A reader writes: I had a fresh encounter with God
Hi Brian, my name is xxx I am an outreach practice nurse/ counselor / chaplain in [the UK] with people who are asylum seekers, homeless, addicted and others hungry for a faith that makes sense.
I wanted to write to let you know that four years ago your books started me on a new journey with God and helped me to reconcile many seemingly conflicting strains of thought. I started by reading “The story we find ourselves in” and then read “The secret message of Jesus” followed by Adventures in missing the point , A new kind of Christian, The church on the other side and A generous Orthodoxy all in a few months. somewhere in this process I had a fresh encounter with God where I felt he just wanted me to go out and call disciples – to go about doing good works and to just take people with me . I was especially challenged by the idea of being Blessed to be a Blessing . I initially bought and old van and called it the Blessing van and then God provided stuff and we went about helping people to set up home and just doing anything our hands found to do looking to be a blessing wherever we could . Blessed to be a blessing is our moto We have not started a new church but try to help people find a church where they feel as though they fit and we try to encourage the churches not to possess people but rather to see themselves as nurturers for part of a persons journey.
People from many different church groups have joined with us at various times whilst continuing in their original church communities and I can honestly say that I can no longer see more than one church in our city /land or even world world We are a faith venture-but an ” Ok God what are we doing today!”venture not an organisation and God has lead and provided amazingly we seek to bless anyone and everyone; churches, government agencies, individuals, givers and recipients. I still work part time as a nurse several others have decided to do the same and work part time to share with us too. We very loosely call ourselves “City Saints in Action”
Thank you for your obedience to God in writing these and other of your books which I have read and read them more than once and I find them a constant source of inspiration and encouragement. We are about to start up a discussion group around A generous orthodoxy as several people have said that they are hungry to re examine their beliefs.
Every Blessing be on you and your house,
There’s nothing more encouraging than hearing someone has been encouraged through my books to launch out in a venture as you have. Thanks so much. You’ve made my day – actually, my week!