I recently read 'Treasure Island' for the first time, and saw one of the characters, the ship's cook, was called Barbecue (though he's better known by another name*), which made me think two things. One was to wonder what his cooking was like, and the other was to realise that I'd been to quite a few barbecues this year.
Now, obviously, Summer is the time to have barbecues if you're going to have them (though I know someone who will happily have them all year round), but I don't normally get to that many. I don't know why, if everyone's having them - and I don't know why I've managed to get to a few more this time.
The first ones I went to were in May, which I suppose isn't really Summer, but it was good weather, so why not? One was for a friend's birthday, and that was a really great occasion - a good time was had by all, inside as well as out. It was a real celebration, and I surprised myself by writing a poem about it.
And I got invited to another that month. It was at short notice, but I always appreciate being invited places, so I managed to get there. I was a bit nervous, because I didn't know how many people there I would know. But it actually turned out to be one of the best occasions I've been to for quite some time. There were only a few of us, but we all got on really well - lots of fun and laughter.
And I guess it was really that one that made me definitely decide to host one myself. I'm not good at hosting things, as I'm really bad at organising; but we have a barbecue, so I thought I'd give it a go. My housemate said it was all down to me, but I didn't realise until a couple of days before that he meant he wasn't going to be there. Which left me in a bit of a quandary, as I hadn't used a barbecue for years, and I'm a vegetarian, so I don't really know what cooking meat is like. However, I'd started it, so I meant to do it, so I figured I'd just have to figure something out on the day. I got in a few bits and pieces, like crisps and dips and some meat - and fuel, obviously - and waited to see who would turn up. I got a bit of a surprise when a friend I hadn't heard from in a while phoned me and came over, but that was good, as he then took over the barbecue - which left me free to welcome people and do drinks, as well as make a fruit salad. Which I thought would be easy enough, and it was. All in all, it kind of reminded me of my birthday party, which also worked out a lot better than I thought it might before, and had a surprising mix of people - who all got on really well. Maybe I just know a lot of very nice people.
And afterwards, I was left with a load of food - which was a problem, as most of it was meat. More than my housemate could eat, and I don't; but thankfully, another friend was having a barbecue the weekend after, so I passed a lot of it on to him. And that was the next barbecue I went to. Which was totally different to any of the others, mainly due to it being much bigger. Which meant I got to see other friends I hadn't seen for ages. And, surprisingly, ended up talking theology - which is something I don't get to do enough of, in my opinion. But something may have come out of that conversation which could change that. A bit, anyway.
Which brings me more or less up to date. There were a couple last weekend just gone, which were also good occasions where I spent time with friends I hadn't seen for a while - which definitely seems to be what barbecues are for. And at one of them I got a birthday invitation and an invitation to a prayer meeting; both of which I happily accepted, and am looking forward to. Friendships and God, what more could anyone want? And, if that's what barbecues have in store for me, I look forward to what might happen at the next ones, whenever they may be...
*By the way, Barbecue you may well know better as Long John Silver.
Thursday 31 July 2014
Friday 25 July 2014
Be More Dog!
You may have seen some ads for a phone company with this slogan, and the idea (I think) that being a dog means being more enthusiastic about life. Now whether or not you agree with this, that's what I took from the ad - so when God pointed it out to me, and told me to do just that, I wondered if that was what He meant. What does it mean to be more doglike than catlike (and what does that have to do with mobile phones)?
This was the first thing that came to mind:-
Now I'm pretty sure I don't consciously go around with the attitude that I am God; but, I have to acknowledge that I tend to lean towards thinking I know best, and that things should be done my way. Not all the time, but enough to make sure that I don't put God in His rightful place at all times. Is it that attitude that leads to a lack of trust, or a lack of trust that leads to that attitude - or both leading to each other?
But the thing that really inspired this post was going out on with Street Teams last night and seeing some of the guys with their dogs. A couple of them who have had dogs for years now have several pups who are old enough to come out with them - we didn't really see them for several weeks just around when they were born - and watching the pups made me think about this subject again.
The first thing was obvious, which was that they didn't really stop moving, especially the pups. They were pretty loud, all of them, and that is clearly showing that they are interested in life; curious about everything, and interested in it all. And, also clear was the fact that dogs are very much family animals - whether it was with the other dogs or any of the people who were there, they seemed to prefer spending time with someone rather than being on their own. One in particular, called Otis, just never seemed to stop moving, going from one person (or dog) to another.
So, from that, I guess I can conclude that being interested in life and company is A Good Thing - and one of the things God wants me to be more like. But there were a couple of other things as well. One is that although most of the pups looked alike, they were clearly all different; quite varied in personality. And the other is that they seemed to be pretty much always hungry. Which means, I guess, that God wants me to be more enthusiastic about life, and hungry for the things of God, searching them out wherever they can be found.
I'll just leave you with this video:- and, remember, Be More Dog!
This was the first thing that came to mind:-
But the thing that really inspired this post was going out on with Street Teams last night and seeing some of the guys with their dogs. A couple of them who have had dogs for years now have several pups who are old enough to come out with them - we didn't really see them for several weeks just around when they were born - and watching the pups made me think about this subject again.
The first thing was obvious, which was that they didn't really stop moving, especially the pups. They were pretty loud, all of them, and that is clearly showing that they are interested in life; curious about everything, and interested in it all. And, also clear was the fact that dogs are very much family animals - whether it was with the other dogs or any of the people who were there, they seemed to prefer spending time with someone rather than being on their own. One in particular, called Otis, just never seemed to stop moving, going from one person (or dog) to another.
So, from that, I guess I can conclude that being interested in life and company is A Good Thing - and one of the things God wants me to be more like. But there were a couple of other things as well. One is that although most of the pups looked alike, they were clearly all different; quite varied in personality. And the other is that they seemed to be pretty much always hungry. Which means, I guess, that God wants me to be more enthusiastic about life, and hungry for the things of God, searching them out wherever they can be found.
I'll just leave you with this video:- and, remember, Be More Dog!
Tuesday 22 July 2014
(More) Guidance
After my last post on this, I figured I'd write something a bit more specific. A couple of ideas that have really impacted me.
The first is one I heard in a talk once, and I have mentioned it before, I think. That is that you are more likely to regret not doing something than doing it. Or possibly that you will regret them more, I'm not sure. I've thought about this, and there's definitely something in it. Of the things you do, there could be all sorts of things you could regret, from doing it wrong, to doing it badly, to just choosing it in the first place; but, of the things you don't do, you just never know.
You don't know how things might have worked out, you don't know whether you might have learned something, or made new friends - or even just enjoyed it. And, more importantly, you don't know how your life may have changed - how you may have changed as a result. All you know is what you did; and, also, that some of the opportunities you turned down may have had quite a significant impact on you. Now, I'm not suggesting that anyone should go for every single opportunity that comes their way without even thinking about it; but what I am suggesting is that you should consider things more carefully when it comes to opportunities. If anything, I think you need to be more sure about turning one down than about taking one; try to lean more in the direction of saying 'yes' more than 'no'.
And the second, which is definitely linked to the first is the fact that when it comes to taking opportunities (or not), we are the only ones who can make that decision. It seems a cliche to say that we are our own worst enemies, but the reason cliches become cliches is because they contain a certain amount of truth. There's a song we sometimes sing at my church which contains the line 'if God is for us, who can be against us?'; and the answer to that question is us. Always us. For a start, we are the only ones who are always around ourselves - even if we sometimes wish we weren't. But, ultimately, when it comes to taking opportunities, we are the ones who have the most power. We can easily stop ourselves from taking them, either absolutely, by not doing them, or more subtly, by procrastinating or not doing it whole heartedly - and then, when it doesn't work out, we say that we knew that was going to happen all along.
And it's not just taking opportunities when they present themselves; but keeping going with them once we have started. For instance, I have recently been struggling with this blog, with keeping going, as it doesn't seem that many people are reading it. Now I'm not going to stop doing it (not yet, anyway), but that is exactly what I'm talking about. When things are tough it is easy to give up, to just stop; and no-one else can do it for you. Or me, in this case. If I'm going to continue with this blog, then I have to do it - no-one else can. Ultimately, the ones who make our choices are us; to do something or not to do something, to keep going or not to keep going; only us.
The first is one I heard in a talk once, and I have mentioned it before, I think. That is that you are more likely to regret not doing something than doing it. Or possibly that you will regret them more, I'm not sure. I've thought about this, and there's definitely something in it. Of the things you do, there could be all sorts of things you could regret, from doing it wrong, to doing it badly, to just choosing it in the first place; but, of the things you don't do, you just never know.
You don't know how things might have worked out, you don't know whether you might have learned something, or made new friends - or even just enjoyed it. And, more importantly, you don't know how your life may have changed - how you may have changed as a result. All you know is what you did; and, also, that some of the opportunities you turned down may have had quite a significant impact on you. Now, I'm not suggesting that anyone should go for every single opportunity that comes their way without even thinking about it; but what I am suggesting is that you should consider things more carefully when it comes to opportunities. If anything, I think you need to be more sure about turning one down than about taking one; try to lean more in the direction of saying 'yes' more than 'no'.
And the second, which is definitely linked to the first is the fact that when it comes to taking opportunities (or not), we are the only ones who can make that decision. It seems a cliche to say that we are our own worst enemies, but the reason cliches become cliches is because they contain a certain amount of truth. There's a song we sometimes sing at my church which contains the line 'if God is for us, who can be against us?'; and the answer to that question is us. Always us. For a start, we are the only ones who are always around ourselves - even if we sometimes wish we weren't. But, ultimately, when it comes to taking opportunities, we are the ones who have the most power. We can easily stop ourselves from taking them, either absolutely, by not doing them, or more subtly, by procrastinating or not doing it whole heartedly - and then, when it doesn't work out, we say that we knew that was going to happen all along.
And it's not just taking opportunities when they present themselves; but keeping going with them once we have started. For instance, I have recently been struggling with this blog, with keeping going, as it doesn't seem that many people are reading it. Now I'm not going to stop doing it (not yet, anyway), but that is exactly what I'm talking about. When things are tough it is easy to give up, to just stop; and no-one else can do it for you. Or me, in this case. If I'm going to continue with this blog, then I have to do it - no-one else can. Ultimately, the ones who make our choices are us; to do something or not to do something, to keep going or not to keep going; only us.
Tuesday 15 July 2014
Guidance
Well, guidance. A tricky subject at the best of times. Two important things to bear in mind. One is that no-one has this sorted, not even people who have been walking with God for fifty/sixty/seventy years; they've just worked out how to trust Him a bit more. And two, God is more interested in spending time with us than with us always getting it right. Of course He loves it when we do get it right, but He loves us anyway - all the time. And that will never change; no matter what.
- Another thing to remember is that it's easier than we think. God is on our side, and wants us to figure out the right thing to do, so He will help us as much as He can. So, something you may have seen before, but I think is worth repeating: the 5 'CS'. In order, these are Controlling Spirit; Confirming Scripture; Circumstantial Signs; Counsel of the Saints; and Common Sense. In other words, what do you feel about x; God speaking through the Bible; things happening that point in a certain direction; asking Christians for advice (and listening); and actually thinking it through. He may use any of these, usually more than one. The reason they are in this order is that asking for guidance should start with God and end with us.
So, how does it work practically? Really, this is an impossible question, because every single situation and issue is different; but start with prayer. Always. See if God says anything, or if you have some strong idea of what to do. He promises to live in us by His Spirit, so He will guide our minds and hearts, even when we are not aware of it. Now, obviously, we are not perfect, so we will make mistakes, which is why the other things need to be considered. And He will be in those too - again sometimes without us being aware of it. Confirming Scripture doesn't really need to be explained, except to say that we don't go looking for Bible verses to support what we already think. It is more likely to be accurate if it comes from outside e.g. passages referred to in sermons, things people post on Facebook, daily Bible study notes, that sort of thing. Which leads nicely into the third one - if these things are coming from outside, then they are circumstantial; but also other things that might come up in conversation, or opportunities that are presented. The fourth one is pretty obvious: that if you ask someone else, they may see it a bit more clearly because they're at a little more of a distance, and may help you see it differently; but that if you ask someone, you should listen to whatever they say. Don't just accept it because it's from someone else, but don't just reject it either, if it's not what you want to hear. And the last is all about thinking about it; but with the important point that God is involved. Don't just say that you can't do x, so He wouldn't say that; He can.
Another issue is that there are two parts to being guided; figuring out what to do and then doing it. This is a big problem that pretty much everyone goes through repeatedly. When we come up against things we don't really want to do, or don't think we can do; we can say we're not sure what it is God wants us to do, when actually we have a fairly good idea, we're just resisting it. Also, sometimes, in a similar way, He may give us just the first bit, and tell us what to do next when we get there. Or not tell us any more because that's all we can handle at that point. Something my church leader once said that when he's struggling with guidance, he will go back to the last thing he's sure God said and start from there.
So, what do we do when we have some idea, but it doesn't seem clear? Well, two things we can always do. One is to spend time with God, praying and worshipping. The more we do that, the clearer our minds will become. Romans 12:2 promises us that. However, that doesn't mean it will be a quick process; it will actually take longer than our lifetime. But it WILL happen. And the other thing we can do is to meditate on the situation. This doesn't mean sit back and let it happen; rather the opposite. To meditate means to turn something over in our minds and look at it carefully. This being the case, that God wants us to know things and that as we draw close(r) to Him our minds will be renewed, a good place to start (after giving it to Him again) is to just go with our instincts. The Bible says He will give us the desires of our hearts, and as we have our minds renewed, our desires become more and more like His. As we go on in life, we teach ourselves to ignore our instincts, but we all have them, and we have them for a reason. So, that's a very good place to start. Also, it is usually better to do something; we can even learn from mistakes. If we don't do anything, not only will we not get anywhere, but we won't have anything to learn from.
Monday 7 July 2014
Two Birthdays To Baptisms
Two of my friends had their birthday last week - on the same day. But the celebrations weren't, so I got to celebrate two days in a row. Which was nice. And what was better was that both are friends I don't get to spend much time with, so that was a really good start to the week.
On the Sunday, there was an event called a Birthday Tea, which was just what it sounded like. A bunch of us converged on the house, and we had tea. And scones. Which were excellent - apparently James has won prizes for his scones several years in a row. It was a nice relaxed afternoon, with various friends from various places. It was nice to see them - and I'm sure Kirsteen felt the same. And the next day, another friend, who I hadn't seen for weeks at least, had his birthday. I had the day off then, which was unusual, and he had taken the day off, so we decided to go out for the day. We looked at several National Trust places, but decided to go to Slimbridge in the end. Which is a great place; the only drawback being that you pretty much have to drive to get there. But once you get there, it's well worth the drive. We wandered around looking at and feeding the flamingos and ducks and swans and pigeons and...well, you get the idea. And I got a pigeon to sit on my shoulder, which was a bit strange. There were new born flamingos to see, and we watched the otters being fed. All in all, we were there almost until closing time without realising. Definitely to be recommended at any time, though you won't always get to see baby flamingos. And then we went to the cinema to see '3 Days To Kill', which was definitely entertaining. I've been to the cinema more so far this year than I did all last year (as far as I remember), and all of the films have been worth watching.
The next couple of days I was in the Gloucester shop learning the new system, which was interesting, at least. I'm not sure what it will be like when we finally do go over to it, whenever that will be, but at least I know I can work it now. Tuesday evening I stayed in, cos I was exhausted, and Wednesday small group met at my house. And it was a very small group, as only 2 other people turned up. so we chatted for a while, and then spent the rest of the time praying about all the things we knew about that were going on with people we know.
Thursday evening was both happy and sad, as it was the goodbye meal for the Reads, who will be leaving the country probably forever. Which is good for them, and it was definitely a celebration in one sense, as it's been quite a journey for them to get to this point - but they will be missed. We will miss their presence, their smiles and laughter, and their caring natures. And we will miss seeing Adelaide grow up first hand. Still, at least we'll be able to keep in touch online; and we will. But, on the other hand, it was a really good evening all round.
I can't really remember anything much standing out over the next two days, but on the following Sunday there was another baptism service. Which is definitely a highlight of our church calendar; always a real celebration. Tim gave a sort talk about what baptism means, that it's an acknowledgement of grace:- that no-one is good enough, clean enough or British enough to earn His grace, but because God loves us He gives it anyway. This time I knew 5 of the people getting baptised, including someone I didn't know was until she got up to speak. She didn't tell anyone, and her fiance carried her change of clothes, so I didn't realise when I welcomed her at the door. But it was great to see her stand up and talk about what Jesus means to her. That was a great start to the people's stories, and I pretty much didn't stop smiling throughout, even when a couple of the stories brought tears to my eyes. As always, there were some wonderful stories, and the sight of a guy who was tall enough that he had to kneel down in the baptismal tank to fit in. But the best memory for me was the sight of a little girl, about 4-5, at the back wandering around - when each story finished and people clapped, she clapped along with them, even though she clearly didn't know why people were clapping. Another wonderful evening.
On the Sunday, there was an event called a Birthday Tea, which was just what it sounded like. A bunch of us converged on the house, and we had tea. And scones. Which were excellent - apparently James has won prizes for his scones several years in a row. It was a nice relaxed afternoon, with various friends from various places. It was nice to see them - and I'm sure Kirsteen felt the same. And the next day, another friend, who I hadn't seen for weeks at least, had his birthday. I had the day off then, which was unusual, and he had taken the day off, so we decided to go out for the day. We looked at several National Trust places, but decided to go to Slimbridge in the end. Which is a great place; the only drawback being that you pretty much have to drive to get there. But once you get there, it's well worth the drive. We wandered around looking at and feeding the flamingos and ducks and swans and pigeons and...well, you get the idea. And I got a pigeon to sit on my shoulder, which was a bit strange. There were new born flamingos to see, and we watched the otters being fed. All in all, we were there almost until closing time without realising. Definitely to be recommended at any time, though you won't always get to see baby flamingos. And then we went to the cinema to see '3 Days To Kill', which was definitely entertaining. I've been to the cinema more so far this year than I did all last year (as far as I remember), and all of the films have been worth watching.
The next couple of days I was in the Gloucester shop learning the new system, which was interesting, at least. I'm not sure what it will be like when we finally do go over to it, whenever that will be, but at least I know I can work it now. Tuesday evening I stayed in, cos I was exhausted, and Wednesday small group met at my house. And it was a very small group, as only 2 other people turned up. so we chatted for a while, and then spent the rest of the time praying about all the things we knew about that were going on with people we know.
Thursday evening was both happy and sad, as it was the goodbye meal for the Reads, who will be leaving the country probably forever. Which is good for them, and it was definitely a celebration in one sense, as it's been quite a journey for them to get to this point - but they will be missed. We will miss their presence, their smiles and laughter, and their caring natures. And we will miss seeing Adelaide grow up first hand. Still, at least we'll be able to keep in touch online; and we will. But, on the other hand, it was a really good evening all round.
I can't really remember anything much standing out over the next two days, but on the following Sunday there was another baptism service. Which is definitely a highlight of our church calendar; always a real celebration. Tim gave a sort talk about what baptism means, that it's an acknowledgement of grace:- that no-one is good enough, clean enough or British enough to earn His grace, but because God loves us He gives it anyway. This time I knew 5 of the people getting baptised, including someone I didn't know was until she got up to speak. She didn't tell anyone, and her fiance carried her change of clothes, so I didn't realise when I welcomed her at the door. But it was great to see her stand up and talk about what Jesus means to her. That was a great start to the people's stories, and I pretty much didn't stop smiling throughout, even when a couple of the stories brought tears to my eyes. As always, there were some wonderful stories, and the sight of a guy who was tall enough that he had to kneel down in the baptismal tank to fit in. But the best memory for me was the sight of a little girl, about 4-5, at the back wandering around - when each story finished and people clapped, she clapped along with them, even though she clearly didn't know why people were clapping. Another wonderful evening.
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