Don't Ask me For The Answer, I've Only Got One

I was singing an old Larry Norman song this morning. One phrase has stuck with me through the day:

Don't ask me for the answer, I've only got one: 

That a man leaves his darkness when he follows the Son. 

Yep. That’s pretty much sums it up as I look around me. A world pandemic. The killing of George Floyd. Climate change. And now the Taliban. 

Add to that earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes and forest fires. Myanmar, Hindu fundamentalists, terror attacks, random shootings.

To claim to have answers to the politics, the science or the religious hatred is to claim to be foolish.

I have no answers. But one.

Yet that answer overcomes every political motive, every advance of violence, every voice of hatred.

That answer is Jesus.

He had no servants, yet they called Him Master.

He had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher.

He had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer.

He had no army, yet kings feared Him.

He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world.

He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.

He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.

 

His name is Jesus.

He came as God’s Son. He died for you and me. And He’s still changing lives today. Ask Him to change yours.

When Worlds Collide

It’s rare that three worlds collide at once. But that’s what happened this weekend, and it was glorious.

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In 1970 as a brand new Christian, I found myself walking home when a girl called Linda shouted out to me ‘Hey are you a Christian?!’ The big ‘Jesus Loves You’ sticker on my bag was the giveaway – these were the days of the Jesus Revolution, Larry Norman, Arthur Blessitt and …. Jesus stickers.

I admitted I was and as a result, Linda introduced me to the Streetly Evangelical Church Youth Group. It was there that I was befriended by Alan, later my Best Man, and by Godfrey and Sue.

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On Wednesday 5^th September 2012, I met a guy called Jonathan Conrathe for coffee (I keep a daily diary). I’d been asked to ‘sus him out’ as he and his wife Elaine were joining the church I was part of at the time. Nearly ten years later and I have the privilege of serving him as Team Pastor for Mission24. I guess I must have sussed him out then….

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On Sunday 27^th May 2018 (yes, that diary again!) Roh and I walked in to Chroma Church Leicester for the first time and instantly felt at home. Having had to leave our last church we were a little bit fragile. Juliet spoke with us. She had a prophetic word for us that we’d got our answer. Not knowing our story, she was so accurate. Our answer was Chroma.

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This weekend all three worlds collided. Mission24 held its annual conference at Chroma. And on Sunday, we welcomed Chroma Birmingham over as they start their journey – and among those attending from Birmingham…. Godfrey and Sue from around 50 years ago.

Three worlds colliding in the most amazing of ways and all on one weekend.

When worlds collide, creation results.

To be working with friends old and new. To see the synergies; to see the friendships forming, to see God glorified is just wonderful.

And all I can do, with a grateful heart, is to worship the One who created the collision.

Hope To Inspire

 My thanks to the Eternal Wall for inviting me to speak as part of their Hope To Inspire series. 

I hope you enjoy the talk and that you will be inspired to keep on with the small things that so affect the big picture.

One Year On

It was a year today. One year since two young girls had the courage to film his death. Kaylynn Gilbert, aged 17 and Alyssa Funari, aged 18 saw what was happening. Despite the threat of mace spray from the murderer, they kept filming as George Floyd died in front of their phone camera.

Their bravery meant that the world is changing. Black lives matter. They always have. But that day showed that they didn’t seem to matter that much and that something needed to be done.

The response around the world was immediate.  We’ve seen black men dying before at the hands of the police, but usually it’s a far-off grainy image. The fact that this was a few feet away changed everything. This couldn’t be hidden. In 21^st century America, racial prejudice was rife. And lest we pat ourselves on the back, it’s rife around the rest of the world too.

In the UK, the Government’s recent report was a bit of a white wash. Literally. A chair that was sensitive to the Government’s rosy blushes on white cheeks presented something that meant they didn’t have to do much. Shame.

There is so much more to be done. I applaud the efforts of the Black Lives Matter movement. It needs to continue. It still needs to be heard still.

Some responded in a disappointing way when George Floyd died. Some used the platitude ‘all lives matter.’ A thin veneer of respectability over a statement that was blatantly racist. Others pointed to the Black Lives Matter movement and some aspects of it that they didn’t like. Sure, there will always be points of disagreement with any movement. But just as we vote for a political party that is as close to our views as possible, whilst accepting there will be points of disagreement, so with Black Lives Matter. Points of disagreement on other matters don’t neutralise the central message.

The anger and grief I witnessed from my black brothers and sisters was and is real. The racial prejudice remains just as real. One year on, let’s keep raising the fist in defiance of hatred. And as Christian’s, let’s keep praying.

My Lectio365 bible study this morning captures it well:

‘This season calls out for clenched fists raised in peaceful protest. But the solutions call out for raised hands clasped in persistent prayer.’

#BlackLivesMatter

The Step Back

I’m not particularly pro-royalty. But I’m not a republican either.

Some of the Royals get on my nerves. Others seem a little assuming of their position. But the Queen and her consort have shown how it’s done. For 73 years of marriage and 69 years of reigning.

It was in 1952 that he voluntarily took a step back. The Duke of Edinburgh could have had a glittering career. He could have turned his hand to anything. A survivor himself of war and exile, he had steel, that’s for sure.

He chose to hone that steel into a shield of protection.

With the Queen’s accession to the throne, he took a permanent step back. Always the companion, always the consort. Always there in the background. But always ready to step forward and deflect criticism, helping with the weight of serving a nation.

And to do that for the rest of his life.

At their Golden Wedding, the Queen commented:

"He is someone who doesn't take easily to compliments but he has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know."

As a nation mourns today, we can be grateful for a man who showed how to serve, how to prefer others.

A life of service indeed.

The Serendipity of the Fantasy Trilogy

Where does the concept of a book trilogy come from? And in particular, the vast market for fantasy trilogies?

The idea of a trilogy goes as far back as Greek literature but it found its recent popularity through serendipity.

When JRR Tolkien finished his book The Lord of the Rings, his publisher had a problem. One look at the vastness of the book Tolkien had written caused Allen & Unwin to look at a different route to market.

The year was 1954. War rationing was still a thing. And there was a real problem with publishers being able to source quality paper for printing. In addition there was a concern with a potential financial loss due to the high cost of type-setting and the publisher’s calculation of the modest sales resulting from such an unusual book.

Tolkien actually tried another publisher but in the end accepted that whatever Allen & Unwin said was better than no book at all.

The publisher suggested splitting the book into three. For this they had to agree to new titles - something Tolkien was reluctant to do, not least because he saw the book being formed from seven smaller parts. But Allen & Unwin got their way and the first volume, The Fellowship of the Ring went to press in October 1954. The Two Towers followed in 1955 and the final book, The Return of the King in 1956.

And so was born the modern concept of the fantasy trilogy. Many have been the acolytes to Tolkien’s work, though in my view none have come close.

It all happened because of a cautious publisher. And boy did they get their projections wrong with the modest estimate on sales. To date the trilogy has sold over 150 million copies, making it one of the top five best-selling books of all time.

The fantasy trilogy - all because a publisher was reluctant to fund the costs for one book. Serendipity indeed.

Why, Who, What - A Lockdown Narrative

I hope it’s here now. The end of a year of lockdowns, viruses and fears. As we step out of our doors, it’s a good time to assess what we want from our future freedoms. Is it just more of the same, or have things changed?

A technique I use with potential clients for autobiographies/biographies is to ask them three questions.

When someone wants help in writing a book, I ask WHY, WHO and WHAT. In that order.

WHY do you want to write a book? WHO is it aimed at? And WHAT is the content. Too many go straight for the story - the WHAT. But the other two questions are more important.

WHY write at all? What’s your reason? The
same can be asked as we come out of lockdown. Are you just going to go back to what you did before? The same old job? The same old patterns? The same old activities? That may be fine, but lockdown has given us an opportunity to ask WHY, to take a look at reasons and motives. To check that WHAT we were doing before is still worth doing today. (I recommend Simon Sinek on this – his book Start With Why is worth your time).

WHO are you writing for? Or to turn it around to a lockdown discussion, when you do what you do, WHO is it for? Just for you? For family and friends? Why not look wider? Maybe consider activities that help society? There will be a massive need for more Foodbanks in the UK coming out of lockdown. Around the world, with rich countries using lockdown as a reason not to give, there are immense needs in developing countries. And if you have a Christian faith, there are ways to support those working in the hardest of conditions around the world.

WHAT is the easy bit. The stories we tell in book terms. Too many start here. But as lockdown ends, before we do what we do, before we return to doing what we always did, ask WHY and WHO first.

As lives open up again, as hugs become possible again, as this time of lockdown becomes history, determine to make history.

“Such is of the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.” JRR Tolkien