Monthly Archive for June, 2008

Acts 4: Arrested!

Published
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Dave
on June 25, 2008
in I've Done Youth Work and I've Got Thoughts
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A couple of weeks ago I co-wrote some teaching notes for Arun Community Church’s Ignite and Fuel. I think now is the right time to post them.

Aim:

To learn about Christians who are persecuted for their faith and understand how God encourages and inspires us in difficult situations.

Activity: Survivor!

Give everyone a pen and paper, then ask them to write down (or draw) their three most important possessions. Once everyone has decided, explain that there has been an huge earthquake and their houses have been destroyed. They have a few minutes to grab ONE of their items to carry with them. Which one would they take and why?

When everyone has shared, tell the group about the underground churches in places like China and North Korea. In these places, God’s word is their most treasured possession with people risking their lives to smuggle Bibles and share the good news with others.

How does this make them feel? Did anyone think of taking their Bible with them?

Background:

Following Peter and John’s healing of the crippled man at the Temple (Acts 3:1-10) they were arrested for preaching about the good news of Jesus. The Jewish leaders believed that the disciples were committing blasphemy (speaking untrue things about God) and they were thrown in prison overnight. Even though the believers were scared of what might happen to them, their numbers grew from 3,000 to around 5,000 men (Acts 4:4)!

Reading: Acts 4

Your group should have read the chapter in advance. Take a few minutes to recap on its content for those who haven’t.

Illustration: Brother Yun

Take a few minutes to look at the life of Brother Yun (author of The Heavenly Man) whose story represents an example of the persecuted Christians in China

Seen as a rebel among some Chinese for not joining the ‘official’ government-controlled Christian organization, Brother Yun was imprisoned and tortured by the government authorities. He was finally arrested and sentenced to many years in prison. However, Yun continued his ministry while in prison, with miraculous results. As a result, many prisoners and even some prison officials became born-again.

Apparently, while he gained increasing favor from some officials, he also became a target of increased persecutions by others. He was repeatedly beaten and became severely malnourished. After many years, he escaped from Zhengzhou Maximum Security prison. He described how he heard the voice of the Hoy Spirit, telling him to simply walk out the heavily guarded prison gate. Risking being shot to death on the spot, he wrote later that he obeyed the voice, and walked straight through several prison doors that were somehow left open in front of many prison guards, across the prison yard and finally out of the main gate. Yun stated that it was as if he had become invisible to the guards who stared straight through him. Although many expressed doubts that such a thing could happen, some prison guards had apparently lost their jobs for this ‘embarrassing mishap.’ It is reported that the official investigation by the Chinese Government concluded that “Yun received no human help in his escape.” It is claimed that these reports have been also confirmed by numerous prisoners who occupied the same prison cell as Yun. Apparently, he remains the only person to have escaped from this notorious maximum security prison!

Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_Yun

You can watch a 10 minute testimony by Brother Yun on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDpDRTvRYZ0

Discussion:

  • How would you react to being arrested for what you believed? Would it effect your faith and beliefs?
  • What would you do if it was illegal to be a Christian? Why?
  • Do you think that you could praise God in difficult situations? How would you do it?
  • Which of our 5 Values (Follow, Honour, Serve, Support, Share) apply to this passage? What can you learn from it?

Prayer:

  • Pray for the persecuted Church around the world
  • Pray for boldness within the group that they can share the message amongst their friends (and family) without fear
  • Pray for any issues affecting the group this week.

Challenge:

This week, you should try to overcome your own fears and share the good news of Jesus with some friends! Ask God to give you boldness even when people are rude to you because of your faith. Remember, if people laugh at you because of Jesus, you are in great company!

Further Reading: Genesis 39:20-23

Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

Websites I Use Regularly

Published
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Dave
on June 24, 2008
in I've Done Technology
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You may recall that last December I posted about the feeds that I use regularly, see here, now I thought I’d share a few of the websites I use:

Netvibes - A home page similar to Google’s iGoogle but a little more flexible. Signup is free.

Facebook - The social networking site.

Google Docs - Superb FREE online document creation and editing.

Google Reader - Many have tried, but Google’s reader is the way to subscribe to all the RSS feeds on the internet

Bible Gateway - A great website with plenty of Bible translations all available to read online for free

If you use Firefox, or Internet Explorer 6, then you can add Google Gears to your browser and get access to your docs and reader items offline.

Holiday

Published
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Dave
on June 23, 2008
in I've Done Travel and I've Got A Quick Post
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Well, I’m off for a few days in the Sun. Before I go I’ve been working hard providing some reading for you all while I’m away. So, you’ve got 3 proper posts showcasing the best of what this website is about.

A decadent burger?

Published
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Dave
on June 20, 2008
in I've Got A Quick Post and I've Got Links
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Thanks to Josh at morethandodgeball.com for this one.

CBS News in the USA picked up this great story about the $200 burger. I’ll let you read the page for yourself, but let me know what you think.

Clicky Clicky

Music I’m Loving Right Now

Published
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Dave
on June 19, 2008
in I've Done Music
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I seem to have found a whole load of new music that I really really love right now. So, I thought I’d take some to share some of the songs and albums that I’m really loving at the minute.

Alphabeat - This Is Alphabeat
“Just the right side of High School Musical” was how Radio 1’s new music editor described Alphabeat’s UK debut “This Is Alphabeat” and, he may well have a point. I could easily see how once younger fans get bored of Troy, Gabriella, et al they could easily segue into this. It’s very easy to listen too and it isn’t going to offend anyone along the way. It’s an album that’s full of singles, totally catchy, totally mesmorising.

Bell X1 - Flock
I have to give thanks to Chris Neal who turned me onto Bell X1. Flock was originally released in 2005 but sounds so fresh and unique. On iTunes this is £4.99 so I don’t see why you shouldn’t get it but should you decide against it try “Flame”, “He Said, She Said” and “My First Born For A Song”. It’s slightly left of the mainstream but it’s good.

Jason Morant - Abandon
I “re-discovered” this album about 6 weeks ago. It’s just a great worship album, sometimes it’s quite full on and sometimes it’s really reflective; But it’s all God. Personally I’ve been able to really engage with most of the album but right now my favourite, if you can have such a thing, is “I am Yours” which is a declaration that we are God’s and that he is our strength.

Coldplay - Viva La Vida
What a surprise; someone writing about the music they’re listening too right now including Coldplay’s most recent album! Yes, I may be joining the rest of the sheep but it wasn’t always this way. I loved “Parachutes”. I didn’t get “A Rush of Blood To The Head” until it had lost it’s novelty and thought it was ok. “X&Y” was ok for a short time, Fix You got overplayed. And I only bought “Viva La Vida” because I had a 5 hour van journey to fill. Truthfully I put it on and thought - this is a bit average. Very arty, very adventerous but very average. However a few days later and several plays later and that’s not what I’m feeling. It is a very good album

The Community Church - Southport

Published
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Dave
on June 19, 2008
in I've Been On Tour and I've Done Technology
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This weekend was one of the rare so far, this year, where Jim Bailey has been out on the road. And one of the even rarer times when we stay overnight. Jim was there to do some training, an afternoon praise party and a morning show. So, on Friday evening we started the 286 mile drive in two seperate vehicles, though more on that later, after a coffee just north of Birmingham we made the rest of the journey in good time and arrived just before midnight, checked in to our hotel and….

SLEEP

Actually I slept so much that at 8:37 Saturday morning the hotel phone rang. It was Jim; where was I, we needed to go in 5 minutes. D’Oh! I don’t think I’ve moved so fast in the morning for a while. Luckily the Church was only 10 minutes up the road. We were greeted by one of the most beautiful building we’ve ever seen outside of the Anglican Church. After we’d been there are a couple of minutes one of the eldership team turned up, another Dave (I think the world runs on them), followed shortly by a few of the wonderful tech team.

TRAINING

After unloading the van we started preparing for the training. For me, this consisted of plugging in a laptop and sound cable. The rig consisted of 1 top and 1 sub aside. Unfortunately the subs were much much bigger than the tops and everything was a mush. Jim and I even considered bringing in our rig for the praise party later that day. The kind team provided me with Wi-Fi access, and plenty of coffee, so that I could 1. get on with some work and 2. wake up!

I’m getting to know the training pretty well, so for me it was just a case of listening in, drinking coffee and…waiting to soundcheck.

SOUNDCHECK

So it got to the soundcheck and I couldn’t get it sounding how I wanted - it was just bass. No sign of a physical Graphic EQ, so I had a better option….gather all the Mini-Jack to large Jacks I could find and use my laptop as a virtual insert over the system. Strangely I had thought about not brining it, however the free Wi-Fi the hotel offered swung it for me! I set up a quick Logic Pro session with an Aux In and a Graphic EQ over it. After wandering round the hall like an idiot making sure things were balanced and double checking my thoughts with Jim’s on the “new sound”. With a “thumbs up” it was time for the praise party.

PRAISE PARTY

As far as I know 25 people came along to the training and numbers were probably just above, and I’m probably way off, this for the praise party. It’s fair to say Jim struggled, this wasn’t this down to the crowd, more down to sweat + in-ear monitors. We’d had a similar problem before and it occurs when Jim manages to hit the pan button on the pack. My immediate fix was to turn it all up (in his head that is) and go onto the stage and hit the button. Still not great, must have been a hot room and water creating a barrier.

Despite these, unusual, issues Jim still did fantastically. In the absence of Rosie I took over some of the Special FX team role. Oh, I love “A Spitting Image”! If you haven’t seen Jim recently you won’t be aware of the chaos that is created during this song. Along with another of Jim’s friends we covered the audience in water and silly string. I will apologise right now to the person I saw put there hood up and promptly squirted them with water, it was VERY childish of me, but slightly funny!

AFTERWARDS

This being a double gig meant that instead of packing up and driving home we moved the essentials into the beautiful main hall and headed off with one of the Churches leaders, Dave Gregg, for a meal and chat. I found it a privilege to be sharing some of who I am and what I’ve seen with both Dave and Jim as well as listening to what they had to say. After a great meal, you can’t go wrong with steak, Jim and I headed back to the hotel for a pint and early night, though to avoid a repeat of the Saturday morning I booked an alarm call.

SUNDAY MORNING

Another early start, though happily I made it up for breakfast (without the use of the alarm call) which to my delight was a fantastic all you can eat fried breakfast, and by 8:45 I was checking out and jumping in the van ready for the short drive to the Church. We arrived first and waited to be joined by the tech team, worship team and others. Whilst they soundchecked I wired in my bits, Jim put his props up and a fantastic guy, who’s name escapes me, laid a different VGA cable for us. We all finished at about the same time ready for Jim’s sound check which is always an odd time because once I’ve established the FoH rig works is silent - who needs extra noise when Jim’s using IEM?

As it was Fathers Day Jim’s plan had been for a re-dedication of Fathers and the importance of our Heavenly Father as the perfect Dad. I know that he did a lot of his classic songs, plus one or two new ones. The Camels, who were on much better behaviour, performed Jesus and got a couple of the Worship team involved (see photo above). Grandad was Grandad and bought his brash attitude on life to Southport, but it was still good to see him! All too soon Jim’s time was over and the meeting descended into what could be described as a family like Holy chaos, prayer going on left right and centre; The old, the young and the middle aged all joining in. This was Church. This was Family. It was wonderful to see

Pack up came, and went. Jim headed off to the big mountains of Wales and I headed back down South. But what a great weekend!

Lakeland - An Update

Published
by
Dave
on June 17, 2008
in I've Got A Quick Post, I've Got Links, I've Got Thoughts and Lakeland Florida
. 0 Comments

Thanks to Joe Gisbey from Links International providing a link to this great article from Todd Bentley regarding some of the things happening in Lakeland.

Clicky Clicky

A Good Week For Music

Published
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Dave
on June 12, 2008
in I've Done Music
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Yes, it appears it’s going to be a double post for Danish band Alphabeat.

After starting my week with James Houston’s Big Ideas (Don’t Get Any) I’m ending it with video, though I couldn’t embed it, by Alphabeat. You’ll have to click here for it. Once you do you’ll be greeted with there Live Lounge performance on Jo Whiley’s Radio 1 show.

I have to say there cover of Sam Sparro’s Black & Gold is great.

How the internet was won?

Published
by
Dave
on June 9, 2008
in I've Done Music and I've Got A Quick Post
. 1 Comment


Big Ideas (don’t get any) from James Houston on Vimeo.

H/T Chewing Pixels who originally posted this story.

Fair play for offering people the chance to remix a song in 6/8 at 63bpm and well done to James Houston for coming up with an original way of doing it.

How can things ever be the same?

Published
by
Dave
on June 8, 2008
in I've Done Travel and Lakeland Florida
. 2 Comments

With all that’s been going on in Lakeland, Florida. Things that I’ve seen with my own eyes and touched with my own hands I can’t get one question out of my head

How can things ever be the same?

On one side of things there’s this huge outpouring in Florida. Meetings have grown from 700 to 8,000 and people are clearly having a huge experience of God. Many are being healed and a large number of these have been medically verified. Also, since it began some 60 days ago there have been 13 verified resurrections from the dead.

On the opposite side of things natural disasters are happening. In Burma the official death toll from the Cyclone stands at 78,000 although external agencies put these figures above 100,000. In China the government puts the death toll from the recent Earthquake is in excess of 12,000. While a third Earthquake in Bogota, Columbia, already has a death toll of 78.

If you look at things in a different perspective here in Western Europe we are entering an economic slow down. Rich nations are becoming poor, primarily this is down the cost of crude oil which is currently running at about $135 a barrell. However in Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa almost the reverse is happening economies are growing and poor nations are becoming rich.

God is on the move. In a sense it’s a return to the Old Testament values when every 50 years (the Jubilee) things were reset: Debts were cancelled, land was returned and slaves were freed. Wealth was divided equally. It’s almost testament to God’s sense of humor, Bono et al have been banging on for ages about dropping the debt and spreading the wealth and almost with one click of his fingers God has done it naturally. Again the question:

How can things ever be the same?

If you look in one respect there are parallels to the Old Testament. There are also parallels to the New Testament looking at what’s going on in Lakeland puts in mind the book of Acts. After Jesus ascends to heaven the disciples are left waiting around for something to happen. They know that they’ve been promised a helper but have no idea when or where. In Acts 2 they find themselves Jerusalem for the festival of Shavuot, the Spring Harvest, when the Holy Spirit is released. For those disciples who start to speak in the tounges of nations and God, then Peter declares the prophecy of Joel resulting in the baptism of 3,000 they must have had one question:

How can things ever be the same?

At the start of Acts 3 something breaks and we see the first post-Jesus healing when Peter heals the crippled man. There is no laying on of hands Peter, probably overflowing with the Spirit, just commands that this man gets up and walks. And guess what, for Peter & John, the crippled man and those saw him there was one question that they must have been thinking:

How can things ever be the same?

And really that’s where I am now. How do you come back from seeing tumors disappear? From seeing the blind able to see and the deaf able to hear? And ultimately seeing legs starting to grow? You can only be expectant for God to turn up and start doing stuff in your own congreation, and I’d love to see more it at Arun.

I want the signs and the wonders but actually I want more than that. I want the intimacy with God; To know that He is within me and is guiding me and speaking to me daily. I want the lessons I learnt in Lakeland to be with me forever and not just a couple of weeks. And there were lessons, primarily I learnt the vital importance of pressing into what God has for us. Whether that’s in our days at work or in our Church services.

So you don’t like the worship leader, or don’t like the style of preach? Well, have you ever thought that God may want to speak to you in it? All it takes from us is a little effort to get beyond the natural and listen for the subtle heart beat of our creator whispering to us.

I’ll be honest here - I struggled one evening out in Florida they were resting the normal worship leader and had a guest in his place. Instead of entering into a place filled with praise, and errors, as the band practiced and worshipped there was, nothing. Then a Jack Black look a like, with mohican, took to the stage and sang a whole load of songs he’d written and I’d never heard before. Being honest I felt about as connected to God as the biggest Atheist in the world. My friends were fully engaged - Joe was on the floor giggling his head off and Matt was in a similar position, mostly without the giggling.

I, again, felt completely out of sync with God’s heart beat. And then it kinda happened instead of taking the cynical view:

“Oh, it’s not for me this evening!”

I heard the faintest whisper saying “press into me, this is for you!” So, I tried and slowly the negativity melted away and pretty soon found myself face down on the carpet praising God for what he could do both in me and others. The time of worship after that was amazing, almost the most powerful since I’d been there, but I struggled to begin with.

It’s been a journey; 8,000 miles, a lot of sobbing, even more carpet time and even more prayer. I know that I won’t ever be the same, but a week after I started this post I still can’t process it enough to come up with an answer to the question I started with: How can things ever be the same?

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