Today we have arrived in Rajamundry after travelling for about 28 hours. Rested for 2 hours and now going to visit an Ignite India church. Here is Nigel with Prasad checking directions. To be continued...
The last few weeks I have been reading the book "Walking with God" by John Elderedge. I love his style of writing and was really touched my his best-seller, "Wild at Heart". I think that any life coaching that you can have that helps you hear the voice of God and walk closer with him has to be worth the investment.
My pattern whilst reading the book has been pretty consistent. I take my coffee, sit at the table in the garden, quieten my heart (yes it's amazing even early in the morning my brain is bombarding me with to do lists, worries and irrelevancies) and then begin to read. With a pen in my hand and underline, journal and weigh Elderedge's words against my experience. The challenge however is to discover the authentic voice of God.
It has been such a pleasure to spend time in the garden. I am surprised. I have never been a garden sort of a guy. Since moving house we have worked hard to transfer a nice space into our garden. There is still lots of work to do but it is getting there and it's such a privilege to be part of the work in progress. Initially as I took my book and my strong black coffee into the the outdoors I was struck by a number of things. The colours, the scent of the roses and the distant hum of traffic on the road to the airport. As I became aclimatised to the sound and the sights, I began to notice other things.
In the tree nearby I could hear wood pigeons. By putting seeds on the ground they began to regularly drop onto the lawn. After a couple of days the began to venture closer to where I sat. The were not nervous when they spotted me. On another day I saw that however early I got there, I was never there before the bees dancing on the flowers. More recently I saw the intricate threads of many many spiders webs. Few would make it to their full fly-catching potential but the sheer number of silk strands was outstanding.
Today, I got up extra early. Following my usual pattern I headed out to my favourite seat. A dry night meant that I did not need to spend time drying the chair and table. I just sat. As I looked at the book I realised I would most likely finish it on this sitting. As I began to focus on God I began to ask the question "Lord in what way can I hear you more clearly now?" Thoughts came straight to me. I had embraced key words that God had dropped into my heart - Focus, despondency, generosity. I considered things I had seen in His word. Lessons from the life of Pau, Jesus, David and Abel to name but a few. The reality that I could trust the verses he was whispering into my mind. So much more....
An then. Something happened. Something changed. I heard something. There was a subtle shift. I looked up and on the branch of a sun flower I saw a blue tit.
It was so tiny. So light. In fact it flew onto the head of a flow
er and the stem only moved slightly. In moving around the garden I realised it made almost no sound. And yet. It made some sound and I could hear it. I had edited out all the sound of the traffic in the distance. The coo of the wood pigeons and the caw of the rooks was the background harmony to the melody of the movement of this tiny birds' wings. How could I hear this? It did not make sense. Then it did. It did make sense. I had attuned my self the sound of the garden. I knew its sounds so that anything that was out of the norm, was instantly recognised as such.
I knew that this was God's pleasure to show me this truth. His truth. "When you seek me with all you heart you will find me" (Deut 4:29). In my intentionality in Seeking with Him, Walking with Him, listening for Him and to Him, he showed me how he visits with me. He is the God who appears in the still small voice (1 Kings 19:12). I loved that he authenticates Himself in His word:
"Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."
~ Jeremiah 29:12-13
Life doesn't get much better than this. I was made for days like this.
Last night we held an Ignite event at Solus in Cardiff. Our band played at it and Paul Andrews preached a great message. I generally over saw all that was going on and filmed it with my flip camera. The results are pretty basic but will give you an idea about the night. The delight is that we saw salvations, recommitments and people deciding to live all out for Jesus. The sound track is called All and is available on itunes and Spotify.
On June 13th 2010 we promoted a concert with the legendary singer, David Phelps. Below is a snap-shot of the day.
David "The Voice" Phelps returns to the UK as a solo artist this June. As a established member of the Gaither Vocal Band, David has toured Europe on a number of occasions. This gives his many admirers the chance to hear his extraordinary voice in a full headlining concert. The details are as follows:
June 10th, Ulster Hall, Belfast
June 12th Findlay Memorial Hall Glasgow
Tickets for these shows are available for www.davidphelpstour.co.uk
June 13th City Temple, Holborn Viaduct, London
Tickets available from www.christiantickets.co.uk
An additional show has also been added on June 15th in Stockton again details can be found in www.davidphelps.co.uk
Buy your tickets now!
David "The Voice" Phelps returns to the UK as a solo artist this June. As a established member of the Gaither Vocal Band, David has toured Europe on a number of occasions. This gives his many admirers the chance to hear his extraordinary voice in a full headlining concert. The details are as follows:
June 10th, Ulster Hall, Belfast
June 12th Findlay Memorial Hall Belfast
Tickets for these shows are available for www.davidphelpstour.co.uk
June 13th City Temple, Holborn Viaduct, London
Tickets available from www.christiantickets.co.uk
An additional show has also been added on June 15th in Stockton again details can be found in www.davidphelps.co.uk
Buy your tickets now!
Please pray for J. Nehemiah Johnson and family as they serve in Lofa. He just informed me that yesterday, there was an attack on Christians by the Muslim community. According to him, a little girl from the Mandingo tribe was killed mysteriously and her body was found side the road with parts extracted. This happened in a town called Kornia. The local authority called residents to investigate. While investigating, someone from the crowd went outside and called on his mobile to Voinjama(where Nehemiah is) and ordered Mandingos to attack Christians and burn down church buildings. This led to the burning of the catholic compound, five other church buildings, including one of Ignite member churches-the pentecostal church- leaving 8 people dead. The government troops have put things under control, but people are still angry and want to pay back. Please pray for God's intervention. Remember, prayer works!