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Musings of a Christian Bloke
Spare a thought
Nov 27th
I can’t tell you how shocked I am at the flooding in the Lake District. Less than a week after enjoying unusually warm, sunny weather, the area was deluged with the heaviest rainfall in 1000 years! Flooding is a peculiar thing because it almost has a novel excitement about it; boats floating along main streets etc. However, the reality is absolutely horrendous for the victims, whose homes and businesses are wrecked to the extent that they will take many months, if not years to recover. There is often also a disastrous financial impact to the victims with their properties being difficult (or impossible) to sell in the future, and overly expensive to insure. There were also sadly, some lives lost which is tragic.
The fact that all this happened without any real warning is another reminder of the fragile nature of our lives. We simply cannot predict what is around the corner. The one comfort, is to know (really know…) that God is in control; that he cares and the best thing we can do is to pray for those affected by the floods… and of course do anything we can to support them practically.
Kinda refreshed
Nov 17th
Well I’ve been on vacation… whether it was well deserved or not, it was definitely well needed.
It was in the Lake District, not far from Keswick and the weather was amazing for November… bright sun fairly much all week.
Being into photography, I went on a Photography course, taking pictures as well as using Photoshop. And the whole holiday was arranged at a Christian retreat. I always have reservations about Christian retreats, thinking they are going to be stuffy and likely to frown on my blokey sense of humour and interests. However, it was just what the doctor ordered for me… away from all the stresses and strains or work/family life. They were also running a kayaking course at the same time so there was a lot of friendly banter between the two groups.
All in all, I made some good new friends, had a chance to get a sanity check and improved my photography at the same time.
Out of sorts
Oct 25th
Well I went to church today and I must confess… felt really bored. I feel bad admitting it. The worship leader was great and it looked like everyone else was really connecting with God apart from me. One of the things I find really difficult is singing words that I know aren’t true for me at the time. Claiming to be living solely for Him… wanting to dance in His presence…. etc. Can it really be only me who doesn’t feel that way? I know that truthfully…. I’m not living all out for God. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to; I just recognise that I’m not right now. And who knows what it would take to get me dancing before the Lord. I don’t feel comfortable dancing at the best of times (even with a bit of Dutch courage!) let alone on a Sunday morning.
Still, rightly or wrongly I comfort myself with the thought that I am being authentic before God. But why do I feel so bored… worried that if I close my eyes I might fall asleep in the service…… worse still start snoring!! I guess it all comes back to my purpose for being in Church this morning. The honest answer is that I’m there to keep my Wife happy and set a good example to the kids. How shallow is that!
Somehow I’ve got to re-engage with the purpose of God for my life…. to get revitalised and refocused. God’s purpose is to re-establish his Kingdom on earth. What is my role in that objective? If I could only catch hold of that and be caught up in it then life would start to be exciting again. But I feel passive. That’s bad I hate feeling passive. My prayer as I finish blogging today is that God would shake me out my passivity. If anyone out there should read this, maybe you could send up a quick prayer for me too.
God is bigger than you think
Oct 22nd
I watched a DVD last night in which the speaker tried to put into perspective the greatness of God… and he just kept on going until it blew your mind!!
Here are some of the statistics;
If you consider the earth to be a golf ball, in relative terms our sun would be fifteen feet in diameter. On the same basis, considering Earth as a golf ball, there is another star called Betlegeuse, which would have a relative diameter of six Empire State Buildings. The height of the Empire State Building in New York is 1,453 feet, 8 9/16 inches. Multiply this six time and you have 8,721 feet, 3 3/8 inches. The largest star known to man is the Canus Majoris (Latin: Big Dog). Once again, if the earth is considered as a golf ball, the diameter of Canus Majoris would be the same as the height of Mount Everest…. 29,035 feet.
If you stood back far enough so you could see the entire size of Canus Majoris – in comparison the earth would not be visible!! Forget the idea of ‘twinkle, twinkle little star’.
That ought to blow your mind. It certainly blew my mind. We are talking about single stars here!! That God actually ’spoke’ into existence. And yet….. God in his wisdom decided to create man and place him on the Earth; to know him intimately including every hair on his head; knitted together in his mother’s womb.
Interestingly, there is a protein molecule that has been discovered to hold our physical bodies together called ‘Laminin’. Have a look at this picture of the ’stuff’ that physically holds us together:
Now that is amazing…. so be encouraged
Rainy Days
Oct 20th
Today is grey and pouring with rain. “Great weather for ducks” some would say… but to me it is always rather depressing. I know we need a good balance of rain and sun to maintain natural balance on our planet… and in some countries they would celebrate rain with a party; however, I find it makes me feel gloomy. I then start to get a gloomy outlook on everything which is not good.
I’m working alone today as well and when you feel gloomy you really need to be around others who can cheer you up, often without realising.
I have also discovered that the best way out of the ‘grey cloud’ of despondency is to go out of your way to speak positive thoughts to encourage others. Not just some people but every single person you come into contact with. It seems a bit weird at first because you feel like it’s someone else talking. But it definitely works and I’m thinking that writing a positive blog to encourage other blokes will do the same.
The Bible talks about being transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2) and I think this is all part of it. We need to speak/write out positive words and we will be transformed to think and believe what we say/write.
…. and guess what….. simply writing this short blog post has made me a feel a lot more positive. Yes, it’s still raining, but see how fresh everything looks 
Ok, I don’t feel quite that great but I do feel better.
House Group
Oct 15th
Like many active Christians I belong to a House Group. I’ve belonged to quite a few over the years and I always find them a bit of a strain. For a start, they often seem to be a very eclectic mix of people…. most of whom you would not normally choose to be your buddies in any other sphere of life. To make things worse, you are expected to be open and vulnerable with these folk. The bible does talk about Christians being aliens but it is alien to me (and surely a lot of people) to stand facing each other around 3X5ft coffee table singing worship songs. It is impossible to focus on God in this situation, even with very spiritually closed eyes. Does anyone really enjoy doing this?? It certainly isn’t the environment to bring a non-Christian visitor along to!!
So do we really need house groups? Quite clearly the bible talks about the believers meeting in each others homes (see Acts 2 onwards) but this was the way they did Church in that time. Those folk were radical, pro-active and meeting for a purpose…. to expand the Kingdom of God. They were a community…. zealous, driven and totally focussed… being literally ‘all out for God’. What would they think of our house groups today. Yes these folk were an eclectic mix but they had experience a massive transformation in their lives and they need to meet together to make sense of the change and live it out. These folk were dramatically different, having become like foreigners in their own country.
Anyway, enough ranting…. the question is do I/should I continue going to house group? I’m no better than many other Christians; living with one foot in ‘The World’ and one foot in ‘The Kingdom’. But this is NOT the way it is meant to be…. and I know for myself I don’t feel good about it. The Bible descibes this in Revelation 3 as being ‘Lukewarm – neither hot nor cold’ and the concensus is not good. I want to be like the early believers, with my prime focus in life to know God and do his will. That is ‘fulness of life’. Not balancing a piece of sponge on my knee, sipping tea and trying to be polite to the person opposite who has had a ‘word’ that I need to stop wearing my earing!!
Blog Slog
Oct 13th
I’m having a great time getting the content of this blog the way I want it. It’s almost as enjoyable as writing the posts! I just hope that the search engines start to find it at some point so that it can be read by some folk out there in the big wide world. The latest content link I’ve added is to some absolutely stunning black and white photos. I love B&W photography. It seems to stimulate the mind and emotions (and dare I say…Spirit) in a way that colour photographs can’t.
Bale Monding
Oct 11th
The Time -Out session was pretty good by all accounts, although the night in the dorm with 15 other guys was a challenge. At least half of them snored…. but not in unison of course… which actually gave the effect of ONE long snore of varying pitch, pretty much all night. “A cacophany” was how one of my fellow suffers described it.
But that was really the only negative, apart from the fact that there was no alcohol whatsoever. WHY NOT!
Can a bunch of 30-50 year old Christian guys, not be trusted to have a couple of beers or glasses of wine without turning completely drunk and disorderly? Or maybe it was just me…. the only guy there who fancied a beer or two…. maybe I’m the one with a problem?
Still… the food was great (this is important for any men’s event!), and the activities were fun. Such a short word fun but really thats what alot of us needed…. to have some fun for change. In fact it really struck me when I first arrived and asked what I could do to help, the immediate response was “absolutely nothing… just relax and enjoy yourself”. It must be 20 years since anyone has said that to me… and it felt great
My first activity was ‘Dune Buggies’. These were superb… effectively a roll-cage on wheels powered by a 450cc engine. A mad child-like excitement flowed through me as I drove flat-out through every deep muddy puddle I could find, relishing the feeling of getting totally drenched in muddy water. It was truly like a baptism of enjoyment! The next activity was a team-based raft building competition which was intensely competitive, but just as hilarious as most of the rafts collapsed almost as soon as they were launched, depositing their intrepid crews into the river.
We did of course have the times of worship, teaching and prayer ministry which I wasn’t relishing. However, they were OK. They were not excessively long, the teaching was very practical and the praying was done in a genuine ‘blokey’ sort of way. The guy who led worship was very gifted and confident enough to allow the Holy Spirit to direct things and the overall tone of these times was encouraging….. that God actually likes blokes just the way they are. He made us this way after all.
Male Bonding
Oct 9th
This weekend, I am off for some time-out with the guys from Church. It’s supposed to be a time of ministry, fellowship and fun. At the moment I am feeling less than enthusiastic after a tough week at work… and with a heavy dose of flu (man strain rather than swine strain I hope!!). However, I’ve already paid out the dosh so I’m going… and that’s that!
Actually, I nearly always dread these sort of “time away” events for some reason. I’m not really sure why? However, they nearly always turn out to be better than I expected, so I’m hoping for the same this time.
Is it wrong to feel more keen about the clay pigeon shooting and dune buggies we’ll be riding, than the prayer ministry and fellowship?
…… and why do I cringe at the thought of being expected to be open and vulnerable in ’sharing’ with others?
…… plus the joys of sleeping in a dorm …. yikes!
Forgiveness can be a pain!
Oct 8th
I don’t know about other people but I find forgiveness quite difficult sometimes.
It’s OK when it’s a one-off issue……. and slightly more challenging when the issue occurs over again.
However, at the moment I’m having a real battle to forgive someone who is exploiting a good friendship with my Wife for financial gain. My Wife is very gracious, simply won’t see the bad side and insists that I stay out of the matter. So I am expected to forgive this person even though their exploitation continues on a daily basis, continually rubbing salt into the wound. Furthermore, my Wife is even suggesting that if I don’t forgive then I will not be forgiven by God (see Matthew 6:15) This seems very harsh as it means that I will have to try to forgive the same person of the same offence forever, in order to retain my own salvation. Is this a theologically correct interpretation??
