Learning at the speed of no mistakes

Four years ago, I began an amazing journey - I took up playing the clarinet again after a break of more than 25 years.  I bought an instrument, found a teacher and have been practising regularly ever since.  Within a year, I passed Grade 4, and by the end of 2017, I have passed Grade 6.  As I write this, I am awaiting my date for my Grade 7 exam.

To help me progress, I have been watching tutorials from experienced musicians - two by Nick Carpenter, a former principal clarinetist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra have been particularly useful.  The first was on warming up.  I like many music students am always busy, it is so easy to rush into a practise session and go straight into the music without taking time to warm up.  Such preparation when you do take time pays dividends.  There's a lesson there about adequate preparation and being in tune with the instrument.

A second video was about practise and how it isn't enough to just practise regularly, it has to be the right practise.  When we identify passages that are more difficult, we slow right down and practise the notes at the speed of no mistakes before gradually increasing the tempo to normal.  It's all about establishing the right habits.  Practise scales or pieces with recurring mistakes and they will become habitual mistakes.

By putting those two tutorials into practice, I have been able to improve quite dramatically.  The experience got me thinking about my spiritual journey.  It's so easy to rush through life without taking enough time to prepare ourselves.  It's easy to rush through life and not spend time getting our lives in tune with God.  We need to take time, we need to go into each day at the speed of no mistakes and make sure what we are doing is what God would have us do.

A clarinet is just a wooden tube with metal keywork on it until a skilled musician picks it up and starts to play it.  In the same way, we cannot reach our true potential unless God's Spirit is breathed upon us and directs us.  It means being open to the will of God.  Until that becomes habit - we must set out at the speed of no mistakes and allow God to transform us into the people he would have us be.

Are you willing to step out of the comfort zone?

As is common on holiday, I have been reading a book - a very good book called 'The Faith of Leap', embracing a theology of risk, adventure and courage, by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch.  I have less than two chapters left to read, but it has been quite an experience as the ethos of what the authors ties in so perfectly with my own convictions over the last seven years.

It all started back in 2010 with a call to step out of the comfort zone, what followed was a series of events that meant I did just that - and since that point, I have grown so much.  In 2012, as I progressed from a local preacher on note to a local preacher on trial, a second experience told me that God wanted me to be a 'catalyst for the kingdom'.  As a scientist - a catalyst is something that allows a chemical reaction to happen much more quickly, but it doesn't get used up in the process.

All through my training as a local preacher I have remained convinced that it was a stepping stone, not an end point.  Since those earlier experiences, I have searched diligently for the way forward.  My project that I did for my Unit 18 of Faith and Worship (after accreditation) was on 'Building Blocks for Mission' and the reading I did for that made me realise that I had to be more open to change, more open to new ways of being church, new ways of reaching out.

2018 is Goffs Oak Methodist Church's 150th anniversary - as a church family, we have a whole series of special events planned that will allow fresh community engagement and all of my revelations will no doubt influence the approach to those opportunities.  Embracing risk, adventure and requiring a good amount of courage.

The biggest revelation is that it isn't about what I do, it's about what church - the Body of Christ does as a community that is important.  Even if that means risking failure, risking ridicule, risking sticking out like a sore thumb.  Mission isn't about what I do as an individual, it's about an entire body of people working together for the glory and the growth of the Kingdom.

All I can do whilst all of this sinks in is pray - pray that God won't just show me the way as a church leader and local preacher, but that God will show those around me what is required and enable us to embrace this new way forward.

Hitting the Right Note

Two years ago, I rediscovered the joy of playing the clarinet after a gap of almost 28 years since I last played regularly.  It wasn't easy at first, but as the weeks and months have gone on, I have rekindled my old skills and am almost back to where I was back in 1987.  I had one big advantage this time round, I have a much better instrument than I had back then.  Equipped with a good clarinet, a good quality mouthpiece and the right reeds, the sound is so much better.

What is necessary if I am to achieve the standard required is lots of practice.  It means setting aside the time between my weekly lessons to learn scales, arpeggios, exam pieces and related skills as well as having some fun too.  Without regular practice, the stamina cannot improve and fluency cannot be achieved.  If it is going to be a success, it has got to be done well, otherwise anyone within earshot is in for an assault on their eardrums.

Since those early days, I have now reached Grade 5 and am now preparing for my Grade 6 exam towards the end of 2017.  My music is a source of real joy, and I can even play during worship.  It was both a joy and a privilege to play alongside other talented musicians at special services at Christmas and Easter.  It is the product of many hours of diligent practise and there are still many more hours of practise ahead.

Just as musicianship requires a good deal of effort, so the life of Christian discipleship.  God cannot reach out to us if we never engage with the Bible or spend time in quiet reflection.  We can never fully engage in Christian Discipleship if we never listen to and acknowledge his call on our life.  We need to understand what it means to be a disciple, we need to be prepared to live our life to the glory of God.

When we do fully engage in our life of discipleship, we begin to experience the real joy of belonging to Christ.  It doesn't mean that life will be easy, it doesn't mean that bad things won't happen, but we do not walk the difficult path alone.  Nothing this world throws at us can ever separate us from the love of God, our life takes on a whole new meaning and sense of purpose.

As we continue through the Easter season, may we all be able to sing with joy:

Jesus is king and I will extol Him
Give Him the glory, and honour His name
He reigns on high, enthroned in the heavens
Word of the Father, exalted for us

We have a hope that is steadfast and certain
Gone through the curtain and touching the throne
We have a Priest who is there interceding
Pouring His grace on our lives day by day

We come to Him, our Priest and Apostle
Clothed in His glory and bearing His name
Laying our lives with gladness before Him
Filled with His Spirit we worship the King

O Holy One, our hearts do adore You
Thrilled with Your goodness we give You our praise
Angels in light with worship surround Him
Jesus, our Saviour, forever the same

© 1982 Word�s Spirit of Praise Music 

A Vantage Point

When I was growing up in Belfast, we lived quite high up on a hill.  Looking out from our rear-facing windows, we could see Stormont in one direction, and in another direction, we looked right over the city of Belfast, with the cranes of Harland and Wolff standing loftily in the foreground.  As a young child, one thing I loved doing with my Dad was going for long walks.  One walk took us up a country lane to the very top of the hill.  There was a farm gate where we used to stand and look down on the house where we lived.  It looked tiny from our vantage point.  On a clear day, if we took our binoculars, we could see ships travelling up and down Belfast Lough, cars being driven down the winding road on the hill opposite and I always thought we were really lucky to enjoy such a view. 

There’s always something special about a vantage point – a special place where the view is extra spectacular.  For many years Peter and myself spent our holidays in mid-Wales – and it was always part of our plans to drive up into the mountains to get the incredible views of the countryside. Seeing nature in all of its splendour always made me feel closer to God, even in those times when life was so tough that finding God in the everyday was a challenge.  To be in the wilderness with only the sounds of nature – the trickling of a stream, the calls of sheep on the hillsides, the shrill cry from a raptor soaring high on the thermals, the gentle buzzing of insects flying by, it is refreshing and calming.  Somehow, being above the landscape made me feel just that little closer to God as I looked in awe at the expanse of creation below.

When I turn to my Bible I find that some truly great things happened in high places.  Moses received the Ten Commandments, Jesus was tempted, Jesus was transfigured and we know Jesus often retreated to more remote places to teach his disciples.  When Elisha flees for his life to Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19) the mountain of God, he takes refuge in a cave. When instructed, he goes out and stands on the mountain waiting for the presence of the Lord to pass by.  The Lord wasn’t in the wind, or the earthquake, or the fire, but came as a gentle whisper.  When we retreat to our vantage point, we are removed temporarily from our difficulties and can be more receptive to the still small voice of calm, the quiet whisper reminding us that God is alongside us and will never leave us or forsake us.  For those precious moments, our troubles are dwarfed by the greatness of God and the beauty of creation and we are comforted.

However special our times in the lonely places may be, we always have to come back to reality, to the hardships and the uncertainties, but we do so better equipped and strengthened by our encounter.  We go back to our challenges as Elisha did, with God on our side.

Breathe through the heats of our desire 

thy coolness and thy balm; 

let sense be dumb, let flesh retire; 

speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire, 

O still, small voice of calm; 

O still, small voice of calm.

Refugees Welcome!

In recent weeks, our news reports have been filled with the plight of the thousands of people fleeing their home country for a better life in Western Europe.  Feelings on both sides have been running high and the tension between Governments and the refugees has intensified.  It took the grim photo of a tiny boy washed up on a beach to focus people's attention and there is a glimmer of hope that more of these people will find refuge.

Last Saturday, London District abandoned some of their Synod agenda to join a protest march to Downing Street.  Many Methodist clergy were there in their dog collars as a very visible presence, standing in solidarity with the refugees.  On that day, even though I was unable to march, I was proud to be a London Methodist.  Social responsibility sits at the very core of what Methodism stands for and it sat at the very core of Jesus' ministry too.

Surely in our response to this crisis, we must ask ourselves the question "What would Jesus do?"  That must be our guiding thought, and when we have accepted that, to follow through by appropriate action.  Support charities, local initiatives, lobby MPs and most of pray that the situation improves dramatically.

The Great Commandment

Jesus never missed an opportunity to challenge those he encountered.  Reading the Gospels, you get the impression that he just couldn't hold back from each opportunity to put people on the spot and make them think.  If you turn to Matthew 22: 34-40, we read of Jesus answering a question from the Pharisees on what was the greatest commandment.  The Pharisees were obsessed by the law - they had volumes of rules governing all aspects of human life.  Jesus' reply was a show-stopper for those who were trying to lure him into a trap:  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it.  Love your neighbour as yourself.

Who is our neighbour?  When Jesus said these words, he didn't just mean those who live above us and beside us.  He meant everyone.  The commandment is tough because it demands that we love the unloveable.  It demands we pay attention and be gracious to those who don't count amongst our friends and that's not easy.

The first commandment remains no less challenging today than it was for those who heard Jesus speak those words nearly 2000 years ago.  To love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul and with all your mind - how does that work in practice?  It has to mean leading God-centred rather than self-centred lives.  It means putting faith before fortune, faith before pleasure, and that we enter into a personal relationship with God through Jesus.  It means following Jesus' example in our dealings with others and upholding Kingdom values in a society that sometimes can feel quite hostile to those with religious conviction.

We know we are getting closer to keeping the Great Commandment when we sense the conflict between our day-to-day lives and our commitment to God.  It becomes more real when we are confronted with a sense of calling, when we are prompted by the Holy Spirit to pursue ministry, local preaching or other service of the church.

If we all strived to keep those two commandments, what a different place the world would be.  It is however, a glimpse of our future.  A glimpse of the time when God's Kingdom will be fully established.

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Psalm 139:13-18 NIV

[13] For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. [14] I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. [15] My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. [16] Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. [17] How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! [18] 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you. …

Psalm 139 is beautiful, it reminds us that we are created by a wonderful God.  We are part of creation, part of his grand design for this world.  It also reminds us that God never leaves us, we cannot escape him.  Not even if we run to the farthest corner, God is there.

That is such a wonderful thing to remember when we feel burdened or  even at our wits end.  No matter how desperate our situation, we are never alone.

Some will say that if God really cared, we wouldn't have to face such difficulties, but that is the price of our free will, that is the price of evil having entered our world.

We are indeed fearfully and wonderfully made.  Let us walk hand in hand with the one who created us.

Speak Lord, your servant is listening

Today's Old Testament reading came from 1 Samuel 3:1-10.  It's the account of God calling the young boy, Samuel.   As a child, this always had a special meaning and I promised that if God ever called me, I would respond just like Samuel.

It is a profound experience to hear God's call.  It brings with it great responsibility to honour His Name and fulfil His purposes.  As a fully accredited local preacher, I have begun that journey God has mapped out for me, and I am sure there are a few more hurdles to climb before my ultimate purpose will be revealed.

Love has a price

The last three weeks have been difficult - in spite of the joy of being accredited as a local preacher.  Amidst the happiness, three people I have known and cared about have passed away - two of them quite suddenly and unexpected.  Love has a price - we love, accepting that any parting that comes will have a certain amount of pain attached to it.

1 Corinthians 13 is all about the importance of love - no matter what we do, no matter what we achieve, if we do not love, it all counts for nothing.  In loving others we leave ourselves open and vulnerable.  Vulnerable to the pain of disagreement, vulnerable to the pain of bereavement and sometimes it's not until we are without the person we regarded as a friend, we realise just how much that friendship meant to us.

Love is the foundation on which the Kingdom of God is built, without it, the Kingdom would be overwhelmed with the hatred and self-interest that threatens our world.  Jesus loved - if we read the story of Jesus and Lazarus, we read that when Jesus heard that Lazarus had died, that he wept.

When we accept Kingdom values as Christians, love for others is an intrinsic part of our discipleship. We cannot escape it, we cannot ignore it.  Our lives become intertwined and our lives are enriched by love shared with other people, and when love hurts, we must reflect on the great truth that love represents the very nature of God himself.

I give thanks for my friends whose passing I now mourn and I give thanks for the love shown to me by others.  I give thanks for friends who see beyond my faults and failings and love me unconditionally. We are reminded of the perfect love of God summed up so perfectly in Charles Wesley's wonderful hymn:

Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of heaven to earth come down;
Fix in us thy humble dwelling;
All thy faithful mercies crown!
Jesus, Thou art all compassion,
Pure unbounded love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy salvation;
Enter every trembling heart.

and the last verse....

Finish, then, Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee;
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.

God bless you!

The Dawn of a New Beginning

Today is a new dawn, a new beginning as one of Mr Wesley's preachers.  It was a truly special service last night when we gathered with folk from around the Circuit and some visiting friends to say farewell to Rev Bill Tardy, and for the accreditation of Syntiche Dedji and myself as local preachers.  There was a real sense of joy, a real sense of celebration as a packed church opened the service by singing 'O for a thousand tongues to sing'.  The service was led by our Superintendent, Rev Geoff Cornell.

The rain poured down outside, thunder rumbled, but nothing could dampen the spirits of those within Bush Hill Park Methodist Church.  Geoff's sermon was exactly right for the occasion and he always manages to give food for thought.  We learned new hymns too, and that always helps!

It was special to stand alongside Syntiche and make my responses as we were formally presented to the Superintendent and recognised as local preachers within The Methodist Church.  We were presented with our Bible and our letter from the President.  The next hymn was my favourite, 'Blessed Assurance', the singing was absolutely wonderful and boosted by Alan Combes playing his trumpet.

What was most amazing was the love that was so evident.  I came away feeling truly loved.  I didn't think it was possible to be hugged by so many people in one hour.  Friends came, not because they are part of my past, but because they are part of my present. 

So now a new chapter dawns as one of Mr Wesley's preachers.  I go forward empowered and enabled by the Holy Spirit to live out the ministry to which I have been called.  It isn't a weekend thing, it is a 24/7 thing.  It is a lifelong responsibility.

We will walk the path that will cost us much,

And endure the pain and sorrow.

We will will trust in one who entrusts to us

The disciples of tomorrow.

Singing the Faith 662

A Special Day

Today's the day when I shall be accredited as one of Mr Wesley's preachers.  It's a day I have been working towards for three years, since I went 'on note' in July 2011.  It's going to be memorable, emotional, possibly even life-changing as I make promises before people from around the circuit and beyond at Bush Hill Park Methodist Church.

It's an awesome experience to sense God's call to such a ministry - it's also a huge responsibility.  I go forward confident of the guidance of the Holy Spirit and confident that I will be able to spread the Good News and inspire others.

Such a journey cannot be made without help.  For me, the most amazing support has been given to me by my husband Peter.  He has loved and supported me through my many hours of study, service preparation and by taking me to the various services around the circuit.  My mentor Margaret, who will reach 50 years as an accredited local preacher in 2015.  My tutor, Sandra Rose, who has been busy in the background offering encouragement, marking assignments and ensuring I had my assessed services at the appropriate times.  My Church family at Goffs Oak Methodist Church who love and support  me as resident local preacher and Senior Steward.  Our circuit ministers - especially Inez Reid (minister at Goffs Oak from 2010 until 2013, and our current minister Alan Combes who has encouraged, supported and guided me through the latter year of my training.  Also thank you to many friends, old and new and to the congregations of the Enfield Circuit who have been consistent in offering the warmest of welcomes.

A Sad Day

Thursday 10th July 2014 was a sad day - a day that brought a double dose of sad news and it left me feeling very low indeed.  Firstly, I learned of the sudden death of my friend Ian Southall.  It was a friendship born via social media, that brought great encouragement.  Ian was a fellow local preacher, organist, singer, musician, and had a real enthusiasm for life, as well as an amazing sense of humour. As a Connexional Assessor for the Faith and Worship Course, Ian brought a wealth of experience and much encouragement to the Facebook Group for Methodist Local Preachers in training who were working their way through the units.  Not everyone found the going easy, but Ian was always there to help people through.

More recently, Ian and I enjoyed chatting online and we shared many a happy hour putting the world to right, sharing thoughts, ideas, news and best fun of all - good humour.  As I struggled my way through the final units, Ian provided some quality light relief.  My husband Peter and I had the great pleasure of meeting Ian in London at the end of April and it was wonderful to meet face to face.

As I faced the final hurdles in my training, Ian was there to stop the panic setting in.  Waiting for the results of Section D felt like a lifetime, and when they came on Wesley Day as I sat in the Museum of Methodism, it was a joy to share the good news with Ian.  As I travelled for my final interview at the local preachers' meeting, Ian was texting words of encouragement and waited by his computer for news of the outcome.  We were counting the days until my accreditation on 20th July with real joy.

I will miss you Ian, you were a real God-send.  Someone who spent so much of your time serving your Lord and bringing God's love to so many people.  You were a joy to know and a treasured friend, even though we only managed one brief meeting.

Thoughts and prayers are with Ian's wife Shirley and his family - it's hard to contemplate life without someone like Ian - I know because I've lost special people in my own family, but the happy memories will live on and the pain will get easier to bear.

Losing friends like Ian, and my other friend Vera who passed away on Tuesday, is hard.  Hearing about both on the same day was really painful.  I will miss both of them and will always remember them.

No Half Measures

As the final hurdle to accreditation approaches, I have been studying John Wesley's Sermons.  The one thing that really strikes you when you read his sermons is that there are no half measures. You either belong to God, or you don't.  You are either a disciple of Christ or you're not, there are no half measures, no picking out the best bits and ignoring the rest.

It is a thought provoking challenge even to Methodists today, how guilty are we of trying to dilute down our response to God in an effort to reach a compromise between living in a secular world and living according to the Spirit.  Is there a compromise, or are we guilty of diluting out the very thing that sets us apart and makes us a people who radiate God's love?

As Methodism published its Statistics for Mission, a gloom filled many hearts, for they made sombre reading.  Has God really finished with British Methodism?  I think not, for he continues to call a new generation into ministry and into local preaching.  There is a new generation picking up the challenge of mission in the 21st century, they are generation who are well equipped to meet the people of today where they are and take the gospel of Christ to the nation.

Let us not be discouraged by statistics, but empowered to do something about it.  Let us be bold in our witness and earnest in our discipleship.  Let us not be afraid to stand up and declare we belong to Christ.  Let us do all we can for the Gospel's sake, and when we do, our statistics will be very different.

A Special Journey

For almost three years now, I've been training to be a Methodist Local Preacher.  The journey to accreditation is almost complete.  On 1st July, I will have my final interview and accreditation should follow soon after on 20th July at Bush Hill Park Methodist Church.

It's  been a demanding journey, working my way through 17 units of Faith and Worship, the training course for local preachers.  Soon, my long evenings of study will be finished and I can contemplate the next stage in my journey.  Answering the call to preach was to be a truly amazing experience, and I'm pleased to report that I am confident of my calling.  When I lead worship, I know I'm exactly where God wants me to be and it has been truly blessed.  It hasn't been a lesson in sermon preparation, but rather a lesson in listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

I hesitate to call it a journey's end, for my journey as a local preacher is only just beginning, that chapter of my life has just begun.  It will be just as special a journey as my training has been, but it will be different and will build on what has gone before.  It will be energised and inspired by more ongoing study, through fellowship and through prayer.

I go forward empowered by the words of 2 Timothy chapter 4:

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage —with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

Let Him in and you'll see

I have just been reading a book by Margaret Silf called 'One Hundred Wisdom Stories'.  There is a story about God looking for a home for his son.  He knocks on a door and after a brief conversation with the resident, he is offered a spare room to rent for his son, but God really wants to buy the whole house, though he likes what he sees.  The Son moves in, but soon God is back, seeking yet more room for his son.  There is a sense of unease about the transaction, but the resident needs the house for himself.  God keeps pressing, to let him have the whole house, the resident could stay, it would all work out amazingly well, but he wouldn't understand until the transaction was complete, he had to give the whole house to the Son to discover it for himself.

The truth is that God is seeking a home within our hearts and minds for his Son, Jesus.  All to often, we are content to only give God part of us, keeping the rest of ourselves to pursue our own interests, but what happens when we begin to realise we are meant to give God all of ourselves?  Is it not true that we must make that commitment, only then do we discover what it really means to live in complete union with God through Christ.

Are you wholly God's or are you holding back?  Is it time for you to surrender all?

Easter Reflection

As I prepare for my service at Ordnance Road this Sunday, I am reflecting on the story of Thomas.  The disciple who doubted the other disciples when they told him they had seen the risen Lord.  For Thomas at that time, resurrection just seemed a pipe dream.  He'd seen Jesus, beaten almost beyond recognition, nailed to a cross and die in agony.  He'd seen his broken body laid in a tomb, and the tomb sealed with a large stone, and now the other disciples were telling him that they'd seen the Lord.  Maybe his grief was such that he was unable to process the information, maybe it was all just too painful and he couldn't bear to contemplate what might come next.  Whatever his reasons, he responds by saying that unless he sees the marks of the nails and plunges his hand into Jesus' side, he would not believe.  Thomas wanted real evidence, the testimony of his fellow disciples and of Mary were insufficient.

Jesus appears to Thomas, and Thomas realises that the testimony he has heard is true - you know, we're in a similar boat to Thomas in many ways.  We haven't seen Jesus, we just have the testimony of generations of Christians and the biblical accounts of his life to rely on.  We believe without seeing Jesus for ourselves.  We experience Jesus, not by a physical encounter, but through inner workings of the Holy Spirit.

We must accept the testimony of generations of believers who have experienced the change that comes when we accept Jesus as our personal Saviour and friend.  We must accept the promise given to us that when we take that vital step, that we are brought back into a relationship with God, that he remembers our sin no more and we are adopted into his family.

Peter in his first Epistle, chapter 1 verses 8-9 say this:

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an expressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (NIV, 2011)

When I think of Jesus' resurrection appearances, I think of the two who met Jesus on the Emmaus Road, who only recognised Jesus when he broke bread with him.  When I partake of Holy Communion, I think of the joy of the disciples when they realised Jesus was in their midst, when their eyes were opened and they could return to their fellow disciples and tell them what had happened, and in that moment, I pray that through partaking of the bread and wine, that I too will have an encounter with the risen Lord.

Living in eager anticipation

Now that my units of Faith and Worship are submitted, I must patiently await my results.  In the meantime, I have Wesley's sermons to study, services to lead, my stewarding tasks to be completed and somewhere amongst that lot, find time to be me.  An end to intensive study brings with it a period of adjustment, getting used to having time to do the things that for so long have been pushed to one side.  My camera kit may now see the light of day, and there are many books I have purchased that just require the time to read and learn from them.  As some are keen to remind me, there will be time to reflect more.

Lent is a time for reflection and preparation as we get ready to celebrate Easter.  Many will attend special Lent Groups - setting aside extra time for fellowship and learning.  At Goffs Oak, we are using the Methodist course 'Exploring Spiritual Practices'.  It has been a wonderful series, and when the sessions end, Wednesday evenings just won't be the same.  It was nice to be on the receiving end rather than in the hot seat for once.  It has been energising, inspiring and I feel the benefit of that extra time of fellowship.

Going forward, I find myself on a steep learning curve because we never know everything there is to know, we never achieve that complete understanding of the character of God.  Our amazing, all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-loving, inescapable God.

Lent Thoughts

I suspect many enjoyed the fun of making and tossing pancakes on Tuesday.  Shrove Tuesday is of course followed by Ash Wednesday and entry into the period we call Lent.  It's a time when many people forego some pleasure or treat for Lent - and one comes across people who don't even go to church 'giving up things for Lent' which seems a bit of a strange thing to do really!

I have grown up without the tradition of 'giving up things for Lent', but the comings weeks are still a time of careful reflection and devotion as we lead up to the celebration of Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter itself.  It is right that we don't rush into the celebration of Easter without fully engaging with the events that led up to it.  Our church calendar makes it very easy for people to jump straight from Palm Sunday to Easter without engaging in the difficult days that lie between them.

During Lent, we are remembering the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness being tempted.  A time when his humanity was put to the test - when Satan tried to tempt Jesus to use his special powers to rescue him from the limitations of being human - turning stone to bread to ease his hunger, jumping from a high place and expecting the angels to come to his aid, and then there was the temptation of kingship.  Kingship without enduring the pain and suffering of the cross that was to follow.

We cannot take shortcuts in our Christian life.  We can't claim the forgiveness of God and go on behaving as we did before we declared Christ as our Saviour.  Paul in his letter to the church at Rome implores us to live 'according to the Spirit' and not 'according to the flesh'.  The trials and temptations that we endure as part of that journey define us, they test us and make us stronger.  Let us face those trials and temptations as Jesus did - by referring to words of Scripture and remaining steadfast in our attempt to live 'according to the Spirit', true to our status as one of God's children.

Talking about God

We're shy about talking to others about God.  We'd more readily recommend our local Indian restaurant than a personal relationship with a risen Saviour.  Our world is screaming out for a hefty helping of real hope and it seems all we offer is the usual comfort food.

I went to a service at a different church yesterday to do my Reflection on a Service for Section D of my local preacher's course.  It was a wonderful service and the guest speaker, a Pentecostal Pastor was brilliant.  He preached a message that really struck a chord with where I'm at.  I came away feeling empowered to engage in more God talk.  He told the story of a chance encounter that led to a young man finding his faith and coming into a new and wonderful experience.  It's heart-warming to hear testimony like that.  It's encouraging to hear that people are still finding God through chance encounters with his people.

The chorus of the final hymn really reached somewhere deep - Hymn 662 from 'Singing the Faith', the new Methodist hymnbook.

‘We will walk the path that will cost us much and embrace the pain and sorrow.  We will trust in One who entrusts to us the disciples of tomorrow’.

What are you doing to help the disciples of tomorrow?  It's a path that will cost us much, we may have to endure pain and sorrow along the way, but we owe it to God.  The same God who loved each of us so much that he sent Jesus to win for us the salvation we could never win for ourselves....go talk about God and help others find the faith we hold so dear.

Blessed Assurance

The hymn 'Blessed Assurance' ranks as one of my favourites.  It is a hymn that sums up perfectly the assurance we have through Jesus. It reflects our response to God as his children.  For me, it sums up my relationship with God in that I have felt his presence at the most difficult and most painful times in my life.  The memories of those difficult times do still hurt.  There are times when the pain shows and I realise that it hasn't gone, it remains in the shadows.  My consolation comes from knowing that God is there 24/7 to pick me up and keep me moving forward.

Some might consider that ongoing struggle a sign of weakness, a sign of lacking Faith, but in reality that vulnerability can be beneficial.  I know I need God's help, I know I need his sustaining power to deal with the challenges.  

Paul had absolute confidence in the God he served, in his letter to the Romans he reminds us that nothing can separate us from the love of God:

Romans 8:35-39 NIV

[35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? [36] As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” [37] No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. [38] For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, [39] neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Let us share in that confidence, no matter what the world throws at us.