Wesleyan class meetings

This quote is from page 119 of William A. Beckham's The Second Reformation:Reshaping the Church for the 21st Century.

'Each person reported on his or her spiritual progress, or on particular needs or problems, and received the support and prayers of the others.'

Seems to me that the Wesleyan class meetings were an early form of what I envision open mic church to look like. If every church functioned in this way, with freedom to share and support each other instead of pretending everything is hunky dory for an hour every week, God's army would be taking far more ground than at present. We have to be real with each other and with God, or we are letting Him down. It is time for change!

Things I have learned this past week:

-Bowling with bumpers does not improve my game




-The game Wizard101 is extremely addictive and as such should not be played by anyone

-In my strength, I fail. In God's strength, I succeed.

-I can now empathise with football players and fans alike who say that referees are blind. Come on ref, he was offside by a country mile (before he scored that fifth goal...)

-God says 'do not be afraid' and several variations of this 365 times in the Bible, which is one for every day of the year! Perhaps there is a reason for this, i.e. if He is with us, WHO can be against us? (Romans 8:31)

-My Pink Half of the Drainpipe by Bonzo Dog Band is an awesome song. Very real yet extremely clever, and hilarious. What a combination

-When we feel trapped in life, as though in a cobweb, Jesus doesn't just have the power to get rid of the spider. He can get rid of the entire web!

Important lessons

I've joined a new football team recently and love playing with them. Not only are they a great bunch of people who are really encouraging and a good laugh, but their work rate is fantastic. Unlike previous teams I've played for, where some people would lose heart and determination when losing, this team keeps going and pressing right until the last minute. Though we've lost our first two games this season, there has been some outstanding play and it's great to be part of such a team where enjoyment and effort are the main goals (though of course victories would be nice). I'm learning an important lesson in humility too. As a defender I've always known I have pace and can win the ball when I need to, but when it comes to ball control my abilities leave a lot to be desired. So when playing in a big squad with people who can pass and move really well, I'm learning I'm not one of the best (which in the past has been the case) and that I need to play well to hold a place down. It's great to have this level of competition though and I look forward to the next game. Come on Four FC!

Furry Happy Monsters

Ok so maybe it's not the best thing R.E.M. ever did but I discovered this today on Youtube. Can't believe I haven't seen it before:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkHM8xG6i8o

There should be more puppet/band collaborations on TV in my opinion.

'Come on monsters, don't be sad. We can be happy!' Love it.

Accidental discovery

I made what to me was a great discovery in the early hours of this morning. Students of missiology will be well-acquainted with David Bosch's book Transforming Mission. They would likely have referenced it time and again in essays and no doubt heard it quoted many times in the course of their studies. The man was an academic with a powerful voice; in fact many would say this book is the authority on the study of Christian mission and God's activity in the world. It is an informative book with weighty arguments. It is also quite substantial in weight itself. This is why, in the early hours of this morning, when a little dog was persistently trying to get into my bedroom to disturb the cat and I from our slumber, I reached for the nearest heavy object, namely this book, and stuck it behind the door. Alas, the dog huffed and he puffed, but he couldn't blow the door down. This is the definition of a heavy read.

Research findings

I made what I thought was a really groovy pie chart for my dissertation to show some of my research findings, but I couldn't get it onto here, so I'll have to talk you through it. There are four sections: Two from the Sheffield ACTS Open Mic Church and two from the one in Yeadon. The sections are divided between those repsondents who said they were happy to call the vent 'church' and those who were not. In Sheffield, two-thirds said it was church whilst around one-third said it wasn't, whereas in Yeadon more than 90% said it was church compared to less than 10% who said it wasn't. Interestingly enough, none who said it was not church could justify why this was the case save to say that it lacked certain elements of church that they were used to. Obviously information could only be gathered from those who chose to provide it, but it is fair to assume that those who did so both wanted to and thought they had something valid to say, so their comments were welcome. Those saying it was church justified it so by largely focusing on it being the body of Christ or God’s people gathered together to worship Him and talk about life using His word and the gifts He has given His people. Several also reminded of the fact that church is comprised of people and not buildings, therefore ACTS may have been different to what most if not all were used to, but it was seen by a considerable majority as either being church already or at least having the potential to be called so. Works for me! Yeadon now seems to be a permanent location, with others scheduled for Monday 27th October and Wednesday 3rd December. The hope is to make them monthly events in the New Year. Contact me with any ideas or questions or if you'd like to perform at any of them. God bless.
:)

ACTS Open Mic Church.
Because church SHOULD be fun!
www.myspace.com/actsopenmicchurch

Dear friends and supporters of ACTS Open Mic Church,

Thank you for supporting me in my vision of an open mic church. However you have supported me in my dissertation writing or at any of the events I have called open mic church, thank you. I write firstly to express my gratitude to you but also to tell you some things that perhaps you didn’t know about ACTS, and things that have encouraged me thus far. The vision came to me about sixteen months ago now. Paul writes in Romans 12 that whatever our gifts should be, we should be encouraged to use them. In a nutshell, I believe in a church where everyone should be allowed to use their God-given gifts. If this is in an open mic context and secular setting, those who enjoy open mic events but who are unlikely to enter your average church would likely enjoy an open mic church, and even participate in some way. Whilst there, if a gospel message is given and the Holy Spirit is invited to have His way with this...I truly believe lives will be changed for Jesus. I believe open mics can be risky, but the amount of ways in which people can hear the gospel and which God can work in people’s lives truly excites me. I’ve hosted two open mic churches so far in my research, and below are brief summaries of what happened and what I learned, but more importantly what God did! I wanted to be able to justify ACTS as church in order to use the name (instead of just ACTS Open Mic), so I had short postcard questionnaires scattered around the venues to collect information.

Sheffield, Showroom Cafe, 20th February 2008
This was the first one. About 100 people came. Feedback was mixed but largely positive, with over two-thirds saying that to them ACTS was definitely church. Some of the acts were brilliant. We had rap, poetry, song, music, Scripture readings, mini sermons, dance, prayer drama and testimony. Most were Christians but some non-Christians performed. There were technological problems and some acts were given too much time, resulting in a very late night and even people leaving. I was nervous and put a LOT into the event, leaving myself completely drained and vulnerable to all sorts of spiritual rubbish. No wonder I was largely disappointed. The vision took quite a battering after this event for several months, both in conversations with people but also largely in my mind. Still, after Sheffield I believed another one should happen and in a totally different venue. Where better than in my home town?

Yeadon Cricket Club, Leeds, 20th August 2008
I was much more relaxed about this event. I did far less in terms of preparation because I was determined to just ‘let go and let God’ (bar the all-important spiritual preparation of course). I truly knew His peace. I was really encouraged by the degree of local support. There were around 50 people there, aged from 9 to 90(!), and we had puppets, music, testimony, story, poetry, drama and a word. All bar one respondent said it was church, and people commented on the open, friendly atmosphere.

What God did
I’d love to say every non-Christian at each venue came to Christ there and then, but I can’t. Obviously a lot of what the Holy Spirit does in people’s lives can be unseen, at least initially, but some awesome things happened at both events. In Sheffield, one of my non-Christian friends travelled some distance to support me. Since ACTS she has been reading one of the gospels. She said it’s opened her eyes to a new world but isn’t sure what she believes yet. But still, she’s reading the Word of God! Also in Sheffield, a homeless man turned up who didn’t know about the event and didn’t know anybody there. He said he ‘felt drawn to the place.’ Once inside, he heard the gospel. One of the pastoral team prayed with him, gave him a Bible and even paid for him to stay in a hostel that night. He said he felt all warm-not unlike John Wesley’s heart-being-strangely-warmed experience at Aldersgate! At Yeadon, there were only two non-Christians present excluding the bar staff. I know this because I knew almost everyone in the room. One is thinking more and more about the things she has heard and the day after ACTS prayed the first prayer of her life, and the other wants to come on an Alpha Course my home church is running shortly. Praise God! So it seems thus far that ACTS seems to be a time of spiritual reawakening, which can lead to some fantastic things such as nurture groups and the relational evangelism around the tables, and a good number of Christians have been encouraged in their faith also.

The future activity of ACTS Open Mic Church
Several people have said to me that ACTS should happen again, including the cricket club bar staff. As I’m now living in Yeadon for the next two years, I feel it’s time to take a bigger step out of the boat. What the heck, let’s leap out of it. ACTS will happen again on Monday 27th October this year, and again on a date in December which is yet to be arranged, both at 7pm. The October date is to-be-confirmed but I will inform you of any changes should they occur. Unless God says no, I’m looking at a once monthly open mic church happening from January. A couple of people said to me that more people would feel comfortable about speaking at the mic or having an ‘act’ when they get used to the people, place and setup. So we’ll keep doing it, especially because God is at work within it. He is so faithful. On the advice of a learned friend I’m learning not to assess each event in terms of success or failure but just to invite God to have His way.

Prayer points
- For those who were spiritually awakened, that they will come to faith in Jesus Christ
-That I can get my dissertation finished and passed, and apply all I’ve learned to the future of ACTS
-That I and the others who are involved (including you?) will hear God’s voice and direction regarding all the above
-The most important one: That God has His way with ACTS Open Mic Church

Thanks and God bless,

Matt Wright:)
<><

jesusistheway@live.co.uk

OBSESSION

I used to be obsessed with David Bowie. Not just interested, not just fascinated, but obsessed. I didn't just like his music or lifestyle, I wanted to understand it and breathe it and everything else. Many people didn't understand this. In fact, for those who didn't like or hadn't heard his music, every time I spoke about him it was like a waste of air. But not for me, because I thought he was amazing. I'd never met the guy, but I felt like I did. And I felt like he understood me too, even though he knew nothing about me. Listening to his songs it was like, 'Wow, that's exactly how I'm feeling.' Any of you who've known me for two years or more will know a lot of this.

The book To Major Tom was written by a life-long Bowie fan, and it is basically a collection of letters he wrote to Bowie over the years. Even though Bowie never replied, the author thought that he understood him. Something about Bowie kept him writing, kept him obsessed. I only discovered Bowie in 2000, but I can empathise with him even though I'm glad to say I never took things to this extreme. When his music asked questions I was desperate to find out the answers, and I took great delighted in understanding the things he sang about. I read 1984 because he sang about it. I bought a vinyl record of Holst's Planets because it influenced him. I got into Iggy Pop and Lou Reed because they collobarated with Bowie. I like bands he influenced, like Pet Shop Boys, Placebo and Depeche Mode. I bought a contact lens to make my eye a different colour to look like his, just like Marilyn Manson did. I don't think I need to go much farther down this track, except to say:

-I named my cat 'Ziggy' after the Ziggy Stardust album
-I owned all his studio albums (30+) and could tell you in which year each was created
-I owned a good number of his films even though some were awful
-I owned many biographies
-I owned Bowie t-shirts
-I talked about him often
-I joined his online community, which included a Bowie email address
-I wrote poetry about him
-I wrote my first university dissertation on his songs
-I dressed up as him on fancy dress occasions
-Seeing him live in 2003 was like a religious experience for me
-I knew the words to every song
-I would listen to his music every day
-I had a Bowie song for probably every significant moment of my life
-I would listen to him every day, my choice depending on my moods
-If I'd have gone on Mastermind, my specialist subject would have been David Bowie
-I even got a tattoo of the above lightning strike (which Marilyn Manson copied on one of his tours)

Obsession is an appropriate word. I took one man I had never met and made him much bigger than he actually is. I made him an idol. My hope was found in his songs, as was my comfort. In fact, many of my emotions found mirrors of themselves within his music and I would always retreat there for 'normality'. I also found myself becoming interested in many of the things he was and even trying some of the things he had done.

But this was not good for me! Enjoying music is one thing, but taking things to this kind of stage is not healthy. When I became a Christian, I carried on doing the same things. It didn't feel wrong, and because I was safe in the belief that Jesus, not Bowie, had saved me and he was more important than Bowie, I thought all was well. This time last year however, I really felt God was telling me I shouldn't keep listening to his music. There is after all place for only one God in my life which is one of the Ten Commandments after all. So I whacked all my books, cds, videos, dvds etc. on E-bay. Most have gone, and others will be car boot-ed. I thought I'd miss it, but I really don't. When we become Christians God deals with us one thing at a time, enabling us to slowly become more like the people we were created to be-slowly more like Jesus. 'Have no other gods before me', said God. You've got it. My hope now is in Jesus Christ. I haven't seen him live, don't have any of his music and haven't named any animals after him, but I am writing a dissertation about him and I do have a book about him that changed my life. He is where I find my strength, he is where I have my meaning, my identity, my all. In my tattoo I have a permanent reminder of the mistake I made when I put so much into something that would ultimately let me down, and in Jesus I have all I need.

Things I have learned this past week

-Gareth Barry stayed at Villa after all, which is nice

-Youth work looks like a challenge, yet like there are a lot of laughs to be had

-Fiat Pandas are cool

-Strangers can be more kind-hearted than we often may expect

-Puppets have been used in evangelism since the 14th century and perhaps even before

-Wagamama is an awesome resaurant, and I can actually use chopsticks after years of failing

-God can take something we don't think we've done very well (like a sermon) and still bless people through it

-My dissertation IS going to get written

-I have the best friends in the world

-Andy Kaufman may have been on it against his own will, but Taxi was a very funny show

-As Christians it is more important WHO we worship, not how we do it