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Jesus Life Two/2009 www.jesus.org.ukA UK JESUS PEO PLE MAGAZINE from the Multiply Network and Je sus Fel low ship / modern JESUS army (mJa)A UK JESUS PEO PLE MAGAZINE from the Multiply Network and Je sus Fel low ship / modern JESUS army (mJa)

JesusLife

INSIDE

www.jesus.org.uk

#81two/2009FREE

LEAP OF FAITH

MJA IN BIRMINGHAM

CONSUMER CULTURE

mJa Untamed

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Jesus Life Two/2009 www.jesus.org.uk

contents...

The Jesus FellowshiP ChurCh, which is also known as the Jesus Army and includes the New Creation Christian Community, upholds the historic Christian faith, being reformed, evangelical and charismatic. it practises believer’s baptism and the New Testament reality of Christ’s Church; believing in Almighty God: Father, son and holy spirit; in the full divinity, atoning death and bodily resurrection of the lord Jesus Christ; in the Bible as God’s word, fully inspired by the holy spirit. This Church desires to witness to the lordship of Jesus Christ over and in his Church; and, by holy character, righteous society and evangelical testimony to declare that Jesus Christ, son of God, the only saviour, is the way, the truth and the life, and through him alone can we find and enter the kingdom of God. This church proclaims free grace, justification by faith in Christ and the sealing and sanctifying baptism in the holy spirit.

© 2009 Jesus Fellowship Church, Nether heyford, Northampton NN7 3lB, uK. editor: James stacey. reproduction in any form requires written permission. The Jesus Fellowship does not necessarily agree with all the views expressed in articles and interviews printed in this magazine. unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from the holY BiBle, New iNTerNATioNAl VersioN®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 international Bible society. used by permission of hodder & stoughton ltd, a member of the hodder headline Plc Group. All rights reserved. Photographs in this magazine are copyright Jesus Fellowship Church or royalty-free stock photos from www.sxc.hu. The Jesus Fellowship is part of Multiply Christian Network. Both the Jesus Fellowship and Multiply Christian Network are members of the evangelical Alliance uK. Jesus Fellowship life Trust registered Charity number 1107952.

also...Church Alive Comment from the Jesus Fellowship Apostolic Team 3-4

Electronic Postbag Emails to the Jesus Army 8Unconsumed A look at radical shopping in the Jesus Fellowship 16

Celibacy is like surfing Andy Crisp on living single for Jesus 20

A Checklist for Community Two young pioneers on the secrets of building Christian community 24

Jesus Centres News of the Jesus Fellowship’s vision for Centres expressing Christ daily 25-26

Radical Bites A challenge to Radical living 29

Spiritual Search Find out why Grace Timms threw away a career for something better 30

Rant and Rave Boiling with rage and bubbling with excitement 31

5-7The Prophetic WordNoel Stanton on the leap of faith into Christian community

Multiply Christian NetworkTrevor Saxby describes the Multiply movement in Sierra Leone

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13-15

Consumer CultureGraham Cray issues a call to go against the consumer flow

17-19On The Margins The second feature in this series on marginalised groups looks at UK street gangs

21-23mJa Tribes: BirminghamA look at the work of the Jesus Fellowship in Britain’s second biggest city

Power of BrotherhoodJake Clark describes the movement of Christian brotherhood in Norwich

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ALIVEALIVEALIVEALIVEchurch

Comments from the Jesus Fellowship UK/mJa Apostolic Team

Young Christians dance at a recent Jesus Fellowship Celebration

03-03-

Capitalism is dead!Huw

Lew

is

AT THE recent G8 summit of world leaders in London, one of the banners held by a demon-strator stated: “Capitalism is dead!” With the ongoing world-wide recession, many are now seeing the dire consequences of greed and selfi sh materialism. Growing fears and anxieties over job losses, house repos-sessions, fraud at the highest levels, mounting debts and ris-ing unemployment have all fed disillusionment with our system and doubts over its future. Underlying this is a sense of the injustice of 70 per cent of

the world’s wealth lying in the hands of fi ve per cent of the people and a billion men and women living on less than $1 a day. Something has to change. Yet all past revolutions have never provided a solution. No political or social system has removed inequalities and cor-ruption. No one has modelled a truly just form of government. In these days of political and economic turbulence, the call of Jesus to create a new society based on sacrifi cial love and sharing needs to be heard. There was no rich/poor divide

in the early church, but all needs were met in an overfl ow of generous, unselfi sh giving. Genuine equality was taught and practised, based on the real change of man’s heart by the power of God’s love. The poor were given dignity, the rich were released from their wealth and a radical new way of living explored. The call is needed today as much as ever and a demonstration of a different and opposing culture, based not on self-interest and greed, but service, love and justice.

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THE CHURCH in the UK is tame, marginalised, often

irrelevant, dull and docile. Jesus Christ was a revolutionary and called His followers to join Him in the revolution. After being infl uenced by Jesus and fi lled with the Holy Spirit, weak men became pas-sionate men of strength and guts. They were unstoppable, often forceful and shocking, upsetting the religious people. They were extraordinary be-cause they carried supernatural power. Nothing was impossible to them. They endured all sorts of trials, persecutions and depri-vation. They proved in their lives that Jesus is Lord! We have a call, in our day, to be wild like they were. Let’s be wild, radical, a modern Jesus army – untamed.

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mJa untamed

Church Alive continued over

Jesus Life Two/2009

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Only humility buildsKe

lly B

arth

olom

ew

THE BODY of Christ is built up by humility: it costs us to be one. Spiritual gifts are important but they must all carry humility and brokenness. First the one-ness: then the gifts. We won’t get anywhere with-out humility. Why not? Because God won’t let us. God won’t equip us without humbling us. God relates with people through church – it has a massive effect on society. Do we want history to say that because our church was effective crime rate went down and all sorts of good things happened? Well then, we have to ask ourselves are we shining as we used to? And we’ll shine when our egos don’t get in the way of God’s light – when we’re humble enough to shine. Paul could be a ferocious guy – he had authority all right! – but he was broken and earthed. (He wrote many of his letters from prison, remember?). Be earthed by being completely humble. Gentleness? Authority? There’s no contraction there!

Have we any idea of how pa-tient God has been with us? But how hard it is for us to bear with one another! Some of us – even in the apparent stability of our good routines – are still immature about this. Do you want a big ministry? First, be humble and patient and gentle. Harshness will build nothing. Our primary calling is to build up the church (Ephesians 4:12) and harshness has no place in building. If you try to bypass humil-ity God will take you back, I promise. He’ll say, “Come on, Sunshine, you missed that step! No, I want you to go back and learn it, because this generation is screwed-up and I’ve got some screwed-up people just for you that I want you to love and build into My church.” If you congratulate yourself for “doing all this for God” then you’ll hit the deck and break your nose. And then God will lift you up – because you’ve learned.

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JL

A farewell message

THIS IS an opportunity to say farewell to all readers, friends and supporters of the Jesus Fellow-ship who have stood with us for many years. In my 83rd year and with declining health, I am joyful-ly passing on the main directive leadership of the Jesus Fellowship to Mick Haines, helped by our apostolic team. It is now 40 years since I was baptised in the Holy Spirit and the journey since then has been a surprising and remarkable one. We now have around 70 community houses, 75 church households and 20 congrega-tions throughout UK. As well as Jesus Fellowship UK and New Creation Christian Community,

Noe

l Sta

nton

we have launched modern Jesus army, Jesus Centres and Multi-ply International Network. I am very grateful for God’s presence and grace over the years and for all the loyal brothers and sisters who have allowed me to lead them and who have travelled with me. We have sought to be true to the New Testament’s radical call, untamed by the world, the fl esh, prides of life and the many challenges we have faced together. So, with gratitude for all your prayers, love and gifts, I say my farewell. May God’s sustaining and powerful love be with you all.

This item is based on material written by Noel shortly before he went into hospital for a serious operation.


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11/05/2009 15:57:3311/05/2009 15:57:33

www.jesus.org.uk

THE PROPHETIC

WORD

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The leap Noel Stanton, founder of the Jesus Fellowship, on radical Christian community.

Continued overleaf

ss

IT WAS the leap of a lifetime! It felt very painful, but the pain was mysteriously exciting. The smart of los-

ing independence was being swallowed up by the thrill that we were at last becoming a true New Testament church. I was experiencing the joy of obedience: to Jesus; to the Holy Spirit; to the radical, kingdom vision of “all things in common” community; to the call for the church to be a day-by-day alternative society.

But Mammon did not go easily. It was deep-rooted, seemingly essential to life. Extraction was painful! Yet my new life in the Holy Spirit, like that of the Spirit-filled disciples of the first church in Acts 2, would not be denied. Old Mammon was corrupt – it had to be removed! “You cannot serve two masters,” Jesus said. “You cannot serve God and Mammon”(Luke 16:13).

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A new, kingdom brotherhood was being birthed in the centre of the Jesus Fellowship and, as the Senior Leader, I just had to lead. That meant leaving the old, walking out of the Baptist manse, and leaving all but the most personal of my belongings behind. Yes, I could take the car, but it would become part of the “all things in common” pool of vehicles. My financial nest-egg in the Building Society must go into the pool of funds needed to buy communal houses. And, like everyone else, I needed to provide an income for the common purse in a property housing up to 40 people. It all felt very frightening, yet also very stimulating. It felt like the completion of my baptism. Old independ-ence was being buried with Christ Jesus and I was rising with Him to “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4). This new, community life was an imperative, terrify-ing in its radicality, but vital if I was to remain a true disciple and servant of Jesus, whose call is ever to “deny yourself, take up your cross and follow” (Mark 8:34). With the loss of material security, a new discovery was evolving: a Holy-Spirit-empowered way of living, in mu-tual dependence and in true openness with the brothers and sisters. So it was that, some five years after being baptised with the Holy Spirit, I took the last big step of obedience (there have been many smaller ones since). The first had been repentance and saving faith in Jesus Christ; the second a thirsting for and receiving the fullness of the Holy Spirit. The third and last was the loss of Mammon-led independence with its capitalistic com-petitiveness, and the move into community. I needed to belong to a real church built by Jesus Christ, where justice, equality, brotherly love, peace, unity, trust and simplicity ruled; where every person was valued, needs were met, and disciples were equipped. My heart ached for a true kingdom of God church, where the chains of accumulation, the prides of life, security in personal wealth, prejudice of class and race, poverty, injustice and social sins were fully broken. Have I regretted it? Never! This is the Jesus way, where the poor find the kingdom, the rich are humbled, and the last become first. It’s the way of His disciples, who had to bring the natural family into the spiritual family of the kingdom and love every brother and sister with His quality of love. It is the fulfilment of His command to sell and distribute possessions (Luke 12:32-34) and of His promise that those who leave everything to follow Him would receive, now in this life, houses and lands, spiritual mothers, brothers, sisters and children, with persecutions, and so find eternal life (Mark 10:29-31). Community is clearly the way of the first church – the band of disciples gathered around Jesus. That’s

Continued from overleaf

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This article is abridged from the foreword of One Heart and Soul, a book on intentional Christian community, published by Multiply Publications. To order a copy visit www.jesuspeople.biz or use the freepost order form between pages 8 and 9.

www.jesus.org.uk

11/05/2009 14:18:57

www.jesus

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That meant leaving all but the most personal of my

belongings behind. Yes, I could take

the car, but it would become part of the “all things in

common” pool.
.org.uk
the pattern church, the kingdom church, the new redeemed society which He creates, with a culture centred on His own lordship. And when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, we find this pattern church vastly extended, built with Simon Peter as its foundation, as Jesus had foretold (Matthew 16:18). It was also an empowered church, with disciples being added and taught; the strong, deep fellowship; the regular affirmation of covenant in the bread and wine; the fear of God; the signs and wonders; the sharing of possessions; with daily “church in the house” and more being saved day by day (Acts 2:42-47). This is truly the kind of powerful church which Jesus builds, where they are all of “one heart and soul” (Acts 4:32). Although we must say it with kindness, we do need to say that some church life in the UK is an add-on to peo-ple’s world-centred lives. They go to church or become church for a few hours a week. It’s a far cry from the “being daily church and sharing all things” of that first church. Those early Christians saw church as the centre and wellspring of their lives. It was the cause for which they would live and die, as Jesus taught. Self- denial, bearing their cross, renouncing other things, was the way of being His disciples. Opposition from some of the closest members of their natural families, as Jesus had said, proved the reality of their commit-ment. They saw church as the presence of God’s king-dom, the new society of Jesus Christ. Church, the Body of Christ, was their life, their inspiration, their passion. True church is a rich, loving brotherhood, where sharing and caring are the way of life, and all live for the cause of Jesus Christ. In the mid-1980s, the Holy Spirit began dealing with us in the Jesus Fellowship in the area of being too inward-looking. There was the danger of enjoying com-munity brotherhood but not reaching out to lost souls. And so, in the leading of the Holy Spirit, the Jesus Army was born, with its distinctive jackets and red crosses. For too long, Christian churches have been passive and self-satisfied. It has been assumed that the Chris-tian faith would always be the national religion of the UK. But now Islam is on the march, as are other faiths. It is time Christianity began to show itself to be active, to march and fight. So New Creation Christian Community and the Jesus Army became one. We became a “fight for justice”, “love the poor” community. In recent years, this Spirit-enlivened desire to love the poor has led to the vision of opening Jesus Centres for worship and social care in large UK cities and towns. It’s all an ongoing adventure in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. JL

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electronicpostbag:info @jesus.org.uk

IF YOU’D LIKE TO SEND YOUR PRAYER REQUESTS, OR

LET US KNOW WHAT GOD HAS BEEN DOING IN YOUR

LIFE OR YOU’D LIKE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HIM

EMAIL: [email protected] WRITE: JESUS FELLOWSHIP,

NETHER HEYFORD, NORTHAMPTON NN7 3LB

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Community sparkHELLO! I have been looking at living in Christian communities for a while now, and yours has really sparked my interest. I have just finished my Discipleship Training School with YWAM and I am looking for more opportunities to live with fellow believers and to grow in Christ’s love. If there is an opening in one of your houses, it would be wonderful if you could let me know. God bless. MeganLane,Unalaska,ALASKAFor more about New Creation Christian Community visit www.newcreation.org.uk

Indian discoveryHI, I AM from India and would like to know more details about Multiply Network. I have a ministry in Orissa. I would be interested in discovering ways we can partner with a view to spreading the good news of Jesus Christ in this unreached area. Thanking you and looking forward to hearing from you. PradeepParichha,Orissa,INDIAFor more about Multiply Christian Network visit www.multiply.org.uk

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A different wayHI! WE are two friends from Sweden at a discipleship training school called Team with a Mission (Bibelskola Livskraft). We are very interested in community life and a different way of living. We would like to be a part of what you are, the life that you live and what you do. If it would be possible we would be truly delighted to stay in community with you. God bless you. FredrikandBjorn,SWEDEN

Jesus Life Two/2009 Page �Jesus Life Two/2009 Page �

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AbsolutelyloveitGREETINGSfromIndia!IwasreferredtoyourwebsitebyoneofthestaffmemberswhereIwork.HehadvisitedtheMultiplyInternationalConferenceUKin2006.HewaseveninterviewedforyourJesus Lifemagazine.

JesusArmyissuchacatchyphrase.Iabsolutelyloveitandamveryencouragedtoknowthattherearesomanyyouthinvolved.

IwasamazedatthethingsIsawonyourwebsite.Itissomotivatingforayoungpersonlikemyself.TheLordhasputaburdenonmyheartforyouth.

Ihavedownloadedyoure-booksandamenjoyingeverywordthathasbeenwritteninthem.Seeingyoungpeoplemovesopowerfullyinthesetimestotallyastoundsme.

IjustfelttheneedtoletyouknowhowblessedIamjustbyreadingthewebcontent!AndIamprayingfortheyouthoftoday.

Averyecstaticyouth,

VioletPereira,Mumbai,INDIA

Round the tableDEAR FOLKS, I really loved the current issue of Streetpaper, and the Jesus Life magazine was very excellent too! I am involved in what we call ‘the bunker’ at our church (we used to hold it in an old air-raid bunker). It’s an open house church. We do bible studies, pray for needs and talk through issues. Maybe a bit like round the kitchen table at a Jesus Fellowship Community House. Some days we get around 30 different non-church folk each day! Anyway, it struck me that we could do with some of your Streetpapers for folks to read and talk over. Great big blessing on all your work. ChrisBradwell,Southampton,UKFor more past issues of Jesus Life and Streetpaper visit www.jesus.org.uk/ja-mags

Thirsty for GodHi, I’ve been reading your book “Revival Fires” and I’m so thirsty for God. You are the best church I know and I desperately want more of this. Is it possible that in the future I could spend a year in Britain and work in one of your congregations? Blessings! MicaelGrenholm,Karlstad,SWEDENFor more Jesus Fellowship books and e-books visit www.jesus.org.uk/ja-books

Love from KenyaREGARDS from Kenya! I am working with Orphans International School in Kisii, Kenya. I am so glad to get in touch with you! I and others at my church are moved and interested in the teachings we have collected from your website. We would love to join with your organisation to share more teachings and fellowship together. With love. PeterMMageri,Kisii,KENYA

JL
www.jesus.org.uk
11/05/2009 11:47:52

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WHAT IS MULTIPLY?Multiply Christian Network is a worldwide apostolic stream of churches, initiated by Jesus Fellowship Church. It is a member of the Evangelical Alliance UK. Multiply now has 18 UK groups and 105 worldwide.

WHO’S IT FOR?Any fellowship, of any size, from any culture or race, as long as it is basically evangelical. The latest partner to join was Living Water Church, a Congolese French-speaking church based in Gloucester, UK.

WHAT DOES IT OFFER?Relationships between leaders are central and are fostered through regular conferences, celebration gatherings and fellowship. Leadership and evangelism training plus a variety of resources, including free literature, are also available.

MORE INFORMATION:Contact Multiply Director Huw Lewis Tel: +44 1327 344533Email: [email protected] or write to: Jesus Fellowship/ Multiply Central Offices, Nether Heyford, Northampton, UK NN7 3LB

www.multiply.org.uk

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In March this year, Jesus Fellowship senior leaders, Steve Calam and Trevor Saxby, were invited to Sierra Leone for the Multiply conference there. Trevor recorded some of their experiences.

Stars inBoys delighted with their football in Kissy, Freetown

WEDNESDAY 11 MarchArrive in Freetown. It’s

a whole world away from any-thing we’ve known. Driving to the ferry with our host, Desmond Thomas, and driver, Pastor David, it’s all so dark: no street lights, little elec-tric lighting – but you can see the stars in all their glory. Then a rather hair-raising drive across Freetown (which stays alive till 3am). Stalls line every street: people making a living in one of the poorest na-tions on earth where life expect-ancy is 40. By midnight we’re in our hotel beds under mosquito nets. Outside, the noise of the

city rolls on – praise God for earplugs! But, we’re here and we’re on God’s business.

Thursday 12 March Freetown in daylight. Bright costumes, neat school uniforms, little shops everywhere. The city has a distinctive smell – a mix of salty humidity, charcoal smoke and hot refuse. Open sewers run like streams in places, with dwellings next to them. People use mobile phones, but live in corrugated zinc shanties. We’re taken to meet 16 “Multiply West Africa” leaders. Sierra Leone is well represented, plus Liberia and Guinea. After

prayer and praise, we introduce ourselves in turn. It’s clear Mul-tiply is on an organised footing, with agreed and commissioned supervisors of resources, evan-gelism and prayer. Steve and I share the Jesus Fellowship’s own story plus the prophetic call to brotherhood and to “do-ing the word”. After lunch we’re given a tour. It’s a study in rich and poor: the sumptuous US Embassy framed by corrugated shanties without sanitation. We visit David’s church, down a rutted track next to some very poor homes. Children clamour to be pho-tographed. Hens run around

Continued overleaf

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(short life expectancy there). Everyone laughing, glad to be together. Finally we reach Lumley, dip our toes in the Atlantic, cooled by the sea breeze, and start to prepare for what may prove to be an arduous three-day conference.

Friday 13 March We head for Kissy in eastern Freetown, which is densely populated and predominantly Muslim. Here, in a dusty square, we are immediately mobbed by curious children calling “Apoto!” (white man). White men don’t come to this part of town. After praise and worship, African-style, I speak on the kingdom of God; Steve speaks on covenant brotherhood and community Over lunch I talk to Timothy, a young single pastor from nearby Grafton, with a beauti-ful soft heart. Grafton is made up largely of displaced persons, amputees from the rebel war and sufferers of diseases like polio. Eighty per cent of his con-gregation is disabled, but he’s refused invitations to pastor “easier” churches, because he

knows God’s call. Between conference sessions, Desmond takes us to see the plot of land earmarked for a church-plant and bible school. It’s searingly hot! We shelter under a mango tree and locals crowd round to see their photo on our digital screen. Good to see them overcome the fear and mistrust of strangers which they learned during the rebel wars. That evening in Kissy, children come in droves. Steve pumps up one of the footballs we’ve brought with us and offers it to a gang of street boys aged 8-13. They’re over the moon! Steve has an instant family! Going home, we fi nd the cen-tre is gridlocked and learn that there has been a political riot with several people injured. We trust this is an isolated incident and won’t lead to more violence in this war-damaged land.

Saturday 14 March What a day – tummy troubles and spiritual breakthroughs. The morning conference sees a wonderful interaction between me (teaching), Steve (challenging) and Desmond (confi rming and applying). I pray for leaders needing


Top: David, Steve, Desmond and Trevor in Bo Middle: Henry’s “kingdom business” in Luingi Bottom: Steve with Multiply Liberia leaders

www.multiply.org.uk

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God’s help in their marriage. Steve speaks on celibacy – a completely new concept over here. Afterwards, several want to know more. One young pastor now sees that he’s always had this gift. Steve builds in our endorsement of Desmond, born of a 15-year relationship. Desmond is so obviously loved and respected by leaders here. He preaches with cut and clarity: “Pastors, how do you respond when the pastor down the road struggles? Do you se-cretly rejoice, or do you comfort him? When he is blessed more than you, do you rejoice, or are you jealous?” Both very tired now. We’re expecting to go back to the hotel, but instead the car takes us off to BBN Freetown Chris-tian radio station, where we’re told we’re going live, “to bring what’s on our hearts for the churches and the nation”. Steve and I look at each other, hor-rifi ed! Throwing ourselves on grace, we share on the kingdom of God and how we learned to join our lives in the Jesus Fellowship. The other pastors present are one in spirit with us. It feels prophetic, signifi cant for this city’s future.

Sunday 15 March Steve preaches at Pastor Gibson’s church, who backs him up and applies the word to the local context. Meanwhile, I

speak at Pastor Lakoh’s church, where the two-hour event is led by the under-twelves – praising, dancing, exhorting, giving testi-monies and reciting memorised scriptures. At the fi nale of the con-ference, 16 new groups are welcomed into Multiply, which currently has six Chapters: Free-town, Grafton, Bo and Lungi in Sierra Leone, plus Liberia and Guinea – it’s going to be hard to keep up with the growth!

Monday 16 March At 5.30am we set off on the 120-mile run through the bush to Bo, in what was once rebel country. Here we meet Pastor Sonsiama, Multiply co-ordinator for Sierra Leone South. In good African style, Desmond and the two of us sit under a mango tree to listen to the pastors’ concerns. The main one is poverty: small congrega-tion, unable to fi nance even its pastor’s stipend, let alone the work of the gospel. Desmond turns this into a challenge: “All Jesus Fellowship pastors have jobs to bring in an income; can you come up with some ideas for a viable ‘kingdom business,’ in which you could all take part and bring money into the Lord’s work?” The evening meeting is in a small church building on a dusty track. It has a very dif-ferent fl avour as Steve brings a

serious prophetic word: “Hard times are coming. Don’t lose heart, but throw yourselves on God and the brethren.” He asks them all to pray for each other and the place erupts! Desmond follows up with a call to come forward for healing and all the pastors are involved in praying. There’s a sense of something special in the air, a strength-ening and enfolding of these dear believers, who easily feel forgotten.

Tuesday 17 March To Lungi by speedboat! Here, Pastor Henry runs the “Great Divine Store” - a kingdom business, selling building materials. With over 60 per cent unemployment in Sierra Leone, having work is vital to generate funds for God’s initiatives. Hen-ry’s studied business and knows what kind of “micro-enterprise” will bring quick returns. I tell him that he should pass on his experience to our friends in Bo. Sub-Saharan Africa teems with children orphaned by war or AIDS, or simply abandoned. With no State help, many live rough, selling their bodies to get the next meal. Only the Chris-tians show real care. It’s normal for a pastor to have three of his own children and four adopted orphans. The need for African equivalents of Jesus Centres is acute. So, when Henry speaks of his vision to build an orphan-age, we must understand that it isn’t a distraction from church – it’s a work of the church and an investment in its future: some of these orphans, fi nd-ing love in Jesus and church, will become leaders. When he speaks of a “vocational school,” it’s the same as classes given in a Jesus Centre: giving orphan girls skills like fabric dyeing or typing, so they can have work and a future free of prostitution. That evening, about 100 people join us in a large

...giving orphan girls skills like fabric dyeing or typing, so they have work and a future free of prostitution.

Continued overleaf

Street scene in FreetownKids’ praise – Africa style!

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community centre. The only light comes from two light bulbs and a pack of glo-sticks which we’d taken as gifts for children. Expressive praise, animated preaching and prayer for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The congregation shouts for joy to see their leaders linking arms, praying for one another, jumping for joy and having a holy “rugby scrum” of hugs. Later, standing under the amazingly bright African stars, we feel privileged to have been part of God’s moving (in significantly different ways) in the three Multiply chapters of Freetown, Bo and Lungi. For anything we may have given, we’ve been amply repaid by the warmth, acceptance, trust and kindness of these dear

brothers and sisters in Christ, who have little in outward resources but who rely on God in ways we in the West can only imagine. And now, at last, they have the chance to pull together and find in Multiply a voice of hope and courage for the future.

Wednesday 18 March A lunch of yam stew and black-eyed peas with Pastor Henry, then off to the airport. We bid farewell to a country we will never forget; to churches who now know they are not standing alone; to loving peo-ple who have become friends; and to a Multiply movement which is in good health, wisely led and set to expand greatly in the years to come.


JL

“Roads in the bush are an experience!”

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www.multiply.org.uk

BELFAST Jesus Fellowship Church............................0845 123 5552

BIRMINGHAM Jesus Fellowship Church ..................0845 166 8153

BLACKBURN Hyndburn Christian Fellowship ......... 01706 222 401

BLACKBURN Rishton Christian Fellowship .............01254 887790

BRIDGEND The Bridge Community Church ..............01656 655635

BRIGHTON Jesus Fellowship Church ........................0845 166 8151

BRISTOL Jesus Fellowship Church ...........................0845 123 5339

CHATHAM House Of Prayer For All Nations .............01634 669933

CHATHAM King’s Church Medway ...............................01634 847477

CHESTER/NORTH WALES Jesus Fellowship Church ...0845 123 5561

CORNWALL Jesus Fellowship Church ......................0845 166 8191

COVENTRY Jesus Fellowship Church ........................0845 166 8154

GLOUCESTER Living Word Fellowship ......................01452 532 138

HASTINGS Jesus Fellowship Church .........................0845 123 5551

HIGH WYCOMBE Church of Shalom ...........................01494 449408

IPSWICH Jesus Fellowship Church ...........................0845 166 8156

KETTERING Jesus Fellowship Church .......................0845 166 8157

LEEDS Jesus Fellowship Church................................0845 166 8167

LEICESTER Jesus Fellowship Church .......................0845 644 9705

LIVERPOOL Jesus Fellowship Church ......................0845 166 8168

LONDON Jesus Fellowship Church ...........................0845 166 8152

LONDON N Glad Tidings Evangelical Church ..........020 8245 9002

LONDON S Bible Life Family Ministries....................020 8689 2244

LONDON SE Ephratah Int’l Gospel Praise Centre ..020 8469 0047

LONDON SE Flaming Evangelical Ministries .......... 01634 201 170

LONDON SE Glorious Revival Eagle Ministries ....020 8855 3087

LONDON SE Life For The World Christian Centre .... 01634 311 507

LONDON SE Mission Together for Christ ............... 020 7401 2687

MANCHESTER Jesus Fellowship Church .................0845 166 8169

MILTON KEYNES Jesus Fellowship Church .............0845 166 8159

NORTHAMPTON Jesus Fellowship Church .............0845 166 8161

NORWICH Jesus Fellowship Church .........................0845 166 8162

NOTTINGHAM Jesus Fellowship Church...................0845 166 8163

OXFORD Jesus Fellowship Church ............................0845 166 8164

PRESTON Jesus Fellowship Church ..........................0845 123 5554

RAMSEY HOLLOW (HUNTS) Christians United .........01487 815528

SHEFFIELD Jesus Fellowship Church .......................0845 166 8183

STOKE-ON-TRENT Jesus Fellowship Church ............0845 123 5334

SWANSEA Jesus Fellowship Church .........................0845 123 5556

WOLVERHAMPTON Jesus Fellowship Church ........0845 123 5564

WORCESTER Jesus Fellowship Church ....................0845 833 5601

MULTIPLY CHURCHES AND GROUPS MEET ALL OVER THE UK RING UP AND FIND OUT WHAT’S GOING ON IN YOUR AREA!

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Following Jesus in a consumer culture

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I AM committed to encouraging fresh expressions of Church and evangelism for the 21st century. So are

many others. But the question is, what kind of disciple-ship are we bringing people into? We live in a society where shopping is a picture of life. We shop for identity, not just for things. We buy into beliefs. This gives us the capacity (typical of New Age religions) to pick and mix a world view, to take bits and pieces that we like and turn them into a way of living that “will do for now”. Young people in particular want a society where they can believe one thing on a Monday and another thing on a Thursday because they’re with another crowd. Personal choice has become our number one right, and it ranks higher than any concept of truth. Our free-dom to choose and shed our persona has come to mean

Consumerism is the chief rival to God in UK culture, says Anglican bishop, Graham Cray. As the focal point of our society’s idolatry Christians have to address it.

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freedom itself. Years ago, you made sacrifi ces now for a better life in the future. Today it’s all now, and it’s all individual – how you can “construct” the person you want to be. That’s what we, as Christians, are up against. Con-sumerism is a world view that effectively fi lters Christ out. People aren’t unbelievers because there’s a demon sitting on their shoulder – they don’t believe because it’s self-evident to them that they don’t need to. But why is consumerism so effective, and why do churches in the West have such problems countering it? I believe it is because consumerism counterfeits Christian spirituality. It evangelises and makes disciples. It offers a false worship, a false hope and a false assurance (I’ve deliberately used Christian language here). Advertising strategies link products with our per-sonal needs, desires and values. So when people feel something is missing in their life, rather than look to God, they look to getting something bigger or better. An addictive process happens, where people are made to feel happy, then quickly unhappy again until they are tempted into further purchases. Christian spirituality has a godly dissatisfaction built into it, the inner hunger that whispers “There must be more!” Consumerism mimics this restlessness of our earthly pilgrimage. It keeps us dissatisfi ed but

offers its own hope. Really, it’s a form of seduction, and Christian cultures fi nd it very hard to cope with. There’s even the phenomenon of this working the other way and turning religion into a consumer experience – you “shop” from church to church for the best (temporary) buzz from God. Have you noticed, consumerism has no place for the poor? It used to be said that the fruits of a society were seen in how it treated its poor. Postmodern society structures itself around consumers, and the poor can’t

It evangelises and makes disciples. It offers a false worship, a false hope and a false assurance.


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compete. For the fi rst time in history, they have no function; they are useless in a consumer world. The only way that consumerism can be effectively countered is by an alternative world view and an alter-native pattern of living, which shapes our character. We have the resources in Jesus to engage with the world of consumerism and outclass it! The crucial issue is discipleship – creating authentic followers of Jesus. A large part of the church in the West is middle-class and consumerist. You’re never going to counter this alone – it has to be a corporate stance. I suggest that we need long-term patterns of life, perhaps even a Rule of life, which can make the church into a community that develops Christian character and the capacity for discernment as we swim in consumer waters. What we need is not more from God but the grace to take hold of what He has already given. He has already given the church everything it needs to be a powerful counter-culture. We will be radicals again, re-fi nding our roots. We will be back into prayer, personal accountabil-ity, a corporate life, sacraments, scripture – the lot. The Apostle Paul writes: “I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content” (Philippians 4:11). It is a learning process, but we have to get there, because it is this quality of contentment which cuts the vital nerve of

“I’ve always got to have more”, on which consumerism relies. It wrests our relationship away from things and roots it back with God, whatever our circumstances. So my challenge to local churches is: how can you develop a pattern of life together that establishes godly contentment? I challenge us all to study Paul’s letter to the Philip-pians as if it was (and it is) a manual on how to be an al-ternative Empire. In the middle of one system, we serve another. The fi rst Christians stood up and said Caesar is not Lord; we must do the same with consumerism. Only Jesus is Lord (2:9-11). He outclasses everything, and whatever else clamours for our attention must be counted as dung (3:3-10, KJV). Jesus was exalted because He emptied Himself – the very opposite of “I must have more”. We, too, have to get into the mindset of humility and self-sacrifi ce (2:5-9). Only then can we embody to people around a different and better way, ‘shining as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation’ (2:15). It is this that will, at last, tear the blindfold from people’s eyes and offer them a choice, a way of escape into a new, more fulfi lling way of life. And it is in this way, I believe, that as churches we will once again live as the advance guard of the coming King, whose reign on the new earth will be full of His wonders. JL

Graham Cray is Anglican Bishop of Maidstone, UK, and chair of the youth movement, “Soul Survivor”. This article is taken, with permission, from a talk given in March 2008 at the inaugural “Breathe” Conference in London.

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Unconsuming the consumer Lisa Pearson works in the Jesus Fellowship’s Food Distribution Centre, which supplies food and other goods to members of the church. She explains its vision of kingdom of God simplicity and equality.

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It’s better to be serving God than stuck in Tesco

JL

THE PRESENT credit crunch has forced many people to

think again about how they live and what they spend – and to re-assess what they could do without and how to live more simply. More than 30 years ago, at the same time as God was leading our church to establish New Creation Christian Community, He gave us the vision of living a simple lifestyle and of breaking free from the all-pervading con-sumer culture. As a result our Food Distribution Centre (or FDC for short) came into being. The aim of the FDC is to provide a relatively simple range of food, non-food and clothing products to meet the major-ity of needs within the church. Each community house places a weekly order for whatever food or household items they need, and then we pick and prepare

their order ready for them to collect. We try to supply the most cost-effective products we can (that is, the cheapest product that will adequately meet the need). And we aim to supply just one brand or quality of product where possible. The FDC ensures that across the church we are living at roughly the same level, thereby helping to retain real equality. It’s all part of the justice of God’s kingdom that we want to express through Christian community. The FDC also helps the church to save money which can then be channelled towards supporting the church’s mission and many activities. Impor-tantly, we who work at the FDC see ourselves as servants of the church, helping to share the load. Many of our members lead busy lives and they appreci-ate being freed from having to

worry about numerous time-consuming shopping trips. It’s better to be serving God than stuck in Tesco. And using the FDC frees people from the pressure that comes from the bombardment of advertising, continually insisting what you should be buying, eating or wearing. We, at the FDC, are now looking to the next 30 years to continue our mission!

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“Feral yOuTh?”

“Fe Th?”

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ral yOural yOural yOural yOural yOuJesus Life takes a look at youth gangs and asks “What can reverse the spiral into violence?”

Feral yOuTh?

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How do you protect your ‘monopoly’? You stop the person across the road from coming across your road. How? You create fear, create conflict.”

across the road from

road. How? You create fear, create conflict.”road. How? You create fear, create conflict.”

How do you protect your ‘monopoly’? You stop the person across the road from coming across your road. How? You create

How do you protect your ‘monopoly’? You stop the person across the road from coming across your road. How? You create

MORE THAN 70 young faces stare out of the BBC webpage: UK teenagers knifed or shot in 2008.

Headlines shout of “feral youth” and “knife culture”. Inner-city areas, hotchpotches of high-rise flats, mai-sonettes and terraces, are portrayed as concrete laby-rinths of death. Behind every corner lurks a potential young murderer with the street-name “Bonez” from the “Blood Set” gang. But what is the reality behind the media hype? Be-yond growing public fear and the demonised epithet “gangs” – who are these young people? One youth leader, who asked not to be named, gave Jesus Life a snapshot of his work with young people in Battersea: “Our ‘13s group’ had been invited to play football in an estate – two miles away. Only three went. One of them, Zac, complained on the way home that I shouldn’t have taken him onto ‘Otray’ territory. And didn’t I know that Mac would be there and he, although a former friend, had badly beaten up one of their mates? They ‘didn’t want the hype’. “They call it ‘slipping’: if you slip into the wrong area things can go wrong.” Mike Jervis, Chief Executive of the Damilola Taylor Trust (set up in the wake of Damilola’s violent death in November 2000), told Jesus Life how, typically, an area can become the territory of a gang: “Territories often come about as a result of drugs. Take a local housing estate or deprived area. Let’s say there’s a large tower block housing 1,500 people and 150 of them are buy-ing drugs, spending £50 a week on them. If a person ‘controls’ that tower block (and it’s only one block

remember) they have an earning potential of £390,000 per year. That’s a lot of money if you are a 22-year-old young man – with the bottle to hold the territory and a few friends around you. “So you have a group of ‘antisocial’ youths who now have a financial reason for violence. How do you protect your ‘monopoly’? You stop the person across the road with the same amount of friends from coming across your road. How? You create fear, create conflict.” Such conflict can spiral. Jervis adds, “The momen-tum builds and builds. Gang fighting gets out of con-trol and becomes a situation where everybody – not

I shouldn’t have taken him onto ‘Otray’ territory... a former friend had badly beaten up one of their mates. They ‘didn’t want the hype’.

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just gang members – just wants to protect their block, their territory.” All too often this paranoid sense of local loyalty cre-ates what Jervis calls a “wall of silence” – no-one will speak out or give evidence to try and reverse the cycle of violence. Fear closes people in; they look after them-selves – silence is seen as the best defence. “It may be that in the early days the wall of silence was designed to protect communities,” says the Dami-lola Taylor Trust website. “Now, it is clear that criminal elements are working behind the wall in order to recruit and abuse our young people.” Take Zac in Battersea. Described by his youth leader as “not really the gang type” he is nonetheless “curious; something about gang culture lures him”. Zac plays each week in a football team, and is always smiling and polite to his youth leaders. But last year he was standing next to an older youth when he was shot from close range; it didn’t result in too serious an injury, but is an indication of the kind of violence that is around on London’s streets. And last autumn, Zac attended some street meet-ings called by a local gang, aiming to rally support and widen the circle of commitment. Yellow bandanas were handed out to signify identity with the gang. The Government maintains that the situation is not out of control. A Home Office spokesperson told Jesus Life, “Gang crime in the UK is a localised problem,” but added, “where it does occur it causes real problems for police, individuals and communities.” The gov-ernment’s “Tackling Gangs Action Programme” was initiated in September 2007 – a “coordinated national campaign to put in place targeted enforcement along-side intervention and prevention activates in areas most affected by gang crime”. So far some £3.5 million have been invested in these efforts. But is throwing money at the problem the answer? No-one would deny that government-funded “interven-tion and prevention” has a part to play. But what about change at the grass roots? Mike Jervis speaks of how a lack of positive role- models is an important factor. “There are negative lead-

ers on the street, showing the young people how attrac-tive it is to be on the street and how strong the bonding is in a gang. “Imagine you’re a boy from a single-parent family. When you’re 15 or 16 and rude to your mum, the dis-cipline available to her is going to be very limited. You become the man of the house and you’ve got responsi-bilities. Sudden pressures are put on you – you’ve got to deliver.” But boys without positive male role-models “haven’t been trained to be a man, haven’t been trained to go out and get a job – and they’re still young. So they associate themselves in something through which they can find their own self-esteem.” The pattern is oft-repeated. Shem is a Jamaican hair-dresser living in Wandsworth, South London. He told Jesus Life: “I work in a barber’s shop and over time have got to know many of the young people from the area. I know some who, when they were at school, joined a gang just to fit in with their mates and find an identity. As they got older, things got more serious as drug related crime and violence became part of their lifestyle.”

So is positive role-modelling a key to change? And could this be where the Christian church has a role to play?

Some young Jesus Fellowship members in London

God’s not patronising and nor should we pretend we’re the ‘sorted’ ones helping out the ‘screwed-up’ ones


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God sees things very differently from the conclusions we can jump to: He sees the heart, the pain, the mess

are making a start at reaching out to disaffected youth on the streets of the areas they live in – mainly Acton and Camden. And Andy Gregory, a young leader in the Jesus Fellowship, spoke to Jesus Life about his efforts to reach out to young people in the Midlands. For him, it’s very much about grass-roots change: “I’m not pretend-ing to be an expert on today’s ‘postcode gang’ culture. I am interested in what God wants to do with the crews I meet. God sees things very differently from the conclu-sions we can jump to: He sees the heart, the pain, the mess – we tend to love those who love us and judge by outside appearances.” Andy is clear that any attempts to reach out to gangs of young people must be fostered through real relation-ships: “God’s not patronising and nor should we pre-tend we’re the ‘sorted’ ones helping out the ‘screwed-up’ ones.” With others, Andy has been meeting groups of young people on the streets of an estate in Northampton. “Most of the young people we meet are looking for the answers,” he says. “Well, we believe Jesus is the answer to the world’s needs. If Jesus can’t do anything for them, then Jesus is irrelevant today. I don’t believe that. I don’t want church to be irrelevant, full of religious people without love, missing the point. We show love – unconditional acceptance. That’s what leads to real conversion of lifestyle. “I’ve seen this happen in reality: God changing the lives and softening the hearts of the hard lads and bad girls we meet. Obviously there are disappointments. But we haven’t chosen to follow Jesus for an easy life.” Mike Jervis agrees that grass-roots positive relation-ships and role-modelling, such as those to be found in the church are important – wherever you are: “young

Just because it’s a group doesn’t mean it’s a ‘gang’. Just go out there and talk to young people as young people.

JL

people in a church will see the church as a bonding agent for them.” And Jervis, like Andy Gregory, is keen to remind us that gang members are not monsters – just young people: “My advice to any church group wanting to get involved on the street is: get rid of the mindset of ‘I’m trying to talk to a gang’. You don’t know the gang. Anyway, just because it’s a group doesn’t mean it’s a ‘gang’. Just go out there and talk to young people as young people.” Acceptance goes a long way to break down barriers. Mike Jervis tells a disarming anecdote to illustrate this on a small scale: “I remember seeing a gang blocking an entrance. Nobody could get by; they were standing there, smoking drugs. Then an old lady walked across, with 10 cans of coke and said ‘Have a coke. Don’t sit on that lady’s wall – she’s frightened of you. Why don’t you come and sit on my wall?’ A few days later that woman was walking down the road and the boys were pick-ing up her bags and walking down the road with her. Nothing could have happened to that woman from that moment on!” The future for young people like Zac in Battersea is in the balance. “Will we soon see him with his roll of cling film, portering drugs?” asks his youth leader. “Is he do-ing it already for a little ‘change’, or is there enough fear or sense of right to keep him as a spectator?” No-one wants to see 70 more faces looking out of the death toll pages this year, or next. It’s time for action – and Christians can be at the grass roots where a difference can be made. As Andy Gregory put it: “God’s working among these guys; it would be rude to ignore.”

For a video on how the Jesus Fellowship is reaching youth on the streets visit: www.tr.im/kvKR

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CELIBACY AND SURFINGEight years ago Andy Crisp made a commitment to stay single for Jesus. Here he explains why – because celibacy is like surfing.

CELIBACYCELIBACY...and Surfing...and Surfing

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THE KINGDOM of God is like a huge wave. It’s full of power, movement and

depth. It’s exhilarating and refreshing. At times, perhaps, even threatening. Celibacy is like a surfboard that enables me to ride the kingdom waves more effectively. Jesus said that some would choose not to marry for the sake of God’s kingdom. The Bible says that those who are single are more able to get on board with what God is doing. Free from the responsibilities of marriage and children, they are more available to God and others. Celibacy multiplies opportuni-ties for kingdom activity, such as serving, evangelism and prayer. God called me to be celibate in October 2001. At fi rst I was really excited – it was as though I was placing my whole future in the hands of a limitless God. Shortly afterwards, I lived in a house where I spent a lot of time on my own. I felt lonely and at times depressed. Although I prayed and had some deep times with God, I couldn’t help feeling like I’d drawn the short straw. Celibacy seemed pointless and I wished I’d chosen marriage. A few months later, however, I moved into a Jesus Fellowship Christian community

called Promise House. I was living with lots of committed Christians, including a number of celibates. Almost immediately, celibacy clicked! It made sense. This was the kingdom lifestyle that God had called me to. It was as though I’d been carrying around a heavy, awkward surfboard for the last six months and I had fi nally arrived at the beach. Just as a surfboard only really has any pur-

pose if there are waves for surfi ng, so celibacy only carries meaning in the waves of God’s new society. I didn’t choose celibacy because I was excited by the prospect of being single and never having children; I chose celibacy because I was captured by a vision of God and His love. I bought the celibacy surfboard because I saw the waves of God’s kingdom. I live near a small village called Meriden. It prides itself as being the heart of England. There is a small monument on the village green claiming to be the very centre of the country, the point in England that is furthest from any sea. Guess what? They don’t sell many surfboards in Meriden! Who would want to buy a surfboard when there are no waves? A few hundred miles south in the seaside town of Newquay, they sell hundreds of surfboards. It’s the surf capital of England. People look out to sea and think ‘I want to ride those waves!’ If we want celibacy to be attractive to the next generation, we need to ensure that the waves of the new-creation culture are still strong. Show them the kingdom waves and many will buy the celibacy surfboard as well!

Free from the responsibilities of marriage and children, celibates are more available to God and others. JL


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TRIBES

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FOCUS ON:

“The dinner was burnt – but nobody cared!”

Mick Haines tells the story of Jesus Fellowship Birmingham from its beginnings in the early 1980s to its vision in a new millennium.

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JESUS ARMY outreach in Birmingham began in 1982. We’d already planted the Jesus Fellowship in Coven-

try and Warwickshire by then, in response to a prophet-ic word. Though there was never a specific call of this kind to extend the Jesus Army into Birmingham, it grew out of our desire to reach city people with the gospel. There had already been some regular evangelism on the streets of Birmingham, particularly on Friday nights, when I first got involved. I’d been leading the Jesus Fellowship in Warwickshire for three years. In 1982 a few key people who had started the small work in Bir-mingham pulled out; in August I came to Birmingham and regular evangelism followed. We started “servant groups” in the city – small groups which aimed to meet with people in their homes and initiate church. Once we had met a few people, we started having “friendship meals” on Thursday evenings, seeking to join people together in Christian brotherhood. There was a powerful movement of God that year which re-sulted in the purchase of our first community house in Handsworth – “The Anchorage”, in March 1983. We held meetings on Sunday mornings and evenings at Anchorage. There was a strong flow of the love of God among us. It was a powerful time. We would often have between 30 and 40 visitors: it wasn’t long before we needed another community house in Birmingham! Cornerstone was the answer to that. We moved in, in 1984. Many of those who moved in became well-rooted leaders. The movement was rolling on. In one of our meetings in 1985 the sense of the presence of God was so strong that the food burnt in the oven (nobody cared) and the meeting went on till

It was a powerful time. We would often have between 30 and 40 visitorsit wasn’t long before we needed another communithouse in Birmingham!

mJa Birmingham on the march

MJA BIRMINGHAM: VISION AND AIMS Christian community to be strong and fruitful – especially in training young men

A Jesus Centre in Birmingham within the next three years A fourth New Creation Christian Community house as part of the Jesus Centre

To strengthen leadership and train more leaders To plant from Birmingham to the Black Country and beyond!

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TRIBES

Faith provided the push into new growth

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midnight! But 1987 was a very difficult year. A lot of key people left community. We were really shaken. This was one of the hardest times we faced during the planting of mJa Birmingham and it took quite some time to recover But we did recover, slowly, and the work picked up. The next notable movement God initiated was in 1991 when a lot of Japanese brothers and sisters joined us at Anchorage. It snowballed, and at times there were about 50 visitors. A partner church in Japan through the Multiply Christian Network was the result. God was blessing us. In 2001 a couple of Iranian asylum-seekers got in-volved with the church. They’d first met Marie, one of our members, who taught them English at the City Col-lege. More and more came until we had a congregation that was almost half and half English and Iranian! Many of them found true commitment and we still have a lot of Iranian members today. Another huge encouragement since the turn of the millennium has been a fresh influx of young people, particularly young men with real vision to be a new generation of all that God has called the mJa to be. Our vision now? We want to establish an even stronger base of Christian community in Birmingham: it will always be true that the main source of our effective-ness is in the strength of our community teams. It’s also so central to our desire to train up young men for future leadership. We want to purchase a fourth community house, to be part of a Jesus Centre in Birmingham. Hav-ing a Jesus Centre in Birmingham is a key part of our future: we aim to establish it within the next three years. And beyond all that we want to extend the work still further, to plant a church in the Black Country – and beyond. There’s much to be done!

Mick Haines is the senior leader of Jesus Fellowship Birmingham and the directive leader of the Jesus Fellowship’s national apostolic team.


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Young men join Christian community

WHEN I joined Cornerstone in 1995, there was a good buzz around the place. The brothers’ section of the house was full and there were a few young sisters around. It was a bal-anced and healthy scene. But around 1999 we hit a down-turn. A few brothers left; Cornerstone seemed to lose its life. After that things felt like they were sliding downhill. Things got worse till I – and a few fellow leaders, especially Mick, our main leader – started to become really desperate for a new movement to turn things around. It was a Tuesday evening in 2006. I entered the Great Hall – where we hold our weekly Agape, a fellow-ship meal for committed members. I found myself thinking, “Unless something changes we’ll be extinct!” I didn’t know it then, but this was the time when things were

about to change. In a meeting at Wolverhampton, I recalled the words of Noel, the Jesus Fellowship’s main apostolic leader: “I don’t want to be a part of some-thing that is not working”. Something clicked in my heart and I renewed my faith for young brothers to join us – and I wasn’t the only one finding fresh faith at that time. A number of us shared a rekindled flame of vision for change. We prayed! And in 2007 Greg, Paul, Pete, Hamid and Sam came around: young men joining us with a vision for radical Christian movement. This was what we’d prayed for! The movement still continues in 2009. Not only has the air changed at Cornerstone – this fresh increase has had, and is still making, a great impact on the whole of mJa Birmingham.

“Cornerstone” is a large country house on the edge of Birmingham – and a flagship for the New Creation Christian Community in that city. But three years ago it seemed to be emptying fast. Kevin Piper tells Jesus Life how faith turned it around.

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TRIBES

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From the broad street to the narrow way

Evangelism is close to the Jesus Fellowship’s heart.

Hamid Afshar tells of the ongoing strategy for reaching Birmingham’s people for Jesus.BROAD STREET is pretty much the centre of Birmingham City Centre and every Friday night the mJa can be found on Broad Street, talking with people about Jesus and praying with those who want us to.

Evangelism in Birmingham has taken off: now, three other evange-lism bases have branched out from what we do at Broad Street. There is also outreach in Northfield every Friday night. The aim: Chavs, ASBOs and gang members for Jesus! (We love them.) Some Friday nights will also see evangelism taking place in Moseley with the aim of growing our community house there, “Joshua Tree”. Most Saturday afternoons we also have evangelistic activity in the Fruit Market in the City Centre. Be-yond this, we dream of being able to start a new evangelism team in New Town, one of Birmingham’s most deprived areas. We are always very keen to wel-come new people to our church; there’s plenty of inspiration and motivation towards evangelism ac-tion in mJa Birmingham!

Birmingham outreach Birmingham belonging

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Growing a youth treeSimon Bullock leads “Joshua Tree,” Birmingham’s

newest Jesus Fellowship Christian community house.

JOSHUA TREE started as a household without a community house; a base in our area of the city with potential to start things there. Our original vision was so that we would have a lot of young people and that is why we called it Joshua Tree, with Moses’ new generation successor in mind – a

household for youth to grow within. We were commissioned in 2000. A few brothers from Anchorage joined us and last year, some of us moved into a new community house. There are six people living there now. One of them, Sarah, says this about Joshua Tree: “We sing a song which speaks of ‘my home, the harbour of my soul’; this is what community means to me. It’s where I find acceptance, healing, brotherhood and grace”. And another, Alex, said, “It was hard at first, but having so many friends around who love me makes it so much easier. I have found a lot of healing.”

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Showing the oldies we mean businessA glimpse of the youth movement which is making waves in Jesus Fellowship Birmingham.IN EARLY 2006 one mJa Birmingham leader, Farhad Chermahini, felt God prod him into starting a new cell group for young people. This led to a regular Birming-ham “JA Youth” event for teenagers, and another gath-ering for “J-gen” (those between 15 and 35) which takes place on some Sunday afternoons. Hamid goes to JA Youth. He says: “My vision for JA Youth is for us all to catch fire, evangelise, grow JA Youth and then help the new ones to catch fire as well. We mean to show some of these oldies that JA Youth means business!” Pete Sargeson comments on mJa Birmingham’s “J Generation”: “We have got a decent number and mix at J-gen Birmingham, but could do with more commit-ment. My vision is to cause the J-gen to really ‘see the kingdom’ and go deep together as the body of Christ. I want us to be able to lead from the front, to inspire and revive the whole of Jesus Fellowship Birmingham. In our times together we are learning to worship, disciple one another, let go of our fears and prejudices. Not that it’s all heavy – we want to have fun! But we’re serious about being God’s generation.”

Youth on the streets of Birmingham

JL

MJA BIRMINGHAM: FACTFILE 200 people come on Sunday mornings More than 100 people come on Sunday evenings Once a month Sunday evening is “more chilled” and café style

Three New Creation Christian Community houses with nearly 40 people living in them

Growing vision for a Jesus Centre in Birmingham by 2012

Boson from the band says: “Sunday nights are great. People are really close to one another, share their hearts and there is always a buzz around.”


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THERE’S no “formula” for successful Christian

community, but here are 10 principles that

we’ve found to be vital for health and fruitfulness.

A CHECKLIST FOR COMMUNITY

Jesus Life Two/2009

Tschaka Roussel and Chris Gilbert live in two different recently planted Jesus Fellowship community houses, one in Northampton and one in Coventry, both of which have young leadership teams.

Jesus Life Two/2009 Page 24

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Tschaka Roussel and Chris Gilbert on what matters if you’re going to build Christians together in community.

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SHARED HEARTS: be truly joined together Share vision, be joined together through love for Jesus and nurture a shared desire to build His church. The sense of loyalty should run deep: one heart, one soul, but each member individually unique. It’s true joy to know that the people around you are fighting for the same thing.

LEADERSHIP: help others hear God’s direction and nurture relationships You just have to get on and do the job. To lead is to serve, and it works out in many ways: whether speaking the word of God, doing the washing up, or spurring each other on, you need strong leadership that loves and builds.

SERVICE: the power of one person to bless everyone else You’ll find you’re quite a varied bunch with a diversity of spiritual gifts. From homemakers and cake bakers to out-front evangelists and networkers, everyone is needed to build community. Our love together works all this in unity to demonstrate God’s kingdom on earth.

CELIBATE CALL: don’t just focus on the natural family Married couples, committed celibates, singles, children. All have their part to play in the expression of God’s family. Community is all about building God’s society of love. Celibates lead in being devoted to God above all else; families bring a sense of wider family and belonging.

GIVE SACRIFICIALLY: forsake all for the kingdom We give our everything for this cause. Some may have grown up in community, but all give up material and financial possessions to be here. What we build together is more valuable than any earthly treasure.

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SYSTEMS: work out the practical nitty-gritty stuff

There are always things that need doing. Lots of friends means lots of cups to be washed, people to be transported, and general busyness, but we all get stuck in. Some people take on specific responsibilities, like the transport organiser for example.

DISTINCTIVE LIFESTYLE: go for the best, not the world’s standard

“You have no TV!” We often hear that. It’s more fulfilling to focus on people and God rather than entertainment and pleasure. To live all out for God shows the world around us an alternative lifestyle, where love rules rather than self-preservation.

COMMITMENT: own the vision together through good times and bad

For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer. This is the bottom line. Whether things are going well or whether we feel we are wandering in the desert, we are committed to each other. When God has called you, you must work it out together.

LIFE AND FRIENDSHIP: let brotherhood attract people

People often comment on the atmosphere of love at our houses. Those coming from broken backgrounds, knowing many hurts and disappointments, find a real sense of acceptance and genuine care here. Love centered around Jesus is simply attractive – it draws people in.

THE CROSS: learn to deny self live for Jesus – and others

It’s not all smooth sailing, the grumbles and groans are never too far away! To live for others means to put aside your own agenda and even good intentions at times. It causes you to refocus and come back to the starting point – Jesus. By embracing the cross we find His grace to continue. JL

SYSTEMS: work out the practical nitty-gritty stuff

www.jesus.org.uk

For more on New Creation Christian Community visit www.newcreation.org.uk

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WHAT ARE JESUS CENTRES?Places where the love of Jesus is expressed daily in worship, care and friendship for every type of person.

WHAT DO THEY OFFER?All sorts, including showers, friendship, a listening ear, IT classes and food. They also act as a ‘gateway’ to other services and agencies.

WHO RUNS THEM?The Jesus Army Charitable Trust (JACT). Staff and volunteers come from Jesus Fellowship Church.

WHERE ARE THEY?Coventry, Northampton and Central London. Plans are afoot for further Jesus Centres, in Sheffield (2010) and then Birmingham. Eventually Jesus Centres will be found in other places around the UK.

HOW CAN I HELP?We always need money, old clothes, food and lots more! Check out the website for details.

MORE INFO:www.jesuscentre.org.uk

“

JESUS CENTRES

www.jesuscentre.org.uk

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At London Jesus Centre, Sue Withers teaches English for Speakers of Other languages (ESOL) and leads a support group for people newly arrived in the UK.

New to the UK

I FEEL like I am in prison,” said our asylum seeker friend.

Settling into the UK can be a diffi cult proc-ess of trying to fi nd basic amenities and often the right to remain in an unfamiliar and often unfriendly environment. Economic migrants and students similarly struggle with language diffi culties, getting suitable accommodation and, most importantly, fi nding a friend. The “New to UK” project at London Jesus Centre is providing practical help and sup-port to these migrants with immigration advice, ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and conversation classes and other practical help and friendship.

Lin from Japan was brought to the Jesus Centre by a lady in Chinatown, to learn Eng-lish. Afterwards, no-one could ever fi nd out who the lady was: “An angel?” we wondered.

Lin enjoyed her time with us over the month she stayed here. She was as keen to learn about Christianity as she was to learn English. When she had to return to Japan, she asked if we could fi nd a church like this for her in Tokyo and we were able to put her in touch with Momoko, a Christian we know there.

Continued overleaf

We are providing practical help and support

An ESOL class at London Jesus Centre

Jesus Life Two/2009

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JESUS CENTRES

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Ethel was a teacher in her native Rwanda. She has been in the UK for ten years, and helps in the ESOL class as a classroom assistant to regain confi dence in her teaching role.

Mei Ling comes from North East China and is here for a year to study English language and literature. Passing the Jesus Centre in November, she saw the sign advertising English classes. She started coming on Fridays to improve her spoken English, and appreciated the friendship and support: “I found many things different from Chi-na. I didn’t have much contact with people in England. When I came here I found my accommodation wasn’t as good as it said on the internet. I was a stranger; it was so hard.

“I was a stranger; it was so hard. You helped me a lot.”

You helped me a lot.” Since Mei Ling’s mother in China had became a Christian, Mei Ling had been in-terested in fi nding out more about Christi-anity. She had visited various churches, but not found home there. Over Christmas time, Mei Ling stayed in the Jesus Fellowship’s Christian commu-nity, based in the same building as the Jesus Centre. She describes an experience of God she had at New Year: “We were praying to welcome the New Year. I closed my eyes to follow the prayers and I felt a light coming into my mind. I wanted to be a Christian. A leader, Steve, came over to me and said “New Year, New Life”. A few days later, at the big Jesus Fellowship


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Ivan from Ecuador and Miguel from Spain have become friends since they met at the Jesus Centre. They both attend con-versation classes to improve their spoken English and have particularly enjoyed making friends with people from different nations. Ivan is here to support his family, because his youngest brother’s disability has caused a lot of stress and hardship in the family. Having the support of friends, as well as help with getting a job has meant a lot to him: “People here are approachable and open. My self-esteem is very good now because I started to work part time. When I came here it was very diffi cult because I didn’t understand. I had a fear of speaking English but now I say ‘no more fear’”.

New Year Celebration in Northampton, Mei Ling prayed to accept Jesus into her life. She was baptised in February. Now Mei Ling volunteers in the Jesus Centre’s tearoom and is taking strong steps forward as a Christian.

Top: Ethel from Rwanda helps at an ESOL class.

Above: Students at another ESOL class.

Below: More students including Ivan and Miguel (bottom right)

JL

www.jesuscentre.org.uk

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the power of brotherhood

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CHILDREN’S laughter and the clatter of running feet rang around the playground; football, tag, “you’re it!”

Teachers are in pairs, keeping an eye out for trouble. But when trouble came they failed to see it. Joseph stood in the corner, by the wall, with a few oth-ers. Two boys ran up and violently shoved Joseph against the wall. They didn’t let go. His friends watched as they pinned Joseph against the wall then start to yell and cheer. Joseph remembers it vividly: “Two guys, who used to bully me a lot, grabbed me, pinning me against the wall. They got loads of people to punch me. Some of them were meant to be my friends.” “We’ve got ’im! Who wants a free punch? Anyone for a free punch?” The crowd’s chanting seemed to catch hold of Joe’s ‘friends’ and they started to yell and cheer, too. Sucked in, they left Joseph on his own. Joseph was the quiet kid who sat on his own. Perhaps it was his lack of confi dence that made him a target. It instilled in Joseph a lasting fear of almost anyone with a

confi dent, plucky nature; it reminded him of the bullies. Getting abuse hurled at him by other boys in his year was the fl avour of Joseph’s daily life. Over time, isolation, rejec-tion and anger crept in. Joel lay in the hospital bed; the car accident now felt just like a bad dream. Coming to the UK from Portugal with his mum may not have been a good idea after all. A few years later, Joel was diagnosed with severe ADHD (Attention Defi cit Hyperactivity Disorder) – caused, it was believed, by the long-term after-effects of injections he’d been given in the hospital. ADHD took Joel’s social life into a down-ward spiral. At school he became a victim of bullying. “I remember a group of kids at my school chased me and I ran to a fence, threw my bag over and tried to climb it, I was really scared. They caught me, dragged me down and started hitting me. I was crying and yelling at them to get off.” Unlike introverted Joseph, Joel knew that his ADHD

Continued overleaf

Jake Clark is a lively young mover-and-shaker in the Jesus Fellowship in Norwich. He tells Jesus Life the story of Joseph, Joel, and Brandon, three of his friends who’ve found life in the brotherhood there.

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meant he would sometimes “go too far” and say the wrong thing. This is what got him into trouble with other lads – and he felt power-less do anything about it. Trying to fi t in was not easy. Joel and his mum, Christine, are both committed Christians. When Christine met someone at work who lived in the Jesus Fellowship’s Christian community house in Norwich, “Saving Faith”, Christine visited; she encouraged Joel to come and see what it was like. Joel, outwardly extrovert (due partly to his ADHD), but inwardly insecure, found friendship and ac-ceptance at “Saving Faith”. He also found Joseph. Joseph’s family had been friends with people at “Saving Faith” for some time. Joseph started going there after he fi nished school. He got involved with their youth group and starting showing up more and more regularly, fi nd-ing healing and friends, like Joel, who had been through similar things. Joel was loud and outgoing – just the kind of person Joseph had learned to fear – but he, too, had suf-fered from bullying. As well as Joel and Joseph, many other young people were going round to “Saving Faith”. One of them was Brandon. Brandon is one of the boys who used to bully Joel at school. He had decided to tag along to “Saving Faith” with his brother who had some friends there. It was 7 o’clock in the evening. Dozens of conversations were buzzing in the packed dining room at “Saving Faith”. One was taking place at the far corner on one of the tables: “Hey Joel, you ok? Joel, this is Brandon.” “Yeah, I know who he is... He used to bully me in school.” But by the end of the evening Brandon, Joseph and Joel were in full fl ow. Laughter and jokes were being thrown

around (not fi sts). If you had been sitting there, in the warm atmosphere of friendship, you would never have known that these three lads would probably never have spoken to each other before – unless it was in argument, fear and aggression. They’re still friends, and fi nding more of Jesus together to this day. The world can be a cold place. It turns peo-ple against each other, makes our culture tribal

and splintered. Think of the youth culture labels: Chav, Indie, Goth and so on. And it can be worse: Pikey... Paki. It’s about separation and division. How many times do we make assumptions about people when we walk down the street? See a young person wearing tracksuit bottoms and a top with their hood pulled up – what do you think? Keep your distance? Sepa-ration and division. Jesus sacrifi ced Himself on the cross for reconciliation. God with us – and us with each other. Jesus died so that lads like Joseph, Joel and Brandon could share a brother-hood bond that obliterates all the separation and division. And yet – and this is the scary thing – people like these three lads won’t just suddenly come together, unless someone makes sacrifi ces to bring them together. The sacrifi ce of Jesus won’t reach them unless Christians show that they are ready and willing to give them time and believe in them. Like in Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan, we Christians must show that we are different from the world and its sad ways. We have what the whole world can’t offer – and we’re ready to sacrifi ce to share it with people who need it. No matter who they are.

See a young person wearing tracksuit bottoms and a top with their hood pulled up - what do you think? Keep your distance?


JL

FrieNDtogether

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RADICALBITES #10

Lord of the things Do you share your stuff? Because that’s what church is all about.

What does the word “fellowship” bring to mind? If you’re a Tolkein fan, it

probably has something to do with hobbits. And, if you’re a Christian, it may mean – er – having a cuppa after the service? In fact, the Greek New Testament word which many bible versions translate, rather weakly, as “fellowship” has a lot more to it: koinonia. It’s about shared life, common unity or community; in fact, “everything in common.” (Imagine – “after tonight’s serv-ice, we’ll have an informal time of – every-thing in common”.) Koinonia is displayed in all its glory in the book of Acts. The fi rst Christians “devoted

themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to koinonia… all the believers were together and had everything in common.” (Acts 2:42, 44) So what were those crazy communist apostles teaching? Well, in fact, “all that Jesus had commanded them” (Matthew 28:20). The radical sharing in Acts is the direct result of Jesus’ teaching: “Sell eve-rything you have… and come follow Me… Truly, no-one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fi elds for Me and for the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, moth-ers, children and fi elds – and with them per-secutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.” (Mark 10:21, 29-30) When someone like Barnabas threw his money at the apostles’ feet (Acts 4:36-37), personal ownership was over. But he gained “a hundred times as much”. He gained koinonia, the big spiritual family and all that it shared together (including persecutions; it’s not like the world doesn’t protest at its

economy of death being so thoroughly chal-lenged). Jesus shared His money with His brothers (John 12:6); shouldn’t we? Jesus laid down His life for His friends (1 John 3:16-17); shouldn’t we? Jesus taught, lived and died for koinonia. Shouldn’t we? “This is My command: love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)

Sell everything you have…and come follow Me.

JL

HAVE YOUR SAY: email: [email protected] the ebook at: www.jesus.org.uk/kingdommanifesto.pdf

www.jesus.org.uk

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Teenagers: self-absorbed, egocentric and obnoxious, right? Wrong. 18-year-old Grace wants to give her life for a cause.

Grace goes against the flow

EVEN at 11, Grace Timms stood out from the crowd. Forget fashionable hairstyles or idolising the latest

boy band: Grace wanted more than anything else to fi nd peace with God. Grace was brought up in a Christian home, but it was when she went on a camp with other girls her age from her church, that she realised she had yet to become a Christian in her own right. She prayed and committed her life to Jesus. “I gained so much from that camp,” says Grace “After that I just wanted to seek God more and more.” Searching for the next step as a Christian, the way

This sense of God’s guidance brought peace to Grace. University wasn’t for her. Once that decision was made, Grace took fl ight. She became a fully-fl edged member of the Jesus Fellowship, also embracing a radical shared lifestyle in a Jesus Fellowship Christian Community house in Leicester. “This is the opposite way to this consumer-driven so-ciety”, she says with conviction. “God gave me passion and vision for Christian community.” “Just when I needed direction, God showed me how empty the alternative would be. I stayed with some of my friends at University, but their lifestyle didn’t appeal

Forget fashionable hairstyles or idolising the latest boy band: Grace wanted more than anything else to find peace with God.forward became clear to Grace when a young girl who had just started to come to church expressed a desire to be baptised. Grace knew she needed to do the same. Her own baptism, at 16, was a powerful turning point. “I cried all the way through,” she recalls. “I felt com-pletely clean inside, knowing that God had taken all my sin away and replaced it with His love.” Later, approaching the end of her A-Levels, Grace was faced with a series of important choices. Friends seemed to have their paths planned out: university, career, money, family. They expected her to go the same way. But Grace just didn’t know what the future held for her: all she knew was that she wanted to follow God’s guidance for her life, not her own ambition. Grace felt the stress of uncertainty: “I didn’t know what to do, what the right decision was. I had to cry out to God: and He answered me.”

to me at all; it seemed shallow compared to the things God was showing me.” Where will Grace go from here? She expresses ex-citement about young people she’s involved with in Leicester: “I long to see them move onwards in God”. And she’s learning to trust God. “He is unpredictable, but I’m ready for whatever His plans are.” For Grace, the important thing is that she knows God has a plan for her life – and she is determined to follow it. “Everyone I knew at college had different priorities from me. There it was all about ambition, career and bettering yourself. God is my priority. What I’m doing now isn’t for my sake, it’s for His. And it works!” JL

READ MORE: Find other people’s stories of how Jesus changed their life at www.jesus.org.uk/jcml

www.jesus.org.uk

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Boiling with rage and bubbling with excitement - Jesus Life hears from mJa members,

Sam Cullum and Mim Beresford.

Fear RantI HATE it when I see fear ruling people’s lives. Take fear of rejection in relationships: people are so scared of offending others and being rejected that they no longer take risks; they “play safe” – and relationships stay shallow. And fear stops us being free to express the life of God when we meet as a church – or even wider than this, in everyday life. Jesus loved all kinds of people and lived fearlessly; He didn’t give a monkey’s what people thought of Him, and He wasn’t held by boundaries that dictate what you can and can’t do. If we want to be anything like Jesus we have to be the same – otherwise we wear a Christian “label” but we’re just a bunch of liars. We can build our church strong by having the kind of

trusting

relationships with each other which aren’t afraid to go deep with each other and speak out what we really think and feel – even when that means vulnerability. It grieves me when people break trust, and when you tell someone something and by the end of the week it’s gone round the church. I hate gossip. It breeds insecurity and if you do it you help Satan damage the church. I want challenging friendships. I don’t like the idea of being just “nice” – or church being filled with nice, sappy, polite, fearful, weak men who call themselves Christians and claim to follow Jesus. I want to be friends with those who are going to be honest with me; friends who will point out my selfishness and my old nature even when I don’t want it; friends who will stick together in tough times and not be scared to love each other. If we can’t do any of that we are no different from the world around us – but if we can, we will build a strong church, with brotherhood that’s solid as a rock.

Sam Cullum

jesus.org.uk

Mim Beresford

Verbing the kingdomWE WERE eating cake and talking God. Confronted with the question “How do you show God’s kingdom today?” there was a brief pause. We digested the question, and stopped eating cake (briefly). The answers we came up with had this in common: everything that would show God’s kingdom was an action. There was no way around it. Words alone would not be enough. We would have to show people in the simplest way possible – by letting them see it in our own lives. I realised then that it wasn’t about letting God just be a part of my life; it was about letting Him be my whole life – breathing God, thinking God, hearing God. There’s really only one way to show God’s love and to practise what Jesus tells us: it is to do it! You can sit around processing the thought of it, or arguing the theology behind it, and achieve – what? You have got

to just move yourself and get out there. This is one reason why I love my active church so much. We don’t just look at the yellow, green, pink highlighted sentences in our Bibles; we really do get active, get doing it. We dance on portable stages; we sing on joyful marches; we leap; we yell; we wear it on our clothes; we strum it on our guitars. We run Jesus Centres; we make teas and coffees for late-night party-goers; we work in kingdom businesses together; we give him a bed for the night; we help her with her English; we give up our Sunday morning lie-in to clean; we stay up late to listen. We live together in community; we laugh together and cry together; we share our possessions together; we lay down our lives together. We eat cake and talk God together. In short, we action God’s word; we live it out; we make it happen. We verb the kingdom – for Jesus. JL

HAVE YOUR OWN RANT OR RAVE: www.jesus.org.uk/forum


11/05/2009 12:29:59


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