New Wine day 7

I'm home.

A rather curtailed day at New Wine today brought on by some commitments next week that need considerable preparation.

I'm clean.

I've had a bath and a shower and a shave. It's not that there aren't showers and opportunities to shave at New Wine, but there's nothing quite like having a shower and a shave in your own home.

Today began with another excellent talk from Kenny. Then I got the car and began packing it. The children were a little upset when they came back from their groups to find that we really were leaving and so they would miss their final session this evening. It's not a decision I like to take - we've always stayed to the end before and will do so again next year, but we really did have to get home (I know- excuses, excuses!)

The journey home was fine, unpacking smooth and getting clean highly satisfying. All that's left to do know is to reflect on my notes a little bit more and, err, put it all into action. 24/7.

Dramatic testimonies rarely change ordinary people #nwcsw11

Wow! A great final talk from Kenny Borthwick. He talked again about the twins of 'Nurture and 'Mission' and how the church in the West had become very good at the former, but not the latter.

But what really struck me was the truth that it is important not to over-elaborate or exaggerate my testimony. Real people don't need whizz bang, they just need to know that there's a different way to live. We don't need over-dramatic testimony.

One of the ten commandments says: "Don't bear false witness against each other." how much worse would it be to bear false witness against God. And then there's Eve committing the first sin by exaggerating to the serpent about what God had really said about the Tree of Life.

I guess it's important to tell it. And tell it true.

"The whole place of repentance and surrender is missing" #nwcsw11

Kenny Borthwick spoke these words this morning when talking about the two different words for 'word' used by John in Chapter 17 of his gospel.

While both of them have been translated as 'word' the Greek behind them is quite different. One of then indicates knowledge from heaven, the other, the unalterable truth of the gospels.

It is this latter 'logos' that struck me the most and that inspired the quote from Kenny in the title above.

We live in an age in the church when there had sometimes been an over-emphasis on grace. Kenny mentioned various gurus and leaders on the forefront of the emerging church and speedily growing movements who have said that 'doctrine doesn't matter anymore - it is only grace.'

Yet it is doctrine, coming from the Bible and so elegantly framed in much of the liturgy of the Anglican church that speaks of repentance and coming to the cross. It is those words of saying sorry for our sins that open up the whole world of gave that we don't actually deserve. The gospel does matter.

As Kenny put it, God has His arms of love, but you still need to walk into them.

I wonder if it would be worth having a corporate repentance for this attitude at New Wine - we may not have been personally or corporately responsible for these sort of wrong attitudes ourselves - but there may still be a place for saying sorry on behalf of others.

Where are the tent makers at #nwcsw11?

This was the first title I wrote in my journal as a potential blog post when I arrived at New Wine this year.

I suppose I've always been impressed at how Paul was a tentmaker, working hard by his own hands (1 Corinthians 4). The assumption I've always made is that he (at least) paid part of his way through his own trade. It's encouraging for those of us not in full-time ministry to see how effective Paul was.

I looked through the list of speakers and, not knowing much about them, I had written down the above title, presuming that all of the speakers would be full time ministers of some kind. Now I've since learned that I'm wrong in that - Caroline Cox, the speaker on Tuesday is clearly not in full time ministry, and there's been quite a few seminars addressing Christianity in business.

But what was interesting was when I met an old-friend who's recently left a secure full-time vicar position to plant a church in deprived part of Cardiff. It's been a calling on his and his wife's life for a few years and they've finally got the right timing from God to do it. A brave move.

What I found especially encouraging was that he will be training as a science teacher next year to support the mission financially. He even used the phrase 'tent-making'.

And as I reflected on this and other things - like words that have been spoken over me this week, and the way the New Wine leadership are always encouraging us to step out o the boat - I realised that I had answered my own question. The tent makers are all around me. We are the tent makers. I am a tent maker.

Many of use are much better at our tent-making than our following Jesus. We out our time and effort into our careers, sometimes at the detriment of everything else. It is only at events like New Wine where we realise what the balance could look like. But as Bishop Zac said last night, we need to get out of the 'garage service' and get used to being 'in Jesus' 24/7.

There are only 2 verses in the Bible which refer to Paul's trade - his tentmaking. There are many more that detail his wisdom, his exposition, his reasoning and his deeds that furthers the Kingdom. Maybe I need to think on that when I'm looking at the choices I make about how I spend my time.