Where is home?

Posted on February 10, 2013 by williamrporter

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It was a shock when my mother finally moved out of the old family home last year. It was large, a bit isolated and too much to manage for her, and a move closer to family made sense. But it was still a shock! Mainly to my mother, who has had to try and make a new home and new life. In a smaller way, to her sons too, as we said farewell to the place where we grew up and where fond memories were built.

If home is where the heart is, then the places and people, memorabilia and memories that.  are precious to us all make up our ‘home’. Home is where we rest and live in community; where we accumulate possessions that mean something to us; where we rest, eat and recuperate; ultimately where we define our identity.

Jesus as a young boy, had a dawning realisation of who he was – the Son of God – and what was precious to him – His Father and His kingdom. In Luke 2v49 Jesus said ‘didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?’ Jesus was in the place that was most identified as hosting the presence of God. And yet, even as he sat there amongst the religious leaders, Jesus was aware that He would be the temple, embodying the presence of God amongst people. The Father’s house is the place where we gaze on His beauty and majesty, and where we grow in wisdom as we share His heart about our lives and the world we live in.

That longing is in my heart at the moment; the need to be in the Father’s house. It is a desire growing in the heart of Christians all over the world. Our house of prayer had unbroken 24/7 prayer for a year in 2012. I helped to lead it, and was faithful in prayer, but often in a sense of faithful duty. And yet, as 2013 has dawned, I have found to my surprise a new longing unlocked in my heart – a longing for God and to seek His face more intensely than I have know before. I need to in my Father’s house and I need my heart to be a house of prayer. I need to become naturally at home in His presence and supernaturally embodying His life in me wherever I go.

Jesus calls for us to keep watch for His coming and to be wise stewards of His kingdom (Matthew 24v42&45). The values of the Father’s house are reciprocated in the house of the watchful and the wise in the end times.  That is the place of revelation, wisdom and understanding. If we want to become intimate in prayer with God and alert to His ways, then we must cultivate a familiarity with His house and presence. We must be the watching ones and wise ones, ready for His return and walking closely with Him, so that many others can be  introduced to Him.

Where is home? I must be in my Father’s house.

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Reflecting grace

Posted on February 3, 2013 by williamrporter

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The cinema audience at Les Miserables was absorbed in the story. A life journey was unfolding before us; great themes of grace, sin, liberation and destiny were explored, touching each one there. You couldn’t help but identify with the characters emotionally and think ‘how would I be in such circumstances’?

It is the character of a person which is revealed in most testing times and not in easy days. For the Christian we might hope that something of God might be shown through us in times of trial. I want to ask myself ahead of great testing how deeply grace has touched my life. If I have been forgiven and my life claimed for God, like the character Valdez Jean, then am I able to see and seek God in the people and circumstances around me? Has God’s love gone deeply in my life so that I reflect His grace and inherent character?

This issue is important when thinking about the future and end times. The forerunner message is a sharply prophetic one, preparing the way of The Lord. Some would imagine the caricature of a doom and gloom billboard preacher on the street corner. Like a John the Baptist, forerunners call people to get their lives right with God. They help others understand the global shaking and clashes of light and darkness that will increasingly dominate news. They explain the glory of God which communities will be experiencing in ways that help them embrace His presence.

Yet, if the forerunner message is not lived out of a heart reflecting the grace and love of Jesus, then it will be misunderstood and rejected as a clanging cymbal. You and I offer an invitation to a feast that we ourselves have been banqueting at. We call people to trust in God from a place of rest and confidence in our Lord, for perfect love will have cast out fingers of fear and gutters of guilt in our own lives.

So one of the key foundations in in being used by God in these coming years will be allowing our hearts to be transformed by God’s incredible love. Then we will be truly offering good news and bearing hope for the future. For we will be reflecting the very thing that attracts people to Jesus – His grace.

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Let’s start at the very beginning…a very good place to start

Posted on January 27, 2013 by williamrporter

ImageI’ve had a couple of stimulating conversations this week about signs of the times. A friend and I were chatting over coffee about whether to expect shaking, doom and gloom in the future or a glorious church and widespread spiritual awakening. We didn’t come to startling insights but were thinking and sharing through what we glean from scripture and sense in our spirit. 

Another friend was sharing with me about how a course she is on is helping her understand global issues in much more depth. She wants to know what God is doing in the big picture ready for the Lord’s return.

In terms of understanding the future and end-time events, I feel a beginner. I was stirred as a teenager by reading books on the 2nd Coming, but whose timelines were all wrong and were slightly eccentric. I can’t get away from Jesus challenging teaching on signs of the end. I have also been challenged in my thinking a few years ago when I noticed how songs written in revival times often have Jesus’ return as a key theme.  

Like many people the book of Revelation has both fascinated and flummoxed me; I have also  been aware of major prophetic writings in the Old Testament pointing to the end of the age, but felt they were beyond my fathoming.

So where do I find myself? As in the Sound of Music Song, ‘at the very beginning’, not needing a tune but wisdom. I think that is a good place to start, for in Proverbs 2v1-6 there is a blessing promised to people who are:

2 … turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding —

3 indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,

4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,

5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.’

I read a challenging statement in a leadership book recently that asked: ‘are you in a place of  knowing or enquiry?’ Basically it was checking how teachable you are. If your mind is inflexible and made up on an issue, then you are no longer teachable. If you are in a place of enquiry, with a ‘you can teach me something’ attitude, then you can continue growing.

I want to know the times we are living in, I eagerly desire understanding on future events and how to live in the light of Jesus’ return. If I continue to ‘treasure hunt’ and ‘cry out’ for God to give me wisdom on these issues, then I will understand more in a year’s time and much more in a decade, along with a fear (fascination, awe and deep devotion to) of the Lord. That is worth the effort, don’t you think?

 

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‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, if…’

Posted on January 20, 2013 by williamrporter

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My family have debated the truth of this recent chart song ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’. Sometimes the horrific things that happen, or the unfortunate events, don’t finish us off, but they don’t make us stronger. You can be flattened, demoralised, weakened by life happenings as much as the opposite.

That’s what I thought last year after battling  for many months with depression. My emotional life was at mercy to the vagaries of the day or pressure of the moment. I felt pretty washed up on the shore as to any sense of usefulness in ministry or work. I couldn’t see how the prayers of family and friends that I would emerge ‘stronger’ could possibly come true. I felt that my best years were behind me and I was now simply marking time.

Yet, as the months go by I have found a growing inner strength to my life that I thought wouldn’t return. In fact, it is there more than before. 

I have been struck with the word ‘residue’ this week. A residue is a compound which has passed through a filter. According to wiki:

           ‘Filtration, as a physical operation is very important in chemistry for the separation of materials of different chemical composition. A solvent is chosen which dissolves one component, while not dissolving the other. By dissolving the mixture in the chosen solvent, one component will go into the solution and pass through the filter, while the other will be retained. This is one of the most important techniques used by chemists to purify compounds.’

I have mused on the fact that I feel better in myself this January than I have for three years. Perhaps God is encouraging me to think of this renewed spirituality as a residue. He has allowed me to go through a filtration process, one I still don’t understand. The purpose is that what is left, the residue, is purified and stronger.

The novel, ‘Hind’s Feet on High Places’ speaks of the truth of this. The story follows Much Afraid, the little shepherdess, on her hard pilgrimage to the high places. At each testing point – mountains, dead ends, heartaches and enemies, Much Afraid has to sacrifice her own way with the way of trusting God’s will for her journey. And at each point she discovers a new precious stone deposited in her heart. Her strength grows at each laying down and each trusting. What doesn’t kill her makes her stronger, if she trusts in the perfect will of her Shepherd.

If God wants to use us to show the light and hope of Jesus in this world, then he might need us to prove in our own lives how weakness can be turned into strength. I admire kingdom people who trust in God’s way of living, even if it leads through tough times. Maybe in your life, there is a precious residue of strength deposited by God as you have held on and trusted Him through testing. Perhaps the refining of your life is leading to a more precious testimony and a help to other people in need of hope and of God. 

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Why a forerunner blog?

Posted on January 13, 2013 by williamrporter

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I have been mulling over this phrase for a few years now. A forerunner is one who goes before someone to prepare their way. My son Joshua enjoys playing a game ‘Halo’ on his Xbox against with fierce alien warrior characters called forerunners. Yet forerunning is not about personality or military or fantasy. 

 
Instead it is about a position and a shift of worldview. Position because It is to do with looking ahead and preparing to live wisely in a fast changing world. Worldview shift because it is being aware of how the spiritual reality bears upon the world around us whether we like it or not. A Christian forerunner is someone preparing to live life in the light of Jesus Christ’s soon return. And there a lot of such people being stirred right now. 
 
I have shied away from writing any sort of blog for a while. A period of depression three years ago robbed me of any confidence in having a voice or anything to say to people as a Christian leader. I am grateful that that has slowly returned. I also didn’t want to add another mediocre teaspoon of general musings to the ocean of well meaning blogs rolling over the Internet. I have been waiting for a right spiritual nudge to spur on some fresh writing of my own. The right side of three small books and a doctorate thesis, I know a little about both the potential impact and the limited influence of words. What you think can be most exciting and important thing to write about can touch lives or gather dust on a shelf.
 
So what do I hope to achieve in a forerunner blog?

  • A journey into understanding destiny. 

I feel a growing sense of urgency to be prepared for the best of times and the worst of times. Voices need to speak powerfully about God’s love and call out for people to get their lives right with Him. We must see communities in this country that are beacons of transformation amidst trouble, where Jesus’ love on the ground is visible and life changing. The church across the world is growing and can be refined into a beautiful reflection of Jesus to communities and nations. The sense of God’s hand on this generation is awesome. 

 
  • A commentary on life in this world  from a prayerful perspective of watching and waiting.
I am trying to get a better perspective on the events of my life and the events of this world. This doesn’t have to always be profound. I want to explore the dimensions of a full life that Jesus says is possible. Family, culture, mundane weeks, seeing beauty and brokenness, joy and tragedy are all vehicles for reflection. They all cause me to pause and wonder, if I make the time to do so. 
However there is also major shaking going on across nations and continents. The place of wise insight into this is from a position of spiritually watching and waiting. A prayerful eye on the news and an eye on God’s throne is important to know how to pray and how to act in coming years. 
 
  • An exploration about Christian eschatology – the future and ultimate reality of God

I think we are living at the start of a unique timeframe, when the present age of human history will transition to the age to come of Jesus’ perfect kingdom. This could be generations away; my spiritual sense is that it could be in our lifetime or that of our children. The Christian tradition has always stated a belief that ‘Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. This means that one group of people will be alive on earth when Jesus’ second coming will actually happen. What would it be like to live through a time when the crises of planet earth and spiritual stirrings of faith amongst millions will increase over decades to breaking point and culminate in the long awaited return of Jesus?

 
Perhaps my thoughts will echo yours, or stimulate you to think or connect with your destiny more. Perhaps combined wisdom of many reflecting on the signs of the times will influence families and a generation for good and towards God.
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Be a force for good in 2013

Posted on January 6, 2013 by williamrporter

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I was reminded of both the positive and negative aspects of 2012 over new year this week.

We partied well as a group towards new year’s eve, celebrating and thanking God for all the blessings and highlights of the last year, with the Jubilee, Olympic and Paralympic games, national day of prayer at Wembley and many other significant moments.

Twelve hours later I watched a BBC 24 overview of the popular newsworthy stories of the last year. More sobering headlines of scandal and drama gripping parliament, banks, the police, media and other institutions. Last year – the best of times, the worst of times.

This coming year will no doubt see more of the like, if not on quite the same scale. The good, bad and ugly of national and international life.

It would be good to pray that people of faith rise even more as a force for good in our society.

You could pray for the church of Jesus Christ at the start of 2013 that people might:

SHINE. We’re called to be light in the world as Jesus was. Maybe the light of unity in community of Jesus’ followers will be attractive this year and the good news of hope will be a bright beacon in times of personal and wider crises.

ENGAGE. We can’t retreat from issues that dominate papers, chat shows and places of decision making. If salt can act as a preserver amongst food, so too can Christians flavour and help in debates on social ills and moral issues. The spheres of local life are important to pray over and work for change. If the gospel is public truth, then it does affect politics, education, health, law & order, media & entertainment, business and community – profoundly.

BLESS. One of the more attractive characteristics of Jesus’ followers is their potential to be agents of grace in situations. Investing in people, serving where you are, and sowing acts of random kindness are possible for all. Most people can rise to those heights when called upon, how much more can people of faith live like that out of a resource of God’s grace flowing in our lives.

May the church in the UK rise even more this new 2013 to be a force for good where it matters – our our streets and in our communities.

William

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Just starting!

Posted on March 31, 2012 by williamrporter

Thinking about blogging as a way of ordering my thoughts about life at the moment. I also am getting a bug for taking pictures and developing that arty side of seeing the world.

Here are a few images from the last two weeks – life with family, work and hobbies.

Much happening around me – my observations are random right now.

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Hello world!

Posted on February 14, 2012 by williamrporter

Welcome to WordPress.com. After you read this, you should delete and write your own post, with a new title above. Or hit Add New on the left (of the admin dashboard) to start a fresh post.

Here are some suggestions for your first post.

  1. You can find new ideas for what to blog about by reading the Daily Post.
  2. Add PressThis to your browser. It creates a new blog post for you about any interesting  page you read on the web.
  3. Make some changes to this page, and then hit preview on the right. You can always preview any post or edit it before you share it to the world.
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