Holy Club 33

Is Christ real to me?

Good Friday seems like the right day to ask this question!

It's ironic to wake up this morning to the news that the Americans have dropped the 'Mother Of All Bombs' on Afghanistan - perpetuating the myth that killing your enemies ends conflict.

The good Friday message is that dying for your enemies defeats evil. It was unbelievable then and after 2000 years of Christianity is still counter-intuitive. It seems logical that evil should be overpowered not 'over-loved', but the Easter message is that love wins, not power.

The big picture is straightforward to understand, living in good Friday mode is much harder. I automatically want to win arguments and fight those who are 'wrong'.

Jesus chose to surrender to evil and to forgive. To do the same demands huge courage.

Bible passage to meditate on Luke 23:32-46

Holy Club 32

Can I be trusted?

I find it's often in the little things that my trustworthiness (or not) is revealed. It's taking pride in the little things that says a lot about us. I'm not a detail person so I need to work hard on this one.

The Holy Club focused on the Holy Communion very regularly, so it seems appropriate to look at this on Maunday Thursday.

The Fresh Expressions movement has rediscovered something important about the Last Supper that traditional churches often miss - it was actually a meal not just a crumb of bread and a sip of (in Methodist Churches non-alchoholic) wine. Relationships change when we eat together - they get stronger and deeper.

Of course the Last Supper was not just any supper - it was a passover meal. Jesus took a meal which is all about remembering and transformed it. 

In a traditional passover meal, its the youngest boy who asks 'Why are we doing this?' (Actually a more structured set of questions but that's the gist of it.) It's the head of the house who explains the mighty acts of God in choosing and then saving Israel as his special people. The escape from Egypt is followed by 40 years in the wilderness because God's chosen people didn't have the courage to trust him.

Like many Jewish celebrations its a home-based thing - it's not about going to church/synagogue. A good reminder that the family is an important place for sharing and building faith.

In the Christian celebration we remember that God set us free, but we remember too that Jesus gave his life for us.

If God's way of saving us is about serving and sacrifice, then our way of following must be about serving and sacrifice too.

Bible passage to meditate on: John 17:20-26

Holy Club 31

Do I grumble or complain constantly?

I'm tempted to reply - only when I'm awake! The old hymn 'count your blessings' offers a better way. Do you naturally look for the good and give thanks or look for the bad to have a grumble? My natural inclination is the second - I have to work hard at not being a grumbler.

As we go through Holy Week, there's lots that defies easy explanation, which brings us back to the Holy Club practice of reading the mystic writers together.

They instinctively understood that reason and explanation are important, but can never do all that we need to be Christians. 

We will never fully understand the atonement - the meaning of the death of Jesus. The great theologians give us pointers, but none of them can offer a complete explanation. The death of Jesus is something that we need to enter into, not just think about. The resurrection is in one sense profoundly unbelievable - until we experience it, then its life changing.

The Holy Club consciously sought out an experience of God that would help them to believe in the salvation that Jesus won for us on the cross. Often that experience comes when we meet with others and unite our faith until we have enough.

The Primitive Methodists in the nineteenth century talked about 'getting in faith' not something we work ourselves up to, but something God gives us by his grace.

My hope this Easter is that once again, I'll not just read about and sing about the resurrection, but enter into it as I experience the risen Christ.

Bible passage to meditate on: Matthew 28:16-20

Holy Club 30

Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold a resentment toward or disregard? If so, what am I doing about it?

It's easy to think about what others ought to do when relationships are not as they should be. Its also often unhelpful to apportion blame. The Holy Club question rightly focuses on what will I do about it.

How can I take a positive step to restore a relationship that's been damaged - even (or especially?) when I'm the one in the right.

If I'm in the wrong (and I often am!), I have to get over defensiveness and self-justification before I can put things right.

If I'm the one being wronged, I need to get over hurt and self-righteousness before I can be the one making the first step to put things right.

Holy week is full of stories of people failing Jesus:

Judas the betrayer

The disciples sleeping when Jesus needed them most

Peter denying

Soldiers wrongly arresting him

The priests falsifying evidence

A cowardly judge handing down an unjust sentence 

All these make Jesus words from the cross: 'Father, forgive them' unbelievable.

Jesus sets the example, may we find from him the grace to follow it.

Bible passage to meditate on: Luke 6:27-36

Holy Club 29

Am I defeated in any part of my life?

How do you measure defeat? In a competitive world where winning is everything, defeat is something we don't like to talk about. In a men's group some years ago, we began with an ice-breaker. Everyone had to take turns completing the sentence: 'the thing I hate most is . . . .'

Most people had taken their turn when a young sales executive said, ' The thing I hate most is coming second!'

As I looked around the room I could see half the men nodding, wishing they'd come up with such a good answer. Others looked perplexed, they didn't think about life that way.

I don't think that sort of defeat was in the Holy Club's mind when they framed this question (though I suspect many of them would have identified with the driven nature of the sales executive).

They were looking at how we cope with the rubbish that life throws at us. Am I letting life grind me down?  That is being defeated.

Am I rising above the problems with a happy smile on my face, ignoring ill health, the people who are out to get me and the million obstacles in the way of getting 'the job' (whatever today's job is) done? That's a common picture of the Christian life. It's often an unhealthy and unhelpful one.

 Better still, have I found a way to be at peace in the midst of the mess. Rather than praying for God to make me victorious over the mess, have I noticed that God is by my side in the middle of it? This kind of peace is often hard won, though it is primarily God's gift of grace, not a reward for our efforts.

If we are in the midst of big problems, praying for God to 'beam us up' and take away the problems, we don't always notice the peace that God is holding out to us where we are.

At the beginning Holy Week, we remember again that God emptied himself of his rightful status and his power and demonstrated his love for us in weakness and suffering. His death was no defeat! It was the triumph of love over evil.

Bible passage to meditate on: Philippians 2:5-11

Holy Club 28

When did I last speak to someone else of my faith?

Talk about Church and you'll be unlikely to get much of a hearing. Talk of Jesus and people are often more interested than you expect.

In today's world (and particularly with the younger generations) authenticity is vital - talk on its own is not enough. The athlete Kris Akabussi withdrew from speaking at Christian events all over the country and gave the explanation: 'I only talk my talk where people can see me walk my walk.' 

One of the reasons the Holy Club tried to pray regularly through the day was so that they would be 'walking' with Jesus and people would notice.

There are lots of ways of doing this - the digital world is full of prompts to pray that we can take advantage of. One I've used over the years is the Moravian daily text email http://www.moravian.org/faith-a-congregations/moravian-daily-texts/subscribe-to-the-daily-texts/

This web-site sends an email every day with a text and a prayer. It's great to take five minutes when it pings into the inbox and pause to pray.

Take Time is a great new site that helps you to 'take time' to focus on God http://taketime.org.uk with lots of suggested meditations.

There are lots more you can spend hours googling them!

Another good idea is to link prayers with regular activities - if you've got a dog - pray as you walk him/her. If you wash up by hand, pray as you wash for God's cleansing for yourself and those you love.

If you commute, get into the habit of reading the Bible and praying for at least part of the journey.

Eventually the habit becomes so natural you don't even know you're doing it. It's amazing how much more often we hear God speak into our lives (and through us into others) when we spend time praying.

Bible passage to meditate on: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Holy Club 27

Am I proud?

There is a good sort of pride. Pride in a job well done - particularly one that stretched us because we didn't think we could do it.

Often the Bible is negative about being proud. It suggests a hanging on to status. A way of making ourselves seem better than those around us.

Whenever I feel myself thinking 'Don't you know who I am?' I hear a warning bell ringing. The wrong sort of pride is about to surface.

Another unhelpful form of pride is when we imply to those we love that we'll be proud of them when they reach a particular target, earn a particular salary, master a particular skill. It's so easy to put that pressure on those closest to us - especially our children. It's hard to say "i'm proud of you because of who you are', rather than 'I'm proud of you because of what you've done' (or worse - 'I'm not proud of you because you didn't . . .').

One of the standout things about Jesus' earthly life is that he continually associated with people he shouldn't. He didn't look down on people, he came alongside with love and healing. He touched the leper, ate with the tax-collectors, allowed women with dubious reputations to anoint him, talked with samaritans (and praised them).

Getting alongside people who are avoided by polite society seems to be an essential mark of Christian discipleship. The Holy Club did this most clearly in their prison visiting.

Nowadays we can easily make a gift of money to a charity working with the poor and marginalised. It's much harder to sit down with them and share in their lives.

Bible passage to meditate on: Matthew 25:31-45

Holy Club 26

How do I spend my spare time?

There's a  common fallacy around that if you work for God (especially in a paid capacity), that its a 24/7/365 job. In one sense this is true - the great commandment is to love God with all your heart, all your mind and all your strength. However, that's not the same as working non-stop.

Someone told me at the beginning of my ministry to put one new thing on every Church Council agenda - this way about one in four ideas would be accepted and change would happen gently. In 1990, I went to be minister of South Chadderton Methodist Church and met a council who agreed with every new idea. Sadly, I didn't have the sense to stop suggesting new ideas - about three years later I had an extended time off work because my body swelled up and I couldn't move my joints. After endless tests, the medics decided that I'd simply worked myself into such a state that my body had given up on me.

As a colleague wisely put it: 'sometimes God has to put you flat on your back to get you to look up!' 

After that I did some careful diary watching and journalling and discovered that I could work about 50 hours a week of reasonable quality output. After that, I was better off windsurfing - I didn't get more done, I just worked more slowly. That was 25 years ago, I've not measured my output properly for a while - I suspect it's diminished to 40-45 hours per week. I've met people who can work hard for longer - I'm never sure whether to admire or pity them!

God put sabbath days rests and times of jubilee in creation for a reason! A lot of our guilt could be removed if we understood this well. One of the reasons for keeping a journal is not to feel guilty about what we haven't done, but to notice what we have.

In a conversation with a colleague recently I asked the question: 'If Jesus said, "come unto me all you heavy laden, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light", then whose burden am I carrying?'

Whose burden are you carrying?

Bible passage to meditate on: Matthew 11:25-30

Holy Club 25

Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy or distrustful?

Yet another multiple choice question with six different ways to seek improvement.

At the heart of this question is an attitude of contentment. The Holy Club's aspiration to live a simple life is not just about having few possessions or living on a small budget (both of them highly counter-cultural in the 21st Century). It's about learning to find happiness in our relationship with God.

So often we feel unsettled because we compare ourselves with others who seem to have more money, more influence, more friends or more success (hence the jealousy etc). It's often hard to be thankful for what we have rather than unsettled by what we haven't got.

Perhaps one of the secrets of this sort of contentment is to focus on pleasing God, not on pleasing ourselves. I love the line in the Methodist Covenant Prayer (part of an annual rededication to God) that says:

Christ has many services to be done . . . . in some we may please Christ and please ourselves; in others we cannot please Christ except by denying ourselves.

Whichever way life turns out in this regard, simplicity is found in pleasing Christ - easy to say, much harder to do.

One might also say:

Sometimes we may please Christ and please our fellow Christians, other times we can only please Christ by ignoring the demands of fellow Christians.

No wonder its hard too make life simple.

Bible Passage to meditate on: Hebrews 12:1-3

Holy Club 24

Do I give the Bible time to speak to me every day?

Accountability isn't just about checking up on one another. I suspect I'm not the only one who immediately reacts negatively too being held accountable - most of us carry guilt around with us. One of the joys of good accountability is that we can say affirm one another. 

"Don't be so hard on yourself." "Did you noticed how God used you in that situation?" "That was brave." These are all affirmations I've heard used in small accountability groups. Building one another up is so important. We all remember negative things for a long time and dismiss positive things very quickly.

I've heard the maxim that one should say three positive things for every negative in lots of places. So much so that one friend advised me that if someone says three nice things to you - duck - you know what's coming next.

Hopefully we're a little bit more subtle than that! The principle is a good one and it's really important to speak out affirmation - people rarely take in subtle hints or non-verbal affirmation!

Bible passage to meditate on: James 5:13-20

Holy Club 23

Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?

This question is all about attitudes. It goes deeper than our actions and questions motives. It's easy to drift into a pattern of doing the 'right thing', but with an attitude that removes all trace of delight. Sadly these attitudes are highly contagious. Righteous anger flares, is expressed and dies fairly quickly. Bad attitudes linger like the smell of old fish.

Another of the Holy Clubs activities was helping others, especially the poor. This is one of the simplest habits to develop (some of you even do it naturally - I have to work at it).

A helping hand, a smile, a word of affirmation (the more specific the better) to say 'well done' to someone is good, to say I particularly liked the way you did . . . Is a whole lot better, its in the right context.

These kind of attitudes linger too, but in the best possible way.

Bible passage to meditate on: Philippians 4:8-9

Holy Club 22

Do I disobey God in anything?

I've found it true for some time, that when I find myself having sleepless nights or waking extra early, it's because there's some way I've been disobedient to God - usually not doing something I should have done. 

Its scary how often I've wasted more energy putting something off than it eventually took to get it done. I'd like to think I've got better, but I'm not sure it's true.

I've also noticed that when I'm being disobedient to God I become defensive and irritable.

The theory is easy - become obedient - if only the practice was as easy.

One of the keys to transformation is experiencing God - when his presence becomes overwhelming, our ability to put things off and justify ourselves disappears in a second.

This brings us back to the practice of the Holy Club of seeking religious experience - demonstrated in their love of mystic writers. Just this week I was reminded that some of the opponents of the early Methodists accused them of 'Papism' and 'Ignatianism' - because like Ignatius of Loyola, they understood the importance of religious experience.

When we embrace religious experience, it makes us much more attractive to those who are 'spiritual but not religious'.

It is also important for Christians of a certain age who may have become 'weary in welding'.

In Holy Club 12, we quoted Elaine Heath in the Mystical Way of Evangelism - The decline of the church in the United States is best understood as a corporate dark night of the soul.The night is initiated by God and could lead the church to a new and vibrant life. (page 20)

For some of us, the 'dark night of the soul' is a symptom of spiritual exhaustion having given our lives serving a church in decline. We become so exhausted we even begin to doubt the faith we've held on to for many years. We're saddened to realise that Churches are not good places to talk about doubt - it makes people wrestling with same feelings angry and resentful. If we admit a little doubt, all our faith might be destroyed so we desperately deny our doubts.

The only solution to this kind of doubt is a profound experience of God and the security that comes from experiencing his love surrounding us. We achieve that by admitting our doubts and bringing them to Jesus not by ignoring them in the hope that they'll go away.

Bible Passage to meditate on: Psalm 139:1-18

Holy Club 21

Can I be trusted?

Can I be trusted with a confidence? Can I be trusted to do what I say? Can I be trusted to respond lovingly in almost any situation?

It's hard to see ourselves as others see us. I'm not sure whether I beat myself up unnecessarily or whether I really need to up my game - I suspect it depends on the day!

The accountability group really helps with this - when we trust the people we share with enough, we can really help one another to be the best we can be.

A number of people have expressed interest in a virtual accountability group - I plan to give it a try after Easter. So far no-one living close enough to do a face to face. Message me if you want to join in.

Today's Holy Club practice is another look at reading the Bible. Previously we've looked at regular reading of the whole Bible - a great idea. Today I want to think about the way God uses certain passages as a place to halt us in scripture until we really wrestle with it enough to hear what God wants to say to us. Sometimes reading the same passage over and over.

A few years ago when I was minister at North Camp Methodist Church, we had a prolonged period of early morning prayer - over a year of praying every day. 

When we began to pray the Bible passage that spoke to us was Jeremiah 29. 
We began with verse 11 - God has plans to prosper us.
Then we moved back to verse 7 and prayed that God would bring peace and prosperity to our community - praying for businesses, individuals, schools, doctors, the army garrison etc etc. 
Then we moved on to verse 13 'you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

We tried several times to move on to a different Bible passage, God brought us back - we spent a year praying into half a chapter of the Bible - it was brilliant!

Bible passage to meditate on: Jeremiah 29:4-14 (it may take some time!)

Holy Club 20

Am I enjoying prayer?

We're now beginning to repeat ourselves with accountability questions. It's very easy to make Christians feel guilty about their prayer life. Most of us feel we're in the 'could do better' category. The challenge is to inspire one another to pray rather than guilt-trip them.

Talking about positive answers to prayer its a good way of doing this. When we pray and see God at work in both our lives and in the lives of people around us, it's easy to enjoy prayer. I was a student chaplain many years ago and the students kept a prayer diary - left hand page for prayer requests, right hand page for answers. It was astonishing how often God answered prayer, often it was a surprise when we got the book out and checked what we'd prayed for and discovered that God had indeed answered. An idea worth resurrecting?

Of course, enjoying prayer is related to whether or not we 'feel' the presence of God (God's always there - sometimes we're very aware of it, other times not). One of the key Holy Club activities to help them experience the presence of God was regularly celebrating the Holy Communion.

As a new Christian in a rural Methodist church, I didn't often get the chance to share holy communion. Someone from a similar background complained that theological college worship was too sacramental - Communion every week, he was only used to receiving communion once every three months. One of the tutors remonstrated with the student, reminding him that our Lord said ' Do this in remembrance of me.' The student replied, 'I can remember for three months - can't you?'

I may remember, the fact of irregular communion - living in the experience of meeting Jesus lasts a much shorter time. Communion is a mystery - we're not quite sure what happens and how. It's also an experience to savour - as we share the communion meal, we do become one with each other and with Jesus in a way that's worth doing often.

In the Fresh Expressions world, we've rediscovered the truth that communion was in the setting of a passover meal - meat and veg, not just a crumb of bread and wine - there's something special about that too.

Bible passage to meditate on: Matthew 26:26-30

Holy Club 19

How do I spend my spare time?

Slobbing in front of the TV (too often)? Exercise (not often enough)? Mind-expanding or mind-numbing reading (mostly the second)? Quality time with the family (pretty often)? I'm glad we're back to gardening season as it's a great way of spending time outside being healthy and getting in harmony with God's creation.

One of the Holy Club priorities was meeting together to build one another up. They had regular meetings with irregular attendances - people came when they could. I prefer more disciplined groups (LTG/L3D groups have been great over the years. They use a shorter list of accountability questions, but work on the same principle as the Holy Club questions I'm using to start each of these blogs.

Currently between groups - anyone up for starting one (virtual or real)?

Bible passage to meditate on: Romans 15:1-13

Holy Club 18

Is Christ real to me?

Is - not was! There have been several times in my life when I've been brought up sharply as I realised that my experience of Christ was in the past (largely because I wasn't actively seeking him in the present) and had to seek a new experience of Christ. Lent's a great time for a spiritual check up - how recently have we experienced the transforming presence of Christ.

There's a strong link between our experience of Christ and the quality of our prayer life.

I long to become one of those Christians for whom prayer is as natural as breathing.

The Holy Club stopped to pray several times a day, others try to pray all the time!

I love the Orthodox tradition of praying in tune with your breathing - the classic prayer is 

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,

Have mercy on me a sinner.

The idea is to say the first phrase as you breathe in and the second phrase as you breathe out.

As you slow your breathing, the prayer gets stronger and creates an inner stillness in harmony with God.

I've never managed to get to the point where it's as natural as breathing, but it's simple, easy to remember  and Christ-centred - a good starting point.

Other Christians have substituted different phrases (try a Psalm) - the discipline is in the repetition so that it becomes part of who you are, not something you do.

Bible passage to meditate on: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24

Holy Club 17

When did I last speak to someone else of my faith?

Jesus was the master of the 'throwaway line' - 'it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter heaven' (Matthew 19:24). 

This is a comment that's designed to provoke both thought and a two way conversation. 

In the past, I think I've tried too hard to come up with a short statement that will end conversation - by overwhelming someone with the truth, rather than a remark that will open up a conversation. 

One of the benefits of training as a coach is that I've learned to ask questions rather than offer answers (Jesus was good at that too!). How would we go about faith-sharing by asking questions rather than giving answers? When people work out the answers for themselves, they tend to remember them much more than if the answers are given to them.

Sometimes we link sharing faith too closely with the Holy Club practice of helping the poor. The 'cost' of our help is listening to a sermon or attending church. 

If we are truly Christlike, we help people because they need it and our compassion leads us to do it. If they ask why we're helping, we're in a good place to explain that its the love that Jesus has put in our lives that we share with others. 

As I've been thinking about helping others, I realise that mostly I subcontract helping others - usually by giving money. There are lots of agencies that do this - I hardly go for a pee nowadays without seeing a 'toilet twinning' sign hanging in the loo - brilliant idea. Its important that we use some of our money in this way.

My challenge is to remember that I can't just subcontract helping others, I need to get my hands dirty and do the helping myself - it's very easy to get so busy with work and those closest to me that I forget to make time for those who need help even more.

The disciples once thought that Jesus was too busy (and too important?) to bother with the needs of children. Who am I too busy to notice?

Bible passage to meditate on: Luke 10:13-16

Holy Club 16

Am I defeated in any part of my life?

Tough question - particularly if like me you suffer from winter blues - is it the time of year or something deeper. This calls for personal honesty and reflection. It's easy to avoid questions like this and live in denial - a vicious circle of failure, recrimination and guilt. If we get into one of these downward spirals, its difficult to break out of it without accountability support.

The Holy Club habit of journalling helps to answer questions like this. Are there patterns of missing deadlines, hiding away from other people, retreating into fantasy worlds? All these things are good and necessary, but not if they happen too often.

A colleague of mine exercised the discipline at least once a year of logging everything he did for a week - breaking it down into 15 minute segments. He found it helped a lot to identify unhealthy life patterns - he didn't talk of 'being defeated', but it was  definitely in his mind.

One week a year was enough (otherwise the pattern of obsessing about how you spend time becomes part of the defeat, not a way to overcome it) it took a lot of time, and courage to look hard at the lessons to learn from it.

I've never had a spiritual director, but I guess this might be something they would help with. Peer accountability (in an atmosphere of trust and love) works too.

Bible passage to meditate on: 1 Peter 5:1-11

Holy Club 15

Do I pray about the money I spend?

It's an old joke that the last part of a Yorkshireman to be converted is the wallet. It's true for people who come from elsewhere too - how we spend our money says a lot about our priorities.

The Holy Club placed a high priority on living simply (not just within our means, but in a way that enables us to bless others).

What does living simply look like? In part, its about determining priorities.

A cell church I worked with some years ago defined priorities like this:

1. Our first commitment is to following Jesus and acknowledging him as Lord in every area of life.
2. Our second commitment is to our family - being good husbands/wives/children/parents. This means making time to be a family in the room together (without TV, tablets or smartphones) and helping one another to become who we were created to be. Sometimes this also means restoring broken relationships in our families too.
3. Our third commitment is to our Christian community, our local church

Is it that simple? It's harder to do than to write down. These three priorities don't mention 'loving our neighbour as ourselves', nor do they take into account the often difficult relationships in families today. 

Its very easy to put church above family, but by doing so we forget that the primary worshipping group in Old and New Testaments is the family or household. The passover meal that we'll soon be remembering was the highlight of the spiritual year and was celebrated in the home, not the synagogue. 

Nor do they mention work - for some people work is a vocation, for others its a necessary inconvenience. Our employers often think work should be the number one priority. Are they right? Its especially difficult when your boss is the Church!

 II think my friends got it right and when we get the three priorities above properly in their places, everything else finds its proper place too. 

Bible passage to meditate on Matthew 6:19-24

Holy Club 14

Am I honest in all my acts and words or do I exaggerate?

There are two extremes in being honest about words and actions. One extreme is exaggerating what we have said and done, the other is being so diffident about what we've done that we undermine our faith - which extreme do you get closest to?

The early Methodists talked a lot about 'watching over one another in love' - helping one another to be the best that they could be.

There are lots of ways to do this. Some of them are institutional such as when employers or leaders appoint mentors or supervisors - they can be great, but there's a lot of chemistry in these sort of relationships so not every person appointed to the role will have a positive impact on the person they supervise.

The Holy Club focused more on mutual accountability - each member taking it in turn to be helper and helped. This is closer to team building than supervision. If its voluntary, then its easier to get the chemistry right and find people who will help you not hinder you. This is not about finding someone who'll give you an easy time, but about finding someone who understands how you 'tick' with the ability to offer constructive affirmation and criticism in a way that helps you to be the best you can be.

Who is that person (or those people) for you at the moment. If you're not in that sort of relationship - who can you ask? Does it need to be face to face or can you do it by Skype or FaceTime?

Bible Passage to meditate on: Galatians 6:1-12

Holy Club 13

Do I disobey God in anything?

It's Friday and the subject is back round to fasting.

A few years ago I was part of the team for World Methodist Evangelism - I've moved on from that role, but still get regular Friday emails from them reminding me to fast and pray. Here's an extract from todays:

The Wesleyan Pattern of Prayer and Fasting

Fasting is a significant part of the Christian experience. Jesus fasted and prayed for 40 days and taught his disciples to fast. First century churches fasted twice weekly. John Wesley encouraged those in the Methodist Movement to fast and pray. 

In more than 130 countries, the Wesleyan/Methodist family joins in the same weekly fast which John Wesley observed most of his life: going without solid food after their evening meal each Thursday until mid-afternoon each Friday. This time of fasting is focused in prayer on the vision that those who follow Jesus in the company of the Wesleys would be empowered to become channels for the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. 

Our world desperately needs the healing, hope, and salvation offered in Jesus Christ. You can become part of this important movement by joining us as we fast and pray weekly for Holy Spirit power to share the good news so that the world may know Jesus Christ. 

They also follow the Holy Club pattern of praying regularly throughout the day by offering prayers for Thursday evening, Friday morning, Friday lunchtime and breaking the fast on Friday afternoon.

If you'd like a reminder each week sign up at https://www.worldmethodist.org/join/

You'll also discover (if you're UK based) how vibrant and fast-growing the world-wide Methodist family is.

Bible passage to meditate on Matthew 6:16-21

Holy Club 12

Do I go to bed on time and get up on time?

One of the joys of 'fasting' from TV during lent is that I don't find myself sitting up late channel hopping for 'something interesting'. Good sleep and a good start to the day makes life so much more productive.

Yesterday, we looked at all ten practices of the Holy Club. Today I'd like to ask what may seem a strange question - why did they bother?

I don't believe for a moment that religious practices make us Holy. If we're not careful we become like the Pharisees who Jesus so often got angry with - self-righteous and judgemental.

So why bother?

What makes us Holy is an encounter with God. 

Some of us have had many encounters with God over the years (that would be my story), others are still seeking that life-changing meeting with God (that was the story of the original Holy Club members).

For many of us in the western church, Elaine Heath sums up where we are succinctly in the Mystical Way of Evangelism - The decline of the church in the United States is best understood as a corporate dark night of the soul.The night is initiated by God and could lead the church to a new and vibrant life. (page 20)

If we are in a God-initiated dark night of the soul, then hard work & religious devotion will never bring us to the dawn - only the Holy Spirit can do that.

What Holy Club practices do is open up our hearts and minds and prepare us for an encounter with God - that's why we do them.
The reward is not found in the practices themselves (helpful though they may be), but in the power encounter with the Holy Spirit that comes to those who desperately seek God.

I need to continually ask myself - am I truly desperate for more of God - or have I settled for being religious?

Bible passage to meditate on Acts 19:1-10

Holy Club 11

Am I defeated in any part of my life?

I think this question goes to the heart of my greatest fear as a Christian - that I'll become worn down, timid and unadventurous. I meet too many people like that! In Jesus we have victory not defeat - we'll be reminding ourselves of that very soon as we retell the Easter story!

We've now worked our way through what I believe are the important practices of the Holy Club:

1. Praying regularly through the day
2. Meeting together regularly - the group met at least five times a week though not all the members were present at every meeting.
3. Accountability Questions - the group helped each other to examine their lives very regularly to see if they were maintaining their devotion to God.
4. Studying the Bible together
5. Studying the early church fathers - particularly the mystics - this is one of the clearest indications of the group's searching for an experience of Christ. 
6. Sharing Holy Communion
7. Fasting - Wednesdays and Fridays until 3.00 in the afternoon
8. Helping those less fortunate than themselves - prison visiting etc
9. Living simply
10. Keeping a journal

As I try to be holy in the 21st century, it's not simply a matter of copying what they did in the eighteenth. The important thing is to understand the values of what they did and work out how to reproduce those. We'll look at that some more in the remaining blogs.

Bible passage to meditate on: Romans 12:1-8

Holy Club 10

Am I enjoying prayer?

This is another clever question. Not simply am I praying, I am enjoying prayer.

I can think of times when prayer has been borne out of deep desperation - out of the depths I cry to you as the Psalmist puts it.

I can think of times when prayer has been a duty to be done (or avoided!).

When I first became a Christian everything was new and exciting and prayer was mostly an enjoyable adventure(I can just remember that long ago).

As I've kept going as a Christian, prayer has changed - less frothy and bubbly, but there're still times when prayer is filled with the love of God in a way that makes it deeply enjoyable.

This brings me to the last of the regular practices of the Holy Club (If you can't remember what we've explored so far, or have missed some, I'll do a catch up summary tomorrow). They read the works of great Christians of former generations - particularly the mystics.

This gives us a real clue about the motivation of the Holy Club which may seem surprising. In his book Pursuing Social Holiness, Kevin Watson points out a difference between the Holy Club and the religious societies and Moravians from whom they copied many of their practices. The religious societies and Moravians had already experienced the presence and power  of God in a profound way. Their spiritual practices were designed to nurture that experience. The Holy Club were longing for an experience of salvation that they hadn't yet received - they were spiritual seekers wanting to know more of God.

I find that reassuring as I reach the stage of life where it's easy to take spiritual experience for granted, or worse to doubt the experiences that I had some years ago. The search for a fresh encounter with God that will take me deeper into his presence is still a high priority for me and motivates me to work at a spiritual discipline that will help that to happen.

In the afternoon before his heart was strangely warmed, John Wesley attended worship at St Paul's Cathedral where the Psalm that was read resonated with his longing for God:

Bible passage to meditate on Psalm 130:1-8

Holy Club 9

Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?

A similar question which is not in the list (but might have been) is: Have I not done something that makes my conscience uneasy?

I find I suffer more sleepless nights worrying about what I haven't done rather than what I have done.

The next practice of the Holy Club we shall explore is reading the Bible. We touched on this in Holy Club 7 when we looked at meeting together regularly - the two go hand in hand.

For many years, I've done small group Bible Study by simply asking two questions:

1. What leapt out of the page at me?
It's amazing how we can read a familiar passage and suddenly see something that we've never noticed before. It's probably a combination of the Holy Spirit illuminating the text to speak to our hearts and the way that the Bible passage relates to our particular circumstances. As we find ourselves in different places, filling different roles and growing in Christian maturity, passages take on new and exciting meaning.

2. What did I not understand that I couldn't ignore?
There's a lot in the Bible that I don't understand that doesn't worry me. Sometimes, though, I read a passage that perplexes (or occasionally infuriates) me in a way that means I have to wrestle with it. A few years ago when my son-in-law James was doing the Icthus leadership course, he asked a number of people to pray about Bible verses or passages that might help him in that year. As I prayed, the Lord led me to Hosea 6:3 Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”

I've no idea how significant this was for James, but it stuck in my mind and spirit for the next two years - especially the difference between winter and spring rains. I had to wrestle with it in prayer until it made sense in my ministry.

In one sense this is easier than doing detailed Bible study using the commentaries and asking Bible teachers to help us (which is also a helpful approach), however, it makes us rely on the Holy Spirit rather than our own understanding which is extremely demanding if we do it well.

Bible passage to meditate on Ephesians 3:14-21

Holy Club 8

Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisees who despised the publican?

This is the only one of the accountability questions that requires Bible knowledge to make sense of it.

The question refers to a story Jesus told (Luke 18:9-15) about the Pharisee who made himself feel good by looking down on someone he regarded as inferior. Something we all do from time to time. The publican is only interested in how he compares to God's standards not to other people. Jesus commends him for this. Do we judge others to make ourselves feel better, or do we let God judge us so that he can help us to get better?

One of the ways the Holy Club members tried to 'get better' was by regularly sharing in Holy Communion (most of them were clergy so this was easy to organise).

The Holy Communion is often referred to as a 'mystery' - we're doing something we don't understand. I find this difficult I take pride in my ability to use reason and logic (despite all the evidence that I'm often illogical and unreasonable).

Sometimes its more helpful to experience than to understand. As we eat the bread and drink the wine in a very real sense, we enter into the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The early Methodists called Communion a 'converting ordinance' the experience of bread and wine taken in an atmosphere of faith was enough to bring about a complete transformation. The converts were 'born again' not because of a transformed understanding, but through a spiritual experience.

The earliest account of Holy Communion is found in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians which was written before the gospels (though drawing heavily from the story later told in the written gospels) and this is our passage to meditate on today: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Holy Club 7

Do I give the Bible time to speak to me every day?

This question has a double whammy for me. 

First, it asks whether I've read the Bible every day - I do try!  I've used Andrew Murray M'Cheyne's Bible reading plan on and off for years - it helps you to read the Old Testament once and the New Testament and Psalms twice every year. It usually takes me about 18 months to complete a cycle so I'm not quite as disciplined as I should be. It used to be on a piece of paper tucked into my Bible - now its an app on my iPad.

However, second, the question asks did I get beyond reading the words to actually hearing God speak - much more challenging. Again, I'm hit and miss with that. When the days' passage jumps off the page and speaks into my current situation, it's really exciting.

One of the things that helps me with my Bible reading is meeting regularly with other Christians and asking them to hold me accountable for reading what I've promised (often early in the morning on the day when we're due to meet).

The Holy Club met every weekday evening (and sometimes at weekends). If I've understood it correctly, they didn't all meet every day. It was not quite as ferociously disciplined as I imagined and actually much more organic. A regular time to meet with trusted friends and ask questions like the one above. For this to work, the meeting must be focused on love and support, not competition and judgementalism.

For a long time we had a similar pattern with early morning prayer - myself, Charity and Chas were the most regular, but others came once, twice or more often each week - but we all knew that someone would be there at 6.30am every day and could join in whenever we were able.

These things are best done for a season (that prayer meeting started spontaneously and lasted for over a year - the Holy Club lasted for about five years), but very enriching while they're happening. Hopefully the good habits ingrained during the season become part of who we are when the season is over.

Bible Passage to meditate on:Psalm 1:1-3

Holy Club 6

Am I honest in all my acts and words, or do I exaggerate?

It's fascinating that the question asks about actions not just words.

Another activity in which the Holy Club encouraged one another is praying throughout the day. They would have mostly used collects from the Church of England prayer book.

I was taught in the evangelical tradition after my teenage conversion to Christianity. Often this seemed to major on keeping lists of people and events to ask God's blessing and/or healing upon.

More recently I've spent time enjoying God's presence in prayer rather than presenting him with a list. It seems as though  prayers that might have been on a list are answered more often when we enjoy the love of God than we bend his ear! After all he knows what we and those around us need better than we do.

The lists do remind us that we are often asked by God to be a part of the answer to our prayers by offering a word of encouragement or a helping hand hand to those for whom we've prayed.

This lent, one of my ways of 'praying' has been to spend time practicing playing praise songs on guitar. I find that this way I can get to the point of being 'lost in wonder, love and praise' (I normally do it when the house is empty - not everyone appreciates my efforts!).

Reading the psalms has a similar effect.

I also try to remember to pray a short 'thank-you' prayer when something good happens. This can happen several times a day - I find I need to remind myself regularly to practice this sort of thankfulness - it doesn't come naturally to me.

Bible Passage to meditate on:Philippians 4:4-8

Holy Club 5

Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?

This is a big question to start some personal reflection. Depending on the day, I often score three out of three (which is not a good thing!). So much of the answer to this question is tied up with our formative years - did we learn unhealthy patterns of thinking about ourselves when we were young from which we need to be set free?

The Holy Club placed a high priority on helping the poor - the members tried to spend time every week helping people less fortunate than themselves. Often this entailed prison-visiting - convicts in the eighteenth century suffered enormously, the Holy Club members offered  food, clothing and support.

It's been popular in Christian circles for some time  to do random acts of kindness or to be a blessing to people we meet.

I find it easy to bless some people - particularly the people I like (and who may return the favour). There are others who its much harder to offer help to:

• Those whose problems are self-inflicted
• Those who never seem to get any better and soak up enormous amounts of our energy
• Those who for a variety of reasons are just unloveable

Our willingness to love and help these people is one of the real tests of 'holiness'.

Loving people is not an option or a secret evangelistic strategy - it's us being who God created us to be. It's fantastic when people respond to our acts of love by wanting to know more about the source of our love and becoming followers of Jesus when they find out he's the one who makes it possible. However, that should never be a condition of our love - God's love to us is unconditional and that's what we share.

Bible passage to meditate on: Matthew 25:31-40