It's time to rest. Pick up your phone

On Saturday, I attended the Youthwork Summit in Manchester. The Youthwork Summit is a one day event that features many great youth workers and Christians speaking for just 10-15 minutes on a topic (very similar to the TED conferences in USA).

For me, the most inspiring and though provoking topic was on helping young people find rest in a hyper connected culture from Sarah Percival.

With all the new ways of internet usage, how do we encourage people to find the rest God gave us in the Bible (Shabbat)?

Should we put our phones down, turn our computers off, and hide from the internet?

No.

During her talk, Sarah challenged us that instead of telling our young people to put their phones away and switch them off, to ask them how we can use them as part of our rest.

She explained how she had done this with her youth group. They opened the Bible to see what it said about rest at Exodus 20:8-11

 “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.” 

(NLT)

This passage demands 3 things from the Sabbath:

1.       Stop work

2.       Do it together

3.       Honour God.

There is no reason we can not do these 3 things on our phones.

Its about how we use them.

We need to get creative.

Sarah challenged us to take up our phones and explore Shabbat with our young people in this way. What new and exciting things may we discover about ourselves and God as we do?

There will still be moments when it is useful to switch our phones off, but have we missed something by ignoring the possibilities they present?

Share your ideas and take up the challenge of rest with your phone through the comments or the ALOVE Anglia facebook and twitter accounts.

Let's Pray!

On Palm Sunday (13th April), the Anglia Youth Band led the meetings at Stowmarket Corps. This post, and the one that will follow tomorrow, contain the message I gave at the two meetings.

After telling this story, Jesus went on toward Jerusalem, walking ahead of his disciples. As he came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead. “Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying that colt?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

So they went and found the colt, just as Jesus had said. And sure enough, as they were untying it, the owners asked them, “Why are you untying that colt?”

And the disciples simply replied, “The Lord needs it.” So they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it for him to ride on.

Luke 19:28-35 (NLT)

This may seem an unusual passage for talking about prayer, but hopefully I can uncover some new truths in a passage I am sure you have heard many times before.

In the passage, Jesus directs two of the disciples to go and fetch the colt for his ride into Jerusalem. This is not an unusual request by Jesus – he often asked the disciples to undertake strange tasks for him (e.g. casting fishing nets on a different side of the boat, feeding 5000 people with a packed lunch, etc.), and in verse 32 we see the disciples obeying this instruction. They go to the village, untie the colt and answer the owners as directed.

This immediate and obedient response from the disciples is a little out of character. Looking at just two other examples of Jesus’ requests to the disciples, you can see what I mean.

In Luke 5:4-5, we see Jesus instruct the disciples to throw their nets to the other side to catch fish, but Simon Peter’s response is “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again” – not exactly enthusiastic! It almost appears as if Simon Peter is just humouring Jesus at this point, not obeying out of faith.

Then in Luke 9:13, Jesus has just instructed the disciples to feed the 5000 men, not including women and children. What is their response? “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?” Again, a mix of sarcasm and not much obedience!

I’m sure you can think of more times where Jesus gave instructions and the disciples were less than enthusiastic, or times where they missed the point of Jesus’ ministry.

In this passage, there is no record of what the two disciples said to Jesus after receiving their instructions. We are not even told which 2 disciples he sent, and therefore are unable to think of a possible response based on our knowledge of their personalities based on other passages. All that we have is simple obedience. Given the honest recording of the other incidents, maybe this time they really did just get on with it instead of talking back. After all, by this point, they had spent 3 years with Jesus. Their faith would have grown, as seen by this obedience.

But what about us?

How do we react to Jesus’ instructions?

How do we receive his instructions?

Are we like the disciples in this passage, or the other times?

As Christians, we are to follow Christ’s directions just as much as the disciples did. When we pray, when we read our Bibles, when we attend church services, we should be coming with hearts open to hearing God’s directions. And once we hear them, we should step out in faith like the disciples.

But this wasn’t an immediate faith and belief the disciples had. It was developed over time. We too must develop our faith by spending time with God. We can do this through our prayers, Bible reading, and sharing in fellowship with other Christians.

Pray, and step out in faith, like the disciples this Easter. And if you don't yet have that faith, spend more time with him and ask for your faith to be increased.

Meeting with Royalty

On Monday morning, the world woke to the news that the Duchess of Cambridge had gone into labour. The long awaited royal baby was on its way! The world’s media had been gathering outside the hospital for days waiting for the moment when we would learn whether a prince or princess had been born.

I’m not a big royalist, and I was a little frustrated after 2+ hours of news coverage once the prince was born. And then there was the waiting for him to be named, and first pictures, and I really was rather sick of it all be the middle of the week.

But I can understand the excitement, even if I don’t share in it. There is anticipation for the future of the British monarchy, and it spills forth into all the publicity and excitement we see. The line is secure, and the Royal family is set to continue for a number of generations still. A future king has been born, and that’s exciting!

The Royal family is a strange topic for a blog post, I’ll admit, but next week, 50 young people will be gathering for the East Midlands and Anglia Summer School (EMASS) to spend some quality time with the King of Kings, and that’s what’s exciting for me!

Whenever we come before Jesus, our hearts should be full of anticipation and excitement. We’re meeting with the King!

I know that sometimes when I come before God, I can feel like it’s a chore, or my mind is on all the other stuff I need to get done. I’m distracted and easily taken away from the moment and what God wants to say to me.

But if I was to meet the Queen, or the new Prince, I wouldn’t feel it was a chore. I would be focussed, wholly dedicated to what they were saying. I wouldn’t just get up and leave before they were finished. I would feel privileged and blessed to have met them.

Why don’t we feel that way when we come before God?

As I said, next week is going to be spent at EMASS, and I’m full of anticipation for what God is going to do there. While I could let myself be distracted and worried by all the ‘important things’ that need to be done (don’t worry, they will be done!), I don’t want to let them get in the way of those moments with God, the King of Kings. I want to spend time listening to him and being blessed, and seeing him speak to and bless the young people who are coming.

So if you’re coming to summer school, I hope you share in my anticipation for all God is going to do.

How often do you think of the times we meet with God as coming before the King of Kings?

How would that change the way you worship him?

How would it change the way you pray?