Inspire led a retreat on inside-out discipleship down in Kent last Saturday, a time of getting our hearts rid of the dis-ease we all feel sometimes, and a time of being put together again, so that our hearts can sing, and we can dance to the unseen unforced rhythm of God’s grace to us.

This regional retreat will be held in Bolton later in May and again in September down in Devon. If you are interested you can find out more here

It also fits in with the postmodern addition to being ‘on the go’
coffee on the way to work,
mobile smart phones, twitter, social media – the 24/7 availability etc No wonder so many of us are battling burn out and warding off depression as best we can -we’re on the go all the time!

In this frame of mind I picked up this book Stability:Rooting Faith in a Mobile Culture by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove.

It’s a refreshing but challenging read  – brings incarnational theology to the fore, putting community back into focus and challenges us to stay put rather than ‘go’.

What I found fascinating was that the preacher took time to read the whole passage – not a snippet of the word – but the last 1½ chapters of acts (fr Acts 27:17-end). It was wonderful.

I can’t remember the last time that was done  (all too often we have little snippets of scripture)- and as he read- there were little asides to contextualise the passage, but otherwise it was a reading without interpretation..

In a church that has a whole lot of new believers many of whom might never have read this passage before it was brilliant. But even for this veteran it was wonderful to hear the story unfold. It was wonderful just to sit and hear the word of God.

The preach itself was really good.
His final point – to wrap up getting in on the acts – was to reiterate the last known words of Peter and of Paul. Paul said ‘
I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen. They will listen. (Acts 28:28)

What a prophetic word of promise and of hope!

This is an interesting model of the rhythm of discipleship. It’s a combination of models from Michael Frost, Alan Hirsch, and Mike Breen. It’s developed for students.

What I like about it is the every day and every week aspects – the actual rhythm, and the simple UP IN and OUT aspect of it.  What strikes me is that there’s a real focus on eating with others (both inside and outside of the community). Eating with others is pretty important in today’s individualistic culture. Only this week I met a student (from Southampton uni )  who said that with en suite rooms at universities and all the gadgets (iphone, ipad) students have nowadays, students were becoming more and more isolated. So it’s really good that this model does try to address this.

What the model above offers is a way to do discipleship, but what it lacks though is the accountability factor. It misses the point that we need others to help us in our discipleship,and that comes from meeting with other Christians intentionally to walk the walk!

We learnt on Wayfarers – very stable dinghies.  Very good teachers. Yep I was definitely hooked!

I moved on from reservoirs to the sea in Scotland (Tighnabruaich) – staying at the Youth Hostel there – with a crazy Glasweigan friend who tried windsurfing! – and my dad; and next holiday was back to North London for some advance training  and from there I headed to the Greek islands. A wayfarers fortnight in paradise.

Because Wayfarers are stable you can easily go off exploring in the Aegean.We always sailed as a flotilla and I remember having fab days out in different locations – visiting some inaccessible (by foot) caves, and a long day trip to the tip of the island and stopping off for lunch.  But dinghy sailing is not like yachting – you get to sleep on land every night, and visit tavernas.

It seems a lifetime ago

Today the word wayfarer carries a different meaning for me.
Wayfarer- pilgrim- sojourner – traveller on the Way.

The lovely thing about dinghy sailing holidays is that you sleep on land – and eat in Taveras, but

Woke up this morning thinking about wayfaring. The pilgrim kind.

I came across this on another blog, and thought it worth re-posting and commenting on

‘The first is wake-up – Begin the day with the Lord. It is His day. Rejoice in it.

The second is dress-up – Put on a smile. It improves your looks. It says something about your attitude.

The third is shut-up – Watch your tongue. Don’t gossip. Say nice things. Learn to listen.

The fourth is stand-up – Take a stand for what you believe. Resist evil. Do good.

Five, look-up – Open your eyes to the Lord. After all, He is your only Savior.

Six, reach-up – Spend time in prayer with your adorations, confessions, thanksgivings and supplications to the Lord.

And finally, lift-up – Be available to help those in need – serving, supporting, and sharing.’

(taken from here)

 

I like the ideas contained in these seven-ups, though I don’t pretend it’s totally easy to do. Whoever said being a Christian is easy? That’s absurd when you come to think about it! Being a Christian – following a radical Jesus as Shane Claiborne puts it – and taking on the powers of darkness by being counter cultural for the sake of the Kingdom can never be easy!

I suppose my only concern with these it’s the ‘dress-up’ bit. It makes me uncomfortable not because it’s talking about dressing smarter – it isn’t – but because there is a danger that putting on a smile descends into masking how we actually feel.  But I do agree that we can smile more – because following Jesus – in spite of the struggles, persecution and hardships – is a JOY and nothing can separate us from the love of God.

What we are seeing is a new year’s resolution being worked out (pun intended) and the cynic in all of us wonders will she – or he – keep it up? will they reach their fitness target this year? or in the not-too-distant future will the shoes and lycra be forgotten, pushed further back in the closet only to be discovered again and donated to oxfam or shelter?

I heard this illustration last Sunday (told much better than I tell it here) and was told too that the Covenant we make as Methodists has a better chance of success because we make it in community and by doing so we promise to help one another work out our salvation in daily life.

I like that idea though I am also very mindful that in a church setting there is the real possibility for layer upon layer of superficiality, the temptation to wear masks and pretend that life is ok (when it isn’t) that we are being good Christians (without grappling with what being Christian really means in our particular contexts) and each of us can be – easily be – very invisible in church. I think that’s why I’m so passionate about Inspire. In a small group of 3-4 who meet together regularly with the express purpose of helping each other work out what following Christ means in their daily lives, where accountability and direction are the name of the game, and where confidentiality is unquestioningly upheld – it is there I believe that we really can be transformed and be equipped to be the followers of Jesus that we’ve been called to be- and that we’ve promised to become!

But I digress.
I’m writing today as a sort of therapeutic procrastination.
My ‘to-do’ list is so long, it’s written on a dozen scraps of paper – all shapes and sizes and in several different pens – and much of the to-dos haven’t even made it from my head to the paper -  and I’m at that point of not even knowing where to start … and so I procrastinate.

I procrastine and I see a picture over at facebook of my friend’s to do list – a beautiful photograph of a beautifully written, thought out  list and on a purple clipboard  no less which makes it look funky and attractive and I realise I’m stuck in the boring and old … I need a new way of doing things like admin, I need a new look and a new start …

And so I follow the link and I read ..

I’m sort of struck: A habit is what we wear. A habit is the way we wear our days.

I look down at my jeans and there’s skin showing through this threadbare knee. I have habits that desperately need changing.

I’m a mess, out of good rhythms, dragging through days with these flabby focus-muscles.

And I recognise that my messiness leads to stagnation (and not to creativity at all) and has to be reined in, and I recognise that I’m powerless on my own to effect such a change (I can be like the lycra-cladded jogger make great intentions but I will not stick to them) and  that buying a lovely purple clip board really won’t be the answer – what I need is my fellowship band to hold me accountable and hold me in prayer, and I need the power and Spirit of God to become more Christlike in all areas of my life – including this one.

So help me God I desperately need to change and to be changed by You.

You too can follow the link …

Also new to me is the fact that

Much of Blackpool’s growth and character from the 1870s on was predicated on the town’s pioneering use of electrical power. In 1879, it became the first municipality in the world to have electric street lighting, as large parts of the promenade were wired. The lighting and its accompanying pageants reinforced Blackpool’s status as the North of England’s most prominent holiday resort, and its specifically working class character. It was the forerunner of the present-day Blackpool Illuminations. (information from wikipedia!)

From my own observations here this weekend Sandgrown’uns are incredibly friendly people. I had the privilege of worshipping with New Central Methodist Church this morning  (‘the church by the tower’) which had a lovely lunch (roast beef) after the Covenant service led by my friend over at eternal echoes and yesterday she and I had fabulous fish and chips over at Fleetwood after hours walking on the beach and then going back again to witness an amazing sunset. Photos here. We met some lovely dog-owners, fishermen and other folk walking and taking photos.

This afternoon it’s snowing … hoping that doesn’t cause problems getting back to Chesterfield. Let’s see – life is always an adventure but I do like smooth travelling.

quasi- according to the dictionary means ‘Having a likeness to something; resembling’ … for me it means ‘not quite’ … we are not quite a Christian community here at the Compass. We are all Christians – yes. We all love Jesus – yes.

But – and this is the clincher I think- that isn’t necessarily spilling over into our everyday lives.  Not yet.

I suppose too part of the problem is each of our understanding of what community really is.

I’d like prayer to be a greater part of our community. Private prayer and communal prayer. I sit alone most mornings – breakfast  me and God – and right now I’m using Shane Claiborne’s: Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals. January’s theme is new monasticism.  I was really touched by yesterday’s illustration from the desert fathers.

A brother came to see Abba Poeman and said to him “Abba, I have many thoughts and they put me in danger”. The old man led him outside and said to him “Expand your chest and do not breathe in’. He said ‘I cannot do that’ Then the old man said to him “If you cannot do that, no more can you prevent thoughts from arising, but you can resist them”

I really liked that because it reminded me that we do have the power to resist in us. It comes from God. It is God.  And so when I’m struggling with thoughts of quasi-ness (if that’s even a word) I can recognise that for God all things are possible and what is required from me in this is to spend time with Him, to hear what He says, to obey Him in the small things as well as the bigger tasks – and to let Him be God.

A good start to a new year in this place I think.