from j2i

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Thoughts and reflections from different ones of us...

A note from David W - November 09

Posted by fromj2i at 05:50 AM on November 24, 2009

Extract from 'The Friday Email' ...

I have been pondering that often in the church scene today, the mark of an Apostle is that they get a big meeting followed by a big offering; however it seems in Paul’s day, they met on the fringe of the city or sometimes in homes, they made tents to pay their way and often, they were chased out of town or even Stoned. Well we feel a measure of empathy with Paul after some difficult conversations with people ambitious for their own name!

In total contrast we spent time with a family who have been amazing pioneers in Albania; they are faithful witnesses and seeking God’s way forward… These people are spoken of with great respect and have paid a great price. They have no empire but they are faithfully demonstrating the life of the Kingdom of God.

It is interesting how we live in a culture today where people are keen to build their own empires and make a name for themselves. Perhaps we should start a version of the X factor to see who is the Pastor/ Preacher/ Leader with the X factor… because in some dimensions of the church it sounds just like this… Jesus spoke out against those who wanted titles and position referring to them as Pharisees - the evidence of religion I believe, they wanted all things done right but knew not the Father.

I see that there is a gospel going forth that requires no sacrifice, no cost, no Cross or death to self, just success & status. It is a deception for as Christ has died so we die daily with him. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4. 11&12 “For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you”

So in the midst of challenges, God is GREAT! We are extremely encouraged and seeing his Kingdom working amongst us … we seek his Kingdom more and trust that all other things will be added to us.

Many greetings to you,

David

Barnes News

Posted by fromj2i at 04:46 AM on July 06, 2009

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Jamie writes ….

In the spring of 1998, shortly after making the decision to move down to Greece with Dave, Lynn and the family, the Lord spoke a word to me (Jamie) from the life of Abraham: “Leave your country, the people you have known and your father's household and go the land I will show you.” It was a great confirming word. The implications of such a word, however, would only be worked out in reality over the following years. What does it mean to move away from all that is familiar and safe and be re-shaped by the Lord in a foreign land?

Today, that pilgrimage continues. We three - Rachel, Oliver and I - will head to England in the autumn of this year, where I will embark on a 4-year PhD in anthropology. After eleven years in Greece, England itself has become a foreign land to us. Once again the challenge will go, I believe, to the root of who we are. Anthropology, as a discipline, takes nothing for granted, bringing into question assumptions that we have about life, what appears as 'natural' and culture. In these ways it is a continuation of the working out of the call of Abraham – an embarking into the unknown. I am looking forward to it being both a challenging and transformational time.

My chosen area of study is to look at issues of identity in the Balkans. I am especially interested in looking at how individuals' perceptions and world-views are changed and transformed through entering different relationships. As such, my study will take us back and forth between the UK and Greece over the next four years; with research training and thesis-writing taking place primarily in the UK, broken up by an extended period of fieldwork to take place down here in Greece.

We are all excited about this next stage in our lives. Rachel has already packed half our house away in boxes. Oliver doesn't stop talking about it (in his own way).

Travel light. Live in tents. Enjoy the journey!

An extract from: 'The Friday Email' (June)

Posted by fromj2i at 07:52 AM on June 29, 2009

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...Being led by the Spirit is our passionate desire, his voice and his presence something we constantly seek. However it is the realm of the spiritual that he truly opens up allowing his indwelling to be our life. Increasingly we are seeking to abandon dualistic thinking that separates the spiritual and the secular, and we are seeking to walk in the Spiritual in which we display the Christ in us.

...Jesus invited us to join him on a journey – it’s a wonderful adventure; we invite those we encounter to join us on our journey and in so doing they encounter our Lord and our Saviour… as you know we are not meeting centred but community centred and as our community grows it is Jesus in our midst that we seek to reveal.

So enjoy the summer and enjoy the journey; we pray that in all you do the life of the Lord will pour through your pores! And that you will experience great adventures as you continue on the journey.

An extract from 'The Friday Email'

Posted by fromj2i at 05:02 AM on April 11, 2009

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"The family of God is not supposed to be many but one. When God created mankind he made him one with him? the story began in a garden but ends in a city. As the times and seasons change, God wants us to rise to teh challenge of the new order and see we are moving steadily towards the city. We must be ready for this new age or we will stumble and fall. God is calling us to see that the greatest challenge facing the kingdom of God is independence. Isaiah 54 and a whole number of other scriptures tell us that the way forward is community. If we are to be fully a part of the new season that demonstrated the Kingdom on earth, we are required to embrace a new wineskin that none of the new wine be lost?"

(If you would like to subscribe to our fornightly email please visit 'The Friday Email' page and follow the link. Thanks!)

Reflections on Unity

Posted by fromj2i at 09:08 AM on March 28, 2009

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UNITY

Reflections 1)

Within humanity and the Kosmos in which we live there exist more things to unite us than to separate us.

We live on the same planet, we all need the same food, water and air to survive and thrive, yet this unity is not our reality.

We live separated from one another and this separated mind-set causes us only to think of ourselves. So we act individually. We gather to ourselves everything we need and want as though we each have the monopoly.

Our immature egos are driven by fear and competitiveness, which only reinforces the separateness we feel from one another.

Our starting point must be the breaking down of the separated mind-set. You and I must become aware of our inherent sameness, those things that make us all human and therefore fundamentally unite us.

Only when I can see that you are me and I am you will I think of your needs. When I am trying to fulfil your needs and you are trying to fulfil mine, I have no need to think of myself…because you are.

Reflections 2)

I came out of my house this morning and saw an olive tree. Not surprising, you may think, as olive trees are bountiful in Greece. It was a beautiful olive tree, caught in that early morning dampness before the sun rises and burns away the dew.

And then it occurred to me that this type of olive tree is found all the way around the Mediterranean. If you went to the far side of Turkey or even further around to Palestine and Israel, you could find an olive tree just like this one.

And I understood that the land doesn't know the boundaries that man has placed upon it. The same trees grow wherever they take root. Birds migrate across international boundaries without even knowing. They winter in the south and summer in the north.

Whilst men fight against men and shed blood. And all the time they have the same olive trees growing in their gardens.

Which makes me think that people should think more about olive trees, and then maybe there would be less wars.