Tongue Twister

Since the beginning of this year, I have been taken with the idea of sharing your story with others. In fact, I've taken this on as our focus for the church and how we all can share our story, our testimony.

Our salvation story isn't just about the moment of deliverance through Jesus Christ. It isn't about repeating that moment over and over as if the brilliance of it will somehow bring others to Christ. In a few circumstances maybe a spectacular testimony will. However, I think the biggest impression on those around us (other than a spiritual slam-dunk by the Holy Spirit) will be the genuineness of our story and those people seeing the reality of our lives.

I remember once, before I became a Christian, having a lengthy conversation with my girlfriend at the time about her church and their use of the gifts of the Spirit. Out of nowhere came this, what seemed then an extraordinary conversation, about speaking in tongues. I remember thinking that I'd stepped into a cult and very seriously thought about ending the relationship there and then. (I didn't and she became my wife, you may be pleased to know, and I now have three amazing kids as well.)

Why did I react so badly to the idea of this particular gift of the Spirit?* The answer to this question, I don't think now, had anything to do with speaking in tongues. It was more the fact that speaking in tongues, along with other things of a charismatic nature, had blown away my long held assumptions of what Christianity is and what church should be like. At the moment of this conversation my biggest impression of the church, though false, was this: white men in white frocks chanting like monks with the occasional liturgical phrase thrown in. To be honest, I didn't even know the word 'liturgical' meant!

What I thought about church back then was probably quite similar to what a lot of people who haven't grown up around 'church' have. The only time they ever attend church is for marriages, christenings and funerals (hatch, match, dispatch!) with the occasional Christmas service thrown in every few years. Some folks may even only know Jesus as a swear word.

Our stories, therefore, must go before and beyond any salvation moment or period in our lives. What were we like before? Where do the connections with the person to whom your sharing your story appear, can they relate? Who are you now? What difference has Jesus made, and can this difference be seen the non-verbal part of your story? Has your life really changed or is the curse of hypocrisy evident? Hypocrisy is the biggest complaint thrown at the church and, quite justifiably, stops people taking Christianity seriously. The only way to combat this is for our lives to line up with our words.

So if you are a Christian, where are you sharing your story? Have you even thought about your story? Why not take the time to consider the journey you are on? You may even find that as you form your story in your mind that there are indeed things that don't line up with what you say, and this self-examination may help rectify the disconnect.

Our story of faith needs to be something we all can share with confidence and humbleness. Jesus commanded us to 'make disciples of all nations' and if we don't open our mouths and help others begin their individual journey how will we ever be able to fulfil this command?


(*There is a subtle irony in this post being about telling your story as I tell a story of getting freaked out by 'speaking' in tongues!)

"I love it when a plan comes together!"

At the start of 2014, I made a resolution to begin a Bible in One Year reading plan and stick with it. I'd tried this a number of times previously yet after a healthy start my commitment always began to wane. Slowly, but surely I found myself a number of days behind until in the end I lost the will to continue, feeling I couldn't catch up.

This year however was different, this year I didn't give up, and even though occasionally I found myself behind schedule, I made sure I took extra time to get back on track.

What was different this year? What kept me going?

I think it was simply the choice of plan. I went with The Bible in One Year from Holy Trinity Brompton (an Anglican church in London led by Nicky Gumbel). Holy Trinity Brompton are the same church group that heads up Alpha, a very successful course held by churches across the world as a way to introduce people to the Christian faith.

There was actually more to read with this plan that others I'd tried in the past. Nicky has a very substantial commentary / devotional section connected to each of the Bible verses. Quite often it would take more time to read these that it would the verses! But rather than being a distraction from Scripture I found it to be a wholly helpful way of understanding what you were about to read each day.

Truth be told I do have friends who struggle with plans like these and I understand why. It's not that they dislike reading the Bible, far from it, but rather I suspect the problem is the speed to which you are expected to work through each chapter and verse. There's no settling in, no going off on a tangent down a Scriptural rabbit hole - if you find yourself doing this then the whole exercise could become quite laden and 'heavy'. My advice is just to work on through.

As someone who would say they have never read through the Bible, in many respects I actually probably had over the years, just in bits here and there to help with my preaching, teaching or personal discovery. However, this way of doing things never quite brought the connection from one chapter to the other, particularly when it came to the Old Testament.

I liked the way the plan presented itself in terms of sections to read, which worked in this way: Old Testament - Psalm or Proverb - New Testament. So rather than a cover-to-cover where you start at Genesis, followed by Exodus, Leviticus, etc, and then finally finishing at Revelation, doing things this way keeps things fresh and different. This is particularly useful when you are finding a book quite hard to understand or 'get into'. Let me be straight with you here and tell you that I found Isaiah a struggle (I know, a number of you will have just gasped in shock!). It has a very prophetic nature which, although I fully appreciate, found very hard to absorb and to an extent also the book of Ezekiel (another gasp is allowed here too). On the other hand, I found the book of Daniel easier to journey through and appreciated the similar, but different perspectives of the books Kings and Chronicles.

Overall, and I hesitate to write this as it may sound over spiritual, but I do feel that I fed my soul over this last year. I now have within me the Words of God, which the Holy Spirit will help me call to mind when needed. There is also an enormous sense of accomplishment and strong feeling that, if possible, every Christian should attempt the same task. There may be other ways and means in which they also accomplish this, but the journey is worth it. I believe it gives a person a firm platform from which to begin other shorter more 'theme focused' plans in future.

What is important to remember in this whole exercise is that firstly, this is the inspired Word of God and fully deserves our attention and dedication to study and learn. Secondly, across the centuries and continents people have given their lives to bring us our modern translations. There are still many places around the world where even possessing a Bible can bring severe punishment and even death. Sacrifices have been made to get this awesome collection of books and letters into our hands, and I am extremely grateful that I live in a society where access to the Bible is free and unencumbered.

It's never too late to begin what could be an incredibly fulfilling journey. Why not start today?