@nicknye let me really cheeky and suggest mine, See HTtp://raisedwithchrist.net. If u want shorter try sam alberry, longer NT Wright
about 7 hours ago via web in reply to nicknye

Great morning with Gods people, @topekoleoso preached well. Spirit empowering and an ordered life that’s what we need!
about 16 hours ago via HootSuite

Mbonisi Malaba interview by Brian Mowrey: I really enjoy watching Brian Mowrey’s video interviews. This one with “… http://bit.ly/d3KPk7
4 September 2010 18:36:26 via twitterfeed

Just about to watch a traditional Punch and Judy show having terrorised the kids with fairground rides and enjoyed a hog roast. Good days!!
4 September 2010 16:00:56 via HootSuite

@DrumPhils @AlGarlando I pray that God will bless you greatly as through reading it you consider again the implications of the resurrection.
4 September 2010 10:28:47 via web in reply to DrumPhils

I also hear it may have been reviewed in one or two other magazines. If you ever read a review please let me know, as clearly the mags wont!
4 September 2010 10:27:14 via web

Oddly when magazines print reviews of a book the author isn’t always told. Evangelical Times reviewed RWC this week, anyone got a copy?
4 September 2010 10:26:33 via web

RT @DrumPhils: @adrianwarnock 55% off Raised With Christ if you buy through Kindle (remember you can use kindle on iPad iPhone, etc)
4 September 2010 08:37:29 via HootSuite

25% off my book Raised with Christ: How the Resurrection Changes Everything at Amazon.com http://ow.ly/2z0vN // Please RT
3 September 2010 21:00:13 via HootSuite

RT @PJ_Smyth: Latest G1 Blog. Receiving Apostolic Men Into Your Church… some NT principles. http://www.godfirstblog.com/?p=159
3 September 2010 20:10:09 via HootSuite

RT @RickWarren: Great sermons are forged by LISTENING,not talking. Listen to God’s heart, God’s word & People’s hearts – then connect them.
3 September 2010 19:40:04 via HootSuite

@terryvirgo says @edstetzer has five personalities pumped into one body! http://ow.ly/2z1QH
3 September 2010 19:40:03 via HootSuite

40% off my book Raised with Christ: How the Resurrection Changes Everything at Amazon UK http://ow.ly/2z0p7 >>Please RT
3 September 2010 18:40:05 via HootSuitep

“He was the preacher, not the general. And battles aren’t won by preachers.” Tony Blair on Tony Benn
3 September 2010 17:45:04 via HootSuite

Terry Virgo reviews Raised With Christ at Brighton’s Together on a Mission conference: http://bit.ly/abvZEv
3 September 2010 08:43:31 via twitterfeed

RT @dotcomlarry: @adrianwarnock even better would be to put him in a simulated scenario where it was a possibility, and see what he does :)
3 September 2010 00:25:31 via HootSuite

My Twitter BFFs: @hmfsli @pj_smyth @topekoleoso @adrianwarnock @bryanmowrey @purpleclaire @willadair. Find yours @ http://twitterbffs.com
3 September 2010 00:23:59 via Tweet BFFs

Met with a guy today who’s prospective father in law actually asked him if he’d be prepared to die for his daughter. Go dad!!
3 September 2010 00:00:06 via HootSuite

RT @steviedunn: The reason for ‘wasting’ so much space on a universe to house a speck of humanity is to make a point about our Maker, not us
2 September 2010 20:15:09 via HootSuite

RT @vince_honeycomb: My copy of “Raised With Christ” went up Norway’s fjords and back Taking my time with this one, dipping in and out of it
7:20 PM Sep 2nd via HootSuite

Have seen @terryvirgo recommending books for three decades. You can imagine how I felt when this was filmed: http://bit.ly/cVObUF
6:36 PM Sep 2nd via web

Liking the “Who to follow” / “suggestions for you” tool on Twitter. Have found some great new Tweeps to read.
5:50 PM Sep 2nd via HootSuite

Anyone else joined Apples Ping yet? Seems like a good way to discover great music your friends like to me. http://bit.ly/9AIDI6
8:42 AM Sep 2nd via web

RT @TerryVirgo When I pray in tongues I’m celebrating a gift God gave me because I don’t know how to pray How kind he is & how grateful I am
7:35 AM Sep 2nd via HootSuite

RT @TedHoit: gift tests tell you everything you are naturally gifted to do – everything you can do without God – Keith Hazell
9:15 PM Sep 1st via HootSuite

One of my kids managed to pull the bottom tray of the dishwasher out while loading & smash a load of plates. Impressive! Story 4 Grandkids!
7:49 PM Sep 1st via web
@JaneHinrichs Thanks Jane. I have to try and persuade my wife of the true value of what she does regularly coz the world tells us otherwise
5:42 PM Sep 1st via web in reply to JaneHinrichs
RT @letocq: The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only, to support the ultimate career C S Lewis
5:15 PM Sep 1st via HootSuite
10 Things I learnt on my summer “break”: Following just over a month of this self-imposed near-total break from my… http://bit.ly/cqQWhR
12:37 AM Sep 1st via twitterfeed
Blog: 10 Things I learnt on my summer “break” http://adrianwarnock.com/2010/09/10-things-i-learnt-on-my-summer-break/
12:20 AM Sep 1st via Twitter Tools
Get Uncomfortable! Guest post by Ami Loizides Pruett: Today’s is the second guest post from Ami Loizides Pruett of… http://bit.ly/bUbEMo
10:34 PM Aug 30th via twitterfeed
I interrupt my Twitter and Facebook break to ask you to please pray for my resurrection seminar at Together North on Saturday afternoon

Over the summer I read memoirs written by the so-called “Third Man” of New Labour, Peter Mandleson.  I found him an engaging writer.  And I enjoyed reflecting on what we can learn as leaders from politicians. Some matters are clearly “natural revelation,”  if we can learn from the ant according to the wisdom of Proverbs, surely we can learn from people too.  Long-term readers of my blog will not be surprised that my impression of Gordon Brown after reading those memoirs was not made any better.  There is much more that I could say about that, but suffice it to say that knowing your place and role in life and being content with that is a precious gift that many do not have.  Too many “No. 2″ or even “No. 3.” leaders strive for their own turn at the top of the pyramid.  Sometimes when you get there, it is much harder than you ever realized, and you discover that you were never really meant to hold such an office.  More and more I am convinced that none of us should strive for position, but rely instead on our Lord’s direction as to where we are meant to serve and how.

I have now started reading Tony Blair’s memoirs as well for a different perspective. There is a fascinating key quotes article from the BBC if you are interested in more information.

I really enjoy watching Brian Mowrey’s video interviews. This one with “Bones” is no exception. Watch and enjoy! This reminded me of when I interviewed Mbonisi myself.

Yesterday I spoke about how Terry Virgo and Tope Koleoso are both great at promoting books. Today I want to highlight another aspect that they both in my view stand out in, and it is one that is even more important. This is their commitment to prayer, and corporate prayer in particular. Prayer is vital to the Christian and in this short video shared by my friend Bryan Mowrey Tope explains why.

At the beginning of the year we captured Tope praying in public at Jubilee, and unusually decided not to remove the prayer from the beginning of his sermon. We shared it then to inspire many to pray especially at points of transition. As we enter the new season, why not pray along with him and add your “Amen” to his prayer as I did this week.

Having spoken just yesterday about the fine line between self-promotion and hiding one’s light under a bushel, it might surprise you that I would share a video at the begining of this post in which  Terry Virgo (who incidentally has recently joined Facebook) begins his slot recommending books at the Brighton conference by commending mine. There are a number of reasons why I feel very comfortable doing this, however.

Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, Terry’s book review segments have been a major part of my conference life for three decades. No one who has ever heard him passionately commend a book could ever forget the very helpful way he does this. After all, this is the man who single-handedly sold the entire first UK print run of Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology with one announcement. Pastors would do well to watch this video and learn how to really persuade your people to get a hold of a book. One leader who seems to have learned from Terry’s skill in this matter is my own pastor Tope Koleoso, who sold 100 copies of Raised With Christ in 10 minutes! I want to permanently house a video of Terry at his memorable best.  This is a man who’s love for Jesus spills over into a love for books.

During such recommendation slots in the past Terry has routinely mentioned his own and his wife’s books. He does it always in a disarming way, for example saying “and this is a book by my wife’s husband…”   He does it humbly but boldly because nobody invests the ridiculous amout of time it takes to actually write a book unless they believe passionately in its message.  I make no apologies for suggesting that you buy my book.  I know that many of my regular readers have yet to get a copy (though the publisher is happy with the sales).  I know that considering the resurrection and all it’s implications can do you great good in your Christian walk.  The only reason I can think of that you should not get ahold of a copy is if you are already reading another book about the resurrection. 2010 has a few months to run yet, so please consider making sure this is the year that you read a book on the glorious victory of Christ and what it has accomplished for us.

If cost is an issue, then right now there is a great deal of 25% off at Amazon.com or over 40% off at Amazon.co.uk At those prices, why not get some copies for your church bookstore, or as gifts for friends.  Just think, you could get some Christmas shopping done early this year!  Before you say it, remember, this is not a book just for Easter time, any more than great books on the cross should only be read at such a time of year.

Finally, Terry also commends some other fine books that you should consider getting. The first is  Tom Schreiner, Magnifying God in Christ which Terry says gave him great confidence in a rickety airplane.

Next is a book called Planting Missional Churches by Ed Stetzer, who according to Terry has “five personalities pumped into one body.” Ed is well worth listening to and reading and serves us all well.

Finally my good friend Phil Moore’s books are all commended from his Straight to the heart of series. Available so far are Matthew, Acts, and Revelation

All of the above books along with many other helpful resources are available at the Newfrontiers online store

Following just over a month of this self-imposed near-total break from my online life (obviously not including my paid work!) what have I discovered?

1. Wordpress’s auto-publish feature is bullet-proof and a real gift
2. You hardly missed me as a result of 1. and my kind guest bloggers. Indeed, traffic remained pretty high considering it was August.
3. Phil Moore is better than I am at explaining why digital fasts are so important.
4. A week is definitely not long enough It took me much longer before I even began to experience digital withdrawal symptoms.
5. It really is hard to stay away from the Internet for several weeks. My “fast” wasn’t total as the weeks drew on. I did scan-read Twitter, Facebook and a couple of blogs a little towards the end. I also started to write this post 20 minutes or so before my deadline,  and last week even wrote a couple of tweets ready for publishing later when my wife had gone away (the observant may have noticed that they appeared in my Twitter stream and were quickly deleted!) I also and scanned and deleted most of my accumulated emails on the same day. Finally, I started an Omnifocus to-do list to capture a small handful of ideas for things to blog about when they began to hit me about a week or so ago.
6. The harsh truth is that I really don’t care about what my readers think about me as much as I thought I did (despite 5)   I trust I will continue to remember this and make sure that I take more care over being kind to my wife and children than I do over looking after you all!  Funily enough, I somehow suspect that the more I focus on pleasing my God and family, the more benefit I may be to you in any case.
7. Learning more about how to not believe your own publicity is a vital result of such a break.  I can’t improve on what I said about this last year. Running a blog can appear to be self-serving at first glance. There has to be a good balance, however, between arrogantly pushing oneself forward, and on the other hand hiding whatever one can share with others under a bushel.  I am not sure I always navigate that tightrope entirely correctly, but, you have to believe me that I know that of myself I have nothing to offer you.  I will not ever apologize for shouting about my savior, and his death and resurrection for us. I know that if I can point you towards him, and to good resources that will help you in your spiritual journey I will have fulfilled one of the roles that God has for me in this life.  It is not the most important one, however.  That is clearly being a husband and father, which is much harder than helping at least some of people who read this blog for a few minutes a day.
8. I remained really quite busy with secular work, preached three times, was on the radio once, and yet removing the digital piece resulted in me now feeling remarkably rested and refreshed. I may need to find some ways to lessen some of the burdens I carry.  Perhaps I need a secretary or something!
9. Just hanging out with the kids in the evenings watching TV, playing Scrabble & Risk with them on the iPad, and being beaten at chess by my 11 year old son is a whole lot of fun. I need to carve out more time to do this better even with the blog up and running. If I could be a better husband and father and a worse blogger that would be fine with me.
10. Having a break has made me itch to write again, and I have really enjoyed writing this post.  I won’t be giving up permanently any time soon!

Today’s is the second guest post from Ami Loizides Pruett of this summer season. Do follow her blog for more of this engaging material.

This past weekend for me was spent in the hospital (nothing serious!) and the night I got out I found myself praying and kind of apologising to God for not having spent time with Him. My prayers came to a standstill as my mind churned and I thought back to the drama and fears of the last few days…hold on a second! I realised that a) there’s grace and God totally understood that I was really ill and b) whenever I was about to undergo another scary test or have another needle stuck in me, I felt closer to God than I have in a while! In my desperation and fear I cried out to Him and He answered with His everfaithful peace and comfort – despite me not having had a ‘quiet time’ or studied that day. Something happens when we grow desperate and uncomfortable – God wraps Himself around us in a way that we perhaps don’t feel everyday. I think that if we’re in a position where we are extremely comfortable we lose our sense of desperation for God – which can hinder our faith in Him. What I mean is this: if you’ve come to a spiritual halt in your life where you’re not feeling the presence of God as you want to, the reason could be that you need to ‘get out of the boat’! Stick your neck out, take some risks! My husband and I live by the mindset that if we’re not crying out to God, if we’re getting complacent and too comfortable, something needs to change. Because at that stage the doors are wide open for pride to flood in and we think ‘Hey, we can make it on our own’ thus losing our sense of need for God. We as Christians should never want to be in a position where we think we don’t need Him – we rely on Him for our every breath and if we suddenly decide that we don’t, that can be a huge detour in our spiritual lives and the growth of our faith can be stunted. Whether you’re too comfortable in your finances, your job, your relationships or even your church – that needs to change! If it’s finances, give it away – bless someone anonymously, give extra to your church’s gift day, finance an initiative for work with the poor. If it’s your job - work as if you are working for God, ask God for fresh ideas and inspiration. In your relationships – start up a friendship with that new person in your small group, open up a bit more with your friends, share the gospel with your non Christian friends. In your church – serve more, give more, love and support more. Whatever is out of your comfort zone and forces you to cry out to God more, it’s going to grow and expand upon your faith. The whole Bible is covered with testimonies of God surrounding his people in times of trouble when they cry out to Him – let us get uncomfortable and never lose our sense of desperation to see His face!

• Abby Enck, Age 8: Social Entrepreneur: This post is from Brett and Alex Harris, those dynamos who keep reminding k… http://bit.ly/abbKZb #
• RT @TedHoit: gift tests tell you everything you are naturally gifted to do – everything you can do without God – Keith Hazell #
• RT @letocq: The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only, to support the ultimate career C S Lewis #
• RT @steviedunn: The reason for 'wasting' so much space on a universe to house a speck of humanity is to make a point about our Maker, not us #
• I interrupt my Twitter and Facebook break to ask you to please pray for my resurrection seminar at Together North on Saturday afternoon #
• RT @TerryVirgo When I pray in tongues I'm celebrating a gift God gave me because I don't know how to pray How kind he is & how grateful I am #

This post comes from my friend Andrew Fountain, pastor of New Life Church Toronto:

Some of us were brought up in a legalistic environment where it was a fearful sin to eat food without first “saying grace”.✱ I remember hearing of one woman who wanted to know how much food she there needed to be for her to have to give thanks. She was told that no grace was required for a cookie, but a coffee and doughnut required it.

Those of us who have come to enjoy God’s grace and understand that we are no-longer living under an Old-Testament legal system sometimes react in the opposite direction. We are so afraid of a formal religion that giving thanks for food is reduced to a brief “thank you God”, if we do it at all.

When I recently studied “thankfulness” in the New Testament, I was shocked to see how many of the references were to giving thanks for food. If you leave out the general prayers of thanks, there are more specific prayers of thanks for food than all the others put together!

In some places thanks is mentioned even when is seems unnecessary to the storyline, e.g. John 6:23 “Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.”

Let’s look first at the times Jesus gave thanks. Two major events were the feeding of the five thousand and of the four thousand, In both cases there seems to be an emphasis on the thanks/blessing. Matthew and Mark recount the first event:

When John tells it, he interchanges “thanks” for “blessing”, and then repeats this fact later in v.23:

Matthew and Mark tell us of the feeding of the four thousand

In three of the Gospels we read how Jesus instituted “Breaking Bread”. (The New Testament rarely calls it communion or the Lord’s Supper.) Every time giving thanks/blessing the food is to the forefront:

For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”1Cor 11:24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

And in fact, it was at the point that Jesus broke the bread and said the blessing that the two disciples recognized him:

The early church continued this practice. Sometimes we are embarrassed to give thanks in a public place such as a restaurant. Paul didn’t have a problem doing this in front of a group of pagan sailors and soldiers!

What is really interesting is that the freedom that the Christian has to eat all foods seems to be based on the fact that we are giving thanks:

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.1Tim 4:3 & 4 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,

Far from being a legalistic ritual, in these verses “giving thanks” is the very basis for our New-Covenant freedom.

Why food? Of course God wants us to be thankful for everything, but there is something special about the way food is both enjoyable and necessary to sustain us, which makes it uniquely suitable as an opportunity for thankfulness. “Saying Grace” is not so much a ritual as a trigger for joyful and vocal thanksgiving.

So how did doing this study affect me? Following Jesus’ example in this way is much more important in my life and now I love to give thanks for my food!

✱ This was not my personal experience but I know many for whom it was.

Today’s blog comes from a new friend of mine, Purple Claire. Do go read her blog if you like her writing style:

If I were the obsessive compulsive type – say, the kind of person who carries books around in their original Amazon packaging and shudders slightly when someone asks to borrow one, in case they break the spine – if I were that kind of person, I would have planned it: I started reading One Day on 15th July. For those not yet on the bandwagon, it’s a novel which charts the ups and downs of a friendship over twenty years, taking 15th July of each year as a marker. It’s a great concept, and actually a bit of a page turner (ideal beach reading if you are not that person with the Amazon wrappers) and despite what I felt was a disappointing ending, I’d still recommend it.

Here, I suspect, is why I loved it: Emma could be me. She has a good degree from a reputable university but is adrift in a sea of vague possibilities, never quite settling on what to do with her life, dabbling in teaching before realising in her early thirties that all she has ever wanted to do is write.

Like me, she lies in bed on spring Saturday mornings listening to lilac envelopes thud onto the carpet, announcing yet another wedding; like me, she hovers somewhere between boredom and something uncomfortably like envy every time she hears of another pregnancy among her friends.

But here’s where we differ, and please forgive me if it sounds glib (or basic). It is not meant to be glib. It’s my rock, actually: for we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

What that purpose is, for my life, I couldn’t tell you. Time was, I could have recited a ten-year plan; now I can barely see past Christmas. Life has not turned out the way I wanted or hoped or assumed or imagined. I may, like Emma, have met the love of my life at university, but he was not a Christian, and so that was the end of that.

But how comforting, how inspiring, how exciting it is that Someone knows. That the threads of my life are being woven into a beautiful tapestry by Someone who has been doing it for thousands of years with millions of lives. Someone who somehow orchestrated emotions like jealousy and events like the selling of a brother into slavery in order to feed a nation.

I am not going to pretend that I never feel adrift in life; that I now whoop with unfettered joy when tearing open the lilac envelopes; that my eyes don’t fill with tears when I listen to a young mum talking about the challenges and loneliness of it all, thinking inexplicably that is what I wanted and hoped and assumed and imagined that my life would look like.

But how very glad I am that were someone to write a novel about my life, the central question would not be: does she get the guy? That my value is not determined by that, or by success in that elusive career, or even by how many books I get published and sell. That I live for something different, something bigger, that I live for Someone who sees the end from the beginning, who is threading together my eclectic bunch of passions and the seemingly random events of my life for His purpose.

This post is from Brett and Alex Harris, those dynamos who keep reminding kids that they can achieve great things with their life:

Abby Enck is only eight-years-old, but her story provides an excellent blueprint for rebelutionaries on how to make a difference. This shy girl found a cause close to home (supporting her brother who has cerebral palsy) and took one small step to meet that need (raising $4.50 selling lemonade to buy crayons).

Once she had developed a successful model, she multiplied it (buying crayons for other kids too and equipping other people to sell lemonade) and that is only the beginning . . .

Read MORE at The Rebelution: Abby Enck, Age 8: Social Entrepreneur.

Guest post by Dave Bish.

Terry Virgo argues persuasively, and with some controversy, that Christians are not sinners but saints. In this he takes seriously that the believer is a new creation. This is no innovative teaching. Puritan Richard Sibbes wrote in his sermon Josiah’s Reformation: The Tender Heart
“It is a supernatural disposition of a true child of God to have a tender, soft, and a melting heart.”

Whereas he argues that naturally the heart is
“a stony heart… say what you will to a hard heart, it will never yield. A hammer will do no good to a stone. It may break it in pieces, but not draw it to any form. So to a stony heart, all the threatenings in the world will do no good. You may break it in pieces, but never work upon it. It must be the almighty power of God. There is nothing in the world as hard as the heart of man….. “

How then do you get a new heart?
“…Tenderness of heart is wrought by an apprehension of tenderness and love in Christ. A soft heart is made soft by the blood of Christ… I am sure nothing will melt the hard heart of man but the blood of Christ, the passion of our blessed Saviour… When a man considers of the love that God has showed him in sending of his Son, and doing such great things as he has done, in giving of Christ to satisfy his justice, in setting us free from hell, Satan and death: the consideration of this, with the persuasion that we have interest in the same, melts the heart, and makes it become tender… because with the preaching of the gospel to broken-hearted sinners cast down, there always goes the Spirit of God, who works an application of the gospel.”

What should we do with a tender heart to keep it soft? Should we treat it with law and tell it how to behave? No, Sibbes goes on to argue that we should:
“be always under the sunshine of the gospel.”

We treat a renewed heart with the gospel of the Lord Jesus. It is the grace of God that teaches us. Those who are converted by the gospel, stay with the gospel. Those who begin with the Spirit, continue with the Spirit. Indeed the only way to live the Christian life, with a new heart, will be to be filled again and again with the Holy Spirit, who alone will produce change. To treat my own sin with law and rules is to fail to take sin seriously, it’s to say I can fix myself. The only option for the true child of God is to be changed by the Triune God – to pursue the work of the Holy Spirit whom the Father who sent his son into the world has sent into our hearts (Galatians 4:4-6).

• JOLLYBLOGGER: The Truth is Uglier Than We Think, God is More Beautiful Than we Realize: Attached is a quote from m… http://bit.ly/9DY9cb #
• TOAM10 – Interview on Church planting in Australia: Pete Brooks leads the Pacific Rim team of Newfrontiers and Gra… http://bit.ly/9P7ql1 #

Today I share another guest post kindly contributed to help me go on blogging leave:

I’m not really a blogger.  I’m not really a filer either.  But I often read things that I’d like to keep.  Whether they be in the newspaper as I’m taking the train into town, articles and talks online or books that I’m reading.  There are lots of quotes, ideas, thoughts and stories that might be useful when it comes to writing sermons.

And it turns out there are other people like that too. And so quotestonote.blogspot.com was born.  It’s a place where a few of us put potentially useful things with a view to sharing them and using them.

They’re broad in style and genre ranging from Woody Allen to David Attenborough and CS Lewis to John Piper.  It’s really early days yet.  We look forward to seeing it grow as months roll into years.

So feel free to plunder.  If others would like to contribute then give me a shout on twitter below.

Here’s a great quote to leave you with from the increasingly popular Mumford and Sons:

It seems that all my bridges have been burned,

But you say that’s exactly how this grace thing works

It’s not the long walk home that will change this heart,

But the welcome I receive with the restart

Blessings

Dan

http://gracechurchsc.org.uk

http://twitter.com/dansteel77

Today’s post comes from a church planting buddy of mine, James Devenish, the pastor of International Chapel of Vienna.

Vienna is a great city – steeped in history of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and famous for wonderful classical music. A night out in Vienna is to don a collar and tie and take in a concert – a lot different from eating a Kebab from “Greasy Sid’s” on the way home from the flicks. The Viennese love their coffee houses, reading a newspaper for hours over a “Melange”, they like their Schnitzel – battered (in every way) pork – and they love their chocolate cake.

Vienna is truly a multi-cultural city. The tenth biggest city in the EU, and makes up approximately 25% of the whole population of Austria. The United Nations is big in Vienna – it is the home of the International Atomic Energy Agency – famous for their weapons inspectors!

But it is different. Things change when you move to Vienna, as they do whenever you move abroad.

The shops are not open on Sundays and Bank Holidays – great, say all of us who campaigned for ‘keep Sunday special’ in the UK, but red-faced rush through Sainsbury’s for a Bacon Sarnie after Sunday Worship, and skid to a halt when you see the lady who poked you in the eye with a flag at Church in the next aisle.

You are not allowed to use mechanical equipment between 12 and 2 and after 12 on Saturdays. For those who are used to spending the Bank Holidays mowing the lawn – that’s different.

Customer Service is different. In the UK and especially in the USA – customer is king. In Austria, the retail operator is king. Shopping for groceries becomes like completing an obstacle course fit for the Marines.

The grim faced cashier hurtles the shopping at you, whether or not it is on the floor, your head, or in your trolley. It is not unheard of; you play a rigorous game of dodge the cucumber while trying desperately to get your Bank Card out of your pocket.

This is different. I don’t criticise it, but it’s different. I mentioned this to a fellow Brit living in Austria – who thought I was being critical – I wasn’t – and he complemented them on being “brutally honest!” Rather more brutal than honest I tend to think.

Our church is different too. It is made up of those who are here for ever, for 3-5 years, for 2 years, for 1 visit. That’s different and hard. It is hard to build a base, discipleship groups, with a transitional congregation. But I love it.

It is hard to make budget – many are connected to their churches of origin and it seems like they are being asked to support two churches. This needs pastoral care in teaching commitment to the local Church as well as their own church, which includes being generous with our money. Transient, international churches like ours need support as well as indigenous churches.

Some things don’t change. The fact we are all sinners doesn’t change. Austrians, the Internationals, the Brits need the Gospel – equally – we all mess up – we are born in sin.

And God’s grace that goes further than our sin is unchanging. It is the same Gospel whether in London or Vienna.

We have been really blessed this summer with having a more consistent number than previous years – thank you Jesus.

I love the Church. If you love Jesus, you will love His Bride. I love the fact that the Church is an urban – moving and shaking community of young people, I love the fact that the Church is a rural farming community – and I love the fact that the Church is an international discipleship community from 35 nations.

I want our church to be infectious and dangerous – with the Gospel. The Gospel is the only thing that could ever have changed me, and because of Jesus I am a new Creation. But I am not an individual light bulb running around like a headless-chicken – by God’s grace I am part of His beautiful Church.

My prayer is that although different it is, that our church would continue to love the Bible, love Reformed theology, grow in the personal and corporate expression of the filling of the Holy Spirit, and would be a place where God’s grace flows through us and touches the city – internationals and nationals.

My vision is for a sending- place to the nations around. Vienna is a great cog in international travel to the Old Eastern bloc – pray Jesus that it would be an oily cog for the spreading of New Testament churches.

I love what Boaz does for Ruth – he invites Ruth, “Have lunch. Sit down with us.”

She was a Moabite, an outsider. He’s making her an insider, dignity, and worth, and respect, and treating her with equality, and chivalry, and loving kindness – the “hesed” of God that God had shown to him.

As Charles Spurgeon wonderfully put it – Jesus is our glorious Boaz. He went all the way to grace for His Church – for us – and we have this God given command to make disciples of all nations.

Pete Brooks leads the Pacific Rim team of Newfrontiers and Grace City Church in Sydney. He speaks in this video about the challenges and rewards of planting on the opposite side of the world, even though Australia was where he was born and raised. Pete was a great person to interview and I am sure that this story will thrill you, inspire you, and make you ask the important question before you rush into a church plant: am I SURE that this is what God wants me to do? Pete also talks about an exciting change of venue they have coming up, and a long visit by Terry and Wendy Virgo to Australia later this year.

Watch on Vimeo.

Attached is a quote from my friend David Wayne, the Jollyblogger. He was discussing a recent post from Michael Spencer’s wife (link available from David’s post, read his first then Denise’s). Keeping the balance between false triumphalism and wrong-headed fatalism is not easy. Consider these two post as a blog against triumphalism, but don’t allow it to drive you to fatalism!

All of this kind of stuff mirrors what Denise was trying to convey.  She didn’t put it this way, but Christians know the glory story but they don’t know the cross story.  The glory story is that the Christian path is one of glory, observable, overcoming, obviously seen glories as the Christian triumphs over all his enemies.  Thus, the Christian has ears to hear the stories of miraculous healings and beatific deaths because those are glory stories. These people live in a world where we can practice a mechanistic kind of magic with God.  For the health freaks, if I would just I would just imbibe a magic potion concocted by nutritional wizards then like magic I would be healed.  In the spiritual version, a performance of certain rituals of self-exam followed by the prescribed repentance and obedience would free me from my physical ailments.  In any case, whereas doctors are reticent to describe what brought on the cancer simply because the factors that can contribute to any given cancer are innumerable, the glory-story folks know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I brought this cancer on myself and it is up to me to reform myself physically or get right with God.  In each case, suffering is not something a Christian should have to endure and God’s only role in it His deliverance of us from it, if we will meet the conditions.

The cross story says that suffering is the path of the Christian.  If you are a Christian, more than likely you will not go gently into that good night, and I am not using that phrase in its original context.  In the original context Dylan Thomas urges us to rage and fight against death until the last moment.  What I am saying is that if you are Christian your death and maybe even the years leading to it, may not be gentle.

That is the ugly truth I want to write about and I will try to write some more about in coming days is that we still live in a fallen world.  We should no more expect an easy life and death than did the apostles who often died gruesome deaths, nor should we expect greater ease than the many Christians throughout most of history who have met Christ face to face at the end of starvation, disease, or persecution.

READ MORE AT JOLLYBLOGGER: The Truth is Uglier Than We Think, God is More Beautiful Than we Realize.

• Twitter Weekly Archive Post for 2010-08-08: SERMON: What has sustained John Piper for thirty years?: These notes … http://bit.ly/9Vy6uE #
• C.H. Spurgeon on the exclusivity of the truth: Today’s guest post comes to us from C.H. Spurgeon. These are previo… http://bit.ly/aiWa2p #
• 8 Reasons Some Churches Do Not Grow: Perry Noble explains 8 Reasons Some Churches Do Not Grow. Here are the headli… http://bit.ly/aNfNZ9 #
• Blessed are the pure in heart – Guest post by Hannah of Purposeful Purity: To read more from Hannah and her fellow… http://bit.ly/aRb5IX #

To read more from Hannah and her fellow blogger, visit Purposeful Purity.

The inspiration for this post came from a John Tauler quotation (don’t be put off by the universalist beliefs- the quote is excellent!) He says:

“A pure heart is a heart which finds its whole and only satisfaction in God…to which all that is not of God is strange and jarring”

How we do we become so pure? Indeed, why should we try to be, since salvation is guaranteed to the believer?

We know that we should be searching for purity- but our security in Christ can so often allow our sinful hearts to slide into apathy: an acceptance of the unacceptable. What should our motivation for purity be?

-It is preparation for heaven. We must learn to love heavenly aspects of this earth- the other ones will be taken away! (Matt 6v20)

-It is a witness to others. Our removal from the world is a witness to the life changing power of Christ. (Philippians 2v15)

Finally, however, and perhaps most importantly, by seeking purity we are enabling ourselves to know, and therefore love, God more. A Christ-like attitude enables us to delight more fully in our heavenly father. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matt. 5v8)

What a promise! To see God! The same God who, in exodus, said, “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” (Exodus 33v20) Through Jesus’ mediation, our longing for purity will lead us to the face of our heavenly father.

How does one cultivate a pure heart- and make everything alien to God a ‘strange and jarring’ concept?

-We must remove the things that choke and poison our hearts. (Excuse the continuation of the gardening metaphor…) This is, of course, impossible. To be pure is to be like Jesus. Utterly without sin. Even when our outward actions seem to express a Christian attitude, our hearts remain corrupt and broken and selfish. We can’t just accept this. It may sound odd, but I think we should be willing to spend our entire earthly lives frustrated by our own sin and how far we are from God. We should be constantly pushing ourselves forward into his presence.

-The Bible also seems to make it clear that purity is only possible through suffering and hardship. As Spurgeon says, “The furnace of affliction is a good place for you, Christian; it benefits you; it helps you to become more like Christ, and it is fitting you for heaven.” When God promises to “refine (his people) like silver and test them like gold” (Zechariah 13v9) it is not a promise that this process will be painless. Suffering is by no means always an act of discipline, but when it is we have the choice of delighting in returning to God or rebelling against his cleansing of our hearts.

Our desire to stand before God with a pure heart is one that he will honour, when we ask him for it. How often do we ask him to purify us?

Perry Noble explains 8 Reasons Some Churches Do Not Grow. Here are the headlines, visit the site for the details.

#1 – The Vision Is Not Clear
#2 – The Focus Is On Trying To Please Everyone .
#3 – Passionless Leadership
#4 – Manufacturing Energy
#5 – Lack of Prayer
#6 – Unwillingness To Take Risks
#7 – Disobedience To The Scriptures
#8 – Selfish Attitudes