Room

No room left (2:2)

The rockstar of the 18th Century revival was not John or Charles Welsley but one George Whitefield. His sermons attracted so many that even the largest churches were not big enough, so he moved outside. One such meeting, the largest recorded, saw 23,000 people gathering at Boston Commons. It is estimated that in his lifetime he preached to 10 million, all of whom had to travel to see him. This at a time of limited, slow and dangerous transport, no sound amplification and a scattered rural population one tenth of today's. Often his congregations were larger than the total population of the town he was visiting. All to hear the message of hope in Christ, simply and dramatically told.

Today the story of Jesus, lover of the lost, giver of eternity, friend of sinners and lord of all, is welcomed around the world. Today as we invite the Holy Spirit into our lives the touch of God's love is available to us all. Today there is always room.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Together

Image
Carried by four of them (2:3) The proverb, it takes a village to raise a child, is thought to originate in Nigeria. It refers to the idea that children acquire a rounded personality from safe interaction with lots of different people, and not just their parents. Bertrand Russell went one step further, suggesting to one correspondent that her biological parents were the worst people to bring her up as they would share her innate prejudices rather than lead her to question them. As a child my parents took me on Christian holidays on which they led. They were always busy and left me to my own devices, allowing me to get to know lots of very different people, all in an entirely safe environment. It was a taste of heaven that has never left me. It took four men to carry the paralysed man to Jesus, maybe because they had only a sheet on which to bear him, but he had many more companions on the journey. It seems it takes a whole village to bring someone to Jesus so they can be made whole. Now
Read more

Silence

Image
They remained silent (3:3) In London, a young curate wrote a very ill-considered tweet. It appeared to be an attack on the nation's favourite son, Captain Tom, and drew vicious and malicious criticism. Read with a little more care, it was more an attack on the way such figures as Captain Tom can be used to bolster a very one-sided view of English culture. Indeed it was rather endearing about Captain Tom himself, though, being a tweet, it was distinctly lacking in the necessary nuance such a comment requires.  It received a stinging and public rebuke from his pastoral overseers, which lacked the nuance essential to bringing calm and left him entirely exposed to the trolls, both public and private. While his friends rallied round, it has left others of us gasping as to what to do. Do we speak or do we remain silent? To speak is to risk exposure to the worst elements of our culture, as well as putting us on the wrong side of our own legitimate authority figures. But to remain silent l
Read more

First

Image
He appointed Simon (3:16) Tuariki Delamere invented the front-flip long jump. There is only one grainy video of him performing the jump at a regional competition. It was immediately banned as too dangerous and no one has heard of him. Dick Fosbury invented the back-flip high jump. His technique is used by every top high jumper at every significant event. He won an Olympic gold medal and his name is written into history as the Fosbury flop. The difference? Not risk. The actual risk of a broken neck is probably higher in a back-flip than a front-flip. No. Timing! Delamere revealed his at a small local competition so it could easily be banned. Fosbury revealed his at the Olympics. If Delamere had done the same he would be an Olympic gold medalist and everyone would be doing a front-flip long jump, the Delamere roll. Peter is first in the list of apostles because he became the leader of the first church. He seems to have been appointed as such by Jesus. Why? Well I suppose you could say ti
Read more