Lent, take-aways & the Wing...

So after a day of pancakes yesterday, Lent begins today! That period of 40 days leading up to Easter Sunday where we remember the time that Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights and was tempted by the Devil. We often choose to deny ourselves something during Lent as a way to realise our own weaknesses and grasp the intense significance of the crucifixion. It also gives us a deep and powerful longing for the resurrection and a joy on Easter Sunday.

Easter can often sneak up on us but by observing Lent we take a chance to remember the dark before the dawn, the sin that sent Jesus to the cross. Lent helps us experience our part in the Passion (or suffering) of Jesus. We face our humanity during Lent: we learn that sin still dwells in us, that we still carry darkness. We learn that we, like his disciples, would likely have fallen asleep as Jesus prayed for deliverance in the garden, and, also, that we would likely have denied knowing him as he silently accepted his death sentence.
This Lent I have been challenged (and so have challenged teh young people under my care) to consider denying myself some pleasure as a means to remind me of Christ’s sacrifice and prepare for the celebration of that at Easter. However, as well as NOT doing something, I also feel motivated by the challenge of Christ to DO something or GO someplace this Lent and stretch myself in my SERVICE to Him.

So for Lent i have chosen to give up 2 things i love very much - take-aways & the West Wing! The former will be a challenge to my weekly lazy eating habits and the latter will be incredibly difficult as i have just acquired the entire DVD collection and am currently in the midst of season 2! It was never meant to be easy! I'm just wondering has anyone else out there given up anything for Lent this year?

Harvest Thanksgiving...a challenge for all.

It was our Harvest Services today in Waringstown Presbyterian which is always one of my favourite services in the year as we are reminded of God's goodness to us. The sermon this morning was given by a South African minister who is currently ministering in a church in Belfast. He set out to challenge us in the reality that whilst we are very blessed, others in the world are not. I have heard many sermons from people who are very passionate about poverty and injustice in the world but i have never been so challenged as i was this morning.

He shared first hand experience of living in a country were he was privileged to be 'white' whilst his 'black' neighbours lived in poverty. He shared a story of the stark contrast between two sons born around the same time. One was his own son and the other was the child of the gardener he employed. M&S clothing vs 'hand-me-downs', disposable nappies vs linen nappies, private health care vs NO health care, healthy vs HIV, life vs death. All because of the colour of skin. He explained that African funerals are massive occassions for the whole community. At the funeral, everyone attending will say something. They will start with the youngest and finish with the oldest and therefore wisest person there who will be no older than 40. However the funerals of babies and children are much simpler. At the funeral of the gardener's son there were only a few people present and the occassion was much less tragic. Why is this? Simply because there is a much greater expectation that children will die beacuse it happens so regularly. We live in a society were it is a tragedy when a child dies because we believe it is our right to a long and full life. The poor people of South Africa, and many other countries of the world, have never been conscious of this 'right' and so their reality is very different.

With anger in his voice he reminded me that only a few years ago the goverments of the Western world were informed that it would take $300 billion to wipe out world poverty and they concluded that they could not find that amount of money - yet recently, when financial crisis hits the world, the US government seems to have found $700 billion without much difficulty.

He concluded with the following powerful video from The Miniature Earth Project. You may have seen it before but if you haven't, you need to watch it as it cleverly breaks the injustice of the world into figures that are easier to get you head around.

The sense of a goose...

I spoke at our family service on Sunday and shared the following lessons from geese! It was something i stumbled across in my reading but the more i explored geese further the more fascinating it got! Thought i would share it here and widen the blessing!

Lessons From Geese
FACT 1: Do you know why geese fly in a "V" formation? Because the aerodynamics of the "V" formation enable the geese to fly over 70% further than if they fly alone. As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an updraft for the bird behind it.
LESSON 1: Do you see the analogy here? They can go a lot further if they work together and help each other out. What a beautiful picture of the synergy of God’s creation – the sum of the whole being much greater than the sum of the individual parts. Christians who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are travelling on the thrust and uplift of one another. God made us not for independence but for interdependence. That is the means by which his church, the bride will be most effective in the building of His kingdom.

Romans 12:4-6 (Message) In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we're talking about is Christ's body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn't amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ's body, let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren't.

FACT 2: When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.
LESSON 2: If we have as much sense as a goose we stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others. ‘as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn't amount to much, would we?’

FACT 3: When the lead goose tires (he's working the hardest), it rotates back into formation and another goose flies to the lead position.
LESSON 3: It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent on each other's skills, capabilities and unique arrangements of gifts, talents or resources. This reminds me of that OT story of Moses.

Exodus 17:8-13 (New International Version) The Amalekites Defeated 8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands." 10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

Team work is required in the work of God’s Kingdom.

FACT 4: The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.
LESSON 4: We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In groups where there is encouragement, the production is much greater. The power of encouragement (to stand by one's heart or core values and encourage the heart and core of others) is the quality of honking we seek. What do you ‘honk’ from behind?

1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 (The Message) 9-11God didn't set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we're awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we're alive with him! So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you'll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you're already doing this; just keep on doing it.

Sadly we live in a culture that thrives on ‘put downs’. I see this a lot when working with groups of young people where the words used are always negative and nick-names are often hurtful. In such an environment it is unheard off to hear a young person praising another, congratulating them or saying ‘you are really good at that.’ What do your words do? Do they build others up? Or do they destroy and cause division?

FACT 5: When a goose gets sick, wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it to help and protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. Then, they launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock.
LESSON 5: If we have as much sense as geese, we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong. If people knew we would stand by them like that in the church, they would push down the walls to get in.

Romans 12:9-13 (The Message) 9-10Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. 11-13Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

Are you someone who is willing to come alongside others in their time of difficulty? Are you someone who is honest enough to share your struggles and allow others to carry you for a while through the troubles of life? That is a picture of community within the Kingdom of God that we are all a vital part of.

You see God himself is community, Father, Son and Holy Spirit and so he created us to live in community. That is why God said it wasn’t good for man to be alone, and created Eve. Philip Yancey provides a useful illustration of this. How do I know when I place my hand on a hob it is hot? God created us with built in safety mechanisms to protect us from harm. Yancey then turns to think about loneliness and describes it as God’s indicator to drive us toward relationships.

Jesus was not a lone ranger in his time on earth. He had the disciples around him, crowds followed him, people who ministered to his needs. He also drew aside to take time with His Father. Jesus thought community was important. Jesus died for community when he died for the world. Indeed what we experience now in this community is only a foretaste and shadow of what God is doing in the world. It all began with God in perfect community with man and will finish one day in heaven in perfect communion with God if you have given your life to Christ.

So don’t search for community in the mason’s or the golf club. Come to the one who is community and created that desire within each of us. Come to Christ and join in the Kingdom work he is doing right here in the community of the local church.

Taking a walk...

I've been in this role now for 5 weeks and it has struck me recently that I have a spiritual responsibility for the young people i am engaging with. Whilst i felt a responsibility for the young people in my previous job, because they mostly did not have a faith, i guess i was often more concerned for their physical and emotional well-being than their spirituality. However, with this post I am working with a solid group of about 40 young people who are already on that spiritual journey and i am seeking to fulfill the role of a spiritual leader for them! This scares me somewhat! Part of me feels completely inadequate but i think God likes using people like that! Anyway, basically i've decided that i need to build spiritual disciplines into my week to allow me the time and space to connect with God and pray, listen and reflect.

So i headed down to Oxford Island yesterday morning for a bit of a walk with God. Brought my camera with me so hope you like the pics. If you've never been there before its a beautiful place to walk (apart from the swarms of flies that is!) and really quiet and peaceful. I spent about 2 hours walking, sitting, praying, thinking and writing. It was a beautiful sunny morning too which i guess helped! I'm gonna try to make this a weekly Wednesday morning thing for me so I've blocked it into my diary already!

Anyway, i was praying for a friend of mine and thanking God for how compassionate she is. She is one of those people who's compassion immediately moves her to action. I wish i was like that but somehow i seem to be able to ignore God's compassion when it touches or challenges me. I avoid action by thinking of what it will cost me in terms of time, money, emotion... and at the end of the day will my action really make much difference in this screwed up world??? So by this stage the moment has passed and i can move on. It makes me feel really guilty to say this but often it's reality for me. I long for God's compassion to mobilise me to make a difference, no matter how small or insignificant it might appear in the grand scale of a messed up world. What stops me is entirely my own selfishness. I thank God that He is patient with me and He is not finished with me yet!

Quote...music & dancing...women & hope!

So i read this quote the other day. It was posted within a friends blog and i just thought it was fantastic!

"hope is the ability to hear the music of the future; faith is having the courage to dance to it today." Peter Kuzmic

I guess it's the metaphor of music and dancing that really grabs me. I think it paints a bit of a mental picture that seems to bring the words Faith and Hope alive - i like that! It's kinda funny cos I had a recent conversation with a friend and of course we got talking about the lack of women in our lives! Anyway, the conclusion we reached was 'oh there's nothing worse than hope!' It was funny and kinda became a bit of a standing joke!

On the contrary, where would we be without hope? Hope in Jesus, hope in eternity, hope in heaven, hope in the plans God has for us, plans to give us a future and a hope! Hope that God has started a work in us that He will complete, hope that God will hear our prayers and be moved into action. Now, there is something to dance about...