Shoutlouder

Deal with the Bystander Effect

// August 29th, 2010 // No Comments » // Inspiration, Sunday, Thoughts

I’ve been reading a bit of a clever book by a Psychologist recently – thought I could do with a bit of brain food for a change – called 59 Seconds by Professor Richard Wiseman. I’ll review it properly eventually (if I can manage to understand it all) but a thought from it struck me as I read and has crept into my thinking lately as I consider how we move as a church from where we are now into a place of greater growth and increase.

Some psychologists somewhere with a little too much time on their hands have discovered an interesting human response (or lack of response) called the “bystander effect”. Whilst studying people’s willingness to act in various situations they discovered that people are less likely to get involved when part of a crowd. For example, someone walking down a street and dropping their groceries is less likely to have someone come to their aid on a busy street than when there might only be a couple of people passing. The reason… we are less likely to help in a crowd because we think someone else will do it! Hence rather than respond we become an unintentional bystander.

When I read that I thought FLIP! That means every time I preach a message to my congregation with a challenge for them to be a person of influence in their world, or to take time to serve someone, encourage someone, or reach out to their family and friends with the gospel of Christ – every time I’m looking for a response from a crowd then the majority of them are thinking, “someone else will do it!” I may as well be shouting at an empty street if what the Psycho’s are saying is true!

We can’t afford to have a bystander effect in our churches and even more so in our own lives! And yet it’s so true – how many times has someone challenged us and we’ve been moved to act… that is until our brain begins to conveniently abdicate responsibility to the friends who REALLY need to hear that word!

Listen up (if you’ve not already phased out to ‘bystander’ status) – the call of God for YOUR life is for YOUR life and not the person sat next to you in church. The opportunity for God to use YOU is an opportunity to use YOU and not the person sat in the third row and five seats in from the aisle.

Let’s deal with the ‘bystander’ in us and choose instead to respond to God’s call on our lives. Stop thinking He’s speaking to someone else and realise His attention is on you…. Yes that means You! (hello! Yes and you too!) and you!

Counting the days

// January 20th, 2010 // No Comments » // Inspiration, Thoughts

It seems 2010 has started with a lot of counting of days!

Last week I was counting the days as we fasted and prayed for breakthrough across Hope City. Then this week I’m conscious that we’re now already at Day #11 of our ’70 Days of You’ theme. It’s certainly making me think a lot about time and how much every day is such a big deal! It’s also making me think how fast time seems to flow past if we don’t give it enough thought!

This year I turn 34 years of age. My son turns 6. My daughter will turn 2. In September it will have been 5 full years since we took on our role pastoring the Leeds congregation of Hope City Church, 6 years since the congregation started out in the Radisson Hotel. It will also be 14 years that I’ve been married and 15 years that I’ve known the beautiful woman that I ended up marrying.

Time really does fly!

It feels like only yesterday that I was walking into school. It was just the other day that I was discovering a new and exciting church that was then called the Hope of Sheffield Christian Church. It seems just a blink of the eye since I first sat behind the wheel of a car and I could swear it was just the other week when I was saying goodbye to my parents as I left the family home for college – never to return to live there in full again.

Time doesn’t just fly – it zooms!

I can remember sitting at the top of a 600ft cliff enjoying a packed lunch whilst hiking in the Polish mountains with my wife. I can remember missing her dearly whilst on the other side of the world, riding at high speed across Darling Harbour in Sydney on a midnight speed cruise. There’s the memory of drinking iced coffee at the foot of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpa and the moment that I walked out of the middle of nowhere to share the Gospel in a small village somewhere deep in the countryside of Zambia.

Time doesn’t stop for anything.

As time passes by in the next few months I’ll be tasting the sights of New York, walking the streets of Warsaw and celebrating more birthdays and anniversaries that I can remember. I’ll see the completion of yet more of our vision for the Megacentre in Leeds, be part of the fast expanding work of our multi-congregations and be privileged to see God do even more incredible things in the lives of those around me.

Time is on the move.

The only question is what are you doing with yours? Is timing passing by unnoticed or unheeded? Is time running away from you? Is time running out? Or is time your friend? Are you making the most of it? Are you counting the days and making every single one of them count? Today is Day#11 of ’70 Days of You’ – that means I’ve got 59 more days to look firmly in the mirror and make the changes that need to be made. Then when that’s done – there will be time for something new!

let the Holy Spirit speak – fast day 4

// January 14th, 2010 // No Comments » // Holy Spirit, Prayer

I know I missed Day #3 so I’ll try and make this one twice as good!

As Day #4 is fast reaching towards it’s twilight I have to say the impulse to eat lots of food seems to have receded into the vast recesses of my memory. It’s interesting how quickly we soon come to forget the things of less importance whereas my brain is constantly reminding itself of the need to make good use of this fast. After all there is a real reason to fast so if ALL you do is fast and forget to actually PRAY then all you’ve done is not eat for a week and feel hungry… rather pointless that it seems!

So my advice to anyone fasting right now… do actually pray!

Acts 13:2 starts: “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said…”

I love the example of the early church here. Acts 13 is one of those pivotal points in the Early Church story because its the moment when Barnabas and Saul (very soon to be Paul) are set apart for the incredible journey that leads them all across the known world and seeing the Gospel spread like wildfire! And it all began with some fasting and praying and a willingness to start to listen to what the Holy Spirit has to say!

Right now there is some divine wisdom for your life, just a listen away, that could change everything!

diary of a fast – day 2

// January 12th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Prayer

It’s Day #2 of what’s been tagged on twitter as our #onetruefast!

Most of today as been involved in meetings so I have to say I’ve not had a lot of time to myself – which is probably a blessing when you fast cause the last thing you want to do is hang around doing nothing. Best to stay busy.

What is happening though around my life is a lot of reinvention so I do believe that this seven days of fasting is incredibly well timed. It’s in the dawning of a new season and the start of a journey into undiscovered territiory that taking time to press into God is the most valuable thing you can do.

Fasting is not about starvation as some form of self-inflicting humility on the body in order to present oneself to the Almighty in a way which may allow us His time and response. Fasting is about bringing things into perspective! It causes you to ask the question – “What is really important?”- or more correctly – “WHO is really important?”

When all you can think about as you drive past McDonalds is “how tasty would a Big Mac be right now…?” we have to stop ourselves and question is that really the sum of what we value most in life? Or is our relationship with Jesus far more important than the hunger in our bellies? Do we crave him far more than any fast food meal or even a 5 star banquet? If someone walked up to us today and said, ‘I’d like to take you to the most expensive restaurant in London and pay for whatever you want’ – would our response be, ‘Well, yeah!! I can always fast another day…” Or do we see that right now – as we fast and pray – we’re positioning ourselves in the greatest of all banqueting halls – the hall of His amazing and life-giving presence.

Once we can make Him the most important need in our life then we create the foundation upon which He can build something magnificent. God is looking for some faith and expectation – but more than that He’s looking for our undivided attention.

Make Day #3 all about Him!

diary of a fast!

// January 11th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Prayer

About a week ago the leadership of Hope City Church decided it would be a great idea for us all to fast for seven days and really press into this year with prayer as we believe for a greater move of God than ever before! So I thought it would be really good idea to diarise some of my thoughts this week as I fast – especially if you’re thinking about fasting with us and believing to see God at work in your own life in so much more! So here it is…

Day #1: Feeling really hungry! That’s all I have to say about that!

I’m sorry but what did you expect from Day #1? Amazing revelation from the heavens… to be honest this is just the warm up day… all I can think about today is food! So hopefully tomorrow will bear a little more excitment!! But, after all, that’s what most of life is really all about.. pressing on, pursuing and reaching towards the prize. Stop expecting all the answers when you timetable them! Sometimes we need to give God a little time to see that we’re serious. He’s looking for some faith to respond to. His answers will always come – we just need a little patience.