Goodgoat has been searching high and low for a good deal on his car insurance this week. In the book of Acts [of the Apostles] in the Bible those who had become Christians sold all they had and put it into a communal pot so that no-one was left in need. We are way off this in present-day Christian communities (though some of the responsibility for allocating funding to those in need is now taken by the government and funded by our taxes). So…when did you last look at how you spent money, or shopped around for a better deal? Goodgoat has found that he can save c.£60 by taking his legal and breakdown covers from someone other than his car insurer, and has also moved his phone and broadband to a lower cost provider. Simple searches on sites such as uswitch can throw up all sorts of savings. We can get very lazy just going with the “easiest” lowest effort provision of our services – perhaps a more responsible approach is to shop around and contribute any savings to charity?

Goodgoat has had a day where God seems to be breaking through to speak to him…doesn’t happen very often but when it does Goodgoat feels very blessed.

As you may have seen, I am struggling with the story of Jacob wrestling the Angel (well, I think he’s wrestling Jesus, actually, i.e. a being that is both human and divine). 

Tonight at church the “words” that the prayer team had received included a reference to ‘when you walk through the waters I’ll be with you’…which goodgoat feels is where he’s at at the moment. Now, I went forward for prayer ministry and one of the prayers asked God to speak to me, at depth, to let me know what he thinks.

Well, I went for coffee and someone came up to me and said “so the Isaiah 43 was for you then?” – I said I didn’t know my Bible all that well, what is Isaiah 43? He pulled his little Bible out of his pocket and said “But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”

Well, I knew it was God speaking to me from the moment he read out “Jacob” and “Israel” – just the concepts I am wrestling with – being fallen and yet struggling through that to get to where God wants me to be. We have a wonderful God!

If you have a prayer ministry team at your church and you’ve never been forward to be prayed for, can I recommend that you give it a try?

May God bless you.

Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast (the book “Matthew”, chapter 13 in the Bible).

I have come across Christians who discourage other Christians from having any friends other than Christians. I am also aware of some churches turning in on themselves, just thinking about converting people and not looking at what they can do once they’re converted. Well, yeast on its own, unmixed with the flour does not bring life – it’s the transformative effect of the yeast when it’s mixed with the flour that is so inspirational.

So…to me at least, this indicates that we shouldn’t just have Christian friends and need to look to the world beyond church – it also suggests, perhaps, that we should be deeply immersed in our communities and do what we feel God is drawing us to?

Churches with pews in them tend to face a question nowadays - “should we reorder the church?”

This means taking out (I’ll say that rather than the more pejorative term “rip”), probably carpeting the space, or perhaps putting down a wooden floor and then having more comfortable chairs.

Well, the pros and cons of that are infinitely debatable BUT – what about church language?

Liturgy (forms and content of church services for worship) is full of phrases to “We Glorify You, Oh God” and references to Jesus as “Lord” – worship songs keep telling God how “Worthy” He is (I’m sure He knows, but perhaps we’re repeating it to tell ourselves?). Goodgoat got a bit sick of it all tonight at his evening service – now don’t get me wrong I love the richness of liturgy and having to work hard at getting to the inner meaning of texts – BUT, we don’t use this language in everyday life, do we? How about we spend some time reordering liturgy as well as churches – perhaps that way people enquiring about Christianity may see things more clearly?