What difference can a shoe box make?

This morning at church we are collecting shoe boxes as a part of Samaritan's Purse 'Operation Christmas Child'. Shoe boxes that have been filled with suitable gifts for either a boy or a girl in one of three age groups (2-4, 5-9, 10-14). These boxes will then be taken and distributed to children in parts of the world where the children will experience hunger, poverty, fear, war ... this Christmas rather than peace and joy.

You may wonder what difference a simple box, filled with a few gifts can make. But if you watch the short story below you will see how God is able to take a simple box and use it to transform a life.



Depending on when you're reading this it may not be too late to get involved this year. Visit the Samaritan's Purse website to find information of a local drop off point. If you were too late this year put a note in your 2009 diary around September to find out how you can be involved.

Click here to visit the Operation Christmas Child website

What's it feel like to be a Messiah?

There are certainly many who would see Barack Obama as a messiah figure - the 'anointed one' who is the answer to all their problems. I'm sure Obama is only too aware of this fact and realises the dangers of trying to live up to totally unrealistic expectations. But there has certainly been a sense of hope that the election of Obama has generated.

Hope that things can change, and that they don't always have to be the way they are.

Hope that comes from having a line drawn under a painful past.

Hope that comes from the prospect of a new start.

Hope that comes from knowing that the president can identify with you and therefore understands where you're coming from, and therefore may do something about it.

These were the hopes of many about two thousand years ago, when another Messiah figure emerged on the scene.

A man who healed the sick and raised the dead, a man who came back from the dead and so a man who says things don't have to be the way they always have. Even death can be turned back. A man who says that no matter how bleak things may seem there is always hope.

A man who allows us to draw a line under a painful past because his death on a cross means that we can know forgiveness for our past, and although we can't undo our past we no longer need to be held back by our past.

A man who gives the promise of a new start, a life with a purpose, a life which the New Testament describes as essentially a new life. A future that is not defined by the past.

A God who became a human being, who knows what it is like to be hungry, tired, sad, tempted ... A God who can identify with us, and meet us at our point of need.

There is a heavy weight of expectation on Obama's shoulders. And whatever hopes we may have in him and for him and for the next four years of American politics, ultimately we must put our hope in Jesus.

God has a Dream

Holidays are usually a time for me to catch up on some reading or finish some of the books that I have been working through for a while. My Facebook virtual bookshelf currently only has 8 books listed as 'I want to read' so things seem currently to be under control.

This past week I have finished a great little book, 'God has a dream: A vision of hope for our time' by Desmond Tutu.

With just over 100 pages making up the main text of the book, there are some who could read this through in one sitting. And the language is certainly accessible enough for most people to be able to make sense of what Desmond Tutu is saying . You won't need a dictionary and a theology degree to access this work.

Others may take many days or weeks to read this book, as there is much, almost on every page to merit further reflection. Whether it is digging around a point you don't agree with, or meditating on topics like the love of God for you, or your part in God's dream you certainly benefit from not reading it through in one sitting.

Last year the best book I read was Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. This year I think this book by Desmond Tutu takes the title of my book of the year. Get a copy and dig in.

What really happened at Jericho

Not many military commanders would come up with the campaign strategy that we read of in Joshua 6. The approach to taking the city of Jericho was: 1) circumcise the whole army, 2) march around the city blowing trumpets and 3) after doing this for a week everyone was to shout. We are told that parts of the city wall were 20 feet thick and 25 feet high. Trumpets and shouting don't sound the best approach.

We thought we'd try it at church this morning on a smaller scale.



As you can see - nothing happened. Maybe we didn't march long enough or shout loud enough. Or maybe that was the whole point. God told Joshua in verse 2 that He was going to give them the city - they just had to be obedient to all of God's instructions. For this battle belonged to God.

What battles are you in at the moment? Are these battles that you should be in? 5:13-15 reminds us that God is not the sort of god who can be summoned on demand to give us success. Instead we should be getting involved in the struggles He is already involved in. And then we need to check that we're fighting our battles with God's weapons rather than the world's weapons. Ephesians 6:12 and 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 remind us that we are in a spiritual battle. And as disciples of Jesus we use the weapons of love rather than hatred and revenge, we look to be last rather than first, we seek first His kingdom rather than our own agenda... It might seem crazy at the time, but no more crazy than shouting at a wall and expecting it to fall down.