6 AUG 2023 · A Framework of Redeeming Chronic Pain

6 AUG 2023 · The experience of Chronic Pain from several different perspectives and a Framework of Redeeming Chronic Pain.

24 JUN 2023 · How can we utilize the watching of this film 'Jesus Revolution' to develop the discussion of the relevant themes and issues between the 1960s Jesus People who the traditional church struggled to accept with the issues of our own day? Many of the hippies of Southern California in the 1960s were becoming followers of Jesus. But the traditional churches did not accept them and there was a lot difficulty experienced by all people involved. Songwriters like Keith Green and Don Francisco came out of the Jesus Movement and many contemporary worship songs were influenced by these songwriters. There are several relevant factors that can be applied with the film and our own times in 2023. What are they? How can we develop this into creating something for marginalised subcultures in our own day?

15 MAR 2023 · In Acts 4v34 it says that there was 'no one in need'. This is because they sold their possessions and even sold their houses. The neediness in the early Ecclesia in Acts 4 was based on how vulnerable they were. This vulnerability created authentic community that in turn became a powerful witness to those who did not know Jesus. The unselfish sacrificial lifestyle and willingness to be vulnerable was powerful therefore. The way that the vast majority of the Western Church tends to be somewhat superficial. How are you we ask in our churches. 'I'm fine' we respond. This is all pervasive and creates a superficiality. The tragedy is that people are doing 'fine' mostly because so many have affluent materialistic lives in most Western churches. Yet, even when people are not doing 'fine' because they are in a season of suffering, we still tend to settle and hide behind the mask of 'I'm doing fine'. To genuinely love each other we have to take a risk to be vulnerable. The things we long for like connection, love, belonging, purpose and meaning are all connected to the necessity to be vulnerable in some capacity. The reason is that so many people in the West are isolated, lonely, marginalised and lack a sense of belonging. In this podcast I discuss Brene Brown's research findings on vulnerability and compare the deep principles of vulnerability with the roots of all human psychology in Eden and how the fig leaves are still very much in place in modern Western Christianity because there is such a lack of willingness to be vulnerability in order to cultivate authentic connection, community and love that shows the world who Jesus really is.

17 JAN 2023 · How do we Interpret our story? Well most of us do not Interpret our story. We can all admit that we don't normally interpret our lives well. But Interpretation of our story can help to crystallise the essence of who we are or who we are becoming. The Category of Warfare is crucial because the whole backdrop of the Bible which is about God's bigger story from Creation to New Creation will characterize some aspects of our lives. Of course balance is needed but it is not wise to completely ignore this category. For example there are seasons of the Fog of war when we lose direction, drop the ball and feel like we have lost our way. Knowing how to break agreements with mental strongholds is important in these seasons. The category of Desires is also crucial. I have talked much about Desires in his podcast series on Interpretation as well as this LifeQuest podcast. We tend to believe that we live in a small story and so we miss the Bigger Story. But the Bigger Story is always going on. Brother Lawrence washed dishes in a remote monastery in a previous century, so it would be easy to assume that he lived in a small insignificant story. But kings came to him for advice, because he practiced the presence of God, he lived in God's bigger story. So the Bigger Story is always going on, but we need spiritual eyes to see, so we ask God...'What is the expression of the essence of who I am' or who I am becoming by your Grace'?

7 DEC 2022 · One of the concepts that can help keep us awake, alive, diligent and as whole hearted as we can be in a fallen world is the idea of Interpretation. How many of us regularly Interpret our lives, our story, our hearts, our calling, our vocation? It is not something if we are honest that we engage with much. It is not really our default disposition is it? I wonder why not? Maybe the society we live in, the relentless onslaught of busyness that consumes our lives. Unforeseen circumstances, social fragmentation, all the 'lsm's aka the ideologies that have shaped our culture like Individualism and Consumerism, just those two 'Isms' will direct us into living in a much smaller story than God's Bigger Story of His Kingdom. So how do we Interpret our lives? This is what this podcast is about. 'Above ALL ELSE guard your heart, for out of it spring the issues of life' says Proverbs 4v23 This will take about 3 podcasts on this topic.....If you would like to explore this idea of how you interpret your own life story, and would like to go on a journey of getting your heart back if you are able to be honest enough to admit, that crucial aspects of your true heart are buried....then email me at...thebiggerstory1@gmail.com My name is Nigel Mohammed of Life-Quest ministry. I teach, facilitate, mentor, and write. We can do this 4 week course on our Calling in the context of our whole life story on Zoom if you live in a different area or even different country. Or we can do it in person one to one or in a group. I run this course at a local Community Hub where I live on the South Coast of England. Again...thebiggerstory1@gmail.com

7 DEC 2022 · 4 Key Questions that Dan Allender, a Christian author, speaker, and psychologist clarifies in his book 'To Be Told' can help us significantly to get the clarity that we all need. To Be Told is about our Story because we all have a story....that needs to be told. How many of us get to speak our story with someone who truly listens well and provides much needed insight and counsel? Its rare is it not? I wonder why? That's another topic about the state of both the culture we live in and the state of modern 'church' run by the 'priesthood of SOME believers'. The 4 Questions are: WHO am I to serve? WHERE am I to be? WHAT burden am I to bear? HOW am I to engage?

10 AUG 2022 · Sometimes God brings disruption into our lives but it is to redirect our lives. It is also to bring to the surface deeper underlying issues in our lives, in our hearts, our relationships and our character. In a time of disruption when our story feels stuck, we have to let ourselves FEEL what we are REALLY feeling however difficult and painful because God is up to something. This is a follow up to my first podcast on 'When your story stalls Part 1. It's been a little while- maybe that's because my own story stalled!! How uncomfortably ironic! In times of upheaval and disruption one of the valuable things we can do to help facilitate our way forward is to bring to God specific Questions. Here are some Questions related to Reorientation. When we are in a time of upheaval, transition, and disruption with all that goes with that, we need clarity. Questions can bring clarity. What parts of my life are not fully awake, alive and free? What am I lacking in this moment that I will need for the coming season? What will I need going forward? What specifically do I need to bring from the previous season into the next? What have you put in my heart- that its time has come? How am I to walk with others differently?

24 JUN 2022 · Have you ever experienced a feeling of being stuck in your life. The feeling of being stuck in our lives is about much deeper underlying and historical factors of the story we have lived in. Story and Identity are crucial because we can only know who we are because of our story. We can feel a sense of shame when our life becoems stuck, especially men. There are different kinds of 'stuck'. Some of the issues that we can struggle with when feeliing stuck are just to mention a few: Insignificance; a lack of identity; meaninglessness; a lack of purpose and direction; no sense of vision or calling; a feeling that we are drifiting through life from one thing to the next but locked into a particular pattern, that can feel paralysing. Because of the way we are taught to live in Western culture our first impulse when things go wrong or we feel stuck is to 'fix it', so we start 'doing' something to make it better. But God HImself may well be in the very stalling of our story because he is trying to get our attention. Busyness can define our lives but can also be a 'cover up' for not having to feel. Busyness can equal a sense of meaning. But something or Someone has to DISRUPT our story to make us FEEL certain things- so that as i say, God can get our attention. He sometimes gets our attention through a 'divine discontent' and this means that God is actuall IN the painful emotions, bringing them to the surface to perform 'heart surgery'. When our story stalls or we feel stuck, there is always something going on IN THE HEART. You cannot commit to a LARGER story if you have LOST HEART or go numb. You are on the sidelines when you check out on a HEART level. So HOW do you NOT LOSE HEART in a season of feeling stuck?.....

19 MAR 2022 · The early Ekklesia from AD32 to AD313 was a persecuted minority on the margins. But it was a Movement that did not have much of what the Western Institutional Church has today. After AD313 when Constantine established the Edict of Milan which permanently established - toleration for Christianity within the Roman empire- the marginalised persecuted Ekklesia radically changed and became part of the empire through this Edict of Milan. 3 eras of different modes of 'Church' are discussed in this podcast based on a book by Alan Hirsh called 'The Forgotten Ways'. After AD313 the Institutional Church that now met in buildings was fundamentally Attractional, meaning you had to get people to go to church. However, in the last 10-15 years there has been an emerging Missional mode of the Ekklesia that is marked by pioneering, innovation, missional, non-institutional, decentralised, not based in buildings. It is grass roots and marked by movement so is not static like buildings are. The book 'The Forgotten Way' by Alan Hirsch was inspired by a Question: How did the Ekklesia go from 25,000 in AD100 to 20 million just before Constantine in 325AD? How did it go from a persecuted marginalised minority, a small movement to the most significant force in the Roman empire in the previous 200 years? What did the early Ekklesia NOT have that the Western Institutional top down hiearchal church run by professionals has in abundance? In the early Ekklesia before AD313 there were no institutions, no buildings, no religious professionals, no seeker sensitive services, no youth groups, no worship leaders or worship services. Moreover, the ealry Ekklesia made it hard to become part of it because of the persecution they faced, so they had to know that people were deeply committed and prepared to die for the Lord Jesus. Historically, God's people have had the most powerful impact on the culture in a much less institutional mode of church.