born again

Moses. I shouldn't have left you wondering at the end of yesterday's post if I'd been doing some Dr Who-type time travelling.

Moses is from Malawi. And Dublin. If that's not too confusing.

He's part of the Dublin-based group called John 3:7 who are staying in our halls at this time.

He and his brother (in Christ) - called Shane, I should say, not Aaron, to avoid any misunderstanding - arrived last night as the advance party. The rest will arrive tonight, sometime after midnight, when I'll be hoping to be safely tucked up in bed.

They're a group who engage in street evangelism. They stand on the streets of Dublin - and Edinburgh, too, these next few days - with large perspex boards which simply say JOHN 3:7.

That's all. And people come and talk. I guess they're a bit intrigued - the more so, perhaps, if they've had a bit to drink - and want to find out what on earth this is all about.

Maybe you do too. Maybe you're madly scrambling for your Bible now to look the thing up for yourself!

Because you know the JOHN 3:16 thing. I mean, that text pitches up everywhere.

Literally. Football pitches, cricket pitches, athletic tracks, and just about anywhere else you can think of. Probably even the moon, for all I know.

But this is JOHN 3:7. And the subtle little difference means (1) you don't know the text off by heart and (2) you're intrigued to know what it does actually say.

I guess that's how it works. That, and the simple question in folks' minds as to why on earth these very varied guys are standing around with big yellow perspex boards in their arms which herald a name and two numbers.

People stop and talk.

And they soon find out what the reference actually says.

"You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again'."

Oh.

Ohhhhh!

Long story short - people come to faith.

They find themselves 'born again'. They enter the kingdom of God. They start to follow Jesus as the one who gives new life.

It's not a very complicated thing. It's not a hugely intrusive thing at all.

They're simply there if you want. But it's clear what they're really on about, and there's enough that's intriguing to make passers by take a look.

Why do I go on about this?

Well, just because we've been thinking ourselves very hard about how we're in danger in all that we do of actually missing the point.

And it's just as if the Lord has brought these folk to our halls to remind us of what we're about. Sharing the good news of Jesus.

Not running a wonderful cafe. Not managing a busy and brilliant community centre.

But sharing good news by these means.

There's a cafe on Harris that merits a plug. And has really made me think.

The Skoon Art Cafe. It's miles from anywhere. Off a road that's off a road that at best is no more than a C road.

People don't drop in because it's there by the side of the road. They go because they know what it is that they'll get.

Which is more than just a cup of coffee or tea. Or a bowl of soup or scone or cake. Or whatever.

The man who runs it is an artist. That's his passion in life.

In fact, he once told me that he looks forward each day to the moment the cafe closes - since then he can get back to his painting.

You can't avoid being aware of that. His paintings are all around the walls.

It's a lovely place, and the food and the service is good. But it's plain as daylight that the cafe is not what the man and the place are really all about.

It's art the man loves. It's art that fires this man. It's art that he lives for. It's there in the name. And you can't get away from it when actually there.

And in some ways, too, that's why people go. It's not just for the coffee or the food. It's because there's something more.

It isn't intrusive at all. He doesn't thrust this passion for his art right down your throat.

Anymore than the guys from JOHN 3:7 do the passion in their lives.

But it's there. And it's plain and clear as daylight what these folk are really on about.

Now that's what we're being challenged about in what we do.

Our place is called the Reception Area. OK, a rather uninspiring name.

But it lets you know what we're really, deep down on about.

Reception. The Lord receiving people. And people receiving the Lord.

As simple as that.

But it's easy for that to get crowded out by all that's involved in serving the coffee and food. And easy to slowly lose sight of just what it is we're on about.

Until people who come aren't aware of that at all. And even we have lost sight of the thing as well.

So having Moses around has helped us to hear what the Lord has been saying to us all through these days.

Perhaps the whole venture requires to be born again!