Tues 12 Feb We met with the elders of Khanyisa church and their
younger leaders. They were a very impressive group of young men and
women, who have taken on a real passion for the church. We told them
our story and they seemed to really like the part where David told
them he started leading a church at the age of 23! We then got them
to ask us questions, which
turned out to be very provoking and quite challenging!
Wed 13 - Fri 15 Liz had an excellent time in Joburg with Ashleigh
Smyth, catching up with all that's happening in their lives as a
family and in the church. They now have two services on Sunday at
8am and 10 am, and have reached over 700 attending, so exciting as
they only started 3 years ago. Their church plant into the city
centre, by the university, gathers up to 100 on Sunday afternoon.
Back in the Cape, David spent time with the Helderberg elders and
with leaders of the Bay in Muizenberg, where he has been assisting
Jeff Kidwell raise up an eldership team.
Fri13 - Sat 14 We spent time away with the leaders of the new church
plant in Tableview. There was great friendship and sense of being
on mission together, and much laughter, especially as the guys and
girls were in separate dormitories, ( not us though, we had our own
ensuite room, they were kind to us oldies!).
Sat eve we had a meal with a group of friends from Jubilee.
Sunday 15 David preached at Helderberg church in Somerset West and
was very warmly received. We had lunch with Francois and Liz Heunis
who lead the church, we have known them since 1984! they are very
dear friends.
Sunday eve, Liz spoke to the women of Khanyisa church. There were no
musicians, but not needed as the women sang unaided in beautiful
harmony and rhythm as they worshipped God. I spoke on being holy
women who are ready for action and my translater, into Xhosa, was
wonderful.
Late Sunday we escaped over the mountain to Franschoek, and had 24
hours enjoying the scenery and vineyards.

This week is being spent having meetings with people to round things
up, we go to our life group tonight and we're looking forward to
starting meeting with our life group at NCC, thanks for inviting us,
Esoph and Thelma!

Posted at 10:46 AM

Last week David spent two days away with the apostolic team across Southern Africa, which proved to be their best ever time together, and much ground was covered.

This then went into two days of prayer and fasting with leaders from all the Newfrontiers churches across South Africa and some from Zimbabwe. It was held at Helderberg
Church in Somerset West in the Cape and attended by 120 or so leaders. It was an outstanding time with a great sense of unity and purpose together and wonderful moments in God's presence and encouragement in the prophetic. There were different themes to look at and pray for, and two that stand out were, the work of the churches amongst the poor, with so much happening, eg, Khaynisa Church has a children's programme out in the township that is reaching up to 2,000 children a week, so they are considering buying a large tent to hold meetings for them on Sunday because there's no room for them in their new church building! Also there was a moment when the political and economic situation across Africa was talked about and much prayer was offered for the fragile state of different countries.

We continue to have great fellowship with the people of Jubilee Church, at the church offices with the staff and also in peoples homes. We spent an evening with David and Danielle Fraser, who are involved in the church plant in Japan. They had to return to SA because their son James contracted Leukaemia, and is undergoing treatment for what will be an extended period of time. We were greatly impacted by their enduring faith and joy in such difficult circumstances, please pray for James' healing.

On Saturday David spoke at a men's breakfast at Jubilee, and on Sunday preached twice at Jubilee, am and pm, on the subject of "Faith". Some folk came back for the repeat performance in the evening because it was so brilliant, well there's devotion for you!

This week David is busy meeting with leaders from different churches in the Cape, please pray for him that God will give him the insight and wisdom needed to serve these leaders well, and help give direction. Liz is off to Joburg to spend two days with Ashleigh Smyth and friends at GodFirst Church. Pray for David to survive and to have time for a round of golf!
This coming weekend we are with the Table Bay Church leaders, led by Wayne Nolan. Please pray for us that we will be great encouragement to this new church plant. Also please pray for Sunday when David is preaching at Helderberg, Francois' church, and the evening when Liz is speaking to the women at Khanyisa church, with translation.

Lastly please pray for health and strength for us both as we're a bit tired and really starting to miss you all very much at NCC, can't wait to be back!

Posted at 11:12 AM

We arrived in Cape Town on Friday 25 January, after a night flight, and drove straight out to Hermanus for the Jubilee Church's senior leaders weekend away. It was great to meet up with all our friends and catch up on the latest news of this fantastic church, and sit out under the stars on a warm balmy evening, sorry!

Dave and Steve Van Rhyn shared the ministry over the weekend, both excellent. I was especially challenged on Steve's word about enduring leadership, based on the life of the apostle Paul. He took twelve values that Paul lived out in his life as a leader, eg, He placed a high value on relationship; he did not peddle for his own gain; he poured out his life for changed lives - transformed lives was the evidence of his success; he knew he was not competent; he gloried in the New Covenant; he understood his own human frailty; he was aware of the supernatural effect of the gospel; he spoke boldly because he knew it was Christ's resurrection power; he lived with an eternal perspective, and other such qualities. Steve told us that the best gift we can give others is faithful enduring leadership.
Saturday afternoon was hot, so we swam in a deep pool by a waterfall, and watched as crazy people climbed up the rocks and jumped off the waterfall!

This week, Tues 29th - Fri 1st Feb, Time spent in the Jubilee office, their first proper week back after their summer break. Met the four Frontier Project students; three pretty girls and Nathan Brown, he seems very happy! David has had meetings with the Jubilee elders, and we've spent time with key people in the church. We went to our old life group for a braai, and had a great time, our life group leaders, Bobby and Sara Couves have 3 month old identical twins, plus two other kids, so they're quite busy, but find time to look after the Holdens!
David has had good meetings with other church leaders in the Cape and is looking to help new leaders emerge as these churches are growing and seeing success.

I continue to be so impressed with the amount of work the churches are doing in serving their local communities and helping to alleviate poverty and the disadvantaged. Some of these include; a legal clinic for those who cannot normally afford such advice; ' Think Twice', a program to empower young people to make responsible decisions regarding sex and relationships; a childhood development programme, that is recognised by local government and helps educate parents in raising their children; these are just some of the new initiatives that are alongside many others already ongoing. What initiatives could we be called upon to put into practice at New Community, only by faith!


with love Dave and Liz

Posted at 9:31 AM

Recently BBC News ran a feature throughout the week on family life in the UK. It stated " Families are changing shape and facing up to new lifestyle challenges." According to the statistics there were 17.1 million families in the UK in 2006, up from 16.5 million in 1996. Most were still headed by a married couple (71%) although the proportion of cohabiting couple families had increased to 14% from 9% 10 years earlier. But according to Mike Murphy, Professor of Demography at the London School of Economics all the evidence shows that there is something in marriage itself that is a benefit. The reason that he could say this is that studies have shown that marriage beats all other living arrangements in terms of benefits to adults and children. Married adults were shown to be healthier and to live longer than cohabiting or single people, whether widowed or divorced, according to the Focus on Families survey by the Office of National Statistics. Regardless of economic background, children living with their married parents were the healthiest and stayed longer in the education system. Extra-marital childbearing and divorce caused adverse health problems for children. Children whose parents cohabit were least likely to be in full-time education at 17. So in every respect it seems that family life that is built upon strong marriages not only benefits the family itself, but also society at large. Sadly much of the youth crime that we regularly hear reported in the News is as a result of children not coming from secure stable family backgrounds.

We are committed to building strong marriages at New Community, not just because of the statistics, but because it was God himself who said it is not good for man to be alone and He therefore instigated marriage as we can read in the second chapter of Genesis - the first book of the Bible. We are now half way through a seven week course designed to help couples build strong marriages. On the current course we have couples who have been married less than a year and others who have been married 30 years. It doesn't matter how long you have been married, there are always areas where we can improve. I found this out myself when in doing one of the exercises on the course I discovered that I am almost incapable of doing two things at once, to the detriment of my poor wife. She reminded me of an occasion when I hadn't heard a thing she had said to me whilst I was working on my laptop.

Using the materiel developed by Nicky and Sila Lee of Holy Trintiy Brompton, this course has proven life changing for the many thousands who have participated in it throughout the country. Marriage is good. We'll be running more courses next year, so whether you are member at New Community, or have never been to church before in your life, I am sure that you'll find the benefit of standing back and taking stock of your marriage. Why not join us?

Steve B.

Posted at 2:42 PM

There was more than a hint of enthusiastic expectation as us guys gathered in the East Sussex country-side. This was not a paint-balling event; hunt’n, shoot’n, and fish’n were also off the agenda. We were gathering to pray.

A dozen of us gathered 2 years ago and this time I hoped for twenty but there came a sense of divine momentum as 27 guys between the ages of 20 and 75 made it.

Fortified by the mandatory shot of caffeine and some rather “up-market” biscuits, we sang songs of worship, helping us to drop our “shopping” lists and preconceptions and focus on the one who ransomed and redeemed us and calls us into intimate fellowship with himself. We took time to pray for ourselves to begin with knowing that there would be time later in the day to pray for families, work, the church and all the other things that clamour for our attention on such occasions.

There is something naturally invigorating about the smell of fresh air and the crunch of freshly fallen leaves beneath the feet, but on this occasion I was also aware of a growing conviction that the Spirit of God was at work and that all I had to do was to relax and let Him do what only He can do.

At 11.15am we gathered again and it became clear that we needed to abandon our agenda and go with God’s. Nick suggested that we ask the guys what things were on their heart to pray for in the Church. Growth, equal numbers of men and women, and diversity, just made it on the end of the flip chart, but it was apparent that there was a greater sense of urgency over issues of discipleship, accountability, worship, the Holy Spirit, and leadership.

Lunch in the conservatory, provided a suitable setting for convivial fellowship and laughter.

We gathered again, at 2.00pm sharp – Dave Holden would have been proud! Again, we sought to give space to whatever God wanted to do. Roughly half the number, went off to spend more time seeking God on their own and the rest of us stayed to pray for each other. With the singing of songs, the Holy Spirit just came powerfully upon a number of individuals, leading to costly confession of wrong attitudes induced by a range of issues from childhood hurts and traumas to disappointments and bruises in Christian ministry. Then a guy came in from walking the grounds, to share that God had shown him an acorn on the ground that represented areas of compromise in his life with the warning that the adjacent oak tree was what it could grow into! He openly invited accountable friendship in order to make lasting changes.

A final burst of prayer took place for wives, families and whatever front of God’s advancing kingdom we would return to. It had been just a taster of the good things God wants to do amongst us but for me it was an immensely encouraging one.

Roger Harris

Posted at 2:04 PM

What a great evening! 180 of us crammed into the room, surrounded by team leaders encouraging each person passing to sign up to their team. Offering cakes, sweets, untold rewards for those who volunteer. Then there were the canapés, the cocktails, each with a little thank you attached to the straw. I love these times because I love to thank those involved in making New Community what it is – such an amazing church.

Many would be surprised at how much goes into making this church a good place to be and function in a way that brings honour to God. In any given week there are over 200 ways in which to participate in one of the 31 teams that serve the church. No one has an excuse to merely fill a seat on Sunday. We currently have 74% of our church community serving on one or more of these teams. Serving is one of the best ways to feel part of the adventure, part of the vision and it’s a great way to become immersed in the community.

Steve Sjogren wrote (Seeing Beyond Church Walls)
"We love, serve, and care for others because that is normal behaviour for people who are filled with God’s Spirit. We are Christians. Christ was the ultimate servant. We can’t help but serve because the Spirit of the servant has filled our hearts. When we serve, we are just being who we naturally are."

Serving- It’s what we were made for!

Derek Gibbs

Posted at 9:13 AM

For all of you who may have been wondering Matt's blog is now up. Click here to have a look.

Posted at 12:57 PM

This will be my lost blog on the New Community website. Having preached my final sermon as lead elder last Sunday it seems appropriate to leave the blogging to others. However, I do plan to start my own blog at the end of August, so that anyone who is interested can keep track of Hosier happenings. Don’t bother to go there yet, but please check back at http://matthewhosier.blogspot.com/ in a few weeks time.

In Acts 20 we read about Paul’s tearful farewell to the Ephesian elders. Acts 20:22 records Paul’s poignant words: “Compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there.” Back in 2001, soon after I had assumed the lead role at New Community, Dave Harvey (http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/) visited us and preached an incredible word from this passage, entitled “Going, Not Knowing”. This has been a phrase that has stuck with me ever since, as it seems to sum up so much of the Christian life.

One of the things that many believers get most stressed about is ‘guidance’. We want to do God’s will, but we want that will spelt out to us with crystal clarity: lights in the sky please Lord, or at least one side of A4 with clear bullet points!

In my experience this doesn’t often happen! Sometimes it does – there is a ‘man of Macedonia’ moment (Acts 16:6-10) – but more often we do have to go, not knowing. We know that our Father calls us to movement – we are meant to be pilgrims rather than settlers – and often we have a real sense that God is moving us on, but frustratingly we don’t always know what this means!

Going, not knowing = Faith!

In the immortal words of Donald Rumsfeld:

“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know.”

I think Paul must often have felt like this!

It is also how Grace and I feel. We know we are moving, but where, when and how is still not clear. As an act of faith our house is now up for sale and it is quite possible that it will be sold with us still not being sure where our future lies. On one hand this seems hugely risky, but (in the moments when we are not feeling scared!) it is also very exciting. It gives lots of space for God to do His stuff!

Being at New Community has been a huge privilege. There is so much we have appreciated about being here and leaving is full of pain, but we are confident that our Sovereign God has a plan for us that will work things to our good and his glory. So we are going, even without knowing – but check my blog in a few weeks and hopefully we will be knowing as well as going!

Much love

Matt

Posted at 9:02 AM

Last Sunday my great friend PJ Smyth was with us at New Community. PJ preached an incredible prophetic message and simply couldn’t have done a better job in setting things up for me as I prepare for my last preach as lead elder this coming Sunday.

PJ preached from Joshua 1 – a passage that has had lots of significance and lessons for us the past few years. His main points are worth repeating:

1. Let dead things die: Too often we hold on to things we need to let go. Sometimes these are negative things that would harm us; but we can also hold on to good things long after God has asked us to move on from them. Are there dead things in your life you need to walk away from?

2. Step up to the plate: A time of leadership transition is an opportunity for everyone to do their part in carrying forward the purpose of God in our community. What contribution is God calling you to make?

3. Hold to your powerful sense of heritage: We have an amazing, God-soaked history at New Community. What past evidence of grace can you dig into in order to move forward with renewed faith and confidence?

4. Be strong and courageous: Change usually brings uncertainty. As people of faith we need to be strong and courageous and not give way to fear. For Grace and myself there is still much uncertainty – where we are going after New Community is still not resolved! – but we are determined to trust God and not be faint-hearted. In what areas do you need to lay hold of divine courage?

5. Understand that the new era brings new capacity for a diverse and far-reaching inheritance: As David Holden takes on the team leadership of the church be expectant that God will open new doors of blessing. What can you do to reach out to people who are different from yourself?

6. Renew our honour of the Word: The word of God is our sure foundation. Are you committed to the word? How is this demonstrated?

7. Resource yourselves like never before: Get your supplies ready for the journey ahead! Dig into spiritually nourishing friendships, faith-building habits, soul-deepening disciplines. Are you a well-resourced Christian?

8. Lay down your own agenda and look to help others: In periods of transition it is natural to look first to our own interests. But we are not mere ‘natural’ people – we are people of the Spirit! This frees us to think more about others than we do about ourselves. What can you do to help build the team at this time?

9. Simply, quickly, willingly get behind the new guy: This is a time for submission, not rebellion. It is a time for eager discipleship, not reluctant following. In what ways can you demonstrate your commitment to the elders as they lead through this time?

We have some Jordan’s to cross in the next weeks and months. Lets do so with real faith and a spirit of adventure. And please pray for Grace and myself as we seek God’s will for the next stage in our journey.

Posted at 12:43 PM

Certain dates stick in the memory.

Some of my red letter days at New Community have been these:

March 26th 1995: The day Grace and I moved here from Canterbury, little knowing what the coming years would bring.
March 25th 1997: The day I was asked to join the staff of the church as youth pastor (having previously been here as a volunteer).
February 20th 2000: The day I came into eldership.
November 17th 2000: The day the elder team along with Colin Baron and Steve Tibbert (who were overseeing the church) asked me to become team leader.
September 14th 2002: Our “History Night” when we celebrated the completion of a £1million building project at our Station Road premises.
January 30th 2005: Our first Sunday meeting at Crown Woods School.

There have been many other red letter days over the years – conversions and baptisms and weddings; amazing times of experiencing the presence of God; breakthrough days and counting the cost days.

4th July 2007 will from now on be a red letter day for me, as it was the day we announced to the church that Grace and I are moving on from here. Our Family Meeting last night was tough, but we felt very supported and loved by so many people.

Over it all we are very confident of many good things that lie ahead for both New Community and for us in the place where we go next. God is sovereign and God is good! Our red letter days are not at an end!

Posted at 9:42 AM

In our family devotions we are currently reading through the book of Acts. This morning we got to the paradigm smashing moment when the apostle Peter went to the home of the Roman centurion Cornelius.

As Peter preached to Cornelius he said, “Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.” When we got to this verse, Grace and I immediately started to rap it. Years ago Mike Hewett, who was then an elder at New Community and heading up our children’s work, taught us to rap Acts 10:38. It has stuck with me ever since.

This demonstrates the power of music and rhythm. It is always much easier to remember words that are set to music.

But much more than that, this verse gives us a manifesto for how we should follow the example of Jesus:
• “Went around” – Believers are meant to be mobile people; always be on the look out for fresh opportunities to connect people with the good news of Jesus.
• “Doing good” – We are meant to do good! The church is salt and light to the world.
• “Healing all who were under the power of the devil” – There is miraculous power available to us. When the kingdom of God comes in all its power there will be no more sickness. In this age we can get a taste of this and see people set free from Satan’s power.
• “God was with him” – And God is with us!

Rap it! Live it!

Posted at 12:01 PM

One of the perils of a blog is that days and then weeks can suddenly rush past without a new entry being filed… mea culpa. I could make all kinds of excuses, but that would just be pathetic!

I love this time of year – everything gets a bit crazy in the build up to the annual Newfrontiers leaders conference (http://newfrontiers.xtn.org). A number of us from the team at New Community are speaking at the conference, and it is an exciting time as 5,000 of us gather in Brighton.

Either side of the conference we will have a number of friends from across the nations with us. On July 15th Evan Rogers from Cape Town will be leading worship and PJ Smyth from Johannesburg preaching. They are outstanding men, of real gifting and character.

Evan and his wife Tracy are pursuing their normal July ritual and just before the conference racing Ironman Austria. This is the nutty end of triathlon, a 2.4 mile swim followed by a 112 mile bike followed by a 26.2 mile run. You don’t have to be fit to build the kingdom of God, but it doesn’t do any harm!

If you can’t make it to Brighton next week lots of the sessions will be available on the Newfrontiers website. And make sure to be with us on the 15th to get a taste of the nations.

Posted at 9:05 AM

Last night a group of us gathered to watch a DVD of rock legend Bono in conversation with mega-church pastor legend Bill Hybels. Bono was vision casting for churches to get in the game in tackling world poverty and combating such issues as HIV and malaria.

I love St Bono. I like his music and his charisma. I like his passion for the poor and disempowered. I like the fact that he has been married to the same woman for a long time and seems to have his family life well sorted. And I like his passion for Jesus. I don’t much like some of his language, but my take on it is that he is a prophet without a church, and prophets outside the church inevitably shoot down some unhelpful alleys – but that doesn’t mean we should fail to listen to the prophet.

Bono has really grasped what God’s grace means. Grace means that we don’t get what we deserve. The universe – and all religion – operates on karma: you reap what you sow. The cross of Christ turned karma inside out. The death and resurrection of Jesus upended the physical and biological laws of the universe, but even more dramatically upended its spiritual laws. Because of the cross I am not getting what I deserve! I have sown sin and rebellion against God, I should be reaping judgement and destruction. But because of the cross I am reaping grace.

Bono has also grasped the kingdom. Look at your bible and see how Jesus constantly talked about the kingdom. Here is a great definition of the kingdom I have just come across, written by a group including Don Carson, John Piper and Mark Driscoll:

“The kingdom of God is an invasive power that plunders Satan’s dark kingdom and regenerates and renovates through repentance and faith the lives of individuals rescued from that kingdom. It therefore inevitably establishes a new community of human life together under God.”

In our focus upon building the church we mustn’t lose sight of being about the kingdom work of plundering Satan’s kingdom. Our vision at New Community is to be a people of Adventure, Purity and Compassion – we are to be kingdom people, creating a new form of life. We are not just about running meetings and “doing church”. Kingdom life must include something of Bono’s passion for the poor. What adventures is Jesus calling you to in the building of his kingdom? For what areas is God stirring compassion in your heart?

A classic U2 track is “40”, based on the first three verses of Psalm 40:

“I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.”

As countless millions of the worlds population cry out “How long?” from the mud and mire of their poverty we need to be a church through which people can see and fear and trust the living God. We need to be grace people, not karma people. And we need to be kingdom people as well as church people.

Posted at 1:20 PM

Sometimes our human attempts to foster international harmony can be a bit of a joke. Last Saturdays Eurovision finals descended past mere irony to the level of international intrigue as the old Soviet bloc nations engaged in tactical voting to ensure the Western European nations couldn’t get near the title. Let’s pause for a moment and think of Scooch… But maybe not!

What a contrast for us at New Community as this past weekend Scott Marques from Harare, Zimbabwe was with us – we had a blast! Well done church for giving £14,000 which will be used for advancing “Farming God’s Way” in Zim and other African nations. FGW is not only a method of improved crop production (although it does see grain yields rise from an average of 0.5 tons/hectare to 5-10 tons/hectare) but a vehicle for kingdom extension. Farmers are not only trained to grow better maize, but are infused with a passion for Jesus and his church. FGW is one of those rare things which is genuinely holistic, providing for people in body and soul.

Scott reminded us what a great privilege it is to belong to a family of churches like Newfrontiers. Some of us are fortunate enough to be able to travel to other parts of the world on family visits but all of us benefit when we are visited by our overseas friends. At New Community we are especially fortunate in being able to pull in overseas guests on a regular basis. In June we have Julian Adams from Cape Town with us; and in July PJ Smyth and Evan Rogers, also from South Africa, will be in town.

We shouldn’t take this international dynamic at New Community for granted. Not every church enjoys the things that for us are routine. And as London grows increasingly diverse in its population we need to celebrate that diversity being reflected among us. We are more and more reflecting the “every nation, tribe, people and language” bride of Christ described in Revelation 7.

Tomorrow I am off to St Louis, USA. While there I will be spending time with John Lanferman & Co., preaching at Jubilee Church and talking with their elders-in-training group. This is just one more facet of us being a church from the nations to the nations. Your prayers would be appreciated!

Posted at 9:48 PM

Posted at 5:03 PM

Last Sunday I concluded my preaching series on “The Supremacy of Christ” with a sermon entitled “The Supremacy of Christ Over Money & Possessions.” While preaching I made some comments about housing which I know will have rattled some people, so thought it worthwhile to further explain myself by blog.

Many of us might not feel materially rich, but do have considerable wealth locked up in our houses. Across the UK the average house price is £185,000, but living in Greater London means our houses are more expensive than average. The average semi in Bexley is worth £247,000; in Greenwich £273,000; and in Bromley £311,000. Using this resource of wealth for the benefit of the kingdom of God is clearly difficult – as it is locked up in bricks and mortar we cannot easily withdraw money to use for the kingdom. However, we can use our houses themselves to serve the kingdom.

One of the impacts of our outrageously high property prices is that many young people simply cannot afford to get on the property ladder, and rentals are also very expensive. It now costs nearly seven times the average yearly wage to afford an ordinary home and mortgages are taking 45 per cent of the average salary, according to official figures. To rent a small two bedroom property in our area costs £800+ per month. At New Community we have students coming from overseas to study in the UK who as well as studying are working the equivalent of full-time jobs (often night shifts) yet are still not able to afford typical rental prices. And it is not only those seeking to get on the property ladder or needing to rent that are caught out. Young couples who do own a property are often unable to make the jump to a larger house when they start having kids. We have young couples with houses who desperately need to be in a 3 or 4 bed semi, with a garden, in order to accommodate their families but just cannot make the jump in mortgage to that kind of property.

At the same time there are those in the church who have 3 or 4 bedroom houses but only use one of them.

Acts 4:32 tells us that in the first church, “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No-one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.” The Acts account makes it clear that the richer members of the church didn’t merely sell everything and give it all away, but they used what they had in an appropriate way to help those in need. We can do the same.

One way in which we could reflect that first church is by using the wealth locked up in our houses to help those whose need is housing. This doesn’t mean that those with more bedrooms than they need should sell up and give all their money away. But an almost equally radical move would be to do a house swap with a family who actually need the space. It would be the most amazing thing for an older couple with room to spare to say to a younger couple with small children, “Come and live in our house for two years, and we’ll go and live in yours.” It might be that a couple in their 50s or 60s who did this would discover that they are engaging in the most exciting and challenging spiritual adventure of their entire lives. It would be an incredible kingdom action.

Somewhat less radical but even more needed is for those with space in their homes to invite people – especially students, and particularly overseas students – into their homes. Some people do this simply because it is helpful financially to have a lodger. But what we need to see is more people doing this not primarily to raise rent, but in order to serve other believers and even to enter a genuine discipling relationship with a younger person. Again, it would be amazing if some of our mature church members were taking young people into their homes, giving them somewhere to stay, praying with them, instructing them, providing a genuine home-from-home for them.

There would obviously be many practical implications to work out if these suggestions were to be picked up. But the church in Acts seemed less concerned about the fine-print and more interested in serving one another and advancing the kingdom. I would love us to do the same.

This Sunday we have Scott Marques with us. Scott oversees the Newfrontiers churches in Zimbabwe and is also a businessman who has used his business acumen to build the kingdom. Come ready to be inspired to be a kingdom builder.

Posted at 5:03 PM

Last Sunday, Steve Blaber shared some changes that are taking place in our youth and children’s teams at New Community. I thought it might be helpful to blog about it for any who missed the announcement.

For the past few years Simon & Sarah Hooton and Grant & Sarah Blowers have been leading Impact, our youth work for 15-18 year-olds. They now feel it is time to step out of youth ministry and to focus on their small group leadership responsibilities and other areas of service in the church. They have done a brilliant job, and we are very grateful to them for all they have done. We are also expectant of great things in the future!

The leadership of Impact will now be transferred to John & Lou Crossland. The Crosslands have been leading Deeper, our youth work for 11-14’s, but are enthusiastic about moving up an age group. John & Lou are gifted youth workers and I expect them to pick up and develop all that the Hooton’s and Blowers have done.

Taking on the leadership of Deeper are James & Hannah Silley. The Silley’s have been leading NiCKs, our 7-11’s children’s work, and will continue to do so. They will have the capacity to lead both age groups as from September James is going to be on the staff of New Community. God’s hand is clearly upon James and we are employing him initially for one year in order that he can test his call and we can discover together how he and Hannah should best serve God in the future.

Last September we employed Simon Leigh-Jones on a similar basis to what we are doing with James this September. Simon has been a tremendous asset to the staff team and has made a valuable contribution in a number of areas of church life. His leadership gift and sense of call are clear and in discussion together with Simon the elders have invited him to join the permanent staff team. One of the areas which Simon will be leading is the pastoral oversight of our youth and children’s teams and the strategic development of this vital part of our church community. As Simon & Kirialie are expecting the arrival of their first child in a few weeks they have a particular vested interest to see this area of the church well equipped and led!

God has blessed us with some wonderful leaders at New Community. Some, like Simon & Sarah, have been part of the fabric of the church for years, but continue to faithfully serve and are unafraid to lead in new areas. Others, like James & Hannah, have only been added to us recently. But whether old-timers or new all of us are called together to see the kingdom of God advance in South East London. Whether or not these team changes affect you directly, I hope that New Community can wholeheartedly embrace and encourage those who serve us by leading in different areas.

Matt

Posted at 8:51 AM

Fri 30 - Sun 1st April; Master Builders Conference at Clarens continues; a time of teaching and equipping up and coming leaders and church planters, from the Kwazulu Natal region, Lesotho, and some from Zimbabwe. An outstanding time with such extraordinary men and women of great calibre. David said the highlight for him was hearing preaching from men who have gone from Dihlabeng church in Clarens and now lead church plants of their own, Thabo from Maaseru in Lesotho, and Simon from Ladybrand both spoke with great insight and authority.
There is a whole crowd of younger black men and women that Steve Oliver has brought through into leadership and the potential in these is guys is very exciting.
On Saturday night we had an offering of not just money, but also a special food offering for the Zim guys to take back home, and it was very moving to see this mountain of food pile up on the stage, and people from the poorer areas giving from their poverty to the needs of others.
Sunday, David preached magnificently on "Suddenly", and then we shot off to drive to Bloemfontein to catch our flight, I had 2hours to drive a 2 1/2 hour journey, easy!
Mon 2 - Thurs 5th April; A virus that I fought off last week returned, and I ended up with bronchitis, and feeling pretty groggy. David had a busy week, spending time with the Jubilee elders and meeting with other church leaders in the Cape; Khyanysa church and with the Mitchells Plains elders.
Fri 6 - 8th april; We fly to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, ( Air Zim is interesting, we flew in a small Chinese plane), to spend the weekend at River of Life Church's Easter camp, an hours drive out of Bulawayo in the Matopo Hills. Bones and Tash are very well, Tash looking bloomingly lovely as her baby is due at the end of the month. A very hectic weekend with a church made up of about 200 twenty somethingyearolds! We were the old people, it felt like being a mum and dad of a very large family! A very basic camp, with the only electricity coming from generators, and a few moments of no water, but hey when your'e twenty and having fun who cares? Great times of worship, so alive and loud!, and such passion in a country of such extreme hardship, these people are very special. David's teaching was very well received and we had a wonderful time just hanging out with folk. As for the afternoon games and activities, well I was recovering from bronchitis, so I just sat and watched with amazement at all the crazy antics! Ever heard of chairball?
Easter sunday saw several people being filled with the Spirit in Taps' seminar and then in response to David's challenge for water baptism, over 20 folk baptised, wonderful!
Sunday night ended with camp fire songs African style round a bonfire on top of a koppie, till late.
Mon 9th April; We leave the camp early to be met in Bulawayo by two guys who are going to drive us to Victoria Falls. An interesting 5 hour drive, as the guys had brought their families along for the ride, and they all crammed in the back! Several stops to avoid various wild animals, including six elephants who just charged across the road in front of us, and the to be expected in Zim police road blocks.
We have 3 days in a lovely African style hotel, thatched roofs, open and airy, up on a hill, overlooking the bush, with a waterhole in view of our balcony. Very restful time; Vic Falls is breathtaking, more powerful than I could have imagined, not just the sight but the sound, the incessant roar made you tremble with awe, David went back a second time, it was a boyhood dream to see the falls after all; a sunset cruise on the Zambezi, sighting hippos and elephants; and I went walking with lions, and lived to tell the tale, ( they were big, 11 months old! and very playful and starting to hunt), my guide said don't worry, they're just like teenagers, very unpredictable then, I thought, and I'd just signed a disclaimer form!.
Thurs 12th April; We fly to Durban to be with the new church plant , Hope Church, and to spend time with Gary and Nicky Welsh and Drew and Megan Land, who are leading the church. We have an outstanding time with them and their leaders on Sat morning, David sharing with them on servant leadership, and their warmth and love amongst their relationships as a team was very impressive in such a new church. As well as Gary and Drew, they have an excellent Indian couple in leadership with them, Ivan and Stacy, the church is very multiracial from it's beginning. Sunday they meet at 4pm, so in the morning David preached at the Newfrontiers church in Amamzimtoti, led by Gareth Bowley and then at Hope church, Durban in the afternoon. Things are doing well in KZN and Toti have just sent a guy to help lead the church in Matubatuba.
Mon 16th April; back home in CT, a meal out with Terry and Wendy, who arrived last Thursday, great to catch up with them.
Tues 17th; David meets with Jubilee elders and Terry. I get to see Mirjam from Holland ( remember her?), who is out here on holiday. Evening spent with Jeremy and Michelle, who lead all the children's work in Jubilee, and get no sympathy for Englands pathetic performance against SA in the world series!
Wed 18th; David meeting with Francois and the Helderberg elders. Tonight we get to go to our Life group, it's a formal dinner!

Missing you all and really looking forward to seeing you all soon, please pray for the Together on a Mission conference in the Cape this coming weekend, David, Terry, Scott, PJ and Steve Oliver all speaking as all the churches in the Cape gather for this conference.

Dave & Liz

Posted at 9:18 AM

This week saw three English football clubs make it to the semi-finals of the Champions League. Suddenly the Premiership really does begin to look like Europe’s premier football league. Although they have often not been the best of friends, one characteristic shared by the three managers of these clubs (not including the fact that none of them is actually English!) is that they have the attitude of winners. Fergusson, Mourinho, Benitez – you just know that they want to win and will never be satisfied with coming a “good second”. Throw Arsene Wenger into the mix and the four of them would make for a most entertaining cage fight (my money would be on Fergie)!

The attitude with which we approach things makes a huge difference to the outcome. Why is that the England football team can never win a penalty shootout? It must be a problem of attitude rather than technical ability.

As followers of Christ a vital part of our discipleship is getting our attitude right. Philippians 2:5 commands us to have a Christ-like attitude – one that causes us to be more concerned about helping others than serving ourselves. Out attitude also needs to be one that is characterised by thankfulness.

Over the next few months at New Community we are building the teaching in our small groups around being a people of praise and developing a culture of thankfulness. Being thankful goes against our cultural grain. We are conditioned to moan – about the weather (too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry), the government, the NHS, schools, teenagers, the trains, our neighbours, etc., etc. There is a huge industry geared around feeding our dissatisfaction and trying to sell us solutions: “Move to France; buy a new car; go on a diet; get a new job.” There is not much in our culture that encourages us to be encouraged!

As a result, lots of people have attitudes that stink! It is easy to carry this into the church, to moan and respond to any new initiative with a, “That’ll never work…” But instead we are called to be a people of praise. I love the apostle Peter’s instruction to us about this:

1 Peter 2:9-10 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

Having a good attitude is not something that just happens. We have to make a deliberate decision to sort our attitude out. In his book “Developing the Leader Within You” John Maxwell writes this:

“We choose what attitudes we have right now. And it’s a continuing choice. I am amazed at the large number of adults who fail to take responsibility for their attitudes. If they’re grumpy and someone asks why, they’ll say, “I got up on the wrong side of the bed.” When failure begins to plague their lives, they’ll say, “I was born on the wrong side of the tracks.” When life begins to flatten out and others in the family are still climbing, they’ll say, “Well, I was in the wrong birth order in my family.” When their marriages fail, they believe they married the wrong person. When someone else gets a promotion they wanted, it’s because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Do you notice something? They are blaming everyone else for their problems.

The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total responsibility for our attitudes. That’s the day we truly grow up.”

Let’s be people with good attitude. While we will never coach a football team to European glory we can all make a decision to approach life with a winners attitude, giving thanks to God for his amazing love, grace and mercy.

Posted at 12:08 PM

Mon 19th March - Met Steve and Ann Blaber from CT airport. Great to
see home friends! Took them for a walk along the sandy beach at Hout
Bay in glorious warm sunshine, and then later out for a seafood
dinner at Kalk Bay, where they and David indulged in enormous seafood
platters and I had a fish called "elf ".
Tues 20th - Took Blabers to Jubilee staff prayer meeting, they were
asked to share some funny stories about us, ( we are no longer
friends), and then David and Steve spent the day with the elders and
others at Jubilee. Ann and I were taken out by Jeremy and Darlene
Cons, who lead the work with the poor, to visit members of Jubilee ,
who live in the Langa and Jo Slovo townships. Rosemary is a
lifegroup leader who lives in Langa in a small wooden house with a
corrugated iron roof, probably a similar size to your large garden
shed. She shared her extraordinary story, in perfect English, of her
conversion and deliverance from alcoholism and occult curses, and
near death sickness, and her love for the Lord and passion for the
word of God. She is an outspoken evangelist and cares much for the
poor and needy. We visited another church member, Joyann, who lives
in a housing shelter as she is homeless, and her children have to
live with a friend as she is too ill with TB to care for them.
Jeremy and Darlene had brought provisions for her and discussed with
her how to get her to the clinic for her treatment, and of course
prayed for her.
We then went to visit Jo Slovo, the oldest township in Cape Town, and
spent time with a lovely young family, the husband has received
sponsorship for training as an architect, but they live in abject
poverty, most of the houses in Jo Slovo are rough shacks, poor
sanitation and no proper roads. The government's rehousing programme
is moving very slowly for folk like these.
Tues eve - David and I take our last parenting seminar, this time on
raising teenagers, another great evening, with lots of lively
discussion.
Wed 21st - Human Rights Day, so a public holiday. We take Steve and
Ann on a wine tour, visiting the beautiful vineyards around
Stellenbosch. In the afternoon we meet up with our life group for a
picnic tea.
Thurs 22nd - Steve went to Durban last night for a finance meeting.
David has appointments all day, Ann and I visit Jo Lozides life
group, a group of women from the poorer area of Observatory, ( where
Jubilee's building is ), and Saltriver. We had a wonderful time with
these godly women who have all been saved from very difficult
domestic situations, some of them having spent time in prison, and it
was thrilling to see changed lives through the power of the gospel.
Jo also showed us the halfway house that Jubilee runs, for women as
they first come out of prison.
Thurs pm - went to the monthly meeting of all the folk involved in
leading social action projects, it is incredibly impressive the
amount of things going on in this church to make a difference in
society. One fairly new project is a medical clinic, set up in the
Jubilee building, to give free medical care for the poor people in
the area. Karen is a medical doctor and has a nurse to assist her,
and they have a dispensing licence now, and are seeing an increasing
number of patients. They not only give medical advice and treatment,
but share the gospel and pray for their patients.
Sat 24 - Steve and Ann take a day out, ( it's their wedding
anniversary!), David spends the whole day preparing sermons, and I
go to a creative painting course with my friend Sara, say no more! I
do end up with a painting, which I shall not be bringing home!
Evening braii at our house with friends plus an NCC reunion, with
Dave and Tam Irish, Sarah Peters, Di French, Steve and Ann, fun.
Sun 25th - Jubilee Church meeting 9. 30 am. David preached an
excellent word on being "saved and added", which was well received
and he challenged people to join the church if they were still
hesitating. Lunch with Steve and Ann at the Wild Fig restaurant, on
the terrace in the shade, sorry!, and then they go off for two days
exploring, before going back to the UK.
We go to the Table Bay Church plant launch service at 3pm. Over 300
people are there, many coming from Newfrontiers churches around the
Cape to support the launch, and various local dignitaries and local
church pastors also came. Emmanuel, an elder from Jubilee, and
Wayne Noland, who worked for 3 years with Howard Kellett in
Manchester, are the leaders of this new church, and we had a great
celebration and Steve Van Rhyn preached. The core group of the
church, number about 70, and from the start are very diverse culturally.
Tues 27th - David and I fly to Bloemfontein, hire a car, and drive
two and a half hours to Clarens to arrive in time for the Southern
African Newfrontiers Prayer and Fasting being held at The
Dihlabeng Church, led by Steve Oliver. We stayed at the Olivers farm,
which is surrounded by stunning scenery, you look across to the
mountains of Lesotho, which the farm borders on.
Wed 28th and Thurs 29th - Two outstanding days of prayer, with folk
from all over South Africa and some driven down from Zimbabwe. A
large number from the Clarens church of course, who also led
worship, made it very vibrant. There is a new sense of kingdom
advancement and mobility, with several new churches being planted and
increasing numbers of people being saved. The momentum of prayer
never wavered, and we ended with praying for other nations of the
world as David gave a report of what is happening elsewhere.
Thurs eve - The start of the Master Builders Conference. A yearly
conference led by Steve Oliver, now in it's fourth year, to train and
equip leaders. 230 are booked in and everyone is accommodated and
fed by the Dihlabeng church, they are an amazing church.
The worship is wild, you can't not dance! Scott Marques preaches a
truly mighty word on "The Kingdom and Money".
After all that we go out with a crowd into Clarens to find food!
Dave & Liz

Posted at 1:06 PM

On Wednesday 25th March, 1807, the British Parliament passed a Bill which abolished the trans-Atlantic slave trade. This marked the conclusion of a long fight by such figures as Thomas Clarkson and William Wilberforce, although it was to be another 26 years before slavery itself was finally abolished throughout the British Empire.

Slavery was in many ways a hidden problem in Britain. Slavery wasn’t actually recognised in Britain and under a judgement made in 1772 any slave who set foot in the country automatically became free. Yet it was slavery that helped establish Britain (and other European nations) as economic powerhouses. The profits of the “Guinea trade” washed into the British economy through the ports of Bristol, Liverpool and London and brought riches to many, both directly and indirectly. Manufacturers of various goods profited as these goods were exchanged in West Africa for slaves. Owners of plantations in the West Indies (including the royal family and Church of England) grew rich on the sales of slave-produced coffee and sugar which were consumed by the populations of Europe. It took considerable courage and huge determination for Wilberforce and others to undermine all this.

While not all the abolitionists were Christians, it was Christian faith that motivated many of the key figures. As Murray Harris notes in his excellent book “Slave of Christ” (IVP), “Christianity sounded the death-knell of slavery; or, to change the metaphor, it laid the explosive charge, or one of the explosive charges, that would ultimately – although sadly, belatedly – lead to detonation, and the destruction of slavery.”

Sadly, two-hundred years on, slavery still does exist in different forms throughout the world. A key area of concern in the UK today is the number of women (estimated to be between 4,000 and 10,000) who have been trafficked into the country to work in the sex industry. These women undoubtedly live as slaves – stripped of all dignity and autonomy and often brutally treated. But the men who use prostitutes are also in a way slaves – slaves to their lusts and themselves demeaned and diminished by their activity. As Proverbs 6:26 says, “The prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread.”

Of course, it is not only prostitution that holds many men captive. Far more are in the thrall of pornography. No longer do we need to go looking for porn – it comes looking for us. Whether it is magazine covers in the newsagent, a dodgy film on TV, porn on the internet, or images downloaded on mobile phones, the availability and explicitness of porn is at an all-time high. This is a huge issue for the church. Few men will easily volunteer the fact that they have been looking at porn and the very secretiveness of the subject only increases its hold upon people.

Porn tears holes through church life as it leaves men feeling guilty and unable to participate in prayer and worship. Men are rendered impotent in their leadership and marriages are undermined. Porn is a drug and porn-junkies become spiritually lobotomized.

What are we to do, to free ourselves from this slavery? Here are a few suggestions:
1. Lets begin by making the assumption that all men are attracted to porn and all men have looked at porn. This assumption levels the playing field and gives us a place from which to begin a conversation.
2. Tell someone! As James 5:16 instructs us, we should, Confess our sins to each other and pray for each other so that we may be healed. Without confession it is hard to get healed.
3. If you are married, talk to your wife. Whatever your level of temptation or involvement in porn you need to enlist your wife’s help in the fight against it. For many men this is a huge step, which seems to carry all kinds of risks, but it is one that as leaders within our homes we need to take.
4. If you are a wife determine to enter this fight on your husbands behalf. Discovering that your husband has been using porn can be hugely traumatic but you have to get past the shock and determine to help him.
5. If you are married you have got to work on your sex life. Husbands need to take the lead in initiating conversation about what you need sexually and why you need it. Together you have to work at developing mutual satisfaction and understanding.
6. Get some accountability – but make sure you ask for it from someone who will be brutally ruthless with you. You also need to find someone who will dig for the real reasons that you are looking at porn – normally this is because of some emotional need as much as simple biological desire. You need someone who will help you unpack all this.
7. Turning to porn is usually looking for some kind of comfort. Jesus promised his disciples the Holy Spirit: “the Comforter.” When you are in need of comfort, stop just long enough to pray to the Comforter – “Holy Spirit, I need your comfort. Please keep me from sin” – and allow him to comfort you, rather than an image on the screen.

Posted at 12:49 PM

Thurs 8th March; Harare, Zimbabwe.
We drove to Westgate Newfrontiers church, who were hosting a "Farming God's Way" conference, that had been running all week. Farmers from all over Africa were there to hear about the success of Brian Oldrieve"s initiative of zero tillage farming. It was a fascinating mix of prayer, worship, sharing of ideas and the more scientific values of this type of farming. One farmer told me how he'd been evicted from his farm in Zim and had moved to Zambia and was now selling maize seed back to Zim!
Matt, Simon and Colin joined us and we all became experts on worm compost; and I have to say I went for a wander at one point and found Simon and Colin asleep under a tree, they just haven't got the stamina! The evening brought a five a side knockout soccer tournament; which seemed to turn into an extreme sport when our English team, Matt, Simon, Colin, David plus one Zimbo Stephen, played against some giant looking Afrikaaner farmers who proceeded to start playing rugby half way through the match! Needless to say Matt scored the winning goal and the English went on to win the final on penalties, with the goal posts, ( oil drums ), being constantly moved by various supporters.
Fri 9th; David preached at the conference and as a result, two farmers responded to his word and were baptised in the pool, one of them being the tree like afrikaans farmer, who sobbed with his friend in the pool and David it was very moving. I meanwhile went to sports day with my friend Claire Marques to see her son and friends, and afterwards out for pancakes!
We then went to Scott and Claire Marques ( he leads the apostolic team in Zim), for a braii with all the team from across Zim, plus Edward and Freda Burea from Kenya.
Sat 10th; David met with the team and I spent the day with the wives, meeting up with the men for lunch. In spite of huge challenges, the churches are growing and new ones being planted and their faith is extraordinary. I was particularly impressed with these women who have such compassion for the poor and are involved in many different initiatives to help people; eg starting an education programme to help children, approx age 12, who are heads of households due to the ravages of Aids, to give them domestic skills as well as an education. 3,800 people die a week in Zimbabwe.
Sun 11th; At Eastlea River of Life church, exuberant praise and worship, lots of contribution, and David preached on the person of the Holy Spirit, 8 people responded for salvation. Afternoon and evening spent with Sibs Sibanda and Mount Pleasant church, David spoke on the history and progress of Newfrontiers and we both shared personal testimony, great crowd.
Mon 12th Fly to Joburg, only to discover after we'd left Zimbabwe, that the opposition leader had been arrested and violently beaten while in custody. With this underlying tension that continues we need to constantly pray for our fellow believers in that country.
Tues & Wed 14th; Two days away with PJ and Ashley Smyth and fellow elders and wives of GodFirst church. Brilliant time of sharing, prayer and lots of laughter. They are stretched and we need to pray for more leaders to come through as they continue to grow and plant a new church into the city.
Thurs 15th; Back in Cape Town. Drive 2 hours up the West coast to Langebaan, to spend time with two Newfrontiers churches. Out for dinner, restaurant on the edge of the lagoon, with the leaders, Jac and Megan Adamo, and Theo and Jackie Reynolds, great evening.
Fri 16; David has sickness bug, ( most of the Jubilee office came down with it earlier in the week!), so I made the decision to cancel the rest of the programme and drive him home. Quiet evening watching final episodes of West Wing, what do we do now?!

Dave & Liz

Posted at 9:04 AM

23 - 25th Feb in Joburg. We spent an excellent few days catching up with our friends in GodFirst church. The church is growing at a fast rate and they are regularly getting over 400 people at their sunday meetings. They are in the process of planting a church in downtown Joburg, near the university, called Braamfontein and are meeting on sunday afternoons.
It was a great time on sunday, amazing multicultural worship, Dave preached and challenged people to commit themselves to be baptised, 35 responded!
Crime continues to be a problem in Joburg and Cape Town. We know several people from both Jubilee and GodFirst who have recently either been mugged on the street at knifepoint; been held at gunpoint in their cars; and even been tied up in their homes and robbed. They need our prayers for protection and that fear will not overshadow their thinking.

26 - 6th March back in Cape Town. Derek and Jenny Gibbs to stay, to see what we're up to, and spend time looking at what goes on in Jubilee.
Time this week in the office at Jubilee, catching up on emails, phone calls, David meeting with the elders, fellowshipping with lots of people as they pop in and out.
Parenting seminar Tues, Part 1 of a series of 3. We spoke on Laying a good foundation as parents; fatherhood and motherhood. Good positive group there.
Wed eve; took the Gibbs's to our life group; Bobby and Sara Cooves who lead it, actually did their marriage prep with Derek and Jenny 7 years ago in Sidcup! It's a new life group and all very motivated and committed to seeing growth. David took the guys and I took the girls, separately, for a chat on whatever we wanted to speak on !
Thurs am; Cape Elders meeting for all the Newfrontiers cape churches, about 50 present, outstanding time of worship and David spoke on friendship and the need for guys to relate more together across the churches and serve and encourage one another.
Fri eve; We went to Salt - Jubilee's weekly youth event, again a very diverse group, with quite a few teenagers coming in from the townships. Led by Chris and Caren Taylor, who are so brilliant with these kids. David spoke and we were also interviewed.
Sun am David preached at Jubilee on being a community and made a special point of honouring people who had been in the church for more than 10 years.
Sun eve at Jubilee was Dave and Liz on the couch! An hour long interview by Steve Van Rhyn, so people got to know our story, how we met etc, it got quite hilarious so goodness knows what people think of us now!
Tues- busy day at the office. Eve; Parenting 2; The practical side of training and discipline; provoked lots of interaction and questions.

Wed 7th March Fly to Harare, Zimbabwe.
Wonderful Zimbabwe, in spite of the terrible situation, inflation now at 1700%, the constant challenge of finding fuel to drive, the church is magnificent and the people are full of passion, it is such a privilege to spend time with them.
Wed eve. David and I spoke at Eastlea River of Life church, on the subject of relationships. The church is covering a series on biblical manhood and womanhood midweek, and we got given a slot! After speaking we separated into life groups, men and women apart and both had excellent discussion on biblical purity in relationships and all it's cultural challenges!
Back to stay with friends, and a power cut, so you get to see the stars without the interruption of electric light, wow, what a universe.

Dave & Liz

Posted at 1:02 PM

For something that the secular society has for decades been claiming is dying out, religion is certainly in the news a lot.

Richard Dawkins has been stirring things up nicely over the past few months with his book The God Delusion. The Oxford professor really doesn’t like people of faith. Commenting in the Times about Nadia Eweida, the British Airways worker threatened with dismissal for wearing a small cross, Dawkins said, “I saw a picture of this woman. She had one of the most stupid faces I’ve ever seen.” Thus speaks the voice of reason!

This week the news has been full of the story of the supposed discovery of the bones of Jesus, or at least the ossuary that once contained them, along with those of Mary Magdalene. Film director James Cameron is making a titanic story about something which is archeologically (never mind theologically!) ridiculous. Amos Kloner, who was responsible for excavating the site, was reported as saying, “It was an ordinary middle-class Jerusalem burial cave. The names on the caskets are the most common found among Jews at the time. It makes a great story for a TV film. But it’s impossible. It’s nonsense.”

Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code revealed an eager market for religious conspiracy theories like this. There is something tantalising about the thought that shadowy and powerful religious leaders have for 2,000 years been guarding grand secrets about Jesus – that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had children and their descendants remain at the heart of a secret society to this day.

Of course, the Christian faith is mysterious! It doesn’t need the embellishment of Hollywood to make it more amazing. In this season of Lent, as we approach Easter, we are reminded of the mystery that God himself should take on human flesh, live as a man, die on a cross for our sins, and be raised to life never to die again that we might have life with him.

The apostle Paul once made this appeal: “Pray for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.”


We shouldn’t fear the attacks of secular fundamentalists like Richard Dawkins, or the fairy tales of James Cameron or Dan Brown. We shouldn’t even let it worry us. Let them have their say – in a few years no-one will remember them anyway! Instead, let’s focus on telling people our story – a story full of drama and suspense and mystery. But a story that is true.

On Sunday 11th March Tope Koleoso will be with us, describing how the mystery of the gospel has shaped his life. Tope, originally from Nigeria but now living in Enfield, was the Chief Biomedical Scientist at one of London's Hospitals, before becoming a church leader. Join us at Crown Woods school at 10am to hear him tell a good story.

Matt

Posted at 1:17 PM

This is our first attempt at keeping you all in touch with us and our goings on in South Africa. As you know we were back in the UK for a week and returned to Cape Town on Sat 17th. Took forever to get through immigration, Loads of English, Germans and Americans coming on holiday.

Met up for lunch with Steve Van Rheyn, who leads Jubilee Church where we are based while we're here. The church has so welcomed us and received us, and we are so impressed with all that they are doing. They are in the process of planting a church in the Table Bay area of Cape Town, and the lunch was spent chatting to a couple who are considering joining the church plant to get involved in leading worship, with a multicultural emphasis.

Saturday evening we had dinner with Lindsey Pettit, who is the widow of Simon Pettit, who used to lead the work apostolically in South Africa. We had a lovely time, and she told us about her involvement in a prison ministry to bring education to teenage boys who are awaiting sentence, and can spend up to a year just sitting around with absolutely nothing to do.

Sunday morning we were at Jubilee, it was a guest service and they gather about a 1000 every week, Lex Lozides preached and thirteen people responded to the gospel. Lex has been trying to help Dave with his preaching, to include the gospel and get a response; he hasn't quite got the same response as Lex yet, must be some thing to do with anointing!

We went out for lunch with Derek and Jenny Gibbs and Jenny Finley, (plus two dutch men!), sitting out on the restaurant terrace under a vine for shade from the intense heat, (sorry!). In the evening met up with some life group leaders based in the southern area of Cape Town, where they are planning to inject fresh life and passion into old familiar territory.

Monday, our day off, oh dear so much choice, which beach shall we go to? Monday night, fly to Joburg and stay with PJ and Ashley Smyth. Great catching up, GodFirst Church growing rapidly, they had 370 adults on Sunday, 37 of them first time visitors from local Joburg.

Tuesday, we drove 4 hours to the Drakensburg mountains in Kwazulu Natal, for a 3 day team meeting with the Southern African apostolic team and wives. An outstanding time, sharing news of all that's happening in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Wednesday, the team got down to work, and the wives took off for a day of friendship and fun, which included a visit to a birds of prey demonstration, but in the wild, and I ended up with a huge eagle owl on my arm. But watching eagles take off and catch the thermals and soar effortlessly, was a timely reminder of our call to take time out to catch the thermals of God's Spirit and escape with him away from the distractions on earth.

Thursday, we spent the end of our time together worshipping and praying for each other and drove back to Joburg, where we are for the weekend in GodFirst. Dave is preaching on Sunday and it's great seeing people again and catching up with everything that's happening.

Be in touch again, thanks for your love and prayers, we need them,

Dave and Liz.

Posted at 12:59 PM

Welcome to the New Community blog.

Our contribution to the blogosphere aims to keep you up to date with some of the things happening at New Community. We will also be using it to report on what different members of the team are doing, especially when they have been travelling overseas. There will also be occasional comment on social and theological issues that have caught our attention.

One social issue that has caught my attention recently is the Unicef report about Britain being the worst place in the developed world to be a child. There has been a media feeding frenzy the past few days about who to blame for this. The spate of shootings of (and by) teenage boys in London has added to this frenzy.

The reasons behind the reports findings are of course complex. It is too easy to play the blame game and point the finger at a particular political party or social policy. As this is a national problem there must be a sense in which we all share the blame for the type of society we live in. Politicians can make a difference, but how children are raised is something for which we all share responsibility, whether or not we are politicians, or parents.

One of the biggest changes that has happened to our children over the past 30 years is a decrease in their sense of emotional security. When I was at primary school there was only one child in my class whose parents were separated – we all just assumed that our parents would stick together. Now, my children go to school in a very different environment, and the assumption is that parents don’t stick together. 30 years ago parents didn’t drop their kids off at school wearing t-shirts with “FCUK” written across them. 30 years ago the shops didn’t sell crop tops and g-strings for 9 year-olds (they didn’t even sell them for 29 year-olds!).

A lot has changed over the past 30 years, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the love of a heavenly Father for his children. And the role of church in providing a place of family for all who want to join it hasn’t changed either. I was fortunate to grow up in a family where I knew my parents loved me and were faithful to each other. I was also fortunate to grow up in a church where I had scores of “aunts”, “uncles” and “cousins.” My biological family was great, but my church family added real richness to life. In a world where the family does seem to be increasingly screwed up, church should be a place where all of us are able to find security and faithfulness – and purity.

March 18th is Mothers Day. It is a day that we want to use to celebrate God joining us into his family. We’ll have the children contributing to part of the meeting, and we’ll dedicate those babies that have been born to church members over the past year. We will also honour motherhood. But most of all we want to use the day to celebrate what God has done for those of us who have been adopted into his family, whether we are divorced, married or single, parents or childless, old or young.

I’ll see you there, 10-11.30am, at Crown Woods School.

Posted at 7:24 PM