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

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

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?

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...

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...

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...

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?)*

"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.)]