what-chya listening to.

Yesterday I realised I suck at evangelism, we are told to go out an make disciples and I ask God for opportunities but when they come along I just bottle it or sound like a weirdo and I am not- well not much. but I just can't bring myself to shove God at people. I don't think God is like that

So I am sitting on the bus last night to meet my friend for a chat and some chips - Girly night in. I'm sat on the back seat on the left hand side doing no harm to anyone listening to my music I have a mixture of secular music, Musicals and Christian music on my Mp3 player when this guy, well Lad, appears and asks if the middle seat is taken. Its empty and I don't know the people on the other side. so I quietly say no. I don't know why I attract weirdos but I do sometimes they are good sometimes not so much.

"what-chya listening to?" he asks.

I tell him Chris Tomlin or Matt Redman. I couldn't remember which wrote the song I was listening to.

" Never heard of them, can I have a listen?" he asks.

I explain to him that they are Christian singers and he probably wouldn't like them or the music.

He asks again so I offer him a pink ear bud.

"you're right" he says after 10 seconds " I don't like it."

he tells me he is going into town to the pub and then he asks me what I do so I tell him that I work for a church- kind of like a intern. He asks me if I want to be a priest which I laugh off. I explain that I don't know what I want to do.

" so why are you into all this God stuff then if you don't want to be a priest." here is the killer question. If I was a better Christian or an evangelist I would have said something more profound but I pitched for the truth " Jesus is my best friend I just want to serve him." nothing about the Cross nothing about anything more.

" do you believe God is your father?" he asked. I blanched.
"in a spiritual sense yes. Course I have an earthly dad but he is my spiritual one."

Then he told me his age and his name and got off the bus.

I kind of think that its going to be like this though. Little odd snippets of conversations, no one stands on the corner with a bible any more and those that do get funny looks and ostracise the church more ( in my opinion). Its not the done thing, I hope I intrigued him enough to find an Alpha course. But it will probably be forgotten after in a night in the pub. Maybe God is giving me practise or opportunity I don't know but what I do know is this real grass roots evangelism is messy and perhaps I shouldn't be too hard on myself. After all I came out of the conversation looking human not judgemental or worse superior perhaps that is not bad for a beginner....

The Great British Nomad

A Place to call Home. 

In the last 5 Years I have had  8 different Addresses and by the end of Today I will have moved 10 times. (The other two were moving back to my parents) To some people this might not be a big deal but for someone who until they were 19 had only had one address, and in many ways it never feeling like home, its still kind strange to be packing and moving again. 

There is this great thing I keep getting told about being in your twenties that you should write your address in Pencil. Moving this much doesn't bother me any more its part of my calling. To move, to experience a different environment to get settled one way and then have to adapt to change. Knowing that work is a 12 minute walk away and tommorow it will be a 30 minute walk away is something that you get used to and I am glad that life isn't stagnant. 

Everything in me wants to settle. Human nature makes us want to settle to find one place that we can call home and live there and not have to think about it. Addresses are written in marker pen. I guess we can get like that with our faith too. We get comfortable and cosy, we know what we can do and we resist change and challenge in our lives because they are not safe. I know I did. 

It took me about 6 times of writing my address in pencil to realise that its only an address its only the subheading of that chapter of your life. The address written on the bookplate is Beloved Adopted Daughter (Allie -----) C/o Heaven by invitation of Jesus Christ. My home address is there and it has been my whole life. I think the reason God has made me move so often is because he knows I couldn't get this otherwise, I have to know that all earthly addresses are transitory but my home is in him. 

This comes entirely from the practise of surrender. Surrender to him really does sound like we've given up because in the earthly meaning of the world it is cowardly its giving up on something because you don't have the will to fight it. I've realised over the last five years it brings total release, it is a daily and hourly choice but its worth it. Its courageous its choosing not to settle in the earthly to make the most of your circumstance and not be bothered about what is your current circumstance but where your home is.

Its just not about the dress...

The Bride of Christ.

As a church we are supposed to be Christ's bride waiting for his return to come and get us. So what kind of bride are we supposed to be? The beloved of Christ it is hardly befitting to be a bridezilla is it?
On occasion I think about my wedding day what it will be like waiting at the back of church for the music to start walking forward into a new chapter of my life. Its in all probability a long way off for me, but the whole paraphernalia that goes with weddings intrigues me and fascinates me and I am not the only one just remember how 2 years ago the royal wedding captured imaginations all over the world. The whole Engagement to wedding to marriage interests me being a bride means more than being a fiancée but not as much as being a wife it is a very transient state, in human terms you are only a bride for a day there is an intrinsic immediacy about being a bride it only lasts a set amount of time. the bible does not say we are Christ's fiancée neither are we yet his wife as a church we are his bride.

It got me thinking you know, what are the qualities of a good bride therefore what should we be doing as a church to be a good bride? I am going to explore two of these qualities that really hit me recently which inspired this drawing.

Brides are Beautiful;

There is something about a bride on her wedding day whether she is  my big fat Gypsy Bride or Catherine (Kate) Middeton she somehow not just looks beautiful but almost ( in worldly terms that is ) defines it, in one of my favourite films  27 Dresses Katherine Heigl plays the serial bridesmaid. and she and James Marsen's character discuss the favourite moment at a wedding they both say its the groom's face when he sees his bride for the first time. Brides are beautiful, they are worth looking at. In 1 Peter it tells us that ' true beauty does not come from outward adornment but from a quiet and gentle spirit which is precious to God ( 1 Peter 3:4). As a church we shouldn't be flashy in our faith just quietly and diligently serving him and furthering his kingdom in our communities that makes us a beautiful bride.

Brides are expectant/ anticipative; 

Brides know what they are waiting for even if they don't quite know exactly what it means in real terms . They are expectant and anticipative because they know that life as they know it is about to change. in our modern world of co habitation we have in a way lost this element. Most modern brides know what living with their husbands will be like, this is not the case in Jesus day or even 70 years ago. Now it seems it is the exception and not the rule. Marriage is a public declaration of intimacy and togetherness, In many cultures marriage brings an elevated status to the woman. I'm not saying that is right or that it is wrong for us to be co-habiting in the modern age although I do know of some churches ( not one I have been to I might add) who won't marry couples who live at the same address. All I am saying is we know what is coming its all in the bible we don't know the full extent of what it means but we do know it will change everything.

Go on be beautiful - we know what... well who... we are waiting for.