CCK Life blog

Amy Loizides arrived in Brighton 2 years ago to serve on CCK’s Impact team for a year. She then worked as part of the Administrative team, led by Annie Waller.  She has just left Brighton to return to South Africa before moving to America to be involved with a church there. Amy shares with Yohaan Philip about her relationship with Jesus along with some of her memories of life in Brighton.

YP: Tell me about how you came to know Jesus.

AL: Well….! I grew up in a Christian home but as happens with a lot of people, the older I got the less important Jesus was to me and things like popularity, boys, image, parties etc got more and more important. In Cape Town, South Africa (where I grew up) every year Newfrontiers ran a Summer Camp (sort of like Newday but on a smaller scale) for the youth of the churches in our area. I went every single year and every time I went I’d get all fired up for God again; I’d be really excited about the whole thing, but then two weeks later when I went back to school, I’d go straight back into my old habits – partying, gossiping, drinking and all that. Then I arranged to come to England to find a job after I finished school when I was 18 but nothing opened up! So I emailed Joel Virgo and asked if I could come to Brighton (because that was one of the few places in England I actually remembered!) and volunteer at CCK for a little bit while I looked for a job. He said no to my idea because he had a better one – he said I should do Impact for six months at CCK instead! Then on the plane on the way over I was thinking about how messy everything had gotten in my life and how much it had hurt me and I just said “Right God, I swore I’d never go to England yet I’m on a plane to England and I swore I’d never work for the church yet I’m on my way to do six months at CCK, so it seems you’ve got me right where you want me.” There was no point fighting it anymore and pursuing other things so right then and there I just surrendered my life once again to whatever God had in store for me and honestly there wasn’t anything better that I could have done or will ever do.

YP: Lovely story! So why are you leaving Brighton then?!

AL: Haha the million dollar question… In short I feel like Brighton has been sort of a stepping stone, a ‘launch pad’ if you like in the time that I’ve been here. CCK is a great place to come, get stuck in, be a part of, be trained up and move on to advance the gospel further in other parts of the world. So I’m going to North Carolina, USA for a few months…as you do. After that, who knows!

YP: What have been some of the key things you’ve learnt whilst at CCK?

AL: Man this is hard because literally my whole life has changed! Umm…

To try and do everything with your best effort – because ultimately even if you aren’t working for the church, you are working for God and so it’s worth it to get stuck in wholeheartedly and get involved wherever you can.

To trust God completely with everything no matter how big or little it seems. God’s faithfulness shouldn’t surprise me, but it always does. He might not answer or provide in the way you expect him to, but it will always be the way that’s best for you and He will never ignore you.

YP: What are some of the things you’re going to miss?

AL: I sometimes grumble about Brighton but to be absolutely honest there is not a place in the world like it. I will miss walking down the road and seeing a man with blue hair, a tie dye dress, piercings everywhere walking barefoot in the pouring rain. I will miss the Red Roaster coffee house (just by the Old Steine – visit if you haven’t already!). I will really miss the amazing friends I’ve made and the ladies (plus a few boys) who work on the admin team at CCK - they do so much that goes unnoticed, true gems!

YP: Yes they are stars! All the best then and hopefully we’ll see you soon!

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Phil Turner is part of the leadership CCK Team and is primarily involved with running the Alpha Course. He is married to Mel and they have 5 children. Phil is very passionate about sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and in this interview he talks openly with Yohaan Philip about why and how he came to be so excited about Jesus.

YP: Can you tell me a little about how you came to know Jesus?

PT: Before I became a Christian I worked at Lloyds TSB for 17 years. I wanted to build a career, get promotions, good money, a flat, a car etc  and find some sort of safety and security in my life. I hoped for the day I’d be really happy and never look back. But, the problem was that inside it was like a storm that I couldn’t get away from. I had great parents and a safe home. But there was an inner turmoil in me and as I strove for these things , even if I did get them, it left me feeling more empty, more fearful, more anxious about what the future had in store. I turned to astrology, trying to find out what the future had in store. I wanted to be happy, but never was.

After a broken relationship, a storm took place in my life that really crushed me. My safety nets were collapsing and I didn’t know where to turn to. I turned to alcohol and clubbing, trying to find a way to escape the reality of the world, thinking I’d find freedom and happiness. But the problem was that the next day I was back into the reality of everyday life. One Friday night, I remember being down in a night club on West Street with this storm really raging inside of me. I had never read the Bible at this point and was far from any understanding or looking for any form of God. And that Friday night I just said, “Jesus, I really need your help. Can you help me?” Then, this Christian friend of mine started talking about Jesus to me. I had always envied his life – whatever storms that seemed to surround him, it never seemed to affect his peace or happiness or security. I never had any security. He invited me along to CCK to a Paul Oakley concert one Friday night. I saw people worshipping and putting their hands up. Initially it seemed a bit strange, but one thing I noticed as I came out of the meeting was that these people seemed to know Jesus personally and have a depth to them. My life with all it’s clubbing and pubbing seemed very superficial. People I met made friends based on star signs. But at the church, I found a kind of safety that I had never experienced before. It was quite remarkable.

That lead me on a request to discover this Jesus. I read the Bible and the thing that nailed me was the resurrection of Jesus. There were over 500 witnesses that claimed that Jesus came to them. I realized that Jesus was really alive. On the 8^th of October 1993, I became a follower of Jesus. I’ve never been the same since.

YP: Wow! That’s quite a story. So how did you become involved with CCK?

PT: I quit Lloyds TSB about 6 years ago and had an opportunity to work at a training consultancy. The advantage of that was that I got the same pay as Lloyds, but had to work for only 2 weeks a month. I made a decision to serve and help CCK more during my free time. As soon as I became a Christian I felt that that God would call me to work full time for Him in a Church as an “Evangelist.” I didn’t know what an Evangelist was at the time. All I knew was that God put a passion in me to tell everyone about Jesus. The day after I became a Christian I went back to Lloyds and told everyone about Jesus and earned the nickname, ‘Phil the Baptist’! I worked for the consultancy for 3 years and during those 3 years, I felt my passion for the Lord grow and I learned to pray and to seek Him and to serve. At the end of the 3 years, work dried up at the training consultancy. By this time my family was growing. God spoke to me amazingly at Northampton one day that I would never work for that company again. A few days later the consultancy called me to say they were making me redundant. In the year 2000, a preacher from India, Ram Babu, came and told us (CCK) that he had never had to find a job and God had provided for all his and his family’s needs as he travelled India and the world talking about Jesus. When I heard this, I turned to my wife, Mel, and whispered to her asking her if she thought we could live this way and trust God to provide for our every need. And so, when I got made redundant, I decided to serve God and the Church full time and trust God to provide for our every need.

During that period, the provision of God was extraordinary. We learned to pray together as a family. There were times when we were so hungry and had no petrol for the car day – we were right down to the wire. We were living on baked beans. One time, the mortgage was due the next day. We all prayed as a family and a thousand pounds came through the doorway! God provided! We have lovely stories of how God used our children. One night my oldest daughter, Molly, had a dream where God told her that someone would put money through the door next day – and it happened!! We did endure some suffering, but we knew that God loved us. So during that period we grew closer as a family and learned to trust the plan God has for our lives and to follow Him in obedience. There were sometimes when we were fearful but we felt God’s love for us every time.

YP: So would you encourage people to live like this?

PT: You need to really know the call of God on your life to do this! But there are so many areas in life you need to step out of the boat and just follow Him. You don’t want to be irresponsible in this. You need to have a peace of heart and faith to know God’s in this.

YP: Tell me more about the Alpha Course you run?

PT: initially I used to be involved with Alpha on the estates, but then more recently, we’ve gathered all our resources and shifted all our Alpha courses to the heart of Brighton city. This is the 3^rd Alpha course we’ve run under my leadership in the city. It’s going fantastically well. Last week I shared on the resurrection of Jesus which is a passion of mine! We complete on the 8^th of December with a Christmas celebration. We want the alpha course to be more than just a place where people can make new relationships and discover Jesus. We want them to get stuck into Church and really grow in their faith. The next Alpha starts in spring next year.

YP: What are some of the influences in your life? What keeps you ticking?
PT: One of the major influences in my life has been a guy called Mike Springer. He was passionate about talking about Jesus. When I first began come to Church he took me under his wing and had a huge impact on me. Ram Babu, from India, is another one. I’d never seen a miracle before! But through people being miraculously healed, I saw God working through him. Joel Virgo coming in has made a huge difference in the vision of the church. Tim Keller is another huge hero of mine. Sharing Jesus in a city is a lot more complex than what I gave credit for. I have found his teachings on engaging people and honouring and then challenging their objections very helpful.

I think what ultimately keeps me going is to keep going back to the cross and the resurrection. Everyday.

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Rich Spear is the editor of the CCK Reason Blog, a new online resource that seeks to provide theologically sound answers to the questions people need answered. His passion for apologetics and Manchester Utd. were just some of things he talks about with Yohaan Philip…

YP: So tell me, how did you become a Christian?
RS: I had the privilege of being brought up by two great parents who both loved Jesus themselves, and so they brought me up teaching me about him. When I was 6 years old I realised my desire for a personal relationship with God, and so I asked Jesus to enter my life as my saviour. The next few years were steady in my growth and understanding of Jesus, but my world was turned upside down in 1994 when at the age of 11 my dad was suddenly diagnosed with cancer, was given around 2 months to live, and in April he passed away. By July 1995, my Mum had re-married and we had moved from Eastbourne to Brighton. My whole life had changed and I was just turning into a moody teenager too! I had lost something of my passion or even belief in God. This led to me telling my Mum that I didn’t believe in God anymore and didn’t feel church was for me. To her credit she just said she was ok with it and didn’t really force the issue, and this was probably quite important (I now know she was praying big time behind the scenes though).

Intellectually Christianity seemed very much at odds with what everyone at school believed, especially what we were taught in Science lessons. Because of this and a desire to be accepted and to ‘fit in’, I lied my butt off to my friends. I told them that my step-dad wasn’t a vicar (Clearly I wasn’t Einstein when it came to lying, because when your Step-Dad is a minister in the Church of England you live next door to church!) and when they found out he was, I then insisted that ‘It was his thing’ and had nothing to do with me. For me I tried to find my satisfaction in wanting to play county cricket for Sussex, and so I continued to pursue that dream above anything else. It was what I thought about all the time, it was what excited me, it was what I gave my time and money to. Although I still really enjoy cricket, it had taken the place of God in my heart. That said, I lacked integrity as an atheist (!) and carried on going to church anyway, largely because there were some attractive girls there! I started to realise I had become a total hypocrite as it had no effect on how I lived my life. I was just a social church go-er, then I would go and get drunk and smoke and try and join in with the worldly life my friends were living.

Eventually, at the age of 16 I went on an Alpha course, confronted my doubts and actually realised that there were answers to a lot of the questions that I had been storing up in my head. This led me to re-discover my love for Jesus, and I remember being both captivated and surprised that God actually wanted us to live life to the full (John 10:10), and that Christianity wasn’t just something for people old enough to have blue rinse hair, and on death’s door to be involved in. My story has been one of God’s continued faithfulness to me, and I guess in a sense I feel a bit like Peter who denied Jesus three times; by all accounts he looked to have disqualified himself from ever being used for God’s purposes. He had been unfaithful, and likewise I was totally unfaithful to God too, but he was used powerfully and fruitfully by God to bring many people to faith. That’s what you call grace. That is my prayer and hope for my own life.

YP: Wow! That’s quite a story! And how do you see yourself balancing your love for Jesus and your future career plans?
RS: I’m just about to begin my postgraduate studies to become a Secondary school Maths teacher, having worked for American Express for the last 3 years. It will be great going back to University for the next 2 years. When I went to Sussex University in late 2002 I was challenged a lot by different tough questions about my faith, and it really helped me to grow as a Christian as a result. I’ve been living with Isaiah 26:8 in my heart for the last few years about making Jesus name famous in this city, and I hope to live out as a good ambassador for Jesus when I eventually become a Maths teacher. There are challenges to being a good representative for Christ in 21st Century Brighton. It is very misunderstood. Most people think that becoming a Christian is like committing intellectual suicide, which makes Christian apologetics very important to whatever sphere of life you find yourself in.

YP: Ah apologetics! What’s that all about?
RS: It comes from the greek word apologia and in essence means providing a defence of the faith. It probably sounds very negative and as David Robertson pointed out in his recent interview, C.H. Spurgeon once said when asked about defending the bible, ‘I’d sooner defend a lion’. Really though it’s about trying to answer people’s objections to faith in Christ. 1 Peter 3:15 says ‘Always be prepared to give an answer for the hope that you have’. It’s about being obedient to that call. In fact it’s actually something all Christians are called to pursue; it’s not for a select few.

YP: And what got you so interested in this? And how do you plan to build on your passion?
RS: Ever since God gave me a passion for sharing the good news about Jesus I realised that people had questions that needed to be answered first. This was the case from the time I set foot inside sixth form college at BHASVIC, and was even more true of being at University. I guess my passion for this area came from a desire for my non-christian family and friends to come to have this amazing relationship with God that I have enjoyed for the last 10 years or so. Secondly, it also brings greater depth to your own relationship with God. CS Lewis famously said ‘I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.’ As you delve into how belief in Christ touches every area of human life from science to morality, from pain to joy, you end up worshipping a far bigger God than you thought there was.

Reading and listening to people like William Lane Craig, Alvin Plantinga, Tim Keller, CS Lewis, Michael Ramsden, Amy Orr-Ewing, Alister McGrath and Ravi Zacharias have had a particularly profound effect on me and have given me a passion for communicating the gospel to those around me in a way that they can relate to. Recently, I began the reason blog out of a desire to give our city, Brighton & Hove, answers to the kinds of questions that prevent people from coming to faith in Christ. It started as an overflow from my Q&A slot on the CCK Alpha Course, and then we just decided to go ahead with answering some of the kinds of questions I get asked often, be it from friends or family. It has been great to have so many people reading it, and I have had some excellent articles written by people within the church too. My aim is to provide a great resource for non-christians to get their questions about Christianity answered, and also to help Christians to find credible answers they can give to their friends about tough issues. Ephesians 4:12 says that Evangelists are called to encourage God’s people for works of service so that the body of Christ (The Church) may be built up. I’d really like to encourage Christians to dig deeper and find effective ways of explaining the gospel to their friends. We’ve been called as believers to actively be a part of society and not removed from it, which will often involve entering into reasoned discussion, as the apostle Paul did, with those who live around us. I’m particularly really looking forward to our first edition of Reason:Live on Sundays which kicks off on November 15th, so stay tuned for that. I’ll be part of a panel with Ruth Preston and Tim Jones, who are two excellent apologists as well. It will be a great event to invite people to.

YP: That gives us something to look forward to! Thanks for taking the time to talk Rich!
RS: My pleasure!

Graphic by Sam Liddiard

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Jon and Sally Lyndon have been a part of CCK together since 2003. Responding to God speaking to their lives, they have decided to move to Fredericton, Canada to get involved with one of the newfrontiers churches there. Jon presently works in an accounting firm and Sally works on the admin team for newfrontiers. Along with their love for Jesus, they are keen Catan players! Yohaan Philip had to chance to chat with them about their impending move and writes,

YP: Tell me a bit about yourselves and how you met.

JL: I was born in Brighton, grew up in Brighton, met Jesus in Brighton. I’m Brighton born and bred.
SL: I came to Brighton from Devon in ‘03 to study at Sussex Uni. I got stuck into CCK from my very first Sunday. Jon and I met on Brighton beach in September ‘04. We started dating at the end of ‘04, got engaged in Sept ‘05 and got married in August ‘06.

YP: And now you’ve decided to move to Canada. How did that happen?

JL: I first went to Fredericton, New Brunswick, whilst on a year-team in the USA. Friendships and connections were made but not a lot happened until God started to speak to us as couple whilst we were engaged and He put Canada on our hearts. We have also been out three times together to test this new desire(and to check we could handle the snow!). The Church in Fredericton (The Meeting Place Church) have welcomed us every single time we have been there and they have also felt that we should move to be with them.

YP: What are some of your chief aims from your time in Canada?

JL: To make Jesus known in the City of Fredericton. We love the place and can see ourselves serving the community in and out of the church.
SL: God really spoke to me at the TOAM conference this year that one of our chief aims in being ‘missional’ needs to be to serve the lead elders in our new church wholeheartedly.

YP:  What has been the most exciting thing about the move?

SL: Aside from all the church stuff, the great outdoors! Canada is huge and we’ve explored only a fraction of it. I also can’t wait to deepen the friendships we’ve already made in Fredericton and to do life with our new acquaintances.
JL: The humbling experience of playing ice hockey, baseball and building snow forts. There is so much unknown but we know first-hand the faithfulness of God and so we are excited about new friendships, new experiences and drinking coffee all day long like true Canadians of course!

YP: How would you encourage young people seeking God for a move to build His Church?

SL: We started to properly look into moving to Canada after a ‘Canada Day’ held in Tunbridge Wells in May ‘07. This was a great opportunity to hear first-hand about the churches out there. Newfrontiers hold loads of these days throughout the year for different cities and nations. I’d also recommend a lot of prayer and at least a few visits to the church you want to move to be a part of it. Pray.

JL: Keep fixed on and fascinated by Jesus. We as people want many things but we need to have more and more of a heart for what God wants. Pray and listen to God. We are called to the Nations and the ends of the earth however sometimes that means reaching out to your next door neighbor or your local community where you are. One thing which is key is to serve wherever God has placed you, get stuck in, get your hands dirty for Jesus, serve in your Church, serve in your City, serve in your workplace or place of study.

YP: That’s encouraging! Finally, what are you going to miss about Brighton?

SL: CCK has been my home for six years. The leadership team here is like having a tonne of extra parents. I’ll also miss eating Cadburys chocolate with my pals which occurs quite often in my life!
JL: My super friends, the Church here, my dear Brighton and Hove Albion and the Shahi Curry House.

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RS: Do you have a particular football team you follow. Dundee United perhaps?
DR: No, the opposite in fact, I was chaplain for Dundee, their city rivals and I’m not chaplain any more but I do support them and Barcelona are my other team… It’s like I drive a Mini and I have a sticker on the back that says “My other car’s a Porsche”. I support Dundee but my other team is Barcelona.

RS: How did you first come to be interested in Apologetics yourself?
DR: Well, (a) I hate the term Apologetics and yet I use it so I’m not blaming you for using it! I do what I call Apologetic Evangelism. (b) Since the day I became a Christian I’ve been interested in communicating the Gospel and that’s what I consider Apologetics to be: communicating the Gospel. So since I was about 17 years old.

RS: Yeah, the fact that you’ve just said you hate the term apologetics kind of leads me on to my next question really which is: In listening to you debating and reading your book “The Dawkins Letters” I notice that there is quite a difference in style between yourself and someone like Alistair McGrath and Tim Keller. Is that a conscious thing that you set out to do?

DR: Well, different people have different gifts. I know AM and I know TK, and admire both of them enormously especially Tim whom I regard as a personal friend. Actually, in some ways we probably have a fairly similar style on different things. I would say that my concern about apologetics in general is the impression for ordinary people in the church is that it’s undertaken by academics. That you’ve basically got to be from Oxford and read Wittgenstein and Nietzsche, and people like that and talk like that and so think ‘yeah it’s a good thing to do, and we’re glad we’ve got some clever people on our side, but it’s not for me’.

My intention deliberately is to say ‘actually Apologetic evangelism is just communicating the gospel, we should all be doing that, we should all be interested in it. It’s a lot more than just reading a Josh McDowell book or handing out Lee Strobel. It is thinking about your faith scripturally and then applying it to the culture you live in. So, there is no point in you telling people the gospel if you’re using a language they don’t understand and the best way for you to communicate with them is to think about your own faith and apply it to the people who are around you. So, there are many ways of doing Apologetics but part of what I do is what I call ‘Popular Apologetics’. I love going into pubs and doing talks in pubs and elsewhere, where you get your average joe yelling out a question to you and it’s just thrilling to see how God uses that. So you’re right it’s a different style, it’s less academic probably though I still have to do a lot of the academic work… I hope this doesn’t sound wrong but I also think it’s hugely entertaining! It’s interesting, the gospel should be interesting anyway and I don’t stand up to do stand up comedy and that, but when people are firing questions like last night here in Brighton at the Jubilee Library a guy came out afterwards and said ‘man, that was just a fantastic hour, that was just so entertaining’ and another guy came out saying ‘you are in enormous danger of making Christianity appear attractive’.

RS: Haha, well we wouldn’t want that!

DR: Oh no!

RS: So David, how do you and the church in Dundee go about motivating or having a congregation full of people who are well reasoned (as it were), in explaining the gospel to people?
DR: Let me use the football analogy. My team made it once to the Scottish Cup Final. What we did was – I remember I was heading off to the game and I had all my gear on and everything as well -  I was so enthusiastic I was talking to complete strangers. In other words I was full of enthusiasm about this particular game, it was really hard to stop me talking about it. I use that analogy in terms of Jesus Christ. Because what I want is – I want people to be so enthusiastic about Jesus Christ that you actually have to shut them up. So my first thing is, in the congregation I want people, whether they’re at a service or whatever it is, to be bursting to tell people. Once they’ve got that enthusiasm then it’s a question of channelling it.

RS: Indeed. In the public eye, obviously people like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris get an awful lot of coverage. Perhaps more than many Christians. Do you think that as Christians we should be very fearful of people such as that having a very strong say in the public limelight?
DR: No. I would be more fearful of the default position which was secular humanism. There was a program “Beyond Belief” – I actually listened to it yesterday after we did the talk here on my IPod – and they were arguing that we now live in a post-secular society. The gentleman who was presenting the program said in the 1980’s and 90’s a program such as “Beyond Belief” on the BBC would have been unthinkable. You mentioned religion and everyone was like “For goodness sake, no one’s interested in religion”. Now he says it would be unthinkable not to have programs like that. So there are now some sociologists who are talking about Britain being a post-Secular society. Which is fascinating! So the Church needs to come up to scale with that. We’ve hardly got into the notion of it being a secular society but I think that analysis is large and correct. And that’s why Dawkins and so on are so vehement and public; because they’ve been seeing that happening.

Now the danger here for Christians is that we think “Oh that’s good, Religion’s on its way back”. No, the primary sin in the Bible is idolatry not atheism. And when you’ve got New Age and all the cults and all the different religions and all the weird variations of Christianity, we shouldn’t be rejoicing that people are religious. In some senses it’s easier to preach the gospel to secular people then religious people. We should be very wary of that. Yet none the less we should still recognise that this is still drawing in people…that they’ve got a spiritual interest at the very least.

RS: Ok. Thank you very much for that. To close, just a couple of questions really. Firstly, who would you say your greatest influences have been since you became a Christian? Maybe writers…
DR: John Calvin’s book “The Institutes of the Christian Religion“. Calvin is an apologist that no one thinks of but he planted over a thousand churches. That’s phenomenal. I mean over two million French people were Christians – Evangelical protestant Christians. So he’s been an enormous influence. Tim Keller has been a strong influence. I’ve always enjoyed the writings of C.S.Lewis. But a lot of non Christian writings as well. I just don’t divorce that. I think the gospel should be every part of my life.

RS: Ok. And finally. Perhaps along similar lines. What would be the – this is quite a hard question to answer really – top three books that you would recommend to people looking to give a reasoned explanation of the gospel?
DR: Well, again it’s fairly straightforward. If you’re thinking of people who are, I don’t know, Times readers and the Guardian readers I’d say Tim Keller’s “The Reason for God“. Anyone under forty in a community like Brighton, who’s relatively intelligent that is going to be a phenomenal book for them. People who were brought up religious, Tim Keller’s “The Prodigal God“. C.S.Lewis’ “Mere Christianity“. The thing that drives me more then anything else is just in reading the Bible when I see that God is all about mission – mission and evangelism is not an optional extra or something just that we talk about or something just that we do overseas. But it’s our very life. So that would be it.

RS: That’s brilliant. That pretty much rounds up everything that I had to ask. So thanks very much for your time David.

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Mike Pilavachi is the co-founder and leader of Soul Survivor. He also leads a church in North Watford. He has authored quite a few books including Walking with a Stranger: Discovering God and Storylines. Mike is known for his ‘dramatic’ humour in his sermons along with a depth of an understanding of God’s Word. He recently preached at Newday, where Yohaan Philip caught up with him for a highly entertaining interview! Yohaan writes,

There was never a dull moment when Mike preached at Newday! The crowd loved him. His illustrations were hilarious, simple and straight to the point. His second preach on the presence of the Holy Spirit had everyone eagerly anticipating a move of the Spirit in our midst. It was fun chatting with Mike!

YP: Tell me a bit about your self.
MP: I was brought up in a Greek family. My parents were Greek orthodox atheists and so I grew up not believing in Jesus at all. When I was 14, I wrote an essay titled “Why I am not a Christian”. Later I found out that Bertrand Russell wrote an essay with the same title. I think his was a bit more intellectual than mine. Basically I wrote that Christianity was for weak people who needed a crutch, for weak people who don’t understand that science has the answers and for old people who are scared of dying. It’s just God’s sense of humour that a year after writing that essay I became a Christian!
Even though I had thought I had rejected God and Christianity, I was searching for something because I was struggling with life so much. I started looking into all sorts of new age stuff. Some friends at school when they heard I was looking into all this, sat me down and explained what Christianity was all about. It’s about Jesus and the cross and the resurrection and for the first time it all made sense to me. It was the 15th of January and I had a little booklet called “Becoming a Christian” by John Stott. I went on to a hill and read the booklet and at the end of it there was a little prayer. I knelt down on the wet grass, said the prayer, said amen at the end, got up, didn’t feel any different, but knew that my life had changed.
I discovered that Christianity wasn’t a religion, but a relationship with a person – Jesus. I didn’t discover Christianity, but I discovered Jesus and became a follower of Him. He became the passion of my life.
I last saw that essay 20 years ago! And when I read it my first thought was “how awful my spellings were”.
I was an accountant till I was 29 when the leader of the Church I was part of asked me if I’d give that up and become a youth leader. And I’ve been doing that ever since. And now I’m one of the oldest youth workers in the world. I’m actually 51 and I know people won’t believe that because I just look incredibly young.

YP: No way! Great story of how you came to know Jesus though! What inspired Soul Survivor?
MP: I was the youth leader at church and started to go places and speak to other youth groups. And I realized there was nothing for young people to gather. I wanted to see an event which had cafes and sports events and bands and a place where young people could bring their non Christian friends without feeling embarrassed. We would focus on teaching them as much as we can and help them focus on Jesus and be open to the ministry of the Spirit. I went to my boss, my Vicar, with my vision and after I shared what I had planned with him, he said “it sounds ridiculous to me”. He paused for a bit and then added, “ But it sounds like God. Ok you can have a go.” And in 1993 we did our first Soul Survivor. Matt Redman, who was in my youth group from the time he was 13, lead worship. We have 1,893 young people and we don’t know where they came from. We’ve gradually grown and this summer it looks like we’ll gather 28-29,000 young people which is very exciting. The best bit is seeing people come to know Christ.

YP: Your book StoryLines just sold out at Newday! Tell me about how you came up with the book?
MP: The young people who came to our festivals were receiving the ministry of the Holy Spirit, engaging in worship but didn’t seem to know their Bibles. They just didn’t know where to begin. They almost seemed frightened to open their Bibles. So what we wanted to do was write a book that introduced and explained the Bible to this generation of young people. So there’s stuff on what is the Bible, then we explain the Bible in 6 pages, then we take some of the themes that run through and look at the story lines that weave through them. We look at themes like the Covenant, God’s presence, the cross, Jesus in order to say here’s the stories of the Bible that’s part of the big story – it’s God’s story.

YP: How did you discover these themes in the Bible? What’s been your academic growth?
MP: I love reading. I’ve been a Christian now since the days of Noah so I’ve done a lot of reading and thinking. I wrote the book with a young man, Andy Croft, and he did theology in Cambridge University. So, he supplied the theology and I supplied the jokes. Hopefully I may have done a few things more! As we studied for the book, we came across some awesome truth. I spoke to people and gleaned from them.  It was a lifetime study, but we specifically prepared for the book as well.

YP: What have been some of the books and authors that have really inspired you?
MP: Too many to do them justice! I love Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster, The Cross of Christ by John Stott, biographies – George Mueller, William Carey, Hudson Taylor, stuff by Brother Andrew, the Bible Speaks Today commentaries. I’ve left loads out! I read a lot of books. There are books in season. RT Kendall books are in season for me at the moment.

YP: Thanks! What advice would you give a young guy in his twenties who wants to pursue his understanding of God and the Bible?
MP: Stay in fellowship. The best way to grow as a follower of Jesus is to serve in the Church of Jesus. Get in His Word, spend time in prayer, learn from others, listen to His voice and obey! I know these seem to be the general ones, but they’re true! When He speaks obey. The best way to hear His voice tomorrow is to obey when you hear His voice today.

YP: Always helpful to hear that. Last question – You’re a funny guy! Which comedians inspire you?
MP: I base myself on John Cleese who plays Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers. I enjoy comedy. Morecombe and Wise! Eric Morecombe was a classic from years and years ago. Lot’s of different people.

Graphics by Steve Rowland

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Annie Waller heads the Administration department at Church of Christ the King. Along with her highly efficient organizing skills, her cooking prowess has blessed many over the years! Over the years, Annie has been an outstanding role model to many young women at CCK. One of them recently described her as ‘an inspirational woman of God who has such a big heart and much wisdom to share.’ Yohaan Philip, recently interviewed her, and writes..

YP: Tell me a bit about yourself, Annie.

AW: I’m married to Nigel and we have two children, Adam (22) & Frankie (17). I grew up in a non Christian home in Hertfordshire where my parents(and one brother) would call themselves atheists and now, humanists! I trained in hotel reception and worked in the hotel world for a number of years. I worked hard and played hard. I met Nigel here in Brighton whilst working at The Metropole. We married and two years later along came Adam.

My first encounter of Church of Christ the King was about 20 years ago when a friend from the hotel days invited us to her baptism. I remember laughing hysterically as it all looked and felt so weird. I filled in a contact card, and subsequently began having bible studies with a neighbor. Nothing dramatically happened, and I didn’t really change my lifestyle until years later.

I spent the next few years in a troubled and unhappy marriage. Nigel and I were both seeking legal advice regarding a pending divorce. One Sunday evening, Nigel was invited to go along to church and God broke in on his life! To cut a very long and complicated story, we began an amazing journey to restore our marriage. This year we celebrate 25 years together.. woohoo!

YP: What has been the effect of God “breaking into your lives” ?

AW: I no longer feel insecure as I have learnt to trust Jesus wholeheartedly, respect my husband, and let him take the lead in all areas of our life together. So releasing!

YP: Tell me a bit about your work. And your role in Church.

AW: I am foremost Joel Virgo’s PA. I also lead the Office Administration team at CCK and jointly oversee the personnel department. Along with my responsibilities at CCK, I play a key role in the 2 annual newfrontiers‘ conferences, Together On A Mission and Newday.

As a part of CCK, Nigel and I oversee four small groups in the North Brighton Zone. We are also involved in preparing young couples for marriage and get along side those who are either in the first few years of marriage or are just needing some input. We thoroughly enjoy doing this together.

YP: What are some of your dreams/ aspirations?

Oh to be mum who gets it right all the time!! But wouldn’t that be boring?

Being a mum of two is a huge privilege. I just love having family time – the four of us together. It’s incredibly special particularly as they get older. I know I don’t always get it right but by trusting Jesus and keeping the lines of communication open, we get through the tough times and have fun in the process.

I like spending time with young women not only in my home but also outside of work and family life. I just be myself, keep it real and give wise encouragement as we go along.

YP: What’s a dream day for Annie Waller?

AW: Wow wouldn’t that be amazing well my dream day would be.. a day to myself, walking, talking (whatever is going on in my head at the time) and listening to God.

I often walk along Brighton seafront taking in all the different cultures, ages groups etc., its such a great spring-board for prayer.

I love musicals so a trip to London to see a musical would round my day off nicely

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‘Impact is for people who want to become dangerous Christians.’ That’s the tag line given to a year of training that CCK offers young people. And how true it is! The Impacters (as they are affectionately called) give of themselves heart and soul to serving the church. They are the team that works behind the scenes for the numerous events and meetings that CCK holds. Along with a hectic work schedule, they also have an intense theological training conducted by Andrew Wilson. Yohaan Philip recently interviewed three members of the team, Andy Hails, Chris Sivers and Michelle Blanckensee, and writes;

I’ve had the privilege of working in the same building as these guys and I can honestly write that they have made my life a lot more enjoyable! We’ve shared many laughs. They inspire me to serve. It’s an honour to have conducted this interview.

YP: Tell me a bit about yourselves pre-Impact.

AH: I was part of the travelling circus before coming to Brighton. Risking life and death for my audience every night was empty and not very fulfilling. Not really, I came to Brighton University about 3 years ago as a backslidden Christian. God grabbed me back and has been radically changing me ever since! I wanted to serve the Church full time so Impact was the natural choice.

MB: I had just finished a Primary Education degree which I thoroughly enjoyed, although it was intense! However, on the course I realised that, as much as I loved working with children, my passion was not for their education as much as for their discovering Jesus and so I left the degree wondering if I truly did want to be a Primary Teacher. I realised that I did not want to be a teacher forever and that other things were priorities in my life.

YP: What’s been the most exciting thing about Impact?

MB: For me, the most exciting thing about this Impact year is that God said at the start of the year that Tom(my husband) and I would know His provision this year, and the year would unveil like someone climbing a mountain – the further up you go, the wider the horizon becomes. These prophecies have been central to what has happened this year, and they’ve given us both huge faith and excitement as God changed our hearts and guided our feet.

CS: The highlight of this year is the opportunity to work with different people in a variety of different contexts. I’ve produced architectural drawings for the supported housing unit, followed john Hosier when he went preaching and worked amongst a great team. Perhaps the best parts of this year have been when someone says something outrageous when not thinking in the office!

YP: And the most challenging?

MB: That’s a tricky question! I have really enjoyed all the theological training from this year, but there were times when I had to soften my heart, humble myself and change my understanding to what the Bible clearly teaches. Some foundational assumptions that I’d made as I’d grown up needed to be corrected and the outworking of this knowledge was challenging at times.

AH: The most challenging thing for me has been the constant demand Impact has on your life and trying to balance that with everything else going on. Don’t get me wrong it’s great but a year full time serving the Church is just that – Full time! Also, If I’m honest I’ve found spending personal time with God difficult. It’s about taking responsibility to spend that time with Him and not just assuming that because you’re working full time for a church you get some special “God Pass”.

YP: What are some of your favourite places around Brighton?

CS: I love sitting in the Laine having lunch and watching the people. Only in Brighton is there such a collection of people and its great to watch. I also enjoy going up for a drink at Devil’s Dyke. It’s a great place to get out of the City and enjoy a good view.

AH: Chris, I’ve never once seen you sit in the Laine “watching people”! For me, in the summer there is nowhere like Brighton Beach. So much going on! ‘Gemini’ on the seafront is definitely a winner. In fact, anywhere outside with a live band has my vote, except if ‘Simply Red’ play, they’re a terrible terrible band. Also as an Impact team we normally go to Wetherspoons on a Friday for lunch… we call it ‘Wetherspoons Fridays’… It’s original, I know.

MB: Well, I’m from Hove actually! Apparently this is the joke to tell if you’re from Hove, but if I’m honest I try and see Brighton and Hove as one because it is one mission field for us as a church! Anyway, I love the beach(es?) and Hove lawns, Preston Park, Stammer Park – anywhere natural really! BBQs on the beach are great fun, but have learnt to take plenty of layers with me!

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Jamie Munson is the lead pastor at Mars Hill Church, Seattle. Jamie was recently in Brighton with Church of Christ the King along with Scott Thomas and Tyler Powell and spent time with some of the leaders and department heads. At the age of 31, Jamie displayed a remarkable depth of wisdom and understanding of the Church and some of it’s pastoral responsibilities. He loves Jesus and is passionate about making the Gospel known. Yohaan Philip, chief editor of the ccklife blog, spoke to Jamie at CCK and writes,
YP: Mark Driscoll refers to you in his book Confessions of a Reformission Rev as ‘Pot head to Pastor’.
JM: Yeah that’s right. When I started coming to Mars Hill, I was a non Christian. My sister was part of the core group that launched the church. I became a Christian sometime in it’s first year. I started an internship at Mars Hill about a year and a half later. I was an intern for a few years and then a deacon and then a pastor. Now I’m lead pastor at Mars Hill overseeing our expansion and what we’re doing – trying to bring Jesus to as many people as possible.

YP: Were you always drawn to church leadership?
JM: Honestly, becoming a pastor was the last thing I thought I’d do. I always thought I’d be in business. I was working in a software company called Oracle. I felt God called me to come do an internship with the Church. So I started volunteering and serving a little bit, raising my own support. I thought it would be a temporary stop along the way, but God kept me there, showing me new things to do. Now I’m one of the pastors of the Church. I enjoy it and love doing it. Last thing I thought I’d be doing but God’s call is stronger than mine.

YP: Any words of encouragement for young men who aspire to be church leaders?
JM: Sure. A couple of things – first, character. You don’t have to wait and start in your 20’s. Start early. Work on your doctrine, your theology, your life. Get rooted in scripture. Get rooted in what it takes to become a man. Get a job, plan for a future family and start working towards that from a young age.
Secondly, find older men in the Church that have godly wisdom and are looking for young guys to pour that in to. Get to know them. Bug them, ask them lots of questions. Be polite about it! Learn from them as much as you can as early as you can. Learn from business men, from pastors, from preachers, from teachers – whoever you can.

YP: Very helpful! What have been some of your biggest thrills whilst leading Mars Hill?
JM: There’s never a dull moment! We’re always doing something new and exciting. God has given us lots of grace and lots of talents. I keep going back to God saying, “You’ve given us this. How do we steward it well?” We need to be faithful with that blessing. It’s not because of us, but His grace , but we’re still responsible for stewarding that grace. It’s thrilling to see lives changed. It’s thrilling to see the gospel preached. It’s thrilling to see churches planted and lots of leaders raised up so that works of the gospel can happen across other parts of Seattle and the country and the world. As the Church grows, people are worshiping Jesus, their lives are being changed, and they are then going back into the culture as missionaries to see more lives changed.

YP: What have been some of your key strategies in impacting Seattle?
JM: We do want to see the city change. We want to see more Christians in Seattle love and adopt their city and be a blessing to it, not run from their city. So one of our key strategies has been to plant a Mars Hil campus in downtown Seattle. Pastor Tim Gaydos leads that and he is leading a group of missionaries that are business men, artists, people who are still in the church but very much out there in the world. He’s training them to be missionaries -to use their skills and recreation to point towards Jesus. Don’t build a Christian sub-culture, but engage with non Christians. Encourage them. Be generous with their lifestyles. And I think a lot of people are meeting Jesus through that because they are breaking the stereotype of Christians as this ‘holier-than-thou’ person who doesn’t engage with non- Christians. These are real people who through their lives try to point people to the real God, Jesus.

YP: For me, studying the doctrines of God and the cross draws me to worship. What draws you into worship?
JM: Lately I’ve been studying the doctrine of Heaven.
YP: (spontaneously) WOW!
JM: I’ve just been blown away by it. Most people spend most of their lives trying to create Heaven on earth, trying to pursue idols – whether it’s wealth, or a nice house. When we study scripture we see that Jesus creates a new Heaven and earth and He will reign as the king of that. And it will be far greater than anything on earth as we know it now. And this earth is beautiful. Being in England here, it’s gorgeous, it’s beautiful! But it pales in comparison, to what God’s about to do when He ushers in His new kingdom. And so I’m looking forward to that. Studying that gets me more thankful for what I do have and enjoying what I have, but not idolizing it as an ultimate thing. It’s going away and God’s going to bless us more than we can imagine. It draws me into worship because I look forward to the day when I can see Jesus face to face as all of the nations worship Him together. Being in England expands that view as I see multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multi-language worship. I look forward to Heaven when we experience more of that in God’s presence.

YP: Last question. I heard you walked around with Steve Boon and the guided tour he gave you!
JM: Brighton seems like an awesome city. It’s beautiful. There’s a ton going on. The sun was shining today. We walked down on the pier. My kids would have loved it. They would have loved going on the rides and running around on the beach. The masses of people are amazing. I saw many people walking up and down the beach. It seems like a fun, diverse city. It also looks like a city that needs a lot of Jesus and gospel centered churches to reach it.

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Stuart Townend is known and respected around the world as one of the leading worship songwriters of his generation. Some of Stuart’s songs include In Christ alone, How deep the Father’s love, The Power Of The Cross and Beautiful Saviour. If you’ve heard any of his songs (and there’s a strong chance you probably have!) you’ll know that there’s a theological richness to his lyrics as well as a depth of understanding of the Trinitarian God who we are called to worship. Stuart regularly attends and leads worship at Church of Christ the King. He is married to Caroline and they have three children – Joseph, Emma and Eden. Yohaan Philip, chief editor of the ccklife blog, recently had the privilege of interviewing Stuart and writes:

The first time I listened to In Christ Alone is still such a vivid memory in my mind. It just opened up the cross of Christ to me. It was one of those moments I’d cherish all my life. What a song! There’s something about engaging with glorious truths about God that leaves you awestruck. It’s tough to describe what’s going on in that moment. Stuart’s songs are soaked with doctrinal truths that leave you with a sense of wonder at the majestic God who is mindful of us. When you interact with Stuart, you can’t help but being caught up in his love for Jesus. I want what he has! Stuart’s oldest son, Joseph, is a dear friend. We often have ‘theological discussions’ (when he’s not making you laugh with his wit that is!) and there’s an understanding of God that this young man has which is testimony to the input his father has had in his life. it leads me to my first question..

YP: It’s been great seeing Joseph and Eden play along side you on Sundays. They’re both top quality musicians. You must be a proud dad!
ST: Yes, I am proud of them. Joseph has been playing drums with me for some time now. He’s always been a very solid player, but he’s grown a lot in the last year in terms of sensitivity to the dynamics of a worship time – when to play out, when to pull back, and so on. Eden is only 13, but he’s already showing a tremendous dexterity and sense of rhythm in his playing, so I’m
looking forward to getting him more involved. And I haven’t used Emma at CCK yet, but she’s a pretty mean keyboard player…

YP: Your song In Christ Alone, has touched lives all over the world. How did you come about to write the song?
ST: The song began in a very ordinary way. I had just met Keith Getty for the first time over a coffee at a conference, and he promised to send me some melodies he’d written. So when the CD arrived in the post, I put it on, and was really bowled over by the very first melody; it had a hymn-like stateliness, but a very powerful dynamic and a beautiful celtic feel that made it really memorable. So I immediately decided this ‘timeless’ melody needed a timeless theme, and got to work on a lyric that would take us through the life, death and resurrection of Christ, and what that means for us. It was slow going at first, but I have to admit, by the time I got to the fourth verse I was getting very excited!

It is astounding to both Keith and me how the song has been received. We still get lots of emails and letters about how the song has helped people at times of crisis in their lives, and it’s very humbling to know God is still using it.

YP: The In Christ Alone tour looks very promising! Can you tell me more about it?
ST: It’s actually the continuation of a tour we began last year, which took in venues like Liverpool Cathedral, St David’s Hall, Cardiff, and the SECC in Glasgow. This time we’re at The Waterfront, Belfast, Londonderry, Chessington, Ipswich, Dundee… And our very own Brighton Dome on 27th June! For those who want to come, tickets are available from the Dome box office,
or http://www.brightondome.org, or by phone on 01273 709709. Details of other gigs are available from the www.gettymusic.com website.

YP: You are quite involved with the CCK album, ‘Have You Heard’ which is being launched in July. There’s quite a buzz going around CCK about this new album!
ST: I have to confess I haven’t heard the finished mixes, but everybody who has seems to be raving about it! Simon Brading, Lou Fellingham and Phatfish, and myself all led worship over two nights at CCK, under the creative eye of producer Mark Edwards. It’s fair to say that we are all used to arranging and playing on live albums, but I think Mark helped us to take the songs in a fresh creative direction, and the result is an album that, while capturing the vitality of a worship time, has a musical edge and creativity that makes it a bit special.

YP: We see Stuart the worship leader. Can you tell me more about your personal walk with Jesus?
ST: My Dad was an Anglican vicar, so I was brought up going to church, and understanding what it really meant to be a Christian, because I could see the reality of it in my parents’ lives. But as I became a teenager I began to realise that, although I was surrounded by lots of Christian ’stuff’, there was no internal reality to it – I felt I was still on the outside looking in, if you like – and I knew I had to give my life to Christ. And that’s what I did, and the reality of knowing Him personally completely
turned me around.

And since then, in all the ups and downs, the joys and the sorrows, I’ve found God to be constant in His love and faithfulness, and I can trust Him with every day, whatever the situation.

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