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British Radio Oddities

As I fall asleep or am wide awake in the early hours (as I've been lately) I usually occupy myself by listening to the radio, specifically BBC Radio 4 or Radio Scotland. There's many things to like about Radio 4, which can be likened to NPR in the States. The programs range from straight news and documentaries to quiz shows and dramas.

Then there are some distinctly British features, which harken from the early days. Here are a few I encounter:

Top of the Hour: The news is always preceded by five electronic beeps ("The Pips") to indicate top of the hour. At midnight, the beeps are replaced by the bells of Big Ben, relayed live!

Bells on Sunday: "The sound of church bells ringing on Sunday from around the country" It's a different church each Sunday, and the number of bells and various technical details (weight and key) are given before they play. It all sounds like cacophony to my ears.

Today in Parliament: When Parliament is in session, there is a roundup of sound bites (along with the narration of a news reader) of all the action in the House of Commons or Lords. At first, I found it very boring since I wasn't 'into' the political news here. It's definitely grown on me, and I especially like the back-and-forth debates and name-calling that passes for political discourse. The rhetoric is smarter than that of US Congressional debates.

The Shipping Forecast: Now this will put you to sleep, if nothing else will. I'm sure this is helpful for many, as this is an island nation. First, they divide the surrounding ocean into 31 different sections with special names, like 'Viking', 'Dogger', and 'Rockall'. Then the forecast is listed for categories of Wind, Sea State, Weather, and Visibility.

But, because you would be in the 'know' as a sailor, they don't say "The Wind is 50 MPH". Instead, it's just "Northwesterly 4 or 5, occasionally 6 at first, decreasing 3 at times later." So I've come to learn that these are 'Force' numbers and correspond to levels of wind. Sea State would be plainly reported as, "Moderate or rough becoming slight or moderate." Add this up for all 31 sea areas, read by a monotone news reader, and you've got a sleep-inducing miracle.

Prayer of the Day: This is early in the morning, included as part of the news program - time of 'reflection and prayer.' A religious leader says a short homily, then a 10 second 'prayer' to whatever god they serve. If you're lucky enough to get a Christian, they may not even mention Jesus' name. Usually, it makes my mind boil enough to get me out of bed.

For a more comprehensive description of Radio 4, check out this link.

Independence

I'm in Ohio now for the next few weeks after attending a church planting conference in Dallas led by David Watson. It was very interesting, but it's been difficult to sort through what information is really helpful.

David Watson is one of the most prolific church planters with over 250,000 churches started through his organization. What he calls a 'church' is not what we usually think. They start as a small group of unbelieving, but interested, people (3-8). Over time, they read the Bible together and start to discover who God is and what He requires. Eventually they start to resemble the following definition:

"A church is a group of baptized believers in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who meet regularly to worship, nurture, and fellowship; they depart those gatherings endeavoring to obey all the commands of Christ in order to transform families, communities and nations."

How to start one of these groups is simple in theory, but in practice, somewhat complicated. You find someone that God is already moving in, creating a hunger to know more about God (this is a 'person of peace'). Then, you, as a leader, pour all your energy into this person and get them to invite their friends into a 'discovery' group. You yourself don't lead anyone in the group, only locals lead. The only teacher is scripture.

Empowered by the Holy Spirit, this method has led to reproducing and multiplying churches all over the under-developed world. It works best when people don't already have preconceived notions of what a church is or who a Christian is.

Can this work in Europe? It becomes more difficult when the church has an existing or historical influence in culture, because a lot of times the church has given us a definition of 'Christian' which is not Biblical. In postmodern, urban settings, the family isn't as important and 'affinity networks' are not as large. You might find people who like the same thing gathering in groups of 3-5, and they don't live anywhere near each other.

That makes it difficult to start a church using these methods. But maybe it can be done, and while relying on God through lots of prayer, maybe I'll see it happen.

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Prayer walking

For a while, I've been wanting to see new churches started in a simple, low-intensity way. Some people call it 'organic'. It's meeting someone in the neighbourhood who is open to God and is influential in their community/tribe. Once they believe the gospel, it's natural that they start telling others and inviting people to their home. That's church.

I'm not a church planter. I have no training, nor do I have the exothermic personality. But I want to see this happen! So, it has to be ALL God's doing. I've been given more freedom on my team to investigate what this looks like.

If God's leading this, much time needs to be spent in prayer. I took some risks on what I thought I 'heard' in prayer and went prayer walking where I thought God might be leading me. I didn't meet anyone. Nothing spectacular happened. That's not surprising, but I have to push through the discouragement and keep open.

In June, Brian, Scott and I are attending a CRM conference on Church Planting Movements (CPM is what happens when organic churches multiply and change thousands, as in Asia). I hope to take what I've tried and see if this training will refine and redirect me if necessary.

Baptisms

Last Sunday we had a record 9 baptisms split over two services! Some were long-timers who felt that it was time to do it, others were relative newcomers who only started believing in Christ a short time ago. I always love hearing the testimonies.

First Sunday

Remembering the resurrection in our new building was fantastic! There were so many people that we had to put some in the balcony. Singing and worshiping in the smaller space was great. It really felt like God was there with us. There were some rough spots due to it being our first time, but overall they didn't distract from the excitement.



Please visit Brian's blog for more photos and descriptions.

Revitalized

Here's some new pics of the result of our efforts this week:

The older children's hall-

The wood flooring in the hallway-

The final A/V set up with screens-

The 'creche' and toddler's area-

Work Week

We're in the middle of 'work week' at the new building. The main activity is lots and lots of painting. So far, we've primed everything and gotten a first coat on about half of the space. The biggest room is the kids room upstairs. For that we had to hire some moveable scaffolding to reach the ceiling.

I've never had to edge and roll so much paint! My body aches, and I'm not even working as hard as some. Maybe that's because I'm older than everyone! In addition to the painting, all the flooring is up and the chairs (150) have arrived. The sound guys were installing our projectors and screens today, also. Thursday is the big day for laminate floors (hallway) and carpets (kids rooms).

New Building

We own a building! Go to Brian's blog for the day in pictures, but here are a few that I took.


















1)Advertising for the Holiday Club/VBS we're hosting next week.
2)People gather for the praise and prayer time tonight
3)Brian prepares us for prayer
4 & 5)Celebration time after