July here we come

Its been all go here with a new house needing unpacked and a housewarming for 100 people from the "other side" of Scotland.

Also, on Saturday I will be mainly graduating with a BA in Theology!
Promise to post a photo!

That same day we are off to Costa del Cornwall for a fortnight in an unexpected and much longed for holiday in a caravan by the beach. Can't wait. Need to get away and see a change of scene, to study JG Dunn and the new persective on Paul - NOT!!!

Here's what I am going to do:-
* have long sleeps
* enjoy my children
* spend quality time with Mr HIWWC
* hopefully not spend too much money
* build sandcastles
* jump waves
* eat ice cream
* read Cosmo and Bill Johnson (good combo)
* go and see some lovely gardens
* visit the Eden Project
* not think about work at all (I have no problem switching off as there is no internet in the field!)

My interesting and random fact of the day is that J G Dunn, considered the leading NT scholar in the world, went to the same school as Annedroid and myself. So there you go.

Mission Shaped Communities

Some of the staff and elders of the church where I work spent a few days here courtesy of the European Church Planting Network We were talking and learning about different ways to take the church OUT and planning for future missional expressions that our church would plant out of our church building and in the community.

This was a trip replete with sweet memories. Way back in the early 1990s, Mr HIWWC and I had places and people that hugely influenced us and who, in a way, we kind of worshipped (blush). That sounds pretty bad, doesn't it? Almost idolatrous.........so the villages of Chalfont St Peters and Chorleywood were not unknown to us. Jim Graham had led a very significant weekend at my previous church in 1984 when I was honestly just a child and Goldhill Baptist Church was somewhere we longed to visit at that time. Great to see again the sight of men playing cricket on the village green, which also greeted us all those years ago - very quaint and "English" (!)

It was great to be away - to chat and discuss away from phones and without glancing at other people/keeping an eye on how things were going (as some pastors invariably do; one eye on the congregation; one eye on the worship leader; some also with one eye on the watch!!)- we were encouraged to be "fully present" with mobile phones put away and to throw ourselves into this Learning Community, picking up things from the other churches that were present, asking questions about children and families (in my case) in these other churches' missional communities.

Most of all I loved the atmosphere of prayer - the team at Chorleywood wanted to encourage and bless us and when the time to pray for one another came - it was awesome. It felt like home; a safe place, where loving words, scriptural encouragements and prophetic direction was being spoken over us. I wept and wept for this nation and for our hearts to be his. (always the sniffler)

On a lighter note: gorgeous B&B with three of us in a lovely room but with a CURTAIN dividing the ensuite from the rest of the room. Not to be recommended after eating a curry at 10pm.....

The Duke of Wellington, the British military leader who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, was not an easy man to serve under. He was brilliant, demanding, and not one to shower his subordinates with compliments. Yet even Wellington realized that his methods left something to be desired. In his old age a young lady asked him what, if anything, he would do differently if he had his life to live over again. Wellington thought for a moment, then replied. "I'd give more praise," he said.

This has impacted my thoughts hugely today - for those of us who lead, who set high standards and a high bar for ourselves as well as for our teams, praise is so important. See I Thessalonians 3: 6-13

I'm BACK!!!!!!

This has been my longest absence ever.
But with good reason.

I moved house.
Phone and internet not connected yet.
I completed my final final final theology degree exams and written assignments.
I'm finished!!! It feels so good as this has been such a long year with a lot more written work to complete.

Since I blogged last, work has been really busy too.
There's been a busy all age service and I am getting ready to preach again. I've taken children away for a residential weekend with lots of outdoor activities and teaching sessions on God's heart.
Also had a Saturday training session with these guys - if you work with children or young people and/or are a church leader and you have never connected with these guys, then I recommend taking a peek at their website.

Last weekend was a house move extraordinaire with about fifteen people helping us and we have been blown away by folks helping us clean, unpack and cooking for us. We are blessed indeed.

We moved into our new home exactly a year to the day from making this announcement to our old church.
It's been a really, really hard year in so many ways but it has grown our faith. I have never prayed so much, cried so much, been as vulnerable, scared and doubting yet have had to trust so much and seen AMAZING provision for everything that I need.

God is faithful and I love him even more than I ever did before.

Qualicum Beach, British Columbia

Hello there Qualicum Beach!

Feedjit is a wonderful tool (see left hand side of the blog)

Whenever I have a spare moment, I look at all the places blog readers come from and daydream away, imagining who they are, what they do, what the geographical place they live is like (so for Qualicum Beach I am imagining white sand and deep blue sea, it being BC an' all; no shallow aquamarine inlets seeing as you are right on the edge of the Pacific basin.

ahhh here you go.........check this picture out!

[actually the more I think about it, the more I wonder if I know the person who lives here - is it you, D??]

I wonder if the regular visitor from Milton Keynes works for these people as that's where their HQ is (I think).

I wonder if the person from Oakland California who visits this blog regularly is permanently suntanned as CA is very hot I believe and to me will always be the home of Anaheim Vineyard (one place I have always wanted to go!!).

I wonder if the person from Chicago Illinois works for a church or works with children.

Scores and scores of people from N America have hit on the blog by searching for "children and communion". I wondered if a lectionary or some popular teaching material used all across the States suggested doing communion with children in April/May as for some reason this topic was hit really heavily.

If you are even possibly one of the people I have mentioned, please do "out" yourself and leave a comment to say hello. I send you warm greetings and love in Christ Jesus from my little corner of the UK.

Children and the Holy Spirit

I have been feeling a strong urge for some time to teach into the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

Can children be filled with the Holy Spirit? What are your views on the Holy Spirit? Are you very cautious, as Francis Bridger is in his book "Children Finding Faith", or are you the exact opposite, like Rich Hubbard in his book "Taking Children Seriously"?

if this question is to be answered in an unbiased manner, one must first ask if children can have a personal faith and love for God. For if children can love God, then they receive the Spirit of sonship and can be filled to overflowing with his Holy Spirit.

John Westerhoff’s Theory of Faith Development is relevant to this question. He uses the analogy of a tree to describe the growth of faith in developing human persons. He says “a tree with one ring is as much a tree as a tree with four rings” , in other words experienced faith, the first stage of faith development, is as valuable for a person to possess as owned faith, the final stage. So a very young child can profess love for God the Father and Jesus the Son AND the Holy Spirit their helper – but adults need to teach even very young children about the Holy Spirit.

How can you love someone whose name you do not know?

There is much more I could say here, but it is the subject of a research paper that has to be externally marked so I will have to leave it here!

I have to recommend Clark Pinnock's book "Flame of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit". An awesome book in every meaning of the word!

I feel a call to make sure in our kids ministry programme that the Holy Spirit is taught about at cerebral level, welcomed at a personal level and free at a corporate level to minister to children.

Two down, three to go......

I have finished my last ever exams for my theology degree but I am still less than halfway through all my final assignments. Have got a research paper to hand in as well as two more essays. Hoping the exegesis one goes fairly smoothly (a bit nervous about that one!)

I feel slightly frustrated because I am totally and utterly committed to my job as well as to finishing the degree. So, in amongst the two days off to prepare, I finished liasing with folks re: an all age service, arranged some discipleship, worked some more on the kids weekend away and summer plans and tried to answer a number of emails. Then I thought that was a bit ridiculous so I put an "out of office" message on my email as I had to attend a denominational meeting somewhere far away....

But now I have come back to a bit of a pile up of things I absolutely have to do before I can refocus on my research paper. Hmmmmm. I am so determined to get through this.

Someone who I have only fleetingly met In Real Life left a comment for me this week which is probably one of the most encouraging comments I have ever received. They have been through a similar process (juggling things to finish a theology degree) and I had admitted in January to a few of my facebook friends that I didn't think I would be able to get through this semester.

The comment said:

"As Lynn rounds the final bend, she's into the home straight, and seeing the finishing line directly ahead of her for the first time she puts on a final burst of speed; recognizing the almost superhuman effort the crowd are on their feet, cheering her on, willing her to succeed"....

Someone sent me an encouragement in an email to stick in. Several folks here have been texting me. I am so encouraged. It's these little things that make so much of a difference. Thank you, thank you Father!