I recently returned from the International Brethren Conference on Mission.
A standout moment for me came from John Lennox, the main speaker, talking about Nigel Lee.
Nigel was exceedingly well-loved both by John and many of my TSCF colleagues. He had poured his life into a number of the TSCF staff who came out to NZ from the UK.
Nigel was diagnosed with cancer and before he died he asked John Lennox to take his funeral. John asked “what shall I say?” Nigel’s reply was something I will never forget, “tell them again, to prayerfully soak themselves in Scripture until they see the face of Christ.”
Here is the work of our lives, here is the heart of our marriages, here is the heart of our parenting, and here is the heart of our leadership. To have been so soaked in Scripture that the Spirit of God shows us the face of Christ.
John then commented that he thought local churches were weaker and more dependant where elders weren’t encountering Christ for themselves in and through Scripture.
Sobering, challenging and, at the same time, encouraging.
I am so deeply moved by this. This is our heart and hope for our churches and our country.
