Fearless

The first British woman to win a major since Virginia Wade in 1977. The youngest Grand Slam winner since Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon in 2004. The first qualifier to win a major title. Eighteen days and 10 matches without dropping a set -the last player to triumph at Flushing Meadows without conceding was Serena Williams. Ranked 345th in the world at the start of 2021, she’s just proved she’s number one.

After Emma Raducanu pulled out of her Wimbledon fourth round match, citing breathing difficulties, it brought some criticism from the tennis fraternity. John McEnroe was quoted as saying:

“How much can players handle? It makes you look at the guys who have been around, and the girls - how well they can handle it. People say: 'You were so bad on the court, you used to misbehave'. But yes, I was the norm. These guys who can keep their composure, and the girls out there, are amazing.”

The reference to others who did not give in was an implied criticism of Raducanu’s withdrawal from Wimbledon. McEnroe went on to suggest she needed to play more tournaments at a lower level to increase her resilience.

His comments didn’t go unchallenged but in his typical bullying style, Piers Morgan waded in, saying:

 “Ms Raducunu’s a talented player but couldn’t handle the pressure and quit when she was losing badly. Not ‘brave’, just a shame. If I were her, I’d tell my fans to stop abusing McEnroe and seek his advice on how to toughen up and become a champion like he was."

Well, it turns out she was tough after all. During lockdown she played outside against the local garage walls. And a month ago she was completing her A levels at school. Then she went and won a Grand Slam from an impossible situation.

I loved her never-give-in attitude. I loved the way she battled. And her understated acceptance speech after the victory too.

This is what the Queen said in a message to Raducanu: “It is a remarkable achievement at such a young age, and is testament to your hard work and dedication.”

At 18 years of age she is fearless. There’s something to be learned here. However old we are, let’s stay focussed, free from fear of failure, willing to keep going no matter what. As we age, for too many of us, we begin to consider the ‘what if’s’ of failure. Let’s not do that. Let’s be fearless. Let’s win.

Once Upon A Time In The West - Fifty Years A Christian

The city of St Davids is as far west as you can go in Pembrokeshire, Wales. In August 1970 a group of boys stepped down from a coach for a camping holiday in the fields just outside Britain’s smallest city.

The camp had been arranged by the Crusaders - a Christian organisation specialising in activities for boys and girls.

For one of the boys stepping off the coach, this was to be the defining point in his life. That boy was me.

I was aware that the Crusaders (now renamed as Urban Saints) was a Christian organisation and I had even been to a few of their local meetings where I lived in Streetly, near Birmingham. The fact the organisation was Christian was not a problem to me - after all I was a Christian anyway, right? That’s what my parents told me - we were born in a Christian country and were therefore Christians already.

But that week I heard something new. In amongst the games, the hiking and the camping was a message. Jesus, God’s son, died on a cross for me. For me. A geeky 15 year old kid with glasses and acne.

It was hard for me to take it in. And hard to respond as well. We had meetings most nights and at one of those there was an invitation to ask Jesus to come into our lives, but I was far too shy to put up my hand.

Back in the tent as my fellow campers slept, I kept returning to what had been said. God loved me? So much He sent His own Son? Why had I never heard this before? Why had no one told me? Before I slept that night, I decided to pray, to invite Jesus into my life. In my thinking at the time, I decided to give this Christian thing a go.

Fifty years later, I’m still giving it a go! Fifty years. Where did the time go?

A family - a wife, four kids, two grandkids. Churches planted, mission trips completed. Books written and other lives changed.

All because of that night 50 years ago.

That ‘once upon a time in the West’ moment radically changed my life. I am not the same because of that prayer. It was the best thing I ever did.

If you are reading this and have never prayed to ask Jesus into your life, is there any reason not do so now? What better than to know why we are here, to have purpose and direction in life? Most of all, to know the God who made us. What’s not to like?! Here’s a prayer to pray- you can say it out loud or under your breath -God will hear you either way.

Dear Lord

Please forgive me for living my life without you, for living my own way. I’m sorry for all the things I’ve done wrong. I ask you today to come in to my life. Please live in me, help me and be in charge of my life. Thank you for answering this prayer. I choose to live Your way. Amen.

And there it is. The most important prayer you will ever pray. The most important step you will ever make. (And if you did pray this prayer for the first time, let me know - I’d like to help).

Thank you Crusaders/Urban Saints for that camp all those years ago. Thank you for your faithfulness in sharing the good news about Jesus. And most of all - thank you Jesus for your faithfulness through these 50 years together.

Here’s to the next 50.

A 100,000 Thank-You's

Some time during the Christmas period, my blog went past the 100,000 mark in terms of ‘hits’ – people visiting the site. My youngest daughter tells me that this is a rather modest achievement when compared to other social media sites, but I’m grateful.

A 100,000 thank-you’s to all those that have visited, read, commented and posted.

I started out on 6^th December 2006. I was 51 years old and the blog address reflects this: Mountain50. 

The title of the blog, Mountain Climbing for Beginners, comes from a preach I did at the time, at KingsGate Church in Peterborough. It reflects my favourite Old Testament character, Caleb. At 85 years old, he climbed a mountain and defeated what seemed an impossible enemy that had held back the children of Israel for 40 years.  (Joshua 14: 12, 15: 14). As I grow older, I want to be a Caleb- still taking mountains in this life at 85.

As I write this, I am entering my 65^th year. I used to work in pensions, so the age of 65 has always been important to me- traditionally the UK’s ‘normal retirement age.’ In fact I left the pensions industry a few years ago now and have moved on to more book writing, working with Mission24 and other charities and with our amazing church, Chroma.

Looking at those that read the blog- I have some diagnostics on there – it tells me that my many friends around the world look in on me- India, New Zealand, Slovakia, United States, Canada, Argentina, Ghana, South Africa, Eswatini and more. Some are more puzzling- quite a lot from Russia. Are they real people or the famous Russian ‘bots’ checking in?

My most read blogs continue to be the ones on sacrifice, Laminin and being an introvert. My most controversial are the political ones- I’m an unrepentant Blairite and await some reasonable leadership to arise in the Labour party!

Anyway. Thank you. Thanks for reading this. And thanks for being among the many. A 100,000 thank-you’s.

In Play At Little Games

These are the final lines of a poem written in 1938 by Robert D Abrahams. He is reflecting on wars around the world whilst he and his wife, safe at home,  drive to a game of bridge:

Tonight Shanghai is burning,
And we are dying too.
What bomb more surely mortal
Than death inside of you?

For some men die by shrapnel,
And some go down in flames,
But most men perish inch by inch,
In play at little games.

The words are a challenge to every one of us. Will we allow ourselves to die inch by inch? Or will we determine to live for a cause? Will we allow others to play little games with our lives? Or will we ignore the fear of shrapnel and fight?

May every one of us reading these words determine to live; and to live for something great, something lasting, something meaningful.

REFLECT: REVIVE: RENEW

This is not the usual short blog from me- you’re going to need patience to read it, but there’s a REWARD if you get to the end.

I don’t go in for too much reflection on these pages, but 2017 was a life-changing year, so here goes.

I’m so grateful for such a wonderful wife. My youngest daughter constantly reminds me that I managed to secure a beautiful woman- well beyond everyone’s expectations! And to have four children and two kids-in-law, all of whom love God is an amazing blessing. As for the two grandkids, don’t get me started!

As I REFLECT on the year, it was mixed, with doors closing and others opening. To be dropped from the lead team for our Leicester church was a real sadness. We remain leaders in various capacities at ‘home base’ in Peterborough and will continue to support Leicester as much as we can.

But other doors opened. Not least with the Leprosy Mission and Mission24. To be Chair of the Leprosy Mission England & Wales is an immense privilege. This often forgotten and still stigmatised sickness deserves all the support we can give.

And to be Team Pastor for Mission24 was one of the greatest surprises of 2017. It matches my passions for teaching and for encouraging the next generation. As part of this, working with Jonathan Conrathe and Carlos Anacondia in Argentina was personally life changing. I was well and truly REVIVED.  I look forward to continuing the work with our ten Mission24 Interns into the New Year.

Book writing has come on apace. One book was published this year and hopefully, there will be two next year.  I’m mainly writing biographies and ghost writing autobiographies. I love it!

And the blogs trundle on too. I’m retired from the pensions industry but I give some support to Pension Geeks- and for that I get the best job title in the world: Executive Geek! The Pension blog is mainly along the lines of pension communications. The Church History blog is very occasional, but reflects my love for it. And this blog has now been read by over 80,000 people from its start back in December 2006. I don’t think that’s record breaking or anything, but it seems to work. I have readers from all around the world, including Europe, India, Africa, the America’s and even Russia and China. (If that’s you- thank you for reading).

As to next year, I look for God to continue to RENEW me. And there’s the challenge for you too. You’ve read this far. Read on and be RENEWED. We give New Year resolutions a hard time, but the New Year is a watershed moment in the calendar, and we can use it as a memorable moment in our own lives. A date we can attach to change.

Here’s the REWARD for reading this far: Decide on two things. One thing to drop for the New Year and one to start. The one you drop doesn’t necessarily have to be something bad. It may be something that has run its course. Something that needs REPLACING. As to the new, make it attainable – a step at a time. Not a RESOLUTION that gets broken in the first few days of the New Year. Small steps work. Martin Luther King said ‘Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.’

Decide on those two things. One to drop. One to start. If you’re a pray-er, pray about it. If you’re a thinker, think about it. But make the changes. A step at a time. I pray your REFLECTING results in REVIVAL and RENEWAL in 2018.

Never Give Up

I love the London Marathon. I've run it twice.

I didn't love it at the time though! The last six or so miles are hard. You have run out of all energy, your body wants to give in. But you keep going.

As you run into The Mall on that final mile, there's thousands of people cheering you on. It's that which gets you over the finish line. People you will never meet, cheering you on by name (assuming your name is on your shirt!) The noise. The applause. It gets you there.

I love this short clip from the BBC of runners helping each other. Lets do the same in the race of life. Don't give up. Keep going. And for those of us with a Christian faith, the Bible says there's a great cloud of witnesses cheering us on over the finishing line.

This is how a modern translation puts it: "Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it." (Heb 12:1-2)

Never give up.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/39685573

New Year Resolutions

As we approached the New Year, I posted the following on Facebook. Its simple statements obviously hit a chord as many 'likes' and 'shares' followed.

So, with thanks to the original author, Julie Baumgardner, it's posted here. May it be true for all of us, all of the time.

Leicester City - The Financially Impossible Story

An amazing thing has just happened in my city. Leicester City Football Club has won the Premiership. Outside of the usual ‘big spenders’, Leicester are only the second club to manage the impossible (Blackburn Rovers being the other club in 1994/95).

They won it on team spirit, togetherness, courage and determination. In the end, money can’t buy determination.

It’s worth looking at the financials here. The chart below, from the BBC, shows how Leicester stacks up in terms of cost, against the biggest spending club, Manchester City:

Yes, that’s right. Leicester has just won the Premiership with a team valued at 7.5% of the ‘top’ club.

And that’s not all. Leicester City have also attained the greatest financial ‘over achievement’ when measured against wages. Here’s the proof courtesy of the Financial Times no less (via Pensions Playpen):

Much has already been written about this impossible success. And I’m sure there will be more to follow. Cold finance says this achievement is impossible. The dreamers at Leicester City say otherwise.

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.
T. E. Lawrence

Résumé Virtues or Eulogy Virtues?

David Brooks wrote a beautiful article in the New York Times. His proposition is a simple one. Do we want to build our virtues as reflected in a career résumé, or do we want to build virtues in our life that might be remembered after we are gone - what Brooks calls a Eulogy Virtue.

Here's a quote from the article:

"Many of us are clearer on how to build an external career than on how to build inner character."

And again:

"You (can) live with an unconscious boredom, separated from the deepest meaning of life and the highest moral joys. Gradually, a humiliating gap opens between your actual self and your desired self, between you and those incandescent souls you sometimes meet."

I appreciate my résumé. My success in the world of work has taken me a long way. But if I want to go further - beyond this life - I need to add the kind of virtues that may be talked of at a funeral.

I don't expect for a moment that anything I do to build my inner life will be of the least use when one day I stand before God's throne. The only passport to eternal life is one stamped with the words 'Paid in full by Jesus Christ'. Nevertheless, to live well in this life requires me to build a set of Eulogy Virtues. Anything less will be less than satisfying. Anything less will be less than worthwhile.

Towards the Sunrise

Often we embark on a journey with no end in sight. We're not sure how long it will be, or even if we will end up where we want to be. Or at least where we thought we'd be. Such is the journey of life. Twists and turns. Unexpected moments. Some pleasant. Some not so.

But there are always blessings along the way.

The Children of Israel trekked through the wilderness with Moses for 40 years. Quite a journey. But they got there. And near the end of the journey there were unexpected blessings. One of them  is simply recorded- they camped just outside the Promised Land with their faces 'towards the sunrise'. They were travelling north, but as they looked east, they saw the sun rise.

It was a new day for them. They were at the start of something. A few verses later in the bible, we read that they found a well of water and sang a song of declaration over it- 'spring up o well!'

Wherever you are on your journey, take time to state your purposes. Declare them. Write them down.

And take time to look around. You've got this far! Enjoy the scenery. Look towards the sunrise.

(You can read the story in the bible- Numbers 21, v 10 onwards)

Between The Bookends

‘I’m here between the bookends of everything that was and what will be’ It’s a quote from an Amy Grant song.

Every one of us is on a journey. We have no idea of where we are in the journey between those two bookends. In a sense, there is little or nothing we can do about that.

But what we can do is ensure that where we are right now is as effective and life affirming as it’s possible to be. To give our all. To live to the full.

The Apostle Paul said ‘God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!’ That’s true for every one of us. There’s a life worth living, a life worth giving.

If I’m between the bookends with no idea at what particular point, I want to make my life count. So for me, with apologies to Amy Grant for changing the lyrics, it’s not ‘what will be’ but what, with God’s help, CAN be.

 

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.

T. E. Lawrence

Run the Race

She was sick all night. So much so, that by 5.30am  -the day of her Commonwealth Games race in Glasgow- she was on a drip in hospital. Add the that the fact that her operation previously meant that she still had an open wound and things were not looking so good.

Lynsey Sharp is a Scottish athlete and that day was the day she competed in the 800 metres final. She had scraped in as a ‘fastest loser’ so things were not adding up to any kind of medal. But on the night, she ran. And ran. Breaking apart the Kenyan/Ugandan duo expected to win, she came away with a silver medal.

It was her last race. Her final time on the bike. But rather than try and win, she did something extraordinary. She pushed on ahead, sacrificing her own stamina to help her younger colleague get the gold. And a silver for her- Emma Pooley.

He was in the first leg of the 100 metres relay, first round. But as he stretched away, Kimmari Roache’s leg gave way. Extreme pain. But he kept going. He had to keep going. He owed it to his teammates, and especially Usain Bolt, world 100 metres champion who ran the final leg for Jamaica. Many would have given up. But Kimmari ran through the pain. The rest, as they say, is history.

Now aged 40, with a 10 month old child not so long ago, Jo Pavey could have been forgiven for simply finishing well. It looked like a brave fourth place when she was passed, but she fought back. She finished brilliantly. Breaking into the Kenyan domination of the event, she reached the line and took the bronze.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Hebrews 12: 1

Choices

We decide where we go and what we do in life.

 

We choose whether we lose our days in TV soaps and game shows or determine to achieve more by our lives.

 

We decide whether life is an existence or an achievement, whether we leave a memory or a mark on our generation.

 

Bryn Jones

Two Giant Steps

Most of our journey through life is made in small steps. What the writer Eugene Peterson calls ‘A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.’ A coffee here, a meal there. A conversation one day, a car journey the next. Small integral parts of life’s direction.

Occasionally, a giant step comes along. For us two have come at once.

The first is the start of KingsGate Community Church Leicester. Our first (amazing!) meeting was last night. As someone who had spoken often of the possibility of KingsGate planting a new church into Leicester, it is the realisation of a dream. And a giant step.

The other giant step comes as we drop our youngest child, Lois, off at Heathrow later today, as she starts her long obedience in the same direction. She is travelling out to Bulembu in Swaziland to serve as a long term missionary. For us, it means an empty house for the first time, with the other three children having already moved away.

Two giant steps. Two key moments in our lives. And fuel for the journey as we continue our own long obedience.

Seventh Heaven

On the 7th day of the 7th month, 77 years later, history was made. The last British winner was Virginia Wade in ’77. And 77 years ago, the last British man to win; Fred Perry.

“I don't play any tournaments to come second best.” Andy Murray.

 

Mountains

You never know what’s around the corner. It could be everything. Or it could be nothing. You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you’ve climbed a mountain.

Tom Hiddleston

[We are] created to walk in precarious places, not on the easy levels of life.

Amy Carmichael

The Law Of The Lid

“You can find smart, talented, successful people who are able to go only so far because of the limitations of their leadership.”

So says John Maxwell in his book ’21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership’. It’s the ‘Law of the Lid’. I may be good at something but if I can only do what I do without a vision as to how to apply it, grow it, achieve something with it, then my leadership lack limits my skills.

The most successful enterprises have skilful people who are also successful leaders. Their ability to grow the organisation means those who work for them also grow. The law of the lid again. If I grow, the people I work with have room to grow. If I stop, they hit the lid.

Off And Running

I completed the Ramsey Abbey 10k road race today. The first competitive race for some years. Hence, not the fastest of times! But I was please to finish and to notch up another small milestone as I prepare for the London Marathon 2011.

The worst part of the race was running on rough tracks that forced you to slow down. The best part? The finish of course!

Paul writes in the Bible about running. It’s one of my favourite passages and very apt for both road races and the race we all run in this life:

I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.

So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you'll see it yet! Now that we're on the right track, let's stay on it.

Philippians 3: 12-16, Message Version

A Preferred Future

"Commitments to a preferred future do not come randomly. They are intentionally established at times when you are thinking clearly and are close to God."
Wayne Cordeiro, 'Leading On Empty'

This New Year I commit to a preferred future. I will live brighter, clearer, cleaner, sharper.

Focus and Purpose

Quote from Matthew Parris, Times 28th November:

….there’s a different question about Tony Blair’s role [in Iraq] that still remains open. Did he act heroically — in the sense of the moral courage that makes a man grip fate by the lapels and, rather than let the flow carry him, swim against compelling circumstances, knowing that he takes a serious risk for himself or his career? A case, at least, can be made for Mr Blair as a hero in this sense.

I like people who are clear in their actions, clear in their beliefs. I may not always agree with them, but I prefer the straightforwardness of their approach. You know where they stand. That was said of Margaret Thatcher too… someone who I feel totally opposed to, even today. But you knew where you stood. Decisions, in that sense, were bold, clear, almost heroic.

I have struggled to like Gordon Brown. Having been a fan of Blair, I have not been able to make the jump to Brown. What is it that I don’t like? His politics are not that different…. But when you begin to look at his politics, there are different. Very different.

Gone is the clarity. Gone the principled approach. No longer the ‘moral courage that makes a man grip fate by the lapels’. In its place, politics with a small ‘p’. Everything is calculated to win a vote, wound the other party, keep the dissident MP’s in place. Fear of failure has replaced focus and purpose.