Tuesday 1st April

Im watching something called Raiders of the Lost Past.   Unsurprisingly its about treasure hunters.  This particular episode is about a man who spent a considerable part of his life looking for a lost Spanish galleon which sank in 1622, nobody was quite sure where.

With just a story to go on and a desire to find something important Mel Fisher invented some sort of underwater detection device, packed in his whole life and spent more than a year scouring the seabed without finding so much as a nail.   Undeterred he then asked a friend to go searching through Spanish maritime archives looking for clues.  Which they eventually found and which helped them pinpoint the right spot in the sea.   By the time he had found what he thought was the missing ship he had run out of money to actually excavate it!

I suppose that if someone were to tell you that there was a million pounds worth of gold buried somewhere within a five mile radius of your house, you would put in some effort to find it.   You would not give up if you hit rock after rock - not if you had an assurance that the treasure was really there.  You wouldnt give up after a week of searching.  Or after a month.  You would spend some money and invest in equipment and the right kit so that you could do the job properly.  Because you would reckon that the end goal would outweigh any time and effort and expense you had to put into finding that treasure.   You might give up your job and go at it full time.  You might enlist your family and friends and promise them a cut of the spoils.  Because lets face it, a million pounds is a life changing amount.

Jesus likens the gospel to treasure.  Matthew 13 : 44
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls,  who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.  

I think we tend to read those verses and think that they apply to the process of becoming a christian.  Surrender all to Jesus and hand over your life and BINGO! you have got the reward.   But Im not so sure thats the full story.   The kingdom of heaven is about making Jesus king in the here and now.  And that is an ongoing process isnt it?  Making Him king of our finances and King of our relationships, our parenting, our eating, our driving, our decision making, our humour, our sleeping and our internet habits :-)   We sell all we have and we buy a field in which we already know some treasure is buried.   We have found a piece of the treasure.  Arent we going to dig the whole field now to make sure there isnt any more??  Just owning the field isnt really all that exciting is is?   Actually handling the treasure - now that's the buzz!   Digging for truth and understanding.  Searching out revelation and getting our hands dirty in the life lessons which form Godly character in us.  Unearthing Godly principles and finding the nuggets of truth which sustain us in difficult times.  Owning the field is not enough.  We need to dig and keep digging.

The treasure hunter on the television spent 16 years diving the seas determined to find all the treasure he believed was there.  He didnt give up.  Even when disaster struck.  When the money ran out.  When the storm hit and people died.  And then one day he found it!  And it was all worthwhile.  He said ' I just wanted to shout out to the whole world what Id just found!'   Just like we do every time we have another revelation of the treasures of God.

One day we too will see all the wonders God has got for us in their magnificent glory.  We shall be ushered into His presence on streets of gold through gates of pearl and bow before the emerald rainbowed throne.  Before that day we can choose to own a field.  Or we can choose to dig for treasure.  
Im off to get my wellies  :-)

Monday 31st March

I got told off the other day.  By someone I respect and like and whos opinion I value.  They had seen a facebook post I had copied from somewhere which contained a swear word in the title.  So they messaged me to let me know they were disappointed with me.

Nobody likes to be told off.  And I have to confess my immediate reaction was to justify myself - even though I knew fine well that there was no justification really.  She was right, I was wrong.  I should have removed the offending word.  It probably wouldnt have taken any effort at all.  Truth is I couldnt be bothered and I didnt think anyone would notice or mind.  But someone did both notice and mind.   I dont think she was particularly shocked by the word - lets face it we all hear the words all the time all over the place. What she minded I think was that I was not behaving ' up to standard'.  I was ' letting the side down' by associating myself with something coarse and vulgar.

I knew all of this but it still took me a full 24 hours before I was able to stop justifying my actions to myself and just admit that I had made an error of judgement.  And remove the offending post.  And then go back and thank her for calling me out on it.

Being a Christian isnt about being comfortable.  Its about being accountable and Christlike.  Its impossible to become Christlike without people round us who will be tough on us when we fall short.  Who will tell us the truth when everyone else is fudging the issue.  Who will argue with us when they sincerely believe we are wrong.  I deeply respect people who will take me on and stare me down because they genuinely want me to be the best person I can be.  The world excels at compromise and lukewarm and shoddy unrighteousness.  I want to be better than that.

sunday 30th March

Im writing today's blog sitting in the waiting area at The Sick Kids Hospital Belfast one hour into a three hour wait to be seen.  The place is packed with parents and kids, most of whom look bored but OK. And Im thinking that church is probably missing a trick here somehow.  We could be in every A& E department up and down the land handing out free tea and coffee.  Or in every sick kids waiting area doing a story time for kids or bringing playdough and Lego.  Or something.  Talk about a captive audience of needy people with nothing else to do!!!
Im here cos Josh ( middle son) has been vomiting for two weeks solid.  The anti sickness pills the doctor gave him have come straight back up along with everything else he has eaten in the past fortnight so, despite his anxiety and loud protests, we are in the hospital waiting to see what they say.  We are very fortunate really.  With three boisterous boys we have managed to get away with relatively few trips to A&E.   One broken bone per child.  A rather scary case of bronchialitis when Josh was only 3 weeks old.  Apart from that we really havent had much cause to be in a hospital.   But boy are we glad thay are here when we do need them.

So today I am minded to be particularly thankful for our Health Service and all those wonderful people who work in it.  From the porters and drivers and cleaners to the nurses and orderlies and surgeons.  The receptionists and cooks and administrators.  They are all wonderful and Im so thankful for them

The other day on Desert Island Discs the castaway was the lady doctor who in the Ethiopian famine of 1984 ( Live Aid) had the soul destroying job of labeling the thousands of starving and dying people in the refugee camps.  Labeling them ' Treat' and Do Not Treat'   - in other words,  ' Live' or 'Die' .  There were not enough supplies to go round.  Rehydration salts and simple feeding solutions which could save lives. So she had the job of deciding who got them and who didnt knowing full well that those who didnt would die.  How horrendous.  Yet I suppose being able to save some was better than not being able to save any
There is so much inequality in the world and we take our more-than-fair-share for granted.  We get grumpy at waiting times and prescription charges and ward closures when in many parts of the world people are dying of malnutrition and preventable diseases.  We should be very thankful for what we have

So today I am praying for doctors, nurses, denitsts and everyone who works in the health services.  Lord, bless the work of their hands, give them strength and patience and skill.  Thank You for all the innovation and technology and skill which keeps us healthy and heals us when we are not.   I pray for breakthroughs in understanding those diseases which still defeat us and success in the treatments already in development.  I pray that you will speak to those of us in the developed world who contribute to our own health problems by the unhealthy lifestyles we live and grant grace to those working in the developing world as they battle the ravages of poverty.  Amen.

Saturday 29th March

Yesterday was a grumpy day.  It started with being woken up far too early and got worse as the day went on.  Just the little irritations of daily life which some days get the better of you.  Despite your best intentions you end up throwing tantrums or being unreasonable with people or just feeling tired and tense and miserable...... you know those days.  You have them too right?  :-)

Ive got sick kids, the house is a tip, the schedule has gone to pot and people are being annoying.  Hey ho.  Such is life sometimes.  I bet Jesus had days like that too.

We tend to think of Jesus as meek and mild and always kind and smiling and patting young children on the head.  Healing the sick and talking wisdom and even when in dispute with the Pharasees and religious leaders always keeping His cool.   But of course it wasnt like that.  Because Jesus was a man just like we are.  He got tired.  He got upset .  He definitely got angry.
I love reading the account of Jesus in the temple
13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”  John 2

Somehow I am strangely comforted by the thought that Jesus got so mad.  He was, of course, angry for all the right reasons.  He was angry at the injustice He saw which prevented the poor from coming into the temple.  He was angry at the corruption of God's house and the hypocrisy of the system.   But nevertheless, He decided to show His anger in no uncertain terms.  He didnt call a meeting and preach a new way to the temple traders.  He didnt pray for them to have a change of heart.  He made a whip.
Thats pretty angry.  And its really quite scary.  It is intentional and violent - one has to assume that having gone to the trouble of making a whip out of cords He then proceeded to use it.  On people.
He kicked over tables.  He made a scene.  There was noise and shouting and animals careening about all over the place.  Jesus was yelling at people to get out of the temple courtyard and He was chasing them out with His homemade whip.  Im pretty sure nothing this extraordinary had happened in the temple precinct for generations.  This was on outrage most certainly worthy of the local, if not the national news.

We so often feel bad for feeling angry.  We focus on the whole forgiveness, tolerance, love your neighbour thing.  But actually its probably OK to feel angry - especially if you are angry about the things which make God angry.  And its probably OK to express that anger too.  I wonder if Jesus sought out the people He whipped that day and apologised to them and asked forgiveness....   maybe He did. But I doubt it.   People have used this Bible story in recent days in relation to the bankers bonus crisis and the banking crash etc.  Saying that God still wants to take a whip to the moneylenders.  But I think that misses the point.  Jesus was angry not primarily about the financial aspects of what was going on, but by the fact that people were being prevented from coming to God because they ' couldnt afford to'.  Thats what made Him seethe.   And He is still angry about that today.  If we ever put up barriers which prevent people free access to God we should expect to know the wrath of Jesus and feel that whip.  

Of course today I wasnt angry in any righteous sense.  I was just in a bad mood :-)  I was snappy with the kids and there was no excuse.  But at least I console myself with the fact that Jesus understands what its like to feel cross.  And His mercies are new every morning.

Friday 28th March

I realised yesterday that I have over fifty people on my Facebook friends list who are church friends from my Edinburgh days.  I left Edinburgh 14 years ago.  So thats not bad is it?  To still be in touch with fifty people many of whom I havent seen for a very long time and with whom the sole bond and connection was time spent together in church.

They were formative years for me those ECF ( Edinburgh City Fellowship) days.  I arrived as a 23 year old student and left as a 34 year old Social Worker.  I arrived as an enthusiastic but rather wild christian and left with really solid foundations of great Biblical teaching, discipleship, pastoral input and training in the prophetic.   Of course like many who leave ' home' you dont really appreciate what you have had until you dont have it any more!  I think I just assumed that all churches would be like ECF and I would make friends in other places like the ones I made there.   But of course that didnt turn out to be the case.

The people in ECF were with me through the best and worst years of my life.  They were with me as I graduated and found my first job ( in fact my first job was working for the church so they employed me and paid me for two and a half years!!)  They witnessed me buying my first house - quite a few of them helped me move in and attended parties and came for dinner there.  One in particular shared my home for quite a few years and became my bestest best buddy.   Those people prayed for me every week, housegrouped with me, went on mission trips to Poland several times with me.  We attended conferences together and saw God do mighty mighty things.   We were worship team together.  We were drama team together.  We even danced together :-)   SO many memories - and of course nothing which came after that could ever plumb those depths.  You cant go back to the good old days.  All you can do is build on them

We all have foundations.  There are significant people who God brings into our lives who help to nurture and form us into the people we are destined to become.  They are a huge blessing to us and the hope is that we in turn can be that sort of person in someone elses journey too.   So today let us give thanks for those who have stood with us on the road. Those who prayed for us, listened to us, steered us right and maybe
spoke the truth when we didnt want to hear it. Lets give thanks for the teaching we have had and the love which has kept us sane and safe.  For those to whom we have been able to pour out our hearts safe in the knowledge that we are not judged or condemned.   And lets be thankful for the internet which allows us to track down and keep up with those people years later.

Lord I thank you for all the people who have played a part in making me the person I am today.  I have such a long way to go, but I have also come a very long way and I am deeply thankful.  Your church is indeed a family - a wonderfully rich and diverse one where everyone can find a place and all our gifts and talents can be honed and used.  I pray for those who today are feeling that they dont belong and havent found their place.  Bring them into close fellowship with like minded people who will love and stand with them.  Help us all to be givers as well as takers and to build into the next generation of church so that in days to come people will know we are Christians because of our love for one another and for You   Amen

Thursday 27th March

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. 9"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.… Is 55:8

Yesterday a couple of things happened which made me think of this verse. The first was that a friend got a job.  Which was great for him and not, in itself, terribly remarkable.  Except for the fact that the circumstances in which the job came about were..... well...  let me tell you a story

There were two jobs advertised.  One very near his home and church with seemingly the perfect set up and for which he was exactly qualified.  The other a bit further away, slightly less appealing and possibly more challenging.  So, as they were both being interviewed at the same time he applied for the first one.  Got an interview.  Felt he had done really well at interview.  Didnt get the job - and was seriously disappointed.

Then he discovered that the OTHER job which had interviewed on the same day had not made an appointment and was now readvertising.   So he applied for it.  And got it.  Yesterday.  Hooray!!

My friend had looked at the circumstances and evaluated the possibilities and decided that job A was a dead cert.   God, however, had other plans :-)

Then last night I was out for coffee with Karen.  And amongst other things we started to discuss heaven and hell ( as you do!) and how hard it is to understand why God allows suffering and how a good and loving God who does not want any to perish can condemn people to hell.  You will not be surprised to know that we didnt manage to reach any earth shattering and definitive conclusions in the hour or so we were chatting.  But I did come away from the conversation once again aware that God does not think as we think.  He does not have the same priorities as we do.  Because He is eternal, He does not view our lifespans in the same way that we do.  He sees the whole picture - we only see a miniscule fraction and even then we see it ' through a glass darkly'.

God reminded me of something else this week.  He is in the business of tying up loose ends.

I have often used the analogy of God being a weaver, weaving the different threads of people and circumstances across our lives .  We only see the back of the tapestry - a mass of threads which often seem to make no sense at all.  Its only when the thing is turned over that we see the full picture and can understand what each thread was for and where it fit into the completed scheme.  From the very start of our lives God knows what He is weaving and what our finished picture is going to look like.  He does not leave any loose ends.  He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it !!  Even though we might not understand how He does it or agree with His methods.  Even if it all looks a bit of a shambles and we cant make any sense of what is happening.  The Bible, the Gospels, church history, the testimony of so many people we know and our own history with God show us again and again that there IS a plan and that God is working it out.

So take heart if you cant see the way forward.  Or if your current circumstances dont seem to make much sense or be taking you in the right direction.  If you are submitted to Jesus then He is at work ordering your steps.

Lord I thank you that Your plan is perfect and Your ways are true.  Thank you that You dont think like I do.  Help me to trust You when I just dont understand.  (Which is most of the time!)  Mould my thinking to be more like yours - with an eye on eternity and an understanding of the bigger picture.  Help me to cooperate with the weaving process so that together we produce a part of the divine tapestry which is uniquely and wonderfully the real me.   Amen

Wednesday 26th March

Im not an envious person.  I really dont compare myself with others much and I cant remember the last time I coveted my neighbours donkey.  But something I saw today made me green.  It was this headline in the Belfast Telegraph

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/health/firefly-upsee-lean-on-me-invention-that-lets-disabled-kids-take-their-first-step-30121787.html

I had two reactions when I saw that article.  One was' Oh how fantastic!' and the other which came almost simultaneously was ' How much do I wish that I had thought of that?!!  Its so SIMPLE! Its going to change thousands of lives.  I want to have invented that!!'

Maybe it's just me.... I want to invent things which are going to change the world :-)  And its always the most simple things which are the best isnt it.

 Like this.                              Or this



And did you see the two students who invented the invisible bike helmet?   If you didnt you really must look it up.  Its genius. Considerably more complicated than the concept of the post it note - but solving a problem... which is what all these inventions are about.

God's people have throughout history been at the forefront of invention and problem solving. Unsurprising really given that we are designed to be creative and are motivated by a love for people which desires to see them living to their full potential.  Many many ideas for inventions come to people in dreams.  Go and look it up - it is astonishing.  Here are a few examples :

Einstein had a dream which led him to the theory of relativity
The inventor of the sewing machine had a dream which showed him how to resolve a glitch in the process he was developping
Insulin
an understanding of the structure of molecules
the periodic table
the idea for Google
'Yesterday' The Beatles biggest selling song

Anyone can dream.  In fact we all do!  And God has always spoken to people in dreams - so there is no reason why He could not drop an invention or idea or a song or a new understanding or the solution to a problem into your mind as you sleep.  He might even do it tonight!

Lord,  thank you for inventors.  For people who see a problem and are creative and persistent enough to work out how to solve it.  Thank you that You have the solution to every difficulty and know the answer to every problem.  I pray that the church would once again be at the forefront of innovation and ideas.  That Your people would be the ones seeing the problems, caring about them and finding solutions.  Be it in our own homes, in our churches and communities or further afield in the big wide world.   Waking or sleeping may we be tuned into You .  And when the seed of the idea comes to us give us the courage to run with it and make it happen.