Talkin 'Bout A Revolution

I am... Maidstone 07/10/07

I travelled to Maidstone yesterday to speak at the SA's London South East area youth gathering. I was looking forward to it for a number of reasons - I like working with and teaching young people, the theme was all about identity and knowing who we are in Christ etc, and it really fitted in with a lot of the things I've been thinking about recently.

Deeper Still

One of the things I love about this journey, is the fact that there is always deeper to go. Just when I think I've got it all worked out, There's that gentle nudge, that stirring that says, 'However comfortable you're getting at this level, let's go a little further."

For the least of these...

Just some thoughts I've been having around Matthew 25:

"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' And the King will say:

I was sitting under the underpass and you stopped to say hello.

I was busking in the tube and you gave me 50 pence.

I was sat on an upturned basket, outside Sainsbury’s, and you bought the Big Issue from me.

I was on my own on the bus, exhausted and afraid, and your smile brightened my day.

I was struggling to get my pushchair up the steps and you helped lift it up.

I was late for work and you let me go ahead of you in the queue.

I was down to my last few pence and you shared your lunch.

I was walking up hill and you gave me a lift.

I was drowning in debt, and you helped me work out a budget.

I was keeping it all secret and you made the effort to see how I was.

I was lonely and you walked home the long way with me.

I was frightened about the results and you held my hand.

I was losing hope and you shared your story.

I was grieving and you cried too.

I was drowning my sorrows and you bought me a coke.

I was wearing a mask and you peered behind it.

I was ashamed of myself and you didn’t judge me.

Just a couple of quotes

"Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

"At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done.
Then they begin to hope it can be done.
Then they see it can be done.
Then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago".   (Frances Hodgson Burnett)

'SA- Go Home', Or, How I ended up crying on the train today

I've been reading, 'In Darkest England and the way back in', by Gary Bishop, over the last couple of days. Its up there with the Irresistable Revolution as one of those 'messing with your head but vital to read' books.

The Wandsworth Story - so far!!

Wandsworth, in South West London, is a place of contrast. You can find leafy suburbs and rows of parked 4x4s, only a short distance from grimy high rises. Affluent commuters on their way to work in the city, pass teenage mothers wheeling their children to school, wondering how to make ends meet.

Faced with these contrasts, the Christians in Wandsworth turned to prayer to make a difference. In a place seemingly riddled with disunity, they decided to try and buck the trend.

Vicki of Dibley

Today we trekked to North London for our first visit to the SA's divisional office there (It looks after the whole of Central London). I had an interview relating to my application to Salvation Army Officership.

The New Revolutionaries

"There was a day when something began to stir once more,
When old dreams began to whisper in the hearts of the new revolutionaries,
Revolutionaries who dared to dream,
Even amidst the crushing reality of the present.

They laid down their needs and handed over their small packed lunches
Seeing scenes in colour, even as they were surrounded by suffocating monochrome.
Their prayers became the desperate requests of a generation longing to see transformation.
They had tried every other way and came away wanting,
The status quo was not enough, jaded as they were from watching their peers kissing baals and selling their souls.

Aware of their weakness, they embraced the God who veiled himself in vulnerability,
Abandoning their clever plans and neat formulae,
They threw themselves on His strength.

Hearing rumours of life in fullness, and all too familiar with the strain of simply existing,
They handed over their hopes, trusting in His promise of abundance.

They could not be destroyed by circumstance,
Or exhausted by the constant attempts to get them to sell out.
Growing more aware of their value, they strived for the old holiness.

Boldness blossomed, wrapped not in what they did,
But in Who they knew, and the burning breath of His presence within.

They approached the throne of the King,
With no guarantee of an audience,
"If I die, I die", their motto,
Knowing they were born for such a time as this.

Often, they said nothing.
They did not preach, did not judge, did not withold themselves in the places of pain and darkness,

But their silent prayers laid down a path out of the blackness,
Brought the glittering light of hope and potential into the forgotten voids of despair,
Thier quiet confidence, a road sign pointing to an an alternative route.

They lived lives of beauty for ashes,
Having traded in their grave clothes, they danced, unselfconscious.
Increasingly experiencing grace, they embraced each day,
Embracing those who had lost everything.

Can you see the revolutionaries?
They have not learned methods of intimacy,
They are not practicing until perfect,
But they are in love.
They are hoping, they are dreaming."

"After I have poured out my rains again, I will pour out my spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions. In those days will pour out my spirit on servants, on men and women alike." (Joel 2:28-29)

Booth's Boots

When I was about 11 or 12, my parents took me on a pilgrimage down the Mile End Road, in East London. I was unusually compliant, thinking this was simply some bizarre coming-of-age ritual, commonplace to every young person in the Salvation Army.

A Varied Day

It feels like I squeezed an awful lot into today, but it was all good, exciting stuff, so I thought I'd give you a summary. This morning we set off to drive to Cressing, which is a small village in Essex.We are holding a prayer venue there in a couple of weeks so our task was essentially to scout around a bit, check out a 'walled garden' where we're going to be running a guided prayer walk, and get some 'on location' ideas.