Why your CV will end up in the bin!

If you're a fan of The Apprentice then you will know that the ultimate winner of the series was exposed a week earlier for having lied on his CV. In an interview on Radio 5 Live this last week, Alan Sugar defended his final decision and stated that he could assure the listener that every CV he receives contains something that is not quite the truth. He also stated that it was OK to lie in order to get a job because we live in a commercial world and that is what everyone does. (To listen to an extract from the interview listen to this message - see below).

That's evidently the way that one of the top bosses in this country thinks - and obviously a lot of other people do too. But as a Christian I am called to think differently. In this week's passage from Ephesians - 4:17-32 - we read that one of the implications of becoming a Christian is that you have to think differently; you have a new attitude of your mind. Some people think that you have to remove your brain and stop thinking for yourself when you become a Christian - you just accept whatever you hear or read in church or on the God Channel. But as Christians we are called to use our brains to think - to think from a different perspective, as we allow the Holy Spirit to guide and teach us. And different thinking leads to different behaviour.

In this passage Paul gives some practical steps to living as a Christian.

1) Don't lie but tell the truth.
2) When you get angry don't sin - don't punch someone, or swear, or kick the cat or say something that you will later regret - instead sort things out quickly in a loving way so that hurts don't fester and become poisonous.
3) Don't steal, or fiddle your tax returns anymore - instead work so that you can provide something for those in need.
4) Watch what you say - only say things that will encourage and build others up, rather than pull them down.
5) Live a life that is consistent with the fact that you are a Christian.
6) Get rid of things like bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander and malice.
7) Instead be kind and compassionate and forgiving.

To listen to this message click here.

We're one but we're not the same

The words of the U2 song 'One' say, '...We're one but we're not the same, We carry each other, We carry each other...'



This week our series in Ephesians reaches 4:1-16, the message of which is really, 'we're one but we're not the same'. Paul has been revealing to his readers that as Christians they are 'one in Christ' with all other followers of Jesus. For the readers in first century Ephesus the issue was Jew / Gentile - that is how do Jewish Christians and non-Jewish Christians relate to each other. So far in Ephesians there have only been two instructions - 2:11 and 3:13. Now the instructions start to come thick and fast, but the thrust of verses 1-6 is essentially that as Christians we must do everything to ensure unity. Because there is one body, one Spirit, one hope, Lord, faith, baptism and God (4-5) division in the church is inconsistent with the life we have been called to live (1).

The second part of Paul's argument here follows on - although we're one, we're not all the same. Instead we are all interdependent on each other. In his book God has a Dream: A Vision of Hope in our Time, Desmond Tutu speaks of the African concept of 'ubuntu': the idea that I am because I belong; that my well being is somehow inextricably wound up in your well being (p25-27). God has designed the church so that we will be interdependent on each other. No one has all the gifts and abilities and talents. Instead these gifts, abilities and talents are shared out among everyone. This means that everyone in the church has a role to play and it also means that if one person is not playing their part the rest will suffer. The message that Paul preaches is that we are saved to serve - not saved to sit. What has God called you to do?

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Why Worry?

We worry about all kinds of different things - finances, exams, death, relationships, work, health, the future... And worry has all kinds of effects on us - lack of sleep, don't eat, eat the wrong things, get more worried, make poor choices, suffer from poor health... One thing that we can say is that worrying doesn't help the situation improve. Bobby McFerrin sings,

...Don't worry, be happy, In every life we have some trouble, When you worry you
make it double, Don't worry, be happy...

In Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus tells us that there is no point worrying because it won't make any difference - 'who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?' But unlike Bobby McFerrin, who offers a negative reason as why not to worry - it won't make things better - Jesus offers us positive reasons as why we should not worry.

First there is the truth that God loves us and knows what we need. We are valuable to God - he loved us so much that Jesus died on the cross. And so if we believe that God is in control, that He loves us, that He knows what we need - why worry? Then Jesus tells us that when we put God's priorities first the other stuff will also be taken care of. This means doing the things that God wants. It means that we listen to God's voice rather than the voice of the world. God tells us that He created us, that He loves us, that we're special and valuable...and yet we worry because we're too tall, or too short, or too large, our nose is wrong, we want this bit smaller and those bits bigger...God says that it's what's on the inside that matters...and yet we worry because we don't have the right shoes, and labels and the latest phone...We worry we don't have enough to buy that latest car, we strive for a better job in order to buy more stuff, and yet half the world lives on less that $2 a day.

So what do we do when there are things we're worried about? Philippians 4:6-7 gives us a strategy. First we pray - we talk to God about it. And when we pray we make a conscious effort to remind ourselves and give thanks for all the stuff that God has done for us before - this puts things in perspective. The same God who helped us before can do it again. And then we allow God to give us a peace that you can't explain - but it is an amazing thing to experience.

I know it's tough, and it's something we all struggle with, and don't worry that you worry, but let's try, with God's help, to be a little less worried this week.

Click here to listen to this message.

Football Fans and the Kingdom of God

'The kingdom of God is like...' This is a phrase that Jesus used several times to try and help his disciples understand different aspects of the kingdom of God. Would Jesus ever say, 'The kingdom of God is like a football fan'?

For the genuine football fan I think there are similarities. You might immediately think of things like loyalty, worship, community, sense of belonging. But for the true football fan there is always hope. The football season, depending on which division you are interested in, has come or is coming to a close. And no matter how things turned out this season there is always the hope of something better next year. And even mid season - unless you are one of those who support Man. Utd. or Chelsea only because they win things - you keep hoping, you keep supporting because today could be the day your season turns around.

Five years ago Exeter City were relegated from the football league into the then GM Vauxhall Conference. Even if they'd been relegated again I would still support them because they are my team - and there is that 'eternal' hope that they will do better. Last season Exeter reached the playoff final at Wembley which they lost - meaning they stayed in the Conference - and as we left the stadium the sentiment was very much - 'well there's always next season'. And indeed there was - for yesterday saw Exeter back at Wembley, this time to win, and gain promotion back into the football league. Now we're only four seasons away from winning the Premiership.

As those who follow Jesus, Christians should bring hope into the world. When we trust in God - the God who created the universe out of nothing and the God who raised Jesus from the dead - we believe that things don't have to be and won't always be as they are now, because God can bring change, God can breath new life into hopeless situations. And God wants to do that through us, here and now.