Jimmy's Blog

Lost in Translation

2011-06-01T10:59:00.001+01:00

We often say and sing in churches ‘Jesus is Lord’ but what do we actually mean by that phrase? What do other people think we mean when they hear us saying ‘Jesus is Lord’?

A lot has been said and written about the content of the songs we use in times of sung-worship, and I think the content is hugely important – we are, after all, called to worship in Spirit and in truth, and to love God with all our heart and mind – but it seems to me just as important to consider how we say what we say.

There are many Christian phrases and jargon that just seem absurd to anyone outside the church or people new to the church. These phrases may well be biblically based, but to someone with minimal bible knowledge or experience singing ‘worthy’ to a baby sheep sitting on a throne just seems plain weird!

But it’s not just the more obscure Jewish imagery that can hinder people expressing their love of God, to God with their fellow worshippers. What about ‘Lord, I’m lifting your name high’? What do we mean by ‘shouting out his praise’?

The book of Revelation is loaded with vivid montages of weird creatures and glorious throne rooms full of words and actions and rituals that express honour and passion for God. The Psalms are full of ancient everyday-Hebrew imagery we’ve stolen and put into modern songs. But I feel there is a ‘lost in translation’ aspect occurring.

The culture in which David wrote the Psalms is very different to the culture we write songs in today. The vision John had of heaven and the end times in Revelation was full of cultural references and symbolism for first century Palestine. The language they used was effective then for that audience, but may not be as effective for our contexts. I’m not for one minute suggesting that the Bible is irrelevant today. But I am proposing we delve a little deeper into the underlying meaning of what David and the other songwriters were trying to express rather than just nicking their lyrics.

Let’s not just consider what we’re saying. Let’s be creative in how we are saying it. Let’s be like the inventive God we love and worship and come up with more imaginative ways of saying ‘God, you’re brilliant. We love you’. Be poetic, be relevant, be fresh, be different, and be original. Avoid those warn-out clichés and predictable rhymes. Find the gaps in our repertoires and fill them with songs that express something in a new way.

That of course is harder work than pinching lines straight from the Bible and playing a chord progression behind them. Song writing is about craftsmanship. Song writing isn’t lazy or just doing enough to churn out another album. Song writing is about art and finesse and skill. But ultimately I believe our churches will benefit from the investment and effort in writing and singing songs that express today’s worship experience, in contemporary language and that make sense.

Love Gives.

2011-03-28T11:01:00.000+01:00

How can we ‘Love without limits’?

How do we follow Jesus’ example in the way he loved his neighbours, his friends, his enemies? It’s such an attractive part of Jesus’ life that no matter what faith standpoint you’re coming from, the way Jesus related to people with compassion and respect and love is something to be admired.

And I want to pay particular attention to the theme and aspect of giving in the love-life of Jesus. What role does giving play in loving without limits, without conditions, without prejudice.
And to begin, I want to draw your attention to one of the most well known verses in the Bible. It is found in verse 16 of chapter 3 of the gospel story according to John and it says this:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

That one line is loaded with so much theology, so much good news, so much that we can’t go into it all tonight. But more importantly it gives us an underlying principle onto which hangs everything else: “God so loved... that he gave”

Right from the start we see that giving and loving go together. God loves therefore God gives. And God giving Jesus for us is one of the most beautifully mysterious moments in history, because in God giving his Son there is the whole action of incarnation and within the incarnation of Jesus – God the Son made flesh – we get an incredible example of limitless love accompanied by an attitude of giving.

There is a poetic song that illustrates how the incarnation and giving are entwined. The song was probably used by early Christians in their worship gatherings and we find it today in the book of Philippians because Paul, one of the early Church leaders who took the story of Jesus around a huge chunk of ancient Europe, quoted some of the lyrics in the context of teaching about relationships. He basically says ‘follow the example of Jesus...

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

So here we have Jesus giving up his divine rights and privileges and setting aside his glory; still truly and totally God in who he essentially is, but choosing to become human, to assume our humanity, choosing to become like one of us. This isn’t just Jesus showing his love by giving us a present, or some spare change to go and buy ourselves something nice with. This is Jesus declaring his love for his creation by giving himself wholly and completely to us. If ever there was an example of demonstrating ‘Love Without Limits’ by ‘Giving All’ this is it.

God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – loved the world so much that the Father gave the Son, and the Son gave his complete self. Love without limits gives all. Love Gives.

So, what did that actually look like? Well, in addition to Jesus becoming flesh, bearing the limits of humanity and living as a first century Jewish man, we read on in Philippians: he made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant. So, we read that he is in very Nature [or in essence, or to the core, the very makeup of who he is] God but he chooses to take the very Nature of a servant. A servant rarely takes anything. A servant’s life involves a lot of giving to one’s master. Jesus adopts this role and gives up his rights of privileges and power and status, that are rightfully his due to his being truly and totally God, and gives himself totally to his people as a servant. His limitless love gives and serves.

This example of love without limits that we’re looking at, and aspiring to follow, is rooted in humility and service and giving totally of one’s self to those you are loving. And it’s more than just doctrine or theory on paper and in books. This love without limits is deeply practical.

In his earthly life we see this demonstrated in the relationships he had, especially with his disciples. For three years Jesus and this band of misfits lived and worked and travelled together. Jesus invested so much time and energy into teaching them, training them, leading them, developing them, answering their questions, listening to their conversations, guiding their thought processes. Imagine the emotions you go through over a three year period. This was real life for these guys. They spent over a thousand days with Jesus. That’s about 26,000 hours. Actual time spent with Jesus, day in day out. Imagine the fights, the jokes, the smell – Twelve ordinary lads and their down-to-earth, tell-it-like-it-is rabbi.

Jesus loved his boys so much he invested everything he had in them. And eventually, on the night he was arrested before he was executed, he gave them one last command – “Love one another. In the same way I’ve loved you, I want you to love one another. Without limits. Without ulterior motive or hidden agenda. Just give yourself to one another. Put the others first. Look out for each other. No more holding back, looking after number one. No more ‘every-man for himself’. Tend to others needs before your own. Serve one another. Value one another above yourself.”

Limitless love gives and serves.

And that’s the life Jesus lived, and asked his apprentices to live and calls us to live. The disciples took the baton and ran with it. When they formed the beginnings of the Church they built it on these foundations. The book of Acts in the NT is full of descriptions of life in the Early Church. They looked after each other. They looked after widows and orphans – people who, in that culture, couldn’t look after themselves. They looked after the poor and the sick and the hurting. They made sure that nobody had any needs. They went to the trouble and inconvenience of selling their own possessions and pooling the money to make sure there was enough to go around.

And then there’s a verse that says “and the Lord added to their number daily, those who were being saved.” And you think ‘yeah, well done, Sherlock’. Because if you were poor, or hungry or lonely or in need where would be the first place you’d go?! I’d go to the Church, because they had inherited a set of values from Jesus that said Love Gives.

And what about now? We’re called to do the same.

The church i'm currently part of has a remarkable history. In its current expression as Church.co.uk, the Oasischurch in Waterloo, it’s been here about 7 or 8 years. But before that, under various names, it’s been part of major influential social action movements and projects for centuries. And for those of us part of this church, we’re part of that legacy. We’re here, part of the community in North Lambeth and the Waterloo area and we’re called, by Jesus, to Love our neighbours.

To Love Without Limits. As he loves us, so we are to love other.

We want to be a church that’s supports families, that helps makes the streets safer, that helps lower unemployment, that raises self-esteem and family values and brings hope to people who feel trapped and worthless. That’s a noble thing to strive for. And it's not limited to the Waterloo area, it's a worldwide call. But we can’t achieve that without a love that drives us, and love gives.

We need to give ourselves to this vision and we can do that in a huge number of ways. We can give our time to help mentor school children, start clubs and groups, help teach kids to read and write and be creative and develop dreams that are huge and hopeful. We can love these kids, and love gives. We can volunteer and give our time to invest in these opportunities. We can love their parents and older brothers and sister and become a support to them. Love gives. We can setup or be part of a Foodbank and help provide food for families that otherwise would have little or nothing to live on.

Love gives. We can give our money offerings to the church to help support the work this church does in the community. We can’t avoid the fact that money is a big factor in this world and the church does need money to function and provide the opportunities that it does, so, please, think about what you are able to give. Maybe, if you’re able to, consider giving regularly to your local church as a practical way of financially being part of the church’s work. If you’re not in a place to be able to do that, and I’m well aware that for some people that isn’t possible, give what you can – every little helps.

Love gives.

God loved and he gave.
Jesus loved and he gave. He gave everything he had to give and ultimately loved so much that he was willing to die a horrific death for us. Am I willing to remove the limits from my love for God’s creation and allow it to lead me to die for the cause?
The disciples in the early church loved and they gave. They sold what they had to provide for those who had nothing. Am I prepared to sell what I own and use the money to provide for people who have nothing? Am I even prepared to use the cash I have spare to provide for those in need?

Loving without limits means giving all.
We are called to love
without limits
and
love gives.

A Prayer.

2011-03-11T14:40:00.001Z

In light of the earthquake and tsunami that have affected many people in Japan and other pacific regions countries, let us pray.

If you want to use this prayer, either personally, in churches or other groups, I hope you find it useful and helpful.

Jimmy

Lord Jesus, Prince of peace, we draw near to you and pray.
As you intercede for us before the throne, so we come on behalf of those in need.
You calmed the raging storm, and so we ask you to still the restless hearts of those in pain.
Bring your peace to troubled places.
Jesus Christ, who calmed the wind and storm,
Hear our prayer and bring your calm amidst chaos.

Holy Spirit, our helper and our comforter, we draw near to you and pray.
As you intercede for us with groans that words cannot explain, so we pray on behalf of those in need.
You are our support and comfort, bringing peace beyond our understanding and so we ask you to be the steadfast truth in the minds of those in shock
Bring your comfort in confusion and commotion.
Holy Spirit, our comforter and helper,
Hear our prayer and bring your calm amidst chaos.

Father God, creator of heaven and earth, we draw near to you and pray.
We intercede in Christ Jesus, and by the Holy Spirit and pray on behalf of those in need.
Your ways are higher than ours and your wisdom infinitely greater. And so we ask you to give wisdom to those in difficulty and mercy to those who hurt.
Let your hope emerge from the debris of tragedy.
Father God, maker of heaven and earth,
Hear our prayer and bring your calm amidst chaos.
Lord, have mercy.
Amen

Three

2011-02-28T12:52:00.001Z

"You're a worship leader?" he said in a broad Northern Irish accent.
"Yeah, yeah, I have been for a while. Haven't led for a bit though." I replied, slightly hesistantly.
"That's fantastic, mate. Well, would you'ze fancy leading here one Sunday?"
"Yeah, that'd be great."
I swapped contact details with the Irishman, with his fair hair and funny little 'soul-patch' beard perched just below his bottom lip, and thought nothing more of it as he walked away. Within minutes he was back.
"Jimmy, mate, I've managed to double-book myself for next weekend. I don't suppose there's the slighest chance you might be free to lead the worship here would you?"

I was a vistor. My friend was drumming in the band. Now, I was being asked to lead worship at a church I barely knew but for some unkown reason I agreed to cover.
The following week, with a makeshift band I led the songs. After the service I was asked if I was going to the meeting on Tuesday. It turned out that the worship leaders were meeting the following Tuesday and, seeing as I was now one of the worship leaders, it made sense that I was there.

And I've been here ever since.

Previously, I'd been beaten up and cut deep by the last church I was involved in; a church where I didn't fit. It was arguably the most painful experience of my life. I was totally disillusioned with church. How could Christian's claim to follow Jesus and yet be so narrow minded, so cruel, so heartless? I was never angry at God because he hadn't done anything wrong. But I was pretty much done with Church... until that conversation with Andy Flan on the stage at Church.co.uk three years ago; triggering a chain of events that saw me go from visitor to part of the family within the space of a week . Old wounds were gradually healed here. Forgiveness was allowed to brew here. People here quickly became my friends and helped to pick me up, dust me down and help me get going again.

I've been part of CCU for three years now and as my role here has developed, from visitor, to worship leader, to student on placement, speaker, running a small group, helping co-ordinate the worship team, being invited onto the Church Leadership team, being employed to develop the music and arts work... all the way along I've never stopped being grateful for the way this church played such a part in my recovery. Being part of the leadership of this church is a real privilege for me and every day I try and give something back to the community that gave so much to me.

Thank you Church.co.uk. And here's to the next chapter...

New Songs

2011-01-25T11:30:00.000Z

At the end of last year I posted lyrics to two new songs I had written. I now post what those lyrics should sound like. Enjoy.

Worship Together?

2011-01-10T16:45:00.003Z

We seem to be living in a church culture where most people's definition and understanding of what worship is all about would probably involve something to do with singing and music. Often in church settings when we use the word 'worship' we actually mean 'music'. The worship leader is actually the music leader. "Let's move into a time of worship" acutally means "let's start singing".

Now, I'm not for one second suggesting that music and singing has no place in worship. Firstly, I'm a musician; I love music and I love God and I love the church so the more I can combine the three the better. But we need to remember that worship is so much more than only singing or music. And I'm not talking about the whole "Worship-is-a-lifestyle" thing either. I mean within our corporate gatherings, when a bunch of Christians get together to worship God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for who he is and what he's done for us, worship means more than music. Worship and Singing are not words that are interchangeable.

The Church has been going a long, long time. That means corporate worship has been happening for a long, long time. And, actually, there isn't a whole lot wrtitten explicitly about the musical practices of the early church in the New Testament. In the first description that we get of the early church's worship that we get in Acts doesn't even mention singing at all. It says that

" They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:42-47)

The more astute reader may want to say something along the lines of "A-ha! Jimmy you have it wrong. It clearly says 'Praising' " to which I will gladly congratulate you on your observational skills but point out that our interpretation of praising, largely based on the culture we are part of, may include music and singing but there is nothing explicitly in the passage that indicates that music was ever a factor in their praise.

Singing however is mention elsewhere in the text. Jesus sang a hymn on the night he was arrested before his crucifixion. Mary sang her 'Magnifcat' prayer-song. According to my research on Biblegateway.com (which involved typing in the word SING and seeing how many times it comes up) the word SING appear 101 times in the Bible. Only 5 of them are in the New Testament (SANG also only appears 5 times in the New Testament, and three of those are in Revelation!). So if singing wasn't a big deal in the life of the early church, why is there so much of an emphasis on it now?

Well, back then there was singing. We know at least 150 of the songs they used; they're the Psalms. These songs were used to united the people in telling the story of God and Israel. Songs, passed down through the generations, told the story of the group. The early church undoubtedly adopted this tradition. Parts of Philippians 2 is regarded by many scholars to be lyrics of one such song.

The closest equivilent to this type of song use is the old hymns. Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, Fanny Crosby, they wrote thousands of hymns between them to teach the church who God is and to sing the story. Fanny Crosby wrote 'Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine... This is my story, this is my song'. These phenomenal songs have lasted hundreds of years because they're loaded with truth and theology that is timeless. They gave us meolidies and lyrics to help us sing the story of God.

Worship is about recognition of who God is - these hymns reveal something about God, they help us recognise who he is and they help us respond together to him. Songs that help us sing the story.

So, what about the contemporary songs? There are hundreds and thousand of new songs being written; some are great, some are not so great. Putting the quality of the song aside for a moment, somewhere along the line the emphasis of community based worship shifted to an individualistic one. It mirrored the culture. Culture evolved into an individualised place til the point where even now we have iPlayer, iPods and the like - Individually controlled media customised to one person's preferences. In a worship setting, corporate worship drifted from gathering together to share a common experience as one people to a collection of indvidiuals enjoying, or not enjoying, their own one-to-one encounter with God, there just so happened to be other people there too.

Worship became a commodity: I didn't like that new song. I'm bored of that style. I want to sing new songs. I didn't get much out of the worship today. I didn't feel God. The truth is, Worship is not about us it's about God. We worship God for who he is. In his grace he reveals himself so we can recognise him and respond. It's about recognising who he is and hsaring with others who experience that same recognition and responding together by telling the Church community (and the wider community too) the Story of God.

If songs help us do that, Great! But if they don't, have we got the courage to stop writing them for a while, stop singing, leave the music alone for a season?
Maybe poems will help us tell the Story. Communion can help us tell the story, so can pictures or video, the spoken word, prayers, food and drink (read through the New Testament and you'll see the church is founded on food! Eat Cake and Worship!) can all help us tell the Story of God and our part in it and how we can share in it together...

Worship isn't limited to singing the same old songs,
it's about coming to creatively share in the story of God... together!

"When you Pray..."

2011-01-10T12:35:00.001Z

Prayer. We've all done it at one time or another. Often it's at a point of crisis or desperation when all else has failed or when a situation is totally out of our control. At other times it's in moments of extreme emotion - an outburst of joy or excitement or a cry of grief or heartbreak or confusion. Sometimes it's routine, sometimes it's spontaneous. Sometimes it's read from a set book, sometimes it's made up on the spot, off the cuff, out of the moment.

The one common thread through it all is that prayer is communication with God. In fact, that's the dictionary definition of Prayer: the act of communication with a deity.

To some, that definition doesn't come as much of a surprise, and maybe you were hoping for a more detailed and in depth exposition of what prayer is, but I think that there is a beauty in that simplicity...Prayer is communicating with God.

Sometimes I think we try and make Christianity more complicated than it actually is. We think we have to do certain things in a particular way in order to get God to like us and interact with us and we forget that God is gracious and in his grace he makes it easy to simply be with him and communicate with him. Prayer is simply communicating with God.

We live in a society infatuated with 'being connected'. Mobile phones, smart phones, iPhones, iPads, Blackberry's - all designed to allow us to stay in touch with emails, Facebook, Twitter, blogs constantly. But 'there is nothing new under the sun'. Before the first text was ever sent God had 24/7 connection sorted. Prayer is that constant connection. It's beautifully simple: you don't need the right handset or app, you don't need a decent enough signal, you don't need the right words or even know the fullness of your thoughts and feelings; God is ready, willing and available to scream at, rant at, laugh with, cry with, bounce ideas off, share secrets with. Just talk to him.

Sometimes, however, we bombard God with all our wants and needs and wishes as if he's some kind of genie in a bottle, but we forget to wait for a response. We don't give him a chance to reply.

Listening is as vital to communication as speaking is.
Yes we can pour out our hearts and thoughts and feelings and pains and joys - actually, it's a good thing to do and we should do that - but the blunt truth is that we're mission out on so much if we don't allow God a chance to respond.

That's why Jesus recommends going to your room, locking the door, and turning off your iPod, your blackberry, your laptop, your TV and any other distracting gadget, because it's quiet. It's not a place to help God speak. It's a place to help us hear. In that quiet place God speaks loudest. In the sound of silence we hear the delicate murmurings of Almighty God.

Prayer is communicating. (Now I'm not great at languages but stick with...) The word Communication comes from the Latin communicatus. On the one hand communicatus means 'to impart information', which is generally the way we understand communicating. But the Latin use of communicatus has notions of 'participating in' or 'joing/uniting with'. And with this is mind we can see that there is something more mysterious at play when we pray. Whether we're talking or God is talking there is another dimension to that activity.

There is a bigger Story than our own playing out all the time. God is redeeming his creation. He's bringing heaven to earth and bringing his kingdom to this world and our prayers are caught up in this story. (Romans 8:18-28). When we pray the Spirit of God - the third person of the Trinity, who is in his very essence God - joins with us in prayer [communicatus, imparting information, joining with, participating in, uniting with] and when we get to that point of saying "I'm finished, I'm empty, I've got nothing left; no words, no energy... but there's still so much I want to say" he says "I know what you mean, in fact, I know what you mean better than you know what you mean" and he carries our cries for us. Communicatus - united in prayer to the very Spirit of god to share in God's will. When we pray 'let your kingdom come and your will be done, because we want you to have your way God' he joins with us and says 'yeah, so do I'.

So, what is prayer? Prayer is an awesome, gifted means of simply sharing with our loving God. A way to offload our worries to him and share our highlights with him; to listen to him and learn from him.

Christmas Invitation. (A Liturgy)

2010-12-22T12:52:00.001Z

O come all you faithful, all you sceptics, all you who believe and you who doubt.
Come and see the baby in a manger who is born a King.
We are here to see the Christ Child.

Come like the shepherds; just as we are. Invited by the heavens to share in the mystery -
The mystery of the Word become flesh and pleased to dwell among us.
We are here just as we are.
We are here to see the Christ Child

Come like the wise men; driven by intrigued and wonder.
Determined to find what they are looking for and awestruck when then do
We are here to find what we are looking for.
We are here to see the Christ Child

O Come all you faithful. Come in wonder and intrigue; in humility and awe
We are here to see the Child; Christ the Lord.

Responsive Prayer:

God almighty, Creator of the heavens and the earth,
We gather at this time of year and remember the birth of your son, Jesus Christ— Born to be our King; Born because you love the world.
Lord, Let Your Kingdom come and Your will be done.
Immanuel. Our God is with us.

Father God, you are pleased to use ordinary people
For your extraordinary purposes and plans.
As you used Mary and Joseph, would you also use us to do your work?
Lord, Let Your Kingdom come and Your will be done.
Immanuel. Our God is with us.

Lord Jesus, Saviour to all, your birth brought unity.
Wealthy wise-men and lowly shepherds worship you.
Help us unite our community for your glory.
Lord, Let Your Kingdom come and Your will be done.
Immanuel. Our God is with us.

Holy Spirit, who conceived in Mary the Son of God, the Saviour of the world.
Would you work with us, inside of us, prompting us and guiding us,
To live our lives as Christ lives His
Lord, Let Your Kingdom come and Your will be done.
Immanuel. Our God is with us.

Amen

Now you have seen and heard these things;
Be like the wise men: Seek Jesus with everything you have in every situation and do not stop until you find him.

We will seek him.
Jesus, light of the world, we will worship you.

Be like Mary: Treasure these things in your heart and ponder them often.

We will treasure him
Jesus, light of the world, we will worship you.

Be like the Shepherds: Tell everyone you meet the story of Jesus – God incarnate; the Word of God made flesh. Let the joy he brings fill your heart to overflowing

We will seek him, we will treasure him, we will share him.
Jesus, light of the world, we will worship you.

Amen

Joy to the World: Mary's Song.

2010-12-12T14:00:00.002Z

The Magnifcat (Luke 1:46-55); It’s sung across the globe around this time of year in thousands of churches. It’s called the Magnificat because that’s the first word in the Latin version. My soul magnifies the Lord – we’re talking magnifying in the telescope sense rather than microscope. We’re not taking something small and making it bigger, we’re looking at something huge and getting a detailed glimpse of a fraction of it.

It’s exciting. My Soul Glorifies the Lord and my Spirit rejoices in God my saviour!

We’ve lost the music and the tune she sang it to but you can almost hear the passion and excitement and wonder and amazement in Mary’s voice as this incredible experience begins to sink in. It’s like when an athlete becomes world champion all the interviews afterwards are loaded with phrases like ‘I can’t believe what has happened, it hasn’t sunk in yet’. People trying to put into words the extreme emotion they’re bursting with. And that’s what Mary is doing... but why?

She’s maybe 13/14/15 years old. She’s just been told she’s pregnant. She’s signed up to nine months of scandal because Nazareth, where she’s grown up and where she lives and where she’s engaged to the local tradesman, is a small town where everyone knows everybody else’s business. And a pregnancy outside of marriage will not go untalked about – oh no! Conversations over garden fences, outside Sainsbury’s, on buses, in the street – they’ll all be about Mary. Poor little knocked-up Mary.

But still she sings.
And what she sings gives us a hint of the kind of girl she is.

Her song is loaded with lyrics that praise God, and she uses language inspired by the Old Testament psalms and songs. She is clearly a girl that knows both her Bible and her God.

One of my favourite verses in the whole bible is in Psalm 25 and it says ‘The Lord confides in those who fear him’. God confides in those who love him, who respect him, who honour him. God shares his secrets and his plans and his ideas with those who are his friends. God gets close to those who are on his side and whispers ‘hey, this is what I’m going to do.’ God instigates his silent revolution by confiding in a young girl who loved him – I’m sending the Messiah now and, Mary, I’m entrusting him to you.

When Mary hears from the Angel Gabriel, the message is loaded with Messianic language – all the lingo that the Jews would instantly know referred to the chosen one.

He will be great, The Son of the most High
The Throne of his father, David – that’s messiah
Ruling over the house of Jacob forever – that’s messiah
His kingdom will never end, He will be called the son of God – it’s all about the messiah

Even his name – Jesus, which is Greek for Yeshua or Joshua, means The Lord Saves. It’s all Messiah talk. It’s all Liberator language. And it’s all in the message that Gabriel brings to Mary.

But what is astonishing is that God could’ve picked any girl to have Baby Jesus. Why was Mary so special? Well, look at the kind of God she sings about;
He has been mindful of the humble state of his servant girl.
His mercy extends to those who fear him.
He has scattered the proud and brought down rulers but has lifted up the humble
He has sent the rich away empty but has filled the hungry with good things
While pretty much everyone else was expecting the Messiah to be the all action hero that would chase the Romans out of town and establish Israel as the superpower of the age, Mary is worshipping a God that loves the poor and the humble. Mary’s messiah is merciful and mindful of the meek and lowly. God chose Mary to be the Mother of his son because she caught the vision of what the Chosen One was really going to be like. And who better to teach the child as he grows up than Mary?

See, Jesus was fully divine but he was also 100% human. Ok, he had a supernatural conception but from then on he was just like us - He had a natural birth, he was a normal baby. He had to learn everything just as we did. To think that he could sit up in the Manger and spout facts about sub-atomic physics is ludicrous. To think he could even sit up in the manger straight away full stop is just as ridiculous. He was a normal human baby. He knew nothing.

He had to learn everything and Mary was the perfect mother for him because she was a girl on God’s wavelength. God’s silent revolution – the coming of the Kingdom of God – was in good hands. She would teach him to be merciful. She would show him how to love the unlovable. She would watch him grow strong, full with wisdom and the grace of God. She would see him grow in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and men.

And because it’s Christmastime we usually stop at this part of the story – but remember, this baby boy grows up to love the poor like no other. He grows up to wholeheartedly include the social outcasts, the rejects, the people society had forgotten and ignored. He becomes the man that hangs out with tax-collectors, prostitutes, lepers – the ‘despised’ and ‘dirty’ and ‘inappropriate’ people to be seen with. He was the epitome of mercy, the epitome of humility. He was the perfect example of everything Mary sang about.

Now, when we get an opportunity to work with God, we can choose to freak out and panic at all the unknowns and everything that could possibly go wrong and all the “it’s not supposed to be like this!” moments OR we can choose, like Mary, to focus on the thing we are most certain of – that God is good, that he shows mercy to those who fear/love/honour/respect him, that he confides in those who fear him...
And that leads us to praise him, it fuels our worship, it stirs our hearts to get excited that God is installing his kingdom and we’re a part of it. God is changing peoples’ lives, he’s improving communities, he’s challenging the status quo, he’s holding leaders to account, he’s loving the poor, he’s showing mercy, he’s feeding the hungry, he’s bringing heaven to earth piece by piece and he’s choosing to use us to do it -- That’s why Mary was singing, That’s why Mary’s song is so significant; because it was God’s silent revolution starting with one teenage girl’s song and it's getting louder and louder and we can join in – Our Souls Glorify the Lord and our Spirits rejoice in God our saviour!.

New Lyrics: You Say

2010-12-06T15:58:00.001Z

You say 'love the poor', and 'seek the lost', and 'help the weak'
You say 'shout for those who have no voice; who cannot speak'
Putting others first, living life with joyful mercy
The purpose of the Church is to live in humble service
Here I am use me

You call us to love our neighbours as we love ourselves
You call us to give selflessly, to share the wealth
Loving those hurt, binding up the brokenhearted
the purpose of the Church: to carry on what Jesus started
Loving those in need

You will not forget or leave us, God, you're always here
You give us a hope that never fails, that perseveres
Not left in the lurch, your Spirit is our help and comfort
The purpose of the Church, empowered by our loving Father

Christ my Lord
O I adore you
Here I am use me

Jimmy Orr ©2010

Don't just talk, Tell the Story

2010-12-02T11:40:00.000Z

We are officially in a very magical time of year. It's December. There is snow all across the UK at present. But more importantly, we are in the season of Advent.

Traditionally advent is the period before Christmas when the Church awaits the coming of Baby Jesus, the King, the Christ. It's a time punctuated with carol services and nativity plays and various other Christmassy events. Candles are lit and advent calenders help countdown the days until 25th December. It's all very, very exciting and can often see the most reserved of grown-ups transform with the giddiest, childlike anticipation of Christmas Day and all that brings.

In the church environment preparations increase for the expected rush of people craving carols and free mince pies and mulled wine. It's a time of year when people, who would not usually set foot inside a church without good reason, may decide to venture inside the door to experience the religious side of this holiday.

It is for this reason that I offer this advice, which I saw on a whiskey advert recently and that struck me as the Lord working in mysterious ways: 'Don't just talk; tell the story'

To those who lead churches or have the opportunity to speak this Christmastim - Don't just talk, Tell the story. Don't just churn out another sermon, tell the story of the Word of God becoming human. Tell the story of Mary and Joseph - God using ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Tell the story of sheperds - the socially despised work force being the first to be invited into the adventure. Tell the story of a child born a king, who inspired wise men to travel huge distances just to pay respect. Tell the story of a child who set a whole city on edge, how he would grow up to be the most famous person in history.

And to those who may not be speaking to the masses but will have conversations this festive season, Don't just talk, Tell the story. Follow the shepherds' example. They told everyone they met about what they had seen and heard and 'all who heard were astounded'.

Don't just talk - don't waste words on complaining about the inconvience of the snow and how stressful the journey to work is and how we're never prepared for snow yada yada yada -

Tell the Story

New Lyrics: 'This is the Church'

2010-11-25T19:01:00.004Z

The broken, the beaten, the 'outcasts', the 'heathens' arrive
The rich and the poor enter through the same door; side by side
Those who rejoice stand with those with no voice; hand in hand
Cultures together with pleasure. United we stand.

We can all find a home here
A place to belong
Where brothers and sisters
Can sing out one song
And the love that we find here
Quenches our thirst
It’s the body of Jesus
This is the Church.

A family of strangers arranged through the dangers of life
To talk to, support you and walk you through hardship and strife
Let’s celebrate great things. Relationships growing so strong
Standing on touchlines at all times, cheering us on!

Jimmy Orr © 2010

Manly Worship?

2010-11-08T15:06:00.004Z

It has been argued time and time again that contemporary worship songs are 'too feminine'. Love songs to Jesus are labelled 'Jesus is my Boyfriend' songs and regarded as stumbling blocks for the 'man's man' in the church. There are too many phrases like 'pouring out my heart', 'you're beautiful', 'I love you'; songs are filled with lyrics loaded with girly words such as precious, lovely and 'darling of heaven'.

I have three initial thoughts on the subject.

Firstly, a lot of the 'Jesus is my boyfriend' style songs are in fact written by men. Tim Hughes, Ben Cantelon, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, and a whole host of other male contemporary song-writers. How does singing these songs written by these men of God make worship 'too feminine'?

Secondly, How is it that men are happy to use 'feminine' language to say that a curry was 'beautiful' or that their team's goal was a 'lovely' strike, or that their car drives 'like a dream' but as soon as they're in church trying to engage in worshipping God - who is far more beautiful and lovely than any dish or sporting achievement or vehicle - feminine language is a stumbling block?

Finally, I do agree that variety of language, themes and styles can only be a good thing in the Church's worship repertoire. The psalms are full of a blend of masculine and feminine poetry. We do need to widen our scope for describing our emotions and thoughts and theology and expressing our worship. But refusing to worship using songs because they're 'too girly' is not the answer.

Blokes of the church, Man Up!

The Big Story: Part 1

2010-11-08T14:36:00.004Z

The Bible. It’s true the 'good book' is actually a collection of 66 books and that those sixty-six books are divided into two testaments, the old made up of 39 books and the new with the remaining 27.
It’s true that some of those books are historical books, same are poetry books some are visionary books some are letters and prayers and songs.
It’s true that many different authors from different eras in history contributed to the books that have been canonised (that is they’ve been especially and prayerfully selected and compiled and set apart as being holy)...
But while all this is true, there is One Big Story that threads its way through each and every page. Whether it’s blatantly obvious and explicit or shrouded in mystery and hidden away in some kind of cryptic prophesy... the Big Story is there. All the books are interconnected and entwined and meshed together. All part of The Big Story.

** This picture illustrates all the cross references between every chapter of every book of the Bible**

And so it begins, Genesis chapter 1, beginning at verse one...

“In the beginning... God”

The Big Story began long before the first words of Bible were even scrawled on the first piece of parchment. And like all good stories, we’re introduced to the leading Character - God.

Throughout this story we discover all about his character and personality as he gradually reveals more and more about himself. This story is all about him, and he was there at the beginning, in fact, he was there before it began. He has always been there. He is truly eternal, which doesn’t just mean that he will never die but it means he has always been. He is God.

When he calls himself ‘I AM’ in the Second Book, called Exodus, he isn’t lying. He just IS. He always has been, he is right now and he always will be. And he is Perfect and Unique, and he’s unique in his perfection. He is unlike anything or anyone else ever. The One and the Only. Supreme and Sovereign... He is God.
Thankfully for us he knows that he is God – because if he didn’t know he was God it would prove that he wasn’t God but he does know that he is God and he loves the fact he’s God and so all is right with Everything.

So, we have our lead character. We are introduced to God. A God who is and always has been one and three - a mysterious trilogy of deity within one perfect and unique God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in an eternally perfect and loving relationship – “God in three persons, Blessed Trinity”. The Hero of our Story, God, is different. He is perfect community and yet he is one. He is love, and also lover and beloved. He is God. He is Holy, set apart, distinct. And before time began, before anything was ever created, before even the slightest hint of a big bang, God was – Father, Son and Spirit – in perfect loving community within Himself. Worthy of all glory, all honour, all praise…

Hello?! he hasn’t done anything yet! Often in our songs and in our prayers we praise God for what he’s done, which is a good thing, but He hasn’t done anything at this point and yet that doesn’t have any effect whatsoever on how worthy he is, on how amazing he is, on how holy he is, on how great he is. He is God which means that by his very nature, the very essence of who is he, the very core of his being, by the innate, natural, inherent basis of who he is… he is entirely and exclusively worthy to be worshipped! We worship him primarily and wholly for Who He Is because He. Is. God!

It’s a good start to a story isn’t it?

Don't React. Respond.

2010-10-11T08:12:00.012+01:00

In our relationships, whether at home, work, out and about wherever we may be and whatever we may be doing we can either react or respond. At first glance the two are not all that different but there is one distinct difference between the two that makes one for better for us to use than the other. The main difference between the two is control.

Reactions are automatic. Isaac Newton said "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." You can’t help it. It just happens. It's like watching someone belly flop from a high diving board – the moment you hear that slap of flesh on water you can’t help but ‘oooooohhh’ That’s a reaction.

Responses are controlled. They involve time to reflect, consider one’s actions and make your move. Responses are far more helpful in relationships than reactions. But they take a lot more work to master.

If there was one person who lived a lifestyle of reactions and learned this lesson the hard way it was a guy called Peter. Peter was one of Jesus’ closest friends. He was one of his apprentices, his followers. Peter had a habit of reacting rather than responding to various situations... and we’re going to look at a couple examples of his rashness and see how we can learn from his mistakes.

The first story is at an event called the ‘Transfiguration’. Jesus took his three closest mates – Peter, James and John – up onto a mountain to get away from the bustle of life and pray. While they were there something happened. Jesus went from his usual appearance as an average, working class, Jewish bloke to miraculously looking spectacular. He was radiant in dazzling bright white clothes light flashes of lightning and his face just beamed with glory and wonder and majesty brighter than the sun. Suddenly two other men were there in the same shiny white attire – one was Moses (from the Prince of Egypt) and the other was Elijah (one of the most famous Old Testament prophets) I don’t know how they knew it was them, maybe Jesus told them afterwards, but anyway – they were there talking with Jesus about what was going to happen at Easter and just how significant his death and resurrection was going to be. Like some ultra-holy pep-talk.Peter is watching all this unfold in front of him and says “I’m very happy to be here. I’m having a lovely time... Do you want me to build you a Gazebo? You know, some kind of memorial awning or something? I could build one for you, Jesus. One for Moses and one for Elijah?”

If Responding is about all control Peter is freefalling here. Even Luke, who wrote the story is his gospel writes afterward in brackets (He did not know what he was saying). Peter just didn’t get it. He didn’t know what was happening and so, instead of waiting to figure out what to do or wait for instructions, he reacts and gets it totally wrong. We’re more likely to react when we don’t know the full story; when we don’t see the big picture; when we don’t understand what’s happening. It is always better to find out more before reacting quickly and totally missing the point.

The second example is in the garden of Gethsemane on the Thursday night before Good Friday. The disciples have been with Jesus all evening. They had shared the first communion together earlier that night at dinner and now they were all, except Judas, with Jesus in the garden. Jesus had gone off alone to pray and told them to keep watch. The disciples were tired and fell asleep. Judas comes back, leading a troop of temple soldiers right towards Jesus so they can arrest him. Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss and the soldiers move in to arrest him. During the scuffle of Jesus being arrested, one of the disciples takes his sword out and chops off the ear of one of the soldiers (who is the servant of the High Priest). That disciple? It was Peter.

Peter wasn't thinking ‘Jesus is being arrested, they’re going to take him and kill him. I know... I’ll cut someone’s ear off! That’ll help!’ he was just swinging wildly with the sword in blind panic. We are more likely to react when we are tired and stressed. Peter probably wasn’t thinking clearly because the guy was shattered. He’d had an emotionally draining night where Jesus had said some things that were hard to hear and understand. And now, in the heat of the moment he just lost it and, without really thinking too much, he’s cut a man’s ear off. I’m sure arguments and conflicts seem to occur more frequently in stressful situations or when I’m tired.

Peter was rubbish at Responding. He reacted to everything.
But he finally learned his lesson. After Jesus had died, been raised to life again and then ascended to heaven; and after the Holy Spirit had come at Pentecost, Peter was a different man.

One time, Peter and John got arrested for teaching about Jesus. They were dragged before the religious leaders in Jerusalem and questioned. Now, Old Peter probably would’ve flown off the handle at them and done something stupid under the pressure of the situation. But he’s changed.
Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, began to tell the court the story of Jesus calmly, clearly and with authority. Acts 4:13 says when they (the religious courtroom officials) saw the courage of Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
Jesus’ influence - of always responding rather than react to the situation - had finally rubbed off on Peter. And the Holy Spirit now lived inside him, guiding him, helping him. Peter was following the example he’d seen in Jesus and was being helped by the Holy Spirit to do so. Peter was responding, not reacting. He was taking time to reflect, to pray things through, then make his move, not just in his own strength, but with God’s help.

Elsewhere in the bible there is a list of personality traits known as the ‘Fruits of the Spirit’. They are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. But when you try to follow Jesus’ example, and when the Holy Spirit comes to live in you and work alongside you, these qualities begin to develop and show in your life. And what Peter learned, and what I’m learning, and what you can know too is that with God’s help we can respond rather than react.
Reacting is self preservation, it’s defensive, it’s out of our control. It’s often painful to others (it can leave people ear-less), it’s not beneficial to anyone really. But with God helping us, and with Jesus’ example to follow, we can respond gently and lovingly, in joy and peace, with patience and kindness and self-control displaying the goodness and faithfulness of God in us and through us.

Peter later wrote a couple of letters to local churches helping them to learn the lessons he’d learnt by living and working and learning from his time with Jesus and starting the early Church.
And so I’ll give Peter the final word...

"Prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."
Rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.

To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen."

[Sermon from Church.co.uk, 10/10/10]

Everything changes

2010-10-08T11:15:00.008+01:00

Change is everywhere.

As mentioned in my previous blog, a lot has changed for me personally lately; new job, new flat, new wife! But the changes go further than that. There is change as the leaves on the trees turn from green to gold. Change in the route of the bus as it goes on diversion due to roadworks totally avoiding my intended destination and leaving me with a walk to work in the rain, which was the very reason I took the bus in the first place.

From the roof of our block of flats there is a fantastic view of the London Skyline. From Canary Wharf to the east, across to Bank, St Paul's, London Bridge and over to the west towards the London Eye and into the distance. Classic buildings and cathedrals are merged with flats and warehouses and punctuated by high rise office blocks, towers and skyscrapers.

Dotted in amongst the established landmarks are new developments. Cranes feature prominently in the London cityscape. Virtually every view of London now has a crane in it somewhere.

The city is changing, developing, upgrading, expanding, enhancing, adapting, evolving, growing...

The city is only a reflection of the people who live within it. We are infatuated with change, upgrading to get the latest apps and gadgets, relaunching and recreating our wardrobes and image. We want bigger and better and faster and we mould the city accordingly.

The main question is...

Are we changing for the better?

Will a multi-billion dollar skyscraper provide inspiration for a more sensible pace of life?
Will the latest this-or-that create a more tangible sense of community and belonging or just add to the ever-increasing loneliness epidemic that floods our cities?

At Church.co.uk and Oasis, there are exciting plans to developing the site. It's our 2020 vision. By which time London will have anything up to 14 new high-rise buildings either completed or under construction. But the development of the Oasis Centre and the Church.co.uk premises is not the goal. Our vision is to transform the community.

We want to provide for those who need help.
We want to be a place where people feel welcome and safe and accepted.
We want to work with people to develop the area into a place where families want to live rather than feeling trapped by circumstances.

A building can never in itself achieve that. But a Church with a passion for Jesus and what he has asked us to do can!

Change is here to stay.

All change please. All change.

2010-10-01T13:46:00.003+01:00

Wow. The past three months have been jam-packed and lived at a furious pace.

Not a lot has remained the same. I no longer live in the little box room at college on the top of the Hill, I'm in our perfect new flat on the Monopoly board. It was pretty empty for a while; just an air-bed and a couple of bookshelves for company. We were then joined by a table and chairs, a TV stand (but no TV, that's a rant I shall save for another time!), a proper bed and lots, and lots of other little bits.

I spent the summer growing into my new job as Head of Music and Arts at Church.co.uk, spending a lot of time working with Southside Radio and building relationships with the Old Vic Tunnels. The Tunnels team gave us plenty of opportunites to let our budding radio reporters review shows, interview artists, directors, producers, and generally experience the fantastic atmosphere in the Tunnels. If you get a chance to go, you will not be disappointed.

And last, but certainly not least, on 18 September I got married to my beautiful Kathryn. It was a perfect day surrounded by friends and family and with God at the centre where He should be. We then spent the rest of the weekend in Oxford, a week in Venice and a week settling into our home together.

Now we're pretty much back down to earth and ready to begin 'real-life' together.
That hopefully explains the rather large period of silence since the last blog and this one. Regular service will resume shortly. Thank you for your patience.

A Lesson from Tiepolo

2010-07-21T11:26:00.007+01:00

I had the opportunity to visit Dulwich Picture Gallery recently. It’s a fantastic place with a great collection of artwork and a real sense of history. Within the collection was a particular painting that caught my eye.

A painting by Giambattista Tiepolo called ‘Joseph receiving Pharaoh's Ring’. It was painted around 1733-35 and is a beautiful, fine piece of work and well worthy of a place in the gallery. But it wasn’t so much the artist’s skill that caught my attention, or the style or the colours he used.

It was something far subtler.

Something I read in the little description hanging next to the piece.

It informed me that one of the characters in the background, the more distant of the two trumpeters, is actually reckoned to be a self-portrait. Tiepolo painted himself in the story. And it was this idea that sparked my thoughts. This was a fantastic concept

– putting yourself in the story.

It’s a technique that could revolutionise reading the Bible. Stories could come to life by imagining yourself in the story. Where would you be? Would you be front row or somewhere in the background? What are the sights, the sounds, the smells?

Imagine the scenes around Jesus while he toured the countryside teaching, performing miracles, meeting people, having a laugh with everyone around him. Where would you be? Trying to sneak closer to hear him more clearly? Hoping to catch his eye and ask for a miracle? Trying to avoid him because he was teaching things a bit too risky and too close for comfort?

What about our worship songs? How different would they be if we wrote songs with ourselves in the stories? Would they be simple little ditties about how much we love God, or would they be drenched in real emotion rooted in a more intense understand of the story of God? What themes would emerge from inside the narrative rather than a safer location on the sidelines?

Paint yourself in the story. Let me know what you see.

Adventurous (Different Eyes: The art of living beautifully)

2010-07-19T11:16:00.007+01:00

The pop-culture way of doing Christian ethics is to constantly ask ‘What Would Jesus Do?’. And whilst this is quite a handy little catchphrase and reminder, and wristband, and pencil, and t-shirt, and CD holder, and egg cup... it’s harder than it seems because we don’t have a guidebook of what Jesus would do, we’ve only got a few random accounts of thing Jesus DID do.

Three and a half years worth of touring and teaching condensed into 4 gospel with an average of about 20 chapters – that’s not a lot for an Ethical resource or advice guide. But Jesus never came to give as a guidebook. He didn’t come to give us a moral A-to-Z he came to show us How – to – See.

Jesus taught in a way that demonstrated character. And he gave dozens of stories and sketches of how to do it. Take the Good Samaritan for example: That is not a story to store away in your memory just in case the next time you’re travelling on the motorway you find a guy who’s been beaten up and left for dead. It’s giving a glimpse of how to imitate God. It’s not necessarily about rules and regulations and religion.

Pope John Paul said this: It’s not that the gospel has changed; it is just that our understanding of it is slowly growing. We’re all still learning about Jesus. We’re still learning about loving God with our heart and soul and mind and strength. We’re still learning who our neighbours are, let alone about loving them. And our whole lives are set towards getting to know Jesus. We have to pursue Jesus. To keep studying him. To keep figuring him out. He’s the most complex man in History – to think we’ve got him all sussed out is both arrogant and, well, just plain stupid!

I’m getting married in September and I was given this advice a while ago: Don't marry so you can stop pursuing women. Marry so you can perfect the pursuit one woman for a lifetime. We’re called as a church to perfect the pursuit of Jesus for a lifetime.

In order to know what Jesus would do, we have to know Jesus, and in order to know Jesus we have to follow Jesus. Jesus said ‘follow me’, not ‘follow a set of concepts or a code of conduct or an institution’. It’s about being his follower, his apprentice, learning from him, learning what he’s like and copying him.

The reassuring thing about following Jesus is that he knows where he’s going. There is an end to the story. We all like a happy ending. And this story has got a cracker. From the first moments of Jesus’ ministry on earth he had a goal in mind. This was more than a pipe-dream or a good idea. Jesus was working to bring about the Kingdom of God; To challenge the wayward earthly interpretations of religion and politics and social justice; He wanted to bring people’s attention to a way of living beautifully. And as well as having a goal in mind, he had a strategy. Reaching out to the poor and the sick and those on the margins. Speaking up for people who couldn’t speak. Loving the unloved. Giving people a new, fresh start. He wasn’t just waiting for the new heaven and new earth to arrive, he was ushering it in. It was starting to arrive there and then. And as a church we can join in: The Church’s cry is: if the future looks like this, let’s work to bring it here, now! We don’t have to wait to be involved in the Kingdom of God.

I used to work with Spring Harvest Holidays. Part of my job was heading up the 11-13’s team which took a lot of energy and effort. I should probably add too that my sleep patterns are fairly erratic at the best of times. I often go through spells of insomnia and one of those spells was at SHH. Sleep deprivation and youth work don’t mix. It was the end of one of the morning sessions, we finished at midday and had about two minutes left before we could let the kids go and to get their attention I said “We’ll see you tomorrow morning, and you know what tomorrow is...?!”

Thursday? Water fight day? Talent show day? Could have been any of those but me and my sleep deprived head said... IT’S CHRISTMAS! (It was August! My team glared at me. The kids got excited and ran out) The following day we did Christmas: Toilet paper snowmen, Christmas decorations, carols, party food. The Works.

Most of the kids that week were staying on the following week so we thought we’d carry the theme over... and what happens the week after Christmas?

NEW YEAR – in the middle of a baking hot day in August we had a New Years Eve party. We had party poppers and food and dancing. We sang Auld Lang Syne and we counted down to Mid-night at 12 noon. it was brilliant!

Unbeknown to me and my team, the pastoral care couple were sitting just outside our venue with a woman in floods of tears. Her marriage was breaking down, she’d been quite ill, because of all this her kids were struggling at school and her prayer was ‘God, I wish this year could just start again’. And at that moment, I sent 150 11-13year olds running past her screaming at the top of their lungs HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

The New is here Now! We can choose to live beautifully now. We can follow Jesus now. We can know Jesus now. One day the kingdom of God will be established in full but we can be adventurous and be part of it NOW!

Forgetting what lies behind...

2010-06-28T11:27:00.004+01:00

The England v Germany fiasco was abysmal. While the country mourns the apparent footballing death of the 'golden generation' we must look now to the future. What of the Euro's in 2012? What of the next World Cup in four years time?

The fact is the curtain has fallen for the likes of Gerrard, Lampard, Joe Cole, John Terry and Gareth Barry. They've had their chance and they've failed to fulfill their potential on the main stage; 2002, 2006 and 2010 all promised much and delivered nothing but disappointment. All of them will be over 30 in 2014. If there were concerns that the team this year was too old it is certainly time to retire the old guard before the next tournament!

Instead, focus on the new players.

In 2014, for the World Cup in Brazil, we could have a team that looks like this:

Joe HART (27)

Micah RICHARDS (26) Michael DAWSON (30) Joleon LESCOTT (31) Leighton BAINES (29)

Aaron LENNON (27) Tom HUDDLESTONE (27) Aashley YOUNG (28)

Wayne ROONEY (28)

Theo WALCOTT (25) Gabriel AGBONLAHOR (27)

With the likes of Shawcross, Milner, Johnson and Bent on the bench there is the makings of a good sqaud; a squad that can be enriched by the next batch of young talent - Jack Wilshire, Jack Rodwell and Danny Wellbeck.

If the England manager begins playing this kind of team now it gives them four years to gel, to learn to play together, to develop the team spirit that was evidently lacking from the current group of talented individuals. Play them through the qualifiers and, hopefully, finals of the European Championships in 2012. Let them feel what it's like to play at a big tournament.

If the current players genuinely want to be a part of the England setup let them play a role similar to David Beckham this year; a mentor, a morale booster, a voice of experience and encouragement.

I reckon this is the way forward. Who's with me?

I don't want to be an England player.

2010-06-28T04:33:00.005+01:00

In the aftermath of yet another disappointing world cup for England I, like many other football fans, begin to reflect on what went wrong.

According to some of the leading players the training was perfect, the preparations were perfect, the hotel setup and arrangements were all perfect. So how was it that a group of the best English players failed to play to their full potential? failed to play as a team? failed to live up to the expectation that was put on this 'golden generation'?

The million pound question is surely this: How can our top players have excellent seasons for their clubs and not continue that good form in an England shirt?

The England team that were utterly outplayed and ultimately knocked out of the World Cup by a Germany side that, in all honesty, we should have beaten, featured players that we the key to successful seasons for Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and others. Our strikers alone scored, somewhat ironically, sixty-six goals between them this season for their clubs, and yet the England team managed only 3 (plus that one that was not given).

We didn't even score against Algeria.

This is the inquest that will continue for a long time to come. I don't have all the answers. But one thing I am sure of is that I don't want to be like an 'England player'.

I don't want to be inconsistent.

Whatever role I'm playing, in whatever context and whatever situation I'm in I want to operate with integrity, creativity and passion.

I don't want to give people an opportunity to accuse me of never giving 100% in any area of my life. I don't want people to see a 'club' and 'country' distinction in what I do. I want to play well.

David Beckham remains to this day one of my all time favourite players. He has been criticised in more recent games he has featured in for not being quick enough or being too old. In truth, Beckham has never been particularly quick, at least not compared to Aaron Lennon or Theo Walcott. But Beckham's strength is in his work rate. His passion in an England shirt is inspiring. His professionalism is second-to-none. He still has an ability to give those around him a boost. There was rarely ever a 'club vs country' dilemma for David Beckham. Even off the pitch he has proven to be a good father and a faithful husband, despite the media speculations and tabloid attempts to break up his marriage and family.

I'm sure in August all the players will return to playing for their clubs and have a great season. I'm sure there will be more England games and more disappointment and debate over players not transferring their club form onto the international stage.

But I don't want to be an 'England player'.

I want to be consistent.

Where have all the miracles gone?

2010-06-21T08:47:00.006+01:00

There whole area of spiritual gifts, miracles and signs and wonders is a weird and wonderful minefield in Church circles. There is a broad spectrum of stances from a full on focus on the supernatural – Praying for Revival, Healing Ministries, Speaking in Tongues, Moving in the Prophetic, a lot of the stuff on God TV – right through to focus on the natural – Incarnational Church, Missional, Relational – and there are Churches that genuinely believe that Spiritual Gifts don’t happen anymore; that God simply doesn’t do that these days.

It’s a huge subject that theologians and churches have wrestled with for years. (HTB recently hosted a brilliant conference about the Holy Spirit in the World Today) We could never do justice to it in a short talk and a panel discussion so what I’ll do tonight is a very brief overview of what, I believe, our focus should be as the church today, and then we can get into some discussions afterwards.

Spiritual Gifts are obviously a work of the Holy Spirit.

Firstly, the Holy Spirit is alive and well and working in the Church today. Now, the Spirit doesn’t seem to get as much attention as the other two in our teaching. We don’t seem to know as much about him as we do the Father and the Son; he (or she) is a bit more difficult to get our heads around. While it seems that we don’t see many supernatural miracles in the same way as they’re recorded in the New Testament, we do see His work in the church. He is the same Spirit, He is God, He never changes, He is always faithful and He is always engaged with His church.

We often treat the Holy Spirit like the Genie in the Lamp. A quick rub of the prayer lamp and He’ll get on and do whatever it is we ask because it says in the bible ‘ask and it will be given.’ The Spirit prefers to work with people and through people. He mediates the will of God. He inspires and guides and uses people to bring about God’s kingdom in the life of the Church. Which is why there are gifts of the Spirit. the message of wisdom... the message of knowledge... faith... gifts of healing... miraculous powers... prophecy... distinguishing between spirits... speaking in different kinds of tongues and... the interpretation of tongues. We see them displayed in Acts, at Pentecost, the Spirit using people to spread good news by speaking in different languages, in the early church the Spirit used the apostles to demonstrate God’s love to people by healing them.

Do we see the same gifts now? Yes we do.
Are they manifested in exactly the same way? No, not necessarily.

Ultimately, Spiritual Gifts are given out for the building up of the church, for the common good. (1 Cor 12:7) I personally don’t speak in tongues. And I’ve been in Churches were they seriously doubt you’re a Christian if you don’t speak in tongues. This attitude doesn’t build up the church. I’ve been prayed for for healing and nothing seems to happen and I’ve been accused of not having enough faith or having unconfessed sin. This doesn’t build up the church.

At the end of 1 Corinthians 12 Paul, who was probably ranting by this point, says: Are all apostles? No. (I’m filling in the answers here) Are all prophets? No. Are all teachers? No. Do all work miracles? No. Do all have gifts of healing? No. Do all speak in tongues? No. Do all interpret? No. But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way...

Now, whoever divided up the chapters missed a trick here, because Chapter 12 is meant to flow seamlessly from into 1 Corinthians 13 (the 'wedding' passage).

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

Even stopping there makes no sense because it carries on: Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

It’s not about weddings at all it’s about being church and it’s about spiritual gifts. It clearly states that prophecies will cease, tongues will be stilled, knowledge will pass away when perfection comes, when Christ comes again and heaven comes to earth. We’re not supposed to focus on the gifts we’re supposed to desire the greater gifts of Faith and Hope and above all Love.

When we focus on these three, it’s amazing how many miracles start happening. Everyday Miracles. We focus of Faith, Hope and Love and opportunities miraculously appear.In the Hebrew language there is no word for 'spiritual' because there was never a seperation between spirit and secular. There was never meant to be. When we focus on Faith, Hope and Love in our everyday life we reunite spiritual and secular; we begin living again in the power of the Holy Spirit and the spiritual gifts start flowing more naturally. Faith, Hope and Love, and the greatest of these is Love.

Target Practice

2010-06-02T09:44:00.005+01:00

The end of my final year at Spurgeon's College is rapidly approaching. One lone exam is all that stands between me and my Spurgeonic freedom. Three years of studying, learning, experiencing, will soon be behind me.

For each one of those three years five coke cans have been positioned on my windowsill in front of my desk. (It has not been the same five cans, but there have always been five cans there, except for a short period when they were replaced with beer bottles.)

Many visitors have enquired about the cans; were they there just because they look quite cool? was there a deeper, more significant purpose for their display?

The reason is rooted in the story of David and Goliath.

Remember the story? Small Boy vs Giant Man. Giant Man is big warrior with huge sword and lots of armour. Small Boy is small with little slingshot. Small Boy shoots Giant Warrior Man with little slingshot and small stone. Small stone hits Giant Warrior Man in head, sinks into Giant Warrior Man's skull... Giant Warrior Man dies. Small Boy saves the day and becomes hero.

It's a great story. But I heard a sermon that put it into a bit of perspective for me.

Yes, David, the small boy shot Goliath with one smooth stone. One shot, one kill.
But if we honestly think that was the first shot David had ever taken we are seriously mistaken and deluded.

David was a shepherd boy. He spent hours in the field, probably alone, looking after sheep and protecting them from bears and lions. This was David's training ground with God. He spent hours getting to know the voice of God in the quiet of the field - in the surroundings of his training ground. David wasn't just being super-spiritual, sitting on rocks playing his harp and singing and writing psalms all day; his training was practical.

Imagine David, on his own, lining coke cans up on a fence and shooting them, one-by-one, with his slingshot; his accuracy improving with every stone. When every can had been knocked off, he'd run over to the fence, line the cans up and start over again.

Imagine then, the day a lion or bear came looking for a sheepy-snack, David takes another stone and fires... he's on target because of the coke cans.

Imagine again, the day a Giant Man arrogantly challenges God's people...

David takes five stones... he knows from experience which ones fly better, faster, truer, so he picks the smooth ones... he looks at the warrior and as he does he begins to go through a routine he's practised hundreds, thousands of times before... he loads the stone effortlessly... he takes aim perfectly... he fires precisely... he's confident the stone will hit exactly where he wants it to because of the practice he's had in the sheep field (he's confident but he's not cocky, remember, he's still got four stones left as back up and I'm guessing he probably had the second stone loaded, just in case, before Goliath even hit the floor)

My coke cans have been a visual reminder for me that this is my training ground. I have no doubt that God was with David during his battle with Goliath, but I also reckon God was with David while he was in the field shooting coke cans; Preparing him. Sharpening him. Inspiring him to better himself. Firming up good habits. Developing skills that would seriously come in handy later.

I don't know if or when I'll face my giant(s).

But what I do know, is that my college time has been the training ground God has used to prepare me for it. I've spent three years 'shooting coke cans.'

Home

2010-05-27T11:39:00.006+01:00

home (hm)

1. A place where one lives; a residence.

2. The physical structure within which one lives, such as a house or apartment.

3. A dwelling place together with the family or social unit that occupies it; a household.

a. An environment offering security and happiness.

b. A valued place regarded as a refuge or place of origin.

5. The place, such as a country or town, where one was born or has lived for a long period.

6. The native habitat, as of a plant or animal.

7. The place where something is discovered, founded, developed, or promoted; a source.

8. A headquarters; a home base.

I've been wrestling with the concept of home lately. In the past couple of weeks I've needed to fill in official forms which ask the standard and, usually, simple question of 'Address'. Usually this isn't a problem. If I've bought something and want it delivered I have it sent to the college, where I live... but is it home?

My bank statements and voting papers and other official bits and bobs get sent to my parents' house... but is that home? It was for a number of very happy years, and in a sense it still is but it also isn't anymore.

I've lived in Geneva and in a tent in a campsite in France, neither of which were ever really 'home'. I don't feel 'at home' in the city where I was born, I don't feel I fit anymore in the towns I grew up in. All this has left me wondering where is my home.

I'm rapidly entering a period in my life where some huge changes are going to take place. In September, Kat and I are getting married. And this throws another huge aspect of home into my equation. We get the opportunity to create a new home, our home. We're not sure where that will be but, actually, it doesn't matter too much because 'home' will be where we both are. 'Home' is not necesarily a place.

C.S. Lewis wrote "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." Ultimately, I am a citizen of Heaven. I'm an alien in a foreign land and perhaps my quest for home will never be fully realised until the day God brings heaven to earth.

In the mean time my 'homelessness' continues... here's a video of me singing 'Home' by Michael Bublé.

Fifty

2010-05-23T08:53:00.005+01:00

Fifty-two days ago Jesus was crucified.

Fifty-one days ago Jesus was dead in a tomb.

Fifty days ago God rasied Jesus from the dead.

The following forty days was like Jesus: The Resurrection Tour. He travelled around appearing to people to show he was alive. Ten days ago he left his disciples on a mountain top outside Jerusalem. He told them to go back to the house and sit tight because a few days later he'd send his advocate to them.

Today he did just that.

A sound like a hurracaine filled the place, like an express train thundering around them; something like fire spread across the room and just seemed to rest on them. Suddenly they could speak in foreign languages - they hadn't learned them, they weren't academics or linguists, the Holy Spirit gave them the words to say and they just said them. They couldn't contain themselves and burst out into the street causing havoc - a holy hullaballoo! (I love that word!)

They started talking about Jesus to anyone and everyone; the locals, the foreigners, tourists, business men on their way to work, men, women, children, anyone who would listen...

And so the Church was born.

3,000 people joined the Church that day. The believed Jesus died and was raised to life. They apologise for living self centred lives, for looking after number-one, and said they would live for Jesus from now on. They were baptised to publicly show the change in their lives. Things were different now.

2,000 or so years later, that movement, that inclusive community of people is still around. It looks very different now, lots of different styles and traditions but ultimately the purpose is the same. To tell people that Jesus died for them and was raised from the dead. That if they apologise for living self centred lives, for looking after number-one, and say they would live for Jesus from now on, they are saved and they too can have the Holy Spirit.

This is my fiftieth blog. It seems fitting that it lands on Pentecost, the day the Spirit first came to inspire the Church to do great things... and I don't think he's finished with us just yet!

Happy Holy Spirit Day.

Thoughts on Communion and the Church Part II

2010-05-03T12:01:00.003+01:00

Communion is Inclusive

When Jesus shared the last supper, who was there?

The disciples.

The disciples were an odd bunch. And Jesus invited them to share communion with him. He knew exactly where they’d come from, what they’d done, what they were like as people, even what they were going to do... and he invited them to share with him.

Communion is inclusive. His message was always about including people and communion is no different. Peter was going to disown him; deny he ever knew Jesus. Thomas was going to doubt he was raised to life. They were all going to abandon him when he was arrested... but Jesus included them in the meal.

Some churches are guarded about who can or cannot take communion. They used passages like ‘if you eat/drink in an unworthy manner you drink judgement upon yourself’ as proof-texts to keep their exclusive communion for the ‘righteous’ few.
I think that’s missing the point. Those scary passages are all about inclusive communion not exclusive communion. Yes it’s about taking communion seriously and not letting familiarity breed contempt. A guy called Paul, one of the early church leaders and pioneers; he wrote those ‘judgement’ words to one particular church group in Corinth who were misusing communion. They were having every-man-for-himself communion: some were eating all the bread and leaving others hungry, some were downing all the wine and being carried out drunk... this is clearly not right! They’d missed the community aspect of communion.

Communion is inclusive: the invitation is for all who believe and want to remember what it is that Jesus has done for us. But when we celebrate communion it’s interdependent and it’s inclusive. Communion is Involved Firstly, it involves all us individually. Jesus calls us, elsewhere in the bible, to Love God with all your heart soul mind and strength. In communion he gives us a practical way of expressing that.

We love Jesus and He loves us – that’s our heart, that’s the intimacy we talked about earlier.
It is a spiritual thing – God is spirit and we engage with him in communion, that’s our soul.
We actively remember the Cross and the Resurrection – That’s our mind.
It’s physical food and drink – That’s our strength. We’ve shrunken the meal down somewhat from New Testament times [honey, i shrunk the sacrament]. This would’ve been an actual meal rather than the nibbles we use today.

It involves us completely.
Heart soul mind strength.

Secondly, The act of communion is hands on. This is not a spectator sport.

We actually eat and drink and remember and engage and in doing so we live out our faith in this action. And that living out our faith doesn’t stop as soon as the service is finished... we remember Jesus in communion and we are reminded of everything he taught and everything he did and we should be inspired to live it out every day of our lives in every aspect.

Communion is often called ‘Mass’ in other traditions. And Mass [is not the Motor Accident Solicitors Society, which is what appears if you Google it] literally means ‘Go’ or ‘Mission’.
Communion is our inspiration to live like Jesus lived. Involved in our wider communities, not a holy huddle in this building or hiding in small groups but active and meeting with people outside the church in the estates and the schools and in government and down the shops and on the tube or the bus... living the Jesus story... Communion is Involved.

Communion is Influential

And communion is influential. It’s about remembering everything Jesus has done for us. But it’s also looking forward. It’s the hope we live for. When Jesus said this is my blood, he said it was the seal on a new covenant between God and people. It was the invitation for a fresh start. Believe in Jesus and he’ll take your old, crappy sin stained life and give you a fresh new one that’ll last forever. And that life doesn’t just mean you’ll go to heaven when you die. It can start now.

Communion is influential; it gives us a hope in Jesus that can change the way we live right now, the way we vote, the way we make ethical decisions included. This is more than just bread and just wine/grapejuice.

This is an intimate expression of Love between you and Jesus
This is a meal that builds friendships and communities
This is a meal that welcomes anyone who wants to share in it
This is a meal that involves everything you are and inspires us to live out our faith
This is a meal that can change things.

It can change me and you... it can change this church, it can change this community, it can change this country...

It’s already changed the world.

Thoughts on Communion and the Church Part I

2010-05-02T20:03:00.000+01:00

Imagine, you’re at a dinner party and your mate – not just any mate, but a guy that over the past three years has become the closest friend you’ve ever had – grabs the bread from the middle of the table, tears it into chucks and dishes it out... and he says ‘this is my body. It’s broken for you’

Do this and remember me.

And then imagine that after dinner he grabs the bottle of wine and begins pouring it into his glass – you move your glass towards him cos you want a top up yourself but instead he puts the bottle down again and passes his glass around saying ‘this is my blood. And my blood is going to seal a new covenant between God and human beings.’

Do this and remember me.

It is an odd ritual. Some might class it socially unacceptable behaviour these days. But it’s a ritual that has continued for about 2000 years.

What is communion all about?

Because this meal has been at the heart of Christian worship since day one and within this meal are the roots of the church.

At Church.co.uk, we have five key values that underpin everything that happens within the life of the church: Intimacy, Inclusivity, Interdependence, Involvement and Influence.

These values are at the heart of the church. In communion, we see Jesus establishing and demonstrating those values;

Communion is Intimate

This is a meal between friends. When Jesus initiated this ritual, he did so with 12 guys (and probably some of the others that toured with him) that had become his family over the past three years. They’d lived and worked together [imagine, 13 lads, touring around Palestine... it must’ve been a riot!]. And now they were sharing in his last supper with them before he went to the cross. John, who was one of the disciples who was closest to Jesus and who wrote one of the gospels, described how on that same night Jesus told them to ‘love one another... In the same way I have loved you, love one another.’

He told them that you know when someone really cares for you because they’re willing to die for you. And Jesus would follow through with that willingness to die for them the very next morning. And this meal was an intimate reminder of that love that Jesus had for his followers... and he includes us in the intimacy. Communion is intimate. It reminds us how much Jesus loves us. Not an airy-fairy ‘i love you’, not even a drunken ‘i love you’, but a real ‘I love you so much that I’m willing to die for you!’ Communion is intimate.

Communion is Interdependent

That last supper, or the first communion, was part of a Jewish festival - the Passover festival. It was when the whole community would remember the way God rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt. Everyone gathered together to hear and remember the story of the Exodus: Moses and Pharaoh, the plagues, the Red Sea, the Ten Commandments and all that. It was a community event; a coming together to celebrate their heritage.

The celebration of Israel’s rescue was good.

Jesus was about to rescue the whole world.

Through communion we have a way of coming together to celebrate not only our individual response to Jesus’ love for us personally, but to celebrate our collective rescue. Communion is interdependent, it’s relational, it’s meant to be shared – you cannot share a meal on your own! Whether it’s in a small group setting or as the whole congregation what we see in and through communion is God bringing people together through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Communion is interdependent. It is relational, it builds friendship and reminds us we are all part of the one church; we’ve all got different roles to play within that church but we are all on the same team! Which leads us onto our next value... inclusivity

Coming Soon: Thoughts on Communion and the Church

2010-05-01T19:45:00.002+01:00

I'm preaching at Church.co.uk tomorrow morning (Sunday, May 2nd).

The theme is Communion.

"...Communion has been at the heart of Christian worship since day one, and within this meal are the roots of the Church."

Notes coming soon...

Consequence?

2010-04-15T17:50:00.003+01:00

Just a quick thought.

There have been four earthquakes and two volcanic eruptions in approximately a 3 month time span. That's quite a lot of violent seismic activity in a relatively short space of time.

It's often said that if a butterfly flaps its wings, it can affect the weather in a totally different part of the world; it's called the butterfly effect, part of chaos theory. Now, i don't claim to know a lot about chaos theory but, if a little butterfly can have that much influence on a global scale, what kind of effect do these have...?

They're man made islands just off the beaches of Dubai.

With my limited knowledge of chaos theory and global seismic activity, I've been pondering: Arrogantly placing a substantial amount of land in a place where there wasn't any, so you can have you're own little piece of paradise, just cos you can... That is going to have some effect on the rest of the planet surely?!

Like I said, just a thought.

Any minute now...

2010-04-03T21:47:00.002+01:00

There was Evening and there was morning...

Ever since the beginning of time, God has operated on a different timescale to the civilised western world. We calculate days from Midnight til Midnight. 00:00 to 23:59.

The Jewish day begins at sunset and ends at the following sunset. Which means technically any minute now... Jesus is Raised from the Dead!

Any time between now and when the sun comes up is that mysterious and wondrous resurrection moment! How gloriously paradoxical that at the darkest point of the day the Light of the World is reignited and raised to shine brighter than ever...

Any minute now...

Saturday Grief.

2010-04-03T09:30:00.005+01:00

A heavy depression lingered in the house that morning.

The chaos and tragic activity of Friday were now merely shadows in their memories. His words spoken through heartbreak and torture on the cross still resonated in their ears. Everytime they closed their eyes a mental image of him hanging there -covered in his own blood, scratched up by the flogging, nails through his hands and feet, dead- that image was burned into their minds.
They hardly spoke to each other. Numbed by this deep sense of loss. An occasional teary glance caught the eye of another and that one look said everything; He's gone. He's really gone. They couldn't stop thinking about it. Replaying the events of yesertday over and over again. And it wasn't as if they could do anything to take their minds off of what had happened.

It was now the Sabbath, the day of rest. It was prohibited by Jewish law to do any work. They weren't allowed to go away to get away from it all because the law stipulated that you couldn't travel on the Sabbath. They were stuck in the house they were staying in with nothing to do but ponder yesterday and what it meant.
Often at Easter we tend to skip over Saturday. We remember Thursday and the meal. We briefly pause to remember what happened on Friday but we're all too quick to say '...but Sunday's coming!' Friday is too depressing, too violent, too heavy, too hopeless for us to want to hang around Friday. Jesus Died. He was actually physically, medically dead; not just out of shot or taking a breather, deceased, passed away. Friday hurts.
We certainly don't want to mope around in the heartbreak and grieving turmoil of Saturday. We don't want to be forced to contemplate and focus on Friday because the law permits us to do nothing else. We want Sunday! And in our haste to get to Sunday we forget Saturday, with all it's emptiness and regret; with all its why's and what-if's.

But if we allow ourselves to stop on Saturday; if we give ourselves a chance to grieve with a group of Disciples who didn't know Sunday was coming; if we pause just long enough to feel the heartbreak that Jesus is Dead on Saturday, we let ourselves sink to the lowest point. And from that lowest point what happens tomorrow is even more of a mysterious wonder!

Jesus is Dead.

2010-04-02T15:31:00.007+01:00

They had been intriuged by his teaching.
They had dared to come close to him.
When he told to quit their jobs and go touring with him, the dared to do it.

They had seen him heal people from diseases. He had made blind people see and cripples danced after an encounter with him. They'd seen him do unbelieveable things. He'd multiplied some bread rolls and a couple of fish to feed thousands of people. They'd seen him walk on water!

But he was so normal. He was one of the lads.
He knew how to have a laugh. But when he was serious, wow, he could cut right to the heart.
He taught about loving the unlovable and he practiced what he preached.
He had time for everybody. When he looked at you, you know you had his undivided attention.

Last Sunday they had been with him. He rode into town like he owned the place. They treated him as if he was the king. People were going as far as saying he was the Messiah.

They were daring to believe in him.
Last night they were eating and drinking with him. He was quieter than usual, but he was still the best friend they'd ever had. But when the stuff hit the fan, they all ran. They just left him...

Now Jesus was dead.

Were the last three years a complete waste of time?
What about everything he'd said about the Kingdom of God? Was it all made up?
What about everything they'd dared to believe about him? What were they meant to do now, eh?

Everyone recognised them. Everyone knew they used to hang out with Jesus. Now he's dead. What are people gonna think? What a bunch of losers.

Jesus is dead. The disciples are gutted, absolutely gutted. Friday night is a dark, dark place to be... and Saturday doesn't look much brighter from here. Come to think of it... from a disciple's point of view... Sunday looks pretty bleak too.

It is finished.

2010-04-02T11:57:00.008+01:00

It’s dark.
It’s about three in the afternoon. It’s not meant to be dark.

Instantly we know that there is something mysterious going on. Something other-worldly is occurring on this rugged landscape outside Jerusalem. And out of the darkness Jesus speaks

“My God”

My God? This is Jesus, the Son crying out to his father and yet he switches to a cry of desperation to his God.

Do you ever have those times when you’re feeling so hurt, so low, so depressed even, that you don’t ‘feel’ like praying but at the same time you know you need to get something off your chest and direct it at God? Sometimes it’s useful to use somebody else’s prayer, someone else’s words to express the pain you’re going through.

He’s quoting Psalm 22 at this point so, maybe, the agony he is enduring as part of this divine plan is too much to bear for his human emotions and he relies on the liturgy, the church songs, of the day. In his humanity he uses someone else’s prayer of pain and desolation to cry out to God.

“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” - “My God, Why have You abandoned me?”

Even in that simple cry, those around him still missed the point – they thought he was calling Elijah the prophet to come and bail him out. For three years they had followed him around and it never quite clicked for them in their minds or hearts what he was saying, and even at his death they didn’t get it.

Then, ‘with a loud cry', Jesus breathed his last… On the surface this just seems like a tragic end of a great life. But there is something a little more puzzling than just Jesus dying. Death by crucifixion usually came in the form of exhaustion and suffocation, the victim unable to raise his body enough for the lungs to draw in air. The breaking of the victim’s legs was a way of quickening the process. Ordinarily, the victim would pass out, unconscious due to lack of oxygen, before death occurred. And all this would take place often over an extended period of time. It was known for some to endure days on a cross before dying.

So how was it that Jesus cried out in a loud voice and died after just six hours? Again, perhaps the answer lies within the mystery surrounding this episode.Those around not seeing the wood for the trees. There was more going on at Calvary than just the death of an innocent Jewish carpenter turned rabbi.

Christ on the cross was the substitute for mankind in a salvation plan brilliantly conceived within the Godhead.

Jesus Christ - God the Son - in his 100% humanity would take the place of mankind, acting humbly and totally obediently in the Holy Spirit who would enable him to complete such a difficult task, to stay focused and pure to the end.

The Father, Loving and Compassionate – the personal God who longs for a relationship with his people - Holy and Just, would execute the penalty for sin upon his Son. If death is the wages or reward of sin then Jesus here is paid in full. ‘Heaven’s peace and perfect Justice’ and demonstrated here. God’s loving-justice is perfectly calculated and direct and Jesus bares it all in our place.

Grace and Mercy towards His people. Grace; getting that which we don’t deserve, has to be mixed with Mercy; notgetting what we do deserve. We’ve sinned and fallen short, we deserve to die. The Merciful God sent his Son to die in our place.

In short, the Spiritual, physical and emotional agony of being separated from God, being beaten to within an inch of his life and nailed to a cross and left to hang and die, to be abandoned by his closest friends and family and humiliated in front of those who opposed him, I think it is fair to say, without getting too wishy-washy, that Jesus died of a Broken Heart. The awesome weight of sin crushing him, the abandonment of his Father isolating him – it would be enough to make anyone lose the will to live. And so, in total human agony the Son of God cries out... and dies.

That is the mystery of the Cross – we may never know the exact terms of the transaction, we may never endure anything close to the pain Jesus endured on that Friday, but the mystery surrounding the perfect sacrifice that God accepted on our behalf has opened a way so that “all who believe in Him shall not die, but have eternal life.”

Suffering and Salvation

2010-04-02T09:27:00.005+01:00

It was now approaching noon. Jesus had been on the Cross for about three hours; Arm's outstretched - just hanging there.

Utterly exhausted, he sagged down with more of his weight on the nails in his wrists putting pressure on the median nerve. Excruciating, fiery pain shot along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain. As He pushed himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, He had to place His full weight on the nail through His feet. More searing agony as the nail tore through the nerves between the metatarsal bones of this feet.

At this point, as his tired arms grew weaker great waves of cramps ripped through the muscles, knotting them in deep relentless, throbbing pain. The cramps eliminated any strength he did have to pull himself up for breath. Hanging by the arms, the pectoral muscles, the large muscles of the chest, are paralyzed and the intercostal muscles, the small muscles between the ribs, are unable to act. Jesus could just about breathe in, but breathing out was tough. Jesus fought to raise Himself in order to get even one short breath. Finally, the carbon dioxide level increased in the lungs and in the blood stream, and the cramps partially subsided.

And yet, despite the total, unbearable, physical agony, he had the grace to forgive those who had scarred him; the ones who had caused this trauma; the ones who had set his execution in motion. Forgiveness.

He didn't retaliate against those who hurled abused.

He didn't condemn the criminal crucified next to him who heaped insult after insult on him.

But he did have time to reassure one man; a condemned law-breaker crucified near him. They may never have met before this day. They may never have talked together or ate together. But now they were dying together and in a moment of revelation the criminal sees Jesus for who he is.

In the midst of his own personal agonising trauma, the man turns his head towards Jesus, pulls against his own piercing nails to draw a short breath or two, and tries to get Jesus' attention.

"Jesus. Hey, Jesus." Jesus turns his face towards him.

"When you enter your kingdom... please, remember me. Please"

The first hint of the first smile of the day lights up the beaten and bloodied face of the Messiah and he replies back.

"Don't worry, I will. Today you will join me in paradise."

Salvation during Crucifixion: What a wonderful mysterious combination.

Christ Crucified

2010-04-02T09:00:00.002+01:00

The death sentence given to Jesus of Nazareth was death by crucifixion: the most barbaric execution conceived of in the whole of human history.

Jesus would be flogged; scourged: whipped. The whips used would be leather strands with pieces of lead, flint, metal all lodged in the ends. It was designed and perfected to shred flesh from a man's back. The first few lashes bruised. The next batch cut through the skin. Thirty-nine lashes later Jesus back was a bloodied mangled mess of skin, muscle and tissue. Then the put a robe on him and mockingly crowned him king with a crown made of jagged-spiny thorns which pierce his head and jarred against his skull.

The practise was for the prisoner to carry his or her own cross. Whether the whole thing or just a cross beam was carried is unsure, but nevertheless, carrying a log for about 700 yards across a scourged back would hurt.

The reached the crucifixion site - outside the city walls, on the main road. It was a deterrent to stop anyone challenging the authorities.

Ripping off the robe, re-opening the wounds on his back he was laid on the cross.

These soldiers weren't careful and gentle. They had crucified hundreds of people, if not thousands. They were just doing their job and doing it with merciless efficiency.

They grabs his hands, pulled his arms outstretched and reached for a nail - a long, rough, rusty metal nail.

Feeling for the depression in the wrist, between the bones, the soldier positions the nail and hammers it through Jesus' arm - passing by arteries and veins and damaging nerves - and into the wood below. Every jolt of every blow sending agony through his body. The same action is carried out the other side.

Next the feet. They bend his knees slightly and ensure they rest in an uncomfortable place. One foot in brought back to rest on the other. Another nail, this positioned at the top of the front foot, is driven through flesh and bone and finally wood.

The cross is fixed and raised and Christ is left to die.

Exhausted - he hasn't slept since Wednesday night, though I doubt he got much rest knowing what was coming.

Hungry. Thirsty.

Bleeding profusely from his back, his hands, his feet, his head. His body losing a lot of fluid very quickly. The stress and pressure often caused migraines to afflict the victims.

It has just gone nine on Friday morning...

Extreme Thursday

2010-04-02T08:35:00.003+01:00

Last night was a night of extremes.

Extreme humility. As Jesus, the Messiah, got up from the table during dinner with his followers, his friends, grabbed a towel and some water and began washing their feet.

This seems a strange act to do these days, but remember these guys walked everywhere, and they walked everywhere wearing sandals. The dust and dirt from the roads mix with the sweat of their toughened feet. This was a nasty job. And yet Jesus stoops down to serve his friends. He loves them. He cares for their needs, not just their spiritual needs, but their physical needs and their emotional needs.

It is a night of extreme significance. As Jesus, the Son of God, takes and old tradition and translates it into a loaded memorial. He takes bread and breaks it and shares it and tells them 'this is my body'. He takes a cup of wine and shares it saying 'this is my blood'. Eat and drink in remembrance of me. For centuries theologians have wrestled over the meaning of this mysterious act. A simple meal with enormous significance.

Extreme emotion. After dinner they walk to a nearby garden and Jesus goes alone to pray. He knows what is required of him over the next twenty-four hours. He knows he was born to die so that God and humankind can be reconciled to one another. He has read the prophecies. In his heart he is willing but... he's a man. Any man in that position would be tempted to run and hide; to escape in the night, flee the country and live a happy life as a carpenter elsewhere. But he stays. The stress and terror of knowing he'll die tomorrow sends his heart racing; his blood pressure soaring to point it bursts blood vessels in his head and, mixed with the cold sweat of excruciating anxiety, Jesus sweats blood.

The emotional trauma doesn't stop there because Judas, one of the twelve guys he had spent every day for the past three years with, comes to find him. He is leading the soldiers, who will arrest Jesus, right to him. And to signal which one the soldiers want, Judas kisses Jesus. A sign of love inflicting a wound so deep.

There are now Extreme Political Circumstances. The religious leaders take Jesus and put him on trial. Though none of the false witnesses they bring in can pin anything on the faultless Nazarene rabbi they eventually ask him plainly: Are you the Son of God?

I AM

He told the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

They didn't believe him. The politics of the time meant Jesus was dragged from trial to trial in front of differing parties and authorities. Eventually the Roman Governor gave the death sentence. He was schedule for Crucifixion at 9:00am.

6 - Cash and Community Care

2010-03-29T13:19:00.006+01:00

It is the Monday after the Sunday before. After the celebrations and drama of the triumphal entry, Jesus and the disciples are back in the temple (a brave move after yesterday's outburst). He is aware of what is to come later this week and so Jesus continues establishing the principles, the foundations, on which his Church would be built. He begins by warning the disciples to beware of the religious leaders who like to be seen in fine robes and to flaunt their influence and status. They use their wealth and status for selfish means and will be punished. Do not be like these people!

He turns their attention to the temple offering boxes and and he points out two contrasting types of offerings given; first by ‘the rich’ and then by a ‘poor widow’ – At that time and in that culture there weren't many opportunities for widows to earn money so any widow would be poor. She puts in two coins. That's all she has. She gives literally all that she had to live on. Her little gift is deemed by Jesus as more valuable than all the offerings by the rich put together. As she is bringing her gift to the temple she is trusting in God for her provision and her life. But at this time she is investing in a corrupted system. The religious leaders had abandoned their duties and were ‘exploiting the weak and helpless.’

This wasn't the plan. The Temple was meant to look after the poor. But money had gotten in the way. Expenses scandals and crooked deals meant the religious leaders weren't doing the job properly. Jesus wanted his followers to act differently. The early church ‘pooled their resources’ to make sure people were looked after and provided for. The new early church system would ensure widows giving their all to the Church would be suitably catered for in a way that the defective temple system couldn’t, or rather didn’t. Jesus’ teaching here is twofold; give offerings that are costly. Be like the widow and give everything. Hold nothing back and rely on God to provide and care for you. And secondly it is a lesson about community. Offering possessions and wealth up to God for use in his Church builds a wonderful and honouring community.

Yesterday Jesus was hailed as the king, the messiah. In his kingdom, where things are done his way, the poor and the needy are looked after. Actually, everyone is looked after.

Remind me... why don't we live like this?

7 - Palm Sunday: Where?

2010-03-28T21:08:00.012+01:00

Where would you have been today?

Jesus of Nazareth, the radical Jewish rabbi who had been stirring up controversy everywhere he went with his outrageous antics and fresh new teaching style, was seen surrounded by the usual crowd of thousands of people, but this time he was riding into the city... on a donkey.

For the past three years he had been teaching about love and social justice and performing miracles. He'd even raised people from the dead. Jesus had become a celebrity. Celebrities galloped into town on a stallion or with an entourage. They didn't travel on a scruffy little donkey. It would be the equivalent of a modern day world famous celebrity, riding into London on a cheap, basic model moped. It was a surreal, significant day and it's intriguing to think... where would I have been?

Would I have been on the roadside? Standing with the masses, experiencing the crowd shouting cheers at Jesus as he toddled past balanced precariously on this little beast-of-burden. Would I have noticed the subtle change in the chants of the crowd from the generic 'hooray for Jesus' to the politically charged cries declaring Jesus was the Messiah, the Chosen One, the Hero of Israel! Would I have thrown my coat, my one and only jacket, on the floor to create a red carpet for Jesus to ride on? Would I have grabbed a palm-banner and waved it to honour this donkey-riding King?

Or would I have been at the Palace? or the military base? After hearing Jesus was coming and the claims he was the Messiah - the man the Jews thought would liberate Israel from Roman occupation - would I have run ahead to watch the Jesus v Rome fight? Would I be expecting a bloody revolution? Would I be disappointed when it turns out Jesus didn't head for the Roman HQ, but went straight into the temple?

Would I have been in the temple? Maybe I would have been there the whole time, focused so intently on my religious rituals that I actually missed what God was doing? Would I have been utterly disgusted and furious that Jesus would cause a disturbance as he smashed up the money changing area, declaring my religious practise as missing the point, disrupting my comfortable views on faith and religion and ethics?

Or would I have been with Jesus all along... hanging on his every word... helping him get on the donkey... watching as he paraded through the city but never letting it go to his head... seeing him get so passionate in the temple as he put things to right... would I follow him for the rest of the week...?

It was gonna be one heck of a week...

New Blog Series: Begins Sunday

2010-03-23T14:30:00.004Z

With Palm Sunday fast approaching I have plans to blog about the Holy Week story. From the triumphal entry this weekend, through the emotional agony of Thursday night, exploring the physical torture of Friday, the emptiness of Saturday and the mind-bogglingly glorious events of Easter Sunday.

Watch this space...

Widescreen/Inside-out

2010-03-03T09:13:00.008Z

I’d like to share with you something God has been teaching me over the last couple of years or so ;

There have been moments in history that have turned the world, and the way we think of the world, on its head.
There was a time when we KNEW the earth was flat... and that was proved wrong.
There was a time when we KNEW the earth was the centre of the universe... and that was proved wrong.
There was a time when we KNEW slavery was the way to go... and that was proved wrong.
There was a time when we KNEW something... and it was proved wrong.

The Apostles KNEW that salvation was for Israel, the Jews – they were the People of God, the people of the promise to Abraham... til rumours of Peter breaking all the rules begin drifting into Jerusalem*.
“Peter has been eating with THEM!”

Was this right? Had Peter been hanging out with THEM? Mixing with THEM? Surely Peter knew better than that. THEY were Gentiles, the irreligious outsiders, the no-hopers, the foreigners, the dirty, unclean heathens. Why would Peter even bother? So when Peter turns up, they grill him about it.

Peter explains himself:
“Ok, So I was in Joppa, praying, and fell into like a dream, like a trance. And I saw something like a blanket, a picnic sheet, being lowered down by its four corners from heaven. It landed in front of me and on it was a load of animals, all different kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and God said ‘kill it, cook it, eat it’.
"I was like 'I can’t do that, that’s not kosher. I’ve never eaten anything impure or unclean.' And God said 'don’t call anything I’ve made clean unclean'. And this happened, what?, three times. It was really weird!"

And then he begins to them tell how them Spirit had told him about the ‘outsider’ that was looking for him; how he should go with him, and go into his house, and tell the gospel to the outsider and his family. By this point, the Apostle’s are sitting around the room hanging on his every word...

Peter continues explaining; ‘while I was speaking the Spirit came on them like He did on us, Remember? On Pentecost when this all kicked off? and... they believed... in Our Jesus... and lads... I think they’re saved. I mean, they believe the same Jesus, they got the same Spirit and like, who am I to say who God got it wrong?!

The other Apostles are stunned, silent. Their whole Jewish upbringing has just been totally flipped, their jaws have hit the floor, their brains are working overtime trying to process this – How could...? Why Would...? What about...? What’s just happened?
And yet somehow the Holy Spirit is stirring their hearts to worship and assuring them that actually... what Peter is saying is right. And what he did was ok and that this is how it’s meant to be!

Imagine... Echoes of Jesus’ words are flooding back ‘You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth’. Memories of eating with Tax collectors and hookers and hoodlums come rushing back... the woman at the well, the roman centurion’s servant, the good Samaritan story... all these pieces begin falling into place... This gospel is FAR more inclusive than they ever imagined!

They don’t get it all right from this moment on. They still try to work out what this actually looks like in practice. They still muck stuff up and things get a bit messy and tetchy from time to time but God is gracious to them. They only get four chapters down the road before the main leaders of the Church have to get together to address some of the problems they’re having with this new inclusivity. What do they do about some of the hoops gentiles had to jump through? Do they need circumcision or can they do without it? Is it a help or a hindrance?

The bottom line is; through Christ the outsiders are in, and the apostles need to spread the word.
The foreigners are in.
The outcasts are in.
The uneducated are in.
The heathens are in...
“God has granted EVEN the GENTILES repentance unto life.”

And it’s got to be important cos Luke, the author of Acts, includes this story TWICE. This is the replay of Chapter 10. This is the repeat on Channel Acts+1. Luke wants us to hear this story, and to take on board what it means and go through the same thought processes as the apostles.
We won’t get it all right from this moment on. We still need to try to work out what this actually looks like in practice, in our church, in our lives. How do we live this out?!
We’ll still muck stuff up and things will probably get a bit messy and tetchy from time to time but God is gracious to us.

The bottom line is; through Christ the outsiders are in, and we need to spread the word.
This Gospel is for the foreigners.
This Gospel is for the outcasts because they are included.
This Gospel is for the uneducated because they are included.
This Gospel is for the heathens because they are included.
This Gospel is for the people from the dodgy estate
This Gospel is for the upper class twits
This Gospel is for the disabled
This Gospel is for the homosexuals
This Gospel is for the homeless
This Gospel is for the ugly
This Gospel is for the single mums
This Gospel is for the abused
This Gospel is for those with credit or debt problems
This Gospel is for the people with unsavoury lifestyle choices because they are all included. Everyone is entitled to hear the gospel story! “God has granted EVEN the GENTILES repentance unto life.”
And it made me think: When was the last time you went somewhere and felt out of place?

Last summer, Kat and I went to the Polo with some friends.
We knew it was going to be a fairly posh do when it said on the invite you could arrive by car or bus or tube or boat... or helicopter.
I HAVE NEVER FELT MORE OUT OF PLACE IN MY LIFE!
There were sales pitches for yachts and holiday villas and horses and stables.
There were small children ‘utterly outraged mummy.’ Cos we called them horses and ‘they're quite plainly obviously ponies’.
I’ve been to many a sporting event in my life: Football matches – you go to the ground, you have a drink and a pie you watch the football, you go home (you try and spot yourself on match of the day later).
I’ve even been to the Winter Olympics Ice Hockey: You go to the rink, you have a drink, you watch the match, you go see the Olympic flame, and then you go home.
Apparently the actual polo match is a sideline attraction at a polo event. These people seemed more intent on looking more important and richer than anyone else.
And as I walked around the venue... I was distinctly aware that I was expected to behave like them before I could belong in their club.

Church was never intended to be like that... Jesus met people where they were, loved them for who they were, and THEN helped them change their lives. Widening our vision of the gospel, even just a little bit to include those people who are just on fringe can bring huge growth. The gospel we know and love and believe is far more inclusive than we can imagine. We not called to decide who to share it with.

One songwriter put like this – Jesus paid much too high a price for us to pick and choose who should come.

Who can you include?
How can you widen your sights?
Are you ready for a bit of inconvenience?
Are you willing to let people belong before they behave the right way?
Who is it on the fringe of your friendship group?

through Christ the outsiders are in, and we need to spread the word.

*this story is found in Acts 11:1-18

Old Choking New

2010-01-30T11:34:00.009Z

I don't want to this first proper blog of 2010 to sound like a rant, but it is so that's how it comes across. I'm fed up with the narrow-minded bureaucratic madness that is entwined with the church in the UK.

I'm currently going through the early stages of the Ministerial Recognition process to become an accredited baptist minister. To be honest, I'm wondering if it's worth the hassle. Emails and forms have been bounced back and forth demanding this information and that arrangement.

One particular issue is the apparent need for an association member to see me lead and preach at a service (evidently the word of my references, all well regarded ministers in their own right, is not good enough for the association). The churches I am involved with are contemporary churches. They have a gifted set of worship leaders and preachers for each service (as one pastor puts it "you don't have a dog and bark yourself!"). It is highly unusual for one person to do both tasks. However, in the traditional 'old-school' Baptist world there are churches where the minister would lead and preach. This though is a model that is slowly dying out in favour of wider teams. It was suggested that if I couldn't lead and preach then I should just preach but at least be involved in the preparation of the service and 'certainly lead the prayers'.

In my opinion, this model of identifying potential church leaders is too rigid a structure built in a fading era, out of date and struggling to keep a grasp on reality. The system seems a lot like the Choluteca Bridge.

The bridge was built to get people from dry land, across the river, to dry land. It was an effective transport system. Until 1998 when Hurricane Mitch tore through Honduras causing a lot of damage and re-routing the river which once flowed under the Choluteca Bridge.

It now perfectly and soundly straddles nothing and is useless. Its structure is secure. Its strength remains. But it's pointless now the environment has altered around it. Perhaps this is the same for some of the old-school baptist processes. As the culture shifts and the ways we do church broaden and alter to meet the needs of the culture around us so too the system of appointing leaders of those churches should probably adjust to its surroundings or risk looking like a stupid, out-of-place bridge straddling where the river used to be.

Top Ten*: People I would love to Duet with.

2010-01-15T11:03:00.008Z

01. Michael Buble
02. Amy Lee (Evanescence)
03. Lily Allen
04. Hayley Williams (Paramore)
05. Kelly Jones (Stereophonics)
06. Coldplay
07. Sting
08. Paolo Nutini
09. Robbie Williams
10. Nadine Coyle (Girls Aloud)

(*in no particular order)
Proper Blog coming soon...

2010 starts... NOW!

2009-12-10T03:30:00.005Z

There are only twenty-one days left of this decade. There is much talk about the legacy the 'noughties' will leave behind; a world scarred by 9/11, a culture infatuated with reality TV, a decade that saw the launch of Facebook and Twitter and the explosion of social networking. There is also speculation about what the next decade of this century will bring; what will it be like? what will it be called?

Soon, the 6.8billion people who currently live on this little blue planet will welcome in the year 2010, and a large majority of them will be making the traditional New Year's Resolution; those personal goals to quit this, start that, spend less, exercise more, go here, be different.

And so I got to thinking what my New Year's Resolution would be and I've decided to be a Dipstick.

I want to be more Disciplined with time and work and Sabbath.
I want to be more Intentional. To do the things that need doing; not be distracted or just faff around.
I want to be Present. To give people the time and attention that they deserve. To be in the room and focused when I'm talking with people and not thinking about something else.
I want to be Spirit-Filled. I need the Holy Spirit. I don't want to try and do life in my own strength. I don't want to let myself run dry.
I want to be Thankful. To recognise more often the support of those around me and to acknowledge it more intentionally.
I want to be Inter-dependant. "I can't do this all on my own. No I know, I'm no superman". I want to invest more time and life in relationships and team.
I want to be Christ-Centred. After all, He is the one I'm living for. I want to keep Jesus central to everything I do.
I want to be Kat's. Kat and I get married on 18th Sept 2010. I want to be the best partner I can possibly be for her; support her, challenge her, surprise her and love her.

2010 is the year of the Dipstick. I want to be foolish in the eyes of the world as I live out my faith the best I can. And so, somewhat foolishly, I'm starting my New Years Resolution now! On 10th December 2009 (at about 4am!), with 21 days of this decade to spare, I'm starting as I mean to go on... As a DIPSTICK!

Happy New Year everybody!

Worship: Central or Skewed?

2009-12-07T09:32:00.009Z

Our culture is celebrity mad.

I'm not making a value judgement on that, I'm merely making an observation that the times we live in have a serious obsession with celebrity and status. Whether it be TV shows with minor-celebrities desperately trying to get more attention by living in a jungle or talent competitions enticing members of the public with the promise of stardom. At the end of the day we're fascinated by celebrities, their lives, their styles.

But what happens when the celebrity culture begins to seep into areas where it is neither helpful nor wanted? What do we do when our obsession with making much of people hinders the very job they are trying to do? How do we address the issue of 'celebrity' worship leaders?

Firstly, let me say that I recognise that there are certain worship leaders who are extremely good at their job and that God has clearly anointed with new songs and abilities. It is the culture and industry that has been built around them that troubles me.

Over the summer I looked to buy a CD from one of these high-profile worship leaders and the website selling the album, who shall remain nameless, were offering 'signed copies' of the album. Alarm bells began to ring - why would I want the signature of a worship leader on a CD? The whole point of a worship leader is to point to Jesus and become virtually invisible. I can appreciate that the artist is proud of his work and pleased with how the album has turned out. But signed copies of a worship album somewhat miss the point surely?

There is no room in worship for celebrities other than God. And even within the Trinity, no one member of the Godhead ever puts themselves about the others. There is no self promotion. The Father does not exalt himself but instead he is glorified through the Son. The Son does not exalt himself but seeks to glorify, and is glorified by, the Father. The Spirit likewise does not seek to draw attention to himself but is glorified in his works with the Father and the Son.

I'm involved in leading worship; I have been for some time. I've had the privilege of working and worshipping with some of the high-profile worship leaders. I now have a certain level of responsibility to lead a worship team at the church I'm part of. The responsibilty is to lead the others in the church in worship; to take them to a place where they can engaged with God. The is absoltuely no room for me to turn it into the Jimmy Orr show.

Worship is to God, for God and about God. And all the time we let this celebrity culture invade our worship world I can't help but fear that we're robbing God of part of his worship.

To be continued...

Time-Out...

2009-11-12T09:58:00.011Z

"I'm supposed to be the soldier who never blows his composure. Even though I hold the weight of the whole world on my shoulders I ain't never supposed to show it, my crew ain't supposed to know it Even if it means goin' toe to toe with a Benzino it don't matter. I'd never drag them in battles that I can handle unless I absolutely have to. I'm supposed to set an example. I need to be the leader, my crew looks for me to guide 'em. If something ever does pop off, I'm supposed to be beside 'em."
(© Shady Records)

These are the lyrics of a song by Eminem. I've had these words circling round my head for days now and I'm battling with the lies that they're feeding me. The past few weeks, months even, have been stressful. Issues with churches and politics, the dead-weight of a dissertation hanging around my neck like a millstone, organising rotas for various worship teams, applying for the ministerial recognition process, trying to organise a place to play football, picking up the pieces of this and that and over and above it all trying to hold it together...

I'm feeling empty, tired, fatigued...
I feel as though I'm running out of stuff to give...
I feel as though I've still got to hold it together and maintain this facade that everything is fine and that I'm coping... But that last feeling is a lie!

I'm realising and remembering that I don't have to hold the weight of the whole world on my shoulders. I'm remembering that I am allowed to show it and let my 'crew' know it.

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

I'm calling time-out. I'm re-learning lessons I thought I'd nailed ages ago. I don't have to live like this. I'm re-learning to get close to Jesus again; to listen to him, learn from him, follow his example.
Perhaps better lyrics to get lodged in my brain are these...

Drop thy still dews of quietness till all our strivings cease. Take from our souls the strain and stress and let our ordered lives confess the beauty of thy peace.

New Song: Reaching.

2009-10-19T09:09:00.005+01:00

All Change... well, kinda.

2009-10-16T09:31:00.004+01:00

I figured, since we're well and truly into autumn and less than one hundred days til Christmas, that I would reflect the more seasonal... er... season with a revamp of the blog layout.

Therefore it's basically changed from blue to red. The thought processes are the same. The random gibberish will be unchanged. The colour is pretty much all that's different.

Thanks for taking time out of your day to read these ramblings. I hope they're worth it.

Jimmy x

Thinking about thinking...

2009-10-12T10:06:00.006+01:00

Philippians 4:6-9

This is one of those Biblical Ronseal passages; it does exactly what it says on the tin. If you’re looking for peace of mind, if you’re looking for sanctuary in contemplation, if you’re looking for a healthy thought life, this is where you look. In three simple verses Paul explicitly lays out the way to achieve it.

Verse Six dives straight in - “Don’t worry about anything, instead pray about everything.”
Everyone has worries. Worries about jobs, money, home life, love life, health… we could spend all day every day being worried about something and everything.

Everyday we’re bombarded by the media with negative news and spin about this issue and that pandemic and the other threat… and we absorb that negativity, and it fuels what we worry already about and gives us twenty other things to worry about, that we didn’t even realise affected us until we read the paper that morning. I can tell the days my granddad buys the Daily Mail because he actually starts sentences with the words ‘well, what worries me is…’

Worrying. We’re told quite bluntly in black and white “DON’T DO IT!”

Don’t worry! About anything! Just stop doing it! STOP IT!
Does worrying ever stop bad things happening? NO!
Will worrying about stuff add extra time onto the end of your life? NO!

Instead: why not be productive with your time and turn your worrying into praying?
It’s not like Paul just tells us to stop doing something, he gives us a way of channelling all the worry-energy into a more positive avenue.

Worrying often turns us in on ourselves. We get blinkered to reality.We focus on the problem – Analysing every little detail and aspect of it. Then we start imagining the worst-case scenario as the most likely outcome. But by praying, we can turn to God and by turning to him we can open ourselves to receive his perfect peace. And this peace guards our hearts and minds. He will protect us.

Our problems won’t mysteriously disappear.
But his peace will miraculously appear.

Sometimes the problem won’t go away, but the peace of God will help us deal with it more effectively than worrying and panicking about it. He’ll give us time to regroup, compose ourselves and fix our eyes and thoughts on the things that will help us – ‘thinking towards God’.

And Paul gives us a list of good things to focus on.
True – Don’t dwell on lies. Jesus is the truth. The Bible is truth
Honourable – Trusted sources, not spin or corruption
Right – things that are the way God intended them to be. We know the difference between right and wrong.
Pure – not things that are tainted or distorted or drenched in lust
Lovely – the beauty of God’s creation. I love Love.
Admirable – look for the good in people.
Excellent – Don’t settle for second best. Think about excellent things. Martin Luther once said to “dream dreams so big that they’re doomed to fail unless God is in them”.
Worthy of Praise – We’re back to ‘thinking towards God’. God alone is worthy of all praise.

All of these things sound brilliant. But it’s got a distinctive ring of ‘easier said than done’ to it right?
Living the way God has designed for us in a world that is full of depressing, evil, lustful, dirty, and disturbing attitudes that are being constantly thrown around by people around town and the media is not easy... if we continue to operate with the same mindset as those around us.

That’s why Paul wrote in his letter to the Christians in Rome “let God transform you… by changing the way you think”. Don’t conform to the world around you. Don’t be so comfortable with the world that you fit in without even thinking about it. But be transformed. Think towards God and let his Holy Spirit change you.

And it’s only by this change of mindset that we can achieve Paul’s strong suggestion in verse 4 – Rejoice in the Lord always. Celebrate God all day. Revel in Him. Enjoy your life with him. It’s ok to be a Christian and have fun at the same time. We don’t have to be miserable and grumpy and bitter.

To steal the atheist bus slogan:
There probably is a God,
so stop worrying (start praying) and enjoy your life.

Dawkins has got it exactly right!

2009-09-25T10:19:00.008+01:00

Very rarely do I agree with an outspoken atheist on matters of spirituality. However, whilst watching an interview with him on CNN's 'Connect the World' program, I found myself agreeing with Dr. Richard Dawkins.

When asked "If irrefutable evidence of a Supreme Being existed, what religion would it have most likely founded?" Dawkins answered;

“If evidence for a Supreme Being was ever discovered, the Supreme Being would be so much more supreme, so much grander, so much more intelligent than any religion has ever conceived of. It would be something far, far better than the paltry, puny productions of existing religions.”

I agree with Richard Dawkins.

God for Dummies?

2009-09-08T10:14:00.007+01:00

I’m a big fan of Derren Brown: He’s a TV psychologist, illusionist, magician, mentalist.
I find his work and the psychological skills he uses fanscinating. On Derren Brown’s blog there was an article from the Telegraph which claims that people with a higher IQ are less likely to believe in God.

Professor Richard Lynn, emeritus professor of psychology at Ulster University, said many more members of the "intellectual elite" considered themselves atheists than the national average. “A decline in religious observance over the last century was directly linked to a rise in average intelligence” he claimed. Professor Lynn said most primary school children believed in God, but as they entered adolescence - and their intelligence increased - many started to have doubts.

At first, I thought this to be quite negative and offensive until God nudged me on the shoulder and said “this is exactly how it’s meant to be.”

Because this article and this research has been carried out and written about from an exclusively worldly perspective. Secular Academia has a very different idea of what intelligence and wisdom are compared to God’s.

Just read 1 Corinthians 1:18-31...

When Paul writes in Romans to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, he wasn’t joking was he. When he says ‘you’re going to need a whole different mindset to get through this life in a Christ-like style’ he knew what a challenge that was going to be.

Because Paul writing in Ancient Greece had the same head-on collision that we struggle with today in this ‘post-modern’ contemporary world we live in; Society’s version of intelligence and wisdom Vs God’s version- and they are total opposites. In both cultures – then and now – the social system was founded on who was the best, the cleverest, the richest, the sharpest, the most philosophical. But we hear in Paul’s words that God doesn’t operate within that system.

Paul, operating in God’s mentality, surrounded and engulfed in this melting pot of culture; Greek/Roman/Jewish/Pagan; in amongst the religiosity of his time Paul passionately preaches the most bizarre message –

"JESUS CHRIST WAS CRUCIFIED". It didn’t make sense.

To the Jews, who were expectant of a mighty warrior messiah who would defeat the Roman Empire and restore the Kingdom to Israel and they would all live happily-ever-after; the thought of the Saviour being executed by the very army they hoped he would free them from would ludicrous.

To the Greeks and the Romans, no person worth listening to or following would let themselves be murdered. No hero worth giving ones allegiance to would die. The message that Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, was crucified, and died so that he might save the world from sin... it just didn’t add up.

But Paul explains that God has chosen the foolish things through which to show his glory. He has chosen to value the lowly things. God chooses weakness over power. He chooses the things that are not. That way EVERYONE can hear the message and receive new life (without the need for ‘necessary’ qualifications). That way no one can boast. Because it is everything He has done. That way God gets all the glory.

God could’ve sent Jesus to have been the smartest, strongest Messiah Hero the world had ever seen: Imagine it; Jesus with Two Roman centurions in a head-lock whilst simultaneously bamboozling the top Greek philosophers – “Is there another word for thesaurus?”; “What is the opposite of opposite?”

But instead the Almighty came to gently demonstrate to us;
Love your enemies. Look after the poor.
The Genius God that designed and built the universe came down to our level and said “love one another”. And even in his profound simplicity, the ‘Wisest’ of the world missed him. And still miss him today. If we live by the worlds system of what is wise and what is foolish we run the risk of missing something beautiful.

When we come to the cross, we come before Christ in his weakest, most humiliating, most foolish state.
When we come to the cross, we come before Christ in his most glorious, most regal, most heroic state.

The foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom
The weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.

Don’t be afraid of looking stupid for Christ. Be prepared to take flak for going to church, for buying a homeless guy lunch, for holding doors open, reading a bible on the bus. The academic world might look down their noses at us. Richard Dawkins and Derren Brown and a whole host of other atheist intellectuals might ridicule us for being foolish. The message of the Cross seems like foolishness to those who are perishing. But for to us who are being saved... it is the power of God.

Even in foolishness weakness, Jesus has saved us from sin and death and is victorious! And in foolishness and weakness we believe in him and receive new life. Amen.

Stars

2009-08-11T22:43:00.003+01:00

I've just come in from sitting in my garden at home; gazing up at the clear night sky, watching the meteor shower and losing myself in the vastness of what lies beyond this odd little blue and green ball we all live on.

The meteors were the headline act tonight as they shot across the darkness leaving their dramatic trail behind. Left-over debris, from a comet that passed by almost twenty yars ago, burning brightly in the earth's atmosphere. Cosmic drama unfolding on a backdrop of stars...

Billions and billions of stars. Some scientists even guess that there are 10x more stars in the visible universe than grains of sand on all the worlds beaches! It's a mind-boggling number and an incredible concept to think that there is that much stuff up in space.

And yet, so often, the stars go unnoticed - either lost in the blur of the light polution from our 24/7 cities and towns or just taken for granted and rarely marvelled at anymore. So why is it that when Paul wrote to a church in Philippi that he said that they "shine like stars"?

I think it's because the stars are our role models.

Whatever the weather, whoever is looking or not looking, whether they're taken for granted or being studied intently; whether day or night, whether they are upstaged by meteors or have the sky to themselves, the stars keep right on shining. And I think thats what Paul means.

In a world where fame comes and goes - we keep shining.

In a world where the economy is struggling - we keep shining.

In a world where people ignore us or take us for granted - we keep shining.

It's the time of year that thousands and thousands of people attend festivals and gatherings all over the world. I'm not saying anything negative about these festivals, I think they're great, I've been to them, I've experienced God in fresh ways there and felt blessed to be a part of them. But my prayer is this...

That the temptation to be a meteor - to feel fired up and burn brightly but briefly and fizzle out quickly - is replaced with a desire to be a star; to do what God designed you to do and to do it always. Day-in. Day-out.

You're a star. Shine.

Daddy's Boy?

2009-04-22T22:55:00.003+01:00

Strange things happen on buses. I was on my way to Angel Tube Station, and as I sat down I noticed the smell of cigarette smoke. I then noticed that the source of the smoke was the cigarette in the hand of the woman sat on the other side of the bus to me. She was trying to be discreet but was definitely smoking.

I politely leaned over to her and informed her that it was a non-smoking bus - as all London buses are! - and recieved a not-so-polite reply. I then politely asked her to put out the cigarette; a request that was again met with an indecent comeback.

"Are you a bus conductor?" she asked
"No i'm not" I accurately answered
"Well then I don't have to do what you say. If ya that bothered tell the driver."
"You want me to inform the driver?" So I did.

I spoke to the driver at the next stop, informed him of the smoker and sat back down on a seat behind him. He announced over the tannoy that anyone smoking would have to leave the bus now. "It's not even lit mate" was yelled at the driver from the woman, who had put the cigarette out in the time it had taken me to put in my complaint.

The bus moved on.

As I sat with my back to the busload of abuse that was now coming my way from various passengers and the smoking woman I felt as though I'd made a terrible mistake. Was I being too goody-goody? Did I really need to report her to the driver? Why did I bother?

Then an assurance replaced that doubt that, actually, I had done the right thing and now I was being tormented for it. A few moments later the woman pressed the bell to get off at her stop. I noticed her come and stand behind me and she began to insult me further.

"I bet you're a daddy's boy aint ya? I know people like you, always trying to please daddy! Well i bet your father's really pleased with you! yeah, your father's really pleased with you!"

Her words struck my heart in a way she could never have dreamed and certainly never intended them to. I felt God, my Father, reassure me that he was proud of me. I had done the right thing, despite the reaction of the majority of those on the bus...

But My Father was pleased with me.

Despite the evident hatred of this woman towards me...

My Father was pleased with me.

God works in mysterious ways. He can speak through any variety of media. And I for one am glad he does.

Empty Poetry

2009-04-07T16:42:00.002+01:00

It seems everyone goes through times when they feel like they've given out everything they've got; When they feel physically, emotionally, even spiritually drained and exhausted.
Sometimes there is an opportunity to stop and refuel and rest. Other times there isn't that luxury and there is still a long way to go, and a lot of work still to do, before a holiday or pit-stop can take over.

I found a poem earlier on that I had totally forgotten I had written, but I clearly had been going through one of those times.

The reservoir's empty

The battery is dead

My heart is running dry

and so is my head

Each day seems a struggle

the passion is gone

like a bright summer sky

that's lacking the sun

Arrogance beckons,

Bluntness abounds

My life seems in free-fall

approaching the ground

I'm desperately hoping You'll catch me

or we're gonna meet sooner than planned

although Your plans and my plans are different

So I'm leaving all mine in Your hands.

Jimmy Orr ©
15th November 2006

Mr Cellophane

2009-03-19T09:04:00.005Z

Cellophane
Mister Cellophane
Shoulda been my name
Mister Cellophane
'Cause you can look right through me
Walk right by me
And never know I'm there...

I love the film Chicago. There are some brilliant jazz songs in it and one of my favourites is sung by the character Amos. He's the husband of Roxy, one of the leading characters, and he sort of just plods along through the story, faithfully standing by Roxy throughout the whole ordeal. But he's left on the sidelines a lot. He's ignored and pushed to the fringes by the main characters who continue their adventures and that leaves me feeling sorry for poor old Amos, who then launches into the song Mister Cellophane; Nobody even notices him. It's a sad part of the story.

Just recently however, I've seen this song in a totally different light.
I was leading worship at the church i'm part of in London a couple of weeks ago and the service seemed to go really well; the songs flowed well, the atmosphere was good, people were engaged with God in a big way - It was a good time in Church.
A few days later in the office at church, one of the staff members came to find me -

"Jimmy, I just want to say that Sunday was brilliant. You led really well. It was great because it was like you were...

Transparent!"

I was transparent? I was see through? I was hardly even there?!
And then it dawned on me: I had done my job right, because the duty of a worship lead is not to get recognition for singing well or playing well or picking the cool songs but to divert people's attention to Jesus. The quicker the worship leader takes the attention off of themselves and fixes in on Jesus the better. It's all too easy for ego's and self awareness to get in the way of leading worship. Standing at the front of the church with people watching you and following your every move can be dangerous if your heart and motives are skewed. But to be in that position and help to enable the church to focus on their God and dissolve out of sight is a real privilege.

I was Mister Cellophane for all the right reasons and that someone had been kind enough to let me know that was a really exciting buzz for me.

I had done my job well

Cellophane
Mister Cellophane
Shoulda been my name
Mister Cellophane
'Cause you can look right through me
Walk right by me
And never know I'm there...

Revealed

2009-02-19T19:24:00.007Z

Ok, so the lyrics have been up a couple of months now and, after many comments wondering 'who is she?', I figured now is the time to reveal what they're actually about.

In actual fact, they're not about a girl at all. They're not technically about any person other than me.
I was reading in Romans 7 where Paul is explaining how he argues with the two versions of himself: the Bad Paul before he met Jesus, and the Good Paul after he met Jesus.

"I know that all God's commands are spiritual, but I'm not. Isn't this also your experience? Yes. I'm full of myself—after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary.

"But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

"It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

"I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?

"The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different."

Just as Paul struggled with trying not to do the things he knew were wrong, and struggling just as much to do the things he knew he should do, I find myself battling with the two versions of Jimmy.

There is the Bad, Selfish Jimmy who wants to do whatever he wants and pay no attention to anyone else's feelings. Then then is the Good Jimmy who wants to be the best he can be, serve God the best he can and try as much as possible to put others before himself and to genuinely care for the people around him.

It's not always easy. And so these lyrics try and paint a picture of that ongoing struggle.

New Lyrics

2008-12-07T20:15:00.003Z

Make of these what you will... Jimmy

I know it isn't right,
But I can't seem to get you off my mind.
Every day and and every night
It's like I see you right before my eyes
And it seems I can't break free from this spell you've got me under
But I don't want to see you anymore.

O I reaching for something more
I'm breaking the silence
Believing for something pure.

I hate what I've become.
The influence you have is bittersweet.
I'm searching for the One
Whose love has told me I can be redeemed.
This dirtiness that crawls all around me when I'm with you
Will be removed and you be dead and gone.

O I reaching for something more
I'm breaking the silence
Believing for something pure.

©2008 Jimmy Orr

What a difference a year makes...

2008-10-31T18:13:00.004Z

Some of you will know that I went through a very difficult and painful time around about this time last year. Well, recently I've pondering about that time and mulling over the emotional and spiritual experience trying to express some of what went on. These are fresh lyrics that have been circling in my mind for some time, brewing and stirring and waiting for the right time to be poured out into the right structure. This is 'Here in the Shadows'.

Here in the shadows surrounded by those who abuse me;
Broken and beaten and bleeding to death on the floor.
Around me stand shadows and figures of those who accuse me.
I’m looking to heaven for help and I’m crying out Lord.

I come to You,
Broken, bruised and bleeding,
Bearing the scars of a broken heart.
Your open arms are healing.

You are my hope and You are the One who defends me.
You heal my wounds and wipe every tear I shed dry.
You I can trust and You are the One who befriends me.
I know I’m safer with You, than ever before.

I come to You,
Broken, bruised and bleeding,
Bearing the scars of a broken heart.
Your open arms are healing.

And You quiet my soul,
And You sing over me,
A love song of hope,
That You’ve placed within me.

Jimmy Orr © 2008

Tesco ergo sum -/- I shop therefore I am

2008-09-22T16:31:00.006+01:00

I've been in many different churches over the years. I've sat through many different sermons by many different preachers and I've concluded that there are two types of talk. First, there are times when you hear something said that just washes over you and makes absolutely no difference to your life whatsoever. And then there are times when something is said that, although not directed at you by the speaker, feels like God has addressed it to you personally and you cannot help but sit up and take notice. It's that feeling you get when you walk up to a group of people and know someone's talking about you. Like the words you hear echo in your chest and all you're sure about it is that you've got to do something about what you've heard.

The latter happened to me yesterday.

I was at church, nothing usual about that, it's a regular feature of my Sunday's most weeks. I was sat in the congregation, something slightly unusual seeing as it was the first time I wasn't involved in being up the front for about seven weeks. The subject of the sermon was...

Shopping.

The basic point of the sermon was not that shopping was bad or that God was opposed to shopping and anyone that shops more than once a month is not allowed into heaven. But it was more along the lines of being sensible in your shopping habits. Shopping to live rather than living to shop. We all need to shop to buy clothes and food and thats a good thing. Even shopping for gadgets and things to make our lives more enjoyable is ok. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the act of shopping itself even.

It's our motives for shopping that were questioned. Why do we buy what we buy? What is it about designer stuff that is appealing? Why do we feel we have to upgrade to the next model of this phone or that gadget?

The answer lies within our desire as human beings to belong.

And consumerism plays on that desire. Consumerism tells us that products and things will complete us. That Nike football boots will make you the best player and admired by your team-mates, that Prada handbags will bring you a glamourous lifestyle and respect, that the top range phone will somehow gain you more friends to call. But these are all lies. The brand name, whether genuine or a genuine fake, will not bring you what you want. The buzz of having the new thing fades so quickly and is never satisfied.

But for some reason we spend money we don't have on things we don't need to impress people who don't care.

If not complete without the handbag, you'll never be complete with it.
If you can't kick a ball straight, no brand of football boot will ever help you.

Shopping in itself is a good thing, but it's our motives for buying things that is what we need to carefully examine and keep in check. And I say we because I am the worst person for this.

Confession Time: I am a shopaholic. I like shopping, I like clothes - there is nothing wrong with my appreciation for fashion (you may have other opinions on that).
But what struck me more worryingly yesterday was that I like that I am a shopaholic. For some reason I am proud to admit that I have too many clothes. And actually, I don't want to be like that. I have been through my wardrobe before and found clothes with the tags still in them that I've never worn. I often doubt my own ability to buy a pair of trainers without 'adidas' printed on them. It is this side of me that I have been challenged on and that I'm going to try and change. I haven't the slightest idea how yet but I will continue to think about it and work out a way to alter my shopaholic tendancies.

Too many times I've heard things and they've gone in one ear and out the other. This time, I want it to be different.

I'll be there for you...

2008-09-15T20:31:00.008+01:00

Firstly, many apologies for the ridiculously large period of time between this blog and the last one. I have no excuses, I just haven't written 'til now. There is no deeply philosophical or theological reason for not writing it. I just haven't.

This rambling array of my ponderings has been stewing for some time though and has been fueled even more after the events of this 'summer' - a term I grudgingly use to describe the season just past in spite of the weather.

I have been lucky (or fortunate or whatever the 'Christian' alternative to lucky is) this summer in that I have been away a few times. I spent good times back in Geneva and had the privilege of returning to Le Pas Opton, the site of Spring Harvest Holidays. These were very different times - Geneva included among other things a weekend music festival, LPO was its usual unique blend of the sublime and the ridiculous.

However, it was not the location that made this summer memorable. It was the people. A combination of old friends and new friends. I've reminisced with people I've known for ages and share countless experiences with. I somehow slotted into a team of people I had known for a short time and some I'd never met before. I've had deep and meaningful conversations. I've had good meals with good people and endured the most hideous sausage casserole ever created. I've played football with lads as close to me as brothers and sang duets with beautiful girls I love dearly. I've had laughs, I've shared tears, I've hugged, I've nearly killed; it has been an awesome summer of people.

Which has led me to wonder - What is it that makes people just seem to click?

They* say opposites attract, and yet I'm now really close friends with someone who is so remarkably like me it's often quite freaky.

They* say that the strongest of friendships are forged in the toughest of intense environments.

They* say that wounds from a friend can be trusted.

I wish I had the answer to why some friendships last and why some dissolve before your very eyes; why someone you've known for a relatively short period of time can seem closer than one you've known for years.

Is it time?
Is it communication?
Is it personality?
Is it intimacy?

Who knows?!

All I do know is this; that dotted around the world right now are people who I have had the pleasure of knowing in a whole range of different circumstance and now gladly call friends.

A good friend of mine once said "put your life on the line for your friends." There is a group of people who I would, without hesitation, put my life on the line for them.

Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you closer than family. (Proverbs 18:24)
That's the kind of friends I want to have,

and more to the point...

That's the kind of friend I want to be.

*Sidenote: I'd love to meet whoever They are!

Who are you?

2008-05-23T11:25:00.004+01:00

I've been recently challenged on how I form my opinions of other people. It's not a challenge that has come out of an encounter with a living person but rather hearing a story about a woman I've never actually met.

There's a story* in the gospels where Jesus is having dinner out at someone's house and a 'sinful' woman comes in and begins washing his feet - sounds a bizarre series of events but stick with me. A couple of weeks back in one of my college lectures we were encouraged to imagine this scene unfolding; put ourselves in the picture, as this story was read out aloud.

Now, my imagination is somewhat vivid. It operates as if I'm watching a movie. And so hearing these words read out my cinematic brain began imagining the location the atmosphere. And when this woman was introduced to the plot-line I had instantly cast her in my mind as this provocatively dressed hooker with far too much dramatic makeup walking seductively down the street. This was my first impression of this 'sinful woman'. And no doubt this is the impression of the rest of Jesus' eating companions, the upper class members of society. Religious leaders, town officials and the like. Everyone knew who she was, some probably knew her too well. And all eyes are on this woman as she enters the room.

But then the story continues, as she enters the room she is crying, heartbroken. She walks over to Jesus and she sits down next to him and begins washes his feet with her tears, taking her hair down to dry them, and pouring her own perfume and pouring it all out, all over Jesus' feet. Suddenly this confident seductress has changed. In my minds eye she's no longer dressed provocatively, she's got more of a natural, girl-next-door look about her. Suddenly I don't see her for what she's done, but I see her for who she is.

All eyes are still firmly fixed on her. This is just not social acceptable. Until Jesus breaks the stunned awkward silence and explains this beautiful act. He says to the host of the dinner;

"Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn't quit kissing my feet. You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. Impressive, isn't it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal."

Picture the girl now. Jesus is talking about her to someone else but her ears are hearing that everything she's ever done wrong has been forgiven; that this Jesus guy actually understands why she's crying and why she's doing this and not only does he understand but he accepts it. The relief in her heart must've been enormous.

This next bit isn't actually written in the Bible, it's my imagination taking over but I don't think it's far fetched to say this girl hugged Jesus on hearing this news. And I'm pretty certain Jesus would've hugged back. And for the first time in a long time, maybe ever, this girl experiences the embrace of a man who doesn't want anything from her - he just wants to let her know she's loved and accepted. This pure but passionate moment is sealed with the words "You're forgiven". The rest of the room is in uproar over this whole encounter but Jesus ignores them. His sole focus is on her. "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace". A totally different girl walks out of the room; smiling, laughing, giggling, dancing, skipping, her whole attitude to life is different. She feels truly valued not paid by the hour. She is a totally new person with whole new fresh outlook on life.

I'd love to be able to see people how Jesus sees them. To glimpse through the outer shell and see the person inside. Past the designer suits and breifcases. Past the wragged shirts and boxes. Past the low cut tops and short skirts. Past the religious attire and symbols on chains. Into the hearts of ordinary human beings who need to be loved for who they are, but loved too much to leave them that way.

[*if you want to read the whole story click here]

Born 55 years too late...

2008-05-15T00:40:00.012+01:00

I'm quite the daydreamer. And so yesterday -14th May 2008, which marked the 10 year anniversary of the death of Frank Sinatra- in one of my daydreaming moments, I wondered what my life would've been like if I hadn't been born in England in 1983. I decided I would love to have been born in New York in the late 1920's.

Born in 1928, [55 years earlier] growing up in a working class family but dreaming of a life in the golden age of showbusiness; working my way through the smoky saloons and bars singing the, now classic, jazz standards. Moving to the bright lights of Vegas and on to LA to make my name as the youngest member of the Rat Pack, performing huge big band numbers with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jnr.

Spend my career singing 'Mack the Knife', 'Mr Bojangles' or 'My Way' and starring alongside the rest of the Rat Pack fellas in the original Ocean's 11 movie. And whilst filming, maybe, just maybe, catch the eye of a beautiful, classy, darling young actress named Audrey - who was in town filming her new movie Breakfast at Tiffany's - and live happily ever after in Hollywood's Hall of Fame...

Of course, all those great stars are gone now, and if I had lived then I'd be nothing more than a name and a legacy now - which would be a shame, cos I would never have had the chance to meet the amazing people I've met along my life so far.

Daydreaming aside, I'd choose 1983 over 1928 any day.

"...give us a sign"

2008-04-26T19:31:00.006+01:00

I encountered a most bizarre situation the other day that has left me troubled at the state of this country's sanity.

It all began whilst I was walking along Oxford Street in London. I made my way out of Oxford Circus tube station and turned left towards Marble Arch. As I walked along I noticed a sign on the near side of the road informing buses and other traffic of the left-lane's closure and that there was a diversion system in place. As I walked further up the road I approached the reason why that one lane of traffic had been stopped; a rather large crane doing engineering work on one of the shop buildings being totally refitted.

I walked past the crane and the workmen and continued along a half closed Oxford Street, towards Marble Arch; the far side bustling with traffic, the near side quiet due to the closure of the lane because of the crane.

As I walked, something struck me as weird.

There were no taxis going past. Because the near side lane of traffic was closed.
There were no buses going past. Because the near side lane of traffic was closed.

Yet there were people at the bus stops all along the street.

I looked around, for a split-second doubting my memory of the road's closure but a glance down the road towards the crane and the signs in the road proved my own sanity. I looked at the bus stop and noticed huge yellow signs that read "Bus-Stop not in use". Walking into the empty lane I glanced one more time at the blockage in the road to make perfectly sure that the road was in fact closed before approaching one of the hopeful bus-stop inhabitants and saying

"You do know there are no buses coming down this side of the street right?"

Confusion descended on all those who heard my shocking revelation! A general sense of "pardon?" eminated from the would-be passengers. I explained about the signs and the crane and the lack of traffic and the whole re-routing of public transport thing and gestured in the general direction of bus stops that were actually in use.
Eventually they dispersed and I continued my stroll along the road.

I approached another bus stop... once again crowded with people... waiting. One of the wait-ers was a finely dressed gentleman with whom I shared my knowledge of the road closure and the lack of buses to which he replied "well, what are all these other people waiting for then?"

"Exactly the same thing you are Sir. Nothing." came my ever-so-slightly sarcastic reply.

As I moved on from delivering my good news to those people three thoughts entered my mind. The first was that some people actually remained at the bus stop; just sitting, waiting... for a bus service that didn't exist.
The second was that I had been walking for about twenty mintues by this point, and the road had clearly been closed for some considerable time before my arrival, and so no traffic at all had been past any of those bus stops for at least half an hour. Surely someone would've guessed that 'perhaps the usual bus service was not operational at that point in time'.
Thirdly, the London Bus Company had left huge great yellow signs informing the public that the bus stops were not in use and the whacking great crane in the middle of the road hindering any buses using the street would only have underlined that message.

"A person can be smart, but People are stupid."

Written instructions and messages and signs and obvious, huge, powerful works didn't help people waste their lives that Saturday. It took a person to step out and tell them of their mistake and inform them of the truth (and even then some people didn't believe the truth when they heard it).

If the public don't 'get it' about waiting for a bus, how on earth do we expect them to know any better about anything with more significance?!

A Most Musical Weekend

2008-04-09T17:14:00.002+01:00

WOW!

I haven't had such an intense weekend for a while.

It began in SwitzerFrance (also known as the greater Geneva area which crosses the Swiss/French border) on Thursday night when I flew in under cover of night for a suprise visit. I was to perform and sing swing songs as light entertainment at the Crossroads Church 'Guys/Girls Weekend Dinner'.

The plan was to meet up with the guys on Friday night, in the woods, in the dark, running around like lunatics and eating insane amounts of toasted marshmallows before the main event of the Saturday night dinner. The majority of the girls, or so I'm told, had no idea I was there and in order to maintain the element of surprise I was hidden upstairs in the church for over an hour.

The time came for my 'grand entrance'. Thankfully, to my great relief, the reception was fantastic (granted, I milked it for all it was worth!) but my imagination, whilst sat in the upstairs room alone for most of the hour beforehand, was playing images of "and here's our special guest, Jimmy Orr..." cue tumbleweed and mass dissappointment.

The night went really well, and all the performers did a great job. The girls seemed to enjoy the evening and so mission accomplished for the guys.

The following morning was a baptism service at Crossroads, which I had the pleasure of leading worship for. Reunited with my old band of brothers (and sister!) and in the presence of good friends we raised the roof of the church that morning. A good time in the house of God!

This was follwed by several episodes of CSI (good times D and Sarah!) and my education in the phenomenon that is... High School Musical. I admit I hadn't seen it til that moment, and I now confess, I maybe ever so slightly hooked. It's cheesy, it's catchy, it's good (mostly) wholesome Disney fun: What's not to like?!

Then came the part I really had thought through... buckle ya seat belt!

Monday Morning

3am woke up

4am at airport

6am was meant to fly home

7am actually flew home after they fixed the door on the aircraft?!

8:30am actually arrived at gatwick

9:40am arrived at college

10 - 5:15pm Lectures [including a Greek test]

5:15 - 7pm break to rehearse songs...

7:30 went to recording studio

Tuesday Morning...

2am left studio

3:30am eventually made in back to bed

7am had to get up for more lectures!!!

memo to self: that was fun, but NEVER do that bit again!

Puppy-Love?

2008-04-09T16:35:00.003+01:00

I've come to the conclusion that grown up life is over-rated. It is unecessarily complicated, far to stressful and needs to be rethought entirely. Particualrly in the whole area of relationships.

I propose, so to speak, that we should resort back to the simple relationship antics of the school playground. No pre-nups, no mind games, no playing hard to get, no 'will they/won't they' dilemmas. Just blissful (but brief) togetherness.

It all begins with the boys are running around playing football, convinced in their own mind that they are not, in fact, at school on the playground but at Wembley Stadium in the most important of cup final matches. The girls stand away in the distance discussing which boy each girl likes best*.

Two girls (always two. never a solo mission), one spokeswoman and one backup, usually a quiet coy looking one, are then sent from the group to the middle of the game (something that under no circumstances would normally be allowed but due to the unwritten laws of the playground is permitted) to speak with the boy of choice.

His best friend, wingman, teammate, brother from another mother, notices the girls' approach and takes up his position as spokesman for his mate. Both parties meet face to face, the boys with their shirts untucked and panting like two unfit bulldogs; the girls mercilessly twiddling their hair and swaying;

"My friend fancies your friend"

"well, my friend likes your friend too"

"will your friend go out with my friend?"

The wingman turns to double-check with his mate, a galant but casual wipe of his nose on his sleeve and a shrug of his shoulders somehow communicates a positive response.
"Yeah alright".

The giggles ensue and the girls depart from the boys. the boys return to the thick of the battle before the bell rings for end of play.

For the next few hours, the 'happy couple' are inseperable (well, they sit next to each other) and news of their togetherness is announced to the world, traditionally by some kind of rhyme about tree's and k-i-s-s-i-n-g. They hold hands for the next lesson and then it's home time. They live across town from each other so there's no seeing the other until school the following day.
By which time, they get bored. By morning break the couple have split in the most heartwrenching of moments.

By lunchtime, they're best friends in the whole wide world.

On the third day, it begins all over again... Simple eh?

*for the female perspective check Gemma's Blog!

My Friend

2008-03-25T11:54:00.009Z

How do you really know someone? How do you get to know what someone is really like?

Over the past week or so I've watched several depictions of a guy I know; a close friend who has helped me through some rough times and has celebrated some awesome times with me too. Over the years I've gotten to know Him more and more, realising a bit more of His personality, His humour, what offends Him, what puts a smile on His face, who He is. Though we've never actually spoken face-to-face we're good mates. Though we're by no means equals (He's a lot older than me, and wiser, and richer and more powerful than me) He treats me like His little brother; constantly looking out for me.

It's a great relationship but to see Him portrayed in films or on TV in various ways has made me wonder about our friendship. I've found myself liking and disliking characteristics that the Directors have put on him; "I like this version of Him 'cos He's more sarcastic" or "nah, He's taller/bigger/stronger than this actor" or "He wouldn't have treated so-and-so like that".

And I find myself double-checking what I actually know for real about Him against that which I've put upon Him myself. How much is Him and how much is me making Him what I want Him to be? You know how sometimes when you meet someone you can imagine their personality and put all sorts of characteristics on them? I begin to wonder if I've done that.

But then He reassures me that it's ok not to know Him fully yet. I've known Him since I was a kid but there's so much I've yet to learn about Him.

He is who He is.

He will be who He will be.

No film or depiction is going to change His character.

He's still my friend, my Jesus, my Saviour.

So, what did you think of my...?

2008-02-26T20:15:00.001Z

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I have no issue with that.

That is, however, until their opinion is on something I've done, or said, or written. I am of course talking about criticism. It's something that has cropped up several times in recent weeks.

I'm one of those people who likes criticism... kind of. [Please don't take this as an open invitation to flood my inbox with comments destroying my character or suggestions of things you think I could do better!]

I was chatting to a friend, who agrees with my logic, that criticism can be a great way of improving yourself. But it's a very vulnerable place to be. To put yourself out in the firing line is scary. To open yourself up to someone to potentially tear your hard work to shreds takes courage and trust in the critic.

It guess it's that trust element that is crucial for a criticism to be positive and not a character assassination. If you are sure that the critic is genuinely looking out for your best interests you are more likely to take their criticism well. If there is doubt, the criticism could be taken more as a personal attack rather than a judgement of your work.

Having said that, hearing negative feedback, however well-meaning or even accurate it may be, tends to leave be on the backfoot. I get defensive. I start trying to justify my actions in light of this new found opposition. Especially if it's something I'm particularly passionate about. "Perhaps you could have done such-and-such better" or "maybe approaching this-or-that aspect in a different way next time" leads me to thinking "do you realise just how much work I've put into this?!" or "But that's me, that's my style! Are you asking me to fundementally change who I am?!".

But on reflection, when the heat of the moment has cooled, I revisit those comments, and yes they still sting from time to time, but there is truth and wisdom and advice hidden behind those critiques. And often there is wisdom is taken that advice on board.

I don't know the answer to every question. I am not the best preacher, author, songwriter, musician, worship leader, youth worker, friend even. I would do well to take criticism on board. I recognise that the more I take people's advice, the better the version of me I become. I don't take on every characteristic people may demand of me, that's just silly, no-one can be everything everyone wants them to be. But my character, my personality, my skills and talents and gifts can be sharpened, refined, perfected, generally made better by learning from others obversations on what I do well and what, quite frankly, I completely mess up!

"Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice."

New Home

2008-02-16T17:14:00.000Z

I’ve moved.

As I type this I’m sat at my desk in my new room. Looking out of the window I can see for miles over South London. Church spires poke up from carpet of thousands of houses and several blocks of flats are a rigid contrast to the rolling hills on which they stand.

The sun is setting, sparkling as it reflects off the windows across town and casting its golden glow all around, the clear sky gradually fading from a bright blue, through a rusty orange into a musky pink.

Even in the very early stages of this new chapter it feels like ‘right place at the right time’. I’m definitely looking forward to the challenges of the next few months. God certainly hasn’t let me down on this one, and I’ve no reason to think He is going to in the coming season.

“Grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace shall lead me home”

Forwards or Backwards?

2008-02-13T23:36:00.000Z

Ah, the good old days.

Those times gone by where things were better than they are today. The former days where life was simpler, where problems seemed to be non-existent or easily solved. A time of bliss and happiness and hysterical anecdotes outnumber the stars in the sky.

This is the power of selective memory. This is the wonder of Rose-Tinted Glasses.

The truth is, that life back in the old days was actually no different to life in the current days. Forgive me for sounding like a grumpy old man before my time, but I've been recently woken up to this reality. That actually looking back is not as helpful as we may believe.

I've been through a pretty rocky patch in my life lately. The last few weeks and months have been particularly challenging for a number of reasons..

All throughout that time, echoes of my time in Geneva were calling me. They reminded me of all the people I had been close to and the good times we had. Stories of fun times and uplifting occasions came flooding back to my mind. And so I made arrangements and visited Geneva earlier this month. I needed a break, I wanted to go back and re-experience all those great times.

What I experienced however was something quite different.

Have you ever tried to put on a pair of old shoes?

Or wear a coat from when you were younger?

Have you ever tried to wear somebody elses shoes?

Or fit into something custom made for somebody other than you?

They Just Don't Fit.

My return to Geneva felt similar. Please don't get me wrong! I enjoyed my time there and it was fantastic to catch up with friends I haven't seen for far too long and be encouraged by how much they've grown and moved on. But that's just the point; they had moved on. I had moved on. We all had moved on from where we were last summer when I left. And now their present is part of my past.

The work I did is now being built upon by a new team [and a great team at that, and I honestly pray that the work they do far outweighs anything I ever did! Dare I say double-portion?!].

God spoke to me loud and clear during my time back in Geneva. The door is closed. I need to stop looking back through rose-tinted glasses and keep moving forward. Yes, remember the friends I have there. Yes, remember the lessons I learnt there. But don't long for something that is long gone. "Forgetting what lies behind, press on".

I'm now moving to London. It's a time of uncertainty and there are concerns I have, sure. But looking back is not going to help me get past the new challenges. But focusing on God will. He has never let me down before and I have no reason to believe He's going to start now.

Coming Soon...

2008-01-31T21:50:00.000Z

Worship Event - 3:30pm
Crossroads Church, Ferney Voltaire

This Sunday afternoon I'll be leading worship at Crossroads and also teaching and exploring what worship is.

Why do we do what we do?
What is worship?
What's with all the singing?

If you're in the greater Geneva area on Sunday it'd be awesome to see you.
If you can't make it, i'm sure i'll post notes and news from the day on here so check back.

Jimmy

Lights, Camera, Action...

2008-01-31T21:09:00.000Z

Every now and then in life amazing, once in a lifetime opportunities pop up out of the ordinary that are just too good to pass up. And when they do it's often a good idea to grab them with boths hands a run with them, to ride the wave and see where it takes you.

I had one such opportunity arise earlier this week. And I'm pleased to say I took it.

I had the chance to go to Ravensbourne College in London for the day to be filmed in a studio singing a couple of my songs. Anyone who knows me knows this was an offer I simply couldn't turn down. And so on early Monday morning I grabbed my guitar and a few shirts and caught the train to London (I'm often on trains to and from London so if you ever see me, come and say hi). When I arrived I signed in and was taken by my mate, who had organised the whole thing for me, straight to the studio to meet the crew, the director, the floor manager (The lovely Sophie, who looked after me and brought me water at every opportunity.) and the sound and light guys. It was exactly how I had pictured it and more; Lights, Cameras, more lights, monitors and displays all pointed at the stool where I would be soon be sitting and playing and singing. It looked very impressive.

Behind the scenes in the control room were more TV displays all looking at my stool (it didn't take me long to adopt that zone as my own!). I was taken to my very own green room to get ready, changed into my first outfit, warmed up my voice, tuned my guitar, milking every second of the experience before returning to 'Studio A'.

I took up my place in front of the cameras, surrounded by lights in front of me, and behind and above and below, and waited to begin.

And waited some more.

And then did some more waiting, for lighting to fix shadows and sound to set levels.

Then some more waiting.

Then I was asked to play for the rehearsal run-through and then more waiting and tweaking of lights and lenses.

There was a lot of waiting around that day. A lot of getting everything just right; the right look, the right sound, the right angles, the right colours. Everything was done to the highest level, the best standard. During this time I was given some advice. It was to do with where to look. I had little or no experience working with television cameras and so the best thing was to imagine an audience, or to look for Sophie, the floor manager, and sing to her.

And then it hit me. Surrounded by cameras and crew, lit up light something on MTV and the advice was to play 'to an audience of one.' I had heard that phrase so many times regarding worship leading. I'd used that phrase so many times teaching about worship, that God is the 'audience of one' that you play to, and yet in that new place there was a freshness about it.

Worship isn't limited to a church building on Sunday morning. You can sing to God in the middle of a take in a Studio. You can sing to Him walking down the street. You can sing to Him in the shower. You can sing pretty much anywhere and it all counts as performing to 'an audience of one'.

So I did just that. I sang my songs to an audience of one, and it was Sophie. I was worshipping just as much in Studio A as I have done in Church.

So back to the opportunities thing. It's not just once in a lifetime opportunities we should grab hold of, its the worship chances too. Don't just wait til Sunday, grab every chance you can. Perform as much as you can to 'an audience of one'.

And cut...

Imagine...

2008-01-26T21:00:00.000Z

I was on the train home from London last night after visiting a very good friend of mine and having coffee with her in a pretty swanky little cafe just off Baker Street. It was getting late and I was in one of the pondersome moods you tend to drift into when gazing out of the window of a train at night and all you can see is black and occasionally the reflection of a old, bald man trying to stay awake on the seat opposite you.

Anyway...

I was thinking about the fact that I could get from my house to London in just over an hour. Sounds quite simple and almost not worth the hassle of thinking about it. But then I wandered on along that thought line and realised that in this day in age, you can get pretty much anywhere in the world within 24hours. This would not have been possible in years gone past.

And then my mind skipped on a few beats [in true Old Man style] to all the 'progress' that has happened over my lifetime so far. Granted, i'm only 24, but already I imagine the conversations between me and my grandchildren...

"I remember the days when we only had 1 tv in each room. and even that only had 4 channels."

"I remember the days when you had to buy your train tickets from machines."

"I remember when planes had loud jet engines and a long runway to take off on."

"I remember when you actually had to steer a car."

"I remember the days when an iPod was a little coloured box you put in your pocket that had headphones to put in your ears, not like the microchips you kids have impanted into your heads"

Ok, so maybe my on train boredom had kicked in by that point.

But it's phenomenal how much technology and society have changed over human history and it's frightening to think how fast things will develop into the future. How things will change and what things will remain and what new things will be introduced.

Imagine then, if you will*, what it must be like for God. He was never created, and He will never die, and so He has been involved in every single second of history. He has inspired new discoveries, he had encouraged inventions and schemes. He has been hurt at cruelty and opression. He has laughed at the greatest comic heroes and cried at the most tragic losses. He has uplifted those who have been beaten down and toppled those who have raised themselves up by evil means.

He is interested in you. He wants a relationship with you. He wants to love you, to help you out, to hang out with you, to know what you like and don't like, to be there where you're hurting, to laugh at your jokes that aren't all that funny, to share what's on His mind with you.

All you have to do is say 'Hi'.

I arrived at my stop, and left the train.

(*Imagine. If you consider yourself an atheist then I encourage you, just for a few moments, to 'imagine', not believe or even accept necessarily, that there is an eternal supreme spiritual being who is in charge of everything.)

Amazing Grace (Remix?)*

2008-01-20T00:12:00.000Z

"Amazing grace how sweet the sound
that forgave a [man] bitch like me.
You see I kinda freaked her out
She's safe and sound really."

This is an adaptation of a classic hymn to mark a low point in great friendship tonight. I did something really quite mean to a good friend who was sat in her house alone. The lights dimmed to give the impression that no one was in. She was understandably a little concerned of being on her own and I offered some advice;

To watch a scary movie, but not to get caught up in the storyline or it'll just freak her out. but take notes on what each college girl victim does and in the event of some terrible danger, do the complete opposite!

This advice, i realise in retrospect, was thoughtless and mean and caused her to panic and worry. I am truly and deeply sorry for being so unhelpful. I deserved the insulting term she described me as [which cannot be repeated - this is a family blog.].

So guys, I urge you, in view of my tragic mistake, to never take a girls imagination and ability to conjure all manner of impossible and unlikely scenarios lightly. Be careful when offering humorous advice and beware offending their fragile, pretty little minds.

I hope this is a valuable lesson to us all.

[* Please note, this article is drenched in sarcasm and humour and is in no way created to be taken seriously (other than the fact that upsetting girls is hazardous to your health.)]

Church - How hard can it be?

2008-01-19T22:37:00.001Z

I've been thinking a lot lately about the church [I’m studying theology so I kinda have to!]. I know there are various strong and often conflicting views on church and so I figured I'd add mine to the melting pot.
Now, I am generalising like there's no tomorrow and I know there are churches that do not fit this broadest of brushstrokes.

What is it about the church that people either feel strongly about joining and belong to or just as strongly against it? And my ponderings have led me to a place where I am wondering if it's because the church, to skew a common tagline, 'doesn't do exactly what it says on the tin'.

It seems to me as though the church has somewhat fallen behind the ever moving culture. In a world where everything is available 24 hours a day, 7 days week, the church is still seen as a Sunday morning slot. In an environment where tolerance has taken a firm grip on common sense and political correctness seems to strangle and hinder our every move. In a society that allows you to travel, to shop, to work, to study and get qualifications, to sort your finances without physically talking to another human being, the church still functions on a very face-to-face mode. In a world where internet social networking sites have changed the way we communicate, the church again seems lacking. And even when it does get involved there is a distinct element of cheese. As if public opinion says ‘the church doesn’t belong here’.

Which led me on in my ponderings, and forgive the cliché but, I thought ‘what would Jesus actually do to change this?’. I mean that’s why the church exists right?

To provide a presence in society on Jesus’ behalf.

To carry out the things that He wants carried out.

Would Jesus favour Facebook or Myspace or stand sternly on the cathedral steps rebuking all those who engage in such impersonal networking?
How would Jesus interact with people who believe there is no absolute truth?
What would Jesus think of political correctness?
Where would Jesus hang out? What would He do with His time? Would He drink Starbucks?

All these questions are fine for me to ask. But we, as the Church, need to continually asked ourselves these and then ask ourselves if we’re doing likewise. You see, I think the reason the church isn’t ‘doing what it says on the tin’ is because somehow we’ve lost sight of Jesus and lost ground on being like Him.

This great quote from Karen Ward, of Church of the Apostles in Seattle, USA, kinda sums it up. She says “The cultural view ‘gets’ Jesus was for the marginalized and the oppressed. It is only the church that need to be trained to look at Jesus again. They took a poll in my area of Seattle and found that 95 percent of the nonchurched have a favourable view of Jesus, so Jesus is not the problem. It is the church they dislike, because they do no readily see the church living out His teachings”

And Ghandi put it even clearer when he said “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians because your Christians are not like your Christ.”

So maybe that’s the answer. We just need to be like Jesus. Think like Jesus. Act Like Jesus. Be compassionate like Jesus. Be Selfless like Jesus. Relate to people like Jesus did.

It can’t be that difficult…

can it?

Before the Crowds of Heaven - the story behind the song

2008-01-19T22:19:00.000Z

'Before the Crowds...' was written a few years ago now but started as a response to a revelation. It's an attempt to capture the heart of a vision I had whilst sat in church. And although i'm not entirely sure of the theological accuracy of my description, and my imagination for that matter, allow me to try to describe that vision;

I saw heaven's throne room in all it's splendour, God, shining a brilliant, dazzling white in all His glory, seated on His throne being worshipped by thousands of angels, some flying around the throne, their wings fully extended as they sang, some stood like a crowd on the floor and others knelt facedown before the King. The atmosphere was intensely worshipful and the sound of the angel's song echoed throughout the heavens. Until one angel arrived at the gate. It was Gabriel, returning from a conversation with a young girl in Nazareth, Mary.

As his angelic colleagues continued their unceasing praise, Gabriel made his way through the crowds towards the throne. He reached the feet of God and knelt as if to report back from his succesful mission and as He did so, heaven fell silent.

At that moment, God the Father turned to His right to look at His Son and simply said "It's time". A loving glance between the Father and His Son implied "You know what to do".The angelic crowd, still silent looked on with a bewildered and 'what's happening?' type concern as Jesus, still in His holy and radient appearance, whiter than white, dressed like the Prince of Peace He is, stood up in full view 'Before the Crowds of Heaven', Removed His Crown and left it on His throne, and began to walk towards the gate.

As He stepped down from the throne, the crowds parted gradually to create a path for the Son to walk through. Although slient, a murmer of disbelief and confusion began to carry across those gathered. And as Jesus walked through, I saw a change. Gradually the Majesty of His glorious appearance faded to the nature of an ordinary, humble man. His face which shone like the sun 'shining in all it's brilliance' became olive skinned and darker, His hair changed from being 'as white as wool, as white as the snow' to a darkened brown and His robe and Golden Sash faded away to nakedness as the Son of God changed from Prince of Heaven to a helpless child before my own eyes;

Infinite and Powerful, Infant now and Beautiful;Almighty God becomes so meek and Mild.
That is where the Vision for me ended. But it's only half the song. I wanted to capture the whole story. To tell of His mission on earth, and of His glorious return to the throne He had left to redeem us.The chorus simply echoes the Word of Jesus Himself, that "Greater love has no man... than to lay down His life for His friends" and ends with my response:

I promise You [Jesus] that I'll never forget the sacrifice of God that paid my debt.

(hear the song at www.myspace.com/jimmyorr)