How valuable are values?
July 22, 2009
Roy Disney once declared “if we know what our values are then decisions are easy”
Recently while giving some consideration to the values of this church and to a certain extent my personal ones I came across these four important points about our values.
1)Values determine distinctive.
No two individuals are identical; this same principle applies to churches and to ministries. Some devote their time to strong biblical preaching, others to evangelism, what makes each one unique is its culture, and the most important aspect of the culture is its value system. Values are the constants in life, they are what mark people out, they can change but often only slowly. They are usually non-negotiable .If you can negotiate a value away it probably is not a value.
2 )Values communicate what is important.
The values of a ministry signal clearly what is the bottom line. They communicate what really matters. Clearly articulated values drive a stake into the ground that announces to all,” This is what we stand for; this is what we are all about, this is who we are, this is what we can and cannot do for you.” The Jerusalem church was very clear about what it valued:
3)Values influence overall behaviour.
A church’s values are ministry shaping. Malphurs calls this the values impact. Values dictate every decision and influence every action. They begat attitudes that influence behaviour. In Acts 6; 1-7 we see the Jerusalem church modelling the values impact. The Greeks felt the Hebrews were neglecting their widows. In response the twelve assigned seven well-qualified people to take care of the need. The value system of the apostles dictated that they should prioritise prayer and ministry of the word.
4) Values embrace good change.
As the country lurches from one change to another, from one worldview to another-modernism to post-modernism, there is much rapid change, much of it good, some of it not so good. The question to ask when confronted with change is, does this change work with with or contradict our values.
Do you believe it is important to know what our values are? if so why?
Breaking the power of poverty.
March 26, 2009
One thing that we need to recognise is that in days when words like recession,redundancy and bancruptcy are commonly used, the level of poverty around us increases.I want to go on record as saying that poverty is not a blessing.There are some that hold the erroneous view that poverty is somehow good or even holy.I believe that God wants us to have an abundance of provision even in difficult times.Not just so that we can have all our needs met but so that we can help meet the needs of others.
Let me share with you a simple seven point strategy that God has been teaching me for about four years now, about moving from never having enough to enjoying more than enough.
1) Pray over your finances.Jesus encourages us to pray “give us this day our daily bread.”
2) Devise a budget that takes into account of all of your weekly/monthly incomings and outgoings. There are plenty of good models available for you to download or peruse.You cannot challenge what you cannot measure.If you have a high level of debt seek specialist advise and a more rigorous strategy may be needed to attack and clear the outstanding amounts.Sending minimum payments doesn’t normally clear the outstanding debt.If you are in this position destroy your credit cards.As part of this process keep searching for the best deals available on things like fuel,insurance ,mortgage etc.This has the potential to help you make real savings on your outgoings.For example I was able recently to reduce my expenditure on gas and electricity by over £300.00 per year by changing provider.
3) Tithe your incomings.Put God to the test in this priciple.He does not ask you to tithe what you don’t have ,only what you do have. Some will ask do I tithe gross or net.Someone once gave the answer do you want a gross or a net blessing? I want to go on record as saying that I believe that the tithe should go to the local church of which you are a part. If you are not part of a local church let me encourage you to find one.
4) Start an account however small at first, for offerings and giving. This account as it grows, can be used to help meet needs that you become aware of, this is the seed we sow. The amount of seed we sow determines the harvest we can expect.
5) Start a storehouse.A storehouse can be a savings account, an ISA, investments , property or possessions that are likely to increase in value.Where possible be ready to ride out the economic downturns. Some say I have nothing available to save.Why not save the ten pounds you might have spent
at Mcdonalds,the coffeeshop,or in town it will amount to 120.00 per year.
6) Develop a “fun fund” try to set aside some money for fun events such as the the cinema,treats and holidays.
7) Pay for as much as you can with good old fashioned cash.The use of cards , credit, visa and payment cards are deceptive.Credit Action studies shows that we spend at least one third more than we think we have, when we pay for everything by card.Draw a viable weekly sum of cash that covers your day to day expenditure,like groceries,petrol//diesel etc.This is more important than it sounds.As your cash diminishes, a consciousness increases of the amount that has been spent.Whenever you are buying day to day items let me encourage you to use cash with few exceptions.Also exercise the discipline of staying within your weekly amount of disposable cash.
This simple seven point strategy works if it is put into operation.It will help to break a poverty mindset and get you out of the situation of feeling that you never have any spare money.
Persecution and breakthrough in India.
March 2, 2009
One of the notable features of our recent visit to Karnataka state in Southern India is the realisation that we are living in significant days, in which persecution is a reality.During the autumn months of last year the media carried regular stories of persecution and violence against christians particularly in the stae of Orrissa which is a hotspot for Hindu militants.For years India had ranked No. 30 in the league of worst persecutors according to the Open Doors World Watch .However their 2009 report on the ‘World Watch’ list of countries that are the worst persecutors of Christians shows that India has moved to No. 22 due to the escalating violence on Christians in different parts of the nation.Whilst in some cases, the violence has subsided it has left many believers nervous and afraid for the future throughout the country.We met several pastors and leaders with stories to tell of violence,opposition and serious strife.The authorities (often dominated by the Hindu militant party )seemingly reluctant and resistent to giving help to christian groups.
The effects of this are interesting.Whilst it is true to say that many are afraid,there are also reports of significant numbers of conversions taking place.We saw a good number of responses for salvation in our meetings.Secondly, far from intimidating believers into inactivity,it is motivating some to greater efforts.The main purpose of our visit was to participate in a pastor’s conference held in Bangalore.Abotut three to four months before the start of the conference,the authorities refused the organisors permission to use public facillites for the event.Instead of cancelling the conference, they decided to build their own venue for up to a thousand people.What was truly remarkable was that the venue was completed like Nehemiah’s wall in record time,just over 92 days.It will be when fully operational,a quality venue.Throughout the building programme God provided miraculously, in terms of finance,material, and personnell to complete the work.It is now also fairly likely that the authorities that refused permission to the organisors in the past will be seeking to rent the facillity themselves,so God has turned what was a negative situation around for tremeandous good.
The lesson that this has for us in the UK is worth noting.In times when there is a growing sense that christians are a persecuted minority here too,far from extinguishing the life of God ,this kind of opposition actually seems to encourage it and injects it with a growth dynamic.That which the enemy means for harm ,God can turn around for the greater good.
William
Can good come out of opposition what do you think?
Why Fast?
January 3, 2009
Many believers and church goers seem to know very little if anything about fasting. As a result very little fasting takes place. It is certainly not a popular activity. The reality is there is great power in the principles of prayer with fasting. But so many people either ignore fasting saying “it’s not for me”, or they misunderstand what fasting is all about, and what is required for true Christian fasting to take place.
Firstly it is a giving up.
It is giving up food or in some instances other kinds of activity such as watching television, sport or soaps to give quality time to prayer and seeking God. God is not counting calories but he is looking for heart and commitment. Fasting is a sign of commitment and determination. We give up food or some other activity in order to give more time and energy to prayer and seeking him. It is not always possible because of diet or for medical reasons to abstain totally from food.
So abstinence from certain kinds of food constitutes fasting. Daniel for instance abstained from certain kinds of food concentrating largely on vegetables and water. Secondly it is an adding to. You give up something in order to do more of something else.
To add more time to your agenda for prayer and seeking God through the Bible. Through fasting we add more of God to our lives and the situations we face. It is a very serious and committed activity, one that we neglect at our peril if we genuinely want to see God move.
In the Bible people fasted for all kinds of reasons. Here are just six examples of people in the Bible fasting.
1) Sometimes they fasted for forgiveness- Daniel is a great example of one who fasted and prayed ,not just for forgiveness for his own sins but for the sins of the nation, Nehemiah in Ch1 similarly fasts over his own sins and those of the nation. We would do well to heed his example today.
2) David fasted over sickness. He fasted and prayed for his dying son (whom Bathsheba bore), saying, “Perhaps God will have mercy.” It was a serious attempt to ask for God’s healing for the sickness.
3) When seeking God’s protection- Esther and Nehemiah are great examples of this taking place.
4) When preparing for ministry- Jesus in fasts for forty days in the wilderness before commencing ministry.
5) When appointing leaders and elders in Acts 14:23 .
Finally
6) When seeking guidance- in Acts 13.
Fasting is one of the ancient disciplines that we need to re-discover. Why fast at this time, for God to move, for breakthroughs, for salvations, for a greater effectiveness in our ministry to the surrounding world. All are valid reasons but perhaps the most appropriate is to draw closer to God. You can begin by fasting from a meal or setting a day aside. There can be a special sense of the presence of God when you get into a second or third day of fasting. if abstinence from food is unwise because of medical or dietary reasons, try fasting on fruit and vegetables or don’t switch the television, computer the television off. God responds to evidence of heart responsiveness rather than the absence of food or a certain activity.
Lets do Christmas
November 30, 2008
Lets do Christmas
Official figures show the numbers packing the pews on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day last year rose by 7.5 per cent .The figure has risen by 37 per cent since the Millennium and many churches face turning hundreds of people away from their carol events and midnight services.With many churches planning and strategising to “do Christmas “in a big way.
The phenomenon has astonished Church leaders accustomed to declining congregations, especially as many churches also saw a rise in Christmas attendance of four per cent last year.
Many believe that an increasing number of Britons are seeking to recapture the sense of mystery and spirituality of the festival that has been stifled by for many years by growing commercialisation in society.
The Rev Lynda Barley, the head of the Church of England’s research and statistics department, said “rumours of the demise of Christmas are baseless”. “It will be standing room only at many cathedrals and churches,” she said. “The dormant desire to recapture a sense of the wonder of the Nativity, to share with others in the singing and praying, and to glimpse something of the spiritual meaning of the Christmas story draws people to churches across the country.”
There is undoubtedly a growing number of people interested in spirituality in general as good attendances are reported at mind,body and spirit fairs up and down the country with people often prepared to pay good money for the spiritual services provided..
Also this year it remains to be seen how many will be affected by gloomy economic news and prophecies of world-wide recession and therefore drawn to church.
A survey conducted among 1,000 people at special christmas events last year also suggests that Christians are using these “flagship” events to encourage friends and contacts to attend services, with more than a third of respondents saying they heard about the events from friends.
This year we need to be looking to up our game in terms of using Christmas as part of an ongoing “big event strategy”to invite as many as we can to our Christmas events at Life Church.We may well be surprised by the favourable responses.
Why do you think people are attracted to church at Christmas?
Roast Crunch
October 1, 2008
ROAST CRUNCH
“Price of Sunday lunch soars 25% – Families are shunning their meat and veg as costs hit an all time high” – The Sun
“Three couples save £30,000 with a crunch-busting triple wedding.” Three couples spend £20,000 on big joint wedding to, er, save money” – Daily Mirror
“Boaters shun the rat race – Hard-pressed Britons are taking to the canal to beat the credit crunch… There are now more then 31,500 licensed boats, more than at the height of the Industrial Revolution” – Daily Express
What will be the real fallout from the housing, mortgage and credit meltdown of 2007/2008.The crunch probably is not at an end nor has the fallout fully settlted.
A couple of years ago in our area we had a bad summer’s day where there had been a lot of rain and it was quite dark by nine in the evening.Around that time there was a power cut that affected every home and each street light in the area in which we lived .
The combined effevct of the power cut and the rain created quite an eerie and unsettling atmosphere and groups of local residents gathered in the street outside .Huddling together in nervous and sometime angry groups.
I was reminded of the occasion as the ongoing stories of credit crunch and instability in the financial markets raises the spectre of unemployment, foreclosures loss of savings and investments and many other fearful scenarios.
I have in recent times been reminded of the passage in Exodus 10:23 when a different kind of darkness covered the land of Egypt, no one could see anyone else or leave his place for three days.
Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.To what extent through God’s alternative economic system has he given us the opportunity in these days to demonstrate that whilst there is lots of economic darkeness around there can still be light in the lives and homes of believers.
How can we be light to those around us in a dark economic climate?
William Prentice – Pastor.
Commit
March 28, 2008
A missionary society wrote to David Livingstone and asked, “Have you found a good road to where you are?
If so, we want to know how to send other men to join you.” Livingstone wrote back, “If you have men who will come only if they know there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all.”
Life can present us with the opportunities to commit to a particular enterprise or activity without necessarily having the route fully worked out we only have the destination in mind. The reality is that we will never reach that destination without commitment.
Our life’s vision will never be fulfilled without commitment. Yet in today’s world commitment seems to be constantly under challenge .Commitment to life, commitment to relationships and to ongoing dreams and vision. Without it progress is very limited.
Commitment has life changing power. Frederic F. Flach writes: ‘Most people can look back and identify a time and place at which their lives changed significantly. Whether by accident or design, these are the moments when because of a readiness within us and a collaboration of events around us, we are forced to seriously reappraise ourselves and the conditions under which we live, and to make choices that will affect the rest of our lives’ I remember when I met and married my wife it was not only the external event of meeting her but also internal changes that were taking place in me that enabled a personal commitment to be made
Personal commitment to a relationship, a career, a church, a ministry, a vision, will be tested – daily. Too many of us see commitment as an event, like saying, ‘I do’ in a wedding ceremony or shaking hands to close a business deal. Yet what helps to make a marriage successful is not necessarily wealth or even health but rather commitment. In January we buy a treadmill to get in shape, by February we quit because it calls for too much discipline. Any time you make a commitment to something, you will be tested – daily
Commitment helps you overcome life’s obstacles. Maltbie Babcock said, ‘One of the most common mistakes and one of the costliest, is thinking that success is due to some genius, some magic something or other which we do not possess. No, success is generally due to holding on, and unwillingness to let go. You ‘decide’ to obtain a qualification, learn a language,begin a business enterprise etc. Will it be a success or failure? That depends upon how much pluck and perseverance that word ‘decide’ contains. It is the decision that nothing will overrule and the grip that nothing can break, that brings success.’
“Will you please tell me in a word,” said a Christian woman to a minister, “what your idea of consecration is?”Holding out a blank sheet of paper the pastor replied, “It is to sign your name at the bottom of this blank sheet, and to let God fill it in as He will.” It takes commitment to see this kind of consecration through.
Why do people find it so hard to make commitments?
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