In a recent dialogue with some professor friends of mine one of them said, ‘Who has ever heard of a man walking out of prison these days?’ I chimed in and told about Brother Yun who according to his book had walked right out of prison. The professor responded, ‘Oh, well, he’s a Christian, of course he has read the book of Acts.’ I thought, well goodness, there’s no winning is there? Either Yun is telling the truth or he’s a liar.

I have been reading quite a bit about David Hume and his argument against miracles. In one section of the argument, Hume sets the bar so high that nothing can be quantified as a miracle. This seems to be the case with my professor friend as well. For him, having read the book of Acts or knowing the Bible somehow negates ones experience? This seems strange to me, because the Bible is a book of peoples experiences with God and with each other. It allows us to see what is possible in the kingdom of God and to pursue the things that are more than we can ask or imagine. Rather than limiting ones testimony of what God can’t do, we should be setting our face like flint toward the God who is able to do above and beyond what we can think or imagine.

It has often been preached that Jesus never performed the same miracle twice or did not perform it the same way twice. While this maybe true, there is still plenty we do not know about the life of Jesus. John wrote that there is plenty more that Jesus did that he couldn’t write about. But that doesn’t count out the fact that he could have performed a miracle the same way.

In a recent exegesis exercise there was an interesting evaluation of Matt 10 where Jesus talks about taking off the yokes that are heavy and taking on his yoke. While Jesus says his yoke is easy and his burden is light, the professor made the comment that the verse could be read something like, ‘Let’s exchange troubles, anxieties, fears. I’ll take yours and and you get mine.’ One needn’t go far to see all the troubles Jesus has to deal with on a day to day basis-famine, corruption, murder and it is certainly hard to think that taking on his troubles would be lighter than mine. But the professor explained that the interpretation of yoke and burden dealt with specific interpretations of Torah or the law. His interpretation is lighter or easier than those other rabbis and thankfully so!

We recently had about a month off. It was a great break and I can say I was slightly productive with no classes at Nottingham or at St. Johns College. My paper at the Society for the Study of Theology (SST) at York went well. There were some interesting papers and I made some good personal connections. One of the plenary’s that stood out to me had to deal with the biochemistry and sanctification. I found out that there is a centre for conversion narrative at the University of York which will prove useful to me.

The following week we had a great visit by my parental units and Janico’s friend from South Africa. Unfortunately, Joziah caught a bug and ended up ill one night. I was surprised at the resilience he had. He acted like nothing happened and carried on playing. We thought it was a food allergy and headed to York (yes, again!) for a tourist trip. Unfortunately, everyone else got ill while we were there except my mom, who finally caved the day they departed. Despite the illness, it was good to see them and show them our lives here. It was interesting to hear their impressions of British culture. We had a funny time trying to translate what some of the people were saying.

I’m not sure if I ever mentioned it, but throughout our time in Malawi and Mozambique I (Brandon) hardly slept an entire night through. Primarily due to stress, nightmares, noise or disturbances in “the force” I couldn’t sleep. We recently had a friend from Mozambique stay with us who had similar problems, but unfortunately, she did not sleep well in England either. During her stay we had a great time of prayer and thankfully she slept the whole night through even though Joziah woke up crying around 3am. Needless to say, rest is a vital part of life. The rest in Scripture is not a passive rest though. It is a rest to be sought after and a rest to abide in that centers on our identity as children of God. It is a rest that is based on the security and faith in action that transcends hardship and difficulties. I can’t say I’m fully there yet, but it is something to pursue.

Speaking of Mozambique, I was made aware that Anthony Bourdain went to Mozambique. If you want an interesting expose on the food and culture it might be worth watching. It made me long for some freshly killed goat. Along the same lines, Heidi Baker is on the cover of this months Christianity Today.

It feels like the break ended too soon. Before I knew it I was back in the office and then back at St. Johns. It actually felt good to get back into a routine and be productive again. I made some personal goals for myself over the break and I am working towards accomplishing them.

Earlier this week we went to a local church where we met up with our friends Rolland Baker and Tony Maxwell. We had a great visit and were encouraged by the message that was shared. I was interested to hear from two Assembly of God pastors how frustrated they have been with church growth and they confessed that they have seen and heard of more miracles in the church of England than in their own denomination.

Janico and I had a wonderful birthday month. The church we’ve been attending owns a pub downtown which some friends of ours work at. One Saturday afternoon we went there and had a good visit with friends. The following Sunday we hosted a tea at our house which turned into a movie night as well. We’re quite thankful to be part of such a great active community.

We had another visit from some friends we made in Mozambique one Saturday. We had a great time of prayer and started Joziah into praying for others. That’s about all from the Walker house. Hope you’re safe and joyful!

Greetings from one of the largest islands in the world. Well, at least one of the most populated. Things are going really well and we survived the coldest part of the winter (I hope!), which is unfortunately more than I can say for those in eastern Europe. We had about 3 inches of snow one weekend and we attempted to stay out of it as best we could. After it started melting when it got to 1 to 3 degrees Celsius it made for a difficult walk to school as it iced over during the night.

Joziah is growing it seems daily and is crawling around and formulating funny sounds. We had a great visit with our friend Bridget who we worked with in Mozambique. She ran a medical clinic out in Mieze which is the village where I did prison outreach. She had some great stories to tell and caught us up on the happenings of Pemba.

Janico has been making friends and hosted a women’s night several weeks ago. Some of the other gals have been of great help as they have children and can give practical advice. One night one of them showed up with an electric-oil heater saying, ‘your house is cold, here use this until it gets warmer.’ What a blessing! Because our house is older and the rooms are bigger the heat does not work as well as it could. Moreover, it doesn’t help that the radiators are right under the cold windows! Please pray for Janico as she reaches out to some of these gals.

Hope group has been going well. We’ve had some new people join us which is great. Last week we watched ‘Frisbee: The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher.’ It was a fascinating documentary on one of the key influences of the Jesus People movement in the 60′s and 70′s.

About twice a week I get on the bus full of wild teenagers on route to school to go to the local Church of England seminary to help out an ordinand take notes and do research. It has been quite a blessing as I get to sit in on lectures related to my research, get lunch and library access. More than that I feel I’ve made friends within a community of faith that are concerned about many similar issues. One of my friends who I sit next to is Nigerian and told a story about how he was shot and had to forgive the man who shot him. He was challenged when the Lord told him not to pursue legal matters surrounding the incident, though his brother in law wanted him to press charges. In the end he didn’t press charges and felt great freedom. I have learned a lot about different denominations and how they operate.

I have been working on several book reviews for some journals as well as papers for conferences related to my research. I am quite excited about attending the Society for the Study of Theology conference in York this March. One of the plenary speakers this year is Amos Yong of Regent University who has written extensively on the role of the Spirit in contemporary society. I will be giving a paper on spiritual discernment in the early church. I am in Greek and Latin almost every day of the week along with a course on the apostle Paul and the book of James in Greek.

Our friend Travis has visited us this month and we are expecting more guests this month. We recently returned from a trip to Canterbury where our friend Sam got married in the Crypt of the Cathedral. It was a beautiful ceremony and reception. We made some great connections with people in London and Plymouth. The city had a really nice historical feeling about it and I hope to return for a visit sometime during out time here.

Well, home group is about to start. Hope you’re well!
Much love,
The Walkers

So I received some cordial responses to my emails requesting information regarding apostles being Persian or Roman in origin. Those who responded basically said, “I got it from so and so…” I tracked down some of the references who have no further references but contacted them. Hopefully they will respond soon.

Some of them claim to be apostles which is interesting to me. I wonder what that might look like in contemporary society, especially in the West.

In related reading, I’m finishing up C.K. Barrett’s book Signs of Apostle or something like that. It seems to me there are some areas where he contradicts himself, but it is good reading nonetheless.

This afternoon we had a seminar by Hannah Hunt from Leeds Trinity University on Spiritual Direction in the Desert Fathers and as Spiritual practice today. I don’t think I got the title exactly right, but it wasn’t completely on this topic so I don’t mind being a bit imprecise. To summarize what I got out of this seminar:
Dr. Hunt discussed the role of the spiritual direction and spiritual fatherhood in the orthodox tradition and covered St. Symeon the New Theologian’s relationship with his spiritual father. She dealt partially about the accusations of these relationships being viewed as somewhat cultish to outsiders because of the level of obedience the spiritual child had to their spiritual father as well as the separation of the child from their natural family. To have a spiritual father, depending on who they are was/is an honor to some, but taken to be too highly regarded and you would have to repent for pride.

To get a spiritual father took discernment and one could not be a father unless they had some sort of divine spark or illuminating experience. This is where the uncreated light (manifestation of glory?) plays an important role. Sometimes the people having such experiences were at odds with the ordained or ecclesiastical officials because of taking confession as well as claims of mystical experiences. To St. Symeon the mystical authority was the highest authority and he did not want anyone teaching unless they could speak/teach out of experience of this divine illumination.

The seminar sparked (pun intended) some interesting questions and discussion.
In the charismatic protestant world there is a lot of talk about spiritual fathers and mothers as well as spiritual orphans. Strangely enough, I have heard rumors of these relationships being abused and/or unhealthy. On the other side of the coin, I have heard many younger people lament the fact they don’t have a spiritual mentor/father/mother. Which raises the question who is your (spiritual) mamma/daddy?

I have been working on the issue of memory, tradition and the apostolic. I have come across interesting modern invention of tradition regarding the term “apostle” within some segments of the church. According to several teachers, whom I really respect, along with some other websites (type in Roman Apostle in Google), an apostle is Persian in origin and/or was taken over by the Romans to designate a general or former military leader who would come in after the Romans conquered some land and teach the people about how to be Roman. This is then applied to modern apostles within the church to say that they (or the hoi polloi) are to bring the Kingdom of God wherever we are, especially to whatever mountain we are given to conquer.

In my survey of a lot of Bible dictionaries under “apostle” as well as books and articles I found nothing regarding anything related to Rome. Nor have I found any evidence that the Romans would acculturate the peoples they overtook. I have found nothing about Persia or that apostle would mean anything other than a messenger for another person/party. What I believe is happening is the invention of a new tradition regarding the word ‘apostle.’ What I have not figured out is why this is happening, or why the people teaching this need to have this particular definition? To what end does it serve? I have emailed several of them who teach this, but have not received a response yet. Once I do, I will follow up this post.

Greetings from the UK! We’re doing great & still settling in. Oddly enough, at times it felt a bit like Africa due to the pace of things and various complications. We weren’t quite prepared for that. We landed in Birmingham and another student, Christoph, picked us up. When we arrived we didn’t have a place of our own to move into so we stayed with another couple who has a 1 year old son. It was great seeing how other families interact with their kids. Due to space issues (the houses here are smaller than the US) we ended up moving in with Christoph and his family for a week. They have 3 kids and another guest and said that 3 more people wouldn’t change anything. One Sunday they hosted a Kaffeetrinken with doughnuts afternoon and I got to meet the rest of the theology students.

By the Beeston Marina

We’ve been keeping a record of all of the blessings and provision God has given us thus far. Aside from not having to live in a hotel and paying a ton of money, the Lord has provided us with great relationships. In my new student orientation I got to meet all of the new masters and doctoral students in the theology department. We gave introductions and stated our research topics. I was surprised when one of the students said he was working on spiritual warfare. I thought, “what kind of department is this allowing for students to work on such a topic?” Later the professor running the program mentioned that I had worked in Mozambique for the last several years. At the end of our meeting the student working on spiritual warfare came up to me and asked if I knew the Bakers. I said yes, that’s who we worked with and we struck up a friendship from there.

Some friends of ours neighbor works in a nursing home and told us one day that a lady she knows has a sleeper couch and arm chair to give away. When we went to pick it up it was in mint condition and mint green. We also got a kitchen table, chairs, pots, plates and silverware from Janico’s aunt and uncle who drove up to visit us one day. Another student gave us a double bed. Someone from a church was giving away a bookshelf along with a swivel chair, desk and printer for my office. We made friends with a woman at the local YMCA charity shop who gives us discounts on some items as well as some free baby clothing. Every time we stop by there she loves holding Joziah and telling him how great he is and how he is going to do great things in the world. Because we did not have health insurance and ended up having the baby in the hospital we had the huge burden of a gigantic hospital bill. We applied for emergency medicaid which would cover the birth and delivery. But in the end, the hospital forgave the entire bill! Over $20,000! That was a huge blessing!

Ministry-wise there is a lot to get involved with and we’ve been seeking areas to serve. Every Saturday along High street is a ministry that prays for people on the street that we’re getting involved with. They also serve breakfast to the homeless. On Friday and Saturday night in downtown nottingham called Street pastors which serve the party crowd all evening. There’s globe cafe which is mainly an outreach to foreign students. We’re helping a friend with an evangelism event in London sometime next summer.

Janico has been working hard taking care of Joziah and trying to get our house in order. We have been pursuing hospitality (Rom 12:13) and have had quite a number of guests visit or stay with us. I’m happy to say I think they rested well here regardless of Joziah’s nightly noises. I’ve been praying Psalm 84 and Revelation 21:3 that the presence of God would dwell in our house. A friend of mine back in the US confirmed my prayers by telling me he felt our house would be a place of healing and deliverance for both the saved and unsaved. We’re looking to start a weekly home group, so please pray everything falls into place.

So today was orientation to the department. It was quite long, but informative. I enjoyed hearing about all the thinkers and history of different schools and such.

I also found out today that we received approval on the house that we applied for! We prayed that if it was the right one that we would get it. Otherwise, not. So, I pray it is providential. Anyway, we need some extra funds to help furnish the place as it does not have a washer, dryer, beds, sofa or anything like that. So, if you’re feeling generous please feel free to click on the Paypal button or email me for other options.

So after a big push to get to the UK we have finally arrived! For the details of that encounter you can go to our ministry blog http://gloryreign.blogspot.com/. It has been really great being here and everyone has been so welcoming.

We really feel like this is a pivotal season in many regards. First and foremost as a family. We will finally move into our first home as a married couple. Prior to this we lived with our parents or temporary housing that offered little privacy. Joziah will finally have his own room with his own stuff in it. We put in an application for a decent size 3 bedroom place so we can have guests and friends stay as they pass through.

With regard to my studies I am excited about my topic and I definitely feel I am at the right school. From what the other students tell me it seems that the faculty really care about the students. There seems to be a strong community amongst the students.

Finally, with regard to ministry there is no lack of churches or ministries to plug into. Prior to coming I was in prayer about the possibility of heading to Asia. As it turns out, the Lord brought Asia to us as there are many students from all over the world here, especially China and Malaysia. So far all is well.

Joziah’s arrival

On 10:34 am of August 25 Joziah Tenison Walker entered the world. What an amazing boy! He’s perfect!

Let me tell you about the build up to his arrival because I think it was a bit unique. Tuesday morning we went to the clinic for a weekly update and the nurse practitioner said we should go to the hospital to be induced due to Janico’s rising blood pressure. We don’t believe in induction or drugs after watching the movie The Business of Being Born, which I recommend to any pregnant person. So we called our midwife, the amazing Laura Yoder, and she suggested taking castor oil and waiting things out. So we did that and called the hospital to inform them we were arriving later. Meanwhile the clinic kept calling us wanting to know where we were and said the hospital wanted to know where were were. So we waited…

My mother came home from prayer group and told me a story about how her friend there was 4 weeks overdue. Everyone in her husbands battalion drank a Harvey Wallbanger to induce labor. So she tried it out and it worked. The funny/spiritual/prophetic part was three nights before I was laying in my bed and the name Harvey Wallbanger came into my mind. I didn’t know why and I contemplated the story behind the drink. When my mother told me that story I thought this was why the name was rolling around in my head the other night! So I ran to the ABC store and bought the vodka and Giliano. While I was in the store another man asked the clerk, why are all the bottles rattling against the wall? The clerk responded, “uh, when Chanellos gets an order next door sometimes the walls shake.” When I got in my car I found out that it was an earthquake! Nothing major, but it was noticeable for our area.

I went home and and against my rules & better judgement made the drink for Janico. Afterwards we prayed and later went for a walk. I confessed making and giving the drink to our midwife and she said that there wouldn’t be a problem since the baby was past due. Then she started having contractions around 5. The midwife came over around 7 and checked her blood pressure which was fine. I thought, Yes! We’re going to have a home birth just like we wanted! We hung out for a while then Laura suggested going for a walk after Janico’s water broke while getting up from the couch. We went on the walk and afterwards Janico’s blood pressure was up, which wasn’t so good. Our midwife suggested we head to the hospital.

Within an hour or so the doctor saw us, said they were waiting since noon that day and said they were going to give Janico something to “move things along”. We knew it was going to be piton, a synthetic version of Oxytocin which is known to intensify contractions. Despite the fact that we did not want this, nor did we ask for it, the nurse said that it would help get the baby out without infection. Normally, they don’t get concerned with infection until the 24 hour mark, but due to the business related to giving birth in hospitals and the need to overturn beds they gave the drugs. It was painful for both of us. More so for my wife who at one point could not stand due to the pain. After 5 hours on the evil drugs she asked for other drugs to take the pain away. While disheartening, I completely understood. I believe my wife could have handled a natural child birth and her body was designed to give birth according to God’s plan. Unfortunately, when man dabbles into things it doesn’t seem to go as planned.

Fortunately, the Lord was gracious to us and after several hours the doctor decided to take her off the Pitocin to see if her body would take over. Of course, it did and the baby arrived after 10 minutes of pushing. Janico did an amazing job! I couldn’t believe how strong she was. Joziah was happy and healthy and we can’t imagine life without him. He was 10 days overdue, but he was just the right size at 6 lbs. 12 oz.