iGod

Sweeping change

Well, what an interesting time we are having as a nation. If you are from the US looking in you may well be wondering what on earth had gone on or for that matter gone wrong. 

This week I spent time with two financial guys. One whose business it is to advise the football world on buying and selling clubs and the other to advise normal people, like me, how best to invest their hard earned money to aim for a half decent retirement, among other things. The latter tells me that he has seen 20% of value has been wiped off the Footsie 100 in less than two months. Not a good time if you are looking to cash in your pension. It is something, as we have seen Stateside, that politicans seem unable to influence or affect the outcome.

And if that is not enough we have had the erruptions on the streets of our beloved country. After the peaceful demonstration over the death of Mark Duggan last weekend the term rioters has been quickly replaced with Looters. Yet, some politicians such as the Mayor of London tell us that Britian is not broken. At this point that remark feels very English and stiff-upper lipped. Others might say it is just sheer denial.

Social network platforms such as Twitter and Blackberry Messenger Service have been criticised for fanning the flames of angst-ridden teenagers. But actually, surprisingly, I have come out in support of Twitter and other social platforms. As much as they have been used for bad they have also been redeemed for good.

The community has struck back - with a broom in its hand. It has drawn communities together, black, white, young and old, not seen for a long time. Now no communtiy leader or church leaders seems to know exactly what the Conservatives mean by 'The Big Society', but something has happened without too much involvement from the politicians themselves. This, perhaps, could be described as a great example of their philosophy. Dunno.

A friend of mine who runs a young peoples' charity in South East London is plain exhausted with the constant round of meetings with police, politicians and local organisations, but as a Christian leader in the community he has been encouraging supporters to do acts of kindness.

For instance, I heard how one police station in SouthEast London had had delivered to them a load of cookies to their exhausted and emotionally tired officers. With all the recent bashing the police got from politicans the public alternatively has shown their solidarity with their local bobbies. I cannot stress that these expressions of love are equally important as any rushed through law or government initiative.

if you are near a police station that has been on the frontline, maybe this is something that your church could organise to do.

The church, at its best, shows compassion through practical outward signs of invisible grace. For as James said, "faith without works is dead." We stand with all, we cry with all, we shout justice for all. This is God's love in action.

This is the outward-focused church at is best. It is not idle, a talking shop, inward-looking or obsessed with evangelism programmes or simply going deeper with God with discipleship courses. It is loving, generous, kind and sacrifical. It loves without terms and conditions.

Meanwhile, on a more mundane note, our church is about to own a football team, but not sure we will be using the services of my city banker friend. Apparently there is no money in it for him. Ah well, that's the fickle world of football.

ASD

 

 

 

 

Nice topical cartoon by the talented Dave Waker

I have to admit to opening 'the handbook' the other night in HOME group before making a decision. By that I mean the World Cup timetable booklet. Well, there is sometimes no point testing people's loyalties to whether they would prefer to come a church meeting than watch England play their third game, is there?

Thanks for the chuckle, Dave.

ASD

Mourinho and Meteorites

Well it had to happen, didn’t it? Jose Mourinho quits Chelsea. The only surprise is that it didn’t come earlier. I guess for Chelsea fans, like myself, it feels like an almighty meteorite has crashed to earth causing mass emotional devastation. “The Special One”, will be sorely missed.

And talking of meteorites, I was reading about a place in Peru called Carancas who witnessed a fiery ball come crashing down last weekend. Apparently, more than 150 residents have suffered headaches, irritated skin and vomiting brought on by a “strange odour”, according to a local official.

Tales of toxic fumes arising from the crater is not helping the community avoid hysteria. It does start sounding like some apocalyptic picture or some bad Hollywood film starring Nicholas Cage. The local mayor admits that “there is a certain psychological fear in the community.”

More poignantly, it might seem like a passage from the Bible when Moses threatened Pharaoh with certain plagues.

For centuries, meteorites have been seen as gifts from the angels or portents of doom. Joshua wrote of how “the Lord cast down great stones from heaven” while the book of Revelation recorded a falling star that poisoned the waters: “many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.”

Reports of sickness are rare, although many of the meteorites fallen have sparked some kind of superstition. Even scientists get in on the act with their theory of a massive meteorite falling on earth causing the Ice Age begin thousands of years ago.

God and nature are, of course, inextricably linked. The Bible is full of instances where nature is used by God to make a solemn point?

I think, though, one has to be careful before giving the interpretation that the Peruvian peril was an act of God to punish people. But what if it was? What if the Peruvian villagers had done something regrettable? Does this sound like a modern God for a sophisticated Christian?  Am I being superstitious or am I simply going along with the same God of Moses and Joshua?

Would God still use the same tools of the job that he did all those years ago?

Natural disasters, however unpleasant, may not be meant to hurt us, but they do serve as a reminder that elements, like meteorites, tempestuous seas and earthquakes, are more powerful than us, reflecting the creator.

As the Psalmist astutely said, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it”. Whether the departure of Jose Mourinho can be seen as a natural disaster too I very much doubt. Ho hum!

ASD

 

 

A brief history of Rooney’s time on earth

I thought you might be vaguely interested to know that Wayne Rooney, the red-faced red-carded England player at the 2006 World Cup (lest we forget) has had his new autobiography just published. I am careful not to say ‘written’, as I am not sure he has written much more than his signature to insure it is seen as the official version, so to pick up the royalties.

The title of the book, which is bound to be a best seller, is called My life so Far. At the age of 20, Readers of the Mail on Sunday will no doubt be enthralled that it is being serialised for them.

Yet, books like this say something about us as a nation. What can a youngster’s £50,000 a week lifestyle offer a man of 42 (incredibly, my age) in regards to experience and revelation?

As someone who actually finds people very interesting (In fact, I even married one) I am almost tempted to buy the Daily Mail out of curiosity, But I hear, through a book reviewer, that it in fact reveals what I already suspected – Wayne is an overpaid youngster our for kicks away from the field. Remember how he ran up £700,000 of gambling debt. Why? Well I can reveal here – he was bored.

Amazon list 16 titles by Mr Rooney. An incredible achievement. As the Guardian sports writer wrote, we can probably look forward the 'Soduko – the Rooney Way' coming out one day too.

In the Bible there are literally loads of biographies written. Famously, there are the four gospels telling the story of Jesus from different perspectives. In the Old Testament we are told the history of the Ancient Near Eastern world through the biographies of Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon etc.

But there also some autobiographical works too. We know that a large number of the psalms were actually written by King David. For me, these are truly enlightening. Read in conjunction with the court recorders’ story of David in 1 Samuel we get the picture of what true humanity is.

For instance, how does David respond when found out by the prophet that he has slept with another man’s wife, got her pregnant, brought her husband back to sleep with her to cover his sin? After failing in this ruse, then sent her husband to the front line of battle to face certain death. Pretty pitiful stuff for such a great national hero and icon of the people.

The king songwriter confesses his sin to God and the united kingdom through a psalm. As simple as that. But how profound.

I don’t really expect Wayne to really have time to write his own book. He neither has the time or I doubt the inclination yet. I know I won’t be writing mine for a while, you’ll be relieved to know. But there is no doubt a thirst for insight in how we all live our separate lives. And no more so than with the rich and infamous. However, if we want biographical writings with true inspiration we could do a lot worse than start with a book published many, many years ago and in its umpteenth reprint. A PR dream indeed.

ASD

Beckham does the business

So we are through to the last eight on the 2006 World Cup. Beckham’s wonder goal from a free kick is enough to ensure that their next date takes place against Portugal next Saturday. Well done, England. As a Blues fan, it has been noted the slightly iffy performances of the Chelsea men on Sunday. I just hope, in particular, that Frank Lampard can start coming good. I think I have counted that he has now had 20 shots on goal this world cup. Surely on the law of averages Lampy has got to score next Weekend. Cometh the hour etc…

ASD

Growing in two feet of humility

Apologies for the later than usual post. House-hunting and work has rather taken over a bit in the last few days. Still I am back.

As some of you will painfully know I am an avid supporter of Chelsea FC, now the Premiership champions for the second year running. (Okay, enough boasting.) I was recently reading about their captain, John Terry, an extraordinary player and arguably England’s best current defender.

I was wondering what it must be like to be a professional footballer at the age of 25 and be earning around £40K a week. Surely that power must go to your head. These are, after all, the modern gladiators of the day who are revered to almost cultic levels.

So imagine how surprised I was to read of John Terry’s experiences as a young 17 year old. He said it was the job of every reserve player to clean the boots of the first team. He, in particular, had ‘the honour’ to clean the boots of the iconic Tony Adams. He then went on to bemoan the fact that it is no longer a practice at the club, but believes it should be restored, as it balances the person in mind and spirit.

There was the story of a bishop who had a young fresh-faced curate come and stay to discuss vocational matters. He was a well-respected man and commanded a lot of authority. When it was time to turn in for the night the bishop asked the young man to leave his shoes outside his bedroom door. It seemed a logical request to the Curate as they were pretty filthy and he wanted to respect the house he was staying in. The next morning he awoke to find his shoes had been cleaned and polished - by the bishop himself.

Now I have to ask myself, what is it with feet? And why do they seem to make the point of what it is to humble yourself so well?

Maybe there’s something in the fact that feet are the most unpleasant of things when they become dirty and smelly, so they work best for making hyperbolic gestures. On a practical note, maybe God knew what he was doing when he placed them as far away from our noses as possible. What an act of grace!

They are also the furthest away from the head. They couldn’t be further way from the intellectual experience of rational thought if you tried. And maybe this is where we strike a little gold in their significance.

Jesus made a point of washing his disciples at the last supper the night before going to the cross. If ever there was a time to be waited upon himself this would have been it. In some US states where there is the death penalty it is customary for prisoners facing execution the next day to have a last meal of their choice. How different are the values of Jesus.

I understand that John Terry came from a family with very little. He is a rags-to-riches story. His father made huge personal sacrifices for his young son and supported him all the way, even though he turned down Manchester United for Chelsea! Unlike other professional footballers he didn’t blow his first big cheque on a sports car, but gave something back to his family. Even though he has talent in his feet, the money hasn’t gone to his head.

Beyond the theory, I don’t know what it is to have true humility, but I am keen to learn from others, even the captain of Chelsea. I doubt if Terry has even really considered the virtue, or if he is aware how Christian his values are. And maybe that’s a good thing, as someone once said to me, “If you know you’ve got humility you’ve just lost it!”

ASD