Once again I really am amazed at how time has flown … but more about that later!
In the meantime, we’ve had a lovely visitor, one Peter Farmer, who is from Nottingham and has been visiting the North East of Scotland as part of his ‘Mission Britian’ initiative. You can read his own account here. As a wee small church group we were really blessed. Peter has very powerful prophetic and apostolic giftings which we believe the Lord brought to us as an answer to prayer. In my reading of two influential emergent books [ Viola and McClung], there was a strong indication that groups needed releasing into their role as communities and communicators of church. It’s not enough to just set up shop and declare yourself in business, but rather seek the Lord for His endorsement and wait on Him and the Holy Spirit.
As a group we had been lovingly and powerfully fathered by Gary Goodell. As founders of TDC/Jasciah in Elgin we had been prophesied over by Graham Cooke on our trip to San Diego in January 08. Now, after a time of preparation, growth and prayerful waiting, the Lord sent Peter. We had already experienced a real coming together of what the Lord is doing in that our small group has slowly grown in grace and number, we have established contacts with others of like mind and look like networking with them soon. Peter spoke a powerful endorsement over our understanding and we feel that we are moving in the right direction. I’m looking forward to strengthening our connections in Keith Huntly and Findochty as a result. Also felt it was right to go ahead with a gathering….
A weekend of conversations, beginning on the evening of Friday 25th September and continuing through to the afternoon of Sunday 27th September.
My hope and vision is that this will be a time of sharing together and testimonies from those of us who are exploring the Emergent/Simple/House/Organic expressions of church. This is about recognising and discerning this element of the Body and encouraging and exhorting one another while it is yet called today.
I feel it is right to have no agenda believing that the Holy Spirit will lead and guide and shape the gathering.
I see times of chat, times of worship, times of prayer and times of reflection all interwoven with food and fellowship and some gentle walking and touristy pointing at things.
There will be no key-note speaker but many key speakers and many notes of interest since Lord calls us all to both ” be “ and to be partakers.
Hopefully all will fulfill the role of servant at some time and will minister with food and drink and clearing up.
This will be a time when we will be brave and bold in meeting old friends, making new friends and praying with and for those with whom we eat and worship.
The accommodation is plain and simple, clean and functional. There are places for 34* in bunked rooms, so you’ll need to be able to submit to one another out of reverence…and possibly be prepared to say goodnight to your spouse in the corridor before retiring to your rooms [ depending on the balance of marrieds/singles etc ] for the night.
But then again, sacrifice shows the heart.
The venue is the lovely Cairngorms Christian Centre at Kincraig, just South of Aviemore. [ www.cairngormschristiancentre.co.uk ]. The cost is £12.50 per person per night plus food. The catering will be sorted out as places are taken up.Sadly [ and I really mean this... ] there will be no provision for child entertainment but hopefully at subsequent conversations we will know better how to involve and engage with the younger members of our constituency!RSVP by June 20th please!
I’ve also been on a training course on Therapeutic Patient Education with regard to initiating lifestyle changes in chronically ill patients and have strengthened my exisiting knowledge base and added several other understandings and techniques to my armoury! Amazing how much I’d already covered [ under slightly different terminology ] both in my biblical studies and as a pastor! What an amazing book – the Bible! Science is continually endorsing the ‘discoveries’ of science!!
Also enjoying having lodgers again! Kingdom lodgers are such good fun!
As a pharmacist I am expected to carry out Continuing Professional Development, or extended learnign to maintain and develop my clinical skills. I’d got a bit behind so have been spending some merry hours playing catch-up!
So all the above plus meeting with Jasciah in and out of the home plus teaching some sisters a few guitar chords has really kept me going. I think it’s great that I’ve been too busy to blog or facebook or even write my journals. I love peopling – don’t you?!
‘Peopling’ – the act of meeting with many and varied persons as in fellowshipping but with fewer letters. I also like making up new words like ‘groody’ – the state of really longing to become a grandparent. Fran & Peter were over with their friends two weekends ago. Their pals had a five week old baby boy. MMMmmmm! Nuff said!
Speaking of time, here’s an entry from my journal, dated 14/5/09 and written on the plane to my training course whilst cruising at 35,000 feet….
I’ve been really touched with the particle theory concept of the ‘Higgs Field’ [ as in Higgs' Boson ] where nothing exists, the space between all the most minute of particles. I’d gone into a bit of a revery about this ….. and the following kind of popped out,
Between the particles, lies this space
Out of time since no need to express the chronology of being
No substance, No barriers, No hindrances.
The possible is always the potential.
The impossible has become the norm.
The Divine is become the Now.
Eternity is my beginning and end -
Alpha & Omega is my fulfillment.
I AM infinite.
