Saying Goodbye

Quite a lot has happened since my last post on the 19th...

One of the things that many people do as we get to the end of the year is to look back and then look forward and to make New Year resolutions, or plans, or write a list of things they would like to do in the coming year. We ask, “where would we like to be in a year's time?”

This time last year I never imagined that by the end of 2013 we would be moving house and saying 'goodbye' to the church where we had spent the past 10 years and 4 months. The idea of moving was simply not on my radar. We were part of a church that we loved and who loved us, we were making good links into the local community, the girls loved going to the local school... In my head I saw myself there for a lot longer yet.

But back in March I woke up one morning knowing that it was time to go. It was as if God had simply switched a switch in my head – and that was it. Of course we talked about it and prayed about it and then I entered into the Settlement Process.

This is the process that the Baptist Union uses to connect ministers looking for churches with churches looking for ministers – and because it is a process with several stages it is itself a part of the discerning process – is this really what God is saying?

Knowing it is time to go is one thing – knowing where to go is quite another – but God has been guiding us.

And so, just a few days before Christmas, the removal van turned up outside our house and all our worldly possessions were loaded into the back of a lorry (and a small van). It's amazing how much stuff you can accumulate in ten years – especially if you have three children during that time.

And then a few hours later everything was unloaded into our new house and we were joined by a team of volunteers from our new church who helped unpack boxes and assemble flat packed furniture.

We travelled back to Edgware for the Carol Service, and Christmas Day and then yesterday was our last Sunday in Edgware.

When you've shared your lives in a church for over ten years saying goodbye is never going to be easy. We came as two and leave as five. Those of you who know us personally and know the church will know that during those ten years there have been some great times, but there have also been some really challenging and testing times. And looking back I would say that it is the fact that we walked together at the lowest points that has made our relationships what they are – and therefore make saying 'Goodbye' that much harder.

As we leave Camrose we do so with many many happy memories. And 'Thank You' seems so inadequate – but we want to thank God for His faithfulness over the last ten years. We also want to thank the church for allowing us to be a part of your lives and for being a part of ours. Thank you for all the things that were said yesterday – and the things that were un-said – at least in words but were said in hugs and tears. Thank you for your love and support and friendship. You will always have a very special place in our hearts.

But now it is time for a new chapter to begin...

What is Advent?

Why I need a new dining table

It's not everyday you go to a day of theology and come away thinking you need a new dining table...

…but today I want to return to BMS Catalyst Live and tell you about Miranda Harris' contribution. Miranda is involved in conservation work through A Rocha and talked about community. As with John Lennox's talk there was just so much great material so here are just a couple of thoughts.

Miranda was talking about her experiences of what it means to be in community. One of the things that she said which struck me was, that if Christ is in us, then as people get to know us as we really are then they will eventually meet Jesus.

This got me thinking...so often it is the 'as we really are' bit of that that we don't like the sound of. Therefore we always try to keep people at a distance, but this affects community.

Miranda then gave four pointers in building community.

1) More eating than meetings - hence the need for a new dining table - the biggest one you can afford.
2) More listening than talking.
3) More failure than success.
4) More wonder than worry.

You can listen to Miranda's talk here.


Catalyst Live, Miranda Harris, Reading, November 2013 from BMS World Mission on Vimeo.


Miranda, and her husband set up A Rocha's first field study centre in Portugal in 1983. A Rocha is an international Christian organisation which, inspired by God's love, engages in scientific research, environmental education and community-based conservation projects (to quote from their website).

Silent Night

Be prepared to give an answer for your hope

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of attending Catalyst Live in Reading - an event organised by BMS World Mission. This was a chance to simply sit and listen to some great inspirational speakers; to have our minds stretched; to be encouraged and challenged.

The first speaker of the day was John Lennox, a professor of mathematics, at Oxford University. 

I guess there are quite a lot of people who would be surprised to discover that a professor of mathematics at Oxford would be a Christian and speaking publicly about his faith. But I suppose that just goes to show how far we've bought into the idea that faith and science are mutually exclusive; that faith and the rational mind are opposed to each other.

If you ever get the chance to go and hear John Lennox - do it. He is brilliant to listen to. I can't possible hope to do justice to the content of his talk here. He touched on so much. 

His talk was addressing the question 'Should Christians fear science and the new atheism?' You know - people like Richard Dawkins and his book 'The God Delusion'. Lennox's answer to this question is a resounding 'No'. Instead of fear or shame we need to be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us to give the reason for the hope that we have (see 1 Peter 3:15).

Just one snippet to whet your appetite. In the modern world we put such authority and trust in science - in the rational mind. Yet, if you ask the atheist, 'what is the mind?' they will talk about the brain. But what is the brain? It is the product of evolution - the product of a mindless and random process. So, if the mind is the product of a mindless process, why do we trust it? If this is what the mind is can it be reliable or trustworthy? So we find the intellectual theories actually ultimately undermine the minds and rationality that made them.

But, that's enough from me - why not listen for yourself.


Catalyst Live, John Lennox, November 2013 Reading from BMS World Mission on Vimeo.

Vulnerable

Discussing apartheid with a six year old

Like many school children in this country during October (Black History Month) our three daughters heard about, wrote about, read about and talked about people like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King and Muhammad Ali. They listened to the 'I have a dream' speech and they wrote their own speeches...

Several weeks later our six year old was walking past the book case in our bedroom and caught a glimpse of Mandela's autobiography 'Long walk to Freedom' - in particular she recognised his photo and asked if that was Nelson Mandela's picture. She told us what she had learnt and was interested to hear about our visit to Robben Island and the actual prison cell where he had been kept for so many years.

Today on the way to school I told her that Nelson Mandela had died last night. "Was he the man who gave the speech?" "No, you're thinking of Martin Luther King - although Nelson Mandela did make lots of speeches". The conversation that followed included, "what about that lady who sat on a bus, whose name began with R" [Rosa Parks] and "Muhammad Ali was a boxer who beat the other man because he was too fat but Muhammad Ali could float like a butterfly".

One of the things that I love about the girls' school is how diverse and multi-cultural it is. Our daughters struggle to imagine what racial segregation must be like. "You mean - I couldn't go to school with 'J' or 'K'? But that's not fair. Some people are so mean."

We talked about what's fair, what's right - and how sometimes you have to fight for what's right - even if the government and the police are against you - "but aren't the police supposed to help the people?" - even if that means going to prison for a long time.

"How did he die?" So we talked about how Nelson Mandela was 95 and had been ill for a while. "He did well to get into the 90s - some people don't even make it to 80."

I don't know what other Learning Objectives 'S' will have for today but I doubt any of them will be as important as some of the stuff we talked about on the walk to school this morning.

Disputing the debatable

I'm guessing that there is some dispute over what Paul means when he talks about 'disputable matters' in Romans 14. 

On Sunday we finished our morning series looking at the second half of Romans - so it is about time I caught up on here.

Reading between the lines of Romans 14 there was obviously some disagreement in the church that Paul was writing to. It may have been between those Christians from a Jewish background and those from a Gentile background - but not necessarily. And it seems as if there were those who thought that eating meat was OK and those who thought that eating meat was not right for a Christian. Maybe the issue was whether it was kosher or not; or maybe it was about meat that had been sacrificed to idols - but we don't get that much detail. But what we do know is that Paul didn't think there was anything wrong with what either group were doing - except that the attitudes of some on both sides of the argument were wrong.

For Paul there was nothing inherently sinful with eating or not eating meat. For Paul the over riding issue was their wrong attitudes, the damage that was being done to relationships within the church, and the harm that could be done to people's faith.

For Paul maintaining loving and peaceful relationships with others inside the church was much more important than who was right and who was wrong. Building others up in their faith is more important than standing on the rights and freedoms that I may have.

One question I didn't really explore on the Sunday we looked at this - which was quite a while ago now - was how do we decide what is a 'disputable matter'? From Paul's wider writing it is clear that there are times when he came down very strongly against certain types of behaviour, and warned the church to have nothing to do with people (in the church) who were behaving in a particular way. So Paul is not saying, anything goes - and get along with each other whatever. He is not saying that anything goes and you must never challenge 'wrong' behaviour.

For Paul a 'disputable matter' seems to be one where it no longer matters whether a person does or doesn't do something. And Paul's list of what no longer matters may be different to mine, which may be different to yours. The trouble is that there are no easy answers - it's not simply a case of looking up a verse in the Bible - if it was that simple then we wouldn't be disputing what is disputable.

So what do we do? I think we prayerfully wrestle with the Bible - with both sides of the disagreement. We remember that those we disagree with are people who are loved by God and we treat them accordingly - we don't see them as enemies - and we don't go out to win the argument. We make sure that our behaviour isn't damaging the faith of others or harming the reputation of the church. 

And stretch...

Today I have been challenged, encouraged, stimulated, stretched and fed (plus more) at an event called Catalyst Live which was organised by BMS World Mission. Its format was likened to flicking through a magazine - lots of short features - one after the other. Each one could probably have filled the whole day in itself.

Contributions ranged from Prof John Lennox answering the question, 'Should Christians fear science and the new atheism?' with a resounding 'No' to A Rocha's Miranda Harris getting me to see the importance of buying a new dining table when we move house (I haven't told my wife about that yet - I'll see how long it takes her to notice it on here!)

Then there was ethnomusicology, poetry and art.

We looked at earthquakes, volcanos and floods; as well as scrolls, books and iPads.

The author of the Royal Navy Leadership manual spoke, but it was another speaker who told us about three boats that set sail…

We looked at the question of suffering; and then we heard from a Palestinian Arab Israeli Christian, sharing his perspective on events in Jerusalem.

And then there was theologian Jurgen Moltmann…

A brilliant day - which I will take a few days to digest - but hopefully I'll find the time to write something more about each session.

Grace and Peace

At the moment it feels a bit like the world is spinning far too fast, there is too much going on in my life, and I would just like an extra week or so to catch up and get back on track…but we all know that's not going to happen any time soon.

A while ago when wrestling with the deep question of how best to sign off emails - just my name; yours sincerely / faithfully seemed a little formal; God bless… - I was reading through the New Testament and noted that Paul often uses the phrase 'Grace and peace' in his introduction to a lot of his letters. I thought that this was a great phrase - both a reminder of God's grace and peace, but also a prayer that goes with the email that the recipient would know God's grace and peace - particularly relevant with some emails that I send.

But in the middle of all the busyness and stress of these last few days it has been a real encouragement and also a challenge for me to write those words. Whatever is going on we believe that God is in control, that he is working out his plans and his purposes, and he has promised that he will be with us. It's great to be able to remind others of God's grace and peace in what they're going through. Sometimes I need to be reminded that this applies to me too.

Watching the Bible

When we read the Bible a few verses at a time it can be hard to see the big picture. Because although the Bible is a collection of smaller books it tells a big story - God's story. This is a story that starts before the beginning and goes on after the end. Sitting down and reading the whole of the Bible is a daunting prospect. Whilst Genesis and Exodus may be manageable, once we get into Leviticus it can be really hard going.

But this November sees 'The Bible' coming to a television screen near you. 'The Bible' is a mini series, and episode one, 'Beginnings' will be broadcast on Channel 5 on Saturday 30 November at 9pm.




For more information visit their website.

Resources for churches are available from the Bible Society.

Are you ready for a real advent?

In case you'd missed it - Christmas is coming. We know Christmas is coming because all the big shops have started with their Christmas decorations and all the major retailers have started with their TV Christmas advertising campaigns. And every year it seems as if Christmas starts earlier and earlier - mainly as retailers try to maximise the amount of money they can squeeze out of people as they create this picture of a perfect Christmas.

The church has time of preparation in the run up to Christmas to allow Christians to get ready and prepare for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. This has nothing to do with turkeys and chocolates and presents though. This is the season of Advent which starts in a few weeks' time.

Most people today, probably know the word 'Advent' in connection with the word 'calendar'. An Advent Calendar usually contains 24 or 25 windows which you start opening on the 1 December, and behind each window there is a chocolate - and these calendars are available in a whole range of designs - Disney Princesses, Moshi Monsters, etc etc etc.

But this year you can buy 'The Real Advent Calendar' from The Meaningful Chocolate Company - the people behind the Real Easter Egg that's been around for a few years now.

The picture on the front is a cartoon Nativity, and behind each window there is a chocolate star, but on the back of the window is a sentence which tells a bit of the Christmas story - day by day. Here's a bit more detail.




To find out more, including details of where you can buy this Advent Calendar, visit their website by clicking here.

Fillers

Yesterday evening I helped roll a few sheets of yellow paper, blue paper, white paper, and a few colouring sheets together in to rolls.

Other people made up bags of sweets, bottled beads, boxed jewellery, sorted hats into age categories, and covered shoe boxes in wrapping paper.

Why? We were making fillers for shoeboxes.

This coming week we will start processing shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child's Shoebox Appeal. Although people are encouraged to fill their shoe boxes we do come across a lot of boxes that are maybe only half full. Other times we find items that we have to take out of a box and this leaves a gap. This is when we need our supply of fillers.

The rolls of paper might be used in a box where someone has included colouring pencils but has not put in any paper.

These are great re-cycling opportunities! A lot of the stuff we use for fillers comes from the Watford Arts Recycling Project (WRAP). For example you can take an empty video box - remove the sleeve and replace with a piece of wrapping paper - fill with pencils and pens and you have a pencil case. Or a small plastic bottle with screw top lid: fill with a range of coloured beads, add some thread or string and you have necklace making kit.

The first boxes arrive

Over recent years a number of churches have moved into warehouses and converted them into churches. For three weeks in November we turn our church into a warehouse - as we become a satellite processing centre for Operation Christmas Child.

You can find out more about OCC's shoebox appeal by clicking here.

This morning we received our first 150 boxes that need to be processed - although we won't actually start that process until the middle of next week.

Last year we saw 3879 boxes pass through the church. This year we're hoping to process even more.

Supporting Sports by Knitting

Yesterday I had an email from some friends who work in Thailand and who have some loose links with an organisation called Sports Friends Thailand. They posted a link to this video that shows how a group of ladies who knit in northern England support this ministry for young people on the other side of the world.

I have written this post not because I know anything about Sports Friends or because I want to encourage you to support them but because I think this is a great example that demonstrates how anyone can use their talents and their passions to support mission.

Whether you're a runner, a baker, a knitter, a reader, a gardener, a crafter or a builder I'm sure you can think of ways in which you can get involved in supporting whatever mission organisations you or your church are already linked to.

The Impact of Tax Dodging

Have you ever wondered how tax dodging by big companies works and what impact it has in places like Ghana or Peru? Well this little video might help.

Living Sacrifices

Last Sunday, in our series looking at Romans, we emerged from the difficult issues of chapters 9-11 into the easy to understand chapter 12. The trouble with the bits of the Bible that are easy to understand is that we have no excuse for not obeying them.

Paul starts this section with a couple of verses that set up the rest of the letter. The rest of the letter is the practical outworking of what he says here. 

And Paul starts by saying, in verse one, that when we consider everything that God has already done for us the only appropriate response is to offer ourselves over fully into God's service.

Why do we do what we do? One of the issues that the previous chapters raise - if we wanted to read them that way - is the apparent contradiction between being saved by grace on the one hand, and the threat of being cut off from God if we slip from belief into unbelief on the other. We are told that we are not saved by works ... but somehow our works are significant.

So why do we serve? Here Paul makes it clear. Our service is a willing and loving response to everything that God has already done for us - another word for that is 'worship'. Worship is not just about singing songs in church on a Sunday - it's about everything that I do in response to what God has already done.

Alex's Story

It is only about a month until we turn the church into a shoebox warehouse again and start processing boxes for Operation Christmas Child. This morning I had my first school assembly of the shoe box season, to the Year 7 and 8s at our local secondary school.

If you want to know what difference one shoe box can make here is Alex's story. This is an incredible story of forgiveness that will have you reaching for the tissues - as you hear about how our God can use a simple gift and transform death and hatred into love and forgiveness.

How you doin ?

For those who grew up on a diet of Friends, the question 'How you doin?' was one of Joey's favourite lines - not asked because he was in any way concerned with how you were actually doing, but because he thought it gave him some success with the ladies. It was always about him, never about you.



But how are you doing?

One of my targets for this year was to run 1500 miles over the year. Another was a sub four hour marathon. If you read this blog regularly you will know that the marathon objective went horribly wrong back in April. But all the training at least put me well ahead of where I needed to be to get to 1500 miles by December 31st.

1500 miles equates to just over 4.1 miles a day, or 28.8 miles a week.

Unfortunately, for one reason or another - coupled with a 'can I really be bothered?' attitude, my running over the last couple of months has slipped. So I was a bit shocked when I looked at my training page on Fetcheveryone earlier this week to find this.

Up 3.3. Earlier in the year this number had been over a hundred.

I was only 3.3 miles ahead of where I needed to be at this point in the year. This number decreases by 4.1 miles everyday - the daily average. So one more day of missing a run and that would slip to being behind schedule for the first time this year. Action was required. I've only run more than 28.8 miles in a week twice in the last two months - now I'm going to have to do it every week for the rest of the year!

What goals and targets did you set yourself at the beginning of the year, at Easter, at the beginning of your new job, as you started university, last week ...? How are you doing?

Whether those goals were health related or fitness related or to do with relationships or attitudes or your walk as a disciple of Jesus ... how are you doing?

Sometimes we're not where we hoped we'd be because our goals were unrealistic. Sometimes life just gets in the way - things we never expected happen - and we do need to be sensible and flexible. But sometimes we're not where we hoped we'd be because we've taken our eye off the ball; we've lost focus; we've allowed other things to get in the way; we've slipped into a 'can't be bothered' frame of mind.

If that sounds familiar then let's not beat ourselves up about how rubbish we are - because that tends to make things worse - but let's refocus, maybe set some new short term goals, and then get on with it.

Spot the Difference

Can you spot at least three differences between these two photos?

On Sunday we held our Harvest Thanksgiving Service - and as well as supporting the work of BMS World Mission we also collected a range of dried and tinned goods to help support our local homeless Night Shelter.

The Night Shelter is overseen by Cricklewood Homeless Concern now known as Ashford Place. As a part of their provision they organise, between November and March, a number of venues around north Brent which provide a hot evening meal, a place to sleep and breakfast for around 20 people who would otherwise be sleeping on streets. One of the local Methodist churches is a venue, this year opening from Saturday evening through to Monday morning every weekend over the winter months. Whilst a lot of the work does fall into the hands of a few brilliant and dedicated people at Queensbury Methodist, it is great to be a part of a team drawn from a whole range of local churches. Each church will sign up to a number of evenings and provide the food and volunteers to run the shelter that night.

It might not seem much in the big scheme of things - but as we saw on Sunday, from Matthew 25:31-46, it's not about saving the world all in one go - it's about meeting need one person at a time. 

As Mother Teresa said, 'If you can't feed a hundred people then feed just one'.





For those struggling to find all three differences: the tin of hot dogs has moved from front left; a tin of beans has moved front right to centre; and a tin of tomatoes in the middle has been rotated. 

The Mission of the Mind

When you go to churches in certain parts of the world you are required to leave your shoes at the door - because that is the culture, and a mark of respect.

There are other churches that you may sometimes go to where you are required to leave your brain at the door. At least that is the way it may seem. Contexts where we are not encouraged to think, and ask questions - instead we are supposed to accept what we are told and to have faith. Situations where the intellectual world of science or medicine, or the world of culture are kept at arms length and often seen as the enemy.

But, if you're looking for something to stretch your mind and get you thinking you may be interested in BMS World Mission's Catalyst Live events in November. Tickets are going fast so order soon.


Catalyst Live Promo from BMS World Mission on Vimeo.

Let me know if you're going to Reading - I'll see you there.

Something to watch in December

No idea what this new Channel 5 series is going to be like but if you're looking for something to talk about in your coffee break at work you could do a lot worse...




A website and additional resources can be found here

Climbing the north face of the Eiger

If you're looking for a challenge you could try climbing the north face of the Eiger.

Alternatively you could try getting your head round Romans 9-11 in 20 minutes.

Over the last few Sundays we have looked at Romans 9, 10 and 11, and I have managed to avoid some of the more difficult questions. Last Sunday Richard Harvey did a quick over view of all three chapters in one go under the title of 'The Mystery of Israel and the Purposes of God'.

You can listen to Richard by clicking here.

You can see his slides by clicking here and scrolling to 29 September.

You can visit Richard's website - Mapping Messianic Jewish Theology - by clicking here.

It's a balancing act

Do you ever feel that you're being pulled in two opposite directions at the same time?

Sometimes when we read the Bible it seems as if we are being asked to accept two things as true even though it appears that these two things are mutually exclusive. What we are left with is what some people call 'creative tension' as we try and hold onto both ideas at the same time.

A couple of Sunday's ago we were looking at Romans 11 in our morning service and one of the things we looked at was Paul's image of the olive tree with some branches cut off and other branches grafted in.

New branches grafted into an old root

Paul wants the Gentile Christians in Rome to see that they have been grafted in because of the grace of God - but there is a word of caution too. If they become arrogant and start to live any way other than faith in Jesus there is a danger that they may be cut off once again.

And so we hold these two ideas in tension - we are saved by grace, but we are required to work out our salvation. We trust in God, but we keep a careful check on our own thoughts and attitudes and behaviour.

It's the balance between the kindness and the sternness of God that Paul talks about. When we start to swing too far one way or the other we lose our balance and fall over.

Potato Shindig

Yesterday we spent most of the day at Willows Farm. The girls love going there and we make sure that we make full use of our annual membership.

During weekends in September they have their Potato Shindig. One fork per family, all the children get a plastic spade and a bucket - then it's off to the potato field to simply dig potatoes and fill your bucket. It's the potato equivalent of 'pick your own'.

Guess what Nanny, Granddad and Auntie Carol are having for tea when they visit on Monday! The crop we picked a few weekends ago lasted about 2-3 weeks.

Next month we get to pick pumpkins.

In the news for the wrong reasons

Those of you who have read the blurb about me over to the right will know that I have worked in both Kenya and in Peshawar, Pakistan. It is sad to find both countries in the news today for all the wrong reasons. Praying for all those affected.

Chris Froome, who grew up in Kenya, on his twitter feed today said, 'My thoughts are with those affected by this horrendous attack'. In an early tweet he said, 'Feel ridiculous for being nervous about the TTT today while people are busy being held at gunpoint in Nairobi #perspective #westgate ' [TTT = team time trial].

On a different note one of the drivers in the Grand Prix this afternoon whose car broke down on the final lap commented, 'someone somewhere is having a worse day than me'.

Yes, Mark, yes they are.

The Tour of Britain visits Devon

Today the Tour of Britain visited Devon, passing right outside the house where we once lived in Moretonhampstead. I had hoped to catch a glimpse of it on the TV coverage - except they went to an ad break and missed out the whole of Moreton altogether - by the time they returned the cyclists were well on their way down to Bovey.

But I have managed to find a YouTube clip of the race going through the centre of Moreton.

How will they hear?

I became a Christian on an August Thursday night, in the dark, in a tent, in a farmer's field in Cornwall. Although I had grown up in a Christian home, where I had heard all about Jesus and gone along to church pretty much every Sunday of my life - I knew on that night that I had a choice to make. I knew in my head that Jesus had died on the cross to save me from my sin - but did I want to respond to God's love for me and follow Jesus?

The next morning I went to speak to the man who had been doing all of the main talks at this young people's camp, to tell him that the night before I had become a Christian. I had decided that yes - I did want to respond to God's love for me. He got out his Bible and turned to Romans 10:9 - if you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

He wanted me to be confident in what happened. He knew that there would be times in my life when I would question whether or not I was a Christian. When the enemy would bring doubts and try to sabotage what God was doing. When I would question God - maybe even wonder whether there was a God. And he wanted me to remember this choice I had made and what that meant.

And for those of us who are following Jesus, Romans 10 also brings the challenge of telling others. We can't force people to believe anything, but how will they hear about Jesus unless someone tells them - and who's going to tell your friends if it's not you? 

Here's the short video that we watched on Sunday.



To listen to this message click here

Is it worth it?

I have come across the following article a number of times recently on FB and Twitter so thought I'd put a link to it here too. 

It's a blog article, 'Dear Parents with young children in church' written by Jamie Bruesehoff, who is a pastor's wife and has two young children. Don't just read the article, there is also a short interview with Jamie at the bottom of the page.

The article is an encouragement to parents that when you bring your children to church you're doing something really important - even if they're a little bit noisy. When you wonder whether it's worth the effort - remember that, yes, it is.

So, click here, and read on.

London Triathlon

Later on this afternoon the Brownlee brothers, Jonny and Alistair, will be fighting it out with Javier Gomez in Hyde Park, London, for the title of Triathlon World Champion. 

Yesterday we went to see the mass events at the London Triathlon - the Olympic and sprint distance events. We were too late to see the elite women's race, which was won by Non Stamford, the new women's World Champion.

But at the mass events there were hundreds, probably thousands of men and women swimming, cycling and running their way round Hyde Park. The starts were staggered over a couple of hours and the Standard Distance was followed by the Sprint Distance events. Add to that the fact that the bike was a 5 lap course and the run a 4 lap course it meant that at any point you'd be watching a whole spectrum of athletes.

There were those who looked like triathletes and those who didn't. There were those who looked fit and those who...didn't. On the cycling there were some people on carbon fibre bikes, with the solid back wheels and the aerodynamic tear drop shaped helmets that you see during professional time trials - and there were others on mountain bikes that creaked as they went past.

For some this was their first triathlon and the aim was simply to finish, others would have been chasing a PB, very few would have had ambitions to win their age category etc.

But at least they were in the race - which is more than could be said for those of us who were watching. 

Some people live life as spectators rather than competitors. Some Christians live as spectators - taking a comfy seat and watching everyone do all the work - but that's not an option. We all have a part to play and it is important that we know what our part is and that we're fully involved.

So the next time you sit down to watch a triathlon, or the football, or the tennis, or even the Proms ask yourself whether you are a simply a spectator or whether you're playing your part in your Christian life?

Tricky issues...

Are you a Calvinist? Do you have any idea who this man is? Does it matter?

How you answer my first question will probably depend a lot on where you live and what kind of church you go to - or used to go to. I have no statistical evidence to back up what I'm about to say but I guess that there would be some Christians who would say they were definitely Calvinists. Others would say that they were not - and some of these might describe themselves as Arminians. There would be some who might have a vague notion about what I was asking. And then there would be others who would look blankly and ask whether that has anything to do with a small boy with spiky hair and a toy tiger.

This week we began a new Sunday morning teaching series looking at the second half of Romans - chapters 9-16. I admit I was tempted to make this a slightly shorter study and just look at chapters 12-16...

There are a number of questions that are raised in chapters 9-11 that I don't feel particularly qualified to tackle. Ask me whether I am a pre-millennialist, an a-millennialist or a post-millennialist and I will have something to offer - because I spent a whole term at Bible college reading around the subject and then had to write a 5000 word essay on the subject. I'm sure there were subjects and courses that I could have taken that looked at Calvin - but I took something else instead - but maybe that was just meant to be.

One of the questions that Romans 9:1-29 raises for us is the question of God's sovereign choice - God chooses some people - are therefore rejects others. Very simply (overly simply) this is Predestination - as opposed to Free Will. On one side God has already determined how we will respond in any given situation - on the other side we have free will to choose for ourselves.

I am not going to argue one way or the other here. There are Christians on both sides of the argument who believe the Bible teaches one or the other. They are able to quote verses that seem to clearly state one point of view or the other. That's why it remains such a divisive topic - if it was clear cut and obvious then it wouldn't be an issue.

So how should we approach issues or passages in the Bible that we find difficult to accept or understand?

I think one of the keys is that we do it with humility. 

Whatever we think it says - we might be wrong.

And even if we're right - if that's the way we're thinking about things (I'm right and you're wrong) then our attitude is almost certainly wrong anyway.

We need to remember that it is God who is God - there are going to be things that I won't understand - but am I prepared to obey and submit?

We need to pray that God will help us to understand more.

One conclusion I have come to as I've looked at Romans 9 - I should have started this series at chapter 12.

The writing's on the wall

It seems a long time ago I finished our series in Daniel and even longer since I last posted about it...so time to catch up - here's Daniel 5.

For King Belshazzar, the writing is, quite literally, on the wall. Many of the themes that we have met so far in Daniel resurface again. Here is a king who is proud of his achievements and who pays no regard to God. A king who has not learnt from the experiences of those who have gone before him. He is making the same mistakes as Nebuchadnezzar.

How often do we go on making the same mistakes? How often do we make a new start but soon slip back into old habits?

And so the judgement of God is pronounced by this hand that appears and writes on the wall: mene, meme, tekel, parsin. Words that only Daniel can read and interpret for the king. And so Daniel tells the king: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end; you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting; your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.

This is a reminder to us that we are in the hands of God - which may be an encouragement to us or fill us with fear.

It is an encouragement to know that the future, that events, that timings are all in God's hands. What happens is all a part of his plans - even if we don't understand what is happening. God has promised to carry us through these things. Nothing can happen outside of the plan of God. This can give us peace even in a turbulent situation.

But it can also be a fearful thing to realise that we are in God's hand - the God who judges.

Thankfully on the cross Jesus dealt with the problem of our sin so that we can know the forgiveness of God - allowing us to know the encouragement of being in God's hands.

Summer Holidays

Thought I'd start the come back with a short update on our family summer holiday. We had a really good time helped by some very good weather. Quite a contrast to last year's camping experience on the top of Bodmin Moor where our concerns swung between drowning and blowing away.

This year we took our tent and our bikes and a few other camping essentials (like kitchen cupboards and a carpet) to Bedgebury Camping, just south of Goudhurst in Kent. Most of the year this campsite is simply farm fields but for a couple of weeks and a few weekends in the summer it becomes a very relaxed camp site. The facilities are on the basic side but are perfectly adequate. There is plenty of space and the girls loved just being able to hop on their bikes and ride up and down. Even visiting the nearest eco-toilet required the use of their bikes! They loved the sort of freedom that they can't get at home.

Our enjoyment of the week was helped by the almost total lack of rain - making this probably our best camping holiday ever. Over the week we visited Bedgebury Forest and Pinetum a couple of times. 

Walking in Bedgebury Forest

The second time we hired a buggy to fit on the back of the bike so that we could all take advantage of the many different cycle trails through the forest. We also got attacked by a legion of wood ants as we tried to find a geocache - the ants won. There is lots to do in the forest - well worth a visit. The girls are still too young to be able to do 'Go Ape' and by the time they're old enough we'll be too old to join them.

Out for a family bike ride

We also went to Hever Castle and Bewl Water, which were both good days out with lots to do. The rest of the time was spent relaxing on the camp site - several evenings spent around the camp fire toasting marshmallows. 

Bedgebury Forest was only 1.8 miles away (by foot) so I was able to get quite a few runs in around the forest - only getting lost a couple of times.

Reading the Faraway Tree while we wait for the fire to die down so we can toast marshmallows

Is this a campsite we'd think about returning to? Definitely.

Then it was on to Devon for the second week of our holiday, spent with my parents. The girls love a week at Nanny and Granddad's and this time all my sisters were there for some or all of the time - which meant that the girls got to spend some time with their aunties and uncle and cousins from my side of the family.

Let's go fly a kite...

Considering we were on holiday it seems like a very busy time - early morning running was required as we were out most days. We visited the beach, Bicton Gardens, Escot, the miniature pony centre, cycled along the sea front, went swimming, went for a couple of walks and visited the cinema to see Despicable Me 2. I'd recommend all those as great things to do/great days out.

The only complaint I have about this year's holiday: two weeks is just not long enough!

I'm still here

It's only a couple of days until it will have been a whole month without a blog post...so thought I'd better get something together. 

That was it! Worth waiting for I hope.

More (proper) posts in the next few days - Holiday Bible Club, the rest of Daniel 1-6, summer holiday camping fun...

In the meantime I'll leave you with this...

Pride comes before a fall

Only 2% of the population are able to spot the mistake in less than 2 minutes. How did you do?

If you found the mistake in less than 2 minutes - well done.

How are you feeling?

I have no idea how many people can find the mistake in under 2 minutes - I made that up. But we all like the idea that we are better than other people. It makes us feel good about ourselves.

Lots of people struggle with pride. But lots of people struggle with false humility.

Daniel 4 is a warning against pride - Nebuchadnezzar is proud of his achievements - but oversteps the mark in verse 30.

Some of us though have low self esteem - we've grown up being told we're rubbish - and now we believe it. We can't do anything. Everyone is better than us. We're worthless.

When the Bible warns us against pride it is warning against an attitude that refuses to depend on God, is unwilling to be subject to God, and takes the credit for things that are down to God.

So what's the answer to pride and false humility?

We need to get our thinking right - about God, about ourselves and about others.

God is behind history, everything comes from God - that is something that Nebuchadnezzar is struggling to grasp. Nothing is impossible for God. 

But then who are we?

We are created in the image of God and we are loved by God. But we are also sinners - for whom Jesus died on the cross. We can become children of God. We are not worthless - we are worth everything.

The answer for pride is not putting ourselves down all the time. It is about pulling ourselves up to our full height - alongside God - and realising just how small our biggest efforts are. It's about recognising that in our strength we can do nothing but with God we can do anything.