liverpool nativity

Did you see Liverpool Nativity?....absolutely superb in every way. I often think, 'How would Jesus have been born into our culture?' This gritty, down to earth performance portrayed that concept brilliantly:

At a time when the traditional nativity play is reported to be under threat of extinction in our schools, there is something deliciously subversive about the city of Liverpool choosing to inaugurate its year as the European Capital of Culture with its own, unique take on the story of Jesus' birth.
Last Sunday's Liverpool Nativity was a contemporary retelling of the old, old story on a grand scale. Famous Merseyside faces joined together with relatively unknown local actors and members of the Liverpudlian public to tell a tale of an asylum-seeking Joseph and his café-worker girlfriend, Mary, struggling against oppressive local government to bring God's Son into the world.
Like so many traditional nativity plays, this one was not without humour. It was, however, refreshingly free from the sentimentality that routinely smothers all trace of the true wonder of Christmas in more traditional productions. There was no place here for 'Away in a Manger' with its incarnation-defying 'little Lord Jesus' who wakes without a whimper in response to the lowing of inconsiderate cattle.
In fact, there was no place in the Liverpool Nativity for any of the carols and songs you'd normally expect to hear in a nativity play. Instead - and this was a central feature of the production - the story was interpreted through the popular music of various Liverpudlian bands, such as Echo & the Bunnymen, the La's, the Zutons and, of course, the Beatles.
Naturally, this meant that each song was being used for a purpose other than that for which it was composed. John Lennon did not write 'Beautiful Boy' as a description of the newborn Christ-child, for example - but nonetheless in this new context that was what his lyrics became.
Maybe some purist fans of these bands will regard such borrowing as akin to blasphemy, but isn't the choice of music for the Liverpool Nativity a creative attempt to celebrate Jesus' birth in song? In this regard, it is entirely faithful to the account of his birth in Luke's Gospel, where key characters - Mary, Zechariah, the angels, Simeon - just can't help but burst into song in response to what God has done.
May God give each of us the imagination during this festive season to discern and declare the significance of seemingly ordinary words and events in the light of the timeless, awesome truth that is the real meaning of Christmas!
Nigel Hopper (LICC)

I'd like to record a thankyou to the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, (who so often write the sort of articles I wish I could) for permitting me to reproduce their writings. May the Lord prosper your work!

To all readers of my blog.....a very Happy Christmas. May Jesus be born in you. 'This is love indeed--we did not love God, but He loved us and sent His Son to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins..' 1 John 4:10

What are you waiting for?: An Advent reflection

Read these when you have a quiet moment:

" It was the first week of Advent 2005. I was living as part of the Urban Seed residential community in the heart of central Melbourne.
I attended the Amnesty International Candlelight Vigil at the Alexandra Gardens for the condemned Australian Van Nguyen. Having acted as a drug mule in order to pay the debts of his brother, he had been captured and sentenced to death in Singapore. Over three years the case had sparked the usual polarised debate about the death penalty. Having exhausted official appeals and in spite of pleas for clemency, he was to be executed the next morning by the Singaporean Government.
I carried with me to the vigil a heavy wooden cross. The Credo Cross was built by a member of our community the day we heard that one of our close friends, a key volunteer at our open lunch for disadvantaged people, had been found dead from a drug overdose in a laneway close to our home. As most from our households gathered and mourned in silence that day, all that could be heard from our apartments was the sound of banging from the fire escape as the commemorative cross was constructed..
Since that time, it has become an icon for our community, a symbol to cling to, a trusted companion when the pain of the world falls upon us like a hammer. We use it regularly during our prayers and worship gatherings, at weddings and at funerals. We take it with us when we attend the various protests and vigils that regularly take place in the centre of the city.
And so it was with me this night. I held it for Van. The vigil was quiet but moving. We lit our candles and made our prayers for a stay of execution and for the life and souls of the condemned, the condemners and ourselves. At its conclusion I headed home.
Carrying the cross upon my shoulder, I was walking past Flinders Street Station when a group of people carrying a video camera thrust a microphone in my face.
"What does Christmas mean to you?" they asked
I supposed that they must have been Christians, looking for "vox pop" responses, perhaps for some sort of Christmas presentation.
"What does Christmas mean to you?"
"Well…" I started, a little surprised by the interruption. (It can be hard to think on your feet, especially when you’re carrying a cross through a crowded city!)
"You might notice I’m carrying a cross." I continued…. "You see, I am a Christian and it is because of this that I’ve been to the vigil for Van Nguyen, who is to be executed tomorrow."
I spoke of my opposition to the death penalty. I spoke of how Jesus was also victim of a state execution but that through his example of non-violent love he showed a way of life that triumphs over death. That this demonstrated that sometimes power could be weak and that what seems weak can be the most powerful force in the world. "And so", I concluded, "I guess I believe in a world of grace, not the cold, hard, hand of the law."
"Errr OK!"…..the interviewer looked a little confused. "That’s good; but what would you say Christmas means to you?"
There we both stood.
Waiting…
Me, with a cross upon my shoulder, waiting for him to comprehend.
Him, with a camera on his, waiting for an answer he wanted to hear.
Waiting…
It’s Advent again…..what are you waiting for? "
by Kate Allen and Marcus Curnow (Urban Seed, 2005)



Waiting is essential to the spiritual life. But waiting as a disciple of Jesus is not an empty waiting. It is waiting with a promise in our hearts that makes already present what we are waiting for.
We wait during Advent for the birth of Jesus.
We wait after Easter for the coming of the Spirit, and after the Ascension of Jesus we wait for his coming again in glory.
We are always waiting in the conviction that we have already seen God’s footsteps.
Waiting for God is an active, alert -- yes, joyful -- waiting.
As we wait we remember him for whom we are waiting, and as we remember him we create a community ready to welcome him when he comes.
Henri Nouwen,
In Joyful Hope: Meditations for Advent

The golden compass

The furore surrounding 'The Golden Compass' continues:
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article2999647.ece
I haven't seen it yet (I have read the books), but trying to get people to stay away because they might abandon their faith or conclude that God is dead, is not the answer.
As suggested in LICC's excellent article below, everyone should go and see it, and if that results in them reading the books so be it. Like the Da Vinci Code, His Dark Materials trilogy is fiction. It is only the gullible who are taken in by them without asking questions.
So, go and see the film, and let's start conversations.....
.

Anyone who has seen The Golden Compass in the last few days without having read the novel it's based on may well feel bemused by all the fuss being made about it in certain quarters. Although it has been accused of 'selling atheism to kids', it seems innocuous enough. The principal problem with the film, in my opinion, is that the story has been mangled to the point of being nearly incomprehensible.
So, why have emails been circulating warning of the danger posed by this Christmas blockbuster and calling for a boycott of it? The answer is that this is the first of a trilogy, His Dark Materials, and the story becomes increasingly uncomfortable for Christians. In Philip Pullman's books, what begins as a struggle against an oppressive, totalitarian - and religious - regime escalates into full-scale rebellion against God himself.
The film's director, Chris Weitz, admits that they made compromises in filming the first book, toning down controversial religious aspects. Although he insists that the success of The Golden Compass will allow him to stay faithful to the subsequent books, he dismisses as 'ridiculous' suggestions that there is an atheist agenda.
Pullman himself is indignant about all the fuss, and calls his accusers 'nitwits'. He has often spoken of his atheism and his disdain for religion, but protests that he's just trying to tell a story that raises questions. Questions such as 'Is there a God?' and 'What is our purpose?', he says - questions that are central to His Dark Materials - are the 'most important of all'. Inevitably, he has a particular take on them; but such questions are fundamental and we shouldn't be afraid of asking them, or considering someone else's answers - even when they are profoundly different from our own.
Knee-jerk reactions, scaremongering and intemperate words benefit nobody and reflect poorly on the church. They simply confirm Pullman and others in their prejudice against us. If we are confident in the truth of the gospel, we should listen carefully to others' perspectives and respond positively where we can, critically where we must, and always in a way that is characterised by grace.
Pullman writes brilliant fiction with a strong moral core. Millions have read his books and millions more will see the films. Let's grasp the opportunity, engage with them seriously and make the most of openings to discuss these most crucial of questions.
Tony Watkins LICC

The task before you is never greater than the power behind you!

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks!
Lots of activity; many ups and downs:
Having returned from the bereavement course in London I then had to prepare for and deliver an All age worship on Sunday morning ( a sheer delight)
…followed by two days in the office as my assistant was on holiday
…then Games Club where we are working with a large group of mainly unchurched kids to produce ‘Cinderella’ in the New Year (going well)
…followed by newly established Men’s group (great fellowship)
…speaking to the Womens Fellowship about what a Community Chaplain is (will someone please tell me)
…then meeting 48 Year 7s at the Church on a RE trip (pop, crisps and Mr Bean. Then they asked me loads of questions. It was great!)
…then away down South to babysit our 3 young grandchildren for the weekend (such fun…they are a laugh a minute!)
….394 shoeboxes loaded and transported to Grimsby (what a vital work this is, bringing joy to kids at Christmas..see picture above and http://www.samaritanspurse.uk.com/occ/index.asp)
….our Community Carol Concert with me in the band (fantastic—not me, I mean networking with all these folk in the community)
…. Games Club and Men’s meeting again
…. Christmas Lunch at Church, apron and all !
…and for most of this week my assistant has been off sick so I’ve been running the office.
....and I've probably forgotten several things.

My wife has been every bit as engaged as me, often involved in the same things.
So, when will we get the Christmas shopping done? When will I get the tree up? Fix the wash basin tap?
Who knows, but we’ll get there.

In all of this frenetic activity I still get some biking in to keep in trim, and most important of all, still somehow find time to ‘Wait upon the Lord’, though not as much time as I would like.

Judith reminded me of this word from Isaiah 40 (thanks Judithhttp://www.wilmslow-worker.blogspot.com/)

"Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint."

When necessary we can, in God’s strength, walk, run or soar… and as I reflect on these past days I have indeed been ‘on eagle’s wings’. Not that everything has gone perfectly, far from it.
But it is supremely true that the LIMITLESS resources of the Holy Spirit are at work in and through us if we will just say ‘Yes’(http://pauseforprayer.stblogs.com/finding-god/special-prayers/)

PS Finally got the tap fixed and the tree up at the weekend!

Experiencing loss

Last Thursday I went to London on a one-day Bereavement Course run by CRUSE.

…..An exceptionally useful and enlightening day, and I hope that I will be able to use what I have learned for the benefit of others. But it was also of help to me I have to say. None of us go through life without some experience of painful loss….the hardest to bear is invariably the loss of a loved one, but there are lots of other things that can happen to us which bring about dramatic changes in our daily lives.
Recently, the Lincoln Branch of Norwich Union (formerly General Accident where I had started work in 1970) closed. I went over to meet former colleagues, and effectively say goodbye to them all at once! I had continued to do business, with people who had worked with me back then, for most of 37 years. Now it feels so strange to have ‘lost’ them, a kind of mini-bereavement.
People retiring, moving house, friends who go away all experience loss. Sometimes we call it by another name; such as ‘homesickness’, but there is no denying that, as with a death of someone close to us, we need enough time (and time is no measure) to come to terms with it…..a process where we may be going round a spiral, up and down, until there is a return to ‘normality’….things will never be quite the same, but we have learned to get on with life.

On the bereavement course there was an interesting variety of people, three prison officers, three crematorium workers, a solicitor, an infant school counsellor, a helpline operative for carers, and others. I was the only church worker there (I have a feeling that there were one or two ‘hidden lights’ there, though, because I could see it in their faces). The trainer often asked me for a view on issues….that was a challenge! One of the trainees raised a point about an individual who had been bereaved some months before and was clearly being far too demanding on her. I held my counsel while the others investigated further and discussed around the table. Finally, I was asked for my view. I said ‘Say to this person… "What makes you think that the whole world revolves around you?"’ …that caused great amusement. On reflection the circumstances where it would be right to say something like that are, I would suggest, quite rare. WWJD? I have since questioned myself "Did I really say that?….surely I would never say that to a bereaved person!". But I had started the day by asking God to give me the right words to say in all circumstances, so however risky the strategy I trust it must have been the right one. I should like to have been there to see the outcome....
Words can heal or hurt, encourage or undermine. To verbally go 'on the attack' is not something we should ever do lightly. Jesus did it on a number of occasions, but always to jolt people into recognising their folly (as with his friend Peter...'Get behind me satan!'Mark8v33.....but he didn't then dump Peter. On the contrary he continued to encourage and challenge him). Just occasionally we all need a sharp word of warning; 'Look out!' 'Stop there!' 'Be careful!', don't we?.....to keep us alert or to bring us back to our senses.

How about some comments?

link to CRUSE:
http://www.crusebereavementcare.org.uk/about_bereavement.htm

What's your ideal Christian community?

Rarely have I read anything that ticks as many boxes for me as this. The challenge is in the last line.... Am I prepared to give everything to try and make it happen?
Impossible? When we say 'Yes' to God, the impossible happens... Luke 1 v 37

"I want to be part of a community that I love and that loves me. A place where
we get past the polite niceness, beyond the pretence and the masks, and get
really irritated with each other. And then stick at it and stick together.

I want to be part of something that is marked by its welcome, its hospitality and
its inclusiveness. A place with fuzzy edges, where no one decides who belongs
and is ‘in’ or ‘out’. I want to be part of a group of people who are obsessed with
Jesus, rather than Christianity. A place that is passionately focussed on Jesus
and learning to live as followers of his way in real life today. A place where
we’re becoming more like Jesus as we learn the ancient spiritual disciplines and
work together to make them part of our lives.

I want to belong to a community where I can be myself, warts and all.
A place that, on the one hand will accept me as I am right now, but on the other
hand will provoke and inspire me to become more of what I could be. A place
where my brokenness, fears and habits are part of the process. A place where
we hold on to the ‘ideal’ but also celebrate the ‘real’.

I want to be part of something that treats people like adults. A place that values
everyone’s experience and perspective. A place where people are motivated by
love rather than guilt. I want to be part of a community that is both of our culture,
so that it connects with the language, images, music and experiences of
everyday life; but one that also goes against the grain of our culture because we
serve one another, live sacrificially and cross boundaries of class, age and colour.

A place that makes the difference in the things that feel too big for us as individuals.
Whether that’s the hassle my kids will get when they can’t wear designer
trainers or the impotence I feel in the face of ethical and environmental
issues.

A place that makes us yearn for justice and beauty. A place that equips us for
life in the worlds we live in, and gives us the fire we need to change them.
An oasis in the desert......but at the same time..... a desert in the oasis.....a place that makes us more thirsty for Jesus and His kingdom.

Of course my dream is impossibly idealistic, but I’ve decided that even if we
never get there, I want to give everything to trying."

Richard White. ( Leadership Link. Cell UK)

You can do it!

Anita Roddick once said:
“If you ever think you’re too small to make a difference, you’ve never been to bed with a mosquito.”

Discovering glory in everyday life.....

I just had to bring you this on a cold November day:

GLORY = when your messiah drives a minivan by timothy paul jones

Heat shimmers upward from the pavement, birthing miniature mirages that dance madly between bumpers and fenders in an endless chain of automobiles. A revolving bank sign reveals that the time is 4:12pm,….Oklahoma on a late summer afternoon…
The conflicting messages on the bumper stickers and the varying rhythms of the heads bobbing above the drivers’ seats divulge the diversity of this area. Hummers and Harleys wait alongside mud spattered pickup trucks and compact cars past their prime.
Nothing here seems glorious. It is an ordinary afternoon filled with ordinary people trying to find their way home amid the hubbub and hullabaloo of their ordinary lives.
My seven-year-old sits beside me in the car, face upturned as she sings along with the latest single by U2. As our car curves to the right, something on the opposite side of the intersection seizes Hannah’s attention.
‘Look!’ she points towards a battered minivan, a fading remnant of that brief moment in the 1980s when Americans inexplicably used the words minivan and cool in the same sentence. ‘Look! There’s Jesus.’
I glimpse just enough of the vehicle’s lone occupant to grasp the reason for her momentary delusion. The driver is long-haired, bearded, and olive-skinned, white teeth glinting through a gentle smile.
The Jesus of a thousand Sunday School take home papers.
Without thinking I smile and reply; ‘No, Hannah. That wasn’t Jesus. It can’t be. Jesus lived on earth a long time ago….almost two thousand years ago. It was just someone who looks like the paintings of Jesus.’
‘But,’ Hannah is staring through the rear window, eyes still riveted to the minivan, ‘It was Jesus! I saw him.’
‘No, Hannah,’ my tone is harsher than I intend. ‘It wasn’t Jesus. It couldn’t have been.’
The minivan vanishes into the jumble of vehicles crisscrossing the intersection, and Hannah coils back into her seat with a whisper, ‘But Daddy, it was.’ As her moment of childlike wonder chokes in a sea of grownup logic, a gentle murmur wends its way past the dry bones of a soul that once found magic wands in the branches of ordinary trees and glorious wonders amid the stars of a common sky.
What if she’s right?
What if God’s presence is nearer than I ever imagined?
Years of rational thinking and theological training recoil at this thought, this alien intruder from a childhood long past. God in a minivan! That’s as absurd as…..as…. The other voice—the voice of childlike wonder----whispers again, As absurd as the glory of God erupting from a burning shrub on the far side of a Middle Eastern desert? As absurd as the Messiah, enfolded in the flesh of a peasant’s baby, tumbling into a feed trough in Bethlehem? As insane as the King of the Universe screaming from a wooden stake, stabbed like a dagger into the heart of the Hill of the Skull? As crazy as all the other wonders that you claim to believe, that you’ve embalmed in the pages of your theology but that you’re unwilling to look for here and now?
‘But then again, Hannah.’ I hear a voice speaking and realise that it must be my own, ‘who knows? Maybe it was.’ And suddenly an ordinary afternoon is filled with extraordinary possibilities. For I find myself realising anew---even, in some shadowed corner of my soul, believing---that God is always present, always available, even in the moments when I least expect it.
What I am experiencing is a reminder of glory.

From ‘Hullabaloo' by Timothy Paul Jones. Used by permission.
More information about Hullabaloo, as well as musical playlists:
http://www.timothypauljones.com
Order copies of Hullabaloo here.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0781444837?tag=timothypauljo-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0781444837&adid=0P2WGPJX8P2Y846AECCX&:

TROUBLE !

Freak incidents involving animals topped the list of the most bizarre claims made to insurer Norwich Union last year, with food-related prangs also featuring highly.
"A frozen squirrel fell out of a tree and crashed through the windscreen on to the passenger seat."
"The car was parked when a reindeer fell on the bonnet of my car."
"As I was driving round a bend, one of the doors opened and a frozen kebab flew out, hitting and damaging a passing car."
"A herd of cows licked my car and caused damage to the paintwork."
"While I was waiting at traffic lights, a wasp went down my trouser leg which made me hit the accelerator and prang the car in front."
"A cow jumped on my quad bike."
As an Insurance Broker, I reckon the funniest incident I ever had to deal with was a household claim where the guy’s dog had chewed up his false teeth. He came into my office and tried, with no teeth in, to describe what had happened….

As Christians we should not be surprised when trouble comes. It may be hard to take at the time. I remember, at the age of 19, disconsolately sitting in my car with a burned out clutch outside the Royal Albert Hall, wondering what to do next. I had a New Testament there and opened it at the first chapter of James;
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perserverance.. Perserverance must finish it's work so that you may be mature, and complete, not lacking anything."
That was like God speaking directly to me!
The car was repaired for £25 (2 weeks wages at the time) and I got it back from London, of course.
That was a lesson I never forgot, and so when more serious trouble comes along, as it does from time to time I’m ready for it !

"I've told you this so that my peace will be with you. In the world you'll have trouble. But cheer up! I have overcome the world." Jesus. (John 16 v 33)

NON ANGLI SED ANGELI

11th November....Remembrance Day.
2007....the year we remember the abolition of slavery 200 years ago.

Geoffrey Studdert-Kennedy was a First World War Chaplain. He wrote many poems around 90 years ago in and around the trenches.
Below is an excerpt from Studdert-Kennedy's long poem NON ANGLI SED ANGELI, recalling the encounter between Pope Gregory and ‘Angles’ (English slaves) when he famously stated ‘not Angles but Angels’.
In editing it, I have found that Studdert-Kennedy, though long dead, directly challenges many aspects of our society today (even abortion). PC he is not. Some might say he glorifies war but does he?.... and maybe today we glorify peacetime when in fact evil abounds amongst us, and slavery takes new forms.
comments welcomed

He saw it with the eyes of Christ, and spoke
in all unconscious prophecy, the doom
of slavery, which these same blue-eyed boys
would one day die to banish from the world.
And I have seen them die in these last days:
Yes, I have seen their bright blue eyes grow dim
with agony, yet never lose their smile,
The dauntless smile of Angles that reveals
their angel souls, and crowns them Kings by right,
the destined saviours of the world from sin,
and from the curse of tyranny which kills
the souls of men, and turns them into slaves.
The day of tyrant kings is dead, and thrones
shall nevermore dethrone men's souls.
But now a dull inhuman monster takes their place.
The minotaur of Mammon tears the wings
from new-fledged souls and flings them bleeding down
to dogs of greed and lust.
To him they are dead hands, machines that make machines,
and grind out gold to swell the coffers of the rich.
So Satan takes new forms, and when he finds
the sword is weak, too weak to win brave hearts
as slaves, creeps snakelike in, in time of Peace,
to fetter free-born men with golden chains
and lead them helpless captives down to hell.
O England, when this wave of war is spent,
and rolls back baffled from thy rocky breast,
wilt thou be strong to slay the Minotaur,
and strangle that great golden snake that crept
in time of Peace about thy home to kill,
with venom of low greed and lust of wealth,
the soul of Freedom and the heart of Love?
Shall wealth still grow, and woe increase to breed
in filthy slums the slaves of poverty?
Shall senseless pride and vulgar luxury
by gilding over evil make it good?
Shall souls be only hands again, dead hands,
That toil for wealth that makes none rich save those who need it not?
Shall men still seek in drink a refuge from the burden of their strife,
And from that dull monotony of grey
that shadows half our cities from the sun?
Shall women still be bought and sold, like dogs
upon the streets, because the wage they earn
by work will not keep bodies for their souls?
Shall children come to birth, too weak to live,
Not even hands of strength, but feeble hands,
that clutch at life and die--just born to die
and cry--cry shame upon the grimy world
that murdered them?
If this be what must come,
then blessed are the dead who die in war,
Their bodies shattered, but their souls untouched
by slime of sin, unpoisoned by the snake,
For war is kinder than a Godless peace.
O England, let this message from the past
ring down the ages like a trumpet call,
Not Angles these but Angels, souls not slaves,
let not thy wealth be counted in base coin
but in chaste mothers, comely maids, strong men
with kindly eyes, in sound of children's play,
and in those happy aged ones who stand
between the seas of life, and, looking back
and forwards, vow that human life is good.
So must our land be reckoned rich or poor.

LINKS:

Studdert-Kennedy's poems:
http://www.mun.ca/rels/restmov/texts/dasc/TUB.HTM

modern forms of slavery:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/ethics/slavery/modern/modern_print.html
http://paulfield.com/cargo/
http://www.stopthetraffik.org/default.aspx

Humility

Some thoughts on humility...found on GODTUBE:

Will you be an encourager?

Remember the geese? (blog 29/9/07). Ian and I see a flock of them most days on our morning bike ride and they serve as a reminder......
.... ‘encourage one another.’(Heb 10:25).
There is no better way of helping each other fulfil our God-given purpose on Earth.

We need fewer critics and more cheerleaders......... those who see over the heads of those who say ‘it’ll never work’ and shout to someone launching out in faith. ‘Go for it! You can make it!’ …..in the words of Jesus; ‘Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets.’ (Luke 5:4)

So often people are discouraged, and this is the devil’s work.
Encouraging one another builds us up in love to be the people Jesus is calling us to be.
Will you be an encourager today?

‘We all have different gifts. Whoever has the gift of encouraging others should encourage.’ (Romans 12:6-8 NCV). See also Ephesians 4 :29b to 5 :2 (NLT)

…and we can learn a lot from non-Christians:
http://www.davecheong.com/2006/07/12/8-simple-things-you-can-do-to-encourage-others

PS You could encourage me today! If you are reading this blog regularly send an e-mail to michael_joyce@btconnect.com just to let me know.

More pneuma

When Ezekiel obeyed God and proclaimed, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord...live ...and know that I am God' the Bible says: 'The bones...came together ... but….there was no breath in them' (Ezekiel 37:7-8 TLB). So at that point He ceased talking to the dry bones and went directly to the source - the wind, the pneuma which is God's Spirit, saying: 'Breathe upon these slain, that they may live' (v9). You will never experience a divine visitation or a supernatural solution by looking to flesh and blood; that kind of experience comes only from God Himself. When you need His help, you must go directly to the source!

Today if you are struggling with financial pressures, health issues, addictions, or relationship problems, you need a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit. Job said, 'The breath of the Almighty gives me life' (Job 33:4 NIV). So call 'time out,' get alone and pray, 'Holy Spirit breathe on me.'

Thanks to Word For Today UCB PO Box 255, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 8YY England Tel: 0845 6040401
Email: ucb@ucb.co.uk (free issues of the daily devotional are available for the UK and Republic of Ireland)

Blow me

Returning home on my bike via Horkstow Bridge, I got a puncture….not an instant flat but a slow air leak. Holmes Lane has the very slightest incline, but it began to feel like a serious uphill climb before I looked down to see a deflating tyre. I pumped it up and got past Ermine Street before the struggle began again. By the time I arrived home the tyre was just about flat and I too was seriously short of air!

Modern tyres used to be called ‘pneumatic’ to differentiate them from the early solid tyres. The word is derived from the Greek ‘pneuma’ meaning wind, air, breath or spirit. The Bible uses ‘pneuma’ to describe the Holy Spirit…the breath of God.

I wonder if, like me, you have discovered that without the pneuma of the Holy Spirit everything you do is flat and you end up exhausted?

With a new tyre and tube and plenty of pneuma there’s no holding me back…

Encounter with Jesus

Years ago we ran a kids' Holiday Bible Club on the theme ‘Close Encounters’…(when that film first came out…yes, it is a long time ago!) I remember the series as being particularly challenging and inspiring.
Apart from encounter there is nothing else in the Gospels. Every tale is an encounter.*

Here’s one startling example:

Matthew (ch. 20) tells how Jesus sets out for Jerusalem for the last time. He is on a roll at last. The crowd swarms around him sensing that this is the time, the moment of destiny, the final showdown between Jesus and the authorities. They press toward him, willing him, cheering him on. At Jerusalem, as we now know, the whole direction of history will change.

Then….two voices break out, disturbing the cry of the crowds.
'Lord Jesus son of David have mercy on us!'
Two blind men. The crowd tries to drown them out, tries to silence them, rebuking them for their audacity. For now, now is the time…..

But Jesus stops.

Jesus stops….and it is as if for a moment the eternal destiny of the universe is placed on hold. Two blind men - perhaps it's fairly obvious what they want. But Jesus asks anyway and by so doing gives them dignity. The question Jesus asks is massive. 'What do you want me to do for you?' These words echo down through the ages. On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus will do everything that humanity needs, but first he chooses to ask this question of a pair of beggars. By that dusty roadside Jesus performs the last healing miracle recorded in Matthew's gospel. He gives two men their sight.

Jesus will never simply be the mascot or figurehead of the crowd, propelled along by their hopes and expectations. Nor does he dispense God's gifts without thought for the one who is asking him. Jesus makes the space for encounter. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, but here is a reminder: Jesus has come not simply to fulfil a mission, but for the healing of humanity; not for a heaving mass, but for individuals each with their own needs, like you and me.

With thanks to Ben Care (LICC)
*Bishop Anthony Bloom

Alison's Psalm

A friend wrote this recently:

A PSALM OF THANKSGIVING FOR MY PARENTS
Both my parents have passed away in the last two months. I was going to write a lament, but was surprised to find that I wrote a thanksgiving. I found the process of doing this very healing.

O Holy God, I thank you that you are my Heavenly Father,
unceasingly directing, protecting and upholding me.
I thank you for the gift of my earthly parents,
for their love, their guidance and their strength.
I thank you that you led Mum to introduce me to you,
as she showed me your ways through teaching and example.
I thank you for the faith that Mum and I shared;
for the privilege of this strengthening bond in her final days.
I thank you for the loving family life I was born in to;
a reflection of the fellowship of your whole family on earth.
I thank you for the arguments, the rows and the debates
that formed me, and allowed me the freedom to doubt and to question.
I thank you for the continuous encouragement and affirmation they gave,
as ever you, my Eternal Father, sustain and support me.
I thank you that as I turned from cared for into carer
you gave me the courage and assurance to make those life-changing decisions.
I thank you, Lord, that you took them home together
in testimony to their unbroken bond of love.
Lord, despite your love and their love, I still feel battered and bruised,
Yet I know that your mercy will continue to uphold me.
I am full of sorrow, of tears and of pain,
yet I know you will use these to give me courage and compassion.
I praise and thank you, O Lord, Eternal Father, Healing God,
and pray that all will know the unending blessings of your love.

True simplicity

THE HIGHWAY CODE just got bigger - 50% bigger in fact, containing 29 more rules !

....like everything else...

Many people struggle at work weighed down by regulation, more rules, more laws to fall foul of.
It’s impossible for any practitioner in any trade or profession to even understand some of them let alone keep track of them all.

Sometimes I despair….then I remember:
There are still only TEN commandments.
And Jesus explained that those TEN are summed up in TWO:
Love God and Love your Neighbour
The Christian’s rule book is always the simplest of all.
Isn’t that refreshing?

….And isn’t it also good news that when we mess up and are really sorry, He gives us a fresh start?

PS Try the Highway Code quiz if you dare!
http://www.nurs.co.uk/news/articles/cms/1191442582212694732542_1.htm

Lessons from the Geese

My daily (well almost...I don't usually go out in foul weather!) mountain bike ride before breakfast took me today to a favourite high spot on the Wolds overlooking the Ancholme Valley and Horkstow Bridge. From here I can see Winterton... a good place to pray over the town. A leafy ash protected me from a brief squall. Then it happened: A flock of geese came over from the Humber. I heard them before I saw them. They settled in the field behind me to my great delight, and I watched them through the hedge, hundreds of them, chattering, squawking and honking at each other.It was an absolute joy to be there. After 10 minutes watching and listening, it was time for me to go and as I emerged to where they could see me, they took off and then quickly got into formation before disappearing behind a distant wood. As I turned for home I reflected upon a very special experience, hardly noticing the rain and mud.
You may be surprised to discover that there's a lot we can learn from geese, especially in the areas of living and working together:
Spend a few minutes with this link (sorry about the bizarre name of it!):
http://www.cuttyhunkroseinspirations.com/geese.html
Next time you see a flock of geese, remember how important it is that we support and encourage one another in our life's journey together as God's people.

ps...while we're on the subject, FLY AWAY HOME is a film everyone should see. I've got the video:
http://www.movieweb.com/movies/film/58/1858/synopsis.php

Jesus in Me

I was talking with a friend the other day about how the way we live as Christians has a powerful influence on the world around us, far beyond our ability to comprehend. This is a combination of the Holy Spirit working in and through us and our daily determination to live like Jesus in obedience to His will.

Jerry Goebel writes:

“I see Jesus in everything you do.”

Would it be possible to hear a compliment greater than this? Are our lives so illustrative of Christ that someone could tell that we were Christians without our words, symbols, or bumper stickers? He tells us to; “Love one another as I have loved you.” He is the only religious leader who personalised the Golden Rule. He doesn’t just say; “Love others like you want to be loved.” He says; “Love others like I loved you!”

Is my life so illustrative of God’s love that:

1. Someone would be able to follow me to the places I go each day and say; “His life shows the priorities of Christ.”

2. I could dare invite someone to follow me from morning 'til night for a month so they could see how a Christ-Follower lives each day?”

3. Someone could drive behind my car from one place to the next and say; “His driving models Jesus.” (IF ONLY!)

4. Someone would be able to walk fifteen paces behind me and see a change in the faces that I walk by? Would they see me saying a kind word to strangers, offering a loving gesture to the elderly, sharing prayer and assistance to the downhearted? If someone were fifteen paces behind me, would he hear people make comments like; “I like him.” Or, “He always has a kind word to say to me.”

Does my life model the statement attributed to Francis of Assisi: “Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary use words.”

The statement of Jesus is truly amazing, try as I might, I would never have the audacity to say; “Watch what I do and replicate it; that will get you to heaven.” Yet, He, after three incredible years of intense living with his disciples is able to tell them; “Look at everything I have done. How I have loved you, how I have loved others—everything you have seen. Live like that and you will know God.”

from http://onefamilyoutreach.com/bible/John/jn_15_9-17.html (edited)

'As we go' spirituality

Here is an extract from the brand new 'Changing Church for a Changing World' book from Fresh Expressions/The Methodist Church(published by TMCP)....do get hold of a copy.

The challenge.....is to hold lightly to what we bring with us, even to let it die. This is the common thread of fresh expressions spirituality. Many practitioners are being called to step into unknown territory.....daily. It has been described as an 'as we go' spirituality. Or even an 'Oh heck!...I have no idea where to go next with this....but I believe God does'. There's a common call, to trust in the God who is always ahead of where we are. To trust that he will reveal and lead the way, step by step and moment by moment. Often leaders say that they feel uneasy when they are trying to make things happen, but spiritually 'at ease' when they have the courage under God to let go...and let God be God, to them and through them. Letting go is never easy, especially within a culture of self-interest and protection. Perhaps it is no surprise that the Spirit is calling and equipping a mission-shaped church to follow in the way of Christ. A spirituality of faith and trust, death and resurrection. (Colin Brown CA)

I am at the 'Oh heck!' stage...

On Fire !

I got to go to Methodist District Synod for the first time the other Saturday… a privilege of my new appointment.
On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is duty and 10 is delight…. I was told it might be 3 or 4. But I’d rate it more like 7 or 8. Well worth the day out.

Interestingly, from the beginning of the day to the end, one theme would not go away…...

At the beginning, the host, the local Epworth Minister, welcomed us by saying; ‘In the event of earthly fire…..this is what you do……(Fire Exits etc). In the event of Heavenly fire, you will know what to do.’
Would we?
There are a number of instances recorded in the Bible of fire coming down from heaven….usually to consume people or things. My first thought was ‘I wouldn’t be here to know what to do.’
But I think the events which gave rise to his statement are those in The Acts of The Apostles Chapter 2. Look it up in your Bible…the Apostles certainly did know what to do when the fire of the Holy Spirit came on them.

Early in the day we were shown pictures of Haven Bank Methodist Chapel in the south of the County which had burned to the ground….I almost said ‘sadly’, but no…. for one thing they are insured, and secondly there is nothing like a disaster of this ilk to bring out the best in folk. Someone once said, ‘The real church is what is left when the building burns to the ground’.

Later, we had a presentation about Epworth Old Rectory with a painting of John Wesley being rescued from the burning house, ‘as a brand from the burning’. His mother was immediately convinced that God had great plans for his life.

Already fired up, during lunch I saw some cards for sale on which were quotations from John Wesley, including:
‘Catch fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn.’
‘It pleased God to kindle a fire which I trust shall never be extinguished.’ as well as the well known ‘I felt my heart strangely warmed………’

A prayer from the Philippines was included in the worship at the end of the day:
Lord, remind us of the truth
That if we would be as lights in the world
We must also endure the burning.

Ignited yet? If not, read this:
http://www.jesus.org.uk/ja/mag_revivalfires_chadwick.shtml

Lay Workers Training

So much for 8 hours a week. ....I just did 3 days of training at Offa House near Leamington Spa!
We were introduced to the Methodist 'System', where lay workers fit into it, Job Descriptions etc.
We also had workshops on Pastoral Care and Visiting and 'You and your Community'.
Listening/Communication skills were high on the agenda.
Hmmm..... Am I a listener? Much to learn and develop here....and for those who knew it already, it was a useful reminder. As I reflected on the importance of listening I read a very challenging item online:
http://www.sidsillinois.org/images/reading_material/couldyoulisten.pdf
For 'Godly play' we sat in a circle on the carpet with Gloria, a lovely lady from Cardiff with boxes full of Bible stories for kids and adults (she was telling us how once she had tresspassed onto the set of Doctor Who, and I suggested she might qualify as a female Time Lord, transporting all her stuff to distant galaxies and bringing fun and excitement to crusty aliens). This was really fascinating, and I will certainly try and introduce Godly Play here....watch this space.
As ever, I found myself leading a group of musicians in providing valuable worship time for the course participants. That's an area of ministry I mustn't neglect.
Richard, a twentysomething guitarist and Youth Worker agreed to publish a photo and report of the Lay Workers' Induction Course in the Methodist Recorder. Turns out he's an ace Frisbee thrower (yes, there really are Frisbee Chucking Championships). He brought a frisbee with him on the Tues afternoon walk...and impressed us.
Now to put learning into practice......

The sending out....

The commissioning on Thursday 13th Sept was a fairly low key event, since I'm only doing 8 hours a week as Community Chaplain, but it was good to have the warm and enthusiastic support of friends from Winterton.
I was formally welcomed to the Scunthorpe Circuit Staff by Superintendent Minister Brian Bailey and later by the Chair of the District, David Perry. Winterton Clergy, Revd Jeongsook Kim and Revd Alice Nunn also gave a word of welcome.
My official starting date was Monday 17th Sept., when I went for training.
I am often asked, 'What is a Community Chaplain?'.... and more often, 'What will you be doing?'
I hope that one day soon I will be able to answer those questions ! Meantime, I reply to my friends at Church: 'It's out there instead of in here.'