Posts

Posted on

Passion


Passion

Boy, there’s a word to conjure a mixture of images in a mind. It may make you think of a sporting event with roaring supporters, or maybe screaming fans at a concert. For the more intellectually-inclined it might bring to mind two sides of a heated debate. It could even leave you with a knowing smile and a hint of a blush.

It’s a word that has some much resonance at this time of year for a completely different reason. During Holy Week it awakens thoughts of a triumphant entry into Jerusalem on a donkey, through to the intimacy and ultimate betrayal of a meal with close friends. Images of humiliation and mocking, followed by an excruciating death and then the ultimate joy of a resurrection.

All for passion.

All because there’s a God who is so passionately in love with His people that He sacrificed His Son to reach out to us and to clear the debt of our imperfect lives. All because He Loves ME… and YOU. Not “the human race” as a faceless mass of people, but each of us by name.

It’s sobering, heartwrenching, heartwarming, mindblowing, humbling and so much more. The infinite creator of the universe, so passionate about ME that He would go through all that… for ME.

I can’t tell you how much this impacts me to the core of my being. Even when I was away from God, there was always something about Easter that tugged at me (I always put it down to the raw emotions I was used to feeling rather than anything else – boy was I deluded)

Spend 5 minutes this week, just 5 minutes, and think about what happened 2000 years ago and why. Then ask yourself “what should it mean to me?”

Posted on

The human cocoon

2012 is quite a year in so many historic ways. We’re hosting the Olympics which, no matter your political inclinations and views, is a huge honour and responsibility. HRH Queen Elizabeth II celebrates 60 years as our monarch, becoming only the second in British history to have achieved this milestone. My baby brother is getting married at long last and my parents are celebrating 40 years of marriage.

But it’s not just the events that are happening this year that make it historic for me. 2012 also marks the 20th anniversary of some huge milestones in my personal life:

  • It was the year we left Germany, after a 5 year stint (and a prior 3 1/2 year posting there.
  • It was the year I “re-invented” myself
  • It was the year God started to give me a heart for a small, historical, market town and the people who live there
  • It was the year I first met the girl I was going to end up marrying
  • and so much more…

Although the move from Germany was the major catalyst for what lay ahead, the real key “first-domino” that put my feet on a path I would tread was the whole business of re-inventing myself.

Those who knew me before and after the change can testify to the change in me, I became a completely different person in so many ways. I made a determined decision to use the change of scenery to rewrite my own view of myself, and therefore the way that everyone else would know me.

The analogy that best fits, and was often used, is that of the caterpillar breaking out of the cocoon and becoming the butterfly it was destined to become. That analogy is limited in some ways though as, whilst it does encapsulate what happened, it almost implies a one-off event rather than a step (albeit a hugely significant one) in the journey that is my life.

It’s almost like we, as humans, will periodically wrap ourselves in a cocoon to emerge later as the newest version of ourselves. Still who we were but changed in a significant way.

Sometimes that change is a negative time, as if we wrap ourselves up and come out with the muted tones of a moth rather than the brightness and splendour of a glorious butterfly. Most times though it’s a time when we are re-formed into something brighter and better.

The cocoon period might be a prolonged process as circumstances take hold, as God works within us, as we come to terms with the realisation of impending change. It might be a shorter process, maybe even overnight. But when we emerge, we’re different and those around us notice.

The thing about the cocoon moments is that they don’t always tie in with major life events such as marriage, children arriving, job changes, family deaths etc. They can catch us out, and can simply be as a result of us being in an environment where we’ve been fed, grown, matured and changed. The can also occur when we’ve been cut down, weakened, battered, pushed beyond our limits and shaken beyond what we feel capable of handling.

As I look at the last 20 years my cocoon moments have included a mix of good and bad: re-inventing myself, losing faith, prodigals return to name but three. Looking back, I am completely different to the Me Version 2.0 that I launched in 1992, there was a dodgy release 3.0 but version 4.0 is looking far more promising and I really wouldn’t be surprised to discover a version 5.0 coming up in the next year or few.

If you think back upon your own life what would your “cocoon moments” be? Are your butterfly wings bright and colourful right now or are you in a moth-phase. Wherever you are, whatever stage you’re in, I pray that you will experience a new cocoon full of colour, splendour, joy and wonder.

Posted on

What a load of waffle

Wow. I can sure spout enough waffle can’t I. Just gone back through the archives here and discovered that this incarnation of the blog is now just over 5 years old! Tempus Fugit.

It’s the good thing about keeping a blog, this ability to go back and read what was running through my mind and what was grabbing my attention at any point. Of course, that relies on me keeping the blog fresh and up to date – there are some notable instances in the past 5 years where that hasn’t happened but I am getting better.

So what prompted the time travel excursion through the brain dumps of my mind? Well, I was going to build a page that linked all the articles I’ve done regarding our house move saga. It’s been a huge part of our life, and purpose, for so many years now and the journey leading up to where we are today has been fascinating (well, from my perspective anyway) in the way the God has worked our roots loose ready for transplanting in a new location.

What I wasn’t fully prepared for was the sheer number of posts, the length of them (I told you I can waffle!), and the time period they covered. It’s been a LONG road – and it’s not yet done!

I’ve gained quite a few new readers since we began on this journey, so not everyone has been with us since the start and don’t know the full story. With that in mind I’m going to do a recap post I think – one that summarises the story so far and gives a bit more insight into the overall saga.

The other thing that’s become rather obvious, as I’ve trawled through the library of my life, is that there are subjects I don’t write about enough whilst there are others that deserve a higher prominence here. So over the coming weeks I’m going to do a bit of tweaking in regards to the categories, tags and overall structure of the blog(as time and house move allows – although this will probably be my therapy away from it all.) There’s also a chance that this will lead to a few tweaks in the layout and in the way that I highlight key posts.

The other thing I’d love to do is make it easier for folks to comment, without leaving myself open to spam. I’d really love to get peoples responses to posts and to get a feel for how people are connecting with us. Not sure how I’m going to manage that one…

Anyway, to sum up: There’s going to be a “journey so far” post coming very soon, I’m going to be fiddling with things so there may well be some changes coming, and I’d really love to hear your thoughts and responses to the articles I post here!

Keep’em peeled folks 🙂

Posted on

Wake up and smell the Petrol

The testing is done. The wait is nearly over. The lights on the gantry will soon be flashing – 1,2,3,4,5….

Oh yes folks, the F1 season is so tantalisingly close it’s almost within touching distance. If that’s not enough, there’s the start of the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) this weekend at Monza. Woo Hoo!

Now, irrespective of whether or not you feel let down by the BBC over the whole F1 coverage farce – the fact is that we now have 2 big players in the world of F1 coverage this year. Sky bring their usual big, brash and huge-budget approach to the table whilst the BBC will endeavour to deliver the intimate, personable, approach that has endeared them to millions of fans. The team we have grown to love over the past 3 season has split over the two channels, giving room for some great motorsports commentators and experts to step into the limelight (Crofty, Ben Edwards, Gary Anderson to name but three) – and that gives the fans possibly the biggest challenge… who to watch?

When the races aren’t live on the beeb, it’s a straightforward answer – Sky of course. But when both channels have the race… that’s a toughie. I really like Martin Brundles commentary, and Crofty is brilliant… but likewise, I really like Ben Edwards (having listened to him do BTCC for years now) and DC was a great “expert voice” in the box. Jake, EJ and DC make for a brilliant anchoring trio and feel like you could sit down with them and just have a laugh… Sky, well we don’t know yet but it’s likely to be a bit more sterile I suspect but with plenty of flash, resources, presence and quite probably with more access that the BBC have had (money opens many doors!)

The beeb will be keeping the only true F1 theme tune, whilst Sky have gone with a rather more sedate affair (I seriously hope it’s a grower as it definitely lacks punch and presence.) There’s also the fact that the F1 forum has been a true gem of broadcasting, giving a lot of insight into the drivers and teams as well as giving them all a bit of personality – something that the formal interviews and press conferences can strip away.

Practice sessions are less of a conflict, with Crofty and Ant Davidson doing the honours for Sky I really can’t see any competition coming from 5Live with James Allen and Jaime Alguersuari (who really deserves a race seat, not a box seat!)

One thing that Sky do offer, that the BBC cannot compete with, is the added coverage. Being on a dedicated channel there is so much scope for analysis, insight, features, history and much more.

No matter where we end up on race day, one thing is for sure – it’ll be great to have F1 back and, despite our daughters wish to see less F1 (she’s even suggested we skip it this year!!!) I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot more of the sport rather than less.

I can’t wait!

Posted on

Slavery didn’t end 200 years ago–it’s happening TODAY


TWENTY SEVEN MILLION.

I can’t make that number sound as big as it is. It’s a number that’s so big that we can’t visualise it.

If we counted 1 per second it would take 7500 hours to count. That’s 312 1/2 days. Nearly a year of counting 1 every second.

T W E N T Y  S E V E N  M I L L I O N

That’s roughly how many people are in slavery today. Human trafficking is huge business. It’s worth BILLIONS of dollars per year.

It’s not just happening in Africa, or Eastern Europe. It’s not just happening in the Middle East or Asia. It’s happening HERE. On our doorsteps.

Kids sold by their families into slavery, either for labour or the sex trade. Kids stolen, kidnapped, taken to a life that is literally hell on earth. They are sold promises of a bright future, of helping their impoverished families, of getting a new life that offers hope and life – they end up in a soul-destroying world that removes their humanity, silences their voices and makes them disappear.

IT MUST STOP NOW!

We need to be a voice. We need to be the restorers of humanity. We need to BE the change in the world that truly and utterly destroys this evil trade. Whether you have a faith or not – this transcends spirituality and speaks to our humanity. We ALL need to be crying out for the one person every thirty seconds who is sold into slavery, who is trafficked into a life of hell.

LZ7 and Matt Redman, along with Matts wife Beth, are working to raise the profile of this issue in the UK. There’s a single out NOW on iTunes and they are speaking out whenever and wherever they can. They are a handful of voices, shouting out in the UK… and we, if we want to truly be considered good human beings, MUST join the shout. They are partnering with the A21 Campaign, an international body working to end human trafficking and to shine a spotlight on the horrific industry that is so prevalent in our world.

It can’t be optional. It really can’t. If we are silent on this then we are condemning these millions to the lives they are trapped in. We have got to join the cry of an outraged nation and be vocal.

You might think that one voice can’t make a difference – but if you tell 3 friends, who then tell three more each then that’s 10 of you aware. Multiply that. Post it on Twitter and Facebook and see your friends respond, GET THEM to respond. One voice can lead to a thousand, who can lead to a million. It’s not that big a stretch of the imagination to think of this being shouted out in the media, in parliament, in the UN.

Visit the A21 website to get ideas on how you can get involved. Tell your friends. Tell your MP. Tell your pastors, your teachers, your neighbours, your colleagues. Buy the single and get the song played out across all radio stations and on the TV.

Watch the two videos below and please, TAKE A STAND.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ15rbJUnNM[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1pthSgxTC0[/youtube]