Brighton Conference
Conference Day 5
So it’s been a week since I got home, and rather a mad week at that. Am actually out at ikea, with the kids in the childrens club. I am sitting still with not much else to do – time to catch up on some blogging!
Rather than talk about the last two talks I am going to try to think avbout the conference overall. I know is was a big christian celebration, but first of all for me it was a holiday – rare time away from the family, space to think and enjoy myself 
I enjoyed the worship/singing bits a lot more than I expected. There were some cracking tunes which I hope will turn up on a conference cd. And I was chilled out enough for the songs to lead me into prayer and drawing close to my heavenly father. I think there will be a lasting legacy of being less self concious in worship (I am usually horribly self conscious)
The impact of the preaching will be more long term, particularly those talks about courage. The call to courage is only tested when you actually do something. I have made some positive decisions about home and family but they have not been all worked out yet. I am looking for the courage to start things, and the courage to keep them going!
At the moment I just feel more on the front foot for God. That sounds very wooly and touchy/feely but I can’t really describe it more than that. I am more likely now to think of prayer, and miraculously, to actually do it. The church meeting on Sunday morning, which I have been increasingly struggling with, flew by this week leaving me wanting more – something that hasn’t happened for a long while!
With all this excitement I keep the strong commitment to be protective of family time, making sure family remains my first priority.
And then in that context Jane and I have been drawn to the new church group Colin and Tim and friends are looking to start in Levenshulme, not far up the road from us. So, while we were considering this, we were delighted to be invited to join the starting group. In the past we have been blessed being part of small groups of people starting new church groups in different parts of Greater Manchester, so we are exited to be having another crack. Each new group I am part of means another chance to make less of a fool of myself, so here’s hoping!
[the talks from the conference are now available as mp3s on http://www.newfrontierstogether.org/Groups/174930/Newfrontiers/Resources/Talks_and_Preaches/Select_Event/Leadership_International_11/Main_Sessions.aspx - may I particularly recommend talk 5 - P J Smythe on Suffering, Sickness, and Healing - let me know what you thing!]
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Conference Day 4 – Yawn
God is good – but I really really really really want a proper nights sleep in my own bed!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Conference Day 3
So as I type this there will be an amazing evening of worship to Jesus going on. But don’t worry, I am safely tucked up in bed with a nice cup of tea. I just realised I have written but not uploaded this mornings blog. Ah well, that will have to wait until tomorrow – it is a long way to go downstairs to within range of the hotels presumably tiny wireless router.
To be honest the talks today have rather gone by me. There was one about God using our weakness, which is excellent news for people like me. And another talk about what are some of the aspects of our New Frontiers churches that maybe make us a little different from other churches.
I kept going through them, much to my surprise, and made plenty of notes so I may be able to explain what was said to Jane, though I may struggle to interpret my own scribble.
Well this is life! Even at a conference! Some days are fireworks. And some days are just drinking coffee Who is to say which is more significant in the long run.
Thank you to Ann and Hannah and Jeanie from Bolton Family Church who have let me hang around with them this week. I was blessed by sitting with them in Costa coffee this afternoon sharing stories of moving up to Manchester and being around when their church first started up. One of the advantages of getting old is that get to tell some great tales
I dont think I have mentioned this yet . . . On the first evening of the conference I was pondering on the many many mistakes I have made since moving to Manchester and being involved in starting new churches. I have really made a whole load – I’m not being modest! But the thought occurred to me: I have not yet been doing church planting for 20 years. I intend to go on for at least till i’m in my 70s. So I am not even half way through. Plenty of time to benefit from lessons learned from all those mistakes. Plenty of time to make another contribution, and maybe be involved in planting a few more churches
Goodnight.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )Conference Day 3 – Yawn
So last night was the worst nights sleep I have had in a good long while. My first thought on waking was embarrassment on my gushing posts from last night. But I am old enough now to be used to this. The ‘cold light of day’ experience should never be put against revelation in the presence of God. I just embarrass easily
Conference Day 2 – Suffering, sickness, and healing
Last year P J Smythe was diagnosed with cancer. This year he is in remission and so able to speak at the conference.
It was the most moving and powerful and honest presentations of Christian supernatural healing I have ever heard. I have no idea if the recording will have the same impact but I encourage you to listen just in case. The challenge for me was not to be so passive about Jane being ill. I want to pray more that “God is able to deliver us”,”he will deliver us”,”but even if he does not, let it be known, we are not going to serve false gods”. Jane I am sorry I have not prayed more for you and with you. I intend to improve that.
During the singing, which we always have at the end of the talks, I started to cry. I am by nature emotional, and shy, so I probably don’t cry as much as I should. But it was very appropriate at that moment.
Time for bed I think. Plenty still to come
Conference Day 2 – It
Yesterday I was pondering what “it” is, what I should be doing, what my part in the church and kingdom of God should be.
(pause to spill hot tea on my fingers – nothing like keeping it real is there :S )
Today I have been pondering more the thought of leadership of my family more and more. I am increasingly thinking this is was God is communicating to me. Though many other things may come my way, this is to be my primary calling now, in this season with Jane suffering with ongoing fatigue, and with the kids the ages they are.
With these thoughts in my mind my mum, a wonderful and faithful lady, sent me the following:
“Wait on the Lord and the Lord’s time is not necessarily our time.
You are always in his hands and He knows how much you can cope with, so wait in His love until some of your pressures are lifted. He will tell you when he needs you to do something.”
What a wonderfully encouraging and releasing prophetic word!
I am looking still to God to lead and speak to me. I am not just a believer in the book we call the Bible, though that is so important to me. I am [as mad as this may sound ] an adopted son of father God, who loves me and wants to genuinely interact with me. That is one of the delights of this conference!
Conference Day 2 – Talks
In the mornings the conference has loads of different seminars on different subjects that you can go to. I chose to learn about Christian view of Islam. It was well presented, but I had actually heard quite a few of the ideas before. Islam is not to be feared because it is different, rather I can talk to a Muslim friend about Jesus just as any other interested friend – maybe even more so as a keen Muslim may be a genuine seeker after God.
In late morning the talk was on how our church group is changing because it is getting so big! A wonderful problem to have! It was mostly theoretical to me personally but I am fascinated by strategy and structure. I hope to get more detail from my friend Colin Baron, if I can get him to indulge me
The afternoon was a lot more personal. The subject was “Those whom the Lord loves he disciplines”, maybe a strange idea for those who have not experienced our heavenly father’s love. But sometimes (often?) I need to be, as my scrawled notes from the talk say, need to be shaken, woken up, humbled, stirred. I want to listen to that talk again – they will soon be available online and I will get the links for you.
I guess you are getting the idea that I have a lot to ponder. So I came back to my hotel room and had an afternoon nap
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Conference Day 2 – A song
We do a lot of singing at these conferences. Here is part of the words to one of the songs which has lifted me …
Conference Day 2 Yawn
Got an extra pillow last night from the helpful staff at the hotel. That, plus being completely shattered, helped me fall asleep rather earlier
Today is the first of the 9.15 am seminars. I have chosen Challenges Facing the 21 century Church so we will see how this goes. The main teacher is David Devenish, who lead our wedding some 20 years ago, which is cool!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Conference Day 1 – Courage
Be courageous, and run the race set before you!
The morning speaker talked about living a life of faith and courage, and then described what sort of live experiences can turn courage into passivity.
A lot of this was directly relevant to me. I’ve got to a point where I am nervous to put my head up over the parapet. Not a good state to get into.
The afternoon speaker ( my absolute favourite, Terry Virgo ) talked about running the race of faith, from the words in Hebrews 12 v 1&2, and what might hinder that race. It was an excellent call to take on board again my particular calling, to consider what my individual race of faith involves.
During the worship/singing bit I told God I felt like a dry desert or the dry bones of Ezekial 37, and I needed his spirit. A lot of the songs carried this same theme, so I encouraged to keep asking. Generally I have enjoyed the worship a lot more than expected
The evening speaker spoke on leadership courage during change. I started a little disengaged from this as I am not a church leader, but realised I am a very important leader in my family, and family life is always changing.
So starting and ending the day with a call to be courageous was sufficient even for me to get the message.
Praying now for some clarity and direction. If I have to do it with courage, what exactly is the “it”?
Here’s a view of the conference stage from where I was sitting. I will try to find out how many people are here but the big hall is full!
Conference Day 1 – Yawn
So I never sleep well in a new bed. It was clean and warm, but it wasn’t my bed with my pillows. I was awake at 7, after years of habit. A decent shower and a cooked breakfast have got me going a little, but my head still feels fuzzy and not with anything. I have made a shopping list of things to get to make my visit more comfortable, so that’s where I am heading first. Then if time permits a coffee at Costas before the excitement of the conference proper kicks off:-)
And this is the view of the pier from my window
Conference Day 0 Expectations
So why am I here? To start with it’s because I love listening to top quality speakers. I delight having my mind stretched with new ideas, or old ideas explained in a new way, in have the scriptures opened up and articulated afresh. It lifts my faith to see, when properly researched and understood, how intellectually coherent the gospel of Jesus is.
Now I’m actually down here I think I want more than that. I want to properly connect with Jesus again. With all the mundane hassle of Jane being I’ll it’s been easy to let my passion for God slide. Do I believe any less? – Nope! But does that belief stay below the surface more than it should? – probably yes.
I want to enjoy worshiping again, being filled with awe, taking emotional delight in the truths I believe. I’m no good at singing. I’m sure there are people who carry a tune worse than me, but I don’t suppose there are many of them. And I’m very self conscious of this lack of ability. So I have always been unsure of the singing part of a Christian meeting. Still, this can be when I engage with God more with heart than my mind. Isn’t music an amazing medium to be lifted out of ourselves!
And then I’m seeking for a renewed sense of calling. For a season so much of my focus has been on my family, supporting Jane and the kids as we learn and readjust to her illness. But I feel this is too insular to go on long term. What to do next? I shrink from taking on any responsibility, which doesn’t seem right. Some wisdom, some leading wouldn’t go amiss. More than that – some passion.
Is that all too much to hope for? I’ll let you know in a day or so
Good night
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )Conference Day 0
So I’ve arrived. Hotel room is small but clean and cheap, so does me fine. Been for a walk to find Boots, where I’ll buy sandwiches for lunch, and check the conference centre. Now I’m back in the hotel bar having a diet cola.
I managed to leave my mobile phone in Ann’s car 
Only worked that out after she’d dropped me off and driven away. Annoyed with myself. I should get it back tomorrow.
It’s strange actually being here and not actually meeting up with anyone till tomorrow morning. Then it will get mad busy, but for now it’s just me. I’ll go back to my room in a moment (hotel wifi is only stable in the lounge/bar) and read and sudoku and try to relax. It’s difficult to articulate why this inaction makes me unsettled. If I was at home i’d be busy with one of my many hobbies/activities, or at least playing computer games. But this void is throwing me off.
Just worked out I don’t have a radio to listen to. I’ll have to check what mp3s I have on my phone.
I’ve been pondering what I’m expecting from the conference. I’ll have another think and that can be my next post
