This Means War: By Bernadette Groves-Wright

Today's post is shared by a dear friend and sister in Christ.

Bernadette Groves-Wright is an amazing British women whom I met on a combined Grace Chapel Alpha weekend during lunch. Bernadette has been a Christ follower for five years now and her joy for life and love for Jesus are truly contagious. I am thrilled that she said yes to serving on the Alpha team at Grace Chapel several years ago and even more excited that she said yes to serving as a member of our upcoming Global Alpha Team trip to Haiti. 

Various team members will be blogging through their experiences along the way, and this is the first GAT Team Haiti installment!

I was so excited when I saw Pastor Richard Rhodes’ email about taking Alpha to Haiti.  Little did I know that my excitement would so quickly turn into an intense spiritual battle!  

After spending a couple of days in prayer, I felt the call to go to Haiti. I emailed Lisa and told her that I was interested.   Lisa and I emailed back and forth for a couple of days sharing our excitement for this upcoming mission trip.  After a couple of days, Lisa asked if I would be prepared to lead the prayer team sending out emails and recruiting prayer warriors.  I was delighted to be able to help and sent many emails out over the course of the next few days.

On Friday morning shortly after I started these emails; I woke up with a sense of foreboding; my stomach was in knots and I was extremely irritated – my poor little doggies couldn’t do a thing right.  My day at work did not go well; it ended with me feeling extremely agitated and weepy.  Decisions I make on a day-to-day basis at work were absolutely overwhelming me – I chalked it up to a bad day!  On Saturday morning I woke up feeling worse.  I felt totally overwhelmed with life; useless, unable to do anything; my mind was an absolute whirlwind of emotions and I felt as though everything was caving in on me.  I was drowning in apprehension and fear; emotionally drained and totally exhausted. I started pacing around my apartment; the walls were closing in on me.  I had to get out, so I got into my car and immediately sent text messages to a couple of friends asking them to pray because I realized that I had been blindsided with an intense spiritual attack.   I had not “suited” up and had left myself completely wide open.

One friend called me while I was driving and prayed and I met and prayed with the other friend over lunch.  We agreed that I would go through each room in my apartment and bind Satan in the name of Jesus.  I did this immediately and then I got down on my knees and prayed to God to provide protection for everyone involved.The feeling of oppression continued to hover over me but I did feel stronger.  

 I met Lisa for supper on the Tuesday evening, explained to her what had happened, and she said she had also been experiencing intense spiritual warfare but her comment “I consider it all joy” completely changed my thinking.  I had never heard anyone refer to a spiritual attack as “pure joy” before; but she is absolutely right; we are stepping out in faith and in obedience to God and the evil one is hopping mad WHAT A JOY!! 

I will look at spiritual warfare from a totally different perspective in future and “consider it all joy” but I have also learned a sharp lesson, armor up every day, we are in a battle.  

So ARMOR UP my fellow “Alphanians” and keep your sights on Jesus and His plan  – TO BRING ALPHA TO HAITI!!!  

Eph 6:12-17 "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."


2 Chronicles 20:15 This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.


James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Silos, Politics and Turf Wars

Silos, Politics and Turf Wars? 

You have an innovative outreach idea that has the potential to make a huge impact. You begin to try to implement this wonderful NEW outreach idea knowing it could help build a bridge between ministries to move seekers along on their spiritual journey's. As you move forward, you discover that established ministries within your church are not interested in your bridge? As a matter of fact you watch, as they dig a mote around their turf, call others into their castle and raise the drawbridge around their kingdoms.

Sound familiar? Disillusioning right? Sad? Kind of takes the wind out of your outreach sails aye?

You cast vision and try to build a bridge to the Christians (before you can begin building a bridge to the seekers) You try to dialog, but you get stiff armed, no one answers your e-mails or returns your phone calls. When you do finally connect, you hear comments like: That is not how we do things, we have always done it this way, if we promote this, won't people leave our ministry and attend yours, if we cooperate/partner with you, we'll be out of business, why are you competing with us?

Amazing how we can get so invested in our own kingdoms, that we can totally miss investing in God's kingdom and His mission.

I realize that I can be just as guilty as anyone else. If I am not careful , my focus can shift from God's agenda to my own agenda. It's very subtle, you answer God's call, you step up to lead, you raise up a team, you give sacrificially and spend hours investing in your mission, your ministry and your people. It's easy to start thinking it's yours, but it's not! It all belongs to God, and I need to remember to hold things with open hands offering it all back to Him. It's His kingdom not ours and hopefully change will drive us to our knees and force us to see the bigger picture.

We have the potential to powerfully impact lives with the Gospel if we call an end to turf wars, tear down the silos and let down our drawbridges. People experience God's kingdom when we tear down the walls and serve together, for His kingdom and glory, not our own. Let's remember who bought and paid for the castle, it all belongs to the King of Kings!

Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

John 17:20-22 Jesus Prays for All Believers “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one:

Would you like to learn more about how to combat Silos and Turf Wars? Patrick Lencioni is a New York Times best-selling author, speaker, consultant, founder and president of The Table Group, a firm dedicated to helping organizations become healthy. Lencioni’s ideas around leadership, teamwork and employee engagement have impacted organizations around the globe. I heard Patrick give a great talk a few years ago at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit, called Silos, Politics and Turf Wars and it gave me great insights into how to gather people around a common mission.  http://www.tablegroup.com/

The Gift of Desperation

I grew up being taught about Jesus but I never really knew or followed Jesus, until much later in life. When I have opportunities to share my story, I often tell people that God gave me the gift of desperation, I had nowhere else to go but to Him. That was the beginning of my adventure filled love affair with God, much more beautiful than I could ever have dreamed my life would be.

Since then, there have been many more God desperate moments in my life, but the difference is, now I know Him, and I know He is with me even when I don't see or feel Him. It's in those desperate times that God often does His best work in me and through me. 

I remember walking through what seemed like a long season of spiritual warfare and trials. I felt confident that I was being obedient in what God had asked me to do, but it seemed as if all hell had broken loose around me. God seemed silent and far removed.  I was desperate to meet with and to hear from Him.

It's in these times that we stand still, cry out to God and move forward in faith not knowing what's to come. "Follow in the dark what you knew to be true in the light", was my mentors word of encouragement to me during that season, and it was great advice. In our darkest hours, in our moments of desperation just when we are ready to throw in the towel, God draws us nearer, He brings light and shows us deep and hidden things about Himself and He presses us forward with a renewed and deeper faith in Him.

 

Oh, how wealthy are the people who need God desperately; whose treasure in the darkness is a deeper knowledge of him.

He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. --Daniel 2:22

The Challenge of Remaining Faithful During Times of Spiritual Decline

Today's Blog Post is presented by Alpha New England's Director of Field Ministries, Dick Kiernan. He also leads Alpha for Catholic outreach all across New England. Dick's passion for building unity among evangelicals and Catholics is evidenced by speaking about this unity at conferences, and promoting and practicing it wherever he travels. (Click to view Dick Kiernan's full Bio)


I confess that I have a deep-seated fear of getting caught up in the unimportant matters of this world rather than staying focused on God’s kingdom.  There are so many distractions that I find so tempting and I always want to keep my guard up so I can resist finding myself compromising my convictions.  

For example, years ago we were supporting US missionaries in Mexico, and when they would return home for visits we would ask them what they had noticed had changed since they left.  Sometimes they noticed the latest rage like when all the little boys got Game Boys and were continuously playing video games.  Other times they noticed things that were more serious—they told us they were shocked that women were dressing so immodestly.  Or, they visited a church that was known for being alive and they found they seemed very lethargic to them.  Base on this experience I continue to try to imagine what things are changing in my culture that I should be resisting.

There are many biblical images about this that I find help me to recognize how important this is.  For example, in Matthew 16 Jesus criticizes the religious leaders and calls them wicked because they are looking for miraculous signs to show Jesus has come from God.  Instead, Jesus says the only sign they will receive will be from prophets like when God sent Jonah to call Nineveh to repentance.  Another examples comes from Revelations 2-3 where we see seven different ancient churches all drifting off into different problems and distractions—and each one needs a warning to set them straight.  Years ago when I took a course to study the Bible our final exam on the Old Testament came from Nehemiah 9.  This chapter presents a short summary of how many generations of God’s people had continually become unfaithful and drifted from obedience.  I’m convinced this is happening to us right now in 2011 and so I’m asking myself—how can we be found faithful in times of spiritual decline? 

I think one of the answers is to recognize that the Lord sends prophets in every generation and we must be careful to welcome prophets to speak into our lives.  I remember years ago that David Wilkerson, the author of “The Cross and the Switchblade” wrote about how the Lord called him to reach out to inner city gangs in New York.  Later on in his life he would often speak very challenging and unpopular messages to Christians.  He would often give these messages with tears and sadness—which so impressed me because he was so courageous and broken hearted over the sins of our times.  I would say my favorite prophet of our times was Pope John Paul II who on so many occasions was willing to completely contradict so many popular leaders and viewpoints.  Another favorite was Mother Teresa who came to speak at Harvard and dared to say, “you are the truly poor people of the world.”  We need prophets to speak to today’s church, and we also need prophets who will be willing to speak into our personal lives.  With so much uncertainty in today’s world let it be said of us that prophets are always welcome in our fellowship.

Dickkiernan@alphausa.org

Outreach: How Do We Measure Success? Can We Fail?

I have been doing outreach for the past three years, with a team of amazing leaders. They have passion, heart, courage and tenacity. They love lost people and are committed to loving them over the long haul. They stepped out in faith with me in a big way to blaze new trails. They could have played it safe, following the well worn path of others, but they wanted to live life on the edge with God. You know, going to that place God is calling you,  knowing that the whole thing is doomed to fail, unless He steps in. Ever been there? "Evangelists drive the church in a good way" my wise pastor told me," because they are never satisfied, they are always looking for ways to reach just one more" Do you live in that tension?

We have seen and are seeing God at work in amazing ways on our journey together. He is transforming our seeking friends lives as well as our own. We have prayed, worked hard, given and loved. We have poured lots of sweat and yes tears into our mission. But what happens when you pray, build relationships, work hard, promote, train, plan and invite and ... seekers don't come? Has this ever happened to any of you? Time for true confessions. When I work on outreach events/projects this is a huge fear I have to do battle with. Doubts creep in and try to drown out my faith. In our humanness, it is so easy to let the fears take over, to rationalize and justify that it's not worth taking the risk. Oh but it is, it really is!

A defining moment happened for me this fall. While sitting in a meeting, one of our pastors asked, "if we run this outreach successfully, what will that look like"? How do we measure success? Does outreach fail? When I Googled "failed outreach" ... (to learn more about failure)... I came up with nothing, as hard as I searched. Good news right! Because as a wise mentor once told me " An outreach is successful if we GO, the rest is all in God's hands" How do we measure success in outreach... by reporting numbers, setting goals, and making our quotas? Or ... Do we understand that we are successful when we are being obedient and faithful to the mission God has intrusted to us? Do we need to be good stewards, to prepare, and organize? You bet. Do we need to try to discern where and how God is at work? Absolutely! But at some point we have to "GO", and when we go, we are successful in God's economy.

I can remember my heart being broken into pieces many times. I have spent hours weeping in prayer over seeking friends who walked away, still not knowing Jesus.(my own children included) Ever been there? I LOVE that Willow Creek has a crying bench up front near the cross so believers can sit and weep over lost family and friends. They don't sugar coat it or deny it, they expect that there will be pain. Outreach will cost us something, just like it cost Jesus. Our job is to be faithful in loving, praying, inviting, asking, and going. Please feel free to share your outreach experiences as well, I would love to hear from you.
Be blessed as you go, knowing you are already successful.


Philemon 1:6 I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.

Hebrews 12: 2-3 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Failure to Launch

I was talked into surrendering my Blackberry last year, and made the leap of faith, with much fear and trembling, to an IPhone. I still have my training wheels on for sure, but I am beginning to get over the trauma and learning curve and have begun to feel pretty pleased with myself.

A few months ago I discovered a new (free) game app for my IPhone called, Sheep Launcher. "Now here's something that will charge my batteries", I thought! The object is to launch a sheep as far into the sky as possible, without letting him fall to the earth and splatter. (I have successfully launched my sheep into outer-space and earned the rank space cowgirl) Silly game? You bet!

But It made me think, "Ohhhh if only mobilizing the church to share their faith could be this easy"! Why don't we sheep launch? Why do we prefer to stay in and get fat? How is it we so easily forget how precious the lost ones are to our Heavenly Father? Why is there a failure to launch?

Matthew 18: 12-14 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

Jesus loves lost sheep.

Navigating Cultures

I am second generation Portuguese and all of my family came to the US from the Azores (a series of small islands off the coast of Portugal) We often sponsored other families, so they could come to live in the United States, in the days when that was still possible.

Early on, I noticed that my Dad possessed great sensitivity and he seemed to always be on the look out for folks who needed a hand getting started in life. As a kid I remember my family helping, Azorian, Costa Rican, and Korean families and I have fond memories of Dad bringing home: stranded travelers (lost newlyweds who camped in our backyard), a deaf gentleman (who he gave a job to) and a long series of stray people and dogs. (which my mother always took in stride) My childhood was so much richer because of those experiences.

As a kid I learned to navigate cultures...Our Portuguese traditions, heritage,language and religious practices were often in tension with those of American culture. But somehow as time went on, I learned to navigate, (to cross back and forth in and out of the various cultures that surrounded me) I had no idea what an important life skill that would be and I certainly had no idea how much my father had shaped me and taught me to notice, welcome, love and even become a champion for those whom society often casts aside.

It is easy to play it safe and interact with people who look and think just like us. You know people with the same backgrounds, education, socioeconomic status...They go to our gym, our country club and they know the right people...It's not risky and those relationships may get us somewhere right?

How often do we reach out to people who don't look like us, those who think a bit differently than we do on important issues, those who don't have our socioeconomic and educational advantages? Do we  realize how much they have to teach us, how much they have to offer. There is a richness and depth to these types of relationships that is discovered in no other way. But to cross cultures takes humility, we must strive to become life long learners and listeners. We must plead our ignorance and ask our new friends to patiently educate us.When we show up, when we notice, when we listen, when we risk, God shows us amazing things, about others, about ourselves , and about His vision for the kingdom of God.