Wednesday was a YFC day in London. I like travelling by train and using the time to catch up on reading. I’m reading The Provocative Church, as you know, and it seems the central message of the book is that to provoke a reaction we need to live Jesus centred lives.

By this, I mean, to be attractive there needs to be something different about the way the Christian community lives. If people look at us and see that our relationship with Jesus makes us no different from anyone else then why on earth would they ever consider seriously looking at our faith?

If people look in the church and see fighting, jealousy, anger, hatred, competition they are surely going to think … why thats not real is it! Thats no different than I have at the moment! So what is the point of me looking at that?

People should be able to look in at the church and see something radically different. Not madly, way out different, but Jesus style different. People that speak out for justice, people that care for those around them, people that love their friends, people that accept others unconditionally, people that are willing to put the needs of others first. People that will feed the hungry, clothe the cold, home the homeless, visit the lonely and so on.

As individuals we can do this and make a little, but still significant, impact. As churches if we do this it really gets noticed and we can transform communities. When that happens the ‘why are you doing this’ question is provoked – although that is not why we should do it. We do it because Jesus teaches us that is what he wants us to do.

I read that yesterday and wanted to stand up in the train carriage and shout “YES!”

But then…2 ladies came on the train. They sat opposite me. One just kept talking. She talked and talked without breathing. She moved seamlessy between unlinked topics with skill and ease. I thought I should give her my didgeridoo as she must have mastered circular breathing! I was getting angry because I wanted to read my book on how to be a provocative caring loving christian. I wanted to make my notes so I could share ideas. I wated material for my blog!

I feel like crap now to think how I could have missed the point so so badly! 

Last night we had a great time. It was the end of year BBQ for the team where we said our goodbyes. We said goodbye to 5 members of the team, but oddly we are welcoming back Rachel, Emily and Chris next term. The team also said goodbye to me and surprised me with a gift of an espresso maker which was incredibly kind of them. It worlks well and I had a great Capuccino this morning. A great present … thanks guys.

After we ate the BBQ food; yes you guessed it, out came the incense accompanied for the first time in Ryan ritual by the beautiful drone of the didgeridoo. I think it has confirmed to the neighbours that Rob is definitely weird.

It always amazes me the difference in participation between children and adults. My 3 children kept putting incense on the burning embers wheras some of the adults were a bit more cautious! I think I have said, I like to end the BBQ by giving guests the opportunity to pray using incense. It’s an idea I nicked from Jonny Baker which my children love. After a while I was going to ask my children to stop but as I approached them I could see they were praying and had been for about 5 mins. It was great to see and made me realise (again) how helpful symbolism and ritual can be to us as we try to connect with God. Sometimes adults can be wary or hold back, and children just wade in because they want to experience God in as many different ways as possible. What is it about us adults that causes us to hold back? I ask because when I go out I am exactly the same, I hold back too; sometimes out of embarrasment and sometimes for reasons I can’t even work out!

In our churches we seem to have lost a lot of the beauty of symbolism and ritual in evangelical circles. I even remember a few years back that someone from the church visited me in my office and got very concerned when he saw the box of incense I bought from Prinknash on my desk. I wonder whether re-discovering symbolism would help us in our personal discipleship and in our connecting with God. Certainly, the old testament is full of symbolism and ritual and it seems God created us in a marvellous way that allows us to experience him in a variety of ways and by using our senses other than hearing. 

My great diappointment with the evangelical world more and more seems to be that it is so scared of doing something ‘dodgy’ that it throws everything out the window that it does not like or understand. Actually, I think it is worse than that. It seems to be more of – oh the catholics or liberals do that, so, of course, we can’t! When are we going to undestand that unity, completeness, wholeness are all part of the plan? Thats really what was good about the GYFC team BBQ. People from different worlds able to agree, disagree, laugh … all of it in love. Our own little community in many ways which has had to seperte for a little while.

Anyway, I digress … where was I …At one stage Beth put on too much incense (her mothers daughter!) and the BBQ erupted into flames again. I remember saying to John, my vicar, that that seemed quite symbolic. The prayers of the children igniting flames and causing fires … I liked the imagery anyway! Isn’t that what we want to do as we pray – cause things to happen?

The evening really was excellent and I am going to miss the team. It was great sitting in the garden, candles drinking, hearing Chris play the guitar, others singing, everyone laughing and the attempts of others to get a sound out of the didg. Could that have been a little insight into Heaven I wonder? I like to think it will happen again sometime in the not too distant future.

I have now read chapters 3 and 4. Aplologies for taking so long to update with my thoughts on this book. But here is my feeble attempt, even if later than I expected.

 

Chapter 3 draws out heavily that when Jesus was on earth he spoke loads about the Kingdom of God being near. Apparantly, as Tom Wright states, this in Jewish terms was all about their God becoming king. So Jesus saying the Kingdom of God is here was quite a dramatic statement to make.

 

Tomlin unpacks some of the theolgy which is exciting, particularly the deliberate actions. For example, the incident in the temple when Jesus over-turns the tables and calls it a den of robbers. I learnt that this statement was directed at the priests of the temple and not the salesmen as I had previously thought. This was in response to how they had made a temple a place of exclusion with a gentiles area, a womans area, an Israelite area, a priests area and a high priest area (where the High Priest only went once a year). All of this went on despite the fact that God stated that the temple it was to be a house of prayer for all nations and that the jews were to be a light to the nations.

 

A church open to all, but by way of its structures setting itself up as a building of exclusion, maybe being unaware that it is even doing so.  I guess that sounds familiar to a number of people. Are our churches falling into the ‘exclusion’ by set up trap without realising it? Worse, are some, if they are honest, exclusive because they want to stay as they are because bringing in new people would mean change?

Jesus gave a taste of the Kingdom, a plave open to all where all are equally accepted and loved; and that is what we should be doing in our churches. I would agree with that.

 

Chapter 4 really asks what evangelism is all about. Lots of good and thoughtful stuff is included here, such as Jesus needs to be at the centre of the gospel story. Tomlin also makes the point that we assume too much and are trying to start the gospel story in the wrong place. We are telling people that they need to be reconciled to God, wheras they actually need to hear who this God is in the first place.

 

I guess he is making the point that our method has not really changed since people left school with a fairly good knowledge of Christanity and its stories. It needs to. It shocked me a few Christmas’ ago when we did a little exercise in our drop in to see how much our young peoople knew of the Christmas story. 25% could tell us Jesus was born in Bethlehem. 10% knew the wise men brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myyrh. 40% knew it was something to do with mary and Joseph. All these facts that I learned in school as a young boy are no longer being taught as they were. People know a lot less and we need to let them know who God is before they realise that they need him.

 

I disagree with Tomlin’s point, however, that evangelsim always needs to use words. I very much go along with Francis of Assiss’s comment of ‘preach the gospel wherever you go, and where necessary use words’. I feel very much that actions speak louder than words and lifestyle and actions speak volumes louder than a gospel story. Words do need to be used at some stage but to discount the rest as not evangelsim is something that I cannot hold with.

 

I believe everyone has a story that they want to tell. People need others to show and interest and to listen to their stories. A film, Loser, has a great line in it. A father gives his worried son some advice. He is off to college and is concerned that he will not make friends. ‘Interested is interesting’ is the advice this boy receives.

 

If we are interested in people, and want to hear their stories, then they will become interested in us and possibly want to hear our stories. Sadly, all too often, we want to blurt out the stories of how God has sorted us out rather than listen to the stories of others. I believe that people will become interested in us, and then in what God can do with them, when we become interested in the stories of others ourselves.

 

This is ‘The Art of Connecting Principle’ which we are currently advocating within YFC:

 

Imagine three circles, representing three stories. One is God’s story, the second your story, and the third another persons story. You are part of God’s story, so your circles immediately overlap.

As your relationship with him grows, more of your circle is merged into God’s story.You come across many people in the course of your story and as a certain person becomes a ‘friend’ their circle starts to move towards yours so that they overlapBecause all the time you are becoming more a part of God’s circle you invevitably draw your friends circle towards Gods. Then over a period of time, your friends circle starts to move towards Gods circle, purely out of its own desire to see more of what it holds. This is three story evengelism.

   

You can read more about this in The Art Of Connecting which is a great short book aimed at teenagers, although I think the whole principle is cool for churches too. (Sorry – this was not meant to be a sales push for YFC!) 

 

 

Each day I follow the daily office from the Northumbria Community. You can find the links for them on the right hand side of my blog.

 

This was the reading/meditation for today:

 

I saw not a temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.

Revelation 21:22

 

It is because to large masses of people Christianity has become synonymous with a temple service that other large masses of people decline to touch it. It is a mistake to suppose that the working people of this country are opposed to Christianity: the people would still follow Christ if He came among them. 

‘The City Without a Church’ Henry Drummond

 

Even though the day be laden

and my task dreary

and my strength small,

a song keeps singing

in my heart.

For I know that I am Thine.

I am part of Thee.

Thou art kin to me,

and all my times

are in Thy hand. 

  

Alistair Maclean

Today I attended the funeral of Eric Paley, a great man of God who had a wicked sense of humour! He leaves behind his wife Vera, 4 sons/daughters and what seems likes hundreds of grandchldren and my prayers are with those family members that knew him and loved him on a deeper level than people like myself could ever possibly do.

 

I will remember 2 things, one about Eric and one about the funeral itself. First, that desppite being in his 70’s Eric had a great passion to see young people become Christians, a passion that is still shared by Vera. Even during his illness this passion did not disappear. Secondly, Vera was dressed in red, rather than black, and Eric had requested ‘You shall go out with joy’ as the closing song:

 

You shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace,

The mountains  and the hills will break forthbefore  you.

There’ll be shouts of joy and all the trees of the field will clap,

will clap their hands.

And all the trees of the field will clap their hands,

The trees of the field will clap their hands,

The trees of the field will clap their hands,

While you go out with joy.

 

What a powerful admission of faith!

These last few days have been interesting and given me much ‘meat’ for thought. There has been a lot odf excitiment and a lot of sadness, and I think there will be more of the same over the next few days. As you know, I am in the last few weeks of my time at Gillingham YFC – and this is the backdrop for my rambling thoughts on Monday.

 

On Saturday night we had a big GYFC event at The Black Lion Leisure Centre. The manager, Dave, is a Christian and keen for us to make use of the facilities. We had a night of games, followed by D2 gig, followed by pool party. During the event I found myself needing to go outside as it suddenly hit me hard that this was the last time I was ever going to be doing anything like this.  I don’t usually get emotional, but I think I was getting close there!

 

The thing that really got me was that I have seen a number of those young people 5 days a week for nearly 8 years. It’s weird to think that I will probably never see them again. I will hope to hear stories, but the casual chats on the bonnet of my car while they ‘spark up’ are quickly vanishing. I’m going to miss that kind of interaction.

 

Today, I led my last team meeting. It was a normal occasion, no tears or anything like that but, again, I left thinking I will never do that again. I will never again sit in that room working out the plan for the next period of time with that group of people.

 

Through all of this it strikes me that in the normal everyday run of life that we can just take loads of things for granted. It is not until we lose them, or know we are about to lose them, that we start to appreciate things in a different and deeper way. We can sometimes get complacent with the everyday stuff and not realise how much we value it until we realise we are going to lose it. We can easily miss the significance of the everyday stuff in our lives so much that it needs some ‘event’ to occur to often re-awaken us to the beauty of the everyday event.

 

I look back over the last 9 or so years at Gillingham YFC which have been great. There are some things I would do differently if I had my time again, particularly the everyday stuff, I would spend more time with people and less time with the PC and paper. More time listening to stories and less time telling stories. More time chilling with God, and less time proving myself.

 

It’s easy to take good things for granted and I hope that I don’t do this so much in my new role. My mum has a favourite saying ‘You’ll miss me when I’m gone!’. It’s taken totally out of context here, but the sentiment is the same – some things you really do not miss until they are gone. By then it could be too late. 

  

Tonight I met with my (well, GYFC’s actually) council of reference for the last time. They are a really supportive bunch of leaders from local churches and a school who have looked after me over the past few years.

 

I just want to say thanks loads to them for all their encouragement and prayer. It’s often the case I think that people in the background do all the hard supporting stuff without which we would crack up and yet I get all the credit!

 

Thanks … I will miss you all!

I think I have mentioned in the past that Sarah is the youth and children’s work co-ordiantor at St. Marks Gillingham. She has a brilliant creative brain and likes to experiment now and again. Actually, I think she is experimenting all the time and trying to push the boundaries – hence the creative service I blogged about last week using the ‘last supper’ picture.

 

Due to Sarah’s creative difference-ness today some of the families from church went to Shorne Country Park rather than be in the ‘service’ or in ‘groups’. This was an event for all the families – although I think a number were put of by the weather. There were times when I thought if Sarah was not organising this then I might go home. 

 

Sarah had plans for a treasure hunt (which Martin organised well and happened in the rain), some games (again which happened later and the sun started to shine). There were also plans for families to use the natural materials around the park to contribute to a large ‘tapestry’ called ‘God the Creator’. This never happened due to the weather which is a shame as I was quite interested to see how that would turn out. 

 

Reflecting on the day, though, it was good and there are a number of incidents of ‘the sacred in the everyday’ which I spoke about after our holiday in the Loire and reading of a Leonard Sweet book. God was clearly around today in a number of little ways:

 

a dad came with his daughter who knew nobody from the church. He was planning to drop her off and come back later. Due to the weather he stayed, thoroughlly enjoyed himself as he was made very welcome and wants to know when we do something again so he can come

 

on the treasure hunt we lost all 3 children that decided to go of with other families. The willingness on both sides was cool and it was great seeing our children seeing the other members of church as an extension of our family/community, which of course they are!

 

part way through the day I had to take Tom to casualty. He has blogged about it here so I will not go in to it. At the country park, Helen, who works for the health authority and knows about feet examined him and suggested an x-ray. When we got home after our visit she phoned to see how Tom was.

  



while we were at hospital a few games happened which saw people together haveing a great celebration type time.

 

Is not this how church should be? Sharing experiences, having fun, being family to each other. Too often we can think of church as being the thing we do in a particular building at a set time. This was real community; people enjoying each others company, sharing lives and having a good laugh together.

 

More of it I say cos if I’m honest, with the weather and ‘church thing’ I was not really looking forward to the day. It was really excellent though and if I was not there I feel I would have missed out on something special that both unites us and celebrates our differences in quite a profound way. 

It’s arrived! My long awaited didgeridoo arrived very well wrapped. It was very cheap and as an added bonus it works! It did not take long to generate the well known drone sound; its faily easy – even the children can do it!

 



People that visit for BBQ’s now beware – you may be expected to play a tune before we let you leave.

 

An exciting day for me and the kids … a puzzling day for the neighbours as they wonder whether they have woken in the Australian outback!

Tonight I attended my last Executive meeting of Gillingham YFC. I feel really strange and kind of sad. GYFC has been a big part of my life for nearly a decade and for so long it has been ‘my baby’. Sometimes that has been good, because I have cared for it and encouraged it to grow; but other times God has had to wrestle his baby free and develop it in ways which I would never have dreamed of or thought possible.

 

One such way has been our move into performing arts this year with D2. I find it bizarre to think that I, a man who runs away if anyone suggests dancing, acting or singing, can be managing  a performing arts team. The idea is actually quite laughable! From this year I have learnt that God does not just use our experience and capabilities only. There are times when he puts us in places where our skills seem irrelevant at first sight. In God’s eyes, it matters not that I can’t dance or sing, all that matters is that I’m willing to go where he leads. This year that meant taking on and supporting D2.

 

Back to the Exec … Tonight the people were very brave and I think that is really cool. They have stepped out in faith in agreeing to host D2 again next year. At the moment we do not know where we are going to house them, or how we are going to pay for them. It makes no sense but we feel God is saying we should trust him and continue to move ahead.

 

If you would like to pray for us as we seek a house for them that would be cool.

 

When Peter had to step out of the boat I always think he must have been terrified. The waves rolling around him. He was called to be brave in a new world. All his natural senses and common sense must have screamed ‘NO‘ when he thought about stepping out on the water. But he did it because he recognised the new world Jesus was bringing in. He was brave in the new world.

 

I think some of my exec feel a bit like Peter now. They know they have got to get out there, but it’s pretty scarey all the same. I admire them for it- as I have over the last 10 years or so. They are seeing the new world with Jesus steering things. They are exhibiting great bravery in that new world, and I am quite sad to be leaving this part of God’s adventure.

 

It will be strange waking up on September 1st knowing that I am no longer the Director of GYFC. For a long time it was all I ever wanted, and only a little while ago the thought of leaving would have crippled me. It’s strange how God changes your thoughts and presents new challenges.  A new world is just around the corner and I’m pretty scared – so a bit of bravery needed there too!

 

All of us, I guess, are being called to be brave in a new world, wherever we may be, at the start of every new day.