notthatstratford

You what?!

2007-10-30T22:13:00.000-07:00

I've now had three weeks worth of Systematic Theology seminars and I've yet to understand a flamin' thing?! Questions abound - not least will I ever get it?!

After all, 'was Origen's hermenteutical use of allegorical writing really non-esoteric?'

Or is it really 'a false dichotomy or overly simplistic to polarise Pseudo-Dionysius's apophatic and catophatic assertions?' Is it 'an either or or both?'

Still it could be worse. I mean I could find that what I've got to read - in order to understand what on earth is going on in the 'classroom' - was similarly opaque...

Exhibit 'A' (taken from the Mr Dionysius' gripping Mystical Theology - essential course reading!)

'But now as we climb from the last things up to the most primary we deny all things so that we may unhiddenly know that unknowing which itself is hidden from all those possessed of knowing amid all beings, so that we may see above being that darknes concealed from all the light among beings.'

Ah, of course, that clears things up nicely - I couldn't agree more?!

Is there no end to a mother's love?

2007-10-25T23:44:00.000-07:00

Apparently not!

At least not when your boys are sniffing and snorting they're way through thick colds. The above picture represents the seemingly bounldess love Lisa has for Joshua and Daniel as she lovingly employs the 'snot sucker' to relieve they're breathing.

I love my boys, but....?!

Overly competitive?

2007-10-18T15:23:00.000-07:00

Without doubt, one of the most recurring questions we've faced over the last two and a half years we've been in Stratford is why we're here - and specifically 'why have [you] moved to Stratford?' Inevitably the enquiry is laced with disbelief!

Given the result of a recent 'survey' and the fact that most people who can, move out, their incredulity would seem justified. According to the poll, Newham (the borough in which Stratford is located) is the 'third worst place to live in Britain'! Apparently we [Newham] 'have to face lots of challenges. Health, unemployment, crime and teenage pregnancy levels are alarming. It has many of the downsides of living in London and few of the benefits – except the kind you get off the social.' Nice!

I guess I haven't completely died to my competitive streak becasue I wanted to know who'd 'beaten us'?!

What's more, Chelmsford (our former home) was judged to be the 8th best place to live(!) - that's some 'downward' spiral! However well versed our answer is to the question 'why Stratford?' the real answer will come down to what God does through us in a place we call 'home'.

[Things could be worse - we could live in Middlesborough - apparently the worst place to live in Britain?!] Maybe Newham will 'win' next year.

Thursday nights...

2007-10-18T14:59:00.000-07:00

...I love Thursday nights. They're always so simple. Youth Club - Question Time - a milky coffee and some biscuits (although tonight was some home-made banana loaf!)! I am a simple man after all.

I've always been one of those strange people who enjoys the verbal cut and thrust of Mr Dimbleby and his weekly panel. I guess because I want to hear what people have got to say - what answers they've got. of course it's often a frustrating experience as politicians are notoriously evasive when it comes to answers?!

But I don't mind so much - more often than not it's just as interesting to hear the questions!

But then it's not just Question Time - life recently has been more about questions than answers. Maybe that's one of the reasons I've not been blogging so much - I've got no answers to 'share'. Then two things hit me - I might not be alone - and questions might not be a bad place to start anyway!

I vaguely remember some Rabbi saying that 'God is the question, our lives are the answer' - I liked that. I still do. And if God is 'the question' that can't be a bad place to start.

How?!

2007-10-08T11:41:00.001-07:00

Thanks go to Mrs Parker for sharing this upon my 'Wall of fun'.

For my mother-in-law

2007-10-07T22:14:00.000-07:00

[more to follow - honest!]

It's been a while!

2007-10-07T22:03:00.000-07:00

Too many plates to spin or a spinner who’s not up to it(?), either way it’s been seventy-seven days since last I ‘blogged’ about anything.

Since when… the Salvation Army have bought a house for us to live in. We finally(!) had a dedication (Christening) for Joshua and Daniel. I (briefly) lost my life to Facebook! I had a great week at InTouch (the Army’s sportsweek for 8-12 year olds). I entered my 33rd year and received a card from my Gran ‘to her nephew’?! My Dad turned 60 which gave us an excuse to throw a surprise ‘This Is Your Life’ celebration. His oldest grandson had his second birthday. We found dry-rot in the Army’s new ‘investment’! I lost another pint of blood (voluntarily I should add). I took part in my first protest (much to my father’s displeasure!). I’ve gone back to university – Kings College London this time. Joshua's started using the toilet and gone into a proper bed! I've been to my first Chinese wedding and last Sunday married my cousin (to her husband obviously!) – one less Hanover in the world! And we’ve just had another great week in Scotland (where I nearly climbed my first ‘Munro’). Throughout it all Daniel hasn’t slept much!

A perfect parenting metaphor?

2007-07-22T07:34:00.000-07:00

Apparently there is a common reason why people who drown in rivers do so - they get caught between two opposing currents, one going downstream, one going upstream. Now if this ever happens to you the perceived wisdom is that you should let yourself sink to the bottom and let the downstream current carry you away from the rapids before you try to come up for air?!

So there you have it, a perfect metaphor for parenting: sink, so you don't drown! As the Borg in Star Trek would say 'resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!'

As parents of two wonderfully full-time boys(!) we have no choice but to surrender to the madness!

Bottom line: as hard as it is now having two little dictators, when we're 80, sorry when I am 80 (Lisa will be 81!), we're not going to regret our 50 year old sons! I mean, am I going to wish that I played more golf, run more, or played more with the boys? Am I going to wish that I worked more, or spent time with my family?

Where is that white flag?!

Soooooo cool!

2007-07-17T23:57:00.000-07:00

Things I've learnt (been reminded of) in the last fourteen days

2007-07-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

1. A baby oyster is called a 'spat'.

2. I really love cycling.

3. We've got some crackin' friends.

3. A group of hippopotamuses is called a 'bloat'.

4. I've got a great family.

My Aunt Ann cooks a cracking cooked breakfast (but so does Lisa I add without hesitation to avoid any claims of unfavourable comparison!) while much appreciation heads to my cousins (who we unfortunately only see infrequently) and their spouses/family for the time taken to pop in and to garner some Infacol from 'somewhere' as Daniel threatened to blow!

5. Scotland is one beautiful (if rather wet) country!

It's fair to say that Lisa was hard pushed to tell the difference between summer in Scotland and autumn or winter!

6. Holidaying with two young boys doesn't always feel like a holiday?!

The shepherds cottage in the middle of nowhere would've been cracking if it was just Lisa and I, but when there are four of you in a two roomed 'house', you're all sleeping in one room and one of the four spends a large proportion of his time crying at full throttle (and it wasn't me!) then a time of relaxation is not always readily attainable! That said, it was beautiful and Joshua does look great (courtesy of generous, breakfast cooking Aunt)in his little 'wetsuit'!

Home Sweet Home!

2007-06-30T23:23:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, in fact it's been too long, and a man's got limits you know?! So that's it, I'm off to Scotland to get myself a black pudding supper with a proper glass bottle of Irn Bru if my lucks in! There's also a wee bit of work to be done and some family and friends to be visited, but there is definitely a battered bit of sheep's blood with ma name on it!

I'm not sure about the High Road or the Low Road, but whatever road wur t' tak, we'll be taking it for the next 3 days(!) with two bairns in the back! Joy of joys!

From Friday onwards we will mostly be found here, in this shepherd's cottage, that is, if we find it of course!

16 (ish)

2007-06-29T21:26:00.000-07:00

The number of miles Joshua and I have cycled together (in between the showers!) since fixing up his new chair!

And boy does he like his helmet!

Unbelievable?!

2007-06-17T12:03:00.000-07:00

Along with the boys, Lisa has been visiting her Mum and Nan for the last couple of days in an effort to enable me to get on with a fair bit of prep. that's needed to be done - and by and large I've got through it. But then this morning on the phone Lisa commented that she knew I'd been watching The West Wing! How would she know such a thing? Has she employed one of these 'detective people' to make sure I get on with stuff?! How much of a procrastinator does she think I am? (Actually let's not go there!!) Are there cameras dotted around the flat?! Well, thankfully not, it turns out she read my blog and deduced, Poirot-esque, that recent quotes meant recent watching!

Well look what else I've been doing (Lisa!)... I've been reading the chapter in the book you left for me 'Baby-proofing your marriage'.

All joking aside it's a good read with a good mix of shared experience and humour. I'd certainly recommend it to anyone with little terrorists (sorry children!), or those thinking of having children, in fact it may become a common gift from the Hanover household.

I wouldn't want to put anyone off, but be warned...

'If a first baby is a hand grenade thrown at a marriage, then a newborn and a toddler are a full-frontal assault, complete with machine guns, heat-seeking missiles, and stealth bombers.'

because...

'when you have one child, one parent parents while the other does his or her own thing. With the additional demands of more children, it gets harder to carve out any 'me time'. Not having time to recharge and feed your sense of self is, for many, the real challenge of adjusting to having more kids. Personal time is like a search for the Fountain of Youth, or the Seven Wonders of the World. It's like winning the lottery.'

The problem being...

'that when we lose the 'joie de vivre' activities we get emotionally and physically drained. What is left over, we usually give to our kids first. When our internal reserves are low, our threshold for dealing with our spouse's annoying quirks (what quirks?!) also gets dangerously low. At times, we circle each other like wolves, ready to fight over the scraps of free time that do exist.'

And then...

'When you do get to talk, 90% of the time you talk about the kids. While those conversations are necessary, when we relate to each other only as whoever's parents, it becomes pretty hard to keep the spark alive.'

Thankfully the writers don't only make plain the harsh realities, they draw upon their own experiences to suggest 'survival techniques and strategies'! Which I'll share shortly.

More West Wing Wisdom

2007-06-16T22:48:00.000-07:00

'A nation reveals itself not only by the men in produces, but also by the men it honours.'

Not one of Josiah Bartlett's, the credit goes to John F. Kennedy

The Provocative 'Art of life'?

2007-06-14T12:40:00.000-07:00

In Simon Schama's wonderful book 'The Power of Art' the abstract expressionist artist Mark Rothko is quoted, critiquing the developing art world of his day and the lot of artists within it...

'When I was a younger man, art was a lonely thing. No galleries, no collectors... no critics. No money.

Yet it was a golden age. For we all had nothing to lose - and a vision to gain.

Today it is not quite the same. It is a time of verbage. Activity, and consumption.

Which condition is better for the world at large? I will not venture to discuss. But I do know that many of those who are driven to this life are desperately searching for those pockets of silence where we can root and grow.

We must all hope we find them.'

Not everyone connects with his art but his critique of the artistic millieu of his day would surely extend to society at large, including our own.

Like Rothko I reckon there are many people in our community yearning for opportunities, space to 'root and grow'.
As Rothko does, I can't help doubting that incessant activity and noise do not readily encourage 'pockets of silence'.
Yet I share Rothko's hope that we will encounter moments where we can 'be still and know'.

The challenge remains for us all individually and corporately for those who gather as church.

The challenge, as it was for the artistically provocative Rothko before us, is to discover how, amongst the hustle and bustle of 21st century living, to express distinct, yet viable alternative ways of living.

Love it or hate Rothko's work always produced a reaction, a response. Surely our lives must do likewise. After all, 'unless there is something about church, or Christians, or Christian faith that intrigues, provokes or entices, then all the evangelism in the world will fall on deaf ears. If churches cannot conyey a sense of ‘reality’ then all our ‘truth’ will count for nothing. Unless someone wants to hear, there’s no point in shouting louder. Churches need to become provocative, arresting places which make the searcher, the casual visitor, want to come back for more.' [Graham Tomlin, The Provocative Church]

Two big decisions!

2007-06-11T05:43:00.000-07:00

'Making the decision to have a child - it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body.'

Elizabeth Stone

[Elizabeth doesn't mention that your heart is likely to be sleep-walking outside your body as your eldest son might not realise that 5am is not the best time to get up!]

William Booth : the dog-shooting Hammer! (a.k.a 'The Founder')

2007-06-07T17:59:00.000-07:00

Over the years much has been written about William Booth, the humble pawnbroker who began The Salvation Army. The sycophants have attempted to embelish and beatify while others have endeavoured to strip away the myths from the man. Either way, 'you pays your money and you gets what you gets!'

[I'd recommend Roy Hattersleys effort - a chunky read, but it's worth the effort.]

Actually one of the things that has stuck in my mind since reading Hattersley's account a few years back is the story of the ill-fated Booth family dog! It had been shot on William's orders after it had snapped at a servant (a 'SERVANT' is how it would appear on the vidi-printer!) who scolded it for leaping at bed linen which she was hanging out to dry. The dog was shot in haste and William Booth apparently regretted his decision when he realised that his children were heartbroken (strange that!). Eve a man of action, he decided, in an attemot to ease their pain, to retrieve the carcass and have the pelt made into a rug! Yet when they reacted with hysteria rather than thanks, he was 'bewildered by their lack of gratitude'!!! (clearly a gifted children's worker!)

Anyway, as far as I'm aware despite the blood and sweat of many a scholarly work few have shared the 'dog-shooting-story(!) and none have shed sufficient light on the really big issue that many of us want answered....

....which football team did he support? There's no denying that this is the nut we all want to crack?!

Hailing originally from Nottingham you might think it would be a straight choice between County or Forest, but apparently not!

It turns out that the man who made his name reaching the poverty-stricken masses in London's East End actually shared their footballing passion, because as this recently taken photo confirms, he was a Hammer!

It helps to have 'friends in high places' when your local team is fielding ineligible players!

Really?!

2007-06-05T07:33:00.000-07:00

According to the IOC president Jacque Rogge it's "a truly innovative brand logo that graphically captures the essence of the London 2012 Olympic Games - namely to inspire young people around the world through sport and the Olympic values."

Seriously?

While Tony Blair reckons "when people see the new brand, we want them to be inspired to make a positive change in their life."

Really? And this is going to do that? This is going to 'inspire' the masses?

Reportedly costing £400,000 to 'develop' one London 2012 spokeswomen claimed "it has a movement to it and it will evolve and change" - so hopefully if may yet 'evolve and change (completely?) into something else!

Mind you perhaps the logo accurately represents Stratford at the moment - a place of evolution and change (glorified building site would work just as well!). Work is well underway, but you still need a furtive imagination to envision the Olympic stadium rising from where this elegant electricity pillon currently resides!

Better late than never?

2007-06-03T19:37:00.000-07:00

Fashionable or not, I've recently felt like I've arrived rather late for a number of 'parties':

1. Ebay - obviously I've been aware of it over the last couple of years(!) but I've only just started to 'interact'! Which isn't completely without peril, I mean any site with this much Lego is a dangerous thing for an overgrown 8 year old!

2. The work of Rufus Wainwright. I guess someone Elton John describes as the 'best songwriter in the world' is hardly a 'find', but until a friend recently introduced me to him I was none the wiser. Last week I bought his latest album 'Release the Stars', I use the word advisedly, but it's fantastic - pure class. Buy it and hear it, no, experience it for yourself!

3. Peep Show - A show with 3 series behind it is not exactly a breaking story, but a hastily purchased DVD box set is addressing our tardy appreciation. Bizarrely Peep Show is proving rather enriching for married life because while it's not unusual that Lisa and I laugh at the same stuff, it is pretty rare that we do so with the same enthusiasm! (Are we alone here?) So the fact that Lisa insists that I 'pause it' when she leaves the room is uncommonly new territory! It would appear that we love it in equal measure - rare indeed! Admittedly I think Lisa hates the fact that she like it, but a reluctantly shared passion is a shared passion nonetheless!

NB: one party I'm not looking to attend anytime soon, no matter how many 'friends' invite me.... is Super Malt - an acquired taste I have no inclination to acquire! (if you're not sure what it is I wouldn't worry!)

It's our anniversary!

2007-05-31T07:01:00.000-07:00

Taken from Kahlil Gibran's 'The Prophet' the following was read by our good friend Richard Bradbury ('The Big Man') shortly after 3pm on this very day 5 years ago...

Then Almitra spoke again and said...
"And what of Marriage, master?"
And he answered saying:

You were born together,
and together you shall be forevermore.

You shall be together
when the white wings of death scatter your days.

Aye, you shall be together
even in the silent memory of God.

But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love.
Let it rather be a moving sea
between the shores of your souls.

Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread
but eat not from the same loaf.

Sing and dance together and be joyous,
but let each of you be alone,

Even as the strings of a lute are alone
though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.

And stand together, yet not too near together.
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,

And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

A fine day was had by all, but an even finer five years have flown by since - I love my wife!

Freedom for the captives?

2007-05-30T07:06:00.000-07:00

At the moment, thanks to my friends at charliechikankata, I'm reading 'The Shackled Continent' - an enlightening if uncomfortable read. Recognising that Africa is the only continent to have grown poorer over the last three decades Robert Guest seeks to diagnose the sickness that conitnues to hobble Africa's development.

Geography, colonialism, poverty, AIDS and the prevelance of disease, power-thirsty tyrants, bad governance, poor aid, unfair, and iniquitous trade restrictions amongst other things are all examined and critiqued:

'[The] problem with blaming the legacy of colonialism for Africa's current woes is that it gives little clue as to how these woes could be ended. history, like geography, cannot be changed. Grieving for past wrongs is natural and human, but it can also provide an excuse for despair. If today's problems are the fault of the West, the obvious thing to do is demand that the West should solve them. The trouble with this approach is twofold. Firstly, today Westerners do not feel particularly guilty about the sins of dead people who happened to come from the same country. Secondly, efforts by rich countries to solve Africa's problems have, over the last few decades, been spectacularly unsuccessful. Put differently, countries that prosper tend to do so by their own efforts.'

Grieving for past wrongs is natural and human, but it can also provide an excuse for despair.

Having spent time in this wonderful continent and with many African friends I'm finding Guest's book a shockingly stark and painful book to read, but there are stories of hope as well. Uganda's success in curbing the spread of AIDS, Botswana's peaceful prosperity and the continent's economic engine, South Africa, avoiding a full-blown civil war.

Guest's own question is 'how can Africa keep pace with a world that won't slow down?'

[Funnily enough, as parents of two small boys who show no signs of 'slowing down' (or sleeping!) Lisa and I have been asking a similar question?!]

The unlikely hope of an 'impossible' peace?

2007-05-28T19:31:00.000-07:00

A couple of things I've read today seem to be suggesting the same thing.

According to Charles Ringma:

'Hope can be born in the seemingly most impossible of situations. Hope does not need hopeful circumstances to raise a vision for a better future. Hope can be born in the most humble circumstances. It can spring up in the most unlikely places. And frequently, it is possessed by the most unlikely people. Hope frequently eludes the rich and powerful. It often makes it's home with the poor and needy'

While in Robert Guest's 'The Shackled Continent' I came across a story that adds surprising weight to Ringma's thoughts.

'In the early 1990s, two religious terrorists in Nigeria, Muhammad Ashafa and James Wuye, tried to have each other killed. It was during a burst of religious rioting for which Mr Ashafa blamed the Christian parliamentary group led by Mr Wuye, and Mr Wuye blamed Mr Ashafa' Muslim youth organisation. Christian assassins knocked on Mr Ashafa's door and killed the man who answered it. Their victim, as it happened, was Mr Ashafa's uncle. But they did not realize this. Meanwhile, Muslim assassins attacked Mr Wuye, hacked his arm off, and left him for dead.

Both men believed they had killed the other. When they later discovered that they had not, they took it as a sign from God that they should make peace. So they set up a joint charity to promote dialogue between Muslism and Christians. Now passionately committed to encouraging people of faith to live in harmony, Mr Wuye and Mr Ashafa are now the best of friends'(!).

An unlikely hope? Well, as likely as 'Christian assassins'!

The Good(est) News!

2007-05-25T20:33:00.000-07:00

If the angel Gabriel had phoned himself it would not have been any more exciting than the call we got this week.

It's perhaps been a while since adjectives such as angelic and cherubic have been applied to my little brother - Weeman, but the lack of a heavenly choir or trumpeting seraphim did nothing to diminish the gospel he proclaimed!

Sometime at the start of December Joshua and Daniel are getting a cousin! And Lisa and I are getting our first neice or a nephew!
In other words, Simon and Katie are having a baby!! And we can't wait... largely because we want to see how the new arrival is accommodated in the back of an Alfa Romeo sportscar!

Transporting conundrums aside it's fair to say we're well excited!

[It looks like he or she has a touch of the Jonny Wilkinsons?!]

God's gift

2007-05-23T22:20:00.000-07:00

'You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.'~Desmond Tutu

Well done Wee-man! (and Katie)

2007-05-21T09:05:00.000-07:00

Mark Twain apparently reckoned marriage...

'Makes of two fractional lives a whole;
It gives to two purposeless lives a work
And doubles the strength of each to perform it
It gives to two questioning natures a reason for living,
And something to live for;
It will give a new gladness to the sunshine,
A new fragrance to the flowers,
A new beauty to the earth,
And a new mystery to life.'

Which is why we're really chuffed that today my brother (afore mentioned 'Weeman' a.k.a. Simon!) and his wife celebrate one year of 'purpose'!

The soundtrack of our lives!

2007-05-18T20:13:00.000-07:00

Ask anyone (any parent that is!) and they'll tell you that having kids involves sacrifice. Some might say it's all about sacrifice, but that would be harsh! But whether it's your sleep, your money or your sanity I reckon little people (and I don't mean Oompah Loompahs?!) can seriously rob you of it all! But let me add, very quickly, it's all worth it!!

That said, one of the things that we don't seem to do as much (although Lisa will probably try to deny this!) now that we have two 'little people' is buy music. Not sheet music, but recorded music! Which means my wish-list grows by the day! Currently I'm fighting the temptation to 'invest' in some Bob Dylan, Ray LaMontagne and Rufus Wainwright!

Yet without knowing it, certainly without asking for it, it would appear our lives have acquired a new 'soundtrack'. Although far from original and not a little repetitive our household currently seems to be filled by 'Tears and Tantrums' the latest offering from the as yet undiscovered 'Joshua James'!

I'm left wondering (hoping?!) whether or not other parents of young children have a similar soundtrack endlessly looping, albeit by different artists?!

Legacy?

2007-05-15T19:40:00.000-07:00

Will it be the conflict in Iraq or peace in Northern Ireland? How will Tony Blair be remembered? What will his 'legacy' be? It would seem that for some this question is becoming all-consuming - it's all about legacy!

Which I guess is a human enough concern - how will any of us be 'remembered'? What will we 'leave behind'? I would certainly admit to wondering from time to time what my 'legacy' might be as a parent, a husband, a friend or even as an Officer?

Which is why I was encouraged when I came across Oscar Romero's poem 'Prophets Of A Future Not Our Own' (after all Archbishop Romero's legacy was fairly weighty!)...

This is what we are about:
We plant seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for God's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders,
ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.

I wonder if Tony has ever come across Mr Romero?

What's in a name?

2007-05-13T20:42:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately 'Philo' and 'Thistle' didn't get a look in again, nor did Caleb (a definite possibility for a while) or Doren, but there's always next time(!). Actually I'm not sure there will be?!

Still, as with his brother before him, when considering the not insignificant responsibility of naming our son, we knew wanted a biblical name, ideally with a meaning we liked and a character that we admired and wouldn't mind our son emulating! Hence...

Daniel (of Hebrew origin) meaning: 'my judge is the Lord'.

We can only hope and pray that Daniel will come to share his namesakes' quiet convictions - I mean, he even had a song written about him...

Standing by a purpose true,
Heeding God’s command,
Honour them, the faithful few!
All hail to Daniel’s band!

Dare to be a Daniel,
Dare to stand alone!
Dare to have a purpose firm!
Dare to make it known.

Many mighty men are lost
Daring not to stand,
Who for God had been a host
By joining Daniel’s band.

Many giants, great and tall,
Stalking through the land,
Headlong to the earth would fall,
If met by Daniel’s band.

Hold the Gospel banner high!
On to vict’ry grand!
Satan and his hosts defy,
And shout for Daniel’s band.

As for his middle name? Perhaps 'Thomas' isn't such an obviously positive choice. It's fair to say that people are less likely to readily acknowledge Thomas' positive attributes. I mean, he was a bit of a doubter wasn't he?!

Rather ironically (for a variety of reasons), even the night before Daniel was born we found ourselves literally doubting 'Thomas' was the name for us! But we reckon it is (Lisa certainly knew it was when I started suggesting Doren as an alternative - she's so square!). But we reckon it is because after all his mum and dad have been known to question a few things?!

The Thomas of the New Testament may have 'doubted', but his doubts had a purpose - he wanted to know the truth (and you can't knock him for that). His questioning was a way of responding to his own faith journey , but they weren't a way of life.

So, what's in a name? If his parents prayers are answered and our hopes realised then Daniel Thomas Hanover will grow as a boy and become a man known for his quiet, but steadfast convictions birthed from a healthy, inquiring faith. May God hear and answer prayer.

The Hanover Boys

2007-05-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

Without doubt one of the highlights of the last few days was when Daniel and Joshua met for the first time.

It seemed that over the last week Joshua had somehow worked out that something was afoot. He’d recently started lifting Lisa’s tops (hopefully a pastime he’ll grow out of!) to pat her tummy saying ‘baby, baby!’ And then the morning after Daniel had been born (but not yet home) when he got up, Joshua made his way from his cot to the crib we’ve put up in our room to look in saying ‘baby? baby?’ Somehow he knew things were about to change!

So when he finally met Daniel, it’s fair to say Joshua was well excited! With his incessant mantra of 'baby, baby, baby!' and his insatiable need to get as close as brotherly possible, he’s been lovely ever since – really affectionate and intrigued by this new arrival. Whether the novelty will wear off when he realises Daniel’s here to stay and competing for scarce resources, only time will tell!

the diplomacy of midwifery?!

2007-05-01T21:05:00.000-07:00

By her own admission, our midwife was rather 'backward in coming forward' to mention the fact that Daniel's hair shares the same shade of 'African Sunset' as his brother! At least they'll have company in the playground!

Just in time!

2007-05-01T20:44:00.000-07:00

I think I’m right in thinking that Japanese car manufacturers coined the phrase ‘Just in Time’ to refer to one of their preferred methods of working. But it’s fair to say that the term could easily and accurately be applied to Daniel’s earthly arrival. (Other adjectives that I would readily use would be physical, violent, intense, bloody and horrific, but I wouldn’t want to put anyone off!!)

Anyway (just in time…) we arrived at the hospital a little after 2.15pm and he ‘popped out’ (this in no way describes the intensity of what had preceded his appearance!) at 3.06pm! I was mighty relieved we hadn’t left it any later – as is the passengers seat of our car?! Enough said!

Life-changing silence!

2007-05-01T20:29:00.000-07:00

More often than not a blogging silence can be attributed to little more than a lack of focus, purpose or poor use of time, but this week things have been different. This week there's been a very real reason behind the silence…

…we’ve had another son!

Yep, a little earlier than expected Daniel Thomas Hanover entered the world on Friday 27th April at 3.06pm! For the ladies out there, he weighed in at 7lbs 1. For any metric ladies – 3.208kg!

And he is wonderful!

The London Marathon: The Great Suburban Everest!

2007-04-22T21:25:00.000-07:00

A peak that every man or woman might aspire to, just about anyone can conquer the distance, but in reality relatively few are prepared to make the effort. For those that are it almost invariably hurts - and hurts a lot!

Which isn't surprising given that during the course of 26miles, 385yards, or 42,195metres, the average runner's feet hit the ground over 30,000 times. And each step sends a shock the equivalent of 3 times your body weight through your legs, your thighs and your spine!

Bizarrely over 35,000 people (including one or two friends of ours) decided the pain was worth it and once again provided a great sporting spectacle and one of the best examples of city-life at its best in the process. Well done Jonny, Garry, Paula, Kevin and Chick! 'You ran with perseverence the race marked out for you!'

I must admit that my enjoyment of the whole thing (which has to be experienced to be believed) was a little tempered by the fact that injury had prevented me being on the other side of the barriers, but still, there's always next year?!

Forget golden, silence is dangerous!

2007-04-20T18:47:00.000-07:00

'A silent toddler is like an unexploded bomb!'

Which is why we probably should have been more aware of the imminent carnage likely to ensue as Joshua quietly amused himself in the front room recently. Sure enough on closer inspection the reason for his tacet enjoyment was the fact he had purloined some contraband - namely some baby oil - which he was liberally emptying around the room!

Still, on a more 'constructive' note, Joshua had his first visit to the dentist this week. And thankfully, he didn't need too much done?!

Unfortunately the same couldn't be said for his trip to the hairdresser - he needed taming! Exhibit 'A' (which is dedicated to my doubting mother-in-law!) demonstrates the resultant scalping!

Exhibit 'A'

Missing something?

2007-04-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday night we spent some time considering the impact of literature - all things written. As ever diverse and provocative converstion ensued centred upon the influence of the persecuted Chinese church leader Brother Yun, Martin Luther King Jnr and J.D. Sallinger. We even heard about a 'wedge-less' circle...

Once a circle missed a wedge. The circle wanted to be whole, so it went around looking for its missing piece. But because it was incomplete and therefore could roll only very slowly, it admired the flowers along the way. It chatted with worms. It enjoyed the sunshine. It found lots of different pieces, but none of them fit. So it left them all by the side of the road and kept on searching.

Then one day the circle found a piece that fit perfectly. it was so happy. now it could be whole, with nothing missing. It incorporated the missing piece into itself and began to roll. Now that it was a perfect circle, it could roll very fast, too fast to notice the flowers of talking to the worms.

When it realized how different the world seemed when it rolled so quickly, it stopped, left its found piece by the side of the road and rolled slowly away.
The lesson of the story, I suggested, was that in some strange sense we are more whole when we are missing something. The man who has everything is in some ways a poor man.

He will never know what it feels like to yearn, to hope, to nourish his soul with the dream of something better. He will never know the experience of having someone who loves him give him something he has always wanted or never had.

There is a wholeness about the person who has come to terms with his limitations, who has been brave enough to let go of his unrealistic dreams and not feel like a failure for doing so.

There is a wholeness about the man or woman who has learned that he or she is strong enough to go through a tragedy and survive, she can lose someone and still feel like a complete person.

Life is not a trap set for us by god so that he can condemn us for failing. Life is not a spelling bee, where no matter how many words you’ve got right, you’re disqualified if you make one mistake. Life is more like a baseball season, where even the best team loses one-third of its games and even the worst team has its days of brilliance. Our goal is to win more games than we lose.

When we accept that imperfection is part of being human, and when we can continue rolling through life and appreciate it, we will have achieved a wholeness that others can only aspire to. That, I believe, is what God asks of us - not to ‘be perfect’, not ‘don’t even make a mistake’, but ‘be whole.’

[Here's hoping the Texas Rangers only lose a third of their games this season now they've got Sammy Sosa sluggin' away at the Ballpark!]

A thing of beauty?

2007-04-11T20:07:00.000-07:00

We haven’t had house group tonight – which generally means that I won’t have to record The Apprentice, Desperate Housewives or Grand Designs (The only 3 programs in a week that I follow in any real sense and there’ll all on the same night. And that night happens to be house group! How’s your luck!). Anyway one way or another Wednesdays are always good nights, particularly when we do get together, share some cake and talk about life and the Creator whose idea it was in the first place.

A couple of weeks ago we each shared and spoke about a song/piece of music that had impacted us as we thought about the various ways we have experienced God through music.

From Rufus Wainwright to The Divine Comedy, from Johnny Cash to Nine Inch Nails, there was even room for the Staff Songsters! (I'm not saying who brought the 'Staff' into it, but it wasn't me!!) As eclectic as the group itself, there was little doubt that we each experienced God through music in very different, yet no less powerful, ways. But for lots of reasons I was really taken by the following track…

For those like me who are new to the song, it’s ‘Hurt’ - written by Nine Inch Nails (a new one to me?!) but performed here by Johnny Cash.

I was immediately struck by how powerfully the song (and video) communicated even before we learnt that the song was written by a guy named Trent Reznor (from this Nine Inch lot!) who struggled with depression fuelled by drug and alcohol addiction. Yet this undeniably self-destructive and dark testimony seemed to be redeemed and transformed as Country-legend and committed Christian Johnny Cash covered the track.

Indeed Trent Reznor, who had initially opposed Cash’s keeness to cover the song, on watching the video commented ‘the video he made of that song was overwhelming. When I saw it the power and the beauty of music struck me in a really profound way. I was at a point in my life when I was really unsure if I was any good or if I had anything to say. The song came out of a really ugly corner of my mind and turned into something with a frail beauty. And then several years later an icon from a completely differenr world takes the song and juxtaposes himself into it in a way that seems more powerful to me than my own version. I was flattered as an artist and as a human being they could do that with my song. And it came at a very insecure time in my life and it felt like a nudge and boost and a hug from God. It said ‘everything’s OK and the world is bigger than what’s just in my head.’

A powerful, powerful reminder that beauty can emerge from even the darkest of places. Like I said, Wednesdays are always good.

Somebody's got a new hobby

2007-04-11T19:22:00.000-07:00

For the third time in as many weeks we had someone 'experimenting' with the medium of fire at the side of our building! Thankfully eagle-eared Lisa (I'm not sure eagles are renowned for their hearing but nevermind!) heard them shuffling around outside as they splashed the petrol about! Not for the first time we were impressed and appreciative in equal measure for the prompt arrival of our fire-fighting friends.

NB: The first fire was a daytime affair lit by some bored schoolboys on their lunch-break. It's fair to say that I was glad my Dad (a Fire Officer most of his life) didn't witness my ham-fisted attempt to douse the blaze! Unfortunately a crowd from the neighbouring school did!

Meanwhile, back at home...

2007-04-09T21:10:00.000-07:00

...it's been a crackin' Easter weekend. Not least because the weather has been just peachy! Which meant that amongst other things we took a trip into town and ventured from the fountain-filled Somerset House to the tourist-thronged steps of St. Paul's and neighbouring Paternoster Square.

Things went a little pear-shaped, and not a little wet, when Joshua learnt that he does actually need at least one leg to stand on! Being the well-prepared parents that we are Joshua then headed along the Embankment with his legs stuck in the sleeves of his fleece - nice look!

Notoriously bad when it comes to 'posing' for photos Joshua seemed to prefer the look of a Romanian family who were sitting along from us on the steps of Paternoster Square. As the dad tried to arrange his family for his photographic memory of their trip to London in popped Joshua crouching down amongst the family to make sure he was right in the shot! Flamin' contrary rascal!

Actually during his foray into the Romanians he'd tried to grab one of the boys toys. Quite understandably the little boy was having none of it and jealously guarded his prize, sweet-dispensing possession. However natural his instincts were he was then chastised by his mother and instructed to give Joshua some sweets! I was tempted to make a grab for their camera and see if they offered me a tenner for my trouble!

More cultural challenges from the sub-continent

2007-04-09T20:36:00.000-07:00

While in Trivandrum we had the opportunity to worship at one of the local corps. As ever it was great to worship with other Christians from a totally different context and to be reassured that for all that makes us different there is so much more that unites us.

But I came away challenged by a couple of things.

Firstly was how British, and 1950s British at that(!) the meeting (service) was. Apart from the fact that most of it was translated you could've been forgiven for thinking we'd been transported back to the UK and back a few decades in the process! Where were the sitars?!

Secondly I was challenged as to how and when, as Christians and as a church, we are called to challenge the prevailing culture. This thought was prompted by the fcat that when we worshipped we did so seperately - men on one side and women on the other. On one level this seemed a perfectly indigenous way to approach things. Yet the briefest of experience of Indian culture suggests a male dominance that is not always helpful. Indeed it would seem that as with any 'dominance' it is often built upon, and maintained by, oppression and abuse.

And so I was left wondering whether or not this offered the church and the Salvation Army in particular a counter-cultural opportunity to model the freedom found in Christ. I was left wondering how this prevailing culture would ever be challenged and changed (if indeed it should be) if the church did not step up. Of course given the miniscule number of Christians in India it could easily be argued that they would offer an inadequate challenge, but from where else will the prompt for change come? Experience would seem to suggest that however unlikely, cultural change (Civil Rights movement in the US, the end of apartheid in South Africa, the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe) is often instigated, amongst others, by Christians.

I also recognise that it would be easy to explain it away as a cultural norm, but I'm not sure how this sits with the fact that as Christians we believe 'there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.' (Galatians 3:28)As I say, I'm left considering how and when the Church is called to challenge the world around us? History suggests that where the church fails to assume the mantle of change-agents we can often be guilty of maintaing the status quo and perpetrating societies 'cultural' injustices (I'm thinking of segregated Corps in South Africa when apartheid was alive and abusing!)

Cultural challenges from the sub-continent

2007-04-09T20:27:00.000-07:00

As in Tanzania (and I believe other African countries) it's more the 'norm' for men to hold hands in public. Thankfully, having already experienced this cultural difference in East Africa I wasn't as shocked as I perhaps could've been when one of my new Indian friends casually clasped my hand(!) as we headed for a local community the Salvation Army having been working in over the last 10 years. All told, by the end of the day I'd held hands with 4 men! They're very promiscuous hand-holders on the sub-continent!

Indian memories

2007-04-09T20:23:00.000-07:00

Be careful who you have lunch with!

2007-04-09T20:00:00.000-07:00

'Interupted silence' would probably be a better title for this blog at times! Weeks of 'nothing' punctuated by sporadic bursts of 'activity'. But there has at least been a reason (of sorts).

Last week saw us return from a week away and then Easter has been fairly important(!) and the contrasting 'flavours' of business and stillness have each stymied the intermitent eagerness to 'journal'! Still what use is a memory if we don't use it?! So rather belatedly I'm mentioning the fact that since I last blogged I've been fortunate enough to travel to Trivandrum (which is not, as my brother assumed a village in Wales or Norway!) in Kerala State, south-west India!

Bizarre I know as I hadn't mention the prospect of travelling four and half thousand miles around the world, but there was a reason for that.... I didn't know!

Long story short a lunch with some colleagues from the Salvation Army's International Headquarters and a casual reference to an imminent coneference on 'integrated mission' led to a last-minute invite, a hastily arranged visa and a couple of sore arms! Within 7 days I was in India meeting with folk who work for the Salvation Army in every continent in the world. It perhaps goes without saying, but it was a great experience. All told I was in India for 5 days (yeh, it brings a new meaning to a long-weekend!) so it only really afforded a glimpse of an incredible country and as ever it left me wanting more, but it wasn't without it's challenges.

While not my first visit to a developing country it was my first since becoming a father and I can't say that that helps! Rightly or wrongly every child represented my own and reminded me, painfully, what a mess we've made of the world. But perhaps that's why it was encouraging to be with a group of people who in their own diverse contexts were attempting to provide solutions and to meet the needs around them in very unique and creative ways. It was one of those times when you're proud to be part of The Salvation Army.

One to read

2007-03-20T07:18:00.000-07:00

The Book Thief

Quality, quality book! For me, what some have labelled 'Harry Potter and the Holocaust' (don't be put off!), would happily sit alongside 'The Kite Runner' or Philip Roth's 'The Human Stain'. Beautifully crafted, it's a novel that constantly provokes the thoughts and stimulates the emotions.

Narrated by 'Death' it's a rather unique book that takes some getting into, but it's well worth the effort. As one reviwer put it 'it's a book that bestows a self-congratulatory glow upon anyone willing to grapple with it.' With an element of the fanciful it celebrates the power of language as it deplores human misery.

Unusual as the concept is, the book's narrator (death) seems sorry for what he has to do. "To me, war is like the new boss who expects the impossible," he confides, on one of many occasions when he campaigns to win the readers' approval. While on another occasion he says "You see?" when referring to the demise of one of the book's best-liked characters. "Even death has a heart."

Buy it, borrow it, or do what I did and get it out of the library - whatever you do, if you get the chance - read it!

How very dare we!

2007-03-18T19:04:00.000-07:00

It would seem we owe the people of Startford and in particular the churches of Stratford, an apology! Quite unknowingly we are guilty of ‘rude planting’! For which we say ‘sorry’.

At the recent Crucible weekend Stuart Murray explained that wherever possible ‘rude church planting’ should be avoided. How or what is rude church planting? Simply put, it is planting that takes place without properly consulting the churches and other agencies that already exist and work in a given community. It’s planting that in effect barges in and plonks itself down. It’s planting that inadvertently fails to respect the work of those who are already investing locally. It’s planting that at best is a little naive and at worst smacks of arrogance – and it’s downright rude!!

So while we would be reluctant to shoulder the full responsibility for the rudeness of our inherited planting ‘strategy’ we apologise nonetheless!

It’s church Jim, but not as we know it?!

2007-03-13T08:05:00.000-07:00

Sunday saw the beginning of an experiment, a journey into the unknown.

Since arriving in Stratford we’ve been very aware that in many ways the last thing the borough needs is another church(!). Actually that’s not quite true. The last thing the borough needs is another congregational, building-based, programme-driven church! You only have to walk 200 yards to pass the ‘Redeemed Calvary Congregation’ the ‘Very Redeemed Calvary Temple for the Nations’ or the ‘Truly Redeemed Calvary Tabernacle to Infinite and Beyond’! You get the point, there’s no shortage of ‘churches’.

But we’re convinced that there’s plenty of room for different types, different expressions of church, of Christian community. Since we’ve always felt that we have been sent to Stratford to meet and engage with those who haven’t already connected with church it would seem rather foolish to come in and just ‘do’ what everyone else is already doing! Foolish, but not unheard of!

Thankfully, in a confirming kind of way, we’ve met one or two new friends locally with similar convictions and so together we’re beginning an experiment to discover what church, Christian community, family might look like within the hectic and messy reality of modern urban life.

We don’t know what will happen, or where it will all end up, but we recognise that for many, particularly those with young children (word of testimony here!), the orthodox way of doing (or being?) church is not always helpful and so we’re looking to use gathered family meals as a base for sharing – sharing that’s meaningful and engaging however young or old we are. As we meet, eat and share we hope that Jesus-talk will permeate our time together be that for Sunday lunch, Saturday breakfast or a picnic in the park.

Having had plenty of experience of Sundays being the most stressful day of the week(?!) I guess we’re looking to see how ‘life-shaped’ our ‘church’ can be. And so our ‘search’ has begun, we’ve embarked on our journey and Sunday was great! Really good. I mean I’ve not met many people who come out of a five hour service saying they loved every minute!

Naked Bicycle People Power!

2007-03-10T14:46:00.000-08:00

On Thursday this week we were encouraged to ‘celebrate the collective power of women past, present and future’ on International Women’s Day - something I was more than happy to do!

But as yet I've heard little enthusiasm for today's 'commemorative campaign' - the World Naked Bike Ride! Yep, today across the world we are invited to 'experience the naked joy of the worlds largest naked protest'.

So, in the same way that Christians and churches around the world enthusistically participate in celebrating the role and contribution of women, I'm keen to know how many off us will, in solidarity, strip-off and join the 'protest against oil dependency and car culture in the history of humanity.' After all, as the accompanying web-site declares isn't it 'time to stop indecent exposure to automobile emissions and to celebrate the power and individuality of our bodies!'

BTW: if you're concerned that March is a little chilly for such protestations I'm reliably informed there are two more dates planned for June!

The Language of success?

2007-03-10T08:32:00.000-08:00

As people experimenting with new ways of being church and engaging in community ministry we are constantly asking what ‘success’ will or should look like – in effect how do you measure the effectiveness of what we are doing – in Kingdom terms?

As I caught up with a very good friend the other day I was encouraged to be reminded we’re not the only ones.

Jon is a quality guy, a good friend and a great youth worker. But his youth work, like most of our ministry, isn’t building based, it’s out on the streets and in the community. As such some of the ‘old’ measurements of ‘success’ don’t work. But Jon is learning a new ‘language of success’. He’s looking beyond ‘bums on streets’ or ‘bodies through the doors’.

He may not see an influx of Junior or Senior soldiers, he may not have a group to take to the Youth Rally, but as relationships have developed over the last year (thanks to his sports outreach) he celebrates the fact that conversations about sexual promiscuity and drug use flow naturally as they walk home together. And he questions the ‘coincidence’ that last year was the first year he can remember when the hall wasn’t egged at Halloween or attacked with fireworks on Bonfire night.

Actually he doesn’t question it – he knows that however loosely, the guys he’s connecting with consider themselves part of the Salvation Army – they haven’t signed any bits of paper, they probably never will, and they will rarely (if ever) use the building, but why would they attack or vandalise ‘their own’? This new-found sense of ownership flows from a sense of belonging that has been developed through relationships forged over time (these things rarely happen quickly) on their own terms, on their own patch (largely on a football pitch).

It may be hard to measure or account for (how do you measure a sense of ownership? Or belonging? How do determine if a relationship is getting stronger?). It may be hard to tick a box to say that what Jon is up to every Monday and Tuesday evening is working, but the problem of language or methodology should not deter us from recognising ‘success’ when and wherever God is at work.

Oh, what a perfect day!

2007-03-08T22:35:00.000-08:00

Thursdays are good days.
At least they usually are.
But not always as good as today!

Having spent a great morning with a group of 'Little Acorns' (our parent and toddlers group) and their accompanying parents we headed off to enjoy a gloriously bright and warm Spring day as we met a great friend for lunch. Then Joshua had a chance to terrorise the tourists and pigeons that gathered in Trafalgar Square before we headed home and I got set for Youth Club, which, as ever was 3 hours well spent.

I love Thursdays.
I love London.
I love the Jubilee Line.
I love my wife.
I love my son.
I love my friends.
And I'm also quite partial to a Pizza Hut buffet lunch!

Big up Cando Bradbury!!

2007-03-07T20:12:00.000-08:00

I'm not generally in the habit of biggin' up Candidates for Officership, but Cando Bradbury is no ordinary girl - her Candidature(!) is but a small slice of this unique creature! Besides which I really only want to sign-post folk to her life-loving blog - any woman who can wear odd shoes to a funeral has got to be worth reading! And you can do that here

Serre 2007

2007-03-07T12:45:00.001-08:00

Back in January me, some mates and my brother were lovingly sent (by our wonderful wives!) to the South of France in search of the ever elusive white stuff (and we're not talking about milk!).

Thankfully for us God blessed us with enough snow for a great week. The company was crackin' and the food phenomenal! If you're looking for a skiing resort with plenty of runs, atmosphere, but without coach loads of Brits - you'd do a lot worse than Serre Chevalier. I can't wait to take Lisa, Joshua and his brother!

It’s easily done!

2007-03-07T11:51:00.000-08:00

‘Diesel, diesel, diesel!’

After 18 months you’d think I’d know that our car is a diesel and therefore isn’t best pleased when I ‘feed’ it unleaded!

So you’d think!

(I wonder if I can pin it on Tesco!)

‘There’s nowt as queer as folk!’

2007-03-06T19:43:00.000-08:00

For better or worse, the single best thing about what we’re doing in Stratford, are the people we meet. There’s rarely a day goes past without an intriguing conversation or a chance encounter with people we barely know or those we are getting to know as we journey together. Today was no different.

When Trevor called he introduced himself as an ‘evangelist watchman’ with something to ‘share’. While intrigued I was hosting a local residents meeting at the time so the best I could do was to take down his number and agree to call him once done.

Unfortunately time was short and so I invited Trevor to join Joshua and I as we headed to the park. It turned out that what Trevor wanted to ‘share’ was that we are in the end-times – ‘I mean look how many people are defiling the temple with tattoos and piercing!’ Very keen to reassure me that he was merely telling me what Scripture says (‘its not my opinion, it’s what the Word says!) he went on to argue that women should be covering their heads, most ministers are liars and churches disobediently observe the Sabbath if they do so on a Sunday!

A recurring aspect, and particularly virulent theme, of his ‘message’ was the need for ‘us’ to ‘protect our children from the homosexuals’, I wasn’t entirely sure what he thought they’re going to do, but the NSPCC apparently abuse children as they allow gay people to adopt children (I’m not entirely sure that the NSPCC have anything to do with adoption, but I’m not sure he was too bothered!)

Having walked together for an hour I felt I’d got the ‘message’ (or at least had enough!). Our time ended suitably bizarrely when he cryptically, and not a little ominously, asked ‘do you believe I have the rule over you?’ I wasn’t sure that I did (or that I wanted to!), but what I did know is that I was really glad I had to put a steak pie in the oven!

As we walked together there were two things I kept thinking. The first centred upon something Rob Bell has written in his book Velvet Elvis:

‘…let’s be honest. When you hear people say they are just going to tell you what the Bible means, it is not true. They are telling you what they think it means. They are giving their opinions about the Bible. It sounds nice to say, ‘‘I’m not giving you my opinion; I’m just telling you what it means.’’

The problem is, it not true.’

The second was that ‘there’s nowt as queer as folk!’ (No ‘abominable’ pun intended!)

My thinking behind ‘returning’…

2007-02-11T22:32:00.000-08:00

1. Seeing a number of TV programs extolling the virtues and popularity of blogging – I was left thinking ‘I used to do that!’

2. Hearing Marti Pellow telling a radio-interviewer that he had recently been reported (falsely of course!) as dead on the internet – I was left thinking ‘maybe that’s why people think I’m not blogging!’(not because WetWetWet’s front man was allegedly no more!)

So here I am… returning, if for no other reason than to dispel any misconception that my blogging silence signified anything more dramatic than poor time management coupled with the increasing demands of a curious little boy!

I have a dream!

2007-02-11T15:20:00.000-08:00

Actually that’s not true. I had a dream. Last night.

I was playing rugby for Scotland (all right, all right! Remember it’s a dream!)… against England! And we were winning thanks a to Jonny Wilkinson-esque one man show from yours truly! I’d scored three tries and things were going so badly for the English that the coach had taken them off the field for an impromptu team-talk with ten minutes remaining!

What’s more it seemed that the Scottish side actually consisted of me and a squad of rather reluctant English players who I had to work very hard to convince that a ‘win was a win’ even if it was at the expense of your own nation!

Unfortunately it was at this point (6.13am in the ‘real’ world), still with ten minutes remaining (so anything could have happened!) that Joshua decided enough was enough.

My dream of Calcutta Cup glory was literally shattered. But not before I’d been to the ‘mountaintop’!

Books from 2006

2006-12-30T14:40:00.000-08:00

The American Presidents. McPherson, James M. (2004)
The Oxford History of Britain. Morgan, K. (2001)
Status Anxiety. De Botton, A (2005)
Long Way Round. McGregor, E (2005)
The First Casualty. Elton, B (2005)
Simply Christian. Wright, T (2006)
The Plot Against America . Roth, P (2004)
The Cost of Discipleship. Bonhoeffer, D (2001)
The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God . Willard, D (1998)
The Architecture Of Happiness. De Botton, A (2006)
FriendshipFirst. Bell, S (2003)
Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith. Bell, R. (2005)
The Constant Gardener. Le Carre, J. (2001)
Purpose-driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Warren, R. (2003)
Labyrinth. Mosse, K. (2005)
Making Sense of Church: Eavesdropping on Emerging Conversations About God, Community, and Culture Spencer Burke, Colleen Pepper (2003)
Servants Together: Salvationist Perspectives on Ministry. (2002)
Arthur & George. Barnes, J (2005)

Yes, it's with me!

2006-11-12T19:53:00.000-08:00

It's fair to say that since going public with our second pregnancy we've had a variety of responses. It would seem that already Joshua's brother or sister are already experiencing 'sloppy seconds'.

While Joshua's conception was greeted with much trumpeting and appropriate excitement, his sibling's imminent arrival seems to be slightly less miraculous - and perhpas not so newsworthy?!

In fact when sharing the news with some folk you'd be forgiven for thinking we were telling them about the latest 2 for 1 bargains at the supermarket or that we'd found a fiver in the street!! I mean people are pleased for us, but 'what's the fuss'?!

Still not everyone's response is so muted. And in stark contrast my friends at youth club had just one question... 'your wife is pregnant? Is it with you?!'

Friendly banter, or a sign of the times?

I love him

2006-11-08T23:14:00.000-08:00

Art?

2006-11-07T18:44:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago a friend got in touch to ask if I was up for 'experiencing' the latest large scale art installation to grace the giant turbine hall at the Tate Modern. Having recently heard of the five slides that have been constructed in the name of art I needed little convincing that it might be an hour well spent.

According to the artist(Carsten Höller), 'the experience of sliding is best summed up in a phrase by the French writer Roger Caillois as a ‘voluptuous panic upon an otherwise lucid mind’. The slides are impressive sculptures in their own right, and you don’t have to hurtle down them to appreciate this artwork. What interests Höller, however, is both the visual spectacle of watching people sliding and the ‘inner spectacle’ experienced by the sliders themselves, the state of simultaneous delight and anxiety that you enter as you descend.'

I don't mind admitting to a little bit of 'voluptuous panic' as I entered the giant pipe! Whether or not it's art it does wonders for the prayer-life! As fun as it was to actually slide my personal highlight was watching and listening to adults and children alike gigglying and screaming excittedly as they spiralled 'artistically' downwards.

Whether you fancy sliding or not, it's well worth a visit.

There's only TWO Peter Crouches?!

2006-11-06T23:22:00.000-08:00

According to the Kop...

'He's big
He's red
and
His feet stick out the bed '

It's fair to say that in recent months I have often been liekened to Mr Crouch (usually by the 8 year old boys who come to our after-schhol football club - pesky kids!). Indeed, my very own feet have also been known to 'stick out the bed', but it would seem that the similarities are not limited to the athletic build of a flamingo!

Much has been made of Peter's surprisingly good striking rate (10 goals in 10 Engalnd appearances), while not one to blow my own trumpet I reckon that with my own 'scoring record' I could give him a run for his money.

Despite that fact that I was more than happy to grow a Rooney-like beard - Lisa's pregnant again, which means I'm dancing at the corner flag again celebrating 2 'goals' in __ appearances?! That would be telling!

Needless to say, some time in late April/early May our life is going to get a whole lot messier!

some encouragement for fellow questioners

2006-11-06T22:01:00.000-08:00

A friend recently shared that he was often perceived as a negative person with a 'downer on the Army'. And the reason for this perception? The fact that he deigns to question! He has the audacity to wonder whether or not our current reality is all that it should be, could be? Or whether God may have more in store. And so this 'dangerous daydreamer' is cast a pessimist with a chip on his shoulder.

Yet I'm increasingly convinced that dissatisfaction arises from an unrealised sense of hope, from a passionate belief that things don't have to remain the same and that an alternative, more glorious reality is possible. So while many may feel uncomfortable and perceive those who question as overly negative I'm excited by those who are dairing enough to question and brave enough to share their thoughts - I want more of it, I'd go as far as to suggest we need it. We may not find the answers we're looking for, but the least we can do is to ask the right questions.

To paraphrase the 'depressed-yet-hopeful' Brian McLaren in his depiction of 'A Generous Orthodoxy' 'if enough of us can bear the truth of our failures as Salvationists, if we can let that truth humble us and bring us from denial to sincere and profound repentance, if our hearts are made soft and responsive to the Holy Spirit through this painful but needed process, then there truly is hope in the midst of depression.'

The one to watch? I reckon there's 3 to watch

2006-11-05T21:47:00.000-08:00

Fridays, BBC2: The Power of Art. Simon Schama's epic exploration of the power, and whole point, of art (hopefully the accompanyng book will reside in my soon-to-be-filled stocking).

Saturdays, BBC1: Robin Hood. Classic boys TV that unpacks some very contemporary issues while allowing men to fire arrows as they frolick through the woods in tight!

Sundays, BBC1: Planet Earth. The groundbreaking, awe-inspiring documentary returns for a second series - unmissable!

(How good are video recorders?! Otherwise known as poor man's SkyPlus!)

Thought food

2006-10-06T23:29:00.000-07:00

I recently came across a quote I'd scribbled down when reading up on Liberation Theology - it comes from the pen of Gustavo Gutierrez...

'...our quest (as followers of Jesus) should be driven by the human being who is not considered human by the present social order - the exploited classes, marginalized ethnic groups and despised cultures. The challenge is how to tell the the non-person that God is love'.

Characteristically challenging, Gutierrez rightly highlights the need for Christians and the alternative communities that we form to model the spiritually and socially inclusive message of Jesus. The question we surely have to ask ourselves is whether or not we are liberators of excluded people or simply another dimension of their oppression? We may not exclude tax-collectors or haemorrhaging women, but what about schizophrenics, divorcees, homosexuals, single people, one-parent families, drug users, transsexuals, or those struggling with their faith?'

We often make claims about possessing the 'truth' while ignoring Jesus' own words that the 'truth will set you free' (John 8:32).

Food for thought?

Are you sure?

2006-10-02T21:18:00.000-07:00

At a recent community leaders breakfast I was asked to 'guide' people to their respective tables. A 'working breakfast' those attending could choose what they wanted to discuss over their eggs and bacon - teenage pregnancy, education, employment and anti-social behaviour - the choice was theirs!

'Morning sir, where are you heading, what would you like to talk about?'

Wide-eyed delegate: 'Me? I don't have anything to say!'

'Well, you can have a chat about teenage pregnancy, anti-social behav...'

Mr Wide-eyes: 'Anti-social behaviour?! Anti-social behaviour?! I've got nothing to say about that!'

'OK...'

'I'm fed up those kids giving us grief all the time. We've had aterrible time of it - they've made our life hell! Wasters and vandals the lot of them. And the Police? The Police? They're not interested. So what happens?! We send them on holidays and bend over backwards to give the lazy B#####DS jobs and training, for what? Standing about on the corner doing nothing! While decent kids can't get jobs for love nor money!!' No, I've got nothing to say about anti-social behaviour.'

Having fixed a unsuspecting Police Constable in his sights he shuffled off still mumbling that he didn't want to talk about it! As I turned to the next guest I couldn't help thinking 'are you sure?!'

A little later, as we tucked into breakfast, and as the fruit juice and conversation flowed, the topic-driven discussions ensued. After which a short time was allocated for feed-back. Now I should say that the points raised, or at least what was fed-back, was generally good stuff. But one suggestion sticks in the memory and I can't say it's becuase of it's insightful and timely wisdom.

The 'problem' being addressed was teenage pregancy and the 'solution' offered... wait for it(!)... was that 'CCTV cameras... should be placed... in toilets...... in schools!'

What d'you reckon - job done? Problem solved?

Thankfully, the spontaneous ripple of laughter that greeted this 'suggestion' reassured me that I wasn't the only one thinking 'are you sure?!'

What does a tenner get you?

2006-09-30T14:21:00.000-07:00

According to the United Nations 'half a million children's lives in the Third World could be saved a year, at a cost of less than £10'.

We agree and thats why we're keen to support our friends who are actively seeking to save lives in Zambia, and to do so they need a new ambulance and so we're asking 200 people to give '£10 and a not a penny more!'

If you'd like to do so, or you think others might like to, click here to find out what to do, or here to find out what its all about.

'Local vicar stabbed on doorstep'...

2006-09-27T07:48:00.000-07:00

...read the Newham Recorder headline in my head as a very agitated and tormented man introduced himself. Availability and vulnerability - the double-edged 'advantage' of living above the hall!

Steve was very clearly not a peace, with talk of conspiracy, satanic cults, sexual abuse and institutional intimidation it was hard to grasp where to start, so I thought I'd listen.

Having shared his jumbled and incoherent thoughts it was clear that Steve's daily life was painful and isolated - 'no-one understood, believed or cared about him.' I'm not sure how much 'help' I was or could be, but he seemed pleased to find someone who let him talk and didn't write him off as a babbling nutter - I'm glad he hadn't 'read' the headline in my head.

Perhaps he was right?!

2006-09-25T22:37:00.000-07:00

A while back, when I was studying, I was chastised for ‘reading too much’. Now it’s fair to say that at the time, given the collegiate context, that I thought this a rather queer (in the old sense of the word!) charge to bring, a strange admonishment to make – I mean, when it comes to studying and learning, can you read too much? (another Tuesday night discussion point?!). But the other day at church, whisper it quietly(!), I began to wonder if he didn’t have a point - let me explain.

My ‘wonderment’ stemmed from when a friend of ours was about to embark on two years training for Salvation Army Officership and her husband was invited to share some words of ‘encouragement’. This he duly did by encouraging her ‘not to get bogged down in study, but to get bogged down in the One she studies’. In his own unique way he used Ecclesiastes 12:12 to emphasis his point:

‘Be warned… of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body’!

Too much reading? Perhaps he was right?!

Typical!

2006-09-19T23:33:00.000-07:00

You wait 20 minutes and then 2 come along at once! Then you have to wait another 20 minutes for the next one!

No, I’m not talking about the proverbial London buses, I’m talking about people willing to give money to support the work of the Salvation Army; I’m talking about Red Shield collecting at a very lethargic Canary Wharf; we’re talking slim pickings.

Still, tomorrow’s another day at the crease!

And so is the day after that!

And…

Empathy - a defintion and an unfortunate experience

2006-09-17T23:21:00.000-07:00

empathy em'pa-thi, n the ability to share someone else's feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in their situation.

Let's just say I can 'empathise' with how Paula Radcliffe felt when she had to take an impromptu 'pitstop'?!

32,187 steps later

2006-09-17T23:09:00.000-07:00

Twenty miles is a fair way to run and two and a half hours gives you a fair chance to think, listen and observe - especially when you're shuffling around early morning London.

Things I saw... someone sleeping on a bed in the middle of the street, a discarded condom (thankfully these two were not linked?!), and the biggest rat I've ever seen!

Things I heard... Big Ben chime 7am as I turned into Parliament Square, DJ Spoony's last 'Early Doors' club on Radio 1 (a real pity as he's kept me company on most of my long runs), and Ozmosis' awesome track 'Imagine the dreamer' - check it out.

Things I thought... why?! Is this what a heart-attack feels like? I really need to find a toilet - quick!

A good point?!

2006-09-13T22:55:00.000-07:00

This morning as I dragged myself around the Isle of Dogs at some unearthly hour (I perhaps should state that I was jogging, I wouldn't want anyone thinking I was actually dragging myself in some Opus Dei style of self-flagellation!). Anyway I digress...

..as I shuffled along, a vigorous and indepth medical debate ensued on the Chris Moyles show. Split, perhaps predictably, down gender lines, discussion focused upon the potency of 'man flu' - a phenomenon much maligned and scoffed at by those incapable of ever really knowing - namely the female half of the human species.

You can imagine the nature of the chat, which was considerably invigorated when one brave (foolish?!) male suggested that suffering from 'man flu' was like having a baby! Naturally enough this brought a firm rebuttal from the feminine side of the argument. But as her co-presenter pointed out since she had neither experienced 'man flu' or indeed child birth she was unable to offer any credible critique. Encouraged by this obvious weakness, the 'man flu' advocate pressed home his advantage by highlighting the fact that even those ladies who have produced a painfully large child from an obviously too small 'area' are unable to undermine the claim as the clearly are unable to experience 'MAN flu'!

A good point - well made? DISCUSS. I dare say it depends on your physical 'make-up', but while us men will 'never know' what it's like to give birth, 'you' women will never know what it's like to have 'man flu' (and whatever song and dance we may make about having it, we're unlikely to blame you for our predicament, break the bones in your hand, or swear uncontrollably!)

BLOGGING CAVEAT: it goes without saying that my wife (Captain Hanover) did none of the afore-mentioned things!

Worth a read?

2006-09-12T07:48:00.000-07:00

I recently received this promotional blurb from 614network.com:

'Every city has a group of troll-like rejected misfits. They are the
homeless, the prostitutes, the greedy, and the addicts. These are the
people on the fringe to whom churches close their doors, the ones you
move away from on the pew. They are the marginalized, rejected, and
forgotten cultural lepers who lurk outside your church. They are the
most unlikely prophets of all.

Trolls & Truth is the story of a local church of homeless people;
college students; middle-class Christians; some poor and some rich;
black, white, and brown; drunks; materialists; mentally ill; and
former inmates who meet beneath the noise of 18-wheelers and rushing
traffic under an interstate bridge in Waco, Texas. As they live out
biblical mandates across cultural barriers and institutional baggage,
they remind us that the gospel cannot be shaped by socially accepted
values and remain "good news." Through their testimonies they reveal
the mystery that such a diverse group without buildings and
traditional expectations are finding the power of the gospel in ways
that brings cultural validity to the skeptics and unbelieving world.
They have a wake-up call for the American church.

Transformation in the church must come. In new wineskins and perhaps
through the life of an old wino, our ecclesiology must be upended by
the "least of these," the hungry, imprisoned, sick, and stranger.
Intentional efforts in local congregations must be made to reconnect
the rich and the poor; the black, white, and brown; those educated in
the university; and those educated on the streets. Only then can we
wrestle with the values of the kingdom and learn the lessons that this
God of the little people wants us to know.'

I know only too well that you should rarely judge a book by its cover (or e-blurb?!) but 'Trolls and Truth: 14 Realities About the Church We
Don't Want to See' by Jimmy Dorrell might be worth a read.

Who will be the 100th?

2006-09-10T23:47:00.000-07:00

Over the last couple of weeks people have continued to sign up to make the Chikankata Ambulance an impending reality. So much so that we are almost half-way there, but as England supporters know only too well - it's the second-half that often proves trickier than the first! Just ask Sven!

So who will be the 100th donatee and see us into the second half? Click here
if you fancy it! Click here if you need an explanation.

Beware the moose!

2006-09-10T23:33:00.000-07:00

While in Canada I had to keep training for my impending marathon. Given the hilly nature of where we were this was not something I particularly relished especially as I was unsure as to whether or not I'd be likely to run into any Grizzlies! Yapping dogs were the least of my worries, but it seems my fears were misplaced, it was not the bears I had to look out for, it was the mighty moose!

According to one report I read...

'...on average there are 651 accidents every year involving a moose resulting in 133 injuries and 5 deaths!'
While I can't confirm that any of these incidents involved joggers I wasn't taking any chances - I took heed of my mates advice - 'BEWARE THE MOOSE!'

Oh my word!!

2006-09-10T23:27:00.000-07:00

Mouth wide open, jaws firmly on the floor we watched, transfixed and waited for the punchline. The confirmation that what we were watching was in fact a joke, a parody, a stereotypical caricature, but the punchline never came, it remained undelivered and our dislbelief was total.

The cause of our angst? ‘Christian' TV. Canada had a number of channels devoted to ‘raising the spiritual temperature’ and 'changing the spiritual climate of the nation’ – the only temperature being raised was ours as we witnessed the relentless and unapologetic prosperity-driven drivel masquerading as ‘the gospel’!

We were constantly invited, urged even, by the Reverend Peter Popoff and his friends to accept two stunning offers. If we would only call TOLL-FREE we would receive ‘an anointed green prosperity handkerchief’ or a bottle of ‘miracle water’. It couldn't be easier, a 'divine transfer' awaited us, and there was no shortage of amazing testimony’s to the life-changing power of both…

‘My boss wanted to fire me, but when I received my Miracle Water I was promoted and given an $8,000 raise!’

‘I won $6 million dollars shortly after receiving my prosperity hanky!’

‘I prayed that my husband would be saved… and for $20,000 – I got both!. Hallelujah!’

Ding, dong it must be true – let me just get that number down and I'll claim my 'divine transfer'!

As Bishop Nigel MacCulloch once wrote ‘the issue that the churches must face up to is not so much that people do not believe in God, but that they do not find the churches credible.’ Credible or not I find it hard to accept that the Rev. Popoff and I believe in the same God. He should join his sister and stick with Mr Claypole, McWitch, Dobbin and the rest of the Rentaghost gang?!

While I haven’t as yet checked our bank balance I don’t mind admitting to a lack of faith that any such ‘miracle’ is about to happen soon, but then why would it I haven’t phoned TOLL-FREE to order my ‘Anointed Green Prosperity Hanky’ or my ‘Miracle Water’!

Can't imagine why some people struggle to connect with 'the gospel'.

They came from the east and they came from the west...

2006-09-10T23:17:00.000-07:00

It's fair to say that I've never been at a wedding quite like it. Just about everyone had to travel miles to be there! I mean the two ring-bearers travelled from Bermuda and Dallas, Texas and they weren't alone.

But something that blew me away was the fact that Nick's family who had travelled from Vancouver (Canada) to Newfoundland (also Canada) had travelled further to get there than anyone else - including those of us who'd travelled from the UK?! That's a big country!

If you're like me and you like to check these things out you'll find that there are 3135 miles (5046 km) (2725 nautical miles - what's going on with 'nautical' miles?!) between Vancouver and St. Johns and 2345 miles (3774 km) (2038 bizarre nautical miles) between London and St.Johns so it isn't even a close run thing?!

Canada is a beast of a place! A beautiful beast, but a beast nonetheless!

Job done... I think?!

2006-09-10T23:03:00.000-07:00

Like first time pilots and first time dentists you could be forgiven for not wanting to be around when a vicar/officer type-person is conducting their first wedding/funeral. The funeral will have to wait, but I've got my first wedding under my belt and I'm led to believe it went OK - job done! At least if it's legal?! Because these things are rarely straight forward and this was no different - the wedding involved two people living in Texas and the wedding itself was in St. Johns, Newfoundland - Canada. So as long as I've done all I needed to do to be properly licensed(!) it's job done, otherwise its an expensive cock-up! If nothing else they look married!

Remember, if you want to get married in Canada - I'm your man, at least for the next 30 days?!

65 and counting!

2006-08-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

The Chikankata Appeal is a little over one week old and already 65 brave? foolish? but definitely generous people have joined the cause and donated £10 of their hard-earned cash.

It means only 8 days in we've acquired 25% of our mission's target. Of course it also means we have another 75% to find and vacancies for another 135 willing volunteers eager to 'sign up'! But remember, it's £10 per person and not a penny more!

We're really humbled and grateful for everyone who has already given and for those who are working hard to spread the word - please keep doing so, the quicker we complete our mission, the quicker our friends at Chikankata can get their new Ambulance.

If you don't have the foggiest idea what I'm talking about, please click here
for an explanation or head to www.justgiving.com/notapennymore to get involved.

Boys will be boys!

2006-08-27T22:22:00.000-07:00

I spent yesterday on a stag-day for Adam 'the best of men' Bonner, who 'weds' Gemma on the 9th of September. As someone who has always been a source of encouragement, support and inspiration (not to mention friendship!) it was great to have the chance to spend some 'staggish' time with Ads.

And so we spent most of the day racing between Southampton and the Isle of Wight on two 'rib boats' and as my wind-beaten face and tired, gelatanous legs will testify - it was a great day! Certainly something I wouldn't mind doing again - but I seem to be running out of unmarried friends!

In the evening it was back to London, the East End and to Brick Lane for a curry - nice! As we relaxed, chatted, laughed and enjoyed each others company I was really encouraged by the assembled group of 'stags' - a group who didn't have to be plastered to have a good time, a group who genuinely like and respect one another, a group pretty much to a man who are passionate about God, serious about their faith and enthusiastic to flesh out their belief in careers as diverse as catering, telecommunications, youth work and international development. I was chuffed to be part of the group and to call many of the guys friends.

I was also reminded of something Jacques Ellul had said about how those in 'the clergy' should support and encourage those who witness in the workplace. I'm paraphrasing but the guist of it was 'the purpose of an Officer should not be to make the plumber into an Officer, but to make him or her into an effective model of Christian witness and service in the workplace.'

i don;t know about anyone else, but I was encouraged by the mighty stags!

Welcome to our world...

2006-08-27T21:55:00.000-07:00

We have a couple of friends we joke with that over the last 4-5 years we hear from them about twice a year - once when they tell us they're expecting a baby and the second when the aforementioned baby has arrived!

Well we heard from them earlier in the year when they told us that they were indeed expecting and yesterday we heard that Esther Louise has arrived. I'm not sure whether or not Ian has finished 'proving' himself, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if early next year we get another phone call!

On this day...

2006-08-27T21:40:00.000-07:00

...one year ago our life changed forever - as God gifted us with our awesomely beautiful son, Joshua James.

This day, today, began with me dropping Joshua's 'used' nappy all over the floor and as we attempted to deal with the resulting mess, ...the nappy-less Joshua decided he wanted to wee over his cot! All the wrong side of 7am! Which probably says it all...

...unpredicable, messy, smelly, tiring and costly (in every sense and yet it's been brilliant! The best of years !...
and we've got quite a few more unpredictable, messy, smelly, tiring, and costly years to come! We can't wait!

Happy 1st Birthday Joshua!

Talking of history...

2006-08-25T19:59:00.000-07:00

It's my Mum and Dad's wedding anniversary today (now that's what you call a moustie!). They've been married 33 years and they're still going strong! They've both given my brother and I a crackin' example to follow when it comes to marriage. So in appreciation and tribute (probably the kind of things you don't get round to saying/sharing until a funeral! Why are we so bad at telling each other how we feel?!) I want to say thanks for a few things...

THANKS for taking us camping and hiking on the hills. THANKS for all your support and encouragement. THANKS for those wooly jumpers Mum and for that essay on 'Man's Best Friend' Dad. THANKS for taking risks and creating opportunities, for all the places we've lived and people we've met. THANKS for all the time and effort spent supporting Carrick Youth Band! For the 'farm years' and for that go-kart! THANKS for the suits you bought and the 'lessons' taught. THANKS for not pushing the 'church-thing' and for buying that first uniform at such short notice! THANKS for allowing me to go to univesrity and allowing me to come home again. THANKS for the driving lessons, the use of the car, and the 'loan' of the golf clubs! THANKS for the macaroni cheese, home-made soup and the raisin rhapsody! THANKS for the 'voice', health and height! THANKS for teaching me right from wrong, repsect for others and who God is. THANKS for Joshua'a curtains, fitting the carpet, the stair-gate and for babysitting. THANKS for sticking it out and staying together.

THANK YOU.

'A set of lies agreed upon'

2006-08-23T08:35:00.000-07:00

That's how Napoleon defined 'history' - and I guess he should've known!

But for whatever reason I'm into history at the moment. I've got two historical books on the go at the moment. One is taking me through the centuries of British history while the other, undoubtedly influenced by my prediliction for The West Wing, examines the 43 presidents 'who have shaped and led the most powerful nation on Earth.'

While the authors confess to a tendency towards the positive it does seem that the US has had it's fair share of good men, and men who say good things. I'm not sure which category Dwight D. Eisenhower (the 34th President) would find himslef, but here's something he said back in 1953:

'Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies... a theft from those who hunger and are not fed.'

I would've voted for him! I still would.

As Eisenhower predecessor (Mr Truman) once pointed out 'men and women make history and not the other way around'. I don't just want to read about it, I want to be a 'history-maker'.

A 'man who can'? A man who did!

2006-08-22T20:43:00.000-07:00

Yes, it would appear it is not only nationality and love of football that I share with Mr Ramsay, it is also 'our' sausage pie! Admittedly it may've benefited from me remembering the sage leaves! But the common consensus seems to have been that it was a decent first stab.

So you know what you can expect if your heading our way anytime soon hoping to eat!

A 'man who can'?

2006-08-20T16:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, as a family, we did one of my favourite things to do in London - we went for a walk along the South Bank.

On of the many benefits of living in Stratford-on-Thames are the great transport links, which include the Jubliee Line - the only undergroung line that is completely accessible to wheelchair/buggy users (a shocking fact in itself, but we'll take what we can get!).

Anyway, because of the relative ease of getting there we often head into 'town' to meander along the banks of the Thames. With some good book shops, plenty of places to stop off for a coffee (and some banoffee pie etc!) and loads of people (I am a bit of a people watcher!) it's a great way to kill an hour or two.

And yesterday, for me, the vast array of people we shared the walk with served as a reminder of how large, exciting and diverse the world God has created for us to enjoy really is. It got me thinking and prompted me to recognise that there is, and always will be, room for 'my world' to grow.

So as we walked I fashioned a new resolve to 'enlarge my territory'. I don't want to be know for what I don't/can't do.

I don't want to be known as someone who can't cook.

I don't want to be known as someone who can't swim!

I want to be know for what I can do - which means I've got some learning to do!

The swimming will have to wait a while (I mean it's expensive!), but I'm going to learn to cook. Forgetting the basics (I'm not worried about boiled eggs!) I'm starting on Monday with Gordon Ramsay's Sausage pie!

Just how do you 'sweat off the onions'?! Maybe boiled eggs wouldn't be such a bad idea after all!

Jesus, pride & the humility provider

2006-08-19T19:37:00.000-07:00

When Jesus was walking about the place he once chatted about the fact that it's really hard to hide a city that sits on a hill and that you'd be daft to light a lamp and then stick it under a bowl (or some similar covering?!). In 'running speak' I'd paraphrase that to mean 'if you run a personal best time, you'd be daft not to blog about it' (in passing you understand!). If I've got this wrong, please forgive me and ignore the following...

It was Lisa'a fault anyway! She was heading into town with Joshua as I was setting off for a 5 mile run. Conscious that she was watching on I probably set off a little quicker than normal(!) and I guess things just carried on from there. Besides, last one back home was on the teas! A race is a race! And I 'won' it in 28:58. Which is, so far, for me, a PB for 5 miles.

Needless to say, on her return, Lisa was suitably underwhelmed!! Don't wives just keep us humble?!

The Chikankata challenge

2006-08-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

We recently received this email...

'Two weeks ago our ambulance broke down, resulting in the death of one newly born baby and severe complications in another delivery case. On Friday we were given the news that the Chikankata Hospital Ambulance is in need of an ambulance itself as it is very ill! Basically we need a new ambulance desperately.'

So our friends at Charlie Chikankata have given us a mission. Inspired by the Danny Wallace's of the world the mission is to find 200 people willing and daft enough to donate £10 towards a new ambulance. The 'catch' is that donatees (obviously it should be donors, but donatees seems to have more of a ring!) can only donate £10 and not a penny more!

Led by the Guv'ner, the Chikankata Ambulance Appeal has gone global, but time is of the essence. The quicker we can find 200 people to give £10 the quicker we can get the Chikankata Ambulance back on the road!

If you'd like to get involved and give £10 just click here. If you feel that £10 just isn't enough and you want to do more why not encourage someone else - friends, family, complete strangers(!) to donate £10 too.

But remember, £10 per person and not a penny more!

InTouch and knackered!

2006-08-18T16:16:00.000-07:00

We've spent much of this week recovering from what we got up to last week!

We had the privilege of being part of Childrens Ministries' SportsWeek (InTouch 2006)and while it was a little tiring it was a phenomenally rewarding and exciting week to be part of. Ostensibly responsible for leading the worship and teaching throughout the week we did get stuck into everything else that was jammed-packed into the week - including a little bit of tennis coaching! The future of British tennis is bright!

As someone who loves his sport it was great to be part of a week that sought to draw connections between faith and sport.

As someone who loves working with kids it was great to be part of a week that acknowledge the central importance of children to Jesus and his Kingdom.

As someone who loves working with other people it was greta to be part of a team of enthusiastic, like-minded people committed to giving the children the best week possible.

As someone who didn't get to work with Roger and Noreen Batt for long enough it was great to spend the week with them.

For anyone with children likely to be aged between 8-12 next year - look out for applications next year. Your kids will come back knackered, but they'll have had a great week!

'A garden that's bursting into life?'

2006-08-17T21:57:00.000-07:00

I was recently interviewed by a guy who is conducting some research into the development surrounding London’s 2012 Olympic adventure. Focussing on the much talked about regeneration promised to accompany the mammoth Olympic project Rob’s question was whether or not the games represent ‘an expensive short-term necessity or a long-term sustainable legacy?’

As a 'representative community leader', alledgely with my ear to the ground and my eyes wide open, he thought I might have a view?!

Acknowledging that for us regeneration was about renewal, new life and energy I shared our concerns that it couldn't just be about moving the 'less desirable' members of our communities out (compulsory re-location of Clays Lane Housing Co-operative) to make room for flash new housing and opportunities for the influx of affluent new residents - that's not renewal, it's displacement and it's anything but long-term or sustainable.

Ultimately time will tell how the Olympic dream shapes Stratford and the surrounding area, but Rob hasn't been the only person to get us thinking about regeneration and renewal. I mean even Snow Patrol when they're out 'Chasing Cars' sing about wanting to see 'a garden that's bursting into life'.

We believe we were given a similar biblical picture of the kind of renewal we were to be part of during our time in E15. It centres upon words written by the prophet Isaiah a few years ago...

'Wilderness and desert will sing joyously,
the badlands will celebrate and flower —
Like the crocus in spring, bursting into blossom,
a symphony of song and color.
Mountain glories of Lebanon—a gift.
Awesome Carmel, stunning Sharon—gifts.
God's resplendent glory, fully on display.
God awesome, God majestic.
Energize the limp hands,
strengthen the rubbery knees.
Tell fearful souls,
"Courage! Take heart!
God is here, right here,
on his way to put things right
And redress all wrongs.
He's on his way! He'll save you!"

Blind eyes will be opened,
deaf ears unstopped,
Lame men and women will leap like deer,
the voiceless break into song.
Springs of water will burst out in the wilderness,
streams flow in the desert.
Hot sands will become a cool oasis,
thirsty ground a splashing fountain.
Even lowly jackals will have water to drink,
and barren grasslands flourish richly.

There will be a highway
called the Holy Road.
No one rude or rebellious
is permitted on this road.
It's for God's people exclusively—
impossible to get lost on this road.
Not even fools can get lost on it.
No lions on this road,
no dangerous wild animals—
Nothing and no one dangerous or threatening.
Only the redeemed will walk on it.
The people God has ransomed
will come back on this road.
They'll sing as they make their way home to Zion,
unfading halos of joy encircling their heads,
Welcomed home with gifts of joy and gladness
as all sorrows and sighs scurry into the night.'

Entitled 'The Voiceless Break into Song' this passage (Chapter 35) seems packed full of wonderful imagery of the kind of transformation that communities of loving defiance should be part of. What does this look like locally? For us, it means..

..ensuring that commitments are kept and Ethel gets the much promised wheelchair that will liberate her from her house-bound captivity.

...supporting a young family facing the spectre of AIDS.

...listening to those hurt by an uncaring and impersonal form of institutional church while hopefully offering and modelling an alternative.

...writing letters, providing references, and going to court to stand 'shoulder-to-shoulder' with Paul as he desperately struggles to keep his life back on track post-prison.

...sharing a grace-filled rather than a hate-fuelled, message of hope with homosexual friends.

...offering an alternative community for Greg who for most of his life only found acceptance and affirmation amidst the drug-fuelled and violent world of biker gangs.

Is this this kind of regeneration that Isaiah was writing about? Will this prove to be part of a 'short-term necessity or a long-term legacy'?

I guess ultimately, only time will tell, but we're happy trying to do our bit.

A wake-up call?

2006-08-16T21:23:00.000-07:00

We're generally fans of internet shopping - the promised convenience married with the cash you can potentially save is a sure fire winner in a household with a Scotsman who hates plodding around shops!

But things don't always so smoothly and when they don't I invariably find myself wishing that I'd just gone into a shop a paid a little extra. When something goes wrong it doesn't seem all that convenient to put it right!

Recently we've had a 'mare. Over the last month or so we've experienced a less than satisfactory 'service' (we've arranged and re-arranged numerous times to be around to take delivery while nothing turned up, we've had stuff turn up that we haven't ordered, and when stuff has arrived it hasn't fitted as the catalogue promised!) from a certain company purporting to be 'experts in parenting and babycare'. A company that rather sexistly (that can't be a word but you get what I saying) purports to 'care' for 'mothers' - and it isn't Babies R Us or KiddiCare!

Anyway, I guess these things happen,, but what doesn't help (really doesn't help!) is when the 'customer services' assistant is a stroppy person seemingly without the slightest interest in your predicament!! (it's perhaps worth pointing out that one of my bugbears is 'customer service' that is anything but!!) So you can imagine how we often felt coming off the phone having struggled to explain our frustration and to find a satisfactory solution.

However shockingly bad and infuriating these conversations were, as I put the phone down from one such call, the phone immediately rang - this time with a 'wake-up' call.

It was Social Services who wanted to know if we could do anything to help an elderly wheelchair-bound man who for whatever reason had no money and no access to food. Unable to do anything themselves, Social Services were turning to the Salvation Army.

Details taken we got on the case. Suitably distracted from our Mothercare woes (doh! I wasn't going to mention the shoddy company!!) we were sobered by (and grateful for) the reminder that however appaling and annoying there are defintely more important things to worry about that slack customer services. And there are many, many people living around us who have far more taxing concerns!

The paradox of perspective: so important to keep a healthy perspective, but so easy to lose.

Those pesky 'Rats'

2006-08-16T21:06:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I went to see 'The Rat Pack' in the West End. It was my first Father's Day present(!) and if Joshua manages to maintain the standard of gift-giving, I'll be a happy dad! It was a crackin' night out, obviously you've got to be into the music, I am and it was great.

But it reminded me of a peculiar incident I'd heard a while back relating to the bloke who plays Frank Sinatra in the musical. Apparently, to his shame(!), he was recently banned from driving for 18 months for drink-driving - perhaps he was getting into the character just a little too much?! But bizarrely he was caught and arrested by P.C. Dean Martin!

Not a lot of people know that. Perhaps even fewer want to!

Mission:Incredible completed

2006-08-15T20:04:00.000-07:00

Where have the last three weeks gone?!

For a start, our first kids club in Stratford has come and gone and despite some intital worries of saying 'yes' to a few too many things (Under-promise, over-deliver; under-promise, over-deliver!) we managed to keep the balls in the air!
It was great to spend time with a very diverse bunch of kids and to see them drop the fromt and open up over the course of the week.

It was great to play, sing, dance, create and pray with these new young friends.

It was great to strengthen existing relationships with children from our ongoing schools and community work.

It was great to meet the parents and to understand the children some more.

It was great to spend time working with other local Christians.

It's great to think that there may be the possibility of an ongoing kids club come Spetember.

It's great to think we've got a a couple of weeks (now that Sportsweek is out of the way!) to get set and to recharge!

It's like living in a funfair...

2006-07-26T22:35:00.000-07:00

... without the fun!

No strangers to the hustle, bustle and hyper-activity of urban life, last night was something else!

On top of the nightly scooter races, incessant traffic and constant chit-chat (generally loud mobile conversations held, for some reason, directly outside our bedroom window?!), our evening 'mood-music' was set by another raucous party, a lower-than-usual hovering Police helicopter (these things really are loud!) and a film crew pitching up to shoot some low-udget Gansta film (the 'director' was not a quiet man!).

Life in Stratford is rarely dull and never quiet!

Dangerous reading...

2006-07-25T20:02:00.000-07:00

I've just started reading Ewan McGregor's account of his 20,000 mile motorcycled journey around the world 'Long Way Round'. It's dangerous because Lisa is convinced that it is not the kind of book I should be reading. Apparently I don't need any encouragement to 'fly-off and travel the world'!

Admittedly I have already chatted with friends about similar 'epic' journeys that could be journeyed, while my brother and I have started talking about a US road trip. But then, what's so good about the prospect of the open-road, unknown adventures and the realisation of dreams?!

I guess it depeneds how you're wired.

Who agreed to this?!

2006-07-24T21:48:00.000-07:00

One of the hottest weeks of the year and we're doing a kids club! Hot, sweaty and tiring events at the best of times, but all the more so when it's in the 30Cs! Still the heat didn't seem to deter or dampen the spirits of the 40-50 kids who turned up.

Like much of what we do here it's a partnership, this time with a local church we've developed links with, and it's just good to share the load and to work together. I'm sure there's something biblical in that?!

Proper Officers!

2006-07-23T17:42:00.000-07:00

At the risk of upsetting many of our friends who slog it out every Sunday, today we were in danger of being 'proper Officers'... because we were doing the meeting at Poplar. 'Oh, the stress and strain of it all?!'

I'm sure if every congregation was as warm, friendly and encouraging as Poplar was this morning there would be a lot less 'slogging' in the Army. We really had a great time together. Which was nice as we weren't quite sure how everyone would be feeling or reacting post-Cotterills?!

Early in the morning...

2006-07-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

...while it was still dark (actually at this time of year its perfectly light, but its still really early!), he arose and prepared his sermon while running to Tower Bridge.

Urged on by the austere finger-wagging effigy of William Booth and his neighbouring bust, I can confirm that E15 to the 'tower' and back again constitutes a run of 10 miles and that 1hr 17min and 1 sec is long enough to put together/finalise some thoughts for preaching. Actually I should probably wait until I've shared these 'thoughts' before claiming anything!

This time last year!

2006-07-22T21:18:00.000-07:00

Another hot, sticky Saturday in July can mean only one thing - Commissioning! This time last year it was us being 'done in' and with Lisa 7 and a half months pregnant, its fair to say it wasn't the most comfortable of days. As such I think much of it flew by as we 'just got through it', but this afternoon it was good to witness the whole thing from a slightly more pleasant vantage point!

For us it was interesting to look back over the last twelve months and to consider what we and God had been up to - I guess many of our hopes and dreams are slowly being realised. Stratford is such a good 'fit' for us. But I couldn't help wondering how many of our friends, for whom the last twelve months has been anything but 'easy' or satisfying, were feeling.

It seems a shame that 2006 was the last commissioning to be held at the Wembley Conference Centre, it's a good venue with lots of personal memories (going back to the 1990 UK Youth Band Championships - them were the days!). But thing I won't miss is their dodgy air conditioning!

Wise words for foolish times

2006-07-20T22:48:00.000-07:00

As bombs continue to fall on the Lebanon, civilians conitnue to die and the international community impotently watches on I read these words from Ben Elton's latest novel 'The First Casualty'...

'Brutality, it is clear, has a cumlative effect on the people who perpetrate it and on those who witness it, it numbs the sense to decency, until in the end it is diufficult to remember what decency was.'

As Martin Luther King once said 'injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.'

We can kid ourselves that this isn't true, but not for long. Given that Jesus taught us to treat others how we ourselves would want to be treated, if you lived in Lebanon what would you want to happen? (not everyone can escape on to a Navy ship)

BTW: Ben Elton's books are always worth a read.

Use your imagination...

2006-07-19T22:32:00.000-07:00

Today, on the hottest ever July day (UK speaking - before Mr Bradbury interjects?!) I got to stand where Seb Coe and The Queen have stood before me - at the top of Holden Point - and I was given the chance to use my imagination. I just hope that the much talked-about 'lasting legacy' is not only lasting, but lasting for local people rather than for those flooding in to share in the Olympic milk and honey.

2006...

2012...

Three strikes!

2006-07-18T21:40:00.000-07:00

What are the chances?! This morning we had to go into a number of different schools to do three assemblies. Having prepared, gone in, and... set up(!) we were told that they'd been cancelled - all of them!

If we'd been playing for the Texas Rangers we'd have been struck out! 0 and 3!

I guess there's always next term!