Listen to me!

Birdsong, a sunset, a baby breathing, all take a moment to notice. Yet some things just slip into the background, no matter how beautiful they are.

Sometimes our hearts do that. All our wants, our dreams, our passions, our hopes, our inner voice get lost inside the white noise of life.

Our thoughts, words and actions are not random results, a lottery of options taking their turn. They are prompted by what is inside, by our hearts.

So much so, I would argue that it defines us. Making it very difficult go against it and to maintain a sort of dual personality. However, exposing your heart can raise all sorts of issues. What if your heart is a place of unrest or sadness? What if it is a broken and injured space which seeks only refuge. 

I believe in exposing my heart. Being real about what is on the darker side and letting it go. You can do this with people and seek comfort, reassurance and solace. But by being true with yourself and involving the Holy Spirit of God you can not apologise for being who you are, but work with your true self. Repairing the brokeness, healing the pain and working on the sticky issues. You can also reveal more joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self control. 

As in water face reflects face,
So the heart of man reflects man.
Proverbs 27:19

Status: It's complicated

We are all complicated. Defined by our past, our relationships (past and present), our family, our friends and our experiences in general of the world around us. Carrying around 'baggage', refining our character, developing elements of our personality to show the world, and learning what we would rather confine to our own four walls at home.

As we go through life we edit ourselves, brushing what we would rather forget under the carpet. We present a persona that we are happy with, the version of ourselves we want people to have to buy into, potentially even be impressed. Even if you enjoy being miserable and unapproachable (we all know those kind of people, and they are often the most soft hearted) - you are asking others to back off, be wary or be on the receiving end of a blunt remark.

Cue a blog post about God accepting us for who we are, knowing us before we were born (insert Psalm 139:13 quote) and loving us regardless.

But what if God is asking something of you, rather than the other way around?

The apostle, Paul was one of those peope who was at times blunt, honest and not afraid to tell people what they didn't want to hear. I get the impression this didn't always add to his popularity, despite being motivated by love.

Writing to the people in Corinth, Greece (an audience that Paul maybe found more tricky than others):

"Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete. Now, are you ready for the real reason I didn’t visit you in Corinth? As God is my witness, the only reason I didn’t come was to spare you pain. I was being considerate of you, not indifferent, not manipulative. We’re not in charge of how you live out the faith, looking over your shoulders, suspiciously critical. We’re partners, working alongside you, joyfully expectant. I know that you stand by your own faith, not by ours."

If you believe in Jesus Christ, if your faith defines you, then how does this impact your integrity? Where is your honesty in yourself? How can you speak to people about this amazing, awe inspiring, omnipotent God who gave us his son as the answer, when you cart your problems around with you everywhere you go? When you hide your true self. When worries and troubles define your day to day. How can you present truth when you are not of truth yourself?

Hey, not that anyone is perfect. Those speakers at conferences and pastors on a Sunday morning are no more perfect than the rest of us. Integrity is what is key. Truth is key.

Being quirky is ok. Being complicated is ok. Withholding knowledge of someone or something that has been shared with you in trust is ok to be kept secret (mostly). Being complicated is ok.

Complicating faith is not ok.

Complicating truth is not ok.

Complicating God is not ok.

Complicating yourself is not ok.

Don't present the world with your version of what Christianity should be like. You aren't the one who created it. 

Bible geeks, the verses are from 2 Corinthians 1: 20-24 (The Messge version)

image (c) tumblr/2013yearoflettering

Labour Pains

I recently went through labour and childbirth (again). I shall not regale you with details but it hurts. A lot. And then some. And possibly some more again. However, the result is incredible. A gorgeous family.

What this experience also does for me is to realise that I came into this world the same way. In a burst of agony and persistence.

Those of us fortunate to live in a society with excellent medical care means that child birth related fatalities are far, far less than they once were.

Months after I had my first baby, someone I know was due to visit from their native home in Uganda. However, they were delayed as their sister in law had died during child birth. That woman had the same medical issues as I had during my time in labour. There but for the grace of God go I.

"You have to live on 24 hours of daily time. Out of it you have to spin health, pleasure, money, content, respect and the evolution of your immortal soul. It's right use, it's most effective use, is a matter of the highest urgency... do not squander time for time is the stuff that life is made of".

The Daily Miracle, Arnold Bennet. 19th Century Novelist.

Someone in my family lives by the motto "you're a long time dead'. As a driving thought it is up there with "life isn't a dress rehearsal". I don't think Christians like these saying very much, and there are plenty of words from the Bible to reinforce the whole foundation of the principle of eternity.

I like these sayings though, and while you might believe you have eternal life once saved by Jesus Christ (all you have to do is ask *insert prompt*), the ideology is also clear that this isn't the path for everyone. For more details see the Parable of the Sower for example (Matthew 13 Jesus geeks).

The reason I subscribe to this life not being a dress rehearsal, and us being out of this world a lot longer that we are in it, is that this is an amazing, incredible, impressive existence!

The world we live in, from a simple yet unique sunset, to the most complex and baffling of scientific studies - there can be beauty right from a cellular level, up to a complete panorama of scenic drama.

What a waste to never make the most of this most incredible experience, and to never contemplate that it may indeed continue for eternity.


image (c) weheartit.com

Don't just stand there... believe something!

 

 

 

The Collins Dictionary defines faith as:

1. strong or unshakeable belief in something, esp without proof or evidence
2. a specific system of religious beliefs ⇒ the Jewish faith
3. (Christianity) trust in God and in his actions and promises
4. a conviction of the truth of certain doctrines of religion, esp when this is not based on reason
5. complete confidence or trust in a person, remedy, etc
6. any set of firmly held principles or beliefs
7. allegiance or loyalty, as to a person or cause
 

It also gives details that the word originated from the Anglo-French feid, from Latin fidēs trust, confidence.

 

G.K.Chesterton makes an interesting point. Standing in the right place doesn't define what you are.

 

Maybe you went to church once and thought it was a waste of time. Maybe you go for forced social events only. Maybe you quite like sitting in old churches and feeling the silence around you. Maybe you used to 'go' to church and now you don't. Maybe you have been hurt by the church. Maybe you think the church is outdated, removed from popular culture, full of bigots and self rightous objectors.

 

The Christian world has an irritating phrase, on asking about someone, the question "are they churched?" is often asked. The image I get in my head from this is of a cartoon factory assembly line, with a big church on a metal arm punching down over some unsuspecting person, and as the arm lifts up for the next punch, a neat little Christian rolls of the assembly line.

 

You can look at those definitions of faith and ask if any of them are reflected in a religous building.

 

What defines you is not where you stand on a Sunday morning. What defines you is what stands in your heart.

 

My next point follows the inevitable conjunction...

 

BUT...

 

BUT ... there is a calling on our lives.

 

BUT... there is a need to nurture what dwells within us.

 

BUT... there is a time to stop and listen.

 

BUT... we need to learn about we say we believe.

 

BUT... there is a bigger picture.

 

When I am asked about why there are so many churches when they all believe the same thing, my response is totally not based in any theological teaching.

 

In my view churches are like supermarkets. They all stock pretty much the same items, some branded differently, some branded the same. They all like to appeal to their own crowd; usually as a point on the social scale - those living on a budget, or those financially better off. Some have better branding, better parking. Some are in every town, some are harder to find. Some give you a better service. Some just want you in and out, and are all about function. Some you wonder who still shops there.

 

You have your own supermarket preference, even if you choose to go as infrequently as possible.

 

You go there because you need something.

 

You go there as a requirement of having something in the house when the cupboards are bare.

 

You go there to bump into people you know.

 

You go there because out of habit.

 

You go there because you like the way they do things.

 

Or you go there because you are one of their kind of people!

 

Jesus left behind a group of people who were desperate to see out his vision, his teaching, his ministry.

 

If you do too maybe you should go to church. See the view from somewhere else for a change.

 

image (c) picsmeme.com

I'm with Miss Piggy

 

"I plan to write more books whenever I can find the appropriate writing attire and color-coordinated pen."
Miss Piggy

 

I love writing. I love words. I held a dream once that I was going to write a book. A real book, that even got published. Some days I think it might still happen. Most days I believe it won't.

The really sad thing is that I got >< this far to achieving it. I did a course. Not just any course. A good post graduate course at a good university. My writing was ok. So ok I was offered a place on a phd in Creative Writing.

It didn't happen. Life got in the way. That attic writing room overlooking the sea hasn't materialised. My purpose bought laptop is great for social media networking and writing a blog. There were marketing jobs.

My dream has disintegrated before my potential got a hold of it.

Faith can do that too. Believing in something is a strange concept in itself. Having a faith is more than just believing. We can do many things that come close to living out what we believe. Get offered some great chances. Then it just slides.

It takes perseverence, dedication and a willingness to keep going. Faith needs movement. It needs investment and it needs you to believe, in yourself, in your future, in the bigger picture.

Don't wait for the right moment. Now is as close as you are going to get.

Faith needs action.

Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense? I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, “Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I’ll handle the works department.” Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.

Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That’s just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?

From James chapter 2 (The Message)
 image (c) style.mtv.com

This little light...

Something very sad happened in my town this week. Someone took their own life. A guy in his forties, always seen going about his business with a white German Shepherd dog in his company. Known to everyone, yet actually really known to a very few.

This person worked in the local supermarket and I would go to his checkout when I could, he was quite sparkly and always had a smile and a friendly word. But only on the outside it would now seem...

We can all get angry with God about the very sad, unquantifiable amount of injustice and pain in the world.

But my first thought was not of anger but more that if only I had known that man was suffering so, so much - I could have... I could have what? Not 'talk' to him. He did not know me. I did not really know him. But I do know a lot of other people. We cannot be responsible for everyone in the world, but we can take responsiblity for some.

Take the light that you have within you, the light that I believe comes from God, and breathe it into the world around you. See people, really see them - and the ones that you care for, do something to make their world a better place. Even it is a tiny gesture that requires a ridiculous amount of effort.

If you see someone heading to, or residing in that dark place, then do not give up, do not let the darkness win.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

From John 10:10

Time Travelling with a companion of faith

I had a weird experience last week. I time travelled. Not literally. Which is a shame. If I ever see a tardis I'll be off.

Today I was surrounded by people who made me feel like the person I used to be around ten years ago.

Age is a strange thing, as is time. One minute you are in your teens, with life to live and you can't get enough done and there aren't enough opportunities, then in your twenties there are finding out what limitations might feel like, due the real world and expectations crashing into each other, then in your thirties there is a resignation almost, a realisation of your place in the world.

And the last fifteen or twenty years seem to have had some fast forward catastrophe... just like in a DVD where you can jump scenes every few minutes, your life becomes a series of moments that stick. Where did all the inbetween stuff go?

So, do we want to be the person we were ten years ago? Or do we want to be who we are now? What if we were a faith filled, taking on the world type person ten years ago? What if that isn't who we are now? Should we try and reach back in time to recapture the past, or do we look forward with wisdom, integrity, confidence and ambition?

And if you see a blue police box (bigger on the inside) do let me know.

Even to your old age and grey hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

Isaiah 46:4 Jesus Geeks.

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