Songbirds, Bicycles and Strategic Thinking… (part 2)
Across the road from the Songbird Café is a little bicycle shop.
RideRide, owned and managed by Christians, is another beacon of light quietly shining in the centre of a busy urban corner of Southampton.
My friend Mike works alongside the owner Tim, as a bike mechanic and line manager.
Now, as far as bicycle shops go, they do all the things that a normal bike shop does.
They sell bicycles.
They sell cycling accessories.
They fix and maintain bicycles.
Nothing out of the ordinary.
But, what’s amazing are the things you don’t see.
They have a real heart for helping people change their lives around.
They take on apprentices.
The business is run ethically.
People get prayed for.
Jesus is talked about on a daily basis.
My favourite RideRide story is one that Mike tells about a time when a lady came in to the shop.
Mike felt God tell him that she had a very specific pain and so he took a leap of faith and decided to ask her about it. If I remember rightly, the pain was in her shoulder.
The lady confirmed that she did have pain in her shoulder and that it had been bothering her for a while.
Mike, having been taking part in a course that encourages Christians to step out and do things that push them out of their comfort zone, beyond the current boundaries of their faith, took a leap and asked to pray for her.
She told him that she was a healer and that she makes potions to heal people and yet she could not get her own pain to leave. She was willing to try anything.
Slightly hesitantly, he prayed.
He tells me he had little expectation but the lady looked astonished.
“The pain is gone!”
Mike took a leap of faith and as a result was able to share Jesus with the most unlikely of people.
I don’t know whether she decided to follow Jesus.
I don’t know whether she has given her life to Christ or whether she has simply continued on the path that she was walking on.
What I do know is that on that day, because of Mike’s courage to step out, she experienced the love of the Father.
And that will changes people forever.
This would not have happened in Mike had limited his faith to a Christian environment.
This would not have happened if Mike didn’t see his place of work as a place of ministry.
You see, our worship is about more than simply singing of songs on a Sunday morning.
And ministry is not restricted only to those working for church or charities.
Wherever you are, there too is your ministry.
Whether you are a parent, police, plumber or painter.
Whether you are a firefighter, a paramedic, a lawyer or a street sweeper.
Whether you are a pastor, an author, a personal trainer or a music teacher.
A worship leader, a drummer, a spouse
or a bike mechanic.
Wherever you are, wherever you go, there too is your ministry.
This week, I would like to challenge you to take a step of faith.
Tell someone about Jesus.
Pray for someone.
Do something you wouldn’t normally do.
Give someone an extra opportunity to experience the love of the Father.
Leave a comment below and let us know how it goes!
Next time, in the final instalment of Songbirds, Bicycles and Strategic Thinking, you will meet a man whose thinking stretches far beyond my own and glorifies God through the culture changing strategies…
(Part 3 of Songbirds, Bicycles and Strategic Thinking is coming next week. If you want to make sure not to miss it, please sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.)
AB
P.S. If you want to find out more about RideRide, please check out their website or their Facebook Page.