Yes We Can!

Morning God,

Even though I know its all about misdirection and mirrors, I enjoy a good magic show. It makes for an interesting diversion, and evening's entertainment when I am invited to forget the worries and cares of the day and allow myself instead the luxury of being deluded. It bothers me that some people think of Church in the same way – an hour's entertainment of sorts, when they can forget the real world with its pain and grief and indulge instead in the fantasy world of heaven and the hereafter. Nothing could be further from the truth, and this is what the season of Lent is supposed to teach us. It's not about giving up this or that – unless what you choose to give up is ignorance and apathy. Lent is the challenge to not allow ourselves to be misdirected by our casual lack of attention to detail. It dares us to do more than just oooh and ahhh at the resurrection miracle and wonder 'how did You do THAT God?' Lent is your challenge to us to walk with the miracle maker every step of the way so that we can see – really see- what it is that you have done God. But will we?

You have given us 40 days starting with Ash Wednesday on the 25^th of February to learn how to see the truth behind the temptations, and so withstand them, to attempt the long walk to Jerusalem, and not be waylaid, to take up our cross willingly and sacrifice ourselves and our comfort for the sake of justice, peace and salvation for all. But will we God, will we?

It's easier to allow ourselves to be misdirected and deceived. After all hasn't the hungry world just been given everything it's been praying for, proof positive that social justice matters, that the small person counts: an end to the war in Iraq, an end to torture, economic rescue and a solution for the credit crunch, help for the helpless, food for the hungry... Stones into bread – YES WE CAN!

Just as we can walk to Jerusalem through the rubble of Gaza. You will give your angels charge over us so that we will not stumble or fall over the bodies of children, the ruins of schools or the deaths of civilian Palestinians, wont you God. Throw ourselves off our moral high ground without fear of retribution? – YES WE CAN..

For we have found someone we can really believe in, a man who really inspires us, really enables us to believe in the future of humanity... fall down and worship...? YES WE CAN...

The temptations are all too real.

And Lent is the unpopular reminder to see them for what they really are.

What was that you told us God, Man shall not live by bread alone... The money that the West is spending on bailing out the banks from the consequences of its greed so that we can continue to satisfy our consumer hunger here in the West is enough to eradicate all world poverty for over two years.

Didn't you tell us God, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test... God upholds the righteous, not the Western powers. The blood of innocent Palestinian children, of over 1000 civilians in Gaza cries out to God for justice and will undoubtedly cause the whole world to stumble and fall in the future.

Didn't you warn us God - Worship the Lord your God and him alone... As revolutionary as his appointment is, Barack Obama is still only a politician. Even if he is a good man, a generous man, even a gracious man, he is still only a politician with limited power. He is unable, even if he were willing to try, to save the world from its greed for power, status and for wealth for his current position is dependent on that power, status and wealth. No – sorry Barack – but we know you cant. And neither can we.

But I do know someone who can, someone who changed the world by telling the truth in love and inspiring millions who gave not their money, but their very lives to support its cause. Someone who thought everyone worth feeding, worth saving and worth loving, not just his party, those who believed in him. He taught us that only when we each take up our own cross, and stop expecting someone else to carry it for us, will we be able to see through the self-deception and misdirection that makes the miracle of Easter seem just a trick of the light.

God, you so loved the world, that you sent it the truth in Jesus and Lent is our invitation to explore why and how.

Can we ever be saved from the temptations, the lies and the trickery that we sell ourselves?

With Your help God help – Yes we can.

But will we?

Time is only relative if you know it is

Morning God,
Today is one of those days when I woke wondering how on earth I would manage to fit everything in.. Yet I know that the day will end with everything done that needed to be done... even if that doesn't necessarily mean everything that I anticipated being done has been done - do you understand?
I mean, the day will just sort of happen, as always, the second will go by and then the minutes and then the hours and then, without me really noticing - I'm a whole day older, but so also is the world.. so why go to all the trouble of measuring it?
Yes, I know God, this isn't making that much sense..
Start again -
Morning God..
What time is it?
What time do I have?
What time will it take?
What time will be left over
When all is said and done this day?

Do you have the time to tell me?

Real Greatness

Morning God,
Today is the 80th anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther King -
why does that matter more to me than that yesterday was the 83rd anniversary of the birth of my mother?
Is it just that my mother is alive?
Or is it that Martin Luther King has (peculiarly) has more impact on me than my mother has - even though he is dead?

How do you measure real greatness God?
Is it by their direct impact on society
Is it by what they say
Or is it by what they persuade others to do or say?

I think for me God it is something about vision - you gave Martin Luther King a vision a dream which others could share, and he did.

It's a terrifying thought that you probably give everyone of us a vision or dream to share..
and most of us either never wake up to its potential and so never share it, or worse, we forget it as soon as we wake..

God..
Please...
Help me to never lose sight of the vision that you have given me for your people.
Grant me the courage to dream for you and to awaken others to its potential...

please God.

Devotional Preparation

Evening God,
I've been wrestling with what it means for you to have prayed whilst incarnate on earth... was it the only way in which you were able to be who you fully were.. was prayer the bridge between heaven and earth? Or was it simply a way of providing an example to those who were watching you?After all, the fact that the gospel's record you going off by yourself to pray must have meant that it was somehow different from what others did, different enough to be remarked upon.
Or was there some other reason God?
Were you just talking to yourself?
Or...?

Signs in the heavens..

Evening God
Apparently you have arranged for the moon to be especially bright this weekend..

is that to provide us with an excuse to be even more lunatic than normal on Sunday?

What's the bloody point of Church?

Morning God,
just one question this morning - what is the bloody point of it all...?
No, not life, the universe and everything - just of Church.
What does it matter how many people sing hymns or dont on a Sunday, or any other day of the week.. who read their scriptures or have them power-pointed at them..

What does it matter when the underbelly of religion, the reality of its decency and concern, is so violent, so sick and perverted that it's no wonder most intelligent people turn away from it in disgust.
Tell me God, where is Christ incarnate today - in Gaza in a school build for peace which was just bombed by the 'Chosen People'?
or is he perhaps one of the new born babies in Africa lucky enough to get a vaccine to keep him alive, paid for by some conscientious parent who knows that disposable nappies are a serious pollutant but - hey - her baby's crap can help stop a baby dying of Tetanus - but only if she uses the right nappy!

Or worst of all - is Christ really incarnate here in the West - and being raised even now to perpetuate the myth that buying the odd fair-trade banana or so, badgering an MP and going to Church on a Sunday will make him qualified to speak or preach about justice, faith and life in all its fullness?

What is the bloody point of Church, God? All it seems to do is perpetuate this veneer of respectability, of holiness even, and allow us to continue to slaughter the innocents.. as though we dont know what we are part of.

There are times God, when I could almost hate you for calling me to be so involved in it all...

Ok.. so I've seen...
now what God?

Cool Church

Morning God,
Apparently Apple have the 'cool' factor,and that's what will save them from the affects of the credit-crunch.. their products certainly have a distinctive look and feel, and, yes,if I'm honest God, I'd probably like to own an iPhone... But not only are they too expensive, I'm too committed to OpenSource to really want to tie myself to one company's corporate greed again - as you know only too well God, it took long enough to cut myself free of Mr gates and his many minions.
But it got me wondering if this is how other people think of Church and denomination... I really grew to resent the way in which Microsoft worked to make me dependent on their products, and how they made me pay to get the latest update of their products, the ones with the errors removed.
And, yes, if I'm honest, I have the same attitude towards Churches which try and force a dependence on them (rather than on you God) and which want me to keep trying their latest 'cool' services... the ones that are supposed to bore me less and engage me more. But engage me in what God?
How does 'Cool' translate in Church terms...?
Is it because Alpha is cool, sanctus slick and Church-Lite hip? that they are able to ride-out the post-modern storm?
It makes me wonder God if you have abandoned the hundreds upon thousands of ordinary folk up and down the country who have committed themselves to the gospel for over 50 years and who are now neither 'cool' nor slick and who have probably undergone an operation to have their 'hip' removed.
I ask because it can seem, God, as though they don't have the right to meet with you, to worship, to be a part of a Church family anymore. A family which will at least accord them the respect they deserve for all that they have done. If you listen to some people you could be forgiven for thinking that they are the reason that your Church is declining!
I have lost count, God, of the number of descriptions of Fresh Expressions and Pioneer Ministries I have read about in the last three months which begin by complaining that their church was 'elderly'... Yet you are older than all of us. And, isn't it the case that if it hadn't been for the faithfulness of those 'elderly' there wouldn't be a Church to transform into a multi-media, spirituality mall?
What do you think is 'cool' God?
Should we be trying to encourage Pioneer Ministers to be 'cool' enough to be counter cultural? Is there something we can do God to help them see the potential and value of a strong, existing, willing, contributing community over and above a 'Branded Designed and Targeted' customer base.
After all, didn't you try and point out to us once that it's the weekly giving of the 'widow's mite' from a million and one pensions across the land which makes the difference.. or in our case, pays the stipend and keeps the doors open for Pioneers to experiment with?
How Cool is that God?

Fresh Exressions of Church or a rebranded sell out?

Morning God,
I was dismayed this morning to read that one in ten young people questioned in a survey disagreed that "life was really worth living". Apparently there are thousands of young people who "desperately" needed support. It is said that these young people"who feel they have reached rock bottom don't know where to turn for help." 29% are less happy now than they were as a child and one in five said they felt like crying "often" or "always". Almost half (47%) said they were regularly stressed.

What have we done God - what are we doing?
How on earth have we managed to create a society where there is so little enthusiasm for life in those who have the most to live for? We seem,God, to have failed in that most simple of tasks of enabling everyone born to believe in themselves, and in the potential of their own future.

As long as life is measured in terms of purchasable commodities this is inevitable.
We sell our Children's hope and dreams, God, without even being aware of the fact that we are doing so. Every time we buy a McDonald's, a pair of Nike trainers, GAP Jeans etc, the real coinage we are using to trade for these things is our Children's future. Brands, cliques, images.. effectively define the human according to 'must-have' commodities. The bigger the brand, the more of a Must Have it becomes. Success is measured by sales. Life's worth is unashamedly linked to the dollar rather than to anything intrinsically 'human'. Its not just that 'goodness', creativity, honesty, gentility, integrity etc etc are not valued any more, it is simply that they have no street cred worth having. What's the point in honesty if it doesn't buy 'respect'?

And the Church wants to buy into this - God are we mad, or just blind?
Alpha, Cafe Church, Branded, Emergent, etc etc etc.. are a significant number of so-called Fresh Expressions of Church just attempts to 're brand' Church and make the gospel part of this 'sell it to me' culture, rather than attempts to offer of LIFE in all its fullness.. the life that you offer in Christ.
What a mess...
God..
we certainly need your help to get out of this one!

Pioneer Ministers.. or Wesley's Helpers?

Morning God,
This business of being a Pioneer minister again.
I've been comparing what has been suggested by people far wiser than myself about how to be a Pioneer Minister and have come back full circle to Wesley's Rules.
Granted they are product of their time.. but don't you think that they are still remarkably practical and pertinent God? especially the observation which states:

Observe: It is not your business to preach so many times, and to take care merely of this or that Society, but to save as many souls as you can; to bring as many sinners as you possibly can to repentance; and, with all your power, to build them up in that holiness, without which they cannot see the Lord.

God, If that isn't a mandate for Pioneer ministry then I don't know what is.

I guess we have forgotten these 'rules' (if we ever learned them) Or maybe they were just seen as a product of another time, written for a past generation and nothing to do with us today.
Crazy don't you think?
I wonder what would happen if these rules were taken to a Church Council or Circuit meeting as a way of discussing and holding your people to account for the level of Fresh Expressions or mission and evangelism in the Circuit?

I've been thinking about it and have come to the conclusion that we lost our own understanding of ministry when little by little we adopted an Anglican parochial model.
This has really has damaged our Church hasn't it God. It seems to have tied us to pastoral care rather than saving souls and focused our attention on the saved instead of the lost...
Can this tide be turned? If so, how?

I had a go at revising Wesley's Rules - and yes, I know, they are far from complete, but it's a start - at least - it makes me think again about what I'm doing and why.
What do you think God - could they ever catch on?

WESLEY'S TWELVE RULES OF A HELPER - AMENDED
1. Use the time that God has given you to do the work that God has appointed you to. Don't fritter away your time, or spend more time at any one place than is strictly necessary.
2. Be committed. Let your motto be, "Growth in Grace and Holiness." Avoid the sort of flippancy and sick humour that you know makes a mockery of your calling.
3. Converse sparingly and cautiously with those you would naturally be led to flirt with.
4. Take no step towards a permanent relationship without solemn prayer to God, and consulting your friends.
5. Believe evil of no one unless it is fully proved; even then, take heed how you credit it. Put the best construction you can on everything. You know the Judge is always supposed to be on the prisoner's side.
6. Speak evil of no one; recognize that your words are weighted by others and can do untold damage. Keep your thoughts to yourself until you are able to speak directly to the person concerned.
7. If another person's behaviour offends you then deal with them lovingly and plainly; and as soon as possible so that your concern doesn't fester in you.
8. Don't put on airs and graces. A Preacher of the Gospel is the servant of all.
9. Be ashamed of nothing but sin; no, not of cleaning your own shoes, when necessary.
10. Be punctual. Do everything exactly at the time. And do not mend our Rules, but keep them; and that for conscience's sake.
11. You have nothing to do but to save souls. Therefore spend and be spent in this work. And go always, not only to those who need you, but to those who need you most.
12. Act in all things, not according to your own will, but as a Child of the Gospel, and in union with the others of your Church.

As such, it is your part to employ your time as our Rules direct: partly in preaching, and visiting from house to house; partly in reading, meditation, and prayer. Above all, if you labour with us in our Lord's vineyard, it is needful that you should do that part of the work which the Conference shall advise, at those times and places which they shall judge most for God's glory.

Observe: It is not your business to preach so many times, and to take care merely of this or that Society, but to save as many souls as you can; to bring as many sinners as you possibly can to repentance; and, with all your power, to build them up in that holiness, without which they cannot see the Lord.

And remember, a Methodist Preacher is to mind every point, great and small, in the Methodist Discipline. Therefore you will need all the grace and all the sense you have; and to have all your wits about you.


WESLEY'S ORIGINAL TWELVE RULES OF A HELPER
1. Be diligent. Never be unemployed. Never be triflingly employed. Never while away time, nor spend more time at any place than is strictly necessary.
2. Be serious. Let your motto be, "Holiness to the Lord." Avoid all lightness, jesting, and foolish talking.
3. Converse sparingly and cautiously with women, particularly with young women.
4. Take no step towards marriage without solemn prayer to God, and consulting with your Brethren.
5. Believe evil of no one unless fully proved; take heed how you credit it. Put the best construction you can on everything. You know the Judge is always supposed to be on the prisoner's side.
6. Speak evil of no one; else your word, especially, would eat as doth a canker. Keep your thoughts within your own breast till you come to the person concerned.
7. Tell every one what you think wrong in him, lovingly and plainly; and as soon as may be, else it will fester in your own heart. Make all haste to cast the fire out of your bosom.
8. Do not affect the gentleman. A Preacher of the Gospel is the servant of all.
9. Be ashamed of nothing but sin; no, not of cleaning your own shoes, when necessary.
10. Be punctual. Do everything exactly at the time. And do not mend our Rules, but keep them; and that for conscience's sake.
11. You have nothing to do but to save souls. Therefore spend and be spent in this work. And go always, not only to those who want you, but to those who want you most.
12. Act in all things, not according to your own will, but as a Son of the Gospel, and in union with your Brethren.

As such, is your part to employ your time as our Rules direct: partly in preaching, and visiting from house to house; partly in reading, meditation, and prayer. Above all, if you labour with us in our Lord's vineyard, it is needful that you should do that part of the work which the Conference shall advise, at those times and places which they shall judge most for His glory.

Observe: It is not your business to preach so many times, and to take care merely of this or that Society, but to save as many souls as you can; to bring as many sinners as you possibly can to repentance; and, with all your power, to build them up in that holiness, without which they cannot see the Lord.

And remember, a Methodist Preacher is to mind every point, great and small, in the Methodist Discipline. Therefore you will need all the grace and all the sense you have; and to have all your wits about you.

Such a nice Church.

Morning God,
I really need to talk to you about this 'Church' business as it's giving me serious cause for concern. I wake up wondering if and how it could be made more 'community' and less 'social club' - more YOU and less - well - carpets and committees. I know that we need some organization, I know that structure and form can grant dignity and 'presence' - but we are so well structured, so neatly organized that there is no room left for the messiness or risk of incarnation. We've hoovered up for you God, and it's all spic and span. And no, I don't just mean the carpets - I mean the worship, the pastoral care, the ministry and the Bible too.
Don't get me wrong - I love the fact that I minister in such a beautiful Church, so well looked after, so clean and attractive... and yes, I do realise that not everyone has such a pleasant place to lead worship in... but I worry about how successfully our being a 'nice' Church allows us to hide our emptiness.

I'm afraid that all too many of the congregation come to Church, they don't come to YOU... don't you mind?

Or have I totally misjudged the situation - I may have, after all, it's not easy to think of Church from your point of view.

Is it perhaps enough for you that your people come to a warm building, meet with friends, sing words that are at least familiar, even if they are no longer understood, hear the Scriptures read, have their prayers said for them, have a 'nice' service..?

Is this how you designed it, intended for it to be?

I'm asking because, I can do 'nice' if you want... if that's really what its about... but if it is, can you please explain to me why you have given me such a longing for something more for them. You see, the more I love your people, the more I want them to KNOW you, and want them to want to come, not to talk ABOUT you but talk TO you - and not through me either!
I dream of them wanting to meet with you even if the Church isn't clean and bright and warm.
You have given me a vision of a people excitedly coming to you so that they can be transformed and can grow in grace, discover abilities they never knew that they had so that they could then, in your name, work to change a world for the sake of a Kingdom - instead of just going on the coffee rota.
Ahh God.. such a big vision for such a little person
- and such a nice Church...

The Future

Morning God,
Just before I get up and start the day, I want to say thank you - for the future. Let me explain - it's alright for you - you are changeless and ageless... but I am not and it's really not easy you know, waking up one day and realising that life happened - and you missed it.
In my case, it just seemed to have slipped out of my fingers when I wasn't looking. One day I was making plans and looking forward to making my contribution to the world, and the next day - I woke up to find that the best contribution I could make was to help someone else make their contribution... sigh..
Yes of course I regret not having achieved all the things I dreamt of, and of course I still yearn for many of the same things...
But with growing certainty I now realise that some things are just not going to happen - not here anyway.
But, you gave me a dream last night which makes me believe that the future is still open... and who knows...?
So, thank you for yesterday, and for all my missed opportunities.
But best of all thank you for the future, your future, with all its surprises.
I may not be ageless, but, thanks to you, I'm not giving in to old age yet.

Thank you for keeping me young.
Bless you God - Bless you.