honesty 2

I have been really busy today, all good, well almost. but there we go. Carrying on from yesterday, as I was thinking about my own honesty and how I express that everywhere, I was more aware of expressing my true feelings about my own personal situation and this led me to think of other peoples situations.

As different people have different faces they use for different areas of their lives, there is also the issue of those we are supposedly close to, carrying around huge burdens, that they never talk about, or they don't seem bothered about, because they have that face on everytime we see them, that says they are coping.

There is also the case that sometimes we ask someone if they are ok, they say yes and we leave at that, even though it is probably obvious that they are not.

How honest are we about our own needs? Will we ask for help? Do we not like to draw attention to ourselves? Is it a case that nobody loves a martyr? Are we in denial? Are we expecting God to help, when God wants His people to act and we are not letting His people know there is a problem?

On the other side of things, do we respond to need? Are we looking for it? Are we walking about with our eyes closed, because we don't really want to get involved? Are we scared of getting involved? Are we scared, we will not know how to help, or we will be out of our depth? Are we disobeying God, when He is asking us to help, but we don't want to?

I want to be more aware of others needs and try and respond, however little, I have to try. I also have to be more honest about my own situation, without acting like a martyr.

Honesty

Tanya, my wife said to me the other day, I should be as passionate at home as I am when I am out and about. She did not mean in a husband and wife way ( I hope) but she did mean about how excited and animated I get when I get the chance to speak about God and what is going on in our lives and then I come home and I don't seem to pass that passion on to my wife and kids. Surely I should be as excited about my life at home, as when I am when I am praising God in a church, or speaking to someone in the street, or doing some dirty job for a stranger. I think I sometimes get caught up in the mundane, or the things that get me down, I think about in the quiet times at home, or when I get up in the morning I am so moody, and that is what the people closest to me see. I don't think it is very healthy and certainly does not pass on to my children what I am doing and why.

Well on Monday, I got this in my head, I got all excited about being at home, and was rushing around getting things done, being lively and passionate. I needed to pop to the shops, so I got the baby, jumped in the car and duly reversed into the lovely Alfa Romeo parked opposite my house, damaging it quite badly, although my car is ok. I talked to the neighbours and found whose car it is, he was brilliant and we exchanged insurance details. All of a sudden though, it is hard to stay up and happy at home, what a test. I was sad for a while, for being so stupid, but I have regained my composure and drive. I am glad to report, the finishing of the Heasley prayer room located in 'spare oom' of the Heasley household. Pictures to follow. I have to stay focused and passionate, its how God made me and what He wants me to be, everywhere.

I have more to say on this, which I will continue tomorrow.

WHO

Who do I look to when I am in trouble? What do I expect of people? Do I blame? Should I?

Do I take responsibility? How do I respond to others? In my darkest hours, who do I have an issue with, why do I have an issue with someone?

Who feeds me? Who strengthens me? Who advises me ? Who supports me? Who loves me?

I have to take it all back to God, I have to rely on Him. Those in a mission field, without support that some of us take for granted, must know what it feels like to truly rely on God, that must be hard and desperate sometimes, but also real and humbling, especially when the supernatural happens, the miracles, the answers to prayer.

Shouldn't we all be in that place, do we put man or church where God should be, God will never let you down, Jesus said ' I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.'

Jesus is the answer to need, He is the strength, His word advises me, He loves me and will never let me down and I love just writing that, because I believe it.

ALL TALK

I have been concerned that my last 2 posts have been a bit negative and judgemental, something I have been working through at the moment is getting people to do.

In the middle classes, communism and other forms of government, there is a mentality of doing, or else, there is a direct line, this is where we are going, get moving now. I want to get people moving, I want them to get off their backsides , I want people to start living what they are saying. I am becoming more aware that it is not my place to bully and badger and there should not be a guilt trip involved. At the same time I am becoming aware that keeping your mouth shut is not healthy either.

How do you find a balance? The biggest thing I have to learn is to not worry what others are doing, the important thing is what I do. This is also the most important way to get a point across, by showing, by doing, myself.

I also have to be honest about what I am doing, share, not sell, explain, not tell, and then let it go, once I have shared something, I have to let it go, don't dwell. ( I am sure there is a poem in there somewhere, probably ending in hell, I'll work on it)

I was reading Philip Yanceys book yesterday ' Reaching for the Invisible God' This what he says;

' Coercion has never succeeded very well in remaking people, which is why few doctrinaire marxists and fewer still doctrinaire nazis remain in the world. Even utopians have had to agree that human change occurs best from the inside out.'

Only God can truly change people, I can just try to be what He wants me to be and allow Him to change me from the inside out.

As for sharing and explaining, I believe a time is coming when God wants me to start to speak more, more loudly, more often. I think He is making sure I will do it the right way, His way.

Birthing pains

I had to be a bit careful about what picture I used today, you get the idea. Giving birth is hard, it is painful, I am glad I am not a woman, actually I am not glad I'm not a woman, I'm just trying to say that it looks very difficult to carry a child and give birth, and I am not saying I want to be a woman, just that I'm not against it, as I think women are cool and the whole life giving thing is pretty amazing, I'm glad I got that clear and have completely gone off my original subject.

So giving birth is hard, growing something and giving it freedom are difficult things to do, it is painful, but it is also really happy, I have been there, cut the cord and all that, I was really worried for Tanya at times, I was scared, but we have 3 wonderful children, for Tanya there were prices to pay, for 9 months, with each child, she had to watch what she ate, she couldn't drink, she couldn't move as well, she will tell you, her body has paid a price, the labours were exhausting, ( except for Mason, who only took an hour, probably exhausting too) but look what she got out of it, look what I got out of it, look what the whole of our family and friends got out of it, blessed. I could go on to talk of the worry and stress of parenthood, but I won't, I'm talking now about the joy of birth.
I remember when my oldest Morgan was born, my father in law dropped me off at about 4am near my house, I strolled off home, walking down the middle of the road, hoping someone would stop and ask me what I was doing, so I could tell them, 'I have a son', I felt on top of the world, brimming over.

Sometimes I don't like to think of the painful things I have to go through to grow, but I think it is necessary, discipline, honesty, submission, can be dirty words. They are birthing pains, they are growing pains, they are needed for growth, because through them, I am set free, overflowing, ready to walk down the middle of the road somewhere and tell the world why I feel so alive.

Going on from my last line, I have changed the video on my video bar to some P.O.D. , a bit heavy, great lyrics, great chorus, listen away

Just Thinking

Right now, I am in a place where I want to know where I am going, where I am meant to be, what I am meant to be doing. I don't know. That is ok.

I think sometimes you just have to go and do it anyway. In Matthew chapter 18:18, Jesus says to His disciples, whatever they loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven, whatever they bind on earth will be bound in Heaven. I really believe, some people are sitting, waiting for something specific in their lives, some kind of word, when God has already given it. Sometimes there are times when I and I suspect a lot of others feel like they have a word for someone, or we feel someone needs prayer, or even we feel like we should be doing something physically to help someone, we don't, or more probably, we ask God to confirm, we ask God for a sign. He has already given it.

If you feel you have that word, or that action to do, do it. Jesus, in that passage, I believe, is saying, step out in faith, you already know I am with you, step out and I will back you up. You have His word, stop waiting for signs and start being what God intended you to be. I will make a special point, that I am writing this to me, to remind me, to encourage me to step up and out.

Discipline

I am finding I am being called right now, to be more disciplined. I don't think this is a bad thing, good picture though, and I want to know where I can get a good cage.

I have started getting up earlier, I feel good getting up early in the morning, before everyone else, I put God first, I'm in a better mood when everyone else gets up and I have more of a day.

What has also helped here, is me stopping drinking so much. I used to drink every night, at home, out, wherever, a lot. Now I don't. I like a drink, now I have a beer socially, it is important, I am healthier, my mornings are better and my mind is clearer.

Tanya and I have been talking today about putting time together with God, it is important, it is also something I think God is doing. As we step out more in faith, it is important that our relationship with God is good, that we are disciplined and spending time with God.

One of the biggest things I have noticed in my house now, is our reaction to the tv.

The tv used to be on, and it was our duty to find something to watch, if there was nothing on, something would do, anything, and it used to be the case that there were certain things on, we couldn't miss. Things were the wrong way round. If there is something I want to watch, I put the tv on, if there is not, it is off, and tv programmes do not come before living and doing. I sometimes just like to mong out, but it is a rarity, there is so much to do.

Of course, I have to be careful that the computer does not become the new tv, I also have to be careful what I am watching on the internet. I just have to make sure I am doing first and have some discipline.

The 70s

My apologies but I have had to implement the word verification on comments, due to spam commenters. Do you think that is someones job, do they tell other people that is their job, 'Hi I'm a spam commenter' or is that commentator? Anyway, the 70s.............

I was born in 1976, so I did not live in very much of the 70s, but memories I have a plenty, and I can easily start singing that Sandi Thom song about how things were different and better, how as we have advanced, we have killed off so much good.

I am told that in Bhutan they no longer measure the wealth of their country in terms of financial wealth (GDP) but in happiness ( GNH), and one of my brothers tells me that they measured the gross national happiness of the UK on the same scale as the Bhutanese, over the last 50 years and found that peoples happiness increased up to the year 1976 and from then it has decreased. Now it is easy to say that once I was born the world became a sadder place, but I think there is more to it than that.

Did we suddenly reach a point, where our priorities changed. I watched a film over Easter, the Bad News Bears. The kids in it were ugly, badly dressed delinquents, one was an immigrant, the others had all sorts of family issues. I don't think it mattered, it was an enjoyable family film, cheesy, pretty crap, badly acted and simple. The type of film that just would not be made today, or at least with a better looking, better dressed, politically correst cast. How we have complicated things. My son asked me the other day, are hand me downs an American thing?

We need to get back to simpler things, like hand me downs and community, its ok to be ugly and badly dressed, its ok to be poor, its ok to have 'issues'. Where else are we heading?

Who do we think we are

I was just thinking about the nature of God's love and comparing it to our own nature.

I was in a supermarket the other week, and there was a young lady walking about with her kids, music blaring from a mobile, talking so loud that everyone could hear her conversation, dressed as chavs with rollerskate trainers and fashion conscious names like chelsea and britney. I was embarrassed, why?
I see road users that don't think of others, whether it effects me or not, why do I get so angry.
Youths in the high street the other day, swearing as I walk past, no respect.
The person walking out of somewhere, who has to stop in my way to light up a cigarette, because they could not wait a moment longer, as if.

I have been a too loud, fashion conscious (supposedly), road raging, chain smoking, swearing person. What have I become. A person that looks at others and judges.

Is the church ready for all of the above and more, without judging. Has the church become so middle class that we cannot relate to anybody in the real world, have we lost our salt or scarily worse, do we put our faith out of reach of those who desperately need it.

How would any church react on a Sunday morning, to a loud chav, a disrepctful youth, an angry chain smoker, how about to loads of kids who had never set foot in a church and ran around out of control, or someone off their heads on something we have never heard the name of, or a prostitute battered and bruised from a hard nights work.

We expect. People should have respect, they should know, they should................Why?

Jesus hung about with prostitutes and thieves. He saw them as people. Full stop.

It is time to get over what we know and start listening to the one who knows.

clearing out

I am finding it really easy to blog at the moment, probably because I am unemployed, I have a lot of time to think, I am trying to use my time off, (because I just consider myself as having some time off, will have job soon) as energetically and productively as possible. Tanya would say I am missing the point, but I like being busy.

So at the moment I am having a big clear out all around the house, not quite like the picture above, but I am also straining, haha. I am being quite harsh on objects in my life and throwing a lot away, it is hard but I believe it is healthy. We all carry around things in our lives we do not need, or want, or have even looked at for 10 years. We say it has sentimental value. That is why it is in a box, collecting dust, using up space, not being used, what a waste. cleaning out is good, maybe it also forces us to look at our lives in the same way.

I was talking about a lot of time to think earlier and as I'm clearing out, my mind is processing, memories, choices, journeys. I can see where I was, where I am now. With so much time to think I do find my self veering off into that other life sometimes, in my head, I think thoughts that I shouldn't be thinking and I understand Paul, talking about capturing every thought.

It is good to dream, to plan, to meditate. Just be wary, keep focus.

Starting Over

I am aware that Monday morning is not exciting for everyone, it is a new time of oppurtunity though. For me, right now, it is more of me changing, a new week, a new push to be more disciplined, more priority moving, more sorting out and stripping back.
I got up 20 minutes earlier this morning, part of my new routine, I hope that becomes half hour and then an hour, time I want to devote to God and putting Him first in my day, small changes, manageable changes, one step at a time changes, but importantly making these decisions and putting God first.


All of the people mentioned on Saturday are from Northern Ireland, but are not well known for being so, at least to the people I know.

It has been an interesting weekend, God speaking in peculiar places. You have to listen.
I watched a band on Saturday night, I really started to think about a friend of mine as the music played, a friend who is not saved. I will be praying for him, I will be speaking to him, I feel God is pursuing him.

On Sunday, on our way to church, we were late, I really felt God say, He was going to interrupt our meeting( a term used by my brother Brian, see his blog). He interrupted our whole day, I really felt I was able to respond to some different peoples needs, to help, to be Jesus' hands and feet, mouth and ears. I love Sunday morning church meetings, worshipping God and hearing something to build you up for the week ahead, I think that you have to be ready to respond to God. That might mean missing Sunday morning, or a small group, or an event. meetings, events, groups, all build us up, all teach us something and fellowship is so important, but without action, without responding to God, they cease to be important.

The guy speaking yesterday, Albert, spoke brilliantly and one of the points he made was when Jesus asked Peter, 'Do you love me more than these?' and then he went on to question what is the 'these' in your life? Is it telly, or having a beer, or a nice car/house/holiday/football, or is it Sunday morning church service? Do we love these things, do we put these things before Jesus, before loving, serving and living Him.?

Weakness

This is speed blogging, I have no time, but wanted to write something. Easter weekend and all that goes with it.

I have a bad temper, I can be moody when I am tired, when I first wake up, I can be impatient, sometimes I get roadrage, I can be condescending, patronising, egotistical, lustful, argumentative, lazy, selfish, work mad and probably loads of other things.

I am weak. I will tell you I am weak, I want the world to know I am weak, I think it is important to admit weaknes, to get help, to show solidarity and most importantly, to realise my strength does not lie in me, it is in God, I am grateful that He gives me the strength to admit my weakness, to learn from my weakness, to challenge my weakness.

Through that weakness there is strength, strength in Him, strength from God.

'I am weak, but He is strong.'

judgement

Seems to be a theme running through my day, something that I, my wife and a close friend have all experienced in different ways today. I will only talk about me.

Today in work, a lot of people were sitting around making some ridiculous comments about some people currently in the public eye, absolutely tearing these people apart, running them down with all sorts of names and judgements, based generally on the opinion of one newspaper, they backed up their judgements with more gossip from other media. I challenged them, and got involved in a good debate at work, as I quite often do, was challenged on judging myself and hopefully got people to think a bit more, or just slag me off as soon as my back was turned. Who knows?

I believe most judgement, and I am not talking the court type, I am talking about the judgements we all make every day, are based on ignorance, based generally on not knowing, or maybe not caring, or wanting to care, they are based on not knowing the full facts, and a lot of the time even knowing the people involved. I do it.

Last night driving home, the traffic on one of the roads was abysmal, all caused by one driver, stopping and starting, slowing up, he finally pulled over, everyone went past. I was fuming, he delayed me from getting home, he obviously should not be driving and plus he was a foreigner, and at that thought, the penny dropped...........he was lost in a foreign country, and what did I do to help, drove past glaring, until I realised what an idiot I am. What an oppurtunity missed, oh what a fool.

One of my favourite verses in the bible is John 3;17 ' But God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.'

How quick we condemn and judge, its not our job.

speed camera

Just a quick thought really, when I was driving this morning, I slowed down for a speed camera, it made me think, isn't slowing down for the camera hypocrisy, some would say it is clever, I don't want points on my license and a fine, at the end of the day though, I am only following the law, when the law is looking.

It got me thinking, is there a way some people act, in front of the church, or friends or work colleagues, because they are 'on camera', racing about life, looking like everything is going swimmingly, they are in touch, they are out there, the real deal, we only see them the way they want to be seen, or is this something in all of us? Are there those who want to be caught, are there those that constantly make the camera flash on purpose, are there those that when they pass our cameras, they are going so slowly, we just don't see them? I could go on, I won't.

Just a thought, maybe worth expanding, God in the detail.

judging

Sometimes I have a real big problem with 'people', no one in particular, just people.

They get on my nerves, they get in my way, they annoy me, I have no patience for them, I judge them, I am wrong.

It really is a good job God isn't like me, we would probably all be gone by now, maybe a few people here and there who are just cool and put God in a good mood, but generally we would all be no more. God must have got like that before the whole flood business, fortunately Noah was obedient and had a relationship with God. Anyway.....

I was telling you I am wrong. Want some examples, here we go.....

Non disabled drivers in disabled parking spaces, I walk along checking for disabled stickers

Chavs........, one of the biggest reasons I judge them, for they're lack of independent thought, I am a snob, I hate Primark, full of people who cannot speak or dress properly, have no manners and no respect.

Snobs, those who look down on others, I tend to pick on, intimidate even, get them to think.

The middle classes who think they know what is best for everyone, without understanding a thing, wanting to ban everthing that does not fit into a box they do not have to fit into themselves. ( I really can't stand middle class communists, contradiction in terms).

Rude people, I am incredibly rude to rude people.

Unbelievably I could go on, I am wrong, I am a contradiction in terms. I am trying to change, I am stopping myself. You may even look at the list and say, no, you're right about such and such.

I am not.

Jesus said do not judge.

I have even read commentaries which say BUT, well Jesus did not say but, man did, jesus said do not judge or you too will be judged. Full stop.

Love, guide, understand, challenge. With the patience that Jesus has for my imperfection. I get it wrong and God does not lean down from Heaven, to bully, intimidate and remind me how bad I am. No.

He loves me, and because He is in me, I am challenged and guided to try harder and do better by a Saviour who understands because He has been here.

'people' need loved in the right direction, towards God, not judged away from He whose job it is to judge.

UPDATE

What have I been up to. Loads, spent some time at the ELBR in Stanford , had a great time with Tanya and the kids, had some really good fellowship within the house and at Corringham Christian Fellowship, I really felt truly welcome and part of God's family.

That is a challenge, making people feel truly comfortable and at home.

In the boiler room we were staying at, there were notes in the kitchen, that whatever is in the cupboards or fridge, use. There was a note not to do the washing up, use the dishwasher, the bedrooms were like hotel rooms.

At church, people came to speak to me and Tanya, the boys enjoyed the young peoples section, the baby was welcome.

There was a BBQ on Sunday afternoon, we were encouraged to help ourselves, with someone taking the baby from Tanya, so that she could get something to eat in peace, the boys played happily with some girls, and we had some great conversations. I felt welcome.

I have had a good week, also went fruit picking and made jam, spent some time at Tanya's mums, went to a sealife centre and met some great rays ( absolutely loved the rays ). Now there is a French student staying with us for the next 2 weeks, and a Spanish student coming on Tuesday, staying for 3 weeks.

Now it is our turn to show the reality of Jesus love, the hospitality, community and family, to young people away from home, we have to become a home. I pray we can be genuine, as has been done to us, so we do unto others.

GRACE

I have been putting myself under a bit of pressure lately, am I doing enough, am I being a light in my workplace, am I watching or reading the right things on the tv, or newspapers or books, am I doing enough in the church, what about me losing my temper while driving, setting an example for the youth in our group, bringing Jesus into converstions with those I know, etc................

I can beat myself up inside sometimes when I don't feel I am getting it right, I can feel guilt for screwing up, yet again

When I was coming into work tonight I was listening to Delirious, Mission Bell, on the stereo in the car, there is a song, the last song on the album, I'll see you when you when I get there, there is a wonderful line, 'Running without fear, born to rest in your Fathers arms'.

I really had a sense of peace come over me, of knowing I am in His arms, where I am meant to be.

I then was reading Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller, and he has a wonderful chapter on Grace. About the amount of pressure he put himself under during a phase of Christian fundamentalism he went through, fasting every Monday, not watching tv, not smoking his pipe, reading the bible every day. He failed.

We all fail, we all fall, but we love because we were first loved, and that is a love that will never fail, will never fall. We will never be able to earn it, it is Grace, freely given, and freely acccepted, that will continue to change us as love can only do. I can do nothing to earn it, nothing.

I am changed and changing because I am in love, I will not be brought down through guilt and shame that has been taken from me, I am free.

Love changes, love builds, love strengthens, we will do anything for love.

In Revelation 2:4, it talks of forsaking your first love. We must remember our first love, remember the passion, remember where we have been, and where we are now going, remember that we are loved, we can not earn it, we live with it, bursting from us.

Apathy

I was in a group this week talking about strongholds and temptations, and we all decided one of the biggest temptations is to do nothing, or the minimum. Now everyone needs a break, everyone needs to relax, at the end of the day God tells us to rest, He created the sabbath, He wants us to rest, if we don't we can burn out, even when we're doing His work, we can push ourselves too hard. But ( Interesting word BUT, I have been told that in Hebrew it means forget what has been said before, I use it alot ) anyway, sometimes it is so easy to switch on that tv, and just do nothing, Big Brother, I'm a celebrity, daytime tv. Now I know it can be entertaining, I know that everyone at work tomorrow might be talking about it ( reminds me of a friend who hates football, but now watches it, so he can talk to the other guys at work), I know its easier to stick on the tv at the end of the day than actually have to think, or interact, read, learn more, write something on a blog. I have to make a point here, this is a blog, when I get all preachy, I am usually preaching at myself first, like my post the other day about mortgages, I have a huge one and am now challenged to get rid of it. This is the same, I need to turn the tv off more, get into the living bit more. But its so much easier said than done.

I have the internet at work in front of me all the time. I'm at work now, so its easy for me to do this, but its also easy for me to get stuck in internet world and forget I am working. More challenges.......

violence

I was tempted the other day to be violent in a situation with a bloke who was being very petty, it seemed to me for a moment alot easier to intimidate and hurt, than to try and understand. I took a deep breath and approached the situation calmly. The problem is I did not get the situation resolved the way I would have liked. I find myself questioning whether I did the right thing.

Actually deep down, I feel I did do right, I just have a remnant of past experiences and worldly ways about me, maybe someone on my shoulder, saying I am cowardly, took the easy way out, could have been harder, what would other people think?

These are all feelings from a life that is no longer me:

Jesus, was tortured, insulted and murdered, He was not a coward, He is a king, He did not take the easy way out, His was the hard way, yet He reigns, the Graham Kendrick song, meekness and majesty, comes to mind. I don't think I will ever have to go through what Jesus did, its just He is my inspiration, my answer.

I have an ongoing challenge with war and pacifism, taking that peace into the bigger world, can you always? I don't know, WW2 for instance, I'll just throw that out there.

mission or mission

I'm going to visit my brother Brian on Saturday, I'm really excited. It'll be good to see him and Tracy and Ellis and Daniel, i'm really excited about seeing what they do. He put an interesting post on the other day talking about the harsh realities of the work they all do on the island of Ibiza, dealing with in your face sex, drugs and alcohol abuse, I think it is so cool what they are doing, its where Jesus would be. Then this is the challenge for me, am I where Jesus would be.

Now I am making a very serious point here for a reason, not a judgement on anyone else, this is my blog, my thoughts and my questions I am asking myself, and the things that are on my and my family's mind.

I am drawn, seriously challenged and drawn to be really out there for Jesus, to throw the towel in with the normal world I am involved in, and throw myself out there for Jesus, both me and Tanya have studied missionary sites, prayed and talked, and I really believe we are called to be out there, with a very real turn on things that we have been blessed with, by spending so many years lost, we have come into contact with so much of our so called culture, experience I know God does not plan on wasting, we have already been told that He will be repaying our locust years, and we our both being used in such great ways by God already I feel really blessed, and really know that God is working in me, my wife and family, and the future holds some sort of mission work and all sorts of great things for him.

This I think is the future though, but God has his plans, his timing, so I'll go with him, the point is my mission work now.

I talk of mission, and being where Jesus would be and being out there, but I only have to look around me, are all my friends christians, most of the non christian ones, drink too much, take drugs and there view of women and relationships, see yesterdays post. No one in my place of work knows Jesus, the most used word starts with F, I have calenders and papers to remind me what womens tits look like, the general consensus is pro white, string em up, and whatever else the sun tells them. I think Jesus would want to be here too. What about all the other people I come into contact with, driving, in shops, in life, we are all missionaries, if I can't make a difference where I am, how can me jumping about somewhere else be real, how can I be out there, when I'm no different in here, the real mission has to start inside, spread to those closest, and then to the rest of the world, as it says in Acts 1:8 ' witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth'. It has to start close and reach out. Reach in to peoples lives, be interested, want to know. Be real, be where Jesus would be.