Christian Missionary UK: 2017

Thursday 28 December 2017

Saturday 23 December 2017

Can We Unhijack Christmas?

It’s that time of year again.

People are fighting over giant screen TVs at Tesco, or is it Asda? Charities are making the most of the festive spirit to grab some much needed funds. Carols are being sung by all and sundry as the non-religious pile into church for their token yearly appearance. Adults are looking forward to the extra time off work as they plan menus…and ensure there is enough alcohol in the house. Children are getting excited about the impending visit of Santa Claus!

Meanwhile, Christians bemoan the fact that the true meaning of Christmas has been lost, but set about trying to make the most of the opportunity to reach their friends and neighbours with the Gospel, regardless.

I confess that I’ve been one of those serial complainers over the years as Christmas in the Western world seems to have been hijacked by the “any reason for a party” and the “spend, spend, spend” brigade.

So, what’s different about this year? you might be wondering.

Perhaps it’s just me, but there seems to be more religious apathy in the air this Christmas than usual. Granted, I have only spent one of the last six in this country, but the hard-heartedness and eye rolling is definitely more prominent than last year!

The reason Christians make a special effort to reach people at Christmas is because the opportunity is already there. There isn’t that awkwardness as you try to find a way to bring God or church into a conversation. People are already thinking about peace on earth and goodwill to all men and might well be interested in delving deeper into the matter.

At least, this has been the case over the years as even those who can’t face any type of evangelism seem to find a way to gather the courage to invite people to their carol service.

This year, however, I witnessed contempt and mockery towards those of us who “still believe in God.” People annoyed by street preaching disrupting their shopping experience or even by carol singing reminding them of the birth of Jesus….and their sin. Others refusing the opportunity to listen to the Christmas Message or getting irritated by a Gospel leaflet offering them hope.

Mostly, though, it’s indifference rather than outright hostility: a lack of interest in anything religious and a failure to see the relevance for their lives here and now.

People are milling about, frantically making preparations for the biggest celebration of our annual calendar. Yet, so many now don’t believe the Bible story of Christmas or in the God who wrote it.

What exactly are people celebrating? you might ask….

Why is our entire year geared towards preparing for this big event if no one remembers, or wants to know what it’s all about? Aren’t we then just akin to mindless lemmings going along with a senseless celebration because it cheers us up or gives us something to look forward to?

My brother had it right when he wrote this poem in his journal at some point before he tragically died in a car accident at the age of 18, in 2002:

“We spend our entire lives searching for happiness and never find it.

Somehow we believe in a forlorn hope that things can only get better.

As we grow old we still cannot grasp the reality of life.

We console ourselves by saying, ‘we had a good life.’

And the blindness that enshrouds us makes us believe this until we die.

What is the reality of life?

That life is meaningless without God.”

James Vellacott (1984-2002)

We have been designed to worship the God who created us. If we reject Him, our sinful nature will just find something, or someone else to worship; food, possessions, money, alcohol and sex will all be distractions and idols for many this Christmas.

Is it even possible for the true meaning of Christmas to be presented to needy souls this year? Of course it is, anything is possible with God.

The real question is, will you be listening? and what will be your response?

"For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

John 3 vs 16

Sunday 10 December 2017

Bringing Hope to Lincoln Christmas Market #LCM2017 #LincolnChristmasMarket

Arriving by train at TCM Baptist church, Lincoln, on Thursday evening, one of the first things I saw on the wall was the verse: “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain.” Psalm 127 vs 1. It was a good way to start the mission and an important reminder for all of us.

I recognised a number of the faces of those who had gathered for the open-air mission. Braving the freezing temperatures and icy wind, we set out on Friday for the town centre. A few diverted to the market itself primarily seeking to engage the traders, and to give away Bible text calendars and tracts.

It quickly became evident that two pairs of socks and thick tights weren’t going to be enough to stop my toes falling off. Obviously an exaggeration, but it was only possible to stand in the cold for around an hour before the numbness set in. Once that happened, walking back to the church felt like I was being supported by the bones in my feet rather than my actual feet, surprisingly uncomfortable. Still, the cheeriness of the team, and urgency of the task, despite the conditions, helped us persevere!

On the Friday, I first approached J, an elderly lady. She declined my offer of an Ultimate Questions booklet initially, but when I suggested that it might be important, she stopped and put her bag down. She looked at me pleadingly and said, “Can I read it at home?” Of course I said yes, so she took the book, dropped it in her bag and went on her way. Afterwards, I realised that the poor lady had probably thought that I was expecting her to stand in the street and read it in front of me…

A similar thing happened on day two with another elderly lady and a tract. It made me start to wonder what I could do to make myself look less intimidating to elderly folk. I was by this point wearing a woolly hat with ear flaps, a hoody with hood up, and a big jacket, also with a hood. There wasn’t much face left. The rest of the team looked similarly ridiculous, though, and as I had long since abandoned any attempts to make myself presentable, I decided not to worry about it.

Another somewhat louder Christian group were out with microphones in the same area. Their printed banner read, “Definition of a Hate Crime: Letting people go to Hell without first warning them.” Having been confronted with the Christian message wherever they tried to turn, we heard a number of people commenting, “these people are everywhere!”

My second opportunity for personal witness was with K, a seventeen year old girl with blue hair. She had been listening to one of the preachers trying to engage passers by with a Christmas crossword. I asked her what she thought of what was being said and she replied that she hadn’t known any of the answers. After reassuring her that it didn’t matter, I was able to share the Gospel and give her some literature to take away. Later in the day, I spoke to T and L, two youngish girls who weren’t sure yet what they believed. They were happy to take literature and promised to think about what had been said.

One of the preachers, from Liverpool, was getting an interesting response from members of our team as he suddenly directed his, at times confusing, questions to each of us in turn. Things like, “How do you know what you know?” and “What is the difference between a fact and an opinion?” His questions kept us on our toes as we searched for the answers that he was looking for in order to allow him to continue his talk. Passers-by looked stunned when he addressed them directly. It was difficult not to laugh. His approach, whilst unusual, was generally effective and resulted in some profitable conversations.

M had been standing against a lamp-post near to the open-air board listening to a number of the messages whilst also fiddling with her phone. One preacher tried to give her a John’s Gospel but she declined. Her body language suggested that a “softly softly” approach would be needed in order to connect. I wasn’t sure if I was really cut out for this judging by the reactions I had already had from the older ladies. However, as I was the only female there at this point, I knew it was up to me.

I approached her carefully after one of the talks finished and asked her what she thought. She said that she was happy just to listen. The sub-text being “please leave me alone.” I felt, though, that it was more of an automatic defence mechanism so I tried again. I asked her whether she had heard the message before. She replied, and from there we got into a long conversation. Her first question was along the lines of, “Why does God want worship for Himself, isn’t that vain?” I’ve heard this question and versions of it before. I answered by explaining Who God is according to the Bible, and that it’s wrong views about Him that result in this type of thinking. That we tend to think of God as just a bigger version of ourselves which is clearly wrong.

I was encouraged by M’s genuine questions and when she said that she would now like a Gospel of John to read part of the Bible for herself. She also took Ultimate Questions and then looked me in the eye as she sincerely thanked me for coming to talk to her, shook my hand and went on her way. I was reminded again of the sovereignty of God in this work, as he connects the different people with members of the team.

Friday evening was a struggle as unbelievably it got even colder and many people were drunk. An abusive heckler almost managed to dominate one of the talks but he was eventually encouraged to move aside for private conversation and ended up apologising for his earlier behaviour. I spoke briefly with B, a young lad who looked like he had taken drugs although he assured me he hadn’t. He took a tract and then wandered off. One of the team had a good chat with J, a man who had been leaning against a lamp-post and listened to several talks.

M had also been standing next to a lamp-post when she was listening. It was almost as if the post gave them some sense of security or meant that they were not completely exposed and having to stand in the open where everyone could see them. Perhaps, we should carry posts and place them at strategic locations around the open-air boards!

I felt guilty for being relieved when it was time to pack up at just before nine. I was reassured by others that they felt the same as the cold was becoming unbearable. I was astonished to see scantily clad females and some men in shorts or with holes in their clothes. Sadly, I think the alcohol accounts for a lot of the cold tolerance by speeding up the heart.

On Saturday we set out again. Walking past the train station, I observed two homeless men, seemingly high on drugs, sitting on a wall at the edge of the crowds. I hoped rather than believed they hadn’t been there all night as they had sleeping bags.

Arriving in the town centre, It was obviously busier than it had been on the Friday. We had been beaten to our spot by an animal charity sporting various breeds of dog all obediently sitting on mats, and available for people to pamper as they walked by. Some of them were wearing little woolly jumpers. I watched, with a mixture of fascination and sadness, the numbers stopping and fussing over the dogs which contrasted sharply with the attempts to avoid our presentation, and the wide berth people had been giving the two homeless men. It seems that animal life has become more sacred than human.

I saw a Chinese lady across the street from us offering palm readings and decided to go and talk to her thinking that she would at least be polite due to her cultural background. She was, until she realised what I was talking to her about. She became very angry telling me in her limited English that the Bible is a load of made-up stories, she doesn’t believe any of it and eventually asking me to stop talking to her. I complied.

An Italian coffee shop probably got a little more than they bargained for as one by one they sent their staff out onto the street with an advertising board. The young girls, S, R and D, were right next to our presentations and I was able to share the Gospel with all three of them individually as they spent their fifteen minutes in the freezing cold. I gave each of them different literature and told them I had previously spoken to others of their number. They were all very receptive and said that they would probably be arguing with each other about the things we had discussed later on.

We finished the afternoon with some carol singing as our teeth chattered and the shivering set in. Not as many people joined us as I was hoping, but the lyrics were heard by all who passed. Carol singing seems to offend less than the preaching, probably because it falls within the “acceptable things to enhance the Christmas spirit”, or something equally nonsensical. I suppose we should be grateful that the words of the carols haven’t yet been changed to exclude Jesus altogether.

I haven’t been involved in witness at Lincoln before, but I was more aware of the hardness of people's hearts during this mission than on others. The expressions on some faces as they realised our message was religious. The shaking heads and the irritation that we had dared to try and bring them a message of hope but had, in so doing, interrupted their shopping experience. I was surprised as I had thought that people might be more receptive at Christmas and wanting to think about what they are actually celebrating. I have to remind myself that people are spiritually blind and therefore cannot see….and, perhaps on a deeper level, that I was like that before.

Fish and chips for dinner was a good way to round off the short mission and then handshakes, or in some cases enthusiastic hugs, all round. I was expecting to be back in Banbury just after 9pm but was warned that there were already long queues at the train station. That was a definite understatement as hundreds of us stood outside waiting to actually get into the station. Arriving at Derby, so far so good, I found that my train to Banbury had been cancelled several weeks ago due to the strikes. The station staff were unsympathetic as I “should’ve checked before travelling,” but a police lady was helpful.

I eventually caught a later train to Birmingham. I had just settled down with my laptop on the cold floor amongst the crowds of people when the waiting room suddenly emptied as a train arrived and I was left sitting opposite a drunk man who, of course, began talking to me. Torn between wanting not to be bothered as there wasn’t much I could do for him, and wanting to make the most of every opportunity, I waited until a few more people came into the room then closed my laptop, and went to talk to the man. T was very drunk and smelled pretty bad. He said he needed to get to hospital as he had a gangrenous foot, I didn’t want to check whether he was telling the truth. I couldn’t leave the station but suggested I could get a policeman to accompany him to the bus station if I gave the officer the money for his fare. He didn’t want to know.

I tried to share the Gospel with him but he kept getting annoyed and telling me not to speak to him anymore. I complied but then he kept speaking to me, as drunk people do. He eventually showed me some food someone had given him so I matched it with some leftovers I had in my bag. He commented that he could see I was a good person, I kept my mouth shut rather than correcting him as it seemed pointless. The gift seemed to open the way for me to give him a Gospel of John and a tract which he took gratefully. As I left for my train he pulled me down for a hug and then kissed my cheek. I had to maintain my smile as, by this point, the waiting room had filled up again and there were loads of people staring at us!

Leaving the room, I had to run for the last train back to Banbury as I suddenly realised I was on the wrong platform. The train was jammed and I ended up squashed into a carriage with a load of very drunk people swearing, shouting and singing as they continued to drink. My only goal by this point was to avoid eye contact with any of them so they didn’t speak to me. I got back to Banbury at 1127pm wondering if my electricity would have run out as I only had a little when I left for Lincoln. It was okay. Phew!

Reflecting, I realised that the busy shoppers at the Christmas market, the kind-hearted people working for the animal charity, the Chinese lady reading palms, the drunken man at the railway station and the raucous bunch on the train are basically the same. They are all lost without Jesus this Christmas or any other Christmas. My prayer is that they realise this before it’s too late for them.

Thursday 16 November 2017

Am I Good Enough to Get to Heaven?

Taking a break from the Bridging the Gap series, I wanted to touch on something that was briefly mentioned in Ten Deadly Views that are Prevalent in Society.

I had a chat with an 82 year old man named John in the street today. He walked past my book table and was squinting to read the sign, presumably to find out what I was offering. I greeted him and, still at a distance, he said “Is it about religion?” I obviously told him that it was about Christianity. He waved his arms around in frustration and said that he didn’t want to know anything about religion. I suggested that it might be important, and he came over to talk to me.

John said that in the past, he had spent time in a Catholic church with nuns and also in a Church of England. He continued that he didn’t believe any of it now and didn’t go to church. He then began listing all of the good he had done in his life. He was trying to walk away from me the whole time he was speaking, partly because of the cold weather but also I sensed that he didn’t really want to hear what I had to say in response. I found the encounter interesting because it was cold and there was really no reason for him to even stop and talk to me. I hadn’t imposed myself on him and it wasn’t just a case of him politely listening to me, he obviously felt the need to converse on the subject, maybe even to reassure himself that he was on the right path.

I often pray during conversations like this not immediately knowing what to say to engage the person. I tried a basic Gospel explanation knowing I only had seconds before he left. In reply, John told me that he didn’t believe in an afterlife and that he would just be dead in the ground. He didn’t believe God was there and didn’t believe in Heaven or Hell. He laughed when I spoke about God having created us.

Yet, John, who claims not to believe in God or an afterlife, had spent most of the conversation telling me about all of the good he had done in his life. It begs the question, why bother if there is no God, no afterlife, no Judgement Day?

John is typical of many people who are suppressing the truth about God. We have been created with a conscience that knows right from wrong and we can see the hand of God in creation. This is why we feel guilt when we sin and why people who claim not to believe in God, like John, end up doing good works “just in case.” If we are honest, we know deep down that we are accountable for our sin because God has created us with that knowledge.

A staggering number of people, even professing Christians think that salvation and entrance into heaven is at least partly based on good deeds. These people usually also think that their good will be weighed against their bad and as long as they haven’t committed a serious crime (according to the definition of society e.g. murder, rape, child molestation,) then their good will outweigh their bad.

It amazes me that people are willing to risk their eternal destiny on something so subjective. It’s also incredible that more people aren’t wanting to know the definitive answer to the question: “Am I good enough to get to heaven?” They leave it until it’s too late to do anything about it when they have already died and are standing before God awaiting judgement.

The Open Air Mission has a tract with this question on the front. A lady was handed the leaflet and read the question aloud she then said ,“No, actually, I’m not.” I tried to engage her in conversation but she was off up the street continuing her shopping, apparently not concerned enough to give a few minutes of her time to find out how she could get to heaven.

The good news is that the Bible gives us the answer to this most important question. It tells us that none of us are good enough to get to heaven. All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3 vs 23.) God’s standard is perfection and none of us are perfect.

Whilst talking to John I acknowledged that from what he had said, he had lived a pretty good life and done a lot of good things for people. I asked him whether he thought that was enough and whether God’s standard was the same as our standards as human beings. He admitted that he wasn’t perfect and quickly followed that up with the observation that no one is. It made me sad that this man at 82 was striving to lead a good, moral life yet was missing the mark and was unwilling to hear the solution. He refused a booklet and rushed off saying that he was cold. Please pray for him.

God knew that we could never live up to His standards because of our inclination to sin. He therefore sent His only Son Jesus to die on a cross in our place and for our sin. Jesus lived a perfect life with no sin of His own. Then, he literally stepped in and took the punishment that you and I deserve. Jesus bridged the gap between us in our sin and a Holy God. It is only through Jesus that we can approach God, have our sins forgiven and ultimately enter heaven.

So, the title question is really a trick one. The amount of sin we have committed is irrelevant because we have all sinned. Likewise the number of good deeds because we are not perfect. One small sin is enough to keep us out of heaven, forever and doing something good doesn’t cancel it out!

The answer will always be, no, we are not good enough to get to Heaven. However, if we trust Jesus, our sin can be replaced with His perfection and this is all that God requires for entrance to Heaven.

Here is the full verse, part of which I mentioned earlier;

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

Romans 3 vs 23-24

Thursday 9 November 2017

Bridging the Gap by Using Words that People Understand

I want to continue looking at ways that we, as believers, can narrow the widening gap between ourselves and non-believers, in order to effectively present the Gospel message.

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the language and words Christians use in general speech both within and outside the walls of the church. Also, the content of sermons and the hymns that we sing.

I’m sure we’ve all experienced the anxious wait to see who the speaker is having invited a new person to church. We pray that the message will be specifically relevant for our friend and at a level that they can understand. However, this isn’t really what I’m referring to because conviction of sin is a work of the Holy Spirit in a person’s heart. Therefore, any message can be used by God provided it is from the Bible. I may have mentioned before that I know someone who was saved when they heard a message on the dry bones in Ezekiel and realised it was referring to their lack of life as a non-believer!

Perhaps in some Christian circles there has been an over-reaction to the watering down of the Gospel message in modern times. One consequence might be that we cling on to the language of generations past for fear of inadvertently changing the message.

To be fair to him, my pastor is very aware of this issue and often explains the meaning of words in hymns or in the Bible as they arise. However, I think we fail to appreciate the sheer number of words that we use as Christians that are now totally foreign to non-believers. This is partly due to the lack of church attendance by the majority and also the lack of Bible teaching in schools. Ignorance of church words and language is increasingly prevalent.

Having grown up in the church, I found myself recently examining the words of a hymn we were about to sing. I realised that I didn’t understand a lot of the words and that therefore the meaning was completely lost on me. I spent a while grappling with possible meanings before giving up and glancing around to see whether others were similarly perplexed. I ended up singing the words without understanding them which meant that for all intents and purposes my mind was unfruitful.

There is not much difference between me doing this and someone reciting a mantra or chant in a foreign language. Indeed, earlier this week, a friend quoted a Sikh prayer that he prays each day in an Indian language. I asked him what it meant and he asked me to wait whilst he looked it up in English on his Smart-phone! I pointed out that there wasn’t much point in reciting a ritualistic prayer to a god if he didn’t understand what he was saying. (Interestingly, when I did look at the prayer in English I recognised that a lot of it had come straight from the Bible, but that’s another subject….)

Words have also changed their meaning within our culture. We were studying Ephesians this week and the use of the word mystery. The point was made that, in the Bible, God and some of His works, are described as mysterious, meaning that they are incomprehensible to us. Whereas, society would see a mystery as a game, or puzzle, or something to be solved.

I’ve also made the mistake of using words that I thought were obvious during live-chat with people on Chatnow. I asked someone how they thought their Christian witness would be affected if they took a certain course of action. They simply replied, “what do you mean my witness?” A witness in society is someone who has seen a crime, not something to do with their faith. I then used the word testimony which they also didn’t understand, I wasn’t sure where to go from there but managed to simplify my language sufficiently in the end.

I joined a group for some Open Air ministry a few weeks ago. The enthusiastic team were from a church that uses the King James version of the Bible only. There came a point when the preacher was trying to engage a young man, probably of Middle Eastern nationality, in the crowd. The preacher had asked him if he knew why his faith was flagging. He didn’t know the answer so the preacher asked him whether he had “drawn nigh unto God.” The man looked bewildered but the preacher continued telling the man that if he “drew nigh unto God then God would draw nigh unto him.” Looking on, I knew that there was no way this man would have understood the word “nigh” yet this was the word being repeated to him over and over again. In this context, the question and instruction made no sense unless the person understood that key word. Would there have been any harm in updating the word to “near” or “close” to ensure the understanding of the lay person in the street?

When discussions arise about which version of the Bible to use, my answer tends to be that a person should use the most accurate translation that they can understand. For some, this might encourage laziness as they go with a paraphrase or something that reads like a children’s picture book when they are an adult. I’m not advocating this as we can all do with a careful study of the Bible and this usually involves stretching our minds. I also don’t recommend versions like The Message or The Street Bible. Personally, I prefer ESV for understanding and accuracy. I also sometimes use NASB and NIV. My church uses NKJV. I ended up reading aloud from a KJV at a Bible study recently and was forced to smother a laugh due to the dated language. Sorry if that offends anyone, I know that those who use KJV hold a sincere belief that it is right to do so!

There are numerous words that trip off our tongues as Christians but are we considering the person we are speaking to and attempting to engage. How often have you heard someone ask a preacher, or even a friend in conversation, “What does that word mean, I don’t know it?” People won’t ask because they don’t want to appear ignorant or embarrass themselves. They will just pretend they understand. Those really interested in the topic, or wanting to expand their vocabulary, might care enough to look it up later, but the majority won’t.

As society sadly slides towards widespread atheism, we need to be simplifying and explaining words that may, in the not too distant past, have been in common use. Most of us realise the need to explain words like sanctification, justification and substitutionary atonement, but are we thinking about words like fellowship, sin, the Lord’s Supper and outreach? Nearly every word that specifically, and probably exclusively, relates to Christians (and church) might now need to be explained in certain circumstances. We mustn’t assume even a basic level of knowledge unless we know the person.

There is also a case for updating the words of our hymns and songs so that they can be understood by everyone singing them. I’m not talking about changing the meaning, just cutting out the “thees, thys, deigns” and others.

Let’s make sure we are not placing unnecessary barriers in front of people by using words they don’t understand.