A few months ago, I was mulling over something that a good friend once said to me:

‘”We are only born with two fears (the fear of loud noises and the fear of falling). Every other fear is learned through experience. Faith is the process by which we unlearn these fears.”

I don’t like to think that there is much that I’m fearful of… but if I’m honest, there is. I thought about the way that certain fears and worries were able to affect the way I live… and decided that I needed to do something about it.

So… I thought of a list of some of the specific things that I fear/worry about and decided to face them as quickly as possible. Life is too short to let fear make my decisions…

Fear would make me chose comfort over challenge – I’d settle for 2nd best just so I was secure

Fear would require me to be someone that I’m not – I’d be willing to let my God-given personality hide away

Fear would cripple my ability to change – I’d not make tough choices that affect my character, and those nearest and dearest to me

Fear would suffocate love – I wouldn’t speak the truth in love in case I offended someone

But… True love casts out fear – the eternal security of knowing that you are deeply and unconditionally loved destroys the hold of fear. If God is for us then who can be against us?

If you’re sick of being fearful and are longing for change in your life then maybe you’d be up for praying this prayer with me…

God, I’ll do anything, go anywhere… just make it clear. Let your perfect love cast out all of my fear. Amen.

Just received this email from Superbadger – this is the difference you can make with it!! Sign up and get badgering.

Two years ago, SuperBadger was born. The mission: to help ordinary people badger politicians, CEOs and other influencers to change the world and tackle global poverty. And what a success it’s been.

In the past two years, through SuperBadger, over 20,000 people have taken on-line action for justice. And even though change takes time, we’ve still had some great successes, including:

- Gordon Brown announced plans to go to Copenhagen for the climate talks
- EON announced they will temporarily withhold the proposal to build the Kingsnorth coal-fired power station
- The British Government re-affirmed that there will be no political contact with the Honduran coup regime
- DFID included all of our key asks into their White Paper on food security
- Thorntons created a Fairtrade chocolate range
- The UK passed a world-class Climate Change Act

So thank you for all your help making SuperBadger become the effective and fun campaigning tool that it is!

If you are on Facebook you should be using Superbadger.  Run by Tearfund, it gives an easy way to “badger” different people via email about particular issues. It literally takes a minute to put your name at the bottom of an email and send it. I’ve had responses from government ministers, Tesco, Starbucks and more. It does get through, especially as most of the “badger” requests get done by a thousand or so people.

Imagine if that became 10,000. Or even 100,000. It wouldn’t be that difficult – please can you sign up to it and get others to do the same? If you’re on Twitter then follow Superbadger there as well.

Find the application here – SUPERBADGER

If you don’t do it and you play Farmville instead then you are a loser.

That’s not a joke.

I’ve been listening to a really interesting and challenging talk by Patrick Dixon (check out www.globalchange.com on the Delicious links). His title was “Doubling your productivity” or something like it…

He is an exceptional entrepreneur and works with a varied portfolio that includes church leaders, business leaders and politicians around the world. He began the charity ACET which looks to tackle the AIDS crisis internationally.

I’m still processing so much of what he says in his talk but it got me asking several questions… it might seem terribly introspective, but I am the only person that I can change for the better (with God’s help) so I want to give it a go. Below are the 10 questions that I’m thinking through at the moment… which one strikes you as the most important?

1. What roles and responsibilities do I currently have?

2. What gifts/talents/skills/passions do I have?

3. Where and when am I most effective in ministry?

4. Where and when do I come alive?

5. Are there new opportunities to take advantage of?

6. Does anything need to drop?

7. What are the distractions/habits/attitudes that need addressing?

8. How am I serving those who are less advantaged than me?

9. Who are the people that I should be investing in?

10. What do I want to be remembered for in 5 years time?

This was the headline in the Independent for an article written after a visit to New Wine Christian Festival last week.

Link is HERE

I always find it a bit strange to read this kind of an article but it really does give some great insights into how we are viewed by many.

Reading some of the reader comments at the bottom of the page is fun too… any thoughts??

Both of the above were central today at my church placement. But not together.

Went to the “Teddy Praise” this morning… lots of little children with action songs, butterflies, prit-stick and shiny stickers. Lots of people, both church and non church people. Really enjoyed it and took part in the action songs. I made the 2 year olds look like professional dancers.

This evening I went along to a small group who were looking at the theology of U2’s latest album “No Line on the Horizon”. I had a great evening – firstly because there were nice ales on offer but also because Mark (the vicar) had put together a great session together on three of the songs on the album. Plenty of fantastic stuff to chew over, with lots of lively discussion, great music and God speaking…

“The Kingdom of God is like a banquet…”

Just got back from speaking at our church (Crossnet) on the Parable of the Prodigal Son. They’ve been exploring several of Jesus’ parables over the past few weeks. You can find this one HERE in Luke 15

Most people focus on the younger son in the story – how he comes back and his Father greets with with a total lack of any dignity… but the conversation between the older son and their father is SO revealing.

The older son is gutted, angry and resentful. He can’t even call his younger brother his brother – “That son of yours”.

The father begs him to come into the party that had started to celebrate the return of the younger brother but he refuses…

The Kingdom of God is a party, a banquet, a festival, a celebration that “sinners” love and the religious hate.

Isn’t it tragic that sometimes we create a party that the religious people really love and “sinners” hate.

I wonder where Jesus would be.

²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

The Shack has been around for more than a year now and I read it last summer. It describes a guy called Mack whose daughter had been kidnapped and murdered. Mack is invited to “The Shack” by God and there begins their interaction.

It is a great story. It paints some fascinating pictures of the Trinity – for example, God the Father as an African American woman – and deals openly and honestly with the gut wrenching issue of suffering and pain in the world.

Some don’t like it… and argue that it is unChristian, unBiblical and unSomethingelsethatIcan’tbebotheredtolist. It is a NOVEL and does cross some interesting theological boundaries… BUT it captivated my heart and drew me closer to God.

The reason that I’m posting about it now is that I’ve just read a really interesting review in Leadership Journal by Gordon MacDonald – LINK HERE for the whole article. I’m just cutting and pasting this one bit that really struck me…

So what does one do with The Shack? Throw it aside because of its theological liberties? Or let it speak into those places in our lives where we long for a closer walk with him.

I wonder if those who are critical of Young’s fictional description of divinity have ever contemplated that one of the Psalm-writers used a similar literary method when he wrote, “The Lord is my shepherd …”

The picture of a simple shepherd in motion—grimy though he might be—was sheer genius when it came to forming impressions of who God is and how he connects with those who are the sheep of his pasture. Once the Psalm was read, anyone in the ancient world could possess a beginning-theology of an incredible God who provides “everything that I need.”

Then there’s The Shack. I think Young had the same idea the Psalmist had. Find a way, any way, that will open the heart of a broken person and point him toward Heaven and all of its redeeming love. Tell the old, old story in new and astonishing ways.

Last Saturday I went to a church conference at Woodlands Christian Centre in Bristol with Mark Stibbe (once vicar of St Andrews, Chorleywood and now leader of The Father’s House Trust).

Had a fantastic day – not only with the main sessions which were excellent, but Mark gave those of us who are training for Anglican ministry an hour or so for a Q and A. I just wanted to share some of the main insights that he gave in response to  my question “How do we thrive and survive in full time Christian leadership”.

He split his answer into 4 bits – looking after ourselves physically, relationally, spiritually and intellectually

Physically

He placed an emphasis on the importance of regular hard exercise as it gives our body the chance to reset itself and let out tensions and frustrations.

Intellectually

For many, when our minds are not stimulated, our whole body begins to atrophy. Our ministry stagnates and we live off our past experiences and knowledge. It doesn’t just have to be learning about theology, but just simply stretching our minds into new areas of interest. I’m guessing that Suduko doesn’t count though…

Spiritually

Mark pointed to Moses as our example for this… he went outside the camp and stayed in the Tent of Meeting where he met with God. When he came out his face shone and the people watched in awe. We need to have our place of encounter with God EVERY DAY. It should be the most important thing that we do.

Relationally

We need to recognise that we cannot do this alone – we need a “prayer shield” of people who are committed to praying for us and praying with us regularly. We need to spend time with people who will inspire us, hold us accountable for our behaviour etc, who will both encourage and offer constructive criticism. We need to laugh a lot with those we spend time with…

Challenging but helpful stuff to think through… feel free to add other suggestions to it as well

David Attenborough is a living British legend. I can’t think of a single person who might dislike him… until I read that he’s been getting hate mail from so-called “Christians” because he doesn’t constantly glorify God for creating the world.

A lot of people that I know find belief in God difficult… there are lots of difficult questions surrounding science, nature, the existence of God etc. However I passionately believe in a Creator. But alongside that I see a really broken world where sin hasn’t just messed us up but has seismically altered the make up of our planet including some of the other creatures (if not all of them) that inhabit it. This means that alongside the beauty we find pain. Alongside wonder we see trauma. In God’s creation we see a small boy with a worm eating into his eye…

Nevertheless there are three things in the Bible that are absolutely out of bounds for Christians – idolatry, immorality and HATRED. Yep, hatred. We are not to hate anyone. We are to love even our enemies (not that Attenborough is one of those anyway). But to send abusive mail to someone… that is absolutely disgusting. Please help me to understand why you are sending those letters rather than trying to engage with those who wrestle with it…

If you are going to send hate mail, please don’t call yourself a Christian when you do it. It makes it so much harder for those of us trying to represent Jesus elsewhere.

David… you are a legend. And I for one apologise for the hatemail that you’ve got from those calling themselves followers of Christ.

I’m not a fan of labels… if I had to describe myself I like the simple term “follower of Jesus“. I can cope with “Christian” but it does come with cultural baggage, usually relating to right wing Republicans or wet soppy vicars in Eastenders.

Even though I’m training for ministry in the Anglican Church, that is simply the tribe that I am part of – we’re not any better than any other Christian denomination (although there are reasons that I’m training as an Anglican).

I would be put within the “evangelical” category – a term that I believe in, but again a term that has been totally hijacked (see above). I am “evangelical” because I believe in GOOD NEWS (by this I mean the message of Jesus). I am committed to telling that GOOD NEWS to people I meet precisely because it is GOOD NEWS. I believe in the transformation of the world through the living of a different way in response to the GOOD NEWS. Again, Jesus cannot be pigeonholed with this… for some his GOOD NEWS was offensive because it was bad news to oppressive systems, evil practices and our own warped selfishness. If I am defined as an evangelical because I talk and live GOOD NEWS, then good. If I offend people through it… hmm tough one. It’ll happen though.

The problem with the term evangelical is that is has been cornered by people who tell the good news in a bad way (which in my opinion makes it bad news). They are defined by all the things and people that they are against – liberals, gays, other faiths, atheists, etc etc etc. They might shout loudly about “morality” but do it in a judgemental attitude. Not that I’m free from guilt here…

The term needs redeeming… Jesus preached GOOD NEWS to the people and this same GOOD NEWS offended the religious and the ruling government. Jesus subverted injustice and challenged the misuse of God’s word. He was evangelical in the right sense of the word…

I’m still happier with follower of Jesus though…

Tolerance is a value that our western culture has a high view of. We are all to tolerate everyone.

Reading this make you think that tolerance is a good idea… words like “fair” “objective “permissive” and a “freedom from bigotry” are all good things. We are even to take an interest in other people’s opinions and practices. Again, no problems there. As a Christian from the “evangelical charismatic” stable (whatever that means!?!) I belong to a group that many define as bigotted and intolerant. And at times they are probably right.

I do have a few issues with the idea of tolerance though…

Tolerance is the lowest common denominator when it comes to valuing people. Jesus didn’t tolerate anyone. He loved them. A lot. He didn’t just wave a blessing at the intolerated lepers… he touched them and healed them. He didn’t avoid the “impure” and “ungodly” he sought them out. He didn’t violently disagree with the Romans because they were the occupying empire… he started a movement that subverted it. He didn’t avoid other faiths, even the weird sects and semi-cults. He engaged with them. He spoke harshly to those who oppressed the poor, blocked the way for everyone to worship God. He trashed the outer courts of the temple because of the injustice and evil taking place there. He would not tolerate it.

Frankly I think tolerance is a wishy washy cop out. It is dead easy to tolerate, but really hard to love. Love means being intolerant at times because tolerance doesn’t allow for transformation and change. Tolerance limits human beings. Love brings them alive.

Christians who only tolerate aren’t living the Jesus way. Tolerance permits not getting involved. Love can’t stand by. Tolerance allows us to ignore people. Love shouts in our ears until we do something.

So, I’m giving up tolerance because it isn’t enough. I’m going to try to love people more.

But love does offend because sometimes you have to…

Planes that crash don’t usually have the happy ending that this one did… the pilot’s decision making and flying abilities are being applauded by all.

There’s something that interests me about this whole event. A small Canada goose was able to bring down a multi million dollar plane. Tiny brings down massive.

Some of the passengers didn’t quite realise just how fortunate they were and how close to death they had come – they wanted to ensure that their carryon luggage was placed in the life boats. In the midst of being saved some stick to being selfish.

It will be the small things in my life that will define what my life is like. It will be my attitudes and thoughts that will determine my “success” as a Christian leader. If I attend to my relationship with God, my marriage, my friendships, my health, my attitudes etc then I’ll make good decisions in emergencies.

If not then I’m likely to be a plane wreck.

How is your soul today?

As part of our Theological Reflection module we were given the opportunity to do the Myers Briggs personality test, I think to make us more “self aware”.

I’ve done it before and was fairly sure where I’d come out… and sure enough I’m an ENFJ (that’s extraverted, intuitive, feeling, judging).

I think that it is a useful tool… but it has limitations. I find the whole personality profiling stuff fascinating as it has a huge impact on teambuilding, leadership and much more. However, the key to it all has to be that it is helping us understand just WHO God has made us to be.

For those who are interested there are some good insights at www.teamtechnology.co.uk on Myers Briggs and especially on how it relates to leadership styles.

I did get the highest score in the group on the extraverted scale (61 for those who care). That makes me a winner…

Off today down to sunny Shepton to get ready for next week’s fun and games!

I’ve not been going as long as some but I wouldn’t miss it for anything… everything is nearly ready, except the usual last minute hitches and things we’ve forgotten.

Pray for the youth venue, for me and Matt as we host and lead, and for the young people… we long for them to encounter God in a new way.

Been down at New Wine today to nick any good ideas from the London team for next week… it was great to be there and catch up with friends, drink excessive amounts of coffee and eat bad food…

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about my reputation. I am the kind of person who cares about what others think of me. I (like most people) want to be liked, thought well of, respected etc. I don’t like it if others misunderstand me or dislike me… I want to do something about it.

At a conference a couple of weeks back, there were some interesting things happening – the vicar of the church challenged us to lay down our reputations (being respectable) for the sake of being obedient to Christ. His words have stuck in my head ever since…

Here’s what I’m thinking about the whole thing.

I don’t want to be respectable if it means keeping myself “clean” and away from people who might get in my way or waste my time.

I don’t want to be respected for being diplomatic if it means that I’ve made the radical claims of Jesus into a self help course.

I don’t want people to like me because I tell them what they want to hear. I want them to like me because I’m brave enough to value them above their friendship.

I want to look stupid and foolish if it helps one person become a follower of Jesus.

I don’t want people to walk out after I’ve preached and gone “wasn’t he great”. I want people to walk out and go “isn’t Jesus amazing”.

I don’t want to be someone who tries to be a “rebel with a cause”… I want to be Chris

I don’t want to get promoted. I’d rather be demoted (in the Anglican church that probably means becoming a youth pastor again!!!!!!!!)

I REALLY want to learn what it means to be a FOOL for Christ.

Hmm.

Death is dead

Love has won

Christ has conquered

(thanks to Stuart Townend and Keith Getty)

Had an excellent day at St Andrews Chorleywood yesterday with some of our team from Holy Trinity. The day was all about finding out more about the events in Lakeland, Florida, where it appears that God is moving powerfully… lots of others I know have blogged about the whole thing and I don’t think I’ve got anything to add on that front (see Hitchmo and David Gate’s blogs for their comments). Nonetheless, I am CONVINCED that this is a wonderful move of God – firing up the church for the benefit of the world.

We had a wonderful time worshipping the Lord – to be honest, that would have been enough simply because it was like standing under a cool waterfall on a hot day. Then Mark Stibbe (vicar at St Andrews) led a time of prayer, asking God to meet with His people and to empower them for ministry in the different places we were.

God did just that. Quite dramatically. For me, it was like Someone blew away the cobwebs that had accumulated over the years. I had such a great time… laughing, singing, and a bit more laughing.

However… I’m determined that this won’t just become for me a good opportunity for a “bless up”. There is no point in that – God gives to us so that we can give away. I for one intend to do just that. There are too many people who have never heard about Jesus… too many people who have a bad experience of lifeless religion… too many people dying in poverty… too many people… too many people… too many people.

Let Your fire fall…

The deadline has arrived for the chocolate industry.

JULY 1st 2008

The chocolate industry promised in 2001 to end the trafficking of children onto cocoa farms by July 1st 2008. They claim that they have done this but all they have actually done is gather some information about the exploitation of children from half the cocoa areas involved.

WHAT THEY HAVEN’T DONE IS END IT.
THE TRAFFICKING HASN’T BEEN STOPPED.
THE EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN IS STILL HAPPENING.
WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

STOP THE TRAFFIK collected over one and half million declarations from around the world and took them to the UNITED NATIONS. We know we can do something. That’s what STOP THE TRAFFIK is all about.

TOGETHER WE NOW NEED TO ‘TELL A MILLION’.

Many people in your local community still don’t know what is going on. How can we tell them that the deadline has arrived and that children are still suffering? We can use our local papers, local radio, and all the community newsletters, our blogs and facebook to tell a million.

On July 1st, people all across our town will be going out of their way to buy more chocolate—a chocoholic’s dream, but it will be fairly-traded chocolate. This is the best way and the only way to eat your chocolate slave free.

July 1st is a very important day around the world.

It’s the day when the chocolate industry promised to make sure that no children were being used as slaves on cocoa farms.

It’s the day when we could eat a bar of our favourite chocolate such as a Mars, Kit Kat or Dairy Milk knowing that no child has been used in the harvesting of the cocoa beans that went to make the chocolate we love to eat.

Sadly there will be no celebrations on July 1st.

Industry has failed to keep its original promises.

Today, children as young as 12 are still being used as slaves on cocoa plantations.

Here are the words of one child after being rescued from a farm. “I will tell you how I lost my arm. I tried to escape, but I could not. They caught me and tied me to a papaya tree and they beat me and broke my arm. I used to dream horrible dreams that they were beating me and about many other things: the hard work, my family … I still have these dreams today”.

Although the majority of farmers would not treat children in this way, there are some who do, and there are an estimated 12,000 children trafficked onto cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast into a life of slavery.
In our community, thousands of people are buying chocolate without knowing that these children are suffering for our sweet tooth to make fat profits for an industry that hasn’t delivered on its promises. In 2001 they said they would certify that farms were slave free. Now they are saying that they are gathering data on some of the areas where cocoa is harvested.

This is not what they promised.

This is not good enough after 7 years of waiting for the freedom, safety and protection of these children.

We have to choose which chocolate bar to buy, at little cost to us when our chocolate is costing some children their lives.

I preached this morning on “Who is the Holy Spirit and what does He do?”… I’ve done this talk as part of the Alpha course loads of times before but this one was a bit different. I have thought more and prayed more about this talk than almost any other that I’ve ever given… whether or not you can tell is another issue!

If you want to listen to it then click on this link a bit later in the week when its up.

Just one thought from today…

God breathes life into dry bones