Surprise

2000 years ago. The shepherds were surprised. They knew the stars in the sky. They saw them every night. But this one was new.

Then the real surprise. Bright light and glory! And for them. The poorest of the poor. The nobodies. The also-rans.

The wise men were surprised. They too knew the stars in the sky and this one had no right to be there. And it was for them. The richest. The wisest. But not so rich and wise as to think they could ignore the sign, ignore the call.

260 years ago. The audience were surprised. What an amazing sound. Handel had been working on The Messiah for an incredibly short period of time. He was inspired. The sound was in his head, the star was in the sky. Refusing food and sleep, he kept working until it was finished. As the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ was completed, with tears in his eyes, Handel cried out “I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself.”

Recently in a shopping mall in Canada. The innocent shoppers were surprised. They had no idea that a full choir had seated themselves across the food court in what was to be one of the best Flash Mob’s ever.

2000 years ago. 260 years ago. Today. It’s still true. Enjoy the video. And Happy Christmas!

Busily Doing Nothing....

A postcard from my Dad, on holiday with my sister.....

'Today we did nothing. Tomorrow we plan to do less.'
Wonderful.

Wishing you all a peaceful, restful and Christ-full Christmas and New Year.

How do you measure 'Happy'?

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) has decided to measure how happy we are in the UK. The ONS are to survey us from next April, in order to determine our state of happiness for what they are calling their ‘National Well Being Project’. (For those who have read Huxley’s ‘1984’, their title has a somewhat sinister overtone!)

So what will be the measure? Am I richer than last year? Do I still have a job? Am I still married?! It’s a tough one. For some, happiness may be measured by not missing an episode of ‘Coronation Street’. For others, the number of parties. Others still, holidays, cars, houses….

Solomon in the Bible had a good go at determining happiness. God offered him whatever he wanted. He chose wisdom. This is what he says:

‘[Wisdom] is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who hold her fast.’ (Proverbs 3:16)

Small in stature, big in faith

Under 5 feet tall. Little education. Rejected by the missionary organisations. Not a promising start perhaps, but Gladys Aylward would not give up. God had called her to China -and she was going!

Working as a parlour maid in London in the 1920’s, she saved all she could and took boats and trains to get to China, with only £2 in her pocket.

On arriving, she teamed up with an older missionary and opened an Inn. Donkey herders would go past, walking at the back of their herd. So Gladys would quietly guide the lead donkey into the in courtyard, with all the other following. By the time the herders got there, they accepted that the donkeys did not want to move on, so stayed the night. It was one way of increasing trade!

The donkey herders liked to stay with Gladys and her friend- they not only had clean bedding, but were told stories every time they stayed of an amazing person called Jesus.

It wasn’t long before Gladys began to work with the children and took many orphans into her care. As war came to China, Gladys was faced with the prospect of helping 94 children in her care to escape. They climbed over the mountains and across rivers. None were lost.

The faith of a parlour maid from Edmonton, East London, with little education and no money, saved nearly 100 children from certain death.

"Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are."1 Corinthians 1: 26-28

Changing Geography, Changing Seasons, Changing Family

There’s always something going on in our family. But even for our busy lives, the last couple of weeks have been pretty frantic.

Roh and I have just come back from India. We took a team of eight to help with charity projects and support the local church. As always, it was an amazing time. Lives changed for the good. Children without parents given a hope and a future. Dalit villages supported with medical camps and treatment from local and UK doctors. And a group of local churches supported and encouraged. My thanks to the team- though my observation would be that they have been as impacted as anyone in India!












Then it was straight up to Sheffield to celebrate our eldest son’s wedding to Joy. So congratulations Nathan and Joy. And Joy- welcome to this crazy family!



We all move through seasons- literal and metaphorical. This is such a season. The children all away from home for the first time. Two married, and our first grandchild earlier this year. So a new season for sure.

And just a change in geography for a week brings such impact. Which is the real world? I suspect that the poverty we see on each visit to India is much more the real picture. We are cocooned from this real world, enjoying as a nation such affluence when compared to the Dalit’s of India.

New geography, new seasons, new family. So new focus and new vision needed. And as we enter this later season of life, the need for new energy too. For every one of us, I ask, along with Paul in the Bible that “ God …make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!”

REPOST: Laminin

This is a post from 13th September 2008. In view of the fact that many of my friends at KingsGate Church heard about Laminin this last weekend when Mark Stibbe visited, I thought I'd repost...

I’d never heard of Laminin until the other day, but it’s been with me all of my life. Laminin, according to Wikipedia, is a protien molecule that ‘is capable of binding to cells, which helps anchor the actual organs to the membrane. Laminin is vital to making sure overall body structures hold together.’

In other words, Laminin is the vital piece in our body that holds us together. Now have a look at the shape of Laminin:



Wow! Laminin, the essential protien that holds our body together is cross shaped. Paul, writing to the Colossian church says this about Jesus:

‘He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.’ (Colossians 1: 15-17)

All things hold together by the cross.

Have a look at this short talk. It’s worth your time:

How to fail as a political party

1. Ignore what the public want: look to keep the peace in your own party at the cost of becoming unelectable
2. Make sure the election process is long enough for the unions to form around a candidate that is weak enough not to take them on
3. Make sure the Unions have a vote that outweighs their true influence in the country
4. Elect someone that is young and untried
5. Ignore the older brother who has a welcome reformist approach and is obviously the more able communicator
6. Go back to the old party ways, following the policies of the last failed Prime Minister rather than the new approach from the earlier successful and long lasting Prime Minister
7. Look forward to a number of years of debating failed left wing election proposals
8. Look forward to a long time as an opposition party.

Stephen Hawking needs to start reading poetry

Stephen Hawking’s new book comes out today. In earlier books, he has left room for the possibility that there is a God. In his new book, he has decided creation is the inevitable consequence of physics, so rules out the ‘need for a creator’.

Science is amazing. We discover so much. People like Stephen Hawking have done wonders for pushing back the limits of our thinking. But he is still not thinking in big enough terms.

When the Hubble Telescope was launched, one of the team looked into space at stars that had never been seen before. This is what he said as he gazed on the hidden wonders of creation:

“We don't need a scientist here, we need a poet.”

Stephen Hawking needs to start reading poetry.

Little Things

“A little thing is a little thing, but faithfulness in little things is a great thing”.

As James O Fraser read the words, he knew his life would never be the same. The quote was from the famous China missionary Hudson Taylor, and James knew that this was to be his path too.

Arriving in 1908, it was eight years of hard work among the Lisu tribal people of South West China before there was breakthrough. But what a breakthrough. In the next two years, over 60,000 tribal people converted to Christianity.

James Fraser had faithfully worked among them, climbing their mountain ranges, sleeping on their floors, helping with the work, eating rats to survive. And in all of those first eight years he held on to the belief that if he was faithful in the little, God would ensure the results.

Jesus said ‘He who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much’ (Luke 16:10). So don’t give up. Keep going. Be faithful. James Fraser will be surprised to see his name written into history. It’s not why he served. But he knew His God was faithful. And he knew “A little thing is a little thing, but faithfulness in little things is a great thing”.

I spoke on this and much more recently at KingsGate Church. Here's the copy and paste link:

http://www.kingsgateuk.com/Media/Player.aspx?media_id=47959&file_id=51335

One Minute Message

Lawyers. Who needs them?!

I really don’t get on with lawyers. Not entirely true. There are a few I would consider good friends. But for most of them, especially in my business area of pensions, I would much prefer to work without them!

Pension lawyers are not the worst though. How about those who advise the poor old manufacturer? I came across this individual portion of butter the other day. It warns me that butter contains milk! (And someone paid a lawyer for that packaging advice!)


Then there is the salt sachet that warns – you’ve guessed it- this salt sachet contains salt!


Not content to moronically instruct us on butter and salt, we are then advised that a bag of peanuts…. Well, you’re ahead of me by now, I’m sure……

No Pain. No Shame?

The Royal College report was released last week. It advises that at 24 weeks, the child in the womb can feel no pain. This seems to have been latched on to by the ‘pro-choice’ abortion lobby as reason for abortions to continue up to 24 weeks.

However, science also shows that the heart begins to beat from 21 days and that the brain begins to function after 40 days from inception. Children have survived out of the womb from 20 weeks onwards.

Is it any comfort that the child feels no pain as their head is crushed by the forceps?

It is said that the 1.1 million Jews who died in the gas chambers of Auschwitz, the second world war concentration camp, felt no pain as they died. It is said that the 200,000 UK children killed in the womb every year feel no pain as they die.

Jessica Louise

At 8.00 this morning Roh and I became proud grandparents! Congratulations to Elspeth and Rob.

Welcome to this world Jessica Louise Mill. May God's face shine on you every moment of every day. May you know peace in the world and peace in your heart. May you be a blessing to your parents and find God's blessing on your life. May you future always be clear before you and may you achieve all that God intends for your life.

A wonderful gift for Fathers Day.

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

In the Beginning, Man Created?

Craig Venter is a biologist and an entrepreneur. For the last 15 years, his company has been working on creating life. He claims to have succeeded.

By identifying the DNA of a tiny bacterium, he separated out the genes to see how it was formed. Then he substituted the genes with synthetic ones, until he had the first synthetic genome- and his claim that he has created life.

But let’s just remember a few things….

-He replaced the living genes with others created by him. But did he create from nothing? Of course not. He used ‘inanimate objects’ to create the gene. The ‘objects’, effectively DNA designed from scratch, are still ‘objects’.

-He’s an inventor and biologist. He learned this skill. He was born, went to school, and learned his trade. He didn’t come from nowhere. He was ‘created’ like everybody else. As a created being, he is, at best, copying his creator.

-He has not created life, only copied it. By following God’s instructions – the picture of the DNA, the structure of the genes- he has been able to mimic the original. But is that very different from us, say, painting the picture of a flower, copying the original? Sure this new synthetic bug has life- but it is a copied life. All very clever. But still a copy.

In the beginning man created? No. In the beginning God created. We have the privilege of discovery, of learning, and even of copying life. But creation is God’s prerogative and His alone.

Just Been Volcanoed.....

Has this ash cloud got it in for me or what?

I was in Dublin last week for a pensions meeting. By the time it finished…. no planes, due to the ash cloud…. again. Having already been stranded in Cape Town for a week, it was getting a bit repetitive. Not that I got any sympathy from workmates. They just laughed!

This time, I escaped by ferry to Hollyhead. From there, after a short stay in a B&B, on to the Euston train the next morning, and finally home.

Remember those TV adds for Tango? This big orange bloke used to come up behind a poor unsuspecting lad (called Ralph, no less!) and slap him around the face to the announcement that he’d ‘ just been tangoed’.

Well this Ralph is a bit fed up of just being ‘volcanoed’, and is planning not to travel too far from home!

Dear Gordon (3)

Why so negative? Your little temper tantrum with the Rochdale lady pretty well typifies your campaign. Criticise anyone who seems difficult. Slam the opposition. Create fear. Bully the electorate.

But there was so much to be positive about. The Labour governments record is a good one. And you were part of that success. Why so little reference? Afraid it points to your predecessor and not you maybe?

Seems to me its fear of failure that has driven you. Fear of letting go of power. That’s why you took the enormous gamble of the televised debates. Good for democracy. Not so good for you though.

Well, we’re there now. I’m a Labour voter. But not this time. I don’t react well to scaremongering. I don’t like bullies. There’s an Independent standing in our constituency. A local man, with a good local agenda. Time for a protest vote.

Captive in Cape Town

Remember 'Sleepless in Seattle'? Well, Roh and I are creating a new epic- 'Captive in Cape Town'. We were due home yesterday after meeting our daughter in Cape Town this last week. But the volcano ash has beaten us and the next guaranteed flight is 13 days later.

Cape Town is a captivating place. We were moved by what we saw on Robben Island, we were charmed by the friendliness of the wine estates and we were excited by the worship of the local Hillsongs congregation.

But now we are captive against our will.

I remember being stuck in a hurricane in Orlando, and lost without a visa in Hong Kong, but being captive in Cape Town is entirely new!

Songs in the Key of Life

I decided I wanted to listen to the band ‘Mountain’ (if you have never heard their track ‘Nantucket Sleighride’, where have you been?!) so typed the word ‘mountain’ into my ITunes. And of course it came up with all sorts of songs about mountains. Seems appropriate to list them on a web site all about climbing the mountains of life. So here we go, some well known and some reflecting my eclectic (strange?) taste…

Misty Mountain Hop – Led Zeppelin
King of the Mountain – Kate Bush
Rocky Mountain High – John Denver
Rocky Mountain Way – Joe Walsh
Prayer of the Mountain – Iona
The Brain of the Purple Mountain – Leo Kottke [This gets the prize for the strangest title]
Visionary Mountains – Manfred Mann’s Earth Band
The Mist Covered Mountains – Mark Knopfler
When the Mountains Fall – Mark Schultz
Lead us up the Mountain – Matt Redman
River Deep, Mountain High – Tina Turner
Mountain of Things – Tracy Chapman
Mountain Tops – 2nd Chapter of Acts
Wild Mountain Honey – Steve Miller Band
Black Mountain – Nick Drake
Sugar Mountain – Neil Young
There is a Mountain – Donovan
Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble? – Delirious
There are Mountains Before Me – Dave Bilbrough
Mountain Mover – Bryn Haworth
Brave Mountaineers – Gordon Lightfoot

So there we are. The RIVER may be DEEP and the MOUNTAIN HIGH, it may be ROCKY , we may FALL and TREMBLE; there may be MOUNTAINS OF THINGS in our lives, and MOUNTAINS BEFORE ME but THERE IS A MOUNTAIN that is worth us being BRAVE MOUNTAINEERS for. He will LEAD US UP THE MOUNTAIN, with VISION through the MIST, out of the WILD, BLACK WAY, and as sweet as SUGAR and HONEY, with a PRAYER on our lips, deliver us with a HOP skip and a jump to the MOUNTAIN TOP, beside our KING OF THE MOUNTAINS and MOUNTAIN MOVER.

Well it was fun trying to fit in all the titles…. Couldn’t fit in ‘BRAIN OF THE PURPLE MOUNTAIN’ though, no matter how hard I tried!

Leprosy

He knew it was his last chance. Covered in leprosy, he could hardly walk. Open sores covered his skin. People ran from him as he approached. Most of his life he’d had to walk, ringing a bell and shouting the word ‘unclean’. It was a declaration of sickness, of being a second class citizen. Of being an outcast, unloved, uncared for.

The disease had been with him for many years. He had left his family, unable to see them for fear of infecting them too. Alone. Desperate. Near death.

And this was it. Ignoring all the rules, he crawled the final yards towards him as best he could. Falling on his face, unable to support his weight, he cried out ‘Lord, if you want to, you could heal me’. A cry of faith. A cry of desperation. And then the words spoken back. ‘I am willing. Be clean.’

At that moment, all the years rolled away. All the fear, hate, poverty, sickness. Gone in an instant. Instead of sores, fresh baby-like skin. A miracle. He could go back. He could return home. He could live again.

That was then. 2000 years ago. This is now: There are over 266,000 new cases of leprosy diagnosed each year. It’s still here.

Last Saturday I attended my first board meeting as a trustee director of the Leprosy Mission, England and Wales. As much as I am able, I will stretch out the hand of Christ and say the words ‘be clean’.

(You can read the story of the leper in the gospel of Luke, chapter 5.)

His name is Peter, his name is John

His name is Peter.

We met him last night on the street. Selling the Big Issue. He was clean enough, well mannered. Looked like he needed a good place to sleep though.

He took the coins and Tony asked if he could pray with him. (Tony’s like that: Bold as brass). Peter asked if we could pray that he gets over the death of his dad, the Christmas just gone. Here he is. On his own. But still missing his family. Still loving his family.

His name is John.

He earns £160,000 a week. Seems to have a problem with the occasional girl. And I’m not sure about the drink driving. But he’s a good footballer. And like Peter, I guess he loves his family.

In between –economically speaking- there’s you and me.

But it’s not about money. It’s about family. Being loved. Knowing love.

There’s one who showed it. At Easter.

His name is Jesus.

Your Call.....

This is the transcript of the actual radio conversation of a U.S. naval ship with the Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland October 1995. Radio conversation released by the Chief of Naval Operations, 10-10-95.

Canadians:
Please divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.

Americans:
Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the North.

Canadians:
Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.

Americans:
This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.

Canadians:
No. I say again, you divert YOUR course.

Americans:
This is the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln. The second largest ship in the United States Atlantic fleet. We are accompanied by three destroyers, three cruisers and numerous support vessels. I demand that you change your course 15 degrees north, I say again, that's one five degrees north, or counter measures will be undertaken to ensure the safety of this ship.

Canadians:
We are a lighthouse, your call.

Freedom that is Forced Freedom is not Freedom at all

Well done to the House of Lords for overturning a forced measure in the Equalities Bill that would have meant a lack of freedom, not increased freedom. To force religious organisations to ignore their beliefs when hiring staff would have been plain wrong.

Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks put it well in the Times:

“There are times when human rights become human wrongs. This happens when rights become more than a defence of human dignity, which is their proper sphere, and become instead a political ideology, relentlessly trampling down everything in their path. This is happening increasingly in Britain.

“When a Christian airport worker is banned from wearing a cross, when a nurse is sacked after a role-play exercise in which he suggests that patients pray, when Roman Catholic adoption agencies are forced to close because they do not place children for adoption with same sex couples and when a Jewish school is told that its religious admissions policy is…. racist, we are in dangerous territory indeed.”

‘Freedom’ that is forced freedom is not freedom at all.

Yes Tiger, you should convert.....

There’s a big debate going on in the States where a TV anchorman, who was part of a TV discussion panel, is being pilloried for saying Tiger Woods should consider the Christian faith instead of his mothers Buddhist faith to help him through his current problems. This is what Brit Hume said:

"I don't think that faith [Buddhism] offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. So my message to Tiger would be, 'Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.'"

Seems a pretty gentle remark to me, and not one to draw out all the invectives of the US press, with some newspapers suggesting he has been ‘rude and crass’ and has ‘denigrated Christianity’. Denigrated Christianity?! For saying that?!

The ignorance of the current British government in trying to force through legislation that would force churches to hire open homosexuals in spite of the stance taken in the Bible shows how far we have moved away from a Christian society to one where we can’t even open our mouth and recommend to someone that they investigate the Christian faith.

This month sees the start of many Alpha Courses in churches up and down the UK- a great chance to go along and find out the real truth.

What Does It All Mean?

Did you know....

…. The top ten in demand jobs in America in 2010 did not exist in 2004
….We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist, using technologies that haven’t been invented, in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet
….If MySpace were a country, it would be the fifth largest in the world
….There are 31 Billion searches on Google every month
….The number of text messages sent every day exceeds the population of the planet

The pace of life is faster every year. (The older you get, the faster it gets!) Have a look at this and consider the final question…. What does it all mean?



King Solomon said there was nothing new under the sun. It’s kind of true. We get faster, communicate more, download, tweet, facebook and more. But it’s nothing new. There’s just more of it.

The question is the same. What does it all mean? Where is the satisfaction in life?

The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied. Proverbs 19:23

The pages are rustling with adventure.....

A bit of a misquote from C S Lewis that, but appropriate to today. Today sees our youngest (by 20 minutes anyway!) on her way to Zimbabwe for a gap year, working with children in Bulawayo.

For Lois, it is the start of an adventure. The future pages of her journal are rustling with excitement, new experiences, new friends and new learnings along the way.

For us too the pages are rustling…. This is the start of a new phase in our lives. With Lois’ twin Josh at Uni and the older two well away from home, we have a new page to turn too. No kids at home! (well, we do have Jen lodging with us but not sure that counts!)

What will God write on those pages? New experiences for sure. New opportunities. A whole new chapter.

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.