Lest anyone thinks the title of this blog post holds unsavoury connotations, let me hasten to reassure you that this has nothing to do with books! This is the title of an instrumental guitar piece by Phil Keaggy, one of the pieces performed at Abbey Road Baptist Church, London, last night (though the video is from an earlier performance).
‘Shades of Green’, Phil Keaggy

Phil Keaggy is one of Garry’s all-time heroes. Some time ago, Mark did a sermon on ‘Heroes’ (March 2011) and I could imagine Garry citing Phil Keaggy as one of the major influences on his life to date. Phil is an amazingly skilful guitarist whose solo career has spanned more than 30 years, including over 50 solo albums, both vocal and instrumental, as well as 8 releases with his band, Glass Harp. According to his website, “one of the most sought after studio guitarists, Phil also continues to sell out concerts all over the United States, with his ever-changing style, ranging from rock-and-roll to fully orchestrated instrumental compositions.” It’s extremely rare for him to visit England, so you can imagine the cold sweat with which Garry greeted an email last week informing us that he was doing 3 concerts in the UK this week before heading over to Europe for more concerts!

One of those concerts was in London on Friday 7th June. We immediately contacted a friend of ours who lives near London and who also is a big Keaggy fan, but vicarious enjoyment wasn’t enough for Garry! He decided this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend a concert in person and an opportunity not to be missed! I wasn’t able to go because of work commitments, but from the buzz of conversation in our household this morning, I missed a treat (but have CDs to compensate to some extent!)

The concert was held at Abbey Road Baptist Church, not far from the famous Abbey Road recording studios of Beatles’ fame:

Phil Keaggy getting ready to play:

Signing autographs for Garry:

Garry & the maestro:

I have trained people well to ask for ‘photos for the church blog’, so this is the official blog photo:

A little while ago we had new front doors fitted, but these had warped and needed to be fixed. Dave spent the day with the joiner who was sorting this out:

The panels removed:

Fitting new panels:

From inside:

Last night we enjoyed a beautiful sunny evening and took the opportunity to take a prayer walk around Bolton-on-Dearne and Goldthorpe, focussing on praying at the local churches. It was very different from January’s snow and wind, but it’s important to pray no matter what the weather!

We started at the Methodist church on Furlong Road in Bolton-on-Dearne and moved on to pray at St Andrew’s, the parish church:

St Andrew’s is a very old church; there has been a church on that site since Saxon times and we could see how the building has both old stone and new stone which has been added in when repairs were needed. Peter tells us “you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5) We are reminded of the faithful Christian witness in our locality over hundreds of years and the truth of Jesus’s words ‘I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.’ (Matthew 16:18) We are just the latest generation to serve God in our communities; we are immensely grateful for our spiritual heritage and pray that we may faithfully serve our generation and sow seeds which will bear fruit in years to come as well.

From there, we moved on to Goldthorpe, praying first at the Salvation Army building:

New doors and windows have just been added here and we are grateful for all that can be done to improve the buildings. Even more exciting is the community work being done by this local church to help the poor and needy and the spiritual fruit they are seeing from this work. We prayed that the motto of ‘Blood and Fire’ would continue to be relevant, for our salvation is based on the sacrifice of Jesus and we need the fire of the Holy Spirit to empower our daily lives.

The Catholic Church in Goldthorpe is no longer meeting in this building:

Instead, it holds meetings at the building of the Anglican church:

St John’s and St Mary Magdalene’s Church is a very different building to St Andrew’s. The church was designed by Alfred Y. Nutt of Slough in 1914 and built between 1915-16. It is an interesting early example of the use of re-enforced Ferro-concrete for both the building of churches and for church furniture. It is due to the unusual design, the revolutionary building technique and the materials used that have resulted in the Church and Presbytery being awarded Grade 2* listing status. Once again, we were struck by the diversity of the church buildings and how this reflects the diversity within each church community. God is a God of infinite variety and there is room for all kinds of buildings and traditions in His house!

We also prayed for the Marist convent in Goldthorpe.

As part of June’s prayer focus, we prayed not only for the ministries of the churches but also for those who have once attended but no longer do so to be drawn back to fellowship. We are grateful for the work that God is doing in every local church and for both the diversity and unity within these churches. We prayed for the relationships between the churches, that we may all work together in proclaiming the Gospel and in reaching out to those who do not yet know God’s love.

We had a great time!

The prayer meeting this Thursday (6th June) will take the form of a prayer walk, starting at the Methodist Church on Furlong Road in Bolton-on-Dearne. We will be walking around Bolton and Goldthorpe, praying especially for the local churches in these places and for those who have backslidden. All are welcome to join with us; we will end by meeting at church.

Continue to pray for those who once were close to God but who seem no longer to be interested in walking with Him or serving Him. Pray for God to rekindle the fire in their lives and for them to surrender again to God’s love and understand that He is the only way they can know peace and fulfilment in their lives.

Here are some further thoughts on chains, from a blog I regularly read by Nell Goddard (’Musings of a Clergy Child’, ‘Chains’)

“The chains of insecurity, of worthlessness and of anxiety weigh us down, even as they are undone.

But while we concentrate on the dead weight around our wrists and ankles, what we forget to remember is that the truth can, and the truth will, set us free. If only we were to raise our eyes from the ground, we would see a man, hanging on a cross, asking for our chains. Telling us he loves us. Telling us we’re worth it. Telling us not to worry because he’s got it under control, so we don’t have to. Telling us The Truth. And if we do raise our eyes from the ground, if we do stop to listen, just for a moment, if we do take a deep breath and, in faith, shake off those chains that have bound us for so very long, if we do listen to The Truth and choose to believe it, then it really will set us free.” (Nell Goddard, used with permission).

This song by Tim Hughes (‘Holding Nothing Back’) captures the thoughts we have been exploring in the family service on ‘Chains’:
“I am chosen,
I am free
I am living for eternity
Free now forever
You picked me up, turned me around
You set my feet on solid ground
Yours now forever.

Nothing’s going to hold me back
My chains fell off, my heart was free
I’m alive to live for You
I’m alive to live for You
Amazing love, how can it be?
You gave everything for me,
You gave everything for me.” (Tim Hughes, ‘Holding Nothing Back’)
Tim Hughes, ‘Holding Nothing Back’

Other songs which talks about chains and the freedom we have in Christ:
“The wonder of Your love
Will break the chains that bind us;
The power of Your touch
Releases us to worship.” (Hillsong, ‘The Wonder of Your Love’)
Hillsong, ‘The Wonder of Your Love’

“Like a rolling stone, like a runaway train
No turning back, no more yesterdays
My heart is free, no chains on me
God, You raise me up, up from the grave
The cross before, I’m on my way
My heart is free, no chains on me.” (Chris Tomlin, ‘No Chains On Me’)
Chris Tomlin, ‘No Chains On Me’

“My chains are gone
I’ve been set free
My God, my Saviour has ransomed me
And like a flood, His mercy rains
Unending love, amazing grace.” (Chris Tomlin, ‘Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)’)
Chris Tomlin, ‘Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)’

We also had a birthday to celebrate in advance:

The predominant symbolism of chains these days is connected to oppression. We think of chains as being used to repress, to bind, to tie up, to enslave, to restrict. Prisoners who are handcuffed and then kept chained up remain the main way we think about chains.

Psalm 107 talks about prisoners in chains and God breaking these prisoners free from the chains that bind them. Psalm 116:6 says ‘You have freed me from my chains.’ Galatians 5:1 tells us “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Symbolically, anything that holds us back from doing what God has told us to do or from being what He wants us to be is like a chain that binds us. God wants us to be free from sin and oppression, to live as He wants us to live:

“We are free to love
Like our God has loved
We are free to give like He gave.

We are free from sin.
We are free to begin
To forgive as He forgave.
We are free.” (Aaron Shust, ‘We Are Free’)

If we are to know freedom from the chains that oppress us, we have to:
1. Recognise that Christ’s victory on the cross means victory for us
We might not be able to break the chains that bind us ourselves – which discourages us and leads us to believe that we’re doomed to be chained up forever – but God has “condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Rom 8:4). Because Christ has won the victory over sin and death on the cross (see Col 2:15), we are free to “receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness” and to “reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!” (Rom 5:17)

2. Understand that Christ’s love is greater than any other force we may experience
“The wonder of Your love
Will break the chains that bind us
The power of Your touch
Releases us to worship.” (‘The Wonder of Your Love’, Hillsong)
When we really grasp the lavishness of the Father’s love for us (1 John 3:1, Rom 8:37-39), when we realise that nothing we do or don’t do can alter God’s extravagant love for us, when we catch even a glimpse of that unfailing love, we are set free!

3. Surrender to Jesus
Only God has the right to be the boss of our lives. “Your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price.” (1 Cor 6:19-20)

Chains can be broken dramatically, in an instant; or unravelled gradually and patiently over time. But the chains that do bind us can be broken by the power of the name of Jesus. We only need to surrender to Him and understand that His love and His victory unlock every chain. Then we can live in the freedom He has purchased for us, with no chains on us, with our feet on solid ground.