Saturday, 14 February 2009
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Who to trust?
I've just been getting into baseball for the past month or so, having had an inclination for a while that it would be a sport I'd enjoy following. I've lost interest in football, and not been up for much other sport in general, except for a bit of Wimbledon maybe (and don't ask about actually playing anything; I get out of breath watching them on TV...). So I figured, hey, how about something different for a change? American Football was out of the question - twice my mate in Kentucky has sat me down to a televised game and twice I've fallen asleep. Eventually it boiled down to baseball and basketball, and baseball won. I don't know, there's just something about it. Maybe after a season or two - and if I still like the game - I'll be able to explain what that "something" is...
Anyway, the reason I'm posting is this: after a month of following the pre-season news (Spring training starts on Friday, and the season kicks off in April) a whole storm has blown up in the past few days. Amidst the bulk of signings and contracts, another steroids admission has caused huge upset for the game and the fans, even roping Obama in on the dialogue. You see, there's a young star called Alex Rodriguez ("A-Rod" to his fans) who, after some cajoling, has admitted on TV to testing positive for performance enhancing drugs in 2003, a period when the development of testing and penalties was still underway, with identities kept under wraps until the agreement decided otherwise for tests the following year and since (hence us only finding out about A-Rod's results now).
Fans are split: some think the guy (who has, at least until now, been heading for baseball legend status) should be chucked out of the game, others think we should forgive and forget. Regardless, the biggest problem people have is an age-old one: their hero has proven himself otherwise. The man they revere has been revealed as a cheat, even if he's genuinely clean now.
I'm not going to debate the issue of which camp is right: vilify him or support him? I know where I stand on that, but what does occur to me is the issue of hero worship, or more pointedly the hope and faith we place at their feet. Countless times, people in the public eye have let their fans down for one reason or another, and it's not always celebrities we're talking about either. Policemen commit crimes, pastors cheat on their wives, fathers abuse their children. Never should we allow these individuals to smear the trust we have in the others that do have integrity. But also, remember this: never should we allow the reality of the human heart - fallible, corrupt, stained by sin, every single one of us - smear our perception of God. Thankfully, He has allowed me to understand the truth of what His word says, but many people find it hard to trust Him or accept that He is incapable of evil or of letting them down, because of their experience in this world we live in.
There is one Hero in this world that will never let you down: Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God, King of kings and Lord of lords, described in the end times events of Revelation as Faithful and True. "For the Lord is good, His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations." (Psalm 100.5) Don't let man taint the truth. Let God speak for Himself. Read more!
Anyway, the reason I'm posting is this: after a month of following the pre-season news (Spring training starts on Friday, and the season kicks off in April) a whole storm has blown up in the past few days. Amidst the bulk of signings and contracts, another steroids admission has caused huge upset for the game and the fans, even roping Obama in on the dialogue. You see, there's a young star called Alex Rodriguez ("A-Rod" to his fans) who, after some cajoling, has admitted on TV to testing positive for performance enhancing drugs in 2003, a period when the development of testing and penalties was still underway, with identities kept under wraps until the agreement decided otherwise for tests the following year and since (hence us only finding out about A-Rod's results now).
Fans are split: some think the guy (who has, at least until now, been heading for baseball legend status) should be chucked out of the game, others think we should forgive and forget. Regardless, the biggest problem people have is an age-old one: their hero has proven himself otherwise. The man they revere has been revealed as a cheat, even if he's genuinely clean now.
I'm not going to debate the issue of which camp is right: vilify him or support him? I know where I stand on that, but what does occur to me is the issue of hero worship, or more pointedly the hope and faith we place at their feet. Countless times, people in the public eye have let their fans down for one reason or another, and it's not always celebrities we're talking about either. Policemen commit crimes, pastors cheat on their wives, fathers abuse their children. Never should we allow these individuals to smear the trust we have in the others that do have integrity. But also, remember this: never should we allow the reality of the human heart - fallible, corrupt, stained by sin, every single one of us - smear our perception of God. Thankfully, He has allowed me to understand the truth of what His word says, but many people find it hard to trust Him or accept that He is incapable of evil or of letting them down, because of their experience in this world we live in.
There is one Hero in this world that will never let you down: Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God, King of kings and Lord of lords, described in the end times events of Revelation as Faithful and True. "For the Lord is good, His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations." (Psalm 100.5) Don't let man taint the truth. Let God speak for Himself. Read more!
Sunday, 18 January 2009
Barack's barracking for favour... and following a dangerous path...
Barack Obama recently asked Rick Warren to pray at his inauguration, causing a furore from the pro-gay "camp" (sic), then subsequently asked Gene Robinson to join in too. Barracking for favour from both sides? Wanting his cake and eat it? Whether it is or not, I couldn't express my concern better than John Piper, so take a click in his direction and let the man say it himself...
Piper on Obama's inauguration Read more!
Piper on Obama's inauguration Read more!
Wednesday, 31 December 2008
Things to be thankful for in 2008
- My beautiful wife and daughter: your support, humour, inspiration and downright general ability to put up with me are more than I could ask for (all cheesy but all true...)
- For "The Dark Knight". Three further viewings in the past fortnight have only fortified its richness... Top film of the year? Oh yeah...
- For the great success of our Coffee and Chaos toddler group: all down to Jennie's hard work, our rota'd recruits from Beacon and God's rich blessing...
- For the mighty returns of Extreme and Metallica after years lost in the wilderness. Extreme's "Saudades de Rock" isn't quite up to the dizzy heights of "Waiting for the Punchline", but Nuno's licks and grooves will always make my day; as for Metallica's "Death Magnetic", it's a massive classic already. Can't get enough of it... Track 9 gets played over and over and over and over again in the car (much to Jennie's chagrin) ;-)
- For Graham and Sue Hall (Gateway Church, Ashford) and Tom and Josie Shaw (City Church, Canterbury): their joint support as we find our feet within the Beacon family has been fantastic, and their vision, wisdom and prophetic insight are a total gift from God. Love you guys...
Saturday, 20 December 2008
How NOT to save your marriage
Just recently, I'd been researching facts and figures about the UK as a whole, and the Herne Bay area specifically, in order to develop a final "Cell Group Training" session at Beacon Church. This particular evening was intended to help us understand our culture a little more and seek God's guidance in how to engage with the people who live around us. Amongst the myriad of astonishing revelations (and there's plenty), there was one article I came across that really got to me...
... you see, there's a website called "Illicit Encounters" (*), where over 220,000 MARRIED members have signed up to meet like-minded others for sex. And 200 more are joining each day. The idea is, apparently - as 71% of said individuals stated when questioned - that they'd rather have an affair than divorce. So... "walking" is out of the question but so is "talking", eh? It just saddens me to hear people say that. I'm not commenting on the state of their marriages or on the difficulties they may have from their spouse's attitude or behaviour. I don't know their circumstances. But what I DO know is this... that God's blueprint for human sexuality - heterosexual intimacy within the sanctity of exclusive marriage - is pure, perfect, and right flipping brilliant. It's hard sometimes - Jen and I love each other to bits but we're both flawed and born in sin, in case you hadn't noticed - and I guess that's why so many couples find it easier to split, or even easier to have an affair. I dread to think where we might be now (or not) if it wasn't for God's transforming work in our lives, instead of celebrating nearly 15 years of marriage and still touchy-feely and loved up...
The Biblical "cord of three strands" (Ecclesiastes 4:12) adage is often used as a picture for Christian marriage, and it rings so true. Sure, we have a 3rd party involved in our marriage - like so many others these days, it seems - but ours is different. It's me, Jen and God. God's involvement in and intention for our marriage, our family, our sex life - God's way is old-fashioned and uncool. But it's also the best way; it brings mutual security, support, encouragement, exclusive intimacy, appropriate male and female input into a child's upbringing and the best expression of God's intention for mankind. In an age when this blueprint is continually under attack (check out the latest venom being flung at Rick Warren over Barrack Obama and the same-sex marriage debate: Al Mohler's blog), then we as Christians need to stand firm in our views, despite the criticism hurled our way, and know we honour Him as we do. It's hard, and we must never judge or patronise those that oppose us - we need to love them and let our lifestyles be our witness - but letting God's view of marriage - male/female in exclusive and committed union - be the light that shines. For His glory.
The Biblical "cord of three strands" (Ecclesiastes 4:12) adage is often used as a picture for Christian marriage, and it rings so true. Sure, we have a 3rd party involved in our marriage - like so many others these days, it seems - but ours is different. It's me, Jen and God. God's involvement in and intention for our marriage, our family, our sex life - God's way is old-fashioned and uncool. But it's also the best way; it brings mutual security, support, encouragement, exclusive intimacy, appropriate male and female input into a child's upbringing and the best expression of God's intention for mankind. In an age when this blueprint is continually under attack (check out the latest venom being flung at Rick Warren over Barrack Obama and the same-sex marriage debate: Al Mohler's blog), then we as Christians need to stand firm in our views, despite the criticism hurled our way, and know we honour Him as we do. It's hard, and we must never judge or patronise those that oppose us - we need to love them and let our lifestyles be our witness - but letting God's view of marriage - male/female in exclusive and committed union - be the light that shines. For His glory.
(*click here for an Illicit Encounters article - and there seems to be a whole lot more similar sites appearing in my google hits when I was searching for the latest figures on the subject...)
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
What I want for Christmas...
- for the "Mamma Mia!" cinematic experience to have just been a horrible dream after all (baaaaaaaaaaadly made film)
- for "Watchmen" to live up to my hopes in cinemas in March
- for an extra 3 hours in each day and an extra day in each week
- for my latest novel to [actually get finished and] be taken on by an agent & publisher this time around
- for God to continue to bless us at Beacon Church in numbers (15% extra new folks in the past 6 months!), and to help us grow in our relationships, our worship and our boldness in sharing the Gospel
- above all, for the three of us to excel as a Christ-centred family throughout 2009
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