Is there a probable possibility of a move of the Holy Spirit in the established traditions, and how can those from other traditions help?
New wine and new skins are important. Without new skins the new wine gets destroyed by the old skin. You couldn’t say that the Roman Catholic church hasn’t had a move of the Spirit. If you go to a meeting of Catholic bishops today, you’ll see them handle the Scripture in Bible studies the same way as those form the reformed tradition. There's new wine in every tradition, just as there's old wine in most too. Every tradition needs a constant inbreathing of the Holy Spirit and renewal.
Make sure that the fire is burning brightly. Keep praying and fasting and interceding and God will use that to break through...
We’re witnessing a lot of changes taking place in Europe. Where are we heading and how is the Church able to play a part in shaping the future?
To only call what’s going on today in Europe and purely secular isn’t accurate. Over and above secularity there’s a strong anti-God agenda in Europe today. The church in Europe has to return to a more radical interpretation of the Christian tradition, and as times get tougher and we're forced to pay a greater price for our faith, we need to remember that our saviour is not going to abandon us.
What do you think is the future of the state church as a state church? With EU legislation, how do you see that effecting the church of England and it’s legislation?
I think it will be a long time before the church’s legislation will change. The moment we’re excluded from the House of Lords and the church separated from the state, we’ll be losing a level of protection that is there today and putting ourselves in serious danger, but I think that will take time.
The British are an interesting breed. Take for example the abortion issue...there’s a law allowing late abortions, but there’s also an opt-out option for doctors who don’t want to carry out such an abortion. This is the English way...we want to keep a balance. But what’s now happened with the adoption issue is different. There’s no opt-out option, which shows that things are changing for the worse.
How can we be effective agents of change in our secular society?
Corporately as the Body of Christ.
As church in our local communities.
As individuals.
We can volunteer more than anyone else. We can help the poor more than anyone else. We can pick up litter when no-one else does. We can take care of the homeless... It's all about outdoing one another with our acts of love. The early church grew because they combatted lack and need by sharing everything. The more the early church was persecuted the more it spread. And the more the early church helped the broken the more it grew. Just keep outdoing the world in love! No longer wearing the label Anglican or Pentecostal, but as people of the Spirit. Also, be touched by Jesus every day and you’ll make a difference. There’s no other method than Jesus’ method. Just be like Jesus.
With an increasingly humanitarian and politically correct system of government in the UK, how do you see yourself interacting in it?
The role of the church is to be salt. If you remain in the salt cellar, it’s no good. Pray for your leaders and write to them about the things you feel God speaks to you about. I do that with Gordon Brown and I did that with Tony Blair. I warned him about my concerns over Iraq and have warned him about other things too, and he said to me that even though he knew I was one of the people most vocal about my disapproval of his government, he found it almost encouraging that I was consistent and that he could always expect a letter from me when he got something wrong, but also support when I felt right decisions were made. There should be no place where Christ people are not. All of life is in God and God is involved in all of life. We need Christians in politics and we need to continue to work for the welfare of the community.
We need to keep engaging and not be scared to speak. In the words of Master Yoda: Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering, and suffering leads to the dark side.
Banish your fear and your hate!
As Christians often there’s a lot of unforgiveness and tension within the church and finger-pointing that's really just based on a hunger for righteousness and justice. How do we harness our judgemental attitudes and channel our eagerness to be righteous in the right direction?
Do what my mother told me: Never point a finger at someone, because then you’re pointing three others back at yourself.
None of us is worthy except Jesus...we’re all on a level playing field. If you don’t forgive, the you’re demolishing the bridge that you’ll one day need yourself. Rebuking always has to be done from our knees. We need to be examining ourselves and asking God for a double-covering as we speak out. John the Baptist was harsh all the way. Our Lord also said tough things, but always related them to redemption and forgiveness. Take people to Jesus and leave them with him and he’ll deal with them!
What do you think stops Christians from making the difference they’re attempting to make. Does our western thought pattern affect how we interpret making God priority by putting him in a box?
We protect the things we love. Maybe of us look at sinners and don’t actually love them . They’re too raw and rough. I’d rather spend more time with a gutsy sinner than a hypocritical Christian. Hypocrisy is play-acting. Don’t play-act Christianity...
Let’s not separate the sacred from the secular. God is the God of all. Don’t make God too small.
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