invest

23rd July 2015

How Will You Invest?

Ben Askew MSC News, Uncategorized 5 capitals, discipleship, invest, money

Over the past month or so the news has been dominated by the Greece financial crisis. All this is a direct result of the worldwide financial crash of a few years ago. Finance and investment is a big deal for the whole world right now. The financial crisis has made us all more focused on getting value for money.

Whether we realize it or not, we are constantly thinking about

How to invest our time
Which relationships to invest in
How to invest our money

So we need to be asking:

“What does our investment look like from a ‘kingdom of God’ perspective?”

Over the last five Central Gatherings we have been talking about the ‘Five Capitals’:

Spiritual, Relational, Physical, Intellectual; Today we are looking at the last of the five capitals: How will we invest our financial resources in pursuing the Kingdom of God?

What is God saying to you & what are you going to do about it?

Jesus taught his disciples how to invest their time, energy, and money for a bigger return than just financial reward.

The Gospels are filled with parables and conversations around money, capital and investment.

In Matthew 13 we are given five parables about the ‘Kingdom of God’.

These parables show us that we need to sow, to search for and to sift out the Kingdom. There is work involved. They show us we need to invest in the Kingdom of God.

The good news that Jesus announced was that the true wealth of a life with God in his kingdom was now available to everyone. And you do not need to be rich to obtain it. It’s like a treasure a man found in a field, Jesus said. In his joy, he sold everything he had and bought the field! Or it’s like the merchant when he found a fine pearl he went away and sold everything and brought it. Do you realise that it is well worth trading the temporal for the eternal? It’s a much better investment.

It’s said that, Martin Luther, the man who began the Protestant movement, stressed these three types of conversions: conversion of the head, conversion of the heart, and conversion of the wallet.

Jesus talked about money quite a bit. He talked about how we could turn it into an idol, if we are relying on it for significance or security. But he also affirmed that it’s simply a form of capital that allows us to invest in other capitals that are worth more.

When did you last asses you finances in the light of your giving and investment in God’s kingdom?

Every year we should be doing a financial audit.

Ask yourself what am I investing in financially?

Often this will reveal to you what you see as important.
Now read Matthew 6 v 19-21.

David Williamson

The money image is by Lawrence Lew on Flickr

3rd July 2015

Be thoughtful about your 150

Ben Askew MSC News 5 capitals, dunbar, invest, relational capital

I came across this number when I was reading recently and found it challenging. According to the anthropologist Robin Dunbar, it is the number of significant relationships that the human brain can cope with.*

Like any theory this argument has been challenged and clarified, but the core idea makes sense – we can only process and hold a limited number of relationships. As a church we’re not far off this 150 limit. When we did a recent MSC audit we found out that there about 80 people committed to MSCs (including children) and a further 40 or so who regularly come along and are becoming increasingly involved. There are also a number of people part of Kairos who aren’t yet in an MSC. All this is good news! It means more people are discovering God as they connect with us. It is also a challenge – especially for those of us who like to know everyone. At the size we are now we can probably just about know everyone who is part of our church, but that may not leave much space for getting to know people who aren’t yet Christians and who may well need a friend just like you.

I want to challenge us to be thoughtful about our relationships. When I look at Jesus actions in the gospels I see someone who would give time to anyone but who would be very prayerful about those he really invested into. When he sends out the 12 and 72 he encourages them to do the same.

Are you trying to get to know everyone in Kairos? It might be time to stop, and to focus on going really deep with a few – not least your MSC. Be strategic about your relationships and be asking God: “Who do I need to invest some time into in right now?” and “Who do I need to ask to invest into me.?”

Have a great week! Ben.

*If your interested the book was Connected: The Amazing Power of Social Networks and How they Shape our Lives
The crowd image originally came from James Cridland on flickr.

6th May 2015

A Tent People – Kairos MSC News.

Ben Askew MSC News invest, Kairos Community, Kairos Connexion, Tent

It was fantastic to see so many gathered together for the Leaders and Network Learning Community last weekend. We have come a long way already and what was apparent is that we are learning together how to be released as communities of followers in the mission of Jesus.

I like the phrase we have sometimes used to describe Kairos: A TENT PEOPLE WITH A TENT MENTALITY. We believe in movement in response to God’s call. To accomplish this we must have a mentality, a state of mind, that embraces movement as our way of life.

Firstly this means TRUSTDallas Willard said “Jesus isn’t just nice, he’s brilliant!” We can trust in the brilliant Jesus who said “but seek first the kingdom and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33) – making plans on the basis of the kingdom in right relationship with God is the posture of trust for a tent person with a tent mentality.

Secondly, our tent mentality is to do with DEVELOPMENT.

Clearly Jesus expected his disciples to grow. For us this means admitting that we are called to be disciples, learning to develop as disciples through hearing and obeying God and choosing to deliberately make disciples by “….teachi[ng] them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 25:20).

Thirdly, a tent people with a tent mentality are into INVESTMENT.

We believe we have something invested in us by God to invest for the sake of the kingdom. As we invest our spiritual, relational, physical, intellectual and financial capital – all we have – in the kingdom there is a return.

To be a tent people – moving wherever and whenever God calls us we need to be people who TRUST, DEVELOP and INVEST. That is our mentality, and that is our challenge. Let’s keep moving!

Mark

16th April 2015

Investing into the Kingdom

Ben Askew MSC News 5 capitals, discipleship, invest, Kairos Community, Noah

Did you watch Noah on BBC1 the other week?

Its always good to see some Biblical drama acted out on our screens. The thing that struck me was the way in which they presented him as not even supported by his closest family until quite late on in the process of building. This was highlighted even more than the ridicule others gave him.

During Holy Week at one point I found myself reflecting on the way in which Jesus was ridiculed, willfully misrepresented and wrongly accused. He did little to respond, he was not able to much of the time, but what comes over is that he just got on with what the Father was calling him to do. Just as Noah did. Just as many of the Biblical characters did as they followed God’s call.

What we do will sometimes attract ridicule and misrepresentation. There will be moments of self-doubt, times that we are tempted to pull back from the brink. We will find we need to focus in on the main thing that we are called to do and…… just do it.

Having just led a small Kairos team on the Community of Practice we are part of (something like the Leaders & Teams Learning Community we hold twice a year) what emerged as we listened to God together was a challenge to make sure we focus on the main thing we are called to as a church: Releasing Communities of Followers in the Mission of Jesus. It’s not that we haven’t been doing this – but there was a definite feel of intensification – of the Holy Spirit emphasising our vision to be releasers of disciples in communities/extended families.

This term we are going to be focusing, in teaching, huddle, Learning Community and training, on investing the capital each of us has in the things of the Kingdom. I am beginning, with the help of the Vision Team and Base Team, to explore what it will look like to further invest in the release of effective communities – I believe we have only just started and hope you will continue, even if you feel a little like Noah must have done, to press on pursuing the vision God has given us.

Mark