JUST LIVING – Page 2 – The Flipchart

Snickers and Psalms

For the past six weeks I’ve been re-organising every room, cupboard, shelf, box and bucket I own in an attempt to fit a full office into a full house. It nearly worked. Good planning meant I left the office before the end of the contract. Unfortunately, that meant piles of bags and boxes with nowhere to go at home. We simply ran out of space.

As things ramped up during the final clear out last week I realised I was living on a meagre diet – a daily Psalm in the morning and a Snickers for lunch. Even evening meals had become a functional affair as I am usually the one with time to cook and I had no time.

I thought about this diet one day while sitting on a heap of boxes in the garage.

I didn’t mind not eating much.

\nI had to think longer about not reading much scripture.

Coming from an Evangelical perspective where being steeped in scripture is one of the keys to our personal walk with God it’s easy to become superstitious about how much we should read the bible in our devotions.

Two thoughts occurred to me.

First, to base any relationship on superstition (if I don’t do this then they won’t … love me) is a sign of both insecurity (have I done enough yet?) and possibly stupidity (I have done enough and of course they will … love me). If any other of our relationships were based on such levels of self-doubt it would reveal an unhealthy social framework in need of investigation. In the case of our relationship with God when our insecurity is superstition (God won’t hear my prayers if I don’t …) it is also unbelief.

Fortunately neither we nor God need worry about such things. The framework is clear.

We pray. God hears.

\nWe turn up even for a moment. God is waiting – and with joy, not looking at his (metaphorical) watch.

Second, it made me think once again how much we have short changed congregations in our encouragement of Scripture reading. On 25 Alpha courses I have taught – Start with a few minutes of devotions a day (I think it’s seven minutes). And read the bible in a year if you can.

7 minutes? Really?

That sounds like “have a Snickers every day for lunch”.

It’s not what I do. I read for hours. I have projects on the go in the Old and New Testaments. Diagrams. Lists. Numbers. Dates. Notes. Essays. Sermons. Blogs.

Why would I think that someone else should have a Snickers while I have a gourmet meal?

So when I get back to church I’m going to change the conversation. First, every week, I’m going to say “I hope you’re all reading your bibles”. We talk about what’s important and yet no-one EVER says that from the front of church.

And then – the New Testament – the handbook for Jesus’ movement. It’s about 550 pages long. A bit longer than a thriller, a bit shorter than Lord of the Rings.

Read it. Four weeks, six weeks tops. Read at different times of the day. Read it six times a year. Minimum.

And if time is short carry a small Book of Common Prayer in one pocket and a Snickers in another and at least read the Psalm of the day at lunchtime.

All Change (and they don’t owe you)

Today is the penultimate day of clearing out my office. I’m cooking. it’s 9pm and I’m sitting in the kitchen, waiting for the pork chops with celeriac and apple and new potatoes to reach perfection. And I’m exhausted!\r\n\r\nThe office move has taken six weeks. That’s six weeks of clearing space in my small home to make space for the equipment, materials and furniture I’m moving from my small office. It’s amazing how much can be carefully slotted into small spaces.\r\n\r\nAnd tomorrow is adverts day for jobs in the Church of England, and along with at least six of my contemporaries that I know about I will be studying the options and possible moves around the country.\r\n\r\nI’m hoping that exactly the right job appears but the reality is that it’s hard to get a job in the church at the moment. This is partly due to the large reduction in full time clergy posts taking place across the country, plus the unusually high number of existing experienced clergy currently looking for a change in post, plus the high number of curates looking too, many of whom would make excellent incumbents, and perhaps my unusual personal style and CV won’t help me land a traditional role either.\r\n\r\nSo from this weekend I’m without work, without an office, and looking for a job in a highly competitive field.\r\n\r\nOn Tuesday I wake up with nothing in the diary and nowhere to go.\r\n\r\nGreat!\r\n\r\nNo really … great!\r\n\r\nI do not expect the Church of England to be the answer to my personal needs – for money, security, purpose or satisfaction in ministry. I am responsible for my own well being. The church doesn’t owe me. And likewise I remain open to the fact that churches (or even The Church) might not think I’m the answer to it’s needs at this time.\r\n\r\nIt may be a pedantic semantic clarification, but the call on my life is God’s call not mine. I may aspire to say my time is God’s time, but the opposite is true too: His time is my time. We have a shared history, God and I, and it’s brought us to this place: my history in some way a part of His history.\r\n\r\nAnd so with pockets full of skills and experiences and creativity, if I’m not chosen for the jobs I think are ideal for me – I’ll make my own future in a place where we (me, the people I live with, God) can flourish.

Darkness

Simple connections can be thought provoking and prayer directing.
\nIf we notice them.
\nLike this connection yesterday.

In the morning, using everyday morning prayers, the set reading was the Song of Zechariah

“In the tender compassion of our God
\n the dawn from on high shall break upon us,

To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death
\n and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

That made me think for a long time about the nature of the darkness the world is engulfed in. Surely, I thought, those that dismiss the idea of sin can’t have another satisfactory explanation for the darkness that covers so many lives, who DWELL in darkness.

In the evening, searching for some suitable hymn for an event, I read the lyrics of the hymn “O Church Arise” by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty which has the snippet:

O church arise …..

… An army bold
\nWhose battle cry is love
\nReaching out to those in darkness

(http://www.worshiptogether.com/)

So, the tender compassion of our God breaks in upon us, and we, the church reach out.
\nThese are linked.
\nGod shines through us reaching out. Or, as we shine in the world God reaches out.

Either way, the connection was small – one word, darkness – but enough to make me pause twice and pray.

The first step, of course, is to notice.

A Closer Look at Internet Addiction

One of the sites I follow on my Twitter account is Urban Times. Being an avid city lover I was attracted to the site by its urban focus, but they often have interesting pieces like this one on Internet Addiction. It’s worth checking out for everyone, but especially if you have young children, or if you are already an Internet Addict!!\r\n\r\nA Closer Look at Internet Addiction.

The “Big Four” of Discipleship – Part 2

If you read The Big 4 – Part 1 you’ll know that the basic premise is that there is too much talking and too little understanding of Christian Discipleship which results in too few disciples…

If you read The Big 4 – Part 1 you’ll know that the basic idea is that there is too much talking and too little understanding of Christian Discipleship which results in too few disciples actually ‘doing’ discipleship and far too few able to teach discipleship.

Before outlining my simple plan of discipleship there are two things to remember:

First, discipleship is inherently simple. If it were not then most of the Christian world would not be flourishing, and it is.

And second, we have to DO it. It’s really worse than useless to keep talking about the same things that are the wrong things and not do the important things that are the right things.

So my simple plan of discipleship includes four things, what I call the Big Four of Discipleship, and they are:

Prayer – which includes learning to pray and to worship,

Witness – connecting us with Scripture and with God’s world

Service – both inside and outside the church

Life – doing life well with increasing wisdom.

If I could do these four things well I believe I would be living as an effective disciple.

And I also believe – without any doubt whatsoever – that a community of people who can do these things well together would be an effective church – with everyone ‘brought to maturity in Christ’ (Ephesians 4:13)

So that’s my simple plan. And my simple aim in life is to help churches do these four things so well that they become mountain moving, culture challenging communities of love and faith.

(… and for an effective church see G.L.A.D. – A Church Near You)

The “Big Four” of Discipleship – Part 1

Ask yourself the question: how many disciples do you know who have the facility to teach you to be a better disciple?\r\n\r\nYou know the sort of thing:\r\n

when you’re stuck in prayer they can teach you where to go next;

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when you are struggling to understand the Bible they can connect passages and themes for you;

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when you stumble over your words at work when trying describe your experience of God they can help you clarify what you really think;

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when you struggle with lowering debt or raising children they can sit alongside you and help you formulate plans that are practical and sensible and yet faithful to the Bible.

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\r\nI’ve been through my contact list (which is extensive). Leaving out clergy, I know only four people who are close.\r\n\r\nLeaving out licensed lay ministers, that leaves three.\r\n\r\nAnd two of them are women.\r\n\r\n(Interestingly all bar one have come through very hard times in which they have had their faith chiselled and beaten into shape).\r\n\r\nHow close are you? How close am I?\r\n\r\nWhile we’re thinking about this we need a plan … mine is here – The “Big Four” of Disipleship – Part 2

Pray always. Really?

Yes, that’s a question. Really? Always?

I was sitting in the ‘New York New York’ cafe/bar on Allee de la Liberte Charles de Gaule in Cannes on a Sunday afternoon during the most dramatic storm I think I’d ever run away from.

I was musing on the faith that exists in the gap between lack and promise (was that from someone else? I can’t remember). My scribbled notes say things like,

the place of faith is misunderstood, so-you-too-will–be-misunderstood

the place of faith is confusing, abnormal, radical, and (in no small way) stupid

But to put this in context.

My scribbled notes were made at a table surrounded by about seventy young, confident, French people also sheltering from the storm at other tables. Most of them smoking – yes, indoors. We were under the full length canopy in front of the full length open doors to the bar (see the photo below for a sunny view of my seat…). The front translucent walls had been lowered to keep out the rain.

Ahh … the rain.

It rained so hard that it was like fog – visually impenetrable, apart from the lightning. And it was falling so hard on the canopy that it was impossible to hear much else, so the young people shouted a lot. There were candles on the tables, even though it was only four in the afternoon. The candles were partly because the storm made everything so dark, and partly because the rain had fused the lights and heaters under the canopy.

The thunder was an event all in itself. Every three or four minutes new catastrophic thunder claps rolled over us. Then every minute. Then every thirty seconds. In this almost continuous thundering and beating rain, with everyone shouting and laughing and with a lot smoking and drinking, it was hard not to think of Noah and everyone carrying on as if nothing was happening.

So I ordered a second double espresso and jotted down some more notes.

faith is the time between the answer and the asking

Then I closed my eyes, and for a while went into that quiet internal space that allows us to pray in the middle of chaos. Quiet transcendence.

Maybe a minute. Maybe a few minutes.

But eventually the noise seeped back in. I realised I was sitting with my eyes closed while God and Noah’s neighbours were playing chicken with the weather. I looked around and laughed out loud at the sheer energy around me.

I stood up, took my coffee and sauntered through the tables into a quiet space in the back of the cafe and watched Toulouse beat Leicester Tigers in the first round of the Heineken Cup.

Back on the Bike

Not able to put it off any longer, today was the first day back on the bike.\r\n\r\nThe car had been confiscated for the day so I had to be committed to sorting out the missing wheels on my Kona Jake (2010 version) if I was to meet my targets for the day. After an early start before 5am with the books it was VERY troublesome trying to find the wheels, tyres, tubes, levers, pump, grease (it’s been a long time since I put the bike into hibernation for the winter) and so on.\r\n\r\nStill, after two hours I was out of the door and off. I was VERY cold. I am VERY sore.\r\n\r\nBut what a route to work!!\r\n\r\nA privilege.\r\n\r\n

What to do today?

At the beginning of the week, coming off a full and challenging weekend, I wonder how to plan the week? With so many possibilities and necessities, duties and concerns, I reflect on this:

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“Cheered by the presence of God, I will do at each moment, without anxiety,\r\n according to the strength which He shall give me,\r\n that work that His Providence assigns me.

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I will leave the rest without concern: it is not my affair.

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I ought to consider the the duty to which I am called each day as the work that God has given me to do,\r\nand to apply myself to it in a manner worthy of His glory,\r\n that is to say,\r\n with exactness and in peace.

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I must neglect nothing; I must be violent about nothing.”

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Fenelon

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Or as Jesus said of Mary, “She has done what she could”

Ammerdown

Reflecting for clarity and discernment\r\n\r\nIn conversation with counsellors or friends.\r\nOr in solitude.\r\nIn Eucharist.\r\nOr in prayer.\r\n\r\nWith beauty in nature or in pictures.\r\nOr by creating pictures.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Quiet reflection in Ammerdown