Are you on track?

In 2 Kings 22, we read the story of how young King Josiah spearheaded some renovations in the temple building, and this led to the discovery of a dusty old book: the Book of the Law or Book of the Covenant that had lain lost and neglected for many years. When Josiah sat down to read this old book (verses 11 - 13) he was devasted to realise how far the people had drifted from obedience to God, and he began to grieve for how he and his people had broken God’s heart.

I remember, back in the 1980s, sharing this story in a children’s talk in my home church. Some renovations had just been done to our church building, and I’d been invited to bring a short message in a family service at the start of a new year. I remember how adults and children alike watched as I discovered a huge old book hidden at the front of the church and then proceded to blow the dust off it. (The “dust” was actually talcum powder that I’d put there in advance.) My challenge to the congregation was to rediscover and read God’s Book in the new year, and not to leave it dusty and neglected on a bookshelf in their home. If we’re not reading the Bible regularly, it’s hard to keep checking whether we’re “on track” in living for God.

There are other ways, too, that we can evaluate how we’re doing and decide whether any mid-course adjustments need to be made. This week, for example, with the leadership development course behind us now, I’ve come to the time of year where I usually take some time to re-read the personal goals I wrote at the beginning of January and to evaluate how things are going. This year I had goals relating to my ministry and missions involvement, as well as a number of personal goals relating to my prayer life, my health, my relationships, and even to improving my Spanish. It was good to be able to take an hour or so to “check in” with God and evaluate whetherI’m on track and whether I’ve really been growing in those areas He showed me at the beginning of the year.

What sort of things do you have in place to check that you’re growing in obedience and maturing in your relationship with God? If we’re not regularly and intentionally evaluating our lives, it could be easy to drift far off mark - just like the Israelites had done in the time of King Josiah. Why not take some time this month to listen to God and consider what growth goals He has for you in the last six months of this year?

End of the LDC

Click to enlarge photo

This morning in church, realising that it's Pentecost Sunday, I was amazed to think that it's been seven weeks since the LDC staff arrived - on Easter Sunday - to prepare for the start of the Leadership Development Course. The LDC is over now, and we have great thankfulness in our hearts for all that God did in our midst during the 40 full and fruitful days of the course.

Right at the end of the course, we have a special morning that we call "Stepping over the Line." Delegates are asked to pray in advance about what they want to "leave behind" as a result of these six weeks with God, and to consider what they want to "step into" as they move into the next season of their Christian leadership. It was a particularly touching time this year, as humble men and woman stood up before the group, proclaiming the changes that God had made in their lives, sometimes asking forgiveness of a spouse, and declaring the new things that God had put on their hearts for the future. The photo above shows the whole group (including children and nannies) after the special graduation meal we had at the end of the course.

Yesterday was full of many airport runs, as the delegates and staff all headed back to their own nations. For me here in Spain, the next couple of weeks have a more flexible schedule, where I'll be doing some coaching, working on some outreach planning, and preparing for a wedding that we'll hold here on the 21st. Then, on the 23rd, my parents will be coming to Spain for their summer holiday.

Thanks for your prayers during the busy but fulfilling weeks of the Leadership Development Course. They were abundantly answered!!

Half way through the LDC

As we reach the middle point of the leadership development course, our hearts are full of thankfulness for all that God has done in our midst and for the deep transformations that these leaders are experiencing in their lives. Last week was emotionally tiring in some ways, but also incredibly rich spiritually, as we considered topics like conflict resolution, inner healing, "signature virtues" and dealing with our own "signature sins" (our particular deep rooted tendencies, which are different for each person: things such as stubbornness, unbelief, anger, fear, worry, pessimism… or whatever.) There was a workshop about dealing with intimidation and the fear of man, and that was a moving time when both delegates and staff saw many incredible breakthroughs as they responded to God's prompting and took steps of vulnerability and courage. One morning, we had an encouraging time of all-age worship that included the children and nannies who are with us in LDC, and focused on God our Creator. And one evening, we had an amazing "blessing workshop" where delegates could go to different stations and receive blessing prayer for their marriage, their future, their family, their calling, etc. You can join us in thanking God for his incredible faithfulness to meet people and do a deep work in their lives during this time.

At the weekend, when we had a free day on Saturday, I went with my housemates, Dagmar and Averyl, to visit El Torcal national park. Just over an hour inland from Malaga, El Torcal is up in the mountains and is a place where you can enjoy the beauty of God's creation as you walk through an amazing landscape of limestone rock formations. If you're lucky, you might even see some mountain goats, foxes, weasels, etc.

Now, as we enter week four of the LDC, our focus will be on self leadership and personal integrity. We'll look at topics like setting goals for growth, living in financial and sexual integrity as Christian leaders, using our authority in kind and godly ways, being intentional in developing our relationship with God, having a healthy lifestyle in terms of what we eat and how we take care of our body, etc. I'll be teaching on Wednesday and Friday, and would value your prayers for that, as well as for my times of meeting with individual delegates and leading our process group of six ladies.

Start of the leadership development course….

After multiple airport runs this past weekend, we had finally welcomed the delegates from all around the world,  and LDC got off to a good start this morning with a special breakfast and a very moving time of worshipping the Lord. It was a time when the Holy Spirit was moving among us, already touching lives, speaking words of prophecy and encouragement.

Then we had a creative meditation time, where the delegates moved to different stations around the house and garden, interacting with and responding personally to different aspects of our theme scripture, which this year is taken from John chapter seven.  As in previous years, Stephe has also written a worship song based on this theme, inviting the Holy Spirit to come and overflow in our hearts and lives.
Thank you, by the way, to those of you who've been praying for my health. The coughing has almost stopped now, and the chest pain (tendonitis) caused by the coughing is also beginning to be less painful now. My energy level seems to be back to normal again.

I have to confess that having to stay out of the sun (in order to protect the burned part of my face) can be mildly stressful when so many of our LDC learning activities, meals, breaks, etc, take place outdoors in the Spanish sunshine. I do have a selection of different sun hats now - which means that I can swap mildly stressful for mildly ridiculous. (It's not for nothing that I've never been much of a hat wearer!!) Looking ahead to the summer months, when I was bemoaning the fact that I might not be able to do any swimming, someone suggested that I could get one of these swimming masks that were sometimes worn by women in the 1920s.  This would allow me to trade mildly stressful and mildly ridiculous for mildly terrifying!!! (Please note that this is not me in the photo; it's some lady from the 1920s.)

Thanks for your prayers during this bonding week of the LDC. We'll be moving on later in the week to consider how different leaders have different personalities and giftings. Understanding ourselves, and how God has made us, helps us also to understand others and work in more unity as a team.

Health Update

Thank you to everyone who has asked how my health is doing now. I'm pleased to report that I seem to have turned the corner now. I went back to the doctor on Friday, concerned about the cough and the chest pain, and it turns out that the pain is mainly due to a damaged muscle, and the cough is slowly clearing up now.

My face is looking superficially good - just very itchy, which the doctor tells me is normal and might last for several months.  For those of you interested in the details and prognosis, here's the information given on a patient leaflet about post-burn care:

Length of time for skin to heal
There are three phases in the formation of a scar. In the first phase, which lasts less than a week, the body begins to remove dead and dying skin tissue, fights infection, and sends cells that will begin the healing process to the burned areas. In the second phase, which takes a few weeks, the body makes collagen fibers to form scar tissue and creates tiny new blood vessels in the injured area. In the final phase, which takes months to years, the scar tissue matures, resulting in a stronger scar.
Itching
Itching is a common problem, especially in the first few months after healing. Occasionally it is severe and intractable, interfering with sleep and producing recurrent wound breakdown due to scratching. It is important to try not to scratch. Lukewarm showers, bath oil, colloidal oatmeal products, and moisturisers may help with itching. Sometimes medication such as antihistamines may be needed for persistent disruptive itching.

Preparing to celebrate Easter...

It's April, and in just a few weeks' time we'll be remembering Jesus' death and celebrating His resurrection. Perhaps you, or a young person that you know, would like to join hundreds of others around the world in two weeks (14 days) of Bible readings on an Easter theme. Click below to download the booklet in English, or visit the Challenge 2014 website to download the booklet in either Spanish or French: www.biblechallenge2014.blogspot.com

Click here to download the Easter Bible Reading Booklet

Spilled milk and creative reconciliation...

It’s been a while since I wrote a post from my daily reading in the Old Testament books of Samuel. (In fact, I’ve finished Samuel now and have begun reading in the historical books of Israel’s kings.) But here’s just one more thought from 2nd Samuel and a little verse that caught my attention in chapter fourteen. 2 Samuel 14: 14 says: Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But God does not take away life; instead He devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from Him.

This verse spoke so much to me of God’s heart for the lost. It’s a picture of how He pulls out all the stops to make it possible for selfish and sinful people to be reconciled with Him. And when it comes to “devising ways” to make that possible, surely there was no more precious and costly way than sending His own Son to die for us - a costly sacrifice that we’ll remember when we celebrate Easter later this month. But there are two important principles in this verse that can also be applied to reconciliation between two human beings:

Number one is the principle of “spilled milk.” 
Sometimes real restitution is going to be impossible. Restitution is an important Biblical principle, clearly taught and demonstrated in both the Old and New Testaments. If you steal from someone, you need to pay back what was taken, and maybe more. If your gossip publicly destroys someone’s reputation, a public apology would begin the process of putting things right. But like the examples in this story in 2 Samuel 14 (where one son had killed his brother), there are going to be situations that are “like water spilled on the ground”: the damage done can simply never be undone, never be reversed in any way. The drunk driver can’t bring back the loved one that was killed; the betrayal or infidelity of a friend or spouse can never be erased. Unlike the old proverb, crying over spilt milk is an appropriate thing to do: grieving losses is an important part of our healing. Recognising, however, that no restitution can ever be possible can help move us towards the next step in these principles of reconciliation.

Number two is the principle of “devising ways."
It was totally impossible for man to find ways of atoning for his own sin. It simply couldn’t be done. And so God devised different ways of making relationship possible again: the serpent in the wilderness, the laws about the scapegoat, the sacrifice of animals... and ultimately the death of His own Son. If someone is estranged from us, and if we know that they have no way of putting things right, we need to consider what we can do from our side to make reconciliation possibe, so that the relationship is not broken forever.

What situations of “water spilled on the ground” have there been in your life? And what can you do, even this month, to devise creative ways of making reconciliation and relationship possible again?