Why this blog is called "Watchman"

I think that it is time that I explained why this blog is called Watchman. It stems from a series of experiences I have had since I moved to Ipswich last summer. God has been making himself known to me in a new way. But I think the truth is that because of the new beginning in coming to Ipswich, I have started listening to him again properly. For a few years I was less attentive than I should have been. But with Ipswich being a new beginning and all, when I moved here and started going to Burlington Baptist Church it was as if God said to me - "Now Simon, I want your attention." I should also say that I moved here because it seemed that I was being called here.

So since last summer God has been reclaiming me! It seems though that at times it is almost inch by inch. Let me share with you what the Lord was saying to me in October through the words of people of faith

"Lord you've put your finger on some areas in me. Pluck them out of my heart. Encourage me, Lord, that I am not going backward -instead I am going forward with you" page 179 of Hungry for More of Jesus by David Wilkerson

and also

"Ride out your storm when the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him (Isaiah 59.19)

It seemed to me that God was saying "Simon your sin is always before you. But let that not defeat you! Let not despair overcome you! Let my grace overcome you instead strengthening you and empowering you for daily living in the power of the cross. I will Convert your heart to a heart that feels for the things that I want, I will empower you with a thirst for my love to be spread across the world. Open you to the Holy Spirit working in you and on you. I will Give you a heart that reaches out for my lost people that you may stand in the gap.

So 24th January 2012  I left the house as normal walked to the station by the river. I tend to pray as I walk. I then got the 6.14 train to London and started to listen to a mp3 of a friend preaching. What she said stirred me up. And almost audibly I felt God calling me to be a watchman for Ipswich. The Holy Spirit has since I moved to Ipswich been giving me a sense of urgency and I still don't fully understand why? But I the understanding that I got was that I am to prepare. And to prepare in obedience without worrying about the outcome.

The problem was how to interpret what it meant to be "a watchman for Ipswich" - the weekly reflections that I put on this website are really about me trying to unpack what all that means. Some things are clearer to me now. The kind of Watchman I am to be is the one who stands at the City Gates and to be in the words of the hymn "a keeper of the light ; for the wanderers returning I must keep the watch fire burning " - one who welcomes into the Kingdom of God the lost. But a Watchman is also someone who tries to tune into the heart of God, listening to what God is saying to us, sharing it.

Please pray for this ministry of mine, and also for our joint vision that Debs and I have to establish the House of Prayer. That we may be strong, and faithful to God. That I may help people in their faith and not hinder them.

Dear Lord, renew us again with your Holy Spirit, reveal to all who read this your "loving kindness" and your abundant love for the whole of creation. Amen