, and yet really we shouldn't have been. In the 10 years we have been there they have repeatedly shown themselves to be an amazing and wonderful people of God.
Secondly, It is a slightly unnerving feeling to know that for the next 4 months I'm not working. Andrea has also just left her job and she put it succinctly when she said 'who am I now'. When your identity is so wrapped up in what you do (and that's not a good thing) to suddenly have nothing to do is - well, just weird! I keep coming to my desk to just look for something to do out of desperation. I've had strange thoughts, like 'what am I going to talk to God about now there's no church?', 'what am I going to do all day?, 'Will Andrea and I get on now that we are together 24/7!!!?'
The fact is that I do have things to do, it's just different to what I've been used to and so my other main emotion at the moment is excitement. Excitement about what I will see of God in other Churches, excitement about what I will discover about myself and excitement about spending more time with God and also with my family.
And so here we go - four months into the unknown - I can't wait.