iGod

You are amazing!

I forget how many times I have said to my family that this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but the fact is on this occasion, at least, I was right. It will be a long time before we see the London 2012 Olympics come to our country again.

We witnessed 10,500 athletes descend upon the UK, along with the hopes of 204 countries. There were 302 medal events across 26 sports, 70,000 games makers with two million visitors over two weeks. It was estimated that another four billion watched it on TV. Then there is the paralympics which is no less an amazing spectacle in itself.

When I hear the personal stories of courage and endurance it is hard for something not to stir deep inside of me. Athletes will stop at nothing to win and will consequently put themselves through any amount of pain to do so.

Kate Walsh, the captain of the Team GB Women’s hockey team refused to let her injuries stop her from playing against New Zealand. There she was out there on a pitch with a broken jaw, picked up after an early game with Japan, leading the way. For the game she had to have emergency surgery to insert a titanium plate in her jaw and then play with a protective mask.

Kate was restricted to having meals blended and was reduced to drinking through a straw. She also received nerve-blocking injections before each game to dull the pain. Her team eventually walked away with a well-earned silver medal, but hardship and pain are not automatic ingredients for success.

Women’s BMX racer 23-year-old Shanaze Reade told a BBC Sport interviewer of how over the years she had broken multiple bones in her body and dislocated both shoulders, but thought nothing of it compared to winning. However, after a disappointing Beijing Olympics, there was no fairytale ending for Shanaze at London 2012, only further heartache.

Yet, it is these extraordinary stories of courage that “inspire a generation”.

I think we would all be off our rockers if we were inspired by failure, but what really moves me is the capacity of the human spirit to achieve more than we feel able, to overcome adversity, to dig deep and find that little bit more from within.

In the Bible Paul the Apostle writes, “We are more than conquerors” Now, he was someone who knew how to take suffering to make gains. Although his endeavours were not in track, hockey or BMX, he nevertheless put himself through immense pressure and pain for what he believed.

He was not driven for gold, but for his passion for Jesus. But here is where maybe Paul the Apostle and athletes have something shared in common: victory is not found in the absence of hardships, trials and tribulations, but in the overcoming of difficult circumstances. For some, it will mean glory; for others, a wooden spoon, but for all there is a deep soulful satisfaction that no amount of effort and hardship is ever without purpose.

At times I have had to tell people that becoming a Christian is not about having an easier life than others. It is not. In fact, the Bible says quite the opposite. Faith is there to strengthen and empower us to cope with whatever life throws at us.  Jesus, in himself, gives us the deep compelling reason to get up and carry on. It is not a belief driven by a fear of failure, but one driven by love and acceptance.

But there is a second part to Paul the Apostle’s words: “We are more than conquerors…through him that loves us.”

Kate Walsh and Shanaze Reade are both amazing people. No-one is going around feeling disillusioned with them because they have not walked away with gold. In the same way neither does God ever get disillusioned with us. He thinks we are amazing and will never be prouder of us. That’s how deep His love is for us.

For those who beat us ourselves up for failing, it might be time to get a little upwards perspective.

 

ASD

 

Why don't we speak more about spiritual attack? Good point.

There is a lot of things we try to do as a church to draw people into a living faith with God. We try to present ourselves as being open, accessible, accepting of all people, regardless, of race, gender, social background. (Hopefully we are.)

We do our best to make it a 'visitor friendly' experience. We want people to feel they have 'come home', as I experienced all those years ago at South West London Vineyard Church in Putney. 

However, it struck me that being seen as a nice bunch of people that helps with practical pastoral issues is not enough. Though I am proud of all the good things we achieve through our compassion and kindness ministries, if we are not careful our work can be earthbound not heaven looking. it becomes a glorified social work and friendship club. 

So it made me question myself: why don't we talk about the spiritual battle that Christians believe that they find themselves in more? I wonder if we are worried that we might come across as a bit unhinged or OTT. Well,maybe.

One thing that American Vineyard Pastor Rich Nathan reminded me of recently is that people get drawn into religious sects because they offer an easier life to the cruel hard world. It is a classic 'honey trap'.

Unfortunately the Church can sometimes be accused unwittingly of doing the same thing. We can present a life in God as being a cushy one. However, of course, Church is not just a recreational space for helpless or harassed people. If only!

I have found it is anything but easy. That's because as soon as we nail our colours to the mast and say that we follow Jesus we are going to be shot at. We now have a spiritual enemy.

We need to watch the danger of seeing the Church as some kind of glorified cruise liner that sails effortlessly around the tropical islands with its passengers continuously eating, drinking, playing deck games, before eating and drinking some more.

Paul the apostle in Ephesians chapter 6 paints the church as a fighting force that has to be prepared for war and conflict at the drop of a hat. Not quite Caribbean Cruises then, more the Royal Navy.

The Christian has to be aware that they are not just engaged with the battles in life, but a war against a spiritual enemy. One that wants to see our self-destruction. One that wants to demoralise us and speak lies to our minds. Therefore we have to learn "to stand".

If we avoid the subject, we have just set each other up for a fall. Not good.

ASD

Why X Factor has the Ah! Factor

Unless you have been on holiday in a remote part of the world where electricity is still an aspiration, it will not have escaped your attention that  X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing are back on our screens.

Much like last year my family and I have become full goggle-eyed X Factor addicts, even though my disdain for TV in general continues to grow weekly. But I do have to concur, it is the best escapist TV around - and in more ways than one.

I hear from a friend who knows how the X Factor producers work that the best way for your act to be seen by millions of people on national TV and YouTube is: a) be able to sing and b) have a sob story ready. Being talented and from a stable middle-class simply doesn’t cut it.

I have lost count how many times we have been introduced to a single mum wanting to re-kick start her life with a new career in music.

Last year you may remember we had Daniel who lost his wife to a terminal disease and sang at the audition in memory of her. The hardiest of us were caught out dabbing our moist eyes on the sofa.  However, the show painfully never allowed us to forget for one minute his loss and subsequently the media turned on him, accusing poor Daniel of using his wife’s memory to manipulate the judges’ decision. It felt quite uncomfortable.

There is a new film out this week called Fish Tank. It is the story of a girl  called Mia living on a rough council estate who is socially trapped. She drinks heavily and has problems with her mum’s choice of boyfriends. All she wants to do is become a professional dancer and find a way to escape the ‘fish tank’ that is her life. She goes for an audition only to find out that they want lap-dancers, not street dancers. Your heart sinks for her. It is not a happy film and has no Disney ending.

I wonder if the attraction of X Factor is that it is a people’s show. It gives hope that anyone of any social background has the chance to escape a unhappy and desperate life. It is the ultimate rags-to-riches TV show. No wonder the Americans love it.  The huge queues seem to bear witness to this theory.

Sometimes the naked desperation in people’s faces of wanting to be loved is almost too painful to watch. Surely some of them must know they can’t sing for toffee before they go on. Why doesn’t a friend stop them?

You have to also ask: what it is that drives people to risk making a public fool of themselves?

This may explain why X Factor has a higher viewership than BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, which follows ‘D List’ celebrities that have already had their own fair share of fame and fortune, regardless of what they have done with it.

A teacher friend of mine in our church said recently that she asked her class of teenagers what they wanted to be when they grew up. More than one of them said “to be famous”.

It is easy to be cynical and dismissive of this response, but knowing something of the challenging school she teaches in the answer is not as shallow as you might first think. If you had your mother's boyfriend hitting you what would be your ideal situation?

Youngsters are more disconnected, confused, mixed-up than ever before. With the erosion of community life, and the cheapening of the currency of long-term loving relationships it is not hard to see how teenage depression has become a national phenomenon. They simply want a way out!

In my limited experience I do not see the same aspiration to be famous from children from happy homes who are blessed to have a mother and father. I am not sure either this is always to do with social hardship. Life can be living hell coming from a broken privileged background too. Sometimes it has very little to do with money.

As a Christian I wonder what the best response might be. At the moment I sit on my sofa on a Saturday night and shed a tear over some stranger's story. I know I have to do more. I must. Jesus’ words about “loving your neighbour” have never been more pertinent.

ASD

Job positions available

"I am leaving the brilliant world where I occupied a high position, and now…. I am about to ascend into a much greater world, the world of the poor."

St Elizabeth Feodorovna (1864-1918)

I have been wondering this morning on what it is to live as an imitation of Christ's humility (Philippians 2:1-11).  

For a lot of my working career I have had it drilled into me that I needed to aim for the top (advertising and marketing is a meritocratic culture. Only the fittest survive).  It is a message that I have heard constantly through the aspirations of some pretty smart people around me. It has also resulted in the breakdown of marriages, family life and ill health. A great ad, indeed!

To be quite honest, for ages I could find no attraction whatsoever in taking on the 'nature of being a 'servant'. As a concept it did very little for me.

So becoming a servant must mean more, right? It must have a spiritual dimension...

For someone who has been a Christian for a while I am now starting to get it: sharing our lives with one another and serving others is not about winning points to get a better place in the heaven. We know we can't earn credits in the Kingdom (see the older brother in the Prodigal Son story to be convinced.) It is about oneness with God, or being in constant communion with him, and experiencing his presence through the spiritual discipline of encouragement to others.

The Bible is beautiful is full of wonderful contradictions. To a world that does not believe, it appears folly, even plain stupid that we should be seen to throw away our careers, job prospects and social status to follow Jesus. But sometimes when we do we can get it given back 10 times fold over.  This is because it is It's our hearts he's after, not a contract. The money is irrelevant. Being rich and successful is not a crime!

People like St Elizabeth Feodorvna , Mother Teresa, Jackie Pullinger and Shane Clairborne show me what it is to serve others. And I am grateful for their godly examples.

So is there any joy in being out for number one in life?

Well at a totally non-God level - absolutely! What else have you got to live for, apart from yourself? It is just unfortunate that this kind of joy is temporal. Otherwise, flawless!

Maybe Paul is saying to the Philippian Church that a true understanding of our purpose and existence comes not from isolated personal development, but by outward-focused living and serving others. It calls for love to be tested to be valid.

Perhaps once we can move from that begrudging mindset that complains every time we are asked to serve to one that sees serving as an absolute privilege, we'll get a further glimpse of heaven.

Maybe we can grasp something of the mind of God and what it means for the divine to appear in human form.

ASD

How do you get over a Cold/Flu without complaining?

I am feeling really groggy and ill with a cold or flu at the moment. Whatever you want to call it, it's a nasty one.  The trouble is, like most guys,I am a dreadful patient and I am not sure I have much of a theology for God healing me of the Common Cold or Man Flu. So to try avoid the self-pity trap I try and think of someone else who has had it tougher than me recently.

One guy who has helped me get my temporary misery in perspective is Roger Molloy.  I met him in Shoreditch, London and has turned his traversity into an opportunity.  Roger had his photographic gear stolen over a year ago.  All he had left was his camera phone, so he took shots with it and then made them into postcards, which he sells for £1 each in his make shift gallery in E1 to help buy new equipment. Truly inspirational.

Here is just one of his shots which I recently bought, but check out his work to see more.

It's not quite Lemsip. but it does help with some of the side-effects.

ASD

A little perspective on suffering

No comment really necessary.

Asbo Jesus

ASD