I (Matt) used to love playing the original Pokémon on the Game Boy (“Pokémon! Gotta catch ‘em all!”). If I knew how many hours I’d spent playing the games, catching, training and battling the Pokémon…actually I don’t want to think about that too hard! I’m pretty sure they are why I need to wear glasses today…
Anyway, I had LOTS of fun in that world. And for what it’s worth I did ‘catch ‘em all’…well, the original 150 at least.
Charmander, the cute fire lizard, is one Pokémon I often used. One of the moves that he learns early on is ‘Ember’, and it’s his earliest fire attack. It’s not a huge, spectacular flame, but a small and useful spark of fire that he uses to make a real difference.
We, as Embers, exist to rekindle the fire of missional discipleship across the UK. Like Charmander’s Ember move, we’re not trying to create a wildfire overnight. We’re helping churches and everyday Christians rediscover the small, faithful practices that keep the fire of following Jesus burning, because a small ember can start or even restart a fire. Though they are small, they can be mighty.
Charmander’s Ember isn’t the biggest attack…but it sure gets the fire started!
That’s what we’re about with our training: rekindling missional discipleship across the UK, helping everyday Christians follow Jesus and live on mission with his Spirit every day. Small sparks can mean rekindled faith, and a church ‘on fire’ for Jesus.
*Ash Ketchum (in the Pokémon cartoon) often says “I choose you” to his Pokémon. In the Bible, in John 15:16, Jesus says to his disciples “You did not choose me, but I chose you”… Like Ash, Jesus has chosen whom he wants – and he wants YOU, because he loves you. Jesus has taken the first step in initiating a relationship with us. How will you respond today?
Before Christmas I heard a sermon where Gabriel was referred to as ‘God’s FEDEX guy of good news’. The phrase made me chuckle. Since then I have come back to that idea a number of times and it has sparked a few different thoughts in my mind around post!
If God has a FEDEX guy it implies he has good news he wants to share with us…this is of course absolutely true!! God so loved you that he gave his only son, so that if you believe in him you can live with him forever. Now Gabriel wasn’t telling Mary that specifically – he was telling her she was going to have a baby…and that baby was the only son of God, who would one day make a way for all who believe to be in close relationship with God forever.
If that’s the good news that is being delivered then surely we want to make sure we are going to get it!
Have you ever missed the postman and got one of those annoying little notes saying ‘we came but you weren’t in’? I was once sat in my house and heard the letterbox go, so I went to see what was there and one of those notes had been pushed through…that made me feel really cross. I was in but the postman had decided I wasn’t. If God has good news for you, are you in to receive it? Are you available for God to knock on the door and give you your message, or are you so busy going here and there that you don’t have time enough to slow down and give God the space to tell you whatever it is you need to hear?
Normally those annoying little notes give you a bit of an ultimatum…we tried to deliver to you today but you weren’t in. Your parcel has been returned to the depot and you will need to arrange to pick it up…God won’t give up trying to deliver your message to you. He doesn’t get fed up of no answer, he doesn’t have a store house of good news that he takes your portion to and then abandons it until you come looking for it. God is always up for one more try at getting through to you.
Another thought that came to me from that phrase ‘God’s FEDEX guy of good news’ was piles and piles of undeliverable post. Some people make a living out of opening and selling on undeliverable post, like redirections gone astray, wrong addresses or missed house numbers. Then there are people who have moved on and not told the sender, incorrect postage paid and not topped up and damaged parcels where the address is not readable. Is there undeliverable good news that is meant for you but you don’t know? Have you wandered so far off track that the good news meant for you cant get through? Maybe you have cut yourself off from the avenues through which such good news could be delivered? Do you have undelivered good news for someone else but your too scared to attempt delivery again?
Over the Christmas period I reflected on this idea of God having a FEDEX guy of good news and wondered if we all have potential to be delivery people for God. Who do you bring good news to, and who brings good news to you? Maybe this year you want to intentionally put yourself in a group of three or four people who will all be good news delivery people for each other.
If you want to get into this find a few others and start with the question ‘Where have you seen God this week?’. If you need help getting it going deeper we wold love to give you some other resources and pointers. Why not get in touch?
Many years ago in north Wales lived a young girl called Mary Jones.
She longed to learn how to read but there was no one to teach her, so she prayed about it.
In response, and to Mary’s surprise, the little chapel where she worshiped each Sunday with her parents was going to also become a school! Mary was delighted to learn alongside her friends, and she loved learning to read because she really longed to be able to read the Bible.
It was Mary’s love for Jesus that inspired this, and once she was able to read she longed for nothing more than to own her very own Bible, in the Welsh language. Bibles were very hard to come by in those days, especially in Welsh – and they were expensive. The odds were stacked against Mary as she came from a very poor family, but nothing would quench her determination!
In 1800 she turned 15. After scrimping and saving for 6 long years, she finally had the funds to buy the book she treasured. The nearest place where they were likely to be was about 25 miles away.
She set off early one day on the long journey, most likely barefoot, and she walked. And walked. And when she grew tired she walked some more. It was a risky journey – there was no guarantee that there would even be a Bible at the other end, not to mention the perils of a young girl taking such a journey on her own, and with all that money too.
Thankfully, Mary went back home with her very own Bible. To her it was the greatest treasure there could be, for it helped her know her saviour better, plus she read it with her own children years later. This true story of the girl who was so determined went on to greatly inspire those who who sourced it for her – so much so that it led to the foundation of The Bible Society. Here is what they say about their mission: “We believe the Bible is God’s gift to the world. We want everyone to discover its message for themselves”.
Wow! And so because of one young girl’s devotion to God, people all over the world are having the opportunity to meet Jesus.
Thank you Jesus for Mary Jones, and her legacy which carries on to this day. Please help everyone in the UK and the wider world to read or hear Scripture in their own language, that they may come to know the joy of knowing you (and your word) like Mary did. And to those of us who have our own Bibles, whether they are actual books or an app on our devices, may we value your word more than we currently do, but may be value the Author more!
Mary Jones and her Bible can be purchased here for just £2.99, and Mary Jones Pilgrim Centre (formerly Mary Jones World) can be visited in Bala, North Wales.
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For Christians the word ‘mission’ can be explained in different ways. Churches Together in England explores what mission is here.
I LOVE this quote from J. John: “Go on a missions trip – walk next door. It’s cheaper, and you don’t have to fundraise for a year!” (It can be found in this video if you’d like to hear it).
Naturally there is a place for God to send people ‘on mission’ to far-flung places, whether long-term or short. We have experienced the latter a number of times. Having said this, mission is also everyday, everywhere.
Most of us are not called to travel a long way to find our mission field, but we are all called to be on mission with the Holy Spirit in our daily lives, and so each one of us will have a person, group or place that is our mission field.
Matthew 9:35-10:1 says:
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
Even if you are saving for a mission trip, how about listening to J. John’s advice? We don’t need slick sales pitches for Jesus; we just need to live as though the hope we have in Jesus is real – because it is!
Since becoming a parent I have found myself saying things I never expected to have to say…
’Please don’t pick your nose with my finger’
‘Don’t you dare lick Gary’
‘Felt tip pens are not for drawing on bottoms’.
Sometimes I forget that my children are relatively new to being human…they don’t have 35 years experience so they need guidance sometimes on what is appropriate and what isn’t. It is my job as their parent to walk alongside them and teach them. Thankfully I am not doing this alone, I have a husband, family and friends who are all supporting and playing their part in helping raise Zoe and Keziah.
Now, it’s one thing to tell my three year old not to lick our friend who has come for tea but if I’m still having to tell her that when she is 13 or 30 then we have a bigger concern on our hands. This is what Paul was saying to the church in Corinth when he wrote his 1st letter to them. In chapter 3 he says:
“Brothers and sisters, when I was with you I found it impossible to speak to you as those who are spiritually mature people, for you are still dominated by the mind-set of the flesh. And because you are immature infants in Christ, I had to nurse you and feed you with “milk,” not with the solid food of more advanced teachings, because you weren’t ready for it.”
Paul was despairing that the church in Corinth, despite having received some of the basic teachings of Christ, and having made commitments to live a certain way were not digging deep into their relationship with God and learning more from those around them, but beginning to form sides and state their preferences as to who they thought was the best teacher or the most important. They were behaving like spiritual 3 year olds when actually they should have matured past that stage. Paul is frustrated that he is having to go back to basics and re-teach them the foundations of the gospel again.
Don’t read this wrong and come away thinking it isn’t okay to be a baby believer (metaphorically). If you are new to the faith or you are just beginning to explore what a relationship with Jesus is all about then explore away!! Paul loves to encourage new believers in their faith…what he is frustrated about is those who don’t bother to grow.
If, having told Zoe that tongues are not for licking people, she continued to try and lick those she was comfortable with it would be very frustrating (and frankly really gross!). She wouldn’t be exercising her ability to control her impulses, she wouldn’t be exploring other ways of connecting with people and showing them they mean a lot to her. She wouldn’t be growing up!
What Paul does, and what we hope to do with Zoe and Keziah is point it all back to God! Only God gives the growth. Paul isn’t saying you need to study me more and do as I say, although he was a good example for them to follow to begin with. He is saying get to know God more and you will receive direct from the grower himself. I’m not telling Zoe exactly how to behave – goodness knows my way of showing affection isn’t always the best, but what I am trying to do is lead her, by example to begin with, but ultimately to lead her to a point where she can know God and receive directly from the grower.
If you are new to the faith and want to explore more of what it all means we would love to hear from you and give you some pointers and resources.
If you have been a believer for a while and you don’t think you are growing, don’t panic. Maybe getting together with 2 or 3 fellow believers and exploring what it means to walk closer with God would be helpful. Get in touch and we can give you a few pointers to help you get started.
If you’re in the depths of parenting toddlers, or any age children for that matter, and you’re desperately trying to do your best to point them to God, know that you are not alone! That old saying ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ is so true. Why not get together with 2 or 3 other parents either at your stage or a few stages ahead to pray together about how to be the best conduit to God that you can be?
I recently had the ‘joy’ of speaking to a number of mortgage lenders and advisers. All of them gave me the same prognosis: You don’t have enough for us to lend you more. Matt and I don’t have a huge monthly income but we also don’t have huge monthly outgoings. We have been told over and over again that we need to be earning twice as much as we currently do to be able to borrow the amount we would need to buy a 3 bed house. Lender after lender told us we didn’t have enough to repay the mortgage even thought our current rent is more than the mortgage payments would be.
There are all sorts of flaws in the affordability calculations that lenders run and we do not fit the mould when it comes to our finances. All of this has combined to make the last few weeks very frustrating. I have found myself feeling like there is little or no hope for us ever owning our own home meaning we will always be lining the pocket of a landlord. I have also found myself questioning if we do have enough money, which is silly.
Two weeks ago I wasn’t questioning our finances; I was living them, knowing that we budget carefully, live within our means and trust God to cover any unexpected expenses. I thank God regularly that we have an amazing group of individuals, organisations and churches who cover us in prayer and financially underpin us also. But being told we don’t have enough was making me wonder if we did in fact have enough? Maybe we need more? Maybe we should both get ‘proper’ jobs so our household income is boosted? Are we satisfied with what we have? Is what we have good enough?
Thankfully there was one conversation with a wonderful lady at Kingdom Bank which snapped me out of it all. If you haven’t heard of them, Kingdom Bank is a Christian savings and investment bank with a passion to see churches, charities and Christian workers thrive. It was so refreshing to have a conversation with an advisor who understood our financial situation, who sadly was saying that they still couldn’t lend us the amount we needed but who could suggest ways of reaching a point of being able to do that. The end result of the conversation was that we need an extra £64,000 to be able to buy a house that we liked the look of. I laughed a bit and said “Really only £64,000?” She heard the humour in my voice mixed with a bit of sadness. I was thinking ‘How are we ever going to raise that much??’. I suddenly remembered a fridge magnet that we have, it is a picture of a cow and simply says ‘The cattle on 1,000 hills are his’. As though she knew what I was thinking, or maybe God put the same thought in her mind, Jackie said ‘I know £64,000 might feel like a lot but the cattle on a thousand hills are the Lord’s so £64,000 is nothing. Pray about it and tell your supporters the need. You never know what will happen until you make people aware of the need. You would may be amazed by how generous people can be!’
That conversation with Jackie stopped me in my tracks…why was I questioning if I had enough? The God I am in relationship with owns the cattle on a thousand hills (that’s approx 1.5 billion according to the World Animal Foundation). He is providing for my every need and more. Jackie reminded me that we need to play our part, that we need to express our need and trust God to provide. Now, he might not do that how we expect, but he will provide. I am challenged to continue to live into God’s generosity. Instead of seeing how I can scrimp and save, I am pondering how I can be generous with what God has given me whilst being a good steward of it all.
The house we liked has gone. Someone made an offer and we weren’t in a position to match it. We refuse to allow that to shape how we live though. We do not live in scarcity but in abundance! How are we going to share our abundant blessings with those around us!?
This post was originally written in August 2023. We are still renting and are continuing to pray hard about our housing situation. Although nothing is changing right now our landlord could choose to raise the rent at any time, like he did shortly after writing this reflection. It is not a comfortable position to be in but we know God calls us out of our comfort zones so here we are. If you want to know more about our housing situation, our hopes for the future and what needs to happen for us to get there do get in touch, we would love to share more details with you.
According to a song, The Beatles apparently got by with a little help from their friends.
Simon and Garfunkel sang ironically about being a rock, and an island, feeling no pain and never crying.
These song lyrics show two different ways of living – choosing community or choosing isolation, and pretending all is well.
We were made for community. There is an African proverb which I love, called ‘Ubuntu’. It means “A person is a person because of other person’s”. It links in with the one about it taking a whole village to raise a child. No room for any ‘kingdoms of isolation’ here (sorry, Elsa). For the Church, John Wesley had this to say: “There is no such thing as a solitary Christian”. Wow.
In the Bible, Paul writes “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). The reference is on the bracelet in this picture, along with the words “WE NEED EACH OTHER”.
Most of us don’t like asking for help – probably because we think it looks weak (it doesn’t) – but if we receive help we tend to be grateful for it! Jesus sent his disciples out in twos – never alone – and even the trinity or ‘Godhead’ is three-in-one: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, all in perfect community.
I wonder what you make of all this? From whom do you need to say the brave word ‘help’ right now? And who has a need that you can meet? Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
We’ve recently been in Northern Ireland, and brought back not just good memories but also some wonderful bread that is only made over there.
Yesterday we ended up having an impromptu toast party, where we ate more of the bread than we initially thought we would, and so we put our faithful toaster through it’s paces!
The end result was satisfied taste buds and tummies, along with a kitchen full of smoke! It turned out that some crumbs became caught in the bottom of the toaster and had set on fire.
They were good embers – but no one wants embers like these in their toaster. They make a smell, kick up smoke and generally cause a nuisance.
Then what is the best place for embers? Your life and mine, and everywhere we go. God’s Church in the UK needs people like you and me who want to burn brightly with God’s love in a world that can be very dark. People who have tasted something of God and long for more of him; people who perhaps were ‘on fire’ for him at one stage but realise that fire has dimmed. People who see potential in their relationship with God, with a conviction that he has more for them. If each of us takes our relationship with God seriously and lives that out alongside others, each one of us can be an ember in our local churches. When this happens God will renews them, and us too. The end result will be felt in our neighbourhoods, towns and cities.
So, be encouraged to ‘be an ember’ where you are – yes in your local church, but everywhere else you and God go throughout the week. And then, don’t forget to tell people what he is doing! It will build and strengthen faith in existing believers and will help it to spring up in those who don’t yet believe. Just remember the embers should be burning in your life, and not in your toaster!
I saw a sign recently which made me think. It was on the side of a church building and at first glance it simply said ‘The Way’.
This reminds me of 2 things:
1) There is a worship song with the chorus ‘You are the way, you are the way. Lost and dead but your love came to find me, Jesus you’re the only way. (Click here to listen to it on YouTube.)
2) A well-known Bible verse came to mind: ’I am the way, the truth and the life’. Jesus said this in John 14:6.
The fact that the sign was on a church building made me smile – how fitting that a building that should be full of people showing ‘The Way’ to God has this sign on it! But upon closer inspection I noticed the extra writing…it said “Private Road/No Access”.
‘The Way’ that I am talking about, the one in the song and in the Bible verse is not private, it is not restricted access, it is not blocked off to certain people. It is open to all. That doesn’t mean ‘The Way’ will be an easy or a smooth road – in fact God pretty much promises that it is going to be rough and bumpy with twists and turns along it. Despite all this, the ‘Way’ I am talking about leads to heaven, to life eternal with Jesus in all his Glory!! ‘The Way’ that the sign on the church referred to just lead to a cul-de-sac of houses; nothing life changing, no glory. They were nice enough but hardly eternity with your creator.
I see this sign every single week as I attend a toddler group with my daughters. It is a little reminder to me that my primary focus right now is to show them ‘The Way’, and to encourage them in it. How am I going about that? Do I hinder their access to ‘The Way’ at all? If so, how can I remove that barrier? Thankfully as we get close to the toddler group I am reminded that I don’t have to walk this way alone. I have friends, mentors and brothers and sisters in Christ who walk ‘The Way’ with me and encourage me and my children in ‘The Way’.
Who is your primary focus right now? Maybe it is your husband or wife who doesn’t yet know ‘The Way’, maybe it is your work colleagues or your school friends who have lost their way a bit, or maybe it is your neighbour. How could you help them find ‘The Way’?
Some of my favourite plants are weeds!! Don’t get me wrong, I love a beautiful rose, I find green flowers eminently interesting and there is something stunning about the way water beads and rolls off a lupin leaf…but still, some of my favourite plants are weeds.
Dictionary.com defines a weed as ‘any valueless, undesirable or troublesome plant that grows profusely where it is not wanted, especially one that grows on cultivated ground to the exclusion or injury of the desired crop.’ They sound like a bit of a nightmare don’t they? Anyone who has attempted to keep a garden or allotment will know that weeding is one of the biggest jobs, and no matter how clever your planting scheme is or how deep you mulch, weeds will always make their way through.
In day to day life we can sometimes, often inadvertently, treat people like weeds. Maybe our harsh tone makes someone feel unwanted. When we are so wrapped up in our own business and in the important things we have to deal with maybe others around us feel of little or no value. Sometimes others can make us feel like weeds too…if we are trying really hard at something and someone brushes away our best effort as useless we could feel worthless, if we need help with something and are struggling to find that help we may feel unwanted.
‘The world’ has a way of making us feel like weeds…you don’t have to look far on instagram to find a seemingly perfect mother who finds time to exercise and keep in shape, she has beautiful well dressed children who are always smiling and unnervingly clean, her house is immaculate and her garden is pristine. I see that and instantly feel unacceptable, my lived in house and dishevelled appearance is only matched by my, albeit beautiful, kids who wear mismatched clothes and have stains for every tumble, scrape and mud pie that has happened during the day. I haven’t exercised in years but if I can find clean clothes that’s a bonus!! I’m sure there is an equivalent for every walk of life. That person who earns more than you, that church that has more people attending than yours, that football team which is doing better than yours, that person who always seems to be one step ahead of you…these things can get under your skin and leave you feeling worthless and unacceptable.
So why all the talk about weeds, and why do I like weeds so much?? Well have you looked at them? I mean actually looked at them? Have you ever counted the petals on a daisy? Or really looked at the tiny blue flowers of a forget-me-not? Have you ever got up close and personal with a clover flower and truly appreciated its petals and colour?
Recently I saw a meadow salsify in its seed-head form…it was STUNNING. After showing it to Zoe and encouraging her to blow it like a dandelion clock I looked round for another…just look at the delicacy of each seed, each thin silk like parachute fitting with the one next to it to form this flawless beautiful pom-pom. Look at the unique curve on each seed so it fits perfectly next to the other seeds to form the globe in the picture. All that detail for something generally unwanted by most.
What does all this mean for me or you? Jesus made those weeds, it says in the bible that God cares for the grass, and weeds, in the field which are here today and gone tomorrow, how much more will he care for us (Luke 12:28). We may feel like weeds because of other people’s attitudes and behaviours towards us but God says we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14), that our name is written on the palm of his hand (Isaiah 49:16), that we are outrageously loved (Ephesians 3:18-19), that we are the apple of his eye (Zechariah 2:8).
But this isn’t an exercise in patting ourselves on the back, how are we to behave towards others? Jesus didn’t listen when people told him that he shouldn’t be spending time with weeds like sinners and tax collectors, foreigners and enemies of the jews, women…let alone women with questionable morals, the sick, the dying…the dead! Jesus saw the beauty in all those people. When everyone else saw unwanted, worthless, cast outs, Jesus saw precious children of God who are covered by grace, forgiven and adopted into God’s family.
Next time you walk past a daisy or see a dandelion clock, catch your leg on a nettle or have sticky weed stuck to you by some mischievous toddler remember you are not a weed in God’s eyes…and neither is anyone else! Who is God bringing to mind for you to encourage…who needs to hear that they are not valueless, undesirable or troublesome? Maybe you could collect a little bunch of beautiful ‘weeds’ and tell them what God thinks of them! You could even get them with sticky weed at the same time!!
