… saw the birth of Prince Henry the Navigator.

I am a Star Trek fan, but this man really did ‘boldly go where no man had been before’. In short, he started the European discoveries of the African and Indian coasts. It would be fair to say that before Prince Henry started looking other Europeans were not even aware that there might be something there. His discoveries kick-started the actions of other explorers and other discoveries.

Prince Henry was a real hero. He had a hope and a dream. That hope and dream was that there was more ‘out there’ than he knew about. He wanted to find ‘more’ and to experience more and, rather than just sitting around and thinking or hoping, he took the risk and went out there looking.

I cannot imagine the amount of fear both him and his colleagues must have felt. This is a time when sailors feared sea dragons and falling off the end of the earth – and yet here they were looking .
‘What are you looking for Prince Henry?’
‘Oh, something that I hope is there but, I guess, might not be.’

How brave is that!? Or is it just plain stupidity.

Today, as church, we know there must be more out there. I believe there must be more to experiencing God than what I have experienced God so far. Many of us believe the same. Who are the heroes stepping out and just by there searching encouraging us to do the same?

I think Archbishop Rowan is one. He is an individual who is encouraging people to ‘get out there’ and see what you find. Lets hope all church gets this idea. Lets all go on a hunt and see what we can find – not only will we surprise ourselves, but we may cause others to surprise themselves too.

Westminster Cathedral are running some great lectures on a Wednesday evenings under the title of ‘Faith in Europe‘.

The Bob Geldof and Jean Vanier evenings, n particular, look like they will be worth checking out.

Sarah has seen in her 40th, the snow has been falling on and off, the phone has not rung all day and I have been able to get a fair bit done as well as reflect on the last 20 years or so – weird to think I have known Sarah for over half of my life (22 years) and yet it seems no time at all.

I hope tomorrow is just as calm, especially so I can get even more done and have a weekend not worrying about deadlines and stuff.

On this day 40 years ago Sarah, my wonderful wife was born. What a fantastic day that was, and one that I am immensely grateful for.

Happy Birthday Sarah.

You can read the story at the BBC news site. I am glad to see that common sense and fairness have prevailed but saddened to see the school not accepting, and worse, not aplogising. When they saw it on the telly, even Beth and Joe thought it was ridiculous as it was clearly racist. A case of children seeing the simple case again!

Today I left at 630 am for a meeting in Birmingham. As I left it started to snow and I considered turning back. I didn’t when, 5 miles away from my home, the snow stopped and I had a slow but clear run to Birmingham, not arriving till 1045 for an 11 meeting.

I left the meeting early as Sarah phoned to say the snow had not stopped falling and roads in Kent were being closed. As I traveled back and listened to the travel news I soon realised that there was only one route, out of a normal three, for me to get home on and so prayed for a safe journey home.

The weird thing is that the journey back was the best I have ever had and all the way back to Kent I saw no snow at all. When I reached the Dartford crossing I phoned home to say ‘ha ha very funny’ as there was still, 20 miles from home, no snow to be seen in the air or on the ground. Sarah assured me that it was still blizzardy in Gillingham.

I saw my first bit of snow 4 miles away from home, on the Gillingham side of the Medway tunnel. Sarah was right – I did need to come home as driving was then dangerous and getting difficult with iced up and blocked roads.

It was amazing that the snow had been falling since I left (by then for 11 hours) in such a localized and fairly small area. The army have even been called in to help in some areas of Kent.

On reflection of the day this makes me think about how we can sometimes view God and church. As I write at the moment I can look out into the darkness and see the snow falling and the snowman the height of Joe that we built a few hours ago. It is very clear, blindingly obvious, to me that things are happening in the atmosphere to cause loads of large snowflakes to fall. It is so dramatic that lifestyle and practice has to change.

5 miles down the road towards London, however, the scene is very different. They see nothing and are going about their normal lives as they normally do.

I think that at times we can be like this in our churches and when we look what God is doing in our locations . Some people long to see stuff happening and just don’t see that it is, only it is just round the corner!. To others it is blindingly obvious that God is at work and they get frustrated because others just do not get it!

I think my experience today reminds me that we need to look around and not become so embroield in where we are that we miss the wonderful things that are happening around us. In some ways this is the ‘older brother’ scenario where we can become so self centred in what we want, in what we need and in what we like that we do not notice, and so cannot join in the joy, of the fantastic things that God is doing around us. It is not ok to just sit around and wish this and that were happening, there is a necessity to get out and do something about it, or to get out and look for it. If we don’t, we could majorly miss out … just because we could not look around the corner.

I have been surprised recently on my travels by a comment that I hear over and over again in one form or another. Basically, the comment sounds something like this:

‘I look around and see that the Church of England is seriously trying to do things differently to reach out to the communities.’

It really does seem that, at last, the church has started to take seriously the fact that we need to try new things. I would never have dreamed only less than a year ago when I started this blog that I would write both the words ‘pioneering’ and ‘Church of England’ in the same sentence.

Interesting, I am sure there are others but the CofE is surprising everyone by trying new ‘experiments being church. I like this new culture of permission which Jonny writes well about here today.

John Wesley died on this day in 1791. He shocked the church of his day by preaching on street corners. He was so radical and outspoken that the churches of the day closed their doors to Wesley. Despite this, or maybe because of this, it is estimated he travelled 250 000 miles on horseback to preach the gospel. He said ‘I look upon the whole world as my parish’.

For a new enlightenment, a new expression of church, should we be worried about what the established church is saying. Should we be playing safe or should we be pushing the boundaries?

I want to be where people want to listen. More than that, I want to be where people desperately need to listen. Where people can hear the reality of the gospel and respond to it appropriatly, without feeling the need to take on anyone elses ideology.

I heard a scarey thing yesterday in London. Nicky Gumbel and Bono are ‘chatting’. I do not know of that is true – it’s a rumour. But I can’t help but think it would be terrible if Bono felt he had to change and became all HTB-like in his attitude. Something tells me it won’t happen – can you see him leading worship in a fixed smile with a pastel shirt? Or Gumbel in a rock band?

The church needs to remain beautiful and creative. Individuals need to come together in integrity, keeping their individuality. People need to hear and be given the freedom to explore and express in their own ways. No mono pre-packaged culture here please.

A lot of those people are out on the street corners – where are the Wesleyan heroes of 21st century Britain?

On this day in history the US tested the H bomb at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. The bomb was equivalent to 12 million tons of TNT, making it 600 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

Two questions:

1. Why?
2. Have we learnt anything from our history?

I have never really given much thought to the older brother in the past. As I do, however, I can see a lot of him in me – and I think that distresses me somewhat.

The older brother has ‘lost the plot’. He is so wound up in what he has not received and in the belief that he is second favourite to the younger, that he fails to recognise the true joy of the occasion.

You possibly recognise some of the symptoms yourself. Big Bro tries hard. He rarely puts a foot wrong and works hard. He is kind of frustrated by the whims of his younger brother and thinks he should ‘grow up’. He observes all the rules, does the right thing, makes sacrifices for the good of others.

He feels others do not notice all the hard work he does. He wishes others would work as hard as him. He thinks no one else is as committed to ‘the cause’ as he is.

There is, however, an even sadder side to big bro’s character. He does not really believe he is loved or approved of. He cannot comprehend that he is truly loved by his dad just because he is his son. He does not accept that dad loves him and his little brother equally.

Externally he has done everything his dad wanted, and more. Internally he has wandered miles away from him. H has become lost in resentment. The resentment that we can inexplicably feel when we see others having fun when we have to work or the resentment when others have an expensive holiday when we choose to donate the money to the church.

The root of all this is summed up in these words:
all these years I have slaved for you, and never once disobeyed any orders of yours,yet you never offered me so much as a kid to celebrate with my friends.’
The older brother is consumed by resentment because he feels, deep down that he has not been given the reward that he deserves. The resentment over this means he cannot join in the joy of the party in the house.

The father response to this is brief and simple, yet genuine. son, you are with me always and all I have is yours’.

I reflect on the older son and I have to ask myself some hard questions. The older son is not a good character to compare yourself to as it can be a painful and unpleasant experience. It is, though a good and fruitful exercise as it can make us aware of characteristics which can be extremely harmful if we allow them to develop.

The alternative to being like the older brother involves me being grateful for what I have. Instead of believing I am not well thought of, or I am not given what I deserve I need to remember what God has done for me, what I do have, and trust that I am totally accepted. It’s weird, but I guess even gratitude takes effort – it is a lot easier to moan.

I guess at the end of the day we have a choice. To trust or not to trust in God’s all forgiving love. As Nouwen says. ‘I myself am the only one who can make that choice’