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Just Play The Black Notes...

This blew me away... it is simply amazing!

Church... Why would I go there?

In my down time I've been doing some drug awareness sessions with various groups.  It helps me to stay sharp as a group worker and keeps me in touch with what is happening outside of the 'Christian bubble'.  I worked with one group of young adults for several weeks, looking at a wide range of issues around drug misuse and making healthy choices.  A number of these young adults are/were drug users, and all of them had faced their fair share of problems e.g. unemployment, homelessness etc.

During one session 'Asking For Help' we did a group activity which involved cards describing various scenarios that young people might encounter e.g. 'A teenager gets violent everytime he goes drinking with his mates'.  The group then had various sources of help to choose from and they had to match them up with each scenario.  The idea was simply 'where would you encourage someone to go if they were facing this issue?'  One source of help was 'A Church Leader'.  I watched as the group reviewed each scenario and laid the cards describing each source of help out on the table, instantly a group member picked up the 'Church Leader' card and put it to the side saying "Why the  #$*!  would you go there"? 
When the task was completed we debriefed it and I asked "Is there anyone or anywhere you would not go to for help?"  Almost in unison the group said 'A Church Leader' (by the way at this stage they had no idea I was a Church leader).  I asked them why they didn't see a church leader as a viable source of help and one girl in the group spoke up "If I was a young person and I was struggling with drugs I'd already feel bad about myself, so why would I go to a church for help? they would just make me feel even worse".  I was humbled by her honesty and heartbroken by her response, this was the voice of the broken, the needy, those living on the margins, those Jesus came to seek and save, but they felt judged, condemned and excluded by the one place they should be welcomed. 

It reminded me of a story in “What’s So Amazing About Grace?” Philip Yancey writes about a woman who went to see a counselor in Chicago and she explained that she was a drug addict. In fact, she had prostituted herself and her two year old baby daughter to get money to support her habit. She had hit rock bottom. The counselor didn’t know what to say. Finally, he asked her, “Have you thought of going to a church for help?” He said, “I’ll never forget the look of shock on her face as she said, ‘Church! Why would I ever go there? I was already feeling terrible about myself. They’d just make me feel worse!’”
When you read the gospels you find that people like this woman, the very “worst of sinners,” were drawn to Jesus. Why? I think it’s because He didn’t make them feel worse, He made them feel loved. And He knew this secret that somehow the church has lost. It’s that love is what turns a life around. The way to change a life is not through pointing out or judging someone’s sin, but through love. That’s why messed up, sinful people were attracted to Jesus – because of His love. But today people don’t associate Christians and church with love and grace, but instead judgment and condemnation.  And that’s so sad, because the one thing the church should major in is grace, because the world thirsts for grace. People thirst for grace.

Church what have we done?  I've seen it time and time again, we've told people you're not welcome here, you don't belong because you don't look or behave like we think you should!  Just recently Val watched an adult verbally rip into a young person just because he was riding a skate board through church property.  I've heard adults refer to young people like these as the 'undesirables', but you know what, they are highly desirable to Jesus!  They are thirsty for grace, hungry for love.  I live for the day when the broken will see the church as the place for help and healing, because it is marked by grace.  And grace changes everything. 

The Prayer of a Minor Prophet

I've just rediscovered this gem by A.W. Tozer

My God, I shall not waste time deploring my weakness nor my unfittedness for the work. The responsibility is not mine, but Thine. Thou has said, "I knew thee - I ordained thee - I sanctified thee," and Thou hast also said, "Thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak." Who am I to argue with Thee or to call into question Thy sovereign choice? The decision is not mine but Thine. So be it, Lord. Thy will, not mine, be done.

Well do I know, Thou God of the prophets and the apostles, that as long as I honor Thee Thou will honor me. Help me therefore to take this solemn vow to honor Thee in all my future life and labors, whether by gain or by loss, by life or by death, and then to keep that vow unbroken while I live.

Lord Jesus, I come to Thee for spiritual preparation. Lay Thy hand upon me. Anoint me with the oil of the New Testament prophet. Forbid that I should be come a religious scribe and thus lose my prophetic calling. Save me from the curse that lies dark across the modern clergy, the curse of compromise, of imitation, of professionalism. Save me from the error of judging a church by its size, its popularity or the amount of its yearly offering. Help me to remember that I am a prophet - not a promoter, not a religious manager, but a prophet. Let me never become a slave to crowds. Heal my soul of carnal ambitions and deliver me from the itch for publicity. Save me from bondage to things. Let me not waste my days puttering around the house. Lay Thy terror upon me, O God, and drive me to the place of prayer where I may wrestle with principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world. Deliver me from overeating and late sleeping. Teach me self-discipline that I may be a good soldier of Jesus Christ.  I accept hard work and small rewards in this life. I ask for no easy place.  I shall expect opposition and try to take it quietly when it comes.

And now, O Lord of heaven and earth, I consecrate my remaining days to Thee; let them be many or few, as Thou wilt. Let me stand before the great or minister to the poor and lowly; that choice is not mine, and I would not influence it if I could. I am Thy servant to do Thy will, and that will is sweeter to me than position or riches or fame and I choose it above all things on earth or in heaven.

Though I am chosen of Thee and honored by a high and holy calling, let me never forget that I am but a man of dust and ashes, a man with all the natural faults and passions that plague the race of men. I pray Thee, therefore, my Lord and Redeemer, save me from myself and from all the injuries I may do myself while trying to be a blessing to others. Fill me with Thy power by the Holy Spirit, and I will go in Thy strength and tell of Thy righteousness, even Thine only. I will spread abroad the message of redeeming love while my normal powers endure.

Then, dear Lord, when I am old and weary and too tired to go on, have a place ready for me above, and make me to be numbered with Thy saints in glory everlasting. Amen. AMEN.

Easter Rising

"I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."  Jesus (John 11:25)

"The stone it has been moved. The grave is now a groove. All debts are removed. Oh can't you see what love has done?" Bono

The resurrection of Jesus is the main event in the New Testament and the pinnacle message of the Gospels.  If Jesus didn't rise from the dead then God would be powerless and we would be lost forever, following the teachings of a dead guy.  The resurrection changes everything... it is more than just another amazing historical event.  It has powerful implications for our life in this world and beyond the grave.  Open up your sunday eyes, look with wonder and surprise... Oh can't you see what love has done?

What Would Jesus Buy?

My good friend Rick McKinley who Pastors Imago Dei Community in Portland just did a fascinating interview with Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) about his new movie What Would Jesus Buy?  I've no idea if and when it will come out in the UK but it looks wildly entertaining whilst at the same time delivering some body blows to the commercialism and consumerism that is driving Christmas. 

Imago Dei are part of the Advent Conspiracy, find out more about it here.  It's a great idea and a challenge to us all to spend less and give more this Christmas. 

This is a message I was trying to strike home at the 'Touchdown' event last weekend in regard to our response to the AIDS pandemic in Africa.  One of the statistics that struck me was that in sub-Saharan Afica this year 1.7 million adults and children were newly infected with HIV.  That is equivalent to the entire population of my country (Northern Ireland)!  Christmas was meant to change the world.  We can be part of that change!  We can change what is happening in Africa.  A revolution of love and action.   The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.

World AIDS Day

The Facts

People living with HIV
33.2 million people worldwide
30.8 million adults
15.4 million women
2.5 million children under 15
15.2 million children under age 17 are orphans due to HIV/AIDS-related causes (one child is orphaned by aids every 15 seconds)

New HIV cases in 2007
2.5 million total new cases
420,000 children under 15

AIDS deaths in 2007
1.7 million adults
330,000 children under 15
(United Nations Joint Programme on HIV and AIDS - UNAIDS)

The truly frightening thing is that these statistics are merely estimates, the true picture is much, much worse.  We can't sit back and let this happen, we can do something about it.  We have a mandate to do something about it!
Jesus refers to himself as “the good shepherd,” but he asks us to feed his sheep.  He calls himself the “light of the world,” but then he asks us to be “light” also.   
God is the King, but God invites us to play a part in seeing the kingdom furthered around the world.  The question is what can 'we' do to bring 'light' to those in the darkness of HIV and AIDS?

"God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them."  Bono

Mother Teresa said, “Every time I look into the eyes of a poor man dying of AIDS, I have this eerie awareness that Jesus is staring back at me.”

I'd like to highlight two very worthy campaigns -
Tearfund’s latest campaign 'Bring Childhood back to life' is an invitation to play your part in changing the future for children left alone by the death of their parents
find out more here  Perhaps we could buy less and give more this December? 

Nelson Mandela Former President of South Africa said "Many people suffering from AIDS are not killed by the disease itself. They are killed by the stigma and discrimination surrounding everybody who has HIV and AIDS. "
Find out more about Stamp Out Stigma which is challenging HIV and AIDS discrimination in Ireland.

Being or Doing?

Lately I've been feeling the pressurized burn of busyness.  I think its partly due to the knowledge that a full and demanding summer lies ahead of us, together with the deadlines that accompany study, the priority of family and a growing awareness of the expectations, and judgement of others.  That last one in particular can be a killer. 
We have after all, been here for just over a year now, not long in terms of building a sustainable, strategic youth work, but long enough to know the honeymoon period is over! 
Come September we'll be starting some new events, and trying to cultivate a greater sense of unity in what is already going on.  We've taken things slow until this point, watching, listening, learning, discerning the needs.  I guess most people will be excited, but some will probably find change hard.  I realise I can't remove the pain that sometimes accompanies change I can only manage it. 
With a keen sense of discernment also comes the awareness that some people probably get frustrated with how we do things simply because we don't do it their way.  And there are others who just don't see the sacrifice of time, energy and love that you're pouring out, while others may only have eyes for failures and flaws.  And sadly there maybe some others who in spite of all we might try to do, have their minds made up and for some reason they plain just don't like you.  The truth is when you walk the path of ministry sometimes it means taking some hits and bearing some scars.  All of this can be a heady dangerous mix, you could become discouraged, disillusioned, hardhearted, or get forced down the route of trying to please people.  It's also easy to get sidetracked into doing rather being, the cul-de-sac thinking that goes along the lines of... If I just do more... give more... get more creative... have cooler programmes... etc.         

I realise I could  become so busy doing the work of God that I'd miss the importance of being God’s person.  Its easy to confuse the two—doing and being, especially with a packed schedule and the burden of expectation.  I believe, being connected to God on a daily basis is more important than anything I could do.  Jesus said, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you…apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5).  Or as one of my youth ministry mentors used to say 'Your doing will flow out of your being'.
Service in youth ministry should never come at the expense of your personal passion and depth for God.  The truth is that the greatest thing I can do (or any of us on this path can do) for young people is to love Jesus more. 

I'm A Christ Follower (Mac vs PC Parody)

Have you seen those Mac vs PC commercials? Pretty funny.  Well Community Christian Church have created some very amusing parodies.  I really like them, they are funny without being judgemental and they do highlight an important issue - the need for authenticity, especially in a place like N. Ireland where so much of Christianity has been about maintaining some kind of 'good living' image (an horrendous phrase, but often how christians are viewed in this part of the world).  And in the eyes of some/many christians if you don't measure up to this image or their ideal of christianity then you are not the real deal.

I'm not saying that all those who wear suits and adopt a traditional approch to Christianity are inauthentic, many are wonderful godly people, but what I am saying is that Christianity or following Christ is bigger than what you wear or don't wear, it's not about taking up residence in the land of thou shalt nots, it's not about maintaining a perfect image.  It is about a radical, life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ which yes should be reflected in what we do, but more than that it will shape the kind of people we are and are becoming. 

(ht ysmarko)

A Good Solider

I'm posting another video, this one is for those of us involved in ministry.  It's a short message given by Pastor Mark Driscoll to a recent church planting conference, but the principles and qualities he's talking about are applicable to many spheres of ministry.  I like Marks' stuff, he doesn't beat around the bush, he calls a spade a spade and sets off some depth charges in regard to reaching young men and what it takes to stand in the battle as a good soldier.

Watch Think Respond

Open up your sunday eyes

"The stone it has been moved. The grave is now a groove. All debts are removed. Oh can't you see what love has done?"

Good Friday

It's Friday... What has Jesus been doing since his arrest in the garden of Gethsemane?  Drinking... drinking from the cup the Father would not remove from him.  With each swallow tasting the hell therein, 'so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone'.  What has Jesus been doing since his arrest in the garden?  Bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows.  By the stripes he is receiving, healing us all. 

Wangerin writes: 'Here is a paradox, both impossible and true.  Jesus is rejected by God, is cut completely off from God, is hanging on a tree and thereby cursed, divorced at all points from his Father.  And yet: it is in this same Jesus, at this same moment, precisely because of his sacrifice and death, that God is most present to the world!  God is indeed here, in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself!'  Here is a door through which God has crossed infinity to enter our finite existence, flooding the dungeons with light.  Here is a door through which we by faith may enter Heaven, a doorway made of nails and wood, a crossing, a cross. 

It's Friday, but Sunday is coming!

Thursday... the final night

It's night, a lone figure crumples to the ground, there is blood in his sweat, tears in his eyes, he knows what is coming... it is almost Friday.  His prayer is desperate, his voice cracking and straining under the weight he knows he is about to bear... "Take this cup away from me" 
In the ancient world one of the best ways to assassinate someone was to spike their wine cup with poison.  From this the term 'the cup' came to represent suffering or disaster. 
In the Older Testament the cup became a symbol of the disaster God would bring on individuals and even whole nations who did evil things.   In other words the cup was a way of talking about God’s punishment.  – (Isaiah 51:17, Jer 49:12)
But the big question is: why is Jesus face down in the dirt terrified of drinking the cup of God’s anger?  Surely if anyone deserves to escape God’s punishment it is Jesus. 
The answer is simple: he isn’t about to be punished for his own wrongs but for mine, and yours.  Look at Jesus words later that night as he continued to pray

Then Jesus went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this painful thing to be taken from me, and if I must do it, I pray that what you want will be done.”

Here is the answer – it is not possible for the cup of God’s anger to pass from you and me unless Jesus takes it for us.  In other words, Jesus is willing to receive our punishment so that we don’t have too.

My death, O Lord!
My sin, my hell, my damnation were in that cup
My gratitude is unspeakable
My wonder is silence
My life is yours

Stop the traffik

March 25th 2007 will be Freedom Day – not just as a celebration of history, but a moment to be inspired by the champions of history of the past to help us fight for freedom from the bondage of slavery through people trafficking.  We'll be looking at this issue at YF this Sunday. Don't miss it!

Get Involved -
Sign the global declaration
Buy a ‘Freedom Key’
Tell others
Watch Amazing Grace (released in the UK this weekend)

True Religion...

Whatever you think of brother Bono... you should take a few minutes to listen to his acceptance speech at the NAACP Image Awards (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) where he was receiving an award for his work against AIDS and poverty.  In preaching terms, he certainly strikes fire!  I for one welcome his challenge to the church, which in many quarters is still complacent and indifferent to these needs.  These are kingdom issues! 

"True religion won't let us fall asleep in the comfort of our freedom"  Amen!

(ht - Our Souls in Church) 

Hold Fast Hope

“I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Psalm 27:13
It seems that life is constantly trying to beat the hope out of us!  Storms of despair seem to find us more often than we would like.  We can find ourselves asking where is the hope?  King David who wrote Psalm 27 had his fair share of storms to deal with.  Constant threats and dangerous adversaries meant despair was never too far from the door... yet he held fast to hope.  Fear can hold you prisoner but hope can set you free.  David lived in the reality of this truth.  Even though things were bad he believed that he would soon see the goodness of the Lord, not just in the next life but in the land of the living as well.  For the Christian, hope does not suggest a 'might happen/maybe' possibility but rather certain prospect.  And this kind of hope can only be found in Christ.  Frederick Beuchner puts it brilliantly:

"For Christians, hope is ultimately hope in Christ.  The hope that he really is what for centuries we have been claiming he is.  The hope that despite the fact that sin and death still rule the world, he somehow conquered them.  The hope that in him and through him all of us stand a chance of somehow conquering them too.  The hope that at some unforseeable time and in some unimaginable way he will return with healing in His wings."

We can rejoice in the certain prospect of one day seeing the glory of God, and we have the assurance that no matter how ugly it gets in the here and the now we will see the goodness of our heavenly Father, that He is right here with us and we're safe in His arms.  Like David we can say I would have despaired unless I had believed...   

This past weekend, when my little daughter was sick and those storms were raging about us I was reminded that this heart swelling Hope (in the words of Andy Dufresne from the movie 'The Shawshank Redemption') "....is a good thing, maybe the best of things and no good thing ever dies."  I don't know what you're going through. I don't know what has come along and tried to knock the hope out of you this week, but I want to tell you to be strong and let your heart take courage.  We're not that big of a deal but our Saviour is!  Hold fast hope... His goodness is coming. 

Favourite Quotations

I've been tagged by 'From Under The Duvet' to post my five favourite quotes. So here goes...

"So go out and live real good and I promise you'll get beat up real bad. But, in a little while after you're dead, you'll be rotted away anyway. It's not gonna matter if you have a few scars. It will matter if you didn't live."  Rich Mullins

"Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried."  G.K. Chesterton

"You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God." C.S. Lewis

"Stories are the secret reservoir of values: change the stories individuals and nations live by and tell themselves, and you change the individuals and nations." Ben Okri

"The grace of God means something like this: Here is your life.  You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't have been complete without you.  Here is the world.  Beautiful and terrible things will happen.  Don't be afraid.  I am with you.  Nothing can seperate us.  It's for you I created the universe.  I love you.
There's only one catch.  Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it.
Maybe just being able to reach out and take it is a gift too." Frederick Buechner

Since 'From Under The Duvet' posted more than five, I'm gonna break the rules and throw in a few more.

"All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover, and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on Earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before." C.S. Lewis

"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."  John Lennon

And a quote from the Big Yin- "Never trust a man who, when left alone in a room with a tea cozy, doesn't try it on." Billy Connolly

I'm going to tag - Our Souls in Church, Reality Czech and anyone else out there who cares to share.

The Dawkins Delusion

I really enjoyed William Crawley's interview with Richard Dawkins on the bbc last night- part of his 'William Crawley meets' series...  Dawkins most recent book 'The God Delusion' is a best seller and he has pretty much become the voice for the atheist community.  In the interview he voiced his aggressive oppositon to religious belief going so far as to claim belief in God is a delusion comparable to mental illness.  It was fascinating stuff though his appraisal of Northern Ireland's problems and the role of religious belief were shockingly simplistic for a man of his intellect.  You can read William Crawleys reflections on the interview here.  And here is a brilliant piece of satire which is both hilarious and a fine rebuttal.  Enjoy!

(ht- The Resurgence)

Valentine's Day

As it's valentines day I'm posting some wisdom straight from the horses mouth today... Horseymorgan to be exact, who happen to be a great bunch of guys, who have produced some wonderful music over the years.  Click on over to their myspace and enjoy some very fine tunes.  Here are the lyrics to 'Lonely Day' which was originally a Stocki poem... I loveitloveit!

Its a lonely day for the lonely
the day the florist grins
When you’ve got no-one to listen
to your longings deep within
Its a lonely day for the lonely
the day the postman laughs
The day the world’s divided by the have nots and the haves
Who’s to say you’re any less than those who think they’re more
When it comes to valentines Gods not keeping score
So remember that you’re loved even when you’re not
Remember you’re remembered even when you’re forgot

Thought for the week

"If you want a religion that makes sense, I suggest something other than Christianity.  But if you want a religion that makes life, then I think this is the one."  Rich Mullins

Swapping hymns for rock music

Great discussion over on Our Souls In Church about a church in England which is swapping hymns for rock music.

The "U2-charist", which uses hits from the Irish rock group in place of hymns in the service, is being held at Lincoln's St Swithin's Church in May.

MLK

Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

In the United States this is Martin Luther King Jr Day.  As I started out on the path of youth work & ministry Dr King's message and bold stand for justice and reconciliation was and still is tremendously inspiring. 

Here is that famous "I Have a Dream" speech/sermon.  Be inspired...

The Best Of 2006

It's time for the annual round up of the best sights, sounds and words of the year!  As always, I'm keen to hear what's made your best of the year lists...

MUSIC
Album of the Year - 'The Cost' by The Frames - They are consistently one of the best bands around and this year they delivered another classic Frames album. Certainly their best since 'For The Birds' and up there with the masterpiece that is 'Fitzcarraldo'.  It's been a fine year for Irish music.

The Best Of The Rest
Pearl Jam by Pearl Jam - They returned with what could well be their best ever album.
The Seeger Sessions by Bruce Springsteen - Bruce took us to Church this year with an incredibly spiritual album filled with old spirituals and folk songs... If only church could sound like this?! 
Songs From The Deep Forest by Duke Special - Another Irish artist brings us one of the most unique and memorable albums of the year.  No one, absolutely no one has a sound like the Duke, it is very special indeed. 
Magnetic North by Iain Archer - This album brought us one of the best ever songs about northern ireland 'When It Kicks In' (also one of the years great rocking tunes).  It's a beautiful listen.
Sugar Queen by Brian Houston - With Sugar Queen one of our finest singer/songwriters brings us his finest album yet, it'll move your heart as well as your feet. 
Good Monsters by Jars of Clay - I'd simply forgotten how good this band is.  Honest introspective lyrics and a harder edged sound reminded me.
American V: A Hundred Highways by CASH - This posthumous release reminds us just what we have lost.  That voice is the sound of a man broken on the wheels of living.  It's brilliant, moving and profoundly spiritual. 
The Swell Season -  Glen Hansard (of the Frames) and Czech singer Marketa Irglova released this mesmirizing album.  Beautiful string arrangements, Hansard's melancholic yet hopeful lyrics and Marketa's angelic voice combined to produce something very special indeed.   

The Best Of 2006 Playlist
The Saints Are Coming - U2
Original Fire - Audioslave
Life Wasted - Pearl Jam
Better Way - Ben Harper
Strength Of My Life - P.O.D.
Here Comes The Sun/The Inner Light - The Beatles
Beautiful Sky - Ty Tabor
Three More Days - Ray Lamontagne
Jacob's Ladder - Bruce Springsteen
God' Gonna Cut You Down - Johnny Cash
Winter Shaker - Woven Hand
People Get Ready - The Frames
Wolves - Josh Ritter
Breathe In This Life - Denison Witmer
Out Of The Ruins - Brian Houston
Mystery - Bruce Cockburn
Falling Slowly - The Swell Season
No Cover Up - Duke Special
Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol
When It Kicks In - Iain Archer
Work - Jars of Clay
Window In The Skies - U2

GIG Of The Year
I can't really single one of these gigs out as the 'best' because each was unique in it's style and setting.  They were among the best concerts I've ever experienced. 
Pearl Jam live at the Point Depot in Dublin - September '06
The Frames live at the Ulster Hall in Belfast - October '06
Bruce Springsteen & The Seeger Sessions Band live at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast - November '06

MOVIES
Movie of the Year: Shooting Dogs - Undoubtedly one of the most powerful movies I've ever watched, sadly it had a very limited cinema release, but I was able to see it on dvd.  Michael Caton Jones film is about the bloody Rwandan genocide of 1994.  In just one hundred spring days, a million Tutsis were massacred by their fellow Hutu countrymen. The barbarity was beyond imagination. But not beyond prevention.  The UN was there, watching, but not acting.  The events are seen through the eyes of a British Priest played by John Hurt in one of his finest ever performances and a gap year student teacher played by Hugh Dancy.  It is a much edgier movie than Hotel Rwanda and asks some gut wrenchingly honest questions about suffering as both Priest and student are forced to confront the depths of their faith.  A deeply moving and inspiring experience.   

The Best Of The Rest
Walk The Line
V For Vendetta
Children of Men
Inside Man
Fearless
Casino Royale
The Departed
The Nativity Story
Curious George
Lady in the Water
Slither
Munich
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Superman Returns

Best of the Box (TV in '06)
Lost - Season 2
Battlestar Galactica - Season 2
NYPD Blue - Final Season
Into The West
24 - Season 4

BOOKS
The Bible Experience: 'New Testament' - This was my best discovery of '06!  A unique audio presentation of the New Testament (the Older Testament arrives in '07).  An incredible cast of actors, musicians and clergy have produced a truly captivating performance of the Bible.  And the musical score and sound design & effects really sets this apart. 
This Beautiful Mess by Rick McKinley - The Kingdom of God is much talked about but little understood.  I've known Rick for a good few years now, I know what the Kingdom means to him, he's preached it and his church (Imago Dei) are striving to embrace it and live in it.  This is a timely 'freeing' book, about the revolutionary nature of the Kingdom... transforming the 'mess' of life into something beautiful.
Confessions Of A Reformission Rev by Mark Driscoll - This book made me laugh out loud on several occassions (it's honest & funny) and it also dropped its fair share of spiritual depth charges (it is challenging and pulls no punches).  It's the story of Mars Hill Church in Seattle and its Pastor Mark Driscoll.  Mark writes with honesty about the frustrations and joys of building a church which is theologically conservative and culturally liberal.  It also confirmed a lot of the issues I have with aspects of traditional and even some contemporary models of church. 

So lets hear your best of '06

Gloria in Excelsis Deo

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
      Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

      "Glory to God in the highest heaven,
       and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests."  Luke 2:8-14

They are singing in Palestine again.  This time it's Gabriel and the Angel band.  The quietness is shattered!  And a bunch of nameless shepherds witness this terrible holy sight and are the first recipients of the good news - the Kingliest of Kings has been born, God has come near.   Wangerin writes: "Shepherds!  How many? Don't know.  And these aren't even the owners of the sheep; they're the working stiffs who pulled a night watch.  So what are these people in the order of things?  How do they rate such invitations to the great banquet of the King?  Well, they rate because they rate!  They are chosen because God chooses them.  It has nothing to do with what they have done.  And it clearly can't be who they are - unless 'who they are' is nothing at all, for this same Jesus whom they will rush to worship shall fill his own feast hall with the poor and maimed and lame and blind." 

Gabriel declares "Good tidings of great joy... for all people!"  Well, of course.  That's why the shepherds are first: they represent all the nameless, all the working stiffs, the great wheeling population of the world.  God comes to the ordinary and the small.. you... and me. 

So along with the ragtag band of shepherds  kneel in worship, lost in wonder, love and praise.  For in the words of Bono: "The idea that God, if there is a force of Love and Logic in the universe, that it would seek to explain itself is amazing enough. That it would seek to explain itself and describe itself by becoming a child born in straw poverty, a child… Wow!  Unknowable love, unknowable power describes itself as the most vulnerable."  ...No wonder the Angels set the night sky ablaze with praise! 

A labour of love

"In our world too, a Stable once had something inside it that was bigger than our whole world."  Lucy Pevensie (The Last Battle - The Chronicles of Narnia)

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.  Luke 2:6-7

Tonight our Advent journey brings us to a stable door...  Peer in... watch... listen.  'Mary is a teenager, but the task at hand makes a woman of her.  Watch:  She whispers, and Joseph makes sheaves of clean straw.  Some he piles in a steep backrest; with some he surrounds a deeper scoup of looser straw; over all he drapes a woolen blanket, and Mary lowers herself onto the place prepared for her.  Listen:  Her groanings never surrender to pain.  Nor does her posture crumple beneath it.  Rather, pain swells below her like an ocean, and whenever a great wave heaves upward, threatening to swamp her, Mary concentrates and rides the pain; rides high the swell as if in a boat of her own strong will; feels it, certainly; suffers the iron contractions; but never looses control; and down the other side she rows, to breathe a while before the next wave rises and rolls.  Watch:  Suddenly Mary's whole torso snaps forward, catching her by surprise.  No utterance now.  No breathing at all.  She stares as if the earth has opened at her toes.  Her teeth gleam in the darkness, shaping a silent, grinning scream.  Her forehead flashes sweat.  Suddenly there are several sounds in quick succession.  Listen!  A slurping -a moist release- and the soft crushing of dry straw.  A man's voice, drawing breath and sobbing.  For in the scoop of the woolen blanket lies a trembling infant'. (extract from Preparing for Jesus by Walter Wangerin)

God has come near...

GOD WAS
This tiny
This confused
This useless
This first breath colour of blue
God was.

This unaware
This immobile
This dependent
This delicate, fragile and frail
God was.   (words Steve Stockman)

I'll leave you for now at the stable door but linger a while... watch... listen...  Savour the words of my favourite Christmas song 'Labour of Love'.  Happy Christmas.

It was not a silent night
There was blood on the ground
You could hear a woman cry
In the alleyways that night
On the streets of David's town

And the stable was not clean
And the cobblestones were cold
And little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
Had no mother's hand to hold

It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love

Noble Joseph at her side
Callused hands and weary eyes
There were no midwives to be found
In the streets of David's town
In the middle of the night

So he held her and he prayed
Shafts of moonlight on his face
But the baby in her womb
He was the maker of the moon
He was the Author of the faith
That could make the mountains move

It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love
For little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
It was a labor of love
©2004 Andrew Peterson

Preparing For Jesus

They're singing songs in Palestine!  They can't help it!  Elizabeth recieves a visit from her cousin Mary, but before she can rush to hug her; before she can utter the first word of greeting, the tiny prophet low in her womb expresses his first prophecy and leaps for joy at the sound of the voice of the mother of his Lord!  In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!  But why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.  Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!" Luke 1:41-45

My Advent guide Walter Wangerin points out that Elizabeth's loud and rhythmic cry of blessing sets little Mary up as a model for us.
She points out the defining characteristic in Mary: Blessed (fortunate) is she who believed that the Lord's words to her would be fulfilled. When the angel came to her with the promise of a miraculous birth, she believed the Lord's words "Let it happen to me according to your word."
That's Mary! she recieves the word of God in faith, and faith in her becomes obedience.  That, is the cause of this good fortune which Elizabeth immeditatley recognises. 
Years later (Luke 8:19-21) someone tells Jesus that 'his mother and brothers are waiting outside' Jesus replies with the real cause of kinship: Who are his mother and his brothers? "Those who hear the word of God and do it."  That's Mary!  its a characteristic we all might share and join the family of Jesus. 

Mary responds: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.  From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me- holy is his name." (Luke 1:46-49)  She can't help it... The cause of her song is in her womb, the one who is larger than the universe is entering here, our dirty sphere, voiding himself of power to be born in human form.

They're singing songs in Palestine!  Soon... not long now... the skies will be filled with the whirling hosts of heaven in thunderous chorus! Gloria in Excelsis!

Preparing for Jesus

The journey through Advent has begun... "Before the hero enters, people anticipate his coming.  Old promises are remembered.  New promises are made.  Excitement sparks and burns in the hearts of all the players: Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, Joseph, you, me, the children.  Daily excitement blazes hotter and hotter until we can scarcely stand it.  Who's coming? What's his name?  What'll he be like?  What's he going to do?"

My companion on this journey is Preparing For Jesus by Walter Wangerin Jr. His meditations on the coming of Christ, Advent, Christmas and the Kingdom enable us to contemplatively enter the story.  Wangerin makes Jesus' life and times come alive in a way that few authors can.  I'll be blogging my ponderings and discoveries as I live the great story one more time. 

World Aids Day

Today is world AIDS day.  Worldwide, 40 million people are infected with HIV.  Of those, nearly 30million live in sub-Saharan Africa.  These figures are alarming, AIDS is called a "pandemic" for good reason.  In most countries the infection rate is increasing.  Every 60 seconds, five people in Africa die of AIDS, and 10 are infected with HIV.  AIDS has orphaned 11 million African children. That number is expected to jump to 20 million in the next four years.  More than 25 million people have died of AIDS since 1981.  Young people account for half of all new HIV infections worldwide - around 6000 become infected with HIV everyday.  There is still no cure for AIDS.  There is still no vaccine for AIDS.

But we can do something it!  We can step up and help stop the spread of HIV.  It starts with raising awareness of HIV/AIDS and challenging some of the myths and prejudices around this disease.  It continues by accepting that this is a social justice issue - AIDS is running wild through some of the world's poorest communities.   

Tearfund have a plan to stop the spread of HIV which includes helping woman get access to medicines and information that will prevent their babies being born with HIV.  Simple measures will prevent mother to baby transmission - two doses of medicine one for the mother before labour and one for the baby after birth and the chances of HIV passing through the blood are dramatically reduced.  One baby is born with HIV every minute of every day.  We can do something to help.

Other websites to check out - One Life Revolution   One Join Red (watch Bono's AIDS day video)  acet - AIDS Care Education & Training

Jack Bauer, Aslan and Penal Substitutionary atonement

Let me draw your attention to a great post on the Resurgence site.  Penal substitutionary atonement has been in the firing line a fair bit in recent years.  There are some with more liberal theological leanings and some from the emergent movement who have declared that the concept of Jesus taking our guilty record, paying our penalty and dying in our place on the cross is wrong.  It's just too messy and too violent, God is just too nice and he wouldn't do that kind of thing!  Perhaps they have forgotten (or chosen to ignore) a fact which CS Lewis again and again reminds us in the Chronicles of Narnia... Aslan (who is a type of Christ) is not a tame lion! 

Driscoll talks about two examples (or types of Christ) in culture which are superb illustrations of this great doctrine.  The aforementioned Aslan and Jack Bauer!  I'm currently working my way through season 4 of '24' (perhaps the best yet since season 1) and if you click on over to resurgence you'll find the trailer for season 6.  Well worth a read, check it out.   

Paul Ponders Political Correctness Gone Mad

How is this for political correctness gone stark raving mad (I came across this in a Daily Mail article) - 'Church of England leaders warned yesterday that calling God 'He' encourages men to beat their wives.  They told churchgoers they must think twice before they refer to God as 'He' or 'Lord' because of the dangers that it will lead to domestic abuse.   They also warned that clergy must reconsider the language they use in sermons and check the hymns they sing to remove signs of male oppression.  The recommendations are fully endorsed by Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams and they put a question mark over huge swathes of Christian teaching and practice.'

So will the Church of England be ditching the Lord's Prayer because it opens with the words 'Our Father' and what about old hymns such as Onward Christian soldiers?  And what about the very Bible stories themselves... will they be too violent, too uncomfortable, too old fashioned for our sophisticated, politically correct modern times?

Domestic violence is a gross evil... but its insulting and downright simplistic to claim that refering to God as 'Lord' or 'Father' is one of the major causes.

Seems like some church leaders have no problem ignoring the Bible and centuries of Christian tradition!  They're on a mission to create a sanitised version of 'christianity', a safe feminised 'god' who won't offend or upset anyone.  A 'god' on their terms, according to their agenda, ignoring the Truth... madness.   ...hum!?

A life less ordinary... a life less selfish

Polish poet Cyprian Kamil Norwid said that a truly fufilling life must contain three essential elements - "something to live on, something to live for and something to die for.  The lack of one of these attributes results in a drama.  The lack of two results in a tradgedy."

What will be said of your story, your life... a drama, a tradgedy or something else? ...hum!?   May it be a life less ordinary, rooted in a Faith that leads us beyond ourselves... to love God, to love others.

What is God Like?

One of my students was asked in school to consider this question - What is God like?   One of the responses she heard from a fellow student was that God is like a comfort blanket that people use to make their lives a bit nicer.  Interesting response, and perhaps an honest one if that is the image of God we are guilty of communicating to people - the soft cuddly wrap around god who is simply there to make us feel good.  But that is not the God the Bible presents to us. 

When considering the question who or what is God?  The answer that immediately springs to my mind is that 'God is love'!  But even a statement like that somehow doesn’t quite nail it (now stay with me on this) because that word 'love' is oftentimes viewed through a cultural lens which leaves it bereft of any significant meaning.  Confined by the limitations of our language and influenced by a sentimental view of what love is.  Do we really understand what love is?  And when we say 'God is love', or 'God loves you', do we really get what that means?  I honestly think we fall far short of grasping it.  So I’ll leave it to the late Rich Mullins to explain what I mean when I say 'God is love' and the far reaching implications that has for our lives.  Rich answers the question 'what is God like?' better than anyone...

“People would say God loves you, and I’d always say big deal, God loves everyone, that don’t make me special, that just proves that God aint got no taste. And I don’t think He does, thank God. Cause God takes the junk of our lives and He makes the greatest art in the world out of it. And if He was cultured, if He was as civilized as most Christian people wish He was, He would be useless to Christianity. But God is a Wild Man, and I hope that the course of your life you encounter Him. But let me warn you, you need to hang on for dear life, or let go for dear life, maybe is better."

Doesn't sound much like a comfort blanket to me ...hum!?

Fearless & Daring

I recently watched Jet Li's new movie Fearless  This film tells the story of Chinese Martial Arts Master Huo Yuanjia (1869~1910).  It's a fantastic movie... great fight scenes, epic scale and Li's best ever screen performance.  And the story is superb, a true story of redemption and transformation.  And what stayed with me long after the credits rolled was the audacity of this guy.  At a time when China's national morale was at an all time low, he believed he could make a difference to a whole nation... and he did.  It challenged me, when it comes to my life, my ministry, my faith... how fearless am I? And I remembered something Jon Middendorf said. 

'The level of your audacity is tied to your view of GOD'!

A.W. Tozer once said "what you believe about God is the most important thing about you".  He was right! 

So how would you describe the level of your 'divine audacity'?

If it was strong & healthy... what would you do with it?  ...hum!?

Fearless & Daring

I recently watched Jet Li's new movie Fearless  This film tells the story of Chinese Martial Arts Master Huo Yuanjia (1869~1910).  It's a fantastic movie... great fight scenes, epic scale and Li's best ever screen performance.  And the story is superb, a true story of redemption and transformation.  And what stayed with me long after the credits rolled was the audacity of this guy.  At a time when China's national morale was at an all time low, he believed he could make a difference to a whole nation... and he did.  It challenged me, when it comes to my life, my ministry, my faith... how fearless am I? And I remembered something Jon Middendorf said. 

'The level of your audacity is tied to your view of GOD'!

A.W. Tozer once said "what you believe about God is the most important thing about you".  He was right! 

So how would you describe the level of your 'divine audacity'?

If it was strong & healthy... what would you do with it?  ...hum!?

Church Website Launched

Check out First Pres Saintfield our new Church website has been launched.  No doubt it will evolve over the coming weeks and months.   

It's Friday... but Sunday is coming.

Walter Wangerin writes "Today all times collide.  Today all stories are the same.  It was a Friday then.  It is a Friday now.  We call them both by the same perposterous name: Good."

Mark 15: 37-39 - With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!"

"A loud cry" In Greek the words are phone megale... look familiar? how about Mega Phone.  Jesus yelled out!   The Centurion standing at the foot of that cross has probably seen his fair share of action.  And he's probably stood at countless crucifixions just like this one.  Today is a nails job, it's messy, but that is not what bothers him.  What sets this day apart from all other days, this cruxifixion from all other execitions is that 'loud cry'  Yes... he has heard it before that's for sure - but never in defeat, never in death, always when the battle has been won.  This is a cry of victory! 

What is this victory?  What is it that makes this Friday 'Good'?  What does that phone megale annouce?  Satan is defeated!  Jesus closes his eyes and dies and death is no more!  The price is paid, the curtain torn, man can approach the mercy seat and know God. 

It's Friday... Sunday is coming! 

doubt night

Frederick Buechner said "Whether your faith is that there is a God or that there is not a God.  If you don't have any doubts, you are either kidding yourself or asleep.  Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith.  They keep it awake and moving."

This Sunday evening at YF is 'Doubt Night' - a chance to ask questions and wrestle with some of the issues & doubts you or your friends may have about Christianity, God & life! 

We need your questions (the more the better).  Use the comments section to leave them on the site or email them direct to me.   We'll have a panel of leaders to answer them, and to give us a chance to prepare (we might need to do some homework) the sooner we get them the better.  This has the potential to be a great night.  So... ASK those burning questions and raise those niggling doubts!

Thought For the week - the perfect teenager

At youth group this week Mark was speaking about Luke 2 and this one insight we have into 'Jesus the young person'   He challenged us to think about the differences and similarities between our lives and that of the teenage Jesus.  We considered how Jesus related to his parents and modeled the priority of spiritual growth.  So as you go through this week here are some questions to think about.

How can we embrace God as our father the way Jesus did? What steps could we take to do this?
What are some specific things we can do to become more teachable?
What is one key area in which you need to become more obedient to your parents?

A woman of God

We had a fantastic time at youth group last night thinking about the qualities of a woman of God. Check out Rach's Blog for the skinny on what happened.  It wasn't just a night for the ladies, there was plenty for the guys to think about.  Gemma left us with a few questions to ponder and think about during the week - 

Guys:
1. What kind of qualities do you need to develop in your own life before you could be a “match” for a Proverbs 31 woman?

2. If there was a Proverbs 32 man, what godly characteristics do you think would be listed?

Girls:
1. List some practical ways you can invest into your inner beauty.

2. What three qualities could you commit to developing?