God, Latency... and Yoghurt

I really love it when God speaks to you in a latent manner - so subliminally that you don't perceive it or even realise that it is him doing it; then just a couple of days down the line, some kind of catalyst unlocks it all and you can see it so vividly.

Take this week for example.  I am not a man who is renowned for being into cookery programs on TV, in fact you are far more likely to catch me bemoaning the amount of cookery shows on television... especially BBC Saturday Kitchen - it needs to take lengthy breaks and seemingly never does.

However on Sunday afternoon, I found myself engrossed in watching Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall explaining how he makes home made yoghurt on Channel 4's River Cottage Every Day.  The recipe is fairly simple, you heat dairy milk and powdered milk in a pan and when the temperature is correct, you infuse it with a small amount of existing live yoghurt.  Once this is done, you cover your concoction and leave it in a warm place... during the next 6-8 hours the science behind the unseen magical forces of nature works its wonders and the bacteria begin to spread... eventually overwhelming the dead, Pasteurised milk and transforming it into living yoghurt. It literally crosses over from death to life. It is a new creation, the old has gone... the new has come.

Now the metaphor here is pretty obvious... I've pretty much quoted St. Paul's words about those who having been "crucified" with Christ, enter into a living relationship with God.  Or again, it is like the Valley of Dry Bones in Ezekiel - how God takes something inert, nullified, devoid of life... and transforms it into a living army.

However that in itself was not what made it special for me this time.  Fast forwarding a couple of days into the week, I found my self praying in Church about my community and my hopes for revival.  These prayers have taken on a greater meaning and sense of urgency for me as the Minster prepares to move out of interregnum (and yes, I still loathe that Anglican term). This is especially so because of the manner in which I feel God has moved to set things up for the future... truly I have seen his hand at work... and although I cannot tell specifically to what end his hand is working, I just take joy and motivation in seeing it occur.

As I prayed, my thoughts were very much turned toward the Parable of the Yeast/Leaven. It is the second of two parables (the other being the parable of the Mustard Seed), told by Jesus that are linked by their theme of exponential growth. What is important about this parable is the manner in which the growth takes place - how the base ingredients that are already there are completely dominated and  become part of something greater when a catalyst is introduced.

It was while I was reading this parable during prayer, that my mind was immediately taken back to the River Cottage yoghurt creation.

You'll note that to create yoghurt, you actually need... yoghurt. Milk cannot create yoghurt... the dead cannot make life. So it is with the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is both the catalyst and sustaining force that brings revival and if we hope to revolutionise our environment... the world we find ourselves in, then we need to involve the Holy Spirit both in our lives and the life of our churches and community.

I truly hope this is what is going to happen in the place I call home, that the Holy Spirit will come... come and transform the dead milk into a vibrant living yoghurt that bears God's name and lives and breathes and spreads his gospel in new and amazing ways.

And so Read and pray:

"Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland."

Isaiah 43:18-19

 Amen. Come Lord Jesus.

Shelling Out

So it looks like Shell's tanker fleet of lorries will be crippled by a strike in little over 54 hours.

The Government has been very quick to step in and urge us all not to panic buy... everything will be OK they promise.

Not likely.

Simple fact, even if they can ensure there's enough fuel for the duration of the strike... the simple fact is that demand will increasingly outweigh supply, irrespective of panic buying. There may well be enough fuel to go round, but it's going to get progressively expensive.

So do you really think I'm going to sit around and wait for that to happen?

Nope. I had half a tank full, which would probably just last me to the end of the strike... the point where I suspect it'll be the most expensive. So as soon as I got out of work, I shot down the road and pulled into the local 24 hour and filled up. I'm not ashamed to admit it... and I advise you to consider doing the same. That should see me through to about the 20th.

I think drivers are getting pushed to boiling point at the moment. It's very easy to look at drivers in the cities with their "Chelsea Tractors" and say that people should use public transport, but frankly out here in rural/semi rural communities that just isn't an option... and people are being penalised just for trying to get to work on time.

I can see the Government getting into real trouble over this if it doesn't do something to alleviate matters soon. Surely with the price of oil rising, the amount of duty raked in from petrol purchases (the lion's share at circa a whopping 60%), must be phenomenally over the projected amount of revenue in the Budget.

I hate conceitedness and arrogance.. and one way or another the Government's got a bloody nose coming... you can only say "we are listening, we are learning lessons" so many times before people just see you as disingenuous.

This time feels worse than when the public protests took place. Back then, it felt that people were pretty much trying it on. Now however, so many people are openly hurting... because everything they need to buy is going up... and every asset they own is rapidly losing value. I forewarned about a potential political nightmare vision of Britain that I predicted would probably kick off when the "Baby Boom" generation became infirm... I suggested about 15-20 years from now.

However, maybe I was being conservative. With the financial burdens and lack of resources hitting everyone hard, one wonders if we are actually seeing birth pangs.

I'm not a materialist at heart, I know God will provide the things we genuinely need... and I've been blessed for so long... but how many people out there are hurting and don't realise God will not get them sucked into utter oblivion if they but call on him?

You know what? As I type this post... I'm hearing Robin Mark's prayer and the Mandate song "Revival" on my Last FM radio... and it's the message that God is crying out now. He's crying it to the Christians to be ready to pick up those who the World is hurting... and he's crying it to those who the World is hurting... that they might turn and find comfort in his Name.

I hear the voice of one crying...

I hear the voice of one crying...

"Prepare ye... prepare ye the way of the LORD... make His paths straight make straight his paths in the wilderness let his light shine, let his light shine in the darkness and let your rain fall and let your rain fall in this desert."

I can hear that thunder in the distance like a train on the edge of the town, I can feel the brooding of the Spirit - lay your burdens down... lay your burdens down.

Whatever mankind gets us into, God has the power to get us out.

The Journey Begins

This is it...

Today marks the day when England go into battle for the first time in the Germany 2006 World Cup campaign. Good luck to the lads. I'm with you all the way.

There are many parallels between spirituality and football... many dead churches could learn a great deal from the atmosphere you see at a football ground. The average footie match resounds with the bellowing of thousands of grown men... largely tone deaf... who rally their team no matter the weather, no matter the odds. The average church service or Songs of Praise can often by contrast be sanitised and half hearted. We need to get the same passion for God as a football supporter has for his team... even more than this!!!

Recently I've understood that supporting England in football is very much like supporting England in Church. You read about all the great revivals and wonders from the past... the Early Church, the Great Revival, the Celtic revivals, the Hebridean revival... to name just the ones relevant to my nation... and you yearn to see that in your lifetime. It's not all that different to the hopes we pin on England. All my life I've heard the nostalgia of 1966 and England's great World Cup victory over Germany... and yet we've never seen it in my time. not only this, but the constant frustration of ebb and flow... England get so far and then have it snatched away by a a quirk of fate... the Church stirs so much and the smell of blossom fills the air and then God calls a halt to the season... often without any obvious reason to our mortal eyes.

Yet we keep on believing in England... and we keep on believing God will restore this nation. I am ever hopeful of the former and entirely convinced of the latter.

So, in both matters spiritual and footballing I cry out:

"God for Harry, England and St. George!!!!"

Tis But a Scratch!

Those of you who have watched the film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" will doubtless remember the infamous scene where Arthur does battle with the Black Knight who blocks the road ahead.

The battle goes badly for the Black Knight.... he loses an arm, followed by his other arm, then both his legs. Hilariously though he repeatedly insists that the damage is not severe... "Tis but a scratch!" and "It's only a flesh wound!" are among his battle cries.

We laugh because the situation is ridiculous, the scene uses hyperbole to parody the Hollywood image of the macho man - the hero who shakes of his injuries to save the day. Obviouisly, Python's Black Knight should know when he is beaten and stop fighting... it is only a stretch of road he's fighting for, after all.

On a deeper and more subtle level, are we seriously any different though?

I think not.

I know of a person who was severely damaged emotionally through the break-up of their marriage. I knew through conversations we had; that there were still issues going on inside that person's heart... but they kept jumping from relationship to relationship - constantly on the rebound. They "knew" in each case that the person they were with, was "the one". I know this because I was very nearly one of "the one's" myself... but fortunately it did not work out. Now I hear that the girl is planning on getting married again; I wish her well but I do not think she is embarking on a wise course of action. She is putting what she wants in front of her ability to handle it. She is rushing into a path that could damage her further... because she is chasing a dream without properly dealing with the damage that has been done to her in the past.

I've recently come to the conclusion that some of the psychological issues attached to my physical scars need healing (February 3rd - Scar Tissue). I think my own approach to people in the past has been seriously affected by my damaged nature... but I know God desires to heal this. I also wait for the day when a woman comes along whom I can love and who can love me... but I believe the right person will not be able to find me (nor I them) until God disentangles me from the jungle I have managed to wrap myself up in over the years.

Why should you or I have to wait, why does God seemingly string us out? If he's made a promise he could snap his fingers and allow you to have it immediately.

Oh I have no doubt he could give you and I everything good that we desired - right here, right now... but would we be ready for it?

Recently two scriptures have been on my heart and I felt burdened to share them with you:

"From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace." Jeremiah 6:13,14

and:

"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved." Matthew 9:16,17

Are we being honest with ourselves? Are we really ready for the things God has promised?

If we desire a relationship... are we really ready to commit ourselves, or do we know in our hearts that we need God to fix something wrong in us first?

If we desire revival... are we really ready to receive the multitudes of convicted people whom God will send, or do we know deep down that we need to humble ourselves and strengthen our relationship with God... that we may be of use to him when the time is right.

These are just two examples of what I mean.

I rushed into trying to enter a relationship a couple of years ago... it went pear shaped. God showed me through scriptures in Chronicles that in effect, I had mirrored King David's mistake with the Ark of the Covenant. I had put the desire and the promise of good things before properly being able to carry out a righteous approach to achieving them. God was merciful to David and showed him how to do it. God is also merciful to us and he will show us what we need to know if we only bothered to ask him.

For what does he say to us? A very famous passage from Matthew tells us:

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

May the Lord bless you and enable you to walk the road before you. May your innermost desires - founded in the Father's will, the Son's intercession and the Holy Spirit's conviction, all be fulfilled in God's power and God's time. In Jesus name, Amen.


Nick