No hope no harm, just another false alarm

We were in Big church yesterday. The theme for the month is ‘hope’. This is to coincide with the Hope 08 intiative.

I don’t have anything against things like Hope 08, I don’t really have very much against big church, whatever floats your boat and all that. The problem I have is with the complacency that can sometimes accompany them both.

I was discussing yesterday’s worship with my good lady at home yesterday and I pointed out where I thought the major difference between BCLC and BC was. At one point in the service the issue of people getting into debt around Christmas came up. This is a real issue for a lot of families at this time of year, people get carried away with the festivities and before they know where they are they have a massive credit card debt to pay off in January. It happens to us. Now if we had brought that up on a normal Sunday we would have had something of a discussion about it and looked closely at how we behaved and whether that measured up with our ideals. It’s easier to ignore those awkward questions when, to be frank, you don’t actually have to answer them.

I hope that ‘Hope 08′ will allow people to engage with the issues they are trying to tackle in a way that, perhaps, previous ‘programmes’ have failed to do.

This is not my expectation though.

My expectation is that churches that are already active on their communities will become more so. The churches that currently struggle to to ‘find their mission’ will continue to do so.

There is a tendency in churches to hope that the ‘next big thing’ will trigger some sort of revival of their fortunes and return us all to some cosy bygone time where the churches were full and kids kept their hoods off so the local bobby could clip their ear for them.

This isn’t going to happen. People need to develop their faith and allow that to inform their actions, this in turn will bring about some changes in the way members of our society conduct themselves towards one another.

The ancient out-dated model of church that we continue to hang on to will not deliver that, it allows us to remove ourselves sufficiently from the hard truths that we must confront if we are goine to effect any real change both in ourselves and in those around us.

I’m gonna pull you in close, gonna wrap you up tight

I cycled home from work on Wednesday in a torrent of rain. The roads were chock-a-block with cars thanks to a crash on the M62. I was missing my usual tennis night and, to be honest, the last thing I wanted to do was go to Blackpool to watch Interpol. This feeling was compounded by having to trek all round the houses to get there, having to change a £10 note into 10 pences at a local arcade to get a parking ticket and, thanks to, not knowing where the Empress Ballroom was, wandering round the windy, cold streets of my least favourite seaside resort. I was near suicidal by the time the support band, Blonde Redheads, a fine band I am sure, was mixed so badly it just sounded like white noise.

And then I saw this: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2059/2073422753_62852fb835_m.jpg

And I heard this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gK7duAtM_Yg

And I was like a teenager. Pretty soon both Tom and I were in the pit, moshing along to our favourite songs. They played everything I liked and quite a few that I didn’t think I liked until that night. The sound was fantastic, they play so tight together and yet there was room to throw in some long pauses and even to let the crowd sing along, which I wasn’t expecting.

They were on for well over an hour by which time poor Tom, not used to hard core dad moshing (tapping ones foot whilst giving the old mustache a stroke) felt a bit faint and had to be taken to one side for some fresh air.

The encore was brilliant, all old stuff.

We got home in about 45 minutes as well, rather tired, very sweaty but still buzzing from what had been a top night.

When you’re young

whoa-o

It is Children in Need (CIN) day today. I must say I am not a great fan. It’s not that I don’t like Terry Wogan, I believe that is one of the remaining treasonable offences punishable by hanging, it’s not even that I don’t like news readers behaving like total prats doing song and dance routines (which I don’t). I think the thing I find most objectionable is that I don’t think it really works. I would go further and say that in some ways the event exacerbates the problems it pupports to be trying to fix.

How can that be? I hear you ask, each year we give millions and millions of pounds, every year more than the previous one. Famous people give up their time and for a few thousand pounds you could have some ‘famous’ singer give you and your family a private concert.

And yet we hear every day that the problems young people face are getting worse and there is little trust between the young and the not so young in our society.

The problem would appear to be one of distancing ourselves from the issues. We think that we can solve the problems by proxy. We can give some money and have a good laff at the telly and life will get better for everyone. This is obviously not the case.

I appreciate that a lot of people work hard to raise money and a lot of people work hard to spend that money to help the lot of young people everywhere. I do, also, believe that people think this lets the majority of the rest of us off the hook. Sadly it doesn’t.

So I won;t be tuning in tonight, I will be where I am every Friday, helping the kids at Weekenders enjoy their Friday night together.

In my own small way I will be satisfying some childrens needs.

With God on our side…

It was remembrance day yesterday. We commemorated it in BCLC in this way:

It happened to be the worlds eye day and I wanted to convey something of the reality of war. This is a little challenging in the confines of a lounge in a church in Stockport but I do like a challenge. The focus was to try to evoke the mood of optimism and excitement that tends to precede a conflict. This was never more so than in the first world war where young men signed up in to give the bosch a jolly good thumping. Then change the mood and attempt see how that hope gets crushed by the vile horror of painful, violent death.

We played battleships, a sort of war game where you don’t get hurt and generally have a good time. We then went into the 2 minutes silence and followed that by playing Dylan’s ‘Masters of War’ and having people reading poetry that had been inspired by conflicts. The mood change worked perfectly, we went on to discuss just what happens in wars and the effect that has on the people fighting them.

Right up until the 2 mins started we were laughing and joking and then I don’t think anyone even cracked a smile afterwards.

We followed this with an excursion to the Imperial War Museum (North) which is always an inspiring and thought provoking place to go and never more so than on a day like yesterday.

Next week we will be looking more at the causes of war, why we fight, do we ever have God on our side?

D’ya wanna be in my gang?

BCLC are now on Facebook. You can join us if you are an FB member by finding the group (bclc) and then sending in a request to join.

Hear the one with the moustache say “Jeez, I can’t find my knees!”

I am very pleased to announce that very soon indeed I will be the one with the moustache.

For those of you that don’t know yet I am observing the month of Movember and growing myself a ‘Mo’  (this is an Australian abreviation of the word, we prefer ‘tache in the UK but it would be difficult to turn that into the name of a month)

I am hoping to raise some money along the way for Prostrate Cancer research and treatment so if you would like to contribute then you need to do this:

To sponsor my Mo (moustache) and fight against prostate cancer please go to http://www.movember.com/uk/donate, enter my registration number which is 166693 and your credit card details. Or you can sponsor me by cheque made payable to “The Prostate Cancer Charity” clearly marking the donation as being for my Registration Number: 166693. Please mail cheques to: The Prostate Cancer Charity, ATT: Movember, First Floor, Cambridge House, 100 Cambridge Grove, Hammersmith, London W6 0LE.

All donations are made directly to The Prostate Cancer Charity which will use the money to fund high quality research into the causes, treatment and impact of prostate cancer and to provide support and information to men and their families.

Pictures of my proud and hairy upper lip will be forthcoming ……

Come you masters of war

We had a meeting og the BCLC planning committee last night round at our house. We usually meet in the pub but for one reason or another we had it in our drawing room instead.

During the meeting we had reason to look back at what we had done previously to try to ensure we don’t end up doing the same thing year in year out - oh it’s harvest, let’s think about how little we actually do compared to what we could do to even up the distribution of the world’s resources - you know the sort of thing.

This Sunday is, of course remembrance Sunday. These days are especially poignant when there is actually a real war on at the time (that we are directly involved with, i.e. actually fighting rather than just arming both sides) I always think. At other times we tend to get a bit sentimental about what is a truly abhorant and disagreable way to go about sorting out problems.

So this Sunday we will be playing a popular war game (battleships) and then going to the Imperial War Museum North to see what really happens when you select c4 and sink a submarine.

I will duly record procedings a relate them to you, if only for the benefit of the planners.

Next week we will start looking less at what happens in war and more at why we have them and whether there can ever truly be a just war. If you would like to pre-empt that discussion I will gladly take your points along to the session (or bring them yourself..) and share them with the group.

Little Old Wine Drinker Me…

I was going to call this ‘lip up fatty’ but I did’t want to risk offending any of my larger readers. The thing about alcoholics is that they can’t always tell when you are having a go (that was a joke btw).

The reason for this is of course the ‘news’ on the radio this morning that if we overeat or drink too much or smoke, then we are mor likely to get cancer. Steps back in amazement. None of these things give you cancer of course, we still don’t know what causes it, but you are more likely to get it.

What they are saying is that if you live a relatively healthy, balanced lifestyle and don’t overindulge in things then your body is less likely to rebel and none of those little cells will rebel and flip over to the dark side taking any number of its mates with it.

Hasn’t western science come a long way! We have nearly caught up with eastern scientific thinking of about 3000 (?) years ago. The Chinese have long been espousing the yin and yan of life, the striking a balance, maintaining an equilibrium. What’s more they have developed tools and techniques to assist them in this. Of course our modern scientists have condemned things like acupuncture and homeopathy, claiming that there is no scientific reason why they should work like they are claimed to, so therefore they mustn’t work.

One of the key strains to much of what we do and much of what we dicuss in BCLC is about maintaining balance in life. This is no coincidence. We all know the feeling of over doing it a bit on whatever is out favoured vice, but we also know the pleasure that can bring as well and as long as we strive to get the balance right then, I believe, we have more chance of a fuller and (hopefully) longer lasting life.

I’m so bored with the USA

Well I just got back and I wish i’d never been now(”where d’ya go?”). Actually that isn’t strictly speaking 100% true. I have just got back from America, but I am quite glad that I went. I didn’t want to go but then that is another story. I won’t bore you with the reasons for my trip, mostly business but I did get the chance to have a few drinks (I believe they say ‘party’) with some people along the way so it wasn’t all work.

I did spend some time speaking with what can only be described as the ‘religious right wing’ although to look at them you would never think so. Here were 2 young people (19 and 23) who were an item (though abstaining until marriage from doing the dirty deed) and who both held views I would normally ascribe to someone twice or three times their age. What’s worse it is people like these who hold the the destiny of the free world in their hands.

The pro-life lobby could quite easily get to decide who gets in the white house at the next US election. That’s right, what is ostensibly a group of religious fanatics will determine who gets to send their armies out to fight, well, religious fanatics. What century are we living in? Is this the utopian democracy that Bush feels compelled to force into places like Iran and Iraq to stop the people being oppressed by… err religious fanatics (there it is again)?

I am, and always will be, pro-life. But not like these people, not putting the rights of an unborn child over those of a fully formed human being. Abortion is not pleasant but it happens and it happens for a reason and most of the time that is a good reason and it is not entered into lightly

Apparently, according to the pro-lifers, only God can chose in matters of life and death. Well I reckon that God made his choice when he gave us free will and it is up to us to use that freedom for the good of everyone, both alive and yet to be alive. That means we have to make tough choices, like when to have a baby and when not, like the grown up, free thinking beings God made us to be.

It’s all over now baby blue

I do try to sometimes just watch the telly without thinking of metaphors for the demise of the church. Last night I watched the BBC4 Arena programme featuring Bob Dylans 3 appearances at the Newport folk festival. As a massive Dylan fan this was quite a treat. I had read many times about these concerts and to see them in such good condition was thrilling.

Dylan was indeed a musical genius, always one step ahead of those around him. When Medger Evers was killed by a white rascist in the early 60s there was a plethora of songs written about the victim, Dylan chose to see it from the killers side, declaring that he too was a victim of a system that was in white folks interests to maintain at any cost.

He was loved at Newport, he was their hero, championing a musical movement that prior to this time had the likes of Peter Paul and Mary singing ancient English songs about outlaws being hanged or Pete Seegers lamenting the plight of the negro in the 19th century slave industry.

Dylan made it cool to be a folky.

And then he plugged his guitar in and started protesting in different ways about different things and how did they treat him? What support did they give the man who had for all intents and purposes was American Folk music? None. They booed him off the stage until he came back with his acoustic guitar, seemingly humbled back into the Dylan they wanted to see. But this was a different Dylan, one who had moved on and was not going back.

“…the vagabond who’s rapping at your door,

is standing in the clothes that you once wore.

Strike another match go start a new.

And it’s all over now baby blue”

Priceless