Pilgrim Heart

e-Fellowship

As noted in my previous post, I have been drawn into the world of facebook. I must admit I took a while to get it, but now I am beginning to discover that such sites can be a valuable addition to true fellowship.

Whilst the potential to get distracted from work must be enormous, and much of what is on there is extremely frivolous (don't bother sending me an invitation to be a vampire!) for me it provides and extra means of staying in touch with people, sharing our lives, encouraging one another in God, in short, fellowship.

I'm not big fan of living in a virtual world - I do want to meet with real people - some of you who I only know through this blog I hope to one day meet in the flesh. The apostle Paul makes it clear that there is a dimension of revelation and anointing that can only come through face to face contact when he says to the Romans, (to whom he was about to commit his ultimate revelation of Jesus Christ in written form!) "I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you." (Rom 1:11). The natural context of Christian fellowship is the table, (see Acts 2:42) - sharing a meal as a prophetic sign of the covenant that unites us in Christ.

But as a supplement to these things, then by all means let's embrace instant messaging, sms, facebook, and of course blogs! And let e-fellowship serve and support (though never replace) the fellowship of the people of God. All true fellowship is fellowship of the Spirit, and the all-pervasive Spirit of God knows his way around the internet pretty well!

Is e-fellowship real fellowship? It is if it is in the Spirit.

Work life balance?

This isn't really funny, more tragic. How badly this world needs community!

Thanks to Steve Peak for sending me this.

Living Life With "One Another"

I have been considering recently what it means to live as a covenant community. A covenant community is one that is founded upon and regulated by a covenant. The Church of Jesus Christ is such a community, it is founded upon and regulated by the New Covenant.

The New Testament gives many instructions and exhortations as to how we should behave towards "one another"; the most common one (at least 15 times) being to "love one another." Here's the list in full... (click to enlarge)

Pray For Our Brothers and Sisters in Gujarat

A couple of weeks ago Chandrakant related news that Hindu nationalists were planning a re-conversion campaign against Christians in southern Gujarat; you can read what he had to say here, the campaign is to take place on 11-13 February.

Can I encourage you to join in prayer for our brothers and sisters? I am confident that their faith is true and strong, but let's pray for them for boldness to proclaim the gospel ever more strongly and for protection from violence which I am sure is a very real prospect at this time. Pray above all that through the empowering of the Holy Spirit that name of Jesus will be lifted high and that the Father will receive the glory that he so richly deserves!

It's Spiritual Consumerism Gone Mad!

Another spoof on consumer church - this time something that will raise the hackles of all true worshipers (Trevor Lloyd don't go there unless you want to get angry!) Click here!

Laugh? I nearly left a tip!

I've just got home from an evening spent with friends eating, sharing a glass of wine, and most importantly laughing. They were fascinated(!!) to hear that I had started blogging and wanted to know what I would write about our evening together. The topics of conversation ranged widely from Hull City's promotion, various techniques for getting dirty laundry into the basket and which walls of our homes our children had drawn on, and many points in between.

What really stood out about the evening, however, was the laughter. I am so thankful to God that I have friends like these, people who can truly relax in one-another's company without fear or the need for any pretence or hiding behind a mask: we were all just being who we are and enjoying being together. It reminded me of the scripture that says, "How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity, for there the Lord has commanded the blessing, even life for ever more." [It's in Psalm 133] It goes on to decribe God's blessing as being like perfumed oil poured over the head and running down your beard.

This sense of openess and unity is exactly how God wants his people to live together - and the blessing of God to us tonight took on a tangible form - not perfumed oil dripping off our chins, but of laughter that creased our faces into the most wonderful contortions and squeezed tears out of the corners of our eyes! If we'd been in a restaurant I'd have left a big tip!