We need to get better at disagreeing.
All of us. You. Me. Them. Everybody.
Everybody.

You see, we’re in a generation and culture that bangs on about tolerance and love, but the fact of the matter is that people are generally rubbish at disagreeing.

Think about how you have dealt with either trivial or profound differences of opinion.
Here are some common techniques:

1) cave in. let the other person stomp straight over your opinion.
2) act like a (insert adjective or swear word here) know-it-all, as if you have every answer in the universe.
3) argue like a maniac and then slag the other person off to every person you meet.

Of course, you may well not think about yourself as in those categories. You might think that you when you were acting like that you were being
in the case of technique 1) right but meek
in the case of techniques 2) and 3) right

I normally pick technique 2) because I can be a bit of a …

Here’s a suggestion for some things that you could do for the next 40 days:

Stop being right.

Start being interested in what people are really saying.

Don’t think that you have to correct people.

Think more.

Praise people (accurately) when you’re disagreeing with them and then afterwards when you’re talking to other people about it.

We need to get better at disagreeing.
All of us. You. Me. Them. Everybody.
Everybody.

This is a message about relaxing and not worrying.

Here’s what might happen: You fail your exams and you can’t get a job and you have to live with your parents FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.

This is one example of worrying. Are you stressed?

The bible says:

Don’t worry. Instead, pray. Invite God into your stress. A sense of God’s wholeness will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the centre of your life.

It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the centre of your life.

(Philipians 4:6, The Message)

Rob Bell said this. It might be a bit corny:

this leads me to a universal truth:

remember that.
look for it.
and call it out, confront it when you come across it.
fear has no place in this place.
when you’ve leaned over and looked into the tomb,
when you’ve ran huffing and puffing to your friends,
insisting in between breaths, ‘he isn’t in there!’
fear is no longer the game you’re playing.
you’ve been seized by hope.
and hope has its own rules.

It’s about hope and grace and love, yo.

Have a cup of tea if you are stressed (and pray, see above).

‘While Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn’
Luke 2. v 6&7.

Two little verses describing a rather dramatic night.

James and I are suddenly more aware of the emotion and gritty reality behind these verses – when last Friday we played Mary and Joseph in our local church nativity service, with four-month-old George as ‘newborn’ Jesus.

Under a crisp, starlit sky, we followed a real donkey from house to house in the village, knocking on doors that were opened by grumpy ‘innkeepers’ until a friendly local farmer offered us his barn for the night and we finally settled down on bales of hay to receive gifts from the shepherds and three wise men. The donkey was real, there were live sheep and shepherds huddled round a lit brazier, with the wise men beautifully dressed.

There was something very special about re-enacting this scene – the delight of the children who watched was lovely and touching. It reminded us that the night would have been cold and not particularly comfortable for all, and that at the last minute God provided the shelter that was so desperately needed.

Mary and Joseph followed God, acting on what his angel Gabriel had told them to do and God honoured his promises. But, as so often happens, probably not in a way that either Mary or Joseph had intended.

Perhaps that’s something to think about as we hear those two little verses again this Christmas time,

Love to you all, James, Claire and wee George xx

High..
hope you’re well.. you’ll need about 5 minutes for this (60something % of that will be video though ;] )

this film appeared on my newsfeed today [tuesday] .. it was posted by Future Shorts [a short film collective/group] – it’s part of a series of animated interpretations of true stories dug up from BBC Northern Ireland’s Radio Ulster archives_

have a watch and then join me. i’ll be waiting for you- 3 minutes and 22 seconds into your future..

[you have to watch it.. what you're about to read won't make any real sense otherwise..]

“.. i saw how fragile it was.. and yet how strong.. .. and it touched me”

imagine if that little blue flower had the ability, just for the duration of the man’s visit, to alter it’s surroundings -
to transport itself to a little hand painted ceramic pot with freshly watered, nutrient rich soil, on a window sill with a view of just the sun in all its glory and the perfectly mown lawn of the idyllic garden it was now positioned by – the ability to present itself as the most beautiful and complete little blue flower of all the little blue flowers..
and the guy sees it, mournfully acknowledges its beauty and perfect surroundings and trudges on, unchanged, isolated.

“stupid flower” we’d say (before realising that plants are in fact incapable of self-conscious anthropomorphic actions in hypothetical situations) -

but *we* do that same thing all the time.. the surrounding world might not like our un-diluted, un-edited selves -so we kind of tend to not show them..

“i’m fine… yeah.. good good, cheers.. you?” then potentially onwards to the next hollow acquaintanceship..

(isn’t that part of why we secretly love the facial book so much? as well as allowing us to share autotuned videos of bed intruders and cat lovers who love to run, it grants us the opportunity to perpetually tweak and re-exhibit our perceived personas.. equipping us perfectly for our next day of public inter-personal avatar projection)

i’m aware that’s an extremely cynical portrayal of human interaction but ultimately – our entire faith centers itself around a lamb that was slain, an outcasted persecuted carpenter who was crucified.. brokenness is integral to the gospel.. Jesus suffered beyond what we can imagine so he wouldn’t have to imagine what it means for us to suffer-

“God knows how I feel” has got to be one of the most consoling and liberating thoughts in our universe..
“i know how you feel” could be the most consoling and liberating words someone in your universe could hear.

it’s absolutely fine to feel good and be content with life, but when we pretend that that’s all that’s going on (or ever has been going on) we exclude ourselves from joining God in the comforting of a planet that so desperately needs it.

the man in the video finds release and consolation and reassurance and hope in seeing death and decay trying it’s hardest yet still being unable to restrain the life contained in a tiny and powerless plant (whose surroundings mirror his own)_ how much greater could that sense of comfort have been if it had been provided by a human?

it would be cool if the flower could take him out for a (presumably non-alcoholic) drink (perhaps a Vimto) or share stories about when the ground was really dry or when the sun was at it’s warmest.. but.

you get my point.. i hope.

if we’re feeling fixed – let’s not deny how good that is but.. let’s not hide our scars- they may just be exactly what someone else needs to see to begin to heal.

if we’re feeling broken – we are not alone. we are in the process of being fixed by the God who has proved that life cannot be restrained.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as
we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ” *

amen

optional actions:

- listen this to counter-act the potentially melancholy mood i may or may not have induced in you.. http://youtu.be/Y5VgLOs0LwQ

- call someone you’re close to but haven’t spoken to in a bit – ask them how’re they’re actually doing. and then tell them how you’re actually doing.

ok.. bye now ;]

alex

* 2 Corinthians 1:3-5

Hi all,

I hope everyone is doing well and not too depressed at the arrival of autumn in our laps. I have just put my coat on for the first time and I am a little sad.

In my housegroup we have been talking a lot about contentment and satisfaction and seeking that in God. I have found this really challenging as although in principle I know that our contentment comes through knowing Jesus – in reality I am rarely content.

If anything I enjoy being slightly dissatisfied as it is where I am comfortable. It gives me material for a good moan and a reason to listen to rubbish 90′s grunge…

There are two things that I am trying to hold in tension and somehow get my heart in the right place on this. One is that God calls us to lay down our lives and within that our right to be content – we will have to make sacrifices and go through hard times… At the same time, Jesus is all we need and God will provide and our contentment should come through the certainty that we are given life to the full and eternal through Him…

My head is certainly spinning on this one…

I suppose it comes down to a peace and an acceptance of the circumstances we are in – that God has us in the palm of his hands and nothing is beyond his reach… While realising that this is a fallen world – and it isn’t our true home so it will never be enough because somewhere within us we are longing for all that’s to come…

How then do we cope with times of discontentment when they come?

Working out the reason for it is always a good place to start…

There will be times when we are dissatisfied because we have our eyes fixed in the wrong place – we are comparing ourselves to others and thinking about what we feel we deserve. Those are the times we need to go back to God’s grace, to all he has given us and his plans to prosper us and not to harm us… To fix our eyes on heavenly things and not the things of this world. God’s Spirit will strengthen us to do that if we get him involved.

Sometimes though, we will look around at our lives and at the world and see the brokenness that is all around us. This is a holy discontent – to long for our world to be restored… To see an end to injustice, poverty, sickness and death… Then the question is more what you are going to do to bring some of God’s grace and love into those situations…

Much love,
Corinne x

Hello all,

Have you ever considered what your ‘holy discontent’ might be? The thing – or things – you get so wound up about that you simply can’t ignore?

This term in our homegroup we’re looking at the book of Luke, and last night’s study was on Luke 1, where Mary goes to see her cousin Elizabeth and tells the news of her pregnancy. What flows from Mary’s mouth is her song of praise to God – the Magnificat. It’s one of the most regularly recited passages of scripture, used in liturgy and music right across the spectrum of Christian traditions. And rightly so, to my mind – not just because it’s such a key moment in the story of the Christian faith, but also because Mary gives us a shining example in how she responds to God using her to work out His purposes: ‘My soul glorifies the Lord’, she begins; ‘my spirit rejoices in God my saviour’. She is elated to see God at work in her life.

Our study went on to look at how God uses each of us in our lives, and asked us to think about the issues that bother us so much that we feel we have to respond to them – with God’s help. Our discussions were wide ranging. With three teachers in the room, injustices experienced in many young lives featured pretty highly. As did the questions of poverty and development in Africa, the prevalence of cancer, and why so many of our friends, colleagues and family aren’t yet able to ‘get’ the reality we all believe, which is how much God loves them.

We finished up our evening praying together and asking God to show each of us individually what He wants us to be passionate about and how He wants us to respond to those things. It will be very different things for each of us; I am convinced that God created each of us with unique gifts and talents, and that He gives us passions so that we can work with Him to use our talents for good and to change things we care about. He wants us to be part of the solution to the things that give us a ‘holy discontent’, a restlessness and stirring in our spirits that we know we can’t ignore. I’m also convinced that he doesn’t want us to be overwhelmed by the state our of world, but instead He wants us to ask Him what we can do with Him to change it. When He gives us ideas and inspiration, that’s pretty exciting! Then, like Mary, our spirits can soar, and our souls give God the glory for how He is using us and the opportunities He’s bringing about.

I am sure that many of us are already on the case with this, but whether we are or we aren’t, why don’t we take a few minutes some time soon to ask God one of these short questions: what’s my holy discontent? How can I use my talents and gifts to bring something of you, Lord, to my world? What passion do you want to give me, Lord? Is there anything else you want to say but I haven’t listened yet? and listen quietly to His still, small, loving, kind voice in response.

Much love to all,

Jane x

PS – if you are a fan of choral music, you might like this recording of an Italian choir singing Arvo Part’s version of the Magnificat. I think it’s spine chillingly beautiful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Bi7gUqBBc4

What a privilege to be given the responsibility of the first Space 21st email, post Space 2011 (even if it is a little daunting!) I just want to say first, how much fun I had at Space this year and thank you to everyone for making it a great week!

I really enjoyed Dave O’s talks about creation, and bringing it back to the basics, but yet still remembering how awesome and big God is. I was reminded last week of the power of prayer, in two very different situations. Again, prayer is such a simple and easy thing to do (although I understand not always), and yet also demonstrates the power of God.

One of my situations was just asking for enough energy and strength to get through a waitressing shift, and the other was about the future of my career and what job I might get next – both prayers were answered, but I’m sorry to say I was surprised! I often forget how effective prayer can be, when actually I (we) should be praying expectantly, knowing God is fully capable of answering our prayers, not necessarily in ways which we always hope for, but always in our best interests and according to His will.

So this is just a simple email to encourage and remind you to turn to God in prayer, both for the little and big things. I could give a very long list of bible passages that tell us we should pray and why, but here are just some that spring to mind:

1 Peter 5:7
Take a few moments to ‘cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you’

Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Psalm 37:3-5
3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this:

Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Some of you may have seen Louis Giglio’s Indescribable talk – I had heard about it, but only saw it for the first time last week. I loved it!

For the last year, I’ve been attending (rather irregularly) GSCE Astronomy classes. The wonder of the cosmos is so totally mind-blowing. The talk by Louis G demonstrates brilliantly the scale of the bit that we know about.

A couple of days later I read in the Bible that the Earth is God’s footstool – it made me smile to think of God stretching himself out to relax across the galaxies and choosing Earth to put His feet up on.

And then I got to wondering about God’s perspective of us. Like looking down a telescope the other way.

Maybe what we think is important is totally different from what He thinks is important.

Maybe the time that I spend tuning in to Him is the bit of my day that He cares about the most.. .. not the hoovering, not the crowded tube; not the trying to be the person I think I should be; not the worrying about finances; not the time I spend looking at a computer screen

If my day was a Venn diagram – I think that He’s most interested in the tiny sliver that’s marked GOD and how that bit affects the rest.

I think that it was Benjamin Franklin who used to go outside and spend time staring at the stars. He would then remark “Now I feel small again”. The most powerful man on Earth re-adjusting his perspective with reference to the Almighty.

Franklin also said “A person wrapped up in themselves makes a very small bundle”. I don’t want to be a small bundle but someone with arms and attitudes out-stretched.

Hope to see you very soon in a field far away – book before the end of June to take advantage of the early bird saving of £10! Lots of love S xx

As I look up and marvel at this building not only do my eyes look up, but so to does my soul. As I look to the celling I can see that the artists were creating works that reflect something of the glory and majesty of heaven. In fact I wonder if they might have viewed that celling as a thin place between earth and heaven. All of the Cathedral is built to draw my eyes up and I always find that when my eyes are drawn up my soul is also drawn up to God.

A few months ago I was in a warehouse on an industrial estate in Canterbury leading an Epic Worship event [a DJ lead worship and prayer event] and God, just as I was about to DJ, says to me that my music is like a Cathedral!

That night in the warehouse up to the point I was about to DJ had felt like a bad school disco and needed something to bring both the prayer and the music together. I had planned what tune I wanted to start with and so went with it.

Within the first 4 notes the atmosphere in the room had completely changed to a place of worship with the weight of God upon us. People instantly changed their focus and turned to worship.

This music lifts our ears up, just like a Cathedral lifts our eyes up and when this happens our souls are lifted to God!

To finish I want to give you a challenge. The first bit is easy, Iʼd love for you to experience that moment I had with the first tune I dropped at the warehouse, so that’s what the youtube link is. The second part of the challenge is to find your Cathedral – the thing that helps you lift your eyes or ears, and in doing so, lifts your soul to God. To give you another example of this turn to Psalm 121.
Nick Ashman

Dinka – The Quietest Moment (Original Mix)