Tales of the Essex Made Punk

Your heaven's a lie

2012-01-13T07:30:00.000-08:00

Heaven, what is it? A happy thought, a care free holiday, an ideal to inspire hope or a reality? There are hundreds of thousands of words in the English language and yet English speaking people have a tendency to devalue and overuse a choice few of them! If we eat a delicious meal it is common to say “Oh that was divine” or if we find relaxation on holiday “this is heaven!” Using such language may elevate such things that we have ascribed such connotations and high praise to but it also inadvertently lowers the true essence and meaning of those words. If this is where our concept of heaven stops then we have fallen far short of the glorious reality. How then should we speak of heaven? What is appropriate? The book of Hebrews gives a wonderful description that captures beautifully the essence of this truly amazing reality:

“But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” Hebrews 12:22-24

So then what do we learn about what heaven is? Well we learn it is a place where the Living God resides. The use of the term ‘Living’ is in contrast to ‘dead’. This may sound like a strange adjective to use considering if God exists then naturally He is a living entity. But what the writer of Hebrews is drawing attention to is the contrast between the true God and the false gods found here on earth. There are many religions in the world and many smaller cults. While many of these religions may contain some truth within them, the gods that they worship or obey are not The true God that created the universe and the author of salvation. The statues around the world to various gods or avatars of gods are merely work of human craft, they are artificial imitations (and sometimes demonic distortions) of the true God. In other words they are counterfeit. So Heaven must always be thought of and understood in connection to the living God – the One true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Jesus Christ.

Secondly, we learn that Heaven is a place where Angels in joyful assembly live. Heaven is a supernatural place. It is not found here on earth. That does not mean there is nothing good or beautiful or awe-inspiring about this world; in Genesis it says that God saw that what He had created was ‘very good’ (Genesis 1:31). But Heaven is not found on earth. Heaven is another reality altogether and we have only got glimpses and visions into that reality. As the Bible says: for now we see a reflection as through a mirror but then we shall see face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12). Just because we can’t touch something or even fully comprehend something doesn’t make it unreal or imaginary. Also Heaven will be a place of joy. Angels live in joyful assembly. Heaven is a place of unparalleled and unbridled joy. Why are the Angels joyful? The Angels are joyful because they are in the presence of the glory and majesty of the Living God; a God who is Just (the Judge of all). Just as light engulfs darkness, so too being in the presence of God eradicates sorrow and misery. God is Light. God is Love. God is Justice. In God there is Joy.

Moreover, we learn that those considered righteous and worthy of a place in heaven are perfected therein. Heaven is a place of perfection. There is no evil, war, suffering, violence or pain in heaven. This is cause for tremendous celebration, even if we will never fully experience it in this life and should give us hope to continue persevering through our current circumstances. God is perfection; there is nothing imperfect about God, neither can God tolerate imperfection. The two are completely incompatible. You cannot have a perfect being living in an imperfect environment. This teaches us another important truth about Heaven: it is very far removed from our experiences because our world is not perfect. Even when there are times when we feel like we’ve experienced a perfect moment it is not true perfection because we live in a fallen, sinful world.

So we have established that Heaven is a place so far removed from our experiences and our comprehension – it is a place where there is no deceit or untruth (the city of the Living God), a place of pure joy with Angelic beings and it is a place of true perfection. How then can anyone dare to hope that we could one day live in such a place? The passage from Hebrews gives us the answer – through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ as he is described in Hebrews is the mediator of a new covenant. What does that mean? It means only through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sin can we be justified in the eyes of God (the Judge of all) and find acceptance by this perfect, incorruptible being. Jesus is the means by which God saves sinful people. There is no other way given in the whole of the New Testament. This is the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ that we can have salvation and forgiveness from our sin; that we will one day be restored to a state of perfection abiding in the presence of the Living God enjoying Him forever along with the assembly of Angels. Now that is Heaven!

2011 the year of the UFC

2011-12-31T04:48:00.000-08:00

Earlier in the year I wrote a blog about the positive state ofprofessional wrestling, namely in connection with TNA and the WWE, midwaythrough 2011. My intention was to write a second blog with my thoughts andanalysis of the progress both promotions had made by the end of 2011. However,things change and I’ve decided to write instead about the phenomenal year ofthe UFC – a phenomena in its own right.

Foranyone who follows my blog regularly I attended my first ever UFC event acouple of months ago at UFC 138 in Birmingham. It was a thoroughly enjoyableand engrossing event, one which I hope to repeat in 2012 if (or when) the UFCreturn to the UK. 2011 certainly has been the year of the UFC. 2011 saw the UFCreturn to Brazil the ‘home’ of MMA in the fastest selling UFC event in itshistory, where Anderson Silva – the most successful UFC Middle Weight of alltime – defended his belt against Japanese challenger Yushin Okami. 2011 alsosaw the UFC break new ground in signing a television deal with Fox in Americato broadcast four UFC events a year. The inaugural UFC on Fox event saw JuniorDos Santos become heavyweight champion in just 64 seconds as he beat Cain Velasquezby TKO. The agreement with Fox is huge for the future of the UFC in its goal tobecome a fully accepted mainstream sport.

2011also saw the UFC parent company Zuffa buy out rival promotion StrikeForce. CurrentlyStrikeForce remains a separate promotion but already many of its best fightershave made the transition to the UFC: Nick Diaz former StrikeForce WelterweightChampion gave up his title to sign for the UFC to fight UFC Welterweight kingGSP as well as heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem. With former StrikeForcechampions now on their roster the UFC has strengthened its claim to be the mostelite MMA promotion in the world. But it wasn’t just individual talent that theUFC incorporated into its already impressive roster. The UFC also absorbed theformer WEC lightweight divisions including Bantamweight and Featherweight andmost recently expanded to include Flyweight. The addition of the smaller weightdivisions has enriched the UFC’s booking and PPV events dramatically. The UFCreally can boast the most exciting, competitive and talented roster in the MMAworld.

Thesuccess of 2011 for the UFC has in part come from its inclusion of more weightdivisions and expanding into new territories garnering greater media exposure,but it has fundamentally come from the strength of its booking. There have beensome incredible fights this year and almost every UFC PPV card has boastedworld class main event calibre. This year has seen the rubber match betweenLightweight champion Frankie Edgar and arch nemesis Grey Maynard, which endedin a thrilling fourth round TKO for Edgar. It has seen Dominic Cruzsuccessfully defend his Bantamweight title against Urijah ‘California Kid’Faber; and it has seen the meteoric rise of Light-heavyweight Champion Jon ‘Bones’Jones who has beaten no less than three former champions in Mauricio ‘Shogun’Rua, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and Lyoto ‘the Dragon’ Machida – the latterearning fight of the night. There have also been many ‘dream’ fights this yearincluding, BJ Penn v Nick Diaz, Dan Henderson v Shogun Rua in a 5 round battlefor the ages and to end the year Alistair Overeem v Brock Lesnar. The evercontroversial ‘pound for pound greatest’ argument, so often referred to by UFCpresident Dana White has been bolstered this year by UFC champions AndersonSilva, GSP, Frankie Edgar, Jose Aldo and Jon Jones, much to the chagrin of Middleweightcontender Chael Sonnen it should be added.

It isto the aforementioned fight between Overeem and Lesnar that I wish to indulgesome thoughts and analysis on. On paper this was a classic striker v grapplermatch up – Overeem being a supreme Kickboxer and former K1, Dream andStrikeForce champion and Lesnar being a wrestling powerhouse and former NCAADivision I and UFC champion. However, the cards seemed stacked in Overeem’s favour; despitebeing one of the greatest strikers in MMA 19 of his wins came via submission.Overeem is a seasoned veteran of the ring/cage with over 40 pro fights to hisname, whereas Brock by contrast going into the fight had only fought 7 timesand two of those were losses. Brock had also suffered from the debilitatingdisease Diverticulitis, which had seen him require surgery and an extendedperiod of time away from MMA. Lastly, Brock’s Achilles heel had proven to bepowerful strikers, barely surviving the first round beating by Shane Carwin andlosing his title to Cain Velasquez by first round TKO.

Strategicallyin many ways Brock was doomed if he did and doomed if he didn’t. His tacticagainst Velasquez had been to storm in and get the takedown early where hewould have the advantage in top control and negate Velasquez’s superiorstriking ability. That tactic had failed in his title fight and he subsequentlylost in emphatic fashion. Against Overeem, arguably an even better striker thanVelasquez, Brock needed to take the fight to the ground once again but thistime he was hesitant not to make the same mistake as before. This reluctance toutilise his best weapon – the takedown, meant that the fight was left standingwhere there was only one real winner: Overeem! Sure enough midway through thefirst round after some devastating knees inside the clinch Overeem caughtLesnar with a body kick that crumpled the former champion, quickly followed bya flurry of punches causing Lesnar to assume the by now familiar position of ‘turtling’up waiting for the ref to step in and stop the fight. In his post-fightinterview Brock announced that he was retiring from MMA and would not fight inthe Octagon again.

In someways Brock was the architect of his own destruction. Due to his size, strengthand wrestling pedigree Brock quickly overpowered many of his opponents in theearly stages of his career leading him to become only the second man afterRandy Couture to win the heavyweight title on only his fourth professionalfight. But as the calibre of Brock’s opponents increased in talent andexperience the gulf began to widen. Brock had been fast-tracked to the titleand in the end his lack of experience and lack of all-round ability as a mixedmartial artist became a stumbling block. I recognise that his own personalproblems with Diverticulitis may have played a part in preventing him fromfulfilling his potential but Brock was a proverbial example of power overtechnique. Once he came up against stronger and more technical fighters thanhimself his advantage was negated.

Whatdoes this mean though? Firstly it means that Alistair Overeem will face JDS forthe heavyweight title in 2012 – the two greatest strikers in the UFC heavyweightdivision. JDS dismantled all of his opponents on his way to the title throughsuperior boxing. JDS has never been taken to the ground and so his ground gameis yet untested. With Overeem’s strength lying in his kickboxing this fightcould well be full of explosive fireworks and should produce a veryentertaining fight. For Brock it means the fans have been denied a rubber matchagainst Frank Mir and a potential return to the WWE. While many ardent WWE fansmay relish the prospect of Lesnar gracing a WWE ring again, his credibility asa fighter has suffered with two back-to-back losses and his inability to defendcombinations of strikes. His UFC career of course has no bearing on his WWEone, but nevertheless a return to the WWE may be viewed as ‘cowardly’ by someMMA fans.

So 2011is over, it has been one of the most successful, if not the most successfulyear in the history of the UFC and has opened many new opportunities for 2012.Expect more first class booking, greater mainstream exposure and UFC breakingmore new markets, especially in Asia as the UFC goes to Japan in February 2012.

The Joy of Salvation

2011-12-18T05:26:00.000-08:00

There are simple joys and great joys in the world. A lazymorning reading the Sunday papers in bed after a long, hard week at work orwaking to a glorious day – not a cloud in the sky and the sun beamingbenevolently and magnificently through your window, these are simple joys.Finding love, the blessing of parenthood and grandparenthood, earning awell-deserved promotion at work or the gratification from the triumph of apersonal accomplishment in your life such as completing a marathon, climbingMount Kilimanjaro, surviving cancer or earning a black belt in a martial artare all examples of great joys. However, there is a joy that exceeds all otherkinds of joy: that of the joy of salvation.

Jesussaid I have come to make your joy complete (John 15:11). Once you haveexperienced the joy of salvation it gives you a new perspective on all otherforms of joy and gives you a deeper appreciation even for the smallest of thesimple joys in life. Unfortunately, in a way it is inexplicable to someone whohas not been touched by the Holy Spirit. But imagine that joy was like yourfavourite dessert. The simple joys in life are like taking a bite of yourfavourite dessert – delicious, scrumptious and a pick-me-up. The great joys arelike eating a very generous slice or portion of your favourite dessert – a veryspecial treat to be savoured and appreciated. Now imagine you were in thefinest restaurant in the world and you order your favourite dessert to beprepared and made by the greatest chef in the world. When it comes you eat itand it is the most exquisite delicacy you’ve ever had the privilege of tasting– the flavours in your mouth are familiar but they’ve never tasted as rich orvibrant as this before, your taste buds made alive like never before. That in away is like the joy of salvation, as the Bible says: “Taste and see that theLord is good” (1 Peter 2:3).

How doyou experience the joy of salvation? The answer is through repentance. Jesussaid repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near (Matthew 4:17). Sometimesrepentance is painful; sometimes it is the pain of recognising we are not asmorally good as we thought we were; sometimes it is the pain of pride –admitting to the mistakes in our life or coming to terms with the fact that wecannot solve all of our problems by ourselves. Sometimes it is the pain ofknowing that we have sinned against a Holy God and we are unworthy to come intoHis presence. However, that pain can produce amazing fruit: the process ofpainful self-reflection and repentance brings with it the desired joy ofsalvation.

Whenthe angel appeared to the Shepherds on the hills of Jerusalem that firstChristmas it told them of news of great joy for all the people (Luke 2:10).That great joy referred to by the angel was the birth of Jesus the Christ.Jesus was not just his parents’ joy – Jesus was to be the joy of humanity. AndJesus is the only way to experience the joy of salvation, for He is the way,the truth and the life (John 14:6). Praise God that He so loved the world thatHe gave His one and only begotten Son so that humanity may experience the joyof salvation. We all have a choice – accept Jesus’ sacrifice and receive Him asour saviour or reject Him and fail to experience the joy of salvation and enterinto the Kingdom of Heaven. We will still experience the simple and great joysof life but they are finite and ephemeral in nature. The joy of salvationtranscends this mortal life and connects us with an eternal reality, whichbears not just upon what happens when we die but also enriches this life too.God greatly desires that all humanity experience the joy of salvation (2 Peter3:9). Jesus is God’s gift to the world. So embrace and accept the greatest gifton earth, the greatest gift possibly imaginable and find true joy.

Joy to the World

2011-12-08T02:13:00.000-08:00

The Christmas story is one of the greatest events in human history. Period. Why? On that most auspicious day God became man, born as a hapless little baby. Yet that baby, born into totally unassuming circumstances, was both the fulfilment of the Messianic prophecies given to ancient Israel as well as the incarnation of God Himself! Jesus was no ordinary baby - Jesus was no ordinary human being.

Jesus was born into the family of David – Jesus was a descendant of King David, whom God had promised would have a descendant on his throne forever. But Jesus was not just another human descendant and another flawed ruler. No, Jesus was the fulfilment of the promise of new hope for Israel – He was to be the prince of peace as Isaiah foretold. Israel had great expectations for their coming Messiah. But Jesus’ purpose was not to liberate His people from political oppression. Jesus came first to bring spiritual freedom – to reunite a fallen humanity with its Divine and Just Creator. A Creator who defines what is right and wrong; whose very nature is perfection, righteousness and love. Jesus’ priority and mission was to bring freedom from slavery to sin, not emancipation from an imperialistic and dominant Empire. Jesus will return a second time, but not as a small defenceless babe – when Jesus returns He will come as the rider on the White Horse with Heaven’s army against the Satanic forces of evil in this world and vanquish the Devil for all eternity. On that day He will finally take His place on David’s throne as the conquering Lion.

Only to those who the Holy Spirit and the Host of Angels had revealed it to were able to recognise in that sweet, unpretentious child the future King of Israel on that first Christmas. However, Jesus was not just God’s anointed one – the chosen saviour of humanity. Jesus was Himself God. In Jesus the fullness of the deity dwelt. Jesus grew up to become the only sinless man, despite being tempted on numerous occasions. God created a new Covenant – an eternal covenant, just like when He created His covenant with the Patriarch Abraham and passed through the offerings alone, so too God gave of His own Son in order to meet the Just requirements of His Law. For God cannot be unfaithful – not to His Law, not to His Covenant and not to Himself. God gave His Son to die upon the Cross so that whoever believes in Jesus will not perish and suffer damnation on that Day of Judgement but have eternal life. God created that new Covenant through His own blood. It is eternally binding. What an incredible day – when God literally intervened in the course of human history! God became irrevocably and unbreakably linked to His creation through the birth of Jesus.

The Christmas story as told in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke speak to people from all walks of life, of all ages and both genders. In Matthew we are given Joseph’s perspective as a righteous man, eager to be married who must make a courageous act of faith in taking a pregnant Mary to be his wife, suffering the scorn and possible rejection by their village. Joseph’s story is one of love and loyalty in the face of persecution and discrimination – a man who embraced Jesus as his own even though biologically not his son. His is an example to fathers and step-fathers, from boyfriends to husbands of how to be a man of God and do the right thing by his wife and her child. In Luke we are given Mary’s perspective as a young woman soon to be married – a modest and humble young woman. After her visitation from the Arch Angel Gabriel she must obey God and place her total trust in God for her future knowing full well what conclusions her family and friends are going to jump to. To them she would have brought shame upon the family and could have been potentially stoned to death. Yet Mary accepts the Immaculate Conception with humility and faith finding her identity and validity as a woman in God not her peers. Hers is an example to young women to pursue God’s will for their lives and not chase after the fickle and fleeting approval of the world. God protected Mary and delivered her from being out-casted by society.

Conversely the Christmas story is not just about a young couple about to become parents under extraordinary circumstances. For from the lowliest to the influential and powerful, people from across the spectrum of human civilisation came to pay tribute to the birth of Jesus. The Shepherds – mistrusted by all in Jewish society, who watched over their flocks by night, on the cold hills surrounding Jerusalem, came to see the birth of their saviour and Magi – well educated and powerful men from the East came bearing gifts befitting a King to give to the Son of God. The Christmas story encompasses all of humanity – every person can relate to the story, for the birth of Jesus is for everyone. Jesus is the Light of the World and His birth signified a new hope for all humankind. This year connect with the Christmas story in a new way; recognise that you are a part of the story too, whether represented by the Shepherds or the Magi, Mary or Joseph. Jesus is your hope, your saviour and if you believe your Good News of Great Joy.

Surrounded by Liars

2011-11-24T07:11:00.000-08:00

Paul says that the Gospel is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks but to those being saved it is the power of God. For many people the Cross makes no sense. Why does a loving God require a human sacrifice? How does the crucifixion of Jesus demonstrate God’s love? These are difficult questions, but important ones. The Cross has become the universal symbol of Christianity and to Christians is a symbol of hope, not execution or cruelty. So why did the early Church appropriate the Cross as a symbol of hope rather than what it was originally – an excruciatingly painful form of execution?

The short answer is Jesus died on the cross to show God’s love and to save humanity from its sin. But why did God have to demonstrate His love in such a graphic and controversial way? The answer is because as Jesus said in John 15:13 “there is no greater love than this that a man lays down his life for his friends”. In our society love has been appropriated by the likes of Valentine’s Day – a sugar coated, watered down, consumer driven concept that love demonstrates itself in signs of affection and material gifts. The word love is used cheaply even superficially, being used to express someone’s affection for just about anything. But the love that Jesus speaks of is known in Greek as agape – a love that is selfless and costly – a love that is greater than life itself. Jesus’ crucifixion is the ultimate demonstration of agape love – Jesus became a substitute for all human kind, He did not deserve to be executed on the cross but accepted the Just requirements of God’s Law on behalf of humanity so that we may be spared God’s judgement. That is agape love.

The Bible teaches that God is love: agape love. God is not a God of lust; He is not a God of sexual love (although sex is a gift from God). When we know and experience the power of God’s agape love we are empowered to love others too. In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul says that love is patient and kind, not proud, envious or angry. Again in 1 John chapter 4 John explains that because God first loved us and gave His Son, Jesus Christ to die for us we should love one another following in His example. If we love others then we are united with God because God is agape love. Knowing God loves us with the purest, deepest love imaginable also sets us free from fear, insecurity, jealousy and envy, which are the roots of bitterness and hatred. God’s agape love has the power to totally transform our world for good. So why don’t more people embrace God’s love?

One reason – besides from free will – why people do not embrace or believe in the power of God’s love is because of Satan. Oliver Stone famously said that Hell is the impossibility of reason. Why would a loving God send people to Hell? Hell is possibly the most misunderstood truth in the Bible. It is misunderstood because Satan is a liar and does not want people to know and trust in the truth of the Bible. Hell was created not for human kind but for Satan – who rebelled against God and was cast out of Heaven. The book of Revelation speaks of the lake of fire and sulphur – called the Second Death (meaning eternal damnation) for Satan, the False Prophet and the Beast. Hell is Satan’s judgement. However, Satan has deceived many people into disobeying God and turning their minds against God so that they reject God’s love. Jesus calls Satan the Father of Lies (John 8:44). Because of this great deception many people will share in Satan’s judgement. But Satan’s lies do not stop at distorting the truth of God’s salvation. As a liar and the inventor of lies Satan will try and convince us that we are worthless, unlovable, good for nothing, hopeless, too sinful to be forgiven and ugly.

When we know that we are fearfully and wonderfully made in God’s image then the damage of Satan’s lies is broken and our lives and self-esteem are healed. Christ conquered the grave and His resurrection guarantees that all who believe in Him will have eternal life, a life overflowing with God’s Holy Spirit, a life filled in abundance with God’s agape love, which can never be taken from us – for there is no longer any condemnation in Christ, for who can bring a charge against us for it is God who justifies (Romans 8). Know who you are in Christ – you are the most precious thing to God in His entire created universe. Your life has intrinsic value and meaning. God has proven His love for us in giving His Son to die for our sin. Jesus’ sacrifice was the ultimate act of agape love. That is the truth.

My Favourite band: P.O.D.

2011-11-16T09:08:00.001-08:00

We only have one youth and for many people that is a good thing! When we look back at old photos we often cringe at what we were wearing and whatever fashion trend was popular at the time. However, there is one thing that I will never be ashamed of and that is my passion for P.O.D. (Payable on Death).

It was 2001, one of the biggest years for nu-metal and when the genre was at the height of its popularity. Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, Linkin Park and Slipknot were amongst the most popular bands. Papa Roach’s single Last Resort, Limp Bizkit’s Rollin’ and Linkin Park’s Crawling could be heard almost every lunchtime in my school as students brought in their walkmans and portable speakers as well as bellowing the choruses...often badly... in the playgrounds and classrooms. Nu-metal pioneers Korn and Deftones were also favourites amongst the more ardent, hardcore nu-metal fans. Although it wasn’t until 2002 that Untouchables was to be released, Korn’s back catalogue of albums was among the must have albums of any discerning nu-metal head. It was at this time that Korn’s song Daddy touched upon a darker, more visceral and cathartic side of teenagers; not that they would have been able to articulate it in such a way back then. This was also the time when a legion of devoted Linkin Park fans could be seen sporting their Hybrid Theory hoodies and music videos became compulsory TV viewing.

It was into this context that I discovered P.O.D. (short for Payable on Death, originally a banking term but appropriated by the band to represent their spiritual beliefs in Jesus’ sacrifice). To myself, initially, and many others P.O.D. was thought of as a new band, but their warriors (die-hard fans) knew better. In fact P.O.D. had one of the best nu-metal pedigrees of all the most commercial and successful nu-metal bands as their original album Snuff the Punk was released in 1994, the same year as Korn’s self-titled. P.O.D. were not just another band to me; they were a cultural phenomenon. Within a year or so I had bought all of their back catalogue and their DVD Still Payin’ Dues, which received a favourable review in Kerrang magazine, a metal magazine typically critical of them. I also did my best to imitate their fashion sense and half-heartedly learning the guitar. The lexicon of their lyrical and social culture also impacted my vocabulary and although I often smirk condescendingly nowadays on white English kids from respectable backgrounds, as they use gangster slang unconvincingly, when I think about it I probably wasn’t that much different! P.O.D. championed their San Diago roots, or as they referred to it ‘the Southtown’ and their SoCal roots impacted upon my colloquial expression.

But I digress; I think you get the picture – an impressionable teenager who discovered a band that tapped into a radical (yet paradoxically mainstream) form of musical and cultural expression. So to P.O.D. ...

P.O.D. began life in 1992, as the youthful and enthusiastic garage band of founding members, guitarist Marcos Curiel and drummer Noah ‘Wuv’ Bernardo. The specific events that led to the formation of the band as it became known professionally are tinged with tragedy. Vocalist Sonny Sandavel’s mother passed away from cancer in 1992. Wuv, Sonny’s cousin asked him to join the band in order to have something positive to hold onto to get him through the difficult time. Sonny’s mother had been a Christian and had converted after seeing God transform Wuv’s own family. Just before she died Sonny himself made the decision to become a Christian after witnessing the peace that his mother had as she lay dying in hospital. Although the pain was acute, Sonny had hope that he would see her again and thus rather than singing about pain and tragedy chose to speak of the power of God through P.O.D.’s music. Later in 1993 bassist Traa joined the band completing the line up that would soon go on to multi-platinum success. The inclusion of Sonny and Traa would forever change the complexion of P.O.D.’s music and come to define P.O.D.’s eclectic and distinctive sound. Sonny brought with him his passion for rap and hip-hop music and Traa added a dimension of funk and jazz, originally coming from an R’n’B background.

Fundamental Elements of Southtown

P.O.D.’s aforementioned first album Snuff the Punk combined Marcos and Wuv’s Metallica inspired thrash metal riffs with Sonny’s - at that time – raw rap vocals. It was a totally grass roots experimentation, not the polished and commercial sound that would come to characterise the nu-metal albums of the 1999-2003 era. P.O.D.’s 1996 sophomore album B.R.O.W.N saw the band branch out and experiment with their other musical passions, including their penchant for Reggae, while still remaining heavy and to an extent gritty. Lyrically Sonny opened up more on a personal level; singing about his faith in light of his mother’s passing. Having established themselves as an indie act within California with a strong core fan base dubbed the warriors, P.O.D. broke through into the mainstream with their major Label debut The Fundamental Elements of Southtown in 1999, the same year as Korn’s Issues album. The album went Platinum as their singles Southtown and Rock the Party (off the hook) hit radio waves with the music video for Rock the Party reaching No. 1 on MTV. Musically, the album was more akin to the polished sounds of their contemporaries Limp Bizkit and in my opinion is a nu-metal masterpiece. To my mind it is the quintessential P.O.D. album. Coming off of the back of the success of F.E.O.S. the band released Satellite, their most successful album, in 2001. Satellite was the album that truly broke the band onto the world stage and world tours soon followed including performances at the prestigious metal festivals Ozzfest and Rock am Ring in Germany. P.O.D.’s ability to write anthemic choruses was epitomised by Satellite’s first single Alive, which to this day remains one of their all time greatest songs. The song, again epitomising the band’s penchant for positivity speaks of joy and a passion for life born from their faith. The title track Satellite itself is a metaphor for God, an example of P.O.D.’s ability to write songs with spiritual depth without being offensive.

By 2002 the band had reached the peak of their popularity. However, controversy was about to strike at the core of the band. Ever since they entered the mainstream P.O.D.’s faith had been the subject of debate. The band, who proudly displayed long dread locked hair and tattoos were not the clean cut, stereotypical image of a Christian band. Their image was a stumbling block to many in the Religious Right Wing of America. Conversely, the band also felt discriminated by the media for pigeonholing them as a Christian band. Unusual for a faith-based band, P.O.D. had enjoyed mainstream success and had played many secular music festivals and enjoyed exposure on MTV, but they had always considered themselves a band made up of Christians, not strictly speaking a Christian band, who belonged in Christian music charts only. Finally in late 2002 founding member and guitarist Marcos Curiel left the band. There were conflicting accounts from the band and Marcos as to the precise nature of the split – the band citing musical differences as the primary cause, whereas Marcos painted a different picture of a band whose spiritual integrity was in question. Marcos went on to play full-time for his then Prog-Rock side project the Accident Experiment.

I was devastated! My favourite band, which I had looked up to, had given me strength as a Christian and had made me proud to be a Christian was now torn apart. His replacement came in the way of Jason Truby, ex-guitarist of Christian metal legends Living Sacrifice. Jason’s selection assuaged many fans fears of Marcos’ insinuations and their 2003 self-titled album ‘Payable on Death’ was a conscious and deliberate statement to their fans and critics alike. It was a statement that this was, at one and the same time, who P.O.D. are and always were but also that this was a new chapter, a fresh start and on one level even a chance for redemption. Songs such as Find My Way, I and Identify and Asthma spoke of spiritual struggle and a search for truth. The album showcased a more poignant, refined and mature melodic style, with Sonny extending his vocal range, proving he is more than a rapper, adding another colour to the rainbow of their musical spectrum. The album sold relatively well going Gold, but by this time nu-metal as a musical and commercial force was waning. 2006 saw P.O.D.’s last album on Atlantic Records ‘Testify’ as well as a departure from long time producer Howard Benson, this time favouring Glen Ballard. The album was an ambitious feat, which aimed to combine styles from all of the band’s eras. The album, for me, was a slow burner; some songs became instant classics, whereas other tracks took longer for me to truly appreciate them.

In 2007 something extraordinary happened. Jason Truby left the band to pursue his own solo career. Once again the band was without a guitarist. Jason had been the only natural replacement to Marcos at the time due to the band’s close friendship with Jason from their days touring with Living Sacrifice. Not being the sort of band to audition for a player this left them with a problem. It was at this time that Marcos, almost miraculously returned to the band. I do not know for sure who made the first move, whether it was Wuv or Marcos, but one way or another the two reconnected as friends. At first the band just spent time reconnecting with their old friend before, to the warriors delight, they began writing their seventh studio album When Angels and Serpents Dance and their first album with Marcos since 2001. The album was met with mixed reactions from both fans and critics alike due to its pure hard rock direction. Songs such as Addicted and Kaliforn-eye-a exhibited some of the old P.O.D. sound but the album took an even further step melodically than their 2003 self-titled. It was clear that during his hiatus from the band Marcos had matured and grown as a musician and artist. Lyrically the album dealt with the spiritual struggle of good and evil. Nevertheless, WA&SD was a very significant chapter for the band, who had forgiven past transgressions and let bygones be bygones. Marcos had returned to the band that he had made famous and that had made him famous, a band of openly Christian members. Spiritually, the reconciliation was monumental and healed many of the old scars that many of the warriors, including myself had been carrying.

In 2009, just a year after the release of WA&SD the band announced they were going on hiatus. This came as a shock and disappointment to their warriors, who by this time had seen many other fair-weather fans come and go from the P.O.D./nu-metal bandwagon. Sonny went on to establish the Whosoevers – an evangelistic organisation focussing on spreading the Gospel through alternative music and youth culture, including members such as Brian ‘Head’ Welch former guitarist of Korn who had become a Christian in 2005. Traa created his own indie Record Label, Pheonix Records, as well as publishing a book, while Marcos and Wuv continued to make music with their respective side projects. Eventually after two years the band began touring again, first touring South America and then touring America on the Rock Allegiance tour. As of November 2011 the band entered the studio to write their as yet untitled eighth studio album with producer Howard Benson, who produced both of P.O.D.’s Platinum selling albums F.E.O.S and Satellite. This collaboration, once more with Howard Benson is a great sign of things to come.

So 2011 has seen the second great revival of the band since Marcos’ return back in 2007. The band’s longevity is truly admirable considering its history and its place within a predominantly secular music scene. P.O.D. have always stood apart from their contemporaries and peers, while always pushing the envelope musically and never being afraid to experiment. Famously P.O.D.’s philosophy has always been that of a jam band, who make music in the moment, never as they once explained ‘reheating’ old songs. This commitment to writing in the here and now has always produced a very honest sound, whether fans and critics love it or hate it. There is nothing contrived in P.O.D.’s music.

I look forward in eager anticipation for 2012 to see what new music it will bring from my favourite band, a band who I feel I’ve grown up with and who have grown up with me; a band who have become an intrinsic part of my identity and who I will forever associate myself with. I learnt long ago never to put people on a pedestal, I know the band are just ordinary human beings, who make mistakes just like the rest of us, but I also know that their music has great spiritual depth and meaning, as well as being full of energy and even sometimes aggression. P.O.D. is my happy place band; they are the band I can turn to no-matter what mood I am. One of the greatest things about P.O.D. now that I am in my middle twenties is that I can claim ownership of them – they were the band of my generation and no one can take that away from me! I still listen to new music and I am into anything from Death Metal to Dubstep; but P.O.D. were and forever will be of ‘my time’ – that time in my youth where I began to discover the world and learn who I was. P.O.D.’s music is indescribably precious to me and while subsequent generations of teenagers may scoff at P.O.D.’s music, it makes no difference, because they will never understand what they mean to me. At the end of the day that is the beauty and power of music; that ability to transcend language and reach into you spiritually and emotionally.

UFC 138 review

2011-11-07T11:07:00.000-08:00

Well for those of you who didn't know, I like MMA (mixed martial arts) and last weekend I travelled to Birmingham with a couple of colleagues to go to UFC 138, held in the LG Arena. The UFC is the world's premiere MMA promotion and UFC 138 was a historic first as the main event between Chris Leben and Mark Munoz (pictured) was the first ever non-title five round main event. The event also boasted the highest ever LG Arena attendence of over 10,000. This was my first live MMA event so I had a mixture of feelings and it didn't disappoint. Bruce Buffer was there, the 'voice of the Octagon', Joe Rogan was there to interview the winners and the fights themselves were really entertaining. Fan favourites Chris Leben and Thiago Alves were fighting on the main card, as well as up and coming British fighters Brad Pickett and Terry Etim.

Immediately our excitment level spiked as soon as we entered the arena and caught a glimpse at the Octagon. The UFC really knows how to put on a great show! Large screens surrounded the arena on both sides so that no-one missed any of the action. The arena was ideal for a UFC event as no-one's view of the Octagon was obscured. I was very proud of all the British fighters even though they didn't all win. The pre-lims were all very entertaining, the first fight was between Vaughan Lee of Birmingham and the American Chris Cariaso. The first couple of rounds were close with Vaughan getting the upper hand in the first before Cariaso turned it around in the second and third managing to win a split decision. Although the local fighter had lost the first fight it hadn't damped fans enjoyment. The second fight saw another British fighter, Chris Cope, get an impressive 40 second KO of Che Mills, which earnt him KO of the night. The fans errupted in applause as we leveled the score against the Americans.

There were many different fighters throughout the prelims and in the main card including Michihiro Omigawa from Japan who earnt a hard fought unanimous decision over Brit Jason Young with an impressive display of Judo style takedowns and fluid ground control, although his lack of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu hindered him from getting the submission. Onto the main event and fans showed their appreciation for Bruce Buffer's trade mark announcement: "and we're Liiiive!!!" Another Brit opened the show with Terry Etim coming out to thunderous cheers. 17 seconds later and Etim's opponent Faaloloto found Etim hanging around his neck forcing him to the ground followed swiftly by Faaloloto tapping for his life. The crowd went ballistic! The atmosphere was palpable.

Thiago Alves, one of the biggest names on the card put on a good, crowd pleasing performance against the Swedish Papy Abedi. Alves spent the first couple of minutes finding his range and scouting his opponent before finding his rhythm with some hard Muay Thai kicks that connected to Abedi's body. Before long Alves had rocked Abedi with a good combination of right and left hands that sent Abedi to the floor. Seeing his opportunity Alves picked up his very first submission win as he synched in the choke.

The co-main event won fight of the night honours with Brad Pickett and Renan Barao engaging in a ferocious stand up war. Pickett, an East London native came out to deafening cheers, coolly showboating while reading a newspaper. The fight was intense with Pickett and Barao being fairly evenly matched keeping the fight on the feet and letting their hands fly, the fans fully behind their compatriot with chants of "England". Towards the end of the first round Barao caught Pickett with a knee that sent the Brit to the floor, before Pickett gave up his back allowing Barao to get the choke. Pickett tried resisting but succumbed to the compression and tapped before being choked unconscious. Pickett was visibly disappointed after the fight but had won the respect of the fans for his gutsy performance and never-back-down attitude.

Fans errupted in cheers again as Bruce Buffer exclaimed "It's Tiiime!!!" for the main event: Chris Leben v Mark Munoz. The crowd chanted rabidly for Leben as the pair wrestled for supremacy both on their feet and on the ground, Munoz's wrestling pedigree coming into play as he managed to succeed in taking Leben to the ground, from where he attempted to dominate through his vicious ground and pound. Each time Leben was on the losing end of the exchanges the fans chants got louder, spurring their favourite fighter on. Leben's eyebrow had been cut, by the end of the first round Leben looked tired while Munoz looked relatively fresh. The second round saw the ref step in and attend to Leben's cut as the blood flowed liberally all over Munoz during their clinches against the cage. The doctor asked if Leben could see alright and after being satisfied Leben was ok to carry on, the fight continued. However, at the end of the second round, once Leben had got back to his corner and having his eye examined again, his team decided to pull him out of the fight. It came as a disappointed to the majority of the fans, but personally I think it was the right decision - Leben was losing the rounds to Munoz's superior wrestling and was looking visibly slower and more weary.

All in all it was a great event - the fights were highly entertaining with some excellent striking battles, a vicious KO as well as some well worked submissions. From start to finish the fans got their money's worth with every fighter displaying much grit and determination. The atmosphere of the crowd was amazing at times and the appearances of all the Octagon mainstays such as Bruce Buffer, Joe Rogan and the referees made it a really authentic UFC event. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and soaked up the amazing atmosphere, relishing in the slick and professional production of the UFC. I would definitely go back next year if the UFC return and would encourage any fight fan and fan of MMA to make the effort to see a UFC event live.

Grievances against Aikido

2011-10-25T13:42:00.000-07:00

One of the most fundamental questions asked of any martial art is “does it work in a real fight?” Despite all martial arts being art forms that are to a greater or lesser degree aesthetically satisfying and inspirational; they are primarily martial systems of self-defence, some created for war, others created for the street. Thus although all martial arts have intrinsic worth in the practice of and perfection of their techniques, not all are as equally effective in real self-defence situations. Now, arguably whether a martial art is practical for self-defence will depend on the cultural context and the law of the country. For example Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has been proven to be an effective system for self-defence in a one-on-one scenario as statistically it is said that between 90-95% of all street fights end on the ground. That statistic has been disputed recently and renewed statistics argue that around 70-75% of fights result in at least one person being forced to the ground. So even taking conservative estimates learning a form of grappling to defend yourself is a very wise course of action and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is an almost exclusively ground fighting system. However, if you were attacked by multiple attackers you would not be able to protect yourself effectively with BJJ.

Circumstance is paramount to the effectiveness of any martial system – your environment, whether your attacker is alone or with a group of people, whether your attacker/s are intoxicated with alcohol in a bar or pub, or whether you are being mugged on the street for your wallet at knife point will determine how you react – what time, space and opportunity you have in order to use any knowledge and training in self-defence. If you are on the street it is likely that you have far more space in order to create distance and prevent a mugger from entering your personal space; if you are in a bar or pub the likelihood is you are in a crowded environment with less space and a greater threat that more people will become involved in any altercation.

This brings me to the focus of this blog: how effective is Aikido in a real life self-defence situation? I am using the case-study of Aikido deliberately because of Aikido’s non-violent philosophy. I am also using Aikido because I have experience in Aiki Jujutsu, which incorporates Aiki techniques yet with a focus of complimenting and increasing the effectiveness of the more combative jujutsu techniques. Aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba – referred to by Aikidoka across the world as ‘O Sensei’ – was profoundly influenced by his own mystic Shinto beliefs that led him to develop his system of Aikido to be as ‘humanitarian’ as possible. Aikido is said to be the way of harmony, meaning that an Aikidoka (a practitioner of Aikido) should blend their energy with that of their attackers, utilising the body's own energy called in Eastern mysticism Ki. Aikido, as its name suggests, stresses this emphasis on Ki (some Aikido styles more than others). Therefore there is a strong philosophical or even spiritual aspect to Aikido, many Aikidoka seeking to learn how to become a better human being through the practice of their art. While this emphasis on the non-violent approach that the art takes through its Aiki principles is commendable is it realistic?

The problem with arts such as Aikido and Aiki Jujutsu is that there is no sport, no sparring or as it is referred to in Judo randori. All Aikido demonstrations you find on the internet are purely exhibitions only. As sport is anathema to the philosophy of Aikido and Aiki Jujutsu it creates the problem of compliance amongst Tori and Uke (Tori being the practitioner of the technique, Uke the partner simulating the attacker). The difference, however, between Aikido and Aiki Jujutsu is the way in which each arts' history has influenced its philosophy – Aiki Jujutsu is an ancient martial art that traces its origins back to Feudal Japan and was developed as a system for self-defence used by the Samurai on the battlefields. This history means that its use of aiki is far less spiritual in nature and far more practical than Aikido with the suffix ‘Jutsu’ carrying with it far more combative connotations. The art was developed to save Samurais’ lives in real war scenarios. Aikido’s history as a modern martial art is very different. The result of WWII upon Morihei Ueshiba’s worldview was very apparent in his development of Aikido. Ueshiba became disillusioned with the more violent techniques of the more traditional elements of Aiki Jujutsu that influenced his art in the aftermath of the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Japan’s loss to America in the war in the Pacific. This is partly why there are so many different styles of Aikido, some stressing the more combative elements and others the more spiritual depending on when the students of Morihei Ueshiba studied under him.

Compliance is one of the biggest problems for the sceptic and doubting Thomas of Aikido. The Uke is taught how to fall and roll properly known in Aikido as ukemi. Thus the Uke in any Aikido demonstration employs acrobatic rolls and falls in order to prevent serious injury, which gives the illusion of a dynamic and powerful technique. Conversely, in the street an Aikido technique would look very different and far less aesthetic than in the dojo. Not only would people not roll out of a wrist lock in a real street fight but they would not be compliant. It is incredibly hard to blend your energy with an aggressive attacker who is tense and strong, especially when a lot of the set up attacks for an Aikido technique are not always realistic. This goes back to the art's Aiki Jujutsu roots.

In Aiki Jujutsu wrist locks were used in order to break an attacker’s grip, which was to prevent a Samurai from drawing his sword or dagger, or possibly to steal said weapons. Many of the wrist locks techniques found in Aikido and Aiki Jujutsu are still relevant for police officers in weapon retention scenarios – in 2010 of the 56 officers killed on duty in America, 7 were killed with their own weapons (source fbi.gov). Statistics may vary for other countries but weapon retention is a serious issue for police officers facing dangerous and violent criminals. In the street or in a bar though wrist grabs are a far less serious problem. Wrist locks can work from a punch, theoretically, but the level of skill and the reaction time of the practitioner would need to be seriously good in order to prevent the punch from connecting. Reaction is always slower than action.

If the Aikidoka is dogmatic about the application of Aikido techniques without first deploying strikes, known in Aiki Jujutsu as atemi, and being absolutely dependent on grabs then they can very easily find themselves in danger. Applying techniques without strength is incredibly difficult in a fight conducted in real time. Fear or panic will send adrenaline coursing through the body and our instincts will be to tense up making it extremely difficult to relax. The same could be said of Aiki Jujutsuka, but there is far more room for pragmatism in Aiki Jujutsu in responding to a real life situation. Now I am analysing the weaknesses of Aikido from a western perspective and do not have experience of Japanese street fights, but with the rise in popularity of MMA and K1 kickboxing in Japan there is a far higher likelihood of an attacker having some knowledge of kickboxing. Of course there is still the possibility someone might just try and grab your wallet or your brief case etc. in an opportunistic ‘grab and run’ scenario, from which you can apply a wrist lock or a throw but in many aggressive situations people will fight with their fists or feet. Where Aikido and Aiki Jujutsu have an ‘edge’ over striking arts is in its weapon defence. Yet even then reaction time is paramount to safety when someone is either threatening to or actually attacking you with a knife or sharp objective capable of piercing skin and flesh. Again compliance can become a stumbling block if you have not immobilised your attacker swiftly and competently as you could easily find yourself in a wrestling contest.

In conclusion I have many doubts about the practical application of Aikido in its strictest spiritual application in a real life self-defence situation. The philosophical principles behind much of Aikido may be commendable and meritorious but the compliance factor and the unrealistic set up attacks, namely being too dependent on wrist grabs or arm grabs make it an incredibly difficult art to use effectively. Even though aiki techniques are dependent on contact between attacker and victim where they do occur the use of aiki in Aiki Jujutsu is far better, especially when adapting the art to making it a relevant and contemporary self-defence system. Aiki applied in Aiki Jujutsu uses smaller circles thus creates less wasted motion and is more realistic in tight, bar fight situations; it is also more of a distraction technique, subtly shifting your attackers mind frame from attacker to defender, allowing the practitioner to use one of the Jujutsu techniques to immobilise their opponent. Of course the effectiveness of any art is almost entirely dependent on the skill level of the practitioner, but I would be very wary of arts that are too ‘idealistic’ in their principles.

The Gospel according to Thor

2011-10-16T10:01:00.000-07:00

Last night I watched one of Marvel's latest superhero flicks 'Thor'. I found the film enjoyable, although I was unfamiliar with the character. However, what interested me was the parallels in the story between Thor and Jesus Christ.

Synposis

The film centres around the character Thor, who in Viking folk lore is the god of Thunder, but who is, in the film, the prince of Asgard - one of the 9 realms (which includes earth) - and the son of King Odin. Thor and his companions can travel throughout the 9 realms through a portal, or wormhole. In the beginning of the film Thor and his companions travel to the ice world of the Frost Giants in retaliation of an unsuccessful invasion into Asgard. The warriors soon find themselves outnumbered even if Thor's mighty Hammer does manage to wipe out hordes of Frost Giants at a time. As their enemies close in around them Odin arrives to save his son and companions.

Back in Asgard Odin, outraged at Thor's reckless behaviour, banishes Thor taking his powers and Hammer from him. Thor is banished to earth, where Odin sends his Hammer after him after first placing a spell on it that only when Thor is worthy of wielding its power will it be activated. Thor is indignant that Odin has made a mistake and has become too 'soft' in his old age. Nevertheless stuck on earth Thor is forced to re-evaluate his life and learn humility. Over the course of the film, Thor becomes less arrogant and more humble as he befriends and inevitably falls in love with Jane Foster, a scientist studying wormholes.

Thor's jealous brother Loki takes over the throne of Asgard after their father Odin falls into a coma brought on by the heartbreak of Thor's banishment. Loki determined that Thor should never regain his position as son and heir to Odin's throne and to ensure that he will reign as King after the eventual death of Odin, sends a giant robotic monster known as the Destroyer to earth in order to kill Thor. When the Destroyer arrives on earth it starts destroying everything in its path in order to complete its objective of killing Thor. Without the power of his Hammer Thor knows that he is physically helpless to defeat the giant Destroyer and so chooses to freely and voluntarily give up his life so that no-one else is hurt or killed. Loki, who is able to control the Destroyer from Asgard accepts Thor's sacrifice and commands the Destroyer to kill his brother. At that moment Thor's selfless actions and courageous sacrifice awaken the power of his Hammer and it is returned to him, bringing him back from the brink of death and empowering him to kill the Destroyer. Once the Destroyer is killed Thor travels back to Asgard to defeat the evil schemes of his brother. In his battle with Loki over control of Asgard Thor is forced to break the portal allowing them access to the other realms and destroying the link between Asgard and earth. The film ends with Thor determined to find a way back to earth and to his new beloved Jane.

Analysis

There are many parallels between the story told in the Marvel film 'Thor' and Jesus' life here on earth. Firstly, the film is a story about personal realisation and humility. Before Thor was banished to earth he lived in magnificence in Asgard, in full power and majesty as prince and heir to Odin's throne. Jesus too, before coming to earth, lived in the glory and splendor of Heaven with God. Secondly, after Thor was banished to earth he had to learn humility in order to regain his power and status. The Bible says that Jesus:

"Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in the appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!" Philippians 2:6-8

Jesus humbled himself by coming to earth and being born as a human being. Jesus had to learn how to be a human and adapt to his new home. Thor too had to learn how to fit in as his mannerism and the way he interracted with people was very unorthodox by contemporary standards. Thor was still technically the son of Odin - that did not change and so too Jesus was the son of God.

Thirdly, Thor realised that devoid of the power of his Hammer he could not defeat the force of evil by brute strength alone. He chose the higher way and selflesly gave his life as a ransom for the people caught in the middle of Loki's jealous and spiteful actions. Jesus too, as the passage from the book of Philippians explains became obedient to death. Jesus chose the way of the cross as opposed to the way of war in order to defeat Satan and rescue humanity from the judgement of God caused by our sin. Jesus says himself in the Gospel of Matthew:

"Put your sword back in its place... Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?" Matthew 26:52-53

Jesus had at his disposal the power of heaven in order to defeat the forces of evil in the world, but knew that ultimately it was love that would conquer evil. Jesus chose the path of love and took humanity's sin upon himself so that there would be forgiveness and pardon for humanity. Thor's actions were inspired from love.

Finally, after Jesus' crucifixion and buriel he rose again on the third day and ascended into Heaven where his former glory was fully restored to him as he sat at the right hand of God. At the end of the film Odin recovered from his coma and Thor took his place in meekness and humility as his son and heir. Lastly Thor looked to the day when he would return to earth, to return to the people that he grew to love although he did not know when. The Bible says that Jesus too will one day return although only God knows that day and hour.

Naturally there are limits to the parallels - Thor was forcely banished from Asgard, whereas Jesus voluntarily gave up his glory in Heaven. Thor fell in love with one woman in particular whereas Jesus' love was for all humanity equally and impartially. But the parallels that can be made are striking and thought provoking.

The next time you watch a film, whether comic book or other just pause and reflect to think whether there are any parallels or Christian message in the film - it is quite remarkable just how strong a Gospel message you can find.

Caught a Glimpse

2011-10-05T04:10:00.000-07:00

I have come to the conclusion that many of us don’t fully comprehend what it means to be made in God’s image. It means so much more than just to differentiate us from the rest of the animal kingdom. It means more than being imbued with a conscience and knowing the difference between right and wrong. I found myself asking for God’s forgiveness for all the times I had looked in the mirror and been unhappy with the reflection staring back at me; for all the times I had been envious of other people for their looks, talent, popularity or wealth. Because the Bible says we are fearfully and wonderfully made by God: every single one of us. God made us unique for a reason. He made us different from everybody else because He was happy to do so. That means God delights in all of us, just the way we are. We may not have won a noble peace prize, we may not be a world class athlete, we may not make the cover of Vogue magazine but God created us and He knew exactly what He was doing.

I saw a video yesterday of a Romanian child with Down syndrome. There is widespread discrimination against children with learning disabilities in Romania and the father even suggested killing her as a baby. The mother refused to do so and so the father left; left his new born baby daughter and his wife to raise and look after her all by herself. But even though that child may not have the intellect or the social skills that many of us take for granted; that child is still a human being who deserves to be loved just as much as the next ‘normal’ child. There is an incident in the Gospels when Jesus’ disciples ask him, regarding a blind man, who sinned – him or his parents, to make him blind. But Jesus says neither and that the man was born that way so that the mercy of God may be revealed! God cares for and loves deeply every human life on earth.

There have been times these past few years when I have struggled with self worth – feeling unlovable and insecure. Just the other day I had a bad lesson observation at work that hit me hard. I felt like a total failure, like I was good for nothing. But that is not true and that is not how God sees me. For in God’s eyes I am exactly who I am meant to be. He created me and programmed my DNA so that who I am is who I am meant to be. It doesn’t matter whether or not I am the greatest teacher to ever grace a secondary school classroom; it doesn’t matter that I am not the most handsome man in the world with women falling at my feet and it doesn’t matter that I am not a gold medal winning Olympian. Life is made up of triumphs and failures, of peaks and troughs. We all have good days and bad days. That is the nature of life. But that doesn’t mean I am a lesser human being because of it.

As hard as I’ve tried not to let it be so, deep down I have sought validation from my work, from my relationship with my colleagues, from my service to the church and I have ultimately sought it from a prospective wife; wishing, longing that someone would look at me and think “wow he’s amazing!” But all of these are but illusory, for all a long my acceptance and validation as a human being has come from God. Being fearfully and wonderfully made by God is extraordinary. It is mind blowing. It is liberating. My physical appearance, my talents, my passions and desires all come from God. I can look at myself in the mirror and be pleased with who I see, because I know this is the person God wanted to create. None of us choose to be born. Many of us would like to choose how we die; but none of us choose to be born, which family we are born into, whether rich or poor, whether from the West or the East. No human life is an accident. God deliberately and joyfully made each and every one of us. Hallelujah!

My entire life is by the grace of God: all life is a gift. I thank God that He saw that it was good to make me. I thank God for who I am. For the Bible also speaks of salvation being by God’s design. The Bible says that it was not by human planning but by God that we are born again into a new life. For although God chose to make us just the way we are, unfortunately we are born into a world corrupted by sin. But God pre-empted the Fall. He knew we couldn’t make it by ourselves and so sent His Son, Jesus Christ to die for us. By dying for us Jesus freely and voluntarily gave his life so that we might share in Jesus’ glory. Jesus is the archetypal human being – the blue print of the ideal human person. By his blood we are cleansed from our sin, forgiven by God and redeemed. By being redeemed we are restored in God’s eyes to the mode of humanity He originally created before the Fall. That is why only Jesus’ sacrifice is sufficient for our salvation; for only Jesus was both God and Man in order to offer the perfect sacrifice. And so, restored by the blood of Christ and enlightened to my true self before God I can live positively in the knowledge that God both loves me – beyond my wildest dreams –and is also happy over me.

I am sure there will be times when the world beats down on me again and I fail in the world’s eyes. But I know that my God is for me, not against me and in His eyes I am a success! This is the most important thing in life; knowing the Father and being known by Him. When we understand that God seeks a personal relationship with each of us, because that is the reason we were born – to share a relationship and the blessings that flow from the Creator God, then we can face each day and look forward in hope to a brighter tomorrow and a future eternity in His glorious presence, our spirits free to reach our full potential.

“He is jealous for me, Love's like a hurricane, I am a tree; bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy. When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory and I realize just how beautiful You are and how great your affections are for me.” How He Loves Us

Victoria Concordia Crescit

2011-09-01T04:55:00.000-07:00

Arsenal celebrate 125 years as a football club this year. It is a significant and historic anniversary; one which is celebrated in our new crest that includes a wreath that brackets the standard Arsenal crest as well as the motto 'Forward' written underneath. However forward is far from how we started the season! Psychologically our Carling Cup final defeat to Birmingham was the deathblow to our season last year. In hindsight the game revealed our lack of mental strength and ability to 'bounce' back. We faded away, dropping out of all other major competitions and finally only managing to finish fourth. It was clear that last season we lacked leadership as the fiasco with Febregas lingered, speculation ever growing as to when, not if he would make his move back to Spain. We had our captain in body but not in mind or spirit. After long, drawn out negotiations Fabregas finally made his move back to his beloved Barcelona in the Summer. The effects of losing our once talismanic play maker were clear to see at the start of the new season - we were unable to score in both of our first two matches and through a series of injuries and suspensions were forced to ask our new teenage signings to go from being boys to men against the defending champions Man United. The result, an inform and clinical Man U were just too much to cope with and annihilated us with a humiliating 8-2 victory, which embarrassed fans, players and manager alike. Something had to be done. But as a pheonix rises from the ashes Wenger responded by making some vital and much needed new signings on the last day of the transfer market.

In total we signed five new players yesterday, four on long term contracts, one on loan. Each brings something that has been lacking in the Arsenal squad this season - every one of them are experienced players in their late twenties or early thirties, several of them have international experience too, making many appearances for their respective countries. We have reinforced our defence, midfield and forward positions. Per Mertesacker, our new German defender, will add much needed height and physicality to our game at 6'6 inches tall. Mikel Arteta has vast amounts of Premier League experience and should link up nicely with our other talented mid fielders in Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey. Arsenal play a very particular style of flowing football. However, arguably Arsenal have lacked a clinical finisher in the past and so a new striker was desperately needed to add greater attacking threat. Hopefully this is precisely what South Korean Chu Young Park can give us, as well as the leadership qualities he brings as captain for his national side. With Chu Young Park, Walcott, Robin Van Persie and Gervinho we should have plenty of attacking options both from the wings and from the centre. Moreover the additions of Yossi Benayoun (on loan) and Andre Santos should provide extra support for our more forward going players and Benayoun's Premier League experience, like that of Arteta, is invaluable to us at the moment.

As an Arsenal fan I am being very optimistic about these new signings. There will be some who just dismiss these signings as 'desperation buying' on the last day of the transfer market but I believe this is a real positive step Forward. Some Arsenal fans even believe our crushing defeat to Man U was the wake up call we needed to actually spend in the transfer market. I am not sure about this line of logic as I don't believe any defeat of that magnitude is a good thing, especially not for a club like Arsenal with such a prestigious history. Conversely I am glad we have made these signings and do believe that Wenger and his scouts have chosen well. What remains to be seen is whether Wenger, with the qualities and strengths these new players bring to the team will be open minded enough to change his tactics when necessary in order to prevent further defeats this season. When you reach the bottom the only way to go is up and I am optimistic that we can once more go 'Forward' as a club. However it is a long way back and securing a top 4 finish this season will be harder than ever. However, "Victory grows out of harmony" - Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Masterpiece Conspiracy

2011-08-25T12:01:00.000-07:00

Israel stands on the brink of war! Next month the UN will vote whether or not to recognise a Palastinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital along the 1967 boarderlines. The proposal will take territory away from Israel, including the East section of Jerusalem, the ancient Jewish captial. This has had no news coverage on British television, although there is a helpful article about it on the bbc website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13701636

The consequences of a UN recognised Palastinian state would most probably result in war as Israel would defend her territory by force if necessary. No doubt this would bring condemnation upon her by the international community and world's media. Ever since Israel was granted sovereignty in 1948 the Islamic world has sought its destruction. There have been numerous assaults on Israeli territory by the Arab world of the Middle East and there has ever only been a fragile peace between Israel and her neighbours. Even in peace time Israel has still had to contend with terrorist attacks from Gaza led by Hamas, supplied via underground tunnels from Egypt.

From Israel's ancient enemies of the Philistines and her exile in Bablyon, the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Roman Empire, which led to the diaspora all across Europe in the second century, the Inquisition and martyrdom of the Middle Ages for being the 'Christ-killers', to the Holocaust of WWII; sadly Israel's history has been intrinsically linked with a history of anti-semitism. Whether through racial theory or religion the spirit of anti-semitism has raised its head in almost every century. But why?

I believe there is a very simple reason. In the Bible Israel is always identified in connection to God. The first commandment is:

"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me." Exodus 20:2-3

Therefore a recognition of the sovereignty of Israel is also a recognition of the God of Israel - Yahweh. The Jews were a slave cast in ancient Egypt. An immigrant race forced into Egypt through famine in Israel, they multiplied until the Egyptian authorities decided to enslave them in order to control them. Four hundred years later and Moses led them back to Israel across the Sinai peninsula. For centuries the land of Israel was seen as the Holy Land by both Jews and Christians, the fateful Crusades evidence of the important link between Israel and the God of the Bible. Today Muslims claim Jerusalem as being one of their most holy sites. To the secular mind this has nothing to do with a recognition of the god of Islam, but historically the land of Israel has never been able to be separated from the claims of the major Abrahamic religions. Indeed even today Israel is the only democratic country in the Middle East and certainly a strengthed Palastinian state along 1967 boarderlines would be another Islamic state amongst the many other Islamic states of the Middle East. The Middle East view the land of Israel in religious terms.

Indeed one cannot truly understand the troubles with securing lasting peace in the Middle East unless they know the Bible. The West has become secularised ever since the Enlightenment of the 18th century. Science and reason have replaced religion in terms of world view and moral authority. However, secularism opposes the Biblical mandate that Israel has to the land precisely because it would be a recognition of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This God whom Neitzche declared was dead, the God whom Fraud said was a psychological crutch and the God whom Dawkin's says is an illusion. Therefore the modern state of Israel is wrenched from its ancient predecessor and denied its heritage in order to fabricate some other kind of justification for its existence, one which can be taken away from it by the changing of political winds. What the secular world will not admit is that it is embarrassed by the existence of Israel because no matter how hard it tries it can never truly detach it from the God whom established it (Genesis 17:8).

The denial of Israel as a covenant nation before God is the very same spirit that denies Jesus as the Christ. This is known in the Bible as the spirit of anti-Christ. How are the two connected? Because Jesus himself said:

"Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me." John 5:46

A denial of the God of Israel is a denial of Jesus. Satan is actively at work in this world blinding peoples' hearts and minds towards the God of Israel and is aggressively persecuting the Jewish people. Even in the Church Satan is at work, twisting its theology to deny that the covenant that God made with Israel is still valid. This is known as Replacement Theology - the belief that the modern state of Israel no longer has any scriptural connection to ancient Israel as God's chosen people. Replacement Theology is a distortion of Scripture. This is plain to see when one just examines the New Testament in its historical and theological context - see Romans 11. How could the Church be deceived? Because a house divided against itself cannot stand! This is Satan's purpose.

God made His first covenant with Israel in the Old Testament with Abraham, in a ritual in which he symbolically passed through as a torch (Genesis 15:17-18). Abraham did not participate in this ritual convenant signing, this is significant because it meant Abraham was then not able to break that covenant. It was an eternal covenant made by God himself. In the New Testament, after hundreds of years of prophesy, God made a second covenant with Israel through the person of Jesus Christ - the Son of God, the incarnation of God Himself. Jesus took the world's sin upon himself on the cross. Again the covenant was made by God Himself without any human mediators who could potentially break the said covenant. God cannot deny Himself or be unfaithful to His promises (2 Timothy 2:13).

The state of Israel and its future will have spiritual ramifications. It is unavoidable. Over the centuries there has been a spirit of anti-Christ at work that has manifested itself through anti-semitism, replacement theology and secularism. Do not be deceived.

A Moment Suspended in Time

2011-08-16T04:03:00.000-07:00

Well my adventure in Japan has come to an end. I arrived safely home after what seemed like an eternity in the sky flying first to Rome then connecting for my flight to London. Nevertheless I am grateful for intercontinental flights and what would have taken months a century ago now only takes a day! It's actually quite incredible when you think about it. Hurrey for aviation! My last week in Japan was not without incident; after my day in Kyoto the following day I was treated to a sushi lunch by a lovely elderly Japanese couple before going the following day to WEC HQ, an impressive large, old Japanese building where I spent time with Simon and Henrietta, a missionary couple just recently returned from Bible college in England. Simon gave me a copy of his Masters' thesis on Japanese house churches, which I read with much enthusiasm having determined in my own mind that house churches were potentially the way forward, not just for Japan but for Christianity in Britain too. We discussed his analysis, evaluation and conclusions of the effectiveness and relevance of the house church model to the situation in Japan, which I found both informative and stimulating.

Thursday was the start of the third and final camp back by Lake Biwa. This camp was called Friendship Camp and was focussed on adults in their twenties and thirties primarily. The first night we were there I got to meet a 24 year old Japanese man by the nickname of 'Sugi'. After the evening meeting in our small group we discussed the message, which was from Jesus' meeting with the Samaritan woman in John 4. The emphasis was on how encounters with others can define and reshape our lives. Sugi had been particularly challenged by the message as he had many issues going on in his life and struggled to believe God could forgive him. Through Peter who translated for me I shared what was on my heart for him after listening intently to his life story. Sugi seemed very grateful for my comments and insights and I felt compelled to physically hug him as he seemed in need of acceptance. I believe God was working powerfully in Sugi's life that night. The next morning he left the camp early before I had a chance to say goodbye. I reflected on how it was almost like a chance encounter with Sugi, but maybe our brief meeting together and the message he heard was all Sugi needed at that time.

Unfortunately my own camp experience was cut short after my feet and ankles started to swell up and I developed a red swollen rash on the right side of my body. Thinking initially it was just a mosquito bite I left it but gradually as the day progressed the swellings became more uncomfortable and sore until I had to recognise something more serious had happened. I went home with Peter on Friday night and went to hospital Saturday morning with Edi as the swelling and rash hadn't improved. The doctor thought it was caused by an insect bite and gave me an intravenous injection and a perscription for three days worth of medication. I was praying that God would heal me before my flight and others prayed too. I felt very reassured that I was covered by so much prayer and God really looked after me those last few days. Yesterday morning as I was due to get the train to Kansai airport, Peter informed me that he now could spare the time to go all the way to the airport with me and handle my luggage for me. I was incredibly grateful for his time and sacrifice.

The swelling hadn't gone completely by the time I was due to fly but had improved sufficiently that the flight didn't cause me any further problems. It wasn't the way I wanted to end my trip to Japan but I have no regrets about my time in Japan which was one of personal and spiritual growth, new experiences and new friendships. In so many ways it was a rich blessing to me and a challenge God enabled me to undertake on my own for the very first time. I returned to two very happy and relieved parents who were thankful I was back home safe.

I want to thank everyone in Japan who I befriended, it was a very special and exciting time. Will I return to Japan that most beautiful and enigmatic country? I would like to say most definitely yes. God is not finished with that country and neither am I! I felt I heard from God while I was there. These feelings and the scriptures I believe God used to speak to me I will continue to pray over and take before my pastors here at home, but I do believe my adventure in Japan is not completely over.

Thank you to everyone here in Britain and over the world who has been with me in prayer and been interceeding for Japan with me. Please pray that:

1. Sugi would encounter the risen Lord Jesus and know the love and restoration of a relationship with God.
2. The house church model would bear fruit and new believers in Japan
3. That I would settle back into life here in Essex and return to work and church with vigor and passion for God's Kingdom work here at home

...Oh one last thing the more observant readers of my last blog will have realised I made a mistake in my geography of Japan - I got the names of the islands mixed up and we were infact on Honshu island not Hokkaido! I was quite embarrassed when I realised after I had posted it and felt I needed to correct it.

"(Heavenly Father) I know you will complete this work started in me; I need you more than ever now that I know who you are" P.O.D. 'Portrait'

Memphis will be laid to waste

2011-08-08T03:39:00.000-07:00

So I'm back in Ono in Shiga-Ken (prefecture) after an amazing week in Tohoku. The experience was emotionally and spiritually challenging, but ultimately rewarding. We traveled by van on Monday - a twelve hour journey across the island of Hokkaido. 80% of Japan is uninhabitable mountain range and every mountain is covered in trees! We finally arrived at the Karate Dojo in Miyagi-ken, Tohoku late Monday evening. I was personally looking forward to spending time in a real Japanese Dojo. The Dojo itself conformed in the main to what I had expected. There were white and blue mats permanently laid in the main hall. There were certificates (presumably of the students) all around the walls. However, on one side of the hall there were two Buddhist shrines. Nevertheless, culturally it was an impressive site.

Tuesday we began work with the rest of the team that were already there, mostly made up of Americans. We were working with the 'Be-One' team, a group of volunteers from house churches from Osaka. We drove into the city of Ishinomaki where the Be-One team had a base, a house that had been damaged by the Tsunami but that they were renting and had refurbished. Our main task for the week was to clean out mud and sand clogged drains. Over the course of the week we managed to dig out and clear drains in two streets. The reason why the Be-One team was working in the area of Ishinomaki was because there were still people living there trying to rebuild their lives. It was tough work and some of the most physically strenuous work I have ever done. It mostly involved lifting concrete slabs then shovelling out the dirt that was filled with all kinds of debris, filling plastic bags and then transporting the bags to the designated dumping ground.

As the Dojo did not have shower facilities and the Be-One house only had cold water we had to bathe in a local Onsen. For anyone unfamiliar with a Japanese Onsen it is a public bath, where people pay to wash and then relax in a steaming hot communal bath...naked! I must admit Tuesday evening I really struggled with having to use the Onsen, I resented my forced naked exposure and was particularly uncomfortable with the public nudity, especially as children and adults bathed together (although in separate genders). However I put the experience into the bigger picture and the grand scheme of what we were doing in serving the local population and bringing hope to the area, as well as glorifying God through our service. As the week progressed I learnt to resent it less and refused to let it ruin my week of which I grew so much serving the local people and sharing fellowship with the other volunteers. It truly was a great time to bond with others in our common goal and vision to reflect God's love and grace to the people of Ishinomaki.

Ishinomaki itself was a surreal place - literally metres away from the Tsunami devastated areas, only a minutes drive away businesses and roads were reopened and life carried on. As we were digging out the drains there were even a few people living in the houses around us - in the middle of such destruction! Houses were left barely standing, entire walls and rooms ripped apart by the Tsunami - there were huge mounds of mangled metal from vehicles etc and boats deposited in the middle of buildings or left on the streets. The most emotive thing I encountered as I surveyed the ruination was a family's photo album - the photos damaged by the water. It was particularly evocative and moving as it was putting a human face to the tragedy of the Tsunami. I didn't know whether the family were dead, killed in the Tsunami, or had just fled the area. But it was a powerful reminder that there was an entire community in that area that had been swept away by the powerful force of nature.

On Wednesday afternoon we went down to the local park, which the Be-One team had salvaged and restored a few months earlier and invited the children to come out and play. It was such a blessing to bring joy to these young children, many of whom had witnessed people dying in the Tsunami and to hear them laughing and seeing the smiles on their faces. I was incredibly thankful to God that in a small way we were able to bring happiness into their lives and let them be children again. We played tag and ball games and had face painting and guitar lessons. At the end of the afternoon we gave all the children that wanted one a pack of Christian children's books and note pad and colouring pencils.

On Thursday something rather bizarre and exciting yet alarming happened. I went with a small group of men to transport an elderly couples furniture to their new temporary residence on the outskirts of the city; on our way back we were pulled over by the police! As the van only had three seats in the cab of the van, I was riding in the back with another team member, who happened to be our team leader. The police pulled us over for the violation but unfortunately we had hardly any identification on us. I didn't have my passport or wallet on me as they were back at the Dojo and Chad our leader didn't have his foreigner ID card on him. To make matters worse we didn't have all the legal paperwork in the van we needed either! Thankfully the police only gave us a warning and we got away without a ticket. It was a wake up call to not take liberties with the road laws but at the same time we were frustrated because we were there for a good cause. Nevertheless God blessed our service and our outreach.

On Saturday it was a particularly hot day and my body finally succumbed to the nature of the work; I became dehydrated and I felt light headed as well as the circulation in my hands was effected. I had a strange throbbing sensation in my hands and what felt like pins and needles. After lunch and drinking a lot of fluids I felt much better and the sensation in my hands had gone. But I took it easy in the afternoon not pushing myself. Sunday I returned, but as we got back so late I had missed the last train home from Kyoto. Very kindly Catherine let me stay in her apartment complex as there was a spare room. We arrived back in Kyoto at one am in the morning, absolutely shattered! Earlier today, as I was already in Kyoto and had nothing planned, Catherine and I went and did some site seeing. Catherine took me to Nijo Castle, a fabulous historical castle complete with traditional Japanese architecture. It was very exciting to walk around the halls where the Shogun once walked with the Feudal lords. We also went to one of the more historical quarters of the ancient capital and passed through a large Shinto Shrine. I was extremely grateful to Catherine for giving up her own time to show me the city.

Finally I had to take a bus from Catherine's apartment to Kyoto train station and then get a train to Ono where Peter came and picked me up. After the last 24 hours I was very glad to be back in my temporary home while here in Japan. But I have had an amazing week, giving and helping the people of Tohoku as well as making new friends and sharing new experiences with other missionaries from around Japan.

"Am I only in this to feel comfort - without pain I'd never know what comfort was." War of Ages 'When Faith turns to Ashes'

Please give thanks to God for the following:
1. The relief work of the Be-One team in Tohoku and their extraordinary witness to the local people
2. That I am home safe

Please pray for the following:
1. That more missionaries and church groups as well as non-Christians would feel convicted to go and help in the relief work in Tohoku
2. That many people in Ishinomaki would come to faith through the witness and service of the several Christian groups working there

Vertebraille: Choke that thief called dependence

2011-07-30T23:58:00.000-07:00

So I have been in Japan for just over a week and have completed two of the three camps. The first camp was for primary school children and the second for families. My duties for the family camp primarily involved cleaning the toilets and making sure there was enough boiled drinking water. However other duties included lifeguard, carpenter and sound engineer! On Friday evening we built a makeshift stage and Catherine gave a wonderful Harp performance. We built a camp fire and had hand held fireworks that the children played with. Not at the same time as Catherine's concert of course! With the rhythm of the waves caressing the shore and the Harp's therapeutic melodies it was the perfect way to relax after what was a long and busy day.

I also met some of the other missionaries and learnt that Japanese social groups are extremely partisan; the Japanese are a very cliquey set of people. As such the society is very fractured and many Japanese are apparently very lonely. Most of the newcomers to the Church have been people who do not conform to a social clique such as housewives, the retired or young mothers. Social groups are very important to the Japanese and are usually based on standards of education or employment. On the one hand it is good the Church can facilitate the longing by some Japanese for acceptance and fellowship, but on the other it is sad that the Japanese in general are so discriminatory towards their own people.

Well I am blistered, sunburnt and aching after 5 days of camping and ground working and tomorrow we go to Tohoku for six days to help clear houses and aiding in other cleaning operations going on in this region. But what gives me strength is reflecting on what Jesus said to His disciples at the Last Supper that He came not to be served but to serve and washed His disciples feet as proof. I worship a servant King and Jesus' example inspires me to carry on; I hope that these experiences help me to become more Christ-like.

Earlier today I took the train (with instructions from Peter and Edi for which I was most grateful) to a nearby town called Heizan Sakamoto to the church there to give my testimony. I decided to use another new phrase that I've acquired: "Koko ni iru koto ga deki ureshii desu" - I am very happy to be here. The people there seemed to receive my token gesture of Japanese graciously. Afterwards there was a time for the 'peace' to be shared and I spoke to an American named John who was encouraged by my testimony. After the service had finished we ate lunch together. It was good to fellowship with some of the members of the church in Sakamoto and I spoke to an older gentleman about the similarities and differences in Japanese and British history as well as the two countries views on nationalism. Despite having many differences as I learn and reflect upon Japanese society the more I realise there are many similarities. These similarities are not always positive and it has helped me to see the reasons why it is also so hard to evangelise in Britain. Conversely I was encouraged by a testimony brought by one of the Korean missionaries at the church of a non-Christian woman who came to the family camp. She had text messaged the missionary saying how much she enjoyed the camp and how different it was to Buddhist camps she had gone to previously. She explained how much warmer, friendlier and brighter our camp was compared to her experiences of Buddhist camps. People here in Japan are desperately in need of God's love.

I have also been challenged by the WEC missionaries lifestyle of faith. They do not have a salary and trust God for all their needs; Ben was able to share some amazing testimonies of how God has provided when they had practically no money. It is a step of faith I am still uncertain I could take, but certainly it is inspirational how faithful God is.

We must get up early tomorrow morning, for around 5 am in order to travel to Osaka to collect the van we have been allocated to drive up to Tohoku - the journey itself to Tohoku will take roughly twelve hours so it will be a long day! Please continue to pray for the following:

1) physical strength for the work in Tohoku
2) for a thawing in Japanese social groups so that people are more embracing of each other and more open to the Gospel. The splintered nature of Japanese society makes evangelism very difficult as people are suspicious of others outside their social sphere.

The Latter Rain

2011-07-27T23:20:00.000-07:00

Well the first of three camps is over. I am back for a short respite tonight and a return to modernity before going back bright and early tomorrow morning for the start of the next camp. We drove up to the site Tuesday morning and to my surprise the facilities were very basic! The camp is situated on the other side of the lake to where I am staying, it is quite small with only a few buildings. There are two communal shower rooms that only have cold water, one for boys and the other for girls; there are also two sets of port-a-loos too (and not Western style - Japanese style, which are let's say... on second thought I'll let you google traditional Japanese toilets). For all three camps I am a 'ground worker', which basically means an odd jobs man. Our primary job and purpose is to ensure there is clean drinking water on site. The water is collected from a spring nearby the site that comes down from the hill. However the water must first be boiled to make it clean to drink. So several times a day we have to fill two cisterns with water that is pumped from the spring, boil it then fill kettles and place them in the stream to cool off ready to drink. In order to make the water more palatable tea is added. So for the past three days I've been drinking nothing but cold tea with the occasional fruit juice at meal times. There's nothing quite like camping old skool!

But despite the nature of the camps it has been rewarding to serve. I have been reflecting on Paul's metaphor for the Church as the body and how we all have different, but equally important roles to play. Naturally due to the language barrier I cannot teach, but I can boil water and build camp fires and lug tables about. I am here to serve and I am grateful to God for this opportunity to be able to serve in this way. Without clean, drinkable water they wouldn't be able to run the camp, so it is an incredibly important job in order to enable the leaders to teach.

I also met Ben who I originally contacted about joining WEC Japan for a short term mission. It has been very insightful again discussing the particular needs and issues that arise when evangelising in Japan. He was able to confirm some of my first impressions and I was also able to learn more from him about just how difficult it is to reach the Japanese people with the Gospel. Religion and culture have amalgamated into one in Japan, so even though people think of themselves as irreligious, their actions and traditions are in fact steeped in the religions of Buddhism and Shintoism. For example every house when it is first built has a Shinto dedication ceremony and there are Shinto shrines in the rice fields to try and produce a good crop. The teacher/student hierarchical relationship is also very ingrained into the Japanese culture, which effects the dynamic of the Japanese Church. Bible studies are difficult as most Japanese Christians just expect the leader of the study to teach them the interpretation rather than exploring the meaning together. This has even greater ramifications for witnessing and evangelising - there is still a great dependence from the average Japanese Christian on the pastor or missionary doing the evangelism.

But I have also observed that it doesn't matter which part of the world you are in some things stay the same - children like to play, women wear makeup, people have a sense of humour and everyone likes to eat! Though there are many things that are distinctly Japanese, some basic things are inherent in every human being. I am growing far more accustomed to the look and feel of the country now. I was thankful to one of the other short term workers staying with us that he was able to show me around Katata, a nearby town to where we are staying. I sampled a Japanese nectarine, which was larger than the ones found in England and was very juicy and sweet. He also took me to a Sushi restaurant, where I ate several types of Sushi, some for the first time. I have liked everything I have eaten here in Japan, most of it involving rice to a greater or lesser degree. The food appears simple yet very refined. I have also acquired a few new phrases in Japanese that I have been using but they will take much more practice before they are embedded in my memory and I can pronounce them correctly. "Oishii des" means this is delicious (a very handy phrase to know) and just yesterday I was taught how to say how old I am: "watashi wa niju gos si des".

The second camp is slightly shorter and runs from Friday to Saturday and then on Sunday I am giving my testimony in one of the WEC churches before Monday morning we go to Tohoku to help with the earthquake relief work. Thank you those of you who are praying for me; please continue to pray for the following:

1. That I am able to handle any further culture shock that may arise from the Tohoku trip.
2. For my personal safety while in Tohoku
3. That God would raise up Japanese Christians filled with the Holy Spirit to go out and plant new churches across the country. I believe this is vital for the future of Christianity in Japan.

I hope to be able to write one more blog before we go off to Tohoku as we will be away for a week without internet access.

"A blanket of deception is layered on sacred writings which contain the thoughts of the One who is Almighty God. A sword unsheathed is drawn bringing legions of demons to their knees by the covenant prepared before the earth itself. Still so many choose to warm themselves beneath deception. As the end draws near and history closes I pray that the winds and the rain of that which is latter, will bring clarity and understanding to Your infallible Word. Let the lack of knowledge that destroys us be lifted in Your name." Zao 'The Latter Rain'

Breathing in a new Mentality

2011-07-24T18:42:00.000-07:00

So my first blog from the land of the rising sun, it's a little earlier than I was anticipating due to the fact that I am going to be pretty busy for the rest of the week helping out at two camps. Well first impressions - I left Osaka airport and bought myself a bus ticket for Kyoto station, thankfully the ticket machine had an English option so that I understood what I was buying. The journey from the airport to Kyoto station took roughly 70 minutes, the bus travelled along some highway that cut straight through the middle of Osaka and into Kyoto. On one side were harbours, fishing vessels and warehouses and on the other houses and offices at the foot of tree covered hills (they looked mountainous to me but then I am from Essex!). The geography of the cities was a little confusing to me, there seemed to be no rhyme or reason, just a random assortment of houses, office blocks, factories, warehouses and sky scrapers. The houses were small and the streets very narrow, some looked old and others looked new all in the same vicinity. I was later informed that it is traditional for generations of families to build on the same plot of land thus having the old and new living next door to each other.

I was picked up by Peter Wilson and another missionary, a Chinese man also called Peter. We drove out of Kyoto and into Shiga where they live. By this point I had spent well over a day travelling by some means or another and was looking forward to seeing where they lived. Eventually after running some errands we finally got back to the Wilson's house, where I met the rest of his family. Japanese towns are quite different to British ones. Firstly Japanese towns don't use road names, only numbers which just seems to make all roads look the same. This was particularly disorienting to me as any of you who know me well, know that spatial awareness is not my strong suit. I spent the rest of the day feeling very disoriented. That evening we went to a firework display by the shore of the lake. The firework display was very impressive, although I was told it wasn't the biggest one they put on in the Summer. Nevertheless it was a nice way to say welcome to the country! The fireworks reminded me of the Soul Survivor song 'Light the Sky' and I couldn't help but reflect on the lyrics as I watched combinations of different coloured fireworks illuminate the night. My prayer that evening was that Japan would know the light of the world.

While I was very happy to finally be in Japan my first day was a little overwhelming. I guess that's what they mean by culture shock and I knew that I was bound to experience it, even if only minimally. Some of the shops look quite garish by British standards with their flamboyant, bright colours and cartoon mascots. Kanji too is impossible to decypher without studying it first. That was probably the most powerful feeling of culture shock, not being able to interpret or understand anything. Peter and Edi have three children all of whom are learning Kanji as well as English and I realised that I didn't even have a child's level of knowledge or understanding about the culture - it was truly infantile! However yesterday I felt much better as I adjusted to my new surroundings.

I went along to the Wilson's church yesterday, an outdoor service held by the shore of the lake. It was a beautiful backdrop of cloud covered hilltops and reminded me very much of the lake district. At least that is the closest comparison I can make with England. We sat under a home made canopy and Edi kindly translated the words of the songs from Kanji into Romanji so at least I could pronounce the words even if I didn't understand them; she then translated Peter's sermon for me. Afterwards we had a BBQ which was a mixture of Asian and Western food. Needless to say I enjoyed it. So far I am only able to use a handful of phrases such as good morning 'ohio gozaimas', thank you 'arigato' and I am English 'Watashi wa igirisujin des'. As learning fluent Japanese in three weeks is nigh on impossible the best I can expect is to learn some polite phrases to get me by, unfortunately this limits conversation and dialogue is very difficult unless I want to have the most one sided conversations in the world where I just regurgitate every single bit of Japanese I've picked up LOL! This was no better illustrated then after the the BBQ when I had to wait behind as there was not enough room in the car for all of us; the couple whose garden we were using by the lake invited me into their house to wait, but they spoke practically no English. There was a lot of awkwardness and confusion (in a humorous way) as they spoke to me in Japanese desparately wanting me to understand only to be met by a blank expression on my face and a reluctant shrug of the shoulders as I conceded I didn't have a clue what they were saying. Thankfully Peter turned up after not too long and he was able to translate my apology to them for not knowing enough Japanese and my gratitude for their hospitality.

Japanese homes are very different to British ones and mostly for very practical reasons. Traditional Japanese homes do not have a lot of furniture but this is a good thing if ever the event of an earthquake. It makes sense. Traditional homes also have a low table where they sit and relax as well as eat. It suddenly put my sitting kata in Aiki JuJutsu into perspective as I realised just how practical the self defence tecniques from our knees would have been historically in Japan. The Japanese also have a very strict etiquette in their homes - shoes are not to be worn indoors as the space is considered 'clean'. Toilets also include 'toilet slippers' to be worn as the space is 'unclean'. They are very particular about these codes of polity. But as the old saying goes manners cost nothing and it's no skin off my nose to be polite.

My initial impression of Japan is mixed - on the one hand I am delighted to be in this distant country, full of beautiful scenary, slowly learning their language and customs and embracing their culture; but on the other hand I am experiencing all of this with a tinge of sadness that the people of the country are so closed to the Gospel. Having spoken to Peter about his experiences in his twenty plus years as a missionary here I was sad to learn there has been no dramatic rise in numbers of converts in the Japanese churches. The Japanese are growing increasingly secular and individualistic and there is a lot of indifference to religion in general of which Christianity seems to be suffering inadvertently the most. This is compounded by the fact that Christianity is still viewed with suspicion as a 'Western religion'. This seems particularly sad when China and Korea have experienced tremendous revivals. As I've been reflecting on these things I have been seeking guidance through scripture as well as wisdom from the Holy Spirit, whom the Bible calls the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. Please pray for the following things:

1. That I would overcome any further culture shock
2. That I would be kept safe when we go up to Tohoku next week to help with the earthquake relief work
3. That I would keep on keeping on - for ways to recharge my spiritual batteries and to stay close to God and sensitive to His Holy Spirit
4. Lastly that more Chinese and Korean missionaries would feel the call to Japan - I really think this is important to break the stereotype that Christianity is distinctly and uniquely Western.

I will try to post another blog Sunday afternoon before we go up to Tohoku next Monday, I am thinking about you all and keep you in my prayers.

March

2011-07-21T10:23:00.000-07:00

This time tomorrow this Essex made punk is going to be on a plane half way across the world! I thought I would start my travel journal tonight - it seemed only appropriate, after all every journey has a beginning... every march starts with just one small step. Today has been a hectic and very productive day: this morning I took a trip up to Colchester to get my hair cut and buy some last minute essentials such as workboots, dust mask and goggles for my trip to Tohoku to help with the earthquake relief work. It was only confirmed yesterday that I would be able to join a team to the area. We are expecting to be there for 5 days in the first week in August. With my hair feeling refreshingly shorter and my equipment I headed back to Clacton only to go straight to the bank and then onto the post office to exchange my precious pound sterling for Japanese Yen. Not travelling abroad a lot this was an amusing little escapade, it felt strange walking home with 120,000 Yen in my pocket!

With my money and my eticket printed off all that was left to do was pack - into my suitcase went a strange combination of summer wear including shorts and t-shirts and certain supplies that every good builder worth his salt should have! Anyone would think I am bipolar looking at its content...either that or a very chilled out bricky! Lastly the final task that no self respecting twenty something holiday maker should forget...putting music on my ipod classic (old skool I know!).

So with my ipod suitably loaded with my favourite worship artists (who knows what sort of music I'll encounter in Japanese churches or at their missions!!!) all that's left to do is wait. That and watch hollyoaks! It's one of the only times I get to spend quality bonding time with my sister LOL. I will try my best to post an update at the end of every week.

"emptied of myself I fell to the ground. Slowly through the destruction came a single quiet voice and the breath of His words consumed the night and brought strength I have never felt on my own and He held me up until I could walk again and promised to stay by my side forever." - Zao 'March'

Wrestling Matters in 2011

2011-07-13T11:34:00.000-07:00

TNA Impact Wrestling

In its 9 years of existence TNA may still have yet to reach its potential, but over the past couple of months there have been some very positive signs of improvement. One of TNA’s problems has been that at times it has suffered from an inferiority complex – inferiority both towards the WWE and (I would argue) the former WCW. One only need to look at the Main Event Mafia faction and more recently Immortal to know that emulating the success of the NWO has been high on TNA’s agenda. Since Hogan and Bischoff joined the company in January 2010 the promotion has failed to fire on all cylinders and arguably the company took a backwards step in entertaining both men’s narcissistic egos. This is no better epitomised than when TNA’s failed attempt to compete with Raw on Monday evenings resulted in them moving back to Thursday nights on Spike TV. However, TNA have a new look, a new name ‘Impact Wrestling’ and a new mantra – “wrestling matters”. This may only be the most superficial change the company has made just recently, but it is an extremely effective one. The intro graphics have been changed, the titentron and the ring cables. Blue has become the new colour of choice and I must say that it is a very welcome change. The look and feel of the show is far more professional and very eye catching. However it is the emphasis on wrestling – both in the name of the show and in the tag line that has created some sort of psychological shift. It is not a new paradigm – TNA is a wrestling company; but with the WWE’s focus now shifting towards entertainment (a very obvious shift given the semantics of the company’s marketing and self promotion) it finally feels as if TNA know who and what they are.

Impact Wrestling is definitely not a PG show. The storylines are edgier, the promos are more adult in their language and most importantly the wrestling is less restricted. TNA certainly aren’t trying to corner the family demographic that WWE seem so intent on conquering. For me this is the direction TNA needed to take. I can only hope these are the true convictions of the company and not just a trend to try and attract higher ratings. However my scepticism has been assuaged by the revival of the X-Division and the new Bound for Glory series. Once again wrestling is taking centre stage of the company. TNA’s most recent PPV Destination X was a celebration of everything X-Division. Brian Kendrick became the new X-Division champion – the first legitimately X-Division wrestler to hold the title in a while; there was an Ultimate X match to decide the No.1 contender, a match that defines the high risk, high reward nature of the style as well as a main event between two of the greatest ever X-Division champions AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels. If that wasn’t enough Austin Aries a former X2 ROH world champion, an extremely gifted wrestler won a contract and is now officially on the TNA roster. With his presence within the company I can only see good things for the future of the X-Division.

The Bound for Glory series is a new concept and one that I think TNA have done well to introduce. Bound for Glory is the company’s flagship PPV; it is for all intents and purposes their answer to WrestleMania. The PPV takes place in October but its importance and prestige has needed to be emphasised more in the company’s past. WWE have successfully done this for decades now with the Royal Rumble PPV. The Bound for Glory series is a tournament to determine the No.1 contender for the TNA world heavyweight title at BFG. The tournament takes place as a league table with each participant earning 7 points for a pinfall victory or 10 points for a submission victory. This system encourages progressive as well as traditional wrestling styles and adds an important element of realism into an industry that has been categorically overshadowed by the rise of the UFC, both in popularity and marketing. Currently the two top ranking wrestlers on the leader board are two new recruits to the TNA roster. Over the past few years the world title scene has been monopolised by either former WCW or WWE champions. Now it seems as if the company are building the champions of tomorrow; an extremely wise and important investment for the future of the company.

Lastly I have been impressed with the new gimmick of Sting. Sting has always been one of my all time favourite wrestlers, however for the last couple of years I have felt that his character has grown stale and I had begun to doubt whether he had anything left to offer the business. Sting was a huge marquee signing for TNA back in 2005, the ‘biggest star never to have worked in the WWE’. Sting’s new persona has morphed from the dark Crow gimmick to an entertaining yet disturbing Joker gimmick, inspired by the performance of Heath Ledger in the Dark Knight. Sting seems somewhat of a method actor as he has totally embraced the new role, changing his mannerisms as well as his face paint. For a wrestler who is in the twilight of his career he has proven it’s never too late to teach an old dog new tricks. His current storyline with Hogan, while nothing original at the moment has been made so compelling because of his new character. Sting has managed to breathe new life not only into his character but also into his very tired and well worn rivalry with Hogan.

WWE

The WWE are without a doubt the capitalist giant of the wrestling industry. Even TNA are still only the David to WWE’s Goliath. CEO Vince McMahon’s onscreen ruthless corporate boss character I suspect is just a caricature of his real life ambitious entrepreneurialism. The WWE juggernaut is a truly global, multi-media company but unfortunately it seems the fans are taken for granted. The quality of Raw and SmackDown has been mediocre for most of 2011, with the exception of the return of the Undertaker and HHH at WrestleMania 27 and Christian and Orton’s feud post Extreme Rules. However, one wrestler stands head and shoulders above the rest in terms of charisma and talent: CM Punk.
If there were only one reason to watch WWE it is CM Punk. CM Punk has proven without shadow of a doubt he is one of the greatest performers of this generation. His promo a couple of weeks ago, described as a ‘worked shoot’ voiced a lot of the discontent that not only CM Punk has surely felt but also fans too. CM Punk has become the anti-hero that many wrestling fans needed with a PG, family friendly and tame product. CM Punk’s main event against John Cena for the WWE world title at the Money in the Bank PPV later this month is probably the most eagerly anticipated match this year. WWE do deserve credit for allowing Punk the creative freedom and artistic licence to really show his potential and no matter what the outcome at the MITB PPV the aftermath will be the most talked about event in WWE this year. The WWE are on the verge of a historic angle here, depending on whether or not CM Punk stays with the company contractually and wins the WWE title. Many fans are hoping for another Summer of Punk, a storyline reminiscent of his departure from ROH. Whether this transpires is up to the graces of Vince McMahon. Speculation is rife as to whether CM Punk is going to take a break from wrestling, whether he will go to ROH or possibly Japan or whether he will stay in the WWE. The many variables of this angle make it the most compelling feud and storyline of the WWE this year.

There have been signs post-Mania that WWE has been relaxing its PG status. The emotional victory for Christian to win his first ever WWE world heavyweight title and his subsequent wrenching loss the same week to Randy Orton has proven to be the rivalry of 2011 and produced some of the best wrestling both on SmackDown and at PPV. However their rivalry could potentially be eclipsed if CM Punk wins at MITB and leaves the WWE as champion. A John Cena heel turn from butter wouldn’t melt poster boy to corporate champion would perhaps be the biggest character change in WWE in recent memory and has the potential to be as controversial and successful as Hulk Hogan joining the NWO in WCW and becoming Hollywood Hogan. Time will tell how far WWE are prepared to take this current rivalry with CM Punk.

Overall the second half of 2011 could turn out to be a great period in 21st century professional wrestling. Both TNA and the WWE have struggled throughout the first decade of the 21st century to really recapture the brilliance that was the Monday Night Wars of the 1990s. Much of the decline in the popularity of professional wrestling has come from the success of the UFC and the innovative combat sport of MMA (mixed martial arts). But the decline of wrestling is also partially due to poor match making (booking) and a lack of creativity and originality. However 2011 could turn out to be a very significant year in the fortunes of wrestling and if both TNA and WWE continue this creative ascent then 2012 could see a return to the glory days of the 80s and 90s. TNA are doing enough innovative things that as long as there is consistency will continue to grow and prosper. WWE likewise could pull the trigger anytime they like on many great wrestlers they have on their roster. Time will tell but for now the future is looking bright.

Murderotica: An avalanche in D Minor

2011-06-27T12:03:00.000-07:00

A little while ago I was confronted with a very disturbing concept – that God allows moral evil. As an educated man and an RE teacher the problem of evil was not new to me. I was well acquainted with the philosophical arguments against the existence of God from the perspective of moral evil. However, my own beliefs about this problem were brought into question. It is one thing for an omniscient, all knowing God to permit the continual existence of evil. It is something else to believe a Holy and Just God would allow it. You see for all the philosophical arguments for and against God, whether centred on the existence of evil or not many of the arguments define God in purely classical language of omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence. But I believe, as the Bible teaches that God is not just an abstract evanescent spirit, but a personal, loving and Holy Creator. This challenge to my deeply held convictions brought me to the precipice of despair – was God in some way responsible and even guilty for the evil this earth has experienced ever since man became a conscience being? Is the blood of innocent lives on God’s hands?

The problem of moral evil encompasses more than just the existence of God – it encompasses the nature and purpose of humanity and the reality of moral laws. In short it leads us to question everything we understand about life, the nature and purpose of suffering and the reality of justice and hope. Good always seems to have a way of overcoming evil in films and literature. Is this just a fantasy we play out for the sake of giving humanity some semblance of hope in an ever increasing world of violence, bloodshed, neglect and abuse? A world in which prostitution, human trafficking, drug barons, murder, genocide, masochism, witchcraft, war and even playground bullying tear through the very fabric of society and bring people to the brink of sanity often resulting in depression and suicide.

So how can we reconcile belief in a God of love and justice with the existence and continual perpetuation of evil? The book of Daniel in the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) speaks of God ultimately being in control and limiting the time of irrepressible evil. The book of Revelation in the New Testament speaks of the time of the anti-Christ and the Beast before the creation of the New Heaven and the New Earth; Jesus prophesised that there would be suffering and tribulation before His return and the Apostle Paul prophesied a terrible falling away from the faith of many who are deceived by the spirit of anti-Christ. So the Bible does not deny the existence of evil or its dreadful effects upon human society. Indeed the Bible gives several warnings of the evil to come; evil this world has seen in every generation and epoch. The question is why? What is God’s purpose for allowing evil to continue and even grow in the extent of its destruction and devastation? This is perhaps one of the most challenging issues facing the Christian faith. Many atheists would argue this is proof of the non-existence of God: as the premise of the argument goes:

(1) If God exists then he is omniscient, omnipotent and benevolent.
(2) If God were omniscient, omnipotent and benevolent then the world would not contain moral evil.
(3) The world contains moral evil
(4)Therefore: God does not exist.

So let us consider the alternatives: If God does not exist as atheists claim then how does this change our understanding of the existence and nature of evil? Jean Paul Sartre in his work ‘Existentialism is a Humanism’ propounds: “Thus, the first effect of existentialism is that it puts every man in possession of himself as he is, and places the entire responsibility for his existence squarely upon his own shoulders.” Sartre believed, as an atheist, that man first exists then defines himself afterwards. There is no ‘essence’ of humanity as we are not made in God’s image. Therefore we are who we make ourselves to be and we alone are solely responsible for who we become. Again Sartre reiterates this sense of responsibility: “When a man commits himself to anything, fully realising that he is not only choosing what he will be, but is thereby at the same time a legislator deciding for the whole of mankind – in such a moment a man cannot escape from the sense of complete and profound responsibility.” Many humanists and secularist would agree with such a view that the potential lies within humanity to better ourselves and we do not require some divinely appointed moral law to guide our judgements. Right and wrong, good and evil are the creation of humanity and we shape our moral laws as best as we see fit depending on the times and circumstances that we live in. However what do we conclude from this existential subjectivism? Surely it has failed to produce that conscience necessary to eradicate evil? We are responsible for the way this world is and as such, without any higher being or laws with which to be accountable to evil has multiplied. Sartre understood this failing of existentialism with his own critique: “The existentialist, on the contrary, finds it extremely embarrassing that God does not exist, for there disappears with Him all possibility of finding values in an intelligible heaven. There can no longer be any good a priori, since there is no infinite and perfect consciousness to think it. It is nowhere written that “the good” exists, that one must be honest or must not lie, since we are now upon the plane where there are only men.” (my emphasis)

So without God there is no objective moral good with which to guide and inspire humanity, only moral subjectivism that does not have the necessary ‘a priori’ authority to overcome evil. Evil will continue as humanity flagrantly denies and rejects its moral obligation to do good as well as twisting and distorting our perception of good and evil in its own perverse justification for evil. There is little hope then in atheism for a solution to the problem of evil. Conversely modernism as a philosophy still exists that espouses that through human progression, whether technologically or scientifically humanity will overcome its more base instincts and inhumanity, racism, genocide and war towards our fellow human beings will become a thing of the past. Humanity will ‘come of age’ and along with superstitious notions of religion and God will evolve into a higher state of morality. This philosophy was prevalent in the 19th century but was greatly undermined by the outbreak of WWI. As new technology redefined warfare and the parameters of war, thousands upon thousands of soldiers died at the hands of machine guns, gas attacks and shelling. Soldiers often suffered from ailments and diseases in the trenches from the terrible conditions they had to fight in and an entire generation of young men were killed. Technology, rather than being the herald of progressive morality and creating a new world of peace and harmony had become the harbinger of destruction and chaos, sending the entire world into war, tearing apart whole countryside’s and destroying the environment. More recently we now realise that global warming was brought about through the overdependence and reliance on fossil fuels to power the industrialisation of Europe and Asia.

Richard Dawkins author of ‘The God Delusion’ conjectures in his book ‘The Selfish Gene’ that memes (from what I understand a scientific and evolutionary concept for ideas) act in much the same way as genes – selfishly and in competition with other memes for survival: “Selection favours memes that exploit their cultural environment to their own advantage. This cultural environment consists of other memes which are also being selected. The meme pool therefore comes to have the attributes of an evolutionary stable set, which new memes find it hard to invade.” This has implications for morality and the problem of evil. If morality is merely a mechanism for the survival of human society, as some anthropologists and Darwinian biologists believe then evil could be construed as a natural evolutionary process of the strong overpowering the weak. Dawkins sees memes as acting much like genes insofar as memes are also selfish and their instinct is for their own survival and replication. Eugenics, homophobia and anti-Semitism to name but a few of the worst ideologies to have impacted human society may all just be particularly dominant memes that by their very nature of human selection for one reason or another find great success in certain circumstances and cultures. Dawkins concludes pensively: “even if we look on the dark side and assume that individual man is fundamentally selfish, our conscious foresight - - our capacity to simulate the future in imagination - - could save us from the worst selfish excesses of the blind replicators... We, alone on earth, can rebel against the tyranny of the selfish replicators.” However much Dawkins wishes to believe that humans are capable of pure altruism simply by virtue of our capacity for foresight, his scientific convictions and meme theory potentially reduce evil to an evolutionary process that in the interest of biological advancement could be justified. There is very little solace or comfort in this idea. Evil, experientially, is cruel, malevolent and totally unjust.

So it seems that western philosophical beliefs in existentialism, humanism, modernism and Darwinism have been unable to resolve the problem of evil. Evil may be a peg with which to hang their atheistic beliefs on but it is helpless to prevent it. Evil then will always be a problem in human society and although its existence is firmly believed; its effects cannot be erased. This seems to me to be a huge travesty of justice. Where is justice for the innocent victims of cruelty, genocide and racism? If death is the end then human history is replete with miscarriages of justice. So let us turn to a more eastern perception and understanding of nature. Buddhism, as well as other Eastern mystical beliefs such as Hinduism and Taoism, affirms that life is but an illusion. However if life is illusory, the product of the ego and reality is really spirit – the impersonal energy force that lies behind our material world then that also means that evil must be illusory.

Hinduism and Buddhism both reject the material universe as being the ultimate reality. Hindus seek oneness with Brahman and the reuniting of atman – the permanent soul – with Brahman the eternal spirit. Buddhists seek to overcome reincarnation through enlightenment and reach the state of nirvana – the complete transcendence of suffering and the material universe. Nirvana is equivalent to death. To eastern pantheists material reality is called maya, which means illusion. Logically if the ultimate reality is an impersonal spirit (as in Hinduism) then so is man. It is the atman that is reincarnated not the individual body, along with its personality that houses it. Buddhists meditate to dissolve the self, to transcend the limitations of the mental boundaries that the ego erects, keeping people in ignorance. The distinction between good and evil is a false dichotomy as ultimate reality is just one impersonal spirit. I have read a quote by Siddhartha Gautama the founder of Buddhism as saying this:

“The world is not imperfect or slowly evolving along a long path to perfection. No it is perfect at every moment; every sin already carries grace within it...therefore it seems to me that everything that exists is good – death as well as life, sin as well as holiness, wisdom as well as folly.”

Similarly a central tenet of Hinduism and Buddhism is the belief in Karma. Karma is often described as the moral law of the universe that governs peoples’ fate and the state of their rebirth. At its most basic and mechanical Karma is cause and effect. Good actions will be rewarded and bad actions will be punished. But as many eastern religions teach that ultimate reality is an impersonal spirit then karma is not truly a moral law for morality is but an illusion. Karma therefore does not administer justice. In one respect karma perpetuates evil (as most westerners understand it) as bad deeds lock a person in the cycle of reincarnation and further darken their minds and prevent them from reaching enlightenment. There is no real justice for evil in eastern philosophy as the sole aim of human life should be a letting go of the self and an embracing of the impersonal, non-material reality. Justice requires that the individual or group of people who have been victimised are recognised – their cause and their plight is upheld and the perpetrator(s) of such crimes against them are brought to account and are judged as culpable and responsible for their actions. Compassion, charity, altruism and love are not the goal of humanity but just another illusion.

The belief that the material world and morality are illusion is anathema to me! It goes against reason, it goes against experience and it goes against empirical observation. It also denies the existence of evil as a real entity as just a construct of the human mind. The suffering and death of countless billions of lives throughout human history and the many millions who suffer even today is all too real. To say that this material world is not real and that the person is not real but only the soul or atman (Buddhists don’t even believe in a permanent soul) is not only antithetical to my most deeply held convictions but also devalues the person as a unique and sacred human being. Those who suffer suffer in vain and those who die at the hands of evil people have no justice either for their families in this lifetime or in the next. This belief is not only counterintuitive but also immoral.

Having considered both atheistic and pantheistic answers to the problem of evil neither appear sufficient. One sees evil as a problem but is helpless to prevent it while the other denies its existence completely. So we must return to a theistic understanding of the problem of evil. A theistic understanding of the problem of evil entails the ramifications of free will and the issue of the sovereignty of God.

Free Will is one of the central tenets of Christianity. The Genesis account of creation describes how God made humanity in His image and that He allowed Adam and Eve to live freely in the Garden of Eden with only one command – not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Every other fruit (and presumably vegetable) were available to eat; Adam and Eve had free reign to enjoy the delights of the Garden that has ever since become synonymous with paradise. We can only speculate to its serenity and beauty, but what the Bible does make clear is that in the Garden Adam and Eve enjoyed being in the very presence of God. Genesis chapter 3 is arguably one of the most famous chapters in the whole Bible where the snake (traditionally interpreted as Satan) persuades Eve to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. It is curious how even in our infancy humanity has had a propensity to desire that which we cannot have. The snake used Eve’s naivety to sow seeds of doubt in her mind – the integrity of God was brought into question and by successfully undermining God’s commandment the snake accomplished what it sought to do turn Adam and Eve against God. Having eaten of the fruit Adam and Eve understood the difference between good and evil and became ashamed. Having disobeyed God Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, never to return. But Adam and Eve lost more than just their home: the lost their innocence and as a result their relationship with God.

This event is known by Christians and Jews as ‘original sin’. God allowed humanity to take responsibility for their own actions – He gave Adam and Eve autonomy. On the one hand, obedience was rewarded with an intimate relationship with God living in paradise, while on the other disobedience brought with it separation, not just from God but from Eden and more importantly than their habitat separation from each other. The bond between man and woman had been severed as they learnt shame and Adam turned against his wife and blamed Eve for what had happened. Yet Free Will has implications – what is the extent of our freedom? Is there such a thing as total freedom? Are our actions predisposed by our upbringing, culture or genetics? Humans make best fit decisions based on their circumstances. We might be free to eat anything we want but if we go into a restaurant we are limited to the choice given to us on the menu. Or we might be free to eat anything we want but have an allergic reaction to a particular type of food, which while we are free to make the choice to eat it we know we will suffer for it. We might be free to do anything we want but if we commit a crime then our freedom could be infringed when we go to jail. We might be free to drive any car we like but our financial circumstances may limit our selection and we may be forced to compromise. Therefore nobody is really free. While total freedom as an ideal exists within the comprehension of every human being the reality is different. So how does this affect the problem of evil?

God created humanity to be autonomous creatures in charge and responsible for their own actions, as such God is therefore not totally free to rule His creation as He sees fit. It was God’s will that Adam and Eve not eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge; it was God’s will that humanity prosper and thrive in the habitat He had created for them and it was God’s will that humanity would be blessed in communion with Him. But God could not impose His will at the expense of our autonomy. As independent creatures we were given the capacity to shape the society we lived in and must live with the consequences of those actions. God can guide us through using willing receptors of His will – commonly this took the form of prophesy in the Old Testament but was ultimately revealed through Jesus Christ. God understood and knew that in order for His total revelation to be communicated He needed someone who was totally free and would freely obey without fear of rejection and rebellion. That is why God sent His Son – Jesus who was fully God and fully human, as the Apostle Paul refers to Him as the ‘new Adam’. Jesus freely and voluntarily left His heavenly home and came to earth in accordance with God’s will, He freely chose to listen to God rather than indulge in sinful actions and thoughts and communicate God’s will. He became the transmitter, the vehicle for the wisdom of God, teaching those who would choose to listen to and follow Him. His teachings have been recorded for us by those disciples and early Christians so that humanity can make the decision whether or not to follow God.

God cannot control our actions but He can guide and inform our actions as long as we have receptive and open hearts. Humanity since the Fall is in total comprehension of our choices and decisions – we understand the difference between right and wrong; the power to do good and evil are now in our own hands. So is Free Will incompatible with an omnipotent God? If we have free will then does that by very virtue of our independence and potential for noncompliance with the will of God reduce God in some way? What implications does Free Will have for the sovereignty of God? In one respect evil does limit God because God then has a decision between condoning evil and condemning it. As a Holy God who is the sum of and total essence of perfection and goodness He cannot condone evil. Therefore God must condemn it. This condemnation comes in the form of judgement – death is one form of judgement so the Bible teaches. Our mortality is a judgement from God to reduce the potential amount of evil any one person can commit. Another form of judgement came on the Cross where Jesus died for the sins of humanity. Jesus became our substitute so that through faith and repentance humanity can have redemption from our sins, free from the condemnation that our sin previously accrued. Finally God’s judgement will be completed at the second coming of Christ when God totally recreates heaven and earth. This new heaven and new earth will be totally perfect as the book of Revelation prophesises because it is inhabited by human beings who in this lifetime freely chose to obey God through faith. They used their free will to follow God’s will rather than reject it. Thus God is able in cooperation and collaboration with his redeemed humanity to create the perfect society, totally free and void of evil.

So does this mean God is not omnipotent? Only in as far as God chooses to act within the confines of His own divinity. As the philosophical conundrum goes can God create a square circle? Or a wall He cannot look over? Or a stone He cannot lift? These are things God cannot do because they are incompatible with His nature. They are illogical. God is not illogical. This also means God cannot sin as He is good and holy. So God is not omnipotent as long as we understand omnipotence to mean free to contradict and go against His character. Does this mean God is not sovereign? Absolutely not! Sovereignty is the supreme and independent power of a ruler. A sovereign therefore is a supreme ruler. It says in Genesis that God saw what he had made and remarked that it was “good”. God chose to create our universe freely and independently of other agents. Before God there were no other agents or beings as He is the prime mover or cause of all that exists. This means that God is sovereign over His creation; as He says to Job: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Declare to Me, if you have and know understanding.” (Job 38:4) Just as a King, Queen or President is Head of State; so too God rules over His creation. This is why as the theologian R.T. Kendall puts it ‘God has the right to be God’. Just as Governments and rulers create laws to abide by for a prosperous, safe and harmonious society; so too God established His laws – both physical and moral, most famously the 10 Commandments. Through a covenant with an ancient Semitic people who became known as the Israelites God established His Laws for human society. Israel was meant to be a beacon of light for the wider world; Israel was meant to act like a Priesthood upholding God’s Laws as an example for the rest of human society to follow. Israel was meant to be a blessing to rest of humankind, having had the privilege and distinction of being the people group God chose to reveal Himself to. However, as fallible human beings Israel failed in its calling and broke its covenant with God. Again God knew that in order for His Laws to be fully explained and upheld as a witness and example for all humankind to follow He would need someone to embody those Laws and demonstrate their effectiveness for the future of humanity to live by. Thus Jesus was born into a Jewish family, brought up within the Jewish tradition and was able to become what God had intended Israel to be all along.

What bearing does this have on the sovereignty of God? No one can be sovereign without a state or Kingdom to rule over. As primary cause of the universe God alone has sovereignty over His creation. Conversely, His sovereignty is also reinforced through creating what was once a theocracy in the people of Israel and now what Jesus described in the Gospels as the “Kingdom of God.” The Kingdom of God is not a defined set of geographical or political parameters and boarders. It transcended the state of Israel long ago and has since expanded all across the world through God’s Church. It is through the Church that God’s Laws are upheld and disseminated. This is not to say the Church is a flawless representation of all that God’s Kingdom is meant to be. Like Israel before it, the Church too has often betrayed its fallibility either through war, clerical abuses or sheer hypocrisy. But that does not mean God is not sovereign over His Kingdom. Just as in human states people commit crimes, so too in its earthly incarnation the Kingdom of God is not perfect. But an imperfect system is better than no system when governing society as complete social and political anarchy creates chaos in which nothing can be achieved.

This is an important point when addressing the problem of moral evil. Moral evil exists but it is in conflict and direct contravention to the moral laws that govern and hold a society together not in the absence of such laws. To be able to define moral evil first a distinction needs to be made to what it is not. What it is not is the moral ‘good’. As has been explicated earlier God is the very essence of Holiness and is therefore the intrinsic essence of goodness. I have heard it said one does not need to believe in God to be good, but God needs to exist in order for there to be good. God is not only sovereign but He is the arbiter of moral goodness: God is the a priori authority of moral goodness that atheism lacks. However this distinction does not resolve the problem of the existence of evil, it merely identifies it. So if God is Holy and sovereign over His creation then what has He done or is doing to solve the problem of moral evil? In answer to this, one of the most crucial questions we can ask of God, I want to refer to what has already been enumerated: God’s Law, the Kingdom of God and the person of Jesus Christ.

Where there is Law and personal freedom there is also responsibility and accountability. We are all responsible for our actions and if they violate the said laws of that state or country then the necessary punishments follow. Human society cannot function without laws. Whether they are God’s Law or not is at this junction irrelevant. What is necessarily true is that human society cannot exist without laws. In ancient societies punishments were harsh and brutal; in Western societies today punishments are more humane. But nevertheless laws exist for the safeguarding of society. Laws may change or be amended but Laws are never extracted from the framework of society. So the fact that God established a moral Law by which He intended human beings to live by should not be dismissed lightly as an ineffective solution to the problem of evil. Laws uphold a certain standard of right and wrong; liberty and freedom. While we act within the law we are free to live without fear of recrimination or harassment by the government. If people lived by God’s Laws then they would enjoy the liberty and freedom which that entails, as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden. It would also mean that people would not suffer physically or emotionally through moral evil. However, Laws in and of themselves to do not prevent crime. This is why God’s Law is facilitated through the medium of the Church. In the context of the community of the Church – the meeting together for mutual support, encouragement and spiritual growth God’s Kingdom is made a reality here on earth. As Christians apply God’s Law and the Bible’s teaching to their lives they are living within God’s Kingdom. This Kingdom has practical benefits for society as a whole as Christians take seriously Jesus’ call to care for the needy and the poor; to not show partiality or prejudice based on wealth, age or nationality. Jesus’ message from the parable of the Good Samaritan about who are our ‘neighbours’ when thinking about what it means to love our neighbour as yourself is a perfect example of the far reaching effects that the Kingdom of God has for the improvement of human relationships and the reduction of moral evil.

God’s Law is not just given to be blindly followed and obeyed; it is the starting point of a deeper relationship with God Himself that will in turn completely transform our perception of ourselves and of life. God’s Law reflects God’s character – Good and Just. As God freely gave His Son and as Jesus freely died for humanity so too the Church actively seeks to give as it has received. As Jesus said:

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? “When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?” “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25: 34-40)

However, compliance to God’s Law is not enough for the Kingdom of God to bear the fruit of goodness, charity and justice within the world. Human beings are fallible and all too often Laws are broken and society is fractured as a result. This is why the grace of God is so important. Through Jesus God’s grace is manifested. It is manifested in Jesus’ actions – healing the sick, eating with tax collectors and sinners and in refusing to stone to death a known adulterer; it is manifested in Jesus’ teachings on loving your neighbour and enemy alike and on putting others before yourself. Moreover it is demonstrated ultimately in His sacrifice and death upon the Cross. Jesus died so that sinful human beings may find forgiveness and redemption from their sins. Through the Cross people can be remade and know the peace and joy of the love of God. God’s love is no longer withheld but poured out generously and graciously to all who wish to receive it. Love conquers evil. Love heals broken lives and hearts; love goes the extra mile and seeks the happiness and fulfilment of others without jealousy, resentment or pride.

So God’s Law, God’s Kingdom and God’s grace are intrinsically linked to each other. In a symbiotic way none can fully operate without the other. God’s Kingdom is facilitated through God’s Grace that has the efficacy and power to restore fallen and corrupt human beings. This in turn produces the fruit of selfless action that upholds God’s Law for the peace and prosperity of human society. Not just actions but motives are transformed as people learn, understand and ultimately embrace God’s grace. Without these interventions moral evil would damage and destroy many countless lives unabated. Evil exists and humanly speaking too many people have suffered; but through God’s revelation and Kingdom evil is curtailed and prevented from overwhelming society. We should be thankful for all that God is actively doing throughout the world in order to prevent and banish moral evil.

Yet as long as human beings are free as autonomous and independent individuals to choose to follow God or not there will be moral evil. God does not coerce people into obeying His Laws and many people reject God’s sovereignty over their lives. This rejection is influenced in many ways by the same manipulative conscience that persuaded Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. The existence of moral evil belies an even graver reality – that of the existence of the Devil. This wicked and evil being first began his treacherous and insurrectionary work in human history in the Garden of Eden and continues his ideological and spiritual war against God even today. The Bible refers to this as the Spirit of anti-Christ. To many atheist or agnostic readers the Spirit of anti-Christ may sound extremely farfetched and even superstitious, especially if you prescribe to Professor Dawkin’s Meme theory. But if objective evil exists and as humanity is corruptible, as has been proven throughout human history then, like the universe, there must be some first cause. There must be an explanation for the existence of evil outside of God, who by nature is Good and Just.

Evil is a corruption of good. Evil is a reactionary force – jealousy is a result of the inflation of the ego and of selfish pride over and against affection, delight and love for another person and joy for their achievements. Hatred and revenge are often emotions produced by a perceived damage to one’s pride, whether that be as trivial as a game of football between two rival teams or the prejudice felt towards another people group who are ‘taking advantage’ of the limited supply of resources and benefits that a country or council offer. Evil is a negative force – it is destructive not constructive; it is damaging rather than life affirming. Bitterness eats away at a person and hatred consumes them until they burn up from within as all love and positivity are scorned. Jealousy creates factions, bullying and a propensity for underhanded measure to seek any form of revenge believed to purge the overwhelming sense of inferiority and insecurity. So if evil is a corruption of good that must mean evil and good are not two equally opposed opposite forces like the Yin and the Yan symbol. Dualism is both unbiblical and not philosophically sound. Evil was not the primary force in the world or the universe. Evil came afterwards. The first recorded act of sin after the banishment from Eden was between Adam and Eve’s two sons, Cain and Abel. Abel’s sacrifice pleased the Lord and Abel was considered righteous. In jealousy, because his sacrifice was considered unworthy, Cain murdered his brother. Evil is always destructive; it has no power for good. Satan, originally an Arch Angel, turned against God in Heaven. The Bible is not explicitly clear about why, most likely out of jealousy in desiring to become like God Himself (which would explain his contempt of God’s command to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden). But this is conjecture. No matter the actual reason, at some point in his heavenly existence Satan rebelled against God. Satan was even able to convince some of his fellow angels to join in his mutinous actions. Satan had influence over other beings even in Heaven! These corruptions of the Laws of God have pervaded human society ever since the expulsion from Eden.

Society is fluid and organic; as human’s progress technologically, scientifically and creatively, as well as the migration of people across the world spreading their cultures to new places, so society evolves and changes. But throughout this evolution in human relationships there has been a spirit of anti-Christ at work – in religion, in philosophy, in art and culture and in morality and ethics. Fashion has become increasingly provocative in order to stimulate lustful intentions; the boundaries of art and film have been increasingly pushed and tested in order to desensitise society making it more tolerant of violence, harsh language and sexual promiscuity. The old adage ‘sex sells’ is the mantra of most media businesses. This spirit of anti-Christ has succeeded in marginalising the Church, the seeds of which were arguably sown in the Enlightenment of the 18th Century. As the Church has been pushed to the fringe and periphery of society with spiritual apathy ever increasing with the acceptance of Darwinism and utilitarian materialism the Laws of God are once again brought into question – are they necessary? Are they relevant? Are they dangerous to 21st century society? The Kingdom of God is scorned in favour of humanist values that promote aggressive secularism in all areas of life. As spiritual apathy grows so too does the potential for great evil.

In conclusion, one blog can never comprehensively do justice to the problem of evil. This issue is global in scale and has far reaching and profound consequences for human society and human history. The pain loved ones and family members face as someone close to them suffers, whether it be through cancer or at the hands of wicked people cannot be soothed by one essay. Nevertheless through heartfelt soul searching and meditation one can reach some preliminary insights into the problem of evil and its solution. This blog is but my first conscious attempt to get to grips with the problem of evil and to try and find some peace to be able to cope with a world that will never be perfect. I believe that while this world may never be free of evil, God is neither the cause of evil, nor is He powerless in the face of evil. In His love, grace and holiness God has been actively at work throughout human history in order to lead, guide and enlighten people to seek and live a loving, safe and peaceful existence. God knows that evil is a problem and has taken measures to eradicate it. God is not, as the character Bruce from Bruce Almighty says ‘a mean kid sitting over an anthill with a magnifying glass’. Ultimately God is a suffering God, Jesus took our sickness and sin upon himself. Jesus was mocked, ridiculed and tortured; he was deserted and abandoned by his closest followers on the night of his arrest. He even cried out on the cross “Father why have you forsaken me?!” Jesus did not just feel forsaken upon the cross – he was forsaken. God has never forsaken humanity. God gave of Himself to secure humanity’s redemption and salvation from evil. God will not let the Spirit of anti-Christ continue spreading lies and destruction forever. One day God will bring His judgement to bear on Satan and for Satan on that day there shall be no escape. No mercy. God’s justice against evil and sin is at work every day through the power of the cross. God is active in sustaining His creation seeing to it that it never succumbs to the power of evil. All other explanations are inadequate. Atheism is powerless to prevent evil and only offers small hope that humanity can one day resolve the problem of evil on its own. Eastern philosophy denies the existence of evil and instead promulgates the world view that life is both immaterial and impersonal. Neither worldview provides justice or restoration for the victims of evil. Thus Christianity to me offers the best possible worldview on the problem of evil as well as the surest way of overcoming it.

A Grand Scene for a colour Film

2011-06-12T14:41:00.000-07:00

With the announcement that Alcon Entertainment are in the process of acquiring the rights to the Blade Runner franchise, with the view of producing both prequels and sequels to the cult ‘80s noir sci-fi classic it got me thinking about what is a very large and expansive topic: humanity. Blade Runner is one of my all time favourite films (along with the Matrix trilogy – yes all three!); the film explores the theme of humanity, compassion and even transhumanism. Whilst the film is set in the not- too- distant future of 2019 (bearing in mind the film was released in 1982) it is predominantly about humanity, a subject that is timeless and always relevant. Rick Deckard (played by Harrison Ford) is a special enforcement police officer called a ‘Blade Runner’ who works in the dystopian metropolis of Los Angeles (completely unrecognisable from modern day LA), who is brought out of retirement for ‘one last job’ to hunt down four replicants (human like cyborgs) who have returned to earth from the off-world colonies where they work. Due to their similarities yet superior capabilities to humans, replicants are not allowed on earth and so the four must be ‘killed’ before they can do any harm.

However, while the synopsis may make the film sound like it would be a high octane action sci-fi adventure the story unfolds in a far more stylish and personal way. The replicants led by a military class replicant named Roy seek to find their creator in order to barter for more life, as replicants have a very limited lifespan – as the famous line from the film goes: “the flame that burns twice as bright, burns half as long”. Instantly the motives of the replicants generate sympathy rather than hate and make them very ambivalent antagonists in the story. Deckard himself, whilst being LA’s finest Blade Runner is caught between his duty and his heart as he falls in love with a woman called Rachel, who it is revealed - unbeknown to her - is another replicant. Whilst the four main replicants story may centre around the concept of mortality and what it means to be ‘alive’; Rachel’s story perhaps epitomises the struggle with and search for the essence of humanity as she has to come to terms with not being ‘real’. The concepts of love and compassion, which are universal, are explored through her relationship with Deckard as he too wrestles with his conscience.

This brings me back to the subject of this blog – humanity. What does it mean to be human? Our ethics and morality so far is programmed and defined in purely biological terms about how we treat other human beings as well as animal and plant life here on earth. But how will the technological evolution change our notion of what is morally and ethically correct and humane? If indeed cyborgs did exist with the level of realism and sophistication that films such as Blade Runner predict then will the boundaries of what defines humanity be blown wide open? The MOD is already concerned about the use of robots in war and the ethical ramifications of unmanned military robots. If those machines were ever to be given AI (artificial intelligence) then would that mean they are equal to ourselves? Is a synthetic, digital form of intelligence any less real than our own sentience? Some animal rights activists’ campaign that animals should have equal rights as humans and that killing animals is tantamount to murder. Currently our morality is governed and regulated by utilitarian liberalism – the belief that happiness is the ultimate pursuit of humankind, specifically the greatest amount of happiness for the majority of society, in which one’s pursuit of happiness does not infringe and cause hurt to another. This usually bears connotations with sexuality where our love is expressed most physically and emotionally, but also includes how we spend our money and what we do in our free time.

Consequently many in society have turned their back on religion, which has been given the reputation, particularly among vitriolic and outspoken atheists and secularists as being outmoded, irrelevant and anachronistic. Science is celebrated as being progressive and religion reactive; religion is seen as incapable of meeting modern 21st century needs and that morality and ethics can be surmised by science. Religious morality is dismissed as bigoted, narrow-minded and immoral. However, this is far from true and is mere hyperbole. Biblically speaking, our understanding of humanity needs to be first put into the perspective of our relationship to God. God is our divine Creator and as such is the very essence and nature of love, compassion and mercy. These qualities that are so important to modern society find their very existence in the person of God. Humanity, as it says in Genesis, is made in “God’s image”. This is not referring to our physical appearances, as our genes and DNA are passed down from parent to child thus creating resemblances between mother and daughter or father and son. Being made in “God’s image” is a metaphysical reality that means our consciences; our comprehension of morality and our ability to love and care for our fellow human beings is a quality that is shared with God. Rather than religion being reactionary towards progressive morality, the truth that we are made in God’s image and are therefore capable of such god-like qualities is the ultimate form of progressiveness. As human beings we should seek to cultivate that divine essence in ourselves and thus achieve the very heights of our human potential to show love and kindness.

The problem, unfortunately, with secular liberalism is that human beings are marred by sin and so detached from a relationship with God our morality and judgement are misguided and flawed. Instead we seek the satisfaction of physical impulses and tendencies that are unhealthy and damaging such as lust, greed and pride. While the attitude “live and let live” may seem the most logical way of producing harmony within society, it actually breeds a selfish kind of post-modern rationality. Our rights have overruled our responsibilities and ‘society’ actually becomes fractured as each individual pursues what is best for them first. Divorce, abortion and lawsuits are all consequences of this behaviour. Now I am not saying there are not legitimate reasons for all of the above, but the abuse and trivialisation of the aforementioned actions is a symptom that without God there can be no true harmony.

The Bible also explains that God instructed Adam and Eve to “rule over” the earth. God gave humanity dominion and authority over the rest of His creation here on earth. What does that mean for us today? We must take that responsibility seriously. The flagrant abuse and neglect of animals, the deforestation of our rainforests and the extinction of certain wildlife are totally unacceptable and avoidable. We as human beings should take the utmost care to keep our equilibrium with the world around us while at the same time working for the good and betterment of the world. In this vane we should do our best to reduce pollution, seek to use renewable energy resources and to create the safest, most environmentally friendly world for our children. As has already been mentioned we have been made in God’s image and as such another facet of that truth is that we are inventive, intelligent and creative people. The rapid progression in technology is just one example of that truth. We have the ability to make things in our image and the way in which we relate to each other and the way we view our identity has been irrevocable changed through our technological advancement. But the Bible also uses the analogy of God being the ‘potter’ to humanity’s ‘clay’. God moulded and shaped us (whether you want to believe in the Genesis account of creation or evolution). To this effect another part of our divine essence is that we should care for our own creations with the same level of grace and consideration that God has shown to us. Only once has God caused a fatal, apocalyptic event to purge humanity, and afterwards He vowed to do it never again. Since that episode in human history God has dealt graciously and patiently with humanity. Thus we should do the same to what we have invented and created, if ever we do begin to manufacture machines with AI.

To the ends that we should seek to explore and achieve our full potential as human beings having been made in God’s image - Hindus believe that Brahman (God) has revealed himself through avatars – people or other gods who bear His divine nature. However Christianity teaches that God has only revealed Himself through one man – Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was more than just an avatar; a representation of God, Jesus was God. Jesus was the personification of all humanity has the potential to be - a perfect, sinless human being. He was able to do this because he was be very nature God. Philosophers over the course of human history from Plato and Socrates to Kant and Mills have debated what it means to be both human and what ‘the good life’ means. While many of these highly educated, wise and intelligent people have much to add to our understanding of what it means to be human, none compare to Jesus. Is the example of Jesus or his teachings anachronistic to 21st Century society? Certainly not! For his teachings on loving your neighbour and your enemy reverberate throughout human history as the highest virtues. His embodiment of love found no greater act than in his own sacrificing of himself. Knowing that even despite our best intentions we would never be able to alone, become perfect he gave his life so that through his death justice for all the terrible and atrocious acts of humanity may be satisfied. The sins that we commit on a daily basis are forgiven at the Cross. The imperfections that have stained and blotted out the essence of the divine nature that God originally created us with are cleansed and there is redemption.

Just as Jesus can guide and help us in our search for the true meaning of humanity; so he can in our mortality. At the end of the film Roy saves Deckard’s life. As Deckard sits in humble bewilderment Roy expresses his anguish at the prospect of his own death and the fear he feels that his life would all be in vain: “all those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain” (this line is one of my all time favourite film quotes... perhaps even my all time favourite!) before finally adding fatalistically “time to die”. Roy’s poetic lament articulates many peoples’ uncertainty of the purpose of life. Do our lives contain purpose if death is just the end? The Bible teaches that death is not the end. The experiences and memories of our lives are not lost “like tears in rain”. They are part of who we are as unique and loved human beings; they form our identities and God knows us and loves us. Psalm 56 says: “record my misery, list my tears on your scroll – are they not in your record?” God desires that we have a relationship with us so that when we die we can be reunited with Him forever. Jesus makes that possibility a reality. Through Jesus we can, the Bible promises us, have eternal life with God.

Christianity, as the path to a relationship with God, as a way to restore that which was lost through our own short comings is essential for the future of humanity. It is essential for our understanding of what it means to be human and what it means to act as a human. Institutions may be flawed; human beings may be corruptible; but in the person of Jesus humanity is given direction and hope.

2010/11 season a year in review

2011-05-27T06:16:00.000-07:00

So Arsenal finished the 2010/11 season on a total of 68 points, with 8 losses and 11 draws. This was quite frankly unacceptable! For a very brief time we were number 1 in the league, which dropped to a respectable second before descending eventually by the end of the season into a precarious fourth place! Why is fourth place so precarious? The Premier League has been in a state of flux over the last few years - Tottenham and Manchester city have risen to prominence and this season saw the beginning of a resurgent Liverpool. Some question whether there is a traditional top four anymore to speak of and rather the Premier League must now be spoken of in top 6 terms. If Arsenal are not careful, with its current squad of injury prone players, lack of real leadership quality on the pitch and the ever turning rumour mill of a certain Spanish player's future, Arsenal are in danger of being lost in the mire and failing to qualify for the Champion's League. But that is all pessimistic speculation at this point. Back to the season just gone and well it has been nothing short of disappointing.

Don't get me wrong, I love Arsenal and am proud to wear the shirt and support the club; but yet again we failed to win silverware; yet again we choked all too often against 'lesser' clubs when we really needed to place pressure on our closest rivals in the hunt for the League title. This is why this season turned into a total nightmare. Our best chance at silverware this year came in the Carling Cup, a trophy the club has never truly persued with the same vigor and commitment of the League title or the Champion's League trophy but a trophy nevertheless that we were more than capable of winning. Yet we didn't turn up at the Final. We lost the final to a team that eventually was relegated! What does that tell you about the mentality of this current squad? All our fears were realised as Birmingham out played us with sheer heart. That is what this team has lacked all too often. It has lacked heart; it has lacked passion; it has lacked that drive and killer instinct to win and to be champions. It has been leveled at Arsenal's door by critics that the squad do not have a 'champions' mentality' and collectively I think that has proven to be true too often. Psychologically the team have choked and failed to perform to the best of their ability when it has really mattered, be that applying pressure to our closest rivals (namely Manchester United) or in winning trophies in other competitions.

However there were plenty of positives to take from this season - firstly the revelation of a rising star, Jack Wilshere. Our 19 year old midfielder proved he has a heart of lion on the pitch and was a key player for us this season. Wilshere has an ability to galvinise the team and to be an inspiration to other players with a never say die attitude. This season also saw the return of Aaron Ramsey originally from injury and then from loan deal. Although there was not enough of the season left to really impose himself, Ramsey will be a real asset to the team next season and is a very talented and charismatic young player. Then there was the incredible form of Robin Van Persie. RVP broke a couple of Premier League records this season, one of which was most away goals scored in successive games. RVP was the most in form striker in 2011 and was irreplacable for us in the second half of the season. We also managed huge wins over Manchester United, Chelsea (which I was at) and Barcelona at home. Those were three massive scalps to shout about.

So we look to next season, and we can look forward to it with much hope and promise. Next season Arsenal celebrate its 125th Anniversary as a professional football team and I have eagerly pre-ordered the new celebratory home shirt ready to wear to the Emirates. It is a thing of beauty no doubt about it with a reef surrounding the badge. Arsenal have a long and presitigious history. The Emirates is a celebration of the history of the club and a living monument to past success; now the shirt reflects this too.

Wenger has stated that he will be in the transfer market over the summer to strengthen our squad. This is vital if we are to win anything next season. We need strong, durable and talented players that are passionate about winning trophies with Arsenal football club if future success is to be guaranteed. Naturally there would be something wonderfully romantic and poetic about winning the Premier League again after so long on the 125th Anniversary of the club; yet as a fan trophies are not the be all and end all. What I found so frustrating and infuriating this season was not failing to win the 'big one' but the way in which we conceded defeat and failed to rise to the challenge and opportunity on so many occassions. There is no embarrassment finishing second; second is very respectable and something to be proud about as long as you know your team has done its utmost best. Arsenal could not say that this season and we finished fourth because of it. I just want to see 100% next season (which I believe will reward us with silverware).

I have seen where it grows

2011-05-22T02:53:00.000-07:00

Without meaning to turn my blog purely into an apologetic medium I feel compelled to address the issue that humanists or scientists lay before Christians of 'cherry picking' what is morally and socially acceptable from the Bible and conveniently ignoring the more morally offensive elements (particularly in reference to the Old Testament). I take exception to this phrase 'cherry picking' in that it seems to have found acceptance in debates I have seen between Christians and atheists when discussing the interpretation and application of the Bible.

Firstly, many Christians do not 'cherry pick' Biblical principles. This ignores or does a huge disservice to the nature of the Bible itself. Atheists or humanists talk as if the Bible is one book that was written as a whole. This is not true. The Bible is a library of books written by several different authors over several hundred years. As in any library there are books of different genres - from history, law, prophecy, poetry and wisdom to historical narrative and theology. Collectively these books were canonized and form the Christian Bible (commonly known as the Old and New Testament). Therefore the historical and cultural context of any given book of the Bible must be taken into account before we draw practical application for how we should live our lives and treat others. This is known theologically as Hermeneutics: the study of interpretation theory.

Secondly, the interpretation and application of the Old Testament Law (or Torah) for Christians culminated in the person of Jesus. Jesus radically reinterpreted much of the Torah or the Law of Moses. For example Jesus enlightened his disciples to the principles underlying clean and unclean food and thus Christians see nothing wrong in eating pork or eating without first ritually cleansing their hands. As Jesus taught "it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person." Matthew 15:11. Why don't Christians stone adulterers or homosexuals? Because those judgements are obsolete in the context of the Cross. This is known theologically as Christology. Jesus taught: "Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." Matthew 5:17 (my emphasis added) As a Christian I believe that the Law of Moses finds its fulfilment in Jesus. Jesus lived a perfect life; Jesus was the only perfect human being to have ever lived and as such fulfilled the requirements of the Law. This is how Jesus' sacrifice upon the cross has the power and efficacy to heal and to save for all time. "For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us..." Romans 8:3-4 (my emphasis added).

But some atheists might mistakenly interpret Christ's fulfilling of the Law as reason to do away with the Old Testament. This is a misconception because as Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew he came not to abolish but fulfill. We still need the Old Testament (or the Hebrew Bible) to understand the person and divinity of Jesus. The Old Testament is replete with messianic prophecies regarding Jesus as God's anointed one who will bring salvation to His people. Indeed the apostle Paul calls God's callings as irrevocable (Romans 11:29). Christianity is rooted within Judaism and there is no Biblical mandate to sever that connection. It is from within the context of Judaism that Christianity's spiritual principles of sin and justice are founded: in the Monotheism of the Jewish heritage.

So what does this mean for the 21st century? Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. We do not go around judging, discriminating or punishing people of other lifestyles and religions; salvation is open to all through Jesus Christ. We all have free will to choose whether or not to confess and repent of our sin and believe in the sacrifice of Jesus for our redemption. As it says in Ephesians: "by grace you have been saved" Ephesians 2:5. In and through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ there is no mandate for bigotry or discrimination. Indeed Jesus teaches to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44). Thus to conclude through the study and application of Hermenuetics and Christology Christians can reasonably and justifiably believe in and apply these Biblical principles to their lives without fear of hypocrisy or 'cherry picking'. 'Cherry picking' is such an unhelpful term when intellectually, academically and respectfully debating the relevance of Christianity or the Bible to the 21st Century.

There is one other issue I want to address in this blog and that is of the rationality of faith. As I watched the topical debating programme on BBC 1 this morning 'The Big Questions' one atheist representative in response to a Christian member of the panel retorted to his point about individual faith: "But I could believe in lepricorns but that does not make them true!" Underlying this remark is a critical attitude to the nature of faith and a subtle implication that all faith is irrational. To imply that 'faith' as a general term is irrational is indefensible in my opinion. The whole debate between religion and science over the flat earth theory or evolution for example is a fallacy. Galileo who was forced to renounce his scientific discovery was a man of faith himself! Scientists of the renaissance where not the vanguard of atheism. Historically science was born in the West from Christianity and was known as 'Natural Philosophy'. The issue the Catholic Church had with Galileo was not atheism but heresy as they understood the term to mean. Now heresy was often associated with atheism but they are not to be mistaken as synonymous. Indeed our present decimal system of mathematics has come from Islam. It was not until the Enlightenment of the 18th century that atheism started to become much more philosophically robust and defensible. Then again this was not so much the work of scientific progress (Newton himself was a theist) but in the anti-clericalism of the French philosophes. Human liberalism really has its roots in the Enlightenment when a revolution against the established Church led to more free thinkers in the form of theism, deism and atheism. Even Darwin later in the 19th century in his seminal work 'The Origins of the Species' was reluctant to emphasise the implications of his evolutionary theory to organised religion and the basis of many peoples' faith. Interestingly it was a Catholic Monk named Gregor Mendal who discovered laws of genetics while experimenting on pea plants around the same time as Darwin published his book on the Origin of the Species and he later posthumously became known as the 'Father of Genetics'. In the 20th Century Albert Einstein (famous for his pioneering work on the theory of relativity) believed in a 'Supreme Mind', which even if it wasn't the monotheistic Judao-Christian God was still a 'higher being' that strictly speaking atheism rejects.

So what does this mean? Well it means that science does not intrinsically lead to atheism or lack of faith in the Judao-Christian God. But rather atheists look to science to find reason for unbelief in God. If someone chooses not to believe in God (their worldview) then they can find support for this in science - in the theory of evolution; in 'the selfish gene' as Richard Dawkins puts it etc. Now I am not accusing all atheists of this sort of broadbrush discimination of faith (or Biblical faith to put it another way) as being both morally hypocritical, obsolete or irrational but I do feel very strongly when this is the impression that is given by atheist representatives on topical debating programmes. Faith is not irrational or obsolete - a study of history, philosophy and theology will tell you that!

Ascendency

2011-05-03T00:19:00.000-07:00

“Inception, is it possible?”
“Of course not!”
“If you can steal an idea from someone’s mind, why can’t you plant one there instead?”
− Taken from the film Inception

Whether it is religion, philosophy or literature, ideas are a conscious, intangible, immaterial property. It was Karl Marx who famously said of religion that it was: “the opium of the masses”. Ideas are infectious, contagious, sometimes dangerous and sometimes life affirming and enriching; just as in the film Inception itself. From one generation to the next ideas transcend this material cosmos. Take, for example, Hinduism one of the oldest religions in the world – it is over 4 thousand years old; or the monotheism of Judaism, which again can trace its origin back thousands of years well before the Common Era. As one century passes into another, as one generation grows and passes on its tradition to the next ideas have moulded, shaped and sculpted the course of human history; and have given rise to a myriad of emotional, spiritual and intellectual expression though art, architecture, music, poetry and literature.

Many philosophers over the centuries such as Anselm, Thomas Aquinas and Descartes have put forward a very straight forward and intuitive argument commonly known as the Ontological Argument which deduces the existence of God from reason: 1. We can imagine a supremely perfect being 2. Necessary existence is perfection 3. Therefore, a supremely perfect being exists. This may at first seem like a very weak argument for the existence of God, but if there is such a thing as a non-material entity behind the creation of the universe it is not totally inconceivable due to the fact that we are all conscious beings who are able to create out of our consciousness. If we can design, build, manufacture and create using our imaginations and our conscious thoughts then surely this is proof that such consciousness exists. No-one doubts human consciousness, we see manifestations of it every day and everywhere. We have formed language to communicate our internal, conscious thoughts.

Individually our consciousness ceases to exist with the death of our material bodies in this reality. Yet our ideas can live on, well beyond our years. The arguments about the existence, nature and properties of God first put forward by the ancient Greek philosophers are still debated today among theists and atheists; the rights to Liberty, Fraternity and Equality first devised in France inspired the formalisation of the American constitution after their successful war of independence against Britain and led to the French Revolution that in itself inspired many other lesser revolutions. These rights have become the bedrock; the foundation to such international political bodies such as the European Union and the UN and continue to be manifested through the human rights each citizen of Britain enjoys. Certain ideas or ideals of how to achieve the perfect, peaceful human society are far reaching and profound. It is beyond question that ideas have a kind of transcendent quality to them that has allowed for the progression and advancement in human society.

Therefore I postulate (though this is not an original argument) that our very consciousness is proof that such immaterial properties exist and can have a physical impact upon our planet in space and time. I believe this has massive implications for the belief in the existence of God. The Bible teaches that God is Spirit. God by nature is not a physical being who is dependent on our material universe for His existence; otherwise by virtue of the very nature of the universe God would not be eternal and could not have created the universe. So God must transcend the material cosmos and therefore must be necessarily immaterial or to use biblical language ‘Spirit’. So immaterial properties do exist (i.e. our consciousness) and therefore from personal experience through the interaction with the manifestations of our collective consciences that have shaped whole civilizations both ancient and modern we can reasonably and rationally conclude that a Supreme Conscious or Mind does exist, which originally created the universe.

For a Fair Desire

2011-04-15T03:01:00.001-07:00

A little while ago I posted a blog entitled 'After God's Own Heart' in which I intimated at the end that there would be more to follow on this topic. This blog will seek to pick up where the previous left off...

The last paragraph of the said blog began:

"God is a jealous God. God is jealous for His Holy name. That means He is both angered and heartbroken by the idolatry of this world."

Yesturday I returned from Bulstrode, the UK headquarters of WEC international, where I had undertaken an orientation course for my impending short mission trip to Japan in July. While I was there I was once again reminded of the heart of God and the Great Commision that Jesus gave His disciples before ascending into Heaven. At the end of the day I am going to Japan to help share the Gospel with a people who are in desperate need of hope. It is this message of hope conquering despair and of life conquering death that is at the heart of the Gospel - and at the heart of God. For God is a jealous God, jealous in His love and jealous for His holy name. This principle seems very clear to me:

As humans we take pride in our achievements and qualifications. So many of us define ourselves through our accomplishments. In academia if someone copies your work and passes it off as their own it is known as plagiarism and is a very serious acadmic offence, after all it basically amounts to intellectual theft. If we do not tolerate someone else taking the credit for our work then why should God be happy with false gods and religions receiving the praise, adoration, faith and worship that is due His name?

Relativists would say 'there is no absolute truth, live and let live" but what is the basis of such a truth claim? Has it been given by divine revelation? No. It has come from the intellectual reasoning of humanity that bears much influence (known or unbeknown to them) of utilitarianism, the philosophical system whereby how we act should be towards the greatest amount of happiness of the greatest amount of people. It is also a decidedly Post-Modern rationale, a cynicism towards objective knowledge. As the famous analogy goes 'all paths up the mountain lead to the same summit'. But what gave the relativist or post-modernist that vantage point? Not to mention the self-contradictory nature of a statement that exerts no absolute truth exists (which in itself is an absolute truth statement). This position is as morally offensive as the 'exclusivism' of monotheistic religions so many reject and is a hidden kind of exclusivism in its own right.

Back to my point: whether you use the scientific methodology of Occam's razor (that entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily) or the deductive philosophical Kalam Cosmological argument that everything that has a beginning must have a first cause or primary mover - in the universe's case: God; the universe points to there being one God. This one God is the I AM, YHWH, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and most importantly the God of Jesus Christ. Therefore God is jealous for His Holy name:

"And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them..." Exodus 20:1-5

Even Hinduism, commonly known as the world's major polytheistic religion would argue there is only one Supreme Being - Brahman. Yet nevertheless the religion consists of many lesser gods such as the Hindu Triumvirate of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. So how do we account for all the discrepencies in world religions over the nature, character and person of this one supreme being? Human reason and scientific methods can only take us so far. For the final piece of the puzzle we need divine revelation. However the problem arises when we take into account the existence of the Devil. As a fallen angel, corrupted by jealousy Satan was cast out of Heaven and subsequently became the 'Father of Lies' as Jesus describes him. Therefore Satan has continually sought throughout human history, beginning in the Garden of Eden, to deceive humanity and distort God's Word. Thus he has led astray into false teachings and false religions many people.

But God has not tolerated these cancerous lies and sent His own Son Jesus - whom the Bible says is full of grace and truth to reveal the one true living God to us. Jesus said nothing on his own accord, only what the Father instructed him to say; he did not believe equality with God something to be grasped but humbled himself even to death upon a cross. As Christians are we content to see others go through life believing a lie, forming their world view and moral code around an untruth or an incomplete picture of God? Is God content to see people worshipping false gods who have no power to hear or save? False gods who did not create them! As human beings we understand our human right to acknowledgement and praise for our accomplishments and achievements. We would not sit back placidly as someone steals our identity - we have laws against Fraud and Identity theft! So why should we deny God what is rightfully His?

Therefore I urge any Christians reading this to prayfully seek God's will for their lives; listen to what God may be calling you to do, so that others may hear the truth and the truth set them free!

"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands." Revelation 7:9

Let us make this a reality here on earth, receive the call and be a part of God's great salvation plan; reach out in loving kindness to your family, your colleagues, your friends and maybe even to others around the world.

Who will guard the guardians?

2011-04-02T08:42:00.000-07:00

I was not anticipating writing another blog so soon after my last. I like to let my blogs be digested and to internalise my thoughts before creating new ones. However I have just read something that has left me so dumbfounded and quite frankly angry. What is the cause of my unbrage? Judgementalism - specifically judgementalism about Christian metal about very trivial matters. Let me explain. Practically since Christians started playing heavy metal there have been detractors who have accused the said Christians of deceit, hypocrisy and out right satanism! Yet not only do Christian bands have to face the full force of the genres critics but also of Christian fans who believe it is their prerogative to shoot down and judge any Christian band they feel is not being 'Christian enough'. So on the one hand you have a pharisaical spirit that denounces all Christian metal as of the Devil and on the other you have a religious spirit that condemns bands for not conforming to their ideal of the perfect evangelistic super holy and righteous Christian metal band.

I have been listening to metal for the past 10 years and I have seen the way many of my favourite bands have been judged and condemned for the reasons stated above. It is extremely sad and disappointing. But only this afternoon I learnt of the most recent example. Becoming the Archetype, a progressive death metal band and one of the most important Christian bands of the last decade in my opinion, released their new album a few days ago. Sarcastically the band made a comment on their facebook about the album containing Fred Durst like hand gestures, which may be unsuitable for children - Fred Durst was at one time one of the most well known nu-metal frontmen from the band Limp Bizkit and was famous for his outlandish image and antics. The comment was clearly a joke aimed at Fred Durst, and while its humour may have been subtle and its barb at the music of Limp Bizkit may only have been funny to long term fans of metal it was met with some vitriolic indignation by some fans.

According to a blog written by the band to defend themselves against many cruel and unfounded accusations they were even called 'satan's sellouts' by some and the integrity of their beliefs were brought into question. I couldn't believe what I was reading! Incidents like these are absolutey ridiculous and are perfect examples of an un-Christ-like heart. Did Jesus respond with scorn and rejection to sinners? No. Jesus conversed with such people with patience, compassion and love. None of us are perfect and even if the aforementioned joke was a little distasteful to some peoples' sense of humour it in no way deserved the hateful reaction it got. The Church and many Christians need to take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror. There is too much judgementalism surrounding the sincerity of Christian metal bands. If they are not treated with suspicion because of the style of music they play, they are judged for not being good enough Christians. But none of us are perfect and if God only used perfect people then no one would be a Christian today. Fact.

As a metalhead (although I use the label less as a medal of honour than I used to) Christian bands like Becoming the Archetype have been nothing short of God-sends, a ray of light in an otherwise darkened genre. They are so important not only in supporting me spiritually but as a witness in the secular music world. Christian fans should do everything in their power to support spiritually through prayer their favourite bands rather than condemn them unjustly and hypocritically. For the Bible says that breaking just one law makes us law breakers. It doesn't matter whether our sins are the same as others, we are all sinners. My message to any Christian metal fan reading this: stop putting Christian bands on pedestals and pray that God would give you the gift of discerning of spirits to reveal to you whether you have a religious or pharisaical spirit that is not of God. Jesus said beware the yeast of the Pharisees - it is not true Christianity.

When art imitates life

2011-03-19T06:19:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid something captured my imagination that made a big impression on me: professional wrestling. Yes professional wrestling! Typically as a young boy I was into superheroes (Batman, X-Men, Iron Man etc) yet here were human beings seemingly doing super human things. Every successful wrestler entered the arena and made their way to the ring like a rock star – accompanied by their very own theme song and fireworks. Once they got in the ring the action began and I watched many ‘gimmick’ matches growing up seeing them jump off of ladders and cages; and fighting with tables and chairs. But the point was that these men were gladiators, overcoming even the greatest odds to prevail victorious. The champions, those wrestlers who won or successfully defended their titles seemed like the most courageous and most celebrated human beings in the world; or at least the world of wrestling, which becomes particularly engrossing, absorbing the viewer into its menagerie.

I will admit it still remains a guilty pleasure of mine, even though my appreciation for it has changed over the years, as I grew up and learnt that who these men were was little more than glorified stunt men and came to the conclusion that the world of wrestling was nothing more than fantasy, an escapism the same as any action film you would go to see at the cinema. But at the end of the day its purpose is to entertain, and if it achieves that then it doesn’t matter whether it is real or not.

And so I get to the point of this blog: The Bible teaches that we should love God and not the world.

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father in not in him.” 1 John 2:15

Life can entice us to become distracted from God. Sometimes life is like the world of professional wrestling full of smoke and mirrors, drawing us in as we become captivated by its glamour or its artificial appeal - the lifestyles of our peers, our siblings or even of celebrities who are treated both as demi gods and as freak shows in a sick perverted obsession we have both in aspiring to be like them and being insane with jealousy. The Christian life can be hard, going against the grain of society. Sometimes that means sacrificing having a relationship if it meant disobeying God; sometimes it means putting others first and being selfless with your time and energy; sometimes it means being openly persecuted for not conforming to the status quo or being misrepresented for what we stand for. Yet the Bible teaches us that the glory that awaits us is immeasurably greater than the fleeting pleasures of this world:

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” Romans 8:18

One man who had all the fame and riches the world could offer was the guitarist Brian Welch, better known as Head in the band Korn. For a decade Head played with Korn all over the world in front of thousands of adoring fans; their albums went multi-platinum and he became a multi-millionaire. Yet with the fame and money also came access to drugs and the darker side of life. Brian’s emotional and spiritual life withered and died as he intoxicated himself with drugs and surrounded himself with sycophantic people. He lived a life without limits and without rules and ultimately it became his prison. Trapped into an abusive lifestyle of excess Brian became depressed and even suicidal. Truly what the Bible says about gaining the world had become a reality in Brian’s life:

“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself.” Luke 9:24&25

Thankfully in 2005 Brian became a Christian and found life, joy and freedom in Jesus. He now uses his musical gift for God as well as sharing his testimony to encourage others to pursue a life of Christ.

It is hard to explain to the world, as the world is alien from God, but the Christian life is ultimately the most rewarding and fulfilling. To know that you are an adopted child of God, a co-heir in the riches of God’s kingdom and glory along with His Son Jesus Christ; to be loved by the creator of the universe, not for what we do but for who we are. So many people are futilely trying to find self worth in the world – in their careers, relationships, in their wealth or qualifications. Conversely, this world slowly but surely kills us off one by one, through stress, through disappointment and through rejection. Yet God does not reject anyone who comes to Him through Jesus! Hallelujah that we have such a gracious God. Life is to be enjoyed and shared but each of us have a decision to make – are we going to live under the deception of the world, with its fleeting pleasures and its artificiality like the world of professional wrestling, or are we going to live in the reality of God’s Kingdom – in His love, grace and Spirit?

Too Bright to See, Too Loud to Hear

2011-02-26T06:23:00.000-08:00

"You've changed things...there's no going back now" declared the Joker to Batman in the film the Dark Knight.

This is exactly how I feel as I contemplate going back to work on monday morning after an extraordinary week at the youth event simply known as Kidderminster: extraordinary in more ways than one. There were spiritual battles fought, especially in the first couple of days as a large number of leaders and assistant leaders felt under spiritual attack. But through the stress and disquieting events of those initial days came fruit and blessing later in the week as God answered prayers and ultimately victories, no matter how small were beginning to be won.

Many of the young people who went were carrying such a great deal of emotional or pyschological baggage that it broke your heart. I felt so privileged to be co-leading the prayer team and be able to listen and support a lot of those young people. God taught me a lot about the power and importance of prayer throughout the week. I saw young people blessed by prayers, as well as laid out in the Holy Spirit and not to mention grow spiritually as I taught them of the many facets of prayer. I praise God for the experience he gave me during those 5 days as well as the wisdom and equipping needed.

Wednesday night and Thursday night was particularly powerful and one of the greatest sights I witnessed was two young boys who gave their lives to Christ on Wednesday evening dancing before the Lord. To see such joy and freedom in them filled me with the purest kind of joy. Yet there were some who for them unfortunately the week was a struggle. My own small group of year 7 boys found it particularly hard to get a long without arguing and fighting and for them the messages given in the morning and evening meetings seemed like an inconvenience more than anything else to their free time. For them it seemed like the Gospel was too bright to see and too loud to hear. Yet God is good and I give thanks and praise that they were there and will continue to pray that seeds may have been sown and that they would come to fruition.

I also give thanks to God for the many friendships I was able to cultivate and deepen with my fellow leaders of all ages. We were able to have fun and I appreciated being able to come along side them to encourage and to grow together in Christ. There were a couple of running jokes throughout the week that uplifted and tickled our senses of humour.

The challenge now is to continue to meet the spiritual needs of these young people through small groups and at Seventh Hour our evening service on a Sunday. My own prayer will be for those young people who struggle to maintain a steady Christian walk of faith throughout the year, outside of the 'Kidderminster bubble'. The concept of the 'Kidderminster bubble' is both curious yet real. The reality of Kidderminster is very different to the reality we face throughout the year. The support these young people receive at Kidderminster is so much more accessible than at any other time of the year. For some reality is a difficult home life; for others it is being hotseated at school or college for being the only Christian in the class; yet others it is learning to walk with God and listen to Him amidst the distractions and temptations of this world. And it is the nature of reality, which is so subjective and personal that captures my imagination. No two person's perception of reality will be exactly the same. Notwithstanding the constant is the love of God toward all of us. What ever we may be dealing with God is sovereign and His grace is abundant. Jesus died for the multitude of sins in the world. Jesus lived and breathed so that the Father could see life through our eyes. That is a comforting thought. Whatever we are going through or dealing with God understands and cares because He has seen and felt our pain personally. God's covenant stands forever - Jesus is able to save all those who come to God through Him.

After God's Own Heart

2011-01-30T03:35:00.000-08:00

There are many different ideas about what or who God is. Some people deny his existence completely whilst other people believe He is a kindly grandfather figure who spoils us and never punishes us; yet others see Him as a vengeful fire breathing, lightning bolt throwing Zeus type of character. The world is replete with deists, theists, atheists, agnostics, polytheists, pantheists and everything inbetween.

But who really is God and how can we know His true heart? This is a question I have been meditating on recently. At work I have been teaching both Buddhism and Humanism in REP. Both value systems are commendable in their own right and at the same time flawed. Buddhists believe the answers lie within ourselves and we should strive to reach enlightenment in order to overcome the suffering in this world caused by ignorance and desire. Humanism triumphs the good in human nature and strives towards creating a better world and a more caring and compassionate society. Yet whilst elements of both philosophies are in keeping with God's heart, neither acknowledge Him.

For the humanist the nonexistence of God is conspicuous by His absence from human tragedy and crises. If God existed why does He allow suffering? Yet there is an irony to the Humanists logic, one which may or may not be lost on them. For the Humanist 'God' was merely a 'pokey medieval world view' when people lived in scientific ignorance. God therefore was always a 'God of the gaps' and after sufficient scientific exploration and discovery became unnecessary as an explanation for the world. Yet for all the benevolent discoveries and advancements in science that have helped make this world a better place, there have also been nightmarishly malevolent creations that have brought death, disease and suffering. Weapons such as the nuclear bomb, napalm and chemical warfare. The base chemicals and ingredients used in Medicine which is used to cure and to heal has also been corrupted to be used for illegal drugs that cause the user to become physically and psychologically dependent, often with horrific and tragic consequences socially. For all the good in human nature there is an evil.

Will Humanists ever succeed in making the world a better place? They may take an optimistic view of human nature, but there is no escaping from the fact that in human history atheism has led rise to many great and terrible evils such as Facism and Communism. 6 Million Jews died during WWII at the hands of the Nazis, even more Russians died at the hands of Stalin during the Great Purges and his reign of terror in the USSR. The Humanist may ask where was God? But can they face up to the fact that at its worst atheism leads to the attitude that human life is expendable and certain ideologies rip through the very fabric of morality and human society. What is the Humanists answer to the inhumane suffering caused by man to man? Are we not responsible? If we are sentient beings with a conscience then surely we are culpable and indeed guilty. Morality detached from its Divine origin will ultimately fail. Like the Joker said to Batman in the film the Dark Knight:

"their morality is like a bad joke; they're only as good as the world allows them to be. When the chips are down, they will tear each other apart - you'll see!"

Besides which Humanists state their is no scientific proof that God exists yet their rejection of God based on human suffering is an emotional response. Hardly scientific.

Morality for Buddhists is governed not by flawed man but by Karma. An invisible, unconscious law of the universe. At its simplist it is cause and effect. For every good deed it will be repaid in kind as well as every bad deed. This has great implications for reincarnation. Someone who has led a bad life will return in the next life in a lower state. Someone who has led a good life will return closer to achieving enlightenment. But whilst the physical universe is governed by the laws of nature; how can human life also be governed by a moral law. Morality does not conform to physical laws. Our morality is guided by our consciences. If our consciences are intune with what is right and wrong then it will be reflected in our morality - our views on what is ethical and our desire for justice and compassion. For Buddhists yet again the answer lies within humanity itself. Enlightenment is what is needed. Ignorance is the great enemy.

But if for example someone was to be reborn an animal because they lived a corrupted and degenerate life; how is that person, or life force, ever to achieve enlightenment? Animals do not have consciences; they are not guided by morality; animals are instinctual beings. How then is Karma to govern their actions? To a Buddhist continual rebirths would be damnation. They strive to enter into the state of Nirvana where they have transcended the laws of Karma and broken the cycle of rebirth. Yet a vast majority of the world will be lost. This seems even more cruel than the criticism made by many that Christianity promotes hell and damnation by a capricious and unloving God. But that is simply not true and a complete misunderstanding of the character and person of God. The Bible teaches that God wishes none to perish but that all would have eternal life. Again the Bible teaches that for God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever should believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life! God is Just and Merciful.

Ignorance is our enemy. But not specifically in the way Buddhists believe it to be so. Ignorance of sin is what causes so much damage to the world and human suffering. Ignorance of sin and ignorance of the Devil. Humanity is caught in a web of lies spun by the Devil that has led to idolatry in a myriad of forms. Idolatry to false religions and to false gods; even idolatry to our very selves, as well as the things of this world - food, fashion, sport, sex, money etc. We do not have a right perspective of God because the world is not of God. Only through the outpouring of God's Holy Spirit can we understand the things of God - who He is and His character. By faith in Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection can we be united with God. For without God morality is merely a fascade, a fragile membrane that holds society together. For without God's Holy Spirit revealing to us God's Son, Jesus Christ there can be no enlightenment and no salvation.

God is a jealous God. God is jealous for His Holy name. That means He is both angered and heartbroken by the idolatry of this world. But God is also jealous in His love for humanity. God desires above all else that we reciprocate His love and enter into a relationship with us. If you are a Christian reading this are you aware of God's passionate jealousy for His Holy name? Are we praying for the lost? Those trapped into idolatry and false religions? Do we have a passion for the Holiness of God born of His Spirit? There will be more on this to come...

The end of all things will be televised

2010-12-31T08:50:00.000-08:00

And so as 2010 draws to an end it also marks the end of a decade - the first decade of the 21st Century. And with the end of this decade comes the end of a very important chapter in my life. In short I have grown up! Over the last 10 years I have graduated from high school, college and university as well as have become a qualified secondary school teacher. My formal education is behind me: I have grown from a teenager into a man. I have made and lost friends; I have been in love and had my heart broken. There have been many new beginnings and some untimely endings. Through this process of maturation I have learnt much about life, about responsibility, about pressure and expectations and about faith.

So I look back on this past decade for the last time. My future is ahead of me and I can only imagine if it will be as eventful as the last 10 years. In many ways I feel like the character JD from Scrubs as he left Sacred Heart Hospital. Always prone to fantasising his life, as he stepped out of that building for the last time, his final shift over, he imagines what the future may bring him: whether it will bring him the happiness of love and friendship he holds so dear and desires about all else. It is a very moving and poignant scene and made for very powerful television. In my own sentimental and romantic way I too stand at a precipice. A new epoch, a new era of my life is about to begin. I pray that the lessons I have learnt of life and faith will hold me in good sted in the decade to come as I seek to grow as a man and as I find my place in this world.

So 2011 beckons and a new dawn is about to rise. I am happy to be alive and desire more of God. Life is a journey; a journey of self discovery and self fulfillment. It is a journey in which, if we are perceptive enough, we will learn more about our divine Creator, through nature, through our relationships and experiences and through Scripture. The other night I watched the Last Samurai for the first time. That film is also about endings - the end of a proud warrior tradition; of a noble aristocratic warrior code. The lead character Katsumoto is persuaded, by Tom Cruises's character, to lead one last act of defiance against the vanguard of Westernisation that was heavily influenced by the American negotiators and diplomats. Faced with the latest in military technology, Katsumoto's Samurai are no match for the Imperial Japanese army armed with Canons, rifles and Gatling Guns and tragically, yet heroically Katsumoto is shot down and dies a martyr. In the final scene of the film the young Emperor of Japan asks Tom Cruise how Katsumoto died to which Cruise's character replies:

"I will tell you how he lived!"

Jesus was a man who lived with the utmost integrity. Jesus was a man who taught the world not just about love through his death, but about what it means to be human through his life. He was a teacher, a devout and pious man of God, yet without all the hypocritical trappings and character flaws of the religious leaders of his day. Oh to have been alive and to have lived along side Jesus! As Tom Cruise's character slowly comes to admire and respect Katsumoto's Samurai way of life, so too as I learn more about Jesus I am compelled to live as he did; to emulate his compassion and mercy; to be led and guided by his wisdom, to have such a strong sense of justice as he did and to embody and personify the love and faith that he epitomised. Jesus truly was a great man; who though died a criminal's death unjustly, died a martyr and more importantly died a saviour.

Just as the cherry blossom symbolised the Samurai's life - beautiful, noble yet fleeting; so too the Bible says man's life is but grass, like a mist that quickly evapourates. We are mortal and our mortality is fragile. But I choose with the life I have been gifted by God, with every breath I take, to grow in stature of faith and love; to nurture the essence of God that has been imputed to me by the Holy Spirit and to grow closer to my Creator. Jesus lived roughly 33 years. Like the Samurai his life was short. But what a life! He lived the equivilant of 10 lives in his short one! With what ever time God graces me with I want to make it count; I don't want to waste such a precious gift. I will be 25 in 2011; I will have lived a quarter of a century on this earth - I want to make sure that every single day is made to count; that the true essence and Shekinah Glory of God is revealed to me and that in every way I can learn what it truly means to live as Jesus taught me.

I have a suspicion that my future may lie abroad. Before Jesus ascended into Heaven he commissioned his Apostles to:

"Go forth and make disciples of all nations..."

I desire to see God's kingdom grow here on earth: to see lives saved and to see Satan's kingdom diminish. The Bible says to store up for yourself treasure in heaven and when I die I want to have a nice, healthy bank account waiting for me! I would love to go to Japan but I do not know for certain what God's plan for my future is. I just need to be open to it. To live every day as if it were my last. It is said that the Samurai's life was a preparation for his death. The same is true of the Christian.

So I welcome the New Year and just as Japan is known as the land of the rising Sun, so I desire to see the Son of God rise over the earth to administer justice, peace, equality and love.

Last Christmas I gave you my heart, but the very next day...

2010-12-24T14:16:00.000-08:00

So here I am, on Christmas eve 2010, waiting for the inevitable. I want to share something very precious, something close to my heart - I want to share what has been going on in my journey with God. This time of year always throws up many conflicting emotions and feelings: you have the spirituality of the Gospel message of Hope conflicting with the plastic artificiality of the materialistic impulses of what has come to define much of the secular side of Christmas. I'm not against spending at Christmas, nor am I against buying presents that say something of our affection, love and gratitude towards our friends and loved ones. Nevertheless as I get older, and the 'magic' of Christmas begins to wear thin, I cannot help but feel in some way uninspired by the emphasis upon materialistic consumption at this time of year. When I was a child I would know what I wanted for Christmas and ask, expecting to receive exactly what I'd asked for oblivious of cost or sacrifice on my parents' part. As I reflect I am reminded what the Bible teaches from 1 Corinthians:

"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me." 1 Corinthians 13:11

As an adult I have a far greater appreciation for the financial sacrifice that my parents must have made to accomodate my Christmas list. Like many parents I was allowed to believe as a child that Father Christmas, or Santa Claus, was the kindly and munificent person who would provide me with my materialistic desires. I believe that whilst the pseudonym of Santa Claus is in itself an act of gracious love that does not seek its own ego; unfortunately it does nevertheless fuel a selfishness in children that detaches the receiving of presents from a genuine gratitude towards those from whom they are bought. And thus as an adult my attention at Christmas is drawn away from a materialistic perspective towards one of faith.

But it is not the subject of faith at Christmas that I want to address. It is, more personally to my life at present, my own walk with God. This Christmas I have been challenged with deep rooted bitterness. Bitterness towards those who have hurt me deeply in the past. Those to whom I have allowed in years gone by to place a dark cloud over my thoughts and feelings at Christmas time. One such person, and the foremost person of my resentment, was my ex. Having believed I had forgiven her for the hurt she caused me, I assumed the matter dealt with. But after searching my heart I realised I had not let that hurt go. I had clung on to the hurt as a kind of excuse for the bitterness I still felt towards her. Convicted of such ungodly emotions as sin I began to pray, not only for my forgiveness but for her wellbeing. For the past couple of weeks I have been actively praying for those people who I have perceived to have wronged me. I have been praying for their happiness, wellbeing, faith and for peace. As I prayed, selflessly for these people I truly felt a sense of God's peace rest with me. I felt a release; a freedom and a joy in my spirit. I knew that I had grown closer to the true heart of God.

For God is a God of grace as well as judgement. A God of love as well as wrath. And ultimately a God who deserves to be worshipped and praised for who He is; not for what he can do for us but for who He is. God is not some sort of cosmic Santa Claus with whom we bring our spiritual Christmas list too and expect to receive everything we ask for. God sent his Son into the world because He so loved the world! (John 3:16) God first loved us. He taught us the meaning of love, the meaning of forgiveness and the meaning of grace.

"Anyone who claims to live in the light but hates his own brother is still in the darkness." 1 John 2:9

God showed me grace by forgiving my sin through the way of atonement by the death of Jesus Christ. Not only is God the creator of all life, He is also the author of salvation. We have done nothing of ourselves to deserve His divine forgiveness and grace. This is the God whom deserves to be worshipped, deserves to be followed and above all deserves our love. By examining my own heart, in accordance with Scripture I knew I was far from the true essence of God. I may still be single, but I am now much closer to the heart of God. This is a realisation that is beautiful and a transformation that is astonishing.

Merry Christmas one and all :-)

Hope for Israel

2010-12-11T06:37:00.000-08:00

As I read from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke this morning; re-reading the nativity stories of the birth of Jesus, something very powerfully struck me: both Gospels placed emphasis on hope of the salvation of Israel through the birth of Jesus. Matthew's Gospel, which bears many signs that it was written with a very Jewish audience in mind, states very clearly that Jesus' birth and first coming was the fulfilment of many Old Testament prophecies including Isaiah and Jeremiah. Isaiah 7:14 says:

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel."

This prophecy is directly quoted in connection to the receiving of the news to Mary from the Angel that she was to give birth to Jesus. Yet even in Luke's Gospel, purposefully written for a Gentile named Theophilus (Luke 1:3), places special emphasis on the salvation of Israel through the reference to two people within the Temple when Mary and Joseph presented Jesus to God in Jerusalem. One was a man called Simeon, the other a prophetess called Anna. Through Simeon's declaration of faith, as he was filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus is called the:

"glory to your people Israel."

Whilst Jesus is also described as a light to the Gentiles it was clear to me that Israel is very much a focus within the Gospel narrative of the birth of Jesus. This was a watershed moment within Israel's history - a new epoch had dawned; Israel's messiah was born...and he was the Son of God himself!

There are many within the Church who interpret Jesus' first coming and his death and resurrection purely in Gentile terms. Jesus great commission to his disciples to go forth unto the ends of the earth is seen as the point where God's focus shifted from one nation (Israel) to the world. Indeed many within the Church today are hostile towards Israel and have no thought of taking the Gospel to Jesus' own people.

I do not believe this was God's intention. I do not believe the Church has replaced Israel in God's eyes. I do not believe the Gospel is a totally Gentile affair. While the Bible is clear that God wishes none to perish (2 Peter 3:9) and that Jesus is the Light of the World (my emphasis); nevertheless Ephesians describes the relationship between the Church and Israel as being One New Man (Eph 2:15-16). Ephesians states:

"remember that at that time you were separate from Christ excluded from the citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, (my emphasis) without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility...His purpose was to create in himself one new man out the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross..." (my emphasis)

Israel is still very much in God's heart. God has not foresaken his ancient covenant people. Neither should the Church.

I received an email recently from a Jewish charity with an article about what to pray for when praying for Israel. Here is a summary for those who feel called to pray for modern day Israel (and I encourage everyone to do so)

1. Israel's military - that Jewish believers in Jesus would find favour in the army and glorify God through their actions and decisions
2. Israel's economy - that the government and successive governments would take responsible and wise action regarding welfare pay outs, especially to the orthodox Jewish community and be able to intergrate them successfully into the work force
3. Freedom of Speech - that Jewish believers in Jesus would not be persecuted by Orthodox Jewish groups and be allowed their freedom of expression within Israel.
4. Israeli Government - an end to the corruption within the government
5. Safety - there are mafia like organisations which run human trafficking as well as Sudanese illegal immigrants that are resorting to crime.
6. Morality - there is growing amorality within Israel as future generations are growing up without a Biblical basis for morality
7. Salvation - Romans 11:26 says "All Israel shall be saved." Pray that Israel would know her saviour and messiah.

I encourage all of you reading this to open your heart to Israel, without whom we would not have the Bible or our saviour, the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Struggles, humility and victory!!!

2010-11-28T02:38:00.000-08:00

This last week has been quite hard for me. As a part of a new initiative at my school, all teachers graded Satisfactory in their last APR (annual, professional review) will undergo a 12 week programme of observations and guidance in order to become good to outstanding teachers. When I was told I was now on this programme and that my Head of Department would be setting me targets to meet I felt gutted. For the last two years I have trained to become and qualified as a professional teacher. These last two years have been some of the toughest in my life. They have been a period of transition, set backs, recoveries and (very steep) learning curves. But last July I thought I had fully qualified and the days of 'mentoring' were behind me. Alas I was mistaken. And so I left that initial meeting feeling despondant, frustrated and quitely frankly unworthy of being a teacher.

But God has been doing something wonderful through this experience. As I reached out to Him for guidance and strength, as I chose to worship Him despite my feelings, God has been speaking to me: speaking to me about humility, speaking to me about faith and speaking to me about testimony! As I prepared to go into work one morning Jesus' teaching about worrying came to mind. I can only describe it as an epiphany, for at that precise moment I felt the weight of pressure, expectation and fear lift from me. Jesus taught:

"Do not worry about what tomorrow will bring, for each day has enough trouble of its own."

I was instantly uplifted and yet challenged. Was I living by faith through this experience? Where did my hope and strength come from? Last Sunday morning the speaker spoke of 'practical atheism', when believers deny God by their actions. It is one thing to say I am a Christian, but another entirely to live by faith and not by sight; to maintain an integrity of faith even in the hard times. I am in no doubt whatsoever that these next 12 weeks will be hard, trying and pressured. However, through faith I will have the victory. Through faith in the Most High who created the heavens and the stars in the night sky; who created all life on earth and brought salvation to humanity through the crucifixion and resurrection of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, I will prevail stronger, a better teacher and with a deeper relationship with my God. What a powerful testimony this will bring.

I was also struck as I meditated on the Word of God by the humility Jesus showed as he went to the Cross. Jesus was falsely accused by the Jewish religious authorities, was abandoned by his disciples, even betrayed by one of them! Jesus was mocked and scorned by the Roman guards and crucified by an incensed crowd full of blood lust and anger. Yet despite suffering such public disgrace, torture and humiliation he remained humble, never wavering from His obedience and faith in the Father's Will. As Jesus was nailed to the cross He was even able to pray:

"Father forgive them, for they do not understand what they are doing."

I had certainly not responded to my current circumstances with humility. And I certainly had not lived out Jesus' teaching about forgiveness and love. So I began to pray for my classes that have caused me so many problems and stress this past term. I prayed as the Bible teaches us to, to pray for those who persecute us and to love our enemies. I know I must grow in humility. I know I must live out my faith with integrity, and I know that ultimately it is in times of testing and struggle that our true faith is revealed. But more than this, it is in these times that God can refine our faith by His Holy fire and purify us. It is one thing to know, intellectually, the teachings of the Bible, but a completely different thing to apply them to one's life. It is one thing to memorise the Bible, but another entirely to let it shape our lives, produce in us good fruit of patience, love, kindness, humility, meekness and integrity.

As I continued to read of Jesus' crucifixion it occurred to me that Jesus is still being mocked, rejected and crucified by our society today. Overtly aggressive atheists such as Richard Dawkins wants all religion to be eradicated from the face of the earth, from peoples' psyche both personal and collective. The media and television ridicule Jesus still, with freedom of the press and freedom of speech being exploited to put down Christianity. And people still falsely accuse Jesus of being someone He is not.

Jesus was crucified along with two criminals. One continued to mock Jesus, whilst the other rebuked him and pleaded with Jesus to forgive him. In this age of godlessness, where no one fears God anymore, I believe the Church needs to be like that second criminal speaking out to defend Jesus for who He truly is; not a criminal, but an innocent man; not a danger to society but it's saviour. Interestingly once Jesus had died and hung there lifeless on the cross the people there knew what they had done and went home mourning. One day, when Jesus returns, this society will realise the injustice of their actions and mourn, only it will be too late then! This society needs revival, it needs repentence.

As for me, before Jesus died he cried:

"Father into your hands I commit my spirit."

The Bible teaches us to take up our cross and follow Jesus. Therefore I will make a point of praying every day that I would commit my spirit into God's hands, take up my cross and follow Jesus, not conforming to the pattern of this world.

Remembrance Sunday

2010-11-14T14:32:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday was Armistice Day, when we here in Britain remember the soldiers who lost their lives in WWI. Today was Remembrance Sunday when collectively we pay tribute to the soldiers of both world wars. They are solomn occassions. At work, as a history teacher, we raise the issue of whether it is right to remember; or whether, after 90 years, it is time to leave the past behind? For many these times of remembrance are important and the cost of our freedom should never be forgotten. Slogans such as 'Freedom is not free' reverberate as poignant soundbites that bear witness to the hugely tragic cost in human lives and of lost generations of young men.

It is right that we remember the 'Glorious Dead' as is written on the Cenotaph in London. But it is also right that we remember as a society the cost of our spiritual redemption as well. For 2000 years ago, one man from Nazareth, was crucified under Roman orders, just outside of Jerusalem. What made this execution different to the others was the fact that this man, called Jesus, died for the sake of humanity: a human sacrifice, echoing the symbolism of the sacrificial lamb slaughtered in the Temple courts by the Levitical Priests of ancient Israel. For Jesus offered up his life so that we could be forgiven our sins and tresspasses by God. For the Bible teaches that there are only two conditions in life: in slavery to sin or slavery to righteousness. Jesus bought our spiritual redemption and freedom by dying on the Cross. His ultimate sacrifice was the price of our freedom: freedom the Bible teaches us is what God has designed for us. Freedom from judgement; freedom from condemnation and freedom from guilt.

The cost of our political freedom was terribly great. Millions dead, but not in vain, for the fact that the Allied forces won the war and we continue to remember and pay our respect to their deaths. In remembering their lives and the price of our freedom it reminds me that life is still seen as sacred to our society. One life, the most sacred of all, was the cost of salvation. A life that was human, yet divine; a life that personified love. Yet rather than remember Jesus as another of the Glorious Dead, we also remember that He was raised again: resurrected and elevated to the right hand of the throne of God, reunited in glory with the Heavenly Father. This same Jesus that was crucified and resurrected is the same Jesus that is the same yesturday, today and forever. Jesus' sacrifice was a once for all, ultimate sacrifice. His sacrifice is as powerful to save lives as it has been for 2000 years. Believe.

In pursuit of knowing God

2010-10-28T04:57:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I posted a blog about the purpose of humanity in which I concluded that knowing God was the ultimate purpose in life and that connecting with this God brings ultimate meaning to our lives. Recently I have been reading a very erudite and concise little book called 'Think God Think Science' subtitled 'conversations on life, the universe, and faith' with Ernest Lucas, Vice-Principal and Tutor of Biblical studies Bristol Baptist College. So far the book has made some very interesting points, ones which I thought were very profound in my understanding of and relationship with God. I said in my previous blog that I hoped this endeavour to know our Creator God would progress and evolve into a more rounded and fully fleshed world view and I believe this book has helped me to do so.

One of the first points that struck me in the debate between Religion and Science was Ernest Lucas' response to Richard Dawkins' criticism of Religion producing a 'poky little medieval view of the universe'. Lucas suggests that what Dawkins describes is not the byproduct of religious skepticism towards Science as a source of truth but rather a trend brought about by our era of post-modernism and an emphasis on individualism and 'self-truth'. While I have been very familiar with post-modernism as a philosophical worldview; I had never thought about it's impact upon our society in creating such an insular, individualistic culture. There has been a shift towards the importance placed upon material gain and accumulation in our Western culture - a result, in part, of the greater emphasis placed upon our individualism by post-modernism. Therefore to discredit Christianity or Religion in general as being 'against' Science is unfair and tarnishes Religion specifically for what is a much broader problem created by certain philosophical leanings of society.

Secondly, the book covers the issue of cosmology and how our understanding of our place within the universe has changed since Ancient times. Our ancestors believed that the earth was the centre of the universe and that the universe revolved around us and not vice versa. Since our more recent scientific discoveries brought about through the scientific revolution of the 17th and 18th centuries by such men as Newton and Copernicus our understanding and perception of the significance of our planet and in deed the human race has changed. Therefore, do our lives hold any meaning and do they carry significance? Lucas' response to this question struck me as very profound. If, as the Bible says, God is a God of love then what he creates, he creates out of love and so has a deep love for what he has created, no matter how small they may appear in the grander picture of the universe. He draws upon the analogy of a parent, holding their new born baby in their arms for the first time. The baby in itself is small and has done nothing of significance in the world, but those parents love that baby unconditionally and completely. Size is not the benchmark for significance. God as our Heavenly Father loves us so deeply and so profoundly not because we are big physically, or because earth is the focal point of the universe, but just because he made us and because he is love. No one is insignificant to God. That is amazing.

The other point the book has made thus far, which I have found particularly captivating and intriguing, especially to my pursuit and understanding of a relationship with God bringing ultimate meaning to our lives is the concept of certain human abilities that transcend the basic need for surival. In the chapter about evolution and whether or not humanity has been made in the image of God, Lucas speaks of certain abilities that he sees as proof that we have been made in God's image, or at least what he understands by being made in God's image. Examples included higher mathmatics, fine art, music and an aesthetical appreciation for beauty. These qualities in us go beyond a Darwinian understanding and application of survival of the fittest. While basic maths and arithmatic is important for survival, post-graduate and higher level maths, the likes of which Einstein applied go far beyond any naturalistic requirement for survival. Likewise the complexity of our music goes far beyond the mating calls and primitive music that animals are able to produce in order to attract mates or warn of approaching predators. Lucas was not arguing that evolution is incorrect or untrue, rather that a theistic understanding of evolution is more satisfactory than an atheistic one.

This has massive implications for our lives: our societies and cultures speak of a Creator God - our ability to produce and have an appreciation for fine art, music and literature implies that we have been made in our Creator's image. Practically everything we do speaks of God. As I write this blog I am listening to Beethoven's 5th piano concerto, this music so complex and sophisticated, yet so beautiful to listen to speaks of a God who made us, to have this capacity to make such music; the computer I am using to type this blog and post it online again speaks of being made in God's image. We are intelligent, creative, self-conscious beings. We have been made in the image of God.

These reflections and meditations bring me such satisfaction when I think of my pursuit of knowing God and having a relationship with him. My pursuits and interests speak of being made in God's image, my ability to learn, adapt, appreciate and create things of intelligent design and sophistication speak of God and in our human race we can know something of what God is like.

One last thought, regarding the implications of these musings: Lucas draws a logical connection between being made in God's image, and the incarnation of God in the person of Jesus Christ. Lucas states:

"A lot of ink has been spilt over the question of what it means to be made in the image of God. I think the simplest way to understand it is that we represent God on earth, that we must be of such a nature that we can reflect something of God in our human personality. This is what makes Incarnation possible, the message of the New Testament that God can become a human being."

Many non-Christians and atheists alike struggle to comprehend how God can become a human being; to Jews and Muslims it is offensive to think of God having a 'son' or 'reducing' himself to human form; to atheists it seems absurd that a person could be at one and the same time a human and a god, with all the powers supposedly attributed to God. But if God has already created us with the capacity to reflect himself in us then being able to incarnate himself in a person, with a physical body and human limitations is possible. As the Bible says "nothing is impossible for God."

And so I come back to the person of Jesus Christ - God incarnate - in my spiritual journey to know God and have a relationship with him. To know Jesus is to know God and to believe in Jesus is to believe in the One who sent him, namely God.

think before you buy

2010-10-10T03:56:00.000-07:00

It seems like ages since I last blogged, but now there is something sufficiently on my heart to share! This past week my church has had a 24/7 prayer week. I took a few hours out of my daily routine to go and pray and was struck whilst praying and waiting on God by one thing in particular: how we in the West profit from other peoples' poverty. As I read the material in the church about struggling people, young and old, from around the developing world I couldn't help but feel a sense of injustice and anger that many of the brands and labels we wear or come into contact with every day exploit their employees! Here in the West we live in a 24/7, on demand, whatever we want society. Our diets are not determined by the seasons anymore because we import many of our produce from other countries; some of which even struggle to feed themselves. We want cheap clothes, yet that requires paying people a pittance in order to make a profit from it. There are people working in sweat shops and factories in places like India where even the electricity used to light the factory and power the machines is dangerous and could cause serious injury.

As a history teacher, I was made to reflect on our own industrial past and how for many decades people worked without health and safety regulations; children were exploited for cheap labour, many of whom died. We would no longer tolerate those types of working conditions now, yet we turn a blind eye to it in other parts of the world! I came to realise there is an aweful amount of hypocrisy in our society. So what is the solution? Playing ignorant to the plight and suffering around the world, which we directly benefit from is not an option. It is unacceptable. Yes there are innitiatives such as 'fair trade', which gives farmers and workers a fair price and wage for their work. This should be a basic human right of everyone. But it is only the beginning. Greed is at the heart of the problem. It is the greed of corporations and businesses that charge high prices yet pay unacceptably low wages. Greed is not only a poison, which can infect the human heart, but it is also called idolatry in the Bible. So who do you serve? As Jesus taught, no one can serve two masters; so who do you serve? The most High God and His Son Jesus? Or money and our own greedy desire for an afluent, comfortable existence?

So next time you're in the supermarket or in your favourite clothes shop, just bear in mind will your choices deny others of their rights to a decent wage and living standard? Now I am no saint, and I am no martyr either; these are matters of consciousness that I am still grappling with myself. I feel strongly that it is right to support charities in the work they do to supporting the vulnerable of this world, as well as buying fair trade, but perhaps more needs to be done. Perhaps it is time for us to become more politically active in reaching out to our government to try and make positive changes in the wider international community? Seek God, listen to your conscience and do what is right to prevent injustice and exploitation.

I will be light

2010-09-15T10:19:00.000-07:00

As I walk this spiritual path, illuminated by the light of the Gospel, I have become far more conscious about our personal ministry we have as witnesses to our non-Christian colleagues, family and friends. I remember when I first felt called by God to serve him as a teenager; my perception of ministry was that it was something you needed qualifications for, and something you got paid for, even if it wasn’t very much! The curate of my church at the time tried to explain to me that I already had a ministry to my non-Christian friends at school, and even though I thought I had understood him, upon reflection I can see that only now am I beginning to realise the reality of that truth.

Naturally when I was younger I was more naïve to the ways of God and the calling each Christian is given as His witnesses on the earth. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how many times you read Scripture, it just doesn’t fully sink in. Yet just recently I have really been burdened for the lost. This burden to see souls saved for the Kingdom of God has led me to such a deeper understanding and insight into my personal ministry as a witness for the Gospel. For the first time in my life I truly feel a joy regarding this ministry. My workplace is my mission field, my colleagues are the people God has given me a heart to reach and I feel genuinely privileged to be in this position.

Jesus taught:

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything…” Matthew 5:13

and:

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house." Matthew 5:15

I am to be salt and light in this world. I am to reflect the light of Christ in my life and act as a moral preservative in this spiritually decaying world. The world is in a state of decay: morally and spiritually. There is a moral vacuum left by our secular humanism in this country, which is causing spiritual atrophy and decay. Yet God has called each of His children to be His faithful servants to stem the haemorrhaging that is causing society to bleed to death. In order to do this we need to be connected to God. In order to be salt and light, without fading or losing our preserving power we need to stay connected to God through His Spirit, meditation on His Word and through prayer.

Again Jesus says:

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit…” John 15:5

I have also come to realise how vitally important prayer is. I have never considered myself an intercessor before. Nor have I always been consistent in my prayer life. Too often good intentions have fallen by the way side and my enthusiasm and energy for prayer has waned. Yet I have come to view prayer as a joy; I am glad to pray, because I know that with God nothing is impossible. I know that when I lack wisdom, courage or strength in my witness that God will provide. I have peace of mind that although I may not, by myself, have the power or the means to save anyone, God does! Paul explains in Philippians 4:4-6:

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

I do not have to shoulder the responsibility of salvation; I could not possibly carry that burden. God knows this. I just have to be faithful in the task God has given me – to be a witness; a shining light in this world.

Therefore I want to encourage you, if you are a Christian, to rejoice in prayer for the lost, to witness enthusiastically with the wisdom and courage God provides through His Holy Spirit and to seek first God’s Kingdom. As the Jewish musician Matisyahu sings in the title track to his album ‘Light’:

“We have one tiny moment in time for life to shine, to shine, to burn away the darkness, only one tiny moment in time… so I will be light.”

How will you choose to live your life? Will you take up the call to be salt and light, to be an intercessor for this world; for your workplace, family or friends? Or will you coast through life, your spiritual edge blunted by society, your salt lost and your faith dull, tepid and lukewarm? It is a joy and privilege to witness to the Kingdom of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is our calling, which every Christian has been given. Most importantly it is real. Do you believe that? Do you believe God can use you to make a difference to our society? Have you faith in the God who is greater than the problem? Do not lose hope.

A burden for Mankind

2010-09-04T02:28:00.000-07:00

My spirit was greatly troubled last night when I got home from helping out with the youth work I am involved in. Two things primarily perturbed me: firstly - misconstruing the nature of 'domestic' work and secondly, the prevailing attitude that 'real' men cannot be sensitive and caring. I had decided to help with the washing up as there was a lot of toast being made for the young people and they were running out of clean plates. As I stood there, behind the sink, washing up one of the young girls (who had just moved up to secondary school) exclaimed I was washing up "like a woman"; to which I asked, jokingly, whether she meant washing up was a woman's job or that I washed up like a woman? Her reply struck me - that her perception of washing up was that it was a woman's job! I must admit I was mildly saddened by this response, to which some of my colleagues picked up on this and it became a running joke throughout the evening that I was acting like a 'woman'.

The second incident surrounds a young boy, only 10 years old, who enjoys playing violent computer games and watching violent films, whose age rating is much too old for him. He told me he was looking forward to going home and playing one of his particularly violent games before bed, to which I responded sarcastically that it might give him nightmares. This started a conversation about how he had played this game many times before bed before and it had not given him nightmares. Once again I sarcastically, albeit subtlely, suggested that it would give me nightmares. I was not surprised that he failed to recognise my sarcasm, however, he turned to me and said that I must be a 'wuss' as I was much older than he was. This idea jarred with me, because unbeknown to him, he had exhibited the prevelant attitude amongst society that 'manliness' is intrinsically linked to being 'hard' and unfeeling; that it is in someway unbecoming to a man to show sensitivity and to recoil at violence.

So I left with a troubled heart. I left with a sense of sadness of the lack of parental supervision over this young boy, so impressionable and in many ways so vulnerable to dangerous influences. I was also distressed and to a degree angry that my act of servitude had been mocked as women's work. I was not angry because I wanted recognition, but angry because I had wanted to follow in my Saviour's example and be a good role model to these young people. Yet I was left with uncertainty as to whether that message had come across.

On the night of the Last Supper, as Jesus ate the Passover meal with His disciples before His death, he taught them as he washed their feet:

"I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them." - John 13:15-17

Again Jesus taught as His two disciples James and John requested they be allowed to sit one to the right and one to the left of Him in Heaven:

"Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mark 1043-45

This world is consumed in darkness. Statistically one in four women will suffer domestic violence and reportedly one incident of domestic violence is reported to the police every minute! On average two women are killed each week from current or former male partners (statistics from womensaid.org.uk) The ubiquity of Pornography is sickening, and grows at a seemingly exponental rate - as of 2003 there were 1.3 million pornographic websites on the internet and the total revenue for the porn industry in 2006 world wide was $97 billion. Crime rates have soared over the last few decades with only 4 reports out of 1000 of violent crimes in 1951 to 55 out of a 1000 in 2000. The number of men over women being found guilty of crimes is also much higher with 17.1 compared to 3.8 (statistics from statistics.gov.uk/crime). It is also true that girls do better than boys academically in this country. I do not have the time or scope in this blog to conduct a full analysis of these statistics, but at a glance the implications are clear: there is a moral vacuum in this society, which is destroying men from within, whether it is sexual addiction, which objectifies women and degrades them, or violent tendencies that result in domestic abuse and an increase in the crime rate. These deplorable influences are hindering men from creating deep, caring , loving relationships and are callousing our hearts.

Young boys need examples of godly men, men after God's own heart, like King David and most importantly Jesus. It may seem cliched to say the world needs Jesus, but it truly does and I fear for my own sex in particular, that the world with all its demonic influences is corroding our minds and souls like poison! I want to live a life of integrity and faith. To show people, no matter how much I am mocked for it, that there is a truer path, a way of light and of peace for the spirit; that being a caring, compassionate and giving person is not unmanly but rather the better way... for everyone! I want people to recognise the example of Jesus in creating a more caring, selfless and loving society. I truly believe this with all my heart.

Turning vision into reality

2010-08-20T03:57:00.000-07:00

Coming off of the back of the Frinton Mission I really felt the desire to continue using whatever gifts God has given me for His glory! Not only have I become involved with the youth work at my Church but I also began to write lyrics in worship to God. I really felt the power of praise and song during the Mission and I decided I wanted to turn my hand to writing lyrics. After giving this desire over to God and asking Him to bless it I found lyrics just flowing from my mind as I typed at my PC. After I had several lyrics written I found myself feeling dissatisfied that they may potentially be left saved in a word document on my computer. So I text a couple of friends who led worship and asked if they would like to meet up and take a look at my lyrics. This was the start.

Soon I believe God gave me a vision for where this process could lead: suddenly from these humble lyrics I was envisioning the entire worship band at Church collaborating on the music to create something special - something that could be sung on a Sunday evening at our contemporary service but also something that could transcend the Church itself. Then I was contacted by a member of the worship band; he wanted to read my lyrics. I met with him and showed him the lyrics. We shared our hopes and dreams regarding the creative direction of the Church and after feeling that we shared a common vision, prayed God's blessing and direction over it. I left the lyrics with him so that he could put some demos together.

This process has only just begun but I am so excited and animated within my spirit to think about how mightily for His Kingdom God could use this music. The goal is to create a creative forum whereby music and lyrics can be shared and collaborated upon with the intention of using in our evening services. To write and play our own music, with God's vision for us as a Church is what we seek to do. Then only God knows where it may lead, but if successful we want to share this music with others.

I have been meditating upon two things recently:
1. Worship is a lifestyle, not a genre
2. God is the visionary, we just have to catch a glimpse of the vision

For with God nothing is impossible and I want to continue to dream big that big things may come of them!

No ordinary life!

2010-08-09T04:04:00.000-07:00

I have just completed my very first Frinton Mission - 8 days of intensive youth ministry: it was a fantastic experience! Over the week God moved in some truly amazing ways: in my team, our teenagers, as well as the older group too. There have been young people coming to faith, baptisms, the giving and receiving of spiritual gifts, healings and deliverance! I was blessed to work with some awesome people, many of whom are uni undergraduates, people who love life and have such tremendous love for our Saviour God!

I felt my own faith and spirit refreshed over the course of the week as we held workshops, talent contests and dramas with the young people of our age group as well as sharing with them the message of the Gospel. It was an exhilerating feeling and a privilege to share in God's Kingdom work in Frinton. The chemistry and friendship of our leadership team was excellent and I've made many new friends as well as sharing in some powerful spiritual experiences: of intimate worship of God, of praise and meditation upon His grace, love, mercy and awesome wonder.

In many ways I am sad the week had to end but I have come away with so many great memories and a real sense of challenge to take the good news into my work place, my family and with my friends. I don't want to lose the passion I have had during the mission and will pray that over the next year, I remain true to my faith, my witness and my evangelism. I also feel that this mission has opened a door into further youth work in the future. I am excited in a way I never was before to work with these young people, to show them the saving power and grace of God and show them the love of Christ.

This is no ordinary life...Hallalujah that the life lived for Jesus is truly extraordinary. There is no going back!

Reflections on my first year in teaching

2010-07-21T00:10:00.000-07:00

Well my NQT year, my first full year in teaching, is finally over! It has been a year of failure and successes, thankfully not quite in equal measure I am happy to say. Yet it has been a year of intense professional, as well as in many ways personal, growth and challenge. I have been humbled on more than one occassion and have risen like a phoenix on more than one occassion also. From having to re-evaluate how I organise my time and the way I teach particular areas of our syllbus, to learning how to cope with criticism and respond positively to it. This year has not been exactly easy; but it has been character developing.

I have learnt, sometimes the hard way, that in order to teach at the highest level expected of me that it will take years of experience and reflection on myself. However, I end the year on a very positive note: with the work done collaboratively in our department to rework our schemes of work and the criteria for our assessments in line with the new national curriculum for Key Stage 3 I am very excited about rolling out our new KS3 portfollios with the new year 7s in September. I am also looking forward to being a part of redesigning and decorating our department displays outside our classrooms as well. Working at TTC it is truly an innovative and creative department and professional environment; one I am very thankful and proud to be a part of. I have modestly given to my department and contributed to the aforementioned changes but next year I want to be an even more effective member of the team. I have also been grateful for the times and occassions I have spent socially with my colleagues, getting to know them and being able to share my faith with them.

As far as my personal life goes, this year has taught me that I need to trust in God even with the little things. Whilst I have faultered from time to time, generally speaking, the challenge of this year has brought me closer to God with the recognition that it is in His strength and not my own in which I will accomplish all things. I have sought to walk closer with my God because only He knows the end from the beginning. When there seemed to be no light at the end of the tunnel I had to trust in God that He would guide me through the difficult times and I rejoice that He never left me in the midst of my uncertainties! Positively, joining my new church at Frinton has been very beneficial to my faith, having the stability of that spiritual environment and atmosphere as well as the fellowship of my house group.

So here I sit, typing at my PC with a sense of excitment and hope in the year ahead, going into my second year of teaching. I am looking forward to relaxing and recharging my batteries during the holiday and hope to make the fullest use of my free time. I know I must temper any sense of expectancy with realism because hopes can be dashed and dreams unfulfilled. My second year will still be very hard and badly behaved classes bring all sorts of difficulties and challenges to your work, but nevertheless I don't want to lose that energy and enthusiasm to want to improve myself professionally and do my very best next year to remain positive.

As far as my personal life goes I must continue to trust and hope in God too. Whether I am still single this time next year I cannot say, only God knows that. As of now I can't see myself finding anyone soon, despite my good intentions and openness to initiate friendships. I will also have to make some decisions regarding how I spend my free time and my hobbies. For the last couple of months I have wanted to take up Ju-Jitsu, which I know is a martial art and therefore not the typical past time of a Christian. I have really enjoyed and appreciated going to the gym and keeping fit and growing stonger and feel that it would be good to channel some of that new energy into another sporting pursuit. Martial arts, like going to the gym, suit my current lifestyle as I can do them without needing a training partner. Moreover, with the grappling elements to Ju-Jitsu it is also the closest thing to wrestling, which I still enjoy watching from time to time. Conversely, I am still not decided whether I will actually take it up or not. Ultimately my faith and spirituality must come before secular past times. I have sought to get a balance in my life this year, keeping a healthy body, mind and spirit. But I do not want to turn that desire and pursuit into compartmentalising my life and faith into boxes. God deserves all of me and I do not want to neglect my faith if I cannot maintain that balance by going to Ju-Jitsu. So it will take further consideration.

Taking everything into consideration and wishing to remain positive about the year ahead I think of the Impending Doom lyrics: "How do I find what I seek? Where does your glory and I meet? This is where I begin!"

Mortification: 20 years in the underground

2010-07-02T11:10:00.000-07:00

2010 celebrates 20 years of quite an extraordinary band: Mortification. Mortification came to prominence in both Christian and secular metal scenes in the early '90s with their first few death metal albums, most notably their seminal sophomore album 'Scrolls of the Megiloth'. The beast which is Mortification was birthed in 1990 by bassist/vocalist Steve Rowe after his previous band Light Force disbanded. Not content to let his musical creativity fade away, Steve reformed the band. But it soon became clear by pursuing a much heavier direction that this was a completely different animal and thus a new name was necessary. Mortification was the epitome of all that the band stood for both lyrically and musically as an extreme Christian metal band. The band's third album, and my personal favourite to date, 'Post Momentary Affliction' saw the band progress into more experimental realms of metal, whilst still retaining their death metal roots. Post Momentary Affliction provided a watershed that saw the band embark on a musical journey, never remaining content to reproduce the same album twice. Evolution has been an integral part of Mortification ever since.

The band's longevity is remarkable, especially when the personal circumstances surrounding the founding member (and only original member left) Steve Rowe. Steve suffered from two bouts of particularly aggressive cancer in the mid '90s, both occassions proving potentially fatal, which has since left him as a partial paraplegic. Yet miraculously God protected him and despite his disability has continued to write and play new music. Conversely despite overcoming ill health Mortification have spent the best part of their 20 year long career as an independent, underground band. Sadly for the band after their contract expired with influential metal record label Nuclear Blast after their fourth album 'Blood World' they were never able to resign to another label with quite the same exposure. Financial limitations notwithstanding, as well as numerous line up changes, Steve perservered and Mortitication survived. For the last 10 years the band has enjoyed more stability through the inclusion of and talent of lead guitarist Mick Jelinic.

Since Mortification's last full length album was released in 2009, Steve has been concentrating his creative energy into a Christian Rock band he has formed with former Mortification guitarist Lincoln Bowen called WonRowe Vision. WonRowe Vision are set to release their debut album later this year and Steve has expressed his desire to keep Mortification an exclusively extreme metal band, returning to the band's old skool death metal roots. This will be enthusiastically welcomed, no doubt, by many long time Mortification fans and indeed I myself am very happy about Steve's decision regarding the artistic and musical direction of Mortification's future releases.

As Steve's musical and creative energy seems to know no end, I am positive Mortification will continue to make music for several years to come, refusing to become extinct like so many other bands before them. Mortification's legacy to Christian metal is unquestionable. Steve Rowe's convictions and his dedication to playing Christ centred extreme music has been unwavering for the past 20 years and the eminence and popularity that Christian metal now enjoys as one of the largest growing sub-genres of metal is in no small terms influenced by Mortification, especially of the impact of their early death metal albums. Many a lesser band would have succumbed to the harsh world of the music industry and disbanded long before reaching such a monumental milestone as 20 years. This is what makes Mortification such an intriguing and genuinely sincere musical experience. As a Christian Mortification's music has been both inspirational and motivational in my walk of faith. It is a band I am positively grateful for.

For more information about Mortification visit http://www.roweproductions.com/
To buy Mortification music legitimately from their official webstore visit http://www.soundmass.com/

world cup woes

2010-06-27T11:38:00.000-07:00

In my mind I had dreams of being able to write a blog celebrating the success (even relative success) of the England team in this year's world cup from South Africa. Sadly, reality has dictated that now I am writing about a premature exit to what was a very disappointing campaign.

From a frustratingly mediocre start to a pitifully souless exit, the England team have ripped out the hearts of their fans and shattered the hopes and dreams of a nation. A proud footballing nation. A nation who boasts one of the, if not the best football league in the world. Well done lads! The prospects of getting to a respectful place in the world cup always looked bleak after barely managing to qualify from the group stages, but nevertheless losing to Germany is the most bitter pill to swallow. Where was the heart, the passion, the desire? It's a criticism that's been levelled at our top footballers for a long time that they are overpaid and prima donnas but in some respects I think its been proven to be true in South Africa. I understand sport envokes very strong emotions in people and players alike, sometimes positive and unfortunately sometimes negatively too, but as professionals who do this for a living you would expect them to be able to control those emotions and play regardless of despondancy or frustration. But England played without any real fire or soul today and if playing against your arch rivals in a knock out game is not incentive enough then nothing will be. Simple. The squad Fabio Capello chose are not good enough to play for their country, whatever success they have had at club level.

This is the most frustrating and sad thing is that once again the loyal and passionate fans suffer. We have been let down by a side who looked as if they'd never played football before, who were too easily intimidated and had no self belief in their ability. Capello must go. There is no way he can justify his position as manager as his tactics were proven to come far short of what was needed to defeat even the most humble of world cup sides. '66? We should start forgetting about those glory days because they are very far from the present reality, and look very far from future realities at the moment also. Obviously it is hard to predict how the next generation of international footballers will fair in the three lions shirt, but seeming as it's been over forty years since we won the world cup last I don't hold out much hope.

Rooney was a non-entity in this campaign, he might as well have been left at home. John Terry looked a million miles away for the majority of the tournament from being the world class defender that captained Chelsea to Premier League glory and many other of Fabio's selection were dubious. It was pathetic.

And thus concludes another world cup England performance and hopefully this will be the curtain call for the veterans of our squad. Their time is past and they need to pass on the torch because there is no way we can win another international tournament with them at the helm.

So attention turns back to domestic football and the new Premier League season in August. I much prefer club football as more often than not it's where these players potentials are realised and besides Arsenal have a far better chance of winning the League than England winning the World Cup! We love you Arsenal, we do!!!

The purpose of humanity

2010-06-10T12:59:00.000-07:00

Firstly, I apologise if this blog doesn't read as coherently as some of my others, I have been meditating and reflecting recently upon the meaning and purpose of humanity. I have recently read two very stimulating and spiritually and intellectually invigorating books by Antony Flew and Francis Collins. Both discuss the various classical philosophical arguments for the existence of God, as well as the implications of modern scientific discoveries and developments to the question of the existence of God. This blog, and my thoughts in it, are very much in an embryonic form (in a philosophical sense).

As I read and assimilated the information and arguments it struck me that the most important question in life is the existence of God. If God exists and has created the universe and all life within it, then naturally...and I would say logically, learning about this Creator God would be the most pressing concern of all humanity. To dismiss this question is to dismiss the potential purpose of all humankind. It is to dismiss the objective meaning to our lives. Some people seek the answer to this question and do not find God. Conversely, I believe it is a question that cannot be ignored. The implications are too great.

If one finds that God exists then logically the quest and search for which God or what type of God this divine essence and superior mind is follows. Richard Swindburne, Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion at the University of Oxford states in his book 'The Existence of God' about the plausibility of the existence of God:

"Furthermore, if some actual or postulated entity other than God is to provide a complete (or ultimate) explanation...it needs to have added to it (in the case of a person) specific powers, beliefs, and intentions, or (in the case of inanimate substance) specific powers and liabilities to exercise them. We need both the 'what' causes, and the 'why' it causes. The advantage of theism is that the mere existence of God provides most of that extra 'why'."

What Swinburne is saying is that the hypothesis that God exists explains why the universe exists not just how it came to exist. All other current scientific theories to explain the origin of life (multi-universes etc) have failed to justify how these other causes are a simpler explanation than God. When evaluating the plausibility of the existence or non-existence of God the simpler the hypothesis, the more plausible it is. God is a simpler answer than the current scientific speculation by the very virtue of His nature: because He is God and therefore Spirit He is eternal and infinite, requiring no beginning and no primary cause. As God He is an agent, who acts intentionally not coincidentally or accidently; but purposefully. Thus the existence of the universe and the origin of life are not arbitrary or accidental but deliberate and purposeful. How can consciousness come from unconsciousness? Nothing creates nothing. We are sentient beings thus an intelligent designer is a far more plausible and simpler explantion for the origin of life.

Given therefore that the plausibility of there being a creator God is extremely high, it follows that knowing God has to be the next most pressing concern. Knowing this God is the ultimate purpose of life. Once we have discovered, by way of deductive and inductive reasoning and Revelation who this God is then pursuing a life in connection to and communication with God is the ultimate meaning of life. That is the conclusion I have come to in my recent studies and meditations. It is this purpose and meaning to my life that I will endeavour to pursue and grow in. Life is a journey. That journey can be physical and literal, emotional, intellectual or spiritual. I believe that the journey of faith and of the discovery in the character and nature of God is a neverceasing pursuit. To be close to God, to walk in His presence and to connect with His divinity is ongoing. I hope that I never stand still in this journey. To be a godly person is the highest calling of humanity.

I hope to further consolidate, assimilate and learn the deeper truths and spiritual revelations of this journey of faith and the goal of achieving the ultimate meaning to life as time goes by. Maybe in the future I will write with some further meditations and thoughts, which hopefully by then will have germinated and grown into a more fully developed worldview and personal philosophy.

book review: There is a God

2010-05-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

I thought I would do something different for this blog, instead of my usual musings and reflections on the current state of affairs in my life. I have recently finished a very insightful and fascinating book by a world renowned former atheist Antony Flew.

For those of you unfamiliar with Antony Flew he was an academic philosopher and professor at various universities including Oxford, Aberdeen, Keele and Reading. He wrote several academic theses and books including, arguably his most famous, 'God and Philosophy'. Flew became an atheist at age 15, while still at school and later went on to study at Oxford. However, after a lifetime of triumphing atheism he renounced his atheism in favour of theism.

In his book 'There is a God' Flew narrates his journey from atheism to theism. As a young boy his father took them on holiday to Germany where he witnessed first hand the cruelty of the Nazi regime. In the face of such evil Flew became disillusioned with the concept of God. In his book Flew admits that even as an atheist in his adult life he came to realise he had become an atheist for the wrong reasons but by then his academic study had strengthed his convictions so fervently that he knew despite the means he arrived at it, atheism was correct. Throughout his book Flew speaks plainly and openly about the integrity of the intellectual and academic principles he lived his life by; namely the Socratic principle to follow the argument wherever it leads. This principle shaped and reshaped many of his atheist beliefs and eventually led him to theism. Reading his journey of transformation I was struck by his honesty and how highly he spoke of the theist philosophers whom challenged his atheism through critques of his work or public academic debates. He speaks very highly of people such as CS Lewis, William Lane Craig, David Conway & Richard Swinburne.

Essentially, as Flew explains, he came to the conclusion that theism is a better explanation for the existence of the universe through the break throughs and groundbreaking new discoveries made in science: the evidence in support of the Big Bang, DNA & RNA sequencing, the laws of nature and the fine tuning argument. As Flew considered this new scientific data about human genes and genetic coding, as well as the properties of the universe, he reached a very theological conclusion based on a reconsideration of classical philosophical arguments for the existence of God such as the argument for design and the cosmological argument. Having followed the Socratic principle to always pursue the argument wherever the evidence led he finally came to believe that atheism could not sufficiently explain the origins of life.

In the second part of his book, where he details his journey to belief and acceptance in theism, Flew gives a wonderful overview of the insights and beliefs of Einstein. He explains how often Einstein is popularly portrayed as an atheist but conversely the opposite was true. Whilst it is true that Einstein did not believe in a personal God, such as has revealed himself to the Abrahamic faiths he nevertheless believed in a transcendent, "superior mind" who had created the universe and was beyond all comprehension. Flew is also critical of some of the more famous modern atheists such as Richard Dawkins for his conclusions and condemnation of theism.

Although at the time of writing Flew did not adhere to any of the major monotheistic religions he concludes his book by saying:

"Where do I go from here? In the first place, I am entirely open to learning more about the divine Reality...second, the question of whether the Divine has revealed itself to human nature remains a valid topic of discussion. You cannot limit the possibilities of omnipotence except to produce the logically impossible."

Despite his faith coming purely from reason, now having come to a faith in an intelligent, creator God Flew cannot deny the possibility that this same being could reveal himself to humanity. I find this conclusion to be incredibly profound, as I have said before to my friends that if God exists you cannot rule out the possibility of His communicating with humanity. To say otherwise would be to try and limit God and in Flew's words "produce the logically impossible". Moreover, Flew concedes:

"As I have said more than once, no other religion enjoys anything like the combination of a charismatic figure like Jesus and a first-class intellectual like St Paul. If you're wanting omnipotence to set up a religion, it seems to me this is the one to beat!"

Whilst not (at the time of writing) a Christian, Flew could see that Christianity is the most likely of all the major monotheistic religions to be true. This is high praise indeed from a former atheist.

While some of the academic language Flew uses in his discussion and summary of the major philosophical and scientific work that led him to theism was slightly over my head, not being as familiar as he with the academic debates, this was a thoroughly fascinating and rewarding read. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is prepared to tackle these issues and topics. Flew speaks honestly and frankly about his journey as well as offering many accessible analogies for the lay readers such as myself. As a Christian my faith was reinforced by the power and persuasion of the classical philosophical arguments for the existence of God as well as how modern science is producing many new theists.

Straight Edge

2010-05-15T02:42:00.000-07:00

I have chosen to identify myself as a straight edge Christian. What does that mean? Well firstly for any Christians who are unfamiliar with straight edge reading this I have not joined some cult, neither does my identifying myself with straight edge mean I am committing idolatry in some way or shape.

Straight Edge is a lifestyle that I have come to respect and as it closely parallels my own in so many ways I have taken the easy step in associating myself with it. Straight Edge is a drug, alcohol and cigarette free lifestyle. The lifestyle originally started in the early 1980s hardcore music scene in America. Young people with a passion for heavy music began to see the folly in the licentious, decadent and hedonistic drug and alcohol fuelled lifestyle of the hardcore music scene and decided to make a stand. They chose, as the symbol of their new lifestyle, the black X, which they wore upon their hands. This symbol was an ironic inversion of the mark used to stamp people too young to buy alcohol in America.

Over the decades of the late 20th century Straight Edge for some has also come to involve abstaining from casual sex and vegetarianism. This is not a requisite for all straight edge followers but many whilst having pre-marital sex only do so within a committed relationship between two straight edgers whereby the emphasis is on love.

Like many subcultures Straight Edge has spread to other spheres and not just its association with the hardcore music scene. For example one prominent straight edge figure currently is the WWE wrestler CM Punk, who professes a straight edge lifestyle and is currently the leader of a wrestling faction called the straight edge society, where he frequently evangelises to the audience.

Although many of the values professed within Straight Edge are akin to those found in many religions Straight Edge itself is not a religious movement. Adherents to the straight edge lifestyle do not need to be religious and in fact many straight edgers are against religion, taking a rather Marxist line that religion acts like a drug to its followers as the - "the opium of the masses". Again, however, this aspect of straight edge is personal to the individual and not a requisite of the lifestyle.

However, as a Christian metalhead I have seen and respected the many similarities I have with the straight edge lifestyle and despite the grievances that some straight edgers may have, in wishing straight edge to remain an entirely secular affair I believe it is not incompatible with my faith. The fact that this movement has so many Christian like values in it is something to be commended. The fact that many young people today follow a straight edge lifestyle of their own free will and volition and not because of any religious upbringing is to be admired and respected. That is why I see no conflict in being a Christian and choosing to associate yourself with Straight Edge.

Obviously, my admiration and respect for the straight edge lifestyle should in no way come before my faith in God, but as a Christian whose own values so closely mirror those of the straight edge lifestyle I don't see that will be the case. On the other hand there is one potential vice/sin that all straight edgers are vulnerable to and that is pride. I must make sure that I never become prideful for choosing a clean lifestyle. It is not a sin to drink alcohol or even smoke. I must never confuse the values of the two. I do not condemn any Christian or secular person for drinking or smoking, however I believe it is healthier not to. This is a personal decision I have made for my life.

pretty soon I don't know what but something is going to happen

2010-05-09T07:32:00.000-07:00

Well this weekend has been if anything eventful to a point. On friday evening I cut one of my knuckles quite badly whilst washing up! I went to the minor injuries unit at my local hospital and it was checked for glass and then bandaged up. It seemed to be the way of things in my life at the moment. Recently I have been feeling much more positive about my current circumstances - meeting regularly with my new church group and reading my Bible on a daily basis definitely helped. However it's amazing how the little things in life ebb away at you. For example two of my favourite past times at the moment have been quite frustrating: Arsenal need to at least draw (though preferrably win) their final game of the season to secure third place. The last month has been incredibly disappointing for Arsenal as we've drawn once and lost four times in our last 5 games! Secondly I have been frustrated by the lacklustre performances and sub-par booking of TNA wrestling just recently too. The company could be huge but instead are wasting their talent and countless opportunities to make a big impression on the wrestling landscape. Minor points in one's life of course but coupled with other little things make for very exasperating times.

I have been coping with work much better the last few weeks. This has come in large part because of a decision I made regarding my future in teaching as well as disciplining myself to work between my gym commitments. I have really enjoyed going to the gym this past month or so. Not only do I feel fitter and stronger but it is a channel to release tension and frustration built up by the stress of my job and/or life. Unfortunately due to my injury on my knuckle I cannot go to the gym for at least a week as I am unable to grip anything properly with my right hand. The cut is terribly inconvenient both to my work and extra-curricular activities. It is amazing how much we take for granted when fully able. If nothing else this experience has given me more humility regarding my dexterity and full use of my hands.

This morning at church we had a sermon on God's provision and how God provides. The passage was from Philippians chapter 4, an account from Paul of his gratitude to the Philippians' generosity and gifts to him as well as his 'contentment' in the various circumstances he finds his life in. It was a very apt and relevant message for myself who sometimes does struggle with 'the cards I've been dealt with' to borrow a phrase from another sermon series from my church. Paul discovered how to be content in life through his faith in the power of Jesus Christ and the provision of God. This week as I have to learn to cope with going about my daily life with my right hand bandaged up, not being able to actively carry out my extra-curricular activities and living with my current circumstances: I must put my faith in my provider above; the Most High. God has graciously been sustaining me throughout my career thus far, despite the many hard times, steep learning curves, disappointments and personal & emotional difficulties I have gone through. I have not always asked for this life but I trust my God that He will supply everything I need.

God doesn't treat us like spoilt children who only have to cynically and manipulatively throw a tantrum and get what they want. God disciplines His children; those He loves. This past week I have been meditating on a couple of passages from scripture: "seek first the Kingdom of God and all shall be added unto you" and "lean not on your own understanding but trust in God". God does provide but we must learn to first place our trust in Him to do what is best by us as well as to put our lives into the appropriate perspective and context of His Kingdom, which is bigger than any single individual. My prayer and meditation this week is that I shall learn to be content with what I have and where I am in my life currently.

As for my relationships; it has been a year since I broke up with my ex fiancee. There are days when I feel being single is the best thing for me at the moment and other days when I long for a companion to love and be loved by. I continually give this over to God and continue to believe "God works for the good of all those who love Him." Whether it is His will I marry or find someone soon I cannot say. All I can do is trust that if it is in His will I have to be patient for that person will be worth waiting for.

Pretty soon, I don't know what, but something is going to happen...

Not denying who you are

2010-04-25T06:49:00.000-07:00

Since my break up I have had a lot more freedom to express myself and appreciate what I enjoy. I have rediscovered a passion for sport, particularly football and wrestling. I had not followed either for several years during my latter teens and into my early twenties. But having been left alone and free to follow my own devices I have gravitated back towards the two sports that I enjoyed in my childhood and early teens. This has partly come as a response to the frustration I felt at being single again. There was also a brief period of insecurity when my passion for heavy music (metal) waned as I struggled with who I was caught up in the hurt and rejection of the break up. However such a deep rooted passion, indeed part of me could not be suppressed for long and I have been enjoying my first love of music as enthusiastically as before. A love which defines a large part of who I am.

The point of this blog and the subsequent pontificating is that as a Christian I want to live a godly, Christlike life, pursuing God's will and living in His grace whilst being comfortable and at peace with who I am, or rather more specifically my interests. I don't really know why I am inclined to enjoy heavy music and wrestling. They may seem odd choices of past times for a Christian but I believe as long as they do not take over my life and become idolatrous they are not incompatible with the Christian walk of faith. God put on my heart a few years ago a real conviction to give up secular music. Since then I have only listened to Christian metal bands. Some Christians may find the concept of Christian metal oxymoronic and at conflict with Christianity but I do not believe so. In fact these bands have been true blessings to me as a listener of metal in all its forms. I thank God that there is a bountiful alternative of Christian metal bands out there. They truly are a light in a culture of darkness.

However the realm of sport is a completely secular affair. I have really enjoyed following my childhood football team Arsenal again. Going along to the Emirates in North London and watching them live has been a fantastic experience this year, one which I have savoured and truly appreciated, especially with the money I am earning to afford it. Yet the more controversial issue is with my appreciation of wrestling. I have recently discovered and formed a strong appreciation for Ring of Honor, an American wrestling company. This company excells at technical, high risk, intense wrestling and although it would be considered a contact sport (despite its choreography) my appreciation stems not from a love of violence or pain but for the fortitude and discipline of these athletes. The training, practice and stamina that is required to wrestle professionally is incredible. The fact that they are risking their bodies hightens the sense of respect I have for these men and their dedication to the sport. It is also an aspect, much like my passion for metal, of my masculinity.

Masculinity is not always a term conceived of when Christianity is mentioned. The two are not always synonymous with one another. Many both inside and outside of the Church see Christianity as having a predominantly feminine influence. The ratio of men to women in many Churches across the country is disproportionately female. Yet despite this alarming trend of imbalance Christianity is not incompatible with being masculine. Our saviour was a man who was prepared to suffer and die for humanity. The courage, conviction and bravery required to do that is truly amazing and worthy of respect. His closest disciples too, the founders of the early Church, were also prepared to suffer martyrdom for their faith. Sometimes there is a theological imbalance in the Church's teaching on the love of God and not enough about His righteousness and Justice (David Pawson is an excellent theologian on such matters). Moreover the Bible speaks about the Christian life being one of spiritual warfare against evil. I am not ashamed to have masculine interests as a man. God created men and women differently and I have embraced my masculinity as a man but more importantly as a Christian.

The Bible has many teachings on how men should live and act, especially in regards to marriage and the Church I will endeavour in future to follow those teachings with the aid of God's Holy Spirit. But as long as I don't make an idol out of my interests and remember to put God first in every aspect of my life I am comfortable with how I chose to spend my free time. I believe this is very important. I want to be a man of God and I also want to be the person God created me to be. I hope that the Church does become more tolerant of non-traditional Christian past times. Conversely I always need to check my heart and spirit to ensure that God and His will is the first love in my life, always put God's Word and worship of Him over and above my other interests and be careful not to sin against Him. Through prayer and obedience to my Heavenly Father I believe I will accomplish this balance.

Censorship versus Freedom of Speech

2010-04-07T03:10:00.000-07:00

With an election imminent here in the UK, I could have posted a blog about the importance of voting and using our democratic rights, however, I have chosen this morning to write about something far more insidious to our society - the abuse of the right to freedom of speech in this country.

I was appalled to learn that at the two most prestigious and historic universities in England: Oxford and Cambridge, that Islamic extremists have been allowed either to spout their anti-Semitic and hateful racism towards the state of Israel or disrupt and heckle Israeli speakers.

"Last month at Cambridge University, one of the two most prestigious
universities in England, Hamas activist, Azim Tamimi, an outspoken supporter of
terrorist activity, gave a highly inflammable lecture blasting Israel and her
existence in the Middle East, while students quietly took notes.
Last month
at Oxford University, second of the two most prestigious universities in
England, Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon began his lecture on
Israel’s narrative of the Middle East but was constantly interrupted and shouted
down with anti-Semitic remarks throughout his speech.
During the event hosted
by Oxford’s student body, Muslim hecklers continually disrupted Ayalon and one
protester screamed “Itbah al-Yahud” – “Kill the Jews” as college guards gently
moved him towards the exit after giving him time to say everything he had to say
- to much applause. The auditorium was stacked with pro-Palestinian protesters
who were determined that Ayalon not be heard."
(taken from maozisrael.org)

When does freedom of speech cross the line? When does it infringe upon our democratic right? When does censorship become necessary? Censorship is the act of deleting information that would be construed as offensive or threatening to the security of the sovereignty of a nation. The fact that known Palastinian terrorist sympathisers could be given a platform at one of the most influential and highly acclaimed universities in England to voice his outwardly anti-semitic and racist views is disheartening and outrageous. There are no democractic Islamic states in the world. All Islamic countries are totalitarian, yet fundamentalist and extremist muslims are allowed to abuse the right to freedom of speech in Western democractic nations such as America and the UK! This is a flagrant infringement upon our civil liberties and an abuse and exploitation of a democratic system.

Instead of protecting freedom of speech, the Oxbridge universities have passively condoned anti-semitic and pro-Palastinian/extremist Islamic views. This is unacceptable. We must defend freedom of speech within its proper civil and democratic framework, not allow this blatant abuse and exploitation. Representatives from Israel or Israelis should be allowed to have their voice heard in this country without the abuse and racism from the extremist Islamic community. I encourage everyone to not be deceived by the anti-Semitic and anti-Israel propaganda that whether through seruptitious means or means more open and brash have taken a stranglehold within some of the most prominent academic arenas of debate.

inter-faith dialogues

2010-03-24T12:42:00.000-07:00

I had a very interesting conversation at work earlier today with a colleague who is currently exploring Buddhism. She told me how she had begun to meditate and put into practice some of the Buddhist principles she has been recently learning about through Buddhist classes she has been attending. I found it very intriguing as I listened to her explain the process of meditation - the emptying of the mind, concentrating on her breathing and then focussing on the self and then others. How she described this particular emphasis in her meditative training struck me as being very similar, in principle, to Jesus' teaching about "love thy neighbour as thy self". I mentioned this to her, which begun a conversation comparing the two religions.

She told me that whilst she had more respect for Jesus since exploring her spiritual side through Buddhism she felt that he didn't provide the basis for actually putting his own teachings into practice. Not deterred I continued with the conversation, exploring the similarities and parallels between the two religions. She said one of the things she didn't like about Christianity was the emphasis on sin, whereas Buddhism emphasises the ability of the self to become a better person. I completely respected both her opinion and the Buddhist principle. Conversely despite our differences we were able to conduct a discourse focussing on the similarities, which I found both invigorating and encouraging. As a person of faith amidst a predominantly agnostic or atheistic department I found it refreshing to be able to discuss matters of spirituality with someone else.

One of the most interesting points of convergence in principle between the two religions was the different forms and connotations of meditation. I explained how meditation is not a completely exclusive Buddhist practice/principle and how the Bible encourages Christians to meditate on God's Word. I explained how I tried to live my life in accordance with the teachings of Scripture and meditate upon it as a guide when making particular decisions on a day to day basis; in how to act and speak. She complimented me on finding this essence of Christian spirituality and commented that she had not seen that in many other Christians. The Bible says that Christians should conduct themselves in a manner worthy of God: not in filthy joking, gossip or criticism. I emphasised how I tried to live in alignment with this focus of Christianity as best I could.

The dialogue then progressed to the issue of 'inner light'. My colleague explained how she tried to visualise the soul as light while meditating and that this had helped her. She explained how she felt all human beings had this intrinsic light within them. To this point I mentioned the fact that the Bible teaches human beings are made in God's image and so therefore our nature will intrinsically reflect a part of God's essence. I elaborated by explicating that, as a Christian, I believe that inherent goodness has been marred by sin, but nevertheless the potential is there for humans to do good.

All in all I thought it was a very positive discussion and hope and pray God will provide me with many more occassions with which to share His truth and Gospel with this colleague. I remember reading that Christianity does not teach all other religions are inherently wrong, only when they diverge from the truth revealed in Scripture. There are many principles and practices of other religions which are to be commended as Christians and this 'common ground' so to speak is an excellent point with which to share our faith to others. I think there are important lessons to be learnt in listening to people of other faiths and respecting their personal beliefs whilst taking the opportunity to give our own testimony of the power and the saving grace of the Gospel. I will be sure to post reflections upon further conversations in the future.

the human drive for perfection

2010-03-14T09:18:00.000-07:00

Last week I asked my year 8 PSHE class to list the 10 qualities they think a good role model should have. Their answers really inspired me. Here is the list they came up with collectively as a class:

1. Selfless
2. Independent
3. Commited
4. Sense of Humour
5. Determined
6. Talented
7. Content (as in at peace with themselves)
8. Creative
9. Kind
10. Fearless (as in standing up for their convictions and not being ashamed of what they believe in)

As I reflected upon these virtues while they were discussing them it struck me that these qualities closely reflect the character and nature of Jesus. The lesson had been about Role Models and the original activity had been about choosing their top 10 role models for modern Britain. This activity had not been entirely successful and so I adapted it to get the students engaged with the qualities of a good person, a person worthy of our respect and admiration. Many started to list relatives or friends that had come through adversity and shown tremendous inner strength.

Most, if not all, of those students are non-religious and know very little about Jesus or Christianity but it amazed me how they were able to recognise these qualities as virtues deserving of emulation and great respect. The students respected fidelity (hence commitment) as well as strength of convictions. Yet many of these qualities go against a lot of the modern youth culture of adultery, fornication and selfishness that is exhibited in soaps, films and music. If you were to ask the majority of students today whether they thought Jesus was still relevant then more than likely 9/10 they would respond negatively. However, unknowingly, the qualities of a good role model they listed can be found in the person of Jesus.

Jesus was selfless. Jesus even washed his disciples feet, an act of great humility usually seen as beneath the higher classes and given to the servants to perform (John 13:5). Jesus was fully committed to serving His heavenly Father's will. Jesus never acted on his own accord but did the will of God wherever he went. In Gethsemane, the night he was betrayed and arrested, he prayed "Not my will but your's be done" (Matt 26:39). Jesus did wonderfully and fantastic creative miracles such as turning water into wine, healing the blind and the crippled as well as walking on water and calming a storm. Jesus showed compassion and kindness to all people, even the outcasted and rejected from society such as tax-collectors and lepers. He treated women equally and chose apostles from all walks of life. Jesus fed the five thousand and the four thousand on separate occassions as an act of kindness so that the people would not go hungry who had travelled great distances to see him. Finally Jesus was utterly fearless; he confronted the religious hypocrisy and duplicity in the religious leaders of his day as well as rebuking the Devil in the wilderness when he tried to tempt him to sin. Jesus always stood for justice and right.

Jesus was the perfect human being: the greatest role model humanity could ever have. His example, miracles and teachings have guided, inspired and transformed peoples' lives for centuries. There is much prejudice towards Christianity in society today, Christians whether physically or ideologically are being persecuted the world over and Jesus' name and character are denegrated and mocked by many in the media as well as constantly blasphemed every day. This is such a tragedy when one studies the life of Jesus. Still today as it was the night of his arrest he is mocked, ridiculed and false witnesses have arisen bearing false testimony about him. Yet despite all the falsehood and falacies circulating our world regarding him; the truth about Jesus lives on and no-one can take away what his sacrifice accomplished on the cross.

As Easter approaches let us think and reflect upon the person of Jesus: role model, teacher and saviour.

The pain of betrayal

2010-03-07T06:30:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning and immediately began reflecting (don't ask me why!?) on the pain I had been caused by my break up with my ex, obviously there is still some residual unhealed scar tissue there. I asked myself the question if I could turn back time and live the last four years again would I have done it differently, would I have avoided the pain of the heartbreak and never gone out with my ex. My initial answer was yes! Then I put my realist hat on and told myself to get over it as I couldn't change the past. I encouraged myself by convincing myself to look to the future and embrace the present. Then (I believe led by the Holy Spirit) I wondered what lesson God may have had for me in allowing the break up to happen. The Bible says "God acts for the good of all those who love Him" Romans 8:28. So I stood upon the Word of God and said in faith what was your purpose O Lord? Then I suddenly thought back to the night of Jesus' arrest. Jesus was betrayed and rejected by all 12 of his disciples on that fateful night!

I started to imagine the pain Jesus must have felt as one by one the people whom he was closest to in his life: the men he had taught and guided for three years, whom were his best friends, his adopted family even, betrayed him. Some betrayed him out of hate and scorn, some out of fear but all deserted him in his hour of need. I picked up my Bible and re-read Matthew 26. As Jesus ate and broke bread with his disciples at the last supper he knew he would soon be betrayed; he knew the falsehood and duplicity of Judas and he knew despite all of Peter's good intentions the weakness of his courage. As I read through the verses again I could feel Jesus' pain. After the supper he went into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray where he asked some of his disiciples to join him because he was filled with sadness and anguish (Matt 26:38). Jesus admitted to his followers how he was feeling and yet they could not even stay by his side to comfort and console him. So he prayed alone, with his disiciples asleep. Later Jesus was then arrested by an angry mob led by Judas. The sign of Judas' betrayal the perversion of something that should have been a pure act of love and fellowship: a kiss. How it must have broke Jesus' heart to see one whom he had trusted, confided in and whom had witnessed his many miracles betray him so callously.

As I meditated upon these passages of Scripture my own pain helped me to empathise with Jesus in a new way, I had a much more profound insight into the anguish of my Saviour on the darkest night of his life. Jesus' words began to cut my heart as he must have reasoned in disappointment and disillusionment: "Am I leading a rebellion that you have come out with clubs and swords to capture me? Everyday I sat in the temple courts teaching and you did not arrest me." (Matt 26:55) Jesus was arrested like a criminal by one knowing full well his innocence. I then began to realise that had I never experienced pain and heartbreak I would not fully know, or never be able to truly appreciate what happiness and comfort is. As a follower of Christ I believe in a suffering Saviour. My own pain and emotional turmoil can help me to understand how Jesus felt; to relate and empathise and in a new way know Him more intimately than before.

As Easter approaches and we turn our minds and hearts to Jesus' ultimate sacrifice, by giving up his life on the cross let us remember Jesus the man, whom was left alone in his hour of grief and need. How lonely Jesus must have felt, without anyone beside him. Jesus suffered both physically at the hands of the Romans in his torture and execution, but also emotionally at the hands of his fellow Jews for our sake: for our salvation. The Son of God, blameless, righteous, holy and without sin. Jesus using his free will, in love, went to the cross. I thank God that this Easter I will be able to relate to the passion with more empathy and greater appreciation for what Jesus has done to redeem me.

killing time 'till its time to die

2010-02-21T06:23:00.000-08:00

The name of my blog comes from the title of a Zao song off of their 'The Fear is What Keeps Us Here' album. Zao are a band with a penchant for writing very poignant songs, which usually have much insight and truth behind their social and spiritual observations. It's a concept that I've been musing on over the last week during the half term break. It has been a much welcomed and needed break, and one I begrudge coming to an end. It seems that I am continuing to juggle many different 'plates' in my life. Later this afternoon I will be forced to prepare for going back to work tomorrow for another six weeks of pressure, stress and potentially disappointment. And so in my continual effort to create a life outside of work, to block out the weariness of commuting into work morning after morning and working late into the evening every night and to escape from a life I in so many respects resent living. That is not to say I am ungrateful, both to the school that has employed me and to God for opening the door. But, and how fitting it should be in a school, whatever lessons God wishes to teach me about life and faith from my experience in the secular world I am slow to learn. The other week, before the half term break, I believed I had received the answer to one of the lessons God was teaching me: to persist in faith. To just carry on believing even when life gets tough. That was indeed an invaluable lesson, one which I am endeavouring to remember and live by every day.

How many more lessons I have left during my time teaching, and indeed how long I will be teaching remain a mystery to me as only God knows the end from the beginning. Conversely I have made a decision just recently in my life that may start to open new doors. Regarding my church dilemma I have decided for the sake of stability to go every Sunday evening to the baptist church in Frinton I have previously visited. I feel very good about this decision insofar as the stability will be good for my spiritual life as well as feeling, judging from the teaching and worship at the church, that it will be a place I can be nurtured and grow as a Christian. It has been a long while since I was a member of a house (or cell) group and I believe my next step should be to try and be pro-active in joining one in my new church. I understand this will require sacrificing time for, but I believe it is important to help know what God may have instore for me in the future.

Speaking of sacrificing time I have also been contemplating joining a gym. Over the last few weeks I have been trying to eat as healthily as possible to lose weight, as well as doing daily exercises to help keep me trim. I have come to the point where, again to try and take back some autonomy in my life from work, I want to change my current lifestyle. I am not 'dieting', my intentions stretch further than merely shedding a few pounds. I want to change my physique and that requires me to change my current lifestyle. I believe it will ultimately mean (if I continue to be serious and committed to this cause) to join a gym to take full advantage of their facilities, in order to reach my goal. I have yet to make this decision but am close to reaching it. Again this will require me to sacrifice more time and I must always put God first in such matters. This principle is paramount and with my busy work schedule I don't want to bite off more than I can chew, so to speak. I need to weigh up the best use of my time (no pun intended).

Moreover I am continuing to write my novel, just another feather to my cap, and am very pleased with what I have written so far. I go to the conference on getting published next month and am very much looking forward to learning more about the industry. I am serious about doing my best to get my work published one way or another. My story is coming along nicely and so far my imagination has not failed me. This fact alone has given me confidence that this could potentially turn out to be more than a pipe dream. I have very much enjoyed the experience of writing and it has helped me to forge an identity outside of work and something I can take personal satisfaction and pride in. I originally set my self a time frame at Christmas of finishing it before the summer holidays. I believe I could fulfill that target at the rate I am writing. I've managed to write two more chapters this week alone. I hope my inspiration and ability to articulate and express myself will continue coming as smoothly as I have had the fortune of since I began writing just before Christmas.

As you can tell my life is incredibly busy, which I am pleased about as keeping one's self occupied is a good thing. I have been striving to get my life into balance for several months, I want to lead an active and fulfilled life; a healthy life physically, emotionally and spiritually. Theoretically these should follow one after the other as long as I continue to put God first in my life. Nevertheless I want to make the most of my time and body. My life has changed so radically over these last couple of years, and even more acutely these past nine months since my break up; who knows what my life will be like in six months time? I could be a fully fledged body building author! But ultimately however I spend my free time, however I choose to spend my money and time, we are all just killing time until its time to die! Therefore what remains the most important thing in life is walking with our creator God, pursuing His will, for it is infinitely better than our own and growing in a godly and Christlike love and holiness. My personal life ambitions and lifestyle choices may change again in six months time depending on where I stand with God...

the most pertinent question...'why?'

2010-02-07T10:46:00.000-08:00

There are things in life that change you irrevocably. For some people its a tragedy in the family; the death of a loved one; for others it's a particularly nasty break up or divorce, yet for others it could be being made redundant or getting fired...or even not getting the promotion you had been working so hard for only to be left feeling undervalued and unappreciated. Ever since my break up with my ex-fiancee I have been trying to pick up the pieces of my life. Today I was confronted with just how detrimentally it has effected me as a person. I went to a church this morning in Frinton, a church I had been to before but only in the evenings. The service was fine, some familiar and uplifting worship songs were played and the sermon seemed very relevant to where I am currently at in life. Yet despite all these positive qualities I was conflicted throughout. A part of me wanted to get up and leave because I didn't feel comfortable around other Christians, I didn't want to get 'sucked' into 'church' again where sometimes things are just a bit too glib. I realised I had become cynical. My childhood memories and experiences as a young, enthusiastic and zealous Christian, even throughout my university days have been tainted by my break up last year. I scoffed at the memories of my innocent and naive self. I wanted to be a man of God, a minister in His church, to preach every Sunday morning guiding my flock in the ways of God. Naturally these were all noble virtues and life ambitions that no doubt made my family proud.

But, my spiritual life transformed radically during my time with my ex. I was exposed to teachings and a way of doing church I had never known before. I was given promises, reassurances and impartations by my ex, her family or others I came into contact with through her. The direction I thought my life was going in was abruptly stopped after our split. I was left confused and racked with doubts. I now realise I am but a shadow, a shell of my former self. My trust in Christians has been severely damaged. I can still find solitude and peace in my own personal walk with God. But even that has faltered too many times than I care to tell over the past year. Who I thought I was or was going to be when I grew up has changed. The man I could have been, or might yet still be, is a totally different person from who I am now. I am still very confused, and I am sure much to my family's disappointment I do not know whether I ever will be the Christian I once was.

It feels as though my innocence has been stripped away from me. At Christmas, while my friends and I were talking about films, one of my friends jokingly made a flippant remark about an issue I had with Star Wars, as if that was the only problem I've had in life. The comment hurt me because implicit in it was the suggestion I had lived a sheltered life. I had lived a sheltered life. I was raised in a loving, Christian home. Yet despite all that I am grateful for, to my parents for bringing me up to know what love truly is, they could not protect me from the failures of other people; and from those who meant everything to me from breaking my heart. My love was rejected and as good as scorned when my ex left me pursuing her own agenda. Now I am left feeling cursed, lonely and unable to form meaningful relationships with Christians.

More than anything else right now I desire to feel settled in a Church where I am part of the fellowship, my spiritual needs are met and I can befriend people of my own age and peer group. But this 'ideal' church has been pretty elusive in the 9 months since I've been single. My life is still very much in tatters and I have to battle feelings of frustration, impatience, despair and doubt every day because I don't know whether it will ever be repaired. I feel like an outcast, always the one looking in, never being truly apart of it. Even as I type I'm becoming increasingly despondant with the thought that no one may even read this and I could be potentially wasting my time... I do not want to feel anonymous anymore.

New Year's Resolutions

2010-01-23T02:27:00.000-08:00

I have already been back at work three weeks and am half way to half term! My New Year has begun as frantically and hectically as my last one ended, nevertheless I have much more energy for my work. The real test of whether I am thriving yet will come next week as I have two formal observations. No doubt next week is going to be very stressful but these are necessary for the improvement of my teaching practice and accountability both to the school and to the students. After all it is their education that is at stake.

I have been endeavouring to improve my work/life balance and have made time of the evenings and weekends to continue writing my novel. It is coming a long well and I find myself frustrated that I do not have more time to spend on it. There have been so many things I have started over the years and never finished. When I was in high school I did Judo for about 16 months. Eventually I gave it up because I was fed up of being constantly bruised! Then on my 17th birthday I was given a spanish guitar and I was determined to learn how to play it. Despite trying to teach myself for the first few months using tutorial books and videos, I gave that up too because I got impatient with myself. Therefore I am determined to finish this new project and to have the willpower to see it through. To that end I have been reading around the genre and have bought several books by highly acclaimed and prominent Fantasy authors to help me with learning the conventions and register of the genre. Again, however, I just wish I had the time to read all these books. Nevertheless I have set myself a target of completing my story by the summer holidays in July/August.

Once I have finished the story, my ambition is to publish it. In March I am going to a conference on 'Getting Published' put on by the writers & artists association in London. I am very much looking forward to this as I hope to learn a lot about the industry and hopefully make some contacts through which I can take my finished novel to the next stage in the publishing process. Ordinarily I would not have such grand aspirations for my past times, but I really feel this is something I could make happen. I am confident in my ability to write and although I may never be a Tolkein or Rowling I believe my novel will be worthy of publishing. Conversely, come what may I am enjoying the experience and the project has helped me to have a focus outside of teaching.

My search for a new Church is on going. I went to a Baptist Church last weekend but did not feel sufficiently drawn to stay there, not until I have seen other churches first. I am eager to be settled, spiritually speaking and whilst it is not necessarily a bad thing to purely focus on your personal relationship with God, I do not wish to remain a spiritual nomad for much longer. Hopefully by February I will have found a suitable church, with people (hopefully of a similar age) with which to befriend, converse and support. Once I have found that place I will post a new blog.

the end of the beginning

2009-12-20T02:37:00.000-08:00

As I reflect on this last year I realise that this has been an exceptional year in my life. It has been a year of new beginnings in many respects. As I look to the New Year and all the promise that it holds I am determined to view 2009 not as the beginning of the end but rather the end of the beginning! By that I mean some things have ended in my life this year but so many new things have begun. I am not the same person I was at the start of 2009 and I am determined to embrace the new me!

One area I need to re-evaluate and endeavour to rectify in 2010 is my spiritual life that has come under extraordinary pressure from my work and the lifestyle that my work life has brought. Over these last few weeks my spiritual life has taken a back seat and with the uncertainty of where I will worship next year, I definitely need to get my spiritual focus back.

However, there has been a lot to commend in the life of the new me, a lot I am thankful for and proud of: firstly I am thankful for my job at one of the best secondary schools in the county! Although the responsibility of my work and the reputation I need to uphold and maintain ever looms over my mind, I am so grateful to God and to the school for my position, especially given the economic context of our current recession. My job has also blessed me with more money than I have ever earnt before (as a graduate that's not saying much LOL, but still it's true) and consequently I have been able to afford a new lifestyle, which has included becoming a member of Arsenal football club and going to matches.

Secondly I am proud of the money I raised for the Prostrate Cancer Charity after taking part in the Man of Movember contest. I raised a total of £64! Considering the majority of that money came from my students I think they did brilliantly in being so generous. By taking part in the grow a 'mo' contest I felt it helped build bridges with my students as well as with my colleagues. Although I have to admit I was glad when December came and I could shave it off!

The other thing I am proud of is my ability to adapt and diversify. After my break up with my ex-fiancee I was determined to move on and make positive changes. I believe I have done that, through getting my hair cut, which was a huge symbolic turning point, as well as developing new interests, and rekindling a few old ones! I have become much more active, playing football and tennis as well as becoming a committed Arsenal supporter again. I have also diversified my musical tastes, as well as being more pro-active in expressing myself through prose and poetry: this blog being a prime example of this rejuvinated literary interest. Conversely my literary ambitions extend beyond the realm of internet blogging and I have begun to write a novel. I have attempted to write novels in the past, with no success as I inevitably run out of steam. However, this time I am determined to finish my story and have begun reading more into the genre to help with inspiration.

So looking to the future I know that my hopes and expectations have changed since this time last year; my life is radically different and whilst I am still striving to create the necessary balance in my spiritual life, I believe I will do it and that 2010 is going to be a good year, full of blessing. God has His hand on me, I truly believe that, He has never once let go of me.

"The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, may the name of the Lord be praised". Job 1:21

This was a verse God gave me a few weeks ago and I stand by it and trust in it. God is faithful and my life is His. To understand our place in life and to live in accordance with God's providence. I am going to walk by faith in the new year, by faith that God is for me not against me and in faith that:

"God works for the good of all those who love Him." Romans 8:28

So here's to the end of the beginning!

is marriage and the family in jeopardy?

2009-12-13T05:08:00.000-08:00

I teach three year 9 R.E.P. (Religion, Ethics and Philosophy) classes and we have been studying marriage this half term. As I was marking one of my set's assessments it struck me how many of them have a very disillusioned and cynical view of marriage. I know that a lot of students today come from broken homes and therefore do not have good role models or examples of marriage at home, and some of the views just reflected their hormones and immaturity. Nevertheless I find it alarming how pessimistic, disillusioned and angry a lot of these young people are. The issue of the family is another battleground in which the election will be fought next year between Labour and the Conservatives.

The Conservatives want to introduce some sort of tax rebate for newly married couples, whilst Labour condemn this policy as prejudice against co-habiting families or single parent families. However what is apparent is the centrality of the family to the stability and progress of our society in this country. As sex before marriage has ever increasingly become the norm school age girls are now given vaccinations against cervical cancer and there is even a new initiative by the Government to give free contraceptive pills to 16 year old girls in the areas of the country with the highest teenage pregnancy rates.

All this suggests to me that we have a serious problem on our hands here in the UK regarding the place of the family and the morality of marriage and the family. In practically every generation there are moral scares and some people would criticise conservative (with a small c) newspapers etc as being judgemental or merely stirring up a media frenzy. Notwithstanding I cannot help as I observe the attitudes and opinions of my students that the place of marriage and the sanctity of the family is in jeopardy. As this nation has become ever more secular in its philosophy and outlook on life, society has suffered because of it. There seems to be (without being scientific about it) a correlation between our declining faith/church in this country and the increasing social ills present and plaguing this country.

Vandalism, crime, teenage pregnancy, divorce, abortion are all symptoms of an ailing society and these are eroding the moral fabric of society like a cancer. May God have mercy upon this country and may the major political parties take seriously (as the Conservatives say they do) the importance and place of the family to our social wellbeing. I urge my readers to choose wisely and carefully who they vote for next year, because I believe it is imperative we have a Government who will uphold the family not undermine it further. We need to treat these young disenfranchised people with godly compassion and show His love through our actions. We need to pray that the sanctity of marriage and the family is preserved so that future generations of young people will have good, positive role models from which to base their worldviews.

An attempt at poetry

2009-12-07T13:37:00.000-08:00

Being in a somewhat reflective and melancholy state of mind this evening, I decided to write a poem and channel some of my mental energy into something at least constructive if not entirely positive. I like to use blank verse and enjambment as I am not necessarily a fan of the traditional rhyming metre when expressing pathos. Whether my poem by my own standards is a success I leave to your judgement:

The Great Siren

If hope is the quintessential human emotion,
then love must be the quintessential human dream.
For some it becomes a reality
While to others it remains a fantasy
Love inspires the very best in human nature
Is the muse of the some of the greatest literary masterpieces
Upholds honesty and truth
Produces selfless heroism
Love nurtures and protects

Yet to those who are not counted privileged to experience it
Is a harsh and unforgiving monster
Cast away its victims are discarded
To seek in vain the scraps from underneath the table
Love is either an angel or a demon
Depending on where cupid’s capricious arrows land
We desire masochistically for love’s approval
To find that personification of love that will make us feel complete
Sometimes we seek all our lives to no avail
For like a siren love eludes and seduces
Only to destroy our lives in its pursuit

Love truly does make fools of us all...

Apocalyptic Visions

2009-12-05T08:14:00.000-08:00

No I am not referring here to Ecthirion's debut ep (which is absolutely awesome btw!) but to my scripture reading this morning. I had been contemplating and musing on the idea of writing a blog about the holiness of God inspired by some of my reading of Derek Prince, however as I meditated on my scripture reading this morning I felt it was a very pertinant issue for our times.

The scripture was from Mark 13 and verses 1-13 in which Jesus prophesies what must happen before His second coming. Now I know that there are some Christians who are always seeing the apocalypse in world events and there are others who bury their heads in the sand and pretend it's not happening. I do not intend to fall into either of these extremes with this blog, only to highlight some of my thoughts and meditations on what is a very challenging area of faith.

Firstly Jesus warned not to be deceived by false messiahs (Mark 13:6). Since the birth of Christianity there have been many new religions and cults. Take Islam for example which claims to be the final revelation of the one true God (in Arabic Allah). Then there is Mormonism, which begun in America in the 19th Century, Rastafarianism and Jehova Witnesses. All these more recent cults and religions claim to be believe in the same Judao-Christian God. Yet all these 'revelations' are totally different from one another! How can the same monotheistic God give drastically different messages to so many people? Messages which blatently deny the authority and authenticity of the Bible, God's 'previous' revelation to humankind! Do not be deceived, Jesus has not returned in the form of Haile Selassie, nor will He return as a muslim.

Then Jesus went on to warn of wars and rumours of wars (Mark 13:7&8). Human history is replete with examples of extreme violence, inhumanity against our fellow man and wars. In European history alone there have been several major wars, let alone the factionalism of ancient China & Japan and the many feudal wars both countries experienced. There were the Crusades in the middle ages, the Crimean War and the Boer wars of the 19th Century and of course there were the two World Wars in the 20th Century, the likes of which the world had never seen, or has seen since. When you study world history the scale, atrocity, violence and consequences of war has been escalating all the time. For the latter part of the 20th Century humanity was on the precipice as the nations of America and the USSR fought a nuclear war of brinkmanship. Nuclear annhilation is still a threat, especially with Iran developing its own nuclear arsenal.

Jesus went on to explicate that families would be divided as brother would betray brother and children betray their parents (Mark 13:12). We have seen such heartbreaking, callous betrayel under the regimes of Facism and Communism as the governments sowed seeds of distrust into their populations in their attempt to route out and destroy the 'fifth columns' which threatened to undermine their existence.

Jesus also spoke of famines and natural disasters (Mark 13:8): again human history is full of examples of such suffering and human tragedy. Only a few years ago there was that horrendous tsunami, which devastated the far east, as well as the increasing severity of the hurricanes, which have brought catastrophe to the Carribean and Southern America. It seems that not a week goes by without some new tragedy ruining lives in the developing world being reported in the news.

Jesus described the 'signs' that would precede Him as 'birth pains' (Mark 13:8) and all of the many catalogue of 'signs' can be seen in our history: both long term and modern. What then does this mean? I believe that it means we must be living in the latter days of the end times, for all of Jesus' prophesies have been fulfilled to some degree or another. Roughly 2000 years have passed since He spoke those words and therefore there surely must be less time ahead of us as there is behind us. What must our response be? I believe faith: we must believe that Jesus was speaking the truth and that His prophesies serve to vindicate His divinity and messiahship. This is good news as Jesus died for our sins upon the Cross and we are guaranteed eternal salvation through faith in Him. Halleluyah! However we must also respond in a holy and reverant fear of the almighty God. The Bible teaches that we should work out our salvation through fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). This does not mean we can earn our salvation (that would contradict and negate Jesus' sacrifice), but rather that we must have a right respect for God as creator and judge of humanity. Some people often use the argument of the 'silence of God' as a reason for atheism. But God is not silent. God has given us His holy scriptures as well as prophesies which continue to be fulfilled either partially or in full. Do not be deceived. Believe in Christ and in His word. As a Christian I seek to be diligent and vigilant in being aware of the course of human history and the developments in world events as they will reach a climax eventually. I believe this could be sooner than many people realise.

Search the scriptures, meditate upon them and believe in them and in Jesus whom they reveal. We are now in the season of advent, the build up to Christmas. Christmas is generally a time, religiously speaking, of thinking about the birth of Christ and the new beginning of God's salvation plan. Conversely I want to encourage people not to forget the present state of the world and the near future and judgement, which await it.

The Sovereignty of God

2009-11-27T11:51:00.001-08:00

This week has put a lot into perspective for me. Earlier in the week, on Wednesday, I was involved in a car accident. Mercifully there was no one else involved and I was uninjured, however my car has been written off after I lost control taking a corner and hit a wall. Thinking of all the worse case scenarios is just not worth it as the thoughts are just too much to bear. But I realise that it could have been far more fatal for either myself or someone else. With this in mind I am just so thankful that 'it was not my time'. I truly felt that God had protected me from a far worse fate.

These last couple of weeks have been a struggle for me spiritually. I have neglected reading my Bible as I should; and other than fleeting spiritually euphoric, and upbuilding moments, at Church on a Sunday morning my walk with God has been practically non-existent. Yet after wednesday afternoon I was reminded in a very real and graphic way of the sovereignty of almighty God. If I have felt distant from God it is because I have drifted from Him not vice versa. I am so thankful for God's gracious protection over me. I have always believed in the divine providence of God, that God has had a plan and a purpose for my life.

Ever since graduating from university my assumptions about God's will for my life have been tested and continually re-evaluated. I am now in a profession that I had no desire to enter into whilst studying at university, conversely I believed when all other doors were closed to me that this was God's provision, and that through this experience God was going to teach and grow me for His future purposes. It has been a hard road and a difficult lesson to learn; one I have not always been receptive too or enthusiastic to embrace, and exacerbated by my split with my ex-fiancee. Despite my desire to pursue the ways of God selflessly and joyfully, too many times my ego or selfish ambition has got the better of me. But I have not quit, nor given up because I still hold to the belief that this is a necessary season in my life.

I know that I didn't necessarily deserve to be saved after neglecting my creator for so long, yet the awesome love of God is such that He preserved my life. Again I am in no doubt as to God's divine providence at work again. I am still single and still in a profession I am not 100% comfortable in nevertheless I desire to meet these challenges and trials in life with joy in the knowledge that God is with me, guiding me and has my best interests at heart. What else can I do for the being who gave His only begotten Son for my sins so that I may be reconciled to Him again and have new life? It's the very least I can do to give my life for my creator and saviour. As Jesus says:

"All who wish to save their lives will lose it, but all those who lose their life for my sake and the sake of the Gospel shall save it." (Matthew 16:25)

I do not pretend to know the mind of God, nor comprehend all His ways. But comprehension is not a prerequisite of obedience and faith. I know my God is with me and for me! Maybe my life will get even harder, I cannot say (nor do I want to predict at this moment) but I do know that God is working out His purposes in my life. Rejoicing in the face of difficulty, suffering and stress is extremely hard. Yet there is a certain peace in the knowledge that there is a higher power in control of my destiny and that this higher power is made accessible through the person and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Therefore I look to the cross and the Lord Jesus as my example and say:

"not my will but yours be done." (Luke 22:42)

Jesus was perfected through suffering (Hebrews 2:10) and as a follower of Jesus I am not exempt from suffering. Indeed the early apostles and disciples counted it an honour to suffer for the name of Jesus and to share in their saviour's sufferings. This is the path of the Christian. It is through suffering that God forges in His children His character as He did in Jesus. I know this intellectually but I now need to know this in my spirit, so that I may have that inner strength, peace and serenity to persevere. I am just thankful to be alive and praise God for all that I have in life.