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A visit to Life Church, Southampton
The church is new, being planted earlier this year from Winchester Family Church, with other families coming from Bournmouth, Hedge End, Portsmouth and elsewhere. The location of the church is very easy to find since it is right on Above Bar St. (the central shopping street). The biggest problem was finding somewhere to park. We spotted some people getting out of a car who looked like they were “going to church” and we were right! They helped us find parking.
We were handed a pack of literature and several people introduced themselves to us, including Chris Kilby who heads up the leadership team.
I was interested to know what evangelism the church was involved with and they told me how they were having really good conversations with people going door-to-door.
Worship was excellent, with a very high level of participation. There were around 60 people including children and room worked well in terms of creating an intimate feel.
Then he introduced Dave Lockyer who spent several years establishing a Newfrontiers church in Nepal and is now based at Winchester Family Church. Dave gave an excellent sermon on The DNA of Missions, showing that from Genesis to Revelation, God’s heart is for every nation. His points were “Missions and the Church’, “Missions and the Individual” and “Practical Suggestions”. (The sermon can be downloaded from here.) Since the church is not able to offer coffee to visitors after the service, they take them out to Starbucks instead. (I think this is a great idea!) James and Maddie took Anne and I to the local coffee establishment and we had a great time of fellowship, rounding off a really good morning. It’s called Life Church and that’s a good name. It is full of life!
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On Sunday July 22 we visited 
The first thing that struck us as we entered the “Solent University” building where they meet was the wonderful welcome. The welcomers all wore white t-shirts with the church logo on them (which gave everything a reassuringly organized feel).
As I looked around I was also impressed at the quality of the posters and general presentation of the church. They knew what they wanted to do and were going for it. We went into the lecture room where the meeting was to take place and the friendly greetings continued with several other people coming to talk to us.
Then Chris Kilby came to the front and introduced John Pradhan who is planting a church in Pokhara, Nepal. John spoke about the work and gave us a slideshow.
watch your posture
Mr. Fountain
(wrote to you a week ago on your contact page)
Does she (on the picture above) think she is reaching toward God, asking for a hug ? or, not knowing any better, holding up something ?
Will the beat (of the drum) -- that in Africa is used for evoking spirits -- evoke some other kind of spirit in England, just because they wish so ?
"it was important to the ancients to preserve a unique body posture. This teaching was developed many thousands of years ago and passed along by teachers of the highest order. They knew that certain times in history were more powerful than others and preserved this teaching in stone, holy books and in oral traditions which would assist us during this time. This posture represents the greatest form of teaching possible -- the transmission of wisdom beyond words using only the slightest possible effort.
The concept of working with ecstatic or spiritual body postures is a fascinating study. In our modern age it was pioneered by anthropologist Dr. Felicitas D. Goodman. Her research, which she began in 1977, revealed a long dormant secret: by aligning our bodies in certain specific positions, we can consciously connect with the powerful realm of spirit known to the spiritual traditions as the Dreamtime, the Garden, Heaven, or in the case of the ancients, as Tula.
Since 1977, Dr. Goodman has identified nearly fifty postures from such sources as ethnography books and museum exhibits. For those wishing further insight I recommend Dr. Goodman's 'Where the Spirits Ride the Wind: Trance Journey's and other Ecstatic Experiences'."
:-) :-)
Posture and worship
Hi Istvan,
The way the human body is made up, there is a connection between what our body is doing and what we are thinking. Physical gestures are also used as part of language. To bow to someone indicates honouring them.
Moses raised his arms when praying (Ex 17:11). And 1 Ti 2:8 commands men to pray with their hands raised. There are also many examples of people falling down in worship before God. Just because false religions adopt something does not make it wrong. (Pagans pray but that doesn't mean we should stop praying.)
I take your point about some religious systems using body postures to help get into particular states of mind, but that is something totally different.
Pagans pray not, they
Pagans pray not, they activate their own ability, a.k.a. witchcraft prayer or placebo effect, depending on the purpose
to pray is to request something from God. Pagans believe not in God
the question is: who adopted from whom
At the Toronto Airport CF I saw the elite cream of the outfit forming a witches' circle and inviting spirit to play with them before the service. Perhaps they did it out of ignorance, to show off, none the less they formed a witches' circle of which any wiccan would have been proud.
Is the so-called manifestation really what they say it is, or is it sign of kundalini awakening; and which was first
Is the sun-rise service christian idea or adoptation
(what happened to my img tag ? I wanted to post Mr. Gardner's picture)
Help win her soul
Calvary greetings!
I have a friend who presently schools in Warsash, Southampton. She used to be a muslim, though not a devoted one. She once told me that she does not know the religion she would continue with and may love to be a christian but I was unable to lead her to Christ on that day. I felt the pains of my mistake. Nevertheless, I have the belief that God can use you for her precious soul.
I often pray for her; that God should touch her mind and turn her to Him. I believe you will her locate her and tell her more about the gospel.
I do not know much about her present location but I know that she resumed in Warsash Maritime Academy on Jan. 27th 2010. She is one of the Nigerians sponsored to study Marine Engineering or related course in Warsash Maritime Academy.
I will give glory to God if you do something about this.
Yours in His vineyard
Stephen Ojo
forgot her name
Her name is Mariam Okoya
Will try and get someone to contact her
Hi Stephen, I have some friends who live in that area and I will see what I can do.
Abusive Church
I was treated very badly in this church. There is a lot of ego in it and at times it lacks substance. The attitudes towards women, gay people and muslims may shock people if they were to attend for a protracted period of time, as might the constant emphasis on handing over large sums of money. NewFrontiers have a history of church abuse that is well-documented. It is not neccessarily done with purposeful intent, but any opposition or even healthy debate regarding what they perceive to be the letter of the Bible is quite rapidly dismissed. Approach with caution.