Hi

I’ve just got back from New Wine which is a week long camp / conference organised by a bunch of Anglicans on the agricultural showground in Shepton Mallet, Somerset. There were just over 30 of us from MBC, including old friends Beef and Angela, and we were part of over 10 000 people camping worshipping and seeking God in both glorious sunshine and very soggy rain!

It was awesome. I mean, that so many people take time out to invest in their relationship with God and deepen their faith, stretching it farther than it’s been before and get fired up for mission and changing the world, bringing God’s kingdom to earth, is staggering. And that it’s mostly run by a vast army of volunteers is wonderful.

There were speakers from all over the world, involved in every kind of ministry imaginable. We heard about persecuted Christians in China and Romania, the plight of and call to serve the poor in our back yards and across the world, people giving Bibles to Taliban leaders in Afghanistan, miraculous healings in the UK as well as abroad, Brother Andrew wanting to show love and a Bible to Osama Bin Laden, loads of radical stuff like that and of course, God’s huge heart for people everywhere, and his desire to use little old me. You and I know the church gets stick doesn’t it, some from without and lots from within, but reflecting on New Wine, where you can see a snap photo of what the Church is doing globally, it really is a glorious thing the church of God. After all, Jesus said, the CHURCH IS HIS BODY. If we criticise the church we criticise Jesus. Powerful stuff. It’s the easiest thing in the world to tear down – anyone can do that. Much harder to build up. And what I saw and experienced last week was 1000s of Christians either sharing their methods of building up, or dedicating themselves to building up God’s kingdom. I wept many tears during the week, as did lots of others. What an awesome God and what a glorious church!