ok – a bit of self interest and blatant sell here …
I have a voucher for anyone that wants to join Virgin Media and get £50 credit on their bill – I also get £50 credit for introducing a new customer …
so anyone out there (in UK) interested?
you only have until July 31st!
Inspired by Jeremy
Photo by Anna
There are 2 new and exciting posts on the Leadership Team of YFC.
I have posted details of Director of Communications and Director of Service centre here.
Please have a look, apply or pass them on to people that you think would be good in either of these roles.
I managed to catch the Lure of the East exhibition at the Tate Britain last week.
The guide to the exhibition starts:
Private travel from Britain to the Middle East was rare before the 1830s, but travel for warfare, diplomacy, trade and religion had been going on for centuries. While outside Europe, these early travellers and residents assumed ‘Oriental costume’ for different reasons. Many believed themselves to be safer when dressed similarly to local people, while more academic visitors often wished to appear incognito in order to facilitate their researches; others did so out of a love of ‘fancy dress’, while still others wished to signal a committed solidarity with the culture whose clothes they put on.
After visiting the exhibition and being terribly civilised with a pot of tea in the members room, I reflected upon those words and got to thinking on mission and the church. Seeking to be in culture but not of culture puts us in the same position as these early traders.
It causes me to ask ‘Do we ‘wear’ culture to feel safe, to be unnoticed as we carry out research, because we wish to appear trendy or because we feel a solidarity with the culture we seek to reach?
It’s an interesting and necessary question – and its a question where I hope my answer is the last one, but how can I be sure it is none of the other three, which seem pretty negative and/or lack integrity for me. To ‘wear the dress’ of culture to fel safe, to be incognito, or to look good do not sit easily with me as I seek to reach the people of this culture with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
As I contemplate this ministry (10 weeks and counting to ‘O’ day) I was planning to be thinking a lot about how to be in but not of culture – I need to add to that the question of why I want to wear the culture at all.
This morning I had the privilege of being in Southwark Cathedral at the ordination service to see Jeremy ordained Deacon. I also had the added pleasure of unexpectedly seeing Bridget ordained as well.
It was a privilege because I have traveled with Jeremy, and others from SEITE, for the last three years towards this thing called ordination. It was great to join in with the celebration and prayer with and for Jeremy this morning.
Well done mate … you look great in a dress!
Today has been special for a number of reasons – particularly Beth becoming 12 today.
Beth – I am both amazed and incredibly proud of the talented young woman you are.
It’s a great feeling being a proud dad!
I had the pleasure today of spending some time with the trustees of Gillingham YFC.
It was particularly cool as I was asked to share something of the history of GYFC and it was an exciting experience to take the time to remember the stories and be able to share how this great ministry of GYFC started very simply with Sarah and myself wandering the streets on a Saturday night talking with young people.
It was amazing to remember old names, miracles that had happened, conversations we had, and young people who’s lives had been transformed.
GYFC is now unrecognisable to what it was when I was there which is a sign of good health and development.
Amazing how God takes a little act and builds upon it.
Visions have to start somewhere, and it was great today to remember that the starting point of vision is often quite small.
‘I want a mountain experience‘ is what I hear regularly, or very similar words to that effect. And why not – church as I know it, as I have grown up in it, does seem to elevate the feel good factor over and above everything else.
I can think of plenty of churches where if everything is not happy then there must be something wrong with your relationship with God. In such places it is easy to feel guilty for actually having a hassle and not wanting to take part or do anything. In such places there can be formed a desire that basically denies the realities of our humanity and so we search for a way out – the mountain top experience can be the spiritual excuse.
A journey, a relationship, if it is to be authentic, necessarily has its ups and downs, its roughs and its smooths, it’s times of joy and it’s times of pain. If it did not it would not be far removed from reality. The reality is that in real life crap happens. If we genuinely decide to deal with that it means sometimes we feel crappy. Of course we can avid it and pretend everything is ok … and not feel crappy until much later!
As I look to Jesus the man I do not see a Jesus who avoids the crap.
I see a Jesus that engages with pain in humility, in compassion and with tears.
As I look to Jesus on the cross I do not see a Jesus who smiles while in agony and pretends everything is ok.
I see a Jesus who questions, who cries out to God in mental and physical agony asking why he has been forgotten.
That must have been pretty crappy!
Mountain top experiences are cool (its high up there!), they zap energy(there’s very little oxygen up there), they leave you hungry (there’s no vegetation/food up there) and they restrict you if you stay too long (nothing grows up there). They are great for a while, but we quickly need to come down if we want to get warm, eat and be able to breathe comfortably.
So … crave the experience on top of the mountain – but don’t rely on it, don’t stay there too long and sufficate …. we ain’t called to mountain tops, we are called to engage with humanity on the ground.
Today I met up with Rachael at Flat White which is a coffee shop that friend put me on to. I am a bit (well a massive bit) of a coffee snob, and Flat White settled my snobbishness entirely.
The coffee was fantastic (from Monmouth no less) and the atmosphere and ambiance of the place made drinking and reading here very comfortable.
I was early, which combined with Rachael being held up which caused me to notice a few things about Flat White. Here, in this little coffee shop in Soho is a thriving community. People seemed to know each other and would pop in and out which reminded me a little of an Orthodox service where people pop in and out as they wish.
There were some unique differences. If people ordered coffee they were asked for their name. When it was ready and the person brought the coffee to the table she or he called your name rather than ‘2 cappucinos and a latte!?’. There was a personal attention given to people that is often lacking in London with questions about how the day was going, would you like another coffee and so on. I also observed someone coming home from a trip and giving presents to the staff.
I loved this place which has a great atmosphere of welcome. The staff here understand something of hospitality and I left feeling the benefits of that understanding. I think it hit me more beause it was unexpected and I was not looking for it.
I’m not ging to bang on about the parallels between this and church as I think they will be pretty obvious to the few people that read here, but its interesting for me to note that I felt more welcomed, accepted and free here than I have felt in many churches I have visited. I pray that any community that I will be involved in in the future will be able to gain this hospititality understanding.
On Tuesday I traveled to see Epping Forest YFC and lead their prayer meeting and then meet up with friend Leesa for lunch.
I always like to try and be creative with local YFC teams and challenge them to think and pray in a different way to that of which they are normally used to.
Yesterday I set up a track which we call ‘the journey’ using masking tape on the floor, which is based on an idea from Mike Riddell. The basic idea is that the Christian life is a journey, we all travel through all of it, God is at the centre of all of it, and no one place is better than another.
I set up the track with the following areas:
sand and rocks to signify the desert – those parts of our journey where we feel disconnected from God, dry, lost, doubting, wanting what we can’t have
blue material to symbolise sea – to signify those times when we jump right into God and let him take us where he will, as we travel on the currents of God’s will
a lake – those places where we float and chill out with our creator
rivers – surprising places and incidents which suddenly appear and we briefly notice God breaking in
mountains – for those mountain top experiences where we live close to God; people always want to be here – but the air is thin, there is no vegetation and its not a place to be 24/7
valleys – these are dark places which quite often follow mountain top experiences. it’s tough to see where you are going when in a valley.
At the centre of all of this were three candles to represent God the Trinity at the very centre of our traveling.
Each person then took a few glass beads and shared where they thought they were at this point in time. All of us shared we were in more than one place. It was great to see that in just a group of 6 of us, we were spread all across the journey.
For me, I shared I was in an unusual place of a mix of mountain top as I’m quite excited and in many ways can see where I am going coupled with being in the sea, feeling out of my depth and needing to totally trust and rely on God.
After sharing where we were on the journey, it was a privilege to pray with each other.
The journey is a great way for praying and sharing together.
The Shiny Headed Prophet 