CCK Life blog

At the recently concluded newfrontiers’ conference, Together On A Mission 2009, Brighton, Terry Virgo recommended the following books. All books can be purchased online here or at The CCK Bookstore on Sunday after the morning and evening services.

	Terry Virgo – God Knows You’re Human Looking at the lives of Elijah, Jonah and David, Terry helpfully shows us the potent message that our weaknesses opens the door to God’s strength.
	Wendy Virgo – Influential Women Women can be powerful in a church and can be influential in changing it from a sick community to a healthy one. They can be a tremendous asset or a huge liability. They can influence the whole ambiance of a church. The pages of the New Testament contain a surprising number of references to women to whom we can relate as we seek to build good healthy churches in the twenty first century.
	David Stroud – Planting Churches, Changing Communities A practical hands-on resource with loads of advice and examples for church planters, drawing on more than 25 years of church planting experience.
	Wendy Virgo – Life Issues A practical Bible study for women based on Titus 2:2-5, the studies being especially suited to teaching Biblical principles to young wives and mothers.
	Bruce Ware – God’s Greater Glory How can human freedom fit into the “purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will?” Bruce Ware explore this question.
	Bruce Ware – father, Son and Holy Spirit The doctrine of the Trinity is essential to our understanding of him and of our faith. The focus of this study is to examine the ways in which the three Persons of the Trinity relate to one another, how they relate to us, and what difference this makes to our lives. To understand just how God is both One and Three is to delve into some of Scripture’s most glorious truths and to experience the joy of beholding the wonder of our triune God.
	John Piper – Finally Alive The term  ‘born again’ is very precious and crucial in the Bible. It is of enormous consequence that we know what being born again really means.
	John Piper – This Momentary Marriage Marriage is a momentary but glorious gift. It is more than the love of a husband or wife for their spouse – rather a display of the covenant – keeping love between Jesus and his people – a magnificent book for married, single, divorced and remarried alike.

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Main Seminar 8: Terry Virgo – Newfrontiers part 3 – Future

The epic conclusion to Terry’s 3 part series at TOAM on newfrontiers- the past, the preset and the future. If you have the privilege of belonging to our international family, you don’t want to miss this (the video and audio files will be made available online soon)! There was such a sense of wonder  of all God has blessed us with as once again, Terry glorified and honoured the Lord Jesus as he spoke about what the future had in store for newfrontiers. This is the end of the beginning! Last year at TOAM, we were served brilliantly by Mark Driscoll and he urged us to honour the future and prepare for it. Terry responded to this and laid out the plan for us..

Terry began by showing us what the Bible spoke about apostles and apostolic spheres. Briefly, an apostle is someone sent with authority. Jesus was an apostle, so were the Twelve along with others like Paul, Barnabas and James.

1. The apostles provided the foundation of the Church

Ephesians  2 talks about the new Temple being built on the foundation of apostles. These men gave identity to the Church. The early church gave themselves to their teachings. They were not simply scripture writers. In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul writes to the church that he is the master builder who laid the foundation of their church. They were proof of his apostolic gift.

2. The relationship

There was an ongoing affectionate relationship between Paul and the churches he laid foundations for. he developed a father-son relationship with them. It was not a static relationship, but a dynamic one. And it was by their dynamic involvement that his apostolic sphere saw expansion. The effective functioning of the church will impact global apostolic thrust.

3. The future

There are men who have gone out from us, who are not representing Terry, but who are now growing in their own apostolic gifting. We have been commissioned to fill the earth with sons who become fathers who in turn have sons who become fathers. Jesus did not hand over to a successor. Pentecost was Peter’s moment, not his movement. When Paul became an apostle
- he didn’t come from the Jerusalem stable
- he had revelation of the gospel
- he did not want to run alone
- he wanted recognition and affirmation from those before him
- he challenged Peter but did not walk away. He wanted unity

We must believe for the emergence of apostles. Jesus is the head of the Church and He gives apostles, teachers, evangelists, pastors. We will pray that He gives us laborers for the harvest. Newfrontiers may go but it is more important that apostolic spheres grow and that churches are in dynamic relationship with apostles.

What could hold the spheres together
- fellowship a lot ( you can accomplish more together than apart)
- unity of doctrine and values
- promises that God’s given us to change the expression of Christianity across the world

God has done an amazing thing with one apostolic sphere, imagine when a dozen kick in!

Leadership Main Seminar 7: Joel Virgo – The Armor Bearer

It was a proud moment for Terry as he introduced his son to the preacher’s pulpit. It was also a proud moment for all the Church of Christ the King delegates to see our beloved leader take the stage and do what he does best! And boy did he deliver!

Joel preached from 1 Sam 14:1-15, 20-25 to highlight the role of team players who are not team leaders. He did this through the story of Jonathon and his armor bearer as, together, they won an unlikely victory over the Philistines.

Introduction: There is strength in plurality. There is God given power when you’re joined. God reveals Himself to us as a team with distinct  roles. The Son is constantly demonstrating clear submission to the Father. In eternity past and future, the Father has a glorious position of supremacy. It’s just as God like to submit than to lead. In today’s world authority and submission is seen as evil. But it was good before the fall. We must never see submission as imposed. At CCK we have moved away from one man ministry to plurality in leadership. But that doesn’t make it some sort of an egalitarian system with no clear cut roles and distinction. There also needs to be a balance between humility and headship. We need team players who will give themselves to a God given vision.

3 key points
1. Catch his heart (:7)
“Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.” There was freedom for Jonathon. But be careful of who you say that too. You need to know that they have grasped God’s heart. One way of catch his heart is by praying with your leader. Allow him to grow in faith.

2. Watch his back (:13)
The leader can see God, can see the vision, but sometimes can’t see what it looks like! Let him set the trajectory, you go about getting it done. You bring skills to the table and without you it won’t happen! Covers his back during his absence. If he’s not there don’t try to do it your way. Aaron dropped the vision when Moses was on Mount Sinai. Cover his weaknesses. When a leader is feeling vulnerable, that’s not a time to swoop down like a vulture. Press in to cover him. Work as a team. Sometimes it means confronting but we have to.Leaders should be able to trust their armor bearers. Paul writes of Timothy, “He’s of proven worth.”

3. Share the victory
The rest of the army joined in. Jonathon and his armor bearer did not seek personal glory.

Conclusion: In 3 John, John writes, “but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us.” There’s a sense of laying down which often may be painful for the armor bearer. But he has One he can follow. Jesus’ humility and submission is evident right through His life on this earth. Right from Him being born in the most humble of circumstances to His humiliating death.

Thank God for the privilege of knowing Him rather than the privilege to lead.

Mobilise Main Seminar 2: Tom Shaw – Exposing Idols

Tom leads the newfrontiers church in Canterbury. He also leads the team that runs Mobilise. Tom preached from the story of God delivering His people from the oppressive slavery of the Egyptians to parallel the freedom that Jesus has won for us today. His preach aimed to answer the question posed by many young people, ‘how do we therefore enter into the reality and experience of the total freedom Christ has won for us?‘

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free (Gal 5:1)

1. The Truth about our Freedom
In Exodus 15, we read Moses’ glorious song of worship unto Yahweh who has delivered His people from the Egyptians. Jesus paid a massive price for us to have our freedom – He died. We have been taken from a place of captivity to incredible freedom. The contrast between slavery and our freedom is incomprehensible.

2. The Lie about Idols
- it’s silly
- but it’s subtle

Some key questions in helping us figure out what idols we have in our lives: what do you  worry about? What do you rely on to cope with suffering? What are some of your release valves? What do you day dream about? What are you proudest of achieving? What do you want people to know about you?
Anything that occupies the place that should belong to God is an idol in your life.

4 key idols
1. Comfort – crave: lack of stress, responsibility and suffering; fear – responsibility
2. Control – crave: self discipline, certainty, standards; fear – uncertainity; emotion -worry
3. Power – crave: sucess, influence, winning; fear – humiliation; emotion – anger
4. Approval – crave: affirmation, love, relationship; fear – rejection; emotion- cowardice

3. Solution for the future
Through the power of the Spirit, we have one to immitate – Jesus. He did not give into sin, but obeyed His Father. He deserved all power but did not count equality with God something to be grasped, but gave it up for us all and humbled Himself to being a servant. He was drenched in the Father’s approval so He did not seek approval from man.

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Main Seminar 6: Terry Virgo – Newfrontiers part 2- Present

What a preach!! Make sure you download the video, this is something you don’t want to miss out on! There was such a sense of wonder as Terry glorified Jesus and His Bride, the Church in the final session of Day 2 in a way that only he can. It really is such a privilege to be a part of a family that has such a biblical understanding of the Church as God meant it to be.

1. We must treasure the Church
It must have been an incredible revelation for Paul when he heard a voice say ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.’ Great is the mystery of the unity between Christ and His Body, the Church. In Phil 4:1 Paul’s overwhelming exuberance is sensed as he refers to the church as “my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, dear friends.” Great grace was on them all. They were a people overwhelmed by God’s grace.For freedom Christ has set us free. We have to preach grace.
2. The church is where we loose our individualism and personal agenda
If you want to find your life you have to loose it. How? In the stuff of relationships. In stuff of Church building. The fruits of the Spirit grow in the ‘one another’ context. The most magnificent things about Jesus are not meant for theological books, but to transform you. The cross transforms. God wants to build leaders He can trust. Sanctification is impossible alone. We are called to make disciples. We are called to serve. Don’t use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love, serve one another (become a slave).
3. Joyful obedience
God is worthy of obedience. It is the best thing to do, otherwise it becomes rules and legalism. Satan lies that God is holding back. The church not only consists of individual obedience, but corporate obedience as well.
4. Utterly committed to building biblically
We’re on a mission around the world to build biblical churches. Churches that are transformed by the guidance of the Spirit. Democracy may be the way to run countries, but it is not the way to run churches.
5. Restoration
Nehemiah rebuilt the walls and the city. We need distinctives back.Restoration also means the return of the presence of God.
David wanted the Ark back. He could not run the nation without God’s presence. The Church is the dwelling place of God’s Spirit where He is neither quenched or grieved, but revered and glorified. Peter was with Jesus all the time – that’s what being a Christian was to him. Being with Jesus is breath taking; being with the Holy Spirit is magnificent. Jesus went back to His Father and sent His Spirit in His place. We’re to be with Him. His presence makes us distinct.

The Church is a community of love worked out in relationships where the presence of God loves to dwell.

Main Seminar 5:Stephen Van Rhyn – Grace

Stephen leads the newfrontiers church in Cape Town, South Africa, supports Manchester United and delights in poking fun at Brighton in comparison to Cape Town! He is also an outstanding preacher and a very gifted communicator.

Stephen began his preach with a story – the gripping tale of Abraham and his son, Issac. He started off with the promise and miraculous birth of Issac and then lead us to Mount Moriah where God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice Issac. He then compared this to Calvary – A similar story where a Father had to sacrifice His one and only Son, only this time, His hand was not stayed.

What are the implications of this grand story for us as a family of churches together on a mission?
From Phil 1:1-11, Stephen brought out the following 3 key learnings.

1. Grace to you
God’s grace must touch us personally before we seek to touch anyone else. Grace is the centerpiece of Paul’s gospel. Salvation begins with God and God finished what He starts. The day of completion is when Jesus returns in all His glory. Does your confidence lie in this great truth? Or do you place your trust in numerical growth or manifested Holy Spirit power?
2. Grace on display
Even though salvation is an intensely personal affair, Christianity is not private. Without the gospel we have no church. God is after communities of people who will demonstrate His glory and power.
3. Grace to the nations
Churches impact cities. In Gen 20, God promises Abraham that through his offspring, the nations will be blessed. The gospel is communicated through relationships. Churches should be connected to apostolic ministry in mutual love and respect and humility. The question is not “who will succeed Terry?”, but “who are you connected to?”

Mobilise Main Seminar 1: Andrew Wilson – The Cross and The Cosmos

One of the brightest minds in newfrontiers kicked off Mobilise today morning. Mobilise is the training track for students and twenties with aim of raising up leaders  to plant churches and affect campuses and workplaces for the glory of God.

Andrew used 5 story lines that run through the Bible and showed us how they found their fulfillment in Jesus Christ on the cross. Colossians 1:1-15 was the text for Andrew’s preach.

Story 1: The creation story. God made man in His image. Man rebelled and chose to usurp the authority of his Creator. The problem of evil arose. A new man made in the image of God was needed.

Jesus: A Man who is the image of God. (Col 1:15)

Story 2: God calls Abraham and sets a part a people for Himself. But the hope for the world (Israel) turn to sin and become the problem not the solution. A new covenant was needed.
Jesus: In Him, we have been qualified into the Kingdom of God. (Col 1:12)

Story 3:The exodus. Yahweh ransomed the Israelites from slavery and crushed their oppressors.A new redemption was needed from a more powerful enemy.

Jesus: On the cross,  He rescued and delivered us from sin and death. (Col 1:13-14)

Story 4: The exile. The Temple was destroyed and Israel wept because Yahweh had judged them. But there was hope – they believed Yahweh would forgive them their  sins and raise them from the dead.

Jesus: One the cross, death was undone. (Col 2:13-14)

Story 5: The Roman oppression. Israel was ruled by the oppressive might of Rome. Under the cry, ‘Roma Victor’ the Romans would steal people’s countries and impose their government on them. The cross a symbol of Roman authority. It made a bold statement - If you rebel against our authority we will kill you.

Jesus: And having disarmed the powers and authorities, Jesus made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Col 2:15)

To read an interview with Andrew Wilson which I had the privilege of conducting, please click here.

Leadership Main Seminar 4: David Stroud – Daniel: affecting society

David Stroud leads the newfrontiers church in the West End of London. David used the life of Daniel (from Daniel 1) to show us how we need to engage with society in way that glorifies God’s name. He used 5 questions followed by 6 key learnings to communicate his message.

Q1. What does God value? (Dan 1:1-2)
God cares about everything that happened in Babylon. God created everything and loves everything.

Q2. How should we get involved? (Jer 29:4-7; Gen 12:1-3)
Look similar but differ in your heart. Take confidence that God has promised that you will be a blessing to the nations.

Q3. what should we be thinking? (Dan 1:6-8)
Be wise and sensitive.
- what should we accept from culture?
- what should we redeem from culture?
- what should we change in culture?

Q4. what should our vision be?
Influence but not ultimate transformation.

Q5 How will things end? (Dan 1:21)
Isaiah prophesied that Cyrus would set the Israelites free. Be faithful until the end.

6 Key learnings from Daniel
1. Daniel said yes and gave himself whole heartedly
2. Daniel was part of a team (dan 1:7)
3. Dan did not allow the cost to deter him (dan 1:13-14; 5:17)
4. Daniel and his team were outstanding candidates (1:20)
- encourage people to work hard
- value education and secular learning
- look for the favour of God
5. Dan continued as a man of prayer and the Spirit (1:17)
6. Daniel became someone who was listened to (2:24)

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Together On A Mission is an annual gathering of over 5,000 men and women from over 35 different countries to worship Jesus Christ and hear the Bible preached. The conference is hosted by newfrontiers, an international family of Churches, in Brighton from the 7th to the 10th of July. Over the duration of the conference, Yohaan Philip, chief editor of the ccklife blog, will review the various main sessions as well as some of the seminars. Complete audio and video files will be made available on the website as soon as they are ready.

Main Seminar 1: Mbonisi Malaba – God’s Global Heart

Mbonisi (or Bones as he’s affectionately called) leads the newfrontiers church in Bulaway, Zimbabwe. What a dynamic preacher this guy is! Bones preached from the book of Jonah. Jonah was a prophet in Israel who God used to speak to the people of the surrounding nations. Bones paralleled this to God’s command to the first man, Adam, of filling the earth, and God’s promise to Abraham that the nations would be blessed through him. God has a concern for people and He wants to share His global concern with us.

• Go to where people are
• Have a global strategy
• Target cities

In conclusion, Bones looked at Acts 19 and drew out 3 key learning’s from Paul’s time in Corinth

• Tent Making – have a practical skill to find employment. This will help you advance with integrity (demonstrates that you are not peddling the gospel for profit)
• Paul stayed a bit longer. Press through for break through. Know when to go and when to stay.
• Paul won a victory for Christianity in Rome

Main Seminar 2: Stef Liston – Go back to Gallilee Mr. Big and a bruised reed He won’t break

Stef leads the newfrontiers church in North Central London. Stef regularly preaches at the annual conference for teenagers, Newday. Stef began by sharing the aim of his preach, to captivate our hearts with awe and wonder towards who God is and in doing that pull down the proud and lift up the humble. The text for the preach was Ezekiel 34 in which God reveals His anger towards the leaders of His people because they had misused their God-given authority. From Matthew 18:1-6 (being child-like to enter the Kingdom of God), Stef brought out the following points to help leaders wisely steward the responsibility given to them of looking after God’s people.

• God is child – like
• a child likes to please his father
• a child likes to follow his father
• children aren’t after the complex, but are satisfied and delight in the simple
• There’s something medicinal about children. Be a pleasure to be around.
• Kids copy. Imitate!
• Kids ask for lots Pray pray pray!
• Kids sing. Worship God
• Kids trust

Main Seminar 3: Terry Virgo – Newfrontiers Part 1 – Past

Terry Virgo is the founder of newfrontiers and is based at Church of Christ the King, Brighton. Terry began his highly anticipated 3 part series on the past, present and future of newfrontiers today. I have had the privilege of praying with Terry over many a lunch break in the build up to the conference and have witnessed his deep desire to see the Trinitarian God glorified through this series. And boy did that happen!

Terry used Eph 2:1-10 as the text for his sermon.

1. Word and Spirit movement
Our start: we were dead in our trespasses and sins. Dead people don’t bring anything to the table. But God loved us, rescued us and made us alive with Christ. We are a new creation in Christ: His workmanship. He works on you because you’re His work of art. He has ambition for you.

Ephesians 2:10 talks about the works God has prepared in advance for us to do.  Terry reminded us of 2 key prophesies that had been spoken over newfrontiers:

1. A herd of elephants crashing through a jungle making new paths. What are some of those new paths?

• Spirit filled churches
• International family of over 600 churches across 50 countries
• Newday – 6,000 young people gather annually to worship and be taught about Jesus
• Finance has been raised to plant churches as well as to aid countries in need (Kenya famine, Zimbabwe)

2. We would change the expression of Christianity across the world. How have we done that?

• legalism to grace filled freedom churches
• independent to interdependent churches
• secessionist  to charismatic  churches

2. Life in the Spirit

Eph 1:13 says that we were marked in Jesus with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit. At newfrontiers, we aim to be theologically biblical and to experience the explosive power of the Spirit. The seal of the Spirit is to authenticate and as evidence of our new relationship with God. It is experential. Not experiencing the Spirit robs the Church of it’s joy of knowing the presence of God. When we cry “Abba, Father” by the Spirit (Rom 8:15), it is an intense and experienced cry.

In conclusion, Terry briefly spoke about praying in tongues from 1 Cor 14. Praying in tongues is a vehicle of worship you don’t understand. We use our physical apparatus to move in a different realm, like when Peter walked on water (Matthew 14).

Fittingly, we ended the meeting praying for those who had never been filled with the Spirit to experience this indescribable joy. And God made His presence felt.

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Simon Virgo is presently on the leadership team at New Life Church (formerly known as Biggin Hill Christian Fellowship), Biggin Hill, Kent. He is married to Caroline. They are soon to move to Kingston where Simon will lead King’s Church there. Simon was born and brought up in Brighton and studied Intellectual History at Sussex University. He supports Liverpool Football Club. Yohaan Philip, chief editor of the ccklife blog, had the joy of hearing from Simon the amazing story of God’s hand on his life and writes:

Simon’s a dear friend, one of my closest. His father, Terry, introduced us way back in January 08 whilst I was still in India. We exchanged a few emails and in September 09 when I moved to Brighton, I finally had the privilege of finally meeting this mighty man of God. Simon has been one of the most inspiring figures in my life ever since. One of the most prominent features of this humble young man is his passion for God and commitment to prayer. There is never a time when he’s not up for praying – be it in the middle of a cold winter night (when he has dragged me out of bed!) or a hot summer afternoon (as we’ve sat by the sea!). In spite of this, Simon doesn’t come across as “super spiritual” with his head in the clouds! His cheeky sense of humor always has me in splits! This interview has really blessed me and I pray it has a similar effect on you as you read it. To Christ Eternal be all glory for His gracious, saving work.

YP: Simon Virgo – one of the founding members of Church of Christ the King! Always good talking to you my friend! Tell us a bit about yourself.

SV: Yes, I was there when the church was started, all of 3 years I think. I now herd goats as a pass time. At the moment I also work at the church in Biggin Hill, Kent. I am married to Caroline and we have no children yet. But, we do have a pet badger and a very small monkey.

I warned you about his cheeky sense of humour! On to more serious stuff now..

YP: You do have quite a remarkable story about your relationship with Jesus. Tell me a bit more about your story:

SV: I grew up in a Christian family with my mum and dad very involved here. I was very happy and there were no particular problems in that. I was happy in church, happy in a good school – everything was fine. I appreciated that my parents lived out their faith with real integrity. From a young age, I experienced listening to the preaching of the gospel and was captivated by it. I remember as a 9 year old listening to my dad preach through the book of Romans and being very captivated by the gospel and by preaching under the power of the Holy Spirit. I felt God call me to leadership when I was 9 at Downs ‘88 when Ray Lowe preached four messages on four different world changers across history.

When I was 14, we moved to America for two years, and that was when everything really changed for me. I didn’t really want to go and rebelled at that stage. I turned my back on God and became really bitter and angry. We came back from America when I was 16 and I pursued that rebellion for a few years. I had radically changed and even my non Christian friends noticed how bitter I had become. I started getting into soft drugs and drinking a lot. I was very anti God, very anti Church, very anti any form of authority really. I was bitter towards my parents and my family. I kept getting into more drugs – worse and worse drugs. By the end of 1998 I was taking LSD and ecstasy regularly. I was beginning to experiment with other drugs. I was smoking dope all the time. I was running from God and getting swallowed up in a drug induced lifestyle. I’d read a lot of philosophers such as Nietzsche, Jean Paul Sartre and Albert Camus and felt everything in the world was pretty bankrupt. I was in a relationship that ended in heart break. It seemed that after five years of running away from God, life was beginning to disintegrate. I felt I had no hope. For two years I was severely depressed. Life was really going down the toilet.

And then my mum felt God saying to her, “spend a week praying and fasting, seeking Me for Simon”. My dad had gone to America, but she felt she was not to go and instead to stay back and really fight for her son. So she did that and it was during that week that everything really changed. I went from the beginning of the week having no interest in God, running away from Him as fast as I could to being completely transformed. On the Thursday night, I was in a night club and I felt God saying to me, “you could be happy and know peace if you stopped running away from me.” That night I opened up a bible and suddenly all the arguments about what truth could and couldn’t be died down. All the different voices that I’d listened to and read and thought about suddenly had to be quiet as if the teacher had walked into the class. I read what Jesus said in the gospels and I suddenly knew that this was it. This was the truth. By the end of the night, I knelt down and submitted my life to God. The following day at work I had an incredible encounter with God’s love as I sang a song that ends with “you delight in me”. All my emptiness was filled in that moment and I knew that God was claiming my life back for Himself. I took a long time to get out of the lifestyle I was in. It was messy and prolonged. I went through some terrible seasons and it was by no means easy. But, God was faithful throughout the whole thing. That was the beginning of 1999, so it’s been 10 years now. I’ve been through some tough times and had to make some tough decisions, but God has been faithful.

YP: I remember your mum saying that she almost fell off the chair when you said “Whatever you’re doing, I think you’re winning” during that week she prayed and fasted for you. She had tears in her eyes as she narrated the story. The memory was still so vivid to her. I love it when God demonstrates how real He is.

SV: It was an encounter with God which totally changed my life.

YP: For a lot of us who have grown up in Church and known the joy of salvation from an early age, we have sometimes struggled and walked away. What advice would you give your son to help him find his own personal relationship with God and not end up making some of the mistakes that you made in your teenage years?

SV: Firstly, I would need to demonstrate an example in front of him of one who is evidently satisfied in God. I think he would need to know that I am following God not out of some obligation, but because I am finding my satisfaction in Him. He shouldn’t feel the need to turn away from God to find satisfaction. It’s much like how in Jeremiah 2:13, God talks about the two sins that His people, the Israelites, have committed – they’ve turned away from Him and turned to broken cisterns.

When young guys tell me that they wish they had a crazy testimony like me, I tend to tell them that you don’t need to taste dog excrement to realize that it’s not going to be pleasant experience. Sometimes people feel the need to go out there and experiment. I would say that the pleasures of the world are very shallow. There is pleasure though. If you sleep around, you will enjoy some pleasure. If you take drugs, there will be some pleasure. You wouldn’t do them otherwise. But it’s ultimately such a shallow pleasure – it’s really the bait on the end of the hook that drags you into bondage and guilt and regrets. It’s like the neon lights of Vegas which look very inviting, but when you go deeper you find it’s full of corruption and foulness. So I would say to people that you don’t need to go out and taste the excrement. Wise children don’t eat dog crap. They don’t even feel the need to taste it to conclude that it’s not nice.

YP:  (laughs) Love that analogy! Some of the best times I’ve shared with you have been those epic hour long prayer times we’ve had on the Brighton sea front in the middle of the night. You inspire prayer in me. What’s been helpful in shaping your desire to pray with such fervour and conviction?

SV: The biggest influence that has shaped my desire to pray has undoubtedly been the example of my dad – hearing and learning from my dad pray every morning as I grew older. You could set your clock to it! Every morning he would be up and praying for a good hour or so. That just put a dent in my mind and in my life. You just see that to do church leadership, you pray. Sometimes I’ve been really frustrated when I’ve gathered others to pray and they seem so reluctant, and then I’m reminded that while I’ve had this incredible example, not everyone else has. So, that has been a big privilege to have lived so close to a man who is such a man of prayer. My parents were both people of prayer.

One of the things that has really motivated me to pray is that simply, prayer works! I’ve seen awesome things happen when I’ve cried out to God. I’ve seen dramatic results in situations where I’ve seen God intervene in a way that can only have been Him. There’s nothing more encouraging than seeing God work.

I think it’s Tozer who says, “we can have as much of God as we want.” The door is open and we can boldly approach God. We can know God. And it’s up to us how much determination we can bring to that task of cultivating a relationship with God – we can know God! An awareness that we are invited into actually knowing God rather than being Christians is awesome. And I want to know God, to encounter Him. I think Christianity is a bit boring unless you encounter God.

YP: Thanks Si! It’s been great chatting with you. This is really going to help bless a lot of us young guys and encourage many parents! Bless you my friend.

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Matt Davis, one of the leaders at Church of Christ the King, writes:

“In cricketing terms, ‘a good knock’ might be a valid sentiment used to describe John & Sue Hosier’s contribution to Church of Christ The King!  The reality is that this is a far from suitable superlative to describe their true impact on us over a 23 year period.  Yesterday morning John preached his final sermon as a serving elder at CCK, before heading off to South Africa for the next season of contributing to his great love (aside from Jesus & Sue!), the church. Their value to us has been immeasurable, and yesterday evening we saw a glimpse of what that has meant to so many over their time with us at CCK.  Contributions from Matt Hosier (and his family), women whom Sue has mentored, Pete Brooks (via email), and Terry Virgo left us all in awe of the fruit that has come from John & Sue’s sphere of influence.  It was a sheer pleasure to enjoy an evening of authentic counter-cultural honouring of a dearly loved couple who will be greatly missed. Thanks John & Sue. God bless you.”

Watch or listen to John’s last ever sermon as a CCK elder at the CCK Blog

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