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

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!

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?

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...

"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.

All Change... well, kinda.

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...

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.