Terry Henry

Well, I was cheering for Ireland this week while my wife wanted France to win (for lesson planning reasons). What a shame that the winning goal was nothing of the sort, both offside and a double hand ball from Thierry Henry. Although, as my wife commented, the French are very good at the sport of handball; the men were Olympic gold medalists in Beijing.

Henry's comment after the match was "I will be honest, it was a handball. But I’m not the ref. I played it, the ref allowed it. That’s a question you should ask him," In other words, "It's not my fault guv, blame the ref!" (can be read with optional French accent if you prefer.)

Thierry went down in my estimations this week. Something that I'm sure won't bother him unduly, but here was a great player who lit up the Premiership and then... this. He knew it was handball and he kept it shut. What a shame. What a missed opportunity to be truly heroic.

Having said that, who's to say that none of us would have done the same thing? 70,000 French fans go ballistic because you have had a hand (I know) in the goal that put your team through to the World Cup Finals. Do you hold up your hand and confess? It would take some real guts to do that. What would you do? What would I do?

There was someone on the radio this morning who, I believe, hit the nail on the head. They were saying that in the nineteenth century sport was promoted as an activity that would develop character in people. The flip side of that is that sport also reveals your character. I discovered this nearly 25 years ago when I was a new Christian and playing Men's Hockey. I was aware that my language didn't fit my new profession of faith in the heat of battle.

I guess this is what is so sad about Henry's handball. It's revealed something of his character and it's not pretty. I'm glad that my flaws are not exposed so publicly. We sometimes say that sport is totally unimportant but perhaps we see exactly here why it is important. In a tight situation, it reveals who we are and what we are really like - the real me rather than the sanitised version I like to project in life and on blogs. It reminds us that we are not as great as we would like to think that we are. And that we need saving from ourselves.

Carnival

It's the time of year when the Carnival comes to town. If you have never seen it you really should, it's quite a spectacle, part of the world famous Bridgwater Carnival circuit. It was a cold but dry one and the two hour parade contained some amazing floats. At one point the Helloween cart was followed by one with the theme the Kingdom of Heaven (all wings and harps and Robbie Williams' Angels). That kind of thing seems to sum up Carnival, throw in some young farmers in drag dancing to the Wurzels and you get the idea.

I make it sound awful. Come and try it. It's said to be the biggest illuminated Carnival in the world and quite unlike anything I had seen before. And it comes down the end of my road so it's really easy to get to.

The pictures here are of the winners of the two main classes. The top one is a Robin Hood tableau - the class where the people on the cart have to freeze into position for the whole two hour procession and they are judged on their cart and their ability to stay stock still. The second, Joust, won the overall category and the thing that made them stand out was that the dragons on the front actaully breathed fire.

And it goes very well with a flask of mulled wine.

Vinyl Countdown

Well, it had to happen one day and that day was last week. I packed the boxes and headed to Oxfam in Exeter. They were very understanding and gentle with me, leading me to conclude that they must have had special training. Perhaps a one day seminar on "Middle Aged Men and their Records - Bereavement, Empathy and Grieving". I realise that those who know me will require photographic proof, hence the picture. It doesn't look like much in my big boot but it was 160 albums, 120 12" singles and a stack of singles too.

I'm doing okay. Thanks for asking. Some days are obviously easier than others but a day at a time, I guess. Time is a great healer they say and so long as I don't linger near Radio 2 for too long and hear a tune that sets me off I should get through.

Headship and Head Scarves - 1 Corinthians 11

Why did I think it was a good idea to preach through 1 Corinthians? That's what I was wondering as I set about 1 Cor 11:2-16 last week. Head hurt and lost sleep over such a varied set of interpretations, some of which I thought were pretty disgraceful.

V.3 and headship - what's that about then? There seem to be three options.

1 - to have authority over

2 - to represent

3 - to be the source of

The general idea seems to be that the language points to #3, though I have an inkling that #2 is helpful too. Not so convinced by #1 but some very intelligent people would disagree and I might be wrong. Feel a little like Alesha Dixon asked to judge Strictly, though to be fair she would be better qualified for her task than I feel for mine.

In the end does it matter much? If headship is about ruling over and having authority (which I don’t think it is) then what should it look like? How should a husband have authority over his wife? By loving her and being prepared to lay down his life for her, according to Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5:21 – “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ”.

I don't think you'd see a lot of difference between people who read head as meaning #1, #2, or #3 if they are seeking to be like Christ in all they do.

After that the hat issue was a doddle. We will still have the role of women to address in 1 Cor 14 but at least we can relax a bit in the meantime while we talk about the gifts of the Spirit!

The biggest encouragement of Sunday was where people disagreed (as a handful did). They were each so gracious and loving as we talked and it's what family should be like. We were able to discuss and even laugh about the subject and to do so with the security that this needn't and shouldn't change anything between us in terms of relationship.

That feels very precious indeed.

Grumbling

There's a great cartoon here of Moses standing before a parted Red Sea and turning to the Israelites saying, "What do you mean, 'It's a bit muddy?'"

http://www.cartoonsltd.co.uk/artists/artwork-by-bestie/9/114#

I used it in a sermon on 1 Cor 10 recently because it is so easy for us to be like that. We are a rescued people, freed from slavery by a loving God. And sometimes we grumble, "It's a bit muddy" when we should be rejoicing that we are on narrow way that leads to salvation.

End of sermon.

Music that no-one else cares about...

At long last two searched for albums have had mp3 releases.

The Men They Couldn't Hang - The Domino Club and Faith Brothers - A Human Sound are both vinyl albums I own and now I can listen to them on the iPod.

Bliss!

The power of encouragement

Was very frustrated at the game on Saturday. Exeter City were playing at home to Wycombe. Wycombe are bottom of League 1 and we are struggling too after two successive promotions. In the end we equalized in stoppage time to earn a point. We didn't set the park alight but the boys played alright and a win wouldn't have been undeserved. I would venture to say that we looked very good for the first 25 minutes.

But then it kicked in. The verbals from the home crowd at their own team. Every misplaced pass, every missed tackle, every perceived lack of effort. I guess a number of the crowd are used to us winning a lot of games over the last couple of years and playing some fantastic football at the same time. Now it's tougher and - unbelievably - some are calling for our (most sucessful manager ever) to go.

It's incredible that the team plays as well as they do with the rubbish they have to put up with from so called supporters. It cannot help the cause.

If Paul Tisdale were to pack up and walk away we would only have ourselves to blame. Thankfully he seems to be more gutsy and more intelligent than that.

There have been times in the past when church seemed discouraging because of the moaning and grumbling that went on. I can now see it was very small beer indeed.

Frankie Says Relax

Spent some of my day off today making soup while listening to Radio 4. The arts programme closes by saying that tomorrow they will be celebrating 25 years since Frankie Goes to Hollywood first burst upon the scene.

Being raised in the sticks I was pretty unaware of the whole Frankie thing until being at a concert and seeing all the Frankie Says Relax teeshirts. Oddly it was a concert featuring unlikely Frankie bed fellows (I know...) Nazareth, Jason and the Scorchers (who were bottled-off), Gary Glitter on his umpteenth comeback, Marillion (who were a lot of the reason I was there) and Status Quo. It was billed as "Quo's Last Stand" their last concert ever. they were also on the radio this afternoon talking about how they have always toured and only took a year off in about 1984. They are touring again this autumn. It was 25 years ago when I saw them and - as is the case every now and again - I feel a bit older. Quite a bit older.

But then I am spending my leisure time making soup and listening to Radio 4.

The fuss over funerals

An Anglican priest has found his blog hit the news - time to be careful! Ed Tomlinson has caused a bit of a fuss with his comments on funerals - you can read the story here:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6881679.ece

Basically he says that sometimes he wonders why he bothers. At the Crem he has to stand by like a lemon as people have a Tina Turner song played or "My Way" as the coffin disappears behind the curtain. He says he has better things to do.

I have some sympathy with him and in a slightly different context Jesus did say to to let the dead bury their own dead. Doubtless Jesus would get into trouble for having that on his blog.

Some personal observations from funerals I have officiated at:

• Sometimes you do feel like a spare part as some people seem to have you there because it is the done thing. They seem to have no real interest in anything other than getting through the best way they know how. And I guess that's understandable.
• It is emotionally gruelling to do funerals on a regular basis and I say that as someone who takes less than a dozen a year. Ed will, in all likelihood, being doing one or more a week.
• I find that the hardest funerals to take are those where there is no obvious hope in the face of death because the deceased expressed no interest in God. Playing ''My Way'' at a funeral is a good expression of that independent spirit that says, 'I make my own rules'. The Bible calls that sin.
• You may find this odd but the easier funerals are where you know and love the person and know that they trusted in Jesus in the face of their death. You still grieve but it is tempered by a certain joy as well - "we do not grieve as those without hope" as it says in a book I am reading.
• I was once at funeral where "Goodbye My Lover" by James Blunt was played. It was very raw and ripped shreds out of people - a ghastly experience.
• Most of the relatives I sit with are grateful for assistance in planning the funeral and I have never been turned down when I have offered to pray for them at the end of our meeting together. I can leave booklets about coping with grief with them.
• The Crem service is about 22 minutes long where I am (it varies around the country) which is a little too rushed for my liking. But it gives me a little time to lead people in prayer, read a short passage from the Bible, and to speak in the address of the hope that can be found in the face of death through trusting in Christ and his forgiveness.
• Nearly everyone I ever buried has the most wonderful person imaginable. I look forward to people being a little dishonest about me at my funeral.
• Sometimes you wonder whether anyone is capable of hearing much at the service itself.
• I often think that my 'aftercare service' is sadly lacking in terms of following people up a month or two down the line. Realistically do we have the resources to do this though?
• I think that nearly all the families I have dealt with have been very thankful and they have expressed that to me.
• I never feel like doing anything after a funeral. Which is difficult when you have a funeral in the morning.
• I'm glad that I am able to be of assistance in this way but I don't go out of my way to look for funerals, they are hard for clergy too.

Too late!

Harvest hymn sung during our evening service recently contained the lines:

"Thine is our youthful prime,

And life and all its powers."

We sang it with an average age in the room of around 65.

We saw the funny side.

You a church? You can't come in!

Received an email today from some people who want to start a gospel church for those who like a more traditional service in Canterbury. After an intervention from the Cathedral their booking was cancelled two days before they were due to go live and they were told they are not allowed to book any of the (church-linked) school property that they were planning to use. Julian Clary, on the other hand, is allowed to play one of it's venues next week.

Odd.

Thankfully they were able to arrange a new venue and will go ahead with the opening tomorrow.

My old gall...

...is now a fully fledged teacher, having yesterday finished her NQT year.

The girl did tremendous!

Giving Away Money - 4

We have gathered in most of the envelopes from "Burnham's Got Talents" and most of the results are in.

Drum roll...


We gave out eighty envelopes containing a tenner each and gave out the challenge to put those talents to work. Which means I was £800 down to begin with and silly as it might sound it felt like a big risk. And to be sure some of the envelopes haven't been returned and may never be. A quarter of the envelopes were returned with the ten pounds and nothing more - which I find quite amazing given that we spoke about the parable of the talents and the fate of the duff servant on the day it was given out. I got one note back telling me the point of the parable was to show that we could be trusted with small things in order to be entrusted with greater things - but simply returning the £10 too. Weird.


But, lots went for it as recorded previously in Giving Away Money -3. One man walked from Burnham-on-Sea to Bridgwater and another sponsored effort was a swim which the woman used to tell people why she was doing it and it gave her the chance to tell people about the church. There are some great stories amongst the feedback.

So we are currently in the position where - without having all the envelopes returned - we have turned £800 to just over £1500. I think it's more than likely that we will, like the good guys in the parable, double what we were entrusted with. Which is a fabulous effort. I'll post a final figure when we know it.

Careforce Conference

I am currently at a conference for young volunteers from all over the world who have just started service for a year or two in churches and projects across the UK. It is quite unlike any conference I have ever attended and it is hard to describe the vibrancy of the event. I have a list of our nationalities somewhere which I will post later but it is an amazing mix of people, white faces are a minority, and it is a privilege to spend time with such a loud and enthusiastic group. I am doing some Bible readings here and it is humbling to be speaking to these people and I rather suspect that I will gain more from the experience than any of them. Speaking to so many people of different cultures means I can't reference old 80's sitcoms in my talks. I am comforted (again) by the fact that God can speak through a donkey if he so chooses.

Here is the list: Uganda, Cameroon, Kenya, Ghana, Wales, Mexico, Slovakia, Namibia, Nigeria, Germany, Peru, Scotland, Colombia, Philippines, Canada, England, Pakistan, Japan, Northern Ireland, India, Gambia, and Tanzania.

Heaven will be like this.

What do you say?

Very busy this week but squeezed in a quick pastoral visit to someone who is ill and used to be in our church (long story). Within a couple of sentences I am told, "You've put on a lot of weight".

I left (later) with two questions:

• What do you say in a situation like that?
• Why did I bother?

Going up

Nice of a member of the congregation to give me a diary for 2010. What does it tell you about me and/or the congregation here that it's a trade diary from a Stairlift company?

End of the Season

Last round of games and with the summer having officially ended earlier in the week, what better way to spend a day off than in the warm sunshine watching a county match? So, to Bristol to see Gloucestershire score 418 in the day for five wickets against a de-mob happy Kent.

I met up with Dad and we enjoyed a lovely day chewing the fat (and given what we ate that is about right). Always good to spend a day like this and the weather and the amount of runs scored was a bonus. It was a grand day out.

The picture is of James Franklin who scored a century to go with his five wickets of the day before.

Power to all our friends

“One sometimes meets super-spiritual people who claim that they never feel lonely and have no need of human friends, for the companionship of Christ satisfies all their needs. But human friendship is the loving provision of God for mankind. It was God himself who said in the beginning: ‘It is not good that the man should be alone’ (Gen 2:18). Wonderful as are both the presence of the Lord Jesus every day and the prospect of his coming on the last day, they are not intended to be a substitute for human friendships.” Stott, BST, p.120.

Blown away by this, this morning. The thing that really made me sit up and take notice was that whilst Adam had a relationship with God in the garden, God still speaks of him being alone without the company that Eve supplies him with. It speaks profoundly of our need for need of friendships and makes me even more grateful for those that I enjoy.

Richard Baxter on Preaching

Found this quote today as I prepare on 2 Timothy 4 for a conference I am going to next week - and very much looking forward to. Be even more excited if I was anywhere near ready.

This doesn't fit what I am doing but rather than lose it:

"Whatever you do, let the people see that you are in good earnest... You cannot break men's hearts by jesting with them, or telling them a smooth tale, or patching up a gaudy oration. Men will not cast away their dearest pleasures upon a drowsy request of one that seemeth not to mean as he speaks, or to care much whether his request be granted."
The Reformed Pastor, 1656. Quoted in Stott (BST), p.107.

Giving away money - 3

Or the 'Anti-Prosperity Gospel' as I like to think of it.

We were away enjoying the bright lights of the city and friends' 25th wedding anniversary at the weekend so don't know everything about the response yet. Envelopes are due in next Sunday. Thought I'd record that a lot of people are in the swing of it though. One man went to a stamp fair and turned his £10 to £25. My wife is making portions of crumble and selling those. We have someone knitting snowmen, a coffee morning and sale, a living room bistro opening for the night (a trained chef doing this); lots of things. Perhaps the oddest is the woman who is a keep fit fanatic who is fining herself everytime she messes up her hula-hooping. Hope I can hula-hoop when I'm 73! As someone pointed out, it's a bit upside down in terms of using a talent because the more you raise the more questionable your talent but good on her! It's going to be an interesting Sunday!

As for me, I have put some stuff on eBay and as I type this I just realise that I've made a mess of the timings - the auctions end after the Morning Service. What a twit!

Should I be ashamed?

Good church members meeting last night, a potentially difficult decision dealt with gracefully by all concerned. Perhaps we are growing up?

Day off today and so try to adjust my bike brakes for about an hour and a half before giving up and deciding to take it to be mended (having made it a whole lot worse). Why do I feel so embarrassed at not being able to do simple stuff like this? My Dad would have fixed this in a jiffy. He'd be spinning in his grave.

If he were dead.

Wow

Yesterday was a real roller coaster of a Sunday. On the programme it seemed a straightforward Harvest Sunday. It seems God had other ideas.

In the morning we continued our series on The Hope of Heaven looking at Revelation 21 and the picture that it paints of heaven. It includes the famous verses about being a place of no tears, no suffering, no death, no more pain.

Afterwards I talk to a visitor to our church, one who I think I recognise but I'm not sure. Turns out he was visiting us and he had been with us last May. He reminds me that he was with his wife who was returning to fitness after a liver transplant. To cut a long story short his wife passed away a few days after they visited us in May and then two months later he lost his father too. He talked about how it felt that I was speaking just to him as I spoke from Rev 21. Of course it was not me, only God can do this. It reminded me what a privilege it is to hear God through the words of the Bible and to be used to help people hear that.

Rev 21 also points out in the last verse that nothing impure can enter heaven. Which is only bad news if you have ever done, said or thought anything bad! So we talked about Jesus - as the only truly pure person - had paid the price for our impurity and how you can have your name in the book of life. I talked about how it's not enough to know this stuff, you have to make a personal commitment. And I did something I rarely ever do. I asked people to consider their response to the invitation that God makes, close their eyes and raise a hand if they wanted to make that commitment.

I felt that I was a bit unclear as I hadn't really scripted it but I lead a prayer and five hands went up. Two are people who have started coming to the church having come to our Holiday Club for over 60s (pre-blog!). They are down to start the Christianity Explored course tomorrow and are as thrilled as we are. One was a lady in her 80s who has been in church all her life but says that while she understood the gospel message she had never responded to it in a personal way before. Hers is a long story but, again, it's exciting that she took this step. The fourth hand belonged to the visitor mentioned above who, having been through such a tough time, wanted to respond to what God was saying to him in the service. And the fifth was a man in his nineties who misunderstood what I was saying. Told you I was unclear.

But, me of little faith, I was taken aback. It is exciting to see what God is doing and we pray that these are the first fruits. Seems he did some harvesting this morning.

Afternoon spent visiting someone in hospital in Taunton, on to Evening Service which I led and preached in and then I went to visit a man who is on the edge of death. I was pleased to go to see him as I got there just before the nurses who came to administer his first dose of morphine, which was something the family were resisting unless it was absolutely necessary. I was able to hold his thin hand and pray for him. He hasn't long and the promises of Rev 21 are particularly pertinent at a time like this.

A long day. A good day. A long post but not everyday is like this and I wanted to process it as I typed. I am encouraged and hope you are too.

Listen Up!

A good friend sent me a copy of this excellent booklet published by the Good Book Company recently and I'd flag it up as a great resource to consider. It has 7 tips on how to engage better with a sermon when you are at the pew end - very simple and clear and full of good common sense advice. It also has a section at the end which includes advice on such things as 'How to listen to a dull sermon.'

10 of those have these at £20 for 20 of them and I have ordered a bunch for the congregation because the Word of God is the most important thing that they can take away with them from a Sunday service. Even when some idiot pastor is dishing out cash.

I'd quote some and give you more details but I've already passed on my copy. Have a look, I think it's worth it.

Giving Away Money - 2

"Well, how did it go?" you wonder. Perhaps. I guess the short answer is that we shall see.


On Sunday I rather nervously took £800 in used tenners to the service. I was preaching on how we use our talents in the light of Jesus' return. The parable in Mathew 25 makes it clear that we will be held accountable for what we have. So, as a practical illustration I drew virtually all the money out of the fund we have for helping the poor and sent people off to participate in what I wish I had had the foresight to call 'Burnham's Got Talents'. The idea is that in three weeks time we'll see what people have been able to do with it.

Feedback to me has been very positive. Some amusement, some enthusiasm, a lot of wondering aloud as to what they will do. The reaction I feared most was the Treasurer's but he was a brick, his only concern being the short amount of time - he is away for half of the experiment. Foolishly I didn't consult anyone about what I had done - I think I had suspicions that I'd be talked out of it if I did. Yet I guess the trust is established and no-one seems concerned. (I should explain that I cannot - as rule - just draw out the church's money whenever I feel like it). Otherwise I would spend even more on filling my iPod.

Some feedback that I have heard secondhand has been less positive - as is often the way! But overall it's been so far so good. I had 80 envelopes for 86 adults and there were none left over so the take up has been high and there was an additional encouragement in that I wasn't expecting so many in church in the first place.

As for me, I am spending my tenner on insertion fees and the like for selling some stuff on eBay. I'm thinking that hoarding stuff ready for Judgement Day might not be such a great tactic and this might be a prod in the right direction for me.

Watch this space.