The cross in Beruit

Watching a BBC news story, I found myself moved by how at one point the cameraman chose to zoom in on a church building in the middle of the bombed capital city of Beirut. The cross is always best seen when it is at the centre of human suffering. It cannot stand on the edge, nor can it take sides. In this shot, I see how the cross stands high above all brokenness as a symbol to declare peace and offer reconciliation.

Its shape points the way, upwards and outwards, with one overwhelmingly simple message: “Jesus loves you, Beirut… Jesus loves you, Jerusalem… Jesus loves you, Gaza…”

I can understand how this sounds simplistic, but then I suspect the same was said in Jesus’ day under Roman occupation when he said, “Love God…and love your neighbour as yourself”. The cross that I kneel at can be never be requisitioned to occupy the moral high ground, it can only ever be “a light on a hill”.

So as I see this simple church cross over the embattled city, I feel the need to stop, to clasp my hands tight, tight enough to slow the flow of blood in my fingers and pray, “No more, Lord, no more! Stop the violence and bring your healing.”

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c8j7134jjj0o

No time like the present

Been reflecting on how much our social need for speed gives meaning to all our other actions, including prayer. And it isn’t pretty.

Tech companies like Google Maps know this well. It is why it will send me on a non-scenic route because its algorithms say I am not interested in an enjoyable scenic journey only time saved. So, are they right or wrong?

It might surprise you that Starbucks has adopted another view. Although their coffee machines can quickly knock out drinks, they’ve discovered customers want a handmade personalised ‘barista’ experience. So, they have slowed down their service to just two cups at a time. It also makes the price feel more reasonable!

Now I am not sure that would work for McDonald’s but there is a clear problem and that is we don’t want to see it as a problem. Not least tech businesses that trade on speed. Meanwhile, we are tricked into thinking that any time wasted is a life wasted. It is all about one thought: making you think you are worth more by doing more.  

So I am trying to figure this all out in context with Paul's words: “Creation waits in eager anticipation…For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all” (Rom 8:18 & 24).

And here lies the problem for me: patience really isn’t seen as much of a virtue at all even though it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. As James K. A Smith puts it, we “will always sit somewhat uneasy in the present, haunted by the brokenness of the ‘now’” meaning in short, we will want to be anywhere but here because ‘here’ is imperfect.

Our spiritual journey can want to comply with the same social need for speed. It is why if we are not careful, we will only fuel our faith with social media quotes and soundbite sermon reels.

 It’s why we get frustrated with slow answers to short prayers. When speed is our need more than time with Jesus it will do that to you.

But what are we rushing towards to do? What’s so important that we can’t go slow and take the scenic route? Because here’s the thing: one day we will realise there are more years behind us than in front of us. Only then will we wish we found ways to throw on the brakes and slow the journey, to be present and enjoy God in the smallest, most ordinary things gifted around us.

I mean, do we really want ‘Chronos’, the god of time, ruling our spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being? To stop the tyranny of a speeded-up life we are going to have to deal with the root cause of our impatience. Hans Urs von Balthasar goes so far as to call it “sin”. He says, “Patience [is] the main constituent of Christianity…the power to wait, to persevere, to hold out, to endure to the end, not to transcend one’s own limitations, not to force issues by playing the hero or the titan, but to practise the virtue that lies beyond heroism, the meekness of the lamb which is led.”

Patience for me is learned best when seeing life through the in-between moments of the day: the pauses, interruptions, commas, and full stops.  It is having space to acknowledge what has been done for me, how I have been made, and not what I can solely achieve for myself given more time.

Slowing down and learning patience will also in some cases save us–quite literally! When you get in a car you will see a speedometer on your dashboard, but if you were to add an odometer that measures the speed you need to travel to go say 10 miles, you would notice you will get there twice as quickly just pushing your pedal down a bit and going from 10 mph to 20 mph. But when you drive at 70 mph and you realise you are going to be late, moving up to 80 mph will only shave a minute or two of your time, making it a pointless and dangerous action.

It’s why doing daily devotions such as the Lectio 365 app is a lesson as much in patience as anything else. It is 10 minutes where we are encouraged to go slow to go deeper. It also won’t have that Playback Speed function you find on YouTube–just in case you are wondering!

Our assurance of future hope is found in Jesus breaking into the present human constraints of time and progress and eliminating our hurry. It means we will all make it home in good time.

‘Cellar experience’

C. S. Lewis said that for him, “Nothing was any good until it had been down in the cellar for a while.”

In my last house, I was fortunate to have a cellar. Natural light was limited which meant at times if I spent too much time down there I began to feel more Hobbit than human. Yet it was not where I stored my wine but my study, my prayer space, and, at times, my ‘shouting at the world’ place. It was where I met with God but equally where I sat alone feeling an abject failure and fraud.

I have struggled with advice that in reality only points back to the person giving it. Hearing about their ability to “climb the stairs” due to their many years of achievements can end up being quite discouraging.

A better relationship will come from others' “cellar experiences”, the ones that share flaws, failures, and faith crises. The ones that will act as a pathway to lead another into a place of peace, patience, and a greater understanding of themselves and God.

In Luke's gospel the people “were amazed” at Jesus’ teaching because his words carried authority (Lk 4:32). His authority held people’s attention because it came with a deep understanding of his sense of being and bearing. It allowed him to be heard and to empathise with others.

When we have spent time “in the cellar” we will offer self-confidence, grounding, and validation to those around us. You can only lead others as far as you have gone. This is what will mature us.

Loaves and fishes

When faced with an empty page, I feel more intimidation than inspiration. I can sit down at my desk and wonder if I have anything worthwhile to say. But then I am surprised by what comes out of my keyboard and feel I have too much to say!

So a big shout out this weekend to all those pastors, vicars, elders who are polishing their talks and wearing out the knees of their jeans to bring a talk on Sunday. For them it will always feel like sharing their loaves and fishes.

Prayer

"Pray. So much wisdom in that one word." – Ayann Hirsi Ali

Been profoundly moved by these words of Ayaan Hirsi Ali speaking at a recent open conversation with Richard Dawkins.

The now former leading light in New Atheism, says ultimately, giving prayer a go was the one thing able to shift her from her long-held career-making philosophical position.

For many years, the Somalian-born intellectual, along with Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris had mocked Christians for their 'simple beliefs'. But to believe in nothing was no longer working for her. Nothing was not enough. Something was needed.

Out of desperation, she discovered prayer began to make sense of everything. It also revealed Jesus to her. An extraordinary testimony. At so many levels.

"Everyone wants a revolution. No one wants, to do the dishes.”

I am so looking forward to getting together with a bunch of happy campers at Wildfires in August. It will be pure joy. Quite literally.

I am told celebrations hold a medley of three chemical triggers: endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin. And that’s before even the Holy Spirit turns up!

It is why we will go home at the end feeling tired, wired and fired. However, most of the big changes in our lives won’t happen at Wildfires - not that it should stop you coming - but in the small, repetitious moments of a normal day. And here lies the common problem: we always want to seek out excitement over the dull repetitious moments of our daily lives.

Tim Elmore says that thanks to the digital treadmill, the world has become addicted to “speed, convenience, entertainment, nurture, and entitlement”. That means anything that looks slow, hard or boring is instantly dismissed.

We want a reason to overthrow anything that looks to have no meaningful value to us but I love what Tish Harrison Warren has to say: “The crucible of our formation is in the anonymous monotony of our daily routines.” It is the anecdote to our obsession with needing constant stimulation which will only empty us out to leave us unable to enjoy and appreciate the smallest things.

Perhaps this is why Jesus in his sermon on the mount chose to signpost those looking for big answers to the smallest wonders of nature (Mat 6:26).

Now I long for God to “make all things new” and I am contending for the next awakening, but I can see how he likes to use the ordinary moments of each day. It is with each new morning that Jesus will bring about his revolution of love for a broken world. And by “ordinary moments” I am talking about daily spiritual disciplines.

It’s by doing the dishes, emptying the bins, reading scripture, and spending time in silent prayer. It is choosing stillness over stimulation. All this will build a steady resistance to the fear of boredom and the ordinary. That means we don’t need to wait for Wildfires or any other event this summer. And as struggle with patience, I can’t begin to tell you how grateful I am! Happy camping!

*Kitchen sign cited by Tish Harrison Warren (Liturgy of the Ordinary, IVP, p.35.)

How do you pray for a broken nation?

After a week of riots, I am desperate to see the peace of God reign in our broken country. I recognise though it has just made it a little bit harder to “love our neighbours as ourselves”. So wondering if this could help our prayers. Isaiah’s words have never sounded more pertinent: “They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks” (Isa 2:4).

In my mother’s house, there is a vase with some beautiful flowers by the fireplace. Looking closer you will see it was not made for beauty but for battle – it is a First World War shell casing. After the Great War this ‘sword’ was intentionally transformed from a tool of destruction into a symbol of peace. Another example of a ploughshare programme was the dismantling of nuclear weapons after the Cold War in 1991 which were broken up and used for parts to build nuclear power stations.

However, swords are now being made again. We see shop-sold drones converted to carry explosives, service vehicles turned into mobile rocket launchers and house bricks used as missiles against police. All ideologies, whether they are political, social, epistemological, or ethical present a version of reality that can look reasonable, regardless of whether them having any factual basis or not. They're ‘words’ with a silent ’s’ at the beginning of them.

Paul the Apostle says, “Do not conform to the pattern (ideologies) of the world. but be transformed by the renewing of the mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Rom 12:20). He knew how easily the mind can quickly be deceived and how we need to rest in the Truth. So I am choosing to pray for more swords to be turned into ploughshares and for the transcending peace of God to “guard [our] hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:7). I pray that no thought of mine is allowed to become weaponised in an argument to threaten another individual just because I feel a discomfort with who they are.

Our battle doesn't start with a battle of ideologies but with an invisible enemy hellbent on our destruction. Pray our minds are freed to freely love others to see God's peace rule in hearts & minds.

How to win a second Sunday

It’s a big thing inviting someone to church, but it’s an even bigger thing getting them to come again. So how do you win a second Sunday—at least until next Christmas? And what stops them from coming again?

I suspect part of the problem is embarrassment.

Years ago I visited Pret a Manger to get lunch. I bought a coffee, a sandwich and an apple and went back to my office only to discover a maggot inside my fruit. I know, gross! I had a dilemma: do I never go back there again or give them a second chance?

Well, such was my hunger, I went back to Pret’s with my apple and maggot intact. I was embarrassed, but the staff totally owned it! The manager not only apologised but gave me a basket telling me to fill it up for free–to the top!

The love didn’t stop there. Three days later I got an email from Pret’s head office saying how deeply sorry they were for my recent experience and attached a £30 gift voucher.

How we welcome people to our church really, really matters. They are not consciously searching for the perfect experience, they are simply hungry and looking for answers, and a place to relate. What’s more, they are often more gracious towards our imperfect churches than we are ourselves, so we need to get over our embarrassment of not always having the perfect talk or worship on tap. Yes, we give our best, but our hospitality is measured in compassion, not in pride. And it’s certainly not a technique for church growth.

Guests may forget what was said, even the bad sermons or odd dodgy apple, but they won’t forget how they are made to feel. This only helps feed their curiosity and make them want to come again–with a little encouragement by the Holy Spirit of course!

‘This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God’ (1 Cor 9:12).

The holy ride of dissatisfaction

This week I got on the subway in New York. I was more than half way to where I was going when a broken-down train in front meant we had to go back three stations. Frustrating!

There is a gap to mind when considering God’s promises and fulfilment, which will need us to be aware of what happens when things don’t always go smoothly in between.

When Emma and I handed over our church I was grateful that Steve, a pastor friend of mine, agreed to walk with me over the next year. Trusted friendships like these are like a fridge filled with your favourite foods. They will keep you going for some time.

‘Call’ always seems to start with restlessness in the spirit, but I should also add another thing: dissatisfaction. Restlessness and dissatisfaction are both unlikely but necessary travelling companions in any transition. They nudge us to move on to the next thing.

Before lives can be redirectioned or renewed there appears to be a need to go on a holy ride of discontentment. But I have noticed too it is always proportional to the promises of God.

We start our journey with a headful of ideas and a handful of opportunities, but we will always need to watch our posture as we can easily become emptied of the transcendent and see it reduce our vision for life. Left unattended, our motivation can change from doing the will of God but to simply getting the hell out of where we are!

Good transitions will leave us feeling satisfied, renewed, and expectant. Bad transitions will see us turn to the bad medicine of ‘just get through this and I will be fine’. Not a great way to repair the soul!

So we are left musing good dissatisfaction versus bad dissatisfaction. Mark Sayers observes, “We cannot escape from the promise that we can have it all. We also cannot escape from the truth that we can’t have it all.”

So how do we keep moving forward? I guess we can try and suppress it and hum loudly, but a better way is to allow ourselves to take the holy ride of dissatisfaction with all its disruptions and frustrations.

Yet, keep in mind always our destination is always faithful and fruitful living in Christ, not earthly goals or success. This is the place where I choose to flourish. This is where the soul finds its satisfaction.

“And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you will be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” — Isaiah 58:11

What empty chairs say

I was at the new second morning service at our church and noticed the place was half empty — it felt amazing!

Now that sounds weird but sociologists say when a room fills up it tells visitors they are not expected or worst still, wanted. And that’s a problem.

A full room may make us feel secure, because numbers give us confidence, but for guests they can be downright scary and intimidating. Ever tried squeezing into a row with a bunch of strangers? Quite.

You see, a vacant chair is full of significance.

You could even say it represents the reason for the church’’s existence. Its emptiness symbolises the hope of a return: a prodigal son or daughter stumbling through snot and tears to find their way back to the Father.

It also stands for loss: all of those ‘missing in action’ where the battle has raged fiercely around them and casualties are high.

But remove the chair - because we find it uncomfortable - and we risk removing our purpose and making church about us.

I have come to see the quiet chair as a powerful reminder to keep a spotlight on the most important people — the ones who are not yet in the room.

Perhaps, then, the service is not so empty after all, but is bursting with hope for the next bunch of people who will pluck up all their courage to come along. It is also how we get to love our neighbour as ourselves.

Maybe next time we find an empty seat next to us, we could even pray over it. One to sit on.

What happens at the door

So super excited to have just joined the welcome team at my church. And here’s why? Research shows that most visitors will have made up their minds in the first two minutes whether they come again or not. So if I can help them, I’m in!

This might be discouraging if you are a pastor and were hoping it would be something in your talk or because you know your worship team are on ‘holy fire’ at the moment! But actually, it is probably the small, almost missed things that will decide whether you win a second Sunday off your visitors or not.

Take ‘hotel doorman’ theory. There is value in having someone stand at the front of a hotel even when the door can be automatically opened. It is the smile, the reassurance, the knowledge of taxis, the umbrella, and the small comments that will make a guest’s stay more memorable.

These are the small, intangible things that are so hard to put a value on but worth everything when visiting a church for the first time.

That’s because we are created to be social animals, and those small human moments of connection are what keep us coming.

John Wimber, founder of the Vineyard Church used to say, “People come to church for many years reasons but stay for only one — relationship.” After 28 years of pastoral experience, I think that is very true.

It takes a lot of guts to turn up to church when you don’t know what you believe and everyone seems to know someone else.

So if I can help bring a smile and ease the tension a little I reckon the sermon has already begun.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident, and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does