The God of miracles

I'm off to Brighton next week for the New Frontiers conference, and just read the latest post from Terry Virgo on his very own blog:

God-glorifying rescue!

from Terry Virgo's Blog by Terry

Next week we welcome approximately 5,000 people from over 50 nations to our conference in Brighton, Together on a Mission.

A week before they were due to go to Calcutta to get visas to be with us in Brighton, John and Esther Pradhan, who are church planting in Nepal, had a terrifying experience.

John and Esther had gone to a graveyard for the funeral of a child in the church, with their daughter, Aradhana, who is 2½. Aradhana fell down a narrow and very deep crevasse nearby. Newspaper reports say it was 60 metres deep at least. Because it was so deep and dark they were unable to see anything. At first they could hear her crying out, but after a while there was no sound.

The police were called in, and then the army, but the crevasse was so narrow, it was impossible to tunnel down. By now, darkness was closing in. To add to their fears, it was monsoon season, and if it rained, water could rise in the hole adding another terrible possibility of drowning.

Many prayed all night
John had contacted all his relatives in India, who in turn contacted friends literally all round the world, and believers began to intercede, both for her rescue and that there would be no rain. Many prayed all night.

An expert team was dispatched from Kathmandu, who encountered another hazard: a huge boulder inside the pit further impeded access, yet to break it up could be very risky. Aradhana could be hit by falling rock. To their great joy, around 3 a.m., Aradhana’s voice was heard again, and attempts were made to lower food and water to her.

By morning light, some progress had been made in digging, but it was disheartening to discover that the crevasse was in an L shape, and the food and drink had failed to reach her. The rescue crew kept everyone away from the spot, but Nepal TV were covering their efforts.

All adult men were too big to squeeze through the narrow aperture but just before noon, a young boy of 12 or 13 volunteered to be lowered down. He managed to crawl over to where she was and found her curled up in a corner, alive.

“Who are you?” she asked innocently. He helped her to crawl along to a space where she was visible to the team and they dropped down a harness which the boy strapped on to her, and they were then able to lift her out, covered in mud but otherwise unharmed. She had been in the pit for 22 hours without food, water, and limited oxygen. Her father, John, held her in his arms, tears pouring down his face. “Don’t cry, Papa,” she said, “I’m fine.”

National TV
The news went out on national TV and was labelled “miraculous”. John was interviewed clutching his daughter, and used the opportunity to say it was an answer to prayer, and to preach Jesus to them. Another miraculous aspect was that it had rained in all the surrounding region, but that particular area had stayed dry!

The family is full of thanksgiving to God for preserving Aradhana, and desire to honour all who helped in rescuing her, especially the boy. They are also grateful to all who poured out their hearts in prayer.

You can see dramatic pictures on
http://www.pokharanews.com.np/archives/mainphoto/1214369578.html

Read more!

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Disappointment

So I waited 20 years for it. I read the updates that seeped out every few years from George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, snippets of their conversations with each other around whether or not they should even bother making another, and if so, what should the MacGuffin be? They'd had the lost Ark of the Covenant, a bunch of Sankara stones and the Holy Grail... so... um... the Chinese legend of the Monkey King? Atlantis?

Well, they decided. And they made the movie. But was it any good?

I for one enjoyed the film, but hard as they'd tried it could never have lived up to 20 years of expectation. If you're interested, I think the first half is outstanding, nearing perfection in banter, innovation and spectacle (and I forgive the ridiculous "flying fridge" moment... the spectacle of that scene is still a wonder...), but once they reach that jungle... oh dear... I understand the 50's setting virtually dictates its theme: aliens, communism, paranoia (the latter of which resonates well in our day and age of "terrorists living next door"). But the way the story plays out on the road to Eldorado is flabby, lame and ultimately unsatisfying.

Anyways, that's just my humble opinion. It's a good film but not a classic. It would never compare to Raiders of the Lost Ark (now that's a near-perfect blockbuster in script, cinematography, action, dialogue, acting; counted along with Jaws , SW Episode IV & V, Aliens and not many more) but it handles itself. Unfortunately, this year we've been spoilt with the hard-heads of Iron Man, Hulk and Dark Knight... As for other people, so many I've spoken to feel very let down by Indy Jones IV. And it's all down to the script.

Now, there's a Frank Darabont's draft out there - he's the guy behind Green Mile, Shawshank Redemption, The Mist - and I've wanted to read it for a long while. Lucas and Spielberg commissioned him to write something that became "Indiana Jones and the City of Gods" but subsequently passed on his take. It's been leaked, something which was bound to happen at some point, and I'm intrigued about the film Indy Jones IV might have been, but again the same niggle worries me: I could be equally disappointed by reading a utopian "what-if" to find out that it too would have failed to reach expectations (which is exactly the reports I'm hearing).

Why do we do this? Why do we hope for something that is almost certainly likely to let us down? Something in the way we're wired? Read more!

Enlarging our borders

Something that should be pretty evident from reading this blog (assuming you've been here before) is that Jen and I aim to allow God's power and influence into every corner of our lives. We are so aware that, despite our human "talent" to try to do things our way, the more that we ask Him for guidance and involvement, the more He can have His sovereign way and be glorified in our lives.


Amy was recently given a place at our local primary school, which was not our choice. We'd asked for a church school 10 minutes' drive away on the basis of faith. There's nothing inherently wrong with our local - it's a good school and we know parents with kids there - but our choice was a school that most definitely wears its Christian values & beliefs on its sleeves. Just like we do. If we want God to invade every corner of our lives, then we want that to include Amy's education too.

Well, we went to appeal and had the hearing last week. Before a panel of 3 (none of whom are affiliated in any way to the Education Authority OR the school) I presented the case for our faith and how strongly we believed that our lives - not just as attendees, but as leader(s) in our local church - should envelope those values. Then Jennie - she was amazing, I must say; her grasp of the system and how to demonstrate statistically that an extra space could be argued for left me gobsmacked - presented the case on the grounds of how the system works (or doesn't) and our appropriate response. The representative of the education authority couldn't compete!

Well, we left happy that we'd done our bit and then prayed like crazy. Talk about old testament prayers: "Enlarge our borders!"; "Favour your people!". We were convinced this was a right thing to ask for, and yet were also able to leave it in His hands, knowing that if the decision remained the same, it was because of His will and not man's.

We waited...

... and the letter arrived today. She got the church school! But what's best about it all is this: the (independent) appeals board felt that to make an extra space in the class for Amy would be prejudicial, but that the case for her education to reflect our faith and values was strong enough to do so anyway. Hallelujah! It was on faith and not on secular, statistical reasons that she got in!

God loves to enlarge our borders and honour those that love Him. We have asked for things in the past that have not happened 'our way' but we've stuck with him through thick and thin, knowing that He knows best. And He will always honour that heart... Read more!

Sacred Pathways

Sacred Pathways by Gary Thomas is a fantastic book; so much so that I figured a review was needed. If you're someone who hankers after an increased intimacy with God, and would love to know how best to utilise your quality time with Him - or how to increase that time in the first place - then this book is for you.

Gary Thomas - an author of books and articles on Christian marriage and parenting amongst other things, and a teacher at Western seminary in Portland, Oregon - has carefully unfolded nine distinct spiritual temperaments in such a way that we can either relate to them, or clarify that they are NOT the way we're wired, and then learn from this subsequent knowledge. Wisely, he lists the pitfalls/dangers of each temperament, and also acknowledges that NO temperament is completely exclusive, nor that their unique paths of time spent with God should ever supercede or contradict the authority of Scripture.

The nine pathways and their characteristics are:

NATURALISTS... who worship God best when surrounded and inspired by God's creation; they just love that outdoorsy stuff...

SENSATES... are moved by a devotion that incorporates all the senses: the sight of a beautiful sunset or majestic cathedral, the song of a violin, the smell of incense can all stir their heart to commune with God...

TRADITIONALISTS... worship God through ritual and symbol; they love liturgy and find structure extremely helpful in enabling their quality time with Him...

ASCETICS... need simplicity and solitude to commune with Him effectively; they are otherwise easily distracted, and quiet focuses their thoughts on God...

ACTIVISTS... are fired up by injustice and a heart to see greater holiness in the church; they love nothing more than seeing God's Truth changing society, and are not afraid of confrontation...

CAREGIVERS... love and serve God by serving and loving others; they are the Mother Teresa's, big and small, public and private, of this world...

ENTHUSIASTS... are God's cheerleaders; they thrive on celebration, big musical worship, the inescapable urge to clap and dance in response to His revelation and revel in His supernatural power... Hallelujah!...

CONTEMPLATIVES... are bowled over by the love their Lover casts upon them; they spare no hesitation in sitting at His feet, gazing adoringly and wondering in awe at the "divine romance" they have the privilege of entering...

INTELLECTUALS... love nothing more than to study systematic theology and church history; academics who allow their 'head knowledge' to flood their hearts, they feast on Scripture, exegesis, hermeneutics, apologetics (hmm... I'm getting carried away here; guess which is one of my pathways?) and so on, and each revelation spurs them deeper into worship...

So that's the nine. Like I say, most people relate to more than one, or even a few, and Thomas is quick to point out the inevitable, and avoidable, extremes of each, and also how we can learn from those we don't naturally relate to. We need to learn from each other.

All in all, this is a fantastic book that reminds us God is wholeheartedly committed to revealing Himself to us and turning our hearts to Him yet more. We are all wonderfully and fearfully made, no one else can have a relationship with Him like WE can, each of us is unique. Moses, David and Mary each had an insatiable heart for quality time with Him, and each demonstrated that in very different ways. And God is equally desiring of that depth of intimacy with you and me. Wow.

(And if you're still not sure from my little clues, I'm an Intellectual Enthusiast with a bit of Caregiving on the side: I devour theology, jump about and sing songs when the Truth hits me, and express it elsewhere by caring for others, by helping my friends and those in need. Those are the times when I, personally, am drawing near to Him...) Read more!

Madly in love

I've just finished reading Gary Thomas's "Sacred Pathways" - a book I'll be reviewing in the next few days or so - and was rather struck by something he says whilst on the subject of ascetics and their 'strict' ways. Whilst neither of us are ascetics in any way (my review of the book will explain its actual theme in detail), this still sums up my and Jennie's faith so perfectly...

"Ninety-nine percent of communication is in the interpretation. A man who begins giving a portion of his income to the church and its work, carves out time two or three times a week to attend church services, tells people on the street about his God, and reads books about God on a regular basis may appear to be a 'religious fanatic'. If, however, the same man were to begin making payments on a diamond ring, spend his weekends going on dates, tell all his co-workers about the lovely woman who has come into his life, and read love letters over and over, the world would simply say he's 'in love'."

That's us. Madly in love. With each other, for sure, but also with the King of kings. Read more!

Too busy to blog?

Is it me or is our country speeding up? Perhaps it's just that most of my friends/peers are at a similar stage in their lives to me but most people I speak to are feeling busier than ever. It's as if someone's taken hold of the key in the back of Britain and wound it tighter...

Recent reports & research from the likes of Friends Provident and Consumer Analysis Group have sought to understand what's going on: 48% of folks say they are busier now than 5 years ago with less time to relax, with 43% feeling as busy at the weekend as they do during the week (1), usually because our gadgets keep us 'on duty' when we shouldn't be. 1 in 3 people tend to feel busier BECAUSE of their PDA's, mobile phones, laptops and Blackberries. Hmmm... I'm guilty of all of those... guess what I'm thinking...

And then there's this: a certain Professor Richard Wiseman and his team have conducted a study that measured the speed of pedestrians in 32 city centres across the globe (2) They discovered that the pace of life has increased by 10% over the past decade. Singapore was the worst (pedestrians walked 60 feet in 10.55 secs), with Blantyre (Malawi) three times slower. London, you may be pleased to hear, is not in the top ten, but still not far off at 12.17 secs.

So what's going on? Are we making ourselves busier? Is it just that myself and most of my friends have kids AND jobs AND interests AND gadgets? Or is there something more sinister going on?

I for one have an idea that may at least assuage the inevitable stress a little bit more: I'm gonna have a gadget-free day (yes, me!) once a month. No emails, no texts, no Blackberry Instant Messaging, no blogging, no RSS-feeds, no message boards.

Can I do it? I hope so. I'll survive, that much is true. And I'll probably feel a lot better for it, too... Read more!