Worship from the Heart

I spent the weekend in Birmingham, the place where my father's parents grew up and lived prior to emigrating to Australia. It was a special journey and a memorable time.

Sunday morning I went along to the Birmingham City Corps, and somewhat enjoyed a traditional Salvation Army service, complete with two songster messages and even a Singing Company item, and a skilled brass band.

Since being at the ICO, my hunger and thirst for God is growing, so I left the meeting not completely satisfied, and made my way to the Birmingham Cathedral, and caught the last half of the Eucharist Service (the sung version). And wouldn't you know, I walked in just in time for the offertory!

Here was another group of Jesus-followers, worshipping in a different style to their Salvo brothers and sisters, and in a different style again to our style of worship at my Salvo corps in Australia.

Yet we all worshipped the one God, in the name of Jesus.

And it was brought home to me again - it's not how we worship, but what is in our hearts as we worship. Jesus is just as pleased to hear prayers read from a booklet as he is spoken from the pulpit or offered from the congregation. Yes - Jesus is just as pleased to hear a robed choir singing in Latin as He is uniformed Salvationists singing and clapping, as He is non-uniformed Salvos blasting out their praise music on guitars and drums - as long as it is done in spirit and in truth. As long as it's coming from the heart.

As we gather for worship every week (to honour God), may we be sincere, may our worship be heartfelt, and may Jesus smile on us for our earnestness and love and gratitude towards Him.

Moving into the neighbourhood

Yesterday (Oct 26) I visited firstly the grave of the founders, William & Catherine Booth, then to where it all began - the East End of London, the place where William 'found his destiny', joining the Whitechapel Mission which he was soon to lead and rename The Christian Mission in 1865, before changing the name to The Salvation Army in 1878.

We visited the corner on Mile End Waste where he first met the missioners and stepped forward to 'have a word', the site of the Mission's tent meeting on a disused Quaker burial ground where he was invited to preach, the Blind Beggar pub where he took his 12 year old son Bramwell to show him the sin and degradation, proclaiming "these are our people", and the early buildings that the Mission used for their meetings, the first being a Burlesque Theatre!

Astonishingly to me, all of these places were within a very short walking distance of each other. It was some years before the Mission grew large enough to begin expanding out of what was essentially a small neighbourhood. It was in every sense of the word a local mission.

It was a reminder to me that God has placed us in a neighbourhood, and we too can achieve great things for God in our neighbourhoods if we possess the zeal for the Gospel that WIlliam Booth had. We don't need to cover huge goegraphical areas to see great results - we just need to start right where we are.

Servant Leadership

Sunday night I went to worship at Holy Trinity Brompton, an Anglican church with a vicar by the name of Nicky Gumbel. He has received fame across the world as the face of Alpha, a program that serves as an introduction to Christ and Christianity, and has been employed in countries all around the world. Many, many people have come to faith as a result of doing Alpha.

We attended service number 3 of 4. Interestingly it was at 5pm, and was aimed at young adults, although there were enthusiastic worshippers in front of us who must have been in their 70s, together with many of my vintage. But average age would have been 25-30. And it was quite similar in format and style and ambience to what we have at Sanctuary Mornington.

Nicky Gumbel himself gave the message, and spoke of servant leadership. Here was a man who travels around the world constantly, yet still wants to be so very much involved with each of his local congregations (HTB now has 3 campuses, with multiple services at each). What also impressed me was reading the church bulletin to see that Nicky himself still leads a mid-week Alpha course. After 21 years!!

His message of servant leadership resonated so much more because here was a man still prepared to be involved at a grass roots level, despite the success of Alpha and the personal acclaim afforded him.

A living example of a servant leader!

St Pancras

It was a special journey for me last weekend as I visited the very church where in the 1700s my ancestors were christened and married. To touch the door that they would have touched, and walk the grounds where more than likely they were buried was a strangely comforting experience.

As I look at my family tree, and back through my family history, I realise how much my existence depended on the circumstances of the past. My faith tells me that God had my life planned, and if so, so many things had to fall into place over hundreds, indeed thousands of years, for me to be me.

And as I look at my children now, it is incredible to think that one day I will be a name on someones family tree, part of the puzzle that is their life.

Lords

A pilgrimage of a different sort - a visit to a famous London cricket ground - Lords. What a highlight to sit in the dressing room, on the very seats that my cricketing heroes sit on every 4 years as they play for the Ashes. To do the walk from the dressing room, down the stairs, into the long room, out through the doors, and finally through the gates on to the pitch - one of the most sacred walks for a cricketer.

On Wednesday I will take another sacred walk as I visit the East End of London, the site of much of William Booth's early work, the site where he 'found his destiny'. And as someone once said, 'When he found his destiny, he found mine as well.'

Through the God-inspired actions of General Booth, many of us have had our destinys determined. The Aussie cricketers take their sacred walk on to Lords maybe a handful of times in their lifetimes, but I get to take my sacred walk for the Lord every day.

By love serve

Found this plaque in the garden at William Booth College where I spent one night before moving on to the International College for Officers (ICO). It's interesting in its wording...

It doesn't say "serve with love" or even "with love, serve". I think it's signifcant that it says "By love serve", because unless we serve compelled by love, it won't be true, unselfish, Christ-like service. There must be another reason or reasons for serving. Becuase it is only out of love, or 'by love' that we can truly serve.

Time

It's not until you are stuck in one place, unable to move far or sleep that you realise how long a day is.

24 hours is a long time. Never again will I say "I didn't have time". Rather, "I didn't prioritise well"