Global Warming and Abi going back to work

Most scientists say that environmentally we have to face up to serious issues if the planet is to cope with climate change. Some dispute the findings. All I know is that at the weekend here it hit 21 degrees in the car. Tomorrow it will be November, and I've been cutting the grass wearing my shorts today.

Today was the first time since 1991 that I stayed at home and Abi went out to work: am I going to be a kept man at last...?

In the last few months, after fourteen years of housewifery, Abi started two jobs, one as a bank nurse, which she is yet to follow up, and one making designer waistcoats for weddings. You can visit the online store of the company she works for at http://www.tomsawyerwaistcoats.co.uk/

You can also see her first design, for a beach wedding, at http://www.tomsawyerwaistcoats.co.uk/store/showitemTS185-SURF.aspx

Apparently, the biggest seller is the one with cows on it.

Funny Experiences in Church Meetings (2)

Tried to add these to the existing post, but kept on getting errors, so I have added this as an extra post. None of these are recent, but they are all worth hearing.

Several years ago, we made friends with a Canadian family, Gordie and Kathleen Lagore, who now lead the East Vancouver Vineyard Church. Gordie had been a youth pastor, and was pretty much burnt out, so he and his family came to England for a year or so to get back on an even keel. We were newly married, and as they and I were new to what had been Abbie's church, we formed a good, if all too brief friendship with them.

Gordie was a master of words coming out not quite right. Here are three examples.

Once, when preaching, he meant to describe the church not as an organisation, but a living organism. Sadly, the two highlighted letters were missed out.

On another occasion when leading a meeting, he meant to ask a man by the name of Mr Peabody to come to the front to pray before the preacher spoke. The words that came out were, "Brother Praybody, come and pee for the pastor before he speaks."

Another time, when the young people had left for their groups, there were a few gaps in the meeting hall. So that the preacher had a sea of faces rather than empty seats, he wanted to encourage people to move to the front, naming some individuals including one with a very unfortunate name (bearing in mind the Canadian accent). "Could the two ladies with Harry Butts please come and sit nearer the front?"

More will follow...

Can anything else go wrong...?

It's been one of those weeks where I've wanted to get over and get to the next one, now if possible.

Last Friday, 20th October. On the way to work I lowered the (electric) passenger window as it was steamed up. It wouldn't go back up. I left the car in the overflow car park, which is out of the way for students, tucked in a corner of the site, and kept locked during the day.

The next few hours were spent interviewing for two vacancies we have coming up in the next few months. None of the candidates were suitable.

Got home to find out that Abi's car had broken down. After getting my window fixed, it was almost eight o'clock, cold and dark. Her car was parked on a steep, narrow hill, which just happened to be a one way street. When I eventually managed to get my car next to hers, it was facing the wrong way on the one way street, and even though we were bumper to bumper, my jump leads were too short.

Saturday. Got the car started, having bought longer jump leads. Got a refund for a bottle of 5-minute marinade that had fermented and spewed all over me when I opened it during the week.

Sunday. Important visiting speaker at church, bigwig in AOG. First chord of the second song is G, but it's in the key of D. I start singing it in G. Stop the song, play around with the chords till I figure out what I've done wrong, start again, singing at half the proper speed. Try to stop again, but everyone else has other ideas. Want the meeting to end now, so I can go home and hide.

Monday. Off on holiday for a few days. Brakes make a funny noise going down a long, steep hill just outside Exeter. Sounds like the ABS has kicked in...

Tuesday. Our former next door neighbours from the Midlands text us, and happen to be on holiday with their son about 30 miles from us. Decide to meet up. Lovely day. Pete tells me my brake lights aren't working. AA man tells me the brake pedal switch needs replacing.

Wednesday. Contact main dealer for Daewoo (RIP) Chevrolet. Pleasantly surprised that the new brake pedal switch is only £8.78. Labour for fitting is £39.00 for a job that takes 0.4 hours, or 24 minutes at £97.50 per hour. Funny, but it only took the AA man 2 minutes to take the switch out, and one to put it back in. I make that an honest rate of £780 per hour. Apparently, my 5-year old car with just 31 000 miles on the clock is now worth just £1250, or about 96 minutes' work at a Vauxhall garage.

Thursday. Return from holiday. Travel in the dark so I can flick on the fog lights if the brake lights don't come on, but they seem to be working well. On getting home, the bathroom floor is wet. So is the ceiling. Apparently, the floaty, plastic bubbly thing in the water tank, (like you have in a toilet tank) is letting in some water so it is not floating as high as t should, so the valve is not sealing. The overflow pipe isn't connected to the tank... Mop the floor. Ceiling keeps dripping....

Friday. Off to visit friends in Cornwall for the day. Decide to take the car with dodgy brake lights, and go on the A30 - extra 25 miles, but less braking than the A38. Same rumbly noise from the brakes outside Exeter, but fine for the rest of the journey. Lots of roadworks, wish we'd gone via Plymouth. Great day in Newquay. Decide to go back on the A38. Traffic report says A38 is blocked, use the A30. Think that the sign is probably out of date, and by the time we get there, the road will be clear, but play safe and stick on the A30. Get home to find on the local news that the A38 is still blocked (good decision: something has at last gone right). Wonder why it's still cold despite the central heating having been on for over an hour...

Saturday. The central heating pump is OK, the boiler is making all the right noises, but the radiators and the hot water are both cold... Also, our bedroom curtains have gone mouldy.

It's at times like these that you discover how strong you really are in your faith. Over the last week, I think I have probably just won an award for Mr. Puniverse...

Follow the Leader

I realise that a lot of what I have written in this blog is critical of the church and its failings. If I have ever done anything of note, it will probably have been written about in somebody else's blog as an anecdote, along the lines of, "there was this stupid bloke I used to work with / be part of a church with / live round the corner from..."

After 22 years as a teacher, and after 26 years as a Christian, I have worked with some very good leaders, and some pretty awful ones. One of the responsibilities of leadership is to train, empower and release people to fulfil their role in the workplace, or calling in the context such as church.

I remember once when I was working with a colleague who was having some difficulty in quietening a non-compliant year group. With good intentions, and with my loudest voice, I demanded silence, and was pleasantly surprised when I got it within a few seconds, only for the teacher who was meant to be in charge to tell me, in front of all the students, to be quiet as they were dealing with the matter. I have also seen church leaders riding roughshod members of the church over minor disagreements, where what was thought to be constructive dialogue had been interpreted by a leader as a rebellious heart.

There are times when leaders need to pull rank, and make decisions and statements that others need to co-operate with, but the best leaders I have encountered only ever do this as a last resort. Those I hold with the greatest respect have been the ones I felt able to follow, to copy their example, and those from whom I felt able to take valid criticism from whilst still feeling appreciated: there haven't been too many like this...

Graham Cooke has a saying, not to drive a seven tonne truck of correction over a four tonne bridge of relationship, which I try to apply to all aspects of my life. I have little time for people who will pursue an argument at the expense of a friendship, where their sphere of influence is to do with control rather than the empowering and releasing of people I mentioned earlier.

I have delivered messages in various churches over the years. In some, I have asked if I was expected to fit in with a particular theme or area of study. The most controlling environment was when I was expected to submit my message in advance to be scrutinised by the leaders. The most releasing was when I was told, "you tell a messenger what to deliver when you send a message, not when you receive one."

In my somewhat limited experience of life, I have actually found, as a generalisation, more control and less release in the church than I have outside it. In my workplace, I have found my leaders more interested in my advice, opinions and experience, at times actively seeking my viewpoint, than in the church, where to express an opinion that is not shared by the leadership is so often misinterpreted as a challenge to authority. I know this is not true of every church leader or network, and thankfully not of our current congregation, but I wonder why this is the case of so many?

I suspect that although there are many reasons for this, amongst them is the level of insecurity I see in leaders who are unsuited to their role, either because of areas of moral weakness or lack of gifting, which, as I said in an earlier post, leads to a strangulation of the life in the church through control, with a constant fear of being outshone by those who are mostly doing their best to support the leadership. (I am not naive enough to think that the argument is quite so one-sided, and that often the control factor is the other way round, where a leader can be manipulated and made impotent by controlling influences in others).

I work with two colleagues whom I appointed as newly qualified teachers four and five years ago respectively. They have now both been promoted to the same level of influence as myself, in pastoral roles. At present, I am delighted by their success. If and when there comes a day when either one of them rises to the next level and could in theory become my boss, I guess I will face a real test of character over this whole area...

What's in a name?

There have been times in the past when churches I have been part of, have, as part of a review process, considered whether or not their name was a good reflection of what they stood for as a church, or whether the name should be changed to reflect a different emphasis within the community, to worship, or because of other factors.

So, Hilltop became King's Church, where a (then) expanding group of churches became less associated with the location of the original building. Cranleigh Chapel detached itself from its Brethren roots and became Cranleigh Community Church. Kettering Christian Fellowship became Kettering Praise Community Church to stress the call to worship and relationship across its network.

The King's Arms had very good intentions about reaching out into the community: they also certainly knew how to drink!

I know of one church that went through a sequence of serious problems, and one of the decisions made to overcome a period of crisis was to change their name, as it was felt that the current one implied a measure of arrogance towards, and superiority over other congregations in their town. I don't know if this made a difference, but I don't reject it as being over the top either.

A friend of ours said to us recently, "So, you're Pentecostals now, are you?" No, I'm not. With my denominational background, if I was a dog, I would be a mongrel with no breeding pedigree whatsoever. However, they do say that mongrels are more intelligent, and don't suffer from the health risks such as poor vision, or even blindness to which their more thoroughbred cousins are prone.

When I occasionally visited a lively church in my student days and some of them realised I was part of a URC, they tried to convert me. When we joined a New Frontiers Church and mentioned our Pioneer roots, there was some points scoring to try to correct our poor theology.

Names are meant to be labels that express something of what we stand for. However, what they are not meant to be is a constriction which prevents you from becoming all that God wants you to become. I once heard it said that the names of many denominations identified not just what God did in their generation, but also where their revelation stopped.

Don't let your name hold you back!

Got very wet today...

Totally blown away today. One of my students, who belongs to our church, was getting baptised this evening, and asked me if I would take part. I hope that this will be the first of many, but it is at least the first... Well, the second I suppose, as I also baptised our eldest, who is also a student at the college, but I'm not his teacher, even though he keeps calling me "Sir!"

Homophobic? My A*se!

One of the most frequent criticisms in the press of the church is that it is homophobic. I must admit that I know very few homosexuals, none with whom I would initiate a conversation with about their sexuality.

However, I know a lot of homophobes, and they are almost exclusively not Christians. Yes, there are those in the church who are willing (and ready) to cast the first stone in judgement, but they are normally small-minded people who are judgemental about just about everything!

Christians and churches have at times been very harsh in the words spoken about homosexuality, whilst being soft on more "respectable" (but from a biblical perspective, equally unacceptable) practices. Consequently, the gay movement can understandably feel singled out for unfair treatment by the church. I recently heard a story about a church elder who was challenged about the way he had effectively ripped off a fellow Christian in a business deal, and refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing with the comment, "business is business." The person concerned was allowed to carry on in leadership, even though he had shown contempt for the livelihood of the person he had profited from.

What is often conveniently overlooked is that since the AIDS epidemic became global news in the mid 1980's, the two biggest sources of funding for care have been the government and the church: in fact, in Africa, over 70% of the care provided is administered by Christian organisations. Delirious, who come from the Evangelical, Charismatic wing of the church, are a rock band who plough a significant amount of their hard-earned cash into Hope HIV, providing care for ophans and those who are dying from the effects of the disease.

I appreciate the fact that although in the western world, homosexual activity is the predominant way in which the HIV virus is passed on, it is not the only way. In some African countries, promiscuous heterosexuals are equally high risk, as are their children, to the extent that one country now has a life expectancy of just 33. This tragic waste of human life is robbing communities and some whole countries of their future, but to suggest that the church is homophobic is insulting.

Who on Earth do you think you are?

I recently read an article in a Christian magazine, where a well-known church leader was presenting a scenario where a visitor, "had a word," for him, essentially bringing a rebuke to him. His reaction, whilst qualifying the person as being perhaps not someone who is sending out the best signals to gain credibility, also revealed an attitude of, "I'm in charge here. Who do you think you are to bring a rebuke to me? That's my job! Sit down in the congregation for the next ten years and maybe I'll listen to you then."

Whilst all of the leaders and leadership teams I have encountered have had their faults, weaknesses and areas of vulnerability, despite this, most of them have managed, having been given my initial respect, to earn the right to keep it. (There's a hidden message there about good attitudes towards leadership). However, one of the most common reasons I have observed for people leaving a church has been that of control: gifted people or strong personalities but with weak character, insecure leaders who are afraid that others might outshine them, people operating beyond their level of gifting. Each of these groups, and probably others, can tend to either dominate or manipulate to maintain a controlling influence.

It is sad that there are levels of humility exercised in the world that at times outshine the church: here are two. I remember reading an interview with Robert Plant. In it, the interviewer recalled him meeting Rick Astley, who had then been the flavour of the month pop star. Plant had asked Astley if they could have their picture taken together, saying, "my kids have never even heard of Led Zeppelin, but if they knew I had met Rick Astley, they would be really impressed!"

Secondly, in an interview after he had retired from politics, Michael Heseltine was asked what sort of prime minister he thought he would have been remembered as, had he beaten John Major after ousting Mrs. Thatcher in 1990. He replied that he thought he would have been a disappointment, because he would have made mistakes, and let people down. I was impressed by the modesty of both these men, who in their own fields had been remarkably successful.

As Christians, we ought to be the ones setting the example to others, and so often we all fail to deliver. Still, most of my heroes and role models are Christians: my old youth leaders, those who taught me the basics in the early days of my faith, the main leader of the only genuine community church I have been part of. Despite the mistakes they have all made, these contemporary ones remain my heroes, people to learn from and to imitate. If I could have half as much influence through people learning from me as I have learned from those who have gone before me, I will have done well!

Integrity is more than not doing wrong things....

I remember when one of our children had their first birthday or Christmas, and the wrapping paper had a greater attraction than the presents. Having no understanding of what was taking place meant that whichever child it was did not appreciate the gift, and concentrated on something which had a purpose, which was to decorate and protect the gift until the time of giving, then it was meant to be thrown away.

The church I referred to in the previous post, "Being the Best," had a strong emphasis on servanthood, where there was an expectation that serving one another in a variety of ways was the norm: there were frequent occasions when people would help others out in extravagent and sacrificial ways. Having spent my early years as a Christian in churches where I was well-taught the doctrines of the faith, it was a new and refreshing experience to be part of a group where we learned not just the right things to believe, but also how to live for one another.

Some of the experiences I have had, both then and since, highlight the need to take seriously the, "one anothering," verses in the Bible. Some time ago, I was part of a small group which met together on a regular basis. On one occasion which we missed, the group re-enacted the time when Jesus took on the job of the lowliest servant in the house by washing his disciples' feet. By all accounts, it was a very moving experience for everyone present, that was talked about for some time afterwards.

Very soon after that, a member of the church asked some people in the group to give up some time to help them with a job that needed doing, and a few said that they would. However, when the day arrived, not one of them turned up. The people who only a few days earlier were having a spiritual experience mimicking Jesus serving the disciples, when a real opportunity to serve came up, they were nowhere to be found.

When the true gift of servanthood, which reaps a heavenly reward was presented to them as an opportunity, they discarded the gift and amused themselves by playing with the wrapping paper. If ever you get a craving for doing someone a service, I have plenty of jobs that need doing around the house that I could have a go at, given some assistance. Just don't offer to wash my feet: I can do that myself!

Being the Best?

I used to work for Marks and Spencer, whose Mission Statement at one time was something like, "Making the Best Even Better." They then were, very good at what they did, and as a former employee I'm pleased that they seem to be over the low patch they went through.

Some years ago, I was part of an outstanding church (pictured) that, like M&S, had hit a bad patch and was re-building and re-discovering its purpose. For a season, it felt like we were fighting back to back for our very survival, let alone trying to advance the kingdom, and some of the strongest friendships we have ever forged were made in that time, with people who are now scattered all over the country, being salt and light in their communities, and some who are now working abroad.

Every few months or so during this difficult time, we used to have what was called a, "talkback evening," to give members of the church opportunity to hear from the leaders about future plans, and to express their views. As a teacher, I am a professional communicator (and most of the time a pretty good one) who leads a team of sixteen, teaching over two thousand students. By nature, I am both an analyst and a strategist, and as such, I will not dodge an opportunity to ask a challenging question if it is pertinent. I think the leaders used to dread the moment when they asked, "any questions," knowing that I would have some and they wouldn't all be easy to answer... Sometimes I was in my overtly analytical way, unhelpful in that my comments were perceived as being critical, but there was (usually) no wrong intent on my part, and (usually) a gracious response from my leaders, who were on reflection extremely patient with me.

One of the presentations once given to us concerned the emerging vision of the church. There were listed 1-2 year goals, 3-5 year aims, and a 10-15 year vision of where they wanted the church to go to. The free-spirited amongst you are probably already reaching for your demon-slaying devices, but what was contained in the presentation was all good. I am not presenting this as a good, or bad way to move a church forward: it was how it was done by many then and now. The only problem was that, however well-intentioned the goals were, they bore no relation to the aims; the aims themselves were very good, but were completely detached from the stated vision. There was little structure or development in how the church hoped to progress in the next 2, 5 and 10 year time periods.

When someone casts a critical eye over our labours, it is very easy to react in a hostile way. However, just because someone identifies a weakness in what we are doing, it does not mean they have a critical spirit - they may actually have God's wisdom for our situation (unless it's one of my year 11 students telling me my lessons are boring)!

When it comes to church, we have been guilty of having a, "that will do," approach, where we constantly settle for second best. I have lost count of the number of times when I have been in meetings where there have been apologies for the late start becuse the PA team didn't turn up, or the guitar player had borrowed all the church's leads for his band and was now on holiday, or the OHP was broken, or they'd run out of milk for the coffee...

I know it's not how slick our meetings are that will save people, but how sloppy they are may be the reason why some don't come back. However, sometimes, despite our disorganised efforts, people's lives will be changed. A friend of mine was invited to a church, and only went because he was asked to have a look at the PA system. He was bored by the talk, embarrassed by the worship, yet became a Christian because of the passion of an old man's prayer of thanks to God for His love. We still need to aim to be the best we can be, without making excellence into an idol that strangles freedom.

What's up with so many Churches?

I've been a Christian for 26 of my 45 years, and I've been in quite a few churches in my time. I started going to a United Reformed Church when I was 15, because I liked a girl who went to the youth club, and you could only go to the youth club if you went to the church. (The relationship didn't last - at that time I was far too shallow and she was much too nice). I became a Sunday School Teacher, then a church member, but didn't have a faith of my own until four years later.

I wanted to take my faith seriously, and get baptised, but as I had been Christened as a baby, this was a problem for the minister, which resulted in me moving to the local ex-Brethren evangelical church. Student years, teacher training and jobs in different parts of the country followed, together with churches switching allegiance between networks mean I've also been in FIEC that became part of the new church movement, Baptist, Pioneer, New Frontiers and now AOG Pentecostal. The last move is the only time we have church hopped in the same area.

I must admit to being no great lover of most old hymns or liturgy, but at least the established church has the integrity to write their liturgy down: many charismatic churches can be even more predictable than their traditional counterparts. I have met many wonderful, devout people in every fellowship, and also the bizarre element, though these have mainly been in the new church networks.

The problem with some of them is that they think that they have the best way of "doing" church, for want of a (much) better expression. I have sat in meetings where the speaker has rubbished the efforts of others to bring the hope that is found in Jesus to their community, for no better reasons than the style of worship, their views on women in leadership, or their method of praying. I even heard someone once explain that although his church were aware of other Christians who met in their area, "they were building God's Kingdom as if they were the only church in that place." So much for unity, then...

My brother-in-law and his wife live in a small town in the Midlands, and used to attend a large evangelical church in a nearby town. A couple of years ago, they decided they would be better off, and more importantly, serve their local community better, by joining the local Anglican church. Although the Pentecostal and New Church Movements have done so much to change the public face of the church in the recent past, when the established church gets its act together, at times they leave those of us who call ourselves "radicals" standing!

Our own experience in the past twelve months has been so rewarding: after sixteen years of marriage, we finally ended up with our church, our home and our work all in the same town. When we moved to Devon, we had the viewpoint that it would be for the long haul, to see a transformation in the community, and after five years, we have made slow progress. However, we have made some, and so long as we keep the mentality of "here today, here tomorrow," I believe our determination will one day pay dividends.

Funny Experiences in Church Meetings

I would have laughed: a dear old man at a church I belonged to a few years back took hold of the communion loaf, wanting to lead the people in a reverent moment when we remembered Jesus' death on the cross.

Just as he was about to tear the loaf in two, his mind slipped a gear. The only words that came out in the solemnity of the occasion were, "Jesus said, 'take up your bread and walk'."

Another time, on Remembrance Sunday, as a mark of respect for the views of some of those who had lived in the war, we were told that we would be singing a hymn at the start of the meeting before moving into the more modern style worship songs later. The congregation appeared happy to go along with this, until the hymn was introduced by the enthusiastic but ignorant worship leader.

For the benefit of anyone who is faced with a similar situation in times to come, my advice would be that if you pick the song "Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken," don't sing it to the tune of the German National Anthem.

In bringing a quiet, reflective time of worship to an abrupt end, a voice boomed, "This is the Lord your God. I want to remind you of the words I spoke to you at last year's Bible week.... er, or was it the year before....?

It's one thing to have a divinely inspired word of encouragement, direction, or correction. It's quite another to speak it out in the 1st person as if God's own voice was being heard through your own vocal chords, but having been to so many Bible weeks recently, He could not remember which one it was.

For those of you who are teaching friends without a church background, at times Christians believe they have divinely inspired wisdom that will speak into someone else's life: sometimes it can be a life-changing experience for those on the receiving end of such wisdom, at other times, as with this post, definitely not. Some time ago, I heard this story. In a church meeting, "a word" was brought by a member of the congregation that went like this.

"I believe that the Lord has given me a word for the church in the form of a picture. In this picture, people from the church are in a boat, rowing across a lake, trying to get to the other side. However, the boat is taking in water. Some are trying to bail the water out, others are desparately trying to get to the other side before the boat sinks, but they are fighting a losing battle, and the boat is getting lower in the water. I believe that God is speaking to us through this picture about relationships in the church, and if they are not put right, the boat will sink."

"Therefore, I believe that God is telling us all to go home tonight, and examine ourselves, to see whether or not we have a hole in our bottom."

The preacher was passionately preaching about the work of Jesus in dying on the cross. He alluded to His great power, that if he wanted to, He had the power to end it at any time, and come down from the cross. If He wanted to, at any moment, He could call upon a horde of Asians (I think he meant Angels) to come and rescue Him.