Anyway, the service was amazing. The worship, again, made me cry (I've got a few thoughts about that), and the sermon spoke into my life in ways that needed speaking to. It was their last in a series on the 1st letter of John, which they've called, "A letter on staying close to Jesus." It talked about assurance, how you know you're a Christian (this whole "A Christian does not sin-that-leads-to-death" is really coming totally alive for me!!) and how our first response to sin (before loving, tearful, burdened confrontation steeped in prayer) should be intercession! Whoa hey...
The prayer time afterward God used (through a lovely Irish girl named Kate) to confirm a LOT of what I thought God was saying to me about this trip. And then, I met Jane and Mark. I'd mentioned to one of the senior pastors (also American) that I'd wanted to check out Summer Madness - the biggest Christian Festival in the UK, apparently - and she introduced me to siblings Jane and Mark. As a brief aside, I'm starting to pick up a bit of the "accent" - I would say more in the inflection of things, and the tone in which things are said rather than the actual pronunciation of words (I'm SO auditory). Because I'm so auditory, I've picked up on the way they say names differently: Mark introduced himself as MaRRRRk, as if the "R" were the most important part of the name. In England, the Mark I met there barely said the "R" at all - Like "Mahk." Maybe it's some odd conservation of "R's" thing...I wonder how it sounds to people when I say that name...to me it sounds "normal"...almost boring: "Mark." Short, no emphasis on any letter or leaving any letter out, perhaps slightly less emphasis on the "K" (maybe this is why some spell it with a "C"?)...
Something cool about Jane (besides her red-striped hair and Irish accent and how awesomely kind she is!) is that, on April 5, she was at the Seattle Vineyard on "holiday" (what they call "vacation" here) with some friends. She was staying in Vancouver, and wanted to find a Vineyard, so she drove down to my little church! I was not there that Sunday (I was on a retreat at Whidbey Island) but that was the day our worship leader got ordained as Pastor of Worship. She got to tell me about that service I was sad to miss!! Small world, eh?
Anyway, the festival was incredible. Jane and Mark were with me for bits of it - they had to run home for a family dinner (Mark is actually in town only for a weekend since he's part of a church plant down in Galway...). It was SOOOOO good to be with believers. I sat in on a Brian McClaren talk (I can see why the guy's controversial), as well a presentation by the principle of Belfast Bible College, David Shepard, called "Bible, Fact or Fiction." We stayed for worship and a message - again, the worship made me cry, and I received incredible prayer from three people - one of which was the speaker that evening. He spoke on that passage in Ephesians that gives God all the glory for being Someone who can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine and told this story:
"The man who led me to Christ was not a learned scholar or pastor. He was, simply, a person who read the Bible and found Jesus. He was asked to give a talk at a conference once and he spoke about how no body knew Jesus better than John did. He went on and on about how John was part of the 72 Jesus sent out and came back with questions: no body knew Jesus better than John did. He spoke about how John was part of the 12, following Jesus and doing as He did: No body knew Jesus better than John did. He spoke about how John was part of the intimate 3 at the end of Jesus' life and ministry: no body knew Jesus better than John did.
Of course, this guy went on for 45 minutes about something that the scholars either didn't already know but could easily grasp, or already knew. And then, he gave them the REAL punchline: In Revelation 1, John sees a vision of the heavenly Jesus and falls on his face as if dead. But wait, I think no body knew Jesus better than John did." He left the room for a coffee.
So, my point? There is ALWAYS more of Jesus to know, always more of the Father's Ways to understand, and Jesus does not wany to build on your current understanding of things. He wants to BREAK. OUT. OF. THEM."
He also talked about how receiving is remaining - abiding, essentially, waiting. Which is funny, because the sermon that morning talked about that, too. (My pastor in a recent sermon asked, "Have you ever had the experience in life where, everywhere you turn, everything seems to be saying the exact same thing?" Uh, yeah...for about 4 or 5 months I've constantly been reminded to "wait" It was even a bit ironic - the guy I "married" when I was six on the playground at school's name was Chad Waite. After our "wedding," (we tied grass around each other's fingers), I started writing "Megan Waite" on all my papers. Even though I got a talking-to by my father about that, my pastor turned that whole thing on its end and goes, "Yes, right now it IS "Megan, wait.").
I went up for prayer because the service coordinator TOTALLY called me out on ALL the words he got for people, and I waited. The familiar feeling of "No one ever approaches me, I have to do ALL the work myself - God? Why don't You send people after me ever? Why don't You come after me ever?" came on very strong. I approached a prayer ministry team member and her prayer really just made things worse - not because she was wrong, but because I couldn't handle it. I sank to the floor, sobbing, and wishing I could be at home (Seattle). Then, a girl my age approached me, prayed for me and prayed EVERY SINGLE prayer I'd prayed for myself recently (with the exception of one, but I can understand why that is not being addressed right now). And then, the guy who spoke (who told the "No body knew Jesus better than John did" story, prayed for me. He got words people have gotten for me before, plus prayers that confirmed what the girl my age (who asked to get in touch with me during facebook so she could hang out with me while I'm here!) had just prayed for me...
God is amazing. As if THAT weren't enough, two more other quick things:
1) Recently, God taught me that my very name means one of the deepest felt desires I have. You know the parable in Mattnew where it talks about the kingdom of heaven being like a merchant who goes out looking for a pearl and when he finds it, he sells everything he has to obtain the pearl? Well, about 6 months ago, a guy named Andy Glover explained to my congregation that the merchant was Jesus and the pearl was...YOU. Me. Us. My name, in Welsch culture, means "pearl." So, in a biblical sense, my name means "sought after pearl." And I thought my name was "random" - when my parents knew I was coming (at least, this what I was told), they each made a list of ten names, and "Megan" was the only one on both lists (and not very high up on either one, I don't think). Yeah, I'm a firstborn...(they also made a list of my first 200 words or so, and the date and place of where I said them...).
2) I'd been told to get out of town this weekend for the 12th of July. The locals here have said that it's a great thing if you want to see some culture, but it's sort of a commemoration of a rather nasty event and everything comes to a standstill, etc. Well, since I'm not a tourist - and I stand by that - I thought, "Well, when in Rome, do as the Romans." I'd wanted to get down to the Vineyard in Dublin anyway and was recommended by the lady I'm staying with to go down for at least a few days so I can have some time in Dublin. But, I didn't want to go by myself. Yesterday, while I was waiting for Jane and Mark to come back from their family thing (I'd decided not to leave even though I sort of wanted to since loneliness was crippling me - that was the word the service coordinator at worship that evening opened with!), I wandered around. (I found a t-shirt based on the verse my pastor and I had a REALLY meaningful conversation about a few years ago that comes up every once in a while in his work with me).
I ALSO discovered a way to go down to Dublin with other people, and not be a tourist while doing it: UrbanSoul. The thing was, it was this week! The 7th-the 11th. Which, in many ways was perfect, and in many ways was really last minute. I e-mailed them (since I don't have a phone and can't call) and heard back at 2:30 this morning -they would love to have me come! So, I'm going to Dubling tomorrow, and rushing around today to figure all of this out.
There is ALWAYS more of God to know. And my pastor really was right, right now it is "Megan, wait"...because receiving is remaining.
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