Jesus Life 89 - The Jesus Army

JESUS 

Issue 89 FREE 

one / 2012 

www.jesus.org.uk 

LIFE 

The magazine of the 

modern Jesus army & 

Multiply Christian Network 

COURAGEOUS 

FAITH AND ACTION 

INSIDE: 

TALKING TO SHANE CLAIBORNE ON THE MARGINS: ILLITERACY PROPHETIC WORD

CONTENTS 

Zombie 

Church 4-6 

Laurence Cooper on 

courageous faith 

and action 

On the 

margins 7-10 

Julia Faire looks at 

illiteracy and how the 

church can help 

Changed 

life 11-13 

How one binge drinker 

changed to living a 

Spirit-filled life 

Talking 

to... 18-23 

An interview 

with Shane Claiborne 

of The Simple Way 

And another 

thing, God 31-33 

From the blog of 

Jesus Life editor, 

James Stacey 

Just four 

questions 34 

Jesus Life asks Jesus 

radical, Chris Gilbert, 

just four questions 

2 Jesus Life 

and... 

Courageous faith and action 3 

A word from Mick Haines 

History Makers 14-15 

Grateful to God in war, plague and famine 

Jesus Centres 16-17 

A moving moment at Northampton Jesus Centre 

Multiply Christian Network 24-30 

Recent visits and events by the Multiply teams 

Keep in touch 35 

Phone numbers for UK Multiply churches 

The Jesus Fellowship Church, which is also known as the Jesus 

Army and includes the New Creation Christian Community, upholds the 

historic Christian faith, being reformed, evangelical and charismatic. 

It practises believer’s baptism and the New Testament reality of 

Christ’s Church; believing in Almighty God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit; 

in the full divinity, atoning death and bodily resurrection of the Lord 

Jesus Christ; in the Bible as God’s word, fully inspired by the Holy Spirit. 

This church desires to witness to the Lordship of Jesus Christ 

over and in His Church; and, by holy character, righteous society 

and evangelical testimony to declare that Jesus Christ, Son 

of God, the only Saviour, is the way, the truth and the life, and 

through Him alone can we find and enter the kingdom of God. 

This church proclaims free grace, justification by faith in Christ 

and the sealing and sanctifying baptism in the Holy Spirit. 

© 2012 Jesus Fellowship Church, Nether Heyford, Northampton NN7 

3LB, UK. Editor: James Stacey. Reproduction in any form requires 

written permission. The Jesus Fellowship does not necessarily agree 

with all the views expressed in articles and interviews printed in this 

magazine. Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken 

from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 

1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of 

Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, a member of the Hodder headline Plc Group. 

All rights reserved. Photographs in this magazine are copyright Jesus 

Fellowship Church or royalty-free stock photos from www.sxc.hu. The Jesus 

Fellowship is part of Multiply Christian Network. Both the Jesus Fellowship 

and Multiply Christian Network are members of the Evangelical 

Alliance UK. Jesus Fellowship Life Trust Registered Charity number 1107952. 

JESUS 

ARMY 

www.jesus.org.uk

COURAGEOUS 

FAITH AND ACTION 


A word from Mick Haines, 

apostolic team leader of the 

Jesus Fellowship. 

THIS IS a year of “Courageous Faith and 

Action” in the Jesus Fellowship. Some of us 

will take a new stand for Jesus. Do your work 

mates know you are a Christian? God calls us 

to identify with him, so wear a red cross with 

pride! Believe, and act in the name of Jesus! 

What will you do this year? Why not reach 

out to a neighbour, or follow an inspiration 

that God gives you? Be like the young man on 

the front cover, painting a fence, serving the 

community as a sign that Jesus has made us 

“servants of all”. 

“These signs will accompany those who 

believe: In my name they will drive out demons; 

they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up 

snakes with their hands; and when they drink 

deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they 

will place their hands on sick people, and they 

will get well” (Mark 16:17-18) 

These were the dramatic words of the 

resurrected Lord Jesus Christ to his amazed 

disciples. Today, they remain as true and 

relevant as ever. I recently met the founder of 

Healing on the Streets, a ministry seeking to 

mobilise the church effectively in the public 

square. Mark Marx had just come back from 

Colombia, where he taught in dangerous 

neighbourhoods as gunshots rang out. Many 

miracles occurred: a child with epilepsy cured, 

a disabled baby made well; doctors were 

stunned, while families rejoiced. 

The Holy Spirit, who did these works, is 

with us, too. Like the disciples after Pentecost, 

we are to be filled with the Spirit and move 

in boldness and supernatural power. We have 

begun to see deliverance and healings among 

us, and more will follow, as signs and wonders 

demonstrate the rulership of the Lord Jesus 

Christ in the UK today. 

Whatever courageous steps you take, God will 

be with you, the flame of his presence flickering 

from your words and deeds. In 2012, may his 

Holy Spirit move through you to spread a blazing, 

attractive, holy “fire on the earth” (Luke 12:49). 

Only believe, and act – He does the rest! JL 

Jesus Life 3

THE PROPHETIC 

WORD 

ZOMBIE CHURCH 

WAKE UP 

4 

Jesus Life 

www.jesus.org.uk

Laurence Cooper issues a personal 

call to courageous faith and action. 

FRIEND of mine, a charismatic Catholic, 

A had an office in the Vatican for 11 years. 

With others, he would visit Pope John Paul II and 

lay on hands, praying for the Pope in tongues. 

After one of these sessions the Pope said to the 

group, “When you visit you bring me Jesus.” 

One asked what his many other visitors brought. 

“Problems,” came the doleful response. 

Like all churches, the Jesus Fellowship 

faces the question of succession: who will 

take over when the present generation is no 

longer here? Indeed, we face the question of 

whether we will survive at all. (Presuming 

we will survive as a matter of course is, well, 

presumption.) 

Or we may safely transfer from one set of 

church “administrators” 

to another 


Complacency is 

a church killer 

– while, over time, 

losing spiritual 

vibrancy. As John 

Paul II expressed, 

life-giving faith 

can all too easily be displaced by problemcentred 

management. 

Dead men walking? Zombie churches lurching 

unsteadily in no particular direction, until someone 

has the decency to declare them deceased 

and sell off their buildings? Such churches, like 

the chicken whose head has been lopped off, can 

move busily, but without vision or a future; the 

Holy Spirit isn’t there. 

Risk-averse, stagnant religion was not unknown 

even to the churches of the New Testament. 

Revelation gives sobering testimony 

to this. The church in Sardis had a reputation 

for being alive, but was dead. The church in 

Ephesus, like the chicken, had lost its head, 

its raison d’être – its “first love”. Without repenting, 

and doing the works they did at first, 

it was scrap heap time for them. 

Don’t say it could never be true of us. 

A charismatic church leader of our time 

had a son who was made the leader. “Surely 

he’ll carry his father’s powerful anointing?” 

the church thought. The son spoke stirring 

words. He took meetings. He wrote books. 

But several years later, people around him 

came to realise that he didn’t have any real 

leadership quality at all. 

Are we in danger of our rising generation 

accepting an inherited form of godliness 

without real, living power? We shouldn’t 

ignore the dangerous possibility of a generation 

just “going with the flow”, never learning 

to find God’s reality for themselves. 

Complacency is a church killer. I think of 

the Isaac Watts hymn: 

Must we be carried to the skies on flowery 

beds of ease, While others fought to gain the 

prize and sailed through troubled seas? 

The answer, 

of course, is “yes” – if 

we don’t have vision 

that grabs our hearts 

and ruins our lives 

then it will be little 

pleasures and personal 

preferences that dictate our course. We will have 

swapped eternal glory for an IKEA mattress. 

Compare this with this cry in a hymn by 

F. Brook: 

My goal is God Himself, not joy, nor peace, 

Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God; 

’Tis His to lead me there – not mine, but His – 

At any cost, dear Lord, by any road. 

My generation, and those younger than 

me, should repent of making a “flowery bed 

of ease” of our church, which the previous 

generation laboured and toiled so hard over. 

Yet there’s something to be said to the older 

generation, too: ownership of vision comes 

from being given real responsibility. The first 

generation of our church were key leaders in 

their twenties. The same must happen now. 

Continued overleaf 

s 

s 


s 

s 

Continued from previous page 

As in Revelation, we must repent and do the 

works that we did at first. 

Young people should lead churches, go 

and start churches, or restart failing church 

plants. I’d like to see more of our youth going 

to Africa to work on projects with churches 

there. Our youth must step out in faith and, 

when they reach their wits end, “try tears”, as 

William Booth famously recommended to a 

struggling Salvation Army team. 

What could block the progress of the new 

generation? Stifling care, cautiousness tending 

to indecision, crippling conservatism. 

“How dare they suggest...?” “You’re too young 

to understand!” “We worked hard to set it up 

this way.” “Mere emotionalism!” These elderbrother-ish 

tendencies, unchecked, would 

keep the baby of the church’s new generation 

in the womb to die, unable to be born. 

The younger generation needs its mentors. 

The Jesus Fellowship needs its apostolic 

leaders and its wise pioneers. 

Nevertheless, sacred cows may need 

slaying. The programme isn’t sacrosanct. 

Some need to embrace the pain of seeing 

things run less competently by a group of 

We will have 

swapped eternal 

glory for an IKEA 

mattress 

young greenhorns. To risk others messing 

up what they gave their lives for. Only in this 

painful trust, only in this letting go – only in 

this death – can there be a resurrection. 

An unchallenged, un-trusted, visionless 

generation will be seduced by comfort, cosy 

beds, the endless distractions of this age; they 

will love the world and be consumed by its 

pleasures and passions. 

The challenge to them is: will you love 

the crucified and risen king enough to lose 

your lives to further his kingdom? And the 

challenge to the preceding generation is: will 

you let them? 

JL 

Laurence is a writer, fundraiser, 

and leader in the Jesus 

Fellowship. He lives in a 

Christian Community house in 

Birmingham and supports Jesus Centres 

around the UK. 

READ HIS BLOG: 

laurencecooper.wordpress.com 

6 


www.jesus.org.uk

ON T HE 

M 

ARG 

I 

Heart in the 

write place 

Julia Faire looks at the widespread 

problem of illiteracy in the UK and 

considers what the church can do 

about it. 

www.jesuscentre.org.uk 

THE PLEASURE is immense. We’ve finished 

the last page. It’s been a steep climb but the 

summit has been reached. Joseph (not his real 

name) has read his first book - ever. Who was 

more elated? Him or me? 

Joseph is about 35 and comes from central 

Africa. He is one of several people who can hardly 

read or write at all – either in English or in their 

native language if they come from overseas, who 

come to Coventry Jesus Centre each week to an 

adult education programme, Your Learning. 

There is nothing in life I find much more pleasurable 

than teaching someone to read and hear 

them decode their first few words. It requires patience 

(a great deal actually) but more than that. It 

takes a great deal of understanding, listening and 

building up what has been torn down. And “torn 

down” is no exaggeration. I’ve heard it all: made 

to stand up in front of schoolmates and shamed 

as someone who can’t read; branded “thicko”; 

receiving the message loud and clear – “There’s 

not much hope for you.” 

Even in churches we don’t always get it. “Please 

can you read that Bible passage out aloud for us,” 

I’ve heard leaders say to some poor unsuspecting 

individual – followed by a red-faced and hurried 

excuse. The truth is: they can’t read. 

We tend to presume everyone can read – I 

certainly did. In fact, statistics from the National 

Literacy Trust reveal that, although less than 1 


s 

s 

Jesus Life 7 

N 

S

8 


Branded 

‘Thicko’ 


per cent of the UK is completely illiterate, one in 

six people in the UK struggle with literacy in so 

far as they do not have sufficient skills to function 

properly in society, including the workplace. 

Poor literacy skills can also be a serious 

barrier to people finding work or progressing 

once they find employment. Shockingly, 

research has shown that 40-50 per cent of 

prisoners are at or below the level of literacy 

and numeracy expected of an 11-year-old. This 

is much higher than the national average. 

Clearly, there is a link between illiteracy 

and crime. 

Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, 

writing for the Evening Standard says: “Literacy 

is still about dignity and freedom...illiteracy is a 

prison. It traps people in a world where they are 

always at a disadvantage and always in fear of 

being ‘found out’.” 

Illiteracy equals powerlessness: not 

understanding the post that comes through your 

door; not being able to express yourself on paper; 

having little choice of work you can do; not being 

able to help your kids with their homework. 

The list goes on. Indeed, poor literacy skills are 

often passed on from generation to generation – 

children suffering an inherited disadvantage. 

The flipside of this, the acquisition of good 

literacy skills, is obvious: Kofi Annan: Secretary- 

General of the United Nations from 1997 to 

2006 writes: “Literacy is a bridge from misery to 

hope...a tool for daily life in modern society...a 

bulwark against poverty, and a building block of 

development...a platform for democratization, 

and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and 

national identity. [It is] a basic human right... 

the road to human progress and the means 

through which every man, woman and child 

s 

s 

www.jesuscentre.org.uk

can realise his or her full potential.” 

It happened again yesterday. A smiling Chinese 

man came for the first time to the “English for 

Work ESOL” course at Coventry Jesus Centre. I 

was giving the class a short spelling exercise and 

I noticed the English script meant nothing to him 

at all. Quietly, after the session, I drew him to one 

side: “Would – you – like – me – to – teach – you – 

to – read?” I said very slowly with gesticulations. 

His face lit up. He speaks very little English; 

actually he understands very little either. 

So today we began: “c-a-t”, “d-o-g”, “s-a-t”. 

It was a start. At the end my new friend grabbed 

me by the hand twice over and, smiling broadly, 

said “thank you” – a word he knew. It was one 

of the heartiest handshakes and “thank yous” 

I have ever had. “See you next week,” I said. I’ll 

be looking forward to that. 

The UK government recognises the 

chronic skills shortage and commissioned 

the Leitch Review to examine and propose 

possible solutions to the problem. Among 

the Review’s recommendations, published 

in 2006, are that by 2020, 95 per cent of UK 

adults should have achieved functional 

literacy and numeracy skills and more than 

90 per cent of adults should be qualified to at 

least Level 2 (equivalent to five good GCSEs). 

Time will tell if the economic downturn will 

hinder such ambitious plans and whether the 

recommendations are, in fact, feasible. 

What can we do? Put ourselves in their shoes. 

Be sensitive – certainly not patronising. Begin a 

buddy scheme (the Shannon Trust does this in 

prison: inmates with good literacy skills pair up 

with those with weaker skills and undertake an 

intensive phonics reading course with excellent 

results). Offer to help. You’ll probably make a 


Illiteracy is a 

prison 

s 

s 



9

Helping 

someone 

slowly decode 

those sacred 

words for the 

first time... is 

an experience 

second to none 

10 



friend for life. 

Don’t think too that it’s only people from the 

developing world who can’t read. Plenty of UKbron 

people can’t read. One such lady I taught 

to read is now one of my most loyal friends. I 

can count on her for anything. 

Over the years I have had a small stream of 

people (mainly men from the Caribbean) who 

have wanted to be able to read so that they can 

read the Bible. Let’s, for a minute, travel back a 

few centuries to when the Bible was available in 

English for the first time. This was surely one of 

the greatest stimuli in our history for the masses 

in general to learn to read. At the moment a 

couple of men come to Your Learning in order 

to read and understand the Bible. Helping 

someone slowly decode those sacred words for 

the first time and read their first sentence is an 

experience second to none – they are magical, 

not-to-be-forgotten moments – not just for 

them but me, too. 

Jesus said: “I was hungry and you gave me 

something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave 

me something to drink, I was a stranger and 

you invited me in, I needed clothes and you 

clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, 

I was in prison and you came to visit me...I tell 

you the truth, whatever you did for one of the 

least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” 

(Matthew 25:35-40). 

In the same way, He might have said, “I could 

not read and you understood. You made friends 

with me and taught me – and that has made all 

the difference... to me – and to you.” 

JL 

s 

s 

Julia is a skills tutor at Coventry 

Jesus Centre. The centre runs an 

adult education programme, Your 

Learning, which offers provision 

for about 40 people each week. Her classes 

include literacy, computing, ESOL, job seeking 

and confidence skills, as well as life skills 

such as cooking. 

READ HER BLOG: julesjotting.blogspot.com 

www.jesuscentre.org.uk

From booze 

to bubbly 

As a teenager, Karen Jackson was 

a homeless binge drinker – but that 

was before God’s Spirit bubbled into 

her life. She told Jesus Life her story. 

UP TO THE age of 10, Karen Jackson, now 

29, describes her childhood in Berkshire as 

a “normal, typical kid’s life.” She adds, matterof-factly, 

“But from the ages of 11-16, my life 

was hell.” 

Adolescence is usually a turbulent time, but 

for Karen it marked the end of her childhood 

contentment altogether. Growing up as the only 

girl with two older brothers, Karen was often 

made to feel unwanted because she was a girl. 

“My parents told me I was a mistake,” she says, 

“But I just wanted to feel loved and accepted.” 

She lists the habits that drove her out of control: 

“Drink, drugs, nicking stuff, fighting…” In 

her own words, she was “an angry young person.” 

Just after she turned 16, Karen was kicked 

out of her home by her mother, leaving her to 

sleep underneath blocks of flats, garages, and 

occasionally her friends’ floors. She got drunk 

most nights, whenever she could get hold of 

some alcohol. 

A year later, having lived in foster care, Karen 

had to “move on” because her foster parents 

couldn’t deal with her drink and drug habits. 

“I couldn’t settle anywhere,” explains Karen, 

“with my foster parents, I felt like a lodger 

rather than part of the family.” 

At 21, Karen had nothing to keep her in Berkshire. 

After a failed attempt to “live the dream” 


s 

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She hasn’t 

drunk any 

alcohol for six 

years, hasn’t 

smoked for over 

seven years 


Karen and some of her friends from the Jesus Fellowship 

www.jesus.org.uk

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in Tenerife, she ended up sleeping on a friend’s 

floor in Leicester. 

Months later, she managed to get a room at 

an outreach hostel. A girl living there invited 

Karen to her first church meeting, a “friendship 

meal” at a Jesus Fellowship community house 

called “Springfield”. 

“Afterwards,” she chuckles, “I decided I never 

wanted to go back. But I did start a relationship 

with one of the guys I met there.” 

Two months later, Karen found herself asking 

her Christian boyfriend and his friend questions 

about God. “I claimed God was nothing 

to me,” says Karen, “But I didn’t know that the 

Holy Spirit was working in me.” 

It wasn’t the first time she had sensed 

that there “might be more to life”. The week 

before she started asking her boyfriend about 

God, she had experienced a peaceful sensation 

go through her body. “I knew there was 

someone else in the room, even though I 

could see there wasn’t.” 

Days later, she started to have a panic attack 

in her bedroom in the hostel and asked a friend 

for help. He phoned a member of staff, a Christian 

woman who sat on the end of Karen’s bed 

and said, “I’ll call the ambulance, but, before I 

do… can I pray for you?” She put her hand on 

Karen’s shoulder and prayed. A few seconds 

later, she was breathing normally. 

Some time later on the way to a residents 

meeting at the hostel, Karen suddenly started 

to skip and dance around the local park. She 

returned to the hostel and announced to her 

friend: “I think it’s time!” Karen defines it as the 

Holy Spirit’s energy filling her. Minutes later, 

she had the urge to open her mouth and shout 

“Jesus Christ is Lord!” She realised that this was 

a sign that she had real faith. For the next few 

hours, the Holy Spirit bubbled up inside her. 

Karen couldn’t stop laughing. 

Later, a Christian member of staff visited 

Karen and found her full of enthusiasm. “Julian, 


She put her 

hand on Karen’s 

shoulder and 

prayed. A few 

seconds later, she 

was breathing 

normally 

I’m a Christian! I love Jesus!” He was amazed 

at the change, informing her that she’d “gone 

from ice cold to boiling hot”. 

The following day, Karen returned to 

“Springfield” and in January 2004, she was 

baptised as a Christian, knowing it was a step 

she needed to make. She says: “At times when 

things have been tough, and I’ve felt like clearing 

off, God’s reminded me of my baptism and 

it’s held me true.” 

Eight years on, Karen’s life has changed dramatically. 

She hasn’t drunk any alcohol for six 

years, hasn’t smoked for over seven years and 

has known a lot of healing. 

“I’ve been able to accept myself, through 

knowing that God loves me and my friends in 

the church love me.” 

She talks excitedly of “First Spring”, a group 

for teenage girls in Leicester that she leads, 

along with a few others. “It’s a space where the 

girls can relax, make friends and find life.” 

“God touched me so deeply that I can never 

walk away from Him. I’ve come so far since my 

teenage years; I’m a lot calmer and happier. I’m 

a daughter of God, and proud of it!” 

JL 


HISTORY 

MAKERS 

GRATITUDE IN THE 

DARKEST HOUR 

Trevor is a senior leader in the 

Jesus Fellowship. He says, “I 

love learning from God’s movers 

and shakers in history because I 

want to be a history-maker now! 


radical-church-history.blogspot.com 


www.jesus.org.uk

Trevor Saxby writes about a 

remarkable man of God who stayed 

grateful to God through war, plague 

and famine. 

HUMANLY SPEAKING, Martin Rinkart (1586- 

1649) was in the wrong place at the wrong 

time. In God’s plan, though, he was in the right 

place and destined to be a shining example of 

gratitude to God in the direst of circumstances. 

He had just been made Lutheran minister 

of the walled town of Eilenburg, north-east of 

Leipzig, when the Thirty Years War broke out. 

It lasted for the rest of his life, almost exactly 30 

years. For all this time he served the townsfolk 

and the many hundreds of refugees who sought 

shelter there. 

Soldiers were billeted in his house and they 

stole his belongings and the food meant for 

his family. But this was small compared to the 

suffering in the town. In 1637, a plague swept 

through the overcrowded slums, and in that one 

year alone, 8,000 people died. At the time there 

were four pastors in the town. One fled for his 

life and never returned. Two others contracted 

the plague while serving the sick and died. 

As the only pastor left, Rinkart was in constant 

demand, visiting and comforting the sick 

and dying, and sometimes conducting funerals 

for 40-50 people a day. In May of that year, his 

own wife died. Before long, plague victims had 

to be buried in trenches without services. 

Even worse was to follow. After the plague 

came a famine so extreme that 30 or 40 people 

might be seen fighting in the streets for a dead 

cat or crow. Rinkart and the town mayor did 

what they could to organise relief. Rinkart gave 

away everything but the barest rations for his 

own family, and his door was usually surrounded 

by a crowd of starving wretches. So great were 

Rinkart’s own losses and charitable gifts that 

he had the utmost difficulty in finding bread 

and clothes for his children, and was forced to 


30 or 40 people 

might be seen 

fighting in 

the streets for 

a dead cat 

or crow 

mortgage his future income for several years. 

And yet, living in a world dominated by 

death, Martin Rinkart’s spirit was unbroken 

and clung to the true life of God. After years 

of horror and agony, he wrote a prayer for his 

children to offer to the Lord. It was soon turned 

into a hymn, known to the English-speaking 

world through Catherine Winkworth’s translation. 

It is a remarkable testimony to the faith of 

a remarkable man, but also to the triumph of 

generosity and thankfulness over inhumanity 

and despair. 

Now thank we all our God 

With hearts and hands and voices; 

Who wondrous things hath done, 

In whom this world rejoices. 

Who, from our mother’s arms, 

Hath led us on our way, 

With countless gifts of love, 

And still is ours today. 

O may this bounteous God 

Through all our life be near us, 

With ever joyful hearts 

And blessèd peace to cheer us; 

And keep us in His grace, 

And guide us when perplexed; 

And free us from all ills, 

In this world and the next! 

JL 


A BIRD WITH A 

BROKEN WING 

Jayne Elliott describes a moving 

encounter at the Northampton 

Jesus Centre. 

SOME VISITORS to the Jesus Centre remind 

me why it is a privilege to work here. 

Lisa was one. In her late 20s, like a little 

bird with a broken wing she came, on an 

afternoon when a women-only session was 

running. In fact, no-one had turned up and I 

was feeling like I was wasting my time, hanging 

around waiting for regulars to turn up. 

Then I spotted her at the window. She was 

reluctant to come in, but when I offered her 

the option to talk privately, explaining there 

was no-one else around, she agreed. I sensed 

I had to be very patient and gentle (neither 

are my particular strong points!) if I was going 

to get her to unfold her story. 

Lisa was desperate. She’d been diagnosed 

with a personality disorder and tried to commit 

suicide a few weeks earlier. She’d come 

because she was alone and so hopeless she’d 

decided to get out of the house before she 

tried to overdose again. Her voice was quiet, 

but I could sense her misery. 

To Lisa, I probably appeared cool, calm and 

controlled. In my head, my panicky thoughts 

were, “I need to phone the emergency mental 

health team; this woman’s serious; I feel out 

of my depth!” But I managed to pray, “God, 


www.jesus.org.uk

She started 

simply with 

a cry: “God 

please help 

me” 

please help me to be gentle and give me the 

right words to say”. 

Lisa unfolded her damaged soul, giving me 

an insight into what was causing her pain. 

I sensed God had brought her to the Jesus 

Centre because he wanted her to know that He 

loved her, cared about her, knew all about her 

and wanted to begin the process of healing. 

So I took a deep breath and decided to tell 

her that. I asked her if she believed in God and 

if she’d like to write Him a letter to tell Him how 

she was feeling. As she wrote it, I silently prayed 

that God would help me to know what to say 

and do next. 

Lisa wrote a beautiful and honest letter. 

She started simply with a cry: “God please 

help me”. Then she apologised for not living a 

good life, described the pain she was feeling, 

the abuse she had suffered – and asked God 

for help. As I read it out, I hoped she felt what 

I sensed: God wrapping His arms around her, 

reassuring her that He had heard her. 

I didn’t promise Lisa a quick fix or a magic 

wand to wave, to take away what happened. 

What happened to Lisa, happened. It was 

wrong, and it caused such pain, mentally 

and emotionally, that Lisa had developed 

a personality disorder to separate the adult 

from her abused child. None of that was going 

to change overnight – but I told Lisa that 

I believed God could heal the memories and 

the scars they left. 

Lisa was visibly more relaxed and said she 

felt peaceful. Having assured me that she no 

longer felt suicidal, she flew away – with an 

invitation to return any time she needed to 

talk or pray again. 

After she’d gone I sat for a few moments 

and thanked God for her, and the opportunity 

He’d given me to be there for her. Often in 

the Jesus Centre I can feel overwhelmed by 

people’s need, demands and suffering. 

But that afternoon God had come down to 

earth. He’d begun to heal a broken wing. And 

that made all the difference. 

Names have been changed to protect 

confidentiality 

JL 

Jayne is Volunteer Coordinator 

at Northampton Jesus Centre 

and volunteers in the Step up, 

the drop-in facility there. She 

describes herself as “a follower of 

God and a believer that it will all be worth it 

in the end”. 

READ HER BLOG: 

northamptonjesuscentre.blogspot.com 

WHAT ARE JESUS CENTRES? 

Places where the love of Jesus is expressed 

daily in worship, care and friendship for every 

type of person. 


JESUS 

CENTRES 

worship • friendship • help for all 

WHERE ARE JESUS CENTRES? 

There are Jesus Centres in Coventry, London 

Northampton and Sheffield with one planned for 

Birmingham in the near future, 

with vision for further locations. 

MORE INFO: 



talking to... 

SHANE CLAIBORNE 

Shane Claiborne (centre) with Paul Veitch (left) 

and James Stacey (right) of the Jesus Fellowship 


www.newcreation.org.uk

Jesus Life editor, James Stacey, 

talks to Shane Claiborne, a founder 

of The Simple Way, an intentional 

Christian community in inner-city 

Philadelphia, USA. Shane, author of 

bestseller, The Irresistible Revolution, 

is described at thesimpleway.org 

as a “bestselling author, prominent 

Christian activist, sought-after 

speaker and recovering sinner”. 

THANKS FOR giving us your time, Shane. 

You tell quite a bit of your own story in The 

Irresistible Revolution. Could you tell us about 

one or two of the turning points in your life? 

The big one was in 1995. Some homeless 

families moved into a derelict cathedral in 

Philadelphia and began a struggle over their 

right to live there. When Philadelphia began to 

really criminalise homelessness it stirred our 

heart for justice; that was the catalyst for our 

community, The Simple Way. 

A story you tell in The Irresistible Revolution. 

Yeah. But I don’t know whether you know 

this: our first experiment with community 

involved buying a double-decker bus. Our ideal 

was to have a mobile, hospitality space for 

folks on the street, they could come and get 

their mail, they could get something to eat, 

network. But it was a disaster! Philadelphia 

isn’t built for double-decker buses. We 

couldn’t get it into Philadelphia, so we had to 

rethink our strategies. I always joke that our 

community began with a mistake. 

Then when I went to Iraq in March 2003 

there were huge moments, wrestling with the 

violence in our world, and how we’re called to 

non-violence. 

The Simple Way came out of all this; tell me a 

little bit about where it’s at now. I understand 

www.newcreation.org.uk 

our first 

experiment 

with community 

involved buying 

a doubledecker 

bus 

you’ve made a distinction now between The 

Simple Way as a not-for-profit organisation 

and the community within that? 

That’s right; we had to distinguish between 

them because we wanted to keep community 

a local expression – “this is what’s happening 

on our block”. And The Simple Way had got 

bigger than that. Some of the people on our 

block are involved in the other things that we’re 

doing, and some aren’t. It’s not at all a divorce 

or separation, but distinguishing between grassroots 

community and larger concerns. 

As The Simple Way, we’ve come to 

articulate who we are as “a web of subversive 

friends that are loving God and loving 

neighbours and following Jesus”. Of course, 

that includes the local thing, the community; 

in fact that’s the heart of it. We have a kind of 

village now; we started in one house and now 

we’ve got a dozen or so, all of them within 

walking distance of each other. 

And we’ve had people live with us and then 

start other communities, we’ve got a magazine 

that we do, we’ve got a project called Friends 

without Borders which is trying to create a social 

network for reconciliation around the world. The 

Simple Way has grown quite a lot of appendages. 

It says in The Simple Way’s “Foundation” 


s 

s 


s 

s 

Don’t give up 

on Christianity 

because of 

Christians 


that the community is committed to “always 

remembering to laugh”. What’s the funniest 

thing that’s ever happened to you in community? 

There’re so many. One of my housemates 

climbed above my bunk – I was on the top bunk 

about a foot from the ceiling – and plastered a 

full-size picture of George Bush above my bed. I 

woke up with him (George) literally lying on top 

of me. That was great; I’m really grateful for folks 

that know how to play hard even in the face of a 

lot of really difficult things we experience. 

What would you say is the best thing and 

the worst thing about living in community? 

Other people, in both cases! 

It can be tough facing ourselves every day. It’s 

easier to hide when you live alone. Community 

brings us in touch with our own vulnerabilities 

and brokenness – but there’s also more to 

celebrate. I think you laugh harder, you cry 

harder, you hurt each other deeper – it’s a choice 

to live deeper. Community comes with more 

laughter and more tears. 

Have you had those moments where you feel 

like running away and never coming back? 

Yeah, sure! 

What do you say to young Christians looking 

for something to do with their lives? 

I’m not sure there’s one answer; I think every 

person’s unique. Some are coming from a faith 

background, some are not. For some people I’d 

say “You need to be in community”, to others 

I’d say “You need to be alone”. I say: “Don’t 



give up on Christianity because of Christians; 

Jesus is bigger than the embarrassing things 

that we’ve done in His name.” 

I do think that to find community is a deep 

hunger in all of us; to find a group of people 

who look like what we want to become, who 

help us get closer to that – and ultimately 

to Jesus. I do – we do – call people to 

embrace Jesus and to embrace justice and 

reconciliation: all the things which are on 

God’s heart. A big part of our message is that 

we must connect our passion to the world’s 

pain, not flee the suffering of the world into 

our own bubble. We’re called to do something 

meaningful for God and for our neighbour. 

I think Christianity thrives at the margins; 

when it’s in the centre it loses itself. Communal 

expressions of Christianity offer something the 

megachurch can’t. It’s the day of the micro 

church, the house church, and the idea that the 

gospel is lived out of homes and dinner tables 

and doesn’t need paid staff for it to work. 

How do you combine building local community 

with international speaking tours? Are they in 

tension? 

The simple answer to that is that we believe 

in mutual submission as a part of community 

– supporting each other in finding and living 

out our passions and gifts. I do that for other 

people and they do it for me. I have a “clearness 

committee” that discerns my travel plans with 

me. I don’t say yes to any engagement without 

them and I cap my travel days in any month. 

My wife’s in that group, too! 

You mention your wife and that was my other 

question, which I’ll put provocatively: is it more 

difficult to be radical when you’re married? 

Ask me in a year! I’ve only been married 

three months. I sometimes joke that I was 

single as long as Jesus was! 

I think that marriage is one wonderful form 

of community and covenant – but not the only 

one. I’ve learned a lot through singleness. I’ve 



s 

s 

the gospel is 

lived out of 

homes and 

dinner tables 

and doesn’t 

need paid staff 

for it to work 



learned to love God and people through it. I 

think we have to celebrate singleness as a gift 

to the Church so I’ll continue to passionately 

ring that bell. But I think that marriage can 

also be radical – it’s actually very radical in 

our neighbourhood to have a good family, 

to have fathers, things like that. Our entire 

neighbourhood celebrated our wedding and will 

continue to celebrate our marriage with us. 

Have you experienced heartbreaks or things 

that haven’t worked out or disappointments? 

There are plenty of stories of trying to love 

people and them not making it off the streets, 

overdosing, or ending up in prison. But part 

of the gift of community is that we bear each 

other’s burdens; we’re carrying the load 

together so when those things happen we have 

a lot of arms to make it lighter. That doesn’t 

mean that we’re not going to have to carry a 

cross, it just means we have help carrying it. 

One of my friends says “Even Jesus didn’t carry 

His cross on His own, so we’d be pretentious 

to assume that we should.” 

When it comes to disappointment with those 

I’m living and working with, I’ve learned not to 

box ourselves into a corner where everybody has 

to stay the way that they were when we started. 

We’ve got to allow ourselves to be malleable clay. 

s 

s 

Sometimes 

we hold onto 

the forms of 

community 

rather than the 

spirit of it 



new 

creation 

christian 

community 

NCCCCCC vid AD 

Stevo and Olivia are a young couple who live in 

intentional Christian community. They talk about 

their lifestyle online at: jez.uz/stevoolivia 

The house in which Stevo, Olivia and their 

friends live is one of a number of homes around 

the UK the residents of which form the New 

Creation Christian Community – part of the 

Jesus Army, across the UK. 

Several others also share their community 

experience and vision at youtube.com/jesusarmy 

For more on New Creation Christian Community 

visit: newcreation.org.uk 

I moved into community with six people 

and I thought we’d live together for the 

rest of our lives in 32-34 Potter Street. 

That didn’t happen. But actually, it was 

right that it didn’t happen. There may even 

be heartbreak, but that doesn’t mean it’s 

wrong. Sometimes we hold onto the forms 

of community rather than the spirit of it. We 

can be attached to “the way things are now” 

in an unhealthy way. Don’t get me wrong, I 

love it that we still have dinner each week 

with the people I started the community 

with. One of them has adopted two kids 

that used to live in the cathedral. Another is 

god-parenting a kid from the block who came 

out of a tough situation. And so on. I think 

actually it would have been a great shame to 


try to keep it all like it was when we started. 

These can be really hard decisions to make. 

Sometimes it is a failure when someone 

moves on; sometimes we just think it’s a 

failure; and sometimes it’s actually a failure 

if we try to keep them when they should be 

somewhere else. 

Shane, come to dinner next time you’re in 

the UK! 

I’d be delighted. It would be good to hear 

some of your stories. 

Let me give you one of our trademark red 

crosses. They actually glow in UV lights; 

they’re popular in the clubs. 

I’m officially branded for the Jesus Army – or 

for a club tonight. Thanks. 

JL 


Community of 

communities 

WHAT IS MULTIPLY? 

Multiply Christian Network is a worldwide 

apostolic stream of churches, initiated by 

Jesus Fellowship Church. 

CONTACT MULTIPLY: 

www.multiply.org.uk 

Contact Multiply Director, Huw Lewis, 

Tel: +44 1327 344533 

Email: huw.lewis@jesus.org.uk 

Write to: 

Jesus Fellowship/Multiply, 

Nether Heyford, Northampton, 

NN7 3LB, UK 


Ensemble community, Switzerland 

Doris is from Germany, but now 

lives in central London in a Jesus 

Fellowship Christian community 

house. She is committed to 

lifelong singleness to be more free to serve 

God and love people. She “loves to live and 

lives to love!” 

www.multiply.org.uk

Doris Kahnes describes her 

visit, with a team from the Jesus 

Fellowship in the UK, to several 

European Christian communities. 

MARK FELS is Multiply’s apostolic partner 

in Switzerland and the leader of a Swiss 

Christian community Basivilla (Kingdom House). 

He is also a crazy driver. I am convinced that 

only with the help of a few angels does he get the 

four of us safely to Riehen, near Basel. 

We are here to visit Thomas Widmer, who has 

arranged for us to join a gathering of 20 leaders of 

communities of various settings and sizes in and 

around Basel. The group meets twice-yearly to 

share and pray; this time they are looking forward 

to hearing about our community movement in 

the UK, the New Creation Christian Community. 

Thomas had visited our Jesus Fellowship community 

house, Cornhill Manor, ten years ago and 

was impressed by what he saw and experienced. 

First, we had the privilege of lunching with 

Thomas and his Ensemble Community in the 

Moosrain, a very large and beautiful building. 

Thomas, his wife Irene, and three children, 

moved here from a smaller community at the 

beginning of 2011, together with eight other 

like-minded adventurers. Later this year, when 

refurbishments are completed, up to 25 people 

are expected to join the crew. 

We arrive just as this community family is finishing 

off their “aemtlis” (small jobs) around the 

house and large garden. There is a real buzz in the 

air and the meal time is fun, with lively conversations 

and lots of laughter. 

Next, we’re taken on a guided tour of the house 

by Nicole, one of the Ensemble members. She also 

takes us round a good part of the town, which 

has a very strong and rich Christian heritage, 

pointing out various smaller community houses 

and places of outreach and care. The heart of 

Christian faith beats very loudly in this town. We 

cannot help but be impressed by it all. 

Our trip finishes in the Fischerhus, a townhouse 


The heart of 

Christian faith 

beats very loudly 

in this town 

where a young couple are heading up another 

small community. They will be hosting this little 

gathering. 

After a cup of tea, some lovely Swiss cake and 

a few “hellos”, our UK contingent is asked to 

introduce ourselves to the group: Piet and Wilf, 

leaders in two different, large Christian community 

houses in Northamptonshire; Ruth who lives 

with her husband Jim in Germany, but has been 

linked to the Jesus Fellowship in the UK for many 

years; and myself, Doris, a member of our Jesus 

Fellowship community house in central London. 

Even our introduction gave the group enough 

ammunition to fire plenty of questions at us. They 

seemed particularly amazed and challenged by 

our practice of a common purse – the way we 

share all of our money – and this provides lots 

of material for conversation. The same is true 

of our practice of celibacy – the commitment 

some of our members have made to stay single 

permanently. Ditto our Jesus Centres. And giving 

up material goods for God. And covenant loyalty. 

And the Jesus Army Training Year. And our youth 

movement, “Real and Wild”… 

Had Thomas not drawn this question and answer 

session to an end at this point, I shudder at 

the thought of how fast Mark would have driven 

us back to Basivilla in order to get us there on 

time for the meal with the rest of his house family. 

As it is, we live to tell the tale! 

Watch a video about life at Basivilla at: 

jez.uz/basivilla 


Breaking 

New Ground 

In November 2011, Multiply Director, Huw Lewis and Jesus Fellowship 

Apostolic team member, Ian Callard, visited India, Nepal and the United 

Arab Emirates, pioneering Multiply in unchartered territory. Huw shared 

some photos from their album with Jesus Life. 

FOURTEEN memorable days. Seven flights. 

Four conferences. Three nations. Our first 

ever visit to South Asia was a hectic launch of 

Multiply in this part of the globe, linking with 

old friends and forming new relationships. 

Moving from Nepal to India and then on 

to United Arab Emirates, we found several 

spiritual “movers and shakers” on our journey. 

The conference team in Kathmandu included 

representatives from Bangladesh, India and 

Pakistan, as well as Nepal. We worshipped 

in three languages, consumed a variety of 

tongue-curling spicy food, and were awoken at 

5am each day by exuberant prayer and praise 

from some visiting Korean Christians in the 

conference hall below our bedrooms. 

Nepal 


www.multiply.org.uk

Cycle rickshaw in Delhi – a novel taxi service! Teeming humanity spilled over the streets, market 

places and squares in this congested, bustling city of 22 million. 

India 

The Korean guest house was a beacon of 

peace in a chaotic, vibrant and distressed city. 

In Kathmandu high street, tangled electricity 

wires swayed round crumbling, Lego-like tower 

block buildings and innumerable motor bikes 

and cycles swarmed through the dusty roads. 

Everywhere was evidence of Nepal’s three 

religions – Buddhism, Hinduism and Tourism! 

A sewing class in the church of our host, 

Shanta Shreshtra – a colourful sea of 

harmonious activity, providing an income for 

the impoverished widows and single women. 


s 

s 

Nepal 


Nepal 


27

India 


Multiply partner Colney’s orphanage in Cuttack, Orissa. Some were ‘gospel orphans’ – young boys 

whose parents had been killed in the wave of anti-Christian mob violence and persecution by Hindu 

extremists in 2008-10. These young witnesses were full of energetic praise and thankfulness, wearing 

familiar Jesus Army red cross tee shirts! A deeply humbling and moving moment. 

s 

s 

Street scene in Cuttack, Orissa. A poor and 

neglected city, with open sewers and “sacred” 

cows wandering the crammed streets. 

Grotesque stone carvings adorn temples and 

shrines, while familiar bicycle rickshaws 

thread through the packed thoroughfares. 

India 

India 

Ubiquitous market traders, hawkers and 

begging street children jostled for attention, 

surrounded by colourful temples, ornate 

imperial buildings and old forts. Beeping 

horns from the battered 70’s cars, driven 

with an insane intensity, provided a constant 

background noise. Ramshackle stalls, 

incense, frying food and fumes mingled 

together on the crowded streets. 

28 


www.multiply.org.uk

India 

United Arab Emirates 

Camel Market at Al Ain, Abu Dhabi. Stubborn 

and resistant, these beasts of burden are still 

an essential part of life there. Al Ain - an oasis 

city in the midst of the cinnamon sand dunes 

and dry desert heat, framed by ever present 

palm trees. Oil rich Abu Dhabi oozes opulent 

luxury as building projects yearly push back 

the surrounding desert wastes. 

Colney at the Orissa Conference. Eighty 

pastors enjoyed two days of teaching, youthful 

worship and al fresco dining arrangements! 

Orissa is a state stained with the recent blood 

of Christian martyrs. Burnt houses, bulldozed 

churches, forced reconversions in Hindu 

temples and frequent attacks, beatings, 

rapes and humiliations had not dimmed the 

passionate gospel zeal of these persecuted 

brothers and sisters in Jesus. 

Jebel Hafeet. The highest point in Al Ain, reached after a tortuous and spectacular drive up 8,000 feet. The 

breathtaking views of endless sands and patchwork towns were framed by the rich surrounding sandstone 

cliff at the summit. The glorious salmon-pink sunset gave a warm glow in the fading light, as we sipped tea 

in the café on the peak. A close network of caves contained artefacts dating back 3,000 years. 

United Arab Emirates 



Loosed 

lions 

Multiply UK Leaders conference 

The torch of 

vICTORY 


The first Multiply UK Leaders 

conference to be held at the London 

Jesus Centre saw the 19th century 

chapel crammed with leaders eager 

to build church in the 21st century. 

WHEN IT’S Halloween, do you batten down 

the hatches or throw open the doors of 

your house and heart to people? This was just one 

of the provocative questions thrown at delegates 

to the latest UK Multiply Leaders conference, held 

in London last November. 

“Halloween is the one night of the year people 

are waiting for you to knock on their door!” Matthew 

Guest, of King’s Church Chatham, told the 

crowded chapel. “The trick is the lie of Satan, the 

treat is eternal life.” 

Sometimes it’s tempting for Christians in the 

UK to feel like caged lions in London Zoo. But as 

Jesus Fellowship senior leader John Campbell 

pointed out: “New atheism and rampant Islam 

puts Christianity in a cage. However, we’re not 

here to survive or feed our own people, we’re here 

to confront the powers of darkness.” 

Another Jesus Army leader, Nathan White, did 

just that in the wake of the London riots, when he 

took a minibus and team into Tottenham and set 

up camp with artboards and smoothies. Result: 

three young men have found faith in Jesus and 

have embarked on a “Jesus Army Training Year”. 

“We must pour our hearts into the next generation. 

We’ve got to be raw, relevant and reproducing,” 

concluded Mick Haines, Jesus Fellowship 

apostolic team leader. “That is the challenge to 

the church today.” 

For more on Jesus Army Training Year, visit: 

jesus.org.uk/training 

INTERNATIONAL 

CELEBRATE JESUS 

6.15pm Saturday 9 June 2012 

Jesus Centre, Abington Square 

Northampton NN1 4AE, UK 


JL 

International Leaders Conference

BLOG 

AND ANOTHER 

THING, GOD 


When worshipping God isn’t all 

sweetness and light. From the blog 

of Jesus Life editor, James Stacey. 

I 

’M FED UP with happy songs. 

I’m not saying that joy isn’t a profoundly 

Christly sentiment, or that there’s any special 

virtue in misery. I agree with Teresa of Avila 

who famously prayed for deliverance from 

“sour-faced saints”. 

But last Sunday morning, as we sang song 

after song about how great God is and how 

happy he makes us, I wanted something else. 

I was feeling frustrated. Perplexed. 

Questioning. 

Why this, God? I wanted to ask. And why 

that? But the songs were busy declaring goodness 

and glory. They weren’t asking anything. 

Oh dear, I thought, maybe I’m “in the flesh”. 

On Sunday nights, I set an hour aside for 

prayer, walking in a local park. Usually, I 

just walk, think and pray in tongues quietly. 

I’ll settle on one or two themes on which I’ll 

express myself to the Almighty, best I can. 

Sometimes I “hear” a divine response – a 

word, an image, or just an impression. Sometimes 

God just listens, a patient parent, to my 

childish prattle. 

Last night I found myself chewing on some 

of my frustrations. Putting it frankly, it bothers 

me that the Jesus Army’s not doing better. I 

am aware of the dignified wisdom in sayings 

about God’s calling to be “faithful rather than 

successful” (attributed to another even more 

famous Catholic Teresa). And there’s much 


s 

s 

Jesus Life 31 

Photo: foshydog, flickr.com

It was one of 

those times 

when God didn’t 

seem especially 

talkative 


s 

s 


to be thankful for – lives changed, new Jesus 

Centres, an expanding network overseas. But 

it bewilders me that we are often hindered in 

our endeavors around the UK. Churches fail. A 

number of our new disciples slip back. We’re 

not growing as we long for. We need many 

more leaders if we’re to fulfil God-given vision. 

Is God unable to bless us? Of course, we’re 

a church of sinners (no church on earth 

isn’t), but it seems to me that, at heart, we 

genuinely desire to be faithful to God’s call. 

I was left with a painful question hanging 

on the night air as I arrived home. It was 

one of those times when God didn’t seem 

especially talkative. 

Then, this morning, I read Psalm 44 – 

O God, we have heard with our ears, 

our fathers have told us, 

what deeds You performed in their days, 

in the days of old… 

But You have rejected us and disgraced us 

and have not gone out with our armies. 

Often in the Bible, such agonised prayers 

are followed by a confession of sin. But not 

this psalm; instead, it contains the following 

surprising lines – 

All this has come upon us, 

though we have not forgotten You, 

and we have not been false to Your covenant. 

Our heart has not turned back, 

nor have our steps departed from Your way… 

Yet for Your sake we are killed all the day long; 

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. 

This last line was quoted by the apostle 

Paul in a chapter about Christians groaning 

and aching in prayer for the fulfilment 

of God’s plans (Romans 8:18-36). Given 

that when Paul quoted verses of scripture 

he usually had the whole passage in mind, 


Photo: Sam Gordon Photography, flickr.com

I think Paul was thinking of the prayer that 

concludes the psalm – 

Awake! Why are You sleeping, O Lord? 

Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever!... 

Rise up; come to our help! 

Shocking. Surely the psalmist should 

be telling God how beautiful He is? Surely 

Paul should remind us how lovely it is to be 

resting in God’s arms? The psalmist should 

sing about how happy we are – not nagging 

the Almighty to wake up and remember his 

covenant obligations? Not suggesting that 

God isn’t with his people and He jolly well 

should be because His people have been 

faithful? 

Dreadful theology. Can hardly believe it’s in 

the Bible. 

Cue awkward silence. 

In fact, I reckon there’s a place for this in our 

Come on, God! 

(Groan.) Don’t let 

us go down the 

pan! (Yearn.) 

praying and our worshipping. An important 

place. “Come on, God! (Groan.) Go out with 

our armies! (Ache.) Rise up! Come to our help! 

(Sigh.) Don’t let us go down the pan! (Yearn.)” 

We need songs and prayers that express 

longing, express questions, express groaning, 

even express impatience with God. 

Time to read a few more psalms. Time to 

write a few new songs. 

JL 


James is a leader in the Jesus 

Fellowship. He lives in Coventry 

with those he loves - ‘wife, three 

kids and friends forever’ - in a 

Christian community house. 


man-with-the-mop.blogspot.com 


• 

QUESTIONS 

• 

QUESTIONS 

• 

QUESTIONS 

QUESTIONS 

• 

4just 

• 

QUESTIONS 

JUST FOUR 

QUESTIONS 

Jesus Life asks a Jesus radical just four questions. Chris Gilbert 

lives at House of Miracles, a Jesus Fellowship community house 

on ‘Blackthorn’ a deprived estate on the outskirts of Northampton. 


WHAT DO you say if someone from the 

Blackthorn estate asks, “What’s life 

all about?” 

Life is about taking hold of Jesus’ example, 

looking at how He lived and working it out today. 

It’s about expressing God’s love to the people we 

meet and reconnecting people back to God. 

You’ve made a vow to be single all your life. 

What’s that all about? 

In today’s increasingly busy society being single 

seems the best way to give all of myself to God 

and His Church. I’m totally available to serve and 

give to the people we meet. 

You say “we” a lot. Tell me about “House of 

Miracles”. 

At House of Miracles we want to demonstrate 

and show practical Christianity. Not an aloof, 

“sitting-in-church-pews-style” church. We like to 

hang around with the people and for the people. 

People from the estate often come round to 

our house because they know we’ll help them. 

They’re part of our everyday life; they’re on our 

doorstep. Whether it’s helping them move house 

or making up food parcels we want to be there 

for them. 

What’s your dream? 

I’d like to see a church relevant to today’s 

needs, able to meet these with God’s solutions. 

I’d like to see the church becoming the place 

with the answers people are looking for – 

never judgemental, but a place of welcome, a 

sanctuary for every kind of person. 

JL 

www.jesus.org.uk

BELFAST 

Jesus Fellowship Church........................0845 123 5552 

Birmingham 


BLACKBURN 

Hyndburn Christian Fellowship.............01706 222 401 

BLACKBUrn 

Rishton Christian Fellowship................01254 887 790 

Bridgend 

The Bridge Community Church............01656 655 635 

BrightoN 


chatham 

King’s Church Medway........................... 01634 847 477 

Coventry 


gloUCESTEr 

Living Word Fellowship.......................... 01452 506 474 

HASTINGS 


High Wycombe 

Church of Shalom...................................01494 449 408 

Kettering 


LeiCESTEr 


Liverpool 


London CENTRAL 


London N 

Glad Tidings Evangelical Church..........0208 245 9002 

London S 

Bible Life Family Ministries...................07932 938 911 

London SE 

Ephratah Int’l Gospel Praise Centre....0208 469 0047 

London SE 

Flaming Evangelical Ministries ...........01634 201 170 

London SE 

Glorious Revival Eagle Ministries.........0208 855 3087 

London SE 

Life For The World Christian Centre....07956 840 002 

London SE 

Mission Together for Christ................... 07737 475 731 

Milton Keynes 


Northampton 

Jesus Fellowship Church .......................0845 166 8161 

Norwich 


Nottingham 


Oxford 


RAMSEY HOLLOW (Hunts) 

Christians United.....................................01487 815 528 

Sheffield 


SWANSEA 




35

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the mJa blog: jesus.org.uk/blog 

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what’s been happening at: 

flickr.com/groups/jesusarmy/pool/show 

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twitter.com/mjanews 

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Jesus army Events 2012 

Upcoming events you don’t want to miss... 

ALL FREE • ALL WELCOME 

MORE INFO? 

jesus.org.uk/dates 

0845 123 5550 

info@jesus.org.uk 

UK Jesus 

Celebration 

SAT 18 FEB 2.00pm & 6.00pm 

The New Bingley Hall 

1 Hockley Circus 

BIRMINGHAM 


B18 5BE 

MEN ALIVE 

FOR GOD 

SAT 17 MAR 

11.00am, 2.00pm & 6.00pm 

Jesus Centre, Abington Square 

NORTHAMPTON NN1 4AE 

ALIVE FESTIVAL 

WEEKEND 

FRI 6 APR - MON 9 APR 

The Giant Marquee 

Cornhill Manor, Pattishall 

NORTHAMPTON NN12 8LQ 

POWER FESTIVAL 

WEEKEND 

FRI 1 JUN - MON 4 JUN 

The Giant Marquee 

Cornhill Manor, Pattishall 

NORTHAMPTON NN12 8LQ 

MULTIPLY 

INTERNATIONAL 

SAT 9 JUN 6.00pm 

Jesus Centre 

Abington Square 

NORTHAMPTON NN1 


4AE

Jesus Life 89 - The Jesus Army

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