What does an Apostolic team do?

Here is a really helpful interview between my friends Adrian Warnock and Jeremy Simpkins (who leads the Newfrontiers North UK Team) as to what an Apostolic Team does. (It makes me miss informal yet inspiring chats over a lovely cup of tea!)

Jeremy Simpkins of Newfrontiers North

Enjoy!

Some good substitutes!

Unfortunately, due to the weather, here at Catalyst, we’ve had to cancel meeting together this morning. Fortunately though, to us at least, we don’t consider church to be all about a building or the Sunday meeting. So, if you were thinking of coming along and have needed to stay at home don’t worry, you can still “do church”. Either spend some time worshipping on your own, with your family or invite your neighbors round to hang out. Just do it for Gods glory!

Personally, I’ve always loved hearing a message on a Sunday (as well as throughout the week) that stirs my heart an points my affections and life towards God, and realize anyone that can’t get along to church today may feel like they have missed out. So, unless you lived on Mars for the last few years you’ll know these are easy to download. But I’ve made things easy for you and have given you some suggestions from some of my favorite leaders. You can watch the video or just listen to the audio. Either way, I hope they all challenge you right in your living room, bedroom, bathroom and not in your church building!

Elijah Prays For Rain by Terry Virgo who leads Newfrontiers

Listen to this Message from Matt Chandler from Colossians 1.

Listen to this message from Mark Driscoll about his visit to Haiti. Includes some incredible statistics.

Watch this message from ‘the daddy’ himself John Piper about praying. Brilliant message!

And here’s a great message from my good friend Simon Holly from The Kings Arms Church in Bedford UK.

I hope any (or all) of these challenge you, convict you and encourage you. Have a great time being the church!

Changes, changes

Well, the first thing you may notice is that I’ve changed my blog address. Therefore I’m afraid, if you are interested in following my blog, you’ll have to click on the button down the right hand side to subscribe again.

Secondly you might notice that its been ages since I’ve blogged. Thats because its been a really tough month of God doing a deep work in me as He graciously reminds me of what and WHO all this is about! And also, you may realize that some of us proud church planters/leaders generally only like to publicize exciting news. I mean, which church leader twitters “Flippin ‘eck this is hard work!” or “Someone else left today. Praise the Lord!”?

God has been reminding me that this church won’t grow or be healthy because of my efforts. Its ALL about Him. God is showing me that He’s more interested in an intimate relationship with me rather than any of my responsibilities in the church. He’s showing me that the only way I can truly love people is by first knowing His love for me that was displayed perfectly on the cross. So this month I’ve spent more time than ever before on my knees before God begging Him to break down the walls I’ve created around my heart, and break my heart for Him and others. And that doesn’t make for great blogging!

I was encouraged by this blog by my friend Tim in Manchester who was brutally honest about something he leads. And I realized that so many pastors/leaders only blog the good stuff, leaving others thinking they are the only ones having a hard time. But as I have made efforts to be honest with more people (including many of these leaders) I realize that, no matter what size the church, what the situation, its ALWAYS hard work and there are ALWAYS battles going on its just they choose not to publicize the tough stuff. I realized that I wanted to be particularly open for 2 reasons. 1. So that more people could be aware and therefore pray and 2. Not give a false impression that everything I was doing I was succeeding in and therefore put a little bit more pressure on other church leaders who I know are finding things tough also!

I love what Job says to God in Job 42 after going through amazingly tougher times than I am. “Lord my ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.” Its only through the tough times that we really get to know God more. I’m pretty sure that if Catalyst had grown quickly and seemingly been successful, I would be much more proud and arrogant than I am now. Its easier to be humble when you often mess up publicly!

I want to celebrate when things are good AND when they are tough! And I think I’m getting there!

The pleasure is ALL ours

A piece of my hard heart melted this morning. We had 2 families over to our house in order to bless them with some christmas presents that the generous people of Catalyst Church had bought for them. Some of you may know the story already of how we came to be able to serve some of the staff at Waffle House. These ladies are single moms who work incredibly hard to provide for their kids. We wanted to bless them a little by buying Christmas presents for their kids, buying them groceries and pots and pans as well as some pampering items for the moms themselves.

The women were so grateful and the kids were respectful, polite and excited to be there. While Sarah spent most of the time speaking with the ladies, I played with all the toys and the computer games with the kids (I get all the good jobs!). It was a real privilege to see their faces as we gave them their gifts. I don’t think they knew what to do. They kept saying ‘thank you’ but we kept saying ‘thank you’ to them as I knew that somehow we were getting more out of it than them!

While they were here, I was just so aware of how blessed we are. These ladies and their kids face such different battles than we do. They struggle to pay basic bills and work so hard under tough conditions as well as single-handedly raise their families. This was brought home to us when Shamay (Louise’s 6 yr old girl) asked us at the kitchen table “Is this a mansion?” I immediately said “no” but on reflection, I guess it depends on who you ask! I suppose it is to them. (To everyone reading this, if you can afford to be on a computer and on the internet, you’ll know it really is NOT a mansion!!) And our response is not to feel guilty for what we have. We should be thankful to God for blessing us so much AND THEN be willing to share what we have and treat it all lightly as we give it away just as they did in the New Testament.

One of the first things that Sarah and I said to each other when they left was that this was really the BEST morning that we have had in months. It really goes to show that although God might stir our hearts when we read stories about serving, they really only change when you get on and do it. I know mine and Sarah’s hearts have been changed and will continue to change for the good.

Waffle House Ministry

Wow, its been nearly a month since my last blog post. I’ve even changed the background to my blog to make it more interesting! If there’s any great blog designers out there who wants to give my blog a cool and trendy (and free) overhaul then please let me know. I’ll honor you back by telling everyone who did it (also for free!).

Its been a great few weeks at Catalyst. On a Sunday our worship times have been a passionate time of focussing on Jesus along with God speaking graciously to us, followed by us being obedient to His speaking. Our sermon series on Acts has led us through the lives of Stephen the martyr (sorry no recording), Philip the evangelist, the conversion of Paul as well as Peters vision. These sermons were entitled ‘More than one way to skin a cat’, ‘Get in the Game’ and ‘Get over Yourself’. (Give me credit, the titles are creative aren’t they!)

Its been a month of stepping out in serving the poor and (in truth) getting off our butts and doing it instead of waiting for someone to start a ‘ministry’ or ‘program’. I had a simple but potentially church-changing encounter last week. I was sitting in Waffle House with my friend Rob Wilkerson and we got chatting to our waitress, Meka. After she realized I talk in a silly accent she asked me some questions as to what I was doing in Charlotte and then I asked her some questions about her life. Basically, she is an ex-drug addict but been clean for 2 years, she’s a single mum and has 6 kids aged from 13 down to 8 months (her eldest is 6’2″ and weighs 300 pounds!).

I immediately felt the prompting from the Holy Spirit and KNEW we needed to help her. I took her number, spoke to some other members of my smallgroup and we set to work on helping her out. I called her the next day and also asked if she had some other friends who may need help as well. 5 minutes after speaking to her, I received a call from one of her friends in a similar situation and since then we have had another of her friends call! They all work ridiculously long hours at Waffle House, they are all single mums, they all need help and don’t want anything for themselves, just their kids.

(yes this really was us before we went in!)

What an amazing opportunity to help and serve these families. All have at least 3 kids each, no dads around, and not much for Christmas. So, Sarah and I spent time this morning buying some household items for them and will be doing more shopping for Christmas presents for the 101 kids these women have. But we’ll also get these women some pampering gifts for themselves. And I know that most other people at Catalyst plan on buying gifts for them, giving them stuff and spending time with them. They deserve so much more than being treated like dirt by men, left with children to raise on their own, with next to no money and jobs to hold down. Of course they have longer, more complicated stories than this but right now, they need unconditional love showered on them. I know a man who used to live his life like this and I’m thinking we need to live a bit more like him!

So, I’d like to encourage you, if God was able to get through my thick skull at Waffle House, how is he speaking with you today about who you could serve?

Monday morning reflections

Surprisingly, some of our Catalyst Church sermon podcasts have over 100 downloads every week, (admittedly 90% of these are probably Russian hackers and the other 10% is me and my mum) BUT even if that number is even around accurate, more people may listen to the Sunday messages than turn up on a Sunday. So, I was gutted again to find the recording didn’t work from yesterdays sermon.

But, I thought it was a pretty important message for us so here are some notes:

• Evangelism isn’t just for the weirdo’s in church who don’t care what people think of them, who have 10 kids and all wear matching sweaters, or rich people in white suits on tv, wearing make-up and ask for money to pay for their Rolls Royce.
• Evangelism isn’t for 2 or 3 special days a year where gobby loudmouths stand in the street and tell people to ‘turn or burn’.
• We are ALL called to evangelize (Matt 28v18, Acts 1v8) and be witnesses, both in what we say and how we live.
• A witness is someone who has seen or experienced something for themselves. That includes EVERY Christian because they have experienced God
• We believe there are specially gifted Evangelists too who should work with and through the local church (as well as other specially gifted people, Eph 4v11)
• This is NO excuse for the rest of us to sit back and leave evangelism to them! It should in fact spur us on for 2 reasons 1. There are nowhere near enough of these ‘gifted’ evangelists stepping out and 2. How do you know you’re not specially gifted in this area if you don’t step out in this!
• Philip (the first ‘evangelist’) had a good reputation and was full of the Spirit and wisdom BEFORE his ministry took off. Character is essential in witnessing. What we DO is so much more effective than what we SAY.
• Leadership should be developed through relationship.
• Relationships are SO important and critical to church growth and leadership development
• You can’t have love without relationships or relationships without love.
• The local church is Gods plan to save the world. There is no ‘plan B’

That’ll do for now!

How to estimate church attendance!

It’s a complex thing to measure church attendance but here are a few pointers on arriving at an accurate number based on the attendance figures they give you.

- 50% if its a Pentecostal worship service because they count the legs and forget to divide by two.

- 30% if its a Baptist church because they count members on the roll and not all of them are still living.

- 25 % if its a Reformed church service because they count the people who SHOULD have been there.

+ 10 if its a Vineyard service because those rugs on the floor were actually people!

+ 20% if it’s a fundamentalist church because they don’t count the people they didn’t want there.

- 30% if it’s an Anglican/Presbyterian/Methodist church because the number they gave you is from their huge Easter service.

+ 15% if it’s an ethnic/non-western service because all those people coming late missed the counting.

- 10% if its a megachurch because the worship team and welcome team got counted during all 5 services.

- 520% if its a Catholic church because they count the parish, not the church attendance.

+ 20% if it’s an emergent service because those having a smoke outside were not counted.

- 15% if it’s a house church because the neighborhood kids playing video games in the back room somehow managed to get counted with everyone else. So did the guy delivering pizza.

(This is stolen from a blog by a guy called ‘tallskinnykiwi’ but I loved it so much I thought I’d steal it!)

I Blog like a Cop!

I’ve realized that I tend to blog like a police officer. You don’t see one for ages, then a few come along at once when you least expect them (or least need them!).

Anyway, I was inspired by this blog by Bob Roberts Jr, to let people know what I’m reading and encourage you (especially if you’re part of Catalyst Church) to read either the same to feel inspired too, or something equally as helpful.

So here goes:

• The Bible in One Year. I follow this plan which I find really helpful. It mixes it up daily. Works well for me anyway. I may do a chronological one next year and a different one the next. Either way, I think its vitally important to read and meditate on Scripture EVERY day (Psalm 1v2)
• A People Prepared by Terry Virgo. A great book giving biblical reasons for the way we do all aspects of church in Newfrontiers. If someone is looking to join a Newfrontiers church, I recommend them reading this book.
• Finally Alive by John Piper. Another home run from Piper. Loved this book.
• The Tangible Kingdom – I’m still reading this but so far so good. The authors don’t just talk about what we are to do but give practical ways of living a missional life.
• Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I’ve not met one person who hasn’t loved this book. Chan’s example of how he lives his life and leads his church is great. We may do a smallgroup based around this book soon. It comes with study books and DVD’s too. Also, here is a sermon he’s given on the purpose of the church.

That’ll do for now. Not as many books as Bob Roberts or as intellectual as his but they’re good for me for now, and probably you too!

Bigger is not always better

• Had another GREAT Sunday with the folks at Catalyst. God moved pwerfully in our meeting and our worship lasted over an hour! Different people of all ages were praying out, bringing prophetic words and Scriptures and it was a moment we shouldn’t forget in a hurry. I decided not to preach due to time limitations and will deliver the same message this coming Sunday. I think it will be significant as I’ll be laying out some of our values and vision.
• I’m learning to allow God to lead these meetings and to be listening carefully to His promptings. And it really paid off this week. God was glorified, Jesus stayed at the center and the Holy Spirit spoke to us. I’m sure thats how its meant to be isn’t it!
• And God was also at work at our smallgroup last night. Another great time of worship which finished with us praying for someone’s knee which had been injured a couple of weeks ago. We prayed for his knee, and guess what? Healed! God is so good to us.
• Over the last few days I’ve met up with a couple of guys who have separately come along to Catalyst and expressed an interest in joining us. Interestingly, they have both been involved at one time or another in one of the biggest, attractional and fastest growing churches in the States (Elevation, a great church that has grown from 30 to 7,000 people in 4 years!).
• What excites me about this is that it shows that ‘attractional’ isn’t always the answer!! If it was, we wouldn’t have a chance of even getting Catalyst off the ground. We are a small group of people, meeting in a small school, have a small worship team and where I preach most weeks! Not much ‘attractional’ about that! BUT, what we have (and what these guys and their families are seeking) is a genuine passion for Jesus, for worshipping Him, and for genuinely loving each other and our community and for seeing lives totally changed.
• Whether you’re in a church of 10,000 or just 10, that should be your goal. Actually, it shouldn’t be your goal, but what you actually DO!
• Explaining to these guys and their families about who we are as a church, what our values are as a church and as a movement (Newfrontiers) has reminded me again how grateful I am for Newfrontiers and the accountability, resources and sense of family it brings. I love talking about our global mission and lifting all of our heads a little higher to see more than just Charlotte. (on that note, we’re going to have an offering this Sunday for the tragic situation going on in Kenya and how newfrontiers is getting involved. (Watch this)

  Famine in Kenya from Newfrontiers on Vimeo.

• Its great when any people with different backgrounds show an interest in being part of our church because it brings greater diversity and different giftings. The last thing we want to ever do is not wish for different people to come so we can stay the same!

So, I’m excited right now. God is teaching us how to better serve Him, how to better love each other and how to worship and pray with more perseverence and faith! I LOVE THIS CHURCH!

Sunday

We had another great Sunday at Catalyst yesterday. Sarah was in New York with Holly and Poppy as a treat from Sarah’s brother Paul so I was looking after Mac and Kenzie for the weekend. (I forgot how hard it is to look after kids on my own!) So it was great to have Carl and Virginia Herrington in town.

God was powerfully present in our worship time again, with several prophetic words coming and people being more encouraged by who God is and what He is doing. It’s so encouraging seeing people continue to step out of their comfort zones and God being glorified because of it!

Carl spoke brilliantly about what it is to be a biblical community. We are to be biblical as well as culturally relevant which means that certain things are essential to stay the same wherever the church (Christ, the cross, Scripture, leadership etc) yet certain things may look different (worship styles, times you meet, smallgroups etc).

He also spoke about worship on a Sunday and the importance of knowing why we meet and what our purpose is on a Sunday as well as the importance of preparation and the role of the worship team. The role of the worship team is not to lead the meeting but to….worship! I think the better prepared the worship team is, the easier it is to be Spirit-led and be spontaneous. The Spirit will also lead the worship leader as they prayerfully choose the songs just as much as He will lead them during the actual worship time.

As an aside, here is a great video about the importance of being prepared for God to show up, not necessarily just in worship but generally in the church.

And lastly, Carl said that the answer to ‘bad’ leadership is NOT ‘no’ leadership BUT ‘good’ leadership!!

We also had 2 new families come along who happened to find us on the internet. Its SO great when that happens. As I was praying a couple of weeks ago I felt like God say He would just bless us with new people out of the blue. What an answer to prayer! Its so great to have people just drop by instead of often seeing getting people to church as a project. I’d also been praying for God to speak to me through dreams and I’d had a dream the night before of their being at least 1 person at church who would be a brand new guest. Thank You God!

It’s SO exciting what God is doing in Catalyst at the moment. God is building some great foundations and building some good, strong and fruitful relationships. It’s a good place to be with much to look forward to! After all ‘The greatest acts of the church are yet to come!’