Beginning a Transition?

'1' in the countdown on the first night of #HTBFocus2014

*say in American Newsreader Voice, a la Anchorman* I write live from a field in East Sussex, where that county meets Kent and where the land of England meets its Channel, the Sea. I'm sat in a tent, finishing up the final essay of my Masters Degree (which isn't even nearly over, given the 15,000 word dissertation and 5,000 word placement report are still yet to be handed in, but it is a milestone for me), and have been thoroughly enjoying meeting with God and some of his people at the little gathering called 'HTB Focus'. 

You see, my wife has got a fantastic new Job, which means we are on the move from Nottingham (slowly, oh so very slowly) and we are in the (painfully exciting) process of changing churches from Trent Vineyard in Nottingham to Holy Trinity Brompton (Service tbc) in London. As I was preparing for this week - which features some awesome speakers, seminars, worship leaders and more on a new site, and is for me something I have needed to prepare for because I am not great at change - I have been powerfully reminded of one thing: God's sovereignty. I've written before about this, in a range of ways. But for me, for now, it is all about recognising the pre-eminence, the wisdom, the goodness of King Jesus, and the timeliness of his leading.

As we've gathered, the hundreds of us, at Focus, I've been struck by two things, that God seems to be encouraging me with in regard to a transition from a church I've grown incredibly fond of, to a church and city that feel like home yet are places I have not known for a while. The first is a focus on Jesus as King. Devotees of Vineyard Theology, or at least my articulation of it and passion for it, will know that the Kingdom of God and its King, Jesus, are vital. It is so refreshing to see a passion for that, an embrace of that, a lively Anglicanism (I, for one, enjoyed Justin Welby on Saturday evening) that desires to see a nation changed. HTB, for its faults (and I have never been one to ignore faults, I hope), is a church that is Gospel-focused and kingdom-minded. But that common thread of King and kingdom is deep and encouraging.

Secondly, and this is trickier to see yet refreshing to have noticed, is the 'radical middle' nature of much of Vineyard-influenced churches. Without claiming that HTB has been influenced by the Vineyard more than it undoubtedly has, I've been refreshed by very different speakers thus far, even when their topics seemed ever so slightly at odds with each other. The highlight of yesterday (the sunday) was Archie Coates (vicar of St Peter's, Brighton) talking about our greatest strength, which in Christ is our weakness. This was refreshing, as Archie challenged the worldliness that seeps into us, and the pride, and the self-confidence. This was a theme picked up by Danielle Strickland in the evening, and also powerfully by Craig Groeschel this morning. It is not about us, it is about Jesus, and the simplicity of that is deep and complex. I was reminded of the thrust of two excellent books, fittingly one by an English Anglican (like Archie) and the other by an American evangelical (like Craig). Firstly, then, breaking the lie of self-confidenct, Glynn Harrison's excellent 'The Big Ego Trip'. And, following Strickland's emphasis on the basics and Groeschel's emphasis on preaching to yourself, Joe Thorn's profound 'Note to Self'. I cannot recommend the two books highly enough, and things from them are helping me to think through the transition.

 

A good sense of where I sit ecclesiologically and theologically can be seen by the labels I identify with, most of them at the top of this blog. I'd welcome questions, comments and criticism regarding them as I move (And, probably, this blog moves) in this time of transition, thinking about and through and around important issues. For some background on my shift through and in evangelicalism, you might like to check out some of the posts under the 'Ecumenical Evangelical' grouping - I get around!

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Thanks for stopping by and reading - I'd love to connect with you via Twitter and/or Facebook. As I said, I'd love to dialogue about some of the stuff in this brief post.