tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32441482387429534932024-03-14T08:03:48.016+00:00Thinking AllowedAn opportunity to think through important stuff in a way that makes faith real and practical.thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.comBlogger133125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-37985461198292734622017-11-13T10:10:00.000+00:002017-11-13T10:24:20.722+00:00Carrot-Gate<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rYg4AhQUrG0/WglsH6FKnmI/AAAAAAAARqc/rLPQ2sbMetY8NKzxiUMLNmbq3jTCatVHwCLcBGAs/s1600/Carrot-200x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rYg4AhQUrG0/WglsH6FKnmI/AAAAAAAARqc/rLPQ2sbMetY8NKzxiUMLNmbq3jTCatVHwCLcBGAs/s400/Carrot-200x300.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Catherine wrote this a while ago... </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Carrots. One of the few veg both my children enjoy. Fortunately, carrots are a basic food item. You can find them everywhere.... </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Simple I thought.
Easy. Just go online,</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">type in a list, select the ones you want from the vast
selection that will undoubtedly be displayed, pick a delivery slot and Bob’s your uncle. Or aunt – I don’t want to
make assumptions. (speaking of which, no, I haven't gotten lazy, Asda was being rebuilt following a fire...)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Online I go. Typed in ‘carrots’.
Nothing. So I dropped the 's' and searched for ‘carrot’. Nothing. I searched for ‘bag of carrots’.
Yay, result – except it was a bag of peeled and chopped carrots. So I searched for
‘loose carrots’ – I mean, I’d prefer carrots with sound morals, but if loose
ones were all they had, then I was getting desperate. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">But still nothing. I searched for ‘root vegetables’ for ‘orange
vegetable’ and on and on....... Nothing. I took a deep breath and moved on. I searched
for loose tomatoes, tomato, tomatoes, salad vegetables... but the system clearly
had an aversion to orange things unless they were frozen or cut up already!
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Life’s too short, I
could have driven to the Stevenage store and picked them myself by this point,
so, I put the rest of the order through because I saw you could add stuff
later. Guess what? Having placed the order and booked the slot, when I
tried to add items to my order – nothing. So just for ‘fun’, I started a new
order and miraculously carrots, tomatoes and many other orange items appeared, but
I didn't want a new order. I wanted them added to the order I had. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Naively, I called the
helpline. Here's how it went. Think Basil Fawlty: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Me: “I want to add carrots,
unpeeled, plain, basic carrots to my existing order</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Help: “Just
put it in the search and add them” came the reply. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Me: “I don't think you’re
understanding me. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I have searched 15 different ways, logged in and out,
but it won't show me any carrots, unless I create a completely new order”. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Help: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“Please type in carrots in the search. Have they
appeared?” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Me: “Nope, like I said it isn't working!</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Help: “Can you turn off your phone?” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Me: “Not
without stopping this call” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Help: “Try
typing in carrots.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Me: “Yep I just did...no plain simple carrots are
appearing” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Help: “ok type in this code.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Me: “Yep done that and it just says ‘sorry we
can't find that product number...please try a different search.’”</span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Help: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“Ah...what
code did you put in?” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Me: “Look I put in the code you said, but it isn't working. All
I want is carrots and tomatoes added, if you can see them, please just add them
to my order.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Help: “I am sorry I can't do that.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Me: “Well what can you do then?” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Help: “Sorry
we are not authorised to add things to orders - or do
anything really” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">and with that, they hung up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Well, this isn’t a
rant against Asda or Customer Service staff (although if any of you are
reading, please can I have some carrots and tomatoes?) </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">It’s about systems and assumptions that prevent relationship.
Now I get that systems can help relationships but if the system replaces
relationship, it doesn't work. It doesn't allow individuality. And
everyone is trapped, unable to solve the problem because often, it requires
relationship to solve problems. It requires listening ears without
assumptions or reacting to the surface frustration but hearing the heart. I
realised that the ‘helpline’ person was relating as if to an incompetent
customer and I was relating to an inflexible system with a patronising ‘front-end’. But I’m not incompetent and no doubt they are nice, probably stuck in a thankless job
supporting a pretty poor system.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">That’s the tragedy. So
often we end up not relating to a person, but to the assumptions we have made
about the person. So often the juggernaut of the system imposes itself between
the actual people. When the problem became more complicated than following the
script, the person hid behind the system “not authorised, can’t help” and hung
up. How convenient it is to blame some external force, how easy to hide behind
the impenetrable shield of the ‘rules’. We pick up the phone and a person speaks
to us – it appears like a relationship with another human being – one with
intelligence and feelings, one capable of empathy and action. Then situations
arise outside the system’s parameters, insecurity drives us further into the system
making us less and less a person. In the end, we close ranks, follow protocol, we cease to
speak as an individual and hide behind policy. Suddenly we’re no longer relating
to a person, we’re relating to a system. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">There’s one other
thing that people have over systems. They can acknowledge that they are wrong.
Systems assume that if something isn’t right, you are the one causing it. Just
like in Carrot-Gate. Obviously if you type in ‘carrots’ the system will display
carrots. If it doesn’t, you must have made an error. Or 15. And the individual
trying to help you is trapped by the system and the system mentality into
assuming that you are incompetent, and therefore capable of being disconnected.
By contrast, it was great to hear the second person I spoke to admit there was
a problem with the system. I still didn’t get any carrots, the outcome was the
same, she still had no authority, but she
apologised on behalf of the company and it made all the difference. She
didn't hide behind the system, she was honest about what was abundantly obvious
to anyone looking in. She had no solution, but relationship doesn't
always need a solution. Honesty and empathy dissipated the frustration.
It said “I have heard you. I have heard your heart. I have heard
your frustrations. I have heard your story and we agree on the truth.” How I
wish the guy I spoken to earlier had got this instead of making me feel
incompetent before cutting me off!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Why am I going on
about this? It is the saddest thing
when you start out relating to a person, growing in friendship and trust, only for
them to morph into an impersonal, inflexible system. Deeply sad when people
relate to you based on who they assume you to be rather than who you actually
are. When the rules, the system, is all you can address until finally, they hang-up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">If you relate to any of what I've written, know this. God never relates on the basis of assumption. He knows you, He gets you. He adjusts to who you are and relates to you personally. And when you relate to Him, you are relating to a Father who loves you, not a system. You are relating to the person of Jesus, not the rules He came to displace. You are relating to the Holy Spirit who isn't constrained by pre-set solutions. He never hangs-up on you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Anyway, enough for now, I need to go and hunter-gather some carrots...</span></div>
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thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-67531755963091587802017-05-31T19:37:00.000+01:002017-05-31T19:37:07.616+01:00Guilty<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The good news is not that we won’t die, we will. The good
news is that death does not have to be the final word. We will all die, but in
choosing to ‘die to self’ in this life, we become alive in Christ. In believing
in Jesus we are raised to new life. The death of our body is no longer the defining
moment, no longer the end-point of our existence.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Similarly, with guilt and condemnation. The good news is not
that we will never have to feel guilty or condemned, we will. If we hurt someone,
if we let them down, speak badly about them, lie to them, abuse them in some
way, then we should feel guilty. What we did was wrong and if we have any
goodness in us, our conscience will condemn our actions. And rightly so. The
good news is that these do not have to be the banner that is written over our
life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m not talking about things we feel guilty about but for
which we have no responsibility. The enemy loves to weigh us down with guilt
and condemnation that is not deserved and sometimes we receive the burden
rather than rebuking the enemy and brushing ourselves down. I’m talking about
those times when we know we got it wrong, when we absolutely were the cause of
the problem, the pain, the hurt. Times when we rightly feel the weight of
guilt, because we are guilty.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The good news is that the agony of these feelings no longer
has to define us or control us. Because of Christ’s work there is a means of
forgiveness. A means by which we can be forgiven by God and by which others can
forgive us. We can confess our sin and repent of it – to God and to those who
we have hurt. We can offer restitution and we can be forgiven and set free. <o:p></o:p></div>
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At the risk of making us feel guilty, I wonder though, if we
have become too keen to absolve ourselves and others of these painful feelings,
quoting “There is now, no condemnation….” but applying it too quickly, short-cutting
the process by which we receive that freedom.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I don’t believe that the Gospel is a ‘get out of jail free’
card. It doesn’t give us a licence to behave selfishly without facing the
consequences, it doesn’t mean we can do wrong, press the ‘I am saved’ button
and have our painful feelings of guilt and condemnation removed without due
process.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Being forgiven for what we have deeply felt and owned – all
of the responsibility, the grief, the horror, the guilt, the right condemnation,
is a transformational experience. Forgiveness received in this way isn’t on the
glib basis of “it’s alright, it doesn’t matter”, or a trite response to a
favourite verse. It isn’t an analgesic to hide the pain without dealing with
the cause. It is a true and deep cleansing, won at immense cost. <o:p></o:p></div>
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And knowing that does two things. It builds a barrier to us
doing the same again and it deepens the love we have for those who have so
graciously and expensively, forgiven us. Then, and only then, can we experience
the wonder of guilt removed and condemnation replaced with acceptance and
renewed relationship.<o:p></o:p></div>
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thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-71048327109293010692017-05-20T15:00:00.001+01:002017-05-20T15:27:33.605+01:00A New Way To Balance the Budget<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I read through all the manifesto’s last week. Well, I
glanced at them. Ok, I saw the headlines about them. My conclusion, based on
this detailed analysis? They all cost a lot of money. Which invites the
question ‘How do we raise such a lot of money?’<o:p></o:p></div>
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The standard approach seems to be through taxation. Basically, you charge people for the services
that they benefit from, in return for which they get access to those services
and the right to vote. Sounds like a plan to me. Except within that there seems
to be an untested mantra that those who have more money should pay more. Now I’m
the one who used to take a copy of Socialist Worker into the Insurance Broker
that I worked for and have never voted for anyone further right than a Lib Dem.
But this strikes me as not well thought through. Maybe it's one of those things
that we’ve all heard said so often that it becomes received wisdom.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But why? Would this be reasonable anywhere else? If I go to
Asda (reopening soon, hurrah) and buy the same items as the person next to me,
how would they react if they were charged more, simply because they had more
disposable income than me? If they want a better product, they are free to
choose to go to Waitrose and spend some of <i>their</i>
disposable income there. But why should they have to pay Waitrose prices for
Asda quality, just because they have the money?<o:p></o:p></div>
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The well-off don’t receive better education if they use the state
school system or better health care through the NHS, nor are they better
defended by the Army, just because they are rich. Of course they can buy
private education or health-care and they may buy security by paying for insurance
or a nice living location. But in making those choices and not using public
services, they <i>reduce</i> the burden on them,
freeing them for others to use. In which case an equally sound (ie not very)
argument could be made that those choosing to spend their money in that way
should pay lower, not higher, taxes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Now, I know some will bridle at such a thought, because it
seems unfair. The rich can afford to make those choices, the poorer cannot. But
that is an argument about whether the rich deserve their riches or not, it’s a “We
don’t have as much as those rich ***** so we’ll find a legal way of redistributing
the wealth”. But this lacks integrity. If the problem is inequality, then justify
that position and spell out policies that address it, don’t hide behind the
urban myth that it is intrinsically right for those who have more to pay a disproportionate
amount more than those who have less. (The argument “those who have more should
contribute more” is entirely sensible – but they already do, even if they are
taxed at the same rate.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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There are other pragmatic considerations too. Not just that
the rich will push off to somewhere friendlier, but also for those who stay. If
a company has 110 employees, 10 of whom are on the higher tax rate, then in
order to give everybody £75 more in their pocket requires the company to
increase the pay of the higher tax payers by more than that of the lower paid.
(£125 vs £100) For the same outlay, if everyone was on the same tax rate, all
the employees would receive a £77 after-tax increase, £2 more than they would
otherwise have received. Given a fixed budget, most employees lose out by
having some on a higher tax rate, even if the company is seeking to be
egalitarian! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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A thought then on how we might fund the manifestos: Each
party starts a crowd-funding page via Facebook. The party that gets the funding
for their policies first, becomes the government. Not only does it solve the
shortfall, it could replace the election entirely. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Genius, I think.<o:p></o:p></div>
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thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-42393439490984887122017-05-18T17:08:00.000+01:002017-05-18T17:08:03.183+01:00Humpty Dumpty<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Humpty Dumpty had a great fall</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>And all the King’s Horses and all the King’s men</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Couldn’t put Humpty together again</i></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I956VxrnVV0/WR3Er8OIOII/AAAAAAAAPfM/c2wEYU68szoJjD2ci9waDhdTdn6eAHwsQCLcB/s1600/humpty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I956VxrnVV0/WR3Er8OIOII/AAAAAAAAPfM/c2wEYU68szoJjD2ci9waDhdTdn6eAHwsQCLcB/s320/humpty.jpg" width="320" /></a></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Profound stuff, an egg, fallen from a ledge, splattered on the floor, the shell in pieces, the yolk and white mixed, no wonder it was beyond anyone to fix, including the King!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But it isn’t about an egg, it’s about you and me. We fell too, not from a ledge, but from loving relationship with God. And it cracked us open, breaking our bodies, spilling our souls and leaking our spirits. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And all the NHS, all the celebrity advice, all the world’s wisdom can’t put us back together again.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The good news is that the God, who we rejected, still loves us, still knows how we were uniquely knit together still knows how to unscramble us and make us whole. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There’s never been anything more broken than Jesus on the cross. So disfigured in body and soul that he barely looked human anymore, so utterly forsaken that His spirit cries out in agony. Yet having borne our sin and shared our suffering, He is completely healed and even though He was dead, becomes alive again.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Humpty Dumpty that is me, seemingly broken and beyond repair is eminently mendable by that same God. “The power that was at work, raising Jesus from the dead, is now at work in you”</span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-27871379350595921342017-05-08T17:01:00.001+01:002017-05-08T17:01:29.470+01:00Identikit<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9SPRI4Dyf9Y/WQ9rJ-ezLEI/AAAAAAAAPaQ/WwWeF4gPO6QIK80kk3SfVwrXIBBaXsB2gCLcB/s1600/convict-adult-costume-bc-1765.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9SPRI4Dyf9Y/WQ9rJ-ezLEI/AAAAAAAAPaQ/WwWeF4gPO6QIK80kk3SfVwrXIBBaXsB2gCLcB/s320/convict-adult-costume-bc-1765.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Imagine that a dangerous criminal had escaped from a nearby
prison. The news is full of it, warning people to be prepared. They show a
photograph and advise anyone who sees the fugitive to stay clear and call the
police immediately.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Later in the day there is an unexpected knock on the door.
It’s insistent and disconcerting. Your awareness is heightened and you leave
the security chain on as you gingerly open the door a fraction. With relief,
you realise it isn’t the escaped convict. The identikit photograph was of a young man and this is a middle-aged woman. She is obviously distressed. She says that she
felt like she was being followed and had heard the news about the escaped
prisoner. She asks if she can come in and call the police. Sympathetically you
open the door and let her in, seeing too late the gun being brought up, ready
to use. Your final thought is to wonder how you were supposed to be prepared
when the person was so different to the picture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">When Jesus comes ‘as a thief in the night’, unexpectedly and
suddenly, I wonder if people will have the same reaction? As church, we are ‘the body of Christ’. We are supposed to be the living
photograph of Jesus. If we got people to describe Jesus from what they saw of church, what would the 'identikit' look like? A well-meaning group, trying to do some good with limited resources? An insular, fractious and judgemental group that lost any relevance it might have once had? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Or would it look like Jesus - one who </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">is self-sacrificing, willing to give up dignity
and reputation for the sake of the poor and vulnerable. One who is
willing to die for the worst of people as well as the best. One who
despite betrayal, injustice and abuse cries out forgiveness. One who
fulfils the heart of the law whilst dismissing the legalism. One
who endures loneliness, despair and suffering, for the joy of restored, loving
relationship with people. One who allows himself to be judged and
condemned. One who speaks up
for the oppressed. One who lifts others, who gets his hands dirty in the messiness of life. One who overcomes in the power of God and defeats, even death.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This isn’t a sideswipe at church from someone perched on their lofty,
holier than thou, mountain top. I'm part of the problem. It isn’t a complaint against so many of the
wonderful, Christ-like individuals who comprise the church. In truth, there is
much to commend, both in the present and the past – a truth often overlooked by
the media and hidden by people’s general disinterest. Yet the question persists
in my mind. What picture does the world see, what image of God do we display? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">For those of us 'in' church, who have met with the extraordinary love of Jesus, how can we so misrepresent that passion, that person, by such a timid and tepid response? </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">For the sake of those who don't yet know Jesus, how
can we more accurately represent the one whose church it is? Doesn't it require something more radical than a slightly tweaked personal agenda? Doesn't it need an unbalanced, slightly unhinged, faith endued madness that is willing to risk everything for the sake of others? Can we truly represent a God who invades enemy territory as a baby and wins victory by being crucified, by living like everyone else? </span><br />
<o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I know this heart-cry stirs in many - the question is how, what do we do? Let's not still be asking the question this time next year.</span></div>
</div>
thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-48172611789050953652017-05-05T08:55:00.000+01:002017-05-06T16:52:39.923+01:00Fractured<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hh3QxHagynw/WQwvIfZMIhI/AAAAAAAAPYU/NNIxrHVZ7S0Mw83L9KWZ4ddt3gyLJFZeQCLcB/s1600/fractured.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hh3QxHagynw/WQwvIfZMIhI/AAAAAAAAPYU/NNIxrHVZ7S0Mw83L9KWZ4ddt3gyLJFZeQCLcB/s320/fractured.jpg" width="267" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We are fractured people: Our bodies are fractured from our souls, our souls from our spirit. Our bodies grow old and sick, our souls lose hope and suffer depression whilst our spirits, hidden from view most of the time, are deeply yearning for relationship with their creator and the person they truly are.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Of course, for much of the time, this brokenness is invisible, both to ourselves and to those around. For a start, we develop coping mechanisms: medicines and cosmetics for the body, busy-ness, CBT and more medicines for our soul, Eastern mysticism, new-age, religion for our spirit. It makes the underlying malaise feels normal, to be expected, just part of life.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">But Paul, writing to his friends in Rome, points to something profound. It isn’t ‘part of life’ it’s a form of death. Life isn’t supposed to be a constant round of patching up or covering over or enduring the brokenness. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">In the Bible, righteousness means ‘the state that is acceptable to God’ and peace (shalom) means wholeness. Brokenness is not a state that God intended for us nor one in which He is content to leave us. Something much better has been won for us through Jesus. In His life on earth He experienced first-hand the full extent of that brokenness. Through His death and resurrection, He broke brokenness and killed death. ‘By his stripes, we are healed’</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">When the love of God comes in to our life, healing comes. Increasingly we are knit back together; body, soul and spirit. Then the life-giving, strengthening joy of God can flow once more. Through our souls, through our bodies and cause our spirit to soar. </span></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-31099299464253408952016-05-24T08:42:00.002+01:002016-05-24T08:53:57.161+01:00Which bird are you?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
When faced with
difficulties we generally respond as one of three birds. The Ostrich,
the Robin or the Eagle.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Personally, I tend to
go Ostrich. Denial is my defence mechanism of choice. Head in the
sand, pretend it isn't there, presume that it will go away if I don't
look at it. You would be surprised how well it has worked. Only last
Saturday, faced with the impossibility of the Asda 'fast lane' we
discovered that if you ignore the 'unexpected shopping in the bagging
area' message for a few seconds, it just lets you carry on. Top tip.
Of course that's to ignore the excruciating times when Ostrich
doesn't work out. But of course, as an Ostrich, ignoring the bad
outcomes is all part of the deal.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Others though go for
the Robin. As in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFdgjYoBMIg" target="_blank">'Brave Sir Robin ran away'</a> from 'Monty Python and
the Holy Grail'. His trusty bards could be relied upon for adding
another verse to the ballad of their Master's deeds, describing in
detail how at every opportunity, 'brave sir Robin' did indeed, run
away. A problem in a relationship, avoid the person. Uncomfortable in
church? Go to a different one. Vision a bit too demanding? Dream a
less challenging one.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Neither of course is
what we are called to, both are very tempting. Often, we wish the
Bible had recorded:</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
And the Lord said to
Joshua “Be expedient and pragmatic, tell the people that in three
days you will go through the camp with an action plan for them to
discuss, although if three days seems a bit hasty, feel free to defer
it to a more convenient point”</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
or</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
And God said to Abraham
“Leave your people and go to a land that I will show you. (Defining
'leave' as take who you want, 'go' as a metaphor for 'stay' and 'I
will show you' as 'you get to choose the destination and the route')</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
But inconsiderately, it
doesn't. Instead, God says “Take up your cross daily” and makes
many other impossible demands that cause us to adopt our favourite
bird.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So, what of the Eagle?
Well, we're supposed to soar like they soar. Not head in the sand
seeing nothing, not running away so that we can't see the problem. But soaring on high where we can see the bigger
picture, the clearer route. From Eagle's wings we see the smallness
of the problem in the bigness of God's perspective. Our nose isn't
pressed up against the impossible, we are flying high above it.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Great image, so much
healthier, but how? The problem is real, the people don't want to
enter the land, they really are scared of the giants, and frankly, so
am I. If I'm honest, I don't think I have the energy to restore that
relationship, the skill to manage that issue, the strength to face
that hostility. Everything in me shouts 'hide your head in the sand,
run away, find an easier ministry'</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=IS+40&version=NRSV" target="_blank">Isaiah 40</a> tells us that
the answer is 'waiting' on God. Not a passive, finger drumming
waiting. But an active, spending time with Him, putting relationship
with Him ahead of the problems. Choosing to focus on Him rather than
the issues, worshipping Him not idolising the problem.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
In the end, Joshua was
able to achieve the impossible because he was 'strong and of good
courage'. Not because of his own gifts and experience. Not because he
drummed up some steely eyed self-willed strength. But because God was
with him, and he knew it. It caused him to fly.</div>
</div>
thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-75996501608615509642016-05-19T08:29:00.000+01:002016-05-19T08:29:37.990+01:00Lofts & Loftier<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, Simon and I needed to put some things in the loft today.
Cue an afternoon spent reorganising the things that were already up there to
make space for the new. “Don’t look in that box” I cautioned. “If we start
looking in boxes we’ll be here all day” Too late. A Combine Harvester (toy, not
full size – it’s not that big a loft…), some Hornby Dublo trains and various
bits of old electronics too late. Also discovered some old school reports, a
pool table for Benjamin to try, all the children’s first shoes and Ruth’s GCSE
artwork pieces. “This seems to have taken a lot longer than I expected” said
Simon as we emerged just in time for Pointless.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It dawned on me as we came downstairs that I had spent an
afternoon rearranging stuff we don’t use in order to create space for more
stuff we don’t use. Put bluntly, mostly, we had rearranged junk to make space
for more junk. “A metaphor for much of my life” I muttered. And whilst that was
the sentiment of a slightly grumpy 5x year old, there is a salutary level of
truth in it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Isn't that what we do a lot of the time? Rearrange the junk
in our lives in order to make space for a new bit that we have acquired? A new
hurt, a new slight, a new ‘fact’, a new disappointment, a new anxiety, a new
unattached emotion, a new jealousy, a new lust, a new sin?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We know in our hearts, just as I do regarding the loft, that
what it really needs is a good clear out. You know what? As I moved stuff
around in the cramped, hot confines of the loft, I even took the trouble to
sweep the boards where the old stuff had been. Yep, you wouldn't want new stuff
that you don’t use standing on dust would you? You don’t want the junk getting
messier than it already is….<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So here I am, moving junk around in my life, sweeping
underneath it so that it has a nice clean place to sit. When Simon heard my
muttering, he wisely said “Yeah, but it’s the best we could do in the time” And
of course he was right. Sometimes, with the junk of life that’s the best we can
do. We know we should forgive that person, deal properly with that pain, spend
time with God understanding what just happened so that it doesn't fester. But
we've got the kids to pick up, that deadline to meet and whilst we know all
sorts of good Biblical principles, in the pressure of the moment, the best we
can do is create some space for this new piece. But as with lofts, so with
life. Eventually we need to set aside time to go through it properly. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Time to sort through what are happy memories, the things that
are no longer in current use, but which have great emotional value. We need
time to reflect on childhood days with the Combine Harvester, the joy of seeing
our children in their first shoes. Time too to look again at things that used
to be too painful to have on open display, to have a moment to reconnect with
God as we rediscover the album of the one no longer with us. Good and precious
moments all. But also time to do the hard work of sorting through the old paper
work, of bagging up the real rubbish, of dragging the junk down the steps, of
making the trip(s) to the tip and actually being rid of what is just clutter.
It’s tiring, physically and at times emotionally. Just like with life. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lent of course is the traditional season for Christians to
be ‘shriven’, to reflect, to confess, to repent, to engage with God in removing
the rubbish. A time to bring the junk of the year to the rubbish tip of the
cross, where Jesus can miraculously redeem it, reuse it and make it beautiful.
But we don’t have to wait for a particular season. If your loft is full of
stuff, determine to deal with it soon. Get a friend to help you, it’s more fun
that way. Share the good memories, hold hands in the painful ones. Allow them to
encourage you to let go of things you might otherwise hold on to, but which you
both know are unhelpful.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Don’t forever keep just moving it round, cleaning underneath
it, sweeping in the gaps. Eventually you run out of space and you find your
hands full of junk, with nowhere to put it down. Do you know what happens then?
Either you cram it in the loft anyway, until it all comes crashing down in a
catastrophic moment, or you find a use for it, a place to display it. The
rubbish of our life becomes our life.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
See you at the tip….<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-37237916472609990632016-05-11T09:43:00.000+01:002016-05-11T09:43:08.184+01:00Go Set A Watchman<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
No, not a blog about Harper Lee's last book, but some thoughts based on Isaiah 21.<br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on, it comes from the desert, from a
terrible land. A stern vision is told to me; the betrayer betrays, and the
destroyer destroys.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Therefore my loins are filled with anguish; pangs have seized me, like
the pangs of a woman in labour; I am bowed down so that I cannot hear, I am
dismayed so that I cannot see. My mind reels, horror has appalled me; the
twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling. They prepare the
table, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Rise up, commanders, oil the shield! For thus the Lord said to me: “Go,
post a lookout, let him announce what he sees. When he sees riders, horsemen in
pairs, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, let him listen diligently, very
diligently.” Then the watcher called out: “Upon a watchtower I stand, O
Lord, continually by day, and at my post I am stationed throughout the night. Look,
there they come, riders, horsemen in pairs!” Then he responded, “Fallen, fallen
is Babylon; and all the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground.”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>O my threshed and winnowed one, what I have heard from the Lord of
hosts, the God of Israel, I announce to you.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Something happens, things are said and they bring anguish.
It feels like a whirlwind has hit you – out of the blue comes the least
expected. Unemployment, the end of a relationship, sickness, bereavement,
disappointment, hope unfulfilled. It feels like a betrayal; it feels as if your
very life is being crushed out of you.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How does God expect us to react in such circumstances? After
all, he made us, He understands how we are meant to work – and more, He
understands the fall and its effects. How does He anticipate our body, soul and
spirit responding to such violence?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Does He expect us to brush it off as a light affliction?
Does he expect us to be British and carry on with suitably stiffened upper
lips? Are we supposed to wear a good Christian smile and say ‘The Lord knows
best’?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not at all. He anticipates us going into shock, for us to be
overwhelmed with pain and to be unable to act rationally. It’s no good our
friends pointing to what God has done before – we are incapable of seeing it.
It is no use them recounting all the good that he has done, we are unable to hear
it. We can present as many reasoned arguments as we like to them, but their
minds are frozen and incapable of rational thought. We can pray for God’s light
to shine on them, but right now light only makes more visible the horror that
is before them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
God doesn't criticise them for this. He doesn't berate their
lack of faith, their inability to see the bigger picture. Instead He appoints a
watchman. In kindness and compassion, He instructs the leaders to provide
someone to do what they cannot at present do for themselves, to look out for
additional danger, to listen to the words of God on their behalf, to defend them
and encourage them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
In this way, the individual is protected whilst the shock
subsides, safe until they can begin to see, to hear, to think again about God,
about truth, about love. Finally, they can hear the words of their God “O my
threshed and winnowed one… fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the images of her
gods lie shattered on the ground.” Those who oppressed, those who were the root
cause of the anguish, lie fallen at their feet. Finally, they can receive
healing and hope from the God who loves them, who understands and bears their
pain. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Who is your watchman? Who are you being a watchman for?<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-44610910764721334942013-02-16T12:57:00.000+00:002013-09-19T11:37:52.477+01:00Snow vision<strong>Catherine writes....</strong><br/><br/>So, I had a retreat day all lined up; plan in place, where to meet, how to get there, how to pick up kids at appropriate time. Then it snowed, not much, just enough for school to be starting late.<br/><br/>Still, off I trotted in my car on a little adventure in the snow. The roads had all but cleared – amazingly even the side road tracks (like someone had gone ahead and brushed all the snow away). But the countryside was a blanket of white and the snow was lying heavily on the trees, bowing branches, beautiful. As I got within a mile of the agreed destination, I came across a barrier, complete with keypad. No problem<a href="http://marysdiary.net/wp/content/Hosting/m/a/marysdiary.net/web/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/SnowBlog2.jpg"><img class="alignright wp-image-1037" alt="SnowBlog2" src="http://marysdiary.net/wp/content/Hosting/m/a/marysdiary.net/web/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/SnowBlog2.jpg" width="322" height="220" /></a>. I’d been warned about the barrier, just drive up to it and it will open.. So I did. Twice, slowly. No movement on barrier and no code to get through in my car. I thought it was a little odd, no mention of this in the instructions, no-one around near the barrier to ask, no intercom to get help.... Because of the snow, I was a little later than expected, so I rang about 20 people to try and see if they were already there, to see if they could help me get past the barrier.<br/><br/>I spoke to lots of answer phone messages......but no luck in speaking to an actual person, so ditched the car (not literally thankfully) and had to walk. A mile down the road through the snow, finally arriving at the venue. No-one there. I began to think that I had missed something, a text, or voicemail, an email or Facebook message cancelling.... But the roads were clear, there were no problems with the snow and when I rechecked, no messages. Still the countryside was stunning, so I walked back to the car, a little wet, a little surprised, asking ‘Lord what do you want to say through this......’ I loved the trees, took some pics, thought ‘what a beautiful place this is’, sensed God dancing, saying ‘have some fun, enjoy where I have brought you, make fresh tracks in the snow, I have made you for this adventure. Just follow me......’<br/><br/>It turned out that I’d been missed out of the communication loop, a new plan had been formed because of the perceived problem of the snow. A new venue, revised times and of course, because the plan was to ‘retreat’, all phones and possibilities of contact were off and closed.<br/><br/>As I reflected on this, I began to see a bigger picture. I thought about the barrier in the road, the perceived problem of the snow, other people not following through on the agreed vision. I thought about how easy it is for some to then be left isolated. I sensed God saying this is how things are, the vision was there, others didn't follow where I could have taken them, didn't step on the adventure, and because they haven't stepped it has created a barrier/difficulties for you who have. They are man made barriers, I have cleared the way. Don’t be put off from following what I have said – the obstacles might hold you up a little, you might be stopped for a while, but I called you on this adventure and even though it is more difficult than you might have thought, there is a way.<br/><br/>When big vision is communicated typically three groups of people emerge. One group enthusiastically embraces the vision and they are joined by those who, whilst less excited, nevertheless hear God in the vision and step out on the adventure. The second group are those who agree intellectually and seem to buy in to the visi<a href="http://marysdiary.net/wp/content/Hosting/m/a/marysdiary.net/web/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/SnowBlog1.jpg"><img class=" wp-image-1039 alignleft" alt="SnowBlog1" src="http://marysdiary.net/wp/content/Hosting/m/a/marysdiary.net/web/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/SnowBlog1.jpg" width="300" height="201" /></a>on, but there is no emotional response, no heartfelt commitment. So when problems, real or perceived arise they are quick to amend the process or the outcome of the vision. Of course the last group are those who are ambivalent or opposed to the vision and who throw up obstacles, hoping to keep the status quo.<br/><br/>In this it is like my trip to the retreat. The plan is agreed, the outcome enthusiastically embraced. Some buy into it fully and are prepared to follow through even when obstacles are raised. Others desire the outcome, but are put off the process when faced with challenge. They change the process or the outcome but forget those who left earlier on the full adventure. In the midst of the change, the early adopters, those who willingly follow the full path risk becoming isolated. Just like me on the retreat. At first, I felt I had missed out, missed out because I had followed where led, had followed the agreed vision. When the vision changed I was left in the lurch. But then God said, ‘don’t be disappointed or feel like you got second best, they missed out on adventures with me and they missed out on you, my beloved child.<br/><br/>The truth is that God loves those who take the full adventure and those who don’t, but when we hold back people get hurt and the full blessing that God intended is reduced. He says ’you must fly where I send, you were built for adventure, whether people follow or not I am with you, and I will prepare the way, I will clear the path.’<br/><div></div><br/><div id="nuan_ria_plugin"></div><br/><div id="nuan_ria_plugin"><object id="plugin0" style="position: absolute; z-index: 1000;" width="0" height="0" type="application/x-dgnria"><param name="tabId" value="ff-tab-13" /><param name="counter" value="332" /></object></div>thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-18518852756534623922013-01-24T10:07:00.000+00:002013-09-19T11:37:52.468+01:00Elections, Snooker And A CatOoh, my head.... still no result (in the UK general election). Did Labour win? No. Did they lose? No. Did the Tories win? Yes. HAve they formed a government? No. The markets are going crazy – they and most people like the certainty of a simple yes / no, on / off. Turns out that some elections say ‘yes’ and ‘no’ at the same time.<br/><br/>Reminds me of Quantum Mechanics. No, really. In this microscopic world a particle can both be here and not here at the same time. It can have radioactively decayed or have remained stable at the same moment. Things exist as unresolved possibilities – until we try to observe them, at which point they are forced to be one thing or another. Don’t switch off, there’s a bit about cats later on... but first some sport.<br/><br/>In the week when the World Snooker Championship ended (watching it has been banned in many enlightened countries as constituting cruel and unusual punishment), I thought I’d mention Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle. Steve Davis prepares to take a shot (don’t worry, I’ll fast forward) – the cue ball strikes the<br/>red and it moves towards the hole. Will it go in or not? The tension is unbearable... how could we tell without having to wait? Well, to decide, we need to know how fast the ball is travelling and in what direction. To discover this, we could fire some light at the ball and detect where it bounces to. The angle of bounce and the time taken for it to reach the detector can be used to work out the speed and direction of the ball. Except it<br/>doesn’t. The beam of light is a form of energy. When it hits the ball it exerts a small amount of pressure on it, thus changing its speed and direction – the very things you were trying to measure. Of course, in this case it will be a very small amount that makes little practical difference – it’s Steve Davis, he was going to miss anyway. (sorry Steve). But it does establish a principle – the act of measuring something changes what you were measuring.<br/><br/>Now, where’s the cat... put it in this box with a special little device. (Cat lovers may want to skip to the next paragraph). The device is a radiation detector linked to a gas canister. There is a radioactive particle in the box which has a 50% chance of decaying within a fixed period – say an hour. If the detector is triggered by a decaying particle, the gas is released, thus poisoning the cat. (I said you should have skipped to the next<br/>paragraph). Quantum Physics says that at the sub-atomic level, particles (like electrons) behave like waves – with energy, but no specific location. The probability that the particle is actually at some specific place at any time is described by the equation defining the wave. Only when we try to actually observe where it is do we force it to actually be somewhere! Similarly, the probability that the particle has decayed remains just that – a<br/>probability, until we force it to be ‘yes’ or ‘no’ by observing it. You may well say that this is both confusing and academic. But the cat certainly wouldn’t. If the particle decays, the cat is dead. If not, it remains alive. Whilst the particle is a probability wave, it is neither and therefore the cat lives. However, the moment we try to observe whether the cat is alive or dead, we force the probability wave to collapse into a definitive ‘yes’ or<br/>‘no’. The act of observing, the act of knowing, forces the particle to ‘decide’ whether it has decayed or not.<br/><br/>Checking to see if the cat is alive has a 50% chance of causing its death. Observation can seriously damage your health (or that of a cat).<br/><br/>If the whole universe had been observed already, everything would now behave in a deterministic manner – there would be certainty, everything would behave as a ‘proper’ particle with no ambiguity. But we know that there are countless quantum states in the universe - it is filled with this uncertainty. Which means that it is as yet unobserved, as yet undetermined. At the very least, God has created a universe filled with possibilities. He has created it in such a way that as he observes it, such observation does not interfere with the possibilities. His interactions do not collapse possibilities, He has built openness into the very fabric of the universe.<br/><br/>Love does not insist on its own way.<br/><br/>Of course that doesn’t mean that He has no plan, no knowledge, or no means of achieving His goals. It does mean that these are not accomplished in a deterministic framework in which we are simply pawns in a cosmos of certainty.<br/><br/>No cats were harmed in the production of this blog.<br/><div id="nuan_ria_plugin"><object id="plugin0" style="position: absolute; z-index: 1000;" width="0" height="0" type="application/x-dgnria"><param name="tabId" value="ff-tab-4" /><param name="counter" value="254" /></object></div>thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-65527616811687781142013-01-06T16:56:00.000+00:002013-09-19T11:37:52.446+01:00Door knockers, falling and gunsI remember when I was a student (yep, long memory...) up in the wilds of Newcastle. It had snowed and the ground was pretty icy. (It was probably June or July...) I stepped off the pavement to cross the road and slipped. It was one of those slow-motion moments where your brain has more than enough time to process the fact that: a) you are falling and there is nothing to grab on to, b) you really should have bought those better shoes and c) it’s going to hurt a lot anytime soon. As those thoughts unfurl I’m conscious that my feet have left the ground and that I’m in free-fall backwards.<br/><br/>Then it stopped. A friend with better footwear had stood behind me and caught me. Pushed me upright again. No pain, no predicted trip to A & E, not even the embarrassment of sprawling in the street. Just the amazing relief and euphoria of having escaped what seemed like the inevitable.<br/><br/>Fast forward thirty odd years. Front door is stiff, have to pull on the door knocker to get it closed far enough to lock the door. Been meaning to plane some wood off for a couple of weeks now. Give the knocker a good yank, it comes off in my hand and I go flying backwards. Same time-lapse sequence as before, but this time it’s Janet I’ve flown into and we now both go over backwards – except she is stopped by the hedge, and I am stopped by her. No damage to either of us, no pain, lots of laughter and a Janet shaped dent in the hedge. I put the door knocker back on and a couple of hours later go out to take the dead Christmas Tree to the recycling area in the local park. Try to shut door, won’t, so give big pull on door knocker.... This time there are no arms to stop me, no Janet or hedge to cushion fall. Fortunately the garden is soft after all the rain (remember the hose-pipe ban a few months ago?) and the result is laughter and a sense of my own ridiculousness.<br/><br/>I’ve felt like God reminding me of how God’s grace works. In the early days of faith, despite our unreformed character, we are close to the God we love. Close enough for His “wings” to enfold us and protect us (Ps 91). Even when we place ourselves in danger, He is there, mitigating our folly, standing behind the foolish student with the dodgy shoes, waiting and ready to catch when he inevitably slips and falls... We may have chosen the wrong shoes, but we’re still near enough to be caught...<br/><br/>But so often then, we continue to ignore the warnings. Having been caught and saved we keep presuming that we can go on making foolish, lazy choices. We still don’t buy the right shoes, or having been spared injury by our wife and a hedge, we still don’t sort out the door. In our heart we say “God saved me last time, he loves me, He will save me next time” As Paul puts it “...we sin all the more that grace might abound...”<br/><br/>We start out close to God’s heart, right by His side. But when we act outside His character, when we ignore the warnings, we move further and further from His heart, further from His side, becoming more distant from His protection. Even then, He does what he can to save, but our distance limits His options. So, when we pull off the door-knocker we go flying, there’s no-one around to catch us, there’s not even someone to act as a cushion. Just the ground. God still loves us, still longs to protect us and we may find that even now, the ground is soft and the only injury is to our pride.<br/><br/>But what if then, I still don’t plane the door, what if I persist even after all this, in my presumption of grace? Well, God’s heart towards me doesn’t change – he still loves me, still yearns to protect. But I have moved myself completely outside of His shelter. My choices remove permission for Him to help. Today, as I close the door, if I haven’t responded to his grace, to the opportunity to change, I can no longer rely on people or soft ground to mitigate my folly.<br/><br/>We see this in the People of Israel. Their calling was to be distinctive, different to the nations around. For generations God warned, cajoled, protected, gave them victory, despite them rejecting His plan for them to be “blessed to be a blessing”. He sent prophets to remind them, He used world events to highlight it, He gave them law and scripture to reveal His love and desire for them. But they would not listen. They grew used to His grace saving them, they relied on it, presumed on it. “We are God’s people, nothing really bad can happen to us.”They continued to make ungodly choices, believing in their pride that God would continue to dig them out of the messes that they got into – that there would never be any real consequence to their choice.<br/><br/>But in their folly they moved themselves further and further from where God was, from where His heart always is. They removed themselves from protection. Ultimately they get what their persistent lifestyle had chosen. God had called them to be distinctive from the other nations, they chose to be the same as the other nations. Eventually, ten out of the twelve tribes get exactly what they had asked for down the generations. They become so like the other nations that they become absorbed into them, becoming lost as a people group to history.<br/><br/>And so to Connecticut. Did God want those kids to die in the school shooting? Was it part of His divine plan? Was it a judgment against something that offended Him? If God is love and love means anything close to what Paul describes in Corinthians, the answer is categorically ‘no’. Why then did He not intervene and prevent it?<br/><br/>Scripture suggests that He longed to. That everything in Him cried out to act. That such things represent the saddest, most heart-breaking moments for a God of love. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem” cried Jesus “How I longed to gather you into my arms. But you would not let me”. Everything within the Father wanted to intervene as His son was brutally murdered. Everything within the Father wanted to intervene that awful day in Connecticut. But then as now, human choices constrain grace. Eventually, we, and so often, the powerless, face the terrible and tragic consequences of our folly.<br/><br/>Might it be that, at least in part, the choices made down the generations to uphold the ‘right’ to bear arms, disabled Almighty God from doing what His heart longed to do? Time and again the warning signs and indeed similar tragedies have revealed, what to most of the world is the blindingly obvious, that the availability of guns is a contributing factor. Time and again, pride has blinded (the latest response being to have armed guards in schools as opposed to changing the gun laws), each decision a step moving us out from under His wings....<br/><br/>These aren’t the acts of a wrathful God, they aren’t in some perverse way what God wanted. The awful reality is that we chose a society in which it can happen, then moved out of God’s protection from the folly of that choice.<br/><br/>Nor did God did have these children killed out of anger or in a fit of wrathful judgement – judgement is not executed on the vulnerable, the helpless, but on those who for generations have had light, had grace but who have squandered it in pride and wilfulness. Ezekiel 33 warns those who could and should have acted but who didn’t that the blood of those who died needlessly will be required of them.<br/><br/>Perhaps in their evangelical zeal, the NRA might want to reflect on that.<br/><br/>And in the meantime, I’ve borrowed an electric plane from my co-blogger.<br/><div id="nuan_ria_plugin"><object id="plugin0" style="position: absolute; z-index: 1000;" width="0" height="0" type="application/x-dgnria"><param name="tabId" value="ff-tab-2" /><param name="counter" value="56" /></object></div>thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-54589080346309797772012-11-16T11:27:00.000+00:002013-09-19T11:37:52.435+01:00HonourI was thinking about this recently, God calls us to honour our mothers and fathers, our leaders, and ultimately to honour God. In our society, it’s easier to see what dishonour is. A dictionary definition says that dishonour means to treat with disrespect, to not esteem rightly, to shame, to discredit, corrupt, degrade, blacken, sully, debase, debauch, defame, abase. It is an action to put down, to not treat rightly. We see this in many different spheres of life.<br/><br/>Sex in our culture has become debased. Instead of being an expression of honour, care and love, it has become the one night stand, the casual affair, the inescapable end to a date. Increasingly it seems that the process of building relationship, of finding out about the real person – a process that implicitly honours them, has been discarded. It’s about ‘pulling’ someone for sex rather than honouring them. Love and honour have been reduced to mere pleasure seeking sex – or worse. The removal of someone’s choice, or making choices that they are unable to contradict is the ultimate dishonour. Rape is about degrading and dishonouring, it imposes one persons choice on another or takes advantage of their inability to make their own choice.<br/><br/>The same with media, it is all about dishonouring, finding the best gossip, the media taking pictures of people in compromising positions – such as with Kate and William. Blaring all mistakes out to the world too. It often does it in subtle ways, getting us to s<a href="http://marysdiary.net/wp/index.php/2012/11/honour/rotten-parliament/" rel="attachment wp-att-941"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-941" title="rotten parliament" src="http://marysdiary.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/rotten-parliament-300x232.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="232" /></a>ee entire people groups as dishonourable and worthless – blackening their names (Muslims, asylum seekers, travellers, Christians, different races, teenagers etc..). Putting others down so we appear better. We live in a ‘mock the week’ environment where it is easier to pull down than build up. We’ve seen recently how easy it is to defame people almost on a whim.<br/><br/>In the political arena we see just the same. Parliament and PMQ’s is now often more reminiscent of the school playground than a chamber for honest debate. Point scoring, making the other side appear crass has become the modus operandi. Even when people try to engage, they are held up as ‘holier than thou’ or their words are taken out of context and twisted into parody.<br/><br/>In the bible it says about Jesus that we esteemed him not. The son of God was on earth yet we did not honour him. He was despised, rejected, his name blackened, betrayed. The prostitute who wiped his feet with her tears and poured huge amounts of expensive perfume knew about h<a href="http://marysdiary.net/wp/index.php/2012/11/honour/woman_washes_feet_of_jesus/" rel="attachment wp-att-943"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-943" title="woman_washes_Feet_of_Jesus" src="http://marysdiary.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/woman_washes_Feet_of_Jesus-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>onour – and Jesus honoured her in front of her enemies. ‘<em>What this woman has done will be remembered </em><em>in all generations</em>’.<br/><br/>So to honour is to treat with respect, to esteem, to raise up..... not to ignore problems, not to elevate for the wrong reasons, but to look for what is good and honour that. This verse sums it up:<br/><br/>Philippians 4v8<br/><p align="center"><em>Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.</em></p><br/>So to honour God means to acknowledge who he is, and what he has done. It’s more than just words.....it has action too. If you are to honour someone you don't do stuff that may dishonour them. You put them in a deserved place. To honour our forefathers is to build on what they have started, and the same with God, we build on what he has begun, but it is more than the building it is also about rightly attributing stuff to people/God – rightfully assigning value to what they have done<br/><br/>So why don’t we honour like this? Is it because of our own insecurity? Do we seek power and status over others in order to feel better?<br/><br/>We dishonour, lower others in order to feel higher. But Jesus says he has lifted us up to the height of his throne. We don’t need to be any higher than we actually, already are. To attempt to lift ourselves is to deny what God has already done and in our minds we lower him. In reality, we debase ourselves from where God has placed us.<br/><br/>Prejudice gives us a convenient set of people that we (and others) find it acceptable to dishonour. Who are we lifting up? Who are we putting down? Are their groups of people that we instinctively despise? Who are we in reality dishonouring.<br/><br/>Jesus said ‘<em>if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to me</em>’. Our world desperately needs to get honour. It needs to get what it means to honour each other. We, I need to learn the art of honouring.<br/><br/>So with all that in mind I would like to honour David my fellow blogger (hopefully without sounding soppy and gushy cos he wouldn't like that, and he hasn't read this bit!) I would like to honour him for bearing with me through writers block and not just looking for another blogger to replace as in a consumer society. I would like to honour him for seeking Gods way in things, and for courage in jumping off the cliff. I would like to honour him for the God given wisdom he has imparted to me and many, many others. I would like to honour him for the trust he places in people around and the way he empowers so many people to live out of Gods purposes. I would like to honour him for sharing words of knowledge and prophetic insights. I would like to honour him for his humility and ability to listen to honest feedback from others. I would like to honour him for the way in which he sacrifices things – often with difficult consequences (job/money/position) to head in the direction God has shown him. I would like to honour him for trusting in God to provide.<br/><div id="nuan_ria_plugin"></div><br/><div id="nuan_ria_plugin"></div><br/><div id="nuan_ria_plugin"><object id="plugin0" style="position: absolute; z-index: 1000;" width="0" height="0" type="application/x-dgnria"><param name="tabId" value="ff-tab-0" /><param name="counter" value="270" /></object></div>thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-30308567054683616802012-11-16T10:27:00.000+00:002013-09-19T11:37:52.425+01:00Honour in a consumer worldI was thinking about this recently, God calls us to honour our mothers and fathers, our leaders, and ultimately to honour God. In our society, it’s easier to see what dishonour is. A dictionary definition says that dishonour means to treat with disrespect, to not esteem rightly, to shame, to discredit, corrupt, degrade, blacken, sully, debase, debauch, defame, abase. It is an action to put down, to not treat rightly. We see this in many different spheres of life.<br/><br/>Sex in our culture has become debased. Instead of being an expression of honour, care and love, it has become the one night stand, the casual affair, the inescapable end to a date. Increasingly it seems that the process of building relationship, of finding out about the real person – a process that implicitly honours them, has been discarded. It’s about ‘pulling’ someone for sex rather than honouring them. Love and honour have been reduced to mere pleasure seeking sex – or worse. The removal of someone’s choice, or making choices that they are unable to contradict is the ultimate dishonour. Rape is about degrading and dishonouring, it imposes one persons choice on another or takes advantage of their inability to make their own choice.<br/><br/>The same with media, it is all about dishonouring, finding the best gossip, media taking pictures of people in compromising positions – such as with Kate and William. Blaring all mistakes out to the world too. It often does it in subtle ways, getting us to see entire people groups as dishonourable and worthless – blackening their names (Muslims, asylum seekers, travellers, Christians, different races, teenagers etc..). Putting others down so we appear better.<br/><br/>Politics...<br/><br/>In the bible it says about Jesus that we esteemed him not. The son of God was on earth yet we did not honour him. He was despised, rejected, his name blackened, betrayed. The prostitute who wiped his feet with her tears and poured huge amounts of expensive perfume knew about honour – and Jesus honoured her...<br/><br/>So to honour is to treat with respect, to esteem, to raise up..... Now obviously this doesn't mean raising someone up who has acted dishonourably and then honouring them, but this verse sums stuff up well when we honour<br/><br/>Philippians 4v8<br/><p align="center"><em>Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.</em></p><br/>So to honour God means to acknowledge who he is, and what he has done. It’s got to be more than just words.....it has action too. If you are to honour someone you don't do stuff that may dishonour them. You put them in a deserved place. To honour our forefathers is to build on what they have started, and the same with God, we build on what he has begun, but it is more than the building it is also about rightly attributing stuff to people/God – rightfully assigning value to what they have done<br/><br/>Why don’t we honour – because of our own insecurity... so we seek power and status over others in order to feel better... we dishonour, lower others in order to feel higher.<br/><br/>But Jesus says he has lifted us up to the height of his throne. We don’t need to be any higher than we actually, already are. To attempt to lift ourselves is to deny what God has done, in our minds we lower him, in reality, we debase ourselves from where God has placed us.<br/><br/>Jesus said ‘if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to me’. Our world desperately needs to get honour. It needs to get what it means to honour each other.<br/><div id="nuan_ria_plugin"></div>thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-60797740974666597902012-09-08T17:09:00.000+01:002013-09-19T11:37:52.414+01:00Give them hell<a href="http://marysdiary.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/revolutions-book_.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-865" title="revolutions book_" src="http://marysdiary.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/revolutions-book_.jpg" alt="" width="160" height="160" /></a><br/><br/>So, there’s a book that was given out free at New Wine recently – ‘Revolutions in World Missions’. In the midst of some good insights, it’s a classic ‘American’s are greedy, evangelicals are self-centred’ guilt-inducing polemic in the guise of a hard-hitting cry for the poor. A central theme is that every second someone in the two thirds world dies without having heard the good news and as a result, goes to a lost eternity of torment. And we are to blame.<br/><br/>Thinking Allowed has a number of problems with this. Firstly, if the fact that people are starving to death in a world of plenty isn’t of itself enough to shake you out of your complacency, it’s unlikely that their eternal destiny is going to make much difference to the response. But more importantly it’s the theology that has us worried.<br/><br/>In this bizarre worldview, people who have done nothing other than be born are deemed as deserving a punishment of such unspeakable magnitude as to make any earthly torture seem inconsequential. Even when these individuals have lived long enough to make their own moral choices, they have done so unwittingly, unknowingly because nobody has told them. Yet still, they are deemed guilty of such a heinous offence against a loving God that the right and just response is to torture them forever.<br/><br/>On the other side of this coin are those who have been saved from this unimaginable horror. Their job is to warn those who are unwittingly hell-bound of their impending doom. Now, what happens to those who fail to perform this critically important task? Surely, if the unknowing are consigned to hell, those who could tell but don’t must certainly face even worse? But no, ‘once saved, always saved’, they get to go to heaven...<br/><br/>Ah, but you can’t go on your feelings, the fact that it might seem outrageous to our flawed human view of justice doesn’t mean that it is actually unjust. ‘God’s ways are not our ways’. Our calling is to be obedient... ‘ours not to reason why, ours but to do or die’.<br/><br/>And yet... and yet, we were made for relationship with God. Jesus took on human form. If God is so other than us in such a basic concept as justice, how can we ever have a meaningful relationship? Shouldn’t we at least explore what other worldview scripture might support?<br/><br/>Might we not look past the fact (as quoted in the book) that Jesus spoke more of hell than heaven and acknowledge that his audience on those occasions was not the unsaved but the disciples or the religious leaders. It was often a warning to those who should know better rather than to the poor, oppressed or unknowing. Secondly, whilst not speaking about ‘heaven’ Jesus talked a lot about the Kingdom of God and the concept of bringing heaven to earth. He had both a temporal and eternal view when it came to the meaning of life. His calling was not to bring guilt and the fear of punishment, but claimed anointing to bring good news... healing, liberty, transformation – here and now as well as into the future. ‘I have come that you might have life in all its fullness...’ Why do we think, as ‘Christ’s body’, that we should do anything different?<br/><br/>When we look across scripture we see that in about half the instances where hell is discussed, it is described as an eternal punishment. In the other half, as a place of temporary suffering. We note that these comments were predominantly warning to believers. We read in Psalm 139 that even if we go to hell (sheol) that God is even there. When evangelicals suppose Jesus to be in hell after the crucifixion we note that Jesus told the thief ‘today’ (ie when he was in hell) ‘you will be with me in paradise’. We read Peter talking obscurely of Jesus ‘preaching to the saints in hell’. What does all this mean? There are some good learned books on this – David Pawson and Greg Boyd are particularly scholarly aurthors. The truth is there is genuine debate over the nature and extent of hell, let alone its inhabitants.<br/><br/>Thinking Allowed suggests that a biblical worldview is that we get to make moral choices in this life. It’s the basis of a love that ‘does not insist on its own way’. If in the face of death we are still making faith based choices, God seals those choices - for all eternity we get what we have persistently chosen in this life. With great sadness, though, a God of love who gives choice must also honour those choices even when they break his heart. For those who knowingly and persistently choose to be their own god or to make the enemy their god, the real and one God honours their choice. If we choose in this life to live outside the love of God, the God who is love must honour those choices.<br/><br/>But making choices for God doesn’t just affect our destination, it profoundly alters the journey. Poverty, sickness, death even – all can be transformed by the love of God, here in this life as well as for eternity. It is our responsibility to fully receive the transformation that is offered, because it is out of the drama of that that we genuinely become motivated to share the good news. It is out of our experience of good news that we have testimony and witness. Our lives have been changed, we personally know the love and grace of God. We yearn for others to know it, long for others to experience the freedom and joy that we share. That’s the spur, the imperative to evangelism, not some guilt induced story of a wrathful dictator with a warped sense of justice.<br/><br/>The scripture says ‘Will not the judge of all the earth do right’. Thinking Allowed is confident that He will.thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-45168680350075749172012-08-23T16:05:00.000+01:002013-09-19T11:37:52.403+01:00Olympics<a href="http://marysdiary.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/mo.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-845" title="mo" src="http://marysdiary.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/mo.jpg" alt="" width="275" height="183" /></a>So, did we all enjoy watching the Olympics? Were we inspired?<br/><br/>Personally, I was cheated. I wanted a Gold Medal, but I didn’t get one. I’d pictured it in my head; the tense moments before the event. The press speculation, the in-depth analysis, the hopes of a nation. The drama of the event itself, the underdog somehow hanging in there until at the last, through a supreme effort of will, the crowning accomplishment of my glittering career. The crowd go wild, Steve Cram is off his seat in commentary, the Union Flag is thrown to me for the lap of honour...<br/><br/>But sadly it turns out that Pool isn’t an Olympic event and bowls aren’t even in the Commonwealth Games any more....<br/><br/>Still, the unfairness of me not getting a medal got me thinking... what is fairness in sport and what is it that we are actually celebrating when someone wins? The Olympic motto of ‘higher, faster, further’ is all very well, but excellence surely needs to be underpinned by character rather than mere physical advantage. The increasing efforts to establish a fair competition seem to validate this view:<br/><br/>Drugs and the use of steroids clearly give an unfair advantage and so more and more money and effort is being expended ensuring athletes are ‘clean’.<br/><br/>In weightlifting, the amount you lift is subtracted from your body weight to give a fairer view of the ability of the athlete – and even then there are different categories for additional fairness.<br/><br/>Women are clearly considered disadvantaged when compared to men – they have separate races. We’d probably all agree that it would be unfair to insist that the best women 100m runners had to compete against Bolt et al.<br/><br/>The sad arguments that surrounded Caster Semenya hinged on this. At some point the natural advantage testosterone gives in terms of speed and strength is defined as unfair and you have to race against others with similar levels - men. At some point the credit for running fast moves away from you and onto biology.<br/><br/>The Paralympics confirms this principle, seeking to recognise that some people are disadvantaged over others and tries to create a more level playing field. It seeks to remove the inherent differences so that what you see in the games is the performance of the athlete themselves. Inevitably, you will always have those at the edges and make a nonsense of it. Should Caster compete against men or women? <a href="http://marysdiary.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/pistorius.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-851" title="pistorius" src="http://marysdiary.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/pistorius.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="168" /></a>Should Oscar run in the Paralympics or the Olympics? (I mean, I know he is a double amputee, but the fact that he can and does compete in the Olympics, surely means that in terms of 400m running, he is not disabled - so how come he gets to race in the Paralympics? In fairness, if there was an ‘able bodied’ athlete who trained hard and had enormous upper-body strength, would they be allowed in a Paralympic wheelchair race?) Anyhow, the principle is clear – you do what you can to ensure that it is the underlying quality of the individuals you are cheering, not just their natural advantage.<br/><br/>No-one gets a gold medal just for being tall.<br/><br/>So, in looking at this issue of a flat, fair playing field, we’ve covered drugs, weight, gender and disability. There’s really only one area of political uncorrectness left to hit now...<br/><br/>Over 200 independent studies show that Black people have a biological advantage in running over non-blacks. Conversely they have a biological disadvantage when it comes to swimming events. In other words a black runner who puts in the same amount of effort and commitment into training as their white counterpart will likely do better because of biology... And vice-versa for swimming... Now, who is going to be the brave (or insane) person who suggests separate races for black and white athletes or swimmers?<br/><br/>So here’s my point. When we cheer the winner, what are we cheering? If a significant part of victory is due to biology, to circumstance, to chance, what are we celebrating? We don’t give a gold medal for the person who had the richest most privileged upbringing. Or just for being male or female, black or white, disabled or not.... Stronger, Higher, Further. But what if strength comes from more testosterone than your opponent? What if higher is because you are taller? What if further is because you happen to be from the Kalenjins tribe (half a million people who have won three times as many distance medals as athletes from any other <em>nation</em> in the world)....<br/><br/>Isn’t the thing we really want to cheer about more to do with character than attributes? The one who overcomes adversity, the one who takes the limits of what they have and through perseverance overcomes the natural barriers to defeat the more naturally talented?<br/><br/>Ultimately, don’t we want to be impressed by faithfulness more than ability? Isn’t Blake a more impressive person – performing at the limits of his natural ability and coming second than Bolt who could break records at will but who chooses not to? Aren’t we more impressed with Pistorius qualifying for the Olympic final than we will be seeing him win the paralympic race by 20m?<br/><br/>But all this is quickly drowned out by the cheer for the winner. The one who came first. We are so easily conned into being impressed with the obvious, the immediate, the outward. Easier to be impressed by the powerful preacher, the man with the Spirit filled ministry. But as Kenny Borthwick says ‘we shouldn’t be impressed when someone exercises their gifts to the best of their ability. That’s just them acting responsibly’.<br/><br/>Ok, if you’re still with me let’s get personal. Truth is, I can’t run as fast as Bolt. Two reasons come to mind, firstly, I’m in my 50’s, secondly I’m not that fit. I mean, I’m still pretty nifty over 60m, but Usain would have finished the 200m by then. Now I can see an obvious solution to the first issue – age is obviously a disability when it comes to sprinting, so we could have the vetlympics for those over 50. But most people would argue that my lack of fitness is really not a disability but more the result of a series of poor choices... But wait. The choices I make are surely impacted by my upbringing, the character that was developed during childhood and shaped through my formative years. ... maybe my social background contributed.. Not only that, when I was very young I had my legs in plaster for the best part of a year – I didn’t walk till after two... that’s got to have been a disadvantage... And when I got to school we certainly didn’t have any coaches. Barely had a school bus...<br/><br/>So, if we’re looking for fairness and winners and have women’s events separate from men because of their disabling femininity (Bulgarian shot-putters notwithstanding), veterans tennis and golf tournaments, I think it is my human right to have a male, over-50’s, 60m sprint event for those who had early childhood problems, social challenges and poor school facilities. And whose birthday is in late February (well, you never know how that might have impacted me..)<br/><br/>Or maybe I need to give up on those dreams and face a better reality. God knows all the advantages and disadvantages. All the mitigating circumstances. He says there is already a stadium full of those cheering me on to the finishing line. That I get a gold medal, that I win an overwhelming victory. That against all the odds, I win. Not by virtue of being the fastest. But in his strength, taking every bit of what I have and giving everything I’ve got.thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-63243231558705800622012-07-19T18:14:00.000+01:002013-09-19T11:37:52.374+01:00Announcements<a href="http://marysdiary.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/safety-demonstration1.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-789" title="safety-demonstration1" src="http://marysdiary.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/safety-demonstration1.gif" alt="" width="186" height="346" /></a>So, on my way to the airport... train to Gatwick, standing on Luton Station waiting for train. Every 2 minutes the announcement comes 'If you are travelling with luggage, please use the lifts provided. If you are using the stairs, please hold the handrail'. Repeated three times followed by a two minute break. Then 'If you are travelling with luggage, please use the lifts provided. If you are using the stairs, please hold the handrail'. Over and over again... just about to find a way of disconnecting the speaker when behold, a new message! 'Staff on this station are here to help. Verbal or physical abuse of staff will not be tolerated'. Great, they only stop assuming I'm stupid or incompetent in order to assume I'm angry or violent. Which by this point is closer to the truth than I'd like!!<br/><br/>Still, made it to the airport. 'No photography, no liquids, no passengers....', 'If you are not at the gate in the next 2 minutes your bags will be removed and you will not be allowed to fly.', 'Very last and final call for passenger Smith. You are now holding up the on-time departure of your flight, you will be shot'<br/><br/>I may have misheard the detail of the last two announcements....<br/><br/> <br/><br/>Finally, on the plane. 'Listen to the safety demonstration' (it's a BA flight and they haven't invented TV screens yet, so it's a live performance). 'Fasten your seatbelt', 'SIT down sir...'. After usual Gatslow delays, flight finally in air where this is being typed... food flung at us... 'Quality snack' may contain traces of nuts. It is nuts. In every sense of the words.<br/><br/>We are inundated in everyday life with these kind of messages. Words that imply our stupidity, our tendency towards rage, our inability to think for ourselves. Add to that the snide remarks, the less than encouraging comments, the implied criticism, the guilt trips and emotional blackmail from Facebook posts or advertising campaigns.. We are swimming in a sea of negativity and if we are not careful it permeates our soul and becomes reality.<br/><br/>We need to be listening carefully to the great announcer – the one who declares truth. We are valued, precious, loved, protected. Significant children of the most high God. We are eternal, competent, empowered, delightful, co-heirs with Jesus. This is the truth we need to use to filter out the other voices. From railway announcers to the enemy of our souls, we need to take every thought they plant and hold it to the light of the truth. We need to allow the Spirit to take that which is subliminal – the incessant nagging of detractors; spouses, children, colleagues maybe, and bring the curses that have been unwittingly spoken into the light. We need to take them to Christ, we need to pray cleansing from them and a breaking of their power. And we need to replace them with God's holy, life giving truth.<br/><br/>In the meantime I have been instructed to sit back and enjoy the flight. It seems unlikely.thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-19353842115600308662012-07-01T16:46:00.000+01:002013-09-19T11:37:52.359+01:00Gooseberry FoolI have two gooseberry bushes on my allotment. In the Spring, I managed to cover one with left over netting, but ran out for the second<a href="http://marysdiary.net/wp/index.php/2012/07/gooseberry-fool/imag0328/" rel="attachment wp-att-740"><img class="alignleft wp-image-740" title="IMAG0328" src="http://marysdiary.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/IMAG0328-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="240" height="180" /></a> one. They are both the same variety of gooseberry, planted in the same soil, next to one another. The one with the netting has a bit of support, some wire and a couple of sticks. But those are the only differences.<br/><br/>Today we went to see whether there was any fruit worth picking. As we approached we could see the uncovered one. Didn’t look hopeful. Not much fruit and what there was, was very small.<br/><br/>Then we lifted the netting from the covered one. We couldn’t believe our eyes. Huge fruit and laden branches sagging under the weight of the fruit. Yay! Gooseberry crumble for the next year!<a href="http://marysdiary.net/wp/index.php/2012/07/gooseberry-fool/gooseberrynet/" rel="attachment wp-att-744"><img class=" wp-image-744 alignright" title="gooseberrynet" src="http://marysdiary.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/gooseberrynet-300x230.jpg" alt="" width="270" height="207" /></a><br/><br/>What an extraordinary difference a bit of support and protection had made. Made us think... how much more fruitful would we be if we had a bit of support and some good protection?<br/><br/>Support to stop us dragging in the wet ground, to stop us rotting in the mud. Support to hold our heads up to the sun rather than staring at the floor. Protection from the birds that nibble incessantly at the forming fruit, from the flies and ants chomping through the leaves. Protection from the vicious nettles... (I managed to sit on a clump whilst picking the fruit. Ouch – didn’t think it appropriate to rub it with a dock leaf...)<br/><br/>But amazing how often we wander through life, independently oblivious to how much of life and faith is getting sapped, choked or eaten. We’re so busy, sometimes with ‘ministry’ that we never stop to be accountable, to be supported. We rarely pray for our protection as a daily necessity.<br/><br/>One of the things we’ve found in c2b (our ‘beacon’ group) is the joy of mutual support and the transformation praying for protection makes. We've spent time looking at the armour of God, discovering the reality of 'living under the shadow of his wing'. Like Ruth, we're learning to ask the one who loves us 'extend the border of your garment. Cover me.'<br/><br/>Final thought, gooseberry bushes can’t pick themselves up and move, but we can. Maybe we used to be sheltered under God’s wing, under the netting of his protection. Maybe some of us have walked out of the centre of his calling, out of the netting. Quick, get back under before the ants or birds get to you.<br/><br/>And watch where you sit down.thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-84509621907587496712012-06-25T17:54:00.000+01:002013-09-19T11:37:52.164+01:00Church, Macaroni & MustardHere’s a salutary tale.<br/><br/>Some years ago, when Janet and I had two small children, we decided to have lunch in town one Saturday. With buggy, children and shopping we exploded out of the tiny lift into the cafe area of the shop. It was manic. Everybody it seemed, had also chosen this cafe at this time to have lunch. Eventually we carried our trays to the smallest table in the world and after much juggling of plates, trays, shopping and children, we were ready to eat. By this time there were lots of tears and a bit of frustrated screaming. And the kids weren’t happy either.<br/><br/>Into this mayhem walks a man from another table. He asks ‘can I borrow the mustard?’ and without really waiting for a reply, leans over and takes the jar. At which point, Janet, who hates mustard, shouts across the crowded room ‘NNNOOOO’. I assumed the situation had got to her – as far as I was concerned he could borrow the mustard, the children, my food, the shopping... But it turned out it wasn’t the mustard he had taken. It was one of the kids jars of cold macaroni cheese. Now, at that point, I wished that Janet had quietly nudged me and said ‘watch this’. In my head I could picture the man taking a bite of his gammon steak, anticipating the tang of mustard against the sweetness of the meat... only to have the cloying sensation of cold macaroni cheese instead....<br/><br/>As I savoured this picture, God spoke – ‘that’s just like you.’ It took me a minute to understand. Revelation 3 summed it up. ‘You are neither hot nor cold – you make me sick’.<br/><br/><a href="http://marysdiary.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/mustard.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-765" title="mustard" src="http://marysdiary.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/mustard-300x226.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="226" /></a>I, we, are supposed to be the body of Christ, bringing flavour to a tasteless world. The world has the right to see in church the very image of God in Christ. We are called to be the mustard. But too often I, maybe we, present cold macaroni cheese.<br/><br/>We’ve got this juggernaut of an institution; it eats our money, our time, our gifts, our expertise. We need people to preach, teach, be in the band(s) run the children’s work, the youth programme, look after the buildings, man the sound-desk. We need people to run the coffee bar, do the admin, maintain the web-site, write the magazine. We need money for the staff salaries, the mortgage, the infrastructure, the legal fees, insurance, the minibus.<br/><br/>We run Sunday School and youth programmes to educate and entertain our kids, we have men’s meetings, women’s meetings, senior’s meetings, parent’s meetings, singles holidays. We have marriage courses, parenting courses, alpha courses, beta courses and courses to train leaders to start new versions of the same.<br/><br/>In a typical 'large' church more than 75% of the finances go on the maintaining the organisation and fabric. Less than 25% on anything external to the church itself. Fewer than 10% of the people are actively engaged in any form of connection outside the church – they have no time or energy for it after their service to the church itself. Tragically fewer than 10% of the people who could reasonably be expected to be reached, are actually reached. That’s 90% of those who could be seeing the light, continuing to walk in darkness.<br/><br/>Church is supposed to be the visible expression of Jesus. Instead it has become invisible to most, hidden like a black hole, sucking all life into it and giving little out.<br/><br/>Macaroni cheese instead of mustard.<br/><br/>How have we let this happen? How have we allowed that life transforming moment we experienced at conversion and in those early days to be eroded into what now satisfies? Maybe the problem is that we have experienced too little of the mustard ourselves. We’ve been feasting on the cold macaroni cheese for so long that we’ve mistaken it for the mustard.<br/><br/>Isn’t this at the heart of the problem? We have experienced so little of the transforming love of God in our lives that it is impossible – or seems hypocritical – to talk to others about it – let alone to demonstrate it. We are full of head knowledge, we’ve read of it happening elsewhere or have heard about it at conferences. But we haven’t personally experienced it, or at least not recently... We know the Bible stories, we enjoy the songs, the sense of camaraderie and purpose. Church as it has become presses a number of our buttons, but as for root and branch transformation, as for that gut-wrenching “I once was dead but now I am alive” moment, the tank is empty. So week in, week out we keep going back for a top-up of the slightly less than ordinary, fuelling us for another week of serving the church...<br/><br/>How do we get back to that first love, to that authentic expression of church? Jesus said that 'he who is forgiven much, loves much'. Maybe a starting place would be to fast from the macaroni cheese for a while, to spend less time at church or serving church and to use the time we save before God, reminding ourselves of the depth of our sinful nature, the extent of our forgiveness... Lets be honest, when was the last time we wept over our deceitfulness, our selfish motives, the depravity which is only a heartbeat away? When did we last understand from the depth of our being that Jesus died for us, that without that we are truly and deservedly dead? When did we last experience the overwhelming love that God has for us, his yearning for our presence, his longing for our briefest response? The broken-heartedness of a father who has lost his son because he would not turn around into his embrace?<br/><br/>That’s what changes us. Nothing else. It’s what keeps the change from being eroded. It’s what impels us to speak of his love, to give it, to share it. That’s true freedom, abandon into the Father’s arms. Either he catches us or we die. That’s real liberty!<br/><br/>It’s communities of people changed in that way that is church – and against it, the very powers of hell will not prevail.<br/><br/>Mustard, not cold macaroni cheese. Church, not institution. Life, not death.thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-86365917540881318122012-06-23T22:28:00.001+01:002012-06-23T22:28:41.889+01:00New Home, Same Great Blog!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
For any Thinking Allowed readers who may have thought we had disappeared, we haven't! We just moved where the blog is hosted (on the web site of David & Janet Painting, <a href="http://www.dandjministries.net/">www.dandjministries.net</a>). You can go directly to our new home by <a href="http://marysdiary.net/wp/index.php/blog/" target="_blank">clicking here</a>. <br />
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Keep following!<br />
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Thanks,<br />
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Catherine and David</div>thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-67383872734170968342012-06-15T10:38:00.000+01:002013-09-19T11:37:52.335+01:00Nursery RhymesYou know that you are getting older when you start to think or say things like "Ah, back in my day, it was different..."<br/><br/>Things were different back in the day.... we went out to play in the morning and came back for tea. Nobody knew where we were or what we were up to. And nobody worried about it. Today, with better street lights, cctv on every corner and universal mobile phone access, no-one seems to dare go out at all. Fear seems to be prevalent.<br/><br/>It made us think - is it the immediacy of communication that has caused the problem? Surely people were just as wicked 'back in the day' as they are now, but a crime then would be reported locally, but even national news would not infiltrate lives as fast as a viral You Tube video. Now everyone sees the distressed parents within minutes of the event and it gets played over and over. Comments fly around Facebook and within minutes the whole nation seems to be personally affected and feel a part of the pain.<br/><br/>In some ways it's great - a whole nation can be drawn together and share common and significant experiences. It helps to bond, to give a sense of belonging... Yet the downside is that fear spreads like a pernicious virus for which there seems to be no vaccine.<br/><br/>Which is where nursery rhymes come in. Back in the day (way back, even before my day) the world for many was a far more dangerous place than it is today. Corruption, criminality, injustice, political and religious bigotry, rampant disease and poverty combined to create a fearful cocktail of disaster for pretty much everyone. Without chat shows, celebrity interviews, counsellors or Facebook, how did people process the fear, how did children especially, cope with such a world? How did anything get done against a backdrop of imepnding doom that should have disempowered even the most adventurous?<br/><blockquote>Mary, Mary quite contrary<br/><br/>How does your garden grow?<br/><br/>With cockleshells and silver bells<br/><br/>And pretty maids, all in a row</blockquote><br/>It's not a medieval version of Gardener's World. It's a satirical condemnation of 'Bloody Mary'. Her religious views were contrary to the reformation that her Father had begun. The garden refers to the ever increasing graveyards needed to accomodate the martyrs, tortured by the 'cockleshells and silver bells' (thumbscrews and worse) and executed by the 'maiden beheader' (a primitive version of the guillotine).<br/><br/>But it's also a way of mocking the horror of it all. Children could laugh and make light of what was too traumatic to deal with fully.<br/><blockquote>Ring, a ring of roses<br/><br/>A pocket full of posies<br/><br/>Atishoo, atishoo<br/><br/>We all fall down</blockquote><br/>A dance and a rhyme to take away the horror and loss of the plague. A means of diminishing the pain, of rising above the terror.<br/><br/>"London's burning", "Old Mother Hubbard", "Pop goes the weasel" and scores of others - all with the same underlying message: "We ridicule death and hopelessness. Despite the circumstances, we will not submit to fear, we will be children, we will play.<br/><br/>Nowadays we attempt to sterilise the world of danger. We kill 99.9% of all known germs - dead. We spray, we vaccinate, we insulate, we isolate. And all that's left is the cloud of fear, drizzling down from anxious parents to their increasingly fearful and risk-averse children. And they now have no means of processing it, leading, one supposes, to a rise in OCD, IBS and other anxiety related illness.<br/><br/>Oh the irony! We live in a safer world, yet worry more. We live in a global village, yet imprison ourselves in smaller and smaller cells of fear. We live in the immediacy of communication, where the message of hope could blaze through the fog of fear. But instead what we communicate is the fear itself.<br/><br/>Instead of the nursery rhyme we retreat to the x-box. We make death and destruction our plaything, but it doesn't reduce the fear of reality. We outgrew the nursery rhyme, the fairy-story, the moral tale. We gained our independence, our right to sue, our extended life-expectancy.<br/><br/>But somewhere we lost hope, somewhere we lost God.<br/><br/> thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-35735392193369137292012-05-16T20:36:00.000+01:002013-09-19T11:37:52.296+01:00GreedHad a lovely weekend break a while back, visiting parents ahead of a birthday and Mother's Day. We stayed in Harrogate, significantly reducing the average age... The change of routine gives you an opportunity to read and to watch things late in the evening that you wouldn't normally get to see. 'The Bank Job' for example. It prompted this blog.<br/><br/>The 'grand finale' involved two people who collectively had won £100,000. This is divided equally between them and placed in two attache cases, one each. Each of the finalists is also given a second attache case full of newspaper cut into the form of bank notes. An attache case of 'cash' and an attache case of 'trash'. Each finalist then has a minute or so to persuade the other to hand over th attache case of cash. Of course, if both follow through on an agreement to give the other the case of cash, both win - they each go home with £50,000. But what if one reneges? What if one, in good faith, hands over their case of cash, but the other dishonestly gives their case full of trash? Then the cheat has both their case of cash plus their fellow finalist's case of cash. In the last 'grand final' both finalists cheated on the other and neither went away with any of the money...<br/><br/>Anyway, the one we saw featured a guy called Scott who one the way to this grand-final had won £198,000. As far as it's possible to tell on such shows, he seemed a pleasant bloke. He was generous in victory, modest and honest about his luck. His co-finalist was Stacey, who really was lucky to be in the 'grand final'. As the best runner-up in the series, she had never won any of the qualifying events. In the first two rounds of the final, she scraped through. It was classic, British under-dog fare and everyone it seemed was very happy that they both made it to the final showdown in the grand final.<br/><br/>How would they behave? Scott made the case simply. 'Let's both do what's right, I'm going to give you my cash, you do the same, then in two minutes time we can both be celebrating and leave with the money and our integrity'. Stacey agreed, Scott said 'look me in the eyes and promise that you're going to do this'. Stacey said 'I'm going to do it'. Drum roll, countdown, the two finalists point to the case they are going to hand over. The cases are placed in front of them and in a synchronised burst of opening, the contents of each is revealed. Scott has given Stacey his £50,000. Stacey has given Scott a case full of newspaper. The crowd cheer. As the noise dies down Stacey says 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I had to do it, you had already won all that money'. Scott replies 'I'm glad you won some money, but you should have kept your word'. Stacey left £100,000 richer, but with a bankrupt character. Scott it seemed left richer than if he had won a million....<br/><br/>Greed.<br/><br/>A game show predicated on greed to increase viewing figures, ensuring higher profits for the production company. Advertisers willing to pay a premium to have their products associated with it so more people will buy their goods increasing their profits.<br/><br/>Greed.<br/><br/>But let's not be totally anti-Stacey... Scott had already won £198,000. He could have said 'Stacey, I've heard a bit of your background. I've already won a life-changing amount of money. I'll give you my cash - give me your trash. I'll spare you from that temptation, go ahead and do it with my permission and blessing'<br/><br/>Greed.<br/><br/>We took Janet's mum to lunch at a carvery for an early Mother's Day treat... I got stuck behind someone who kept trying to balance the extra roast potato on top of the pyramid of food that he could barely carry... when he'd finally done that, he drowned the food in every type of gravy there was. Didn't want to miss out on anything. He'd paid for it, he was going to take it - even if he then left half of it on his plate at the end....<br/><br/>Greed.<br/><br/>Made me think. This blog was written in the season of Lent. A time when traditionally we like to prove that we are in control of our animal instincts. We can give up that chocolate, that TV programme, the internet. In doing so we demonstrate that we are more than an evolved collection of uncontrollable urges. Yet on this simple weekend, the evidence suggests that we are not. Dawkins and Darwin were right after all.<br/><br/>As Stacey screwed Scott the crowd cheered. As greed kicked integrity into touch, the crowd cheered. As Pilate condemned Jesus, the crowd cheered.<br/><br/>When we exercise self-control, when we refuse to be animals, heaven cheers. Which crowd's applause are you listening to?thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-9776293187996480592012-03-27T15:36:00.000+01:002013-09-19T11:37:52.286+01:00Couch Grass<img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-700" title="root-original" src="http://marysdiary.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/root-original-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />Been down to the allotment this week. I have to say it’s amazing how quickly weeds grow! I had a break from doing it for a couple of years whilst some friends gave growing a go. It kind of went a bit downhill, and the weeds have returned!<br/><br/>In particular, Couch Grass is annoying me, it’s a bit like golden syrup in the hands of one of my children.... it gets everywhere, and spreads via roots underground, working its way under the surface and then popping up somewhere as a clump of grass. Even found a potato (very old) with couch grass roots growing through it - they have nice points on them so that the grass can get through almost anything!!!<br/><br/>I reckon it is taking over an hour to dig 2 square metres of soil, getting as many roots out as I can see. It is very tempting when it takes so long to clear to either dig it over, covering up the roots, or just break the roots up a bit, but leaving them in the soil.....<br/><br/>The problem comes in a few months time, if you just cover the roots up, the couch grass reappears, bursting through the surface alongside all the plants. But chopping them up is an even worse option – each chopped up bit becomes another clump of Couch Grass to get out!<br/><br/>Either way, you’re left with a load of grass growing up alongside the plants you are lovingly looking after! At that stage, even if you carefully try to pull out all the roots without disturbing your plants, little bits of brittle root break off and even more couch grass springs up! One way or another you’re left with Couch Grass above the surface, choking the life out of your lovely plants whilst under the surface, its roots are taking nutrients away from the plants you are trying to grow.<img class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-704" title="root-hole" src="http://marysdiary.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/root-hole-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /><br/><br/>If you want plants, if you want the fruit, you have to prepare the ground and dig out every last bit of root.<br/><br/>Jesus knows what I mean! He told the story of the ‘wheat and the tares’ and seed sown in ground that wasn’t prepared properly. So it seems to me that God’s refining is a bit like this weeding process. Getting rid of stuff which drains the life out of us, preventing goodness getting in, or breaking strongholds that strangle and constrict us from doing or being who we should be....<br/><br/>If we are going to be fertile and fruitful ground, we can’t just turn over a few new leaves, try harder, change a bit. We’ve got to dig out the roots. To mix metaphors, it requires all out battle not just a bit of dabbling then stepping back from the frontline.<br/><br/>My experience is that there are times when things are going well, we have got most of the weeds out of a patch in our lives..... then we leave it a bit, get on with doing stuff...... forget to do the weeding, fail to dig down far enough to ensure the whole root is gone... and slowly the weeds grow back and if we’re not careful they overrun the whole plot again.<br/><br/>We forget we are in a spiritual battle zone....passivity in the weeding process is not an option....Passivity = losing ground to the enemy, we need to take up forks again and root out what has grown. Of course the enemy will say it’s much too difficult, that the patch will never be clear, that you’re too old, too busy, too young, too anything... to give it the time it needs. But the truth is that the weeds cannot stay in the soil against the power of the fork! Likewise with Gods power at work in us anything the enemy has sown can be uprooted, and the ground transformed.<br/><br/>God’s gardening is not something to be dismissed to later but an ongoing process.....and greater fruit comes as our hearts and minds are prepared. So even though it’s painful sometimes, don’t just cover over the roots, but rather dig them out with God. It is lots of work, but whilst you’re gardening, you can chat with God about stuff, you can listen to the birds, feel the sun, get some exercise and look up and see the smile of your Father as he watches the fruit grow. Just recently we discovered a big weed in the allotment. We started to dig down and tried to pull it up. One of those silent-movie moments where the inevitable happens - the root snaps and the person pulling falls over backwards. We decided then that this was a prophetic root. Absurd as it seemed to other allotment holders - and to some of our friends, we decided this root was coming out. Five hours of work later, including a team of people and the use of specialist tools, not to mention a two foot six deep hole, we finally got the last, smallest piece of the root out.<br/><br/>God is persistent like that if we let him. He doesn't want any root of bitterness in our life, not even the faintest tendril of the enemy left to press on old wounds, to control or poison our life. He wants us free. Of course the digging, the dislodiging might seem uncomfortable. We might think we are free so why is God poking around that area of our life... Truth is, he doesn't want it growing back. He doesn't just want you a little free, he wants you 'free indeed'.<br/><br/><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-703" title="root-end2" src="http://marysdiary.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/root-end2-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />In the end, the weeds and all their roots get thrown on the compost heap and strangely, the very thing that was sent to damage or destroy ends up making the ground more fruitful than it was before.<br/><br/>We are in a battle with the enemy, just like the weeds, he comes to kill, steal and destroy. God on the other hand comes to give life in all its fullness - not just an ok life but a fandabbydozy brilliant life<br/><br/>What are the roots and weeds in your life?thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-14357231130496859172012-03-08T09:12:00.000+00:002013-09-19T11:37:52.226+01:00The Divine Mandate<blockquote>Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?<br/><br/>Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come. Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.....”<br/><br/>“... Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear. However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.”</blockquote><br/>In these key extracts from Matthew 24 Jesus says some profound things. Perhaps this paraphrase summarises it:<br/><p style="text-align: center;">“Not even I know the precise date of my return, it is dependent on many factors and only the Father will know when all those are in place. But I do know this – they can be fulfilled within the lifetime of some you here now. Of course, the enemy will do all he can to delay it, he wants to maximise the horror of his reign – wars, the fear of war, ‘natural’ disasters and the like – and he wants to postpone his own defeat and judgment. In fact the symptoms of this battle are amongst the signs that the preconditions are being fulfilled. And you will recognise these signs just as surely as you recognise the signs of the changing seasons. Above all, when everyone has had the opportunity to choose between the kingdom of the enemy and the kingdom of God, then I will be free to return to judge how men have chosen. So be wholehearted in the battle and be empowered by the Spirit I will send; this generation can see the gospel preached to all nations and set the scene for my return.”</p><br/>The gospels, the book of Acts, the earliest letters of the New Testament resound with this theme, with this urgency. As Paul puts it in Romans: there is a task to be done and we are the generation to accomplish it. The battle is fierce, we are being imprisoned, killed even, but nothing can separate us from God’s love, nothing can chain the gospel, let’s press on and claim the prize...<br/><br/>Yet here we are, two millennia later with the task still incomplete. Was Jesus unrealistic, over-optimistic, or has something gone badly wrong with the church that was commissioned to accomplish the task? Do we in fact, need to take responsibility?<br/><br/>Well, it turns out that far from being unrealistic, the task was extremely achievable. Let’s say that each of the 500 to whom Jesus gave his 'go' command led one other person to a place of faith every three years – and they subsequently ‘went’ and did the same, then the whole world would have been reached inside 60 years. Within the lifetime of some in his audience, exactly as he predicted. Of course there were special challenges, not all the world was discovered for example. But then our one person every three years was not the norm at the start; 3,000 on the day of Pentecost alone...<br/><br/>Pause for a minute to meditate this reality. Yes, 2000 additional years for people to hear, billions now rather than the millions then. But consider too how many of those billions live in despair, pain, horror and suffering. The enemy of our souls feeds on anguish, desolation, hurt, decay and death. He perpetuates it, stirs it, initiates it, fosters it. And through the inadequacy of the church he has had 2000 more years to do that with ever more people. Yes, there are purportedly more believers now than at any time previously, but there are six thousand million people who are not. Every one of them vulnerable to the ravages of the enemy. Yes, for the fleeting minority there is more comfort and material ‘good’ in their lives than ever before. But amongst even this elite, there is no more happiness than in previous ages. And for those outside that clique there is what there has always been. Oppression, suffering and death. Only now, multiplied by billions of individuals.<br/><br/>How must this add to the suffering of Christ on the cross? How must this break the heart of the Father, how must it grieve the Spirit? And who will be held responsible for this? Satan and his cohort of course. But who else? Who else has the light, who else tasted the Kingdom? Who has been redeemed from this hell, who has been empowered and gifted with everything that is needed to preach good news and be good news to all nations?<br/><br/>So often in the biblical narrative, unbelief, orthodoxy and insititutionalisation has strangled the life and urgency out of the movement of the Kingdom, turning it into an organisation with structures and a life of its own, sapping energy, momentum and effectiveness. Abraham called to go in haste, takes the whole entourage,resulting in civil war, battles with enemy cities, lies, the death of his relatives and above all, delay. By the time they reached the land, it was too late – it had been settled. When famine came, the people should have stayed in Egypt three years, instead comfort trapped them and they were there for 400. Once they were released they should have entered the land after an 11 day march. Unbelief and dysfunction led them to submit to their fears and they lost a further 40 years and a whole generation suffered.<br/><br/>No surprise then that what could have been accomplished inside 60 years has taken over 2000. Two millennia of sin, pain, death and destruction, fuelled and sustained by the enemy. This should appal us. Billions of people unnecessarily subject to the wrath and destructive power of Satan. Millennia of unnecessary freedom for him to cause death, disease, poverty, hatred, war, rape and every evil imaginable.<br/><br/>God graciously gave us the opportunity to co-create a kingdom of peace, love and joy from the wreckage of the fall. At immeasurable cost he won a victory over the enemy, placing him as it were on bail pending his full imprisonment. Christ gave us the unspeakable privilege of sharing the victory through the battle winning movement called church.<br/><br/>It may take a further 20 years before we have a cure for cancer, 50 before we tame fusion power. It may be 40 years before we put a man on Mars. Using the same assumptions as before, given today’s population and the number of Christians, it should take less than a decade to complete the task. How much longer will God stay his hand - not just against the ravages of the enemy, but against the inadequacies of his people?<br/><br/>The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Not being frightened of him, but in awe of his great mercy and grace to respond wholeheartedly to him. Not in a 20 minute time of worship, but with our whole life, for our whole life. Nothing else comes close to an adequate response.<br/><br/>Lord have mercy on me. Lord have mercy on your people. Lord have mercy on a suffering world. Lord, graciously we plead, start with us.thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244148238742953493.post-34031909834514823712012-02-27T15:18:00.000+00:002013-09-19T11:37:52.180+01:00The Tragedy of Jim & Ginny<h4>Jim's Story</h4><br/>Hi. My name is Jim. I am 25 years old. I have a lot of friends, some from my uni days, others that I've made at work and the football club I play for.<br/><br/>One of my friends, Ginny, is a Christian. She keeps inviting me to an Alpha course. I'm interested in her, but not the course. In general, Christians seem judgmental and church seems like a dinosaur that somehow escaped extinction.<br/><br/>I agreed to go to the Alpha course, it's on a Wednesday evening which clashes with football practice, but heh, it's only for a few weeks and at least I get to go out with Ginny.<br/><br/>Week four of the Alpha course was kind of pivotal for me. Not only did it make sense, but I also had this deep conviction somewhere inside me that it was true. I'm very confused now. Not about Ginny though, I really like her, even though she won't sleep with me yet.<br/><br/>That sense of conviction just wouldn't go away. Eventually I got some time by myself and poured out my heart to God. As I did I had the strangest feeling of calm and love... weird. I've agreed to go with Ginny to her church on Sunday. I might as well, I haven't been able to play in the league since I started the Alpha course. The club has a rule that if you don't come to practice, you can't be picked for the team.<br/><h4>Ginny's Story</h4><br/>Hi. I'm Virginia - Ginny to my friends, who are mostly from the church I go to, although there is one guy I know from Uni (Jim) who isn't a Christian.<br/><br/>I quite like Jim, my friends tease me about him. They also warn me not to get involved because I can't have a relationship with someone outside the faith.<br/><br/>I think Jim fancies me! He agreed to come along to the Alpha course. I'm really not sure what to do, I don't want him to go just because he thinks I might go out with him. I wouldn't have asked him at all, except I didn't really know anyone else to invite.<br/><br/>Jim's become a Christian! It's so wonderful, God has been so faithful, he's even agreed to come to church with me on Sunday - even though it's his football day!<br/><h4>Jim's Story</h4><br/>Church was weird. A kind of poor-man's rock concert with a lecture in the middle. People doing really odd things, gabbling, falling over, dancing. I'd have run a mile if I wasn't having dinner with Ginny after. By the end I'd kind of got used to the weirdness, there was certainly something of God there and the people seemed really nice. I did feel I was a bit on display mind.<br/><br/>Now the Alpha course has finished, I could go back to football training, but there's some sort of housegroup thing that Ginny goes to and I feel like I should go along to that.<br/><br/>One of the guys on the sounddesk at church must have heard that I'm a DJ in my spare time, or was when I had any! He asked if I'd help now and again. They really don't have much of a clue so I said I'd be glad to help. Turns out though that you have to come to a rehearsal on a thursday evening. Bit of a pain, I normally meet my Uni mates for a drink, but I guess it's only once a month.<br/><br/>I must admit, the Christian thing is really making a difference to me, the way I think, the things I value. Life does seem so much more real now - I just want to shout about it all the time!<br/><h4>Ginny's Story</h4><br/>I am so thrilled for Jim. He is so different, so committed - he's even given up meeting with his old Uni friends to help out on the sound desk. With that and housegroup, he's really in a place where he can be discipled, away from the pretty dodgy influences of his old friends!<br/><br/>He is really kind to me too - I think I'm falling in love with him. There's a Marriage Preparation Course starting in the Autumn, I'm praying...<br/><h4>Jim's Story</h4><br/>Not the most romatic venue, the church weekend away, but it seemed right anyway. She said 'yes'! We're going to be married next Spring, apparently there's a Marriage Preparation course in the Autumn. I'm so happy!<br/><br/>We had been thinking of joining one of the short-term missions trips - I'm so keen to share with others what God has done for me, but that will have to wait till next year, we've a wedding to plan. God is so good!<br/><h4>Ginny's Story</h4><br/>I'm married! I can't quite believe it! God is so faithful, I prayed for a husband and even though Jim wasn't a believer, he has brought me one! We had a wonderful wedding - the guest list was a bit fraught, Jim wanted to invite lots of his old friends, but in the end it was ok, because not that many of them could make it. All our joint friends from church were there though, it was such a godly celebration, a great a start to our married life.<br/><h4>Jim's Story</h4><br/>We're really enjoying being a married couple, it feels very grown up having our own home and being able to invite friends round for meals. We're hosting a housegroup for young couples now that we have our own place.<br/><br/>It's all changed on the work front too. By coincidence (or should I say God's providence!) my father-in-law runs a sound equipment business and he had a vacancy in his technical department. I'll miss my old colleagues, but what a privilege to be working for a Christian company.<br/><h4>Ginny's Story</h4><br/>I'm pregnant! We didn't plan on it quite this soon, but well, I won't go into the detail! The baby is due the week before we were planning on being a part of the mission's trip so obviously God has a different type of mission for us!<br/><br/>I've not been too good for the last few weeks, having to rest lots. Jim has been fantastic, what with work being so busy and his commitments at church and housegroup, somehow he's still had time to be a real help to me. He's going to make such a great dad!<br/><h4>Jim's Story</h4><br/>Twins! How can they not know till they are born these days! We haven't slept for what seems like years, but finally life seems to be smoothing out again. I keep telling everyone I know how good God is - of course they all agree!<br/><br/>I'm very keen to share what I've discovered of God and there's a new outreach programme for guys who like football. I'm so unfit it will probably kill me, but I'll give it a go!<br/><br/>Bumped into Freddie, one of my old friends from the football club. I was really sad, turns out he went through a really difficult time shortly after I left, seemed like he didn't have anyone to talk to about it, almost killed himself, taken till now to get out again. Promised to meet up with him again soon. Must text him later when I can find some space - diary is pretty full these days now I've taken on the leadership of the AV team - on top of work and homelife!<br/><h4>Ginny's Story</h4><br/>Our 10th anniversary! Who could believe it! We're going on our first missions trip to celebrate! Can't believe it's taken this long, but with four kids and our church committments, it's just not been possible!<br/><br/>I've never been so moved in my life. The things we saw, the poverty, the desperateness... and yet the vibrancy of peoplle's faith. What a challenge to our way of life. It has really shaken me up.<br/><br/>There's a weekend conference coming up on how to start and run effetcive prayer groups for missions and Jim has said he'll look after the kids so that I can go.<br/><br/>The conference was amazing, some fantastic stories and great ideas. It will mean another evening out but we're committed to making it happen. Small beginnings, but a few friends praying can grow and make a huge difference I know.<br/><h4>Freddie's Story</h4><br/>I knew Jim pretty well once - lots of us did. He was always a kind-hearted bloke - one of the lads, but you could trust him. I know a lot of us felt a real loss when he started with that church thing - we lost a good friend.<br/><br/>He did invite us to his wedding, but to be honest we'd pretty much lost touch by then, he'd stopped coming to training, couldn't play on Sundays and didn't seem that interested in us anymore. Of course, when you get married you get a new circle of friends and when family comes along, your priorities change - that happened to Mike and Tony and some of our other good mates. But Jim just disappeared, seemed to get so busy with church and church people that he didn't have time for us. Real shame. Could have done with Jim through some of my difficult times. I bumped into him once, we agreed to catch up over a pint, but I knew it wouldn't happen. Never mind, good luck to him.<br/><h4>Jim's Story</h4><br/>Sad, sad day. Just been to Freddie's funeral. Never did get that drink with him, one thing or another kept getting in the way. Amazing to see so many people from the past of course. They were all happy to see me and Ginny and the kids. But we had so little in common, didn't seem much point of contact. All a bit embarassing really.<br/><h4>Ginny's Story</h4><br/>Jim's a bit down after the death of one of his old mates. Still, we've been asked to lead a course on friendship evangelism so that should take his mind off it. It will lead into our next Alpha course. Wouldn't it be amazing if one of his old friends came to Alpha, just like Jim did all those years ago!<br/><h4>The Pastor's Story</h4><br/>Ginny & Jim have been wonderful servants of the church. I remember when Jim first came to Alpha, I had the privilege of baptising him and leading their wedding. A great couple - a great family, so committed to the church. The prayer group Ginny runs has doubled in size this year, the AV team has become so much more professional under Jim's leadership. And of course they have such a heart for the lost. They're stalwarts of our short-term missions trips and they run our Alpha course. And that's besides hosting one of our home-groups. They're wonderful people, generous with their time and money. If only the church had more people like them.<br/><br/> thinking allowedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17927821083112683618noreply@blogger.com5