Tag Archives: #fridayfun

Reflections on Discipleship – Surprised by Generosity

My job at the moment is developing discipleship in one Anglican diocese, so as you can imagine I do quite a bit of thinking about what discipleship is, what it means, and what it looks like. Here are some random thoughts, gleaned from my reflection on the Bible and current thinking …

Is it just me, or do you sometimes get a bit despairing about Church as a whole? On a really bad day as my mind wanders I look around from my office desk and see thousands of ancient and often crumbling buildings populated by a handful of people in their 70s, whose only hope is for survival and whose only vision is for keeping the show on the road somehow? I see clergy worn out by the demands of up to a dozen, often fiercely independent parishes, each with its individual set of PCCs and other committee meetings. I see worship which often lacks the most basic of resources, and can feel flat and uninspiring. What on earth do I think I’m doing? I sometimes ask myself. What’s the point? As my Dad used to say ‘I don’t think church will ever catch on!’

But then I get up from my desk and get out and about around the Diocese. At the moment we’re in the middle of a set of roadshows around the Diocese, running study days around discipleship themes, and based around what it means today to live out Acts 2:42-47. You might think that actually to go out and meet all this deadness face to face would be a depressing experience. But to my surprise my perambulations have had exactly the opposite effect, as, to my shock and shame, I have encountered many real life disciples who really do get it.

Of course it is true that diocesan roadshows are a bit self-selecting, and you would expect the keen people to rock up for a day of study and learning. But I have been so encouraged by what I have seen and heard, and I have come to realise that, as he did in the time of Elijah, God still has those who really are his and remain faithful to him and hungry for him. It is a bit sad that for some people their discipleship is being lived out in the context of a church and under leadership who seem bent on doing all they can to prevent it, but I have been pleasantly surprised and excited to know that faithful followers of Jesus are still going for it.

People, it appears, genuinely do want to learn how to pray, how to serve, how to understand the Bible better, and so on. One lovely story came from a man I met at one of the roadshows who had been in a pretty well-paid job and who, in response to prayer and a call from his diocesan bishop years ago, had got into the habit of regular proportional giving. When he took early retirement and had to live on his pension his immediate plan was to continue the same proportion of giving but at the new significantly lower rate. But as he was praying he felt challenged by God to maintain his giving at the old rate. He decided to try this for a month or two, but expected that he would have to reduce it before too long. But, he told me with excitement in his eyes, we’re still managing fine, and happily giving on what his salary had been.

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I love this story because it isn’t just about giving, good thermometer of our spirituality though that is. It’s actually a story of commitment, of prayer, of listening to God and obeying, and above all of the discovery of the joy which comes from full commitment to Jesus.

So with people like him around, I’m optimistic. And I’ve learnt that we see better from in among the people than we do from a desk.

Friday Fun – Tears for Nelson

I’ve written elsewhere my attempt at a tribute for Nelson Mandela, but here’s a lovely true story which I always think of when I hear the great man’s name.

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We happened to be driving back from holiday on the day of the Nelson Man­dela 70th Birthday Concert in 1988, so we explained to our two young boys that instead of following our normal practice of taking it in turns to choose tapes to listen to, Mummy and Daddy wanted to listen to the radio all the way, along with an estimated 600 million other people. Of course, they wanted to know what was on, so we explained (rather simplistically) that Nelson Mandela was a man with a brown face who lived in a country where the people with white faces didn’t like people with brown faces, and he had been in prison for twenty-six years, which was ever since Mummy and Daddy were little, and ever since our friend Helena was born.

About half an hour later we stopped in a the town of Lyme Regis for lunch, and had just got out of the car when Steve, aged 6, suddenly began to howl, just as if he’d fallen over or banged his head. He was inconsolable for a few minutes, but when he calmed down we discovered that he hadn’t hurt himself at all, but was crying `because of the man being in prison for twenty-six years’. Something about that situation had touched his little heart, and all four of us sat on the wall of the car park and cried and prayed together for a world where such evil can happen. As adults we would have just enjoyed the music of the concert, but it took a child to melt our hearts and show us something of the grief of God for his world. Nelson Mandela and South Africa stayed on Steve’s prayer agenda for years since.

And now back to the silly stuff:

I’ve got a new job.

What is it?

Traffic Warden.

How’s it going?

Fine!

I’ve got a new job.

What is it?

Taser operator.

How’s it going?

Stunning!

And your random icebreaker from Steve (for it is he). Continuing our nautical theme (Nelson – see what I did there?):

What would you do with a drunken sailor?

Games People Play

There is a well-documented piece of research which suggests that the more a church laughs together, the more likely it is to experience numerical growth. Of course this isn’t the only factor, but it is an important one. So during my ministry I have sought to help my churches to be as silly as possible. Not all churches have appreciated this, it has to be said, but the best times have been when we have lived our Christian lives together with a lightness of touch, a lack of taking ourselves too seriously, and a determination to have some fun.

So here’s a game for you to try. I was reminded of this by a friend who sent in an appreciative comment (I think it was appreciative) after one of my son Steve’s recent icebreakers. You can try this for yourself, and I’ll blog some new suggestions from time to time.

The game involves two people, although it can be done from the pulpit with the congregation having learnt their responses (this works well in Anglican churches). The generic script goes like this:

A:            I’ve got a new job.

B:            What is it?

A:            [suggests job or role]

B:            How’s it going?

A:            [provides awful punny witty answer]

 

You might need a bit more info than that to make sure you really get it, so here’s a couple of examples as starters:

A:            I’ve got a new job.

B:            What is it?

A:            I’m working as a lift operator

B:            How’s it going?

A:            Well, you know. Up and down.

 

A:            I’ve got a new job.

B:            What is it?

A:            I’m working in a fireplace factory

B:            How’s it going?

A:            Grate!

 

A:            I’ve got a new job.

B:            What is it?

A:            I’m working in a herb packaging factory

B:            How’s it going?

A:            Well, I’m finding I’ve got a lot of thyme on my hands.

 

And so on. Please feel free to add your own suggestions below. Let’s see if we can sweep the nation with this ‘new job’ epidemic.

 

Steve’s Random Icebreaker

A very deep and penetrating question for you this week as you seek to open up discussion at your group meeting.

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If you could be an international sporting star,

or a chart-topping rock musician,

or a world-class musical virtuoso …

then why aren’t you?

World without end. Amen.

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It was good to revisit the church where we had once worked, and to see how far they had moved on in their quest for creativity in worship. It was a New Winey, lots-of-worship-songs kind of church, but far from following the music books slavishly they were being dead creative by starting songs not necessarily at the beginning, as is normal, but with the chorus. Coming out of one song, they struck up, without a pause, the rousing chorus:

Be to our God for ever and ever

Be to our God for ever and ever

Be to our God for ever and ever Amen.

This chorus was repeated a few times, then a few times more, with ever-growing intensity, and then without warning we started the next song (from the chorus, of course, not the beginning). Sadly we never did find out exactly what should be to our God: we knew exactly for how long it would be to him, but never what it actually was.

But my favourite piece of musical inanity in worship took place when we were being led in ‘Over the mountains and the sea’ a song, which incidentally, was my nomination when a friend asked via the gift of Facebook what our absolutely worst song was. My immediate response was ‘The one which expects me to sing the line “Oooh I feel like dancing”. I don’t!’ We were being led by an enthusiastic band who seemed particularly to enjoy the line ‘I could sing of your love forever’. Round and round we went, with all the highs and lows of volume and intensity which good worship leaders know instinctively how to handle.

I could sing of your love forever

I could sing of your love forever

I could sing of your love forever

I could sing of your love forever …

After what seemed like about 20 minutes of this, my son (in fact he of the random icebreakers – see below) leant over and whispered in my ear ‘Do you know? I really do believe they could!’

Steve’s Random Icebreaker No 3

Another to add to your collection of questions to get your group’s discussion going:

What’s your favourite thing about a horse?